Missing the Fair

                I think most fairs offer a free admission before things fully get started.  Roseburg offers a FREE Admission for Seniors Until 3pm I thought today, but it was actually yesterday.  We could all dress up as vegetables and get in free tomorrow between 10:00 and 1:00. 

Jenna loves to dress up, too, though I don't know if she's ever considered dressing up as a vegetable - though I know that she would do it for food.  No matter.  It's been so smoky and hot that I don't want to go - although we had planned on it.  We'd take Jenna there in the afternoon but probably wouldn't spend a lot of money.

                Jenna asked if we could go today.  Her friend had called and asked if she could meet her.  I told her to see if she could just get a ride with her friend - it certainly seems like it would be more convenient for both of them to arrive together than to try and meet up.  Thus far it doesn't sound promising that she will be going this year.

                But we have gone to the last two and there will be more.  Roseburg may not even be as smoky as Myrtle Creek appears to be right now - or it could actually be worse.  The fires don't appear to be as close to us as the smoke is. 

                I'm just having a hard time dealing with it as I age. I really shouldn't complain as I am better off than others who have had to evacuate or who have lost their homes. My prayers are with all of those who fight to put out the fires and keep us safe from harm. 

Car Wash Memories

        We went to get the car washed yesterday.  Though not an automatic carwash, it brought up memories - though not in chronological order.

Memory 1:        When Kimball learned to talk, he'd talk with such excitement that he'd often stumble over his words and came across as stuttering;  he would also put himself in third person.  Kimball LOVED vehicles, dump trucks, cranes, cherry pickers, tractors . . . you name it.  He really did know the names and what they did.  My mom thought he would be fascinated by the car wash as well.  He wasn't.  He was actually very freaked out.

        "I'm sorry, Kimball," (once in the automatic car wash has started, the driver needs for it to finish before exiting) "but I really thought you might like the carwash."

        "Kimball doesn't li-li-like the carwash.  Kimball wa-wa-wants to go."

        Grandma pointed out the light that was red and told Kimball that once it turned green we could go.  Kimball was so focused on that red light  that I think he forgot how scary he thought the carwash was.  As soon as the light turned green he cried, "Go, Grandma, Go!" 

Memory 2:        I don't know how old I was when this next memory took place.  I'm not even sure if I was in the car with mom or if I had just heard her relate it often enough that it felt as though I had been there.

        There is a sign with the directions on what one is supposed to do in the automatic car wash.  I think ROLL UP WNDOWS was number one, which she did.  But as she got closer to actually going through, she had to roll the window down to insert the coins.  She forgot to roll the window up and had just come from the hair salon.  Her next errand was picking up a prescription or groceries or something.  She pointed to her hair and told the cashier that this is what hair looks like before and after going through a carwash with the window down.  She said it gave the cashier a laugh.  But I remember her ragging on about it each time we'd go through that it specifically said to Roll Window before inserting your coin.

Memory #3      There was a carwash (not automatic) across the street from the ice cream parlor where I used to work.  I remember a group of teenage kids approaching the store after hours.  Instead of spending money on ice cream, they decided to go across the street and have a water fight using the car wash hoses.

Solar Activity - Myrtle Creek

            We have activities each week for the Children's Summer Reading Program.  Today's "Build" activity featured a solar oven and building S'mores. Yum!

            JM took the children outside and placed marshmallows in the oven and explained how it would work.  

          We then came inside and had story time - only it was more of a question, answer and demonstration than straight reading.  We talked about the sun and moon.

            When we finished with the book, Rindy was up with her "Pin-a-Moon-to-the-Sun" craft.  Each of the children were given black paper to create a moon.  After all the moons were cut out, each stood in line to paste their moon on the sun while wearing their solar glasses.  It was really fun.   

            The best part of our activity was returning outside with graham crackers and chocolate to add to the marshmallows - which really hadn't toasted to the melting stage.  But those squares of chocolate certainly got soft in less than two minutes in the sun.  

            Everybody enjoyed their s'mores - particularly Jenna who got to keep the solar oven and all leftover fixings. 

Cool on the Coast

My mom would often tell us that when my brother Patrick was younger, his absolute favorite story (book) that he enjoyed reading was Joan Heilbroner's "Robert the Rose Horse"

I would guess because it was a book he could follow and repeat as it was being told "His eyes began to itch, His nose began to itch. And . . .  ACHOO . . "

            I was thinking about that last night as I was taking a shower trying to wash the itch away from the rest of my body.  I probably should not have gone to the pool yesterday.  The air temperature was about 10-20 degrees warmer than it has ever been (since I started taking classes anyway) though the water itself was a nice temperature.  I think I breathed in too much nasty air. 

            I had come to Oregon to get away from nasty air. I think I have used more eye drops this summer than I have during the winter seasons I was in Salt Lake.  First there were the winds during our traveling in June.  Fireworks actually didn't bother me this July as it has most Julys.  And now the smoke and whatever other chemicals have been reported to be in the air.

            That and going from the temperature of the house from a/c to desert heat (and I don't live in the desert anymore) hasn't helped any either.    Up until two weeks ago, I was sleeping with the windows opens and not using the A/C at night.  This week the A/C was on nearly 24/7.  Even when it had cooled off (back to under 60) I don't want to invite the smoke.

            Today we went to the coast in honor of Sand Castle Day (here).  Once we passed Ten Mile, the skies were overcast and not smoky. 

            We spent a few hours on the beach. 

Jenna was the only one who braved the water - but not even all the way in.   

The water was cold. 

Theoretically it should have only taken an hour to get there, but a road was closed and we had to go around - which made the trip longer.  Still overcast for the entire return.  It appears to have lifted the haze.   I'm grateful for that.

Where Is the Moisture?

       One thing that I have really enjoyed about Oregon is watching the scenery change throughout the day.  For example, clouds will surround the hilltops in the morning and slowly lift before noon.  It’s a clean fog that moistens the air and gives it a freshness – at least six to eight months out of the year.  I haven’t seen it in the summer.

       The air has been quite hazy lately.  My eyes burn or are itchy.  Roland and I have been sneezing.  The air reminds me of the poor air quality in Salt Lake at the beginning stages – except that it is HOT outside and no winter chill.  Smoke.  Lots of smoke.  And the fires are further from us this year than the year we had moved in. 

       The air conditioner had not been working at the library, and so it was announced that the library would close as it was seriously warmer in the building than out.  Someone from city hall saw the note on our door and asked to come look at the A/C.  He got it working and asked to keep open to serve as a cooling station.  Thus we extended our hours.

       We were open from 1 – 9 on Wednesday and 10 – 9 yesterday – those are normal library hours in Salt Lake.  Regular hours were created for the library in Myrtle Creek – but nothing like it is in Salt Lake – though it seems there are more hours now on the volunteer-run.  Jenna and I both put in almost three hours for each day of the heat wave. In addition to books, we offered our patrons a cool place to hang and cold water to drink.

        I am the one who always turns on the a/c or the fan – except for this week.  Don’t ask me why.  It’s been hot, but for some reason I was content with just the fan running in my room.  I was on the computer and Roland asked why I didn’t have the air on, proceeds to turn it on full blast and leaves the room.  What’s up with that?  From where I am sitting, my ears were getting cold.  I put on a hat band. 

       Roland’s office lacks A/C.  Not only is it too hot to open a window, but the air is hard to breathe.  If he had had the fan going sending air from my room to his, I’d understand.  But he closed the door.  I turned the A/C down.

       While we slept, I controlled the air.  He was bundled beneath the covers.  I had the air off this morning.  He turned it back on.

       The pool has been high and choppy in the pool.  Monday the turbulence was higher than I had ever seen in a public swimming pool.  Water has been pushing me all over this week – except today.  I couldn’t seem to move in the water more than five feet.  It was weird.

       The pool has water.  The air does not.  Not much in the river beds right now, either.  Bone dry in some places. 

       I was involved in a discussion about this weather.  Three or four of us were complaining until one friend joined the conversation with these words: “I think about our soldiers in the middle east and the heat doesn’t seem so bad.  Grateful for the service.”

       I thanked her for the reminder and the conversation ended.

       I’ve thought about the firefighters, too.  Each time the wind blows and I think that I am grateful for a cool breeze, I often wonder how harmful it is to somebody else.

       I’d like to thank all the soldiers and firefighters who continues to battle and fight a noble cause.

Random Things - Then and Now

25 Random Things Created in 2009

1. I Love having caller ID
2. My faith is often waivered
3. I enjoy rediscovering things through my five-year-old’s eyes 

4. I have called the authorities on suspicious people seeming to be lurking around
    my neighbors’ yards. One turned out to be a meter reader.
5. Fall is my favorite season with temperatures 60 – 70 degrees 

6. I speak Spanish almost as well as my husband does –
    I mean Spanglish
7. I don’t care for country music, but admire many performers of country music
8. Served a mission in the Virginia Roanoke mission; my first three areas are now in
    three different mission boundaries
9. I have always liked peanut butter
10 I love to scrapbook
11 More than half of my music collection is Christmas songs
12 I remember rotary phones, phonographs (or record players), and a time when all
     cars didn’t have seatbelts – let alone mandatory car seats
13 I believe that spell check is one of our greatest inventions yet
14 I enjoy cuddling when I’m awake; when I am asleep I want my OWN space
     – thank you very much
15 I’m very opinionated – it’s a characteristic that needs definite improvement
16 I enjoy collecting photographs of people that I love
17 I have two stepdaughters that none of us know
18 I have yet to make friends with a vacuum cleaner. 

19 I hate e-mail messages that request you forward to a certain number of friends –
     including the one who sent it. How stupid is that?
20 I would rather do the dishes than cook the meal – which works out great in my       

     marriage
21 I really DON’T like waiting – especially in God’s due time
22 I don’t like needing money – I would like the world to go back to the law of

     consecration
23 I enjoy being around positive people for the most part
24 I enjoy laughing
25 This has taken a very long time (with many interruptions) to fill out 

And this year:

1.         I Still enjoy having caller ID - I love being able to program names and  

       numbers into my phone so that I know who is calling

2.         My faith is stronger now than it was eight years ago
3.         I enjoy listening to Jenna sing; I admire her enthusiasm

4.         I have called the authorities on suspicious people - I called WVPD many times about drug house across the street - which, according to my son, is still a drug house.

5.         The only thing I don't enjoy about fall (autumn) are political elections that take place every other year and campaign posters that clutter up my view of nature.

6.         I have never mastered a second language - not even accounting.  But that is the one I am currently working on.

7.         My favorite music is pop, 70's, 80's and Contemporary Christian

8.         I've been back to visit members living in Virginia only one time;  I am currently facebook friends with only a few that I had served with.

9.         I still enjoy peanut butter - especially when combined with chocolate

10.       I still preserve memories and take lots of pictures.  But most of it is digital and rarely ever makes it out of the computer.

11.       I usually listen to whatever music that Jenna listens to

12.       I have changed ribbon in a manual typewriter;  I remember inserting a two-toned ribbon that was black and red.

13.       LOVE spell check.

14.       I sleep in an upright position;  Roland has to be flat.

15.       I have improved.  Still have a ways to go.  But I have grown in Oregon.  I'm not so uptight.

16.       I've taken thousands of pictures.  My most current pictures include the children's reading program and festival

17.       I deal with death pretty well

18.       Love the vacuum cleaner almost as well as the dirt/dust I am trying to get rid  of.

19.       still applies.  I don't forward and I don't tag for others to forward or play.

20.       I often get the privilege of cooking or helping to cook and have Jenna put clean dishes away;  more often than not I generally do  dishes by myself.  I think it's totally awesome when Roland does it.

21        Not good at waiting; will probably never master that one. (see here)

22.       I still don't like needing money - but somehow I think it's easier in a rural area than a big city

23        I have met many pleasant people

24        Still enjoy laughing

25        Wasn't as long - possibly because it was a different time of the day.

I'm Grateful That My Plans Didn't Work Out

                I had made contact with different family members about my plans of sending Jenna to Utah by herself to visit family and we would pick her up in August.  It had been a thought is all.  It's not that I was trying to get rid of her during the summer.  I just know that she's been homesick for her brothers and cousins and probably a week would not be enough for her.

         She did want to march in the parade at the end of last month and this month - only this month didn't work out for anybody in the group except for Jenna.  We manned the booth instead.  Jenna and I had been assigned for the very first shift, and then she got recruited to stay (see here).  Her actions certainly helped with funds but even better (in my opinion) was that it gave her  a confidence that she has somehow kept hidden for many years.  She enjoyed doing it, and she enjoyed being needed.

          She did taper off that last day however, palling around with a group of kids - which was also good for her.  In addition, we assist at the library every Monday (at least for the summer) with the summer reading program, and she enjoys that.  She enjoys the children - which surprised me.  Other than her cousins (and sometimes even the boys have been exceptions) she has never shown an interest in children - especially really little ones.  But she has often told me how much she misses Devin and Ally - and she didn't even get to spend that much time with them.  I'm happy to hear that she misses them.  I really would have liked to spend more time with them myself.  But it doesn't feel like it was meant to be.

          Uncle Ted will be buried on Tuesday.  I wished I could be with the family again.  But I knew before we left to move out here than it would be highly doubtful for us to go back. I didn't know the return back to Utah would be so hard on me.

          I miss seeing my family.  At the same time I am truly excited to watch Jenna grow and gain new confidences.  I'm glad this summer has been working out to be a positive experience.

Camp Fire in the Primary Room

          I was really impressed with the primary yesterday listening to their sweet voices sounding more like 30 children and not just less than 10.  The amount of awesome volume has impressed visitors as it often sounds like there are more than there are.

          Our pianist teaches a Sunday school class as well as playing piano, and so she is often late getting in.  We chose to sing "I am a Child of God" a cappella.  It was beautiful - especially when Lily started off on her rendition - not taking away from the traditional version - but rather adding more beauty to the song.

          Emily was a pill about giving her talk today.  After much prompting and a sad little girl who would not speak, the primary presidency asked the children to stack their chairs.  We still had 40 minutes left.  What?

          The presidency then brought out blankets and a false campfire to set up in the middle and had the children set around the campfire while telling pioneer facts, sharing stories, and singing pioneer songs that the children (nor I) were familiar with, but sang as though it were a part of their daily routine.  I was quite impressed.

         

More Cryptogram Quotes

 This first one I was unable to do by myself.  I turned to the back and gave Jenna the page number and problem number and told her to give me a word.  I figured it out after that.  I was able to figure out the rest on my own.

Colors fade, temples crumble, empires fall, but wise words endure.

Sometimes when people are generous in small, barely perceptible ways, it can change someone's life foever.

Success, for some people, depends on becoming well known; for others, it depends on never being found out.

Things are lost only when you're looking where they aren't.

Politicians are the same all over the world.  They are always promising to build bridges even where there are no rivers.

Cleaning your house, while your kids are still growing, is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing - Phyllis Diller

Good communication is as stimulating as black coffee and just as hard to sleep after - Anne Morrow Linbergh

There is a right way and a wrong way to do everything, and the wrong way is to keep trying to make everyone else do it the right way.

A true fact that is difficult to learn is that the time to save money is when you have some.

The trouble with jogging is that by the time you realize that you're not in shape for it, it's too far to walk back - Franklin P. Jones

People cannot understand their true character until they have run out of gas, purchased something on the instalment plan, and raised an adolescent.

There isn't a child  who hasn't gone out into the brave new world who eventually doesn't return to the old homestead carrying a bundle of dirty clothers - Art Buchwald

I doubt the world holds for anyone a more soul-stirring surprise than the first adventure with ice cream. - Heywood Brown

The arts are a better barometer of what is happening in our world than the stock market or the debates in Congress.

Use what talents you have.  The woods would be very silent if no birds sang other than those that sang best.

Golf isn't so much a game as a passionate faith that you can hit it a mile next time.

It takes eighty-three muscles to frown and only fourteen to smile.  No wonder grouchy people are always tired.

The most inspiring people are those least obsessed with their own happiness, especially those who stride confidently across the globe to create, change, or rest from life what they will.

Diet: a short period of starvation preceding a gain of five pounds.

 A homeowner is someone who is always on the way to hardware store.

A weed is only a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.