Summertime and the Livin' is Easy?

Everything is so crazy in the summertime. Holidays, birthdays, camp, kids going every direction. At least I don't have to worry about if they are getting their homework done and handed in. I don't know which is harder. I am almost glad for the school year to start - I think.

We were supposed to go to Wyoming the weekend before the 24th of July, then everything started happening - car problems, finding someone to watch the dog, not being able to get a vacationer (a portable liquid oxygen tank for my husband). In the end, we didn't go because he couldn't get a vacationer. We might just buy one to have on hand except they are kinda big and cost $3,000 - $4,000. Oh well.

In the end, we went up to the canyon and hung out on Friday. That was fun. The best parts were roasting marshmallows and wading in the cold, cold creek.

On Saturday we went to South Towne Expo Center and checked out the floats that were going to be in the 24th of July Parade. That was funner than actually watching the parade on tv - which was quite boring. David and I liked the quilted float the best - especially that fact that all the quilts and wood were going to be donated to good causes afterwards. Plus, it was kind of cool to see how they put it together close up. The crest of the wave was crocheted. Oh yeah, and did I say that David was harrassing the cast of "Peter Pan" that had a float there? At least he's entertaining.

After that we went to Golden Corral and stuffed ourselves (that's the problem with buffets - but at least they have stuff I can eat). To finish off our non-vacation, we went and saw the Harry Potter 5 movie. It was pretty good, but I was disappointed that they left out the part about Fred and George turning the entryway into a swamp. That was my favorite part of the book.

Pioneers & E-Cards

We have taken the Suburban in to the mechanic twice in the last two weeks. Seems like we get one thing fixed on it and another thing breaks. If cars weren't so convenient and public transportation so inconvenient, I do not think I would own a car. Of course, having a disabled spouse who can't walk far comes in to the equation, too.

Speaking of cars, you don't know how really dependent you are on your car until your street gets slurried. I took Amber to a primary activity and we had to walk to where I had parked the car about 4 houses away. She whined, "Do we have to walk?" I think she thought we were walking the mile and 1/2 to church. When we got in the car she said, "Pioneer children sang as they walked . . . and walked . . . and walked . . ." So we had a discussion about pioneer children walking. I'm sure that walking to our churchhouse would be nothing for them.

I have been getting e-cards in my junk mail folder lately. I am pretty sure they are all from the same place - I didn't save the first two. The first one said it was from a "family member." If I were getting a e-card from a family member, wouldn't it just say their name? Then I got one from a "neighbor." Why would a neighbor be sending me an e-card? The latest one is the best. The subject line says: "You have received a greeting card from a Worshipper." I am not kidding, it really says that. I had no idea I was being worshipped. I wonder who the next one will be from? God?

BTW, I have not opened any of these e-cards, but I am really tempted to open this last one. What kind of e-card would a worshipper send me? I can only imagine.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

David sold 2 of his paintings the first day they hung in the library. How cool is that? They are both eagle paintings.

That spot on my thigh is still sore. Not as sore, but still sore.

My mind is totally blank right now. Could be lack of sleep. Or maybe too much sleep? I went to bed at 1:00 am and got up about 9:00 am.

We took the kids over to see the fireworks at Murray Park last night. They were pretty good, but the park was so crowded we had to sit on the lawn at Murray High School to see the fireworks. It was almost surreal looking across a bunch of rushing traffic and a Costco building to see fireworks. The fireworks were big enough, though that it was no problem seeing them. I think for the 24th of July we're going to go to Churchhill Jr. to watch fireworks. You can see the whole valley from there.

Something that's really been on my mind lately is global warming. David and I watched "An Inconvenient Truth" the other night. It's almost mind boggling seeing all of Al Gore's charts and graphs and photos. You can go to www.climatecrisis.com and find out more about it.

I was surprised and happy to find out that my carbon emissions are lower than most people's - in the US, that is. Still, there is so much to do. I am rather an environmentalist - at least in my head - to me it makes sense to reduce, reuse, recycle and all that. If you haven't seen the movie yet, you should. Before I saw the movie, I thought global warming was a myth, but I don't any more. Besides, even if it is - how could taking care of the environment possibly be a bad thing???

I was surprised to find out that the film made an impact on David. On the way home from fireworks he told me, "Seeing all of the smoke the fireworks left behind made me wonder how much carbon they were releasing in to the air." Wow. He gets it. We're on the same page about this. That is cool.

The Girl with a Pain in Her Thigh

I went to the kinesiologist a week ago. That's always an adventure. She told me that I needed to clear a pertussis vaccine I got years ago. Apparently it did some bad stuff to me, so I need to undo it. I would not have believed this stuff 2 years ago, but so much has happened between then and now that I do.

So, I start taking lobelia and msm to undo the damage of the long-ago vaccine. The first morning I took lobelia, I started feeling queasy. I went to the gym anyway, but didn't do as much as I normally do. Then I get to work and look up lobelia on the internet. Two other names for it are "pukeweed" and "vomitwort." Hmmm . . . that could explain the nausea.

The weird thing is that my thighs have been feeling really sore lately and I haven't done anything to make them sore - that I know of. This morning there was a spot on the front of my right thigh that really hurt - it feels like I got a shot in my thigh today. Could it be where I got that shot all those years ago? Bizarre. Wow.

David, the kids and I went to the library this morning to hang up his paintings. They look really good on display. He hung 16 paintings and it took us an hour and a half. If anyone is interested, they will be up through July 28.

I am in charge of sports for the YW in our stake. Isn't that a laugh? I am sooo not an athlete. I like yoga, cycling and swimming and that's about it. Luckily David has been helping me and refereeing (spelling??) softball for me for the last month. At least I married an athlete. What a husband!