Typical Teen

It's 11pm, way past my bedtime. I'm sitting on a tiled floor by the light of my bathroom, kinda hiding from the kids who are still rambunctious with their cousins and at the same time, trying not to wake up David. 

This is the start of summer.

I may or may not survive.

I need to sleep, but it's been a really good weekend and I just need to post this video which I will entitle, "Typical Teen." The video very appropriately starts with the teen passing wind (right after the rock drops).

Sybil's quote of the week: "I learned magic from Porfirio's whiskers."

Sybil loves playing with her cousins

but she refuses to share with her sisters, so we do "cousin swapping" 

where Sybil plays with Eliza one day and Iris plays with her the next day.

I took these 2 to the mall:

They rode a double-decker merry-go-round and chose jewelry at Claire's.

It's been a while since I donated blood since I'm usually too anemic to do so. This time I had a hamburger the night before and during the hook-up process, I asked a quantity of questions only possible of an aged, under-educated nursing grad. 

Me: "Is the anti-coagulant heparin?" 

Tech: "I don't know. The bag just says 'anti-coagulant.'"

Me: "Wow, you use a 16 gauge needle instead of a catheter?!"

Tech: "Yes, so please don't move your arm."

Skateland with the homies

Claire wanted to tube down the Salt River with her cousins on the weekend before her birthday.

We were accompanied by plumes of 20-something-year olds, their beer-filled coolers, wacky tobaccy fumes, and lots of bare flesh.

I mainly hung out with this guy. I like talking to him. He had lunch with our new bishop last week who said David was one of the most interesting people he'd ever met. I concur.  He spoke at a prison graduation on Friday and bore his testimony of Christ.

Miracle vs Coincidence

Miracle or Coincidence?

The 3 girls had playdates today. I went with Sybil so I could talk to my friend while our girls played. When we were about to leave, my friend gave me a wonderful present.Her mom had helped clean out the home of a ward member. She found something quite special to me and my family.

She knew my maiden name and then they opened it and found Sybil's namesake.

"The Lord’s hand is guiding you. By “divine design,” He is in the small details of your life as well as the major milestones."

Ronald A Rasband 

How to say goodbye

Leaving Arizona has been been a serial: leaving the house, the church, the neighborhood. 

Unfortunately, the cousins will be next.

On the Friday before my final exam, I vagabonded under this tree for 5.5 hours, mainly studying and waiting for the kids to get out of school. 

After my final, I felt free, so there was a hotel playdate with swimming,

cartwheels on the the way to walking to the Dollar Store

and jumping for joy on the way back.

On the plane on the way to LV.

I have dozens of pictures similar to this one on my phone. 

Iris found this creature, named it bug, and played with it until that night when I told her she was probably starving it to death. She had researched it and told me he only needs to eat once a month, but ended up freeing him anyway.

He kept them busy most of the day

For me, saying goodbye to a place is best done during a run. 

Running and reminiscing are easy companions.

Saying hello is also done with a run, 

in this case, a trespassing trail run up a hill close to out LV home.

Despite the fact that most of our house is unfurnished, 

the most important first purchase was the following:

The second most important purchase was a king-sized bed, 

something I've wanted since the beginning of time. 

Here's Iris' virtual violin concert. I made sure to angle the camera away from the clutter we still hadn't organized.

A nurse's pinning ceremony is the culmination of hard work at the end of her studies.

Lesson from Wikipedia: "A pinning ceremony is a symbolic welcoming of newly graduated or soon-to-be graduated nurses into the nursing profession. The history of the ceremony dates back to the Crusades in the 12th century. Queen Victoria awarded Florence Nightingale the Royal Red Cross for her service as a military nurse during the Crimean War. By 1916, pinning ceremonies had become an established tradition."

Lesson from Covid: Spit on tradition.

New life

Another quiet Sunday morning. 

A Mother's Day quiet morning.

The kids are with David in LV. I needed the weekend to cram everything I've learned this semester back into my brain. I'm confident I haven't done that despite copious, focused studying, but I'm ok with that and am adamant that I won't turn today into another ode to studying, On my last Sunday morning as a nursing school student, I will maintain my habit of not studying on the sabbath. It has been a blessing to keep this day separate, reflective, resting, family and failth focused. There was an article in The Wall Street Journal yesterday entitled, What we've lost in rejecting the Sabbath. Of course I didn't read it bc my brain was focused on junctional rhythms, weinkebachs, and mobitz 2. But perhaps I'll read it today.

Here are pictures I should have posted last weekend.

Last bath in our house: 

Sybil always wants me to take pictures of her when I put bubbles in the bath.

The beginning of the end:

On our last neighborhood bike ride, 

Sybil taught me a different way to get to the "fairy houses."

I had mixed feelings about this house. I wasn't as in love with it as I was with our last house, probably because I didn't put as much time into taking care of it. The house became a burden and a stress towards the end. 

It wasn't until the last day, when it was empty and clean, the inevitable nostalgia ensued. Quiet studying, surrounded by emptiness and memories.

I hated these curtains (not enough to change them), but I loved that we had mint and basil bushes even though they were neglected and growing in a bed of weeds.

One last time:

Driving to Las Vegas to see our new house for the first time.

This depicts why we named our dog after a dictator:

Sybil's most important requirement for a new house was stairs.

So, this was the first, and most important order of business in the new house:

This is what I consider on of the best features of the house,

the view of the strip from the master balcony:

Another great view from the master balcony:

I felt it was apropos that new baby birds were awaiting us:

New life.

PS. Just finished the WSJ article: "In biblical logic, holiness always requires sacrificial abandonment: Something must be handed over to God."

Today my mom asked me about my thoughts about motherhood. Although I love my kids and love being a mom, I was not in a profound state of mind. I returned the question to her and she said that it's the most important thing in the world. All other accomplishments fade in comparison. 

I'm a lucky daughter.
 

A few moments of calm

We had a whirlwind of a week and weekend--update to come.

We are in an airb&b this week. The girls and I walked to the canal as the sun set.  

Just pretend you don't see the wet spot on Sybil's crotch; 

Iris can strike a pose under any circumstances.

2 tests done this week. 

One more to go: the final final, forever.