More Random thoughts

I keep having these random thoughts about things I should post. Of course I don't actually write or post any of them.  That is just the way I am.  Here is list number 2:

• Mornings
• School Busses
• Cancer
• Girls Camp
• Hot Flashes
• Chife
• Lists
• Making the bed (this one requires pictures to understand, just have to take them)

I am sure I will have more random thoughts and make another list that I may or may not post.  I may or may not even share these random thoughts.  I just think them, at odd times like when I am taking the dog out to do his job, or while waiting for the toast to pop up, or in the shower, or driving to work, or in the twilight moments just before you go to sleep or early waking moments. Some of my best thoughts happen at 5 a.m. when I don't want to open the eyes and jot them down. So they never get shared, because I can remember those thoughts in as creative as a way when I am fully awake.  Sad that my best thoughts are when I am not really awake. That says something about me, I am a dozey person. Enough about random thoughts for now.

Random Thoughts

I realize it has been almost a year since I last posted.  It is obvious that I am not a great blogger.  Some of my friends and acquaintances post regularly, almost daily.  NOT ME.  Getting pictures ready to add, being creative in what I write, finding the time and inspiration, these all stress me out.  Extra stress in my life is something I do not need, especially now.  So, what am I doing here, writing, blogging.  I have thought about this for some time.  I have a lot of random thoughts.  I suspect most people do. So for the next year I am going to share some of those random thoughts, no deep, dark secrets, no real pictures, just random thoughts about things or people in my life. 
Some of thoughts may include:

Parents and aging

              Children and my aging

The dog and other pets

My new hair color according to my hairdresser

Winter / snow / cold

My family / siblings / in-laws and out-laws

Church callings (Young Womens, my current)

The Temple

Traveling

The balancing act of marriage, house, job, school, temple, church callings, and yes, even facebook

Education and goals

Teenagers

Goals or lack thereof

Holidays

Yard Work and even worse, house work

Cooking--

Eating out

Shopping: clothes, food, furniture, paint color

Yaa

TV Shows we watch (Dowton Abby and more) and why

Out my back door or front door

 

I will not write daily, I will not write weekly, I may not write for many weeks or maybe even months, nothing regular. So if you really want to read my rambles you must check back once in a while. And if you do not want to peruse them, which I wouldn't blame you, after all these are only thoughts, nothing important, nothing that will make or break your eternal salvation, then no loss.  And if you do read them and want to share your own ramblings or random thoughts about any of the above subjects on you own blog, leave me a message so I can wander over to your blog and read. 

Also did I mention there will not be a lot of pictures.  I take them, a lot of them, but have not been in the mood to post them. 

 

Spring in Potato Land

The calendar says spring and the flowers are trying to be beautiful, but mother nature hasn't decided it is spring. This is what we woke up to three days before Easter. Seriously, 3 inches of snow, and buried beneath it ....

Not these, they had already put on their performance. Sadly, the weather was too cold and I was too busy to go out and enjoy them it their full glory.

These are what were hiding beneath all that cold snow. It warmed up nicely and the snow quickly melted.

These Johnny-jump-ups will brave any weather, they are usually the first and the last to bloom. Some people refer to them as weeds, but I plant them anyway. I love their boldness. They can take over for a few weeks, so enjoyable.

I love the first blooms of spring, they are a warm up for what is yet to come.

Random shows of fall

The final frost was a little late in coming. I took a few shots of the most determined flowers.
The morning before we blew out the sprinklers they ran one more time. It was chilly to say the least and the ice coated everything, like a magical icy wonderland.

If you can't tell these are Johnny Jump-ups. Yellow Daisies

Petunias, obviously before the ice

the Yellow Daisies in their glory

Roses

Cosmos

Apple (I know not a flower)

Gillardia

Cosmos waving in the late afternoon sun

Maple tree that put on a it's own performance

Mother Nature was generous this fall with her colors

October quickly fades into November. . .

I can't believe how quickly this last two months have gone by. It seems all I ever have time for anymore is homework and more homework. I am not a great writer and the English class I am taking requires a fair amount, not to mention the reading. I love to read, but reading and analyzing is not so easy. I can say I am a more open minded reader.

Now for the second Sunday out my back door.

In October the trees were doing some serious changing. The first serious frost was slow in coming so there were still some flowers blooming. I am not posting any of them although I took plenty of pictures. November was a definite change. Winter has arrived, cold, windy and just not nice at all.

The poor tree is making a desperate attempt to hang on to a few final leaves. Sadly no matter how hard it tries it will not succeed.

My reading book goal is behind, my indexing goal is behind, my house is a mess, my life is out of control. I need to get back to the homework.

Second Sunday, Second Sunday. . . .

I don't have a problem taking a picture out my backdoor, I just have a problem taking time to post them. Thus I am doing two months in one. I admire those who do it daily, weekly or monthly. Blogging just isn't one of my finer qualities.
The second Sunday in August we had a brief but forceful rainstorm and I just happened to catch it. It's times like this I wish I had a really nice camera. The branches are right next to the house so staying dry was easy. We haven't had a lot of rain since the first of July, this is typical for our area.
Lots of sunshine helped the garden to grow. We have enjoyed strawberries, raspberries, peas, potatoes, onions, summer squash, tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, corn, peppers, tomatillos, and of course zucchini. Some meals are determined by what's ripe that day. Love those meals. This has also meant doing a little canning. I don't necessarily love the work, but totally love the sound of bottles sealing and looking at the newly bottled food lined up on the shelf. So rewarding.
The flowers have done their share of blooming. Just once I will catch the perfect shot.

We were even lucky to have a butterfly stop by for a visit. One of those better camera wishful moments for sure, especially since butterflies are not great about posing.

We gave a few train rides. One of the riders found the apple trees, which are a long ways from being ripe. He tried them out anyway. This is his pucker up and eat a green apple look which was as cute as his 'feel my muscles' pose. Luckily the season for train rides is slowing down. Only one or two more rides to give.

One of the perks of living where we do is the sunsets. There is usually enough dust and clouds in the air for mother nature to be very creative. This one night the sky was particularly yellowish with a rainbow trying make itself known. Spectacular for sure.

Amongst all the happy positives, we must throw in a little sadness as we said good-bye to Patches. She ran across the road at the wrong time. She will be missed. Her personality was so fun as she picked on the dog, took naps in the window sill, followed us around in the yard as she practiced her stalking technique, brought us in live mice and birds for presents, and begged to be held like a baby and petted. Ten months is just to0 short of a life. We buried her by the train, close to where we found her as a kitten one bitter winter night.

Then rolls in September with football. Some days we will have 2 different flag football games and a regular grid kid game going on in the field behind the house. If it happens to be night then we can work late in the yard by the light of the fields. This is my favorite sport for them to play out there. The parents and fans really get involved.

If you look closely you will notice some definite yellow, fall in only a week away so it is inevitable that they trees should start turning. This particular tree is the last to bloom and the first to shed. Next month the picture will show it bare. :(

As for the rest of my goals in life, I have over 30 books checked off. Did a lot of reading this summer. One series in particular, "the immortal Nicholas Flamel" by Michael Scott caught my interest. I shared it with Patrick and we devoured them. I have also been reading the "Alcatraz" series by Brandon Sanderson. He has a great interpretation of librarians. A lot of what I read is designed for jr and sr high school students. I need to be able to recommend or at least know what they are looking for in a book.

As for my indexing, sadly it is getting behind. All the easy stuff is done, requiring me to work on the more challenging stuff, which obviously takes longer. I have about 1625 names to do to meet my goal of 5000.

I am enrolled in two more classes up to BYU-I. I hope I can keep up, so far I am doing okay, but time will tell. One of them happens to be New Testament II. This is what I am teaching in SS. so hopefully this will help me be a better teacher, if I more fully understand what I am teaching.
High school is going strong. It is always fun to see what kind of adventures we will have with the incoming sophomores. They have new rules to learn. It's amazing the change they make when they realize we expect them to be responsible and act more grown up. Sadly I am already looking forward to my next break. I like sleeping in.

Each day is a new adventure.

Second Sunday

Yes, I know, it has been three months since I last posted, two missing first Sundays. I am going to make up for it. This was the second Sunday in May. The lawn is greening up, the trees have their first buds. Sadly the sky is gloomy. That was our spring, gloomy, wet, rainy, windy, basically miserable not much to look at. What you can't see in the picture is that despite all the clouds and rain we did have a few flowers.

The trees put forth their share of blossoms (does wonders for the spring allergies).

I read, continued with my class at college, ended the public school year (yeah for summer break) blew the dust off the lawn mower and started planting the garden.

This is the second Sunday in June, still not a lot of sunshine, which made for a slow growing garden. The trees leafed out more, the grass grew, the weeds grew and I read, studied, and planted more garden. Through the month the flowers began to open in their glory. One day I counted Lilies, Phlox, Rock Cress, Daisies, Lion's Bane(not sure the name is correct), Johnny Jump-ups, ornamental and real Strawberries, Lilacs, Gold basket, the last of the tulips, and of course dandelions to make up a plethora of colors. There were several others but I can't remember their names.

Just a sampling of the orange lilies and the daisies.

We had some beautiful sunsets, something we have a lot of around here in potato land. This one was on the Fourth of July.

Which brings us to today.

This is the view for the next couple of months. Branches of green with glimpses of life beyond.

Three nights out of the week beyond the green this is what can be seen, soccer players running in every direction. Some nights it looks as if a bag of skittles has been spilled across the playground with all the colors. We throw open the windows and listen to the cheers of the parents. It's one of the happiest sounds on earth. Can't help but love it.

I'm up to 24 books read, it's coming along slowly but surely. I have also indexed a total of 2790 names for the year. Not doing so good with the arbitrating. We also turned in about 20 names for temple work. Hopefully the summer will slow down, the garden will grow (picked the first strawberries yesterday) and we can get some serious playing done.