Sweet Nick, Naughty Kershaw

When Nick and I were unpacking yesterday, I asked him about three boxes full of snacks and socks in ziploc bags. I wondered if Camille had encouraged them to make donations for the homeless.

But no, he did it on his own.

He said there was a homeless man asking for food or money and Nick had nothing to give him.

He felt really bad about it, so he bought supplies and made kits so he'd have something on hand next time--socks from the $1 store along with fruit snacks, granola bars and rice krispie treats.

--time out to wipe a tear about how sweet he is--

I put a box in the garage so we could divide them up between our cars 

and left the other two on the mudroom bench.

Somehow Kershaw could smell food even wrapped in packaging 

sealed in a ziploc.

(All our house guests have had Kershaw get into their stuff before,

and I should know better, but it didn't even cross my mind.

Chris said, "He didn't get into the fruit snacks, but looks like he 

smoke checked all the nature valleys and 3 rice krispies."

I don't know what "smoke check" means, but it made me laugh.

Thankfully, Kershaw wasn't tempted after going through this batch and didn't touch the other box.

The Boys Are Back

 Nick and Chris are both officially moved back home from their college housing.
And Ethan Paul is staying with us for a month while he's working in Salt Lake
(leasing apartments for Cottonwood!) before moving back home for the summer.

When I arrived home from London, the front entry was full of Chris' stuff.

But before the next day was over, he had it all put away, 

then worked the rest of the week organizing his room.

He loves to be organized, even if it gets away from him sometimes,

and he's been on that high that you only know when everything is tidy, clean, sorted and all the to-do's on your list are checked off!

He even offered to help Dan and Nick move out of Nick's apartment.

They were super grateful for another set of strong hands.

The furniture has been moved to attic storage until Chris moves into his unfurnished apartment in the fall.

But that still left a load of boxes (mostly clothes and laundry) in Nick's room.

Two days ago I asked if he wanted me to help him fold the giant pile that's been on his floor for a week.

(I've said before, I love folding laundry with the kids.)

Not only did he agree, but he also was willing to do a closet purge, which included all his shelves and drawers. It was very satisfying for both of us! 

Today he asked if I wanted to help him unpack, and of course I did!

After that was finished, he reorganized his room and set up his stereo 

(which works really well because I could hear the songs quite clearly while working in the kitchen).

I would like to pat myself on the back that both of these boys

appreciate a clean room and home. 

But I really have to give a lot of the credit to my mom who ALWAYS

helped when it was time to clean.

"Time to clean the playroom! I'll help you."

"Time to clean the kitchen! I'll load the dishwasher if you bring the dishes."

It's so much easier to tackle a big project with another person helping out.

Life Updates

 What's been happening...

(In addition to all the things that have been happening.)

Finger Update:
Remember my cyst that wasn't a ganglion so I had surgery and then it turned out to be ganglion after all?
And how the stitches were removed after a week which was wayyyyyy too soon because 
it was a gaping wound. They glued it shut, but I had to go back later that day after smashing it in the door and it started bleeding but they didn't think it needed to be re-glued?

Two days later it was a gaping wound again so I went back and got it re-glued.

After all that and even ten days later, when I was home from London,
it still hurt really bad. 

Which made me wonder, should I just have it amputated? Would that get rid of the pain?
I was cognizant enough to know that amputating to ease the pain was illogical.

But it also seemed like a good solution.
(My mom says, "don't let patients make decisions because they aren't in their right mind,"

which clearly was what was happening.

(Sidenote to remember that time that I thought it would be fun to drive from Los Angeles down to San Diego to meet my family for ONE DAY on their trip to Carlsbad? And somehow thought it was just a hop, skip and a jump back to Long Beach to pick Courtney up from her field trip to the aquarium then zip back down to Carlsbad?

Chris was a baby, maybe 18 months, and cried the whole 2+ hours on the way down,

two hours back to get Courtney, and the two hours back to Carlsbad. 

I was going cuckoo the fifth hour in of incessant crying and I remember thinking,

"If I drive off this cliff, then maybe the crying will stop."

It really did seem like a logical, rational decision. 

And that's the closest I've come to actually being crazy.)

Back to my finger... with time it got better.

 Now the wound is almost healed and it doesn't hurt much anymore,

although it's still "fuzzy" numb at the tip and side.

The moral of both of those stories is:

Things will get better.

Peter Attia

I'm really getting into Peter Attia and all his research and podcasts on health.

As it turns out, everyone else is too!

Lizze told us her dad has bought his book with extras to share for anyone interested,

Diane has been listening to his podcasts,

and my mom and Dimitrios have discovered his book as well!

This is another one of those things that Dan remembers the details and I just remember the big picture.

But, my takeaways:

*I'm shooting for 20g of protein 4x/day. 25g would be even better.

*To increase cardio strength and Vo2 max:

1-2x week of interval training--4 min. at 90% MHR and 4 min. at 65%

*5 days of zone 2 training (60-70% of MHR)

*Collagen protein is good for fingers, nails, hair and wound healing,

but a not great for retaining body muscle. Complete food proteins is better.

*Your body can assimilate the protein it gets any time of day within 24 hours, 

so 30 min. after workout is ideal, but any time in the day is fine.

Book Critique

After sending out seven queries and hearing "no's" from two and nothing from the other five

(hearing nothing if it's a "no" is the norm),

I'm on to Step 2 of the query process--revising my letter and first five pages.

I found a professional to give feedback and just got her notes today. 

Her wordsmithing is fantastic and I'm super excited about the notes she sent.

She also said one of my comps worked, but the other two don't. Ugh.

Finding comps is SO HARD!

I thought the other two were perfect,

but one (Amazing Grace Adams) about a disgruntled teenager and a mom whose been pushed over the edge was marketed as humorous,

and the other (Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance) was marketed as coming-of-age and romance.

She said "the voice of books by J. Courtney Sullivan" was spot-on. 

So if you have any suggestions of books, TV shows or movies where:

1) a parent and teen are in conflict with one another,

OR a family is grieving;

AND

2) It's only been published in the last three years (two is better)

AND

3) It has at least 10,000 reviews on GoodReads but not more than 100,000

(can't be a best seller but needs to be a good seller),

THEN send me your suggestions.

Oly Scholarships

Paying for college on my own wasn't easy, 

but I've always been super proud of myself for figuring it out. 

I got a Pell Grant my Freshman year, but after that when my mom started teaching, my parents made "too much money" for me to qualify. I was able to take out Student Loans which was a huge help,

and of course I worked and loved my on-campus jobs.

That being said, I've always wanted to do something to give students that were in my situation a boost.

This year we had the idea to create a scholarship for a graduating Olympus High Senior

who planned to attend a four-year university and whose parent is a teacher.

The application read:

__

$2,000 will be awarded to a student with a parent 

who is currently a teacher or administrator 

(working at any school, not necessarily Olympus High).  

Candidate should demonstrate a strong work ethic in school and 

in extra curricular activities, need assistance in paying for college, 

and be planning on attending BYU, the University of Utah, 

Utah Valley University or an out-of-state University.

Angela and Dan Shaeffer’s parents, were teachers as well as many of their siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles.

(And if I'd had the space, I could have gone on to say nephew and daughter-in-law!)

We had 15 applicants, all who were hard workers with super impressive school resumes.

The dad of one of the applicants was currently a seminary teacher at Olympus. 

Another was the student of the science teacher at Oly Jr. who Courtney loved

AND who helped her students participate in the Eco Challenge where Courtney won $400.

It wasn't easy to choose just one... so we didn't.

We'd received a little gift ourselves recently, and this was how I wanted to spend my portion.

We ended up giving $2000 to seven students,

$1000 to four more and $500 to the final four.

Tonight was the Senior Recognition Night for all students receiving 

Olympus awards, scholarships and accolades.

The principal read our blurb and announced the "winners" and Dan and I gave the certificates.

I didn't get a picture of the group,

but I did get one of me and Ms. Brown.

Courtney, she remembers you!

6th Place Finish on Mother's Day

Today's race was an early 8:35 start!

We watched from the opposite side of the track as yesterday and loved this new perspective.

We made the race page!

(Too bad we weren't wearing our orange today!)

Nick held strong at 9th and 10th throughout. 

Towards the end, two cars in front of him spun out and he passed both for 8th place!

It was so exciting!! 

Then something happened to Jared, a top driver, and he was knocked back to just in front of Nick

so Nick could draft off him and try to keep up with him to the end.

 

Another car spun off track and now Nick was 7th! 

His coach encouraged him to make a pass for 6th,

but Nick decided to play it safe, judging the pass would be pretty challenging. 

The race ended and Nick actually finished 6th because someone ahead of him had a 10 second penalty!

We were screaming and cheering as he came across the finish line!

We drove into Carmel for a Mother's Day lunch at Hog's Breath 

(the food was much better than the name would suggest)!

Love, love, love this addition to our family and her beautiful mother!

So grateful that I get to be a mother and grandmother to the most amazing kids!

Emi was reaching out for "Grammy" and wanting me to hold her a lot these past couple of days

which was an absolute dream! We love her so much!

And grateful for my own mother--her enthusiasm and that she loves supporting her kids and grandkids!

Race 1--Darn!

This morning we added even more family to Nick's fanbase--

Jo Ellen and Kelly joined us, as well as Jeremy, Rachel, Dylan & Reese.

Everyone wore Tiger shirts or race shirts to support our Nick in the orange and black striped car--#88.

The climb to the Corkscrew is no joke.

Good thing Marty had practice pushing a handcart at Pioneer Trek.

Everyone who watches the cars race down the backside of the track 

(they're so close and loud!)

then quickly walks to the other side of the hill to catch them as they race around  the main track.

They disappear as they head back up the hill, and everyone hurries

over to see them come back this side again.

After a while, I stayed on the side where I could see most of the track.

Nick was 10th most of the race. At one point #9 went into the dirt and I thought Nick would pass him,

but there wasn't quite enough time.

With ten minutes left in the race, they got a full course yellow.

All the cars bunched up again and after a few laps when it finally went green,

cars in 6th-12th place were all jostling, bunched together coming through a curve

and one of the racers came in extra hot and took out the group. 

Unfortunately, Nick was spun off the track, his car had taken a hammering

and he had to pull into the pits for a DNF.

What a heartbreak! Running in the pack the whole race and taken out in the last laps.

But that's racing. 

He was bummed -- we all were!

But he maintained a good attitude and let us ooh and aah over him and the car

and his awesome race, even if it wasn't a photo finish.

We met at our place for lunch and then everyone stayed for a pizza dinner.

Such a fun night with everyone all together.

Reese and Emi absolutely love each other!

Surprising Nick

Marty, Lizzie & Emi arrived today and we all went to the Monterey Aquarium

while Nick was at the track for practice.

Then we met Grandma and Dimitrios at the track to watch qualies.

It was soooo exciting to be so close to the "Corkscrew" and watch them fly down that 

technical part of the track!

He qualied at P-9 for Saturday and P-10 for Sunday.

We were excited to surprise him that MLE (the new abbreviation for Mart, Liz & Emi),

were here, but first we had to wait until he finished his interview.

I got Emi pajamas at Liberty in London because the mini classic jammies were so cute!

We all went to dinner Tarby's where Courtney & Michael met us--another surprise!

Back at home, we were all exhausted, but stayed awake (until 9:30--we're still feeling London time)

so we could greet Christopher when he came. The gang's all here!