Communal living at its finest

Last night I told my dad I was living the dream.

He asked, "What are you dreaming of?"

For lack of a better idea I said, "A white Christmas."

I have loved being here.  It's always relaxing.  Yesterday I walked with my mom and Olivia.  We saw my uncle Joe along the way and he stopped to say hello.  

He said, "Are you out checking on the neighborhood?"

We said yes.  Just making sure everything is going well.

It is. 

Joe said whenever he comes here in the summer he wonders why anyone would not want to live here.

He said he'd mentioned that to another neighbor, Marty, and she said, "Winter."

And that's valid.  Winter's are no joke.

I helped my mom a little with her scrapbook project and we quilted at Olivia's and I worked on my degree.  I told myself I was going to take a break from it, but I'm not anyone's idea of a great vacationer.

And even though I struggle to just be lazy, I have had a very good time.  I love seeing so much of my family all throughout the day.  This view from my chair is just calming and restorative.

Even when I'm working on my degree.

Vacation (ish)

 Yesterday was such a nice day!  I walked with Marianne and my mom, then I went to Marianne's and rearranged furniture and hung pictures on the wall.  I love both things.  

And now Marianne maybe has more empathy with my children. (Although I didn't insist on trying the third dresser placement idea I had.)

I stopped at my parents' house and my mom and I looked at a little family history and she showed me some of the work she's been doing on my dad's business scrapbooks.  

I spent most of the afternoon still hooked on the family history puzzle.  I am used to looking at British records and Kansas in the 1800s was way harder.  I realized that it was during Little House in the Prairie times and that made more sense why there weren't more records.

My mom and Olivia and I quilted with Olivia a bit, which is always lovely.

In the evening we convened at Marianne's.  I walked in and Marianne and Olivia were both on the couch with their laptops and I was supposed to bring mine and I forgot!

We sat down (me on my phone) and ordered tickets for the Traditional Cowboy Artist Association big art show in Oklahoma City that we're all going to in September.  You had to put a title on the order form and Marianne and I both put Mr. and Mrs. and Olivia put things like Honorable Olivia Cobian for her and different titles for Edgar and all her children.

I told her we weren't going to walk next to her.

Working on my schoolwork is a hard habit to break.  I may look at it a little this morning before we walk.

(I am not that great at vacations maybe.)

Weekend

 We are in Starr Valley.  It's nice to be here.

After Adam got home from meetings on Sunday, we packed up and hit the road.  We talked to Emma and Mark and Braeden and Anna (and QE) while we drove.  

Last night we went to visit my parents and Olivia and Lili came and then Marianne and Hyrum and Carolina came to visit.

It's always the happening place.

Our good luck of smokeless summers has passed.  It is hazy and smoky.  Hopefully it won't get worse.

Today I have declared myself on vacation and I am planning to stay away from my course (except I'm going to meet with Braeden today over the phone to talk about my research questions.

We're going to walk soon.  

It's good to be here.

Grateful Friday

I'm grateful for adult children.  I hung out with Emma a little last night and talked to Braeden on the phone (seeking help for data analysis--why is this my life?!?).

Adult children are pretty great.

I was talking to my friend, Jenn, at the ward party and we were talking about grandchildren and she said, "They just keep getting better, the older they get, just like our kids."

I agree.  The only trouble with adult children is when they move to California.

I'm grateful for Adam.  We're planning a quick trip to Nevada, just because.  I like spending time with that kid.

I'm grateful for my teacher team.  We sent about 30 text messages yesterday about a team t-shirt.  You know, priorities.

I am looking forward to a new school year.

I'm grateful for the steady progress I'm able to make on my degree pursuit.  Chipping away, always chipping away.

And I finished the basement!  (I mean, it was finished.  I finished organizing and cleaning it.)

Crashing reality

 Last night at our ward 24th of July party, I chatted with my friend Cortney.  I said something like, "How's your summer going?"

She said, "Fast.  We only have three weeks left."

She was right!  Three weeks from today is the first day of school!

I knew that but I didn't know that!

Usually by this point in the summer, all my brain is pointed toward school and this year my thoughts have been elsewhere and it has snuck up on me.

I told Adam this morning about my dream, "I didn't have any desks.  I was at school and there were no desks.  It was after lunch and I needed to go get my class but I was doing other stuff.  I wasn't ready at all."

Adam said, "I like how you didn't notice until after lunch that you had no desks."

My point exactly.  I don't feel ready!

On the rock our mothers planted

Firm as the mountains around us,

Stalwart and brave we stand

On the rock our fathers planted

For us in this goodly land—

The rock of honor and virtue,

Of faith in the living God.

They raised his banner triumphant—

Over the desert sod.

 

Today is Pioneer Day around here and I love it.  I grew up in the Great Basin and have pioneer ancestors so the 24th of July matters to me.  (It was barely a blip for Adam growing up in the Pacific Northwest and here I thought the whole church was having parades and ward parties.)

We're having parades and ward parties in Utah County.

I appreciate my ancestors who came here and set down roots and built something that I can benefit from.  

They were strong women who did good things.

We don't have to vanquish the same kinds of dangers, but my fellow sisters in Zion are here working together vanquishing all the same.

And these are strong women who do good things.

Emails and texts are flying about school. I work with the best women.

"Come to a BBQ at my house."

"I'll provide the burgers for the BBQ!"

"I'm going to make everyone a t-shirt.  What size?"

"Could anyone use this?"

They. Are. Amazing.  I would have crossed the plains with them.

One of our neighbors, Vickie, had a baby shower last night for another neighbor who none of us had met.  If you want something done well, ask Vickie.  She dropped off a cute invitation but also texted several times:  Hope you can make it!  

She wanted us to show up for our neighbor.  Forgetting was not an option.

I had ordered a gift from Amazon, but it did not arrive on time, so I went to Walmart yesterday afternoon to buy a gift.  I ran into Terri.  She was buying stuff for Girls Camp.  She is the leader and that almost (but not quite) makes me want to go.  Everything Terri does is top-notch.

In the baby section, I was pondering what to get for someone I know zero about.  I saw Jenn there.  She's another neighbor.  I said, "Are you here for the same reason as I am?"

She said yes.  She showed me the cute pink baby clothes she had picked out.  She wished me luck on my search for a gift and showed me again what she had.  "Don't get these!" she said.

The baby shower was lovely.  All the women except a few from our street and  three from the perpendicular street were there.  We got to know the soon to be new mother and she is very sweet.  

We decided when it is cooler we will have another neighborhood BBQ.  

When Adam was growing up, he said it was hard for him to get excited about the desert sod.

I love the desert sod and especially the people who live here with me.

My notebook runneth over

 I have one of those basic 70 page spiral bound notebooks that I have been using for my coursework this summer.

Friends, I am on the last page.

As in, I need a new notebook.

I wouldn't say I'm a copious note taker, but I am a note taker.  I like to write my notes more than type them because my brain connects to my handwriting.  Sometimes if I need to figure something out, I just need to write.

Adam acknowledges that I've done a lot of work this summer, but this morning he said he was kind of surprised by how fast I was going because he was comparing it to his master's degree.

Like I told him, no one is going to mistake a master's degree from Yale with a master's degree from WGU.

Still, it's been a lot.  My notebook is full and so is my brain.  I'm getting closer plus getting closer to school starting so I feel some urgency, but it's OK.

I have other notebooks.  And maybe I have more brain power?  Somewhere?