Cheerleading

It's hard to believe that the cheerleading season only went for a short 2.5 months. Mostly it was fun, but occasionally it was a lot of work. It started at the end of August with a 2 day cheer camp in the blazing heat of summer. That was easily the worst part of the whole deal LOL. I took over coaching duties for our 5 girl squad. We met every Friday while the Optimist Youth Football team practiced. I had to try and remember a few cheers from my high school days (thank goodness for youtube when I ran out of old cheers) and made a valiant effort to do jumps and stunts with the girls as well. There was a game every Saturday afternoon in September and October and we finally wrapped up with our last game on Saturday. Later that night we had a very nice team party in which engraved medals were handed out to the cheerleaders (and I even got a plaque as the cheer coach). It was a pretty cute activity that the girls and I (Ian got into it as well LOL) enjoyed doing together.

Packer Game Slideshow

Seattle Trip - Part 2

Okay, this took longer than I expected to get on, but we took a TON of pictures at the Seattle Seahawks vs. Green Bay Packers game. It was so much fun, and it definitely didn't hurt that the Packers dominated the game. Please ignore the very unglamorous aspects of the personal pics - it's hard to look good with a foam piece of cheese on your head (Brian, does it look familiar?), especially when the tip has been nibbled on. We went with James' coworker, Mitch and his wife Debbie.

Seattle Trip ~ Part 1

James and I got the ultimate treat for any long-married couple with children - a weekend away. We dropped the kids off at James' parents house on Friday evening and on Saturday morning we left for the airport. Everything about travelling is SO different without kids LOL. We didn't have to juggle a million people and packages through the security checkpoint, no worrying about who sits where, no "I'm hungry"s or "I have to go to the bathroom"s. We arrived in Seattle around 8am and made the 30 minute or so drive from the airport to our downtown hotel. I've never been to Seattle before, so we had lots of sight-seeing to do. I never knew how hilly Seattle was and we got tons of exercise walking. We went to the Space Needle (it costs $16 per adult to ride the 40 second elevator to the top!) and also to Pike's Place market. It was interesting to see the Saturday market (they had the most gorgeous flowers and they were so cheap) and all the seafood. We also did some shopping and had a nice, long dinner at Elliot's Oyster House (sans oysters, ironically enough). It was a late, but fun night.



Sewing Update: One sleeve is attached to the bodice, one more to go and then on to the skirt, which is easy.

Christmas in October

This is what Boise looked like last Friday. If I remember correctly it was the earliest recorded snowfall in more than 50 years. Ian was convinced that snow = Christmas. It was actually pretty fun - I love how shiverry the ghost hanging in our tree looks. The lawn had just gotten mowed in the morning and by the afternoon it had started snowing and actually accumulated a bit. That's Boise for you. It started melting late that night and was gone by morning, but what fun!

Costume Update: The chemise and pantaloons are finished and now I'm working on attaching the sleeves to the dress bodice. The pressure's on!

My Favorite Month

I think October's my absolute favorite month of the year. I love autumn, it's my favorite season, and while growing up Septembers in Wisconsin felt like fall, it definitely doesn't hit here in Boise until October. I love the brisk chill on the air, grey rains, explosions of color in the tree canopies, the slightly slowed-down feeling that preceeds the holiday bustle. I like pumpkins and apples (especially pie, mmm), red and orange, fuzzy socks, football games, and warm sweaters. I love October for being my birthday ('cause everyone loves their birthday, even when you are old ;-P) and Halloween is lots of fun too. Welcome October, my old friend, may you be as wonderful a month as you've been in years past.