Icicle dreams

Yesterday we traversed the green verdant fields of California, the steep snowing canyons of the Sierra Nevadas, the high desert that is uniformly the color of mushrooms this time of year and landed back in our dreamy Pleasant Hill.

The icicles weren't exactly welcoming, but Adam knocked them down.

We unpacked and ate dinner sitting at the counter.  We talked about how we could improve the lighting.  We sat by the fire and Adam finished reading our book aloud.  

The moonlight made the icicles outside the window above our bed glisten and shine.  I've always thought it was magical sleeping under a full moon.

This morning the sun was lighting up the icicles.

Today Adam is going to do some work and I have a list of projects to feather our nest around here.

If we can't have spring, we might as well have icicles.

Guh, Guh, Guh!

Yesterday was more time with QE.  We hung out at their apartment and played at the little playground and just watched her, which is very entertaining.  Braeden got home from class and QE was sleeping so I stayed with her and everyone else went to Mr. Pickles, a sandwich shop Adam and I discovered, and brought back sandwiches for lunch.  They are the best sandwiches I've ever had!  

I read to QE and she was very calm and seemed sleepy so Anna was ready to put her to sleep and Adam and I snuck out to let her nap before the next adventure.

She didn't nap.  She just kept saying, "Guh, Guh, Guh!"

We went back over and our girl was a little delirious in her overtired state.  (She reminds us so much of Emma!  Adam calls her Emma a lot.  Emma acted the same way when she was overtired.)

Anna had a school assignment she hadn't realized was due so soon, so we took Braeden and QE on an adventure.  We drove over beautiful green farmland to Yuba City and walked around the Feather River temple which will be dedicated later this summer.  It is beautiful, like all temples are.  QE had slept on the way so she was ready to party.

We drove to Lincoln to a Chinese restaurant that was highly recommended by Cameron, who works with Adam and grew up around there.  He told Adam he has had his mom overnight him food from there.

Braeden loved it and said he wanted Cameron's mom to send him food from there too.

There was a nine month old baby at the table next to ours and she and QE were very interested in each other.  She is just a happy and friendly baby!

I had sat in the back on the ride there and Adam sat in the back on the ride back.  (Next to the carseat is prime real estate.) Braeden drove us back to their apartment.  Usually I don't really like riding with our kids driving (and they don't like it either).  Braeden is I guess a fully grown up man now, because I didn't mind riding with him driving at all.  We listened to music and talked and it was so good to be with our boy.  I told him I was proud of him and the way he is living his life.

He said, "Well, I married really well.  That helped me a lot."

I said, "She married well too."

What else is his mom going to think?

We said our good-byes and were melancholy grandparents heading back to our hotel.  Today we will head back to Nevada and snow.  Braeden is so busy with school and work and we don't want to stay too long and disrupt their lives too much.  Company and fish start to smell after three days.

Still.  

It's hard to leave those three.  

At the Feather River temple, Braeden held QE up above the construction fence and showed her the temple.  I told her that because of temple covenants, we were all sealed together forever.

What a blessing that is!

Weekend + Monday

Last week Adam got his brakes and some other work done on his car.  Friday when he was driving home from work, all the electrical warnings started flashing on his dashboard and the safety sensors were shut off and cruise control wouldn't work.

We were supposed to leave the next morning.

Early, Adam got up, put on his Subaru shirt for luck, and went to a Subaru dealership.  The guy said he couldn't have a technician look at it until Tuesday, but he climbed under and jostled the wires and everything worked again.

We loaded up and headed to Nevada.  We were about an hour away from home when everything started happening again.

Instead of going to Starr Valley, we went to Elko and went to Les Schwab.  They said it needed to be plugged in and they fixed it.

So we were happy about that and headed to Starr Valley.  When we pulled into our driveway, all the warning lights came back on again!

We unpacked and listened to conference (we listened to conference while we drove too).  

After the Saturday evening session, we went to Marianne's for my mom's birthday party.  Carolina had made this amazing meal (complete with a sugar free dessert since my mom isn't eating sugar).  We enjoyed ourselves and visited and everyone told what they loved about my mom and I cried.  At one point, Edgar went outside and came back.  

Out in the dark and cold and snow, he'd climbed under our car and took a picture and investigated and figured out what was wrong.  (Too bad we hadn't had Edgar from the start!)

The next morning we went to my parents' house before the Sunday morning conference.  Edgar met us there too and he used this special glue my dad had and repaired the plug, which was cracked.

We were on the road and everything has been working fine!

We enjoyed listening to all the sessions of conference we heard.  It is so wonderful to hear from our leaders.  I felt strengthened and encouraged and happy.

We realized there was a Safeway in Lovelock so we decided to stop there and get something for lunch.  We went into the Safeway, which was retro and tiny and had neither a deli nor a bakery so it wasn't much of a lunch option.

I looked on Trip Advisor and saw there was a Pizza Factory with a lunch buffet.  It had pizza and a salad bar.  So that seemed good.

Then we pulled in and it looked like this.  I was not in favor of going in, but you can see that Adam was.

We walked into the liquor store, which had two tables in the corner for the "lunch buffet."  There was a cold pizza under a light and a small salad bar.  Adam said we'd take two lunch buffets and he went to use the bathroom.

So there I was, not wanting to eat there, but not sure where else we were going to eat.  Besides, I had seen on the sign outside that the price had changed and they had covered the old price with a piece of cardboard.  Then the price had changed again and they'd covered the cardboard with a piece of paper.  Maybe we should just eat before they covered the paper with another smaller piece of paper.

I put salad on my flimsy paper plate and sat at one of the tables.  The guy came and told me, "We don't have a soda machine, you can pick something there."  He indicated a gray plastic tub halfway filled with warm soda cans.  

I picked a Coke Zero and humbly asked for some ice.  The guy brought me two cups with ice.  We ended up not using one of them and I only took one drink of my soda.  It tasted bad.  Adam checked the bottom of the can and it had expired in September.

I guess they don't get a lot of customers willing to root through the tub of warm soda....

The guy asked what kind of pizza we wanted and Adam said, "Make whatever is your favorite."

He made us a combo pizza and it wasn't bad.  So all in all, it wasn't a terrible lunch.  It just wasn't a good lunch.

And it was memorable.

Driving over the Sierras was also memorable.  So. Much. Snow.

We drove through miles of snow canyons.  I hope it melts in a measured way!

We finally got to Braeden and Anna's.  It was wonderful to see them and to see the Queen of Everything (QE).  She is walking now and gabbing about everything.  She recognized us and was happy to see us, which is pretty much the best feeling in the world.  How can this grandparent gig just keep getting better? I don't know, but I'm here for it!

We ate dinner with them and visited for awhile and read a little to QE (although she was too busy to sit for long).

Monday morning, Braeden texted that she kept saying Guh, Guh, Guh insistently.  That is her all purpose word for grandparents.  She says it when she sees us and when she sees the Carlsons too.

She took her morning nap and then Adam and I took her out on the town.  Braeden had school stuff and Anna had a test to take for the masters degree she is working on.  

We couldn't have been happier with our role.  We went to a sandwich shop for lunch.  Anna had packed lunch for her, but I gave her little bits of avocado and tomato from my sandwich too and she loved them like the little California baby that she is.

From there we went to Target and bought her some shoes and a ball.  Geri had texted us that she thought QE needed a ball.  Like I told Adam, we are novices at this grandparent gig.  We might as well learn from the experts. 

She loved her ball.  She's not quite interested in rolling it back and forth on the floor, but she loved carrying it around and talking about it.  She wasn't quite sure about the shoes.  She walked like someone had attached cement blocks to her feet.

Adam had a little bit of work to do, so we went back to our hotel.  I found some measuring spoons in the kitchen and they kept her entertained.  I was sitting with her on the little couch in our room and Adam had his back to her, sitting at the desk.  She kept trying to get his attention and he would turn around and she would erupt in a big smile and say, "Guh Guh Guh!"

It was the cutest thing I've ever seen.

We got her home in time for her nap, then went back to our hotel for me to take a nap and for Adam to do more work.  One of us is lazier than the other, is what I'm saying.

We had dinner with them again and then took a walk and had a FaceTime call with Stella from a park.  Pretty much the whole town feels like a park.  It's lovely here.

Earlier we had been driving around and Adam said, "Maybe we should buy one of these these little houses and move here."  I could be a teacher here and Adam could work remotely and QE could come over every day.

It's tempting.

I totally understand people moving to live by their grandchildren.

Grateful Friday

Yesterday my class noticed that I'd put up an Easter decoration.  I was filled with regret because they got so riled up about it.

Discussion ensued:

Was the Easter Bunny real or not.

Was the Easter Bunny creepy or not.

What were we doing to celebrate Easter in class?  Were we having a party?  Is today Easter?!?

Easter is on a Sunday.  On April 9.

Is it always on Sunday?

Why is it on Sunday?

Why can't we have school on Easter?

All from a Mary Engelbreit Easter picture that has never caused any discussion in the past.

I'm grateful we won't have school on Easter.

I'm grateful for spring break and conference weekend and a road trip with Adam and Easter with our family.  It feels like a lot to look forward to and I'm here for it.

Last night Adam and I went to Salt Lake (which was noble of Adam because he'd just been to Salt Lake).  Adam dropped me off and then found wifi to work and Emma and I went shopping for her birthday that was in February.  I was seated on a comfy chair outside the dressing rooms and Emma came out with a big smile because she liked the clothes and it made it all worth it.

Making my children happy is the best.

Adam came back and we ate dinner at Cupbop and then Emma went home and Adam and I bought my birthday gift.  It was a birthday sort of evening.

My laptop is ten years old and I got a new one!

Yesterday there was driving snow on two occasions.  A complete whiteout that drew my students out of their chairs and had them pressing their faces against the window.

"Sit down," I said.  "I know you've seen snow before."  We've.  All.  Seen.  Snow.

I'm grateful it won't last forever.

It won't last forever, right?

Tired

Two days ago I was mad (and sad).  Yesterday I was just tired.

So tired.

My class had library and as usual, the librarian stopped reading aloud to my class because they could. Not. Be. Quiet.

They seriously can't.

After library she said, "I've never seen anything like it."

Same.

She hugged me and told me I was doing a great job and it was almost spring break.

No one has ever been more ready for spring break in the history of the world.

After school we were talking about what the third grade class should do for the dance festival.  Miriam had an idea.  My class is the weak link.  She said, "Do you think they could do it?"

My student teacher laughed out loud.  Then she looked a little shamefaced, like she shouldn't have been quite so honest.

But she is not wrong.

sigh

Yesterday my student teacher said, "I read that article about the shooting in Nashville.  I knew I shouldn't read it."

I said, "I know.  But you couldn't not read it?"

She said, "Yes."

Three nine year old children were shot and killed and we spend our days with 8 and 9 year old children.

More children die from gun violence than any other cause now.  I guess it would be different if there was a powerful lobby of we-don't-want-to-use-carseats-and-seatbelts people donating millions of dollars to political campaigns.  Since there isn't such a lobby, we've managed to pass laws to make children safer in cars.

We are unable/unwilling to protect them when they are at school.  Same goes for the teachers.

Thoughts and prayers; you're on your own.

I would never bring up these shootings with my students and I hope they don't find out either.  The smartest of them would realize it could happen anywhere; it could happen to us.  We have our facade of lockdown drills, but we are sitting ducks.

I'll just do the only things I know how to do.  I'll pray.  I'll keep showing up.  I'll read aloud to them and keep an eagle eye at recess.  I'll turn one end of the jumprope and teach them jumprope chants I knew in elementary school.

I'll vote.

Confusion reigned

I talked to my dad on the way home from school and he told me that 1) he'd plowed us out so we could get propane delivered at Pleasant Hill, and 2) the gauge read 80% so maybe they already brought propane?  But he didn't see any tracks (so they are stealthy) and it is at 80% so if they did fill it up, maybe we have a leak.

I got home and Adam's car was in the garage, which made me very happy.  I had a headache all day and I'd taken some Excedrin at lunchtime, which sometimes makes me feel all better and sometimes makes me feel really loopy and this was one of the loopy times.  Adam's car in the garage made me feel better.

Except Adam wasn't home.

Mark was home, working.  I asked him between phone calls where his dad was and why his car was in the garage.  

Mark didn't know but had a vague notion that there had been a white Honda in the driveway at some point.

So was Adam kidnapped?!?

His phone showed he was still Salt Lake and Mark got another phone call, so I was left to puzzle that out on my own.

I called one of my besties at Wells Propane.

She said, "Yes, your tank was filled up on 3/23."

I said, "My dad said it is at 80%, so do you know how much it was filled?"

She said, "It was filled up.  I think they put 50% in."

I said, "50% or filled up?"

She said, "Yes."

I said, "It says 80% now."

She said, "Yes, we filled it up."

I wondered if there was a hidden camera somewhere watching me.

I said, "I don't understand.  Isn't 100% filled up?"

She said, "We don't fill it up all the way so it can expand when it gets warm."

Ahh.

Then I went to take a nap.  The nap didn't take, Mark got finished with work and we theorized about Adam's whereabouts.  

Finally, Adam called me.  Mark said, "Put it on speaker phone."

I said, "Adam, have you been kidnapped?!?"

He said, "No."

Mark said, "Say something only Adam would know."

Adam said, "There's a logical explanation."

And there was.  It involved his coworkers and the WGU car.  

Our theories were much more interesting though.