phfr: late July

Pretty: I think it was all the late spring snow and rain we had, but this has been an amazing year for our roses.

Happy: this week we got to celebrate our friend’s engagement and meet her fiancé. Stupidly, I didn’t take a photo of them, but she and I both took photos of the cake. Recipe from my friend Kristina’s awesome baking blog here.

Funny: I’m running some new routes this week, and I keep passing this car. It makes me feel like I’m in Mayberry.

And there is one house that totally overwaters (their sidewalk is always flooded) and I nearly stepped on this little fellow.

Real: So many heavy things are on my heart right now.  So many shootings.  Politicians using fear as a weapon.  My goddaughter is in the ICU far away, getting good care, but still… heavy. Scary. Would you add her to your prayer list?  Thanks.

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phfr: spring flowers

Pretty: I can’t get enough of all the flowers outside… and so far it’s just trees and crocuses. (Sorry, all you people with tree allergies!)  We’ve been taking a photo every day of our peach tree as it blooms.

Happy: The Match is featured over at Karen’s Killer Book Bench today. (I’m doing a giveaway, if you don’t have a copy.)

Funny: Now that the snow has melted, the chickens are exploring again. Edwina would like to explore inside the house now.

Um, no.

Real: And still, with all the gorgeousness happening outside, there is still math to do.

Alas.

Here’s to finishing strong, friends!

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phfr: moving into March

Pretty: there are all sorts of signs of spring around us: budding trees, tulips and crocuses coming up (I’ve counted 34 of my tulips poking up into the light), birdsong coming back, blue skies, and children climbing said trees.

Happy:  Despite February fatigue, I capitalized on a field trip to drop in on my parents for a morning.  The girls turned it into an impromptu tea party with Papa.  I am really grateful for my parents.

Funny: On one of the days we were trying to beat the February blues, I took the girls to the outdoor ice skating rink downtown.  We ran into some of our friends from the girls’ former dance studio.  They had a blast skating around the little, melting rink and running into the walls.

Real: Feeling my age in my bones (and more when I’m sitting a lot), I’ve been trying to walk more.  My phone automatically counts my steps, so I’ve been shooting for 10,000 a day.  10K is harder to get to than I remember it being… which might me a clue why my clothes aren’t fitting as well as I’d like.

The happy upshot for the girls is more time in the parks.  We like to borrow our neighbor’s little dog and take him with us.  Turns out he has a taste for carrots and rice chex.

phfr: doing my best

Pretty: I love our Advent wreaths.  I only had 12 candles left over from last year and no energy to procure more, so I put one in every other hole.  Plus, this way it’s less likely to set off our smoke alarms.  (I’m doing my best here, people. No judging.)

Happy: This weekend was our annual Jingle Bell Run for Arthritis.  Go Team RandomAmandas/Colorado!  (Those silver Ys are monoclonal antibodies to IL-6. As my sister-in-law said, “Geeky fabulous.”  The only person at the race who got the joke was our neighbor, the drug rep.)

Funny:  This tree was down on my normal running route.  I’m thinking those are beaver teeth.  In the middle of Denver!

Real: This week we made peppermint bark.  I use the recipe from Orangette.

I love that the smashing of peppermints takes so long that I don’t have to let anyone help with the chocolate.

Normally, I would have shared some with friends but we ate it all ourselves the chocolate was from last year and I didn’t want to poison anyone. (Remember: no judging.)

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{phfr}: mid-November

Pretty: The color this year has been fantastic.  I know you people east of the Mississippi think you have a monopoly on red, but we’ve had some red here this year, too.

I collected these for my friend in Fiji who is heading into a hot, humid summer. Of course I can’t mail them to her, but I could send her a photo.

Happy: We celebrated by parents’ fiftieth anniversary last month.  It was such a joy to reflect on the forty-five years I’ve had with them and to celebrate how they have loved each other so well and so faithfully.

Funny: We are in the midst of teaching Jonah how to drive and have been struggling with how to motivate him to practice.  Last week I found the perfect motivation. Let’s drive to the bookstore!  Now he’s begging to drive!

Real: Our weather is all over the place now, with huge swings in temperature between a morning run and an after-lunch run.  Here was a week ago (28 degrees)when I ran in wool socks, long sleeves, a coat, wool hat and mittens:

And here was Sunday (64 degrees), when I ran in capris and a tank top.  Crazy.

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phfr: beautiful November

Pretty: the temperature is dropping tonight, and we’re supposed to have snow tomorrow. I actually managed to cut the good roses and bring them inside. I had to do it in the cold rain and dark, but it was totally worth it.

Happy: Despite the general craziness going on lately, I have managed to fit a few short runs in here and there. On Tuesday, I ran through piles of crunchy leaves on the sidewalk but couldn’t manage to get any photos better than this one. I stopped about ten times to try to capture the beauty. [not successful] You’ll just have to take my word for it.

I’m not sure why my leg looks so weird in this photo. My perpetual pallor perhaps? Or maybe the plastic bag I keep my phone in to protect it from my sweat?  (I’m also not sure why the font is suddenly green.) Too many variables…

Another trans-baggie photo:

I finally stopped and took the phone out of the bag for this one:

Funny: One of the stuffed animals had a birthday party the other day, and I was invited to her tea party.

Real: Both my dad and Sam’s mom have had major surgery in the past week. They’re both doing well but have a long road of healing in front of them. Would you say a prayer for them? Thanks, friends.

Here’s one last bouquet for the road:

phfr: Matilda date

Last week we had tickets to see Matilda, the musical.  Jonah was sick and chose to stay home in bed, so we gave his extra ticket to our seven year-old friend, who rushed over from church to make it in time for the matinée.

Pretty: After the play, we had dinner on the 16th Street Mall, where there are chess boards and a charming but out-of-tune piano for anyone to play.  So we did.

Happy:  After dinner, we had Spring Fling Cake at The Market. (The girls had ice cream.)

Funny: Two Matildas, one Supermodel.

Real: the play is hilarious and scary at the same time (just like the book). Unfortunately, the actors were really hard to understand.  We missed at least half of the dialogue.  We purchased the CD so we could listen to it some more and I’m enjoying it, but I’m sad we couldn’t understand it at the time.  And poor Jonah is listening to it with us and is completely lost, even having read the book.  Bummer.

phfr: beginning of fall

Pretty: the roses are super happy again.  I think I need to make some time today to sit on the porch swing and enjoy them.

Happy: I made it out for three miles today.  It was cool enough to keep my long-sleeved shirt on the whole time.  I love running in the fall.  (No photo of that: roses instead.)

Funny: This came up on my news feed the other night.  I can’t tell if it’s serious or not.  What do you think?

(If it’s real, then it’s not actually so funny…)

Real: I’m off to call Orthopedics. After he limped around the house with me yelling at him to stop acting ridiculous (hashtag don’t be the child of a doctor if you can help it), I took a look at his foot and realized he’d broken it. But the X-ray didn’t look bad, and I’m hoping this recovery will be quick.

{phfr}: cousin visit!

My brother-in-law and niece are visiting this week.  We are having a blast, a Staycation really.  So far we’ve tried two different pools, a pizzeria, and a hike at my favorite spot nearby.

Pretty:  This beauty didn’t care that we watched him fishing.

Happy: What could be better than an easy hike with lots of sticks to pick up and birds to watch?

Funny: This is my husband and his brother.  The resemblance is so strong that at his brother’s wedding, the priest got the two brothers confused.  Happily, neither of the wives got confused.

Real: Sam was home with everyone on my work day, and the girls opened a Salon. However, three girls is a hard number, and one of the customers stomped off because she was unhappy with her customer service. No tip. 

Fortunately the miff was short-lived, and no one left a bad review on Yelp.

  

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{pretty, happy, funny, real}: It’s finally Summer!

Pretty: With all the rain we’ve had, Colorado is more green than I can remember.  This was especially evident when we went camping last week.  Between the green meadow and blue sky, I was overwhelmed.

Happy: My baby is fifteen. Seriously?   How can that be?  Despite a torrential storm, we managed to have a birthday dinner with hamburgers, cake and paper hats.

Funny: The girls had a great time paddling around- in the lagoon, and in the bigger lake (with a bigger boy) to discover an island. (I’m sure no one had landed there for at least 15 minutes before they “discovered” it.)

However, when the kayak tipped, SweetP raced her godfather out to rescue it. Guess who won.

Real: I rode my bike to work for Bike to Work Day.  I felt pretty smug about it until I realized I had no nice shoes, so I had to look like a clown all day in my linen pants and running shoes.  The good news was that most of my patients were under the age of seven, and they didn’t care.

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