Flirty Thirties, Sporty Forties

Happy 1st Birthday, Chantry! I'm sorry that your big sister kept taking all your noisy toys yesterday and proclaiming, "Mine!", and I'm sorry that Bowdrie nearly crash landed his remote control helicopter into you when you were trying to crawl, and I feel terrible that your mommy forgot all about getting a cake for you so you had to settle for blueberry muffin mix. Oh yeah, and I'm sorry that Carson keeps saying, "No girls allowed" and closes the door on you and hurts your feelings (and occasionally your fingers)! It's sure tough being the littlest one! I hope you're up for another year of this!

I'm going to run this!! I'm so excited - I was able to get the time off and I've already registered and made all my travel arrangements! I had given up on doing the race this coming year and was planning to wait until 2012 because I wasn't able to find anyone who could go with me, either to run or just go along, and I thought it would be so lonely to go alone. However, I was so disappointed to put it off and I couldn't stop thinking about how much FUN it would be. I looked for other races but they just didn't appeal to me like this one. I've been working hard with that particular goal in mind and to all of a sudden not have that goal or push it back a year? It was such a let down! Plus, I kept thinking about it even after deciding not to go this year and this past week I finally decided phooey on it, it means a lot to me, I'm going to do it! This princess is a big girl princess (and a determined one, to boot) and I'll just do it myself! :-)...

So much for that idea! I've been thinking about getting a dog lately. It seems like everyone around me is getting one and they seem to be enjoying them so much, the dogs are such great companions, and I started to think that maybe a dog is just the thing I need. How fun it would be to come home from work and have a little puppy excited to see me, and I could talk to it and tell it about everything (no HIPAA worries there!), and we could go for walks, and I started looking at pictures of puppies and they are just so precious and adorable! I could totally see myself being the best dog owner ever - buying it a little bed so it could sleep on the floor next to my bed, getting it cute collars and leashes and only the nicest dog hair shampoo and brushes and stuff ... but ... my mom and another friend reminded me that I have this favorite hobby called travel, and it just is not very compatible with being a good dog owner. I'd have to put the dog in a kennel or find someone to watc...

Hooray for Mom! She probably won't mention it but I will mention it for her! She saved Dad's life last night after he choked on bread and grapes. His face was blue and he was foaming at the mouth, and it wouldn't have been much longer before he collapsed. Scary how quickly it happened! It makes me a bit leery about living alone! :-( I better review the self-heimlich section ! (

Pictures from the recent trip to Montana~ Sunday was Cassidy's 2nd birthday and Kalispell Special Meeting. We went out to HuHot with Kahl & Hannah afterwards and then home. Monday I went to Bowdrie's school for lunch and then met him at the bus stop after school. Unfortunately I got sick on Tuesday so I missed going for Bowdrie's cupcakes but Velva got to go. I was just happy to make it home! Chantry prefers to be held ... unless she wants to climb in which case, don't get in her way. Cassidy is surprisingly good with names and is a busy busy girl! So hard to believe she's only 2! Carson still loves when I read to him and loves animals. Bowdrie is so grown up - thank goodness for him - he knows where everything is in that house! I tried very hard to get a family picture but - well, it's not easy with 4! :-(