You Don't See That Every Day

What if you sat down at the moment you thought of someone and wrote a long newsy letter about what is going on in your life, and asking questions about their life? Instead of texting, calling, emailing, what if, like Paul in his letters to the churches, wrote how thankful you are for them, and that your prayed for them whenever they came to mind? I used to write a lot of letters. Long before I had a blog I would try to email certain family members, just to keep in touch. Back as a child I had a couple of pen-pals, my cousin being the number one letter-giver/ receiver. But not many people write letters these days. I don't. Even though I want to. I want to sit down and correspond with certain people. And especially with the ones who don't use the computer for all its wonderful technological communication abilities. AND if I did I wouldn't have these embarrassing stories to tell you. I don't text on my phone much. It takes me so long because I don't have the keypad - ...

OK, update to an earlier post for all those who are waiting. The vegetable math I asked you to try? Very interesting results; thanks to those who skewed the averages, maybe because your outlook on life is skewed. just like mine. Maybe that's why you read this. Maybe not. So I heard this little 'math test' on the radio one day, and then asked my kids to try it. One answer I heard was 'turnip'; One said peas. None of them said carrot! The average person is suppose to say carrot. In some statistical study, most people, it was reported, will say carrot - there is some connection between 7 and carrot. I dunno. And to Patsy who commented "Rutabaga"! Yes! I think you must be related somehow! We have had a running joke for most of our kids' lives about rutabaga, even going so far as to buy some for Christmas gifts. (No, that was not the only gift the child got.) Here are the answers from those who were kind enough to play along and comment: beans, carrot...

Give a kid a camera and she'll want to take pictures That have nothing to do with the subject you were hoping to capture. Then she'll want to grow a mustache. Or be an emperor of her own country. Then she'll try to be a supermodel. She might get upset with her sister after that. This is what you get when you give a girl a camera Next she'll try and be a rock star. Give a girl a camera and this is what you'll get. Sisters hugs and cute toes.

What do you get when you put two kindergarteners together for a day? Lots of giggles and silly jokes. These two cousins - ages 5 and 6 - were coloring, sitting in the same chair, and telling the craziest jokes. "Where did the elephant go? To Wal*mart!" (explosion of giggles following) It did my heart good to hear. It reminded me of my own best friend/ cousin. When I was growing up my cousin from California was my best buddy. We spent weeks together during the summers. Our families camped together a lot. We wrote letters back and forth for years. due to life-events, we have lost touch. But I think about her a lot. And I hope my own girls and their cousin-buddies don't ever lose their friendship.

A lot has been happening around here with our building project! On Thursday G was able to get a large portion of the 'eyebrow' done on the front of the house. Didn't know houses had eyebrows? Yeah, I learned something new that day. He worked on the original roofing, getting the flashing in place, to connect the old with the new section: On Thursday the house looked like this. The Trusses lay there, waiting, languishing in the sun. And then bright and early Friday morning the builder and crew showed up. Up went the trusses. Boom! That guy works fast. Of course this is his job, he knows just what to do and the little tricks to get it done quickly. So by the end of the day, the house looked like this! A roof! And gables (?) - that triangular part there above the wall. A roof! AH! My husband slept so well Friday night - not just because he was tired, but the stress of getting the roof on before the rain - was all over. On Saturday G and my brothers were able to ...

So I have a little game I want you to play. This is going to need some audience participation, so get your brains and fingers ready! Answer each of these simple questions, quickly and easily. What is 3+4? What is 5+2? What is 6+1? What is 8-1? What is 10-3? What is 9-2? Name a vegetable. Okay - what veggie did you come up with? Leave me a comment and let me know how it went. I'll let you know tomorrow what my minions and husband said when asked these questions. 'Cause if I told you today I'd ruin the whole thing.

I needed a break today. So I went out to the farm with the girls. There has been a lot of stress in the household over the remodel, the roofing, the pending rains. And other stuff. Stuff of life stuff. And I love the farm, for its peacefulness. When I am out there, I feel so relaxed. I don't know how else to explain it, it's almost like a drug for me. Must be the fresh air and dirt. So I loaded up the girls, the dog and the bicycles and went to my peaceful place. Siblings - don't be chagrined - I didn't do any work while there. I picked one cantaloupe - out of the refrigerator. And that was it. Instead I took photos of my girls. They rode their bikes up and down that road, over and over. The youngest, not being much of a cyclist yet, decided to smell, and taste the flowers. I think she decided they don't taste so good. Do you see any girls in this photo above? They wanted to hide in the cornstalks and jump out at me. The pink kind of gives it away...