The Weepies AGAIN - joy!

I know it can’t be that interesting for anyone to read what I have to say about going to see my favorite band in concert.  This must be especially true when I have already seen the band twice before and I think I blogged about them then too.  Sorry, can not help it.  The Weepies came to Salt Lake and I got to go. Always something to celebrate and something I will want to remember.  They played in a different venue this time - at The Venue in down town SLC - they’ve only ever come to The State Room before.  Of course, it wasn’t exactly great timing.  The came on a Tuesday night, the night before Skippidy’s birthday, in the middle of an extremely hectic last week of school…by 5pm that day I was already kinda wiped out. But I managed to pull myself together and go out with my husband to see a very wonderful band.  We had such a nice evening together.  We got there a little early, wandered around, listened to a fun opening band duo called Silent War who had delicious harmonies.  We bumped into our very tall friends the Ensigns and were so happy to see them - not only because they were right up against the stage and were happy to let us stand in front of them.  We also really enjoy their company.  I felt a little guilty taking their front row spots but they reminded me that even with us standing right in front of them they had a perfectly clear view of the stage.  They are very very tall.  And the show was fantastic.  Lead singer Deb has recently recovered from breast cancer and I was so happy to see her healthy and singing.  She has a smile like an angel, she really does.  There is something absolutely magic that happens when she smiles.  And her sweet husband is the other half of the duo - what a great pair.  Wish we were neighbors.

Merry Month of May - End of the Year Festivities

Oh mamma I don't know how I'm going to blog about all of this.  May, especially the end of May, is just so packed with delights and stresses and wonderful things and demanding things that it's hard to ....sit down at your computer and write about them.  I'll try.

One festive thing was our annual Arts Showcase at our wonderful elementary school.  I cannot say much about this, but this year has been a stressful one with a change in leadership and some conflicting approaches to events at the school - a massive year of change that brought with it some unpleasant drama.  Despite all that I felt that the Showcase turned out beautifully.  Impressive, fun; a rewarding night after the bazillion hours and ounces of energy that were poured into it.  I'm so grateful to be a part of a school so dedicated to children and art.

Only a week or two after the massive showcase came a very hectic weekend indeed which involved the end-of-year Family Fun Fest Carnival, plus cooking a Korean feast for our Poetry Group the following evening and on top of those two things, an unexpected visit from the St. Georgians.  We haven't had them up in a while and weren't sure we'd get to see them before our big family trip at the end of June and suddenly they just decided it was a great weekend to come up!  I'm so glad they did...I don't like going very long without seeing them.  I wasn't able to give them as much attention as I would have liked since the weekend was already rather over-scheduled, but the time we did get together was super pleasant.  I'm so glad they were able to come to the carnival....where we did not take very many pictures.

On Saturday we spent the morning at the zoo of course, but the best part of the day for me was going to the library.  Every summer our local library puts on a massive summer reading program, complete with a theme each year, great books and prizes, and lots of fun activities.  That Saturday was the kick-off event with a huge party out on the plaza of the main library downtown.  I really really wanted to go - this year's theme is superheroes and I heard about all sorts of fun.  However, by the time it was 2:00 we were all so hot and tired already and just couldn't face the thought of more hours in crowded hot places.  So I convinced my kids that we should stop by one of the smaller branches just to pick up our schedules and sign up for the programs.  What I didn't know what that the small branch was hosting a kick-off party of its own, and it was in a quiet cool basement with very few visitors there -  and there were several really really fun things to do.  I quickly called Peter and had him haul two of his daughters in and we played for at least an hour, maybe more.  There was even a photo booth - total kill.  I counted it as a great moment of serendipity to find that party that was fun, creative and not in the hot sun.

The kids got to make masks and capes and wrist cuffs - I'm serious, the librarian who did all this is amazing.

I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that my Cap got into the scene as well, but I kind of was

Here's Skippidy playing one of the several super-hero games - this one being a diaper tossing game in honor of Captain Underpants.  Also available was an obstacle course to be completed while rolling and steering Professor X's wheelchair.

I'm just sorry I don't have the Photo Booth pix scanned because they were awesome.

I'm noticing I don't really have any pictures of the cousins here!  We really did have some nice times together despite the lack of photographic evidence.

Oh, I did get one photo.  Actually Sheri texted it to me just after she and her family had pulled away in their van on Sunday afternoon.

A WEE BIT of exciting news.  I think they were waiting all weekend to see if we'd say something about Sheri's tiny little bulge...we didn't.  I didn't even notice it!  So that was a bombshell we got...a very happy one.  We're excited!! WHAT IF THEY HAVE A BOY!?!?!  Yea, I know.  They're totally having a girl.  Either way...I'm pretty excited.  

Merry Month of May - The Birthday Getaway

I'm feeling a little sheepish about admitting what great birthday I had this year.  I'm sheepish because a few months ago when Troy and I started thinking about what my wish list might include I initially thought of a new phone - my iPhone 5 is SO 2013.  That thought made me happy but another little thought kept entering my head.  I have writing goals.  Big writing goals.  It has been a major struggle for me to establish a regular writing time here at home - for some reason there is always something (or someone..., "Mom! Mom! Mom!!!") that needs my attention and is more important than sitting down and spending a few hours writing.  And I seem to need very quiet and clear head-space to enter the trance of writing - also kind of hard to come by at this time in life.  It occurred to me that maybe... just maybe... I should spend my birthday money not on a new thing that will distract me even further from writing, but to go away to a hotel for the weekend and bring some writing books and an iPad and indulge in entering the writing trance for as many hours as I could possibly stand.

I can't believe I actually did it.  I had to battle the guilty feelings pretty hard.  I felt like I was abandoning my family a bit and I felt like I might have accidentally sent the message to my family that what I wanted for my birthday was to not be with them.  That wasn't it, and I believe they understood.  I got a great hotel deal through hotwire.com and found myself at the Sheraton down town.  I admit that I was in a room with a sort of stinky view of 4th south instead of inward at the pretty courtyard, and I was way in the last corner of the building so that I was right by the custodial closet, but who cares.  I was in a very pleasant and comfortable little room and I pretty much just kept the blinds closed and soft lights on.  I got into pajamas and stayed in them for a major percentage of my 2 night stay.  I enjoyed some very comfortable beds and pillows and big cushy comforters.  I just totally made a nest for myself - I even brought my own food so I barely left the room, except for two lovely long walks through down town Salt Lake.  I brought with me a book all about recovering creativity and just gobbled that up and have since been working through the twelve week program of creative restoration.  That has been wonderful. Here's a little snapshot of my bedside table and all the happy things there.  Journals, pens, novels, writing books and...yup, diet coke.

I also took....I think...FOUR baths.  And read half a novel.  And wrote things I felt proud of.

It was a GREAT weekend.

Troy was wonderful and the kids all reported also having a wonderful weekend with their dad.  Here he is taking the girls on a Saturday hike with friends.

He even braved church all by himself; our friends snuck this funny picture of Skippidy all zenned out on her daddy's lap:

I came back on Sunday afternoon, the day before my actual birthday, and I felt so peaceful and centered.  It was lovely to be back with my sweet little family, and I was even home in time to celebrate my actual birthday with them.   Since Memorial Day fell on my birthday this year, we got to have Daddy around all day, and we made a day of it.  I thought it might be fun to hit the zoo first thing.  It was pretty darn crowded, but we still had a good time.  The kids wanted to see the dinosaur exhibits that are there this summer and it seemed as good a day as any to do it.  We may have been wrong about that - even getting in the gate took some effort.  Once we were in though it wasn't so bad.  Do not ask me why Bitty was wearing her winter hat.  I do not know.

In the afternoon we headed to a gorgeous hillside park to enjoy the wafting clouds and the company of more friends.  The kids played and I kicked back on the grass while we munched on a slightly meager picnic.  Granola bars do not a luncheon make, but it was enough to keep everyone's energy up.

After the park we headed home and I got ready to go out to dinner with Troy.  A good friend had offered to watch the kids so he and I could go eat.  Troy and I spent a long time discussing where we'd like to go and finally started heading up to Ruth's Diner - or at least that's what I thought.  Troy dropped kids at our friend's, came home and picked me up, and then he said he needed to grab something from the church.  I am a total idiot, in case you weren't already aware.  I was clueless.  I was just like, whatever, ok, let's go grab whatever it is you need from the church.  I even told him I was going to stay in the car and he said, "Oh, come with me." Not even then did I have a hunch that there might be more than Troy's missing set of scriptures waiting in the building.  I just thought it was sweet that Troywanted to be with me on my birthday.  So we walk in the church, start heading up the stairs when I hear a very quiet thud above my head.  Wait a second....

Yep. My first ever surprise party.  I walked in that door and saw a dozen dear and beloved friends all standing there and shouting surprise and felt....really silly.  And really loved.  What a nice nice thing to have happen.  I'm very very blessed in friends.

I won't deny it.  That was one fantastic birthday.  I feel very grateful.  

Here's one poem I really enjoyed writing while in my cave/hotel/trance:

Approach of the Romping Husky

I see you coming

Yes, you, the trim little lady 

Out on your brisk walk

Beware

I see what you have there

At the other end of that leash

Which is frantically taut

So tightly clutched in your grip

I see those pointed ears

And smiling maw,

Tongue wagging in daffy delight

The prancing paws

Urgent in their quest for forward! faster!

You do not know what it takes to hold me back

Had I my choice

I'd be kneeling in the sidewalk's center

Nuzzling my face into impenetrable fur

Hands buried wrist deep in the stuff,

Scratching in all the right spots 

A wild roving beast of the arctic

Whose inner eye points only north and away

If you tempt him with enough rubby love

Or possibly a sausage

He may deem you worthy of a quick lick 

Before tugging ahead again

Ma'am, I'll try not to gush upon you

The tales of my own one-true-husky love

You're walking too quickly to want to hear

A thousand words or more of 

Alex Cornelius, husky extraordinaire,

Houdini of canines

A 14 year love story

Hairy and wiggling and wonderful

So just pass on by, my friend

You'll never know my restraint

Until you too one day

Must stand in your yard,

Holding back the rush of stories

Watching a husky trot by