Graduation, Anniversary, Birthday Party and the Zoo

In an effort to quickly recap our very busy weekend (and Monday), I'm combining three big events and a trip to the zoo into one post.  Sad, I know, but it's this or wait a long time because I still have makeup posts to do from months ago (it seems).

1.  Graduation

The day we've been waiting for finally arrived.  First of all, let me just say that without my husband, my extended family and my very helpful and kind friends, this day would have been a disaster in the making!  First of all, some public thank you's ...

Counting Down to Life

I've always been a big fan of countdowns.  I love anticipation even more than the actual thing or day we are counting down towards.  I enjoy Christmas Eve (the pinnacle of anticipation) better than Christmas Day.  But lately, our life has been overflowing with countdowns and I feel like I'm in this constant state of anticipation without much focus on the actual reveals.

I'm Back!

Okay, so now that my whirlwind travels and projects are completed, I thought I would update you on how things went and share a couple pictures.  Well, maybe more than a couple.

Weekend Recap

I am just sitting down at my computer for the first time since Friday.  I am excited to tell you about our weekend.  What a fun way to begin our December!

Everyday Extremes

In the morning, our oldest sons asked if they could take a walk together before we started school.  Frankly, I was a tad bit suspicious of this question because one of them loathes extra exercise and both of them don't often get along all that well unless they're scheming.

Against my better judgment, I allowed them to take a "quick walk."

Veteran's Day 2012

Before we head out the door to hear our mayor speak at our local Veterans Memorial Park this morning, I wanted to post a thank you to all the men and women and their families who have sacrificed so much to defend our freedoms in this country.

Image courtesy of VintageHolidayCrafts.com

Happy Veterans Day (I realize it was officially yesterday, but it's widely observed today).  Let us pray for the soldiers who are still fighting for freedoms around the globe today.

Why the Long Lines?

So, I posted the details of my voting experience this election, but the question I have yet to answer is: Why the long lines?

I will share with you here what Election workers told me last night, while I stood in line for 5-1/2 hours -- getting me home around 11:00pm (and when I left there were probably 200 or more other voters still waiting in line).  I did try to confirm the explanations I was given and though more will probably unfold in the coming weeks, here is one article that gives a very high-level explanation for what was going on to back up what I will write about here.

Dinner on the Governor (or) I Voted!

We arrived at the polls about 10:00am yesterday morning (I was thinking it would be calmest after other adults went to work, but before they had lunch breaks or came home for the day).  I had a carload of kids with me and so when they told me the wait was two hours, I realized this wasn't going to be the year to show them democracy in action.  I needed to come back on my own a little later.  I did try the other polling sites and their waits were longer than the first place I went.

After a day of fun with the kids, C came home from work and was able to stay with them while I headed back to the polling location.

Halloween or Harvest

Hello Fellow Bloggers and Friends!

You're welcome for a break from my usually lengthy posts over the past week. Ha!  Honestly, it wasn't intentional, we have just been busy and away and busy.

But here I am to wish you a happy Halloween or Harvest -- depending on your beliefs about this day.  I, personally, don't really like Halloween, but I love our church's annual Harvest Festival, so I kind of celebrate that.  My mom-in-law usually sends treats for our family each year at this time, too, so we also celebrate that.  (Thank you for the cookies!)

Birthday Weekend, Belated Photos

Okay, so I am running behind in just about everything -- especially where writing is concerned.  My therapist gave me a writing assignment two weeks ago and I have yet to even begin it.  Oh well.

But here I am, finally posting some random pictures from my birthday weekend, which was last month!

Scary Moment

C always calls me when he's on his way home from work. It's a 45-minute commute on the best days.  He's got a Blue Tooth hands-free device set up in his truck so he can chat about the day (or listen to me as I rattle off everything about mine).  It gives me a good sense about when he'll be home for the evening (so we can cram to finish up some of the housework) or if he has any suggestions or plans for dinner that I need to prepare for.

Today, he called me and as I sat there yammering on about random stuff, suddenly, he started hollering, "Whoaaaaaaaa!"

A Little Later

Like the crazy person I feel like most of the time, I willingly got up in the middle of the night for the second day in a row to go down to the Fiesta with my sister on Sunday morning to try again to watch the mass ascension.

A Little Early

This year will be our fourth experience with the International Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque.  Every year is so fun and exciting.  This year is extra fun because both my sister, Jessica, and my parents will be here for different portions of the big event.  It's my parents' first time!

Celebration!

Not counting how many readers follow Mama Flock through their Google (or other?) readers and their email address because I don't know how to figure that out (or even if I can), I just noticed that I'm up to 20 members now!

Chile Festival

This is New Mexico, so of course we have a chile festival.  Our state question is: red or green?  Do other states even have a state question?  Weird.  Anyway, there are actually a few chile festivals here, but the biggest is hours away and we have yet to get down there for it.  So we opted to attend the free chile festival locally in Albuquerque, which occurs annually to raise money for Habitat for Humanity.

Hectic

So, S got back from her School of Ministry Retreat on Friday.  She had a great time, in spite of all her pre-retreat jitters. I knew she would.

She is the baby of the class, but one of two 17-year-old girls.  There are a few more in the 18-20 age range (boys and girls) and most of the class is 20-30 years old.  But, there are also a couple guys in their late 50s, early 60s, too.  So very diverse, which I think will make for some great theological discussions based on the different viewpoints and experiences.  I know S will have a lot to offer those conversations just because we have been talking through (and reading) a lot of theological stuff together for years -- and she has had quite the life experience, too.

Celebration!

I may not have any good pregnancy or birth stories, but besides kids' birthdays, we get to celebrate their adoptions each year.  Most years, we just go out to eat or make ice cream sundaes; but this year -- also because we owed them anyway -- we went to Cliff's Amusement Park for the day.

Thankfully, we had a half-off ticket deal -- Cliff's is no Disneyland and only worth about half of the ticket price.  It's more like a permanently affixed carnival.  However, it's closer than Disneyland and with our coupon, it was like a quarter of the cost (or less? I forget what Mickey sells tickets for these days).

Desiah Concert

Our church hosted the group Desiah out of Southern California for a concert this evening that we attended.  I wanted to post a few pictures here and spread the word about this group in case you haven't heard about them or to let you know that if they are coming to a venue near you (they're on tour right now), you might want to check them out.

Desiah is a group of teenagers from a performing arts school in Hollywood set up to help teens pursue their dreams of acting and singing, etc. (performing arts), in a more positive environment.  The concert tonight was a benefit concert to raise money for Friends Feeding Friends.

Summer is...

Yard sales!

Post-Post-Sale, For Real

I've been up for too many hours at this point, so I can't believe I'm sitting down to do another blog post.  But here I am.  I couldn't wait to tell you...

Our evening sale went well.  Some people came because of the neighborhood signs and others came because of our post on Craigslist.  We didn't have too many, but apparently evening shoppers -- perhaps the cooler temperatures make for better shopping -- buy more.  So it didn't take too many of them.