September 2021

 

Dad's painting arrived on the first day of September.  My sisters and I each got to pick our favorite picture and I chose this one because I LOVE the quaking aspen and we don't have any here in North Carolina.  I love it!

September 3rd was a field day at school.  Since we didn't get to have one at the end of last year, the coaches planned one for the first of the year.  It was a great way to welcome back the full student body..  I was outside most of the day and loved every minute of it.  Watching the kids interact with each other after being apart so long filled me with hope for the future that things will settle into a normal and the kids won't have to be kept apart anymore.

September 4th I got to go on a walk with Sandra first thing in the morning.  I love when she is in town and we have a chance to catch up.  After the walk I cleaned the house, Steve worked on projects in the garage, Kathy FINALLY got her bowl (locked in a Fed Ex trailer because not enough staff to deliver items) and we had dinner as a family.  I would say that is a great day!

The manager at Lowes commissioned Steve to make signs for the break room at the store where Steve worked for six months.  

I turned a clock that did not work into a piece of art for the beach bathroom.  

September 5th Sandra came over for dinner.  We did Damn Burgers and had a great time chatting.  

September 7th Steve finished the signs for Lowes.  The JV volleyball team won in three matches after losing the first.  All their games have been so easy to this point that I think they were caught off guard the first match.  They quickly regathered themselves and won the next two.  

September 9th Avian contributed 6 points to the wins.  Their serves are getting more consistent.  All the practice is paying off.  

September 10th we were all together for pizza and movie night.  This has been happening less and less as everyone's schedules are growing busier.  We had a great time watching Bear Grylls Choose Your Own Adventure on Netflix.  We explored every option in the choices and there were some really funny endings.  It was a good night.

September 11, 2021, marked 20 years since the attacks on the Twin Towers, the Pentagon and the crash in the Pennsylvania field.  It was a somber reminder that we need to remain vigilant to insure that doesn't happen again.  

September 13th was an away game in Rowan County.  I only mention the county because Rowan is notorious for defying the mask mandate put in place by Governor Cooper.  We walked into the school and our team and fans were the only ones wearing masks.  The players and fans of the other team were actually quite mean about us deciding to wear a mask.  We didn't say anything to them, but they were definitely verbal with us.  The saddest part is that Rowan County has higher numbers of Covid cases that any of the surrounding counties and that says a lot because it is not as densely populated.  Oh well.  The JV team won, but I can't remember if this the game the Varsity team lost.  

September 14th Nick was finally able to get into the eye doctor and get his new contacts and eye glasses ordered.  Between school, work and quarantine this has been a long time coming for him.  

September 16th Steve flew to Utah for his 30th high school reunion.  He got to have lunch with his mom and he stayed at Dianna's house because she was out of town and had offered it to him.   Back in NC I helped clean out the theater and band room at the high school.  We have a new theater teacher and he wanted to redo the space which meant clearing out some of the stuff Mr. Willetts had collected over the years.  The theater kids all turned up to help.  I was fun to watch them all pick a souvenir or two or three.  Also, the volleyball team won again!  

September 17th I took the kids to see Wicked.  Steve didn't want to go and since he was in Utah at his reunion it was perfect timing.  We were sitting on the very last row of the theater, but we didn't care.  I brought binoculars so the kids could get a close up view if they wanted.  It was super cool that the people sitting next to us used to be in our ward before they moved.  Alexis Misenholder was one of the favorite YW leaders in our ward.  It was good to see her again.  

Nosebleed seats, but we didn't care. We were at WICKED!!

Meanwhile, in Utah, Steve went to Dianna's cabin with his mom.  He said it was really nice.  It was close enough to the big family cabin that Dianna could spend the day at the big family cabin and then go to her own to sleep for the night.  That night he went to the reunion and had a great time reconnecting with friends.  

September 18th and 19th I helped Nick study for a test.  He would read the textbook aloud to me and I would stop and ask questions to help him understand the material.  Ever since getting into the MOPAR portion of the training he has been more nervous about the tests.  If he doesn't pass a test he has to start the whole MOPAR program over again.  

September 21st was a REALLY good volleyball game. It was total deja vu from start to finish.  As I drove in the parking lot of Carson High School I saw the orange paw prints leading to the front door.  Inside the gym I discovered the blue and orange everywhere with more paw prints.  I felt like I was back in high school. This is exactly what Brighton High School had looked like, paw prints and all!  It would have been really weird if their mascot was also a bengal tiger, but they were the cougars.  The JV game was the best of the season.  They lost 27-25 in the first set, won 25-20 in the second and won 27-25 in the third.  For some reason the referees decided to let the third match go to 25 instead of 15, but that ended up being in our favor.  Still undefeated!

The orange and blue bleachers took me right back to high school.  

The paw stickers on all the seats just made it feel even more like Brighton High.  

After a frustrating 24 hours, Nick was finally able to take the MOPAR 2 test.  The test would not open on Monday and Nick had to wait until Tuesday to take the test that was stressing him out so much.  He passed and he was so relieved.  

September 24th was a really long day!  Avian and I got to school at 7:30 am and didn't get to come home until 10:00 p.m.  We had school all day, then volleyball practice, them Knight Watch at the football game.  It was a long but fun day!  The theme at the football game was America and so the student came dressed in red, white and blue.  Some were wearing flags with Nicki Minaj in a bikini and some were wearing Trump flags.  Anytime administration would walk by the flags would disappear only to reappear moments later.  The behavior in the student section was equally upsetting.  At one point, Mr. Scaringelli positioned me on the top row as a buffer between the students and the cymbal players.  All in all, though, it was a fun night.  

Scaringelli clipping the pampas grass so it wouldn't scratch the band members.  

Waiting to play.  This group is so much fun.  They just love being together.  

One student dressed up as Captain America and let Mr. Scaringelli use it for a little bit.  

September 25th was the Davidson College football game.  Knight Watch was invited as the guest pep band.  It was a fun game.  Avian ended up with a half sunburn because of the angle of the sun by the end, but it was all worth it.

September 28th LNC played West Rowan and it was a tough game.  They did win it in three but it wasn't easy - 1st score was 30-28 (lost); 2nd was 25-21 (won); 3rd 27-25 (won).  It was a great game to watch.  Avian had a roof block, several amazing serves and phenomenal hits.  Go Knights!!!

ROOF!  Denied!!!!

Mid-game pep talk.  This team really plays well together!

September 29th Steve finished the web tool he has been building for weeks and presented it at the company meeting.  Everyone loved what he had created.  It will make things a lot easier for everyone to access the data.   I am finally getting the hang of things at work.  All those years of homeschooling have really been helping me keep perspective and focus to help these kids.  

September 30th I was not able to go to the volleyball game because I had a RS meeting for church.  Steve went and represented.  It was another great game.  25-15 (win); 25-18 (lost); 18/16 (win).  Avian took a knee to the thigh while trying to get to a ball while the other player was trying to get out of the way.  Because a team member who was supposed to work the game wasn't feeling well, Avian took her place and was line judge for the varsity games.  It was a long day, but Avian is loving volleyball so it is all worth it.  

A few random pictures to finish out the September blog.  

After sitting in the ground all summer, this watermelon seed finally decided to grow.  I have a baby watermelon!

Because Nick was feeling discouraged and tired and feeling like school would never end, Avian and I created this chain for him to help him see just how close he is to finishing.  He gets to remove a chain link each day.  

The finished product for my friend Liz who is due with her baby girl any day now.