Might As Well Do Homework

     Background:  During camp, I planned to use my time well and do a little homework up there for my writing class. I was sure I'd feel inspired surrounded by the beauty I'd already seen when we went to set up.  It would be easy.  I could write the three required haiku and feel good about the progress toward my personal goal. 
     Then the accident happened and the goal was still there.  Plus I have unexpected time:  all my duties have been taken over by my sweetie who has taken off work for me; he's a lovely slave.  I can slowly do one-handed typing.  
     I couldn't bare to write haiku cooped up in the house, still wearing the hospital gown (why not? I don't feel able to get dressed anyway) and I am feeling a bit villainous.  So a villanelle fills the requirement and sounds like the formal poem for right now.
     Besides my personal challenge of one-handed typing, a villanelle has a few requirements:  It has to have 19 lines with five triplets and one quatrain; 2 refrains from the 1^st and 3^rd of the first stanza that alternate as the last line in each stanza; concluding together in the last stanza; all with a-b alternating rhyme for other end rhymes.


The resultant effort:

Why I Missed Girl’s Camp 2011

I chose to run instead of walk and fell, or almost flew.

Fell down the stairs on my left arm, slid, cut, a break, a bruise.

If I could turn back time I’d go much slower it is true.

But we were running late and there was so much left to do.

I stole the time to hug my son, to let him know the news.

I chose to run instead of walk and fell, or almost flew.

They waited for me in the car, I felt the pressure new

Wanting to please, to do my best, I quickly put on shoes.

If I could turn back time, I’d go much slower it is true.

But then I fell and saw the blood come shooting toward the blue

My face was cut, my arm looked pieced, my glasses I did lose

I chose to run instead of walk and fell, or almost flew.

I’d been preparing for this camp for three months, maybe two

But when I saw the ambulance, I could no longer choose

If I could turn back time, I’d go much slower it is true.

So now I’m swollen, feeling tired, sore, and slightly blue,

Writing stodgy villanelles not nature-inspired haikus.

I chose to run instead of walk and fell, or almost flew.

If I could turn back time I’d go much slower it is true.

Not Camping

On my way out the door to camp,
I fell and  needed 911.
Priesthood blessings first gave comfort.
Blessings to the EMT who held my pained arm up
All the way to the hospital
So I wouldn't scream
And to the one who gave me pain relief
He took it from a nine down to a four.
And to being completely out when they popped my elbow back in place
While I felt like I was in white, padded hallways with pink trim.
Spent Day 1 of camp in the ER.
Now, Day 2 I'm home dizzy.
Maybe because my glasses are twisted, scratched, and falling off my face
or maybe from the pain medication
or my head injury.
But I slept solidly last night.
 Now, swollen, tired, sore, sad about missing camp
Wishing I could turn back time and walk
Down those stairs
Instead of trying to fly
And falling.

Camping

Flowers up at camp. 

I'm ready earlier than I planned this morning thanks to too much chocolate last night, insomnia, and natural excitement. Not a good way to start out a week of being sleep deprived, but I'll survive. And I figured I might as well blog.

Yesterday, we went up to camp to get a few things ready. Posing is my cute new friend and camp director getting ready to put up a tent for the first time.

YW Camp Crafts

Girls camp here in UT is very different than it was in NY.  It's going to be very girly.  The stake is doing a "Happily Ever After" princess theme based on President Uchtdorf's talk.  We've spent more money on things that don't really matter than I'm used to.  The focus is still spiritual of course, but it's going to be fancy.  I'm our congregation's assistant camp director in charge of crafts.  Here are a couple things we've done and some that we will be doing at camp:

We already made lanterns during a weekly activity.  Our camp director found out about these online and I got to figure out how to make them.  I didn't want canning company logos on the jars, so fortunately, I found $.29 nameless canning jars at a thrift store.  Then I followed an on-line tutorial to learn how to attach the wire to the jar. Then you put on the design.  They suggest applying vinyl cutouts, but we used foam stickers and made some cutouts with clear contact paper.  You spray paint them with Valspar Frosting.  Then when they dry, you peel off the stickers and it leaves a clear design.  Some of the girls wanted to leave on their stickers, so we let them.  Inside, we put battery-powered votive candles.  Each girl made one. They will be fun to use at camp.

We're going to make flower and button rings at camp.  The flower rings were my second oldest daughter's idea-- very princessy.  You just snip the flower off with a wire cutter then attach it with a strong glue to ring blanks.  Quick and easy.  The button rings are pretty much the same technique, just snip off the button hole if it sticks out and glue it on.  We're also making button bracelets, friendship bracelets, and decorated-with-fabric-and-tulle flip flops.

We're also going to paint and decoupage on wooden blocks.  One of our helpers purchased the rights to some graphics we're going to use.  All the young women values are represented plus we have a bunch of princess graphics.  But we'll let them design and paint whatever they want.  Here is my example. Our ward's color is dark purple, so I thought I'd do a purple integrity example.

It's probably obvious, this blog is going to be quiet next week.

Creative Presence

She...

made this swing...

and this giant froggy pop-up card for his birthday.  And she doesn't think she's creative?!  She continually surprises and impresses me.  I love how my children enrich life and embrace opportunities.

Oldest and Youngest

He parked his bike right next to hers this morning.  He even turned the handle bars and front wheel the same way. I thought it was cute/funny. 

Happy Father's Day Dad

This is my dad in the ocean with a newly baptized member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Today, my dad is thousands of miles away serving as a missionary with my mom.  My dad is a unique, intelligent, sensitive, trust-worthy, dedicated, faithful, hard-working, and spiritually-minded person.  He's done great things:  he was willing to have nine children, he worked hard to support us, he's always shown great love for our mother, and he has taught us how to live faithfully.  I love you, Dad.

Early Morning Temple

 This was the sky on the way to the temple this morning. 

 This was how it looked when we arrived.

This is how it looked when we were leaving.

My aging camera couldn't keep its eye open.  

The children are still asleep.  

Recommended:  Super early morning Saturday trips to the temple.  

They don't conflict with much of anything.  Except sleep.

Quail in My Backyard

I was surprised this little guy let me get so close.  I was only about three feet away before he flew off the backyard fence.   My husband and I used to joke that the quail were our "neighborhood food storage" when we lived in this area six years ago.  Yesterday, my daughter saw a mommy, a daddy, and several baby quail dart across the street and into a neighbor's bush.  It sure would be nice to have a better camera.  This shot is zoomed in as far as I could go and doesn't really reflect how incredibly close we were to each other.  He was walking along the fence and watching me too.

Porch Work

 Before                                                           and                                During

These "before and during" pictures show the reason for the popped blister on my right index finger.  I was yanking up carpet with my bare hands.  Next time I'll wear gloves.  It's a work in progress.  I need to buy a solvent of some sort to use to remove the carpet glue.

When we were looking at this house to see if we wanted to buy it, I knew the green carpet had to go. So it's my first real house project.  I will definitely show the after once I'm done.  I like our back porch.  It's always in the shade.  It will be lovely once I wash the siding and finish the floor.  My son was a little sad to see the carpet go.  "It was the first soft porch we had," he said.  But it wasn't really soft.  "Maybe we should buy a rug to make it soft," I said. "Okay.  A blue one," he said.  I think he'll get his way.

Robins Egg Bike Ride and Grinding My Own Nut Butters

Her tires were flat after our move, so we hadn't gone on a bike ride together for a while.  We went today.  But then I discovered a puncture in my front tire, so we didn't go far.  But we did see this robin's egg in the road in front of a man's house.

"There are tons of robins around here, more every year.  I guess that's good," the man said while his brown dog, a boxer, sniffed and trotted around us.

I liked being able to show my daughter true robin's egg blue. It's one of my favorite colors.

Yesterday, at Sunflower Market, we ground our own almond butter and peanut butter.  This picture shows the almond butter.  It's cheaper to grind your own.  Not a lot cheaper, but it's worth it.  The taste is definitely better than the kind in a jar.

I discovered almond butter while we lived in New York and prefer it over other nut butters.  I had my favorite brand which I haven't been able to find here.  The Sunflower Market brand is as close as it comes.  There are other brands that add sugar and or salt and are just gross.  When I noticed Sunflower has nut butter grinders in the store, I vowed to find the courage to grind our own.  I did that yesterday.  It was super easy-- you just flip a switch up and catch what comes out into the containers they provide.  We didn't grind very much peanut butter because my youngest wasn't impressed by how it came out of the machine and into the container.  He was a little grossed out.  I figured it wasn't worth buying a lot if nobody was going to eat it anyway.  But one of my older daughters has peanut butter almost everyday.  She did a little taste test then said, "The fresh ground stuff tastes like peanuts.  The stuff in the jar tastes like peanut butter."  The only problem with discoveries like this is I love them so much I dread going back to less expensive, gross tasting products. Slowly, I'm turning into a bit of a food snob.

Colorful Bubbles, Red Velvet Apricots, and Backyard Beauties

Today, my youngest daughter bought colorful bubbles with her babysitting money and shared them with her little brother. The purple ones just happened to match the outfit she was wearing.

Have you seen red velvet apricots?  I hadn't until today.  They look a little and taste a lot like black plums. They look like black plums on the inside too.  They are fuzzy like yellowy apricots but sweeter.  Definitely apricots. I found these at Sunflower Market.

Most of the roses in the backyard have bloomed.  I think we still have some red ones and some more yellow ones left to bloom. The newspaper said this past winter was hard on roses.  I guess since ours are right up against the house and the Johnson's kept the place cozy warm, ours survived nicely.

My youngest children are so gentle and kind to our middle sweetie.  My youngest daughter took this picture of her while they sat and rocked on the big rocking chair on our back patio.

Overall, it's been a really good week.  Last night, my husband gave me a surprise big kiss.
"What was that for?" I said.
"I'm just glad you're happy," he said.
Thanks to him, I realized it is true.  I am happy.  

Biker Chick

Look what my daughter brought home today!  It's smaller, sleeker, and more feminine than I thought it would be.  I like it.  She makes that bike look good.

These Are a Few of My Favorite Words

1.      alluvial

2.      applesauce

3.      bumble

4.      buttocks

5.      driblet

6.      echo

7.      elegance

8.      floppy

9.      lucid

10.  luminous

11.  ocean

12.  pop

13.  purple

14.  rumpus

15.  serendipity

16.  sultry

17.  supercilious

18.  tinkle

19.  wren

20.  zap

What are yours?

Purple

While I was walking this morning, there was a hummingbird hovering over this Russian sage (?) but it flew away before my finger could press the button.  I like the purple.

For a writing-class assignment, I have chosen twenty favorite words.  "Purple" is one of them. It's not my favorite color, but definitely a favorite word.


I had a feeling the little clump of thriving greenery under the rose bushes in our backyard was not a weed.  I'm glad I let it grow.  Purple.



I wanted this picture to be less blurry, but the sun was shining in my eyes and I couldn't see the result.  Blurry looks a little dreamy.

I like walking and should do it more often.

This is the Place

 We went to the free day at This is the Place Heritage Park today.  I recommend going on a day you pay instead.  It was ridiculously crowded.  Even so, the children had fun and the goats were friendly.

Yard Decorations

On my bike ride today, I saw this imitation arch in someone's yard.

I think they were trying to imitate this place
<----,

but what they built reminds me more of Stonehenge. I suppose the cactus and red rocks around it help say what they are trying to say.

In people's yards I saw lots of red rock decor, several wagon wheels, farming equipment, mining equipment, and a covered wagon.  In people's yards in New York, we saw lighthouses, anchors, boats, and sailors.  I think it's interesting how people celebrate the culture and heritage of their local environment.


I saw this

<----

 in somebody else's yard.  I like the idea of turning a skateboard into a swing.