Pioneer Day

The 24th of July is Fairview's big event of the year. There's a parade, which Blaine and I help co-organize and execute with another couple here who are our very good friends (holla, Shauna!). There's a demolition derby at night. And about an hour after the parade, there's the Fairview Idol competition.

Emma has entered every year since it began, prepared, hoped, had fun, but never won. Libby entered last year as well, and had fun giving it her best shot.

This year, Libby won first place in her age division, 0-12 year olds. :) Prize: $100!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRW2WJRSQk0

And we all joined in with Emma and did a group piece for the Ensemble category, which we also won. ($300, woot!) Christian said that winning felt like he'd taken the Felix Felicis potion—like he would succeed at everything he did yesterday. Aw! And Emma was so excited.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVocGnWqq2o

My sister Joan and her family came down here and made the whole day possible by saving chairs in the pavilion, standing on the parade sidelines with the kids while Blaine and I were off being official, and many other tasks. One of the best Pioneer Days ever. :)

This Boomer isn't going to apologize

I can say firsthand that if boomer parents have anything for which to be sorry it's for rearing a generation of pampered kids who've been chauffeured around to soccer leagues since they were 6. This is a generation that has come to regard rising affluence as a basic human right, because that is all it has ever known -- until now.
This Boomer Isn't Going to Apologize - WSJ.com

I don't know if, born in 1968, I can rightly say that I'm a Baby Boomer or not; but my siblings all qualify, and I am undeniably of the same generation they are.

To this entire article, I say AMEN. I feel no guilt for the impact I've made on the earth. I do my utmost to be responsible, to leave things better than I found them. What's more, I think the progress that has occurred in virtually everything in my lifetime is near miraculous. It's a wonderful time to be alive, and I'm not sorry—even in the slightest—that I am alive. I hope to leave behind a footprint of some kind, carbon or otherwise, that lets people know that I walked this gorgeous, fabulous earth for a number of years beginning in 1968.

What kind of world are my kids inheriting? It's light years ahead of the world I had at their age, and improving every day. No apologies here.

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Now playing: White Rabbits - The Plot
via FoxyTunes

And now for something completely different

I'm a music obsessor. When I find a song I like, I can listen to it (no joke) 50 times in a row, five days in a row. This is actually a familial trait. I remember when I was little and every day after my dad got home from work for seriously two months or more he'd listen to ABBA's "Take a Chance On Me" after work, just that one song, for hours. For months. Then it was "Elvira" by the Oak Ridge Boys.

But I digress. My sister Joan does it, perhaps my brother Mike, my niece Mickelle—I'm guessing we just want to immerse ourselves in songs we really like.

This song is the free video download at the iTunes store this week, and I really like it. Have listened to it 8 times in the last hour, and it would have been more if my kiddles weren't right beside me playing computer games that clash with my musics. "Percussion Gun" by White Rabbits, give it a listen if you want to.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IClBpch9vmM



Of note is the fact that Muse also gave away a brand new song on their website today from their forthcoming album, and I've only listened to it once. And this...*checks iTunes*...ten times.

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Now playing: White Rabbits - Percussion Gun
via FoxyTunes

The things we rush to blog about!

I've been compelled to paint the exterior of the house. It's one of the stipulations required by the underwriter so we can get the financing we need to redo our bathrooms. This is the reason I've been away from blog lately. The painting is actually going really well, I'm almost done; yesterday we got the highest peak painted, on top of 21 feet of scaffolding. I did not like being up there on the top, but I was really careful. And I got the whole peak done! SQUEE. I thought I might finish everything yesterday but didn't, a stiff wind came up and it's hard to paint in the wind because the paint dries too fast. So I got out there early today. Had Christian come out with me to help me move the heavy ladder around.

Had painted a first coat on about 1/3 of what needed doing, and we had just repositioned the ladder and refilled my Cool Whip tub with paint. I climbed up.

And the ladder slipped. Not down a wall, because I have it positioned against the roof of the porch. So it slid a few inches down the roof, then fell through the air to the porch, with me and the paint on it.

My shins took the brunt of the fall. First I was shaking so hard I couldn't control it, then I was nauseated—I didn't throw up, probably because I mercifully hadn't had breakfast first, I'd gone right out to take advantage of the cool morning. I was covered with paint but needed to rest because of the nausea, so I lay my head down on my painty arms. The hair afterward was a nice, semi-gloss white. In the midst of the nausea and pain I called Blaine at work. He called neighbors to check on me.

The kids found me old towels and I lay my painty body down on them, and the first neighbor that came over brought her neighbor an EMT with her. They looked me over, said I didn't need to go to the hospital, and washed my wounds—gashes on my shins, bloodied knees, one bloody elbow.

It had been about an hour. Emma had made me toast, and I'd taken ibuprofen. Emma helped me pick a lot of the paint out of my hair. I was feeling well enough to go take a shower and try to clean up.

At first the hot water stung my shins, but a few minutes later all was well. The EMT left me some bandaging supplies she'd gotten from the ambulance garage for me.

So now it's 4 hours later. I feel pretty well. The arch of my foot hurts most, actually—wondering if maybe I broke one of my metatarsals and didn't feel it at first because I was just a little bit shocky. My knees and shins mostly don't hurt and they're nicely bandaged. I actually feel really lucky that a 7-foot fall on the ladder only banged up my shins.

Christian was there with me and saw the whole thing. I worried him, he said. Christian and Emma have taken good care of me today, and now Blaine's come home from work to continue taking care of me.

All is well.

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Now playing: Finger Eleven - Paralyzer
via FoxyTunes

Spring time in Utah :D

Last week my friend Spring came from TX with her three daughters to stay with us. I've known Spring for years, but we'd never met until last week. Our kids got along so well, they may as well have been a single bunch of siblings. We had a great time, and I really hope they'll come back, and that we'll go visit them. Here are photo highlights, click any photo to go to the stream and see more.

Boing!

Last year one d-ring at a time failed. Finally, our old trampoline jumping surface gave up the ghost last autumn.

Today, after much joyful anticipation, the trampoline is back! :)