Much Ado About Nothing

Cierra: I don't like Rachel! Me: Why not? Cierra: She's cuter than me.

It was hard to get the kids geared up to go back to school after Spring Break but they survived. I was relieved to get back to normal schedules. Monday I had a dentist appointment which turned into a root canal. That night Aaron, Derek, and Neil participated in a troop's OA election. Aaron recently stepped up to be the Vice Chief of Elections for our chapter. The Order of the Arrow is best described as the Honor Society of scouting. Tuesday Cierra had Joy School and I took her and another little boy to school. The boy's mom picks them up when it is over. On my way back, I stopped by a second-hand book store looking for a copy of "The Great Divorce" by CS Lewis - April's book club book. They didn't have it but I found some other good books to spend money on. Neil had scouts that night and Aaron had Young Men Activity night followed by an interview with the bishop. Wednesday we dropped the kids at school, the girls at a friend's for a play date and headed ov...

Daniel and I were invited to join Pack 619 from Phoenix on their Webelos California trip over spring break. Their den leader/cubmaster has become a good friend and she has even agreed to be my asst. den leader next year when I head up the Tiger Den for Nicholas. We traveled to a campground on Tuesday. I had been at the dentist the day before to deal with my toothache and the dentist gave me a prescription for Vicodin. I took one with lunch since I wasn't driving, believing this would be the best way to gauge how I reacted without putting anyone in dang er. We learned very quickly that Vicodin makes me puke. For dinner Tuesday night we went to Medieval Times. This is a dinner and a show place where you get served dinner with no utensils and watch the six knights of the various kingdoms engage in a tournament. Our group was cheering on the Red Knight - who incidentally ended up being the tournament champion. Wednesday we spent at Disneyland. We had 6 adults, 4 older teen boys, and 11...

Neil and I finished our second weekend staffing Wood Badge the weekend while Aaron was in DC and before Spring Break began. Neil's mom took care of the kids for us again. She noticed how much easier it was the previous weekend when she had Aaron to help. Sometimes I wonder if he's more of a help or a hindrance, but it appears that he is missed when he's not around. The second weekend the staff is more hands-off with the participants than during the first weekend as they are out working as patrols camping in tents. I had been fighting a toothache, which eventually resulted in another root canal, so late nights and pain weighed down on me. I found if I downed about 800 mg of ibuprofen every 4 hours kept me pain free. Nothing I could do about the late nights though. It was a fantastic experience anyway and I am looking forward to another opportunity to be on staff - though I think I'll wait a year or so before that happens. I am still trying to figure out the best way for ...

March 11, 2009 Aaron turned 14 and set off at 4:30 am for his 8th grade class trip to Washington DC. I wish I'd been able to go, as did Neil. Maybe it's something we need to do for a summer vacation trip. Aaron spent the first day mostly on the airplane and a bus. They finally reached Gettysburg that evening where they had dinner and participated in a Ghosts of Gettysburg Tour. The next morning they visited the cemetary bef ore getting back on a bus and going back to DC. He visited numerous War Memorials, got to walk by the White House, and even met John McCain (one of AZ's senators and recent presidential candidate). Unfortunately, he was in a hallway and nobody had anything to get an autograph on, but he was rather impressed with the man. He took my camera and got some good pictures of the various sites. One thing he looked forward was the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Neil had been given a video of the history of this memorial and Aaron watched it the night before. He f...

Copy this list into your blog, including these instructions. Bold all items you've eaten. Italicize any items that you would never consider eating. Venison Nettle tea Huevos rancheros Steak Tartare Crocodile Black pudding Cheese fondue Carp Borscht Baba ghanoush Calamari Pho Peanut butter and jelly sandwich Aloo gobi Hot dog from a street cart Epoisses Black truffle Fruit wine made from something other than grapes Steamed pork buns Pistachio ice cream Heirloom tomatoes Fresh wild berries Foie gras Rice and beans Brawn or head cheese Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper Dulce de leche Oysters Baklava Bagna cauda Wasabi peas Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl Salted lassi Sauerkraut Root beer float Cognac with a big fat cigar Clotted cream tea Vodka jelly Gumbo Oxtail Curried goat Whole insects Phaal Goat’s milk Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more Fugu Chicken tikka masala Eel Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut Sea urchin Prickly pear Umeboshi Abalone Paneer McDonald’s Big Mac Meal...

This is the book for book club this month. A long novel by Betty Smith, it is the tale of a young girl living in the early 1900s. Yet it is not only her story. As all lives do, Francie's tale is entwined with the stories of her parents, her brother and later a sister, grandparents, aunts and uncles, school mates, teachers, employers and neighbors. The story gives an adequate glimpse of American life in a New York suburb prior to the outbreak of WWI. While I found the book interesting, it was slow reading. The story moves forward and backward in time so readers expecting an always-forward-moving tale may be confused at times. For me, the book was more about comparisons than history. Reading of the hard life of the working class, the huge disparity between the haves and have-nots, led to reflection on the luxuries we have today and the values we have given up. While maybe not a Must-Read for everyone, those who enjoy reading will gain their own perspective of Brooklyn.

A rather quiet week overall. The evenings were busy but the days mostly filled with housework and school work. We are working with Aaron to finish up his Duty to God requirements for his Deacon's certificate. He's only got a couple of things to do so he's in good shape. Monday was rather boring. Tuesday Neil had scouts and Aaron had band practice. Wednesday Neil and I went over to the church about 1:00 to help set up for the Relief Society Birthday dinner. Cierra got sick so once tables and chairs were up we headed back home. Aaron went over with me later to finish some set up and to join in the youth with their combined activity. They played dodgeball using toilet paper rolls. I helped out at the dinner, cleaned up, and Aaron and I headed back home. Neil had called our home teacher over to give Cierra a blessing and she seemed to be doing better by the time I got home. Thursday night I had a beading ceremony to attend for a couple of my fellow Antelopes out in Mesa. It was...

Everyone says there's something going around. Why does it have to keep going around my house? Cierra had it Wednesday, was feeling better Thursday, and passed it off to Rachel today. It's the typical fever, puking, fever, crying, fever syndrome. I just feel bad because there is absolutely nothing I can do to make them feel better. They just have to get it through their system. Hopefully nobody else gets it.

The last two weeks have been pretty busy. Monday, the 16th was a holiday so I caught up on housework and school work. Tuesday everyone went back to school and I was in charge of teaching Joy School. We went on a field trip to the library and the kids all got to check out some books. Cierra wanted to learn about butterflies, Jacob looked up elephants, and Sam picked out some books on flies. Neil had his 11-year-old scouts that night and I worked on some Wood Badge preparations. Wednesday I went to the middle school to do an observation of a PE class. I finished that up, came home and grabbed the materials that I needed to have printed for Wood Badge and took them in. I knew it was a lot, but didn't think that they would need more than 24 hours to print it. It was pretty simple, just a lot of the same document. I was a bit discouraged to learn that they couldn't have it done until Friday. I mentally figured out how late I could push it before I absolutely needed it and asked to h...

We waited until today to celebrate since Daniel was off on a scouting campout for the majority of yesterday. He did get to take his new sleeping bag with him and came home to new bedding for his bed. He's been using an old set of blue flowers that we've had since we lived in the apartment before Neil and I even met. It was getting threadbare so he's got a new set with a sports theme. I had also made a cake and Nicholas wanted to be able to share because he only got cupcakes for his birthday, so the top layer had 11 candles for Daniel and then there were six more along the side on the second layer for Nicholas. Daniel was a great sport, sharing his cake and song with his brother. We finished the song and cut the cake then dispersed through the house. Cierra came up and asked if it was time to do presents. I had taken Daniel's presents to the kitchen but forgot to give them to him. So we all went back to the kitchen and watched as Daniel opened his presents.