Insomnia

Ya gotta love 'em--those nights when you fall asleep like a baby, but then by jiminy you're wide awake at 2:30! I used to twist and turn and fret and stew when that happened, but I discovered the secret of rolling with it! Now I almost relish waking up and finding myself energized in the wee hours! Last night I woke up at 12:30 and lay in bed for awhile considering my options. A train went by (the track runs adjacent to Almosta Ranch Hadd about 3/4's of a mile away), and the search light out at the airport swept the sky a few times. I could tell that my internal clock was revving up! No chance of falling back to sleep here, so I slapped on a bathrobe and went downstairs. I put the headphones on and played the Clavinova for awhile. (Can I log that in as practice time??) Then I put away some stuff off of the kitchen island and poured myself some apple juice. Where's my knitting? My mind works disjointedly at best, but at night I am totally a victim of its random patterns. Up to my knitting loft I bounded--surely I can find something to knit up there. I got distracted by a stack of papers on the desk and read through a few patterns I hadn't had a chance to look at. I also strolled through a couple of the desk drawers and checked the ink content of four pens. And then because email is never far from my thoughts I went back down the loft stairs to the computer. Not much email coming in in the middle of the night, though, but I did check out some cd's on Amazon.com. Inevitably Mugsy had joined me now. He gets the mid-night thirsties, and it turns out that last night he had the munchies too! I gave him a chewie and settled back in front of the computer--this time with my knitting basket at my side which I'd lugged down from upstairs. Cranked up the space heater. About this time Paco must have sensed my absence. He staggered down to inquire about my state. We smooched a bit, and he reminded me that my 5 A.M. wakeup call was not that far away. I compromised by climbing back into bed and wrapping my cold legs and feet around his back. For occasions such as these I keep an REI lcd headlamp in my nightstand drawer. I velcroed it around my head and began reading Broken For You which I had read about in the Chinaberry catalog yesterday and gone straight to the library for after school. What a GREAT book--I could tell already! But then my headlamp began to flicker, fade in, fade out, flicker, fade... fade...dimming...we're losing you here... flicker...fade...fade...fade...fade...gone. Aw heck. What a waste of time. So with nothing left to do, I had to opt for the least effective use of a good block of calm peaceful night and go back to sleep. Oh, here's a picture of Paco on the nights he beats me to sleep and knows I'll want to read for awhile. What I'd really like to post is the somewhat scary one that would be of me in my "miner" light. But then that would mean that someone else was awake in the room in which case I'd just turned on the light. Right?

The Front Fell Off

I Gotta Wait How Many Months Until Easter???

We Go Back a Long Way...

On the eve of my daughter's birthday and for her...

WHY YOU ARE A KICK
1. You feed your baby seaweed.
2. You do the drama queen with such flair!
3. I can always count on you to remember special days..even if you're the only one.
4. Even when you probably have no business doing it, you still THINK you can do everything!!! And by sugar, you CAN!
5. We always get the giggles--even in places we REALLY shouldn't!
6. You are the best friend to so so many!
7. When you get in over your head (and YOU and I both know where and when...),you hang in there!
8. Look at the Domestic Goddess you've become!!!!
9. You are THE sister!
10. You picked the perfect husband and are raising such a charming son!!!!

Happy Birthday! What a better way to spend it than looking at a baby _________ leaping around in your womb!!!!!

Where Have All the Flowers Gone?

Behold the flowers! Jerry sowed wildflower seeds in the spring. They didn't come up and they didn't come up. We pulled some of them because we thought they were weeds. Then three weeks ago they burst forth into the most gorgeous, vibrant, fragant, hysterical garden you've ever seen!!! We basked in them. And then Mother Nature dropped 8 inches of snow on them. We forgive you, Mother Nature. You are omnipotent and all-knowing. You provide a nesting place for all of mankind...but I mean, Really... Can't you meet us halfway and at least let us get Halloween over?

Stumbling Intoxicated Down Memory Lane

Now I LOVE this one! This was our BYU Fieldtrip to see the Etruscan exhibit. We are all looking particularly erudite. And my favorite daughter dead center! I love you guys!!!

And One for Lizzie!!

A fieldtrip to BYU back in the day! I can't remember if this one was to see the Etruscans or the Terra Cotta Warriors. Anybody remember?? I think these guys were mimicing the dancer statue behind them.

All We Are Saying Is Give Peace a Chance!

Ah, I think I struck a nerve with the trip down memory lane...I got particularly nostalgic seeing my old classroom. How many of these hippies can you identify? Hint: the guy with the guitar is now at the "helm" of Bear Lake Middle School. The scary thing is that most of these protesters are now mothers and fathers! I particularly love Brooke's love beads. You guys ROCK!!!

Back in the Day...

Ah for a kindler gentler time--60's Day in my freshman English class back in the mid 90's before No Child Left Behind, before 9/11, before all these awesome students got a taste of the real world. We were hunkered down in our windowless classroom, rolling love beads out of bread dough and glue, brewing vats of herb tea, extracting Beatles lyrics to study as poetry, fashioning armbands and "marching" on the principal's office to stage a sit-in, tie-dyeing T-shirts out in a snowbank, inviting the counselor Mr. Belnap to bring his guitar and lead us in war protest songs. Peace. Love.

Cast Your Ballots!

All in favor of putting one of these cute little baby boys in every home in America, raise your hand! "I wanna vote! I wanna vote! Pick me! Hey, I'll vote twice!!! Me in every home!!! Yeah! Look over here! I wanna vote!"

Lily's New Boy Toy!

He's just widdow! But he's got a great big name! Harrison Edward Giles. Born on September 30 in Denver, CO. Parts look to be in place and functioning. In our family we count fingers. H.E. has 10. Good work.