Such wise words...

"Do or do not. There is no try."
~Master Yoda

(It just was, after all... the 30th Anniversary of Star Wars!)

I have so many ideas and thoughts in my head right now. I'm feeling very much on the verge of something creative and fun... but I just don't know what it is.

I'm feeling a bit out of sorts and overwhelmed because I can't keep my ideas focused.

Ever feel that way?

Golf...

Is fun.. but oh my, I am so sore. I'd never been golfing before and I had a blast. We played 9 holes and it took us 4.5 hours. ;)

I pretty much lost count and stopped keeping score. I think twice I hit the ball far enough down onto the green for it to look like I knew what I was doing. The rest of the time it probably took me 7 -10 (or so!) hits to get it into the hole.

So here we are all dressed up in our silly outfits. Scotty has on his BCG's (birth control glasses!) that were issued to him in bootcamp... oh probably 18 years ago or so. LOL! I'm shocked he could still see out of them. Well, he did slice the ball to the right a lot so maybe he thought he could see better than he really was.

Good times!

Also, thinking of our military around the world keeping it safe for me to go on silly golf outings. Today, as always, they are in my thoughts and prayers.

Hope you all have a wonderful holiday and remember how lucky we truly are to live in the USA! ;)

Hugs,
Dana

Friday!

Finally... and it's a Holiday weekend, too. I wasn't even aware of that until someone mentioned it in a meeting I had on Wednesday! So... I'm especially happy today.

Kristofer is going out with his friends this evening to see Pirates 3 and then sleeping over at a friend's house. Scotty and I are on our own! Hhmmm... should be fun. :)

Tomorrow, we are going golfing with our neighbors. It's a birthday outing and we are challenged to dress up in "fun" golf attire. I found the most funky neon orange polyester pants at Goodwill. They are going to stand out like nobody's business against the green turf. Hopefully I won't lose my nerve to wear them! I'll try to get a photo of me in them to post. Being that I don't golf and most of the folks going don't either... it should be quite comical! ;)

Other than that, not much going on here. My house is a wreck so at some point I need to tackle the chore of cleaning it up... but probably not today! It's way too nice outside! Probably not tomorrow as we'll be celebrating... so, well, I'll have to figure out a good time to clean. Wait... is there a good time to clean?

Happy Friday!
Hugs,
Dana

Calling in the birds...

Is so much fun. Scotty added a hundred or so common bird songs to his MP3 Player and hooked up an external speaker to it. He and his photog buddy go out and call in the birds to photograph them. It's a bit like tricking them into thinking that they have a friend or foe nearby but it's so neat because then they can get great photos up close.

Anyway, we have a male Oriole that visits us every year. Not sure if he's the same one or not... sometimes he has a female around, too. I hear him singing from nearby trees and sometimes he'll come in for a swoop down to the feeder, but not always. They are very shy birds. Anyway, this morning I heard him and I turned on the MP3 Player and pointed the speaker out the window in his direction. I could just barely see him hiding in the tree behind our yard. When he heard the song, he began to sing back. I only left it on for about 30 seconds and it was just so neat. He never flew down, but I knew he heard.

I love moments like that when I feel so connected to the world around me. It's just one more of life's simple pleasures.

Click here to listen to his song. :)

Have a great day!

Hugs,
Dana

Is that your brother?

...Said the waiter at California Cafe as he was taking our order. I laughed and said no, this is my son. He was shocked and not kidding at all. Yes, I have a youthful countenance. I have heard that before and I am good with it! LOL! Not to mention that Kristofer, at nearly 6'2, looks like he could be older than the almost 15 he really is. ;)

Oh... and on that note. He's going to take driver training this summer. Oh my, where did the time go? Anybody have a clue?

We had a fabulous lunch on Saturday. The menu was very good and the service was great. (And not just because the waiter thought I looked young!)

I bought my mom some bath goodies from Bath & Body Works. I have such a hard time making decisions when I go there. It all smells so luscious... but I finally decided on Brown Sugar & Fig. I think she'll like it. I got myself a body spray, too. They are wonderful to use around the house as well. I like to spray my bed linens and towels with them.

I had wanted to look at the Crocs, but the carts that had them only had the regular style... no Prima's. I may just have to order a pair and risk them not fitting. Maybe I'll check around for a different place that carries them in stock. Decisions, decisions... :)

I'm really working on Scotty to build me a Greenhouse/tool shed/potting shed along the side of our garage. I think it would be a great spot... and I think he agrees. Now we just have to get the upper patio finished then maybe he'll be more inclined to want to take on the task. He's really into his photography though so finding the time will be tough. He takes such lovely photos and enjoys it so much. I'm happy he has a hobby he loves and we all enjoy the photos and outings so much.

Well, it's Monday and I have a busy day of work ahead of me. I better go get my first cup of coffee and get going. I had wanted to curb my caffeine use, but I've not been successful at that. So, right now I choose to ignore it.

Have a great day!

Hugs,
Dana

Random stuff...

Today, Kristofer and I are going to take our neighbor and her daughter for a "we'll miss you when you move" lunch. They are moving to Brighton, Michigan. If anybody knows someone who lives there, let me know. She's a scrapbooker and crafter... and lots of fun to hang around with! I am so sad that she has to move. :(

We are going to go to Mall of America. They have some good restaurants there so we'll have a few to choose from. Then we can wander around a bit. I'd like to look at Crocs. The new Prima's look cute. I may NEED a pair!

I also want to go to Bath & Body Works. I want to put together a "spa" basket of goodies for my mom to use (and keep!) when she comes to house sit. I think it will make her feel like the special mom she is. I so rarely get to see her and I know she doesn't pamper herself much so I think she'll enjoy it a bunch.

It's a cloudy and cool day here so I don't know if I'll get to get out and garden at all. Hopefully this afternoon/evening will be a bit nicer. I think Scott wants to plant the veggie seeds today so I'm sure I'll tag along at his heels and watch.

Thursday night Scott was out with his buddy taking photos and he came across a cute little tree frog. He brought it home so he could take pictures of it on Friday and then we were going to set it free again. We put it in a little plastic critter box we've had for years with some bark and branches. However, he didn't explain that it needed to be kept very moist and well... the outcome is just tragic. I had a good cry over this. Sometimes I wish I wasn't so tender-hearted... but that just me. I still feel bad... REALLY BAD! In fact I'm tearing up just writing this. I always try to do the best I can for little critters and the fact that this happened really makes me sad. So... I am feeling a bit down today over that. Is that silly?

Since I had to share my tale of woe... I'll leave you with this gorgeous photo Scotty took Thursday night while on the outing with his buddy. It should make you smile. (His buddy, incidentally, got a cell phone call right at the time that this cute little hummer flew up to them... and missed his shot! He was bummin'!)

Enjoy!

Hugs,
Dana

Tagged... 7 Lovely Things

Tracy tagged me to share 7 lovely things in my life right now. How do I narrow them down to just seven? ;)

1) My Family. On Mother's Day, I invited everyone over and I made seafood lasagna. It turned out so good. It was a hit. I was proud! Anyway, I never forget how lucky I am to be surrounded by so many wonderful people. I have the best husband, son and family in the world! We all get along so well and spending time with my family is always a treat!

2) Lilacs. We have a row of multi-colored Lilac bushes in our backyard and they are so beautiful. My husband planted them about 8 years ago and they've grown into a beautiful screen covering the neighbor's very ugly fence! There are about 15 bushes in a rainbow of whites, pinks, lavenders and purples. Every now and then the wind blows just right and I can smell them from the house. Delightful!

3) Baby Bunnies. This year, I found a nest right under my laundry room window. I never knew it was there until the babies left it. But now the little critters are running around the yard and hanging out under the neighbor's shed. They are so cute to watch. Last evening I was sitting in my rope chair that we have tied under the deck and 2 baby bunnies (toddlers) were running around and kicking up their back legs and chasing each other. At one point they got nose to nose and I just thought to myself... why didn't I bring my camera out with me? I get such a thrill when I see them even though I have had to cage all my new plants as the parents seem to have a way of sampling all the colorful blooms... naughty little things! It's a give and take relationship!

4) Gardening. I have been working so hard to ready our yard for summer. It's a lot of work, but so rewarding to sit back and look at how beautifully everything is growing. The tiniest of flowers are so amazing when you look at them up close. I've checked out quite a few books from the library on gardening. It's so much fun to plan the beds and planters. I'm excited to get the vegetable garden planted this year so I can start learning to can and preserve.



5) The Pond. I love our pond. It brings so many birds into our yard and it's so fun to watch them splash in the water. The waterfall is so soothing to listen to as well. It kind of helps muffle the noises of traffic and life and allows us to really just sit and enjoy our surroundings. We have about 20 goldfish that live in the pond year round and they are getting bigger and bigger. Each year we lose a few but likewise each year there are new babies. We have one that's almost all black. I call him Sharky. We have a lot of water lilies and lotus in our pond among various other water plants. When the water warms up, we will have frogs that find their way over to us and they seem to enjoy spending hot summer days lounging on lotus leaves. Very cute to see! :)

6) Circle Tour. This summer, we had planned a rather extensive road trip out East but due to gas prices and budget, we decided to change our destination. We are going to do the Circle Tour around Lake Superior instead. We've taken 2 weeks off work and I 'm really looking forward to seeing the sights. We are going to camp as many times as possible and just really enjoy the outdoors. Of course Scotty wants all the photo ops he can get and Kristofer is just hoping he can stand being away from all his friends for 2 weeks. But I know it will be a fun family trip for the 3 of us.

My mom is even coming from Florida to house sit and my dad will follow later. She'll be here for over a month and my grandparents are really looking forward to that. So it's a win-win for everyone. I was worried about leaving my precious kitty, Sundae, all by herself (she's 15) and now my mom will be here to take care of her and Bandit. She's great with animals and I know my mom will enjoy spending time with them.

7) Feeling Good. If you have never felt awful in your life, you could never truly appreciate the glory of feeling good. It's all about perspective. Each day I am thankful for... well... each day! ;)
I am just plain lucky to be here and I cannot let a single day go by where I don't acknowledge that in my heart. I'm L.U.C.K.Y to have dodged the BC bullet and I will not let a moment pass where I don't live fully, remain grateful, cherish the friendships I've made and pray for a cure!

OK... now I'm tagging Alexis, Amy, Jen, Melissa and Stef!

Hugs,
Dana

How wicked cool is this?

Yesterday it was so windy! It was one continuous 50 mile/hour wind gust for most of the day. It felt like right before a storm blows in, but there was no storm. Our power even went out for a couple of hours. The stores in town had to close for a few hours because of it.

Many people had tree limbs down and a few lost entire trees. We fared ok... but our crabapple blossoms are about half of what they were... :(

Here's why. "Sunday's winds across Minnesota were the result of a rapid drop in barometric pressure caused by a gravity wave that moved from Iowa into the central MN between 8 am and 11 am. Check out this incredible video of Sunday's gravity wave as it was moving through Iowa Gravity Wave." -Meteorologist Rob Koch

I've never seen such a cool thing... nature is so amazing! I wish I would have know what was happening yesterday... I would have paid more attention to the clouds. Shoot!

Have a great Monday!
Hugs,
Dana