advice if you want it

If you ever see a pair of sunglasses that have green lenses, don't think twice about buying them. Just do it.

You will be amazed by the intensity and clarity of the world in which you live.

I'm just sayin'.

Course, you may need to make those green, prescription lenses. But either way, whatever works, just get the green lenses.

here and there

here:




and there:

one down, three to go

Finished up my first semester at UVU. Feeling pretty good about it all. Do not understand the point of tests that nobody can possibly score more than 70% on, including the professor. If I got the highest score on the first four tests in that class, is it worth the effort to go back on Monday (at 7:00 a.m., read: rise before the birds, drive 45 minutes, retake the test, then drive 45 minutes plus another 90 minutes to work)? Nah. 70% is okay.

Spent the remainder of the day with Jack at the rental house. With an electrician we hired to complete the wiring before Jack or Jr or both lose a thumb or worse. I wish I'd taken my camera so I could produce photographic evidence of the progress we're making, but of course, in my rush to hurry off to take my last two finals, I forgot the camera. Let's just say that we have safe wiring throughout the house and only another day's worth of paid electrician's time and the lights and switches and outlets will all be working perfectly. Also, the steps are firmly in place, almost all of the holes in the walls are patched, and we are preparing to texture, prime, and paint. Still need to retile the basement shower and need to repair and paint the walls in the downstairs bedrooms--oh and paint the storage/laundry room. But it's looking better every time we go there.

The other reason I wish I'd taken my camera is to document the beautiful bulbs that are growing alongside the driveway, but since I didn't, I took these of more bulbs in my gardens that I totally do not remember planting last fall. I vaguely remember planting orange tulips, or at least, I think I planted orange? Haven't seen them yet.

if money were no object

What would you do if you didn't have to earn money at a job? If you could do whatever you wanted to do with your days, what would it be?

Besides the obvious of spending time with family or eating or resting, what would you do?

Lately, for the past few years really, I've thought that if I didn't have to work and I had a pile of money available to me, I'd spend every bit of it to try to teach girls that their bodies belong to themselves, to help them understand that they can decide how and what to do to and with their own bodies.

I would teach girls and boys to respect themselves and to expect others to do the same.

I don't know how I'd accomplish this task. But I'd sure like to try.

it's spring

You know it's spring, right, because it's raining more and snowing less, and the crocuses are up and gone replaced by the daffodils, and there's that one other thing that happens every spring.

Baby cows. Yep, the calves are back. I've been watching them during my recent drives up north and I'm developing a theory.

I know, you can hardly wait to hear this one.

But see, it's like this. I watch those baby cows running and kicking up their little cow heels and sprinting about the hills and through the sagebrush. And I see their mamas plodding along with the babies running circles, literally, around them.

I'm starting to think that those mama cows aren't really mama cows at all. They're gramma cows. Or at least it makes sense to me. They're content to walk slowly along while those little babies run circles around them. It feels very familiar to me.

but then there's skype

some melancholy

Today while driving to Orem for my last of the 7:00 am class, I had a brilliant bit of insight--hey, you can go see Jessie and the girls after class-----

And then, just as quickly, the realization that while I definitely can go see their house, which I did with Jack and Jr, I just as definitely cannot just go see them. Boohoo for me.

However. I soldiered on to class and then met up with Jack and Jr at the house.

Progress Report:

Jack and Jr pulled more wire and stuff.

Jack dragged around stair stringers and only cussed a little under his breath at some broken or missing part and stuff.

I scraped off more old falling plaster in the stairwell and replaced it with loads of new spackle and stuff. And I made a plan, which upon hearing from me, Jack gave his highest approval: Go take care of it.

The plan is that I'm done with the spackling. Next step is to wash down the walls with TSP (tri-sodium phosphate--the ultimate wall cleaning and preparing for paint chemical), rinse well (and during the washing and rinsing, smooth out the bumps--major bumps that is), and then prime and paint the stairwell.

I considered trying to apply the same heavy texture that the former remodelers added to the walls throughout the rest of the house. And I thought about just sheetrocking over the whole thing. And I even paused long enough to weigh the pros and cons of trying to get mostly smooth walls before priming and painting.

But really. The house is almost 100 years old. The walls are not smooth. And they're walls in a stairwell. A back door stairwell.

I'm thinking the remaining bumps and dimples and such should be viewed as character. Bits of character in the stairwell. So there it is. I may be done painting by the start of next week and wouldn't that be some progress.