Week in Review October 19-25, 2009

Dave worked his company’s convention this week up in Salt Lake. He drove back and forth one day and decided it wasn’t worth it so he just stayed up there the next two nights. That’s two weeks in a row he’s been gone the better part of the week. Hopefully he won’t decide he likes that and make it a habit – smile. We miss him when he’s not here.

DJ has been staying after school everyday for either Rock Band or Drama to practice the play they will be putting on this week. He is one busy kid. They had a Masquerade Ball at his school on Saturday. He got to set up for it and then went to it as well. He even made brownies to take – they asked the kids in the drama class to help bring refreshments.

He really enjoyed the Ball. “Intense” was the word he used. That apparently is the new slang word for when something is awesome, cool, groovy or whatever the passing catch phrase may be. I didn’t get his picture yet because he had to stop at the store on the way there and thought they might not appreciate him walking in wearing a mask, hat and poncho, but he’s promised to dress back up and let me take it. When he does I’ll post it here.

Dee now has a free period at the end of the day since soccer season has ended – and “it is not fun!” according to her. That will hopefully change here in a couple of weeks when they have basketball tryouts. She’s excited to try out for basketball. She hasn’t had a lot of experience playing it but she has a lot of heart – plus she comes from a line of fiery basketball players - on both sides. This is totally random, but Dee makes the best brownies, even when she forgets to grease the pan and you have to chisel them out- they’re still worth it. The other night she made some and had on my apron and she looked so cute I just had to take her picture.

I am still working on trying to get the house organized – I told you it was no small task. I’m also still trying to get my business going – maybe eventually it will actually be going. I’m also working on some digital books that I need to finish in the next couple of days, so I’m staying pretty busy too.

We had spaghetti for dinner tonight. After filling his plate Dave headed to the table to find DJ sitting in his seat, so he headed around the table to a different spot. When he turned the corner at his seat, he stopped, but his spaghetti didn’t. It slid right across the plate - sauce, cheese and all and went flying! Out kitchen went from a no fly zone to a flying free for all. There was spaghetti everywhere – table, chair & floor – everywhere, that is, except his plate. The picture shows the kitchen after a reconnaissance clean-up mission had begun.

WeekS in Review Sept 28 - Oct 18

I’m so far behind I decided I should title this entry Weeks in Review instead of Week in Review. Things have gotten really busy and a little crazy around here – oh sorry, that’s the way it’s always been. * smile *

Maybe I should try to just hit the highlights and add a little detail when necessary – who am I kidding, we all know I’m too long winded to keep this short and sweet.

Since I last blogged:

Dave has played more basketball and soccer; cleaned out the garden; went to Las Vegas for a work seminar- ate REALLY well (but still didn’t gain a pound – how fair is that?!!!! * smile *); visited his sister and her family he was while there; and took us on a Sunday drive to see the beautiful fall leaves - love those!!!!; and is trying to help his company get ready for the convention they have coming up this weekend -no rest for the weary, and deserves a medal for putting up with my moodiness. * smile *

DJ is officially licensed and is able to drive himself on his own errands now- YEA!! He also performed in his school’s Shakespeare Showcase – who knew he could act? (He did really well.) He played the guitar in the Fall Sing at his school – in the Jazz Band and Show Band, and even soloed. He threw his pick into the audience as he finished up and there was a frenzy of kids trying to grab it – it was great.

He went with his drama class down to Cedar City for three days to the Shakespeare Festival and competed in a high school competition down there. They didn’t win but he said one of the judges was in tears after one of the really sad scenes they did. Thirty-four kids went and only eight were boys, the rest were “hot babes” – he loved those odds!! I don’t think he really wanted to come home when it was over. That’s ok, he still has Anaheim to look forward to in the spring.

He decided he wasn’t taking enough performing classes so he added a ballroom dance class and was considering an art class. He decided against the art class since he’s running out of spare time to practice and do his assignments.

Dee read the fourth book in the Fablehaven series in less than two weeks – that says a lot considering this is a child who doesn’t like to read. She sewed the cutest pillowcase and a drawstring duffle bag in one of her classes. She really likes to sew and wants to sign up for a sewing class next semester.

She finished up her soccer season. They went to state down in St George. They didn’t win but they had a good time. She’s planning on going out for the basketball team next month. There’s no keeping up with her. * smile *

She was planning on being an I-Pod for Halloween but when we went shopping for the costume or materials to make it we came across another costume that we had to get! She looked so dang cute in it. It’s a surprise so you’ll have to wait for the pictures to see what she was.

I’ve been a little busy too. I picked 80 lbs of peaches off of the little tree in our yard, and either canned them or turned them into peach butter- love, love, love that stuff.

I burned my thumb, ran out of gas and forgot to put the spices in the spiced peaches I was canning. This is the second time I’ve run out of gas in the last couple of months. My gas gauge is not working right. This time I was still in the neighborhood when the car started to sputter so I flipped a U-turn and headed back to the house, praying all the way up the hill that the car would make it. I got to the top and came to a brief stop at the stop sign turned the corner and then into the driveway and coasted into the garage as the car died. The Lord was looking out for me.

I gave myself and the kitchen a granola shower as I pulled out a bowl of homemade granola and gave it a good shake to break it apart, not realizing that the lid wasn’t on tight.

I realized that maybe life had gotten just a little too busy when my husband told me that maybe he should start reading my facebook wall so he’d know what was going on in my life.

I burned a batch of homemade bread because I forgot to turn the timer on and went in the back room to work on the computer. After a while I kept thinking that bread sure smelled good and kept wondering when it was going to be done. Finally a while later I decided to go check on it only to discover the timer hadn’t been set and that the bread that smelled so good could now be used as a lethal weapon. * smile *

I got released from the Relief Society Presidency, and have since been called to serve in the Primary and on the ward activities committee.I signed up as a Creative Memories Consultant (love it!) and am currently looking for people to host a couple of Get Togethers for me, and am trying to get my business up and going.

I finally broke down and signed up for a facebook account. Rearranged the family room and living room and cleaned out the basement family room. I’ve been working on getting the house organized and dejunked – no small task, let me just tell you!

I gave the outside of the house and myself a bath. Dave said it looked more like I’d just turned the hose on myself after taking one look at me as I went around back to get another hosepipe. The sprayer attachment I was using leaked and when I held up the hose to spray the house the water ran down my arm and all the way down my body – brrrrrr. Dave, when he stopped laughing, went and found an attachment that didn’t leak and fixed that for me.

Well I think that brings you pretty much up to speed. I’ll see if I can’t do a little better about keeping our blog updated. I hope everyone is having a wonderful week!!

Exploring Anyone?

Dave and DJ got invited to explore a mine this weekend. They went and had a ball. They came home tired, dirty and happy. Scroll down and take a "virtual" tour with them.

Dave and DJ at the main entrance. This mine opened in 1860 and closed in the 1970's. They mined copper, iron, silver and other ores. There wasn't much gold found in it.

All decked our and rarin' to go!

About forty people showed up to go through the mine. The mine is privately owned and you have to know the owner, or someone who knows the owner to get in. They divided the people into groups. Dave and DJ's group had seven people in it.

The picture at the bottom shows another entrance to the mine.

The picture on the top right is a map of all the tunnels in the mine. There are about four or five levels in the mine.

The picture on the bottom left is the view looking up one of the shafts. DJ is climbing down one of the shafts on the bottom right.

The picture on the bottom left is water with copper floating in it and a shovel that is disintegrating sitting in it.

The picture in the middle on the right shows one of the ladders they had to climb down.

The picture on the bottom right is flow stone with copper in it. The ores in the rock made for beautiful scenery.

Top Left: DJ going down a shaft. Top right: some of the equipment they used to run the mine. Bottom right: Sulfur on the walls. Bottom left: It's a long way down!

The mine was two hours away. I didn't find out exactly where it was or even what it was called until after the fact.

One of my friends asked mr where the mine was and I said, "It's two hours away...somewhere. Maybe I should have found out where in case they don't come back." My friend said, "Ya think?"

The pictures on the left are of more of the equipment that was used to run the mine.

On the top left, what looks like two big crates are actually two giant batteries. In the picture on the bottom left, if you look closely you can see the old tracks for the mine cars on the left side.

The views from the top were spectacular, especially at this time of year. Maybe next time They should invite the girls....Nah!

And that concludes our tour!

Running Shoes

Anyone who gets a ride from me or is waiting for me to pick them up better have on their running shoes!

This past week, both of my kids needed theirs. On Monday I was dropping Dee off for school along with some things that we were donating to her soccer team for a raffle her team is having. There was too much for us to carry in so her coach had told me to have her come in and get him when we got to the school that morning and he’d come out and carry the stuff in.

Dee decided to carry part of the stuff in as she went to get him so she left her lunch, her backpack and duffle bag in the car. She came back with the coach and both of them grabbed another armload of stuff.

After they left I decided to go park so I could go into the building and take care of some school fees. As I pulled out into traffic, I decided that I didn’t want to fool with it that morning so I just kept going out of the parking lot. I’d forgotten I still had all of her stuff in the van.

At the school the kids go to there have three different buildings beside each other. There’s an elementary school, a Jr. High school and a High school. In front of those three buildings are two huge parking lots.

As I was driving out, Dee came back for her stuff and saw me leaving, so she takes off running across both those parking lots yelling, trying to get me to stop. Now keep in mind this is in the middle of the morning “rush” traffic. People were turning around looking at her as she tore across the parking lots, weaving in and out of traffic while trying to avoid getting hit.

Meanwhile back in the van, I got almost to the seminary building which is right across the street from the entrance to the first “driveway” of the school and I happened to glance down and saw Dee’s stuff sitting there. I thought, “Oh no! You’ve got to be kidding.” So I stopped and tried to turn, across traffic back into that driveway.

Of course no one was in the mood to stop and let me turn in – which was actually a good thing, because it gave Dee a chance to catch her second wind and catch up with me. As I was sitting there murmuring about no one being courteous enough to let me in, I glanced over right as someone ran up to the passenger side door and tried to open it. There was Dee, huffing, saying, “What are you doing?”

I let her in right as the crossing guard stopped traffic so we got a break and I was able to turn back into the school’s driveway. I decided the least I could do was give her a ride back to where she’d started from.

Then on Friday I went to pick DJ up. I pick him up at different places at different times of the day. Sometimes I pick him up in front of the Jr. High and sometimes in front of the Seminary building. On Friday I was running just a little behind schedule and I had been working on something that I still had my mind on.

When I got to the school there were kids in the cross walk going over from the Seminary building towards the school buildings. There was also a football player just about to cross and another kid standing to his left. The football player waited for me to pass, so I turned in to the drive drove over to the Jr. High and turned off the car to wait for DJ.

A minute or two later my cell phone rang. It was David. When I answered he said, “What are you doing?” I said, “Picking you up.” He said, “Are you kidding me? Mom, you drove right by me.” He was the kid that was standing to the left of the football player.

I decided to play it cool and said, “Oh ok, well I guess I’ll come over and get you unless you’d like to come over here.” I’d have to pass by right where he was standing to get back to the main road. Needless to say he wanted me to come pick him up.

So if you ever need a ride or need to be picked up and you need me to be the driver, just make sure you have on your running shoes. * smile *

Week in Review Sept 14 - 19

Things got a little wild and crazy at our house during School Spirit Week. Every day the kids got to dress up in a different way.

First there was Rock Star Day. DJ went complete with guitar and leather pants. I was planning on taking a picture after school but forgot Dee would change into her soccer outfit for practice so I missed it.

Next there was Pajama day. The kids enjoyed going to school looking like they were ready to lounge all day.

Then there was the craziness of Disco Day. Dee got voted as one of the best dressed in her class. Needless to say DJ made quite the impression with an afro and hot pink bell bottom, skin tight pants. Everyone wanted to know, "WHERE DID YOU GET THOSE PANTS!!!!" He borrowed those pants from his cousin who swiped them from his younger sister a couple of years ago.

They finished off the week with backwards/crazy sock day and finally spirit day. Oh to be young and daring again. * smile *

Week in Review Sept 8 - 12

So what’s new with all of you this week? We’ve kept ourselves busy. Dave ran another 5K on Friday with his work – this year he ran it without painting himself orange * smile *.

Last year there was a contest to see who could be the most orange. So Dave ran the race painted full on orange – his skin and his hair- with orange pajama pants, an orange hoodie. He was dripping orange by the time he was done. I think this year was a much more enjoyable experience for him. He finished in 21:44 and took second place overall.

DJ has added yet another class, drama this time. He says he’s really enjoying it. They are working on The Seven Brides of Dracula, if I’m not mistaken. I’ve never heard of it before. They’re hoping to have it ready to perform down in Cedar City when they go down for the Shakespeare Festival next month.

We’re still waiting to hear about when he can do the road portion of driver’s ed so he can get his license. He has switched his seminary class over to the same school he’s taking the other classes from which helps make his schedule a little less hectic and he is s still looking for a job – I think….I hope.

Dee is working hard in school and at soccer. She had a chance to play a little in the Varsity game this week. The coach put her in at forward and that surprised her a bit. She prefers defense or goalie.

She volunteered to write a script for her group in history class about how the mythical character Echo became an echo. She was kind of worried about it because she had to get it done very quickly and had soccer games and other homework to take care of as well. She had a friend from her group come over and help her and it turned out dang cute.

I did something this week I haven’t done in years. I sat on my porch and shucked corn. It was a gorgeous crisp day with just a hint of autumn in the air. As I sat working and watching the bees hum through my little flower garden in front of the porch I found myself singing Rascal Flatts song, “I Miss Mayberry.”

You know, the one that says, “I miss Mayberry sitting on the porch drinking ice cold cherry coke; where everything is black and white. Picking on a six string, where people pass by and you call them by their first name; watching the clouds roll by. Bye, bye.”

I got some jam and peach butter put up this week – can I just tell you I love peach butter! It’s the first time I’ve ever made it and I’m hooked. David can eat by the jar full – of course he can eat most things by the jar full so that may not be saying much *smile*.

Dave and DJ hiked to the top of Mount Timpanogus on Saturday. They got up at 4:00 in the morning (they couldn’t find the winter gloves so I got up at 4:00 in the morning too * smile *). They made it to the top in 2 hours and 55 minutes, the elevation was 11,774 ft. However, it was on the way down that the real adventure began.

There’s a huge snowfield near the top that people like to “slide” down as they’re coming down. Usually that’s not too much of a big deal, although I have heard of people getting hurt on it, but on Saturday the snow was packed hard and frozen. It was bumpy and unforgiving.

They’d tied garbage bags around them to sit on. DJ went down first. Dave said he could tell DJ was almost in trouble. He was flying down the mountain and just barely in control. DJ put his forearms down trying to slow himself down and stay in control. He noticed when he stopped his arms were hurting.

Dave went down next and he got bumped around pretty good. He started out sitting on his backside and before he got very far he was on his stomach going down feet first. He finally got to the bottom pretty much intact.

Another guy went after him and he had a pretty rough ride but the guy after that got really messed up. He ended up going down end over end – doing somersaults. When he got to the bottom he had a dislocated shoulder and scrapes (Dave said they looked like gashes) all up and down his arms and his legs. They were burning really bad – Dave said they were like ice burns.

DJ noticed his arms were burning too and he pulled up his sleeves and he had scrapes up and down his arms too – but not as bad as the other guy. His arms were still hurting him when he got home several hours later.

You’d think after these four no one else would have tried it but Dave said there was a group of people that went down after that but they seemed to do pretty well. Either they saw what had happened to the others and were trying to be careful (okay how are you careful sliding down the side of a mountain on a snowfield?) or Dave, David and the other two guys softened up the snow for the rest of them.

Man, the things guys do for fun – yikes.

Week In Review Aug 30-Sept 7

The picture here and the one at the bottom have nothing to do with what I wrote. I just thought they were cute and included them. Sorry- it's just been that kind of week. * smile *

Not much to report this week. Most of the week was a total blur to me. We had a big Enrichment Meeting at church that I’m kind of in charge of and a week before it I decided to change the handouts (small gifts) that were to be given out at each class (there were four of them)- a couple of which I ended up designing from scratch and all of which were put together from scratch.

I felt kind of bad asking anyone to help at the last minute so I ended up doing all four of them by myself. I spent five days straight working on those things. The Stake Relief Society Presidency was coming as well – no pressure there * smile *.

I finally got everything finished and the night before started to stress a little bit that maybe I should go over first thing in the morning and set up the chairs early. We were going to be changing rooms and so about 130 chairs needed to be set up, plus we needed to pull some tables in and decorate and we’d only arranged to meet 45 minutes early.

But I forced myself not to go over early and started focusing on some of the things I’d been neglecting at home. I was actually quite calm until I got a phone call at about 1:00 or 1:30 asking if I’d mind taking care of the Thank You notes for the four people presenting in each of the classes and then told that the person who was gluing the papers on the front and back of the shopping bags hadn’t even started them.

At that point I started to stress just a bit. I went over and set up all 130 chairs by myself, pulled in all the tables and arranged the rooms and stuck the signs on the doors. It’s a good thing I did because there’s no way we could have gotten that done and the decorating done in the 30 minutes we had before the meeting started – we were all late getting there.

Everyone said the evening was nice – I hope so. Okay sorry, enough about me.

Dave ran a 5K on Labor Day and finished 3rd in his age group - and that's without training, go figure. DJ added a concert choir class to his schedule and is currently seeking earnestly for a job. Dee is working hard in school and playing hard on the soccer field.

I’ll try to be a little more attentive this week so I can share more in the next update.