Sunday, October 31, 2010

Happy Halloween!!

Our Halloweens generally consist of scary movies, trick or treating, and candy eating. This year we added a pumpkin carving marathon to the mix. 4 pumpkins = 40 minutes to clean and carve. Not a bad record.

Then off to the houses with a Wizard and Scot Deathblood, a level 50 wizard on Wizard 101.
With 2 Wizards, dueling was a given

The great wizard Deroca!

Scot Deathblood in the flesh


I took the time to work on finishing a sock. I shall leave you in suspense as to the result of that!
Dressed as a robber - or a Minnesotan in winter

Halloween is exhausting!

Saturday, October 30, 2010

The Great Pumpkin

Halloween is tomorrow - since when did THAT happen? I think I worked all of October into a blur.

But today was a day off (mostly, kind of) and we went on a Pumpkin hunt.


I wanted to take the pony home and name him Pumpkin.



Cory missed the tractor


The exit of the 5 acre corn maze

And off they went!

And got lost

The sun setting over the apple orchard

Add caption

Adoptable pumpkins













Friday, October 29, 2010

Better Days

As winter prepares to unleash it's icy blast and wrap it's cold hand around my soul, I am fighting back by reminding myself there are better places, and better days.

Snow viewed the correct way from my hometown


The place my soul is at peace

Where you can walk for miles

This is what heaven is like in my world


And where dreams take flight into reality

Where my dogs can play

explore

and be free


Where rainbows dwell in unexpected places


Magical mists roll in

To capture dreams

And make them come true

Where kids are kings of their castles

And all they survey

Where my heart longs to be

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

And So It Begins

The next 150 days will be snowy, cold, nasty, and frigid.
How snow and winter should be viewed

When I was a kid, growing up in the green, mild, northwest I dreamed of snow. I dreamed of sledding, of white Christmases, and beautiful flakes falling silently to the ground. Oh sure we saw snow on the mountains, and occasionally had a snowfall. But it was a rarity. Snow meant you stayed home from school, played in the 30 degree weather and drank hot cocoa. Maybe even gathered enough snow together to make a brown, green and white snowman.
Last winter the view from the living room

Then I moved to the frozen north. A land where snow is expected. Where the roar of snowmobiles is a regular theme during the winter. Where nothing shuts down for the snow, and it NEVER GOES AWAY. Not for years. Snow coats the cars, causing things to come into being like snow brushes. Snow brushes people! And snow shovels are the norm. Salt coats your mouth and your shoes in the futile attempt to keep your walkway clean.

And to make matters worse. The temperature plummets. It's amazing how warm 15 degrees feels after 2 weeks of highs at zero. And I am not talking Celsius. This starts in November, and lasts till April. Then fades away into a sea of brown sad earth until in JUNE (JUNE!!!) things really burst into color. Until October (SEPTEMBER!! Sometimes!)

Winter is starting here. Yesterday our temperature went from 60, to 40, and today the high is supposed to be 38. Snowflakes fell, and only a few hundred miles away, they had a first class blizzard. Anxiously I watched the weather map as the white crept closer. It's only a matter of time, I can feel it closing in. And all I can say is:

I'm dreaming of a green Christmas, just like the ones I used to know. Where Mt Rainier glistens and children listen for the sound of raindrops in the road.

At least it isn't completely frozen yet and there's no chance I'll slip on ice and hit my head and freeze to death before anyone can find me in the parking lot. That'll be a few more weeks yet.

Change

I have several friends going through hard times right now. Change, whether planned or unplanned is hard. Unexpected change can be bitter, and change because of betrayal is even worse.

Here is a song I play when I'm feeling lost.


"Welcome to where ever you are, this is your life you've made it this far. Welcome you gotta believe right here right now, you're exactly where you're supposed to be. Be who you wanna be, be who you are. Everyone's a hero, everyone's a star. When you're about to give up, when your hearts about to break, remember that you're perfect. God makes no mistakes."

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Dells Day 3

Today we ditched the guys at the waterpark and went exploring. Headed to Devils Lake, and then on some byways. The trees were still really pretty here. Wisconsin has some beautiful winding lanes. Love it!