Bring Your Cat To Work Day

 Today, I worked on catching up on my blog/journal.
But how does anyone get anything done 

with the cutest cat in the world
who purrs and meows and wants to be picked up all the time?

Today, we are anticipating our 22 incubated eggs to hatch.  

Last night, Gigs came into my room and told me he

 saw three eggs moving around in the incubator

with cracks in their shells.  
Here we go again!

Sticky

Saturday night, around 7:00, after spending the entire day working in the yard, 

we decided to clean up and quickly drive to Apex, 

for dinner at Culver's, a family favorite.

(Harvest burger, yum yum yum).

On Sundays, I usually bring flowers to church for the pulpit.

I saw some Queen Anne's Lace on the side of the road near our pastures 

and asked Christian to pull over on the way home from dinner 

so I could pick some for my church arrangement. 

He did, I got out, walked toward the flowers, and then, 

in the dark near-midnight hour,

I didn't see the big ditch right in front of the flowers, and I fell into it.

I laughed it off and waved to everyone in the car, like,

"I'm an idiot!  I'm totally fine!"

I could hear laughing from the car; I was laughing, too!

Then I realized something was super sticky in my sandals.

I didn't have my phone or any light, so I just kept picking flowers

until I noticed my foot was sticky and sore.

I sat down, and Christian came up to me with his phone flashlight.

"Are you OK?" he asked me.

"Yeah, my foot is wet, I must have fallen into some water in

the ditch there."

Christian shone the light on my foot and it turned out it wasn't water; 

it was blood. Sticky blood.

And a lot of it.

I had a huge cut on the side of my right foot.

Good thing we had a stack of Chipotle napkins in the car!

Anyway, so everyone fussed over me,

and Claire, my wound care nurse, told me I needed stitches,

but I disagreed and asked her to just bandage me up.

But it really hurt to walk on it.

Like, I didn't go to church the next day pain.

You better believe my flower arrangement 

at the pulpit was amazing, though.

 Happy Memorial Day!

Thinking about my AMAZING heritage

like Harold Jones (my Papa's brother)

who at age 23 died in Italy, flying airplanes in WW2

He looks like my brothers.

Dirt

 Today, the Stillestead clean-up continued.

We added the second layer of soil to my garden bed.

I gardened, played with kitty, gardened some more, shoveled dirt, 
and found 45 giant boxes
in the dumpster to lay over the 1st layer of soil for compost.

I mowed the lawn and pulled some weeds.
Later, Gigs drove up

from being out on a date in Raleigh at the bug show.

It's called the Repticon, but I like calling it the Bug Show.

And, of course, he came home with
new critters.  Oh, man.

We didn't finish everything. 

We have days yet to go.
But today, we feel happy about our progress.

Then we crashed.

NC, UT, NJ

 Tonight, we hung out with our friends, the Hollands, 
at Mitzi's wedding celebration.  

Mitzi married an NC boy, so we'll see them often!

The Hollands used to live here in NC before they moved back to Utah.

Before that, we lived near each other in Utah; before that,

we were neighbors in New Jersey raising babies together.

I love how our lives have crossed paths in several states.
We miss them deeply, I especially miss Paige, 

who is one of my dearest friends.

And earlier today, Claire took some glamor shots of Sunday:

AG Experience

 Today, I attended Gig's FFA end-of-the-year banquet.
He received several awards, one for having an outstanding

agricultural experience working on the goat farm.

 I was very proud of him.

Go, Gigs, go!

We came home, and Lottie was playing with Sunday on the porch.

Jane loves Sunday, but she starts to wheeze

 like a smoker when she touches her.

So it was rude when Gigs plopped Sunday on Jane's chest

during family scripture study after giving her a little bath.

And it was rude of me to take photos of it.

Then, we ended the day praying and 

asking God to bless our family, our jobs, Elder Nielson in Brazil, 

our plans, and our dreams.

25 Minutes

 

Christian and I have been spending our days outside, giving the front yard a 

little refresher; pulling out the old garden beds, making new beds,

adding more soil and mulch to all the beds and around trees.

I came inside for my water bottle, 

and Sunday raced through the door with me.

"Ok, Kitty, you can come in, but only for a second

while I get my water bottle."

I said, but didn't really mean.

25 minutes later, I found myself smiling and taking photos

of kitty acting super cute playing on the table.

Hiding Behind Couches

I don't have much to report today, except that Sunday, our kitty,

who, I call "kitty" more than I call her by her given name, Sunday,

snuck in the door while I was taking the garbage out and

explored the house.

I admit I let her stay in a little bit longer before kicking her out

because I love the idea of her roaming around the house.

But then I remembered she's just a kitty and will poop behind the

couch if I don't put her out.

It reminds me of when the Nies were babies in diapers,

 and they'd hide behind beds and couches to poop.

I miss that.

 Isn't that weird?

Smitten at Stillestead

The newest member of the Nielsen home, 

Sunday the stray tabby, has completely won us over.

We made her a lovely little house outside on our back porch, 
and we don't let her inside because she makes

 Jane and Claire sneeze like crazy.

But sometimes, I still let her in because we're all crazy about her.

(Even Claire and Jane don't mind, but they will surely pay for it later).

Gigs made her a little hat from his old sock, and Lottie

donated one of her snoots as a toy. 

Even Angus tolerates her.

Welp, I bought her some kitty food, and now we're committed.

Sunday

 Today, on our way from church, 

a little orange ball darted in front of our car.  
We screamed, slammed on the brakes, 

and watched as a tiny kitty frantically jumped into the woods

and onto the other side of the road.

 Gigs begged Christian to pull over, and he did

and now we have a kitty.
We named her Sunday.

And I hate how much I love her.

Growing Pains

 

Last night, Jane and I were kicking back with a Dr. Pepper

after a long day and enjoying the prospects of the weekend.

We started to talk about the next time ALL OF US would be together.

(February 2025)

But I started feeling really sad when I realized that 

we'd probably never all live together again. 

When Ollie returns from his mission, the girls will be living in Utah.

Of course, they'll come home to see him, but then they'll go back.

Gigs will be off on his mission in the summer of 2025, 

and Ollie will probably join the girls in Utah for school.

And then what?

I'm having growing pains in the ebb and flow of family life.

Motherhood is just a constant change of seasons,

and sometimes I'm ready, and sometimes I resist

even though I know there is nothing I can do about any of it.

It's happening

And really, it's beautiful.

Everything And Nothing

 

I came across these photos of myself in 2005 when I was 24. 

Christian and I had been living in New Jersey with Claire, Jane, and baby Ollie.

(Who am I kidding? They were all babies!)

Christian and I had just bought this new camera so I could take photos

of our children and document our life living on the East Coast and beyond.

Then, I started my blog.

My blog is officially 19 years old!

It's so strange to think I've been writing for THAT LONG

 about everything and nothing at all.

Thanks for staying with me.

Unbeatable

 Today, I put up my festive flags on the house.  
Since Memorial Day is just around the corner, 

I thought it was an appropriate time to decorate for all the fun patriotic

Summer holidays that are vastly approaching!

It's been pouring rain here for the past few days 

but makes everything green and gorgeous.

Summer in North Carolina is unbeatable.

We've already started seeing the fireflies flashing around the yard at dusk.

A telltale that Summer is on her way.

The cows happily lounge in the shade of the lush canopy of leaves, 

finding relief from the afternoon heat. 

In the evening, they roam and munch on grass that is nearly as tall as them.

Occasionally, they take a refreshing dip in the pond behind the house. 

Sometimes, as I sit outside on the screened-in back porch, 

I can hear them splashing around.