It's like this...

Tonight we went to a party that resembled a wedding more than a birthday party for a fifteen year old. The girl was dressed in white and had attendants, just like in a wedding. Here's the wedding birthday party. They all danced a waltz, the father read a piece about his little girl, she played a piano piece for us and then we were treated to a lovely buffet and a wedding birthday cake. Does this look like any birthday cake you've ever seen? Before the party we peeled potatoes and carrots for a salad. Here is Steph, Annabella and Christopher on KP. Here is Paco, Annabella, Ashley and Allison all dressed for the party. Earlier in the day we dropped Steph off at a gym so she could work out and then I drove the rest of the kids down my memory lane. I showed them the dorms I used to live in as a college freshman, then the house I lived in for nearly three years as I continued playing around and pretending to go to school my education. Then we drove up around the temple and I...

We just finished watching Argentina vs Germany in the World Cup. Since we are a house full of latinos, we were rooting for Argentina of course. They lost. It's so much fun being in a household of spanish speakers again. Non-stop chattering and I love it Last night there were people here from Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Uraguay, and Chile. I'd forgotten how much fun it is to 'become' latin with them, gesturing more with speech, emotional outbursts, hugging and kissing and lots of great food. It was heaven. Annabella has this enormous house. She wants us to sell our house and move down here with her. I'd love to! I love Orem/Provo. When I lived here going to BYU for four years, I enjoyed it immensely. I'm sure the kids would love it too. Of course there is the little problem of where would Lance work? This afternoon Is another soccor game then this evening we're going to a huge Quince party. A Quince is a party given when a child turns fifteen. It...

Our first adventure on the road occurred an hour and a half into the drive. Long enough for me to feel a little sleepy. All the kids were asleep when there was a loud BOOM! A large truck a little ahead and to the right of us had blown a tire. And I do mean blown. Large chunks of rubber came flying at me as I swerved to avoid hitting them. The noise had awakened two of the kids, my mad driving woke the remaining two. “Whoa, what was that?” “The semi blew a tire in front of us” “Whoa” Yeah, whoa. Now I was awake. Thankfully I missed most of the larger pieces of rubber and we kept on keeping’ on. For another twelve hours or so. I was delightfully surprised to find few complaints were made by the children, except to say that they needed a potty break or they were hungry. There was no fighting. For a while I was uncertain as to whether or not I had packed the right children when I left home. On our second leg of the journey, from Pocatello to Salt Lake City, they confirmed t...

I think I'm having it. It's over 90 degrees INSIDE MY HOUSE!! This isn't something that makes me feel all warm and cozy.. Well, warm sure. Cozy, not so much. I've been promised that our air conditioning will be done and working by the time I get home from hell one the hottest places on the planet (LV) I made mention of the fact that if the air conditioning is not hooked up and pumping out nice, frozen air by the time I'm supposed to start my return trip, I won't start my return trip. In fact, I won't come home at all. I'll stay right there, lodeged in that Las Vegas pool and I don't care how pruney I get, I won't come out. How's that for a temper tantrum. Oh, and my oil gauge did something wonky today. Hubby is outside looking into it right now. Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy, Joy.

We're still going on the ROAD TRIP TO PERDITION. However, we've had to cut some of the trip short and will not be making any stops in California. In fact, we won't be going to CA at all. Idaho, Utah, Nevada, back through Utah, Idaho and home. Did I mention that yesteerday it was hot enough in Las Vegas to dry up the canals in the Venetian Casino? Ayup. I think there was only steam left. My father in law sent me an email with a tantalizing picture of the pool that awaits us. Here's a picture of it from last year when our son was having such fun there. I'm looking foreward to this time on the road and with friends. I'll have my laptop with me and my digital camera, so I'll be uploading all the pictures and posting updates here on my blog so hubby and family can see our voyage.

The girls had fun with creamsicles yesterday. From left to right, Ashley,Allison and niece Nicole. I didn't know they had raspberry creamsicles before yesterday. Yes, I've been living in a cave, why do you ask? The girls took a break between trampoline jumping marathons and hosting three lemonade stands in front of our house. They made $6.81 for their work. Not too bad, considering it was a quarter a cup. I'm sure the neighbors love paying for our orange juice drink mix. We're off to church. Today is going to be a scorcher and the air conditioning still isn't hooked up. Someone shoot me.

Today will be hot. Tomorrow will be hotter. Monday I'm planning on exploding from the heat. Unless the air conditioning is finished being hooked up here of course. We've put it off for so long that it's now summer. Hubby is working on it right now, bless him. Anyone that knows me, knows I do not do well in heat. My father-in-law sent me an email saying it's 115 degrees in Lost Wages. But it's a dry heat, right?? Riiiiiight. I am contemplating not doing the road trip thing after all. Here are the reasons. 1. Locked in a vehicle for hours on end with a cranky teen who does not want to go. 2. We were forced to purchase tires for the suburban, which took a rather large chunk of change out of our trip savings. 3. The whole 'being in a car with my son while he whines for 3,000 miles. 4. The being away from my husband for so long thing. It will be close to three weeks. 5. Did I mention that whiny, teenage boy thing yet? 6. It's 115 degrees in Las ...

I went a little darker with the hair than I normally do. I'm thinking of lightening it up a bit. Whatcha think? I took this in the bathroom mirror last night. Apparently I also need to clean the bathroom mirror as the kids have been spitting their toothpaste there, rather than in the sink. Sorry about the photo quality, I'm not the best self photographer. Plus, I look really tired. EDIT: Ok, I'm putting the fugly picture back up, but I reserve the right to remove it.

Me: "Daniel, where's your Daddy?" Daniel: "He's in Iraq fighting da bad guys" Me: "Really?" Daniel: "Yeah, he's fighting the bad guys and making me proud!" Me: "Wow, he's making you proud, huh?" Daniel: "Yeah, and I'm taking good care of mommy. I make her peanut butter and jelly sammiches so I take good care of her" Me: "You're good to take care of her like that honey" Daniel: "Miss Pam, do you want to keep me?" Me; "No Daniel. I can'tkeep you" Daniel: "Is your heart broken?" Me: "Yes, my heart is broken" Daniel: "I will fix your broken heart, Miss Pam. In a minute" Me: "How will you fix it for me?" Daniel: "I know how to fix lots of stuff. Cuz I work at the policeman place, at builder work and that's how many works I work at" Me: "So you can fix my heart, huh?" Daniel: "Yeah" I...

And no, I don't need more cowbell. I need some Tylenol or something. Hubby is coming home from work to go get new tires for our suburban. I should have listened to him before I had the Great Tire Fiasco of 2006. He said that we should consider getting new tires. Pshaw I told him. (btw, 'pshwa' is a considerably underused word) So I talked him out of it, citing expense and the upcoming expense of the trip, plus oooh, new tires are expensive. I promise never to challenge him in the arena of Vehicular Expenditures again. Except of course if he thinks we need another new vehicle and comes across something shiny that empties out the children's college funds. Gaaaaa. My head hurts. I think I'll go back to bed.

This video is hilarious. Who knew you could teach Japanese tourists how to speak English via aeorobics?

Today has not been a stellar day. It was the last day of school, which was fine. There was apparently an armed man running around, so my girl's elementary school was placed into lockdown and according to my girls, lots of kids were crying and scared and I don't blame them. I took them home early. But not because of that. First, let me say that I did make it to the gym this morning, which was good. Then I went off to buy some unmentionables, as I needed new unmentionables. While I was there, my cell phone rang and it was my seventeen year old, demanding to know where I was. She and three of her friends were going to our beach cabin for a celebratory over night stay, and I was to drive ahead of them to show them the way. (She of course thought this was silly and that I didn't trust her, yada yada yada) So we drive. it's about a two hour drive. As we're driving, a rather large bug splattered my windshield and for some reason I kept thinking how horrible that ...

(And no Tom, sorry. This has nothing to do with you) My next door neighbor and all round SAINT, Jenny, has offered to do the editing, layout and graphics for my book!! Apparently she was in the biz B.C. (before childen) I read her email and couldn't believe the rise in my pulse rate. Of course I'd also just finished drinking one of these babys So that could account for my racing pulse, shortness of breath and energy level so high that I'm even contemplating doing a load of laundry. By hand! I'm so excited that I just sent over nearly my entire manuscript via email to her computer and now I've probably crashed it, it will cost thousands to repair and there goes our friendship. I'm so excited...I'm so excited...I'm so excited! Ok. Deep breaths. Calm. Go to your happy place Pammy. Ok, back to my happy dance!

"Miss Pam, you're old" "I know Daniel. I can't help it" "Your house smells nice, but you're still old" So, this disproves the theory that if you're old, your house must have that Old-People smell.

Number one son called from school. "Mom! How come you're not answering your cell phone??" Well, I've been working on my book for nearly four hours, I guess I didn't hear it because I forgot to put it in my bra. Forgive me, I had other things to think about. Like how many pages I've got so far, how much is this going to cost, what about marketing, what about graphics, etc. "MOOOM! I have a ten dollar fine and I want a milkshake or a smoothie for lunch" Of course he does. He got his braces on yesterday and since his teeth hurt, he can't eat. Or so he thinks. And didn't I just run over to the school last week and pay his fines? I was sure I did. "No, that was an old fine. This is a new fine" Well, certainly it is. We couldn't get through the second to last day of school without incurring yet another fine, now could we? So, good mother that I am, I put the boys into the car, went to Dairy Queen to get him a large vanilla s...

Someone from Tulane University found me by way of a google search looking for Dormitory Boys I'm sorry, but we have no dormitory boys here. I've looked. Today is next to last day of school for the rugrats. Perhaps I could send them off somewhere and then they could be dormitory boys. Well, dormitory boy at the very least. Which wouldn't be a bad thing, considering the evil look I got this morning because his mouth hurts from his brand spankin' new braces and it's evidently all my fault. Yes, I definitely think he's a Dormitory boy candidate.

Number One Son was to get his spacers put in this morning and his braces put in on Thursday. After I left the pool this morning I called the orthodontist's office because Stephanie (who already has her braces) broke a bracket and needs it fixed. Apparently they'd been frantically calling me all morning in an attempt to get Chris in today for everything as there had been a death in the Dr.'s family and he was leaving town. Sooooo. Today my son is getting his spacers and then a few minutes later they will pound his braces on him. Lance is home today, so I said we should take Chris out to lunch somewhere before he goes in so he can enjoy one last great meal before the pain. Lance offers to take him. No problem. Then it dawns on me. He's taking him because he wants to take him someplace other than a drive thru. I know exactly where. > Famous Daves Barbecue. I can't say as I blame him. Who could resist that? I hope they have some father/son bonding time. A...

Gad, how did I get to be the age where I'm in charge of enforcing curfews on a hormonal seventeen year old girl child?? She knows her curfew is 11:30. This is a highly generous curfew time, considering that she's gorgeous. If I had my druthers, she'd be homeschooled and wearing burlap sacks over her body and a large sombrero on her head and never allowed to see any boys. She works out at a gym near our home every day. She's been utterly fanatical about it, sometimes going there twice a day. She's missed her curfew three times this week alone. Tonight I text messaged her and told her to get home. No response. I texted her again that I was coming over there. She obviously didn't believe me because she didn't come home. I went over. In my nightie and barefoot no less. It's nearly midnight, I'd rather have been asleep. I didn't go in. I didn't have to. It's a 24 hour gym, and you can see inside. I saw her truck and one other tr...

My dear friend, and close personal intellectual, Vicus , has said that no one reads or comments on posts that are made on Saturdays. I proved him wrong by both reading and commenting upon his saturday post. And now I'm off to post something here myself. Hubby and I took the girls to the pool this morning and swam their little hearts out. We snuck out of the big family pool to bathe in the hot jacuzzi (no one under fifteen allowed) by ourselves. It felt soooooo good. Both our backs were hurting and the jets combined with the hot water = yum. I've also been working on our road trip, trying to pare it down even more but I don't think I can, unless I skip California. But then the kids will be upset that we don't dip down into Mexico for a day or so. So....Mexico or no. The polls are now open. Please cast your votes.

So, lets see. I've pared down our road trip from 3 1/2 weeks, to 2 1/2 weeks, but that's still a long time to be in the car with four (perhaps five) children. We're leaving a burly house sitter here at our home. He loves cats, dogs, and shotguns. I think things will be fine. However, that still doesn't make me feel all warm and cuddly about this trip. I take that back. I do. In fact, if I had my way, I'd stay on the road for the entire summer. However, I'd only do that if it was only my hubby and I. I'd take the children, but they'd have to know that there would be consequences to their actions and/or verbalizations while on the road. We are going to Idaho, Utah, Nevada, California, Oregon and then back home to Washington. We're staying with friends and family the entire time, except for probably two nights somewhere in California or Oregon. I hope to show the children parts of the Redwood Forest in California and the Seal Lion Caves on t...

Last night there was an incident of Bacon Grease Flicking. This involved my nine year old and my seven year old. The nine year old was the flicker, the seven year old was the flickee. The bacon grease landed in the bacon grease flickee's hair. This was, of course, shortly after bathtime, when the hair was nicely laundered for the next day. This is the next day. I was assured that the bacon grease flicker would do no more flicking and that the bacon grease flickee would submit to a shower this morning in order to remove the bacon grease from her hair. As you can plainly see (Oh how I love cell phone cameras that make no audible picture taking noise so the victim is not aware that a snap has occurred!)the bacon grease flickee's hair is still coated in...erm...bacon grease. She has refused a shower, and my spinal column will not allow me to do a forced shower on her. She is going to school in this condition. I told her that I will most likely get a phone call asking me why m...

I've been doing some research on self-publishing my book. From all the info gleaned, I think it might be a good way to go. Has anyone out there had success with self publishing a book? I'd love to hear from you.

This is so funny to me. Our female cat has been wandering the house, caterwauling so loudly, especially at night. Everyone in the family is complaining about the noise. Then it dawned on me. She's in heat. Here's the funny thing. Our male cat (uncle daddy) is fixed. Our female cat, she of the Matrix Moves , is not. This morning I watched as the female writhed and meowed in front of the male, so he climbed on top of her, shook his head, got off her and ran away. It was like I could see a thought bubble above his head saying, "Hmm...I think this was fun, but I don't really remem......oh look! Something shiny over there!" The female then did more loud wailing and ran off as well. Poor thing. I did the pool this morning with a brutal headache. Still have some of it lingering on the right side of my head. I'm making lasagna for dinner tonight, as it's Dan's favorite meal. He's the one being shipped off to Iraq next week to live on army rations ...

Do you ever have dreams so vivid that you wake up not knowing if they were real or not? I just had one and it was so bizarre. And horrible. In it my father died. Then for some reason I was at a Christmas party at my sis-in-laws house, only her house appeared to be on the waterfront in downtown Seattle and I was feeling bad that I didn't have time to help out more with the dinner and decorations. My husband's father was handing out painkillers and wasn't giving any to me. I felt so bad and wanted a little cup with the pills in it too. Very strange. So, interpretations anyone?

Someone in Ohio found my blog via a word search for I Am Too Stupid To Live Yes, there's not a lot more fulfilling than to know I'm loved for my stupidity. I work so hard at it, it's good that people notice.

" EVERYONE but ME in my first grade class has their ears pierced!!! This was follwed by numerous foot stamps and more whining. And this is supposed to make me think you're mature enough for what?

You have to see this!

I think I have one. Or four. Or now that I think about it ::counts on fingers and toes::: I have eight. Four children, three cats, and one dog. Uncle daddy went missing last night. You must understand that mine are indoor kitties. They are not allowed to venture outside our home as I want them to remain healthy for years to come. So it happens that somehow Uncle Daddy escaped last night and I can't sleep when one of my childen aren't home and accounted for. So no sleep for me. I must have woken hubby up around 1:30 and when he found out that our cat was missing, he got right out of bed to search for him. This, from a man who was going to have to get up for good in less than two hours. Is there any wonder why I love him? (Sorry Tom!) Lance found our wet and very frightened cat outside in front of our house. He's been skittish all day since. I hope he learned his lesson that it's a big bad world out there. Having had no sleep, I wasn't in the mood to he...

I've discovered a few people have made their way here via Google searches looking for the following: Lonely Puss Don't cry over spilled milk I'm not afraid to go back to jail Odd how people find you online, isn't it? There are more, but I thought those were interesting. At least I'm not popping up on porn searches. I mean, I'm not, right? Right? ::tap tap tap::: Is this thing on? Hellooooo?

This is Twitchy and his mother, Smokey hiding under a bed. For good reason. Today we’re going to talk about the right way, and the wrong way to take your cat to see the vet for the first time The right way is to pick them up in your arms, in a nice quiet room, soothe them with your voice and place them gently inside the pet carrier. Carefully close the pet carrier door, all the while talking in dulcet tones to keep your beloved animal peaceful and feeling loved. The wrong way is how my husband attempted to do it today, which resulted in bloodshed, excrement and a chipped tooth. His, not the cat’s. The chipped tooth I mean. Also, for clarification purposes, it was the cat who had the crap literally scared out of him and not (as was the rumor) my husband. We have two cats that have not seen a vet before. One is the mother of the boy, who is the result of an unfortunate act of incest by our third cat, who is now in his fourth month of a serious time out for breeding with his sister. Than...

Having spent the majority of yesterday in bed with hubby (and not in good way), it's nice to climb from the sack this morning to find that my tummy issues appear to have resolved, but my spinal column is still trying to kill me. I'll head off to the pool after I get the last of the kidlets off to school. It usually helps me work the kinks out and I feel better for it. I hope my hubby's back is feeling better this morning. That reminds me, I need to make him an appointment with the Chiropractor. Next week marks the end of the school year for my babies. The year seems to have flown. Again. Soon I'll be sitting in a nursing home, gumming my meals, holding wheelchair races down the halls and wondering why my children never visit. Ah yes, the cycle of life. I've spent the last couple of days working on columns for deadlines and pondering writing a letter to a murderer. When I was fourteen, my best friend was raped and murdered. Everyone, including a good family f...

I took the following from the US website on travel advisories: CRIME: Caracas has one of the highest murder rates in Latin America. Most murders go unsolved. The poor neighborhoods that cover the hills around Caracas are very dangerous. (I have walked those ranchito-filled hills and totally agree.) These areas are seldom patrolled by police and should be avoided. Armed robberies are common in urban and tourist areas throughout Venezuela. Crimes committed against travelers are usually money-oriented crimes, such as theft and armed robbery. Incidents occur during daylight hours as well as at night. Many criminals are armed with guns or knives and will use force. Jewelry attracts the attention of thieves. Travelers are advised to leave jewelry items, especially expensive-looking wristwatches, at home. I've been pondering the invitation to a wedding in Caracas in December. I lived in Venezuela for a time, but haven't been back in (ouch) twenty years. I keep in touch wi...

This morning I took my two youngest to the YMCA pool, along with two of their friends. It was fun for the girls. Allison is a little fish in the water. Nothing frightens her and she goes underwater with great ease. Ashley is another story. While my littlest angel loves the water, she really hasn't gotten the hang of swimming yet. I'm not sure that she ever will be a great swimmer, but I'd certainly like it if she could be taught to keep herself above water for a period of time. Right now it's a bit dangerous for her if she can't touch bottom with her feet. The Y has two water slides, one small and one very tall. They opened the small red one for a bit and I caught Ashley each time she came down. Then they opened the blue one. This one required climbing a lot of stairs. Ashley climbed up, so excited to be going down the big slide. The lifeguard at the top sent her back down, telling her she had to pass the swimming test before she could go on the blue slide....

I have something to confess, and it doesn’t involve illicit relations with Cheetos, over-consumption of chocolate (I’m saving that one for later), or my days as a mole in the CIA. No, this unburdening of my soul regards feet. I can’t stand them. I dislike them so much that I can hardly bear to touch my very own feet, let alone the feet of any other human being. I like putting the tops of my feet on my husbands feet, but other than that, don’t ask me to touch anyone’s feet. Baby feet aren’t considered ‘feet’, for purposes of this column. They’re brand spanking new, corn-free and uber soft. I love those. It’s the larger, older feet that I have trouble dealing with. This brings me to today. I did something today that I’ve never, ever, in all my many years walking upon this earth, done. I got a pedicure. Everyone has told me how relaxing a pedicure is and how much they love getting one and how much they thought I should do it. I love it when my wonderful husband, lotion in hand, r...

I log on to blog and realize I am rendered incommunicado by the Blog Gods. So, I sit and type into a word processing thingy to past over there later. I did the pool/gym thing this morning for the first time in four days. Back was still trying to kill me, but I managed. I felt better afterwards, which is why I keep going in the first place. If I don't go, then chances are my days of walking this third rock from the sun are numbered. We can't have that, as too many little people are depending upon me. Then I went to Costco and spend an unmentionable amount of dinero. I'd say it's not my fault but it was me pushing the cart and piling things into it. I bought everyone a new beach towel as well since the ones we have are years old and are becoming less towel and more just threads still managing to hang it together for whatever reason. I hope the kids like them. Suffice it to say, we're good in the food department until at least tomorrow. Earlier if my son brings...

This morning there was a breakfast at my girl's school for all the parents that have volunteered over the course of the year. The theme for today was hawaiian luau, so everyone dressed in colorful shirts, or skirts, with flowers in their hair and leis around their necks. It was a lovely breakfast and later the principle led all the teachers up front to put on a hula for us. Very cute. I forgot my camera and my cell camera has given up the ghost. You'll be happy to know that I found my keys. Well, hubby found them actually. They were in my purse. Not sure how that happened. At any rate, I was able to go to the breakfast with my girls. All the children and the majority of adults were wearing flip flops on their feet. Ashley decided that she was going to wear them as well. The problem is, she can't walk in them. She can't keep them on her feet and her walk deteriorates into a sort of stumbling shuffle. It hurt to watch her keep trying, but I couldn't say ...

I was given the task of naming ten things that begin with the letter B , as they pertain to my life. Beauty is something I try to see in the little things that surround me in my daily life. Blessings are something I have in abundance. Beasts , of which I have four. One doggie and three cats. Bravery , as seen on a daily basis in the life of my youngest child. Bottomless , in that my teenage son is a never ending pit of hunger. Brilliant ,as describes my children in their ability to play their daddy :grin: Bubble Baths are one of my favorite evening delights. Lighted candles surround the tub, hot hot water and some soothing music. Bed , where I love to snuggle with my babies. Broken , what I wouldn't become when life has tried to beat me down. Best is what's ahead for me and my family.

Keys are important. Uber important. I seem to have lost mine. Now, I wouldn't really worry, except that I do something not so brainy with my keys. I have a little wallet type thingy attached to my keys that contain my drivers license, and all my credit cards, gym membership card and my library card. Someone could be checking out books at this very moment with my library card! And lest you think that some morally challenged idiot, finding himself/herself in possesion of a purloined library card would be too dense to use it, think again. My eldest lost hers and it was promptly used by some degenerate to check out nearly a hundred dollars worth of books and dvds from our local biblioteca. You do not want to know what the fines for those things are. So....what to do. Worry about over due book charges? Furrow my brow over the loss of everything in my bank account? Or dig around the house a bit more to see where my keys might be hiding. Searching the house would be more promising...

THE MUSLIM QUESTION

The night after the big party at our house, a nearly full can of rootbeer jumped to it's death from our dresser around midnight. I heard it go and then there was the hiss of the pop escaping the can and soaking into our carpeting. I was not pleased. We'd gone through the house with a trash bag after the party collecting empty cans of pop, full cans of pop, half full cups of punch and numerous plates from full to empty. I thought we'd collected it all...but apparently we missed this one can. It's suicide leap wasn't without help of course. The cats helped it along and then dropped to the floor to see what it tasted like. Dang cats. My son's hair is very long. We've been discussing the merits of being able to see , vs not being able to see when you're...oh, say, riding your dirtbike around hills and trees. Dirtbiking is his new passion, as you can see below. He's the one on the left. The one with too much hair in his eyes. So he comes to us a...

Strange, strange chickens. Hens, to be exact. You know you've fallen low when you click on a link to a live webcam to watch Hens in England . It's not so much that I've fallen low, it's that I can't stop clicking on things. It's bound to come up as some sort of disease in the medical journals sometime soon. Link Clickers are not responsible for their behaviors.

I watch (as most of you know) two little boys each day while their mom goes off to work in real estate. I love these boys as though they were my very own, and I like to think that they love me in return. Daniel, the older of the two, is always saying things that cause me to laugh. Today, as he pulled one of a number of long hairs out of my carpeting upstairs, he said, "Miss Pam, your house is old" Me: "No honey, it's only two years old, That's not old yet" Daniel: "Yes it is. Your house is old because it has hair now!" The other day, as I was working in the kitchen, he came up behind me and told me the following: Daniel: "Miss Pam, I want to go over to Olivia's house and play doctor with her" At this point I was greatly relieved that my back was to him. Without turning around, and without too much laughter in my voice, I asked him to repeat his request. He did. Me: (still with my back turned) Honey, What do you mean by playi...

Taylor was the object of much adoration here yesterday. This was taken upstairs in our bedroom. My two girls, Ashley and Allison, my sister's two girls, Nicole and Jessica, are admiring little Taylor. The angel of the hour, Taylor Christine. She slept like..well, a baby, through her blessing. She was wearing such an adorable white dress with a lovely white bonnet. I didn't think to take a picture of her then. After the family and friends departed, our kitten came out from hiding to play with Ashley.

My mother would have loved yesterday. Family gatherings were what fed her heart and soul. She's been gone for four years now. It hardly seems possible. The walls of my home were bursting with family yesterday. On mother's day, my great niece Taylor Christine was born. Yesterday, circled about by her great-grandfather, her grandfather on both sides, her father and some uncles, she was given a name and a blessing. Afterwards everyone came to our house for a brunch. I felt the empty spot where my mother should have been, so I carefully removed the one pink depression glass plate that I have from my china cabinet and filled it with the bannana bread I'd made from her special recipe. I placed the plate on the dessert table in our dining room, amongst the cupcakes, cheese cakes, and a lovely black cherry chocolate cake. Mom collected pink depression glassware , which as the name implies, was manufactured and sold during the depression to bring some color and cheer into ...

But I'm not. I'm only human. Well, partly human. Sometimes.

My beautiful great-niece Taylor is being blessed this Sunday. I offered my house for the after-blessing festivities. My offer was accepted. Apparently there will be forty to fifty people arriving on my doorstep around 11 or so, Sunday. At first I'd offered to do all the food. However, when it was brought to my attention that there would be such a flood of humanity arriving at our home, saner heads intervened and decided this would be best worked out as a potluck of sorts. Now all I have to do is to clean my house top to bottom because most of the people coming haven't been here before and tours of every nook and cranny will be the order of the day. I spent the day very nearly cleaning my kitchen top to bottom with a toothbrush and magnifying glass making my kitchen presentable and then using q-tips to hunt down any rogue dust motes doing general cleaning up around the downstairs. Oh yes, tomorrow is going to be even more fun. Stay tuned for details.

Most of you know that I've got four children. My eldest is seventeen. Oh heavens...how did that happen? Wasn't I just seventeen the other day? I'm sure I was.... Well, she's amazing. I know the majority of mothers have very high compliments to pay their children--and rightly so. However, my baby girl is astounding by anyone's standards. She is going to high school and college at the same time. In high school she's taking mostly AP (Advanced Placement) classes, which also count for college credits. She gets up at five a.m. every morning, goes to Seminary, then goes to school, she works four hours daily as an office manager at Winderemere Real Estate. She speaks Spanish, plays piano, guitar and flute. She goes to the gym daily and it shows. This was her yesterday. This is a picture I just took of her, after getting her braces put on. Now, having said that she is gifted and talented, I should ammend this post to tell you the following. She just got home...