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.

all dogs go to heaven

Or at least I hope so, so Bella can share Moosey with us in the eternities. Ever since we adopted Moosey from Jessie a little over one year ago, Bella has apparently talked about wanting to "send us a different dog." Really, can you blame her?

When Bella first arrived in Denver she couldn't wait to come to our house to be reunited with her long-lost pet. In fact, Jessie and I worried a bit that when it was time for them to return to Utah Bella might not take kindly to being parted from Moosey once again.

We were running late when it was time to go to the airport (and of course we had forgotten to take pictures of Bella and Moosey earlier in the week). We soon realized that Bella would probably not get on the plane unless she could properly say goodbye to Moosey.

Of course, trying to get everyone to cooperate for a group portrait was a little taxing, especially under the hurried conditions. Thankfully, Jessie used her dog-whisperer ways to coax Moosey into these family shots.

Bella was not as anxious to pose for a SP with her Great Aunt Denise.

Thankfully, others were more cooperative.

We miss you, Jessie! (And I'll send that CD of photos just as soon as I can find one on which to copy them . . . .)

look what I found at the airport yesterday!

Actually, it took me a while to find them, as I neglected to call Michelle's house the night before their arrival to make a Where-to-Meet Plan, and Jessie didn't have a cell phone with her. I had the best of intentions to park the car and meet them just outside the security area on Level 5 of DIA so I could help Jessie with the kids, stroller, and bags. I was about five minutes later arriving than I should have been for this plan to effectively work. Regrettably, it was almost an hour after Jessie's plane had landed that I finally found them patiently waiting at the curbside on Level 4.

We were so excited when Jessie decided to come to Denver for a sub-vacation (vacation-within-a-vacation), bringing her two darling girls with her! I confess I feel a little selfish, taking sister time away from Michelle, but I can't help but be happy that they're here. Sarah is in heaven with two little girls to entertain and dote on.

We tried to get Fiona to smile for this SP but were unsuccessful in our attempts.

Grandma bought both Bella and Sarah a cute coloring kit while we were at Joann Fabrics today. I am amazed at Bella's ability to color so neatly and precisely!

Fiona is warming up to me and lets me kiss her with abandon.

I ask, what could be better than that?

A/C = happy mom

I can't let the summer pass without blogging about the best thing to happen in my house in a long time: WE FINALLY GOT AN AIR CONDITIONER!

This is our fifth summer in this house and every year I dread the season more. Can you blame me, when this was the average summer's day reading on the digital thermostat of my main floor hallway?

I was skeptical when Mark told me that this one little window unit (which doesn't even look that ghetto) would cool most of the upstairs rooms of the house.

Believe it or not, it does! Look at that same wall thermostat now:

I can't believe what a difference this one little window unit has made--not just in the temperature of our house, but in the mood as well. AWESOME. That's just about all I can say. AWESOME.

mini makeover

Five years ago we moved into our current home, inheriting a number of lovely "gifts with purchase," so to speak. Some things I simply could not abide and was driven to change immediately, and others--though I didn't like them--got pushed to the bottom of the to-do list until, sadly, I guess I became used to them and almost forget that I wanted to change them.

My bathroom shower curtain was one such item. Southwest-style prints have never been a favorite of mine, but I guess the fact that it was a pretty shade of red and I happened to have matching towels made it somehow tolerable, or at least not annoying enough to move up on the priority list.

I'm not sure what first inspired my desire for a black-and-white shower curtain, but I had a vision in my head of what I wanted. One day while reading a home improvement post by blogger friend Lee in Pennsylvania, I saw the shower curtain that was in my head! I posted a comment about the irony of it all, praising her for her good taste. She quickly emailed me to say that she had made hers from a table cloth she purchased at T J Maxx, and that she had an extra one I could buy from her for a mere $15! Woo hoo! One step closer to getting rid of Southwest kitsch.

Fast forward about four months. The table cloth had been sitting on my sewing table, waiting for me to find the time to transform it. One afternoon after work I decided that there's no time like the present, and I sat down and made myself a shower curtain!

The table cloth was not quite large enough on its own, so I added a weighted hem in solid black. I decided to tie grosgrain ribbon in single-looped bows at the top of each shower ring.

Remember my powder room re-do last March? I saved the rather scary hardware (towel bar and switch plate cover) and got out my favorite transformation tool: black spray paint.

I haven't hung the "new" towel bar yet, but you can see here the lovely one I'm replacing. Do you know of anyone with a log cabin who would like to decorate with a hunting motif? Perhaps the more pressing question is, "Why in the world didn't I replace this hideous thing sooner?!"

The finishing touches, and perhaps the final impetus that got this project in motion came as birthday presents last March. Susan gave me these cute ceramic canisters for Q-tips and cotton balls,

and Michelle brought me (among other things) one of the darling black-and-white boxes of Puffs I had coveted after seeing them on her blog. I have alerted each of my family members that I will NOT be throwing away this box, but re-filling it.

See the wonders of blogging? Table cloth from T J Maxx: $15. Black fabric on sale at Hancock's: $5. Twelve yards of black grosgrain ribbon: $12. Sending the Southwest to Goodwill: Priceless.

hellish hail

As if I wasn't having a hard enough time trying to keep my blog current, our power was out for 48 hours this week, throwing my week into chaos.

A little after 10 on Monday night I was enjoying a relaxing shower at the end of a very productive day when, about halfway through, I heard and felt a frightening sound--above the sounds of the streaming water and the radio. Fearing my furnace was about to explode (our hot water heater/furnace combo--an antiquated beast--resides in a closet in our bathroom and at times makes menacing thumping noises). "Oh NO!" I'm thinking. "The house is going to blow up and I'm going to be found naked and dead in the street! What an embarrassing way to go."

And then the lights went out.

It didn't take me too long to deduce that we were in the middle of a tremendous thunder and hail storm. Thankfully John, knowing I was in the shower, was quick to bring me his Nintendo DS, which when opened and sitting on the counter, provided adequate light by which to dry off and dress. Whew! I wasn't going to die naked after all.

I was impressed by the kids' quick response to an emergency situation. The storm hit so suddenly and with such severity; thanks to their quick response time and action (as I was otherwise occupied) windows and doors were expeditiously closed, allowing no water to enter the house.

The outside of the house, however, did not fare so well. We awoke the next morning (still no power) to find the back of house looking like this:

Some of the holes are three and four inches big! We were fortunate that no windows shattered, as many of our neighbors' did. However, the frames are broken, dented, and cracked--like this:

Our gutters and window frames look like someone with anger issues took a ball-peen hammer to them. The saddest part to me is my little garden in the front of the house. Remember reading about my efforts to beautify? Well, Monday afternoon I decided I would surprise Mark (who was out of town) for our upcoming anniversary and add some finishing touches to our joint gardening effort. I stopped at the nursery on my way home from work, dropped another $50 for some fill-in plants, and together with the kids planted everything for FHE Monday night. For at least three whole hours my garden looked really good.

On Tuesday morning my garden looked like this:

. . . and my potted basil looks like this:

Emily, Sarah, John, and his friend George helped me rake and clean the yard (remember I said that Mark was out of town?). After a few hours of work we had raked about 15 bags of leaves--just from the front lawn. Though the decimation of my little garden is disappointing, it was somewhat heartening to at least get the debris cleaned up, and it felt pretty neighborly, as everyone else on the block was out in their yards doing the same thing and we would occasionally walk over to a neighbor's house to exchange storm stories and damage estimates.

The good news? Our power came back on last night around 10 p.m., but not before I had to attend to some urgent Relief Society business by candlelight and flashlight.


The bright spot? My rose bush, a Mother's Day gift this year from Mark, came through the storm nearly unscathed--amazing, when you consider the state of everything else in the vicinity.

For another great account of our eventful week and more photo documentation, see Emily's post.

FAQs

No, I have not died.

Yes, I could really use another twelve hours in each day.

No, I am not dying of the heat this summer because we finally got an awesome A/C window unit the cools the main floor of the house!

No, the A/C in my car hasn't been fixed yet.

Yes, I am now driving Mark's truck and he is driving the sweltering car.

Yes, I love Mark for trading cars with me.

No, we have not been able to boot-up our family computer since an electrical glitch last week.

Yes, I am thankful to get a turn using Charlotte's laptop.

No, I hardly ever have an answer to the ever-present "What's for dinner tonight?" question.

Yes, I often feel like I'm caught in a wild current, barely able to gasp for air now than then.

Yes, I am already dreading the girls' return to Utah in August.

No, I didn't even get half of my to-do list crossed off today.

Yes, I often wonder if I'll ever blog, scrapbook, or sew regularly again.

Yes, despite it all, I'm still glad to be me.