I just got home from an amazing 8 days in warm, sunny CA. I got to see lots of old friends, some new friends, and a surprise friend.

There is one thing for certain in this world for me. I have been blessed with friends!!

New Friend – Cyndie…Vivacious, energetic, positive!  She bought Winston who is fitting in beautifully with their family and other 2 dogs!

Forever Friend – My Mom!…Patient, Loving, Thoughtful!  My strong pillar in this world.

Surprise Friend – Lorene…Church member from Exeter, who now lives near my mom!  Such fun to catch up on all the mutual people we both knew!  Didn’t know I was going to see her!

New Friend – Carolyn…Bought Molly.  Gentle, Classy, Soft Spoken.  I haven’t heard anything, so I hope Molly is fitting in well with their family!

Old Friend – Michelle…Inspiring, , Passionate, Well read.  Miss Michelle and their entire family a lot!

Old Friend – Jeannine…Spontaneous, Adventuresome, FUN!  So good to see her after 16 years, hear her familiar laugh, and meet her children!  Shared so many good times so many years ago!  Have so many great memories!

Old Friend – Jill…My best bud from High School days!  Played flute and piccolo together.  Both of us are “curly girls”, but she’s cheating now and wearing a straight style!  Can’t wait to go snow skiing with her someday!

Old Friend – Todd…The groom at the wedding I attended.  Encouraging, funny, refreshing!  What an honor to attend his wedding and meet his new bride!

Old Friend – Kathy…Another one of my besties, but from College days!  Loyal, Listener, Trustworthy, Comrade!  So much in common with this girl!  Miss her dearly!

Old Friend – Helena…Kindred Spirit, Heartfelt, Beautiful!  Oh my, I taught this girl gymnastics and she was one of my very best students.  I hadn’t seen her since she was 12 years old and in the 6th grade!  What an amazing time reminiscing about gymnastics, school, and sharing an evening together!  From little girl to beautiful woman.  Just an amazing experience to see her after all these years!

New Friend – Eva…Fellow Dog breeder, Gentle Spirit, Christian Role Model.  So happy to see all of Eva’s dogs, share a meal in her home, and talk about our businesses together!  Can’t wait to Accelerate one of her puppies someday!

My mom again.  So sad to say goodbye and have to head home.  What a joy to share all of these experiences with all of these people!  So refreshing to have a change of pace!  It went by too fast!

I have stuff and I need to get rid of it. It is everywhere and in the way. Our home is small and we need to have only what we need, love, and use regularly.

I came across a stack of old nature posters. I haven’t looked at these posters for over 20 years, yet I can’t just toss them into the trash. Why is that?

They were special at one time. They covered the walls of my childhood bedroom. I remember when I packed them away, I thought I would give them to my children. I thought they would be precious to them like they were precious to me.

Our kids don’t really care about OUR stuff. They have their OWN stuff. I did give the horse poster to my daughter some time ago. It’s not on her wall now. It must have torn and been thrown away. I guess there is some satisfaction in knowing that one of my children enjoyed one of my precious posters.

I’m going to toss them in the trash tonight. But first, I am going to look at them, enjoy the memories, and smile.

The Mighty Wolf

The Grand Tiger

The Cute Koala Bear

An Ugly Monkey. Not sure why I kept this one!!

There is one of penguins diving into the icy ocean and a sweet sea otter. There is a fox pup and his mother peering out of a hollow tree den and an African cheetah with two cubs. Somehow, these were significant to the child Kristy, and I have moved these items with me all these years. It’s really quite amazing if you really think about it.

But it’s time to part ways. I feel a little better that I snapped some photos. And don’t worry, there are many, many things that get tossed without a thought. I’m just trying to go through everything and slim down. I want peace and order to surround me, so a lot of things are going to have to go.

1. Wake up at 4am and realize I still have 1 ½ glorious hours to sleep.

2. Go back to sleep.

3. Alarm wakes me at 5:30 from a terrible nightmare…I was on Project Runway and the assignment was to make a pencil skirt out of two ugly 70’s cocktail dresses. Was never so glad to be woken by my alarm!

4. Skip doing the mamas and babies to take an overdue shower!

5. Wake kids up at 6am to get ready for school.

6. Make breakfast and lunches.

7. Get dressed.

8. Braid Kaelyn’s hair.

9. Drive kids to school, meeting Mr. K to check out timing for having him take the kids the rest of the way to school.

10. Follow Mr. K to see where he works and where he’ll drop kids off.

11. Watch kids walk the last ½ mile to school.

12. Drive to school, passing kids as they are walking. Sad looks coming my way!

13. Greet kids at school and tell them this is the first and last time they’ll have to walk because Mrs. LB offered to pick them up for the last leg to school.

14. Sing with kids during morning worship at school.

15. Drive 45 minutes back home.

16. Discover uneaten PB & Honey sandwich from yesterday’s lunch and eat it for breakfast. It was kinda dry, but good.

17. Move 11 puppies out to the lawn so they could play and I could clean their pens.

18. Deep clean 4 puppy/mama nursing pens.

19. In between cleaning the pens, get 2 loads of laundry through wash.

20. Also in between cleaning pens, answer 3 emails about puppies, and inquire about purchasing UGODOG in bulk.

21 Also in between cleaning pens, unload Costco toilet paper into top shelf of cold storage.

22. Take all 11 puppies back to nursery before leaving to pick up kids from school.

23. Grab water bottle, then drive 45 minutes back to school to pick up kids..

24. Talk with Mrs. LB about carpooling on Fridays.

25. Get kids into car and head to the bank.

26. Deposit dog checks from puppies that were sold almost 2 weeks ago.

27. Snack on string cheese and discover that the yogurt purchased from Costco had never been unloaded out of car yet.

28. Drive home past Mrs. LB’s house to see how many miles and how long it takes from her house to mine, in preparation for tomorrow’s carpooling.

29. Arrive home and give children instructions about backpacks, changing clothes, and getting ready to do chores.

30. Move one more load of laundry through wash (nothing has been folded yet).

31. Bury Calvin in fruit orchard.

32. Hook trailer to Explorer for dump run tomorrow.

33. Load dog poop trash, and other trash into trailer to take to dump.

34. Cover trailer with tarp and fish net thingy because it looks like rain.

35. Haul with red wagon, and Kaelyn’s help, 10 bags of dog food from Costco to upper kennel.

36. Feed and water dogs in upper kennel.

37. Oversee Kendrick cleaning trash out of Explorer.

38. Head into garden to see if any tomatoes are red and to dig some potatoes for supper.

39. Pull a head of garlic out of the ground to dry for later use.

40. Admire crop of bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, and misc. peppers (best one ever) and wish I had time to take impressive photos to put on my blog like The Pioneer Woman.

41. Pick bell peppers and have Kendrick take 2 over to the neighbors house.

42. Balance armload of veggies from garden AND open front door of house without spilling any (well, ok, one garlic fell).

43. Wash potatoes for supper.

44. Wash bell peppers for supper.

45. Discover kids ate a yogurt, so aren’t hungry for supper.

46. Abandon supper idea and come into office to write my list.

Yes, that was my day (4am-7pm).

Our Beloved Little Calvin

I have thought about doing this for a long time.  But I just couldn’t bring myself to the place of buying the blue bags with the white lettering.  I just couldn’t.  I’ve seen other bags, but they’ve either been too gaudy, or too plain, or too light, or just simply too stinkin’ ugly.    So I kept putting it off. 

Maybe next time…

Maybe some day…

But when I saw these, I knew I had found something I could live with. 

Aren’t they purdy?? 

They’re even made from recycled plastic bottles.  How’s that for thinkin’ about the environment?  Honestly, I’m not a green freak.  I’m careful about some things, but I guess I don’t go out of my way.  The real reason I wanted re-usable grocery bags is because I’m sick of throwing away the plastic ones.  Those things just accumulate like the one sock that didn’t get lost.  There are always too many of them, but you feel kinda bad to throw them away. 

I’m excited to use them for the first time.   Silly, I know, but the very first time they will get used is when I take my kids’ school supplies to the school on Wednesday evening for Parent Orientation Night.  This is a BIG DEAL, as my children are going to actual school, for the first time in their lives.  Yep, the applications have all been filled out, the school uniforms are being ordered, and my children are going to school next Monday.

Here are all their supplies neatly packed in the re-usable grocery bags.  I wonder if I’ll be sad or glad?  I never had to send a Kindergarten age child to school.  Maybe it’s a little different when they’re 14 & 11 years old.  I hope so!  It’d look pretty bad if I had tears rolling down my face!

The truth is, it was tons of fun to buy school supplies.  I chose  green notebooks and folders for my younger son.  He wasn’t with us in town that day, but I thought I better get things before they were all picked through.  Since green is his signature color, and it also had a bit of an “army’ look to it, I thought it was a good fit.  It has a great message too.  Kinda goes along with the theme of this post, the recycling and all.

The Horse Girl wanted something “cool”, so she chose the bright and colorful Peace notebook.   There were even matching tabs for inside the notebook.  I think I was having more fun than she was.  I think she’s a little worried about what “real” school will be like.

I think they’re going to like school.  And I think I’m going to like having them in school.  Now, what will I do with all that time during my day??  Certainly I’ll have to spend some of it filling my new shopping bags while I’m in town.  I wonder how many Bully Sticks will fit in each bag?!