The Maze adventure

 I've taken the kids to the corn maze for several years and never risked getting lost in the maze.  The farm has a kiddie maze that is pretty easy and self contained.  This year I decided after our adventures in NC that I could handle navigating in the maze since we had found our way through mountain trails that were not always clear.

We found a day we could all attend, that we weren't busy with band or hurricane clean up.  We put it on the calendar and kept it clear.  Of course G needs to have an academic crisis and didn't go in the maze or work on his assignment, oh bummer. 

After visiting a few of the usual fun activities, bounce pads, duck races, irrigation tube slide, mini tractors, and portapotties, we were ready to enter the maze.  I had planned that we would just keep turning right and get out of the maze like a roomba.  We took a picture of the map for good measure.   The correct trail was hard to distinguish from the places people had trampled a new path into the crop.  Sometimes it was obvious to see the dirt under the downed stems, versus the masses of trampled down stems.  But other times it was really not certain. 

Things were going OK until I reached the place of the first marker and there was no first marker.  It did not occur to me that the marker was missing.  We were lost.  We wandered around hoping to find the marker and I was hoping we would ever get out.  Eventually we found the 9 marker.  We got oriented on the map and were then able to navigate to the #10 marker.  P called out the turns as though there was never any fear of never getting out.  He navigated us to the 1-5 spots and out the first half of the maze.  

I thought of how like life this is.  Even with instructions it can be hard to know if you are on the right path.  You see choices others have made and for all you know, if you go that way, things will go OK.  You don't actually see their bodies lying around to show the consequence of their actions.  I do wonder if the organizers of the maze have to occasionally bring in a search team or if people just pick a direction and keep going until they punch out the side of the maze.

So we conquered the maze, or at least as much of it as I hope to have experienced.

one box at a time, or not

 I am doing Noom and sometimes the course asks me to do something like journal or non-food rewards, goals...  It's a lot like Personal Progress, but about healthful growth.  So I made it a goal to consolidate the fabric bins.  I made sure to wait a good 2 days and do other tasks before taking this on.  I dumped the contents of the bins on the office floor (more open since I moved the furniture) and got a trash can.  I made piles to keep, donate, and the trash can.  The things I kept, I rolled into remnants and bound with tape.  What I kept fits easily into the tote I wanted to use.  I threw out a lot of part way done masks and straps for masks.  We have plenty of cloth masks and are using N95s these days anyway.  

I did not get my Young Women in Excellence Award back in 1997.  I don't know if it was my own idea or from a leader, but I thought I had to do something extra for each project.  I couldn't just use my achievements from Track, Drama, Band, Tae Kwon Do, Seminary, or school in general.  Those useful skills would be "cheating".  I had to create some art piece rather than a band performance.  I had to learn something, something new, rather than all the good and new things I was learning... in school!  I try to teach my kids to give themselves credit for the good they are already doing.  If they were trying to use videogame levels for goals, I would be worried.  But if their goal is to learn the cell parts for their biology class, awesome!  If their goal is to learn their piano pieces for their next recital, great!  If their goal is to go on walks with their mom at night wearing reflective vests, OK!  These are the good things we are already doing and I think they are great goals.

moving furniture

 I like to move furniture around.  I get tired of things in the same space and moving them is a way to deep clean and feel like a space is new without spending money.  It's also a good workout.  

The neighbors were throwing out a big metal shelf, the kind with sliding covers for each shelf, like the ones in dr's offices.  I was pretty sure we didn't need it until I thought of how it would help us consolidate some smaller shelves and use vertical space instead of floor space. 

After I consolidated those shelves, I wanted to give the office a make over because I was only using half of my desk but it was cluttered.  When I move things around I also get to re-visit whether I want these things to continue in my life.  We're moving in 22 months!  Who knows where or exactly when, but I want to get rid of a lot of things.

I bought a 50 pack of pizza boxes so I could give away pizzas when a food gift is needed.  That is something I'll gladly be getting rid of over the next 2 years. 

I have 3 boxes of fabric clutter and 1 box of leather scraps.  I plan to consolidate the fabric down to 1 box.  Wish me luck!

Men are accountable

 In Texas there is a law that bans abortion after 6 weeks and allows private citizens to enforce this law by suing anyone who facilitates an abortion.  The law also provides a $10,000 bounty for people bringing these lawsuits.  I'm not sure who pays the $10,000 but I want there to be a law that makes it illegal to impregnate a woman that does not want to have a baby.  This new law should also be enforceable by private citizens who can sue men they believe to be guilty of impregnating a woman against her wishes. 

I'm so tired of women holding all the accountability.  Men are accountable for unwanted pregnancies.  Men have to stop it by stopping themselves.

Deep Creek

 M had her first marching competition on Saturday. 

The rest of us drowned our sorrows by going kayaking.

We paddled in for about 40 minutes until we were officially in the boundaries of the preserve.  Then we had lunch! 

lP was creeped out by the many hidden logs.  I liked that we didn't encounter a single motor boat.  The creek was also very winding and you had the distinct feeling that you could get lost.  It was nice to have a phone with Google Maps to show us where we were.  Also, we saw a helicopter presentation just this week where they talked about rescuing kayakers... 

This was a very nice place to kayak and I hope we can go again.

all the snacks

 I was feeling a little awkward that we have so many snacks!  A grocery store went out of business and I did recently buy an entire shopping cart full of snacks.  But I also have tons of snacks that the kids eat regularly.  When I pick up the teenagers, they go for the snack box.  When we drive to visit grandparents, the snacks are already packed.  

I do actually cook every day, and the reason we have so many snack foods is that we never eat out.  I think the last time I remember us eating out was on our trip to NC.  That was almost 4 months ago!  We did order food while with Grandma a few weeks ago, and we had a wonderful Chinese food with aunt E and L last week.  P and G ate out I think on their trips to do hurricane clean up.  

In general, if we're going someplace, I make dub dubs and pack food.  The excessive amounts of food are part of the food planning that keeps us from having to get dinner from a fast food restaurant. 

visits

 We've been visiting GL each weekend while C and S were away.  It was so nice to spend a lot of time with her and to have C and S's home to sleep and have sleepy mornings.  When you are visiting for 5-10 hours a day there is so much more time to relax and chat.  The kids discovered the ceder tree in the back yard again.  That has been such a joy to our family over the years.

We enjoyed conference on the road and with Grandma.  When I was driving I asked the girls to take some notes for me on my phone.  lP even took some notes I didn't tell her to!

I enjoyed
We walk in circles because we don't know what way is straight.
Don't take life out of sequence.
Renlund's talk about unity
Tongan missionaries in the field ever since pandemic!
Temple changes are from the Lord.
One percent improvement.
How hurricanes are made.
If you want to change your life, change today.
I believe, help thou my unbelief.
Look down the road and you will always drive straight.
As long as you can focus on Jesus you can do anything. (Penny)
Rescue might not come immediately, but the Savior is always watching. (Penny)
Increase focus on the things that matter. (Penny)
"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" is the name of the church, it is not negotiable (Penny)
Mormon didn't die for my sins or suffer in Gethsemane for us.  Jesus did.  Mormon isn't my savior.
Using the full name of the church can change our lives and the lives of others (Penny)
The Spirit will show you all things you must do (Penny)
President Nelson loves you. (Penny)

G and P are in Louisiana doing hurricane Ida clean up again.