Just Another Day

It is Saturday, true, but we are working today like it was any other day--save only  the kids are home working for me rather than their teachers.

So far, I have witnessed, overseen, or done myself:
1) ironing - done
2) car washed - done
3) tomato plants ripped out - done
4) tomatoes pulled off all the plants - done
5) garden area raked and cleaned - done
6) Rubbermaid tub of old jeans cut up ready to be made into quilt squares - done (and my thumb is numb to prove that.)
7) bathrooms cleaned - done
8) house vacuumed - done
9) errands all over town - done
10) lunch - done
11) BYU game on TV - (We are at halftime, as I write this...Florida State is winning, 13-10.  Not giving up hope yet.)
12) canning jars cleaned and ready to be filled with said tomatoes - done

So I am still waiting to add canned tomatoes, cut quilt squares, and watch BYU come back to beat FSU.  I think I will sleep well tonight.  Assuming I make to to nighttime without passing out exhausted first.

Fall Into It

Ahhh, "the times, they are a changin'."

The foothills are turning colors again.  This is a lovely time of year, full of rich colors, with summer temperatures hanging on. I do enjoy seeing this season coming on.  The down side, is once this season is done, the wicked winter season will be upon us.  Dangit.  Makes me hopeful already for spring.

Cause and Effect

As I walk each morning, I try to purposefully choose to listen to uplifting talks, interviews, and music.  I am not perfect at it, but I am getting better.

I am not surprised at the outcome I feel as I do this each day.

As I act on the things that I learn, and believe what I feel, then my character develops.  If I can make a positive effect in my day to day life by simply listening to something each morning that makes me feel stronger, have more courage, and want to be better, then my decision to follow what I know it right, is made easier.

This understanding makes me realize just how important it is to choose wisely--in every selection.  It gives me pause as these choices are placed before me each day.  And It makes me want to be better at selecting the very best option.

3-2-1, Contacts?!

The Boy failed his 8th grade vision screening last week.  I know.  I was there.  The nurse running the show that day told me (after I teased him enough that she knew he was my kid) that his right eye was perfect, but his left eye was not seeing anything but blurring at ten feet from the chart.  She wrote me the note that said he failed and gave the form the eye doctor had to fill out.

Yesterday we went to the eye doctor.

Sure enough,  the left eye was incredibly near sighted.  Poor kid.  He couldn't see anything bu the big "E" at the doctor's office.  The really curious thing was, however, that his right eye--having been over-compensating for the lame left one--was actually far sighted.

My clever boy had one eye that could read things in books and close up, and another eye that would see things far away.  This is highly developed Darwinism, isn't it?  Well, no, not really, I guess.  But it is pretty amazing to see what your body and mind are capable of doing.

Anyway, because of this off combination the doctor suggested contacts, as that would be the best way for The Boy to continue doing the things he loves--football, snowboarding, dirt biking--with corrected vision.  And before I knew it, the doc was putting contacts into The Boy's eyes.   He tried three different brands of contacts until he found the ones that fit the best.

As one who can't put drops in my own eyes, this was the worst part of the appointment.  But The Boy did fine overall.  Then the assistant spent 20 minutes teaching him how to put in and take out the contacts.  She even recommended that he get up 15 to 20 minutes early because putting them in before school could take a little longer than he expected.  So, up he was this morning, and got them in the second try.

Genius Golfer and I have perfect vision at this point.  So the fact that both kids now wear contacts--and have very poor eyesight without correction--is astonishing to me.  Poor kids.  If this is the law of averages, maybe they can avoid other medical issues I have had to deal with, since they are already dealing with their eyes.  That is how I like to think of it, at least.  And I just thank goodness they are both willing and able to get the help they need.

Educational Taj Mahal

Did you hear about the new Los Angeles high school that recently opened?  Named for Robert F. Kennedy, the price tag for this gargantuan K-12 school was $578 million dollars.  It is supposed to house up to 4200 students.  In that context, it isn't that gargantuan at all.

When I graduated from my four year (9-12) high school in California, there were 2200 students attending.  And our school cost no where near $578M.

What does a school have that could cost THAT much money to build?   Is it also some kind of high security nerve center?  Or a tactical command center for currently deployed communication satellites?    Or is it a subsidized Church of Scientology celebrity center?

If it is just a school, what do they have going on there?  And isn't California's budget deep into the red?  How can they afford that?

For all the reports that regularly put Utah schools in the very bottom of the per pupil spending list, our public schools do a dang good job cranking out high flying students at the end of each year.  And none that I have ever heard of cost that much to build.

Teen Spirit

The Boy getting ready for the action.

It's all about the embroidered name, you know.

On the day of his first game, The Girl wore The Boy's old jersey to school to support her brother.  So we have jerseyed teens that day.  It was a nice sentiment, however.  And when they are getting along that well, I am grateful.

Video Sunday