August 2023

We headed to Sedona for the day. Our intention was to go to slide rock, but it turns out that we waited too late. We stopped along the way to have a picture with a saguaro cactus. Millie can mess up any photo. 

Although we were not able to go to slide rock, Sedona with the Richardsons was still a lot of fun. We simply walked down the main street and went to have lunch. Just after lunch, the Richardson's had it on their merry way back to Kansas City. We stopped at the outlets at Anthem. We got a few bargains, but didn't last long there. When we got home we went in the pool for the evening. Stuart was working in town for the week so we decided to take advantage of our time in the pool. 

Monday the kids and I were at school but Millie didn't have gymnastics as it was the last day of July and we Disney pay for July. When we got home from school we had another pool afternoon and leftovers for dinner. 

Tuesday the kids and I had dentist appointments. Stuart stopped at the dentist to take Millie to gymnastics and Jack had his first night of open gym for volleyball, preparing for the new club season. Here we go!

Wednesday school was a half day as usual. Stuart and I went to the store and then we took Millie for her birthday dinner at Texas Roadhouse. We did embarrass her by making her get on the saddle. Sadly, there was an emergency while we were there and an elderly man was taken by ambulance while we were at the restaurant. 

She was a little embarrassed on the saddle!

Thursday school with my kids was a bit manic again. This is the day the kids go to their gifted classroom, so I have kids in and out of my class all day. It is manageable, but somewhat boring for me. Thursday after school I took Millie to gymnastics. I came home and then took Jack to the volleyball pick up spot. Stuart and I went to have a beverage. We collected Millie and then went home. I went to pick Jack up at Starbucks and back home for television watching and then to bed. 

Friday school began with no air conditioning. Although it didn't last long, we were still told we could leave school that afternoon as soon as students were gone. Stuart and I took Millie to gymnastics. We then went to meet our friend Lisa for happy hour. We decided to do some birthday shopping for Millie as I wasn't sure the items I ordered for her would arrive by her birthday. When we got home Mitch and Elise came over. 

Saturday Millie had her end of the year party for gymnastics. It seemed a bit odd as her season really ended in May. At any rate she was awarded the team MVP for the season. She contributed the most points to her team for each of the meets. We were so proud of her. 

Jack spent the day at GCU at their volleyball camp. He went with Owen and they had lunch on their way home. 

He said it was so much fun. I am so excited to see what my kids will do with their athletic abilities. We are so blessed and proud of Jack and Millie, for many reasons. 

Once Jack was home, we all got ready and went to a belated birthday dinner with the Tharalsons. Tim and I have birthdays in July, so it seemed fitting. Trenton, the Tharalson's son, and his wife, Sarah, joined us. It was a nice dinner at Culinary Dropout. 

Sunday Jack was up at 6:45 for volleyball camp. Millie got up at 7 in order to open her presents. I went to watch Jack just after 1 pm and Stuart left for Gallup around noon. Millie just wanted to stay home for her birthday. She had her free drink from Starbucks that morning and that was all she wanted. Once we were home from the volleyball camp, I took the kids to Fat Cats to bowl and play in the arcade. When we got home, the Hill boys came over for a swim. 

Monday was back to our routine of school and then to take Millie to gymnastics and Jack home to do chores. I did some laundry and then sat and watched television until it was time to make dinner. I made Jack pesto ravioli and Millie a cheese quesadilla to take to gymnastics when I picked her up. We got home and Millie took a shower. She and I watched Nailed It on Netflix. We both get a kick out of that show. As usual, I fell asleep on the recliner. I woke up to put Millie to bed at about 9:30. Jack followed at 10:30 and I went shortly after him. 

Tuesday morning I hit the snooze button one too many times. I got up a little bit later than I had expected. But I was still on time to take Jack to school and come back and get Millie. We had a shouting match about what she packed in her lunch. I would assume at some stage I'm going to give up on the healthy eating for her. After school we picked up Jack and took Millie to gymnastics. I then went to drop Jack at the house and go to Costco. Once I was home, he helped me unpack the car. I then took him and two of his buddies to a third buddies house  so that his mom could drive him to volleyball training. I went to Chili's to meet up with my friend Mindy for dinner. I ordered food for Millie and picked her up. Once we were home, she showered and settled in on the sofa. I picked Jack up from the carpool spot and the evening ended as it usually does, with me napping on the recliner. 

Wednesday I think Jack school and came back home to get Millie. He made lava lamp in science. These students are so easy going, and they follow directions so activities like that are very fun. I had a dentist appointment after school and had a temporary crown put in. Around 6 PM. I took Jack to Gavyn's house to get a lift to the skilled volleyball night. Vicki brought him to Starbucks and I picked him up from there. As I was learning things off my bad, I discovered that one of the cats and pooped on my bed. Nothing says I love you like a cat pooping on your bed.

Thursday morning I was up and around. I took the comforter from the washer and put it in the dryer. I took Jack to school as I always do and came back and got Millie. She was actually ready to head out the door when I got there. I love mornings like that. Cool this line, Thursdays are always a little bit crazy because half my fifth graders go to their gifted program in the morning and half my six graders go to their good did program in the afternoon and I'm left with 3/4 of a class and most of the day. So we've started projects and things like that to keep the other kids occupied because they can't hold the gifted kids accountable for any material that I present on the day that they are not there. 

After school I picked up Jack from school and we took Millie to gymnastics. Jack and I got home and I packed snacks because it was my turn to drive for volleyball. They were practicing at Brophy. I ended up taking an extra kid to practice with me because his mom was in a bind. She said she would pick him up from Brophy but then when I found out another player wasn't going to go I told her I could go ahead and bring him home. She then said, 'Oh, thank you so much. I really didn't want to have to drive to Brophy tonight.' That kind of pissed me off because I not only drove to Brophy one time on that night, but I drove twice. Once I had dropped the boys, I came home to pick Millie up from gymnastics, take her home so she wasn't out until almost ten o'clock,  and then had to go back to Brophy. So it was quite a night. 

Friday was a shit show of a day at school. Millie was being harassed by a student on social media and the principal informed me she could do nothing about it. I was livid and have lost a ton of respect for my principal. She surely knows I know the school law. She even called me into her office with the safety officer. He agreed with me that at least a conversation with the boy would be needed. She didn't do it though. So as we were heading to gymnastics, I told Millie to message her core group of friends, and tell them that I was going to call the police if that boy didn't take down the TikTok. Within minutes, he messaged her on an unknown number. He asked why her mom was making threats to him. I told Millie to message him and say if he did not take that TikTok down, I would call the police. I also told her to say that it was not a threat,  it was a promise. Witching minutes it was gone. Success!

When I got home from taking Millie to gymnastics, I went out with Elise as Stuart agreed to pick Millie up from gymnastics once he was home. I had had a very stressful day. Elise and I got back to the house around 8 pm and I really don't recollect much after that. I was told we went swimming and had fun. Maybe martinis on an empty stomach is not the best idea. 

Saturday morning Jack had tryouts for his club team. His coach this year will be Kendall McCall. Sound familiar? This is my friend Elisa's daughter in law. Everything seems to come full circle. I taught James, Elisa's oldest son, and now her youngest son's wife is coaching my son. Life is crazy. 

After tryouts we went to breakfast. This was the scene outside of the restaurant. These boys all made the first team. 

Jack went for a sleepover at Gavin's while we had Millie's 12th birthday party. She requested John to come and DJ so they could sing karaoke. They also swam and played around the house. It was a great party. 

Jenni and John never disappoint. 

The girls love singing (yelling) and the props John brought. 

It was a party to remember. 

Sunday we had the neighbors over for dinner. Stuart made a tradition English Sunday roast, which included some kind of meat, chicken for us on this day, many vegetables and gravy. It was a great meal. The kids swam for the entire day and Jack was on a Pokémon Go adventure with his volleyball buddies. He is a nerd at heart. Stuart left around 3:30 pm, which was hard again this week, but we will manage as we are doing this for our kids to be able to have the advantages they have at this point. Jack returned home around 4:30 pm and then we headed to Elevate for a school fundraiser. The kids bounced for a couple of hours and then we went home for showers and bed. 

Monday morning at 5:40 Millie came busting into my room, crying, with a 101 degree fever, runny nose, and headache. I ran to school to do lesson plans and schedule a sub. Poor kid! This was her most of the day. 

I decided to take the time at home to sort out her room a bit. I got rid of some random socks that had no match as well as ones that no longer fit. Then I put away all of her clean clothes, as you do when your kid is not feeling well. I also brought down the millions of bottles and cups in her room, thinking that maybe I should put all of those things in the dishwasher as not to continue her illness. 

This was the science experiment found in one of the bottles. Hoping she hadn't drank from this for a while. Ick! 

Tuesday she still wasn't 100% so I made her stay home. Jack didn't have volleyball for this week so it made it kind of nice for me to not have to drive anywhere for the night. I picked Jack up from school and we went home and didn't do much of anything.

Wednesday everything was back to normal. Millie was feeling better but still kind of had a cold. After school on Wednesday the air conditioning service came to do a regular maintenance on our AC units. It seemed like they were there for hours. Naturally, they recommended about $7000 worth of work that needed to be done. I told him I would speak to my husband that weekend, and we would get back to them. After they left, Elise came over for a little bit for a chat. The kids came to swim and I made chicken nuggets and tater tots. They all went home at about 7:30 PM and we all settled in for the night. 

Thursday we were at school and things were relatively normal. My Thursdays always feel like I'm getting paid to do nothing. We do a lot of projects on those days and they're all self-initiated. My actual teaching is pretty minimal. After school, Millie informed me that she forgot her leotard again. I was so frustrated because she takes her gym back to school every day, but somehow seem to miss getting a leotard in there. I went home to get one for her, just simply because I felt like I pay so much money for this sport that I need her to be there. And she hadn't been there on Monday or Tuesday of the week.  We picked up Jack from school and went to take Millie to gymnastics. Once Jack and I were at home, I did some laundry and just relaxed for the evening. I made Millie dinner to take it back to gym with me when I picked her up.

Friday seemed like a normal day. The weeks are going very quickly this year. I think it is because my class is so good. Millie and I picked Jack up after school and we drove to gymnastics. On the way back, Jack and I stopped at the grocery store so I could pick up some things. I also got a call from Stuart informing me that he was actually coming home that evening. He was supposed to work on Saturday, but because of Hurricane Hillary, the flight that he was supposed to take on Monday to Australia, for his brothers bachelor, party was in jeopardy of not actually taking off. So our sister-in-law rescheduled his flight for Saturday evening. So instead of having him home for a day and a half I had him at home for about 12 hours.  Once he was home around 10 PM we sat up and talked for a while and then went to bed. 

Saturday morning we got up and took the kids to breakfast. We then went shopping with Millie so she could spend some of her birthday money and gift cards. When we got home we sat down for a little bit and Stuart went to take a shower to get ready to leave for the airport. he was flying to LA and then on to Sydney from there. Jack had asked me in the morning if he could have some friends over for a sleepover. It turned out that Carter was the only one that could come. He showed up at about 6 o'clock.  I was able to get a lot of laundry done in the day and still have time to do a little bit of nothing. 

Sunday I got up and went to the store with Millie. We then took Carter home. Once we were home, we waited for Ken and Maytee to show up for our Sunday Pool Day. We spent the afternoon hanging out in the pool. Elise came over later. I fed the kids and then we settled into the night. 

Monday after school, Jack went home with Gavin. I took Millie to gymnastics and had 3 hours by myself at home. It was delightful. I picked Jack up from Starbucks and then headed to get Millie from the gym. Jack's practices this fall are from 5 pm to 7 pm, two nights a week, so he gets home a great deal earlier than last year. Millie had a meltdown before going to bed, all over lying to me about brushing her teeth. 

Tuesday I took Millie to gymnastics and then went to the gastro entomologist appointment for them to tell me that I would need an upper GI scope to see what the problem was. I booked that procedure and called my parents to make sure they would be in town in October when I had to have it done. I got home and made Jack something to eat. I watched television for a while before having to go and collect Millie from the gym. Stuart was in Australia, getting ready to travel to New Zealand. He was living his best life! I do love that he is able to spend quality time with his brothers.  

Wednesday Jack went home with Gavin again. Because they go to practice earlier, it helps me when he can go home with one of the boys. I took all the boys to volleyball and then went to a sketchy Sam's Club in north Phoenix. I saw about 12 homeless people talking to themselves. I got basic needs and then remembered I had to fit all the things in the back of the car while still cramming in 5 boys. I managed it all. I ended up taking all the boys home after practice. When we got home, Millie had showered and was relatively ready for bed. 

Thursday was school as usual. I took Millie to gymnastics after picking Jack up from school. I stopped at Fry’s to get some groceries for the weekend. I dropped the groceries at home along with Jack so that he could do some chores. He needed to get the carpet swept, the pool swept, pack his bag, and put his clothes away before he went and spent the weekend with Gavin. I went on to Costco to get a couple of things and then picked up a charcuterie tray from a lady in Queen Creek. We were going away for Chris's birthday. We planned to go to Sedona for the weekend. So I had to farm out my kids to other families for the weekend. Millie would be going to Ken and Maytee's to spend some time with Lexi, and Jack was going to Vicki and Ryan's to spend some time with Gavin. I got Millie from gymnastics and then we were home to get everything ready for the following day. 

Friday during the day, Jack texted me to let me know he got a 93% on his geometry test. We are so pleased with how he is doing in math this year, especially because he didn't have much of a math teacher last year. After school, we were allowed to leave as soon as the students were gone. It was a good thing because I had some kid shuffling to do. Millie and I went home to let the dogs out to pee, gather our things for the weekend and head to meet Ken in Gilbert. Millie was staying with Ken and Maytee while I was away in Sedona. Once she was delivered I headed to Vicki's. 

Pre-trip beverages. 

Ryan then took Vicki and myself to Chris's house. Sarah was going to drive, so we piled all of our crap into her car. Our drive to Sedona was relatively uneventful. We chatted about a lot of nothing and just enjoyed getting away. Tom, Chris's husband had rented this Airbnb for us for Chris's birthday. It was a lovely cabin just down the road from the chapel in Sedona. 

The car ride was fun. 

We bought mumus for the weekend. Christie was not able to join us Friday night but would be up on Saturday. 

Friday night we sat up and talked and had drinks and really did a whole lot of nothing. We ended up going into the hot tub. We couldn't figure out how it worked and at one point I thought I had pushed a button to make all the water come out. We ended going to bed around midnight, I think.

Saturday morning I was awake at about 6:20 so I went out of the room Vicki and I were sharing, and made myself some coffee. Then we sat outside for a little bit and enjoyed the morning air because it was much cooler than being in the valley. We had some breakfast and then ended up staying around the house and waiting for Christie to arrive. We were going to go into town and have something to eat and then go to a medium reading. We tried to get an Uber and it was virtually impossible. So Christie decided that she would drive and not have anything to drink. Then after dinner we would come back to the house and she could join in the libations. We went to our reading and were all in the same room. I personally was not very open to the whole thing. Therefore, some of the things that she claimed she felt might have been directed towards me, but I wasn't going to say I could relate to what she was saying. I was raised that this type of medium was of the devil. Do I believe that now? She did say a lot of things to Vicki, Sarah and Chris. It was interesting, and I would probably do it again, and maybe force myself to be a little more open. We shall see! 

After the reading, we went to dinner at a place called the Hudson. I had a hamburger with no bun, while the other girls shared some appetizers. When we got back to the Airbnb, we brought out the birthday cake we had purchased for Chris, and sang happy birthday. Sarah decided that she would perform a wedding ceremony between Chris, Vicki, and myself. It was hilarious! We laughed and had a wonderful time with each other. 

We got up on Sunday morning and we all ended up just gathering our things and getting ready to head back to the valley. We decided to have lunch on the way down and stopped at Desert Ridge and ate at the Yard House. We then went next door to Dirty Dough and got some cookies. Then I headed to get Millie from Mesa. She had been following me on Life360 and assumed she knew when I would be at Ken and Maytee's to pick her up.  Jack had been living his best life because on Friday night he went to the football game with his friend and Coach Meyn. On Saturday, Coach Meyn's mother, which is Gavin's grandmother took the boys on a Pokémon Go adventure. She was driving them around town for quite some time.  Then on Sunday, Carter's mom drove them around for more Pokémon Go. When we were back at Vicki's house, I gathered Jack's things and headed to Mesa to get Millie. Kristi brought Jack home around 4:30 pm. Once everyone was home, I made food and everyone got ready for bed. 

Monday we got up and went to school. Stuart got home around noon. Millie and I went to pick him up at 3:30. He and I dropped Millie at gymnastics and then we went to meet Skip and Lisa for happy hour. Jack had gone home with Carter and was off to volleyball practice. We picked him up just after 730 at Starbucks and then headed back to get Millie from gymnastics. Stuart was exhausted from his trip, but had managed to wash clothes and get his things gathered to go back to Gallup for the rest of the week. 

Tuesday morning Stuart woke up around 3 AM primarily because of jet lag. He then decided it was probably OK for him to head onto Gallup for the work week. I came downstairs with him, but then went back upstairs to get a few more hours of sleep once he had driven away. After school on Monday, I took Millie to gymnastics and then picked Jack up from the girl's volleyball match at around 6 PM. I had a parent meeting at gymnastics to let us know about the fees for the year. Extraordinarily expensive, as usual. Millie and I then ran through McDonald's to get her food for dinner. When we got home, the regular routine was carried out. 

Wednesday morning we were up and out of the house as normal. I woke up and decided to look at Moose's ear because it looked very red to me. In fact it was red and warranted me taking him to the vet that afternoon. I was supposed to meet with my friend Debi for dinner, but had to cancel because of the silly dog. It turns out he was bit by one of our other dogs, and because Labrador ears are so sensitive, it developed into a hematoma. $180 later he was in good shape with medication and a plan for healing. I picked Jack up from Vicki's house after volleyball. He had gone home with Gavin after school. In between me taking Moose to the vet and picking Jack up I stopped at the gas station twice to fill up a tire that indicated it was leaking. Once I got home with Jack, I knew the following morning I would wake up to a very flat tire. So I set my alarm for 5:15 AM.

Sure enough, when I woke up, I went downstairs and saw that the tire was flat. I proceeded to get ready for the day and get my lunch packed. I then went out at 5:45 to change the tire on the car. I wasn't sure I would be able to loosen the lug nuts, but it turns out I am much stronger than I thought I was. I then devised the plan of attack to fix the tire. 

Millie had to go with me to school when I took Jack because I needed to turn in his transcript from his summer school class. We then went onto our school. My teammate, at our special time, took me to Discount Tires to drop my car off. They called and told me that the tire was covered because it was road hazard damage, and I had insurance for that.  The other back tire actually had a staple in it but they fixed that. They assessed that the front two tires were bald on the inside. I told them to hold off on that because I really felt like maybe I would get a new car over the weekend. That was a little bit of a joke, but Stuart and I have talked about it recently. Jack messaged to see if he could stay at school for the girls' volleyball matches. This actually helped me out because I had to be at the dentist at 4 pm in order to get my permanent crown put on. So after I dropped Millie I rushed to the dentist. It turns out that the dental assistant who put on my temporary did such a good job that it wouldn't come off. I wasn't willing to let them numb my mouth so I told them I would work on it over the weekend and come back the following Tuesday. It was frustrating, but I was not letting them numb my mouth. That seemed silly. Once I was done at the dentist, I came home and let the dogs out and fed them. Then I made dinner for both kids. I picked Millie up first and then Jack. As we were heading to the high school it started raining and the wind was really blowing. Fortunately, he was able to stay under the canopy at the school and not get wet. 

Friday morning it was business as usual. School flew by and I was anxious for Stuart to be home and then for Liz to arrive. She had decided she would come for Labor Day Weekend. After school Millie and I went to pick up Jack before taking Millie to the gym. Jack and I came home and waited for Stuart to get back from Gallup. When he got home, we went to get Millie. Liz arrived around 11 pm. We stayed up for a while and talked and then hit the hay. 

Saturday morning we bummed around the house. We ended up shopping a bit before taking Millie to the gym to learn her floor routine for competitions. She learned it relatively easy, which was a relief. When we left the gym, we went to get her friend Brinley because Millie had requested a sleepover. We went to eat lunch at Az Pho, which was a request from Liz. We then headed to the outlets at Wild Horse Pass. We were looking for some clothes for Stuart for Matt's wedding in Australia. Liz shopped a great deal, and although Millie didn't want to go, she ended up buying a few things as well. We got back to the house around 5:30 pm. Melissa, one of Liz's friends whom I met in Las Cruces last

Labor Day weekend came over and we had beverages and talked all evening. We ordered food from Pita Jungle and had a swell time. The weekend had started off quite well.