Ok! Bring on Summer!

You can finally breathe out now.  May is over. 

While it was wonderful what with graduation parties, showers, school finals, summer job hunting, garden prep, birthday parties, weddings, 25th anniversary trips, trek activities and the like, as I predicted it was a CRAZY month.
We are so ready for summer.

Today in fact,  we are kicking it off with Lazy Day!  We have a family tradition that the first day out of school in the summer... we do absolutely nothing.  (Nothing like setting a standard for the summer, right?)    Nobody has to get out of bed at a certain time, nobody has to get dressed, eat right, or do chores.  And of course, I've included myself in this magical day of suspended reality, thus giving myself free time to peruse the blogosphere to my heart's content.  And watch HBO's John Adams mini-series.  And possibly do some laundry, because somehow it's more satisfying when I don't HAVE to do it.

Lazy Day is one of two days per year that my kids aren't required to do chores.  (Everyone asks if the other day is Christmas.  Umm, Heck. No.  You think I want to clean up CHRISTMAS by myself? )  The other day is their birthday.

Monday we'll try to start a regular routine around here, and the summer calendar will be in full swing, what with our themed days of the week, regular chores, and even Craaaaaazy Cereal Week.  But for today?  Just
Happy Summer!

Just Keep it Coming!

Here's where we are this morning!

survey says!:

Yeah I think that's pretty accurate.  They're telling us only 4-8" more.

 

 The mountain suburbs are getting a little more.

I talked The Brain into working from home today, because the roads are just too slick.

Can you believe he vetoed my idea of celebrating at Krispy Kreme?  I suppose if I want to go to Sonic later I'm going to have to sneak out.  It seems that in this case, forgiveness is going to be way easier than permission.  Especially if I bring him a vanilla rootbeer.

(I'm probably not going to start a new post today... but I may continue to add to this one if I have any updates.  So check back if you're interested.)

**10:30 update**

When I measured at 10:30 it was 22 inches.  I couldn't make the ruler stand on top of the other one, but I left it out there anyway so it would have a friend.  Also so I would know where it is, because things like rulers and scissors and pencils with useable erasers seem to disappear around here pret-ty fast.

Hannah decided to invent her own snowblower, which surprisingly didn't work as well as you might have thought.     I think she is now relying on the guy across the street to see her patheticness and come use his snowblower to get her part of the shoveling done.  

As punishment for saying she could go in to work today, (who does that??) Lizzie had to clean off the truck and warm it up so I could drive her over.   I took a picture, but was threatened with some very vague and mysterious retribution if I posted it.  So just know that I have it, and will post it if necessary.

Afternoon snow fort

and snow fight!

And here's the last picture of the night.  I think there's actually about an inch more than the last picture, but it looks pretty much the same.

We ended the day by making Mandarin Chicken and brown rice, and a mandatory viewing of:

All in all a glorious day.  

Snow Fun!

Our snow day today, and we did Abso. Lutely. Nothing.

In case you want to know my definition of absolutely nothing, here it is:

I woke up at 5 because I was so excited that it might be a snow day.  It was, and I couldn't get back to sleep.  Yes, I have already been called a dork.  The Brain was so so happy *cough* when I turned on the tv to watch the snow coverage.  Idk.  I like to watch it, ok?  It's almost like there's a story with a plot and everything, and if I turn it off, I might miss it.

About 8 am I got on the treadmill, still watching the snow news.  Oh, and the Biggest Loser from last night, which I haven't seen the end of yet, so don't tell me who got kicked off!  I'll watch it during treadmill time tomorrow.  Well, if there's no good snow coverage, that is.


Came upstairs, and found my girls watching their new favorite show Psych.  Which is actually pretty funny.  So I sat down to watch a few episodes.

Then the pediatrician called to see if we could move up our appointments so they could go home early.
We then got in the car and drove across town.

When we got there and got all signed in, I told the girls to go ahead and sit in the teen waiting room, because there were likely better magazines in there.

(click to biggify if you can't read the title)

Awesome.

We stopped at Krispy Kream because it was on our way home.  Do we need a better reason?  Because I could throw in the fact that October is National Donut Month if it makes you feel better.

I don't think I've actually eaten a donut since last National Donut Month. But I felt entitled because I had spent my hour on the treadmill.  (And I continue to wonder why I am not losing any weight. Shocker!)

I got home, made black bean soup for dinner, and then made the kids go out and shovel (hey, there ARE perks to having teenagers!).  I didn't take pictures of that part because it just seemed kinda mean to hang out in here with my cozy slippers and my mug of herb tea, taking pictures of their misery.

Naturally, even though the roads were too slick to drive the 1/4 mile to the high school, we DID make it to Sonic Happy Hour.

It was especially happy today, because there was NO line in the drive through.

After that we started a 4 hour marathon of this,

which the girls didn't really remember from the last time we watched it.  As the dramatic closing music began, Mimi let her dissatisfaction be known.  Loudly.  While the rest of us laughed.  It was quite amusing, really.  The ranting sounded a little like this:  "I mean, I guess it's good that he got a life and everything, but that whole thing really stinks,"  over and over again.


Here's what my back deck looked like a couple of hours ago... with predictions for another 24 hours of snow coming up.  

The pink ruler says ---- 11".  I'll keep you updated if it gets deeper by tomorrow.

ooooh!  Live-blogging the snowstorm sounds almost as fun as watching it for hours on tv.   And I know anyone who reads my blog is especially interested in reading about watching snow fall.  And grass grow.  And paint dry.  I mean, you're here, aren't you?


Now the the girls are all working on a puzzle together.

Overall, it was a fantastic day of Nothingness. 

I just got the message that we will have another snow day tomorrow.  Stay posted for my dream come true:  Live snowstorm blogging. 

I know.  You're pumped.

I Love Fall. I Just Really Do.

Last week The Brain, Mimi, and I took one of the most fantastic road trips I have ever done, to southern Colorado for a visit with our daughter Hannah! We wanted to get out and see her and Mesa Verde before most of the park shuts down for the season.

I seriously could not get over the spectacular beauty of the drive. I'm going to let you in on Colorado's best kept secret. The mountain aspens are only PART of the show. See, we've been conditioned to think that once the high altitude leaves have turned, the whole season is over. But here we are a month later, and seriously, I can not get over the colors we saw for hundreds of miles.


Cottonwoods have always been my favorite tree. But put them behind a train, and there you have my dream vacation idea!

Train ride in the fall.... doesn't that sound amazing!? (But not this train.  It would probably need to be a passenger train.  Just to clarify for any husbands of mine who might be looking for anniversary ideas...)

Are these amazing, or what?  I could NOT stop taking pictures of these trees.

My uberpatient husband even pulled over to let me take this picture!

I just find it amusing when these star-studded towns like Aspen and Telluride try to pretend that they're still unpretentious old mining towns.

They're all  - "See our welcome sign on the falling down shed?  (click to biggify) That's because we're just a little po-dunk town in the middle of nowhere.  Where Oprah lives sometimes.  And where Kate Hudsen regularly pays $12 for a sandwich. And a lift ticket is $75 per day.  Doesn't that happen in ALL old mining towns?"

But it's very pretty, so they get away with it.

Telluride - as seen through the windshield.  Oh, and if you're ever in Telluride, I know a place where you can get a killer Italian Sub, and a seriously good brownie.   (You should pass on the eclairs, though.)

Yes, we found it the park, and Hannah, too!  Though we almost didn't recognize her with her new dark hair!

Mimi and Hannah, and just a few thousand Anasazi spirits.  Except you're not supposed to call them Anasazi anymore.  Ancestral Puebloans is the PC term.

Ancestral Puebloan dwellings as seen from above before we hiked in.

Best picture we took all day.  And it was taken by some 15 year old kid on our tour.

Did I mention  that I could NOT STOP taking pictures of the leaves?

Even though I knew it wouldn't be as pretty through the windshield:

Even through the bugs:

Even with the sun glare spots:

Even out of focus:

Even with the reflection of my purse:

And even with more disgusting bugginess:

(sigh)

I love fall!




Oh, and PS - We actually had Glass Cups in our hotel room! (which you will understand if you follow Hannah's blog)



Oh, and PPS - I forgot to take a comb or brush with me.  So I styled my hair with the hotel blow dryer, a flat iron, and one hairclip.  I'm thinking of adopting this new styling method, though, because I really like the way it turned out.

September's Almost Here

Somebody Wanted a Day Off

This is my house this morning.

Don't even worry about our safety on those almost wet sidewalks, though, because they've actually canceled school today for a snow day.

Nope not kidding.


Wish me luck today. What kind of a snow day is it when there's not even enough snow to make a tiny snowman, or a little quart of snow ice cream?

In fairness to our wacky school district, we ARE under a blizzard warning.

In unfairness, I'm still calling them the wacky school district.

My Coffee Maker is Dying

Oh, yes, I really do.

Nobody here drinks coffee, but we all enjoy having insta-water that is the perfect temperature for herb tea or hot chocolate.

So I've had this little beauty for 5 years now, even though it started dripping water out one of the seals last year. Now it's more like a steady trickle of water every time we run it. Do you think it's a problem to run an electric appliance while it's sitting in a pool of water?
Do you think God might be getting ready to shock me for having an appliance of evil in my home? (kidding!! I'm kidding!!)

I guess maybe I'll ask for a new coffee maker for Christmas.

I would highly recommend this to all my lds friends as a low energy, highly safe way for your children to get their own hot water,(unless your coffee maker happens to be sitting in a pool like mine.), but I don't want to start any kind of trend that could be responsible for someone telling you that "especially considering your calling" you need to "avoid the appearance of evil", as some helpful person once told me.

Do you think that means I should stop taking the Laurels to Starbucks for steamed milk? Because they'd WAY rather do that than go for ice cream.

Oh well, If the bishop wants to talk to me about avoiding the appearance of coffee I'm pretty sure he has my cell phone on speed dial anyway.

Hey! FYI -- -The very best herb tea in all the world (at the bottom of this link) is making it's seasonal appearance. If you haven't gotten yours yet, I'd suggest doing it immediately. A couple of weeks ago, The Brain brought me home 6 boxes. No wonder I like him so much! He totally gets me.

Do I Live in an Amazing Place, or What?

Romantic weekend with my husband? Sign me up! The Brain and I like to go somewhere together every year or so if we can. It's always amazing, and this year was no exception! We visited some of the little mountain towns of Colorado. It was lots of driving. And we did quite a bit of hiking and exploring. But we actually like driving, hiking, and exploring, so it worked out great.










Sorta makes me wish I actually had photography skills.

(But not enough to, you know, do anything about it!)





We drove by this motel, and I actually recognized it somewhere in the dark recesses of my mind from at least 30 years ago. It still cracks me up and made me want to stay there.... um, for about 30 seconds. (Yeah, I'm spoiled by Holiday Inn Express.)

Hey Nancyface! I'm thinking about making this picture my new avatar!

Yes, I really took these.

Oh Yeah!

Three of the best reasons to be excited for fall!

The Office

The Amazing Race

The Biggest Loser

Of course there's always this:


Who doesn't love fall???

It's my very favorite. The Brain and I had a chance to spend some time this week in the mountains and it was wonderful. I 'll post pictures as soon as I crawl out from under the laundry pile.

I'm Baaaaack!

Yo!
Ok, Seriously, is it just me? Or does everyone hate coming home from vacation. I mean, not the actual "Waaa, I have to go to back to my regular work" part. I'm talking about Mt. Washmore there in the laundry room, endless messages on the answering machine, and just general catching up from when you've been gone.

I guess maybe it IS just getting back to my regular work, after all.

Shut -up.

Arizona was a blast as always. It was hot there, but apparently it was hot here, too, so I don't feel like I really missed anything in that department. And in case you were wondering (Dillon6), yes Denver did break records, and by several days, too. The streak ended at 24 days IN A ROW of being 90 degrees or hotter. Now, I know that for lots of the country, you're thinking,

"Well, it is AUGUST, you goofball. What did you expect?"

But, see, here we're known for our moderate summer climate, not to mention our afternoon thunderstorms, which generally cool things off considerably. So we get used to things like not using our home A/C, and you know, touching the steering wheel in the car, and being able to leaving pop cans out in the sun without wondering how long till they'll turn atomic bomb. That kind of thing.

But I'm back, the birds are singing, the laundry is almost done, and I've made the executive decision to NOT try to read the 300+ posts logged into my googlereader. Sorry about that. But I do have to draw the line somewhere.

After all, in my insane school district there are only 3 days of summer vacation left, and I don't feel like I've really had summer yet. I've got to go eat a popsicle or something. You know, really celebrate the season before it's over.

(Why, yes, I am a party animal. Thanks for noticing.)

O, Beautiful For Spacious Skies

Sometimes I really like running.

Sometimes, it's a chore, but there are times when I love it. When I'm out of my usual area, I always love it, because it's such an intimate way to connect with the place I'm staying. When you're out at 6 am, Niagara Falls is a completely different place. Watching the sunrise over a beach in Hawaii (with sweat running down my face) is awesome in the truest sense of the word. And how could I not list the morning sun on the cliffs of Bryce Canyon in Southern Utah as one of my all time favorite runs?

But today may have taken the cake.



Today I got out this morning in beautiful Yuma, AZ. I ran several miles down an irrigation canal, with mature amber wheat in fields as far as the eye could see on one side of the canal. On the other side, the corn the farmers were starting was already taller than me, and not even sprouting any ears yet.



And as I was admiring the beauty, and the bounty, and the symbolism of it all, three military jets flew over my head in perfect formation. And I have never in my life been prouder or more grateful to be an American.

Lookit! Lookit!

Are you lookit-ing? This is from my front yard today. It's really going to be spring!