Close encounter of the eight legged type

Why is there a spider on my arm? Not just any spider, but a tarantula. As the kids and I were coming in from our morning of play outside, they spotted it, and screamed. I had on gloves, been creating a new flower bed, so I picked up our little friend, just to show there was nothing to be afraid of. I must say, I myself was not sure enough to take off my gloves in order to test this idea. Our friend was not content to say on my hand, where else to go except up my arm. So of course I grabbed the camera to capture my calm/fear. It creeped me out just a little. I really hate most spiders. I am not sure why, but tarantulas aren't as scarey to me. He was kind of small.

Fall

It is more than the chill in the air, and changing leaves, getting up before the sun. Or the smell of chili being roasted, the shorter days and orange pumpkins. It's the light. The way the sun shines and the heat of the afternoon just doesn't feel as hot. There is some thing about the light this time of year that is unmistakable. Then I woke up a couple of days ago to find my house was cold. It is usually cool in the morning, but this morning I was cold. I feeling I hate! After the sun had spread it's warmth for a few hours I went outside to enjoy the feel of fall. I always water my garden in the morning, but this morning I was shocked to find my tomatoes looking as if they had been froze. Can it be? Already. The Weather Channel says no, it was only 37 degrees that night, but I have proof they are wrong. So now I must admit the the fact that it is time to snuggle down at night, closing my windows and turning off fans. Time to take the air conditioner back to the garage, and buy pellets for my stove. Good bye to summer and fresh veggies. Hello to sweatshirts and sweatpants, thick blankets and hot soup. No more flip flops and tank tops. Here we go again, another summer come and gone. I love this time of year!

Tonight my heart is breaking. Gabriel is crying his little heart out because Arnold had to go back to Phoenix. I am not sure how much more of this I can take!

The sweet smell of skunk!

As you may have been able to guess by the title of this blog, I have a skunk story. It begins a little like this, actually exactly like this. The day is August 30, the time 9;55 pm. I put to dogs in my back yard. A yard that has a 6 foot tall chain link fence around it. A yard I feel is safe from predators. There is a light in my back yard, some might call it a street lamp, I don't because there are no streets around it, but it does light up my yard. On with the story. I go to brush my teeth, wash my face and get really for sleep. My bathroom window is open, so when the dogs start barking I hear them immediately. Their barks don't alarm me, as I said I feel my yard is a safe place. But I knew the instant I smelled the skunk that their barking had caused this foul odder. I quickly dried my face and hurried to the back door. I can see the skunks tail standing straight up behind my 6 foot chain link fence and my dogs barking feverishly at the varmint who dared to get to close to our yard. I know it is to late, my momma dog comes running to me, mouth watering and, for lack of a better word, foaming. The puppy, who is a year old now, continues to bark, even as I beg for her to come to me. The skunk is unfazed by their noise and continues to be doing whatever it is that he was doing before he was bothered by my pack. My yelling does not even disturb this creature of the night. I then venture out into to safety of my yard to collect the biggest rocks I can find. I hurl them at the skunk, only to be disappointed as they hit the fence or fly to far over the fence missing the target. Still the skunk will not budge. I consider the guns for a brief, let me emphasize brief, moment, I don't even know how to shot the guns. So I go for the next best thing, the hose! No animals wants to get wet. Success at last! I was a little disappointed that I didn't get to soak my pest, he ran as soon as the first drop hit him.

Needless to say, my dogs slept outside last night. Now today I must see if tomato juice will really get the smell of skunk out of dog fur!

Loose screws

Have you even been sweeping and you find a screw where a screw does not belong? On your floor with no apparent hole from which it came. You put the lost screw some place safe, just in case you ever find where it belongs. Then a month later your kitchen chair starts to fall apart because it is missing a screw. Good, you think, because you kept the screw and now you can fix your wobbly chair, you think. When you look in your safe place you realize it was not a safe place, it was a place with a portal to an alternate universe, because that is the only explanation to where your screw went. No way a child would have found your screw and decided to do what ever it is that kids do with things they are not suppose to play with, no, no way your kids would do that! So that is where I am this morning, no not the alternate universe, the place where you are trying to find a screw to fit into your kitchen chair.

Home again

The kids and I made it safely home from Phoenix last night. We had a wonderful weekend with Arnold. Swimming, shopping, and eating out. I think it is much cheaper for him to come visit us than the other way around! They did need clothes for school, which unbelievably starts next week. I will have all three in school this year. Wow, is all I can say. Well I could probably say a lot more, but not tonight!
I took my placement test last Thursday, I did great on the reading and writing portion. My math was better than I thought it would be, but not good enough to get me into a college level algebra. I need to score a 40, I got a 38, bummer. The good news is that I can take that part of the test again, and I placed in the developmental math 102, not 101. I don't have to start at the very bottom. I think I will buy the book and just refresh what I once upon a time knew. I can't take the class on-line, which is all I am planning on doing for now. It is not a good idea to decide to go the college in July when classes start in August, all the classes that I need to take are full. So I will take what I can for now. I am sure my brain will appreciate easing into learning again, rather than trying to go full force all at once.

Last night as I was laying in bed listening to the owls as I fell asleep, my heart began to pound and my stomach felt a large rock sitting squarely in it's pit. No it was not the sound of the owls, I fear not the owls. All owls make me think of is tootsie pops and how many licks it takes to get to the center. No, my anxiety came from the thought that today is Sunday which means we are entering a new week, the week in which I have decided to take my college placement test. I am determined to go back to school, the classes I am only mildly intimidated by. But this test, this test I fear. I hated tests in high school, but I was always prepared. There was never any material that I hadn't thought about in 16 years on those test. It all became extremely real to me last night. All my doubts and insecurities came crashing down on me with all the wrath they could muster. Then for an instant I wanted to quit before I had even begun. How easy it would be to just not do it. I could stay in my comfort zone. Never pushing myself, never changing. This must be some thing I need to do, why else would I feel such fear? Some force trying to stop me from doing what will ultimately lead me to where I need to be. Some many thoughts running around in my head. I feel like a bouncing ball in outer space.

My jungle

The garden keeps growing. I am finding it harder and harder to make my way to the back corner where the Lima beans and black eyed peas are growing. Also bugs love my garden. I get lots of new little bites every time I venture in to far. Nothing grew this good last year. It grew, just not this big. The tomatoes are out of control! I may have to leave more space between the plants new year. I thought I left enough this year. I guess not. Anyway just wanted to let you see my jungle!

Just a thought.

I sit here tonight with a thought in my head, one that was one of my mom's favorite. "Every thing happens for a reason." My husband and I were heading down life's path comfortably last year when he decided to get out of the army. I had a lot of fear and anxiety about this decision. But I supported him and decided that whatever he decided was what he needed to be happy. He got a job at the mine that was short lived and we have been living on my daycare income since December, when our saving ran out. This has not been an easy time in my life. The stress has some days overwhelmed me and brought me to tears. I have questioned my faith, my strength, my sanity, and everything in between. This was not a place I had EVER pictured myself being. But there we were. Some how together we made it through. I say we made it through because today Arnold started his full time position with the Arizona National Guard. The money will return. The bills will be paid. I will no longer have to worry about my kids getting hurt or sick and having no insurance. I can enjoys days when no kids show up at my house to be watched instead of worrying that this weeks pay will not be enough. I feel as if I can breath.

Through the months of waiting for this job to actually materialize I kept reminding myself that "everything happens for a reason." A time or two I may have demanded that this reason be shown to me so I might understand and except more humbly. Of course we all know that this is not the way things work. I have wanted to go back to school for a number of years now. But paying for college and children at the same time was not possible. Until now. I have applied for a pell grant and it appears that I will qualify for the whole thing. Yeah me! So tonight I sit here with this thought and wonder if my education could possibly the reason.

Garden Geek

Beans tonight.

Tomatoe plants, tonight.

June 3rd.

June 3rd.

June 3rd

Tomato plants June 3rd.

Cucumber in the corn.

Tomato in the strawberries .

Beans May 18.

Tomato plants May 18.

Spinach, all gone now.

I am a garden geek. Last year I had a little compost pile in the corner of my garden. I put the cucumber peels, cantaloupe seeds, whole pumpkins, lettuce cores, and lots of kitchen scraps. Well last years compost has become this years weeds. I have "wild" cucumber, cantaloupe, watermelon, pumpkins, and even tomatoes growing throughout the garden. I call myself a garden geek because it makes me happy to find little tomatoes plants growing in my strawberry patch. I like to see cantaloupe in my corn and cucumbers next to a potato plant.

So anyway here are a few weeks worth of garden pictures.

When I was in the 6th and 7th grade we lived on a military post way in the middle of nowhere Utah. It was a small post, living quarters divided in to two sides, the West side, and the East side. One could easily walk from one side to the other, and back when ever one wanted. My best friends were Melissa Moore and Erin Merrit, they lived on the west side, we lived on the east. I was usually the one who had to travel to their side when ever we wanted to get together, I won't say play, because we were much to old to "play". Anyway, although it really was a quick trip to and from their houses, I soon got tired of walking. Now I am not sure were they came from or how long they were in the family, but one day a pair of skates found their way to me and my walking days were over. I would fly down the sidewalks making my way to better places. Melissa and Erin must have thought it was a cool idea, they broke out with their skates and we skated everywhere. I remember skating up and down streets, back and forth between the east side and the west side. A freedom unknown to me until that time. The wind, the speed, I loved it.

Yesterday was Montana's 10th birthday (one of Ashley's friends). She had a birthday party at Mingos Party Place, just outside Silver City NM. At Mingos you can play skeet ball, or pool, or some other silly game I didn't understand, but most people just skate! Yes, real skates with four wheels and a rubber stopper. You can try your luck with roller blades as well, not something I wanted to do. I skated. For the first time in many, many years, I got to feel the wind blowing my hair as I sped round and round in circles. Unable to control exactly when I would stop. Still the memory of being 12 could not be contained and for the short time I felt 12 again. I couldn't help but smile. But I am no 12 year old girl, and this morning my shins feel the years of not skating. I love it!

Looking back.

Halloween 2008.

Gabriel.

Ashley and Breana.

Breana's 2nd birthday.

First day of school this year.

Ashley.

Breana.

The girls are done with 2nd and 4th grade. Today was their last day. I can't believe how very fast this year seemed to have flown by. Not only this year but the last 10 years. I swear I can still feel Ashley swimming around in me. I want to save every moment, the remember the sound of their laughter. To be able to pick them and cuddle with them when ever I want. To be the center of their universe. To be able to kiss an boo boo and make it all better. I want them to like the cloths I pick out for them. To do as I say without question ( that one maybe pushing it even when they were very young!) But they keep growing. The older they get the more memories I need to write down and don't. I always thought that I would remember the funnies, but I seem to be forgetting. Now my kids remind me of things that I have told them. I really must start writing it all down. Is it possible that time goes faster when you get older?

Good night

Tonight as I was getting Gabriel all

tucked in to bed he wanted to know why he couldn't just sleep on the couch. His bed always gives him bad dreams, but not the couch he says. I don't really mind him sleeping on the couch, I prefer his bed, why buy it if it's not going to be used. Anyway, I proceed to explain to him that I have some kids who have to be here very early tomorrow morning, long before Gabriel will want to wake up, so the best place for him to sleep is in his own room, on his own bed, far from the noise of small children. He tells me he wishes they were robots. This is a strange wish even for him, or so I thought. I ask him why he wants them to be robots, and he tells me that we could then turn their ears to turn them down, as in volume. Oh if only toddlers did come with volume control!

Spinach

This is our second summer here in New Mexico, and my second year planting a garden. This year I got seeds planted a lot early than last year and I am happy to say that within a few days I will have peas to eat! And this morning for breakfast I had spinach. I have been thinking of eating it for at least a week now. I thought a great big salad or steamed with dinner, but since I am the only one in the house who will actually eat it, I put off cutting it. Then this morning while I was watering I decided no more waiting. I cut a few leaves, steamed them and ate them for breakfast.
The rest of the garden is growing. Soon I will have lettuce, and if I am real lucky I will get to the 2 strawberries before the wildlife does. I planted zucchini this year, I am sure I will have more than I can eat. I thought it was a good idea to plant more seeds than I thought I needed plants, thinking that not all the seeds would come up. I planted 10 seeds and 9 became plants. I thought about pulling the smaller plants, but I can't seem to bring myself to killing something that I put so much effort into getting to grow. Thinning is not my strong point.
Anyway I had spinach for breakfast.

One Question

I have a question. One that I thought I knew the answer to, until I had children. Can inanimate objects reproduce? I know what most of you think. A definite NO. That's what I had always known to be true also. But I swear my baskets of laundry reproduce! I know there is a bottom to the basket, but try as I might I can't seem to be able to find it. So this is the only conclusion I can come to.

Tour of Gila

The Tour of Gila is a bike race that has been going on annually in our little neck of the woods for 23 years now. This year it has found it's place on the map as Lance Armstrong has decided to race in it. Today's leg of the race flew by my house several time, 3 to be exact. Sarah is to say the very least, a fan. So last night she made me promise to take pictures and video. Here is the video. I took my 4 daycare boys out to the almost road to watch the race. It put a little excitement in our lives for the day. I wish they had been going slower so I could have gotten a better look. Anyway, here it is for Sarah.

Bees

It has been very windy here, no big surprise, it is spring. The wind tossed my humming bird feeder around so much that half of the syrup ended up all over the porch, which brought it to the attention of the bees. Hundreds of bees! On my front porch. I couldn't even leave the house. But I did. And I sprayed the porch clean. Then gave those bees a nice shower. That only worked while it was spraying on them. I had to get the feeder down. I couldn't just leave it there to attract more bees. So I kept spraying the feeder while trying to take it down. It is hung up pretty high. If I were short I wouldn't be able to take it down. Anyway, I took a shower while trying to remove the feeder and keep the bees off me. They didn't want to share the food. So after I got it down I expected them to go away. No they kept hanging around. So I sprayed them some more. And got out my raid. Not such a good idea. They are not as easy to spray with raid as say any non flying creature. So I got stung. Did you know that bee stings itch after the pain goes away? They do. Just like a mosquito bite. More water. Finally they got the hint. I have moved the feeder. It not longer hangs were I can view my friends while sitting in my living room, but I can watch while laying in bed. Still would rather have it on the porch.

PS I am not very good at filming.

I had something to say. I know I did. Then away it went. Fleeting. Floating. Leaving me alone. So here I sit, alone, without a thought to share.

Their Back!!

Spring is here. Although this weekend we had a bit of a storm blow through. It was beautiful, but cold. There was thunder and lightning, very little moisture. Just the unmistakable desert rain smell that left everything feeling some how cleaner and more alive.

I have been under the belief that spring was here for a few weeks now only to have my mind changed by the cold that keeps creeping in. But now I know it is truely here. How do I know this? My humming birds are back! I thought I heard one buzzing by last week, but thought it must be my own desire for their return. Then yesterday Gabriel came running from the front of the house to let me know that he too had see our old friends. I mixed up a quart of sweet red liquid and hung it out on the front porch, their favorite place to eat. Now sooner had I hung it than someone was enjoying. As I sat on our cough last night, with the western sun shining through the window, I could see the little shadow of our summer friends. Not only is spring here, but summer is on it's way.

Pictures

My kids hate taking picture. They thought I was torturing them when I made them sit down for a family photo.

Quick stove update

My stove was fixed! No big problem. Just a jammed auger. A little elbow grease and some instructions from the manufactures, and good as new. It was actually fixed the next day. Good thing too, because it is still kind of chilly at night, early morning. I hate to get out of bed to start the stove to warm me up!

It had been far to long since I had seen my family all together before this weekend. But thanks to Lin we were able to surprise my Dad for a pre birthday gathering. And he was surprised! Yeah! I flew to Vegas where I met my sisters Sarah and Alica, who also flew in, then we rented a car ( thanks Alicia!) and drove to my Dad's house in St. George UT. So much fun to see the reaction on his face. Deborah joined us about a half hour later, as she was driving from her house in Spring City UT. I don't think one could have asked for a more perfect weekend. I miss my family so much. Time seems to be passing by faster with each year. Youth really is wasted on the young!

2 am

I was awaken this morning, at 2 am, by the sound of silence. Yes silence. We have a pellet stove with a noisy blower. Pellet stoves are a wonderful invention that I did not know existed until we moved here and our house was equipped with one. That one died some time around Christmas 2007. That in itself is a story for another day. You pour a bag full of wood pellets into this fireplace looking stove and you get fire. No matches, no wood, no newspaper or kinling. Like magic you get a nice toasty fire. We bought this one the first part of December and have been very pleased with it's performance.

But did I tell you I woke up to silence, at 2 am? I am thinking no big deal, maybe the hopper is empty, just needs more pellets. No such luck. Now I am thinking that maybe it has too much dust from the sub par pellets that WalMart is now selling. I had that problem a few nights ago. So I empty the 60 pound hopper, and vacuum the dust out. That should do the trick right? I press the on button and wait for magic. No magic. I continue to wait, maybe it's just taking longer that usual. It is now 2:45 am. I realize the top auger is not feeding the pellets to the bottom auger, so no fire can be made. I push on the auger hoping to will it into action. No. It is time to give up.

Next option, our furnace. I think it is as old as our house, but it does do the job it was made for. Except for tonight. We haven't used to for, well since we got the magic pellet stove. The pilot is out. It is getting cold now. And its not getting any earlier. I know how to light the pilot, I am that cool. But after sitting there for another 30 minutes, pleading with the pilot to stay lit, it's feeling are hurt by our lack of use these past months, I think it maybe a good time to give up on this idea and go to plan 3.

Space heaters. We have 3. One I found out overheats within seconds of being turned on. The other two work. Yeah! And my kitchen stove. I know, fire hazard, but at 3:30 am I don't care! I am cold and I have insurance. I finally get back to bed and I think asleep by 4 am. Then the dreams of broken pellets stoves keep playing in my head. I have to thoughts of trowing the darn thing away. That would be a sight. I am sure I couldn't move it 2 inches.

You maybe wondering where my other half is during all this fun. He is not asleep in our bed. He is in Phoenix. He did not leave me to suffer alone in the cold of the night. Although I did think of calling him.

I called the manufacturers this morning. A very nice gentleman tryed to help me fix my problem, but I don't have the proper tools to take the back off the stove, so alas I must wait for Arnold to return and find me the needed tools. Then they will walk us through the trouble shooting steps to fix our auger and return the magic back to us. ( If not it is under warranty)