Mission Round Two

He's officially a missionary again!

And he wanted to get another photo at the map looking confident this go around

rather than nervous like a year ago.

I'm so proud of who Christopher is!

And Lizzie and Marty moved out of their apartment here in Holladay,

(Michelle and Brent's rental), into our dining room.

But tomorrow after we take Chris to the airport at 6:30 am,

we move them down to Provo (not until after noon).

Lots of changes happening here. Back to pre-coronavirus numbers in our home. 

Swamp Thing

Saturday night when I took Kershaw outside, I realized I lived in an alternate universe where 

a radioactive chemical had been unleashed and turned the insects huge.

Either that, or I was having a very bad dream, because this was the biggest slug I had ever seen.

I didn't know they could get this big. And I'll be honest, I'm completely freaked out that I've OFTEN

walked out to the driveway at night in my BARE FEET!

An inch thick and over six inches long. So glad Nick and Dan were home to see it also!

When Nick and I built the basketball hoop a year or two ago, I looked into this grate...

just out of curiousity... and saw hundreds -- probably millions -- of miniscule worms wriggling around in the swampy water. So now I'm convinced they've all turned into giant slugs looking for opportunities to escape into the world. I won't look though. 

The image of the tiny ones haunts me enough.

Mission Prep

Nick played our closing hymn and we were so impressed! 

One handed, but fantastic sight reading! 

Last Home Church with Chris

Homemade pizzas for dinner. 

Each making our own crusts was a fun Sunday activity in addition to feeding us as well!

Having the steam oven to raise the dough is a game-changer.

Nick definitely has learned the pizza-making skill working at Pizzeria Limone. 

He got his the most round out of anybody.

Just wanted a picture of me and my boy before he leaves.

Eating while we watched our movie. 

We've watched this movie at least five times and no one ever gets tired of it.

Late night packing

July 1 felt like forever away when he was first reassigned two months ago.

And here we are.

Family

BBQ at Shaeffers tonight. 

A perfect night for being outside and roasting hot dogs.

Trips and Vets

While I laid out by the pool and read all day, Dan took Chris and a few neighbors to the desert to ride Sierra's. Kershaw had to be outside all day too because he's been sick, sick, sick. And I've had to clean up SO much throw-up and diarrhea. We finally had to restrict him to his crate or to outside so he didn't sneak off to the sunroom and guest room and make a mess. And cover the laundry room floor with puppy pads. (Which worked pretty good -- he tried to use them at least.) But sitting out with him by the pool, reading my book on the Shamu ledge and jumping in to cool off more than made up for the "messy" week!

Nick got home from Chicago today. He had such a great time! Thanks to Michelle for sending photos!

 

After picking up Nick from the airport, Dan decided to take Kershaw to the emergency vet. We were pretty convinced he'd gotten sick from getting into the teenager's Meier's Chicken bags left in the basement. Dan did some research and thought a chicken bone must have nicked his stomach causing bleeding in his stomach. We definitely thought his poop did have a dark, tarry nature that was actually blood. He'd now been sick for a a week.

So Dan spent the rest of the night a the dog vet confirming exactly this. They did x-rays and were able to see he didn't have any blockages or bones still in him. So with some medicine, they sent them both home. 

Here's a Fun Activity Idea

Best, most enthusiastic teachers ever!

Happy Pics

I'm pretty sure these photos are going to make you as happy as they make me!

Pattern Interrupt

Nick left to Chicago today to spend a week with Miles and Ethan at the Paul's home!
He's really been looking forward to this trip and spending time with his cousins.

After he left, I had a very frustrating day 1) cleaning up dog diarrhea and 2) being the assistant to the air conditioning guy who was supposed to just do an annual check. I had to show him where everything was (takes such a long time) and he'd recently broken his leg so couldn't get around great (which took an even longer amount of time and made it impossible to inspect half the units on the roof and in a crawl space). Literally took three hours of my day. I was so frustrated.

Dan and I had planned to hike up Thayne's Canyon in Millcreek in the evening. After my wasted afternoon, I was eager to get out of the house and do SOMETHING. We decided to just hike an hour up for a couple of miles just to check out a route that was new to us. After two miles, we debated going the final mile or not. It was pretty steep. I told Dan he should go ahead and be our scout to see if there was anything cool at the top or not.

I was so tired, I was kind of done. But then I decided since it was so steep, I could count every step as lunges which I wouldn't have to do tomorrow if I did them today. It was amazing how just putting a different spin on it, I had a lot more energy. I didn't want to hike anymore. BUT, I was up for getting my lunges crossed off my list.

This was a great example of a "Pattern Interrupt" -- a concept we learned from the podcast we listened to for Sacrament Meeting. When something gets routine or old or we don't appreciate it anymore, change it up to make it special again. Hiking was old. But lunges were new and I had plenty of energy when I thought of moving in that way.

Pretty soon Dan called out that he was already at the top. It wasn't as far as we'd thought. And flattened off a lot. We love exploring and doing new things, so of course both of us were thinking, "Should we just follow the trail around to the overlook?" We'd been to the overlook a different way and new the trail wrapped around, but had never done it before. So of course we kept going.

We had a great evening. Hiked 6.5 miles in all and didn't get home until 8:30. It was so great to get out, be together, do something hard and see something new. Such a great feeling. Especially since we came home to more dog diarrhea.

Happy Father's Day!

Father's Day was the longest day of the year and the first warm evening of the summer.

After dinner we sat outside to eat chocolate peanut butter pie, 

play corn hole and relax in the first day of summer.

Speed Demons

Track day today and guess who is our newest racer?

He was so fast they're moving him up a tier next time.

He credits his ability to the time he's spent with the simulator, 

and also racing go-karts last year. 

And Chris is officially faster than Dan.

I went on a long ride today to the mouth of the canyon (20 miles). 

My back felt a little sore up Bengal Blvd where it didn't on Wednesday,

but as soon as I had some downhill, I didn't have any more pain even on other climbs.

I'm so happy about it!

I'm looking forward to more time in the saddle now that its feeling better!

Juneteenth

Since George Floyd was killed due to unnecessary police brutality, I've been trying to understand and learn more about the feelings of Black Americans.

To be honest, here in Utah I don't have any adult black friends or neighbors. There simply aren't that many in our area. When we moved from California to Utah, one of my friends said, "Don't do it. There's no diversity. It will be a disservice to your children." I knew she was right -- not much cultural or religious diversity. And that made me sad. But there was more economic diversity and I thought that would count for something.

Both Courtney and Marty had best friends that were not members of our Church, and Marty has a couple of friends whose parents are immigrants. We love them, but don't spend much time together. 
And no blacks. I do realize we're missing out.

As a family, our main source of understanding frustrations of Black Americans is from watching Black-ish. And I actually think its not a bad way to learn more. Most episodes have helped create awareness that we're not all treated equal or have the same concerns as black parents in America.

However, I have to admit, sometimes I've believed they've overplayed some concerns for dramatic effect. And now I'm realizing I was wrong. One episode was on "The Talk" where Black parents warn their children -- especially teenage boys -- of the dangers of not only being stopped by police, but of even being out at night. My thought was, "Really? Surely that's being exaggerated."

But after listening to a podcast last week and reading articles of black families speaking up, I realize it's 100% true. Not just in some neighborhoods, but in all. Moms concerned about their teenagers playing in a park. Worried about them wearing their hoods on their hoodie sweatshirt. About being out after dark.

I feel like my kids are safe when they're in a group. Black parents worry that their kids will be judged when they're in a group. And their concerns aren't just "will they get into mischief or have the police called on them if they do" -- like what I worry about. No, they're concerned that just being black is a cause to not only have police called, but that they will be shot or killed simply by just being a black kid outside. I've NEVER worried about that before.

And the most eye-opening realization, is that I understand their concerns are real, because at times I myself have seen a group of black kids or a black kid in a hoodie and wondered if they were up to no-good. It doesn't mean I would act out or treat them differently necessarily. But absolutely those thoughts have crossed my mind. I can't always help my initial thoughts, but I must replace them with better ones. See the good. See them as my neighbors and children of our Heavenly Father.

I enjoyed a podcast on All In interviewing two black members of the Church. One comment I found especially interesting -- one man said any time the missionaries are teaching a black person in their area, the ward missionaries will call him to attend the lesson. That makes sense. And he loves sharing his testimony and participating in missionary work. But they have never called him when its a white person. Somehow he's "not needed" as a missionary. Just a black missionary.

I agree we need to have more open dialogue. But some of my worries about even talking are:

1) I worry about using the wrong words to describe "black." I know "black" is preferred. But there have been so many "wrong" and "right" words over the years, I'm still unsure if everyone is on the same page.
2) I worry that my ignorance would be misunderstood. At best, as insensitivity. At worst maliciousness.
3) I worry that my "sudden interest" is construed as bandwagoning. I read an article by a black writer who was "sick and tired" of getting texts of support from people he really didn't even know. I get that.  

One concern I see in dialoguing is that missteps -- quite often in ignorance or naïveté -- result in public ridicule and people being shunned or losing their jobs. It stunts conversation if you're not allowed to be wrong. Perhaps that's how black Americans have felt themselves for so long. Perhaps for now I need to just listen.

I'm glad that the marches and the protests didn't go away in one weekend because now we can't ignore it. We each have to stop, look and listen, then evaluate how we can be better.

Corona Hair

My last haircut and color was February 20. 

A couple of things I wanted to do while we had to "Stay Home, Stay Safe"

was to get dressed each morning, do my hair and put on jewelry.

Because I knew I wouldn't feel good if I stayed in my pajamas all day for an endless amount of time.

What I didn't do, was bother with too much make-up. Just eyebrow pencil and lip color.

And as my hair got longer, "doing it" consisted of putting it in a ponytail.

I didn't mind the gray as much as I thought I might.

Even when Utah allowed salons to open in May and my stylist texted me she was working again,

I still wasn't in a hurry to go in. Partly for Covid. But mainly because I wasn't in the mood to start adding "to-do's" to my weeks. So I didn't.

But now I'm ready for short hair again. 

And this is the way we wait for our color to set during Covid-19:

Sitting in our car!

(You don't HAVE to sit in your car. 

But it's much more quiet and I wasn't the only one who was doing it.)

You do have to wear a mask the whole time as does the stylist. 

I wish I'd taken a photo of that!

Happy Dance!

I finished chapter five today of my book.

And figured out the segue from chapter six to seven. 

I had so much adrenaline or anxiety from excitement, I wished I could head out on a bike ride.

But first I had my second Chiro appointment.

He "activated" four more muscles -- by basically just rubbing them. 

And my back was absolutely pain-free on an "average" one hour ride.

(13 miles -- right on Ft Union, south past the two schools, east on Bengal to Wasatch and around.)

Two muscles were in my quads too which he said would make a difference riding.

I definitely felt stronger too. Not sure if I could quantify that, but it felt like it.

AND, I could breathe perfectly for 30 minutes! Significant difference.

Had a little cough at the 30 minute mark at the end of really pushing it uphill.

I came home and was giddy with excitement.

No back pain, strong legs, open breathing. 

It feels almost too good to be true! I'm so happy!

In spite of the weather being only 62, these cute girls still wanted to swim tonight.

Dan turned the pool up to 90 so they were very happy.

Confessions

We were cleaning out the fridge and tossed some leftover hamburgers from over a week ago.
"The hot dogs got eaten," Dan commented.
"Yeah, I ate two while you were gone." I said. "Cold. I really like cold hot dogs."

His look said he wished he didn't know that about me.

But the truth is, as a kid, we never got hot dogs. So when I'd babysit at someone else's house and they said, "help yourself to whatever's in the fridge" (or they didn't say that, but I did anyway), I'd always go for a hot dog. And eat it cold. And pull that weird outer skin off and eat that first.

And while I'm making confessions, Michelle and I used to eat our scabs too.

If At First You Don't Succeed

After taking last week off to recuperate, I'm excited to get back on my write in the morning, 

exercise in the afternoon schedule. 

Chris wanted me to schedule him a massage before he goes back on his mission and a visit with the chiropractor. I'm not sure what gave him the chiropractor idea, but I made an appointment for myself as well. I've been curious about the chiro at Andrea's (massage therapist) clinic. He specializes in sports injuries and rehabilitation.

My appointment was today. My lower back has been excruciating on my bike rides, preventing me from going very far. Michelle (my PT) researched exercises to strengthen the lower muscles, but they felt even more fatigued rather than stronger. 

And last week after lying down reading for longer than usual, my hips and back hurt even worse.

So at the chiropractor today he diagnosed 26 of 100 muscles that weren't firing properly. 

He "activated" two and told me to resume all normal activities to see if it felt better.

After the appointment, I got ready to ride, and discovered I had a flat tire.

It was completely flat. I was sure it had a hole because it doesn't leak that much air in just a week's time. I flipped the bike over and got to work fixing the tire. It's not hard and doesn't take that long. Fortunately, I wasn't in a hurry so I could take the time. 

I found a tiny spot in the tire where the tiniest fragment of glass had pierced the tire. 

Pulled it out. Replaced the tube. Got the tire back on.

 But it wouldn't inflate. With every pump, I could hear air leaking.

Seriously?

So I started all over again. And this time checked that the tube held air before putting it back together.

Finally, I was ready to go. 45 minutes after I'd originally planned on leaving.

But I did it. And I was pretty proud of myself.

The best news was (besides the tire staying inflated and the wheel staying locked in place),

was I had zero back pain! It was my short ride 

(10 miles down Holladay Blvd, past the Old Mill and around Wasatch to 45th and home),

but I've been feeling it even on a short ride lately. 

(I rode in the road on 45th to avoid cars pulling out of the streets. I know I was holding one car up a little, so at the light, stopped to apologize. He was very gracious, not angry at all, and instead said, "You know you were going 40?! Cool!")

I got home at 6:30 and threw together a delicious spaghetti dinner (cooked the sausage, sautéed green beans and mushrooms, broiled garlic bread -- literally, the works),

for me and Dan, Nick and four friends.

So, yeah, basically I'm Wonder Woman.

Solar Power

During Sacrament Meeting (in the living room), Marty was looking at the magnifying glass.

As soon as we were done, he wanted to go out and burn something.

And all of us eagerly followed.

Started with a leaf.

Then a stick.

Then Chris' hand. 

I was just as curious as he was, so I'm glad he volunteered!

After just a couple seconds, he yanked his hand away. It got hot fast.

Then a game of Rook before Marty and Lizzie headed to The Rosen's for dinner.

(They trade off -- sacrament at one home, dinner at the other. It's so fun we can share!)

We cooked two chickens tonight.

The first one went to Aunt Marge.

Then we put in a second to cook while we were delivering to her.

I'm not sure we'll ever get sick of this easy meal. 

And shocked we didn't figure out how easy a roast chicken is a lot sooner in life.