Thankful Thursday

Another Thursday...another list of things I'm thankful for...

1. My fabulous husband. I don't say it often enough but I'm constantly thankful for Nathan...for the skills he shares with the boys, because he does all the grocery shopping and most of the cooking, for the fact that we're pretty good at communicating most of the time (and generally enjoy it), for the flowers he's been bringing me during these stay-at-home orders, for his attention to detail when he puts his mind to it, because he cares about the people he works with and seeks to take care of them...for just so many reasons.   

2. The Daniel Craig James Bond reboot. We realized recently that none of our boys had seen a James Bond movie. To rectify this, we started with Pierce Brosnan in "The World Is Not Enough" (to set the stage and introduce the character in a somewhat modern way)...and the boys were not impressed, lol. Micah and I then watched "Goldeneye" basically for the laughs. And then we convinced them all to give 007 another chance with "Casino Royale." And now they're willing to watch more James Bond. :) Pretty sure we'll finish off all the other Daniel Craig 007 movies before the next one comes out. 

3. Today's snow. Yes, that's a weird thing to be thankful for. I know. But, I'm choosing to be thankful for today's snow because it waited until we'd just managed to get the garage cleaned out to put the cars back inside (after our climbing wall build)...and because it means I won't need to turn the outside water back on this month, lol. 

It's not the easiest to see, but we measured 10" already and it's still snowing. Obviously.

(In case you're wondering, I got completely soaked (despite having dressed appropriately in parka and boots and fleece lined pants and all) when I went out to shake snow off of all the trees in and around our yard. Hopefully, though, I saved some branches...as a number of them had been dragging all the way to the ground.)

4. Friends who sew. Those who know me know that sewing machines and I do not get along, lol. Fortunately, the sweet Annette (mom to Noah's roommate his freshman year) does sew and generously made us all some terrific face masks. Woohoo!

5. Popcorn. Apparently, we eat a lot of popcorn. It's been our snack of choice lately. Thankful that it's easy and also gluten and sugar free.

6. Upper body strength. I climbed on our new wall earlier this week! Thankful that I still know how and have been keeping up my strength through boot camp, though the "easy" problem Micah set for me is really more of a problem I'd work my way up to over a climbing session, lol. Micah would want you to know that I didn't technically finish it either...because I refused to finish out the route and grab the top. I know I *can*...I just couldn't bring myself to do it yet, lol. (Micah also made me make my way to the top and hang there and drop--to prove that I could and get it out of my head. And I did. And it wasn't my favorite thing. So now I don't really want to, lol. Let's just say that the mats at Ascent are better than our old mattress and that normally I top out or down climb instead of dropping anyhow...but neither of those was an option on this route.)

Also, I totally climbed that pole!! I'm pretty proud...I've never successfully climbed a pole or rope before...always hated that in PE class. I did it again to make Micah document it for proof, lol. 

Of course then Asher and Micah proceeded to climb it, literally, one handed (still with feet)...and do things like this:

Boys. ;P

So, what are you thankful for this week? 

Pandemic Project

So...I'm hearing stories of other people using this time for various projects...spring cleaning, catching up on correspondence, craft projects, yard projects, etc. While I definitely have some of those on my list, our big pandemic project thus far has been a home climbing wall. Yup. 

After some discussion, we decided that the stay at home orders were going to last a good while and that Micah's patience might not, lol. Commitment made, then, at the start of April we began rearranging spaces, I ordered holds, Nathan made a scaled model, and we bought a new mattress for Nathan and me... 

Yes, we moved all of those books and bookshelves from the front room to the dining room (along with all the other stuff in there...also sold our digital piano to help finance this project, lol). We're feeling pretty good about our order of holds from Metolius because, in the less than two weeks from when we ordered, it's become increasingly difficult to find holds to purchase. (With all the gyms closed and outdoor climbing being discouraged (so as not to risk hospital trips when hospitals have enough on their plates), climbers everywhere have turned to building home climbing walls! I joined a Facebook group dedicated to home walls and it's the most active group I've ever been part of, lol...and very helpful, too!)

Also, Nathan and I were overdue for a new mattress. We took a chance on one a friend recommended and it shipped to our house in a big box in just days. The boys had some fun seeing who was most flexible on it before we moved it up to our room. The old (memory foam) mattress will now serve as the crash pad for the climbing wall. :) 

And about a week ago, Nathan and Micah had their supply list ready and hit Home Depot on a mission. They were able to find everything and rent a truck to bring it all home. Our garage became the workshop...

We decided it needed to be freestanding and modular, so Nathan designed it to be bolted together with carriage bolts. He and Micah spent many hours working in the garage when time allowed (bonus woodworking and construction lessons for Micah); and, in less than a week, they'd put everything together beautifully and it was time for moving and assembling it. That's how we spent Saturday.

Fortunately, we have three teenage boys. The pieces are heavy. ;P We got the two sides into the house and finished installing the last few t-nuts (which will hold bolt-on holds). Then we brought the first 4' x 8' panel in and got that bolted into place. (Nathan created rails of sorts on the two side pieces that the panels sit in to make assembly easier.)

With the structure stable and set, then, we brought in the last two panels. The second panel was able to be maneuvered into place from below (slide one end up and past the side then drop the other side into the rail...get the first end into place and bolt everything together). The top panel was a little trickier, as it had to go up almost 8 feet. We ended up getting it around back then working together to slide it up the back, climb the structure and fit the panel into place...at which point Nathan was able to bolt it into place. Whew.

That main climbing wall has a surface area of about 8' x 12' and is at about 30 degrees. The vertical side wall comes out almost 8' at the bottom. And here's a progression of our front room over the past couple weeks...

And Micah's been busy setting routes and testing them out and is happy...

Technically, it's not completely finished (beyond the obvious fact that Micah's not finished setting holds). We're missing 25 t-nuts on the vertical side wall. Our plans changed slightly after we'd ordered the hardware. Given the popularity of building home walls right now, the hardware is now backordered most places through the end of the month. Since the climbing community is fabulous, the lovely folks at SToKed Climbing are generously sending us some to finish things off (we left the empty holes at the top, where we can still access easily). Also, at some point, I'd like to paint a design of sorts on the walls, but waiting for that to dry/set fully before using it was going to take longer than we wanted. Once the local climbing gyms open again, maybe I'll get to it. :)

In the meantime, Micah and I are looking forward to some good time spent on this awesome wall (and, yes, boys have also been climbing the pole, lol). If we find some climbing shoes for the three in the house without them, maybe we'll even convince more to join us. ;)

So. What kinds of pandemic projects have you all been busy with? :)

Thankful Thursday

Hi, all. Things I'm thankful for this Thursday...

1. Having a smaller nose. We don't have proper face masks (yet) so have used bandanas the few times we've needed them thus far. Nathan tells me that he wishes he had my nose, lol. Apparently, wearing a mask irritates his larger nose. It hasn't bothered me. :) Guess I'll be thankful for that...though I still contend that a larger nose would make sunglasses shopping considerably easier, lol. 

2. Not having allergies. Apparently, it's now allergy season. Nathan's not so happy about that. I'm thankful I don't suffer from allergies. (Fortunately, for the most part, the boys also don't suffer from allergies.)

3. My college statistics classes. I've thought it before, but it's particularly true right now. I'm thankful for the statistics classes I took in college and the instruction I received in reading and questioning numbers. With all the numbers in the news lately, I sincerely hope that maybe we can consider teaching statistics in high schools. It seems so much more useful than calculus for most students and would lead to better informed citizens. 

4. Gorgeous weather. With snow expected over the weekend (because Colorado, lol), I'll be thankful for the gorgeous weather we've had for the last week. It's been simply beautiful...sunny and warm, perfect for sidewalk chalk and outside projects and walks around the neighborhood. 

5. Our homeschooling history. As we've been adjusting to this new normal, I realized recently that I'd been neglecting some of the things I found most useful while homeschooling, namely keeping each boys' learning style (and my own) in mind when looking at assignments and how information is presented. Specifically, online learning doesn't automatically suit a kinesthetic or auditory learner as well as it does a visual learner. I've got all three and had gotten used to my boys just handling school on their own. They've learned time management and tricks that work for how they learn. We specifically talked through some of those things when they started school.

But those tricks that they'd used for classroom work didn't automatically transfer over when everything switched to online learning. I forgot to look at things through that lens and was working to figure out why some of my boys were more disgruntled than others. They were all still managing, but there were different levels. Now that I'm reminded, and thanks to the years of dealing with this exact thing during our homeschooling, we're working on new strategies. And just recognizing the difficulty seems to already have helped...being able to put a name to why a boy was upset lessened the frustration for us both. Whew. 

That's my picture-less list for this week. What are you thankful for?

Thankful Thursday

It's a little late in the day but still Thursday. :) Here are things I'm thankful for...

1. All the helpers. So very thankful for all the health care workers, grocery store employees, delivery drivers, teachers, tech support, emergency personnel, and everyone else working tirelessly to get us through this time. Thankful, too, for all the volunteers stepping up to help in big and little ways around the world.

2. The time we have right now. I'm not getting heaps of projects done...haven't made a big dent in my reading list or crossed all the things off the house project list. I've decided to be okay with that. Instead, I'm taking things a day at a time and savoring the fact that I have the time to not get things done. It's quiet right now and productivity seems louder. Yes, we still have some deadlines (for boys' school and Nathan's work, obviously) but life is much less hurried. 

3. Date lunches. Unable to go out for our weekly date night, Nathan and I picked up some take out (we've been trying to support our local restaurants and eateries as much as possible) and had a socially distanced picnic at a park. We soaked up the sunshine and talked and had a lovely afternoon (earlier this week...when it wasn't snowy like today, lol). Nathan was particularly delighted with his beer in a mason jar:

(The governor's orders from March 20 temporarily allow the sale of alcohol for take out or delivery if the business is licensed to sell alcohol, the buyer is 21 or older, and the buyer also purchases food. The alcohol must be in a sealed container, though. Normally selling from the tap, this is the solution one local business came up with and it worked great.)

4. Appreciation for reminders about priorities. I'm sure I'm not the only one paying attention to what's actually essential and where our priorities are these days. I think it'll be interesting to see what we do with these reminders going forward. In particular, we find ourselves paying a lot more attention to where our money goes and trying to support people and places that matter to us. I'm thankful for the nudge to stop and think more intentionally about things like that.

5. Technology. Gotta be thankful for technology right now. It's amazing to think about even just a couple decades ago...no smart phones, no Zoom video meetings, no online schooling. While it can all get a little overwhelming as we're finding our balance here (just because we *can* doesn't always mean we should or even necessarily want to, lol), I appreciate the way technology has eased this transition. 

Okay, off to maybe read a bit more of the next book in my pile. :) Happy Thursday to you all!  

Thankful Thursday

Hi, all! We're now under stay at home orders here in Colorado. (I could have this wrong but I think the entire state has orders until April 10, and our county has orders until April 17.) We've been basically doing all of that for a week and a half-ish already anyhow, so no big changes. :) And, since it's Thursday, here are some things I'm thankful for today...

1. Sidewalk chalk. It was too beautiful on Tuesday to stay inside, so I broke out some sidewalk chalk. I remember fondly the days when all the kids in our cul de saq were younger and outside and playing together. They're mostly all grown now but I enjoyed the sidewalk chalk for them:

I made the hopscotch for anyone who might be out walking and was just randomly doodling in the driveway. Made all the boys come see my artwork and Micah had me add his poem. :)

2. The timing of our Europe trip. As I read the news and see the empty tourist spots around the world, I'm ever so thankful that we went on our Europe trip when we did...before Notre Dame burned or Venice flooded...before all of this. :(

3. The ability to workout outside. Even under the current stay at home orders, we're still able to exercise outside...so long as we continue to maintain social distancing and all. Yesterday's boot camp workout was an outdoor workout, so I met up with Lynne (we both walked/jogged the half mile or so to meet in the middle) and we completed it together...but at least 6 feet apart. ;)  

4. The boys' schools. Both CSU and CEC have done an excellent job of helping families transition to this distance learning situation. I've been very appreciative of the communication and care. I see other schools around the nation working to figure this all out and am thankful that all of my boys' schools have managed to make the transition as seamless as possible. Yes, some labs are disrupted and can't really been fixed and other things have definitely been complicated. But, classes themselves are all moving forward without any delays so that the semesters will end as scheduled. This morning, Asher and I completed his advising appointment for fall classes via Microsoft Teams...easy peasy.

5. My siblings. Even though the topics haven't all been lovely, it's been nice texting with all my siblings more often lately...sharing information and checking in on each other. (My brother, Joe, by the way, turned out to be negative for COVID19, and he and the four kids who also got sick are all better now.) And I'm ever so grateful that three of them live in Washington and can help my mom and gram. As I type, my sister is picking up my gram (who's recovering nicely from her hip replacement!) and taking her to stay with my brother and his family. (Also, thankful that Bekah lives nearby and can check in on mom so she's not alone!) They wanted to transfer gram to another nursing facility nearby, as she still needs more physical therapy and supervision than she could get at home. But after some back and forth conversations and googling of the facility (not impressed and worried about potential COVID19 exposure since a partner facility has positive cases and they might share staff), and Joe's family's generous offer to take gram, themselves, they managed to make the switch. Joe can provide the physical therapy and his family provides the supervision. Whew. Truly, so, so thankful.

(Thought I'd add a picture. This is my sibs, gram, mom and me back in November 2007.) 

And those are some of the things I'm thankful for today. How about you?