Monday, August 18, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Last week....A Visit with Friends
So, ummm, okay. I wanted to put these pictures on and talk about this last week, like when it was relevant but, I temporarily lost the memory card that contained the pictures and I was at a loss. I have the pictures now though and I feel I can finally get this on the blog.
Last weekend, our long time friends came by for a visit. We met Chris and Brent while in Alaska, I should say, that I, Michal met them first and I nearly scared them off with a very typical, late night, chatty, upswing, nearly psycho, trademark mood of mine. They stuck fast anyway. Now we are in Ohio and they are in St. Lewis-ish and we remain friends. Please let me say here that Chris and Brent are the reason that we thrived in AK, they taught us everything that we needed to know about living there. Though I never did make it to the clamming lessons.
So on their way from St Louis to Massachusetts for a vacation, they stopped by here for a visit. It was great to see them. We only had one evening so we tried to make the best of it. We played the Wii, talked and joked and chowed down on some great salmon/artichoke dip. (The salmon was canned Alaskan salmon of course, that Chris canned). Les was on duty so he wasn't a part of the revelry but he did get some left over dip. Also Faith and Dustin (the offspring) have grown entirely too much. Evelyn and Faith acted as if they had just seen each other last week, and Evelyn was lounging about on Chris for a big part of the evening (I think it has to do with the mini-marshmallows that Chris fed her by hand one right after the other, when Evelyn was first home from China but, I could be wrong)
Can't wait to see you guys on Friday. Oh yeah, Chris... I went out and bought some coffee for you guys but, just like 5 minutes ago? Les knocked the pot off of the counter and shattered it! HA! Is that some typical Dillon b.s. or what?!?! Hopefully I'll remember to buy another pot before Friday, if not, it looks like more Speedway coffee for you.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Scenes From the Trail
I took Evelyn to, what we call "the big park" for a bike ride today. I had to stop her every once in awhile, ostensibly to take pictures, but I usually just needed a breather. That girl rode another mile and a half and I had to jog most of that just to keep up with her! Her Papa calls her a Hot Rod Harriet.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Restaurant ....or Mama Takes A Stand
The Bean has a favorite game. It's "restaurant".
Really.
It's the single most boring game on the planet to ANYONE but her. It goes like this, she will approach you with a scrap of paper and pencil or something and proceed to hound you until you make a food order. Then whatever it was that you ordered, she will be out of. In actuality, her rest. only has two items and she will never disclose before hand what those two items are, and they are never the same. SO you end up ordering and ordering, only to be systematically shot down by a tiny tyrant. Then she will hustle off and bring your food back and stand there to watch that you eat it all. THEN, SHE TAKES YOUR ORDER AGAIN!!!! This time though, the things that she has are different so you have to start all over again.
There can be variations on this theme. Sometimes it is "Ice Cream Shop" and sometimes it is "Sushi Shop" but don't kid yourself you are playing "Restaurant".
Another variation is that she doesn't really need paper and pencil. The final variation? Well, sometimes she brings you dishes of water with dubious origins (for one week I drank the water she gave me, then I put two and two together and realized that I had been drinking water from the cat bowl!) and you have to find inventive ways to get rid of it without actually drinking it and without her seeing you.
That's it.
That's the whole game.
Really.
It can last up to 40 minutes if you let it.
Also? This has been a favorite game for about a year. Yes, a whole calendar year, maybe more.
So when she tried to play Restaurant through her new walkie-talkies the other day, I snapped.
I am on strike. No more restaurant. (I think I can hear Jodi cheering from here, as she has had an over-exposure to this as well).
NO MORE RESTAURANT!!!!
Free at last, Free at last! Thank God almi....awwww .... you know the rest...
Now, there are some out there (Mom), who will think I am being mean. These would be people with more patience than Job, also people who have not been subjected to this game on a regularly occurring basis.
So she will have to find some other game to play. Cool. I'm good with that, as long as it isn't another well played game around here.... DUM DUM DUMMMM....
Insurance Agent.
Really.
It's the single most boring game on the planet to ANYONE but her. It goes like this, she will approach you with a scrap of paper and pencil or something and proceed to hound you until you make a food order. Then whatever it was that you ordered, she will be out of. In actuality, her rest. only has two items and she will never disclose before hand what those two items are, and they are never the same. SO you end up ordering and ordering, only to be systematically shot down by a tiny tyrant. Then she will hustle off and bring your food back and stand there to watch that you eat it all. THEN, SHE TAKES YOUR ORDER AGAIN!!!! This time though, the things that she has are different so you have to start all over again.
There can be variations on this theme. Sometimes it is "Ice Cream Shop" and sometimes it is "Sushi Shop" but don't kid yourself you are playing "Restaurant".
Another variation is that she doesn't really need paper and pencil. The final variation? Well, sometimes she brings you dishes of water with dubious origins (for one week I drank the water she gave me, then I put two and two together and realized that I had been drinking water from the cat bowl!) and you have to find inventive ways to get rid of it without actually drinking it and without her seeing you.
That's it.
That's the whole game.
Really.
It can last up to 40 minutes if you let it.
Also? This has been a favorite game for about a year. Yes, a whole calendar year, maybe more.
So when she tried to play Restaurant through her new walkie-talkies the other day, I snapped.
I am on strike. No more restaurant. (I think I can hear Jodi cheering from here, as she has had an over-exposure to this as well).
NO MORE RESTAURANT!!!!
Free at last, Free at last! Thank God almi....awwww .... you know the rest...
Now, there are some out there (Mom), who will think I am being mean. These would be people with more patience than Job, also people who have not been subjected to this game on a regularly occurring basis.
So she will have to find some other game to play. Cool. I'm good with that, as long as it isn't another well played game around here.... DUM DUM DUMMMM....
Insurance Agent.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Night Time is the Right Time
After many months of ignoring the huge stack of cute animals in her room, Evelyn has taken to wanting as many as she can fit, into her bed, or around her bed. I think it's just so cute.
From left to right, you see Tilde, Peppermint (why she named a huge orange and yellow cat peppermint is beyond me), Lambchoppah, Jack (named after Grandpa),Papa Juan and then Pony. Let me say that she has named all of them but Tilde, I had that pig for her long before she came home from China. These are the guys that MUST be in place on her headboard at night. There is usually a few more in the bed with her, a tiny bat, Baby and Drew (another pig) are the usual bedfellows, but there can be minor changes in the line-up.I keep thinking that I could switch her out of the toddler bed, but quite frankly she still moves around too much and I often find her sleeping with her torso on the bed and her legs on the floor, sort of in a "I fell asleep while praying" pose.
It is my habit to check on her at night still, sometimes a few times a night. I think I do this, not because I am concerned with safety, but because seeing her asleep and still with that peaceful expression, never fails to lift my spirits and melt my heart. Even if I feel like I spent the day being the worst Mom on the planet, I can look at her sleeping face and know that it's alright, we're doing okay. I lived for so long wanting a child and needing to have one sleeping safely with me standing watch, that I sometimes can't believe, even after this long, that she is mine and won't disappear into the night. Besides, she is just about the cutest thing on the planet, all warm and sleepy with her head full of dreams.
From left to right, you see Tilde, Peppermint (why she named a huge orange and yellow cat peppermint is beyond me), Lambchoppah, Jack (named after Grandpa),Papa Juan and then Pony. Let me say that she has named all of them but Tilde, I had that pig for her long before she came home from China. These are the guys that MUST be in place on her headboard at night. There is usually a few more in the bed with her, a tiny bat, Baby and Drew (another pig) are the usual bedfellows, but there can be minor changes in the line-up.I keep thinking that I could switch her out of the toddler bed, but quite frankly she still moves around too much and I often find her sleeping with her torso on the bed and her legs on the floor, sort of in a "I fell asleep while praying" pose.
It is my habit to check on her at night still, sometimes a few times a night. I think I do this, not because I am concerned with safety, but because seeing her asleep and still with that peaceful expression, never fails to lift my spirits and melt my heart. Even if I feel like I spent the day being the worst Mom on the planet, I can look at her sleeping face and know that it's alright, we're doing okay. I lived for so long wanting a child and needing to have one sleeping safely with me standing watch, that I sometimes can't believe, even after this long, that she is mine and won't disappear into the night. Besides, she is just about the cutest thing on the planet, all warm and sleepy with her head full of dreams.
Monday, August 11, 2008
New Wheels
While I was out the other day with Jodi, Les and Evelyn spent the day together. The word on the street is that they had a great time too. I know Evelyn had a great day because she ended up with a new bike!!!
She is so little that Les and I never considered that there would be a 2 wheeler out there that she could actually fit on and ride. So, she has been triking it around, longing for a big girl bike. While out the other day, the two of them stumbled across one and Bean jumped on for a test ride. Les says that she just took off on it (it has training wheels) and tooled about the store, never hitting anything and laughing. Even though her desire to own that bike was more than evident, she never asked for it. SO.... Les bought it for her.
She has thanked us a million times. She thinks of her bike all day. She wants to ride all of the time. The first ride that we took her on, on the bike trail at the park she rode about a mile and a half!!!!! WITHOUT STOPPING!!!
I remeber my best bike. It was a banana seated rainbow bike with tassels. That bike was magic. I wanted it so bad. I really wanted that bike. One day when I was riding home from school on the bus, we neared my stop and all of the kids were exclaiming about a cool bike, I had no idea what they were talking about. Then I got up to walk to the front and get off the bus, I looked towards home and then I figured out what the fuss was about. My parents had gone out and bought that bike for me while I was at school and Dad had it parked at the edge of the yard, tilted just so the sun would glint off of it. I tell you those few moments when I was stuck on the bus and everyone wanted my bike, and the knwledge that it was MY bike was sinking into my head, those were some of the best moments that I have ever had. Just knowing in that little minute that my parents knew me and loved me enough to get that bike for me and set it up as a surprise. I am not sure if it was the bike that was so magical or if the magic came from the care that my parents took to make it special, but I know that while I had that bike, I was cool. Hopefully Evelyn feels the same way that I did all of those years ago.
These are not the best pictures, it was getting dark and she was moving pretty quick and we were scrambling to keep up with her.
She is so little that Les and I never considered that there would be a 2 wheeler out there that she could actually fit on and ride. So, she has been triking it around, longing for a big girl bike. While out the other day, the two of them stumbled across one and Bean jumped on for a test ride. Les says that she just took off on it (it has training wheels) and tooled about the store, never hitting anything and laughing. Even though her desire to own that bike was more than evident, she never asked for it. SO.... Les bought it for her.
She has thanked us a million times. She thinks of her bike all day. She wants to ride all of the time. The first ride that we took her on, on the bike trail at the park she rode about a mile and a half!!!!! WITHOUT STOPPING!!!
I remeber my best bike. It was a banana seated rainbow bike with tassels. That bike was magic. I wanted it so bad. I really wanted that bike. One day when I was riding home from school on the bus, we neared my stop and all of the kids were exclaiming about a cool bike, I had no idea what they were talking about. Then I got up to walk to the front and get off the bus, I looked towards home and then I figured out what the fuss was about. My parents had gone out and bought that bike for me while I was at school and Dad had it parked at the edge of the yard, tilted just so the sun would glint off of it. I tell you those few moments when I was stuck on the bus and everyone wanted my bike, and the knwledge that it was MY bike was sinking into my head, those were some of the best moments that I have ever had. Just knowing in that little minute that my parents knew me and loved me enough to get that bike for me and set it up as a surprise. I am not sure if it was the bike that was so magical or if the magic came from the care that my parents took to make it special, but I know that while I had that bike, I was cool. Hopefully Evelyn feels the same way that I did all of those years ago.
These are not the best pictures, it was getting dark and she was moving pretty quick and we were scrambling to keep up with her.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Goodbye
Friday Evening....
Tonight, as the regular activities of our evening went about, Stella walked through the house and headed down to the basement. I suppose that she was headed to her favorite cool corner to catch a nap on her scratching pad.
She never made it.
After nearly 14 years, Stella has surrendered.
I found her awhile later.
It was rough. Those of you that have seen her in these past couple of years know, she was no longer a pretty cat. She was old and she has been tired for a long time. But she was a good cat right up to the end. A strange little animal, she would follow us around and stay near, but never really a lap cat, she was affectionate in her own way. She loved us though, that was plain because she held on as long as she could just to be with us I think. She was always good for a story about 'Nam or what she called "the Good War", she could cuss like a sailor and she had moxie. Here near the end, we usually had to go looking for her as her health made it necessary for her to sleep alot and stay near a litterbox, but she was always happy to see you and she would squint up at you and purr and lick at your hand.
We have been thinking about putting her down for a few weeks now, we hated seeing her slow and tired. It seemed though that everytime we made that decision, or leaned that way, she would rally and we would find her dashing out the door to go chew grass, or she would hop into my lap for a rare snuggle. Hell, just last night she was chasing a laser light aroung the living room (well, okay, not exactly a chase but it was a faster walk than her normal shuffle). And two days ago she got outside and we had to initiate a Stella Hunt, up and down the street for her, we eventually found her, napping under a big pine tree next door.
So now she's gone. And I am surprised at my grief. I knew she was sick and I knew she was old, I just thought I would have more time to say good-bye.
I am going to sleep tonight with the knowledge that, for once, in many, many months, I won't see Stella's face in the morning. I will have to wake up my little girl and explain why she can't find Stella to say goodmorning to her. I will have to walk my child through the pain that I know she will feel, before I feel ready to do such a thing. I will have to watch that heartache age my girl. I will live my first day without that stinky, sick, strange and wonderful cat.
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