Logan has been taking drum lessons for almost a year now. This past Saturday we got to attend his first drum recital which had a number of great moments- the best being Logan's performance. As Logan stepped up to the drums (and he may have been the youngest student performing), I pulled out my trusty Mom camera only to realize it had a dead battery! Luckily another Mom saved me by video taping his performance and she even took some still shots! Thank goodness for the more organized Moms!
Greg is a drummer so Logan is fortunate to already have a great set of drums to practice on- something his Dad didn't get until his 30s! Clearly the boy has inherited his Dad's ear for music and skill for moving every body part at a different time while managing to keep the beat. Logan has caught on quickly and, like his Dad, can simply HEAR what is supposed to come next in the song and just intuitively knows what to do. It's fun to watch.
My second favorite moment was after the recital was over. I don't have photos or video but for a few minutes Greg and Logan played the drums together as there were two sets of drums on the stage. I loved watching my Man and my Boy improv on drums together. Watching Greg watch Logan play was a great joy too- you could just see the pride and pleasure that it brought him to share a love of music and performing music with our son.
The most touching moment of the recital was when a young adult with cerebral palsy worked his way to the stage and the drums with the assistance of his cane and prepared to play the drums. He was able to coordinate his moments well enough to play a pretty mean solo! His drumming was good but the look of sheer joy on his face as he performed was priceless! I'm not even his Mom and I was filled with pride watching him triumph!
Logan does NOT want to take the summer off. He gets upset if he has to miss a drum lesson. He not only drums but LOVES it the way his Dad loves it. And I love watching them both!
Greg and I made a quick trip to Southern Utah this weekend to help my Dad deliver some cabinets for a kitchen he is doing in St. George and Greg's new-to-him truck was just the thing to get those items there. The quick trip started off cheap and fun but didn't end on quite the same note.
On the way to our hotel in Mesquite (where the rooms are cheap and I lost $10 in 'stupid tax' in the Casino), we saw a pretty serious roll-over accident. It had only happened an hour or so before we got to the area and it was clear from the way the police were grouped at a site a few hundred yards away from the completely mangled vehicle that at least one person did not make it. It was sobering. We learned from the newspaper this morning that one of the people in the vehicle was ejected and died at the scene- just as we had surmised. Luckily, the other person in the car survived though I can't imagine how.
I always worry when Greg and I travel somewhere together. What if something happened to BOTH of us? We could instantly orphan our kids! I know it is sort of irrational but that little fear niggles at me on those rare times we get to go somewhere together without the kids. I was a bit worried before the trip but seeing that accident made me extra aware of how quick it can all be over.
Originally, I was going to drive down and back alone. It's not that far. However, it's busy season at work and I've had to do so many extra hours and I've had a couple of conferences lately and I just flat-out miss my Husband. I MISS him! Though he REALLY needed to spend the weekend studying for a huge exam he needs to take for school, he decided he didn't want me driving alone and so he came along and we tried to make a quick vacation of it.
On our way back this morning, we passed the accident site again and I said a little prayer for those involved- though I did not yet know their fate. Fast forward 100 miles and I was saying a little prayer for US that we would avoid the same fate!
While traveling at 80 miles per hour (the legal limit along the more rural stretches of road), our truck completely blew a tire! We didn't have much time to get off the road as rubber was flying and we couldn't get over to the right lane which meant we had to stop on the left side- the side without a decent shoulder. It took about 40 minutes to get the blown tire off the truck and the spare on. All the while I watched semis and other vehicles coming at us at 80 mph and hoping my lime green sweater would increase our visibility!
Did you know that if someone is changing a tire off the side of the road that it's common courtesy to move to the other lane if you can? So few cars did that even when they could have if they'd had the slightest bit of courtesy. It made it all the more scary! You could totally feel the wind vibrations from the cars- especially the semi trucks and there's my spouse not more than 10 feet from those 18 wheelers with his back to them! SCARY! I remember thinking that if one of them veered toward us, all my watching out would have done was given me 5 seconds to process the idea we were about to die.
Greg stayed totally calm and just handled the situation. I freaked. That is rather opposite of how things often go around here! I am so deeply thankful that Greg came with me and that he drove. It was totally inconvenient for him to do that but he did it because he loves me and frankly, I think he worried whether I could handle that much truck! LOL!
I don't like to think about what may have happened had I been the one driving. Would I have calmly gotten us off the road and fixed the problem as he did? Could I have handled that large vehicle under the circumstance? I hope so. I know for a fact I'd be in a full-blown panic about getting the tire changed. I had no idea how to get the spare down on his truck! Greg just managed it so beautifully.
We drove to the next remotely decent sized town and had to buy two very expensive tires- and were told we'll need 2 more sooner rather than later. Ouch! Our tires weren't bald, just old. Did you know tires have an 'expiration' date? The truck has such low miles that it is still sporting the original 2004 set of tires which are now turning brittle and cracking. I had no idea- I've certainly never had a low-mileage vehicle before!
I am so very thankful to have such a wonderful spouse. I don't blog a lot about him here because he pretty much hates being "talked about to strangers on the internet". I appreciate so much that he sacrificed his time when it was really hard to do so in order to help me and my Dad. I have been so lucky to have a great Father and that helped me know how to pick a great Husband! Thanks for saving my bacon this weekend, Babe. Maybe someday we can have a little getaway together that doesn't end in disaster (or near-disaster anyway)?
Oh- and I don't have any photos because it seemed rather dumb Publish Post
Do you share my same unease when traveling with your spouse/partner?
I am currently experiencing one of the most dreaded parts of parenthood- the loss of a beloved family pet. At this point, Biscuit is officially 'lost' but I suspect that given the number of major roads, critters living in the open space near our home and karma catching up to him (Biscuit is our best mouser and unfortunately, our best birder too), Biscuit is gone.
We got him as a kitty who was rescued by Logan's first grade teacher. Several families adopted the kitties who were found in the shrubs at the old school just weeks before it was scheduled for demolition. We have enjoyed his sweet disposition, awesome chub an polydactyl paws (double thumbs). Biscuit would sleep on Anna's head each night and loved her like she was his Mama- probably because when she was just 4 she hauled him everywhere draped over her shoulder and he just let her! He was our cuddly cat who craved attention from all of us.
The other cats, Spicey (9) and Shadow (2) are confused. In all honesty, Spicey is not much of a sharer and never cared for Biscuit so I suppose she's just fine.
Anna came out crying tonight because Biskie wasn't around to help her feel 'safe'. Logan was even emotional about it. Both told me that they have been praying every night that Biscuit will return. Their faith is so sweet and innocent. I fear so much that it will go unrewarded. It breaks my heart to try and prepare them for the likelyhood that he WON'T be coming home. I so wish I were wrong about that but all our searching and calls have turned up nothing. I just hope that he isn't suffering somewhere and I'm sheltering the kids from that possibility. He's been gone for at least 5 days now and he is a cat who never misses a meal!
Yes, we've called the shelters- no luck. Bethany made signs to put up around the neighborhood and Greg went with them to help get them posted. I love him for that. We've done all we can do at this point. Just have to hope that somehow he makes it back home!
Last Friday was "Bring Your Kid To Work Day" at the Hub's job. I had hoped he would take our son with him but Greg decided to overachieve and take all three kids. I was REALLY impressed- until I found out he had arranged to farm each one out to a co-worker. He said that he actually had it planned so that the kids would go with someone with whom they were personality-compatible. I asked him what he was going to do? He said "Supervise!"
The kids show off their employee badges.
Actually, he did end up keeping our son at his desk and was able to show the boy what computer nerds, ahem, software engineer types to.
The event was only 90 minutes long so once the kids were all set up, I headed off to the break room to hide out and just let them have their time. 45 minutes later Greg showed up with all kids in tow so that he could teach them the CRITICAL corporate survival mechanism of "vending machine skills". They mastered it quickly but NOT inexpensively.
We all participated in the daily "team building exercise" which really means the Issac Asimov Super Quiz from the newspaper with Peter playing the role of 'Alex Trebec' and reacting with the expected condescension when someone failed to get the correct answer- which was most of the time.
Afterward they gathered all the kids and parents together to discuss how to be wise with money earned etc. and most of the kids in the room agreed that their parents had boring jobs!
I wish I had more photos but Greg works in a high-security area so we were limited in the photos we could take. Note that I had to angle the camera to avoid computer screens etc. In any case, the kids had fun and we're grateful to Greg's Co-workers for making the experience fun for the kids! Greg is so lucky to work with such a fun group of people and he seems to have turned into quite the extrovert at work!
Dave even photo-bombed our camera. Hi, Dave! See? Fun people!
Greg and Logan also hit a Scout overnight camp this weekend, the girls and I had "Girls Night Out" and PARTS of the house and yard were cleaned. Maybe we'll get to the other parts this week! Or not.
Last year my Husband discovered, with great joy I might add, the store Harbor Freight (and no they are not paying me to write this but they probably should be!) Greg had a great time in that place because HE is the organized one in this house!
One of the things he bought were miniature rotating nail bins for $19.99. They've been hanging out in our garage for the last year doing what they are supposed to do (holding nails and screws- boring!) and I've been eyeballing them and thinking of all the fun things they COULD be used for if CHICK-I-FIED. I mean each level of the stand SPINS independently of the others- with ball bearings no less- there HAS to be cool stuff to do with that!
And so, I stole one!
My obvious thought was to use it for office supplies because EVERYONE loves office/craft supplies! Imagine adding a little bookplate to each section and labeling it! That's still on the To-Do-List (have to buy another bin first).
Insert picture of nail bin as craft junk holder- you'll have to use your imagination here!
Then, I came up with a better idea. This little baby would make an AWESOME dessert stand! It's even got cool sections to keep things separated if you wish- the separators are not structural so use them or not as you desire. Ha! Screw you wimpy little cake plates!
The only thing I didn't like is that it only comes in black, apparently guys don't care about color coordination, but it was nothing spray paint couldn't fix.
I will confess that if you spin it HARD you can launch doughnut holes off the top level- not that I would know anything about that! However, so long as you don't allow an 11 year old male to try it out, you won't likely have a problem. Good thing an 11 year old male will eat a doughnut hole regardless of where it's been!
Now, I really hesitate to call this a tutorial because any 'tutorial' that can be explained in a couple basic pictures really ISN'T a tutorial but here it is anyway! PS- I bought a NEW nail bin for this tutorial since it is planned to, you know, hold FOOD and all of that. Goodness knows what the Hubs has stored in the one I stole!
Once it is all assembled, you can touch up the spray paint and spray the screws if desired. Then give it several good coats of a NON-TOXIC sealer (I used one by Krylon that is food-safe).
I left the separators out of the bottom just so you can see what it would look like without them. I would, at a minimum, use them on the top tier because it looks cool but it's totally up to you! You can have as many as 2 tiers with 6 compartments and 2 tiers with 3 compartments if you use all of the separators. It's an easy project and much cheaper and saves a lot of space on your dessert or appetizers buffet. Woot!
The above photo gives you a sneak peak of what I did with the stolen black rotating nail bin. I'll blog about THAT project over on my Garden Blog when I get around to it!
I enjoyed a wild long weekend which saw both the SNAP! Conference (which totally rocked) and the State Republican Nominating Convention- which totally rocked in a very different way!
SNAP was awesome. I got to meet many of the people whose DIY blogs I follow as well as a lot of new-to-me people whose blogs I'd LIKE to follow. There were wonderful classes and interesting topics. It was held at Thanksgiving Point, right at the height of the Tulip Festival.
I had to get this shot because it captures how I feel so much of the time. I'm the yellow and red tulip that ALMOST fits in but is still just slightly out of place anywhere I go.
A surprise highlight for me was the clothes everyone was wearing! I am so fashion-impaired and a conference full of creative people meant lots of fun color combos, funky shoes and sassy accessories. I wish I had just taken pictures of the clothes so I'd have more ideas! Seriously one of the best parts of the conference! And in case you're wondering- coral was DEFINITELY the hot ticket color!
DIY Superstar panel: Shelley of "House of Smiths", Ana White of "Knock Off Wood", Emily of "Decor Chick" and Kate of "Centsational Girl".
My presentation went fine. I was on a panel with Kirsten, a really cute and young interior designer from 6th Street Design School and the gorgeous Beth from Home Stories A to Z. We worked to coordinate our presentations somewhat and I think it went smoothly. I had the GREAT advantage of being pretty much unknown so no one was expecting a lot from me- which made it easier to jump over the bar and, based on the feedback, I seemed to have held my own just fine.
I am thankful that the organizers took a bit of a chance having me speak since my blog is NOT the draw that the other ladies have. I don't say that to put myself down, it's just the truth. I AM somewhat of an expert in my topic and that's why I was invited so it's all good. I was worried that I might leave the Conference feeling like I should be a better blogger or a better this or that- but I didn't. It was also great to see the conference organizers highly discourage that line of thinking too the theme was 'be yourself' and there was plenty of talk about letting go of the idea of 'perfect'. It was kind of nice to know I'm okay with just being average at best when it comes to the online part of my life and to feel like maybe I'm getting old enough to get over the worst of the 'comparing' game. Ah, the benefits of being 40!
Fun touches turned a generic conference room at the South Town Expo Hall into a pretty cool hang out space!
I had to ditch out of the last evening of the SNAP! Conference in order to go and support some friends who were having their own big moments. The Republican State Nominating Convention took place Saturday as well. As I have previously mentioned, my friend is running for Congress. It's kind of funny that I spent the weekend at a DIY/Creativity/Design-y conference but some of the best interior design I saw was in the hospitality suite of the guy running for the Senate. I don't know him well but his wife's interior designer has my full support!
Mia gave a phenomenal speech which actually had people in tears and earned her a standing ovation from nearly half the audience. By the end of the night, she came away with 70% of the vote! Despite being referred to as a 'novelty' by our State Attorney General (who later apologized but I saw him backstage right after the infamous comment and based on the fight I heard, he absolutely meant what he said- he even followed it up with a couple more crappy things directed at others). I will post her speech later because it was pretty amazing and I think everyone, regardless of political leanings, would probably enjoy it. There was some serious drama at the Convention that included everything from candidates being accused of egregious behavior and called 'liars' in front of 4,000 people to others being classy even in the face of defeat- total contrasts! Since the Convention is made up of about 70% men, I think men need to rethink the idea that only women can be Drama Queens!
Backstage waiting for the final vote count to be announced.
While I was gone, the Hubs pretty much rocked. However, he is totally ready to hand the job of being "Mom" back to me. He wasn't quite sure how to deal with death threats being made by a riled up 8 year old but, since all were alive when I got home, I suppose he managed just fine! I spent this afternoon lounging in the park with the kids, my folks and a bunch of the cousins (gave the Dad a break and some quiet so he could study since his last nerve was shot). It was good for me to miss THEM and them to miss ME.
I'm ready to go back to work tomorrow morning so I can relax! I'm too old to keep up this frenetic pace!
I am in a serious whirlwind right now- and LOVING it! Luckily, it will be a short-lived whirlwind as I'm pretty sure I can't keep this pace up for long. There are things in my life I've been working on for many years (for those who stuck with me through the whole "Mid-Mom Crisis" thing, you already know that) but it seems that so many of those pieces are coming together right now in awesome, but sometimes a bit scary, ways!
The month of April is when "Garden Season" kicks in full-bore at work. As a total 'people person' this means I get to do a lot of talking about things I'm passionate about and that always makes me happy. Today I was invited to 'chat' each Saturday for 3 weeks on a local radio show about gardening. I will only do one of the shows and pass the other two opportunities on to some of the folks in my circle who will do a great job and deserve a chance to shine.
Tonight when checking my voice mail I found a message from a local TV station asking if I would be willing to a segment about that plantation shutter I turned into a planter last summer. FUN! I've done the show before for work but this time they were looking for me specifically OUTSIDE of work which is super-awesome-exciting!
I mentioned in a previous post that a girl friend (as in friend who is a girl) is running for the US Congress. I haven't had as much time to help as I would have liked since this is busy season for work BUT I did manage to help plan an event last night that she'll be holding next week.
She's being endorsed by the local "Romney" -meaning one of the sons whose name I will not list because I don't want a bunch of political people from other campaigns nasty comment bombing my family blog- yes, I've seen that kind of stuff go down before. Her staff Event Coordinator had a pretty good grip on most things so I just needed to fill in a few blanks and format the evening. I hope the event goes well next week because I WON'T be able to be there. Instead, I will be at:
Photo Courtesy Utah Valley Convention & Visitor's Bureau
The SNAP! Conference!!!! I am a kinda INTIMIDATED to present there because the other people are all bloggers I read and learn from- feeling a bit out of my league! However, I shall go armed with a spunky haircut and a couple of cute new outfits- how could I NOT feel more confident when I'm sporting THESE shoes!? Believe me, when you're a total "chubby chick" shoes are what you have to look forward to! All should be well...
Or it will as soon as I finish my Power Point presentation which means as soon as I finish the last two projects I want to share in the presentation- I'd better get my craft on this weekend! Luckily, the projects are nearly done and even if they weren't- I can easily finish the presentation. Just have to do it!
FINALLY, I will have the chance to attend an amazingly fun Blogger Retreat next week here in town. The ever-awesome Jo O will be there but I'd love to meet up with more local blog friends! The event is hosted by Daybreak and if you're local, you know what that means!
Not the best picture but there are 14 amazing houses, all perfectly decorated and all in different architectural styles. I can't wait to see which one I get to 'live' in for the night!
The Breathing Room Blogger Retreat will take place Friday, May 4th through Saturday, May 5th. We will enjoy classes taught by amazing folks (including the Sweet Tooth Fairy whom I will NOT tell I tried to create a knock-off version of her frosting!) as well as 4 catered meals.
And this is the BEST PART- we get to spend the night, bed-and-breakfast style, in the model home village! I know that may sound odd if you haven't SEEN the model home village but it is like a semi-permanent "Parade of Homes" which means they're perfect in every detail in a way my REAL house never will be! In fact, it sort of looks like "Wisteria Lane" from Desperate Housewives- we could have some fun with that!
This is probably more fun for me because I have studied this project as a case study in my profession (in my "Pre-Kid Life" I was a City Planner so pretty much everything about this project fascinates me as it employs all the 'best practices' I was taught). In my current work, the community design and open space with an emphasis on waterwise landscapes piques my interest too. Can't WAIT! Tickets are still available so I think some of YOU should totally come. It's very inexpensive (way less than the cost of a Bed and Breakfast Room for a night) and includes everything necessary to have a great time!
None of the above even begins to touch on the event I'm pulling together for June, which is 'top of the excited list' for me. I'll give it it's own post later. For now I'd better at least ATTEMPT to sleep. Sleep is just such a waste of precious time!
