money well spent

The circa 1980 stove in my kitchen was probably a low-to-mid-grade model in its day. Thirty years later it's still functional, but leaves a bit to be desired. Today I spent possibly the best $30 ever on new drip pans, greatly improving not only the look but also my morale.

Behold, the old drip pans:

In my defense, the drip pans weren't always this dirty. They have been on a slow but steady decline over the past year or so as I became busier and the stains more difficult to remove--even with heavy-duty cleaning products and lots of elbow grease. Once I got the brilliant idea to simply replace them I quit cleaning them altogether. Smart, eh?

One less scary thing around the house.

this and that

Since blogging seems to be the thing that most often gets pushed to the bottom of my to-do list these days, I need to mention a few random things that happened this month so I at least have some record of it.

• Sarah had a solo in our ward's Primary program this month. She sang the first verse of I Feel My Savior's Love and--in my completely unbiased opinion--it was the most beautiful thing I have ever heard! I have never heard her sing alone and I was really impressed by the clear, sweet, and sincere quality of her voice.

• Speaking of singing, John had his first choral concert this month. He made it into the top mixed choir this year (coincidentally the same one I was in when I attended his high school). I wish this photo showed the great pinstripes in the guys' pants and the rows of dots in their ties. John has really found his niche in high school and I love how much he loves singing in choir (much of which I attribute to his fabulous and darling teacher, Mrs. Burns).

• Speaking of high school, my long-time friend Ann came for a two-day visit with her beautiful daughters earlier this month. It was a fun surprise and a treat to have them stay with us; the actual reason for their visit was to see the show Wicked, but we enjoyed watching movies, eating carmel corn, shopping with our girls, and playing Bananagrams. Moosey made friends with them all.

• Speaking of Wicked, my mom and I were invited by a friend in our ward to go to the show, complete with a back-stage tour prior to the show! Yes--I said BACK-STAGE TOUR. It was fascinating to see the costumes, props, and sets first-hand. To top it off, we had box seats. I felt like royalty and only wish I had been allowed to take photos of the experience.
• Speaking of photos, I just had to take this one of a flyer I found lying around the house. At first I thought it was something from Sarah's school. When I asked her about it, she confessed she had made up a stack while playing School the other day. It made me smile.

• Speaking of things that make me smile, Sarah convinced us to carve our Halloween pumpkins tonight for FHE. Though I confess I had sort of been dreading the time-honored and messy tradition, I had fun hacking away at the pumpkins with the rest of the family.

• And speaking of hacking away, Mark got a little carried away with the hair trimmer last Saturday and ended up giving himself a new 'do. He has been more than a good sport about the whole thing and we have been laughing about the reactions of his friends and coworkers. People at church yesterday were asking if he had lost some sort of bet relating to the oh-so-sad outcome of the BYU football game of the previous day. Someone at work today asked him if he had joined a Mexican gang. I suggested that we could send for the Cougar Spirit wig we found at the BYU Bookstore last August when we took the girls to school. He was not amused.

• And speaking of not being amused, I have taken on a sewing project I'm afraid I'm going to live to regret: 22 (yes count them, twenty-two) dance costume tops for Sarah's clogging team--that's eleven each of two different styles. Yes, it's a paying gig, but I'm afraid by the time I finish I'll be lucky to make about $1.25/hour.
  

Superman: Part I

Remember my 1993 Ford Explorer--the one I've been driving for five of the past six years? Let me refresh your memory: it's the one that hasn't had working A/C for the past two years, one door that no longer opens from the inside (just so happens to be the one most frequently needed to drop off kids at school), a transmission that has been threatening to go for some time now, and a starter that needs an occasional menacing prod with a broomstick in order to function properly.

Mark, being both compassionate and smart, traded me cars once summer began. I drove his red Ford Ranger (which in reality isn't big enough for all the people and things I tote about town--but who's complaining, it has great A/C) and he drove the sweltering Jed Clampet-mobile.

And then the starter on the Explorer died in the parking lot of Mark's office. What to do now? How much money do we really want to spend fixing up this old car? Mark and Emily towed the car home with the little red truck and I began wondering how we would all fit into the Ranger to make it to church on Sunday.

The next thing I know, Mark is doing extensive online research. "Great!" I think to myself. "He's looking for a new car." Little did realize he was teaching himself how to be a mechanic. Before I knew it, Mark--who has never tinkered much with cars--had found an inexpensive replacement part and was underneath the car installing it.

I kept any doubts or misgivings to myself, and must admit that I was quite impressed by the lack of cursing I heard (perhaps I was out of earshot). In less time that I would have imagined, Mark came into the house with a jubilant request that I come outside to admire his handiwork. Lo and behold, that car starts every time now on the first try!

Mark could be the official spokesperson for Dawn dish soap: Gets Grease Out of Your Way.

Mark has since told me that he doesn't appreciate me referring to "his car" as a Jed Clampet-mobile. I think he has developed a sort of kinship with that old car; he claims it's his Therapy Car. In addition to putting in the new starter, he has replaced the brakes, put in new spark plugs, and numerous other things I know nothing about. He has taught me that I guess we can all learn to do things that we didn't think we knew how to do, and yes--I still get to drive the car with air conditioning.

blogger in training

I was in the basement sewing this afternoon when I hear Sarah run in the house through the patio door and fly down the stairs--the urgency in her voice making her words unintelligible. Steeling myself for some woeful tale of misdeeds and/or mistreatment from her brother John (who she had been working with raking leaves in the backyard), I suddenly realized that her tone was one of excitement rather than of injustice. She had my attention now.

"You've got to document this!" she exclaims while urging me from my sewing. "Come on, you've GOT to document all the leaves we raked!"

They single-handedly raked and bagged four large black trash bags-full of leaves. And didn't fight with each other while doing so. And they didn't even whine about doing the job. And they made a point to have me take a photo for "documentation" purposes.

Will wonders never cease?

Ta-Dum!

Look how far we've come in one week! I guess it's not the final "Ta-Dum," because I don't have the furniture, bedding, etc. in yet. But considering where we were with the leopard print floor last week at this time, I feel quite accomplished.

As a reminder, here is a close-up of what the entire floor looked like last Friday night:


This is Mark working in the closet last week. Note the hideously dirty bucket of water, which incidentally had already been emptied five times previously.

This is what the floor looks like tonight, after mopping one last time. Whew! Now we're ready to move the furniture back in tomorrow, and evict Sarah from the girls' room and the dining room. Her stuff seems to have migrated everywhere.

Here's hoping for a productive and long Saturday!

What happened to the first half of October?

So what's up with it already being October 18th?

Here are a few October highlights I don't want to miss documenting:

• My mother's 82nd birthday on October 5th. For a beautiful tribute to her, see this post on Michelle's blog. Her birthday fell on Conference weekend so we got to spend a good deal of it together doing one of our favorite things! We also went shopping together on Friday and Mom bought a darling pair of black boots and a cute outfit at Ann Taylor Loft. What 82-year-old do you know who has a cuter wardrobe than you do? For Sunday's birthday dinner I made a good Rachel Ray pasta recipe with talapia (a good substitute for halibut, which I can't afford), and mom made this delicious caramel bundt cake. It has a burnt sugar syrup (made with cream) in the cake itself, which is also drizzled as a glaze onto the warm cake, and also folded into the whipped cream you serve in a dollop on top of each slice. I ask, what 82-year-old wears cute black boots and makes her own homemade birthday cake!

We honestly didn't plan on matching that day, it just happened.

• John had his first high school choir concert on October 9th and wore a tuxedo for the first time. He's a handsome one, that John--all 6' 2" of him! We love his choir and piano teachers, pictured with us. John sings Bass II and seems to really enjoy choir. I think he's finding that boys in choir make a lot of friends who are girls, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

• On the evening of the 10th, while I painted in her room, Sarah went with her friend Hailey to the school Sock Hop. It was sort of a last-minute decision to go and luckily I just happened to have a cute poodle skirt hanging in John's closet. She loves this one because the poodle on it looks like my dad's dog, Tyrone.

• That same weekend, my mom made two chocolate pies for Mark to take to work for his co-workers. Thankfully he brought some home, as this is my most favorite food in the entire world, for real. Can you blame me?

• On the 15th Sarah had track and field day at school. John happened to have early release that day, so he came with me to meet Sarah for lunch. It's a good thing he came, since I had to park far away and haul not only lunch but chairs. Sarah is the closest thing to an athlete we have in our family!

• And finally, Mark pulled up Sarah's carpet last night, only to find that the floor looks like leopard print. Yes, leopard print. The carpet pad was one of those composite foam-o'-many colors kind, and it had black, yes BLACK specs in it that stuck in tar-like spots all over the hardwood. As I write this, Mark is on his hands and knees scraping and washing the floor. Thankfully, it's coming up, but has put a bit of a crimp in our project.

Whew! Here's hoping the last half of October lasts a little longer than the first half did.

Like Jill said. . .

"What the?. . ." This is what is going on directly outside of my house today:

Yes, that is my driveway. And this is the view from my kitchen window:

It's a good thing Mark has a four-wheel drive vehicle, as that four foot wall of dirt blocking the driveway could pose a problem in getting into the garage. Hmm. And tonight would be the night I've got the missionaries and my parents coming for dinner.

workman's comp

Workman's Comp is the kind of insurance your employer carries to insure against injury at the workplace. I'm wondering if the startling appearance of an unexpected and very large, hairy spider, and subsequent squishing of said spider will qualify me for benefits.

Keep in mind, this photo was taken after I had squished it, so it really was bigger than it even appears here. I was sorting through stacks of old blueprints and moving the prints from a file drawer to the floor to a trashcan and look what crawled out! Thankfully, my Amazing Mom Skills allowed me to dispose of it with only moderate horror and trepidation.

Sorry Jill, but I just had to post this one with the smudge of guts on the paper. (I killed it by putting the mercifully thick, folded set of plans on top of it and then stepping on the plans.)

I don't even want to know how or when the horrid spider got there, or if it has friends and family members lurking nearby. I just don't want to know. Thank heavens I had my camera in the car!