I Only Have A Second

Seriously.

I only have a second.

My computer is electronically applying

the payments from a million dollar check.

It takes about 3 minutes.

So that's what I've got.

(Because it doesn't post all of it, just the EASY stuff...

then I get to come behind and post the rest...)

And I have to be finished before TUESDAY!

(TUESDAY is my favorite day!!!!! LOL)

Anyhow.

Just checking in to say I am alive.

And I am working like a banshee to be

ready to go on vacation on 

TUESDAY.

And TUESDAY can't come soon enough

because I'm working like a banshee and it's

WEARING ME OUT!!!!

Hahahahahaha

The good news is my class this weekend

is relatively small.

And they have to do a "mid term" exam

on Saturday morning which means I have

an hour and a half of "down time"

during which I'm going to figure out

what I'm going to make for Rod and Kyle

to eat while I'm out of town starting on 

TUESDAY.

And then on Sunday we have LOTS of down time

although the final exam doesn't officially end until

9:00 in the evening.

And then I still have to drive home.

And then work like a banshee on Monday

to get ready for 

TUESDAY!

(I plan to do some cooking Monday night

and since my flight doesn't leave until later in 

the afternoon on TUESDAY, I'll have

time to pack and finish cooking in the morning.)

Oh oh,

my computer says it's done.

Which means so is this blog post.

LOVE YOU!

(See most of you on TUESDAY!!!!!)

Counting Down

Woot!

I'm counting the days until I get to fly to Tucson!

I am SOOOOO ready!

This weekend I had 47 people pre-registered

for my class.

Last month I had 43 registered and

30 of them showed up.

In a room that barely holds 28.

So I made arrangements with the owner of

the facility to set us up for the absolute

maximum.

They measured.

They brought in different chairs.
(the normal ones are wider and have arms)

They squished in an extra row of tables.

We were PREPARED!

Registration and handing out books

begins at 7:30.

Class starts promptly at 8:00.

At 7:45 I had FOUR, count 'em, FOUR

students.

Then, of course they began dribbling in.

I ended up with 11.

Sigh.

(Sunday 2 more showed up - who comes

to class on the SECOND day????)

Anyhow.

They were nice people,

friendly, with good, thoughtful questions.

So it was a good class and I actually

MUCH prefer a smaller class,

but I can guarantee if we hadn't done all the 

extra stuff, we would have had all 47 of 'em.

LOL

(During lunch the guy came in with an assistant

and took all the extra stuff back down again...)

Life of a teacher of adult education.

HOW many days until I fly out?????

(grin)

Winter - Again

It's LATE in the year for

us to have frost warnings.

It's the middle of March 

for crying out loud!

But be that as it may,

that's what we've got going on here.

Yes.

Florida gets COLD.

For reals.

Add a nice stiff wind from the north

and its NASTY out there!

Too cold for my camera.

(well, for my fingers to work my camera)

Filling all the water jugs for the many

different chicken cages 

was NOT fun.

I was almost looking forward to washing

eggs when I got into the house.

I wash them in warm water and

it felt LOVELY to my frozen fingers.

We put the garden buckets in the garage.

And adjusted the heat lamp on the 

chicks and ducklings 

so they could stay toasty warm.

And then I made a TOTALLY delicious

giant pot of SOUP.

Thick, creamy, and yummy enough

that Kyle had TWO bowls!

I'll make a batch when I come down there.

Nancy

My sister Nancy.

Obviously she is beautiful.

Did you know she was a model?

But her outer beauty pales beside

her inner beauty.

She loves her family.

Her husband.

Her sons.

Her daughters in love.

Her granddaughters and grandsons.

Her parents.

Her sisters and brothers.

And we all desperately love her back.

She has a sense of style that is

immediately apparent.

In her clothing,

in the fabulous jewelry she designs

in her home.

But again that pales beside the

style and grace with which she lives her life.

She spends most of her time helping others,

making our parents happy and safe 

and comfortable in their new home.

And volunteering so much of her time

and expertise to others in her

community who are struggling.

Bringing joy and beauty back to their lives.

Someday I want to be like her.

But she is one of a kind.

So in the meantime, I'll just love her.

And wish her the happiest of birthdays.

LOVE YOU NANC! 

Kayak Camping

A couple of weekends ago (I've been busy)

the guys went Kayak Camping.

Jim, Sabrina, Kyle and a 

bunch of their friends.

They loaded all their gear into 

their kayaks and paddled over

to an island in the river.

Most of them are "hammock" campers.

Jim and Sabrina have quite the setup.

Fancy hammocks and fancy rigging.

Kyle chose to pitch his tent.

(SMART!  Sabrina showed up in his

tent part way through the night...

it was pretty windy.)

Anyhow.

We've been busy busy busy.

And we haven't taken the kayaks out lately.

They hang up in the rafters of the barn.

And they get REALLY dirty!

It was my job to get them down and 

clean them up.

(Kyle and Jim were both working)

They looked MUCH better when I was done.

It wasn't without MUCH pain on my part though.

LOL

Kyle got them all loaded up in his truck

and off they headed.

They had a GREAT time,

despite the next day being overcast and

really windy.

They got wet.

They got tired.

But they had lots of fun.

And now Kyle is trying to convince

Rod and I that kayak camping is a THING.

And we should DO IT!

Little Garden Update

Rod's little garden is doing GREAT!!

Check out these strawberries!

(And the teeny tiny pea plants peaking

in the background...)

And peppers!

These are going to be those little

mini colored peppers.

I hope.

And of course there are cherry tomatoes

galore...

So far all we have eaten are strawberries,

but it won't be long now...

GOOD JOB HONEY!

All Fixed

Rod worked (and worked)

on my truck over the weekend.

He is a good, hard working mechanic.

And then he drove it yesterday.

Just to check.

I have it back today (I drove the Passat)
and while I love the VW,
I LOVE MY TRUCK!

And I LOVE MY HUSBAND!
Thank you Sweetheart!

(My favorite picture!  LOL)

MORE little girls...

We had a VERY busy day on Saturday.

And Friday.

And Sunday.

Hahahahaha

But let's start at the beginning.

On THURSDAY I noticed my truck 

making a funny noise while braking.

Not every time.

And really hard to re-create.

*The first time I thought it was the radio!

It did it again on Friday.

When Kyle got home, I took him out

for a drive so he could hear it.

He and Rod decided it was my

rear brakes.

Since we had scheduled a trip up to

our feed mill to pick up this month's

feed, we asked Kyle if we could 

trade trucks.

Which meant when Kyle got to work

Saturday morning, he discovered he didn't

have the keys to his tool box.

They were on his OTHER key chain.

Rod dashed over to rescue him.

And I made breakfast.

Then we hopped in Kyle's truck and headed

north to Samsula to get feed.

Bandit had to stay home.

We didn't want her in Kyle's truck.

It was a nice trip, the weather was great,

the feed smells great (it has a TON of molasses)

but it took a LONG time.

On the way home, we stopped in town

and Rod did a blood test.

His protein was a little low last time

so they won't let him donate plasma again

until it tests "in range".

Then we stopped at Tractor Supply to pick

up some little watering jars for my chickens.

(They didn't have any last time...)

They had their Easter Chicks.

Dangerous!!!!!

We JUST got 41 brand new little black chicks.

But we were thinking that might not be enough.

And they had some little "Amberlink" chicks.

They are a sex link, so they mature early

and they lay lots of big dark brown eggs.

And they are a pretty amber color when the

grow up.

So we got 12 of them.

LOL

Aren't they cute?

But they also had ducklings.

I've NEVER wanted ducks.

Ok, maybe for 5 seconds.

But ducks never hit my radar.

Apparently that is not true for Rod.

He asked if we should maybe get a couple.

I told him he was WELCOME to get a couple.

But they are dirty.

And they need a kiddy pool.

And you have to dump and scrub it every day.

But he still wanted them.

You gotta admit.

They are ADORABLE.

All THREE of them!

Tentatively named Donald and Daisy.

But since they are un-sexed,

we'll have to wait and see.

SUPER CUTE!!!!

We ended up segregating the ducklings.

The chicks were pecking their beaks and feet.

Hey man, you got a little something 

stuck to your foot - I'll just get

that off for ya', k?

LOL

Once they are bigger, they'll be able

to defend themselves better,

but for now, they have their

own cage.