Blaaaahhhhh!

A couple more pics from Spokane.... Actually, I DO have some gardening pics to share, but I have so many from Spokane that I wanted to share first. I guess this will be it for them. The rest didn't turn out too well, or they're of fireworks and y'all have seen plenty of fireworks I'm sure.












*grin* I LOVE this pic of Tay. She just got bumped from behind by this other kid, and the look of surpise was classic. *wink*

















Bumper cars is her favorite ride, currently. She loves getting out there and getting to PURPOSEFULLY crash the car against somebody else. *sigh* My little speed-demon.









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Anyway..... On to other things. We got the pickles done, but only 3 of the jars took, out of 7. *sigh* So FIL combined the 4 jars that DIDN'T take into a larger empty jar and popped it into his fridge. So, those will get eatten. That was only 13 cucumbers, and we've got a lot more growing and hopefully yet to grow. LOTS and LOTS of flowers on the cucumber plants. We've also got a few tomatoes growing, but it's unlikely at this stage of the game that they'll ripen sufficiently to eat. (Or even grow BIG enough to eat.) I was really hoping for at least one of my Stupice tomatoes and one of my Black from Tula tomatoes, so that I could save the seed for next year's plants. I've got leftover stupice seed, but no BfT seed to start next year's plants. *sigh*

Our beans aren't producing much at all. Our peas are producing, but not very quickly.

The squash at the inlaws isn't producing anything yet, though my 2 zucchini plants HERE each have a single zucchini on them, and more flowers to bloom.

The swiss chard is producing beautifully (better at the inlaws than here, but even my crop here is about ready to pick).

The spinach produced well, but we decided that next year it will be a "fresh spinach only" crop, not something for preservation. It just doesn't produce ENOUGH to get more than a couple odd bags of frozen spinach (much less canning a JAR full) for winter's use. So we'll only do 2 plants at a time and stagger the planting so that we hopefully have spinach through the summer. But to put in a whole row (like we did this year!) only to get 4 baggies of the stuff...... *sigh* Just not worth it.

The lettuce produced like gangbusters. We think that next year we'll stick with only a couple lettuce plants and plant the rest of the row in beets or swiss chard or something. No sense in a 30 foot row of lettuce that doubles every week, when you can only eat even a 1/4 of that.

The beets are producing beautifully. I had one in a salad a couple of weeks ago. We decided to pull one to see how they're growing and the FIL deemed them NOT QUITE ready yet. The radishes have grown well this year, also. The carrots are growing, but we're not quite sure when to pull one. However, the way they're splitting the dirt at the base of the leaves, we can tell that they ARE growing.

My turnips (here at my house, none at the FIL's) have HUGE leaves on them. I DID make turnip greens a couple of weeks back that were ok. I need to try to freeze some of the greens for winter, though.

My strawberries are doing pretty well except that they're barely ripend, with having so much rain and so little sun. So I haven't yet picked a SINGLE strawberry. They're still too green to pick.

The cabbages over at FIL's are growing beautifully. We're going to get some really nice heads off of them, this year. We're trying to decide how best to preserve them. I'm all for canning as kimchi or sauerkraut. FIL isn't sure that's what he wants to do. I suppose we could just can them plain and keep for fried kielbasa and cabbage, as well. Of course I'd like to take some of the outter leaves and dry them for use as a soup-herb this winter.

The onions are growing, but it doesn't look like they'll actually get the size of yellow onions that you can buy at the grocery store.

The potato plants are growing incredibly well. However here at my house I haven't gotten the "barrels" filled nearly enough to be growing lots and lots of big potatoes. I may end up with a couple big, and a few small, but that'll probably be it. The entire month of July has been too rainy for me to have a chance to get out there and shovel any more dirt around the plants. And I don't have nearly enough dirt anyway. This year I'm going to insist on bagging up all the leaves we can find, and stashing them as mulch for next year, or additions to my compost bin.

I don't know WHAT is going on with my compost bin. It's been too wet to get out and work it. For 3 weeks now (since I got back from Spokane, basically) my intention has been to get out on a dry day and pull the READY compost out (because I KNOW there's some compost ready, buried in there) and mix in "fresh" shredded newspaper and any new kitchen scraps (which, for 3 weeks now have been going into an empty 5-gal bucket with lid, on the back deck). However, it's been so soggy that I haven't had a chance. *sigh*


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I've mentioned how much rain we've been having...... Put it this way, the last time we had this much rain in a month was 11 years ago. The past week it has been raining almost NON-STOP. That's not much of an exageration, either. I mean, the rivers (the Chena, the Tanana, and the Salcha) are all flood-level high. The Tanana is over it's banks by 17 feet. The Chena is bursting it's banks in some places. The Salcha floods very easily so it's burst it's banks many times over by now. But plenty of people toward Ruby Creek (a creek on the outter edge of Fairbanks) and out in Salcha have been evacuated. One coworker told me yesterday of a friend of hers that is now flooded IN, because they didn't take the chance to get OUT while they had it. Their house is high enough to keep them reasonably safe, but they also cannot get out of it, evidently.

I know that Mom is pretty concerned that we're in danger of the Chena flooding and causing trouble for Scott, Tay and I, but we're really not in any danger from the Chena. If it starts flooding around here, the authorities will simply open the Flood Control Project (built in the 60's after the major flood that ruined a LOT of property in this valley) and allow the river to drain off. It hasn't gotten quite that bad yet. The tanana doesn't sound like it's yet high enough to breach the dikes, and honestly that'd be my bigger concern, as Scott's workplace is just on one side of the dikes, and the High School also has the dike as a border on one side. Since we're right here next-door to the HS, that COULD potentially put us at danger for some flooding.

As it stands right now, I haven't had to water my veggies in days. The end of our road looks like it's "break-up" again, with a growing "pond" down at the end. But the swales and ditches that were put in a couple of years back are keeping the "pond" at a managable level. It's not a danger for our vehicals to drive through. And our house sits high enough above the road that we're not getting flooded. But, the dog kennel out back IS. The poor dogs don't even want to go in there as the ground is so soggy. We REALLY need to get some gravel brought in for the kennel, and some fill dirt brough in for the rest of the back yard, so that next year's "break-up" won't drown everything out there.

We have had odd moments of sun. on Tuesday of this past week, for about 10 minutes (literally, only 10 minutes) the skies cleared and we had a bit of sunshine that morning. Then it clouded back up and started pouring rain again. And we're not talking drizzle, we're talking a steady down-pouring of rain.

Yesterday it also cleared up enough that Tay's soccer team was able to have their "end of season" party with relative success. The girls and Scott were out there playing pick-up games of soccer in the slick, wet school-yard. They all (except Tay and Scott, suprisingly!) left the party soaking wet and muddy. *grin* I was hoping the girls would tackle Scott and make sure he left muddy as well. Tay bumped into him once (purposefully!) and nearly knocked HIM on his butt!!!. *grin* That was funny. She may still be over a foot shorter than he is, and a good 130 pounds or so lighter than him (he's at about 250 lbs now), but she can certainly hold her own. She's got sturdy bones, that one. Anyway, we DID get enough reasonably blue skies to get to grill some hotdogs, have some cake and brownies and chips and pasta-salad, and hang out for a while enjoying a break in the rain.

And then it's raining again this morning. I'm so sick of rain.

We're all rather hopeful that since we've already spent July with our "fair weather" (usually comes right about Fair time: rainy, yucky, windy, blah), the dawning of the first day of the fair (tomorrow, Aug. 1st this year) will be clear and sunny, as will the duration of the fair and the rest of August afterwards. We really deserve a nice, sunny warm autumn after how rainy and chilly our summer has been. I hope Mother Nature agrees! *wink*


**********

Last but not least, I DID NOT get the 30 hour Lib. Assistant job here at NPBranch Lib. That position went to another woman who's been working 20 hours per week at that library for at LEAST the last 10 years. I'm ok with that. Anyway, but her 20 hour position came open, and I've put in for that. However, I was the only eligable applicant from INSIDE the library system to apply for the job, so the borough has had to open the application process up to the public. There is NOW the possibility of a non-borough employee applying for this job and swiping it out from under me. That "wild card applicant". I'm hoping it doesn't happen. If nobody else applies and meets the minimum eligability requirements, then I will be the only eligable applicant and the borough would be forced to give me the job after an official interview. I'm not really that optimistic, though. I think that there is BOUND to be SOMEBODY apply that's meets the minimum requirements, and all I can hope is that I can show that I've put a lot of thought and time into making myself as eligable as possible, and learning as much as possible on my own time.

However, the fact that the job opening now doesn't close until NEXT Wed. means that I've now got time to get some show&tells made up to illustrate my ability to use Microsoft Word and Publisher. That, and having a well thought-out story-time planned and hopefully some time spent on the public databases, will hopefully show that I've worked very hard at learning what needs to be known for this job. They know that I can only do so much learning on my own without official experience, but at least it will be a show of how willing and able I am to learn what needs to be known, with or without official help.

Figuring that somebody else from inside the borough system (one of my coworkers, specifically) whom I also know applied with the job was still "in house" would interview with me, I'd already rushed to put together a story-time. I've got the books picked out, need to do some final determining of the fingerplays and songs I want to include, and practice. I've also got the craft project decided on, I just need to get it cut out and put back together this coming weekend. So, that part of the interview is already planned for and almost ready.


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Ok. I think that pretty well covers it. On to working on some of that stuff for the interview, now. *grin* AND coming around to visit everybody else's blog.

Have a Blessed Day!

Pickle Recipes???

Ok, I know I've been terribly, terribly lax in sharing pictures of our gardening endeavors the last couple of weeks. And I'm going to continue to be lax today. Honestly, what I'm hoping is that you, my friends, can share with me any favorite cucumber-pickle recipes. (Canned kind, not crocked kind.) We have to go do some pickling tomorrow at the FIL's and I NEED RECIPES! *grin*

So, if you have a favorite that produces yummy hot-water-bath-canned recipes for you consistently, I'd love to see it! Even better if it's a recipe for smaller portions. We've got maybe a dozen cucumbers (give or take 2) that need picking tomorrow before they get any bigger, so large batches aren't an option, really.

THANKS in advance!

Have a Blessed Day!

A Sweet Video to Share....

I just have to share this with y'all: http://www.maniacworld.com/twin-baby-moose-in-sprinkler.html I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. How incredible and funny. Evidently, no matter the species, kids can have lots of fun running through a sprinkler. Now to go send this link directly to Marmite Toasty, as I know she loves these animals. (And no, I'm not going to tell you WHAT animals, you'll just have to click on the link to find out.)

Have a Blessed Day!

More pics from the 4th of July in Spokane's RiverFront Park.

Mom and Dad shelled out for a gondolier ride over the falls for all of us, so these were taken from inside the little capsule Mom, Kori and I shared. (Dad, Shelli, Tay and Kiara were in another capsule). It's incredible seeing that much water pouring over the falls. What was even MORE incredible is seeing how high the river was, even WITH that much water pouring over the falls constantly!




















Some folks on the walk-way beside the falls.








































Mom said that she recalls swimming below the falls when she was a kid. When the water's lower it evidently creates some little swimming holes that are much safer than when the water is this high.























Here are some pics of Tay and Kiara on the Ferris Wheel. Tay was ALL amped to go. She likes Ferris Wheels. And I recall the first time her Aunt Shelli took her on one, she was very nervous to get up there. Shelli told her that she'd hold onto Tay tightly so as not to let Tay come to harm. Now Tay loves them. Anyway, THIS time it was Kiara who was very nervous. She kept telling my mom that "Mommy doesn't want me to go on that. Mommy won't let me go on that" (Speaking of her mom, my sister Kori.) Mom of course knew that Kiara was just very nervous to try something without her Mama there to keep her safe. So what did MY mom say to the younger grand-daughter??? "Your mama isn't here. I'm letting you go on it. Get on there with Tay!" *grin* Kiara went and had fun.
They also got a SUPER long ride!!! The operator of the ride let them stay on it for about a half hour!!! WOW. They had plenty of chances to look over the park and see everything from on high.








Two happy little girls! And Tay was SOOO good with Kiara. She kept her safe and they had fun.







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Thanks for all the support and advice on the last post. I will say though that I'm NOT going to tell my hubby I want him to tell me he thinks I look pretty. I'll never be sure that's how he TRULY feels, or just what he thinks I want to hear, if I tell him that's what I want to hear. He made some dumb comment (at the point we were arguing) that he just isn't comfortable saying things like that. BUT, I've heard him comment similarly over our neighbour's weight loss. I've heard him remark of girls around town how hot they look. But, he can't bring himself to tell ME -his WIFE- that I look good or pretty or hot?!?! No. He can say it, he just doesn't say it to me. And that's what hurts, that he evidently doesn't feel such things about me. Oh, he's worried about me leaving him, but not enough to show his affection for me. He also complained that he's NEVER been a publically demonstrative guy. But that's also a lie, because I remember dating him. He was VERY publically demonstrative. Now that we're married, though, it's "only in the privacy of our own home". He doesn't show me affection when his friends are around. *sigh* Which again lead me to believe that he's ashamed of me because I'm overweight or just not pretty enough or some such. *sigh*

Tell ya what, this line of thought isn't doing much lately for my self-esteem or my mood. But at the same time, I can't STOP thinking about it. It just sucks. And everytime this sort of thing happens, it leaves me in a depressed mood for a couple of weeks. And I hate being so teary and depressed. I can feel the difference between my mood now, and my mood a week ago. And it really, really stinks!

**********

Anyway.... The weather has cooled down. We've had a lot of rain over the last week; what we usually refer to as "fair weather". (Both purposefully ironic and usually occuring during the time of the Tanana Valley Fair.) This year it's happening earlier than normal. And I woke up this morning to partly sunny skies, and a definite chill in the air. The kind of chill we usually get JUST after the fair, or right at the end. That chill that says "fall is on the way". That chill that makes you break out the sweaters and light gloves for evening walks. That chill that has you hanging the winter quilts out to air so they're ready for use at night. Yep. THAT chill! And it's not even August. The geese flew south almost as soon as they'd arrived North. Fall is coming VERY early this year. Not that we haven't had SOME very nice days this summer, but they were very few and far between. It looks like this year may go down as a "year without a summer" as far as a lot of people are concerned.

(Oh, and though I missed it, evidently we had a DOOZY of a Thunder & lightning storm over the week of the 4th of July that even resulted in hail here in North Pole. SUCKY! I LOVE thunder & lightning storms. But I guess the light shows _I_ got to see that week at least didn't result in flattened plants and cold nights. *wry smile*)

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Ok. I've gotta get heading to work. Gotta get some books together for my next story-time presentation.

Have a Blessed Day!

What a CRAPPY Day!

Yesterday, I mean. It didn't start out bad. I got up at 10:15 and started to get some bread going. FIL came over and helped Scott put the new front door on our house. It looks nice, just needs to be re-insulated, cauled around, and an extra piece of wood fit under the outter edge of the threshold as that extends over the edge of the house a bit more than the last door-threshold did. (IE: now if you step on it, it causes the metal threshold to bend. So, a piece of wood bolted in place underneath will support the threshold's outter edge.) Anyway, that's one major job (almost) done. Should make for a considerably less drafty house this winter. Oh, and when Scott and FIL took the edging from around the door LAST weekend, they found that when the door was set in place by the builders, they only marginally insulated around the door. Shoved tiny bits & pieces of insulation (the pink type) into about 10% of the space that needed to be insulated, in a piece here, a piece there fashion. Also, the door was framed in so poorly that you could see (even MY untrained eye could see) how unevenly it was done, how they could have shimmed it in a bit more, how the frame was bowed OUT because they left large gaps with no shimming for support. VERY poorly done.

But anyway. It looks nice now, and the window in the door lets SO much more light into that corner! Though the FIL got satisfaction over ribbing me about how he felt the window is pointless considering I'm too short to look out it to see who's at the door. Har. Har. *rolling eyes*

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No... So that part of the day went ok. I wasn't even TERRIBLY upset over only having $40 to spend on grocery shopping for the next two weeks. I was smart and started stocking up well ahead of time, knowing that there were going to be pay-periods like this coming. Of course we still have to buy fresh stuff like milk and fruit and veggies, but I've actually put away a good bit of meat in the freezer, some frozen veggies and such in the freezer, and plenty of canned goods, including fruit and veggies. I've also got a hefty supply of bean-soup mixes, split peas, and wheat & cornmeal for breads. So, the skimpy grocery-shopping budget yesterday didn't faze me very much either. (I just don't like the thought that we're down to pocket-change, in case something major comes up. THAT'S what gets to me!)

No.... What turned the day into a crappy one yesterday was the wedding and the things that surround it. Oh. It was nice seeing DT (his initials, and normally pronounced "deet" by his friends and family, as he shares the same first name with his step-sister's hubby) finally settling down with a NICE girl. I hope and pray he and Cindy do well together and treat each other well and are determined to stick with each other even through tough times. So, I'm happy for them.

What sucked, though, was dressing up for yet another wedding and then being COMPLETELY ignored by my hubby. Mind you, I don't normally dress fancy. There's little call for it on a day-to-day basis. I normally wear jeans and t-shirts. Those jeans and t-shirts are usually in varying stages of wear and stain. That's fine. I'm a slob on a day-to-day basis. That's just how it goes. I'm always spilling food down the front of me, or kneeling in dirt, or slopping myself with dishwater. Why dress up only to ruin nice clothes?!?! So, I just don't most of the time.

But, for weddings, for mother's day dinners out, for my class reunion last summer.... Yeah, I dressed up nicely for these events. And I know that some of my older readers will remember how upset I was LAST summer after another wedding, when my hubby completely ignored me and didn't once tell me that I looked pretty. (Oh, he'll say stupid, insipid things like "you look ok" or "that looks fine" or even "that's nice". But, I don't even know that I've heard him tell me I look pretty since we got married almost 11 years ago. And I KNOW I've never heard him tell me I look beautiful.) Anyway..... I HATE being a vain creature. I know that vanity is stupid. But DANG IT! Once in a while a girl just needs to hear it. And the best is to hear it from the man who supposedly loves you best. The man who chose you to be his bride.

It's kinda funny..... I try my best to put on a good mood and face for the patrons at work. I get these older guys who compliment me frequently on my good nature and beautiful smile. Old guys who don't know me. But I just don't believe them. If I've got even a beautiful smile (forget the rest of me, even just focus on my smile) why does my husband never tell me so?!?! I was never the pretty one growing up. That was my baby sister. Strangers sometimes compliment me on my smile, but I never hear anything of the sort from my hubby. I guess even when I try to dress up and look pretty, and even for a moment think that I MIGHT look pretty..... When it comes down to it I just feel like such an ugly slob and I HATE that. I HATE that it's been so rare in my life that I've been complimented on how I look that I don't even BELIEVE folks (strangers) now when they say it, because those closest to me, who mean the most to me, never see it or say it.

And I HATE that I'm so insecure and vain that I feel like I need to hear it occasionally. I'm GLAD folks don't focus on my looks, I'm glad that I'm MORE than just how I look. But DANG IT! It really hurts to NEVER hear from one's hubby that one looks pretty. Forget "beautiful" or "ravishing" or "outstanding". I know those will never apply to me as far as my hubby is concerned, but "pretty" once in a while would be good to hear. Thing is, I also don't want him to say it if he truly doesn't mean it.

Anyway, so he was complimented over and over yesterday by everybody about how handsome he looked in a tux. (Though incredibly stiff. *grin* He was afraid of popping the seams in the elbows and winding up having to buy the tux.) I even told him to take off his sunglasses because as hot as he looked in that tux, he shouldn't be hiding his great eyes behind sunglasses. (Esp. as he wasn't hung-over and red-eyed. *wink*) Not once did he think to tell me that I looked pretty. Hell, he didn't even bother with a "you look nice" yesterday. NOTHING. And when his friends were all snuggling with their wives, he was completely ignoring me, giving me the cold shoulder, even pulling away when I'd lean against him or try to be sweet to him.

Finally after the wedding, while the wedding party was in getting their pictures, Tay decided she wanted me to run her home to change clothes because she was cold. Since it didn't evidently make ANY difference that I was dressed up nicely (and freezing!) myself, I went ahead and changed into jeans and a t-shirt as well. (Might as well be comfortable at least, since it didn't matter if I looked nice evidently.) I got back and Scott turned his parents camera on me to take a picture of me. I told him to knock it the hell off because if he didn't want to bother with pics when I WAS dressed up, then he sure as hell didn't need to go taking pics of me when I looked like a slob once again. He finally realized that he'd F***ed up. Then of course he starts running after me with stupid, insipid "I'm sorry, I'm sorry" and "what did I do?" type comments.

I told him, and he said "oh, yeah, you looked pretty! I thought you KNEW!!!!" *shaking head* Then he got all pissed at ME when I told him that if I NEVER hear from him that I look pretty (much less "beautiful" or "hot") how the HELL am I supposed to know?!?! He got pissy with ME that I was standing there doubting his truthfullness, when it winds up that he only compliments me when I come right out and point out that he hasn't in years. Then he tried telling me that he DID compliment me last summer at Tony & Casey's wedding. Or at my reunion. Or at Mother's Day this year. NONE of the times did I ever get more than a "oh, you look fine" or "that looks nice" out of him. And yet he was all pissy with me when I told him that I hear it SOOOOO infrequently that I'd remember if he DID say it, unsolicited.

Sometimes I really wonder why I bother. I really, REALLY just wish I'd stayed in bed yesterday morning. Played sick instead of trying to go to another wedding where I'm just going to be disappointed.

Then he played all offended for about an hour until we went back into the grange for the dancing and cutting-of-cake..... Only after everybody else and their sweeties were on the dancefloor, slowdancing to Aerosmith's "Don't wanna miss a thing", did he come over and ask me to dance. For the first couple of years of our marriage, at weddings or company christmas parties, I'd comment that I'd like to go dance and he'd always say "oh, I don't dance!" and sit like a lump on a log. 11 years of this. FINALLY he came over and asked me if I wanted to dance. I just told him that I've wanted to dance with him before and he never wanted to bother dancing with ME. NOW..... NOW when I'm pissy with him, he wants to do it just to appease me. I told him it's too little, too late. He cannot say "oh yeah, you looked pretty" after the fact, ONCE and expect me to believe it. And he cannot turn me down for dancing for 11 years then decide to suck it up and ask to dance with me ONCE and expect me to actually want to go out on the dancefloor with him.

And again..... It's ALL my fault, of course. He's pissed at ME for being upset. *shaking head*

It comes to days like this where I just wanna crawl back into bed and cry. I cannot figure out..... Why the HELL do I love a guy who treats me so negligably so often, in hopes that he'll occasionally say he thinks I'm pretty, or ask me to dance. WHY do I continue to hold onto hope?!?!?! Sometimes I feel like I should just call it quits and leave him. But then.... DANG IT. I DO love the dumb-ass for some freaking reason I just cannot figure out right now!

THEN he accused me of wanting to leave and just picking a fight so that I'd have a reason to leave him and move to Spokane to be nearer to my family. *shaking head*

YEAH. I'd be getting SO amped about this damned job if I was planning on leaving. YEAH! I'd be looking forward to getting that pretty new door put in to keep the house warmer if I was planning on leaving. YEAH! I'd be out there freezing my butt off watering and weeding my plants if I was planning on leaving. But nope, once again he's turning my hurt feelings around and making it out as if _I_ am looking for reasons to leave.

Anyway. I'm just so sick of weddings. The next time any of our friends get married, he can go without me. The next reunion or party, he can go without me (or I can go without him). I'm sick and tired of this. I'm REALLY burnt out on trying. I'm really discusted with myself, as well, for NEEDING to be told that he thinks I'm pretty. That he notices that I've lost some of my excess weight and it looks good "on" me. He notices with other women. He noticed and made all sorts of raving comments about the neighbour across the street, how hot she looks now that she's lost weight but he either doesn't notice or doesn't care when it's me.

*sigh*

Anyway. On top of all that, I had started a couple of loaves of Golden Egg bread yesterday, and I let the dough rise nice & slow for the first rising, and it was looking good. The second rising, though, I put it in the oven (off!) while we went off to the wedding, not figuring that it'd be 5 hours before I'd get home to it. Well, I GOT home at about 10:30 (walked home because I needed space and time to think) and found that the dough had risen AND fallen. So I swore a bit, kneeded in a little more yeast and more flour, and set it back into the cool oven to see if it'd RE-rise again. No such luck. So on top of being OUT of money, I wasted over 4 cups of flour, 2 eggs, and almost a whole stick of butter on a couple of loaves of bread that we don't get to eat after all. I tossed the dough in the trash this morning.

Yeah. Crappy, CRAPPY weekend! And today it's rainy again. And cold enough (about 40 deg.) that I REALLY don't want to get out working with my compost bin like I know I need to. I NEED to get the top layer taken off, and use the underlayer on my potatoes (which are growing faster than I can keep up with). But it IS cold enough that I just don't want to be out there doing so. *sigh*

Anyway.

Hope y'all are having a Blessed Weekend! Or at least one that's a darned sight better than mine has been.

For Peter....

OMGoodness!!!!! Thanks for sharing that story. I love hearing these (what I call) "Mean Mom" stories from folks. It helps to know how other moms have creatively handled misbehavior in their children. I even called Tay in and read your account of your brother's mouthfull of malt-vinegar to her. She shuddered and had this look of horror on her face. *grin*

FWIW, my Dad was born in 49, and my mom in 57. So, yeah.... Dad was around at the same time you were, but a couple of years younger. *grin*

Anyway, thanks for sharing the story with us. Also glad to know that other folks deem the threat of whooping a child's butt under such circumstances to be an appropriate response. *wry smile*

Have a Blessed Day!

Didn't Get the Job.....

I got the call finally yesterday saying that I DID NOT get the job. Again. However I'm not terribly heart-broken about it. The woman who DID get the job is somebody who has been working at North Pole Branch for at least 10 years now and knows the ropes. That means that her 20-hour position will now come open, and I'll simply apply for that. Scott was really hoping I'd get the job because the financial issues have started kicking our @$$es. Oh, we're both still working, but the money that's getting put into our vehical fuel tanks every week is getting harder and harder to afford. But, it's either "put gas in the car and continue to work, or don't put gas in the car, quit the job, and be completely unable to eat anyway." As for everybody else, it's a no-win situation.

So, like I said, Scott was REALLY hoping I'd get the job this time. The write-up of my interview included terms such as "learning" and "emergent story-telling style" and "has a basic knowledge". In other words, I need practice. But at the same time, it's practice I'm not going to get without getting the job. However, the two interviewers are running out of reasons to NOT hire me. I get more experience (albeit limited) every time I do the interview. They cannot honestly expect me to have a "storytelling style" before I've ever had a job that requires me to BE a story teller. The woman who's just gotten promoted started without any "storytelling expererience", as she once told me. The woman who got the job last time started without a "storytelling style" as she'd never had to do story-time before. So, that ceases to be an issue as soon as there is not somebody with more experience than I have in all the other areas.

So, my job now is to find another story-time and get it learned early. To keep my nose clean at work. To learn something about the databases in order to sound a BIT more educated as to the reference side of the job. And to keep a good attitude about the job.

Here are some more pics of the 4th of July in Riverfront Park, Spokane, Washington.

First are some pics of us all on the carousel in the park that my Mom helped save from destruction when she was a child about Tay's age.






These first couple of rounds were just of Tay and Kiara enjoying their rides. That's Tay there in front, and Kiara directly behind her.
















Tay DID NOT get the brass ring this time around (nor did any of us, at any point in our rides), but she DID get a ring. *grin* I love how sheepish she looks in this pic.



















What a blast, riding the pretty carousel horses!









































Mom got herself and I each a ticket for the carousel once. I haven't ridden on this thing since I was about 15 years old (or was it 14?). Anyway, my sister Shelli took these next pics for me. Dang do I look fat in this pic! I swear that part of it is the seatbelt and the way it pulled on me. *wry smile* I'm actually now wearing a size 18 jeans instead of the 20's I've been wearing for 5 years now. I just wish that little fact showed up in the pics.








(Just a little aside, my first day back at work after vacation I wore this pair of capris. My FAVORITE pair of capris. I got home from work and Tay's soccer game and found that the pants had split out in the back-side. That makes now FOUR pair of jeans or capris that I've split out in the back-side since I started working at the library. I NEVER used to split pants out in the back-side. The crotch occasionally, and the knees would go frequently, but never the backside. All I can suppose is that all my squatting and bending down strains that seam, causing it to rip. *sigh* I'm afraid, though, of how long I was wandering around at work and at the soccer game, split out but everybody too polite to mention it. The poor people of this town may have been traumatized by the sight of my backside peeking out of my jeans, once again. I SWEAR I'm not doing it on purpose!!!! *wry smile*)



My mom riding "her" carousel!

















"Hang Loose, Dude!" *wink*
















"One more picture of me on this thing and I'm gonna swipe that danged camera!!!"














Round and Round and round they go.....











Next come some pics of the enormous waterfountain there in the park. There were 3 different patterns that the water would come out in: from around the outter edge, those blocks had a kind of cannon-type spray that would arch down to the drain; the top has a bunch of sprays that would arch up then fall down toward the center in a dome of spray; and around the edge of the drain at the bottom there is a ring that would spray water directly up, forming a "cage" of water for the kids to run through. They also had this ringed off with gate to allow kids to go in if their parents allowed it, but keep younger ones out as well, if their parents weren't ok with them getting wet.

Tay was really rather ambivilent about getting into the fountain, seeing as she had to wear a swim-suit and she was afraid everybody would make fun of her for doing so. Never mind that everybody else was also wearing swim-suits. Nope. Supposedly if SHE did, she'd get made fun of.

You can tell that in this last picture, she's lost the inhibitions she started with. I LOVE the suprised and thrilled expression on her face. She just looks so happy in this pic. Like she's ACTUALLY having fun, finally. That's not the kind of expression one sees on her face very often any more.







**********

Ok. I need to go ahead and get offline. It's time to get ready for work, once again.

Have a Blessed Day!

Pictures to Share.....

• These first couple of pictures were taken in front of Cabela's in Post Falls, Idaho. Tay was considerably less than happy with being asked to pose with me. *grin* This was early on the fourth of July.
  
  
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• Next come a couple of pics from INSIDE Cabela's. These pics are of the ENORMOUS fish-tank. The first pic shows some of the full-size trout and such (maybe bass?) that are swimming about inside the fish-tank. It's like this gigantic 5 (or more?) sided thing that's designed inside the tank to look like a real lake or river eco-system.
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  This next pic is of course of Tay in front of a panel of the fish tank. She was finally feeling better about having her picture taken. I think she would have really prefered if I'd gotten a pic of her doing some "target practice" with the laser-guns in the "shooting range". She spent about $5 to play at that thing for a good little while. If you hit one of the laser-sensors, a corresponding bit of the make-believe scene would move. Fire at the correct laser-sensor, and a rattle-snake would move along in the "sand". Another sensor prompted a "rabbit" to jump out of a bit of brush. Yet another would cause the "fire" to flare-up under the cook-pot. A target at the back would cause a bear to stand up, grumbling, out of another patch of "brush". The favorite laser-target, once discovered, was the water-spout. You shoot at it, and whomever is standing closest gets an unexpected squirt of water right at face level. *wry smile*
• 
• These next pictures are from RiverFront Park there in Spokane on the 4th of July as well. The first, here is of Tay and Kiara (my niece) standing on the building-block sign in the park. I don't know WHO that guy just to their left is. *grin* He just happened to sit down as Tay and Kiara arranged themselves for my picture. *smile* Oh well. I'm making him unexpectedly famous here. *wink*
• (Tori, the "building block sign" is actually made to look like a child's letter blocks, spelling out "City (of) Spokane". The "Of" is actually invisible in this picture. But it's in 2 tiers, the building-block-sign. So the kids are standing above & behind most of the sign, on the back edge.)
• This is the enormous Red Flyer wagon slide. I remember having MY Mom and Dad take pics of me at top, and sliding down, when I was about Tay's age. (Tori, it's HUGE. Tay looks like a short Barbie Doll standing in a big old red wagon, the slide itself is the handle of the wagon.)
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• I've got a lot more pictures to share. They'll have to come in a different post, probably a different day. This one day was soooo full that I got all of my 100+ pictures that day. Unfortunately I kept forgetting my camera the rest of the time we were down there.
• You can find OTHER pictures at my Mom's blog, and that of my middle sis, though.
• **********
  
  I have had a good couple of chuckles at my hubby's expense today. We went to the 40th birthday party of a neighbour & friend last night. This is Tay's best friend's Dad. Well, I stopped after 2 drinks, knowing that I was already past my normal limit with 2 instead of 1. But, as the birthday-boy's house is 2 over and 1 back, I felt ok drinking 2 beverages and having faith in my ability to find my way home. *grin* However, Scott had 6 beers by the time I left at 11:15 (we got there at 7:30). 6 beers in that amount of time is a good bit more than he's used to, but when I left he was still coherant. Evidently he kept drinking just as quickly AFTER I left, and wound up later in the night doing Jello-shots with a buddy of his (cousin of the Birthday Boy's wife) and finally evidently stumbled home (under his own steam, amazingly) at about 4 this morning. *sigh* That's the point that Tay also came home. Anyway, so when I got up at 10:30 this morning (having not gone to bed till after 2 am myself), Scott was still asleep, as was Tay. Scott attempted to get up when I came back in from watering the plants. He quickly wound up kneeling before the toilet before climbing back into bed. *wry smile* He was still drunk. He didn't start feeling better until well after 5 this afternoon. He's still not feeling normal. *wink* Glad I'm too smart to do such stupid stuff as that!!!
• The stupid little girls that belong to the Birthday Boy, and his Step-Father-in-law's adopted daughter, actually were drinking (or doing jello shots, in the case of Tay's best friend) last night as well. *shaking head* I interrogated Tay and she said that it's STUPID that Megan (best friend) was doing that and Tay's SMART enough to know better. I told her that I'm GLAD she's smart enough to know better (and we've talked about alcohol before and she knows her Dad and I don't want her drinking before she's past her formative years). I also told her that should I ever find out that she acts with the same stupidity as Megan and Alex, I WILL whoop her ass till it's black and blue and she can't sit for a month. I told her how Birthday Boy's career (at the fire department) could have been ruined, and he would be jailed, if any cops had stopped by to check on the party. To find that these little girls (the cousin being 15, the two daughters of Birthday boy being 14 and 11) were drinking would have been a devestating blow to Birthday Boy's life, and their own. Unfortunately Birthday Boy was evidently feeling so rough last night that even after he found out his daughters were consuming alcohol (knowingly! They were proud of it!), he didn't bother to do anything. The girls aren't grounded at this point, much less unable to sit down. *shaking head* I hope to the gods Tay understands how incredibly serious I am about kicking her ass should she drink before she's old enough. I can and will do that, and she won't be leaving the house again for quite a while besides, if I find out she does something so monumentally stupid.
• Anyway. As I said, I've had quite a few chuckles at Scott's expense today. But I've managed to refrain from telling him "Told Ya So!" today, as I've wanted to so many times. (I had a feeling that he was going to overdo it last night, and said as much, which he adamantly denied. He does this about ever year and a half, over-imbibes. Thankfully it doesn't happen more frequently than that. I'd have serious problems with him if it did.)
• Ok. I've gotta get some more stuff done around the house now.
• Have a Blessed Day!

I'm BAAAACK!

Well.... This is a pic of what the back of my neck now looks like. I had this done on Thursday, just after arriving in Spokane. *grin* I LOVE it! (Of course, Mom, Shelli and Kori have already seen it. This pic is for the benefit of those who didn't see me while I was down in the states.)

Anyway.... It hurt like hell! I certainly won't be racing down for another tat right away. Not that I'm ruling out EVER getting another tat, but not right away. Esp. not if I've got to fly to Spokane every time I want one. *grin*

The hubby is somewhat less than pleased, but he acknowledges that he's known I wanted one and that being as it's MY body.... Not much he can do or say about it, really. Thankfully he loves me for more than my skin. *wink*

• **********
  
• I don't have much time to write. I need to get off-line and get reading and rehearsing the books I picked out for my story-time presentation tomorrow.
• I'm doing a "Gardening" theme. My book choices are:
• _The Rose in My Garden_ by Arnold Lobel, illustrated by Anita Lobel
• _Titch_ by Pat Hutchins
• _The Snail's Spell_ by Joanne Ryder, illustrated by Lynne Cherry
• I've got another book I'm going to suggest as additional reading of the poetry sort, titled _In a Spring Garden_ edited by Richard Lewis with pictures by Ezra Jack Keats
• And for finger-plays, I've got two that I'm leaning toward. (I need two, so this works well.)
• The first is "My Garden" and the words are:
• This is my garden (extend one hand, palm up)
• I rake it with a card (make raking motion on palm with three fingers of other hand)
• Then some flower seeds
• I'll plant there (make planting motion with thumb and index finger)
• The sun will shine, (make circle with arms overhead)
• and the rain will fall, (flutter fingers down to lap)
• and my garden will blossom, (cup hands together)
• and grow straight and tall. (extend hands upward slowly)
• The other is more of an action poem titled "Flower Play"
• If I were a little flower (stoop down close to floor)
• Sleeping underneath the ground, (pretend to cover head)
• I'd raise my head and grow and grow, (slowly raise up from floor)
• And stretch my arms and grow and grow, (raise arms to the sky)
• And not my head and say: (nod head and smile at one another)
• "I'm glad to see you all today!"
• Anyway..... I haven't picked out the order I'm going to read the books and do the finger plays, yet. That's something I've got to do and practice well before tomorrow morning. All while working 6 hours today and watching a soccer game tonight. *grin*
• So, I'll post more hopefully on Saturday when I get some spare time. I took TONS of fireworks pictures, but forgot to take my camera with me on Saturday, Sunday or Monday. *sigh* So I guess y'all will just have to be satisfied with what pictures I DID take. *wry smile* Sooooo...... More to come later!
• Have a Blessed Day!

See Ya in a Week!

First off, Peter, I DO wish things were a bit more quiet around here than they tend to be. *grin* I don't exactly thrive on thrills like that accident happening. Unfortunately life never seems to go quite exactly like I'd love it to: quietly and without major issue.

*****

Speaking of drama, my SIL (Dawn) is once again purposing to sabotage her relationship with her current boyfriend, the father of her daughter. I know I said it was just a matter of time before she started going all sociopathic on us, again. Well, this past week it happened. No drug use (that we're aware of) as yet. But, she was taking her older son, Aaron, back to Paxson to his Dad's place. She also had the younger boy, Grant, (also fathered by Aaron's dad) and her baby girl, Brooklynn along for the ride. She told the MIL (Georgia) that she was just going to be staying overnight, to avoid putting too much stress on Grant and the baby with too much driving. Ok. We can all kind of understand that.

Then she got down there and decided to spend a couple of days with Aaron and Tony (the boy's dad) before heading back. Ok. Not the best of situations considering she and Tony aren't on best terms any longer. They tend to go at logger heads after each other, though they've been more amiable since she got prego with Brooklynn.

Saturday, the day she's supposed to head back with Grant and Brooklynn, comes and Dawn called Georgia (but NOBODY else, including her current boyfriend, Dan, who's also Brooklynn's Father) to tell Georgia that she and Tony and the kids would be heading to Valdez for a day or two of fishing and she and Brooklynn and Grant would be back whenever they got back. *sigh*

Georgia didn't see ANY problem with this, though Scott and Al (FIL) and I pointed out to her that it's awfully suspect for Dawn to be spending so much time alone with her ex when she's got a new child who's fathered by another guy that she's also engaged to.

Well, Dawn got back into town on Monday night and Dan (who now works with MY hubby, and told this to my hubby) asked her where she'd been for almost a week with his daughter and no word of her plans. She told him it was none of his business. He told her that yeah, it is when his daughter is concerned. Anyway, later when the baby was sleeping (according to Dan) he was indulging in a little new-daddy adoration of Brooklynn and cuddling her. Dawn went to forcefully take Brooklynn away, and when Dan caught her hand and told her to let them be so he could cuddle with Brooklynn for a bit, Dawn told him to get out of HER house (the apartment DAN pays rent on!) and that she was going to file a restraining order against him. Well, now she's telling Dan that she's filing for FULL custody and that she doesn't want to see him again because he "scares her" and she's milking it for all it's worth. Evidently she's wearing wrist braces on BOTH hands, and accusing Dan of wrenching her hands. Georgia went over to the apartment last night and laid into Dan for being such an "abusive loser" and screaming at him that he better leave her daughter and grand-daughter alone. NEVER MIND that this same granddaughter is Dan's child as well as Dawn's. *sigh*

So, it looks like (not sure yet) Dan may be moving in here while Tay and I are in Spokane. Though he's also called the police station to find out what he should do to avoid losing contact with his daughter while Dawn tries to force a custody battle. (Well, actually, Dawn doesn't want the custody battle, she just wants custody with-out strings attached for her.) The folks at the police station have evidently advised Dan to carefully try to reconcile with Dawn, before taking any further steps. *shaking head*

I KNEW it was going to happen! She's too much of a psyco-b***h to not ruin folks lives once she gets what she wants. She did this with Tony. She nearly ruined my Father-in-law's life when he dared to call her on her drug abuse one time. (Actually FILED a restraining order against him on charges of abusing her and Aaron, though he's never raised a hand to Dawn and only swats Aaron -and now Grant- when truly out of line and only in the traditional manner of swatting a well-diapered toddler-butt. For over 6 months he was barred from HIS OWN HOUSE when either Dawn or Aaron was over. All because he confronted her on her drug use WHILE living in his home! She only dropped the charges when it became obvious that the cops have been watching her for suspect activity and were going to turn her court appearance against Al against her and use it to get her on charges of drug use. She actually called off the abuse charges THE DAY of initial court hearing in which my FIL would have been officially charged with abuse. *shaking head*)

As I said, psycho-b***h strikes again! Now that she's got her little girl, she's not got any more need for Dan (except child support, even though she'll also make visitation of his little girl incredibly hard to manage, just like she has with Tony and the boys in the recent past), so she's claiming he's abusing her and her daughter.

This time, Al and Scott are ready (hell, I am too!) on Dan's behalf to see that he doesn't end up losing custody of his daughter to that demon-spawn. The Gods know that Dawn and Georgia are totally unfit role-models for a young girl, seeing as how they've got no problem ruining a man's life to get their own purposes. I guess I should really be GRATEFUL that Georgia doesn't take (or want to take, now that she's got "her granddaughter") a more active part in Tay's life.

Sheesh..... Makes me glad I'm getting away from it all for a week.

*****

Oh, one more thing before I go.... I have an interview out here at NPB Lib. NEXT Friday, right after I get back. It's for that 30-hour Lib. Assistant position. The woman who currently fills the spot has gone ahead and given her notice of retirement. The application opening closed this past Thursday and I got my app. in. So I'll be interviewing for it. *fingers crossed* We'll see. As soon as I get back, I'll have to get over to the library and hunt down some books for a story-time presentation (just like last time!) and get some examples of Word and Publisher printed out for show-and-tell.

*****

Anyway.... So, I guess this will be the only post I make in the coming 7 days. I'm due back into town NEXT Wednesday. Y'all behave yourselves, don't do anything _I_ wouldn't do, and when I get back I'm sure I'll have some tales to tell and pictures to share.

Have a Blessed Week!!!