Hooray for the Red, White, and Blue!

Here's a waffle for your 4th of July breakfast. And then what could be more patriotic than helping a couple of boy scouts earn their Space Exploration Merit Badge?








I am Rocket Lady.














Check out this perfect launch and recovery:


Good job, everybody!

Favorite Hat

When I posted about finding my favorite hat, Angela asked for a picture. Here it is:

I like this picture. In fact, I think I'll go swap it in on facebook.

I Should Have Brought My Camera

"I should have brought my camera." I stared down at the check on the counter in front of me, the largest check I had ever seen in my life.
"I have to use all of the spaces," my husband chuckled as he filled out the amount on the deposit slip.
Our last check from Nevada State College. Our severance pay. They had been generous, but would this last us until we found another job?
We had stopped by the human resources office to pick up the check on our way to the bank. I almost felt like crying when the HR consultant called up Russel's supervisor at the college and said, "We're finalizing Russel Carlson's separation from the school right now and..." Finalizing... separation... the threat of tears passed before materializing, like an early monsoon thunderstorm that never drops any rain. After that, I felt nothing. I'm through being sad about this. I did all that months ago.
"I have a large check to deposit," Russel told the teller at the window. "It's my severance pay."
"Yeah, everyone is going through that right now. It's nice that they gave you some money, rather than, here's your last paycheck, goodbye."
"Yes," I said, "We're really grateful. This gives us some time."
"There you go," the teller handed me the receipt. She smiled big, and said as if making an inside joke, "Enjoy your summer vacation!"
"Yes," I said, with sudden exuberance. I threw a hand in the air. "We're free!"

I'm A Guest Blogger!

I volunteered to be a guest blogger on Mormon Mommy Writers. They posted my picture and my bio and an essay I wrote about taking time to write every day. It's a really good blog and I'm honored to be a part of it.

Boat Wanted

Does anyone have a little paddle boat, kayak, or canoe I can borrow for a week in August? Maybe I should buy an inflatable raft.

Hooray!

Russel just had his interview with the public school district. It went swimmingly. The principal who interviewed him on behalf of the school district said that some happy high school would probably snatch him up right away.

We're just praying it will be the high school right around the corner so Russel can keep biking to work.

Russel's last day of teaching at Nevada State College is tomorrow. So long and best wishes, NSC! Thanks for bringing us here to Nevada so that we could meet so many good friends.

Amber's Harp Songs

Ten years ago, when I first began to play the harp, I would sit up in my daughter's room at night and practice while she fell asleep.

Now she plays the harp herself, and composes. All her music has a distinctly Celtic feel to it, I imagine because that is the style I was drawn to when I began to play, and so that is what I played for her when she was four years old.

Here are three of her original harp tunes:

Dragonflies (short)
Autumn Wind (long)
Days End (longer)