Week of Sept. 9

Sunday Sept. 9

We had a great day on Sunday. We took the afternoon to do a nature hike up Lambs Canyon. When I was a child, some family friends had a cabin up that canyon and it has been one of my favorites ever since. We put the kids in the tie dyed shirts they made at the Labor Day BBQ and they looked great! It was a really nice day and some of the most beautiful scenery I think there is on this planet.

Here are some pictures from our hike:

You can see Zander in this picture if you look close enough:

Alyssa and Mason striking a pose:

Monday Sept. 10

Monday morning I had to go down town for a meeting. Upon leaving, I went to start my car and there was a problem. Car started and ran until I let go of the key and then it shut off. I called Jack and he informed me that it sounded like the ignition switch. Like anyone who knows anything about cars, he had a most profound set of instructions for me. "Just jiggle it a little and try it again." I rolled my eyes. That is like smacking an appliance because it won't work. Convinced that it wasn't going to work, I jiggled the dumb thing just to humor him. Lo and behold, the car kept running after I let go of the key. I will have to remember that for future car trouble. The rest of the day, I just jiggled the key and it started right up. The marvels of modern automotive technology!

Tuesday Sept. 11

Today, I made sure to take some time to reflect upon the freedoms that living in this country afford me. I thought about what this day, 6 yrs ago meant to me, how I felt on that day and how I feel today. Sept. 11, 2001 was a life changing day for me. It was the day that I learned to cherish the days I have with my children, the day I first felt fear about what the world would look like when my children were my age. And it was the day that I had hope that Americans could find it in their hearts to become a kinder group of people.

I was relieved when I was able to climb into bed that night and the world, although not really a safe place, wasn't any different than it had been when I woke up in the morning. Now I have no doubt that there are those out there who are plotting against us, who are hoping to harm us but for today, they did nothing on American soil.

Wednesday, Sept. 12

Granite School district has started a new "thing." From what I understand, they are encouraging teachers to collaborate. I am not exactly sure what the purpose is but what it means to students and parents is that one Wednesday a month, we have an extra early day. The first one was today. I feel like we are never going to have a normal school week. So far, we had our first week of school. The next week, we were off for Labor Day and then the next day too in order to make up for SEP (Student Education Plan) conferences. So that week we only had three days of school. This week, five days but two of them are early days. Anyway, extra early days... they have shortened the kids' lunches by 5 minutes a day to make up for it. I am yet to figure out how they are making up for the extra hour Kindergarteners miss since they don't have lunch at school.

This is also the day that my ignition switch decided to totally die. In order to drive anywhere, I had to hold the key turned not too far but far enough to keep the car running. The AC wouldn't work and neither would the radio, unless of course, I accidentally let off the pressure on the key and the car lost it's power. Then the radio turned on, the AC turned on but the car wouldn't go. I had to pull over, completely stop, put the car in park, and then restart the car. I had to pull over 4 times between my house and Smiths, which is about half a block away. Jack tried to get the part the night before but it is a special order part now because Honda's very rarely have that part go bad. Go figure huh?

Thursday, Sept. 13

Today was a long crazy day! Jack got the car fixed late last night so at least I could drive without holding the key. I guess the switch had gotten so hot yesterday that it actually melted the solder in the part and it dripped on my shoe. I wondered what that silver stuff on my sandal was. I had tons of errands to run while the kids were at school. But it was nice to have my car actually turn on and stay on!

Thursday nights I have an adult Hip Hop class. We have a new teacher and she kicked our butts tonight. We worked much harder than we usually do. When I got home, we quickly got ready to go and headed to a wedding reception with my mom. The kids had a great time running around. It was held outside at the home of the parents of the groom. I grew up with him and was really happy that he found someone to make him happy. We were getting ready to leave and poor Zand face planted on the asphalt. He was bleeding all over the place and wouldn't let me look at it. He sucked in his upper lip and then wouldn't talk or open his mouth for anything. It wasn't until he fell asleep that I was able to really take a look at what he did. His front teeth went through his upper lip and he skidded his lips on the ground. He looks pretty rough. But I think he will survive to see another day!

Saturday, Sept. 15

Today was great. I woke up and went jogging this morning. While I was out and about, I started smelling smoke. Something was definitely on fire. I eventually discovered the source. Someone had started a dumpster on fire. The fire department put it out and apparently there was nothing more to it.

We also watched my nephew today. His name is Xavier. He is a cutie. He is almost 14 months old and one of the most determined kids I have ever seen. He is super happy and seems to just take everything in. We played toys, went for a ride in the car to pick up Alyssa from an activity she had and then we came back and played outside. He loved driving around in Zanders little car. And my kids had a great time playing with him.