Beating the Heat

For the last couple of weeks, we have been sleeping with wet wash rags, ceiling fans and oscillating fans to deal with the summer weather. I (Mike)even used a "Blue Ice" pack from the freezer...it's quite relaxing if you sleep on your side: simply place under your arm and your body temperature drops immediately! Any other helps are gladly welcomed!

Well, our best way to beat the heat is to retreat to the mountains. We are about a mile high, though not in Denver! When we arrived for a few days of rest and focus, I noticed the temperature outside was 33 Celsius. 20 minutes later as we climbed out of the car, it was 23 Celsius. Lisa and Annie actually wore jackets this morning because they were cold!

For your homework, I am curious who will be the first to correctly calculate the celsius temperatures to fahrenheit!! I'll be waiting!

commitment

Many of you know that my mother has Alzheimer's Disease. Many of you, too, have a loved one who is affected by this disease. I want to share a clip with you about a man named Robertson McQuilkin. His wife also had Alzheimer's Disease, and the following clip is a small part of his story. His story is being told by Dennis Rainey, host of Family Life Today.

Rain

Yesterday showed promise of rain. It was mid-morning, and the dark clouds gathered and the winds picked up. It hasn't rained in months, and what a relief it would be to the sun-soaked land and to our souls as well. So we watched and waited.

It was early afternoon and the weather still held promise. The winds were telling us of a change, and doors were slamming all throughout the house as a sign. I studied the sky, and it sure looked like some other parts of the city might be getting rain, so we eagerly waited for the drops to fall in our neighborhood.

Late afternoon came, and I was still holding out hope. The overcast sky remained, a much-welcome change for this mid-August day. On my occasional trips to the balcony to enjoy the cooler breeze, I anticipated and begged the heavens to pour upon this dry and dusty land.

In early evening, just before the sun set, a few drops fell right on our street. It was a silent rain. You could barely see it, you definitely could not hear it, but if you stood in the open you could feel it. I held my arm off my balcony and felt five drops sporadically hit my skin. And that was it. The rain evaporated from the street as quickly as it fell. Ten minutes later there was no sign of rain. Just overcast skies.

The rest of the evening brought in a little cooler weather, but the people and the land are still crying out for rain. All day we were teased with hope but only received a drop of relief. This is where I live.

Let. it. rain.

The World According to Emma

Emma is getting so excited about starting kindergarten in a few short weeks. To impress us as parents, she is showing off her ever-growing vocabulary. For example:

1) While recently having a friend spend the night, she was trying to explain how they were going to sleep on the love seat which folds out into a double bed. Well, when Emma explained it, she said, "Guess what?? We get to sleep on the love couch!" Not to be outdone, only a few days later....
2) It was a Sunday and I was shaving before we headed out the door. Emma walked by the bathroom and saw me. She asked if she could watch and quickly got the stool as I was splashing water on my face. Once as close as humanly possible, she asked me, "Dad, when are you going to put the whipped cream on your face?" I asked, "What whipped cream, Emma? I don't shave with whipped cream." "Yes, you do, Daddy! You know, the white stuff that you scrap off your face!" she replied.

Well, as you can tell, Emma is well on her way to becoming a Fulbright scholar........though we are sad that our baby is going to school!! :-(

uncle, eggs, and heat

Has it really been 3 weeks since my last post? To my faithful friends who check this blog, I'm impressed that you checked in again that by chance you might find something new. Here we are!

Here's a basic recap on the past few weeks. The highlight is that Uncle Brad came to visit. That would be single, bachelor Uncle Brad that the girls are perpetually trying to set up with one of their teachers, neighbors, or any cute girl in the 30-something range. We did some sightseeing with Brad, fed him lots of local food, and took a 3-day trip to a more villagey location.

Other than Uncle Brad visiting, the rest isn't very exciting. Our refrigerator broke down completely (yeah, the brand new one we bought in April '07). When that happened, I had to distribute my food in 4 different refrigerators at friends' houses. The repairman came, looked at it, and said he couldn't fix it that day. We survived on pb&j, and he returned the next day and got her up and running again. I recollected my food and now it's nice and cold. It's really nice and cold in the back where it actually freezes the food. Like ice on my veggies. Should I call the repairman again?

Did you know that if you get eggs at a market (they are not refrigerated there), and you put them in the fridge where they get cold, and then your fridge breaks down and the eggs get warm again, that no one gets sick if you eat them once the fridge gets repaired and they're cold again? I had a local tell me they'd be fine to eat. I took her word for it, and no one got sick. It was risky, but everyone was fine (eggs are not cheap here).

Other than Brad visiting and the fridge breaking down, I guess the only news (which really isn't news), is that it is just blazing hot! I daily have to remind myself why life is better without air conditioning. I'm reteaching my body that heat is good. I'm actually learning lots of tips on how to stay cool. So, here are my summer tips for staying cool:

• Don't open your windows if it's higher than 80 degrees outside. Opening a door or window on a hot day is like a blast of heat from the oven. No kidding! It's actually cooler with the windows closed.
• Wrap a blue ice pack in a washcloth and sleep with it like a little teddy bear.
• Spritz sheets with cold water before going to bed.
• Avoid the oven or stove! We have a gas stovetop, so when it's on there's an open flame going in our kitchen. We eat salads, sandwiches, smoothies, etc. About twice a week our dinner is sandwiches and a fresh smoothie (juicy fresh fruits from the market mixed with yogurt).
  
• Go to the air-conditioned food court in the mall...linger for a very looooong time.
  
• Eat outside in the shade. It's cooler than inside the apartment.
• Have lots of squirt gun fights.
• Fans are your friends.
• Reminisce about summer camp and how much fun it was to be in that cabin without air conditioning. Just think...our kids get the same experience without the expense of camp.
• Reminisce about your freshman year in college in the only dorm without air conditioning and relive all those precious memories before graduating to the other side of campus.
• Know that sweat is cleansing your body from toxins.
• Have contests on which melts faster in the kitchen...a piece of ice or a tablespoon of butter. Time the results and the loser buys ice cream.
  
• Keep a positive attitude and know that fall's around the corner.
  

Happy Birthday, Mike!

Annie wrote 2 songs for her dad's birthday, and as a present she wanted to post them on the blog and surprise him. We'll show them to Mike on his birthday. So, here are 2 original songs for her 39-year old dad. I love the name of the first one...gotta love the kid's honesty. Happy birthday!

So Many Years Ago

Life Can Be So Hard

Instinctive love of water

Do you know what happens when you take a golden retriever to a park with a lake? There is an unusually strong magnetism between the two. My friend was dogsitting, and we thought it would be nice to take my kids and her dog to the park for the day. We underestimated the power the lake would have over the dog. The police warned us more than once to keep the dog out of the lake, but Sophie (the dog) didn't care if we landed in jail. The third time the dog overpowered my friend, at least it was in a spot where the police could not see. It was a hot July day, there was a nice lake to swim in, and golden retrievers were made to swim! So here is my friend "swimming" the dog on a leash.

I just looked on Wikipedia, and it states that the golden retreiver has "an instinctive love of water." Yes, I'm well aware of that. Tell that to the park security!

After Sophie's illegal swim in the lake, here is Annie rewarding here.