The sky is peppered with clouds as far as the eye can see. On that big field of blue, puffy tufts float by. Rain? A teensy bit here and there. It's like one cloud can drop a little, but it's neighbor none at all. In the distance I see darker clouds and what looks like rain there. There's even some thunder and lightning. But that's far away. Altus...nope, not really.
It didn't keep Analiese from P.E. Nothing would, I think. She ADORES P.E., especially volleyball. She gets hot, sweaty and windblown, but the grin on her face is worth the whole things. And she cannot stop talking about it. I'm glad we have this opportunity.
We dropped by the Doshers on the way home. Analiese disappeared with Charesa into her room right away. It was going to take a crowbar to get her out. Now, Jonathan, he got deeply involved in discussion with David and Geordie right off the bat. They enjoy each other so much. It's been nice to have found them. Of course, I get easily drawn into conversation with Michelle. I did manage to pull them (and myself) out in time so I could go to water aerobics.
Ken took me out to dinner tonight to Billy Sims. It's a chain BBQ place in Oklahoma. Apparently, Billy Sims was an OU and NFL football star. The food was pretty good, smoked meat and such, but heavy and filling. I had pulled pork and sides of beans and mac and cheese. I couldn't eat it all. Ken got four kinds of smoked meat (chicken, turkey, pork & beef) and took most of it home. Not a cheap place to eat, but the flavor was good. Jonathan would probably like it. Analiese ate there once with the Sherlocks (she had grilled cheese?).
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
I went to a meeting about Foster Care today. Yes, we've been tossing the idea around. We especially thought that when Jonathan was on his mission, we might take in a foster child. But actually, we could do it now. We have the room.
They showed us a video; it was so sad. The Momma Bear in me just wanted to take that little girl right into my heart. Jonathan was with me (I had to drop him off at the airport right after) and he said he was saddened by how helpless the girl was. Yep, children are at the whim of adults and sometimes the adults aren't good for them. Ken and I have some talking, thinking, and praying to do. But we have the room in our house...and our hearts.
This evening the kids and I enjoyed the backyard. The rabbits were out while the kids cleaned the cages. I groomed Fluffernutter because of late she seems to be sitting in a cloud of fur like Pigpen sat in a cloud of dust in Peanuts comics. I pulled a lot off of her - can you make rabbit fur into yarn? - but still have more to go. She was NOT happy, but endured it without biting me. Her reward for sitting still was to run around the yard. She's found a spot where some sand had been dumped; she likes to dig there.
I pulled some weeds, worked on the back planters (I have to get ready, my tomatoes are coming soon), and stared at my pecan trees. They have buds! They are starting to pop open and I can't wait to see the leaves come again. They look so forlorn without them!
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Today was an adventure in Spanish. The Cruz's, the nonmember couple who have grown member children, needed a ride and some interpreting help at the Human Services office of the city. Their son called me on Monday, telling me the situation and asking for my help. I was a little stunned...my Spanish isn't great (well, compared to Ken) and the call was out of the blue. But I scheduled it with them for today and, after taking Jonathan to school, I picked them up and away we went.
It took a lot longer than I expected, but I should have known. There was an enormous amount of paperwork (they were applying for aid) and it asked a lot of questions...that I had to translate. Some of these words, I had no idea for. Ken, when he was in college, had reams of vocabulary for instances just like this. How I wished it was him there and not me! Then we had to wait in line to return the paperwork. When I told the receptionist we needed a Spanish interpreter for the future interview, she blanched. I was thinking, "Please don't make me come back here." She had us sit and wait and eventually another worker called us into her office. They decided to do the interview right then and there while I was there. Lucky me (eye roll, please). Turns out, they receive too many benefits to qualify for more services, but at least we got that cleared up. The total time taken? Nearly two and a half hours. I was getting nervous, too, because I had to pick up Jonathan by 2:40. But I got them taken care of and picked up Jonathan just fine. Still, my whole afternoon was gone and Analiese was frustrated that I didn't get to work with her on a couple of things.
My plants came today! Two tomatoes (a cherry and a beefstake) and two peppers (a green sweet pepper and an Anaheim chile). The tomatoes looked a bit worn from their journey in a cardboard box, so this evening I planted everybody in the planter right behind the house. Hopefully, everybody will perk up soon!
Thursday, April 10, 2014
After I got the kids settled on the computers doing schoolwork, I went outside this morning to spray weeds in the front. With the drought situation here this has been my decision: No watering the lawns. This means the weeds grow like crazy; the grass, not so much. The trees get all of my gray water (from doing dishes) because it is more important to keep them alive. I can always reseed the lawns later. Jonathan will continue to mow the front and back yards, but for curb appeal's sake and to save me effort & expense, I'm only using weed killer on the front yard, specifically on the walk ways and edges of the house and planters. I hand-pull weeds out of the planters. I've also been pulling dead and ugly stuff out of the planters so I can put in reasonable (big in the back, small in the front) and pretty things in them. But there have been some pleasant surprises too.
This low-lying plant surprised me with a bunch of pretty little flowers. The greenery is small and, when dead, is cactus-like prickly. It's cute, but it's in the middle-to-back of the planter where it can't really be seen. So, when it's done flowering, I think it is going to be moved forward.
Also, this stranger has pushed up through the ground. I have no idea what it is. Hyacinth? No clue. But it certainly looks interesting and I will watch it closely to see what becomes of it.
So I am starting to really like Spring and it's surprises. The pecan tree buds are starting to spread out into leaves. Birds are busy picking up sticks and grass to make nests. A monarch butterfly flew around me as I was busily spraying weed killer. I had to carefully apply the stuff because a breeze wanted to take it in different directions. Still, the sunshine and the chirping and the breeze, along with the new bursts of green here and there are enlivening. I like to be outside, just enjoying what my new sphere of life holds.
Friday, April 11, 2014
More monarchs and squirrels are around today. Nice, too, is one lone dove who is frequenting the backyard feeder with the wrens and starlings. It likes to sit up on the power line that stretches across the backyard and coo. I like to listen to the bird songs, especially in early morning or evening.
After picking up Jonathan from the airport today, the kids went with me to Atwoods. I had gone yesterday to pick up more rabbit food and noticed that - along with chicks, ducks, turkeys and guineas - they have more baby rabbits. Not ours this time, though, and Analiese was excited to see them.
They are small and cute and fuzzy. I am not sure of the breeds, though Analiese and Jonathan were guessing at them. There were nearly two dozen there. Someone is breeding like crazy!
Saturday, April 12, 2014
I hadn't gotten a basket in weeks, due to our big tax bill, but now I felt safe to do so and picked one up this morning. They seemed less full to me than usual and I was a bit disappointed that there weren't any lettuce or spinach. Still, there was nearly all the makings of salsa for Jonathan, I just will need to get some cilantro, and a good bit of fruit that was NOT apples or the pitiful oranges here. I didn't recognize one fruit with a label that said it was from Mexico (and nothing else). It wasn't until I cut into it that I figured it was a mango. Different from other mangos on the outside, but definitely a mango on the inside.
The weather has been hot lately, upper 80's to 90's. The poor bunnies are panting, so we've opened the door into the shed and put a fan on them. Fluffer and Twilight, with the densest coats, have the hardest time.
I made a new cookie recipe today I'd found on Pinterest: Cinnamon Chip Snickerdoodles. My husband and the missionaries (one in particular) will tell you - they are good! They smelled luscious in the oven, full of cinnamon and the chips. Here's the recipe:
http://www.averiecooks.com/2013/05/soft-and-chewy-cinnamon-chip-snickerdoodle-cookies.html By the way, you can find cinnamon chips in the store. I got mine from Walmart. I bet they'd be good in oatmeal cookies, too.
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Wow! The wind is really going at it! It nearly pushed me over in the parking lot at church.
For some reason, the wifi/internet server at the church was down. Believe it or not, this impacted a lot of people. I could not access my scriptures on my app (which is weird, because it works independent of the web) and I couldn't go try and look for them on the church website. I wasn't the only one who couldn't do this, but it was harder on teachers who intended on using media from the web for their classes. Analiese's Primary teacher couldn't show her girls a video and my RS teacher today couldn't show us a segment from a conference talk. Kind of sad we're so dependent on the technology! Embarassing, too!
After church, Jonathan and I had to go get our ox out of the mire. Really, it was ministering to my poor plants. The wind and heat are beating them up. Plus - and this is just crazy - there is supposed to be a deep frost in the next day or so (I hope it doesn't hurt my poor pecans that are just beginning to leaf out!). So, using a metal stand that we'd found in the garage, we wrapped floating row cover around the plants to protect them from all three things. I'd been warned in advance that I should do so because of the wind, but I also know that row cover is for protecting plants from frost. I hope it does a little shading, too.
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