Again?

Two and a half years ago I started blogging.  My daughter, Dani, set it up for me when I was released after a three and half year R.S. President calling.  I was probably driving everyone nuts and she was elected to find a project to keep me occupied.  It has been fun to recall some childhood memories and record current events.  I  have enjoyed following other blogs and keeping track of what is going on in friends' lives.  It has been a 'bloggin-great" two and half years.

On September 4th, I was called to be Relief Society President....again.  I know, weird, huh?  I was sure surprised.  Rob was pretty sure there would be an audible gasp of shock in the congregation when it was announced this past Sunday.  I don't know if that happened or not, my ears were roaring, my head was spinning and I was having a hard time standing on my feet when my name was read.

I don't know what this will mean to my my blog time, but I hope to improve my time management and prioritization skills so I can continue to follow all my favorites.  Keep on posting, I'm going to need a daily dose of your bloggings to keep me going!

Here We Are Currant Again

This morning on my way down the ramp from the WHS track, I was thinking about the currants I found through the fence last year.  I was looking carefully and walking slowly to see where that bush was and then, there it was, loaded with beautiful black currants.  I picked a handful, but I have to admit to carrying them all the way home to wash and inspect them this year.  Jim's comment on last year's post seen here: 2010 Currant Blog Post made me think twice about just popping them all into my mouth.

To illustrate what a strange year it is, those currants were perfectly ripe today (September 21) and last year it was August 9 when I found them black, sweet & ready to pick.  Everything is late this year.  Usually our peaches are all picked, bottled and stored away by this time of year.  In the past eight years the latest I've ever picked peaches was Labor Day, but as of today in 2011 they are all still hanging on the tree, green and hard.

I have been working with raspberries, I've made several batches of jam, frozen trays of them, made multiple pies and given buckets of them away. (Would you like some?!)  I've bottled tomato salsa, zucchini relish, whole tomatoes and yesterday I used a bucket of tomatillos and made salsa verde.  When/if the peaches ever ripen I will get those in jars and I would like to make and bottle applesauce this fall before I call the canning season complete.  How about you?  What have you preserved and how have you done it?  Just wondering...

Well, I guess that brings us 'currant'.

Squirrel!

My parents were into outdoor stuff. They loved to fish, camp and spend time in nature.  I really wasn't a fan of such things and when I got into my teen years, I started skipping out on the weekend trips by offering to stay at home and clean.  Yes, I would rather clean house than camp and fish...I know, some people would say I'm crazy but that is how it was.

One time before I figured out the scenario for 'opting out' we had our travel trailer parked in a heavily-wooded canyon somewhere in Utah with all of us fishing for Rainbow Trout.  Mom, my brothers, and I headed back to the trailer to make and eat some lunch while Dad was still engrossed in catching fish.  As we approached, we noticed the door of the trailer had been damaged; the screen was slashed and gaping open.  All our chatter was instantly silenced as we solemnly stepped closer to inspect the door.

The rip in the screen was about 10 inches long and was in the middle just left of the door handle.  Both brothers and I stepped behind Mom as she slowly pulled the door open.  As we peered around her into the trailer, sudden chaos assaulted our senses.  The air was rent with a hissing and screeching and then a fuzzy ball of fury scampered up the curtains and sailed over our heads and out the open door.  We were horrified as we surveyed our home-away-from-home which had been desecrated by a squirrel.  That rodent had managed to open the cupboards, rip open bags, chew through boxes and throw stuff everywhere.  The most memorable sight to me (the sweet tooth of the family) was the bag of marshmallows strewn over every surface in the entire trailer.  Each individual marshmallow had a large gooey bite taken out of it; not one was left unchewed. There would be 'No Smores' for us that night!

Perhaps that was the turning point for me when I decided it would be better to stay home and clean the messes I knew than to venture into the woods and clean up critter messes I couldn't yet imagine.

Its funny how a memory can return to you after lying dormant for years and years, then suddenly there it is, bright and full of color and sound like the event had just happened.

Utah Olympic Park

Here I've let August slip away from me before I blogged about the fabulous day Camille, Savannah Powell, and I had in Park City at Utah's Olympic Park on August 16, 2011.

It was our last (okay my only) fling of the summer.  Camille has been loads of fun places and done lots of fun things with the Powell family this summer, but I was in school, working at Mimi's house and having a wedding so that pretty much shot my summer full of holes.

This one day had to encapsulate all the fun of summer for me.  It turned out to be a great way to wish the weeks of summer farewell.  The drive to Park City was spectacular; the day was perfect and we told stories and giggled (the way only 17-year old-girls can) all the way up the canyon.

We bought unlimited ride passes for the Ultimate Zip Line and the Quicksilver Alpine Slide, but after riding both of those several times, the girls decided they needed a little more excitement so we upgraded their passes to include an Extreme Zip Line and a Bobsled ride so they had some thrilling and exhilarating minutes of zipping and sledding down mountainsides at 70 mph.

In front of the ski jump practice pool at Utah Olympic Park

Finding helmets for the Bobsled Run

Getting last minute instructions for the 70 mph -
40 story drop ride down the Bobsled Run

Running Starting down the Bobsled Track

Riding back to the top with the sled,
Camille and Savannah look just a little shaken

Extreme Zip Line over the ski jump trails

Chairlift to Quicksilver Alpine Slide
(I love how relaxed Savannah looks riding up)

Sav and Cam ready for another fun ride down the side of the mountain
on Quicksilver, the Alpine Slide.

 This video clip doesn't really do justice to how fast the girls were zipping and just how incredibly far down the mountain the line goes.  The cement area with the flagpoles at the bottom is where the huge stands holding 50,000 Olympic spectators sat for the Ski Jump in the 2002 Winter Olympics.  It was such a fun day.  We are looking forward to returning in the winter of 2012 to celebrate 10 years since those memorable games and to do the Bobsled on real ICE when you go over 80 mph.  Camille and Savannah can hardly wait!