Thankful Thursday

First of all, yes. Yes, I'm still sorting Legos. Obviously. ;) But. That's not the topic of this post. Today, amid all the crazy and sad and frustrating news in the world, here are some things I'm thankful for...

1. Decent weather. Even though we could definitely use more precipitation and less wind, I'm thankful that the weather has continued to make getting outside possible and enjoyable. For instance, a couple of weekends ago, we all met up with Noah for a picnic dinner near his apartment and Asher did flips and climbed this tree. Can you spot him? 

He was in need of some physical activity, having completed the ACT again that morning. Relatedly, he also had the SAT yesterday morning (fortunately, his high school was able to offer it so we didn't have to drive to Cheyenne, lol). This week he also had his advising appointment, has been working on college applications and has a graduation meeting later today. Yes, senior year is in full swing here. Oy.

2. Maintenance staff. That same weekend as Asher's ACT, Noah's apartment ceiling started leaking. It started with a manageable drip, and they put a bucket under it and submitted a maintenance order, but it was the start of the weekend. The next day the drip became more serious and multiple buckets and towels were required...so they upgraded their online maintenance order to a call to the maintenance staff. Thankful both that Noah and his roommate managed all that on their own and that the maintenance staff was able to get someone to their apartment right away. They determined that the apartment above theirs had a broken ice maker...turned that off...drilled some holes in the ceiling to dry everything out...and came back a few days later to patch the ceiling back up. Whew. 

(Also, as a homeowner, gotta be appreciative of having a maintenance staff who can handle things like that, lol.)

3. Double oven. I don't think about it often but I'm really thankful for our double oven. It's so convenient and we actually make use of it fairly often since most of Asher's food is cooked in the oven. It's lovely being able to still use the oven when Asher is. :) 

4. The rearranging of vehicles. Recently, Nathan shuffled our vehicles for me. With only a two car garage and three vehicles, the minivan I generally drive had been parked on the street. In the past, that made the most sense since I drove the least. Now that Nathan's working from home full time, though, I realized (back when it snowed and I had to brush snow off the minivan and scrape ice already) that he drives the least. So now the car he generally drives is on the street and I'm back in the garage. I'm going to really appreciate that come winter. :)

5. Smoky sunrises and sunsets. Obviously I'd rather the nearby fires be contained and done. In the meantime, though, I'm choosing to be thankful for the beautiful sunrises and sunsets the smoke has created. Here's a not great sunrise picture I snapped walking home from boot camp at the park Monday morning...

Yes, sunrise was as we were finishing boot camp. Fortunately, the park has lights. At some point it will get too cold to do boot camp at the park once a week, but I'm so thankful for it right now...as it's great to see people in person (from 6 feet). The rest of the week, we meet over Zoom.

So, those are some of the things I'm thankful for this week. And, because I know you're wondering...yes, I did go back and sort that pile by color...

I'm also almost done sorting the tub of studs and tiny things into several categories. And I'm about a third of the way through going through the boys' sets to see what, if anything, is missing from each set. :) 

I may have a problem...

Yes, I'm still sorting through the boys' Legos. Remember how I said, "once I finish sorting all the loose stuff..."? Yeah, that was just crazy talk. ;) Here's a quick run down on where things stand since last Thursday...

After I sorted out the huge pile of all the loose Legos to pull out minifigure pieces, small studs and tiny pieces, technic pieces and wheels...I started thinking that I should sort out at least some of the colors, since the majority of the Star Wars sets will need certain colors, right? So, then I started new piles for grey, white, black, brown and deep blue pieces...with a leftover pile of all the other colors...

(The multicolored pile on the far right is the remainder to be sorted into colors at this point. While I was at it, I continued to find and weed out some of the original four categories plus odd pieces and Bionicle pieces.)

After I'd gotten through the huge pile for colors, I dumped out the tub of minifigure pieces...

...and quickly realized that was going to need further sorting if I was going to be able to find anything. That led to more piles...

Saturday night, we had Chinese food and my fortune read: Diligence is the mother of good fortune. It seemed apt, lol. Yes, that's a pile of just minifigure legs. By the end of Saturday, it looked like this:

There are piles of partially and fully complete minifigures, heads, hair, helmets, torsos, hands and arms, legs, things that shoot, things that are held, flames, horns, pointy things, things that go between the torso piece and the head, and a few others. Oh, and anything that I knew was definitely Star Wars related got tossed into the original tub. Um, I need to go find some more containers around the house today, lol.

And, then, because it seemed necessary, Asher and I made a totem pole out of the loose heads...

We think there were about 90 here. Some of the loose heads didn't stack well and there are many heads on bodies in this room and in both Micah and Asher's rooms still. So, yeah, we have a lot of minifigures. ;P 

And then on Sunday I got through five sets to check them and make sure they had all their pieces. Yes, just five. In all fairness, I was also doing laundry and watching football and a few other things. And, I started with the non-Star Wars sets, figuring they'll take longer. I had to really hunt for things for a couple of Micah's sets, because he'd modified things, so that also took longer. I'm expecting/hoping that the rest will go smoother, as I know that most of the Star Wars sets haven't been messed with since being meticulously assembled other than the fact that the minifigures are scattered.

Also, don't laugh, but I kinda enjoy sorting the piles. It appeals to the organizer in me. (Yes, I know many of you are not at all surprised, lol.) I may sort the colored pile actually by color and further sort the bin of studs and tiny pieces. I may even sort each colored bin further. Because, as I discovered while trying to find things for the sets, knowing I need a black piece is one thing...finding it in the bin of black pieces is another.

Wish me luck?

Thankful Thursday: Lego Edition

Today's Thankful Thursday is brought to you by Lego. Yes. It's time. My boys haven't been actively playing with Legos for awhile now (not counting First Lego League a couple years ago, which didn't actually prompt any digging into the Legos we have at home, lol)...so I'm gearing up to sell most of them.

I'm realizing that 1) we really can't just store all these Legos for the boys or for grandkids, 2) a number of these sets are actually worth selling, and 3) if I don't do something about them soon, I'm going to end up doing this entirely on my own. 

So. At the end of last week I started taking stock of what we've got. I made a deal with boys for a 50/50 split on sales and started a list. We've got just over 3 dozen sets that we'll probably start out trying to sell as sets and then a gajillion other pieces that I haven't yet decided how to group and sell. (Okay, not a gajillion. Easily, though, we have at least 100,000 pieces. There was a period where I kept a count of how many new pieces were coming into our collection. In one week in March 2010, I counted roughly 7000. So, yeah. We have a LOT.) Here's where we're starting from...shelves full in each boys' closet, plus loose pieces somewhat corralled on the floor in Asher and Micah's rooms, plus a trunk (as wide as a twin bed) full of Bionicle/Hero Factory pieces. (I'm just going to ignore the Lego trains that I'd already packed away in the basement for now, and let's not think about the tub or two of Duplo sized Legos I have in the basement as well.)

Soooo. Armed with my list (where I'd identified set number, original price, release year and a rough estimate of what the set is selling for online as a used set...by the way, *that* took awhile...fortunately, boys mostly remembered the names of many of the sets, which made it easier), I started looking at each set for completion yesterday. (Thank goodness all the instructions are online these days, as I gave up on trying to store all the instruction booklets years ago...though I'd be lying if I said part of me didn't wish I'd kept them, lol.) I got to my second set before realizing that wasn't the right order. As I was looking at the sets and determining whether pieces were missing, I realized that I needed to at least somewhat organize all the loose pieces so I could find missing pieces; usually it's the minifigures that aren't still with the set but also small studs will be common missing pieces. Just randomly looking everywhere wasn't going to be very efficient, lol.

I'd hoped to just kind of handle all the sets and then see what was left over...get a sense of accomplishment with the sets first before tackling everything else. But, I don't think that's going to work. So, I started sorting the loose pieces... 

The large pile on the floor (we're using Noah's bedroom since it's mostly empty) is two of the tubs from the floor of Micah's closet...two of six. There are probably about three tubs worth of pieces in Asher's room also. Oy. I'm sorting out minifigure pieces, studs and small things, Technic pieces and tires. (I'm not really sure why I'm sorting out tires, lol.) I'm also weeding out things that aren't Lego from the piles (which is a surprisingly small amount of stuff).

Once I finish sorting all the loose stuff and feel like it's under control and at least gathered in one place, I'll go back to looking at each set for completion. (My initial pass tells me that it's going to be mostly just finding the minifigures that go with each set and checking the studs because there was a period where the color of the studs was some sort of currency to the boys and they traded them around, lol.) Then I'll try to figure out what to do with everything that's left. 

(Yes, I managed to get Asher, Micah and even Nathan to help me sort for awhile yesterday. I kind of doubt I'll convince them to help again, lol. Boys will help me with finding the right minifigures later, though. It's always fun to play with minifigures, lol.)

So. That's a current project here. As I'm in the thick of it, I'm thankful for all the Lego memories... 

Reorganizing the Lego room...

Minifigure families and stories (this may be my favorite memory)... 

Remembering when our Lego collection fit in just a few containers...

Visiting Legoland...

Lego Advent calendars... 

Watching Asher determinedly assemble a huge set one handed (scroll to the end of the post)...

Just playing with all the minifigures we could find, trying to create crazy people...

Even Lego birthday parties...

Obviously, there are so many other memories. Happy sigh. Thankful for this "toy" that has spanned generations, helped with fine motor skills, encouraged both creative and analytical thinking, provided endless gift ideas, and enabled story-telling.  

Wish me luck on this large project! It'll be nice to have cleared more space, though we have no idea what the boys will even use the closets for after this, lol. 

Thankful Thursday

Happy Thursday, all! Things I'm thankful for...

1. Leftovers. With Noah off in his own apartment, we have more leftovers now. :) We're still adjusting our grocery shopping amounts but are glad to have this "problem." 

2. Streaming movies. While I do enjoy going to the movie theater and miss that a bit during this pandemic, I'm finding that maybe I prefer just watching at home. Last weekend, for instance, we watched the new Mulan movie thanks to the Disney+ streaming service. It was more enjoyable to sit in the family room sharing popcorn and kibitzing throughout the show. :) Thankful for streaming services!

3. Snow. So, last weekend, it was almost 100 degrees. I think we set or tied heat records. The fact that temperatures have been so high and dry all summer has both been annoying, personally, and troublesome for wildfire season. We've had a number of fires here in Colorado. The one just west of Fort Collins more than tripled in size over the weekend, becoming the largest wildfire in Larimer County history. On Monday, it was still in the 90s and the skies were crazy. It was practically dark outside in the middle of the day...and red and smoky. It looked like this:

(Asher and Micah took advantage of the Labor Day holiday to hang out with a few friends at a park. I love how Maya is looking at Micah like "what the heck are you doing?" lol.) 

Anyhow, that night, it started to rain and the temperatures dropped from the 90s to the 30s. Tuesday brought snow. Both of these pictures were taken at noon...one on Monday and one on Tuesday:

Yeah, Colorado's weather is wacky. But. In this case, everyone was thankful for the snow (and rain). It's stupid early for it, but it was welcome. The fire, by the way, is still a problem with little containment, but the change in the weather brings hope and a respite for the firefighters. It also cleared the smoke for the time being. Whew. So thankful for all the firefighters around the country battling the too numerous fires blazing right now!

4. Boot camp over Zoom. Speaking of snow, the early cold weather made me realize that I'm going to be thankful this winter to be doing boot camp via Zoom. It'll save me from having to bundle up, walk out to the van at 5:45 in the morning, brush snow off or scrape off ice, drive to the gym and walk inside without slipping. :) 

5. Bouldering League. And, yes, even with the snow, Micah and I ventured to Ascent on Tuesday night to get in our Bouldering League climbs for the week. We both climbed better than last week and felt good. Here's Micah on a route:

I was thankful to have figured out that (after warming up a bit) I should start with the harder routes and work my way to the easier ones instead of the other way around. Last week, I started with route number 1, then climbed 2 and 3 but couldn't finish 4 or 5 because I was tired by then (mostly my hands). This week, I started on route number 4 and worked that one until I finally managed it. Then I completed 3 after a few attempts before finishing the night off with flashing routes 2 and 1 (flashing means completing it on your first attempt). (I tried route 5 a few times during all that but decided that one probably wasn't going to happen during that session.)

Yes, I can only climb the beginner routes. Honestly, I'm fine with that and appreciate the challenge. It's kinda nice just having the routes numbered each week. :) Also, I love the camaraderie and support among climbers. Bouldering League makes for more people climbing (so a little harder to maintain social distancing at times) but truly makes the experience more enjoyable with everyone cheering each other on.

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

Thankful Thursday

Happy first Thursday of September! (Still wrapping my head around the fact that it's September, lol.) Here's my list for today...things I'm thankful for:

1. Karate West. Asher and Micah have been members at Karate West for more than ten years now. With only a few exceptions, they've been there at least twice a week (usually more) every week since June 2010. It was with a heavy heart, then, that Micah recently decided that last Saturday's black belt promotion would be his last performance with the demo team for the time being. He still thinks he'll go back at some point, but the combination of additional exposure at both karate and climbing (and the time) is just too much right now. So. He's going to focus on climbing and Asher is sticking with karate and demo team. It's a little sad but I'm so thankful that Karate West has been there for us all these years...that Micah's had that second family to help him grow...and that Asher is still able to go to classes and demo team during this pandemic. 

(Asher is back to going to in-person classes twice a week and demo team once or twice. Each of those are small groups indoors with masks required. If there are more than 5-6 people, given the size of the space and the ventilation available, we're not comfortable with him going so he'll leave.) 

So. Last Saturday was a black belt promotion. Earlier this summer, they'd managed to promote the three 2nd degree black belts (Micah included), and on Saturday they promoted five to junior black belt. The demo team performed (plus we went to support the new black belts). Knowing that it was a last for awhile for Micah, I took pictures:

And I got one of the whole demo team:

Love this team! (and am sure that Micah will continue to be friends with most of them)

2. Ascent Studio. So, Team Ascent started bouldering season practices this week. They'd practiced some over the summer but last night was the first official practice for this season...having done tryouts over the past couple weeks to group climbers together into small groups. (Ascent still has limits on how many can be in the building at a time, masks are required at all times, and social distancing is to be practiced throughout the large building.) Thankful that he has his team back together to climb regularly. (The other high schoolers, too, seem to all very much need this social outlet. Listening to them last night, online schooling isn't their favorite at all.)

Beyond Team Ascent, Ascent also started their Bouldering League this week. Normally, this is a team competition...people join together and meet up once a week for 4-5 weeks to climb and compete. Given the givens, this year's Bouldering League is being run on an individual basis...you can go in to climb any time during the week and log your climbs. They set 21 new routes each week for different levels of climbing and score your top four climbs for the first session that you climb each week. Since this set up actually works for our schedule, Micah and I signed up this year. (In the past, it's conflicted with his team practices since there was a certain night when everyone climbed the new routes each week.) We got our first session in on Tuesday and are looking forward to the challenge. :) (Obviously, we're signed up in different climbing categories, lol.)

3. Hammocks. I, personally, don't do hammocks. The swinging motion makes me sick, lol. But my guys all love them...so much so that we ended up buying a second hammock after discovering that, with a couple of extra hooks, our outside one fit perfectly on our climbing wall...

Yes, that's Nathan taking an afternoon nap last weekend. It's a favorite spot now.

4. Less back to school shopping. I realized recently that with most schooling being online this year, we didn't end up doing much back to school shopping. While I actually really enjoy back to school shopping, we're thankful that we didn't *need* to do as much. :) Of course, we still ended up getting Micah new shoes because, you know, he keeps growing for some reason.

5. Horsetooth. Thankful to have so many outdoor opportunities available right in our back yard! I got this picture from Noah, who was hiking up at Horsetooth over the weekend with his roommate. 

I asked for a photo with people in it, but he says he "forgot" to take one, lol. Glad that he's getting out responsibly while the weather allows! So far, he says classes and his LA job are going fine. (He has two online only classes, one online class with an in-person lab, and one hybrid class (some online and some in-person) with an in-person lab. His LA office hours and work are all online.)

And those are some of the things I'm thankful for this week. Hope your September is off to a strong start!