Mid January Doldrums

My blog has been accused of being intermittent. It's true. One would think by looking at this page that absolutely nothing has gone on between November and Mid-January. Of course the contrary is true! But, we are in the doldrums of January. All the hubub of the fall and midwinter have passed us. Thus I've not made time to write or take pictures. And even now, though I write, I can't take credit for any of the pictures.

(The following photo of kids and rainbow courtesy of Michael ... our resident photographer!)


Our latest project (and by "our" project I mean Michael's project) is the tree house. When we first moved in to this house (almost 6 years ago) Michael looked up at this mulberry tree and decided it would be a great place to build a tree house. At that time our kids were 4, 3 and less than a year. After a while it became a joke that by the time our last kid made it through college (or bar tending school?) we'd finally have it built.

Well, with some time off in December Michael really got down to business. I kept thinking I would be a dutiful wife and take photos of this amazing work in progress. Turns out I'm not that dutiful. Eventually I sent Rex out with the camera to take some pictures of Michael building this fabulous tree house for the kids. Well, Rex filled our camera card up with everything but pictures of the tree house. Finally, Michael took a picture of the work in progress and e-mailed it to me.



Of course, now the rains have set in ... and the forecast says it may be sunny by the summer. Maybe. And Michael has gone back to work. So, it sits all tarped up with dreams of sky lights, windows and a paint job. And it's too darn slick out there for the kids to enjoy it at the moment.

Always a big tease!

I, naturally, have my own project going. Valerie got a Fairy House (kit) for her birthday. Some assembly required. I thought all I needed was a sewing machine. How hard could it be? Well, a sewing machine with a zigzag stitch is needed. I've finally procured the machine and I have gone through a few needles already. Suffice to say I'm learning a lot ... like how to take apart a bobbin case (the whole enchilada!) and change needles. That's something I'd never done on the old machine. I didn't even realize I needed different needles for different fabrics. Anyhow, that is still a work in progress without pictures. But here is the picture of it from the website. Mine might actually look like that someday. (After Valerie graduates college or welding school).



I also have the urge to knit myself a poncho or something. It's so darn damp and chilly these days, I'd like to throw a big old wool thing over myself and huddle up with a cup of tea and a good book.

Speaking of good books (Warning: this has become a stream of consciousness blog) my book club recently read The Help by Kathryn Stockett. Wow! I highly recommend it. The author does a tremendous job of giving voices to two African American women and one Caucasian woman in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960's. All of the characters evolve during this very suspenseful and tumultuous time. I couldn't put it down.



In other news, Michael and I have our 12 year anniversary coming up next weekend. I'm following him to Las Vegas where he'll be working and I will hang out and not cook, clean and drive kids around. I'm not a big gambler. But we anticipate seeing a show and eating out and generally having a good time. I hope I can steal away to a Raw Food restaurant one day while he's at work ... just for kicks!

Well, the sun is setting and the last rainbow has disappeared. Clouds are rolling back in and the kids have come indoors. My time here is done.

Thanks for checking in at the Tifftown Blog.