WAKE UP call...or two!

Have you ever had one of those moments where reality slaps you in the face...really, really hard? Well, I had two. Let me share...

WAKE-UP CALL #1 - Steve and I shimmied down the aisle to the back of the plane, right side, by the window where I always sit. I sat down and began to put my seat belt on. I slid the buckle clear to the very end and proceeded to slide it in to the buckle. It didn't reach. I sucked in. It didn't reach. Still sucking in, I sit up nice and tall. It didn't reach. Sucking in, nice and tall, butt plowed into back of seat...still doesn't reach. I'm screaming (in my raspy holding-my-breath voice) while turnig blue, "Steve...help!!!" CLICK...exhale!!! 

WAKE-UP CALL #2 - We got home from our vacation in Portland/Seattle where we'd done LOTS of walking...up and down hilly streets...sometimes with a 2-year old on my shoulders and always with a 7-year old holding my hand. Anxious to see if we'd lost any weight after all of this exercise, we both climbed on the bathroom scale. Steve went first...okay...pretty much what we expected. I stepped on the scale carefully, making sure not to add that extra ".5" that shows up if you push too hard. That can't be right. I hop off. Try again...even more carefully than before. I WEIGH THREE POUNDS MORE THAN MY HUSBAND! Need I say more?

So how 'bout it friends? Have you ever had a wake-up call? For whatever reason? Let's share...and hopefully, along the way, we'll have a few laughs and maybe end up being a little bit better off than we were to begin with...

Tangles in Your Tummy

Gramma: "So do you kids want to eat lunch or go swimming first?"

Adilynn: "We need to swim first because if you eat first, sometimes you get tangles in your stomach."

Mmmmm...

That's one smart cookie!

my wish...

I left work tonight at 11:07. It was just me and the evening sky. The temperature was perfect. You know...when you can't feel anything...not hot, not cold...just perfect. I walked under this huge pine tree that we have by our office and I heard birds...lots of them. It wasn't a scary bird clamor. It was a joyful noise, lots of chattering, probably lots of girl birds talking about irrelavent things that were only important to the bird who was chirping.
I thought of my granddaughter, Adi. I remembered her mom telling me about an afternoon last summer when she came into the house wearing a hat, sunglasses and binoculars. She had ranch-flavored sunflower seeds and a note pad and pencil. She had been doing some serious bird-watching and was prepared to feed and illustrate her bird friends if she happened to venture upon any of them.
To her avail, she didn't spot one bird...but her Uncle Chad told her about the barn swallows that used to roost in Granny Goose's doorway and drew her a picture. She was then satisfied with her bird-watching efforts as she nibbled on her sunflower seeds.
On the way home tonight, the clock turned to 11:11. I made a wish. I wished that someday soon Adi and I could sit under the big pine tree by my office and listen to the birds...