Dear Reader,

I am tired, had the runs this morning, vacuumed the WHOLE downstairs tonight, planned my intro to my first swing class, it's going to be clever and I learned all about Pack Rats, which we have in abundance here in the Sonoran desert. One has made a nest in Matt's car which stalled it on the freeway. They are the size of guinea pigs and they are not scared of us, the humans. But life goes on and it's enjoyable when your children are sometimes clever.

Grace prayed, "Please bless we can eat dinner. Please bless we can yell real loud..."

I asked, "Why do you want to yell?"
"Maybe if we yell real loud Heavenly Father will come down and see us."

I love the desert and I love the people who live in the desert and I love those people's pools. Although we haven't become good enough friends with any of those people yet to warrant an invite, but it's just a matter of time, really.

A New Post

So life has changed drastically since my last post. Anne started Kindergarten and Grace started Pre-school. And I realized for the first time that this whole toddler thing is going to end very soon. The time when I am sending my last kid off to the big school with lunch in hand and an extra barrette is not far distant. I've heard a thousand times it goes fast, and I believed it because I only have three. Other women who have four or more, now that era is a very long time for them. But for my little three it's a blur. sigh.

Since Anne has started school she has proclaimed her name is now "Alanah." She won't let it go either. I thought if I ignored it, "Alanah" would go away, like an imaginary friend, but she's insistent. She also says "like" like 50x's more and uses the word "butt," which may not be a big deal to yous out there, but it just one more sign of the loss of sweetness as her eyes begin to widen and mouth begins to grin while gazing on the big wide world beckoning her exploration. No more days of being couped up in a nice, safe home where PB&J's are served daily with a smile.

As for an update on the rest of us...Matt started his second year of school with a keen sense of "git 'er done." And I am trying regularly to flatten my three-baby-flab-bottom and not getting very far. Next month I will be teaching a swing dance class and a line dancing class, yep you heard it, LINE DANCING class at Sahuarita Dance Studio. I am way excited and have had some success in getting participants. We'll see if I can still "swing 'em out." Debatable.

A Joke

In memory of my Dad. Today was his birthday.

A guy with a speech impediment walked into a bar and asked, "How much for a beer?"
"Three dollars."
"Three dollars? That's alot of money! Oh- I'll take one," muttered the man as he quickly drank it down. "How much for a glass of wine?"
"Eight dollars," the bartender replied.
"Eight dollars! That's a lot of money. Oh well, I'll take one." He drank it down as he turned to leave said, "Thanks for not mentioning my speech impediment."
And the bartender said, "Thanks for not mentioning my hunchback."
"Hunchback? I thought it was your butt! Everything else is so high in here!"

I miss him and his jokes.