If you have a moment . . .

A cool story about one of the "coolest" men. Our world is a little better to have had him, I think.
http://www.slate.com/id/2201116/?GT1=38002

Goodbye, Blue Eyes

I've been away from my little blog for a while, but I felt compelled to post today. I'm sure you've already seen the news that Mr. Paul Newman died today. Obviously I didn't know him personally, but I was very moved to learn of his passing. He seemed such a likeable guy, and he made my favorite spaghetti sauce. :-) Oh, and those eyes!

We have a little piece of Mr. Newman's legacy nearby. Do you know about his Hole in the Wall Gang camps for terminally ill children? He intended for those to be his legacy more than anything else, and he recently designated one in Carnation, WA. I found that interesting because many years ago my mother-in-law found that spot on a map and said "now, doesn't that sound like a nice place to live?"

Updates from the Home Front

My, it's been busy around here.

Yesterday, on our way to Haleigh's soccer game, we stopped by the police station to drop off goodies and a balloon for Matt's birthday. In my excitement over miniature brownies and a cookie variety platter, I forgot it was Saturday and there was no one at the front desk to let us in! Fortunately, when I called to let him know that I was trying to bring him goodies, he was right down the hall and came to let us in. On our way out, though, we got stuck in the lobby when I couldn't figure out how to open the exterior doors until a nice fellow officer came in and saved us from our distress.

We bolted out the door and headed down the road for the soccer game, managing to get there with only 1 1/2 minutes until starting! I don't know if the hectic pace got her blood pumping or what, but she jumped in there and immediately started scoring goals! The first was amazing to watch, as she drilled it on a diagonal to fly right past the goalie into the corner of the goal. She went on to score 3 of the team's 4 goals to help them win the game. She was very proud, and so was I, but the BEST part was simply watching how well she played with her teammates the entire time and how much fun she was having. At the end of the game, the parents always form a "tunnel" for the girls to run through after high-fiving the other team and saying "good game". When we were finished with that yesterday, the opposing team made a tunnel for our girls to run through, and our girls turned around and did the same for them. It was so adorable to watch a pile of giggling little girls, half in green and half in white. It was a moment that defines why team sports are good - they had a little healthy competition out on the field, learned to work hard with their teams, and made even more friends and had fun through the whole process!

Last night we went over to our neighbors' for a yummy dinner and a small birthday celebration for Matt. I made homemade cobbler from a pile of blackberries picked right in their backyard and it was delicious!

Today is a big day, too. I'm auditioning for another musical this afternoon. It's Sondheim's "Company" for those of you who are familiar with these things. Wish me luck!

Happy Birthday

to my husband. If you want to know what a wonderful man he is, go visit his mom over at Cedar Chest of Dreams. It is largely the result of being raised by that woman that he is the marvelous human being that I was fortunate enough to marry almost ten years ago.

This picture is another from our recent hiking trip. I call it his "King of the Mountain" picture and I love it, because he is in such a happy place. It always soothes his soul to get out in the woods and behold the majesty around him.

I still love him, maybe even more than the first birthday I celebrated with him, and I hope he has a day as fabulous as him.

Is my cat a republican?

I'm not really sure what this was all about, as it has never happened before. Last night, the entire time I watched Governor Palin speaking, the kitty was obsessed with the tv. She even seemed to react to what she was saying! I hurried to get the camera to snap a picture, but I shouldn't have worried . . . she had to be forcibly removed from up there! And she still sat on the bookshelf and watched the rest of the speech!

One down, a hundred-something to go . . .

Today kicked off second grade for Haleigh. She has not been looking forward to school, mostly because she had a pretty boring year in first grade, and a teacher that she didn't exactly mesh with. Haleigh is an exceptionally intelligent child, who is also quite social and um, loud. She had some behavior problems last year brought on by boredom, and her desire to dominate most situations. She spent most of the year frustrated, and she didn't expect to ever like school.
This year, she transferred to a new school because she tested and was accepted into the "highly capable" program. I always feel awkward telling people that, like I'm putting my child up on some neon-lit pedestal. But the fact is, she is a gifted little girl. I'm just going to embrace it.
Anyway, she met her teacher briefly at the end of last school year when she was allowed to go and visit the new classroom. She got to participate, but because it wasn't her classroom at the time, she didn't get completely comfortable. So, she was convinced that this year was going to be horrible.
Then, we had a back-to-school ice cream social last night where she had the opportunity to put her supplies away and see her teacher again. She remembered that she actually really liked this new teacher. When we got back in the car she said "I'm actually kind of excited about school now." HOORAY! I'm happy to report that feeling continued . . . she had a wonderful first day and says she LOVES school. Well, alright! Thank goodness for happy beginnings!

Marmot Pass trip

I decided to break our hiking trip into installments. It's just too much for one blog entry, especially with pictures.

Our campsite sat between two gurgling streams that provided a fabulous supply of crisp, cold water (freshly filtered before drinking, of course). They were both pretty easy to walk or hop across, and this enormous boulder sat on the opposite side of one of them. I had not explored all the way around it, so I was a little startled when I came out of the trees in the morning to see Matt resting on top of it, coffee mug in hand. It turns out it wasn't nearly so high on the backside, so he scrambled up to a nice perch for enjoying his morning joe.

In the other picture, if you look close you'll see me. This was the big open field just up from our campsite that you crossed to get to the pass. It's also where we first saw marmots, which will be discussed in a later post. As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to throw my arms out and sing "The hills are aliiiiiiive, with the sound of music," so I did. :-)

In case you wondered

what my kitty does all day, this is it. :-) Well, she also takes extensive naps on the back of the couch and chases a little cloth ball with feathers attached like a maniac. But, in the mornings, she likes to hang out right in front of the French doors and watch the squirrels and birds. It also happens to be right next to my computer desk and I am endlessly amused watching her tail twitch when she spots a critter. Speaking of her tail, isn't it enormous? It's so huge and bushy for such a petite little girl. I made her look away from her prey for a moment so I could capture her exquisite face. I love her. Can you tell?