Anonymous Dad had called me the other day laughing. He had been reading the blog, and wanted to know who I was. He said: "You have Hombre, the Things, Anonymous Dad, Anonymous Mom, Anonymous Grandma, and Anonymous Cousin, dumb and dumber... but, who are you??" Initially I said that I was just the Anonymous Lady... but I've changed my mind. AND you know, a girl has the right to change her mind.... a lot and all the time.

Who Am I?? Well, I am TheMotherboard, of course!

I have to do the book review this week. I am a little nervous... well, actually I am extremely nervous. I chose my favorite Christmas book: Secret Santa by Anne Osborn Poelman. It is a story that I read every year the weekend of Thanksgiving. It puts me in the "right" frame of mind for the holidays. It is just a lovely, lovely book.

I suppose the reason that I love it so, is because it reminds me of the times when Hombre and I had nothing, and I do mean nothing. It was when he was in Law school. I was given this book at Christmas with a $100.00. It just so happened that money was all the money that we had. Our Bishop had announced that there were some families struggling and he was asking for donations to help them out. Hombre told me that we were blessed, and we should give what we had left to those that were less fortunate. (Never did it occur to us that we were one of the ones the Bishop was talking about... but that is another story for another time.) I went to the Salvation Army and signed-up for their Adopt-A-Family Christmas program. And the $100.00 was what Hombre and I used to buy presents for his family and mine. That was all the money that we had. It was an emotionally painful time for us... and I don't ever want to forget it. It helps keep me grounded to what the real meaning of Christmas is about. It's not about presents or stuff... and all too often that is what the focus becomes. I read this book, every single year, to remember those feelings. I think all too often, when one is not on the end of generosity or kindness from others, one can easily forget that there ARE people out there that have less, or nothing at all. I don't ever want to forget. So, I read my book to remember.

The weather man said that we would wake up this morning to lots of this white fluffy stuff. He was wrong. It didn't come until tonight. And then boy, did it come down. It seemed to just be floating down, like feathers. Only colder. I had forgotten how pretty a snowstorm could be. When the weather man had said there was going to be a snowstorm, Hombre and I started scurrying around like little squirrels hunkering down for the long winter. Thats what we were used to back in the midwest. When they said there was a storm comming out there--it meant it was going to be a real doosey-- Snow coming in sideways, and blowing like you've never experienced, and extremely cold! But, when it started snowing here tonight, it was almost peaceful like. It was quiet, and there were big fluffy flakes. The snow was sticking to the grass, and it looked like a large white blanket. Snow storms here are beautiful. It's good to be back home.

Well, remember how we had the little disaster with the kitchen faucet on Thanksgiving? Well, today was the day to fix it! Hombre went and got the necessary parts to fix our little problem, and then proceeded to install the new faucet. We were told that it would only take him a mere 3o-45 minutes to accomplish this task.

WELL.... after an hour and a half of trying to get the dumb nuts and bolts apart, he was starting to get a little cranky. It seems that the numb-nutz that installed the sink in the first place stripped the bolts, so they were as flat as pancakes. Hombre decided to cut the tubes that were holding it all together, and then start fresh.

He got the left side all sawed off, then proceeded to start on the right... thats when water started spurting out like old faithful. It was a mess. He was standing there trying to direct the water down the drain, and I was just staring at him like a mute fool. I didn't know if I should start yelling or crying, so I took option 3-- I started laughing. I couldn't help myself. It was really rather funny. The whole kitchen was getting a nice shower, and poor Hombre was starting to look like a drowned rat. He enlisted my help-- I got to go try and direct the water down the drain, while he turned all the water off at the main source. At first, I think he was really mad at me cause I was laughing... but then he started laughing too. "It's all your fault anyway you know." he told me. He said that if I hadn't broken the stupid thing in the first place we would all be dry. True dat!

I kept trying to convince him to call Anonymous Dad. Cause you know, Anonymous Dad can fix ANYTHING!! Hombre was getting a little irritated with me by suggesting this. He finally hollered "For Crying out loud! I went to Law School. I think I can handle changing a faucet"! Oh, ok. My mistake. We can just sit here trying to unscrew a bolt that wants to be left alone. We have nothing but time!

Well, Anonymous Dad's fixit sense must have been buzzing, cause the next thing we knew there he was, walking through the back door. Anonymous Dad had come to save the day!! Hombre proceeded to explain what he was doing, and A.D. told him to let him have a look. He climed under the sink, and in less than 2 minutes, he had that little bolt off and the faucet out. If I'm lying, I'm dying!! Hombre's mouth about hit the floor. He kept saying "You're the man! A.D. You're the man!" He was thoroughly impressed. They finished the project in under 20 minutes, and A.D. was on his merry way. Needless to say, I kept my mouth shut.
I did however take photos of the merry occassion, but Hombre made me swear not to post them here. And not just swear, but swear on our marital vows. I guess that means its a big time serious swear! Anyway-- I won't post the photos. Just know that they are worth their weight in gold. Not to mention good blackmail money!

Black Friday. The biggest shopping day of the year. Crowds, pushing, shoving, yelling, fighting. Sound fun?? This was a new experience for me. I had never, ever attempted to shop on black friday. I usually liked to lay around, put up the tree and all the other decorations. This year, however, I decided to give this whole thing a whirl. My sisters LOVE doing this, so I thought I should give it a try... Anonymous Baby sister was getting a kick out of how shell shocked I looked. I have to say that I have never in my life seen anything THAT crazy in my life. There were people everywhere, lines everywhere, stuff everywhere. When they opened up the electronic stuff, people were screaming, and yelling like there was a bar fight. In the midst of all the yelling was a crying baby... some genius had brought their baby. That child will definately need counseling when they grow up. It was scarey. It was definately a fire hazzard... if there had been a reason to evacuate the building, we would have had a stampede, and lots and lots of dead people!

I think the thing that was the most disturbing was watching the way people were behaving. It seemed to bring out the worst in people. There was no Christmas spirit there-- just a bunch of people pushing and shoving to get the best deal. If I had to make a poster of materialism and consumerism... I would take a photo of Wal-Mart, at 5:00am, on black friday. Honestly, I didn't believe all the hype of how crazy it is; but believe you me, it is all that everyone says it is and more. I didn't enjoy the whole experience, it was quite disturbing. It was fun going to breakfast and just visiting. It was fun going to the mall, where there was hardly any people. I found Target to be kindof creepy too. I was looking for an X-box game that Thing2 wants for his birthday. They had none at Wal-mart (yes I did look), none at Kohls, so we tried Target. At first, there were none to be found. When I started complaining that I was never going to be able to find that game, this man came up and handed me one...he had 5 of the same game. Why? I don't know. Sortof creepy to me. Maybe greedy is the better word. We saw the same guy later, pushing a full to capacity shopping cart with multiples of everything in there. I just find that to be disgusting really. The whole experience upset me (sorry Anonymous baby sister).

Christmas to me is all about finding that perfect gift for the person that you are buying for. Taking your time, and really thinking about what it is that you are purchasing. Quality. Thoughtfulness. Love. I think there should be a measure of love in the gifts that you give.

I think that its great to be together. Go to breakfast... that was fun. I love being with my family. I will go again next year... maybe by then I will be more into it. Maybe I will have changed and be less discombobulated. My family, I am sure, hopes so!

" Turkey lurkey doo, turkey lurkey dap, I eat turkey and then I take a nap! Gobble Gobble Goo, and Gobble Gobble gickel, I wish turkey only cost a nickel! Oh I love turkey on Thanskgiving!"
Thanks Adam Sandler!


I love turkey! Today was the big day! I got up bright and early--6am to get the ole bird a cooking. Then I started in with all the other things that I wanted to cook. First things first-- Wassil to make the house smell all festive like. Then it was a run to Krispy Kremes to get the necessary fuel... It was fun getting all ready. I cooked and cooked, and Hombre and all the Things cleaned the house. They did a fantastic job! Hombre even cleaned out the filthy garage! (Thanks man!)

We had food coming out our eyeballs, I think. There was, of course turkey, potatoes and gravy, yams, stuffing, veggie/relish tray (with the spinach dip! Thanks Anonymous baby sister), homemade rolls, spinach-artichoke dip, bacon wrapped chestnuts, homemade cranberries, a cheese-ball, chocolate cake and pumpkin pie. WHEW! There was a ton of food.

But here's the thing... why is that when something is going to go wrong, it has to happen at the most inconvient time?? Right in the middle of getting everything on the table, with 6 butts in the kitchen giving everything the final "midas touch", the faucet to the sink just breaks right off. Yup! Right off, no questions asked, just pops right off. Water running and all! WTH?? I would have preferred this to happen YESTERDAY!!! Or, maybe tomorrow, or Monday... but NOOO!!! It has to pop off right in the prime usage time of Thanksgiving day dinner preparations.... with the maximum exposure of embarrassment. Sheesh! Everyone was nice, and we just rolled with the punches... but for crying out loud...

All that aside, it was very fun to have the whole family here, and to eat with them. I think that Anonymous Mom actually enjoyed herself. It was probably nice for her to sit back and relax. I heard it through the grapevine that she was going through withdrawls of not doing it all herself. I think thats funny! I was soo frazzled by the whole faucet thing, that I didn't have everyone go around and list what they are thankful for. So, I decided to do that here. I have lots to be thankful for!

Hombre, the Things, crazy boxer dog, Anonymous sisters & spouses, Anonymous neices and nephews, Anonymous parents and in-laws. Anonymous friends, my house (even tho it seems to be falling apart), Hombres' job, my freedom, mine & my families health, that I can read, that there are books. Where we live, where have lived, My church.... I could go on and on. But the reality is this: I have a lot to be grateful for. I have everything that I have ever wanted, and I have accomplished a large majority of my goals. I have lived in a lot of the places that I have always dreamed of living, and I have visited a lot of the places that I dream of seeing. What more could a person ask for than that? I truely am a blessed person!

My toe hurts. Thats all I can think about. The throbbing pain shooting from my toe. Throb. Throb. Throb. "I am here and don't you forget it!" Is what my toe is pounding out to me in morse code. It really hurts. But, the thoughts of getting the toe fixed scares me worse than the pain that I have to endure.

I get this every year about this time. It's when I go from the luxury and freedom of sandles to the confinement of regular shoes. If the truth be known--I hate shoes. If I could get away with not ever wearing shoes, I would. But Hombre gets so completely grossed out by the dirty feet thing, that shoes are a necessary evil. All winter long, I long for the freedom that sandles provide--not to mention that they are pain free!

I hate shoes. And now, I hate my toe.

I think that I am addicted to movies. I love movies. I can't get enough of movies. If I could go to a new movie every weekend I would be extremely happy. I have made a list of the movies that I want to see, with a link to the previews.
Elizabethtown-- seen it! Awesome!
Yours, Mine & Ours; Cheaper By the Dozen 2; Harry Potter 4; Chronicles of Narnia;
The Producers, Rent; Superman Returns; King Kong; Chicken Little; Pride Predjudice;
Walk the Line; The Brothers Grimm, The Work & The Glory: American Zion, and Christmas in the Clouds.

Christmas is comming. It's in the air. Hombre is soo excited he can't even stand it. Last night, he pulled out one of the trees, and set it up. Then today after church, the kids and he decorated it. 1 down, 2 to go. Hombre is a christmas junky. Its soo fun to watch him get soo excited. It has struck much earlier this year. I think that is because he has been watching all the lights get put up downtown. The big trees are up and all decorated. The lights at the temple will go on this Friday. I can't wait. It will be awesome to show the kids that. They have never seen that... that is one of my fondest memories growing up-- going downtown to see the lights on the square, and the widow decorations.

When the tree was all decorated, we had to run out in the backyard and see what it looked like. It looks really good. I can't wait to get the one in the living room up-- that one is the prettiest, I think! It will be fun to be here this year and have so much family around.

We get to have 2 Thanksgiving dinners this year, and I am stoked! I love turkey! At first, I must admit, that I was a little disappointed that we would'nt be able to be all alone. But now, I think that it will be great! I am excited to celebrate with my family and Hombre's. It is awesome to watch all the Things interact with the family! Thats what I have always wanted! I have realized that I have everything that I have ever wanted... I am a blessed woman!

Today we had Anonymous cousin come to play with Anonymous Grandma. It was such a great day! Anonymous Cousins Mom had gone to a conference in D.C., so we thought that she could use a play date. It was so much fun to watch A.C. and Thing 3 play together. I think that this was the first time that they really PLAYED. Usually, they just play near each other, but today, they interacted and actually played. That was so great to watch.

Anonymous Grandma was so fun to talk to. She has had the same idea that Hombre and I have been mulling over. To open up an Apple Barn/Pumpkin Farm here. There is nothing like that in the area, and I think that it would be a huge success. It was fun to talk about that, and make our "fantasy" plans.

It was just a wonderful day. We sat at the kitchen table eating chips and salsa, and just yaking away. And the kids played and played and played. It was heaven. I soo hope that they will eventually be able to move down here. I would so love to have A.C live closer, so that her and Thing 3 could play together more often. When A.C. left, Thing 3 looked at me and said: "She's my best friend!"

Thats her new thing. She is always telling each of us that we are her best friend. I love that. She is slowly getting out of the phase of "fit frowing". She is, I suppose, growing out of it... which means technically that she is growing up. I don't like that, not really. I like that she is potty trained, but I hate the fact that the kids are growing up. It makes me sad. I soo love these little stinkers!

Today, I arranged to do my monthly visits for my church. I had been called earlier in the month, and told that they had changed my route--which, frankly, I was glad. (remember the disaster with Thing 3??) I got a new companion, and 2 new ladies to visit. My new companion is a 75+ lady, and the gals I visit are in their late 40's and 50's. I was a little nervous to go with an older lady, but thought that it would be alright, since the President told me that she didn't like to do anything. That left me free to do what I wanted. I made the appointments, made them some treats and worked up a lesson.

At the scheduled time, I went to get my companion. She is soo cute. She was all dressed to the nines, and was waiting patiently for me. She quickly ushered me into the house, and showed me her "wing" of the house. Now, this house is interesting. It has 4 families living in it. In the basement, are the owners of the house, who BTW are in their mid 60's. They live on one side of the basement. On the other side is their youngest daughter and her new husband. On one side of the upstairs, is my cute companion. And on the other side is the other Grandma & Grandpa. They are in wheel-chairs. It would make for a big Sunday dinner. All of the children live in this town, and they all come home home for Sunday dinner. WOW!

Any-hoo, she showed me all her quilts, and pictures of her Grandkids--one of them being a guy I went to highschool with. We were in a ton of plays together. Then she was telling me that one of her old companions was our stake presidents mom. Now, my stake president is my Uncle. I couldn't believe it. I thought: "Surely Not!" And I said, "You mean Anonymous Grandma?" She looked at me and said "Why yes!" I was surprised with my reaction. I burst into tears. It just came out of nowhere... I was soo overcome with emotion. Here I was going VT with a woman who had done the same thing with my Grandma. A coincidence? I think not! She told me how sad she had been here since being shipped here from Oregon. She had hardly been to church, and was feeling very useless. It would be just like my Grandma to help get us put together! I needed her, and she needed me. It was an amazing experience!

I had been mumbling to Hombre that I wondered if we had done the right thing by moving here. It seemed like everything was falling apart in the house, and it was just plain hard. I figured that it shouldn't be hard if it was the right thing. But, after today, I know that I am right where the Lord wants me to be. It is no coincidence that my back neighbor is family. It is no coincidence that my new companion is my Grandma's old companion. It is no coincidence that my stake president is my uncle. It is no coincidence that Hombre is FREAKING happy every day when he comes home from work... I am right where the Lord wants me to be. I feel at peace with the move--FINALLY.

Only 4 more hours until Harry Potter comes out! I love Harry!! He is so great! Anything that gets 10-14 year old kids out from in front of the TV or from playing Video games is all right in my book! The story line is freaking amazing... I can't wait to see it. Thing 1 has been listening to book for again on tape-- she says so that she will be good and ready to see the film.

If you want to see the preview, click here. There are about 6 clips that you can watch! Enjoy!

My worst nightmare is loosing my kids! I just don't know how I would cope. Well, we had terror on the home front today. The kids have had early out all week so that the teachers could have parent teacher conferences. Why it takes 5 days to meet with the parents is beyond me, but hey! What do I know?? I just work here...

ANYWAY-- Thing 1 came running home, ringing the doorbell like a crazy person, screaming: "Thing 2 didn't get off the bus. He didn't get off! He's lost!" I thought, surely No! He's just teasing her, again, and will come strolling in here any moment. He never did. I started to freak out. We jumped in the car and started buzzing up and down all the streets--Thing 2 was no where to be found. I called Hombre all in a panic, which made him panic. I called the school--screaming "Where is my son? He didn't get off the bus!" They had this s.l.o.w. paced mentality-- "Oh don't worry! He'll turn up!" Ummm, did you not hear me? My son is missing!! Call the transportation department! Find out what they did with my child!!! What is the teacher going to tell you? He left here! Don't know where he is! This is unreal! They didn't have a clue what to do, or how to go about locating a lost child.

Now, rewind-- I had met with the school at the beginning of the school year about this very issue. There is no security at this school. None. Zero. Zippo. People can come and go as they please, and they don't even call you to find out why your kid is not at school. The bus issue is major scarey. No supervision from the school on getting the kids on the right bus. None. Zero. Zippo. The principal was extremely patronising, and basically told me that she would not do anything to change things... thats just the way they were. Besides, this is Anonymous Town--nothing bad ever happens here! Well, I believe in Kidnapping, and I believe it can happen anywhere--even here in Anonymous Town.

So, Thing 2 is missing and the school has no idea what to do, or how to handle this. They say:"We'll go ask his teachers if he went home with someone else." WHAT?? You mean you would actually let my kid go somewhere else, with someone else without my permission?? Um, thats gotta change. We drive up and down the street, looking and looking and we can't find Thing 2 anywhere. I didn't know what to do. I went to my neighbor, who is actually my cousin, and told her... Thankfully, she had some stability, and started looking at all the neighbors, and got them rallied to start looking. Thing 1 goes back home to wait and pray that we can find him, and there is my cute little Thing 2 sitting on the couch crying.

Now comes the part where I get so livid! He tried to get off the bus at our stop-- there are 30 kids that get off there. The bus driver shuts the door in his face, and makes him sit back down. Then they go 2 more stops away, and he gets off, and just starts walking home... scared out of his little mind. If I had done things my way, I would have beat the snot out of the bus driver for doing that to my son, and then beat the snot out of the incapable school help. I am soo livid I can't even begin to think straight.

I feel like I am the David of David and Goliath. It feels like this is an uphill battle, however, they are going to rue the day that they didn't listen to this pyscho Mom! I called the old school district where we came from, and am having them fax me a copy of their transportation policies, and their dismissal policies. Then, Hombre and I are going to start lobbying the neighborhood parents that have kids that go to that school. Then we will go to the district and get this incompetent policy changed. What the school doesn't want to accept is responsiblity. When my children are at school, they are in the schools custody, and until they walk through those doors, they are still in their custody. The school wants no responsiblity. Their feeling is when the bell rings-- their job is done. I am sorry, but I disagree! I want safer schools!!! I don't want anyone to be able to just walk around the school, and just anyone to be able to go and check my kids out. I want the faculty to take responsiblity to make sure that the kids get where they are supposed to be. I want organization in regards to the way they dismiss. There needs to be a set place that the kids are picked up-- that way if someone is "forgotten" (which BTW happened and the principal had no idea. The little girl had been sitting on the playground for 1 hour. I was there with my kids letting them play), then they can call the right people. It is going to take a tragedy to wake this sleepy administration up! I am furious... as you can tell.

This is my new cause... and I guess I am just going to have to become the dreaded bitch mom from hell. I want to know that my kids are safe. I want something done, and I guess I will have to be the one that makes it happen.

When ever I need a "pick me up" I watch this video. Just click on your prefered method of viewing pleasure, and be prepared to be entertained! It makes me laugh everytime I watch it. Mostly cause I think Christopher Walken is sortof creepy, but he is awesome in this video. I heard that he majored in dance. What do you think?

I am impressed with myself. I worked really hard yesterday, and got all the bookcases moved and put back together. Hombre hates their new homes, but I wanted a place to display my nativities. I suppose we can try to figure out where to relocate them to once the holidays are over. The list was checked off this weekend. The toilet was fixed, the desk taken down and the new one put up. Which I like the looks of quiet a bit! So, I feel pretty good about the work that I acomplished. I am easily impressed.

I have been reading this book--well, actually I have several books that I have been reading. The one that I decided to work on last night completely consumed me. Its one of the those books that has several plot lines going. Well, I got really absorbed in this one plot line, and couldn't stand the time it was taking to get through all the other plots, so I started skipping ahead to find out what was happening to this character... It was driving me nuts. You know that you are reading a good book when you start to talk to the characters, and get all mad at them because you can see where every single little decision they are making is just sending them closer to distruction. I kept moaning outloud with each new twist in her plot. When I finally finished her plot line, I thought: "I'll get me a drink, and go back and finish all the others now". I looked at the clock and about had a heart attack. I had started reading at 8:30pm--when I finally stopped, it was 2:15--IN THE MORNING!!! I was shocked. I had no clue that it was that late. I was completely absorbed in my book! It didn't feel THAT late, or that I had been reading for almost 6 hours... Usually, I can't read that long without getting a headache--but it was different with this one. I HAD to find out what happened to this character. It was infuriating! I still am thinking about her-- that, my friends, is a sign of a good book. Now, I just need to go finish the rest of the book.

I have several other books that I have been reading. I have given up on one of them "Midwives"... It really bugs me the way he uses colons on every single page. He uses colons the way I use periods. It was nerve wracking-- I even started circling them, just to see how often he used them... I kept showing them to Hombre, and asking the "Editor" of the family why in Allah's name would he (the author) use them so much-- he didn't know. Which, I might add, bugged me even more, cause I think Hombre is pretty smart. So, if he was stumped, then it had to be wrong! Reasonable logic, I think!

Anyway, my stack of books keeps getting larger and larger, and my list keeps getting longer and longer. I have so many books to read, I will be entertained all winter long. Plus, there just happens to be more great books coming out every week. I really want to read the new Amy Tan book-Saving Fish From Drowning and the new Anita Shreve book-A wedding in December. There is also the book The Widow of the South, and Son of Witch (the sequel to Wicked). I have a notebook that I have been writing them all down in, and then crossing them off when I finish them... It just keeps getting longer and longer. I like that. I think that a well educated person will read... and read as much as they are able.

I have found the University that has the EXACT program that I am wanting to finish my degree in... I just have to figure out how in the heck I am going to pay for it. There isn't enough left over each month to cover $1,200 in tuition and books. I need to set up a time to go up to the financial aide office and see if there aren't some sort of grants/scholarships that I could get. I really, really, really want to finish. It would be a degree in Literature with an emphasis on 19th and 20th century authors. I would like to also have an emphasis on Children and Young Adult fiction. Then I would like to pursue a Masters Degree and then teach. Maybe at a Community College or something equivalent. I dunno. I wish the school fairy would just show up and say:"Anonymous Lady, You are all registered for school, and your tuition and books are all covered. Good luck!" Would'nt that be nice? I don't know where to even start. It seems so overwhelming, but, unfortunately there isn't going to be that magic little fairy. I hope that I can get this all figured out before I turn 50... HA!

Borrowing my favorite writer: Be well, do good work, and keep in touch!

It's raining really hard today. I was extremely nervous about the storm coming in--there is supposed to be snow with it. You know, the leak and all. But, it seems that Hombre DID fix the leak, and there is no more rain inside the house. That is a good thing. It's quite cold! The silly boxer dog wont go outside without some major manipulation...the food kind. She then stands at the back door, and shivers like she is freezing right to death, which is an act, since she does that in the middle of July too!

I am glad that it doesn't get dark here as early as it did at our old house. By 3:45, the sun was starting to set, and by 4:00pm, when Thing 2 would be getting off the bus, the sun was set. By 4:30, which was when we would head into Tae Qwon Doe--it would be dark. That is depressing. I am grateful about that--the sun doesn't set here until 5:00, and it's not totally dark until 5:30! Thats a huge difference.

I went to lunch yesterday with a neighbor. She came over and invited me out--and I thought that takes major guts to do that--so I went. I am not sure really how I feel about the whole expereince. I am worried that I devulged to much information about myself and my family, and now it will come back to haunt me. That is the part of me that is cautious-- I am extremely cautious with who I let into my life. I have been burned to many times. SO- now I am stewing and fretting... just something new to worry about, I suppose.

I have projects coming out of my ears that I need to buckle down and get finished. I have 4 more blinds to wash, and 4 more blinds to buy-- for the broken one in the family room and the living room has none. The curtains look ridiculous! I need to empty out all the bookshelves, and move one of them into the playroom to put all kids' books in. Then I need to build a book case in the office. The previous owners had started one, but didn't finish it. Once I can get that done, I think it will look nice in there. We are going to take the current desk out and give it to my cousin who is starting his own business. Hombres brother gave us another desk this summer, and so we are going to put that one up in the office. I think that the office will be nice once that is done.

Then there is painting. The white walls are killing me! I hate white walls. It will be a good thing to get out of the way to. The whole house needs painting. I need to buckle down and get those colors chosen.

I also want to move the T.V. from my room to the play room. Then I can hook up the VCR for the kids. I would like to find a futon to put in there also. That would be a fun hangout room once that is done.

Then there is always the basement that needs cleaning...My honey-do list seems to be getting longer and longer. LOL! There are the 2 holes in the ceiling that need to be patched. The downstairs toilet needs to be fixed, it doesn't flush with out reaching into the top of the toilet--yuck! Then there is my bathroom-- the whole thing needs to be gutted and just start from scratch.

You know what all this spells to me?? Cha-ching! Humm, maybe I will win Publishers Clearing House... That would be awesome! LOL! But, until then, I am going to start with the easiest one-- moving all the books.

Since moving here, Hombre and I have been able to quite a few fun things together--minus kids! We were able to go the Shakespeare Festival ON THE FIRMS DIME, and see 2 great plays (Romeo & Juliet and Dr Faustus). It was 3 days of blissful relaxation with our meals provided and great entertainment also provided. We signed up for the mountain biking experience--niether of us really mountain bikers. The guy incharge assured us that it was a beginner trail. When we finally made it up to the ski resort, it was raining--And boy was it COLD! Brrr! We ate a picnic type lunch inside the lodge waiting for it to stop raining. As soon as it stopped, we ran to the ski lift to have our bikes hauled up behind us. No sooner had we started up the mountain, which by the way did NOT look beginner to me, it started to thunder and lightening. Remember in the movie "Man From Snowy River" when it was raining in the mountains and the thunder echoed off the mountains?? Well, thats what it was doing with us. Hombre was all decked out in his riding gear--shorts. We were soon questioning our sanity when the rain suddenly turned into snow. Yes, you read right, snow--in the middle of August. Needless to say, when we finally got t0 the top, we looked like 2 drowned rats. We dried off in the ski patrol shack--and I was serioulsy getting worried about how I was going to get down. That was major steep, and scarey! I told Hombre that it was offical: I was old. In my younger days I would've attacked that mountain with vigor! But, I was seriously thinking about walking down...Yup! I'm old!!

We started off, and had quite a ride. At one point, we heard these guys on the ski lift above us saying "Geeze, I didn't know you could go that slow." Yup. They were refering to us. Them: 2 times down. Us: 1/2 time. We were still working on 1. It was hilarious, looking back. At the time, not so funny. Everyone told us it would take us "tops 45 minutes". Umm, they lied. It was more like 2 hours! At one point, Hombre did a major biff. He fliped over his bike, and then his bike over him. I was really worried. He just laid there--then he got up, smiling and says: "Did you get a picture of it? Did it look cool?" Men!

Another fun thing that we were able to do was get all gussied up and go to this fancy, smansy dinner at a local hotel. It was nice. The food was good. It was for the National Arthritis foundation... not really the most exciting of subject, but it was fun none the less. The speakers were a little boring, but it was fun to get dressed up. During the dinner they had a fashion show. What a fashion show has to do with Arthritis I will never know. It was quite the deal-- a runway, fancy clothes, fancy music, and very serious models. There was a lady that was older- late 50's. She was modeling a nice looking pant suit. She got to the end of the runway, turned and started to strut her stuff back to the front of the stage. In the middle of the runway, her pants fall down... around her ankles! I gasped. Surely I did not just see what I think I saw. I look at Hombre, who has his hands over his mouth, all bug eyed. Yup! I did. She grabed those pants so fast and power walked off the stage. The audience burst into laughter. I laughed too, then immediately felt sorry for her. How mortifying!! I thought for sure she wouldn't come back out-- but she did. And everyone gave her a standing ovation. That was worth the whole evening-- the pant disaster! She said "nothing is more painful than arthritis, except loosing your pants in front of 500 people"!

The last fun thing was tonight going to the 1st Annual Cowboy Poetry Reading. It was pricey-- I was glad the firm was paying. It said on the invitations: "Cowboy dress encouraged". I thought: "With how pricey this thing is, no one will show up in their 'cowboy dress'." Boy was I wrong! At the entrance to the event, there were 'real live cowboys' there, spurs, hats, and horses! They had a campfire built, with cow-pokes sitting around it singing, and tee-pees-- I mean it was the real deal! We got in there and there was an orchestra, and all sorts of cowboy stuff. The dinner was catered by Eddie Dean, George Dub-yas own cook. And boy was it dang good bar-b-que! The entertainment was superb! I honestly didn't think that I would enjoy cowboy poetry-- but it was really pleasant to listen to. It was a blast, actually. There were no "pant delimmas, but it was a great time. The music was fun, and atmosphere was very enjoyable. At one point, there was an auction for boots, a saddle, paintings, goodie baskets... and people were popping down some serious cash. Before I knew what had happened those boots were up to $1,200. Can you believe that? Someone actually had that kindof cash just laying around! The saddle went for $3,000. I about died. It was unreal! There was nothing auctioned off that cost under $500. Hombre leaned over and said don't you wish you had an extra 3 grand laying around? I thought to myself--Ummm, yeah! I would fix my shower if I did. Oh well. Maybe some day. It was exciting to watch the auctioneer talk so fast you had no idea what he was saying. The cow pokes were all over the ball room, whistling and yelling when someone raised their pallets. It would've been easy to get caught up in all the commotion! It was soo enjoyable. I was glad that Hombre thought to ask. Next year, we will get in our cowboy gear too. Oh wait, I don't have any. Humm, guess we need to go shopping!

Now for the next adventure we wait: tickets to the local professional basketball team! They will be playing Miami! That will be fun, since I really like Shak! I liked Shak before it was cool to like him. I can't wait! We are having more fun together here than we ever had in our old town. It is a good thing we came here!

I have a crazy boxer dog. Actually I quite like her, but I think that she drives everyone else nuts. She only listens to me and Thing 3--which is ironic since Thing 3 is shorter than her. Everyone else is just an annoyance to Zoe. It's hilarious to watch/listen to Thing 3 scold Zoe. She makes Zoe sit, and lay down before she can do anything. If Zoe even looks like she might steal or even sniff Thing 3's food, she starts yelling at her, and Zoe's ears go back like "Oh Man! Busted again!" I love to watch the two of them run around in the back yard... Zoe is soo careful to not knock Thing 3 down, but still chase with her. It will be fun once there is snow.

Anyway--my crazy boxer dog-- she always decides around 3:30 in the morning that she needs to go outside to go potty. The ritual is the same every night... even if I try to ignore it or change it. She will come into my room, and start to whine. I will ignore her. Then she will start to shake her head, which rattles the "necklace" (her tags), I ignore her. Then she will start to bump the bed, until I get up. Then once you are up, she runs out the door, then runs back in the door to make sure you are comming. Then she runs to the stairs and sits there until you start down them, then she runs to the door, and does her kidney bean dance...

Last night, I just didn't want to get up. So, when the bed bumping didn't work, she put her paws up on the bed and put her face in mine and did this weird little talk thing she does. It's half bark, half howl... its hilarious, except at 3:30 in the morning. So, we finished our routine, and then I dragged myself back to bed. She really is a good companion for me, and she is really good with my kids, especially Thing 3.

She follows me everywhere. I can't even begin to tell you how many times a day I trip over her, 'cause she is right under my feet. If I leave a room, and am gone longer than she likes, she comes and finds me. When I take the garbage out, she greets me when I come back like I have been gone for a year... thats fun. When there is someone even remotely close to the house, I know it cause Zoe starts growling. I love that. I never worry about someone sneaking in, cause she would let me know. She might not do anything if they got in, but her scarey bark would surely scare them away.

Sometimes I wish my life were as simple as hers-- sleep, play, sleep, poop, sleep, eat, sleep, play... its a good life. We have been trying to find her a "life partner" but haven't had any success yet. She would be even happier if she had another doggie friend to play with. She is a social animal, she just gets really scared around other kids. I know that is because our naughty neighbors in our last neighborhood used to tease her relentlessly. So, now she associates all other kids, besides her kids, as mean kids. Its hard to de-program her, but we are trying.

Anyway, I have a crazy boxer dog, who thinks she is human. Maybe in her previous life she was.