So much to blog, too busy doing it to blog it

Well, after a month of silence, let the words and pictures begin to flow.

I must recap our last month, one post at a time, so you'll need to check in over the next days to get the whole story.

Our month of absence began with the previously described trip to Possum Kingdom Lake.I must say there was a disturbing lack of possums, at least from our perspective. We saw nary a one.

We did have a very close encounter with a deer. Close to the tune of $5000+ damage to our van.

We had driven for two days and were a mere twenty minutes from our destination, anxiously longing to see those blessed possums and the lake which they inhabit, when sweet but stupid Bambi jumped out of the woods and into the path of our van. Alas, she could not be avoided and her date with destiny was sealed.

Our van was cosmetically hobbled. Fortunately, only cosmetic. The Odyssey looked pathetic but still drove splendidly, so after a brief survey of the wound and an assessment of how much surgery might be necessary, we drove our last 20 minutes and arrived after dark at the Kingdom o' Possum.

The next days were filled with water, boating, delicious food and delightful company.When we weren't on the boat we were sitting on the deck enjoying the view or eating ourselves into an afternoon nap. We had a great time with our friends and loved being away from computer and cell phones for a few days.Anya and Emily enjoying the tube.Jenna and friend Jessie hanging on!Jenna and friend Josh going with the flow.Tom and Josh show off.Very studly.

A brief snippet of what those tube rides were like:


It was a relaxing, refreshing, ease-filled few days.

We did regret the marked omission of the possum, though. Perhaps next time.
Or perhaps it was a kingdom of possum at some point years ago and they all drowned when the dam was built. Some mysteries were meant to remain unsolved...

Heaven Can Wait

I will not be testing the reliability of a parachute for one more month. We drove up to the jump site (1 hour and 15 minutes away) just as a storm was moving in. They told us to watch the preparation video and if the storm moved on we'd gear up and go.

The storm lingered.

So, my date with destiny/fate/the "tandem master" is now scheduled for July 6.

Sigh.

I've already been planning this for about 4 months. I don't know if I can wait one more! Aargh!

Tomorrow we head off for Possum Kingdom Lake in West Texas. We're hoping the locale is decidedly more lovely than the name. Some friends have a house there so we're spending a few days relaxing with them, basking in the sun, and experiencing all that is Possum Kingdom.

I'm pretty sure there's classes there on skillfully playing dead.

Then we'll head to Okie land for a quick visit with other friends, along with some much needed authentic tex-mex.

While we're away Brooke and the wondermutt (who by the way has been able to be without her cone for several days. Hooray!) and wondermutt sidekick, Sadie will keep a watchful eye over our blessed domicile.

If possible, I'll post from the trip, but don't know about computer access before Oklahoma.

Apparently, possums are not big on the internet.

No splat...yet

Due to weather, my adventurous day has been postponed. We (I'm doing this with other crazy people from church) have rescheduled for late Saturday afternoon. However, the weather is still forecasting rainy, so I may get booted tomorrow as well.

Keep watching!

Free fallin'

Later this morning, I will willingly board an airplane, allow myself to be strapped to an individual I've just met, then together with said individual step from the door of that airplane at a height somewhere around 13,000 feet above the Utah Desert, and experience the glorious rush of almost 60 seconds of free fall towards the ever closing ground at a speed of about 120 mph, then feel the gentle tug as our parachute opens and we splendidly descend to the airport from whence we began our adventure.

Or, the chute doesn't open and I end up as a wet spot in the middle of the dry desert.

If you see a post later today, you'll know it was the former, not the latter.
It's gonna be stinkin' AWE-some!

Some catching up

It's been almost a month since my last post. Sorry about that. So I'll try to give you all an explanation of our eventful month.

No. In the words of Inigo Montoya, "Let me sum up".

Soon after the last post, Karen and I spent 2 nights in Park City, thanks to the generosity of a good friend from church. We had a delightful time away, filled with good food, beautiful mountain scenery, a wonderfully comfy hotel, and no children. Extremely refreshing.

Then came both Karen's birthday and Mother's Day (actually her birthday was before we left, but we celebrated before and during the PC trip). For Mom's Day we all decided to give her a spa package. Not at some frou-frou boutique with staff named after constellations or Gaelic legends; we treated her to the Smith Fam Day Spa.

First the warming facial mask, including the obligatory cucumbers. (I don't think they actually do anything, except smell fresh and look like a spa ad).Much massaging of feet and hands. (Even Brooke, our summer college live-in got in on the action)A pedicure and manicure. (Are there any other men out there who'll join their daughters in actually applying paint to nails? I scored big points with that move.)Before we finished, Emily had to try out the facial and cucumber action. (We took a bite out of each one so they fit in her smaller eye indentations)The afternoon ended with a back massage (not pictured) and then a soothing nap for the honored mom.

The next week, I spent in St. Louis while my step-dad David was in the hospital having cancer surgery. All went as well as it could. It was a roller coaster ride, and we came close to losing him for a bit, but after a second surgery, he bounced back and he's now at home continuing to recover.

The following Sunday was Anya's birthday, number 15!! We actually celebrated on the previous Monday before I left town. Her gift was a cell phone, which she is now loving, and we're loving it as well. But we did have a cake and candle on her day.Anya also finished her school year with two more sewing projects. One, a frayed quilt, the other a small duffle bag.As with her messenger bag, we were so impressed with her skills given she never stitched a thing before this semester. She's also put together a few headbands out of scraps for her sisters, and used some other left-over materials in class to make some projects for her sisters' birthdays, but I can't say what as those birthdays haven't arrived, and if I were to blab, Anya might just take a needle and sew my mouth permanently shut. Or maybe stitch my fingers together so I can't type. In any case, she wouldn't be happy with me.

That's the "sum up". Obviously short on lots of details, but...you're probably grateful for that anyway.

By the way, Shelby is still sporting her cone. Coney is her affectionate (ridiculing? sarcastic?) nickname for now. But the end is in sight. Her sores are almost healed!

I'm not sure what I'm going to do when she's no longer a cone head and I have no obvious avenue for humiliation.

But I'm sure something will come to me.

Tree Huggers

Whilst playing in the front yard, Jenna tossed a hula hoop a little too high. So high, that it entangled itself into the branches of one our aspens.

Not a problem. Jenna simply scurried up the tree as high as she could go.You can see, if you look carefully, the hula hoop just out of reach in the upper left of the picture. She finally got the hoop down when we handed her a broom with which to reach the hoop.What isn't in the picture is her panicked parents.

Nor do you see her sister, Emily, who is not panicked but is instead inspired.

So today she had to see if she could shimmy up the trunk as easily as Jenna.Emily did. Only higher.Lord, protect us all.

Conehead

Shelby the wonder-mutt has had issues over the past months. She's been chewing holes into herself.

It all started when we were dog-sitting for some friends. Sweet little Sadie, who we love and so does Shelby, got sick while she was with us, and it seemed to stress Shelby out.

So she started chewing on herself. Just picking a spot on her leg and giving it a good gnawing, then licking it to death so it could be swarmed with all the delicious and healthy things that thrive in a dog's mouth.

At first I thought this was strange, I mean, I certainly would not bite myself until a festering sore appeared. And I fo-shizzle wouldn't do it to three places on my body. One maybe. Not three.

But the more I pondered, I realized it's not so strange. I mean, us humans, we deal with stress in many unhealthy ways: overeating, drinking, lashing out in anger. None of those options are available to Shelby (although I do remember her looking longingly out the car window one day as we drove by the liquor store).

In any case, we tried various methods to stop her, including some medicine that helps but has the unfortunate side effect of giving her some horrendous halitosis if she licks it off. Finally, after 3 months of mild improvement only to be followed by further aggravation of the sores, we've resorted to this:We call her Cone Dog. She's not overly fond of the cone. But it does keep her from licking the medicine off and the sores are improving without setbacks.

Here's Cone Dog in action



She's adapted to it, for the most part, as you can see. But it still cracks me up several times a day. When she puts her head down it's like a lamp shade on the floor with a dog body sticking out. Sort of like a variation on the priceless lamp in "A Christmas Story". Fra-gi-le!

The rest of the fam says that I ridicule her. I disagree. I say it's impossible to see her and not laugh. My funny bone is just more developed than my compassionate heart.