Hello from the frozen north!  It's polar vortex part IV this week.  So coldie outside.  It makes me want to cry.  But then my tears freeze to my face and my glasses freeze to the bridge of my nose.  So I've stopped crying about the cold.

Each winter I find new ways to cope.  The first winter, I used medication to snap me out of my funk.  The second winter, we got a dog that I had to walk twice a day.  She was my therapy.  This winter, I'm taking chemistry.  I have to go to class four mornings a week, so I can't sleep in.  I have to at least shower since I will be sitting incredibly close to teenagers for over an hour.   I took my brain out of deep freeze, bought myself a graphing calculator, found a couple of study buddies, and am currently in the A-/B+ range.

I don't think I'm hearty enough to last too much longer here.  Wisconsin is pretty brutal.  I'll survive and check the class listings for next winter.

Quick Summer Recap

Summer was amazing.   We saw friends and most of our family.  River trips, hiking, surfing, water parks, camping.  This may have been the best summer ever.  I love the order and predictability of the school year, but I'm already looking forward to June 6, 2014.

Cousins at the beach house

Miriam on Timp

All the Tano cousins

Rafting the Provo river with Tenney

Mount Hood

Windy Oregon Coast with Ben's kids

Rafting the Deschutes in Oregon

2013-2014 School Year

It's so blissfully quiet.  I have a huge list of things to do, so I'll just blog instead.  It's been long enough and I finally have my computer back.  These two are off to new adventures today.

First day of school

   

  

Miriam's Concert

Just to let you all know, Miriam has a choir concert Sunday March 24 at 7 pm central time.  It will be webcast here on wlfm and on itunes here.  She is in the first group, so set your alarms!

And Home Again

Coming in the back door, my first thought was "thank goodness there's no funk!"  After six weeks, it was highly possible that something horrible could have happened.  Or worse, nothing.  And my house just stunk on its own.

My second thought occurred when I opened my top drawer.  "Who the hell needs so many socks!"  I had gotten by with two pairs the previous month.  (One sock was sacrificed for my poofy Christmas Eve  bun.  Does that even count?)  There are over fifteen pairs of socks in there right now.  Four of which are snowboarding socks.  I don't even snowboard.  Is our house really that cold?  Could we just turn up the heater?  That many socks seems excessive.

My third thought, and I should explain that there were really only these three thoughts as we had taken a redeye from San Francisco to Chicago, which is no joke.  Red eyes from less than three hours of sleep.  That third thought came after opening my third drawer.  "Who the hell lives here?  A depressed hipster?"  Every piece was brown, cream, white, or black.  Do I not believe in color?  I finally found a turquoise summer shirt to pair with a black scoop necked sweater.  I am currently wearing my only other piece with color, a dark blue green sweater.  I'm not even sure it counts.  I don't know what I'll wear tomorrow.

As much as communal living with 20 or so in-laws is educational, so is coming home.  I'm a little shocked at who I am here.  My bathroom is nice.  The renovation we did looks awesome.  My room is kind of a mess.  I'm pretty sure that I haven't spent enough time/energy/money on making it restful and organized.  Or, I should clean it more often.  My clothes are depressingly ugly.  I really need to find somewhere else for fashion, besides Target.   Who knew that six weeks away would clarify who Bekah is better than weeks and months of self reflection.

Ah, October

This morning was the first real frost of the year.  Crunchy white leaves and grass.  The pumpkins got carved last night for pre-fhe.  We're getting ready for trunk or treat and the chili cook off on Wednesday.  Thanks to Enoch, I have the awards ready for the winners.  We should see how far and wide his design has spread.  You might be surprised to hear that the girls are going as...Fairies!  Again! For how many years in a row?!

School.  Miriam is at home going to on-line school.  The learning curve for me has been a little steep, but I think I kind of have the hang of it.  It's not ideal, but it is what it is.  Gwyn is in second grade.  I have a whole new appreciation for the simplicity of seven.  Jesse is so close to being done with this trimester he can almost taste it.

This last year I spent a lot of time with the youth at church.  Sunday school teacher and girls camp director.  F-U-N!  I was a super awkward 15 year old, but I sure love hanging out with them now.   I was pretty sad to be released from those calling last week.  I'm in primary now, a little lost, but the kids are happy to tell me where I'm messing up.  Miriam was pretty appalled that I forgot to have the kids give the theme and scripture.  Who could forget that?  Obviously, Me.

The countdown has begun for December break.  The kids are motivated to work hard so that they can play hard with their cousins.  A whole month of Palmer fun in the Aloha state, I'm jealous of me.  How did I get so lucky?

Monday

A beautifully cool Wisconsin Monday.  The girls are on their fourth week of swimming lessons.  Miriam really is a Mermaid!  She is fun to watch.  So swift, she overtakes the other kids in her lane.  Gwyn is also improving.  I love watching her jump off the diving board.  Absolutely no hesitation.  Climb, walk to the end, jump.  Love it.