First Day of School and Off to Scout Camp

Today Pierce was off to scout camp. It's a good thing he has a dad. He gets them already for the camp and it is no small feat. I hope he has a great time. He will be gone until Saturday.

Today was my first day of school. I have a great little class. I am really looking forward to getting to know them better. 

And most important of all, today I went over 100 km again!! I have a two month string of 100 km now and 80 days of exercising. 

Dog Love and Summers End

Tomorrow is Family Orientation and so today was our true last day of summer. We eeked out one last lunch around the campfire. I also learned how to play bocce ball! 

#lovethesepeole #bestjobever

We are really loving having these dogs around. They are the nicest dogs! 

We introduced Chico slowly. He was really sure he didn't like them at first - but they listen well so when we tell them to sit they do and they don't chase after him. We were able to get them to give Chico space at first. Last night Chico was just mad about the whole thing. Everywhere I went he was right under my feet. He has lightened up and now even runs between their legs. Sometimes he gets tired of them. He just goes to his hide outs and all is well. It appears Chico is an introvert. He needs time lane to recharge :) Hopefully their relaxed nature will rub off on my anxiety-ridden dog.

Catching up

I think I have to quit writing the day number. It seems I messed up and I can't figure out where. Now I have missed a bunch of days.....I am not going to try to catch up. I will just continue on today. 

This has been a busy week. Going back to work is a big adjustment. I am really excited about this year though. I think it is going to be great. 

Today was stake conference and I was asked to speak. They gave me 8 minutes...hardly enough time to introduce myself! (Kidding...kind of) I really made an effort to prepare so that the message could be delivered as efficiently as possible. Not sure if I succeeded...but it's done. I was pretty nervous. I was glad to be asked though!

This also begins our change of time for church. Starting next week we have 9 am church. I am happy to go to church at 9 am mostly because it makes our Sunday more normal. I really struggle with meals when we have 9 am church. Everyone has breakfast. When we come home we eat. I figure that is good enough for the day, but others don't seem to agree. We end up having dinner too late and then I get to bed late. No more of that!

I often make bread on Sunday nights. Today we also made cinnamon buns. Yum!! 

Peirce is dog sitting for some friends. They are the nicest dogs!

It should be a fun week with them! 

Day 230 Wind Storms

What is it about trees in our school's neighborhood? Today a big one across the street blew over. 

It was exhausted thinking about all the work there is to do this week, I think 

Day 229 Back At It!!

Today was my first day back to school. I'm actually back a day before everyone else with a crowd of tech types to learn about our new communication platform: Edsby. It is going to be really great!

Lately, our dryer hasn't been working. It never shuts off and it does doesn't heat up. I happen to come across someone giving their dryer away. They thought it wasn't working, bought a new one, and then found out it wasn't the dryer it was a breaker. I went by after my meeting and put it in my car ( yup...by myself!).

We got it all set up, and it works. Yea!! No more scratchy towels. 

Tonight we were quite ambitious. Peirce pulled weeds. Jill vacuumed the house and cleaned the downstairs bathroom. I mopped the back entry, the front entry and the kitchen, then made dinner. It's been great! 

Now I'm exhausted. It's 8:30 and I think I'm going to get to bed. Tomorrow Jill and I are going to get up bright and early so we can go to the gym before we both go to work. 

We will see if we can keep up this ambitious life. Time will tell!

Maybe the exercise I have been doing really is giving me more energy!

Day 228 Service

My day started with an egg emergency. Those of us in the stake RS presidency have helped with food for the Single Adult conference this weekend. I got an email saying there were boiled eggs they needed peeled today.

Oh. Ok. 

I wondered if I should go to sacrament meeting in my ward then go over there. I decided I'd get up and go right away and hopefully get to sacrament meeting. 

Wrong. It took me from 10 am until 1:00!! People would poke their head in the kitchen to see what I was doing and I'd invite them to help. They'd stay and do a few, then go on their way. Finally, once the wards meetings were ending, I asked the RS to come in and help me. About four sisters came in and we got the final eggs finished much quicker. 

I'm was surprised at how sore my thumb was. Amazing what 75+ eggs do to a person!! And who knew eggs would take that long. 

If there's ever an egg emergency again, I definitely won't go alone. 

In the afternoon Jill and Peirce wanted to go to their friend, Cedrick's, farewell. Allen took them over there and I picked them up. 

After, we hurried over to ou stake center because Jill was in charge of spaghetti for 100 people. Poor girl was really in over her head. Allen and I helped her get things going. 

By the end of it all, I was totally exhausted. I hadn't eaten and was overly tired. It sure wasn't a typical Sunday....thank goodness!!

I should have walked this morning before going to look after the eggs. Instead, tonight, all I could do is a slow walk around the block. Now I'm going to bed. 

Day 227 Shakespeare by the Bow

Tonight Peirce and I went to Shakespeare on the Bow. Allen meant to come too but he ended up needing to go give someone a blessing. Peirce and I had a great time. He borrowed a camera from his YM Pressent and has really had a good time playing with it. Makes for leisurely walks when we are going somewhere because I'm always waiting for him to take some shots. He is getting really good!

I enjoyed the play...but not as much as others I have seen. I have to wonder if I was tainted. Earlier this summer, someone was telling me all the reasons she doesn't like Hamlet. So many times tonight I was reminded of that conversation and I have to wonder if I hadn't heard all those negative things about it if I would have even noticed. 

Oh well! I'm glad we went. 

Day 226 Posts That Warm a Mother's Heart

There isn't much that matters more than having children who really like each other. 

Gee, I love them. 

Day 225 Happy Birthday Jill

18!!! How did this happen?!

We are so proud of Jill. She plans to work this year and then go on a mission. Lots of exciting times ahead! 

Day 224 Shhhhhh!! It's a surprise!

Tonight Peirce and I made a birthday cake for Jill. Well, he did all the work and I just bossed him around. 

A layer of ice cream. 

A layer of crushed Oreos (crushed by Peirce himself....he loved that part)

Another layer of ice cream 

Nutella on top with more Oreos. 

She is going to love it!!

Dat 223 Sibling Foolishness

Jill decided to crimp Peirce's hair today

This used to happen when they were little. Who knew it would still be continuing?! 

Day 222 Beautiful shade

I remember being sad when we moved away from the first place we lived when we were married. It was an established neighbourhood with big beautiful trees. I loved the shade. I loved the majesty of the trees.

I was reminded of that on my walk this morning. It's beautiful in our new neighborhood too!

Day 221 Chicken Dinner

Chicken dinner is one of Chico's favourite meals. 

Day 220 Olympics

Today some screen shots!!  We sure have enjoyed watching the Olympics this week! 

A Dane! She won the gold in 50 free and was in shock. It was so fun to watch her. 

Medley Relay team....Michael Phelps' (GOAT=Greatest of All Time ) very last race!

Day 219 Rock The Sac

Big day for Jill. Yesterday afternoon she applied at Village Ice Cream. About an hour later she got a call for an interview. When we got there this afternoon there was a party going on. East Village is becoming quite a fun place. Complete with huge Jenga blocks!

Day 218 Comfort Drink

In case you ever want to buy me a drink at Starbucks, thought you should know what my favorite drink is.

Steamed milk with hazelnut syrup.

Tonight I read and enjoyed a drink while Peirce was at Scouts.

Day 217 Book Discussion

I love love love talking about books with people. Tonight I went to a book club meeting at Chapters.

We had a great discussion about Lily and the Octopus. 

Day 217 Oh Rats

The other day I got an email from a lady who subs for our school. She is a retired teacher turned writer. She sent me an email saying she had been to a book store where they are hiring someone to run two kids book clubs. She figured I would be the perfect person for the job. I figured she was right so I sent off a resume. 

Sadly, I just got the call saying they hired someone else....someone who beat me out just by a hair, she said.

It's a little disappointing. I would have really enjoyed it. Imagine getting paid for something I love so much.

Oh wait. I already do :)

The extra bit of $ would have been nice....but oh well. 

Day 217 The Party

 

Before the guests arrive

The plan was for outdoor fun, but the rain....oh the rain!

The guest list: Shaniah, Jamie, Jill, Arienne, David and Peirce

Day 216 Party Plans

Tomorrow Jill is having friends over to celebrate her birthday so today we cooked and baked and baked and cooked. Here's a taste:

Cranberry granola with almonds 

Blueberry muffins

We also made bacon, whip cream and waffles and cut up lots of fruit. Should be delicious!

Day 215 Ahhhhhh!

My favorite part of the gym: massage chairs!

Day 214 Mission Call

Tonight we got to go watch Meshac open his mission call. He is going to Allen's mission: Canada Halifax French speaking. 

After, Meshac went and hugged his mom for a long time. Broke my heart!

Day 213 Visiting Old Friends

Today I got to go to Matias Jeffrey's baptism. That's him with the cookie :). 

I had a great visit with some old friends: Diane and Mary Fleming and Cathy Baille. That is us in the background. :) 

Day 212 Let the Games Begin

Tonight we stayed home and watched the Olympic Opening Ceremonies. I didn't take a picture. Imagine us all on the bed with iPads and laptops fired up. That was us.

Day 211 Curtains and Football

These pictures are out of order, but I'm too tired to fix it. 

I was super productive today....a bit of rarity. I made curtains for Peirce! Poor kid wakes up to the sun blasting him every morning. He did have blinds, but he took them down, along with the previous curtains. Kids! I don't know why he did that. 

Best frugality in town! I bought the curtain rod at the dollar store. The curtains are from a blanket I snagged from a RS Give and Take table. Double win!! 

After that, Peirce and I went and volunteed at the football game. This was before the madness. 

Need to make them shorter. He wanted them long...but it looks weird. Oh well! 

Day 210 "Our" Cat

We have a cat who likes to visit us. If the door is open (which it often is), he will just walk right in. If it isn't, he relaxes outside until we notice him. 

Thanks to Chico, his stays are usually quite short. We are always happy to have him show up though!

Day 209 Pranksters Unite

I had a church meeting to go to tonight. This is what I came home to.

Apparently, Carter is deserving of a prank. Jill and Jamie are working on filling up his car with balloons. 

I feel a TP issue coming up. That's how these things seem to go. 

Day 208 Dog Sitting

Lucky Peirce has had a repeat paid gig to Dog sit this beautiful dog. They also have two cats. That isn't a great an experience for Peirce as he seems to have a cat allergy. No only do they have a dog and two cats, but a bearded dragon too! He gets 10 crickets every day. Yum. 

Peirce really enjoys this responsibility.