Country Living

THINGS I LOVE ABOUT COUNTRY LIFE

1. Far away from the hustle and bustle of the city. (peace and quiet)

2. Land, lots of land. (move over Mr. Trump)

3. Wildlife. (picture above taken yesterday evening--she also has two fawns)

4. My swimming pool. (ahhhhhhhhh)

5. My front porch. (especially the porch swing)

THINGS I HATE ABOUT COUNTRY LIFE

1. Far away from civilization. (aka Starbucks and the Mall)

2. Land, lots of land. (lots of mowing, lots of weedeating, lots of steps to the mailbox)

3. Wildlife. (something ate my kittens)

4. My swimming pool. (the daily job to keep the chemicals balanced and the pool clean, not to mention the expense!)

5. The wood bees that have bored into the beams on the front porch. (between insect spray and the trusty tennis racquet, their number is dwindling, so hopefully they won't completely demolish the beam holding up my swing!)

Birthday Week

Jacob turned 3 this week, and we concluded the celebrating yesterday. His actual birthdate is the 17th and that night we ate and played at Incredible Pizza. Really more playing than eating. Even Lauren enjoyed watching her daddy and brother on the racetrack.

My sister, Linda, was visiting from Canada this week. She, Uncle Jeff, and I took the kids to the Aquarium on Thursday. Jacob couldn't run fast enough from one exhibit to the next. He was so excited! He did slow down enough to feed the turtles. I think Lauren enjoyed it almost as much as her brother. She was mesmerized by all the colorful fish.

Yesterday was the big "burday pardy". Lots of little munchkins swimming. Thankfully the rain held off until after the party.

So.......the little guy is now 3 years old. So hard to believe how quickly time has passed. There is something special about every stage and he is so much fun right now. I know life is short and soon he'll be at the "next stage" and that too will be wonderful.

The Disappearance of Yankee and Sox

This is the 5th day that my kittens have been missing. I fear the worst, but try not to think about the details of their demise. There is no shortage of coyotes, bobcats, foxes and hawks around here. Just seems strange that they both disappeared at the same time. Last Thursday I made an appointment with the Vet for shots and possible neutering if they were ready. Friday they were gone. I'm sure they overheard the conversation and conspired to run away from home to avoid the dreaded procedures. One less "chore" for me, but it still makes me a little sad. I miss the little fur balls.

Millionnaire Wannabe

I envisioned crowds of people sleeping in the Casino parking garage and huge lines for the Millionnaire auditions. Got up at 5:00--the earliest any sane person would get out of bed--and beat the rush hour traffic. Surprisingly, the line didn't extend out into the rain, and I actually was in the first test group...barely. But I regret to inform you that you will not be seeing me anytime soon on the show. Me too dumb to pass first test. I blame it on the frigid temperatures inside the casino. I'm sure I had brain freeze. There were actually two tests, one for the Netflix Movie Trivia (which I was certain I would bomb) and one for the General Trivia. We all had different tests and had 10 minutes to answer 30 questions. They didn't elaborate on what percentage you had to answer correctly to pass and we didn't have any way of knowing how many we missed. They just called out the numbers of the applicants that passed and the rest were free to go. I was free.

All in all, it was a fun experience and I would do it again. The Tulsa teacher who won a million on the show was there and talked to our group while the tests were being scored. She tried 4 times before she made it onto the show.....so now I don't feel so bad. I met some really nice people on line and there was excitement in the air. Oh yeah, and I got a nifty frig magnet and pencil to memorialize my experience!

Update

Neal was here all week last week. Much was accomplished--top rails welded onto fence posts, threshold installed on front door, weed eating, not to mention all the half-finished Sudoku puzzles now complete. However, there is still so much to do. We've decided he needs a whole month off to finish the fence.

New subject: Who Wants to be a Millionnaire? I do. Auditions to be a contestant on the show are Friday at Cherokee Casino in Catoosa. I really want to go, but don't relish the idea of standing in line all day by myself. So who's up for it? Who will go with me? Anyone....anyone?

Tree Frog

After our 4th of July get-together, I had hung the beach chair on the fence. Yesterday, as I was getting ready to take it down, I noticed a silver glob on the aluminum frame. A closer look confirmed that it was a tree frog. What was so interesting, was that it not only was the same color as the frame, but it was also shiny, like the frame. I got excited, thinking how amazing it was that it could change its color and completely blend in with its surroundings. Today, I did some (limited) research on the internet, and now I think it's just a "Gray Tree Frog". Maybe it's always that color.














We have A LOT of frogs and toads out here in the country. Trista has croakaphobia (latin is my second language) and is absolutely TERRIFIED of the little hopping creatures. So, as fate would have it, Jacob LOVES them! Today, he and I found a small frog of some kind in the skimmer basket and he carried it around, pulled on its legs, rubbed its tummy, etc., etc., while his poor mommy was having a meltdown. I finally persuaded him to throw it out in the field to return to its own mommy.

4th of July

Our first big bash was Wednesday. We had a total of 43 people at our place for swimming, playing, burgers & dogs, and fireworks. Only one minor injury...a fireworks burn on the finger...which is not bad considering 13 of the 43 were children. The number of children also explains the amount of chlorine consumed in the pool (if you know what I mean). Clean-up the next day was not nearly as bad as I expected. This may become an annual event.

The Office

Not the TV show....although I have been watching the summer reruns and think it is hilarious. A little introduction to this room...I didn't get good pictures, but the ceiling was literally falling down in this room. It was torn out and a new ceiling put in, which meant blowing in more insulation. Again, ugly dark grayish green panelling and yucky carpet covering wood floors that turned out quite nice with lots of hard work. Yes, Sandra (I mean, anonymous) the pie safe was Grandma's, and I think it originally was Great Grandma Smith's. I know there was a long list of children and grandchildren that wanted it, but I promise, I didn't beg, whine or otherwise negotiate. The children just wisely decided it should be mine! Oh yeah, the crib will remain as long as I have grandbabies.