Friday, August 14, 2009

And Now For Something Completely Different

Wow, what an exhausting summer. It's almost over--this is my last Friday of freedom. Boo hoo. But the kids are bored and missing their friends, so I suppose the time has come. And I'm a bit bored and missing my friends, too! It will be nice to be with grown-ups again and torment the little kiddles with endless math flash cards and sight words.

I'm excited for a new project that starts this weekend. I'm taking part in a moleskine exchange with a group of other knitters from around the world. We'll each have our own book that we'll take turns mailing to one another. Each participant will do a page or two in the book in whichever artistic medium they choose. Most books will have themes, but how one executes that theme is completely up to that person. At the end, all twelve of us will have a completed book of our own with pages done by each member of the group. It will take several months, but Emily (my darling sister) and my wonderful friend Pat (in London) will both be in my group, which makes me very happy. I'm relatively creative but not all that artistic, so this will be a fun challenge for me. Or I'll just get Sweetie to paint in each one for me! He'll probably do that for Em and Pat's books anyway, but I'll do my own page too. And of course I have the usual stack of books and collection of knitting projects to work through. I love it when my brain hums away with activity! Or maybe that's me humming my way into a catatonic state... Hmmm.

Drummer Boy has been getting in his end-of-summer parties with his friends before they all split up and head off to college. Most are going to UVU, a few to BYU, but nearly everyone at least will stay in Utah. I hope he keeps in touch with a lot of them. He has very nice friends. He also saw several DCI competitions, both live and in the theater. He will be auditioning for the Santa Clara Vanguard this November. He's excited to move into the dorms week after next. His new roommates have friended him on Facebook and they're all from Utah. This after me telling him he'd meet kids from all over the country and world! But he will--he just won't be living with them this year.

Elvira has spent her summer catching up on homework, writing, and avoiding friends. She's a funny girl. The kids that hang out together at school have no contact with each other during the summer, and the kids she doesn't really care for call endlessly. She has a killer schedule this junior year, to make up for a few blips over the last couple, so she'll be very busy. I keep telling her to keep her eyes on the prize, which is getting out of the house and off to college. That doesn't seem to motivate her as much as I would like.

Kitty Boy turned 13 the other day, has grown several inches over the summer, and is ready to be top dog in middle school. The pecking order in a school with only two grades is a big deal, as I remember. He has spent his summer swimming, riding his bike down on the river trail, and just hanging out. He got a massive Nerf gun for his birthday and he and his friend had a battle royale on our stairs complete with barricades and the soundtrack to "Das Boot" blaring through the speakers. So funny, but it kept them entertained for hours. I will be finding foam darts all over the house for months, I think!

And little Tinkerbell had a hard summer. She did swim team but didn't like it. Too early and too many laps. We stuck it out until we went to St. Louis, but it ended while we were there. Lots of friend issues, worrying because some arch enemies will be in her class next year, some lonely afternoons. It's hard to be nine. Fourth grade was my very favorite year in elementary school, as I told her, and I hope she ends up having a much better time than she thinks. Still trying to decide if she wants to stick with ice skating or go back to ballet this next year. I worry about her.

Sweetie has worked himself to death this summer, thankfully only figuratively. Lots of film stuff going on at BYU, several papers finished up and sent in for publication, getting ready to go up for full professor this fall, and of course, THE REMODEL. I put it in bold letters because it has a life of its own now. I had no idea how long this would take, but the words "this is a 20 minute job, max" just make me laugh now. I try not to get frustrated because he's the one doing all the work, after all. I'm just his surgical nurse, handing him drill bits and sheetrock screws. It looks great, but still has a ways to go. One of the rooms will become Elvira's new lair, and she is most anxious for that. She has plans to paint it all black. I have other plans.

What's ahead? Let's see... Hopefully a BYU football game to see Drummer Boy in action--he will be playing 2nd bass on their drumline. Already marked up my calendar with lots of concerts, plays, and operas to attend. Haven't seen the new International Cinema calendar yet, but I'm sure there will be some goodies on it. Emily has a conference in Seattle this October and I'm going to try to sneak up there for a few days. I do love that city. Sweetie will probably go to one more conference somewhere this fall. We'll finish the three rooms and start planning our next project. I want to start laying down hardwood floors. Sweetie wants to tear off the back of the dining room and put in a sliding door.

He swears it's a 2-3 day project--max.

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