Giving Thanks

 I told him when he left..."You come home to me....alright..."   He did....

...and I was so glad.

R.O.U.S.

People!  There is a plague across the land.  Yes, a plague....and it is affecting my life in alarming ways.   I have known, since we moved here that the animal life in our apartment complex is abundant, with squirrels scampering up and down trees.  I thought it was totally charming at first, until one day I was headed toward the laundry room to put my clothes into the dryer...and an evil squirrel threatened me in broad daylight!  I had unwittingly gotten between him and his nuts (ummm) and he was not having it.  He gave me a look like this:

Being the wimp that I am, I stopped dead in my tracks and high tailed it back to the safety of my apartment, where I could look at the wildlife where God intended me to...from behind the window.
 But wait, there's more...yes...much more.  We discovered when Kindle and Ben were here that at night the other woodland animals come out to play.  of course, I don't play, but Rob and Ben did play a little raccoon hockey one night.  (I shut my eyes and plugged my ears while chanting "la-la-la-la..." so I would not know about it.  Hey it works...)  Then about a week ago, we opened our front door to find a possum on our front porch!  To top it all off, this came out on the news:

WOMAN ATTACKED BY PACK OF RACCOONS!" 
(click on link to read full account)

 The story reads like a zombie movie!  she's running away then trips and they get her!  Are you kidding me?!!
 What is up with this? And why does the victim always trip and fall?   ROUS's (rodents of unusual size) are real, people, REAL!  Then, some guy says on the news, casually, that this is the 9th report of animals being attacked or killed....but they are not planning a mass attack on the racoons!  Oh no!  they are wildlife and are to be protected!  Whatever!  I think we should have coon skin hats all around...on the house!
They are not cute, people, not cute at all.  I don't care if they do have a little mask on like zoro....
la-la-la-la-la-la....

Don't worry....be Mattie....

20 years ago I was pregnant, stressed out, running on empty, and ready to go crazy. The baby was due the end of October and to make matters worse, our dog "Betty" was preggars too!   To be quite honest, I was praying that the baby would not be born on Halloween. There was just so much going on with school, and costumes, and carnivals, and just stuff...how was I going to fit having a baby in the middle of all that? A stormy Halloween night came and the kids did their thing.  I stayed home to give out candy, when I discovered Betty in a total panic.  She was trying to figure out where she could go to hide...Oh how I understood.  We made a place downstairs for her and proceeded to help her deliver her pups.  I was sooo happy it was her and not me!  I made it for 2 more days before I went into labor, and baby number 5 came into our world.   I took  Mattie home to kids, and dogs, and crazy, and my post baby surgery (tubal ligation) plus blood clot complications to boot.  oh my.....

She was just days old...all the kids were outside messing with puppies and playing in the fall leaves....I fnally caught a moment of quiet with my new sweety. There we were, in the "eye of the storm" for just a few moments. I stroked her dark hair and kissed her full rosy lips....darling.  I knew it was my last and I wanted to remember every moment.  I whispered in her ear to not grow too fast so I could remember it for the rest of my life, what it feels like to touch my newborn babies head, or feel the wrinkles on her back. She responded with a long stretch and yawn.   Then her little lazy head bobbled and she behaved like a bean bag...as if to say, "don't worry, be happy".
  

Looking back, I realize that she wasn't  upset by all the chaos...  She was listening to her own little drum beat and enjoying her life to the fullest.  I have come to understand that Mattie has the most interesting drum beat....it became very evident as she got older. Her imagination as a little kid was unparalleled and some of her escapades were legend...like the ongoing fight at dinner time on who would get a girl fork vs. a boy fork.  Yes you read it right....Personally,

I could never see any genitalia on any of the silverware, so what is a parent to do?  We finally deciphered that the girl ones were the salad forks and the boy ones were dinner forks...who knew?...and how did she come to that conclusion with her parents as examples...hmmm? (I am taller than the DPR)  I know, I know...it's that darn secret drum beat that she has going....
I try often to hear that beat...and occasionally we both hear it and dance and laugh together.  And that's when I thank Heavenly Father....for sending her to us.  With this crazy-good different drum beat, she is one of us...part of the band and she makes it all more interesting.

Twenty years ago I was pregnant...and nothing has been the same, since.

 

 

Oh Halloween

Too funny...really. Tonight was stellar for us "trick-or treat-ee's".  We were part of the crowd at our ward's Halloween party who did "trunk-or-treat". Take a look:

 

 This was too much fun!  The kids had to reach in to get their treat...and they were totally freaked out!  

(I was on the inside making sure that they touched some cob webs, or just grabbing their hand 

was enough to send them...it was great!

The Ninja was totally not having it!

 

A princess with confidence

I was laughing my head off inside....

Just had to have a peek first...

There are times when scaring small children is really awesome...
 

Happy Halloween!

 

How to Eat a Dragon

Last week I went to a Relief Society/craft/get-away-from-it-all night at our church. I took a class on making authentic egg rolls from a woman there who was from Laos.  OH MY!  was it ever fun...and de-lish as well.  She turned us all on to this Asian Market not far from us, so the DPR and I went to check it out. All of a sudden we were transported to China!  I mean it...just be the shear number of people in the place...it felt like being in Hong Kong or Beijing or someplace exotic like that.  I mean shoulder to shoulder people! Listen, I could go on and on talking about the packages of dried fish and mushrooms and pocky sticks and stuff, but one of the things that was most impressive was the amount of produce!  Stuff that I love and stuff I have never seen or heard of...we saw a lady walking around with a cart full of these:  Dragon Fruit!

"Behold the Dragon"

 They were sooo beautiful...lovely color, don't you think?  So of course we had to try....

First, you cut the thing in half to reveal the insides...I know..right? Not what I expected either!  Then you scoop out the insides with a spoon like you would an avocado.....then cube it up and put it back in the beautiful fusia skin to serve.
It tastes sort of like a kiwi only milder and you don't get that burn on your tongue like you do sometimes with kiwi....not as sweet as I thought it would be, but very refreshing. 

The DPR turned Dragon Slayer

carcass of the Beast...

It seems there is always something new waiting around the corner....it might just be a dragon.