Turning My Blog Into a Book...

Over the last several months, I've been thinking about how I'd like to have my blog made into a book format so that someday "when I'm gone" my kids and grandkids could have it. I've never been disciplined enough to keep a journal but I've done ok with blogging about my life. A few days ago, my friend Casey at All I'm Saying... posted the same thought. The next day she posted about a site she'd found where you can do just that for anywhere from $15-$50.

So I did a Google search and found a site that I thought looked easy enough that even I could do it! I watched the tutorial and downloaded my blog. It was really easy and I took out the "boring" posts that I knew nobody would care about. However, I encountered a problem in that it didn't download the comments on each post. In the tutorial, it said it would do that but the little checkbox they showed on the tutorial to download them wasn't on the screen I got when I actually went to do it. So, I guess I'll look at another site and see if I can find something else. I knew it was too easy!

So, hopefully here in a few weeks, I'll have a nice hardcover copy of my first two years of blogging!

Lucy and the Chicks...

Lucy is now about 8 months old and it's finally warm enough that we felt safe to do a "soft" release with her. We took her palace outside and opened the doors. For the first several hours, she was too frightened to even come out of her bed. She LOVES her bed. But, finally she ventured out and has been enjoying being a squirrel. She spends the day mostly on the porch but has jumped into the trees a few times but always returns to the safety (and food) of the porch and her cage.






See how fat she is? She even has boobs.




We decided to replace the chickens that the skunk got last year so we've got 12 chicks ready for the henhouse once they get a little bigger. Can't wait for the fresh eggs!



I'm thinking maybe we'll hang the hide of the last skunk that killed our chickens out on the pen. Might be a good reminder for the next skunk when he sees what Elmer and Jr. will do to him should he try to eat our chickens...

Knock, knock...

Remember when you're kids were younger, and you couldn't even go into the bathroom without the knocking and "Mom, what are you doing?" "Mom, when are you coming out?" "MOM!!!!!!!!!"

Thankfully, my youngest is 16 and hasn't done that for years. But now, I have this cat. I can't go into the bathroom without her spending the entire time I'm in there doing this...

She doesn't do it to anyone else, just me...

And a token "cute picture" of my 2 grandkids and my great niece. I love them.

Haiti Zip Line...

Did anyone watch people on the zip line in Vancouver during the Olympics? Sissys! It looked like fun, but it was only about 200 yards long.

While we were on our cruise, I had decided to try a zip line. So, on our stop in Haiti my friend Rena and I suited up. She just sent me these pictures a few days ago.



This is actually a "practice" zip. It's only about 50 feet off the ground at the top and about 200 yards long. I think they set up the practice zip at the bottom of the hill because the actual zip is way up this dirt road on a mountain and I'm pretty sure they don't want you chickening out once you're up there. We saw a big truck upside down at the bottom of a gully on the way up this wagon trail - it was quite the road.



Did I mention I'm terrified of heights? Yep. SCARED. TO. DEATH. The hardest part by far is once they get you into the harness and you're standing on the ledge and they tell you to "sit". You can hang on to the steel supports like a mother while you're waiting to get suited, but once you have to sit you're screwed. Bobbing up and down with the wind, swinging back and forth over the thousands of feet below you, thinking (and possibly screaming out loud), "JUST GIVE ME A SHOVE AND LET ME GET THE HELL OFF OF HERE!" But that would be terribly embarrassing to do that now wouldn't it?

That's not us in this picture. The guys (standing safely below) couldn't tell when we were coming so they couldn't get pictures of us but this gives you an idea of how far this zip is. See that tiny little white thing on top of that hill? That's the tower we started from. It was REALLY scary, but dang it was fun! Your feet come within just a few yards of touching the ocean several times. Something I would definately do again!

This Weeks Project...

How did I end up with such a mess? We have this wonderful bonus room that I carefully painted a few years ago. Such big dreams of making it a wonderful place where Adam and his friends could go to play their computer and video games. Well, instead, he "moved out" into a smaller extra bedroom and moved all the stuff he didn't want/need into the bonus room.

And the bear...


It's been on the landing upstairs since we moved here. The youngest cat (pictured above) started using Elmer's wonderful bear as a scratching post so we decided the only way to save it was to move it into the bonus room. No small feat. Adam and Elmer had to tip it sideways to get it through the door.

My sister decided to live her dream and moved to Anacortes, WA to spend her time sailing with her beau. So last summer, we met at her storage unit and I had to bring home all her stuff that she didn't want any more. So, it sits in a corner.



So this week, I'm cleaning house. Especially the bonus room. I expect that by the end of the week, it will be tidy and Elmer can use it as his man cave - or something.


What I really imagine is that once I get it all clean and nice looking, Adam is going to decide he wants to move all his stuff back in there...