Mission: Summer Fun

It was said that we could not have picked a day with worse weather... a statement which was arguable, but just because you might argue that the weather could be worse doesn't mean it was good. The sun was sporadic, peeking in and out of clouds moving at high speeds in the Idaho wind. There's nothing quite like Idaho wind that takes already-chilly air and quadruples the chilly-factor into something fairly miserable.

I stood on the deck sporting goose-flesh... even before I submerged my body in chest-deep water. I was reluctant to do it, to take the plunge. The combination of chilly air, twenty mile-an-hour winds and unreliable sunshine was not very appealing to my grown-up self.

My children had no such hesitations. Mac entered the water with a full on *cannon-ball. Ella, with a little more reservation, testing to make sure she could, indeed, touch the bottom and, after her pedi-confirmation, she squealed and splashed like the girly-girl she is. Rohan climbed down the ladder gingerly, feeling insecure even in his life jacket, and, after hanging on the stairs for a minute accompanied by minor coaxing from his brother and his mother, rediscovered how to float, kick, and steer, not to mention grin in an ear-splitting, heart-melting fashion. The most remarkable part was the breakthrough of Rohan's smile absolutely independent of his mother's proximity, close or not.

Upon discovering my children's utter lack of need for their mother in the pool, I wrapped a towel around my shoulders and settled into a chair to observe their watery play. But, a small part of me still wanted to jump in. After all, I had on a new swimming suit that I bought last November that was still awaiting it's first immersion in water. My mind went back and forth for a few minutes, get in or not?, when suddenly Marci, who had been occupied equipping her children with every floating device known to man, stripped to the suit and climbed in the water. I vacillated for only a few seconds more before shedding my own shorts, exposing my bare (and very white) legs to the wind, and following Marci into the water.

It was as cold as I imagined, but screaming about it was half of the fun. Discussions ensued about the wind and how much it adds to the swimming experience, followed shortly by the entrance of "the silliness" that cannot be helped when I'm around Marci. In an attempt to warm ourselves, we became aerobics instructors, calling out moves and trying to do them in the water without getting our hair wet. (not a matter of vanity as much as anti-hypothermia) It was when Marci called out, "Push-Ups!", that I decided to give up the aerobics and trade it for running.

With it's just-above-waist water level, this pool was perfect for leaning forward and digging in for an attempt at water-running, which I did with gusto. It was not long before I was towing several children by a water-noodle as I made my laps around the pool. Did you know that you can sweat in a pool if you don't get your head wet? I didn't, but I do now.

My heart rate reached substantial elevation for warmth to radiate from the core of me and suddenly the wind didn't matter so much.

Fun was had by all, even Mom.

Mission accomplished.


*Artistic license taken. Cannon-balls are so much more exuberant than climbing down the ladder... and he did do the cannon-balls, it was just a little later.

Moving Through

My heart-state always has a metaphor. Always. My mind conjures them like a washing machine churning clothes and if I watch long enough, the one I want will surface. Except lately the water feels still. I can't think of a fitting metaphor. So, would that mean I'm a blank slate? A vacant lot? An empty chair? Or perhaps a stripped bed? No. I think I just pegged it with the washing machine. Full of water and clothes, but no churning. Still. Silent.

Whatever it is, I can't seem to think of much these days. It could be the allergies that I'm battling, making my head feel as though it's stuffed with cotton. It might be that I'm just too tired to care. It's possible that I'm burying my head in the sand so I don't have to do any digging into my own psyche. It may be just me crawling into dormancy, temporary shut down, laying fallow, awaiting the spring when I feel like growing again.

Whatever it is, I'm up for it. Apparently it's my time to stare off into space or at least feel like I am staring blankly, even when I'm busy. It is my time to avoid looking deep into the recesses of my heart. It is my time to learn the routines of keeping a clean house. It is my time to play the guitar every night. It's my time to allow myself to go to bed if I'm sleepy. It's my time to teach my children that there are cycles in life and we need to listen and love.

It's also my time to love myself even when I don't feel like I'm moving forward.

Busy

Yes... I have been.

Rundown:

I can't really remember what I did since I blogged last. (a whole WEEK ago!) Oh... yeah. I was tiling at my duplex. Well, my dad was tiling. I was mostly watching with a bit of helping. And I was cleaning. Sticky floors and dirty walls. Good times!

I was also playing life raft for my friend one day... but I didn't even know that I was until she told me later. I love when I am helpful!

Dustin built our storage room in our basement. He's back in the basement groove. HOORAY! He also wired some more lights yesterday. He's become quite the little wirer. I'm so proud.

I've been doing laundry. Always laundry.

Chore charts rule. It's what I always knew I needed but never knew how much I'd always need it... comprende?

My brother and his wife and my sister and her kids came up from Salt Lake City. It was a weekend of bliss. Especially Sunday. We sat in my parents incredibly pleasant yard the WHOLE day. For D and I, it was from noon until almost ten o'clock! ALL DAY! I had my guitar there and I played a little but mostly watched and listened to my brother play. My favorite. My dream day. Listen to Zandy play guitar and sing with him and talk guitar. Beautiful. Magical.

I also haven't been blogging much because I've been playing guitar a great deal. After my post about speaking the same language I started playing every night. It's amazing how much you can improve with a little practice.

The fourth of July we went to see our local fireworks show. You know what's weird? Our smallish Idaho city's Fireworks show is ranked 17th in the NATION! It is a freakin' AWESOME show!!! And, I just read that it lasted 31 minutes and 15,962 shells were launched. ROCK ON!!! We sit a few hundred yards beneath the launch site. Amazing. The finale is a SERIOUS adrenaline rush! I LOVE IT!!!!

The end.

Metamorphosis

I am a work in progress. I am fully aware that everyone who's currently living and breathing is also such.

BUT.

They are not me. We all have different challenges. I've written before of my housecleaning woes. I've lamented and whined and moaned about how I didn't know how to keep a clean house. I've berated and loathed myself for the lack of skills in this arena.

AND.

I am transforming. I'm growing and changing in this capacity. And suddenly, I'm finding that I WANT to do housework. I like it. I derive a great deal of satisfaction from doing laundry. I love to have a sink free of dirty dishes. I knew I loved that all along, but I didn't know how to keep it that way. Now, I'm learning how. I'm doing well.

SO.

I'm teaching my children.

Friday's Fabulous Five

1- We tore out many things in our backyard last weekend with my dad's Bobcat. We shoveled thousands of pounds of dirt. (my dad has a Dump-trailer and it was so full of dirt that it was too heavy to dump. He's never had that happen before and he once had 12,000 lbs {or was it 10,000?} of concrete in it and it still dumped. My dad guessed that it weighed about 15,000 lbs and we had to shovel it all somewhere else! Go US!) Now, today and tomorrow we get to put in a lovely new fence! And the sweetest part of this deal? We are splitting the cost of the fence with our next-door neighbor so it's turning out quite cheap! YAY!!!!

2- Had a lovely visit with my pal, Maria, yesterday. She was in town. Then in a few minutes we're off to play with her and her kids some more! I love my Maria.

3- Got some new makeup the other day. So silly how a simple little thing can be so fun and make you feel snazzy. I love snazzy.

4- I had a dream the other morning (in the wee hours) and I had to call 911 in the dream. Dustin woke me up because I was saying my phone number out loud as I told it to the 911 operator in the dream. I love the weirdness of dreams and the subconscious mind!

5- Free lunch just for saying no? What a good deal!

Screaming

Sometimes you have so much to say that you can't say anything at all. "Create New Post" stares at you with one big rectangular eye. It screams at you, "FILL ME! MOLD MY WHITE BLANKNESS INTO SOMETHING GREAT!" and you scream back mentally, "I WANT TO, BUT MY EYES ARE BUGGING OUT OF MY HEAD BECAUSE OF YOUR BLANK-RECTANGLE-EYE SCREAMING TO BE FILLED!!!"

And then your shoulders and the new calluses coming on your hands, and your lower back and most of the rest of your body scream at you, "YOU SPENT MOST OF THE DAY SHOVELING SEVERAL THOUSAND POUNDS OF DIRT!!! WHY DON'T YOU GO TO BED!!!!"

And then you stop screaming and you say in reply, "What a good idea." and, "Goodnight."

And your body smiles, every inch.

Manic Monday: Pop

I have to admit, I was drawing a blank on the word Pop for Manic Monday. I thought about describing the pop of roots breaking as you yank out big junglish bushes and weeds with a Bobcat, which is what we did this weekend in our yard, but that didn't appeal to me. I thought about writing how I've sat at this computer for so long that my head might just pop but I didn't want to reveal what a lazy-bone I've been today. (actually, my morning was very busy, but this afternoon has been time-wastey) So, I went to my trusty Google search and entered "pop". I just love the internet. I find such interesting things to waste my time! And they remind me of things...

When I was in college, I had the coolest roommate on the freakin' planet. Her name is Britta and she's still the coolest. (and she's comin' into her power right now, so WATCH OUT world!!!) Back in our roommate days, Britta's little brother flew out from Pennsylvania to visit her for two-ish weeks and I got to know him in that annoying little brother way. He loved to tease and bother me with little things. Things like singing "That Thing You Do" completely off key and the wrong tune to boot. (love ya, Jazzy!) He also liked to make fun of me when I'd say, "Hey, do you want to watch a show?" Does that sound weird to anyone? No, right? Well, he seemed to think that "show" was the wrong word. He informed me each and every time I said it that it was called a MOVIE. Whatever, Jazz.

He couldn't leave it with the annoying song or the show/movie battle, he also had to inform me all the time that it was a SODA and not a POP. It's futile to argue with Jazz. I'm pretty sure he never even heard me when I tried. But, I got to the point where I'd just ignore him when he'd start. Except that freakin' song. I still hear it all wrong every time I think of that song. Silly boy.

Well, in my little Google search I found a website called "The Pop vs. Soda Page". I found it very amusing that someone actually conducted a study and made a statistical map of who says pop and who says soda. Oh yeah, and let's not forget the south where they call all pop "Coke". I got this map from the website... check it out! And if you visit the website, you can participate in the survey! Let your Pop/Soda voice be heard!!!


My mom's from the south and tells me how they always ask, "Hay! What kainda Coke you wawnt?" and then they proceed to list the different flavors like Sprite, Root Beer, Mt. Dew, etc. It doesn't matter how many times she tells me, laugh every time. Seems so silly to me.

And in case you failed to notice, in Idaho the proper term for a carbonated drink is a "Pop", which, in case you wanted some more Clancy-Trivia, I almost never drink.

Friday's Fabulous Five

It's Friday again and my head shakes in slack-jawed wonder. Are the weeks picking up speed as they pass or is it just me? I mean, really... June is halfway over, folks! And June means that the YEAR of 2009 is halfway over. Um, WHAT?! How did that happen? Regardless, there are many fabulous things happening right now.

1- My hubby took the day off of work today. I love it when that happens. He taught me a new skill...

2- We have several pieces of sandstone in our backyard and three of them were VERY thick pieces... three or four inches thick. My husband grew up quarrying sandstone with his dad and his great-uncle and step-grandpa, so he's got skills. He passed one on to his wife today. I am now the proud owner of a new skill-set: Sandstone splitting. It's so satisfying to watch a tiny crack grow bigger and bigger as you hammer it, and then CRACK! Half of it shears away and you suddenly have two lovely stones where before you only had one. Too cool, my friends. Too cool.

3- I worked mega-hard in my front flower beds on Tuesday and Wednesday and now they're so lovely and suddenly much bigger. Dustin was the man-power behind the operation. We nearly doubled the size of one bed and I bought a tiny-soon-to-be big bush along with some annuals to go in our new lovely space. It's all very charming. I must offer gratitude to my mother for instilling in me a love of creating beautiful flower beds. She's good, my mom. I grew up helping her and I like to think that some of that is bearing fruit here and now.

4-Chore charts are still going well. My kids are doing awesome and I'm so proud. They hardly even complain anymore, though I still have to remind them to get to work. I can handle that. Yipeee!!!!!!

5- I made banana bread yesterday. Y-U-M.

The end.

You Speaka My Language?.

(I've started and erased this post about ten times now. It's not going so hot. I'll try to get through it...)

Guitars are wonderful instruments. So mobile. So versatile. So peaceful (sometimes). Especially if they're in tune. I got to mess around with a friend on the guitar recently (mostly as the singer) and it was fun... even if the guitar was out of tune. I don't know if this person or their loved ones read this blog, but if you do, know that it is no slight to the guitar player when I say that about the out-of-tuneness of said guitar. Guitars pull out of tune when you raise them a whole step. The strings don't like it. They're tighter and they want to go back to were they are comfortable, a whole step lower. Playing them outside in the cold air doesn't help keep the strings tuned up pretty either. I know that and that's ok. Are we good? Good.

(The urge to erase this post is strong right now. I'm not going to. That might be a mistake, but I shall carry on, nonetheless.)

As I sat there jamming with the guitarist, we were both supremely frustrated. Neither of us knew the same songs as the other, save a precious few. We didn't speak the same language. He knew this and this and this song and thought surely I would too. "Nope," I'd say. "I know the tune, but not the words." Then I'd ask if he knew this or this or this song... "Nope," he'd say.

Dang it!

When I'm with my family, we all know the same songs. And if we don't, it's not too long before we learn it. We mostly like the same sort of music. It made me miss my brother, who's guitar skills and repertoire are deep. It made me miss my mother, my sisters, both my brothers, and my dad, who sing all the time and can break into harmony, complete with SATB, if we're all there. We speak the same language, you know? And there's magic in the language of a family.

Parlez vous...?

(Mediocre post, at best, but I've been thinking about this little subject for a while now and I had to get it out, if crappily. My apologies.)

From The Jar... #39

Two weeks in a row!? The Jar is happier. But I don't feel like taking the time snap a picture of his happy face.

And the Jar says...


Tell about a special date you had with a boyfriend.


Nothing's jumping out at me as super "special", but I can think of some that were really fun! The night Dustin proposed to me was special I guess, but it was mostly just fun with a splash of special at the end. It was a Monday and we had "Family Home Evening" with our Singles Ward at the funky, local roller skating rink. I don't know if I've mentioned it, but I LOVE rollerblading, and so does Dustin. We like to go FAST... I love the speed, making my hair blow, cooling me off. Anyway, we zoomed around the rink and had "dances" and played limbo on blades. (Limbo is a very interesting game on rollerblades! I think I got second or third place. Go me!) It was just fun and I remember laughing a lot. I think we went to eat afterward.

(Suddenly I'm having Deja Vu... haven't I blogged about this before? Oh well...)

Here's the splash of specialness... After we (I think!) ate, Dustin took me up on a mountainside in the bitter February wind and proposed to me. That was special, even though I didn't say yes for another 6 days. (evil girl)

Another really fun date was in high school. It was a school dance and the boy I took was not my boyfriend but it was one of the most memorable dates I've had. So, yeah, girls' choice dance. I took Cody Baily. He was darned cute, so we thought. Matching shirts and all that. For dinner, we got Chinese take-out and went to Liberty Park in Salt Lake City. This park has a pond where you can rent canoes or paddle boats. It was early enough in the year that the boat rides were only open on Saturdays and this was a Friday night, but I had an "in" with the owner. I worked for her AND she was my sister's boyfriend's (now husband) mother! So, I got us all hooked up. Josh and Sarah came and unlocked the canoes and we paddled our little way out to the little island on the lake. We spread blankets on a pavilion and ate our Chinese goodness. We all felt so clever!

Then we went to the dance for a minute, got our silly pictures taken, and went on a scare-fest. We visited every freaky place we could think of in Salt Lake. The Salt Lake City Cemetery, the lime kilns, the Hippity Hoppity Lady, and we even sneaked into our church building which was very old and scary, especially at night, in the dark. After being thouroughly freaked out, we took our dates home. I seem to recall the boys saying that was the funnest date they had ever been on. I felt the same way.