Can almost feel the water beating on my skin now...

Well it's been the summertime since we've gotten to use our own shower. I haven't taken photos of the hole in the floor or the subflooring that's been sitting there for months, simply because it just was too much for me to really look at. I've had to smell mildew, then rotten wood, then earth, and felt the cool air around the shower because there was nothing there but OSB between us and the ground. But finally after months of stumbling in and out of the kids' bathroom in the dark morning hours, I will soon be stumbling straight into my my own beautiful slate-tile shower again. GLORIOUS! SIMPLY PUT, I CANNOT WAIT! It's been an ordeal to go from wondering why I can't scrub away that mildew smell to oh-my-gravy there's a mushroom growing there to gutting the whole dern thing and then wondering how will we afford to get all this fixed. Then when it looks like when can cover it, getting the right guy in here to do it has been challenging. The Dude managed to find the guy pretty easily and he's associated with reputable folk, so I'm not concerned about the job. But the guy is SO GOOD, he's in major demand and we waited weeks to get him in here. Then when he came, we didn't have everything he needed, it took more weeks to get him back in. A guy who is in this much demand MUST be good right? I sure hope so, in fact I'm extremely optimistic about him and the job he's doing. It's already looking better than it ever looked before and he's only half way done. So the photo you see, is where we are right now... soooo close!!! I'm happy. Very very happy!

That last one just flat out ignored the obvious...

...I mean as far as nurturing your blooms. I suppose a blog could be considered a bloom, but a minor one. Over the last few years, I've come to depend on the social network world as an outlet for myself, thinking it was the one place I had some control. I mean, even when I didn't have any adults to speak to at my house, I always had a buddy to chat with online, right? But really, when I think about it, it seems sort of pathetic. Not that I'm about to give up blogging and fb-ing, but I guess it's time to step back and work on cultivating for-real relationships. My life with the dude is the biggest, most important blossom on earth for me, is it not? He's so much more important than all the social networking out there, yet marriage continues to be the hardest thing we've ever tried to tackle - But, as he might say in his EJ lingo, all the hard work pays off dividends! Here it is, right here at Valentine's Day, arguably one of the stupidest days ever labeled on a calendar, and society says I should be upset if I don't get a chocolate or a flower. But I'm pretty sure it won't matter, as long as the dude is my dude (but don't tell him that, I still like chocolate if there's a possibility it may come my way). We have a pretty good life. As I say, it's work, tending the little garden, and we could stand to work a little harder. But we aren't quarrelsome and I'm pretty sure the love is abundant. It's these other relationships in my life that need a lot of attention. For Valentine's Day this year, I'm thinking of ways to nurture those blooms too.

An attempt to follow advice- nurture your bloom!

P.W. recently posted ten things she's learned about writing a blog. The one that stood out to me the most: blog often; nurture your blog like a bloom. Even if I have nothing to say??? Yes, I suppose so. But then she says not to talk about the same topic twice... crap, we're like an old married couple here. We've already run out of things to say to one another. Sorry about that.

But I AM making an attempt despite being totally and utterly uninspired at the moment. Here's what I propose for now. I will go to my iPhoto and choose something at random and just write a blurb about it. You may think that's totally a cop-out, and maybe it is. But it's something. Okay, here goes...

There now. Horses at Swan Beach, how nice. This photo was taken oh, 4-5 years ago? I know I took the photo with an old LG phone. We were driving up to our lot on Swordfish Crescent and it was one of those lucky times when we got to see the wild ponies roaming along the shore. We haven't been down in a while. I suppose we should go check it out, maybe pitch a tent on our piece of sand. The kids would probably really enjoy such an adventure.

That's all I've got.

Colorado on my mind (with apologies to James Taylor)

With the dude having flown off to Big Colorado, leaving the kids and me here at Little Colorado, I have grown nostalgic... yes, again. I've been doing that a lot lately. I've had memories triggered by conversations about random topics, which elicit the smiles that only sweet memories can elicit. I am reminded that life is full of some fun and interesting times and of course, dwelling on loss seems so pointless when your heart, and your photo books, are so full of the good stuff. Lee asked me on the phone last night when I was going to fly out and go skiing. In my mind, flying out to Colorado would be so much more interesting off the slopes. Sure, I should learn to ski, I should have learned long before now, having gone to college and graduate school in close proximity of ski resorts and then living in Colorado... What the heck is my problem? I just simply never got around to it. That's not the point of my entry today. I dug up some old photos from our brief time out there. Living with the dude is so much fun sometimes because he loves to check out what's out there when there is adequate time available. When we lived in Milliken, the three of us traveled about two weekends each month just to see what was around. I loved that there were so many places to see out there in close proximity to us. These photos are just a sample of some of my favorite sites and memories. I'll start with the view from my bedroom window. The front range is a nice thing to see in the morning. This particular mountain is called Long's Peak. I wish I had a clearer photo of it.

These are windmills in Northern Colorado. As James Taylor would say, "and it seems like it goes on like this forever..."

One day, my good friend Jenn, with whom I went to Appalachian State, was up at Beaver Creek, so we went to say hi. Of course, me not being a skier, opted for ice skating. Because she lives in Florida, this was such a treat! I miss her so, Boone would have been a drag without her!

Everywhere we traveled, we took our son, Rudy-dog with us. Hotels are mostly pet friendly out there and when they aren't we had a great traveling-condominium in the back of the truck for the ol' boy. He was always a good traveler!

There was always something cool for Rudy-dog to do, like run along the Rio Grande in the early morning while the dude broke camp.

My favorite place to be in the entire state of Colorado! Great Sand Dunes. I love this place. You just have to go there and experience it for yourself. Ese gave it a thumbs up :)

This place is just too amazing for words. You can see Rudy-dog in the distance in this shot.

The Sand Dunes wore Rudy-dog out! At this point, by about 9:30 a.m., the sand is beginning to get a little hot.

This is one of my favorite photos of Ese from back then. Hiking in the Rocky Mountain National Park with her stick and her dandelion, she was always such an awesome little trooper! Man I miss those little adventures! Little Bug has never had these adventures like Ese has had, I do regret that.

Like I said, close proximity to some cool places. Ese called this "the guys in the rock".

Devil's Tower, of course, found in Wyoming, was dubbed "The Big Rock".

Winterfest in Steamboat Springs.

So Hot and Steamy...

Winter X Games 2003 at Aspen.

Buttermilk Mtn. - Aspen

We present day, Americanos think we're so smart. If it was all stripped away from us right now, would we have sense enough to build a cliff dwelling? I am fascinated by the Anasazi people and the Mesa Verde lifestyle.

After hiking what seemed like straight up for 2 1/2 miles to the Hanging Lake, I was rewarded with this amazing place. Unfortunately, I can't figure out how to rotate this photo on this blogger thingie... oh me...

But isn't Hanging Lake just gorgeous?

We visited Red Rocks a couple times and I never got over how lovely that place is. The amphitheater offers a wonderful, intimate concert experience, but the beauty of the rocks is just amazing.

I sit back now and look at my photo albums and think about how I'd love to go back, especially now that I have a way better camera with which to work. I'd love to live out there again, although, I'm sure we never will. It seems like Little Colorado is where we're going to stay for so many reasons. But Lee has me thinking, when am I going to get back out there? May not for skiing, but just for being. I just miss so many things. Heck, I miss things like eating Happy Meals at McDonalds with Ese and watching the prairie dogs pop their heads up and down in their holes. We used to just sit at the little playground there and watch prairie dogs. What a thing to remember, what a way to pass the time.

The Grandma Project

I have 2 entities to thank for this entry. First, of course, is my dear Grandmother, Fleta. She left us in '99 and we still miss her. She had no way of knowing that her practice of saving bits of this and that and glueing them into books would impact me as it has. I have a very RATIONAL fear of losing my mind, or at least sliding into dementia at some point. Whether it be early onset or later, it's bound to happen. I'd rather have a way of recollecting something of my life, even if it is to look at my collections of stuff and to say to myself, "This lady sure lived a good life whoever she is."

I must also thank the school system by whom I am employed. They occasionally grant me a snow day, or in today's case, an icy-secondary-road day. We took a walk out there and confirmed that, yes, our road remains icy and the wind may very well take off the ears of a small child. So thanks to Grandma Fleta and to the local school system- I heart you both!

This stuff's been piling up for about 10 months! Probably since the last snow day of the 2009-2010 school year. Mainly it's playbills, newspaper articles containing blurbs about hubby or photos of the kids. Of course, VT football tickets and the things you pick up on vacation that tell about where you've been. There are obituaries and wedding programs. It goes on and on. Happy and sad things alike are included, all the things I may want to be reminded of when I'm old. My children won't care to recall them, my husband and I won't be speaking to one another by then, and I will be a reclusive old hag I suspect. I'll need this, I'm pretty sure in order to maintain my sanity... or at least what's left of it.
Here are a few of them stowed away under the bookshelves in the foyer.
There are a few more up top, but as you can see, they're quickly outgrowing their allotted space. If you're ever around my place for a visit or a crab leg, feel free to peruse pages of the "The Grandma Project".
Part of my dream for getting the upstairs of our home completed is to have my husband build an giant bookshelf for me up there... somewhere... right about there. Can you visualize it? I can't either, but he's a genius at that sort of thing and I have full faith that one day, my scrapbooks will have a glorious new home... I just hope I'm not already senile when it occurs because I want to be able to find my way up there.

Viva la Grandma Project!

Quick update on my lunch break

We anxiously await another winter event or as the newscasters are apt to quip a "so-called winter event" (I love when they throw pointless words like 'so-called' around to fill up space); however, I'm looking out the window of my tiny cracker-box and see nothing so far. Today would be a good day to get out early since the lunch menu was mysteriously changed from cheeseburger to tuna salad and therefore my youngest child has eaten nothing. Her teacher has been given strict instructions to send her to my office for a granola bar if she complains of hunger. There's a big gap between a yummy cheeseburger and ooshy gooshy catfood tunasalad, which is mostly a mayonnaise-compound substitute anyway. Imagine my child's facial expression...

I technically have two "so-called offices". One is at the high school. It's only considered an office if there is a computer in place and I can do paperwork there. The tiny, filthy room where I serve six fun students, nearing adulthood, also has this interesting feature: a ladder to nowhere. Why shouldn't all classrooms, er, tiny spaces have holes in the ceiling with ladders attached? I have one student who threatens to explore the ladder and so far I have managed to talk him out of it, but how long will I manage to talk myself out of it? I mean, I really want to go up there! This is a Pandora's Box isn't it?

Also, after a little googling, I managed to label our Owl friend from an earlier post. She is a Barred Owl, and a beautiful specimen at that!

On to the Dopamax, er, I mean Topamax update: I am now on a 50mg dosage. That would be 25mg a.m. and 25mg p.m. I tried just taking 12.5 in the a.m. but the headaches came roaring back so I'll just have to stay Homer Simpson for a while. Once I had gotten to this level, I suffered from all sorts of oddities such as nausea, anorexia, difficulty sleeping, moodiness, sensitivity to idiotic comments of others, serious difficulty concentrating on my work, anomia, and general spaciness. Some of these things have subsided or at least minimized to the point where I can deal with them. This past saturday and sunday were filled with energy and feeling great and I hope to goodness that this is a precursor of things to come. While sodas and beer continue to have an interesting flatness, I still occasionally drink one as a trial. I have found that Natural Light, while never having had much flavor to begin with, tastes pretty much the same and was a happy beverage of choice for Birthday Bowling Extravaganza on saturday night. My 36th birthday came and went like any other day, but family and friends made me feel like a million dollars in so many ways. The older I become the more blessed I feel! Amen and Amen!

A favorite Christmas item

I love love love getting Christmas cards, especially the photos ones from my friends who have children. I get to display them all in this amazing, quilted, denim stocking made by my oh-so-artsy-fartsy friend. I am forever envious of her talents on a sewing machine. She takes old blue jeans, which she procures from family, friends, Goodwill, etc., and creates the most wonderful works of art with them. You may think that the tree would be the best part of the decor at my house, but it's this stocking which tends to capture my gaze for many moments. I like to shuffle the cards around to create a different look from time to time and declare each day a new favorite card, and attempt to create prominate spots for each in turn. In other words, it's just one more outlet for my eternal piddling (as if I needed another). Thank you Artsy-Fartsy-Friend! I love you looooonnnng time!