Spreading her wings....albeit with her mother's permission

Before this past weekend's swim meet, Darcy decided that she needed a tattoo of a butterfly on her shoulder to help her swim faster. Of course, a real tattoo was out of the question, and not having any of the kid tattoo kind, we went to the next best thing - Kelly, tattoo artist.

Darcy spent considerable time choosing the right bathing suit and then the perfect colors of markers to match the bathing suit. Kelly spent considerable time telling Darcy to sit still.

The end result was a beautiful butterfly tattoo that wouldn't last forever and a first-place ribbon in the ten and under 25-meter butterfly where she swam and kicked butt against four boys!

Weekend Memories

• She dove into the pool and swam the 100 Individual Medley, her strokes beautiful and almost perfect, and I felt a warmth spread through my heart and my eyes moistened.

• She lay her head on Kelly's shoulder, her arm around her, and she asked her if she would come to the house to swim.

• We sang Happy Birthday and afterward ate gooey, fudgy brownies with ice cream, hot fudge, and whipped cream.

• The phone rang and the voice at the other end telling me she would be home tomorrow made me smile.

• The pictures brought back memories that touched on more memories that made me happy for the childhood that I had.

Out of the mouths of my babes...

Me: "Well, first of all, your Dad made dinner tonight."

Darcy: "He did? Did he make this salad?"

Me: "Yes, he made everything."

Darcy: "You didn't make the salad?"

Me: "I don't put carrots in my caesar salad. I did not make the salad."

Darcy: "Daddy, did you put hers in here?"

Tom: "Hers? Hers what?"

Darcy: "The spicy stuff....hers....you know, dill and pepper?"

Tom: "You mean herbs?"

Darcy: "Whatever. Did you?"

Memories...like the corners of my mind

So the whole facebook thing has reconnected me with neighbors and high school chums and family members I haven't seen in years. Meanwhile, my mother-in-law has been converting her slides into photos on her computer. I'm next in line for the slide scanner and so today I decided to get out my slides and view them through the slide viewer I got for Christmas two years ago (back when I first wanted to convert my slides). The job is a tough one.

After my Dad died, my mother had a moment of wanting to clear out the entire house to get ready to sell it. I got the job of going through the photos and the slides. It was a haphazard, quick, hold-the-slides-to-the-light kind of job, and because I couldn't take the many boxes the slides were somewhat organized in back on the plane to return home, I put them in slide boxes and bags. I tossed out quite a few slides of my father's business trips and people I didn't know. My brother didn't want any of the slides of him, but I kept them anyway thinking that he might regret that decision down the road. Or at least his children might. I think I envisioned all of us gathered around a darkened living room viewing the slides on the wall like we use to do when I was a child. The fact that I couldn't haul home the projector and screen was a problem I figured I'd worry about later.

So today I'm going through these boxes of slides viewing them one by one. The memories that they are invoking are incredible. I ran across a picture of my grandparents and my brother and me, and next to my grandfather is one of those ashtrays on a pedestal that I suddenly remembered from my childhood. The ashtray stood upright next to a chair or couch in my grandparents' house. It had a curved handle so that you could lift it and move it and it had a little button that you could push to dump the ashes into a pot. I can remember my brother and I playing with that ashtray when people weren't around. We would push the button and watch the ashes disappear. I wouldn't have thought of that in a million years if I hadn't seen the photo. Also in the photo is a Dutch Masters cigar box in my brother's lap. One of the many "toys" we grew up with.

Pictures of snowmen remind me that my father was the one who took us out each winter and created snowmen with us complete with spray paint for the eyes and nose. Pictures of my mother teaching us Chinese Checkers brings back the secret family move we learned. There are Christmas photos with all of our toys lined up next to us, birthday photos with our friends and cakes, vacation photos from our trip out west, to Florida, to our trip down Blue River, house photos from all the homes I lived in from Pennsylvania to North Carolina to Indiana, and plenty of family pictures with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and even my great grandmother.

I realize that I'm going to have a job trying to get the years and locations correct when I do get around to converting these slides to digital. I'm also going to have to have help pinpointing all of that. But I think that the job will be a worthwhile one and that after I'm finished I will have most of my Christmas shopping finished!

Birthday - Kelly

I moved back to Indiana when I was seven years old. My first memory of Indiana is when my parents took me to school that April day. I was walked to the door of my classroom where the teacher came out and introduced herself. She was beautiful. She leaned back into the room, signaled for two girls to come out, introduced them to me and told them to show me around the school. And off I went with these two girls. The memory ends there, but one of those girls became my friend.

Kelly and I both have memories of time spent at my house those early beginnings of our friendship. We both remember dancing around in my basement to Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf from my Walt Disney 33 LP. Sometime after that, we moved on to make other friends, and it wasn't until around the 7th-grade year that we hooked back up. My memory is that I was lost and looking for something more that school year. I stumbled on to a threesome and wormed my way in. Eventually, one girl moved away and I became an official member of the threesome, with Kelly as the leader. She, will, of course, deny this role, but that is the way my memory remembers it.

Throughout our 8th grade year and most of our freshman year the three of us, Kelly, Robin and I, were inseparable. They introduced me to Shaun Cassidy and we spent hours listening to his music, creating scrapbooks, and decorating our rooms with his pin-ups and posters. We spent a lot of time writing scripts for radio shows that we taped in the privacy of my bedroom, and we believed we entertained the neighborhood by singing to them out my bedroom window.

Eventually, time passes and people change. Kelly and I drifted apart those latter years of high school. I remember getting a letter from her in college, but I'm not sure what prompted it. I heard tidbits about her through the years but didn't see her again until a couple of years after college. I was taking night classes to get my teaching degree at another college. I was sitting waiting for the teacher to enter when I heard a familiar voice. I turned to my left and sitting one desk away from me was Kelly. We chatted and were off and running as if those years in between never had happened.

I moved to Florida and eventually talked Kelly into joining me. I tell her she saved my life by doing so. I was married with two children, Darcy a new baby. I was falling into that time of a mother's life when she is drowning without adult conversation and a life of her own. Kelly arrived and gave me just what I needed. I like to think we gave her a little something back.

Today, Kelly is a part of our family. My girls adore her. We already have her lined up to be the adult they go to for make-up lessons and answers to questions they don't feel comfortable asking Mom. She helps them with homework and helps us with childcare. She is there to console us, laugh with us, share with us, and just watch TV with us. She is my friend. She is our friend. I'm so glad that she was the one that the teacher chose that day to show me around my new school.

Happy Birthday to our dear friend.

Six Month 2009 Check on Resolutions

Let's see how I'm doing....(scale 1-10 with 10 being the ultimate score)

1. To work on being patient and to not react hysterically like my forefathers. New motto: "Let it go". Again I've won some and lost some. It's been better the latter part of the two months, although I find it harder to deal with this issue when Aunt Flow is getting ready to visit. Score: I'll give myself a 6.
2. To get back on my exercise track, lose 15 pounds, and live comfortably with my body however it may turn out. Haven't done one damn thing in this department and boy, can I tell. I'm uncomfortable physically and mentally. My sleep isn't as deep. I'm tired more than normal. Score: 0
3. To get to the beach at least twice a month. Completed this one the end of May and the early part of June, but seriously, I can't count this one during the summer months in Florida because, frankly, it's just too damn hot and no one in their right mind would spend time on the beach unless it is in the evening. Score: 9
4. To get birthday cards and gifts out on time. Now, this isn't an official resolution, but one I added on to my blog. I've actually done well on this one in the last two months because I have less than 5 in those two months. Score: 10

Total points: 25 out of 40.

I think that was the same score I had last time....hmmm...that might not be a good thing....aren't I suppose to be scoring higher halfway through????

Weekend Memories of the 4th

• We stayed in the pool and just talked and talked about everything and anything until our fingers and toes were wrinkled. Friends re-connecting.

• The three of them, father and daughters, paraded around the pool singing, Yankee Doodle Dandy, waving their flags, smiles on their faces.

• They jumped and pushed until the waves were higher than the sides, and when we laughed we sucked water.

• When night came, we stood with our neighbors outside to watch what we could from our driveway. My neighbor, in her pajamas, her bald head covered with a hat, her little dog Pita at her side told us about fighting for her life from cancer.

• They both wanted it. They both needed it. An epic final. History made and shared with my girls.

I'm not sure I need to see the light

When we first moved into our house there was a slab of concrete right outside the garage door leading into the back yard. The only time I remember using that slab was at the party we threw ourselves right after we got married and the time my nephew visited me on the 4th of July and I taught him how to spit out watermelon seeds.

After Madison was born we decided to take out the slab and replace it with a screened-in porch. We built another, bigger, slab and covered the porch with a roof. We put down indoor carpet, bought wicker furniture with real cushions, and installed a ceiling fan. One of Madison's hand me down cribs went out there, and she and I would take little naps listening to the rain on the roof or the wind sounding through the trees. When Madison got older she would play out on the porch in her little hand me down playhouse. I loved having an area with light as the inside of our house was quite dark by Floridian standards. The only problem we encountered was during the summer months when our fun would only last twenty minutes before Madison's cheeks were red and her hair wet from sweat.

When I got pregnant with Darcy we talked about adding on some room for our growing family. We contemplated an upper level but dismissed that at the thought of our electric bill in cooler an second story. We talked about enclosing the garage and building another garage in front of it, using the old garage for a new room. Each time we thought up a new plan we would shake our heads and go back to enclosing in our screened-in porch. My big no to doing that was the loss of all the light. But when it came down to that being our logical reality Tom promised to put in lots of windows to let in much-needed sunlight.

The new room was finished before Darcy was born. There were three windows on the wall facing our neighbors, four windows on the wall facing our backyard, and one window on the only spot that didn't lead into our house. The last wall was against our garage and thus was windowless. I was thrilled with all the sunlight that poured into the room, and never really worried about covering them. We called the new room the playroom, but it also housed our office and a seating area, as well as a place for all of Madison's toys.

Darcy came along then and the uncovered windows exposed quite a bit of us to those neighbors who chose to look. I had to pump my breast milk because of Darcy's sucking problems and the area we set up for that let everyone into our world. I didn't care at the time because I was sleep-deprived and stressed from the frequent attempts at latching the kid. Later after that problem was solved, I enjoyed the sunlight streaming in the windows as Madison played and Darcy cooed on the floor. Eventually, summer rolled around again and with it came the unbearable heat against the glass and soon Madison's hair was wet and Darcy's little cheeks were red.

We looked at different window coverings. We thought about curtains, but the fact that we would have to practically cover two entire walls with material made us leery. We eventually settled on wooden blinds and ordered them to match our different sized windows. When they arrived Tom put them in himself, and I was quite relieved to know that I could now pick my nose in private away from my neighbors prying eyes. The blinds were a hit and we were quite pleased.

That is until I realized they attracted dust ON BOTH SIDES OF THE SLATS. While they did hide our dirty windows, the sun beaming through those slats showed up quite a bit of dust. I tried using a dust cloth. I tried using a damp paper towel. I thought about bringing in the hose from outside, but the thought of smelling wet carpet for days put me off. I finally used a combination of dusting and Clorox wipes. The process took hours and usually days. That was when I decided that being in that room was more enjoyable at night, and keeping the blinds closed during the day saved on our electric bill.

A couple of months ago while Madison was home sick and lying on the couch in the playroom watching TV I decided to keep an eye on her by washing the blinds. I started at the wall leading into the backyard and worked my way around. After each blind was cleaned I would open it and let the sun shine in. By the time I was finished Madison was cured and back in school, and I was hooked on sunshine again.

Tonight as I sat typing at my computer I realized I was probably terrorizing my neighbor with the faces I was making so I stood up to close the blind. I leaned forward over my desk, reached up to twirl the stick to close the slats and there attached to the inside of the slats was a layer of dust.

Horrified, I moved my eyes to the blind next door and then to the next blind and the next blind and the next until I had completely turned around in a circle to stare at all eight blinds full of dust that I had just cleaned two months ago. And I thought to myself, "Who the hell thought all of these windows was a good idea?"

Our American Flag

Our blogging assignment in our summer homeschooling this week was, What the American Flag means to me . When I handed out the assignment it began with a history lesson on the Star-Spangled Banner and Francis Scott Key. All three girls (we lost a student to vacation) looked at me in horror as they read the topic.

Darcy: "I don't even know this dude."

It turned out that none of the girls had ever heard of Francis Scott Key. Or so they claimed. I have my doubts. This lack of knowledge led me to a lesson on flag etiquette. All three of them listened as I read to them a list of dos and don'ts regarding our flag (http://www.usflag.org/). Some of the important ones learned were:

• The flag should never touch the ground or an object when lowered. It should be received into waiting hands and arms.


• The flag should never be dipped to any person or thing.

• The flag must be illuminated when flown at night.


• The flag should be stored neatly and ceremoniously.

• When a flag is so worn it is no longer fit to serve as a symbol of our country, it should be destroyed by burning in a dignified manner. (Most American Legion Posts conduct a dignified flag burning ceremony and accept flags for this purpose)


• The American flag always flies above any other flag on the same pole.


• The flag is always the first flag to be raised and the last to be lowered when flown next to other flags from states, communities, etc.


• The flag is flown at half staff in mourning for designated, principal government leaders and upon presidential or gubernatorial order.

• When used to cover a casket, the flag should be placed with the union at the head and over the left shoulder. It should not be lowered into the grave.

This information led to what we celebrate on the Fourth of July, which the girls did know. We read more information about the separating of the American colonies from Great Britain, learning that the legal separation actually occurred on July 2, 1776, and the approval of the Declaration of Independence occurred on the fourth.

I was pleasantly surprised when the final blogs were finished. I think they are worth reading so please take a look at them:

http://www.emeraldboos.blogspot.com/

http://www.heathersdaytoday.blogspot.com/

http://www.maddysff.blogspot.com/

Update: Only the last link has what was written. The other girls removed their assignments once they were given permission to control their blogs. Sigh.

Email Funny

How to Maintain a Healthy Level of Insanity

1. At lunchtime, sit in your parked car with sunglasses on and point a hair dryer at passing cars. See if they slow down. Now, this is something my friend Sharon and I would have done about 15 years ago. If we had thought of it. Instead, we just chased down speeders and people we thought looked suspicious.


2. Every time someone asks you to do something, ask if they want fries with that. Hee hee...something to try on the old hubby.


3. In the memo field of your checks, write "For Marijuana". Well, I've never done that, but I've been known to write other things like "sex toys and drugs". Back in my youth, of course.


4. Order diet water with a serious face whenever you go out to eat. It sounds like something I would do anyhow.


5. When going through the drive-thru window tell them your order is "to go". Again this sounds like me. I'm just going to add it to my list.


6. When the money comes out of the ATM machine, scream and yell, "I won! I won!" When the deli man calls my number to place my order I always yell, "Bingo!"


7. When leaving the zoo, start running toward the parking lot screaming, "Run for your lives, they're loose!" This sounds like something Sharon would do now.


8. Put decaf in the coffee maker for three weeks. Once everyone has gotten over their caffeine addiction, switch to espresso. It might be a fun thing to do if I lived in a dorm or something, but here at home, we drink decaf unless people named Susan visit.


9. Tell your children over dinner, "Due to the economy, we are going to have to let one of you go." Hmmm...my youngest would probably respond, "Go where?"


10. Pick up a box of condoms at the pharmacy, take it to the counter, and ask the sales clerk where the fitting room is. This is my favorite, and if I were a guy I would so do this one!

Photo Archives - or I hope I can catch up on some sleep while on this vacation

These old photos are of my cousin, Maya. What I find hysterical about these photos, besides the hairdos and such, is that she is reclining in everyone. Oh, yes, there were other photos of her, but these were so much more fun!

This photo was around 1995, although I'm never sure about that date in the bottom corner. It had to be Christmas time as this is when Maya and her mother would visit us.

This is a very typical Maya and mother picture. Sometimes the roles would be reversed and Maya would be the one sitting up. They have a very special bond, and it was always easy to see that when they cuddled on the couch.




This picture was the year that Maya got her hair permed while visiting us at Christmas. It turned out all curly and made her look so grown-up. She did it before her mother arrived (I think), and I'm not sure that her mother approved.

She is in one of my brother's old beds (bunk beds) that were moved into the guest room. It was always cold down there, but a nice place to escape when the family became too much.

We are a family of readers (at least on the female side) and thus a lot of photos are of us reading. Or working a puzzle.

This picture cracks me up every time I look at it. I'm not sure if she is pretending to be asleep for my taking of the picture, or if she is pretending this so she doesn't get roped into ironing.

This is 1989, according to my father's markings on Maya's foot. Why he didn't write her name on the picture is a mystery, but when he did put her name it was usually misspelled as Mia.





This picture is the same year as the perm, I believe. It is different from above because the couch is where the chairs used to be. I think I took this picture (and the second one) because my father's markings are missing. It took me a while before I realized he was right on keeping track of people and dates on pictures.

Maya was probably watching television, and I took the picture because once again she was lying down!




Back upstairs and this time the couch is on the opposite wall in our living room, thus a different date than the other couch mother/daughter picture.

Despite all the loping around, Maya did up and off the couch to go Christmas shopping, help with the food preparation, complete a puzzle, or help make a snowman. It was because of all that activity that she had to take a rest!




The one photo I tried to find and didn't succeed in doing so is one of the first photos of her trip to Indiana. In the picture, she is, of course, lying down on the floor, her head in my lap sleeping. I actually remember that moment. My cousin lived a very different life than my own and visiting us was way out of her norm, especially since she didn't really know us well.

I remember trying hard to get her to interact with me, but she was very shy and afraid (and knowing us I did understand). When she finally got down on the floor with me and lay her head in my lap I remember feeling a sense of accomplishment, as if I had won some hard-fought battle. I also remember feeling joy in my heart that my cousin liked me, that she trusted me enough to fall asleep in my arms. I hoped this was just the beginning.....and it was.

Weekend Memories

1. She was patient while she taught them math even though they weren't interested in learning.


2. We slurped down homemade milkshakes sitting around a table, all of us together.


3. She curled against my chest, her hair tickling my nose and chin, and I hoped that it would always be like this, but I knew it wouldn't. And that made it that much more precious.


4. They swam, and my chest burst with pride.


5. "Come and watch me," she begged. "I've worked hard and I've got it this time." And she did, standing on her head in deep water, her legs straight, her toes pointed.

First Swim Meet - Summer Season 2009

Our first meet of the summer season was a hot and balmy one! This meet I decided to be the photographer instead of a timer.


While Darcy loves her swim cap (and wears it around the house), Madison abhors caps, but bravely tried one out for the meet.

It didn't last long. It fell off during warm-ups and ended up in the swim bag.

Darcy's first race in the 10 and under was 25 freestyle. That is her out there in the lead. A good race for her first meet of the season. She gets so nervous leading up to her races that I think she burns it all out in the race.

First Place and pooped!

Madison's first was the 12 and under 50 Freestyle. She reminds me of a WSI swimmer. She has beautiful, soft strokes and she just glides through the water, but the power isn't there.

Her turn wasn't bad and she started pushing it on the second lap, pulling up from fifth to finish fourth. She said she has to swim slow on the first 25 or else she "gets so tired....sigh". We tell her to use those big feet of hers.

That is her (front in the second photo) coming in to make her turn. Her friend, Heather, is the one already making the turn. Heather took first place, but it was close.

Darcy's other race was the 25 butterfly. The first year she started swimming she was determined to learn how to swim butterfly. She practiced with me in our pool over and over again. She would swim it in the meets, and I can remember thinking how cute she looked swimming it butt first.

Not anymore. That girl can swim butterfly! Her stroke was so beautiful today that I was shocked. She has been working on the stroke in practice, but this was the first time I really paid attention to her swimming it.

At first Darcy was the only girl swimming on the heat sheet, but the coaches urged two other girls from the year round team to swim. Darcy and one girl were neck and neck, but my girl pulled away in the end and got the touch for first. Tom and I were quite surprised by how good she looked in that race.

Madison's next race was the 50 breaststroke. This is definitely her best stroke, and she enjoys swimming it. I've tried working with her the last few years in this stroke, but it wasn't until she did well in a race that she realized she could benefit from my expertise.

My advice before the race:

1. Glide, don't just pull and pull and pull.
2. Stretch out that long frame of hers
3. Remember to turn and end with a two hand touch

Again she started out smooth and slow, and about half way through the second lap I remembered that I had video on my camera so I turned it on.

Wow! My girl can swim some breaststroke! Watch her start kicking some butt - she is in the third lane toward the camera. If she just had turned that power on a tad earlier, she would have taken them all out.

A great first meet for both of them! Tom and I are so proud!

Hooked on Hollywood

Since summer started, and now that I'm home and on the computer more, I find that I have gotten caught up in the lives of Hollywood's celebrities. I have read about them in magazines. I have googled them on the Internet. Now I'm about to blog about them.

• Farrah Fawcett - I'm starting with Farrah because even her death was usurped yesterday. I have been keeping tabs on her story through the Today Show and the Internet. I plan on catching the rebroadcast of her documentary, Farrah's Story, tonight on NBC. She was an icon of my generation. My brother had her famous poster on his bedroom wall. Girls in school were getting their hair done Farrah style with the feathering. My friends and I role-played Charlie's Angels, all of us fighting to be Farrah or Jacklyn Smith. She was married to my Big Valley hero, Lee Majors, and we used to fantasize a lot about their life together. Despite her traitorous walk off of Charlie Angels, I followed her life as we aged and cheered her when she finally got the accolades she deserved through television movies like The Burning Bed. I'm sorry that her life ended and especially sorry that she couldn't just have had her own tribute yesterday and today.

• Michael Jackson - The death of Michael Jackson was shocking to me. I knew Farrah was near the end and so her death wasn't unexpected, but the King of Pop? Shocking. I hadn't heard it before picking up the girls at swim team practice so I just stood there on the pool deck taking it all in when informed. I spent last night, early morning, and most of today channel surfing from station to station watching all the footage they offered. For my generation, this is Elvis dying. He was a Hoosier. I grew up listening to the Jackson 5 and later buying Michael's albums as he stood out on his own. I can still remember waiting for the premiere of his Thriller video on MTV, and then just sitting there in shock at the sheer audacity of it. He was truly one of a kind. He had a genius about him, pulled from his childlike mind. I blame his family and those around him for not protecting him more. Today the abuse he suffered throughout his family and entertainment life wouldn't be tolerated but back then I think everyone turned a blind eye. He had so many problems as an adult, although frankly, I don't think the kid every grew up.

• The Gosselin Family - The first time I saw the show Jon & Kate Plus 8 was in April. I was channel surfing during the daytime looking for something to watch while I ironed. I came upon this show and spent the entire time ironing with my mouth wide open. For some odd reason, I really thought this woman had given birth to these six children naturally, without drug influence. I couldn't believe how exhausted I was watching them get these children ready for church and a day in the park. At the time I thought the couple was odd. Their interviews on the sofa were interesting. She seemed very controlling and very much the one in charge. He leaned away from her and seemed very passive and whiny, yet he too had a controlling side. I never saw the show again until last week when I watched the episode where they claimed to be separating. I feel really terrible for the children. They didn't ask for this reality television life. Yet I like to think that the parents did it for them. You want to help your children have a better life and, let's face it, money can make life better, and reality TV brings in lots of money. Somewhere along the line the yearn for money and a better life got in the way of raising children, and that to me is the sad part. Yet I can't stop reading about these people.

This is definitely the way to go

A couple of weeks ago, I turned to the Internet for help in learning how to fold sheets. It is the most aggravating thing folding a sheet.  I interviewed several people on sheet folding before I turned to the Internet but no one could give me a way that was satisfactory.

Then I found a guy - which was surprising to me, not that I'm sexist, but really, how often do you see a guy folding sheets? - who gave a tutorial on folding a fitted sheet. I had to keep watching the videoing over and over, pausing and going back, as he was a tad too quick for me but by several views, I was an expert. I did so well with my sheet that I emptied out my entire linen closet and folded all my fitted sheets. Learning how to do this properly cut down on wasted space in my closet and now all my sheets fit so nicely inside.

I'm going to take this sheet folding act outside the house and perform demonstrations in several other homes. My sister-in-law has booked me in July to tackle her linen closet. I work cheaply in Indiana (Donut Bank donuts) so call me to get on the books.

Homeschooling - homemade pizza project

We are rolling along in the summer homeschooling program. It is interesting to me how the four kids are finding their own learning projects as we go along.

On the fourth day, one of the mothers lent us an erasable wipe board so that Madison could use it for her math class (Madison is working with the younger two on math as I am clueless in that subject and she is brilliant). Darcy and Heather were trying to figure out how to hang the board in our make-shift classroom. The dilemma was that the board only had hangers to hang it length-wise (landscape as the kids referred to it) and Madison preferred it to be hung like a regular chalkboard because she felt she had more room.

The two girls studied the board for a while. I studied the board. I suggested that since the hangers were the type that screwed into the board that they unscrew them and re-screw them back into the board on the sides that they wanted to hang. We got a hammer and did just that. Then we hung the board.

Heather: "Hey, we're doing Woodworking 101!"

Later that day, the girls paired up to make homemade pizza. Heather and Madison watched a video on the correct way to toss pizza. They rolled and rolled and spent quite a bit of time tossing the dough into the air. First Heather would take a turn and then Madison would take a turn. There was a lot of laughing, and the dough did end up on the floor twice.

Heather: "Five-second rule!"

They had a problem with the dough. Every time they would get the dough the way they wanted it, whether by tossing or rolling, they would put the dough back on the wax paper and it would shrink. They finally decided to leave the dough in a misshapen circle and began to "decorate" it with sauce, cheese, pepperoni, and olives. Once it was in the oven they felt the job was finished. They later learned that it wasn't...when I smelled it burning and took it out of the oven.

Darcy: It looks like a continent!"

The girls devoured half the pizza. The consensus was that the dough wasn't cooked enough in the middle. It was on the outside, demonstrated by the girls when they knocked it against the table edge.

They then turned the kitchen over to the younger girls for their turn at making pizza. The kitchen that was turned over to them did not resemble the kitchen that the older girls started with, however.
There was flour everywhere. Flour on the floor, flour on the cabinets, flour on every inch of the counter, flour inside of every object that happened to sit on the counter, and flour in the sink.

The younger students took it all in stride and went to work. They watched a video on the correct way to work the dough with your fingers. They both took turns following the instructions. They too had the same problem with shrinking dough that the older girls had encountered. With my help, we decided to roll the dough and then use the lip of a bowl to cut the dough into a nice round circle.

They ended up with three pizzas, one large and two mini pizzas. Two of them were cheese as Sarina is a vegetarian. The last mini pizza was for me with pepperoni and black olives.

While the pizza was cooking the younger girls, with my help, cleaned the entire kitchen. They washed every piece of furniture in the kitchen. They washed and dried utensils. They swept and mopped the kitchen floor.

The important thing was they kept checking on the pizza as it cooked. When it came out of the oven everyone felt it looked prettier than the first pizza.

The girls devoured most of the pizza and declared it "yummy".

Asked what they from their experience?

Sarina: "Always go second!"

I don't want to be royalty anymore

My dental sagas just continue. There is something about me and dentistry; like oil and water. I went yesterday to get my $1200 replacement crown. The one that I had to get to replace the first crown I had for five years. The first crown, put in by a different dentist, caused me nothing but grief from beginning to end, with a few happy years in between. This replacement crown would end that horrible chapter in my life and all would be right with my mouth.

I opted out of the needle and went for the numbing cotton swab instead. Out came the temporary crown and in went the new one. Tap, tap, tap on the red carbon paper. Drill, drill, drill to fit the new crown. Tap, tap, tap again. Drill, drill, drill again. Still not fitting properly. Out came the crown. Oh, wait, no, the crown wouldn't come out. My dentist put his gloved hand back on my crown and pulled, and pulled, and pulled. He used gauze to pull. He tried picking around the edges of my gum to unloosen it. He pulled some more with his fingers. He finally got it off with a combination of a tool and his fingers. I sighed with comic relief. And then....

Then he noticed a hairline crack in the new crown! The one I forked over $1200 for. A crack in the crown! Sort of like the reason I had to get a new crown in the first place.

Back in went the temporary crown. The new crown is off to the firing pit once again, although I'm not sure why a new crown isn't being built for that kind of money. But once again I left everything in the hands of the experts. Now I'm second guessing, while nursing a raging headache and toothache.

I would rather have a pap smear then dental work.

Weekend Memories

1. I looked in and she slept soundly, her mouth open, her arms tucked under her chin surrounded by pillows, and love swelled inside my heart.


2. The music played, and I sang loudly, not caring about who might be listening.


3. They argue with each other, but they join together when a third enters the conversation. They are sisters and that is a bond.


4. We were watching the same movie as them, only in the other room. Their smiles were so big when they saw that and joined us.


5. It is tough on this day without my own father, but watching the wonderful father that Tom has become makes it easier.

Happy Father's Day

Although my father isn't around to enjoy these photos (and enjoy them he would), I thought it fitting to post them today.

My father loved to take pictures. He carried a camera around everywhere, and if he didn't have his camera when he saw a photo opportunity we had to stay posed until he got it. We made a lot of fun of his picture taking, but looking back through my photos I'm thrilled that he took so many. Photos tell the story and bring back great memories.

This picture was taken on my birthday when I got my typewriter. He set this photo up, I'm sure, wanting to dispense fatherly advice on typing.


The one thing about my father was how funny he really was, whether intentional or not. This is a picture of him hosing the yard while it was raining. This was the kind of stuff he did that drove my mother crazy, but to us kids we thought it hysterical.

I opened the door and took this picture, surprising him. Even taken unaware the man was smiling. When he saw a camera he would just pose. Here he just pretended he was hosing down the porch because "the rain couldn't reach here".


I am very thankful that my Dad wrote on almost every photograph he took. He wrote the date, the occasion, and the names of the people in the picture. This was another thing we made fun of, but now that my memory is going as I age I'm so grateful to have that information. Now I know how old I was and can recount things from the past through a picture. He would have embraced the digital age, but he wouldn't have liked not having a picture in his hands to write on. Although, he would have loved messing with digital photos on his computer. Heck, he would have made videos of them!

This is a great picture, but I haven't a clue who took it. This is the Indiana farm that he grew up on (and died on). These are the fish he caught and documented on the photo.

I have a few memories of fishing with my Dad. I didn't much enjoy it, but I'm glad I did it. Another lesson is life that I'm glad I experienced. He made us bait our own hooks and take our fish off when we caught them, which is the part I hated. But he was also a softie and I could get him to help me out on both of those most of the time.

I think the man photographed every major day of our lives. This picture is the day I graduated from college. We are standing outside our front yard in Indiana right before leaving for the ceremony.


My father was born on the 4th of July and so it was a big day in our house. We liked to put sparklers on his cake instead of candles. He enjoyed gifts and the sillier the better. He was definitely a kids' dream because if we saw it on a television commercial during Saturday cartoons we knew he had to have it. And he loved it.

He also insisted in his photographing that we take pictures with our gifts. Every Christmas he set up all the presents we received and took our pictures next to it. I love it now looking back at the gifts and knowing when I got them. I try to do this with my own kids, but I'm not as successful as he was. This pictures is his 66th birthday. I got him the Red Cross First Aid Kit. I got on for myself too. I still have it to this day in my van.

My father was a good man. I miss him a lot. More so on this day. I miss his "Russ-isms". I miss his humor. I miss his big bear hugs and his big gnarled hands. I miss the smell of his cigar smoke. I miss his lectures.

I'm glad I have his photos.

Out of the mouths of my babes

At the grocery....

Darcy: "Oh, we need hot chocolate mix! We are out of that."

Me: "Hot chocolate? Are you crazy? It's miserably hot outside, we don't need hot chocolate."

Darcy: "But Madison and I drink it in the morning."

Me: "Honey, it is too hot to be drinking hot chocolate. I'm not buying that."

Darcy: "You drink hot coffee."

Me: "And your point is?"

Darcy: "Hot chocolate is just coffee for kids!"