I saw an interesting article yesterday about Minnesota. It turns out five Minnesota cities made Money’s Best Places To Live in 2010 List…

If you’d like to see if your city made the list, CLICK HERE.

I live by three of the cities, with the city I’m closest to~ Eagan, the next street over~ placing number 15 on the list.

Lots of my friends live in number 13. Tosh used to live in number 20, but now lives in 13. I love my friends, but I will not be living in 13. It’s lovely. I just do not belong there. No one asked for that information, I’m just freely offering it.

I have to say that I’m a little surprised. Not that I don’t think this is a great place to live for the most part…it’s just I didn’t realize that not many other places are any better.

I’m having another one of those, “The grass isn’t always greener…” moments.

Yesterday when Indie got up, we were already awake. He crawled into bed, thumb still in mouth…as is his custom. We turned a cartoon on the TV for him and Nate and I were looking at something on the computer. We greeted him warmly, of course, as he settled back on the pillows. Eyes still on the TV screen, Indigo said, “If anyone wanted a hug, I’d give ‘em one…”

Greyley’s Middle School Homeroom teacher is in a band. He’s played on Letterman and such. My guess is he’s in his upper 50s. We googled him when we got home and had a good chuckle at his makeover. He’s gone from waist-length hair to a conservative teacher ‘do. I know Nate and Mr. B are totally going to be talking guitars at Parent/Teacher conferences.

Indigo has asked to go to bed lots this week and I am LOVING that. I MUST say one more time that I love a child who can say when they’re tired. Not sure if anything could make me much happier…

Pet Peeve #1,283: Trying to open anything these days, whether it’s a toy, hair appliance, or CD. I almost lose my salvation. Almost.

I’m pretty sure Nate broke a toe this weekend. Sad that there’s not really much you can do for it.

Do not watch Greenburg.

Several really good books you might enjoy: The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen by Syrie James, Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner, Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner, and The Apothecary’s Daughter by Julie Klassen.

Cooking for a group of great cooks today…if you have incredible brunch recipes, please share.

Maybe you can tell by the randomness of this post that my head is flying in a million directions right now. My brain has gone on an extended hiatus. I’m praying for its immediate return.

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases

His mercies never come to an end

They are new every morning,

New every morning…

Great is thy faithfulness, O Lord.

Great is thy faithfulness.

(written by Robert Davidson)

Yesterday I was tired from not sleeping well the night before, short-tempered with the children and a little ugly to the guy trying to sell me something on my cell phone. By the end of the day, I felt more weary than usual.

Depleted…

It’s nice to wake up with this song on my mind.

New mercies every morning…

Fresh start.

Hopeful beginning.

Quiet calm.

Refreshed.

Lots of friends have asked what I will do once Indigo starts Kindergarten…

Well, besides wail and gnash my teeth, I am not sure.

To be honest, he will barely get there and it will be time to pick him up again. If he likes the bus, it will add about a half hour to the beginning of his afternoon at school. If he’s anything like his sister, he’ll like the bus for the first week and then be done, which will bring the total time away down to two and a half hours.

What to do for 2 1/2 hours?

Sit and think about what to do for 2 1/2 hours.

Get up and vacuum the whole house.

Clean out the fridge~ I mean, really clean it.

Go to town on the shower~ it’s a hard one.

Mow the front yard. Just kidding, Nate…but I’ll wave while you mow!

Read.

Catch up on blogs and be at least 2 posts ahead at all times.

Go grocery shopping.

Volunteer at his school and stare longingly at his sweet face.

Cry salty tears that he’s growing up.

Stand watch at the corner until the bus comes back.

Pick out all my arm hair.

Wait…I seem to be on a downward spiral here…maybe I will just wait and see what strikes me. The grief might just be so strong that all I’ll be able to do is NAP.

I don’t know~ what have YOU done?

And don’t even get me started about my daughter and Middle School. I’m not going to have any hair left on my arms…which would not be all bad, actually.

I think several things when I look at this picture.

1) I would be a good candidate for Botox.

2) My favorite thing in the world is to make my kids laugh.

3) If I did #1, then it would be harder to do #2.

4) Sorry about the use of #2 in this blog, even in that context…

But speaking of #2…

And let’s just say hypothetically…

If you happen to be holding, say…a TOAD or something…

Perhaps you’re getting along swimmingly. Maybe you’ve even bonded. Maybe the little thing has nestled in the palm of your hand and wants to stay a while. Maybe you are imagining for just a moment that you are Snow White and that living creatures want to hear you sing to them…

I know, I know…it’s SO far-fetched.

But, really.

Imagine that the sun shines down on that toad’s back and all of a sudden you see something you hadn’t noticed before. It’s as if you’re seeing a toad for the very first time. And you think, “Hmm, I didn’t realize toads had tails. Isn’t that interesting. And so dark, kind of a different color than its whole body…”

Say that happens.

Here’s what you do in that situation:

Take a deep breath.

Quickly put a leaf under that toad and catch that tail before it touches your hand.

Put the toad DOWN.

Run in dismay when you realize it was not a tail at all, rinse your hand with whatever substance you can find on a picnic, have full body shivers and never EVER pick up another toad again.

At least not in the near future.

A little peek into the past 7 days…

Tough Girls

Sweet Girls

The Mama and the Baby Girl

Thumb Wrap~ The New Alternative to NOT Sucking...

Yeah, It Doesn't Work...

Tubing on the St. Croix

Showboat "The Triumph of Love"

Celebrating Patricia

Hey, Little Guy

What are YOU lookin' at?

The Bug-Eyed Competition

Wading in the Water

Hiking with the Family

Have a wonderful weekend, my friends and loved ones. Enjoy these last glorious weeks of Summer.

XOXO

It seems the school system is easing themselves into our lives this summer. We start the day after Labor Day around here, but have already done school pictures, paid for this and that, toured the middle school, met the kindergarten teacher and next week they’re taking it to the next level. Greyley will spend a full day at school, learning the ropes and Indigo will spend a couple hours in class, finishing the night off with a bus ride.

I know it’s good to be prepared and all, but…man. I just want to enjoy these last couple weeks of summer without even having to THINK about school. I guess it just doesn’t work like that anymore.

When Indigo walked away with his teacher yesterday~ she’s VERY nice, by the way~ we had a moment. An OH MY WORD, he’s going to kindergarten moment. I filled out the form about him with tears in my eyes and then Nate, Greyley and I all huddled by the door to hear what Indie was telling the teacher.

He told about his trip to Arkansas to see Honey & Papa and that at church Grandpa offered him a MINT.

He counted all the way to 100 and when she asked if he could keep going, he said, “100, 111…oh, I don’t know…”

He picked out a surfboard Silly Band for himself and a purple fish one for his sister and we called it a day.

Excitement took over and Indigo is positively thrilled about going to kindergarten. I guess these summer teasers are worthwhile, after all.

So we started the topic of smells yesterday…where I told you I smell like a man.

Well, at least I smell like a GOOD man. I had the opportunity to smell NOT so GOOD smells from a man the other day. If you’ve read this blog for any length of time, you know that my nose does not work appropriately~ I have never smelled a skunk, for one thing~ so when my nose cooperates in any way, I get excited.

One time I smelled Greyley’s feet and got all excited that I was correct in ascertaining that it was, indeed, the smell of FEET. It’s just big news around here. * She reminded me of this and allowed me to put it in here…and just so you know, it was because she was wearing her heavy duty socks ALL DAY LONG…otherwise, her feet NEVER smell…at least, not that I know about. heehee

In this instance the other day, I was not quite as excited. There are benefits to being short and there are drawbacks. One drawback is being exactly the right height to have my nose directly in someone else’s armpit.

I found myself in this position last week at an amusement park.

It makes me shudder just thinking about it.

Greyley and I have a yearly tradition of going to Valleyfair, our local amusement park, every summer. This year, Tosha and her daughter, Aubrey, wanted to go too…so one day last week, when it was just the right temperature and just the right amount of Cloudy, we went!

We were giddy. It was just the girls. No brothers. Just us and the liberty of riding whatever rides we wanted.

There were no long lines. It was perfect.

Until we got in line for the High Roller…

We had to wait…and wait…and my nose was exactly the height of the guy’s armpit in front of us.

I’m so used to not smelling well that when I do smell something, I have a moment of, “Is that what I think it could be? That IS a really bad smell, right?”

I looked over at Tosh~ she’s been my nose almost our entire lives~ and she was gagging and her eyes were watering.

Yes, it was a very, VERY bad smell.

The kind of smell that is only possible after days and days of not washing and not deodorizing.

This is when I wish I was tall.

Anyway, being who I am and wanting so desperately to smell, I spent the rest of the time sniffing…testing how bad it was and how phenomenal that I was actually smelling the awfulness.

I know. I’m weird.

Moving right along…we had a great time. We rode lots of roller coasters, but there was one that none of us wanted to ride~ The Power Tower. Well, none of us, except Aubrey.

I told her I’d take her on The Wild Thing, but I couldn’t do Power Tower. She became resolute~ she was going to ride Power Tower! By herself. She got on that ride, we followed in amazement, taking pictures and laughing as she was buckled in. She had a brief moment before going up the 250 feet where I thought she might be changing her mind, but that quickly turned into calm joy. She rode that ride and then rode it AGAIN.

We were very impressed.

We decided to ride one more ride before we left for the night…something not so scary, something that we could all handle…we’d had a day of it, after all. Bellies were a little iffy, Greyley’s head was iffy and to tell you the truth, I wasn’t sure I could handle another big drop going 100+ miles an hour…

I had the perfect ride! Renegade! I had ridden it once and remembered it as a very calm, mellow, old-fashioned roller coaster. It would be the perfect end to a perfect day!

Aubrey took one look at the ride and got nervous…really nervous. Greyley kept telling her, “You just went on a ride that dropped straight down and you’re saying THIS is scary?”

Yes, she was.

Even once we were on the ride, she teared up a little and I turned around and said, “I promise you, Aubs, this is the mildest of all the rides we’ve been on today!”

Well, I lied.

When that thing took off, it did not slow down for the…next…what felt like 10 minutes…it jerked, it sped, it dropped, it twisted and it did all those things over and over and over and over again…

I broke out into a sweat and screamed. Aubrey laughed a maniacal laugh. Greyley sat, looking shell-shocked. Tosh…well, I think Tosh was struck speechless.

What follows is the Best/Worst Picture I have ever seen…

We were scared for our very lives.

I had to apologize to Aubrey and everyone else for lying. “I did not remember correctly!” was my defense…albeit, a lame one. Thankfully, they forgave me, but I don’t think they’ll ever trust my judgment on rides again. I don’t blame them.

And I don’t know what ride the girl in front was riding, but she is OBVIOUSLY not on the same ride as us!

I smell like a man.

My husband has bought sexist soap.

Alert the presses.

I sent him to get the pure and lovely Lever 2000 (Original)~ OK, I confess, I might not have been that specific in my direction~ but instead, he came home with Dial for MEN and Dial for WOMEN…

My senses are assaulted by rugged, outdoorsman when I get in the shower and by raspberry freshness when I get in the bathtub.

I’ve made the mistake of using the MEN’S soap a few times now and here’s what I’ve noticed.

* I kinda like it.

* Makes me feel “in charge”…

* Thought about hunting for about 1.2 seconds.

* People turn when I walk by, expecting to see someone in camo walking by…sorry to be a disappointment.

What’s next? Sexist toothpaste?

Steak and Mashed Potato Toothpaste for Men?

Salad and Chocolate Cake Toothpaste for Women?

I, for one, am on board with that…

Lately I have a middle of the night gig where I toss and turn (or read or write on this blog or pray) for 2-4 hours.

It’s productive time.

I regret it just a little around 6:45 when Indie comes trotting in…

I also regretted it the other night when I had to go to that hour-long class (of 6 people) at the doctor’s office…and I kept nodding off. That was awkward.

I wanted to thank you for reading Wednesday’s post. I was overwhelmed by the response that little post created. More people read that day than any other in the last year and a half I’ve done this blog. Isn’t that interesting?

It’s apparently a hot topic and one that we all struggle with…bitterness is not something we want, but something that takes work to guard our heart against. It is NOT fun~ I think we can all agree on that~ and it is in our best interest to do whatever we can to get it out of our life.

You will each be in my prayers now regarding this issue. It was funny~ I received several calls from concerned friends, saying, “You weren’t talking about me, by any chance, were you?” No, I wasn’t. Rest your heart. Everything is going to be all right.

I have lots to write about~ maybe that’s contributing to me being awake at 4 in the morning~ but will try to spread it out. Will save some very fun pictures for next week. Greyley and I did a GREAT thing with our friends, Tosh and Aubrey…oh my. If I can get the nerve AND permission from Tosh, I will show you the Picture of all Pictures. I laugh until I wheeze every time I look at it. How’s that for a build up?

I also have a prayer request~ my dear friend and pastor’s wife, Terry, is in the hospital right now. This woman is such an important person in my life and to so many others! To see her suffering is absolutely the worst thing. She is really, REALLY sick and needs all our prayers.

Now, I am off to attempt sleep again…maybe the next couple hours will feel like eight…wouldn’t that be lovely!

Have a wonderful weekend. XO