Can It Really Be 36 Years??????

Happy Anniversary to my darling husband.

(Isn't he cute???)

It's hard to believe it has been 

THIRTY SIX YEARS!

Sometimes it feels like we have always

been together.

And sometimes it feels like just yesterday

we tied the knot.

Either way I am so grateful 

we met and fell in love!

And, of course, to celebrate the 

anniversary of our union,

the tradition continues!

(We're pretty non-conventional...

in case you haven't noticed...)

We were one day early,

but Tuesday is a hard day for all

of us to get off work.

Yesterday we all hopped in Kyle's

truck, hitched up a trailer and headed 

north.

We picked up two new little

heifers!

Well....  they are right side up

on my computer!

Guess you'll have to tip your head.

Grrrrrrr

They don't have names yet,

but they are an awesome 

anniversary gift!

I LOVE YOU DARLING!

Cameron Trail Shelter

I've been on our town's

Trails and Greenways Committee

for a couple of years now.

(4?  5?  I can't remember...)

This year our "big project" was

building a trail shelter out on 

one of our main trails.

It turned out really nice!

There is a landing at the top of the stairs

with a raised bar for elbow leaning.

There are benches around the 3 sides

closest to the trail

and a small built in table.

Last night was the "grand opening"

and official "sign raising".

If you look closely you can see its new

metal sign just below the roof.

A local business with a laser cutter

donated our sign.

(made out of scrap sheet metal)

We had quite a group of people show

up and walk into the woods with us.

Rod and Kyle ended up installing it.

(Thanks guys!)

And then we all sat around and ate 

fresh strawberries and chocolate dip,

watermelon chunks and cookies,

wine and flavored water 

and pink lemonade.

There was a really nice breeze

so it was pleasant and no bugs.

Lots of people met lots of other people

and there was lots of talking and laughter.

Then we all hiked back out to our vehicles.

A large group of them met at the

local watering hole to continue the evening.

We went to Subway for a sandwich.

It was a really nice evening,

and a successful finish to a BIG project.

Rozann's Birthday

It's Rozann's birthday today.

She's not old.

She's seasoned.

(And she will always be younger than me...)

(Harumph)

There are more recent pictures of her around.

Mostly on Facebook.

But I'm at the office.

And Facebook is BLOCKED.

Sheesh.

I imagine she and her darling husband

are going to celebrate today.

Maybe at their favorite Arizona Inn.

Or they'll have a terrific "Peach..." dinner.

Or they'll go for a run and eat a salad.

Hahahahahahaha

But whatever, and however they choose to

celebrate the anniversary of her birth,

they will be surrounded by people who 

love and admire her.

I wish I was one of them.

I miss you Rozie!

Klutz

Yup.

I'm a klutz.

This isn't news to most people who know me.

It started in Grade 3.

I stepped off the curb in front of 

Janie Saunder's house without realizing

the curb was there, fell, and jammed

a rock right into my knuckle.

I still have a mustache shaped scar

on the side of my finger.

Then there was the time I forgot to duck

low enough and hit a branch while riding

Merrill Atkey's horse, spooked the horse

and ended up landing on my head on the trail.

(And had to walk home... the horse was 

LONG gone...)

I've hit my head on more branches

than I can count.

Sometimes on horseback.

Sometimes while I'm walking.

Or the time I was holding a horse

for the vet, Buddy bumped me with his

nose and knocked me backwards,

so that I stepped back,

right into the water bucket sitting

behind me and going down.

Hard.

SO embarrassing!

The best one was when I twisted around to

say something to Rod (who was

riding behind me) and turned just

in time to take a good solid thick branch

right to the head.

Sheesh.

Of course, we've all seen those videos

of stupid people texting and walking

and stepping into an open man hole or falling

off the sidewalk or whatever...

And we all laugh and say,

What idiot walks while using their phone?????

I can honestly say I never do that.

However, I'm reading a really good book

on my Kindle.  Lunch break was over,

but the chapter wasn't.

So I was reading while walking across

the parking lot back to the office.

And didn't notice the parking bollard.

And fell.

Hard.

In front of a co-worker.

Dropped my Kindle.

(It's fine)

And my empty lunch bag

(and all the contents went everywhere)

And my soda.

Which also went everywhere.

My knee is a little tender,

but I didn't rip my pants,

or surprisingly skin my palms,

or wreck my boots,

or break my nose

or anything else.

So only my pride is wounded.

And I'll probably quit reading while I walk.

Probably.

Story #4 - What Was One of Your Best Trips

Let me begin this with...

*ahem - Hey Mom - you are falling behind!

I miss reading your stories!!
(Notice I am only on #4)

We should be on Story #6 I think.....

No time like the present to catch up!

So...

What was one of your most memorable trips?

What made is so special?

Obviously my most epic was the family

trip to Salt Lake and then backwards up the

Mormon Trail.

There are so many snatches of memories

from that one!

Nancy doing cart wheels and ending up on crutches.

Rozann getting baptized in Nauvoo.

All of us getting SUN BURNED the day before

and having water blisters on our shoulders,

so every time a well meaning member patted

us on our shoulders in welcome or congratulations,

it popped another blister and we got wet.

But here's a blast from the past!

I was having one of those "random thought / 

rabbit trail" moments yesterday during my

drive home from school.

You don't WANT to know where it started.

Or where it ended.

But somewhere in the middle (ok, I was 

thinking about some of the weird and 

absolutely NOT POLITICALLY CORRECT

names we used to call things...) I thought

about Kentucky Fried being Barney's Chicken.

Why? Because it was Barney's!

And we're Canadian - we don't even know 

where Kentucky IS!

(And the street goes both ways...)

Which brought to mind this particular memory

from this particular trip.

We were getting gas in the Chrysler 

(with ELECTRIC WINDOWS Y'ALL!)

and the guy pumping gas looked at our

license plates and said to Dad

(I SWEAR this is true)

"Huh, Alberta.  What state is THAT in?"

Dad was absolutely disgusted.

I'm pretty sure I heard him muttering that 

phrase over and over for the next

couple of miles.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Ok, enough of that.

I also remember Adam On Di Omen

*or however that is spelled...

It was HOT HOT HOT.

Mom and Dad wanted to walk the trail

alone. Can't imagine why!

Amazing they thought 4 noisy, whiny,

hot, sweaty girls might detract from the

spirit in any way.

So they left us there at the trail head

and went on alone.

And then tried to justify it later as 

"You didn't miss anything, all we saw

was a really hot rabbit panting in the trail."

Or the time we stopped at a 

creek / lake / river / water source

and we all wrote our names on rocks

with crayons and then tossed them in.

Then , back in the car,

Sondra said, "Imagine in the future,

someone will find that stone and be all like,

Wow, Sondra, what an amazing name!"

And then Nancy chimed in,

and Rozann.

And I, the master of dramatic pauses,

waited for what seemed like FOR EVER

and yelled WAIT!!!!!!

Which caused Dad to slam on the brakes.

I, oblivious to Dad's distress, of course,

(all wrapped up in my dramatic pause)

yelled

THIS ONE SAYS COLLETTE.

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL NAME OF ALL!

I got quite a scolding for that one.

And of course there were the epic 

"Pockets" that mom seeded with small

goodies each day.

(And sometimes after gas / lunch stops.)

And the months of FHE preparation we did

prior to the trip, complete with book reports

on the various states we would be going through,

and the various church history sites we would 

be visiting.

The metal stars on the outsides of the buildings

to hold them together.

The thickness of the walls.

The tininess of the houses.

Sleeping in the tent trailer at night.

(And whoever was sleeping on the edge

inevitably barfing in the night...)

(insert Mom's sigh here...)

Oooooooooooh,

and who can forget Hair Ice Massages!

Wow.

THAT was an epic trip.

Thanks for giving up your extra bathroom

for that one Mom and Dad!

It was totally worth it.

I Feel Well

Knock wood.

I rarely, if ever, get sick.

*Thank you D3...

So sometimes I just have to take a "well" day.

Yesterday was one such day.

I got up and made Rod breakfast,

and then I went back to bed.

(grin)

I dozed while watching the news

until I heard Scott get up and leave.

And then I got up,

turned on some lovely piano music

(via Pandora - thanks Kyle for setting me up!)

and then washed a load of dishes.

(We quit using our dishwasher - I had to

wash them by hand before putting them in

there and then it was still anybody's guess

what they would look like...)

After those were all washed, dried and put away,

I washed the eggs for the week.

The girls are old.

I got 9 dozen for the WEEK.

Grrrrrrr

Counting the days until the little girls start laying!

Then I got dressed and headed

next door and delivered the eggs.

And then it was off to the airport to deliver

Rod's eye drops to him.  He had forgotten

to put them in, and luckily I was around to help.

(otherwise he would have just had Scott bring

them, since Scott works there too...)

Next it was over to the Volkswagen dealership

to have my favorite lube tech do an oil change,

rotate and balance my tires

and do an alignment for me.

He's really good!

(Jim was at lunch, so I didn't get to have my

favorite service writer work up the order for me...)

(But I did get to visit with him later...)

After that was all finished (I sat in the bay with

Kyle but mostly read my book, can't disturb

the master while he's working!) next it was off

to the mall.

Yes, Collette and mall in the same sentence.

I was headed to my favorite store,

H & M.

I was on a mission.

I knew precisely what I was looking for.

And there was a big 70% off sale going on.

I found 8 shirts that fit the criteria.

But 5 of them didn't fit the body.

LOL

(there's a reason stuff goes on clearance...

most of it looks AWESOME on a hanger,

but just doesn't do a thing for a human...)

The rules are:

1.  No solids.  (Broke that one first thing.)

2.  If you don't LOVE it, don't get it.

3.  ONLY "slicky" material.  No knits.  

So, how did I do?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I'm such a rule breaker.

Shirt #1.

Slicky - check.

Solid color - Oops.

But hey, it's khaki green and I've been

looking for a shirt in that color for EVER.

(And it will look good under my black blazer.)

Shirt #2

NOT a solid color - check.

NO knits - Oops.

But I loved it, so I hit #3!

(Also please note all the "no" shirts

hanging on the wall - they all fit the criteria...)

Shirt #3

BUFFALO PLAID.

I don't CARE if it hits any of the

other rules or not.

I LOVE IT!

(And I happen to be wearing it now...)

(but taking selfies in a restroom full of

co-workers isn't worth it... lol)

So I'd have to say it was a successful day.

(Oh, and I got some earrings too.)

My hair looked atrocious, it was raining

and I didn't have a comb.

(And my bangs are desperate for a trim!)

Nancy and Mom were lunching with

Sue at the Arizona Inn for Sue's

birthday - I checked in by text

to make sure Nanc approved of my choices

before I bought them.

(grin)

Aren't they beautiful?

Next it was off to Sams to do some grocery

shopping.  It was so nice not to need any meat!

Then to Walmart for the stuff I can't get at Sams.

And then home to unload the trunk

and get the groceries all put away.

While I was at Walmart I bought 2 balls of

chunky black yarn.

So while the guys went shopping to the

sporting goods store to get each of them

some new work boots (zzzzzzzzzzz)

I knit up a lap throw for at the office.

It is keeping me snuggly warm this morning!

I should be "sick" more often!

Wednesday Windings

After the mad rush of "the meat"

it has been nice to sort of slow down

a little bit.

The newer babies are quite friendly.

I feel like the Pied Piper.

They kind of follow me everywhere!

(The new girls each have a green band on their leg)

The grass has greened up nicely since

it finally started raining again.

The ducks are super happy since we dumped

and refilled their little pond.

(I forgot I was filling it, so it got FULL

and they were all kinds of excited!)

Rod has been going to the chiropractor

every Tuesday after work.

It's really helping with his hips and back.

The doctor aligns his back

and he feels MUCH better.

Then the massage therapist jabs him

with her little thumbs and pointy elbows

and suddenly he feels MUCH worse.

(grin)

She said he is a walking knot.

I'm going to see if putting mag gel on his

back and hips will help.

Magnesium relaxes muscles, so maybe...

(fingers crossed)