College tour

Another rite of passage happened today. Kevin is headed back to his father's house this week to start his Senior year of high school and I wanted him to take a look at the local U. Over the weekend I made a reservation for five--Kevin, the three little girls, and me--to take a guided tour of the campus.

We arrived at 10 am and enjoyed a spirited introduction to the U. Then the large group was divided into thirds and each group had an enthusiastic guide to take us around. It was really hot, but the tour went in and out of buildings that were well-cooled, and each of us had been handed a bottle of water as we left the gathering room, so it was fine. Each of the teens was given a packet of information and included was a coupon to buy a school T-shirt for $5. I'm not stupid. I bought Kevin a shirt.

He liked the school a lot. He's also looking at BYU Provo/Idaho, as well as a college in his father's city. He has the grades, classes, and extracurricular activities to get into any of them, in my opinion. I can't wait to see where he chooses.

Sierra Vista

Sunset magazine runs articles about day trips to various places. This month's magazine has one about Sierra Vista, Arizona. My friend who came to help me unpack the first week I was here is staying there with her dd, so although my friend is off on a United Kingdom trip right now and isn't in Sierra Vista, we decided to go see what is there anyway. I don't think they would have enjoyed our whole family descending on them anyway. ;-)

One of the features of Sierra Vista is from the military influence there. There are lots of ethnic restaurants, including four German ones, according to the article. One was a bakery closed on Saturday, one was a deli with only about fifteen items for sale, one had been freshly remade as Sophia's Italian Eatery, and the fourth was this charming place. This was our lunch spot. The waitress had a faint German accent and was sweet and kind as Kevin ordered our lunch in his high school German. I think she was secretly delighted with his successful attempt. I had some excellent bean soup with a frankfurter (a really long, very mild and non-salty hot dog), some seedy mustard, and a fresh hard roll.
After lunch we drove just north of town to a site where the Clovis people lived 13,000 years ago. There was no toll booth, no docent, just a really nice trail loop with interpretive signs along the way. The whole walk was about a mile, I think. Here we are going across a wash to the other side where most of the trail was:

This is a Joshua Tree. Years ago when I was at BYU I took an LDS literature class and one of the books I read was called something like Under the Giant Joshua Tree. It doesn't appear to be in print any longer, but it was a story of a third wife and her difficult life in polygamy in the southwest sometime in the 19th century. I always thought a Joshua tree was something like a Banyan tree, don't ask me why. Just last week one of my students asked me if we had Joshua trees in my city and I quickly looked it up online and saw that a Joshua is nothing like a tree, but is one of the millions of cacti we have around here. I was really surprised to see that what I'd had in my mind for so many years was completely wrong. So here is one that was on the interpretive trail:
I'm not sure what this is going to be. I'd assume a bridge, but we couldn't really see any purpose for it. Kevin and dh were able to run back and forth on it, the nimble-footed guys they are, jumping back and forth between the two logs when their balance started to shift. C went across too, but I was satisfied just watching.
The last part of the tour was going on post at Ft. Huachuca to the military intelligence museum and the fort history museums. I think it is the oldest US military base still in use. The buildings were well air conditioned and the displays were even interesting to the junior set.

On the way home dh noticed we were being tailed by a highway patrol cruiser. When we pulled through at the mandatory border patrol check (Sierra Vista is 16 miles north of the border with Mexico), they didn't just wave us through, but told us to go park in a certain slot and wait for them. The agent stuck his head into the vehicle and looked around. Then we found out they are having a big problem with older Chevrolet Suburbans with dark windows . . . stuffed with illegal immigrants! When dh went to Phoenix several days ago he was followed by a Border Patrol truck, then given the evil eye through the driver's side window, then the Border Patrol sped off and came back around at a freeway crossing and headed back the other direction. Dh figured the agent could see he looked nothing like a "coyote" and left him alone. That was his theory about what happened, anyway, and after what happened yesterday, he was certainly right. So one more interesting bit to add to our adventures in the SW United States.

TA DAH!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tell me what you see in these pictures!! It is the very first time EVER I've seen this sight.

Sorting pears

I noticed through the holes in the pear boxes that there was some perceptible ripening going on so I opened up all three boxes and sorted them. All but FOUR pears had annoying little price code/bar code stickers on them so the girls and I peeled them off to avoid taking the sticker and the skin off together later. Almost all of the pears are still hard green, but there was a little softening on some. The ones at 3 o'clock in the picture are the "ripest" then going counterclockwise they get greener until by the third box, they are all the same. It will still be a few days before I do any canning. I bought 10 lbs. more of sugar and I think that will be enough for 100 lbs. of pears (I bought a third box). I'm going to put 1/4 cup sugar in each jar to make a light syrup. Maybe less.

On an unrelated note, just a few minutes ago a man and a woman in an expensive SUV stopped in front of the house, the driver took a picture of our house, then they sped off. AEM, if you want to know what the house looks like, just ask.

Trying something new with my vision correction

We have good vision insurance these days, I'm out of contact lenses, and dh is thinking he might need both distance AND closeup correction, so I made appointments for us both.

My appointment was this morning. To make a long story short, I called the doctor on his "bedside manner" because it was appalling. He apologized and was much more friendly and approachable after that. I'll have to decide whether I want to go back to him next year or not.

I have horrible distance vision and am needing closeup correction now at the age of 47. I'm thinking bifocal glasses next year, but as I said, I am out of contact lenses, so that was my choice for this year. I can choose one or the other each year and the insurance pays most of the cost.

I wanted to try correcting my far/near vision with contacts and there are two main ways to do that. One is by under correcting one eye for close work while properly correcting the other eye for distance. The other method is using matching contact lenses that are either weighted so the lower part stays low and then they operate like regular bifocal glasses, or contacts with concentric circles with close correction on the outside and distance in the center. I decided on the first method, mostly because it is about half the price of getting the special contacts.

I tend to use my right eye for close work so that eye is under corrected right now. I feel a little queasy but I understand that is normal at first. I have a tester pair and am supposed to use them for a couple of weeks until my next appointment. They we'll decide if that option is going to work or not. I can always change my mind and just have my right eye corrected for distance and go to reading glasses.

I'm a little perturbed because I'm not getting the left eye as sharply focused as I think it was before, but the doctor said the prescription is right but it might be because two eyes focusing on one thing focus better than only one eye focusing on something.

Watch this space for exciting updates.

A summer day in the Southwest USA

I know, I know, my faithful readers are going to get darned tired of seeing our thermometer on this blog, but although I grew up with summer temperatures like this, I haven't lived there (Sacramento) in 30 years, so this kind of stuff seems new and interesting to me. Anyway, we had the neighbor boy and his mother over to swim this morning. Gotta say . . . when you're in the pool or wet from the pool you're very comfortable despite crazy temperatures. The pool water was the clearest it's ever been this morning. I could see the bottom in the shallow end and could fuzzily see the automatic cleaner down 10-11 feet in the deep end. I wish I knew which of the many measures we've taken to clear the cloudiness is working because then we'd do more of it.

Dh is home studying for an exam this afternoon. It's nice to have everyone home.

The natural foods market near us (Sunflower Farmer's Market, similar to Trader Joe's) has great produce and advertises they have "Silly Prices." I wouldn't exactly say the prices are all cheap, but they have good specials and I don't think their food is over-the-top expensive. The item that caught my eye today was on the front page: Bartlett pears 3 lbs/$1. Those are canning prices to me, ones I haven't seen since I lived in Nampa, Idaho, in the midst of dozens of orchards. I hopped right on over to the store and bought two cases of 36 lbs each. I think I should have bought one more and will probably go back in a day or two. A hundred pounds of pears will only make about 3 dozen quart jars and that is about the amount I want. So another box it will be. I also have to pick up more sugar. I haven't done any large-scale canning like this in a few years and I half dread it for the work and half look forward to it for the sense of satisfaction I get when it's done and I have all that lovely fruit for my family to enjoy later. As pear canners know, 72 pounds of pears today doesn't mean 72 pounds of pears canned tomorrow. I'll pick them out of the boxes as they ripen and do them over a few days once they start turning yellow.

Try the ethnic section at the grocery store

I tore out an interesting recipe from Good Housekeeping yesterday. It was a buffalo chicken salad. You cut up chicken breast into chunks, then toss them with a little cayenne and salt and bake.

Then you microwave a little butter, Tabasco sauce, and water together and mix it with the chunks and bake a few minutes longer.

Put the chicken on a bed of torn lettuce and top with shredded carrots, thinly sliced celery, and a drizzle of bleu cheese dressing. It was fantastic.

But I didn't have any cayenne pepper and the little Spice Islands bottle at the store was $5.01. Uh uh. Dh said, "Let me check the Mexican foods section for something cheaper." Sure enough, he came back a few minutes later grinning and holding out this bag. A couple of ounces for . . . 89 cents. That's my kind of price. :-)

Sappy entry

Okay, I know all the other parents are going to say, "DUH K!" but here goes: kids grow up really fast. I didn't say "too" fast, but there is an element of that in there as well.

I've been going through the girls' things getting rid of toys, costumes, clothes, and shoes they don't use or have outgrown in one way or another. I can remember so easily when they did use those things and they were just right for them. There are still a very few toys and clothes left from the big kids and it's amazing to think that the little children who used them are now finishing high school or out on their own or married and parents themselves. I think it's especially noticeable to me because I have both my big kids and my little kids so while I am already a grandmother, I don't think of myself as being particularly old because my baby is only starting Kindergarten this year.

Something that I need to keep in mind also is that Kevin used to drive me crazy with his behavior, although he was always a very sweet and kind boy. Now that he is going to be a senior in high school, he is laid-back and a very sweet and kind boy. When the girls threaten to send me over the edge I need to remember how nicely Kevin is turning out and expect the same from the girls as well and remember time is flying. But ask me about the broken postal scale later, okay?

Night heat

Here is the thermometer on the back porch at 9 pm. It was actually a little hotter as this one seems to run a little cool. I'm not used to this hot-at-night bit! But I know I'm paying my dues for the pleasant winters we have in this area. Can't wait.

Back-to-school rite

I've never specifically gone out and purchased school shoes for the girls in the weeks before school, but the girls' shoe situation is pitiful at the moment. Practically everything is worn out or outgrown. Since we have lots of shopping options now that we are in a big city, we went to Stride Rite at the mall. I expected to pay about $40-$55 for each pair but I didn't! They were having a buy one/get one half off sale and many of the shoes were on sale as well. Because of that sale we were prompted to buy C a pair of dressier shoes as well as some sneakers. As the biggest child, she doesn't get hand-me-down dress shoes and usually gets new ones (like Mary Ingalls). Those ones were actually the only ones we paid full price for. They were $50. (ouch)

Her sneakers were the least expensive at $7.97 with the half off and a store sale, but I don't see them on the Stride Rite site. I don't love them but she does and they have leather uppers, so we got them.

E tried on a couple pair of sneakers and chose these ones. I like them a lot and think they look cute on her.

S chose some Nike sneakers that also are not on the Stride Rite site. They were dh's favorite and he was hoping one of the girls would choose them. They are similar to E's but not as pink. Total, including tax was only around $100 which is not bad for four pair of quality shoes.

I also bought a light green Gymboree shirt for school as well. It fits C now, but the quality is such that eventually all three girls will wear it, I'm sure.

I'm not worried about other clothes because it is so hot the girls will be wearing shorts and skirts for a couple of months, I'd guess. I'll worry about new jeans and that sort of thing when it cools off a bit. The other night dh and I bought all the girls' classroom school supplies. We are just about set for school on August 17th.