It's after 10 at night, and I feel my bed calling to me from the other end of the house. My daughter is up, finishing up her project for French, and talking to her boyfriend on the phone. She ate a snack size Snickers bar, which has her bouncing off the walls. Plus her birthday (17) is tomorrow, so she is doubly excited.
She went into her room to charge her phone, and was sitting on her bed. She then asked me if she could go jump on my bed, because hers is too short. I declined the request, I like my bed the way it is. I told her to go tuck into bed just now, as I think perhaps, (very likely) she is overtired, and this is contributing to her running and jumping all over the house. Just not on my bed.
DD reminds me so much of a toddler sometimes, with her ridiculous behavior. Then I have to see the young lady she has become, who has a deep love for Jesus, that she shares shamelessly with others. A beautiful woman who cares so much for other people, and often puts them first. She is quite independent, and very intelligent. Most of the time. There are those moments, though, when she asks to jump on the bed, or has a meltdown over chapstick. I love this kid. Happy Birthday dd!
Chela
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
spelling lessons
Today, dd (17) was at the table, and I was sitting here at the computer. Here is the conversation that ensued:
DD: how do you spell 'professor'?
Me: p-r-o-f-e-s-s-o-r
DD: I thought it was one 'f' and two 'ss'.
Me: that's what I said, isn't it? One 'f' and two 'ss'. My dad was a professor in his working years. I better know how to spell it!
DD: I can't remember if it's 'or' or 'ar'
Me: 'or', dd.
DD: no, Mom, in FRENCH!!
Me: you're on your own there, my high school didn't offer French!
DD: how do you spell 'professor'?
Me: p-r-o-f-e-s-s-o-r
DD: I thought it was one 'f' and two 'ss'.
Me: that's what I said, isn't it? One 'f' and two 'ss'. My dad was a professor in his working years. I better know how to spell it!
DD: I can't remember if it's 'or' or 'ar'
Me: 'or', dd.
DD: no, Mom, in FRENCH!!
Me: you're on your own there, my high school didn't offer French!
Thursday, October 20, 2011
I love ferrets!
We were gifted with two ferrets in early September, Allie and Daisy. We are thoroughly enjoying them. I always warn prospective ferret owners that these little carpet sharks can and will get into anything. Cupboards, drawers, potted plants, refrigerators, anything. Plus they can climb really well, which adds to their devilry. Tonight, I had my back turned for a few minutes, then turned around to find this in my kitchen.
I do love ferrets. I love their creativity, their trouble-making, and just how cute they are. Ferrets definitely keep me on my toes, more than any other pet.
God Bless,
Chela
I do love ferrets. I love their creativity, their trouble-making, and just how cute they are. Ferrets definitely keep me on my toes, more than any other pet.
God Bless,
Chela
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Fall Festival
Today was the Fall festival at our local state park. The park is wonderful enough without the fanfare and fun, but it definitely adds a big spark when they have entertainment, food, vendors, food, and things such as that.
I decided it would be great to take our pup Sweet Pea with us. What was I thinking? Fresh out of the truck, she somehow manages to unhook her leash, and she is gone! There are people driving around, tractors hauling big trailers to ferry guests down to the activities. Thanks to a lot of heavy duty praying, and some quick kids, we soon caught her, and she didn't come loose the rest of the day.
First, we headed down to the ampitheater, where dd was dancing. She, and all the girls, put on a very nice show. Hats off to everyone there. Then we moseyed around, looking at all the things on display. They had some neat exhibits, including spinning, tanning, blacksmithing, ax throwing, primitive weapons,fire trucks,and antique tractors to name just a few.
There were plenty of booths to buy things, food of course number one. We were going to get tornado potatoes, but it turns out they weren't available. Something about the machine didn't arrive with all the pieces.
I ended up getting sweet potato fries, (yummy!) and the boys chose burgers. Dh ate gator on a stick. I didn't try it, but the boys said it was quite tasteless. It looked like poor quality chicken to me. I would love to try making sweet potato fries at home, but they are so hard to slice. It doesn't seem to be worth it, unless you have a fancy machine to do that part for you.
Ds found a booth where they were selling jewelry, and found himself a nice wolf necklace. In my opinion, he made a very nice choice. A beautiful necklace, and a good price.
We were walking down by the water, when ds pointed out a wasp. It was riding on a spider, in the water,propelling with his wings like a boat motor. No, I wasn't drunk, on drugs, or dreaming. This wasp was really doing this. He zipped along on his own little jet ski. We just couldn't believe it, and he hauled along for a good long ways along the shore.
Researching this, I believe it was a spider wasp. They catch spiders, and inject a paralyzing venom. It doesn't kill the spider, just immobilizes it. Then it lays an egg on the spider. When the larvae hatch, they eat the spider alive. None of what I read mentions the spider jet ski though.
We almost got to take our dog out on the pontoon boat. They were giving tours of the lake, and it looked like a lot of fun. We could have brought Sweet Pea, but the boys told the ranger she couldn't swim, so they wouldn't let her. Bummer. Ds did ride though, and he had a very nice time.
The high school show choir performed in the afternoon, and we sat down to watch their show. I think they did a very nice job. It was very well choreographed, and very clean dancing. They sang older songs, not the new stuff, it was really refreshing. I asked dd why she hasn't gone out for show choir, as she loves singing and dancing. She replied she isn't really into doing them together, and doesn't have the vocal range she'd need. DD is so confident in life, about almost everything. Except her singing. Which is really good, by the way.
We were just about to leave, when we found out about the booth for the aquarium. We snuck over there, and looked at the King snake they had out on display. He was a good sized snake. Kings are the good guys-they eat rattlers and copperheads. So let them live! They also had an alligator on display. He was much bigger than the ones the zoo uses in education. When they get to that size, they are put on exhibit in the zoo.
So we had a wonderful day today. Got some time out of the house, saw several friends at the park, and enjoyed all the exhibits. Someone in particular was exhausted at the end of the day. This is what happens if you take the dog to a fall festival. The other pic is ds' necklace.
Chela
I decided it would be great to take our pup Sweet Pea with us. What was I thinking? Fresh out of the truck, she somehow manages to unhook her leash, and she is gone! There are people driving around, tractors hauling big trailers to ferry guests down to the activities. Thanks to a lot of heavy duty praying, and some quick kids, we soon caught her, and she didn't come loose the rest of the day.
First, we headed down to the ampitheater, where dd was dancing. She, and all the girls, put on a very nice show. Hats off to everyone there. Then we moseyed around, looking at all the things on display. They had some neat exhibits, including spinning, tanning, blacksmithing, ax throwing, primitive weapons,fire trucks,and antique tractors to name just a few.
There were plenty of booths to buy things, food of course number one. We were going to get tornado potatoes, but it turns out they weren't available. Something about the machine didn't arrive with all the pieces.
I ended up getting sweet potato fries, (yummy!) and the boys chose burgers. Dh ate gator on a stick. I didn't try it, but the boys said it was quite tasteless. It looked like poor quality chicken to me. I would love to try making sweet potato fries at home, but they are so hard to slice. It doesn't seem to be worth it, unless you have a fancy machine to do that part for you.
Ds found a booth where they were selling jewelry, and found himself a nice wolf necklace. In my opinion, he made a very nice choice. A beautiful necklace, and a good price.
We were walking down by the water, when ds pointed out a wasp. It was riding on a spider, in the water,propelling with his wings like a boat motor. No, I wasn't drunk, on drugs, or dreaming. This wasp was really doing this. He zipped along on his own little jet ski. We just couldn't believe it, and he hauled along for a good long ways along the shore.
Researching this, I believe it was a spider wasp. They catch spiders, and inject a paralyzing venom. It doesn't kill the spider, just immobilizes it. Then it lays an egg on the spider. When the larvae hatch, they eat the spider alive. None of what I read mentions the spider jet ski though.
We almost got to take our dog out on the pontoon boat. They were giving tours of the lake, and it looked like a lot of fun. We could have brought Sweet Pea, but the boys told the ranger she couldn't swim, so they wouldn't let her. Bummer. Ds did ride though, and he had a very nice time.
The high school show choir performed in the afternoon, and we sat down to watch their show. I think they did a very nice job. It was very well choreographed, and very clean dancing. They sang older songs, not the new stuff, it was really refreshing. I asked dd why she hasn't gone out for show choir, as she loves singing and dancing. She replied she isn't really into doing them together, and doesn't have the vocal range she'd need. DD is so confident in life, about almost everything. Except her singing. Which is really good, by the way.
We were just about to leave, when we found out about the booth for the aquarium. We snuck over there, and looked at the King snake they had out on display. He was a good sized snake. Kings are the good guys-they eat rattlers and copperheads. So let them live! They also had an alligator on display. He was much bigger than the ones the zoo uses in education. When they get to that size, they are put on exhibit in the zoo.
So we had a wonderful day today. Got some time out of the house, saw several friends at the park, and enjoyed all the exhibits. Someone in particular was exhausted at the end of the day. This is what happens if you take the dog to a fall festival. The other pic is ds' necklace.
Chela
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
zoo trip
Here are a couple of pictures from my trip to the zoo today. Only a few actually came out of all the ones I took, but I think they are really cute.
The little critter on the rock is a meerkat. They are from Africa, and live in colonies. They have long burrows under the ground for safety and nesting. They have a fairly complex society with many jobs, such as babysitter,and sentry(who sits on termite mounds and watches for enemies). They have a different call for a land predator, or an aerial predator. The one in my pic is upset because of the backhoe being used near their exhibit. He relaxed a few minutes later.
The Serval was so relaxed next to the fence, I had to take his picture. He gave me a silent meow when I walked up to him. A warning, or a hello? Servals are also from Africa. They are extremely agile, and can jump 10' straight up in the air to catch a bird. They are hunted for their pelts, which are then sold as cheetah cub pelts. However, they are not cheetahs.
Bison of course are American animals. They used to inhabit much of N. America, but now are confined to protected areas. A bull may weigh over a ton, a cow half as much. They are our heaviest land animal. They can run 30 mph.
Hope you enjoy a little trip to the zoo!
Chela
The little critter on the rock is a meerkat. They are from Africa, and live in colonies. They have long burrows under the ground for safety and nesting. They have a fairly complex society with many jobs, such as babysitter,and sentry(who sits on termite mounds and watches for enemies). They have a different call for a land predator, or an aerial predator. The one in my pic is upset because of the backhoe being used near their exhibit. He relaxed a few minutes later.
The Serval was so relaxed next to the fence, I had to take his picture. He gave me a silent meow when I walked up to him. A warning, or a hello? Servals are also from Africa. They are extremely agile, and can jump 10' straight up in the air to catch a bird. They are hunted for their pelts, which are then sold as cheetah cub pelts. However, they are not cheetahs.
Bison of course are American animals. They used to inhabit much of N. America, but now are confined to protected areas. A bull may weigh over a ton, a cow half as much. They are our heaviest land animal. They can run 30 mph.
Hope you enjoy a little trip to the zoo!
Chela
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Deep Sea Fishing
Let's see where to start this...we had visitors the middle of September, and thoroughly enjoyed them. My dad and sister came out to visit us, and go to FL for some deep sea fishing. I promise next time to be more organized, and avoid what turned out to be quite a comedy of errors. Although it didn't seem to be comedy at the time, that's for sure.
Our company arrived on Friday evening, and we were all packed to head to the beach. Then we find out our hotel has cancelled our reservation. Great. Okay, let's just stay here for the weekend then. We can go to the winery, paddle boating to look for alligators, to the pumpkin patch for honey, lots of things around here.
We call the charter boat company, and they say no way, you can't cancel. We need 18 people to take the boat out, (our group was less than 18 people, but the biggest group going) we'll charge you anyway. So in the car we go, and off to FL.
It was late when we arrived, and more hotel headaches of which I will spare you the details. By the time we finally got settled, it was about 1am. We did end up in a nice hotel with adjoining rooms, which was really nice to get. Off to dreamland, to enjoy visions of dolphins and big fish on our hooks.
Up again early that morning, 5am. We rush through breakfast, and haul tail over to the dock to catch our boat. We arrive a few minutes early of our 7:30am show time. See the tumbleweeds, hear the crickets? Yeah, there is no-one there. No other passengers; there should be 12 other people showing up now. No crew readying the boat.
We call, and it turns out, that although we can't cancel on them, they sure can cancel on us. And they did. Great, thanks. After all we've gone through for this trip, now the main event is cancelled. After some discussion, we decided to split up, and mosey on the docks, see if any other boats would be interested in taking us out.
I had the boys with me, and although we didn't see anyone else, we did find an interesting form of advertisement. One captain thought it would bring in customers to throw dead sharks on the dock behind his boat. Um, I don't believe in killing what you don't eat, so to waste those beautiful animals is not going to get my business.
By the time we rejoined, the other group had us a boat, and a crew. We would be going out on the Barracuda at 11am. This gave us time to stock up on provisions, and maybe get a bite to eat if we needed it.
We had a wonderful time on the ocean. The crew was so nice to us, and so friendly. They allowed us to be as "hands on" as we wanted, such as baiting our own hooks, etc. The deck hand talked to us about the fish we were catching, interesting stories about other fishing boats, just a nice guy all around.
The first two fish we caught were Bonita. They are really pretty fish, silver with rainbow colors on them. Then we got to our fishing spot, and started pulling in snapper. They are so pretty! Big red fish, little teeth in their mouths. Then ds got something big on his line. It took a lot of work, and several people helping for him to land his big prize. At one point, ds was getting really discouraged, and I leaned up and whispered "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Phil 4:13. Shortly after that, ds had his fish! A 15 lb grouper!
I don't know if I've ever seen ds smile the way he did with that fish. He was so proud of himself!! We took several pictures of ds and his fish. He caught the biggest one of the day. That just completely made the fishing trip for ds. If he caught nothing else, (and he did), it would have been enough. I am so grateful he caught it. Maybe later on in life, when things get tough, he can think back, and say, 'I can do this, I landed that grouper!.'
We saw hundreds and hundreds of huge jellyfish. They were everywhere, and I was so worried we would catch one. Imagine a Christmas turkey or goose, or ham. Then imagine how big the platter would be to serve it to your guests. That's how big the jellyfish were. They were everywhere! I sure wouldn't want to jump in and swim at that point.
We had our lines in the water, and suddenly noticed this thing swimming around them that looked like a little shark! We were close, it was a ramora, which is a smaller fish that attaches itself to the shark, and feeds on it's scraps. My sister moved her pole over next to mine, in hopes that one of us would catch him. He finally took my bait, and I had him hooked.
The deckhand showed us the suction plate on top of the fish's head. It made him look upside down. If you put your hand flat on it, the fish would stick to your hand. After we all tried, it, the guy stuck the fish to the side of the boat. He said it would stay there until we got back to the dock if we let it. We released him though. Then he stuck around and stole everyone's bait!
DD caught a snapper, and after admiring it, and getting pictures, she let it go. Unfortunately, the experience had been really rough on him, and he wasn't doing so well back in the water. He laid on the top of the water until a dolphin snuck in and gobbled him up. Oops.
The dolphins were amazing though. There was a pod of five, most of which were mommas and babies. Baby dolphins are adorable, by the way. A miniature replica of their parents. They killed the fishing, but we sure enjoyed watching them for a while. A dolphin cruise, and fishing trip in one!
Ds caught a trigger fish, he was pretty proud of his catch. Trigger fish have two sets of dorsal fins. They can make on erect, and the other one flat, then vise versa. This makes it incredibly difficult for predators to pull them out of holes, or swallow them.
All too soon it was time to head back to shore. The boys were done fishing by this time, but I could have stayed out for hours more. We had a truly wonderful time catching fish, watching dolphins, and admiring the jelly fish. Oh, and I learned something else out there. Sunglasses cut the glare on the water, making it much easier to see what is down below. A great argument for Transitions lenses.
We headed back to our hotel, then went to dinner. It turns out that the first charter cancelling on us was a blessing in disguise. I love when God does that! You can look back and say, "Thank you! I didn't realize it at the time, but now I see what you were doing!" If we had gone on the first charter, we'd have been out on the water with 12 other people, for 8 hours, with no food or water. I'm afraid we'd have been miserable. As it was, we were the only people out there, (6 of us), and we had food and water. A much more pleasant trip, and only 4 hours.
The next morning, we were trying to figure out what to do with our day. We decided to go to the beach, although this one was about an hour away. We went to one of our favorite dept stores, and browsed around. They sell beach supplies, clothing, shoes, swimsuits, toys, hermit crabs, shells, decorations, etc etc. LOL It's a huge store. Things had improved a lot since the last time I was there, which was a good thing.
The beach was a lot of fun. Everyone enjoyed the sand bar, where you could be really far out, and still in shallow water. We found a lot of little shells as well. The birds were a lot of fun to watch as they hunted for food along the shore.
Thank You Jesus for such a wonderfully fun trip. Thank You for changing our plans for the better, and for all the fish we caught. We had a great time catching up, and catching fish. The dolpins were amazing, too. And thank You for ds' grouper. I love You! Amen.
Our company arrived on Friday evening, and we were all packed to head to the beach. Then we find out our hotel has cancelled our reservation. Great. Okay, let's just stay here for the weekend then. We can go to the winery, paddle boating to look for alligators, to the pumpkin patch for honey, lots of things around here.
We call the charter boat company, and they say no way, you can't cancel. We need 18 people to take the boat out, (our group was less than 18 people, but the biggest group going) we'll charge you anyway. So in the car we go, and off to FL.
It was late when we arrived, and more hotel headaches of which I will spare you the details. By the time we finally got settled, it was about 1am. We did end up in a nice hotel with adjoining rooms, which was really nice to get. Off to dreamland, to enjoy visions of dolphins and big fish on our hooks.
Up again early that morning, 5am. We rush through breakfast, and haul tail over to the dock to catch our boat. We arrive a few minutes early of our 7:30am show time. See the tumbleweeds, hear the crickets? Yeah, there is no-one there. No other passengers; there should be 12 other people showing up now. No crew readying the boat.
We call, and it turns out, that although we can't cancel on them, they sure can cancel on us. And they did. Great, thanks. After all we've gone through for this trip, now the main event is cancelled. After some discussion, we decided to split up, and mosey on the docks, see if any other boats would be interested in taking us out.
I had the boys with me, and although we didn't see anyone else, we did find an interesting form of advertisement. One captain thought it would bring in customers to throw dead sharks on the dock behind his boat. Um, I don't believe in killing what you don't eat, so to waste those beautiful animals is not going to get my business.
By the time we rejoined, the other group had us a boat, and a crew. We would be going out on the Barracuda at 11am. This gave us time to stock up on provisions, and maybe get a bite to eat if we needed it.
We had a wonderful time on the ocean. The crew was so nice to us, and so friendly. They allowed us to be as "hands on" as we wanted, such as baiting our own hooks, etc. The deck hand talked to us about the fish we were catching, interesting stories about other fishing boats, just a nice guy all around.
The first two fish we caught were Bonita. They are really pretty fish, silver with rainbow colors on them. Then we got to our fishing spot, and started pulling in snapper. They are so pretty! Big red fish, little teeth in their mouths. Then ds got something big on his line. It took a lot of work, and several people helping for him to land his big prize. At one point, ds was getting really discouraged, and I leaned up and whispered "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Phil 4:13. Shortly after that, ds had his fish! A 15 lb grouper!
I don't know if I've ever seen ds smile the way he did with that fish. He was so proud of himself!! We took several pictures of ds and his fish. He caught the biggest one of the day. That just completely made the fishing trip for ds. If he caught nothing else, (and he did), it would have been enough. I am so grateful he caught it. Maybe later on in life, when things get tough, he can think back, and say, 'I can do this, I landed that grouper!.'
We saw hundreds and hundreds of huge jellyfish. They were everywhere, and I was so worried we would catch one. Imagine a Christmas turkey or goose, or ham. Then imagine how big the platter would be to serve it to your guests. That's how big the jellyfish were. They were everywhere! I sure wouldn't want to jump in and swim at that point.
We had our lines in the water, and suddenly noticed this thing swimming around them that looked like a little shark! We were close, it was a ramora, which is a smaller fish that attaches itself to the shark, and feeds on it's scraps. My sister moved her pole over next to mine, in hopes that one of us would catch him. He finally took my bait, and I had him hooked.
The deckhand showed us the suction plate on top of the fish's head. It made him look upside down. If you put your hand flat on it, the fish would stick to your hand. After we all tried, it, the guy stuck the fish to the side of the boat. He said it would stay there until we got back to the dock if we let it. We released him though. Then he stuck around and stole everyone's bait!
DD caught a snapper, and after admiring it, and getting pictures, she let it go. Unfortunately, the experience had been really rough on him, and he wasn't doing so well back in the water. He laid on the top of the water until a dolphin snuck in and gobbled him up. Oops.
The dolphins were amazing though. There was a pod of five, most of which were mommas and babies. Baby dolphins are adorable, by the way. A miniature replica of their parents. They killed the fishing, but we sure enjoyed watching them for a while. A dolphin cruise, and fishing trip in one!
Ds caught a trigger fish, he was pretty proud of his catch. Trigger fish have two sets of dorsal fins. They can make on erect, and the other one flat, then vise versa. This makes it incredibly difficult for predators to pull them out of holes, or swallow them.
All too soon it was time to head back to shore. The boys were done fishing by this time, but I could have stayed out for hours more. We had a truly wonderful time catching fish, watching dolphins, and admiring the jelly fish. Oh, and I learned something else out there. Sunglasses cut the glare on the water, making it much easier to see what is down below. A great argument for Transitions lenses.
We headed back to our hotel, then went to dinner. It turns out that the first charter cancelling on us was a blessing in disguise. I love when God does that! You can look back and say, "Thank you! I didn't realize it at the time, but now I see what you were doing!" If we had gone on the first charter, we'd have been out on the water with 12 other people, for 8 hours, with no food or water. I'm afraid we'd have been miserable. As it was, we were the only people out there, (6 of us), and we had food and water. A much more pleasant trip, and only 4 hours.
The next morning, we were trying to figure out what to do with our day. We decided to go to the beach, although this one was about an hour away. We went to one of our favorite dept stores, and browsed around. They sell beach supplies, clothing, shoes, swimsuits, toys, hermit crabs, shells, decorations, etc etc. LOL It's a huge store. Things had improved a lot since the last time I was there, which was a good thing.
The beach was a lot of fun. Everyone enjoyed the sand bar, where you could be really far out, and still in shallow water. We found a lot of little shells as well. The birds were a lot of fun to watch as they hunted for food along the shore.
Thank You Jesus for such a wonderfully fun trip. Thank You for changing our plans for the better, and for all the fish we caught. We had a great time catching up, and catching fish. The dolpins were amazing, too. And thank You for ds' grouper. I love You! Amen.
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