..the days rush by

..with speed that can cause a bit of dizziness, if you're not careful. Already we have reached the end of March for this year of 2010. I find myself wondering how is that even possible. Nevertheless it is... it's here, and we better make the best of it. I woke up too early, and to celebrate the day I took a lovely picture for day 90 of my photo project. Check it out.

The best thing about getting to the end of March is that in April we are planning a fabulous family reunion, and the time will soon be upon us. All of our children will be able to make it, so that at one point we are all together again. That is something I am really looking forward to.

Later this year Son1 and Sweetee will be heading off (probably across the country) to start a new chapter in their lives together. Living the all new life for them of a Navy family, which can and probably will mean lots of travel, with interesting places to go and lovely ports to see. They are excited to take on the world, young and in love with each other. What a great joy as a mother to be a part of that. But, before they scatter on their waves of adventure we decided to attempt to gather our children and their spouses together for some more fun in the sun and surf. It worked (a little to my surprise), and promises to be a wonderful vacation treat.

Our pups will be home with a "hired sitter", who thankfully is also a friend... watching over them and our home. I am glad they will be well loved while we play on the coast, but I know they will miss us and I, will most definitely ~ miss them. They are a true and happy part of my everyday life.

I have become "the lady with the dog". My little girl puppy goes practically everywhere with me, and is doing very well in her early socialization training, heading towards life as my medical alert dog. She happily rides in her carrier, when in the car. Sometimes for hours, and behaves well most places we take her. She is a little too exuberant still around other dogs, but after all not even 5 months old, so she will get better in that area too. Despite all of that, as a family we decided that everyone would leave their dogs home... and even though my baby could have gone as a service dog in training we are leaving her here so that we can really concentrate on family time, and so that she can retain her normal routines.

We have tons of plans and adventures to enjoy, I am looking forward to spending that time with my family. The thought of what is coming just makes spring seem even greater in my mind. I love this time of year always, and the weather of late has been warm and pleasant. Tiny buds are peeking out of branches everywhere. Spring is gaining momentum in our corner of the world. I feel so happy about that.

...to see the light,

and the world in general through a camera lens and trying to fill up the days on my 365 project is at times a lot harder than it should be, although not necessarily harder than I thought it would be. My creativity is not as well developed as some in our family, plus I find myself wanting to shoot new and different things, not just the same things I always thing of... and unfortunately physical limitations have kept me from going out and about this week.

On top of that, while the weather has been much nicer in the last 10 days, the ground is still brown and dreary, and I want to see the hills full of green and for spring to come to stay. It's hard to say which I like better, because I really like both spring and fall, they are my favorite seasons... and this last winter was such a challenge for me, more so than normal. I am not sure why, exactly. Truth told, it doesn't really matter, I am just glad winter is moving into the background.

We have a family trip planned for later in the spring... A Clan Reunion with all my children. It's going to be so fun, and I am really really looking forward to getting away from the house and spending time with my whole immediate family.

I have not found blogging to be much fun the last few months, but I am hoping that will change again soon and I will share more about our vacation after we get back and I have a few pictures to post.

snow storm...

Just a few days ago our night skies were so clear I was able to manage a clear shot of the Orion Constellation... I learned to recognize it while looking at the stars with my daddy... Hubby and I love to spend time just looking at the night sky in good weather, and enjoying thunder storms too... Small joys, those are things that are important.

But, it's going to be a few more weeks before the porch evenings/nights happen in comfort again. Yesterday we had a really good snow storm, and it was REALLY cold. While driving home from grocery shopping we even had a complete white out, it was a little freaky seeing as how we live in AZ and many think all we see is sun and dry heat, ha ha. A bit later the weather got busy again and we had more snow...

This view is looking right outside our front door, towards the hills to the northeast.

Today the snow is gone and the ground is brown again. I can't wait for some green to start peeping through the earth. I am soooo ready for spring. I can't remember wanting spring to come so much before. This has been the LONGEST winter I remember in a long, long time.

keeping up with the jones'...

or NOT.! In truth, I don't even try, ha ha. But, I thought it made for a decent title. Today, there isn't much to say that's new, and even "the Jones family" isn't doing much that's new. In my corner of the world, spring tries to lift it's head periodically, but has it's efforts dashed regularly. Two weeks ago it was beautiful and warm one day, then it would snow again. Two days ago it was also beautiful, if a bit chilly... but yesterday it was windy and snowing, and today it's wet and dreary... by tomorrow it might be sunny and warm again though. The pups love it when that is true. I think they are more anxious for spring than I am, even.

The best news I can share is that we've had the most rain this year that I can remember, (a least during a winter) since we moved to this high desert valley in June of 1994. That bodes for a beautiful spring for us, but a seriously challenging summer danger, in regards to the fire season. Guess we'll have to see about that as the year moves on. Officially spring doesn't even arrive for a couple more weeks, but everyone I know is so anxious and wishing it would hurry up and get here, already! [chuckle] Aren't we a fickle bunch? We pray and pray and pray for rain and when we get it, we complain. (But not serious complaining... most people ARE really VERY glad for the rain we get...)

It's just that spring, and the beauty that goes with it is enticing, and we are anxious for the glory that IS spring, in our desert southwest. But we must wait, and so we do... and we try to think of new things to talk about, except the winter, and the rain, and the snow...