A Day In The Life - 10/13: Knives Again!?

Yes! We are nearing the end of knife-making for this season. I love the uniqueness of the various knives made by these young men and their Varsity Scout leaders. All of these knives were first-time blades except for John's.

Joey Angel made the knife above with a payuka hardwood handle and some engraving on the blade. The end of the handle will be carved into something he is not sure about yet.

James Clune was the master of speed, having started and completed his antler-handled knife in only three work periods. The whole project has taken about 6 or 7 work periods.

John Millard, having made a couple of knives in previous years, decided to make one with a payuka handle also. His was made distinctive by the tine showing through the handle as well as . . .

. . . putting finger groves in the handle.

Mark Shoemaker made this wicked-looking knife with a handle of antler with a brass guard.

A Day In The Life - 10/13: Cut the Card!

This is the first. This is the time to celebrate.Gaye and I have decided that it is time to live without credit cards. We can do this. So we decided that the one that we have nothing owed on will be our first "cut". So, with a glint in her eye, she got out the really big scissors and cut those cards in half. (Perhaps "minced" would have described the final action more accurately.) And they were brand new cards, too.

Check out the devilish grin as she destroys these credit cards.

Thank You, Dave Ramsey!

A Day In The Life - 10/09: Air Hockey

I was talking with a friend of mine at work about ten days ago regarding what was happening in his life and he mentioned that he had this air hockey table that he had not been able to sell. He was going to have to disassemble it and take it to the trash. I mentioned that I was interested in air hockey and asked about the table. It was in good shape and was one of the higher-end models and that I could have it if I would come and get it.
Well, that cinched it. There is nothing that I like better than free. So I gathered the boys (Paul, Quentin and Kyle) and we went over to Andrew's house. The table was in pretty good shape but needed some repair on the feet. We brought it home and I did the repair and then assembled the table and tested it out. It works great. Now, to get some scouts and my kids over to really test it out. But no matter what, it is really hard to beat free.
So, since the kids were already over, Jessica volunteered to cook dinner. So Gaye and I made a run to the store (not free this time) and got a few things while Jess did the cooking. It was a marvelous dinner and Gaye loved the not cooking part (which must be the next best thing to free!) The grand kids played outside and inside until about 9:30 pm. It was so much fun spending time with all of them.
Thanks, Kyle, Quentin and Paul - for the help in hauling the air hockey table; and Jess and Gaye - for dinner. Yum!

A Day In The Life - 10/08: The Grand Canyon

Quentin mentioned a few days back that he wanted to go to the Grand Canyon to do some research on National parks and Teddy Roosevelt. I told him that I had a few days off in October and that we could do it if he wanted to. So we made the arrangements to camp in the camp ground. We headed up through Flagstaff. The San Fransisco Peaks had a nice topping of snow. The low was between 27 and 31 degrees, depending on who you listen to. It is a good thing that I had my new tent and sleeping bag. Those, with a cot and a blanket, made for some fairly comfortable night, if not a restful one. It is hard to sleep well when not at home-at least for me.
I determined that I wanted to be at the canyon to take pictures early. Sun up is my idea of early. I awoke at about 5:00 am. It was dark. After a quick hike to the rest rooms, I was shivering and hopped back in the bag to warm up. Sleep was futile so I dug out my e-book and read until about 6:00. By the time that Q and I had gotten out of bed, stowed our gear, packed the tent, etc. and got to the canyon it was about 7:00 am. Then to find a parking place was the trick of the day, but we finally found one.
We were there early enough to get some good pictures. There were actually quite a few people around. We discovered that none of the offices or stores opened until 9:00 am so we decided to take pictures until 9:00 and thin hit up the places he needed to visit. So we kind of bounced along the rim from Bright Angel to Yavapi to Grand Canyon Village taking pictures from the different locations as the sun rose. It was a good choice.
When the offices finally opened we headed back to Bright Angel where we listened to one of the rangers tell some of the history of the park, including Ralph Cummins (?) who was a prospector who held claims all along Bright Angel creek and the trail. He would charge people $1 (in 1909) to cross his property to go down to the canyon. It was such a great business that he was making $20,000/year and became a wealthy man. But the govenment made it a national park and was buying up the claims. He wouldn't sell. So the government created Kiabab trail so people could go down to the canyon for free. So Ralph finally sold his claims.
This is one of the trees I found on the rim. It has been ravaged by the wind, snow and sun but still stands. It was a piece of wood with character that I would have loved to bring home to carve into something fun .
Our adventure was done about 10:30 am and so we headed back to the valley of the sun to recover from our near frostbite.

A Day In The Life - 10/06: Varsity Knfe Handles

The knife-making is almost at an end. The are winding up the handles to their knives. Some are being done from antler that was supplied by Scott Larson, the Varsity Coach. John and Brother Angel are making their handles out of hardwood.
He are John and Brother Angel shaping their wood handles.



Mark (on the left) is working away with the Dremel to carve his handle and the brass guard to fit the handle into them for final gluing. It is a good exercise in patience and experience with some new tools that require both patience and precision.






Brother Larson is waiting (patiently) for his turn at the Dremel to work his brass and handle.












The video is a fun one that kind of shows the guys in action.

A Day In The Life - 10/05: What A Storm!

What a powerful micro-burst we had in our neighborhood - and all over the valley. There was hail on the west side of town, some of it as big as tennis balls, denting car bodies and breaking windows in cars and houses. There were tornado-like winds that up-rooted treas and tore branches loose. It tore roofs off of buildings and generally made a mess of everything.
At our house we were worried about the trees. As we drove home from work we saw trees up-rooted and damaged all along the way. When we arrived in our neighborhood there was even more evidence of the storm - especially with lots of toppled mesquite trees.
One of the first things we noticed was that there was lots of stuff scattered across our yard. All of the lawn furniture was scattered around and there was lots and lots of debris. Then we noticed that some of the debris was roofing tiles and found that a large portion of the roof of our shed was torn off (and then it leaked some inside - but nothing inside was water damaged. Whew!)
Next we noticed roof tiles from our house scattered in the east side yard. also, we could see where a lot of the decorative tiles had been torn loose. We could also see some other tiles along the edge of our two-story home out of alignment and hanging precariously.
Gaye suggested that the yard looked like it had woken up from a hangover. The garden shade had been torn down. Puddles - small lakes, actually - stood in the garden as well as on the lawn. The wood standing against the shed is pretty much destroyed. But it was ready to go, anyway.
But our trees survived the storm perfectly intact. Hooray!


Finally, I walked around to the west side yard and found that the wind had taken our green refuse barrel, flipped it over, spun it around from the corner of the house to the gate and shoved the corner of it through the double-paned window. There was a lot of glass to clean up inside but, amazingly, no water.
Now is when we are VERY grateful for good insurance. With a small deductible and a good agent it will be taken care of with minimal involvement from us. It will take a bit longer than usual because there are SO many claims because of this storm.
As you can see, this storm was so fierce that it tore down several telephone poles along Southern Ave along the way that we take Gaye to school. They were replacing the old wooden poles with the metal/cement ones, which probably last longer and are stronger. They lost about 10 poles along this stretch and some along Elliot, over in Chandler.

A Day In The Life - 10/04: Paul Gets A Future Job

I get this text from our son, Paul: "Can you watch Hero on Friday?" I told him that I could. Then it got changed to Monday. So Monday rolls around. Just barely. It is 5:15 AM when Jessica arrives at the door with Hero and Ariel. It had been a tough morning and so she stayed for a few minutes and talked before heading off for work. She had already sent Paul off on his way to get weighed and measured and whatever else they do when they "let" you into the military.
So the four of us take Gaye to work and Ariel to school after they get a few Cheerios or puffs of some flavor down their gullets.

That leaves Hero and me to play. Paul didn't know how long his stuff would take so they left the car seat. I had a lunch appointment with Richard Yeates, who I have not seen in just about forever it seems. Hero came along and was pretty good until right at the end. She was a little fussy but not bad for a two-year-old. Then it was home. I think there was a nap in there sometime in the morning. Finally Paul arrived and told us the story:
Paul was attempting to go back into the Army - this time as an officer. He had spent 8 years in the Army reserves when he first left high school. But now he had a degree and has been out of work for about nine months. He had passed all of his tests and security checks, had gotten his age waiver and his eye sight waiver, but did not get accepted. He was told that there was a second review but the odds were not in his favor but he ought to go for it anyway. He later found out that no one that the recruiters had ever sent for second reviews had ever made it. This was not encouraging but he had nothing else at the time so he signed up for it.
He schedules the second review for Monday (the reason I am watching Hero and Ariel) and gets his height and weight checked and measurements taken and a few other things interspersed with a lot of waiting. And (drum roll, please) gets accepted! Then he finds out that today is the last time that they are doing second reviews. And today is the last time that they are giving waivers for age. They have so many candidates due to the economy that they will no longer be considering people who do not make the cut during the first round. In addition, the person there gave him a pay / rank increase from E3 (top of the Privates) to E4 (Corporal). He remains an enlisted rank until he finishes Officer Candidate School, when he will become a Second Lieutenant. Additionally, he has an advantage, having 8 years time already behind him and competing with kids who are just out of basic training with zero time in service. The major hindrance to rank advancement for those who show initiative is time in service, which he has eight years of. His first two rank advancements should come pretty quickly if he does well. He starts OCS on January 12th at Fort Benning, Georgia.
What a blessing. Gaye and I have been keeping him (and our other kids) in our prayers for the things they have been needing and this was definitely an answer in the affirmative to ours. Thanks.
To celebrate, we went to dinner and then to Ocean Blue Frozen Yogurt. Ariel climbed up on the railing and sat with me to eat our yogurt and then took a very close look (with Hero) at the water in the fountain. I won't say we fell in but we took every opportunity to have that sort of accident and still remain dry. :)

A Day In The Life - 10/03: Why Me?

Why Me?! I don't understand how this happened. Gaye loves the animals. She talks to them, pets them feeds them, talks to them some more ... and they want nothing much to do with her.
Me? I growl at them, tell them to go lay down or to get lost. I ignore them whenever possible. When they do something they shouldn't, I discipline them. (They hate getting the Gibbs head slap.)
But when I sit down to watch some television, who do they come to? I really, really wish I could tell you that they go and leave fur all over her clothes. But, no such luck. Itchy brother, not pictured here, is usually curled around my neck leaving dark hair all over my shirt, which is usually white or light colored. Great White Brother comes and lays down next to my dark pants. Next he drapes a paw over my leg. Eventually he must rest his head on my leg. Finally he just gets bold and climbs up into my lap and nuzzles me to scratch him, as he releases every light-colored bit of hair he has been growing since the dog last chased him around the yard. And the dog. She is usually not this bold and remains on the floor. But, I guess that is the reason for this photo. There is only one solution that I can think of. I am just going to have to start liking them so they'll go away!

A Day In The Life - 10/02: Fox Hole Kitty

Delta, the dog, gets puppy dog wild when she goes out to the backyard. She sprints around the lawn, takes dives to scratch her back, plays with her chew toy and chews on sticks, leaves and seed pods from the trees. The gray cat, Itchy Brother, mostly ignores the dog as she comes to a screeching halt right in front of him. But Great White Brother is not that confident with his poor hearing and blind eye. He jumps, hisses and flattens his ears. But thanks to the tire that keeps the dog from jumping the fence when she has to left outside alone, the cat is now safe. The dog can't get that close any more. There is the barrier between them - and, as you can see, that suits the cat just fine.

A Day In The Life - 10/01: A Knife and a Gift

I had some extra vacation time that I need to use by the end of the year or lose it so I decided that I would take off every Friday during October (and December). And since we had decided to not go to Conference this time but had already scheduled the vacation time for it, I have Monday off as well.
As you have read previously, I have the Varsity Scouts over making knives. I get caught up in the action every time we do this project but I can't be teaching the boys (and leaders) and watching their safety as well so I must do my work when they are not here. So yesterday was the first time since right at the beginning back in July that I got a chance to take my blade from a piece of steel that had a design roughly cut out to something that is ready for the finishing touches. Now I am ready to start on my knife handle, which will be another fun piece of art.
As Gaye and I sat at home last night catching up on a couple of recorded TV shows there was a knock at the door. To our wonderful delight, Kathy Gannon was there with some conference gifts for us. She had spent the day (and probably much longer) baking goodies, creating a booklet of her favorite recipes and had created a book for conference notes. And then, being the marvelously creative friends that they are, she decorated each item with stamps, cut-outs, bows, fabric and sparkle-ies.
This is a closer view of the wonderful Conference notebook that Kathy made. Check out the "jewels" at the tips of the temple spires, the hand-made flower, the bows and ribbons, the book mark, the label near the bottom and even the tab attached to the pages for the first session of conference. Oh, it is wonderful to have such talented friends who are so willing to share with us. What a blessing it is to know them.

A Day In The Life - 9/28: I Love Tuesdays

I love Tuesdays. They have become our date nights for the past month. Not that we don't go out on Fridays . . . and Saturdays, but we also get to do so much together on Tuesdays as well.
Gaye has had some classes that she is taking for her school career on Tuesdays. (She does those without me.) Then I pick her up from class and we go to Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. Those are always spectacular. I would pay the price for the classes just for the entertainment because they are so much fun. He really makes us see ourselves in some of the dumb things that we do financially.
And then Gaye usually has a coupon for free or reduced food somewhere so we get to go out and eat (or at least treat) while we talk about the things from class. And here we are at Culver's - again. Man, they have good ice cream.

A Day In The Life - 9/25: Jennie Finally Turns 20!

For Jennie's birthday we all went to Yogurtland for frozen yogurt. These are great places that specialize in letting you choose your own flavors and mixes and toppings . . . and then they charge you by the oz. But it is also way too fun to build your own dessert.





And as usual, Jennie has to do her own posing for the pictures and give me some sort of annoying face. So I decided to pull a fast one on her and do a video clip rather than a picture. It is pretty funny. Now you, too, can be there for the action. :)

A Day In The Life - 9/24: A Wedding!

The day is not over and I am already making more entries - one was just not enough.
William Shoemaker and his beautiful bride had their wedding reception this evening. It was so much fun, as these things always are. No only are you really happy for the Bride and Groom and the families, but you also get to see all of these wonderful people that you never get to see.
For example, right here on the right side of this picture is Logan Hendricks of the Lee Hendricks persuasion. Their family has since moved to Utah near Provo. But here he is in the . . . pixels. And of course Mark Shoemaker and Toby and Patsy Ballentine with Rachelle. That was a totally fun time for visiting.
And then, since Kevin Shoemaker couldn't be at the wedding because he is serving a mission for the LDS church in South America, they had a cutout of him. He has finally become the poster child his parents always hoped he would be. And Jennie, being one of his great friends, had to have the picture with him, without him.

A Day In The Life - 9/24: More Hospital

Happy Birthday, Ben. It is a good thing that we made the trip down to Tucson to do Ben and Noah's birthday's last weekend because this week we are spending time at the hospital with Jase and his parents. He has been in since Wednesday. They finally figured out that he has Salmonella poisoning. There is no telling where he got it from. He is going to have to be in the hospital for a few more days until they get it under control and then on a pic line for about 10 days after that to give him the antibiotics he needs. Quentin and Mandi have been with him day and night but are needing to get back to work and school so we are glad that they have finally figured it all out.

A Day In The Life - 9/23: Jase in the Hospital

We got some scary news from Quentin Wednesday night. He and Mandi cam over asking for a blessing for Jase. He was sick and running a fever and had a persistent infection on his finger. They had been to the doctor's office but had not been able to clear things up. They were taking him to the hospital.
Quentin told us that they were keeping him at the hospital because they couldn't determine what the problem was. The doctors had ruled out Merca and appendicitis but it was still not getting better.
When we cam by for a visit they were taking him for a sonogram to determine if this was an appendix issue. It wasn't.

A Day In The Life - 9/22: A Keen Wit Plus

We are still in the process of making knives. It takes several sessions to grind, sand and shape the piece of steel to something that you want to take home. And about the time that you feel like it is coming together and you have spent enough time on this thing, you discover that you still need a handle for the darn thing.



There are a couple of options. Most of the time we make handles out of antler. Scott Larson got a hold of some good pieces for us. But some of the guys have done this before and so this time I offered them an option to do their handle in wood. This is more difficult. A piece of antler only requires that you drill some holes in the soft, porous core so that the tang of the blade can fit inside and then you glue it in place.

Making a handle out of wood requires that you cut the handle piece long-ways and off center. Then a groove must be routed down the center to hold the knife tang. Then the two halves must be glued back together. When they are dried, the work begins. The handle must still be cut and shaped, smoothed and sanded, then finally finished.



So, if this process seems to go on and on and on and on, it does. But the boys (and the leaders) love it and will be hard pressed to move on to their next project for the Mountain Man Rendezvous preparation.

A Day In The Life - 9/18: Noah (and the animals) Have A Birthday Party

This day started out as such a nice one. The morning was cool (if you can call 90 cool) and a little breezy. It was a magnificent day for working in the yard. I went and mowed Mom's lawn and then came home and mowed mine. Then I was moving some of the terracing stones, trying to decide how this garden thing was going to work with the trees I need to dig holes for. And then there was this one stone. I had placed it next to another stone but the rough edges just sort of hung up on each other. As I went to nudge the hanging stone I just had this thought that if I did that kind of nudging I was going to smash my finger. And, boy was I right. And just then I felt like the guy in Jurassic Park played by Jeff Goldblum who says, "I hate being right all of the time." So I did the un-happy dance so that I didn't say the un-happy words. Unfortunately, you can't see in the picture how wonderfully purple the whole thing was from the joint to the tip. Just one big blood blister. Yowza!
Then it was down to Tucson. To Sahuarita, actually. It was time to celebrate Ben and Noah's birthdays. Jenn, in her ever-creative manner, made a birthday cake that was every boy's dream cake - a race track with a race car on it. And it had Oreo tires around the sides like the bumper tires around some tracks. What a spectacular and tasty treat. And to top that all off, she had prepared some dinner, too.
Part of the arrival tour included the new castle in the play room. Ben has been planning this for quite some time and when he finally had some time off over Labor Day weekend, the family headed to Phoenix to stay out of his hair while he worked on the big surprise. It is a two-story job with a couple of rooms beneath for reading, playing or having the queen's tea parties and a loft above for sleeping or fighting off dragons, which are quite plentiful this time of year.
Finally, the gathering begins. Getting so many friends and family all ready to open presents was quite a chore but somehow they managed it. And Noah was more than exuberant in his zeal to reveal the contents of each package in as little time as possible, flinging papers and ribbons in a myriad of directions. But, to his credit (and that of his mother) he did take a moment to thank each person for the gift they brought.

Gaye spent some time discussing the many attributes of her new phone with her Mom and Bob. Now she is really in geek heaven. She is envied by both her kids AND her parents. That is an enviable and short-lived position to be in so she is making the most of it while she can.





Finally, things quiet down enough that, before everyone heads home with bellies full of dinner and birthday cake, Ben gets a chance to open his gifts. His kids show as much enthusiasm for the gifts as he does and when he opens one that has two wooden gliders (one for Noah and one for Ben), Emma is elated. "One for the girls and one for the boys", she says confidently.

And finally a short video of the participants during the decloaking of the gifts.

A Day In The Life - 9/17: Dirt and Dog

The garden has taken off. I have sprouts everywhere. I have Joy School sprouts, Cub Sprouts (get it?), single sprouts, family sprouts, tall spouts, skinny sprouts even sprouts with chicken pox. I guess I got carried away there. But they are coming up by the fist full. But most of those are either weeds or volunteers. Not volunteers like the kind they had in the Revolutionary War. More like the kind you get when someone says "Free Food" or "You can sleep on my couch until you get a job." But there is a better cure for the garden variety than for the couch type. I just spray them with a little roundup. And it really does kill them down to the roots.
So I am out doing the garden thing. The dog is out with me doing the dog thing. "And what is the 'Dog Thing'?" you ask. You will just have to catch the quick video is when it refers to our dog (Betty Poops) and getting a free rub in the lawn.

A Day In The Life - 9/16: Miracle Mile Deli

Today I got to go out to lunch. I seldom go somewhere for lunch. I prefer to eat at my desk - all day long. It is so much more satisfying to munch something whenever I get the urge. I also get some perverse satisfaction from leaving an hour earlier than the others who came in at the same time I did but took a lunch break.
But today I took a lunch. I had finally hooked up with my friend, Loren Jepson, and we picked a spot somewhere between our two work places. He works out on the west side of Phoenix and I work near the south east side of Phoenix, so Camelback Road and 20th Street seemed like a good place to enjoy some time talking and eating without making the travel prohibitive. And Miracle Mile Deli is a good place to do it. The sandwiches are thick with meat and dressings and hot off the grill. (I am making myself hungry just thinking about it. I had the New Yorker.) The drinks are cold and the prices are fair for the fare. Yum! So we talked for an hour or so and caught up with each other's activities. It was money and time well spent.

A Day In The Life - 9/15: My Man, Jase

It is Wednesday. Wednesday's are generally pretty good days - none of that Monday morning blues stuff for me. It is the middle of the week, the wrinkles have been mostly ironed out. There is no panic yet that the end of the week is arriving before everything is done. Wednesdays are good.
Jase was over to the house and in a pretty good mood about things. It was a good and mostly quiet evening. He is ready for bed in alien jams of some sort. It was a good time to snap a picture before he could do either the "Sure, take my picture" pose or the "Don't ever do that again", hide your face and frown pose.

A Day In The Life - 9/14: Mockingjay Lands

Yahooie! I finally finished the book and the series by Suzanne Collins. The Hunger Games begins the series about a time when the country is divided into 13 districts rather than 50 states and are controlled by the Capitol. The rebellion had been put down and just to remind everyone who was in control, the capitol demanded two youngsters from each district to fight in the Hunger Games each year - and only one survivor comes out as the victor.
This is a great, well-written trilogy that was written for young adults (like me) and keeps you guessing what is going to happen next that will get Katnis and her friend Gale, into even more trouble. A recommended read for everyone.

A Day In The Life - 9/13: My Piece of Dirt

My piece of dirt. I water it. I dig in it. I find hidden treasures in it - like a snake and a lizard. I mix stuff in it. (This sounds a lot like the grand kids playing in the pile in the play area.)
Finally I just leave it alone and it starts to sprout things if I am patient. Not always what I planted, which is half the fun - like going to the treasure box.
I got the automatic watering all set up so that I don't have to have too much fun. And my compost barrel is there where I bury my treasured scraps of vegetable waste for next season.
Now, if I could only keep the dog from digging up the treasures in my piece of dirt . . .

A Day In The Life - 9/12: Reeds for Two

We went to visit Doug and Daryn Reed to celebrate Daryn and Taryn's birthdays (oh, so belated) and they surprised us by preparing dinner for Gaye and me to join them. It was so good and so much fun to get to spend time with them since we don't see them nearly as often with our different church assignments. So we got to catch up on what is happening and eat great food and talk with the girls. Then the fun really began. Haley wanted to show us her back walk-over that she is doing for the play, Oliver. She is also taking ballet lessons instead of sports.


Then Haley and Whitney got to show us their double tumble routine that they have been goofing around with. It was lots of fun having them show us their stuff.