An Interesting Side Effect
I've discovered an interesting side effect of not working during the summer.
We've gone through two bottles of SPF 50 sunscreen already and are through one bottle of mosquito repellent. I guess we spend a lot more time in the outdoors now than we used to. It's a good thing, all in all. I feel more fit than before.
Hmmm... what to tell?
Yesterday was more of Rhythm on the River. We went over there and spent most of the morning there, with Jet having a lot of fun on all the kid things, bouncies, climbers, and the Sand Pit was a real hit. He liked playing with the Play-Doh. One of the local credit unions had two huge blocks of ice with a lot of dollar coins suspended in the ice. The rules were that folks could only use their bodies to try and get at the coin and, supposedly, there was a ten minute time limit on turns. But there were kids that were there for hours working pretty hard to get at the coins.
Longmont had a big tent with a lot of eco-awareness items in it. One of the best, in my very humble, and I mean humble opinion was a whole display on what grease can do to the sewer systems in the city. All the reasons one should not put grease or hot fat down the drain. The best thing was that they had little plastic containers with foil-lined bags for holding grease in in order to keep it until you throw it in your garbage. They said that the water waste management center had more bags for when we got through the two rather large ones we had. :-) So that was very, very cool. Up to now we've been using cans that would otherwise have gone into the recycling, so it was good to have something that could contain more of the stuff and still be okay.
We came home at noon, grabbing a few last-minute items from the Farmer's Market, as they were closing up shop by the time we showed up. Then we went swimming. Mmm... nice in 100 degree heat.
Then Jet went over to Tanner and Macy's and got invited to a soccer game as well, and he went and was a ball boy for a while! He had a blast doing that. John went back to the Rhythm on the River to hear the reggae band that was the headliner for the whole thing. I stayed home and played Lego Starwars. *laughter* I should probably have been painting or something, but I needed a break.
Painting or something...
Today the lady in charge of the art display at church asked me if I had enough paintings to fill the display in September. I was... uhm... shocked. To say the least. I haven't been painting long enough to have stuff I think I'd even want to *keep* much less display... but... wow.
Church was fun. It was just good to see everyone again, and the pastor preached on my favorite passage on the story of the Helpful Samaritan. The sermon was enhanced by a Dear Abby this last week where a mom who had, along with the dad, shunned the gay son who'd had a partner for 15 years in favor of the three other kids who had gone on to "normal" lives. When the dad died, the mom was left penniless, and she had asked all the "favored" kids if she could just live with them for four months. All the other three kids refused. But the gay son, when he heard about it, he and his partner offered her not just a place to stay, but a place where she felt welcome and a part of their household and family. I liked the ending the best on that one, which our pastor didn't quote, but now, the mom, when she's asked by her friends how it feels to live with a gay son, says she prays that they should be so lucky as to have the opportunity to be part of such a household.
Made my day.
Anyway... Jet invited two friends over to swim after church. We fed kids lunch and then went swimming for two hours. It felt wonderful as our thermometer was reading 101 before we went in. *sigh*
I was invited to a hearing tomorrow. It's a divorce hearing. The husband makes $18,000 a month, has halfa million in assets, and he and his wife had children. His wife contracted Multiple Sclerosis and is becoming more and more impaired. He went to divorce court to not only divorce her but to claim that he need pay for none of her care, that the government can supply her very stark housing in a care center in LA (far away from her children and him). The affected woman really *wants* to live here, near her kids, and live in a more comfortable housing arraingment which the schmuck can afford. What's worse is that the judge has been making statements that pretty much indicate that she thinks that the woman is sub-human.
It makes me angry.
But I was invited to show support, as the lady lawyer who took on the case gratis is pretty depressed about her chances. So a bunch of women from the church are going tomorrow morning to show their support. I may finally have a reason to wear the "I am blogging this." t-shirt my sister gave me. Probably wouldn't hurt to point the local newspapers, especially a Boulder paper, at this. Boulder prides itself, so much, on it's liberal leanings, and it's just plain weird that an official that is approved by the voting public would be allowed to treat disabled people this way. I need to see more and see if there's something that does need to be written about and then point other people at it.
We've gone through two bottles of SPF 50 sunscreen already and are through one bottle of mosquito repellent. I guess we spend a lot more time in the outdoors now than we used to. It's a good thing, all in all. I feel more fit than before.
Hmmm... what to tell?
Yesterday was more of Rhythm on the River. We went over there and spent most of the morning there, with Jet having a lot of fun on all the kid things, bouncies, climbers, and the Sand Pit was a real hit. He liked playing with the Play-Doh. One of the local credit unions had two huge blocks of ice with a lot of dollar coins suspended in the ice. The rules were that folks could only use their bodies to try and get at the coin and, supposedly, there was a ten minute time limit on turns. But there were kids that were there for hours working pretty hard to get at the coins.
Longmont had a big tent with a lot of eco-awareness items in it. One of the best, in my very humble, and I mean humble opinion was a whole display on what grease can do to the sewer systems in the city. All the reasons one should not put grease or hot fat down the drain. The best thing was that they had little plastic containers with foil-lined bags for holding grease in in order to keep it until you throw it in your garbage. They said that the water waste management center had more bags for when we got through the two rather large ones we had. :-) So that was very, very cool. Up to now we've been using cans that would otherwise have gone into the recycling, so it was good to have something that could contain more of the stuff and still be okay.
We came home at noon, grabbing a few last-minute items from the Farmer's Market, as they were closing up shop by the time we showed up. Then we went swimming. Mmm... nice in 100 degree heat.
Then Jet went over to Tanner and Macy's and got invited to a soccer game as well, and he went and was a ball boy for a while! He had a blast doing that. John went back to the Rhythm on the River to hear the reggae band that was the headliner for the whole thing. I stayed home and played Lego Starwars. *laughter* I should probably have been painting or something, but I needed a break.
Painting or something...
Today the lady in charge of the art display at church asked me if I had enough paintings to fill the display in September. I was... uhm... shocked. To say the least. I haven't been painting long enough to have stuff I think I'd even want to *keep* much less display... but... wow.
Church was fun. It was just good to see everyone again, and the pastor preached on my favorite passage on the story of the Helpful Samaritan. The sermon was enhanced by a Dear Abby this last week where a mom who had, along with the dad, shunned the gay son who'd had a partner for 15 years in favor of the three other kids who had gone on to "normal" lives. When the dad died, the mom was left penniless, and she had asked all the "favored" kids if she could just live with them for four months. All the other three kids refused. But the gay son, when he heard about it, he and his partner offered her not just a place to stay, but a place where she felt welcome and a part of their household and family. I liked the ending the best on that one, which our pastor didn't quote, but now, the mom, when she's asked by her friends how it feels to live with a gay son, says she prays that they should be so lucky as to have the opportunity to be part of such a household.
Made my day.
Anyway... Jet invited two friends over to swim after church. We fed kids lunch and then went swimming for two hours. It felt wonderful as our thermometer was reading 101 before we went in. *sigh*
I was invited to a hearing tomorrow. It's a divorce hearing. The husband makes $18,000 a month, has halfa million in assets, and he and his wife had children. His wife contracted Multiple Sclerosis and is becoming more and more impaired. He went to divorce court to not only divorce her but to claim that he need pay for none of her care, that the government can supply her very stark housing in a care center in LA (far away from her children and him). The affected woman really *wants* to live here, near her kids, and live in a more comfortable housing arraingment which the schmuck can afford. What's worse is that the judge has been making statements that pretty much indicate that she thinks that the woman is sub-human.
It makes me angry.
But I was invited to show support, as the lady lawyer who took on the case gratis is pretty depressed about her chances. So a bunch of women from the church are going tomorrow morning to show their support. I may finally have a reason to wear the "I am blogging this." t-shirt my sister gave me. Probably wouldn't hurt to point the local newspapers, especially a Boulder paper, at this. Boulder prides itself, so much, on it's liberal leanings, and it's just plain weird that an official that is approved by the voting public would be allowed to treat disabled people this way. I need to see more and see if there's something that does need to be written about and then point other people at it.