Fall Insanity

Really, I should expect this, particularly after our Summer of Insanity. And yet, silly me, I actually was deluded enough to think that I would have a bit of a break once school started. You'd think I'd learn.

So, summer....let's review, shall we?
June--Church camp for Tristan. He's home for 5 days, and we ran off to Mesa Verde for about a week. AWESOME trip.

July--We returned from MV on the 3rd. The next weekend, 7/10, we were back at church camp for our annual Family Camp weekend up there.
Home on Sunday, and the boys left the following Saturday for Scout Camp. Girls and I left Sunday for church camp.
Home on Friday (girls) and Saturday (boys), and then off the following Thursday for a quick visit with my parents. We were there for just 3 days, and really, it was a PERFECT amount of time. Mom, of course, complained that it was "too short," and all of that, but the 4th day of any visit with her is usually a doozy. We may make this our new tradition.
Home on Monday night. Tristan and Shannon leave on Sunday for Diabetes camp. At this point, Tristan hasn't slept in his own bed more than 5 consecutive nights since early June and it's mid-August.
Home on Friday. Vacation Bible School starts on Monday. I didn't volunteer this year, except on Friday when the craft helper couldn't be there.
VBS goes through Friday, with a performance of the cute little songs and reader's theatre in church on Sunday and at the family BBQ Sunday afternoon. Alana, however, had to miss both because she threw up Sunday morning before church.
School started last Monday, and soccer started last week, so here we are.

We had an awesome summer, with fantastic new experiences with the kids. It was just so back-to-back busy that I was never sure if we were coming or going.

Now, our lives look like this:
Monday--Piano Lessons for Alana; Swimming for Shannon; Scouts for Tristan (and Bruce).
Tuesday--Back-to-back soccer practices for Alana and Tristan; Yoga for me
Wednesday--Swimming for Shannon; CM Meetings for me (every other Wed usually, but we've had a lot of meetings lately).
Thursday--Back-to-back or simultaneous soccer games for Alana and Tristan; Yoga for me, if life doesn't interfere too much.
Friday--Swimming for Shannon; Sax lesson for Tristan
Saturday morning--Back-to-back or simultaneous soccer games for Alana and Tristan. Yoga is offered at 8:30, but I can't make it due to the whole soccer thing.
Sunday--Church, of course, plus choir practice for the girls, youth group for Tristan, and once a month, Tween Flicks for Shannon. Also scrapbooking once a month.

This week, we add in the Scout family BBQ tonight, plus Back to School night on Thursday. Alana's soccer game is at 6:45, and BTS starts at 7:00. If Alana's game starts on time, we should be able to make it to BTS about the time they stop yapping at everyone in the gym and move on to the classrooms. I've chatted at length with Shannon's teacher, but I don't know Alana's well at all, so I really want to go meet her.

Tristan is trying out for Jazz band, which would mean before-school practices on Wednesday and Friday. Shannon will take orchestra again, which means schlepping her to the jr high Tuesday and Thursday mornings, then picking her up and bringing her to school.

And, of course, there are all sorts of fun things coming down the pike for us too.
Next weekend--Camping at Great Basin Nat'l Park, with a tour of Lehman Caves.
September 12 weekend--Yard Sale, Company Open House, CM card class
September 19 weekend--Boy Scout campout, CM crop, Annual consignment sale where I sell and buy gently used kids' clothes, books, toys, etc.
September 26 weekend--Dream Dinners session on Saturday, but so far (knock wood) that's it.
October 3 weekend--Camping at Buckhorn Wash, Middle-of-nowhere central Utah (as in, make your own freeway exit, middle-of-nowhere!).
October 10 weekend--Croptoberfest, Tristan's liturgist at church, and he's playing in the youth praise band. I'm forgetting something else that weekend, but it's a ways off, so that's okay, right?
October 17 weekend--Something's up, but I'm not sure what. That date is just really familiar to me right now.

So, there you have it. My "relaxed" life where I can get a "break" now that school has started.

You can stop laughing now.

Really, I'm not complaining. I'm a bit frustrated with myself for not being more on top of things over the last week or so, but I'll catch up and get it back together. I'm still on "summer" in some ways, so I spend my time flitting from thing to thing until I realize that it's 5:00 and we need dinner NOW because someone has to be somewhere and Bruce is still at work (he's buried right now).

Honestly, I'm glad we can offer our kids these opportunities for church, sports, and music. They love it. And if you look at it, it's not that many activities for each child. It's just that there are 3 of them! LOL! Really, I could be busy doing things that are a lot less interesting, a lot less fun, so I'm truly not complaining. I love our crazy lives! I love that the kids have these opportunities to do these things. I love watching them try new things, enjoy them, and learn along the way to discovering who they are. It's a fabulous blessing.

MIL Strikes Again

When we last left our dubious heroine, there was the minor matter of a possible heart attack. Or perhaps it was actually heartburn. No answers on that front, so I'm quite certain she's been told it was NOT a heart attack. If that was even hinted, we'd be inundated with "I could drop dead any day now" phone calls, coupled with long litanies of all the medications and steps being taken to prevent her demise.

But the conversation yesterday went something like this....

MIL: How are the kids?
DH: They just got back from Diabetes Camp....
MIL: Now, are you really sure Shannon has diabetes?

Yes, folks, she actually said that. Bruce laughed himself senseless and told her that yes, both children do, indeed, have diabetes. I mean really? REALLY?! Nah, Shannon doesn't have diabetes....we just like giving injections so much we decided to test them on her too.

Good grief!

Bruce's only response is that clearly, his mother is losing it.

Dear Mom...

If you're always right, where does that leave me?

A Quick Mom Funny

We all know that my mother drives me crazy. I'm actually using this time to step back and observe, or at least try to, so I can figure out how to have a relationship with her that doesn't make me nuts all the time.

So, last night, we're having taco salad for dinner and mom only has 5 bowls. There are 7 of us. She tells me she has a job for me, and my job is to find enough bowls for all of us, or would plates work? She told me, at least three times, that she "didn't care" what we used. I said the adults could use plates and the kids bowls. She didn't come right out and say it, but it was clear that was NOT what she had in mind. So, I take out her 5 cereal-type bowls, and found a couple others.

Oh, no, we can't use that one....it has a chip in it, see?
So, if we're not using it, why are we keeping it?
WE'RE NOT! I JUST HAVEN'T GOTTEN AROUND TO THROWING IT AWAY!
(oops)
So, I find another bowl and I leave the 7 on the counter.

Guess what?

Yeah, I know you're all brilliant.

She completely rearranged what I had planned, choosing other bowls, arranging them on the table, etc.

*sigh*

Leaving in the morning

Well, we're off in the morning.

So that means I'm completely prepared and ready to go, right?

Yeah, um, notsomuch....

Took the van in for an oil change this morning. That was supposed to take 20 minutes. It took an hour. And they informed me that I needed a brake flush, power steering flush, and an alignment, plus new tires SOON. "I'll only keep you about an hour." Dude, I don't have an hour!

So we were late for swim lessons, and then late for piano lessons, and then I took the van back. By the time the shuttle was ready to take me home, the van was done. $375 and another 90 minutes that I didn't have, it's road ready. Or close enough. We'll worry about tires next month.

Bruce has a grand plan. He wants us to get up at 5:00 am and pour the kids in the van in their jammies, and be on the road by 6:00.

You can stop laughing now.

I know I'm not a morning person. Bruce knows I'm not a morning person. He promised me coffee, and he told me I could sleep in the van.....because I do *that* so very well. Not happily anticipating a darn thing about this trip, except a chance to see some friends.

Wish me luck, light candles, say prayers.

PineCliff Church Camp

Oh my goodness, what a week!

First, I have to say that I completely misjudged both the nurse and the camp director. The nurse was WONDERFUL! We went up Sunday evening, with campers arriving on Monday afternoon. The nurse, Kristin, sat down with Shannon and I and basically said "whatever you need, we'll do." So, Kristin kept Shannon's insulin and Shannon carried her emergency injection. Her counselor seemed a bit worried at first (the note I had was 2 pages long), but took it all in stride.

The camp director, Corey, is rather disorganized and schedules were mostly a suggestion, especially for morning stuff. BUT, it was clear from early on that he has a passion for this camp and for these kids. He truly loves doing this, and with that I can certainly overlook the disorganization stuff.

I had a cabin of girls ranging in age from a 1st grader (in the fall) to a couple of 4th graders. That caused a few problems. But the biggest problem came from a very insecure almost-2nd grader. She created so much girl drama and I was ready to throw my hands up in the air and run for the hills! She was doing a bunch of "You can be my friend, but *you* can't, and since you're MY friend, you can't be her friend" nonsense. She didn't want to participate half the time, and found all sorts of ways to not wind up where she was supposed to be. To be fair, I had that problem with most of them off and on all week, but seriously, I'd count heads, get to 7 and know exactly which one of my 8 was missing.

I think I've forgotten how to count past 8, by the way, after counting them over and over and over again, making sure they were all where they belonged. LOL! It was a bit like herding cats. And it was exhausting.

In spite of all of that, I had a good week. I was ministered to in ways I did not expect as people came to understand the challenges in our family right now. I thought I would pay my dues and never do this again. Now I can't wait to go back next year.

I probably won't go as a counselor though. It was just too much for me to handle, managing Shannon's food needs (the cooks were SO supportive of that) and her diabetes needs, plus Alana's clinginess (nuclear melt down Thursday afternoon, poor thing), plus the 7 other girls in my cabin. I'll go back as a craft or kitchen helper or general floater, but I need to not be in charge of so much. I don't think I had a hot meal all week, helping the little ones with trays, napkins, juice, etc.

Shannon had a rough moment Thursday night. She got her s'more, minus the graham cracker, and her sugar was 270-something. She just lost it. I think it all hit her at once, the food needs Every. Single. Meal. The can't-eat-anything-without-checking-sugar stuff. She just fell apart. She asked why she can't be normal, like everyone else. And that still rips me to my core. I don't have an answer for her. All I can tell her is that it sucks and I'm sorry.

Even in the midst of that, though, I was blessed by people who were willing to manage my cabin while I tended to my daughter. And Shannon was blessed by a cabin full of girls who quickly accepted her and all her foibles. She had a couple of friends from church with her who are used to her needs and her needles, and that really helped. I think they were able to help set the tone.

People commented all week about how strong Shannon is and how well she manages her needs. Of course, she doesn't feel so strong, but she truly is. Corey has to give himself a shot once a day and he hates it, but he told me that Shannon inspired him to buck up and deal. If an 11 yo girl can do it multiple times a day, well, then he can do it once.

I've been singing Twila Paris' "The Warrior Is A Child" all day, and I sang the chorus to Shannon Thursday night. It really is an inspiration to me...

They don't know that I go running home when I fall down.
They don't know who picks me up when no one is around.
I drop my sword and cry for just a while
Cuz deep inside this armor
The warrior is a child.

That's how I feel. The rest of the song talks about how people see the strength on the outside, but they don't see the wounds and tears. God does though, and I reminded Shannon of that. I reminded her that we're not alone. God has given us friends and loved ones, and even total strangers who care. And God has given us gifts and strengths so that we can meet these challenges, and He's always there for us.

I tucked her in and then fell apart myself. And was again blessed by people who barely knew me.

Anyway, this post rambled a bit. But you get the idea.

I found the song on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5o2YY5BRUg&feature=related

On to Hovenweep National Monument

Eroded Boulder House. They built INSIDE the rock. How cool is that?!
Boulder House, built on a boulder set apart from the canyon walls. You can see the steps they carved in the rock to get to the door.

Twin Towers, in Little Ruin Canyon.

Not sure which one this is, though I *think* it's Tower Point, or maybe one of the ones in the smaller areas of the park.

Hovenweep Castle, again in Little Ruin Canyon.

Hovenweep NM is in the middle of nowhere, straddling the Utah-Colorado border, not on the way to anywhere, but it's only about 50 miles from several cities. It was well worth the drive out there, and you can see much of it in one day, especially if you get started before noon, unlike us. LOL! At the visitor center, you'll learn about the ruins, and if you take the 2-mile loop through Little Ruin Canyon, you'll see roughly a dozen ruins. The trail is mostly flat, going around the edge of the canyon, on slickrock. At the end, it descends into the canyon and back out again.

There are three other areas of the park, not contiguous, that are (mostly) reachable by passenger car. I'm not sure I would've attempted some of those roads in the van, however. And there's one that they recommend a high-clearance vehicle. They're not kidding. Or, you can hike the .8 miles to see that group. The overcast skies that had been such a blessing in keeping the weather cool became a curse as darkness came early. Bruce didn't want to attempt the "high clearance" section in the Pilot, and I don't blame him. It started off down a steep grade and over a couple of large boulders. Add the growing darkness and the expansive feel of being all alone for miles and miles, and well, we'll just have to see that group another time.

Most of the ruins, including many of the cliff dwellings in Mesa Verde, were built in the 1200s. Mesa Verde has many that date from earlier, and the park documents the way the ancients moved from on top of the mesa to the cliff dwellings and back again. Everything in Hovenweep was built from about 1200 to 1275 or so. And then it was abandoned. Theories as to why abound, but it seems that it was a combination of factors. There was a 23-year long drought; perhaps they'd over-farmed the surrounding land, and there is evidence of internal strife. Of course, the strife may have been brought on by the shrinking resources, or it may have been exacerbated by it. No one knows for certain, but they continue to dig and research.

The people who lived here did not just disappear, however. It would seem that they migrated south to the Rio Grande river, where the Zuni and other Peubloan people still live today. These people may also have been the ancestors of the Hopi; possibly the Utes, but not the Navajo and it appears that the Freemont culture so prevalent in other areas of Utah was NOT related to them either. Attempts at DNA testing have been made, but the present-day Native Americans don't trust white scientists to be respectful (can you really blame them?), and say they don't need to know the results anyway. So, the results remain a secret. Perhaps as relationships between Native Americans and Anglos improve, we'll know.

The area is a veritable gold mine of Ancient Puebloan ruins, and it's just amazing. There is the Canyon of the Ancients National Monument, run by the BLM (not the Park Service) and I got the feeling that there was some inter-agency turf wars going on there. The Park Service had very little information about the Canyon of the Ancients Monument, instead directing us to the Anasazi Heritage Center in Delores, CO, headquarters of the Monument. Even the Visitors Center in Cortez, CO had very little information about it, which is rather odd considering the mountains of information they had about every National Park for 100 miles.

So, yeah, Canyon of the Ancients will have to happen on another trip. I hear that there are some spectacular ruins to be seen there, including some that you can actually enter. And, a ranger in Mesa Verde told me that there are far more ruins on the nearby Tribal lands as well. Some of which you can arrange to tour. Add that to the list of things I must see before I die! At this rate, I can't ever die....too many amazing wonders to see!

More links:

Holly Group

Horseshoe & Hackberry Group