Dear Kids,
      The neighbors are asking about our front yard. It’s total dirt–no grass at all. I killed it last fall, and now I’m waiting for warmer weather to plant my special low-water, low-growth fescue seed. Meanwhile, I go out and rake it almost every day. (Playing like I’m at the cabin.) George Coombs, Jeremy’s grandpa, who hasn’t talked to us ever, in the 25 years they’ve lived there, was so curious that he stopped his car to ask me what I was doing. He thought maybe I was going to make a desert landscape. That’s what Barry’s doing, next door. His grass is gone, too. I just tell everybody to keep an eye on our yard, and eventually it’s going to look really good.
      Conference at the cabin was really wild, and lots of fun. (Check out the pictures on Kim’s and Nora’s blogs). Besides the conference sessions themselves, the next most interesting thing was watching a fox try to break into Matheny’s chicken coop. The fox was almost as big as a coyote, with a big bushy tail, and he kept lunging at the chicken wire, trying to break through. The chickens would flap and squawk. Finally I called Matheny and told him what was going on. I didn’t want to see the carnage if the fox actually broke through. We all know how unhappy Matheny was when his favorite duck, Afflack, got eaten by Rosie, (who, herself, has been sent to the spirit world.) Always exciting stuff at the cabin. I’m looking forward to doing more work there, now that snowboarding season is officially over.
      Last year, the end of April, we had a really great bike ride on Antelope Island. So we’re tentatively planning to do it again, on April 25th, which is a Friday afternoon. Allen and I thought we ought to get started about 4:00 pm, so we can ride down to the ranch and back again before it gets dark. If we meet at the entrance to the park, we can put our bikes in Dad’s truck and all ride in together, and not have to pay so much. Let me know if you want to come. I’m really excited to do it again.
      It’s getting closer to April 21st, when we need to mail in our contributions to the Ackerson Family CEU scholarship. Yeah, I know some of you don’t think you ought to contribute, but for those of you who think it’s a great idea (and want a tax deduction, too) make sure we have your money by then. Dad and I are happy to make up the rest.
      I’ve been watching Kara McGettigan on Monday and Tuesday mornings while Jana’s been having radiation. The treatments are over now, but Kara says she wants to keep coming, especially when we get the kitten. She pointed out to me that for one hour, two days a week, I’ve been half of a mom. Hey, I take what I can get.
      Lots of love, your full-time, real, Mom