Man Around the House

June 11, 2015: Emptying out our shed.

Being a working, single mom with just a 17-year-old at home (who now works 5 days a week) and especially being an "older" mom as I am, it's sometimes hard to accomplish those big tasks around the house to which I never gave a second thought when I was a younger woman with more energy and stamina, and had a house full of helpers, including three children and a husband.

Inside the house, there's no problem. I can do as little or as much as I can manage to reorganize a room or clean out a closet, and work on it over a period of days if necessary. My house is organized and tidy, per my OCD. Outside, however, around our property, has been another matter entirely! 

Inside the shed it's an empty palette, waiting to be reloaded!

And so it has been nice to have Mark around to help tackle these chores. He has never been afraid of hard work and is just one of those people with a naturally helpful attitude. So a few days ago I mentioned that I'd really like to clean out the shed one of these days. An hour later I heard scuffling sounds outside my office, and then I heard the weed-trimmer fire up.

When I went to investigate, I found that Mark had gotten Dylan to go out and help him empty the shed. During that process, they found a part for the weed-trimmer that had been missing, so Dylan put it together and went out to trim the long grass in the front yard. Without being asked. Afterward, he was clearly enjoying a sense of accomplishment in knowing he'd done a good thing without having to be prompted. It was great!

Dylan was only 12 when I married my second husband. Ed had 5 sons of his own, so I thought he would know how to deal with a 12-year-old boy. It wasn't until later in our marriage that I discovered Ed had left his sons when the oldest was just 5 years old, and he'd never looked back, so he had no experience with raising children, as well as no patience and no tolerance. Dylan was expected to know what to do and to do it perfectly. For Ed, nothing was ever good enough to earn even a small word of praise.

After three years of being criticized, ridiculed, and verbally abused by his stepfather for everything he was ordered to do, without help or guidance, Dylan is understandably hesitant to take on big projects. It makes me even more grateful for Mark's accepting nature. It's good to see my son trust that his father will appreciate his efforts even when they are imperfect, so he's not afraid to give it a try.

We took out everything (except the freezer and what's on the shelves)

and swept the shed out. We'll get to the shelves another day.

Mark and I spent two days on the shed project, hoping we wouldn't get a heavy rain while everything was exposed. Thankfully, we did not. Knowing how most men "organize" a shed (Mark: "I'll just throw these over here," Me: "No, no, no! No throwing of anything! Stack it neatly. Here."), I involved myself heavily in the restocking of the shed. We trashed several bags of things I deemed a waste of space, added several items to a pile of stuff to be hauled to the dump (neatly stacked, of course), and got the yard sale items (for next weekend, hopefully) stacked all together in one area near the door.

The shed is practically empty now, and will be even more so after the yard sale. I plan to donate most of what we don't sell so we won't have to keep hauling these boxes in and out, year after year. It will be amazing to have extra space and less stuff! 

Mark trims the weeds in the ditch in front of the house.

13 June 2015

Yesterday Mark went out and finished the trimming of grass and weeds in the front yard, specifically in the ditch that runs along our dirt road. It gave me an excuse to leave all the constant indoor projects I never seem to get caught up on, and go outside to enjoy some fresh air. I made some discoveries along the way.

Looking good! Oh, and the ditch looks good, too!

(Nothing sexier than a man hard at work...)

 The yard was full of the biggest dandelions I've ever seen in my life!

On the left is a normal-sized dandelion.

I hadn't even noticed the daffodils that had bloomed!

Little blossoms all through the grass.

Finally, I love the way that Mark is happy to grill us some dinner any time I ask. I have a fear of gas and flames in general, and Dylan is usually at work when dinner time comes around. In fact, Mark has grilled dinner for the past three nights: burgers, steaks, and chicken. Yes, it is definitely nice to have a real man around the house!

Tonight: Green salad with cucumber and tomato.

We like to shred the breast meat and mix it into our salads.

One Year

Jacob and Danielle on their wedding day, one year ago.

7 June 2014

On Sunday, my older son Jacob and his beautiful wife Danielle celebrated their first anniversary. They are still sparkly-eyed newlyweds and I am so happy they found each other! Here are a few pictorial memories of their special day one year ago. We love you both!

In front of the Snowflake Arizona temple.

Still Saturday

Dylan, Jacob, Danielle, Mark, and Sarah chow down on pizza.

6 June 2015

Not long after Sarah and I attended Emmi's baby shower on Saturday morning, it was time for Sarah's last concert of the season. So, after a brief stop at home, I drove to Denny's to pick up Mark from work, and then we headed directly to the 3:00 concert of White Mountain Symphony Orchestra in Show Low.

Jacob decided to surprise his dad with Mark's favorite frozen pizza for lunch, DiGiorno, so we all met in the parking lot of the auditorium before the concert and had our own little family tailgate party. It was a short but sweet pizza party!

White Mountain Symphony Orchestra

The concert was amazing and fun, featuring a professional banjo player for several of the pieces, but it was also bittersweet. Not only was it the final concert of the season, but it was also the final performance to be conducted by it's long-time maestro (and my colleague), Theresa Dick. 

Theresa has not only been Sarah's conductor for all these years, but she's been Dylan's music instructor in both band and orchestra, as well, throughout junior high and high school. While she will continue to run the music programs at the high school, we will miss her skill with WMSO. Sarah plans to continue to perform under the baton of whomever is chosen as the new conductor, but she told me she only hopes the new person will be as excellent as Ms. D.

Mark oversees Jacob putting together my new fire pit.

Well, he did get the tools for Jacob!

Jacob and Danielle requested that we have our weekly family dinner on Saturday this week, instead of Sunday, because Sunday (June 7) was their first anniversary. As luck would have it, no one had to work that night, so we were able to gather and enjoy a dinner of lasagna, garlic bread, and green salad. That left Jacob and Dani free to have an intimate anniversary celebration together on Sunday.

Sarah decided that since summer has finally arrived in the White Mountains (despite a lot of unseasonal rain and cooler-than-usual temperatures), it was time to enjoy a dessert of s'mores over a roaring fire. I've wanted a fire pit for my property for years, and I finally purchased one in the fall, but it's been sitting in its box on my front porch ever since. However, Jacob de-boxed it and assembled it for our little cookout, and Sarah provided the chocolate, graham crackers, and marshmallows.

It works! Diego likes to chase and eat the sparks that float off the fire.

Mark roasts his marshmallows while the others prepare their s'mores.

Chris and his friend Steve had left us right after dinner to go night-fishing.

Gooey, sticky, sweet, newlywed love!

It was a long day, but it was filled with all the best of life!

And I was there, too!

Emmi's Baby Shower

Autumn, Sarah, Tahna, and Sam point to Emmi and Baby Millie.

Saturday was a very busy day for our family, 

and it all started with a baby shower.

Long-time friends: Autumn, Sarah, Emmi, Tahna, and Sam.

Sarah, Tahna, and Emmi all got married during a 5-week period in 2011.

Autumn is marrying her sweetheart next month.

One of Sarah's bestest friends since junior high, Emmi, is expecting her first child in about 7 weeks (although you'd never know it to look at her!), and we had the pleasure of spending a couple of hours celebrating with her. 

The Invitation

Emmi has her guests guess how many Skittles are in the jar.

I guessed too many by only 19!

I did much better on the second game...in fact, I won! A roll of toilet paper was passed around the room and we were to tear off a long enough piece to fit perfectly around Emmi's tummy. There were a few people who were off by only one toilet paper square, but I was only short by less than half of a square, about two inches!

On a funny side note, I've only played this game once before, at my niece Amber's baby shower several years ago. I won that time, too, with my guess circling her belly at the exactly right length. It must be due to that natural spatial awareness that comes with being artistic.

My winnings. It's so hard to stay on my diet!

Emmi and Hal know they're having a girl, and they've already chosen her name: Millie.

Of course, there was lots of good food on hand...

...and lots of beautiful desserts. The cupcakes were made by Emmi's Aunt Dina.

I love the tiny name plaques identifying the foods! It was all delicious!

And, naturally, it wouldn't be a party without friends and family to share the day!

Sarah did what she loves best! This is Tahna's little girl Natalie,

who was the first baby born in our local hospital after midnight on New Year's Eve.

While Emmi opened gifts, Tahna sat beside her and wrote down which gifts came from whom. Meanwhile, Sarah entertained Tahna's 5-month-old daughter, Natalie. Halfway through the gift opening, Emmi commented, "Natalie has been so good for such a long time."

Tahna replied, "Of course, because Sarah is holding her."

Emmi agreed, "That's right, the Baby Whisperer." That's my Sarah!

Let's not forget, there was a hug pile of gifts to be opened!

Emmi holds up the little outfit I brought for Millie.

A beautiful handmade baby quilt from Emmi's mother-in-law.

Emmi adored this next gift of tiny pink sneakers...

...of the same style as Emmi loves to wear!

It was an awesome shower! I'm so glad we got to be a part of it!

The Longing

Mark stands on a small bluff overlooking Show Low Lake.

5 June 2015

Yesterday afternoon, after I picked up Mark from work, we drove over to pick up our son-in-law Chris and take him to work, since Sarah was already at her job and he was left without a ride. Along the way to Chris's job at Aires, we passed by Show Low Lake. Mark hadn't been near the lake since he came back to the mountain almost 6 weeks ago.

I'm pretty sure Mark was picturing himself with a fishing rod in his hands.

As we drove along the road that parallels the lake, I noticed Mark craning his neck to catch glimpses of the water between the trees. When he still lived here, more than 8 years ago, this was one of Mark's favorite places to be. If he could have the dearest wish of his heart, he would be a professional fisherman. He can spend hours on the water with a fishing pole in his hand. This is where he has always found peace.

Show Low Lake is about 2 miles from our house, maybe less.

After we dropped off Chris, we passed a back road that leads to Mark's favorite part of the lake, where in the past he liked to fish, swim, and jump off the water tower. I slowed as we took the curve away from the little dirt road, and he contorted himself as he tried to look down the road falling behind us. I can only describe the expression on his face as "longing."

I asked if he'd like to drive back and have a look at the lake. Reluctantly, he said, "No, that's okay." I told him we had time to stop, and his face lit up, so we turned around. The road back to the lake was pretty scary, with holes big enough to swallow my little car, but we navigated it without calamity.

The tower from which Mark liked to dive. He hit his head on it once

and gave himself a mild concussion.

Watching Mark soak up his beloved outdoors, stretching and sighing, made the stop worthwhile. His eyes drank it all in and his body relaxed. Soon he'll be back on the lake with a new set of fishing gear, doing what he loves most.

It doesn't look that high, but it's about a 10-foot drop to the little beach

below the rocks where we stood. Mark told me the lake is quite deep.

He said the little shelf of beach you see under the water drops off right there.

Since Mark doesn't read my blog, I can safely say here that there's a good chance he won't have to use his own money from his new job to purchase new fishing supplies. As it happens, his 47th birthday is coming up on June 21st, which also happens to be Father's Day this year. I suspect he may get some gifts from his children that he will really, really like!