First Impressions of D.C.

Here is one of our first glances of the Capitol Building at night. We will tour it on Wednesday.

A view of the Washington Monument.

Will have more, hopefully tonight, but it has been quite a whirlwind tour. Yesterday was quite moving, with a tour of all the monuments. I'll share pictures and thoughts later.

The girls perform this morning at 10 a.m. at the University of Maryland. Then off to one of the Smithsonian Museums...probably Air and Space.

Ill post more later!!

My First Encounter With The Nation's Capital

In less than six hours, I will be boarding a plane for Washington D.C., our nation's capital. I can hardly wait. But I will have my computer and my camera, so, for the next six or seven days, my blog will be coming from D.C. and Baltimore, Maryland.

My daughter Zoe and I, along with eight other students and parents from the Kellogg School District travel back east for National History Day. Zoe and her group perform on Monday, the group performance on the Sunshine Mine Disaster.

So, since it is almost midnight, and we leave Kellogg around 3 p.m., I bit you adieu until I say hello again soon.

Silver Valley Girl (transplanted for a week in the Nation's Capital)

#80--My Tree--Fare Thee Well 'Til Friday

Farewell? a long farewell to all my greatness.

This is the state of man; today he puts forth

The tender leaves of hopes, tomorrow blossoms,

And bears his blushing honors thick upon him:

The third day comes a frost, a killing frost,

And when he thinks, good easy man, full surely

His greatness is a-ripening, nips his root,

And then he falls as I do.

- William Shakespeare

Goodbye, Sunnyside Elementary

It has been an emotional week for me. My baby, Kiki Aru, finished up elementary school and will be attending middle school next year. Today we said "goodbye" to Sunnyside Elementary.

Kiki Aru was my only child who attended this school kindergarten through fifth grade. She knew no other school. Z2 and The Princess attended Meridian Elementary in Meridian, Idaho, besides attending Sunnyside.

Even though the building has changed, Sunnyside Elementary has a lot of history in our family. I know my dad's sister Ruth attended Sunnyside, and I assume my dad did as well. My brother, sister and I all attended Sunnyside Elementary. My mother was a teacher at Sunnyside for many years. That is what makes Kiki Aru's departure so emotional...there is a lot of family history associated with that school.

Kiki Aru had wonderful teachers during her years at Sunnyside. They were caring and really helped her learn a lot about, not only school work but herself as well.

I'd like to take a few moments to say thanks...

Kindergarten: Mrs. Cougher--Thank you for helping her learn to read well, and teaching her lots of fundamental skills that have stayed with her during her elementary school years.

First Grade: Mrs. Wick--You challenged her and pushed her to do her best.

Second Grade: Mrs. Ketchum--You care and are compassionate, and teach them, not only to be a good student, but a good person as well.

Third Grade: Mrs. Kilbourne--You found the unique qualities in her and helped her spread her wings, and also challenged her in many area. You also made it possible to see Sally Ride.

Fourth Grade: Mrs. Ketchum--Yes, the same teacher, just another year. You developed a special bond with your students, and treated each of them like they were your own special child.

Fifth Grade: Mrs. Lamphere: You were a perfect ending to her elementary school years. She loved your sense of humor, and you were a wonderful teacher. Thank you for a wonderful year.

Principal: Mr. Shepperd: Thank you for six wonderful years of working as a volunteer at your school, and helping with some wonderful projects. It is a wonderful school.

Goodbye, Sunnyside. We will all miss you, an hope to come back a visit someday.

Do you have any fun memories to share from your days as a students at Sunnyside Elementary...I'd love to hear them.

#79--My Tree--Blowin' in the Stormy Weather

Dont know why

theres no sun up in the sky

Stormy weather

Since my man and I ain't together,

Keeps rainin all the time

Life is bare, gloom and misry everywhere

Stormy weather

Just can't get my poorself together,

I'm weary all the time

So weary all the time

When he went away

the blues walked in and met me.

If he stays away

old rockin chair will get me.

All I do is pray

the lord above will let me

walk in the sun once more.

Can't go on, evry thing I had is gone

Stormy weather

Since my man and I aint together,

Keeps rainin' all the time

This is Where I Belong

I love living in Kellogg, Idaho. This is where I belong.

It is not the city. It is not the country. It is a rural area, population around 2500. It is located within an area called the Silver Valley, with a population around 10,000.

I love living in the place where I was born, because there are so many connections, and I feel a part of where I am living. This is where I belong.

For me, Kellogg is in my very being. I am a part of her rhythm. I have climbed her hills. I have walked, biked, run and driven on her streets. I have swum in her creeks and fished in her rivers. I have played in her parks, and attended her schools. This is where I belong

I come from a mining community, where weather was never really a factor is our everyday life.

After college, I moved to an agricultural community, where they used dry land farming, it was in the middle of a drought, and all they talked about was the weather. That was different.

I grew up in a small, mountainous valley where the river and the Interstate split the two mountain ranges, and for me it was close, and safe and comfortable. I would travel home from eastern Montana, and as soon as I hit the Bitteroot Valley, around Frenchtown, Montana, I would start to feel like I was home. This is where I belong.

Some who came here were stifled by the closed in valley, and would need to leave every so often to keep from suffocating.

To them they were stifled. To me, I was comforted.

My next move was to the Treasure Valley of southern Idaho, to Meridian. It is the high dessert. Lots of sage brush, and foothills, and big, open sky. Over the nine years I lived there, that area became more and more “citified”, gaining more and more people. Malls sprouted up. Subdivisions covered the once fertile farmland. Traffic came to a standstill during the evening rush hour.

My husband and I knew we would eventually end up living here in Kellogg. We didn’t actively pursue coming back, just one of those feelings we knew would come true. And it did. In the summer of 2000, my husband started a job here in Kellogg, and we returned. Kellogg called us back, and we responded with yes, we will come. This is where I belong.

I love many aspects of the “city life”, but I can travel to a city, get my city fix for a day or a weekend, or even a week, then go back to my rural, mountainous valley and enjoy the slower pace and the connection I have with the area my grandparents traveled to and settled in the 1920’s, where my dad was born in 1930, and where I now live, 77 years after his birth, and know…

…this is where I belong.

For more town and country writings, visit Sunday Scribblings here.

Pain in the Neck

A few days ago I developed a real pain in the neck.

Well, maybe it is really more a pain in the shoulder.

And I don’t do well with pain.

As I type, pain shoots down my arm to my hand because of this knot in my right shoulder.

It is all because I wanted to start doing some weight training with our dumbbells on Thursday. I only used five pound weights, and just went through about 10 reps on each type of exercise, just to refresh my memories on how they were each done.

Well, this seemed to aggravate the muscles in my neck and shoulder area, causing them to cinch into a knot and hurt really bad.

Right now I put a Icy Hot patch on the area, and have a heating pad covering it to give me some relief.

I can’t get comfortable in bed, because I like to sleep on my stomach, and I can’t find a comfortable spot lying in bed that way….so I need to sleep on my back, which isn’t quite as comfy. ARGH!!!

That is what I get for not being disciplined the past couple of years with working out with any regularity…so now my neck and shoulders are so messed up, that I try and give them a little exercise and they rebel against me.

So, PKR has had some similar problems, and he said I just need to ease back into it, and not work those muscles too much at first.

I asked him how long it is going to last.

He said he wasn’t sure.

I’m leaving Saturday on a jet plane for Washington D.C., and I really don’t want to deal with this knot while traveling. Sleeping on the plane and in different beds will be bad enough.

Plus, it made me really cranky today…and I don’t like being cranky. I’m snapping at the girls for stupid little reasons, just because I’ve got a pain in the neck. I think I was become a big pain in their necks.

But, I can’t let this slow me down on the path to healthier living. Once I’m home from D.C. the training begins…

(Start hearing Rocky theme...
Do do do do do do do do do do do…
Trying hard now, its so hard now, trying hard now..Getting strong now, wont be long now, getting strong now..Gonna fly now, flying high now, gonna fly, fly, fly.)

But first, I just want to get rid of this pain in my neck so I can get a good night's sleep.

Good night!!

#78--My Tree--Up Close and Personal

Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot.

- Charlie Chaplin

Remembering Dad

I couldn’t have told you June 1st was the day Dad died. I knew it was in the first week of June. But I wasn’t sure of the exact date. We discussed it recently, and Mom said Dad died on her sister Lila’s birthday, which is June 1st.

I gave the assignment to my siblings this week to talk about memories around Dad’s funeral. That was a very difficult time for me personally. I could have had a break down during that time, but I didn’t.

My youngest daughter was born in September 1995, This was only 13 ½ months after my middle daughter was born. My oldest daughter was five at the time, and had just started kindergarten. I remember that fall, dad hadn’t felt very good, and was going to the doctor a lot. I was living in Meridian, Idaho at the time, about an 8 hour drive from Kellogg.

At the beginning of May, Dad was diagnosed with cancer, and the doctor said he had about one month to live. I made arrangements to go to Kellogg and spend a week or so at Mom and Dad’s house. I remember taking my in-law’s car and driving to Kellogg. My mother-in-law may have been with me, because her father, my husband’s grandpa, was also sick. He also lived in Kellogg.

So I was at the home of my childhood, with my five year old, my one year old, and my 9 month old baby. My Dad was able to be at home during his last month of life, and have his doctor come to him, and also had a Hospice nurse taking care of him. I remember at one point, the pain was getting bad and they gave him morphine, and that is when the weirdness began, which I think is rather common.

So this was going on in my home. Across town, at the Taylor residence, Paul Taylor’s family was gathering because Grandpa Taylor had a stroke and was in the hospital in Coeur d’Alene, and wasn’t expected to live much longer. I remember PKR came up to Kellogg one weekend, and was able to say goodbye to his grandpa before he passed away sometime in the middle of May. The following week was his funeral.

So, between my dad dieing, and PKR’s grandpa dieing, I wasn’t holding it together very well. I felt like I needed to be a support to those around me. But I also needed some support from others, but my husband, my main support, was 8 hours away, and my other support, my own family and my husband’s family, had much bigger things on their minds, so I really had no where to turn. And keeping a baby, a toddler and a five year old quiet in a house wasn’t the easiest job in the world.

I do remember pleading with my sister-in-law Laurie to go out to dinner with me one night, which she did. I think that may have been my salvation. I’m not sure she realizes how important that dinner was to me, but it was very important.

I remember sitting next to dad while he was in bed one afternoon. He was very restless, in a drug induced state, and I rubbed his arm and sang and prayed for a while. At some point, he woke up enough to realize it was me, and I think the fact I was there with him and he was in that state made him very uncomfortable, and he wanted me to leave.

Soon, it was time to take my family back to Meridian. I still remember Dad sitting in his chair in the living room, holding all my girls, and me video taping it. (I still haven’t been able to watch that tape. Maybe this is the year to do it.) What a special blessing of being able to say goodbye this way, though. With all my girls on my dad’s lap, and then going out the front door, and telling him I loved him, but knowing I would never see him again. That was tough.

About a week or so later, my sister called me at my home in Meridian saying Dad had passed away. From what I remember her telling me, Dad had struggled all night, in his bed, fighting to die, and my sister said she prayed for the angels to take him away. And he finally gave in, and he was gone. I think Mom went in and shut his eyes.

I remember PKR’s Aunt Nancy coming over and hugging and crying with me. She had just lost her dad, too, so she knew what I was going through.

We went home to Kellogg for the funeral, and again stayed for a while that summer. It was the summer Dante’s Peak was filmed in Wallace, and I remember going up and seeing how the town of Wallace was transformed to look like the aftermath of an erupting volcano.

Kind of like I had been about a month earlier. But I never blew. I think God gave me the grace to hold it all together for my girls, my mother, my sister and my brother. And we all survived. And now we fondly remember Raymond “Pert” Woolum each time we are together.

I do wish he still lived here, now that I am living in Kellogg, the town he loved. He could tell me so many stories, and he could share about so many things. But now Dad lives in our memories, in our stories, and in the hearts of his friends around town who still, after eleven years, tell me how much they miss that old “son of a b****”.

Dad was loved by many people. He was a great guy. I wish I couldn’t have known that guy a lot better….but it wasn’t meant to be.

But your legacy of loving Kellogg lives on in your kid’s, Dad, and we thank you for giving us such a great hometown…and for being such a great dad.

I sure miss you!

The Festival of Trees 12--Meditations

My post on Kellogg's Second Chance is featured this month as part of The Festival of Trees 12--Meditations.

At the suggestion of Crafty Green Poet, I submitted my post and it is featured in this month's festival here.

As the host blog, Arboreality asks us to wander today’s collection, consider our simple, personal connections with trees and forests outside of environmental politics, policies, and as-yet-unsolved problems.

Enjoy!

Clematis Bloom, New Meme and PKR Gets New Job

1. I was blessed with two very mature clematis plants in my backyard when I moved to this house last spring. This flower is from the smaller of the two, and the first to bloom. I can see this bloom out my patio door. I think it is so beautiful.

2. Ponderosa Pinings tagged me for a new meme. Here are my results.


INSTRUCTIONS: Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom slot, like so:


1) BlondeMomBlog



2) It's A Schmitty Life



3) Life is short, buy the shoes



4) Ponderosa Pinings



5) Silver Valley Stories




Next select five people to tag:



(Sorry, but I'm skipping this part. Join in if you would like. Leave me a comment if you do.)




Answer the following questions:




What were you doing 10 years ago?


I was living in Meridian, Idaho. My children were 6, 2 and 1. I was a stay at home mom who did a little bit of childcare. Besides being a full time teacher at one of Meridian's Alternative High Schools, my husband was the Youth Pastor at our church, and I helped him minister to the middle school and high school youth. I also was very involved in my daughter's school, helping with the PTO group, and volunteering in class. I loved to garden and bake and can food. I loved to write, and helped write our church's newsletter. Life seemed a little slower and simpler then. A different kind of busy I guess.

What were you doing one year ago?

I had just moved into my new house at the end of March, and was still getting settled,

Five snacks you enjoy:

Cheese
crackers
popcorn
pretzels
apples


Five songs that you know all the lyrics to:

Love Will Keep Us Together
Moon River
Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey
Copacabana
My Favorite Things


Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:


Hire a personal financial advisor
Hire a maid
Get out of debt
Save for girl's college tuition
Save for traveling




Five bad habits:


Eating late at night
Sitting too much
Reading the paper first instead of the Bible in the morning
Not planning meals for the week
Forgetting to clean out the litter boxes




Five things you like doing:


Going for a walk each night with my husband
Helping lead worship in church
Praying and reading the Bible and having something new revealed to me
Sitting and talking with my three daughters and laughing at our own private jokes
Spending time with my brother and sister and mom.




Five things you would never wear again:


Cheap, uncomfortable shoes
Big 80's hair
Clothes with big padded shoulders
Leggings
Maternity Clothes





Five favorite toys:


Laptop computer
Espresso machine
Karaoke Machine
Backgammon Board
Digital Camera



3. My husband PKR has been a teacher at alternative high schools since 1991. He worked at Meridian Academy in Meridian, Idaho for 8 years, and has been the director of Silver Valley High School here in Kellogg for 6 years. Well, change is coming. Yesterday, he interviewed for and was offered the job of Drama/Speech and English teacher at Kellogg High School, which he accepted today. He is very excited, and it was fun last night taking our walk, and having him share some of his vision for the drama program at the high school.

#77-My Tree--Sheltering Milo the Cat

A home without a cat—and a wellfed,

wellpetted and properly revered cat—may be a home,

perhaps, but how can it prove title?

- Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens]

Guest Trees from Martin Creek

Today I am sharing some pictures of trees in my sister Inland Empire Girl's yard in Northeast Washington state.

Here is a weeping willow ( Oops! I mean a weeping birch. Thanks IEG!!) that greets you as you walk up to the front door.

What a beautiful maple that contrasts with all the green foilage surrounding it in the garden.

Can you see what is staring back at me in the middle of this tree? It is a baby racoon that was treed by my sister's English Springer Spaniel Annie. Find out more about this story here.

Smore Fest 2007

Tonight we had a Smore Fest here at beautiful Martin Creek at Inland Empire Girl's lovely home.

For those of you who have never experienced this lovely tradition, here is what you need.

First, one needs to gather the three main smore ingredients: large, jet puffed marshmallows, graham crackers, and Hershey chocolate bars.

The second essential ingredient is a bed of hot coals to roast the marshmallows on.

And, of course, you need some good roasting sticks to put the marshmallows on so they can be roasted to a perfect golden brown.


Raymond Pert gets some help from Inland Empire Girl in assembling his smore.

Grandma Mary enjoyed her smore.

Kiki Aru and Z2 each had about five or six smores to tide them over. They give Smore Fest 2007 TWO THUMBS UP!!!

Inland Empire Girl's husband JEJ observes the Smorefest, but doesn't partake. His contribution was very important...he made the fire, and produced those perfect marshmallow roasting coals.

When everyone came inside and shared about the yummy smores, Raymond Pert's dog Snug was ready to run outside, grab himself a stick, and make one for himself.

Instead, he just laid down, and listened to Grandma Mary tell him a story before he went to bed.

I Remember Grandma West

I remember her sitting by the window in her rocking chair with the fan swaying to and fro

I remember her quietly greeting our family as we arrive for another summer vacation in August
I remember her asking how we were doing, and not knowing any other way to answer , I would say “fine”

I remember smelling the dark, rich earth of her garden that she planted faithfully each spring and I would see the results each August

I remember enjoying the bounty of that garden, including green beans, tomatoes and corn on the cob

I remember showering off in her bathroom after spending a day at the Clearwater River

I remember getting to play the piano that was in her living room in the mornings when she was outside working in her garden

I remember attending her 80th birthday when I was 12, and thinking she had lived a long, wonderful life. Who knew she had almost 17 more years to go.

I remember never hearing her raise her voice, or say a swear word.

I remember knowing she was a “no smoking” zone for her children and grandchildren

I remember she was a lady of high standards and principles

I remember I always knew she prayed for me

I remember that other people spoke fondly of my grandmother, just like people do my own mother

I remember thinking she was strong and courageous to have raised her family all by herself

I remember she was kind

I remember she was gentle

I remember she had a good sense of humor

I remember being with Mom and my new baby Molly when we got the phone call that Grandma West had died. It was the same weekend as Molly’s baby dedication. I think having her baby granddaughter there helped Mom through her initial grieving process.

I remember being sad that I couldn’t attend her funeral.

I miss her. I often wish I wasn’t so young when we went to Orofino, so I could have known her better.

But her memory lives on in her children and grandchildren through their baking, sewing, crafting, gardening, praying and their kindness to others.

Nona Walker West
Born December 27, 1894
Died November 24, 1990

Her final gift she left us was her gift of longevity. She was about one month shy of turning 97 years old when she died.

She lived a long, wonderful life.

I just wish I could have shared more of it with her.

Simple Gestures

Driving my mom and brother to the cemetery to honor my father

Putting flowers beside the graves of my father, and my husband’s grandparents, Paul and Naydeen

Using a columbine flower from a plant that was in Naydeen’s garden, then her daughter Susie’s yard, and now in my flower bed, to put beside their gravemarker.

Planting hostas and other flowers in front of the house to make it look green and alive.

Arranging potted flowers in the front to give a splash of color.

Traveling to Martin Creek to spend a weekend with my mom, brother, sister, brother-in-law and two daughters.

Letting my oldest daughter stay home with her dad so she can get caught up on school projects.

Promising your youngest daughter you will play the card game of “Spoons” with her today.

Listening to your middle daughter memorize her lines for her upcoming performance.

Cooking breakfast for your family, and making that special potato dish you created.

Buying cough and cold medicine for your sister before you leave so she doesn’t have to drive back into town.

These are just a few small gestures that hopefully told some people

You are important.

For more Simple writings, visit Sunday Scribblings here.

#76--My Tree--Blowin' in the Wind

A breeze discovered my open book

And began to flutter the leaves to look

For a poem there used to be on Spring.

- Robert Frost

#75--My Tree--A Diamond in the Rough

God's Word is better than a diamond,

better than a diamond set between emeralds.

You'll like it better than strawberries in spring,

better than red, ripe strawberries.

Psalm 19:10

Finding Peace in my Backyard

The Silver Valley has experienced some exceptionally beautiful mornings this week, and I have taken advantage of them by going outside and strolling around my backyard to see what is new and different from the day before. Today I discovered my snowball bush, back behind some other trees and bushes, in full bloom. If the above picture was a bit bigger, you would see a little spider in the lower center part of the flower posing for his picture.

Here is my snowball bush among some some ferns and other things in the far back right corner of my yard. Snowball bushes remind me of my Grandma Woolum. She had a beautiful snow tree in her front yard in Spokane, Washington. The blooms on them were huge. I think it must have been a different variety than the one I have.

Here are a couple more snowball blossoms from this morning.

Peaches and Sadie, my two dogs, also join me out in the backyard for my morning strolls. They enjoy their morning time in the yard after being inside all night long.

I have two azaleas blooming right now and I love the color of these flowers. I wish the blooms lasted longer, because they are so beautiful. But I will enjoy their beauty while I can.

The bridal wreath sprirea reminds me of the yard in Kellogg where I grew up. There were several of these bushes around the house, and they would bloom most of the summer. I remember playing "Bride" when I was younger, and cutting off their flowers and using them for a bouquet.

I hope this tour of my yard helped bring some peace to your life as well, as you gaze upon God's beauty that surrounds me in my yard. I hope you can find some time today to find a beautiful place and be quiet for a few moments and reflect upon some good things.

Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies. Philipians 4: 8-9

My Tree--#74--Framed by Another Tree

Nature hath framed strange fellows in her time.

- William Shakespeare