I never put up the hummingbird feeder. In fact, I never refilled any of the feeders. I think I didn't want to get their hopes up only to disappoint them when I leave. (Good excuse, no?) I think it's cool that the wrens nested in our garage twice this year. I think there were three babies this time. They left the nest last Thursday, and on Friday there was still one left in the garage. It looked like Momma wren was still coming in and feeding the bird, but the baby couldn't figure its way out. I figured I would let them work it out on their own, but when the baby still hadn't left the garage on Saturday I finally opened the back door a crack. It didn't take long before the baby was outside. I heard the birds chirping around the yard for the rest of the weekend, but I haven't seen them since. I have seen a Rufous-Sided Towhee hopping around the back yard a few times. I think the coloring on those birds is quite striking, so I have been excited to see it so often. It's been a few years. [Apparently the bird formerly known as the rufous-sided towhee is now the Eastern Towhee. Thank you, Wikipedia.]
I am looking forward to seeing my family soon. As always I panicked before purchasing the plane ticket. It is so expensive to travel. Even though I knew that there was no way around it--it was going to cost what it was going to cost--I wished that you were here that night to encourage me to go ahead and press "Purchase Ticket." It was after 10:00pm and there was no one that I could call to calm me. Even if you were home you would probably have been asleep; I would have woken you up to ask you if I should go ahead and purchase the tickets; and you would have been a little annoyed with me. I always freak out with big expenses. But, I really feel like it is worth the expense to spend this time with my family, to meet my brother's bride and see him get married, and to see you as well.
I started going through the book about New England that I picked up from the used book store. As I looked through it, I decided that I am going to encourage my boys to do a little extra study to go along with our excursions. I started compiling a reading list for them including some books by local authors as well as the history behind some of the places we will be visiting. I plan on doing this for both Utah and New England. Todd's teacher just told him today that she expects her students to read 33 hours over the summer. That averages to about 3 hours a week. We are hoping that he has the same teacher for next year, and I would love for him to be able to report back that he continued to read. I also think it will be good for Ryan to have a reading goal this summer.
I have big plans to keep Todd busy learning this summer. I think I already told you that his teacher wants to work with him via e-mail and online to get ahead on the fourth grade math and hopefully finish the book this summer. And I would like to pick up where we left off on some piano lessons. Lofty goals we have.
I am looking forward to having a girls night out (just dinner at this point) with Jen, Donna, and Anne, for my birthday Friday night. I drove by Coach-N-Four earlier this month. It made me miss you and the birthday dinner you might have treated me to. Actually, I really enjoyed my birthday dinner at the Boathouse last year. That was a lovely evening.
I love that I have been able to talk and hang out with Jen more. I really enjoy having her live close. Jen took me and the boys out for a Mother's Day (Eve) movie. ["Chimpanzee" was a great choice for our diverse group--young, oldish, male, female.] It meant so much to hear Jen tell me that I was one of her favorite mothers. It literally brought tears to my ears to feel her sincerity when she said that.(Especially after a tough week when I felt like my new neighbors maybe didn't respect my parenting much. What do they know, anyway?)
I feel like my brain has been a little fried lately. I have not done nearly as well keeping up with my updates as I would like. But I think about you all the time. I get excited to share your story with people who ask about you. I really am so proud of you and what you are accomplishing. Sometimes I probably gush too much, but I can't help it. You are very cool, and I have enjoyed following you on this adventure.
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
For Brett From Home (4/24/12)
I miss having you around to share my little nothing-happenings. However, it has been kind of fun recording these daily thoughts. Years from now it will be interesting to see what concerned me and what I thought about.
I mentioned on the phone that the sago palm is splitting. It is forming two cones. It isn't the sago palm right by the mailbox as I first told you. It is the one closest to Bobby's yard.
The lawn mower is working well enough that your dad was able to use it today. It still has troubles though. I'm not sure what the diagnosis is, but the motor keeps dying. I blew off the back patio and your dad successfully mowed our yard yesterday. Hooray! Hopefully the oaks are almost done dropping. I will make a point to check the gutters and clean them out soon.
We finally got some good rain last Tuesday. We needed it. It was pouring hard for at least a half hour right after the boys got on the bus. I would like to have been curled up in bed, but no such luck. It was kind of a cozy, snuggle-up rain. I don't suppose you have that same feeling about rain these days.
We got more rain on Saturday. Since then the temperature has dropped, and it has been quite nice, although windy. The wind chimes were so loud on Sunday when Jen was over that she shut the sliding glass door. She said she felt like she had to yell to talk to me. I was thinking about you all day today wondering how cold you have been. I heard that had some snow in New England.
The spring weather has been beautiful lately. There have been a few days (today included) when I would really like to have driven the Mustang. I'll just have to wait until you're back in the fall and make a point to drive it then.
The boys are still not getting to bed with any regularity. It would drive you crazy. There was one day last week when Ryan just didn't wake up on his own. He was completely out of it, and I felt so bad for his tired little body that I let him sleep in until 7:45am. I finally had to go in and wake him up. He was thrown off by the fact that he had slept in past the time that the bus is supposed to come. It made him a little grumpy until he discovered that I had decided that all of the boys would just be car riders that morning.
I have also not been going to bed well (big surprise!). I am not staying up past Midnight; my bedtime has been more like 11:30pm. But the six or seven hours of sleep I get each night just hasn't been enough. It is starting to wear on me. In fact, last week I had a dream where I came across an alligator snapping turtle (which didn't look like a real alligator snapping turtle--its shell was covered in fuzz...). I knew that the turtle was quick and vicious and I had to move it out of the road (I'm not sure why...). But I was simply too weak and tired to get it out my way. I wasn't just tired in my dream. I was weak and tired in real life, even though I was sleeping, and it carried over into my dream.
In fact, I have been remembering a lot of my dreams lately. Some of them are good dreams. Many of them are spurred by real-life situations. (Anne had recently told me about coming across an alligator snapping turtle in the middle the road.) I had a dream where I attended an end-of-the-year function at the elementary school. There was some drama in the dream, but what stuck out to me was the table of desserts we got to sample. One of the desserts served was pineapple upside-down cupcakes. I had recently seen a recipe for them in my recipe binder (in real life and in the dream) and was so excited to be able to try them. I woke up wanting to bake them, but have had to hold off because we still have too many sweets around the house from Easter and now Todd's birthday.
Monday was Todd's birthday. It may take me a while to get used to him being NINE years old. We celebrated yesterday and today. I will probably let him invite a friend or two to do something fun this Saturday as well. On Friday your dad took Todd and me out to dinner (Chinese) for our birthdays (even though mine is still a month away.) On Sunday we had the whole family over for cake and ice cream. Todd got a few presents from the family. Yesterday morning I let Todd open the few presents from me before breakfast. I made him orange ricotta pancakes, which he had requested the night before. And I baked chocolate chip cookies for him to share with his class at school. The boys had baseball after school and I had chorus practice tonight, so we didn't really do anything to celebrate in the evening. All in all, we kept it simple, but I think Todd was really happy with his birthday.
Baseball is still going strong. I feel like I haven't seen very much of their games. Last week I stayed home from Todd's two games in order to put Ryan to bed earlier. When your dad took us to dinner on Friday he told me that Todd had been hit by the ball during his game the night before. I asked Todd to show me. He has a huge bruise on his thigh! He never mentioned it when he came home that night. (It was so late that I had to hurry him along just to get him in bed before 10:00pm.) And he never mentioned it the next morning before school. Poor tough guy.
Last week it seemed like Copper was not keeping up with me very well on his walks. Last night was a completely different story. He was so full of energy. I asked your mom if we could give him a run yesterday evening just as it was getting dark. Copper ran harder than I have seen him run in a while. When I got back I told your mom that I was sure that he would have run away last night without that run. This morning he was in the mood to run as well. I'm glad that I was able to give him his morning roller-blading run. He had no trouble keeping up with me. Since the morning was crisp and beautiful I made sure that I went a little longer for him.
The other day I mentioned smelling the honeysuckle vines on the golf course. The flowers smelled so sweet last night that I commented on them. Todd corrected me and informed me that they were jasmine. I looked it up on Wikipedia last night. He was right, of course. And clearly I know nothing about flowers!
I am looking forward for your return for Copper's benefit possibly more than mine. We sure try to do our best with him, but it's not the same. On Sunday he did something that he hasn't done in a very long time. I had gone to Publix the day before and bought a baguette. When I came home from church all that I could find of it was the plastic bag it came in torn in pieces. He ate the entire thing. Luckily it doesn't look like it made him sick. Thank goodness he left Todd's birthday cake alone. It was cooling on a rack, covered with a dish towel.
I have been getting my fill of chick flicks while you have been gone. Lately I have been crushing on Zac Efron. Yes, he is quite young and was a star on Disney's High School Musical. But he has grown to be quite the good-looking man. I'm looking forward to seeing the latest chick flick he starred in.
Wishing you were here to hug and kiss on. Hope you're doing well.
Much love from home.
I mentioned on the phone that the sago palm is splitting. It is forming two cones. It isn't the sago palm right by the mailbox as I first told you. It is the one closest to Bobby's yard.
The lawn mower is working well enough that your dad was able to use it today. It still has troubles though. I'm not sure what the diagnosis is, but the motor keeps dying. I blew off the back patio and your dad successfully mowed our yard yesterday. Hooray! Hopefully the oaks are almost done dropping. I will make a point to check the gutters and clean them out soon.
We finally got some good rain last Tuesday. We needed it. It was pouring hard for at least a half hour right after the boys got on the bus. I would like to have been curled up in bed, but no such luck. It was kind of a cozy, snuggle-up rain. I don't suppose you have that same feeling about rain these days.
We got more rain on Saturday. Since then the temperature has dropped, and it has been quite nice, although windy. The wind chimes were so loud on Sunday when Jen was over that she shut the sliding glass door. She said she felt like she had to yell to talk to me. I was thinking about you all day today wondering how cold you have been. I heard that had some snow in New England.
The spring weather has been beautiful lately. There have been a few days (today included) when I would really like to have driven the Mustang. I'll just have to wait until you're back in the fall and make a point to drive it then.
The boys are still not getting to bed with any regularity. It would drive you crazy. There was one day last week when Ryan just didn't wake up on his own. He was completely out of it, and I felt so bad for his tired little body that I let him sleep in until 7:45am. I finally had to go in and wake him up. He was thrown off by the fact that he had slept in past the time that the bus is supposed to come. It made him a little grumpy until he discovered that I had decided that all of the boys would just be car riders that morning.
I have also not been going to bed well (big surprise!). I am not staying up past Midnight; my bedtime has been more like 11:30pm. But the six or seven hours of sleep I get each night just hasn't been enough. It is starting to wear on me. In fact, last week I had a dream where I came across an alligator snapping turtle (which didn't look like a real alligator snapping turtle--its shell was covered in fuzz...). I knew that the turtle was quick and vicious and I had to move it out of the road (I'm not sure why...). But I was simply too weak and tired to get it out my way. I wasn't just tired in my dream. I was weak and tired in real life, even though I was sleeping, and it carried over into my dream.
In fact, I have been remembering a lot of my dreams lately. Some of them are good dreams. Many of them are spurred by real-life situations. (Anne had recently told me about coming across an alligator snapping turtle in the middle the road.) I had a dream where I attended an end-of-the-year function at the elementary school. There was some drama in the dream, but what stuck out to me was the table of desserts we got to sample. One of the desserts served was pineapple upside-down cupcakes. I had recently seen a recipe for them in my recipe binder (in real life and in the dream) and was so excited to be able to try them. I woke up wanting to bake them, but have had to hold off because we still have too many sweets around the house from Easter and now Todd's birthday.
Monday was Todd's birthday. It may take me a while to get used to him being NINE years old. We celebrated yesterday and today. I will probably let him invite a friend or two to do something fun this Saturday as well. On Friday your dad took Todd and me out to dinner (Chinese) for our birthdays (even though mine is still a month away.) On Sunday we had the whole family over for cake and ice cream. Todd got a few presents from the family. Yesterday morning I let Todd open the few presents from me before breakfast. I made him orange ricotta pancakes, which he had requested the night before. And I baked chocolate chip cookies for him to share with his class at school. The boys had baseball after school and I had chorus practice tonight, so we didn't really do anything to celebrate in the evening. All in all, we kept it simple, but I think Todd was really happy with his birthday.
Baseball is still going strong. I feel like I haven't seen very much of their games. Last week I stayed home from Todd's two games in order to put Ryan to bed earlier. When your dad took us to dinner on Friday he told me that Todd had been hit by the ball during his game the night before. I asked Todd to show me. He has a huge bruise on his thigh! He never mentioned it when he came home that night. (It was so late that I had to hurry him along just to get him in bed before 10:00pm.) And he never mentioned it the next morning before school. Poor tough guy.
Last week it seemed like Copper was not keeping up with me very well on his walks. Last night was a completely different story. He was so full of energy. I asked your mom if we could give him a run yesterday evening just as it was getting dark. Copper ran harder than I have seen him run in a while. When I got back I told your mom that I was sure that he would have run away last night without that run. This morning he was in the mood to run as well. I'm glad that I was able to give him his morning roller-blading run. He had no trouble keeping up with me. Since the morning was crisp and beautiful I made sure that I went a little longer for him.
The other day I mentioned smelling the honeysuckle vines on the golf course. The flowers smelled so sweet last night that I commented on them. Todd corrected me and informed me that they were jasmine. I looked it up on Wikipedia last night. He was right, of course. And clearly I know nothing about flowers!
I am looking forward for your return for Copper's benefit possibly more than mine. We sure try to do our best with him, but it's not the same. On Sunday he did something that he hasn't done in a very long time. I had gone to Publix the day before and bought a baguette. When I came home from church all that I could find of it was the plastic bag it came in torn in pieces. He ate the entire thing. Luckily it doesn't look like it made him sick. Thank goodness he left Todd's birthday cake alone. It was cooling on a rack, covered with a dish towel.
I have been getting my fill of chick flicks while you have been gone. Lately I have been crushing on Zac Efron. Yes, he is quite young and was a star on Disney's High School Musical. But he has grown to be quite the good-looking man. I'm looking forward to seeing the latest chick flick he starred in.
Wishing you were here to hug and kiss on. Hope you're doing well.
Much love from home.
Monday, April 9, 2012
For Brett, From Home (4/9/12)
It was so nice to talk with you last night and the night before. I can't remember the last time we talked on the phone for an hour. I'm glad that you had a nice trail town to enjoy this beautiful spring weekend.
I'm sorry I wrapped up our conversation last night with the sad news of our dearly departed wren. I know these things happen in nature, but I worry about the two fledglings who may not be able to make it with one of their parents gone. You kind of had me freaked out about the possibility of one of the babies getting stuck somewhere in the garage. I did a quick search through the garage and didn't see anything. I think they found their way out. One of them left behind a poopy mess on the window of the back door that I will have to clean up. Ewwww.
Speaking of poopy messes. On my way back from the store this morning I noticed that the golf course was watering our road with their big poop-water sprinklers. There was absolutely no way around. I rolled up all the windows in the car and forged ahead through the spray. Now my car stinks! I think I am going to have to pull it back out of the garage and give it a rinse. Pardon me for a moment.... Whoo-eee! Peee-eww!
I took Copper for an evening golf course run yesterday. He was limping pretty badly on Saturday, so I didn't exercise him. He seemed better yesterday, but I am still nervous about running him on the road.
I've watched a few movies on Netflix this last week or two while trying to get chores done. I am a little embarrassed by how cheesy they may seem, but they were perfect for me. Light chick-flicks (including some ABC family originals) that are not objectionable and don't require much concentration. Here are some of the titles: "Revenge of the Bridesmaids," "My Fake Fiance," "Love's Kitchen," and get this one (I smile and cringe as I type it.) . . . "Pizza My Heart". I'm thinking of watching "My Future Boyfriend" next. It doesn't matter that I can't hear you laughing me at me--I'm laughing at myself!
I just got off the phone with your mom to discuss our weekly schedule. This is a necessary phone call each week. We will continue to have more scheduling phone calls as the week progresses to coordinate baseball games and practices, as well as other kid-watching needs. I'm looking forward to summer.
My sink spilleth over. This weekend of holiday activities has done a number on my kitchen. I've been so worn out the last two evenings that I haven't been able to catch up. It hasn't been this bad in a while. Today's job: dishes and laundry. If I could only finish those two things I would be a happy homemaker.
I never got to ask you how you enjoyed the Easter messages (and my drawing of Copper) we sent you in the mail drop. I still laugh that some of my messages made it into the hands of fellow hikers: "[heart] I love you, Brett! [heart]," "Hugs and Kisses from your Hun: [heart] X O X [heart] X O X [heart]," "You're one in a million! I'm proud of you for living your dreams." and "Keep it up! Our thoughts and prayers are directed to you." I'm glad that I didn't say anything too embarrassing. I don't mind that they know that you are loved and supported from home. You do indeed have our support and love (especially mine).
I'm sorry I wrapped up our conversation last night with the sad news of our dearly departed wren. I know these things happen in nature, but I worry about the two fledglings who may not be able to make it with one of their parents gone. You kind of had me freaked out about the possibility of one of the babies getting stuck somewhere in the garage. I did a quick search through the garage and didn't see anything. I think they found their way out. One of them left behind a poopy mess on the window of the back door that I will have to clean up. Ewwww.
Speaking of poopy messes. On my way back from the store this morning I noticed that the golf course was watering our road with their big poop-water sprinklers. There was absolutely no way around. I rolled up all the windows in the car and forged ahead through the spray. Now my car stinks! I think I am going to have to pull it back out of the garage and give it a rinse. Pardon me for a moment.... Whoo-eee! Peee-eww!
I took Copper for an evening golf course run yesterday. He was limping pretty badly on Saturday, so I didn't exercise him. He seemed better yesterday, but I am still nervous about running him on the road.
I've watched a few movies on Netflix this last week or two while trying to get chores done. I am a little embarrassed by how cheesy they may seem, but they were perfect for me. Light chick-flicks (including some ABC family originals) that are not objectionable and don't require much concentration. Here are some of the titles: "Revenge of the Bridesmaids," "My Fake Fiance," "Love's Kitchen," and get this one (I smile and cringe as I type it.) . . . "Pizza My Heart". I'm thinking of watching "My Future Boyfriend" next. It doesn't matter that I can't hear you laughing me at me--I'm laughing at myself!
I just got off the phone with your mom to discuss our weekly schedule. This is a necessary phone call each week. We will continue to have more scheduling phone calls as the week progresses to coordinate baseball games and practices, as well as other kid-watching needs. I'm looking forward to summer.
My sink spilleth over. This weekend of holiday activities has done a number on my kitchen. I've been so worn out the last two evenings that I haven't been able to catch up. It hasn't been this bad in a while. Today's job: dishes and laundry. If I could only finish those two things I would be a happy homemaker.
I never got to ask you how you enjoyed the Easter messages (and my drawing of Copper) we sent you in the mail drop. I still laugh that some of my messages made it into the hands of fellow hikers: "[heart] I love you, Brett! [heart]," "Hugs and Kisses from your Hun: [heart] X O X [heart] X O X [heart]," "You're one in a million! I'm proud of you for living your dreams." and "Keep it up! Our thoughts and prayers are directed to you." I'm glad that I didn't say anything too embarrassing. I don't mind that they know that you are loved and supported from home. You do indeed have our support and love (especially mine).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)