Oh Deer

On our way home from Wisconsin we were hit by a deer. Yes, WE were hit BY the deer. He bolted out of the woods, and ran right into the side of our truck. Fortunately (for all parties) he hit the side of the truck between the back windows, then went over the top of the luggage rack.

The deer hit the ground spinning, but recovered and ran into the woods. Our truck had a little damage, but it could have been much worse.

Thanksgiving weekend

Lyle and I took the kids to my Dad's place in Wisconsin for Thankgiving. A few snapshots of the weekend so you can enjoy it too.

The drive to Wisconsin was full of fluffy white snow

Great Food

and Family

This was one of those weekends I will remember with a smile.

You weigh a ton!

Okay not you personally, or me either. But my stuff, that I was so worried was going to send us over our weight allowance, came in just over a ton. 2,153 pounds to be exact. This is what has been keeping me up nights and actually causing me panic attacks. Especially over the last two days when we gathered everything together into one room. Well over half of what we were sending seems to be my stuff and everytime I did the mental math, we came out WELL over 3000 pounds. Now that I know we are fine, I have a bunch more to send next week in our final shipment!

Good Food!

Good Friends

Good Bye

Dog Days

My daughter told me her camera was broken. Turns out her camera was fine, but her memory card was full, 363 pictures! We haven't downloaded her pictures in over a year! I took a look while they were uploading into my computer and one of them struck me as the perfect way to describe how I have felt the last few days.

I wish I had a moving fairy to come in and wave his magic wand, seperate everything into the 3 moving piles, and be done with it.

I am off to finish cooking and cleaning for my last crop in North Dakota. The house is full, but there will definitely be a few people missing today. Love ya!

The joy of moving

One of the hardest things for me to do is throw things away that have special meaning or that I might be able to use someday. I have been doing okay throwing away scraps of paper, and unfinished projects, but it's crunch time now. The first round of movers will be here on Tuesday, so the rest of the bins and totes had to be emptied. While doing that I found not 1, not 2 but THREE rolls of film that had to be developed! I can't remember the last time I took a photo with a regular camera, so I took the film to Wal-Mart this afternoon for 1 hour developing. Two hours later (I hate Wal-mart) I discovered my kids can't take a picture to save their life. One whole roll was double and triple exposed, so I left that one with the photo lab. Another roll had some pictures the kids took of their friends, their rooms and the floor.



But the last roll was pictures from my first Retreat in Alsen. I can't post most of them because throw away cameras take horrible pictures (and we were all drinking at the time). But there was a good one of my favorite scrappers. Can anyone remember what year this was??

SPRING-O

We took full advantange of the day off and took the kids to afternoon bingo. I had to get rid of my daubers and bingo points anyway (and I had a coupon). The four of us played for less than $30 and wouldn't you know.... We won! Okay, only Lyle and Stephanie won, but then won $45 so we came out ahead. I hope they have family club bingo in Japan ;)

Swap Cards

Last night was the stampers club at Rebecca's house. It was fun, but a little sad, as it was my last in person card swap. I think we need to organize a long distance multi-card swap. (Sounds like a job for ying, hint hint). Of course it couldn't start until I am settled, in a house and get time to place an order. I am out of all the basics, including adhesive. I hate not being able to buy what I want, when I want it.

Anyhoo, here is the card we made for technique:

Notice the white gel pen snow (added to my wish list).

And here all all of the swap cards. Except Jen's. I liked hers so much I kept it seperate from the others and then left it on Rebecca's table. I will get it today or tomorrow and post it for all to see.

A Plate of Cookies

While at the Pride of ND yesterday, Stephanie bumped a plate off of a table and broke it. She did the right thing, stayed right there, apologized to the lady in the "Pride of ND" t-shirt (over and over) and picked up the pieces. As Lyle and I got there the lady was telling her, "it's okay, it's no big deal". Of course I told her how sorry I was, which is when she told me it wasn't her booth. Turns out an old couple ran that booth, she was just browsing the show. Fortunately for my daughter the guy knocked half off the plate (since Steph already had) and it only cost her $24 not the $48 on the price tag.

After paying for the ugliest plate in the show, we continued to look around and who did we happen to see again? Right, the lady that helped Steph pick up the pieces. She was running a booth about the health benefits of Flax. Again she told us what a wonderful daughter we had, for staying and owning up to her mistake. She then gave Steph a FREE bag of cookies for being so honest. When we were telling some friends from church this story, they commented that it was a wonderful lesson. To which my wonderful girl piped up, "Break a plate, get free cookies." Oh well, maybe someday she'll get it!

I Ran 609 Miles......

And all I got was this stupid T-shirt!

I started my journey around North Dakota on January 1st, and averaged 2 miles a day. At this rate it will take me 3,017 days to travel from Okinawa to Sembach (6035 Miles). Anyone want to meet me halfway?

Ying/Yang

This is dedicated to my volcano cake counterpart in Germany.

She is Ying, I am Yang:

I have made these pumpkin bars for years. But for some reason today the center didn't rise. They are fully cooked, just lacking a bit in the middle. I have already topped them with homemade cream cheese frosting, so those taking a middle piece better look out! YUM!