Vegas, Jump On It Jump On It Jump On It!

My previously mentioned trip to Las Vegas has passed. I am going to share a few pictures, whether anyone else likes it or not!

We stayed at Bally's, which is a nice hotel and casino, although not the newest or most fancy. This is appealing because it also means it is cheap. It doesn't have a theme like many of the other hotels do, but it is affiliated with and connected to Paris, so if you want some cheeziness you can walk to Paris through a walkway that features a phony Parisien cobble-stone "street" lined with little shops. I stayed in a room with Andrea and Katie, my often mentioned sister and our cousin.



Here is a shot of the hotel.

This was taken when we were walking around the strip on Saturday. Notice that we are holding GAP bags. Yes, we travelled all the way to Las Vegas only to shop at the same boring store that we have in N.D. There was a good sale though!

I took this photo in the Bellagio. I love the whimsical balloons! The last and only time I was in Vegas before this trip was in the middle of December. The Bellagio had the most impressive Christmas decorations, so I am not suprised to see something like this there!
One night the whole group went to the "old strip", also known as Fremont Street. I was excited because I had never been to that part of the city before. We were trying to arrange our taxi transportation when my uncle Steve made arrangements for us and a large strech SUV limousine pulled up! It was pretty fun.
This is a photo of Fremont Street.

This photo was taken at the Egyptian and pyramid themed Luxor. We were comparing that statue to the way Andrea's dog Jake sits. Haha, we are so clever and touristy.

We had a few cocktails in our room every night to defray our costs. . .

On Sunday we spent the morning at an outlet mall. I love outlet mall shopping, and yes, I know that they stores generally just carry lower quality merchandise manufactured specifically for the outlet stores. I still think its fun. At one point I realized that most of what I bought was the same color and also the same color as the shirts I was wearing.

I took this photo with my "nightime" setting on my camera. It turned out OK!
I haven't yet mentioned that it was hot! Every day it was near or slightly over 100 degrees. It felt pretty good, actually. There is no humidity, and my hair was like the hair of a different person! The last time I was in Vegas it was cool and I wore a sweatshirt most of the time so it was fun to be able to use the swimming pool at the hotel. We spent a few hours there on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I used mass quantities of sunblock and avoided burning except for some angry red streaks on my chest where my swimming suit top shifted during the day and a big red blotch on my back, in the area I can't reach myself, where I tried to get by with only using the sunblock that comes in an aerosole can. (I have learned my lesson in the past that this product doesn't cut it for me but yet I tried again!)
Here we are, minus the grandmas and my aunt and uncle, Cindy and Steve, who live in Fresno, CA, and have their own pool and aren't impressed by the opportunity to drink (wayyyyy) overpriced drinks at a pool in 100+ heat. Notice my hair. If you have nothing better to do go back to my posts about my family's trip to Mexico in January and notice that it is almost three times the size in the humidity of MX! So crazy. . .
Truly, the heat wasn't prohibitive. Also, there are these misting sprinklers, similar to outdoor heaters that many restuarants and bars in colder climates have on their smoking patios.
On Sunday night we went to the theatrical version of Disney's "The Lion King". It was excellent. When the animated movie came out in 1994 it became an instant favorite movie of mine. I have it on dvd but haven't watched it for several years. As soon as the opening African chant started I was instantly enchanted the way I was the first time I saw the movie. It really is an intense story, if you think about it.
In middle and high school English classes, non-book loving students inevitably ask "Why do we have to read this? What good will reading this do me?" (not me, of course! Reading literature was one of my favorite parts of school!) I heard my own English teachers repeat often "This story has a universal theme." I hope everyone knows the plot of "The Lion King", where there is a favored brother (Mufasa) who is the king and the second in line brother (Scar). When Simba is born Scar realizes that his chances of being king are reduced so he orchstrates a plan to kill both Mufasa and Simba. Poor little Simba survives, unknown to Scar, but blames himself for his fathers death and is afraid to return home to claim his rightful place as the king. Meanwhile, while Simba is hiding from his problems, Scar is bringing ruin to the kingdom with his incompetence. Simba gets a wakeup call and comes to terms with his pain and returns to get revenge on Scar. Remember the theme from "MacBeth", that amibtion uncontrolled ambition (and especially murderous levels of ambition!) will lead to that person's downfall? The same thing happens to Scar. And of course, stories about favored brothers (and sisters) are rampant in literature, popular culture, and in biblical tales, as are stories of prodigal children who eventually return to face their challenges or shame. Although Disney movies always have lessons, The Lion King went beyond the usual princessy subject matter.
And of course, the music was so good! We had the cd back in the 1994. (I'm sure it is still at the farm and I must find it!) and hearing it again in the musical reminded me how much I liked most if it. I also had the piano book of the score. Hahaha. And the animals were so cute! Andrea and I had stuffed animals (she had Nala and I had Simba) and I still have it at the farm. Maybe I will change Allan's name to Simba. . .Hmmm. . .no. . .it is too dignified. . .
Aaaah. . .anyway the theatrical production was very good and I would recommend it. The costumes were unique and the portrayal of animals was creative. The singing was very good-these performers were definitely at the top of the Broadway world.
It was a good trip. I will close by stating that I hope I don't see a slot machine for a very long time and if I do I hope I don't have any cash in my possession at the time.

100th Post!

When I logged in I realized that this is the 100th post since I started this blog. I wasn't prepared for this, so I don't have anything special prepared. No montage of my favorite posts. . .I've got other things on my mind because I'm going to Las Vegas tomorrow! I'm going with my mom, my aunt, my grandmothers, my aunt's mother in law, my sister and my cousin. I can't wait to spend a few days doing one of my favorite things. . .drinking near water with my sister and cousins. (Recall my multi-part Mexico account back in January?) For the last few days I have been calling texting Andrea and Katie and they have been calling and texting me. The subjects have been all about what clothes to bring, who is bringing a hairdryer for us to share in our room, and if anyone is bringing a nice dress or jeans (NO to the jeans. . .it is 100 degrees there every day there this time of year.)


In house related news, our garbage disposal broke. I think it might be our first typical house disaster (and it really wasn't a disaster at all). The disposal that was there was pretty old so Justin headed to Menards and came back with a new one! He installed it while I was out eating pizza with my law school classmate who was in town for a conference. Crisis averted! (Oh, what would happen if we couldn't wash food down the drain?? Oh wait. . .I spent the first 26 years of my life not being able to do that. . .I think it would have been OK!)


What a pretty little disposal! It is alot smaller than the old one so that means there is more room for crap under the kitchen sink! This will only encourage my shopping bag hoarding habit.

Justin finished hauling away the rock and split the hostas that were hiding under the ferns.

He added edging and yesterday I bought some perrennials and annuals to add to the flower bed.

I chose two Asiatic lilies, two other taller perennials called Phlox and three ground covering perennials called Dianthus Barbatus, commonly called Sweet William Dainthus. I also bought some really cheap Vinca and Begonias at Walmart to fill in the bed this year because it looks kind of sparse. I can't wait for those lilies to open.

The construction continues on the street. This photo was taken yesterday. We're trapped! Hahaha when I leave for Vegas I'm going to have to prance around the block pulling my suitcase!

Construction Zone

The street we live on is a pretty busy street (it doesn't have stoplights but it has two lanes divided by paint and four way stops). Block by block, there is a major water main project going on. Well, last week it reached our block.

Ahh, what a beautiful scene. Yes, that is a porta-potty on the corner. Haha! My friend was over a few nights ago and dared me to use it! Then she dared me to use it when the workers were present! Haha, maybe I will . . .maybe I will.

At night it is fun to look at the work that has been done during the day. That is one deep hole! This construction is pretty inconvenient because we obviously can't drive on our block during the day. So far, when the workers are gone it has been possible to drive around the barriers to get to our driveways. Sometimes there are huge piles of dirt in front of people's driveways but they are usually moved by the time the work day is done. One positive aspect of this project is that being forced to walk around the block to our cars has lead to talking to and getting to know our neigbors better, which has been fun.

Another positive aspect is that it is very quiet at night. We live on a busy street as well as en emergency route, so it is never completely quiet at night and it is pretty loud during the day. It is hard to talk on the phone on the front step because of the traffic. Now, it is very loud during the day (as I write this there is a machine pulverizing the asphalt in front of my house. I can feel the impact in my living room! However, at night there are no cars driving by or sirens at all hours.

When we saw the machinery moving onto our block Justin realized that he had to hurry up and finish the rock removal stage of his landscaping project or else he would most likely not be able to pull the pickup into the yard to load the rocks. Last week he really worked hard and now all the rock is gone!

With all of this commontion going on, we have realized that the older couple who lives across the street from us seems to have been watching our activities! I met them when we first moved in and they seemed nice enough. When Justin was shoveling rock last week the woman came over to investigate and then told him the plan to plant grass would never work and that she hoped we weren't going to remove a flower bed in the back yard (the home of the lovely peony bushes)! But she also said she would be willing to share her hosta plants if we wanted to supplement the ones that are already there. Then, Justin said he saw the man over in our neigbors driveway checking out our yard! I am paranoid that they are reporting to the old owner what we are doing! I truly don't think she would be offended by anything we do, since we are clearly taking care of the house and yard and are doing all the things you "should" do, like mowing regularly, spraying for weeds, and planting flowers. I think that maybe they are just uneasy since they, along with the previous owner of our house, were the last "original" residents of the neigborhood who have lived here for a long time. I understand why they might be sad. We will just be patient and keep being nice to them.

The Mundane. . .

Two days ago, while Justin was toiling outside to finish removing the rock lanscaping in our yard, I was looking out the window and realized something that filled me with dread. I almost pretended I didn't see it. . .the blinds on the window were very very dirty and covered with a layers of dust. They had residue of the yellowish sawdust that I thought was finally gone after weeks of cleanup after we sanded and refinished the wood floors. I knew what I had to do and I didn't like it-I had to take the blinds down and clean them! Ugh. . .

I recall my mom cleaning the blinds on the farm a few times a year. Blinds are her window treatment of choice so there were alot to clean. I can't say I ever helped with the process at all, but I always thought it looked like a drag.

Have you ever been to a Norwex party, with it's feel-g00d emphasis on earth friendly, chemical free cleaning products and procedures for moms who don't want their kids exposed to chemicals and fumes? The parties feature microfiber cloths and sponges that can apparently kill bacteria with only water and laundry soap so natural that it biodegrades once it goes down the drain. (By the way, I'm not mocking Norwex. . .I have some of the products myself and they do work for general cleaning) To imagine my mom's cleaning philosophy, picture the complete opposite of that, and imagine large quantities of bleach, Pine-sol, Palmolive, Ajax, and cup of Tide filled to Line 3. In her defense, I don't think many Norwex consultants live in 120 year old houses with poor ventilation and have to wash the clothes of farmers who end the day with clothing soiled with agricultural pesticides and jeans caked with mud around the bottoms. Her weapon of choice for the blinds, which quickly accumulate grime due to the houses proximity to gravel roads and open windows all summer long, is a nice soak in the bath tub in a nice, gentle ammonia and water mix.

Our blinds were pretty dirty because they haven't been cleaned for probably a year or more. I don't have any ammonia so I read on the Internet that dish soap could work. I have never hung or removed blinds so I had to figure out how to take them down before I started. It was easy! Imagine that! I soon discovered that the blinds for the main window were way too long for the tub so I sprayed them with the garden hose and scrubbed them in the back yard and left them on a bed of towels to dry in the sun.

The smaller sets fit in the tub, and I got them all clean, but not without alot of pestering from Allan.

He is the snoopiest cat ever!

I was so happy to finish the chore but I wasn't in the clear yet. . .when I was perched on the arm rest of the couch trying to snap the blinds back into place (much more difficult that taking them down) I noticed a smear of red on them! Aahh! It was blood! And it was coming from me! I had cut my hand, at the base of my thumb, and I hadn't even felt it! Gross. At least I won't have to worry about cleaning the blinds for many months.

On a different topic, we have several large peony bushes in the back yard. There are many buds ready to open and I thought that, since there were so many flowers on the way, I would make a bouquet! I looked it up on the Internet and learned that I should cut blooms that were just opening.

They look and smell so pretty! I love the dark red one! I think there is a lighter pink bush as well, but they weren't ready to open yet. . .that will be my next attempt at flower arrangement!

Since returning from Fargo I have been trying to fit the clothes I had there back into the available space (and there isn't much!) I put a big stack of sweaters away and replaced them with shorts and skirts that had been stored in a plastic tub. I pulled a drawer out to arrange it and Allan crawled right into the lower drawer! He is always in my business.

Favorite Paint Colors!

I love the magazine "House Beautiful". I subscribe to it with the reward points get from Coca-Cola products, along with several other magazines. A few days ago my monthly issue came, so imagine my suprise when I got the mail yesterday and found this!

It is a special edition devoted to paint colors and finding the right colors for the individual person! It is a higher quality than the monthly issues, with a thick glossy cover. It is almost like a book! Oooh. . .I had to discipline myself to do some productive things around the house before I allowed myself to open it. I gives me the urge to paint something. . .haha don't worry, all of you that helped me paint our house last fall, I think I will restrain myself!
In the first few pages, there was a quiz to help people find out what colors they gravitate toward and will probably love in their house. I thought it would be fun to share it here with my answers!
1. What is the first color you see in the morning? Green

2. What color are your eyes? Blue, gray, they kind of change. . .
3. What color do you wear the most? Different shades of blue and green
4. What color do you never wear? Red, followed closely by pink. I noticed something when I was looking at baby pictures of myself. . .I was a first born daughter, and who can resist cute, girly baby outfits that are almost always pink? Apparently, my fashion conscious mom knew from the start that pink wasn't the right color for me (good call, Mother!) By the way, I love most shades of pink and red. . .just not near my face!


5. What color do you wear when you want to feel sexy? A deep jewel tone, like purple or dark blue, and black of course.

6. What color gets you the most compliments? Dark or bright shades of green. I bought a purple t-shirt at GAP about a month ago and I get alot of compliments when I wear it, so I guess purple as well.

7. What color is your lipstick? I don't wear it. . .my lipstick is the flush of health!

8. What color was your living room growing up? Hmmm. . .well, it was white with 1970's olive green carpet (shag but not over the top shaggy) and brown couches. Not pretty. Fortunately, since 2003 it has been a light olive green-ish color with tan carpet. It was a big improvement.

9. What color was your bedroom when you were growing up? It was blinding, with three East and South facing "old house" style windows that were about as tall as me and yellow wallpaper. I can't think of a lighter room I've seen besides a sun room! And, no, I didn't sleep very late in the mornings!

10. What color are your sheets? Well, JUSTIN, they were white with a light blue pattern, until they were washed with a purple blanket and are now bright pink. The new ones are white with a green trellis pattern.

11. What color was your favorite crayon as a child? Oh, I liked them all. I usually had the biggest pack available and I remember really liking Cerulean and Forest Green. I was a child who loved colors and my parents and aunts laugh about how I knew more advanced color names at a young age. Before my brother was born we lived in a mobile home in Rock Springs, WY (because of a housing shortage due to Rock Springs being an oil boom town) and the trailer had rust colored carpet and a rust shower curtain in the bathroom (It was a two bathroom mobile home! Very nice!) I was three and would talk about the rust decor and I also claimed my favorite color was fuschia. My aunt Jenny still loves to laugh about when I told her I liked fuschia. Hahaha. I believe there was a fuschia crayon and I liked it but not as much as Cerulean.

12. What color is your car? Right now it is black, but my two favorite vehicles ever were bright blue (a Ford Ranger and a Ford Fusion).

13. What color was your prom dress? Royal blue for jr. year, lavender for sr. year (I regret the lavender one.)

14. What's your favorite gemstone? Hmmm. . .my birthstone is a diamond but I always kind of envied the more colorful months. I like the saphhire and the aquamarine. (Oh, why couldn't I have been born in September or March? Haha, not really. I am fine with April. . .)

15. What is your favorite flower? Peonies, because they are so big, and hydrangeas because they look like big balls of flowers! And unique colored roses, like lavender, yellow and coral.

16. What color makes you happiest? The turquoise color of a swimming pool or the ocean!

17. What color depresses you? None, really. . .

18. What color calms you? Robin's egg blue.

19. What color makes you grind your teeth? Hmmm. . .maybe neon colors?

20. What color would you like to try, but are scared to? I'm not scared to try anything. I live with a man, though, so I have to compromise in some areas of decorating!

Well, I didn't need a magazine survey to tell me this, but I think I love blue and green! Big surprise!

I Met a Baby Over the Weekend. . .

I finally got to meet my newest nephew, Jack, this weekend. Justin and I went to South Dakota for his baptism. I also got to see Josh and Kelsey's house for the first time. Josh is Justin's step-brother and he and his wife Kelsey recently finished building a new house in Hendricks, MN, on Lake Hendricks. (The town of Hendricks is officially in MN but the lake straddles the border of MN and SD. Josh and Kelsey's house is located in SD. I think most people imagine that they might build a house just for them, with their own specifcations in mind at some point in their ideal life. I can't imagine doing such a thing in my 20's! It was fun to see their house finished. The last time I saw it, the house was a shell. It had walls and beams but that's about it! They have been living there for awhile but they finished their basement right before the weekend started! When we arrived on Saturday the finishing touches were still being worked on and dust was still settling from carpet installation (and being promptly cleaned up by Kelsey's attentive younger sisters!).

I finally got to see Jack. He is a cute, sturdy little guy who likes to go with the flow. He doesn't mind commotion and can sleep amidst the sounds of vacuum cleaners, the TV and the presence of alot of people.

Oh, look, he's with Aunt Maren. . .and he looks thrilled about that!


There he is with Uncle Justin! Sure, he gets to hold him when he's sleepy. . .check out those arm rolls! Adorable!




This is Cayson, Jacks slightly older cousin who was born in January. The last time I saw him was in mid-March when he was baptised. He has already changed alot and is now much more alert and muscular. When you hold him, he can squirm and wiggle, and he rolls over and the floor and can sit up on his own.

This is Jack with Kelsey, his mama!

Here is Cayson, rollin' and hangin' on the floor with his books and his turkey toy (that thing in his hands is a turkey). "Farm Kisses" was a great book! It is about how farm animals say goodnight to each other. Very cute.

Look at the big boy! Almost ready to get crawling and start exploring!

These next few shots detail the challenge of getting a group of kids to pose for a photo. It was pretty funny. I never got a "good" shot on my camera (who says what is good, anyway? They are all worth having!) but someone else might have.

Blake?


Blake!

The cousins together! On Saturday evening, right after Cayson and Jenny and Corey arrived, Jack was fussing and crying. Kelsey was holding Jack and I was holding Cayson and we put them in each other's vicinity and Cayson reached out and patted Jack and sort of held his hand! It was so cute.

Allan is 1! I appologize if anyone finds this post sickening and over the top. . .

I have been trying to write this since yesterday evening but the website was malfunctioning. We just returned from a weekend in South Dakota which will be my next subject, but I had to have a tribute to Allan for his birthday, which is June 6th. We know his birthday because he was born the Humane Society and they keep track of those things. Facebook reminded me that Allan shares his birthday with my aunt, Barb! Barb is a regular reader. . .Barb, if you are reading this read to the end for a special surprise!

Something is not quite right with Blogger right now. . .I don't know why the font is like this, underlined. . .I will possibly try to fix this later. (I just tried to fix it and it seems that I have created a link. When I clicked it the photo opened in a web page. I don't know how I did it! Disregard. . .)We made Allan this dumb little hat last night. What a waste of time. Also, he didn't like it at all. In that photo I am holding him tightly against his will to keep him from ripping it off of his head. I caught him in a still moment and plopped in on to take a quick picture. It was a lucky shot.

This is how he really feels about his birthday hat!

I have so many pictures of him! Many are from my camera, several are from my phone, such as the one below, where Allan is perched on top of the refrigerator.

He thinks he's "King in the Castle"!

He thinks he can sit wherever he wants. (Wait, he can!)

I love this picture! Justin took it with his phone and sent it to me. I was sitting just out of the shot on the love seat. He looks like a dignified teenager!

This is a favorite of mine. It was the photo shown on the Humane Society website. I never actually saw him this little, but it is fun to have at least one "baby" photo! It makes me smile every time I see it. . .especially his googly eyes! His ears look big!

This was taken on one of the first nights he was at our house! He was snuggly right from the start! When I opened the pet carrier in the kitchen he came out and hopped right into my lap. He was purring but also trembling, so I knew he was scared. He was instantly loveable for that reason. The next day, I took a nap on the couch and he curled up next to me. When I woke up around 30 minutes later he was still next to me! I knew he was here to stay after that.

He has always been curious and loves to look out the windows!

I love this shot. He is laying on a towel. Towels are a favorite textile of his, so his beds are layered with old towels.

I took this picture a few weekends ago. I was laying on the bed in our guest room talking on the phone and he came and made himself comfortable (he kneaded my abdominal area before settling in, of course! His feet and neck look huge! Happy birthday, "Al Pal, Kitten, Buddy, Snuggler"! We hope we have you for many more birthdays!

Also, happy birthday Barb! Barb is married to my dad's brother, so I don't have any young photos of her prior to the late 1970's because, of course, I haven't been to her relative's houses with my scanner and laptop, but I have some from the "Skjo" archives!

Here is Barb as a young mom, amidst the excess of our family Christmas (it looks much the same today, almost 30 years later. . .mountains of presents, empty boxes, people croweded on the floor. . .imagine the chaos with 9 kids instead of 1!)

Here is a wedding photo, and the wedding is the perfect image of late 1970's eleagance. Before the awfulness of the mid-1980's, after the regretable pastel tuxes and ruffles of the earlier 1970's. . .my grandma wore the same dress for my parents wedding. You can see it in my late-March post about wedding dresses. What?? Who wouldn't take advantage of any excuse to buy a new dress?? Haha, anyway, happy birthday Barb! What could be a better gift that being able to view a bunch of pictures of my cat?

Happy Birthday Mother!

My mom is 53 today. . .I know it's not a milestone birthday but I can't resist sharing just a few pictures, since I recently acquired this library of old photos in digital format!


She was born in the middle of the year in 1957, which I believe is the year that was the biggest "boom" of the baby boom. (I remember seeing a news story about it the year she turned 50). According to my internet research, there were approximately 4,300,000 babies born that year (another was my dad!).

I don't know what this headshot is from. I'm guessing high school. Love that colllar! Happy birthday mother! Keep reading to read my awesome post about one of the best aspects of summer. . .swimming!

Let's Go to the Pool!

It is the month of June. Public schools have been dismissed for the summer. As a former public pool regular swimmer and later employee, pools have been on my mind lately! I am especially excited because the public pool in my hometown, where I swam almost every day and worked for five years is opening soon after overcoming some difficult odds!

The pool is very old as far as outdoor pools go. My dad swam there as a child, so that means it has been there at least 50 years. (I just spoke to him on the phone and he believes it has been there since the mid-1950s.) It is old and junky and not very high tech. It has never had a heater which meant taking the plunge could be a shocking experience! When we opened in the spring it was usually 64 or 65 degrees and during the hottest weeks it might get into the low 70s. (If you weren't aware, a typical heated outdoor pool is around 80-82 degrees and some indoor pools that are used primarily for swimming lessons and such are close to 90 degrees.) The first thing kids would do when they arrived was walk over to the ladder with the thermometer tied to the step to check the temperature! One day, during our opening week, the water was 64 degrees and there were plenty of kids there, excited to be at the pool, but none of them were swimming because it was too cold to enjoy. Instead they horsed around on the deck and caused problems. My co-worker Molly and I told them that it couldn't be that bad and that they were weak and declared that we were going swimming on our break and were going to stay in for a certain amount of time (maybe 10 minutes?). We jumped in together and when we broke the surface I think the whole town could hear our gasping and screaming! Wow, that was cold water. It was colder than the glacial river I experienced when I went rafting in the mountains of Norway. In addition to the lack of heater, the chlorine tank is housed in a little building that looks like an outhouse. Pools require soda ash, a white powdery chemical, to regulate the pH of the water (it should be at 7.4-7.8 for maximum comfort. If it is lower it causes the eyes to burn slightly. Sometimes if you are in a pool and think the chlorine is too strong it could be an off-kilter pH that is causing the problem in your eyes. I know 7 is the neutral pH, and I don't know why that is too low for pools. Ask a chemist!) We had to add soda ash by pouring it in, while most pools have an automatic dispenser. The filter system is, I imagine, primitive compared to newer pools and to open and close the hatch that sealed the filter we had to whack it with a hammer a few times! (The kids weren't allowed back there!)

There was never an official day that the pool would open. It depended on the weather and the water temperature rising out of the low 60s. My brother and sister and I got so excited on the day it opened that we would put our new swimming suits on under our clothes when we got dressed in the morning. If we heard bad news about the status it would devastate us! When it finally happened, our mom would drive us to town and we would be there all afternoon. If it was really hot we would come back for the evening session. In the early 1990's there were still many moms that lounged at the pool with their kids. By the time I started working there in 1999 moms that were available for an leisurely afternoon at the pool were few and far between and they had been replaced by babysitters and daycare providers. Even my own sun loving mother was working business hours. I guess it is a sign of the times with both positive and negative implications. . .

I think back longingly about lifeguarding. I always knew I wanted to work there when I was old enough and attended the required classes enthusiastically as soon as I was old enough (I started when I was 15 and turned 16 before they were over). I worked where my friends worked and we had alot of fun on the job. We were involved in all aspects, beginning with cleaning and painting in May and ending with a few extended days after school started. We had many inside jokes between us and were united together against complaints from parents who thought we could do nothing right. We shared books and magazines and bags of candy. On my precious days off I would often get bored by the end of the day and drive to the pool just to hang out and hear about the days' events! I recall floating around on a hot day during our 3:00 break, with the kids impatiently waiting around the edge of the pool to be allowed back in, and thinking that I was so happy to be working there. That was, of course, before I heard a child's voice saying, "Maren! (Or Erin, Rachel, Jill, Andrea, Dusty) When can we get in the pool!" So much for a relaxing break. . .They would be answered with something along the lines of "We will let you know when break is over and if you ask again we will add five minutes!" or "Didn't you learn to tell time in school? Look at the clock!"

Ah, of course, the kids. . .I know that job wasn't all fun. . .Of course there were many great kids who were nice and fun and agreeable. The ones that made it hard were the ones that were at the pool every day, on the days few others were because it was cool outside or cloudy. They were kids who weren't from the best family situations who wanted our attention all the time because it was obvious they didn't get any at home. They tried to get attention any way they could, by acting up and breaking rules or by being clingy and needy and asking our help for everything and wanting to us watch everything they did. They didn't come at the beginning of the summer with bright new suits and beach towels but instead continued to wear last years' outgrown suit or a faded hand-me-down. We let it slide when the handfull of change they brought to pay the $1 admission came up ten or twenty cents short and pretended not to notice because we knew no one was home to give them money. We drove them home when we had to close early due to unexpected bad weather and they couldn't get a hold of anyone to pick them up. I think of them with sadness right now but during those summers they really did drive my co-workers and I crazy. Some days we were at the end of our ropes and didn't think we could take any more from them because they were always there and if you tried to pay attention to other kids they would try to direct it back to themselves. It was hard not to snap at them and tell them to leave us alone and go home! Many days I was so relieved when the door was locked and I was in my vehicle with my stereo volume turned up to an almost innappropriate volume! After all, immature teenagers and self-centered college students aren't usually equipped to be a stable adult influence for troubled, attention starved little kids especially when we were supposed to be lifeguarding and watching all of the kids, not just a few. I don't know how teachers do it. They have my admiration.

Also, there was the general grossness that is part of life whenever many kids are together in one environment. The locker rooms were damp and birds would get in the office. The boys locker room was especially unpleasant because, with a few exceptions, the lifeguards were usually female and couldn't monitor the area. I will never forget when a little guy came to us with a worried look and said he had to show us something and we got clearance to enter and discovered that some thuggish kid had brought two cans of beer in his bag! That was actually kind of upsetting because, although most teenagers have tried beer, the boy was a kid in elementary school. Also, there were the more typical boy related problems like out of control urine streams and toilet plugging antics. (Hilarious, boys, the funniest thing I've ever seen. An old dirty sock in the toilet. Hahaha.)

Anyway, I mentioned that the pool is opening soon after overcoming some tribulations. Last spring, as the city maintenance crew was preparing the pool to open, they drained the sludgy water that stays in the pool all winter to keep the pipes full and prevent them from shattering in the cold. Once the water was drained, the change in volume caused the pool to rise out of the ground! It sounds bizarre, but the "bowl" of the deep end rose about one foot above the deck which caused the concrete of the deck and around the pool to crack and separate. The internal plumbing was also interfered with. The cause was determined to be the high water table deep under the ground. The cost of repairing this aging, outdated pool was prohibitive and it sat empty and unopened all year, the gravel parking lot filling with weeds. I felt very sad every time I saw it because, if you couldn't infer, I have a lot of affection for this pool! I even had a dream one night about the empty, uprooted pool surrounded by kids who were standing outside the fence but couldn't get in. Very sad. The cost was estimated to be around $100,000 to fix it and the city's budget did not allow that kind of funding. The only hope was to get a grant from the government, I believe it was from FEMA. As I understand, there are few available and they are very hard to get. Also, the town has many residents who have always thought that the pool is just a big "money pit" (and it is, but aren't most public recreational entities?). I tried to forget about it and accept that when I visited home with my own children going swimming would not be one of the available activities.

Well, guess what? They received the grant! Holy crap! I was so happy the day I found out. The grant would pay for repairs to make the pool the way it was but not for improvements. Imagine my delight when, this spring, I was in the Ampride station buying a sandwich and noticed a collection can on the counter. A group of interested parents is raising money to add a heater!!! A HEATED POOL! I hear that most of it is already raised. This weekend they are having a "bra auction" to add to the funds. Apparently, my mother is creating a golf themed bra that is going to shoot golf balls. . .Tim's got some sort of mechanical system planned to make it happen. . .I will miss it, unfortunately, but I am still proud of my town for stepping up for the kids! I can't imagine what it will be like! No more agonizing swimming lessons where the teachers feign enthusiasm while the kids shiver with blue lips! No more thermometer obsession!

This is a photo of Jacob, a boy my sister and brother and I used to babysit. The photo is taken in the "shallow end"!

I do not want to diminish my happiness about the pool being resurrected but I do have one tiny concern. . .they are filling in the deep end (the deepest the pool will get is 5 ft.) and taking out the diving board because they are now considered a liability. Although the heater money may be great enough to fund a water slide I am still bummed about the diving board because that was the best part of the pool! Becoming a good enough swimmer to be in the "deep end" and use the diving board was a major right of passage, as was learning to dive. (I have been diving since the summer before I started 1st grade. I got reprimanded by the lifeguard at our neigborhood pool in Gillette, WY, for diving in the shallow part of the pool and he told my parents to take me to the deep end!)

As children we spent hours inventing diving board stunts and competing with each other! There was the toothpick (a feet-first trick for the non-diving crowd!) the eggroll, the flying squirrel, the back dive (my self-taught specialty!) the bomb and the cannonball (those are not the same thing!) and many more. When it was really busy the line to "go off the board" wound around the pool to the ladder. It was always a blast when someone's dad or a big high school boy would do a "bomb" and make a huge splash that left the water in tumult! It was a classic game when the kids decided to try to splash the lifeguard! I always let them try because it took a big kid to make a splash that would reach our tall lifeguard chair!

I can't believe that, from now on, kids probably won't learn to dive and won't face the challege and satisfaction of mastering the diving board. It was how we proved ourselves and everyone loved to be the best at a new trick. I still regret that I never mastered the "flip"! I landed on my back while trying to attempt that many times! At least it made people laugh. . .

There is the offending liability, the diving board! That is the second board I remember. It is now sitting in a pile of rubble on the lawn next to the pool. This photo was taken at our Midnight Swim that we had every August before school started. I can describe the scene. . .it was probably cooling down after a hot day, and the sounds of truck full of wheat could probably be heard rumbling at the elevator a block away. The air probably smelled like wheat harvest and chlorine (two of my most nostalgic smells!) and there was probably some crappy pop songs on the radio. Some kid who I didn't trust was probably taking this picture with my precious Advantix camera and making me nervous that it would slip and shatter on the deck. It was my last summer working there. I know that because that shirt I am wearing is from an intramural softball team I was on my sophomore year of college. I lifeguarded for two more years at a large pool in Fargo (where we actually wore uniforms!) during law school after one year off from lifeguarding. In the photo I am the one with the white legs. The girl on the end of the board is Andrea. She started working there two years after I did. I look happy in the picture but I was probably looking forward to the next few weeks, when I would put away my swimming suits and return to my college life where my biggest time commitment was a few hours of class a day and where I spent my evenings sipping rum and cokes in fraternity houses or planning fall recruitment instead of skimming dragonflies out of the pool and hustling pokey kids out of the locker room at 9:05 pm.

That is me, performing my favorite diving board stunt! I don't know whose finger that is. . .

That is Andrea. What kind of stunt is that? I will miss the deep end. . .I have always loved the feeling of pressure I feel in my ears when I let myself sink to the bottom of the 12 feet. But, I will get over it and I will certainly be visiting the pool this summer! I can't wait to pull into the parking lot and dodge the bikes that will be littering half of it and park under the row of shady trees that were the prime parking spots!

The Stereotypical "House" Problem

I am in my final week at Andrea and Kirk's house after several extensions at my temporary job. Several months ago, before my extensions were known, they made plans to let their friend Aaron live with them for the month of June. He is a high school teacher and is going to work at his old undergrad summer job at NDSU. This means that I politely gave up my bed to its rightful tenant and planned on spending my last four or five nights on an air mattress. I went to the movie "Sex and the City 2" last night and found that Andrea had kindly blown it up for me when I returned. I put some sheets on and went to sleep. At 2 am I woke up on the floor with the billowing sides of the mattress surrounding me! Apparently it has a leak. I struggled to free myself from the mattress and then relocated to the basement couch (It is the couch they had in their old apartment and I spent many nights on it when I would visit them for the weekend during law school. It is an old buddy!) This is certainly a sign that I have overstayed my welcome!

You might be wondering how that seemingly pointless story connects with the title. The title is referring to the fact that at the moment when four people are living here instead of three or two the water heater has broken! Water heater problems always cause, at a minimum, inconvenience. They also escalate and make everyone's lives miserable. At the KD house we had a few water heater fiascos during my years of residence. My sophomore year something went wrong with the hot water in the kitchen. We had to follow health codes pertaining to the sanitization of dishes. Since we couldn't sanitize dishes we had to use paper dishes until the problem was fixed! We all had a paper cup with our name on it that we were supposed to try to reuse! A story is still told about how a resident sat on a paper glass of koolaid after she tried to perch on the table after a night of drinking. Hilarious. My junior year the water heater broke and we had to resort to showering elsewhere. Some girls went to the Wellness Center and I headed over to the familiar freshman dorm and its endless supply of hot water to shower on Andrea's floor. When I returned I found that the hot water was back. Sigh. Bad timing!

The water heater at Andrea's has been acting strange for awhile and tonight, Aaron, Andrea and I had cold showers after our evening runs/rollerblades/days of work at the ag experiment station. Brrrr! A repair man is coming tomorrow. He is the second they have spoken to after the first gave them an exhorbitant price quote. It is a pain, but all a part of having a house, I guess! It is their first homeowner related snag, so I guess they have been pretty lucky so far. I wonder what ours will be?