The week ended with me getting sick; either I ate something bad on Friday or whatever afflicted the rest of the family finally caught up to me. (I think he was feeling a little smug because he was the only one not miserable last week and it came back to bite him. No, I actually felt sorry for him because I know how miserable I was.) I started feeling a little bad Friday afternoon, but not bad enough to cancel a 15-mile run with a friend on Saturday morning, although I told him that if I wasn’t outside when he ran by, it was because I woke up sicker. Well, I got up and got ready to go, but when I went to the bathroom, I knew that I wasn’t going to make it 15 miles, so I went back to bed. It got worse the rest of the day with a painful upset stomach, so I was on the couch all day long. I felt a little better on Sunday but not well enough to go to church. Even today (Monday) I’m not very hungry. I ate breakfast but have no appetite, which is how I was the last two days as well.
But me being sick didn’t stop the rest of the family from enjoying the weekend. Katy slept over on Friday night (It was a late night. The girls decorated foam picture frames and bookmarks and watched a movie and then got ready for bed about 9:00, but they didn't actually go to sleep until about 11:30 or so. It took quite a lot of reminding that they needed to go to sleep. Then Claire got up about 7 am and Katey got up shortly after. We fixed chocolate chip waffles - a mommy special and got ready to go to the farmer's market.) and in the morning JJ took the three girls to the Farmer’s Market where they were having some kids activities, like a petting zoo. (Not much of a zoo. They had a cow, two pigs and a turkey locked up in a pen. I almost dropped Claire on her head helping her lean over the fence to touch the pig. It was pretty crowded and I was hot and trying to keep track of the three girls, we just bought them each a small pumpkin and had some lemonade and popcorn and went on home. On the way home I took a detour to see a pumpkin farm and along the way I saw them harvesting tobacco. It is pretty amazing to watch since they do it all by hand. It is a lot of hard work. I was pretty fascinated. I like to see the smoking barns when they are smoking the tobacco too, it looks pretty cool and it just looks like fall.) Katy and Claire played at home when they got back until Claire went to a birthday party. (Claire got to dress up for the birthday party, so she was Minnie Mouse. She looked great!) Rachel stayed home with me, and I laid on the couch and let her play in the living room, which she did very well, even though I was in and out of sleep. (I don't even want to know what she did or what she got into when Paul was "in and out of sleep") I was a little better in the evening so that I was able to take care of the girls while JJ went to the Women’s Conference broadcast, and then when she got home I hung out upstairs watching some football. (We didn't have anyone to babysit at the Women's Conference since I was going to try an finagle my husband into doing it, so I sat down in the nursery with some little boys during the meeting and only got to hear some bits and pieces. Thank goodness for the internet. We had 20 women show up for the broadcast which is really good. I think last time we had single digits. I worked really hard on some refreshments - compliments of Wal-Mart- for after, so that was good too. Chocolate is always a good thing.)
The rest of the week was pretty routine for us, I guess. I was busy at work and we had things going on in the evenings. JJ had book club on Tuesday, (We discussed Atonement. I have come to the realization that I just read books differently from at least the people in the book club. I like to read just to read a story and enjoy it. They seem to be more aware of writing styles and watching for things like foreshadowing and thinking about why things were written a certain way, what the author "really means", etc. I enjoy listening to their ideas since I just don't think like that. It's pretty entertaining.) and I played tennis on Thursday evening and then went to a book reading by a colleague afterwards. I completed a few things this week so that I am starting on some new projects, which is nice. I sent off a couple of articles to journals for consideration, and though I probably could have tinkered with them for another month or two, it was to the point where I just needed to send them in. If they aren’t accepted as is or with minor revisions, most of the responses nowadays are “revise and resubmit,” which means they like it enough but it needs some significant changes. So then I’ll make the changes as recommended by the reviewer. That is more efficient than trying to guess now what sort of things they will look for in my basic article. (I went to work on Friday for a meeting since our office is joining the hospital and we had to do a new orientation, so the girls and Logan had a babysitter in the morning which they always love. The office transition is weird since no one really has an idea what is going on.)
The Fall weather came upon us pretty suddenly, but it is really dry again. The weather is cooling down some more, which is great, but there is a burn ban everywhere because of the lack of rain for a few weeks. On Wednesday morning, after the college-kid-plan for cutting the fallen trees in our yard fell through again, my friends Chris and Trevor came over and using Chris’ saw we had it all cut up in 2 hours. We stacked the limbs in piles on the edge of the yard, but now I don’t know what to do with them. We can’t burn them right now, and I don’t know if our garbage service will take them. So they are still there. The bigger logs are up for grabs too — we don’t know anyone with a wood-burning stove so we may just keep it for camping, but then we will have to buy an ax to cut it. Anyway, so much trouble.
I used some of the cut limbs to make a sort of a lean-to fort in the back yard for Claire, and it turned out pretty cool. The neighborhood kids set up a table in there and they like to hang out. Hopefully it lasts until it’s too cold to play outside.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Tree Fort
Paul built a tree fort out of the branches from the downed trees in our yard and it quickly became a fun place to play. Claire and Logan have made good use of it, along with the other kids in the neighborhood.
Logan and Claire
Claire and Logan on their "stools"
Claire and Logan
Logan and Claire
Claire and Logan on their "stools"
Claire and Logan
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Happenings 9/15 - 9/21
We ended up lucky last week after Hurricane Ike came through -- we did lose two trees in our front yard, but we still had power. Everyone outside the city area didn't have power Sunday, Monday and part of Tuesday. Monday evening our friends, the Eubanks, who live outside of town, came to our house to shower because they have an electric well. Chris and I went to one of my home teaching families to give the father a blessing, and then went to help move a sister into her apartment. We were late to help, so the rest of the ward members that helped were already finished. So we helped hook up the washer and dryer and then went home.
I had several committee meetings this week, which kept me busy in addition to the teaching and the writing that I am trying to finish up. I also attended the Study Abroad fair on Thursday for a couple of hours to try to garner interest in my London course. I will know around mid-October if I have enough students enrolled. One student from Murray State has signed up, which is good. A couple more who I have spoken to are also possibilities. The program draws from 20 other universities, so a lot is reliant on other places.
Friday evening I was involved with a conference that is an annual event for the region's Writing Project, which is attended by elementary and secondary school teachers. The keynote speaker for the conference was Avi, who writes young adult novels. Along with the directors of writing projects around the state, I attended dinner with him on Friday night, and then listened to him speak and read from some of his books. He is a really interesting and engaging person, and he goes by his childhood nickname.
On the home front, Claire got sick on Monday night, was over it by Wednesday, then got it again on Saturday. J.J. picked it up during the week, and Rachel got it on Friday. I have been spared so far. (Oh, Paul has been spared, so he doesn't realize the extent of the fun we have had. Claire woke up about 4am on Tuesday throwing up, so after cleaning her and the bed up, I put her in bed with us only to wake up at 6am to her coughing and throwing up again. So I got her all cleaned up again and she slept for a bit longer. The rest of the day, she just laid around all day, but didn't throw up anymore. On Wednesday, she seemed fine. No puking, etc. then on Thursday morning, she and I woke up with tummy aches and she began puking and while trying to help her, I started puking. So after cleaning both of us up, we just rested. Luckily Rachel was asleep at the time. Then Claire started with the diarrhea. That evening, Claire seemed to be doing better but I got to throwing up again and the other end hit me too and I was up all night. Friday morning was better for both of us. Then Rachel woke up on Friday morning with dried puke on her. I don't know when she threw up during the night, but she threw up all morning. There is nothing more pathetic than a toddler throwing up not knowing what is happening to her. Claire seemed to be fine Friday. No puke or diarrhea, so she went to dance and even stayed the night at Katey's. Everbody seemed to be improved Saturday. Saturday night as Rachel seemed to be a bit better, Claire got the diarrhea again, and was in tears most of the evening. By Sunday morning, she was feeling good again. We should have kept her home from church probably, but she begged to go and seemed to be fine - and still is and since all Rachel and I wanted to do was sleep, I let her go with Paul. So does that sound like a fun week or what? In between throwing up, I have been cleaning up poop and puke. Thank goodness these weeks are few and far between.) Today, we kept Rachel home from church, and since J.J. was still not feeling great, I took Claire with me. We were late because we weren't sure if we should take Claire, so she wasn't ready when J.J. came back from ward council.
Claire slept at Katy's house on Friday night, which makes for a quiet Saturday morning. I got up early and ran 10 miles, and then J.J. went out shopping at the city-wide garage sale event. (I was feeling much better that morning, so my friend Shara and I made an early morning of yard sales. I love looking at all the things people try to sell. I did get some pretty cool things. We got a Barbie princess carriage, a Madagascar Zebra rug, some shoes and other things and best of all was a Clare sized Raggedy Anne and Andy - only $7 for the pair!! It was fun to have Shara to giggle at things with) I stayed with Rachel and did some reading while she napped. I was hoping that a student who works in our department would come and cut our trees up and haul them away, but he didn't show up (for the second time - I vote it is time for another plan) and then it started to rain pretty hard around 4:00. He was supposed to come on Wednesday morning, but he was confused when his alarm went off early and forgot why he had set it, and I don't know what happened on Saturday. I still want him to do it, but if he can't tomorrow, I'm going to have to borrow a chain saw and take care of it myself, although I don't know what I will do with all of the wood.
(I am going to sign off here, because the rest is Paul's Editorial of the news for the week - interesting, but I don't have much to add) The week was interesting because of financial news, but it is nice to be removed from some of the hectic behavior that happens in large cities. As I was reading the Nashville newspaper today, I discovered that on Friday, most of the gas stations there ran out of gas, and if stations had gas, there was a two-hour wait to fill up. This despite assurance that there is actually plenty of fuel distribution. A similar thing happened before Ike hit Texas, and I think it is interesting how rumors and sheep-like behavior will actually create the problems that the rumors are about. If everyone decides that they need gas, of course there will be shortages when they all go at the same time. One thing this week shows to me is how many people are on the edge of catastrophe. Ready credit and the idea that debt and spending boost jobs and the economy overall -- trickle-down economics -- leave many people one hefty gas increase away from not being able to afford food. And because of this, the government is forced to spend $700 billion dollars plus to take over private companies that faltered because of the unfettered greed and bad decision making of its leaders -- that sounds a little like Iraq as well. Meanwhile, there's never any money that can be spared for education. Save the banks from the disaster that the government itself created, while underpaying and getting rid of teachers who see education as more than the government's goal of regurgitation of test material.
This week in my composition class, we are reading foundational "economic" theories, like Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and John Maynard Keynes. Right now we are living in a time when our economy exhibits the worst of capitalism and the worst of communism at the same time. One of these days people will realize that government's main purpose is to maintain a salient society and stop voting for leaders who give lip service to morality while supporting an economic system that has thrived on dishonesty and no concern for those who lack capital. The key element of a free market system is that everyone acting in their own self-interest will mean consistent economic growth. But when the Republicans decided that legislating morality was more important than ensuring individuals' ability to live by their own self-interests without a whole bunch of government intervention, they created an atmosphere that we have now where many people who would most benefit from alternative economic and defense policies are voting instead on an irrelevant, but divisive issue: abortion.
Today our high council speaker opened his talk with a retelling of a conversation that he had with someone who was wondering if Mormons could be Democrats. This brother replied that of course there are Mormon Democrats, but he wasn't sure if they could get a temple recommend. It was a joke, but the bishop had to get up after his talk and clarify again -- he had already read the letter from the First Presidency about Church neutrality and the need to vote -- to our ward, many of whom are recent converts, that political party does not have anything to do with temple recommends. He then read the letter from the First Presidency again. I believe that Mormon culture, like Protestant culture, allows beliefs to get mixed up in politics. The "values" of the Republican "moral majority" wing resonate with many of our moral beliefs, even though they are founded on different principles. Rather than being a partial means to meaningful ends -- eternal salvation later and companionship of the Holy Ghost now -- morality commandments for Protestants are ways of showing that one is already saved. Thus, they become a galvanizing force that divides people rather than an exemplary way of living that encourages unity. Perhaps Mitt Romney can wake up from whatever "brainwashing" spell he is under and start a third party that is founded on sound free-market economic principles and integrity. But until then, I think we have one choice, and his name does not rhyme with pain.
Just thought I would put those thoughts out there. It went a little farther than I planned. Feel free to disagree. We love you all and hope that things will get better no matter who wins this election. Have a good week!
I had several committee meetings this week, which kept me busy in addition to the teaching and the writing that I am trying to finish up. I also attended the Study Abroad fair on Thursday for a couple of hours to try to garner interest in my London course. I will know around mid-October if I have enough students enrolled. One student from Murray State has signed up, which is good. A couple more who I have spoken to are also possibilities. The program draws from 20 other universities, so a lot is reliant on other places.
Friday evening I was involved with a conference that is an annual event for the region's Writing Project, which is attended by elementary and secondary school teachers. The keynote speaker for the conference was Avi, who writes young adult novels. Along with the directors of writing projects around the state, I attended dinner with him on Friday night, and then listened to him speak and read from some of his books. He is a really interesting and engaging person, and he goes by his childhood nickname.
On the home front, Claire got sick on Monday night, was over it by Wednesday, then got it again on Saturday. J.J. picked it up during the week, and Rachel got it on Friday. I have been spared so far. (Oh, Paul has been spared, so he doesn't realize the extent of the fun we have had. Claire woke up about 4am on Tuesday throwing up, so after cleaning her and the bed up, I put her in bed with us only to wake up at 6am to her coughing and throwing up again. So I got her all cleaned up again and she slept for a bit longer. The rest of the day, she just laid around all day, but didn't throw up anymore. On Wednesday, she seemed fine. No puking, etc. then on Thursday morning, she and I woke up with tummy aches and she began puking and while trying to help her, I started puking. So after cleaning both of us up, we just rested. Luckily Rachel was asleep at the time. Then Claire started with the diarrhea. That evening, Claire seemed to be doing better but I got to throwing up again and the other end hit me too and I was up all night. Friday morning was better for both of us. Then Rachel woke up on Friday morning with dried puke on her. I don't know when she threw up during the night, but she threw up all morning. There is nothing more pathetic than a toddler throwing up not knowing what is happening to her. Claire seemed to be fine Friday. No puke or diarrhea, so she went to dance and even stayed the night at Katey's. Everbody seemed to be improved Saturday. Saturday night as Rachel seemed to be a bit better, Claire got the diarrhea again, and was in tears most of the evening. By Sunday morning, she was feeling good again. We should have kept her home from church probably, but she begged to go and seemed to be fine - and still is and since all Rachel and I wanted to do was sleep, I let her go with Paul. So does that sound like a fun week or what? In between throwing up, I have been cleaning up poop and puke. Thank goodness these weeks are few and far between.) Today, we kept Rachel home from church, and since J.J. was still not feeling great, I took Claire with me. We were late because we weren't sure if we should take Claire, so she wasn't ready when J.J. came back from ward council.
Claire slept at Katy's house on Friday night, which makes for a quiet Saturday morning. I got up early and ran 10 miles, and then J.J. went out shopping at the city-wide garage sale event. (I was feeling much better that morning, so my friend Shara and I made an early morning of yard sales. I love looking at all the things people try to sell. I did get some pretty cool things. We got a Barbie princess carriage, a Madagascar Zebra rug, some shoes and other things and best of all was a Clare sized Raggedy Anne and Andy - only $7 for the pair!! It was fun to have Shara to giggle at things with) I stayed with Rachel and did some reading while she napped. I was hoping that a student who works in our department would come and cut our trees up and haul them away, but he didn't show up (for the second time - I vote it is time for another plan) and then it started to rain pretty hard around 4:00. He was supposed to come on Wednesday morning, but he was confused when his alarm went off early and forgot why he had set it, and I don't know what happened on Saturday. I still want him to do it, but if he can't tomorrow, I'm going to have to borrow a chain saw and take care of it myself, although I don't know what I will do with all of the wood.
(I am going to sign off here, because the rest is Paul's Editorial of the news for the week - interesting, but I don't have much to add) The week was interesting because of financial news, but it is nice to be removed from some of the hectic behavior that happens in large cities. As I was reading the Nashville newspaper today, I discovered that on Friday, most of the gas stations there ran out of gas, and if stations had gas, there was a two-hour wait to fill up. This despite assurance that there is actually plenty of fuel distribution. A similar thing happened before Ike hit Texas, and I think it is interesting how rumors and sheep-like behavior will actually create the problems that the rumors are about. If everyone decides that they need gas, of course there will be shortages when they all go at the same time. One thing this week shows to me is how many people are on the edge of catastrophe. Ready credit and the idea that debt and spending boost jobs and the economy overall -- trickle-down economics -- leave many people one hefty gas increase away from not being able to afford food. And because of this, the government is forced to spend $700 billion dollars plus to take over private companies that faltered because of the unfettered greed and bad decision making of its leaders -- that sounds a little like Iraq as well. Meanwhile, there's never any money that can be spared for education. Save the banks from the disaster that the government itself created, while underpaying and getting rid of teachers who see education as more than the government's goal of regurgitation of test material.
This week in my composition class, we are reading foundational "economic" theories, like Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and John Maynard Keynes. Right now we are living in a time when our economy exhibits the worst of capitalism and the worst of communism at the same time. One of these days people will realize that government's main purpose is to maintain a salient society and stop voting for leaders who give lip service to morality while supporting an economic system that has thrived on dishonesty and no concern for those who lack capital. The key element of a free market system is that everyone acting in their own self-interest will mean consistent economic growth. But when the Republicans decided that legislating morality was more important than ensuring individuals' ability to live by their own self-interests without a whole bunch of government intervention, they created an atmosphere that we have now where many people who would most benefit from alternative economic and defense policies are voting instead on an irrelevant, but divisive issue: abortion.
Today our high council speaker opened his talk with a retelling of a conversation that he had with someone who was wondering if Mormons could be Democrats. This brother replied that of course there are Mormon Democrats, but he wasn't sure if they could get a temple recommend. It was a joke, but the bishop had to get up after his talk and clarify again -- he had already read the letter from the First Presidency about Church neutrality and the need to vote -- to our ward, many of whom are recent converts, that political party does not have anything to do with temple recommends. He then read the letter from the First Presidency again. I believe that Mormon culture, like Protestant culture, allows beliefs to get mixed up in politics. The "values" of the Republican "moral majority" wing resonate with many of our moral beliefs, even though they are founded on different principles. Rather than being a partial means to meaningful ends -- eternal salvation later and companionship of the Holy Ghost now -- morality commandments for Protestants are ways of showing that one is already saved. Thus, they become a galvanizing force that divides people rather than an exemplary way of living that encourages unity. Perhaps Mitt Romney can wake up from whatever "brainwashing" spell he is under and start a third party that is founded on sound free-market economic principles and integrity. But until then, I think we have one choice, and his name does not rhyme with pain.
Just thought I would put those thoughts out there. It went a little farther than I planned. Feel free to disagree. We love you all and hope that things will get better no matter who wins this election. Have a good week!
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Murray Citywide Yard Sale
Twice a year, Murray has a Citywide Yard Sale where people sign up and they produce a map with all the sales throughout the city on it. (Not quite the World's Longest Yard Sale, but still pretty good) For the last two years my friend Shara has joined me for the fun. We spend the morning driving around and looking at all the interesting things (old hard biscuits-seriously-, old Happy Meal toys, family video tapes, just about any junk you can imagine). We also find some good buys. Here are a few of my purchases.
This was my most exciting buy - a Raggedy Anne and Andy for Claire - only $7 for the pair!!!!
I also found the Zebra rug, and a Barbie Princess carriage for the girls.
And a new dust ruffle for Claire's bed.
As you can see, most of my purchases happen to be for the girls, but what's a mom to do? I did get a few other things also - books, clothes, etc, but nothing quite so exciting.
This was my most exciting buy - a Raggedy Anne and Andy for Claire - only $7 for the pair!!!!
I also found the Zebra rug, and a Barbie Princess carriage for the girls.
And a new dust ruffle for Claire's bed.
As you can see, most of my purchases happen to be for the girls, but what's a mom to do? I did get a few other things also - books, clothes, etc, but nothing quite so exciting.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Hurricaine Ike in Kentucky
This is the big one that went down. I am so sad, though Claire and Katey now think it is their own playhouse.
The top of the tree on the right is the one that came off. Paul has been wanting to get it cut anyway, so the storm did us that favor.
These are some branches that came down in the backyard.
This is the tree that lost about half of the trunk, but I think we will go ahead and cut it all the way down. The consensus of neighbors and friends is that the remaining tree won't survive.
The top of the tree on the right is the one that came off. Paul has been wanting to get it cut anyway, so the storm did us that favor.
These are some branches that came down in the backyard.
This is the tree that lost about half of the trunk, but I think we will go ahead and cut it all the way down. The consensus of neighbors and friends is that the remaining tree won't survive.
Happenings 9/8 - 9/14
Today, while we were at church, what was left of Hurricane Ike came through town quickly. I was at meetings in the morning, and it was windy when I left, and then when J.J. and the girls got there at 10:00, they said that the tip of one of our trees broke and was lying in front lawn. (That morning, it had knocked over our porch swing, so I went out and tried to put the pieces of the swing against the house so they woudn't blow away. I was getting a bit nervous that morning with the wind blowing so hard.) The wind died down by noon. We had ward conference and thus had some things after church was over, and then I did the tithing, so when I came home at 3:00, I was surprised to see not only the tip of that one tree, but one tree completely blown over, and half of another tree snapped off. The two additional trees are Bradford pear trees, which are somewhat notorious for being weak. The tree that completely blew over had started turning brownish red during the summer, so I was a little concerned that it had suffered a lot from last year's drought. But the leaves hadn't started to fall yet, so I was hoping it would hold on. Well, it must have been weak enough to blow over -- most of its stump came out as well. So now we have to borrow a chain saw from someone this week and figure out where to take all the cut wood. There were quite a few downed limbs around town, but ours were the only victims on our street. We were glad that none of them were near the house. We'll put pictures up on the blog this week. (Boy was I surprised when I came home. After cleaning up the lunch for Ward Conference and taking a girl who helped babysit home - she lived way out- Paul ended up home before me and the girls. I was so sad we lost two of our trees. I loved them out front. Claire and Katey have sure enjoyed the one that completely came down because they have been climbing through it to the "top" and playing in the branches. She started crying when Paul told her they were going to cut it up and take it away.)
Otherwise, it was a busy week. J.J. had busy work days on Monday and Wednesday, plus she had things after work on those evenings(I don't even remember what I had to do, I guess that is why I should get on writing these letters sooner, huh?), and then I had an extra meeting on Tuesday evening before coming home. I had a lot of things to work on this week: a couple of articles that I'm trying to finish and submit to journals soon, and beginning the process of revising our freshman composition program. I was able to get my bike tuned up by the campus cycling club, which was great, because we don't have a bike shop in town. They were doing it for free but I gave them a donation.
Friday I played tennis in the morning and then worked until 2:00 when I met J.J. and the girls at her doctor's office for her 20-week ultrasound, and that went well. (It was sure fun to see the little one. It actually looked more like a baby this time instead of a gopher. But it was wiggly and we had a hard time getting a good portrait picture of the baby. Still don't know if it is a boy or a girl, and that was our last chance to find out, so sorry everyone, we'll just have to wait. Rachel was taking after the baby and got too wiggly, so about 2/3 of the way through, Paul had to take her out to the waiting room, but Claire stayed the whole time and loved it) I took the girls home and then J.J. came a little later and took Claire to dance class and I did some reading that I need to do for my classes. When J.J. and Claire got home, I mowed the lawn, which needed it badly, and then a babysitter came over and J.J. and I went to the community production of "Chicago." Our friend Lainey was the lead -- Roxey Hart -- and it was fun to watch. Claire stayed the night with her friend, Katey.
Saturday morning I got up at 5:30 and ran 9.5 miles. I can't believe I'm actually running that far, and it's weird that I actually enjoy it and look forward to the long runs. It wasn't hard until about 7 miles, but at that point it's almost done. I had just chosen some roads to run on and finished in 1 hour, 20 minutes, but I didn't really know how far I had run, though I thought it was around 8 or 9 miles. But I had an idea and looked at Google maps and was able to use the Get Directions feature to map out my route and measure it exactly. The great thing about that was I also identified some points of different distances so that I can change up my shorter runs as well.
At 8:45, J.J. left for Paducah for Relief Society leadership meeting and conference, and I stayed home. Claire stayed at Katy's house for awhile, and so while Rachel was napping I read over one of the articles I am working on and did some more reading of a textbook I am using for next week's classes. Then at 3:00, I took Claire and Rachel to the ice cream festival, where they have free ice cream at the park. Claire did a little horse ride while she was there (she loves the pony and horse rides and is sure we have room for some in our back yard.), and also very exciting for her was people dressed up like Star Wars characters -- the costumes were pretty close to the real things. Earlier in the week, before Claire went to bed one night we were flipping through the channels and "The Empire Strikes Back" was on and we watched a little of it. When Darth Vader appeared with the music, Claire huddled up to me. But at the park, she wanted to say hello to all of the people, including Darth Vader and two storm troopers, Princess Leia, and two little kids dressed as the sand creatures. She told me that the pretend "black guy" -- Vader -- on TV was mean, but the real "black guy" at the park was nice. (She was on the verge of tears though when she told me that Princess Leia didn't say hello to her and she was saying hello to other kids. She is still talking about it. ) Rachel and I enjoyed the ice cream, but Claire wasn't that interested.
We stayed a little bit long and I didn't know what time it was, so after picking up some tacos at Taco John's to feed the missionaries at 5:00, we got home a little late and they were waiting for me to call them because I had spoken with them earlier and said that we would probably run into them at the park. But we didn't, so they didn't know where to go. J.J. had just arrived back from Paducah, and we had a quick meal and visit with the Elders. On our way home, though, Claire and Rachel had fallen asleep, and so we put them to bed and then we had the babysitter come again so that we could see the movie "Atonement" at the college. J.J. read the book for her book club to coincide with this movie. (The movie was pretty good and went along with the book well, but while reading the book, I had a hard time getting through the first half and in fact almost didn't finish it. The second half of the book was moved along much quicker and was much easier to read. Paul loved all of it - I guess that is why he is the English Professor and I'm not ) When we left, both girls were in bed, but when we came home, Rachel had woken up and was playing with the babysitter. Luckily, Claire stayed asleep all night -- it is hard for her to go to sleep if she naps, but Rachel will go back to sleep easily after playing for awhile.
I stayed up watching the USC-Ohio State game that I had recorded, and also saw a few highlights from the BYU game, which made me happy to see them play well when they needed to.
Otherwise, it was a busy week. J.J. had busy work days on Monday and Wednesday, plus she had things after work on those evenings(I don't even remember what I had to do, I guess that is why I should get on writing these letters sooner, huh?), and then I had an extra meeting on Tuesday evening before coming home. I had a lot of things to work on this week: a couple of articles that I'm trying to finish and submit to journals soon, and beginning the process of revising our freshman composition program. I was able to get my bike tuned up by the campus cycling club, which was great, because we don't have a bike shop in town. They were doing it for free but I gave them a donation.
Friday I played tennis in the morning and then worked until 2:00 when I met J.J. and the girls at her doctor's office for her 20-week ultrasound, and that went well. (It was sure fun to see the little one. It actually looked more like a baby this time instead of a gopher. But it was wiggly and we had a hard time getting a good portrait picture of the baby. Still don't know if it is a boy or a girl, and that was our last chance to find out, so sorry everyone, we'll just have to wait. Rachel was taking after the baby and got too wiggly, so about 2/3 of the way through, Paul had to take her out to the waiting room, but Claire stayed the whole time and loved it) I took the girls home and then J.J. came a little later and took Claire to dance class and I did some reading that I need to do for my classes. When J.J. and Claire got home, I mowed the lawn, which needed it badly, and then a babysitter came over and J.J. and I went to the community production of "Chicago." Our friend Lainey was the lead -- Roxey Hart -- and it was fun to watch. Claire stayed the night with her friend, Katey.
Saturday morning I got up at 5:30 and ran 9.5 miles. I can't believe I'm actually running that far, and it's weird that I actually enjoy it and look forward to the long runs. It wasn't hard until about 7 miles, but at that point it's almost done. I had just chosen some roads to run on and finished in 1 hour, 20 minutes, but I didn't really know how far I had run, though I thought it was around 8 or 9 miles. But I had an idea and looked at Google maps and was able to use the Get Directions feature to map out my route and measure it exactly. The great thing about that was I also identified some points of different distances so that I can change up my shorter runs as well.
At 8:45, J.J. left for Paducah for Relief Society leadership meeting and conference, and I stayed home. Claire stayed at Katy's house for awhile, and so while Rachel was napping I read over one of the articles I am working on and did some more reading of a textbook I am using for next week's classes. Then at 3:00, I took Claire and Rachel to the ice cream festival, where they have free ice cream at the park. Claire did a little horse ride while she was there (she loves the pony and horse rides and is sure we have room for some in our back yard.), and also very exciting for her was people dressed up like Star Wars characters -- the costumes were pretty close to the real things. Earlier in the week, before Claire went to bed one night we were flipping through the channels and "The Empire Strikes Back" was on and we watched a little of it. When Darth Vader appeared with the music, Claire huddled up to me. But at the park, she wanted to say hello to all of the people, including Darth Vader and two storm troopers, Princess Leia, and two little kids dressed as the sand creatures. She told me that the pretend "black guy" -- Vader -- on TV was mean, but the real "black guy" at the park was nice. (She was on the verge of tears though when she told me that Princess Leia didn't say hello to her and she was saying hello to other kids. She is still talking about it. ) Rachel and I enjoyed the ice cream, but Claire wasn't that interested.
We stayed a little bit long and I didn't know what time it was, so after picking up some tacos at Taco John's to feed the missionaries at 5:00, we got home a little late and they were waiting for me to call them because I had spoken with them earlier and said that we would probably run into them at the park. But we didn't, so they didn't know where to go. J.J. had just arrived back from Paducah, and we had a quick meal and visit with the Elders. On our way home, though, Claire and Rachel had fallen asleep, and so we put them to bed and then we had the babysitter come again so that we could see the movie "Atonement" at the college. J.J. read the book for her book club to coincide with this movie. (The movie was pretty good and went along with the book well, but while reading the book, I had a hard time getting through the first half and in fact almost didn't finish it. The second half of the book was moved along much quicker and was much easier to read. Paul loved all of it - I guess that is why he is the English Professor and I'm not ) When we left, both girls were in bed, but when we came home, Rachel had woken up and was playing with the babysitter. Luckily, Claire stayed asleep all night -- it is hard for her to go to sleep if she naps, but Rachel will go back to sleep easily after playing for awhile.
I stayed up watching the USC-Ohio State game that I had recorded, and also saw a few highlights from the BYU game, which made me happy to see them play well when they needed to.
My Little Lady
Rachel sees Claire and the older girls with their babies and jumps right in there to play. She's already figured out all you need is a purse and a baby and you are a mommy.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Happenings 9/1 - 9/7
This morning J.J. had ward council meeting, so I had to get the girls bathed and ready since they didn't get baths Saturday night. But they didn't wake up real early, so we were somewhat rushed. After Claire's bath, I told her to get dressed while I got dressed, and she did. We got to the church and as we got out the van, she stopped and said, "Did I put underwear on today?" She didn't. I took them in, gave Rachel to J.J. and Claire and I went back home for panties. (Claire came walking into Sacrament meeting with a big grin on her face and said, "I forgot panties today!" and we both got to giggling. So Paul took her home for the important items we all sometimes forget.)
It was a pretty good week for us. On Monday I went on an 11-mile run with a friend of mine from church, Chad, and two other guys. Chad is training for a marathon with another guy, and asked if I wanted to run with them on some of their long runs. Since I had been running 6 or so miles lately, I thought I would give it a try. I felt pretty good running that many miles, but it was hot and humid even at 6:00 in the morning, which made it a little harder. I was sore the rest of the day and into Tuesday though. But the 4-mile run on Wednesday and the 7-mile run on Saturday sure seemed easier. I'm thinking that this might be the year to try a marathon. I can't do the one that Chad is doing in December, but there is one in Nashville in April. I'm enjoying running, and I've never ran as many miles as I have done lately, so I should probably do it while I feel this way.
Later on Monday we had lunch at the Eubanks' house, enjoying good steak and bacon-wrapped venison, and Claire had a great time playing with their boys.
The rest of the week was pretty routine. I only disappointed a few students who wanted to switch sections because they didn't like their teacher. I didn't feel that their reasons justified the trouble it would cause and encouraged them to work it out with their teachers if they could and if not, I would be happy to meet with them together. I think I had 3 of those students this week.
Thursday evening we had some friends Matt and Abigail and their son Hunter, who is Claire's age, over for dinner, and enjoyed visiting with them. They both work in J.J.'s office, and the kids love playing together. Claire told us, while they were here, that she was going to marry Hunter when she grew up. Uh-oh. (Hunter let everyone know that they would "get married, and then they would live together and kiss each other on the lips." I told them just remember it needs to be in that order. :) Don't worry, since then, she has reverted to her old plan of marrying "daddy", but now she told me that when she does, I will need to find someone else to marry.)
Friday I played tennis with Thomas early in the morning, but we didn't have much of a set because it was misting when we started, which was fine, but then it started to sprinkle and the court started to get slick. We stopped our set and just hit for awhile so that we wouldn't do anything to strain a muscle. After playing I had a productive day working on a couple of articles that I want to submit to journals soon. I had to stay until 3:30 because there was a meeting for all tenure-track faculty, so J.J. took Rachel with her to Claire's dance class. When I got home, Jessica, the girl who has stayed with us and went out to Utah for the summer, and her friend here in our ward, Meghan, came over to visit and we ordered pizza for dinner.
Saturday, after my run, I worked on cleaning some of the house, then watched tennis while Rachel napped and later went grocery shopping. I saw highlights of the BYU game and was glad they won but hope they win more convincingly next time so that miracle finishes don't need to happen. That evening, Jessica, Meghan and her fiance Robert came over to watch Rachel, and Claire went to Katy's house, while J.J. and I went to the English Department party. We had a good time there with some good food and conversation, and it was nice to be able to eat and talk without worrying about the girls. (It is so much more enjoyable to actually get to eat and really have a conversation with someone.)
It was a pretty good week for us. On Monday I went on an 11-mile run with a friend of mine from church, Chad, and two other guys. Chad is training for a marathon with another guy, and asked if I wanted to run with them on some of their long runs. Since I had been running 6 or so miles lately, I thought I would give it a try. I felt pretty good running that many miles, but it was hot and humid even at 6:00 in the morning, which made it a little harder. I was sore the rest of the day and into Tuesday though. But the 4-mile run on Wednesday and the 7-mile run on Saturday sure seemed easier. I'm thinking that this might be the year to try a marathon. I can't do the one that Chad is doing in December, but there is one in Nashville in April. I'm enjoying running, and I've never ran as many miles as I have done lately, so I should probably do it while I feel this way.
Later on Monday we had lunch at the Eubanks' house, enjoying good steak and bacon-wrapped venison, and Claire had a great time playing with their boys.
The rest of the week was pretty routine. I only disappointed a few students who wanted to switch sections because they didn't like their teacher. I didn't feel that their reasons justified the trouble it would cause and encouraged them to work it out with their teachers if they could and if not, I would be happy to meet with them together. I think I had 3 of those students this week.
Thursday evening we had some friends Matt and Abigail and their son Hunter, who is Claire's age, over for dinner, and enjoyed visiting with them. They both work in J.J.'s office, and the kids love playing together. Claire told us, while they were here, that she was going to marry Hunter when she grew up. Uh-oh. (Hunter let everyone know that they would "get married, and then they would live together and kiss each other on the lips." I told them just remember it needs to be in that order. :) Don't worry, since then, she has reverted to her old plan of marrying "daddy", but now she told me that when she does, I will need to find someone else to marry.)
Friday I played tennis with Thomas early in the morning, but we didn't have much of a set because it was misting when we started, which was fine, but then it started to sprinkle and the court started to get slick. We stopped our set and just hit for awhile so that we wouldn't do anything to strain a muscle. After playing I had a productive day working on a couple of articles that I want to submit to journals soon. I had to stay until 3:30 because there was a meeting for all tenure-track faculty, so J.J. took Rachel with her to Claire's dance class. When I got home, Jessica, the girl who has stayed with us and went out to Utah for the summer, and her friend here in our ward, Meghan, came over to visit and we ordered pizza for dinner.
Saturday, after my run, I worked on cleaning some of the house, then watched tennis while Rachel napped and later went grocery shopping. I saw highlights of the BYU game and was glad they won but hope they win more convincingly next time so that miracle finishes don't need to happen. That evening, Jessica, Meghan and her fiance Robert came over to watch Rachel, and Claire went to Katy's house, while J.J. and I went to the English Department party. We had a good time there with some good food and conversation, and it was nice to be able to eat and talk without worrying about the girls. (It is so much more enjoyable to actually get to eat and really have a conversation with someone.)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
