We got new pictures of little Henry today. He is 6 weeks
old. He is of course super cute. But these pictures remind us of Edgar. We don’t know Henry's personality traits yet as we haven’t met him, but there is something about the way he looks at the camera that reminds Alex, my mom, and I of Edgar. He has a
regal meets mischievous look to him! And that was certainly Edgar.

When I first met Alex, Edgar was full of personality. He used to literally tie me up in his leash when Alex and I would take him on walks. He did not like me muscling in on his human in those first months. And he would run away most mornings in search of Alex, poor guy was incensed at not being taken along. He could have come if he hadn’t insisted on marking everywhere he went… One of the times he stayed with my parents he jumped up on their dining room table and ate an entire stick of butter and
jumped down again before anyone could get into the room. He liked to mark the same spot at their house until it started leaking urine through the basement ceiling. Ah Edgar, he certainly did have an opinion. I tend to recall the mellow ancient creature he was in his last years. But he was an exercise in patience for a long time. Dagny on the other hand was nowhere near as troublesome. She was a dog, she barked and sniffed and whatnot, but generally she was a good girl. And yet I miss Edgar every day and Dags, well it was lovely while she was here and I hope she is a happy angel dog but I don’t really miss her.

Paying bills as a procrastination tact

Why do I procrastinate "cracking open" my blog and posting? I daydream about it. But when a moment free of familial questions and request presents itself I am scurrying into the kitchen to wash the dishes or balancing my checkbook instead of logging in. Getting all the bills and payments ready for next month was today's blog procrastination. Yes, I know, one would think it would be the opposite. Oh well, here I am--logged in and typing. Makes me sweat. It isn't like I don't have anything to say, anyone who knows me can attest to my nonstop stream of consciouss capabilities. Somehow this is just a stumbling brick. As I ease into 2012 I will attempt to narrate the journey of our adjustment to a new puppy and all the other silly meneal things that go on here at Berry central. :)

Alex and I are headed to Yakima end of the week to meet little Henry an English Jack Russell. I am as excited as I am nervous. Good thing, like children, puppies pull at my heartstrings. He will be old enough to come home with us in about a month and then the real fun begins.

Pickled Beans

Quilla and I pickled green beans today. I had about 4lbs from Fall City Farms (thank you, Kristi!) and so we looked up a recipe and jarred 'em up. It was surprisingly easy. Especially since I have already done peaches and tomatoes in previous years, this seemed fairly easy. We shall see how they taste in a few months.

60lbs of peaches this year, lots of frozen blueberries and blueberry jam. We experimented with varying amounts of sugar/honey with the blueberry jam. Taste test results to be shared upon opening.

Next up: canning roma tomatoes, applesauce, and maybe some egg and beet pickling.

I love to read. As a mom sometimes there are long stints without much of that, but lately there has been time to read. I am loving it. The most recent was Firefly Lane by Kristen Hannah. It was recommended to me by several people and by page 6 I was already tearing up. I am a crier, be it a movie, book, or stories about in the newspaper I cry when something is sad. I like people, so what if they are fictional. And for anyone planning to read Firefly, it's good, but be warned the end pages should have built in tissues. My daughter found me crying and thought something seriously bad had happened. No, just reading! :)

And my other current favorite is The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I loved this book. It made me laugh and stayed with me. I wanted to travel to Guernsey and meet the folks in the book. Delightful.

It is a little dangerous for me to open a new book as i don't want to put it down. And I am cranky until I can get back to it and find out what happens. (Thankfully I married a man who is the same way. So while it drives the other nuts, we totally get it.) I am now on book 2 of The Sisters Grimm series. Young adult books, yes, but that hasn't stopped me before!

More interesting facts about God

So most of you know that I believe there is a God, but for me it is fairly private. I don't talk about it a lot and I have forged my own relationship as it were. So as things come up with the kids I try to answer their questions with different views including my own and allow them to explore. Aresa loves to talk about God. It is just very interesting to her so it comes up a lot lately. For her birthday she asked for a picture of God. So Alex and I found a whole bunch of images that depict different ideas about what god might look like and told her no one really knows and these were what some folks thought.

So tonight she asks me about the election. We are Obama supporters so we have been trying to explain elections, and why we prefer one over the other, etc. So tonight she was asking about them again and why I didn't like Mr. Bush very much. And I mentioned that I was hopeful that Obama would do a better job with things. So she proceeds to empahatically ask God "to make Obama the leader of our country" and she sits there as if waiting for a response. So I said,
“Honey, does God talk to you”
“yes”
“what does he say”
“did you know he speak spanish”
“no I didn’t know that, are you able to understand him”
“oh yes”

Love it, so that is your interesting tidbit of the day, God speaks Spanish. One would think from all the focus she puts on god that we discussed it a lot, we don't and 9 out of ten times when we do it is initiated by Aresa. It will be fun to see how she evolves.

say it out loud

There have been several folks in my families extended relations and good friends that have passed in the last few weeks, some expected, some a shocking surprise. I am a big believer in telling folks how you feel about them when you feel it. Don't assume they know or that there will be another chance. Be aware enough to be sure and say the things you would want said if you were to leave tomorrow for a very long time.

And not just the folks around you that you see frequently. Take a moment to think of the people that changed your destiny when you were in high school, or you looked up to as a 6 year old. If there is a way to find them and send a quick card do that. It will make their day.

We get a lot more out of life when we are focused on what is joyful.

Sunshine feeds my soul

I am a true Seattlite, I like the rain. I like the smell and getting wet in it. But I also love sunshine. I like a balance of the two best. You know how good it feels to slip on a pair of jeans on that first rainy day after 10 days of sun? Or vice versa, the tank top of that hot day after months of rain and gray skies?

It has been such a treat to have warm weather that isn't so hot that it turns me into jelly. Just made me happy today to look out and realize summer is really here and I am awake enough to realize it. The baby hormones are mostly gone, I am starting to see some progress with the balance of motherhood, womanhhood, entreprenuer. It feels good.

Be present