Time can play all sorts of tricks on you. In the

blink of an eye, babies appear in carriages, coffins

disappear in the ground, wars are won and lost,

and children transform, like butterflies, into adults.

from: The Invention of Hugo Cabret

by: Brian Selznick

my goofball..with a heart of gold...before entering the academy today.

What do you do when one of your children doesn't do what you tell him to do?! He's 30+ years old for heck sake!! Doesn't he know better by now!!!??  Doesn't mommy always know whats best?!
It probably never really worked that way...I've been delusional for a long time I suppose.
But now...
what this 'boy' of mine has chosen to do for the rest of his life has driven me to distraction and worry.
I can tell that this will be an ongoing process...getting accustomed to his new profession.
But my trip to Vegas Sunday night was well worth the mileage. I was introduced to the fine men and women of the Las Vegas Metro Police Department.  My breast now swells with pride along with a little less fear and trepidation. Rob is in for a very rough 6 months as he makes his way through the police academy...it looks to be a boot camp on steroids. (boot camp is only 6 week not 6 MONTHS)  I get a little weak-kneed thinking about what he'll be put through to come out strong and safe and confident on the other side....but I now do understand that he's in the best of hands. And I know he's as excited as a little kid about the challenges and at becoming one of Las Vegas's finest. I can also feel his butterflies!!!  Im asking the world...my friends and family to pray for him and his good, good wife, who supports him whole-heartedly. Its going to be a tough row for the next 6 months...and they both will  need all the support they can get.   Stay tuned for the metamorphosis of a mother of a newly made cop!! (Feel free to pray for  me too!! I'll need it!!!)
PSS- is it politically correct to call the men in blue (or brown) cops?  Or is it policeman?

These are his bags of police goodies...baton, handcuff, belts and things I probably dont want to know about...uniforms, workout clothes, manuals etc etc.  Sort of like Christmas...but not.  For me each item holds a little foreboding.

Im like a light-weight electron, lonely and out of 

place, orbiting a room full of heavy-weight protons.

from: Fizz

by: Zui Schrelber

So I've gone and done it. I've turned in my letter of resignation. It was a tough decision to make, for these last 8 months have widened my horizons, opened my heart to a whole new kind of love and have wizened me up a bit.  Who knew that being a PE teacher could do all that for you??!! I've made new friends, and I deeply care for and love more than 300 kids and my feelings about public schools have been altered for the better.

Dear Sue,

Im writing you to say thank you. To acknowledge how very kind and generous you have been  to me throughout this very tumultuous last year of mine. You will always find me eternally grateful for your support.  But now it appears that coming back to work at Ellis is not in the cards for me.  Admitting this makes me quite sad….  much sadder than I expected in fact.  For this truly has been a school year filled with much joy and satisfaction.

Nobody prepared me for falling in love with 300+ kids!! And who knew that a school is actually a living, breathing, empathizing, generous, selfless ‘being’, with YOU as their fearless leader and model!!?   My eyes have been opened!!

I had many a kid attending public schools years ago….and I suppose I just didn’t pay close attention to its inner workings way back then.  Today I’m in awe.  I never understood the impact that a GOOD principal has on a school AND on its community.  You and your dedicated teachers and staff have been a wondrous thing to behold.  It was indeed a privilege to have rubbed shoulders and to learn from you Sue.  But my crazy life and my many feelings of inadequacy, plus my unknown future have now led me to this difficult decision to resign.

This has been a very gratifying year in my life. I will look back at this chapter with the warmest of memories and as a changed woman.  I am grateful that you gave me a shot and the opportunity. So very grateful!  I feel real sorrow when I realize that I wont enjoy the rich blessings of seeing and interacting with your beautiful children next year,  whom I have come to deeply love. (and…if by some good fortune of mine, I find that I haven’t burned my bridges to thoroughly, maybe I could come back next year just as a volunteer?)

Again,thank you so much Sue.  I pray that you find a more qualified P.E. replacement for this grateful, “limited in skill”, grandma that I am.

With much love and respect,

I cant imagine my replacement loving these kids more than I,,,but I am SURE that they will be better coached. Whoever follows in  my footsteps will undoubtedly be more skilled in teaching  the finer points of basketball, soccer and tether-ball etc, etc, etc.  I had no confidence in my ability to do this....but boy did we have fun playing all sorts of games.  Sure, I raised 4 boys...but I havent a clue how to teach the proper dribbling of a basketball or even how to call off-sides in soccer.  How was I thinking that I could possibly control a soccer game with 5th grade Latino boys and white boys all with various skill levels and with aggression and competitive issues.  It aint happening!  We just didnt go there at all.  I attempted some basketball drills and soccer drills but that was the extent of it. I was a glorified camp director of sorts instead of being the 'coach' they all need.  

Beside all this...Im longing to turn in the whistle and put my Mimi hat back on.  It may be  a selfish thing to want to spend more time with our grands...at this juncture in life, but thats what Im choosing to do for the next little while. This is my greatest desire. 

There are about 10 days of school left...and we all remember what these days are like.  There will be Field Day, Faculty Follies, a choir concert, the community Fun Run, more testing, random field trips and a faculty party...

and then this chapter of my life will end. I truly gave it my best.  I will miss the kids and the people I have worked with.  But now I say..."bring on the grands!"

1st grade toothless smiles are the best!

PS- (other random thoughts on this day) Dont you hate it when you spend a significant amount of money on a 'good ' mattress...and then wait the allotted 160 days of 'free trail" and then decide that its not so great a mattress!!!??  Ugh!!

PSS- dont you just love those 6 perfectly ripe, unbruised avocados that come in those mesh bags at Sams Club!!??? YUM!!!

How do you know when you think 'blue'-

when you say blue- that you are talking

about the same blue as anyone else?  You 

cannot get a grip on blue.  Blue is the sky,

the sea, a gods eye, a devils tail, a birth,

a strangulation, a virgins cloak, a monkeys

ass.  Its a butterfly, a bird, a spicy joke, 

the saddest song, the brightest day.

from: Sacre Bleu

by: Christopher Moore

I  love kids art.  I love it all bunched up in the different hallways of probably every elementary school in America.
Im an amateur PE teacher...but being an amateur art teacher would probably suit me better.  I like the mess...the freedom, the creativity.  I'd find it more intriguing.  At least thats what Im  thinking as I sit here in my tiny home contemplating my future and what makes me happy.  Creativity makes me happy.

 lovely self portraits

this is JOEL

 The seasonal stuff is darling!!

Opps...there's an "elementary" work created by me. One of my New Years resolutions has begun..being more artistic...
Writing makes me happy.  But topics elude me...so Im taking up watercolors. This is my first attempt at a tree.

Brian and Mericar are in California...looking at property... and picking up a clunker mini van. Im already packing my bags in my head. Who knows what the future holds...I would love to have California in the mix. That would make me happy.  Im tired of the cold. So tired.  Here's wishing on the moon.

But there's not way to avoid regret.  Dont let

anyone tell you different.  Regret is just life's

aftertaste.  No matter what you choose, you're

gonna wonder, if you shoulda done things

different.  I didnt necessarily choose wrong. I

just chose. And I lived with my choice, aftertaste and all.

from: A Different Blue

by: Amy Harmon

Tues brought snow-blindness.  We had that pea soup fog I mentioned earlier..for about a week,  Monday evening we had snow...it was snowing hard when I went to bed...Tuesday we woke to a winter wonderland.  That afternoon the clouds parts and the sun shone and I was dazzled and blinded as I fulfilled my recess duty.  We were blinded by the whiteness, the brilliance,  of the pure driven snow.
Im here to also report that kids are oblivious.  All they saw were the slushy puddles to soak their bootless feet in and snow to kick at one another or to use to construct snowmen.  I wish I had thought earlier to take out my camera and take more pics of the variety of snowmen built that afternoon. I was too concerned about the wet, cold feet and the soggy clothes on these kids...all things that they would surely regret  having to  endure throughout the rest of the day.  I for one think there cant be a worse discomfort than wearing wet shoes and clothes all day long. I personally avoid those conditions like the plague!!  Bless their sweet, smiling faces...AND their immune systems!!

An Indian legend holds that celestial hunters

turn the leaves yellow by cooking meat over

an open fire and splattering fat all over the 

trees.  

Western science offers a less colorful explanation:

the leaves simply stop producing chlorophyll, the

chemical that makes them look green(and nourishes

the tree).  Yellow pigment that has been over 

shadowed all summer by the chlorophyll now 

emerges from hiding and becomes dominant.

In other words, the leaves' warm-weather makeup

wears off to reveal the natural surface

underneath; yellow is the leaves true color. Try 

using that explanation next time someone remarks

on your graying hair.

from: Buck Creek

tripod.com

THis photo was taken before the excruciating back pain of last week and before the hellish snow and wind of this week.  It was taken when autumn was fun.  Girls were adorning my hair with the largest leaves they could find from off the school yard.   As I said it was when autumn was warm and inviting.
Then the Universe pulled a fast one on me.  Last week I was completely incapacitated with back pain...pain like I've never experienced before.  Thank heavens its now subsiding...in time for the arctic  weather to rear its ugly,cold head.  In time for me to now stand out on this same school yard for an hour at recess...grumbling quietly under my breath and shivering like those autumn leaves were before falling to the ground. Now Im a planning a shopping spree to the nearest sporting goods store for real winter boots and under armor!!  Gym shoes wont cut it here in Logan Utah and nether will my beloved shorts....in the winter.  Its dang cold!!!

Nothing is ever lost in this adventure of all adventures.  The

lessons and discoveries of every single life, no matter how

large or small, difficult or easy, are added to the whole. Like

stones in the base of a pyramid, they permanently raise and 

forever support every manner of adventure that follows.  And 

so it is that the hearts of those that came first continue to

beat in all the subsequent generations forevermore.

from: Notes from the Universe

by: Mike Dooley

Ive been missing a golden opportunity to write!! Hand to forehead.....I should have been writing about my adventures at attempting to be a PE teacher at Ellis Elementary in Logan Utah!!  I've really blown it!
For some reason, with Friday being picture day at school, I became inspired.
I am surrounded by beautiful children every day now.  Each and every one of them are beautiful.  I've been at the school for a little over 2 months  and I am completely whipped. Whipped up in my heart and of course on many days, also whipped physically as well.
I teach K-5.
Sometimes I think Im nuts.
But then I  show-up and interact with the beautiful kids and Im ok. There are more beautiful dark skinned kiddos than we boring Caucasians.  I LOVE this!! Im learning so much.
So today Im thinking that every day should be picture day.  Most of the kiddos must have gotten up extra early yesterday so that their mothers could primp and shine them for school pics.  They were all so darling.

A game of HORSE...while waiting for their turn in front of the camera.

The kickball game in the afternoon. I know I should have

 gotten closer, but I couldnt resist the colors and the

 mountains and the single fluffy cloud. 

Every Friday I have the opportunity to take the 2nd graders, 

and 1st graders and then the kindergarteres for a walk 

around the block..to help get the wiggles out and some fresh

 air in those tender lungs!! Good times!!!

This week and this whole month Im attempting to teach jump rope.  Who knew jump roping could be 'taught"!!??  Previously I thought you picked up a piece of rope and tripped and stumbled and tried to jump it until you got it!! But oh no...there are books written on the subject!! There's a technique!!  And as you can well imagine ...teaching a 5th grader is a whole different experience than it is when teaching a kindergartner!!  Oh my yes!!

Every night I lay in bed and question my sanity. What is a Mimi (a grandma) dong teaching PE to kids under the age of 11...Kids full of energy and enthusiasm and riddled with quirks !!  Really!!?? Who am I kidding!!??  But when Im there--inside the ancient  walls of Ellis...(Ellis is the oldest, function school in all of Utah) I find happiness.  Happiness and frustrations, in the midst of frequent chaos.  Im sure you can imagine me pulling my hair out at those times...oh me of little patience. Can you picture me blowing on a whistle...a whistle I HATE for it really hurts my ears!!??   Can you picture me in any of these scenarios? I usually cant either!!

....this attitude of concentrated meditation is the highest

activity there is, an activity of the soul, which is possible

only under the condition of inner freedom and independence.

from: The Art of Loving

by: Eric Fromm

Dear Mary,
Already Im treasuring the memories of the 'bugs view' in my mind of the two of us with our faces smashed into our smelly, shabby yoga mats as we try to maneuver into the Locust Pose or the Plow Pose!! Oh the giggles and grunts!! Good times my friend!!
Things are amusing at the Grill...because you are on the team. The world is better because you grace it. Logan, Utah is tolerable because you call it home too. May you always have places to visit, dogs to love, people to inspire, and someone to laugh with my friend! Thank you for your steadfast friendship and wisdom.

For fun, I 'interviewed' your 'colleagues" at work. May you feel the love!!

Colby- (your adorable, and gentlemanly son) said this about you: "She's a strict mom, but somehow she's pulled off being the best mom too!! There are so many good things about her. There is so much love and she parents with ease."

Steph:."..hummm...its so hard to put into words!!! One thing for sure...she is always willing to give up her most valuable possession...her time!! She pitches in without hesitation!! "

Mindie-I love that she is always willing to help, that she is such a "free spirit", that she isnt afraid to be who she really is, that she has a heart of gold, and her goofy personality. Just to name a couple

Ari- I love her laugh!!

Shelby-She always says she has the best karma and that when the universe is off and  she has bad karma, she always drops everything at work. I like when her karma is off the best because it makes work much more funny!

Mikey- I call her Mom. She's REALLY happy when she's happy. But if momma ain't happy ain't nobody happy. She always has the most understandable and most solid advice. She treats me like she really is my mom. Her laugh cracks me up cause its so funny.

Jessie-"She gives her best advice to everyone that asks and she cares about others."

Because Promtheus had stolen fire from the gods, Zeus decided

 to punish mankind by sending them Pandora, the first woman.

She had every gift- beauty, charm, skill in women's work-

 but she was a "tempting snare"and a "nagging burden."  Before

 she came to earth, men lived happily, untouched by troubles

 and disease. Pandora, whom Zeus made "to be  evil for mortal man,"

was she "from whom comes the fair sex; yes, wicked womenfolk are her descendants.

from: Theogony -Hesiod

quoted in: Sisters at the Well

(the only reason...besides the need for money...to go to work each day is this fine woman, my dear boss!)

My Builder has discovered a way to ease my load at work.
One morning, quite by accident, he discovered that I haul down 20 heavy chairs from off the tabletops and roll out nasty rugs before opening the Grill. (among other things)
Now each morning when My Builder drives me to work, (I havent worked out the bus schedule from here) he parks the truck and comes in to help me.
He does the chairs and rugs and now seems to get a thrill in turning on the shake machine.
Bless him.

My Builder may do this to ease some guilt?
But mostly he behaves like this because he is a true gentleman and he loves me.  (He may also be afraid that my uterus might drop out...due to all the heavy lifting.)
Im very appreciative.
But I guess I'd be more appreciative if I didnt have to work so hard.
I'd be thrilled if the rabbit food business could begin to support us.

I'm wary and worried already about my bad attitude...again.
Things could prove to get a lot worse for me here soon,  very soon.  Snow and much colder weather is on the horizon...no thats incorrect, its at my front door already.  Cold weather alters my mood.
Winter is my plague, and its already here to stay.

Truly there is no upside to winter, no matter how hard "winter-lovers" try to beef these  next months up in their minds.

Winter Lovers speak with fondness of  Fireplaces, and hot chocolate, sledding and skiing and cute sweaters,  hats and gloves. (all indicators of Hades.)

Summer Lovers like me long for laid back BBQ's and cold Pepsi, beaches and hiking with flip flops and shorts.

Dont Winter Lovers notice the puddles at the back door and all the extra clothing it requires to stay warm?? What about the extra expense for said warm, itchy clothing and heating!!!??

I would rather mow the lawn and live in shorts and sandals..plus- YOU CAN GROW YOUR OWN FOOD in the warmer months!!

oH WELL..
hear my sigh...
This too shall pass, eventually...
Meanwhile I'll take My Builders help whenever I can.
His service warms my heart.

Peace

“Sugar, it's no parade but you'll get down the street

 one way or another, so you'd just as well throw 

your shoulders back and pick up the pace.”

from: The Poisonwood Bible

by:  Barbara Kingsolver

When I started looking for a job here in Logan..I thought I would enjoy a waitressing job. I enjoy people. Im happy to help and serve others.  So I was very pleased and even a little excited when Steph, my boss, took a risk in hiring me, the old lady with no experience in food services.

It didn’t take long… in fact it was probably only a few hours before I began to question my sanity and my abilities.  My first days as a waitress/busboy/ peoples slave had me wondering whether you really do have to be cute, young, and blonde to receive good tips and have stamina enough to carry on.  I was discouraged to say the least when the young, experienced waitresses around me stuffed their pockets with more cash than I each night when they headed home.   BUT…now after a few months of being in the trenches,  I have learned…that the critical word here is experience.  It truly is more important to be sincere, confident,  efficient and relaxed as you work to get the expected tips.  Its not so much about how cute you are. (not so much…but it tips the scales in ones favor  Im sure.)

I have a good smile.  People like that.  They tell me so.  I look people in the eye. I try to connect with each guest, and I am rewarded  more often than not with generous tips.  Though I still have to remind myself that tips are NEVER predictable. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to how much one can make in any given day. Some days its only  loose change thrown in the tip bucket, and other days its 5 dollar bills.  Low cut shirts, good hair days, sporting  blue or purple company t-shirts doesnt seem to have the slightest effect on  one days success and another days famine.  There are  days I come straggling home with a lousy 20 bucks for my 8 hours of hard labor and other days when my apron pocket bulges with a wad of ones and fives equaling a whopping 50 bucks.  I scratch my head in wonder why some days people are generous and other days they are not. Its another one of lifes many mysteries.

I have felt all along that God directed me into Center Street Grill’s  parking lot last August…the voice in my head that said, ‘pull in and see if they are hiring” was convincing.  Steph was there that day and I felt we hit it off.  I am grateful for her  willingness to give me a try and for her patience as she has trained me.    But now in the spirit of honesty..I must confess that there are too many times that I ask myself what it is I’ve done.  Why do I subject myself to this drudgery? Im smart, I have skills and abilities beyond mopping and washing , stocking shelves and making milkshakes.  I constantly ask myself why Im doing this type of work.   (I know I’d be happier there if I could strictly waitress.  If I could just be out on the dining room floor serving the guests, life at the Grill would be more tolerable for me then.)  Its when Im in the back rooms..washing dishes and cleaning nasty bathrooms that I become so discouraged.   But  I was hired to do it all.  And that’s what I do. And so I often sulk and grumble under my breath..or cry into the dishwater wishing I was hiking and soaking up the St George sunshine and not beating my feet into a state of unrecognizable pain and discomfort.  That’s the truth of it. 

Steph is amazing.  There are people on this planet who love being in the restaurant business. And Steph is one of them.  She loves to cook for people and to concoct new menus and to greet each person that comes through her doors. She is passionate about her food and its freshness and presentation.  She is also appreciative of me and what I contribute to her restaurant. I know I am valued.  And so I stay.  The idea of  leaving and having to find a different job and  learn the ins and outs of it are inconceivable to me right now.  The stress of it all would take me down  completely.

So Im putting up with the mountains of dishes that need washing before I can clock out at the  end of the day. I put up with hauling the garbage bags that weigh more than one of my grands to the dumpsters in the back alley. ( Though I have learned to turn a blind eye to the heavy 5 gallon drums of mayo that should be hauled to the cooler, for I refuse to throw out my back at such work.) I mop, I scour and scrub baseboards and walls and machines, all of which are covered with grease and grim that will soon cover them all again by the very next day.  And for the most part no one notices the things that need cleaning  but me.  Greasy fingerprints on windows and doors  always need wiping away but I find teenage kids for hire turn a blind eye to those things as  I suppose as I do to the heavy lifting.

And so  I stay.

I do the work.

I feel  a sense of loyalty there.

And Im tired.

I don’t want to cook or clean when Im home.

I fear my feet may never recover from this abuse.  There are no breaks while Im there. I cant sit and relax for even a moment.  Concrete floors seem to be my downfall.  They are ever so much worse than sand and rocks and trails.

Im determined to stick it out at this job for a while longer.  I guess for as long as it takes.  I try to feel grateful for the work.  I’ll stay until My Builder has built his rabbit food empire. 

God sent me there.  Im not sure why.  But I stay because I do believe I was directed there for whatever purpose..or purposes.  It just isn’t time yet to quit.  But as soon as Im able... Im outta there and never looking back.  Saying ta ta  wont be difficult at all. 

Peace 

Expectations is the place you must always go to

before you get to where you're going. Of course,

some people never go beyond Expectations, but my

job is to hurry them along whether they like it or not.

from: Phantom Tollbooth

by: Norton Juster

People have wondered where I've gone...
Why Im not writing..

Well the short answer is .... "its complicated."
The next easiest answer is..."I lost my 'voice,' my muse, my inspiration.
In other words- the wind was taken from my sails.

But I miss it...a lot.

Lately I've been searching for a new muse, a new direction, a new ' look.'
I may be sneaking up on something.

As most everyone knows, Im no longer gathering coral dust between my toes. (instead Im  acquiring a filmy layer of grease and grime on my beloved hiking shoes, from The Grill.)
Life without my red rock and sun and a constant supply of vitamin D that I once enjoyed has now turned into a search for tender mercies that I know are freely given..from my new vantage point here in 'outer darkness.' (My pasty white skin and flabby muscles will attest to the changes going on in my life too.)
Im a broken woman. I've been humbled. But I read in the scriptures that having a broken heart and contrite spirit means having a heart that has been split wide open to let new and wonderful enlightenment enter to in..manifesting God's love to me.  

I have days when I feel Im in the pit of despair. 
I've wallowed well in self-pity.
I've ached for what I no longer have, until Im sick.
I've been angry and bitter and not to nice to live with sometimes.

And yet somehow I have kept some hope alive.  For without hope, what would become of me?
..a constantly bitter, wallowing woman...going nowhere fast...not a pretty picture.

So I now see myself becoming a collector of miracles..of tender mercies that touch my broken heart. 
There will be small and magnificent miracles documented here...from this time forth.
I wont be seeing them on hiking trails any longer...(at least not until spring) But I will see them. I  see them now, all around me.  
A BFF of mine suggested a 'miracle calender.' But Im attached to blogging..so Im going to keep track here and share what I learn  with you...and hopefully you can 'share' your miracles with me too.   
Tomorrow (or the next day) I will begin!
It'll be a list of what I now fondly call our "wedding miracles"
Its a lengthy list. And Im looking forward to sharing it with you. 

It feels good to be back!!
I have felt your love and encouragement and its GREATLY appreciated.
Peace out Friends! 

Somewhere, far down, there was an itch in his

 heart, but he made it a point not to scratch it.

 He was afraid of what might come leaking out.

from: The Book Thief 

by: Markus Zusak

(my bus)

I actually bought a dollie at DI...but its cute!!
I get 'bus-sick" when I try  to read on the way to work. Whats that about!? I dont get car-sick!!!
Public transit is a unique phenomena...so quiet early in the morning...the high school kids are walking/sleeping zombies.
The bus is FREE!!
My Builder  has put on the salad mak'in king hat...plus he's doing dishes!! Bless him!!
My hands ache when I wake in the morning. Cant figure that out.
I have to change my Blog face page..for I no longer gather any sort of dust between my toes. (any ideas?)
I LOVE rain storm at night.
I chose this months book for Book Club...Papa Married a Mormon by John Fitzgerald.  Turns out I have a first addition that I bought years ago for 8 bucks. Now it looks like its worth about 1000.00!! Thats right!! O-N-E-T-H-O-U-S-A-N-D dollars!! Crazy!!!
My hiking job made me feel young...this job makes me feel old.
I have no clue how to be a Relief Society President.
We have a wedding in less than 40 days!!!
40 days!!!

It shall be unlawful, illegal, and unethical to think,

think of thinking, surmise, presume, reason, meditate,

or speculate while in the Doldrums.

from: The Phantom Tollbooth

by: Norton Juster

If I've heard it once I've heard it a hundred times.
Life is not fair.
No matter how hard you work...or how personable you try to be..or how much more experience you may have...this grandma cant compete with a 20something, darling blond.  Being young and beautiful always leads to better tips. Its just another one of those social injustices.
I get my accolades else where.
Peace

Week In Review

Whether or not you find your own way, you're

 bound to find some way.  If you happen to

find my way, please return it, as it was lost

 years ago.  I imagine by now its quite rusty.

from: The Phantom Tollbooth

by: Norton Juster

I picked a few sprigs of sweet pea flowers that seem to be happier showing off in the cooler fall weather. I placed them in a glass on my bedroom window sill...and their fragrance is a little bit of heaven.  Next year Im planting rows and rows of sweetpeas, just so that I can pick armfuls of them for my apartment.  heaven I tell ya, heaven.

Speaking of flowers...Monday morning at working my nice boss-lady, Stephanie, walked in with a couple of large bouquets of flowers...and she gave me one and she gave one to the woman who cooks.  What a lovely surprise.  She said it was a thank you for all the hard work we do.  We do do a LOT of hard work...and its so very nice to have it acknowledged once in a while.  She's a good woman, and appreciative too.

I painted some spots on the beaks of our ducklings on Monday...so that we could begin to name a few of them.  They are so cute and growing so fast.   I was reminded of how warm little duckies are...memories came flooding back to a couple of ducklings I've had previous to these.  Ducklings are like little furnaces!! Their little webbed feet and bodies are so warm!!  Just like little buns right out of the oven...squrimmy little poop'in down balls of warmth.  So precious.

By the end of the week we had the ducks out of the cramped hutch and into their enclosure...(though at night we still tuck them safely away ...away from the raccoon's.)  They've had their first dip in the pond..and seemed to enjoy it a great deal.  Its hard to capture how quickly they are growing.  I can already see their little  pin feathers beginning to show through under the down.  The little tail feathers are going to be the first to show.  I go out there every day now, to say hello, and I think they recognize me and are not so timid around me.  I like that.  I think they'll miss me when the snow begins to fly.  I wont be out there sitting on a bucket talking to them then.  oh well.

I ended up having to work last night.  I thought I was going to be lucky, and slip by without having to witness what The Grill does every several months....something called Man vs Grill.  We are coached on how to 'sell' this opportunity to our patrons...but I was hoping to be counted out on the actual event...but was called in to assist...mostly as a cheerleader and photographer.  Only in America...
Only here would we find a contest to see if anyone could eat a 3 1/2 pound burger in 45 mins!! Only here would we find folks willing to take on the challenge..and pay money for the privileged.  Go here for a full view of the evening and the goings on.