First Snow

The voice on the radio warned us to be careful. The valley roads were slick due to rain and snow. Snow! Aagh! I'm not ready. Yesterday we had to empty out our bedroom so the carpet could be laid today. The items I needed to get ready for work were in multiple rooms. And we had snow! Luckily we had received more rain than snow so it didn't take too long to defrost and scrape the car windows. The roads were fine and I got to work on time. Tonight the snow was flying at my window as I drove home from my tap class. Now the ground is dusted with snow. Hopefully there won't be any surprises in the morning (it's supposed to be cold). Snow is fine when you can admire it through your living room window. Driving in it is something else!

Festival of Trees

Today we attended the Festival of Trees. It seemed strange to go there without either of our girls. For years we were there because the girls were dancing; the trees were a bonus. Last year, I was the performer and my girls watched me - a reversal in roles. Today four of us from our adult class put on our tap shoes and a smile then walked out onto the little stage, praying that we didn't screw up in front of all those people. It went okay although the stage surface was rather strange (rough, with lots of seams). With that out of the way we walked around and enjoyed the wonderful display of decorated trees and wreaths. My favorite used peacock feathers as its focus point. Of course, there was a Boise State Broncos tree and a couple of wreaths all decked out in orange and blue. We also managed the catch the "dolls come to life" entertainment when actors play the part of dolls representing fairy tales and other stories. This year they had the evil queen, Hansel and Gretel, Queen of Hearts, fairy godmother, Noah, Cinderella, and Merlin & Arthur with Excalibur. We spent 3-4 hours total there, soaking it all in. I think I'm ready to go buy our tree now.

A Very Quiet Thanksgiving

This was the first Thanksgiving that I spent without my daughters. I had thought it was a small dinner before when we just had the four of us but this year it was just Bob and me. The girls were together at the home of Laura's fiance in Virginia. Since our house is a bit torn up, I didn't really want to invite anyone over here. On the bright side, we didn't have to clean the house or dress up. However, the table seemed terribly empty even though it was covered with food. I basically fixed what I always fix except that we barbequed a smaller turkey and I baked a pecan pie instead of a pumpkin pie. Just after we sat down to eat, we heard some noise and realized that a neigbor was setting off fireworks (I don't know why - leftovers?) We opened up the blinds and watched them for a few minutes.

Last night, since it was just the two of us, we attended the 24th Annual Thanksgiving Ecumenical and Interfaith Service. I had wanted to go for a number of years but with people coming into town, it had never worked out. Worshipers were asked to bring canned food and the offering went to Interfaith Sanctuary (winter shelter for the homeless). We were called to worship with the blowing of the Shofar (ritual instrument of Judaism) then representatives from various religions processed into the sanctuary. We were welcomed by the Catholic Bishop, a prayer was read from the Koran and then the Mayor of Boise voiced his Proclamation of Thanksgiving. The Ecumenical Choir, made up of musicians from a dozen Christian churches sang two numbers. There was a reading from the Book of Mormon, a call to meditation from a member of the Buddhist community and a song from the choir from the local Jewish synagogue. The message was from a Methodist minister and reflected on caring for the poor. There were hymns sung by the congregation, a blessing from the Rabbi, and a prayer from a woman of the Baha'i faith. We ended with the blowing of the Shofar and a recessional. It was a beautiful service and the place was packed - standing room only. If only the spirit of that worship service could move out into the world......

Canine children

One thing that I have noticed about people who either no longer have children at home or never had children is that their pets tend to become their children. All the attention that would have gone to children is now tranferred to their animals. I don't think that I am quite there yet but I have been giving our four furry family members more attention lately. As someone who has studied animal behavior, I am still puzzled, amused and sometimes amazed at their behavior. Piper, our Sharpei-Border Collie mix, is interesting to watch. She is about 3 years old but still acts like a teenage dog. A couple of days ago I bought a couple of soup bones while I was at the grocery store, one for Piper and one for Kozmo (American Eskimo-lab-? mix). I hadn't done that for a while and it didn't take me long to remember why. The dogs had been happily chewing on their bones while Bob and I were raking leaves. Suddenly, we heard a lot of barking and growling. I went to investigate and found Kozmo guarding his bone, snapping at Piper when she came near. I looked all over but couldn't see Piper's bone. She appeared to be totally clueless as to it's location. However, when I asked Kozmo "where's Piper's bone?", he ran over to one of the freshly dug holes (Piper is a digger, unfortunately) and looked at me. Piper immediately ran over and began to growl at Kozmo. So I reached into the hole, dug around, and sure enough, there was the bone. After wiping it off I gave it to Piper. She chewed on it for a bit but after a while she was carrying it around the yard, running in circles. There seemed to be an air of desperation about her, like she just HAD to bury it. The next day both bones had disappeared so Bob dug them up. Later, Piper was standing over both bones, not allowing poor Kozmo near them. She was moved inside so Kozmo could gnaw on his bone in peace. Today both bones were missing again but Bob felt he had better things to do besides digging for bones. (Imagine that!) I had been considering buying new dog beds but perhaps Piper is still not ready for that. When we first got her she managed to pull her foam dog bed through the dog door to the yard where she proceeded to destroy it. Once she had finished off her own bed, she did the same to Kozmo's. Poor Kozmo! He loved to curl up in that bed. After trying other beds (which she destroyed), they ended up with plywood with old carpet stapled to it - the one thing that Piper can't pull through the door or chew up. We keep hoping she'll grow up! Or develop more brains! We still love her, though. She's one of the family.

Clear and Shiny Shower

Today I took a shower in our newly rebuilt shower stall! It has shiny new chrome and clear glass sides, quite a contrast to the old one. This may not seem exciting to most people but it was a long time in coming. Oh yes, we also have a new ceiling, a new mirror and new vanity lights. I cleaned up the cedar cabinets and paneling with something called orange oil. Works great.

A Quiet Halloween

Living in a neighborhood with acre lots and few kids means we never have many trick or treaters. This makes me sad because I love Halloween. I enjoy the creative costumes and the fun decorations. If we had more kids coming to our door I would go all out with decorating. Last night I pulled out a few decorations and carved a small pumpkin that I grew. For a couple of hours tonight I kept peeking out the window, looking for movement out on the street. Finally, when we had just about given up, the doorbell rang. Five kids from the large Catholic family that lives around the corner smiled and held out their bags. It was hard to see their costumes through the coats and other layers; it's very cold today. After a handful of candy for each one and a "happy halloween", they were on their way. My jack o'lantern is now inside where he is grinning at me as I sip my tea and enjoy the warmth of my home.

End of the Season

It was time. My garden was tired, producing little. Plastic sheeting had protected some of the plants from a bit of frost at night. On Sunday I harvested what was left in the garden then ripped or dug out all of the plants and threw them on the pile. We pulled up all of the plastic and fabric mulch. The rocks that held them down were tossed into their winter spot to wait until next year. It's a tiring job made worse by all of the pollen that was stirred up. The most successful vegetable this year was the peppers - I got a large number of wonderful, sweet, red bell peppers. Of course I already have in mind the changes I'll make for next year...

Camping Out

About a week ago we moved out of our bedroom into the girls' bedrooms after the ceiling was removed in our bathroom. Actually, I moved out one day earlier than Bob. After spending one night with cold air blowing down on him from the attic (the bathroom is open to the bedroom), he decided that moving out was a good idea. The sheetrock had to be replaced due to water damage which resulted in mold. On the suggestion of our contractor, I also moved out all of my bathroom drawers and lined them up in the bedroom that I'm currently using. Of course, there is no room to put anything of ours in the girls' bathroom because all drawers and cabinets are overflowing. I'm not sure why. I have to wander into my bedroom (brrr), into the other one where my drawers are located and back into the girls' bathroom to get ready to go to work in the morning. I feel like I'm camping out!

Finally

Our older daughter's engagement is finally "official", meaning she has the ring. This was hardly a surprise since they have been talking about it for a while and have a tentative date. And, oh yeah, there's a wedding dress in one of our closets. Now I'm free to tell people so I announced it during "joys and concerns" this morning at church (as a joy). I know there will be lots of planning ahead and it will cost $$ but I'm excited for them.

Last night we enjoyed a concert by the Boise Philharmonic. We received free tickets from a couple from our church who couldn't use their season tickets because they were going out of town. The orchestra is searching for a new music director so last night we had the opportunity to observe one of the applicants conduct. She was Brazilian with Italian roots, tiny, and a bundle of energy. We went to the reception afterwards and one of the long-time musicians said she is really easy to follow with great facial expressions. We had a conversation with the previous music director and he encouraged Bob to dust off his old trumpet and start playing it again. He's thinking about it.

Today was the Ada County CROP Walk. After church and a quick stop at home to change we headed to Julia Davis Park, the starting point. There were several hundred people from a number of area churches there to fight for the cause of ending hunger. I managed to collect $255. We walked 6.2 miles or 10 kilometers, visiting with people from our church and the church where I work. The weather was not the best. We got a little bit of rain but it wasn't bad and the temperature was around 60 degrees. I walked the last half of the walk with a lady from our church who is nearing 80 years old (much to my surprise). I'm a bit tired and stiff tonight but not too bad. We had our usual TCBY (reward) and pizza afterwards. Walking is a small thing to do for a good cause. "We walk because they walk".

New Do

Okay, I finally did it. After some prodding from my eldest daughter I got a new hairstyle. So, what's the big deal? Well, I've had basically the same style for over 25 years. I have very fine, limp hair so perms have been easy - wash and wear. Now it's short with no perm. The question is how well I'll deal with it. It was time for a change.

Just the Two of Us

This weekend we finally began to truly feel like empty nesters. On Friday night we decided to attend a program at BSU that featured Holocaust survivor Gerda Weissmann Klein as guest speaker. The evening began with the film "One Survivor Remembers" which tells Gerda Klein's story but unfortunately the film ended prematurely with technical difficulties. However, Gerda Klein is an engaging, touching speaker. She truly exemplifies the strength of the human spirit. The program was part of Human Rights Month. On our way home we stopped at TCBY. Yum.

Yesterday we slept in, puttered around the house, etc. until mid-afternoon then went downtown to Julia Davis Park for "Museum Comes to Life". This is an annual event but we hadn't been there for years. With our busy lives with teenagers we had mostly dropped going to these kind of events. We saw lots of people in period costumes (early Idaho) demonstrating things such as spinning, weaving, papermaking, printing, wheel construction, and firing rifles and cannons. Some of the volunteers had brought their personal collections of antiques items such as dental & medical, infantry, calvary, and Indian. We wandered through old cabins and homes which had been moved to the sight (and are only open to the public on rare occassions), the museum interior, and the lawn around the front of the building. Of course, we couldn't pass up a bag of kettle corn then on the way out we picked up BBQ beef sandwiches for our dinner.

Today was Bob's birthday. We attended church as usual then I asked him what he wanted to do. We toyed with the idea of going somewhere but I ended up baking him a cherry cake and we went out to dinner. With just two of us we can be a lot more spontaneous. I had kind of forgotten...

Hot springs and Tomatoes

I guess I haven't quite got the hang of blogging yet. I really did mean to do it more often. I mean, I'm supposed to have more time, right? I have been rather busy, besides working. I went to a church women's retreat Sept. 15-17. There were 11 of us in two cabins. Other than a problem with the well, everything was great- good food, good inspirational program and good fellowship. On Saturday afternoon most of us drove to a developed hot springs about a half hour or so from the cabins. Very nice place. Relaxing. Sigh... I didn't want to leave but I would have turned into a prune.

This past Saturday Bob was gone on his own outing with the guys so I stayed home and didn't go anywhere. I did some inside cleaning then worked in the yard from early afternoon to early evening. It was a beautiful day to be outside. I picked a bunch of tomatoes, some of which are now baking in my oven (for tomato sauce).

Well, it's almost time to call it a day and I haven't heard from either daughter. Amazing. Actually, I kind of miss them when I don't hear from them. But I'm adjusting.

A New Beginning

This is a new thing for me. But this is a time of change so why not? About 4 days ago I left my youngest child behind in Boston for her first year of college. My older daughter is in college in Georgia. My husband and I live in Idaho - a long way from them. He retired the day we flew to Boston with her so he is experiencing life without work for the first time in 40+ years. Of course, I'm still working. The house is so quiet. This is a new adventure for all of us.