Early August

 It is still very hot which is nice for the pool. I love water temperatures in the mid 80s. So so so nice.

About a week ago, Angela took a big, ugly, Security Plus test and PASSED. This is the same test three of her siblings took, and passed, so now she has Security Plus certification.

She turns 18 this month and will be able to get a job in IT. So she is going to be job hunting. She also will be getting her driver's license, we hope. So lots of grown up stuff for our girl!

That Cyber Truck is not hers. They just found it in a random parking lot! Ha ha!

Tree frogs keep climbing up our umbrella near our pool. This dude fell off the umbrella when I opened it. He is handsome. Or she is handsome.

This week school started but it was super mellow. Younger three kids did fine.

I also worked really hard on my latest book. It is very long, like 110,000 words. I am almost done with editing it.

I will be glad when it is done. I am always glad when I am done. So glad. So so so so glad.

It won't be published until next month.

Very End of July

I haven't posted in two weeks, I see. 

Tomorrow is August!

I like summer a lot, but I am not mourning that autumn will soon be upon us with cooler temperatures. The end of June and all of July were hot, and we have also had a lot of rain. The grass is very excited. Our pool is like swimming in warm bath water. SO warm. I have been swimming every day almost which is good for my joints and all that.

Today and tomorrow highs will be only in the 70s, but then it will heat up again. I do like the seasons. I don't even mind winter all that much anymore, which is a change, because I used to be cranky about cold temperatures.

Now that I am post menopausal, I get hot very easily so am super thankful for air conditioning!

Last week was full of doctor and dental appointments. We had dentist visits for four people, and orthondontic checks for three kids, and I had a trip to a gastro surgeon. That proved to be useful as I discovered that I have an anal fissure, not hemmorhoids. It is healing but still painful. Annoying that something so small could be so uncomfortable.

I don't think I have a high pain tolerance, though. So that is part of it.

Anyway, this week has been much more mellow. I am on Epilogue 2 of my latest long book so almost done. That makes me happy.

The younger three kids start school next Monday. We always ease into it slowly so it won't be a heavy work week.

I hope to have the new book edited by the end of the next week and then I can pass all the other work off to Kevin like making a cover and marketing and stuff. He is a total boss with that kind of thing.

That is about it! 

Younger Kids in Michigan

 Last week our younger four children went to Michigan to spend the week with my parents and their cousin who is a little older than Rose.

They went to the zoo and rode a camel.

They helped serve a big dinner at my parents' church

Another zoo pic

They had dinner with my younger brother (and my parents)

They played checkers.

They went bike riding. You may notice that my parents have gorgeous flowers. Yes, yes they do. My mother, and to some degree my father, are incredible gardiners.

Flight simulator at the Air Zoo

Another zoo ride, one that is crazy with lots of ups and downs!

Something artsy.

Boys on camel.

So yeah, it was a great week for the children and I am so relieved it all worked out.

Kevin and I were home the whole week, and our three older kids (who live at home) were at work during the day and it was so so so quiet. So quiet.

The original thought was that Kevin and I would go on vacation while the children were at my parents, but then my little health issues cropped up. I still have kidney stones rattling around and also hemmorroids. Like, who wants to talk about the latter? I don't like TALKING about it, but wow, they can be really uncomfortable! They are! Riding in a car for many hours does not make me happy!

I am on meds for them and also seeing a surgeon next week to see if I will need surgery, and then in August I will see a urologist to discuss the kidney stones, which are not hurting but still presumably there.

So yeah, this summer has been a bit disappointing with minor health issues.

Also this week I had a mammogram like a responsible woman, and then yesterday several of us got our teeth cleaned, and then today I went in to get a cavity fixed. So I am tired. Oh, and I ran Sarah to the eye doctor yesterday because an eye is swollen. She is on antibiotics for it now.

It reminded me of my life ten years ago when I would have a great many doctor appointments because back then, I had 9 kids under the age of 18! Compared to those days, I really don't have a lot of doctor appointments. None of the children have chronic health issues so it was all just normal stuf in the past.

I am thankful. I have a friend who has a child who has some issues and when the child was young she would have six medical appointments a week for that one kid.  That is hard.  But when you are a parent, you just do what needs to be done.

I did write quite a bit last week. I finished a novella and now Kevin has to figure out when to publish it and cover design and all that.

I am 70,000 words into another story and will finish it up soonish.

I am a machine where writing is concerned. A big part of being a successful author is just trucking along on books whether it is "fun" or not. I like writing but sometimes there are sections which are just not much fun. But I just write and write and write.

That's about it! Oh, Kevin purchased a robotic vacuum cleaner during Amazon Prime Days and has been playing around with it. It cleaned our room today three times, and our floors are super clean. We vacuum every week, but Robbie the Robot can get under beds and stuff, so he (it?) is doing an extra good job.

 

Three Birthdays

 We have started birthday season. We have zero Kendig birthdays in January, February, March, and April. Then the remaining eight months have 11. It is kinda silly but it is what it is!

Daniel had a birthday in May.

Here he is playing with a Lego gift from my parents. He has a scientific and engineering type of brain.

Rose had her birthday in mid June.

 

My baby is growing up!

Lydia also has a June birthday. Rose's due date was ON Lydia's birthday, but since Rose was a repeat C section, she was born a week earlier in June.

There are no July birthdays, two August birthdays, no September birthdays, one October birthday, two November birthdays and then we finish out the year with three December birthdays!

I am not a "big party" kind of mom at all, but we always have a cake and presents on each child's birthday. The December children are close to Christmas but we always celebrate their individual birthdays!

Sometimes I am in awe that I am blessed with so many wonderful kids. Often I am in awe.

I have a friend whose 10th child is due next month and I do miss the baby days, but I am also mid 50s so too old for babies. This season is awesome too!

Very warm pool!

 Our pool is super nice right now! Usually there is a little bit of a shock getting into the water but not now. It is probably 85 degrees in the pool. We have been doing a lot of swimming, or at least the kids have.

I continue to be a lifeguard when the younger kids are in the pool. They can be reckless and silly.

My kidney stones still aren't doing anything unpleasant. I have an appointment to see a specialist next month. Earliest appointment I could get.

I have another minor medical issue which is annoying. I am trying to be grateful for medicine and health care. I AM grateful.

Kevin is a very well rounded person, way more than I am. I have numerous areas where I am completely clueless. I am also really good at some things, of course.

Anyway, Kevin LOVES to be efficient. We are talking about our heat pump (which also provides AC) and it is 20 years old. Probably will need to be replaced soonish, and when it does, we need to decide how much to pay for efficiency.

Kevin has a big project now where he is wrapping various pipes in insulation in the basement to prevent leakage of cold air. Our upper floor, especially our boys' room, is often rather warm in summer. The AC doesn't quite manage to keep it chilly enough. It is the farthest away from the heat pump and piping. Plus there are three boys sleeping there so yeah.

So Kevin is buying insulation and wrapping pipes and twisting and contorting to get to the pipes and it is all very admirable.

I am sure it will help.

What else?

Naomi broke up with her boyfriend. They were going together for four months and came to the mutual conclusion that they aren't compatible. I liked the guy quite a bit, but totally agree that there were areas of incompatibility that were serious enough to cause a break up.

It is wise to use intellect when making decisions about romance. I keep hearing about people with MAJOR differences who stay together and it isn't a good idea. Marriage is hard enough without some epic disagreement about life. It doesn't have to be anything moral, either. It can just be about major preferences. Like I probably would not have married Kevin if he had said he really wanted to live in  New York City. I am not a big city girl.  Kevin and I have a lot in common and that has definitely made married life easier for us.

It is hot. It is July. It is good.

My Body is Broken (Not Really)

 I like the Lord of the Rings movies from a couple of decades ago. In the second movie, the Two Towers, a king named Theoden gets beaten up by baddies and expires dramatically in the arms of his niece, Eowen. Before he dies, he says, "My body is broken" which is a far more elegant way of saying "I'm dying" than it could be.

Anyway.

I have kidney stones. Joy! I had a CT scan yesterday and kidney stones! Three!

I am not in pain from the stones I don't think. I do have massive lower back pain but I am pretty sure it is from not stretching and sitting strangely a lot.

I went to chiropractor this morning and got adjusted and I think it helped some. My body is fractious about me sitting strangely and not stretching. So I need to work on that.

Re the stones, maybe they will pass normally. Best guess is that I have had them off and on for more than six months now. 

I watched not one but two Titan submersible documentaries in the last week or so. Fascinating and crazy making. The guy in charge, Stockton Rush, was arrogant and stupid. He was also rich and well connected and had an authorative tone AND had a degree in engineering so he should have been smarter.

He wasn't a materials engineer. Not that you had to be to know that they were headed for complete collapse of the carbon fiber hull, which did of course happen, killing Rush and four other people. Carbon fiber is NOT a good material for the ocean depths! It is light and cheap, though.

Wow, the stupidity! The arrogance, the hubris!

For some reason I am noticing "people dying in stupid ways" the last couple of weeks. The news is full of info about three men who jumped over a waterfall in ... California, I think... and didn't come up. Rattlesnake Falls. I mean, they drowned.

The waterfall was pushing the water down and so they couldn't get to the surface. Some crazy gifted diver managed to retrieve all three bodies which was noble of him.

Last but not least, a 24 year old wing jumper died in the last few days. Wing jumping is insanely dangerous.

Stockton Rush was quoted as saying that all of life is risky and if you don't want to take any risks you might as well just stay home and never leave the house.

But that is a false argument, I think. There are risks and there are RISKS. Jumping off 50 foot waterfalls is super risky. Wingsuiting is risky. Ignoring signs that your carbon hull is failing is suicidal.

Life is definitely not entirely safe, ever. Riding in a car can result in a crash and death. But car riding or driving (when one is in charge of one's faculties) is way safer than diving 13000 feet to Titanic, or wingsuiting, or leaping off of waterfalls.

Speaking of cars, our Angela is learning how to drive. She drove me to and from the chiropractor today and did a good job.

Late June

 Finally getting ridiculously hot, starting tomorrow. Temps in the 90s! Our pool has been struggling to maintain 80 degrees or so, but after a few days in the mid 90s, should be far warmer still. Hooray!

Me and Rose, obviously!

She turned 11 this month. I will have Bday pics at some point, maybe. They are on Kevin's camera and don't get downloaded all that often because we are busy :-).

So yes, our baby is 11!

Miriam and Joseph had Juneteenth off, and today they are working from home, so we have had more people bumping around then usual, which is fun and a little weird. Usually it is "just" the four youngest kids during the day as Isaac and Joseph and Miriam are at work during the weekdays.

Speaking of Angela, age 17, she and Kevin have gone out most days this week to practice driving. Yes, it is that time, for Kevin to teach a kid to drive.

I am currently watching a documentary called: Implosion: The Titanic Sub Disaster. Very fascinating along with being very sad. People were stupid. The guy who owned the Sub, who died in the implosion, was stupid.

He was reckless and made big engineering mistakes and five people died, including an eighteen year old boy. Heartbreaking.

Not much else. I continue to write. I am enjoying a break from homeschooling the kids.

Oh, Lydia has taken a second part time job so is working quite a few hours now (like 50+) a week. She was sick and off work last year for awhile and needs to build up her savings. I am proud of her for being willing to work so hard. Part of me feels sad that this is necessary, but this is also life. When I was her age, I was putting in incredibly long work weeks in graduate school. I was young and strong, and so is she.

So yeah, summer is nice, pool is nice, I am grateful.