Memorial Day Weekend

Helena and her friend, Megan, went to Kirsten's last weekend for a sleepover, rodeo kind of Memorial Day weekend.  Will, Bill, and I stayed home and had our own BBQ.  We had a bonfire and Bill grilled lots of yummy food!  It was cool out, our weather just hasn't wanted to warm up this year.  There is still lots of snow up in the mountains.  So much, in fact, that Bill's race in two weeks has had to have a new route created because the original route is snow bound!

That last photo is of Will huddled in a blanket playing games on his iPod.  He wasn't that into the whole sit around a bonfire in the cold idea and went in as soon as courtesy to his parents allowed.

That weekend Bill also took me for a drive to see how swollen the local rivers are.  One night a week or two ago, Bill's phone rang just as he was drifting off to sleep at about 10:30.  It was an emergency call to go up the canyon and save someone's house from being flooded by the river!  He was out all night and didn't get home until four in the morning, but he saved the house!  He took his backhoe and created a diversion trench, which he showed me when he took me up there later on.

A few years ago, when the spring rains were bad, one of the streets in Pleasant Grove turned into a river of overflow water.  At the time, the city put up barricades to slow the water in its onward rush, to try to mitigate the damage being done.  They learned from that, apparently, because they installed a giant pipe in the middle of that same road to accommodate the flooding, and they intend to bury the pipe under that road once the spring thaw is over.  Bill drove me to see that, as well, so here are the photos of where that pipe feeds into the canal above the city.

The first picture doesn't look all that impressive until you realize the size of the pipe when looking at the second picture.  The water was roaring out of that pipe!  In the second picture, you can also see the pipe snaking up the center of the road.  Oh.  And by the way, it was raining as I took these pictures.  It has really been the wettest spring I can ever remember here!  We have moss growing on the patio for goodness sake!

Unexpected Weekend plans

I got home from school on Friday to some bad news.

Bill came home from work early in order to pack up and head out on a father/son camp out with Will.  He pulled his favorite sleeping bag out of the garage and decided to wash it prior to using it (to get rid of the 'stored in the garage since last summer' smell).  The washer filled with water and detergent... then did nothing else.

So, by the time I got home, Bill was quite stressed out because, while no one wants a broken washing machine, we have no money to replace it.  Not to mention the fact that the lawn mower was also not working.  Oh, and I had an entire week of dirty laundry to do.

"Why don't you repair the one you have", you ask?  Because it is an old second had washer we bought from someone up in Salt Lake off of KSL classifieds.  There comes a point when you realize that it would be more cost effective to buy new and have something reliable, rather than constantly fixing something old and having the down time during repairs.

We needed to buy new.  We decided to take the plunge and buy a set, since our dryer (also KSL-esque) doesn't have much life left in it, either.  We looked for a store that offered in house financing with a 0% interest period, so we could pay them off before accruing interest (and because we haven't had a credit card or any consumer credit debt for over two years, now).  I won't give you the blow-by-blow.  I'll just say that we got them from store 'y' at the cheaper price that store 'x' was offering, because store 'y' had a 12 month interest free period instead of only 6 mo. and was willing to price match in order to get our business.  We hope to have them paid off in 6 months, but it is good to have the extra cushion of time.  They were made by Maytag, and the model name is Maxima.

So, on Wednesday I will have a beautiful new washer and dryer and I AM VERY EXCITED!  I have never had brand new laundry appliances before.  They have always been hand me down or second hand in the past.  Here is what they look like... except we ordered them in white.  The red would clash with my laundry room decor.

Haircuts

Yesterday Will and I went to Kristy for haircuts.  Normally, I cut Will's hair with the clippers.  At least, that is on the rare occasion when he lets me.  His has grown his hair out for a long time now until he looks like a shag.  I feel bad for him, because he wants his hair long, but he doesn't have the right kind of hair for that.  It just doesn't look good on him.

Anyways, I took him to Kristy, because she can actually cut and STYLE hair, whereas I just buzz it.

I should have just saved my money.  He hates his haircut.  He says it is too short and will stick up in the back.

The bottom line problem is that he doesn't actually DO his hair in the mornings, so the rooster tail inevitably pokes up and drives him crazy.  All he really needs to do is dunk his head in the sink in the morning and run some hair product through it with his fingers.  That's it.  But, apparently, even that is just too much hassle for him.  Heavy sigh.

The truth, though, is that he looks incredible with his hair freshly cut and styled!  He looks older, too.  I know I am biased since I am his mother, but I really think he looks good enough to be a model!

Clay Projects are going to be the Death of Me!

Urgh!!!  I am fed up to my eyeballs with clay projects!!!

The fifth grade has built their bowls and I am running my FIFTH bisque fire of them.  They are glazing this week and I just hope that I don't run out of glaze before they finish!  That would just be my luck.

I have had to give the 'keep it in perspective' speech to nearly every fifth grade class.  You see, a small percentage of breakage is pretty normal on a student clay project.  Some kids just don't follow instructions well enough and their bowls fall apart in the drying stage.  Others might break in the transfer to the kiln because the kids made them too thin or fragile.  Either way, it is devastating for the kid whose bowl broke.  I do get some tears.  I even occasionally get a parent calling me asking me to let their kid make a new one (grrrr!  Let your child experience life's disappointments!  Sheesh!) even though that would mean firing a practically empty kiln just for one child who didn't follow instructions in the first place.

What is the 'keep it in perspective' speech, you ask?  Here is a sum-up...

"I know that you are very excited about the clay bowls, and you will certainly feel really disappointed and sad if yours is one of the broken ones.  But I want to remind you that it will not change the course of your life if your fifth grade clay project breaks.  It won't change the course of human history, either.  So, it is really not a tragedy and doesn't deserve tears.  The tsunami in Japan WAS a tragedy, so were the tornadoes in Alabama!  Those are life changing historical events that deserve tears!  If your pet dies, that is a life changing event for you, and that deserved tears, too.  But, your fifth grade bowl?  C'mon!  No tears needed!"

After hearing that, the kids are much better about it and can mostly handle the disappointment of breakage.

The sixth grade is starting their clay projects today and I am really stressed about the lack of time left in the school year to complete them!  If only the kiln was bigger and I could fit more projects into it at once!  Gah!   I really hope I can get them all finished before the school year ends!  (13 school days left, you know)

What really gets me are the kids who come up to me and tell me; "I'll be gone for one of the clay building days, so...."  and then wait for me to tell them that it will be OK an I'll help them make up the lost day.  Harumph!!!  I am so sick of giving up my lunch for kids whose parents decide to pull them out for who knows what reason!  Sometimes it is for a wedding or funeral (when that is the case I try to be as helpful as I can),  but other times it is to go on a family mini-vacay, or to BABYSIT preschool siblings while mom and dad go off to do something else.  I AM NOT KIDDING!  Unbelievable!

We are so tight against the end of the year, I have simply told all and sundry that, NO, I cannot help anyone who will be absent and if they miss it, I am sorry, but that is just too bad.  I cannot slow down the clock and we have a hard deadline.  The End.

First Taste of Summer

Yesterday we had a BBQ in the back yard to celebrate the grass.  Kirsten and Paul came with their girls, and Erik and Deanna came with their boys.  Helena's best friend, Megan, joined us, and eventually Helena's friend, Daniel, stopped by as well.

It was so fun to watch Tori (2) running around the yard playing 'tag' with the bigger kids.  She just wanted to be 'it' all the time, so she giggled happily whenever anyone tagged her back.  Little Luke (1) getting stranded on his blanket in the middle of the grass because he refused to crawl out on it.  Watching Kris (11) and Dallin (9) trying to climb the cherry tree up to the tree-house.  We left off the first 'ladder rung' on purpose to discourage casual and 'too-young' climbers from adventures that may be too dangerous or out of their ability range... so kids really have to have some muscles and determination to get past that hurdle.  Neither of them made it, this time.  Baby Meg (4 or 5 months) being passed around for lots of kisses and cuddles.

The weather was fabulous, other than a bit of wind.  It was sunny and warm; almost too warm!  Upbeat music played in the background...oh, it felt SO GOOD!!!  Like a taste of summertime!

We had everything you could think of that was yummy to eat and we all ate too much of it.  Every time you thought you were simply done, something else would come out of the kitchen and tempt everyone.  For instance, not long after dinner, Erik brought out the desserts they brought with them (really delicious!), then Bill pulled out the ice cream and root beer for floats.  At about that time, Will was starting up the fire so it could be ready for s'mores after the root beer floats had settled in our stomachs.

The conversation was great, the weather was fabulous, and I had a really WONDERFUL time!  It makes me excited for summer vacation, which is only a few short weeks away!!!  It is time to go buy the 'summer china' and I am getting really happy!

Ahhhh!!!!!   Bring it on!!!

Grass at last!

At least, in the back yard.

We were able to buy enough sod to cover the back yard (the part we wanted to be grass, that is) and it arrived today.  We spent a couple of hours laying this evening and it looks ABSOLUTELY AWESOME!  I finally feel like I'll be able to use my back yard again!  This is so exciting to me!  I even bought some party lights to string out back this summer for back yard BBQ parties.

I haven't had a usable back yard since 2008.

The front yard still looks ghetto, but it feels REALLY good to have some grass in the back!

Here are some before and after photos...

 

Pictures from last Saturday

Here a some of the pictures that Helena took last Saturday, both at the half marathon and in SLC.

As I approach the finish line...

It was really wonderful to have everyone there cheering me and telling me how proud they were of me!

You know, I lost 10 pounds while training for the first half marathon.  I hope to loose another 10 training for the next one!