“There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. That will be the beginning.” —Louis L'Amour

Fair. Day 6. I kinda feel like this pig. I want to just lay down and fall asleep where ever I may be. We still have today to go and tomorrow for clean up...It's been long, exhausting, loud, fun, filled with fabulous food and I am so glad it's over...Six days is plenty (according to me and this pig)!

These kiddos (and their parents) traveled hours to their favorite fair and camped out in our yard last night. We're always glad to see them and sad to see them go...Soon school will start for the biggest little and spur of the moment impromptu visits north will be harder for them. We may have to actually travel ourselves (gasp - this is not our forte - might have to fix that).

The Ferris Wheel means fair to me. If there isn't a Ferris Wheel it isn't a fair. One trip through the carnival is plenty for me...The lights and action are necessary for me to take in for just a few moments.

So, last day. I'm always excited for the fair to begin and more than ready for it to end. I will grab one last scone and possibly a corn dog and bid farewell until next year.

“The happy heart runs with the river, floats on the air, lifts to the music, soars with the eagle, hopes with the prayer.” —Maya Angelou

“If we do not lay ourselves at the service of mankind, whom should we serve?”—John Adams

Today I want to express my gratitude to the farmers who work tirelessly 365 days a year to bring us food and drink. They serve us daily and we don't even see it. Thanks to the farmers! Yesterday I visited the Farm Friends booth at the Northwest Washington Fair and talked to some farmers - there is some exciting stuff happening in the local farming world!

Fair week means not a lot of free time to sit and think, sit and read, sit and blog, sit and anything...relaxing is for after. For now I will battle crowds, eat greasy food, monitor our building, contact security as people try to sneak in, sell centennial books, eat more food, decorate milk bottles, sell milk bottles, drink lemonade, browse at exhibits...all the good stuff that comes with getting to work for a week at the fair.

Today I will see cows and have a treat (elephant ear? possibly)...

sunny Sunday!

Good afternoon on this sunny Sunday. It looks like it is going to be another scorcher.

What a week this has been. I have been here (here being my sister’s house, not my house) for most of the past week. In fact I have spent the past two nights here while the rest of the family is in Eastern Washington (talk about HOT)...mom & dad at a family shin-dig in Moses Lake and Alex at the Tom Petty concert (lucky boy!).

I did do a stint at the fair, a four-hour shift for the CHIPS (Child ID) booth on Friday night. I went two hours early and saw the photos, quilts, art, collections, 4-H Science and of course animals. We had to see Max’s Petunia - she (and Max) is a champion after all and I would have hated not to see her. Yay Max & Petunia! I ate very little fair food - just an Elephant Ear and shared a lemonade with Troy. No fair detox for me this year (but I will be thinking of Tami and all the others as they make their way through this next week...)!

But most of the week I have been with my sister - fetching medicine, getting food (or something resembling food), watching t.v. and movies, hanging out. I am very impressed - she is an excellent patient - in good spirits (most of the time), not demanding, requires very little actually. My guys have been very supportive this past week understanding my need to help my sister. Archer doesn’t really like having his parents gone yet he has complained very little and is happy that someone is helping out his fabulous aunt (he adores her...he really, really does!). I think I can get him to come with me tomorrow - he had a hard time seeing her post surgery - he didn’t like thinking she was in pain...Anyway, she looks much better - is up and around, talking, eating soft food. I think he can handle it. Once again thank you ALL for your well wishes - she is off on an amazing recovery!

Last night we watched Into the Wild. We both enjoyed the movie found it very interesting, especially knowing it was a true story. I think it was a testament to our real need for human relationships. What a brave young man. Have you seen this? Have you read the book? I am compelled to get the book now to get even more information. If you have read the book please let me know what you thought of it. (p.s. I got the movie at our public library. I had to wait a bit, but what a wonderful resource for those movies that you don’t need right now!)

That is it for now. I have pictures from the fair on my camera but not enough will to do all that is necessary on an unfamiliar computer to post them...so you just get my words.

Have a great day!