Mike and his brother went to talk to them about our trampoline. It helps that they are both big, kinda intimidating looking guys! It is now spraypainted and will be chained to the fence before we go to bed tonight.

The holidays are approaching and that means it’s postcard time! I’ve been sending postcards for a few years now and every year I get at least five cards returned to me. This is a project I like to do, but I don’t want to waste money sending postcards to people that a.) have moved or b.) don’t want one. So, consider yourself warned: I’m creating a new mailing list starting… right… NOW!

If you want me to send you a postcard, please fill out this form with your name and mailing address. If you would like to EXCHANGE, let me know and I’ll send you my info in return. I promise, I won’t be selling your address or hunting you down. This will just add your name to The Postcard List™.
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Not long ago, we found out who stole our trampoline. It was a group of guys living nearby, close enough to carry it to their back yard. They were bragging about it and thought the whole situation was very funny. With everything else that has been going on, Mike and I haven’t done anything with the information. Yesterday we went to his brother’s house to unload some wood. They have a trampoline and as soon as Echo saw it he started jumping. He was so happy and it reminded me of how much fun the kids had on ours.

Now we are trying to decide what to do. There are three options: ignore it, contact the police or contact the boys. Personally, I don’t want to involve the police. I’m sure the boys would just lie about it and we didn’t have the trampoline marked so we can’t PROVE that it is ours. That would just start trouble and I’m afraid that they would target our house and retaliate. I think we should just go over and let them know that we know they took it. We could explain that we aren’t calling the police but that we have seven kids at home that miss it very much. If they really need it bad enough to steal it and keep it, then they can have it with our blessing. If they want to return it, we would be grateful.

Mike isn’t sure. He goes back and forth about what course of action we should take. I’m posting this poll to get your opinion. What should we do about the trampoline?

the girls play around on the course as the sun sets

Saturday we made another trip to Albuquerque for the Regional Championships. Top runners from Arizona, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and the Border Association [West Texas] met to determine who would continue on to Nationals in Mechanicsville, Virginia. The top twenty runners advance to the big meet. We had five runners from Las Cruces competing, including Mia and Mikal. Poor Mikal got unlucky. She was shoved down early in the race, cutting her leg and ankle and adding two minutes to her time from last week. She didn’t qualify, but she sure tried. Mia came in 12th, so she made it to the next round. We won’t be able to take her to Virginia, but it is still nice to know that she qualified.

Junior Olympics on flickr: set | slideshow

whitesands, originally uploaded by Kristal.

I didn’t notice the reflection of the windows on the sand when I took this. My eyes were blinded by all the white. Too much sun!

This has been a long week, full of highs and lows. Mike left on Sunday night to go hunting. His phone doesn’t have reception in the mountains so I haven’t talked to him about anything. I’ve been working hard all week, cleaning and doing laundry and trying to fix some of the little things around the house. I installed a tub surround and grouted tile in the bathroom. I rearranged the living room and got rid of some of the junk that was cluttering the room. I bought tulips to plant this afternoon so that we can have spring color. I hung hooks and changed light bulbs. This morning the van wouldn’t start, even after Mia jumped it. Madison is sick, so she is home with me today. That means I won’t make the kids’ thanksgiving dinner at school. Mia has an IEP this afternoon that I can’t miss so I’ll have to take both of the kids with me. Thank goodness I have a child that can drive! Despite the hectic crazy week, it has been unusually quiet. We are all missing Mike. He is loud and funny and lights up the room. I’m ready for my husband to come home!

This morning Mia took out a pair of scissors to cut the tape holding the jumper cables. Echo sat down with them and started cutting shapes out of leaves that had fallen. “Mom,” he said. “I can’t make a heart. I need a leaf heart because I love you so much.” I picked up a leaf and cut out a heart. “No. Not that one. One on the tree! So I can look up and see it forever!” I cut it out but didn’t have the heart to tell him that in a few days it will join the rest of them on the ground.

This was Mia’s last year running cross country and Mikal’s first. The award’s banquet tonight brought the season to an official end. All three of my girls lettered and I couldn’t be more proud!  The girls also got medals from the district meet and Mia got two trophies: one for most valuable runner and one for the Mayfield invitational.  Great job girls!

Cross Country 2008 on flickr: set | slideshow

One of my dear friends is going through a rough time. She found a lump in her breast and the doctors say it is consistent with cancer. She is going in for a lumpectomy. The worst part, she says, is the fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of what it could be.

Her message to me and my message to you is to take care of yourself. Do a breast self-exam monthly. See your doctor if you notice anything unusual. You are never too young or too healthy; it can happen to anyone.

My message to her is to take it day by day.  Know that you are loved and we are all here for you.

“There is no hope unmingled with fear, and no fear unmingled with hope.” Baruch Spinoza

I love the internet, I really do. Today’s post is a collection of email/packages I received yesterday from readers. The picture above was taken by Kim [her photostream on flickr]. She sent me a disposable camera for Sight Unseen along with an ornament for our Christmas tree and an I Voted sticker. Fabulous! One of my favorite pictures on the camera was this one of her triplets. TRIPLETS! I remember when she emailed me and told me the great news:

I don’t know why I feel the need to tell you this, maybe it is because
you share info on your big family that I’m going to tell you that I
went to the doctor today and found out I’m pregnant with triplets. OH
MY GOD. I’m eight weeks preggers with THREE BABIES.

I’m scared. But, you know what- I thought to myself about how you
manage your brood and it made me feel a bit better.  Thanks for
sharing your family’s adventures, I hope I can happily share mine.

I can’t believe they are already three years old. I’m thrilled that after all these years I’m still able to watch them grow via flickr and read about their adventures on her blog. At first I wasn’t going to post the picture of her kids because she doesn’t make a lot of them public, but she gave me the go ahead. I’m so happy to have a little activitiy on one of my projects!

Speaking of projects, I’ve been working slowly but surely on the 100 Strangers collection. My intitial plan was to take all the pictures with my Viv, but when it broke I gave up and started using whatever I had handy. Every time I looked at my set, something seemed off. I assumed it was the different styles but it has bothered me for some time. I opened my email and found a suggestion from a reader:

I also followed the link to your 100 Starngers Project. Had never heard about it. Your pictures are really great. They truly capture the diversity of Las Cruces and New Mexico. Two pictures I’d remove though are Mary Jane Garcia’s and the CSI Guy. They really can’t be considered “strangers”. They are such in the public eye. To be honest, your other subjects were so much more interesting. Just my 2 cents.

I thought about it and it totally made sense. The thing that made those two pictures stick out wasn’t the camera, it was the feel. Both of the subjects are used to being photographed and they seem very comfortable and open. Most strangers give off a slightly awkward feel. It is that distance that makes it so difficult for me to ask for photos, but also what makes them so real to me. I took the two pictures out of the set and immediately felt better.

The next email that I opened was from Carroll and had a link to this website:

Apparently The photographer, Richard Renaldi, asked strangers to physically touch each other. It’s a combination of distance and intimacy, and knowing it’s been arranged makes it somehow even more compelling.

Talk about perfect timing! I love the idea and the photos are so interesting. I appreciate all the comments and emails that I get. I don’t always respond to each one, but that has more to do with my lack of time than anything else.

Related: My First Stranger