Tweets and Twitters

A Belted Kingfisher gave PeaPod and I quite the lecture today. It seems that he was quite put out that we were walking on the sidewalk near his pond. The four Snowy Egrets felt that we were beneath their notice and ignored us while foraging for food. It was quite the feathery friend day considering that PeaPod pointed to the birds this morning and said (in an English accent that I have no idea where she got it), "Bird.".

Elusive

I am a casual bird watcher - think binoculars by the window versus tromping through the amazon. I love watching them and finding out what types they are, their habits etc. I spent a small fortune on birdseed the years I lived in Michigan - even though we were so poor then I would put things back on the shelf at the dollar store - I'm serious. Looking back, it was worth it because of our enjoyment watching the birds and squirrels in our backyard. Now we live in the West with less colorful birds, but we still have seen the following menagerie in our backyard: house finches, sparrows, chickadee, american goldfinch, orioles, bald eagle, many other hawks and eagles, owls, downy woodpecker, flicker, geese, ducks and my personal favorite who flies all the way inland from the Pacific Ocean just to see me: the Pelican. But we'll spotlight him later. This is about this crazy WHITE house finch! It has been hard to get a photo of him (her?) and its mate! But here he is! Definitely white. Definitely paired up with a house finch mate in our pine tree! Wonder what the chicks will look like?

Whew...Done!

Sprague is definitely making me dig deeper in this Photoshop course! It's so awesome! Finally took a pic of myself in the mirror (after a workout, ponytail and all - thank goodness it is supposed to be blurry!) and finished this layout:

Boys and Bats

My SIL just emailed me this pic and the sad tale of how while swinging a baseball bat Cousin T. mistook Cousin J.'s head for a baseball! Eeek! Good thing is that he's okay and will have something to brag about on the playground now.

A Bit Sheepish

Great day today! We had a spur of the moment trip here with Nana and Auntie K! PeaPod loves animals and never misses a chance to pet one. So, reasonably, I thought that this would be awesome! Wouldn't you know it, but first thing we see is a huge shaggy sheep coming over to greet us! I was loving it. PeaPod was standing on the ground looking into the pen when he let out a loud "Brrraaaaaa!" (Not a cute little "baa" which a Little Bo Peep like PeaPod would expect!) I have a feeling from her vantage point it was like confronting a woolly version of T. Rex or maybe those weird woolly things on the original Star Wars (I can't believe I remember that - so embarrassing!) Anyway, she burst out crying in fear. Or perhaps his hygiene could have been worked on. After that, she was a bit standoffish with the sheep, chickens and goats. Luckily, she LOVED the horses (probably because of Papa!). Overall it was a lovely trip. We finished it off with a quick trip to the this bakery for a fresh loaf of whole grain bread.

To Blog or Not To Blog

I've been asked by a couple of you why my professional life has not been commented on. It won't be. There are a few reasons for this:

1. Recent judicial cases against medical professionals have allowed blogs to be used against the professional.
2. I would like to protect the privacy of my patients and myself.
   
3. Due to my health, it hasn't been a large part of my life.
4. I try to separate those two parts of my life as much as possible to keep my focus and priorities straight.

FYI: I am currently working part time giving health care to an under served population. TheMan is able, due to his work schedule, to be with the Pea at times or my mother has been able to spend time with her. I am so blessed to have them and blessed by the Lord who has helped me in all roles he has asked of me. I am a thinker and a planner, but I am mortal and cannot see the future; I would have chosen different paths and avoided certain trials if I could. Luckily, despite all my best thinking, prioritizing and planning , there is He who guides us along a path which would have gone unnoticed. A path that leads us to where we will do the best good, become our best selves and come closer to Him.

Forget Teaching Large vs Small

Why not just teach PeaPod bit vs. terabyte instead!?

My Man the Ham

I don't scrap chronologically. At all. I just do what strikes me when it strikes and thus for some reason tonight it was these photos. We love Halloween and John is quite good at this character...I wonder why....

I love Muttscomics.com

Growing too fast!

I just watched this video from January and couldn't believe how fast Princess Pea has grown!

Office Torture

a big day

The weather today: It snowed. It melted. It rained. It shined. It blew. It changed. It is spring in Utah!
Annie and PeaPod today: We cleaned and mopped. We did laundry. We played inside with the wagon. We rolled the ball. PeaPod took things out and Mommy put things back in. We talked on the phone (sometimes when someone was on the line and sometimes when the phone wasn't even turned on!). We discussed why inside plants shouldn't be re-potted by baby hands. We had visits from Nana and Papa who read books and played. We made Italian chicken for dinner.
Daddy came home and we all played chase, hide-and-go-seek, and peek-a-boo. We had dinner. We bathed and went to bed. What happened? Not much, but it was a big day!

Princess Pea votes for the President...Puppets!?!

Every well informed parent should make their child some of these (via here)
Sunday is never going to be the same...

TheMan's New Favorite Meal

Just took this test...

and it read my mind...I feel good being random!

Your Thinking is Abstract and Random

You are flexible, adaptable, and creative. There's many ways that you can learn - and you're up for any of them. You relate well to other people, and you do well working in groups. You can help people communicate together and work with each other's strengths. You don't work well with people who are competitive or adversarial. You prefer to work toward a common goal... not toward conflicting goals.

What Kind of Thinker Are You?

Party and People with Pizazz

I am constantly amazed at how many truly amazing people there are in the world. No, I don't mean "amazing" in the "where-in-the-world-did-they-come-from-go-back-to-whatever-rock-that-was" kind of way, but more in the "Wow, how-fun-and-cool-are-they" sort of way. We have lived in six different areas within three different states and each time have found friends which inspire us. (I have been missing a number of you guys! :( triste!) Now, I'll be honest: this area was slower than most in finding them. But now, after thinking it over, I attribute that more to us and our super crazy year than to the caliber of the area. We have been an island unto ourselves - I haven't even thrown a friend party yet in our new home! (gasps echo throughout blogdom) !!! Tonight we attended a surprise birthday party for a fabulous lady I'm glad I'm getting to know better. (I'll post her blog link as soon as I ask permission!)
It was at the Asian Star. This restaurant was an unknown to me until tonight, but I can say that - unlike many Asian restaurants with the words "new" or "star" in their name - it does deserve its name. It was yummy and the company was too. Note to my literal midwestern friends: No, Mormons are not cannibals, I just meant it was good company. :) As I looked around the room, I saw people which we will be getting to know over the years to come and I knew that there was so many good things that I will learn from them. And that got me thinking...

It made me think of this book that I really need to complete with pages to fill with people I'm thankful for. After the Lord and my family, here's just a very few of the people I have met that have inspired me throughout the years:

• Seminary teacher, Brother Brinley: for asking "Are you happy?" one day

• Koriann Green: sweetest friend a girl could ask for in high school

• other friends in high school: for helping keep our standards high

• many, many teachers: for intriguing my mind - you know what they say about idle minds...

• all those guys, dates and boyfriends helping me define the guy I really wanted to marry (I'm not even going there, but if you feel that you are part of this group and want to know, email me. LOL!)
  

• Jenna Huffman: because a little sussy is good! especially freshman year...

• Armenia: for inspiring me to be a better friend
  

• ROTC: because the more you give the more you will receive and for some priceless quotes my personal fav yelled at PT: "A stretched groin is a happy groin one, sir!"

• Natalie Lindman: because a bit older and wiser means a lot in college!

• Julie Knight: for her loving, energetic example of motherhood

• Holly Brain: pure and lovely - just like her kids' clothing :)

• Mindy Schetter: for setting the bar higher for what is "good enough" wow, I still want to borrow your notes

• Jane Maisch: rising above it all in search of balance (and liking teen angst movies with me)
  

• Karen Likar: just love and sweetness itself again and again
  

• Valerie and KarPeo Ya: demonstrating to me what it truly means to "love thy neighbor"

• Heatons, Smiths, and Blums: for demonstrating that one can get a graduate degree and still have fun - like playing Settlers of Catan and dressing up for Halloween - age is just a state of mind
• Nils and Elspeth Johanson: color is good for the soul and your walls
• Nursery class: bubbles make everything better, God loves fish and every one of us
  
• 15 yr. old Sunday School class: doing the little things count
  
• 4/5 year old Sunday School class: Let's stop talking about it and just DO it!
• Alison and Daniel Daines: together a little love and laughter go a long way despite it all
• the Gardners: people do follow gourmet recipes and actually write recipe books
• medicaid patients: be thou humble

Well, it's late and I'm still thinking of people and lessons and what I've learned over the years - some planned, some not - all needed either right then or in the future. Here's to the future friends and lessons!