Hot Air Balloons

If you had the chance, would you take a ride in a hot air balloon? If the opportunity presented itself to me, I think I'd have to pass. I'm not afraid of heights, I'm just afraid! I would not feel safe or secure floating around above the ground in a basket hanging from a big balloon--which gets around by the use of FIRE. Uh uh. Not cool.

This subject comes up because every now and again we see a hot air balloon drifting by. I have seen 2 different ones so far, right overhead in our neighborhood. One is dark oranges and yellows with silhouettes of what makes me think of a safari. There is a giraffe and an elephant. Another is just very brightly colored stripes of blues, purples, pinks, reds and yellows. And it seems that the days we see them are always the same--not a cloud in the bright blue sky. I'm always in awe as I watch them. They look so beautiful and peaceful floating along. Almost magical. Just the other day, a week or so ago, Cait and I saw the striped one as we were driving home. Luckily I didn't crash the car. I just wanted to sit and watch it as it drifted by. And I always feel slightly jealous of the people that are in the basket. What an awesome experience! Could there be a better bird's eye view from anywhere else? Neat. Just plain neat.

Nice People

I was at Sam's Club today with Caitlin checking some prices on some things. Caitlin was standing in line at one of the sampler stations waiting for a mini taco and from behind me I hear "I like your blouse". I didn't really think much of it, but then I looked in front of me and there was Caitlin in a t-shirt, a man, and the sampler lady in a white shirt and white apron, and no one else in the near vicinity. And then I figured that whoever said that must be talking to me! So, I turned around and sure enough there was an older woman smiling and she said "It's really pretty". I smiled and said thank you. What really struck me about this is that it's not too often that a stranger pays you a compliment these days. Or says "thank you" when you hold the door for them, or just a simple "hello" or even a smile when you pass by. I almost didn't know how to react to this nice woman telling me that I had a pretty blouse on. Yikes! Maybe it was because my blouse really isn't that pretty? :) It's pink and black and white diagonal stripes. Nothing special. Anways, today's lesson is: When you pass a stranger on the street, pay them a compliment or give them a smile, it might make their day. "Hello, Friend."

Oh NO!

I think Cait is sideways! Anyways, isn't she cute? This was at a MN Twins game last year. I just figured out how to get these pics on here and all I have down in the basement with me are old picture CDs. I'm having too much fun to go up and dig out the more recent ones, but I will soon!

Heeerrrre's Caitlin!

This is a picture of Jason and I at one of our favorite places in the whole wide world--Lake Superior in Duluth, MN. It's old...I think it's from October of 2004.

Oops...

I was trying to use a new template, or background or whatever it is, and none of them looked good with all of the colorful posts. So then I scanned all the way down and realized that this one really doesn't look too pretty either. I thought in the beginning a little variety would be nice, changing colors of text, you know, but it's bad. It's not pretty, it's pukey. Yikes!

Bike Rides

Last night we went for a bike ride. I honestly don't remember the last time I went on a "bike ride". I used to bike a lot when I was younger. I biked all over the place. To town, to work, to friends' houses. After I moved to Eau Claire (9 years ago...wow!) I got rid of my bike. I think I may have had it for a couple years after I was here because I remember having one of those pull behind carts for Cait. Anyways, it's been a long time. Jason bought me a new bike for Christmas this year. I've been wanting one, but up until the past year or so we didn't really have anywhere to store it since we lived in a puny apartment, but now we have the room and now I have a bike! I rode it once before--on one of the first really nice spring-like days before spring was actually here I took it up to the gas station to put air in the tires. I walked it there though, and rode back the whole 4 blocks so that doesn't really count. Last night we rode for some time. I'm not sure how far it was, but we were gone 45 mins. to and hour. And our neighborhood is ideal for riding bikes. There are nice sidewalks on most of the streets and we're near a bike trail, so it was great. Although I'm not sure its proper to ride bike on the sidewalks, is it? Well we did it anyways. As we were riding we passed many many other people. Some walking or running. Some biking and some rollerblading. Some couples, some families, some kids. It was a gorgeous evening too. Perfect. And it was quite peaceful. Other than the fact that I had to stop and walk every now and then (my bike seat is a little too small for my BIG seat, so a tad uncomfortable after a while) it was a lot of fun and I'm anxious to get out there again. Caitlin was thrilled that we went on a bike ride together, and that made me feel good. Even though it's exercise, it doesn't feel like it, so all the better!

COOKIES!!

Did you order any Girl Scout cookies this year? I know that different parts of the country, even different areas in each state sell at different times, but it's our time now! Cookies are here! YUM! I'm not sure, but I'd have to say that the cookie sale is probably one of the biggest fundraising efforts around. On the 6:00 news tonight they said that our area girls sold over 720,000 boxes. That's a lot of cookies! I generally don't mind fundraisers--except when schools are raising $$ for $25,000 playground improvements. Yes, they need to have a safe place for kids to play and exercise, but $25,000? That could save a teacher from losing a job! But that's another story. Although this cookie deal might seem like a headache at first, going around, asking people if they want cookies, delivering all 300+ boxes of them, collecting and counting the $$, it really is a good cause. But in the end it's not all that bad. The cookies really sell themselves. I think that the majority of the proceeds, with the exception of what they pay the cookie bakers, stays within the organization and I truly think that Girl Scouts is a great organization. It seems that they have good values that they try to impress upon our girls. They offer tons of programs and all girls are welcome. It has been a privilege for Caitlin to have been in Girl Scouts since 1st grade. So, to anyone out there who has a hand in scouting, thanks!

Just some food for thought...Thin Mint, anyone?

Daylight Savings Time

What exactly is the point of daylight savings? Isn't it so we have more daylight at the end of the day? Makes sense, I suppose. But wouldn't we eventually gain that extra time as the summer goes on anyways because of the solstice or whatever it's called? Right now it's 7:25 p.m. and it's still light outside, which is nice. It would be even nicer if it was warmer and we could take advantage of the extra time! The thing that I don't like about daylight savings is that my internal clock gets messed up. I have a hard time understanding why this happens. I'm not the type of person that always goes to bed at a certain time or always wakes up at a certain time. My normal bed time is anywhere between 9:00 p.m. and midnight, and I generally wake up between 6:00 a.m. and 7:30 a.m., depending on what the day has in store for me. Unless of course it's Saturday morning, in which case I try to sleep in, but not usually. It would be easier for me to understand why I feel so sleep deprived if I did have a regular sleeping schedule, say from 10:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m., but I don't. Maybe it has to do with the environment itself, with the "daylight", or lack thereof. And the same happens in the fall when daylight savings time ends and it suddenly is dark before I leave work at 5:00 p.m. One would think that your body would like that change, the extra hour of sleep that one Sunday morning. But nope, it doesn't. All I know is that it takes over a week to get regulated again. And who determines if daylight savings time is even the way to go? I saw on t.v. once that there in one county in Indiana somewhere that doesn't set the clocks back and forth, but the rest of the state does. I don't remember if for that part of the year that county is one hour ahead or one hour behind, ahead, I believe. Either way it seems like it'd cause confusion and chaos! I wonder what the majority of people think...do they like daylight savings or do they dislike it? I'm undecided.

Bunk Beds

This weekend we made a change that struck me in a way that one wouldn't necessarily think.

About 3 years ago we bought Caitlin a new bed for Christmas--it was one of those metal futon bunk beds. Cool huh? Well, not so cool when we ended up moving 2 times since buying it--putting it up, taking it down, putting it up, taking it down...you get the picture. We recently decided to get rid of it and move on, so to speak. Last week our local Shopko store had a "lowest price of the season sale" on their mate's bed and headboard. So, for the regular price of the bed, we got the headboard and the bed. Thursday and Friday evenings Caitlin and I (yes!) put the headboard together. Yesterday the woman that was taking the old bed came and picked it up and last night and this morning Jason and I put the new bed together. And, finally, this afternoon Cait and I whipped that room into shape and everything's fine and dandy. Until mom starts thinking about it!

When your baby moves from a crib to a toddler bed, it's a big deal. When your toddler moves from the toddler bed to a twin bed, it's a big deal. Twin bed to bunk bed? Not such a big deal. Now replacing the bunk bed with a more "grown-up" bed is a big deal! As we cleaned and rearragned her room today, I noticed something that I don't usually notice during this particular task. Her coloring books and crayons have been replaced by scrap books and supplies. Her dolls and blankies have been replaced by just a select few stuffed animals that are "special". Her Dr. Suess collection has been replaced with the likes of Judy Moody and CSI: 4 Minute Mysteries (geared at kids, of course, not like T.V.! She has pictures of friends and other memorabilia scattered and posted about. Wow!

Now I know that kids grow up, but when I think about it I just want to cry! When did my little girl in the denim jumper and sandals get replaced with the pre-teen in size 7 softball cleats? Time sure flies.

And everywhere I look I see babies! When I look at them I'm not sure if I look at them the way I do because I long for another baby, or I long for Cait to be a baby again. I think the latter of the two better describes my feelings.

Does anyone else with big kids share these kind of thoughts?