Every Yard Needs One of These

If you've been to our house, you've probably seen the wind-bent pepper tree in the far corner of our side yard. You may not know that there was a tree very much like this one in the front yard of my childhood home in Pedley. That tree was different, however. It had a tree house, carefully constructed by the boy across the street and me. His name was Richard Isaac. He was a few years older than I and shortly after we finished the tree house, he lost interest in it. I did not. It was my fort, my hideaway, my resort and my thinking place. When I was sixteen, we moved away.

At the beginning of summer this year, I examined the tree in our yard here and decided it would be just right for my second tree house. I placed a couple of old two-by-fours in its lower branches, telling myself I'd get around to finishing the job after our family reunion in July. Whenever I'd pass by the tree in August or September or October, I'd remind myself that I ought to get working on it before Thanksgiving, and then here it was Christmas, and I hadn't done a thing on it.

Last Monday, my daughter Sara and her husband Brian brought their four kids to visit us for a week and share Christmas with us. On Tuesday, Brian spied the pepper tree and asked about the lumber he saw. I told him what I had intended to do. His eyes lit up, he grinned, and he said, "Let's do it!"

And do it he did! He surveyed, he measured, he cut and he nailed for two days.

Keaton and Shelby and Weston and Katie helped. My role was to supply the project with parts and tools.

We all love the finished product. Brian calls it his Christmas present. I call it my everything present!

SPOKT.com - For us and for you!

For the past few years, our large family has been using a fun website called SPOKT to stay in touch, on-line. Our son Dan and his friend Ron set up SPOKT so we all could have our own private little “hub” where each family shares news, photos and videos of each other. We also post recipes, book and movie reviews and family history. SPOKT is so popular with all of us that it is one of the first things we check whenever we log onto the Internet. If we are away for just a day, we often find dozens of new postings when we return. It has become a wonderful way for us to stay in touch. Most of our married kids have set up separate SPOKT hubs for their spouses' side of the family, too. Even our grandchildren have their own hub (monitored by Aunt Rachel). Unlike some of the big “social networking” sites, SPOKT hubs are private and they don’t bombard you with ads. In fact, they don't have any. There are free sites available, but for a very reasonable fee, you can get a lot more space.

We invite you to become a SPOKT-person, too. You will be happy you did. Click here to keep in touch with your family privately online. You'll be on your way to a closer family! What could be better?

Rules Made by Men ... for Women

The following was forwarded to me by someone to whom it had been forwarded by someone ... (you get the picture), but I found it so applicable that I chance posting it here:

(Please note... These rules are all numbered "1" 
on purpose)

1. Men are not mind readers.


1. Learn to work the toilet seat.
 You're a big girl. If it's up, put it down.
We need it up, you need it down.
 You don't hear us complaining about you leaving it down.

 


1. Crying is blackmail.



1. Ask for what you want. 
Let us be clear on this one: 
Subtle hints do not work.
 Strong hints do not work.
 Obvious hints do not work, 
Just say it.

1. "Yes" and "No" are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.



1. Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That's what we do. 
Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.



1. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument.

1. If you think you're fat, you probably are. 
Don't ask us.



1. If something we said can be interpreted two ways and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one 
.


1. You can either ask us to do something, or tell us how you want it done. 
Not both. 
If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.



1. Christopher Columbus did not need directions and neither do we.



1. All men see in only 16 colors, like Windows default settings.
 Peach, for example, is a fruit, not a color..Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is.



1. If it itches, it will be scratched. We do that.



1. If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing," we will act like nothing's wrong. 
We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle. 



1. When we have to go somewhere together, absolutely anything you wear is fine... Really . 



1. You have enough clothes.



1. You have too many shoes.



1. I am in shape. Round IS a shape!



1. Thank you for reading this.
 Yes, I know, I have to sleep on the couch tonight; 

But did you know men really don't mind that? It's like camping.