Bountiful Baskets

Boy, I sure didn't know what I was missing! Bountiful Baskets is a food co-op that began in 2006. Two ladies started it {i'm not sure what state} but it has spread from a local town thing to 7 states; AZ, NV, TX, WA, WY, UT & ID. And it grew from each state having one or two pick-up sites to many, many towns having multiple sites. Rexburg alone has 16 sites. I just had to remember to sign up. That was the tricky part. There is a time frame of about 3 hours on Monday evenings. And the baskets go fast! I was lucky this week, my friend Rachel called & reminded me. I just wish I'd bought two! I know the grapes & cherries will be gone before the end of the day. And all those veggies are just calling for me to make a killer salad! Bon Apetit to us!

Night Sledding

I'm improving, I'm only a week behind on posting pictures about the current activities. We took advantage of the last wheezes of winter and spent a night up near the Tetons in a cabin with our good friends, The Whoolerys. There was an awesome "official" sledding hill nearby. "Offical" meaning there was a tow rope to take you to the top of this foothill. Sledding so fast your eyes water. Though the towrope was out of order, so we hiked to the top each time we wanted to sled down. But that provided worn out kids for us adults.

The next morning, we hit the hill again. I took more pictures than sledding this time. The night before, Jacqui & I got going a little too fast and overshot the end of the sled run. Jacqui was fine, my gluteus maximus and right shoulder took the impact. Whew, haven't done that in a long time! We had a great time enjoying our last winter for a long, long time.

Quaint

I find the Eastern Idaho AM traffic report wildly hilarious. Reporting the traffic includes everything from Yellowstone, Jackson, Rexburg, Idaho Falls, Pocatello and Twin Falls. Seriously. If you don't know, that's a north to south span of about 6 hours drive and a parallel distance of 3 hours. I can't fathom the speedster that needs the traffic report of 8am leaving West Yellowstone because he's got work in Twin Falls. Well, someone could do that, but even so, I don't think the traffic stop on 17th in Idaho Falls is still going to be relevant in 3 hours.

I just laugh because every day the report is "Traffic in Eastern Idaho is moving smoothly". A whole section of a state! This morning a traffic violation stop was reported in Idaho Falls, a fender bender in Pocatello and ice in the mountains.

"People in Rexburg, you'll want to watch out for the fender bender in Pocatello. Maybe leave a few minutes early for work because uh, traffic could get backed up 80 miles. There's a look at our traffic and weather for this morning."

Though they overlooked an accident on the main highway between Rexburg & Idaho Falls this morning. Saw the cop cars & fire truck, too. Nothing. I'm not saying it's not reliable, I'm just saying . . . . uh, yeah, it's not reliable.

Now, the traffic reports in D.C., those are nothing to laugh at. Though comparing Idaho to D.C. traffic, it is laughable. Cairo traffic is even worse than D.C., but they didn't have traffic reports for Cairo, or at least ones that I could understand. What are they going to say?

"This morning, Ahmed left his donkey in the middle of the road while he went upstairs to have tea with his brother-in-law. Traffic slowed to a crawl around his cart and then picked up for a block. Then Sherif decided he needed to turn left when he's in the far right hand lane. Picking his way across 5 lanes of traffic, he finally succeeded, but clogged traffic all the way back to Ahmed's cart. And we're back where we started."

*for emily! to see cairo traffic*

Anyway, just something that made me laugh this morning.



NaBloPoMo update:
**seriously, i am barely hanging in here, people. i'll say it again, i'm all about quality, not quantity. i'm a perfectionist. and really, why did they have to pick november? why not september or march? the months where a major holiday doesn't occur? couldn't they see that june was lonely? i'm trying my best to get things in order, write blog posts and pack. visiting grandparents that don't have access to the internet could pose a problem for me. but don't worry, i'm determined**

From the backseat . . .

When we drive to school, there is a lot of scenery. The kids have spotted a heron's nest on top of the bridge trestles and proclaim, "NEST!" every time we pass it. Just Wednesday, when Jacqui & I were driving back from Idaho Falls, I had put on a Dora DVD for her since no older kids were in the car to protest! ;) And suddenly, roused out of her hypnotic state, she shouts, "NEST!" then resumes Dora watching.

Well, on the route to school, there are lots of farms. Hey, this is Idaho. Corn fields, plowed wheat, horses and cows. A few days ago, the kids asked why that farm had so many cows. I told them that they probably raised the cattle.

"What do the do with them?" they asked.

I asked them what they though the farmers did and they rattled off: selling the milk and maybe selling the cows to make into meat and hamburgers. Ok, that's probably it.

So this morning, we go over the bridge, "NEST!" and past all the farms and finally past the cows.

Mairyn pipes up, "Hey Mommy, that cow is standing up on another cow!"

"Really?"

"Yes, it's two hooves are on the back of the other cow who is standing on all four hooves and it's jumping! I didn't know cows could jump!"

"Really?"

I couldn't talk. I was just busting up inside, trying to contain it. Mairyn was being just so honest and straightforward, like she always is. But sometimes, she can tell when she's being impertinent. Not this time. She quieted down and just kept wondering to herself, "What were they doing?" Oh honey, welcome to country life!!