Mountain Cabin Vacation

The front yard

I am a pretty odd person apparently. How do I know this? Well, any girl in her twenties looking for a good time and a great vacation does not typically spend the weekend in a cabin with two married couples and all of their young children. Unable to do anything "adultish" until the kids are in bed, waking up before 7am to a crying baby every night, helping everyone go to the bathroom, breaking up fights, constantly watching to make sure no one fell over the edge of some precipice or other hardly seems relaxing. However, it was the best vacation I've ever had, and I would do it again in a heart beat!
 Strangely enough, my sister and I were the last to arrive...after getting lost 3 times owing to poor directions, because I would never get lost on  my own (teehee...not true at all). The kids were all running around and hunting lizards when we arrived. So lovely!!! the outdoors, lizards, cookies, and tons of space. What more could a kid want? Watching their games and their excitement about the whole situation made me so very happy. It's like watching children on Christmas morning, and realizing that you are enjoying it so much just because they are.

They quickly discovered that the lizards love hiding in the wood pile.

This sweet girl was so happy to showcase her little friend!!! a couple of lizards actually survived her little brother in the background. He's so exuberant that many of the life forms he catches don't survive long, though he actually means them no harm. Her elder brother, on the right, caught nearly a dozen and showed everone else just how to do it.

Outside blowing bubbles to keep the kids out of the way of dinner preparations

 The lizards did eventually get wise, so we broke out the bubbles to keep the kids interested before dinner. Funny how the children are the only ones with energy even though they have been climbing and falling and running all day!

 The twins could not understand why they couldn't get outside with everyone else. They were so sad to be kept indoors all the time, but since they still have pretty severe balance issues, it seemed in their best interest to contain them.

The view from our front yard!

The best view in our yard was from this rock! And there was a ton of room on it!

Sunlight burst through the clouds just before dusk! it is a good deal brighter outside than the photo shows, but the mountain was completely dark due to the angle of the sunlight coming over it. I am at heart one of those people who absolutely loves mountains and very nearly abhors seashores. Not only does one feel closer to nature, but one can also feel much closer to God, I think. I've rarely been to a place less populated and so very beautiful. We were there just at the very beginning of fall, right before all of the leaves began to change and well before all the folliage begins to rot in the fall.

Such happy children in that hammock!

  As the nights came on,we would gather around the campfire every evening...and all of the children would get more and more excited. Fire!!! "Mushmows!!!  'Mores!!!! I think that more marshmallows wound up on the ground and in the fire than did in stomachs. They were so well behaved though. I mean, if you think about it, a 3 or 5 year old child holding a 5 foot long stick with a flaming glob of stickiness on the end does seem to be a bit risky to their own safety...not to mention the environment, but their parents remained calm and the kids did too. Cries of "Hold it! Don't move!" rang out all night, followed by some adult huffing and puffing to put the flaming marshmallow torch torch out.

My sister, Deborah, had perhaps the bravest job of the group. Her job was to yell "No! Wait! I will do it for you" as an eager young one came up with a mass of melted marshmallow and tried to slap it onto a graham cracker.

Waiting impatiently for s'mores. "now? now?" "is it time yet?"

Dad is the coolest person in the world!!! he taught me how to roast a marshmallow on a stick!!!

They were all so very happy to get them!!! No sooner had they consumed one s'more, then they were stuffing more marshmallows onto the stick and laughing and having the most fun of their young lives. None of the children are mine, but I still felt as if I was living through their experiences. so wonderful.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            The second night it began to rain, so the festivities had to move inside. Dance party!!! Yay!!!

But Mom!!! I'm not even tired yet!!!

sunshine...

Sunshine...we all long for the light. Does this mean something amazing? Do I want to become the light or the essence of light?

Nonsense. Can't things remain simple? I make my bed, I corner it and I tuck it in. The pillows go at the top. The folded afghan rests at the foot. It is good to eat, bad to eat too much or too little. Is there such a thing as being too wrapped up in oneself? Heck Yes! There are so many people walking around who give no thought to others and want everything to bow down to their every wish because, I believe, they think themselves somehow superior to those around them.

The life well ordered. Is there such a thing? I like to the think that one day I will have an ordered life. but for now my filing system lies on the floor of my loft, in 17 different piles strewn around. Oh sure...I've got file folders. It's just so terribly hard to get them in there. In my dreams, I make a lovely dinner with minimal effort every day, drink coffee from a tea cup. Of course, that's probably not right either according to Emily Post.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

On Bill Cosby's "Himself" he remarks how many people who don't have children and say that they love children because "they are so truthful. They tell the truth and are so genuine." This is partially true, but every child instinctively adjusts to certain times when it seems better for him to tell the truth. No matter whether the kid is a well meaning liar or an honest angel, children have a way of telling truth at the most inopportune moments.

One friend of ours had a very mischievous 3 year old, and realized that she was not in the back playing with the other children. She walked into the house calling "Mackenzie, where are you?" The reply came back: "Not in the kitchen!" "What are you doing in the kitchen?" "Not eating cookies!" came the child's response, and upon walking into the kitchen she espied the imp sitting on the counter surrounded by crumbs and with both hands in the cookie jar, her cherubic face streamed with chocolate.

As we were leaving church one day, a lady arriving for the next Mass passed us on the way in. She was a little Filipino lady, back bowed with age, hair dyed bright orange, and colorful scarves wrapped around her. My little sister grabbed my hand, her eyes wide and face all smiles, and quite loudly said, "Doesn't that lady look like an Oompa Loompa?" I dissolved in embarrassment.

As the years have gone by, even though I'm still quite young, I've developed a bit of paunch. One morning I was lamenting the roundness of my person as I was getting dressed, and bewailing my chubby state when my little sister decided to inform me that I was dead wrong. "You are not fat," said the young one, "and even if you are, you shouldn't worry. Lots of fat girls get married." What could I say? "Thank you dear...that's so...reassuring."

Favorite Pictures

One day towards the culmination of my final semester, I found myself without much to do and a camera in my hand. Actually, there was probably plenty to do, but I couldn't think of anything better at the time. You know when you are always saying to yourself "if I had time, I would do x, y, and z" or "goodness, will I ever find the time to finish that?" and then one day, you find yourself with nothing but time on your hands and you can't remember a thing that you wanted to do? Well, this was one of those times. I finally got a chance to play with the camera, and several things lying on my counter top crying to be preserved for posterity. I always like looking at artistically pleasing photographs, and taking them is even more enjoyable.



Bananas and Bread and Peppers:
some very happy things...especially for poverty stricken students who happened to find them on sale at Aldis and needed a spike in nutritional well being. They also looked amazing in color. Lotsa vitamin C, Beta carotene, water, and endorphines (released by happy things).





Great-granny's copper teapot and the cast iron skillet my mother gave me were staples to make it through the the extreme cold of the Ohio winter weather.

"Green besprings Ohio Valley..." well, at least part of it...the buds were just coming in and I have no idea why the grass was so very green that early.

An 80s child remembers when...

I saw this and just had to post it, it is such a riot! Acapella is a great art form, and these students from the University of Wisconsin Madison Campus have done an excellent job. If you were an 80s kid, you might actually remember this and get a kick out of it. Ah, memories.

Things Irish coming soon

Due to the requests I've had, and the general need of the thing, I will be starting another blog shortly after the beginning of the school year.
What is the pressing need, you say? Why, Irish done in a simply way.
Dances, songs, lyrics, and such,
videos of ceilidhs we've had, and much
more than I now care to tell.
An Irish blog. How quaint. Well....
Anyhow, 'twill be up by October, God willing. Just thought I'd announce that. I'll be looking for contributors as well,
Peace be with ya all, and God bless your house and all that dwell in it.

Communications between sisters

My dear sister Deborah is always calling me and singing me popular songs, changing the words to fit to my situation. so I sent her this song one day, to the tune of "O Tenanbaum."

O Deborah, my Deborah
How lovely are thine eyeballs
O Deborah, my Deborah,
How lovely are thine eyeballs
They glance so sweet when morning comes
And are devious when day is done
O Deborah, my Deborah,
How lovely are thine eyeballs.

She wrote back with a nice poem, exploiting the fact that I don't have eyebrows.

Naomi, Naomi how thy eyebrows doth shine

They are so light

And flutter through the air

You'd never know

that they were ever there

And perhaps some day

When the world's bereft of delves

They will deign

To show themselves

But until then dear

I fear we must be content

To bid them farewell

Wherever they are sent

And in the life they find there

I pray they become not a bore

But find some eyebrowless peasant

Who needs them more.

So bid them adieu

And shed not a tear

You look so much better

Since they are not here.

We are so silly. =)

Soundtrack of my life 1

OK, so this is entirely random, but laughable, thanks to Carrie, who seems to have time for nothing else ;-). Any of you onlookers should do it too, even if it is just for a laugh. It is especially funny if you have been staring at textbooks all day and haven't spent much time with your fellow man in the past 48 hours. You are free to think that this is totally mindless and doesn't deserve your time, but I would say you ought to lighten up, or you'll have a myocardial infarction (heart attack) in the near future =D. Disclaimer: this is in no way meant to reflect real life (and I didn't do/won't do many of these), and if it does, it is pure coincidence.

IF YOUR LIFE WERE A MOVIE, WHAT WOULD THE SOUNDTRACK BE?
So, here's how it works:
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc.)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool...
7. When you're finished tag some other people to do it!

Opening Credits:
Dance at the Crossroads—Scythian

Waking Up:
How Many Devils? –Broadway Allstars

First Day at School:
Angels We Have Heard on High—Christendom College

Falling in Love:
Clarinet Concerto in A Major: Adagio—Mozart

Fight Song:
There Were Roses—John Whelen and Kathy Mattea

Breaking Up:
L’Ultima Notte—Josh Groban

Prom:
You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby—Bing Crosby

Prom night (if you know what I mean):
Silent Night—Bing Crosby

Mental Breakdown:
Prelude in G Major for Organ BWV 541—J.S. Bach

Driving:
Isn’t it Grand Boys (to be bloody well dead)—Clancy Brothers

Flashback:
Shortinin’ Bread
(funny cause this is a real flashback!)

Getting Back Together:
Samain Night—Loreena McKennitt

Wedding:
One More Soul—Marie Bellet

Birth of Child:
Last Days of Dublin—Scythian

Bringing up of Child:
Mele Kalikimaka—Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters

Final Battle:
Rawhide—Frankie Laine

Death Scene:
Were You There (when they crucified my Lord)?—Tatiana

Funeral Song:
Camptown Races—I hate this song!

End Credits:
Christmas in Killarny

Interesting Quizz (this time only pirated from my aunt!)

The average person only gets 7 correct.

This is based on U.S. info, so use all lobes of your brain. This can be more difficult than it looks - it just shows how little most of us really see!

There are 25 questions about things we see every day or have known about all our lives. How many can you get right? These little simple questions are harder than you think-- it just shows you how little we pay attention to the commonplace things of life.

Put your thinking cap on. No cheating! No looking around! No getting out of your chair! No using anything on or in your desk or computer!

Can you beat 23?? (The average is 7) Write down your answers as you go. Check answers (on the bottom), AFTER completing all the questions, then leave a comment (if you please)

REMEMBER - NO CHEATING!!! BE HONEST!!! That means no looking at your phone or anything on your desk...

LET'S JUST SEE HOW OBSERVANT YOU RE ALLY ARE.
Here we go!

1. On a standard traffic light, is the green on the top or bottom?

2. How many states are there in the USA ? (some people don't know)

3 In which hand is the Statue of Liberty 's torch?

4. What six colors are on the classic Campbell 's soup label?

5. What two numbers on the telephone dial don't have letters by them?

6. When you walk does your left arm swing with your right or left leg? (Don't you dare get up to see!)

7. How many matches are in a standard pack?

8. On the United States flag is the top stripe red or white?

9. What is the lowest number on the FM dial?

10. Which way does water go down the drain, counter or clockwise ?

11. Which way does a "no smoking" sign's slash run?

12. How many channels on a VHF TV dial?

13 On which side of a women's blouse are the buttons?

14. Which way do fans rotate?

15 How many sides does a stop sign have?

16. Do books have even-numbered pages on the right or left side?

17 How many lug nuts are on a standard car wheel?

18. How many sides are there on a standard pencil?

19. Sleepy, Happy, Sneezy, Grumpy, Dopey, Doc. Who's missing?

20. How many hot dog buns are in a standard package?

21. On which playing card is the card maker's trademark?

22. On which side of a Venetian blind is the cord that adjusts the opening between the slats?

23. There are 12 buttons on a touch tone phone. What 2 symbols bear no digits?

24. How many curves are there in the standard paper clip?

25. Does a merry-go-round turn counter or clockwise?

ANSWERS
1. On a standard traffic light, is the green on the top or bottom? BOTTOM

2. How many states are there in the USA ? (Don't laugh, some people don't know) 50

3. In which hand is the Statue of Liberty 's torch? RIGHT

4. What six colors are on the classic Campbell 's soup label? BLUE, RED, WHITE, YELLOW, BLACK & GOLD

5. What two numbers on the telephone dial don't have letters by them? 1, 0

6. When you walk does your left arm swing with your right or left leg?
RIGHT

7. How many matches are in a standard pack? 20

8. On the United States flag is the top stripe red or white? RED

9. What is the lowest number on the FM dial? 88

10. Which way does water go down the drain, counter or clockwise?
CLOCKWISE (NORTH OF THE EQUATOR)

11. Which way does a "no smoking" sign's slash run ?
TOWARDS BOTTOM RIGHT

12. How many channels on a VHF TV dial? 12 (no #1)

13. On which side of a women's blouse are the buttons? LEFT

14. Which way do fans rotate? CLOCKWISE AS YOU LOOK AT IT

15. How many sides does a stop sign have? 8

16. Do books have even-numbered pages on the right or left side? LEFT

17. How many lug nuts are on a standard car wheel? 5

18. How many sides are there on a standard pencil? 6

19. Sleepy, Happy, Sneezy, Grumpy, Dopey, Doc. Who's missing? BASHFUL

20. How many hot dog buns are in a standard package? 8

21. On which playing card is the card maker's trademark? ACE OF SPADES

22. On which side of a Venetian blind is the cord that adjusts the opening between the slats? LEFT

23. There are 12 buttons on a touch tone phone. What 2 symbols bear no digits? * , #

24. How many curves are there in the standard paper clip? 3

25. Does a merry-go-round turn counter or clockwise? COUNTER