I really think we all need to let Myspace know that their version of  a "playlist" is stupid, annoying, difficult to use and not even close to the caliber and quality of the "Project Playlist" playlists that we used to be able to use. I have spent over a half an hour trying just to rearrange THREE songs. I was finally, by some miracle, able to move "Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da" down one space. I have no idea how I accomplished this. I really wanted it to be number three. I want "You Get What You Give" by the New Radicals to be number one and the Collective Soul's "Better Now" to be number two. Is this too much to ask?
If anyone has any ideas about this, please feel free to comment, but I haven't talked to anyone yet that doesn't miss their "Project Playlist" playlists. I notice a few people still have working ones and I wonder how.
I think it's great that Myspace wants to have their own playlists, but come on now, Tom! Surely you can figure out how to make them work better and make editing and rearranging and all that easier to do. I took my original (Myspace) one down because it would only play three songs, then a commercial break and you had to restart it. Anyone knows the beauty of a playlist is to be able to turn it on and walk away and do other things without having to constantly return to turn it back on where it left off.  And only ten songs? Are you kidding me? Come on now. Can we please have our project playlists back?
Myspace Playlist = No fun. No music.

Alrighty! I'm doing a survey in my blog that I stole from Keri's blog. I am considering this a seed survey. Maybe then I can do all the ones in my bulletins that I want to do. (The picture surveys defy me!)

So let me plant this thing and see if it grows.

1. When is the last time you actually hung out with your top 1?
My number one is currently Tiffany (when I last refreshed). I haven't hung out with her for awhile now. I think it was last summer when she last came over.

2. What's bothering you right now?
That I have to drive out to Fort Lewis to get some fencing, then to Walmart, then to Home Depot, when all I really want to do is stay home.

3. Would you share a drink with a stranger?
Is it the kind of stranger with candy?

5. Wallpaper on your computer's desktop?
Because I haven't played with it lately it is actually the Vista wallpaper.

6. Background on phone?
A picture of Isaac sleeping on the couch, but all you see is his head and arm.

7. Next time you will hug someone?
I never know the answer to this ahead of time.

8. Where was your default picture taken?
At Sean's house.

9. Is there something about you that you don't think you'd ever tell anyone?
I'm pretty open even when I try to stay closed. I don't really have any secrets, although I wish I did.

10. Are you wearing anything on your feet?
Shoes and socks, because I have a lot to do today and my feet don't work if they are bare, anymore.

11. What was the last thing you ate?
Last night's dinner at work. I ordered potstickers and had them with rice and corn. Kind of a starchy meal, but it was good.

12. What are you doing this coming weekend?
My weekend starts today. I have a lot of projects. I put up the bathroom cabinet yesterday and want to fill it up.

14. Who was the last person to send you a text message?
Keri, sending me pics of Logan.

16. Listening to?
The morning chattering of my eight birds.

17. If you were stranded on an island and you could live off any fast food?
Either supreme croissants or ARBY's

18. What do you want?
My 300 CD cd player, but I bought a bunch of music instead. haha.

19. What are you eating?
Nothing.

20. Have you hit someone today?
I don't hit people except in fun, like Stephen because we are fellow Okies and we roll that way!.

21. Do you believe in soul mates?
I think people can connect on that level, but they don't have to be the one you marry or live with.

22. What friend have you known the longest?
Cheryl (39 years)

23. Where do you want to live when you get older?
My only hope is that if I have altzheimer's they will put me in a home. I think it will be easier on everyone.  Other than that I like Quentin's idea.

24. Do you burn easily in the sun?
Yes.

26. What is your dream car?
I miss the Jensen Healy.

27. What did you do last night?
I worked and managed to catch a criminal who went to jail for fraud.

28. Who do you miss?

There are a few.

30. Where is your best friend?
Which one?

31. What are you going to do after this?
Phone the lady at Fort Lewis and then my mom.

32. Do you prefer day or night?
I'm a night owl, but I still like getting up in the morning.

34. How good is your eyesight?
Good enough, but I need to get some bifocals. I'm tired of reading glasses, now.

36. What was the last thing you drank?
Coffee

37. Whose house did you go to last besides your own?
Keri's

39. Do you like anyone?
There's some people I like.

40. What were you doing before this survey?

Getting the garbage ready to go out and  putting stuff away in the bathroom.

41. What is your mood?
Extremely fatigued, but determined to get things done anyway.

42. What is one word to describe your friends?
Caring.

44. What do you usually do during the week days?
Stuff around the house.

45. Have you ever waved to someone and realized it wasn't the person?
Many times.

49. Are you bored?
I don't get bored easily.

50. Are you on someone else's mind?
I have no idea.

To whom it may concern:
I am posting this on all my journals as way of a public apology.

I really like canned tuna and use it frequently. I like it in sandwiches, on top of a baked potato and on top of macaroni and cheese. I also like it on top of a salad or with some cooked broccoli. I just really like tuna. Everyone who knows me has been told that the best brand of tuna is Fred Meyer's brand. I tell everyone...it is nice pink meat, no brown or black pieces and flecks, solid and with a good taste. I've tried albacore, but it is too dry for me. I prefer the regular tuna and Fred Meyer is my preferred brand over all the name brands.

Or so I thought. I never really looked at the wording on my label before. So the other day someone (my mom, I think) gave me some "Fred Meyer" tuna. It was a different label. It was blue and had the words "Fred Meyer" written in a red box across the front. I opened the can and it was the nastiest tuna I think I'd ever seen. It was gross looking and even worse tasting. I couldn't believe it. It was horrible.

I didn't really realize until then that the brand I love and recommend to everyone is not "Fred Meyer".  It is actually "F. G. Meyer". I just want to publicly apoligize to anyone out there that might have bought "Fred Meyer" brand and found out it was icky! The tuna I love and the brand I consider to be the  best is in this can:

I haven't had my camera at the store or I would have included a picture of the wrong stuff, too, for comparison, but the label is completely different. It is a dark blue label and says "Fred Meyer" in a little red boxed area.

Please accept my apologies if you bought and tried to consume the incorrect stuff. Ewwwwww.....

Please try the "F. G. Meyer". It truly is a great canned tuna. Nice solid pink meat with great taste and texture.

Thanks for listening.

Sheila

Those of you who read my blogs know that I got blessed with a whole new kitchen a while back. I drew on paper what I wanted my kitchen to look like and a few weeks later God blessed me and I was GIVEN the kitchen cabinets to make it happen. I was very happy. Quentin has started working on my kitchen, but it probably won't be done for awhile because:

a. The new baby Logan

b. They are moving to a new house.

c. The holidays are coming.

d. all of the above.

The answer is D!

haha....anyway, I'm not hung up on that stuff and I'm just glad to have that middle section removed. It gives me so much room in there and now that we've moved the stove out of the way it is so nice. I'm loving it even though it's not done. We have most of the bottom cabinets in already. The next section we have to work on is the sink and dishwasher part. I didn't have either my new sink or a new dishwasher yet, anyway, so it's ok.

There's a particular sink that I wanted. It's the same as my friend Cheryl's only I wanted mine to be white. It is a two compartment sink with a  little sink and a bigger sink and the bigger sink is extremely handy for bathing small children, which is the main thing I like about it. I take care of small children often and I like to be able to stand to bathe them because it's difficult for me to get down on my knees and stay on them long enough to bathe them in the bathtub. If you've ever let children feed themselves, something I believe is best for them, you know they miss their mouths quite frequently and it can be messy. I am willing to deal with the mess because I believe so strongly in autonomy for children. They love it and it's good for them. Therefore, children in my care often need a quick bath after a meal when they are toddlerish. (It's faster than wiping them down with a washrag.)

I have looked at sinks in the stores and the porcelain one that I want is about 300 dollars so I figured by January or so I could get the money together to go buy one or if not then they have a composition one for only 159 or so. The dishwasher will be around 400 for the one I want. I can't use the old one because it leaks and even if I could I would rather get one that actually cleans the dishes without me washing them first. haha. Otherwise, why bother?

This morning I was coming home from taking the boys to work and coming down Portland Avenue I saw a pile of stuff. There was a table that looked interesting and useful and some bathroom sinks and a shower enclosure. I drove past and in my rear-view mirror I saw a kitchen sink. It looked just like the one I wanted. I drove around the block and stopped and got out to look at it and it was EXACTLY the sink I wanted. I was so excited.  It was on the property of a construction business. I went to ask about it and the man said it was all FREE! There was actually a cardboard sign there, but it had blown down. I took the little table, a box and a half of laminate flooring and the kitchen sink. God blessed me again. I love that it wasn't just any old kitchen sink sitting out there free, but the exact sink that I wanted and with the exact faucet on it that I wanted. I am so excited.

I love my life!

 Yesterday I decided I would take Logan for a walk around the block. I bundled him up in the stroller and headed out the door. We stopped first at the neighbor across the street to my side yard. (I live on a corner piece.) His name is Glenn. Glenn was out mowing his yard and we haven't talked in many days because I've been in the house taking care of Logan every day. When he saw me he stopped his mower and came over to see the baby and talk. His dog, Cindy, which looks very similar to my dog, but with a pointier nose, was tied up on her lead. She wagged her tail and greeted me happily. I left Glenn's and headed around the block. As I came around the corner down at the opposite end of the block I saw what I thought was Cindy standing in the road. It confused me a little because she had just been tied up, although as I went around the first corner I did see Christina (Glenn's daughter) coming home from school, so I just figured she let Cindy off the chain.

I spoke to the dog saying, "Hey Cindy, how'd you get around here so fast?". She didn't respond at all, not even to wag her tail. I was surprised by this, because she is the type to always wag if she sees someone she knows. As I got closer to the dog I realized that it was not Cindy. The dog was just standing there staring at me and the stroller.

I am terrified of dogs, a fear I try to keep in check. (See profile picture of my own very large dog). However, when I see dogs I don't know I have to really work at not being afraid. This dog was just staring at me and the stroller. I tried a friendly greeting, but it just kept staring. It never wagged or even really moved until I got within about ten feet. Then it slowly came towards me and the baby, never stopping its stare. I started to become panicky. There was no one on the street and no one in the yards nearby. I tried to keep my cool and just keep walking with the stroller, but inside I was terrified.

The dog came over to the stroller and looked in and sniffed. Then it walked around the stroller and did that again. It never acted friendly, never wagged its tail. Everytime it looked at me it was with that same stare. I just kept walking and trying to get to the corner which would turn me back toward home. It circled the stroller and looked in a couple of more times. I was starting to really panic. Then he came over and reached in under the bar that goes across the front and grabbed the baby's blankets and tugged, pulling the blankets and baby toward the front of the stroller. At this point I wanted to scream, but didn't want to aggravate the dog, so I just yelled, "NO!!!" very firmly. The dog backed off a little and started staring at me again and barked and growled.

By this point I am truly terrified and didn't know what to do so I just kept walking toward home. I kept thinking, "Glenn ...come out to the side driveway", trying to will him to come within view. I didn't want to run or scream or really panic because I didn't know what the dog would do. I was afraid to try and pick the baby up out of the stroller, because what if the dog knocked me down?  I didn't look at the dog again, but just started walking looking straight ahead toward the end of the street where I was going. I kept hoping Glenn would come out to the street. I knew he was mowing the lawn and wouldn't hear me if I yelled and I was too terrified to yell anyway. As I got to the middle of the block a car came around the corner. It was someone who lives in the house in the middle of the block and as he went to turn in his driveway, the dog retreated some from being right behind me. The guy looked at me funny, but drove into his garage at the back of his property, so I just kept walking, glad to have the dog back a little further. As I got to the yard next to Glenn's the other neighbor's dogs started barking madly and that brought Glenn out to the edge of his side driveway. Normally those dogs drive me crazy with their barking, but this was one time I was grateful for it.

The dog I didn't know had caught up with me and was walking about five feet behind me by this time. As I approached the actual yard where the dogs were barking he stopped and looked at them and then ran back to where I first saw him. Glenn could see I was shook up and asked me about it. I told him what had happened.  He said that dog actually belongs to the people at the opposite corner, the house that the dog was in front of when I first saw him. I guess normally he is inside the fence.

I talked to my son about it and he had a similar experience with the same dog, thinking he was Cindy, but then finding out he wasn't. The dog came after him on his bike. I'm going to talk to the owners, because I think they need to be more responsible, especially since the dog was very skinny (ribs showing) for his size. He looks like some kind of lab/pitbull mix. I'm not one of those people who is afraid of a dog just because it's a pitbull or pitbull mix. My daughter used to have one and so have several other people I've known and they are friendly, sweet dogs when raised as pets. If this dog had acted friendly in any way, even just to wag its tail, I wouldn't have felt so afraid, but it's the way he just kept staring.

Gotta go! The baby needs my attention. He's exercising his lungs!haha.

As I drove into the driveway last night after work, I noticed that the front door and the screen door were both standing wide open. This is at around one in the morning. It was cold and raining, so that made it even more unusual. I was a little creeped out. I got out of the car and went in the back door after giving the dog her treat. The first thing I noticed was a candle burning on the birds's table. Very unusual so I was feeling a little more creeped out. As I moved from the kitchen to the living room I saw that there was another candle on the piano burning in the little snail holder. There was not a soul anywhere. I was not sure what to think and so I start sniffing the air to try and see if I could smell anything unusual. My sense of smell is very unreliable. Even if I can smell something, I often can't tell what it is I'm smelling. It was then that I noticed the knife on the chair and it looked like it was covered in blood. (I didn't have my glasses on and can't distinguish detail without them.). I was now even a little more than creeped out. I stepped out on the porch and yelled for David but no one answered. I didn't want to go out and go around the house because I was kind of nervous and not sure what had happened. I stepped back into the house and went to the hall. Both the boys's bedroom doors were shut like they are when they've gone to bed.

I went back over and picked up the knife. I still couldn't tell what was on it. I took it in the kitchen and set it on the counter and went back to David's room and pushed open the door.  He was asleep in his bed. I woke him up and asked him what had happened. He was groggy from sleep and couldn't tell me. He didn't believe me that the door was open and couldn't wake up enough to be able to figure things out.

It was all very weird and all a little spooky. I have no idea why he left the door wide open when it was cold outside and neither does he.  He said he burned the candles because I had told him I bought some vanilla ones and he was welcome to use them.  He thought it would be a nice scent. Apparently he had Jeff, Mandy, Dustin and Nicole over for pizza and some Wii play. Why they all left and didn't shut the door I may never know. Why he went to bed with candles burning and the door wide open? Can you say
TOO MUCH BEER?

It turns out it was pizza sauce on the knife. haha.

Mystery more or less solved.

He thinks that Dustin propped the door open to go out and have a smoke while he (David) was on the computer on myspace. When Dustin's ride came he said goodbye (which is why the screen door got opened, I imagine) and left. Dustin probably thought he shut the screen door because it doesn't shut all the way anymore and then it drifted open.  David got up from myspace and went straight to bed without checking the house first. (Something for which he's notorious.)  He often leaves on the lights, the television, the Nintendo and even his bedroom light. Crazy kid!

 

I now know why so many old people in retirement homes and assisted living are denied stoves. I'm thinking someone should deny me mine! haha.

I've been craving me some chili and I wanted to used dried beans in my never-ending effort to decrease the salt in my diet. (Canned beans while easy are loaded with salt).  It's not that hard to use dried beans you just soak them overnight in cold water and then cook the next day. However, in order to soak them overnight in cold water, you actually need a memory. Since my memory seems to be missing, I had to resort to bean soaking method number 2. On the same day you want to cook said beans, you put them in a pan of water, bring them to a boil and soak them for one hour.  This is not hard and I've done it many times over the years when I've made a last minute decision to have bean soup or chili.

I had a pretty normal morning. Awake at around seven, laid in bed listening to the boys get ready, talked to Keri on the phone, got up, got dressed, took boys to work. Came home with the coffee that David always gets me at Thunderbird. I have a lot to do, but decided to just put the beans on, go drink my coffee while uploading some pics to the computer and then when my coffee was done I planned to go in the kitchen, clean up, rearrange some things in the cupboards, put a load of laundry in the washer and get ready to go outside and work in the yard. I figured while I was working on the kitchen I could start the hamburger for the chili and get the chili in the crockpot. Sounds easy enough.

I put the beans in a pan, generously covered them with water and put them on the stove to boil. I ate a piece of my very delicious bread pudding, (craisins and raisins are really good together, by the way) grabbed my coffee and headed in here to upload pictures. I was in the folder trying to pick more than one picture and it kept making copies of the pictures instead. Copy is Ctrl+c. To click on more than one picture you hold down the Ctrl key. Even though I never touched the "c" key even once, the computer kept making copies. Pretty soon I had 76 copies of all the pics in the folder. haha. (not that funny, though).

Well, I got pretty absorbed in deleting 76 copies and copies of copies and copies of copies that were copied. The more I tried to delete, the more copies I got. I finally got the bright idea to select all, then just select out the originals. I also realized that if it copied I could undo that one step, so each time it tried to recopy the originals, I just undid and after some careful picking and choosing deleted the 786 copies from the file. During this time I could smell the firepit (or so I thought) and got up a couple of times to make sure it hadn't smoldered itself back to life somehow. (jokes on me, here!)

I don't really have a good sense of smell anymore. It has been gone for some time and I miss it terribly. I got up to go in the kitchen and saw smoke pouring from the bean pot. YIKES....I had totally forgotten that I left the beans on high to bring them to a boil and they had boiled the whole time I was being confused by my computer and were boiled right out of water and were stuck to the bottom of the pan. Lovely!

I grabbed the pan and took it over to the sink and filled it with water and took it out and set it on the back porch. I got a new batch of beans, put lots of water over them, put them on the stove and busied myself in the kitchen until they came to a boil so I could be right there and shut them off when they were done. I cannot cook anymore unless I stay right in the kitchen. Everytime I try, I end up forgetting that I am cooking and what a mess! It's annoying. Even if I try setting the timer....I cannot hear it everywhere. I put hotdogs on my little hotdog cooker one day and went about my business. Something like four hours later I went in the kitchen for something and there they were...haha...they were hollow inside.  So yeah....I do fine when people are here, but cooking when I am alone just seems to be a recipe for disaster anymore. I need to learn to be hungrier, maybe, so I go check on my food more often. Something. Any ideas?  

I stole this from Kri because I thought it was something worth sharing. Feel free to steal it from me. It's worth repeating and sharing.

cheesy, but meaningful. <3

Maybe . . . We were supposed to meet the wrong people before meeting the right one so that, when we finally meet the right person, we will know how to be grateful for that gift.

Maybe . . . When the door of happiness closes, another opens; but, often times, we look so long at the closed door that we don't even see the new one which has been opened for us.

Maybe . . . It is true that we don't know what we have until we lose it, but it is also true that we don't know what we have been missing until it arrives.

Maybe . . . The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best
of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.

Maybe . . . The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; after all, you can't go on successfully in life until you let go of your past mistakes, failures and heartaches.

Maybe . . . You should dream what you want to dream; go where you want to go, be what you want to be, because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you dream of, and want to do.

Maybe . . . There are moments in life when you miss someone, a parent, a spouse, a love, a friend, a child so much that you just want to pick them from your dreams and hug them for real, so that once they are around you appreciate them more.

Maybe . . . The best kind of friend is the kind you can sit on a porch and swing with, never say a word, and then walk away feeling like it was the best conversation you've ever had.

Maybe ... You should always try to put yourself in others' shoes. If you feel that something could hurt YOU, it probably will hurt the other person, too.

Maybe ... You should do something nice for someone every single day, even if it is simply to leave them alone.

Maybe . . . Giving someone all your love is never an assurance that they will love you back. Don't expect love in return. Just wait for it to grow in their heart. But, if it doesn't, be content that it grew in yours.

Maybe . . . Happiness waits for all those who cry, all those who hurt, all those who have searched, and all those who have tried, for ONLY THEY can appreciate the importance of all the people who have touched their lives..

Maybe . . . You shouldn't go for looks. They can deceive. Don't go for wealth. Even that fades away! Go for someone who makes you smile, because it takes only a smile to make a dark day seem bright. Find the one that makes your heart smile.

Maybe . . . You should hope for enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human, and enough hope to make you happy..

Maybe . . . You should try to live your life to the fullest because when you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. But when you die, you can be the one who is smiling and everyone around you crying.

Maybe. . . You could send this message to those people who mean something to you, to those who have touched your life, to those who can and do make you smile when you really need it, to those who make you see the brighter side of things when you are really down, and to all those whom you want to know that you appreciate them and their friendship.

So, I'm sitting here outside by the fire as I blog on myspace.  The moon is nearly full and the sky is mostly clear and the only annoying thing in the world is the neighbor's dog that has been barking an annoying bark since before it got dark. It's been about 2 hours or maybe more. I think if I had a gun the dog would be dead. I am almost sure of it. Not that I'm violent or anything. It's just been so totally annoying. You would think the dog would get tired of hearing its own voice.  It's got this annoying bark that sounds like it's losing it's voice. It would be wonderful if it did. Other than that it is nice out here. I'm hoping all the hulabaloo will stop soon and I can enjoy at least a little of my time in silence.
I got a lot done out here today. I cleared quite a bit more and got the whole area around the fire pit cleaned up, weeded and swept. I chopped the hazelnut tree out of my forsythia and cleared a path toward the area where I want to put the woodshed and the other little shed I want to build. I love being back here because it is like being in the woods with the tall trees and the fire pit and the overgrowth that is still left. Soon it will be all gone and cleaned up, but that will be ok, too, because I'm going to leave it mostly natural back here. I want my shed to be rustic and I'm thinking I might try to find some old barn wood to use to build it. I want to put a corrugated tin roof on it if I can find the materials.
I worked on the baby's quilt today, also. It's nice to finally have things turned around in my sewing room to where I can actually use it again. I sometimes miss Keri and the kids being around underfoot, but it's nice to have space in the house again. I can always go visit them or have them over if I need that crowded feeling, haha.
The fire is mostly coals right now except for the long log that I put in it. I wanted to wait to go in until that log was used up, but I think the barking is finally getting to me and I want to go inside to my room where I can't hear it. I don't think she is going to shut up at all until they get home and make her. Yikes. So, I guess I'll douse the fire and go in. It's kind of cool being out here and typing on my computer, but it will be better another night when I might actually be able to think. Now another dog has joined in. How lovely.
I am in my room, now, in almost complete silence. Ahhhhhhh.....the sound of silence! My head is almost done spinning and I can almost think again. I went in the kitchen to get a drink and she is still barking. It's been almost three hours. Wow! Why don't dogs get hoarse?
Day five is over. Eleven days to go. It seems like forever since I was at work last. This was a good idea to take such a long break. I know I will be poor for a couple of weeks with straight forty hours and no tips, but it will be worth it. I am loving all this time to myself and getting stuff done and not worrying about what time it is and not stopping in the middle of things to go to work. I like not having the pressure of time.
 

It is the fourth day of my sixteen days off. While I haven't gotten tons of physical work done around here, I have gotten lots of little things out of the way. Things sorted, thrown out, put away where they belong and organized. Unpacked and repacked many of my kitchen things while putting some of them in cupboards until we get back to finishing the kitchen. Cut out and got ready some things to sew. Worked on a couple of the computers that I want to update and use. Lots of little things getting accomplished.
This morning I went to breakfast like I do every Saturday morning with Cheryl. As I was getting out of my van, there were these two older ladies coming out of the restaurant and heading my way. I usually smile when I see people, so I smiled big and walked toward them.  The one lady looked at me and said, "Are you  heading back to college or just moving?"  I turned around to see if  she was talking to someone behind me, but there was no one there! I looked back at her and laughed and said, "Obviously, you have no idea how old I am!"  She looked puzzled. I laughed again and said, "Actually, I am thinking about going back to college, but I'm much older than you must think. I'm 57." She and the other lady gasped! OUT LOUD! and looked shocked! I was totally amused. She said, "Well, you sure don't look it at all!"  I told her that I had 11 grandchildren. I didn't dare tell her that I have a great grandchild by default. haha. We chatted a few minutes about me going back to school. Very nice ladies. Then, I thanked her for the compliment and headed into the restaurant. What fun that was.
Today I put the new (to us) trampoline together with a little help from the boys. Jeren was funny jumping from one to the other. I thought having a more taut mat would help me be able to lift my feet, but it's not. I guess it's just been too long since I've jumped and with my ankle and foot  issues I just can't get lift off because I'm too afraid I will fall right now. I'm going to work on it, though. Even the bouncing is good cardiovascular, so I'm ok with that. That grounding thing really does work. I don't get static shock at all.
There are people in my life that think I really don't know how to relax. I am busy all the time and at work I only take one break each shift. I don't really like breaks for many reasons, but mostly because I don't like to sit down for very long. This gives the impression of someone who doesn't relax, I guess. Also, whenever they ask me what I'm going to do on my vacation, I give them a list of the things I hope to accomplish while I have time off. And often I do accomplish most of the things I plan to do.  
Tonight I went outside to work on the side yard by the fire pit. I was raking and throwing rocks and digging up blackberries with the pick-axe. As it got closer to dark, I decided to start a fire. Glenn saw the fire and came over to visit. We chit-chatted a bit and then he took a look at the new trampoline because I told him it might need some welding. We came back to the fire and he was thinking he might bring over the scoop and work on more of the yard with it. (Excitement).   Ben joined us for a bit and then, after a while they both went home and I was out there alone. I stoked up the fire and added a couple of logs, went and got a cup of coffee and sat down out there by the fire in the dark under the trees and it was just like camping to me. I love sitting there by myself with just the fire to keep me company. It was quiet and the moon was peeking through the clouds, my coffee tasted just right and the solitude was divine! Now that is relaxing!
I'm only on day four. I have twelve more days to go and loving having this time to get things done, visit with Keri and the baby and just relax by the fire. Flex is good! If you want to come sit by the fire with me, just let me know. It's nice having a fire pit.