Six Minutes

Apparently six minutes is all it takes for Cassie and the kids to catch up with each other.  The kids called her today to wish her a Happy Mother's Day.  Six minutes and they were done.  So this year she has 18 minutes that she has interacted with her children.  Three phone calls.  Always six minutes. 
On a side note.  I taught the little woman how to make the call.  I'm not sure she will remember but it is time to teach her to use the phone for something other than youtube videos.

Much Better Ending

It was the Mother's Day hike with the girl scouts.  The day got off to a bad start.  No one wanted to cooperate......no socks, no shoes, etc.  Then the little man threw a fit and I did not feel like going anymore.  After a few minutes when every one calmed down the socks went on, the shoes went on and we actually left the house.
We arrived at Silver Falls State park half an hour late and the group had started the hike.  There was no data on the phone and no signal so we could not text we had arrived.  We did find free wi-fi by the cafe, but it didn't help much.  So we hiked down to the first falls by ourselves and it was wonderful.  Then we had lunch while listening to the Raptor Presentation.  The little man was fascinated with the owl and sat right up front.
Food made every one feel better and we thought we would do that waterfall again, but this time go down so we could go behind it.  When we got to the other side we ran into our group.  So we finished the hike with them.  What goes down, has to go up.  Then we started working our way towards the parking lot.
Well there were many activities going on at the park this weekend for Mother's Day.  So we stopped and looked at the floral exhibit.  And then there were birdhouses to be made.  About that time the rest of the group left but we stayed and went back to the card/pin making station and the littles had a blast making pins and cards.
We had a really good time at the park and are glad we went.  The day ended much better than it began.

A Happy Box

I had a bag of clothes that I considered too good to just drop off at the Goodwill. The Goodwill got plenty of boxes anyway. So then I put the bag of clothes up on a facebook sale site and had a buyer.  I sat in a parking lot two different days waiting for the buyer.  And then I gave up.  That really is not a good use of my time and I was only asking for $10.  I offered to bring the clothes to the woman the first day, but you know....it's dangerous so people don't want you to do that.  Anyway....
So I'm contemplating what to do and I think about Jeremy raising his girls by himself right now.  And his oldest girl is my little man's age.  Which means she is just about ready to wear size 7/8 clothing.  Bingo.  I picked up a flat rate box from the post office and filled it as tight as I could.  I wasn't sure it would survive the trip since it was overfilled.  But it only had to go to CA.  And I shipped it off. 
I received this picture today.  She is happy.  He is ecstatic.  There is stuff in the box that will do for school next fall and some summer stuff for now. 
One little box of used clothing has made so many people happy today.  My best friend in CA is happy.  Her son is happy.  Her granddaughter is happy and I'm happy. And that clothing is going to get some more good use.  The only one not happy is my little woman who still insists those clothes fit her because she liked them even if they did make her look like a plumber. 

The Hitcher Story

I don't do it often, but every so often I pick up a hitchhiker.  And I know...it's dangerous.  But there are just times it seems like the right thing to do.  I have picked up friends of Mike's.  I have picked up a woman hitching in the rain.  And the other day I picked up a hitchhiker laying on the side of the road. 
When we passed him he put out his thumb and we pulled over a little bit down the road.  He didn't hear us and got on his phone.  So we left.  We got almost all the way to BG and decided we really needed to turn back around and go get him.  It was upper 70's and a little humid that day.  He was an old guy who reminded me of Papa (until he got in the car).  We pulled up just after the firetruck left.  Someone had called 911 for him. 
So we gave him a ride back to BG.  He was 64 years old and had rode with someone to Vancouver and then ended up stranded.  His truck was in BG at the old barn they are dismantling.  He talked the whole way and was chipper and happy to have a ride.  He had already walked a long way because no one stopped.  He offered us old wood from the barn and that would have been great if we were crafty.  But alas I told him to just pay it forward or maybe someday I will need a ride. 
I live with a lot of fears.  But I try not to let those fears define me.  And so once in awhile we pick up hitchhikers. 

Sick Again

I got the call at work.  The little woman had went to the health room and didn't have a fever.  She tried to tough it out but ended back in the health room and this time the fever was there.  Oy.  So I finished my work and went and picked her up.  On the way out they informed me she couldn't come back tomorrow.  She has to be 24 hours fever free without meds.  Okay then.
We came home and watched "Coraline".  She has been wanting to watch it, but the little man finds it too scary.  So we took advantage of our opportunity. 
The saving grace for me was I had made a lot of headway on my returns at work.  We are pulling books and I am requesting permissions as we go.  Longer day tomorrow to make up for missing part of today.

Mowing

Mowing Jeannie's got me thinking.  In 1986 I started mowing Grandma's yard/field.  And then the older kids were old enough to do it.  And they each did probably a few times before they didn't want to do that anymore.  Mowing yards on riding lawn mowers is easy money.  Anyway then I got the job back.  And I did it for a long time.....Then Grandma died and I stopped. 
Betty and Les moved down here and then he took over the mowing.  And honestly Les did a fantastic amount of work on the place and a great job mowing.  Then he died.  So then Dave started mowing for Betty until he asked me to step in and do it.  So I do that again to this day.  And today was the first mowing of the season there for me. 
Betty and I had a little chuckle over the fact that I mow her yard, but I hire a kid to mow mine.  Well hers is a riding lawn mower and easy.  I started hiring the neighbor kid due to the fact that I couldn't get to my mower and it is falling apart.  The neighbor kid does the best job I have seen on this yard so I'm keeping him until he doesn't want to do it or the place sells. 
The lilacs are in bloom and I would get whiffs of them while mowing.  Betty had a handyman out today to do some more cutting on trees and branches that have fallen down this winter.  One of the things he did was a lilac so she had a big bucket of lilacs.  She let me take a big handful home and they made the whole house smell heavenly.  The one in this yard never smells that strong.  Glorious. 

Manic Monday?

What a great day and none of it went as I thought it would.  First there was no Monday morning struggle with the little woman.  Mondays seem to be her day to fight tooth and nail to not go to school.  Today she got right up, dressed and out the door. 
And right after she left the little man finally got up.  I had given him the choice of riding the bus or being driven and he had chosen driven.  So he got dressed and I got pants on and off we go.  A lot of times if I still need to shower I tend to drive them to school in my jammies.  For some reason I felt the need for pants today even though I never need to sign him in...we get there on time. 
About half way to school I realize my low tire light is on.  Oh joy.  But I'm happy it happened at home and not in Tacoma.  So after dropping the little man I went to Dick's and had them check it.  Last time I did this I didn't even have a tire problem.  But today I did have a nail and I assume I picked it up along the freeway.  The other option was when we dropped the hitcher (and that is another story) at the old barn on the edge of town that is being torn down.  The guy did say they were continually running a magnet around to collect nails. 
Then I made a quick Walmart stop.  Needed white vinegar.  My Keurig denied me coffee this morning and so I needed to do a descale so I could make coffee.  That feels like the biggest accomplishment for the day.  And the Keurig works much better now. 
I got the dishwasher ran, some picking up done, grocery shopping done (by myself), tags for my car and a priority mail box.  I took most of the little woman's too small clothes to the Goodwill.  I still had this bag of stuff that I just thought were too good for the Goodwill.  Tried to sell them on facebook and had a buyer who turned out to be a flake.  Then I thought.....hey Kylee is six and a half years-old.  Which puts her just about in size 7/8.  So I'm going to fill that box and mail it to Jeremy. He is doing the full time parenting of both his girls. 
We had spaghetti for dinner.  The little man had spaghetti as second dinner.  He again ate at the neighbors and informed me of how good their food is.  And yet he ate his whole plate that I had made for him.  Maybe he is getting ready to grow again.