Thursday, September 30, 2010

The whistling nose....

I have a nose,
A nose that grows.

He itches and tickles
And whistles with air.

Snot an buggers run
Like a spicket turned on.

Today I hate my nose
Hopefully tomorrow it will be gone.

In case you haven't figured it out......I have sinus issues today.  It started this morning with a sore throat.  Now it's like a cold.  It is however cloistered in my sinus, which is the MOST annoying thing!  Lots of things going on behind my ears..........I never get sick.  Although I'm not sure it's a cold or virus.  It's acting more like an infection.......stress brought this on.  STRESS I TELL YOU!!!!!

Hoping to feel better sooner than later. 

Gentrie

Monday, September 27, 2010

Laughter

I learned today that when you laugh your body releases a chemical that actually helps you loose weight.

OBVIOUSLY I have not been laughing nearly enough over the past few years!

Hmmmmmmm

I love this theory and sincerely hope it is true.  I'm laughing tomorrow lots.  People will think I'm high or something I'll be laughing so much.

OK, maybe not THAT much......

Gentrie

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Sunset at my door

The sunset is peaking in my front door........

Well hello sunset!  So nice to see you!


Even if it is for just a brief while.......


Gentrie

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Another Birthday down

Hailey had her birthday last weekend and we had a good time.  They went swimming from 1-4 and then came to our house and ate hot dogs cooked on the fire and chips and did birthday cake then opened presents.  It was a very busy day but good.  The last kids left a little after 7:00pm.

The pirate slide is always a hit with the smaller ones........and sometimes the bigger ones.......


Of course everyone enjoys opening presents...............and eating birthday cake..........


 This is our group picture after both Hailey and I had gotten our hair cut that same morning.  I donated my hair to Locks of Love, Hailey's was not long enough to donate.  The stylist TOTALLY straightened my hair, it does not look like this every day.......I do not have time to straighten my hair like she did every morning.

I am usually lucky to style it at all.  It is cute though.......and my head felt extremely light.  My hair was down to the middle of my back........now its short-er.  I have worn it shorter than this but not in a long time.

I have to go and get groceries now........YUCK!  I hate getting groceries.  Well, maybe hate is too strong of a word.........maybe not.  Isn't there a pantry fairy that can come to my house and waive a wand and my fridge and pantry will be stocked?  NO?  Well there should be!

Gentrie

Monday, September 20, 2010

Memories......

Memories falling like leaves
orange, red, yellow
crisp and curled on the edges.

Images shimmering back
haze, fog, playback
movie reels clicking by.

Smiles caught forever on paper
moments, lasting, eternal
the flood gates open once again.

Ahhhh the memories
tapped, perused, refiled
always there in the background.

It's who we are
what made us today
all those memories locked away.

I've been in a reminiscing sort of mood.  A call from an old friend I haven't heard from in a long time threw my brain back through the years.  Awesome memories, troublesome memories, if only, what ifs, whys......all racing around in my head.  A different life in a different place.  Can we take back just portions of our life and not the rest?  No, just move forward.  Learn from past experiences, mistakes and not so mistakes and keep moving forward.  Sometimes we may move in a circle and come back to what we left off with. 

I find that certain people in our lives always cross our paths.  Usually multiple times, in different phases in our lives.  They are connected to us, they all come back around. 

Remembering loved ones past and present......

Gentrie 

Friday, September 17, 2010

More visitors.......

So before my crazy weekend starts........I thought I would through out another post.  Hair cut tomorrow morning, party from about 1-7......die.  Antiques/craft shopping on a BIG farm Sunday with my Mom and daughter (it's her birthday Sunday).  Work Monday.......die.

We have MORE critters overnighting it at our house tonight.  My hubby brought these two babies home with him tonight.........

Hailey is in love and wants to keep them forever.  Clementine and Jessica are their names.


This is their temporary home..............Mark found grubs or something for them to eat.



Why is it that my husband never brings home anything warm and furry......alive anyway.  He seems to have a soft spot for the cold blooded critters. 

What does this say about my husband?

Oh, I'm not touching that with a 10 foot pole!  I'll move on now...........I know of one psychiatrist reading this.........don't tell me.......I'm sure I don't want to know.

Moving on...........

Gentrie

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Holy Schmoley!

My daughter is turning 7 this weekend.  She was just a baby just a bit ago right?  Where does the time go?  Seriously, 7!

She's 3 here....(*sniff*)

Mark found a very large salamander and brought it home for Hailey.  Really, this man picks up more lizards and amphibians on the road than anyone I know.  Why?  I'm really not sure.  Hailey had the little girl next door screaming as she practically stuck the thing in her face to show it to her.

Hailey thought it was the coolest thing ever.  By the time I got home the neighbor girl was OK with the thing.  (I think she had to be because Hailey wasn't giving it up!)


These girls are the same age...........(by the way).  Hailey named the salamander Sally.  Sally the salamander.


Meet Sally the salamander..........She is now living somewhere in our backyard.
Hailey did let her go after dinner in a back corner of our yard where there are a lot of bugs and thick vegetation.

The girls did have fun with her for a few hours and were very loving and gentle with Sally.  Hailey wouldn't even let the boys play with her.  Just look that's all.

So there is my soon to be 7 year old.  Jeesh, where did the time go?

What are your kids favorite critters?

Gentrie

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah

Sometimes that is what it seems like.

Everything is changing.  I feel it all coming, the wheels are in motion.  At work, at home, in the air is change.  The air is getting cooler, the leaves are turning orange and red an yellow.  People are getting fired, hired and quitting.  I have to start working out REGULARLY, which means I have to find time somewhere in my day.

I'm thinking in the morning.  I don't think they open until 6 though and that doesn't leave me enough time to work out get home get me AND Hailey ready and leave for work by 7:30am.  After work there is make dinner, clean up after dinner, help Hailey with homework (yes she is only in 1st grade.......that's what I said too) get her ready for bed and in bed and well there is talking to you.

I also have the mats for the center pieces for my nieces wedding in November to make.  Those are coming along. 

Oh YEAH!!!!!  We also have a Birthday Party this weekend.......WOOOHOOO!  Hailey's birthday party is Saturday, her actual birthday is Sunday.  Grandma is coming to hang Saturday and partake in the festivities and then craft sale shop on Sunday.  Yes Hailey will be coming with.  Since deer season opens this weekend this is a good plan for us.

I also forgot to tell you that the hair is getting chopped this weekend.  At 9:00am Saturday the hair that reaches to almost the middle of my back will be chopped off and donated to Locks of Love.  I don't know what I'll do with the hair I'll have left, I was hoping the stylist would help me figure that out.

Hailey says she is also cutting off her hair again.  She really hates combing snotty hair in the morning.

Does painting outside the lines mean you can paint on your partner?

Thoughts for the day........and discuss.

Gentrie

Sunday, September 12, 2010

1st day and remembering....

So Hailey had her first day back to school.  We started out with the usual excitement and YEAH! school, I'm so excited! attitude.  Then she found out who was sitting next to her at school.
It wouldn't be a picture if she wasn't posing like a model........

So there is a little girl who happens to go to Hailey's daycare that is, well, a pretty honoree little turd, is that politically correct?  Oh, well.....
She is sitting right next to Hailey in school and she bugs Hailey all day long.  She rifles through her desk, kicks her legs, bumps her arm when she's writing.........you know the drill.  I guess this little girl has been in trouble both days (the whole 2 days) they have had school.
Wonderful.
I am e-mailing her teacher as we speak and request she be moved.  Hailey has a hard enough time staying focused she does not need this little girl pestering her all day on top of it.  School is supposed to be fun.  1st grade is too soon for her to start loosing interest already.

So I saw a lot of posts on Saturday titled remembering.  Seems a lot of people were remembering, or maybe reminiscing September 11 and that tragic day.  Well, I was also one of them, I just didn't blog about it yesterday.  I took a moment in my day yesterday (I had a lot to spare, but that's a different story) to remember what I was doing that day and how it has changed our way of American life.
I was locked down on an Air Force Base trying to concentrate on a contractors conference while armed guards stood at our doors and they interrupted the conference every now and then with an update of what was going on.  You see, it wasn't safe for us to leave the base as a grouping of cars driving down the street on the base as we could have been a target for attack.  A little unnerving.......

We eventually were allowed to leave, escorted off base by armored hummers with automatic rifles mounted on top of them. 
Working on a military base you see all that stuff all the time and work around it.  A person can be desensitized from the guns and armory when you see it every day.  Although when those same guns and weapons and MEN are standing right there and escorting you every where for YOUR PROTECTION, it kind-of puts a different spin on it.  They go from watching you work so you don't steal any top secret military strategy or sensitive government information, to standing there watching you to protect your life, and now they are in full combat uniform........helmets and all.

I have always been thankful for our troops and admire what they do and how they live.  While I do not always agree with the wars we fight, I will ALWAYS support the men and women who fight them.  They are only following orders.

So I also, remembered the senseless violence.  I pray that someday it will all end and we will be able to live our own lives and let others live theirs, in peace.


Gentrie

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Goose Jerky and School

First Day of school is tomorrow.......Hailey is soooooo excited!  She has picked everything out, showered, washed, checked everything.  She knows her teachers name and what room number her class is and what grade she is in.  I think she is ready.

Mark went goose hunting this weekend and did great.  He cleaned them and cut them up before I got home (YEAH!).  I hate cleaning birds.....yuck!  The feathers, wrinkly skin, the tendons, it grosses me out.  When we got home it was cleaned and thinly sliced and marinating in a bag in the fridge. 

Mark then smoked it over the fire pit in the back yard.  He chose maple wood for the smoking.  It was a perfect day for it, cool, breezy and yet sunny.

This is the last piece of goose jerky, and it didn't make it in the house.


I admit I was a little grossed out when Mark first mentioned it because I do not like goose.  It's fatty and greasy.  I must say this jerky did not taste like goose.  It tasted GOOD!  Mark had a lot of people try it before telling them it was goose and everyone was shocked.

Goose Jerky..........

Surprisingly good.  I'm hoping he gets a deer this year so we can make venison jerky with this recipe.  It will be awesome!

Yum! Yum! Yum!

1st day of school to come..........stay tuned!

Gentrie

Monday, September 6, 2010

Fair Fun.....

We went to the South Dakota State fair in Heron this Saturday with Grandma.  We had fun and walked a whole day almost non-stop.  By the end of the day I had a headache and my feet hurt.  Hailey had a blast on the rides.  Grandma rode the Tilt-A-Whirl with us and LAUGHED the WHOLE ride!  It was so funny.  I never epected my Mom to laugh the entire length of a ride.  Unfortunately I was not able to get a picture of that.  Might have had something to do with my camera being in my pocket and the need to hang on so I wouldn't get spun out of the ride, we were spinning FAST!

The bouncy thing, she was trying to do a flip but couldn't.
She was bummed about the no flip thing.

This was on a ride called the tornado.  She looks scared but she was laughing.....


I think this ride about put her to sleep........SNOOZE!
Hailey is her mother's daughter and likes the THRILL rides!

We ate fair food, saw every animal known to man (and a few I didn't know about).  We even saw some two headed snakes and turtles.  Everything is at the State fair.  It was fun and a nice day for the fair, not too hot, not too cool.

We had fun.

Gentrie

Friday, September 3, 2010

A Long Weekend.......Short Trip

We are off to Grandma's this weekend!  Yeah!  Which really means I will be computer less for a couple of days.  We are going to the South Dakota State Fair Saturday.  Hailey was NEARLY 3 the last time she was there and too small to ride the rides. 

Now she is too big for some of the "kiddie" rides and Mom has to ride with her sometimes on the big girl rides because she can't go alone.  Grandma may ride some with her too.  Not the wild ones though, Grandma doesn't like the wild ones.  Mom rides the wild ones.

Hailey loves to visit ALL the farm animals too.  She's an animal lover, she would love us to have MANY pets if Mom would let her.

This is an old photo.....(I'm not sure why it won't straighten out, it's not like that before I import it.)

 So Mark is staying behind to hunt with friends.  We will miss him.  The only thing he likes at the Fair though is usually the food.  He's kind-of a poop that way.  So off we go.......I'll try to remember to take pictures.  Then you can see what fun we had.

Enjoy your Labor Day weekend!

Gentrie