by the silence of my house at 8:30 in the morning, i can tell we've had a busy weekend. even the hounds are still asleep, wiped out from being outside playing, swimming and fetching. we didn't go anywhere. we didn't really do anything. but all the bushes and new flowers are planted, the big back retaining wall and its steps are finally built, the deck is completely stained and finished and the husband got a start on the hockey shooting room in the basement.

yes. you heard me right. sigh.

i knew long ago when it seemed we had an extra weird utility room down there it could mean trouble. it's an "L" shaped room that really has no purpose, no windows and is concrete on the back side. it's just long enough to skate about five strides and take a shot at the net.

did you know they make synthetic indoor ice you can skate on with ice skates? it comes this week and will go down on the floor. the thick plywood the husband is putting up for walls will allow people to shoot pucks without hurting anything serious. the insulation he put into the ceiling might help keep the sound from making me go insane from the constant thud thud thud upstairs...but probably not.

to me it seems kinda silly but the boys are pretty excited. i sure hope the hockey shooting room does not go the way of the ping pong table, the air hockey table, the electronic dart board (still in the box)...

in other news, the latest "craze" around here is air soft guns. the boys have been playing air soft wars with neighbor boys for the last three days. yesterday they came home all excited because they had been shooting each other with actual pellets and declared "it doesn't hurt much, even when you shoot someone in the head."

nice.

big j has been doggedly researching "youth air soft tournaments" online because he heard you could win money. he is sad we don't live somewhere cooler than here, one of the only states that hasn't yet latched onto to the whole air soft frenzy. perhaps because REAL hunting and shooting are fairly popular and most kids in sodak are hunting deer long before they can drive. i guess not many of them are animal rights activists like big j.

other than all that craziness, i do see some blue sky out there today in honor of memorial day...thinking of my grandpa jim.

have a great week

ok, so i just spent the weekend taking little j to a hockey tournament without my security blanket, er, husband. he is the one that always takes on the locker room duty, stays up late drinking beer with the coaches and jumps in the pool with all the kids. he's the cool half of us, and i am always kind of the dud in the background.

but you know what? i realized i'm not a dud at all without my security blanket. i stayed up late and had a beer with the coaches. i played laser tag with the kids. i explored the city with my fancy new GPS system and never got lost. i may have even snagged a new client.

i truly was not looking forward to this tournament without the husband, but it turns out i do own a pair of big girl pants after all.

i think i'll bring them along more often. :)

yikes!

the end of the school year is crashing in here...ready or not. i do love having the kids home, but...

ha.

i'm just bracing myself for the chaos of working from home with the added pressure of being the taxi driver, chef, referee and social coordinator while attempting to actually get work done and NOT ignore my clients. it's a hard balance.

last year i bought the trampoline on day 2 of summer vacation so that i could kick the kids outside and they would have something to do.

this year, i may buy a lock for the OUTSIDE of the net so they actually have to stay in there.

for all the typos, lame campaigns, missed phone calls and stupid ads that happen over the next few months, i blame the kids. the rest of the year is all me.

Ok, finally some "running" photos. the family shot is from the breast cancer run, it was a great day. i think we'll make this an annual thing. the other shots are from the girls on the run event. it was FREEZING that morning--cold, windy and rainy--but they all finished. there were some tears from a few moms. :) it was good. what a good group of girls. my boys also ran, and both of them improved their times from the week before. all in all, i've seen some character building going on all around. including my own.

happy monday.

so the boys ran their first 5K road race and i didn't bring my camera. it was a gorgeous day, with 6300 people running and we had 17 family members there. but no camera.

later that day, the boys and the dogs went swimming in the lake and had a great time at the beach making mud pies and having mudball fights. again, no camera.

SO. when big j snagged a northern in our back yard that night he yelled for me to go get the camera. i ran to the house as fast as i could. i was not going to blow this again.

i snap the photo and he says. "well, now you have something to put on your blog."

he he.

which one of you people are paying him off?

just a random recap here on a friday...

*if you care at all about running or just want to read a fascinating book, read "Born to Run" by Greg McDowell. it will make you want to run barefoot, or at least try those toe shoes. which i might. i wonder if they make those toe shoes with an extra long second toe? i ask this for no particular reason. ahem.

*the hound shocked us all this week by passing her obedience test. not only did she pass, she got an A plus. big j actually pumped his fist in the air and signed her up for more classes. which just proves that every silver lining has a dark cloud underneath it, or something like that.

*the snooty lady with the large snooty standard poodle named Petra did NOT pass obedience class. this is the lady who asked twice to be moved away from us because our dog was distracting her dog.

*our dog WAS distracting her dog, but it's still funny.

*the pit bull named Kevin didn't show up for the test. i think he finally realized he was doomed the minute some moron decided to name him Kevin.

*the husband is outside right now building stairs for the retaining wall, bob segar by his side. that is just one step closer to grass and one step farther away from a dirt yard. seriously, people. don't take your lawn for granted. go out there and roll around on yours for me, will you?

*the $250 trampoline has required some replacement parts. they want $169 for spring pads and $185 for a new net. go figure.

*next month, the husband and i have to split weekends. he is going to fargo with little j for hockey. i am going to the hills to run the deadwood half. we each need a vehicle. we have one that might make it. this is what happens when people take dave ramsey just a little too far.

*on the upside, having no car payments for this many years might make up for the hitchhiking. i imagine a man and a boy and a hockey bag would get picked up fairly quickly, don't you?

*Google has officially replaced me as a parent. every time big j asks one of his historical, geographical, mathematical or hypothetical questions, he takes one look at my blank face and goes straight to the computer. sigh. it's not my fault i was dodging spitballs in geography and sitting around the mcdonald's parking lot during the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. sheesh.

*i end this with big j's most hypothetical question of the week: if scientists start making clones, would the clones have souls and would they go to heaven?

"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that." – MLK Jr.

I swiped this from someone who swiped it from someone who...

anyway. i wasn't going to go here. it's way too controversial.

but there i went, didn't i?

it's may and this weekend i bought a new fleece and a sweatshirt.

if that says anything.

i remember a year when i was mowing the lawn on april 15. what the heck is happening to our weather?

i talk quite a bit about the hounds, but the truth is, our best pet is our big boy pounce. he's the monster-sized orange cat with six toes and the best attitude on the planet. he likes to sit in the sun with his big mitten paws stretched out and crossed over the top of each other, like he is King. which he is.

anyway, we had a little scare this weekend. we left friday at noon for a hockey tourney in st. cloud. i always put pounce in the garage with the door open about half a foot so he can come and go, because he's a "come and go" kind of guy. on friday, i could not find him ANYWHERE. he's usually lounging in one of three favorite places, but no. we looked and looked and no pounce. we had to leave, so i filled a litter, left it in the house and hoped for the best. (he's not a fan of the litter box and always just asks to go outside. another reason he's the best cat ever.)i just knew he was inside because i saw him on his chair while i was packing.

anyway, about halfway through the trip i had a thought. what if pounce, who totally loves to go inside bags and boxes, got into a closet while i was packing and i shut the door on him? and he's trapped in the closet all weekend? without food, water or a litter box?

i would have called someone to come check, but we locked all the doors.

dang.

we went through the whole weekend wondering if pounce was ok. the minute we pulled into the garage the boys jumped out and started yelling for him, inside and outside. finally little j took off on his bike and was yelling for pounce in the neighborhood.

then i saw the funniest thing. a big orange streak came barreling down the street to catch little j on his bike. the two of them were side by side all the way home. i have never seen a cat run with a bike in my life, but like i said. pounce is no ordinary cat.

i don't know where he was, how or when he got out...but we sure are happy he's ok. don't tell the other pets, but he's secretly my favorite. i'll have to take a picture of him next time he's in his King pose.

you'll totally understand.