::storycorps::

If you don't regularly listen to NPR, you have to hear today's Storycorps segment. Storycorps often makes me cry, but this one gave me goosebumps. It's amazing.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104389637

Don't just read the story, click the "listen now" button. This is one you have to hear.

Enjoy the long weekend, ya'll.

I believe:

*that marijuana should be legal. It should be treated exactly like alcohol, and taxed heavily. Pot is no more dangerous or addictive than alcohol is. Like alcohol, it is plant-derived. Think of the new possibilities for farmers! And what a boost to the economy! The hunting down, prosecuting and housing (in prison) of pot dealers is a ridiculous waste of money and resources that could be better spent elsewhere.

*that gay marriage is a civil right. As David says, they have every right to be as miserable as the rest of us.

*in a terminally-ill patent's right to physician-assisted suicide. Why on earth should anyone be forced to suffer through pain, misery and complete loss of dignity when they are simply waiting to die anyway? Shouldn't each of us have the right decide when and how we are ready to go?

*that prostitution should be legal. Decriminalizing it would mean that sex-workers would no longer be under the control of violent pimps, they would have legal recourse when needed, and there would be fewer underage girls (and boys) involved.

*that polygamy should be legal, among consenting adults. Again, if it were out in the open (and regulated by the government) there would be fewer cases of young girls being coerced into the situation against their will.


What do you believe?

What do you think about the case of the 13 year old boy with Hodgkins lymphoma, who's parents want to pursue a more natural treatment? According to reports, after only one round of chemotherapy, he refused to go back. He said that he would "kick and fight" if he were made to go undergo further chemo. HE wants to try non-conventional treatment, and his parents support that choice. Should he, because he is a minor, be forced to undergo chemo and radiation, as the government insists? What would YOU do if you were his mother?

What I did this weekend instead of sewing:

*went for a 9 mile run

*hauled dozens of wheel-barrow loads of rock to the back yard

*finished my rock garden




*cleaned the house

*mowed the back yard

*cleaned the bird feeders (someone, who shall remain nameless, filled them with bunny food.)

*pulled some dandelions

*helped David haul all the patio furniture up from the basement and set it up

*sat on the front porch and finished my book

*potted some plants

*took a nap in the sun with Bea

*folded approximately 364 items of laundry
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*sat on the deck and watched the birds
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*went out for a wonderful Italian dinner
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*watched a horrible movie

*broke down the 247 cardboard boxes that David has been hoarding since we moved in

*went for a bike-ride on my sweet cruiser

*took the dogs for a long walk with David

*swept the front porch, steps and sidewalk

*put my winter clothes away and brought out my skirts and dresses (woohoo!)

*sorted through a huge box of old clothes to send most of them to the thrift store
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*visited with my neighbor
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*sat on the porch and read a magazine




Oh, and last night I did finally sit down at the sewing machine and I started a new handbag.

Next weekend, though, it's going to be a total sweat-shop at my house.

::sew glad it's the weekend::

It's going to be a GLORIOUS, sunny, beautiful weekend around here....and all I want to do is sew! I've set up my little etsy shop but it needs inventory. I'm seriously considering hauling my sewing machine out on to the back deck. Is that weird?

Happy weekend, ya'll!

...we continue...

This makes me laugh so hard every time I watch it. LOVE him.

::scenes from Mothers Day weekend::

This is our household's version of the "coming of the sheep". Every year around this time, the local high school begins their twice-daily marching-band practice to prepare for the upcoming Lilac Day Parade. You can hear them coming from blocks away, and all along the route people come out into their yards and porches to watch them pass. During their evening practice the band is usually trailed by several kids on bikes, trikes, and parents pulling wagons or just dancing along, because who can resist the opportunity to march in an impromptu parade through your own neighborhood?

It was, finally, a perfect Spring weekend. We broke out the magic-bubble maker.

Sunday morning I stayed in bed and read while Anna and David made fresh biscuits and brought me a mocha. Anna made cookies of her own recipe from the extra dough.

Gratuitous bunny photo:

Gratuitous daughter photo:

And the best part of all? I got a beautiful little crabapple tree for Mother's Day!

Our yard has just 2 trees in it, both 120-year old Ponderosa Pines. They are huge and lovely, but not exactly enticing to song-birds. So on this side of the yard (away from our fool dog who barks at birds), we are going to make a little wild-bird habitat, with trees and shrubs and a bird bath, and of course plenty of feeders. This sweet little Royaltree Raindrop crabapple is just the beginning.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

::almost sort of practically not quite famous::

I am honored and flattered (is that redundant??) that a bag I made is being featured on one of my favorite craft sites. I haven't blogged about this bag because, well, it was almost embarrassingly easy to make and because I WAS going to give it to a dear friend for her birthday....but then I made her something else even better, something that shall not be blogged about until I give it to her next month. Ahem.

Anyway, I made this bag from a great (and FREE!) pattern from MadebyRae; I posted it on Flickr and the other day someone from Sew Mama Sew contacted me for permission to include it in an upcoming post. I have several craft blogs that I check daily for inspiration and just to see what other creative people are doing and Sew Mama Sew is one of my favorites. SMS is also an on-line store that carries some of my FAVORITE fabrics. Click here to see the post with my bag featured.

I love husband number 2

Me: "How sexy is it to roll over to snuggle your wife, only to discover that she's just had night sweats and is covered in slime?"

David: "I don't mind. It's better than sleeping alone!"

How sweet is he?


*Check my "Road to the Marathon" update at left. This next weekend we get to run 11 miles!

The hills are aliiiiive...

While we were in Boise last weekend, Anna and I spent a lot of time exploring around my mom's new house. She lives up in the Boise foothills now, which I could not possibly love more, because you can literally walk out her back door and you've got access to the endless hiking/mountain biking trails that Boise has become famous for.

There are many horse-ranches in the area, and of course we had to visit all of them!

Near one pasture, we saw a killdeer doing its "broken wing" trick. I explained to Anna why killdeer do this and we looked around for her nest. Turns out, killdeer aren't exactly brilliant when it comes to finding stealthy hiding spots in which to protect their eggs.

In the photo above, you can see her sitting on her nest just below and to the right of that fence post (and about 5 feet away from Anna). Look how well the eggs are camouflaged though:

Once she realized we were more interested in the horses than in making an omelet from her eggs, she settled down on her nest and let us get right up next to her.

View of my mom's house from the ridge up above.
The day after the party, Anna and I went for a hike. It was a really windy day and the higher we climbed, we could hear this really weird, almost creepy noise. It sounded almost like "AAAaaaaAAAaaHHHH"...like a VERY enthusiastic crowd cheering at a baseball game. But I knew we were too far away and it was too consistent. I said "It almost sounds like sheep", but Anna thought it was much more likely to be aliens. She was beginning to freak herself out and I could tell she wanted to head for the comfort of grandma's house, but I reminded her that there had to be a perfectly reasonable explanation for it, and no, that explanation did NOT involve aliens.

Finally we got up to the top of the ridge and as we gazed across the Boise foothills, waaaay off in the distance, we saw this:

It looked like the entire hillside was moving, and it was sheep! Lots and lots of sheep! Anna was SO excited; we stood and watched as they got closer...
and closer....
and closer....

until they were literally in the exact field in which we were standing! The sound of approximately 300 sheep BBBAAAAAAAAing is almost deafening.

This baby was my favorite. Don't you want to just pinch his little cheeks? Something tells me mama wasn't going to let that happen.

You can see the Basque sheepherders down below. I'm sure they thought we were nuts for taking a million pictures of SHEEP. But I am so glad I happened to have my camera.

This was such an incredible experience for Anna. I had told her about how, when I was her age, we lived in a cabin in Garden Valley. Every spring and fall, the sheep would be moved from their winter grazing pasture to their summer grazing pasture, and back again. We would be outside playing or whatever, and one of us would hear the tell-tale bbaaaaa-ing of sheep and the ringing of cowbells and we'd yell "They're coming! THEY'RE COMING!!!! " and everyone in the family would stop whatever we were doing and race down the long gravel driveway so that we could stand and watch as hundreds of sheep filed down the road, followed by a couple of Basque sheepherders and a couple of Border Collies. It was magical. Once we moved to the city, I didn't think I'd ever get to see that again.

That I got to, and with Anna? Just made the entire trip for me.