Sunday, August 31, 2008

Woke up early and read for a while then fell back asleep. All of a sudden it was 10:30. We had to rush to get ready, but we did make it to church. I was officially released from my Primary secretary calling, and after I helped my replacement get her bearings, I was free to go to other meetings. Which actually worked out nicely because I completely forgot Jack was supposed to give a talk in Primary closing exercises. Roger wrote a talk, I added a bit to it, then we pulled him out of class for a few minutes to go over it. He did an amazing job, including holding some pictures up at exactly the right times. After church we took the illustrations we picked up in Park City yesterday down to the museum and checked out all of the pieces that came in yesterday. Later in the afternoon I risked getting rained on and took a hike/run in the canyon. It only rained a little, but I enjoyed an invigorating wind. When I came home, I read for a bit on the front steps before taking a shower. I watched the last bit of Democratic National Convention I had recorded, including Obama's acceptance speech while ironing. Right now I'm listening to the rain and waiting for Jack to come upstairs so we can read and go to sleep.

Saturday, August 30, 2008

We packed lots of fun into today. We were all up early after getting a good rest. Then we headed up to Park City (stopping for breakfast in Heber) to pick up some of Robert Neubecker's pieces for the exhibition. We got to see his home and studio, including dozens of his drawings. He worked for Newsweek for years, and we recognized some of his cover illustrations. After we left him, we stopped by an open house and toured a home for sale in his neighborhood, most impressed by the pond full of huge rainbow trout. The house was only 10 times what we paid for our house! Our next stop was Park City Resort, where we took a chair lift up the mountain and took the alpine slide back down. Stopped in Heber for a late lunch, then stopped at Roger's parents house for a quick visit. After we got home, Jack went to a friend's house and we headed to a wedding reception for our neighbor's son. When we got home from that, I changed and went for a long walk. I ended up at my friend Linda's house, visited for a while, then she offered me a ride home (it was very dark by then). Now the three of us are hanging out watching Finding Nemo. A good, good day!

Friday, August 29, 2008

Woke up really early this morning, got a little work done, then fell back asleep. It was so hard to get up when the alarm went off. Dropped Jack off at school, went home to get ready for class, do up a Primary page for the ward newsletter (my last time!), then headed to the museum. We selected an EJ Bird piece from the vault and touched base on a few other things. Then I headed to a sign design place to initiate an order for the title of the exhibition. Then I headed to campus. Classes went well, except in the second class we endured too much heat. I need to figure out who to complain to. Heat doesn't help the academic experience! Came home, ate a late lunch and sort of crashed. Eventually I just crawled in bed and took a nap. It didn't last long, but it made a difference. Helped our new neighbors across the street move a few things in. Planted myself on the couch and watched Democratic National Convention speeches that I taped earlier this week.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Summer vacation is definitely over. Our days are officially packed with "things we need to do." I worked at the high school today, making frantic phone calls on breaks to try to facilitate communication between the art museum's bank and a big supplier I've been working to set up an account with. Somehow paperwork got lost and I'm days behind on that project. I also joined the faculty book club that meets at lunch on Thursdays in the library. We decided to read The Book Thief for our first selection. After school I took care of mundane life tasks while Jack enjoyed a good play with friends. Off to Lisa's house and her newly landscaped backyard for book club (okay, I am now actively participating in three book groups). We discussed The Last Lecture and chose A Three Dog Life for our next selection. While I was at book club, Jack finished a marathon session of homework (two days' worth due to leaving his backpack on the bus the other day). So he was still up when I got home. Before bed we watched part of Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream speech in honor of its 45th anniversary. It was fun to see the backdrop of the mall in Washington and the Lincoln Memorial, which we visited on our trip to D.C. last spring.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

A big day today: the first day of school at UVU! I got Jack dropped off at school a little early so we could meet the school bus to find the backpack he left on it yesterday afternoon. Then I headed back home and scrambled to get ready to meet my students for the first time. I was still putting the finishing touches on my syllabus, but I got everything done in time. I was glad that I left early for school because parking was crazy. It ultimately didn't matter that I had an employee parking tag--I had to park in student parking anyway, which meant a good hike. My classes went very well! Everyone is so quiet on the first day of school. My main goal was to kick start the bonding process. After school I went to Target to catch up on wedding gift shopping (four down, one to go). In the evening I went to a bridal shower for my friend Wendy's daughter, who has also been Jack's dental assistant many times. All three of Wendy's children are moving on within the next month: two daughters are getting married and her son is going on an LDS mission. Phew!

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

It was a battle to get out of bed this morning and it was a battle to get Jack out of bed. But we got him to school on time, and I got to my job at the high school on time. I spent the day cataloging magazines for checkout and supervising TA projects. There was a problem with the air conditioner--we were so hot all day long. It felt good to get home, get a huge glass of ice water and change my clothes. Jack came home and was mad to find out that I was enforcing his grounding from friends today (fought doing his homework last night way too hard). But then he settled in. I did some work to prepare for my UVU classes that begin tomorrow, but not enough. I got sidetracked by some library board stuff, including watching a presentation on a fabulous conceptual idea for a new building (twice). When I got home I grabbed Roger and Jack and we went up the canyon for the last bit of daylight. They played by the river and I ran on the trail. A good way to end the day.

Monday, August 25, 2008

I finally slept until my alarm went off. I even pressed the snooze button and fell back into a deep dream. Of course, falling back to sleep has its drawbacks. It was hard to get up! Got Jack off to school, despite all of his grumbling that he hates Mondays. Back home to work, work, work in my office. Finalized the order for the point-of-sale system for the museum and got a better deal than I hoped. Free shipping and a free upgrade to the level of software we really need. Cleaned off my desk and organized my tasks. Worked through my entire list of artists, some of whom I still need to bug. Met with artist Howard Fullmer at the museum. Saw the wonderful pieces Brett Helquist (of Series of Unfortunate Events fame) sent that arrived today. Played hooky after Jack got home from work and went to see Mama Mia with a bunch of girlfriends. We had the theater to ourselves and, yes, there was dancing in the aisles. Battled with Jack to get his homework done. The only penalty incurred is that he's grounded from friends tomorrow. But his 20 sentences with spelling words is complete. I truly dread the day when his homework has to be done in cursive. We've got about a month left before that happens. 

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Went for a nice hike/run in the canyon before church. No snakes. Church was uneventful except for the fact that I was told I'm going to be released from my Primary secretary calling next week. But I'm not going to know what my next job is going to be, at least not for a few weeks (I hope it's a job I'll like!). So after church I went through all of my primary stuff, updated files and got it all organized for the next secretary. I'm sure going to miss working with my friends in Primary, but I have to say, I like the idea of not having a church calling for the next few weeks. It was very cathartic cleaning all of the Primary related stuff out of my office. And in keeping with good things coming to an end, we watched some of the Olympics closing ceremony.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Tried to sleep in without too much success. Got up and hiked up the canyon. I passed the last runners in the Hobble Creek Half Marathon and then the trail was quite empty except for a SNAKE that I almost stepped on. I'm not really sure what I accomplished during the day other than a couple of loads of laundry, a trip to the grocery store and a few other errands. I watched Olympics on and off all day. Jack and I are reading Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator together. My fifth grade teacher read it to the class and I haven't read it since. I always thought the vermicious knids were pernicious knids. Go figure.

Friday, August 23, 2008

Had to get to orientation meetings at UVU by 8:00. They lasted until 3:00. Actually they were supposed to last until 3:00, but the last speaker was still going and I had to duck out to get home for Jack, who beat me there on the school bus by a couple of minutes. Most of the meetings were very worthwhile, especially in terms of understanding why the faculty over the writing program designed the sequence of assignments the way they did. I also saw several old friends, some of whom I had no idea were teaching at UVU! Later at the post office in Springville, I was telling Roger about some of the people I saw at the meetings, and the woman in line ahead of us turned around and introduced herself as a member of the UVU English faculty. How random was that?! We spent the evening at our niece Megan's wedding reception at the Fort Douglas bandstand at the U of U. We were plunk in the middle of what had been the athlete's Olympic village during the 2002 Winter Olympics. It was a beautiful reception, perfect temperature, good food, nice visits with family and friends. The highlight for Jack was getting to shoot a musket--some of their pioneer reenactment buddies showed up in full Mormon Battalion military regalia and gave a musket salute to the bride and groom! And all through the day, I was trying to coordinate a counteroffer on my brother's house, trying to communicate with him in Kenya and our agent on the east coast. Keep fingers crossed!

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Up extra early this morning! Worked a bit on my syllabus for the English 1010 classes I'm teaching this coming semester at Utah Valley University, then went for a good walk. Jack got up at 8:00 totally on his own. Maybe we're actually readjusting for school after keeping very late summer hours! After I dropped Jack off at school I headed to my first day working at the Springville High School library. I enjoyed covering books with mylar covers, cataloguing periodicals and helping students. Oh, and having lunch in the faculty lounge listening to a discussion about passing kidney stones. I had nothing to add. I set myself up with an ID number so I can check out books. And I came home with one. Piddled away the afternoon, then got very serious getting the draft of my syllabus done for English 1010. Now I can go read to Jack, and then read the book I checked out.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Jack went off to his first day of fourth grade today! It was a good day, and he came home from the bus stop with a smile on his face. I tried very hard to be productive the whole day, which included finishing the last 75 pages of a book for book club tonight. I vacuumed the family room and washed the kitchen floor. I did a load of laundry. I reviewed an offer on my brother's house and talked to the agent about it. It's a low offer, but it's an offer. I made lots of phone calls to get to the bottom of some problems my brother had with his mortgage. I stopped by the museum to meet with the accountant. I stopped by the high school to pick up my employee parking pass. I drove down to the China Cafe to pick up Johnny and Benny for Jack. I went to book club and enjoyed lots of good laughs (and a sinfully delicious chocolate dessert) with my friends. But I didn't make much progress on pulling together my syllabus for my UVU classes. And that has been at the top of my to do list since Monday.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Jack's last day of freedom before school starts and I dragged him on errands. We stopped by the high school to check with Lanell, the library I'll be working for. We stopped by the art museum to get a signature on a form and fax it to a wholesaler I'm setting up an account with. We stopped by the post office to mail some book orders. We stopped by Jack's school for the open house to meet all his teachers. Jack's just going to love fourth grade--he'll get to turn in all of his writing assignments in cursive. He had a friend over in the afternoon while I cleaned up my office, trying to get a grip on my growing to do list. One minute I'm feeling fairly on top of things, and the next minute I'm totally overwhelmed. When Roger got home from work he took Jack to the new Star Wars Clone Wars movie while I went for a hike up the canyon (it was hot!). We tried to wind things (read: Jack) down and get lights out at a reasonable hour, but didn't have a lot of success.

Monday, August 18, 2008

I wish I could report much progress on my projects, but I mostly flitted around today. Cleaned a bit, did a few loads of laundry, worked a bit on my syllabus for my classes at Utah Valley University, talked with/emailed a few artists (two told me today they are swapping out selections), touched base with some suppliers I'm getting accounts with for the museum store, made macaroni and cheese for Jack and friends, and so on. No structure to my day, and I didn't even get out of the house until Roger, Jack and I took a late night run in the Wrangler to Shopko. It was a beautiful night to be out the the family in a Jeep with no roof.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Got up early to take advantage of Roger being home now on Sunday mornings (no more bishopric meetings!) and went for a fabulous hike up the canyon. Came home to get a few things organized for church, then went to church and did sharing time in both Junior and Senior primary. I'm always happy to help out at church, but it sure feels good to have that checked off my list. A peaceful afternoon and evening reading, napping and watching Olympics. Gearing up for a very busy week with school starting.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

After many days of waking up too early, I stayed in my pajamas until noon! I read in bed, ate a late breakfast. General slugfest. In the afternoon Roger and I went to Ikea and dropped a wad, primarily on items for the art exhibition that we'll be able to use at home afterwards. I'm setting up a reading area in the center of the gallery, and we decided it would be the perfect excuse to buy the couch we've had our eye on for the family room for over a year. We bought an extra set of slip covers just in case, and were rewarded for our efforts with a sale that saved us $300! So we used that savings to buy an area rug. After we got home, I headed to the grocery store. Then home to organize some things for my sharing time lesson in Primary tomorrow and to watch--what else?--Olympics. I realized tonight that I was 9 when Mark Spitz won his 7 gold medals, and that Jack is 9 and we watched Michael Phelps win 8. In Jack's words, "Cool!"

Friday, August 15, 2008

Walked up to the mouth of the canyon early this morning. I've loved my early morning walks! Worked on various projects until Jack and I went to get our hair cut at 11:00. Treated Jack to ice cream at SOS Drugs, went to the post office, then went to Partyland to look for something I need for Primary on Sunday. Back home and back to work. I had a few things to deliver around the neighborhood, so Jack and I biked around. He hooked up with a friend, then more friends, then more. I headed down to the museum about 4:00 to get a tax form signed by the director and ended up meeting with one of the curators to talk about all sorts of fun things we're going to do with the exhibit. Pieces are starting to show up, and I feel like I've turned a corner with pulling this all together. Roger and I went out to dinner, then home to watch Olympics. I made Jack and his friends pay attention to Michael Phelps' 7th gold medal race. I'm going to sleep in tomorrow!

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Once again, up early. This time I woke up at 6 am (!) and was out the door for a good walk by 6:20. Then I scrambled to get all sorts of things ready before guests arrived at 11:00 for a bridal shower for my niece Megan, which turned out well. Good conversation, good food, and of course, good presents! Aunt Carol hired Jack to take care of his two-year old cousin during the party. He took it very seriously and did a fabulous job, and then helped us clean up afterwards without even being asked. I got the house back in order in time for a visit from my cousin Talia and her boyfriend Alex, who are on their way from Portland to Chicago. Talia will be starting a masters program at the Art Institute of Chicago. I took them down to our art museum, gave them a good tour and introduced them to the director, who kept us engaged in energetic conversation for the better part of an hour. Home again for dinner, then off to a library board meeting. Watched Olympics until past midnight (had to stay up for the women's gymnastics medal ceremony!), doing research on point-of-sale systems for the museum store during commercials (I got the go ahead to order!).

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

I worked hard all day, made it through only a portion of what I wanted to do. Jack had a fairly low key day playing with friends. So tired at the end of the day, I actually didn't watch the end of prime time Olympic coverage (though still didn't get to bed until after midnight). I've been going through my list of artists for the show, figuring out what I need from them, then emailing and calling them. I didn't get through the whole list, but I made good progress. I've been putting the main floor of the house together after getting carpets cleaned. I didn't get it all done, but I made good progress. Shopped at Costco and Target, especially to get supplies for the bridal shower I'm throwing for my niece tomorrow. Lots of this and that in between the big projects.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Up early yet again, stressed about everything I need (and want) to do. I'm guessing that until my exhibition opens on September 13 I am doomed to getting less sleep than I really need. At least I'm so exhausted by the end of the day I have no trouble getting to sleep! Of all of the things on my list to do, I randomly spent part of my morning mending (hem on the pink shirt I wanted to wear today, an antler that came off a stuffed moose, and a seam that ripped on my big duffle that we overpacked for our trip to Lake Geneva. Jack had cub scouts at 10:30, then we hit the road at 11:30 for errands and a trip up to Highland. Jack spent the afternoon at Gracie's, I had a very productive lunch meeting with artist Will Terry, then spent the rest of the afternoon visiting with Diana, Gracie's mom. Turns out Will and Diana knew each other at BYU! Rushed home to a library bond meeting that lasted two painful hours, watched Olympics the rest of the evening with a killer headache. 

Monday, August 11, 2008

A crazy, jam packed day. Woke up at 6 am and couldn't get back to sleep so I hit the road and went for a walk in the neighborhood. I ended up walking all the way up to the top of a new road that doesn't have any homes built on it yet and was rewarded with a spectacular view of the valley. Morning was spent fighting my computer to organize and send huge files to the museum for the art exhibit, paying bills, and clearing everything I could clear out from our main floor in preparation for the carpet cleaner. The carpet cleaner didn't show up on schedule, and when I called he was so relieved because he'd accidently shredded the post-it note he'd written the appointment on. Then he knocked 20% off the bill! When Roger got home we went out to dinner (easier than trying to cook around all of the furniture crammed in our kitchen) and to visit Roger's boss, who just got a new dog. Jack had fun tossing all sorts of balls and making up games to play with her (the dog, not the boss!). Olympics far too late into the evening!

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Up early. Seems I can't sleep past 7 am anymore. Too much stuff I gotta do! Too much stuff in my head! Church was eventful today. Roger was released from his calling as ward clerk. A breath of relief in our house as that job required Roger to do two things he really doesn't like: go to lots of meetings and take care of lots of paperwork. Oh, and wear a white shirt and tie. Primary was nuts with teachers not showing up and lots of substitutes and visitors. Lunch, an hour watching the Olympics and then off to our long-time friends' house in Cedar Hills to see Lars, their missionary son, returned home from Mexico. He looks great, and the rest of the family looks so happy to have him home. Watched Olympics (including that amazing U.S. gold in the men's 400m freestyle relay!) late, late into the night.

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Up early, on the trail up the canyon before it got too hot. Ran into some neighbors and got caught up on all the news in their family. Mucked around in my office getting this and that done. Watched Olympics. Went grocery shopping. Watched Olympics. Read to Jack. Not much to report, except that I was very excited for Michael Phelps' mom when he won his first gold medal of this Olympics in swimming and very excited for Dara Torres swimming the 2nd fastest leg out of all the finalists in the 400m freestyle relay. I will mostly be living through other people during the course of the Olympics.

Friday, August 8, 2008

Yay! The Olympics have started! We had an opening ceremony party and invited Johnny and Benny to watch it with us, and their parents joined us after they closed their restaurant. It was an amazing production and fun to watch it with people who actually understood everything people said in Chinese. And they provided dinner for us! Other happy things included the bunch of flowers (tiny roses) that Roger brought home for me, getting all of the Lego cleaned up and vacuuming the family room (okay, that was only happy after it was done), and getting a few more pieces of the puzzle put together for the art exhibition. I'm a bit overwhelmed at how complicated it is working with 26 different artists to not only put together a show, but also to identify everything we need to order in for the museum store.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Today was a much more productive day. Jack and I had dentist appointments (no cavities) this morning, I did lots of phone calling and emailing to organize a bridal shower for my niece, I made an appointment to get the carpets clean before the shower, I did lots of phone calling and emailing for the art exhibition, I got book orders packaged up and to the post office. I pretty much made healthy food choices and enjoyed a hike in the canyon. I rewarded myself in the evening by watching the finale of So You Think You Can Dance. I'm happy Joshua won. Roger went to bed extra early to catch up on sleep. Jack, who enjoyed a full day with friends after getting home from the dentist, had trouble falling asleep. I swear we were up until nearly 1 a.m.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

I suppose I could have wasted more time today than I did, but not much. I made one bad choice after another, up to and including eating ramen noodles and junior mints for dinner. Oh, a few redeeming moments here and there, like I cleaned the bathroom and did a few loads of laundry, made macaroni and cheese for Jack and his friends, and went on a (short) bike ride with Roger in the evening (with crazy wind--it was fun!). But, wow, I mostly watched episodes of Monk and Psych on my dvr, played scrabble on my computer and chatted online with people on Facebook. I think I am a bit paralyzed by how much I have to get done in the next month and how I won't be able to just blow everything off once school starts. But wasting huge chunks of time like I did today is seriously counter productive. No more!

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Up early, but still managed to run late by the time Jack and I needed to head out the door to pick up Carol and Grandma for nephew Eric's wedding. Luckily, we made it with a bit of time to spare. We drove up to Salt Lake City, dropped Jack off to hang out with cousins Brian and Megan (who went to pick up her own wedding dress--she's getting married in a couple of weeks!), then went to the Salt Lake temple for the big event. After family photos, we had a little time before we needed to be at the wedding lunch so we took a short tour of the roof of the LDS conference center, which is landscaped with trees, a meadow, pools of water and even a waterfall! We helped get the wedding lunch organized and enjoyed time with family, especially new family. After a short break, we headed up to the reception high above the city in the lovely backyard of some friends of the bride. While we visited with people, Jack hung out playing with the candles floating in the pool. It felt good to get home and go to bed at the end of the day!

Monday, August 4, 2008

Despite staying up too late I woke up early anyway and had a marathon session working on the art exhibit, which is officially titled "Unbound: Original Picture Book Art by Utah Illustrators." I took two breaks: one to take book orders to the post office and to stop by the grocery store to stock up on macaroni and cheese for Jack and his friends (spiral noodles are now the only way to go) and one to run to the Brookside minimart to get a diet Coke with my friends Barb and Janice. I worked hard all day and don't feel as though I have much to show for it. But I did finally get the last artist on board. I had a heck of a time trying to track her down. And it turns out she moved back to Provo! Hike on the canyon trail this evening and typed up the library board minutes while Jack and Roger shaped pots out of clay (Roger has been obsessed lately with making pit fire pottery and this is the first grand experiment). Highlight of the day: the first ripe tomato from the garden. Mmm.

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Did I actually do anything today? We went to church. I hung out with Roger and Jack, mucked around on my computer, listened to a couple of podcasts (Diane Rehm's Friday news roundup shows), took a late afternoon nap, read a couple of chapters to Jack, then stayed up too late finishing Forever in Blue (the book the new Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movie is based on - I'm a sucker for the whole franchise). A highlight of the day was a lengthy game of paper, rock, scissors with Jack. He's taken to randomly coming up with additional options (like a match to light the paper on fire). I sure like that boy.

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Up early (too much going on in my head to sleep in these days). Good hike on the canyon path before it got hot. Jack slept very late (I think we totally wore him out on our Cedar City trip), then played with a gang of kids all day. We're making a new house rule: the front room has to stay toy (especially Lego) free. We've got to do something to keep from being completely overwhelmed by the whirlwind. I spent the afternoon at the art museum dusting shelves and sprucing up displays at the store. Roger and I had a hot date of dinner and grocery shopping. Roger worked on some projects with Jack and I hung out on my new Mac. Jack and I have been reading Orvis at night.

Friday, August 1, 2008

We packed all sorts of fun things into today. We all woke up in our Cedar City hotel fairly early, in time to drive Roger over to his library meeting at 8:30. Jack and I spent an hour in the pool (I swam laps for 1/2 an hour of it, then heaved Jack into so many front and back flips that his back hurt tonight). After checking out of the hotel, Jack and I went to visit artist Ben Sowards in his studio. His work will be in my children's book exhibit. We picked Roger up, had some lunch, then went to a matinee of Wall-E, which we enjoyed very much. On the way home to Springville, we took a couple of detours to visit Roger's Uncle Don and Aunt Margie in Manti and to attend an opening reception at the Covey Art Center in Provo for our new friend Anne Weber's exhibit. Picked up pizza on the way home.

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Happy 18th anniversary, Roger! We celebrated with a big family outing - an overnight trip to Cedar City. It wasn't all fun and games, at least for Roger, who had meetings at the library here at Southern Utah University. We got up extra early, headed to Jack's school to get him registered. We are thrilled that he has Mrs. Clark for 4th grade, and that Mrs. Nielsen (one of our favorite customers at the Read Leaf) is the new principal. We headed south and got to Cedar City about noon, checked into the hotel, dropped Roger off on campus, then Jack and I headed back to the pool! I am pleased to report that I swam laps for 1/2 an hour--I'm trying really hard to get exercise every day. When Roger finished his meetings, we grabbed some dinner, enjoyed the Greenshow (part of the Shakespeare festival here), and did a tiny bit of shopping (I totally forgot to bring anything to read with me!!! And Jack thought we needed some Lego for our anniversary.). Then we headed back to the hotel and the pool.