Fall Break

We headed to Powell again for our Fall Break!

Highlights:

All the yummy prep work paid off with good food!

Miles got a 180 Shuv it on the surfboard and it was so cool!  He tried it last trip and had a lot of falls before getting it this time.  I think he was a little surprised.  

Isaac came and was so fun to watch wake boarding!  He is incredible!

Lots of boardgames!  I played Mexican Train with the moms and it was so fun.  Kids played Secret Hitler and Perpetual Commotion.

Adult Surf Swap--all the parents took out one boat, college kids in another, and high school and younger in the last boat.  The kids all loved it too!  Its fun that our friends are there at the same time just a few houseboats down.  They are so fun.

Simone got to bring her friend Abby and she was a natural at surfing!  She got up on her first try and with just a few tweaks she was surfing!  I'm not surprised at all.  She's a great climber and soccer player too.

Brooke got to stay over one night with us at the end!  

It was a lot colder than in the summer but still mid 80's and it was just so nice to be out on the boat again! We've been to Powell a lot this year--four times!  We are so glad we got this houseboat a couple years back.  Its a great Covid vacation.  I haven't been on a plane since January, but at least we've had some really fun times in Lake Powell.

I was thinking about our houseboat purchase and was feeling extra satisfied with it.  We pay an annual maintenance fee and it sounded like a lot when I heard how much the dues are but the initial cost was pretty low.   We get 17 days per year guaranteed, and can sleep 20 people at least on the boat, it actually feels like a really great deal.  With our size of family we usually need two hotel rooms and even in cheap ones, our houseboat is cheaper per night than two rooms.  I'm hoping someday our kids will look back on these trips and love the memories.

Facts

Is anyone else so frustrated with our hovering "fact-checkers" these days?  I don't need people to review news articles for me.  I need the freedom to exercise my own critical thinking skills and sift through the information myself, read both sides of the argument and figure out where I stand.

Part of my frustrations in this area involve the two major themes of 2020: Politics and Coronavirus.  

I'm not a person who likes having an authoriarian body telling me what is real and what is not.  I keep hearing people tout arguments about "science" and trusting scientists and not to question things but to trust the experts.  Similarly, I'm not going to also blindly believe everything I read on the news.  

This information hiding really rubs me the wrong way.  We have heard from many scientists this year and they are not coming to a consensus on everything.  Science is ever-changing and evolving and so are their recommendations.  

Health and Political information isn't some static thing that can be captured and processed by only a select few smart people who then disseminate the info to the lowly regular people.  I've never liked that line of thinking.  It reminds me of the dark ages.  When only clergy could read and interpret the bible for instance.  It is a similar idea, results in the same imbalance of power and feels very elitist to me.  Its very patronizing.

Science and information is limited by a lot of things:

• Bias 
• Conflicts of interest
• Funding

And so many other factors.  

Fall Harvest

 So I am a super lazy gardener!  I've learned that my tomatoes will still grow just fine even with lots of weeds.  And the only thing I really need is good dirt, drip watering system and the right location and I'm getting tons of good stuff coming from my garden.  All I have to do is get the plants in the ground in May/June, and we are pretty much good to go.  And that is good because my allergies go crazy when I am out there.

So while it isn't as pretty, even from my neglected garden we've had lots of fresh tomatoes, pumpkins, zucchini, peppers, summer squash, strawberries, grapes, beets, radishes, raspberries, Italian Prunes, peaches, apples, cherries, plums, etc.  All so colorful and it is very satisfying to harvest.  We also get the prettiest eggs daily.  And bonus the chickens love the fruit that falls on the ground.  

Sadly our honey harvest was a little disappointing!  We could only get a small jar because we have to leave the rest for the bees to eat over the winter.

Transitions

 Well, "normal" didn't last too long over here.  Such is 2020!   

To be honest, this pandemic has been pretty hard.  Nothing is normal.  Even if we think we are getting a little semblance of it, it doesn't last.  

The older girls are in college now.  Which was unexpectedly heartbreaking.  I'm so excited for them!  I'm so lucky they are close.  And yet, it is really hard to let go.  They are still my babies.  I still want to wrap them in bubble wrap and make sure nothing bad ever happens, and yet I know I can't.  Life isn't meant to be lived that way.  And the hard parts are what shape us into who we are.  All the hard things I went through at their age, I wouldn't trade those experiences for anything.  I learned what I was made of.  I gained confidence in myself and became stronger.  Also, I miss them!  I miss hearing about their day.  I don't want to be annoying and call every second.  But I just didn't get quite enough time with them both after Elise got home.

Anyway, I'm working on it!

And who am I now?  Although I've still got three kids at home, we don't have the busy pace we are used to.  And I'm feeling kinda stagnant.  Like now that I have all this time on my hands, I need to figure out who I am and what I'm doing with the rest of my life.  I love being a stay at home mom.  I loved the different jobs I had when I was younger, but my heart was at home and I only really did those things so that I could spend more time at home, or so we could have a better life.  I know that my husband would always support me in whatever endeavor I wanted to try.  But being home is what I've always loved and we don't need another income.  Now I'm feeling like I need to set some of my own goals again.  So in the next couple months I'm going to work on renewing my real estate license.  It's flexible enough that when things get busy again I won't feel burdened.

I've been making a mental list of projects and skills I want to learn.  I'm inspired by my friends who have gone back to school, work, etc.  I always loved working when I was younger.  And it sounds kinda fun to have my own thing.  

I've never worried too much about social media or felt bad because of it.  I enjoy seeing what other people are doing.  But I'm getting tired of it.  So I've been hoping that will help me get out of this funk.  Spending time in the present and doing things with my time that give me results and something concrete sounds good right now.