Okay, a little recap. I'm doing this sort of journal-ishly, sort of soapbox/essay-ishly. When the mood strikes, I suppose. And I won't do past history, either, or try to catch up...unless I really want to. Which generally, I don't.
Monday 8/19
My Mondays have taken on a different feel because I've had to readjust things. I get a food co-op basket every Saturday, so I've taken to shopping on Mondays (because Saturdays are too crazy-busy for that and Sundays are the Sabbath). On top of laundry, but I did that on Fridays, too, which was my old shopping day. It just seems like a lot to face on a Monday (because there's lessons with the kids, too!)
After doing my co-op order (that's done on Mondays, pick up is Saturday), I took myself to lunch, which is my one treat of the week. I made a friend today at Taco Mayo, which is a pretty-good Mexican chain (think La Salsa) and they make their own tortillas. Heavenly! Well, when the manager gave me my meal, I accidentally said in Spanish, "Parece bien" (that looks good). He lit up like a candle, "You speak Spanish!" He was born in Mexico, but has spent most of his life here. He with me for a good 10 minutes (before other customers came) and came to my booth and talked with me some more later. The only downfall there is that they have no horchata (actually, nobody does in town in all the Mexican places - and there are 5 or 6). I am sad. But they do have those fancy Coke machines that can program in 165 different drinks. So I had a cherry ginger ale with my steak & black bean burrito. Delicioso!
Even though I live across the street from a grocery store, I do my main shopping at Wal-mart which is all the way across town (I live in the south part of town, Wally World is north). If you like people-watching, it is a great place to visit. I can always count on at least one person who'll chat with me (total stranger - but OK is full of friendly people), one person dressed unusually (I'm being nice), and something weird that I spy out in the store. Today at the clearance racks (got a cute deep pink tshirt for $1!) I helped an older lady get some things of the higher rack and got an earful about the store sales gossip. Then, while shopping, I found canned octopus - for what, I don't know, though we do have a small asian population here, maybe they'll eat it. Somebody must, for them to stock it on the shelves. And my fashion experience today was someone who looked like one of the Duck Hunters going on vacation in Hawaii. Beard & long grizzly-gray hair, camo hat, hawaiian shirt, shorts & flip flops. I thought he seemed very confused.
Monday is also my first water aerobics class of the week. We were very full today, 16 people plus the instructor. They're all ladies, though Doris, our instructor, says from time-to-time we get a guy. But they never seem to stick. Maybe we intimidate them. ;) The regulars (about 8 of us) are a funny, loud bunch. We laugh a lot. Analiese came and watched one time and commented later that all she saw was a bunch of ladies laughing & talking in the water! Well, we do exercise. Trust me, I get my heart rate going (we take our pulses mid-class) in some of the exercises, like the pool wall push-ups. I still miss yoga (we're trying to get something together for Relief Society), and I haven't thought it cool enough in the morning yet to walk...plus I'm trying to avoid the mosquitos. Morning & evening, they are terrible!
Tuesday 8/20
Living behind a grocery store has it's ups and downs. It's a good thing, when you need something quickly and can just dash across the road. But the downturn is this...trash! The trash bins for the store are...you guessed it! Behind the store. That smell can waft lovingly across the road on warm days. And then, there's all the delivery trucks that come...behind the store. And the cardboard they tie up...behind the store. Today, they did a lousy job binding up the cardboard. Usually we get little pieces of carboard & plastic wrap here and there (Poor Analiese has the daily job of going to pick it off the lawn), but this morning found us with two big almost-child-size pieces. Now, if that wasn't bad enough, what was lying, half in the gutter, half on my lawn was even more charming. It was one of those humongous 10 lb. chubs of ground beef, with a bite taken out of it! Talk about gross, smelly, and fly-ridden. I didn't let Analiese do that one; I bravely handled that job myself. But I need to have a little talksy with the manager at the store.
Jonathan started Seminary today. They are doing the Book of Mormon this year, which has excited him. However, they changed the curriculum and the scripture mastery, which was dismaying to him because he'd already gone and marked his scriptures with the old list. Still, I think it will be a good year. It's like the new Sunday School/Youth curriculum...more personal accountability.
It was also his last day doing the Aviation Mechanics for the whole day. He was only catching up from the first week and his teacher told him today that he doesn't have to come in until the afternoon session. This is good because it means he can bike to Seminary and do things here in the morning and then go to the airport in the afternoons. It's been a challenge - all math (Algebra, Geometry & Trig) - but that's almost over and then they start getting to the good stuff! A brother in our stake also is taking the courses and drives Jonathan home. Today they spent some time studying at my dining room table. I'm glad he has someone who can help him.
Wednesday 8/21
Really, I didn't write this on day. The kids were at Scouts & Activity Days; Ken & I were home alone with "nothing" to do. I never got around to writing. So...chock that day up as a good one!
Thursday 8/22
Analiese & I made a trip to Lawton (52 miles one way) to get the stuff for our soon-to-be-coming bunnies. I misjudged and got cages too big, and bedding pans too small. We'll make it work somehow. Jonathan put things together fairly well; he's much better at that sort of thing than Ken or I. It was fun for us to contemplate the upcoming rabbits and we've been studying how to care and train them (did you know you can litter train them? Yippee!) and get them ready to show. We won't be able to do it for this year's fair, but next year the kids want to try.
Oh, continuing from Tuesday's gross meat encounter, we had another one this morning. It wasn't ground beef, but some hunk of fat and gristle and it wasn't on the curb but in our yard! Ugh! Luckily, Jonathan was around to help take care of it; he put it on the shovel and dumped it back into the store's bins. I don't know how or why this is happening, but that manager talk is ever looming.
Friday 8/23
No matter how I try, days just keep getting busier. Today was no exception. Laundry and morning lesson routine went as scheduled, but as the day wore on, it got crazier. Jonathan had his aviation classes, then Analiese had 4H sewing club, I got my haircut, then picked up pizza for the kids for dinner, and took Jonathan over to the 4H building to join Analiese for Rabbit club. They had a lot of fun building nesting boxes (even though we don't have rabbits yet and don't know what size they'll be or if they'll be male or female) and carving designs on them with wood burners. Analiese's friend, Charisa, is showing 2 rabbits at the upcoming county fair and wants Analiese to help her show one of them. It will give her good experience to know how it's done. Also, the kids can enter their nesting boxes into the fair and maybe win an award. This is one club that has them really enthused.
The rodeo is in town this weekend (it actually started yesterday), but we've been too busy for it. Plus, it's $10 a person. But it's a big exciting thing for people in town (kids in the clubs today were dressed to the cowboy Nines in jeans, boots & hats!). Maybe next year we can go.
So, my busy day meant missing water aerobics, yet ended with tired-but-happy kids. Can't complain.
Saturday, 8/24
The rodeo sure affected my day! Jonathan was gone at Hunter Education, and I had taken Analiese & a friend to the 4H Lego club. When I went to pick them up, I couldn't even cross the street - the police had blocked it off for some reason! So I took a residential street that I knew went north paralleling Main St. Each time I looked to my left to see if I could go back to Main, I saw police cars at the intersections. I finally found one that didn't (it really did, but I didn't see the car, and managed to turn onto Main anyway. I kept thinking..."What is this?" and how was I going to get back to the house. I decided to look down this one street we sometimes use and - lo and behold! - there was a parade all lined up and headed toward Main.
So I had to take the girls all the way around past the Air Force Base to Broadway, thinking I'd turn right there and go on home. Nope. It was blocked right there (The rodeo arena is just behind that corner), so I had to go further down the road to a country road I thought (I hoped) would take me back to a street I could come up and get to the house with. Luckily I was right (my Bountiful Baskets meets at the corner of that road) and I got back home, but I could see, just north of our street, was the parade.
I went to the grocery store parking lot so I could see what was left of the parade. Mainly trucks, tractors, 4H riders, and a herd of longhorn, but there it was. Country living at it's finest, I guess. Can't get home because of the rodeo parade!
Sunday, 8/25
The kids are usually more than eager for church on Sunday, but today they couldn't wait to be done. Why? Because we were going to get our rabbits! It was the only day Mr. Strickland, the 4H County Coordinator, could find for us to meet with him at his farm and select a rabbit or two.
So, after changing out of church clothes (didn't want to get them dirty on the farm!), we headed north rather uneasily (well, for me), because his instructions didn't include an address and without a GPS in the boonies, I could easily get lost! And it was the boonies! We drove north out of town, and nearly all the way through the next, smaller town. He had said to turn left at Highway 19, but the sign only pointed right and the left way looked like a back road! But I didn't have anything else to go on, so we turned.
He had then told me to go for a mile and turn right. Since there was nothing but fields and telephone poles around me, I watched my odometer for a strict mile! That right I was to take looked awful sketchy, though. It wasn't even paved, just dirt!
Once again with no other instructions, I turned right and looked for the only house to be seen within half a mile. On our right were more fields, on the left was a couple of small houses and some fencing and outbuildings. Was this it?
I guess so, for Mr. Strickland came out of the second one and told us to follow his truck as we drove back to the rabbits area. That was an experience! I told the kids this is why everyone here has pick-ups. The ruts and dried mud holes I had to drive Ken's Honda over rival any potholes I've ever encountered!
I had taken my camera, because I wanted to document this occasion. Not just because of Mr. Strickland's kindness and the kids' excitement (trust me, they were VERY excited), but also because he had 60 rabbits and I had to see his set-up and photo it to prove its existence. It was a wood frame, open-sided structure with a corregated metal roof with double decker hutches in three rows.
Mr. Strickland was very patient with the kids, showing them all the babies he had, teaching them how to hold them properly, and telling them what to do. My favorite part (laughing here) was him showing them how to "sex" the rabbits which, if they show their rabbits, they will have to do.
He let the kids pick out what they wanted. Analiese ended up with a female Himalayan (long white body with black feet & ears & nose) and Jonathan ended up with a female black mini rex. And...one more. Because Momma saw a cross rabbit (two breeds mixed) that was white with caramel colors and fell in love/felt sorry for. This little girl was getting pushed away from the feeder in her hutch by her five siblings and was too skinny. So, instead of coming home with two, we came home with three. Analiese named hers Alice (because she is curious), Jonathan names his Twilight (because it is black, not because of Sparkly Vampires or My Little Pony!) and I named mine Fluffernutter (look it up), or Fluffer for short.
Twilight & Fluffer are sharing a cage right now (the cages are huge and they are small, while Alice has her own. Ken was surprised, but only shook his head. Eventually they may need separate cages, especially if we breed one because mommas don't share!
But the kids came home, excited and happy and so in love with their fluffy bunnies!
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