Bad News... Good News

Bad news: The furnace isn't working
Good news: Three space heaters work like a charm.

Bad news: It snowed in Elk Ridge already.
Good news: I don't live in Elk Ridge anymore.

Bad news: The Captain's recovery is a bit slower than originally anticipated.
Good news: I'm working from home so it's all okay.

Bad news: No peppers for my killer Autumn Chili.
Good news: Grocery store is out back and through the gate.

Bad News: It's cold at night in this house.
Good News: My new bedspread looks great and is warm and toasty, too.

Bad News: I can't take any more college classes right now.
Good News: Jaclyn puts her MPA reading list on her blog and I end up at the library (often).

Bad News: Colder weather is coming.
Good News: It's an excuse to get up to Sundance and enjoy it before it crowds up with skiiers.

Bad News: No more fresh berries-n-cream.
Good News: Peach Cobbler!

Bad News: Mae keeps getting bigger and bigger.
Good News: Next year she'll be old enough for the Primary Sacrament Program. Should be a hoot!

Bad News: Christian lives too far away.
Good News: Thanksgiving in Texas!

The Captain Has Dropped Anchor

After four days in the hospital, the Captain is back home. His surgery was successful and he is now tumor-less, though he's got quite a white bandage mustache going on. It kind of looks like Hitler's mustache run amok. His upper lip and nose are still quite swollen, but nothing like it was on Wednesday. Sorry I don't have any photos, but he wasn't willing to pose for pictures in his current condition. If you'd like an idea of what he looks like (sans bandage), well, it's kinda like this:

Now, lest you think that's an insult... IT IS NOT. We are big on superheroes at this house and Underdog is way up there as one of our favorites. In fact, one of our cars is named "Underdog" in his honor.

"Make it hap'n Cap'n" got his checkout once-over this morning from a good friend of mine from teenage days gone by... David Glassford. Dave says he's good to go, but that he'll have to take it easy for awhile. Looks like he'll be staying home from work until the middle of November. No lifting more than ten pounds, no bending over to tie his shoes, no mowing the lawn or doing any household fix-it projects. I told Dave that the Captain is quite a reader, so he'll probably spend some time moving through the stack of "to-read" books he's got. So far, the list includes:

"American Assassin" by Vince Flynn
"Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins
"John Adams" by David McCullough
"Truman" by David McCullough
"Yearning for the Living God" by F. Enzio Busche
"Play Dead" by Harlan Coben

If anyone has any other book suggestions, feel free to let us know.

For now, the Captain is comfortable laying in his bed reading. At about 2:00, though, I suspect he'll be in the other room watching BYU play TCU. (Good thing we got his pain medication prescription filled earlier. I think he's going to need it for that game. Sigh. Oh well, it's a rebuilding year.)

I'm Back Online

Since moving to Provo, I have deliberately taken life slower than before. Don't ask me why; it makes no sense. Before I lived in a sleepy town on the side of a mountain, about 30 minutes away from the closest metropolitan area. I had to drive ten minutes just to buy gas or a gallon of milk. Deer routinely crossed my front yard and most of the city streets. Elk could be heard (if not always seen) on the golf course every winter at night. You would think that was the time I would live with life being at a slower pace. But reflecting back on all of that, I find that I actually lived pretty much with a "to-do list" approach to my life.

I have decided to dump that way of living for the 1-2 years we are going to live in Provo. This time around, I walk to work. I walk to the grocery store. The house is small and there isn't a lot of room for all the "stuff" the Captain and I have accumulated in 50 years of living. But, rather than stress out about it, I just haven't made 'finding a place for everything' a huge priority. There are still boxes on my back patio. The windows don't have drapes or valances on them. (I have definite ideas of what I want each room to feel like, so I'm going slowly as I work on the design one room at a time.) AND, much to the chagrin of my children, I was in no hurry to get internet access.

The Captain had surgery this week. He had a pituitary tumor that needed to be removed, so he now gets to add brain surgery to his list of lifetime experiences. 2010 will go down as the year of tumor removal for both of us. Anyway, he will be going home from the hospital in the next couple of days and then will spend a couple of weeks recovering at home. In talking with my supervisors at work, I asked to be able to work from home during those two weeks so he wouldn't be left alone all day. That's a go, so... I finally had to get internet access.

Of course the children are deliriously happy about it. Josh can now get on the internet from his iPod in the living room while I sit at the computer in the "other room." (I don't quite know what to call that room yet. It currently has the dining table, computer desk and a big comfy chair and reading lamp in it.)

So, now that we're connected to the world again, I'll get busy uploading all the pictures on my camera and try to get back to some regular entries here.

Today

In my mug: Belgian Dark Hot Cocoa

In my spoon: Baked Oatmeal with sliced peaches

In my ears: “Buffalo Soldiers” Bob Marley

In the freezer: Individual slices of fresh Utah peaches sitting on my baking sheets, getting ready to be stored in zip-lock bags to tide us over during the fresh-fruitless winter.

On my nightstand: 1. My Grandfather’s Blessings by Rachel Naomi Remen 2. Bayer Baby Aspirin (one tablet every morning) 3. A half-full bottle of Vitamin Water Go-Go. 4. Reading glasses (2.0 lens magnification) 5. Blackberry scented candle – unlit. And 6. Dust (sigh).

Anxious about: Juggling the Captain’s surgery and Jon’s entrance into the MTC on the same morning next week.

Out my window: The back patio cluttered with boxes, chairs and other items that haven’t found a home inside the new digs yet. Thirteen quail skittering across the lawn. My bicycle (that the Princess seems to think is hers now) leaning up against the post.

Over my shoulder: Cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom. A stove that needs to be wiped down.

In my prayers: Rod’s wife and children.

On my bedroom dresser: Tonight’s “project:” So many things in piles. I have no idea what they are.

On my mind: The Princess's mission call. Has it come today?

On my grocery list: Apple cider, hothouse tomatoes, Zip-lock bags.