My last post was somewhat out of character from what my myriad of few readers have come to expect.  Today’s will be a little lighter.

 

Today I thought it would be fun (for me, not necessarily you, Reader) to follow up on my previous posts so that all of you who were left hanging on the edge of a cliff by my exciting life would know what is happening in it.  (I am throwing in pictures where I can to liven it up a little as well.)

 

Being somewhat obsessive compulsive (Prince Charming would argue it is more than somewhat, but there has been no clinical diagnosis, so I am going with “somewhat”), I am required to go in order.

 

But FIRST, did anyone notice that my sitemeter says I have had over ONE THOUSAND VISITS?!!???  I really do not know what I was expecting, but I do not think I was expecting that in three weeks.  (Special thanks to the ones that are coming back after being here the first time!  Of course that makes my numbers better (as if I really care about numbers) but it is quite humbling AND inspiring to know that people actually like to read what I write as well as see my pictures.)

 

This is Me.   This is Me Blogging.  This is a comment more than an update.  What I have realized in the previous 16 posts I have done is that this was not at all what I thought it would be.  I thought there would be a more even mix of writing (hopefully humorous most of the time), photography with little comment and stamping projects.  Clearly, it’s been mostly writing with some photography thrown in.  This I cannot explain.  Every day that I post I have one (or six) ideas, sometimes already written, for what I am going to put on my blog.  Then the time comes, and something totally different happens.  I enjoy it, but it is sucking up my time.  No plans to stop, though Prince Charming is urging me to cut down on the frequency of posts.  At this point I cannot help that, either.  When I post it is because something draws me (likely avoiding something I should be doing) to the computer.  I probably need help for this problem.

 

Rainier Cherries.  I was a little distressed that we did not get more cherries as soon as I had hoped, but am elated to report there is a bumper crop in most stores as of last week.  Counting the initial two pounds, I have consumed five pounds of them already.  I have another three pounds in my refrigerator at this very moment.  The last time I bought them was last Friday for $5.98 per pound.  Not bad for Rainier Cherries, but good, healthy eating certainly is expensive!

 

Washing Dishes.  Not very long after posting my dishwasher woes, I got a call from the installation guy who came two days later instead of a week and two days later.  Still too long in my opinion, but better than it could have been.  The guy was extra nice (unusual), seemed knowledgeable and did not get upset that my dog was protective of me.  Next time I need something installed, I will call him directly.  We love how the new dishwasher cleans but are in a not-steep-enough learning curve about how to load it efficiently.

 

Sky Watch Friday, The Heart of Our Home and Finding Nemo.  These posts do not require updating.  (You’re saying to yourself, “Thank Whom/Whatever!)

 

Ten Years With Prince Charming.  This will be an ongoing series.  I have several post ideas in my head about the attributes and some of the things that make him a Prince Charming.  Those will come.  Ten years and two weeks later, we’re still happy and in love!  Oh yes, the picture with the post was taken this year at the beginning of April.  Below is a picture from the day we got married.  (I apologize for the poor quality.  I scanned an 11 x 14 that is in a frame.  I am much too lazy to take it out to get a better scan.)

 

We Miss You.  In the quest to find the perfect way to make a sign to show our daughters how much we missed them, all we could come up with is this:

 

We would have liked to get the thousands of giant mutant mosquitoes (For which we were totally unprepared; we forget about blood-sucking insects since living in the desert) to fly in formation, but they did not wish to do us any favors.  We saw a crop duster over some canola fields, but it was not into sky writing.  In fact, I think it was a little irritated at our location and trying to scare us away!

 

We thought about mowing out a section of a canola field, but we did not have a giant mowing/harvesting/whatever tractor of any sorts.  (The lighting was strange anyway.  I thought I would be getting the BEST pictures there in the evening light, but I think mid-day would have been better.  All we got were lots of mosquito bites.)

 

 

I Like the Horse Part of the Parade.  We had a lovely time.  It was cooler than usual.  Chicklet is enough older that she did not whine or cry until the very end.  I did not get a better picture of a painted horse.  Partly because my photography heart was not there that day, and partly because there were not any really good paint jobs.  This is the best I got.

 

 

These Things Bring Tears to My Eyes.  I feel the need to point out here that there are other things that bring tears to my eyes, but they are things like death of a loved on one or pet, that bring tears to everyone’s eyes.  Last night the girls and I watched the modern version of The Parent Trap, and yes, a couple of times I got a little choked up.  Chic was comforting me through her own tears!

 

Inspiration for Stamping.  A big thank you to all who gave me such nice compliments on that one.  I have some other ideas lined up, but my time right now does not allow for much creative endeavor.  I do hope to post some things sooner, however, that are not completely thought up by me.  You know, my take and execution on what someone else, far more talented than yours truly, thought up.

 

Why I Spent a Good Portion of My Day Transplanting Plants.  There is a little alarming news on this one.  I left the plants outside to dry because I had rinsed them.  The sun scorched several leaves on several plants.  And the worst part is that one of them is still outside because Prince Charming is gone, and it’s too heavy for me to lift. Grateful for a few very cloudy, rainy days in this parched land, but it has got another full day outside before it can be rescued.  A couple of the plants seem to be elated with their new pots, however.

 

The Cheetah Girls.  Chic and Chicklet are still Princesses, but on Sunday we went to a high school production of Mulan.  Chicklet now wants to be a “soldier in the Army.”  Daddy will be proud, I guess.  (Daddy was an officer in the Army for 10 years.)  Chic is fully convinced that girls can “beat” boys in anything.  I think I will just leave it at that!

 

Red Sky in Morning.  We have yet to go swimming.  The sun peeked out for a couple of hours Sunday while we were at Mulan.  We have had quite a bit of rain, actually.  Even some thunder and lightning.  On Saturday afternoon it rained for about 25 minutes, and Chic said, “Is it EVER going to stop raining?”  It’s all about perspective. 

 

Prince Charming is enjoying his time in North Dakota re-connecting with old friends.  I am half sure he will want to move there when he gets back.  Not a lot of job activity there, though.  And I am personally having not a whole lot of fun manning the castle on my own.  I had dinner guests here Saturday for a meeting.  All this without a slave Prince has kept me up late and pretty much crabby.  (Prince Charming returns about 30 hours after this post goes up.)  Here’s a picture of the the same sunrise that day–just because I cannot control myself with sky pictures and feel like putting it in here.

click to enlarge

click to enlarge

 

NOT the Motel 6.  There will be more pictures eventually of our Winnipeg trip.  (Whenever whatever it is that motivates me tells me to do it.)

 

The Worst Day of My Life.  To be honest, there have been lots of days in my life worse than the ones in this post.  The reason it comes to me as the worst is because it was directed at me, and no other time in my life have I had such physical manifestations (of) my turmoil.  This was just a post in response to a word trigger.  It is not why I am writing under a pen name.  I hope the reason I am will eventually come to these pages, but as I responded to someone who commented, “I am a happy ending kind of girl.”  The other worse stuff does not, and cannot, have a happy ending.  I will get to it, I think.  But it will take a while, and I promise it will not be in giant doses at once.  Oh, the picture with that post was not from that time period.  But both of the really bad days mentioned were snowy and ugly, and that was the best picture I could come up with for it.

 

 

Now, don’t you feel so satisfied that you know the updates to all of that?  (I promise to not do this every 16 posts!)

 

By Louise Cannon

 

Edited:  Sorry about the typos.  I fixed the ones I’ve found.  I have a rough time catching them without my editor, Prince Charming.