Friday, July 31, 2009

Thar's Bears in them thar hills!

And by 'them thar hills' I mean my own back yard.  Well...the woods at the very edge of my own backyard anyway.  And did I mention that it was huge?  And by huge I mean HUGE!!!  And it lumbered.  I think that's how you describe the way a HUGE bear walks.  Or skulks.  Or prowls when he's looking for a snack. And I'd love to post a picture but my husband and I were too busy tripping over our feet, our furniture and a few unpacked boxes in our efforts to get our hands on the camera that we didn't actually get our hands on the camera until Gentle Ben had meandered on up into the woods.  I'm gonna call him Gentle Ben because I like to think he's gentle.  And is it a bad thing to see a bear in your backyard and have your first thought be 'wow, am I gonna get some blog mileage out of this or what?'   I'm thinking maybe personal safety should have been my first concern but really I do think you may be hearing more about Gentle Ben on this blog.  I suspect he'll be back periodically because he looked way to comfy for me to think he's a first time visitor.  

Actually seeing the bear was a nice distraction to the fact that my girlies + Daughter1's boyfriend are on their way back to South Carolina.  They were here for a couple of days 'meeting home'.  This was their first time to see the new house and we had a happy couple of days.  This morning I found Daughter1 in the basement just like this-


Yes, that is my 21 year old daughter, smiling at the sight of her American Girl Dolls, a favorite memory from her childhood days..."I'm just organizing the clothes mom...really."

And this is how I found Daughter2 this morning-


For those of you with babies and toddlers who never sleep let me reassure you that they will make up for all that no-sleeping when they hit the college years. 

And in between hitting all the ice cream shops in our new little town (hey, the girls need to have lots of reasons to come home often) there was a little of this-



And I guess the look on my face here suggests that I was only half joking when I said I was slightly competitive.  (And it also suggests that I should get busy hanging pictures in this room instead of playing pool!)

Actually, all the kids showed me up at pool.  

Bowling now...that's a whole 'nother story.  I rocked bowling.  Totally.


8 comments:

  1. Joyce,

    Love the pictures! Isn't that what blogging is all about? Coming up with something completely crazy, out of the blue that you can share it with the world wide blogging community like Gentle Ben?

    I think we get that idea from all the cute stuffed teddy bears we get as children. Poor bear, you know somewhere in the confines of his cave are stuffed human dolls sitting on his bed!

    Thanks for making me laugh this late in a Friday!

    Love and Hugs ~ Kat

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  2. You're my kind of girl. Love, love, love games. My kids recently introduced me to a new game called Joker. Really a fun game.

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  3. That is funny about the bear in your backyard. At my sister's house in the mountains last week, her neighbor's grandson saw a bear and took a picture with his cellphone. My daughter also saw a bear at her college in May when she and a friend were out riding on the Blue Ridge Parkway. It scared her to death, because it came at their car in the dark!! Glad you had fun with the girls!! My girls had American Girl dolls too. Have a great weekend and don't work too hard unpacking. It will get done eventually! Love & blessings from NC!

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  4. Yikes....a bear in your backyard!!!
    I so wish you could have captured a picture, but I have a feeling you're right...I bet he'll return.
    I'm the same way since I started blogging. I'm constantly thinking "that'd make a good post."

    I'm so glad your girls + boyfriend were able to come see their new home and spend a few days doing fun stuff with their mom.

    I'm terrible at most games.....including pool & bowling, but I love to try. :)

    Have a great weekend and keep that camera in your hip pocket.

    Love,
    Valerie

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  5. I've settled down enough to catch up with you from July 14th to the present. Wow! You've covered some miles! Your new home looks beautiful. I'm sure your daughters will be looking for reasons to come frequently. It is amazing that you find a kindred spirit - experience wise - living so close to you now. May surprises continue to keep you on your toes. (I love games, too! We play several card games, Upwords, Rummique, Boggle, and have played Scattegories in the past - it's somewhere in the closet right now. I'll have to get it out!)

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  6. Thank you so much for visiting my blog! :)

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  7. These are great pictures Joyce! Once again you had me laughing like crazy, I love that you had Ben stop by. The pictures of your daughter remembering are so sweet.

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  8. Pool AND bears? This might be one of the best posts I've ever read!

    And if you see a bear in your neighborhood and your first thought is blogging about it, then yes, I'd say you were fairly hooked!

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