13 years ago I said . . .

...After deciding I wanted to add bamboo to one of my gardens but soon after discovering we would be moving...

"Hmmm...says here bamboo spreads and is invasive...well, I guess that'll be a problem for the next owners because now it looks like we're moving..."

And, move we did.

And, the next owners didn't give one single hoot what went on out in the gardens, bamboo or no bamboo.

And, move back we did.

And, now I have a boatload of bamboo Ev.Er.Y. Where!

And yep...it's a problem...

(-;

I'm pretty sure a lesson could be learned here...

Likely similar to the lesson of the 13 years ago, quickly installed radon remediation system right out the easiest spot, by the patio door, because if we're going to have to pay for it, then we'll put it in the least expensive spot possible (and really, the least attractive spot too)...

And, low and behold...

Guess who gets to hear and see the radon being sucked out the basement on a lovely afternoon whilst sipping tea on the patio, busy learning her lessons?

Yep, that'd be me!

Be thoughtful to the next folks buying your house...think of them as if it were you buying your house...'cause, you just never know!

(-;

So, on to this past weekend...

 This cool kid and I got to sleep on the submarine again.

First did this with the whole fam, seven years ago.

Just looked, I blogged it, scroll down...(and try to be at ease with seeing record of such different family times...likely I'm talking to myself with that, very twilight zone-ish for me still...)

 We slept in the other end of the ship with torpedoes all around us like this one, but it's the end where the furnace is, and is known to be the hottest part of the ship, and I can testify to the truth in that.

 While we certainly didn't sleep in a torpedo, our "cozy" little bunks sure had the effect at times throughout the night. What struck me the most was what a difference seven years can make. I mean, I did this trip 7 months pregnant with my fifth kid and barely batted an eye...in my late 30's.  This time, I'm going up and down submarine ladders with sleeping bags and pillows and a backpack, and through tiny doorways with markedly different amounts of vim and vigor...not different bad...but certainly different.  

My grandpa did mention once, as I flitted about heading off to tennis and commenting that my friend and I had actually eaten two Whoppers each from Burger king after a match the other day, that this would happen one day, "things are going to slow down you know, that'll catch up with you"...

I distinctly remember the conversation because naturally, at 16, I knew that wouldn't happen to me!

(-;

Me, this very day...

Well, low and behold, guess it did, ha!

The kids had a Trunk or Treat event at the school this afternoon, only hours after return from the sub...seriously??!! I was dead, dog, tired!...and then this wig surfaced in the Halloween box while trying to pull something together for Liv and William.  Perfect!! Threw it on, grabbed a robe and red crocks with the fuzzy lining and said, "Let's Go." William refused to get out of the car, for real, laid on the back seat the whole time, hiding. 

Then I took the robe off and we went grocery and basketball shoe shopping (at the store where one can do both of those things), came back and made Sunday Supper with a little help from an already roasted chicken (but I did the baked potatoes, broccoli, sliced cinnamon/sugar apples and tangerines), cleaned some carpet stains, got the fish tank moved off the patio (no "bites" on craigslist), threw some broken concrete pieces into a bucket, read bedtime books, did songs and prayers, then blogged for far to long.

Well...maybe it hasn't caught up with me all the way yet!

Goings on . . .

It turned into harvesting time a couple weeks ago.

(Coming back to edit post "publish" and post having scanned back in my blog...yep, long days for sure...looks like I blogged these harvesting pics just over a week ago, wowza!)

All done, now just a wide open, flat, expanse.

I am TOTALLY walking across the whole field this winter when it's covered with snow, with the dog, all the way to the tree line.  Most ideal would be with a full moon but I might get too scared unless some kids will come with me. (-;

Then, last Thursday, 

I . . . bought . . . my . . . house!

The miracle story for this amazing feat began one year ago July.

You should hear about it sometime...

As a tantalizing grabber, it began with me NOT asking my 87 year old neighbor in the five bedroom home that I always wanted to own across the street from this home if I, five kids, one puppy, a bunny and seven fish could live with her and "help" out...but the "NOT asking" did not occur because I came to my senses but because there was an ambulance in her driveway (don't worry, she is fine)...

Oy!

Then, over the weekend, the gray and clouds left and it turned absolutely gorgeous around here for our first weekend as real, actual homeowners.

Perfect!

What better time than to teach one of the teens how to work my newly tuned up chainsaw that I was afraid to use, haha! Harrison LOVED it, and like any honeymoon phase with new power tools, I got LOTS of things cut that day.

And then...I got a head full of burrs, needed to be somewhere in an hour and discovered burrs don't just pull out like I thought they would...at all...not.at.all.!

Who gets a head full of burrs?

I wasn't even with the dog.

 I was weeding some tall grasses/weeds and bent over into a tall burr bush thing.

This was one of the least funny things I've experienced in quite some time, I must say.

So, you know, buy a miracle house one day, get a head full of burrs the next.

Just keep on, keeping on!

Lamentations 3:22-23 The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;  his mercies never come to an end; they are new  every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Eleven trees and a bed of hosta . . .

On Saturday I had nothing, not one thing on the docket after around 3:30p.m. (after I picked up a chicken schwarma on my way back from Harrison's last football game of the season, Win 36-14!). And, I was just tuckered out, long weeks, busy days, kind of like everyone else I'm sure. So, mom and I chatted and conversation led to what a good idea it would be to just rest, just stop, maybe take a warm bath, read...rest...you know...something you see me write about a lot on the ol' "advertures" blog, right?

Well...that thought lasted about 45 seconds into me arriving home, having devoured the schwarma on the the ride.  I mean, come on, it was a warm fall day with rain expected the next day. Middle of October, frost creeping into the mornings...if there's anything to plant or transplant in the home you are just a whisper away from owning for real...then...NOW'S THE TIME...is pretty much what went through my head in those 45 seconds.

So...11 trees and a transplanted hosta bed later...I took my rest...

I am SO EXCITED about all these trees I put in.  My almost former neighbor here had some kind of tree growing hobby and I got a load of cool trees from her as she is moving (she moved in the year I moved out so I never really got to know her). Plus, I've been growing some blue spruce since they were the size of a pencil, I transplanted them here behind the shed last fall when I was not even moved in, just hoping it was all going to work out, haha...planted four of them yesterday, and two white pine that the kids started in third grade...wish I could remember really who's trees are who's, but they're someone's anyway.  

Looking forward to watching some trees grow.

Now, that sounds restful!

Pumpkin Time/Harvest Time . . .

And then there were two . . . 

There they are, the last set of my pumpkin carvers.

Boy that's such a strange, transitional feeling for a mother to process.

Even though it most certainly has been a many years long process of kids getting older, it just kinda hits ya as if it just suddenly happened at times just like...pumpkin carving time.

It's like...where the heck is everyone?

Oh...football, school, band, somewhere.

But, certainly they're not all 10 and under, all clamoring for a giant knife to carve their own pumpkin and I swear I blinked and that just happened within the last year!

It has been and eye and heart opener at how sweet it is to have a dog in a family.

We were led directly to Alli at the Humane Society exactly one week after the destruction began a year ago May now. Blows my mind what a role she's played for every one of us this past year.

She is literally, and I am absolutely not kidding, my first child that willingly and actively wanted to get her own goop out. All of it.  Wouldn't take help.  You go girl!

And...

It's also Harvest Time at the farm!

We've been enjoying watching them work.

Lots of talk and hypotheses about the whole process, how much soybeans, where they're going, how long it takes, how big the trucks are, if we should grow some . . . 

Then, last night, at 10:00p.m.-ish, I took Alli for an awe inspiring walk around the neighborhood and out to the farm field under the full moon and clear sky.  Just about my favorite time for a walk, the peace and other worldly beauty are something to behold. There's this section at the farm where one can walk into the field a bit, just to the side of the silos and barn...or, I feel like one can walk into the field there anyway...(-:...and the stretch of open sky, field, full moon, quiet...wowza!

I returned from that walk, approached my front yard...and...what?...wait?...Where is the "Sale Pending/For Sale" sign that's been stuck in the grass since last January?  I was stunned.  I had planned the perfect removal time and presentation back to it's realtor...this Thursday, when I finally get to buy our house back, after 13 years and another 10 long months of many ups and downs.  Then, the sign just quietly vanishes, with no hoopla, no dramatic upheaval from the earth, days before I will actually believe it is official?

Well, ok then...

I'll believe it now!

Praise God from whom all blessings flow,

Praise Him all creatures here below,

Praise Him above all heavenly hosts,

Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

Amen.

How to prepare for a Cross Country meet . . .

These are the official first steps.

Next, high knee step dealy while waiting in line.

Followed by the cross-legged side step thing-a-ma-jig.

Then, take off, being careful not to be trampled or "flat-tired" like last year's race at this great field.

There were about as many kids to the left of this pic too that I didn't get in frame.

All 4h-6th grade boys.

My boy's 5th gr.

(-:

This is how you round the final corner.

And this is how you bring it home for a sixth place standing!

Shoes stayed on.

Didn't get trampled.

Beautiful, sunny, fall day.

(last year was freezing cold and gray)

What a difference a year makes.

Yes...

What a difference a year makes!

Way to go, William!