Facing your fears

Tomorrow I embark on a trip to see my lovely children. Problem is, I have to get on a plane to get there. I haven't flown for over 20 years.Things have changed in the flying world. I used to be able to get to the airport 20 minutes before takeoff. Now it's an hour and a half to two hours.

I used to be able to take my own drinks or lotions. Now all that has to be left at home or in the cargo hold.

I used to not worry about hijackers, terrorists and the like. Now I am as worried about them as the marshal on board with the gun.

When I started having children the realization hit me that I could die and leave them alone and unmothered. For that reason I just couldn't bring myself to get on a plane. Plus the fact that flying all of us would take our life's savings. So I got by on my own wheels.

The last driving trip to Utah was long. I was feeling my age as my back, legs and torso cramped up from sitting for hours. I struggled to stay awake across the plains of Nebraska and Wyoming. For the first time in years the thought occurred to me that I would rather fly than drive. It was a breakthrough.

I also decided that it was more important for me to see my children's major life events than let my fear prevent me from making the trip.

It is hard for me. Scary. But. . . I have a pocket of Xanax and faith that my time here is not yet over. See you in the wild blue yonder!

Ems B Day

It is hard for me to believe that this cute little baby

Has grown up to be this lovely girl

We had a birthday party for her last week with 13 of her favorite people. Number one on the list:
Turns out one of Em's friends wrote a mystery dinner and wanted everyone to dress up. Everyone came decked out.
We started by making pizzas and reading our identities out loud

There was cake . . .And presents . . .

Happy Birthday, Ems!
Thanks for being around for the last 17 years. We love you!

Music starts early

The next big project

Okay, okay, I know you are all just dying to know what I have done to my house this time!! Right??? Yes???

You see, I have this bad habit of doing major things to my house when my husband is away. When he comes home he isn't sure if he is in the right house. That's what I did when I painted the living room last time.I like this paint job. I really do. I didn't intend for the base color to be purple (it was supposed to be pewter). I used a feather duster in two different colors and the effect was pretty cool--people thought it was wallpaper.
But, well . . . I get bored after awhile. It's like the 7 year itch. I have to change my surroundings. So when I painted the kitchen, well, it just didn't go with my living room.

This time I didn't wait for DH to leave. I started by recovering the lovely sofa he made for me--using some of the same fabrics from the kitchen project. I just love the striped fabric. (Those are Austin's legos under the bench--for the siblings of my piano students--not for me, LOL!)
I picked the tan color from the stripes and put a light tan on the top wall, and a darker on the bottom. Then I added the chair rail. And let me tell you, it is not easy putting up a 12 foot chair rail by yourself! (it looks a little crooked in this picture, but it really isn't, really!!)
I like the way it looks with dad's painting. It's not hung yet, but the colors look nice together.

Changing seasons

Just a few months ago, our snow was deep and heavy, and . . . lovely. It was white and crisp and clean.Now it looks like this:

And this:

Yuck!
The lovely boy scout snow caves, which they worked hours on, have degenerated to this:

There is a nice little skylight and a new back door in this cave.

But perhaps the saddest thing of all to see is what lies under the snow.

My lawn, once green and beautifully lush, is now a soggy muck of mud and grass.

Every year I wonder if the grass will once again grow back. And it always does. But during the months of March and April, it looks pretty hopeless.

Watching winter turn back into spring is a hard process here. The land has to work hard to reclaim itself, and it knows that it really has a relatively short time to do it. The sun is weak, but it is out longer now. You can see the plants and the people gradually warm up to it and soak it in. We are all slowly coming back to life.

Ta Da!

Well. . . the closet redo is finally finished! Yahoo!! Are you ready to see it??? Here is it step, by step.

First, the red paint job. Have to have red. Just have to. Did you know that red is a power color? I feel powerful in my red kitchen.
First the cabinet on the left. (Ain't it beautiful?)
Now the middle one . . . (did you notice the flowers? Miz Belle got some for her performance)
Now the right
The display cabinet goes up . . (I just love you, you big ol' ex-Amish cabinet guy! There is a story behind the ex-Amish part. I'll save it for another blog)
Teamwork gets it done faster (I'm all for teamwork! Uh, oops, sorry about the slight exposure part)
And now the finale, TA DA!
It matches my cabinets perfectly. I LOVE IT!! I'm happy.

Now, let's see. What shall I do next in my house. . . . ? Stayed tuned!

Asian Bound!

Well, I think many of you know about Adam. He is going to . . .
Specifically the Taipei Taiwan Mission. Cool, huh? Our Hammer menfolk seem to be destined for the Asian countries. DH in Japan, Aust in Korean and now Adam in Taiwan.

Here are some interesting photos. It seems like a very sophisticated city.

Good transportation:
There is even a temple!
Here is a downtown shot. It reminds me of Times Square, Asian style:
I talked to someone last night who has visited there. He said there are 14 million people and 10 million rickshaws. I think they have upgraded to motor cars:
Adam reports June 25th. We are excited!

Speed Demon

I was driving down the road yesterday and looked in my rear view mirror and saw this:

Now, I pride myself on being a fairly good driver. I've taught 4 children to successfully drive, and I haul teenagers all over the state. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what I had done.

The last time I got pulled over was more than 20 years ago. I was traveling to Utah with two children and a sleeping husband in tow, 5 or more months pregnant with Adam, and going up and down the hills of Wyoming. We had rented a little car from CMU for our trip and it struggled to make it up any kind of hill. So after all that laboring, it was nice to take my foot off the gas and fly down the hill. I figured my speed was sort of averaging out, you know. If you combined the uphill speed with the downhill speed and divided it by 2, it would equal the speed limit. And there wasn't a soul on the road. Except, of course, a policeman. I still don't know where he came from.

When he pulled me over and saw the kids, the hubby and my round tummy, he took pity on me, I think. I explained my speed theory (don't think he bought it) and after he came back from checking on my record, he gave me a warning to slow down. Which I did, after my heart resumed its normal beating pattern.

So, fast forward 20 years to yesterday. I quickly pulled over racking my brain to think what I could have possibly done to warrant this humiliation.

"Ma'am", says the police officer. "Uh, yes?" I said. "Did you realize that you didn't stop at the yellow light before you turned?" "Well, no, I guess I didn't." (Isn't it ok to turn on a yellow light?)

"Yellow means stop," he said. Hmm, I thought red meant stop. But apparently, when you are turning right in a busy intersection and the light turns yellow, you should stop! I wasn't going to argue the point. Somehow in all my years of driving and teaching driving, I missed that one.

Just a warning to all you reckless drivers out there. And . . . good news! I got off without a ticket! Whew!

Potholes . . . in life

After a particularly hard winter that is still ongoing, these little buggers suddenly appear:
Driving down the road takes major skills, man! I am testing my Mario Andriette prowess as I weave and dodge, much to my passenger's distress. The guy in front of me does it too. We are all swerving, while keeping our eyes on the oncoming traffic (they are doing it too). A pothole hit dead center can jar every tooth in your head, not to mention the axle of your car.

Ever wonder why they call them "potholes?" Is it because a pot will fit inside? What kind of pot? Food for serious thought. But, I digress.

Because I am a Young Women leader, my mind is always making analogies of my life, parables to teach by, if you will. Ways to influence yw -- and always trying to find some way to reach them. What are some of the potholes in your life? What are you continually trying to avoid? What damage does it cause to you when you hit one? Are life potholes becoming increasingly numerous? (I think they are).

So I am off now to ponder potholes as the sun slowly warms the earth, gently coaxing spring to return.

Belle of the Ball

My girl, my belle, shone as Belle last night. Here is a recap:

This is the opening scene, "this poor provincial town" . . .

"You'll be a world-class inventor"

"Be Our Guest"
Reading to the beast
"Maurice is crazy!"
Dancing with the prince
She looked and sounded GORGEOUS!
Wish you all could have been here.