Harvest

We planted our little apricot and nectarine trees three summers ago.  Judging from the abundance of apricot trees in our neighborhood, we knew that the apricot tree would probably fare well, but we didn't know about the nectarine.  The gentleman at the nursery assured us that, if it lived through its first year (especially winter), it would thrive.


And it did!  This is the first year I've let our trees bear fruit, because I wanted their root systems to be strong.

I am fairly indifferent to apricots (they're nice, but I can take 'em or leave 'em), but I adore nectarines.  Our little harvest (+15) turned out the sweetest, firmest, yummiest nectarines ever.

And after being shooed away from the fruit all summer, the kids were thrilled to help pick.  They didn't end up eating any, but that just meant more for Bradley and I!!

Smug Alert

I've felt inordinately pleased with myself the last couple of days.  Suzy Homemaker, step aside, here comes Keryn!  (Incidentally, why is it Suzy Homemaker?  Why not Holly Homemaker, or Hannah, or Hilda, or Hepzibah?)

On Wednesday a week ago, I attended a little bottling class in my friend's kitchen.  It was my first time preserving anything (except freezer jam, and helping Liz do grape juice), and I was interested to see that it wasn't as hard as I had expected.  

Then on Friday, Liz invited me over to make real-live jam (not freezer) with her.  I jumped at the chance, because my mother-in-law has the most delicious peach-raspberry jam recipe, and if I felt comfortable I was going to try to make it.  Working with Liz first seemed like a good way to learn. 

So under Liz's expert instruction, we made plum-strawberry jam.  Although parts of it were tedious (stirring and stirring and stirring), again it was easier than I expected.  We finished off the fruit with a little freezer jam, as well.

 The plum-strawberry jam (Freezer jam not shown, because it's, you know, in the freezer)

Then on Monday Telima and I rolled up our sleeves, kept the telephone close (I called Eva once and Mema once), and proceeded to make our first solo jam.  It was hilarious and messy--at one point, we were both huddled around the stove, trying to avoid the spitting boiling-hot jam and pull the equally scalding hot sterilized lids (I ordered one of the those awesome magnet lid lifter thingies, it will be here tomorrow), trying to get the jam into the jars without bumping into each other.  Intense, but funny.

And every one of those jam jars, save one, sealed!  Hooray!!!!!  (We've been eating the one that didn't seal, it's really delicious jam.)

Aren't they cute?

But wait, there's more!

I still had a heapload of peaches left over, and they were getting ripe.  What to do, what to do...oh!  Crisp in a jar!  So that's what I did today.  

Freezer peach crisp...yum yum!  Each one has peach pie filling and an oatmeal-sugar streusel on top.

My bounty

If you had told me, ten years ago, that I would be taking and posting pictures of bottled goods, I'd have thought you were a little off your rocker.  Just goes to show how your definition of "accomplishment" can change through the years.

Welcome to the Future

Our tenth wedding anniversary is next month, and I've been saving money for the last several months with the intention of buying Bradley a really rocking present.  (If Bradley had his way, he would get me presents on not only my birthday but on his as well.  Anniversaries?  That's when husbands give presents to their wives, not the other way around.  At least in his mind.  It's awesome, but I have to be sneaky if I want to get him something.)

We've been thinking about buying a game system for a while, and Bradley really thought the Xbox with Kinect would be the best.  But it's expensive, and not in our budget...so that's what I was saving for.  I was planning to hand him an envelope with the money inside so he could buy it himself.

(Aside:  How does a woman with no separate bank account save money?  By being thrifty with the groceries, and then withdrawing $20 everytime she went to the grocery store.  Voila!)

Then, on last Friday night, we were chatting in our bed after the kids were asleep.  We both really want to get in shape, and with winter approaching it becomes harder and harder to have a good exercise regime.  Bradley said, "You'll have to stop me from buying an Xbox tomorrow.  I really need to exercise more."  In our marriage, that means, "I really truly honestly want to buy this expensive thing.  Do you agree or do you have a good argument against it?"

I smiled to myself and decided that three weeks early was still an anniversary present.

"I'm not going to stop you.  I have $250 ready for that exact purchase."

His reaction was everything I had hoped for.  I love being able to give nice things to my husband--I don't often have that opportunity!

So now we are the proud owners of an Xbox with Kinect.  And a new TV.

(Wait, what?)

Well, you see, we haven't had a television in our house for...um...years and years.  Probably at least four, more likely five or even six.  Not that we don't watch television programming--we just do it on our computers instead.  With a few extra cords, we thought that the Xbox would work just fine.

We were wrong.  Because of those extra cords, any movement or command on our part would take three seconds to get to the console.  For a gaming system that depends on your motions to make it work--well, you can see that this was a PROBLEM.

(At first we didn't know why it wasn't working.  It was so pathetic, we couldn't believe that everyone had raved about this amazing new system, that plays games by watching your body movements.  It was sluggish, and lame, and stupid, and definitely NOT the wave of the future.)

Wal-Mart supplied us with our first flat screen TV, we plugged all the stuff in the right places, and...it works!  You move your arm, and almost simultaneously your avatar on the screen moves hers (or his).  You stand with your hands on your hips, and the avatar does the same.  This was definitely the wave of the future.

Happy (early) anniversary, Bradley!

Doe, A Deer

Today one of my husband's fondest dreams came true, and I just have to write it down.

Bradley sat down at the piano today.  Happily playing some fun songs, he was, as usual, ignored by the kids as they played in their various games.  As he started to play "Do-Re-Mi" from The Sound of Music, however, something changed.

Without even looking up from her drawing, Em started to sing along.  A few seconds later, Zee--in the other room with the blocks--joined in.  The two of them sang along with Daddy's playing and singing for the whole song.

And then Bradley practically burst with love and happiness.  For a man who loves to sing and play the piano, having his two oldest kids join in--of their own accord--was the best present ever.

Outside

I got very amused this afternoon by people driving by my house.  I was sitting in the shade of my lollipop tree, by the fence, and although I had a perfect view of the entire yard, I was pretty hidden.  Hebs and Gee were in the dirt pile near the shed, not visible from the road.  And Yum Yum was toddling around on the sidewalk and grass, happy as a clam.  And, apparently, completely alone, judging from all the cars slowing down to look at her.  Hopefully no one will call CPCS on me.

Gee and Hebs picked some of my alyssum and started up a "Flower Shop" by the fence.  This was great fun for quite a long time, at least until Gee decided to take the flowers for a walk in the play stroller.  Hebs objected, there were tears, and that finished up our time outside.

When I picked the older two kids up from school today, I put up my science fair posters.  Parent-teacher conferences are tomorrow, and I wanted the science fair to be on people's minds.  (My posters were pretty basic, because I don't have fancy cut-outs or vinyl or what-have-you.  I did have glitter glue, though, so they are shiny posters at least.)  The posters read:  Hypothesis:  [School Name] Students make the BEST science fair projects!  Let's test our theory!  Kick-off:  Oct 14, Science Fair:  Mid January.

It was sort of bedlam-ish to try to wrangle my five kids in a sea of other kids, manage the tape, find good places to hang the posters, and not go crazy.  I bribed the kids with the promise of playing at the school playground once I was done.  This (mostly) worked, but there were a few minutes when I felt like my head was going to explode.

Once outside on the playground, things settled down and we had a good time.  Miss Yum Yum wandered around, picking up wood chips and setting them down on any surface her fat little hands could reach; the older kids played "Rocket Ship" on one of the play structures.  At one point, Yum Yum wanted to join her siblings so badly--she reached up as far as she could, on tiptoes, to try to climb the bumpy ramp that led to the "cockpit".  She is growing up so fast!

These are the things I want to remember.

Sort of Unique, Like Everyone Else

From a news story I read today (emphasis mine):

According to Barbosa's obstetrician, Dr. Patricia St. John, approximately one in 2,000 women around the world are diagnosed with this unique condition.

Heh heh heh. I do not think the word "unique" applies in this particular situation.

For comparison: Approximately one in 2,000 people in the United States has the last name of "Stephens". Are they all unique? The chances that a baby will be born with spina bifida are approximately one in 5,000. Now, my Gee is unique, but not because of his spina bifida. (It's because of his ability to roll his eyes in crazy ways.)

Words have meanings, Reporter Wilson. Try to be more precise next time, mm-kay?

Crazy-busy-tired-sick-FUN

It's been an intense couple of weeks.  But, oh, so much fun!

I already mentioned that I applied to teach at BYU Education Week 2012--once I got the video done, I still had to write up the outlines of my three other proposed talks, and fill out the application.  Applications were due last Friday, and wow, the sense of relief I felt at 9:30 Thursday night, printing out the final versions of everything.  Now we just wait--they give themselves until January to tell you "yea" or "nay", so I'm not going to worry about it anymore.  (Ha.)

Preparing my application coincided with a little project Bradley and I embarked upon:  Reading the Book of Mormon in two weeks.  To do this, you must read more than 15 chapters a day--and sometimes that means up to two hours of reading.  It was hard, and yet SO rewarding.  (Even if (hangs head in shame) I'm not QUITE done:  I still have half of Ether and all of Moroni to finish.)  I really felt like I got the scope of the book, and I'm excited to go back and read more slowly this next time.  (I'm thinking about doing a similar project with the Doctrine and Covenants.  Anyone want to join me?)

And then, of course, there is the elementary school science fair, of which I have been (perhaps unwisely) put in charge.  It's actually a funny story:  On the PTA forms we filled out at the start of school, this question was asked:  Is there anything special you can contribute to our school?  So I wrote something about how I am a geologist, and love volcanoes, and wouldn't mind helping the teachers with any rock-related questions they might have.  I was thinking that the fifth grade teachers, who teach physical science, might have some rock sample needs or whatever.

Then the PTA President called, and asked me to be in charge of the entire science fair.  Ha ha ha ha ha.  You see, last year, we waited till the last minute to try to do a science project, and at nine o'clock the night before it was due we gave up.  We didn't even go see anyone else's project.  I have no experience with this!  The last time I participated in a science fair was in fifth grade.  In 1987.

However, I have a problem saying "No", especially when someone as sweet and nice and overworked as our PTA President asks.  So here I am, science-fairing with the best of 'em.

I've already set up our kick-off assembly:  We're getting a physicist from Dixie State College to come wow the kids with cool stuff.  He's a little weird, but what do you expect from a little brother?  (Hi, Samuel!)  I'm working on a poster to place in the Book Fair (once I find out when the district fair will take place).  I've got things scheduled/planned for September, October, November, and December.  It's been a little intimidating, but fun.

And the last weekend my Mom came and stayed with me for a couple of days, just for fun.  We spent most of the time working on super-secret-thing-I'm-not-ready-to-share.  It kept us laughing and busy, I tell you what.

So!  In addition to child-rearing, house-keeping, Relief-Society-ing, I did a lot of geology research, read the Book of Mormon for hours on end, worked on the science fair and my secret project, and...I nearly forgot...got sick TWICE.

It's been crazy, but, like I said, so fun.  I felt like I was in college again, with so many varied things on my plate.  I'm ready for a little break, but I do my best work when I'm crazy-busy.  I should remember that.

Autumn

Fall is here!

I'm so excited.  I was actually chilly at my cousin's wedding reception on Saturday night.  It was in the foothills of Draper, to be sure, at a higher elevation than where I live, but still.  (And what a gorgeous backyard the reception was in!  Nestled up in the hills, a little stream with waterfalls, a beautiful pool...very lovely.  And very expensive.)

And yesterday we had a cold rainstorm.  I had to run outside to unclog the gutter, and I was shivering by the time I was done.

It never ceases to amaze me how fast the summer turns old.  Just two weeks ago we were drooping with heat exhaustion, and now we don't want our windows open at night.

Welcome to Autumn!

Mount Saint Helens

I've been working on a new venture the last two weeks, which is one of the reasons blog posts have been so scarce of late.  It's taken up a lot of my time and energy, but I'm really excited about it, and I'm finally ready to talk about it.

I'm in the process of applying to teach at BYU Education Week 2011 2012.  I'm proposing a four-part lecture series on geology:  101 Ways to Die By Volcano (Volcanic Risks and Hazards), The 1980 Eruption of Mount Saint Helens:  Public Response to Disaster Warnings, A History of Gems Through Famous Jewels and Jewel Heists, and Settled Science:  The Evolution of Plate Tectonic Theory.

For the application, you must submit the outlines of your lectures, as well as a video of you giving one of the lectures.  So for the past two weeks, I've been preparing the Mount Saint Helens lecture, and tonight Bradley filmed me giving it before a small group of friends in the Relief Society room in our church.  (And thank you, thank you, all you wonderful people who came to listen to me.  It was so much easier to lecture for you, than it would have been to talk to an empty room!)

I was nervous before the lecture started, despite the fact that I had practiced in front of Bradley last night, and my mom and Telima this afternoon.  (Not to mention the twenty-plus times I gave a version of this lecture to my UVSC students 8-10 years ago.)  But, fortunately, the lecture went pretty smoothly, and I'm feeling fairly satisfied by it.

Applications are due next Friday, and so now I have to work on the outlines of the other lectures.  I won't know until January if my proposal will be accepted.  There's a fairly good chance it won't--straight science lectures aren't the usual fare at BYU Education Week--but I won't know unless I try.  (Bradley and I, because of the computer classes we teach each summer, have several contacts in the Continuing Education department, and before I embarked on this process we asked if they even consider science lectures.  The gentleman in charge said that although they don't have many science lectures submitted, they certainly wouldn't reject one out-of-hand, simply because of the subject material.)

I have had such a great time the past two weeks, immersing myself in volcanology again.  I've missed it!  And I've missed exercising my intellect, which has become somewhat atrophied in the past seven years of child raising.  It's good to get back to something I've loved since I was a little girl.

Here's hoping that the Education Week people like the lecture as much as I've loved preparing for it!

First Day of Preschool 2011 (Finally!)

Illness Interlude

Sorry for the break--Yum Yum has been sick for several days (and thus cranky and cuddly and crabby and cute), and now I've got it, whatever it is:  headache, body ache, exhaustion, and congestion.

Hopefully we'll all feel better tomorrow!  (And that nobody else will get it!)

Bread

Autumn is in the air.

It's still hot.  (Goodness, it is still hot.  Walking up to school pick-up today felt like midsummer still.)  But there is a crispness in the air in the early morning that says September is here.  This evening I saw, tiny in the sky, a flock of birds flying in a "V", south for the winter.

And I want to bake again.

So, today, I did.  I made this french bread, for the first time ever.  

It was remarkably easy.  (Except the kneading part--wow, I need more upper-body strength.)  Because it was my first time with any recipe like this, I was nervous about a lot of parts, especially the rising and the baking.  I lingered in the kitchen, babysitting the dough, watching the oven.  

But it was worth it!  The loaves turned out so beautifully, and, even better, every single person in my house (except the baby) LIKES IT.

Let me rephrase that:  My children, especially, LOVE it.  My children, who almost invariably turn up their noses at my baking/cooking, like my bread.  We've already eaten two loaves, and because we gave one to a friend, we only have one left.  Perhaps I will bake again tomorrow.

Success!