Monday 14 July 2014

A Week in Review (July 6-12)

A Week in Review (July 6-12)

Watched: Earth to Echo.  Jack had seen a preview of it the last time he was at Grandma Denise's and has been dying to go see it. It came out the 2nd and we didn't have a chance to get it in before Valerie's wedding, so we made sure to go this Friday.  While I thought it was only okay, Jack said it was "everything he hoped it would be".  He has already been asking if we can go back to theater to see it again.

Read: I finished up The Midwife's Confession.  An interesting story that tells about the tangled web that are so easy to weave. I still can't say that I understand any Noelle chose to kill herself. I should see if rereading the first chapter again and see if something clicks.  Next I started, The Silkworm (Cormoran Strike, #2).  It started out about a bit faster since I already knew the back story and was more familiar with the writing style.  It's about 500 pages and so I am hoping to be able to get it done before I have to take it back to the library, but it might be a challenge!

Listened: To Barley's last bark at the first home we brought him too.  When we got him he was an energetic enough dog to put his paws on the counter and steal a pizza fresh from the oven.  Now he is such an old man that he request help getting into even my car.  He has still has a ton of spirit in him, but the old body is catching up with him.  He's losing a lot of weight.  Hopefully that's just the summer heat or something and he will put some back on soon.  I don't know what I'll do.  I still haven't gotten used to coming into this house without his baying at me. Its kind of unnerving.  I get through by knowing I will hear him next Friday.  :)

Made: A schedule up for Jack's monster to-do list before we leave KC.  Jack and I sat down and looked at at a calendar so that we could make sure that we get everything in.  This is made more difficult by the fact that Nick and I decided that I should visit SLC and see the new house and spend our anniversary together.  So each day is jam packed with different activities that he wants to do.  I think we will both be exhausted, but we will have fun together and hopefully give him a sense of closure before we leave.

Felt: Mixed feelings when I looked at the weather forecast for next week.  While highs in the 70's in July sounds great, it doesn't really work well for Oceans of Fun (which is of course one of our bucket list items). That meant we had to go to OOF on a Saturday.  It was every bit as bad as I thought it would be.  It was very hot and crowded.  I have gotten Jack used to not dealing with the crowds and people because we avoid the weekends and holidays when we go.  Because we had gold passes, we got in the 15 minutes early, which allowed us to get our seats and  have a few minutes with the lazy river basically to ourselves.  He loves to play tag in it, which is tiring, but I still try to play frequently.  I also convinced him to go down the slide before the line got out of control.  We stayed for about 5 hours, but that was all we could handle with the big crowd.  We definitely continue to try and keep our outings during the week!

Planned: To empty out my deep freezer and give the food to a FB friend that said they were having a rough go of it. But that ended up falling through and so we gave it to our neighbors. There was way more food than I thought in there and it was hard to see it go, but I am bad about cooking for just Jack and I and so it has to go. We have the deep freeze to my friend who is having triplets. I don't think purchasing another one is a wise investment for our family.

Loved: Our going away party.  We started out with a party in the park for his school friends in case their parents wouldn't let them stay up for the pool party, which ran from 8:15-10:15pm.  We were lucky in that most of them came over to the pool for at least a good chunk of time.  Jack also invited Aunt Valerie and Macie to come to his party and Aunt Valerie was nice enough to say 'yes'.  That's an awful lot of driving for a night time party.  I was surprised by friend Jo Ann at the pool party.  She put together several yummy treats for the dessert bar.  She brought Oreo Truffles (one of my favorites!), Bite Size Chocolate Chip Cookies, this delicious peanut butter, marshmallow fluff, rice crispies brownie, and a Blueberry Oatmeal bar.  It really helped make the dessert bar, which I provided sugar cookies for decorating and ice pops, the popular place to be!  I took several pictures so I squeezed them using a collage function.  It makes them kind of small, but I think you get the general gist.  If there is one you would like to see bigger, just let me know!

Here are the pics for the week:

Jack's first attempt to use a drill as a screwdriver. He found out that it was really heavy and just easier to use the traditional one for this application. 


Waiting for all the guests to arrive at the park






Apparently he was exhausted from all the fun. Getting up in the mornings for summer camp hasn't been easy either. 

Family selfies before Jack and Barley headed out Thursdsy morning. 

I was busy out helping Guy with my car repair and this is what I came into. :)

A Week in Review (July 13-19)

A Week in Review (July 13-19)

Watched: Jack have a blast exploring Sea Life and then playing at Lego land.  I'm not sure how the Lego land can captivate him so, but he can spend hours just racing his cars.  

Read: I finished up The Silkworm (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18214414-the-silkworm). It helped having all the alone time at the airport and on the plane. I found it to be much easier to read because I was already familiar with the characters and the writing style. If you like mystery novels, I would suggest giving the series a try. I did get notice that one of the books from my hold shelf came off. I am wondering if I can challenge myself to finish it 2.5 days. Seems doubtful, but I'll try.  Maybe if I can't finish it, I'll just send it back media mail to one of my Olathe friends and they can return it for me.  Because I still have two and half days of travel, I started The Diary of Mattie Spenser (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/360992.The_Diary_of_Mattie_Spenser)

Listened: To the sound of Barley's bark. Not being around it for a week really made me realize how much I missed walking into his baying at the house.  I felt he has lost even more weight, but Nick says that I am wrong. 

Made: The drive to go fishing at Uncle Kevin and Aunt Debbie's pond, which I call, "Every cast is a winner". We had so much fun competing with each other to see who could reel more fish in. They didn't count unless you got them on the boat. Jack started out slow, but ended up beating me by 1. My thumb got all roughed up from taking off the fish. I doubt that I took less than 30 fish off the hooks in 2 hours time. And Uncle Kevin had as beat, but he didn't count his. ;). We were so thankful that he took the time out of his weekend to take us out on the water. 

Felt: Loved. I went out to lunch with the ladies from work on Tuesday and they had put together a very nice bag of goodies including some cute decorating items and coupons and a gift card to Bed, Bath, and Beyond. If only I could bring them with me so they could help me figure out ways to make my home look cute.  Later that same day, Uncle Kevin and Aunt Debbie visited to take us to Chuck E Cheese. Uncle Kevin and Jack tied getting twelve tickets on Deal or No Deal.  Aunt Debbie whooped him at Air Hockey. She's got some skills. :) We also went to Sugar Rush to celebrate Jack's half birthday and Debbie's birthday which was Monday. We came home and played some Wii Party. In an unlikely turn of events, Uncle Kevin who was at the top for two knocks, ended up being the biggest loser.  As they were leaving, Aunt Debbie informed me there was a card on the table for me. It was such a nice note and I still have tears well up when I think about how much it meant for her to write it.  Tuesday was just more proof about how much I am going to miss Kansas!

Planned: On a nice mid week trip to Worlds of Fun. Usually when we go, it's very quiet, but this time there were so many people there. I have never seen it be that busy or stay that busy. We had waits at every ride we went on. I was blown away. We actually had to leave the park in the middle because Jack was so bothered by the crowd. We found a great little spot called Waterfall Park and that really worked well for us.  Jack is quite bummed that he didn't make it to 48" this summer. There are so many rides that he wants to do, but can't. We will have to make it a stop when we come back for a visit. 

Loved: Finding good bargains on furniture for the house in SLC. Using their version of Craiglist we were able to secure to leather recliners and a table with four chairs for $175.  We had looked at retail and rental furniture earlier in the trip, so we knew that these were a good bang for our buck.  I think I am good until we figure out how our stuff fits into this house.  I'm nervous about the whole process, but I am sure it will all be fine. 

Here are the pics for the week:
Some pics from the pond




This is purposely designed to be a play area.  Isn't that just horrible?  Who wants to ever step on Legos?  Let alone a pile of them. 

They had a fun scavenger hunt inside of Miniland. It was tricky, but we found them all. Can you find President Business in this picture below?

The waterfall near Waterfall Park


Selfie on the Le Carosel

The good thing about the packed park was that the bumper cars were always operating at max capacity. Jack loved it!

The Steel Hawk at night. 


Jack with his ball cap that he won at WOF. 

Nick working from one of the "new" chairs. 

My sweet puppy

Sunday 13 July 2014

A Week in Review (June 29-July 5)

A Week in Review (June 29-July 5)

Watched:  Valerie and Angel walk out to a ton of bubbles.  I wasn't watching them do the drive away as I knew they would be back and that's apparently when I missed the good show. I heard someone scream and when I looked back, all I saw was Valerie's pink shoes and petticoat. Apparently when the Best Man gunned it, there was no where for her to hold on too. Luckily Angel grabbed her and nothing bad happened. She told me she thought she was going to be on Dr Phil's Wedding Disasters.

Read: It was a slow reading week as I went to bed most nights drop dead tired.  However, I did make a little progress on The Midwife's Confession.  It is my second novel by Diane Chamberlain and her take on different topics is interesting.

Listened: To drama, outside of the bride and groom, unfold at the reception. But that's not a proper story for a blog, but it was definitely the most memorable thing I listened to all week. 

Made: The bride feel less stress, according to her. My SIL Rachel and I worked together to decorate the reception hall, figure out how the bar area should look, helped get her dressed, and were the generals in charge of her pictures. It was a lot of work, but it ended with a happy bride and groom and so that's what matters. 

Felt: So glad to be picking up Nick from the airport. My to-do list has grown quite lengthy for him. I feel bad for him because he has Jack who just wants him to play, me who wants him to complete this monster checklist and his work who needs him to keep leading this project. 

Planned: To watch from fireworks from our hotel on the river, but apparently they shot them off 2 days earlier. So we loaded up the cars and traveled to Haysville and watched them there instead. It worked out well as there was plenty of space for all of us and we were treated to several mini shows in the area. 

Loved: Taking my nephews to the fireworks stand with Jack. I told them they could each spend around $10.  It was so fun watching them run around deciding how to best spend their money. Nick and I had fun going crazy too. We got way too many fireworks, but had enough to last for two nights of shooting them off.  I tried to take pictures, but they turned out badly. Oh well!

Here are the pics for the week:

The bride to be with her security at her rehearsal. 


Jack and I killed some time at the rehearsal dinner taking some selfies. This one was my favorite. The boys also asked me to take their photo in a couple outdoor locations they had chosen. I thought they turned out cute. 







Jack and Macie waiting for the elevator at the hotel. 


I love this great picture Aunt Debbie snapped of the three of us. 


There was a fountain outside of Valerie's reception hall. This is what I meant for it to look like. What it ended up looking like was four boys in tshirts and undies cooling off and letting of steam. I just had to keep reminding myself they weren't hurting anyone. 

The boy and his aunt at the end of the night. 



A Week in Review (June 22-28)

A Week in Review (June 22-28)

Watched: Ben and his buddy dismantle the bench and table in the kitchen. It won't go well in the next place and so we are passing it on to them. I am sure that they will give it a good family, especially as their baby begins to eat solids. It makes the kitchen seem so much bigger which is a good thing!

Read: I quickly blew through Necessary Lies.  It was my first book Diane Chamberlain.  It was a  compelling novel about the Eungenics program used in North Carolina until the mid 1970's. I loved the afterward in the novel. I think it makes the book all that much more believable.  Next I started the The Rosie Project (Don Tillman #1).  I loved this story about a quirky little man and his path to self acceptance. I think I saw bits of my husband in him, which endeared me to him even further. I was very excited when I went to write my quick review that there will be a follow up book. :)

Listened: To the sound of Jack playing in the neighbors pool. They have been very good about inviting him over so that I can continue to sort through things in the house.
Made: The trip home from Wichita. We went down there so that I could attend Valerie's bridal shower on Saturday and we could go to Quentin's birthday party.  Valerie's shower was fun even though I unwound too much string for a party game and had to talk way too much.  We also had a good time at Q's 8th birthday. It was a swimming party and so Jack got to do lots of cannon-balling. There were more friends, so I stayed out of the pool for the majority of the time. I did get it and everyone had to show me something. It's funny to me how much kids like for adults to validate their awesomeness. 

Felt: Overwhelmed. There is so much to do in preparation for packing. There are so many options that you can go with. Should we pack it all ourselves and using a pod? Should we attempt to use a Uhaul?  Should we hire packers and movers?  Nick is negotiating a moving package and so after weighing our options, we will be hiring packers and movers. Now my job is too see what we've been hoarding in the house that we don't need to take with us!

Planned: For Nick to take tours of several homes in the area when he was out there kicking things off. The big problem was there weren't a lot of homes that met my qualifications "in Salt Lake County, in the Canyon School District, Single Family Home, Allows Barley". He ended up seeing four and the one below was notches above the rest. It's close to where the proposed project office is, which will be good for when he has to go back to work, which I think will be often.  It is 3 bedroom, 2 bath. There is actually a space for a dining table too. :)  There was quite a bit of drama concerning get Nick a cashier's check ( which was never happened), but luckily our new landlord was very understanding and it all worked out. 

Loved: That Nick decided it was okay if we wasted too much money and had a big pool party for our going away. It was much more expensive than I thought it would be, but Jack is very excited. He says on a scale from Bad to Awesome, it's Beyond Awesome.

Here are the pics for the week:

Maybe I don't need to take all this lotion with me. Haha



But I did find this gem that I thought was hilarious. This is from when I really first got to know Nick well. 


The outside view of our new "home"



A Week in Review (June 15-21)

A Week in Review (June 15-21)

Watched: Jack start off his swim lessons.  He really is doing great. His skills moved him up into the most advance group that they were offering at this session. It is neat to see him try to swim across the pool. 


Read:  I finished up Cress (The Lunar Chronicles, #3).  I like that we are finally get into the meat of the story. I love the relationship between Cress and Thorne. Can't wait to see what happens in book 4.  The problem is that I will have forgotten the majority of the subtitles before the next book is released.  I also quickly read Congratulations, by the way: Some Thoughts on Kindness.  I put this book on my hold list after seeing the author's appearance on either The Daily Show or the Colbert Report. I thought it was going to be a bit content then it was. And while I slightly agree with the word "kind", I think respectful would be a better term. 

Listened: To a Penn's Sunday School with Nick. It was an interview with Christy 
Foley who has volunteered to try and set up a colony on Mars. It really was an interesting interview. I don't think I could ever leave Earth knowing for sure that it was a one way trip. 

Made: The ridiculously long drive home from the Beach. It was way more than we should have done in one day. I did do all the driving since it was Father's Day. When we finally layed in our bed, I had the worst sense of Vertigo. Yuck!

Felt: The ultimate shock as we received word the night of the 18th instead of the day of the 19th that Wilson and Company and Wadsworth Brothers had won The Point project in Salt Lake City. That's the reason why I haven't blogged in just about a month. But I am going to try to back track via pictures and fill in the  blanks where I can.

Planned: For Nick to head out to Utah to kick off the design meetings. He will be gone for over a week, but I know that we will be fine. We have gotten used to it and always manage to find a way to stay busy and mostly sane.

Loved: That all of Nick's hard work paid off, even if I am absolutely frightened of the future for Jack and I.  We will of course survive (and hopefully thrive) wherever the three of us are together.

Here are the pics for the week:

Can you believe when I looked back in my phone there wasn't one picture from this week?