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So I guess sleep is where our cats are Vikings.  Jill is surviving Charlotte so far, and even seems to like her well enough.  Jack and Eustace remain a little more cautious still, but they like the kids well enough.  All three have learned to co-exist well enough, and though they still tussle, it’s more in fun than anything else.  Jack is still the alpha cat, but Eustace has dropped to about theta.  Jill kind of beats up on him.

It was a gorgeous day out today, so the kids and I went with Aunt Heidi up into the mountains to see the colors on the trees and feel the nice cool air.  I snapped this picture of Isaac and Charlotte on the path at Cascade Springs.  We walked around, looking at all the little waterfalls and the fish in the pools.  It was a good afternoon in one of the best times of year.  The trees are changing, at the point where some are in full color and some are still green, but before any have lost all there leaves or turned brown. 

All the environmentalist nonsense in the media lately made me think of this title.  I was actually just going to write something like we finally painted, but we have such a big contingent of environmentalist friends that I thought I’d fool them all (well, at least the ones who didn’t notice the picture). 

 It’s late, my brain functions differently past 10:00 so I appologize for this blog.  We don’t actually have any environmentalist friends, but my pictures look out of place (or so I’ve been told by my beloved husband) if I don’t write enough text to encapsulate them in. 

So the point of this blog is to show a picturesof our newly painted green bathroom.  Unfortunately, it’s too small to really see much, but you can get the idea.  The color is actually called Candied Lime.  I think the person who named it had been spending too much time sniffing paint because candied lime makes me think of an obnoxious lime green.  I really like the color, so if you hate it, then you might not want to comment.

I’m nearing the end of my special education lisensure program.  I think if I had realized what this program entailed I would not have persued it, but it’s way too late for that now and I think when it’s all finished I’ll be glad I did (as long as I can pay off all my student loans quickly).   The point of writing that was to introduce the reason for my post, but I got a little sidetracked.  

As part of my ‘Capstone Seminar’ class I was required to write three goals for the semester and posting in this blog is one of the goals.  I committed to post once a week, so at least until the semester is over, I’ll be a better blogger.  So this is actually homework and I get points in class for it.

I don’t know if anyone reads this blog who doesn’t know what I’m doing this year, but just in case here’s the short version. 

As one of the last steps to getting my liscense to teach special education, I am required to complete student teaching.  Since I already have my bachelor’s degree I’m actually allowed to accept a full time positon at full pay and benifits and complete the requirements through my job.  So I went the extra mile and took two jobs.  Ok, it’s really only one job, but it’s at two schools.  I start off my mornings at Canyon View Jr. High (pictured above and to the right) at lunch I drive over to Orem Jr. High (pictured above and to the left) to finish out my day.  Let’s just say it’s been a difficult experience so far, but it’s getting better. 

I’m talking about extended family, with many exceptions, of course. We’re just coming off a visit from many members of Kathleen’s family, and it’s been one of those things where everyone is in everyone else’s space and conflicts are more likely.  Being the kind of person I am, it’s tough sharing my space, but the new house makes it easier.  Our tiny place in Springville would have been a disaster (and was, when we had visitors in the past). 

It seemed like an especially tough trip for Sarah, who hasn’t really traveled with Josh much.  It’s a lot of work going anywhere with a nine-month-old, but even more so when you don’t really have a place to stay or any transportation.  I remember how much work Isaac seemed at first, but it’s something you pretty much grow into, eventually.  I don’t really mind the “borrowed” diapers and clothes Sarah used, but I do worry that without someone to fall back on, things could have been a lot worse.  Anyway, everyone pitched in, and it’s behind us now.

So on top of Sarah’s troubles, Kathleen was just kicking off her job, getting classrooms ready, going to training and meetings, and in general being very busy.  With family on top of that, it’s been a rough couple of weeks.  I hope we’re getting to the point where things get into more of a rhythm soon.  We’ve got football starting in a couple of weeks, and Kathleen’s schedule should be more established, hopefully letting her leave more work at the school so she can be with us when she’s at home.

So I guess family reunions aren’t really my thing.  I think once it gets beyond aunts and uncles, it’s too far; my parents don’t see their cousins often, and it doesn’t seem like there’s really a point to me being there.  It’s nice to have second cousins, I suppose, but my life isn’t really enriched by having lunch with them.  We had a big reunion for some of Kathleen’s very extended family, and with all the scheduling issues and general business, it just seemed like an added stress rather than a good time.  The kids were pretty miserable with nothing to do, and I was pretty grumpy too (just on principle, really).  I really feel like we should put that kind of attention and time into people more attached to us; for example, I would rather have gone camping with Isaac than have him get yelled at by some distant cousin of Kathleen’s for playing with the curtains when he’s bored to tears.

Anyway, family is great, but the dose has been a little big these past few weeks, and I think we could all use some time to settle down.  And clean out the fridge.

I spoke too soon.  I was just about to clean out Hernando’s habitat when he gave some kicks.  He may still be in this.  The trick will be getting those pedipalps out of the old skin; not an easy task for a post-ultimate male.  I misted the enclosure to give him a little humidity.  That’s supposed to help the process. 

In the meantime, here’s a picture of Jack being ridiculous.  This shoe box is one of those tiny ones for a pair of flip-flops, but he felt he should cram himself into it anyway.   

Well, we lost Hernando.  He was a pretty old spider by tarantula standards, so this wasn’t a shock.  Most male tarantulas don’t live long after their ultimate molt, and his came about a year ago.  In some cases, a a male tarantula will attempt a post-ultimate molt, which nearly always ends in death.  That’s what happened in this case.  Males generally live 3-6 years (G. rosea species, anyway) with females often going as long as 20 years.  I suspect in the pet industry breeders are less discriminate about gender, and all the pet shop employees I’ve ever asked have been completely clueless. 

Kathleen jokes that Isaac will learn subtraction from our pet attrition; Hillary the rat died a few days ago as well.  Anyway, Hernando was my first spider pet, and I learned a lot watching him.  Maybe it’s time for a more active/aggressive species?  I wonder if Kathleen will go for that. . .

Can you believe Kathleen was opposed to me rescuing this little creature?  She was crowded in with a bunch of other rats, and she showed the most spirit by trying to get away the hardest.  So I figured she could join Nancy and Hillary in the rat house.  She’s named Cindy, in honor of a certain war protesting harpy’s retirement.   I also snapped a nice picture of Jack Jr. while I was clearing out some cricket corpses in his jar.  I’m not sure on gender yet, since this one hasn’t molted, so I defaulted to male for now.  So that makes two cats, three rats, three tarantulas, and a small colony of B. dubia roaches in a big Rubbermaid tub in the basement.  I have a small aquarium I’m meaning to get set up again too, once I’ve made a dent in the bedroom re-organization project. 

Anyway, I’m excited to see how Cindy fits in.  She’s just a baby, so it’ll be fun to watch her grow.  Rats are bright, curious, active little creatures, so there’s a lot to enjoy there.

Well, it’s one of those days.  I’ve got so many projects open that it’s been crazy staying on top of them all.  The short week doesn’t help, but it does seem nice that it’s ending soon.  Hopefully I can close out a lot of these clients and make some space for my other projects.

Tough break for the Jazz.  You can see some thoughts from Deron Williams here about what’s behind it.  Seems like Derek Fisher agrees.  You know he’s talking about Memo, AK, and Giricek.  Our reserves played their hearts out.  You have to give praise to the Spurs for the killer instinct, though.  Except Ginobli.  He’s a flopping Euro-ball thug.  I love Tim Duncan, though, and Tony Parker seems decent and is a fun player to watch.  Congrats to the Spurs, and watch out; the Jazz will only be better next year.

Oh dear. Laresa started this one, so I figured I’d post it.

It’s largely Kathleen’s fault, too.  Ok, it’s pretty much all my fault.  I’m not much for organization, but I’m trying to work out a system to de-clutter.  I stumbled on a couple of good blogs, such as ZenHabits.com, which have some good ideas for clearing out crap.  I feel like I spend too much of my life wasting time and never really getting anything done.  Granted, I have a home, a family, and a decent job; we have plenty to eat and enough money to have a little fun now and then.  But I can’t really shake the feeling of wasted time lately.  I read things like this and think about what I might accomplish if I bent my energy to it.

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Well, more random would be better.  For some reason I keep getting the Rescue Rangers theme song stuck in my head in the mornings.  There’s something triggering it, I’m positive; when I was on my mission in New Jersey, the blinkers in our Escort would tick right to the rythym of the opening drum lick of Natalie Merchant’s “Carnival”, and that would get into my head frequently. 

I have had some cooler songs get stuck recently; I’ve had a lot of David Bowie’s “Strangers When We Meet”, which is a pretty good song.  But if I start hearing the songs from Duck Tails or TaleSpin, I’ll be seeking professional help.

I found this list on Digg.com today. It’s supposed to be a list of the saddest songs. Some of them I agree with; “Brick” by Ben Folds is quite sad, as is “No Surprises” by Radiohead. Bruce Springsteen’s “The River” is quite sad. Some I would have considered would be “Little Girl Blue” by Janis Joplin, or maybe “Going to California” by Led Zeppelin, or “Circle” by Edie Brickell. When I was younger and depressed about love, I’d listen to “Why Should I Cry for You” by Sting, or “Love’s Recovery” by Indigo Girls. Sone others to consider would be “Was It Something I Said” by OMD, “Amy Hit the Atmosphere” by Counting Crows, “Running to Stand Still” by U2, “I’m So Happy I Can’t Stop Crying” by Sting, and “Lonelier Than This” by Steve Earle. Anyway, just got me thinking and I thought I’d share.

Those of you who know me well know I’ve been a Colts fan for some time.  This has been a strange season, when it seemed like they struggled to win every game right up to the end.  Peyton wasn’t as brilliant as he was in his record-breaking season, but he was brilliant in the crunch.  The defense struggled all season but came together in time to win it all.

So why am I feeling so subdued about the win?  Well, I don’t want to look like I jumped on the bandwagon when I’ve been rooting for the Colts all along.  I also didn’t want to get to involved emotionally and get set up for disappointment.  As a Jazz fan, I’m too familiar with that feeling of getting to the brink and not getting over the top.

The Colts are a great organization.  Tony Dungy reminds me of LaVell Edwards – quiet, patient, tough, and beneath all that a kind and good man.  Peyton is the opposite of a guy like Terrell Owens, a humble superstar who gives credit to his team and devotes himself to the game.  I’m proud to be a fan of a team representing the best in sports today, and I’m proud of them for winning the big one.

So I haven’t been very regular about this blogging thing.  I should fill this site up with adorable stories of our irresistable children, but it just doesn’t always happen that way. Every now and then I make a note in our log about the children and some of those notes could make acceptable blogs.  Like I thought last month, I should post a little about Charlotte’s birthday, then as time past I thought of how embarrisingly distant the date would be from her actual birthday and I decided not to post, but now I think I could write this boring little explination and then fill in some catch up blogs from my log–and that’s better than nothing–right?!

Well, I made a special page for everyone to start posting idears. Just visit this page:

http://www.virtute.org/virtute/christmas-lists/

Or hit the “Christmas Lists” link in the nav above to to get started. Let’s keep it clean, everybody!

We’ve got a new pet at the house. In addition to Hernando, my male G. rosea, and Unnamed Spider Jr., my A. seemani (I don’t know the gender yet, so I can’t name it until it molts) we have a new A. avicularia, commonly known as a Pink-toe. I missed the reptile show in Salt Lake a couple of weeks ago, so I didn’t get a chance to check out any of the more exotic species. This one’s pretty common, but they’re neat little spiders. It was very docile when we were trying to get it into one of the little pet boxes to bring home, and again transferring to the new home in a large plastic jar. The A. seemani was a little pill, kicking hairs everywhere and trying to run anywhere but into the box. Anyway, the poor thing endured a short ride home on my motorcycle (tucked away from the wind in my saddlebag) and a transfer to its new home. It seems very docile. I’ll leave it alone for a couple of days to get settled in, and then I’ll try feeding some crickets.

I’m going to guess it’s female, just from the size, but I’m not sure until it molts. You can check the exo-skeleton after a molt for certain indicators of gender. With this species, I’ve heard the males only get to about 3″ in legspan, and this one seems bigger than that. I didn’t have a ruler handy, and I don’t want to bug it at the moment.

This is a tropical species, found in rain forests in the Amazon basin. They prefer a little higher temperature and pretty high humidity, so I’m keeping this one near my computer and I’ll mist the jar periodically. That should do the trick to keep it happy.

Anyway, I’m pleased with this little creature and I’m excited to watch it in action. It looks like a great little spider.