{ a swoop and a dart }

Mid-Summer Participles

Little Laramie River, Medicine Bow National Forest

These Wyoming summers of ours are so packed that sometimes it feels like when counting weeks forward, summer might as well be over already based on the lack of down days. But we've done a whole lot of summery things, and I don't want to forget that perspective in hindsight...

Eating ice cream in Laramie, Centennial, at gym, from the Cusinart that may not be as traditional as a hand-cranked set-up, but amazing all the same; pizza, picnics, Jeffrey's Bistro, Sam's Club produce by the bushel-full

Celebrating old friends passing through, antelope baby sightings, an elusive hour of down time, 22 years of marriage, Air Force leaders coming and going, multiple centuries of rodeo-military partnership, good mail, America, murals, completing giant work projects, Albin, WY, the birth of Wyatt Lucas, all the remaining days with Ellie

Watching Wonder Woman, an occasional Disney show, saved episodes of Alone, Sara the Cat, the weather forecast, children grow up, Frontier Park come to life, the Air Force Academy Band

Playing trombone, trumpet, piano; Groundies, Jackpot, at Brimmer Park, catch in the back

Borrowing a horse, a truck, four 1890s period costumes, future sleep reserves, many library books, a book about the Lincoln Highway and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian from Abby

Driving to and from gymnastics five days a week, to East HS four days a week, to Frontier Park, to endless summer errands, to Albin, to Greeley, to Denver, to Fort Collins

Missing a hundred items from this list, but at least it's a start

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Mid-May Participles

Two views from today's weirdo weather shifts

Recovering (sort of) from yesterday's too-busy-of-a-month meltdown. If memory serves, December 16 was the meltdown day in that month, so that's predictable.

Watching the forecast for Wednesday-Friday, where up to 24" inches of snow could fall. We have hanging baskets and flowers in planters and that's annoying, because I respected the "don't buy flowers until after Mother's Day" rule.

Trying to manage too many activities. Per usual.

Listening to Maddie's spring band concert. I got a little sniffly during the senior presentation portion even though I don't know these seniors. But I know other seniors elsewhere this year, and can do the math that our own first senior year is but three years away.

Procrastinating on writing up the last official Camp Dillow-Karahalis for the foreseeable future, because waaaaaaaah.

Reading ahead of my normal pace, and on track to make it to 35 books unless summer does me in (very possible).

Brainstorming different ideas for teacher gifts this year, because a.) Mrs. Dixon already got our standard gift four years ago and is retiring anyway, and b.) our standard gift won't really work for Gracie's teacher this year because she isn't returning to the classroom next year. But don't forget, Caravan Shoppe still has the best cheap/free printables around for this type of thing!

Listening to the new Wow in the World podcast from NPR and not sure we're sold yet. Disappointing, because Gracie, Bridget and I were looking forward to it.

Also listening to the NPR Politics podcast as fast as they can release them.

Anticipating some NBA Playoff basketball, and hoping I can squeeze in at least part of every game in the next series. Go Cavs!!

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Mid-April Participles

Green chile art spotted in the Albuquerque Convention Center; I am daydreaming about New Mexican food for sure. And coming up short on who "MH" is when I try to google it.

Working on more client projects all at once than I've had in a long time. Four, to be exact, all with deadlines on the sooner rather than later side. All good and exciting ones, so I'm certainly not complaining.

Thinking about how I used to do a much better job knowing what it was we were going to eat for dinner (see above).

Worrying about the terrible news that Bridget won't get to attend our beloved elementary school next year because the school district unceremoniously cut the (very successful) program the girls have all been part of in the interest of saving money. We've done nothing but talk up how exciting it will be for her to have the chance to attend the same school two years in a row (a first for her) and now that's not going to happen. (It won't affect Gracie, as she's headed to a new school for middle school in the fall). We had a long talk about how we know how to be tough in the face of new situations and school changes, but also that it stinks because we were so excited about not having to be tough for a year. Sigh.

Reading as much as I can squeeze in, which has helped me reach 17 books by mid-April. My goal is 35 for 2017, which in theory could happen. (!!)

Crossing my fingers that the icky weather forecast for the next four days will not keep the trees from fully blooming in full-flowered glory, which they are on the verge of doing.

Crossing my fingers again that the Cavs keep playing like they care to win some basketball games and don't get injured in the process.

Planning to host a dear former student and her husband for dinner on Sunday and I am MOST EXCITED. It is so bizarre to me that she was Maddie's age when I first had her in class. She wraps up her PhD program next month. I've said it once and I'll say it again, I know a lot of smarties from Montana.

Wishing for more hours in the day, which always means I just need to give up and go to bed.

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A Loaf of Bread, A Container of Milk, and a Stick of Butter and Other Lost Stories

I just discovered the function in Typepad (yes, the service I've used for 12 years) that allows a search of drafted but not published posts... goodness, I have a lot of them. A Loaf of Bread is still one of my favorite shorts.

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April 14, 2008

While looking for something else, I found this, which may well be one of my top ten favorite Sesame Street memories from childhood.

 

November 23, 2009

A post titled "Montie Montana" with NO FURTHER CONTEXT OR WRITING. What??? (I had to google this, and I came up with a cowboy who died in 1998. I have no idea why I might have started but not finished writing about a cowboy I don't remember.)

November 4, 2009

Oh, but I missed this! A partially started Ten on Tuesday post that totally explains who Montie Montana was and why he was on my brain. Among some other random, funny stories. I still hate goats.

1. On two separate occasions in the past two months we've spotted what can only be described as a roving goat mob on Dell Range Blvd., one of the main drags through Cheyenne. The first time it was kind of dusk-like light, but while stopped at a stoplight we saw what looked like 50+ GOATS in the little gully-like backyard of an apartment complex. We all saw it, so we know it wasn't a trick of the fading light. And then yesterday, Bridget and I saw the roving goat mob in a different apartment complex on Dell Range. In broad daylight. More than 50, definitely. Matt's theory is that someone is renting out goats as an environmentally-friendly way to cut the grass at local apartment complexes. I say that the minute any landlord of mine plunks 50+ goats down in my backyard just feet away from my backdoor, I AM OUT OF THERE. The only thing creepier than one goat is 50 of them, all eyeing you blankly while plotting to eat your shoes.

2. On this same trip down Dell Range we stopped at the drive-through pharmacy (!!) at Walgreen's. I remember being fascinated by the magic send-you-your-stuff system at drive-through banks when I was little, and this drive-through pharmacy worked the same way. On the magic send-you-your-stuff machinery, a town called Maineville in Ohio was imprinted as the manufacturer. I am constantly amazed at how many towns in Ohio I've never heard of, even after living there for 22 years. Ohio: state of 8 million small towns. Maineville is northeast of Cincinnati, I already looked it up for you.

3. On this very same driving adventure, I was brought to tears by a set on the Morning Music show on Wyoming Public Radio (which is one of my very favorite things about Wyoming). A singer named V-The Gypsy Cowbell (!!) sang a song her father had written about a famous (but not to me) cowboy named Monte Montana; her father had seen him perform (he was, among other things, a trick horse rider) at his elementary school when he was little. That experience made a huge impression on him, and when this Montie Montana cowboy died, her father wrote a song about him. Years later and after her father died, she heard that Montie Montana Jr. was performing at some cowboy poetry reading in Pinedale, Wyoming, not far from where she was living, so she worked up the song and came down from the mountains to find him and sing it to him in the middle of downtown Pinedale.

Despite the fact that I don't understand Ms. V's name, it was a touching story.

4. I spend more time driving from one location to the next and then back again in a week in Cheyenne than I did in an entire month or more in Arlington.*

April 15, 2010

A post titled "First Sign of Spring: Catkins"

Apparently I used to know what catkins meant but don't anymore because I just now had to look it up. Here's the picture that went with that post (catkins!)

January 25, 2012

Ten on Tuesday—I bet $10 this is the post that I was writing when the computer crashed and I lost part of my soul. Either that, or I have a short attention span and regularly stop lists at four things.

1. Matt and I just finished watching our first DVR-ed episode of Portlandia, which apparently is already in the second season... it was laugh-out-loud funny. I first learned of Portlandia by stumbling across the "Put a Bird On It" sketch somewhere online. Also laugh-out-loud funny. Especially if you are a scrapbooker/crafty type.

2. Juliette is four years old today!

3. The county spelling bee is tomorrow.

4. I ran out of time to get my unblogged stories blogged before Chinese New Year. Ah well. Here's a quick one: in October, I finally, at long last, became a giddy owner of an iPhone. We paid off the van in November (condition) and I also ran five miles** (condition, though it was a few weeks after the purchase vs. before). I love it : )

 
January 30, 2013

Aw, a  never-finished post titled "Missing" about how much I miss these friends of mine. I get to stay with the one on the right this weekend in New Mexico! 🎉 For the record, I still miss them all very much.

July 22, 2013

An unfinished Ten on Tuesday post in which I made it to five things!

New Things We've Done/Seen/Experienced in Louisiana in the last three weeks

1. Purple hull peas. We bought a batch at the Shreveport farmers' market two weekends ago, and cooked them up as directed by the man who sold them to us. They taste a lot like black-eyed peas to us. We missed the Purple Hull Pea festival, sadly, which was a little bit north of here during the last week of June. There is nothing quite like a local food festival.

2. Mayhaw jelly. We bought some at this small gourmet grocery we went to check out last weekend. We were hoping it would be a glorious fish market (it wasn't exactly) but it had some interesting finds. We are fans of oddball berries.

3. Driving in Shreveport. I have driven back and forth to Shreveport 39 times in the last 10 days, not counting the farmers' markets. If you want to learn a new place quickly, register one of your children for a camp on the other side of the town next door from where you're living, or all of your children at a gym on another side of the town next door from where you're living. (More on that soon)

4. Chiggers. Bridget and I were attacked by chiggers last week while we were poking around the lakes on base. I will spare you the horrifying details. Just know this: if you haven't been bitten by upwards of 30 chiggers in one fell swoop, consider yourself VERY VERY LUCKY.

5. Beignets. We ate three orders of fresh mini-beignets at the farmers' market the second time we went. They were very good. Maddie thought they tasted like bananas.

Incidentally, I turned this incomplete post into two scrapbook pages for Design Challenges III.

The chigger nightmare remains among the most nightmarish things we have nightmares about.

August 22, 2014

A post titled "Things My 20th Century Childhood that my 21st Century Children Will (Most Likely) Never Experience"

+ carrying a comb in their back pocket

+ cassette tapes

+ Kasey Kasem's Top 40 on Sunday afternoon

+ rotary phones

+ school rollerskating parties

+ writing notes to friends

+ folding said notes in various forms of note origami

+ being dropped off to shop at the mall (Lerner's, Express, Limited, etc.)

Indeed. I heard The Limited closed all its stores earlier this year, too. End of an era.

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*I still pine for the days of living in Arlington and barely driving a car... three times as much driving now as Cheyenne II, if that's even possible.

**I have not run five miles in a row since.

-ING at the End of April

Lady Banks roses at Los Poblanos Inn & Organic Farm, one of my favorite places in Albuquerque

Wondering how in the world we only have four weeks left in New Mexico. They will be a busy four weeks, because, May.

Also wondering what June is like here, seeing as how we arrived at the end of it last summer and will be gone before it starts!

Finishing up a big design project and what is most likely my last shoot before I start to wind down business in Albuquerque.

Figuring out how to keep operating the photography business side of things in Cheyenne due to some impending conflict of interest issues. 

Listening to Lemonade while thinking about how much Beyoncé has changed since she first appeared on the scene. Like, monumental personal growth/depth.

Playing piano as much as I can squeeze in—I'm on an exclusive Edvard Grieg kick. I'm pretty sure I'm the weirdest person you know.

Withering away from the wait for the second round of the NBA playoffs. I'm glad they swept the Pistons, of course, but the WAIT. Ugh.

Daydreaming about some fish tacos I had at a little dive restaurant in Los Ranchos de Albuquerque recently, and plotting how I can get back to eat them again before we move.

Watching Fixer Upper every time I have to fold a mountain of laundry. I'm pretty sure Joanna Gaines is a genius. 

Anticipating the excitement of living in an old brick house again soon—one with light cream-colored walls and nary a wine-colored accent wall to be found.

Feeling like most of my words and photographs and creative ideas disappeared this week. Maybe they'll come back next week. I think I'm still in a Prince Died funk.

20 Facts About Bee

At Corrales Park, Corrales, NM

Bridget turns 9 in 20 days, so it seems like a good moment to make a Bee List. 

+ She loves the Cavs, and especially Matthew Dellavedova.

+ She does not love when people make fun of ancient Egyptian names. Like, she takes it very personally.

+ She is tearing through The Time Quintet by Madeleine L'Engle.

+ She read the interview in the back of A Wrinkle in Time and was struck by how many times the manuscript was rejected before a publisher picked it up, and grossed out by Madeleine L'Engle's love of Cream of Wheat.

+ She is very committed to gymnastics, and is heartbroken to leave the gym here (aren't we all).

+ She cannot wait to reunite with her friend Cora in Cheyenne. And also her ENT, Dr. Johnson.

+ She is also excited for the chance to be a student in our beloved Mrs. Dixon's classroom next fall.

+ She is interested in politics and this year's election, and does an excellent Donald Trump impression (he is her least favorite famous person).

+ Taylor Swift is still her most favorite famous person.

+ She likes to call her grandparents on the phone and would talk for hours if we (or they) let her.

+ She is chugging along with piano, and starting to lean toward trumpet when asked to choose an instrument at the end of fourth grade next year.

+ Early mornings are not her favorite or best.

+ She talks nonstop. When you have a Nana who was nicknamed "Buzz" growing up, it only makes sense.

+ She is always up for an adventure.

+ She has recently become hooked on Fixer Upper (haven't we all).

+ She does not care to be rushed.

+ She knows how to turn an outfit into a western outfit, and is excited to do so this summer at Cheyenne Frontier Days.

+ She will have the chance to go to the same elementary school for more than one year for the first time soon; when all is said and done with elementary school, she will have attended five (or possibly six) different schools.

+ She said we could pass along her princess sleeping bag to her cousin, though never her collection of dolls.

+ She apparently has read almost every single Goosebumps book R.L. Stine has written, though she refuses to be in the same room (or house) with the one about Slappy. Same with Grace. I don't have the heart to tell them that Grandma has a creepy old Charlie McCarthy dummy in her basement. 

: )

 

Season Highlights: A Photo List

The girls wrapped up their competitive seasons a couple weeks ago—of the 13 weekends in the first three months of the year, ten of them were filled with gymnastics-related activities: moving gym equipment to prepare for the gym renovation, working at meets, competing at meets, traveling out of state for meets... oh, and squeezing in the weekend portions of the big gym photo shoot. We hardly knew what to do with ourselves these last two weekends now that things are back to normal (and by normal I mean 30 combined hours of practice time between the three of them, ha). Maddie and Gracie added two new states to their list of where they've competed (New Mexico and Oklahoma!) bringing their total to 8 and 9 respectively: Wyoming, Colorado, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Alabama, New Mexico, Oklahoma... and Mississippi for Gracie (Maddie had a field trip to Texas that weekend in 2013 and couldn't go to the meet). Not too shabby! They had six meets this season and Bridget had four. Here are some season highlights, by photo:

1. Bridget's first meet and first gymnastics medal

Bridget has dreamed of this day for years.

2. Grace winning third place at the Nadia Comeneci Invitational in Oklahoma City

The thrill of participating in something sponsored by Nadia Comeneci will never wear off for me.

3. Attending the Perfect 10 Challenge in Oklahoma City

College meets are super fun to watch, and now Maddie, Gracie and I have seen five top-25 teams: Oklahoma, University of Denver, George Washington, Alabama, and Auburn. If you ever have a chance to attend an NCAA meet, GO!

4. Teammates that are friends!

All three girls made what I predict will be lifelong friends this season; gymnastics is fun, but fun-ner with good friends to practice and compete with. These two are exactly one year and three days apart in age, though it looks like more!

5. Seeing your name and high score of the season on the big screen

One of the meets Maddie and Gracie competed in was at University of Denver in February, where Gracie earned her highest score of the season.

6. Winning a meet after fighting back from injury!

Maddie's season started miserably—she missed the first meet with her sprained ankle, and then sustained a slightly less awful (but still awful) wrist sprain the week of the Nadia Comeneci Invitational; the fact that she was able to come back and win her age division at University of Denver was a big deal. Yay!

7. Sister Beam Sweep #1

Both Maddie and Gracie won first place on beam at University of Denver. Matt and I can hardly bear to watch beam, though he manages better than me. I think it must be as stressful as being the mom of a goalie in a shootout. But on this day... balance was achieved in spades!

8. Bridget's state championship beam routine

This photo was taken by the meet photographer, but I was just out of the frame trying not to throw up (see above). For a child who didn't walk until she was 17 months old and then proceeded to stumble with some regularity for the next couple of years, it is nothing short of amazing to me that she has come so far (especially on the four inch high beam!).

9. A silver medal and a personal best all-around score

At the state meet in Belen, Bridget earned her season personal best all-around score and the silver medal for her age division! It was a very happy day for her. Next up: learning how to do a roundoff back handspring so she can move up to Level 3. 

10. Good omens

One of the Level 8s was wearing this shirt the night before state at their team pasta dinner and was happy to let me take a picture : )

11. Mental toughness at just the right time

Maddie had a no-good rotten bars routine at the state championship meet in the first rotation, and it was painful to stand by and watch her run through what happened in her head. However, she somehow managed to shake it off by the second rotation (beam!) and completed a routine good enough to win a gold medal, her third state championship beam gold medal in three years. She won a silver medal on floor, bronze on vault, and earned fourth place in the all-around. Fighting back like that was impressive, and we hope it will be just as valuable a win to her as winning two previous state championships was.

12. Sister Beam Sweep #2

Gracie earned her personal best all-around at the New Mexico state championships, too—she worked very hard in extra practices to improve her bars leading up to the state meet, and she earned her highest score of the season. Bars have been her nemesis for a long time, but we're hoping her hard work will change her sometimes fatalistic outlook there. She earned a bronze medal in the all-around and a gold medal on beam (a repeat achievement for her at state!) and the second sister beam sweep of the season!

13. Competing with Emily

It's a long story, but one of Maddie's and Gracie's teammates from Wyoming lives in New Mexico now, too, and competes for a different gym; it was absolutely wonderful to see her a few times this season. Gracie and Emily have a long and storied friendship laced with a little rivalry, but at the state meet they BOTH earned a gold medal on beam because they fell into different age divisions. Air Force kids don't often have history like this, and it was awfully moving to snap a picture of them together after the meet. Next up: giants and a beam skill series in preparation for Level 7!

And that's that: an assuredly incomplete list of highlights from a very memorable season. Oh, the crow I have to eat, yet again.

-ING

Listening to Bridget Skype with Cora; they're happily chattering away, most likely planning their reunion sleepover this summer.

Anticipating the first weekend without a gymnastics meet since sometime in February.

But planning to sit down and write a season recap soon!

Scoping out some possible activities for our upcoming local-ish spring break. That will be equal parts moving prep. But I'm focusing on the more fun parts. So far I'm hoping: Bandelier National Monument, Acoma Pueblo, maybe a hike at Elena Gallegos Open Space (pictured), the newly reopened Utility Shack in downtown ABQ, trips to multiple Mexican bakeries, a grips-fitting at Ginnasta... what, you don't include grips-fittings on your spring break? Heh.

Giggling at the insert that came in our water bill this month. BECAUSE THIS WILL NEVER NOT BE FUNNY. Well, it isn't funny to our actual resident poop fairy, but it's HILARIOUS to everyone else.

Also giggling at this package that arrived for Matt with 81 first class postage stamps. Matt told me that there is a whole market on EBay for buying postage in bulk at great discount... !!!

Marveling at the latest wind hazard to add to my long list of wind hazards: violent tumbleweed. ABQ sent out snow plows in an attempt to clear roads today! All futile, as the winds are blowing in the 50mph range again.

Watching 11.22.63 with Matt on a temporary Hulu membership. We're caught up to real-time now, only two episodes left but we'll have to wait for the next two Mondays for those. It's good, though not nearly as good as the book. I am always astounded when casting directors are able to find an actual real-live actor who is so perfect for a ridiculously specific role, like Lee Harvey Oswald.

Spending $5000 of imaginary daydream money in the newest Sundance catalog. I have most likely spent close to $100,000 of imaginary daydream money there over the years. Ha!

Wishing that I could go to Southern Makers again this year. Wow, was that ever fun. As the saying goes, Montgomery! It's Better Than You Think.

Starting to get a bad case of NBA Playoff Anxiety, even though the NBA Playoffs don't start until April 16. Please, Cavs, please. Let this be the year.

 

 

Moving Participles

Crossing things off the Moving List of Doom v.2015—almost done crossing, actually, which makes me afraid we're probably missing 30 things. (There are only two things left since I took this picture)(Gracie thought it said "power sleeping" instead of "power steering" and quite honestly, I should add that as a separate item and cross it off for successful completion, twice)

Dreading driving across the state of Texas.

Wondering how I could have gotten rid of so much stuff this year and yet still be so precariously close to exceeding our moving weight allowance.

Feeling glad that we decided to apparate to Hogwarts for a few days last week, even though we cut it a little close to the first day of packing.

Feeling strangely sad about leaving Alabama. Who knew we would find a corner of the south to love! Except for the humidity. And palmetto bugs. And I-85. And news out of the Alabama State Legislature. But other than that, we have many good things to say.

Feeling predictably sad about leaving the friends we made here. Siiiiiiiiiiiigh. Repeat after me: our hearts are bigger now. Our hearts our bigger now.

Feeling absolutely, positively miserable about the Cavs losing in Game 6 of the NBA Finals. We didn't miss a single playoff game and it was building up our good attitude reserves in the face of this move. Wah-waaaaaah.

Feeling ecstatically happy that we don't have to deal with another single showing in this rental house. It isn't sold, it isn't rented, and it isn't our problem anymore.

Feeling the tiniest bit excited to see our new rental house for the first time. Sight-unseen renting is... an adventure! Or something like that.

Feeling a lot, clearly. As one does in any move, and as one does x3 in a third-consecutive-move-in-three-summers move.

Either/Or

I can either:

have the laundry caught up
have floors that are swept and maybe even mopped
have a kitchen island that you can see
have a kitchen stocked with ingredients for carefully planned-out meals

or

oversee the making of 61 homemade class Valentines
attend Maddie's book club
coach the 5th and 6th place finalists in the county spelling bee
have a two hour review meeting with Wyoming Department of Revenue
successfully complete taxes (OK, I had very little to do with this one except fetch documents)
have lunch out twice in town with husband who probably won't get to take a day off again until August (maybe)
have a Valentines Day date in Fort Collins with said husband
get way overdue new brakes for van
get tooth extraction and cleaning done for poor rotten-toothed rescue dog
work on quite possibly the most amazing class I've ever developed for Big Picture Classes (coming this summer)
work on content for my portion of another really amazing class for Big Picture Classes (coming end of May)
take annual road trip to Colorado Springs for favorite almost-twelve-year-old's 12th birthday

Because these lists are clearly mutually exclusive in the time span of 7 days.