Warming Up

Yesterday was the hottest day EVER in Tennessee. 109 degrees.  It is 84 hot and stagnant degrees right now, and it's 4 AM. Ugh, I remember feeling this before.... in LAS VEGAS!  The humidity is at 55% so NASH VEGAS obviously put its spin on things.

Gib leaves today for Hawaii. He finished writing up his Eagle project, cleaned the dining room table of the books and binders he plunked down on the last day of school and never touched since, and he packed a couple days ago. He also reached the point where I assume doing laundry was no longer optional. I washed and washed and washed clothes. As I was hanging good t-shirts and folding the other half of Class B and non-school shirts, I took a good look at the amount of clothes appearing from the bottomless laundry bag. I had to count when the pile was so impressive. 45 t-shirts! Add in several pair of shorts and jeans, and you'll know how I spent that day. Gib decided to take me up on my suggestion to purge shirts from his Freshman year. I received a clever note back from my son on top of the Goodwill pile announcing the reduction. I think we can do better than that when he gets back from Hawaii. We went to a Dive shop to see about getting the dude a snorkel and mask. We learned how to choose a mask that best fits. Unfortunately, the prices were too high so we ended up taking our newfound mask-shopping and dry-snorkel-preferences to Academy Sports and saved $70. Gib thoroughly enjoyed me insisting we open each and every kind and trying them on. Hey, I replaced the packaging and nobody needs to know. Until now.

Gib's plane leaves shortly before 7 am. The guys just left for the airport. I was surprised it didn't take more wheedling to grab a quick pic of Gib before he left! But I guess when you are leaving for HAWAII, you are in a pretty good mood despite the hour.

He will arrive in Honolulu after a day of travel. They are bunking at the USS Missouri in Pearl Harbor.  Taryn - Gib ended up taking your camera to save space in his backpack and have more room for puka shell necklaces and hula skirts for his sisters. Heh heh.  One of the guys set up a facebook page for the trip, so hopefully we can do alot of photo-sharing. Those are fun.

On Sunday the Scouts will go to the Arizona Memorial, spend some time on the beach on Waikiki and hike to Diamondhead from Waikiki. They bunk at the Doubletree in Waikiki.

Wow, now that's MY kind of camping.

Many prayers for their safety while on this trip and for an awesome adventure!  And Gib, if you read this, I was serious about the NO Cliff-Jumping comment!!  Love you!  See ya the day before you turn 17!

Wrapping Up

Mariah is super organized and could pretty much leave for France now. Today's agenda was to finish getting all the little odds & ends for travel. Most important was the passport security pouch. It has 2 zippers and can hold a small camera, cards, money, etc. while not being visible or accessible for theft.

  Mariah is bringing gifts for Felicie's family. This is the quilt Grammy just finished for Felicie's parents. The backing is the same material as the beige piping at the very edge. We REALLY love how this quilt turned out, and hope they do too! 

Thank you to Grammy for donation of the 30's throwback quilt squares and all the time putting it together. 

While we were running our errands today, Mariah found her high school tote bag. We love the material and hear they are quite durable. We got $20 off too!  She decided it would be perfect for her carry-on too! Since she can check two bags it is a simple matter of making the duffle bag she was going to carry on become checked luggage and moving a few things over that need to stay with her. On the return flight home she can only check one bag, so the duffle can go in the overhead bin and this will be her personal item.

It's really too hot to even be running errands (over 105), but it was the 2nd day in a row I ran into preschool families which made me happy! Yesterday I got to check one little guys brawny biceps and admire his new harmonica, and today I got to preview Disney clothes heading to Florida for the 4th! What fun. It's a long time before preschool begins so I love those happy surprises!

Time

Time is on my mind. It has a funny way of totally crawling and then you find yourself wondering where all it went!

Gib is working on his Eagle project write up this week. The goal is to have it finished by the time he leaves for Hawaii this weekend. Go Gibbie Go! He chuckled when he realized he officially started the project exactly one year ago this week. Between Skeeter Time, winter, and city codes there was a lag until February. At least Gib wasn't trying to beat the clock of his 18th birthday. Since he'll be 17 pretty soon, it's F-I-I-I-N-E (said in his post wisdom teeth surgery pain med induced drawl). He had fun at the lake and came back a few shades darker than when he left. I can only imagine what a couple weeks in Hawaii will do for his skin tone. I've got the rest of his summer mapped out for ACT prep and made the appointment for his senior pics. When he returns from Hawaii we will go shopping and knock out back-to-school, birthday and senior portrait outfitting all at once. Which reminds me... I'm saving all my Bed Bath & Beyond coupons to use for college shopping in the next 12 months. Since they let you use expired coupons and you can use handfuls at the same time, I would LOVE any contributions to our pile you might want to send our way! I'll be checking the clearance section especially after school starts to see if there are any gems leftover from back-to-school 2012.  I can just see Gib now with a perplexed look on his face, "what do I need that we don't already have?"  I'm almost certain I won't be decorating his space in beachy-chic, shabby chic, modern glam, or anything remotely resembling a design theme! What I do anticipate is the hilarity of comparing the truckloads his sisters take to college each year with the backseat load he will take. He'll be 50 lbs lighter in shoes alone. It IS a year away, but I've learned that time has a way of sneaking up on you. I find that I can let go a little bit at a time with each step of preparation that I check off. So by the time the twin XL comforter, sheets, and towels have been purchased I'm slightly more ready to send my sweet son off to college. Baby steps! We've got alot of preparing to do for another big change in our family.

Today begins the 10 day countdown until Paris! Although technically Mariah leaves here in 8 days. She will spend the night at her travelling companion's house and their family will drive the girls to Chicago early the next day.  We had the brilliant idea to get her close to normal teenage hours but only in Paris time zone! She's whittling away at her sleep pattern so by the time she gets there, maybe it will only feel like she is a couple hours off instead of 7.  She has returned to the human race (vs Vampire) of a 9-10 PM to 6-7 AM sleep schedule. While that appears normal to us, considering a couple weeks ago she was staying up all night and sleeping to noon, it's a big accomplishment! The goal is to have her sleeping on a 8 PM - 4 AM a few days prior to leaving. I think it's time to load her kindle with a few books to give her something to do so early. In the event I am up with her, I don't want actually have a conversation until well past sunrise. I just sent her a jaunty 6 AM Bon Jour message since the sun and I have been up a couple hours now, making it possible to exercise some early morning wit. 


Mariah has been drawing fashion designs lately, so perhaps she will discover creative genius at the crack of dawn. That's a nice quiet activity. Even though we can't implement any awesome ideas to spring on Gib in his future dorm room, we still enjoy watching Design Star together every Tuesday night. Mariah stayed up past her bedtime so we could observe our weekly ritual. I will miss watching it with her and critiquing  the designs and the designers with her when she leaves for France. Just thinking about her being gone so far away and for so long cost me several hours of sleep and I don't think that is the only time it will happen. Ce La Vi!


Taryn turned 20 this weekend. She was serenaded by her parents in what I thought was an especially nice rendition of Happy Birthday to You! She hasn't thanked me for waking her up with that yet, but I'm sure it's just a small oversight on her part. Heh Heh.  I got up early to abuse her facebook wall on her birthday and enjoyed every moment of it. It's a special occasion when another one of your kids and you both come out of the teenage years successfully and with your sanity (somewhat) intact.  I would have loved to been with Taryn on her birthday but I know she had a great time on campus, and plus, she had her exciting facebook and postal surprises to enjoy too! It appears I was trumped by a Tron computer mouse from Tim and friends. And I do believe Taryn has put the ball squarely in our court regarding a Tron Keypad. The bad thing about summer birthdays is Christmas is so very far away.

Indie, Aussie and Jeff visited us last weekend. Jeff took care of Aussie while Indie was in Africa and I have to say Aussie is a lean mean fighting machine from his time training for the Iron Kitty under Jeff's special brand of TLC. Aussie is ripped with muscle and I can't see an ounce of fluff or flab on him. He actually has withers which is the equivalent of an amazing 6 pack in the feline kingdom. I can't wait to see him again and slip him some extra treats. Indie is very tired still from her African adventures and the time zone changes. She is recovering from an unfortunate encounter with the dreaded Nairobi Fly.  If one lands on you, it is imperative that you don't touch it. However, that is easier said than done when it happens while you are sleeping. The Nairobi fly is kind of like a scorpion and it releases a toxin that literally burns your skin off. It made Indie very sick. She got nailed on  her chest and I think she might have rubbed the toxin onto her face before realizing what happened. By the time I saw her, Indie's face had healed, which was a big relief - I'll be vain on her behalf! The new skin on her chest is looking good but still hurts so she is putting stuff on it every day.  We had a fun poker night before Indie and Jeff left. We played with monopoly money and we all enjoyed throwing hundred thousand dollar bills out to sweeten the pot. Grammy lasted the longest of us womenfolk, and then it was a duel to the finish for Jeff and Mike. I thought for sure Mike had it, but in the end the statistical genius, card counting, poker faced Jeff won it all. I don't know what he'll do with several million dollars of funny money, but I'm sure it'll go to a good cause.

We will be seeing Indie again in a few weeks. She and Jeff will be joining us for Waterworld, and following that, poor Indie has to have dental surgery to graft tissue from the roof of her mouth to the gum line. It's always something with that girl.  The silver lining, at least for me, is that for a brief moment in time, I will have a full nest then.  That's something to look forward to!

It's A Good Day

Tomorrow is Taryn's birthday #20!  Happy Birthday to my sushi-lovin' girl!! She went out tonight and sent me pics of her dinner. All I can say is YUCK. But she is adventurous with her food.  Bless her heart. I hope she has a GREAT birthday and enjoys all the little packages we sent along with bday cards and candy! It was an odd assortment of postal surprises!  I also hope she enjoys using all the yummy gift cards to local places to help mitigate the sparse cafeteria offerings!  It's hard to be away from home on your birthday so we tried to give her some of her favorite things!

Gib has been gone with a friend to the lake this weekend. I keep thinking I should go wake him up to eat dinner and stuff. He is missed.... eventually.  I am used to the older girls not living here, but it is weird when Gib or Mariah aren't here. July will be interesting, that's for sure! Gib is also signed up for an ACT prep class that will end shortly before the September test. When he returns from Hawaii he will hit the books and start working on acing that exam! I will be working on identifying colleges that will be a good fit for applications and provide him with good choices this Winter/Spring. It's so hard to believe Gib is a senior and will be heading to a college orientation this time next year! Hopefully he will have the chance to hike Philmont next summer. His troop will have a repeat opportunity and he would love to be in on it! The other thing I have to do is book his Senior Pics! WOW!!! I think I will take an August appointment to give myself time to adjust.

Mariah has agreed to try to readjust to the European time zone, so she is heading to bed a little earlier each day. The goal is to have her sleeping 8PM to 4 AM by July 1st or so.  She leaves for France on July 6.  They are 7 hours ahead of us so that would put her close to "normal".  We are in final discussions of what she hopes to gain from this adventure, how to act, how to be safe, how to give the impression that we have some class! Haha... we love repeating that quote. Before we know it she will be on her way!

Indy and Jeff came by this weekend.  Indy got home a few days ago from the Kenya 2.0 trip.  She had a good time. Worked alot harder and they improved on the water filtration systems. It was fortunate they had a chance to test the water in the units they provided because it turned out that while the water was 98% free of contaminants, the people in the community didn't realize that if they put clean water in unclean buckets they no longer had safe drinking water. For the Kenyan people, a bucket is used for many things and it is unnatural for them to have a bucket used only for clean, filtered water. When the group arrived and tested water, they discovered that after the people put clean water in the bucket (that had animal feces in it at some point) and it sat in a hot hut all day, the water was worse than untreated water from the river. It was a heartbreaking discovery but the group endeavored to instruct the village as to the importance of a clean bucket for their clean water. They did so by performing a skit. A guy dressed as a village woman which was absolutely hilarious to the people, and thus very memorable, and the rest had parts as animals who did their thing and dropped "poop rocks" into the buckets. Indy played the part of a bleeting goat and she had an oscar worthy performance of pooping and bleating at the same time. Nobody here was surprised to hear that!!! The village "woman" renacted what happened next - drink the water, get a stomach ache, and run to the toilet.  I think the college students got their point across, and I KNOW the community is still chuckling when they think about it, and another couple dozen families have home filtration systems.

Update Much?

We are in somewhat of a holding pattern - The calm before the bigger calm, and then the storm. I'm not sure about how calm I'll be with my two youngest off on their adventures, and an empty nest, but we'll see. It will be quiet that's for sure.

When we last posted, Taryn had just returned to MS&T for a summer semester.  She called earlier this week with a computer problem that prevented her from turning in assignments on her laptop. We decided it was a job for DAD!  So Mike happily accepted the challenge to find out why her web assign program wouldn't run. Using the library and borrowing desktops from friends was not working out so Taryn was understandably worried!  Luckily, her dad is amazing at figuring that kind of stuff out.  Mike had a few ideas and if it came down to it he was going to call the web assign people.  In a race between tech support at the university and Mike, guess who the winner was hands down?!  I'm pretty sure the tech support didn't even get a contact before Mike solved it. Mike experimented on Mariah's laptop which also wouldn't run it, and his PC which would.... apparently that was a big clue. Turns out there was a standard security block from comcast installed on the laptops. Mike figured out how to disable it. Then he called Taryn and instructed her how to do the same on her laptop. Problem solved. What would we do without his expertise?!  We're kind of need it NOW people so we are especially thankful Mike is a figure it out NOW kind of guy.  Praying for summer success to keep on rolling for Taryn!

Just got a Mercer on Mission update #7. I'm excited to beat Mike to the punch! They have left the village of Sisit and at 2:45 am their time they were halfway to the Kakamega Rainforest (go ahead and snicker; I do!) and hoped to arrive at 1pm. For someone who likes to keep vehicular travel under 8 hrs in a day that doesn't sound nice. And vehicular travel here includes paved roads, rest stops, fast food, and air conditioning! But I guess Indie endures it well because she keeps going back!  The people of Africa hold a special place in her heart. She will be sad to say goodbye again I'm sure. Someday I would not be the least bit surprised to hear she wants to pursue an African adoption. She has one of the most generous hearts! We are so lucky that all our kids have been gifted with this trait. I am proud of them all for their caring and kindness, and willingness to serve others.  Indie's group heads home in less than a week.

Gib is just about done with the Eagle project horseshoe pit! He and Mike set the stakes last night and Gib has one more meeting with Skeeter to organize the finishing touches. The guys both got a nice set of blisters from last weekend's workday. 6 hours of digging and pick-axing will do that to ya.  Then Gib pulled a muscle at Ultimate Frisbee so he wasn't very happy that night. I wanted to pour hydrogen peroxide on his hands but he politely declined and settled for antibiotic ointment and bandages. The next morning he was proud to show me how much better it already looked. Ah, youth. Despite his amazing healing ability I suggested he might want to take it easy until Hawaii! He leaves at the end of the month for that Scout trip.

Besides hanging out at the house, staying up 'til the wee hours, the kids are staying active in the youth group at church this summer. They have a weekly bible study - Book of Daniel - and a weekly movie night which they enjoy. Last night it was Star Trek. I asked Gib if he had a good time and he gave me that crazy look and said, "Yeah it was STAR TREK".  When Mariah isn't tanning, she is planning her trip to France. She leaves in about 3 weeks. And she's pretty much packed her suitcase. I suggested she start early and clean out her closet and get an idea of what to take. She's been working hard at it and since her suitcase came in at 35 lbs I guess she's done very well indeed. That gives her 15 lbs leeway to bring back cheese and chocolate for her family and maybe a few trinkets for herself.   Mariah and I brainstormed for days about what gifts she could bring for Felicie and her family. We decided on a quilt made by Grammy which is coming along beautifully! And some accessories, photo collage and flip flops for Felicie. Crackle nail polish for her sister and graphic t-shirts for her brothers. Their family is almost a mirror image of ours - with 2 boys the eldest, followed by 2 girls. It gives Mariah and Felicie a commonality to be the youngest of 4 with sisters and brothers the same ages. They became like sisters last summer and Mariah is excited to become part of their family this summer. She will meet some but not all of Felicie's siblings as they do the Revolving Door thing just as my kids do here. I think the oldest son is the only one she won't meet, just like Taryn was the only sibling here that Felicie didn't get to meet. I received an email the other day from Felicie's mom describing their plans for July. Mariah is excited and will probably start a countdown any day now.