A Few Housekeeping Items:

Let me set the record straight.

I hate mopping floors.

It hurts my back.

I have never met a mop I liked.

Swisher, Switzer, whatever that thing is called...only lasts 2 minutes on my tile.

And that Shark steam thing....pffft....don't waste your money on that.

I'm really spoiled and I used to have someone who would come in and mop my floors every week.

But not anymore.

I do get someone twice a month to do the dirty deed-for which I am eternally grateful.But there are those times in-between that it must be done.

Like when you've had three or four toddlers running through the house.

So I'm trying to figure out how come I let TL talk me into 5 miles of tile in my house. (you can't see it in the photo but it goes allll the waayyyy down the halll....)

Second.....remember this?My sagging undermount sink?

So TL calls my nice contractor who redid our house five years ago for a recommendation for someone to fix it. Let me say first that he is a really, really nice man and he did a fabulous job on our house. It's just that I don't like some of his subs.

Because when I call the sub, a woman answers saying, "This is ______'s cell phone."

I nicely explain the problem, wondering if I can make an appointment for him to come and fix the problem.

"Well, I'll take your name and number and we'll call you back when we're in the neighborhood."

Yeah, right. Three days later and no call.

I thought these were hard economic times.

So I'm going to be devishly happy when they finally call and I announce to them that I have found someone else to fix the problem.

Hmphhh...

He's Going To.....

Opening the letter-we're all breathless....

Here's a hint........

Got it yet??????

Telling his public....

It's Anchorage Alaska!!!!!!

We are beside ourselves with excitement for him......

Except I don't think they sell heavy winter coats in Arizona. Quite a contrast!

P.S. His departure date is September 23rd.

IT'S HERE!!!

I think I am going to have a heart attack!!!!

I'll post again after 6 pm MST........

So What's on the Madwoman's Mind Today?

**Kinda annoyed that the post options thingie isn't working-therefore, I can't make a batch of posts at one sitting.

**Had a special time in Utah at my uncle's funeral visiting with cousins. No pictures to share because dumb me left my camera sitting on my sister's kitchen table in SLC. {sigh}

**It's HOT. Just plain HOT. Realizing that this is my time of year to hibernate, stay inside and work on projects. Except there is no way I'm drinking hot chocolate or toasting chestnuts by the fireside. Oh wait-maybe I could roast the chestnuts by placing them outside my back door.......

**The sorry state of my garden. We seem to be growing an abundance of bugs, weeds and lots of leaves, but no produce. I'm thinkin' I may bag the whole thing for awhile-add some nutrients to the soil and wait until it cools off.

This morning's harvest. Jalapenos anyone?

**Wondering who is going to fix my undermount sink that seems to be coming detached from the granite.

**We are the party house. The branch sitting in the shade of the garden on the 4th. My kids and grandkids cooling off in the pool on the 4th.

It was already really hot at 8:00 am.

**Taking bits of fabric and making them into baby quilts for Jessica. I'm setting a deadline of Aug. 8th-her shower date. Wish me luck.

**Waiting for the arrival of the mission call-coming this week.

**That is all.

Happy 4th

Happy Fourth of July!
I'm grateful to all those who came before me and sacrificed so that I could have the life of freedom I enjoy.

Interestingly, we are entertaining our Hispanic friends this morning with a breakfast brunch and swim. They came to this country for freedom and peace and the opportunity for a future for themselves and their children. They are hardworking, lovely people.

I do not judge their status.

I just hope and pray that some kind of solution can be agreed upon so that they can live without fear and prejudice.

Because I think that's what our Founding Fathers had in mind.

Stephen Lane Wood

Today would have been his birthday.
Except that yesterday he decided that the other side was a better place to be.
A mere 24 hours shy of his 85th birthday.
He is my mother's older brother.
And I seem to be taking his passing a little hard.
I don't understand completely why.
I know he has been reunited with his beloved wife.
I know that he is free from the burden of his failing body.
He probably has had a joyous reunion with so many of the people whose temple work he completed.

But it's still hard.
He has been interwoven firmly into the fabric of my life.
And now a piece of that fabric has been torn.
He was just always there.
A leisurely stroll down the street from my mom's house.
On the hilly "tree" streets of Provo, Utah.

I don't feel that I was particularly close to him.
Except that he was just always there.
Every year when we made the annual trek to Utah, the "mother land."
As a girl growing up.

He was instrumental in my parent's meeting.
He was a world famous expert on bark beetles.
If your line of work happens to be bark beetles.
But that was an important work to many throughout the world.

I had gotten closer to him in the last ten years.
As he gave me some family history "assignments."
And awakened within me a passion for family history work.
He was the cheerleader when I found some tidbit of information.
And gave counsel when I was stuck, referring to his copious geneology notes
Written in a tiny scrawled hand in numerous notebooks.

Maybe I'm sad because his generation is passing on.
And the realization has hit that the torch is being passed to my generation.
I hope I can live up to it.

Please excuse me from blogging for a few days.
While I mourn in my own way.
And spend time with my family in Utah.
Learning what I need to know to keep the torch burning for the next generation.

Safe or Out?

I told my mom yesterday that I felt like I was sliding into home plate, but I wasn't sure if I was safe or out.

Things have been just a tad crazy busy this last week, thus my lack of posting, plus I think the posting options thingie on Blogger is acting weird too.

So...

Let's start out today with my latest and greatest in the garden world. One word.

hot.

Remember last winter when I was telling people in the frozen north to look forward to the day when they were growing all things green and I would be complaining and crying because I live in the devil's own home?

it's here.

When you wake up at 5:30 am to get some work done in the garden and it's already 90 degrees, well, that sorta takes the motivation factor right out the door. My poor plants have been really feeling the heat-especially since I was gone for half of last week.

Poor yellow squash...Tomatoes are taking a beating.Potatoes just laying over and dying...(but that means it's time to harvest-I guess)The space where the corn used to live, it's now hanging out in the mulch pile.Poor, pathetic green beans. May you rest in peace. I enjoyed your fruits for awhile.

but...

There is a little life left in the ol' garden patch....

Freshly sprouted pumpkin. I'm anticipating some sweet mini pumpkins by Halloween for the grandkids.Potato harvest. Just over 5 lbs. Not great. But edible. I've decided that it's best to grow potatoes here in the fall.Corn harvest. At least I produced some ears of corn. They may fit into the palm of my hand, but at least it worked.

My yellow pear tomatoes are keepin' on keepin' on, producing delicious yellow tomatoes every day.

And my poundage total for the month of June:

55.8 pounds!

My poundage count for the year (at least since I've been keeping track the first of March)is:

110.14 pounds!

Safe or out?

Ok, I guess I'm safe.