Kodak Moments of 2013

Hail, hail, the gang's all here!

For the Mahans, the highlight of 2013 was Kelli's wedding.  On June 28, in the Mount Timpanogos temple in Utah, she married her best friend, Tyler Esplin.  Of course we were thrilled for them both, and just as thrilled for the opportunity to have everyone together.  As you can see, we are becoming quite the crowd.  These are the people that mean more to me than anything in this world.

Mara telling stories

Here is the next highlight of 2013 for the Mahan Clan.  Mara Mahan Guzman was born on Sept. 17.  She is perfect, bright-eyed, and beautiful!  We were so excited at the end of last year when we heard she was coming, because after the baby BOOM of 2012, we were sure that there would be no new babies in 2013~ glad she had other ideas!

Don't you love how she decorated her cap?

Tyler and Kelli after her graduation

And the third major HAPPY event for our gang was Kelli's graduation from Colorado Mesa University. On December 13,  she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Elementary Education, Math emphasis.  The icing on the cake---she has been hired at New Emerson Elementary, where she did her student teaching, as the 5th grade Math teacher!  The 5th grade teachers job share, so it's a part-time position, but what a blessing!  Especially for a new college grad halfway through the school year!  She loves the school already, and we know she'll be a great asset to their staff!

Lizzie: June 2005-April 2013

Into every life a little rain must fall.  This was a downpour.  In April of this year, we had to make the painful decision to put down our Lizzie.  I blogged in greater detail about this earlier in the year, so I won't repeat the whole story.  Look at that face.  I miss her so much.  I've had dogs my entire life, and she was the best.  Trust me, that is saying a LOT.

Quincy's blessing day-Feb. 1, 2011-four generations

And now for the hurricane.  This is one of the best pictures I could find of Betty Irene Mahan, who left us VERY unexpectedly on January 12.  Not the best way to start the new year.  She went in for heart surgery in early January, had complications, and didn't recover.  We miss her so much.  She was so lost when Gramps died in March of 2006, and carried on as best she could without him for almost 7 years.  She was strong, fiesty, opinionated, and fiercely protective of her family.  As we've carried on through this first year without her, we see her influence in so many little things.  When I open my silverware drawer, I smile because she helped me organize the kitchen when we moved to Montrose, and she was SURE I would rearrange everything she had set up after she left.  I didn't.  Her sons are doing their best to carry on without her, but it's tough.  Michael called her faithfully every week to chat.  We went to Silt for Mother's Days, Thanksgivings and Christmases over these last few years.  We dragged her with us to Washington state for a wedding, Utah and Texas for baby blessings and graduations, and to Denver for birthdays and a baseball game.  She was a pretty good sport about it all.  But she felt like a third wheel without my father-in-law, and we could never convince her otherwise.  So, I like to think that he came for her that night, and she just said "OK, let's go."  She knew we'd be OK without her.  And we are, but not much more than that.  For now, anyway.  We'll do our best to honor her legacy.  She raised two terrific sons, who now have their own wonderful kids and (in Michael's case) grandkids.  Her determined spirit and strong work ethic have been inherited by her boys and grandkids.  I hope we will all make her proud.

December 2013

I'm sure everyone I know and love has had similar highs and lows this year.  Such is the nature of our earthly existence.  We revel in the joys, and cling together in our sorrows.  We have a strong belief that a loving Heavenly Father watches over us, strengthening us and sharing in all the events that make up our daily life.  We just celebrated the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  Through Him we will all be together again, and this knowledge helps us weather the stormy AND the balmy seas.  I'm so grateful for this knowledge, and I just hope and pray that I've come through this year a little wiser, a little kinder, and a lot stronger.  I wish the same for you. 

Love, Cindy

Making Pumpkin Muffins--the Hard Way

You know you want some.  Come on over;
The batch makes 3 1/2 dozen!

The following is a revised version of a very late-night email I sent to my long-suffering children, as I waited for the last batch of my latest baking endeavor to come out of the oven.  I only share this story publicly because this, my friend, could happen to YOU.


1. Day 1 - FaceTime with Mo, my Utah granddaughter, who is eating a pumpkin muffin that a neighbor has brought them. The craving hits.
2. Day 2- dig through recipe box, pull out all pumpkin recipes. Fortunately, muffin recipe is there. Attempt to send humorous picture to children about which pumpkin-based
recipe to make first. Due to iOS upgrade glitch, message never sends. The moment is lost. So, apparently, is any hope of making muffins, as I have no canned
pumpkin.
3. Day 3- buy 5 cans of pumpkin on way home from work. After dinner, and
watching some baseball, decision is made to begin muffin batter prep.
3a. - dry ingredients are poured into large mixing bowl. Cloves are last spice to
be added.  Alas, no cloves in cupboard.
3b. Go to ask.com to enquire about substitute spice. Of course, if I'd dug out
all the spices in advance, I would have seen the problem sooner, and just added
equal amounts of pumpkin pie spice, which I DO have, since it contains all of
the required spices. No such luck. Decide to go with allspice. I know Lisa (Mo's mom) would
have made that call without internet assistance, but you know me. I gotta see it in writing.
3c. Allspice added, dry ingredients mixed. Add wet ingredients and mix well. Add
chocolate chips.
3d. Scoop batter into muffin tins. Fill 24 paper muffin liners, then lick my finger.
3e. GAAAAAAAAAAAAG!!!  Tastes terrible!---I grab the recipe card and scan the list of ingredients.  No, no, no, I couldn't have..... Lightning strikes my brain. I didn't add the sugar!
3f. Take large spoon and spend over 10 minutes scraping batter from 24 muffin liners back into large
mixing bowl. It's now almost 9:30; Dad has been in bed almost half an hour, and I had hoped to be joining him about now. Wish I could just give it up as a bad job, but I can't stand the thought of wasting all those ingredients.  And all that time.
3g. Add sugar to batter. Thankfully, it seems to dissolve and mix in quickly. Lick finger again. Tastes MUCH better!
3h. It's now 10:10, and the second batch just went into the oven. For 20 minutes.

They better taste good.

Goodnight all. God bless us, every one.

Mom

Addendum: 2 days later.  I can laugh about it all now.  And yes, it does help that they taste SO good!  My coworkers agree.  The PE teacher keeps coming back in, claiming to be his twin brother, who didn't get a muffin yet.  And, yes, he actually has an identical twin brother, who lives in CO Springs.  Truly the ultimate compliment, wouldn't you say?!  I'll take it.

Memories of Powderhorn

As we prepare to head up to the Grand Mesa for our annual Labor Day weekend getaway, I wax nostalgic.

Back story:  While the kids were young, and we were raising them in Broomfield, CO, we began what would become a yearly 'retreat' to the ski resort located on the Grand Mesa, on the eastern edge of the Grand Valley in western Colorado.  Powderhorn has great off-season rates, and we rented a condo that sleeps 8 (the number in our family) every Labor Day weekend.  This tradition has continued almost uninterrupted for I can't even remember how many years.  We blipped last year, and had our annual family gathering in June IN Broomfield, because we had 3 babies expected in late July and early September, so we knew those mommies weren't going to be able to travel that weekend!

This weekend, and this place, has become a sanctuary of sorts for our family.  And because we have repeated this every year, many wonderful memories are connected to it.  I will list a few below.  They won't be in any particular order, just as they pop in to my mind. 

*My sprained ankle--about 11 years ago, I twisted my ankle falling off a curb on my first day back to work.  Consequently, it made climbing those 2 or 3 sets of stairs to the condo quite an adventure!  I spent most of the weekend sitting on a couch with my foot propped up, just reveling in the fabulous chaos that occurs when we are all together!
*Guests--several years we have welcomed others along for this ride, including best friends, significant others, future children-in-laws, and their extended family members!
*Gramps camping out on a stool next to Grandpa's famous home-made salsa
*Just Griffiths--Matthew talked to us about marrying Stef up there, and officially proposed to her that same trip.  A year later, again up there, Stef's siblings practically forced her to take a pregnancy test as she described symptoms and denied that there could be a connection....there was. She was.  And then they moved to Nashville.  The year after that.....Michaela was blessed by her Grandad.
*Sundays--we gather as a family in the morning, with Gram and Gramps (and then just Gram) joining us for our own private church service. (This will be our first weekend without her.  Ouch.)  We sing hymns (usually picking favorites), share faith-promoting stories, and pray, thanking Heavenly Father for our blessings and asking fervently for His protection of those we love.  Then other extended family members and in-laws join us for a big lunch.  We always celebrate the September birthdays.  Kelli and my dad are regulars, and we've added Matt Thorne and now Lisa's husband, Hondo, to the birthday bash.
*Land's End Road--on Sunday nights, we drive up to the 'visitor's center' of sorts at the top of the Mesa.  We try to get up there before the sun sets, because the view is incredible.  Highlights--Adam doing his Little Mermaid impression on a stone post, Eric scaring the wits out of me by climbing over the rock wall and pretending to fall over the edge, Adam and Eric staging their little chipmunk play.
Then singing ABBA at the top of our lungs all the way back down to the resort. Chipmunks and bats.
*Mesa Lakes--there is a restaurant, and some cabins, up the road.  One year we rented horses and the kids went riding.  They love to go up to the lakes and just 'be'.  And hike.  One year, we took a picture of a kid standing on a large rock at the edge of one of the lakes, and a week later, a freak snowstorm hit the Mesa, and a photo in the local paper showed a mound of snow on the exact same rock!  My mom cut it out and sent it to us.
*Cinnamon bears
*Singing--The Von Mahan family singers don't usually need a reason.  A couple of years ago, we were fixing dinner and someone started singing something.  Almost everyone else joined in, and next thing we knew, the neighbors were knocking on the door, telling us to quiet down.  Really? 
*More singing--one year, Matt brought up a high-tech microphone and we recorded our family singing.  I don't know if anything else survived, but I still have our rendition of "B is for Bubble" on my iTunes.  And iPod.  And iPhone.  Ask me about it.  I'll be happy to play it for you.
*From Texas to the Grand Mesa--one year, Adam surprised us in Grand Junction.  He was stationed at a base in Texas at the time, and he and his friend (and now 'adopted' son) Matt Thorne drove up to Broomfield, picked up Kara, and showed up at my parents' house the next day!  We introduced Matt to Colorado in fine style, driving up Land's End Road to the resort (the LAST time I will EVER do that!), and they did some crazy 4-wheeling up there, too.
*Homework--especially when the kids were in high school and college, the long dining table was cluttered with books, notebooks and other necessary scholastic paraphernalia.  And when it wasn't, it was full of food.
*The balcony--Early in the weekend, the balcony is our 'crow's nest'--the kids are on the lookout for whomever hasn't shown up yet, to holler and wave them in the right direction, and then pound down the stairs for hugs and helping to carry things back up.  The rest of the weekend, it serves as a cozier, slightly quieter venue for chatting with each other and breathing in the early fall mountain air.  We have several photos taken through the dining room windows of various sets of family members standing or sitting on the balcony, enjoying private or semi-private conversations.

Well, I've hit a wall.  I'm sure after I post this I'll think of at least a dozen more memories (reasons) that make this weekend special.  I hope my family can add to this.  This isn't really a post for anyone other than the "you-had-to-be-there" crowd, but it warms me inside to sit here and record a few of these happy moments.  (OH!  Driving---one year, Holly's first away at college, I think, my dear husband won the mileage award for driving from Broomfield to Provo, an 8-hour trip, to pick up Holly, and then driving BACK to Colorado and Powderhorn, another 4-5 hours....all in one day.  I do love that man!)

Thanks for checking in.  I hope everyone has a restful and safe Labor Day holiday.  You know where I'll be.

Banana Bread

This post is for my beautiful, talented, creative daughter-in-law, who happens to be married to my only son.  And my only son, who can't stand to eat bananas (it's a texture thing), LOVES banana bread.  So when I jokingly posted a photo of 3 very yummy-looking (and tasting!) mini loaves the other day, she specifically requested the recipe.  So here it is, as well as a bonus recipe for the banana-sour cream coffee cake that has become Dad's favorite!

BANANA BREAD
*recipe obtained via my mom

Mix and set aside: 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon salt

Cream: 1/2 cup margarine (stick), 1 cup sugar, 2 eggs and 1 tsp. vanilla (Note: I usually cream the margarine and sugar first with the mixer, then add the eggs and vanilla and beat until well mixed)

Add: 1/2 cup sour cream, 1 cup mashed bananas (approx. 2-3 in my world)

Gradually add flour mixture, mix thoroughly.  If desired, add 1/2 cup nuts (Not in THIS house!)
(Note:  After I add the sour cream and bananas, I mix the rest of the ingredients with a wooden spoon.  I feel like the mixer over-beats the batter, and I like to take it a little slower.  Up to you!)

Bake in a regular sized loaf pan at 350 for 45-50 minutes.  If making mini loaves (like my photo below-I have the Pampered Chef mini loaf stoneware), it makes 3.  Bake for about 40 minutes, then do the ol' dry spaghetti/toothpick test, and if it comes out clean, they're done!


OK, that's the "classic" recipe for the Mahan household.  The next recipe (no photo, sorry!) was discovered online a few years ago when, one summer, we (meaning me and whatever kids were home from school) decided to start a new summer tradition.  We ended up calling it Coffee Cake Tuesday, and so I found several tasty recipes online, and we tried a new one every week!  This one has survived the longest, I make it even when it isn't Tuesday!  Even though it claims to be a coffee cake, the texture and flavor are banana-bread quality.  If anyone out there is a cooking chemist, you can probably enlighten me as to the difference, but whatever.  The taste is the thing, and this is moist and delicious!

BANANA-SOUR CREAM COFFEE CAKE
*From Southern Living

1 1/4 cups sugar, divided
1/2 cup chopped pecans (again, not for us!  We aren't allergic, I just don't like nuts in bread or cookies!--and I'm the cook!)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 large eggs
1 cup mashed banana (again, 2 or 3 is my usual, depending on how many have turned brown!)
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Stir together 1/4 cup sugar, pecans (opt), and cinnamon; sprinkle half of mixture in a well-greased 12-cup bundt pan.  Set remaining mixture aside.

Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add remaining 1 cup sugar, beating 5 to 7 minutes.  (Cooking chemists:  WHY?  That's a stinkin' long time to stand there with the mixer.  That's even longer than most commercial breaks during Big Bang Theory!!)  Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until yellow disappears.  Add banana, sour cream, and vanilla, beating at low speed just until blended.

Combine flour and next 3 ingredients; fold into butter mixture.  Pour half of batter into prepared pan; sprinkle with remaining pecan (cinnamon/sugar) mixture.  Top with remaining batter.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes; remove from pan, and cool on wire rack.  (Whatever--I cool it for awhile, then flip it out onto a dinner plate.  I cover it with an inverted large plastic mixing bowl to keep it moist.)

Yield: 1 (10-inch) coffee cake

As you can see, the coffee cake version is a little more labor intensive, but it yields a bigger result.  (Translation:  it might last longer than 2 days!) 

Hope you enjoy these!  Bon appetite!

Favorite Teachers

So, this blog challenge category is, like, so last season!  But I'm feeling a little guilty that my husband, who works full time and then some, has had time to blog on these topics and I have not!  So, it'll be a short catch-up entry, but better than nuthin.

Oh, and I apologize to the educators mentioned here, because I can't find my School Days book to look up their names, so the only ones I remember by name will be the teachers from the latter years.

Kindergarten(Dixboro)- I walked to kindergarten at the local school.  I walked with Brad and Roger, my two best friends, and my dog Beau, who chaperoned us down the road and through the field, and then left us at the school yard, repeating the procedure in reverse when it was time to go home.  My kindergarten teacher was nice--she let us have blow-bubbles-in-your-milk day on Fridays, and I remember how excited I was when it was my turn to tap everyone to wake up after nap time.  OK, that's not so much about her as it is about the environment she created.

Grade school (St. Thomas)--I remember liking my 4th grade teacher really well, she may have been the first teacher I had that wasn't a nun.  Yep, I did Catholic school until the 6th grade.  Maybe that's one reason I liked her--she was pretty, and you could see her hair.

Grade school (St. Joseph's)--we are now in Colorado (we were in Michigan until now, couldn't you tell?)--Sister Anne Lorraine was my 6th grade teacher, and she was also the principal.  I remember her teaching us multiplication, and how it clicked with me!  (Don't laugh, just because they start multiplication in 3rd grade now---this was the early 70's!  And when I started junior high, I was moved into an 8th grade math class within the first few weeks, and I stayed a year ahead in math until my junior year, when Trigonometry and Analytical Geometry sent me scurrying to fill my schedules with something--ANYTHING-- else!  That teacher was J. K. Rowlings' inspiration for Professor Binns, for one thing!)  BUT I DIGRESS--anyway, besides times tables, the one other thing I remember about Sister Anne Lorraine (yes, you had to say the whole thing) was the way she handled an incident on the playground.  Here's the story:

I was in line, probably after recess was over, and this kid Greg, who most likely had a crush on me, but I was oblivious, came up to me and asked if I wanted a "Hurtz Donut".  I either said OK, or "What's a Hurtz Donut?" (I was, and still am, woefully naïve and gullible), and so he slugged me in the arm and said "Hurts, don't it!".  WELL, unlucky for him, our teacher saw, and she SWOOPED (nuns are very good at swooping) in, grabbed him and yanked him away.  But here's the kicker--later, when we were back in class and in small groups, she approached me and said, "What did you do to make him do that?"  I answered "NOTHING!!" Wow!  I was stunned that she would assume that I had done something to provoke that kind of attack.  So, no, she wasn't a favorite teacher, but I can't deny that she left an impression!

Junior High (Orchard Mesa)--My favorite teachers at OM were Mrs. Johnson, the Drama teacher, and my Civics teacher, whose last name I will probably never recall because my best friend, Guido deBest, made a sign once and hung it on his classroom door that said "Uncle Larry's Fun House", so all I can remember is his first name was Larry.  But he was young, enthusiastic (kinda cute), and he made studying Civics enjoyable!  (Hence the sign!)

High School (Fruita Monument)--Mrs. Linda Cates, Radio and Television teacher (My group  wrote, produced and performed our very own soap opera for the class Production assignment, it was a blast!); she recommended me for the job of announcing the band's halftime shows during football season, which was really cool! AND last but not least,  Mr. Ken Dunder, our Student Senate sponsor.  He was a big, round-bellied barrel of a man with a walrus mustache, and he was one of the best teachers I've ever had.  He really cared about all of us, and he was very easy to talk to.  I even babysat for his kids a couple of times (and I HATED babysitting!). 

There they are, my entrants into the Cindy Gray Educator Hall of Fame.  And apparently I lied at the beginning of this post, because it is NOT short!  Bottom line (excuse me while I pull my soapbox over here), teachers are going to make an impression.  It doesn't really matter if I don't remember their names, because I do remember my feelings--how I felt about their classes, and how they made me feel about myself.  I was (and still am, to a slightly lesser degree), a kid who is more insecure and cautious on the inside than I ever let on on the outside, and so the good AND bad experiences linger.  As an adult, I see a little better how the negative things can be rationalized away, and filed so that they aren't thought of much, but they're still there.  And the good things my teachers said, taught and felt--those I try to keep in my short-term files, and I am very grateful to have many.  Thank you for taking a chance on a smart, nerdy, friendly girl.  She hopes that she is returning the favor by paying it forward in her job as a school librarian.  The greatest reward I hope to have is not to have the students remember my name, but hopefully to be able to say "I loved going to library in my elementary school!  The librarian was so fun, and she helped me learn to love books!"  That's right up there with blowing bubbles in your milk on Fridays.  Try it sometime!

Blog Challenge: Earliest Childhood Memories

Stef selected the categories for our next blog challenge, and I haven't responded, not because I forgot, but because I've been trying to push my brain cells to come up with the earliest memory I can.  And I've reached the conclusion that I'm going to have to settle for one that I believe I've already mentioned.  BUT this memory is the clearest early memory I can  recall.

When I was 4 years old, I got to go with my mom and some of my aunts to see "Mary Poppins".  I remember clearly tip-toeing out of my Grandma Bland's house because my sister was asleep and we didn't want to wake her up, since we were leaving her with Grandma!   Oh, I felt so important to be going without her!  And I felt like a guest of honor to have my mom and her sisters all to myself!  This is probably a big part of the reason that "Mary Poppins" remains my all-time favorite movie.  Just think, it will celebrate its 50th anniversary next year!  That's just supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!! (Um-diddle-liddle-liddle, um-diddle-I)

What's New, Pussycat?

The answer is: nothing and everything.  In many ways, this end-of-April season is like the many others before it...spring can't decide if it wants to make an appearance, or just skip straight to summer.  The kids at school get squirrelier and more distracted as we approach the final weeks of the year.  My co-workers and I are fighting to maintain order and a sense of structure and educational validity, and who knows if we're succeeding!  There are bills to pay, schedules to maintain, and chores to do.  Oh blah dee, oh bla dah.....

And then there's everything. Since 2013 hit, we've lost my mother-in-law and another dog.  I hope you don't criticize me for putting them both in the same sentence.  Their losses are large and have both created ripples that are pushing my lifeboat to who knows where.

Gram's departure still doesn't seem real.  I miss her in spurts.  A new season of Dancing With the Stars began, and I couldn't call and tease her about it.  The quarterly reports for WalMart indicated a drop in revenue, and I laughed to myself that it was caused, in part, by the absence of Betty Irene.  And when I was watching our church's General Conference broadcast the first weekend of this month, I couldn't call her afterwards and discuss the wonderful messages that were shared.  Michael and his brother are tackling the worldy duties created by her death--paying final bills, packing up the house, working with a probate lawyer.  But the emotional reality is a whirlpool--swirling up memories and frustration at her early departure, as well as (thankfully) a sense of peace and comfort in knowing that she's back with my father-in-law.  I'm grateful for my faith and the knowledge I have that she IS reunited with him and the two sons she lost in infancy.  I have no doubt that those 2 boys have picked up where Mikey and Darrin left off as far as giving their mother a hard time.  Don't worry, she lived for it and loved every minute!  But it pushes us to a new level of earthly existence--my husband is now the patriarch of our family.  We don't feel old enough, or wise enough, to take on that role!  (Well, maybe he does...I sure don't!)

Then there's my Lizzie.  She was 7 years old, and I can truthfully say, the best dog I have ever had.  And my life has been full of wonderful dogs.  She was huge, loyal, and full of character!  She was shepherd-ish, black and brown with one ear that stood up and the other that never did.  She loved people, and when our grandkids started coming, she wanted to mother them SOO badly!  She loved tennis balls and lying on top of my feet.  She was protective and patient.  Then, a couple of months ago, she started limping, putting very little weight on one of her front feet.  We figured she stepped on something or pulled a muscle playing with Viva.  It didn't improve, so we took her in.  A huge tumor at the top of her leg had eaten away most of the bone.  The choices--amputation or euthanization.  The leg was so weak, the vet couldn't believe she hadn't broken it.  I wasn't surprised...she was so smart, she knew just how much weight she could put on it.  But we discussed it, and really, amputation wasn't an option.  She weighed 105 pounds, and that plus the fact that the vet said there was a 90+ percent chance she'd get tumors again....the choice was clear.  But that didn't make it any easier.  I took her in 2 days later, and I have cried randomly almost every day since.  Including now.  She can't be replaced.  But the truth is, another dog will probably come live at the Mahan home within a short period of time.  Viva is lonesome, and these canines are just part of our lives.

It's a part of life.  On the one hand, we wonder why we subject ourselves to the pain and work of loving someone, whether they're human or hound.  But on the other,  it's like Garth Brooks says in his song "The Dance"-"-I could've missed the pain, but I'd of had to miss the dance." http://youtu.be/k7FRbeaXjvk  So I will go on missing them, and loving them.  But mostly, being grateful for what they've given me and how my life is better for having had them in it.  No, a wonderful mother-in-law and a loyal dog shouldn't be eulogized in the same way.  But the point is that I don't have either of them here with me anymore, and their absences will be felt for a long time.

53 Ramblings, Reminiscences, and Quirks

1. Montrose has ruined my desire to ever own a mini-van.  There are too many rusty, beat-up versions of them being driven by people who don't really know where they're going in this town.
2. Macaroni and cheese will always be my go-to comfort food.
3. I love dogs.  Big dogs.  From Beau, Brandy, Duke, Greg, Sunny, Riley, Hobbes, and Lizzie have come some of my most trusted friendships.  Verdict is still out on Viva.  We didn't acquire her 'on purpose'--she's good for a laugh, though.  Thank goodness. And she worships me, so she's not entirely dim-witted.  Ha.
4. Samwise Gamgee is the most loyal and valiant character in all of literature.
5. My husband often uses the phrase "It's just a book" or "It's just a movie"....but I will continue to laugh and cry unabashedly when the characters I grow to love as if they were real experience their fictional joys and trials.  I pity people who can't, or won't, allow themselves to disappear into a well-crafted story and become a part of their lives.
6. My favorite books:  Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, The Lord of the Rings (all 4), Witch of Blackbird Pond, A Long Way From Chicago and A Year Down Yonder, to name a few.  A very few.
7.  One of the little things I'm most proud of is that I completed the Newbery and Caldecott Challenges back in 2001.  I read all the Caldecott Medal winners, and at least one  Newbery winner or honor book ever written.  Took me 3 years to do it, and I've continued to read the winners and/or honor books every year since.  (I highly recommend both winners of this year's medals!)
8. I tend to speak in cliches.  It probably annoys a lot of people.  I know I do it, but I have no desire to rid myself of the habit.  That's the way the ball bounces.
9. After living in this house, I don't think I'll ever want to reside in a place with stairs again.  So spoiled by having everything on one level.
10.  When I was little, still living in Michigan, it was a treat to sit on my Grandma Gray's front steps and watch the streetlights come on.  The streets in our neighborhood didn't have them, and so it was a big deal to sit there until they came on. 
11.  Another Grandma Gray memory...going to the dime store and buying Chuckles.  I still love those.  Do they still make them?
12.  I got extremely homesick as a kid.  I couldn't even stay overnight at the house across the street, and one year I spent an entire weekend at a Girl Scout campout crying in my tent and refusing to participate in any activities.
13.  My sister has always been braver and more adventurous than I.  She had a great time at the afore-mentioned campout---and the only reason I finally learned to ride a 2-wheeler was that she was about to master it before I did.
14.  When we moved to Colorado in 1971, I spent the entire summer homesick, and seemed to contract an ailment every weekend when I wasn't in school that first year.  Reason?  See #12 above.  Thank goodness I outgrew it, although I'm sure I was much, much older than most before I did.
15. I love to say the word "Flabbergasted".
16.  I saw "Mary Poppins" when I was 4 years old, the year it came out.  I didn't see "The Sound of Music" until the mid-90's.  It's not that I didn't want to, it just slipped under my radar (#8) until that point in time.
17.  I don't like fish.  I don't like TO fish, either.  I mean, if I don't want to eat them, why would I have any interest in catching them?
18.  I'm still mourning the loss of Jim Henson.
19.  I envy the voices of Karen Carpenter, Cass Elliot, and Ann Wilson. 
20.  I still can't get over that the "Classic Oldies" on the radio are the songs of the 60's and 70's.  That makes me a Classic Oldie.  Yikes.
21. Speaking of music, I love it.  I have favorites in many genres.  Oldies, new country, easy rock, big band, and so on.  I'm proud of the fact that my kids can sing along with the Carpenters, Collin Ray, and the Beatles.  I take credit for it. Just don't ask me about any songs from the 1980's.  My kids know why.
22. I'm worried that typing is becoming a lost art.
23. The first thing I did when I got my new iPod for my birthday last year was to accidentally set the language to German.  Thank goodness my kids are tech savvy. 
24.  Along those lines, it actually pleases me that my mistakes and bumblings are a source of great amusement to my family.  I don't embarrass easily, and I can laugh at my own folly just as much as the next guy.
25.  Huh....I DON'T embarrass easily!  How weird, I've never really thought about that until I just wrote it.
26.  I LOVED it when the Good Humor truck came down our street when I was a kid.  My favorites were the chocolate eclair bars.  I still see the strawberry ones in the frozen bin at the mini-mart, but never the chocolate ones.  I demand an explanation!  Somebody get me the number of the Good Humor company!
27. I should have made a list like this 20 years ago.  I'm not sure I have 26 more erratic thoughts in my brain.
28.  I hate wind.
29.  I have pretty good printing.
30.  I never have understood complainers.  Don't get me wrong, I do my share, mainly to my husband and/or kids (poor things!); mostly just to vent.  Complaining never solves anything, and the best reason I can think of to do it is to start a conversation about how to fix whatever it is that's bothering me, OR how to learn to deal with it!
31. "OK" parents drive me crazy.  Any time I hear a parent giving a child an instruction and then ending it with "OK?", I cringe.  Stop asking the child's permission!!!  I know it isn't what they mean to do, but they don't get that it is coming across that way!  I actually forced myself to replace "OK" with "Do you understand?"---and it makes a BIG difference in the child's perception of who is actually in charge!
32. I am a better parent than I ever thought I would be.  Mainly because I enjoyed my kids' company so much more than I expected to!  They are so much fun to be around!
33.  My husband is a better parent than I expected him to be, too.  We both grew up as the oldest of small families, with very little association with anyone much younger than us!
34.  I was the President of the Drama Club my senior year in high school. 
35. I read all the Harry Potter books over again every summer.
36.  I am a Rain Man when it comes to birthdays and phone numbers.  Although, honestly, the phone number thing is fading, thanks to cell phones.
37.  I crack myself up.  I'm actually chuckling right now as I re-read this list.  Oh, well, at least I'll always be around someone who amuses me.
38.  I make more money at my job than I ever have, and the more I work, the more I realize I don't make near what I'm worth.  Good thing I love it.
39.  One of my favorite quotes (and words I try to live by)-- "It is our choices, ... that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."**  (If you don't know who said this, scroll to the end.  If you do, bravo, I KNEW we were friends for a reason!)
40.  I got engaged the day after my mom turned 40 (typing that number reminded me of that)...and now that I'm ever so much more than that, I feel like I should apologize for putting her through that at such a young age! 
41.  I know how to shoot a bow.  Haven't done it in years, but take that, Merida!
42. I have a good memory.  Especially for movie quotes and song lyrics.  Oh, and #36.
43. Who DID write the book of love?
44.  I lived several lifetimes while my son served in the Marine Corp.  I got into the habit of checking my email twice a day during that time, and I can't imagine how the loved ones of soldiers in years past managed to survive, waiting for letters to come.  I honor all for the sacrifices they made.
45.  I am very patriotic.  I will cry through "The Star Spangled Banner", "America the Beautiful", the Olympics and any commercial for any branch of the military.  This is a blessed land, watched over by a loving God.
46.  Faith is an action verb.
47.  I hate washing windows,  scrubbing pots and pans, and hanging up shirts.
48.  My favorite color is green.
49. My children are my greatest contribution to the world.  I hope you all get to know them sometime.  They're worth it.
50. The year I turned 50, I gave myself a 50.5 birthday party.  See, I wanted a big bash, and having a January, post-holiday birthday isn't exactly good timing, so I scheduled it for July 25, on my half-birthday.  It was a big success, and a riotous good time.  My aunts, whom I count as some of my best friends, came from Michigan to surprise me.  So did a couple of close church friends who had moved away to Albuquerque.  And my best friend from Broomfield.  Among other cherished people.
51.  I received a minor revelation on my 27th birthday.  I was pregnant with my 5th child in 7 1/2 years, and my birthday fell on Super Bowl Sunday.  (That won't ever happen again, now that they've pushed the Super Bowl into February.  But I digress....)  The Broncos were in it, and so the main focus of the day was NOT on me.  I felt very sorry for myself, but then I figured it out.  If I want a happy birthday, or a happy life, for that matter, I need to do all I can to make it happen.  Then, if and when others decide to contribute to that happiness, it's just icing on the cake! (#8, AGAIN!  Tolja....).  Guess what...it works! 
52.  I think that the reason the years fly by more quickly as we age is simply that each year is a smaller percentage of our total earthly existence.
53.  TA-DA!  My final entry for now....I am fairly good at many things, and I don't really excel at anything, "...but I've always supposed that to be my own fault, because I never took the time to practice...." (Thank you, Miss Elizabeth Bennet!).  Maybe it's because of that trait/fault that I have such an admiration for anyone who excels in their chosen fields.  I am inspired by artists, musicians, poets, writers and teachers, and some of the best ones I've seen are within my circle of friends, family and acquaintances.  How marvelous to be surrounded by so many people who make MY world such a wonderful one! 


**Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Grand Sorcerer, Supreme Mugwump and Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot; created by J.K. Rowling)