The Life of a Recalled Toy

A bunch of Polly Pocket toys were recently recalled (little magnet that can fall out). And guess what, we had a few of those sets. So I told the girls and we started gathering them up. And now they are the favorite toy! Do I keep them? They are pretty safe around my girls, they aren't going to put something like that in their mouth. I'm afraid though, that once they do finally get tired of playing with them that I'll forget about the recall and donate it somewhere, putting lives in jeopardy!! OK, maybe not so much.

You know the phrase "don't know what you've got until it's gone"? I've been having some "didn't know I'd not had it until I had it again" moments. Like last night. We had lightning! I grew up terrified of it (OK, actually I was terrified of fire; didn't help that 4th of July when we were at the neighbors and Bert said "oh, looks like that one hit your house") but I really enjoyed watching it last night. You don't get that kind of streak lightning in Western Washington very much. Another thing I didn't realize is absent on the west side of the state: magpies. Yup, those big black and white birds that are all over the place here.

I spent my first two school days doing pretty much nothing. Today I should probably do something. Time to go return things at Staples, go to the Post Office, and and and.....who knows what!

National Waffle Week begins Sunday!

Back to School!!

Today was Day 2 of the new school year for the Rawls girls. Yee-haw! Justin was able to go into work a little later yesterday so he could be around for their first morning. I drove the girls to school and they took the bus home. Sounds like it was a good first day! For the first time in three years, Audrey did not state that "snack" or "lunch" was her favorite part of the school day! It was music instead.

Audrey made some new friends. But in typical first grader fashion, she didn't know their names. Emma said she didn't meet anybody. Today though, she came home and said she'd made two friends!! Both girls like their teachers and seem to be adjusting well to a new school and town.

I'm sure you're wondering how I did this morning getting them on the bus. I appreciate your concern.... The bus came early. Not super early, but before I had started a look-out. (the bus drives up the hill into our neighborhood, then stops at our house on the way back---just fine for watching the bus come and then heading out to wait) Luckily the bus driver called me to see if he'd be picking up the girls. So now I'll be looking out earlier. But....Audrey got off the bus today and said the bus would be ten minutes late tomorrow. Okaay....in the morning? afternoon? both?? Guess we'll find out tomorrow. I'm hoping that I can keep up with this new schedule, if for no other reason than to look at Kristi and say "Ha!". :) hee hee hee.

I watched Akeelah and the Bee today. Holy cow, did I bawl or what??? Was I supposed to cry like that, or was I overly emotional? Whatever the reason, it was a good movie. Glad I went ahead and watched it instead of returning it tonight unwatched. All thanks to Brian and his blog "Word Daze"!

If there were no schools to take the children away from home part of the time, the insane asylums would be filled with mothers. ~Edgar W. Howe

How true is that??

Similarities in books

The Worthy was about fraternity hazing.

The Mangler of Malibu Canyon had beheaded bodies.

Size 14 Isn't Fat Either has a body without a head, and there's a teaser about fraternity hazing.

Anyone else sensing a theme here??


"Off with his head!"
--From King Richard III (III, iv, 76)

Waverly Cemetery Photos

I emailed some of my photos of the Waverly Cemetery to Grave Addiction and they were posted on today's update. Grave Addiction Update Look for number 15!

I found the pictures!

Emma's having fun tubing on Hayden Lake.

Audrey has fun too!

Here's my new computer background. I love old cemeteries! This one is in Waverly--you can see my dad or brother's combine in the background.

I just kinda liked how this one turned out. Too bad I never remember to turn off the date stamp on my camera! grrrrrrr


I'm glad I finally found these pictures. I think I need some computer help. Like making sure everything is where it should be and accessible to me. Maybe someday....

This is not going to be good for me.....

....or maybe it will. I called the bus garage yesterday to find out what time and where the bus will pick up the girls. They catch the bus down the street at (ok, give me a minute.....breathe deeply.....sip tea....pop a Xanax....ok, maybe not the Xanax, but they always do that in books!) 7:12 a.m. And I thought I got up early today when I stumbled out of bed at 7:30!!! Justin said something to the effect of "Golly, we can get up at the same time and have coffee together." Yeah right. It's going to be both of us in bed, staying in as long as possible, and then when one of us thinks "well, fine, if he/she isn't going to get up I guess I will so I can get in the shower right away" that's when the other one will get up out of bed (because he/she had been thinking of it mere seconds before the other one) and into the shower. I suppose I should start practicing this whole "get up early thing". I have a little time.... School starts Wednesday and I'll drive them that day.

Last night we attended the New Student Orientation at Grant Elementary School. It was great to go and see the school, find out about some of the programs, meet the principal and the intern principal and the counselor. Mr. Garcia, the counselor, is a kick in the pants. Sounds like he is extremely kid-focused and fun. He says when it snows he heads out to the field and helps kids build forts, he teaches students to sing the WSU Fight Song to teachers who are Husky fans, all sorts of fun stuff! Last night Justin said that Mr. Garcia's job sounded awfully tempting...(Justin's having a really stressful week at work; yeah, maybe even more so than usual)

So I mentioned the intern principal...Guess what. I went to high school with him. Brian Ellis, he was a year ahead of me. It's funny to realize that in a town this small (by some standards, although it's fairly good-sized to me) there are three of us who graduated from Liberty High School in the 80s/90s.

The lack of household organization is starting to drive me batty. I'm still using a card table for my computer (alas, that means no puzzles), my printer isn't even hooked up, and I have a corner filled with craft supplies and no place to put them. Yet. Add to that the mess of toys, and the boxes of games and puzzles that are still homeless. I shoved most of our movies into a three drawer bin, but there are still others waiting for placement. The good news is that it is no longer sweltering up here in the computer/TV/play room. I told the girls that we may soon be able to rent movies---and actually watch them! Oh, seating would be nice up here too. I reclined on pillows and watched a movie the other night (Take the Lead with Antonio Banderas, it was really quite good) until my buttocks fell asleep!

I updated my "Books I've Read" list the other day and realized I'd forgotten one. This is one of the many times I've wished the library kept a record of books I've checked out. I can't remember the title or author. And I tried Googling keywords and doing the same at NovelList, but came up with nothing. So if you know of a book about: a woman who owns a winery; the theft of a takapu (an endangered bird from "New Zealand"); it's a romance and a mystery; let me know the title! I think the character(s) have names that can have double meaning like "Trouble" or something (like the guy is Damien Trouble and the title is "Playing with Trouble", y'know, something kind of punny). Need to add the book I started this morning after staying up a couple hours last night to finish one. And then....I couldn't sleep!! I considered starting another book, but although reading might help some people fall asleep, it doesn't work that way with me!

Enough procrastinating! Time to pay bills, clean the house, shop for groceries (maybe even figure out dinner), and shop for school supplies and a desk and other storage. We're almost done with the school supply hunt, but for some reason I cannot find loose leaf paper at Wal-Mart. Isn't that something that is usually on pallets and set in the aisle right by the other school supplies?? Not in Ephrata I guess. Oh, I have laundry to finish too. Guess I have my day set!

The average, healthy, well-adjusted adult gets up at seven-thirty in the morning feeling just plain terrible. ~Jean Kerr, Please Don't Eat the Daisies, 1957

Oh my goodness!!! I am "average, healthy, and well-adjusted"!!!!

I have a "carpe diem" mug and, truthfully, at six in the morning the words do not make me want to seize the day. They make me want to slap a dead poet. ~Joanne Sherman

OK, had to pay homage to one of my top three movies of all time!!!!

But I'd gotten used to the heat.....

And now we're having highs in the low 80s? Brrrrr! OK, maybe not brrrr, per se, but it still doesn't feel the same. Guess that means summer is ending.

I took the girls to their new school yesterday. They'll be attending Grant. First thing I saw when we walked to the door was a flyer announcing the New Student Orientation on August 22nd. Of course I'm rarely aware of the actual date....so I panicked. Did we miss it? I hastily flipped open my Anne Taintor Engagement Calendar and was thrilled to note that we had not missed it. It's tomorrow night. Whew! The secretary and counselor were extremely helpful and very nice. As a bonus we met a first grade teacher in the hallway---won't know until Wednesday night if she's Audrey's teacher though. School starts next Wednesday.

The weekend before last we went to Silverwood Theme Park. And get this.....Justin took Friday off!!!! He even stopped answering his cell phone when I gave him the withering look of wifely disgust. We all went on Timber Terror---one of the big wooden roller coasters. Audrey and I vowed to never go on another one again. My shins still hurt! I felt like I was being pulled out of my seat, so I forced my legs under the car in front so that I could stay in and then clutched Audrey so she wouldn't fall out either. Yes, I know that we wouldn't really fall out. But that didn't stop me from being totally neurotic about it! Sheesh. Emma loved the roller coaster and she and Justin went on another one, twice. This one was metal and went upside down. They both said it was much smoother than the wooden one and easier to go on. Maybe next time. Yeah, right!

After Silverwood we stayed in Hayden with David and his friend Hazel. Wonderful hospitality!! And now we have a new obsession.....finding lakefront property. We don't need much---just some water access. I could sit on a dock and read all day. Aahhhh.... The girls wore their life jackets and swam near the dock. We took the boat out and the girls had a blast tubing. Yes, I do have pictures, but I seem to have experienced a large problem with my photos/computer today. Hopefully I'll get it figured out soon and can post some pictures.

Last week the girls and I went to Spokane to shop for school clothes. And get this....Emma got her ears pierced! Yeah, I know, I always said 12 or 13, but for some reason I changed my mind. I'm allowed to do that, right? OK.

I've raised a couple of city girl hicks. They were afraid of the combines when we went out to see my dad and Wes. But then at the mall they wanted to ride the escalators because they were so exciting! Funny kids.

Wes was harvesting right across from the Waverly Cemetery and I took some really great pictures--including some black and whites that I'm quite happy with. But again there's that whole Kodak/pictures disappearing. Gotta work on that. I was going through those pictures to send to the GraveAddiction website when it all went kaplooey.

On our way to the field Audrey said "I just saw a chicken cross the road! Or maybe it was a cat." Oooookaaaayy... On our way back I pointed out two pheasants to the girls. Audrey said, "That's what I saw!" Oh dear. A career in zoology is not in that girl's future.

Oh, Audrey also has a very cute new haircut! I was planning on posting a picture, but y'know....

I guess that's about it for now. Time to feed the girls and get them to bed (thier new bunk beds that is). We need to get in the habit of going to bed earlier. A lot earlier. But it's hard to make those changes.



Are you ready? August 22nd is Southern Hemisphere Hoodie Hoo Day!!!

Scouting.....

So if you don't hear from me for a few days, you may want to check Moses Lake. The girls and I are going to go over there after library today. I have no idea where I'm going! I found out yesterday that Wal-Mart here in town is out of kids lifejackets. Hence the need to travel. blech Moses Lake feels like one of those towns that's built at an angle. I don't deal well with that.

Wish me luck!

This week is Don't Wait! Celebrate! Week

Is Ephrata "home" now?

It's been a while since I've written anything here. Been a while since I updated my list of books too. I think I'm forgetting one after Pretty is as Pretty Does. By the way, don't read that particular book. A reviewer on the front cover called it "funny" but for some reason I didn't pick up a lot of humor in a book about a vain, self-centered young woman who has an affair less than a month after she gets married.

I finally broke down and bought Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I'm feeling rather sad at not being able to look forward to another book. But what do you think? Will J.K. Rowling do a spin-off? Take another character from the book and turn it into an all new best-seller? And if she does, would I read it? Hmmmmm.

We're starting to get used to living in Ephrata now. The girls have made some friends. We've met a couple of neighbors and they are all very nice. School starts at the end of this month!! That will certainly make some huge changes. I need to find out when the class information comes out---y'know, find out what time school begins and ends, which school the girls are in (for sure), where and when the bus comes. All those minor issues!

Time to be productive. Ha ha ha ha ha!! OK, time to drink tea. How's that?

Never kick a cow chip on a hot day. ~Proverb