Mr. Peabody's Apples

Have you read this?  Surprisingly, it's written by Madonna.  Yes, that Madonna.  It's one of my favorites.  A great message. I got to read it to Soren's 2nd grade class this week.  I think they liked it, too.

All Things Scottish

I love Scotland and, as a result, I love all things Scottish.  I served as a Mormon Missionary in Scotland from July 1992 to January 1994 and I think I've thought about Scotland in some way everyday since.  That is why I drive a MINI.  That is why I have to catch my breath whenever I hear bagpipes.  So you can understand why I had to take a picture of this thistle that was randomly growing by the side of the trail in Bryce Canyon National Park.  The flower of Scotland.  Beautiful!

Buck-Eyes

We lived in Ohio for four years, the Buckeye state, where Jeff was an Ohio State University Buckeye.  So when Jeff found some buckeyes that had fallen from a tree on campus the other day, he brought them home thinking the kids would like them.  Soren thought they were great and proceeded to model them for us.  What a crazy kid!!

100 Tulips

When we got married, Jeff's mom used to do seasonal work in the tulip fields in Oregon. Our first Spring together, we received a box from Carol filled with 100 tulips just ready to burst. We filled every canning jar or old bottle we could find with tulips and delivered them to our neighbors and friends. A great memory!

Food For Thought

Friday Funny

Q:  Where do you find a dog with no legs?

A:  Right where you left him!

You'd never know

My friend Helen is amazing.  We met her when we lived in Columbus and we became friends over the last few years that we lived there, somewhere between 1997-2000.  She lives alone in the same house she's lived in for over 50 years.  She lost her husband only about 7 years into their marriage and raised three little girls by herself.  She is very independent and refined and she isn't afraid to try new things.  She and I correspond through e-mail (my Grandma didn't even e-mail) and she just dives in and handles whatever situation she finds herself in.  This may not sound all that extraordinary on the surface, but here's the amazing part:  Helen just turned 97 earlier this month!  Yep.  Ninety-Seven.  You'd never know.  She is a beautiful lady!

Helen and me, Nov. 2009 (I'm the one on the left)

Fall

Hooray!  It's finally Fall, one of my favorite seasons.  Spring and Fall.  Yep, they're the best!  It doesn't feel like Fall.  I mean, we're breaking heat records with over 90º temps this week, but I'm hopeful that we'll have plenty of 60º weather (my favorite temperature) before the snow.  (I wouldn't mind one night of frost to kill all the mosquitoes so I could actually enjoy the outdoors!)

www dot

Do you remember where you were the first time you heard of the internet?  I do.  I was working as a temp at the office building for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  I was doing various secretarial duties for several members of the Research Information Division.  One day in 1995, one of the men I worked for handed me a magazine and asked me to look through it and find addresses to websites for him.  He tried to explain what a website was and then said that I'd know when I found what I was looking for because each address would start with "www dot."   It didn't mean  much to me at the time, but boy howdy we've sure come a long way since then! 

Friday Funny: 2 for 1

Have you heard about the new corduroy pillows?
They're making all the headlines.  

Have you seen the new movie about constipation?
Oh wait, it hasn't come out yet.