Mid-summer Madness and Update

The days have have zoomed by and I should catch this up before we depart on Saturday, July 26.
The many projects I wrote about earlier are behind me now, thank heavens. Hooray!! It's now major packing mode at our house, and preparing the home to be away for two++ weeks. An exciting time.

PAINTING of the lanai, the railing upstairs, the mailbox, and some stucco dark spots on columns and our entry has gone well the past two weekends. It's a fresher look and will be good to come home to also. I'm sure some might say, "a second grader could do that better" [Dianna's sections, not Bill's] but there weren't any second graders around to ask!!!! Give me a cleaning brush, not a paintbrush, anyday.

SEWING projects were completed, and that's always a challenge here as the nearest fabric store is 45 minutes away. The better ones are an hour away. After 3 trips, I had everything I needed. Erin's baby will have a comforter...we'll tie it with yarn when we get there.

ORGANIZING for classes...that will happen a little more on the trip/flights. I'm glad the draft for each class is nearly complete. Just some fine tuning left on those. We have a few shared projects to work on while flying and visiting. Always something for us to keep busy. Maybe we'll even get to read a book or two while we're away...unless baby is there already, of course.

HOME ORGANIZATION isn't that bad at the moment...except for the four suitcases setting out that need to be readjusted and filled. We're taking lots for baby, etc., but should be able to return with much lighter bags. Having company earlier in the month and having spring and summer semesters off has been a big help to me in this department. "Keep up" is so much easier than "Catch up. " It will be nice to have Betty and friends here to keep Megan company and enjoy the house. We surely hope the weather is cooperative for them, too.

SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE . . . That's the sign at SUBWAY. It seems to be needing even more time for updating their soggy computer system, and some say it could be several months before reopening. It is sad for Megan especially since this was the job she actually enjoyed...the people, working for a short time with customers, and pleasant surroundings and employer, responsibility given. Her trip away to Puget Sound with Jenny and Aaron to vacation last week gave her a welcome summer retreat. Sounds like a good place for us to get away sometime. Not sure if anyone around here wants to hire a "sandwich artist" for just 6 weeks. The job thing just didn't work well this summer, but might be a good springboard for work she might find on or near campus in SLC. We'll see. . . I have a feeling these remaining weeks will even be encouraging her more to get away since they may be passing slowly.

FUN TIMES and SERENDIPITY We'd planned to see MAMMA MIA when it came out , to see if we wanted to see the play in May when it comes to Honolulu. After our Saturday morning painting party we went to Mililani to see it and have some popcorn, of course. It was fun, for sure, and we loved the music. I'm sure you've heard that not all critics like it. But we did enjoy the music, country side views...I heard it was set in Greece, but filmed in Croatia--I'll have to check that out further.

With Megan in Washington with Jenny and Aaron, we got a taste of what it may be like when the "empty nest" comes for us in September. It seems like just yesterday we had 3 then 4 young children and would have to plan any Monday night [or other] getaways in the van--treats, activities, who'd sit where, which radio channel we'd settle for, if we got drinks, who'd share with whom, etc. just to go for ice cream or a beach walk on the north shore. What a contrast--Monday night following our after-work catnaps, the two of us made a quick decision, headed to Kaneohe for Bill's haircut and were home 2 hours later. That was a new experience. We even read a book out loud along the way until dark. So that's what life without kids in the car may be like. He reminded me we did this for 5 years before Lindsey was born. But do you know what? I CAN'T REMEMBER THAT FAR BACK to those days. So this empty nesting will all be new to me.

In August postings I hope to share new experiences from down under and impressions of life for Erin, Wil, and new little baby Howe. Back to the packing!!!

Helaman 3:35 . . .wax stronger and stronger . . . firmer and firmer. . .

Summer Projects--July is already here!

Birthday was indeed fun and memorable. Summer is officially here and I L O V E the break.

Projects and having company have filled my time. The leisurely pace is indeed welcome, though, compared to my fall/winter semesters and no time to do these things which take me chunks of days at a time. My not teaching spring has been like icing on my cake! I've cherished these weeks to travel [May] and just catch up and accomplish many of these items on my long and ever-expanding "to do" list.

Mini-gardening is underway, and now with an upstairs lanai that has furniture, I'm interested in some small container gardening up there, too. I've enjoyed harvesting so far the radish sprouts and celery leaves, and green onions, and leafy lettuce.

My projects started with the "spring cleaning" for the house, room by room. Ta-Dah! Done!! But--it's now time to start over with the garage again. Dianna's 4th Law prevails: The less I own the less I have to clean, maintain, store, and repair. Love to throw things out! It's liberating!!! And I love the space that results from the effort. AHHHHH ! ! !

Preparing for fall classes is also in progress and, actually, is almost always in my mind in some way. The home ec class is updated and outlined, and now I'm working on the family history class. That one does include some bigger changes due to new websites students will need to learn that came available since last semester. I've been teaching the new sites to others, so have a better idea how to do it for class.

I'd wanted to do this project since last fall. I started a notebook of important documents based upon data received at a workshop last fall. I've edited and input the 40+ page file, so now I've printed it out and I'm filling in the blanks. That effort also meant it was time to redo the old "emergency file" which needed to be weeded out....Loved discarding then shredding the no-longer-needed documents and obsolete statements. I still have some document prep to finish up, but I'm glad to be this far.

In the meantime, Bill went to soggy Iowa for a week to visit family and we had company here for 10 days, so had to stay well stocked with groceries here at Dianna's "bed and breakfast buffet" and do a thorough tidying/laundry fest to prepare for them. First, Jenna Wagner stayed with us as her parents were away and she was recovering from a tonsillectomy, then a couple from Spanish Fork and the wife's mother stayed here since the Bigbies needed lodging for family to attend Fred's funeral. Megan roomed with me over in the corner on the futons, behind the oriental screens, so she at least had a little privacy. They were really pleasant people to have around and didn't need to be entertained so I'm glad we had a way to help them out.

Next project to start: baby comforter. On the trips to and from town recently, fabric and batting and yarn for Baby Howe's comforter were purchased. I'll assemble and bind it here, but we'll mostly tie it once we get to Australia--though I'll have Lindsey and Megan and Dad tie a few knots also so that it has a "made by the family" touch. It's a star pattern, chosen because Erin has always liked stars.

Any more projects this summer? ? ? Well, definitely painting our back exterior lanai railing and pillars is due. Selecting the paint chip possibilities will happen now that Bill is back. We have some prep work to do, then some priming, then the top coat.

Ongoing projects: volunteering, teaching. My Wednesday evenings and Friday afternoons are spent volunteering at the FamilyHistory Center and I enjoy having my regular customers and new patrons to teach this to. It was fun to get back in my own history about 5 generations and then to connect to distant cousins who are interested in this also. Some great finds...and it just makes me want to travel more to visit where these family members once lived. I'm in the Kentucky/W.VA/Virginia lines on the Nichols/Nickell line, early 1800's/late 1700's right now. I also help Bill out with his history searches sometimes. A hobby and interest we share.

Planning/Preparing for travel is always a top pursuit. Spent June arranging Megan's travels to SLC in September...I'll accompany her then. While Bill was away I nailed down our Sydney arrangements adn transportation to Canberra. We don't love driving on the other side of the road, so we'll do some small planes and buses for that trek each way. The inspiration for Bill's Iowa trip was a flash, middle-of-the-night project when his work window opened up some days for him to go.

So, that is summer so far for me.......plus visits with delightful grandchildren, enjoying the beach and sand, and daily walks in beautiful Laie...like I said above, I LOVE it and the leisurely pace is so welcome. The countdown to our Sydney departure is on...two weeks and 4 days to go! We're getting our winter clothes out...and luckily, we get to check 2 pieces of luggage each!!! That is rare these days in air travel.

New grandchild/new adventure...that will be a highlight to our late summer, for sure.

Time is a gift, and so is good health, safety, freedom, employment, and many other wonderful, wonderful appreciated blessings.