Happy Columbus Day

Only in America would the federal government take the day off to honor a man who didn't know where he was. Okay, I respect what Columbus did - it did take guts to embark on his journey, etc. However, the fact remains that he had not a clue as to the fact that he had just landed on a new continent. Amerigo Vespucci figured that out, and while he had the two new continents named after him, the man did not rate his own federal holiday. Go figure.

I have decided that I am allergic to my new school. I have been nursing a respiratory malady since school started, and it just is not getting better. No fever, but I sure feel terrible. At the moment I fear that I am moving into a case of bronchitis brought on by having my tissues so irritated. Very NOT fun.

Bailee is definitely the tween supreme. She had a major trauma drama meltdown this weekend. We were searching for a pattern for a new dress for Clara (her part in THE NUTCRACKER), but were unable to find anything appropriate. That led to tears and frustration over being so little. Honestly, she is not THAT little. Truth be told, she is growing like a weed. Unfortunately, she compares herself to all the American Amazons that surround her. Plenty of her friends are petite, like she is, but she only acknowledges those who are already over 5 feet tall. Poor girl. Life is SO hard when you are 11 and everything is the end of the world.

We attended the annual Harvest Fest held at Snake River Landing this past weekend. It was cold, but the sun was shining and we had a good time. Bailee had her favorite junk food - a Winder Funnel Cake. She also petted about 30 different dogs who had participated in the canine costume contest. Pretty cute. They ranged in size from minuscule to massive. There was a baby miniature Schnauzer and a full grown Bull Mastiff. Whoa! He was as big as (if not bigger than) the ponies that were giving pony cart rides to the kids.

We're prepping for Bailee's braces. Tomorrow she goes in to her regular dentist for a thorough cleaning and checkup. Next week they start installing the braces. Installing. Man, it even sounds horrible. I have these visions of construction workers that work on skyscrapers that I am NOT sharing with Bailee.

October At Last

I FINALLY had the time to download the 125 (!) photos on our digital camera, so I'm adding a few to this blog (even though they are out of date). This is a photo of Bailee's dance studio float filled with hot dancers at the end of the Spud Days parade.

Only Bailee would get a caramel apple with a smile on the bottom!

The brave Bailee on one of the "big kid" rides at the state fair. She apparently was looking forward to it!

Idaho's weather has turned, so it is goodbye to temperatures in the 80s and
hello to nightly freezes and highs in the 50s (if we are lucky). Fall has
arrived in earnest, which is actually a goo thing. It will
settle the kids at school down a little, and it is certainly nice to be finished
with marathon yard and garden work.

We cleared out the garden this past week and have picked most of our plums. Now we just have do the freezing and canning. It's a lot of work, but I actually enjoy it. This is a very cozy time of year. I have some fond memories of family sessions at the kitchen table cutting up vegetables as a kid. Those were good times. I hope Bailee enjoys those activities as much as we did.

Believe it or not, we have had our fist Parent-Teacher conferences. It seems disgustingly early, but I am certainly glad that they are behind me. Now we can settle down to the business of school. We are officially finished with open houses, dedications, and all that other garbage that has been added to our workload. I am hoping that we can all get into a nice routine now.

Stay tuned for the continuing drama of "THE CLARA DRESS." We found out that
the dress for Clara in THE NUTCRACKER weighs 30 to 40 pounds. It's always been
an issue for the girl playing the part, but it has become a major issue with Bailee. She weighs 60
pounds soaking wet and after a big meal ... less when she is dancing hard. I
have visions of her lurching across the stage like the Hunchback of Notre Dame! We're trying to
convince the studio owner that a new, lighter dress is in order. Otherwise we
may have to stuff helium balloons under the skirt!

I feel sorry for Miss Bailee this week. She is sure that we are trying to turn her into a pincushion! Thus far she has had a flu shot, her DPT booster, and the Menactra shot. She still has to get a pneumonia shot (her pediatrician advised this to protect her lungs if she gets the Swine Flu - she has asthma that really flares up when she is ill). Poor kid. Every one of those shots have really hurt. She has let us know that she is tired of sore arms and feeling puny afterward. Oh my. It's hard for her to see that this is supposedly for her own good.

Just to keep life from getting too boring, I'm having more car trouble. While
taking Bailee to eat
between dance classes, I noticed the sound of something dragging under the car.
Sure enough, there was a piece of metal hanging down from the engine.
NO!!!!!!!!!!!! I limped the car to Sunnyside Auto and am now waiting for word on what
is wrong. Huge dollar signs keep appearing before my eyes! This also left me
with no way to get to a class I was supposed to be taking at my district office
this morning. I hope that car trouble is a good enough excuse. This reminds me
of a picture from my Mary Engelbreit calendar - Life is just so DAILY! Isn't
that the truth?!

Busy, Busy September

I swear that August was just a heartbeat or two ago! Now, here I find myself looking at the first day of autumn and the end of September just eight days away. How did that happen?

We began the month with a Labor Day weekend rock hunt (for a school project for Bailee) which took us up to Kelly Canyon, over to Blacktail Reservoir, down to Bone, and back along the Snake River. We found some interesting rocks along the way. Bailee was happy with her finds and did well on the project. Needless to say, Idaho is possessed of a great many varieties of igneous and metamorphic rocks. Imagine that!

We then HAD to take in the Eastern Idaho State Fair of course! This year we made two trips. The first was an eight hour marathon of looking at everything, going on rides, shopping, and snacking at the food vendors. Bailee then had to take Grandma the following weekend to make sure hat she had her own funnel cake (this is Bailee's MUST EAT fair food). We had a good time, and saw SO many people that we knew! It was crazy! It seemed like the entire population of Southeastern Idaho had found their way there. Bailee branched out to some new and more challenging rides - which left Diana feeling a little melancholy. She rode the merry-go-round, but turned her nose up at the other kiddie rides she used to love. Poor mommy! Her girl is growing up.

School has been nonstop crazy, of course. It is just one constant round of training and training and training some more. Whenever I start the new year I think about the movie "Men in Black." Do you remember how they "flashed" people to erase their memory? It makes me wonder sometimes when I look out on those fresh faced fifth graders ... yep, I really do wonder.

Last weekend Bailee's dance studio was in the Spud Day parade down in Shelley. I was shocked by how big it all was. The parade was long, and the park looked like a minature version of the state fair. Thousands of people were there. Very impressive. Tubers - who knew?

In the evening we hauled Bailee over to her dance studio for auditions for THE NUTCRACKER. We were stunned when she was chosen to play the lead part of Clara. Whoa! That was a massive shock to us all. Bailee still keeps asking if it was a dream. I hope she does well. How she will dance in a dress that weighs 30 pounds (she weighs in at 60 pounds when soaking wet), I have no idea! Right now she vascillates between excitement, terror, and guilt (she wanted her dance buddy to get the part). The coming months are going to be interesting.

Bailee is currently up at Pine Basin Camp with the girls from the fifth grade. They will spend the next 48 hours learning about life in the woods, fossils, and the environment. I expect that she will be tired and filthy when she returns. I hope that she is having a good time. We sure miss her! The house seems so empty (and boring)! Her dog, Caribou, is highly distressed. He has been looking for her all evening and keeps coming up to us with this expression that seems to say, "I can't believe you people are so careless! Where did you put my girl?" We are, in a word, in the doghouse with the dog. Or, I should say, instead of the dog. Oh dear.

Can We Agree to Disagree?

When I arrived home from school the other day there was a photo and article about the man who shot the first wolf during the sanctioned "Wolf Hunt" here in Idaho. It was hard to miss, as it was crossed out in angry x's made by a black marker. The marker was weilded by Bailee - who loves wolves. This has been a long standing issue in our house, first started by our governor "Butch" Otter's vocal support of this hunt months and months ago. Bailee's ire was raised then, and it has not diminished. She is passionate about these creatures ... a feeling that started when we took her to the Grizzly/Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone many years ago. It was strange to watch, but there was a connection between our tiny little one and the wolf pack there. They followed her as she walked along the exhibit. Okay, did she look like lunch? Diana and I joked about it until she parked herself on one of the benches and all the wolves sat down too, like they were attending an audience with the queen. It was, in a word, a little odd, and it just became odder. The wolves were fascinated with her. They watched her intently, with cocked heads, and large wolfish smiles. Some of the younger wolves got down into that "play pose" we've seen with our dogs. What was really odd was the fact that the wolves totally ignored the other children that were running about the exhibit. I've never been able to explain it. Was it the fact that she was quiet amid all the usual crowd and chaos? Was it the fact that she looked different from all the other bland Caucasian faces? Who knows?

Bailee came away from that visit loving wolves, so this week and the resulting news coverage has been upsetting to her. She doesn't understand hunting for sport. She might be able to grasp ranchers and farmers hunting wolves that are a problem on their land ... maybe. She does not accept men buying a tag to go out to kill a wolf for the thrill of the hunt. I have to admit that I am pretty proud that she doesn't. I don't believe God placed animals on this planet to be killed for thrills or the sport of it all. I know Bailee doesn't believe that either.

I have to admit that I admire wolves as well. Their social structure is interesting. Their communication is complex. Their family units beat some human families - no contest (I've taught children who would have been better off raised by wolves as opposed to their parents). They're beautiful, and I'm glad that God included them in his creations. As for man ... I think we have a lot to learn about what it really means to have stewardship over this planet.

All in all, this is not one of the weeks that I have been proud to live in Idaho. Quite frankly, I am ashamed. From candidate Rex Rammell's jokes about selling "Obama Tags" (then refused to issue any kind of apology) to school districts caving to right-wing pressure to ban President Obama's speech to school children - I want to deny any connection to this state.

I think we need to take a serious look at ourselves and the message we are sending to the world. It is not a pretty one. I hear too many voices filled with hatred - and they are so loud that no one can hear anything else. Perhaps, that's the idea.