Happy belated 4th of July! Hope everyone enjoyed celebrating and relaxing.

No questions this week. Just share your life with us!

I'm back home after almost 2 weeks in Arkansas. My MIL broke her hip and needed assistance. She can't be by herself at this point so I brought her home to CA for her rehab. Today starts the beginning of doctor appointments to get her care switched out here.

Lots happened on the home front. My first baby, "C", turned 17 years old while I was gone. He's such a fine young man and I'm so proud of him. He's lifeguarding at our local pool this summer and doing a great job.

With my MIL's arrival, we had to have two boys share a room. We put the bunk beds back as a unit and bought a queen sized bed for my MIL. When she goes to live with her daughter in August, the bed will become "B"'s bed. The boys are growing too tall for a twin bed and need some more room. This is just the start of the process of buying bigger beds.

The boys have morning swim practice starting at 7 am so I'm off to start waking everyone up!

Sharon
13 year old b/b/b/ + 17 year old son

I've missed all of you guys on the Veterans Forum -- you know, laid back, no drama, and real living instead of all of the info exchanges. If it is alright with everyone, I would like to re-invite myself back here and promise not to ask too many how-to questions.

Took the kids fishing last weekend. We had just returned from our first camping trip -- got to set up our tent for the first time, but hadn't caught any fish. We cheated last Saturday and went to the Trout Pools at Mt. Baldy because I was determined not to get skunked.

Today was going to be our day to go to Bass Pro, but I discovered some apricots hanging over the back wall of someone's yard and went up and asked for permission to pick them. I'm thinking that I can not only harvest these, but I've got some slave labor to assist me in separating and pitting them!! I've already canned 7 quarts from our apricot tree, but wasn't too happy with the end results. They just didn't look like my mother's always did.

Finishing shutting down the business this week, and also heading back to the library for more books. Finally getting everything unpacked from our move -- it's amazing how much time it takes to get settled in when you're doing too many things!! Got to the boxes of books and I'm finding that having some of my books out makes the place feel more like home.

Also, finished up an Animae costume for my niece. It took HOURS and HOURS. She went to the Animae Expo as Pandora Hearts' Alice in the costume that is a long cherry red coat with diamonds up the sides of the sleeves; a large placket with red and white diamonds up it; and, triangles on the cuffs. I started without any pattern and just made it up as I went. Nine days later I came up for air and it was finally finished. Fortunately, Ashlynn loved it and had a great time at the Expo.

We went to see the fireworks for free again. Our church's parking lot is catty-corner from the high school where the community fireworks are displayed, so this is an annual event for us.

Anyway, heading out to pick apricots!! 'Hope everyone had a great 4th of July and is having a good week.

Cat w/3 Kittens
Caidan, Carina and Caeleigh
Born at 31 weeks, 1/8/04.

It's GREAT to have you back Cat!

My kids love fishing, but only when we are catching 'em. Dh is a big muskey-catch-and-release-take-a-photo-and-hang-it-on-the-wall (the photo, not the fish) dude. He's currently in a summer long tournament and in 2nd place! The kids and I are strictly into "pan" fishing (perch, blue gill etc). They are fun and easy to catch. The lake that dfil's summer house is on has crystal clear water and on a calm sunny day we can actually see the fish grab the hook! So much fun!

BTW, have you looked into making apricot jam? I make strawberry freezer jam every summer and it's very easy. I use the recipe inside the Sure Jell box. Buy the Sure Jell in the yellow box, not the pink. I've had better success with the yellow box recipe. Of course it's LOADED with sugar but when you use just a smear on toast, it's not too awfully bad.

"Just remember, you can do anything you set your mind to, but it takes action, perseverance, and facing your fears."-- Gillian Anderson

Hey, lady!!! Nope my kids turn up their noses at their "catch," so we need to be careful where we fish and/or find friends who like what we've found. Interestingly, they don't like trout! Huh?? I'd give my eye teeth for some perch and bluegill. We used to fish for that when I was a kid at my grandpa's pond.

'Haven't made apricot jam, but I made peach, blueberry, plum and strawberry last season. BTW, I'm up to 28 quarts of apricots now, but the first seven are going to be pureed and used to make apricot cakes. We'll see if I can't come up with a recipe using a white cake mix and the puree similar to using applesauce... H'mmm...grand experiment coming.

Thanks for the welcome back!!

Cat w/3 Kittens
Caidan, Carina and Caeleigh
Born at 31 weeks, 1/8/04.