Bike Hospital Day

(Two Saturdays ago before the snow flew.)

Some people worked hard.

 Some people...

...not so much.

Wordless Wednesday

Check your bags and climb on board the California Zephyr, train #5.  Starting here at Union Station in Denver Colorado, we'll be following the rails westward, through the Rocky Mountains to Grand Junction, Colorado.

 Here's a view through the windows, below.

And then just a peek of Paul and Nicole's little newlywed apartment, where they wined and dined me at the end of the ride. (Am I a lucky Momma, or what?)

(check out the wedding ring there..)

My weekend itinerary, in a nutshell: I got to go out with my son and daughter-in-law (fun to say that!) and six or eight of their friends to Bostons' for dinner and drinks on Friday. We slept in a bit and Paul and Nicole cooked eggs and bacon for breakfast Saturday morning. Then Nicole and I got some shopping in while Paul studied. In the afternoon we got to go to the senior recital of a friend of the kids' where we got a little culture with some very impressive tenor opera. Saturday evening Nicole treated us with a wonderful dinner of chicken and pesto pasta. (Paul opened the wine.) Then Sunday after Mass Nicole and I visited with her lovely family, then joined Paul back at their apartment to watch movies and enjoy the rest of the evening visiting. Then, a little sleeping in Monday morning and the trip back on the train before noon. It was a bit of a whirlwind visit, but wonderful.

And, yes, I finished my book -- and got a good ways into another one.  Life is good.


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After almost twenty-two years...

It's the end of an era.

William,child number ten,at three and a half years old, is finally, 100% officially potty-trained!
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An Ode in Recognition of the Feat

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I've changed them sitting, standing, lying down;

I've changed them on car hoods, bathroom floors, all around town;

I've changed them on forest paths, in grassy parks, on stadium bleachers,

And occasionally in public restrooms appointed with hygenic diaper-changing features.

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My sweet little cherubs, all ten little dears --

Four diapers a day (estimated conservatively) over twenty-two years --

Doing what babies do... do...  You know we've paid  a few pipers

With countless millions of wet wipes and over thirty-two thousand diapers!

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Will I miss this season, these hectic years? 

All the story books, spit-up cloths, and alligator tears?

The diaper rashes, finger plays, and tippy cup lids...

Sitting in the back pew with noisy little kids?

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Well...

Though I can't believe how fast the years go,

In a word, friends, I have to say: No.

I'm good and ready to put down the plow.

I'm looking forward to spoiling my grandkids now!

When Cathy Brought This Egg In From the Henhouse...

...there were only two words:

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Poor Chicken.
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Mostly Wordless Wednesday

Joining Marcy with some (short, but silly) Wednesday poetry to go with the pics today.

I'm sure you can see that I am more.

This is not what I am

but what I was be_____.

(Gabriel, 4+1 in April, found this stick in the yard the other day and was very pleased with himself about it.)

You can have more than just a penny for my thoughts;

Here's a living bit of Americana

Norman Rockwell couldn't have more perfectly caught:

Penny, Nickel and Anna.

(The little black girl puppy, we named Penny, short for Pentecost Sunday, the day they were born -- and the little boy, we call Nickel because it goes with Penny -- Nick for short. We were going to give these two away but everyone is in love with them, and I'm thinking they may be here to stay...)

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Wordless Wednesday (almost)

Bella and Beatrice

Having Stella, the milk goat benefits everyone on the farm. The dogs and cats love getting the leftovers of her milk. In fact there's a bit of competition to see who can get to the milk bowl first amongst the dogs. Beatrice,the kitten, though, gets a free pass. Even though the dogs fuss a little with one another, not one of them bothers the kitty. She gets to drink her fill of the milk first, then the dogs get their turn. Isn't that an amazing instinct? I wish it were as true with people. The littlest among us should get that same instinctual protection -- and all the good milk they want. As a matter of course.

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