365: week 34

233/365:

Happy 1st Birthday sweet Aiden!

234/365:

It's an eclipse kind of day. We made it outside several times to enjoy the view.

235/365:

For the longest time I really disliked taking I-17 to work. Then I realized I could shave a few minutes off my morning commute and I decided I could probably tolerate it. Just because .. I check the map on my phone every morning as I'm leaving the house. Not that accidents don't wander into my path even then ...

236/365:

Do you love clocks as much as I do? Are you as cheap as I am? As much as I like them ... I won't buy a big one. I'll maybe take some pallets, put them together, draw some circles, add some paint and then see if I can get something to keep time. I'm still working on the keeping time thing. It's really just resting here until it moves out of the house. In the meantime, I get to enjoy it!

237/365:

Moving on up to the north land. Good bye and good luck party.

238/365:

Once in a while they play nice together. Most often these two, who are the eldest boys of their families, spend their time trying to be alpha. Maybe they each feel as if they're top dog at Papa and Nana's house. I don't know. It just gets a bit challenging sometimes. And then they surprise you!

239/365:

My goal for the day. Oh my. Who ever thought a side by side fridge/freezer was a good idea anyway.

365: week 33

226/365:

After a quiet night on the water, the kids joined us the next day. We have found a cove that we will call ours for the next many family picnics. The bright side is that unless you're able to get across the lake ... you won't be joining us. Perfect play place.

227/365:

Wyatt doesn't know what that music belongs to as the ice cream truck makes its way around the neighborhood. Being as they are soon leaving ... it was safe to introduce him to the yummy treats that come with that sound. If I was a really sweet Nana, I might have change sitting around here in a jar just for the occasion when the music travels down our street. Maybe someday!

228/365:

Sometimes you just have to relive a day .. over and over. Our boys live too far away to be joining us on the special outings, but the girls don't! Found a selfie on my cell phone after Sunday at the lake.

229/365:

Pure delight out there in the water. Tarron is an avid fisherman .. he's always game to hit the water with a line anytime. The big tube gets more of a workout floating around the cove piled with little people than it does getting pulled.

230/365:

I think this was the last of it. Finally!

231/365:

Between canning peaches and whatever else goes on around here, I've been make trees from felt. Must have cut miles of felt ... twisted them around wire and formed trees out of them. Will have to remember to share a finished photo with you.

232/365:

I pulled into the mall parking lot on a mission. Quick in and out if I was lucky. Some nice little sporty BMW was just pulling out of this space. Apparently he needed some new shoes and was above disposing the old ones in any way that might be considered mature. Behavior certainly didn't match his car. Maybe his trunk can't even be soiled with the likes of these. Go figure.

I hear my mom's voice in my head every time I'm tempted to leave a grocery cart anywhere else other than the cart corral! Imagine the words she'd have for me if I dropped my shoes in a parking lot.

365: week 32

I've sort of been busy. Imagine that I might have time to play with photos and maybe even do some more blogging sometime after Christmas! I meet people everyday who are unable to leave their homes, or even function inside their own walls, due to health conditions. I'll say I am blessed beyond measure to be so busy that I can't get to the grocery store.

I've had these photos loaded and waiting for time to sit and write for quite a while. Since the next few posts ... I've not managed my photo a day thing. Serious bummer. Maybe I'll go find some photos and at least capture life through the missing month or more. It sure is fun to print the book at the end of the year and tuck it on the shelf.

219/365:

We are back on the water again. Finding minutes in our busy days to spend out there might be a bit challenging, but this was one fun Sunday afternoon. We had a boat before we moved away. One day Jari was on his constant Craigslist search and found our exact same boat for sale in Flagstaff. We really tried to buy that one back. In the end ... the owners decided to keep it and we found another one. Exact same boat ... just a different color. And we have taken to the water. The first day out I have to say I sighed. Real. Big. I had forgotten how relaxing it can be just doing nothing. 

220/365:

Delightful.

221/365:

Sometimes it is fun to just watch these two. Someone totalled Tia's car for her.Which means I gave mine up to her ... the search is on with dad showing her what she needs to avoid in the search.

222/365:

This book sat on my audio wait list at the library for a very long time. I finally got it and have to say I highly recommend.

223/365:

We have the sweetest neighbors ever. They happen to have an unused minivan ... I'm feeling kind of young again. Just a wee bit quieter than back in my other life.

224/365:

They're still hanging around ... oh my. Maybe I over ordered. Maybe not.

225/365:

There's time on the water with kids and grandkids ... and then there's time on the water with just the two of us. The bunks on the boat trailer needed to be replaced and after a failed attempt to hoist the boat ... the best option seemed to be pay for a slip at the lake while the trailer got fixed. We parked the boat there for 3 weeks while Jari did some work when he had moments. One night we headed out and spent the night on the boat at the marina. A bit toasty yet .... because I think this is way back on August 11th. Thank goodness for a slight breeze or sleeping might have been a wee bit sticky. Big benefit of marina life ... restrooms. Serious benefit! On the flip side ... not necessarily quiet. Waves rocked us all night long and I was still rocking Monday at work as I walked. Pure good stuff.

365: week 31

Up until this point, I have been posting these daily (hah ... not!) posts to Instagram and copying them here. Since the last post, I have not posted to Instagram. I can't manage to do it on a daily basis, and it is also apparent that I can't even handle a weekly basis! So in the next few weeks ... I am going to catch up on some life around here ... all from my phone. Somewhere in the middle I hope to get some photos of some fun crafting and some really fun photos I have found on my camera lately.

Let's see if I can manage!

211/365:

Jari spent some time with Pete Nordstrom, traveling the country on speaking trips with him. Pete and Sylvia were good friends of Jari's parents. This book has been a companion in our car when we're traveling to and from somewhere and we have enjoyed it immensely. Available on Amazon if you have a yen to reach back into your fondest memories of a most unforgettable man.

212/365:

Life has been a bit nuts. I don't know why but it has. We finally found a Sunday to spend in Prescott and were blessed with this amazing view as we headed home in the evening.

213/365:

Somedays the socks can't even manage to get put on correctly in the morning.

214/365:

Sadness is filling our hearts. Anna & Wylon took off driving to Williston, North Dakota today with their first load of stuff. I know we have stuff .. they might almost rival us They will be moving their family to chilly country in September. Although we will miss them desperately, we wish them nothing but the best. We have certainly done the same .. traversed our way to and fro across the country ... following dreams and doing what we felt was the best for our family. So we are going to enjoy having them close every minute we can.

215/365:

Crafting night was planned this evening and ended up being cancelled due to storms and power outages ... and then the hearty ones went and crafted once the power was back on. Before that tho', I had some wood to cut while praying the clouds would hold off for just long enough. I made it!

216/365:

36lbs of Colorado peaches made their way into my kitchen today. The middle box was for Anna ... the rest were mine and I greedily kept them all. Delicious!! Last year, mine weren't nearly as good as this year. I may have lost one peach by the time I was done .. the rest were eaten, canned, frozen ..... a little at a time.

217/365:

It is still horribly warm outside. I can only handle being out there until noon if the humidity isn't sky high. I must have been weeping the blues about the lack of something in the tool aisle at Home Depot cuz the dear hubby came home with all kinds of prizes for me! He's a good one. Actually, sometimes I really have to be careful of what I say I'm needing. It might just be delivered the next day by Amazon.

See you soon with week 32 ....

365: ending 30 and 31

199-202/365:

Play time! 

This is therapy for me and if I am very fortunate, I get about 10 hours a week of this activity .. at this time of year. By noon I can't handle being outside anymore.

Keeping cool. 

Last year we had a misting system that was very cheap and ineffectual for the most part. All it did was drench the patio furniture. And we had an above ground pool. This year we have neither and have managed to survive just fine!

Rainy morning.

In the cockpit and ready to fly. 

202-206/365:

#sunrise

This little picture doesn't capture how stunning it really was. Those clouds!

So many ideas ... so few weekend days to accomplish them!

Hanging up 15# of lead at the end of the day. 

... and this is the light one!

We have roots!

Gwen sent me a super cute idea for planters. Coming up sometime after I clean up my pallet pile ... along with some concrete play time.

207/365:

Do you think he will qualify me for the carpool lane?

Seriously I have never been this close to a bee unless they were attacking me and then I wasn't standing still to snap a photo.

208/365:

When you get lost on Facebook for a few too many minutes.

Except for the burnt parts ... it was really good!

Cajun Chicken Pasta Skillet from I Am a Baker on Facebook. Tia wrote down the list of ingredients for me and I winged it. If you are a person who doesn't need ingredient amounts and feel comfortable winging it:

Chicken breast cut into pieces

Salt, Pepper and cajun seasoning mixed with chicken pieces and cooked in oil.

Add: red bell pepper, onion, garlic

Add: chicken broth, noodles, heavy cream and monterey jack cheese

They cooked the noodles in the chicken broth in the skillet. I would cook them separately the next time around. Or not get lost on FB for a few too many minutes.

209/365:

My 260 degree world.
Somedays I yearn for a BHG or Country Living existence. One where everything is so darn cute and put together that you just want to never leave it. I see photos of yards .. and I visit them .. where everything is so neat and tidy. The lawn is perfectly green. The patio furniture is perfect. The plants are well tended. They look so inviting! And then I come home. I put my work clothes on .. haul out tools from here and there and get to work. Because as much as I love those other places (and mine can clean up well) I love this more. Way. More.

Panoramic photos sort of make tables bowed. In reality .. it might not look like that.

210/365:

Perpetual inefficiency ... year after year after year.
I wonder if those super duper efficient houses have living people in them. Or perhaps they are all escaping the heat and have gone to cooler climates for the summer. All I know is that it doesn't mater if we have our 3 little selves here or an extra family ... we always qualify for inefficient.

This nearly rounds out our July. We really haven't gone anywhere this month or done anything exciting. Just sorta lived it. Waiting to see what August brings!

365: week 29

191-194/365:

Racing the clock home. My map said 38 minutes. #iwon

Adding a trip to this local dairy to the wanna go and do list ... wouldn't the little boys have so much fun?

Inventory time again. #needtoplanbetter.

I might have the best neighbor ever. #loadsofprojects
Then one day he peeks his head over the fence and tells me they are planning on moving this fall. That means they are cleaning out stuff and he has loads of it for me. Free for the taking. I see no rest in sight for this woman! Did you count the pallets? 8 of them!!

195-198/365:

Pallet demo. 

I know some of you use a fancy little pallet puller. I don't. I use a sawzall ... actually I use several of them. I use one until it gets hot. Then I use another one until the battery dies .... Then I run around with my magnetic little tool and pick up the metallic leftovers.

Time to go grocery shopping when you're running out of bags for dirty diapers! 

About once a year I end up tossing grocery bags into the trash because they won't fit in my little green dollar store basket. Lately you can tell the size of the family around here. The bag pile is getting smaller and smaller ..

So lucky to have a short visit with our dear Charlene!

She popped in for a few hours one Sunday afternoon to visit between her family visits and doings. So lucky!!

Uh oh. 

Really? I am suppose to keep calm?!

parenting the adult child

I am bothered.
Bothered by a comment made to someone that wasn't me.
Bothered because it hits a little close to home.
Bothered because you don't understand.

I never understood why perpetrators of sexual assault and rape could be allowed to roam free and prey on other people.
I never understood how that could be allowed to happen.
I never understood why one wouldn't do everything in their power to stop them.

I do understand that today's society is a different one that it was 20, 50 or for sure 100 years ago. Maybe even 10 years ago.
And most unfortunately, still today in so many segments of different populations.
As a parent, it would be my inclination to go after the person using the legal system and put them away.
As a parent, I wouldn't want someone else's child to go through what mine did.

There are people who hold the opinion that a certain segment of society likes to "sweep things under the rug". Admittedly, I believe at one time that was true. I also believe that victims were told to keep their mouths shut. None of that is right, nor has it ever been. If you were a victim of that kind of attitude, you were wrongly treated. You can use it as a crutch for the rest of your life and be angry about it or you can choose to move on. That is up to you. If you decide to use it as a crutch ... you're not making progress.

This isn't about that segment of society, because I am not that person. I am not that parent. Today I am the parent who wants justice. I am the parent who wants someone stopped.

I want you to understand that it isn't my choice.

As a parent, I would support the decision of my child whatever it was in this regard. And as hard as it is, I would somehow find peace with that decision. I would never tell them to shut up. I would never tell them to hide it under a rug.

What they decide to do is not my choice. It is theirs.

I'm not talking about children who are under the legal age of 18. I'm not talking about children who need me to be their legal backbone. I'm not talking about a situation where I am the adult making those decisions.

I'm talking about an adult who has the right to make those decisions themselves. They have a right to be heard by their parents. They have a right to be supported by those parents. They have a right to make those decisions themselves with full knowledge of consequences.

I really was simplistic in my thinking. Just file a report and get on with it.
Make sure this person is stopped, gets some help and pays for their crime.

And now I can understand how a perpetrator is allowed to continue.
Because you just don't file a report.
You don't just march into the police station and do something about it.

That doesn't mean something was swept under the rug.
It doesn't mean you were told you couldn't do something about it.
It doesn't mean you were told not to press charges.

You may have been encouraged to press charges with the assurance that your parents would stand beside you through the entire process.
They would gladly hold your hand and heart in public and in private.
It means that regardless of the emotional support you have around you, you can't do it.
And it is up to you.
It isn't up to me.
You are the adult.
I am here to help you through whatever that decision is.

I can pressure you. Sure, I can.
I can pressure you until your mind can no longer handle it and you find release somewhere.
Maybe it will be a complete break with reality.
Perhaps you will find solace in the bottom of a bottle or at the tip of a needle.
Or perhaps you'll pursue unhealthy relationships that fill that broken part of you.

Is that the best alternative for my adult child?
What if they can't handle the thought of a long drawn out legal system?
What if they aren't able or willing to put themselves through that?
There could be a myriad of reasons they are not willing or able to pursue the legal system.
Then what?

What are we as parents then suppose to do?
I'm sure some of you have some great ideas.
Maybe some of them are really good ones. Maybe some of them are knee jerk reactions that are coming straight from a gut that just flipped inside out.
What is the best thing I can do to help my adult child?

Maybe we as parents are completely wrong in what we have chosen to do.
But this is it.
We are supporting their decision.
We are listening to them when they are able to open up.
We are ensuring they get the best help available in the way of counseling and therapy.
Our desire is for our adult child to have a life that is full.
Not full of hatred and horror, but a life full of promise and hope.

365: week 28

187-190/365:

Racing the clock home. My map said 38 minutes. #iwon

Adding a trip to this local dairy to the wanna go and do it list.

Inventory time again. #needtoplanbetter

I might have the best neighbor ever. #loadsofprojects

The map on my phone and I are serious travel companions. I check that thing every morning when I leave the house and every day when I leave work. Not from one campus to the other, but home at the end of the day. If there is an accident bogging up a freeway ... I would prefer to know about it. And sometimes I try to race the time. Actually, I'm trying to figure out which way is the fastest regardless of what the map says. Like 1 minute makes a difference?!

If you work in a hospital, or any place else, that does inventory ... aren't you just thrilled at that time of year? Somehow I need to plan my vacations better.

For the past week I noticed a nice size pile of pallets at the neighbors. When things get set next to the curb it usually means "free for the taking". But I'm shy. I hate to ask for anything. I screwed up courage and took Tia with me. He is a super nice guy who throws wood over the fence for us to use. Like, seriously? He's the reason I wait until a sort of reasonable hour of the morning to run power tools in the back yard. Being as his bedroom window is 15 feet from my chop saw I really want to keep the peace. I knocked on the door and he said "take as many as you like!" with the biggest smile on his face. And I liked all but one. They came home and I really couldn't handle looking at them just sitting there. They seriously were calling my name. So I started cutting them apart until so much sweat was running down my forehead that my eyes were burning and my hands had brand new blisters decorating them. Then it was time to move inside.

Off to the back bedroom and the sewing machine after finding my stash of denim. Use It Up is my motto right now. I really don't create on demand. I kind of have to be in the mood and currently I've been in the mood for making bags. I have oodles of bags pinned on Pinterest, but kind of like this one the best as far as patterns and size of bag. Seriously fun. Heavy bags that have a nice wide bottom. Good for a run to the grocer if you don't need those little plastic grocery bags to line your trash cans or hold dirty diapers. Perfect for the library ... they're heavy enough to hold a good size pile of books. Good for all kinds of little expeditions and explores.

All are fully lined. I just need to start adding pockets to the insides of them. 

Do you love the fraying look on this one? I pieced the strips together and tossed them through the washing machine and dryer before I put the bag together. Just snipped off the fraying pieces of fabric and started cutting and sewing.

The denim pile is still happening .. I'll have more opportunity to add pockets.

We shall see what the next week brings! Probably a clock ... a key holder ... an island ... an entry table ... whatever I can manage before the day runs out of hours. Whatever doesn't get managed will just hold over until the next week or the week after that.

Enjoy!

365: week 27

183/365:

Costco for #easylunch. Rotisserie chicken and a ceasar salad makes for pure easy and pure good.

Nasty creature found his way into our empty aquarium. I'm saving him for Jenny when gets back from vaca.  Seriously. Those things are disgusting. I'm afraid he didn't get rescued.

Gone are the days of fighting crowds and sweating. We hit the house roof and saw not much of anything. #happyfourthofjuly

Growing me some trees .. one branch at a time.

I actually spent most of the 4th playing with crafting stuff. Working at making some wooly trees and who knows what else. But for the moment we will stick with the trees. The tutorial for the trees can be found here on YouTube. I would seriously love to go see the shop someday. While they are using wool or something very high in wool content ... mine is a little less so. The shop was out of the kits online so I worked at figuring it out myself and probably adapted things a little. 

I tried several different weights of wire and I think I've settled on something I actually like. A lot of cutting and gluing action but no hot glue gun on this project! My fingers thank the creator of the tree.

Aren't they just the cutest?! This one still needs some fabric wrapped around the tree trunk, but I plan to have many more of these coming soon.

187-190/365:

#mylittleloves 

Seriously it is like having a set of twins around. They are so cute!!

I got so excited when I saw PFD .. then remembered I don't live in Alaska anymore and it means something entirely different. Jari picked up some life vests for the little boys. Have a bit of a work in progress going on in the backyard at the moment. Hoping to have her sea worthy and needing the jackets real soon.

#familydays are the best ever. The girls spent several days, in shifts, with me rearranging the living room. It finally feels like a space that is comfortable and not overcrowded. The almost best part? I ended up with a shelving unit and a desk in our extra bedroom. It really doesn't qualify for a bedroom. It is so full of crafting business you can hardly put up a portacrib at the moment. But I do have a surface now for the sewing machine to live and it has sewn some fantastic miles while I try hide from this beastly summer heat.This particular Saturday Alyx cooked for all of us. Crockpot enchiladas which were super yummy! And the dog? She isn't ours but if the owners ever want to get rid of her? She can come here in a heartbeat. 

#keepingitreal  Double trouble with mac 'n cheese. 

That's about it for that week! I spent part of it on vacation and crafted as much as I possibly could. My plan had been to go to Heber for the weekend ... and that didn't go as planned. Maybe someday I will manage that one. In the meantime ... I'm keeping out of trouble and staying busy!

Enjoy your summer!

patience

pa·tience   ˈpāSHəns/

noun

1. 1. 

   the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset.

Recently we have learned a new skill. Somehow our God, who knows all, knew that it would take this time in our lives for us to learn this new skill. That of practicing patience. 

I distinctly remember being a teen and having conversations with my dad about things that were troubling me. I wanted solutions to those things immediately. I didn't want to wait. His answer to me many times was "all in God's time". God's time was rarely fast enough for me at that stage of my life. Sometimes at this stage of our lives ... God's time isn't fast enough either.

Perhaps we are given these particular paths to walk as a lesson. We are capable of waiting. We are capable of watching. Along the way we learn that God sends people into our lives who can hold our hands while we wait. We aren't capable of doing it alone or through our own power.

I'm being vague for a reason and I apologize.

The definition above is from Google I believe. 

How does one accept or tolerate delay, trouble or suffering without getting angry or upset?

Delay. Traffic is a nightmare sometimes (depending on where you're living) and invariably the bigger the hurry the more red lights one meets. It doesn't do any good to get upset at the lights that are making your journey slower. I kind of get that. You'll get there when you get there. Doesn't pay to have stroke level blood pressure over something you can't do anything about.

Trouble. Does this sort of depend on the kind of trouble? Are there troubles that are easier to accept than others without getting upset or angry? Absolutely! We are human after all and each of us is affected differently by different troubles. This may be simplistic, but here goes. I miss my turn and say "oh well, do a u-ball and head back the other way". Jari needs to know exactly where he is going and needs it confirmed repeatedly on the way there. Miss a turn and the world is nearly coming to an end. I really don't care if I have to make a u-turn or go around the block. Even in this (to me little .. to him big), we are different. We deal with that trouble in a completely different way. 

So then how does one accept suffering without getting angry or upset? How does a person come to terms with the suffering of others without getting angry or upset? 

Just as grief has stages, I'm sure other things do as well. They must. I just don't know what they are. At the same time, this is grief. This is grieving. We have been placed in a position where we don't want to be and have needed to accept that place because there is nothing we can do about it. We didn't put ourselves there. We have certainly put ourselves in many predicaments throughout our marriage, this time it was a result of another persons actions.

Suffering. As I was working on this post, I searched the Bible for scripture related to both anger and patience. All of a sudden I understood why we were given this time of waiting. It was one of those light bulb moments. 1000 watt kind.

It isn't like I can say that on Tuesday of this or that month, I will give in to suffering. That sort of delay just isn't real. Nor can I say that I am a patient person while waiting for the suffering, because in reality I'm still not a patient person and I'm already suffering. However, when things aren't in your control ... you may as well just practice patience. Really, you might just grab an ulcer along the way but what's an ulcer in the grand scheme of life anyway?

The light bulb that dawned for me was this: had I not been given this time of waiting, I would have remained overcome with anger. We were given this time of waiting and learning patience so that we could act in love and not in anger. It has been quite the lesson for us. It may also continue being a lesson in learning as we aren't the ones in control. We are the like the kids at the end of "crack the whip". Someone else is in charge and we're just hanging on for dear life.

Practicing this new kind of patience.

While we wait, our hands grow a little gentler in that hold on the lifeline. We breath a little easier. We may even sleep a little sounder. Our trust in God grows and our capacity to love grows in ways we would have never imagined.

Just as love grows, empathy grows as well. I'm learning and it ain't an easy learn. Patience. Love. Empathy. All at the end of the whip.

If you are riding with a death grip on that life line right now ... keep hanging on. You are there for a reason.

Trust and be patient.

ppp

You looked at the title of this post and thought perhaps one of my grandbabies got ahold of the keyboard didn't you?

ppp

pinterest fail to plant propogation

I've had my eye on some Pinterest pins for a long time. The bottles were sitting under the kitchen sink waiting patiently for my attention.

So attention day finally came.

The goal was to cut the bottoms off the bottles and make some hanging candles with some cute doodads hanging off of them.

If you need a visual ...

Something like one of these but with creativity let loose in the making.

So I tried cutting the bottle without buying any glass cutting equipment. Don't tell my hubby, but I'm not sure where to put anymore tool doodads at the moment. Another jaunt through the internet will tell you to take cotton string and wrap it around the bottle. You can either soak the string before or "paint" it after it is on the bottle. Either way .. the string was soaked in acetone and then lit on fire. Smart person somewhere in my meanderings suggested having a lit candle at the ready. I lit the string. Waited until the fire had burned around and extinguished itself. 

Then plunged it into ice water. It is suppose to crack off nicely. Straight edge doesn't really describe what I ended up with. And this is the thinnest bottle I had! 

I had at it again ... and it didn't work any better the second go around.

Into the trash bin went that bottle.

On to the next one.

Well that didn't work so well either. 

I have no clue what I'm doing wrong, but that ends that little attempt!

Maybe next year I'll have me a glass cutter and have a go at it.

For now ... I'm off to the next project as there are so many of them waiting for me.

Boredom?

Not likely unless I lose some of my senses.

The last bottle was the recipient of plant clippings from my pathos plant.

They are sort of starting to litter every surface around here and I'm enjoying watching them sprout not only roots but new leaves as well.

I'll enjoy these while I can before they leave the house.
Maybe we will fill it with candles next time around.