Book Review #45 - The Gathering

I remember walking through the Guggenheim Museum and stopping at an exhibit called "White Canvas" or something like that. For all I know, somebody bought a blank canvas, realized they had no talent with painting but a knack for knowing what passes for cool and sold the idea to the powers that be of art. Or, perhaps it is actually art. I have no degree or expertise in that area, but a white canvas doesn't look like art to me.

Likewise, someone, Anne Engright in this case, writes a confusing and murky, "This horrible thing happened. But my memory is fuzzy so maybe it didn't," filled with steam of consciousness writing that is only readable because the author knows how to use a comma.

And what happens? The book wins a prize! And not just from her book club, but the Man Booker Prize, which is awarded annually to an English or Irish author. It's just the kind of thing that tricks readers like me, who assume the powers-that-be of literature know a thing or two about what qualifies as good and what doesn't, to read it.

So, I do. And it's just like staring at a white canvas. No doubt, there are some who pass their superior knowledge to the rest of us, pointing out to the obtuse that it's obviously a statement about society's blabbity-blah-blah, and it's tempting to nod and say, "Yeah. I see that."

But all I see is a naked emperor. A blank canvas. A book that contains nothing but the jumbled thoughts of a depressed and self-absorbed woman who isn't sure what point she wants to make.

Wed-nes-days

Something I didn't appreciate until much, much later in my life was the fact that on Wednesdays, my mother, my brother and I would drive to two trailer parks and for about an hour, deliver a weekly classified newspaper called The Adit to every single trailer.

Those Wednesday mornings, a pile of papers tied with a string would be delivered to our home (I think) and my mother and my sweet, adorable grandmother would roll them up and secure each roll with a rubber band while watching Guiding Light (I know, because when I was home sick, I sat on the floor and rolled too. And even though I haven't watched it in decades, I'm a little sad that Reva and Shane are going off the air!)

We didn't have the kind of bags that ergonomically hang over both shoulders - equally distributing the burden over our entire torsos. Instead, we carried around enormous pouches that had only one narrow strap that I remember digging into my young shoulder.

On Wednesdays, I remember standing and waiting in front of my elementary school, dreading the sound of our enormous diesel station wagon that embarrassed me but also usually getting impatient at my mother who was often just a little late. Of course, my young selfish mind had no grasp of my mother's responsibilities which included five other children (none who could drive at that point in time) and an elderly mother who lived with us. I do now, but then, I only cared that I looked as if I had been abandoned at the school.

Inevitably, the brown Caprice Classic would roar off of the street and stop on the dirt in front of the playground fence. I'd get in and the three of us drove out to Leisure Village and The Beacon (pretty elegant names for not very elegant places). My mom would drop me off near the trailer park entrance. My responsibility included delivering papers to each trailer along the bottom two streets and then I'd knock out one side street until I met my mother, who, if I remember correctly, delivered her route from out of her car window.

I hated Wednesdays. I hated when the bus carrying all the high school students arrived because whether they said anything to me, or not, I felt the shame of my pouch at my side. I hated the scary dogs after being bitten by one once (right in the back of the knee). The single perk was that I had one guy who liked to tip me a dollar every now and then told me to "go and get a shake at McDonald's." He seemed like a nice enough man but he may have been creepy...I don't know. But, I do know that my brother complained about me getting that tip every time and thought it only fair that we share.

I can't remember how long that paper route lasted. My memory says years, but I have realized that compared to some, my long term memory isn't prize worthy. However long it was, it has tainted Wednesdays every since. I don't like the word. Even the spelling, W-E-D-N-E-S-D-A-Y doesn't match its pronunciation (Wendsday).

Perhaps for this reason, I felt the infamy of the day today. From taking the boys to school, followed by another trip into the school to volunteer, picking up Henry at pre-school, spending three-post-school hours literally being a soccer mom to two boys who practice at two different parks across town from each other at two different hours (with an hour in between...just for good measure), I feel weary, and all I did was drive around from place to place and sit in a car.

At least none of those hours included throwing weekly classifieds out of my driver's side window.

800 Miles for Eyes

In the back of my mind, I knew Sam and Henry's eye appointments were coming up. I remember purposely scheduling them around conference thinking it would be a good weekend to travel to Utah as a family and maybe even see a session live.

That was what I was thinking in October, when I had to schedule the appointments. Back before I realized when Spring Break was, or knew that my sister's family would be visiting for the week, or that it would mean pulling Sam out of school for a day right after he'd be out for a week or that there would be a possibility of blizzard conditions while I made the dreary drive, by myself, on a Saturday, missing most of that day's conference.

Thankfully, in spite of me morbidly imagining my own death the entire drive there, we arrived safely. I had a headache by the time we finally pulled out of the cold and snow on the downside of Soldier's Summit toward's Spanish Fork. I don't think I could have picked a worse day to drive than Saturday, April 4th.

My sister's met me for dinner at Cafe Rio, then took Sam and Henry for the evening while I made my way to as many stores as I possibly could in about 3 hours. I needed soccer stuff, and dress clothes for Jay, and swim stuff, and Easter stuff, and kitchen stuff and well...it's a lot easier to navigate the consumer's world in Utah than in my own over-priced-smaller-selection-out-of-stock-but-still-charming town. I found some sweet deals on Sports coats for Jay at Kohl's, got coordinating Easter ensembles at Children's Place, easily found everything I needed for soccer (and more) at The Sport's Chalet and then took my time enjoying the ambiance of Target. I had planned a stop at Old Navy too but I was already out of money!

Sarah and I rented Twilight that night and she was the perfect person for me to watch it with for the first time. I, for one, really liked the book Twilight, but am not a gusher/lover of the series and knew I could fall into the camp of critic if surrounded by I "heart" Edward-ness. It seemed kind of low-budget to me...cheesy special effects and lots of slow motion turning around, but I still liked it. I think they cast it pretty well, although I never got the sense from the book that Jasper was as ridiculously bouffant as they made his hair.

Sunday I watched an AMAZING conference in Sarah's bedroom while Sam and Henry went in and out of the room alternating between complaining about having nothing to do and touching things they shouldn't (Maureen and Sarah have both traveled extensively and have lots of cute, and probably priceless, knickknacks everywhere). I felt marginally guilty because I didn't force them to watch any of conference. There just wasn't room and I didn't have any of those handy conference packets to at least keep Sam going through the talks and mercifully gave them a by this conference. I didn't take notes, which means I basically can't remember specifics anymore, but I know I loved Elder Holland's talk. And President Uchtdorf's. And, really, all of them, but I know I had the burning bosom during both of those. Why anyone would choose to take Conference Sunday's "off" and go all the other weeks is beyond me. Conference Weekends are what get me through all the other weeks! Inspirational and satisfying to my soul.

Sam needed to see Matt, so I called Jay's sister, Kelly, and humbly asked if we could barge in on their Sunday evening for a couple of hours. We brought noise and hyperactivity with us, but seeing his Matt sure made the weekend worth it to Sam.

Because I wanted to make the boys' appointments even more inconvenient than I already had, I scheduled them for 8:15 AM. That meant we needed to leave WJ at 7:15 and, because we weren't returning to my sister's place, be all packed up and ready to go for the day too. Lovely. We got there and, would you know it, the doctor couldn't be in the office until 9:15 so they had moved their appointments back (without giving us any notice). Frustrated, I explained the distance we had traveled, how we were driving back as soon as we were done, and how we just needed to be out of there as soon as possible. It's not like we couldn't have left an hour later, but, my point was, I didn't want to. They took us back right away and did all of the pre-ophthalmologist stuff that we could do. Both boys got the dilatation eye-drops which takes some time to have an effect, so it still worked out and we were out of the office by 9:45.

Their future is so bright....they gotta wear shades.

I'm thrilled with Sam's progress. He is getting closer and closer to not needing bi-focals anymore and we left with a prescription that will challenge his eyes even more. When I get to these appointments, I'm always glad that we've made the effort to see someone who really gets what's going on with their eyes. Sam's doctor's goal is out of bi-focals in a couple of years and possibly out of glasses in 6. It's all guessing, and it doesn't mean his vision won't need correction, but he's hoping his lazy eye will be retrained by then. That means...hopefully...no more eye crossing without his glasses on. Fingers crossed (but not eyes)!

Henry hadn't made as much progress, but he also can't talk very well to tell them what he can see. He's still very far-sighted and is getting a new prescription, and larger frames, as well. Man, I wish we had vision insurance!

We stopped at IKEA on our way back. I have felt embarrassed as we've had company that I only have one real glass and the rest of the table is set with former family reunion cups, which include our names emblazoned on them, Cheers mugs from a trip to Boston and my old Senior All-Night Party Class of 1993 glass. So, I bought glasses. And some plates. And a whisk. And some storage containers. And a basket. And some spoons. And, blast if they didn't have European chocolate right at the check-out!

I wasn't planning on feeding them, but due to our early morning, their breakfasts were pretty harried and unfulfilling. Then, I saw their $.99 small breakfast plates and treated them both to eggs, hashbrowns and 2 slices of bacon! What a great deal.

What I get for asking them to smile with food in their mouths.

One last stop at Cafe-Rio (it was a singular visit. I opted to limit my few free hours to Cafe Rio and family instead of feeling frustrated with too short-of-visits with friends I miss and restaurants I crave) and I was making my way back home - tired of driving before I made it past Provo.

We quickly exhausted their attention spans on the drive-up with our limited movie-selection. Then...I got the bright idea to rent children's movies from RedBox, and return them to one of our two RedBoxes here (compared to the one every street corner in Utah. And there were still lines on Friday night!) It was a great idea until I realized that their pupils were still the size of a dime and watching a bright, flickering screen was actually causing them pain. Thankfully, I had bought myself some new shades at Down East Clothing (another Utah gem) and they both had a pair of dark glasses to wear over their own glasses. All for the low-low cost of my own splitting head by the time we got home from all of my squinting.

Today is beautiful. The sun is shining, Henry happily played by himself most of the day while I enjoyed the quiet of the house. I read, checked the computer, ran a few errands but used this day to take in a deep breath and transition from last week to this week. Sitting here at 5:35 pm...I'm feeling pretty good about it.

Spring Break 2009

I am so tired right now and not in any sort of blogging mood, but I don't think I'll bother posting all of the pictures if I wait as I'm heading out of town for the weekend. The pictures took long enough to upload so, rather than write out the details, I'll merely post captions for the pictures I do have.

I love that Jen chose to come visit during their and our spring break. We didn't have great weather, but we had cousins to entertain our kids and each other to enjoy and chat with.

All the boys started working on a fort in the back yard the very first day. I love how boys' minds work.

Saturday morning took us for a short hike overlooking our hometown. Henry was not going for it and Christopher tried to distract his grumpy mood out of him.

Sunny and fairly warm on Saturday.

Eventually, Henry walked off in a pout and Jay stayed behind to see what he would do when we followed through with our threat to leave him. Henry could have cared less. I had to wait at least five minutes for them to make an appearance behind the rest of us.

The hike was shorter than we wanted it to be (upper part of the trail was closed due to being a wildlife refuge during the winter) so we spent a good hour at a park to wear the excitement out of all the kiddos.

That evening, we went over to my friend, Michelle's, house and had a total blast four-wheeling on their Mule and T-Rex. We BBQ'd hamburgers and hot dogs and let the kids experience a more wild side of being in nature:)

Sunday was a relaxing day. I made a roast and the day ended with everyone watching Night At The Museum downstairs in front of the propane fire.

Monday, we swam at the local rec center. We spent 3 1/2 hours there and had a great time swimming and rock climbing. Here's Seth coming out from the waterslide.

Henry was pretty independent, but he's already on their list of lifeguard saves from an earlier visit, so I kept a close eye on him.

Sam, sweet Sam. His poor eye crosses so much when he doesn't wear his glasses. I hope someday, his eye is trained enough to be straight without having to wear lenses.

Sam's goggles are too big for him.

The big boys did the waterslide at least 20 times.

Since Henry needed me to ride, he only got about 5 rides. But, since I like to go fast, they were good ones.

I was totally surprised how wiry and strong all the boys were on the rock climbing wall. Seth made it to the top quickly.

Sam was the real spiderman, though. To do the middle section of the wall, they needed to climb to the top of both sides. He seriously made it to the top of this wall in about a minute.

Seth, Sam and Ansel on the wall. Sam couldn't get past this inverted part of the wall. Not bad, though, for his first attempt.

Ansel and Seth were thick as thieves all week.

Sadie's nap for the day.

Tuesday, Jay was home for the day and we tried geocaching. It was so windy and cold that we only managed to do one quick and easy one.

The boys signing their names to the log once they found the "treasure."

If you leave something, you can take something. Sam and Owen were super happy with their little baubles.

Henry

After the geocache, we went to Jay's parent's place and saddled a horse for the boys to take rides on. Jay fetched Charlie, or Nick, depending on who you ask.

I love my cowboy

Braving the windy conditions while waiting for a ride.

Sam with the beautiful mountain range behind him.

Neither Jen nor I rode, but we stepped out of the vehicle for a quick Self-portrait to show how windy it was.

Seth took Henry for a quick ride.

"Hey, you have glasses just like me!"

Taking Charlie/Nick back to his friends.

Wednesday was mellow and very cold. We fed everyone lunch and then Christopher told Jen and I to take off. We wandered around town, ate lunch, and bought some chocolate. Then I drove her around all the places I would consider buying a house thus giving her an idea of my complicated options.

Jay was on-call Wednesday night, so Christopher sent Jen and I out again and we had a yummy dinner at a cute restaurant.

Thursday was spent at Mesa Verde National Park. Jay read the maps and gave us the information as we walked around.

Since we were literally on a cliff, I secured Henry on my shoulders so he couldn't sprint off.

Our family

Jen's family with a determined-to-be-in-the-picture-even-after-several-requests-from-me-to-move Jay.

Cliff Palace from an observation point.

Henry....all dirty and snotty. As usual.

Christopher bravely had a pinecone war with all the boys. I know he took several hard hits.

I'm pretty sure this point-blank attack didn't feel good.

So, he dishes it back to boys who absolutely love it.

Jay's famous Chile Verde. It is really, really good.

He decided to take it to the next level by making homemade corn tortillas. As we have no tortilla press, this was Jay's system, standing and shimmying on a heavy skillet pressing on the corn masa dough.

Today was very, very mellow. Jay worked again and it was cold so the boys played the Wii for an obscene amount of time (notice how cute Owen is pretending to drive even though he has no wheel). Jen and I went into town for one last lunch and Jay came home early and we played the board game Puerto Rico before it was time to get them to the airport.

I miss them already and am so grateful for their willingness to spend their precious vacation in our distant, cold, not-even-close-to-feeling-like Spring environment.

Come back sometime!