Conversation with a stranger

I had to share this.......

This afternoon I was in Kazoo at Goodwill. I was in the children's section looking at children's books when this adorable little boy walked up to me. I'm guessing he was 4 or 5 years old. First thing he says is "Do you like my hair?". He had it all spiked up with gel and it was really cute. "Why, yes I do! It looks fantastic on you".

Then he proceeded "I've had a bloody nose all day today". My attention turned to his face and nose. I didn't see so much as a drop of blood. I told him "Maybe it's because it's so dry this time of year".

"No" he quickly answered. "It's because I pick my nose". At this point I am roaring with laughter. His Mom is laughing too but she doesn't say a word. She just lets him continue to talk.

I then tell the little boy "I'm so glad you told me that because you just made my day".

He finishes his story with "I didn't really want to tell you but I told you so you could warn your children not to pick their noses".

I love kids...... And I really miss having little ones around. I hope I have lots of grand-babies....... someday.

Friday Finds

Welcome to the first edition of "Friday Finds". I saw someone doing this on another blog and loved the idea. I have toyed with the idea of doing a separate blog on just my thrift store finds and I even started one a long time ago but in reality I just don't have the time for two blogs. So from now one Friday will be designated at "Friday Finds" and will feature some of my thrift store finds.

I have recently fallen in love with owls. Anything owls! I found this old vintage owl coffee mug at Goodwill this week ($1.50). Not sure if you can tell from the photo but his nose/beak is the handle. I'm not going to use him at a coffee mug but rather a pen holder on my desk. These cute little wooden owl ornaments I found at Mosaic Thrift Store for .75 cents each.

Tomorrow is one of my favorite days of the month. The last Saturday of each month is 50% off Goodwill stores in my area.

Happy Thrifting!!!

From one extreme to the next

This weekend is exactly how I like it. Saturday started out by hitting the road at 9:00 AM and not getting home until 11:00PM. We made a day of it! Jordan was home for the weekend so she joined Craig and I for a day at the Field Museum in Chicago. It's been a few years since our last visit and the cold winter weather has had me yearning to take a day trip somewhere... so Field Museum it was.

I think I love the history of the museum and the building as much I do the exhibits. What an amazing beautiful place. We saw a group that was on an architectural tour of the museum. Next time I want to do that.

I was able to play with my photography while we were there. That always makes me happy. It was my goal not to use an flash and experiment with the settings on my camera. The light is very dim in the museum so this was quite a challenge. I was very pleased with my results.

On the way home we stopped at LongHorn Steakhouse and stuffed ourselves with the best steaks and desserts on the menu. The Steakhouse was right next door to one of our favorite places... "Bass Pro Shop". Anyone who loves the outdoors loves that place. We wondered around there drooling over everything. I saw some kayaks that I liked!

Then today it is the opposite extreme. We slept in, I'm doing laundry at my leisure, I'm watching documentaries on Netflix, took an hour nap, Jordan is sitting at the kitchen table doing homework, Craig is in the garage installing a new garage door opener, Caleb is doing homework. All is calm and I'm loving the peace and tranquility of the day.

My kind of weekend......

I heard him.... Does that count?

A few weeks ago, when Craig was out of town at a trade show, I was sound asleep upstairs. It was about 1:00 AM when Caleb burst into my room. "Mom! I just saw a Great Horned Owl sitting in the tree in the back yard". He knew some news like that would be worth waking me up. I jump out of bed grab my robe and run down the stairs to look for myself. The owl was long gone as Caleb saw him fly away when he shinned a flashlight at him. Caleb proceeded to tell me how he was laying in bed reading when he heard "Hoot... Hoot, Hoot". After he heard it a few more times he was convinced it was an owl so he went out the back door to look. Sure enough, right there in the back yard sitting in a tree was a Great Horned Owl. I asked Caleb how he knew it was a Great Horned. He said he looked it up online and listened to it's call. He was sure it was a Great Horned. Caleb kept talking about how "huge" it was.

Wouldn't you know it!!! It's been a dream of mine to see a live owl in the wild and who gets to see one... my son!

Now fast forward a bit. A few nights ago Caleb and Craig were out in the garage doing guy stuff. I was upstairs in bed with my laptop blogging. The TV was off and all was quiet. It's about 11:00 PM and all the sudden I hear "Hoot... Hoot, Hoot". At first it didn't dawn on me that it was an owl. In fact, at first I didn't even think it was coming from outside. I turned to look towards the bedroom door thinking the dogs were up to something. Right away I heard it again "Hoot... Hoot Hoot". It was loud! It was right outside my bedroom window and there was NO MISTAKE it was an owl!!!! OMG!!!!! I've never jumped out of bed so fast in my life. I startled Seadra and she started to bark. "Oh Seadra PLEASE be quiet!!!!". Don't scare away this dream of mine!!!! I flipped the light off and opened the window blinds. I couldn't see a thing. All I saw was darkness. The whole time I continue to hear "Hoot.... Hoot, Hoot" over and over only making me more excited.

I gave up on trying to see him out the window. I grabbed my robe and ran downstairs. The whole time the dogs are following me barking like crazy because my behavior is freaking them out. I am so franticly trying to get a glimpse of this bird that I fly out the back door in my bare feet. I am now standing outside in the snow and ice desperately looking for the owl, and he is still hooting!! I have no flashlight so I run into the garage and in my excitement I can barely get out that there's an owl in the backyard and I need a flashlight NOW!!!!

Soon all 3 of us are standing in the backyard with flashlights looking for the owl. Sure enough Craig and Caleb hear him too but at this point his hoots are sounding much fainter. He is now farther back in the woods.

I never did get to see him, but I heard him plain as day and he was right there outside my bedroom window. I know it is mating season for owls and that they lay their eggs in February. I'm sure he was calling to his mate. He's been here twice that we know of. I'm hopeful that he'll come back again someday and maybe I'll see him next time. But for now I'm just happy to have heard him.

What I know about myself....

I love coffee..... I like it in the mornings, I like it at the office, I like it at night watching TV, I like it with a good book, I like it with fat free vanilla creamer, and I like it in huge festive coffee mugs.

I like climbing on the spider web at the kids playground even when no other adults are playing on it.

The closer I can get to nature, the happier I am.

I love me some watermelon. I've never eaten so much fruit in my life as I did this past year and hands down watermelon is my favorite. I couldn't get enough of it. Can't wait for it to come into season again... the ones you buy this time of year don't even begin to compare to a summer watermelon.

I miss my birdies. I don't have as much time to spend with them as I would like. I'm still feeding them but this time of year it's dark when I go to work and dark when I come home. I still try to spend time with them when I can.

I never want to be without a travel trailer. Love that trailer!!!!

Photography!!! It's a passion of mine and one that I hope to improve on.

I love hats!! In years past I've been intimidated to wear hats, not any longer. They make me happy and I'm gonna wear em!

Even in summer I'm gonna wear hats!

Little did I know how much I would LOVE LOVE LOVE that motorcycle. Did I mention I LOVE that motorcycle? Give me a stressful day at work and all I can think about is getting on the back of that bike. I had no idea the joy that bike would bring us. And I love the fact that Craig loves it as much as I do.

I love the fires we so often have. Whether it's in the back yard, at the cottage, or at a campground, some of our best family conversations are around those fires.

By accident I learned that Sandhill Cranes nest in April and I can hardly wait until April of this year to visit them again.

Kayaking........

......the more serene, the more I love it.

As soon as the ice melts I will be out there again.

Baby it's cold outside....

It was in the single digits when we woke up this morning but the sun was shinning beautiful. I grabbed my camera and headed outside and Craig soon joined me.

Grabbing every ray of sunshine in these dark cold winter months makes it so much more tolerable. There is beauty and joy in every season.

"A glad heart makes a happy face; a broken heart crushes the spirit."

Proverbs 15:13

Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come,
Why should my heart be lonely, and long for heaven and home,
When Jesus is my portion? My constant friend is He:
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

I sing because I'm happy,
I sing because I'm free,
For His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.

What a difference a week makes

Last weekend it was nearly 50 degrees and we were out kayaking. Today it's snowing like crazy. And we love it! It's the middle of January and we've hardly seen any snow yet so we are loving this.

And it's the weekend. Craig was blowing the drive tonight so I ran out and snapped a few photos but I can hardly wait until the morning do I can go outside in the daylight and try to be creative. Stay tuned......

I'm happy for the weekend and I'm happy for snow!!!!

Fi-Fi kills a rat

Please excuse the poor quality of these photos as they were taken with my phone camera but I love them just the same. I couldn't resist but do a post with them.

Fiona got a new toy last weekend.

She's crazy about that rat.

She's so darn cute.

It was worth a try

Yesterday I was complaining to Craig that I was already bored with winter and anxious to do some of the things I'm missing. Like kayaking, camping and riding the motorcycle. And it's only the beginning of January! So after church today Craig surprised me when he said "Lets drive out to the cottage and go kayaking".... REALLY???? I could hardly get bundled up and my boots on fast enough. We've been having such mild weather that neither of us was expecting to find ice on the lake but that's exactly what we found.

We decided to give it a try anyway. Maybe the kayaks would break right through the ice and it wouldn't be too bad.

It was much more of a challenge than we thought it would be.

We didn't get much more than 100 yards from the shore and that was with Craig ramming the ice, backing up and doing it over and over.

It was still fun and it was a beautiful day to get outside with my camera.

The ice was like glass. Not a bubble in it and crystal clear.

Well, goodbye kayaks, we will see you again in the spring.

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year my friends and family. Craig, Jordan and I (Caleb was working) rang in the new year with a quiet evening at home. Just the way I like it. I'm not a pop the cork on the champagne bottle while blowing noise makers and singing Auld Lang Syne type of girl. And after the hustle and bustle of Christmas a quiet evening at home with the ones I love was much welcomed.

Our weather for all of December was extremely mild. So much so that Caleb and Craig have been able to ride the bikes occasionally. They even went for a ride Christmas Day evening. The other night Caleb was out riding and a cop followed him into the driveway. He asked for Caleb's license and registration explaining that when they see motorcycles out this time of year they are usually stolen. We got a good laugh out of that one. I guess it's good that they are checking.

In the last 48 hours the weather has taken a turn to more winter like conditions. We've had winter storm warnings and finally some significant snow. It's forecasted to be in the 40's by the weekend so it won't be sticking around. Craig is bummed that he hasn't been able to do any trail grooming for the club yet this year. Hopefully January will bring us some more snow.

I am in the last day of a 4 day weekend. I took an extra vacation day over the long holiday weekend. It's been awesome! Friday night was dinner and a movie then hanging out at home ringing in the New Year. Saturday I spent the day thrifting (one of my favorite things to do!). The last Saturday of each month is 50% off day at all Southwest Mi Goodwill stores... that day is marked on my calendar each month. Came home with some great finds. The rest of my days off have just been spent doing whatever I wanted. I got all the Christmas decorations put away. I feel organized and ready to go back to work tomorrow. Wish I had a 4 day weekend every weekend.

Here's to 2012.... Hope it's all your dreaming of.