Friday, February 25, 2011

I've always wanted an indoor pool.

Here we go again. Woke up this morning to water in the basement. We thought we got this fixed a few months ago. The plumber ran his snake out 65', and the city main is supposed to be at 60', but here we are again with a problem. I called a different plumber, and they came out within the hour. They ran their snake out 95' to where the plug was at! They couldn't believe it. I vacuumed about 20 gallons of water off the floor. In the middle of that, the service repairman for our washer called. He was supposed to come replace a module that was recalled, and under warranty. I told him we had water problems, and could he call later. We cleaned up the water, and he called back. So now, we have a clean drain, clean carpets, and a washer that cleans our clothes. On top of that, Songbird wasa having a game party with some friends, so she was a white tornado, and cleaned most of the house. The youngest of our daughters had a date to go to a concert in SLC tonight, but she had the dish job rotation that she had to get done before she could go, so she worked very hard to get the kitchen all clean. As a result, we have a very clean house right now! There is a silver lining in every thing that happens!

Take care. Stick.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Tear Drops

Snow, in its simplest form.
A snowflake. Crystalline beauty.
Lighter than a feather.
Its touch, a caress.
So fragile.
Try to hold it, and its gone in a moment.
It leaves nothing behind,
But a small drop of water.
A tear.

Then, it begins to pile up.

Clumping, drifting.
Blowing around like a white beast.
Adding weight to weight.
Breaking limbs from trees.
So Cold.
Try to move it, and it resists
With all that it is.
All we are left with is a small drop of water.
A tear.

Running down your face.

Friday, February 11, 2011

The Poet Strikes Again

As part of my job, I have to make a commute of 42 miles to and from my school. Most days, I am able to ride the bus with the students. On those days, I am usually able to rest, or read, as we make the drive. However, lately it has been quite cold. Who am I kidding? It has been VERY cold. With wind chill, it has been as low as -66 degrees below zero. There is a decent heater on the bus, and it even gets too hot sometimes, but at those temperatures, it can't keep up. Especially when we first get on, the seats are like sitting on a block of ice. This experience got me thinking. The following poem is a result.

Cold Hearted?
by Stick

Some people have said,
In a voice full of dread,
There's one thing they fear more than another.
For the outhouse seat,
Didn't have any heat,
And they didn't have any brother.

It took someone bold,
To go out in the cold,
And put their cheeks down on the wood,
But it would be best,
Above all the rest,
To be next in line if you could.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

The Green Red Show

This week is "Make-A-Wish" week in our school district. It is a big rivalry fund raiser between this district and the district in the next town. In conjunction with this, the school sponsors a week of spirit raising activities: School color day, prince and princess day, etc. Today was, "Come dressed as your favorite cartoon/Disney character. My twins decided to dress as "Phineas and Ferb." Green and red hair, purple pants, and all. They had a friend who dressed as "Perry the Platypus." I guess they had fun.

The only problem, the red dye looked like twin 2 was bleeding to death where it got on his ear and neck and didn't wash it off, and twin 1 had the same look, but in green. :o) Luckily, it all washed off in the shower. Anything for school spirit (and a laugh).

Have a great day! Stick.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Poet's Corner

Who by Two

Two by two, the Lord decreed,
That the animals should come,
And so they came, as they were want
Counting out their sum.

But as they came, the troubles
That poor Noah had did grow.
Until he was quite at the end
Of the patience he did know.

The rabbits were prolific,
And their numbers began to swell.
Not to mention the aroma
Round the place where he did dwell.

The bees were all quite flighty,
And would not settle down,
And the noise at night was loud enough
To make poor Noah frown.

The food that he must gather,
To feed the elephants and all,
Grew to such proportions
That it soon began to gall.

Finally, Noah was at his wit’s end,
With all the worry and the pain.
Then something happened that changed it all.
--It began to rain.

Haiku's to You

A Haiku

A haiku, I knew
Counting out the syllables
I think that makes five.

The Spirit

Spirits touching near
Recognizing all the truth
We all learn and grow.


Husband and Wife

Two hands touching close
Supporting each the other
Together they stand.


Temptation

Let go of the rope,
The voice loudly called to me.
I fell—stupid voice.

Would the Real author, please stand up?

My brother, Twist Tales, and I recently entered Amazon's Breakthrough Author Contest. He is entered in general fiction, while I have entered in Young adult fiction. The contest entry ends at midnight tonight. This is a great opportunity to try and get published, and from what I have experienced so far, I have better odds than through normal submission channels.

I suppose if I had money to spare to hire an agent, or money to pay an on demand publisher, that I could already have my book published. I don't. Six kids, and living expenses have seen to that. I do think that my book is worthy of publication, and that people would enjoy it if they read it, but trying to find a publisher who will even read it has been a search in vain thus far. I did have one say they would read it--for a fee, but if I had the fee, I could publish anyway. :o)

I'm not discouraged--yet. I know many authors tried MANY times to get their first book published, and many more never do. Perhaps mine never will either. I enjoyed writing it. I have two more sequels I am working on. Maybe its just one of those things you have to do, no matter the results. Like my poetry.

Hang in there. Keep those creative juices flowing. Stick.

You Might Live in Wyoming if....

The temperature hits 33 degrees, and people are rolling down car windows because it is so nice outside.

The temperature is -5 degrees, and the kids STILL wear shorts and t-shirts to school, with no coats.

You are driving down the road, and you see a dog frozen to a fire hydrant.

If the temperature hits 45 degrees, and you see people outside sunbathing.

You need to install wildlife crossing signs next to school crossing signs.

The number of Antelope and deer in town outnumber the number of people in town.

(I could go on. Any you can think of?)