Sunday Smatterings

While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about. ~Angela Schwindt

DD got her stitches out with some success... she can put a little weight on the foot, but taking "real" steps hurts because it pulls (since the injury was where the toes bend). Yesterday, we were outside for a bit, and a deerfly started buzzing her and wouldn't stop. She whacked at it with her hat, but it wouldn't leave it alone, so without thinking she turned to run.

Not a good idea. &%$# deerfly.

Still, the doctor has decreed that her foot will be healed enough by next weekend that she can go swimming in the lake again. She is thrilled!

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Evidently our milkweed is on the map this year. Not only do we have monarchs (three more came inside yesterday and DD named all nine of them but I don't remember what the names were except Sylvia, Dew, Cassie and Curly), and milkweed beetles (these don't make me happy -- their larva actually bore into the roots and stalk to eat which effectively kills the plant), but yesterday DD said, "Mom, this leaf is hairy!"

We turned it over, and look what we found:


Want a closer look?


Aren't they COOL!?! They are the larva of the Milkweed Tussock Moth and they get to be just GORGEOUS as they get older. Check out this picture (not mine):



And, no, they are NOT coming inside. We'll just enjoy them in their natural habitat.

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Today, I will spend building next week's pages for the LASR/WC website. AND... getting ready for the LASR anniversary party that starts on Friday, August 1st. Remember, besides all the really amazing prizes that include books and various other cool stuff, the grand prize is a $50 Gift Certificate to Amazon.com!! Have YOU promoted it on YOUR blog yet? You get an extra entry in every daily contest AND into the GC drawing if you do :-)

Have a great Sunday!

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Tornadoes in NH?? Seriously?

Weather is a great metaphor for life - sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad, and there's nothing much you can do about it but carry an umbrella. ~Pepper Giardino

As we recover from crazy storms, and my DH heads up to Alton and New Durham to see if his brother and uncle still have lake camps, I'm finally sitting down to breakfast (granola with blueberries, in case you wondered).

Yesterday the weather was absolutely nuts. Tornadic-type activity (they haven't decided whether we had "real" tornadoes or not, but the damage sure seems to indicate that we did). Thankfully, my town was spared, but a town just a few miles over was hit really hard (and sustained the only fatality). We had HEAVY rain and strong winds, but nothing catastrophic.

In between downpours, I went outside to gather some veggies for dinner (I love being able to do that) and I made the mistake of glancing at the milkweed. The wind had bent some of it over, and I saw... yes, you guessed it: a monarch pillar on a leaf that was shredded.

The skies were black, the storms were coming... what else could I do but bring him in. Um... him and five of his friends.

So, yes folks -- the second half of Pillar Place 2008 has begun.

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DD gets her stitches out late this afternoon. Thank heavens...

She's not healed yet, but getting there. It'll probably be another week or two before she's back up close to speed. Thank heavens. She is going NUTS.

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You Are a Rainbow

Breathtaking and rare You are totally enchanting and intriguing But you usually don't stick around long! You are best known for: your beauty Your dominant state: seducing

What Type of Weather Are You?

HAHAHAHAAHAHA....

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Hard Lessons to Learn

The trouble with using experience as a guide is that the final exam often comes first and then the lesson. ~Author Unknown

Yesterday, DH and DD (and other family members) went boating. I was supposed to have the entire weekend blessedly alone.

Alas, it was not to be.

At approximately five o'clock, I received a call from my DH. He needs to take lessons on Not Panicking Your Wife 101.

"Hey, I'm taking DD to the ER. Can I give them my insurance card?"

Yes, it's true... there was not anything to preface that remark. Eventually, I discovered that she had cut her foot and probably needed stitches, but he was across the lake from where he had the truck parked and needed to go. He'd call me when they were off the water.

Ohhhh-kay.

Twenty minutes later, he called from the truck. Told me where he was headed. I told him I'd meet him there as soon as I could.

I checked, and all my neighbors were gone... what to do with the dog? Last time we hit the ER, it took upwards of nine hours. Considering it was more than an hours drive time to the ER at the lake, I could potentially be looking at eleven hours. Couldn't leave her crated that long...

I took her with me.

When we arrived, DD was in the exam room. She'd had x-rays to make sure nothing was broken, and was waiting for the doc to have her stitches. And, I finally discovered what had happened.

She'd been sitting somewhere she shouldn't have, and when a wave hit the boat, she fell off. Onto the brand new, stainless steel propeller. The one that cut my DH's hand when he put it on. Apparently, she'd clutched her toes to try to stop the fall... instinctive, yes. Good idea? Um, not so much.

She sliced her big toe half off (seriously... ick... down to the bone), took a chunk out of her second toe, and sliced her third one. She ended up with eight stitches. Her toes now look like this.... (I'll put some spaces for those folks who don't want to see the icky picture)....

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Worse? Aside from the fact that DH laid into her about obeying your father, she's out a two-day trip to the lake, fireworks AND a week's worth of swimming next week in my neighbor's pool (they're out of town for a week, and offered us the use of it).

AND... it MUST stay clean. Period. So... no walks, no bike riding, no bare feet.

It looks like this:


And SHE looks like this:



I don't expect it to be a fun ten days.

What's the worst injury YOU'VE had?

I broke my wrist falling off my pony in fourth grade, and had surgery on my leg in seventh to remove a bone growth. I ran into a glass chess board with my head in kindergarten and had a bunch of stitches just above my left eyebrow. And I tried to slice off my pinkie when I was four y.o. --- but I survived them all.

Obviously.

*G*