late-night drivers get the bearclaw!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

i wasn't completely decided on tuesday morning if i would go ahead and make the drive to mom and dad's after school or just wait until wednesday. i woke up in the morning and thought i would delay until wed. morning. then as the day progressed, i decided that i would go ahead and just make the drive after school. so i got packed as quickly as possible and we were on our way by 5. the traffic out of town is always ridiculous, though, so it took an hour longer than i would have liked. 

one thing that has become abundantly clear is that i should probably not do long trips like that when it gets dark so early because by the time i hit joplin, i was starting to fade-which left me with about another hour and 15 minutes..it is amazing how one doesn't even realize it when the fading begins! i found myself imagining things scurrying across the road, and trying to look out to the side to see what it was(to no avail) or not realizing that my speed has hit 95, as the radar detector goes off and i see lights stopping a car in front of me-thankfully i was able to slow in time to not fall victim to the ticket i deserved. at this point i was on the final stretch and i thought, no problem, 10 more minutes, but i'm pretty sure i rolled in, eyes glazed. but we made it in by midnight, safely and got to bed by one. i am officially no longer a late-night person! 

i'm glad we left early so that we were already here this morning!

we woke up to huge snow flakes clumps, but they melted away almost as soon as they fell. sadly we didn't get outside early enough to get any good pics. the boys were largely unimpressed. "it's just soft rain and now i'm wet and cold." that was chaco.

nothing beats mom's homemade bear claws fresh out of the oven! yummers! 

you cannot see the yummy goodness inside, but trust me, the pairing of dates, chopped cherries, and walnuts, topped with a sugar,walnut topping...quite a holiday tradition for us.

it's been a very relaxing day! i got the opportunity to do a little target-practice today in the backyard-fortunately i was able to find my ammo a few weeks ago at a great rate! love not having range fees!!

my mom got a tablet-android. i am so proud of her! as i was looking at it today, i noticed that it was on 4g, and she said last night that it used their wifi. that surprised me because i never knew they had wifi-when i've been here before, i haven't been able to get on with the laptop. so i pulled out my chromebook and there were no available networks, so i went in to look at their equipment, tried a couple of different numbers because i couldn't figure out the id to add a network. they had a router, and a usb connection...so i told them they might want to ask their saleswoman (who knows my mom's password by heart) where to find the id number.

so they went in earlier and it took awhile, but they were due for an upgrade in equipment, and they got what they needed to upgrade their technology. we got in and figured all of that out, created passwords and now i can work from any part of the house-sweet. (by no means am i an expert in technology, but i will take a challenge and run with it and usually figure out what i need to know). 

when i finally came back to the living room and settled in, chaco came up onto the couch and began pawing at the cushions. i couldn't figure out what he was trying to find, because there shouldn't be anything down there. so i thought he was crazy. finally, i pulled out a cushion so that he could see there was nothing. he continued to paw and get down in the crevice, so finally to keep him from damaging the couch, i reached down to show him there was nothing. i felt something i thought might have been a treat and pulled it out. then i realized it was poop. cat poop. (my dog at some point in the evening had gotten into the litter box and dragged out that which is taboo, and guarded it in a safe place so that he could go back later for snack). my reflex was to drop it, and then bruno picked it up (in his mouth, as that is how dogs usually tend to pick things up)...i had to pry it from his little jaws. since when is hardened cat droppings a delicacy? since never, that's when. must pay closer attention to what the boys are doing-especially when they are quiet and out of sight for any period of time.

alright, i leave you to enjoy THANKSGIVING! (at least those of you in the u.s.).

thankful for so many things!
julie

letters, random stuff and some apt modifications

it's been a month. what has happened in a month? well...i finished my MURDER SHE WROTE marathon-it'll be another 10 years before i can watch one of those! c'mon, though...angela lansbury! classy!

one of my childhood friends returned correspondence-that was a big deal! it was so good to hear back from lottie- it was so good to get caught up; i see posts sometimes that say things like the past is in the past, don't look back, etc. i submit that sometimes looking back to the past and beckoning special memories to come into the present is not only a means of recognizing and valuing those who played a role in forming our character, but also a way of letting them know that they remain special and thought of. not only that, but the past is sometimes a slice of comfort. not everyone knew me when i was in 1st through 3rd grade!

so it was a coincidence that i found my grade cards from k-4th yesterday and went through them. it looks like i was always pretty good at reading, in kindergarten, i wasn't great at finishing my work in a timely fashion (attention to detail, i'm sure)...in 2nd grade, the teacher crossed out the #scale and wrote in TOP for reading. in fourth grade the comment was: Julie really likes to talk during class. and i'm pretty sure she meant talk to other people when i'm not supposed to...i'm just glad that there wasn't more room for comments, because my math teacher might have put something crazy like: Julie hides nancy drew library books behind the math book and reads in class or Julie plays with her arcade game-watch on silent during math class. did i mention that i didn't do as well in math in fourth grade? i must've not followed the advice from the 3rd grade math teacher saying to drill facts....

oh, the power of a card and stamp!

 i also received a sweet note from jessica, my cousin's daughter-loved it! she is quite the creative one! i am so excited for her as she just finished her cna classes, and is preparing for her certification! and then there's the matter of her upcoming wedding-tba. can't wait!

the boys wanted to put in their 2 cents-worth also, so we made signs to celebrate a few weeks ago!

 and the third letter-from my dear friend carmen, from middle school, when i lived in tegucigalpa and sps- being an mk was such a unique experience, and i love keeping in touch with my friends who lived it as well-there is a certain amount of comfort there, as well...and the fact that my parents live so close to her and the entire rees clan, that is also pretty special!

earlier last month, there was a huge storm with high winds that ripped down several trees and wires, and to the boys' chagrin, their favorite peepee spot was destroyed. no worries, as we walked away, bruno's parting words were, "i can pee on a stump as well as a tall tree; the foul winds will not prevail." (?)

 and on that same walk, we came across these gems . i'd taken a pic of them a couple of months ago and shared it on fb, but now they are maturing and falling from the trees. they are so artsy looking. God is so creative!

the one in the middle front looks slightly like a klingon warrior.

 mid-october i had the pleasure of organizing a field trip to the fair...for 160 3rd and 4th grade students. fun. only not really. well, i think it was fun for the kids, but it's never fun when you're the one in charge! the best part was the cow-milking station! the aggie was a great presenter and she had some great cow jokes!

 i am so proud of my friend, yanira, from HONDURAS! she was in the miami triathlon! i am so proud of her! (i just repeated myself...it's ok though, because i only do that when i'm proud!).

i was tracking the entire time-she did great!

october was also the month that i finally had to give in and cut down the tomato plants. wa waaa. sad day at cabell. i have never loved tomatoes, but these tomatoes have won me over!  so we went ahead and planted some cold-weather crops: lettuce, cabbage, peas, broccoli, cilantro, garlic...i need to plant some onion as well! yippee!!!

maybe i teared up a little bit, maybe not...i'll never tell!

 so yes, 'stuff' has gone on, but i haven't had time to do much writing about it.

i had to renew my contract on the apt, so i decided to finally get rid of the rental w/d and make the purchase...well worth it, because the rental was like having a minor earthquake-somewhat embarrassing, and i always thought that the neighbors were going to call the cops on me. every time i ran the washer, when it would get to the spin cycle, it was like a war was happening in the laundry room, and the boys would run to the door and bark...the soggy saga...

in this contract, i also asked them to put in the plank floor and new carpet. this is somewhat of a task not for the faint-of-heart, as i am still living here while they are making the changes. so. i had to move everything from the kitchen, bathroom, laundry room, dining room and walk-in closet onto the carpeted area, so that they could put that part down. my living room was a mess of everything. oh, but wait..did i mention that the 'plank'flooring that they put in (that i am paying an upgrade for) is merely plank-looking laminate? #dotheyreallythinkidontknow

and while the men were in my apt doing this, i had to put the boys in doggie daycare. they were not thrilled.

 now i have a week to move everything from the carpeted areas (bedroom and living room) onto the plank areas. so that was what i worked on today. i had one little sofa..ok, actually a large loveseat, that i have been thinking about getting rid of for awhile now because i just don't have room for it. so i finally got everything moved out of the way so that i could get it out the door. and as i was maneuvering it out the front door, the neighbors were walking by-probably wondering what i was doing (well perhaps not, because sofa half-way out the door = pretty obvious). and then there was the little situation of being on the third floor and having to get it to the dumpster.

so i strategically waited for it to get dark out and went to lowe's for a little wheel-frame-mover-thingy (technical terms). then i came back to the apt and pushed the sofa allowed gravity to take over and pull the sofa down the stairs as i stood on the back side guiding it, and maneuvering it around the turns on end, all the while praying that no one would come out of their door, or want to walk up the stairs. fortunately it was a slow evening in the complex stairwell. and once i got the sofa on the little wheelie-majiggy, it just sounded like someone on a skateboard skating across the parking lot.

i'm glad to be rid of it, but the boys made me keep the cushions...a little pillow paradise of their own, if you will. getting closer, i will work on a little more tomorrow, but will probably finish on tuesday evening, so that the crew can work on the carpet on wednesday, then we will be done-ski. that'll be nice. nice to come home to a comfortable, updated apartment!

so now, i hope you're feeling a little caught up, i will try to do better in the future so that i can give better detail! goodnight!

julie