Thursday. . .

Oh yeah, and Gil and Louise are leaving in the morning on their extended two-year "vacation". At least, that's what I'm calling it. . .

Random 7 Ramblings . . .

Every once in awhile, I glance through my recent pictures and realize that there were a few interesting things that happened that didn't make the blog. Mostly it's because I'm busy. Or tired. Or lazy. Or busy. So, my random seven posts end up being totally random and not even necessarily seven pictures.


Earlier this month, we ran sound for a show at the Civic Center for a magician who actually used live cats in his show. They weren't kitty cats, they were wild cats. Well, trained wild cats. The look in their eyes came across pretty wild to me, though. . .


The same afternoon I went up on a Genie lift to help Rob take our line array out of the ceiling at the center. I almost backed out before we even started but I eventually got used to it. I just made sure that I didn't look down. I pointed my camera in the general direction and took a few pictures, though, so I could look at them when I was safely on the ground again!!



This is Jack. He lived in the home we stayed in during the last quiz trip. I'm still working on that post because I have so much to say about it that I don't want to just let the pictures speak for themselves!! I should have it finished sometime before the next quiz meet. In September. But by then I will have forgotten what I wanted to say and I'll just post the pictures without commentary then anyway. . .


This is the picture that Steph texted me from her phone on the day we left for Metolious. While all four tires were still full of air . . .


Gloria and I had some mother-daughter bonding time the other night and gave each other make-overs. I thought she looked very pretty:


I'm not sure why she thought I needed freckles. . .

We went to a motivational seminar that featured some pretty great motivators. We heard from Terry Bradshaw, Coach Pete, Rudy Giuliani and Zig Ziegler among others. It was an interesting way to spend the day. . .

This is Gloria. Shooting a gun.

This is Zach. Driving through road construction.

We're working on a little home improvement project. I'm hoping someday I'll be able to tell you why. . .

And, last but not least, the spring weather lately has been crazy. Even for Idaho! Last week we had sunny skies and warm temps and this week we've had rain, hail, snow and wind. Even a tornado touched down briefly yesterday in Caldwell!! And tomorrow, for horse lessons, there is a 40% chance of frozen mix. Not looking forward to that. At least we had a gorgeous rainbow to remind us that there really is hope in all of this. . .

My Daddy. . .

Growing Up. . .

Random. . .

Really??

Yesterday was Saturday. Yeah, that's pretty much all I can say. . .

I WILL say that something very blog-worthy happened but until Rob "can laugh about it", I can't post it. I guess censorship is alive and well. . .

"Some Things Just Shouldn't Be Moved. . . "

Once upon a time I had a lovely backyard with a two-story playhouse. . .

It was a common occurrence to have actual adults sit comfortably in chairs enjoying the afternoon sunshine. . .

Children played happily in the grass and on the many and varied apparati that were available and not cracked or broken. . .

The same children waited anxiously for Rob to build a 3-story fort next to the lovely playhouse that they enjoyed. In the sunshine. Where the grass grew green all around. On the toys that were not broken. . .

One day the fort was completed and it was a perfect compliment to the lovely playhouse. . .

Children celebrated in the yard with the playhouse and adjacent fort. In the sunshine. Where the grass grew. And the toys were still intact. . .

Clean, cool water filled the pool . . .

The lovely deck invited guests to enjoy the shade and watch the kids splash in the clean, cool water in the unbroken pool. . .

Even the tractor tire, buried deep in the grass, invited kids to bask in the warm sunshine. . .

And then, one day, a business started. And grew. And took over. And the toys broke. And the grass died. And the playhouse and fort stood, neglected. And the sun shone everywhere but in the backyard. And I ceased to go there anymore. . . The End.

10 Years Later. . .

It's amazing the things you can sell on Craig's list. . .

Within 5 minutes of listing the neglected playhouse on Craig's List we received a phone call from a very desperate woman who NEEDED to have the house she saw in this series of pictures:

We listed it at a ridiculously low price with the stipulation that the buyer had to figure out how to move it. . . Fortunately, this desperate woman had a husband with a tractor. A BIG tractor.

Because of my aversion to the backyard, I made myself scarce under the guise of running errands and left Zach in charge of the camera . . .

I think he really managed to capture the essence of the production. . .

I only missed the first half of the move so I decided to make the best of it and take a few pictures of my own. . .

This man in the orange sweatshirt was very polite. He obviously came along to help his employer and he did his job efficiently and skillfully. He called me ma'am and went about his work with very few words. . .

I think that's why I found it so funny when he turned to me at one point and said almost under his breath, "There are some things that just shouldn't be moved."

The debris under the playhouse resembled the neighbor boys' yard in Toy Story. . .


I think I've said enough so I'll let the videos and pictures tell the rest of the story. . .

We even threw in the tire for free! Yay!

Could it be that there is a light at the end of the dark tunnel that has held my yard hostage for so many years???? Hmmmm. . .