Group proposal?

I just saw the dumbest thing on youtube - a group proposal put together by the Today Show. All these girls who thought they were having Valentine's makeovers we told to turn their swivel chairs around, and then a bunch of guys filed in. Katie Couric directed, "OK, ladies, turn around - guys, do your thing!" And about 20 young men simultaneously kneeled and proposed to their girlfriends. I'm sorry, but what should have been a sweet private moment for two was instead made into a public conveyor-belt display for 15 seconds on national TV. I hated it. I felt bad for the girls and guys. Give me a candle-lit dinner proposal anyday. In fact, the way David gave me my ring, atop a lighthouse, was priceless. It was just Noah, the lighthouse lady, David and me.

Oh well. We don't all go crazy alike.

Here's the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNhxytlTKrE&feature=related

Well, it's just me and the dogs. I put the boys on the bus this morning. Ben's in 11th and Noah's in 2nd. This is Noah's first year to ride a bus, and I think he was excited about that. He was also quite pleased with his Spiderman lunch box. It's the metal kind like I used to take. Walmart had them for $7. I like them because sandwhiches don't get flattened. Ben was feeling quite dapper in his new duds. (Actually, he's "borrowing" a shirt from Josh, since he's not here to protest.)

I didn't cry this year. Actually, I'm enjoying being alone in the house. Because Sarah's car is sick, she took mine, so I'm a 1950's mom today - it's housework for me! And I'm actually glad for it. I can iron while I watch TV. Also, I can practice my cello without the family hearing, and sound better next time the do hear me.

August Eve

This has got to be the most perfect evening of the whole summer. It's 7:47pm. The sky is washed in hues of pink and purple. The cicadas are buzzing lazily in response to the cooler, darker atmosphere. Their replacements, crickets, are warming up and chirping louder every few minutes. How I love a summer evening.

It was a lovely day too. Mid-70's with a breeze. Low humidity. A few puffy clouds decorated the sky. Of course, Noah and I took off for the park right after lunch. He scootered, and I toted a backpack containing my essentials: a good book - Villette, for now - a Sudoku book, a notebook - for any ideas I might have - my camera, cell, and a big bottle of water to share with Noah.

I read a fair amount of Villette, by Charlotte Bronte. I'm enjoying it, but it's not as good as Jane Eyre. She lingered too long on the characters. Altogether, it's too wordy; I think she could have pared the book down by about a third. As I read, I was continually dazzled by the diamond ring David gave me last summer. I finally took some pics of it.

Noah enjoyed playing with other kids. He makes friends easily; probably - having no close siblings - because he has too. After an hour and a half, he and I swung on a bench overlooking the river, and talked. He's into Star Wars right now, so that's mainly what we talked about.

Of course I took pics on our park outing. In particular, I took some of a sweet little house which looks as though it's inhabited by hobbits. One half expects one to pop it's head out of the window and say hello. We walk by it every time we go to the park. I love my neighborhood. It's old and charming with mature trees and a variety of homes, older and newer. (mostly older) I also took some pics of some winding steps that were recently put down. The landscaping is endearing; it reminds me of a quaint English yard.

When we got back, we had Razzleberry pie and ice-cream and Ben and I watched Monk. I wish Mr. Monk lived next-door. (With Natalie close-by as well.)

Golden Rain Tree

We have a Golden Rain Tree in front of our house. I caught various stages of the pod development a few days ago. They start in the blossoms, growing out of their spent centers.

I caught some good shots of bees as well.

my Snow White moment

This morning, I happened to spy a bird out on my driveway, aggressively pecking at the thick weeds growing between the cracks in the sections of concrete. It was rather large - larger than the curious Robins nearby - and had a bright red marking on the back of its neck. I watched it pull a couple of bugs from the weeds and gobble them up, then fly away. I flew too, to my laptop to find out what kind of bird that was! (My Audobon book dissapeared some time ago, most likely bumped off the balcony by one of the kids.)


It was a Northern Flicker. I listened to its song, and knew it right away.


















As I watched the Flicker, a large bug-like creature flew up to the brightly colored stain glass window hanging just above my view of the Flicker. It hovered for a second, then zoomed away. It was a green humming bird, a ruby-throated, I believe. How neat was that - to see two unusual birds up close within ten minutes? I felt like Snow White.

all eyes are on them

There they all sit, mesmerized. The sounds and sights are too powerful to turn away from. Big, hairy feet propped up. A bag of Doritos lay open, almost empty. From time to time, comments are made, such as, "If I were them, I'd be invading that planet." All the males in my family - David, Ben, Josh, Noah, and even our male dog, Cosmo - are lined up on the sofa. Behold the power of Star Wars.

Maisy is fat

I took the little beasts into the vet yesterday. It was no big surprise to learn that Miss Maisy has chunked out a bit... 26 lbs! She should weigh 2o, maybe 21. Cosmo was his usual trim little self at 22 lbs. He looked a little snooty after Maisy's weight was read aloud. Nah - it was just my imagination. I felt like saying, "Ewe's not fat - ewe's fluffy!" For she truly is. That's the problem; her fluffy coat hides her girth. So tonight, I fed her a little less than usual. And told the fam to stop giving her snacks. The saddest thing about this whole matter is - eating is to Shelties as reading is to scholars. Or as singing is to musicians. Or as painting is to artists. So I feel rather mean limiting her to painting 2/3 of a picture. Or singing 2/3 of a song. Or reading 2/3 of a book. But it's for her own good.

Nancy visits

David's sister, Nancy, visited us a couple weeks back. She came all the way the California, with her husband, Mike, and stayed for two weeks.


After Sunday dinner at our house, Nancy told the funniest story from her recent trip to Peurto Rico. It wasn't funny at the time, but don't those ones always turn out the funniest, once they're over?


After a maddening mountain climb, to learn about rain forests the previous day, Nancy overheard some others in the group talking about the lovely peaceful horse-back outing they had taken along the beach. They even rode the horsed into the waves. "Ahhhh..." thought Nancy, "now that's what I need." So she signed up for that day's horse-back outing. Only later - too late to turn back - did she find out that it was not along the beach.


Nancy's group started their horses up (yet again) a mountain. The path along which they slogged was rocky and rough. It was about one foot wider that the girth of a horse. And on either side thorn bushes grew high. "Lean forward!" shouted the leader, as the hill became steeper. It was very frightening. Not peaceful. Not by a longshot. Once at the top, a rest, then back down again - goody! This time it was, "Lean back!" Oh, yes, I almost forgot: the riders had to constantly pull the reigns up to keep their horses from stopping to snack on the thorn bushes. Poor Nancy. I felt really bad for laughing throughout her tale. But she thought it funny too, by then.


Here's Nancy with Cosmo. Of course, she experienced, as all do, his emotional neediness, and found him silly and pathetic.

haircut

In five minutes, Noah went from scruffy to neat. The big kids wanted me to wait til the day before Noah started school to cut his long locks. But with his hair always in his eyes, I could stand it no longer! Off it came. Here are some before and after pics. By the way, Noah was rather unconcerned about whether his hair was long or short, though he doesn't like having his hair cut, and fussed the whole time.

Cool of the Day

Remember the part of the Bible that described God walking in the cool of the day? (He would talk with Adam in Eve then - in the Garden - before they fell into sin.) Well, that's the feeling I had this morning when I took the dogs out. It was about 65 degrees, and the sun had only been awake for maybe twenty minutes. In the early-morning shade, the flowers on trees and bushes were vivid, anticipating the day to come. Perhaps they had just fluffed their skirts and freshened their make-up. I've noticed they look especially lovely in the early morning and in the evening. The evening glow may be attributed to an afternoon nap. Just speculation here, but one never knows.
I've twice now noticed something odd when I'm out walking the dogs: bees napping on the golden rain tree blossoms. Where they there all night, not have the strength, it being so long into the work season, to fly back? It is temperate at night, so they won't get cold if they stay out. This is all I can some up with.
I love the beauty of God's creation. I've always been a nature-girl. Thank You, Lord, for the lovely plants and fascinating little creatures You've made.

resist

He's so bored.
And it's so hot out.
I spied him through a window, and I just couldn't stop him ~
Noah, jumping on the couch.