My blog doesn't do a very good job of representing me.

I've had far too little time to devote to making this little piece of the web look like a little piece of me. I've been far too disinterested in making this "cop central" or devoting vast lyrical pieces of writing to the fun and exciting world of law enforcement, although that is a large piece of who I am and what I do.

I'm a wife, a friend, a mom, a sister, a daughter, a crafter, a reader,a homemaker, a crossfitter, a coworker, a believer, a christian, a republican, a scholar, and a deputy sheriff.
At least, that's a bit of me.

I envision changes to this blog, someday, somehow - hopefully soon.


In the interim, here's a lovely picture of me getting a sweat on during the Fight Gone Bad IV workout at The Athlete Lab. :) Sumo deadlift high pulls are not the most ladylike maneuver. Excuse the strange blur in the center - the photographer edited out my t-shirt. Personally, I think the phrase "Real Nice" is pretty appropriate, even with this grimace.

It's been a while

Well, it appears that I will never been a very proficient blogger, like my good friend Holly. I'll never been the person with whom people check in daily for my pithy insight into life and kids. Darn.

Today was a good day. This "stay at home vacation" we've been taking really isn't too bad. Some sort of fun thing each day and our own beds at night. Not too bad at all.

Anyway, back to today. I got up early, started laundry, and mowed the wilderness around our home. The dog was refusing to do her business in the backyard, for fear of whatever might have been lurking in the underbrush. I was a bit afraid that we'd send her out and she'd never come back. Now, there have been days where that was more a wish than a fear, but she's becoming a pretty pleasant companion, so I think I'd miss her.

Then we went on a family adventure. We went to Taylor's Falls and rented a canoe for the afternoon. We travelled from Interstate Park down to the Osceola landing. We had a few issues with steering and paddling in the beginning. We got it figured out eventually and had a pretty nice trip. I have a few pictures (maybe tomorrow I'll figure out how to post them!) It was a gorgeous day - sunny, breezy, mild temp (70's), with little to no humidity. We saw freshwater mussels, tiny fish, and turtles - we were all impressed with the 8 turtles on one small log in the middle of the trip. We found out that minnows like to eat raisins and mini chocolate chip cookies. :) We made it to the landing just in time for the 3:00 shuttle. (MAJOR overuse of the "we" pronoun - sorry!)

Dinner was a pleasant surprise. I signed up for a sneak peek at SmashBurger in Roseville (it opens officially tomorrow). Our whole dinner was free. Wow! The food was good - SmashFries are excellent - tossed with rosemary, olive oil, garlic, and herbs. Yum! Not even close to my attempts at paleo eating (but the 90 day challenge starting next month should make up for it.)

Now, the girls are in bed, John's killing things in majorly gory ways (Gears of War 2), and I'm actually blogging. We should vacation more often!

I Wish You Enough

My Dad sent this to me recently.

I've read it before, but I think it bears passing on.

I Wish You Enough

Recently I overheard a mother and daughter in their last moments together at the airport. They had announced the departure.

Standing near the security gate, they hugged and the mother said, 'I love you, and I wish you enough.'

The daughter replied, 'Mom, our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all I ever needed.. I wish you enough, too, Mom.'

They kissed and the daughter left. The mother walked over to the window where I was seated. Standing there I could see she wanted and needed to cry. I tried not to intrude on her privacy, but she welcomed me in by asking, 'Did you ever say good-bye to someone knowing it would be forever?' 'Yes, I have,' I replied. 'Forgive me for asking, but why is this a forever good-bye?'. 'I am old, and she lives so far away. I have challenges ahead and the reality is - the next trip back will be for my funeral,' she said.

'When you were saying good-bye, I heard you say, 'I wish you enough.' May I ask what that means?'

She began to smile. 'That's a wish that has been handed down from other generations. My parents used to say it to everyone.' She paused a moment and looked up as if trying to remember it in detail, and she smiled even more. 'When we said, 'I wish you enough,' we were wanting the other person to have a life filled with just enough good things to sustain them.'

Then turning toward me, she shared the following as if she were reciting it from memory.

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright no matter how gray the day may appear.

I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more.

I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive and everlasting.

I wish you enough pain so that even the smallest of joys in life may appear bigger.

I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.

I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.

I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye.

She then began to cry and walked away. They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them; but then an entire life to forget them.

To all my friends and loved ones, I WISH YOU ENOUGH!

I'm still alive - really!

Life has been.....well, life.
I'm here. I'll blog more about it soon.
Now I have to go clean house. :)

Now I have to create a new cover!!

Your International Spy Name is Lady Little

Your Code Name: The Pharmacist You Reside in: Tokyo Why You're a Good Spy: You have total recall

What's" Your International Spy Name?

Total Recall, huh? My kids better remember that! :)

Hey Baby, let's go to Vegas!

My darling husband surprised me with tickets to Vegas for our anniversary. I've been so busy and distracted that I haven't had the opportunity to even think about the trip. Well, we leave on Tuesday morning - think it's time to consider planning and packing? HELP!!
Of course we're currently in the middle of our first blizzard of the season - going somewhere with no snow is sounding more and more pleasant.

Face fight

I got into a face fight with a friend's dog the other day. I'm calling it a face fight because it sounds so much smoother than "bent down to pet the dog who then launched himself upwards like a rabbit on steriods smooshing my face."

Now this is no little yippy dog, no chihuahua, no peekapoo, nothing small enough to put in ones pocket. This is an american bulldog, a breed of dog who's head is just slightly softer than those enshrined on Mount Rushmore. He effectively made mincemeat of my lower lip against my teeth. It was lovely. Blood and ice make for a memorable ending to a day of Christmas cookie baking.

It gets better though. Later that night I noticed that my chin was bruised. It's about the size of a penny. Now I know that doesn't sound like much, after all the penny is the smallest unit of currency that we currently have. But here's an experiment for you: take a penny and tape it to your face - in the area between the point of your chin and your lower lip, slightly right of center. Looks great, doesn't it? It could be a new trend. And the color - wonderful! It was red the first night and dark purple yesterday. I'm hoping for green today, yellow tomorrow, and gone by Friday. Think I could be that lucky?

I'm hoping that if I have to deal with the uneducated public tonight at work, I can say "face fight" fast enough to sound like "fist fight" and not have to explain myself. :)