Smack upside the head

Well, I knew it was coming and I've been waiting for one for years...Sam's got a concussion.
#1 is 26 and began sports at 4, just a couple of broken bones and some various sprains, bruises and lumps. #2 began playing sports at 4 and had some broken bones, avulsions, weird calcifying things, sprains, etc. # 3 began playing sports at 5 and has had some similar experiences until his last game of his last year in high school...CONCUSSION, brain smack, crack on the noggin.

We were joking in the stands, "wow, someone got lit up, you can hear the helmets cracking up here." Little did I know it was my own #3 getting "lit up". He then proceeded to play the rest of that quarter and the second quarter too. Finally, the score was too high and all the starters were pulled. He was the joker that kept getting the offsides call - he forgot what the count was. He tried to run out with the kick-off team - didn't do that all season. He ran out to the field to play his position but - someone was already out there taking his place. If he wasn't so peculiar in the first place maybe someone would have noticed a change in his behavior but he's such a great, big goof...didn't notice.

He kept getting weirder as the evening wore on and I took him to the "bump and bruise" clinic and sure enough concussion.

Now he sprawls out on the couch and sleeps - wait a minute, that's what he usually does. So he gets dizzy when he tries to do a physics problem, who doesn't. So, he's really, really tired, who isn't? And he has a real bad headache...all I can say, get used to it, real life can be a real live headache.

So, he's a bit loopy. I feel kinda bad because the first thing I thought when I heard it was a concussion was, "shoot, he got a "B" in physics and pre-cal; this isn't going to help the next quarter grades." He'll be smarting off before long so I'm going to enjoy while it lasts.

Lots of Lovely Leaves

Everyone agrees; autumn is beautiful. The colors are extraordinary, the temperatures delightful, the color of the sky clear and true and the smell of leaf smoke tantalizing. Why, oh why then can't we just leave the fallen leaves where they land?

Heaped up lovely lumps of gold, mounding in my front yard. They look just perfect but...when they are wet I slip and bust my rear, when they are wet they destroy my lawn, when the are wet they make mold and make my allergies scream. But when they are dry...they just blow on down the road. This is the American, rural way of life. Take care of it if it stays in your yard longer than a couple of days. Otherwise, just let the wind carry it on down the road, literally.

I have 3 large maples in my front yard, lots, and lots, and lots of leaves. In about a week we will have a Butler family whine-a-thon when I demand the leaves come up. As lazy as we are we will spend about an hour trying to figure out an easier way to move the leaves from the front lawn to the back field. Seems like just raking them up would suffice but, NO, we have to have a tarp and the lawn mower mowing over little hedgerows to make leave mulch which is so thick we have to rake it anyway. After about 3 hours of leaf wrangling we give up, rake it along the fence "to keep down the weeds next spring" and call it a day. We are pathetic and I have the pathetic lawn to prove it.

Oh well, I still love autum and maybe just maybe the wind will come up and blow all on down the road.

Hmm, Serious Sunday

Serious is not something I do very well but I do have a serious side. Today though I've missed my husband. "Missed" is not the right word because that sounds like I've misplaced him, but I know precisely where he is. I can't think of another way to describe it but once someone leaves this life there is a void that remains because that space could only be filled by that individual...does that make sense.

So I will tell you why I'm "missing" Pat Butler. 1. He was the only one I could talk and talk and talk to and get no reaction, advice, criticism or feedback; he simply was acting like he was listening but he wasn't. This may seem weird to you but it worked for us; I needed to vent to understand how I was going to handle something and he could look interested but actually be going over the sports schedule, work schedule, movie schedule in his brain. 2. The kids need more cheerleaders than me. Nobody can uplift the kids better than their parents. Don't get me wrong here, we have an awesome community (read really small township) family who are really supportive but it just isn't quite the same. I wish Pat was there when we sent W off to the MTC and there when he honorably returned; I wish he could have been there when R walked off with 17 awards at her Senior night recognition and when she gave a class address at her commencement from nursing school; I wish he was here to see S on the Homecoming Court and playing football like a madman (just like he did) and I wish he could have gotten to know J the son he'd never met because he died. There are just some things no one else can do. I've tried to fill in the blank as best as I could but it still isn't the same.

I wish he was here so I could be more of a mother to the family instead of the chronically fatigued, vile spewing monster who rises at 4 a.m. to growl her way through another day. But he's not here though truly I can feel him around at times. It's weird but I know he goes on vacation with us and has a great time (he always had a great time on vacation.), he watches S from the sideline (I swear I see him pacing the out of bounds line each home game, he could never find an away game to save his life), and I know he is extremely excited for the lives W and R are living.

Oh well, we live the life we've got and our life is incredible just the way it is. Very different with very different challenges but undeniably magnificent. (I could have thrown a lot of sarcastic humor in this post but I was being serious for Sunday. Maybe I will re-write it for Maniac on Monday ;0)

...it wasn't my fault

Well, I love getting this kind of phone call, "Mom, I'm alright, nobody's hurt, it wasn't my fault but - I ran into the curb and popped the two tires on the passenger side of the car ("were you using your phone?" "NO" [this turns out to be not quite true] - I learn the truth because her 2 brothers were along for the ride.); I hit a monster truck but the truck didn't even have a scratch and your van door still opens; I didn't wake you up (because it was 4 flippin' o'clock in the morning and you would have skewered me) but I hit a cow, it was an angus and it was so dark I didn't see it standing in the road; I didn't get a ticket but I hydroplaned into the back of a car and you were right I needed to leave earlier, oh yeah, it was a brand new Corvette and the recent phone call of "Mom, I'm alright but I was on 75 and Wagner Ford ("Do NOT travel on that section of 75 because there is too much construction, too many drivers driving hell-bent for destruction, and there are too many police, her mother said".) and I kind of ricocheted back and forth across 3 lanes of traffic and I think my car is totalled(why didn't we get the gap insurance for the loan?") and the guy that cut me off took off and didn't stop. Thankfully, I'm used to this sort of call from my dear daughter who seems committed to the idea that no car in our home should be dent free.
Don't get me wrong, I'm really, really glad it wasn't worse but I'm 50 years old and I've been in 1 fender bender, 1 (I may have a lead foot but I do not crash into things). I'm very grateful to the people who stopped and helped her and the wonderful good Samaritan who followed the car and got the license plate information for her and called it in with a statement too.
But I'm worried that like a cat, daughter, is using up the nine lives. I hope they can fix her car because a new car is just an accident waiting to happen!

Music

I'm so excited....I've got a play list. I love music, love, love, love it. I can appreciate almost all music except the degrading, lowbrow rap. Lots of people love music but I love music because I am unable to make music on my own.
I can't sing, I can't really read music (I know if the notes go up or down but I can't guarantee my voice will follow). I can play NO instrument, nope, nada, zippity-do-dah, not a one. Not even the kazoo.

This is why I love other people's music so much. I had a really hard time coming up with my first playlist. I just wanted 20 songs so I could do it for free. I think I will change them around all the time for the fun of it.

Yippee, now I can make music with my playlist. What a great discovery. And I got it on my blog all by myself. :0)

Autumn = FOOTBALL

I love football and futbol, both. My kids have played one or the other and one of them played both. I've been on the front row cheering (read this "screaming like a drug crazed buffoon) for many, many years, okay only 21 years but it seems like many, many.

Now the real confession, I like to watch it better on TV. You get to actually SEE what is going on when it is televised. You can't hear what the coach is yelling at your child and you can yell to your heart's content and no one looks over with a "death glance". You can armchair quarterback to your heart's content. You can be the goalie shouting perfect directions at your teammates because, what the heck, who is going to tell you to shut up?

When you have to watch it live sometimes the action is a bit vague. Because of the this I find it much better to just yell upbeat things at the top of my lungs to all the participants. I love to watch the kids run around and slam into each other while the grown-up kids masquerading as coaches yell nasty things at them. I've shown a LOT of restraint over the years as a sideline parent and coaches still continue to amaze me.

With the final player in the action I've taken a new approach...I take my chair to a lone area, put on my glasses, open my book and read. I glance up occasionally to see if he has taken the field. When he does play I make sure he sees me smiling and giving him the "thumbs up" even if I have to grit my teeth to do it. When the game is over I DO NOT make a tunnel. I just grab the kid and leave.

Of course, number 3 is playing high school football which is a whole different story. LOUD and PROUD is my motto. I want to make sure he hears me down in the huddle with all the swearing I'm sure he's participating in. I want to be sure I have no voice left for the weekend. I leave it all at the game!

With that said, I gotta get this done. BYU and Oklahoma, the Y is down but the game is still young.

Hooray for football and futbol!

Living a better life one drawer at a time...

Well, I'm fed up with my life as it is. I live in quiet desparation that someone might nonchalantly show up on my door step and I will have to let them in on my secret...my house is trashed. I didn't plan for us to end up this way and I have several reasons/excuses for it. I will just get those out of the way right now:

-very old house with only 2 real closets
-borderline hoarding personality, nearly the whole family, once we own something it becomes an instant heirloom never to be parted with
-working full-time an living with some seriously work impaired youth
-ADHD

With all that being said yesterday I took a baby step forward - cleaned out and threw away stuff in 3 kitchen drawers. I know not impressive but a start and remember the old adage "a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step". Well, my journey through a thousand pieces of clutter began with a very concentrated effort on 3 drawers. With this herculean effort I just might make my goal of having the house clean so when I die the kids can let people in with the casseroles and not have to meet them in the driveway for a drop-off.

While this post is somewhat light-hearted it does in fact address a nagging problem I've struggled with since I began working full-time. I have to work, I'm blessed to have a job to go to, I'm blessed to work where most of my children are all day but I still feel guilty. I feel like every minute I don't work I just want to spend time with my favorite peeps. Work together you say, usually ends up badly, and I'll leave it at that.

I love the Savior so much because He is all about do-overs and second chances. The atonement is all about being able to change at any age. I have to remind myself of that every single day. I can't express what hope that gives me even when I'm having a hopeless day.

Is is summer yet?

I don't feel like I've had any summer. Oh, I've had vacation, I've lounged about in the sun, I've put on the air conditioner for a brief time, I've grilled out and weed-whacked but it still doesn't seem like it is truly summer.

I've been working from 6 a.m. until 3 or 3:30 or 4 p.m. and there is a monstrous amount of work going on and loads of shredding and filing so I know I'm in the 'summer mode' but it just isn't the same. I've haven't been hot and sticky for weeks on end, I haven't yelled through the bathroom door at the kids, "hey, get out of the shower, shut it off, NOW, the well is going to dry up, it's summer and we haven't had enough rain.", I haven't had a ghastly case of poison ivy ranging all over me and that is why I don't think it has been summer this year. All the usual components are missing.

I'm sure the heat will ramp up for the beginning of school though, yep, 96 for the first week. A moist, languid, thick heat, guaranteed to drive the most mild mannered individual mad with discomfort. Yep, get ready, real summer is right around the corner....but in the meantime ENJOY this great gift of a really stellar summer. Beautiful blue, clear skies, like I remember in the west, crisp cool mornings and the grass still growing at the end of July. Now if the tomatoes could ripen it would truly be perfect.

Family Vacation

We have been inordinately blessed to enjoy some extraordinary family vacations for the past two years. Two years ago we spent time in D.C. when Will was selling pest control in Maryland. Last year my older three kids "forced" me to take the whole family to Disneyworld so John could have the experience with them. They had been 5 times I think when their dad was alive so the experience was something they wanted to share with their brother, albeit missing their dad in the process. It was a wonderful time and we all agreed he was there with us enjoying the whole trip from a different perspective. It was great, which brings us to this year's adventure.

Charleston, well, Sullivan's Island, South Carolina. I have some of the most generous, thoughtful family (in-laws but I claim them as flesh and blood kin). This year my brother-in-law's daughter has arranged for quite a few of the Butler clan to meet at her place and share some fun. Unfortunately, I don't think Will can join us which is sad because he's so much fun and such a great part of any vacation (plus he acts as interpreter when I'm stressed out). Anywho, we will have lots of boy cousins and Reilly and this is great for John who loves "family". He is so excited to see cousins he's never met and to look for shells, dig for clams, fish, go shrimping, discovering new museums of course and generally hanging out with the guys. There are some boys close in age and this is what he really looks forward too since he hangs out with "an older crowd."

I'm not really what you call a beach loving person. I'm more of the nerdy "let's go visit an historical site" kind of vacationer. I don't enjoy frolicking around in a bathing suit nor do I like swimming in water I can't see through but I do LOVE sitting aground and reading a great book.

We've never been to this area of the country and I'm so grateful for family generosity to make it happen. Now, this is the really fun part. After I get to vacation for a week I get to come home and leave the kids there! That's right, I will stay a week and they will stay and additional 5 days. This will give me time to really do some significant work around here (I hope) and not worry about spending time with them, or cooking for them or other things that get in the way of big project work. Hopefully I can pull this off but I'm excited to try.

So let the countdown begin. Fourth of July at the Charleston Harbor will be awesome!

Curses, swallows again

I'm a tragic failure as a blogger. I just would really rather read what everyone else writes. It takes so much less effort. I thought I would love to blog but really I don't have that much to say and my observations are usually a bit warped and hard to follow.

Here's what I'm dealing with right now...a bird with an axe to grind. Last year like some dumb bunny, I let a "darling little swallow couple" make a really nasty, muddy nest on my front porch and raise their brood of obnoxious children there. I really should have done a little research and knocked that bird condo right off the porch but I didn't. I thought it would be fun to observe nature and the "circle of life" up close and personal. WHAT WAS I THINKING.

First, the reason swallows look so cute is to hide their vile temperment. They are mean and territorial and have a penchant for swooping really, really close to your head. Secondly, they poop like no tomorrow and no matter how much you scrape and sweep, there is still more POOP. Finally, and this was the kicker, they are prone to parasites, read this as bird lice and mites. We are probably all going to die an early death because of all the pesticides I had to use on my FRONT porch to take care of these parasites. They were marching all over everything. EEEWWW, I get the heeby-geebies just thinking about it. What is didn't know until this year was they COME BACK to the same place to nest. Over my dead body.

I've been knocking down their nest with mind single to this task. They have taken it personally and attack me when I do so. For two weeks I've had brooms hung up on my porch like a bad impersonation of a scarecrow. Then I got the idea to make "swallow shields". One of the reasons they like my porch is my set up for Christmas lights. I have hooks set to string them on and they are the perfect size perch for the little demons. I cut the bottoms off of milk cartons and cut them to look like flowers, more or less, and then I impaled them on the hooks. I took off all my "scarecrows", patted myself on the back and walked back into my house. Hmmm, bird problem solved. WRONG.

One of them has sworn a vendetta against me and is stalking me. I walked out the next morning and there, perched precariously on a "swallow shield" was the swallow. Not just perched but hunkered over, giving me the "dirty stink eye" when I walked out for work. Every morning there it sits forming it's horrible plan. I walk to the car looking over my shoulder because they dive bomb me when I'm in my front yard.

I refuse to yield and match him glare for glare. I just hope he/she eventually gets fed up with me and moves to friendlier climes.

Leaves and Slugs - An Ode to Spring

I don't know who said it but it is a point well taken, "never put off for tomorrow what you can do today."

In the cold, wet, damp and icky days of October when the leaves are in thick, matted piles around my yard I thought, "what the heck, I'll just rake them next to the fence and pick them up when it is a bit warmer.
Fast forward six months.

Warmer weather didn't arrive until April! I want to do yard work but, alas, my lawnmower is not working, and the battery charger isn't doing the job this time. I want to plant and prune and weed while the soil is wonderfully damp and friendly. But, I can't because I have a day's worth of dried up, nasty leaves to wrangle to the garden or burn pile or wherever I need to take them. NO ONE wants to help with the leaves (this doesn't matter if it is October or April it is pretty much the way of the family) today. So I do them, all day long.

John helped transport to the garden and raked out a few bushes for me. This is how he found his new pet, Sluggo. Sluggo actually found John. When John pulled his arm out from a pile of leaves, voila', there's the slug on his arm. He ran into the house to get his "bug habitat" and give Sluggo the life of luxury. Sluggo has different ideas. He proceeded to crawl around every surface of the luxury home. This greatly upset John who came slamming out the door to announce to me in his very disturbed voice, "Mom, Sluggo is getting on my very last nerve. He has slimed up every side of his new home. I've had it with him. He's not going to be my pet any more. He's now going to be a specimen (translation: dead for my bug collection.)

I explained to him that soft body invertebrates do not make good specimens and maybe he should return him to the wild. He agreed and said, "Yeah, that's a good idea. I'm sticking with normal pets like beetles." I wish it would always be this easy to help him out with difficult decisions but only 5 more years until teenhood and the easy stuff will be HISTORY!

Weird post for Easter but I spent yesterday trying to clean my home and conquer the laundry. It left me somewhat annoyed and defeated.

One word for laundry woes...SOCKS. Socks for 5 (even though Will lives in his own home his socks are still a part of our laundry war) is a lot of socks. They tend to separate into different factions only to attack from a different angle. For example, Sam is in Florida for the Band trip. Sam is a very poor laundry commander. He's been doing his own laundry for more than half his life and most of it is still in baskets in his room. Socks are his nemesis so I thought I would do some service for him. BAD IDEA.

When he left for his trip he left two large baskets of clean clothes in the living room because he watched TV while he packed. So last night Reilly and I settled in to watch Bedtime Stories and I decided to match socks. What was I thinking?! Not too many matches but probably close to 60 actual socks. So I gathered up what didn't match and put them in a grocery sack and put them in my closet where they reside with 2 more sacks of mismatched socks. I will throw them all away this Wednesday and finally have peace of mind, for a season.

I have bagged and thrown out socks about every other year. I've tried buy all the same type of socks but our feet range from a man's size 15 to a small man with size 4 feet and two women. Even white socks are not all created equally. Depending on the brand (which I forget every time I try to buy more, "hmmm, Fruit of the Loom, Target brand, or Hanes; drat, I can't remember) they all look and feel different.

So my new strategy. Every Easter the whole family will get new socks and whatever we are using that isn't matched at that moment will get tossed. It seems somewhat wasteful but they are biodegradable and won't damage the environment, much. This will cut our laundry issues in half I'm convinced.

I'm not even going to get started on the phenomenon of socks in the washer and the inability of the washer to conquer it's hunger for socks. It seems to be a type of sacrifice to throw your socks in and cross your fingers to see if the same number are there when the "dirty deed" is done.

Well, off to throw some socks away.

I just got back from a Track Meet. Well, I drove to the meet and waited in the car for nearly 2 hours. I watched the meet from my car because it was close to the field events and I could watch the track events through the chain link fence. I refused to pay $10.00 for John and I to simply cross the other side of a string of event flags to watch Sam heave heavy metal objects through the air. Those aren't chickens you hear, "cheap, cheap, cheap."

Sam loves to throw the discus. This is all he likes to do in track and field...throw the metal frisbee. This year he has to launch the shot put. He hates that and won't practice, but the discus; whole different story. I don't get it. I watch him spin around a couple of times and lob that thing about 130 feet and then do it again a couple more times. Once I watched him disqualify on a throw and almost wipe out 30 spectators. Now that was interesting.

I love the little interesting things that make us all different. I work with youth all day every day and for more fun I live with them too making this a 24/7 type of existence. I love the youth. I hated being one but I surely enjoy being with them (usually). I like their exhuberance and enthusiasm. I love the sure way they move, their bodies fresh and vibrant not bent up by the arthritis waiting right around the corner. I love the swing in their step and the smiles they unwittingly smile because life is good. They don't even know that's why they are smiling.

I especially love the "troubled" ones. Those who don't smile as much. Those with weird clothes and hair that dares you to find their faces. They probably touch me more because their story is usually more poignant and difficult. They are the victims of bad choices and usually those choices are not their choices. They are the unsuspecting recepients of consequences from their parent's poor choices. All to soon it seems those choices become their own.

I love those kids the most because I know that sometimes I'm probably the only one who even tries to say something pleasant to them. I try to let them know they are valuable. I try to enjoy them and believe me this is a trial sometimes but they are in sad situations. Sometimes it seems very unfair.

This is what I thought about today while my son, full of vigor and muscley arms threw his little metal frisbee. This is what I thought about as the lovely young people ran vigorously around the track with swift and expensive track shoes and loving parents and friends cheering them on. This is what my mind "chewed on" as I watch the groups laugh and prepare the for next event. I thought about those who don't have it quite as good right now....I hope I can cheer them on.

Well, I've got issues and if you've known me for more than 5 minutes this has been evident from the onset of our acquaintence.

You know I read "Twilight" during my short bout with pink-eye. You also are aware that I have a reading issue...I can't stop. So, I read "Twilight" on Thursday, the second in the series on Friday (I gave the first two to Reilly and I can't remember the actual title), began "Eclipse" on Friday, finished early Saturday morning, and began the final book "Breaking Dawn" on Saturday afternoon and finished in the wee hours of Monday morning. I fell off the wagon...I couldn't stop.

Mind you, this read-a-thon was was not because these books are particulary great literature. Okay, they grab you but let's say you aren't going to increase your vocabulary any by reading them. I loved them because I just wanted to know what happened next. They weren't deep, or I didn't think so but I JUST HAD TO KNOW WHAT WAS NEXT.

I think it was a great way for me to get away and live another life while still being on the premises to break up any fights. Sometimes you just have to take a break. But now that I'm back to reality I wish I would have read them slower. Two words - home disaster.

Oh well, every bit of junk around here is infinitely patient and will wait, eons if necessary, for me to take care of it. Ah, if only the family was as patient.

Good night I have get some serious sleep to make up for the tomfoolery of reading all weekend.

So...I guess a little illness isn't all that bad

We are going through some sort of germ warfare around here and lately the germs are winning. Reilly started it before she left on her trip, t hen John, then Sam and today me too...pink-eye. Who woulda thought.

It was Jay's second day home with whatever it is he has going on. I'm going to use this line as a segue to something else I've thought about the last few days. My kids are wonderfully loveable when they are ill; something that increases incrementally with with rising of the thermometer. Not that I like them ill (and this does not come into effect when it is a vomiting illness, no way) but that wildly on the go, hyperactive, semi-in-your-face behavior melts into the "I'll just lay here and let you rub my back and read to me" sort of behavior. It is sweet though short-lived.

At any rate, conjunctivits, thankfully, we have a little, teeny, tiny bottle of terrifically expensive drops from a previous round. So I just called in to my wonderful principal, seriously a considerate and helpful man, put the drops in and grabbed a book. It was a little difficult the first few hours when my eyes really did hurt but as time wore on I either noticed it less or it dissapated.

The book I started was "Twilight". I think every girl in the high school has read this book which honestly, made me a little circumspect about reading it since the quality of the books they read leave a lot to be imagined. Nonetheless, I thought, the author's LDS how bad could it be? I was hooked by the introduction and read the whole thing right through...about 4.5 hours later; I'm hooked. I want to read them all but this can't happen until Spring Break because I have a reading issue. When I read, the world as I know it ceases to exist, time stands still or runs on without me and the home starts to implode. For this very reason I've nearly given up recreational reading except during breaks. I need a 12 step program for bibliophiles...seriously, not a joke. My home is a regular library since once a book enters I cannot let it leave...sort of like foster care for literature. They are my little friends and I rarely part with them.

I think my behavior has made a poor impression on my children only Jay is a pathological reader. Will and Sam did before they discovered entertainment via video, Reilly never liked to sit still long enough to read more than the thinnest tome. I'm convinced it is similar to the children of alcoholics who swear off alcoholic libation for life because the impact on their lives.

Ah, to love a book.

I'm ready for winter to be over! I mean really over.

The problem with Ohio weather is the "tease factor". Just when you can't take the (fill in your weather nightmare) any longer you get a "tease factor" day. The sun shines, the wind stops the temperature goes up or down (depending on the season) and you foolishly think it is going to stay that way. But, alas, it was just the "tease factor" at work and before you can get the wardrobe switched over it is right back to the same old, wind, heat, snow, dreariness...you get the idea. I'm just ready for some steady sunshine. I could take the temperatures if the winds would desist and the sun shine.

Thank you for accompanying me on my monthly pity party. You don't need an invite to attend and eventually I will quit whining.

What good is a blog with no pictures!

I'm having a growly sort of evening and I'm irritated that my blog doesn't have pictures. Why not, you ask. Reilly has my camera and I really don't have a clue how to do it. Pathetic excuse but I'm sticking with it.

Thankfully, there has been some sun recently but I feel like I'm going the do something irrational because I've had enough of the windy and dreary.

Well now, that was cheerful and with that I will retire to my comfy bed and try to sleep through the remainder of the winter or until I have to get up for Seminary again.

Spring is right around the corner!

I have a wonderful sister-in-law and brother-in-law who come to visit us each year. They fly from LA to Cincinnati to take part in the annual Twin V Harley Davidson Trade Show and we get to visit with them too!

This year was exceptionally fun because there was less to do for the Show, in fact, not a thing. We finally got everyone home at about 2 and then took off.

It sure is funny how a short trip just an hour away can be an adventure. We had the typical "shotgun" hullabaloo but were on our way in no time.

I was so excited the weather was so warm John and I washed the car for the trip, only really dumb idea Regan. It was a disgusting and salty mess by the time we rolled in to the Millenium.

I didn't get to walk the show this year since we were a little late arriving and we had John with us. I love walking through the show. If you don't think a Mormon walking about with Harley folks isn't entertaining you just haven't done it yet. WOW

We had a good dinner, watched the awards show put on by "EasyRider" magazine and headed to the hotel. We watched Wall-E and I didn't even fall asleep. This in and of itself is a miracle.

I just love the Butler family. They are so fun and boy, they can tell a story that will just split your sides. It is great fun for all of us when the Harley show rolls around.