Parties, Plants and Plenty of Water

Did you have a busy week-end? We sure did! Here are some of the highlights...

• trip to Master Gardener's Sale with Maria and the girls (Cordy shook hands with people like a politician)
• digging in the dirt, planting flowers and vegetables
• shopping for groceries
• housecleaning (yay! I finally mopped my kitchen floor)
• laundry
• bill paying
• quick trip to the mall
• graduation party
• church service
• another church service (as a guest, speaking about women's resource center...more another day)
• power nap
• another graduation party while Mike goes to do his part at the baccalaureate service...we had to divide and conquer to get everywhere we wanted to be 
• Sunday school swimming party with Cordelia

But, in between a couple of those things, I took time to enjoy the moisture we were receiving. I hope you enjoy the photographs.

(Please click below and follow link to YouTube to hear this song.)

The Lord Our God

Kristian Stanfill

from the album Passion: Let the Future Begin

Available for sale on ITunes, Google Play, Amazon...

 

(Chorus)

The Lord our God is ever faithful

Never changing through the ages

From this darkness

You will lead us 

And forever we will say 

You're the Lord our God 

Promise maker, promise keeper

You finish what You begin

Our provision through the desert 

You see it through ‘til the end 

You see it through ‘til the end

)

I Believe

(Chorus)

In the silence, in the waiting

Still we can know You are good

All Your plans are for Your glory

Yes, we can know You are good

Yes, we can know You are good 

(Chorus)

We won't move without You

We won't move without You 

You're the light of all 

And all that we need

(Chorus

Cheering Myself On

Do you remember when I was going to Curves a lot? I really liked it!

I liked that Curves was only open to women and most just wore shorts and a t-shirt. I loved the way it works at Curves. Their machines are in a big circle. When you arrive, you just get on an open piece of equipment. It is effective equipment but simple enough to learn quickly. Energetic music is playing but every 90 seconds a message is played to move to the next piece of equipment. A typical work out would take me around the circuit about three time but you could go as long or as short as you wanted. Each piece of equipment targeted a different group of muscles.

It was a comfortable system for me and I liked it. Being a small family run gym, though, their hours were a bit limited. When I started working more hours myself it often seemed that their hours didn't coincide as well with my available hours. Anyway, I gave up my membership and have since fallen into a state of disrepair.

Before Curves I worked out at home with Wii Fit. I really enjoyed that as well. Why did I quit doing that? It was rather fun. I can't even think of an excuse.

Mike has faithfully worked out at home for most of his adult life. He's been very good to make it part of his morning routine. I've always admired his self-discipline with it. Why haven't I been like that? Again, I have no excuse.

Well, last week I became eligible for a gym membership offered by my employers. Also, one of my co-workers asked me to be a work-out partner with her. After reading about my daughter and her work-out buddy inspiring each other, I decided that would be a good idea. She is looking fantastic! So, soon, I expect to be in better shape as well. Ok, it may take a bit of time but I'm going to get started, anyway.

Now, I need to get fit at home before I go to the gym so I look the part!

I'm just kidding... kind of. You know what I mean, though, don't you? In my mind I am thinking everyone there will be all buff and I will look like a middle-aged woman who has fallen off the exercise wagon...which I am.


If I ever were to hire a maid service I would no doubt clean my house the night before they were to come. It is all the same concept.

Can you tell that this post is my way of accomplishing two goals?
     (1) I am trying to be my own cheerleader to get myself motivated.
     (2) I figured if I announced my intentions in a blog post I would have to follow through.

How about you? Are you doing any kind of work out and taking good care of yourself? Do you have a work-out partner or are you going it alone? Do you go to a gym or do something in your own home? Anyone else doing the Couch to 5K that my daughter is doing? She really likes it. There are so many ways to get into shape. I am ready to get back at it!

Rah! Rah!

By Stuart Miles

freedigitalphotos.net

My Life of Crime and the Strangest Cat I Know

When Sam was little he used to call himself "Catman". He really loved cats. When we first moved to Wyoming, we brought with us two cats, Smokey and Jaws. They were old already, older than Sam. Sam had never had a kitten and he really, really wanted one. He bugged us all the time, telling us the only thing he wanted for his birthday was a kitten. Since we already had a dog, Grady, and the two old lady cats, I was quite reluctant. Mike went soft on me, though.

For Sam's 11th birthday we presented him with cat toys. Yes, that is how we did it. THEN, we told him we were taking him to the pound to pick out not one, but two kittens. Crazy, maybe, but we did not expect the older cats to live much longer. They were already 15 years old! We felt that a single cat would be lonely and that we should have two. On a side note, it turned out that those two older cats both lived to be 20 years old! Anyway...

Not long after breakfast on Sam's birthday we headed to the local pound. Sam was so excited! He chose two little kittens and we started the adoption paperwork. One of the questions on the paperwork asked about other pets in our home. I answered it truthfully. Then, everything went downhill. The man at the pound informed me that in our new community we could not have more than 3 pets! I explained that our house was plenty large to accommodate them as we had two floors and lots of space. I also told him the other two cats were old and likely to die soon (I thought it was true at the time). I then told him it was Sam's birthday and the kittens were his only request. I promised we would take good care of them and that they would never be allowed to roam the neighborhood. My powers of persuasion were not enough. The guy didn't budge. 

We left the pound with one very sad boy in our backseat. That is when the Mama Bear in me made a decision. My boy was not going to be heartbroken for his birthday! I am not necessarily proud of my decision to break the law. It is what it is. I dropped Mike off at the church. He was a new pastor in this town; He didn't need to be a part of any illegal activity. I didn't exactly tell him what I was planning to do but he knows me well. I'm sure he knew where I was going next.

Yes, I went straight to a pet shop. In fact, Sam had been there the week before and had already met two little kittens there. He later told me they were the ones he wanted all along anyway. It didn't take us long there. I normally would want to save kittens from the pound but when they told me these two babies were saved from separate situations of abandonment, I felt better about our purchases. 

I'm really hoping there is a statue of limitations on such a crime. It has been almost 9 years so I am fairly confident my confession here will not lead to punishment. For the record, we are now totally compliant with the local limitation of pets. I am an upright citizen once again.

The "little girls" are still here, still doing well. I have introduced them both on my blog. Sam chose the names, Jane and Mindy. You can read about them here and here. Jane is the sweet little lady and Mindy is the crazy kleptomaniac. Mindy is rarely seen by others and in fact sometimes I go days and days without seeing her. She spends a lot of time with Sam, though. She is just really, really shy. I don't think Maria has seen her in YEARS, even though she usually visits at least once a week!

Mindy looks calm in this photo but she is really, really crazy. She steals things. She hides them in her secret places. She climbs up the wall/furnace in our basement in an area with an unfinished ceiling. She gets between the basement ceiling and the upstairs floor and hides there often. When I've used the ladder to peek up there I sometimes find things we didn't even know we were missing. She used to often hide things under our bed as well. The weirdest was the time I found a bag of about 7 pounds of birdseed under our bed. I had left it near our back door and she'd managed to drag it down the hall and under the bed!

She is also a great athlete! Mike can play games with her (she really prefers the guys) such as flicking small things into the air. She will then jump high and bat them down. She'd be great at volleyball. Sometimes she will also play fetch with him. It is pretty funny to watch. However, she is rather leery of me. It is likely because I made the mistake of trying to hold her and pet her. I really kind of wanted a lap cat. She is most definitely never going to be a lap cat.

This morning, though, I was up early and she was brave enough to greet me. It helped that Bode was still in his kennel. I sat on the floor so she didn't have to worry that I was about to pick her up as that is her worst nightmare. She came close enough for me to pet her, using only my fingertips. It wasn't very satisfying but it was more than I usually get. I even had time to get a few photos of her before she disappeared to the basement, giving me one last look back. 

I know there are cat people and there are dog people but I guess we are both. How about you? Which do you most enjoy? Anyone else want to tell about their weird pets?

Time With the Girls

Yesterday I went shopping at Goodwill with Maria, Cordelia and Elise. It was a bonus event for me, having been released from my work day a bit early. I love, love, love going just about anywhere with those girls.

When we arrived at Goodwill I made some comment about a tradition Cordelia and I have developed. That led to a bit of discussion about what the word "tradition" meant. Cordelia wants to know and understand EVERYTHING. Her mother was the same way!

So, what is our Goodwill tradition? Well, this particular Goodwill has an upper and a lower level. They have two long ramps that go between the two levels. I get Cordy into a shopping cart and head down one of the ramps. All the way down I act as though I've lost control of the shopping cart and let go for a second or two. Of course I always have my hands ready to grab if it rolls near the wall and she is never actually frightened. However, there are a lot of squeals and giggles and Cordy makes happy noises as well.

THEN, we carry on a tradition Maria started with Cordy when she was quite little. It is brilliant! She taught Cordy early on that some things are to be enjoyed for just a short time. In this case, we go by the bin of toys and she chooses one that she gets to play with while we continue to shop. She understands right from the beginning that we aren't buying that toy but it gives her something to enjoy while we look at things that might bore her, such as uniform scrubs for me.

Yesterday she chose a stuffed monkey she named, Mrs. Monkey.






















At one point I heard Cordy tell Mrs. Monkey that she was hurting her feelings. I asked what Mrs. Monkey said and Cordelia informed me that Mrs. Monkey had said she didn't like Cordy. They worked it out, though, and all was well.

 I also had some good times bouncing Elise around the store. She has such a lovely little personality. Although contentment seemed rather elusive to her the first months of her life, she is down right fun now, easy to please and ever so loving and snuggly.















I didn't get a photo of her yesterday but I'll share some from last week's trip to the mall.

And then, when we were driving back to their house, Cordy said, "Grandma! Do you know about Jesus?!"







It was just a couple of hours at the end of my day but it sure made me feel happy.

Busch Stadium Tour

You didn't think I was done talking about St. Louis, did you?

Mike and I took a tour of Busch Stadium. Did you know you could do that?

We'd toured the previous Busch Stadium twice. That stadium was torn down not long after our last visit but I don't think it was anything we did.. This new stadium was about half built last time we saw it. That made it even more fun to see it now completed.

One of the things we learned was that there is a whole lot more to a stadium that you see when you go to a game. The social aspects of baseball were a bit curious to me. There were areas for BIG groups of people (thousands) underneath the seats. People could pay extra, a LOT extra, to have access to different levels of eating experiences. Some would buy a ticket for a pretty good seat that included access to a buffet type restaurant at the back of their section. They could graze typical ballpark food all they wanted.

Another section of seating, with a much higher price, gave access to a huge buffet area that offered top level cuisine with chefs and fancy booths. You can see the outside seating of these levels in these photos but you sure don't get an idea of all that is behind them. There are even levels with rooms big enough to host conferences and weddings!

 I realize some of these are not great photos but they kind of give you the idea of the space under the stadium seating.

We don't think REAL baseball fans would be concerned about eating during a game, especially in those places where they couldn't keep watching the game. However, we found out that some of the special seats included waiters that came to you for your order...all inclusive. Wow!

One of the restaurant type rooms had a series of cases with Cardinal's World Series Trophies.

Do you see how happy it made Mike to see those?

Remember, he is just the grown-up version of the little boy who listened to Cardinal's games on his scratchy little transistor radio during recess at elementary school.

 We were given a chance to tour the broadcast booth.

The best part was when they let us go down by the field...

...and even into the Cardinals' Dugout!

When Mike had an opportunity to pick up some of the sunflower seed shells, spit from the very mouths of current St. Louis Cardinals, he declined. I guess he is not quite the fan I thought he was.

The tour guide told stories about players and owners from the past.

Including Stan Musial, one of Mike's favorites.

Stan-the-Man played 22 years for the St. Louis Cardinals

and just died earlier this year.

It was fun to learn some of that history.

It was fun to be a tourist.

It was fun to see Mike enjoying himself.

Sticky Season

We have several of these trees.

They are a cotton-less cottonwood. I'm glad there is no cotton as that causes some big allergy problems for some of our family members. However, there is a price to pay. See all those seed pod things hanging off the tree?  Well, they are starting to fly!

They stick EVERYWHERE!





The worst is, they stick on the bottoms of shoes and when tracked into the house, they leave kind of a mustard yellow stain.

I don't think I'd better complain, though, because...

...at least it hasn't snowed in the last week!

Declared Sane!

Cordelia has been so excited for Mother's Day. When I saw her a few days before, she was so excited about the gift she had chosen for me. She wasn't happy that her mother was making her wait until Sunday to give it to me but she kept it a secret. That is NOT easy for Cordelia! She is pretty much an open book.

Yesterday when she arrived at church I was already up front singing with the Worship Team. I could see her delightful smile when she spotted me. She held up a small bag and pointed at it. Isn't that just too sweet? I love how she gets so excited to GIVE gifts. She had to wait awhile, though. During the sermon the Worship Team goes down and sits with family. As soon as I got to her she said, "Grandma, open your present!" Then, she started opening it for me. It was a beautiful orange necklace. Maria said Cordy had shopped quite awhile before she decided the necklace was just the right thing. It was lovely and I put it on right away.

What I really loved, though, was the card she had made for me. On the front was a picture of me and Cordelia together.

Don't you must love it?

I also love her 3 year old signature.

The words she asked her mother to write are so precious!

I was especially excited to see that I am sane!

I enjoyed touching base with each of my own children yesterday.

Mike and I also went out of town to enjoy a meal out with my mother, sister and nephew.

I love feeling connected with my family.

I am most certainly a woman most blessed.

I do NOT take it for granted.

The Strength of My Mother's Character

There is is an instinct in a woman to love most her own child - and an instinct to make any child who needs her love, her own.  

Robert Brault

That quote really made me think about my Mom. Because of Mom, I have never, ever had even one moment in my life when I did not feel loved.  I also witnessed her motherly love for children to whom she did not give birth, children who needed her. It is from her that I learned how to love others.
   
My Mom taught me so much - how to read, sew, crochet, even how to mother. Most of my favorite things I learned from her. 

My best parts come from my Mom!

The thing I believe my Mom taught and displayed best for me is strength of character. I'm pretty certain my siblings would agree with that statement. Never have I known my Mom to try to do anything less than the right thing. Never ever! I have seen my Mom endure some very trying seasons in her life. She knows what it means to carry a heavy load, yet her strength of character always shines through. 

In case you can't tell, I am really proud of my Mom; I always have been. She's beautiful, kind, talented and supportive. I and my siblings really hit the Mom Jackpot!  I love you, Mom! I thank God for letting me be mothered by you. 

Happy Mother's Day!

Cardinal Bling

Mike and I have matching rings! Doesn't that sound romantic? Well,  not so much.

Those of you who know Mike may have noticed that he doesn't even wear his wedding ring. He has lots of excuses but the truth is, it just bugs him to wear jewelry. So, you may be surprised that we got these matching rings...rings that fit neither of us.

Funny, huh? These were given out at one of the Cardinals' games we attended. They are replicas of their World Series Rings from 2006. I thought they would be just a plastic, adjustable ring but these are heavy rings! 

Since we will never ever wear these rings (I hope), they have become decorations at our house. Maybe I could make a Christmas ornament out of them or use them as napkin rings. I could wear my with a light scarf pulled through it. Do you have any other ideas of how I can use these pieces of Cardinal Bling?

Grandpa Red's Footstool

Elise recently become the next kid to really, really love my grandfather's footstool. I thought I had posted about that footstool before but I couldn't find it so maybe I didn't so now I will. Can anyone say, "run on sentence"?

My Aunt Michelle gave that footstool to my Grandpa Red maybe almost 50 years ago. I remember it when I was pretty young. I used it in lots of adventures as it could be flipped out and opened up in a variety of interesting ways. I think I pretended it was a boat a lot. Well, I was among the first group of grandchildren to play with that footstool but I most certainly wasn't the last. Many generations have enjoyed it! It has been reupholstered and it doesn't have all the adjustability it once had, but it still is precious to me.

When my Grandma Rose died and her house was sold, I didn't hear anyone wanting to claim the stool. My Aunt Michelle said that I could take it home so I did. I couldn't bear to think of it going to a dumpster! I don't think of myself as the owner of the footstool, but rather the keeper of the footstool. I know that I have cousins who played with it. My children and many of my cousins' children also played with it. Now, my grandchildren are enjoying it. I doubt very much that my Aunt Michelle ever dreamed of this footstool being a treasure to future generations but it certainly is!

Gateway Arch

No trip to St. Louis is complete without a trip to the Arch. It is really pretty awesome. It is officially the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. It serves as an accent piece for all of downtown but it is really more than that. It is unique in its symbolism, its structure and its history. When you first see it, you just can't imagine that people are IN it.

The Arch was the dream of Eero Saarinen.  It commemorates President Jefferson and his Louisiana Purchase and St. Louis' role as a Gateway to the West.


The closer you get to it, the more you feel compelled to take photos of it.



I took many, many photos of it. Lucky for you, I'm too lazy to load them all into this blog post, but I'll give it a pretty good go.


The Gateway Arch is in St. Louis for a reason. St. Louis served as the last stop at a city of any size back when people were heading West. It sits right by the Mississippi River, symbolizing the gateway from the East to the West. Here are some fun facts I learned:

• It is 630 feet tall and is our tallest national monument.
• Construction began in February of 1963. Working from the two bottom legs and meeting in the    middle at the top, the last section was put into place in October of 1965. 
• The Arch weighs over 17 tons. They used 900 tons of stainless steel to build it.
• It cost $13 million to build. 
• It is really sleek and cool-looking (I added that fact myself)

It is so very photogenic! I couldn't hardly stop from taking photos as it makes just pretty much anyone feel like a professional photographer!

Isn't the simplicity of it just beautiful?!

When you get close to those big legs, you realize it is very, very large! The weird thing, though, is that there is a LOT to see underground! Yes! Underground, between those big legs, you go down, down, down. There is a museum, gift shop, place to watch a movie, etc. It just looks like the Arch is sitting in a pretty park. You don't even see the entrances down into it until you are right by those big legs. These are people heading down below. You have to go down before you can go up.

To go up inside they line you up and walk you even further underground.

You are then assigned a little door to wait by.

5 people are squished into one little pod type elevator thingy.

There is room for five bottoms to sit down, but not exactly room

for five pairs of legs. It's pretty cozy.

When the door closes, it is a see-through door. You can't see outside but you can see the stairway and mechanical equipment along the way. Seeing that stairway made gave me comfort somehow.

It is a 4 minute ride up to the top.

When you climb some stairs the last part of the way, you still don't see out.

Once in that top part of the Arch, it looks like this:

I didn't realize I took photos of so many people's bottoms.

No I am wondering how many of their photos have my hinder showing!?

Never mind....let's not think about that.

Anyway...

It takes all my courage to lean on my tummy to look out those windows.

We texted Maria from the top. 

It was mean of us as she is afraid of heights.

She told us just that text made her palms sweat.

This post is likely making her palms sweat as well!

Here, let me take you back outside for a second. This is an underside shot of those windows. 

It is a weird feeling to be able to look down at that angle.

Why would we do such a thing?

Because the view from up there is so beautiful!

You could see the City of St. Louis to the West.

 The flooded Mississippi River was to the East.

And the park was right below...straight down below....Yikes!

I was quickly ready to come back down.

On the East side of the Arch, as I said, is the Mississippi. We walked down a lot of steps to the road that runs along the river. The problem was, we couldn't get that far because the river was rising up to meet us instead. Luckily, we'd had the riverboat cruise experience on a previous visit as they'd closed down due to the flooding. The river actually looked pretty dangerous with lots of uprooted trees and such floating down.

Usually you can walk right out to that dock.

There was a lot of water!

I'll leave you with this photo of the guy who just canoed up as far as he could get.

We don't know his story but we were intrigued. The photo isn't very good but in the

far left of the photo is a duck that seemed to be his pet.

You've got to like a guy with a pet duck, don't you?