Some Nostalgia

Since attending The Pioneer Woman's signing I've taken some time to really look at her website, and I like it. The best part, in my opinion, is the photography. I love the pictures of the ranch with it's cattle and horses and gorgeous horizons. It reminds me of home.

We didn't work a cattle ranch, but we had some cattle, and two horses, and pigs, and chickens, geese, goats, cats and dogs. Sometimes the animals would escape from the corral, and then we had to chase them down and get them back in again. I remember Dad putting me by the corral gate so that when the cattle came that way I could guide them through it, and it scared me to death! I stood there with my heart pounding, watching a heard of cows coming right at me. I didn't think they would stop before hitting me. Why would they? I was one girl, and they were a heard of cattle. But they did stop. Dad knew they would. That's the funny thing about cows, they don't realize their own strength and so are complacent about being lead here and there. Maybe we're all a little too much like cattle. I suppose I am.

My brothers spent summer days out on the tractor cutting and baling hay, and then the whole family went out to pick the bales up off of the field and stack them. Marla and I worked with Mom in the garden, and shelled peas and cut green beans and the corn off of the cob. Mom canned a froze enough produce to last a full year. Remarkable.

I'm being nostalgic about it now. If I were completely honest I'd say that at the time I grumbled plenty about all of that work. But I've been a city girl for so long that sometimes I forget that I come from the country, and that it really is beautiful. There's serenity in the quiet fields and open sky. The horizon is a perfect line right along the ground, and the sun sets right there in front of you. It lights the whole sky on fire. You can see every star at night. And the air smells fresh. I used to stand outside after dark and breathe my lungs full of that air. It's so good.

If you're interested in the Pioneer Woman's cookbook, I found a good deal on Amazon, right here. It too if full of gorgeous photography. You might like it.

A Week in Review

Hello! It feels like it's been a long time since I've written this little feature. It's good to be back. Let's do A Week in Review.

Cosmetics!
I've found two new products that I love. The first is a mascara from CoverGirl, Lashblast Length. I am obsessively compulsively picky about mascara. It has to go on well, look good (no spiky lashes!) and then wear without smudging at all all day. This one does all three. It's a softer look, which is nice, more natural. I like it.

The second is from Sally Hansen - a French manicure pen. I really like the look of French manicures, but haven't wanted to get acrylic nails, so I've tried many times to do it myself. That usually ends in tears. And a lot of white nail polish all over my fingers. I found this pen at Target, and felt immediately that my life had

been changed forever. Course, that's not the first time that's happened at a Target. This pen lets you draw the line on your nails, like you would with a Sharpie. It's so much cleaner than working with a brush, and the color goes on in a nice thin layer. Eureka. Honestly, I'm excited about this.

Owney
I had some time with Jonah last week, and we were talking about school. I asked him what he was learning, and then I asked him if he liked history, stories of things that happened a long time ago. He said, "No. Oh! But we did learn about a dog who traveled all over the world. He rode on trains. They'd put him on the train, and he'd come back again with badges. And then he went on boats around the world. And then when he died they stuffed him."

He seemed very excited about the stamps Owney had (I thought they were stamps), so I told him that I have stamps from France and England in a little book (my passport), and maybe he'd like to see them? He said, "No. These were badges. He had badges on him." So much cooler than my stamps. The whole thing had me very interested, and I thought that I would look this dog up later and read about him. Jonah didn't remember his name at first, but then he shouted, "Owney! His name is Owney, with an O."

Today I did an internet search and sure enough, there was Owney, and he really did ride the US Postal trains back in the late 1800s. He became the official mascot of the postal service. His body in now on display at the National Postal Museum. I didn't know that there was a National Postal Museum, so interesting.

The Pioneer Woman
On Thursday Nicole and I went to a book signing for the Pioneer Woman's new cookbook. Some of you read her site, yes? I knew that a lot of people did, but I had no idea that this signing would be a mob of women the size of which one rarely sees. Wow. There's a picture of the event here, and a better description of it on Nicole's blog. I really was there just to see Nicole and her cute little Bridget, and it was time well spent. She's always great. The fact that there was a celebrity in the house (really who knew?) was just an extra.

TV
I'm going through a bit of a transition in my TV watching; it's a pivotal time in my life. I've really grabbed on to "Glee". Have you seen it? It's funny, and the music is good. There was one episode that was too "adult themed" for the people I know, and I agreed, and told myself that if that was going to be a common theme then I'd probably quit watching. But I'm happy to say that it's gotten better since then, and I'm a solid fan. If you haven't seen it, and can somehow watch the pilot episode (maybe online?), then I'd recommend doing so.

I have not watched "So You Think You Can Dance" this time around. We all know how much I've loved that show, but it's on Tuesday, and I'm at the bookstore on Tuesday, and I just haven't gotten up much enthusiasm for it. I think I'll just skip this round. I'm also on the fence about "Mad Men" this season. Actually, it runs on an off-season schedule, so they're about to wrap it up for the year. There's so much to love about this show, but there are also people making stupid mistakes that mess up their lives and make everyone miserable, and a person can be entertained by another person's misery for only so long. I'll see how this season ends before deciding that I'm done.

This is what I mean by going through a TV transition. Life moves in phases.

You know, if I may be philosophical for a moment, life does move in phases, and if you're lucky you'll have good people around to love the good times with and to help you through the bad. I have always been lucky with the people in my life, and that makes me pretty happy.

In closing, congratulations to the Salt Lake Real soccer team for moving through the first leg of the playoffs!

Thanks, as always, for your constant care.
You are Loved.

A Halloween Story

Hi, this is William. Angie is letting me use her blog to tell you about Halloween. She's nice. She always tells me when she puts pictures of me on the computer, so I figured she'd do it again. I asked if I could tell the story this time. She's actually doing the typing because my hands are very small, and the only computer I've ever used is a toy.

Here it is, my first Halloween!

Actually, I was alive for Halloween last year, but I was only 8 months old, and didn't really get it. We found this picture of me trick-or-treating a year ago.
I didn't know what I was missing.

Now I'm 20 months old, that's almost 2 years, and am definitely old enough for Halloween! Mom picked out my costume, and that's ok. I think that if I could have told her what I wanted to be, I would have gone with a pirate, because pirates are awesome, but I can't really say the word pirate, or any other words, so I had to go with what she bought me.

I was suppose to take a good afternoon nap so that I wouldn't be tired and crabby all night, but I'm not very good at sleeping, so that didn't happen. When mom was stuffing me into that lion suit I was a whiny. How was I suppose to know what was going on? It all seemed very strange. But after the suit was on I was ok with it. Mom and Dad took me outside for pictures. Then, this person in a black sheet showed up, and he really made me nervous. He kind of sounded like my brother Zac, and everyone was calling him Zac, but I wasn't sure. They had him hold me for a picture. Not cool.

Why do people do this to me?

But it all got much better after that. Jonah and his friend had already started trick-or-treating, so we ran to catch up. Being 7, Jonah is a good trick-or-treater. Mom, Angie and I followed him. "Zac" (I'm still not sure) came with us too, on the golf cart. He was there to give us rides when we got tired, or if someone had to go home to use the bathroom.

Jonah is in the Ninja Turtle costume. Angie was falling behind. I had to get her.

We went to a house, knocked on the door, and a very nice lady opened it up. She talked and laughed and said that I was a very cute lion. She had a bowl full of brightly wrapped pieces. Mom showed me how to take one and put it in my pumpkin, and then she said that it was candy. Candy?! Really?! I was kind of shy about taking anything, which made everyone laugh even more. I guess they thought it was adorable. Who knows? The nice lady closed the door, and Mom and I walked back to the sidewalk.

Wow, that was fun.

And then we got to do it all over again.

After a few houses I was loving trick-or-treating! I ran from house to house. Sometimes I had to stop to grab Mom or Angie's hands so they could keep up. Jonah was running, too, so really we were all just trying to keep up with him.

After a while that pumpkin got heavy, and it was hard to keep my balance. I kept falling over. Mom asked if she could carry it, and I didn't want her to at first, but let her after the second fall.

At almost every house there was a lady who wanted to talk to me. I'd take a piece of candy and put it in my bucket, and then go to take some more. Putting candy in the bucket was fun. Mom would try to stop me, but the ladies always laughed and said that it was ok.

But sometimes a boy would answer the door, and he'd let me take my candy, but he didn't talk to me. So I'd stand there and smile, and look at him, and wait. Where's the conversation? Then Mom would take my hand and lead me away from the house. Huh. It's more fun when nice ladies open the door.

We were out trick-or-treating for a long time. There were lots of other kids too, and that made it even more fun. By the time it got dark, I was very tired. Mom carried me from house to house until we came to my uncle's home, and that's where we stopped. It's a good thing Zac was there (and that the guy in the sheet was gone) with the golf cart because I couldn't walk home. Angie held me while Zac drove us. Mom stayed with Jonah to go to a few more houses. When we got home I found my dad, and he picked me up, and I laid my head on his shoulder and stayed there for a long time. I almost fell asleep. Trick-or-treating is very tiring. But so much fun!

The End.

Week in Review

Hello All. Due to a complete lack of anything to tell you, and some other projects that are begging for my time, I am delaying A Week in Review until Monday or Tuesday. In the mean time, here's a little Halloween scare from The Nightmare Before Christmas, with music from Panic at the Disco (that's for you Sierra).

Happy Halloween!
You are loved.



ps - My apologies for the AOL add.

Something Fun

From the Fun Theory

Pumpkins!

Years ago, when Sierra was maybe four years old, she and I were walking though a parking lot to the grocery store. She was holding my hand and skipping, and then she stopped dead and said, "Punkamins!" with all of the joy a 4-year old can hold. There were rows and rows of pumpkins on hay bales in front of the store, and they looked wonderful.

Last night I went to Marla's for an annual pumpkin carving. I say annual because it is for them, but I actually haven't done it for a few years. I'd forgotten how much fun pumpkin carving is.

The boys were pretty happy when they heard what we were doing that night, and as soon as dinner was done, they grabbed their chosen pumpkins, hunkered down and dove in. Side note - all of these pumpkins came from their garden.

William is a bit young to be let loose with sharp knives, so we just took a cute picture of him, and then took everything away. He seemed to be ok with that, and just went into the living room to play with his toys. Every now and then he'd come back and check on us, ask to be held, get a look at what we were doing, and then run off again.

Jonah took his pumpkin very seriously. I underestimated that kid. I really thought that either Marla or I would be doing most of the work for him, but he did the whole thing all by himself, even the gutting. Mike (Marla's husband) cut the tops off, and then Jonah dug in up to his elbows in goop and started pulling that stuff out with real gusto.

In the mean time I worked on my pumpkin, which went something like this, "Ick this stuff is slimy. I can't get it all out! Gah, there's all this stringy stuffy. My hands are a mess. Will someone get me a paper towel!" Marla took over for me. She dug in there with a spoon and got all of the string along with a thin layer of pumpkin leaving just the smooth inside. Amazing. Jonah, who was sitting right next to me, said very matter-of-factly that he's "really good" at gutting, and showed me his perfectly clean pumpkin. I was honestly impressed.

Jonah then went to work at carving a face. First he took a stick-like tool and made an outline in dots, and then he got a small knife and went to work.

Zac, who is now 14 and way too cool for pumpkins, still joined in, but did so with a good dose of sarcasm and attitude.

Actually, Zac is a very good kid, and fun, even with the sarcasm and attitude.

Meanwhile, William, exhausted by all of the activity, decided to stretch out on the kitchen floor. Pumpkin carving is too hard.

Josh, like Jonah, was a professional carver, and finished off two pumpkins. Good work. He's also good at making a silly face when you want to take his picture, which is fun for all of us. Oh, and before you think that Zac is a master carver, I should tell that what he's holding is a fake. It's a plastic decoration.

Josh, hard at work. I'm noticing all of the pop bottles around the kitchen. We're big drinkers. It's part of our Minnesota heritage. You shouldn't let go of your culture. By the end of the evening we had a good collection of jack-o-lanterns, and I should have taken a picture of them, but I didn't, so you'll have to trust me.

William was on his way to bed about the time that I left for home, and I got a very nice goodnight hug. He's so sweet, and a good cuddler. Cuddling is the best.

I'm going back over on Saturday for trick-or-treating. It was so fun last year, and the kids have good costumes, so I'm pretty excited about it.

Happy Halloween!

A Week in Review

Hello!
I don't have much to review today. I've just been settling back into my old routine, wondering who this "balloon boy" is, and then deciding that I just don't care. A person misses stuff while on vacation. Some of it isn't worth getting caught up on. It is nice, though, to settle back into life as usual.

Because of a lack of anything to talk about, I thought that I'd share some pictures of one of my favorite places, so here is...

Where I go Walking
A few times a week I use my lunch hour to take a walk. Most of you locals know Memory Grove and City Creek Canyon, but for those who don't I will try to describe it. There's a street northeast of the COB that leads up into a lovely residential area with quaint, old homes, and then into Memory Grove, which is a park with monuments dedicated to war vetrans. After the park, the path winds up into a small canyon called City Creek, aptly named for the creek that runs down from the mountains into the city. The early settlers used this water to irrigate their crops, and from what I understand the water used to run underneath Temple Square and powered the first pipe organ in the tabernacle. Now most of the lands around the creek are parks, all very pretty, and all lovely to walk through in the fall.

This is the deck on one of those old homes.

A monument in Memory Grove

The creek

And the path that leads up the canyon

Sometimes you meet up with the local riff-raff on the trail.

Actually, I work with those guys, and they're pretty nice.

More of the creek

Look how the vine wraps it's way up that great tree. I stare at it every time I walk by.

The reds are pretty

Here's Memory Grove Park again.

This little park is across the street from the COB, and the water comes from the same creek. When the girls were little we came here often.

The poem on the Writers' Almanac today was about water and trees, so I'll end with it:

Gravity

by Louis Jenkins
It turns out that the drain pipe from the sink is attached to nothing and water just runs right onto the ground in the crawl space underneath the house and then trickles out into the stream that passes through the backyard. It turns out that the house is not really attached to the ground but sits atop a few loose concrete blocks all held in place by gravity, which, as I understand it, means "seriousness." Well, this is serious enough. If you look into it further you will discover that the water is not attached to anything either and that perhaps the rocks and the trees are not all that firmly in place. The world is a stage. But don't try to move anything. You might hurt yourself, besides that's a job for the stagehands and union rules are strict. You are merely a player about to deliver a soliloquy on the septic system to a couple dozen popple trees and a patch of pale blue sky.
"Gravity" by Louis Jenkins from Before You Know It: Prose Poems 1970–2005. ©

I do talk, sometimes, to the trees as I walk by. Not out loud, just in my head, while sorting through the events of the day, or the week, or the whole life. The trees listen well; they seldom interrupt me, and I always feel good afterward. Walks are good for the soul.

Thanks, as always, for your kind regard.
You are loved.