Day 30 :: A Picture of Me and 3 Good Things That Have Happened Lately

Here's a picture of me at Teddy Bear Cove. 

Lisa said "smile",

so I smiled and put my hands on my hips awkwardly. 

Good thing #1:

I went mountain biking with Jim Friday and it was just really fun. 

I felt a notch more confident than usual. 

Good thing #2:

Some guy keeps a spreadsheet of the Allegiant flight data, and the numbers keep rising! 

People are flying more and more. America is just like: annnnd we are done with that. 

Good thing #3:

There are whales feeding in Birch Bay

You can see them spouting water every few minutes. 

Good thing #4:

We took the dogs to the beach and they rolled around in the sand and water. 

The good thing is the sand just kind of disappeared off their matted coats when dry. 

Seriously they have self cleaning fur. 

I was really worried about dreadlocks for a second. 

A plate of crabs.

Andrew always asks questions like: "has it been a hundred years?"

This train rumbled by so loud. 

After it passed, Jim said "not one hobo". 

haha

Good thing #5:

After the beach, we got pizza and ate at the park.

There was a halo rainbow around the sun, and then we noticed it was a DOUBLE halo! 

Good thing #6:

I don't hate Koda. 

When Andrew was a baby, I would always say "you're my sittle sittle" to him. 

It is a nonsense baby word my brain would gush to his little baby face. 

Now all the kids say it to Koda. 

"hey sittle sittle. you're the sittlest sittle. are you a sittle?" etc.

That wraps up the 30 days check in. 

I feel like that also wraps up Corona. I know we are far from over that saga, but mentally it just feels like we have moved on. Avery is having a birthday party at the beach Saturday, and I hugged an old friend the other day. It has been a long time since I thought microscopically and a long long time since I clorox wiped my clorox wipes. 

All that's left is for the border to open up and for Canadians to go party in Vegas. 

5 years ago

Day 29 :: A Song

Whenever we have a gather in Fallon, we play "the song game" hosted by Nettie. 

We all submit our "favorite" songs to her and she makes a play list, and we sit around and listen to songs and guess whose song is whose. 

My kids LOVE this game. They talk about it all summer long.

So Avery got the idea to host a "social cohort" version of the game. 

Monday we gathered and listened to music and guessed whose song is whose. 

Jim's favorite is always Neil Young. 

My song this round was Black by Pearl Jam.

Evan chose C and C Music Factory, Everybody Dance Now.

Andrew - Imagine Dragons of course.

Avery's - Girls Just Want to Have Fun (Mylie Cyrus version)

See Andrew in the back of the group there with the biggest smile? 

He sat alone back there on the itchy grass, just beside himself with joy, in the moment, playing the song game. 

The little boys lit a fire in the fire pit. 

The dogs wrestled, then slept.

I had the best hot dog. I say that about every hot dog I eat. They are so delicious. 

The fire pit got a hole in its bottom. Coals fell through. 

5 years ago

We had a fun family outing with our crazy puppy yesterday. 

Every day, every hour, I fluctuate between regret and bonding with that dog. 

The rest of the family is fully committed, fully on board, fully bonded. 

Sometimes she comes in and takes a long nap in front of the fire place. 

She fluctuates every day, every hour between being a psycho digging terror, to a wiped out sleeping angel, to a serious contemplative soldier. 

(the contemplative soldier is when she sits there at extreme attention and just stares at you)

This puppy fell asleep on my lap the other day. 

I try every day, every hour, to get him to come and give me a hug or some kind of attention. 

He is over me. He rarely comes near me. I force all the hugs and all the kisses out of him. 

So this was awesome. 

Day 28 :: Artwork That Means A Lot to Me

Mother's Day art is my favorite art. 

Mother's Day morning I came downstairs to everyone hiding behind the couch - jumped out and yelled surprise! - and flowers and candy and breakfast. Also all these cards. 

Andrew's gift was a song. He had a plastic microphone, and took me outside to Koda and sang "Mother's Day Dog" to the tune of muffin man. haha

Here is our Mother's Day picture for the year of corona. 

No church dress this year. 

Being a mom was getting relatively easy (no diapers, no buckling kids, everyone dresses themselves)...so I went and got a puppy. Now it's hard again. Now I have to be on the alert at all times again. 

Some other artwork that "means a lot to me" is all the gems hidden throughout Galbraith. 

I turned a corner on this trail, Jack and the Beanstalk, and there was this ironwork bridge with a beanstalk motif. It's just great. 

All the trailheads are unique. 

I love the "artwork" of a growing spring garden. 

The peony buds are bursting. 

We moved the fairy garden to the actual garden so that Koda couldn't get it. 

We also had to put a fence around the garden. 

If you feel like your life is extremely easy, and you get to do whatever you want and plant whatever you want, and it's all just toooo simple - you should get a puppy. 

I used to spend a lot of time laying in bed reading, napping, watching tv. 

Now I spend a lot of time sitting on the concrete petting my dog. 

If your bed is getting too much use, and the rock hard concrete patio is neglected, you should get a puppy. 

Our neighbor friend is a Sheriff, and the other day he had the K9 unit guy bring his German Shepherd to the neighborhood to demonstrate how awesome these dogs can be. 

The key to a well trained dog: consistency. 

Mornings are the best time for training. Koda wants food and attention, so she is willing and focused. 

We usually just mix training in with feeding time and use her kibble as her "reward". She's so smart. 

Here's a brilliant tip I learned about keeping a dog busy for 30 minutes - spread her kibble all around the porch like you are feeding chickens. Why would you put it all in a bowl to get wolfed down in 1 minute? 

This technique makes them have to work for their food and use their brain, and before you know it, the puppy is tuckered out and curled up for a nap. 

5 years ago

Day 27 :: My Dream Home

I am living in my dream home. 

10 years ago, when answering this question, I thought about specifics to the actual structure - brick and mortar of a dream house.

But my dream house is the one where we get to spend a lot of our life OUTDOORS. 

When I hear about people who have had to stay INSIDE for quarenteen this whole time - I literally cannot understand it. I am living in the dream home wherein there are so many places to wander out in the fresh air. 

My dream home has a thousand great trails to run and bike on with best friends. 

Every Saturday me Jim Joe Lisa do Galbraith. We ran on a new route and it was so fun to sprint and jump and dodge and be out of breath. Plus we found this beautiful bridge. 

This weekend has been SO HOT! It's like summer! Except it's early May. 

My dream home has an ocean to explore and paddle a kayak on.

This was Gus's birthday. It was so cold, but the kids got in the water anyway. I stayed on the beach shivering in my sweater. 

My dream home has Mt Baker Wilderness an hour away to explore. 

Yesterday we took the dogs on a hike along Nooksac River. 

The puppies did so well! It's so so much fun to have a sister dog to play with. 

They teach each other how to do all the dog things. They walked along on the leash for 3 miles! 

Koda is not good on the leash yet, so this was a big deal. 

My dream home has mushroom and moss and old man's beard and all the forest treasures. 

At the turn around, Koda and Scout lay on the ground and had a good sleep. 

So tired. We just gathered round and watched them. 

Andrew kept trying to get me to carry him. He would come up and reach his arms to see if I would lift. Finally I said, annoyed, "Get off of me!"

and he said: "Oh sorry, I thought you were a motorcycle."

haha

I have arrived at the stage of pandemic where I make sourdough bread.

Nettie sent us instructional videos, and it is so easy and so delicious!

She sent me some dry starter, and it took OFF! 

My dream home smells like fresh baked bread (and homemade yogurt and pavlova).

But only if it's this easy and only in the middle of a pandemic.

5 years ago

Also this darn puppy has really taken a hold of my bleeding, beating heart. 

The frustrations and difficulties of having a dog have an opposite and equal amount of fun and soft fur and making your heart grow three sizes. 

She loves having a job. Whenever Jim is working, she's right there on his heels. 

So far she knows how to sit and come. She's so smart!

Her favorite place to sleep is right by the door in the shade.