rainy days

We haven't had a rainy day, a real rainy day, in so long I had to blog about it!

The lawns are all brown, except for those who have been faithfully watering.  I gave up on the yard weeks ago, and have barely been able to keep the perennials alive.  I water my mums when they look sad, but otherwise I feel like I should be on a fall schedule by now.

So sorry to be missing, I have had a rather full life lately and blogging is very far down on my priority list.  I have friends to care for, and a house and new high schooler to manage, along with an Etsy shop and a business and new simulators and all kinds of life things.

I am lucky to get my laundry done, let alone blogging.....

So while I am lagging in my blog productivity, please enjoy one of my very favorite blogs to read: http://www.susanbranch.com/ I have been a very huge fan of her for YEARS, and when I only have time to read one or two blogs a week, I always make sure to read her.  She blogs several times a week, and she always makes me feel happy and content.

And those are things I am really striving for right now!  Sharing the love...

time flies, birthday chronicles

Charlie turned fifteen today.  (He wasn't home long enough this weekend to have his picture taken-this is from June!)

Even though time seemed to move quite slowly in those first few baby months,

 it started to zip by during his grade school years,

and now it really flies as he keeps reminding me that he will be leaving us in just a few short years.  (He really doesn't know where he is going yet, but that's okay with me....)

So today, while spending the day creating his birthday cake, I got to thinking about how many things have changed in the last fifteen years.

There was no such thing as Facebook, I am sure I was able to find other ways to waste my time.

We didn't own cell phones-I remember bringing our phone card to the hospital so we could call family when Charlie was born!

Music was delivered to our ears on CD's.  I was very proud I remembered to bring my portable CD player to the hospital, I never took it out of my bag.

Claude kitty was only six years old, and was able to jump up and sit on our coffee maker to stay warm.  (It's true-I have pictures-somewhere...)

Mike hadn't rediscovered the joy of dirt bikes yet.

I didn't have an Etsy shop.  Etsy wasn't even an idea in someone's head yet!

We took photos with FILM.  I remember taking a whole roll of pictures of Charlie regularly when he was little, and walking down to Walgreens with him in the stroller to ge them developed.  If I was feeling really flush (or in a hurry to get photos in the mail to family and friends) I would go with the one hour photo option!

Stores still took checks.

We had a video camera, it was very large.  That reminds me, we really need to convert all of those VHS recordings of Charlie on to DVD's!

Speaking of large electronics, do you recall computer monitors and TV's from that time?

We had two simulators in our little store in St. Louis Park.

I didn't have bifocals, Mike had completely black hair when Charlie was born.  hmm....

As you can see, a lot can change in 15 years.  What else can you think of?

Happy Birthday sweet Charlie.  We sure do love you.