Phew!! What Is That Smell?!!

For a few days this past week, Jeremy and I had noticed a not-so-pleasant smell in our house. Thinking it might just be the trash can that sometimes doesn't get taken out on a daily basis, we quickly became more diligent in getting it emptied. That wasn't quite doing the trick, however; and so frequent trips through each room of the house became routine upon walking in the front door. Yesterday, during my commute home, Jeremy called and announced that he had discovered the source of the ever-present odor - our indisposed deep freeze chest in the basement.... Lovely. It had decided it was done putting in time freezing our food. All my good deals from the local Walmart's meat section were decomposing in my basement, turning into something just shy of hazardous material. To make a very long and smelly story short, we had to call in help in the form of "Extreme Resolutions." Too bad "Extreme Home Makeover" didn't come with them.... Yes, my dear friends and family, you can have the freezer cleanup of your dreams if you are willing to pay through the nose (no pun intended)! Thankfully the drama is all over, even if the odor still lingers! The moral of the story is - don't plan on visiting the Robisons anytime in the near future AND check in on your freezer every now and again (more "now" than again!").

Summer Days....

Pics from our 2008 family reunion:

My sister Angie, yours truly, and my cousin Lisa

What we did on the way back home :-)

My grandmother and I

Former students of mine that invited me to be a part of their Little Miami River canoe trip:

My wonderfully fun and ingenious husband!

A little more on my birthday... My beloved sister Angie decided it was time that I got up to speed technologically. So, she gave me an Ipod for my b-day!! As you can see in the picture, I couldn't quite believe that I could be loved that much. I guess she thought if I enjoyed hers as much as I do, I would enjoy one of my own even more. She even spent countless hours putting bunches of my favorite songs on it! Thanks, sis!

This next b-day gift was extra special - Years ago, my grandmother began creating star patterns out of regular gingham material, simply by putting "chicken scratch" in certain places. This is an incredible pattern! She worked on this project a lot in the car while she and Grandpa traveled (this quilt has seen many miles and many places). When all the stars were stitched, my mother put the squares together and added a prairie point edge, creating a simply lovely quilt that I will treasure for the rest of my life!

The extremely small pictures are due to having gotten them from a shared Snapfish album.... Sorry :-(

Little Bit of This and That

No pictures, again..... :-(

THIS: This week is Vacation Bible School, complete with Kool-aid mustaches, cookie-crumb faces, energetic kids, and grown-ups trying to keep up! This time around I'm part of the transportation caravan, and I'm having a rootin' tootin' time hauling kids back and forth! Tonight I had a kid come running back out of his house telling me to stop - his dad wanted to speak with me. I'll be honest - all I could think of was some big ol' hulk of a guy coming out and letting me have it for an unknown wrong. Nothing but the opposite was true. I was thanked profusely for bringing his kids home, and he even invited me to come over sometime to "get to know the family." "Whew and wow," all at the same time! How exciting to be touching someone for Jesus!

AND...

THAT: As of this past week, I've joined the ranks of those 30 and above.... sigh, sniffle.... Hasn't anyone found some loophole that gets you out of having your 30th birthday?! More sighs and sniffles....