Top 10 reasons I love Summer

10.  You get to be lazy, if you want.   I mean, it is called the 'lazy days of summer' after all!

9.  The kids sleep in!  It's nice to have a little quite time in the morning before they wake up.

8.  The extra hours of sunshine.  I am in love with sunshine!

7.  Sitting around the fire in the backyard.  I love the conversations we have, looking at the stars, roasting marshmallows, the warmth of the fire when the air around you is cool.  Love it!

6.  Wearing flip flops.  Terrible for the feet, but one of my favorite summer accessories.

5.  Cooking dinner outside on the grill.  Yummmm.

4.  No schedules.  I love waking up to a new day with endless possibilities.

3.  Sleeping with the windows open at night.  I love the fresh, cool air in my room.

2.  Feeling warm all the time.  This is the only time of the year that my hands, feet, and the tip of my nose are warm!

1.  The number one reason I love summer time?  No homework (a.k.a. busy work) assignments! I am not looking forward to those dreaded weekly homework packets again.  

Ok, here's one more bonus one.  I LOVE not having to bundle up for my morning walks.  It truly is the greatest thing.

Berries galore

There is nothing like a little summer goodness to inspire a blog entry.

We have been growing a small forest of raspberries and blackberries in our backyard.  This weekend, the berries all held hands and said, "one, two, three, ripen!", or at least that's what I imagine.  All of a sudden, we are bursting at the bushes with very ripe blackberries.  (This is the 'off' year for our raspberries.)  It is a sight to behold.  The bushes are full of both large and small berries from shades of light pink to very dark purple.    

The only bad thing about these berries, is that their vines are full of needle sharp thorns.  Millions of them.  So it makes picking them quite a chore.  You have to glove up and use shovels to move the vines around so that you can maneuver your hands in to pick the dark purple beauties.  And even while taking those precautions, you will inevitably get stuck over and over again.  In fact, my hands are stained with blackberry juice and stinging from thorn sticks as I type this.

But as I go through life, I realize that the things that are most 'worth it' are those things that take a lot of effort, have the ability to hurt the most, but also bring you the most joy.  Blackberries, family, marriage, raising children, you get the point.  I mean, have you ever been bitten by one of your kids?  I rest my case.

So now we have a beautiful bowl full of plump, juicy blackberries.  So obviously, my next task is to go figure out some yummy, high caloric recipe to make to help us devour them.  Joy.

Behind the wheel

Just a warning to my fellow Utahns.

There is another teenage driver on the roads as of this week!  Nicole now has her learner's permit and I am freaking out just a little bit about it.  How can I be this old?

Sitting at the DMV- the very same place I got my driver's license many moons ago- waiting for her to finish her written test, a flood of emotions hit me.

I felt many of the same feelings I had on the day that I received my license- lots of terror, some excitement, and a little relief.

Today, as a mother of a new driver, I feel terror because my child is going to be behind the wheel of some powerful (and expensive!) equipment that has the ability to cause harm to her or someone else- heaven forbid!

I feel excitement for her- for this time in her life.  I loved being her age and have great memories of those years.

I am relieved because soon she will be able to drive herself around and I won't have to feel like a taxi cab driver as much.

But seriously, this can't be happening.  I'm not ready.  I'm not even sure if she is either.  But ready or not, she has this little piece of paper that says it's OK for her to be out on the road.  So ready or not- here she comes!

I learn the most fascinating things while sitting on the Porcelain Throne

I think I have mentioned before that I always have to be reading something.  When I am sitting in my car waiting to pick up a child, I'm reading.  When I am eating breakfast or lunch, I am reading.  When I am taking a potty break- I must read something.  Anything.  If a magazine is not within reach, I will read the labels on shampoo or lotion bottles.  It's fascinating stuff.

My favorite read while visiting the commode is hands down, the Reader's Digest.  Something about a quick read does my bowels good.  There is nothing better than reading some person's harrowing near death experience while doing my bizness.  

This has been my practice since I could read.  My parents always kept a Reader's Digest in the bathroom- and they bought me my first subscription when I married and moved in to my first apartment.   And a marvelous new purse size magazine has appeared in my mailbox ever since. (I have noticed that my sisters each have their RD magazines in their bathrooms as well.)

Yesterday, as I was sitting on my 'throne', I read some amazing things that I wanted to share.  Fascinating stuff really. 

For years I have worried about dumping even the slightest amount of grease down my kitchen drain.  When I do, I turn on the hottest water I possibly can, thinking that it will keep it in liquid form so that it won't clog my drains.  WRONG!  I learned from my reading, that if you rinse grease residue down with cold water, it solidifies the grease so it floats down the pipes harmlessly.  If you send it on it's way with hot water, it will eventually clump up as it reaches pipes that are cooler and overtime will clog them up.

I also learned that you can flash dry your dishes by opening up the door as soon as the washer turns off.  It's the time when your dishes are the hottest so the water will evaporate quickly.  Cool huh?

Ok, here's one more.  Did you know that honey really does speed healing?  I learned that mild to moderate burns heal faster when you spread honey on them.  Hmmm.  I wonder if honey would have helped my 2nd degree burns I got from the sun in Cancun?  Now I can't wait to get another burn to try this one out!!

Isn't this great stuff?  I have learned so many things- how to teach a cat a handshake, how to look good in photos, how to get a live person on the phone (when you are trying to reach a customer service rep.)  Did you know that if you press every button on the phone, swear, speak Spanish, or do nothing at all, that you will often get put at the front of the line?  Such wisdom!

And that my friends, is why I don't waste a minute of my time just sitting.  Just think of all the helpful tips and great advice I would miss out if I didn't take the time to read.

Here's to many more happy hours of sitting on the pot!  Happy reading.

With You

The other day, the family was sitting in the living room chatting it up.  Actually, we were trying to decide where to go and get a treat.  You see, we are all having withdrawals from not being able to eat a dessert after every meal.  Including breakfast.  We really outdid ourselves on our vacation.

Anyway, out of the blue, Ian asked me where he was going to live when he gets bigger.  I told him that he would live in his own house with his wife and his children.

His eyes teared up, his chin started to quiver.  

"What's wrong?"  I asked him.

"It hurts my feelings when you say that I won't live here." he said.

"Why does it hurt your feelings?" I asked.

"Because I want to live with you when I get bigger.  Like uncle Martin lives with his mommy."  he said.

It's always interesting to see a child's perspective.  A 40+ year old man, living at home with his parents- well, I am sure even he doesn't think he is lucky to still be living with his mommy.  But to a 5 year old boy who can't imagine anything else- he is the luckiest man alive.

We're Back!!!

We just returned from our much anticipated vacation to Cancun, Mexico.  

It was a wonderful vacation, although I do have to say that I am so glad to be home.  Six days of feeling sticky and wet all the time was enough for me!  

Here are a few photos....

The last picture was the view from our hotel room.  Isn't the water just gorgeous?  

Here are the top 10 things that we loved about Cancun, the resort we stayed in, and our vacation in general.

10.  We got to use passports!  And we now have two stamps in them, which we think is pretty cool.

9.  Pesos.  Isaac is a major fan of Mexican currency.  In fact, he got quite upset every time we tried to spend them.  He wanted to take the pesos home to show his friends.

8.  Not having get your wallet out every time you sit down for a meal.  We stayed at an all inclusive resort and let me tell you- that was really a nice perk!  And having an ice cream cone any time you want?  Priceless.

7.  The Kids Club.  Ian loved hanging out in the kids pool and doing the other activities the staff had planned.  He was the only child to make a friend.  Much to Nicole's disappointment. 

6.  Not having to be anywhere or follow any particular schedule.  We loved waking up whenever, eating whenever, laying around on the beach or at the pool.  It was all good.

5.  Wearing swimsuits every day!  

4.  Water aerobics.  It was my first time participating in this form of exercise and- wow!  It was great fun (I do have some advice to any other newbie.....be sure to check your swim top often as you do a lot of jumping up and down in the water and, a-hem, it may have a tendency to fall down just a bit).

3.  Trying to speak espanol.  It was great fun trying to talk the talk.  I found out that I actually remember a lot of what I learned a million years ago in 7th & 8th grade Spanish I & II.  It really is a beautiful language.

2.  Visiting Chichen Itza.  A- MAZ- ING.  It was just given the title of The 7th Wonder of the World and it lived up to that title.  There is so much that still has yet to be discovered there too.  So fascinating!

1.  The number one thing we loved about our vacation????  Coming home!  And our home was spotless!  

Erik's sister, Lizz, stayed at our house while we were away, to keep Sophie company and apparently cleaned her little heart out the whole time she was here!  If anyone needs a good cleaning lady- Oh. My. Goodness.  She is good!  I mean, the sheets were washed, the carpets vacuumed, the stainless steel appliances were polished, and last but not least, the end of the toilet paper was turned down into a little point.  Just like they do in the hotels.  XOXO Lizz- you are wonderful!!

Not to worry

Oh boy!  I wasn't expecting my life to be turned upside down, but it was and it is, and that's why I dropped off the face of the blogosphere.  But I'm stopping by for a minute to say "hi" and to catch up on what's been going on since I last posted.

I'm borrowing this idea from a random blog that I happened across one day- and I truly apologize that I am not able to give that creative person the credit.  I would not be able to find that blog again if I tried, which I did.  Nevertheless....

outside my window.....the sun has set and everyone seems tucked safely inside their homes.

i am thinking.....about some of the wonderful people I have met while working at the long term care facilities this past week.

i am thankful for.....my body and my mind.  I have had the opportunity to care for lots of body's that aren't working so well anymore.  It makes me want to keep mine working for a long time.

from the kitchen.....oh dear!  That's just a place we just don't talk about these days.

i am wearing.....scrubs!  I have to say that I was just plain ol' giddy when I put my first pair on.

i am creating.....teacher thank you's.  I can't believe tomorrow is the last day of school for my boys!

i am going.....grocery shopping tomorrow!  The fridge is empty and the cupboards are bare.  How do working mother's do this?

i am reading.....ok, I'm not really reading anything at the moment.  I have been studying my nursing manual- not too exciting, I know.

i am hearing.....sprinklers and fireworks outside and the ceiling fan clicking overhead.  How does one silence a ceiling fan???

around the house.....is a lot of dust.  We are still under construction.  All is well.

one of my favorite things......is coming home from clinicals.  Ian is always so excited to see me.  He makes me feel so missed and loved.

a few plans the rest of the week.....one more day of clinicals, then some 4th of July celebrating!

a picture ( or 2) to share....boating and Ian's preschool graduation.....two events I regretfully missed out on.