I'm Not Lazy, Hazy or Crazy!

I lost weight a few years ago...no magic bullet there: eating right, no sugar, exercise, no fast food...that kind of stuff...and work tirelessly to keep it off. I exercise every morning, 6 days a week, for an hour or more. I run 3 miles 5 days a week. I usually hate Winter, because I hate to be cold...and when I go out early in the morning and run, I often resemble this:

Summer usually is not a bother to me...until THIS year. I watch the news as I exercise, and in the lower right hand corner, I see the temperature in downtown Phoenix. Now, we usually run a few degrees cooler, but still, at 3 am, and I see 98 degrees in that lower left hand corner. In the past, I could get home, and, on a few occasions, I would get right in the pool and cool off. I didn't remember doing it that much! This year, I have been doing it almost every day. I can feel the heat radiating off my body. I dread to see that temp in the lower corner of my television screen. I dread the awful feeling I feel when I open the garage door and step outside...and feel an oven!

I was so afraid that, since turning 50 a couple of months ago, that age was going kill my efforts to keep this weight off. (People...I have realized that I am an overweight person in a thin body. I will NEVER be able to eat chocolate cake or a Whopper or milkshakes or even a real meal...I will watch every day, and exercise every day...except for Sunday) Then I saw this headline and article: "2010 Phoenix Summer Is One Of Hottest Due To Overnight Lows" I breathed a sigh of relief! At last...I am not Lazy. At last...I am not Crazy! This morning was another one...left at 90 on the tv...probably 87 out here. My last mile, I stopped and rested, and wiped the constant stream of sweat out of my eyes. I got home, changed, and jumped into the pool that really seems to cool on other occasions, but this morning, was heaven!

Oh, the Summer of 2010! You may have bruised me, but you didn't beat me! It will still be over 100 during the day till the end of October, but I saw forecasts for lows in the upper 70's later this week. Hope...

Look What I Made!

Right now, the outside temperature is 109.9 degrees...that is at 1:24 P.M. on September 3rd! It is dang hot outside! I, for one, am sick of hot! So, I stopped at the Dollar Tree, grabbed some "cool Fall flowers", and, this morning, made this:

I got about 12 bunches of different flowers, though I did not use them all. I used clippers to clip off the blossom end, slid the leaves off, heated the glue gun, and got to work. First, I took the dollar store 14" wreath, and covered it with the leaves, though, after I finished, I probably didn't need to...nothing showed through the flowers. Then, I selected blossom after blossom, and glued them on. No problem, and I was done in about a half an hour...on the door...out the door. And, though it's meltingly hot outside, and I get to sit at a football game in this lovely warm weather, I have a piece of cool!

Opening Day

Every year, on September 1st (unless it falls on a Sunday) the men of Rice assemble, those who can get time off work, that is, and go on the annual dove quest. It also happens to be the birthday of Doran Charles Rice, Sr., someone who just loved to hunt and dreamed of grandsons going to, and winning, shooting competitions. So, in a way, we commemorate his birth by going out and shooting little birds. It used to be easier, but since Phoenix/Glendale/Peoria, and other great hunting areas, have spread, it is VERY DIFFICULT to get a bird. Hey, if it were easy, it wouldn't be called 'hunting'...right?

I decided that, this year, they would have a breakfast, so I made cinnamon rolls the day before (sorry, no hot ones...can't get to the oven, etc. without waking one of the hunters).

 They ate, loaded up, and left. Within two hours, they returned. Ethan was the big hunter: he got 5, Dee got 2, Nate got 1, which he almost lost to our dog, Beau.

Dee and I went out for the evening hunt, but our trip was full of "forgets" and so, by the time he got to hunt, and the game and fish officer had checked out his license, the good birds were gone home to bed.

Oh, well...it was fun, anyway. And, as I said, if it were easy, it wouldn't be called hunting!

Oh, by the way, we always have a pot of dove stew on opening day, but since the spoils of hunting were very small, we had Hawaiian Teriyaki Chicken. Good, but not as good!

Grandbabies Get Anything They Want...Even If Grammy Has To Sit On A Snake!

Another wonderful trip to Vegas...celebrating a big girl's birthday. One activity she picked was going to "Bug and Butterfly Park". Sounds harmless enough to me, right? It was fun: swings, climbing toys, beautiful green grass (Las Vegas has the BEST parks!!).

Then, my sweet grandbabies wanted to show me another side of the park...and wanted to take a picture of me...on a SNAKE!

Grammy is NOT a snake fan. In fact, I would be just as happy if there were absolutely NO snakes! They ruin hikes in the park, they are sneaky, and...well, I could go on and on...

Though I am NOT a snake fan, I AM a GRANDBABY fan...nothing those kids want is a "No" to me...heck, I spent years saying no to their parents, aunt and uncles. Grandbabies ONLY get "yes".

So, I trudged...to the other side of the park...possibly called "The Evil Reptile Park". Gracie held my hand, and totally encouraged me all the way there. "Don't worry, Grammy. It is not real. It won't bite you." Who could doubt that sweet angel!

Well, I got there...it was AWFUL...but, again, what grandbabies want, grandbabies get! I sat on the creepy thing...and they sat with me...Even Joshy, reluctantly, joined in.

Adam took this one!

I posed for Papa, and for Adam...and immediately got off that creepy, awful, evil thing. I swear his eyes were looking at me the whole time...but Gracie said they weren't. Again, who could doubt that sweet angel!

Lots and Lots...and Lots of Hard Work Pays Off

Nate always wanted to play football...and we finally figured out how to get on the team his sophomore year. This was his first year to play football, other than a little flag football in middle school. He spent much of the year on the line, going in for a play or two each game...He worked and worked and practiced and practiced. His Junior year, he was a starter on the offensive line, and, after injuries hurt many defensive lineman, he played that as a starter too. He worked and worked and practiced and practiced ...missed birthday parties, vacations, worked and practiced. His first game of his senior year...We got there late...but saw an AWESOME player...fast...right over everyone on every play. He finished his responsibility, and then ran off to do another. He had 5 total tackles...and he got a "force" where the quarterback had to throw it because he was gonna hit him in a second...and that's exactly what happened. A teammate's serious injury focused all on what was more important that night...so we were just thankful he was all right.

I got on his school website, www.preptv.org, and saw they had posted the game pics. It was then that I saw this....

He is one of the captains...from a guy who had barely held a football...to this. (He is number 72). I MISSED IT...but am so thankful for a great school photographer, who captured the culmination of years of work and sacrifice and practice and giving up and working hard.

Yep...It sure pays off...and he was simply...AMAZING!

Tender Mercies

 

I got a sweet message from a very excited, new second grader this morning...So sweet to hear my grandson so very excited about his first day of a new school year, and to think he thought of me...amongst all the wonderful grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, and cousins  in his life...to call and share! Again, this sweet boy has a special tie to everyone's spirit...He KNOWS just when a call, or a message is needed! So, the moment from my busy day, was sweet. He LISTENS to the Spirit...and he becomes an instrument in the Savior's hands, to bring joy, to encourage. He reminded me, as I did laundry and baked bread and cleaned and wiped, that my Savior loves me, that He is aware of me, and my needs...and He wants me to feel joy...and He performed His tender mercy through my sweetheart of a grandson.

He is truly aware of us, of our needs. He wants us to grow, so He lets us struggle through challenges, but His love is ever there...to bring us up when we are down, to help us endure when we think we cannot, to love us when we are maybe the most unlovable. And we also need to remember that WE are His hands. Our smile, our greeting, our prayer in behalf of another...are simply the Savior working His tender mercies, through us.

Oh, thank you, sweet wonderful grandbabies, for helping me to see what I sometimes am blind to. Thank you for your hugs, your happiness, the games, the stories, the "nasty snake in the park" (story in a future entry), the hugs, the smiles (Joshy gave me a couple of big smiles...and more half ones...I am gonna get through that tough core and make that little guy love his Grammy!), the bike rides, the walks, the laughter...and the wonderful calls! Tender mercies...they are all around us...we only have to stop and look...

Falcon Football...Game One...A Win...But No One Really Cared

Falcon Football Game One...play was awesome...Nate was awesome (he is a lineman, but he lost about 40 pounds...so he is FAST as well as strong. He sacked the quarterback just as he let go of the ball...he ran...he blocked...he caused a fumble...he was amazing! It was such a great night...the score was 46-8, I think, so the younger second string was put in, so they could have a chance. They were doing so well, when the referees started blowing and blowing and blowing their whistles...something was terribly wrong...all the players took a knee...I looked and saw Nate and his teammates huddle on their knees...and offer a prayer...and I looked and saw a Falcon, laying on the field. At first, I thought his legs were crossed oddly, until I realized that the leg was obviously broken...very broken. The game was called...only 3 minutes left...but no one left...no one moved. The team half heartedly ran off the field, got their things, and came back. The whole crowd...just watched...relatively silent. The player's older sister was there. All I could think about was his mom...his dad...and that phone call they had just received. For a moment, someone thought it was my Nathan...I knew in my head that he was not in the game...but it took my hubby asking if that poor boy was wearing black socks pulled all the way up...grateful it wasn't my sweet son, but so very sad for that son, for that family. The ambulance left, and so did the players...and the crowd. Football is a dangerous game, and no one realizes that more than every single mom and dad and grandparent...and coach...out there. No one takes for granted how very close these young men come, each and every time they play, to a life threatening, or life altering injury. We pray for our fallen Falcon...we pray for our boys every game...we are thankful for these boys that stopped and knelt and asked for help from their Father in Heaven for their friend, their teammate. Yep, we really didn't know the score...and we didn't care.