WINNERS!

Yesterday, BD and I attended a community fund-raising dinner for a lady in our ward who is undergoing breast cancer treatment. There was a bounty of donations from local businesses that were available to win by raffles and drawings. A few women volunteered to get their heads shaved if they raised a certain amount of money. They did. (cringe :{ ) and we watched it happen :{{ That was hard.
Overall, it was great to see such an outpouring of love and support for this woman.

We bought a few raffle tickets and "went shopping:" BD put in for a couple of things he wanted and I put in for a couple of things I wanted. After a dutch oven dinner they started the drawing. Drumroll please --------
Both BD and I WON things!!!

He got 2 free tickets for 18 holes of golf at Palisades.
I got a yummy fall scented candle!!! yay!!!

I got such a high from winning something, can you tell?! Of course there were a lot of winners that night. I think everyone got an extra dose of the feel-goods knowing they were helping a good cause.

Kate's new 4th grade teacher is also undergoing treatment for breast cancer. We met her last week and I was so impressed with her positive attitude, her excellent lesson plan for the year, and her love for teaching kids.

My mom also just recently found out she has breast cancer...again--this is her 2nd time. Unfortunately hers is spread through her lymph nodes and bones and causing her a lot of pain right now. She will undergo chemo...again. Her doctors have assured her that chemotherapy is much improved in the last 20 years. We hope that's the case. A beach trip will also be part of the treatment plan.

10 Things I LOVE or HATE about SuMMeR

1. Ice Cream Cones--Love them.

We have Waffle Cones for the mature taste buds, regular for the regulars, and teeny tiny cones for...little Bud. With Breyer's Grasshopper Pie ice cream we are in heaven.

2. Rainstorms--Love them...and the rainbows that follow.

3. Bat Droppings--Hate them. I used to think it was mice leaving those surprises all over the front porch. Turns out it's BATS! I peeked and sure enough I saw one hanging there the other night all creepy like. Bats are icky things. They're like mice with wings and razor sharp teeth. Turns out we built the perfect cavelike enclosure for them over our front porch!

4. Family Reunions--Love them, of course. You know--you were there!

5. Bikerides--Love them. The corn is as high as an elephant's eye and we only smell a skunk once in a while.

6. Races--Love them (when they're over) Today I ran a 10K. At about mile 4.5 I doubled over with a horrible side ache. Seriously I could NOT run another step. Never had that before. One of the fellow runners yelled some advice: "WALK 30 seconds, RUN 30 seconds. Keep doing that until it goes away!!!!" And off he ran. Turns out his advice was right on. But dang it I was doing so good on my time until then. I was able to run the last mile and finished with a time 54:12 --meaningless I know except to me that's pretty good for having a stinking SIDE ACHE. There were 14 guys and 4 girls that ran it. 3 of us were in the same age division and I got 3rd in my age and 4th overall (for women) ha ha ha.

7. Weeds--Hate them. We seriously need a herd of goats for some backyard maintenance. Our kids and their shoes are getting lost back there.

8.Grilling on the Barbie -Q--Love it. Thursday is grill-it day. One of the easiest and best recipes:

Dip some chicken pieces in olive oil. Sprinkle generously with lemon pepper seasoning. Add taters, veggies, whatever. Throw it in a tin foil pack and hand it to your man. All I know is after that it comes back to the table steaming hot and delicious.

9. The Fair--Love it. We had fun checking out all the farm animals and the girls got some ribbons for their "Home Arts" entries. They done us proud. We didn't have any cash on us so we couldn't pet the baby tigers or indulge in a deep fried twinkie. We did watch an awesome Bluegrass concert out on the lawn. That stuff is good soul music. I think if our string quartet plugged our instruments into some amps and sawed away at some Orange Blossom Special we'd get a lot more gigs around here.

10. __________ (fill in the blank) What do you LOVE (or hate) about summer?

A Day with Mom

Happy Birthday to my Mom! I don't know how old she is--old enough to qualify for the Senior Discount but young enough to want to eat dessert first.
I drove up to spend the day with her and help celebrate this grand occasion. She chose to go to the Park City Arts Festival.
My mom and I agreed that the people there were as unique and interesting to see as the art exhibits. We had fun watching both.
If my mom was disgustingly wealthy she would have supported the Arts and bought this for her birthday. It would have made a nice yard accent don't you think?

We bought Creamies instead. If they would have called them locally-produced edible sculptures on a stick they could have charged a lot more. As it was we were glad for some comfort food and it was definitely the best deal around at $1.
Where else could a blue or orange or peach house look so pretty?

Back to my Mom: She is one of a kind for sure. Here are some things I admire about her:

• she has no fear. If she wants to say something she says it. If she wants to do something, nothing will stand in her way.
• she is always learning, asking people questions, reading.
• she stops to smell the roses--literally. Then she'll pick them, bring them home, and stick them in a vase.
• she writes music. She can sit at the piano and play whatever tune is going on in her head.
• she never gets angry, even when her body is in pain and doesn't cooperate with her will.
• she gives, gives, gives.

My mom has many talents. She stayed home to raise her children and some of her grandchildren. I asked her what she would have chosen if she would have had a career. She surprised me with "Advertising." She loves to watch commercials and come up with ideas for them. I'm sure she could write some catchy jingles to go with them too.

She let me know that she has her funeral all planned out. She wants more music then talking and more laughing than crying. For the graveside service she wants a Dixie-Land Band. I know she'll be glad to get to life on the other side where she'll be able to dance in a brand new body, join in the glorious symphonies, and smell the roses beyond earthly description.

I'm sure this little guy, Ethan Drake, could tell us all about them. He just arrived 3 weeks ago making my mom a Great-Grandma for the 2nd time. It was so fun to meet him and hold a brand new life.