Slowing Down to Catch Up

These days I've been feeling like a slug on the racetrack of life.  Why a slug, you ask?  Because I have felt increasingly slug-ish (I'm actually looking a bit slug-like, too).

I'm sure it can be attributed to the let-down felt after a nice break from the norm.

Our fall break trip to CA started a bit... rough.  The 16-hour trip turned to just over 18, thanks to the lovely weather conditions (pictured above), a near accident which very well could have included a tumble in the car - a literal miracle that we did not go off the road, a malfunctioning gas tank requiring fill-ups every 200 miles or so, and an hour-long stop on I-15 between Cedar City and St. George due to two separate life-flight-requiring accidents not far ahead of us.

But, lest you think it was all a bunch of yuck, once we arrived, things couldn't have been better.

The reuniting of family.

The weather.

The food.

The fun.

The politics.

I'm taking the catch up slowly, so as not to disturb my forward momentum since returning, sluggish as it is.  Stay tuned.

First Meet Drama

Mar had her first meet on the Aces swim team Friday.  It was a "developmental" meet, which means it was only for Aces (no other teams present), and was mainly to obtain official times for the beginning of the season.  Shilo selected NOT to participate (despite overt parental encouragement), which we she later regretted, as it would have been a good indicator of the improvement needed to achieve her time goals for the high school season.  I tried.

Mar packed up her things and we were off to the meet.  I thought we were prepared (this wasn't our first rodeo, you know).  When we arrived, the pool area was packed, and finding a seat was a challenge.  Finally we selected a middle row spot on metal bleachers at the end of the pool lanes.  There was a towel reserving the bench in front of us, and one or two people sitting on the back row behind us, but it seemed our roomiest option.

The call for warm-ups came, and suddenly Mar was in a panic.  She had not packed goggles.  The girl who meticulously makes sure that she has two pair with her at all times for practices ("just in case"), had missed them in the bag changeover.  Shilo could only find one girl she knew (the majority of older swimmers had selected, as Shi, not to participate in this particular meet), and asked if she had an extra pair.  No.
Mar started panicking and the tears began to fall.  

Trying to disguise her emotional state, Mar rubbed her eyes, then suddenly had a contact issue.  It needed to come out, but we were unprepared and did not have solution for rinsing.  I told her that we could rinse it with water and try putting it back in, but that it would probably be really uncomfortable for a few minutes (I speak from a lifetime of experience).  We tried it (freaking out the people sitting behind us) only to have our attempt fail.  The contact buckled and needed to be immediately removed once again.  Mar determined that she would just go without it, the panic from not having goggles overtaking her fear of not being able to see clearly out of one eye.  The anxiety for both of us was at highly elevated levels.

I walked over with her to the group of girls gathered for warm-ups and asked if any of them had an extra pair of goggles.  They all said yes, but one girl moved to action as she walked us over to where her mother was sitting.  She pulled out a stash of goggles and handed us a pair, telling us to come try another pair if they didn't work.  Mar grabbed the goggles and ran to join the warm-ups.

As I watched her, I could tell the goggles were not going to work.  At the end of each lane she would stop, lift the goggles, and dump out the excess water.  Finally Shi spotted a family of swimmers she knew would have a plethora of good-quality goggles, and ran over to borrow a pair.  Relief swept over me as she walked toward our spot on the bleachers, goggles in hand.  They were easily adjusted and worked perfectly.  Phew.

During this time of stress, more people continued to join us on the bleachers.  The single towel reserving the bench area in front of us became home to a very large man (in a heavy winter coat), his two twin daughters, a baby carrier with a very, very newborn baby, and his 11 year-old swimmer son.  His wife and the grandparents squeezed in on the front row.  Of course, the man sat directly in front of me, requiring the uncomfortable knees-to-the-side position for the entire meet (not to mention those metal bleachers made my forever-recovering tailbone ache like crazy).  The bench behind us also filled up with a loud-talking woman, her husband, and equally-as-loud swimmer daughter.  As soon as the meet was about to start, the woman decided that she would take a Subway run, and, after taking orders, needed to get down from the bleachers, borrowing shoulders as we squished together to create enough room for her foot as she stepped down through the crowd.

Needless to say, it was not our best meet experience.  

The good news:  

Britta and Austin, visiting for the weekend, came to support Mar (I wasn't necessarily expecting them to attend the meet, so we had NOT reserved seats - they ended up slightly to the right and down on the front row of the bleachers)
You guys are the best!

the 2nd pair of goggles worked great

the large man in front of me was friendly (it was their first Aces meet, too)

the loud woman and her husband behind us had a conversation about Mormons (Mitt-inspired, I'm sure) and had positive things to say

Mar swam her three events with courage and vigor, and now has official times to show future improvement

After the meet, we met up with Bill, who had been at the temple a few blocks away, and had all-you-can-eat pizza at Cici's

I am so proud of Mauri for making it through the drama and doing her best.

Love you, Mar!  You are awesome!

Hallow-eerie

Today I decided to add a few quick and cheap decor items to my Halloween collection.  

Maybe it's because I've had the same ol' decorations for many years (of which I am very fond), and the need for something new and dramatic (but cheap) has been gnawing away at me. 

Maybe it's because I feel my first taste of freedom:  from painting, from mess, from disorganization, from work (I can't remember if I mentioned that I've been subbing at GRE in the Speech and Language Dept. - much, much less demanding than SPED - one day a week for the past month or so, and they have a two-week Fall Break so I have a two week Fall Break.  YAY!)...  

Maybe it's because in four short days the girls and I are OUT OF HERE and off to relaxation, laughter, and good times in CA with my seester and nices.  

Maybe it's because, after several appointments, discussions, and a change in hormone therapy, I made an educated (via internet search) decision to STOP the new therapy-gone-bad that turned me into a non-sleeping, aching, and anxious witch ('tis the season, right?), and resume the not-perfect-but-better-now-that-I've-seen-the-other-side therapy I had been using.  I am coming to terms with the fact that I cannot feel amazing every day.  Livable, somewhat pleasant, and mostly kind will have to do.

Regardless of the reason, I whipped out a few fun Halloween decorations (ideas courtesy of Pinterest).

First I made these quick and oh-so-easy bats from black cardstock already in my large-but-seldom-used supply.  As I cut, I re-listened to a couple of my favorite talks from General Conference (President Eyring and Elder Holland).

When I was done, I pulled out our trusty ladder (I've had it out way, WAY too much lately) and taped these babies to the wall.  Easy peasy lemon squeezy. 

 Love them. I think I can reuse them for several years, too.  AWESOME.

Then I headed off to Sally Beauty Supply to nab a few styro heads.  I had seen them on Friday, resisted the temptation for immediate gratification, contemplated all weekend if they were worth the change ($3 each), then, once deciding they were, waited patiently for this morning to purchase.  

 Initially I planned to cover them in spiders.  I put a few on, then decided to maybe leave them with just the cheesecloth.  It takes me so long to make up my mind these days, I might go back to the spiders.  Or not.  Either way, they are going to look extra creepy at night with a little china cabinet backlighting.

I am satisfied that they will bring me years of possibilities in the future.

Love them.

Hallow-eerie, don't you think?

Celebrate Good Times

I thought I would quickly post about Lex's birthday celebration, crammed in between work schedules and carpet.  (Who wouldn't want new carpet for their birthday??)

We headed to Lex's favorite burger joint late in the evening on Saturday.

 This was just the overflow of the fries.  To say we stuffed ourselves would be an understatement.

We had cheesecake waiting at home, but couldn't bring ourselves to even think about having some, so we decided to wait until the next day.  Lex had started itching just prior to our Five Guys run, and had broken out in all kinds of hives by the time we got home.

On Sunday, Lex was still having a major allergic reaction (so similar to the one I had back here, but we DIDN'T dial 911), so she stayed home from church to itch, scratch, and sleep off the Benedryl.  Later that evening we lit up the cheesecake, and sang a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday.  (We also listened to Grandma and Grandpa Goldsberry's rousing rendition - so much enthusiam, it was AWESOME!!)

It's crazy to think it's her very last year as a teenager.

LOVE YOU, LEX!

NHS

Shi was inducted into the NHS.

Legend has the biggest chapter in the district:  150 members.  I know Shi will be glad she applied (it took some parental persuasion).  I love that she will have more opportunities for service, and that there are some really great kids she'll be spending time with.

Congratulations, Shilo!

i-gift

Today is Lexee's birthday.

Gone are the days of PRINCESS parties, QUEEN parties (because after you are a princess, you become a queen), ART parties, SPY parties, and SURPRISE parties
(I'm not very good at those... reminder from last year's here).

These days, Lex would just like a day off from painting.

And an i-phone 5.

I could tell you about my extensive efforts this week to find one.  I could tell you how frustrating it is to have every Apple Store employee give you different or new information.  I could tell you about how thrilling it is to wait at the mall (NOT one of my favorite places to hang out) for 3+ hours waiting for a "shipment" to arrive to see if perhaps there would be an extra highly-desired-newly-released phone for actual sale in the store.  (NOPE.)  I could mention how fun it is to call and re-call the Apple Store, per employee suggestion, listening to awful elevator music with a "There are 5 callers ahead of you" thrown in every 20 seconds or so.  I could tell you about my begging and pleading to several of my local Sprint store employees, followed by daily phone calls in hopes that my name could be moved up on the waiting list.  But that would be a long, drawn out story of frustration and agitation, so I'll skip it.

In the end, my efforts paid off.

ONE phone was available at my Parker Sprint store IF I could make it there in the next 15 minutes.

It was black, instead of the preferred white, but it would do.

I wanted to surprise Lex a little (she knew I had been working on it all week), but I think when her T Mobile line was suddenly cut, she had a clue.

Regardless, we gave it to her a day early ('cause the girl can hardly survive without her phone).

 (How about that pile of unfolded laundry on the couch?  I think it had sat there for a good 2 days.  And Mar had just showered after swim practice.  We know how to throw a party around here.)

 (I think the surprised expression is a bit contrived, but she WAS thrilled.)

Shilo was a little disappointed that I couldn't come up with two (I AM a magician, you know), so she is patiently waiting to purchase her i-phone as soon as one comes available.  I will continue to assist.

Happy 19th Birthday, Lex!

We love you!

A Currant Bush

This past week I have had the song Simple Gifts on my mind a LOT (I listen to the Alison Krauss/Yo Yo Ma version).  I have heard it several times over the course of the week as I listened to my ipod and painted (4 rooms down, 2 to go + as many baseboards as I can get done).

To me, the meaning of the song totally relates to submitting ourselves to the will of our Heavenly Father - and how, through turning and bending (challenges and trials) we become perfected, or we "come 'round right."

Making the "turning" a "delight" is what we are all trying to learn.

My internet default page (not sure what it's really called) is set to lds.org, and this morning when I got up to work on some Primary stuff, I noticed a few new links on the homepage.  I was delighted to find this one:

Just what I needed to get through this next week.

'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,

'Tis the gift to come down where you ought to be.

And when we find ourselves in the place just right,

'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gained,

To bow and to bend we will not be ashamed.

To turn, turn will be our delight,

Till by turning, turning we come 'round right.

Still learning patience (and trying to submit gracefully),