It's that time of year!!

I realized yesterday when I was putting the kids' tennis matches into my phone that it is March, and it is the start of the High School tennis season (hence the birth of this post) and that means that the end of the school year is a mere 3 months away.  As I entered each match, I slowly began to hyperventilate a bit.  

This is not new.  This happens every year about this time.  Don't get me wrong - I LOVE tennis season, and I'm excited to see how Kristin and Trevor do this year as both of them were quite successful last year.  I'm excited because I will see people at the matches that I don't get to spend a lot of time with otherwise and sitting courtside watching our kids play is ideal for doing a little catching up.   And of course, the beginning of March means the daffodils are beginning to bloom, and the forsythia is in FULL bloom and the grass is greening up in the field (this time of year it actually looks better than our lawn!) and it is actually light when I drive to seminary in the morning, and Spring is just around the corner.  Who wouldn't be excited for that?

The panic comes as I realize that another school year has FLOWN by.  That is what I am NOT ready for!  Not that I don't want to have my kids around during the summer, not at all.  One more school year in the past means they are that much closer to graduating.  In point of fact, Kristin is all but graduated.  (Did I mention she is a Salutatorian?  So proud of her!) Senioritis is strong, and she is signing up for housing, and getting a summer job lined up and she has a countdown on her phone to keep track of the minutes/seconds until the big day. Having a senior is my usual panic attack times two - deciding about announcements, planning a party, mentally preparing myself for her to leave, knowing the summer won't go fast enough for her all the time, and for me part of the time (if I'm being honest here!)  I've been here before and survived, but I don't love it, and certainly don't look forward to it.

So, I think to preserve my small amount of sanity, I'd better remember to breathe deeply when the familiar feeling starts, to try to take it one day at a time, and try even harder to enjoy the journey and all the things that I truly do love about this season of the year!  

Along with the calendar entries, I think I better set a few (a lot) reminders of my intentions.  That may be my only hope!!

A look at September

As so often happens, I get behind on my blog, and have to settle for a few favorite pictures to document exactly what has been taking up my time that I intend to use for blogging.  

This month has been no exception, and I give you a condensed version of September, 2015...

What would Autumn be like without soccer?  I really couldn't tell you, as I have been going to soccer games in the Fall for longer than I can remember!!  Sadly, the light at the end of that tunnel is growing brighter by the year!  The LHS girl's soccer team just celebrated the Seniors as part of their last home game on Saturday.  Seven girls who have played together for at least 4 years, and in the case of a few of them, most of their young lives.  

Ashley, Kristin, Allison and Miranda, Soccer Storm - circa 2004
(Be still my heart!!  How cute are these little girls?)  This year, these girls played teams consisting of several of their current LHS teammates.  How fun would it be to have taken pictures of all of them back then??  One more note - Kristin loved this blue uniform and wore it A LOT!!  She was such a funny duck back then about clothes!!

Kristin, Rylee and Ashley, LHS Soccer Team - 2015
A trio of beautiful girls

Michael, Kian, Ashley and Kristin, Soccer Storm - circa 2008
Hard to believe these kids are all graduating this year!!

Just one of this girl's many talents!!

Beautiful!!

They can't wait to graduate!!!

 More on soccer in a minute, but let's take a break to catch up on more September happenings...

Ashley and Chelsie came to visit and brought their 4 little guys with them!  It was great, and although it went by really fast, it was an unexpected treat to have them come!!  

We...

...went to the park and played...

...rode scooters on the pump track...

...rode scooters on the walking path...

(Carter even got in on that action)

...cheered on Trev at his soccer game...

...felt protected by our resident Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle... 

...and spent a rainy afternoon indoors, which included playing in the teepee the girls played with as children.  I couldn't help snapping a photo of the kids doing the exact thing their moms used to do...

I know I am missing T2 but he chose not to participate

We didn't do too many exciting things, but also managed to have a pizza night, watch the real-life Cinderella movie, find a house for next summer's vacation, and have a few nice chats to boot.  The girls also took advantage of a little nap here and there.  An added perk when Nonna is around. :)  The only bad part about the trip was the fact that Trevor and Kristin were both so busy with soccer, they didn't get to spend much time with our visitors.  Kristin actually skipped school one morning because she had two away games while they were here, and literally only got to spend a few hours with them.  There wasn't much we could do about that, just the way it was.  :(

Elder Dallin H. Oaks came to our Stake Conference this month!  Kristin had the opportunity to help give him his lunch for the trip back up to Spokane!  She came in the house after she got home and said..."Best. Day. Ever!".  That is music to this mama's ear!!  I'm grateful she knows the importance of modern day apostles and prophets, and what a blessing it is to have been in the presence of Elder Oaks!!

Of course, there are a few other things that have been going on this month, unfortunately, no pictures are available, but they are happening nonetheless...

Seminary is in full swing.  I'm getting to know my class, and loving it!  We are studying the Old Testament this year!!  Yikes!  I'm just taking it one day at a time.  And yes, it is still relentless, but I'm also grateful for the calling!!  It is amazing!!

Yoga is still happening, although I took an unintended break in August!  Too much going on.  It feels so good to be back at it!!

And just life in general has been moving along at a pretty fast clip!  I thought it would slow down a bit after school started, but I should have known better!  Silly me.

Kristin had a great final home game.  She assisted on both goals scored by LHS!  She has loved her time as a Lady Bengal!!

Trevor in his game against Moscow.

Another stroll down memory lane...Hayden, Cassidy, Kristin and Alyssa.  Boys and Girls Club soccer, 2006
Especially poignant as Hayden was involved in a fatal helicopter crash this summer.  A tragedy too great for words.

I made posters for each of the Senior girls.  There is glitter from one end of my house to the other, and much in between!  :)

So there is the Reader's Digest version of September.  As you can see, it was a great month!!

Complete - The kitchen remodel (finally!)

If you ask any of our kids, they will tell you, as decision makers, John and I rank between slow and downright tortoise-like.  

Our pending kitchen remodel was no exception.  I started the process in December of last year.  Although, as far as choosing materials, and most of the other details, that stuff went pretty fast.  Getting a bid was a little slower, but that wasn't the problem either.  The problem was a difference of opinion that just couldn't be solved.  I won't go into the gruesome details, but suffice to say, someone isn't entirely happy with the way things ended up, but is choosing to not be bitter, as the rest of it is lovely, and such an improvement over the "before".  

A good representation of the "before".  I'm still wondering what possessed me to choose the green laminate all those years ago!!

"After" - I love it!  Note the new chairs as well.  I love the low profile back.

Here are the countertop and backsplash close up.  We love the skinny tiles, but take note - they are a huge pain to work with.  Especially getting the edges straight for an exposed edge. 

John gets high marks for being the man in the trenches and placing each tile sheet and figuring out the best way to cut the strips.  (I tried that last part and failed miserably.  More proof that Math and I just don't like each other.)  My strong suit was piecing odd stips together, and I did a lot of the grouting.  Although, I did a terrible job of wiping off the first section, and have some SERIOUS tile scraping to do.  That grout isn't coming off without a little elbow grease!  You can imagine those little tile pieces will take forever!!!  Just a note about tiling supplies.  We tried a product called Simple Mat and loved it.  You apply the two-sided, sticky sheets to the wall, and then stick the tile to it.  It worked really well, and was much less messy than the mortar would have been.  There is enough grit left after the grouting - I can't imagine how much of a mess the thin set would have been.  We also used pre-mixed grout, called Simple Grout, which we also highly recommend.  Both products were more expensive, a convenience tax, I suppose, but we felt the extra cost was worth it.  And as for the grit, I have a feeling we'll be dealing with that for at least a week, if not longer.  You think you have it all cleaned up, but the tell-tale scratchy sound comes right back when you set an item down on the counter.  Sigh!!

My other main contribution was being the Home Depot runner, sometimes going twice in one day!  That always makes me a little crazy!  And I have at least one more trip ahead of me to return the leftover materials.  That will be made less painful when I see the credit from Home Depot on my credit card statement.

There was a happy unexpected mama moment during this project.  I put the REO Speedwagon station on Pandora and we worked to LOTS of good late 70's/early 80's music.  That is the music John and I listened to in high school (before we knew each other) and then in college (part of which was when we were dating), two good things, plus, it is such great music!!!  A huge smile come to my face when my teenagers sang along with A LOT of the songs.  They love them also!  Just a little bridge between the generations!  I love it!!!

 I love the countertops.  They are quartz, and remind me of the bottom of a little streambed.  I also do really love the tile, despite the difficulty of installing it.  (Maybe it would have been easier for someone more experienced, and some of our issues came from being tile novices.  Who knows?)  I think when my older girls see it in person, they will say, "Yep, it looks just like something Mom would like", and I do.  

The feel of the kitchen is much warmer than before.  And a little richer.  It's all so good!

And, most important of all - it is finally done!!

A Matter of Perspective

It all started Friday.  I went to mail some packages at the post office in the grocery store and the clerk asked me if I had fun plans for the weekend.  I was so happy to say "Yes, we have friends coming to stay overnight!:"  Which by the way, has happened, and was VERY FUN!!!  The Woodliefs from Spokane stopped in on their way home from the Boise State shellacking of BYU Friday night.

We didn't do anything exciting, just sat and caught up on things while our kids spent time together.  They went to church with us, had Sunday dinner with us, and then headed up north.  Such a great family.

But back to my original post...

When I asked the clerk what she was doing, here was her reply, "Going to visit my son at the County Jail."  I expressed my sympathy and then she said "It's been a rough month."

Now this makes me sad on a couple of levels.  1 - I can't remember which of my children this boy is the same age as, but I know he graduated with one of the girls.  Clearly, he wasn't a big part of their lives, but the connection is there.  2 - I now know of 2 children of parents that I know who are in that jail.  The other one is also a former classmate of one of my girls.  Too close to home.

Here's where the perspective comes in.

My kids aren't perfect.  The two who are home certainly make their own brand of mistakes, but thankfully, that brand is very mild compared to what it could be.  As a matter of fact, they (as well as their older sisters) are pretty DARN GOOD.   We don't have to fight them to go to church.  We don't have to drag them out of bed early in the morning to read scriptures and then head to Seminary.  We don't have to worry about where they are because, honestly, most of the time they are home when they aren't at school.  We don't have to nag them about getting homework done.  They don't cause us sleepless nights (maybe just a few late ones.)

But here are two examples of what they did, just today...

Trevor debated about studying for his Science Test tonight.  It is a re-take, and he wants to do well on it.  We talked about it, and he wondered if he should just go to bed a little early, wake up a little earlier than usual, and review the information then.  I was able to offer him an example by one of his brother-in-laws (hey, Brandon) who often woke up in the wee hours of a Monday morning to study because he chose to not do it on the Sabbath.  He decided to take the high road and get up early.  I told him he will be blessed for his choice.  As he went back to his bedroom, he said, "Guess what song is playing?"  I guessed Choose the Right.  "Keep the Commandments" he said.  Ah, my mama heart was bursting.

Kristin came running up the stairs, changed back into her church clothes, and headed out the door to Mission Prep.  I had no idea she was interested, and honestly, maybe she's just checking it out, but my point is, she made the choice herself, and it was a good one.

Now, I'm a realist, and know that she will probably end up having to do a little homework this evening.  (It was a full weekend after all.)  And I know that at some point Trev will also make me roll my eyes and wonder what in the world he is thinking.  For tonight though, I'm going to ride this feeling of contentment that for this day, my kids had choices to make, and they made good ones.  They are so much better than I ever dreamed of being when I was their age.  (Happy sigh! :)  From my perspective, we are blessed and I'm feeling grateful for the children Heavenly Father blessed us with, and the good examples they are to me as well as their friends and classmates.
I am reminded of the following scripture.

• 

  3 John 1:4

  I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

Another season in the books

Having 2 kids on two different high school soccer teams meant a lot of spectator time for me at Walker Field.  For most of the games, when Trev had a home game, Kristin was playing an away game and vice versa.  So, like I said, lots of spectator time.  Today, both seasons are over.  Trev was on JV, so no district play for his team.  His last game was Tuesday against Lakeland.  It was a tough loss.  There were a few goals that got past our goalie that were heartbreakers.  Even with a few hard to swallow losses though, Trev had a great time playing.  He misses playing already - I know this because he has been bouncing, juggling, passing, and/or heading a soccer ball in the house whenever he can.  My lecture about not doing it didn't seem to make much of an impression.  Sigh.  Here are few pictures to document his season.  Sadly they are all from the same game, as I couldn't seem to remember to bring my camera, and if I did, I didn't really get any pictures.  

I don't often get good shots of the kids with the ball, but here is an exception.

Another one with the ball!  What was going on that day? 

I missed documenting the action before this shot, but that is Trev, on the ground.  Contrary to what his position might be implying, he playing hard every minute he was in the game.  He is on the ground as a result of that effort.

Kristin's season ended today.  They had a great season (undefeated at home!) and ended up second in the district.  They played Coeur d'Alene to see who got to move on to the next game for districts.  They lost 2-1, so they are done.  

It was a hard game for me to watch for several reasons.  -It was pouring rain for much of the game.  Lots of girls wound up on the ground as a result of the wet grass.  -Cd'A went up 2-0 in the first half, and the Bengals had a hard time rallying for awhile.  -There were a few calls the ref missed, which resulted in a large, vocal group of our parents yelling rude comments to the ref.  It was not good.  Even some of the players were looking at the sidelines, and telling them to be quiet (with their eyes).  -And probably the last hard thing was that Kristin only got a few minutes playing time.  She was getting a lot until a few games ago, then for some reason, she didn't get subbed in but for a little part of each half.  Now, I'm not one of those parents who thinks their kid is the best on the field, and should always play, but I am a little distressed she suddenly wasn't getting much time on the field.  Today, the only reason she went in was because a girl got a yellow card a few minutes before the half and had to come out.  

A bengal goal fired the team up and they played well after that, but time was not on their side.  They were just plain out-played.  Tears were shed, many hugs of comfort were given, and then it was time to go home.  Not an easy loss to swallow, but they don't have much choice about that.  About their only option is to pick themselves up and move on.  

Here are a few pictures from this season (ok, today's game)

When she was in, she did her part

A good run with the ball

It was a very physical game

Tut tut, it looks like (a lot of) rain!

 The rain started a little before 5:00 pm, and 40 mins later, it was still coming down by the bucketful.  (My windshield wipers were one full speed when I was driving.  That is how hard it was coming down!) Trev was at soccer practice, Kristin was at the river, and I had just come home from buying Duke Corn!  YUM!!  

Our gutters were clogged with leaves and not draining properly, so John donned his rain jacket, climbed on a ladder, and took them to task. There were A LOT of leaves in each one!  No challenge for John though.  He had them cleaned out before the really hard rain stopped, which was close to an hour later.  It continued to rain for a while longer, but with much less force.

Trev called about 1/2 hour before his practice was supposed to end to say they cancelled.  Not to be stopped by a "little" rain, and never one to miss an opportunity to be a goof ball, Trev seized the moment and went strolling in our flooded driveway after he got home!  He made a fine Christopher Robin if I may say so myself with his huge soccer ball umbrella and my very pretty rainboots!!  

It is a moment like this that I will miss when he's old enough that he stops doing silly little things.  (Maybe I'll luck out, and he'll be one of those boys who still retains a little goofiness with him no matter how old he is!)  Speaking of which, did I mention that the soccer practice he was at was for the high school?  Yes, my baby will start his freshman in high school on Wednesday, and plays on the JV soccer team!  Where have the last 14 years gone?  Its bad enough that Kristin will be a Jr., is playing Varsity soccer and drives herself everywhere she needs/wants to go!!!  Yes, this mama is seeing her empty nest future!  What a thought that is!!!

(I know the picture is a little fuzzy, but I didn't realize it until the storm was over, and the photo op was gone.  The skinny picture is the corner of our yard.  That poor eunonymus gets flooded out every time someone washes a car, or there is a big rainstorm.  It is a dwarf compared to the others in the row.  I'm pretty convinced that it takes all its energy to recover from its near drowning experiences and doesn't have any energy left to grow!)

Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink, or water with, or (insert use)

Well, not "not a drop" but "not enough".  You would think living in a town bordered by two rivers, and not small ones at that, a well would last long enough to fill a family's needs, but alas, it is not so.  Our faithful well, that has served us for 22+ years is diminishing, and there's nothing we can do to save it.  Well, that isn't entirely accurate either.  We could spend an incredibly large amount of money to deepen it, but of course, as with all well-drilling operations, there is no guarantee.  So our solution is to join the local irrigation district and start paying for our water!  Gulp!!  That will be a hard pill for us, who are very spoiled, to swallow!!  Made even harder by the quantities we use during the summer to keep our yard looking so nice.  (Big round of applause to John who works hard to make and keep it looking that way!)  

So, that brings us to today's project - Dig a hole around the area where our well connects to our house and get it ready for the water people to connect us.  The area is in a flower bed at the side of our house, so there was a little plant rescue involved, but not too much, as most of the plants affected by the digging were plants that had spread a little (or a lot) farther than I wanted them to, so they were easily disposed of.  Trevor and John did the lion's share of the work, while I mainly took a turn here or there, and Kristin spent more time than me helping.  It took a large part of the day, and Trev and John are both spent.  Kristin and I recovered pretty quickly!  :)  

We are ready for the next step which involves a trencher, some plumbing knowledge and several valves, etc.  We called in a professional to take it from here.  (We know when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em!)

John and I both thought this part of the day looked like a little "government work"!

Rarely does Trev turn down a chance to run the tractor.

Sadly, this blurry picture is the only one I took of Kristin doing her part.  (It does show her very cool bun, though.)

You can't see it in this picture, but along with the dirt on his face and neck creases, he also had dirt in his "belly button crease".  He deserved every drop of the precious water he used for his shower!

Release the birds!

Trev's Eagle Scout project is drawing to a close.  He will release his remaining birds tomorrow morning on our property.  Here is the final outcome for the 100 chicks he started with.  (Click here for  the beginning of the project if you have no idea what I am talking about.)  FYI - the survival rate is about 30%.  Of course, we have no way to know how these birds will fare, but we are hoping to be on the high end of things. 

2 chicks died within the first two days. One of those wasn't well from the start

1 chick met an unfortunate demise when its head was snapped off by a critter (probably a fox) in the night.

1 chick was scared by something (probably the same critter) and tried to fly while it was in the run and crashed into a board, most likely breaking its neck.  This would be the chick Trevor stuck in the freezer in a ziploc bag and let me discover when he asked me for an ice cube!  Gross!!

1 chick made it through 2 nights on its own but died after Trev brought it back home because it had an injured foot.

2 chicks escaped and have stayed around the yard.  One got out while John was changing the water, or something like that, the other when they were being caught to transport for release.  They can often be found just pecking around the run.  Hanging out (on the outside) with their buddies.

The remaining 93 have been set free or will be tomorrow.  Trev let the first two batches go at a walking path on the edge of town.  There is a lot of bushes and ground cover for them to live in.  We have been out to check on the first batch, and found game trails they had made in just a day.  We also spied several of the birds and were happy to see they were still around.

Trev and John have both enjoyed the project, and it looks like there is another batch of chicks in our near future.  Trev has committed to raising another group and should get the chicks sometime in the second week of June.

Dick and Lorraine Hallisey with Trevor.  Dick has generously provided feed and wood chips for the chicks.  Lorraine collected roly-poleys (sp?) and took many pictures.  They came with us on both releases.  

This is John's favorite picture.  He loves how Trev got into the spirit of things and tried to model how to fly.

This is my favorite picture.  We spied this chick when we were on a walk Sunday to check on the birds.  They are pretty good at keeping themselves hidden already.

Trev only had to coax a few out of the cage the second release.  The birds just kind of moseyed out of the cage the first time.  Here is a good shot of Trev encouraging one of the lingerers on its way.

Most of the second group took off like this bird.  It was exciting to see them take off through the sky.

The big day is here...

Finally, after weeks of working on the brooder, the chicks came, today!!!  (Just a quick reminder, Trevor is raising 100 pheasant chicks to release into the wild for his Eagle Scout project.)  They are one day old and were hatched at a game bird farm yesterday.  Trevor and John went to pick them up with a man from town who also picked up 100 to raise himself.  He has done it before and has given Trevor lots of good tips and advice.   We will have the chicks for about 8 weeks and then Trev will release them.

Trev and Kristin spent a lot of time hanging out with the chicks.  Kristin has adopted one and is trying to decide if its name is Frederick or Chuck.  He is one of the biggest ones and has a really dark head.  She tried to paint his toenails so she could find him again.  The polish came right off, so we'll see if she can pick him out of the bunch tomorrow

Oh my, they are CUTE!!  They are funny too.  They will be walking around, eating and drinking and then suddenly decide they are tired and plop down on the spot and fall asleep.  The others pay them no heed.  The napper gets trampled and piled on, then when it has slept long enough, it gets up and does its thing!  That took a while to get used to.  I was sure when they were just laying there that they were going to die!!

Before they went into the brooder, they had to learn to drink.  We all took turns basically dunking their heads in the water and making sure they swallowed.  Then they could drink on their own.  Pretty amazing.

This is the watering system given to Trevor by the man who gave Trev the brooder.  The red is from the heat lamp and makes it hard to see, but there are nipples that come down from the pvc pipe and the chicks peck at them and get water out.  Again, they figured this out by themselves.  Pretty smart little things!

They are so cute!  We we'll enjoy watching them grow over the next few months.  John said there are so many people who are excited that Trevor is doing this for his project.  I already talked about the man who donated the brooder to him, and our neighbor who is also raising some, but another man in town donated the feed Trevor will use.  This has been a great project for Trevor so far, and its great that so many people are interested in helping him succeed.  More pictures to come as they grow and change...

And, just a humorous thing about my last blog post...Amber told me I should not have posted it on April Fool's Day as no one will think it is true!!  :)

A quick rundown

2014 has flown by for me!  What is the deal??  I feel like I am still back in January, but my calendar says it is March, so I guess I better catch up.  Here is a quick rundown of what is going on around here the last little while...

Trevor and John have been working like mad men getting this ready.  (If you have no idea what it is, just know I wouldn't either if it weren't for the fact that they are working on it in our shop.)  This is the pheasant brooder that Trev will use when he raises pheasant chicks.  He has been working with some men from the Idaho Wilderness Foundation (don't quote me on that organization, it's something along that line) to get ready for the little chicks to arrive.  After they have grown a little, he will take them across the draw and release them into the wild.  At this point, I have no idea how many he will get, but we'll soon find out as they will be here next week.  This isn't just something to keep Trevor busy, he is doing it for his Eagle Scout project.  

So far, the hardest part of the project has been getting a hold of the man who could give his okay to the whole thing.  That hurdle was crossed Saturday, and it is full-steam ahead.  I'll keep you posted on things... 

Tennis season is in full-swing (corny pun intended)  for Kristin.  She has played girls doubles once, but the rest of her matches have been girls singles.  This past weekend was the Lewiston Invite and she played some great tennis.  The first day she won 2 matches and lost one, which put her into the winner's bracket for the next day.  She won the first match Saturday and knew she was in for a workout her second match.  Her opponent was a Freshman from Ferris High School.  Kristin lost 2-6, 1-6, but...she set a goal for herself to get 3 games on the girl, and that is exactly what she did.  She was very pleased with things, and as an observer, I am here to tell you that she got inside that girl's head.  Kristin remained calm and cool, yet her opponent was visibly flustered when she got behind!  Way to go, girl!  Today, she played a Sr. from Sandpoint and beat her 6-3, 6-3.  (Just a sidenote on the above picture.  This is from the first match Kristin played in Friday.  The girl she beat had a huge red bow in her hair.  My friend and I decided that if you are going to sport something like a big red bow, you better back it up with some stellar tennis!  :) and see that blue sky?  It was beautiful tennis weather, and I have the rosy nose to prove it!!  Keep on a comin', Spring!!)

 Recognize the girl in the black pants?  I know you can't see her face, but it is our own Amber!  She showed up on our driveway Friday afternoon!  What a great surprise.  She was the beneficiary of a friend's parents generosity, and we enjoyed every minute she was home.  It, of course, went much too fast, and this is sadly the only picture I took to prove she was home, but it was wonderful to have her here if only for a few days.  Speaking of days, just in case you are keeping track, there are less than 60 until her big day!!  It will go by much too quickly, I already know!!

 Finally, two books that have captured my attention lately.  The Happines Project is a record of what the author did for one year to increase her happiness.  It wasn't anything earth-shattering, but it was a good nudge to examine my life and see where I could step things up a little and increase my own happiness. I wonder if the author saw this article which I rambled on about a few months ago.  It is interesting to think about your own happiness, and also to know that being LDS gives me the inside scoop on "The Great Plan of Happiness".  The author has a blog, that interestingly enough, came out of her year-long quest.  I have enjoyed reading it, especially the quotes she posts every Saturday.  I am always happy to find a new quote to embrace.
I heard about The Power of Habit on two different podcasts in the last few months, so my interest was piqued and I had it sent to our library and have been reading it whenever I can.  In fact, I'm a little annoyed that I had to try to get the book for book club read (the meeting is tomorrow, and no I'm not going to get the book read) and couldn't keep moving forward with this one.  There is a lot of research that is referenced in this book, but it is interesting and easy to follow, so in this case, makes for compelling reading.  (Knowing how Starbucks trains their employees makes me glad I support them occasionally with a hot chocolate.)    We'll see if any of it sticks and I change some of my more annoying habits!!