What's Coming Next

Howdy there, folks!

So I've been thinking for a while about coming up with a more systematic blogging method. I felt a spark of inspiration a few minutes ago and sat down to plunk my thoughts out. And here are the results:

Future LottieB's Life topics of discussion:

Hillbilly Proverbs

Bookworm Bites

Current Occurrences

Buster Brown Updates

Personal Contemplation

These are subject to changes, of course. But those are what popped into my head. I hope you find them interesting and worthy of reading!

That's all, folks!

My Daily Wisdom

The house don't clean itself.

Read them instruction labels.

Don't lock the sliding glass door if yer partner is still outside. (I do this at least once a week.)

Days are shorter'n they otter be, 'cept when they're too long.

New Camera

For my birthday/graduation/baby-is-coming gift, Rob bought me a Nikon d90 camera! I am extremely excited to learn how to be a better photographer! We have been messing around with it every evening, trying to figure out how it works. Neither of us have ever used anything but a point and shoot type of camera so this is really new.

I really wanted a high quality camera so that we could document our little one's life. So now I just need to figure out how it works! But even on it's automatic settings, it takes amazing pictures.

I'm looking forward to livening up this blog a little!

Rob Riding the Motocross Bike

Here's Rob riding through an irrigation ditch. I think he's having almost too much fun!

Rob's Motocross Bike

Yesterday, we woke up to a sad happening. We had left Rob's motocross bike overnight on the trailer out in front of our house. We both had had passing thoughts that it wasn't real smart to leave it there overnight, but neither of us did anything about it. Well, it was stolen in the night. No one has any clue who did it. We've reported it to the police. And we've posted a picture a few key places. So, please pray that it is found!

Storm a brewin'

Last night about 7:00, the wind started whipping around the house. There was a little breeze all day, but I didn't suspect a storm. But sure enough, by 7:15 there was an immense amount of dust flying around and the wind was extremely strong.

I took these pictures a little later when things had calmed down a bit. I love our glorious sunsets here!

Carlson's Party

Last night, the Carlsons hosted a nice little get together! It was wonderful to get out and socialize a bit. For the first hour or so everyone played volleyball. I still had the remnants of a migraine so I wasn't up to playing, but I tried to take a few pictures. Without a high quality camera, it's very hard to take pictures of sports! But here are a few that turned out okay:

Rob serving:

This is Tucker--the 12th Carlson (haha)--he just wandered around the yard:

After volleyball they switched to baseball, complete with wiffle bat and squishy ball. Naomi at bat:

Isaac at bat:

After the outdoor games, everyone went inside for some snacks and visiting. It was a very nice evening. I hope to do it again soon!

Ode to the Cucumber

My poor little lemon cucumber looks pitifully up at me, pleading for fertilizer. For days I have maliciously ignored its request, walking by mocking at its frailty. Okay, not quite. I've been wanting to get down to the store to buy some fertilizer but haven't been able to. I've actually been mourning for my little cucumber as I watch it shrivel more each day. Finally, last night I got some Miracle-Gro! In just a few minutes, I'm going to go see if I can save my precious little plant! But I think it's too far gone. *sniff* A garden without cucumbers is like a kitchen without a microwave! ;) Great analogy, I know.

Nightmares

I had awful dreams last night and I just thought everyone should know. :)

Dream #1: Well, first let me explain something. I have this reoccurring theme in a lot of my bad dreams--teeth. Yes, teeth! Most often my teeth are falling out and I can't stop them. It's really annoying and I start getting really stressed in my dream. SO, this dream was similar only my teeth weren't actually falling out. There was one tooth that was trying to come in and the gum was getting infected. The other person in the dream, I won't mention any names, decided that she needed to help the tooth out by cutting the gum. So, she grabbed a needle full of painkiller and poked it into my gum. Another side note, I am absolutely terrified of needles! Anyway, the needle wouldn't go in and it really hurt. And then she poked it behind both ears...yeah, somehow that was supposed to help. All I knew was that I was in terrible pain and the painkiller wasn't working and we still were going to cut into my gum to get the tooth through. I woke up cringing and couldn't stop for a while. But eventually I rolled over and went back to sleep just to start in on....

Dream #2: In this dream, I was in my parents' house. I know there were things leading up to what I remember...but I don't remember what they were! :) Anyway, somehow I had a pink knitting needle in my hand and I accidently dropped it in the hall. When I went to pick it up, a hand shot out of the kitchen and grabbed it before I could. I looked up to see Granny from the Beverly Hillbillies holding it high in both hands ready to run it through me. I woke up in a cold sweat once again! Good grief!

Well, those sound more morbid than I realized! I don't always have such weird dreams. But I thought they might provide a little entertainment. So long!

Pets

I have to admit that I'm not much of a pet person. My family had our dogs, cats, chickens, steers, sheep, fish, toads, spiders, crickets, roly-polies, and ants. But I wasn't into them too much. Maybe it was because I liked my family so much. I didn't need animals!

BUT, there are a couple pets that I've considered owning--mostly for their uniqueness. And it gets a bit lonely around here with Rob gone all day. So, the pets I've considered are:

HEDGEHOGS!!!

These little critters are so cute! Little balls of needles!! Pointy little wet noses. Teeny, weeny little feet. They like to stick their heads in toilet paper cardboard rolls and walk around--weird, I know! But they can have a fiesty attitude depending on the species and how well you care for them.

The other pets that I've considered are:

SUGAR GLIDERS!!!

The baby sugar gliders are ridiculously cute! I watched a video once of a sugar glider eating a grape. It took the glider about 5 minutes! One grape! These little cuties like to snuggle...and jump! Watch out! The drawbacks are that they are nocturnal, sometimes rather loud, can't be litter trained, and need a very specific diet. Other than that, they're perfect! :)

So, the vote is up! Which pets should I get? Hedgehogs or sugar gliders? Or should I just have kids (someday)?

Storm a comin'

Rob got off work a little early this evening so we decided to go for a little bike ride. We've had a blast on our bikes the last few weeks--a very enjoyable way to exercise. We rode down to Hollywood Video to return a movie. We were only part way there when Rob's left pedal started to come off! We decided to continue on and thankfully the pedal stayed on until we got home.

So, after a little tinkering, Rob got the pedal fixed and we started off again. This time we went about a block. Every few seconds there was a little "click"--now the pedal was hitting his kickstand on every rotation! Good grief! Laughing, we turned back once more. By the time we had that fixed, the clouds overhead looked rather ominous. So, we called it a night. Anyway, the sky was scary and magnificent at the same time! This is a view over our neighbors' houses! Lovely!

Silly things today continued

Right after I finished my last post, I looked outside again. The crow and squirrel were still at it! I ran for my camera because I couldn't pass up the opportunity of documenting the event. But when I got back, only the crow was visible. Here he is, perched on top of our flag pole:I was about to give up, when I spotted the squirrel hiding in a tree about 15 feet away. The crow apparently saw it, too, because he flew over into the tree right behind the one the squirrel was in. Sadly, I couldn't get a good picture because the squirrel was hiding quite well. But he jumped from his tree into the one the crow was in because there was a lot of foliage at the bottom of the crow's tree. Very stealthily, the squirrel slithered down and that's the last I saw of him. Here's the crow guarding his tree--with a blown up picture you can see the squirrel's tail peeking out from behind the trunk:

I'm sorry that I couldn't get better pictures. You'll just have to believe me that it happened!

Silly things today

I just saw the funniest sight! I was looking out our front windows to check out the weather, when I saw a "bird of prey" chasing a squirrel. The bird was a crow! It swooped down twice while I could see it. Not sure if it was just a little game or if the crow's eyes were bigger than its stomach.

The other funny thing of the day happened before I was even awake. Apparently, Rob sat up in bed this morning right when I decided to turn over. I bopped him in the head with my elbow! Thankfully, he found it funny. It's nice to start the day out laughing!

Manual Weed Hacker

So, today when I was walking across the street to get the mail I noticed a malady in the yard. NO! Not dandelions! I had a short internal struggle of choices: be industrious and weed the yard...or sit back with a nice snack and read a book or something. My conscience got the better of me and I decided that I must stand up to the task before me and got down to work.
What appeared at first to be a handful of dandelions scattered across the lawn turned out to be a legion and a half all in cahoots. Or at least that's what it seemed like. Each root maliciously broke off under ground. When I'd kneel down to take out one plant, I'd suddently see that three more surrounded it, half buried in our overgrown grass. But two hours, several blisters, and a mild sun burn later, the front yard looked fabulous! Which it's a good thing the lawn looks good because my hands sure don't!

Private Piano Lessons

These are a few pictures of my current piano students. I have had the pleasure of instructing Taylor (to right) for the past 2 1/2 years. And I've taught Michael and Melissa (bottom two pictures) for the past 4 years or so. They have been so much fun! About twice a year we have had a recital for the students to demonstrate their improvement to family and friends. It's always such a delight to see the parents' pride in their children's progress.

If anyone is interested in having private piano lessons and lives in the Tri-Cities, Washington area, please feel free to contact me. I am always looking for new students. I teach 1 hour lessons every other week (so twice a month). The cost is $40.00 per month plus the expense of books. You can email me at revivaltime72688@hotmail.com or just post a comment and I will get back with you.

Music is such an excellent way to express your feelings and thoughts. I have spent many, many hours at the piano playing out the burden or joy that is in my heart. Essentially, I am praying through my hands as I bring before God the expression of my thoughts through song. And I know this is pleasing to Him. Music was created in the very heart of God and that's where all music should be directed--back to God's heart!

Spring days

Yesterday, though windy, proved to be a gorgeous day for picture taking. These hyacinth grace our front lawn. I cannot help but smile and think cheerful thoughts when I look out our front windows and see these beauties.

Rob was driving up to the house, rushing home from work, when I took this picture. He must have thought I was a funny sight sitting in the flower bed! But I couldn't pass up the chance to photograph such purity. That's what these white hyacinth make me think of.

"Consider how the lilies grow." Luke 12:27a

According to dictionary.com, these flowers are part of the lily family so I can rightly quote that verse. :)

Well, I've decided to start this blog because it will give me something to work on as well as let people in on the little secrets of my life. Please feel free to follow along if you find what I have to say interesting. And if not, don't bother. I promise not to be offended!