Thoughts on life

Having not blogged for almost a month (life happens), I'll roll up a couple of thoughts into one. The first is:

And Here We Have Idaho

Summer comes slowly and tentatively to Idaho. Last year it snowed on June 4th. This year has been much better, but on Friday we had the craziest storm I've ever seen. Wind, pea-sized hail, and rain in TORRENTS. There was a river running down Napa Drive. The day after, we still had piles of ice in the shade. I was driving home from work and the hail on the car was like GUNSHOTS.

Fortunately, the windshield survived. Unfortunately, my beautiful geranium and garden did not. My poor little radishes, okra, and peas look like they've been through a shredder. And this lovely organic specimen is (was?) my geranium.











The second thought relates to Michael Jackson.

Honestly, I never bought his music. I wasn't into it. And, quite truthfully, he was the most bizarre entertainer on the planet. But I was reading a blog on npr.org about him that attached the video of him singing "Billie Jean" at the Motown 25 celebration. This was the premier of the ever famous Moonwalk. There was NOBODY from my generation that didn't at least attempt to do the Moonwalk.

One of my kids asked me today, "so what's the big deal about Michael Jackson?". I guess I'm kind of glad they didn't get it, because their only memories of him are related to his self destructive behavior. But I also tried to explain how all kinds of people come into our lives, even when we don't really like them or understand them or want them there, and when that person leaves we can't help but miss them a little bit, even if they were kind of weird.

I'll let you pull up the Moonwalking videos yourself on Youtube - but here's a fun little Michael Jackson video - how I like to remember him - when we were all a little more innocent.

Moving Day

It's official. Matt and Katie have their own apartment! They moved in today and, at last check, hadn't made a lot of progress on unpacking boxes but had put the kitchen table together and started the dishwasher so they'd have something to eat off of.

It's really quite fun to watch them establish their own home. We bid them farewell by stocking the pantry and fridge with essentials - bread, milk, eggs, and a dustpan - and Kent and Joshua helped move all their stuff up three flights of stairs. Mercifully, our next door neighbor showed up unannounced and unasked to help. Bless him!

Having them here with us has been great fun. I love having them around. But, as all things must progress, it's time for them to have their own place and start their little family. The house feels a little emptier tonight, but our hearts are full of the blessing of having them nearby and doing well!

Coupon Craziness

We had this amazing Enrichment Activity at church a couple of weeks ago on clipping coupons. It was taught by someone who has really figured out how to use coupons to get FREE STUFF. I call her the Coupon Queen. All of her coupons are even alphabetized in a binder.

So, I was inspired and decided to try my hand at it. Honestly, I couldn't figure out any of the coupon websites and with limited free time I just wasn't that into it. However, I did as instructed and bought the Blackfoot newspaper at the Maverik down the street - a 50 cent investment - and got all the week's coupons. I used them on items I would usually buy and saved $15.00!!!

I doubt that I'm ever going to be teaching a class on clipping coupons. And I won't be one of those die-hards who take pictures of everything they bought with the coupons and BLOG ABOUT IT.

But, hey....if I can save $15.00 on various and sundry groceries, that's $15.00 I can spend on eating out. And what's better than that??