The Rains Came Down and the Floods Came Up!

After having little to no snow this winter we are now in the Moscow monsoon season.  It usually takes a couple of days for this lake to appear between Shane's old house and ours, and then about a day for it to disappear.  It rains about every other day.  Last night it hailed ice pellets.  They were still there this morning but are gone now.  The rest of the week looks dry and sunnier.  We are going to Seattle to visit Seth, Lacey, and family, and Kevin, Lisa, and family.  I keep telling Mom it would be easier to visit Kevin's family in Post Falls.  Seth will be singing in a Stake Easter program Sunday evening so we are going over to hear him.  It's also an excuse for a road trip.

I just had an eye appointment this morning.  The doctor says both eyes look good.  I don't go back for about three weeks and then if all looks good I can get my new glasses.  It is amazing how clear this old world is.  I haven't seen this clear in years.  I use my new Rite-Aid reading glasses and seem to be getting along fine for now.

After a surprise snow storm on Friday, we enjoyed a really nice day yesterday. I raked some flower beds, fertilized the lawn, started up the lawn mower that the previous owner left me and did some overdue maintenance on our Vespa. 

I replaced the drive belt, and changed some other parts that were supposed to have been done about 5000 miles ago. 

 Vespa minus a clutch, variator, and drive belt.

A couple of weeks ago I also got called as the deacons' quorum adviser. Our scoutmaster is pretty active and tries to take the boys camping once a month. Next week we're planning to ride our bikes from our church to a campsite about 13 miles away (surprised that you can find camping only 13 miles from our church?). It seems like a decent group of kids and should be fun.

Other than that, Kelly is going to Toronto this week for a school conference and not much else is new. Yesterday we went to a Mexican restaurant for lunch and I had tacos with lengua and cesos on them. Rather than gross you out, I'll just leave the spanish words and you can look them up if you want. Don't say I didn't warn you!

Another Update

A couple of weeks ago the weather was beautiful and I was bored so we took a drive out to Kamiak Butte.  Surprisingly there were a number of cars there.  It is just coming out of winter but the grass was turning green and I got the "camping bug."  Mom wasn't quite so enthusiastic.  We'll probably go back for a hot dog roast or lunch one of these days.

 I posed for this picture just to show you that I am feeling great.  Not ready to tackle the trail to the top of Kamiak Butte but good enough for some short jaunts.

 As you know I just had my second cataract surgery.  After each surgery the doctor sends you a flower bouquet.   This is the one from my second surgery.  Things are looking better (notice the pun).  Each day the vision gets clearer.  The first eye is pretty well up to snuff.  The second eye is taking its time.  I got tired of not being about to read (I have to wait a month before she will fit me with new glasses) so Mom and I drove out to Rite-Aid last night and I bought a pair of "reading" glasses off the rack.  You just try them on (each one is a little more or less powerful) until you find a pair that works.  When I found the right pair I almost shouted "Corn in Egypt."  This morning I read the newspaper, did the crossword puzzle, sent some scout e-mails, and did this blog.

 

Happy Ultimate Pi Day

This is all that was left of a Pi feast.  We had Pizza PIE, Apple PIE, and ice cream PIE.  Matt, Kimbre and kids joined us for some yummy food to celebrate this momentous day.  Stay tuned for our St Patrick's Day dinner.

Summer Plans

Any chance we could get 3 or 4 or more of us together this summer? Maybe if 2 or 3 are already going to be somewhere we could coordinate schedules. Anyone going to Denver or Moscow this summer who doesn't already live there?

Here they are. Interstate Plastic's 2015 3-4th grade girls team. We had our last game on Saturday followed by a pizza party at our house.

I learned a lot about coaching. It really is about building character in youth. If I do it again, I would try to improve many things about how I coached.