Today is AJ's Eagle Court of Honor - I sure hope I'm ready!  I think I am, but I don't know that AJ is.  I know he doesn't have his programs done yet.  I had to help him with those last night after I got in from work, and they aren't cut yet.  No need to hurry!  I got a call from the Scoutmaster yesterday - he had been asked by AJ to read his "life in scouting" as part of the program, but AJ hadn't given him any of the information!  Luckily (for AJ) the Scout Office is now open on Fridays, so he could go in to the office and look up all the important dates.  We also had to put his boards together last night.  There were a couple of 'bounced' e-mails, and a couple of questions from Leaders sitting in the in-box that he hadn't noticed as well.  As I said, no need to rush!  I'll be very glad when this is over!

The view from my office yesterday:

We had 10 police cars and one police motorcycle in our parking lot.  Evidently, a transient was on drugs and resisted arrest.  It made for an interesting morning.  Here is a link to the story from Record Searchlight - the part where it says "Police say transient resisted violently":

http://www.redding.com/news/2011/jul/26/no-headline---north_state_in_brief/

"Redding police Tuesday arrested a 28-year-old area transient who violently resisted officers who were attempting to detain him, officers said.  At about 11:46 a.m., officers went to the 2000 block of Hawthorne Avenue on a call that a man had entered a garage in the neighborhood.  Officers found a man, later identified as Derek Totaro, a Redding-area transient, and noticed he showed signs of being under the influence of drugs, Redding police Sgt. Mike Wood said.  Police attempted to detain Totaro, who began violently resisting, Wood said. Officers used control holds, hit him with batons, pepper spray and a stun gun, he said.  Totaro broke loose and ran into the parking lot of the Redding Bank of Commerce on Churn Creek Road, police said.  Totaro resisted for about five minutes before police were able to subdue him, Wood said.  Officers took him to a hospital for a medical clearance and then arrested him on suspicion of being under the influence of a controlled substance and felony resisting.  The officers involved in the scuffle weren't injured, Wood said."

One of the ladies in my department had just gotten into her car with her husband to go to lunch, when they were surrounded by police cars.  She has several dents in her car from the batons and the guy kicking it, and spent a few very uncomfortable minutes with a front line view of "Cops".  (Her car is the silver-ish car next to the white van)  They subdued the transient just in front of her car.

The blackberries are ripe!  I took the dogs for a walk last night after dinner in the back field, and picked some blackberries.  I didn't get my cardio in - since I stopped for a while to pick berries - but I did get a nice batch of berries!  Now - to make a cobbler or a pie!

Alli and I spent yesterday afternoon in and out of doctor's offices.  First, we went to get x-rays taken, then we went to the spine specialist, then we went to the orthodic place to have her brace adjusted.  She was way past cranky by the time we got home - it was a long day in and and and wait here and wait there.  This picture was taken at the beginning of her appointment at the orthotic place.  She went for a nice swim when we got home, and was much happier - especially after a swim AND dinner!

I also finished a doily yesterday - this one is about 20 inches across.

AJ and I also took an hour to work in the garage yesterday morning - and made quite a dent in it.  I dropped off over a dozen boxes at Salvation Army on my way in to get x-rays.  We got most of the easy stuff out of there - now we need to start going through old boxes and consolidating and re-packing.  The wall of boxes on one side of the garage are about to collapse in on themselves, and I am afraid they will take out the motorcycle when they do.  They are in the original boxes that Ralph's parents packed them in - and I don't know how long ago that was.  They have been in my garage for over 10 years, and they were probably in their garage for 20 years before that.

Well, for not doing anything yesterday, I got a lot accomplished!  I talked with 4 of my friends - all in one day!  I've been really bad lately about talking with anyone, and I don't know why.  I have good intentions, and then time just slips away and I never pick up the phone.  Yesterday morning, I made a commitment to myself to call two of my friends, and before I could, they called me!  Another one stopped by for a visit in the afternoon, and one more called for a quick chat just before dinner.  (Yes, it was quick because I was just getting dinner on the table!)  Now that is a good day!

I'm taking a vacation day today - scheduled when I was planning on company over the weekend.  Since I didn't do anything that I needed to 'rest up' from, I'm not too sure what to do with my morning.  My afternoon is planned - Alli needs x-rays, then a doctor's visit, and then to the orthopedic place - all to check on her new back brace.  She's not real impressed with the new brace, but she is dealing with it.  If she hadn't gone a week without a brace, I think she would have transitioned better, but...she' doing okay.  She spent quite a bit of time in the pool yesterday - always fun, and she doesn't have to wear her brace there!

Plans changed - again!  Yesterday was supposed to be a family reunion of sorts.  My Mom had made arrangements with our family that is in the Sacramento area to come up for a visit, but...that didn't turn out.  In many ways, that was a good thing, but I was looking forward to it!  This last week was just a bit harried.  Wednesday night was my book club meeting - here, which meant I was cleaning and cooking the first part of the week.  The meeting was fun!  I made taco salad - with everything cooked up the night before, so all I had to do Wednesday after work was to chop up the veggies and fruit.  Did I say "All I had to do"?  Whew!  That took longer than I thought it would.  I did get everything organized before people showed up, and it was a fun evening.

I didn't feel too great the next day - which I wrote off as one glass of wine too many and not enough sleep.  (Which surprised me - I thought I had spent too much time talking to have had too much to drink!)  Then Friday morning, I got a call from Alli's daycare.  She was sick!  Poor baby - and poor daycare providers!  They had already given her two showers before they even called me.  I dashed over and got her and took her home - and she was as good as gold for me - a bit quiet, and she took a long nap (and so did I - she was sleeping with her head in my lap - what else could I do???  You can't disturb a sleeping baby!)  She and I both bounced back really quick, so I have no idea what it was, if it was even related.  I'm just glad she is feeling better.  I have to admit I was glad I wasn't expecting company anymore either!I spent most of yesterday getting stuff put together for AJ's Court of Honor.  I pulled all the old pictures I could find of scouting activities - he was so little back in the cub scout days!  We also put together a couple of  display boards with his patches and stuff.  Now he needs to put a slide show/power point together, and get his program finalized and printed.  There is light at the end of the tunnel!  We will get through this!  I have the cake ordered, the table setting purchased, etc.  I still have a few odds and ends to deal with, but on the whole, I think I am doing okay!  Now to get AJ motivated!  Wish me luck!

Here are a few of the older pictures I found:

 

Here's a couple of pictures of Alli's new brace:

Alli woke me up at 4:45 this morning - and then she went right back to sleep!  I was definitely awake after getting her tucked in, so - I'm up!  It does give me more 'me' time today.  I got a couple of little chores done already, but I wish I had known last night - I wouldn't have stayed up till 11:00 if I knew I would be getting up so early!

Alli got her new brace yesterday - this one is more 'brace' than the other one.  It is longer, thicker, and higher - poor baby!  Ralph did get it in a very pretty color - light blue with flowers and butterflies, I think.  I didn't look that closely at what was on it, I was more worried about getting it on her.  We had the other one down to a science.  This one has a smaller area for her arms to go through (more bracing in the upper chest) so it is trickier to get on.  In a week or so though, we should be experts at it.  She gets x-rays next Monday to see how it is moving her spine.  Hopefully it fits better than the last one did!

AJ passed his CHP Sponsored motorcycle training.  I don't know that the course is really sponsored by CHP, but I heard it referred to that way several times.  I don't think he has to take the DMV driving test now - just the written test to get his permit.  He has an appointment for that today.  That part should be easy.  I think his biggest problem was that he has never driven a stick - all of our cars are automatics.  He had to deal with driving a motorcycle and learning to shift at the same time.  I think he had fun.  A co-worker told me about the course - her husband was taking it.  He and AJ ended up in the same class, so they rode to Red Bluff together for it.  The weather was great - they were in full riding gear, and it was only in the 70's-80's - in July!

I think our weather is going back to normal for a while.  We had rain here Sunday night - quite a bit of it.  Today, it is supposed to be back up to 95.  Since tonight is the book club meeting at my house, we planned a pool party.  I was a little worried we were going to be sitting around the pool in parkas!  No worries!  The water may still be a bit cool, but the temps should be good.  I'm serving taco salad, fruit salad, chips and salsa, and my flour-less chocolate cake for dessert.  I have everything done - except for things that need to be done after work tonight - chopping the veggies, the fruit, and the constant picking up and cleaning that will need to be done then, even if I do it now.  It's a never ending job around here!

I'm down to the home stretch - Wednesday I am hosting my book club, and Saturday I have family coming in, and the following Saturday is AJ's Eagle Court of Honor.  I think everything is semi-under control - which worries me - what's going to go wrong now?  Luckily, it is all friends and family, so it will all be good!

AJ is taking a motorcycle training course in Red Bluff - a full day yesterday and another 6 hours today.  He was wiped out last night - just a touch of a sunburn, but he was in full riding gear all day.  Good thing it was abnormally cool - I think our high was around 75.  Our normal 105 degree heat would have killed him!

We have been inundated with frogs this year!  I know we have them every year, but this year, we seem to have more than normal.  They are so cute!

The weather has been beautiful this weekend. Alli is in the pool and it is only 80 degrees. Perfect! If I have to sit around and lifeguard, at least I'm not sweating to death! If only Redding was always like this.....I know- we would have too many people living here. It's the heat that keeps the flatlanders away.

Wow - this week went by fast!  I don't think I got a lot of posts to the blog in.  It was a pretty good week even!  Allison had her first new brace fitting appointment last night, and they still need some major adjustments to it, so she is brace-free for a few more days.  This one is more aggressive - lower in the hips/pelvic area - I'm hoping it doesn't stop her from moving too much.  She seems to have been enjoying having no brace since Tuesday, but...it's kind of hard to tell - is she happier today than yesterday?  Last weekend, at FoodMax, one of the meat department guys told me we needed to find a way to cheer her up - she was just too gloomy.  (Alli was spinning in circles, giggling to herself at the time.)  I agreed, and told him we were working on it, but it was hard to make her happy.  (Not!)

Ralph and I went to a BBQ at the bank's President house last night - an 'all officers' event.  The weather was perfect for a BBQ - near 80, a few clouds, a light breeze.  Perfect!  Pat's house is on the bluffs about the Sacramento River, so there was a beautiful view as well.  What a combination - good food, good people, good weather...a fun evening.

I'll be glad when I get through the month of July!  Sunday afternoon, I had an organizational meeting with AJ for his Court of Honor - outlining what his ideas were, what needed to happen, and who was going to be working on it.  I spent my lunch hour yesterday running around, and foresee more running around in my future!  AJ and I went in to town after dinner last night and picked up paper, toner, and envelopes for his invitations.  He was supposed to have the invitation all set up on the computer by the time I got home from work, but....you know how that goes.  "I didn't know what you wanted."  Really.  Really and truly?  I sent him back to the computer (no games this time, so it wasn't fun!) and had him finish up his ideas.  Then I went back and added things I thought were needed, and then we 'polished' it together.  We got them done, and a few printed up.

Tonight is the last scout meeting before his Court (they are off for a two week tour/summer camp) so he needs to distribute the invitations tonight.  I think we made it!  All he needs to do now is put names on them.  I'm dropping off film negatives at Walmart today to get them turned in to digital images.  I went digital in 2006, but everything before that (cub scout days) are in negatives.  I should get those back in time to add to a slide show of his history in scouting.  That may just be playing on his laptop, because I'm not sure I have access to a screen and projector.  Oh well, it will work!

This weekend is major cleaning, because next Wednesday and next Saturday, I am expecting guests.  Wednesday is my book club meeting (BBQ hamburgers and a swim in the pool - should be fun!) and Saturday is a small family reunion (I think - I haven't heard yet if anyone is actually coming!)  The following weekend will be AJ's Court of Honor.  As I said, I'll be glad when July is finished - It's all fun, don't get me wrong, but....it's awful busy too!

We are headed for a cooling trend this week - low to mid 90's!  How nice!  I took a dip in the pool to cool off on Friday night, and the water was no longer cool!  It still felt nice, but I will appreciate the cooler temps this week.

I got 5 balls of new yarn the other night after work - beautiful new yarn!  I brought it home and put it on the table - still in the bag - and ran outside and put Allison in the pool so she could swim before dinner.  I came back inside - less than 20 minutes later I might add - and this is what greeted me:

My pretty new yarn is now wound back up in a nice, neat ball, and put under lock and key!

With the warm weather, the frogs are out.  Picot spent a long time the other night trying to catch one that was outside on the sliding glass door.  She did her darnedest, but just couldn't figure out how to catch it!

Alex has started work on his Court of Honor.  He has his program (kind-of) lined up, and talked to most of the people involved last night, lining up the MC and presenters.  The Scoutmaster is ordering his 'eagle kit' and I need to stop by the scout office and line up a few things there.  I'm so happy he has started on it!  We are still set for July 30th, unless the church building doesn't come through.  If that happens, I guess we will go to Plan B - whatever that is!  I need to start pulling out old pictures and old scouting stuff for AJ so we can make a table presentation of his life is scouting.  That is on schedule for this weekend!

Summer has arrived!  I don't think we hit triple digits yesterday, but it finally felt like summertime - hot!  I floated around in the pool for a bit yesterday while Allison was napping and it felt great!  I did get to take my nap yesterday - but took it so late in the day I almost slept through dinner!  Since dinner was just leftovers, it wasn't any big deal, and Ralph did sleep through it.  When I called him for dinner, he answered me, but didn't really wake up, so didn't get up.  I thought he just wasn't that hungry or that excited about leftovers and didn't wake him up.  I saved dinner for him, though, so he didn't starve.

After our BBQ dinner the other night, All got to have a red, white, and blue cupcake.  She wore most of it, but I think she found it pretty tasty.

The animals kept me company:

I finished a new doily - the photo doesn't do the color justice.  It is called 'Copper Mist' and it is a light copper color - very pretty!  The doily is about 20 inches across.

I made a little bookmark out of it too - this shows the color a little better, I think.

I need to figure out how to either not stay up late reading (like to 1:00 a.m.!), or when I do, how to sleep in.  My internal clock went off at 5:15 this morning - not...enough....sleep!  But, I'm awake now, and can't go back to sleep.  Maybe a nap this afternoon?

Yesterday/last night was fun - When I went grocery shopping last week, I picked up a large pork roast, intending to cook it early in the week, and then use the left over throughout the week for different meals.  Didn't happen.  I realized Friday night I had a 5.25 pound pork roast I needed to cook soon, and there was no way we would eat all of it.  So... impromptu party!  Ralph called Larry and Pat, and they agreed to come over, and I called Meredith to see if they wanted to come over.  "Sure" she said, but...her parents were visiting, could they come too?  Of course.  And.....Emma's friend that's a boy (Meredith just can't say the word 'boyfriend' when talking about her little girl - who is almost 17 now) is with them too, can he come?  Sure, why not!  Counting Dallas, we had 13 people here for dinner last night.  Ralph did an excellent job on the meat, and the 'kids' played in the pool most of the evening.  I think we need to add two inches of water to the pool today - they had a cannonball contest.  Four teenagers in the pool sure make it look small.  I can't believe how grown up the 'kids' are!

Ralph did hear back on his MRI of his knee - he has a benign tumor.  He goes back to see the doctor in a couple of weeks.  He sees the cardiologist for a stress echo test on Tuesday - the same cardiologist AJ uses.  We're having some fun now!  One of these days, we will all be healthy at the same time!

Alli got fitted for a new brace yesterday - Ralph had to give her a shower when they got home - she was covered in plaster.  He said she did wonderfully - laying still while they cover her in strips of material soaked in plaster and then waiting for it to dry.  She won't get the new brace until the middle of July.  Ralph hasn't heard anything on his MRI, so we are back to the waiting game around here.  Luckily, it is a three-day weekend, so we can relax for a bit too!  Today is also Alli's last day of summer school,.  She is off until August 15th now.  Summer is flying by - and we are supposed to break into triple digits this weekend for the first time this year.