Sam wrote a Christmas wish list. Here it is, with original punctuation:
Shoe phone! [like in Get Smart]
Real Light Saber!
My Sims Wii Kingdom!
Car’s!
Brown Horse webkinz!
Lil’ Kinz chickade!
Scoter! [scooter]
T.V.!
Little Laptop!
Video and picture camera!
Dormax DDR!
New bed!
desk!
Nice nes gun! [niceness gun – an invention of Sam and Izzy. Not in current production]
Back ogone! [no idea what this one is]
We have now received 5 pieces of mail from camp – and my mother has received one more. None are from Margaret. Katy has sent two letters to us at Tahoe, and her mandatory postcard went home. We know that she likes her cabin mates, her counselor is English, she misses us, and she has a list of things she wants in her care package. Both she and her counselor have told us that she passed the swim test and that the trip up in the bus was long and boring.
Margaret’s counselor told us that she is bright and a skilled reader and excited to ride the horses. We would be skeptical about the last thing, but today the photos showed her on a horse and not looking too terrified, so maybe the counselor did know which child she was talking about.
We hope that the lack of mail from Margaret means that she is too busy and having too much fun to write home…
Katy and Margaret are at sleepaway camp right now near Yosemite. This is a first for both of them. Margaret returns this Saturday, Katy a week from Saturday. From photos posted by the camp, they look happy and relaxed. Today we got our first letter, written last Sunday, the day they arrived at camp. I knew it was from Katy when I picked it up and saw the back of the envelope that read: “P.S. I didn’t know the return address, so I put ars.” Pirate mail.
The rest of the letter said: “Dear Mama, Daddy + Sam, I’m sending this to Tahoe even thou I don’t think you’ll be there when it comes. Can you send lotion in the care package + candy + gum. I took the swim test today and passed, but Margaret didn’t. The people in my cabin are all my age + fun! Talk to you later! Love, Katy”
A week ago, we all drove up to Tahoe, where we have had great weather and little to no smoke.
We have been keeping busy. Rusty has done some mountain bike rides, including one with our Los Gatos neighbor, John. The children all spent the night up at Tahoe Donner with the same neighbors, and went swimming in the Tahoe Donner pool. Later, they played tennis and went for bike ride along the bike trail. The children have also been swimming in Lake Tahoe and hiked up Eagle Rock with our Tahoe neighbors. We have been on a bunch of walks and hikes, too, including trips to Barker Pass, Page Meadows – which is beautiful right now – and to the waterfall up the Tahoe Rim trail.
The dog is exhausted after playing with his sister, going on lots of walks, barking at cyclists, and best of all, learning to swim in Lake Tahoe. We drove by his swimming beach today, and he sat up and started shivering.
We have been really fortunate to have our friend Roy up here for a few days. Roy has a vast knowledge of flowers, something I had been trying, pretty unsuccessfully, to learn a bit about. Roy patiently found and pointed out many, many varieties to us. With his help, Margaret and I started an herbarium (fancy word for pressed flower collection), and tonight I found and identified two new varieties, all on my own.
Well, another school year is over and the children are already bored (except for Sam, who could play Super Smash Mario all summer).
The children all had good years, earning all A’s or the elementary school check box equivalents. This earned Katy a hot pink Nano.
More importantly, they are nice kids. Margaret’s teacher wrote her a note saying “You impressed me every single day this year, not only with your great work, but also by how much you love learning, by your great attitude and by how empathetic you were towards other people.” Sam’s teacher wrote that he is “sweet, kind, gentle and very bright.” (We knew that). Katy’s teachers don’t write notes, but her math teacher sent a thank you an email to her saying “thank you for being thoughtful. I enjoyed having you in my math class this year. You’ve been a wonderful student.”
At the first caboose class, a reporter working for the Oakland Tribune interviewed all of the students for an article on Michael Sturtz, director of the Crucible, where Rusty and I are taking classes. Here is the article . I am the one woman student, and the person who drives 50 miles to class. She was wrong about going back into the caboose after the toilet incident. That is actually what produced the molten metal on which I burned my hand, so I went to get first aid. Oh, and she appears not to know that a caboose does not have an engine. But whatever. I also would add that a lot of the work is being done not by students, but by the highly skilled friends of Michael/Crucible teachers.
In other news, I used a drill press to make a bunch of holes in a steel moment frame yesterday. That was a new thing for me, and interesting.
Here are a few pictures.
Rusty has started his TIG welding class at the Crucible. He has not suffered any severe burns. His welds look pretty good to me. I have been injury-free. It’s a lot now like any home grown construction project now (put the window trim up, then take it down because something else has to happen first), but I’ve figured out how to keep busy (and happy). Last time I primed trim, which is not very interesting, but now I know where the paint supplies are. No class this Wednesday (Halloween). We’ll post photos of my really big project – Margaret in her Princess Zelda (Twilight Princess) costume. It’s been a many stage project (but I did them all really quickly).
Well, day 3 of caboose class, and I haven’t had any more injuries. Probably because I haven’t handled many tools, other than a screwdriver. Mostly, I’ve tried to help with laying out the kitchen, as that is something where I actually could add value.
I got a long demo of MIG welding last time. It was lot more interesting to watch after having lessons with Chris and trying it myself, as I knew what to look for this time and could appreciate the skill of the teacher. (His intentional mess ups were better than my best tries).
Today, Louise Millman went to class with me. She has designed lots of restaurant kitchens, and has lots of catering, restaurant, menu planning and business experience – in short, an expert. I think Louise enjoyed visiting the caboose and wants to take arc welding classes.
My Caboose Restoration and Modification class at the Crucible started yesterday. Injury tally to date is 5 splinters and a severe burn on my hand (who knew huge lumps of molten metal could fly 8 ft. away? Note to self: look down before placing hand on ground).
Otherwise, we just did some demo and cleaning. Not quite done, but mostly. It’s hard to tell who are the students and who are the instructors/friends of the teacher. I think there are 5 or 6 real students. I am the only female, which was a bit of a surprise. They are mix of people – some who, like me, seem to have no skills or experience. All in all, it’s a lot like working on a project with Rusty, but the teachers are nicer to me and no one argues (yet).
Sam got his cast removed today. His leg was pretty skunky underneath, and very, very stiff. He is soaking the the tub now, to clean up, remove the dead skin, and help him flex his joints. We are hoping he is back on his feet and running around in a couple of days.