Happenings 7/27/09 - 08/02/09

After being gone for nearly a fortnight, (English professor) we were back to normal on Monday, except that our VW wouldn't start. The same thing happened when we returned from New York in May, but after we jumpstarted it, it worked fine. I had had the battery tested in the last six months because of starting problems in the winter, so I assumed that it was something more serious. So I cleaned the terminals and did some searching online and finally decided to have the battery tested again. So I went to the auto parts store on Tuesday and they tested it and said it was bad, so I replaced it. That was definitely the problem and now it starting up nicely.

So on Monday while J.J. was at work we stayed at home, managing naps and playing outside. I worked on Tuesday and was able to accomplish several things. Claire had an eye appointment required for school and all was fine there. On Wednesday afternoon, our neighbor Bridget came over to watch Rachel and Maggie while I took Claire to her school for a tour with her teacher, since we were in Oregon when they had back-to-school night. Mrs. Stetson gave us a nice tour of her room and the building, and Claire enjoyed seeing her classroom and though it didn't show, she was excited.

When I had gone to the end of church after we returned from Nashville, one of the young single adults, Doug Hinman, asked if I wanted to go to the Cardinals-Dodgers game on Thursday because he had 2 free tickets and was hoping someone could drive. He is a huge Dodgers fan, and after checking with J.J. to see if it was okay (what a good hubby) -- after all, it was our 10-year anniversary -- she said it was fine. We had already taken a little trip to celebrate our anniversary, so it really wasn't a big deal, even though we both gave Doug a hard time about it. So after I went into the office Thursday morning, Doug and I left around 1:30 for St. Louis, arriving there around 5:00. We found a parking spot a few blocks from the stadium, and on the way we stopped at an Asian restaurant to eat -- I was excited because they had green papaya salad, which I have not had for a long time -- and then went to the stadium. The tickets were good, we were in the lower section near third base. Doug's blue hat and shirt stood out in a sea of red, but there was no hostility from the fans. I wore a neutral lime green shirt because I was just there for a good game. And it was a good game, with several moments of high drama and the game going into the 10th inning. My favorite moment happened early in the game. A Dodger player was on first and after the pitcher threw to first a few times to hold him on, he left way too early to steal second -- the pitcher still had the ball in the glove. But amazingly, no one seemed to notice that he was running. He was more than halfway before the pitcher turned around to throw the ball, and in his hurry he threw it wildly and it bounced past the shortstop and the runner went to third. It almost seemed like even a good throw may have been too late, and that's what I thought was funny. It was like no one believed that he was actually running to second. Doug was happy because the Dodgers won and I was glad that the game didn't go into anymore innings, as we still had a drive home. We made it home fine, arriving at 2:30 am. I slept in a little on Friday, then spent the morning weeding my garden, which has been severely neglected. (We have such a great neighbor! Bob has a pristine garden. He sits out there everyday, picking at the weeds and harvesting and loving his garden. While we were gone, he felt sorry for our tomatoes, so he weeded out the area around the tomato plants. Paul then finished up the job. Bob also lets us enjoy the harvest from his garden. I sat one afternoon and picked a box full of green beans. Which I then froze. I would like to learn to do some canning, but that probably won't happen this year.) We are getting some tomatoes now, and the cucumbers are finishing up. We have some small watermelons and we hope they continue to grow. I finished weeding in time to shower and for all of us to go to the church to get our temple recommend interview with a member of the stake presidency.

Later Friday afternoon, I found out that my help was needed to help move the Clowers family and the sister missionaries. I was able to help the Clowers until they finished and say goodbye as they are going to Lexington, and then I took a vacuum to the sisters and helped a little before having to go home so that Claire and J.J. and Katey could go to the local production of the Aristocats, which they enjoyed. (It was put on by the kids who did a two week summer camp at the local theater. I was very impressed especially since all the kids were under 12 and they put it together in 10 days. CLaire of course wants to do that next summer.)

Saturday morning we were up early and on our way to Nashville for a ward activity that was first envisioned as a primary activity but turned into a ward activity. The primary children met in the stake center next to the temple while parents and other ward members went to a session. The children were able to go into the waiting room of the temple and a member of the temple presidency spoke with them. We had a nice session and though it was a long drive for an activity, it worked out. (When we went to pick up the girls at the church after the session, Rachel was being held and was crying pretty good, when I asked what was wrong, I was informed that she was upset that she couldn't eat her temple. They had made little temples out of sugar cubes and frosting and Rachel thought they were much tastier than pretty to look at.) We had a picnic with other families on the lawn of the stake center, and then we drove home. When we got home, I mowed the lawn and attempted to cut down a few broken limbs on our back yard trees, but didn't have much luck. I eventually got a few of them cut down though. (Watching Paul with a rope, a saw, a ladder and tree climbing, I keep having this feeling that he may end up with an honorable mention for the Darwin Awards).

Sunday after church we had YSA home evening and after a lesson and cookies we played croquet. It was a nice evening, as have been most of the days and evenings of the past week. We have been getting some rain, which is nice, so everything is still green and it hasn't been very hot at all -- mostly quite pleasant. (HA!)