Double Dog Double-Take

I was driving through Bown Crossing this afternoon and saw a golf cart coming down the road.  There isn't a golf course very close and it's not the kind of road where a golf cart would be sort of legal.  The young guy driving looked very casual, like he might drive this way every afternoon, and in the back seat of the golf cart were two big, black, Newfoundland dogs, looking this way and that.  Not five seconds later I turned the corner and saw an older couple walking their dogs along the greenbelt.  They looked like twin dogs again, only this time they were brown and white Brittany Spaniels, and they both had plastic cones around their necks.  Weird in a happy, funny way. 

EFT

That stands for Environmental Field Trip.  We take the sixth graders to Cascade for four days every May.  It takes all year to plan and organize, but the week that we're there is always glorious.  We stay at a beautiful Nazarene church camp that always makes me want to switch religions.  I've been to three different Girls Camps, and one Boy Scout Camp, and even though we have a good, uplifting time, by comparison, they are pathetic, anemic, and miserable.  Everything about this place is amazing, the lodge, the cottages, the views, they river, the playground, the ropes course, the zip line, the food, the amphitheater, and fireplaces.  They have a nice basketball court, a soccer field, Frisbee golf, ping pong tables, Foosball, an archery range, and free WiFi. We saw eagles, vultures, foxes, deer and two dogs that live down the road and come to visit.  I did blog while we were there, but just not on this site.  Check out all our fun at:

tweft2011.shutterfly.com
Password:  6thgrade

Carnival Time

Friday the 13th was our annual carnival at school.  This school puts on an amazing carnival.  I've been waiting to blog about it because I wanted to post how many thousand dollars they raised this year.  It's taking too long for the PTO to count all their money, so I'll have to update that part later.  They have a lot of small businesses sponsor different activities which cuts down on their overall cost.  There is a big silent auction too, which is all donation, plus the bake goods.  They always have a couple rides like the orbiter, and a giant climbing wall.  There's always a petting zoo, Karaoki, entertainment like a band or magician, and good food options.  This year besides the cotton candy and crazy stuff, they had grilled chicken skewers and smoothies.  A lot of Jr. high and high schoolers come, along with moms, dads, grandparents, and cousins.  I've been to a school carnival every year since I started kindergarten, but this school is always way over the top.

This year the weather was perfect, not hot, not windy, and no rain.  I ran one of the jump houses from 5:30-9:00.  I had set-up a schedule so that a couple sixth graders would come in shifts and I could wander around or get something to eat.  Little kids in the jump house are pretty crazy.  There are some that never want to leave.  A couple darling sisters (maybe kindergarten and 4) must have taken more than 30 turns.  They were bouncing even when they were waiting in line.  Toward the end of the evening they were acting a little drunk.  One rolled off the entrance twice and landed on her head both times, but she never stopped smiling and giggling.  

First Fix-up

It's been a great day.  The weather was so nice, and it was Saturday, so I could sleep in, and get a lot done.  Terry and I worked in the yard getting things ready for summer.  I love planting.  I love having flowerbeds edged, weeded, hoed, and raked smooth.  I don't know a lot, but in my next career, I think I want to work in a nursery.  I like putting in bedding plants, planting from seeds, watching my perennials bloom, fixing my hanging baskets, and spraying everything off.

After all the outdoor work, a soak in the tub always feels so good.  Then Terry came with me while I ran errands to Tandy Leather, The Distribution Center, Lowes, and Fred Meyer.  It was great because he paid for everything.  Then we ate a Cafe Rio which was healthy and yummy.  By the early evening it started to blow and rain a bit.  Everything smelled so fresh, and even though it was gray, it was still beautiful and summery.

Toady Yodie

Look at those cute fingers.

I'm so excited.  Look what I found in our yard today!  This is the second time we've seen a toad in our yard.  The first time was in July, two years ago.  I wanted catch it and take it over to a pond in Lakewood because our yard doesn't really have a water feature and I think every toad needs a little pond.  It was night time and we never saw the toad again, so I thought it might have hopped over to the canal or something. 

Then today when we were outside working in the yard, out hops this guy!  I think it's the same toad.  I'm not sure where it lives, but I found him by our backyard shed that does have a buried water feature.  The water falls on some rocks and there's a little pool underneath and a pump that circulates the water back up to this watering can.  I don't think the toad can access the little pool, but maybe it lives in a mud hole by it. 

I like him, but I don't want to touch him. 

Anyway, he was very still, observant, thoughtful, and Zen-like.  I named him Yodie, like Yoda.  I think he'll eat bugs that I don't like.  I want him to stay and be our new pet. 

Advice for Life

I'm reading a book to my class and as the young character gets ready to leave home, her ma gives her this advice, "Ain't nothing in this life comes easy to any of us, child.  Every road you walk down's got a price.  Sooner you learn that the better.  Don't matter the direction you go, there'll be some bad mixed in with the good and you just gotta learn to take the one with the other."  Good advice.  I wish I had thought to say that when Ty left home.  I'm going to store it in my memory banks and use it sometime.  I know the opportunity will come.  I would add that some paths you choose, and the direction you move, does make a difference.

Ty = Joy

It's a wonder Ty doesn't have some sort of identity crisis.  His name has changed three times.  Working backwards, his name is Ty Livingston Swain.  Livingston is my dad's middle name, his mom's (my favorite grandma) maiden name.  He became a Swain at the beginning of his eighth grade year when Terry legally adopted him.   He got to choose his own name at that time.

Before, he was Tyler J. Livingston, but everyone called him Ty.  I had legally changed both of our names when I came to Boise.  He wasn't even one yet.  There was a divorce in the works, and I didn't want to keep my married name, that name wouldn't be the family name that Ty would relate to, and I didn't want to use my maiden name.  I felt like it was going backwards and I wasn't that same person.  We started fresh with a family name that meant a lot to me - Livingston. 

The day he was born we chose Tyler.  His dad just had a middle initial that matched his father's name.  I suggested carrying on that tradition which would have made his initial B, but his dad (for reasons I now understand) didn't want to use his name, he suggested J instead.  I went along with it not because he would carry my initial, but because I wanted to name him Joy.  That's what I felt, that's what he was to me, pure joy, but Joy is not a name for a boy, so the initial, whose meaning I knew, worked.  Coincidentally, Joy is the middle name of the same dear grandma who's maiden name was Livingston.

I love his name now, all three of them.  I miss the J initial, but it doesn't flow.  Anyway, the joy is still there in him.  I feel it.