Home.

Update: Photos posted at the Shooting blog.

We are home. We are tired. This is what I plan to do tomorrow. Find a nice place to relax and eat.

It was so worth it.

Wow, what a day!

Just a quick post to let you know that we had a wonderful, cold and tiring day. The weather was snowy with occasional breakthroughs of sunshine. The scenery was as we expected, incredible. I have been to Yellowstone many times in the summer and loved it. Today's visit was nothing short of awesome. At first the kids were a little unsure about the snowcoach, an old 1950's Bombardier, and what to expect. I'll admit, so was I. But as it turned out we had a wonderful tour guide, Molly, who immediately made us all at ease and provided us with all kinds of information about the park as well as the animals.

We were able to see Old Faithful erupt two times, although that is one thing that was not as impressive as I had hoped. With the cloudy skies and snowfall the geyser did not look as majestic as in times past. The kids had puzzled looks on their faces of "we came all the way for this?". Luckily, right after the eruption and our lunch Molly took us on a hike around the geyser basin and explained all kinds of interesting things to the kids.

The highlights of the day were the animals and they were everywhere. We saw bald eagles, ravens, elk, swans, signets and a few herds of bison. The snowcoach had two "sunroofs" and when the wildlife came into view we either got out on the road or just stood up in the coach and looked out of the sunroof. The three older ones took lots of photos while Little enjoyed the binoculars.

The day ended with a traffic jam caused by a herd of bison crossing the road out of the park. Man, those things are big! And they think they own the road! We got up close and personal with them, something none of us will forget.

The kids and Zeus are now tucked into bed for the night. I think I'll head there myself.

(Muriel, no, we didn't feel any earthquakes but we heard about them. Darn, that would have really impressed the kids!)

It's cold up here!

Hello from cold, snowy Montana! The first 45 minutes of our drive was definately the hardest. The roads in Northern Utah were a sheet of ice this morning but after hitting the Idaho border it went much better. The last hour was on blowing and snow packed roads but they didn't bother me nearly as much as the ice.

After arriving in the small town of West Yellowstone we headed over to the IMAX Theater where we saw a documentary on the history and geology of the National Park. It was quite interesting and gave the kids a little taste of what we will hopefully see tomorrow.

Pete's Pizza was the choice for dinner and then back to the hotel for a swim in the warm pool. It's pretty darn cold up here so the pool was fun for the kids.

Our snowcoach arrives to pick us up at 8:45 in the morning so we are all turning in early. The forecast is calling for snow and cold temps tomorrow so we'll have to get up early to start putting on all those layers of clothes that we brought!

Hope you all are having as much fun as we are! Yes, Athena and Eris, you better be enjoying your temporarily empty nests!

Muriel, we waved at you as we went by!

Santa Report 2008

The festivities continue in our family on Christmas Eve when we all meet at my mother's home for soup and desserts. This year Mom was fortunate enough to have all of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren here. All 32 of us crammed into her house results in bedlam, but she loves it.

We were all back at home by 8:30 where Duchess and family joined us. We gathered in the front room and the pajama unveiling began. This year we started with the little one picking out a color and then everyone had to guess whose pjs they were. It turned out to be easy guessing. It still amazes me that this is the one thing that they get so excited about! (Yes, Athena is really texting in the photo.) After Eris read the new Christmas book the kids went to bed and the parents went to work.

Christmas morning was a bit quieter this year. There weren't as many gifts to open but I believe everyone was delighted with what was in their stocking. The above photo is Littlest Ms. discovering what Santa left for her. She had been insisting that she wanted a fish for Christmas. A fish? Really? Well, that's what she got. After some careful consideration she firmly announced that his name would be "WiseMan". Seriously, is that not a perfect name for a Christmas fish?

The last photo is of the four older kids opening their gift from me and Zeus. It was a Scrabble game with letters in it that they had to unscramble to find out what it was. Jubee got it right away, Bubba soon after, but in all fairness they had some hints beforehand that it was the name of a place. With a little help Jr. and Little figured it out: YELLOWSTONE.

Tomorrow morning we are taking these four on a three-day trip to Yellowstone National Park. While there we will tour the park in a snowcoach and see the wonders of this national treasure in it's winter glory. All of the snowfall in the last week will hopefully make this a trip for all of us to remember! Everyone has cameras and binoculars ready to check out the wildlife and Old Faithful. Hopefully I will be posting daily about our adventures so stay tuned.

Again, if you are interested you can see more photos at the Shooting Blog.

Now, I really must go pack my bags!

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An old tradition with a new twist

Zeus and I have a blended family. In fact, whenever any of us has to explain our family tree there is likely to be much stuttering and and then we are usually met with puzzled looks. How do I explain that my stepson is four years older than I or that we are now adding great-grandchildren while I am still on "guest status" in my Adults Only subdivision? Add to that the "acquired" family and grandchildren such as the Duke, Duchess and the Princess who have become part of us. And how could we not include the many special friends that are intricately woven into our everyday lives?

So this year we made a big change in our family party. We doubled the invitations and in the process, we tripled the fun! The gift exchange was done away with and replaced with games. The food became multicultural with tamales and other interesting (and spicy!) dishes added. Two pinatas were filled with candy and prizes waiting to be broken at the end of the night. Due to the size of the group we again rented an historic log cabin that was large enough to comfortably hold all of us.

Most of our guests had met in the past so we were all ready for some fun. The guys started the afternoon with a poker game. At five the kids arrived and a "nickle game" replaced the poker. It is one that even the youngest kids can play and at times can get quite noisy.

Then on to the balloon game, a new one for me. It involved tying balloons around the kids' ankles with string. The object of the game is to step on your opponents balloons to pop them and the last one with a balloon is the winner. The kids were divided into younger and older groups. What a fun game!

After a delicious dinner of roast beef, tamales and lots of other assorted dishes (thanks to all of you!) it was time to break the two pinatas. The kids all got a chance to take a swing and gather up sackfuls of candy and prizes.

It was a great evening with smiles and laughter galore. Zeus and I would like to thank all of our family and friends for making this such a great time. We are looking forward to doing it all again next year! And to those of you who are out of state or at home with a sick child, please know that you were all missed.

As usual, more photos at the Shooting Blog.

Santa report to follow tomorrow.

give a girl a camera....

Zeus and I hosted our annual holiday gathering two nights ago (the 23rd). When we arrived there I handed Eris and the Duchess each one of my cameras and told them to take lots of photos. They did what they were told. Grand total: 593 photos. It's a good thing that it snowed today so I could get editing done. Stay tuned for some of them.

By the way, they did a wonderful job. And neither one of them did what I managed to do last night... let the new D90 drop from three feet up. Result, broken lens, repair to come. Thank heavens for backup lenses.


$.00000 (snow covering every surface!)

Take a deep breath!

Have you heard the news? Have ya? Have ya? Oh my goodness, Zeus told me the most fabulous news yesterday! Now Eris, Muriel and Loki, you need to brace yourself for this.

For the last month I have been watching the construction on a new building just three short miles from my front door. Yes, this afternoon I actually measured the distance on the odometer of my car. It is close enough that I could run there on a good day. The construction style looked vaguely familiar but I couldn't place it. Well, I have now been informed that this building is indeed going to be a new Deseret Industries! Oh my, someone please check to make sure that Eris and Muriel are still breathing!

For those of you who aren't familiar with the Deseret Industries, it is the equivalent of a Salvation Army Thrift Store, a Savers or Goodwill. The DI, as it is affectionately known in these parts, is run by the LDS Church and is an outstanding training and employer of adults with disabilities.

Some of you will think that my excitement is overdone. A big pbfffffttt to you. I love roaming around looking for treasures. And I don't think there is one of you (at least those of you who live close to me) that hasn't benefited in some way by my "finds". In the last year I finally found (thanks to Mom) all of the replacement pieces to my Noritake China that mysteriously went missing in one of my moves 20 years ago. I've also found pieces to my sister's treasured Madrid Depression Glass collection that match the set she received from my grandmother. My discontinued Pfaltzgraff stoneware pattern is kept alive and well, along with many varied serving pieces, most of which I've never seen until I come across them on the shelves! I look for quality photo frames for my images as well as nice 3-ring binders that are ready to be covered with fabric for my mountains of scrapbooks. Oh, the treasures are there just waiting to be discovered!

I don't know when the opening date is but you can count on the Numismatist being there to watch the ribbon cutting! Duchess and Athena, you are welcome to join me!

Eris? Muriel? Are you okay?

$.13 (too much snow and ice to go out... damn)

Dong Zhi!

The month of December is filled with all kinds of holidays, so why not add another? My guess is that few, if any of you have ever heard of this one, just enough reason for me to celebrate it!

Today is Dong Zhi, a Chinese holiday that recognizes the Winter Solstice. This year the solstice officially occurs at 12:04 p.m. and you can bet that at moment I will be out in my front yard dancing around my Festivus pole, rejoicing that each day for the next six months I will have a few more minutes of sunshine.

Dong Zhi is connected to the concept of yin and yang, which is the harmony and balance in life, or keeping things equal. All of you OCD people around me should easily relate to this. You can celebrate Dong Zhi by methodically eating your M&Ms in pairs (color-coordinated of course), folding your towels in perfect halves or parting your hair exactly down the center. Whatever your yin needs to yang.

So come on over to my house for some fortune cookies and tangyuan (rice dumplings).

Hurray for Dong Zhi!

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My younger/older sister

Two months ago I wished a Happy Birthday to my younger sister Paula. Today I will send those same wishes to my sister Ann. She won't like it very much when I tell you that I am a bratty middle child.

It was always pretty hard to follow in the Ann's footsteps. She was a straight A student while I didn't care much about grades. Her hair was perfectly coiffed and makeup was always impeccably applied while I was much too lazy to worry about silly things like that. She worked from the time she was old enough to buy nice clothes that I promptly borrowed from her, without permission of course. She excelled in music and made it a successful profession while I played the piano as a hobby, rarely putting much effort into it.

Her accomplishments have been many and I'm proud to call her my sister.

Throughout my lifetime I have always felt that I resembled my father. His hair was dark and I thought my smile was more like his. As the years fly by there is now the occasional surprise when I am standing in front of a mirror and I recognize pieces of the rest of my family. Lately those little flashes have been of my Mom and Ann. Yes, we really are sisters.

Happy Birthday Ann. See you at lunch this afternoon.

And for whatever it's worth, because I am forever 39 and Paula is forever 26, feel free to choose whatever number you would like. I'll never tell.

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Time for another celebration?

I haven't been out running since last Friday. It started snowing on Saturday and we've had flurries off and on since then. Not a lot of snow accumulation, just a few inches, but enough to make the roads unsafe. And it's coooold. The low temps don't usually bother me, but add wind and ice and I'll take a pass, thank you.

Also, the days are almost at the shortest of the year. Winter solstice is on the 21st (Sunday) at 12:04 p.m. and the days will start getting longer. It is possible that another off-the-wall celebration is brewing in six days! Hallelujah!

Mother Nature has been kind in another way, though. For the last few nights the moon has been positioned very close to the earth and the moonlight has been very bright. Bright enough to cast shadows in the house and to see the mountain cliffs clearly from our bedroom window in the middle of the night.

Four years ago before I discovered early mornings these things would have meant nothing to me. Mornings were my bane. Sleeping until nine (or later) was not unusual and staying up late to watch Jay Leno was the norm. Nowadays 7:00 is sleeping late. Who would have ever thought that Numi would like mornings? When I am outside and that five minutes of dawn occurs I sometimes stop just to enjoy the glow that comes from all directions.

It is 8:45 p.m. and I'm ready for bed.

Goodnight all.

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The photo at the top is my Dad and Mom in the winter of 1949. This was one of the harshest winters of that century in Utah.

Bleeding Purple

What an exciting day! This afternoon and evening was spent celebrating the graduation of our great friend Luis from the University. This isn't just any old graduation, this one was special in many ways.


We have known this fine young man and his family for eleven years. They had recently arrived in this country and at that time he was a good-looking, cocky 17 year old guy trying to find his place in a new and strange culture, including learning a new language.


It took him a while to find his direction, but once he did there was no stopping him. As he marched into the large arena this afternoon in his cap and gown both Zeus and I were choking with emotions. It has been a long, hard road for him with many obstacles. But he did it.


His wife Judy deserves much of the credit. She is a really neat lady who we adore. Those three beautiful kids with them in the photo were as excited as the rest of us when graduation was over and they could jump up into Daddy's arms and give him a high-five!


Hey Luis, we are proud of you! And thanks for letting us be a part of this wonderful day!












More photos at the Shooting Blog.

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Jammie report

Pajama kids 2002

Eleven of thirteen finished. It should have been twelve but I realized that Mr. Eris, Jr. is no longer a size 6. What was I thinking?

Today's date has been marked on the calendar as "Pajama Day" for three weeks. Zeus was out of town so I had the entire day to retreat to my lair and sew, sew, sew. The serger and sewing machine were smoking hot all day.

Pajama Gang 2006

This pajama thing has been a holiday tradition for, oh, probably 10 years. Each year everyone who stays with us on Christmas Eve gets silly pj pants and a t-shirt.

Pajama Gang 2003

The pajamas are worn until they are threadbare. Last night I asked the Little Erises if they could tell me what their pajamas were for the last few years. Not only could they tell me theirs, but they also told Eris what hers were. That makes it worth all the work.

All that is left now is to press, wrap them in coordinating t-shirts and set them under the tree.

One more photo: This one was taken in 1959 (?). Mom made these matching nightgowns for us three girls. You probably can't see it but the pajamas that Little Ms. Eris is wearing in the 2002 photo are made from leftover scraps of these nightgowns. Now that is real stashbusting!
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The "Not" shopping day

Today was the annual "shop till we drop" day with Jubee. She spent the night with us last night and then we got up early this morning and headed out, first stopping for breakfast.

You would think by now Jubee would know that when I pack my camera bag in the trunk the day is not going to be all about shopping. She has been one of my favorite subjects since the day she was born. For a long time I have wanted to take some images of the factory where my Dad spent most of my growing up years working hard to provide for his family. It is a classic old brick building that has recently been renovated. It was early morning with great light, just perfect for taking photos.


As long as I had a captive model I talked her into playing on the railroad tracks for awhile. She was a little nervous about it at first but soon relaxed. We were still taking photos when the lights and bells at the nearby crossing started going off. I didn't know Jubee could move that fast!

We finally accomplished some shopping, although not a lot. Like everyone else we have scaled back the number of gifts that are being given. I still have some sewing to do (PJ day is Tuesday) but so far I am not feeling the pressure.

Thanks Jubee for the fun day and being such a good sport! I love you!


$ .38

A few more photos are on the Shooting Blog.

Psssttt!!!

It's Eris' birthday! It you would like to you can wish her a happy birthday here or at her blog.

Photos from her birthday 1987

$1.15

It's Here! Festivus for the Rest of us!

IT'S FESTIVUS!

See Addendum below..

Yes, the day I wait for all year is finally here! Oh my gosh, I'm so excited! I have the entire day to celebrate! For those who are unfamiliar with this celebration you can look here and here. And if that isn't enough you can reminisce about how I celebrated last year!

The gifts have been gathered all year and now I will spend the day distributing them, I'm sure bringing great joy to all recipients.

This year I am going to host the blog-version of The Airing of Grievances. I am inviting all of you to post your own grievance (or grievances) in the comments section. Because Festivus is celebrated by each person in his/her own way I will put rules on this new addition.

1. No personal comments that could be offensive to other readers, especially me.
2. You can post anonymously. No wait, that would make #1 useless.
3. If
you don't post a grievance it means that your last year has been spent in a hole
somewhere, never reading a newspaper or turning on a TV.

Photos of the festivities will be posted later in the day, with the exception of the Wrestling to the Ground of the Head of Household.

HAPPY FESTIVUS!

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All in all, Festivus turned out to be a very joyful day. I was able to share in the celebration by handing out six poles to be displayed proudly for the remainder of the holiday season.


Unfortunately, Athena was out of her office when I arrived, as was the Duchess. Their poles were left attached to computers or hanging on the door.


The rest of the day was spent in the Big City to the south. After picking up Eris at her school (also left a pole in her cubicle) we went shopping at my favorite stores during her lunch hour. The DI and Savers are always good for some laughter. Adding to the entertainment was a texting conversation between Mr. Eris and Eris that seemed to go on and on about making sure their Festivus pole was going to be properly placed tonight.

Eris was delighted to present me with a Festivus gift, a new book. I will carefully read this book and highlight all applicable parts. Who knows, might be good for some future posts.

My Festivus Miracle was the finding of two new pieces of my stoneware. That's always a good day!



What? That's all the Grievances you can come up with? You are all a bunch of Festivus party poopers (except FN and Sharyn)!

Another addendum: Eris posted at great list of grievances. You can see it at her blog.

Putting it all together

Warning: a little bit of seriousness ahead.

In 1984 my sister gave me this handpainted statue of Santa kneeling over baby Jesus. Over the years it has become one of my most treasured possessions and when the boxes are unpacked it always gets a special place of honor on the coffee table.

The holiday season used to be difficult for me as I was searching for meaning as to what it really meant. My religious transition took many years and it wasn't until two or three years ago that I found comfort and peace. Sometimes the road has been tough, more so for those close to me that cannot comprehend my reasoning. Rifts have occurred but I believe that they will heal with time and patience on all sides.

I love this statue and smile each time I see it.

Oh, and one more thing... I feel it coming on... it's almost here.... oh, yeah.... bring it on....

$1.51 1/2

Holiday Bells

What day is it, anyway? And where did my week go? Each day was something different. Monday I spent the day with Athena. Tuesday Zeus and I spent a nice day in the big SLC where we went to see Body Worlds, the amazing display of plasticized human bodies. Wow, that was incredible learning adventure. Wednesday I joined Eris and Littlest Ms. to see her get her cast taken off. Now that was another adventure! During these busy days I also found the time to dust the basement and get ready for Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving turned out well and it was nice to have Muriel and her family join us for a few days. Cameron finally let me hold him last night, at least while his mom wasn't in the room. Between Guitar Hero, the extra computer and some art projects the kids stayed busy and I think had a good time. At least I think Addi did, she cried this morning when they had to leave. Everyone obeyed the House Rules and was very good about not crossing the line.

For the last twelve years a tradition has been that Bubba spends the night of Thanksgiving with us. The next day he helps me get all of the holiday decorations out of storage and put up where they are enjoyed for the season. This afternoon he came over intending to stay the night. After all these years he is so efficient at it that we were finished in four hours. All the lights are working and hopefully the timers are programed correctly (I'll find out in an hour). Zeus mentioned today that maybe we should start training Mr. Eris, Jr. to help because Bubba is now 15 1/2, a very sobering thought. Bubba assured us that he would always be here, no matter what.

One other tradition that occurs when putting up the decorations is a tough one. On our tree are some sets of nesting glass bells. These bells make the prettiest little tinkles whenever they are rustled the tiniest bit. The sound of those bells also make me suck in my breath every year when I pull them out of the box and hang them tenderly on the tree.

Here's why. My little dog Sadie who shared my life for eleven years would ring these bells often during the holidays. Before we moved our tree was in a corner by the door that she used to go outside. It was cold out there so I always left the door ajar so she could push it open and get back into the warm house quickly. When she pushed the door open it would swing into the tree and all kinds of bells would start ringing. The first year after she passed away I was putting up the tree and found myself sitting in a chair sobbing when I hung the bells up. After eight years I no longer cry but there is still a lump in my throat when I hear that tinkle.

Another tradition that I have is to call Athena and share these difficult emotions with her. She wasn't very nice when I rang them for her today.

Now I think I will get to bed. Tomorrow morning I need to get back on the streets and run off some of the jelly ring calories that I've consumed in the last three days.

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P.S. Thanks again for joining us Muriel! Not only was it fun but your rolls were delicious!!!

House Rules

We are looking forward to having guests for the holidays this week. In order to create a more relaxed and stress-free atmosphere I will post my House Rules. These rules are familiar to those who frequent our little abode but newcomers might want to memorize them.

1. Please don't disturb the dust. It has taken months for it to accumulate. I will be doing my best to remove the most visible collection places in the next few days. If you find a place that I have missed just grab a cloth and swipe over it. Don't write your name in it for the next guest to find.

2. Sleep in the bed. Yes, in the past I have had a guest who slept on top of the quilt because he didn't want to get the sheets dirty. Puhleeze, pull the quilt back and get inside the sheets. I promise they are clean. And washable. Same with towels. Use them.

3. I am not tall. If you see cobwebs hanging from light fixtures please take care of them. This is something I have tried for years to teach my tall family members but they just don't listen. The same with dust on top of the refrigerator. Come on, Mr. Eris, tell me when it is disgusting up there!

4. Speaking of the fridge, check it out when you get here. Also, check out the pantry. If there is something there that you want to eat, please help yourself. I'm trying to get back into my smaller jeans and the last thing I need is lots of leftovers to tempt me.

5. While you are here please fix the downstairs DVD player, the TV and the TV remote. They are not playing together well. Also, it would be nice if you left a detailed user's guide on how to work them when you leave.

6. Last and most important, for all those under 16, don't step over the line.

Can't wait to see you all! The jelly rings await!

$.36

Turkey Triathlon

Eris ran, biked and swam this morning in the WSU Turkey Triathlon along with two friends. You can see more photos at the Shooting Blog. Congratulations on a good finish!

$1.36

The morning after

"If you want to make an enemy of a teenage girl (and perhaps, her mother) say something bad about Stephanie Meyer's Twilight saga ......"

That was a quote from an article I read this morning about the movie that kept me out until 3:15 a.m. this morning. Keeping that in mind, here are my thoughts about last night's entertainment.

I adored Charlie Swan and his friend Billy. Jacob wasn't at all what I was hoping for but that is for the next movie.

It took fifteen minutes before I could figure out what real-life person Bella reminded me of. I enjoyed her character far better in the movie than the book.

The Hoh Rainforest is beautiful and some of the footage looked like it was shot there.

I did get a kick out of the total silence in the theater. You could have heard a pin drop for for most of the two hours except for the collective heavy breathing when the first kiss took place.

It was fun evening. Thanks ladies! I am tired.

$.61

Mom always liked you best..

It's Wednesday. That means I get to play with little kids all day. Nothing else gets done and by the time they go home all I can do is sit in a chair and sigh, long and loud. Today actually went quite well, in spite of the fact that the Princess was running a darn good fever and just wanted to be held for a couple of hours. No complaint about that because she never sits still long enough to cuddle with her.

The major problem that cropped up today was with my adult children. You see, niece Muriel and family are coming here next week for Thanksgiving and that has caused a little email sniping. Here are some snippets from emails between Athena, Eris, Muriel and me:

Numi (to Muriel): It will be nice to have you here. We can get in some camera time and family photos if you are interested.

Athena: Eris, are you seeing a pattern here? It seems that if you are from her loins there is NO WAY you can be her favorite! She never offers us to spend the night! In fact, I've seen her offer money for us to leave! This is all a bunch of crap!

Muriel: Oh, I'm not so sure she will ever offer again after she has us all at once. :)

Athena: Once you are her favorite it is hard NOT to be invited again and again. Too bad her other favorite won't be able to join us. Actually, I'm surprised that she didn't send out a notification that Thanksgiving was postponed until they could make it. Damn New Yorkers.

Oh, for heavens sake, go to your room and don't come out! And Muriel, you can stay as long as you want. We can sit and visit for hours eating jelly rings while I tell you all about The Duchess.

$.80

(I've posted that photo of Athena and Eris before but it seemed so appropriate to do it again.)

There's a HAIR in my Dirt!

Warning: Ewww factor ahead!

Since Eris didn't do it, I guess I will have to. See that cute little girl in the previous post sitting in front of that pretty little chocolate birthday cake? Well, ewwwww!

After blowing out the candle Eris started to cut the cake. Gags. Then more gags. Soon a chorus of gags rose up out of my kitchen! A big long black hair just keeps coming and coming out of that cake. Ten long inches of black hair to be exact. Gagging here just thinking about it. Poor Little Ms. just sat there. No cake fit to be eaten.

After Mr. Eris rushed over to our little neighborhood grocery store and brought back a new cake we sang Happy Birthday all over again and then cautiously ate the tasty white fruit-filled cake and ice cream.

A number of years ago Athena and Eris gave me this book "There's a Hair in My Dirt". They added a page on the inside so I could keep track of all the restaurants that I would no longer frequent due to "bonus" items found in my food. I will now include the grocery story that baked this cake on that list.

Just to add insult to injury, I am adding a photo of the ugliest birthday cake ever made. This one was a special order for the October birthdays that were celebrated last month. It came from the same store as the hairy one. Money has been refunded for both cakes.

$1.80

To really appreciate the ugliness of the bottom cake click on it to embiggen.