January Randomness

House.

OK S L O W down already.  All the subcontractors are in a hurry to get done with this house. Maybe its the economy and they'd like to get paid. I personally need them to stay on schedule so I can succeed in my last ditch efforts to put as many pennies in the bank as I can.  In the last week, the house has been roofed, wired, windowed, insulated and drywalled.  I don't know if Ben was giving us a hint, but when he asked if we had been in lately-- we did just that to find that the drywall guys were planning to work into the night and all day Saturday.  That started the mad dash to Home Depot for insulation.  Jeff was up before the sun and spent about three hours insulating the bathroom walls- "all the better not to hear you my dear!"  Things are moving along so fast that I wonder if they will move our close date up again.  

My Friday Night Date.

Lisa, Lisa, Lisa-- my brave friend.  Carrie and I went to cheer Lisa on in her racquetball tournement.  She is so tough to compete and not get totally rattled mentally.  I have resolved not to go near tourney play for a very long time-- at least until Lisa is firmly settled as a C Level player.  I will honestly say that Lisa played the best I have ever seen.  Maybe Jeff's old racquetball comment to me is really true... "I only play as hard as I have to, to beat you." (and I am not that hard to beat).  We had a great time cheering, hearing Coach Paul's advice and asking all our deep rball questions, and sipping the sweet nectars that Jamba whipped up.  However, we did not enjoy the sweaty stench eminating from one really ripe Superman.  Enough said.

Inauguration.

Good thing that the whole elementary school watched the ceremony live so Noah didn't have to tell his teacher all about in-auger- ation.  Benjamin and Noah were both so pleased because they voted for Obama and feel invested in his win.  Of course, Ben did vote SuperDell for governor, so I can't really say he's politically savvy yet.  

I listened to the radio beforehand and loved the different things that the people interviewed wanted Obama to say or address in his speech.  It reminds me that there are as many opinions and passions out there as there were people on the mall.  It's a heavy responsiblity to make sense of all the choices and direct a country's actions.  Obama seemed humble and burdened on Tuesday...  I'm glad to know that he feels the weight of his responsibility.  I also enjoyed all the random factoids that the commentators added between the entrances of various American "nobility."  Did you know that Abraham Lincoln was sworn in by the man that authored the Dred Scot Decision (to keep slavery)?  I probablly will have that filed in the land of randomness section of my brain forever!

Highlights:    Aretha Franklin can still really belt it out.   John Williams' arrangement was phenomenal and really what an all-star quartet.  I loved Yo Yo Ma's face.  He was completely exultant and I couldn't wipe the smile or the tears off my face.   The speech was great.  It really covered a lot of ground without being too alienating to any group.  I even heard traces of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech interspersed through it.  (It helps that FHE last week was watching the footage of the whole thing).  Here are a few more of my favorites:

Hilarious Moment:  Diane Feinstein presenting John Roberts to administer the "oaf of office." Ouch.  While I think that it was funny, Jay Leno must have missed it because there was NO late night comedy on this issue.  

Come On Now Moment:  Maybe this very televised and official ceremony should be practiced or memorized.  The presidental oaf of office was like dominoes, one topple taking down the next in line until the oath was well, "oaf-ish."  

UMmmmmm, next time moment-- National Anthem-- MOTAB all the way.  The choir was a little weak for a moment that really demanded a cresendo.  Let the MOTABS get in there and do it right.

What a Great Job.

Although I sometimes sigh heavily when Jeff spends extra time helping students, listening to their problems and generally handing out life advice; I will admit that it has its benefits.  Every experience is a new challenge which he shares with me.  I love to laugh riotously at the various antics, gasp audibly at the audacity and even cry over their losses.  Its really an easy catharsis because like characters in a book, I don't really know them but I know their stories.  There are a lot of idiots, know-it-alls and spoiled brats, but more often amazing heros and heroines that give me something to think about and blog about for that matter.

Basement Updates

One month later and I wish I could say that there are no more boxes, but let's be honest-- the boxes are keeping me from finishing the last 6 months of my yearly calendar project and the monumental slipcovering endeavor that I hope to plan to do.  We are having a great time in the basement these days.  I tell everyone who asks that it is great.  The Mickey Doodles (as Caitlyn calls them) are so laid back and generous that it seems a bit unreal.  

In other basement news, we have our own-- complete with 2 inches of solid ice.  Which I am told is ok, since it will help the concrete cure.  In addition to a basement we have framed walls, cut-out windows, trusses, a plywood roof, and exterior doors.  Wow.  If you are thinking that went fast, you are right, it hasn't even been a whole month and they have shaved our close date by three weeks already.  I will admit that until they finally cut out the plywood covering the windows, I couldn't really get excited, but now I drive past at least twice a day.  Jeff, on the other hand, has been like a kid on Christmas morning over even the hole in the ground.  He must have a better imagination than I do.

In other news, Congrats to Jim and Nance on their new daughter-- a girl changes everything.  Really.

InYourFacebook

Yes,  I am breaking the mold by blogging without eye-candy, but there aren't pictures for this. About three weeks ago, Jeff's employees thought it would be a funny joke to create a Facebook account for him.  They imported his pic from the Y and gloried in the sucess of their coup for a couple weeks-- adding friends at will.  During this open-enrollment period everyone was accepted and welcomed. They finally revealed the plot and Jeff already had 30 friends on his account.  Always the diplomat, Jeff embraced the technology and tried to mitigate the negative effects, while making it clear that this was unprofessional and wrong.  Thus started the big guy's facination with Facebook. He loves getting into the technology that his students are using-- it makes him feel like he can understand how they learn and interact better.  In a few cases, it has been a more direct link to some of our long lost buddies from the college days-- which he has really loved.  

Mostly its been pretty funny, but it raises a bunch of questions about Facebooking for me...

1. Do people really need to say that they are going to sleep at night?  Is that worth the space?

2. Ettiquette.  For example,when the YW in your ward are facebooking about whose kids are the worst to babysit, should you search their histories to see if yours are mentioned?

3.  Is it a status thing to have an inordinate number of friends?  Like more than 500?  Really?

4.  Old girlfriends? -- go figure, why would they even care?

5.  Students?-- again, why would you want to facebook with your teacher-- even if he is a little cool?

6.  If you weren't friends in high school, or never even knew each other in high school, is the mere fact that you attended the same high school really enough to warrant "friendship?"

These questions may just prove that I am a digital immigrant with an accent thicker than mud, but I am just trying to understand how the boundaries of relationship have taken on such a broad definition.

Eyes On The Prize

The Prize

In the chaos of organizing and packing every blooming thing in sight, we have been agonizing over the myriad of choices invovled with a new house.  It would definately be easier just to take what is already there, but it has been fun to choose everything.   I am very pleased with the builder's prices because their upgrade options are so much more reasonable than Ivory and so many Ivory upgrades are just standards-- like oil-rubbed bronze hardware!!! Since the building market is usually slow in the winter-- and even slower this winter, the sub-contractors will be easier to schedule and hopefully there won't be too much lag time.  We're going to be ultra fiscally responsible to pad that nest egg for the next few months.  It really helps me to know the specifics of what I'm giving up eating out for-- for example, just a couple extra cook-at-home nights will pay for one of the many fantastic can lights I will enjoy a few months from now.    I went to Target with the girls Friday night.  A great pair of boots called out to me, but I think I'll take the $35 and put it towards my blinds fund instead.  

The Eyes

Mine were overflowing over everything today.  Jeff was released from the bishopric and for some reason that I don't understand, it makes me so sad.  I guess I think of the blessings that we get and take for granted from that service-- now no longer.  It makes me appreciate Jeff so much because I know that it isn't always easy to be an absentee dad and it's really hard on him not to be with our kids-- boy count my blessings on that.  I guess now he will have a little time to build boys and cuddle our girl, which he has been missing a lot.  I hope that all the sacrifice made a difference for people in the ward.

Mainly the whole release makes the thought of leaving the 15th ward real, and that makes me sad.  After the long stint in the amazing 204th, I never expected to gel with a "real" ward- but this has been great.  I will really miss everyone even though I won't live further away than I do now.  I guess it's out of the comfort zone for real since next week will be our last.  We are still trying to decide whether to jump right into the 6th or slip into the 11th until the house it built.  I feel really blessed that we ever even moved down here because I was so attached to NE Provo that I would have never considered this area unless I had moved here and loved everyone and everything so much.  The only downside is that there's not much of a view of my favorite mountain from these parts....

....And a place to live.

My awesome racquetball buddy had offered weeks ago to let us stay in the basement of their new house.  I blew the idea off as a nice offer but not real.  But, as the situation looked bleaker and bleaker, she got more persistant and we have struck a bargain.  We are going to live in their basement until our house is built.  We will pay a tiny rent and share their kitchen.  Just in case you gasped there, I am not worried.  My friend is unbelievably accomodating and laid back and I love her optimistic personality, so we will be just great.  I can't believe that I actually know people who are willing to sacrifice their own space and surround sound theater for a friend.  We are really going to appreciate it.  We will be in the same area, which cuts down on added transportation costs as I shuttle people to and from school and work.  

OnTheRoad AGAIN

Well now that two weeks have officially passed, I can address the situation with our address without being maniacal or catty-- maybe...  Our landlord, for reasons I just don't understand has determined that we are done living in this great place.  She already had new renters lined up when she sent the fateful email in October wondering what our plans were.  She didn't seem to read Jeff's response as to our plans because her next email was asking if we would be out by the 13th or 19th of December.  That is all I will say because the rest of the details still get me slanderously cranky.  ANYWAY...  As we have scrambled to find a place to live in a season of giving thanks, there have turned out to be a few bright spots along the way-- those I am grateful for and those I try to focus on to avoid bitter feelings.  

 

1. Our Little Family. In trying to keep our kids from freaking out in all the instability, we have really stepped up the parenting.  We are really taking time to listen to them, to play, to laugh and answer the litany of questions from their budding minds.  The whole situation has required us to work together as a team and with a little effort we're good at it.  

2. Our Neighbors.  Thanks for the babysitting and great ideas.  Thanks for the service opportunities and the opportunity to get some real perspective from the trials of others.  It has been such a blessing to see others stand strong in the face of real adversity-- it gives me the stamina to call on one more apartment when I've had enough.  

Thanks to Peter.  He sacrificed his time for us and gave us wise perspective in our decision making.  

Everyone else for feeling indignant on our behalf and cheering for us too-- and even offering us a warm place to sleep for the holidays :)

3. A New House.  Finally finding the integral point in time and space when the price, the floorplan, the lot and the builder coincided to bring us something to look forward to.  The circumstances have turned out to be in our favor and we are going to be able to have our very own mortgage and a great place to plant our roots.

4. The Spirit.  That brings peace and a knowledge that the Lord knows everything flooding into my days and sleepless nights.

5. The Purge.  Toys, clothes and on and on-- hopefully the toys the kids have chosen to give away to "some other kid" will brighten the holidays as much as the reduced clutter has brightened mine.  Taking the time to really assess what we need has opened my eyes to the bounty we enjoy.  It makes it easier to focus on what matters when you don't have time to think about what you don't have now.  Like a place to live for example...

Stay tuned for the next installment.....

HalloweenAtLast

Class parties, Halloween parades and trick-or-treating-- what better day to be a kid.  We went through the neighborhood trick-or-treating in the balmy 70 degree weather.  (unheard of for this time of year).  It was so awesome.  All the neighbors were out with their kids and everyone was taking time to chat.  It was better than all Halloweens our kids have ever participated in.  We knew that our street would not be a popular spot, so we took our candy on the road and passed it out to all the kids that we knew.  Whew... that's less leftovers to eat.  Our kids were really excited and Cait was especially excited that the Denney's were finally going to see her giraffe costume.  I thought for sure that she would change her mind in the princess direction, but for two months she held fast to the idea of a giraffe.  She claims that next year she will be a bush baby.  I hope her plans change because on top of the fact that the general populas has NO idea what a bush baby is, I can't imagine myself dreaming up a good way to portray one.  (Hint:  A bush baby is a rainforest monkey (a little lemur-ish) with giant eyes for seeing in the dark.)

Here are the kiddies all outfitted, the giraffe is even trying to eat a few leaves.  The best part of the giraffe was the funny padded buns.  We laughed and laughed that saggy rear view.

PowerPumpkinCarving

This is the final product of our labors.  We went to the pumpkin patch for FHE and everyone picked small pumpkins this year.  Jeff's was hard as a rock and threatened to bend our little pumpkin knife into a unrecognizable blob.  So where could we turn?  Makita to the rescue,  no insult to Mr. DeWalt.  Jeff finally has another use for the hole saw set that he got last Christmas.  Way back when he assured me that this tool is totally necessary for every well-stocked tool box, I had no idea how great they would really be.

Jeff and I used only the power drill, while Noah preferred to muscle it out.  In fact, his pumpkin had faces all the way around.