roots

Sugar Daddy likes to say- you can take the girl out of Utah, but you can't take the Utah out of the girl.

We took a picnic up to North Fork Canyon. This is the place I learned to cross country ski when I was a child. This is where I went to Girl's Camp and learned how cruel girls can be to each other. This is land that my father knows like the back of his hand. Today, I took my son there and stood at the waterfall and watched him cry big crocodile tears because we wouldn't let him scale the rock wall. It seems he got a healthy dose of the Campbell gene for outdoor adventure.

I find my western roots are peculating to the surface of my life. I love that there are so many country western stations here. I love that just up the street from my parents house the Barker family still runs a small dairy farm. Although my home town has grown and is no longer the "Mayberry" I once knew, it still has a small town feel. People still smile and wave from their pastures as you drive by.

The Skipping Stone necklace was one of the first things I listed on Etsy. I have sold every one I have listed. I picked up a few stones on our little hike tonight. I can't wait to get home to my work bench to make them into jewelry.

the lost boys

My baby brother turned 26 today. He graduated from college a couple of weeks ago. He still doesn't know what he wants to be when he grows up. I just hope he ends up in Carlsbad.

Family
Originally uploaded by secondsister

Thomas, more commonly known as "Lord of the Flies", is seldom seen these days. Standing at the back door of my parents house, I call his name and he appears from seemingly nowhere, a sweaty dirty, mongrel boy. I hope these few weeks as a ferrel child stick in his brain like the memories I have of growing up in the Outback of Australia.

the things they carried

"And the boy loved the tree very much and the tree was happy." - Shel Silverstein

Boo Radley Necklace

What tiny treasures rattle around in the bottom of your jewelry box? In your travels, have you ever picked up a shell, a cool pop top, a skipping stone? Do you keep your children's teeth as they fall out?

I find that for most of my life I have been a bit of a squirrel. I gather and stash all sorts of tiny things. To me, they are like the crumbs of bread that Hanzel and Gretel dropped to find their way back home. My little treasures lead me mentally back through the years, back to my childhood. When I am old, I will gather up all my whatnots and create the most meaningful work of art. It's on my life list.



A friend of mine suggested I start making a few pieces of jewelry that weren't priced as high as the pieces I have been making. I think it was good advice. Here is a little necklace for only $15.

North Shore Necklace

Postcards from Shangri-La

The first thing you must do is imagine you are four years old again. Think back to when you had no worries or cares. Picture a time in your life when you could easily do a back bend or jump on a trampoline without peeing your pants or throwing you back out. Now, think, really think about what kind of a place would have been paradise to you at that age.

My son has found his heaven on earth.

Almost thirty years ago, my parents bought a sprawling piece of land from my great-grandmother. After she died, her part of the property was sold and my great-grandfather's shed was drug onto my parents land. Originally, their lot was dotted with peach, cherry and apricot trees, but they have slowly been replaced by more modern landscaping.

The trees that have stayed have grown large and strong. The oak leafs are as large as a man's hand. The walnut drops enough nuts to feed an army of squirrels. These towering oldies afford copious shade for the playground below.

Upon entering my parent's backyard, one is meet with a rock fountain that happily burbles and slops and acts as if it had a personality all it's own. The children are allowed to play freely in the water with no danger. It was designed for small people.

The apple tree down the way proudly bears the weight of the tree house and has graciously grown a perfect branch for a swing. A trampoline is placed nearby making the sour apples available to jumpers during the early season.

As if a child might become board with nothing to do in such a fanciful place, my mother has added an airplane teeter-totter and a large cement pad with unlimited amounts of sidewalk chalk and a menagerie of various bikes.

Nestled in the far right corner of the property are my father's birds. A few years ago, my father placed fourth in the world for his kit of Birmingham Roller Pigeons. You may be asking yourself, what are rolling pigeons, and who would want to raise pigeons, I thought they were kind of like flying rats? Don't. Just go with the fact that he is way into his birds and his enthusiasm has leached into the grandchildren so that participation in feeding time has become an honor.

We will be here in Shangri-La for two whole weeks. There will be lots of Popsicles and sweets, smuggled to the boy on the sly, before meals because my mother has transformed into an entirely strange woman, who indulges children with sugar and sits for hours to play and color with crayons while the wash needs to be done. There will be forts built out of old blankets, and serious meetings held inside addressing things like how many daddy long leg spiders live in the yard and the official rules to kick-the-can. There will be hamburgers and a cherry pit spit contest and fireworks.

I'll keep you posted.

have you heard the exciting news about cool whip?

Today was preschool "graduation". Is it not almost embarrassing how these days, kids "graduate" from every grade? But it was fun to go to. Thom's class sang and danced for the parents. Sugar Daddy couldn't make it. He is entrenched in preparation for a trial that I fear may cause a heart attack. If not that, then at least premature aging.



After much deliberation, (which I won't burden you with here, because I know that, after years of childlessness, it is extremely boring to hear about other people's children's education) we have decided not to send The Rodent to kindergarten next year. Instead, he will go to a class at the same preschool which is in between preschool and kindergarten. In fact, we love his school so much that we plan to keep him there K-8th grade.



Anyway, with summer break here, I am on the hunt for fun, educational (or quasi) kid projects. If you have one that you think is fab, leave a comment and let me know about it. Here is the first craft we will be making.


Those people over at Martha Stewart Omnimedia sure are crafty!



On a more serious note, I wanted to let everyone know the exciting news that Cool Whip now comes in a can! I am seriously psyched about this because Cool Whip is the one processed food that I absolutely love, even if it is essentially like eating PVC pipe. Imagine, making wonderful little Cool Whip stars on Jell-O, strawberry shortcake, fresh berries, pudding. . . ahhhh, the possibilities are endless.