Not much for pictures today

just a few short anecdotes...

Spike started bowling with his league on Tuesday night, and I went along with for the ride. While in the alley I got a phone call from a dear friend in CO whom I hadn't spoken to in months, and I went outside to sit on the steps to chat where it was quiet. It was around 9 p.m. and I was engrossed in my conversation when I watched a red fox run past my feet, about 2 feet away from me, across the parking lot. I was dumbfounded! I have never seen a fox outside of a zoo before, and to have one just about run over me blew my mind! They are definitely NOT dog-like, nor cat-like, and when I told Spike he laughed and said there is a family of fox that live on post... Wow! Not something I would have experienced in Minneapolis!

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Today Spike's two youngest had their first cross country meet (I was really surprised it was being held on Labor Day, for it being a school sponsored event) and we had been told it started at 10 a.m. After driving over to the next town, and getting turned around a little, we arrived at the high school in time to see cars leaving the field area and buses pulling away. We got a call from the kids telling us the race was already over (apparently it started at 9 a.m.) and they were on the bus headed back to our high school... We met them just after they got off the bus, and good news: our Senior knocked 3 minutes off of his 3 mile time from last year (and he barely ran at all this summer), and our sophomore knocked almost 6 minutes off of her 3 mile time from last year! Go team!!!!! They were very happy, even though they didn't place this race--it was a personal best for each of them!

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Yesterday at church I had my first opportunity to greet, usher, and pass the collection plate, all brand new roles to me. The Assistant Pastor, a lovely woman, started the service by saying what a wonderful congregation we have: the scheduled reader had moved away so someone else filled in on short notice, and we were called late in the week asking if we would "Greet and Usher" to fill in as well! (I agreed that would be no problem as two of the kids were already scheduled to be servers, and it was a "family day" of service for us there.) I was a little nervous, but Spike coached me through it, and the pastor commented how wonderful it is that so many pitch in and get things done there despite our small size.

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Spike got the mini blinds put up and they look wonderful--but now we need to find some bitter apple or something as MY cats (Batman in particular) like to chew the vinyl and we already have a chewed through slat on our window.... I am NOT happy with him at the moment! They/he has already damaged some slats in the boy's room too... Stoooopid cats!

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For those who follow Everquest, Spike got his 1.5 Epic weapon last night for his Paladin--that was exciting! I am very happy for him cuz now we both have our epics to this point on our main characters....

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Seeing as this is our last day of freedom as a family before Spike starts work tomorrow, I think it is gonna be partially a play day. The kids want to go bowling (and so does Spike) so I am toying with sending them all to the bowling alley while I stay home and make a potato salad--that way we can kinda picinic tonight, and I can maybe play on some of my needlework projects that are calling loudly to me while they are gone! (As much as I love going to the bowling alley, the thought of being home alone for a few hours to do as I please is wonderfully enticing!). The kids were bribed to get all their homework done before we play, so that is out of the way today, and it's just a nice way to end the summer!

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Both Spike and I are making a concerted effort to try and get away from the "my kids/your kids" labelling, although it is hard, because they are "mine/yours" if we are honest... But we are working on calling them all "OURS" and it is fun, if at times a bit confusing, and we are enjoying seeing eyebrows raise as we try to blend it all... I am still trying to figure out pseudonyms for Spike's kids, cuz they apparently don't have any they have used over the years, (pet names or otherwise), but I will keep you posted on it as we figure it out (for use in identifying them here in my blog while maintaining their personal privacy)!

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That's it from where I sit for today! Hope everyone has a safe holiday! And for all of you in Minneapolis, good luck with traffic et al during the Republican National Convention! Should be craziness incarnate up there!