Living on the Edge

The eye of the storm

“ Willingness to compromise with others’ ways of living and cooperation in common tasks, these make living happy and fruitful. ”

- Sri Sathya Sai Baba (b. 1926),
Indian spiritual leader, philosopher

Obviously this Indian philosopher didn't have two daughters less than two years apart!  Most of the time we live in peace and tranquility.  But when a storm hits, it is a category 5!!

This was the eye of a storm....

CC at this moment is in heaven because two 6th grade, middle school girls are giving her undivided attention.  Right now it is good to be the little sister. 

by the way, the dog in the background is Lucy, Q's dog.  We all say it's her dog because she is the only one that doesn't want to get rid of her!  That will be a topic for another day.... 

Just Passing Through?

This is one of our neighbors.  During the summer we have A LOT of them around here.  Osprey around here are like Bald Eagles in Alaska.  You've seen one, you've seen 50!

The parents left at the beginning of August.  The young have been hanging out on their own for another month.  They disappeared just when I started dragging my camera with me everytime I left the house.  The past week I haven't seen any...until today.  Now this one is probably one that will either a) winter around the Spokane area or b) is just passing through in search of a warmer winter climate. 

Not sure which, we'll see if he/she hangs out long.  But when I downloaded the pictures, I noticed something that I didn't notice when I was getting the picture....

It was dinner time!  Check out the fish tail....and the long talons on that osprey!  The fish didn't stand a chance against this hunter!!

Fun is in the eye of the beholder

So this summer we went on this awesome treck around the Northwest.  It wasn't as long as we spent in Alaska a few years ago...but it was fun just the same.  A few things that we will keep in mind for next summer (keep in mind that I don't usually dwell on the negative--but these are vital travel tips for others!):

1. Don't travel during the hottest part of the summer while camping in a tent trailer without AC.

2. Don't stay anywhere that doesn't include a pool.

3. Don't eat at a place called Asian Buffet, especially if it has sushi and octopus sitting out for who knows how long! (You will live to regret it over and over again for the next 24-48 hours!)

4. Don't stay in a hotel where the paint is peeling, the carpet has big stains, all the rooms smell like they were smoking rooms, there is food left in the room from the last guests, and the man behind the desk is grumpy and rude and you ask him if he's having a bad day and he goes into a long diatribe about how this isn't really the kind of job he wanted, but there weren't any jobs in his field available, so he is stuck checking us in and answering our questions, which he really could care less about.

5. Don't combine a business trip with a family vacation.

But we really did have a ton of fun.  It's just that Salt Lake City isn't the best place in August...at least according to my girls.

Here are some of Q's favorite things:

Seeing her old friend from Eureka and watching the bison in Yellowstone.

CC's favorites:

Spending time with daddy and finding ways to make us all laugh!

Me?  I just enjoyed seeing great photo opportunities:

Now DD's favorite's were:

Actually he  loved Yellowstone just as much as the rest of us, but I had to give him a hard time about going to these places while in Utah.  He's like a bloodhound.  He can sniff them out where ever we go!

A funny thought struck me....

as I re-read my blog after it was posted....I know I put the cart before the horse!

but anyway, maybe the weather lady should have said:

                      "This is the end of Global Warming for this year!"

She could have pulled it off too cuz she's so cute and bubbly in the morning and everyone watching is half asleep anyway. Munching your wheaties with one eye opened you'd think..."That's nice."

LAST WARM DAY

The weather gal said the following statement on the local news this morning:

                                   "This will be the last warm day."

Doesn't that sound a bit ominous? Like we are falling off a cliff or about to hit a wall or something.

Mama's in Training

Well as many of you know, I have a website called

If you haven't been to that site...come by and visit sometime.  www.SpokaneMama.com

The site is part of a national group of sites for moms.  They are almost in every corner of the country.  Three out of four anyway.  So that's how we get such awesome stuff on a site out of an area like Spokane and Coeur d'Alene.  Did you know Rachel Ray is starting with a weekly recipe on the site!  Different themes each month!  Yummy!

The fun thing about doing the website are all the wild and wacky moms I get to work with, talk on the phone with, chat online with and meet every year with in a small room in Draper Utah.  You get to be really friendly really quick!  So a bunch of these wacky women did a triathlon in Utah last spring and they started a blog telling about their toils and trials of training. (I think I just broke a pile of rules about prepositional usage!  It's great not having a teacher grade my work anymore!)

The blog had such a great response that they are continuing it.  It's fun for way out of shape me to read different people's experiences trying to get way back into shape.  Or just learn tips and tricks along the way, or just funny sidenotes about life. 

Why am I telling you this?  Well if you pop on over to the site, you will see that I've been asked to post there as well.  Guess they just loved my wit, or was that sarcasm?  Well I decided to start from the bottom and work my way up...So this month I'm talking about my feet and how to get them back into shape.  Don't worry, I'll keep it clean (G-rated) as I work my way up.  We all have children here you know!?!?!

So pop on over to  www.mamasintraining.typepad.com and read yesterdays SuperFeet post. That would be me!

Is it Friday yet?

Adobe is my hero

Oh my goodness! This was way too much fun.  I took a class in Adobe about 5 years ago but I remember very little.  I am famous for playing around with a program until I figure out what it does.  Like guys and instruction manuals...that's how I am with computer programs.

Anyway, this picture is for my friend Jeni...I saw a cool one that she'd done like it when visiting her this past summer. So I just had to try for myself!  It was so incredibly hard, and I just can't give the secret away....yeah right...way too easy!!  Just took time to figure out which cursor did what and where remove color was in the buttons on top.

So what do you think Jeni?  Did I learn real good?!

sorry folks...

Sorry for the harsh, large font on the last post. The font tab is possessed on typepad.  It never looks the way it does when I compose it.  And now this morning you can read my post from across the room!  Or for me, I can read it now without my "special" glasses! 

If anyone knows any great tips or tricks for posting, please let me know. Thanks! 

Little Lessons Learned

Last week I had an interesting morning with our 11 year old.

She looks like a mild mannered kid.  She really is an awesome girl.  I love her so much.  She's my first baby and it's so really weird to see her so grown up.  Fortunately she is still shorter than me!

But as an 11 year old  she still has moments of unconditional love, caring and even giving, even when she isn't trying to get something she wants. 

But it's obvious that those preteen hormones are just coursing through her all of 62 pound body right now.  Not only does it possess her mind like a bodysnatcher from that old scary movie (I keep looking for one of those coccoons in her bedroom), but it is amazing how these same hormones make her so much smarter now than she was just a couple weeks ago....all because she is in jr high now.

I picked up my Love and Logic book again and started re-reading it now that the girls are getting older.  It's like taking the car in for a tune-up...parenting needs tune-ups too.  Vacations help with that as well...the ones without kids of course.  I love that book because some of the moments/stories described in the book are actually happening in our house.

For example, the morning backpack.  As I tucked her into bed, I saw that she had left her math binder on the floor of her room--upstairs.

Mom:  Do you have your backpack ready for school?

Q:  I'll do it in the morning Mom.  That's when I always do it Mom.

Mom: OK, goodnight (but that wasn't what I really wanted to say...instead I bit my lip and went to bed.)

The next morning....I woke Q up. It took her 10 minutes extra to get up out of bed...the shower happened...long and hot as usual...so I made breakfast and called her down.  It was 6:45.  (Bus comes at 6:49!)  She had half a sausage when the bus rolled by!

Whoops....all hell broke loose in our house.  Category 5 Hurricane force winds swirled around the house as she panicked about not having her binder, her flute, her lunch, her jacket....or her ride to school at this point.

Fortunately for her (and for me cuz I hadn't showered early today) the bus does a loop around our neighborhood and she could catch it on the way back. 

Was the lesson learned?  My answer came tonight when I asked her...

Mom: Are you ready for the morning?

Q: Of course mom, my backpack is already packed and by the door!

Parents.com has a great article if you are having a tough time getting into...

The No-Yelling Morning Routine

Where did my desk go?

I'm pretty organized...I work hard at it.  It's not like it just happens.  And it's not as though it's easy to stay that way when you have as many projects going as I seem to all the time. 

So why can't I keep my desk clean!?  It completely drives me nuts!!

And it wouldn't be so bad, but it oozes over onto the scrapbook side as well.  So now, every time I want to do a project, I have to clean up the desk first!  Then I don't even have the energy or the time to do a card or a page!!  Arrgh!

So if nobody hears from me this morning...you'll know I'm lost in the pile of stuff on my desk!!