Here Comes Santa Clause

The "Kid Room" Re-Do:


Two of these in a soft, nubby golden fabric similar to the color of our curtains (to create balance in the room.)  They rock and swivel!

 This sectional is gorgeous!  It won't have the section to the left of the right end piece.  (the picture has five sections, ours will have four.)


The pièce de résistance:

Samsung - 46" Class / 1080p / 120Hz / LED-LCD HDTV.

 

And, I'm having a consultation with Old River Cabinets tomorrow in Richmond about the built in entertainment center along the wall.  Old River Cabinets is in Short Pump, so I might head on over to the mall to window shop, too.  Maybe I'll look for a few colorful pillows to add a touch of whimsy. Should be fun.

Thanks Santa Clause.

Fall Day

Here's the big picture out front.  Soon this will be green and lush.  Any thoughts on landscaping near the house?  And doesn't the house look pretty?

 Here's the back.  Can you tell how much we cleared?  It looks great. We uncovered some pretty green foliage which we left in place.  I want to budget in the fence.  It would improve the value of our home and the quality of our life--we could do a garden and have a safe place for dogs and grandkids to play.  For now,we will continue clearing and possibly add some  mulch back there to  prevent regrowth.

 I tried not to do "crepe murder" but to be gentle with our little trees.  I need to finish weeding the beds.  I'd like to take out the azaleas, but I need a plan for how to replace them. 

 The sprinkler doing its job--germinate little seeds.

The result of the kids hard work.  All of the sticks are cleared out of the back.  I'll make an appointment and pay the county $25 to pick this up.

Our end goal is a yard that is pretty and functional as a relaxing place to hang out and play.  And, some day, productive, yielding tomatoes, peppers, lettuce and other yummies.

I feel like this is our homestead...our little slice of heaven on earth. 

Freedom

I spent a lot of money getting my hair cut and professionally colored.  When my friend, Mary Louise, saw me she said, with a look of sympathy on her face: "You deserve it."  I thought, "Huh, why?"  It then occurred to me that she thought I was making some kind of sacrifice because Joe is gone, deployed to Iraq for a year.  Therefore, I "deserved" the luxury of getting my hair done.  For sure, I miss Joe a lot.  I mean, here I am, at home on  a Saturday night.  I have the joy of listening  to Leo play board games with his friends in the next room; Larry and his friends pop in occasionally from their game of manhunt.  But, I'm sitting in here alone.  Not exactly bored or even lonely.  Just something missing.  An emptiness.  No commisserater to discuss politics with; no snuggling on the couch. Yeah,  it's a sacrifice.  But I can't help think of the wives of the active duty soldiers.  The young twenty-somethings with small children whose husbands are deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan.  Their husbands won't come home for leave every three months.  The money isn't great.  They're probably broke.  Their husbands aren't in an embassy, they're in "camps", maybe even on the front lines.  Besides, we are in a war on terrorism, admit it or not.  Shouldn't we all be making sacrifices?   Recently there's been a lot of activity across the creek.  Helicopters, explosions, all kinds of booms and bangs.  When I saw a fellow ex-military  spouse and neighbor in the commissary, she called it the "sound of freedom."  After all, freedom isn't free.  It has a price.  And the one I'm paying is small compared to the sacrifices many others have made.

Thank you, Joe, for being dedicated to our country and our ideals of liberty and freedom.  You are a hero and I love you so very much.  

Afternoon Walk

Elli has discovered the age old  parenting trick of providing lots of activity for your children so as to wear them out, thereby getting an early and solid night of sleep.  We now know how important this is with puppies.  So, about midday, Elli and I decided to take Rudy for a walk.  We intended to only go as far as the Will Scarlet cul de sac and turn around.  However, at the end of the cul de sac is a wooded path down a hill to a small area between Queen's Lake and Princess Pond.  Walking up the hill on the other side brings  you out on Little John.  We took Rudy off leash down by the pond and explored around for a few minutes.  When we got back up to Little John, we re-leashed  him, knowing there would  probably be other dogs and people around.  Sure enough, we met Krypto, an eight year old Jack Russel, and his owner, Carol Walch.  Turns out,  Carol's son used to own our house.  A few yards later we met Henry, an older Golden Retriever.  Didn't catch the owner's name.  At both meetings,  Rudy was polite and respectful to the older  dogs.  He sniffed and then lay down, wagging his tail and waiting to be invited to play.  Neither dog had that much interest, but Rudy was so friendly and cute. We came home and Rudy gulped down some water and went to sleep! 

I didn't intend for this to be a puppy blog.  I like how a puppy provides a good rhythm to the day.  He must be taken outside, exercised and loved.  He forces interaction with others--neighbors, strangers, everybody.  A puppy doesn't discriminate.  It's a good reminder that these are things we ALL need.

My Cup Overfloweth...Sort of.

I am not a creature of habit.  I'm a will-nilly fly by the seat of my pants sort of person.  I really can't think of one thing I do habitually.  However, with my dear husband leaving for a year, I would like to get in the habit of writing this blog as a sort of journal for me and way to keep connected to what's happening here at home for him.  I haven't written since my first post, which was weeks ago, because I couldn't think of a single topic to address.  There are so many things occupying my brain and time these days.  Most imminent is Rudy, the new puppy.  He has to be in my sight or in a crate at all times.  Whew.

Our first grandson was born a week ago.  That event deserves it's very own post.  I think I'm still processing that one.  A true miracle on so many levels.  

Then there's the kids, our finances, home improvement projects, the state of our country, shopping lists (grocery and otherwise), upcoming events, Joe leaving,  etc etc etc etc.
I just started reading a new blog which is well written with lots of photos.  It makes me feel good just to read it. Could I ever create something so clever? 

So, this post is a JUST DO IT thing to help me develop the habit, hopefully, so that the original goal of journaling/connecting will be met.

A Day At The Beach

Random thoughts from our trip to the beach today:

The very first things we saw as we walked down the steps over the dunes were dolphins frolicking.  Not just swimming by--frolicking. We could see about four sets of  fins and tails coming in and out of the water, splashing around.  This amused and awed us, as well as assured us that there weren't any sharks around.  Whew.

Beach blanket talk rolled around to an oft discussed quandary:  Is Batman really a Super Hero?  I asked the kids to name, off the top of their head, five people they considered heroes.  Their quick responses were: Batman, Dad, Steve Nash, Forrest Gump, and Jesus.   Elli asked incredulously, "What about Malcolm X? What about Harriet Tubman?"  More heroes were added to the list:  George Washington, Abe Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Mother Theresa, etc.

The beach was on a military base just south of Virginia Beach.  It's more quiet and has better waves. Also, great parking, restrooms with outdoor showers and a class six.  (I spent $30 on drinks and chips for the six of us!)  Just past the swimming area in the dunes is all kinds of mysterious satellite equipment. The  beach goers are all military personnel, dependents, and their friends.  There were lots of young families with kids.  A group of kids started doing all kinds of back flips, twists and twirls along the water's edge.  They were very athletic and talented, but what struck me was their innocence and joy.  They were between the ages of four and twelve; boys and girls; black and white.  They seemed to not have a care in the world, and yet most of them (if not all) either currently have, have had, or will have a parent who is away from home while fighting the war on terror.  The awe I felt watching them play surpassed my awe of the dolphins.  I also felt an assurance that everything is going to be ok.