I have nothing..

I am EXHAUSTED.
We got a puppy. She is 6 weeks old. Her name is Belle (clearly Ellie named her but whatever... the things you do for your kids). Her name should of been... land shark. She gnaws on EVERYTHING. She also has to pee every hour. Clearly not sleeping. I know this all sounds very complainie. She is VERY cute. She is a black lab/ golden retriever cross. Well....
My mom's birthday was also this weekend. We went to the lake. I am BURNT. It was fun. My arm hurts from playing catch. It was awesome. I missed catch. I was supposed to teach at church BUT Lucy woke up this morning COVERED in hives. GREAT! My guess is sunscreen but who knows.... she could of come in contact with numerous foreign things in her adventures at the lake.
Have I made you grumpy reading this?
I feel grumpy.
Do you want to know what makes me happy?
Dusty's home!
YAY!

The Grass is Greener on this SIDE.

Okay.

I may have a tendency to over-react the the bear situation.

I enjoy giving our furry friends a good razzing about all the potential grief they may cause

BUT

I honestly am glad I left THIS:

"One man is dead and another is in custody following Medicine Hat’s first murder of 2009. Police were on the scene at 515E Washington Ave. S.E. home shortly after 11 p.m., after receiving a 911 call indicating someone may be dead inside the residence. Upon arrival, officers found the man’s body inside the home and an injured man just outside the home. "

Medicine Hat Newspaper

I used to live next door to this house.

I'll take the bears.

Random brain thoughts

I am tired.

It feels like I've had an exhausting week.

I exhaust myself.

I have been obsessing.

Obsessing over getting a dog.

Is it too soon?

Am I just doing it to fill a void?

What do I get?

How much do I spend?

How far is too far to get it?

Why is it so difficult to find one?

Oh bother.

Lucy's birthday is coming up. I am excited but Dusty wants to get the yard done. He's crazy. It's a BIG yard and it needs lots of work. He's spent the last three days working out there and he only has ONE corner done. Insane. It is a very nice corner. Oh and by done I mean rota tilled. Hmmm. I think it's going to take a while. We're trying to do it cheap. Really cheap. So if you have any fab landscaping ideas on a budget of ..... free, let me know, I'd love to hear them.

I went for a walk yesterday. First walk without Midge. I missed her. I really missed her at the hill. I made it up the hill. By myself. I was impressed. The girl/lady/partner in-crime said she could feel her leg muscles developing..... I'll take her word for it. I don't know if the walking has helped my "figure" but it's helped my mental state. I love walking for an hour and a half with no kids, no hubby, no house, no mess, no nothing but the bears, deer, elk, and the chatter of two to three ladies who are also adult deprived. It's seriously a piece of heaven (except for the hill).... can't wait to go again. Seriously. Find some peeps to walk with. It will save your life.

Hair today, Gone Tomorrow

I have been thinking about getting my hair cut for awhile. I go through this often. I grow it out. I chop it off. Cycle. So I grew it out and now I chopped it off.

I looked for a before BUT surprise surprise I don't have a picture of me!

Midge

I'm sad to report that our family dog got run over at my parents farm on Sunday. We're sad and we'll miss her lots and lots. She was a GREAT first dog for our family. She was cute and funny. She was happy to see anyone. She was great with our kids and was always up for a cuddle. The dog could jump straight up at least 5 feet. She was kinda amazing like that. I'm going to miss my walking partner (I now have no one to pull me up death hill). She will be missed.

Parfaits, Veggies, and Bears

I'm starving.

I just ate but I am having a quiet afternoon so what better way to pass the time than look at food blogs??

Wrong.

All I can think about are cinnamon buns, strawberry cupcakes with frosting, chocolate swirl banana bread, and parfaits.... yum who doesn't love a parfait?

Much better than onions.

don't you think?

I think that if I was to have "layers" then I would have delicious strawberry cream layers.

It's an absolutely gorgeous day here.

I want to plant my garden. I probably will but on Monday or Tuesday. It's getting so close I can hear the distant tilling of the rototiller... the sweet music of fresh veggies. Its shocking to me how late we have to start our garden here. I mean it was still snowing last week. Well, snow or no snow it's getting done.

I'm getting impatient.

We are also building a fence.

Any offers for help???

NO?

I didn't think so.

If it wasn't my fence I'd try to get out of it too. It'll be so nice to have a bear free yard. I am looking forward to sending my childrens out into this great big world and to not have to monitor for ferocious carnivores (I am clearly aware that bears are omnivores and that they don't hunt small children to eat them... just a little extra to add to my story... you know I have nothing against the great Canadian black bears... grizzlies are pushing it though. did you ever see the movie Grizzly Man... doesn't end well.)

where was i?

Oh my fence. My lovely lovely fence. Do you know what I see? I see me sitting on my deck... sipping lemonade and reading a book or knitting and my children going bonkers running and yelling and being merry children in my yard...

doesn't that sound lovely?

I think I will dream of that some more...

have a good weekend folks.

I know I will.

whose Room?

I picked up some pre-cut out letters awhile ago. They've been sitting in my closet taunting me. I needed to make some room for some up coming projects. I painted them then sanded them then hung them up. Cost was about 6 bucks. They match her room perfectly. It was fun to do these with Ellie in the afternoon. She did a really great job. She painted the purple one. Ellie wants letters for her room but I think I'm going to make them out of felt...

Life's missing Button

I'm crazy. Whew glad I got that outa the way.
I've been trying to write in this thing for 20 minutes and I'll go off on a long tangent and realize how bizarro I sound so I delete delete delete till all the crazy is gone. Don't you wish you had a delete button in life? I do. I'm constantly saying mortifying things that end up replaying in my head a bazillion times. It is inevitable. I wish I had a delete. Maybe it's Gods way of keeping me humble. If it is I'd like to have a word with him when I get up there. I'm trying to think of an example.... I was meeting a friends friend (you know the situation... friend meets friend because the in between friend wants the whole group to be friends but usually it's awkward) and we start talking about dying (odd topic I know) and I say, "Wouldn't it be cool to go out in a totally unexpected manner, like a plane crash or a shark attack, instead of just a heart attach??". Um yah well little to my knowledge the friend's dad died in a plane crash...
serious.
My life it like this.
It's full of me and my feet.
why?
I try to think before I talk but still after 25 or so years it's still not working out for me.
Hopefully I would go out unexpectedly anytime soon so I can keep workin' on it...

Bear Deterrent

The last day of the long weekend was spent pulling stumps out of our yard. I know that it's stuff that needs to be done but still.... YUCK. I was grumpy. I wanted to do something "fun". I thought all was lost. I took Ellie to soccer. She was the ONLY kid who showed up so the coaches cancelled it sooo there we all were sitting in the truck... packed up... nothing to do. Dusty all of a sudden pulled outa the parking lot like he was on a mission. Mission PICNIC. He pulled over to the store and bought hotdogs and buns and chips. 10 minutes later we arrived at the BEST picnic spot ever. There was a tiny stream that the girls played in. Big grassy area to run and cook and sit. It was awesome.

Ellie kept running around yelling, "HONK. HOOOOOOOOOONK." Clearly trying to keep the bears away. (Dusty has instilled fear into this child that bears are mean.... I've tried to reverse this new belief but it's impossible.... mind you I was oddly comforted at the loud and spontaneous honking as well).

Filling up the ketchup bottle to put out the fire.

Heading back up the hill. Had to stop for a little pose.

Putting out the fire. The look on the kids faces was PRICELESS.

This was the look on Lucy's face. This kid kills me.

Family

Made this at craft group. Super Easy. Most of the people used ribbon. I used sisal. The words are just vinyl. Family is on the top of the glass. Ummm Not too much else to say. A thank-you to the ladies running the class.