Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire...

Okay, really it's a fake fire, so I'm not roasting anything, but I'm still super excited about it! I've been saving for this fireplace for a year and last weekend, I finally got it!!

My kitchen tiles feel warmer already!!

The Pope Strikes Again...

We still hadn't figured out what all the fuss was about, we didn't actually find out about the Pope until we watched CNN that night. (It was the only english speaking station we could find.) I took these pictures of a beautiful avenue in Paris known as the Champs Elysees. I had plenty of opportunity to snap the "right shot" since we were sitting on the top of an open aired double decker bus that was stopped in the middle of the road for 30 minutes while we waited for the Pope's motorcade to come through on it's way to the Presidential Palace.

Here are the very overdressed police officers and very overarmed members of the French army sent to make sure all went well.

And could this him? It's not the Pope-mobile, but it sure was moving fast...

Now I'm not complaining, sitting on a tour bus in Paris, is still Paris, but it did get a little chilly. And loud. There was a helicopter flying not too high overhead filming all the action. Now if you were the Pope and were expected to arrive amidst all this pomp and circumstance, wouldn't you be tempted to show up at the back door in a Volkswagon Beatle or something? No? Oh, well, maybe it's just me...

I'd Like An Audience With The Pope...

I'd like to tell him he owes me a visit to Notre Dame. When we got to this beautiful church, we noticed a stage being set up next door and a whole lot of French policemen and women strolling about. This would have been a handy time for one of us to suddenly be granted the gift of tongues. There were pictures of the Pope everywhere, but the writing was all in French (go figure...). Had either Carol or I read or spoken French, we would have learned that the Pope was due to visit Notre Dame that evening and therefore the church was closed to tourists. :) As it was, we only got pictures of the outside of the building.

Pretty cool huh? Don't feel too bad for me though. To drown my sorrows, we walked next door to a cafe and ordered this!! Yummy!!!!

I've Been Tagged...

Four songs I loved as a child and still adore:

1. Darcy The Dragon - Roger Whitaker - It's an old Christmas song that reminds me of waiting semi-patiently, with my siblings and cousins, for Santa to arrive at our family Christmas party.
2. Puff The Magic Dragon - Peter, Paul & Mary - Apparently I had a thing for dragons...
3. Ode To The Little Brown Shack Out Back - Billy Ed Wheeler - I don't really think that one needs an explanation...
4. How Firm A Foundation - Hymn #85 - Stop laughing, the 3rd verse of that song has given me warm fuzzies for decades!

Four friends I had as a child that I still keep in touch with:

1. Anne - We met in kindergarten and have been friends ever since. Lost touch for a few years but recently found her again thanks to Facebook.
2. Lori - My best friend for the past 15+ years.
3. Do imaginary friends count?
4. If not, I'm in trouble...

Four weaknesses I had as a child:

1. I was painfully shy.
2. I had horrible self-esteem.
3. I never wanted to be away from home or my parents.
4. I was horrified of spiders. Oh wait, I still am. I'm afraid to kill them, because I don't want their little spider family's to come after me...

Four strengths I had as a child:

1. I was nice to everyone.
2. I too was an awesome second mother (thanks for the idea Noelle!). My mom had/has an in-home daycare. I started practicing my mommy-ing skills at a very early age!
3. I was a family peacemaker. (Now I think I'm a troublemaker...)
4. Probably the greatest strength I had as a child was my family. They still are.

That's probably far more about me than anyone ever wanted to know!

Four people I want to answer these questions:

1. Kristin
2. Mandi W.
3. Mandi H.
4. Lori

How Did I Get So Lucky?

I want to take a moment, while you are a semi-captive audience, to send a shout out to the best family in the world!

Those of you who know me well, know my favorite thing to gripe about (okay my 2nd favorite thing) is the on-going battle I have been waging against the weeds/grass, but mostly weeds in my back yard. Throughout the course of this summer, I have fertilized, watered, mowed, fertilized again, over fertilized, burned and eventually killed the greater part of my back yard. I finally threw a fairly impressive temper tantrum, complete with stomping my feet (and yes, there were tears), gave up and started mentally planning the desert landscape and/or rock garden I would put in next year.

About a month ago, I got the opportunity to go to Europe with my friend Carol. I don't have any pictures of what the yard looked like when I left. Frankly, I wouldn't post them if I did because I'm too embarassed, but this is what I found when I came home.

They had torn out the dead grass (no small feat, I might add), redone the sprinkling system, planted new grass, trees and shrubs and my personal favorite, built this beautiful waterfall/pond.

Thanks guys, for loving me enough to put up with my feeble attempts at landscaping and I promise from now on, all I'll do is mow and water. The rest I'll leave to the professionals. Yes, Jed, that means you. (Hey, what are baby brothers for?) I love you all! You're the best!