Cookin' Up Some YUM!

I got two cookbooks a couple of days ago. Something to try to make cooking fun again. The Joy of Cooking by Erma Rombauer and Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child. Last night I tried a recipe from the Julia Child book. It was just a recipe for hamburgers, YES! Hamburgers...in a French cookbook. Anyway, I figured they would be easy and not too strange for the little taste buds here and not to dangerous for the ultra-sensitive stomach that I sometimes cook for. HOLY CROW!!! They were the BEST hamburgers I have ever eaten, much less made!! So, if anybody ever wonders....'why would I want a cookbook like that?' Let me tell you, the recipe on page 301 and the butter recipe (yes, that's right, butter recipe) on 101 are well worth the fact that you're making hamburgers from a recipe! Tonight, I'm trying a recipe for chicken in egg yolk and butter sauce with roasted tomatoes. And then going for a VERY LONG walk!!

Sheep dogs, and Splash dogs, and Bagpipes.

This past weekend was the Soldier Hollow Classic. It's becoming a family tradition at our house. Gary, Neil and I went up three years ago, Neil and I went up last year, and we all got to go up this year. Each year, we say that next year we're going to go for the whole thing, all four days of watching border collies herd sheep. Well, the past two years have seen us up there on only one day. This year saw us up there on two days. Maybe next year, if we don't make all four days, we'll at least manage one day of regular competition and Monday's grand championship finals. That would be nice.


Each year also leaves me with a fascination for the sport and a huge desire to learn how to do it. I become next to obsessed with Border Collies for the following 9 months. And daydream about being born into a rural lifestyle of farming and animals. This year one of the competitors (she is also a photographer and painter who sells some of her artwork at the event) was talking to me while I was looking at some of the artwork she was selling. Anyway, when I told her that it looks so incredibly fun and amazing, and that I would love to do it. She asked me what was stopping me. My first response was that I didn't know how to get started. To that I was directed to a page in the event directory that gives phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and web-sites for just that kind of thing. I was also told to email her and she could answer questions that I may have. The next reason I gave was financial, to which I was told "It's cheaper than horses". The next reason I have, that I didn't find the voice for, was that I kind of always thought that was the kind of thing you had to be born into. And if not born into working stock dogs, at least born into farm life. Really, how does a person get started when they are stuck in the suburbs? Know next to nothing about sheep or cattle? And already have to terrific dogs in a community that will not allow a third? But, you can bet that I'm going to be reading and re-reading the web sites on the subject and buying a book or two....or twenty, as books seem to be a weakness of mine.

Neil was a trooper hanging out in Saturdays wind and rain, and then again in Sunday's scorching sun. He got bored, and he let us know...very vocally. Saturday, he and I saw the sights. Wandered around finding 'lost sheep' for a give-away from Bank of the West. Free teddy bears for kids 12 and under. We also colored a picture for their coloring contest and free ice cream for the entrants. We ate some yummy Greek food, Neil got his first taste of lamb, and he loved it. Then when the herding was over, we watched the Splash Dogs. Neil's FAVORITE part of the weekend. He spent Sunday looking forward to when we could watch it again.






Sunday, I was determined to watch more of the herding that I was able to watch on Saturday.














Neil let me know how he felt about this, but he was pretty good about it. He watched the sheep through Gary's binoculars, tried to nap on the seat next to me, looked for grasshoppers, and colored. We watched dogs together as a family for quite a while, then he'd had enough. Time for lunch, a bit more watching, and then some wandering. We saw the "Wild Wonders" an exotic animal rescue that had some animals there. A fox, a tortoise, skunk, hedgehog, birds, and lizards. That tortoise was amazing. I thought they were supposed to be slow. But, she moved out quite quickly with a small flock of children following closely petting her shell, her leg, or whatever they could reach. We looked at booths of wool, Navajo blankets, dog products, pet adoptions, watched the sheep herding demonstration in the demonstration arena...complete with question and answer time. And saw the tail end of the "Ultimate Canines" dog show. That was fun. Neil got to pet a ginormous 1/2 standard poodle 1/2 great Pyrenees. The dog looked almost like one of the sheep being herded on the hill. We listened to bagpipes (one of Neil's very favorite instruments)




Then it was time for something cold to drink and an attempt at watching more herding. Gary and I decided to keep track of the scores as they were announced, and remember the names of handlers and dogs that really stood out in our minds. When all of the competing was over, we went back up to the Splash Dogs go vertical. We watched dogs jump from 6-7 feet in the air for a toy that was clipped to a bar over their heads. More often than not, they caught it.






It was a fun way to get a sun burn. And, we're thinking about taking a family vacation to Ketchum, Idaho in October for the Trailing of the Sheep Festival.

UGH!!!!!!

Neil's first day of 1st Grade is tomorrow. TOMORROW!!! And, I am SO not ready. I feel like I could puke! Whatever happened to the little boy whos first word was "DOTT!", who called a spoon a "Moot", and who had to reach on tippy-toe to snatch the CamelBack's tube off of the counter? He looked so cute on his wee little toes getting a drink from that thing.
Oh well, like it or not, Neil's ready. He's so excited!! He whoops with joy when I give the countdown every morning.
--Is it always so difficult to show them excitement at the momentum in their life? When really, you just want to cry and hold them closer.--

Swim Lessons

I think I had a fish!! Neil absolutely LOVES water. And, daycare schedules a field trip to a swimming pool once a week for the entirety of summer vacation. This is a very frightening thing for me. So frightening, in fact, that it gave me nightmares. Strange nightmares. About poisonous snakes, not sure how that relates to my son in the water, but every time I'm worried about Neil, I have a dream about poisonous snakes. YUK!! So, I woke up with a firm conviction that Neil needed to be in swim lessons, and we, as a family needed to go swimming at least once a week.

As soon as ISSI was over, I scheduled Neil for swim lessons. He spent the entire month of July in the water. I think between June 23 and July 30, he spent a total of 30 days in a swimming pool. 18 of those being lessons. I was prepared for another two weeks worth of lessons in August. But, after seeing the sheer exhaustion on my son's face, I bagged the idea. He can go back to lessons next summer. And, we can just make sure to get him to the pool once a week until then.

He passed his level one, fairly easily. But then came level two. He does great with almost everything. The backstroke is the true test of coordination for him. And, we need to do some extra work for him to move on to level three.




(he's the splash)






He started the summer unsure of jumping into the pool, and the diving board was too scary to be contemplated. However, by the middle of July, that was no longer so daunting. He's even quite pleased with being able to stand on his hands under water.
Not exactly what he was learning during lessons, but something he felt was important enough to


work on when the teacher wasn't
working with him directly.

Intermountain Suzuki Strings Institute 2009

Neil had kind of a summer camp violin thing in June. It's 6 days worth of violin related stuff. Four hours a day of classes, there was a technique class, a repertoire class, a master class, and then his favorite of all a Dalcroze class (music and movement).

He enjoyed his technique class,

the teacher was very nice, though not his favorite of the summer. He verbally admitted to royally disliking his repertoire class.

I thought the teacher was great, full of wonderful ideas, and she treated the kids with respect as well as treating them like adults. His master class teacher was the favorite of his teachers, and she really does rock! He had been working on his very favorite song for this class. It's "Go Tell Aunt Rhody" and it's still his favorite song. But, other than some comments to help improve his posture, a new shoulder rest, and hearing him play it a few times. That's not what he spent the majority of the week working on. He went back in the book a piece to work on "Song of the Wind" a nice little song full of short bows and bow lifts (circle bows). He's not a big fan of the short sticky bows, so that's what we got to work on all week. She had a great suggestion of putting clothes pins on his bow, to encourage short bows.

He went along with it, grudgingly. And for the time, the bows did get shorter. He still needs to be encouraged and reminded of the need and importance of short bows, and he will occasionally comply. At the end of the week there is a group recital. Where every kid at the institute plays the pieces that they know, on the stage with all of the other kids there. Sounds like fun. Unless you're Neil. He really does not like performing.

So, this year, he didn't. He sat in the audience and watched, preparing for next year. During the week we got to see some wonderful performances of guest artists. There was Jenny Oaks Baker, The Aaron Ashton Band (Neil's favorite), and The Frye Street Quartet. As well as hearing music come from just about every pore of Juan Diego High School. While violins, violas, cellos, and even a bass or two practiced pieces for masters classes in the halls, parking lots, empty rooms, and courtyards. It was an amazing and humbling experience.

Learning Slowly.

Some lessons are harder learned than others. And, last night, I learned a BIG one. Stay connected (in some way) to those people who make a difference in your life. Even if it is just that once a year holiday card. Someday, they won't be there.

I used to board a horse at a barn. I made a lot of friends while I was there. And, sadly, have kept in touch with none of them. Thanks to the Internet wonder of social networks, I have found two of them on facebook. They were just young girls when I knew them. Now they are grown women with lives of their own. I adored their mother, she was one of those people I looked up to, and in small ways she had a huge impact on who I am. I found out last night, through too much time spent staring at the computer, that she passed away almost four years ago. It was quite a shocker. She will forever in my mind be young and healthy. Smiling and kind. A pattern to follow when things get a bit wild. She had a great sense of humor, and a love for her daughters that was unswayed by the phases that children are wired for. She seemed to have an ability for riding things out, knowing that things pass, but love remains. I have no idea what happened to take her from this world, it wasn't through conversations with her daughters that I found out. It was a google search of her name, that lead to an obituary archive from the Salt Lake Tribune. I did learn, through my shock, a little bit about immortality. Because that's what I think memories are. The shock that death cannot be real, because in your mind, you hear their words, see their smile, remember that last conversation.

So, to all of my family and friends. I think of you all often, and I adore you all in the memories that I have.

Enjoying The Moment.

Some of the best accomplishments are not your own. Rather, they are those we are fortunate enough to witness. On May 28, Gary and I got to be there for Neil's Kindergarten graduation. Afterward, there was an open-house in his classroom so the parents could see what the children had been up to all year. Though it was sad to see him aging before my eyes, it was a beautiful day. He was so pleased with himself, and so thoroughly living in the moment. Another great reminder of how children have a better view of things than we, the not so knowing parents!















Another of those amazing days full of watching accomplishments, came yesterday. At a bike race of all places! I was lucky enough to be able to watch the State Road Race Championships in Clarkston. The original reason for dragging myself and Neil out of bed in the pre-dawn hours, was selfish and simple. I love that area.

Gary capitalized completely on that fact and thought it would be a fun day trip for the family. The trip almost didn't happen, as Gary was feeling some serious discouragement in the preceding week. A few too many nights of 3-4 hours of sleep can do that to a person. But, come Wednesday, he was feeling good and decided to register. I'm so glad he did.

It was a beautiful day. Neil was pleasant and feeling adventurous. There were kind people who indulged him in conversation. There were hills for exploring, and dinosaur games for playing. He only asked me once when would it be over. And only said twice that he wanted his dad.

I was able to watch the winning finish of a friend. He so deserved the victory. His enthusiasm at his accomplishment alone was worth the trip. I wish that as an adult. everyone could have that kind of excitement for something at least once, and then be able to pull out that memory when things get tough. He made me happier just by watching him. His joy in the moment was contagious.

Gary proved to me, once again, that even personal accomplishments are victories in their own right. He did not do well in the traditional sense of the word, he came in second to last. He did however relish in the energy he had for the remainder of the day. He did not come crawling across the finish line, he did not need me to drive him home, and he was pleasant and up for conversation and even took Neil to a movie later in the evening. That's something that wasn't always possible. In the past, when he would get home from a race, he was in the prone position drooling in front of the t.v as soon as he was cleaned up. I know that people look at him a little strange when he starts to talk about food restrictions. But, really if what he is doing works for him, GREAT! Lay off and go eat cake!

Later in the evening my mom and her girlfriend took me to a wine-tasting class (I'm sorry, I know they are married, but calling her my mom's wife does not come easily. It's just a personal flaw on my part). I get the feeling this was probably something my mom has wanted to do with me ever since I was the little girl who would beg for tastes from her glass. It was so much fun. Do you know that wine can honestly taste like Asiago cheese? Or smell so good, you would rather smell it than taste it? But, make sure you taste it...you will not be disappointed! Some wine can smell like menthol (but not in a yucky medicine way). Or, did you know that if you drink apple ale really fast, you can truly taste the apples?

Anyway! Yesterday was one of the fun, perfectly balanced kind of days, when it really pays to keep your eyes open and your heart soft. Just letting everything around you soak in. Some days it's good to be a sponge.