Our little friend

We have a hummingbird that hangs out at our place.

Hummingbirds are curious little guys, flitting around and zipping all over. Ours peeps in our kitchen window to see what we're up to and what we're having for dinner.

A few years ago I was fascinated to see him above our roof, darting wildly in all directions. I think he was catching mosquitoes. Yay for hummingbirds!

Before the kids were born I was rockclimbing with Matt up in the canyon. I was probably about 35 feet off the ground when I heard a strange buzzing noise and a slight breeze next to my right ear. I turned around and there was the cutest little hummingbird just hanging out. He was so close I could have reached out and pet him. He stayed there for quite some time (at least 15 seconds, which is a long time for a hummingbird) and stared. He was probably wondering what in the world I was doing up there.

Another time shortly after Matt and I were married we were camping up in Logan and a hummingbird visited our campsite. He hovered about 10 feet away and just looked at us for a while.

The last time I saw our little friend he was checking out the red and white flag we had on our porch. Hummingbirds are attracted to bright red colors. The little guy was fascinated.

Maybe someday we'll put up a feeder. They're high maintenance, which we don't have time for right now. I'm sure glad our little friend comes by anyway.

If you're interested in hummingbird feeders, check out the Auduban's link here.

A fish story

Today we went down with our friend Lena to a 'community pond'. From what we could tell, this was the perfect place to fish:

- 3 acres of aquatic fun
- canoes are allowed
- the pond was just stocked with fish and was reported to be one of the best fishing spots around
- restrooms! yay!
- and finally, a playground for times of desperation

Also, it is handicap accessible, which was nice for Lena and her nifty wheelchair.

So we loaded up the canoe (and it made a buzzing sound, kind of like an exploding hive, the whole way down) and soon found ourselves with reels in hand waiting to snag the big one.

And wait we did.

At one point, we decided that our little lures weren't alluring enough, so Matt set off to the local Wal-Mart (one block away. Ironic) and picked up some "fish crave this!" bait. Ha.

About this time, cousin Emily, River and Mocha (the dog) came. It was really nice to be outside, enjoying the weather and each other's company.

Too bad the fish wouldn't join us.

We did hear a kid down pond from us catch something. And then a few hours later a girl in a red camp chair across shore reeled in a large-ish one. Proof that at least something lived in this body of water.

And then, finally, all our waiting paid off. Lena felt a nibble and reeled in a beaut. It was a bass. A baby bass. About two and a half inches long.

Fish and chips, anyone?

shoganai

Life has been so busy lately, I haven't had time to wait for this dial up connection to post anything. (Really, I think I just haven't had patience. It's summer! Wheee! I'd much rather be running around outside than sitting in front of a computer screen).

And then the guilt comes. I love keeping in touch by reading blogs. It's so nice to just be able to click on a page and keep up on old friends (even if the pictures don't all pull up because of our aforementioned trial). I realize that I have suddenly become MIA as far as the blogosphere goes. Alas. Such conflict.

We could break down and go back to high speed, but that darn frugal side of me just can't imagine it. For now dial up is worth saving $50 a month. And contracts? Meh.

And speaking of all of this, I have been quite intrigued by all the goings on lately in the economy. I just can't bring myself to believe that no one really saw this coming. Sub prime loans in and of themselves were a ticking time bomb waiting to go off. It always seemed crazy to me to think that people would promote sliding interest rates. I have found myself praying for our leaders, our policy makers, right down to our Nation as a whole- for each one of us, that we will stand up for integrity and be honest in our dealings with one another. That is the only way we will really prosper. Otherwise, we're calculating all our gains on false grounds. I won't go into it, I usually just muse to myself.

Anyway, we have rented a canoe and will hopefully have some fish stories for you tomorrow! (Or whenever I actually post again... aah, summer).

sometimes

When I was little my house was out in the country and there were fields that spread out to the base of the mountains. An irrigation ditch ran through those fields, and gigantic trees stetched up to the sky all along the banks of the lazy flowing water. Those trees must have been planted by the pioneers that settled my beautiful hometown mountain valley.
I loved to climb up into those trees and look up at the leaves blowing in the breeze. On hot summer days it was the perfect place to cool off and listen to the bubbling water.

That place is gone now. Except in my memory.

It's okay, though. I'm happy with the place I'm in now.

Oh short lived fame

At least one or more people at a time have been sick at our place for the last month and a half.

Ugh.

Amelia had it the worst, she was sick for just about the entire last month and a half. Just when we thought she was getting better, she ended up in the emergency room.

3 double ear infections later (between both kid-os)...

We had something so nasty I won't even begin to describe it.

We did have a few cool things happen. Amelia, during one of her brief thought-she-was-well-again stints and I were interviewed for the 5:00 news. They were doing a story on food allergies, and we were asked for an interview by channel 4. Amelia was so cute later that night as we were watching it, she giggled very time they showed her.

When I got to the house where the interview was (they held it at another mom's house who has 2 kids with food allergies), the gal there had surprising news for me. (She's the president of the local FAAN chapter). She said, "Oh, have you checked out this month's such and such issue yet?" (I'm not mentioning the magazine or posting the link for the news interview. If you want to know what they are, just e-mail me. I don't want this blog to be traceable to where we live!)

Anyway, I said that no, I had not seen it.

"Well, you're in it!"

What? When did I ever submit anything to this magazine? I guess the group had submitted one of my recipes or something, and it was the main feature of the article.

Go figure. Guess we've had our 15 minutes of fame.

The most embarrassing thing... ever (or the best seat in the house)

The other day I went to a baby shower which was held in the nursery at the church. When I got there, there were scores of people from India dressed to the nines in beautiful traditional clothing. The women were in colorful saris and the men were wearing impressive shirts. They were having a celebration of some sort in the cultural hall (aka the gym). There was exotic Indian music playing, and I'd say between one and two hundred people in attendance. It was quite obviously a private affair for which they had gotten permission to hold at the church.

Meanwhile we gals were having a great time in the nursery at the shower. Most of us had our kids there, and Amelia and Ellie were laughing and playing. We had to keep the door shut so the kids wouldn't escape, though, and this proved to be difficult.

As I was chatting with someone, while holding a tippy pile of food on a wobbly plate, the door opened and Ellie seized the opportunity and shot down the hall. It took me a second to set the plate down, and when I raced out the door I couldn't see her anywhere. I went down the hall and looked in the coat room: no Ellie. The chapel: No Ellie. The foyer? Nope.

Then a terrible thought crept into my mind... maybe she was running around in the gym.

They had a side door open, and I nonchalantly walked over and peered in. I scanned the room. No Ellie. And what would I do if she was in there anyway? I couldn't run in and get her. They were right in the middle of live music, with a man up on the stage singing and NO! ELLIE STANDING RIGHT UP ON STAGE BESIDE HIM! The horror! I was mortified. There she was, all two and a half feet of her, staring up at the vocalist. I could have died. I'm sure I was quite a sight as my hand shot to my open mouth.

I raced around to the back of the stage just as they were announcing so-and-so who had just sang with 'an international guest member'. The singer himself brought Ellie down to me, and luckily he was smiling.

good thing we have band-aids

Our health insurance ended yesterday.

I realized this when Amelia nearly broke her nose this morning. And in the same morning not an hour before the nose incident, I had a freak accident with the shower's sliding glass door and nearly sliced my finger to the bone.

After these revolting developments, we say NO MORE ACCIDENTS! We'll just have to wait until we have insurance again.