Don't Try to Live Your Life in One Day

It's not that our lives haven't been action-packed. It's just that none of it has seemed all that fun to write about OR I just haven't taken the time.

So in the way of a little catch-up:

Mike got a new(ish) truck. His old green truck finally proved itself "not worth it". So Mike threw in the towel bought this red Tacoma (or "Taco", as Mike informed me they are referred to in Tacoma circles). I'm just stoked that it has A/C. For all but about 6 months of our married lives Mike has driven without it, taking one for the team. (That kind of sacrifice has to count for something...) Here's his official new owner picture. I totally should have gotten one of him jumping, fist punching the air. (Remember those old Toyota commercials?)

Jessie's horse show (last weekend) was a fun two days. She did pretty well, but is frustrated at herself for making silly mistakes. She'll definitely make the county team this fall and there's an outside chance she'll go to state as well. Here she is on her new horse, Dolly, who was refusing to side-pass over that pole.

Jupiter the Space Donkey came to live with us permanently last week. We were a little worried. I'm not going lie to you, he wasn't considered the calmest, most problem-free dog in our old neighborhood. Something happened in the the month he spent on holiday at the Sullivans', or he really likes the extra room he has at the new house because he is a changed animal. Calm (no more leaping 10 feet in the air all day), relatively obedient...we actually keep hearing things like, "Your dog is so well-behaved." (ha ha ha. If they only knew.)

Then there is the never-ending punch list of projects around this place that we're working on. I could bore you to tears with it - so I'll stick to a few of the highlights.

The new playroom. We got rid of about a gazillion toys, invested in some Trofast. There are a few play things in the cubby/playhouse under the stairs, and the Legos still live in the boys room (we're working up a great Lego table for them - from the IKEA as-is section) - So this is the uncluttered result:

The garden plot gets a start (I can't wait to see it next year.) There's a rock the size of K2 behind the tiller here. I started digging out this smallish rock, then we realized we were going to need a crow bar, then we realized we were going to need a tractor. I'm serious, we haven't found the bottom yet. I guess it was left over from the last ice age glacier that moved through. Huge granite monolith.

There are other victories that I won't bore you with. But bit by bit, things are coming together. This morning as I was shoveling horse manure into the garden in the blazing heat, thinking about the 10,000 projects (some of them big & $$$), I thought, "What have we gotten ourselves into with this house?" But then, I remembered, this is what I wanted. A place we could create with our kids, teach them to work, learning and growing. By nature, I'm sort of an impatient person - so it's discouraging to see such a long road ahead of us. But that's something else I'm going to learn. And, as if to nudge me in that direction, we're speaking in church on Sunday.

My topic: Don't Be in a Hurry.