Barn Swings...A Leap of Faith

Fun, crazy, slightly INSANE are all appropriate words I would use to describe my emotions Saturday evening as I leaped from the security of the boarding platform of the beginners barn swing in Ozark, MO. ( I promise you no pictures will ever surface of that event.)

Fun, crazy and even more INSAN-ER are the words I was thinking to myself as one by one, actually it was three by three, the teens from church jumped 'with glee' from the biggest, tallest and somewhat unstable looking (this description coming from someone who is afraid of that sort of thing) barn swing. And they did it over-and-over-and-over again! My daughter Devony being the ring leader of course! No fear insight...

...except from me. I made it halfway up the stairs of that bad boy and had to turn around and go back down. The workers were kind, but less than impressed, considering all the time it takes to get you appropriately strapped in and ready for the jump from "The Beast".

After we (they) were done with the swings we had a bonfire and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Not only did I swing from one of the swings for the first time, but I also had my first Smore. No..seriously! And it will not be my last one, I assure you.

This was my first visit to Doennig Sport Swings and Ozark Paintball( 417-443-6600). Even though I was a scaredy-cat, it was a lot of fun and I highly recommend it to everyone.

Saturday night was a lot of fun.

We definitely had our Shine on.

Is It Wrong?...

..to eat most of my children's Halloween candy while their at school?

..to obsessively read random blogs?

..to stare out the window cause it is ANOTHER beautiful blue sky sunny day? (November is definitely starting out better than October)

..to already be wondering "What day am I going to put up my christmas tree?"

..to look at the laundry overflowing the hampers..then decide to look out the window at the beautiful blue sky sunny day instead??

..;)

..HA! I didn't think so either.

We are so blessed. Life is soooo good. Make today a wonderful day. And remember to shine!

1 Fish, 2 Fish, 3 Fish...Layed Off Fish?

Saturday, Sept. 5, 2009 was the annual Grisham Fish Fry. Which one you say..3rd annual?.. 4th annual...5th annual?..lol, I don't know, I forget.

For a few years now we have been hosting this little event. And some years it 'wasn't so little'. This year was just right. Not only because of the guests, but the weather was perfect too. Almost everyone that showed up talked about how "it was pouring" at their house when they left. Thankfully, it never rain a drop here.

What started out as a get-to-gether for Doug and the guys from Roadway has turned into a free-for-all. Family, Friends, Neighbors..whoever, is invited. Which is a good thing in my book. "How would you like to be stuck out here with nothing but a bunch of boasting, back-slapping, 'pull my finger. huh huh' teamsters?" No, really Doug is very lucky to have tons of good friends, who are always welcome at our home. It's always a pleasure to see them, and have a chance to catch up with them and their families. And in many cases that's the only time we get to see them.It's also been good for morale to establish friendships that go beyond the walls of the workplace. Especially for a workplace that's (union) :(

However, this year those teamsters haven't seen much of the walls inside Roadway. Many of them have been layed off since March, my husband included. We were kind of afraid that this years Fish Fry would consist of 'Fish Sticks'. But thanks to Doug Purmas fishing expertise and a box of fish (that we purchased), the day was saved.

We had such a good time. The food was wonderful (thank you Doug Purma and his brother Greg for doing all the cooking, as usual) and the friends and family were wonderful too. We hung out with people we have known for years along with new people we have recently met. Jokes and stories were told again...and again. lol. And the bonfire was the biggest its ever been. Thank goodness Doug didn't try to jump it. Yes, I'm speaking from experience. The only downfall of the evening was that "Buck" was not able to make it to this years event. Oh well, there is always next year.

As I said, "This year was juuuust right!" :)

Have a wonderful day and remember to Shine!

This Old House

Built in 1897, this old house has stood the test of time. It's witnessed the turn into two new centuries, depression, recession, two world wars, made it through the remodeling of the 50's, survived the neon 80's and to much surprise of many saw that the world didn't stop at 12:01, Jan. 2000.

Now, if it can just survive me.

Purchased 4 1/2 yrs ago, we vowed to take it back to its glory days. That means tearing out blue shag carpet, taking down white vinyl siding and vinyl mini blinds (perhaps I'm wrong but I don't ever recall seeing vinyl mini blinds in any of the historical homes I've ever been in) like I said, "could be wrong", removing the metal sink/cabinet combo, removing 'Pergo-like' wood flooring and anything else that resembles a 'Home Depot' look.

It's a little something we like to call re-store, not remodel. Restore...remodel, restore...remodel, two very different things.

Now having said alllll that, historians/re-storers/preservationists enthusiasts hold your earists...(I'm going to say this fast and in a whisper) I've decided to paint the hardwood floor in the dining room. :(

I know..I know, what is wrong with me! How could I do something like this! There's no painting of 100+yr old pine floors. Well, let me tell you. When I, lol, we, lol, ok just Doug, ripped up the carpet in the dining room we found that the floors had already been painted and even worse, had glue all over that. You know, the kind of glue that's used to apply gymnasium flooring. Mmm Hmmm. That's what we found. God-Only-Knows what these people were doing to need that kind of adhesive. And let me tell you, it's not been fun (for Doug) :) removing what little we've been able to remove.

So let the painting begin. A paint color that has been approved by the National Historical Society of Preservation. Seriously, check it out for yourself. We got it at 'Home Depot'. LOL