Where'd June go?

Wow, I CANNOT believe that it has been over a month since I posted something!  I had told myself I was going to quit doing that, and yet, here I am...

I must say that I haven't been totally ignoring my blog.  I think about writing and log in at least a few times a week, look at my bee-yoo-timous photo on the last post, then shut it down again.  June and July have been pretty busy months, as far as summer's go, but part of me (I'll be honest - a BIG part of me) has felt guilty for enjoying the summer since Evan's been gone to basic training.  It's not that I haven't missed him, because I have!  I think about him always, and pray for him constantly (I sometimes think I must sound like a persistent 2-year-old to God: "Dad, dad, dad, dad, dad..."  He hasn't barked at me in frustration yet, as I would, so it must be okay).  I stop what I'm doing about fifty times a day and wonder what he's doing at that exact moment, and I anxiously check the post office daily to see if there's been a new letter from him, which is truly a new experience for me because I loathe going to the post office - all it ever holds are money-sucking bills or umpteen subscription invitations to National Geographic. At least, I assume the letters are from him, although he never signs his name to them.  Apparently I forgot to teach him etiquette about letter-writing and the importance of signatures, or punctuation for that matter!  It's hell on my children having a mother who's an English major ;0)

Anyway, I know it's pretty silly to feel guilty, so I'm really going to try and get past it.  I keep telling myself, "Evan chose this path for himself, and I shouldn't short-change the memories the rest of us have made while he's been gone.  Next summer's going to be the same thing, with him going off to AIT training, so I'd better suck it up and get used to this "aging children" thing." Still, I never thought it would be this hard. Sigh...

So here's the quick version, and I'll fill in more details over the next few days or weeks, depending on the craziness in my life.

A few weeks after Evan left, we took off to southern Colorado for a week's vacation, visiting Arches National Park in Moab, then Mesa Verde and Durango in Colorado.  The weather was kind of spotty for most of the trip, but the two days that we went to Mesa Verde and Durango to spend the majority of the time outside, the weather couldn't have been more perfect!  There were some ups and downs to the trip, but overall it was great, and we definitely needed it.  I'll write more and post pictures in the coming days.

Shortly after returning, Tom found out about a "lease" of a camping space at a place up by Hardware Ranch, called the Lazy S Ranch.  This type of situation has always been a dream of his, so we went to check it out.  I knew he was a goner as soon as we got there, and I was right.  Two days later, we purchased our spot for the rest of the year (good until October 1) and I haven't seen him on a weekend since, although I know when he's been home by the aroma of mosquito-repellent soaked clothing that gets dumped in the laundry! It's a great place, but man are those bugs vicious...

There's a beautiful stream (full of fish) that flows through the whole ranch and right next to our spot...

And we even get the pleasure of owning our own outhouse...

What more could a guy want?  Doesn't he look happy and relaxed? He was actually snarling at me to quit taking his photo, but I caught him in a split-second where he looked like he was enjoying it :)

We all went up for the 4th of July weekend, including my two young cousins, Jeni and Aly.  I have to admit, it's a great place, and I don't remember when the last time was that I've felt so relaxed!  Unlike vacations, you can just sit and BE.  No rushing hither and yon to see the sights.  I literally spent an hour just sitting on the little bridge over the creek watching the play of light on the water, listening to it burbling over rocks, and listening to the sounds of birds (and mosquitoes!).  I read an entire book, laughed at the dogs, kids, and husband (not necessarily in that order) and worked on my cross-stitch, which I haven't picked up in months.  Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on the outlook), I had extra work to do this weekend, so I had to stay behind.  :(  Hopefully I'll get back up there in the next week or two...

Finally, for one of the most exciting things (to me anyways):  last week I had my first photography class!  I signed up for it months ago, shortly after buying my new DSLR camera, which I've been totally using as a point-and-shoot because - I'll admit it - I'm clueless about this camera.  The class meets once a week for 4 weeks, and I already learned so much the first day that I can hardly stand the wait for the next one.  Who knew apertures could be so fun?!  I've been busily doing my "homework,"  so here's a few shots to show what I've learned.  These are all completely on a manual setting, straight out of the camera (SOOC). 

And finally, a few of my favorite model!  She was a good sport because I paid her off with lunch at McDonald's and allowed her to get an iced coffee.  I love when children can be bribed :)

I promise to continue again soon...

One Hundred and ONE

Today's You Capture challenge at www.ishouldbefoldinglaundry.com was to choose your best photo of the week.  I took some really nice photos of this sweet neighbor boy of ours, but this is my favorite since it also captured the gorgeous sunset.  What a nice way to end the day after hours and hours of digging weeds out of the garden!  Some day I may even get to plant the darn thing.   :-)

Milestones

"And in today already walks tomorrow."

-- Samuel Taylor Coleridge

The past few weeks have been full of impending change, foreshadows of my future, rushing up to meet me before I'm really ready.  Let me explain...

Several weeks ago was Savannah's "Wellsville Mile," a 1-mile race that all 4th and 5th graders in the south end of the valley compete in each year.  To say it is a "big deal" to the kids is an understatement!  I remember when the boys were both that age, standing outside for hours waiting for their heat, watching them race, and then sticking around for the awards ceremony at the end.  It was always the highlight of their year, but one I can honestly say I came to dread.  Each year it was dreadfully hot, there was never anywhere to sit, huge crowds of shrieking 9- and 10-year olds... what was to like?  In addition, I always had to take several hours off work to go, precious annual leave that didn't accumulate near quickly enough.  After Braden's last race, I was so excited because I knew it would be "years" before Savannah would be old enough and I'd "have" to go again.

Last week was Savannah's Wellsville Mile, most likely the last one I'll ever attend.  It got rescheduled due to rain once, and I actually felt disappointment.  My baby was running her last grade-school race... how dare it rain?!!  They held it later that same week, even though the rain was even worse that day.  The way it's going around here I think the organizers' figured that it would never get held if they didn't just do it.  Savannah ran a very respectable 9:10 which was even more commendable given the coldness of the day.  I wore my winter coat (but had no umbrella) and the rain was so bad that my pants were literally soaked from top to bottom, and the rain soaked THROUGH my coat in several places.  It took me hours to warm up when I got back to work, hugging my space heater like a long-lost lover! 

Last week was also Savannah's 5th grade graduation, her final day as an elementary school student.  My baby is off to middle school next year, with high school just days away at the speed I feel things are happening.

Today we drove Evan to Salt Lake City, dropping him off at a hotel where he'll stay for two nights before flying off to South Carolina for Boot Camp.  My baby is old enough for boot camp?!! How did that happen?  Granted, he'll only be gone for 10 1/2 weeks this summer and will return to finish his senior year before he's off again for his AIT training and most likely a switch from National Guard to Active Duty Army.  I'm feeling very thankful that I'm getting to take this leap into adulthood in two steps, but I think I am in disbelief that the days of having him at home (and Braden hot on his heels too) are really coming to a fast close.

I can vividly remember the days when the kids were all small; all the tears, diapers, fights, illnesses, tantrums, school "to-do's," etc., etc. and wishing that they were older, wishing for time for myself and my wants. Wishing, honestly, that I could just spend five minutes alone in the bathroom without having some small (or big) person banging on the other side of the door, demanding my attention that very minute and any other spare minute I might think I'd like to have.  It seemed like the day would never come.

Now those days are breathing hotly down my neck, and I'm really starting to struggle with the changes that are already coming, and the bigger changes I know are next.  It's exciting to see the young men and women they are all becoming (or in Josh's case, have become), but what I wouldn't give to go back and enjoy the moments that I didn't fully appreciate as the gifts they were.  To change my attitude and hug each kid a little longer, a little tighter, and to take moments away from cleaning or cooking or helping with homework just to talk, and really listen to their excitement about the day.

I can't imagine how strange it's going to be not having Evan around all summer, but I'm going to focus on enjoying the next stage of the journey.

Speaking of milestones, this little blog of mine has reached one tonight:  This is officially my 100th post.  Here's to the next 100, whatever they may bring... :-)

Rainy days and Tuesdays...

Today was going to be a wonderful day:  Savannah was supposed to run in the Wellsville Mile, a big race that all the 4th and 5th graders in the south end of the valley compete in each year.  This year will be her final one before entering the mad-dash world of middle school next year.  In honor of the occasion, and because Braden also had an orthodontist appointment scheduled for later this afternoon, I scheduled the day off of work so I wouldn't have to keep dashing in and out.  I was soooo looking forward to a few hours to myself, just relaxing. Unfortunately, the weather had different plans for the kids, so the race was postponed until Thursday (more on that later!).

But first, let me tell you about yesterday.  Yesterday, on my way home from work, I was stopped at a stoplight, waiting for my chance to turn when -WHAM- the white-haired old lady in the car behind me rammed right into the back of my car with a pretty good wallop.  Turns out that she was swatting at some sort of flying insect buzzing around her and not watching what was happening in front of her.  We pulled over and looked at our vehicles, neither of which were really hurt.  My rear taillight has a tiny crack, and it scuffed up my bumper, but nothing worse than what's already happened to it, and hers didn't look like anything had even happened.  We exchanged information, "just in case," and I went on my merry way, enjoying the good high that only an adrenaline rush can give you, but thankful that it hadn't been worse.

Cut back to today: For approximately 3.7 seconds I told myself I should just head to work, but I quickly gave up that warped idea!  Great!  Now I would have the entire day to myself (at least until 3:30 p.m.) to do anything I want.  I really want to get out again with my camera, but one look outside cured that desire.  I thought about doing some scrapbooking, but didn't really feel like doing that either: too much of a mess to clean up.  Reading a good book, uninterrupted, usually my heart's desire?  I tried gamely, but just couldn't work up the interest.  So what did I do?  I watched umpteen-million episodes of house hunters or other shows of the same ilk and worked on getting all of the faces in my digital photo albums tagged.  Do I lead an exciting life, or what?  (yeah, yeah, I know it's the "or what," - no need to humor me). 


As the day wears on I've noticed more and more a headache, my neck is stiffening up a lot, and is really quite sore.  So great... I wonder how many days I should live with it before I go get it checked out?  I hate to seem like one of those people that gets in a fender-bender and then claims to be disabled for life, but I also don't want to be the one to foot the bill if I end up having to get it checked out. What would you do?

On a brighter note, today is also my Aunt Lois' birthday, and I am so blessed to be her niece!  Happy birthday, Lo!  And in a weird way, it's also my "Un-Anniversary," as the ex and I selfishly hijacked her birthday for our wedding date all those years ago.  Little did I know at the time that it would forever link the two events in my mind.  If we had picked any other random day, I would probably never remember. 

Anyhoo, I'm off to soak in some nice, near-scalding bathwater in the hopes that it will make my head feel better.

Mother Nature is a Definite Tease...

"If spring came but once a century 

instead of once a year, 

or burst forth with the sound of an earthquake 

and not in silence, 

what wonder and expectation there would be in all hearts to behold the miraculous change!"  

 ~~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I'm a day late (which is nothing new to those who know me well), but for the second week in a row I'm doing the "You Capture" challenge hosted at I Should be Folding Laundry.  This week's topic?  Spring, the redux.

For the last six months I have been scrimping and saving, eating endless leftovers in order to hoard lunch money, and slaving away doing side jobs to earn enough to buy my very first DSLR camera.  I finally bought it a little over a week ago, but ever since then the weather has been nothing but miserable, thwarting all my grand plans of using the new toy.  Today was another typical spring day here in the Arctic Utah, meaning that there was an expected high of 50, and snow in the forecast.  What else would it do in MAY?

I have finally come to the conclusion that I will NEVER get to use the camera if I wait for perfect weather, so tonight after work, I braved the cold and took some "spring" pictures. I hate the weather but love, love, LOVE my new camera!  And I have to say, I think the snow really adds a nice element.  Enjoy the pictures while I go warm my frozen hands by the fire... ;-)

Regardless of the cold, I was struck again at what a beautiful creation God has given us! 

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

Or "Teenager's are a trip..."

Here's another appropriate quote I found this week, although this one is listed as "Author Unknown."

"It's difficult to decide whether growing pains are something teenagers have - or are."

Truer words were never spoken!!!

So here's the latest story:  In my home, we have two teenagers, but only one of them has earned his driver's license.  In mid-February, said teenager was pulled over by police on his way to school one day.  Was he speeding? No.  Was he weaving erratically through traffic? No.  Was he talking on his phone or texting? NO.  He was just a teenage boy on his way to school, minding his own business. However, when the policeman decided to run the plates, just for the fun of it, the vehicle came back as being uninsured.  Cue flashing lights and siren!

Turns out that our insurance company had the wrong VIN number in the system, so the vehicle, even though actually insured, wasn't showing up as such.  Frantic mom called the insurance company and they were nice enough to speak directly to the policeman, saving us an impound fee, but the policeman had already issued the citation and couldn't rescind it (which mom personally thinks is bunk, but who asked her).  The insurance company also faxed us a letter stating that we did indeed have insurance on this particular vehicle, how long we'd had it, the fact that we'd never had any lapses, the usual.  Now-subdued mom gave teenage boy the letter and reminded him that he needed to take it in to get the problem fully taken care of.

Now fast-forward to about a week ago.  Mom picks up the mail, only to find a letter formally addressed to "Parents of neglectful child" stating that because said child had never gone in to formally prove we had insurance, he was not only being charged with being an uninsured motorist, but would have a warrant out for Failure to Appear if he didn't get his mangy butt in to the court by May 5th.  Monday we took another copy of the letter from the insurance company and went to the court, assuming that the problem would end there. 

Is anything in my life ever really that simple?

No.  ** Sigh **

Because this child had waited so long, he would now have to appear on Wednesday (today) to speak to the Prosecutor.  After standing in line to see the prosecutor, he explained that, even though they were able to dismiss the uninsured motorist charge,  because it wasn't taken care of when it was supposed to, said child still had to go before the judge on the Failure to Appear and face a $207 fine.  He recommended that the fine be dropped to $50, but emphasized that it was "ONLY a recommendation; the judge doesn't have to accept it."  He gave us a paper and sent us to stand in line again at the Clerk's window, where we had started off the afternoon.

When it was finally our turn, the lady gave us an orange piece of paper, carefully making sure that we understood that, even though the recommendation was to drop the fine to $50, the judge didn't have to accept that."  As we entered the courtroom, the judge, whom I actually grew to love by the time we were done, was informing the person up to bat that even though they had a recommendation by the prosecutor, she didn't have to hold to that.  Gee - I think they wanted us to take note of that fact.

We then spent the next two hours watching person after person take the stand, most for no insurance, no registration, and suspended licenses.  Excuse after excuse was offered, but the judge handled them all in a totally even-handed and even humorous manner, only chewing up and spitting out a few of them.  Each sentence ended with x-amount of days in jail, suspended upon payment of fine. One man offered up the excuse that his wife threatened to buy a dog if he didn't sell his motorcycle. "One of those yappy little things!" he responded when the judge asked what kind, when explaining the reason that he took his beloved motorbike on a last, uninsured ride before selling it.  When teenage-boy finally got his turn, the judge read through the file, and lo and behold, for probably the first time that day she agreed with the prosecutor's recommendation!  The fine would only be $50.  As she told the court stenographer what to write on the paperwork, when it came to the line about jail time, she looked at my boy and said, "he's too young, so we can't give him jail time, as tempting as it is!"

I really like this woman... :)

Spring?

In the spring I have counted one hundred and thirty-six different kinds of weather inside of four and twenty hours. ~Mark Twain

Lately, I have been on a Mark Twain binge.  At work a while back I was tasked with finding a quote by some now-deceased former Supreme Court judge, and in the process, stumbled across a treasure-trove of Mark Twain quotes.  I truly don't believe there will ever be another quite like him!  I swear I can find one of his quotations to match the circumstances of each and every day...

Anyway, I also recently stumbled across a blog I really like, "I Should be Folding Laundry."  Each Wednesday she has a "You Capture" photo prompt that invites you to take and post your photos that have to do with the assignment of the week.  For about the last 3 months I have intermittently taken the photos, but never get around to posting them for one reason or another.  The assignment for today was "spring," a thought that is near and dear to my heart, being that I live in Utah and may never actually see that season for more than 3 days, after it quits snowing around the 4th of July and blasts into the oppressively heavy heat on July 7th through October 30th when we will hit winter head-on, once again. 

This morning we woke up to snow and pretty hefty wind gusts that managed to knock the basketball pole over, even though I can't move it on my own.  I dashed outside to clean off my car and warm it up before heading to work, braving the wind which blew snow into my face.  I drove off to work, but within a few miles of home the "low coolant" light on the dash started screaming at me with its bright red light, and when I looked at the temperature gauge, it was wayyyyyy hotter than it should have been in such a short time.  I turned the car around and headed back home (which, apparently, I shouldn't have done.  I should have sat there and waited for it to cool down.  I didn't dare tell my hubby that I actually contemplated driving to work that way! Shhhhh....). 

Once at home I cleaned all the snow off and transferred all my things into my Tahoe but, alas, the keys were nowhere to be found.  Turns out Tom locked them away in his footlocker to remove any temptation they might hold for Evan, who, once again, finds himself grounded from driving until he's approximately 73.  So, I stomp inside and ask where I might find the keys.  I explain the problem, but get informed that the power steering on the Tahoe is messed up, so I should take Tom's '89 Chevy S-10 truck, "but first you need to get all my stuff out."  After cleaning off yet another vehicle covered in snow, I get all his stuff out: sunglasses? check; wallet?  check; gum? check; keys? check; work gloves? check, etc. etc.  Man does he have a lot of stuff!  When I go to move it into his newer Chevy S-10 truck, I discover the doors are locked, and none of the keys on the keychain I have work. 

I stomp in the house again, where hubby has come awake enough now to know that he doesn't want me driving his truck.  He puts on his overalls and flip-flops and heads out to fill my power steering fluid, back in the Tahoe.  I finally am able to hit the road, a mere 40-minutes late for work, with the windshield wipers batting huge snowflakes away to a rapid beat.  In an attempt to relax, I turn on the radio where I hear an advertisement for a local tire company:

Radio man, in a disgustingly happy voice:  "Spring is finally here, and it's time to put away those snow tires! Blah, blah, blah..."

Really?  You think spring is here, do ya?!!!  I won't tell you what I told that nice man, but you can bet it wasn't even remotely ladylike....

Last week, when Mother Nature was teasing us in her mean and nasty way, Savannah and I went for a walk and took these photos:

She is way prettier than any spring flower!

Another "fun" thing we like to do around here is set things on fire, but you wouldn't believe how much work it actually is...   

(Here, Savannah takes a break to harass the field mice). 

Here's hoping that the sun comes back again soon!