My sweet step-son Jason...

Brought these flowers to me at work the other day. He always remembers my birthday! And, he included a gift card. Jason and I have always had a good relationship, even through the difficult times (getting him up to go to school) he respected me and listened to me. Now Jason is 28, all grown up and talking to him is like talking to a friend! Thanks Jason!

So...about the chickens...

There is no chicken coop yet. Because...the Peddler has been very busy working on other peoples houses. You know, the plumbers house has no plumbing kind of thing. But, he has promised and I know he will deliver. It's just been a crazy couple of weeks. Family, taking care of DAM, you know!

Oooooooops! I've been MIA

And really for no good reason. How's that for admitting laziness? Maverick is still hanging in there. The Steroids are keeping his appetite up. So much that he decided he would try bird seed. Yup, he's poopin birdseed! Now that's a visual.

The Peddlers son who has been in Iraq for the last three years has been here visiting. Oh, I guess that's what has been keeping me busy. He's got so many stories to tell. He also traveled to Thailand many times, New Zealand, and Egypt. His next job takes him to Vietnam working for the U.S. Embassy. This guy loves to travel! He'll be heading to California on Friday to visit the rest of his family. I think he has about a month before he leaves for Vietnam.

So, that's it. A little update of sorts.

Did you ever wonder...

What life would be life if someone who you only saw every couple of weeks suddenly wasn't there? I don't even have a picture of her. And no, she's not dead. But apparently she is very sick. This person goes non stop. She's a wife, mother, school volunteer, errand runner...any way, you get it. As far as I am concerned her most important job (I'm being totally selfish here) is caretaker. She comes every two weeks and does the most thankless job in the world. She takes care of DAM! Here's her list of thankless tasks

She changes the hospital bed, which by the way, has more gadgets on it than our T.V.
Does her laundry
Cleans her living space
Dyes her hair (I know, why?????)
Clips her toe nails, eeeewwww
Get it....
She does all of the things that frankly and honestly, I don't want to do.

And now, (selfish me) she is sick. How sick, I don't know. Her husband called and said that she is unable to be DAM's caretaker. What? My world is spinning out of control here! Not really, but I spent the morning changing the freakin bed. Should be simple but there are clips that hold sheets in place and bars that keep you from rolling out, and buttons for every position imaginable. Try getting a sheet on around all of that! Now on to the laundry! Whhhaaaaaaa!

I'm totally feeling sorry for myself here. Aren't I just a big baby?

Wow!!! What a weekend...

I got to spend time with this one

And this one

And these two

Such a big, strong son-in-law

And these two

So spontaneous, these guys!

They learned how to shoot a BB gun

They climbed trees

They learned to shoot army style thanks to Army Dad!

Mason, waiting his turn

"This is my favorite car Gwammy".

me... "the blue one?"

"No Gwammy, the wed one". Love hearing a three year old talk!

Lots of Guitar Hero got played. Tucker is quite the drummer!

And, they had a sleep over!

More later, I took tons of pictures!

Raising Chickens class....

Was a yolk! Never found the place. Spent an hour driving around downtown flipping scary Phoenix and never found the place. It's a good thing The Peddler is understanding. Maybe I should just settle for a good chicken book and take it from there! Seriously, how hard can a few chickens be? Kristin? Anyone?

Chicken class tonight! Can't wait.

Update...


It looks like these two are going to trek to Arizona too! A little family reunion. Where do you put 6 extra people in an 800 sq. foot house (that's our living space) with one bathroom? Who cares! The more the merrier!

Guess who's coming to visit this Friday?

That's right the Army is giving this guy a four day weekend and they're driving here from Colorado to visit. A short visit, but I'll take what I can get!

They're coming so Cristine can visit this old man, Maverick. He's not doing very well and this will probably be the last time she sees him. He's almost 14 years old now which equals 98 in dog years. He's feeling his age. But, he's still here and will be so happy to see Cristine! And I'll get to love on these two little guys! It's gonna be a great weekend!

Remember the shelves...


that The Peddler was working on in the backyard? Here they are in their new home. They look like ordinary book shelves in this picture don't they? The next picture will put their size into perspective.

Here's their happy new owner! Enjoy them Colleen!

I Stepped Outside of My Comfort Zone...

And took Sandy's Acrylic Overlay class. It was amazing! I have never painted anything and look at what I created. I love her. She's known as the "tiniest cowgirl". Fun, fun class. I highly recommend it. Mystic Paper will be scheduling it again soon.


I'm thinking I need one of these to run back and forth to the store and back. Great gas mileage. Julie reports that $2.00 fills it up and I only live 1 mile from the store. What do you think? I don't think The Peddler is buying it.

I think...

This is where I am going to get chicks from. And, I think these are the kind I am going to get. Let me know what you think.

And...here's a tease. I took a class today. One of the first that I have taken in a long time. I thoroughly enjoyed it! And...it was a class that I thought I would suck at. So, I stepped outside of my comfort zone and went for it. And... I loved it! I loved what I made. That doesn't happen very often, at all. I'll tell you more tomorrow with pictures!

Here's to a great Sunday!

About The Chickens...

Wow, that really got some attention! I am taking the class to find out just how much work this will be and just how many chickens can supply a family of 3. Yes, I still feed Dear Aunt Myrna. This whole idea came about when we were at a going away party for the Byards across the street from us. Kristin Alber was there and they have chickens so we started talking about it. She told me some things I didn't know about commercially raised chickens. All I am going to say is "poor, poor, chickens". It was so so sad. And then I went home and did my research on the internet. Let's just say YOU REALLY CAN FIND ANYTHING ON THE INTERNET. Hence, Kim now needs her own spoiled rotten, happy chickens! At the same party our other neighbors, Justin and Lisl brought their homegrown cantaloupe. Boy, was it good! They have a raised bed garden and that's what I want. I'll start small with a little broccoli and carrots and see how it goes. From what I have read they can both be planted now so I really need to get The Peddler busy. And starting October 1st day old chicks can be shipped. They actually ship them through the mail! They have to be a day old though, because they feed off of the yolk sack for their first three days of life! Who knew? I'll keep you posted!

Lately I've been posting about things I love...


And this post isn't any different except for one thing that I will get to later. For starters, I love my backyard. It's lush and green. And I love this guy with the crazy mask on. And I love that he loves what he is doing. Working with his hands. Building things. Not flying all over the Country being Mr. Corporate man. He's building some custom book shelves for a friend. They're turning out great Colleen!

What I don't love is the smell of lacquer at 6:00 A.M. when I'm trying to sleep on what is the first night that we can sleep with the windows open. Windows that open into the backyard! He's polluting my backyard. This is the same backyard that will, hopefully soon, have a chicken coop with four happy chickens laying eggs. I am actually taking a class next week to learn how to keep happy chickens in the Desert Southwest. I also hope to be growing edible things in this backyard. Things like carrots and broccoli which won't be polluted with pesticides and lacquer!

This is something I love. A simple little birds nest. Look at the work those little birds put into their homes. And they do it every year! Do you think they get together towards the end of Winter and complain about having to build a new house? Maybe they have the competitive spirit and have to build a better nest than the Jones's.

And here's another one. I think the bird that build this nest was going for strength. He used a lot of mud on the final layer. Jennifer found both of these nests on the ground while she was walking over to our house and she brought them to me! Thanks Jennifer, I love 'em!

This is a tea that I dearly love. So much that if I don't have this tea I can be cranky. I didn't have my beloved tea for two days. Three stores later I finally found some at Sprouts. Thanks Sprouts, I couldn't have gone another day. I'm on my third cup of the morning.

I have tried a lot of different Green Teas and I can't find one that tastes like this one. It has to be the Antioxidant Tea. It's got a tiny hint of citrus to it and it is THE BEST!

One more thing I love...Fridays! Not because I ever get the weekend off. We're always at the store. But the weekend means that most likely everyone that comes into the store has the weekend off and they are happy! So, happy Friday. We hope to see you this weekend!