Whew!

Got that sucker done! (Never again.)

I'M A FREAKING IDIOT!!!

What on Earth was I thinking? I have seven feet of canvas to paint by Monday! And PLAID! Lots of it has to be painted to look like plaid! Who drew the plaid on there? ME! The idiot who volunteered for this project in the first place. It took two days just to DRAW the freakin’ picture. How could I possibly conceive of getting it painted in only three days more? I guess that’s what idiots like me DO; completely underestimate the reality and abundantly overestimate their patience!

Don’t ever…EVER…let me get into a project like this ever again! NEVER!

The Pipes Are Calling

Our little town may not have seen any fireworks on the fourth, but we certainly heard bagpipes this weekend! Our annual Caledonian Games celebration went off without a hitch. The week preceding it is always hectic for me because of all the last minute signs and setting up that I help with, but this year was worse than ever.

The week started out with Mom needing a change in her meds to compensate for the buildup of fluids in her system, causing shortness of breath. Fortunately, a call to the cardiologist and the reinstatement of her “water pill”, as she calls it, and potassium began to bring relief within a few hours.

With the distraction of Mom’s increased physical needs, the frequent interruptions of a panicked Caledonian president, and the ticking of the clock, I had to really hustle to finish the signs, tickets, and computer work by Thursday night. Although I felt that some of the signs were a little “thrown together,” our Saturday afternoon stroll through the park with Mom in her shopping chair confirmed that it all sufficed anyway. I guess it just forced me to prioritize, quit obsessing, and just get done. Thank goodness for happy endings!

Pumm Pumm Pa-Pum Pum...

And the annual games come to another close. The weather was on the warm side, but pleasant nevertheless. I took the time this year to walk around and take some thoughtful pictures. After 18 years, we tend to take Caledonian for granted, but someday I will miss the colors, sounds, community, and identity that they offer and not just think of it as work. I don't know if it is because a corner of my heritage is celtic or if it just my eclectic personality, but I am definitely pulled toward the whining and droning sounds of a well-played bagpipe. Used in ancient times to rally the troops and intimidate the enemy, I've often thought that they must have worked well. I think they also must have lured the enemy closer. I certainly can't resist, and don't want to ever escape the swelling of emotion that washes over me when Amazing Grace is piped.

Hoot Mon

This morning began with a parade. Our little community runs on an early timetable so we had to get Mom up by 7:00 to give her enough time to be ready by 8:40 so that we could get her a place to sit along Main Street by 9:00. I should have gotten her up at 6:30, but she has been sleeping in some mornings and I hated to wake her up. She was also vague last night about whether she really wanted to go, but now I'm sorry I didn't encourage her more and take over the decision-making. At 8:45 she told us that she wasn't going to make it and I could tell the "hurrying" (which is a contradiction in terms) was starting to make her nervous so we walked on down without her.

It was a good parade, with much of the usual small town entries. (Do all parades feature the community's fire truck and ambulance?) There were plenty of princesses and horses.

I love how the horses always know that they are in a parade and step along with incredible interest and pride.

Know this person? Check out why she was riding a horse in the parade...
Yay, Deb! She deserves the recognition for all her years helping at the fair.

Our hometown high school pipe band just returned from a trip to NYC and Washington DC.

This pipe band is the Boise Highlanders.

Now it's time to wander down to the park for some serious Scottish culture.

Hoot Mon

It's that time again; time to start gearing up for the Caledonian Games weekend in July. Sue called me with some t-shirt graphic ideas, so I put together a couple rough designs that will give the printers an idea of what we would like. The lines are wobbly because some of it was hand drawn and scanned in, but I didn't want to take forever trying to teach myself how to do it. I tend to get compulsive when I start projects like that and have to remind myself that a pro will be redoing it anyway. Anyway, here are the two designs. I think Sue decided to go with the crest. I want you to know that I created the plaid from scratch using Corel Photo. I don't know if they will go with this particular picture, but isn't the sunset image beautiful?!