Mood Rings

This song... is fabulous... We definitely need to have a mandatory mood ring rule around here... too much Estrogen... or Progesterone... or whatever it is...

Too much fun is painful... Shawnee 2009

Very very painful... but we shall get to that later... I just like to throw titles like that out there... it makes me feel dangerous.

We (Kenneth, Micah, Angie, Bre and Brishaun) went camping in Shawnee National forest earlier this month. Like the tenth and eleventh... I think... anyway... daytime temps were in the 60s and night time... was freezing... seriously... like 30s and I am not exaggerating... I promise... you believe me, right? *innocent never exaggerates smile*

Anyway. We went camping. We packed up our little cars (yes little cars... we should have taken a picture... it was amusing. Thankfully it is only a little over an hour's drive away or I think my body would have suffered permanent damage from being crammed in like that...) and we drove around Evansville awhile getting breakfast... then we headed to Shawnee.

We arrived about ten in the morning on Sunday at Pounds Hollow and proceeded to Pine Ridge Campground and picked out a cute little spot. Kenneth and I drove back to the beginnning place to secure it and pay for it and then we drove back. We unpacked our little cars and began trying to set up the tent... without directions... hehe

Author's Note: Micah will be joining us later. She had a last minute Nutcracker rehearsal so Dad drove her up later Sunday evening.



We're good...



Very good...



Notice how I say "We" even though I'm really just standing back and watching them work and taking pictures...



Of their butts... am I allowed to say butts?



It's hard not to take pictures of their butts... but see only one in this pic... and it's a nice one too... sorry... I couldn't help it... I love you Kenneth!

Anyway...



Isn't it pretty?



At this point Bre goes "Hey, a little help here..." So I dutifully and regretfully lay aside my photography device and help with the construction of our temporary abode. I'm just noble like that.



Then I decide that temporary abode construction really isn't my thing... and I go back to taking pictures.



Pretty good for no instructions, eh? *proud smiley*



Our perfect little campsite had one problem... the thing wasn't level... seriously. The only level place was where the firepit was. So we set up the tent on the next levelest place... we thought "Oh it'll be okay... it'll be kinda like sleeping in those beds that have the head of the bed raised... no big deal. It'll actually be a good thing 'cause we're all sick and we'll be able to breathe better that way..." Feel free to laugh at us naive little campers. I'm laughing. Really. I am.



I love my mountain man...



I love my Bre-Bre... look at her beautiful hair... it's blue and purple and pink... well and black of course... so so pretty...



I love my afro boy... he looks so serious and professional...

I also love my Angie... but it seems I mostly took pictures of her butt... so yeah... she'd probably kill me if I posted a lot of butt pictures... hehe... sorry, Angie!



Then we arranged all our sleepy stuff in the tent... we laid down foamy mattress pads and big thick camping pads... we thought we were oh so clever and that we'd be sleeping comfortably and soundly atop our fluffy things... Laugh with me, people, laugh with me... *hysterical laughter*



Then I took a picture of our fire-ring... it was feeling neglected...

After comforting the neglected fire-ring we hiked down to Pounds Hollow Lake. It was very fun... and steep. But fun. I love hiking.



We met a friend at the bottom...



He had a funny hairdo... all spiky and emo... aint e cute?!



Our little friend shocked Bre... see, her hair's a little... yeah... love you Bre! Don't hit me... please!



Kenneth confiscated my camera... he takes better pictures anyway... see the pretty rock pile?



And the um... butts... again... okay, so Kenneth really isn't any better than me...



Poo... never mind... Kenneth is WAY better than me... *sigh*



Brishaun couldn't wait to go fishin'...



I don't know what he has in his mouth... I'm not sure I want to know...


I wanted to camp right here... but it's against the rules... stupid rules...



Angie and I were a bit tired... and the sun was perfect... and the light breeze coming off the water... sigh with me... *ahhhh* God is amazing. I love God... and Angie. Angie has been, with a lot of help from Kenneth, my sanity. Or the helper of my sanity. Angie has encouraged, strengthened, chastised, and walked with me on the road toward righteousness. It's been an interesting journey. Angie has become a crazy best friend to me. God is definitely good. It's funny the way he brings people into my life at the perfect time. Angie has been exactly what I needed when I needed it. She is precious.



Bre is one of the most beautiful people ever. She's stunning! Isn't she? And she is soooo artistic! She's one of those people with this natural affinity for all things art. Even though she's never taken a class, she's amazing at decorating cakes. She does really neat things with spray paint. Her sketches are too cool. She puts together awesome outfits. She LOVES music. Seriously, the woman and her ipod are inseperable. And the swing. She swings a lot. I would say she's a swinger but I've been told that has negative connotations. Please do not enlighten me... I enjoy my naive ignorance... Bre is amazing.



Brishaun, fishing of course. This kid can fish. And hunt. And make weapons. And use those weapons and his crazy ninja skills. And he can dance. And teach himself to play pretty much any instrument. And he has awesome hair. And he's taller than my husband. He's a pretty awesome guy.



Isn't he cute? All camo-ish and such? I could seriously go on and on about how amazing and fantastic and awesome and fabulous my husband is... but I've already done that in my meet Kenneth post so... yeah, suffice it to say I really really really love my husband. In the past few weeks I've been pondering God's timing in general and the timing of our relationship in specific and I've come to realize that God had everything planned down to the last detail and I am so overwhelmed at his love and provision. Wow.



Kenneth's work boots... er... boot. This boot has stuck with Kenneth through thick and thin. Braving the weather bravely, protecting Kenneth's foot from poo, mud, water, snow, ice, tire dressing, and horse saliva... this boot is fantabulous.

Now that I've extolled the virtues of my companions... sorry about that... hehe... I must show you this next picture... it's life changing...



Bre's legs... on a stump... with torn jeans... can you feel your life changing? I thought so.



Bre, Angie and I reading about the history of Pound's Hollow...

After using the restroom we hiked back up that crazy hill... oh my word... the hill was crazy... I think we all nearly died... and we grabbed water... piled into the car... stopped again at a stinky restroom... and drove to...



Rim Rock. I love this place. Garden of the gods gets all the glory, but really Rim Rock is awesome. Aren't these rocks amazing? Isn't the way my arm just disappears for a second and reappears amazing? I'm like Bao Dur! Only without the glowing blue in between my arm segments... and the remote... and cranial horns...



We scaled rocks...



Squeezed through a tunnel thing and got wet... Would someone care to tell me why I post pictures of myself looking like I'd wet myself... explosively... online?!

Thanks... that's what I thought too...



We laughed...



We spelunked...



We contemplated our existence...



We hiked...



We rested...

Doesn't Bre look like a fairy?



We marveled at Creation...



We threw large sticks...

Rather, Brishaun threw large sticks...



And we came across this substance... we decided it was deer poop... in a tree... yeah... I don't know either...

After our excursions in Rim Rock we drove back to our campsite. Since we didn't have cell phone reception we had to stop just outside the Pounds Hollow entrance to make phone calls. We called and explained to Dad how to get to our site and then started getting ready to prepare dinner.



First we had to build a fire... Our fearless leader men got started immediately... which turned out to be a very good thing because it took them about two hours. In their defense everything was wet... that made life much more difficult...



Good thing we had a survival guide...



Bre got bored and started playing with the matches...



And I got bored and took pictures of the trees again...



Kenneth's *still* trying to get that fire going... ya gotta love his tenacity... I know I do... hehe



Success!

(Bre and I were actually the first ones to get something to light... we're just amazing like that... but then it went out and Kenneth and Brishaun took back over)



Our fire... See, we've got that log on top to dry it out... did you know that wet logs foam when they're burning?! It was crazy cool looking!

So after we finally got our fire going good... I kid you not it took two hours... Micah arrived and we started roasting our hot dogs... and I removed the wet log from the grill so we could heat water for hot chocolate...

We roasted hot dogs and ate s'mores and sang worship songs late into the night... and made several freezing trips to the bathroom... seriously... it was just above freezing that night... not cool.

We read Second Timothy and then called it a night. Micah, Kenneth and I shared a sleeping bag. Micah had her own but she was a little scared and there was plenty of room in our double bag for her. It took another hour or so of giggling in our tent before we managed to settle down enough to sleep. Or try to sleep. I know I didn't do much sleeping. Sleeping on the ground after a grueling day of strenuous exercise is not smart. Few times in my life have I hurt so bad.

For one thing. The pads offered very little comfort from the cold hard ground... yeah... call me a sissy... it HURT. I'm way too old for that sort of thing. Then... because we were sleeping on a hill... our sleeping bags wanted to take off on us leaving us shivering in the cold. Were also on a slope to the side ... Kenneth and Micah ended up on top of me. Apparently pulling the sleeping bag back up makes it unzip... my sleeping fellows squished me out the side... I landed on the cold hard ground. It's a cruel cruel world.

We finally got settled, around two in the morning I'm guessing. Kenneth slept in Micah's sleeping bag which was actually Kenneth's sleeping bag because Kenneth and I had planned to sleep in Mom and Dad's double sleeping bag... make sense?

I finally gave up on sleeping the second light began appearing and left the warm comfort of my sleeping bag to get a start on the fire. Kenneth, Brishaun, and Angie all got up then too. Apparently Micah and Bre were the only ones not in too much pain to sleep.

Getting the fire started took another two hours and looked pretty much the same as it did before so I'll spare you the photo montage.



We had hot dogs and Donut Bank donuts (purchased the day before, unfortunately Shawnee doesn't have a Donut Bank) for breakfast. And Teecino. I later slapped myself really hard for forgoing traditional caffeine filled coffee...



Poor Bre... the smoke seemed to follow her no matter where she sat...



Micah... playing with fire. Notice she is wearing only a t-shirt while the rest of us are bundled up like Eskimos... yeah...



Look at the height difference... I can't believe they're twins...



Gwen's Campfire Friends...



Micah's camera shy...

hehe

I'm just kidding... the kid is a total ham... she's just warding off the tear inducing smoke... we'd thought we were so smart bringing dried onion tops to use as kindling... haha... it just made the smoke that much meaner...



The best thing about our campsite was the giant grapevines hanging over a ravine. Okay, so it was a big ditch... ravine sounds cooler...

Brishaun looking oh so cool and composed. Cool as a cucumber...



Bre... demonstrating the cling with your thighs approach...



I have no idea what is going on... I just like what Brishaun's hair is doing...



Micah demonstrating the difficult one handed swing...



And Kenneth... pictures like these make me want to find that boy and kiss the heck out of him. Sorry! I can't help it! Stop giving me that evil look, Bre!



I have no idea...

Oh, before I forget... the mens found two hibernating snakes... do snakes hibernate? I'm gonna say they do... 'cause these guys were sleepy... pretty cool.



Brishaun demonstrating the pull back as far as you can, jump as high as you can, and hold on for dear life approach to vine swinging...

After the vine swinging exhibition, we cleaned up breakfast and drove back to Rim Rock to do the other trail.



Beautiful... I couldn't get over all the ferns!



And the massive rocks that made Angie Brishaun and whoever that is look like play people...



Oh, that was Bre I suppose. She was the one wearing the blindingly yellow shirt... and Brishaun's funny face is priceless...



One of several amazing waterfalls...



Mushrooms... too cute!



Micah and Brishaun... I love pictures of them together... they make me feel all warm and fuzzy... her protector... and tormentor... funny how the two go hand in hand... hehe...

We then went back, packed camp, and stopped at Garden of the gods to play before we left.



There are several places that form perfect little seats. I love coming here just before nightfall to watch the sunset. Unfortunately we were all (except Micah, of course) too tired to stick around until then.



I'm not sure why it looks so dark, it was a lovely day, but I love this picture... it's moody... like me...



Bre... too cute for words in her purple sweatshirt that matches her hair...



Brishaun and I... Hi Kenneth...



Micah... being Micah... my stars that girl is lovely... even when she's giving you that what the heck are you doing look...



So I thought... Oh what a lovely picture... and then I noticed the upper right corner... my butt with a strategically placed leaf... lovely... that last lovely was sarcastic... just so there is no confusion...



It's like a playground for grownups... and nearly grownups... and almost nearly grownups...



Nuhnuh nuhnuh nuh nuh nuhnuh Bat Girl! Woo I'm scary looking...



There are an inordinate amount of pictures of me... let this be a lesson to you all... do not give your husband control of the camera... unless you are photogenic... at least this one has Micah in it. I think we were waiting for Bre to make it through the tunnel.



God so made all this for us to play on. I hope heaven has big rocks.





Brishaun turned out to be quite the climber. Travis would have been proud.



The only thing that made the day less than perfect... other than being completely sore and Bre having a hurt knee... were all the other people in the park... the stupid people... the people trying to kill themselves... like this girl... do you see her? No? Let's zoom in...



She wants to die.

Now we climb on rocks... and we do difficult things... and if we fell it would hurt... but we're not stupid. We don't do things we aren't sure we can do. We don't try to get on the camel head knowing a person dies attempting that pretty much every year... We don't let our small reckless children stand on the edge...

Sorry about the rant.



It just bugs me, you know? I don't want to watch someone die!



Like this crazy kid! What was he thinking? Now the vultures are going to eat him and his mom is going to cry.

I'm just kidding... Brishaun's not dead... he's just pretending...



You hope...

You Know You're Obsessed with Clones when...

Okay... so I found this and thought it was fabulous... and though I'm not nearly this "Mando" ... I love it! And yes... I sing (mostly hum) 'Vode An' in public... *chagrined smiley*

You know you're obsessed with clones when...

You love the Dark Nest novels, but the first thing you turned to when you got The Swarm War was the Triple Zero excerpt.

You've memorized the numbers and nicknames for more than 10 clones.

You've ever recorded yourself singing anything in Mando'a, or you've caught yourself singing Vode An in a public place.

You're watching AotC, and you get a major urge to vibroblade any Geonosian you see onscreen, while muttering curses about "dirty worthless bugs".

You go to type "command" and find yourself trying to put an 'o' at the end of the word.

Your copies of Hard Contact, Triple Zero, True Colors, and Order 66 are permanently within easy reach of your computer - for reference purposes.

You've made up your own squad of Republic Commandos, complete with numbers, nicknames, personalities, and armor coloring.

You see it as your personal duty to exterminate the general population's belief that the clones aren't human, aren't sentient, have no free choice, or that the lives of individuals are meaningless because "more can be made".

You listen to the Republic Commando game soundtrack as much as you listen to your favorite bands.

You find yourself quoting the commandos in everyday conversation and/or life.

You've ever gone through one of the movie scenes with clones in it frame-by-frame.

You routinely talk to your squad out loud while playing Republic Commando. For example: "Sev, go snipe", "Stop lagging behind, Scorch", "I don't care if it's against procedure, Fixer, get your butt over here and revive me... thanks", "Die, you metal-head piece of trash!" (oh wait, that's Sev... :D), etc. Y

You misread common English words as similar Mando'a words. For example: vod'ika instead of 'vodka'.

(Taken from Brothers All: Republic Commando Fansite)

The Tale of the Bald Frog

Okay so I was updating my profile and there's this random question thing at the end... I asked for a new question and this is what I got...

Random Question:

The children are waiting! Please tell them the story about the bald frog with the wig:

So I did... but it said my story was too long... I cried from the pain of the rejection... then I recovered and thought since I worked such long hard hours on it I couldn't let it go to waste... hehe... so here it is, from the award winning author that brought you Brian Lost His Lunch Money, I give you the Tale of the Bald Frog. No need for a standing ovation... sit back down... you're too kind, really...

The Tale of the Bald Frog
by Gwendolyn McTaggart

Long ago in the land of the lily pads there lived a bald frog.

You see, children, back then all frogs had hair, regardless of gender or age. This poor frog, however, had none. He was a very very sad frog.
His name was Gerald.

Poor Gerald was teased mercilessly by the other frogs until he was so distraught he left the lily pad kingdom and journeyed far into the lands of the Oaks and Maples and Firs.

There among those great trees he found a poor little fly with no wings. Though Gerald was very hungry from his journeying he felt a strange sympathy for the flightless fly. For a fly without wings was much like a frog without hair. Gerald was sure this poor fly had endured much hardship in it's sorry little life and he could not bring himself to eat the fly.

"Poor fly. I'm so sorry for your plight. You must have a terrible time getting around, is there anywhere I can take you?"

Just then there was a great beam of silvery light and the fly disappeared. In its place was a beautiful faerie.

"Little hairless one," Her voice was soft, musical like a flute. "Because your heart is kind and your motives pure as the ice on the alps I shall grant you your heart's desire."

The faerie was a magical being and knew instinctively what the frog wanted most. The lovely faerie fashioned him a fabulous wig of darkest ebony and set it atop his head.

The frog's eyes widened in astonishment and he opened his mouth to thank the kind faerie but the moment so overwhelmed him that he promptly fainted.

The End.

Tales of Woe: A Babysitting Experience

I'm just hanging out... waiting for the police to show up and arrest me for child neglect...

Yeah... well... not really... but close... really close... police were involved... and children... but I don't think I'm gonna get arrested... tonight anyway...

Since I have ya'll on the edge of your seats here... let me start at the beginning...

My dishwasher broke on my birthday... yeah... so instead of typing the whole experience out again let me just direct you to the tale that started it all...

Ya back?

Good. So it's pretty much like that only there was no ant and it's been days and it's still not fixed. I can guarantee if Dad had to wash those dishes that dishwasher would be fixed by now... but nope... and since Kenneth or I would probably do more harm than good... I think I'm just going to have to wait patiently... grr... I'm not a very patient person... I prayed for more patience this morning...

I'm regretting that.

Anyway.

My dishwasher was broken. I was sad. I washed dishes for hours and hours... like fifteen hours, I'm sure of it. And then I had to go babysit some Jewish kids at the synagogue because it was Rosh Hashanah and their babysitter got the flu. Anyway. I was running a bit later than I would have liked but still would have made it there with time to spare... except some stupid stalker cop pulled me over because the stupid sticker on my stupid license plate was one stupid month expired. I was annoyed but managed to be totally polite and contrite... until they made me sit there over twenty minutes and politely threatened to tow my car. Go ahead! Tow my freakin' car, at least then I'll be spared the wrath of the angry synagogue people! I thought desperately at the man while trying to snatch my stupid stuff back and leave.

We (Myself and a friend who shall remain unnamed) walked in exactly twenty minutes late. Stupid cop. I'm still mad and that was Monday. Ugh. Anyway. We walk in and of course no one is around, they're all in the sanctuary place. So we start looking for a room full of kids.

There were no kids. Anywhere. So I run into the janitor guy (super nice guy, I think he's my favorite person there) and explain what's going on and he says that the kids are supposed to be in the youth room and that they'll probably trickle in later.

I heave a great sigh of relief and walk back to the youth room.

Suddenly this horrible wailing starts in the sanctuary place. It gets louder and louder until finally a very Irate Mom comes out towing a little person and carrying a second. "I thought there were supposed to be babysitters here!?" She irately exclaims.

Yeah. Um. That'd be me. I'm sorry. I stammer an apology... I'm not sure what it was..

Irate Mom hands me Screaming Child and goes back in after telling me their names and saying Screaming Child will stop screaming eventually.

Great.

Okay. Screaming Child screams for a good fifteen minutes until she wears herself out and falls asleep.

Awesome.

Her Big Brother is playing contentedly with Unnamed Helper and another girl about Micah's age.

Fabulous.

Irate Mom comes back in the room.

I start to hyperventilate.

Turns out she's really really nice, she was just incredibly embarrassed because she was supposed to be doing a reading and her daughter starts screaming in the middle of it and she has to ask the Rabbi to take back over.

I'd be mad too.

Actually, I'd probably cry.

Anyway, then she wants my number and email address so I can maybe help her out with the kids while she's pregnant. The thought scares the snot out of me, but I felt about bad flat out refusing so I gave her my info.

She leaves to go back into the worship place.

Big Brother starts bouncing off the walls. Turns out he'd been cooped up all day in this little room. I take pity on him and allow Unnamed Helper to take him and Older Girl outside to play on the playground right outside the door.

I can't move for fear of waking Screaming Child.

Three minutes later Older Girl comes back in.

Big Brother is gone.

I died right there.

I wish.

Screaming Child wakes up when I leap up. "What?!" My voice sounds oddly strangled.

"We were playing hide and seek."

"What!?" My voice has recovered. I have to yell to be heard over screaming child.

We go outside and yell for Big Brother. Unnamed Helper takes off around the building... barefoot.

Big Brother comes back less than two minutes later. "Where's Unnamed Helper?" He asks innocently.

I struggle to keep my voice even. "Looking for you, Big Brother. Let's go back inside and wait for him." I turn around and find to my horror that the door is locked.

My heart sinks to even further depths.

Screaming Child ceases her screaming momentarily as Unnamed Helper comes running back around the builiding. He sags in relief when he spots Big Brother. "Where were you?" He demanded, annoyed.

"Where were you?" I ask, nearly in tears.

"Well, I ran into a cop."

"What!?" I pray that God takes me right there.

"I didn't mean to, he stopped me." Unnamed Helper looks worried.

"What did you say?"

"He asked me what I was doing?"

"What did you say?!" I'm not sure which was worse, the nausea or the hysteria.

"I told him I was looking for a little boy."

I think I was having an out of body experience as I left Unnamed Helper, Big Brother, and Older Girl at the back door and I walk quickly around to the front door carrying Screaming Child. I run into a cop.

"She's cute."

"Yeah. She's tired. And wants her mom... and... we um... got locked out." Strangled laugh. Yup. I'm definitely getting hysterical. I dart back down the hall, Screaming child's cries reverberating throughout the building, and let the others back in.

Big Brother continues to bounce off the walls until I relent and let them back outside. Unnamed Helper promises to not let them out of sight.

My bonding time with Screaming Child was interrupted as an old guy and another cop walks into the youth room. I throw a nervous smile at them and focus on trying to calm Screaming Child.

"Are you her mother?" The old guy asks snidely, smirking.

Um, yeah, that would be why she's screaming for her mother at the top of her lungs. "No, I'm, um, the babysitter?" I reply tentatively, leaving the acerbic commentary in my head where it's safer.

"Do you have someone helping you?" Mr. Smirky asks, his tone making it very clear that he already knows the answer.

"Um, yeah?"

"Where is he?"

I want to slap the smug smirk off his face but I restrain myself and meekly reply. "He's... um... he's outside with Big Brother and Older Girl?" I stammer pathetically. Playing in traffic whilst running with scissors.

"Well he needs to come back inside and whoever he's with needs to come in as well. You're not allowed to leave this room." Mr. Smirky says condescendingly. "And he really should be wearing shoes." Mr. Smirky glances around the room, disdain plainly written on his aged visage. "These toys should not be out. She," He gestures toward Screaming Child. "Could choke on them."

Do I look like I was born yesterday? Yeah, I know losing a kid is a pretty big no-no but c'mon... I'm holding Screaming Child, age appropriate toys are the only ones near us, give me a break, okay? I nod mutely instead.

Mr. Smirky and Silent Cop leave.

I die some more then call Unnamed Helper, Big Brother, and Older Girl back in.

Nice Mom -- formerly known as Irate Mom -- comes back a half an hour or so later. "Oh, they look like they're doing great."

"Yeah, um, Unnamed Helper and Big Brother were playing hide and seek outside." I feel myself getting hysterical again.

"That's nice."

"Yeah, but, um, they're back in now!" I do that weird choking laugh thing again, sweat beading on my forehead.

Nice Mom doesn't notice. I chat with her until I can escape gracefully.

I'm still waiting for an irate email from Nice Mom when she finds out I lost her kid.

I haven't heard from anybody about them actually paying me for those three torturous hours.

But that's okay. I escaped with my life and haven't been arrested... yet... of course it's only been three days... *hysterical smiley*

*Update- Dad thinks he fixed my dishwasher while I was writing this... cross your fingers...

Oh and I totally was not exaggerating! Just ask Unnamed Helper. For real, folks, it was horrible.

I almost died today...

I did... it was a harrowing experience... I like saying that... it makes me feel dangerous...



Pretty, huh? I love my backyard... it makes me feel tranquil...



I love the garden... it makes me feel earthy...



Eggs...



I love Travis... he makes me feel sick... I'm really sorry about that picture... but it begged to be included in this post and I just can't seem to say no...



I love Kenneth... when he takes interesting pictures it makes me feel valued... or something like that...



Dogwood blossoms look like snow...



See?



I love my lilies... they make me feel Asiatic...



Lavender? No... Lilac... hehe... doesn't my botanical prowess amaze and astound you greatly?



So I almost died today... while digging potatoes... *dramatic pause*

Yup.

We dug potatoes with a backhoe...

Hey... there were a lot of weeds... because there's been a lot of rain... so yeah... it was Dad's idea... blame him, okay?

So we let Dad drive the backhoe... 'cause it's pretty much his backhoe... but see, he isn't really used to it yet... and the lever thingies are a bit touchy... yeah... we'll get to that later...

So Dad was using the backhoe to dig, then he'd shake the bucket thing to kinda sift through the sod and Trav and I picked up the potatoes as they fell out... it was a really good idea... and it was oh so much easier than manually digging them with a shovel thing... I'd rather face death than dig a ton of potatoes with a shovel... and when I say ton... I mean ton...

So there we were, trying to hurry because it was going to storm and we wouldn't be able to get the backhoe in the garden with it all soggy...

But see... there were those touchy levers... and when you touch a touchy lever the humongous arm goes swinging around randomly at insane speeds and tries to knock your head off... it had a mind of it's own... so there we were, picking up potatoes and dodging the backhoe arm thing and the adrenalin was going and all... it was quite exhilarating... yeah... and then the heavy fork thing falls off...

So we haphazardly stick it back on... but it's loose... really loose...

And I'm minding my own business picking up potatoes under the big heavy bucket thing when Dad starts jiggling it to knock out more potatoes and nearly drops the thing on my head...

Travis gives me an incredulous look and says something like... "You might not want to be under there while he's doing that..."

No kidding.

Aren't ya'll glad I didn't die?

Yeah... me too...

Meet my new best friend...

I have had severe female issues for about 3 weeks now... but I'm not going to get into that... suffice it to say, my heating pad has been in near continual use during this time. Well, she died last night in the middle of the night and I had to suffer through all of today without my best friend, my constant companion, my heating pad.

Angie bought me a new one. Thank you, Angie, I love you!

Meet my new best friend, Heather. (get it... *heat her*... yeah me neither...)
This is Heather, she is technologically advanced. Seriously... I had to read the instruction manual... something I would have done anyway because I have this strange love for instruction manuals but rarely do I actually *have* to read them... I usually just do it for fun...

She has a nifty LCD screen and a timer and she's just pretty... and her cover is so soft... and she's warm... and she eases my pain and allows me to sleep... I love Heather. Heather is my new best friend. I just thought you two should meet.