. . . good news/bad news . . .

. . . good news: my cankles look a lot better . . .

. . . bad news: i'm not sure why . . .

possible causes/contributing factors:

•seven days without diet coke

{so far ~ which probably explains my illness}

•many hours lying on the couch - feet elevated

•inevitable dehydration due to "flu-like" symptoms

{and i think you know what i'm talking about}

. . . good news: today i put on makeup . . .

{first time since saturday}

. . . bad news: it didn't really help . . .

{i still "feel like complete $#!+, ferris"}

. . . good news: i've been catching up on lots of dvr'd shows . . .

. . . bad news: recording ended early - out of space . . .

. . . good news: multiple dvrs . . .

. . . bad news: tracey is still {!!!!!} around . . .

{doing nothing, but still losing weight and wreaking havoc}

. . . good news {for tracey}: coach mo took a bullet for her . . .

. . . bad news: see previous bad news . . .

. . . on the mend . . .

. . . remember halleigh? . . .

. . . she just turned six . . .

. . . we're pals . . .

. . . and she missed us

at family dinner yesterday . . .

. . . so, she sent us a card . . .

. . . a get well card . . .

. . . with an illustration of {i think} me . . .

. . . i love my puffy sleeves . . .

. . . who needs arms, anyway? . . .

. . . and the shoes look vaguely familiar . . .

. . . our family will chuckle

at the spelling of wHanted . . .

. . . which reminds us of

drew's hilarious impersonations

and this little clip . . .

. . . also, for your viewing pleasure . . .

. . . a reenactment of "how to get a yellow light" . . .

. . . from mean old cafeteria ladies . . .

. . . i think i see

synchronized swimming

in their future . . .

. . . adding insult to injury . . .

. . . first, they took away/closed

our neighborhood osco . . .

. . . and now every fall

they turn that empty building into this . . .

. . . then {insert bitter tears}

they closed our beloved bashas' . . .

. . . which happens to be located

directly across the street

from the store formerly known as osco . . .

. . . and just take a look at

what they did to it now . . .

. . . talk about a little healthy competition . . .

. . . still, i'd rather be

picking up prescriptions and groceries . . .

. . . costumes, masks and disgusting makeup??

~ not so much! . . .

. . . four gozinta three . . .

. . . the . . .

. . . trickiest . . .

. . . part . . .

. . . of . . .

. . . all . . .

. . . about . . .

. . . having . . .

. . . four . . .

. . . grandkids . . .

. . . and . . .

. . . only . . .

. . . three . . .

. . . swings . . .

. . . is . . .

. . . trying . . .

. . . to . . .

. . . get . . .

. . . a . . .

. . . decent . . .

. . . photo . . .

. . . of . . .

. . . the . . .

. . . action . . .

. . . have i done any good? . . .

. . . on the heels of president monson's talk . . .

. . . i find myself thinking

about all the wonderful acts of service

of which we've been on the receiving end . . .

. . . and i am humbled and so so so SO grateful . . .

•no charge home repairs

•freshly baked treats

•anonymously delivered flowers

•computer genius help

•resurrecting a long since dead drip system

•pulling up to the drive through window at sonic,

only to find that someone in front of me

had already paid for my route 44 diet coke

{extra ice, please}

•heavens ~ even painters

. . . talk about your warm fuzzies! . . .

. . . then, THEN . . .

. . . when I went to pick up my dry cleaning yesterday,

i was told there'd be no charge . . .

. . . "already paid by someone else" . . .

. . . and i realize that i need to ask myself

"have I helped anyone in need?"

a lot more often . . .

. . . yes, i actually hung it up . . .

. . . orange and all . . .

. . . my favorite part

is the pieced binding

made from random scraps . . .

. . . i used every last bit of that fabric . . .

. . . there seems to be

a theme running through

all/both of

my halloween decorations . . .

. . . i guess i should probably

work a little on my bewitchy attitude . . .

. . . that sinking feeling . . .

. . . man! i wish i'd had a laundry sink

back in the days when i was

bathing babies on a regular basis . . .

. . . i'm a fan . . .

{although elliott doesn't seem convinced}

. . . what a back saver! . . .

. . . follow the leader . . .

. . . remember this amazing talk by president uchtdorf? . . .

. . . it was last october when he said . . .

. . . "we each have an inherent wish

to create something

that did not exist before" . . .

. . . and "what you create

doesn't have to be perfect" . . .

{good thing!}

. . . when he encouraged us to create . . .

. . . do you think he meant

during conference? . . .

{i know. orange.}

{also new to me ~ binding clips. genius.

and much less painful than pins.}

. . . go green 2.0 . . .

. . . last month-ish,

i was saying to my husband,

"everytime i think about repainting,

there's an eight thousand pound elephant

in the room" . . .

. . . and he said, "i can move" . . .

. . . and then i had

the best laugh i've had

in a long time . . .

. . . you can ask him . . .

. . . he was hilarious

and didn't even mean to be . . .

. . . what i was, of course, referring to were

my luscious green countertops . . .

. . . which i really did love at the time . . .

. . . fourteen years ago . . .

{hello, missionary bowlers!}

. . . well, we went ahead and painted anyway . . .

. . . but it wasn't quite right . . .

{hi, elliott!}

. . . go, green . . .

. . . go {far away} green . . .

. . . happy birthday

{when will it end?}

to me . . .

. . . from the {not}

"eight thousand pound elephant" . . .

. . . eighteen/six . . .

. . . remember this lovely creation? . . .

{edited to add: thanks for taking the time to make it, manders!}

. . . wanna watch it shrink? . . .

. . . here it is exactly one year ago . . .

{sadly, i can't "biggie size" this photo.

it was lost in the great crash

~ so i could only steal it from my own blog archives}

. . . one and a half loops

became a single loop

back in april . . .

. . . which has since dwindled

to this miniscule little chain today . . .

. . . hardly worth even keeping it tacked up . . .

. . . we'll just let it hang down and

watch it disappear by april-ish . . .

. . . and just in case you're wondering . . .

{and i'm sure you were wondering!}

. . . i've kept every link . . .

. . . in my

{now obsolete ~ hello iCal and iPhone}

planner . . .

. . . ocd? maybe just a little . . .