At least I'm not a cargo van!

I'm a Nissan 350Z!

You're not the fastest or the most agile, but you have style and power. You believe in looking good and moving quickly -- without breaking the bank.

"Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

Have I told you how much I hate plumbing?

If you've popped in from Soapnuts, you've probably heard me rant and rave on multiple occasions about how I absolutely hate to work on plumbing.

If you know me or have seen the wide screen photos, you know I'm a fairly substantial man particularly in the upper half. My wife complains that I have no butt to speak of and there is certainly no hips to help hold up my britches. I have spent most of my life trying to keep my pants hitched up while watching current youth (including my son) who have made it a fashion statement to have their boxers up above their waist and their pants down near the knees.

Well, perhaps I exaggerate just a little.

Anyway, it seems to me that with all the technological advances in this world that they could figure out how to make a faucet replacement a bit easier. My solution would be to call Mr. Riddle. He has done plumbing off and on for the past several years like the time son Josh at age 5 or so dropped a ham bone into the toilet that refused to come out. That is until Mr. Riddle worked his magic. Or the time granddaughter Ashlynn dropped a toy cell phone in and it got forever stuck in the bowl. We had to replace the bowl because even Mr. Riddle's magic couldn't dislodge the toy.

The one good thing that came out of that is that I asked him to upgrade us to a taller version which fits my body just perfectly. Unfortunately my wife who is of a smaller stature can sit on it with her legs swinging away.

Well I digress! Just so many memories in this aged brain like (back to the pants falling down) one of Jamie's earlier boyfriends who wore his pants so huge that he had to run sideways like a crab to keep them up. My dad saw him coming across the field one night and asked me when did "he begin wearing your pants?".

Anyway, I finally started on the honey do list that had "replace the kitchen faucet" at the top. Do you know how hard it is to have to squeeze my broad shoulders into that little opening under the kitchen sink? The faucets never come apart as easily as you would like. The old bolts are usually crusted and only a small stick of dynamite is going to get them loose. The bottom of the cabinet has a nice sharp edge that even my well padded ribs couldn't safeguard against. (Nancy is fairly adamant that I at least try to do it myself, "just think of all the money we could save if you could at least do it yourself!")

Then you have to reach up and around the P-trap and drainage piping to try to screw the nuts onto the posts in an area about three fingers wide. Not to mention that it is usually dark up there and we never seem to have a working flashlight around. I prefer to see what kind of spider is getting ready to munch on my knuckles.

Invariably I drop the bolts and the tools and knock aside the one working flashlight that we are fortunate was a Christmas gift to Nancy and the grandkids haven't found it to turn it on until the batteries no longer work.

So, finally, the water has been turned back on. Wonder of wonders is that there is no leaking whatsoever. Wow, I mean, Wow.

Here is the beautiful faucet chosen to grace our old sink:



I understand both bathroom faucets need to be replaced. I'm thinking that the plumber union I belong to now may agree to purchase the two needed faucets but we're definitely going to call Mr. Riddle to install them for us. He may be older then I am but he's much more wiry. And he knows how to install them properly the first time!

What planet am I?

Well, I couldn't resist. But since I liked the results - here it is:

You Are From Pluto

You are a dark, mysterious soul, full of magic and the secrets of the universe. You can get the scoop on anything, but you keep your own secrets locked in your heart. You love change and you use it to your advantage, whether by choice or chance. You don't like to compromise, to the point of being self-destructive with your stubborness. Live life with love, and your deep powers will open the world to you.

What Planet Are You From?

Who uses their dining table for a workspace?

For those who work from home or do crafts at home, you know what I mean. Eventually your crafting has a tendency to take over your whole home, much like the Tribbles did on Star Trek.

We had the first week of 2007 to sort of rest and relax but reorders began coming in the second week of January and have kept us fairly busy since.

Here is a partial order being prepped for an Insurance group in Boise. 200 one oz. soaps, made with potato and scented with blackberry sage.



The other side of the table is gathering the pieces and parts of another order which includes some butter cremes and hand lotions:



Whenever we host someone for a meal, it is a major effort to have to clean off everything on the table and find somewhere else to put it so that we can actually utilize our table for it's original purpose.

But we drop all this to go whenever we have opportunity to be with either of our children (and especially our grandchildren).

Daughter Jamie and her husband Jason called and asked us if we'd like to go with them for pizza and some bowling.

We first went to Gertie's Pizza and then to the Bowladrome. The Bowladrome must be one of the last places in Idaho to go smoke free! For those who don't smoke, when you walk into a smoke filled establishment it is quite noticable.

Here are some pictures to tell the story:

Pick out your bowling ball!



Jaedan putting on his shoes:



Both kids jumping for joy at hitting the pins (please ignore the gutter bumpers - they were very helpful to mom Jamie and Nana Nancy):





Here Nana Nancy is getting her pre-bowling-turn hand and shoulder rub down by Jaedan to ensure a good score:



And finally, what could be better then a good bowling outing unless you get a shoulder ride from Nana Nancy:



We should say that you probably shouldn't try this at home. Only after thorough rigorous training and conditioning should this be attempted!

We are certainly blessed that both of our children and our two grandchildren live close by. Although we would certainly support our children wherever they would go, we have enjoyed being able to continue to interact with them on a consistent and regular basis.

Devil Cat

Several years ago, when our daughter was in her early teens, I brought home a Siamese colored kitten. Jamie named the cat Taylor. Taylor's mother was black as were all her siblings. Taylor has the Siamese coloration.

Jamie would take her to the little league games that her brother played in. It was really something to watch this kitten act more like a puppy, who would follow Jamie everywhere and would sit on the bleachers without ever wandering off.

Jamie would let Taylor sleep in her room until that one night when Taylor left a deposit on the rug. She was forever banished from Jamie's room.

So Taylor adopted Nancy as her human pet. Here is a picture of her favorite snoozing place, on Nancy's lap while watching tv.



Taylor is known as the Psycho Cat or the Devil Cat around here. There are times when she is very loving. If you don't give her attention when she demands it however, you are liable to get a very sharp and demanding nip. She sometimes even draws blood.

She always has to be in your way and has been known to push open doors that haven't been fully closed. Or she sits outside a closed door and meows until you let her in.

One morning I decided to see how she would react if I sort of blocked the bathroom door with my boxers while I was taking my shower. Normally she has to come in and walk between the inner shower curtain and the outer shower curtain.

I looked to see if she had gotten the door pushed open and saw that the door was still blocked. Her paw was visible though, as she tried to figure out what was blocking the door.

I literally could not believe my eyes when I saw her begin to slowly and purposely use her claw to snag the shorts and begin to pull them through the opening of the door and door jam. By the time I had dried off and dressed, she had about 3/4 of the shorts outside the door. It wouldn't have been much longer and she would have gained access.

It is hard to believe by looking at this picture of her sleeping at Nancy's feet that she is anything else other then a complete angel, but believe me she is pure Psycho Cat!

Enjoy the Scenery with minimal commentary!

I could have taken and posted so many more pictures but here are some of my favorites:

The sledding run view:



Some panoramic view shots:







Some trail pictures on the way back down:







I think this is my favorite scenic picture from this trip. It looks good enough to be a Christmas card:



And finally, there is the sun at between 2 and 3 pm just before ending our day of fun!:

The Favorite Uncle

Every family has one. I was lucky as a kid because there was actually a whole bevy of great uncles (Uncle Harry, Uncle Wilmer, Uncle Butch).

Uncle Gerald is the uncle who takes all the kids fishing. And he is so busy untangling lines, baiting hooks, helping land the fish, etc that he hardly has time to do any fishing himself. He also takes the kids sledding and snowmobiling. Now what kind of kid doesn't appreciate an Uncle like that.

Here he is waiting to give the next sledder that little extra push to get them started.



Now he is talking to Nancy and Jason.



Now it is his turn down the hill. Hey, anyone, can you give a push? Anyone?





Gerald said that there were a lot of bumps to hit with your tail dragging the ground in the middle of the inner tube!

Getting the snowmobile ready to go.



Here we are at the top of the hill. It was so peaceful and quiet, and as you can see, so white.



Now if we only had some favorite Aunts but if I posted the one great pic of my sister Anne (Gerald's wife), I would be in big trouble. I told her it is the only picture I have never had to use Photoshop to create a scary face. (luv you sis)

How Many Share Your Name?

Well, I thought I was done until I went to friend Sue's blog where she had this fun link. I just had to try it out. The interesting thing is that several years ago, there was another Duane Porter in a neighboring town.

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 80 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

And Nancy wrote out a check for groceries locally several years ago and the clerk told us that her name was also Nancy Porter.

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 692 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

So easy, so fun, I'm done!

Rescuing a Damsel In Distress.....

Granddaughter Ashlynn enjoyed sledding this year a little bit more then last. She was so bundled up that sometimes she looked like a little penguin as she waddled from place to place. She has always loved sunglasses so it wasn't any surprise the she talked her Uncle Josh out of his goggles:



On one of her sledding runs down the hill, she found herself in the deep bowl part of the run. Fortunately Jason was on the bank and had her grab hold of the inner tube so he could pull her out. Here it is in sequence:

Grab the inner tube, Ash!



Oops, almost lost her.



Oh, good, she scrambled further in to the tube.



Almost there, hang on!



What'choo lookin' at? move along, there isn't anything to see here!



Just couldn't wait to post these, it was such a fun day.

How Time Flies When Having Fun!

Already five days into January and finally getting some time to get pics posted. We've been busy counting inventory and preparing for 2007 sales. It won't be much longer and there will be little more soaping adventures in amongst all the grandkid stories.

We took Jaedan up to an area called Diamondfield Jack's in the South Hills. There is a fun tubing hill for kids (and fun loving adults) as well as snowmobile trails all around. My sister's husband brought a couple of snowmobiles for use after the sledding.

It was a beautiful day. We beat the crowd and had the hill pretty much to ourselves for an hour or two. Here are some pictures of the birthday boy.

With Mommy Jamie:



With Uncle Josh:



For some reason when I look at this picture, it reminds me of a snow seal pup. What do you think?



Sledding can sure make you appreciate some hot chocolate with your sandwich while resting after several runs down the hill (and the walks back up):



Here Jaedan is posing on his momma's cousin Doug's snowmobile. He was excited to get to go for a ride with Great-Uncle Gerald on the larger snowmobile. When he got back I asked him how he liked the ride but he wasn't very enthusiastic. He wanted to be able to steer and control the machine himself and didn't quite understand why he had to just sit in front of Uncle Gerald.



We spent about 5-6 hours up in the hills and enjoyed the day quite thoroughly. The day was beautiful and what could make it more fun then to spend it with family.

Look out, I took close to a hundred pictures. I'll post those later, you've got to see the "rescue" as Jason used a tube to pull Ashlynn up the snow bank out of the way of the sleds coming down the hill. And I got some great scenery shots when Gerald and I both took a snowmobile up to top of the South Hills range where it was so peaceful and calm.