Hunter is four.   Happy Birthday, Magoo!  I really really love you!  Isn’t turning four fun?  You’re having a whole birthday week!  Monday you got your new trampoline (mommy and daddy were too excited to wait - so they led him to it, eyes closed.  He liked it, he smiled, he jumped.  Then he said, “I really wanted a motorcycle.”  ???).  Wednesday, on my birthday, all the cousins were at your house and you were more excited about that than your own birthday! 

Then yesterday, we got to spend the day together and wow was that fun!  Shapes and colors and letters and school-work and cousins and play and indoors and outdoors and making funny faces as we sat in Pa-pa’s big leather office chair.  You were my cuddle-bug and silly man.  You asked a million questions (your favorite being “why?”) and you watched some Sprout and jumped some rope and had plenty of candy and Rice Krispie treats and snuggled with me and made me chase you around the house and made me laugh!  But the best part?  When we got out the old vinyls and how much you love the ceremony of changing a record and learning how you must be careful not to scratch them or bump into the player (NOT an I-Pod!).  And I love how interpretive you are in your dancing, from marching your head off to “76 Trombones” from “The Music Man” soundtrack to an aggressive, very modern and physical rendition when I introduced you to “Footloose.”  Kevin Bacon had nothing on you, my little man!  Seriously!  I’m so glad we had this time together…

pictured: I knew I had, within the past two weeks, taken lots of pictures of Hunter, but when I went to look at them - they are ALL a blur.  I swear he is looking me in the eye and looking cute when I pick up the camera to shoot, but by the time I press the button-he is already long gone.  But this is the current view of Hunter, in reality.

Pictured:  Finally, I snuck up on him as he was side-by-side with his cousin, Gavin, one of his all-time favorite people, and I was ready as I whispered his name and he turned his head!  Yea!  And on the right-Hunter’s first day of pre-school with Nonna, juice mustache and all.

We are still celebrating you, Hunter,because we love and adore you!  Chucky Cheese with mommy and daddy last night and your party still coming up (”I hear a train cake comin’…”).  I love your deep, inquiring melancholy side, your gruff little voice and the cowlick right on the front of your head.  I love your greenish-blue eyes and brown skin and your little M & M toes.  I love that you know a million songs and lots of scripture and that you still determine whether or not you are going to be flying today based on whether you have the Superman cape on or not.  You ARE a superhero to me!

Happy Happy Birthday week, Hunter Magoo.  I love YOU!…Nonna

NOTE TO SELF:  More “Footloose” and other great movie dance sequences for Hunter while he is still living and interpreting the music unabashedly and with great passion!

I just went out and walked among the gardens, which are slowly but surely finishing up their work year.  There are gazillions of tomatoes left and just yesterday, bright yellow zucchini flowers were still trumpeting their intent to produce.  But today, all bets seem off and I think the zucchini has resigned itself to closing up shop. 

But they are the winners!  The zucchini wins for the garden of 2008.  I have never had zucchini last into mid-October (I am calling it mid-October even if we are still in the first third - they deserve that).  Usually they are wondrous for a month or so and then get some sort of zucchini-acne-powdery-weird disease and die off, which is why an attentive gardener will do successive plantings and why I am usually kicking myself for not doing so.  But these sweet 5 plants, roundabout the yard, tucked in here and there as if I weren’t expecting much, have consistently outdone themselves, and oh how I have loved turning my nose up at their grocery store cousins!  For I have harvested the best.

So, tonight: what shall I do?  Shall I throw floating row covers over the green beans and cucumbers and tomatoes and zuchs - knowing full well that in a few days we could be back into the higher temperatures again (the beautiful, little-known secret of the Rocky Mountain Region)?  Or “should I,” as Doris Day sings in Pillow Talk concerning Rock Hudson, “surrender?” 

The garden - is it over or is it not?…TBD…Jeanie

NOTE TO SELF:  Enjoy the gorgeous dazzling-orange-red Maple leaves strewn about the yard, even though they are from the neighbor’s tree!

pictured: the garden shutting down; see the blackbirds eating the decrepit sunflower’s seeds?

I use a Hoover.  My grandpa was a longtime Hoover vacuum salesman and Hoover shop owner (they had lots of home appliances, actually).  So, it pretty much doesn’t matter what bells and whistles and pretty colors I see in the vacuum cleaner aisle.  If there is a Hoover in that aisle, I will naturally assume it is of better quality than the others, regardless of what Consumer Reports may say.  I’m a Hoover girl.  I come by it naturally.

Ah, yes - I love those vacuum-cleaning-machines.  I salivate in the vacuum cleaner aisle like a Mad Men character in an early 1960’s car showroom (the show on AMC, you know?).  But I hate vacuuming.  Seriously.

My friend, Corky, whose 7-year-old carpet looks as if it was just installed yesterday, told me that you have to go v e e e e e e e r r r r r y slowly over each section 5 to 10 times.  Doing so, he promises, will make your carpet stay just like new for at least 30 years.  But?  I have a life outside vacuuming, you know?  This is not to imply Corky doesn’t, but his carpet is looking pretty good…

I actually do employ his method just before I use the shampooer.  Maddeningly, Corky is right.  When I do this, Dave walks through the room and will inevitably say something like, “Wow-the carpet sure looks nice now that you have shampooed it,” positively unaware that the (Hoover) shampooer has not yet been used.  Grrrr.  Or maybe he is just trying to avoid the “honey-could-you-come-and-run-the-shampooer” call?  As if.

I am seriously shopping for the vacuum cleaner that just sits in the middle of the room, but but you flip the switch and it sucks every dust and dirt particle (and all the grass and bits and pieces my mangy dog drags in) from the room straight into it - without me having to stand there and go back and forth, back and forth over the very same areas I just vacuumed last month!! 

Just kidding - I do it more often than that!

Honestly, if I could get one of those vacuum-robots that could walk up the stairs, too, even if it were a Eureka or Dirt Devil, I’d get it!

Hoover, can you hear me?…Jeanie

NOTE TO SELF: Investigate - when did vacuum become a verb as well as a noun?

pictured: that is pretty much me in my high-heeled pumps vacuuming while talking to a friend…or maybe a 1950s ad for Hoover?

“Oh, how sweet the light of day

And how wonderful to live in the sunshine!

Even if you live a long time, don’t take a single day for granted.

Take delight in each light-filled hour,

Remembering that there will also be many dark days

And that most of what comes your way is smoke.

Live footloose and fancy free-

You won’t be young forever…”

Ecclesiastes 11.7-8, 10 The Message

Some days you open your Bible and just realize how much better it is than a thousand fortune cookies!  Truth!  Life!  My delight!  Sweeter than honey to my lips.  His words are like bread - and I eat them! They cause me to break into a prayer of love to the Letter Writer~

Oh, how I love Your law, O Lord.  Your promise preserves my life.  Your words are the lyrics and melody of my song wherever I live - wherever I find myself.  I think about Your Word day and night.  Your decrees light the path I am on and help me find my way back when I am lost.  I have spent my life testing Your promises and I have found them to be true.  I love Your Word, O Lord.  (shamelessly ripping off David in Psalm 119)

I love how the scriptures set us free from self-imposed religious activity and living!  Footloose and fancy free…Jeanie

NOTE TO SELF:  This must truly be a mandate for the coming year.

pictured: a “sample picture” that came with the computer - in case I didn’t know what a picture was

People born in 1959:

October the 8th birthdays

pictured: me at maybe 14 or 15 months old with my young, beautiful parents and brother Joe on the way…

Clean Your House In 19 Minutes

By Real Simple  With a plan of attack, you can maintain a sparkling house in just 19 minutes a day

Kitchen, 4 1/2 minutes daily
Always start with the sink. A sparkling sink becomes your kitchen’s benchmark for hygiene and tidiness, inspiring you to load the dishwasher immediately and keep counters, refrigerator doors, and the stove top spick-and-span, too.

• Wipe down the sink after doing the dishes or loading the dishwasher (30 seconds).
• Wipe down the stove top (one minute).
• Wipe down the counters (one minute).
• Sweep, Swiffer, or vacuum the floor (two minutes).

Bathroom, 2 minutes daily
Make cleaning the basin as routine as washing your hands. But don’t stop there. Get the most out of your pre-moistened wipe by using it to clean around the edges of the tub and then the toilet before tossing it.

• Wipe out the sink (30 seconds). Wipe the toilet seat and rim (15 seconds).
• Swoosh the toilet bowl with a brush (15 seconds).
• Wipe the mirror and faucet (15 seconds).
• Squeegee the shower door (30 seconds).
• Spray the entire shower and the curtain liner with shower mist after every use (15 seconds).

Bedroom, 6 1/2 minutes daily
Make your bed right before or after your morning shower. A neat bed will inspire you to deal with other messes immediately. Although smoothing sheets and plumping pillows might not seem like a high priority as you’re rushing to work, the payoff comes at the end of the day, when you slip back under the unruffled covers.

• Make the bed (two minutes).
• Fold or hang clothing and put away jewelry (four minutes).
• Straighten out the night-table surface (30 seconds).

Family Room, Living Room, Foyer, 6 minutes daily
Start with the sofa – as long as it’s in disarray, your living room will never look tidy. Once you’ve fluffed the pillows and folded the throws, you’re halfway home. If you pop in a CD while you dust, you should be able cover the whole room by the end of the third track.

• Pick up crumbs and dust bunnies with a handheld vacuum (one minute).
• Fluff the cushions and fold throws after use (two minutes).
• Wipe tabletops and spot-clean cabinets when you see fingerprints (one minute).
• Straighten coffee-table books and magazines. Throw out newspapers. Put away CDs and videos. (Two minutes.)

So, hmmmm…Here is what I’m thinking:

I notice they say this is the way to MAINTAIN a ”sparkling house.”  This does seem to imply it should be sparkling to begin with.  Mine has somewhat of a sheen, but I don’t know that I could say it is actually sparkling.  Troubling.

Kitchens: Ok, so-my theory on the clean sink is that “A freshly scoured and polished sink will go looking for dirty dishes.”  And while I love seeing my reflection in the sink, I can’t say it actually “inspires” me to load the dishwasher - especially when I often have to unload it first.  Has the verb ”swiffering” or “to swiffer” made the dictionery yet?

Bathrooms: If I spend 15 seconds “wiping” the mirror, I will then need 10 minutes to get the streaks off that I just caused.  I have one of those Scrubbing Bubble misters in the shower that are supposedly the equivalent of 30 maids filling your shower stall.  It is handy, but I’d fire those maids if they didn’t a better job than it does! 

Bedroom:  Boy-oh-boy, I can save some major minutes here.  Not enough jewelry to take that long AND I can cut off some time with the bed-making.  Two minutes to make a bed?  Novices!  I’ll make that bed in 41.2 seconds!

Common Family Spaces:  Well, these areas would not be a problem if it weren’t for the fact that I have such a big, honking family!  I don’t have any CDs with 2 minute songs (6 minutes total, by the “end of three songs”???=2 minute songs…I don’t think so).  Plus, I no longer put DVDs away.  Dave and Stormie and the Netflix people know why.

Well, so anyway, I think I’ll spend the next 6 and a half weeks creating some sparkle so I can maintain it in only 19 minutes a day…but wait-what if I take a Sabbath?  The whole plan is already shot.

Maintaining, just barely…Jeanie

NOTE TO SELF: Read their follow-up article “How to speed-clean your kitchen” because 4 1/2 minutes is just too much of a time investment.

google images

Northern Hills, to reflect some mighty big changes over the past year or so, rolled out a new “branding package” this week.  It is very different than it was.  And these are very much “my kind of colors” (oranges, pumkins, spices, shimmery copper), but the new site will take some getting used to, even though we have gone much simpler.

The jackets the staff and elders were all wearing (with the church name on the back at the waistline, just above the bum (to, I assume, garner some attention - which it almost certainly will) are very nice looking.

So, October is orange.  And, it turns out, so is my church.  www.northernhills.cc  This works out nicely because of the cute orange-church-magnet they passed out for my fridge.  Just in time for October!

DECORATE WITH ORANGE. 

http://blogs.hgtv.com/hgtv/design/archives/2008/10/fall_into_orange.html

ORANGE (”the color of craving”) AS DESIGN PASSION. 

http://www.whorange.net/

1 Kings 8.65 The Message: …”This is how Solomon kept the great autumn feast…Two solid weeks of celebration!…”

 

So-I am a summer-lover, but fall feels really romantic and lovely to me, too…Jeanie

NOTE TO SELF: October is also when I have been called for Jury Duty, too.  Poo.  Jury duty is NOT orange.

*Don’t worry - the orange slime from the pumkin that is still on the seeds will form a deliciously salty, crunchy coating on the seeds.

pictured: a deliciously orange google image-collage

Tic-Tac-Toe

http://stuff.pyzam.com/toys/tictacscare.swf

Thanks, Tredessa!

While I was in Missouri, Stormie-the-baby was in a serious, car-totaling accident.  Yes-her beloved Toyota Camry (which was getting about 38 miles per gallon in the city!!) got majorly crunched when she t-boned some crazy driver who decided to shoot out of a parking lot on a whim. 

Because there was very little reaction time, she really didn’t experience a lot of the stress pain you get when you anticipate a crash.  Her air-bag deployed and protected her well.  She is, however, left with a badly sprained left ankle and the bottom of her foot is still swelling from the bruising, as it basically took the full impact of the wreck as she pressed in on the clutch at the moment of impact.  She is on crutches and in a wheelchair and takes f o r e v e r to get anywhere!  It is pretty painful and purple.

We are blessed because they have accepted full liability so she should get paid for the work days she missed and the medical bills are being covered.  She is driving a gorgeous blue Mustang rental presently, but will need a replacement here in the next few days.  Help us pray she gets a good and safe car with extra good mileage (she drives across the planet to work daily)!

I truly believe she is recuperating extremely well under her mother’s loving care. 

Thank-You for keeping our baby safe in a crazy world, Lord! …Jeanie

NOTE TO SELF:  Get Stormie’s laundry done.

pictured: the crunched car, Stormie’s pretty little seatbelt burn (glad she was wearing one!), and her bruised-up arm.