Amaryllis sillyramA

Neato.

A few weeks ago we stopped at Eagle Falls for the first time. Usually it is a beautiful, peaceful-looking place: green water, pretty waterfall, amazing stone formations, deep pool just downstream. This time, because of all the snowmelt and rain we’d had, it was a tempest.

We parked, walked down the road a little, and climbed over the guard rail to get a better look, and as soon as we were over the rail, I picked up the four year old. Big M had the 16 month old. There was no way in heck that we were going to let them roam around near that stretch of water. Holding hands was so not sufficient.

The videos I took are even shakier than usual, since I had a heavy and wiggly girly on my hip.

This last one features the ignored complaints of an increasingly chilly little girl. I am a wonderful mother.

2/7/1968 – 12/23/2010

An enchanting song, even for a couple of non-believers.

Rest in peace, Scott.

So, we have this toy cell phone that makes little beeping noises and also says some words when the buttons are pushed.

Hello?
Goodbye!

Ola?
Adios!

The other day, the 4 year old in the house was playing with it, and I overheard her saying “Ulah?”

And I said, “Oh! It’s pronounce oh-lah. That means hello in Spanish. Know what else you can say? You can say Adios, amigos!”

And I was about to tell her what amigos meant, but she looked at me and said, tentatively but clearly, “Adios, a mommy-ghost!”

And it’s been 7 years since we quit smoking! Seems like a lot longer than 6 years, somehow. The quit meter says:

[drumroll]

$29,827 not spent

aaaand

[louder drumroll]

89481 cigarettes NOT SMOKED! That’s almost ninety thousand. Holy dang, that is a lot.

The quit meter I use is available at silkquit.org and I highly recommend it. Not sure why I have failed to mention that before.

Anyhow, YAY!