Colby: Hey, Kyla, do you like pink?
Kyla: yeah, I love pink. Pink's my favorite color.
Colby: I like blue.
The End.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Monday, November 14, 2011
Wednesday, November 09, 2011
Number Girl
Kyla is definitely a numbers girl. When she is quiet, she is thinking, and when she is thinking, 7 times out of 10, she is running numbers!
This morning while chewing her waffle she was thinking. And when she spoke:
5+1 is 6. 4+2 is 6. 3+3 is 6. Isn't that so crazy!!
...
60+1 is 61. 60+2 is 62. 60+3 is 63.
Me: What is 60+10?
Kyla: ... Sixty-ten.
Me: That's not a number.
Kyla: 60+9 is 69.
Me: yeah, and 10 is one more than 9, so what is 60 plus 10?
Kyla: SEVENTY!!
Me: What is 60 plus 20?
Kyla: Eighty!
Me: What is 400+400?
K: Hmmmm, I don't know.
Me: What is 4+4?
K: 8
Me: What is 400+ 400?
K: 800!
Then she goes back to thinking. And this type of conversation is not uncommon.
It is so fun to see her grow and learn, get glimpses of the person she is becoming. I feel privileged to be the person to know her the best. Even though others see that she is left handed and say she will be creative, perhaps an artist or a musician, you know, due to her long fingers ; ) I know that there is so much more to her. And that is part of my job as her mom, to know her and then to inspire her and motivate her. I tell her that she is special and God has a plan for her, just her, because He has created her just so. My perspective on being a mom and my calling as a mom, has been changed after reading the book The Mission of Motherhood
Raising kids is so much more than crossing your fingers and hoping they graduate high school without getting into major trouble. It's about parenting with a purpose and it's about raising individuals that were made for eternity. What a huge undertaking. Sometimes even overwhelming. Funny how something so big is so often downplayed by others. As a stay at home mom, there is no other job as important as this. There are not enough hours in a day for me to not feel this way. There is no other person on earth who should know my child better than I do.
*Stepping off soapbox... Now.*
So then we made this ; )
This morning while chewing her waffle she was thinking. And when she spoke:
5+1 is 6. 4+2 is 6. 3+3 is 6. Isn't that so crazy!!
...
60+1 is 61. 60+2 is 62. 60+3 is 63.
Me: What is 60+10?
Kyla: ... Sixty-ten.
Me: That's not a number.
Kyla: 60+9 is 69.
Me: yeah, and 10 is one more than 9, so what is 60 plus 10?
Kyla: SEVENTY!!
Me: What is 60 plus 20?
Kyla: Eighty!
Me: What is 400+400?
K: Hmmmm, I don't know.
Me: What is 4+4?
K: 8
Me: What is 400+ 400?
K: 800!
Then she goes back to thinking. And this type of conversation is not uncommon.
It is so fun to see her grow and learn, get glimpses of the person she is becoming. I feel privileged to be the person to know her the best. Even though others see that she is left handed and say she will be creative, perhaps an artist or a musician, you know, due to her long fingers ; ) I know that there is so much more to her. And that is part of my job as her mom, to know her and then to inspire her and motivate her. I tell her that she is special and God has a plan for her, just her, because He has created her just so. My perspective on being a mom and my calling as a mom, has been changed after reading the book The Mission of Motherhood
Raising kids is so much more than crossing your fingers and hoping they graduate high school without getting into major trouble. It's about parenting with a purpose and it's about raising individuals that were made for eternity. What a huge undertaking. Sometimes even overwhelming. Funny how something so big is so often downplayed by others. As a stay at home mom, there is no other job as important as this. There are not enough hours in a day for me to not feel this way. There is no other person on earth who should know my child better than I do.
*Stepping off soapbox... Now.*
So then we made this ; )
Monday, September 26, 2011
One Minute 9.26.11
What is this child doing?
A. Directing music
B. Shoo-ing flies
C. Playing Bejeweled using the tiles on the wall
The answer is C and the reason is because she's a Bejeweled playing addict and is now finding alternate sources to play the 'shape/color-sorting into rows-of-three-or-more' game.
And she's seriously good, too... and competitive. The other night Stephen was playing on his phone, Kyla was playing on the iPad and I was playing on my phone. Just a little family quality time :)
Oh, who won? Well, I did, of course!
OK. Stephen did, but it was pure luck ; D
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Aww Coconuts!
Kyla: how do coconuts grow?
Me: They grow on coconut trees.
Kyla: ummm... Maybe I'll ask someone that actually knows...
Me: I *do* know, I just told you! They grow on trees, just like apples grow on apple trees and bananas grow on banana trees...
Kyla: [afraid to speak]
Me: ... It's in their genetic code. Coconut trees have a code that tell them to grow coconuts. Kyla has a code to grow blue eyes and blonde hair.
Kyla: [thinking]
Now, she's either trying to figure out who else she can ask, or my answer was good enough.
Me: They grow on coconut trees.
Kyla: ummm... Maybe I'll ask someone that actually knows...
Me: I *do* know, I just told you! They grow on trees, just like apples grow on apple trees and bananas grow on banana trees...
Kyla: [afraid to speak]
Me: ... It's in their genetic code. Coconut trees have a code that tell them to grow coconuts. Kyla has a code to grow blue eyes and blonde hair.
Kyla: [thinking]
Now, she's either trying to figure out who else she can ask, or my answer was good enough.
Wednesday, September 07, 2011
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Well if That Ain't...
The weirdest thing...
I've ever done...
On accident...
I don't know what is...
And its totally stuck too.
Crap.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
The Help
I am about 3/4 the way through reading The Help. The voice in my head (you know when you're thinking to yourself... Not like crazy voices- I've never had those, oookay.) now speaks with the accent of a southern black woman from the early 1960's. It's in my dreams now too.
It's like this:
"Im used to working for young couples, but I spec this is the smallest house I ever worked in. It's just one story. Her and Mister Leefolt's room in the back be a fair size, but Baby Girl's room be tiny. The dining room and the regular living room kind a join up. Only two bathrooms, which is a relief cause I worked in houses where they was five or six. Take a whole day just to clean toilets. Miss Lefolt don't pay but ninety-five cents a hour, less than I been paid in years." - The Help, pg 4.
Funny how a few days ago when I started the book I had to read real slow just to understand it and get the words in the right order, my brain wanting to autocorrect. Now I can talk it in my dreams!
It's like this:
"Im used to working for young couples, but I spec this is the smallest house I ever worked in. It's just one story. Her and Mister Leefolt's room in the back be a fair size, but Baby Girl's room be tiny. The dining room and the regular living room kind a join up. Only two bathrooms, which is a relief cause I worked in houses where they was five or six. Take a whole day just to clean toilets. Miss Lefolt don't pay but ninety-five cents a hour, less than I been paid in years." - The Help, pg 4.
Funny how a few days ago when I started the book I had to read real slow just to understand it and get the words in the right order, my brain wanting to autocorrect. Now I can talk it in my dreams!
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Oh the Irony!!
Last Sunday Morning, Stephen took the kids on a walk to Starbucks and I stayed home to... Okay do you want a rabbit trail? Because I can give you a rabbit trail!
The previous weekend we had gone up to Vail as a little this-is-our-only-'vacay'-this-summer getaway and Colby, Kyla and even Stephen wound up with a bad head cold. The kind NyQuill, Sudafed 'severe cold' and Triminic couldn't handle. There was very little sleeping and much booger sucking to be had. But guess who didn't get sick?? That's right, me! Maybe this is my reward for catching a cold every. time. my kids have in the past 4.5 years, or maybe it was the garlic. Okay, long story shorter. I started feeling like I was catching the bug, so I started eating vitamin C like candy - okay about 2-3000 mg/day (I'm not giving advice, I'm just saying what I did in my frantic state of not wanting to get sick) and each day I ate about two cloves of garlic. Raw. I used my garlic press and mixed it into about 1/4 cup applesauce, and it burned, and it tasted like I ate garlic bread AND P.F. Chang's Mongolian Beef for breakfast, but I didn't get sick! I had the 'uuhhhhg-no' I feel like I'm getting sick scratchy throat, headache and swollen glands thing for a couple days, but it never developed into the fierce head cold of congestion that it did for everyone else. Team Garlic here!! Okay, so I stayed home while Stephen took the kids on a walk, I decided to make myself some coffee and watch our Sunday morning church service live on my laptop. As I settled in I stared feeling much better, go team Garlic, team Coffee and team God!! So good that I took a picture:
I'm not sure if I've ever intentionally taken a picture of my laptop, but this was to be my last, well, last picture of my properly functioning laptop. If you were to zoom in on the pic you would notice there was only 12 minutes battery time left, and you would notice the children's book it is resting on. Can you see where this story is going? Well, I moved the laptop to the back of the other side of the couch (the side that is not up against a wall) to plug it in to the power cord, after the sermon was over there was worship music playing so I left it open to play while I got busy cleaning up and putting laundry away, all while having the nagging feeling that I should put it away. Well, sure enough, Stephen and the kids come home, Colby climbs on the couch, reaches for the book under the laptop and knocks it right off the back of the couch. Funny how even if you've never heard the sound of a laptop falling to it's death, you still know what the sound is when you hear it. Wahhh! I had a little predicament in trying to decide whether or not to fix my screen, get a new laptop or just get an iPad. Several reasons for each option but this is what I wound up with, I like to call this: The Solution, as taken from my iPad.
I can still use my laptop if need be, for photos, Word, writing contracts for the townhouse.... which I should be doing right now... etc. But for every day convenience, read: web browsing - read: facebooking, blog reading, Pinteresting and recipe gathering, the iPad is the perfect tool for that job :) As for my start-up disk on my (almost) four-year old laptop, I need to step into 2011 and get a separate external hard drive for my photos (not just backing them up on Time Capsule), then figure out how to resize my photos (if need be) and definitely figure out what size they are importing off from my DSLR camera. Meh. But after doing that my trusty OLD (yeah, OLD, every one at Apple made sure to remind me how OLD it is and that they don't even make the white laptops anymore, blah blah. YEAH. I KNOW. You came out with the new ones FIVE days after I bought mine, almost 4 years ago!! I'm only a little bitter, this happened both times we purchased macs) ...laptop should be fine for awhile.
Oh, even Kyla is iPad savvy. Stephen says to Kyla, "guess what? Mom got kind of like a new computer, it like a phone, but bigger."
Kyla (blankly): "Like an iPad?"
LOL! Duh, dad! She whipped this up for me yesterday:
Fancy, huh? :)
The previous weekend we had gone up to Vail as a little this-is-our-only-'vacay'-this-summer getaway and Colby, Kyla and even Stephen wound up with a bad head cold. The kind NyQuill, Sudafed 'severe cold' and Triminic couldn't handle. There was very little sleeping and much booger sucking to be had. But guess who didn't get sick?? That's right, me! Maybe this is my reward for catching a cold every. time. my kids have in the past 4.5 years, or maybe it was the garlic. Okay, long story shorter. I started feeling like I was catching the bug, so I started eating vitamin C like candy - okay about 2-3000 mg/day (I'm not giving advice, I'm just saying what I did in my frantic state of not wanting to get sick) and each day I ate about two cloves of garlic. Raw. I used my garlic press and mixed it into about 1/4 cup applesauce, and it burned, and it tasted like I ate garlic bread AND P.F. Chang's Mongolian Beef for breakfast, but I didn't get sick! I had the 'uuhhhhg-no' I feel like I'm getting sick scratchy throat, headache and swollen glands thing for a couple days, but it never developed into the fierce head cold of congestion that it did for everyone else. Team Garlic here!! Okay, so I stayed home while Stephen took the kids on a walk, I decided to make myself some coffee and watch our Sunday morning church service live on my laptop. As I settled in I stared feeling much better, go team Garlic, team Coffee and team God!! So good that I took a picture:
I'm not sure if I've ever intentionally taken a picture of my laptop, but this was to be my last, well, last picture of my properly functioning laptop. If you were to zoom in on the pic you would notice there was only 12 minutes battery time left, and you would notice the children's book it is resting on. Can you see where this story is going? Well, I moved the laptop to the back of the other side of the couch (the side that is not up against a wall) to plug it in to the power cord, after the sermon was over there was worship music playing so I left it open to play while I got busy cleaning up and putting laundry away, all while having the nagging feeling that I should put it away. Well, sure enough, Stephen and the kids come home, Colby climbs on the couch, reaches for the book under the laptop and knocks it right off the back of the couch. Funny how even if you've never heard the sound of a laptop falling to it's death, you still know what the sound is when you hear it. Wahhh! I had a little predicament in trying to decide whether or not to fix my screen, get a new laptop or just get an iPad. Several reasons for each option but this is what I wound up with, I like to call this: The Solution, as taken from my iPad.
I can still use my laptop if need be, for photos, Word, writing contracts for the townhouse.... which I should be doing right now... etc. But for every day convenience, read: web browsing - read: facebooking, blog reading, Pinteresting and recipe gathering, the iPad is the perfect tool for that job :) As for my start-up disk on my (almost) four-year old laptop, I need to step into 2011 and get a separate external hard drive for my photos (not just backing them up on Time Capsule), then figure out how to resize my photos (if need be) and definitely figure out what size they are importing off from my DSLR camera. Meh. But after doing that my trusty OLD (yeah, OLD, every one at Apple made sure to remind me how OLD it is and that they don't even make the white laptops anymore, blah blah. YEAH. I KNOW. You came out with the new ones FIVE days after I bought mine, almost 4 years ago!! I'm only a little bitter, this happened both times we purchased macs) ...laptop should be fine for awhile.
Oh, even Kyla is iPad savvy. Stephen says to Kyla, "guess what? Mom got kind of like a new computer, it like a phone, but bigger."
Kyla (blankly): "Like an iPad?"
LOL! Duh, dad! She whipped this up for me yesterday:
Fancy, huh? :)
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Update: Couch!
Well, I am no longer dazed, confused or couch-less, yes! Here she is!
No- she doesn't have a real name... Well, technically she does, the name on the box was Anita, or something like that. I'm just sayin' I'm not going around calling her Karlita...
'Speaking' of YHL, I've been inspired. Since I've never really liked the 'picture wall' above the old love seat and need to rework it anyway... I'm thinking a photo collage a la Young House Love style. And good thing IKEA opened yesterday!!! Now I can go shopping for affordable frames and other home goodies!
See that big wall with awkwardly hung photos? That's the spot! There's also another new 'spot', one for a chair...
Can I show you what I am DYING for? It's this:
And it is my baby. No- not Kyla! The chair! (Okay, Okay, she's my first baby)
Wanna see more? I thought you would, thanks for asking :)
Someday- if this goes on sale, or more like, clearance. It's mine- and you had better be notifying me if you see it!!! Pleeeease???? :) Who knew an "accidental" craigslist ad would lead to an entire room makeover? Now we are rethinking the window treatments and side tables too.
In time, in time. I've already made my spontaneous decision for the year ; D
'Speaking' of YHL, I've been inspired. Since I've never really liked the 'picture wall' above the old love seat and need to rework it anyway... I'm thinking a photo collage a la Young House Love style. And good thing IKEA opened yesterday!!! Now I can go shopping for affordable frames and other home goodies!
Wanna see more? I thought you would, thanks for asking :)
It's at Pier 1
And yes, that is seersucker and linen. I die.
In time, in time. I've already made my spontaneous decision for the year ; D
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Dazed and Confused
I'm not entirely sure what just happened today.
We went out to breakfast, walked around a farmers market, stopped by Costco, oogled at a great sectional sofa with a really great price tag, came home for naps and I whipped this up...
After getting a couple calls and an okay price offer I handed my phone off to Stephen soI could take a nap he could handle things. Someone did call him, but said they would call back later and maybe come by to look at it. I decided to vacuum under the cushions just in case they did stop by and while I was cleaning, they came by, no call or anything! And they were people we knew! I was so confused as to why these people (whom I haven't seen in a couple years!) were walking into my house, coming in as the attachment on my vacuum started to blow dust! 15 minutes later they were gone... and so were our couches! (I should add, we got full price we were asking!)
I just keep looking at our empty living room thinking, "Uh, what the heck just happened??" and "We have no couches!!"
So much for throwing an ad up to 'see what would happen'. Craigslist is no joke! Actually, the funny thing is that with everything we've posted to Craigslist, it's either gone in a couple of hours, or never sells at all.
So Stephen went back to Costco to pick up the couch, and they were closed. oops! I guess Costco closes at 6:30 on Saturday, wow.
Since our living room re-do was put on hold we ran out to Chick-fil-A for some dinner. After eating Colby randomly says he needs to go poo poo... on the potty.
WHAT? (YOU didn't see that one coming either, did you ; )
So Stephen takes him to the bathroom and sure enough, he went 'poo poo on the potty'.
I am totally beside myself.
For now we moved the couch from the kitchen to the living room:
Another bit-o-randomness for the day. Kyla made a shadow in the car today using a pencil with a toy on top... wah-la!
What is that you ask? What is that a shadow of??
Why, "a pelican going to college" of course!
Yeah, you know what, it does kinda look li--- Wait. What the what?!?
This is officially the last day I start without coffee!
We went out to breakfast, walked around a farmers market, stopped by Costco, oogled at a great sectional sofa with a really great price tag, came home for naps and I whipped this up...
After getting a couple calls and an okay price offer I handed my phone off to Stephen so
I just keep looking at our empty living room thinking, "Uh, what the heck just happened??" and "We have no couches!!"
So much for throwing an ad up to 'see what would happen'. Craigslist is no joke! Actually, the funny thing is that with everything we've posted to Craigslist, it's either gone in a couple of hours, or never sells at all.
So Stephen went back to Costco to pick up the couch, and they were closed. oops! I guess Costco closes at 6:30 on Saturday, wow.
Since our living room re-do was put on hold we ran out to Chick-fil-A for some dinner. After eating Colby randomly says he needs to go poo poo... on the potty.
WHAT? (YOU didn't see that one coming either, did you ; )
So Stephen takes him to the bathroom and sure enough, he went 'poo poo on the potty'.
I am totally beside myself.
For now we moved the couch from the kitchen to the living room:
Empty! The room feels twice as big!
Why, "a pelican going to college" of course!
Yeah, you know what, it does kinda look li--- Wait. What the what?!?
This is officially the last day I start without coffee!
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Wednesday, June 01, 2011
Puzzle of the Day
Disassemble two different style and brand car seats - more if you are feeling particularly ambitious
Be sure to remove all detachable covers and pads...
Unthreading all belts and straps.
Wait a few hours.
(Might as well wash all covers while waiting... giving your brain a good chance to forget what a normally assembled car seat resembles.)
Reassemble all car seats making sure all straps and belts are at proper heights, following all safety guidelines.
Don't forget to attach latches and shoulder pads *before* threading shoulder height holes!
(Talk about a rookie mistake.)
Reattach all covers using provided loops,hooks and velcro... Try to remember which way the different loops and hooks wrap around to the designated loop and hook attachments.
Reinstall car seats in car, following all safety guidelines, built in levels, always using latches (that is, if your car is acceptable for hauling small children... if you have no LATCH system, just stay at home) and anchors, readjusting all straps to properly fit child using said car seat while following ALL height and weight guidelines. For. THE. LOVE.
No really, if you love your kid, you'll follow the rules, ok?
Take a nap.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
What Stresses Me Out!
Due to my addiction to love of Pinterest I've been finding lots and lots of great ideas and have even put many of those into action the past few weeks... update on that next!
But today I found something I didn't like... kind of like my special folder on foodgawker labeled... stuff I'm never gonna make... more on that later as well ; )
I'll tell you... I had a physical reaction as I read this post! Heart palpitations, jitters, feeling of claustrophobia, blurred vision. I guess part of that could be the coffee I'm drinking, but I've been a coffee drinker for a solid 9 months now ; ) so I'm gonna blame it on the 'Stress Inducing Room' (SIR).
Please, take a moment... visit it here!
At first I was jealous and wanted a 'Crafty Space' as well. I already have a cabinet, small closet and desk dedicated to all things crafty, artsy, sewing and wrapping related. But the more I saw, the more I wanted out of the SIR!
Did you read the part where she said her 'formal living room', the living room you see as you walk into the front door was transformed into the SIR?? And the dining room, directly adjacent, was the playroom? I am not kidding you, my chest feels tight just writing this! **fanning self**
Again, not kidding, I am learning A LOT about myself right now.
Anyway, it looks fun at first, but there is just too much for me. I am a stay in the box kind of person. I am not artistic and creative. My home does not nurture free spirit thinking. Not on purpose, it's just the girl I am! My brain simply does not even contain the ideas to necessitate a 'Crafty Space'. Not to mention having to see it all the time, the SIR cannot be hidden, you cannot close the door, it doesn't even get cleaner or more organized than seen in the photos, that was the SIR at it's best! Then there is the mess, can you imagine what it takes to keep that place clean, and what, with the cat barfing all over the place... I'm sorry... did you not get that far?... here:
To the right of the fireplace is our electric piano for “E”s lessons
But today I found something I didn't like... kind of like my special folder on foodgawker labeled... stuff I'm never gonna make... more on that later as well ; )
I'll tell you... I had a physical reaction as I read this post! Heart palpitations, jitters, feeling of claustrophobia, blurred vision. I guess part of that could be the coffee I'm drinking, but I've been a coffee drinker for a solid 9 months now ; ) so I'm gonna blame it on the 'Stress Inducing Room' (SIR).
Please, take a moment... visit it here!
At first I was jealous and wanted a 'Crafty Space' as well. I already have a cabinet, small closet and desk dedicated to all things crafty, artsy, sewing and wrapping related. But the more I saw, the more I wanted out of the SIR!
Did you read the part where she said her 'formal living room', the living room you see as you walk into the front door was transformed into the SIR?? And the dining room, directly adjacent, was the playroom? I am not kidding you, my chest feels tight just writing this! **fanning self**
Again, not kidding, I am learning A LOT about myself right now.
Anyway, it looks fun at first, but there is just too much for me. I am a stay in the box kind of person. I am not artistic and creative. My home does not nurture free spirit thinking. Not on purpose, it's just the girl I am! My brain simply does not even contain the ideas to necessitate a 'Crafty Space'. Not to mention having to see it all the time, the SIR cannot be hidden, you cannot close the door, it doesn't even get cleaner or more organized than seen in the photos, that was the SIR at it's best! Then there is the mess, can you imagine what it takes to keep that place clean, and what, with the cat barfing all over the place... I'm sorry... did you not get that far?... here:
To the right of the fireplace is our electric piano for “E”s lessons
(covered in a quilt so the cat won’t barf on it —AGAIN)
Okay, okay, that's not a SIR problem... that is a CAT problem. Different.
Lastly, and most importantly, I need to know, where do all the crafts that come out of the SIR go? Where? I'm thinking there must be some sort of SIR part II, a place where all the peep diorama boxes, fairy gardens, glitter glue jewelry boxes, pine cone elves, recycled milk jug baskets, pom pom milkshakes and clothespin mermaids go to die?
Sad day, Pine Cone Elves!
Oh, and sad day, Strecker kids. Looks like our nonexistent hopes of an artistic future are dwindling...
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Grandpa
Yesterday, on grandpa's 89th birthday, we celebrated his life, but he wasn't there.
I have fond memories of my grandpa, he was always thinking and always trying to get others to think. I appreciate now that he was always pushing us to think more and never treated us kids like we were, well, kids. For example, we traveled a lot when I was young, I will always remember grandpa Shiplet randomly asking me which way was north? It's thinking like that that has made me a navigational genius. Okay, maybe not, but to this day, I am always aware of which direction is north.
This is taken from the handout at his memorial service yesterday:
Tom was married to Gene Meyer on March 17, 1954 (in New Orleans, LA). He was the father of four children; Gary, Ida, Irene and Kathy, the grandfather of Kim, Liz, Mindy, David, Amy, Stefanie, Kristen, Sara, Cody, Ty, Megan and Matt. He was the great-grandfather of Kyla and Colby.
He enjoyed yearly trips to Montana to round up cattle and put up hay. He traveled extensively for pleasure. His greatest pleasure in life was restoring Volkswagens. He gardened throughout his life. He also enjoyed tent camping, fishing and hiking.
Tom lived a wonderful, long life and spent many hours in his garage helping others. He was always thinking. He enjoyed a good conversation and a cup of McDonald's coffee.
I have fond memories of my grandpa, he was always thinking and always trying to get others to think. I appreciate now that he was always pushing us to think more and never treated us kids like we were, well, kids. For example, we traveled a lot when I was young, I will always remember grandpa Shiplet randomly asking me which way was north? It's thinking like that that has made me a navigational genius. Okay, maybe not, but to this day, I am always aware of which direction is north.
This is taken from the handout at his memorial service yesterday:
May 18, 1922 - May 14, 2011
Thomas Shiplet was born in Big Timber, Montana on May 18, 1922. He went to school in Ringling, MT where he was on the track team, basketball team and football team. He graduated Valedictorian of the class of 1940 and was awarded a scholarship to the University of Montana. He received his Bachelor of Science in Engineering and began a career with the Army Corp of Engineers. During his career he worked on dam projects in South Dakota, missile projects in Wyoming and Colorado, and worked for NASA in Ohio concluding his career.
He enjoyed yearly trips to Montana to round up cattle and put up hay. He traveled extensively for pleasure. His greatest pleasure in life was restoring Volkswagens. He gardened throughout his life. He also enjoyed tent camping, fishing and hiking.
Monday, May 02, 2011
Spring in Colorado
Just now I took two pictures. One out the front window of my house:
Note the green grass, trees full of leaves and lilac bushes with flowers starting to bloom. Not seen in photo: Daffodils and tulips.
Then I walked through the house and took a picture of my backyard:
Note: Not ONE leaf seen on any tree in my yard, mostly dead grass, snow and ice on deck. Not seen in photo: Pikes Peak, covered in clouds, most likely being snowed on.
Spring in Colorado = ADD, ADHD or possibly Bipolar Disorder.
Whatever it is, it needs medication. And it needs to FOCUS, on summer!
After a few snow showers passed through yesterday, May first, I decided that while others suffer from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) during January and February, those of us in Colorado experience it in April and May. While is seems like the rest of the country is rolling down hills covered in grass, we wear sunscreen while skiing, or ski in bikinis.
Okay, that last one was a bit sarcastic... but as it turns out, with a simple google image search (my fav!) its actually quite common.
As is 287,000 results common.
As is 287,000 results common.
In fact, it has been "proven" that 99.99% of the time it is more likely that we will have snow on Easter rather than on Christmas.
(**This is not scientific research**)
(**This is not scientific research**)
In my 'neck of the woods', we don't get extreme weather (well, unless living in a dessert with trees is extreme), it's just rather, unpredictable. Our meteorologists don't even try to predict the weather during this time of year... they just put out the "Trends" for the next 13 days
**okay, they do a real forecast too**
Here, I'll tell you the forecast for the next 13 days: nice, snow, nice, snow, windy, snow, windy, hot, cold front... wind.
You get the point. But if you don't, last Thursday I laid out in my backyard, in a bikini, smoking hot-- no really, I was sweating it was so hot out. I got burned, like lobsta lobsta (translation: lobster) burned, it still hurts. But on Saturday the high temp was 38 with snow on Sunday. Got it now?
Now... where's my medication... er I mean, c'mon Summer!!! I miss youuuuu!
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