August 21 Checklist

        Jenna had asked if her friend Kylee could spend the night.  They had planned for Monday night, but workday sleepovers did not work out well when she and Annette we better friends.  I told her it would be up to Roland.  He said yes and   Jenna created a list for the following day.

             Jenna's agenda for Monday, August 21:

 1) [Kylee]

 2) pool

3) eclipse

4) doughnuts

5) library

6) rays/goin’ postal

7) little shop 8 games . . .

9) something scary

10) bed. 

Allow me to explain:  First thing, we went to Kylee’s house to pick her up at 8:30 a.m..  Check off 1.  Next we went to the pool.  When we arrived, there was a note on the door:

A birthday bash is held at the pool each year on the Friday closest to the 21st.  We have missed all three years however. We were in Roseburg this year as I suspect other two as well.   I thought it was cool that the pool was getting an eclipse for its birthday (LOL) It was just Jenna, Kylee and me in the pool.  There were three lifeguards there.  What troopers, allowing us to be there.  They had even allowed the girls to go down the slide that had been turned on. Check off number 2. 

the large slide hadn't been turned on.  They went down this small one

I thought there would be more from the class as we had made reference to watching the solar eclipse from the pool.  Our instructor had a much better view as she was watching from a city closer to Madras.  We had accumulated several pairs of glasses since summer began and Miss J managed to give away all pairs except for one.  I had already given those to Roland figuring there were other pairs in the car.

hype

this was taken earlier this summer

Kylee had a pair - which she had torn in half so that both she and Jenna could watch at the same time.

 

  Kylee had wanted me to take her home for a half hour or so, but I thought we’d be watching the eclipse first.  I ended up driving to the park by myself as I didn’t know if I’d make it back in time to watch with Roland.  As I had mentioned before, neither Jenna nor I were all that impressed as we had been expecting to see the Corona.  I think a lot of people were as we made our way to Kylee's house and found many with paper glasses on their faces looking towards the sky.  They lost interest before the passing was complete.

courtesy of my brother-in-law (view from Utah)

 The skies seemed overcast.  Not as dark as we had anticipated.  The skies were really smoky that day and the next.  Worse than Medford was.  I had a killer headache – my breathing was almost as bad as it was in Utah.  Even Roland has been affected. Check off number 3.

Now Jenna was hoping I could take them to Happy Doughnuts – which is on the other end of town.  I was willing to drive them there, but did not want to make the drive just myself (I think driving up and down Old Pacific all day is what contributed to my leg becoming sore in the first place) and by the time I got to Ray’s (the local grocery store we call Rip-Off-Rays) there weren’t any maple bars (or many doughnuts of any variety for that matter)  Jaime specifically wanted maple bars because Monday was maple bar day at the Happy Doughnut; oh well . . .) so no check-off for number 4.

I had come home to change my pants and returned for Jenna and Kylee just before 11:00.  I hadn’t planned on adding laundry to the agenda, but realized that it needed to be done.  Kylee loaded my car full of cans and bottles to take to the recycling because each return of bar-coded bottle or can (has to be readable and not bent) add up at 10 cents a can, but I had to go to the library for summer reading before they could turn in the cans. 

It was our last day at the for the children’s reading program at the library and Jenna and I have been volunteering each Monday.  I don’t know how I became the story lady, but I have told stories at each event.  After story time we have had an activity except for the day of the solar eclipse.  Story time felt like an afterthought.  The children were more involved in the activities they had already started - which is okay.  Here are some samples of most of the activities that we did for the last two months:

 

we offered Lego activities two weeks in a row:
July 24 and 31

Sponge Bobs birthday was August 10

Solar Eclipse activity Aug 8

display case as of August 8

pin the eclipse over the sun

we created fairy gardens on Aug 14

house to go in the fairy garden

learning the planets on Aug 21

this was our last day of summer reading

tiles created on the last day

making slime Aug 21

cover photo for facebook page; rocks painted at the festival

Check off library.  So I took the girls to Rays, dropped them off with the five or six bags of cans, and went to the laundry mat.  I told them I’d meet them at Goin’ Postal – which is just next door to the strip mall (I guess you could call it that) where Ray’s is located.  It’s still a good walk. 

So we were home and up to number 7.  Both enjoy scary movies, though I don’t know why.  Little Shop of Horrors is not all that scary, but because  the plant arrives on the day of the full solar eclipse, Jenna decided they needed to watch it in honor of that day’s eclipse. But they had wanted to wait until it got darker.

 They started working on number 8.  Asking questions from board games mostly.  Kylee did have an opportunity of playing Balderdash with the rest of us as we introduced her to Family Home Evening.  Kylee fell asleep as they watched Little Shop and started from the beginning the next morning (after she had gone to the pool with us again of course - the smokiest day - not a good workout because we did not breathe the air) The girls were well behaved and at a lower volume than Jenna had been with Annette.

We returned Kylee to her house just after three.  I'd forgotten that I had agreed to work a shift at the library, and so had Jenna go with me as I did not have time to take her home.

The smoke had lifted by Wednesday morning.  Back to a better pool workout.

Where is the Sun?

         I had not noticed what the temperature was when I left the house this morning, but it was cold. I grabbed a jacket and slipped on some long pants before I went. It's felt so hot for so long the drop in temperature makes it seem cold.  I didn't want our swim instructor to be there by herself.  Two other students showed.  The water was colder than the air was.  After fifteen minutes of movement, I still wasn't warm.  I got out of the pool just after 9:30.  It was warmer outside than in the pool.  It is still overcast, but no rain yet.

        There was a misty fog hanging over the hills this morning.  I love that sight, but think I enjoyed it more this morning believing it has helped clear some of the smoke - though yesterday was not as bad as Tuesday.  Skies were hazy with smoke since the solar eclipse had passed.  That isn't healthy to breathe.

         Jenna did not go with me this morning. Tomorrow will be the last day of class as our instructor got roped into substituting and training a teaching position.  I miss the class already.  I told her I'd take her to Happy Doughnuts on Monday morning.

          I do have more thoughts to post.  A meeting from last week, renovation update, and the agenda for the day of the eclipse (which I will probably post tomorrow)  but may not get to all of my thoughts until after Jenna returns to school as I would like to spend the last few days of her summer with her.

Where's the Passion

                Serena asked if I would write a news article about the library. She sent over some ideas of what was wanted and asked if I could do it in 100sh words.  That's not a lot of words.  I could easily do more than 1000.  I did over 400 and just barely scratched the service.  I have not heard back from her.

                I enjoyed the first economy class that I took several times more than the current class I'm taking.  To give my readers an idea of how foreign this subject is to me, let me share with you the discussion and assignment topics:    Explain why you think the Federal Reserve Bank tracks M1 and M2.  OR  List and explain each of the three traditional tools the central bank has for controlling the money supply. Which is the most popular? Why?; Now with these things in mind, Please choose ONE of the following. Your response should be 600 words long:

1) Explain what will happen to the Money Multiplier process if there is an increase in the Reserve Requirement.

2) Why does expansionary monetary policy cause interest rates to drop?

3) There is a well-known economic model called the Phillips Curve. Using a discussion on expansion and contradiction policy, explain why one of these variables usually falls when the other rises.

600 words?  They might as well ask me to write it in klingon.  What the heck?  So not only do I have to come up with 600 words (when I'm not even able to come up with 6) but I have to do some research to explore what the heck any of this even means.

                I chose Phillip's curve.  I thought there would be more information about it.  None of my references are 600 words long.  There have been one or two paragraphs before details of two other scientists whose theories go into more detail.  Okay, okay.  Let's look up Phillips -find out who he is, explain some of his background.  Still less than 300 words.  Now what?  Also this is supposed to be my opinion and yet I am supposed to write my opinion in third person?  Why not just tell me to type it all out without using my fingers?

                One of my references was actually written in first person.  It made it personal.  The reference was made in 2008 before the economy started referring to our slump as a recession.  The Great Recession as a matter of fact.  Great?  What was so great about it?  So half my assignment is on defining Phillips and the other half is about the recession.

                Conclusion: Though it is said that the unemployment rate has had no bearing on the inflation as an economy, those who are unemployed or who are employed but struggling, deal with personal inflation on a daily basis.  My assignment will not be graded until Sunday.

                Thus far I'm receiving a good grade in the class.  I am so grateful I have only the one class right now as it seems to be eating up a lot of my time and I have allowed myself to become somewhat hostile about my current situation.  Jenna returns to school on Tuesday.  I would rather spend my time with her than digging thorough a subject that isn't near and dear to my heart and feeling helpless about the unemployment status and the economy. 

Solar Eclipse and Weather

           With all the hype involved, I thought we would be seeing the cornoa.  Jenna and I were both disappointed that we didn't.  We were more impressed by the blood-red sun painted that way due to all the smoke.  Mornings are usually clear.  Not this morning.  Smoke makes fires appear closer than they are.  There are so many of them.  I like the feel of the pool in the morning - especially when we have had it to ourselves - though I do miss some of the other members of the class.  School starts next week and so it's understandable why we haven't seen those who are school teachers.

            I have Jenna's agenda for yesterday stored on a file - but not ready to post.  I have to create a discussion post for my economic class (which I am NOT enjoying) and 100 word report on the summer reading program.  My blog posts will have to remain on the back burner for the time being.

Meanwhile I have these photos of yesterday:

Another Disappointment

Jenna's been in a slump

I wish I knew how to fix the situation
surely as my mom wished she could
when I was the age that Jenna is now

 I don't believe mom had gone through this slump

when she was thirteen.
Her parents were newly divorced and
she was a latch key kid trying to support her mom
and help look after her brothers
She didn't have time to get bored
Jenna gets bored
I got bored.
How unfortunate.

I think my mom had it harder than I do.

Jenna still allows herself to be disappointed
whenever plans don't work out or
promises get broken.
When I was thirteen, I had already fixed my mind
into believing that I didn't care
It was a lot easier to not care than be hurt all the time

Lonely.  We both needed good friends.

And actually I was in a better position as far
as contact goes.  There were fewer working mothers
and houses close together. 
I could walk up or down the street and
spend some time with either Julie or Janeen.
Jenna has never really had a soul mate
a great friend she could confide in that
is nearer to her own age

 We both thought she and Annette were like two peas

in a pod.  I had even created a post about it.
Unfortunately Annette's mom seems to have control issues
and insecurities much like the mother
of Jenna's sisters - who we are not in contact with because
they were brainwashed into believing we are horrible people.

She and Kylee hung out the other day.  I wish

they could get together more often -
especially since each is lonely in her own way.
But it doesn't work out as often as we'd like.

Jenna has always wanted to do activities with the boys rather

than the girls.
She hasn't always liked young women or
activity days before that.
She also has issues with the newest beehive who
needs to be involved - but somehow seems socially awkward.

The young women - or perhaps it was all of the youth -

had planned for a dress-up party. 
Initially, Jenna had wanted to go as a lobster.
She doesn't have a lobster costume, but did purchase
a scary costume for Halloween.  She decided
she would wear the costume to the bbq/party. 
She's been looking forward to it for over a month.
Last week it was announced that there would no longer be a bbq
but bring your laptops.  We will find names in family files
so that we can do baptisms.
Oh, joy.  So not only is the bbq cancelled, but have turned it
into something completely boring.

 I actually enjoyed family history when I was her age

A Million times more than I do now.
Well - perhaps less than a million.
And it was never the genealogy thing.  It was
the adults I enjoyed being with.
Wow.  That sounds weird to my ears as I write that.
I was thirteen.  What did I know?

 Jenna hangs around adults at the library and

our water aerobics class.  I think she feels more comfortable
I know I did.
I didn't do well with girls my age.
I guess they all weren't like Barbie dolls but
there were enough that were into boys
and fads
and fashions
and I never was.
I can understand her not relating to the YW.
There are so few of them.
I understand why plans change.
I don't understand why they did when I was a youth.
I often got upset with those who would suggest the activity
and not bother to show.  What's up with that anyway.

So that's been a slump contributor I'm sure, plus

the fact that she has been without a room for 
the last two months. 
Service Master was great when we had their fans -
They checked on us every day.
But once they had their equipment back
we weren't even an afterthought.
Our house still isn't finished.
But Jenna's things have finally been returned.

 She's been hot and cold. 

Mood swings and slumps.
I do believe my mother had it worse.
I was a psychological mishap.
I HATED being a teenager. 
I would never want to go through that again.
And yet . . . here I am.  Going through it.
Experiencing it from a mother's point of view.
And I cry when I think about how my mom
must have felt.
It was heartache for her
and she didn't know what to do.
And I want to apologize to her.
I want to say I'm sorry I was such a spaz,
and I'm thankful that you didn't have to go through it
with all of us.

On Monday we will watch the eclipse at the pool.

I was able to make Jenna smile

laugh actually
when I shared this thought
that I took from facebook
(I don't know who to credit though -
one of Corey's friends . . . .)

 

Today we went and picked pears.

I don't know if I'll post about it or not.

Faeries, Fairies, Selfies and Climbing Hills

                When I showed up to the library on Monday, Rindy and JM handed me a book on Faeries and told me look through the book and pick something to share.  They said they had looked for a story but weren't able to find one.  The "information" book was the only they could find.  Faeries are micheiveous creatures - not to say that fairies aren't - but I think the spelling somehow changes the definition.  Faeries, on a whole, sound impish and somewhat scary . . . at least from the descriptions in the book.

                I did like the "faerie" definition to mean "doesn't necessarily have wings, no specific size (as some can be as big as giants)  . . . but are all bound by magic" and there were different classes of faeries, which I did not go into.  The book had some detailed illustrations on some pages and rather dull ones on others.  The information that I thought I would share was always on a page without illustrations or so minute it seemed ridiculous to hold the book up for the children to look at.  I told them we would first learn a bit about fairies and then I would read them a book with an actual story.

                I mostly asked questions:  Who knows what a fairy is?  What does a fairy look like?  What does a fairy wear? and then we would talk about what we thought and what was written in the book.  One girl suggested that fairies wore paper.  I read that everyday wear was mostly made of leaves and that mouse skin was used for the faeries who went to battle.  Silky webs were reserved for high fashion.  I pulled these two examples from the web:

                               

When Jenna was younger we had used flower pedals, grass and leaves to make fairy clothes.  It was fun.

                 Someone had given me Pinkalicious Fairy House to read.  I don't recall ever seeing a children's book (early reader) told in first person before.  That was different.  I read some, showed pictures, told some, skipped pages, then sent them outside to make fairy gardens.

               

 

                On Tuesday Jenna and I went downtown to take some selfies as it was city hall selfie day in Myrtle Creek.   

                We had left  the house at 8:00 and left city hall to go to the pool but as we were there major early, we took some other selfies as well.

                Our instructor is out of town and so one of the lifeguard' has been assisting the class with workouts. There were four of us, I think.  Yesterday there was only two.  Yesterday the pool was warm.  Yesterday Jenna and I just did our own thing.  It was glorious!

                The skies have been clear the last two mornings. 

                Jenna and her friend Kylee had made plans to spend the day together.  I dropped Jenna off at the school where they started to hang.  After I returned for them, I could see the haziness filled the skies again, and the mountains were hard to see.

                I must have driven the car up and down hill, back and forth, wearing the poor thing down as I was either driving Jenna and Kyle around or running errands for Roland.  I was tired of having driven more in one day than I'm used to in just one week.

                When we returned home from our trip that we'd taken in June, we passed the small town of Glide before entering Roseburg.  Last night the stations flashed a warning on the screen that Glide was to be evacuated IMMEDIATELY.  That's not good.

Free Stuff

          Roland ended up taking Jenna to the fair on Friday.  I thought it said to dress as a vegetable to get in free, but a friend pointed out that it said to dress a vegetable.  

Thus Roland and Jenna decorated a couple of carrots before leaving the house.

          After they arrived, they were told there was a seven dollar fee to park.  Roland asked where the free parking was located.  He was told if he parked at the high school, there was a "shuttle" that would bring him back to the fair.  So in order to save money, they went and parked at the high school and returned on a school bus that Roland assures me was designed for small people.  I smiled as I considered the greyhound I had taken from Portland to Salt Lake City in this post.

 

          They returned home just as I had finished up my last post - but had not yet posted "Use Labels for Items, Not People "  Jenna and Roland were wearing black baseball caps when they returned.  Enthusiastically, Jenna started pulling items out of a blue tote bag she had received and told me how she and her dad had acquired each.

           Roland had purchased a few tickets so that Jenna could play games or go on rides.  She collected posters by throwing darts.

          She used all of the tickets but four and as there was nothing left for only four tickets, she gave her tickets to the bus driver to pass on to another child who may not have a lot of money either.

          Though it had cooled down from the beginning of the week, it was still hot.  I don't think that Roland and Jenna were gone for four hours before they returned.   

          Roland asked me to take her to a birthday party as he was worn out and didn't feel like driving.   For the second time in our lives,  I dropped Jenna off at party without having met parents (or adult guardians) I think it was probably the most well attended party she's been to since we've lived in Oregon.

  

          This week has cooled down 20 to 40 degrees from last week.  That's quite a jump!  I have had the windows open for the last two nights and it's been wonderful!  Jenna and I put on our swimsuits this morning for our water aerobics class, but first went to the middle school to drop off some books.  Though the temperature read 62 degrees, it felt colder because of the cool wind.  I stopped to put my jacket on, and we both opted not to continue with going to class (which I think is a first for Jenna and water) and went downtown to hand deliver a couple of surveys that Roland would like to have for class and a possible business (which I will post about at another time)

          We stopped off at Soco for the world's greatest cookie (I kid you not . . . walnuts, coconuts, chocolate chips PACKED into deliciousness) and returned home before 9:30.  Will be heading to the library within the hour.  I don't know what the specific theme is for today.  I think perhaps we'll be building fairy gardens.  I think next week may be our last for summer reading.  I know Jenna returns to school on the 29th.

Use Labels for Items, Not People

        I watched the 2016 version of Ben-Hur for the first time last night.  I don't recall ever having made it through the 1959 version without crying, so why should 2016 be any different?  Jenna looked at me after the Chariot Race scene and asked if I was crying.  I cry for a number of reasons each time.  She had excused herself before the crucifixion.  That was heart-wrenching.  

        I had recently met some of my water buddies at the local coffee shop.  One asked what makes one a Jew.  Is it a race? a religion?  It doesn't matter - we're all part of the human race.  He was just wondering.  I'll admit I've wondered about that myself.  I sent him a link to this site.

        I am one who could never be in the Klu Klux Klan or put labels on people - usually I don't know.  I don't know if that would be considered ignorance or miraculous - as in most cases I truly can't tell by looking at a person what race he or she might be - and it doesn't matter.  Why do we insist on putting labels on each other anyway?

        When Ben-Hur started, Judah and Messala are racing their horses - egging on one another.  It reminded both Jenna and I of the introduction to the Prince of Egypt.  In both movies the pair start out as friends, but labels change when groups are divided: Romans and Jews, Egyptians and Hebrews, North and South, Americans and Japanese.

        I thought about countless stories I have either seen, heard about or read.  Some true, some fiction - but all with the same purpose.  Sometimes friendship tear apart, sometimes they end up saving - but are still lost in many cases.

        Best Friends Forever: A World War II Scrapbook, by Beverly Patt,  is about a friendship between two American girls named Dottie and Louise.  Though both are Americans, Dottie is sent to an internment camp and writes to Louise who keeps her letters in a scrapbook along with some other memorabilia. 

But both girls are affected by the war, and when Dottie and her family are relocated, she no longer hears from Louise.  Still friends in their heart, but there is still a sadness of losing contact.

        I watched Friendship in Vienna when in 1988 when it was first created and aired on the Disney Channel.   It is about the friendship between two girls, Inge and Lise - neither understanding the conflict that surrounds them or why both of their parents insist they stay away from each other. 

One day Inge is told she can't continue with her education at the public school.  Lise's brother joins the youth of Hitler and Lise tells Inge to stay away from him as he has become a dark person.  She sacrifices much for their friendship.  Their friendship is torn, but it is because of their friendship that Inge and her parents are saved.

        I thought of examples from before the Civil War - those may have attended West Point Military Academy and fought in the Mexican war found themselves on different sides did not view themselves as comrades but enemies.  I thought about some of the westerns that my husband will watch in which friendships are formed between those that have been told not to be friends.  Sometimes it works to be a blessing.

        We don't always share political points of view.  We tend to use labels - even if it's not meant in a derogatory way - we still call ourselves Jewish, American, black, white, straight, gay, rich, poor, star- and plain-bellied Sneetches (see here) How great it would be if we just saw ourselves as human beings and treat one another with respect and dignity.

For further information about the examples I used see here for " Best Friends Forever: A World War II Scrapbook"  and here for Friendship in Vienna