Monday, October 17, 2005

Perfect Weekend

This past weekend was absolutely gorgeous here in the Boise area. I had to get out and get some of this fresh air and, of course, photos.
Just a few miles up the road from my home is the Boise River, where I always find I can air the cobwebs of my mind and refresh my inner soul.
While walking along the path that follows the river, I found a summer swing hanging from high above the river. I wished I had been there a month or so ago, on a hot summer day when the kids were jumping from this swing into the river. It must have been great fun.The Boise River has been a great challenge for me in the fishing department. All the years I've fished this river, I have never had one catch. I think I'll stick to enjoying the beauty of the scenery and leave the fishing to Rebecca.

Saturday, October 15, 2005

Feline Friday (a day late)...

Wigs... from my photo archives... Given to a wonderful cat loving family, she's been gone for about a year now, The gal who took Wigs home, works with me, so I get frequent updates. Wigs still loves to be perched high above whatever is going on, swatting whatever, or whoever, comes within swatting reach. Wigs still loves to eat with her paws, yogurt cups are her favorite.

Check out Steve's
Feline Friday, over at (sometimes)photoblog, and see other Feline entries. I do love cats, but have been invaded by Yorkies!

* BSU Broncos win again tonight, 38 - 21, over San Jose State Spartans. They're 2-0 in the WAC, this being their 28th win in a roll.

Saturday, October 08, 2005

BSU Broncos

We're off to see Boise State Broncos play Portland State Vikings this evening. The temp is 61 at the moment, and not a cloud in the sky! We were told there was a good chance of rain today. Whew!


Bronco Stadium sits along the Boise River at the east end of the campus. Breath taking views of Bogus Basin and the mountains are beyond the score board at the river's end of the stadium. Boise State University is a beautiful campus.

Photos Courtesy of BSU website.
Sunday, October 9, 2005 Update: Broncos won, 21-7! This is their 27 win in a row in the WAC division.

Rose


...more roses from my yard.

Thursday, October 06, 2005

Changes

My Journal will have "pink" in it all month, in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Fall... Change is in the air. The colors are bright and vivid. Here's another photo from my yard. When I planted my trees, I tried to find a variety of trees that would be real showy during the fall and spring.

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

New Journaler

Please stop by and see Stephanie's new Journal... She's excited to be starting her own Journal after reading lots of ours! Please join me in welcoming her to J-land.

Here's the view, peeking over my back fence, this past weekend! I love Autumn and all the colors. There's a bright red, I mean, fire red plant, just on the other side of our fence. I thought the colors of the trees, further behind the fence, being green and yellow, were beautiful with the red leaves making a great accent. Enjoy!

Sunday, October 02, 2005

October Begins

October ~ Breast Cancer
Awareness Month

My mom is in her third week of radiation treatments for breast cancer, and seems to be tolerating the treatments okay. She has another three weeks of these treatments to go.

Last weekend was my mom's 65th birthday. My dad wanted my son and I to join them at dinner out to celebrate. We met them at the restaurant of her choice, bringing her a beautiful, pink with roses, gift bag full of special items, just for her. She seemed mildly surprised to be receiving gifts, and was almost too embarrassed to open them in front of the strangers of the restaurant.

From all of the chemo and radiation treatments she's received so far, her skin has dried out terribly and her nails have discolored and curled in. Of course, she's lost all her hair and now wears a wig which looks as natural as her own hair.

So, self pampering items from shower gels, body lotions, to pedicure sets with mint fizzies to soak her feet in, nail polish, and a light pale pink lipstick and liner to match, were all in her gift bag. She may not be able to use the lotions until after she finishes with the radiation treatments, as her skin is very tender and vulnerable right now. But, she'll be ready for them when the treatments end. She couldn't wait to use her pedicure set and have my dad help with her toenail polish.

Dinner was wonderful. The manager and assistant manager have become personal friends of my parents and stopped by our table frequently to make sure we were treated like royalty and our food was perfect. In the end, our tummies were full and we all had a really good time together.

Taken today, the photo above is a rose from my garden.

Sunday, September 25, 2005

It's Been A Year

Tomorrow is the Anniversary of my Journal's First Entry... I cannot believe it's been a year already! Life. Oh, what a year can bring...

I started Journaling shortly after my guy decided to go back on the road. He's a long haul truck driver, and being so, he is gone a lot more than I like. I miss him so much it hurts. Being able to write my thoughts and feelings to him in my private Journal allowed me to feel closer to him while he was away. I eventually ventured out and started reading other Journals, and wanted a place to share my stories and own amateur photos.

Some of my favorite entries of the past year:

Black with Gold Trim ~ A story of Harley, my first Yorkie. Just a month after this posting, we lost Harley. He's now waiting for us at the Rainbow Bridge.

My Baby Girl ~ A photo collage of my daughter.

Peanut, Our Little Miracle Yorkie ~ Peanut almost didn't make it.

My Idaho & Puppies ~ Beauty in my backyard and Puppies all summer long.

For all my regular visitors, your comments mean so much to me. Thank You all. Sonya, thank you for the graphic!

Here's a current photo of Sadie, one of Lucy's puppies we kept. Sadie will be six months old this week.

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Summer's End

What a summer it's been... My son worked his summer away at his first real job, my Mom has had a rough go of it with her chemo treatments, my Dad has been by her side the whole time, my guy has been gone all summer long, puppies came and went, and more.

My Son... School is going well for my son, if you can tell much by the third week of school. A Junior in high school this year, and he's already earning college credits with some of his classes. We're pretty excited about that! He tells me he can manage working and going to school, and promises his grades will not suffer. I have asked him to cut back his hours at work, he's only 16 years old. In Idaho, once you're 16, there are no limits on the number of hours worked or the time worked in a day. My wish is that he's home by 10 p.m., he's not made it here before midnight already twice this week. ARGH! He needs the job to support that old truck he bought (his Dad bought for him) last spring.

My Mom... Bless her heart. She had only two more chemo treatments left and was told she could not continue the treatments. She's developed a condition in her feet that has left her barely able to walk. If she continued with chemo, it's very possible she may have permanent damage to her feet. Radiation treatments started this week and is planned to continue for six weeks. She'll have to have another biopsy done later this week for new found lump. Will this ever end? I keep trying to tell her, and myself, she'll make it through this. These treatments are tough, but she'll make it through. God, I pray I'm right.

My Guy... Tonight, he's in hot and humid, Thomasville, Georgia. Today, he drove through what looked like a war zone; New Orleans, Gulfport and Biloxi via Interstate 10. The interstate was clear of all debris, but the devastation he described over the phone, of what he was witnessing from the cab of his truck, was unbelievable. He's happy to be doing his part in helping Katrina victims by delivering badly needed supplies. After almost two weeks of delivering in the south, he'll be heading west, for home. It'll be good to have him home.

Puppies... Our first litter of puppies came early this spring. Almost eight weeks later, we had our second litter of puppies. The puppies stay with us at least eight weeks before letting them go to their new homes, so I had puppies all spring and summer long. I loved it! They kept me busy and out of trouble. Sadie is one of Lucy's puppies we decided to keep, and she's doing great! I need to get a new photo of Sadie to share with you all. I'll work on that this weekend.

I've learned a new trick... I've been playing with hyperlinks, inserting them throughout my entry. I feel I need to multi-task here, and make sure I enter photos too. All words and no photos, hmm, not sure I like that. LOL The above photo is a rose from my yard... I wasn't thrilled with the original shot so played with my photo editor, and wa-la! I like it!

Sunday, September 11, 2005

September 11th, 2001

September 11th, 2001... It's been four years since the tragedy at NYC, the Pentagon, and in Pennsylvania where the fallen airliner found it's final resting place, tragedy for all of America. I will never forget the unbelievable 'live' seens I saw from my t.v. that beautiful, September morning. On this anniversary of that horrific event, I think of those who lost loved ones, four years ago today.

Monday, September 05, 2005

Feelings

I have been overwhelmed with emotions and frustration this past week, while watching the devastation of the Gulf States unfold on t.v. I am embarrassed that our great American country, what's considered the strongest country in the world, has taken so long to help our fellow Americans in such desperate need, in all the areas hit hard by Katrina.

Seems our troops have been dwindled down to so few over the years, and the few troops we have have been sent over seas to help other nations, leaving us vulnerable to emergencies like Katrina.

I have done what I can from Idaho, far, far away from the devastation, and will do more as I can. My guy is driving loads of food to the areas in need. His company has been asked to drive for larger companies donating to F.E.M.A. He may be gone for a long while, transporting food and supplies from all points to hurricane hit destinations.

I am thankful my 22 year old niece and her little family, 2 year old Gabrielle and her Daddy, made it out safely after staying in one of the hospitals in Marrero, LA, until Tuesday evening. She made it to West Virginia, the night before last, to stay with her Mom for awhile. My niece's home is in Marrero, LA. Rumor has it her home is dry, built 6 feet above sea level, but has wind damage. I pray for all those displaced and left without anything, that they will find a way to create a new life.

Gabrielle, while here on her first visit to Idaho, last November.