25 February 2018

We had a nice and quiet week in our home this week.  I was grateful for a little more down time than usual.  On Monday afternoon I left work a little early and got to have lunch with Sadie before picking up the kids; having friends who will hang out with you randomly in the middle of the day is such a blessing!  Arlo had soccer practice in the afternoon and I walked the track, it was so stinking cold and windy out.  When we got home we had dinner and Family Home Evening and it started to rain again, which was great.  The downside to the rain was that they had been out to plow the road on Sunday and so by Tuesday morning the rain and the freshly dug road meant that it was a muddy mess; we were fish-tailing and sloshing all over the place trying to get to the bus stop.  The kids and I actually got the car stuck on the road on the way!  Luckily I was able to rock it back and forth enough to gain some traction and get out.  I had another treacherous drive back to the house since I wasn't ready to leave for work and decided to stay in and work from home so as to avoid getting stuck again.  Getting a truck just keeps getting more important on my list of to-dos.

The girls had soccer practice on Tuesday evening and I actually stayed in the car and read since it was so cold out.  We left practice a little early to get the girls to Activity Days at church.  Felicity's group was having a mother/daughter spa night and she and I enjoyed a class on skin care, a mini yoga session, an essential oils activity, and a wax hand dip and massage.  Felicity especially liked playing in the wax.  It was a really nicely put together activity and we had a lovely time.  The Young Womens president came in at the end to introduce herself and give a little Young Womens introduction for all the girls turning twelve this year (I'm not sure if this was meant to replace the usual "New Beginnings" activity, I hope not).  Honestly, that was a little hard as the reality that Felicity will be leaving Primary and starting Young Womens in a few short months is setting in.  I am very lucky, however, that Felicity is such a sweet girl and already has such a good head on her shoulders, I don't worry too much about her teenage years approaching. 

On Wednesday I met my lovely friend Kim who had a kitty that she needed to rehome. We welcomed Henry, a big white cat with orange markings to the ranch.  I think he must be part Siamese because he loves to talk to us...and himself.  He seemed to get on just fine with Pepper and I'm hoping he'll be a good mouser.  In the afternoon Helen had choir, and when that was over the kids' dad picked them up for the long rodeo weekend.  Since I had to work on Thursday and Friday, it was nice that they get to spend a couple extra days with their dad and his family. 

 Thursday night, I made a huge mistake and ate some food that I shouldn't have, a really fatty dinner and dessert while I enjoyed some Netflix and kid-free quiet time.  I have had problems with my gallbladder for years now, and it usually doesn't bother me, but my meal choice was over the top and I was sick and in pain almost all night.  I had to call into work on Friday morning and ended up in bed until 1:30 in the afternoon trying to sleep and recover.  I wasn't able to eat all day, but I was able to sleep on Friday night.  I was feeling a little better Saturday morning and got the house cleaned, but I wasn't able to do any work outside which was really disappointing as I have several trees to plant and still need to work on getting my garden in.  Saturday afternoon I had a long-needed hair appointment and had my color touched up and got a trim.  I went grocery shopping when I was done and finished up a couple of chores.  Luckily I was able to have a fairly normal dinner in the evening and didn't have any more gallbladder pain which was a blessing.  I haven't looked into having it removed because I don't have time (I know that sounds terrible, but the down time could be a couple of weeks or longer) and it only bothers me if I eat something I know I shouldn't.

He approaches everything in his own way; I love to see his mind work

Sunday morning I finished editing the talk I was giving in Sacrament meeting and since I volunteered to teach a primary class, I also prepared for that.  I was asked to speak on Matthew 5:48 "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect" during our main worship meeting.  Since our church doesn't have a pastor, each week members of the ward are asked to speak to the congregation on a topic chosen by ward leadership.  Its an opportunity to allow us to learn from each other and to hear from different speakers each week.  I feel like my address went well, although, I spoke a little too long which is typical for me.  I outlined what the command to be perfect is (an invitation to repent when we make mistakes and utilize Christ's atonement to draw closer to our Father in Heaven) and what it is not (a standard the Lord uses to measure us and perpetually find us wanting).  I taught a primary class of eight year olds during the second hour and that went well and then enjoyed my Relief Society (women's meeting) third hour.  I stayed to practice with the ward choir after church until it was time to go pick up the kids in Tucson.  They had a lot of fun adventures to tell me about including their soccer games on Saturday and fun with their cousins. 

18 February 2018

We are so grateful for all the rain we received this week, it was perfect for all my newly planted trees.  It was, however, problematic for getting yard work accomplished and playing soccer!  Since it was nice on Monday, we were at soccer practice for Arlo at the park.  I ended up walking for thirty minutes and running for thirty minutes.  I am definitely improving in distance and time.  I’ve been steadily heading back down to goal (again) since early December and all the extra exercise I’m getting at soccer practice is helping.  We had dinner and Family Home Evening when we got home and worked on filling out our Valentines as our activity.  I made Arlo a monster-box to collect his valentines in, and also made coloring valentines for his class, I think they turned out really cute.

Helen had Girls on the Run practice on Tuesday after school and she is really enjoying it.  I’m proud of how enthusiastic she is about participating and I love hearing her brag about how far she ran.  We had soccer practice for the girls after that and I walked and ran around the soccer fields for an hour and a half while Arlo played and the girls practiced.    The younger kids were excited to celebrate Valentine’s Day at school on Wednesday and came home with a lot of fun cards and candy.  We had dinner at Nana’s and enjoyed our visit.  The kids played games with Nana before it was time to head home and get ready for bed. 

Since it rained pretty much all day Wednesday and Thursday, soccer practice was cancelled and we got to stay in together.  I went over to Sadie’s Thursday evening to help her with a computer related conundrum and she treated me to a lash lift and tint.  It’s so fun to try new things.  She basically permed my eyelashes into a pretty curved shape and then dyed them so that it always looks like I’m wearing mascara.  Neat stuff!  I've had a facial with Sadie as well and she is just awesome, you should really make an appointment to see her at Experiences Salon in Green Valley (over by Manuel's; then treat yourself to lunch #perfectday).

We had a busy, but productive Friday.  The kids had a half day and since Arlo gets home with the girls on those days, I was able to attend the temple in the morning without rushing.  After the temple I ran a few errands and then headed home.  I was three or four minutes late for the bus so the kids had already started walking home…in the mud.  Our road is pretty much trashed from the lovely rain and the kids made sure to walk in the muddiest parts.  

Helen and Arlo had dentist appointments in the afternoon and I’m happy to report that everyone is cavity-free!  Arlo has a loose tooth in the front that is hanging on by a thread, the adult tooth has actually surfaced behind it already.  The dentist told him he needs to get busy wiggling it out!  When we were done at the dentist I dropped the kids off back home and I went to dinner with Gretchen and Sadie.  We had a nice dinner and then visited back at Sadie’s house for a while before I headed home.  The kids were still up watching a movie when I got home.

The rain continued into Friday night and when I got up on Saturday morning we had thick fog around the property.  I couldn’t see any of the other houses and by around 7:30 I couldn’t even see our front gate from my kitchen window.   

 We were out of the house before eight, heading to Vail Pride Day at the fairgrounds.   Felicity’s band performed first thing in the morning and they were really wonderful.  Later in the morning Helen’s choir performed and it was really cute also.   

 Because our soccer games were cancelled, we stayed for a while and visited the classroom displays and found the kids’ contributions, ate kettle corn, jumped on the jumping castles, and spent time holding animals in the petting zoo.  I picked up some information for a local 4H Club that I think the kids would really like to participate in.  We finished up around noon and then went into Tucson for lunch and to hit up Sam’s Club for school lunch items.  Arlo managed to wiggle out his loose tooth in the car and earned himself a treat!

After Sam’s Club we stopped at the temple and walked the grounds together.  Arlo enjoyed smelling all the pretty flowers.  When we were done at the temple we went grocery shopping before heading home.  Once home, we had some chores to do around the house including cleaning out the car and vacuuming the now dried mud from the seats.  We started laundry and cleaned up and I was able to dig three new tree holes before the sun went down.  When we were done we cuddled on the couch together and finished off our kettle corn and watched “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”.  It was a full day!

We baked some cupcakes on Sunday morning and then headed off to church where we enjoyed our meetings.  After church we went to Nana and Papa’s to have dinner and celebrate my dad’s birthday.  We got to experiment with the air fryer that Nana got for Christmas and tried French fries, onion rings, and shrimp.  It was good!  Luckily on Sunday afternoon the road crew was out leveling, filling, and plowing our road so that when we drove home on Sunday night it was far less treacherous. 

As a side note,  I read A Wrinkle in Time this week because Felicity loved it so much and just insisted I read it.  I didn't like it.  I had a hard time plowing through it, it did not capture my interest at all.  I spent most of the book annoyed, I didn't find any of the characters endearing, and I hated the constant, never letting up "what the hell is going on here" plot.  Anyway, just my two cents;  I know that probably isn't the most popular opinion, but I'm with the dozens of early publishers who turned it down, meh.   On the bright side,  I’m looking forward to whatever adventures next week brings us!

Arlo smelling the flowers at the temple

11 February 2018

It was a fabulous week at Two Jack Ranch.  We were really busy, but it was a good busy with a lot of fun things happening.  Felicity stayed at school late on Monday to have a sectional with her fellow flutists. She walked to Nana and Papa’s when she was done since I had to have Arlo at soccer practice at 4:30.  He had a great time practicing with his team and is doing so well.  He’s really enjoying learning to play soccer.  Helen came with us and played at the park and I walked and then ran around the track.

I took time off on Tuesday morning and went to the temple with my friend Dina.  It was nice to go as I haven’t been recently.  She drove and so I double checked to make sure I had everything I needed before I left the house.  Well, my wallet fell out of my purse in my car on the way to meet her, so when we got to the temple, I didn’t have my recommend.  Luckily they were able to just look it up when we got inside which was nice.  We had lunch when we were done with one of Dina’s cousins who coincidentally was at the temple at the same time.  I got Felicity and Arlo off the bus in the afternoon and then we gathered all of our soccer stuff together and picked Helen up from school as she was doing Girls on the Run.  Felicity had soccer from 5-6 and I ran her over to the church for Activity Days when she was done while Helen had her practice from 5:30-6:30.  When she was done, I took her to Activity Days and then I stayed for mutual at 7 to help the boys sew sacks for trek.  They actually did better than the girls in my humble opinion and I was happy to be able to help.

Felicity and I went to the orthodontist on Wednesday morning and she got new brackets on the last two teeth that needed to be tied in.  In the evening Helen had choir practice and while we waited for her to get done, Felicity worked on some requirements for her Faith in God award.  Faith in God is a primary program for girls ages 8-11.  They participate in activities that help them develop gospel habits such as praying, reading the scriptures, and living gospel standards.  They do activities related to learning and living the gospel, serving others, developing talents, and preparing for Young Womens.  Felicity has been checking off activities since she was eight and now that she’s getting ready to graduate from Primary in April, she wants to wrap up the last few requirements so that she can earn her Faith in God award.  Wednesday night she checked off two experiences: she planned, prepared, and served a nutritious meal and she led our Family Home Evening lesson about the Sacrament.

We had a spaghetti dinner thanks to Felicity and enjoyed our Family Home Evening lesson.  When we were done with that we had an ice cream sandwich treat and played a board game called Book of Mormon Jungle Journey.  We had a fun time!

The kids had a half day on Thursday and I had to come home early to get them off the bus and then head back to work for an afternoon meeting.  When I was done with my meeting, I went to the school for Parent/Teacher conferences.  I met with Arlo’s teacher first and we had a very nice conference.  He’s doing so well in school and I’m really proud of him.  Helen’s conference was equally as good.  She is also doing really well and has adjusted to a new school and new set of friends.  I’m grateful for good reports!  Everyone had soccer practice in the afternoon.  Arlo went to the park with Nana and I took the girls to Cottonwood Elementary in Rita Ranch for their practice.  Luckily I had started dinner in the crockpot in the morning since we seem to be eating dinner at 7 o’clock on Thursday nights!

 The kids had another ½ day on Friday and I worked from home.  Friday evening the girls stayed with their dad and Arlo stayed home since he had an early morning soccer game and birthday party on Saturday.  I took him over to Sadie’s where she had a babysitter since we had plans to go out.  She and I went for a manicure and dinner to celebrate her birthday.  It was a wonderful time.

Arlo had his first real soccer game on Saturday morning and he had so much fun.  He played aggressively and seemed to have a really good time.  His team won 4-0 and he got to score once and also play goalie.   

 We got Arlo a haircut, went grocery shopping, and out to lunch when the game was over.  The sisters also had games on Saturday and I heard they had fun too.  After shopping, Arlo had a birthday party to attend at the park and it was so windy!  The kids didn’t seem to mind and all the little boys had a blast.  I dropped him off in Tucson with his dad when the party was over and then I picked up my grandma and took her to dinner.  We went to Olive Garden and had a very nice dinner and visit.  When I finally got home I had to get my laundry and house cleaning done, so that’s what I worked on.  I felt a little anxious that I didn’t get any work done in the yard this weekend.  I got three new trees delivered this week from Trico’s “Trees for Tucson” program that need to go in the ground and I’m nowhere near ready to put my garden in, but it was also a Saturday well spent with people I love, so I’m not going to worry about it too much.  The trees, a fig and two pomegranates, will be around next weekend for planting.

My Sunday was very nice and I enjoyed my meetings.  I practiced with the ward choir after the block and had a nice time, then I was able to drive into Tucson and pick up the kids.  We read together when we got home and bathed.  We are working on The Horse and His Boy.  Then it was time to head to bed to start a new busy week. 

04 February 2018

It was a great week and we accomplished a lot.  Monday found us back at the park for Arlo’s soccer practice in the afternoon.  I came prepared with my running gear and ran the track while he practiced.  I did 20 minutes of running and then walked 15 and then ran another 25 minutes.  It’s slow going, but I’m going.  I’m running the Girls on the Run 5K with Helen in April so I want to get my body used to running again, and hey, it’s good for me.

Tuesday was a bit of a scramble.  I was late picking up Felicity and Arlo from the bus stop because another of the tires on the car was flat when I went to leave.  When I got to the bus stop, I realized that Helen had left her sneakers in the car.  We had to drive to Copper Ridge to drop off her shoes as she was doing Girls on the Run after school.  When we were done with that we hurried home to get the girls’ soccer equipment.  Then back to the school to pick up Helen and then we hurried into town to get some soccer cleats for Helen.  The girls had their practice at the middle school and I ran again; a little longer and a little faster this time.  Arlo played while they had practice. 

We put our names into the draw for elk tags this week.  Because Helen will be ten when the season opens, she will be able to hunt this year too if she completes her hunter’s education courses.  She is really excited to go.  We’ll see how it turns out!  I spent Wednesday morning at WalMart waiting for them to fix the tire.  After two hours of waiting they told me they couldn’t find the leak.  He put some extra sealant around the rim and sent me on my way.  Helen had choir practice after school and then when she came home she and I put her science fair project together.  She was really proud of how it turned out, I hope it does well by the judges.

This week marked 8 years since I was hired at Raytheon.  It’s a little hard to believe that it has been that long, especially since it was originally supposed to be a short-term gig!  I am grateful for my job and the opportunities it has afforded my family to live comfortably and with security.   All three kids had soccer practice on Thursday and so I’m grateful that my mom was able to help me out.  She met us at the park and stayed with Arlo for his practice while I took the girls to their practice in Rita Ranch.  I ran the perimeter of the field while the girls played from 5-6:30.    It was dark by the time we were done, so I picked up dinner on the way to get Arlo and then head home.  I had signed up to help clean the temple on Thursday night, but it was too late by the time we got home, especially since I needed to shower first.  Oh, well, next time.

I cleaned house on Friday morning after getting everyone on the bus.  After getting Arlo home in the early afternoon a couple members from the Relief Society Presidency came to visit me, just as a getting to know you-type visit.  It was nice.  Felicity had a scrimmage game Friday evening at 5 and Arlo and Helen went with Nana and their cousin Jaidyn to play at McDonald’s.  Felicity’s team did alright in their first scrimmage even though they had only practiced together a few times.  She and I met the others when we were done and had something to eat.  While we were at McDonald’s, Arlo got bumped in the face and his nose started to bleed.  I got it stopped and him cleaned up fairly well and then started to clean the floor and anywhere else he had dripped.  While I was in the process of that, he sneezed on one of the climb-on toys spraying it with mucus and blood (cringe).  In route to getting a Clorox wipe to clean that up I hear another child loudly questioning “what’s on my shirt? Why am I all wet?”.  He had fully laid down on the toy in the literal 5 seconds it took me to get up and head for the wipes and had blood all over the back of his shirt.  So, horribly embarrassed, I’m trying to wipe it off of him while apologizing to his father and eyeing the toy, praying no one else heads over there before I can get it cleaned off.  Awck!  Being a mom is sometimes a really gross and mortifying job.  Once I had cloroxed everything in the play area that Arlo may have come in contact I hurried my brood out into the parking lot before we caused any more HAZMAT incidents…we were done!  We did run to the grocery store to do the grocery shopping before heading home, I figured I was already in town, no need to come down the road again tomorrow!

I was up early on Saturday morning and started working on my taxes.  I had been subconsciously putting it off since I knew this year was going to be a little more complicated since I bought and sold a house.  As predicted, they took me a while.  The good news is, it looks like I’ll be getting a return, hopefully.  We received a first time home buyer credit in 2008 that was in reality a zero interest government loan that I had started to pay back in 2010.  I pay a portion back every year as part of my taxes.  Since I sold the house and took a loss on it, as compared to the original purchase price I was no longer on the hook to pay back the credit.  At least I hope I interpreted that correctly!  I guess we’ll find out in a few weeks! 

I headed outside to work when I was done.  I had hoped to get more accomplished, but ended up having to do some maintenance work instead of making immediate headway on some new projects.  I had to fix my windmill again, the new tree had been nibbled by rabbits so I had to add more chicken wire to the base, and the tarp over the chicken coop needed to be re-secured.  When I was done with the re-work, I dug two new tree wells and planted my peach and nectarine trees and worked to level a piece of ground in the garden and prepped it for laying a concrete footing.  I moved a few loads of landscape rock, the chore that is taking me forever.  The kids were happily playing with the neighbor kids most of the afternoon.  I really love that I feel more secure letting them roam a bit, including to the adjacent property where they have made friends with the kids that live there.  I had maybe 7 or 8 kids in the yard, on the trampoline, and playing freeze tag.  It made me happy.  I was completely exhausted when I was done and even though I had made plans to go to a party for a friend’s birthday, after I had my shower I was content to lay on the couch with the kids and watch a movie.

Sunday morning I helped Felicity complete some tasks toward her goal of completing the requirements for her Faith in God award.  I also worked on last week’s blog post as I seem to perpetually be a week behind!  Last week when I met with the bishop’s counselor, I was extended two callings for which I was sustained on Sunday afternoon during Sacrament meeting.  I will be serving in the Relief Society as the Music Leader and a Visiting Teaching District Supervisor.  Ah! Nice and easy.  I think it will be a nice way to continue our transition into our new ward.  After church, we went to Nana and Papa’s to visit, have dinner, and to a lesser degree, watch the Super Bowl.  We had a nice time.  When it was time to leave the stupid tire, the one that had the un-findable hole, was flat again.  So we waited an extra thirty minutes or so pumping it back up…I know what I’ll be doing on Monday morning!

28 January 2018

It was a full week on the ranch.  Monday morning I had an appointment to donate blood at work.  I feel like donating blood to the Red Cross is such an easy way to offer service in the community.  That and it’s the only way to get them off my back for a while; I get a lot of reminder calls for upcoming drives because I have one of the more rare blood types.  I headed over to the blood-mobile first thing in the morning and donated double reds , which means they take two units of red blood cells instead of one unit of whole blood.  Basically, they take a unit of blood, spin it through a centrifuge to separate out the red blood cells and return the plasma and platelets through the needle along with some saline solution, then they do it a second time.  It takes a little longer and boy does it make you cold since the saline and other blood products coming back in are at room temperature, but overall it’s a pretty simple, painless process.

Arlo started soccer practice on Monday afternoon and had so much fun.  I really think he’s going to love it.  I walked around the track while he had practice, getting my own exercise in!  Monday evening we had Family Home Evening and read and discussed the First Presidency message from the New Era magazine this month.  We had an angel food cake as our treat and played two new games.  “Feed the Cat” which I think was a little lame and “Hiss” which was a lot of fun.  There was riotous laughing before the end of the evening.

The girls had soccer practice on Tuesday.  The two teams had chosen to do their practices around the same time and on the same day, but at two different schools.  I was able to persuade one of the teams to switch the location so that going forward the girls will be at the same field on the same days.  I was also able to walk on Tuesday during practice while Arlo played on the playground.  We had a half day on Wednesday and I let the kids play hooky from school instead of going in for only half of the day.  They played outside on the trampoline and rode their bikes and made a mess with the LEGOs.  I worked from home and it was a nice, low-key day.  Sometimes its fun to do things like that.  I had a dentist appointment in the afternoon and that went well.

On Thursday, Arlo had soccer practice and the girls played on the playground while my friend, Sadie, and I walked around the track.  When Arlo was done we headed over to Copper Ridge for Helen’s 4^th grade musical.  It was entitled “Blast Off” and she had the part of Aristotle.  She was tickled to wear the costume I made for her, especially the beard.  It was a cute performance and she did a great job.  Felicity had bought a copy of A Wrinkle in Time over the Christmas break and started it this week.  She read ravenously all week in her spare time, I love it when they find a book they enjoy and can really get into. 

When I got to the bus stop on Friday I had yet another flat tire.  I have not gone through as many tires in my lifetime as I have in the six months we’ve lived out at our ranch.  I really need a truck again and have been giving some very serious thought to either trading in the car or picking up a used truck.  Anyway, I put the air pump on it while I waited for the bus and when the kids got off the bus and I took the pump off the tire, and I could hear the air leaking out.  I only made it about a mile down the road before it was completely flat and I had to pull over and change it.  Every neighbor that drove by asked me if I wanted help, and while I took care of it just fine on my own, I am grateful to live in a place where everyone is willing to stop and help. 

Friday evening the kids went to their dad’s to visit and Sadie picked me up for our monthly girls’ night.  We went to another friend’s house and had dinner, played with makeup and chatted way too late into the night.  When we were done, Sadie dropped me off at my parent’s house and I drove my dad’s truck home.   

Saturday morning I took the flat tire to Walmart to fix, but I ended up having to replace it.  I did my grocery shopping while I waited.  I also bought three trees while I was at Walmart, I just couldn’t resist.  I got a peach, an apricot, and a nectarine.  When I got back home I put the new tire on the car and then planted one of the trees in the hole left by the evergreen tree I pulled up a few weeks ago.  I finished moving all of the large river rock from the side of the driveway and made four new tree wells.  I didn’t dig them out as I need to figure out where my utility lines run first.  I moved a few wheelbarrow loads of landscape rock, that project is coming along slowly but surely.  I didn’t get the other two trees planted yet, I think I’m going to put them in the back between the chicken coop and the garden.  I worked until it got dark and then went in for dinner and a shower.  I did a little house cleaning and laundry before heading to bed.

My Sunday was very nice.   I enjoyed my church meetings and met and talked to a few new people. The kids were excited to come home and tell me about their weekend.  We have another busy week coming up with more soccer practice, a couple of parties, and Helen’s science fair project due.  Wish us luck!