days in the life of a
Previous POSTS
October 2011
click here to read older October 2011 posts....
October 26, 2011
ALL ABOARD!
In what has become an October tradition, Dana took the boys on a train ride to Punkin Junction...and I tagged along.
Karter and Kaden were all smiles!
It's not a fancy outing. The train is...um, how shall I say it...the train is SEASONED.
The boys had their tickets...
...and their adorable smiles!
We rumbled, rocked, and rolled through the bean and cornfields for a pleasant 20-minute ride on a beautiful October morning.
My traveling companions were the best...and cutest!
Karter sat very still and looked out the train window.
Kaden looked out the window a little, but mostly he wiggled and said, "Chugga-chugga-choo-choo" over and over and over and over and over and over and...
We crossed the Big Blue River. Come on, now...it's just a name...
We detrained at the Carthage station for a brief stop...
...to stretch our legs and get a few wiggles out.
Kaden did a little dancing on an old rusty rail car.
Karter practiced his balance by walking the rails. In his shades, of course!
We watched...
...as they moved the little blue engine....
...from one end of the train to the other for the return ride.
ALL ABOARD!!!
Next stop: Punkin Junction.
AKA a partially-harvested cornfield with some picked pumpkins scattered about...
All the children on board got to pick out a pumpkin to take home.
Karter quickly chose his pumpkin, but Kaden was indecisive. He wanted to pick up every pumpkin he saw, but Mommy helped him choose one.
Back on the train for the final leg of our adventure.
Cute little passenger...
And a great time was had by...
...all who were aboard for Punkin Junction!
October 27, 2011
BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH
It's not been a good week for me.
Now, compared to the tragedies and trials others I know are dealing with, this is minor. But nevertheless, it's been a trying week.
Sunday morning, our worship leader took me by the hand and in a most apologetic way broke the news that the church office computer had crashed on her that morning and she couldn't get it running again.
A nice way to start the week.
I'm not blaming her at all. She's very computer-savvy and she did nothing wrong on her end. It was just time for that old machine to die.
When I first took the church office administrator job, I told Kim and the pastor that the computer was very outdated and we really needed a new one. This one was purchased in 2001 (OLD in computer years) and didn't even have the ability to play DVD's. But our webmaster did some updating of it for us and it seemed to be serving its purpose, so we kept plugging away on it.
I should have followed my gut feeling and bought a new one back then, when I could have transferred files on my own terms and made a smooth transition. Hindsight is always 20/20, isn't it?
But I didn't.
And Monday morning, when I turned on the computer, I saw what I've heard referred to as...
...the blue screen of death.
The STOP ERROR screen.
Oh. No. Please. NOOOO!!!
The dreaded blue screen of death.
I phoned our Webster guru and asked his opinion on what we should do. His advice: give it a proper burial and let it RIP. No point in putting any money into trying to repair a 10-year-old computer.
So I spent the better part of one day getting a new computer purchased, updated, and set up in the office. And the next couple of days reinstalling all the software and the printer and trying to round up all the email addresses from our congregation and contacts that I lost and reentering them into the new system.
And now I'm attempting to recover all of our files, which thankfully I had backed up on an off-site online account. I'm not that concerned about the documents, but I am a little worried about all the financial records.
We'll see how all that goes.
That has been my week...and one of the reasons why my normally-regular posts have been late and/or nonexistent. Between computer problems and cabin details, I've been going a little bonkers this week.
But at least, for a long while (I hope!) anyway, I won't have to face the dreaded...
...Blue Screen of Death.
image from google.com
image from google.com
October 28, 2011
COPPER CLAWFOOT BATHTUB
Since the moment we began to seriously talk about building a cabin, I've wanted one.
It's far from a necessity, but it's a luxury that I've dreamed about and definitely a splurge when money is tight.
I doubt that Kim will ever use it. In the 13 years that we've lived in this house, he's only sat in our whirlpool tub a handful of times. He prefers a shower (and will have his very own shower in the cabin, as well as our master shower), so he'll probably never bathe in this one at all.
It's MINE.
Today I ordered my very own for our cabin.
After months of stewing and contemplating and perusing the internet, today I ordered my very own copper clawfoot bathtub for the cabin.
PLUS...this wonderful English telephone-style faucet and handheld shower to go with it (mine will be in antique copper finish to match the bathtub).
I can hardly wait to take a bath in the cabin! It may be one of the first things I do when we get moved in.
You see, I love me a good bathtub filled with hot water and lots of Bath & Body Works Warm Vanilla Sugar bubbles! Makes me smile just thinking about it....
Nearly every single Sunday morning since we've been married, I've gotten up extra-early, put on my Mary Kay beauty mask, and soaked for an hour in our bathtub. Oftentimes I'll fall back asleep in the tub, but sometimes I just lie there relaxing, thinking, and talking to God. It's my special "me" time that I enjoy every week.
And occasionally, especially in the middle of winter when the snow is flying and I'm stuck at home, during the week I'll allow myself a hot afternoon soak as I watch the snowflakes swirling outside. That, my friends, is pure blissful luxury!
Bless Kim's sweet heart for indulging me with my very own beautiful...
...copper clawfoot bathtub!
image from signaturehardware.com
image from signaturehardware.com
October 29, 2011
SATURDAY SNAPSHOTS AND SNIPPETS
Our own little sous chef!
In the process of my purging,I came across this apron that my own children wore to help me in the kitchen back in the day.
Karter loves to help in the kitchen. Gramaw has more patience with him helping than she did when his daddy wanted to help...
Our local YMCA as Kim and I see it when we work out very early in the morning.
We get there when the doors open at 5:30 am, which means we're getting up at 4:30.
Too early to work out, but boy does it ever feel good when we're done...a great way to start the day!
Two of the friendliest neighbors we have on our road...
All summer long, Dana kept telling us she saw a wild turkey just down the road. I finally saw it myself a couple of months ago.
It's taken up residence on the overgrown property of an empty house just down the road from us.
Kim suspects it's been raised by someone and either got out or was released into the wild, but maybe not. Who knows?
But there is definitely at least one wild turkey about...
Neither Kim nor I had seen hide nor feather of the pheasants we released a couple of weeks ago.
Builder Steve saw one of the males a few days later on his way in from Muncie. Our friends who live a couple of miles northeast of us said he saw a male behind his house in the woods (probably the same male Builder Steve had seen).
This week as I was driving home from Anderson, I saw this male in the ditch as I drove by. I stopped and used my iPhone to take this quick photo as he crossed the road.
I suspect this is the other male, since this is about 3 miles northwest of our house.
I looked for some females, but didn't see any. Their coloring makes them very hard to spot, but I'm hoping some of them made it....
Sometimes things just don't go the way we want them to.
It's been one of those kind of weeks for me...
Here's to a great weekend for ALL of us!
October 31, 2011
HALLOWEEN FUN
Today may be Halloween, but we had our big fun last night.
Our church's Trunk or Treat last night brought out quite the cast of crazy characters.
Kim and I dressed up as Two Indians..."Dot" and "Feather." My kids questioned the political correctness of our costumes, but we thought it was fun and did it anyway.
After all, we're in Sulphur Springs, Indiana...not New York City!
Just as we were getting ready to leave for the church, these two trick-or-treaters rang our doorbell and surprised us! That's our son Kyler and Kara, in cognito...aren't they cute?
Kristoffer, Dana, and the boys dressed as the characters from the popular kids' TV show, Jake and the Neverland Pirates.
It didn't take them long to figure out the true meaning of Halloween...in Garfield's words, "Candy! CANDY!! CANDY!!!"
I think the "treaters" from our church had as much (or more!) fun than the beggars who
came. Brenda was a glamorous Good Witch.
Doctor Peggy...perhaps she missed her calling? (It's never too late...)
Gypsy-girl Brooklyn...
Pastor CJ and Leann..."John" and "Deer" (only in farm country would anyone get that!)...
Lanna and Celeste were Angry Birds characters (from the video game, for my older readers)....
Lee Ann and her girls... Cat in the Hat, Thing 1, and Thing 2...
Becky was a Civil War-era lady. Her costume was the most authentic, a reproduction that she wore when participating in historical reenactments.
Ryan and Mikka didn't dress up this year, but as long as you've got candy to hand out, the beggars don't care!
Dave and Rita said they didn't think about dressing up. I told them with his hot black car, they should come as Batman and Catwoman! They definitely win the prize for the coolest trunk!
Kelli would have made a great '80s teenager!
Just a few of the cute kids I know who came through...
There were lots I didn't know, including some costumed dogs.
But none quite so darling (in my totally unbiased opinion) as my boys...
And kids of all ages enjoyed some small town...
...Halloween fun!
