Friday, July 31, 2009

10 for July

10 reasons why I haven't blogged for 2 weeks:


  1. The ward (church) campout last weekend. Yes, we went. I know, I know, it involved actually leaving our house and sleeping outside, but we were in attendance for an evening. My kids had a blast, and so did Shane and I. It was a lot of work for one night, but it was worth it.
  2. Stopping at Granny's in Heber on the way home from said ward campout. Granny's is a little house turned into burger joint in Heber that has really good shakes. Mmm, ice cream.
  3. A few barbecues with friends. Nothing better than sitting out during the evening, watching the kids play and chatting with grown-ups.
  4. Volunteering at the Oquirrh Mountain Temple for the last time. My cute sister and niece came with their kids and mine to tour the temple while I was there. It was so fun to see them coming to tour this temple. I was stationed outside by the tents, so we didn't get to be inside the temple together (which was my hope) but it was fun anyway. Thanks, Amy and Lyndsay for coming! And for taking care of the boys.
  5. Going to Park City to look at the outlet stores and tour the Olympic Park. I finally got to take the pictures I wanted to take last year when we spent two days there, sans camera.
  6. Dancing at Ririe Woodbury. My cute friend Beth invited me to come and take a modern technique class at the workshop she was doing this week. I probably looked a lot worse than I thought I did, but it was heaven to move like that again, and for a person to say to me, "No, you pique on the right, not the left." Thanks, Beth, for the invite. I couldn't stop practicing the combinations all day today while I cleaned my kitchen floor.
  7. The Nordstrom half-yearly sale. It's a family tradition. My mom, two of my sisters, and two of my nieces were there this year. Fun!
  8. Free lunch. There is a park a few miles away that does free lunch for the kids every. single. weekday. It is fun, and free, and gets us out of the house for an hour or so. And I don't have to make lunch. Half of my neighborhood is there most days.
  9. School shopping, since Thomas goes back to school in 2 weeks. We bought my kids Van's shoes this year, which we've never done before. They look so dang cute in them. And they beg me on a daily basis to wear them. Remember how hard it was to have to wait to wear your school clothes? Torture.
  10. Depriving mother cats of their kittens. I feel guilty about this one. A mother cat had taken up residency for one of her kittens under my barbecue. The kitten had something wrong with one of its legs, and so it couldn't defend herself. I think she picked my yard because it was fenced and the kitten would be safer. However, I didn't like the idea of a dead cat in my back yard, so I caught it and had animal control come and get it. I feel so bad, but at least the mom can traipse after her other two kittens who probably get into a lot more trouble. Yeah, I feel like the dog catcher or something. But I think I did the right thing. It's better than having the cat get hit by a car or mauled by a dog, right? Right?

9 people I spent time with:

  1. My friend Rebecca. I love those friendships that you can go for 2 years without seeing each other and only talking a few times on the phone, and yet when you meet up for breakfast one day, it's like you've never been apart.
  2. Lucy, a friend and one of my favorite bloggers. Again, it's awesome to just step right back into each other's lives as if time hasn't passed. Thanks for making time, Lucy!
  3. Harry Potter. The film version, that is. I still can't really think about this movie because I'm just bugged at all the stuff they kept out, and all the stuff that was added that was unnecessary. Hollywood just loves to ruin things, I think.
  4. My husband. We actually went on a date together. I love going on dates!
  5. Myself. My kids are getting older, and more and more they are playing at friends houses and I am alone at my house. It's been a long time since I've had this much alone time. It's a little bittersweet. I don't want them to grow up so fast!
  6. Isaiah
  7. Jeremiah and
  8. Ezekiel. I finished two of the three books last month in the Old Testament. Holy hellfire and damnation, those guys were intense.
  9. Grasshoppers. Who seem to think that the running trail is theirs, and jump out at me at the very last second as I run past them. One even jumped on my hand the other day, mid run. I'm pretty sure I dropped my water bottle and squealed like a little girl. I hope no one was watching.

8 books I've read lately and will probably never review:

  1. Love and Other Impossible Pursuits (read it in 2 days, a little depressing, but ok)
  2. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress (fast read, thought provoking)
  3. The Story Sisters, Alice Hoffman (Depressing, long-winded, not her best novel)
  4. The Sugar Queen. (By the author of Garden Secrets.)
  5. The House at Riverton, Kate Mortland (Awesome. One of my new favorite authors, I think.)
  6. The Forgotten Garden, Kath Mortland (Mortland's second book, but her first that I read. I stumbled across it while waiting for another book to become available; this is one I will buy. It was beautiful! Read it, read it, read it!)
  7. The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane (not as good as I've hoped for, but an interesting angle on the Salem Witch Trials)
  8. The Angels Game (Dark, gothic, but interesting. I might read the author's other book, Shadow of the Wind)

7 things I will or should do this weekend:

  1. Wash every one's sheets (go ahead and drop yours off; I'll throw them in with the others!)
  2. Fold some laundry
  3. Attend a friend's baby blessing.
  4. Go to a friend's house for dinner on Sunday.
  5. Call Shane's grandpa. We talk to him a lot now that he is alone. I wish we had done it more when Grandma was alive, though.
  6. Talk to my sisters. I've been horrible lately.
  7. Change my table cloth. It's gross.

6 things Shane will do this weekend:

  1. Go to above baby blessing. He's really looking forward to going to church, I'll tell you. .
  2. Change the brakes on his Jeep. It's his first child, really, or maybe his first wife.
  3. Iron some clothes. I love that I married an ironer.
  4. Tease me about something. It's inevitable.
  5. See a friend on Sunday at said dinner that he hasn't seen in a long time. Good times.
  6. He claims he wants to get frisky. We'll just have to see how good that ironing is, and whether I'm feeling generous. (Come on, when asked, what else is a husband going to say he wants to do this weekend? Mind you, this answer came AFTER the one about changing his brakes. I know where I stand.)

5 things to do in August:

  1. Start Thomas in third grade. How did that happen?
  2. Finalize our plans for San Diego. We are going to stay in a hotel 100 yards away from the beach. I can't wait!!!
  3. Go to Oquirrh Mountain Temple dedication.
  4. Have Thomas' 8th birthday. Wow.
  5. Enjoy the last month of real summer. And free kid lunches.

4 things I want to do in San Diego:

  1. Run on the beach, since our hotel is right by the ocean. I can't wait to run at sea level!
  2. Go to Sea World.
  3. Visit Shane's aunt and uncle who live there.
  4. Enjoy a real vacation.

3 things I did in July I haven't done for a long time:

  1. Wore different earrings on 2 separate occasions. I usually keep the same old earrings in, but I figure I have other options.
  2. Sewed a blanket. My poor sewing machine hadn't seen the light of day all year.
  3. Danced. I know, I've already mentioned it. But it seriously brought me JOY to take that class. I even took a self-portrait with the camera on my phone just to document the experience. If I wouldn't have looked silly, I would have skipped the whole way to my car.

2 people to thank:

  1. Lyndsay for getting my kids ready for the temple, driving them, then staying with them afterwards. You rock!
  2. Melanie, for watching my kids while I was dancing. Thank you so much for letting me have a few (selfish) hours to myself. I owe you!!!

1: the number of hours this post has taken me. Holy long post!

Good-bye, July. Bring on August!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

It sounds like you've had a great summer! Good for you!
I still have nightmares about the Ririe Woodbury workshops I took in high school.

Apryl said...

Thanks for the book recommendations. I'm going to put them on hold now!
We're going to SoCal on MONDAY (WOOT!) Hooray for the beach! Your hotel sounds awesome. A little more awesome than staying at my Dad's house (thanks Dad! I'm glad to have a place to stay!)
My SDBBE book got rejected by the postman, so my super fabulous husband hand delivered it to the post office today. You should see it in a few days! YAY!
PS - I liked Potter, but I'm going to re-read the book in a week (I'm on #5 now), so maybe I'll be mad by the time I finish. I have a crush on Professor Snape, so I was probably just happy to see him swishing his black cape.

Amy Sorensen said...

! Yay ! I am SO excited for you taking the dance class. SO cool! Were you sore afterward?

Amy Sorensen said...

PS, I took The House at Riverton back hoping I could read your copy when everyone's finished with it! ? ;)

K. Bitton said...

Such a cute post! I'm jealous you went to a dance class. I miss it. I'm going to have to take a couple my last semesters in school. San Diego! How fun for you guys! Your boys will LOVE Sea World. I do. :) I wish I could have seen you while we were down this weekend, but we will be down next Wednesday for a week. We'll have to get together! Love you!

Thomas Family said...

Becky,
Sorry it has taken me so long to write or read your posts.. You are so welcome for watching your boys, it was actually very nice that they kept Jayven entertained. I just loved going to the temple also so thank you for telling me you were going to be there. :)
I need to talk to you about Cali, so, I will call you soon..
I love you,
Lynds