Roughin' It

We are headed to Oregon tomorrow morning for an 8 day trip. I just discovered I have been packing for a trip to Southern California and don't have the "old tennis shoes" and "long underwear" that the river rafting preparation list metions as "necessary items for survival on this rugged, insurmountable, class XXX river."

I do, however have 7 t-shirts, 3 pairs of flip flops, 4 pairs of shorts, aviator sunglasses and a Thouroughly Modern Millie-inspired sun hat. I'm kind of freaking out at this point. Because what's worse than getting to your destination, ready to look fit for the trip, only to find that you planned all wrong and - even worse - will be cold every.single.day? Because the weather forecast says it is to be 'showers' every.single.day...

We're camping and hiking and river rafting and mountain biking and I have maybe one item of clothing that fits in the 'outdoorsy' genre. I purged all of that to save myself from ever going that route with my wardrobe again. And now I will shiver - all in the name of fashion! I'm afraid I have forgotten how to rough it and may be miserable, having traded in the simple outdoor pleasures for shopping trips.

When I'm not shivering I'll be reading in my sleeping bag, I guess. It's my first time using it - the sleeping bag - which I got as a wedding present from Adam's choice of registry: REI. This will be a week of firsts with our camping gear that we got two years ago. We thought we were campers then. I guess we'll see...

Call me Degas

Tonight's the last night of my drawing class. I have loved it THIS much.

Dear Moms: You Rock!

A Great BIG Happy Mother's Day to our mothers. Since we can't be where you are, we've decided to write a little something up for you on this here blog.

Korinne Tribute

{Martha's mom, Korinne}

{Martha's mom attending to all the left over children of the earth, as usual, and teaching them how to make homemade ice cream}

My mom is the Ultimate Mom. It didn't really occur to me that she was, though, until I was a teenager at Girl's Camp and - at the height of my being totally annoyed at her each and every day - one of the other leaders said to me, "Your mom is one of those women who just does everything well, isn't she..." I thought, "Are you crazy? She is the reason for all of my misery!!!" But then I thought about it more - it was something I'd never even half considered before because I was too busy being an impatient, ungrateful, snot-nosed teenager to notice: my mom can do and does do it all. But she's not one of THOSE moms. She's not the mom that ASPIRES to do it all and LIVES for doing it all. She is just multi-talented and she puts it to good use.

A few samplings of the talent: She was born to be a domestic diva, beginning with a degree in clothing and textiles. Who majors in clothing and textiles? My mom, that's who! (And sorry, not you, because that degree is long obsolete.) She sewed everything she could get her hands on, sometimes even our yapping mouths. She also sewed prom dresses and wedding dresses, including mine. The domesticity does not stop there. She enjoyed cooking and baking - they were just an extension of her being. This helped her care for all the neighborhood stragglers, the kids whose parents were at work, my friends who lived and died by her leftovers for lunch, and of course, her own kids (us) who could have been mistaken for neighborhood stragglers at any time (think: my brother falling asleep on the sidewalk right by his Big Wheel, my sister and I parading the block wearing fake mink furs and plastic high heels - we were unruly!).

My mom also used her talents to embarrass me whenever possible. She will play any musical instrument that comes across her path, and one time when I was studying with a boy I really, really liked in my room (she never had a no-boys-in-your-room rule, too! YES!!!), she came right in and proceeded to practice her BASSOON. In my room. While studying math. With a certain cute boy. I was mortified and tried to get her out while still looking cool. It didn't happen and the boy was not really amused. Which was a telltale sign that he was actually lame, and shortly thereafter I weeded him out of my life. Thanks, Mom!

Mom, this song's for you: Mamma Mia just because Abba is what binds us.

Best food from Mom: Anything baked. She had at least three baked goods in the house at any one time. Which explains why I am addicted to such things.

Mom's best words of wisdom: Her classic answer to the whine, "But Moooooooooommmm, I'm booooooooorrred" was "Only boring people get bored." Mom, how did you know that phrase would burn itself into my brain only to antagonize me nearly every day of my life? I guess that's what mothers are for. Happy Mother's Day, Mama K!!

Diane Tribute

{Adam's mom, Diane, near Coor's Stadium in Denver [with other family members in the background]; looks like she's getting an earful from Adam}

{Adam's mom plus us, his brother and dad}

Every mom loves Mother's Day right? Who wouldn't love a day made specifically for them? Well, my Mom has a love/hate relationship with Mother's Day. Love because she gets grilled salmon for dinner and hugs and kisses from all the kids. Hate because the stories told in sacrament meeting on Mother's Day are usually dramatic epics of complete self-sacrifice and limitless love. Contrast this with the lighthearted and funny stories about Dads told from the pulpit on Father's Day. So my Mother's Day present this year is a story about my Mom that will make you laugh... instead of cry.

There are so many stories about Mom that would be perfect. Like the time Mom took a basketball to the face during FHE, or when she was the only person on the rafting trip in Jackson Hole to fall out of the boat, or just the other day when she asked how many quarters are in an NBA game.

But the one I chose to share beats them all. Once when I was about 11 years-old, I was walking home from school with the "bad-boy" kid who lived up the street. He was telling me about all the PG-13 movies his parents let him watch, and all the kids at school he was planning to beat up. Then he showed me how to flip off passing cars... one of his favorite passtimes I guess. He demonstrated on two or three cars and then said "OK, now you flip off the next car to come around that corner."

When mom and her big purple Dodge Caravan came around the corner, there I was, middle finger extended, in all its exposed glory. The next few minutes were all a blur, really. Next thing I knew I was in the passenger seat, being made to understand that you do not flip people off. I think I tried the ignorance defense, and truthful though it was, it didn't seem to make much difference!

My Mom is wise, and she's taught me many lessons over the years, such as "No one has all the shoes", "You're integrity's worth more than $5", "Chocolate Chip cookies are best on Sundays", "You only buy a Steinway once so you might as well get the best" and of course "Never flip off your mother". Love you Mom!

Eco Geek

I have taken the plunge into eco-friendliness and bought some of these VERY cute Envirosax. This partly fulfills one of my New Year's resolutions and, like I said, this is all about baby steps. Becoming enviro-sensitive was never really on the docket for those of us raised Republican, so it takes some adjustments to realize: Hey! Mormons, of all people (no matter the political affiliation) should really be spearheading this Save the Earth campaign. We believe in God and his creation, so what are we waiting for? Listen to me getting all granola on you. That's what Envirosax have done to me (by the way, get them at Outdoor Balance - they're a bit cheaper). Or don't get them at Outdoor Balance. Whatever. Just try to live with yourself and your mountain of plastic bags that strangle wildlife and suffocate children and act as really great trash can liners (dang it, now what am I going to do?). Just go ahead and take shortcuts and ditch plastic and go for paper because, you justify, it 'breaks down better in nature'. Yeah, well, we'll see if there's any nature left to enjoy after it's beaten and smacked and trodden down by your discusting, filthy and indulgent lifestyle. (That was a LOT of ands.) And when you see me carrying my geeky (cute) bags all around town, bagging my own groceries at Food4Less (because I not only like to Save the Earth, I also like to Save Major Money) just remember who's putting the chicken on your table. The chicken that was saved the other day because my plastic bags didn't make it into his coop because I just bought me some (darling, amazing, oh-so-stylin') Envirosax. Yeah. Environment. Go. Yeah!

Happy 28th, A-Ware!

Adam biking in Brazil.
Adam with his mom and brother.

Adam biking in Boston.

28 Reasons Why Adam is Awesome:

1. He doesn't let a dish sit in the sink longer than 3 seconds.
2. He is a clean freak.
3. He makes the bed every morning.
4. He carries the laundry to the far away laundry room.

5. He folds garments with department store-like precision.
6. He is obsessed w/biking.
7. He looks great in Spandex.
8. He likes service. Well, only on the days that I hate it. Like the other day we volunteered for Habitat for Humanity. I had to paint and complained all day; he had to shovel dirt and was happy as a little dirt shoveling clam.
9. He loves everything I cook, bake or concoct.
10. With his mouth full, he grunts things like "Oh, Marth, this is the best thing I've EVER tasted!!!!!!!!!" when he eats things I cook, bake or concoct. And he means it.
11. He saves us a lot of money on gas by biking everywhere.
12. He budgets every penny we have. In a detailed Excel spreadsheet. And he LIKES it.
13. He's a good planner.
14. He's enthusiastic.
15. He is NEVER down. I mean NEVER. Unless he gets a flat tire ... on his bike.
16. He knows how to relax.
17. He loves to read.
18. He wins every argument. Like last night, I pointed out that, "Isn't it crazy how car seats weren't even invented when we were little?" and my next line was going to be, "So why the crap do we even need ...?" but he cut in with "Yeah. And a lot of little kids got killed in car accidents." ...Case closed.
19. He {sometimes} lets me pop his zits.

20. He is a really good storyteller.

21. He's good to his mom.

22. He calls grocery store checkers by their first name to say thanks.

23. He nods and smiles softly - not menacingly - when I ramble on about things that I think make my life really, ridiculously hard.

24. He has an amazing singing voice but it's never below him to go off tune to sing with me.

25. He lets me listen to Coast 103.5 in the car, a station he affectionately calls "The Cheese Station." Until he can't take it anymore and his driving becomes impaired by one-too-many Peter Cetera songs.

26. He's a minimalist.

27. He always has a good exit strategy for when any sort of meeting gets too drawn out.

28. He keeps getting awesomer every year.