Two Things

First:

We had a pest exterminator here to deal with the bees this morning.  He looked all around outside the house, then he came in and set up shop in our shower.  The bees were coming in somewhere around that area, so I guess that's where the exterminator needed to be.  He had his little ladder in there and everything.  ANYWAY...

I was talking to him, mind you, in my pajamas, because I forgot he was coming.  That was embarrassing enough, but then I made it much worse.  When it seemed like he was winding down with telling me what he planned to do, I said, "Okay, well, if you're all set then I'm gonna get in the shower.  Oh!  Not this shower!  We have another shower!"  Then I stopped talking, because I realized I was being an idiot.  LOL  Sigh.

Second:

I'm finally ready to talk about something.  Drew messed up "Rooted" at church on Sunday.  Two days was not enough time for a 14 year old to completely prepare a difficult song that featured the guitar.  And the thing is, he played 5 or 6 songs altogether, and everything else was fine.  It was great!  It was just that first 15-second introduction to "Rooted," where it was him and the drums, that got butchered.  Oh, the agony of sitting in the audience during that, knowing there was nothing in the world I could do to help him...it was a terrible feeling.  Here's how you know something was really bad and it wasn't just your imagination:  When you find out later that the pianist's reaction was, "Well...Jesus liked it."  Luckily, Drew was very philosophical about the whole thing and got over it pretty quickly.

Paul's Visit

We've got Paul here.  So far so good.  He likes the dog and the cat and the hamster.  He likes the TV and the foosball table.  He doesn't like the books all that much.  lol  We went grocery shopping and to the post office, had lunch, and spent about 2 hours at the park.  Baylee is helping tremendously to keep him happy and entertained.

In other news, Zach's final bit of schoolwork was sent in today, so now he's officially done with it all and ready to start his junior year.  Also, I enrolled both boys for the 2012-2013 school year.  At some point soon our academic advisor will call and we'll work out the exact classes they'll each take.  I already basically know.  The only thing that's up in the air still is if they're doing art as an elective.

While I was at it I ordered the Instructor's Guide for the program Baylee will be using this upcoming year.  I'm excited about it!  Like I mentioned before, it's a literature-based curriculum just filled to the brim with fun, excellent books.

Camp...Again

I dropped the boys and our friend Bonnie off for a week at junior/senior high camp today.  I hope they have a great time.

Drew and Zach with their friends Kian and Brannon...

Unpacking and Packing

Baylee's home and she had a wonderful time!  Let's see...the highlights are:

• She made a new friend named Lindsey.  They were practically inseparable.
• She took archery, which included having to study for and take a test.  Now she's a "journeyman archer."
• She passed the swim test for the first time ever.  That means she could swim in the deep end of the pool and play on the big inflatables in the pond.
• Her second activity was canoeing, and on the last day they learned what to do if your canoe tips over.
• A million other things.  lol  She's talked my ear off this afternoon.

Here are some pictures with Baylee in them from the camp's Facebook page.

archery

 

a fingerprint activity

a craft time

ice cream social

Disguise Day

Today is about getting the boys packed to go to the high school camp.  Also, this morning Zach finally finished the very last of his school.  Woo hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  He's now done with Physical Science.  

Mascot

I'm so tired.  VBS is finished now, and even though I told myself very sincerely last year that it was going to be my last year, and even though I somehow got talked into being a skit person again, I ended up really enjoying it.  It's more work than people might realize, because 1.  It's a lot of memorization (Unless you're me this year and got to have a script onstage.) and 2.  It requires a huge amount of energy for that little bit of time you're up there.  But it's such a fun ministry.  I'm glad I did it again.

Next on the agenda:  Baylee's coming home from camp tomorrow (Saturday) and the boys are leaving for camp on Sunday.  Then on Monday our little 7 year old friend, Paul, is coming over and staying until Friday.  He's the son of some friends who are going on vacation.  We're happy to have Paul!  Remember I mentioned him before?  He's the little guy I once jokingly asked to be our family's mascot. He took me completely seriously, went home, and packed a suitcase.  LOL  It'll just be Paul and Baylee next week, so I have some fun stuff planned for them.

Update on Drew's whole guitar thing that I was freaking out over yesterday:  On his own last night he practiced the folder of music he was given, and then he called me to listen.  I'm still a little concerned about "Rooted," but the rest of it sounds lovely.  One of the songs is called "Holy, Holy, Holy" and Drew will be finger picking it.  Listening to him play that brought a lump to my throat, it was so gentle and beautiful.  I gotta give that kid more credit.

Short

This will be short as there's not much to report.  It was another good, fun day of VBS.  I'm glad tomorrow is the last day, because I'm getting pretty tired.

Drew and the rest of the VBS band and singers were asked to do one of the songs during the morning service this Sunday.  They all agreed.  Then today Drew was asked if he would be willing to play the guitar for the entire service...for all the congregational singing.  He said he would.  I'm happy for him and I think it'll be a neat opportunity and ministry, but I'm nervous.  One of the songs they're planning to do is brand new.  Hardly anyone has ever heard it, as it was written just recently for the family conference that our denomination had.  That song, called "Rooted," is hard.  Of course, Drew is Mr. Confidence, but secretly I'm anxious enough for the both of us.  I don't want him to get up there unprepared.  It's probably silly to be concerned about something like that in the big scheme of things, but there you are.

Tonight we're all going to a barbecue at church.

And that about does it for news.

Wednesday

I  had the house completely to myself for several hours today.  It was weird and wonderful!  Mike was at work, Baylee's at camp, and the boys went to swim at Kian's house.  Guess what exciting thing I did with all my time!  I napped.  I'm so in my 40s.

Speaking of Baylee being at camp, I miss her.  I hope she's having a great time.  One really cool thing is that her camp has a Facebook page, and they post throughout the day about what the campers are doing.  They also show pictures and Baylee's been in a few of those.

Before I forget, I need to tell you that all the ants died and the verdict is in:  That last ant made his way to the ant graveyard on his own beforehand.  What a trooper.

When we went hiking the other day (About that:  Did I mention how HARD that hike was???  I had more than one moment where I felt like saying, "Go on without me!  Save yourselves!") there was snow up at the top by the lake.  We all walked around in it and the kids did some sliding.  The problem was that there were areas where the snow was only a crust with 2 or 3 foot deep air pockets underneath.  At one point my friend Angie and I were walking along, chatting, when suddenly the snow collapsed under my feet and I fell into a hole onto my back.  It was so unexpected and I looked like such a doofus that we both laughed hard.  Mike got a picture with his cell phone as I was climbing out.

I've really been enjoying VBS this year.  One thing that makes it great is that my character is a game show host and part of my costume is a clipboard.  I have my script on there, so I haven't had to do anywhere near the same amount of memorizing that I usually do.  One of the characters, played by my friend Theresa, always has the Bible application for the day.  So far she's messed it up every time.  On one of the days she butchered a Bible verse.  Then today she got her lines all screwed up and what came out was, "You know, God will never tempt you more than you can handle, but if He does, He'll give you a way out!"  Oh my.  LOL  That's wrong on more than one level.  We were all teasing her about it, and my friend Val joked that next she's probably going to say, "Tune in tomorrow, kids, when we tell you what to do when you lose your salvation!"  

Really Quickly...

I want to add a picture I took pretty early this morning at church. The band and the singers have to be there at 8am before anyone else. They go over their stuff with their leader Mark, and since I was Drew's ride I sat in the back of the sanctuary and listened. They sound so great!

Couple Days

We've had a couple really great days of VBS so far and yesterday we went hiking with our friends.  There's so much more I could say, as these days have been fun and full, but I'm really tired.  Here are a few pictures from the hike to Lake 22.

Baylee to Camp

My friend Bethany and I took 4 (Well, 5, but one was an older sister who was along for the ride.) very excited girls to camp today.  I think they'll have a wonderful time.

Baylee and Lily...

Baylee and her counselor...

Molly...

Katie...

The inside of their cabin...

The outside...

The camp's new pool...

Now I've got to hurry and memorize my lines, because I'm in the VBS skits again this year, and that all starts tomorrow.  Also tomorrow we're going on a hike with some friends of ours.

I love all the fun we've been having, but I haven't been home long enough to clean my house for 2 days now, and I don't see it happening tomorrow, either.   That part of me that's a happy recluse (Boo Radley) is starting to feel twitchy.

48.2

Mike and I went on a ride together today.  We thought it would be around 36 miles, but because of different things (a detour to the bike shop to fix Mike's broken wheel, and my exhaustion which caused us to search for a longer, but less hilly route) we ended up going 48.2.  So that's my longest ride so far, but I'm almost too tired (and a bit disheartened) to feel that excited about it.  lol

Lesson learned:  I really need a lot more hill training.  A lot.

UofW, where a spoke on Mike's back tire broke.

Detour to the bike shop to get it fixed.

On the road again and crossing a pretty little bridge.

Now crossing a big, ugly bridge.  It's safer than it looks, as there's a nice wide bike lane that's protected from the cars by a cement wall.  The only real issue was the wind.  Holy cow.

Filling up our water bottles at a drinking fountain on Mercer Island.  A biker who went right before us gave us the idea to fill the cap with water, and then dump it in the bottle.  It was the only way, as the fountain only came up about 2 inches.

About a half hour after this (around mile 30) is when I started having A TON less fun.  All the hills and the distance became too much for me.  At one point, on a hill that never seemed to end, I almost cried, but decided I didn't have enough energy.  I made it, though, mostly because I had to.  We had to get back to the car.

Now I'm ready for bed, but I've got to help Baylee pack for camp.  She's leaving tomorrow for a week.

Today

I took this picture on Saturday while I was out on my ride, and then forgot about it.  It's the Shilshole Marina by Golden Gardens.

I'm reading another really good book!  It's called Cycling Home from Siberia, by Rob Lilwall.  It's the true story of a guy who starts at the eastern edge of Russia and bikes an (extremely) scenic route back to his home in London.  He ends up riding 30,000 miles in 3 years. [Edited to add:  Not all of that is by bike, but lots and lots of it is.]  I haven't been able to put the book down.

Zach's working this morning at the bike shop.  His temporary job there turned into something more long term, and he's really happy about that as he enjoys the work.  Now he's got a couple jobs:  this one and his cleaning gig at Mike's office.  Do you know he's been cleaning that office since he was 14?  He's a hard worker with a good attitude.

Yesterday evening Drew got home safe and sound and happy and tired.  He sat around talking about his trip for awhile, then he ate, took a bath, and put himself in bed without saying "good night" to anyone.  lol  When I went to check on him he was sound asleep.  Now today he rides the ferry to the peninsula by himself for a weekend with grandpa. They're going to a car show together tomorrow.

It's pouring rain here today.  Blah.

I woke up to the story of the movie-theater shooter.  So sad and frightening.

Bees and Stuff

There's a beehive in the wall of our little bathroom.  We weren't sure of it for awhile, because there's no obvious hole anywhere (although the ceiling is knotted wood) and because there usually aren't any bees in the bathroom.  Once in awhile there would be one or maybe two lazily flying around near the ceiling, but that's it.  Yesterday, though, Mike was cleaning the shower and banging around a bit, and suddenly there were A LOT of bees in there, and they were angry.  He ran out of the room flailing.  (It was a teeny bit funny.)  He wasn't stung, but it proved that there's a real problem and we need to have it fixed.

This afternoon I got a call from a homeschool friend who was freaking out a little about scheduling one of her son's freshman year courses.  I was actually able to help her out, and when we ended the conversation she felt a lot better.  I love that!  The truth is I'm not an expert, but sometimes I can help people based on knowledge I've gained through mistakes that I've made.  lol  Scheduling was a huge issue for me with Zach's high school up until about midway through his sophomore year.  That's when I finally realized that I needed to chunk up the work into 4 9-week sections (each having 3 3-week subsections) and make sure he was hitting those checkpoints along the way.

My friend is just about completely ready to start the school year.  Not only does she have all her material, but she's written out lesson plans for the entire year.  Me?  I haven't even enrolled the boys for next year yet.  Ack.  I have to do that soon.  Right now I'm still very much enjoying summer.

Drew's coming home tonight after being gone on the Leavenworth VBA trip for 8 days.  I've missed him.  I hope he had a wonderful time.  Tomorrow, though, he leaves again to spend the weekend with his grandpa on the peninsula.

Also this weekend Mike and I have a bike ride around the northern half of Lake Washington planned.  Mike says it's about a 40-mile trip.  I've been excited for days.

This and That

I love Neil Gaiman's books.  He wrote The Graveyard Book, which is one of my very favorites, especially the audio version read by Neil himself.  Now I'm reading Neverwhere, which is also excellent.  Here's a little excerpt that made me laugh out loud:

There are four simple ways for the observant to tell Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar apart:  first, Mr. Vandemar is two and a half heads taller than Mr. Croup; second, Mr. Croup has eyes of a faded china blue, while Mr. Vandemar's eyes are brown; third, while Mr. Vandemar fashioned the rings he wears on his right hand out of the skulls of four ravens, Mr. Croup has no obvious jewelry; fourth, Mr. Croup likes words, while Mr. Vandemar is always hungry.  Also they look nothing at all alike.

~Neverwhere, pg. 7

I think I should probably be embarrassed, but last night I bought three Kelly Clarkson songs from iTunes:

• "My Life Would Suck Without You"  
• "Since U Been Gone"
• "A Moment Like This"

I like the songs, but I can't help but think *you've,* Kelly!  Since YOU'VE been gone!  Sheesh.

Mike and I received an email from the children's minister of our church, telling us how Drew is doing on the Leavenworth trip.  She said he's grown since last year in his ability to work with kids.  (She's talking about his job working with the 7-10 year olds.)  She said last year he was a good helper; this year he's a good leader.  She also gave a few details of the types of things he's been doing well.  That was nice to hear!   

Ants and Stuff

This morning I got up at 6:30 and was riding away from the house on my bike at 7:00.    Here's what I was telling myself the entire half hour between those two events:  "Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.  Noooooooooooooo." (Well, in my mind, that is.)  Once I was out the door, though, it wasn't bad.  I did the cemetery route today, which adds an extra couple miles to my usual weekday ride.

I love that cemetery.  It's beautiful in there.  One weird related note:  Map My Ride, which is a website you can use to map out a ride and figure out mileage, wouldn't let me plan a trip through the cemetery.  It just wouldn't.  It kept making me go around it.

Another weird thing:  After the cemetery I biked over to the Interurban, and while I was at a stop light Mike's biking buddy, Dan, pulled up next to me on his bike.  That was a fun coincidence.  We rode together for about a mile and talked about the possibility of Mike, Dan, and me doing the Kitsap Color Classic at the end of September, then he veered off.

Here's the thing:  I know I've been hugely flaky when it comes to events like that.  I wanted to do the Chilly Hilly ride a couple years ago, then got scared of the hills and decided against it.  (Mike and Dan did it and had a good time, though.)  Then I thought I'd try for the Seattle to Portland ride, got about a quarter of the way through the training and bailed on that, too.  But I'm tentatively hopeful and excited about completing the Kitsap Color Classic, for the simple reason that I could actually do it right now.  It's not that hard.  lol  The event gives several route options to choose from (3 different loops and 4 different combinations), but we're thinking about just riding the 36-mile Poulsbo/Port Gamble loop.  Mike's only concern is the weather, seeing as how it's practically in October and he doesn't want to ride 36 miles in the rain.  I told him, "You know what they say, honey!  There's no bad weather.  Only bad clothing."  He laughed and said that's so not true.

I keep meaning to update about the ants.  I looked at the ant farm today and got excited for a second, thinking we were finally down to our very last ant, but then I saw that there's another one still alive.  So:  Then there were two!  It shouldn't be long now.

Today

• quick early morning trip to the local grocery store for a few bags of salad mix to bring to church today, some gum, and some cereal.  As usual I forgot the "plastic bag ban" in effect in Seattle as of July 1, and so I walked out juggling my purchases.  One of these days I'll remember to bring my own bag. 
• church
• a potluck after church to say goodbye to a family that's moving to Arizona
• library
• the real weekly grocery shopping trip to a store not in Seattle, which still happily puts all your stuff in plastic bags

And soon...

• house cleaning
• tacos for dinner

That's all, folks.

Oh!  I just thought of something else.  Last night our family went to a reception for some people who got married out-of-state a few weeks ago.  It was for those of us who weren't able to make it to the wedding.  Anyway, we had a nice time and were getting ready to leave, when I mentioned to the bride and groom that the house they're renting by their college campus sounds much nicer than the on-campus apartment Mike and I started out in.  Then Mike piped up with, "No kidding.  We had friends living in the apartment below ours, and years later they told us..."  Immediate alarm bells went off and I clapped my hand over his mouth as fast as I could.  Ack!  Nobody needs to know the ending to that story!  (Although, of course, the bride and groom DID know, because they figured it out, and then we all laughed about it.)

PS: If you need me, I'll be living under a fake name in Mexico.

40.4!

So close to my all-time high mileage!  In fact, if I would've known that the most miles I've ever ridden to date is 41.1, I would've pushed a little harder and beaten it.  Oh well.  Another time.

Today I started early in the morning and rode the entire length of the Burke-Gilman and back.  Here it is on a map:

I did an out-and-back on the blue line.

And here are three places I passed while it was still pretty early:

Morning on Lake Washington...

Morning on Lake Union...

Morning on the Puget Sound...