Last Minute Gifts

I thought that I was all done with my shopping, when I went to pick up my daughter from work at   The Cannery Center  I saw the cutest little chair!  I had to buy it!  One of the vendors goes around and buys old furniture and makes them over.  I am a big fan of the blog "BetterAfter" and love all of the before and after shots.  I only paid $49 for the already re-finished chair and LOVE IT!

CUTE chair under the tree

Like any new piece of furniture, the cat claims it as his own

Not so calm cat after playing with his bag of catnip

Still Growing

We went out to lunch yesterday with my in-laws to celebrate my two younger childrens birthday and after they came home and we sat around and chatted.  After sitting for a while Paul wanted to move into the kitchen/family room area of our home that we are remodeling and show his parents the progress that we are making.  Our son Erik was standing close to his dad and we noticed that he looked taller.  It was funny, because he was shorter than Paul just a few weeks ago.

Erik passed up Paul

I was kind of expecting it, however, because I had to buy him new bigger shoes just more than a month ago.

Top 10 2011

Here is our Annual Christmas Card.  The kids are all getting so big and doing so much.  I love being a Mom and watching them grow!

Click to make bigger

Dating these days

There is something clearly different about teenage dating these days.  Don't get me wrong, it's not all bad.  Many LDS  teenagers are trying so hard to live good lives in today's world and follow the council given in the "For the Strength of Youth" and I applaud them for that.  It is good to see that high standards are important.  However, In talking with my teens, the very way that relationships begin may be changing drastically from my days as a teenager and generations before me.
  I was talking with my teenagers the other night over dinner. Kids don't pass notes in classes or Hallways at school. Texting on Phones or chatting online has done away with that for sure. Although part of the fun of passing notes was the possibility that you might get caught and have your note read in front of the class. A dangerous venture, for sure that many adolescents have tried just because actually TALKING to the person was too hard to let them know that you thought that they were cute. Remember those days?
You would think that with all of the advances in technology that getting to know and communicate the opposite gender would be easier, but one restaurant owner in our neighborhood lamented that many kids these days just don't know how to communicate outside of the digital or virtual world. He has seen teens come in on dates for a dance and text each other while sitting across from the table.
Personally I used to love talking on the phone, but if you ask a teenager to call one of their friends, they just give you "the look" and say that you are weird.
Then there is the problem of general apathy towards dating in among our youth. Many high school boys do not feel like they should waste their money taking a girl to a dance, movie, or other activity that involves spending money, and inexpensive creative dates are too "cheesy".
  Dances have changed drastically as well. This is because many of those that do attend formal dances have come to expect such extravagant extremes as a limo ride and a $600 dress.  Many local parents are willing to subsidize this lifestyle in order to give their children such experiences and keep up with the "Joneses".  Really... Prom does not have to turn into a $1,000 affair. Hence the apathy. Too many unrealistic expectations.  Unfortunately it seems as though ALL of the dances at the local high school have morphed into formal dances and it can get very expensive to have a "prom" dress every few months.
  Many girls I have talked to feel that dating is weird and awkward.  There is allot of confusion as to what the rules are in regards to who pays etc.  Many girls feel very independent and do not think they should date and are annoyed by boys who try to be chivalrous.  They are busy pursuing their education and careers.  It is just easier to "hang out" with friends than to pair off when they are in college.  Some more traditional girls feel embarrassed when they assume that since the boy asked and picked her up that he would also pay and then it turns out that she needed to pay.
  My oldest is still in High school, and I can only hope that by the time she gets into college that there are boys out there that have figured that gaming isn't nearly as much fun as an evening spent with a pretty girl.
  I guess I am just old school and a hopeless romantic.


Paul and I on one of many of our fun "cheap"dates involving just a camera and a roll of film... and us!

Flooded

More than a week ago it rained.  Allot. The new Patio that we had poured last month did NOT divert the water away from the house as promised, but directed water IN to the house.  Fortunately, we were in the process of pulling up flooring anyway, but the shop under the Family room  was taking in more water than before we poured the new patio.  Like 100 times more.  We started to move totes and boxes out to clean up and put sealant where the water was coming in.  It looks like we will be putting in a nice patio cover eventually, but for the time being our efforts to stop water from entering in have worked.
  We have cleaned up that flooding, but now I am dealing with a whole different sort of flooding.  Emotional flooding.  One of the Totes had all of my letters and notes from everyone except  my husband Paul from Jr high all the way into College.  I keep Paul and my letters together in their own tote, and get them out once in a while, but this one I have not gotten out and gone through in the 15 years that we have lived here.  I vaguely remember transferring  them from a cardboard box to a plastic tote about 10 years ago, but they have remained  tucked away in the corner of the shop and out of my thoughts until last week.
  I took a day and sat down and pulled out some of the boxes of letters and my journals and spent a rainy afternoon being a teenager again.  I would occasionally read some of the funny things aloud, which really annoyed some of my kids, but I wanted them to know some of the things that happened to me when I was their age.  I laughed, I cried, but most of all I was flooded with gratitude for my life and for those who came into it and touched it for the better. I counted more than 300 hand written letters, notes, greeting cards and postcards total. How touching it was to see physical evidence of the friendships that I had.

A lost art?

 
  To sum things up. Girls love letters.  They cherish them.... even the heartbreaking ones.  Write someone a handwritten letter, card, note or postcard today.  Everyone loves to get mail.