My New Running Partner

When we first got our puppy I tried to take her running with me. I feel really bad that I did. She was so little that she couldn't keep up and she thought I would leave her if she couldn't see me. I took her to the track and made it one lap. The poor puppy was breathless and thirsty and I had to take her home. After that if she saw me running she would sit on the porch and wait for me to finish. Now that she is older and bigger she enjoys going with me and loves to tag along. I feel safe with a canine companion. There is something comforting about a dog at my side. She has been known to chase the coyotes away as well as the wild turkeys. But, I really wish she wouldn't chase the wild turkeys. I need them to eat those rotten apples from under the trees. Even though I make her go outside most of the day, I really do like having a dog for a pet.

Still Busy...

Here I am, workin' on my muscles. No time to blog when you have a pile of wood to chop.

Menacing Threat

It was time for dinner and the table was enclosed in a fort of blankets. Towers of books held the walls in place and pillows spilled out from the sides. I set the timer for seven minutes, as long as it took to steam the broccoli, and told the girls to pick it up before the timer went off. They thought they should challenge my request. "Or what will happen if we don't pick it up before the timer goes off?"
... me, scrambling for a threat, what would make them hurry?

... "I'll, .... I'll eat your broccoli and you won't get any!"
What ensued was amazing.
"Hurry, fast or we won't get any broccoli." Mad scrambling, blanket folding, book shuffling, orders barked at younger sister, and with exactly a minute to spare the table was clean.
You have to be quick around here if you want any broccoli!

Gainfully Employed

You may have noticed the sparcity of my posts lately. I blame that on my new job. I have been working for about a month now, using my Bachelors degree. (It sure is nice to have that hard work pay off!) It makes me want to get my Masters Degree. It does take up my time and keeps me busy, but it is worth it. I jumped in with both feet and I'm not looking back.

September Title Picture

Cousins! There is nothing so grand as time spent with a cousin. I remember driving hours in the car to visit my cousins. One year we drove to Wyoming for Thanksgiving, where my aunt had made 16 pies! (I can't remember the exact number, anyone know?) To me, the stack was miraculous. This was the same aunt who made my Christmas stockings! Did I mention she is amazing!

Don't throw it away!

Warning: Don't read this if your hungry.
My sister and I have this running joke that we can't throw food away unless it has some kind of mold on it. If there are any leftovers, but not enough to feed more than one person, you still have to put them in a container and place them into the fridge. You can't immediately throw them out. That would be wasteful. What if someone wanted to eat them later? (Only that never happens.) We seem to agree that we are not allowed to throw them away until they have been in the fridge for a week or two and they have become completely inedible and lost all nutritional value.
Last night I pulled off the mother lode of wasteful. My spinach was getting a little wilted and I knew I had to cook it or throw it away. So I pulled out a pan, added water, and boiled it for several minutes. Then I turned the pan off, left it on the stove overnight, and threw it away in the morning.

Flowering

Blooms of September

September Title Picture

The picture for September was a flower we planted. (cheers and clapping)

The girls had so much fun picking out packets of seeds in the local hardware store. Lulu kept insisting I let her buy a package of pumpkin seeds. We have several green ones growing on the hill next to the house. By the time we were ready to plant seeds it was late in the season and they were all 40% off. It turns out my daughters have pretty green thumbs. They must have inherited it from their dad. I have been know to kill several plants, namely the first bonsai DH bought. I cursed it. Now I am trying to change my ways and become a better person. I feel really bad about that first bonsai.

Silly Sayings...

• While reading a bed time story where the main character's name was Lucy, Lulu asked, "Does she loose things because her name is Lucy?"

• When playing dolls Z asked Lulu if her doll had a boyfriend. To which she replied, "No, they would chase us, or kid us."

• Last night while showing me a scratch Lulu remarked, "My owwee needs frosting and cake. That would make it better."

Hail, Hail, the gangs all here.

Well, the hail is here, anyway.