Happy New Year

Thank goodness I've grown out of New Year's resolutions. Just keep looking forward and setting goals day-by-day, week-by-week, or month-by-month as needed. That's become my standard resolution and it's been working well, so more of the same for 2013.

Our end of year celebration plans were flushed by weather yesterday. A hazard of long-distance friendships in the wintertime is that a little bit of snow and ice can really put a damper on party plans. We didn't end up getting much snow, but what we did get was coming down during our travel time and with the dark and idea of sharing roads with other drivers who might not be making wise choices on a holiday evening, we decided to stay home, watch movies and play games. It was high quality family time.

Today we enjoyed a rousing game of Balderdash with the Oparents (Opa/Oma = grandparents). I should probably be concerned. My children are all turning out to be very accomplished, as well as convincing liars.

The Pre-Holiday New Tradition

Munchkin Boy says we may have hit upon a new tradition. Apparently waiting out the holiday season at my sister's house in Illinois is "easier" than waiting it out at home. Hubby, who stayed home due to work responsibilities, may not agree. When we pulled up in the driveway this evening he declared that he had decided we were never to leave home again.

It was a fun-filled four days with a full day of travel on either end. Especially relaxing for me as I have not been behind the wheel of a car for a week now. My time was well spent in the passenger seat and even in the back seat where a person has the opportunity to gaze far out into the passing fields and take a catnap or two.

We made a stop in St. Joe, Missouri to visit the Glore Psychiatric Museum. While at my sister's house we shopped and visited and watched movies and ate breakfast out every single day. We attempted to put together a jig saw puzzle. We drank tea and ate cookies and went roller skating... and visited the emergency room.

Munchkin Boy came home with his arm in a splint. He was robo-skating, a term he had to explain three times to the young man who was our nurse in the ER. This surprised me as the nurse was certainly young and had a certain look of hip about him which made me assume a term like robo-skating would be immediately apparent. Just shows you how little you can tell from a person's cover. "You know, skating as if one was a robot," Munchkin Boy had to enunciate and demonstrate to clarify.

I was glad for the explanation, as well, because from my view from across the rink I'm not sure that was how I would have interpreted it. I saw some rolling, some dancing, and then a fall that resulted in obvious pain. I did not realize exactly how much, however, and it was several hours before we took him in for x-rays, when at bedtime he was still wincing at the movement of his hand (as well as putting himself to bed at 8 PM which is... well, strange).

We have an appointment here at home the day after Christmas to determine if any damage beyond a sprain was done. The emergency room doctor didn't seem eager to comment either way, just ordered a splint and instructed him to keep it on until he could be seen by an orthopedic surgeon.

For the return trip I handed the girls an atlas and let them free range their way home. In only lengthened the expected time of travel by about 2 hours.

We have yet to make a solid plan (other than the trip to the doctor for Munchkin Boy's arm) for the coming week, but I am looking forward to some down days and some catch-up days and some time for finishing up projects from 2012.

**As a post script, the arm was not broken. When the splint was removed he had no pain. All healed quickly and easily.

Have Voted, Will Travel

I was going to share a picture of my "I voted" sticker, but now that I am home I can't find it. I know I had it on for quite a while because I kept getting comments. Vote early and wear an "I voted" sticker if you want attention. People will ask.

There is a little story behind my early vote. Munchkin #1 and I have been planning a trip to England. We've been planning this trip since she was about 7 years old. We've been planning in earnest since about this time last year. We settled on a date range early in 2012, and finally committed to the exact dates several months ago. It's going to be a 10-day trip. One of the problems in scheduling it turned out to be election day. I kept trying to figure out how to get the trip in and get home before the elections. At one point I had decided I would vote and then go jump on a plane. Of course, I knew voting early was an option, but I'd never voted early before. I was kind of stuck with this idea that I needed to be here.

I actually went and spoke with our county election clerk before committing to plane tickets. Once I was satisfied that voting early would not be an issue, I was ready to proceed with the travel plans. I've had "vote" on my calendar for weeks now.

It's funny that I had kind of envisioned myself walking into the courthouse this morning to be the first person to vote in our county. I didn't make it there until afternoon, however. It turns out I was the 101st person to vote. I actually had to stand in line. I don't think I've ever done that in this town. I usually just walk right in, sign my name, get my electronic card and cast my ballot. It made me proud, to have to stand in line. That sounds odd, I know, but a line means you are doing something that other people feel is important, too. It made me feel like my initial stressing about trying to schedule this trip around an election was somewhat justified. (It sounded like most of the other people in line were going to be out of town for one reason or another, as well.)

Anyway... now I am free to start packing for England. This will be my first big trip out of the country. Technically, my third if you count a few days in Canada when I was a kid and several days at a resort in Mexico in 2004. I am giddy/anxious/excited to be on my way.

And now I'm looking forward to another experience. I will be in England on the day of the Presidential elections. I'm very curious to see how the story plays from there.

Dare I entertain you? Wink at you perhaps?

The day before the worst day: poison ivy (or something) of the eye area.

Since several people have asked, and I've never been especially shy about photographs, even awful photographs, in the past... I decided to go ahead and post my swollen eye picture. I only do this because the swelling now seems to be 100% gone and I can rest assured that, No, I will not look like this for the rest of my life. Not that I was ever really worried, but you have to admit that these are the thoughts that go through a mind at times like these.

I have one more day of medication to take and I have to admit that I am really ready to return to my low-key, drug free lifestyle. Benadryl makes me sleep; steriods rev me up beyond belief. I was wide awake at about 2 o'clock this morning and solving all the worlds problems, as well as making fantastic plans for the farmers market, the Kansas Authors Club, and then some. Rolled out of bed and have been going all day, though not actually accomplishing all I had figured out in my mind the wee hours of the morning and stumbling through what I did accomplish more than I am accustomed to. It's weird to be wired; but not on top of things. Full of energy; but lacking precision. I'm still not feeling tired. Actually contemplating more Benadryl just to see if it will get me through a sleep filled night, but I can't say sleeping with the crawly bugs was very restful either.

I honestly don't understand why anyone would ever choose medication of any kind over finding ways to remain well. Stay out of the poison ivy, is my lesson. Stay far away, in fact, from anything that might even resemble poison ivy. And just in case, I shall be more fastidious about de-oiling myself when I come in from wilderness type situations. Obviously I was meant to be a home bound writer. My vast front yard has now become a wilderness to me.

I had a public appearance tonight, a talk at a local Kiwanis meeting about the farmers market. I talked too fast and probably outdid my allotted time, but I'm calling this one a success. It was a room full of warm and energetic people who seemed to have a lot of fun together and not take themselves too seriously. I hope to be seeing more of several of them, as market customers, at the very least.

This is Why I don't do Drugs

On Tuesday I noticed a little itch at the inside corner of my eye. I thought maybe something had bit me. A mosquito? Was it time of year for mosquitos?

On Wednesday it was a bit puffy, a lot itchy, and I worked very hard not to mess with it because, you know, that skin around the eye is so sensitive and the last thing I wanted was to make it go from puffy and itchy to rubbed raw and sore.

I stopped and talked to the pharmacist on Wednesday. He gave me an anti-itch cream that he said would be okay to use near my eye. It won't hurt your eye, he said, but it won't feel good if you get it in your eye. Just be careful. Try to keep it around your eye, but not in your eye. He also recommended I take some Benadryl. He said be careful, Benadryl makes you sleepy.

I waited till I got home to take the Benadryl. I was in bed by 7.

On Thursday I planned to have a normal day. My eye was even more puffy. I was beginning to suspect this was something more than a bug bite. A little rash had spread from the inside corner to the outside corner of my eye. This reminded me of poison ivy. I remembered that on Sunday I had worked in the yard. On Sunday I had trimmed tree branches and that tree was covered in English ivy. I had looked carefully for signs of poison ivy and I saw none. I remember looking. I remember thinking there was none there and that I would be okay.

On Thursday evening I had a tiny rash of blisters inside my ear, on my jawline, and on my neck. I took more Benadryl, doubled the dose. As I drifted off to sleep, I was sure there were bugs crawling all over me. They were inside my skin. But I was too sleepy to get up and do anything about it.

Woke up Friday morning to a very swollen eye. I looked like Quasimodo. I have pictures, but I can't show you... I look like this. No kidding. Just like Will Smith...



That was yesterday. Yesterday I looked like Will Smith. I still had a sense of humor about it when hubby finally dragged me out to the urgent care clinic to get a shot of steroid.

This morning, however, I look worse, but on the plus side, it's harder to see myself. I woke up with a sore shoulder from the shot, and my right eye entirely swollen shut. I could still see for most of yesterday. Today it is completely swollen closed.

So my answer, in the last 24 hours hours, has been something along the lines of sleep, sleep and eat more junk food. I'm not taking Benadryl today. I can't take another day of sleeping and the quiet little bugs crawling. I'd rather stay alert and miserable eating brownies. I need more chocolate. I need more junk food.

This is why I don't do drugs.

Staying Up; Catching Up

It's been a weird, full week and I keep waiting for things to fall back into normal routine. I've been staying up late since the time change. Later and later each night, it seems. Yet, I'm still up early in the mornings. Not normal-early, but still getting up at last week's 5 or 5:30am, which is this week's 6 or 6:30am.

I've had a market to-do list a mile long and everything has taken hours and hours more time than I keep thinking it should. It's not necessarily bothering me, but I am beginning to wonder when I'll finally get to the end. I keep getting into the flow of things and find myself looking up to discover that several hours have passed.

The Kansas Authors Club books have started arriving in member mailboxes in the last couple of days. It feels like forever ago that I finished it, but really it's been just at a month. I opened my copy, of course, to see a blinding typo on the first page. Then got an email this evening that I had left someone's entry out. I feel terrible about that. Not the typo. I mean, it's bad, and I should have utilized my proofreader more (she didn't see this page) to help with that sort of thing, but I guess I got a little sloppy. It was the end of a month's long project. A project I was juggling alongside several other projects. Not a good excuse, but there it is, none-the-less.

Leaving out this guy's entry, though, that makes me feel really bad. I'm usually pretty good at being organized and keeping stuff in order. I don't know how I let this one slip through the cracks, but I did.

Today was a market day. It was a fun market day. Lots of people and gorgeous weather. We got a visit from the new "Local Food" truck and they added a market banner before the parade. Middle Munchkin and Munchkin Boy attended a Vegetable Gardening class at the market and then helped me close up and load signs. We wrapped things up just in time to see the St. Patrick's Day parade.

We've got our very own local food mascot now. It's a promotional tool that I think several organizations in our area will be using in the future. Will be fun to see what we can think up to do with it.

There was other cool stuff going on in town today, too, but I didn't make. Spent most of the rest of the afternoon and evening working on my presentations for the market's annual meeting tomorrow, minus a break where I went with M.M. and M.B. to serve a meal for a group called Eastern Star. It was a community service type thing for 4-H. It was enjoyable, well-organized, and we got a free plate of casserole when we were done. The food was yum.

Munchkin #1 got home today from a conference in Kansas City. She's tired, but it sounds like she had a good time. I look forward to hearing more details after she catches up on her sleep and starts unpacking her bag. All she's really showed me so far is a bag of shredded bills that she got from the Federal Reserve Bank. It says it contains approximately $165. I guess it's a give-away to anyone who tours the place.

Muchkin #1 and Miss Nancy, all dressed up for the conference. (Well, not Nancy. She doesn't wear pants and she didn't get to go to the conference, but she sure liked posing for the photo.)

St. James Day and Other Thoughts

Today is St. James Day, a holiday in our family that my brother-in-law made up. In this house, we take it more seriously than just about any other holiday. Food. Friends. Basketball on the television. Lots of gabbing. Kids running through and around the house. It's the one day a year that I can pretty much guarantee my husband won't go into work.

And just like any big event, I find myself mourning a bit when it's over. As people start to pack up and think about heading home, there's a little voice inside of me crying, "No! Don't go! Don't let the fun end yet!!"

When everyone had left, I loaded up the dishwasher, cleaned the serving table off, folded it, and put it away. The basketball wasn't over yet, but the kids were exhausted enough from their day of playing tag and shooting basketballs that they've showered and tucked themselves away in their respective beds without so much as a goodnight.

A big weekend remains with a farmers market tomorrow and the St. Patrick's Day parade. The kids are serving at a community dinner tomorrow evening. The market's annual meeting will take place on Sunday. I'm almost ready for the festivities and am already anticipating the calm that will inevitably come after a weekend so packed full of activity, though the full and busy feels quite satisfying, at the moment, as well.

I had a lighter schedule this week...

That's the only explanation I can come up with. I had more time, so I did not blog or do much writing of any kind this week. I don't know why it works that way, but that seems to be the way it often goes with me. I guess leisure time just leaves my mind wandering elsewhere.

Since I've shared this far, here's the update on eating raw vegan. My cheats: I cooked two vegan meals this week. I added a small bit of whole wheat pasta. I ate one sugar cookie on Monday night and it did not go down well. I felt almost immediately nauseous and had such a headache by the time I got home, I ended up going straight to bed. I'm okay with that. I honestly don't think I'm going to miss sugar cookies.

Today is day 24 and I am tired, tired, tired, tired of eating raw. I miss cooking. I miss the creativity of cooking almost as much as I miss eating warmed food. I'm tired of doing so much chewing. A few days I've found myself just opting to not eat rather than do so much chewing, and that doesn't feel healthy at all.

I am, however, entirely pleased/still surprised/happy with the results. Just the simple absence of the aches and pains is enough to convince me that there was something in my diet causing inflammation in my joints. At the very least, I'm going to make sure whatever was causing that doesn't return to my diet. I've lost 10 pounds, as well, and I won't hold back... those missing 10 pounds feel really, really good.

As of tonight, I'm declaring this the 24 day Raw Vegan challenge. My plan is to continue vegan through day 30, and probably much of it will be raw, but fire is officially back on the table!

This is another documentary you really ought to watch.

Changing the Rules or, Raw Vegan - Part II

I am on Day 16 of eating raw fruits/vegetables/nuts... plus three hard-boiled eggs, one tortilla and one slice of pepper jack cheese. Oh, and one morning I have to confess I tossed my veggies into the skillet. I just had to knock the edge off of some green onions I had added to a celery/spinach/tomato salad. I've had a few days this past week where the task of chewing all that fiber was more than I could bear. One day I compensated by going to the store and bringing home a selection of more tropical and exotic kinds of fruits. I think it helped me over the hump.

But what I wanted to share today was a bit of brilliance I got from my son. On Day 12 of this adventure, when I was hitting a wall with the greens and beating myself up quite a bit because I was contemplating quitting, my son said, "Mom. Why don't you just change the rules?"

Absurdly simply, I know, but it's not the way I am accustomed to thinking. It is, however, the way I've always encouraged my kids to think. Who makes the rules about the way you live? You do. Who decides what's important in your life and how you should spend your time? You do.

Who wrote the rules to this 30 day raw eating challenge? Me. I didn't sign up for somebody else's challenge or commit myself to these rules of eating in order to pass somebody else's test. I'm doing this for me, and therefore, if my body tells me it's really craving some heavier protein (and some protein that isn't mouthful after mouthful of green), I can change the rules. That's within my power. And it doesn't mean I've quit or failed.

I'm eating raw vegan with a hard boiled egg thrown in every day or two. No apologies.

I'm still feeling good. I'm loving the fact that my body is feeling so lithe and limber. I love that I have absolutely no afternoon lull time. Never that heavy, after lunch feeling on the eyelids that makes me want to crawl away and take a nap.

There is something to eating this way and I'm going to figure out how to capture this good, even if it does mean dropping some items from my traditional diet, or simply shifting some foods over to my occasionally or rarely list.

Most importantly, I'm going to try to remember that it is within my power to change the rules to suit my own needs.

In other news, the hubby and I celebrated Valentine's Day early this morning with a Love 2 Run, 4 mile walk (yes, we loved to run as walkers). We came in 7th place in the Married couples division, combined age 80-99. Okay, so there were seven couples in our age division and the other six couples were runners, but it was 11 degrees out this morning with a windchill below zero and we walked four miles in 61 and 1/2 minutes. I call that another victory.

Did I mention the cool t-shirt?

Thursday Thoughts and Thankfulness

Posting a Wordless Wednesday entry was difficult. I really wanted to add words. I wanted to tell how we've been making an effort to capture Nancy (our big German Shepherd) during some of her best moments on camera or on video. She's such a sweet dog most of the time. Unfortunately, nobody outside of our family sees that side of her because she's got her issues. She's an enormous, gentle girl, who has been known to be afraid of her own shadow. Right now she's passed out in the middle of the doorway, sleeping so deeply the kids have stepped over her going from room to room. She hasn't even flinched.

I liked that photo, not because it has any artistry at all, but because it is a fairly typical scene around here. Kids with noses in books and Nancy relaxing on the floor.

Today I wrapped up the Kansas Authors Club yearbook for another year. I am looking forward to getting the finished product in the mail, yet not having to do the mailing myself. Mennonite Press, of Newton took on the printing and mailing of the book a couple of years ago. They have made my job so much easier. Much less time consuming, which is especially excellent since it is a volunteer job.

I am thankful for Kansas Authors and for Mennonite Press.

Today I got into my car to find a note on the windshield warning me that my back right tire was low. What a kind thing for a person to do. It was, indeed, low. In fact, nearly flat by the time I got in the car. My dear hubby took a break from work to change the tire and go and get it fixed.

I am thankful for kind people who keep an eye out for strangers and for my wonderful husband.

Today I spent several hours working at the market office, and didn't quite get as far as I had hoped. I checked enough off my list to let the rest wait until next week, I suppose. I got a few big items out of the way, including reports for next week's board meeting and some bookkeeping clean up that had been growing on my desk.

I am thankful for a job that has given me a place in this community. I am thankful I am working for something I believe in and that the potential and the possibilities are what I make of them.

Today I watched an episode of Downton Abbey with my kids and helped my girls with project talks they will give at 4-H next week.

I am thankful, every day, for my amazing children.

Dreaming of a Bacon Cheeseburger

I'm not a dieting kind of girl. I've never seen any sense in trying to eat any way other than the way I normally eat. If there is a goal that my normal eating gets in the way of, or if the results of my eating are causing problems, my philosophy has always been that I simply need to change the way I eat.

I consider myself fortunate--on the food front--that I come from a rural background. My parents grew much of what we ate when I was a kid. My mother canned and preserved the garden harvest and utilized her freezer, as well. I moved away from this a bit in early adulthood, but I've always felt like my default food setting was homegrown, homemade and it has never been much of a chore to get back to that.

None-the-less, I came across this documentary a few years when I was working on an article about Diabetes. It was called Simply Raw, and it basically claimed that by eating a raw, vegan diet for 30 days, diabetes (at least type 2) could be reversed.

I guess I was intrigued, because I’ve thought of it often.

Long story short, I decided to try eating that way for 30 days myself. (No, I’m not diabetic, but I think there are several health benefits to eating this way, and the idea of losing a few pounds in the process doesn’t offend me either.)

So as I write this, I’m at the end of day nine of a no meat, no dairy, no cooking diet.

It was on day five that I decided I would write about it.

The first couple of days were much easier than I had anticipated. Since there’s really no limit to how much I eat, getting hungry was not a problem. I felt a bit more tired than usual the first night and I took a long afternoon nap on the second day. The first two mornings I woke up with a bit of a headache. But beyond that, I was enjoying the variety of fruits and vegetables and experimenting with things like sprouting my organically grown wheat and making my own almond milk (yum).

I took this on with the idea that it would be a good 30 day challenge and that maybe I could take off a few pounds as a bonus. I didn’t really have expectations beyond that. It would have made more sense to do this during the peak of farmers’ market season, but I figured I could always do it again if I liked it.

The surprise on day five was that every ache and pain I am accustomed to dealing with on a regular basis was gone. I think all of my adult life I have had stiff shoulders, an achy back, and knees that felt old and creaky. It’s never been so bad that it’s significantly slowed me down, but the ache has always been there. I’m accustomed to getting out of bed and hobbling around all until I get warmed up. I’ve always tried to exercise in the morning because the movement loosen me up and lessons the achiness.

That may sound a little more extreme than it actually is. I’m not saying I live with chronic pain or anything, but the absolute lack of that stiff, achy feeling really struck me by about day five of eating raw vegan. I rolled out of bed and felt as good, maybe better, than I feel after a long, relaxing walk. I’d been sleeping deeply, rarely waking up in the night at all. That middle of the day lull where I feel sleepy or lack energy seems to have disappeared.

On day five, I was actually contemplating becoming a vegan for life.

That was quite a difference from the first 48 hours when I was planning my day 31 meal, a triple patty, bacon burger dripping with cheese and maybe some cheesy fries on the side.

Now at the end of day nine, I honestly don’t see myself becoming a vegan. More vegetables and fruits, yes. More raw vegetables and fruits, most certainly. I can see myself living a more vegetarian-like life, with the occasional carnivore’s delight on the side. The good news is that this should make moving to solely local, organic, grass-fed meat options pretty easy. That’s long been a goal of mine, and except for my too-frequent longing for a grilled burger (which often results in supplementing our “good” meat supply with store bought stuff from who knows where), I’ve done pretty decent in recent years.

I do find myself thinking a lot about warm food. At first it was cheesy, greasy options that I was longing for, but on about day seven I decided my perfect meal would be an awesome taco bar with some of my tasty homemade refried black beans as the main feature. When I dream of pizza, I’m dreaming of our homemade, farmers market version, topped with veggies as high as we can stack them and a homemade crust made with fresh garlic and oregano.

Raw is certainly not a long-term option for me.

I’m going to have to spend some time considering the changes to my normal, long-term diet, however. It’s quite possible that I could pinpoint the foods that make me achy and stiff. Eliminating them for good doesn’t sound like such a chore.

Anyway, I’m almost 1/3 of the way there and I decided to share what I was doing. Whether you have simple aches and pains of your own, or more serious health considerations such as diabetes, I thought it was something that others might be interested in.

Here’s a link to the Simply Raw documentary on Vimeo. 

Two Goals not Fitting Together

So I didn't make resolutions this year, but I did give myself a couple of goals (for the time being) to spend more time writing and to get back to blogging. The problem is that I have found much success getting back to writing by removing myself entirely from reach of the internet. I'm writing at my kitchen table again, sometimes on paper, sometimes on my new laptop, but without wireless in the house (for the time being) I don't have easy access to my blog and all my online friends.

It seems silly that I can't manage to do one as well as the other. None-the-less, the coordination remains off.

I've not given up yet.

There are Dirty Dishes in My Bathtub

When I was a kid, I picked up a thin paperback book at a scholastic book fair titled, The Man Who Didn't Wash His Dishes. Our school librarian read us the book when I was in the first or second grade and something about it really captured me, so I jumped at the chance to get my own copy when the book fair came around.

My mother was also in love with this book. It was a lesson she liked to remind me of. Do you want to be like the man who didn't wash his dishes? Of course not!

By the time my children were born, this little paperback book was yellowed and had a big tear right in the middle of it. My children all read the book, however. Recently, it even came up in conversation. They each have very vivid memories of this story where a man puts off washing his dishes until he is eating out of things like the soap dish and a flower pot. He piles the dirty dishes higher and higher, because he is too tired to wash his dishes, until eventually he moves all his dirty dishes out into the yard in the back of his truck where a rain storm washes them clean again. In the end, the man decides washing dishes isn't such a chore, after all.

Why do I think of this story now?

There are dirty dishes in my bathtub. Not a lot, but dirty dishes, none-the-less. Our dish washer*, you see, broke down on Saturday. It was New Year's Eve and it was't a terribly unexpected thing. Our dishwasher is more than 10 years old, has moved with us three times, and has completed upward of thousands of wash cycles.

*Side note: Isn't it amazing that you can still find a review for a dishwasher that was published more than ten years ago? I think that was one of my highest grossing reviews on Epinions.

I've haven't been a total slacker. I have been doing dishes by hand. My daughter and my husband have both been seen doing dishes by hand. But when the dishwasher quit working on Saturday, I decided buying a new one would be a priority. And because I was already in the store, I bought a new stove, too. Our oven hasn't worked consistently for more than a year. It's been on the "need to replace" list since we bought this house almost six years ago

Thus, the dishes in the bathtub. That's where I hid them when they came to deliver and install my new dishwasher and stove today.

It's a New Year, but it's like Merry Christmas all over again.

An Anniversary, A Museum, and the End of 2011

Please don't think that the flurry of blog entries this past week mean anything more than a greater amount of free time than usual. No resolutions on my agenda this year. Last year I worked myself up for a few, but I guess my heart really wasn't in them. I still can't play Hungarian Rhapsody, but I have played the piano more this year than I have in... many years put together. I may have to admit that an actual backbend just isn't in my future, but my back is in better shape than it has been for a while. Still not where I would like to be, but headed in the right direction. My third resolution had something to do with mileage walked and biked. I'm pretty sure I made that happen, but I stopped keeping track a few months into the year.

Hubby and I spent a couple of days celebrating our anniversary in Wichita, the city where we spent our very first night as a married couple twenty-one years ago. We enjoyed unseasonably warm weather this round. Twenty-one years ago, the high was 8 degrees and the low was 3 below. It was a cold day for warm hearts, or something like that. 

We went to the Museum of World Treasures, which is one of my favorite museums in Kansas. We had lunch at Red Lobster, also in memory of our honeymoon night. 

We picked a much nicer hotel this round, however. The Downtown Inn, as it was called then, is now a completely remodeled Holiday Inn, but the memories of the place are still enough to give me nightmares. Our plan the day of our wedding had been to drive all the way back to Lawrence, where we were living at the time, but a relative gave us the gift of cash and we decided, at the last minute, to treat ourselves to an overnight stay in Wichita. There was some sort of convention going on, however, and we could not get a room anywhere. We ended up at the Downtown Inn where, I kid you not, they wanted to know if we were interested in the hourly rate. It was truly the worst place I have ever stayed. Ah, the memories... 

Twenty-one years later, we are older and wiser.

Rand at the Museum of World Treasures.

The Buddha Room is my favorite. 

Right now, quite honestly, I'm just trying to keep myself awake to ring in the new year with my kids. I don't want to be that old person who can't stay up till midnight. So far we've tried out a new board game with the grandparents and we taught the kids to play Call-for-your-partner Pitch. My children have returned, so I shall see what they have planned to entertain me for the next couple of hours. 

Goodbye 2011; Hello 2012.

I should invent a coffee cup made of chocolate...

Oh wait! Someone beat me to it!!

Decadent dessert for anniversary celebration... This chocolate cup (dark chocolate on the top, milk chocolate on the bottom, was filled with a wonderful devil's food cupcake and topped with a chocolate/coffee flavored cream.

Twenty-one years and the hubby still knows how to thrill me.

The Accountant Poet

I've dedicated most of the last three days to numbers. Spent a day wrapping up year-end numbers for the farmers market (more days needed, but I got a great start). Spent part of a day wrapping up year-end numbers for home stuff. Then spent another day wrapping up year-end numbers for the hubby's law practice. First year on his own; I've been keeping the books, but have been looking forward to getting an overview of the big picture. Prepping everything we need for taxes. Hoping to be organized enough this year that when I sit down to fill out the forms, I'll have every number I need ready at my finger tips.

Hubby caught me today in the middle of creating some graphs and pie charts to my masterfully planned spreadsheets. I couldn't help myself. I was adding some visuals to all my number crunching. He asked if I was having fun.

I was.

He said, "I used to think I married a writer/poet, but sometimes I think I married an accountant/poet."

I like that title. I think I may put it on my next business card.

Trick or Treat!

Munchkin #1 went away for the weekend and we kept three other kids here in return. I love these kids and the energy they bring into our home. I love the laughter and the singing and the way four pizzas and a bowl of macaroni disappear in the blink of an eye. I love the way they roam from indoors to outdoors to in again.

Had our now-annual Halloween party last night. I'm so glad I've found a group of people (adults and kids) who are willing to dress up and have this fun. I always think so much about my mom this time of year. I think of how much she would love our costumes and our get-togethers and how much she would love meeting all these people who have come to share my life in the years since she's been gone.

Halloween Party - 2011

The pace of things around here is slowing down and I'm looking forward to more of less. Twice weekly farmers markets have ended for the season. The call for travel, which began with the state fair in mid-September and included two trips to Illinois and a weekend in Coffeyville for the Kansas Authors Club convention, is looking to be done for a while. We've nearly completed the transition to hubby's new office. I am looking forward to settling into a new routine.

Eat, drink and be scary!

Link from the Legend of Zelda, a Mime, A K-State Fan (yes! scary!!), and another  Mime.

The mime was my costume of choice when I was a teen and I think the girls enjoyed dressing up this way, as well. They looked great, though you would not believe how hard it was to find white face paint in this town!!! 

Me and the hubby.

Where the road takes me...

I heard a piece on NPR about the new iPhone. Apparently it talks to you... While I am a bit taken by the thought, I am also a bit appalled. I pictured myself driving down the road alone having conversations with my phone. Not someone on the other end of my phone, but the phone itself! Is that better or worse than having conversations with myself?

Then it occurred to me that my best blogging probably happens while I'm on the road (not that you would ever see it; it rarely makes it this far these days). If I were to join the cellular phone age, jumping all the way forward to the new iPhone, perhaps I could simply dictate my entries to the phone while driving and them have them emailed away to be posted.

I don't see that upgrade happening any time soon.

Anyway, I am on the road--for fun this time--and took a few hours to stretch my legs in Hannibal yesterday. Hannibal is a town where I always enjoy stopping and generally I threaten to come back and spend more time there.

Gratuitous self-portrait. That's me and Mark Twain, as well as my pumpkin pie latte from the first coffee shop west of the Mississippi. After walking the streets of historic downtown Hannibal, I settled on lunch at the Java Jive. The sandwiches were decent, the tomato-basil soup was wonderful.

Eight hours on the road yesterday with nothing more than a foldable map (no fancy talking devices for me, thanks) and I only missed my turn once. I figured it out right away and when I went back, I immediately figured out the reason. This pumpkin stand had distracted me from watching the road signs. It was directly across from the way I should have gone.

May Peace Prevail on Earth -- stick by the mighty Mississippi at Hannibal, Missouri.

Morning Companions

Morning coffee and morning pages with these three in the great state of Illinois. Unexpected places bring unexpected treats.

Quote beside my sister's keyboard; a message from cousin Brent:

May today there be peace within. May you trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith in yourself and others. May you use the gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be content with yourself just the way you are. Let this knowledge settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of us.

A Friday Evening

3,000 words added to my work-in-progress.

A clean kitchen, even after a wonderful meal. (It was Taco Bar this evening! - Fresh pico from homegrown tomatoes, lean beef with fresh and local veggie crumbles for the carnivores, and my specialty -- refried black beans...)

Card night with the in-laws.
____________________

Overheard:

Munchkin Boy to Middle Munchkin: "Wanna do something?"

M.M. to M.B. "Like what?"

M.B. to M.M. "Play a game, build a course of dominoes, or maybe come up with a plan to rule the world."

____________________