August 2002

Saturday, August 31.
Ramona is in town with her four kids. They are staying at Dad's. I took the family down, sans Rose, for barbecue. Melanie ended up spending the night. She's much older than Mona's kids but they enjoy playing with each other nonetheless. Ramona's new baby is named Catherine. She is a doll. I had the most wonderful time holding her and talking to her.

Friday, August 30.
Went to Boulder Community Hospital to see baby Julia. I very much enjoyed talking to Mary but I probably stayed too long. Rose went to the football game and dance with Devon. She looked very pretty. Later, she told me that while she was standing around at the game with a couple girls, random boys would come up and start talking. I said, "Well, you looked pretty good," and she looked pleased.

Thursday, August 29.
Wonderful lunch with a friend who I think is the neatest thing. I hope we can do that again soon. Second art class this evening. We had to draw a pile of tricycles. It was very difficult. At the end of class, we put out pictures up on the wall to be critiqued. The teacher didn't have us all make comments the way the teacher last semester did. This guy just walked around, looking at the pics and saying "Hmmmmm." It wasn't nearly as helpful. Also, my sister Mary's baby Julia was born today.

Tuesday, August 27.
Well, I certainly had an interesting lunch. I had my first professional massage, for which I took off all my clothes and laid down under a sheet, whereupon an older gentleman commenced to rub my back, shoulders and legs. It felt wonderful and though it went on for an hour it didn't seem nearly long enough.

First day of art class. I'm not sure I like this teacher much. He wasn't very prepared.

Monday, August 26.
Laura Halfen is sleeping over with Melanie tonight. She goes back to Michigan in a few days. They each put overalls on, stuck a dwarf hamster in their front pockets, and out they went for a walk. Very cute. Dinner was crepes with steak tips and veggies. Crepes are great. They look very impressive, quite the gourmet dish, but are actually fairly easy.

Sunday, August 25.
The family gathered at Ray's to celebrate the summer birthdays -- Dad's, Mary's and Rich's. We all went to his neighborhood pool where we picnicked and watched the kids swim. Karen, Rosie and I took turns holding baby David. It's tons of fun to hold a baby, and it was neat to see K and R enjoy it. The Black Forest cake was a big hit. It looked fantastic and tasted great. Everyone was impressed. The only problem -- it was too small. There was only just enough for all of us, and that because most of us are 7 or under and get tiny pieces. An 8 inch layer cake is gone through in no time. I need bigger pans.

Saturday, August 24.
First, oversaw the kids chores. Then baked two chocolate cake layers which I will turn into a Black Forest cake for the party tomorrow. After that, went up to the reservoir to sail a Sunfish. I went pretty far out then had to come all the way back with only light wind to propel me. Sailors have so little control over their source of power. Sometimes it blows too much and we can barely control it, other times not enough and there we are, becalmed.

Friday, August 23.
Watched Princess Diaries. What a stupid movie! It's a take on the ugly duckling tale in which an awkward teenager finds out she's really a princess. Sure, the story's been done before but every retelling has its potential for sweetness. I'm sure they could have done a better job than this. Julie Andrews was fantastic as the grandmother queen and was the movie's only bright spot.

Thursday, August 22.
Popped up to the rez after work to see if I could take the Sunfish out. I couldn't. Inclement weather. The other sailing classes had already been cancelled. Last year today was the last day of sailing classes for the season and it was a wonderful evening, if you'll recall. Today, well, today stunk.

Tuesday, August 23.
A beautiful sunny day, though not much wind. Sailed the Southcoast with Jeff. There wasn't much wind and not much happened until the end. I was at the helm. We were bringing her in to her moorning when the rudder disengaged itself. The pintles came out of their gudgeons and there I was, holding on to a useless tiller. Jeff tried to get the rudder back on while I dropped the jib and slackened the mainsheet to lessen our chances of being blown onto one of the moored boats. He couldn't get it rigged and couldn't get the outboard engine going either. I panicked a little, I'm ashamed to admit. I began to yell for the sailing manager. He had gone up the hill from the beach by then, but he still heard me and came down. Chris, the catamaran instructor, came out on a jetski and towed us to our mooring. Then everything was okay. We got the rudder back on and put the Southcoast to bed. I'm not sure what we learned, except that sailboats need a lot of maintenance so don't take one out until you've checked all the little details. And have some tools with you.