Getting Loopy

... well not that kind of loopy~ I'm in the process of planning a driving trip around the International Selkirk Loop. Our first night's reservation is here ... in a small lakeside log cabin. This will be about a four night adventure through Washington State, Idaho, and beautiful British Columbia along a scenic byway. My bags are packed and I'm ready to gooooooooooooooooo! Yes, I'm a bit anxious ... it's been a while since the Mr. and I have had a vacation together. Nathan will be traveling with us too. Here's a sample three day tour

Check List:

camera
flashlight
snacks
maps
spf 30 sun screen
hats
sneakers
Bible
water
tooth brush & paste

White Noise

I've raised a whole brood of kids (and a hubby) that are addicted to white noise. It all started with my husband working the night shift ... and I needed a way to keep the noise level down while I home schooled the children many moons ago. Then Patrick decided he couldn't get to sleep without a fan running in his room (just for the noise). This went on even in the winter time with him. Ann has her own exhaust fan in her bedroom closet ... a closet that one day may be my main floor laundry room ... thus it was set up with the fan & a light; some nights I get up just to turn her fan off ... I won't even mention that I also hear her phone beeping every few minutes with a message waiting most nights. Nathan ... that boy has a humidifier (minus the water) running each and every night. When he comes home from school, he turns on the bathroom's exhaust fan (next to his bedroom). My family is co-dependent to white noise; and it drives me crazy. When I go to bed at night, I like to have it perfectly quiet ... unfortunately there is a clock in my bedroom that tick-tocs away the hours. If for some reason I wake up at night, the sound of it is as torturous as water dripping ... drip ... drip ... drip ... on your forehead. My name is Mrs. Mac ... and my family is addicted to white noise.

Stop The World ...

... I want to get off!

Insane; evil is good; good is evil; wrong is right; right is wrong; no moral compass; mistrust; over zealous misguided leaders; spiraling out of control spending; tax break my bottom; inflation; green house gasses; illegal is legal; legal is illegal; common sense died years ago. End times, you bet! Send me to my room, I want to stew.

Children, time is just about up. You heard that Antichrist is coming. Well, they're all over the place, antichrists everywhere you look. That's how we know that we're close to the end.

1 John 2:18
The Message Bible

I'm Flipping Out

... OK ... I mean 'wearing flip flops' We are having a mini spring warm up ... a lovely 73 F today and tomorrow in the upper 70's. Perfect weather! No need for the a/c or heater, socks, jackets or boots. Just lovely painted tootsies to play peek-a-boo at the end of my flip flops. Today was a 'drive topless' (in the open-air Jeep of course) around the lake type of day. Oh my ... the winter must have singed my mind to be speaking of tootsies and topless!

This Week In Review

... I put in a good three days of outside work and have the sore muscles to prove it. Winter's accumulation of flab is falling by the wayside (wink). My garden is now enlarged and fenced in to keep the deer and moose out. A gate is all that's needed. Today was a good day to burn yard debris; I teased the Mr. as he worked inside washing dishes and made the bed! This is my second year to have a veggie garden. I think it will take about two more years to get the hang of everything. If my dad lived close by, he could lend his expertise.

Photo credit: here

Meet MUFF

.... the moose. He was spotted this morning out our back door. Nathan thought Muff would be a nice name for the critter. Three hours later he/it was still chomping on the bare trees out back. Last I saw of him he was hanging around my bedroom's sliding door; this meant I had to work in the front yard.

Photos by: Mrs. Mac 4/7/09

Sigh ... Breath Deep ... Aaaaahhhh

.... exhale. Yesterday and today, on the scale of 1-10 (ten being the best), are both an ELEVEN! Blue skies ... perfect mid sixty temps ... exhilarating ... technicolor days. Windows open wide and the stale air left over from winter rushing out. I'm just too rejuvenated to even spend ten minutes at the computer. Over and out. The great outdoors is calling. Catch you later ... maybe.

10 To Do Today

1. Read my Bible

2. Make fried breakfast potatoes for Nathan (again;)

3. Read paper ON THE FRONT PORCH rocking chair with fresh cup o' coffee while petting pooch's noggin (called multitasking).

4. Sit outside in intermittent rays of SUNSHINE!!! (been a bit deprived of late ... good dose of vit. D).

5. Fill bird feeders in back yard.

6. Scratch up a patch of thinly snow covered veggie garden (dirt looks like chocolate cake ... a good sign).

7. Rotate reading one of five books.

8. Walk every inch of our two acres looking for any sign of SPRING!

9. Change two beds ... wash sheets & towels ... tidy laundry room.

10. Enjoy a new supply of Happy Juice from aforesaid 'chores/duties'

Enjoy your Saturday ...

Easter Card Image credit here

It's Raining ... It's

... Snowing ... It's Raining ... It's Snowing ... It's Raining ... It's Snowing. The weekend prediction is to hit a nice warm 60 degrees by Sunday. Followed by (you guessed it) ... rain/snow showers next week. March came in like a lion and went out like a saber toothed tiger. The groundhog saw its shadow twice I think ... that must mean twelve more weeks of winter. Even this Snow Queen is dreaming of a nice warm day in the hammock. My flu bug flew the coup today. It stuck around for three days. Not being a person that likes to take meds, I succumbed last night and took a swig of cough syrup. The trouble with taking a medication to relieve you of body aches is that you forget you're sick and 'feel' well enough to work instead of getting some healing rest. My theory is that you are sick for a longer period of time. This is one of my hair-brained, unscientific ideas.

I have yet to see any sign of spring ... other than birds. Not one speck of green. Our trees are wanting to bud/leaf out ... but have decided not to. Of course, If you drive down off the mountain, the farmers' fields are beginning to show the first hint of spring green color (and I mean hint).

Winters in Idaho are similar in length to those we spent in Michigan. But the scenery is far more beautiful here than words can describe on a cold, clear, sunny day. I long for the spring that you southerners are enjoying. The 60 degrees predicted for Sunday will feel like summer after surviving the snowiest winter on record ... since records were kept in the late 1880's. I don't mind winter ... but the transition between winter and spring is a bit drawn out ... that's why I did my spring cleaning in February ... so not to waste one nice sunny day being stuck inside with a dust cloth. In a few months when my veggie garden is in full swing, I will think back to the months spent just itching to get outside and start working. My back and arms will ache from the production of the whole thing. A good ache ... if there is such a thing. My mind wanders to last summer sitting out back sipping ice tea. Flitting here and there with no thought of having to don a pair of boots, gloves, scarf or a coat. On the positive side ... I know spring will get here! The days are growing longer with each passing sunrise and sunset. There are more birds stopping at the back yard feeders. This week I hope to put up a new blue bird house after I finish reading a book about taking care of them. Currently I'm reading about storing food in a root cellar, a book about short stories related to knitting, a book by Nicholas Sparks called ... Three Weeks With My Brother, and a book about home preserving foods. And you thought I was just sitting around in my jammies all day, eh? Well, between reading, I have been knitting cotton dish clothes ... and inventing new patterns as I go along. No two are alike ... amazing how easy they are to make (up). Well, that's my life this week in a NUT shell. Hope you have a good weekend.

Photo Credit
(I'm thinking spring)

Under The Weather

I've got some type of flu bug. Yesterday I lost my voice (to my kids that was probably a good thing ;) Today I'm achy and not up to speed. It's 10 AM and I'm still in my pj's. Maybe I should go get dressed so I'm not such a fright to look at should someone come knocking at the door. Be back later.