Such is Life

Good morning. I started something on Tuesday but only got three short paragraphs out. The week has been that way.

Joseph went to Camp Split Rock this week and had a lot of fun. I’ll borrow some pictures from Facebook for you. His going meant getting him to the Foley’s by 8:00 Monday and 8:15 the rest of the week (it was day camp). That wasn’t much of a hardship; Joseph was pretty excited about going (except Tuesday) and it wasn’t hard to get him ready and the Foley’s live less than a mile up Pitcherville Road. Yesterday at 3:00 they had skits. Amena and I left at 2:30 and made it in time. Paul, Cedric and Seth took longer to plant blueberries than Paul thought it would take and didn’t leave until 2:45. They missed the first two skits which included Joseph’s.

Making and playing with slime!

Every day this week other than Thursday, I had something to do at 10:00. I think that’s really the biggest reason I didn’t write this week. The short paragraphs I did Tuesday were done when I really should have been getting ready to go and do.

Toilet Tag!

Monday Julia and I went to visit Kim Miller. Tuesday we went to visit Amy Troop. Wednesday I had an appointment with the chiropractor. Thursday I didn’t have anything going on but I wanted to get the living room cleaned. Friday I met Kim Trivett at Joann’s for wedding dress materials shopping. I also picked Elizabeth up and delivered her to an appointment she had at 9:30. She was done right about the same time we were so that worked out well. The only problem with Friday was that I took Cedric and Seth because they were already having behavior problems.

Wednesday night at church we made cookie dough and froze it. Amena invited the triplets and was amazed that they were able to go. That made rides a logistical nightmare because Sarah Trivett was here as well and I can only fit four other people in the car. With Amena, Sarah, Sam, Charlotte, Allie, and Cedric, that was a good deal more than four. Joanna was home and able to keep an eye on Seth and Joseph which was nice. She ended up taking Amena, Sarah, and Cedric, and I took the triplets. On the way home it was more fun.

This week I read The Hunger Games and Catching Fire. I thought I’d read The Hunger Games because I finally watched the movie. Then, because I read it, I had to read the second. Now I need to read the third, Mocking Jay. The good news is that Kim Miller has them and is willing to let me borrow it. The bad news is that there is always something I should be doing when I’m reading but it’s hard to stop.

I’ve also been reading Ana’s Story which is the manuscript-length story I wrote. While reading it, I have been realizing how much I miss California. I miss that particular house even though we only lived in it for a few short months. We moved in sometime in the spring, early enough to get a garden area ready and a garden planted and we left I think in October of the same year. Still, and in spite of the fact that it needed a LOT of work, I loved that house and would be perfectly happy to live in it now. Another thing I miss, and this might seem really strange to some people, is forest fires. Not the really bad ones that turn the sun into a red disk in a dark grey sky but the smaller ones that lend a bit of smoke to the air and cause the splotches of sun on the road to look slightly orangish. Yesterday we had a lot of stuff in the air that almost had the same effect but there was one huge difference: the smell. I miss the wood smoke smell.

The really interesting or funny thing about all of this is that while I miss that house and certain aspects of living in California, I also miss the last two houses that we lived in in Idaho. I think the reason is that there was room for us. There was room for a piano. There was room for everything that we had. And then some. I also actually miss California—the mountains especially. I don’t miss Idaho in the same way at all (although there are forest fires there).

That said, it is further interesting that the story I wrote as therapy years ago is now a source of unrest for me. I left a lot behind in order to come here and I sometimes wonder if the benefits outweigh the costs.

Have a fantastic day!