An Afternoon on the Farm

Today Dave and I drove Mom and Dad up to Maryland to catch their fight home. Dad was sure security would be impossibly long so close to the captial. He asked that we drop them THREE HOURS ahead of thier flight. Having lost two hours of the time we planned to spend in D.C., you could say that our tour was drastically abbreviated. Our "tour" went something like this:

"Look, there....that's the White House."

"Where?"

"Never mind, you missed it."

On the way home, Dave and I stopped at Sara Palmer's home. Sara is Brian's cousin. She lives on a 326 acre farm in a three bedroom home built into the side of a hill. It was originally built in the 1750's and has been rennovated over the years. You can still see the original hearth in what used to be the kitchen and is now the familyroom.

Sara's father was a landscape architect and bought the property for an English Yew tree supposed to be at least 200 years old. Sara's three dogs reminded me of something out of Calvin and Hobbs. She has several horses including a few retired race horses. Elvis was the most endearing. Elvis is thirty years old! That's incredibly old for a horse. He has no back teeth and will follow you around like a dog. However, upon getting to know Elvis better, it seems he follows you around because he likes having his privates scratched. No joke. Apparently the flies like to bite the soft skin there and it's difficult to swat one's underside with a tail located on the backside.

I hope very much to be able to make a return visit with the kids. Kirk will get lost in the woods for several days, Dani would move in with the horses, and Jake would probaby play video games, doing his best to avoid the chickens who believe the farm belongs to them.

Dave's Graduation Day

The graduation was split into two parts. First was the lawn ceremony where graduates receive thier degree. This ceremony was all the graduates and their families together. Unfortunately it rained so I had the view above.

Following the lawn ceremony was the diploma ceremony. Mom and Dad went ahead to save seats. It's a good thing they did because it was moved from the front of the law school to one of the gyms after it rained. It was hot and packed!

That evening, we had a barbecue with Dave's fellow LDS graduates

Dropping in on Thomas Jefferson

Today we went to Monticello. The house was innovative and progressive for its time and amazing, but it was the grounds that called to me. It was easy to see why Jefferson would never want to leave his little mountaintop and worked hard to get home regularly. Clearly only very important business would take him away from such a peaceful place. On the way home we stopped for a sandwich at a really good, upscale deli...that just happened to be inside a gas station.

Come On Up!

Kirk has been issued his first official "we want you, please come visit our campus" invitation. Case Western Reserve University has reviewed Kirk's films and transcripts and asked that he make a campus visit to meet the head coach, speak with admissions people and get a feel for the campus. Case Western, located in Cleveland, Ohio (yeah, I had to look it up,) is Division III in the NCAA, but it's a good feeling to be wanted.

My Baby is Seventeen

Kirk is being seventeen. This is me gritting my teeth and smiling through it. Kirk walked in the door from track practice bragging about the number of birthday cards he got at school. At least a dozen, all girls. He asks, "What's up with girls and cards?" I just shake my head.

Then he gets on my computer to check his facebook where he has three pages of birthday wishes. The first of which is a girl at church he always sits by and texts and both are adamant that they're "just friends" and don't want to date. More head shaking.

I spent the day cleaning, lots and lots of laundry so Kirk's track uniform will be clean, baking (Great Grandma Davis' Seven Layer Masterpiece Chocolate Cake came out great by the way) fixing food (his requested menu), wrapping gifts and setting the table. No painting. No reading my latest book, The Host. I knew Brian wasn't going to be here because he was going to a coaching meeting. We discussed this ahead of time with Kirk and Kirk ok'd it because he benefits by having Brian sell him to college coaches. I planned for that, didn't get him a steak. Tonight also happens to be YW/YM and cubs. Kirk announces he's not going to church (my only other driver) as I was putting the rolls in the oven, but rather out with two friends...to grab something to eat. My mouth hit the floor. I think you get to spend your birthday anyway you want, but you can imagine my feelings at this point. So he's about to leave when I told him he had to wait until Brian got home to see him open his presents. Then Brian, who's office went to a Red's baseball game today, and who went to the gym afterward while I was home cooking and NOT exercising because I have no car, is here long enough to shower, watch gifts and leave. I have to call and get rides for both Jake and Dani. Dani's ride is coming at 5:30 because they're running errands first so now she won't be here for dinner. Jake is allergic to beef and can't have a steak. He eats rolls before getting picked up.

So to be clear, I'm sitting here alone in my house with the dinner and cake that nobody ate at the table nobody sat at. *shakes head* I hope Kirk's priest's quorum leader was typically male and didn't do anything about the fact that I e-mailed him earlier today that it was Kirk's birthday. Can mom's quit?

UPDATE: Kirk did not go get something to eat, but rather to a friend's house to watch a short film. I suggest he at least have some cake, naturally so I can have some. He says he'll do that when he gets back. From where I ask? From church he answers, in fact, he says, "I have to go now or I'm going to be late." Yes, church meetings that I had to get rides for his siblings to because he wasn't going. My jaw, once again hits the floor. Seriously, can I quit?

A Taste of Summer

Today was one of those days that was just a taste of summer. The kids didn't wait to throw on their swim suits and have a watergun war with the neighbors. I don't know who won, but popcorn and popciles make for a peaceful truce. There's nothing like laying on the warm concrete to make to make it feel like summer.

Stranded...

In anticipation of purchasing my little brother's car, we posted my workhorse of a Pathfinder for sale on April 24th. We didn't anticipate a 12-year old SUV with 155,000 miles on it would sell very quickly given the current price of gas. Plus, it has probably $1000 worth of little repairs that needed fixing. Things like windows that didn't go down anymore, an attena carelessly broken in a car wash, and a rear bumper that was slightly ascue. Rust was beginning to set in around the edges as well. You could color me shocked when the car sold in less than 36 hours. We dropped it this morning (I kept the vanity plates) and now I'm going to go wacko without a car for the next two weeks! Below is the ad I wrote. Who knew they'd believe me? We sold it to a family for their 16 year old girl.

1996 Nissan Pathfinder –

Perfect First Car For Your Teenager

That’s right, lots of metal and front air bags to you protect your baby while being old enough to afford the insurance your underage driver is going to cost you. This suburban assault vehicle will accommodate four of her friends in seatbelts in addition to herself while jammin’ to the after-market stereo. Don’t tell her boyfriend that the back seats fold down for ah…extra storage. Yeah, extra storage. There is a sunroof so she can get a tan on sunny days, but the interior is all leather so she won’t dare wear short shorts for fear of third degree burns. The leather interior also wipes up easily so she can hide the evidence of her spilled Smoothie King when she was supposed to come straight home from the track meet. It has four-wheel drive which switches on the fly so she doesn’t have to actually get out of the car in the snow in the shoes that went really well with her carefully chosen outfit, but don’t qute cut it in the slush. Heated seats will keep her warm in the winter. It even comes pre-scratched so it won’t show when the kid parked next to her in the school parking lot opens his car door into hers. Oh yea, and it has aluminum wheels which stay shiny and don’t rust. Girls like shiny. You’ve got a boy? Let us remind you that his insurance will cost even more than a girl the same age. You want this twelve year old beauty when you have to call your insurance agent.