Trying not to let it go to my head

I got my invitation today, to the Carbon County Republican Party, Nominating Convention 2012.

Two weeks ago I caucused. Republican. Utah.

As P and I were waiting in the massive line that night to get checked in (where we were reminded that we weren't registered as Republicans; he, Libertarian, me, independent), P was discussing with a neighbor that he wasn't sure he belonged at this caucus. He explained that as he thought about the issues he wasn't sure he agreed with the Republicans on any of them. Take guns for instance, does he think that people should be allowed to to own assault riffles? No, not at all.

After this sacrilege left P's mouth, the man in front of him (6'4", 280lbs) turned around and looked him up and down. The man was wearing camouflage. On a Thursday evening. At a caucus.

P stood by his moral compass and retained his libertarian voter registration, relegating himself to an "observer." I caved to the peer pressure and signed up.

Then I got chosen/voted to be a delegate to the county convention, where they nominate the republican candidates for county offices. Which in Carbon County, this time around is the nominee for the one open commissioner seat. The interesting thing about Carbon County? Its Democrat. In Utah. So pretty much, it's not gonna matter. The convention is Friday night. Looking forward to some good Carbon County education though, and maybe even some stories to tell.

Sheepish

So, P and I heard this rumor. From a reliable source. Who sounded sooo surprised that we hadn't heard it.

And then I told Someone. Well, I didn't really tell, I went the, "Have you heard...?" route. Someone hadn't.

A few days later P and I went to dinner with some Friends. P asked, "Have you heard...?"

They hadn't.

P and I were discussing potential consequences of said rumor last night. I said, "it's just a rumor, probably nothing is going to change." I was feeling bad, we we're telling others, when it was really pure gossip. Plus it didn't sound like it was as widespread as I'd thought.

Trying to be supportive he recounted how at church the rumor was mentioned by Neighbor 1, and then Neighbor 2 agreed and had further details. Neighbor 3 denied the truthfulness of this particular gem. So there see, darling wife, you are not the only one.

Um, P? Neighbor 1 is husband of Someone. Neighbor 1 is helping Neighbor 2 with some remodeling. Neighbor 3 works with Friend. Pretty sure I/we are the source we are using to confirm our own gossip.

I think I am going to go back to not talking to anyone.

Interview for Motherhood

My brother is applying for internships right now, so we've talked resumes and interviews a couple of times. It's gotten me thinking about what an interview for my current occupation might be like:
interview questions in red, (suggested answers/tips in black)

So, tell me a little about yourself? What do you like to do?
(Pure warm up, throw away question, just don't say anything idiotic and you'll be fine)

Your resume says that you enjoy travel, ever been on a crowded metro?
(Careful here, not merely a warm up question. The interviewer will take away from this how you feel about personal space, which translates into how you'll do with children popping in and out of the bathroom while you are showering)

How would you describe your attention span?
(Here the interviewer wants to know if you'll be able to hang with the four year-old playing delivery person. Can you keep your head in the game while they make 37 imaginary deliveries, deliveries you must receive gracefully, even excitedly, every time)

Tell me about something risky you've done? How did it turn out? How did you react?
(Here the interviewer wants to assess how you'll do with a two year old that loves to disrobe with no warning, while simultaneously going through a phase where she decides she's ready to be potty trained: combining easy removal underwear with less than perfect toileting consistency)

What is the brake for? How do the wheels go? What does an axle look like? How does the fuel make the axle turn? What's a piston? Where is it? How fast does it go? Horsepower?
(Don't expect to have time between these questions to actually answer them, just stay relaxed)

What's the longest you've gone without eating? Without using the bathroom?
(These questions might break equal employment laws, but what? you going to sue?)

Moving on to the case portion of our interview, can you point out the potential risks and rewards of the following situation, I just want to hear you think through it:
Making a spaghetti squash main dish for dinner and trying to pass it off as real pasta to a 2 year old, 4 year old, and 8 year old.

And here's a little bonus question for you (you know you're doing well if they are offering you the bonus question), how often does an elementary school have to re-gravel their playground? Please ask me any questions you would like, if you need more information.
(some questions you might like to ask: How large is the playground? How many students at the school? How much sand is in the average childs shoe at the end of EVERY DAY?)

If you make it through this whole interview without any interruptions, it's not a good sign, they didn't think you were a contender, you're not going to get called back.

Cussing?

From the front page of the Sun Advocate, local newspaper, Jan. 24, highlighting mine:

Peanut shows off furry snow clots after running around in her owner's yard for awhile on Saturday. The Carbon County area was blanketed with snow on Saturday, the first real snowstorm of the year for the entire county. In the central valley and up to the east county area the snow came down piling up four to six inches. For some the slick roads made them cuss, but most people were thankful that at long last some moisture was coming out of the sky. The weather is expected to be mostly sunny and warmer through Thursday, with highs in the low- to mid-40s and overnight lows near 20 degrees.

When was the last time you heard the word cuss? last time you saw it in print?

So. Food.

As any of you who I've spoken to in the last two years know, the food situation in Price is dismal. I talk about it incessantly ("There's Greek Streak, run by a Mexican family, where everything is served with a side of spaghetti or Farleno's where salt is the only spice used, and used heavily, or ..." you know, you've heard me). Every few months P, in his eternal optimist way and I, in my easily swayed by him way, will try again. Like it might have changed...? It hasn't.

At some point I realized I would be cooking every night of the week, week in and week out. Cooking hasn't come easily to me (in a pre-marriage conversation I described it as "drudgery"). I have to meal plan, which means at the end of the week I have the plan, jotted on a piece of paper. That piece of paper symbolizes quite a bit of effort and I struggle to throw it away. And so I have stuck in the back of my recipe binder weeks and weeks worth of meal notes.

Here's the week before last:

1/13, Fri - Crepes, savory: spinach, grilled chicken in roux or omelet like scrambled eggs (for the kids) dessert: fresh blackberries and strawberries in cream with homemade caramel sauce

Sat - In Provo (hallelujah, yes, Provo has become a food destination for me

Sun - chicken tikka over rice with naan cooked on the grill

Mon - Black bean soup with cornbread

Tues - Chicken enchiladas with leftover black bean soup

Wed - Tomato soup (made from garden tomatoes that my sister in law helped me bottle) and homemade whole wheat bread

Thurs - Leftover enchiladas

And this past week's:

1/20, Fri - Boxed Mac 'n' cheese (I made the mistake of asking N what he wanted) and grilled chicken green salad. Chicken not used in enchiladas.

Sat - Grilled black pepper tuna steaks, cous cous, butternut squash (the last one from the garden)

Sun - at family gathering

Mon - Lentil loaf (new recipe), with baked potato and carrots

Tues - Sweet potato, carrot, & apple soup with homemade artisan bread

Wed - pasta with chicken, vegetables and alfredo sauce

Thurs - leftovers

So you might be seeing more menu list, as I strive to immortalize the effects of the small town life we've chosen to live and maybe I'll be able to throw away those slips of paper.

Inner Domestic Goddess Emerges

Apparently, I have one, an inner domestic goddess, that is.

Presents purchased,

cards sent,

neighbor gifts delivered,

nativity painted (with chalkboard paint, chalk detail by N and S, this by a woman who sends her kids to preschool so she doesn't have to do crafts)

Hat (almost) knit

Couch re-upholstered.

And I blogged about it.

I amaze myself.

Now if someone would just feed those kids.

Ok, you knew it was too good to be true. I didn't re-upholster the couch myself, just picking the fabric and arranging to have it done (by Hector, in Provo, if you want details let me know, he was great) took me a year.

Partly because I was looking for something that would blend with this chair. But it's finally DONE!

Fall Over

This morning we woke up to this:

What? Where did fall go? A reminder that much of life seems to just be rushing by, with little introspection or reflection here recently, and not nearly enough laughing at myself.

S turned eight (EIGHT!) recently. He got baptized this weekend. It was a beautiful day, with three grandma's: two of his, one of mine; a granddad, a few aunts and uncles, lots of cousins, and some friends.

Quote of the week nomination: "Is the lunch just for family? Or can friends come too?" - Neighbor girl, as I'm trying to figure out how thin the post-baptism luncheon soup can reasonably be.

And Halloween? I never shared my Halloween masterpiece with the world... (Okay, make that Blogburn readership, which is at this point, what? Carrie?)

J was a parrot, to N's pirate. I was feeling pretty creative until we got in line at the costume contest behind another pirate/parrot pair.

So, Goodbye Fall. Wow. Look at those pumpkins! All from our garden, another feat of fall gone by.

Say's who?

It's a Say's Phoebe!

I told S at the beginning of the summer that he could pick one thing and we'd study it together over the summer. I was hoping for geography, or maybe, since we live surrounded by brown hills, and everyone in town in supported by the coal mining industry, geology. Nope. Birds. He picked birds.

Okay, I'm a can-do type mom, right? Not my choice, but we can do that, I thought. There were two different kinds of birds nesting in our yard, we'll just identify those and then observe and learn. Hah. Two different kinds of mid-sized brown birds. We watched them day in and day out, we had the bird watchers book on our table for weeks. We'd look at it daily. The birds laid eggs. We looked at the book. The eggs hatched. We looked at the book. We got a new book. The chicks started to fly. We looked at the book. I was starting to feel rather desperate, when I realized that they were no longer returning to the nest. Were they going to take off and leave us stranded? All that time and no identification? a summer's study unhatched and unfulfilled?

And then last Thursday morning, I FOUND IT! It's a Say's Phoebe. I was elated. A friendship cemented by a name. "S!" I exclaimed, "come! look! behold!" I gestured, I may have jumped up and down. "Cool." he said, and he went back to his Legos.

But I am a woman captivated. I took the book when we went camping, we identified two more birds. I kept stopping the car on last weeks youth group trip, making the teenagers LOOK AT THE BIRDS! Maybe he'll choose birds again next year?
Yeah, I only identified one of the birds nesting in the yard.

Quote of the Week

N: Mom, why do some people have two moms?
Mom: Well, some people get divorced, and their dad might get married to a different mom.
N: When will we get two moms?

Reaching for a blogburn post...

Do three unrelated thoughts, a blog post make?

Marital bliss = two copies of The Economist

Tonight when making cookies, I finished off the eggs, the oatmeal, two bags of chocolate chips, the box of butter, the baking soda, and a tupperware of walnuts. Exact quantities called for in the recipe. How cool is that? I love completeness.

I also mowed the grass this evening, which I haven't done in a LONG time. I really enjoyed it. Outside, the smell of the grass mixed with the smell of fuel... All that time with your thoughts, no one can interrupt, it's too loud to hear them if they try. I recently realized that in the last couple of places I've lived, I haven't known anyone that does their own yard work, here I don't know anyone who does not.

Quote of last week : I helped Dad lawn the grass! - N after following Phil around with his toy lawn mower for over an hour, as Phil mowed.

Bluebonnets it Ain't

Bluebonnets it ain't. Front yard it is.

Free is Good

Day Trip to Arches!

We were happy that the government shutdown didn't materialize and we were able to proceed, as planned, with our national park day trip this past weekend.

We pulled up to the little booth, wallet in hand, only to have the helpful ranger tell us, "National Park Week, free admission." What?

Poor policy? Maybe, but besides being the week before Easter (and national parks being packed with spring breakers) it was also tax weekend and we were feeling a little ill used by Uncle Sam. Free admission helped.

It lasts all the way through the 24th, so visit a national park, and get yours.

March Madness

It's been a rough week.

A black eye and a fractured arm.

In separate incidents.

Go Cougs!

And Wildcats and Tigers. And Bulldogs and Hoyas. And Spiders.

S filled out a bracket this year. He choose based on mascot. Turns out he prefers fierce sounding animals, and spiders. Maybe that was due to the NOVA he'd just watched about venomous animals? Long segment on spiders.

K: Fighting Illini or Running Rebels?
S: Fighting Illini, those other guys sound like they're running away.

S: Terriers? Ha!

K: I'm not sure what a buckeye is...
S: It's the eye of a buck.
(Apparently quite cool)

The Craziest Thing

Quite possibly the craziest thing I've ever done? 12 hour drive to my parents,and back
Minivan's occupants? Myself, my three kids, my cousin, my cousin's two kids, my aunt
(or as my uncle said, "a driver and two prison guards")

I haven't spent much time (okay any) with my aunt and cousin in years. We were traveling with 5 children, 4 carseats, and a maintenance required light that insisted we were reckless. In the end, no damage done, except for what results from watching Chip and Dale cartoons over and over and over again. More than no damage done, it was FUN. And hanging out in the sun on the new deck with my parents was just what we all needed.

First Grade Fundraiser

S brought home his Jump Rope for Heart form recently, all pumped about the rewards you can get for fundraising. You know, you remember, the awesome "speed" jump rope, the super cool tee shirt, the...

Does anyone else see these and think, exploitation? I mean how hard is it to get a bunch of kindhearted first graders all excited about "saving lives"? And who's going to turn their earnest little souls down when they come knocking on your door? I did a quick search on where the money raised from jump rope for heart goes. $0.64/dollar to research, $0.32/dollar on fundraising...

Or am I just a scrooge? Or is grinch the more appropriate term?

At least there is some good in the physical activity encouragement. Though in asking S, he wasn't all that clear on where the jumping rope came into it. I remember in Jr. High, the magazine sale fundraiser with all these little fuzzy... were they called weeples? as rewards. 12 year old girls are suckers for little fuzzy things. Not much good in that one.

So, I'm faced with a decision: Try to talk him down, convince him that the jump rope isn't that cool and I don't hate people with heart problems, or go the "I don't know what happened to that sign-up sheet..." route. Or I guess I could just let him go for it? Nah, not this year. Maybe next year.

January. Blah.

I find January a depressing month. Cold and dark outside. Here all the snow has melted, leaving only brown mud behind. Nothing to look forward to except new episodes of Biggest Loser. Significantly less busy than I've been the last few months, feeling unproductive and unmotivated. Plenty of time to blog, but nothing worth sharing.

I've noticed that my view is a good attitude barometer.

At times the view out my back window is pretty dramatic, and on days when I'm feeling optimistic, I look outside and see the mountains and the way the light comes through the clouds. On days when I'm feeling rather more January, I look out and I see the neighbors fence and the expanse of brown between here and the mountains.

Ridiculously Idyllic

We cut our own tree this year. It was nothing like Christmas Vacation. It was one of those ridiculously idyllic days that happen only very occasionally; and which trick you into starting some sort of tradition because you hope it'll always be like that.

Ford should put us in a commercial, that kind of idyllic. Well, except for how N looks like he's about to crawl under the truck.

And yes, we lasted two months as homeowners in Utah before we bought a truck

The Barter Bar

So, in my rural Utah location there is a call in classifieds radio show. So every morning on one of the local radio stations you can call in and let all the faithful listeners know that you're selling your old tires, or goats, or spinning wheel. Perfect for getting rid of my moving boxes I thought. But here's the thing, it's really hard to get through. People are just burning up the line trying to get the word out on their junk. So, I had to resort to email, which they read on air. Then my line was burning up with people who wanted to come and get my free boxes.
The lucky recipient? My garbage man. Yup. He said, "Oh, I know where you're at I pick up your garbage on Thursday mornings." When he came we had a nice conversation about trash, you know, how my neighbors forget to put out their garbage, or the lady who lived her before me didn't produce much. Turns out that's what living in a small town's like.

Alternatively

Alternatively, I can just release the J-vac.