Nothing of note really happened this week.  Just practices, orthodontist appointments, church activities, work, that sort of thing.  You might have seen in the news that Tesla fired a bunch of employees, but be assured that Chuck still has a job and got a good review. So no worries there.

So in the face of no news, here is a cute picture of Kaitlin and Ben.  People ask me about them all the time and I tell people that they are happy and working hard and are poor.

Happy Adulthood Ruth

Turning 18 while you are in the middle of your senior year of high school is kinda a weird thing because legally you are an "adult" but in every other way, nothing has really changed for you.  The only thing that has changed in actuality is that you can buy goldfish and spray paint, you can vote, you can have "relations" with another adult without it being a crime, and when you are arrested you go to real jail.   That's about it. 

With these things in mind, Ruth had a pretty low-key and chill 18th birthday last week.  We had a family celebration on Sunday which consisted of popcorn chicken bowl for dinner, some pumpkin cookies for dessert, and an evening of playing xBox together.  Ruth got a new-to-her iphone, and she spent most of the evening setting up. 

Her actual birthday was spent going to school and then going on a date with Quaid who came down from uni to celebrate with her. 

Other Things About Ruth

I know at times this could be called the "Ruth Blog".  It's not that she is that much better than the rest of us, it's just that while the rest of us are trudging along with normal life things, she has all these noteworthy things happening to her.

First off,  Ruth was appointed the Mayor of the city youth council. She's been hoping to get the position for a while now and has gone out of her way to express interest to the city council member over youth council in hopes of being appointed, and this week she was.  She went to her first meeting this week and has already started to lay out her vision for the youth council this year.

Secondly,  Ruth got her Stirling Scholar application finished and turned into the school. Now she is waiting for the first round of interviews.  She feels that she has a pretty good chance of getting it. 

Finally,  debate season started this weekend with a huge statewide tournament at the University of Utah.  She got fourth-place finishes in both HI and DI.  She is overall happy with her results as this was her first competition with these new scripts.


I'm Feeling HEROIC

This weekend was my first event with a local costuming club called HEROIC. It's a not-for-profit cosplay club where local charities ask us to come to their events.  They can even request certain characters.   On Saturday I went and volunteered with the Best Buddies walk.  Best Buddies is an organization that helps people with disabilities get employment.   I spent two hours as batgirl in the cold taking pictures and interacting with all the "buddies" as we did a mile walk together.   

I'm currently a "trial" member and will be for the next six months.  It's a time where the club and I can see if we are a good fit.  It's different for me because I am used to interacting with costume creators, and this is the first time that I'm interacting with people who buy/make a costume and then spend years performing the character as a cosplayer.   I'm not totally sure if this is my kind of thing. We'll see.

Cosplay is a Family Affair 

This weekend was comic-con.  On Friday, Ruth and I spent the day together.  We went to see some panels and walked the convention floor.  Saturday was my big competition day.  Ruth woke up early with me to be my handler for the in-person judging for the cosplay contest.  I can not understate how vital having a helper is to me when I'm in costume.  All day Ruth and Chuck faithfully stood by my side, helping me through doors, feeding me water, adjusting my suit. Chuck was my handler for the evening competition and he came backstage with me and helped me navigate everything.   This was my first time competing as a Masters at this level, and I was so glad that the competition was light. I didn't have to go up against any 12 foot robots that shoot fire out of their eyes, or quick change Cinderellas that spin their rags into a beautiful ballgown.  My goal going in was to place, I ended winning the masters division.

A Day with My Brother

I was so lucky this week to spend a day with my brother Richard this week.  I don't think I've spent that kind of time with him since I was just a little girl.  He asked me to drive him to a hospital appointment since his wife is out of town, and I was more than happy to do it.   I'm so glad his family has moved back out to Utah so that we can see each other much more often.  While he was getting his treatment he helped me get set up on Snapchat and showed me how to "snap".

Happenings

I'm happy to report that Jared made it into the district youth symphony. He starts rehearsals after school on Monday and is pretty excited.  He really wants to play at a higher level than his middle school is offering and I hope this symphony does not disappoint.

Ruth went to homecoming this weekend.  In the day her group went to miniature golf and drive go-carts. In the evening they ate dinner at one of the boy's houses and then went to the dance.  Ruth made the boutonniere for her date herself.    Ruth has also been gearing up for the new debate season. She is currently working on a Dramatic Interpretation (DI) and a Humorous Interpretation (HI). She's hoping to add a Program Oral Interpretation (POI) later in the season but we'll see.  She also started the process of applying to become a Sterling Scholar and joining National Honor's Society.

I had my first full week back to work.  I'm back in 1st Grade which I love, so I'm very happy about that.  They've changed my schedule a little bit so I'll be doing a lot more teaching in classes, like as a sub while teachers go to meetings, which I don't like at all. So we'll see how it goes.  I only messed up on the copy machine once before I remembered how to use it.

I also finished my batgirl cosplay and I'm pretty excited about it.

Finally,  because of some schedule conflicts, Jared is taking PE online this semester. He had to make a video for his PE class and we all thought it was so funny that, with his permission, I'm sharing it here.   This video is a prime example of Jared's dry sense of humor.

Back to Work

This week I had my beginning of the year training.  Tomorrow I head back to work as a teacher's aid for 1st grade.   Ruth also went back to work.  She was laid off last month but then got a call a couple weeks ago asking her to come back. I guess the guy that laid her off was fired and they were trying to rehire some of the employees.  Ruth agreed to come back but at fewer hours (because of school), they agreed  - so it seems to have worked out for everyone.

Because this was my last week before starting work I've been pushing to get all my cosplay stuff finished for comic-con in 2 weeks.   I've also filled a few orders on my Etsy shop.   Here is a picture of the batgirl cape in progress.  Making patterns is a tricky skill that I'm getting better at with practice.

The only other thing going on around our house is fighting over the xBox because Destiny 2 (a first person shooter game) came out this week.

Happy Birthday Chuck

Now that school has started we are getting back into a routine here at our house.  Ruth and Jared are both liking school so far and things are going well.   Ruth was invited to homecoming (which is a relief because it not being invited was getting stressful) and Jared has decided to audition for a youth orchestra and has been practicing his audition piece. I've been taking advantage of having some free time before I go back to work in a couple weeks by sewing a new project.

The extra special thing we did this week was celebrate Chuck's birthday.  We had pizza and homemade cinnamon rolls and then spent the rest of the evening resting and playing video games (Chuck's choice).  

Solar Eclipse

Like the rest of the mid-US we were excited for the mostly solar eclipse.  We weren't as excited as some people because we failed to get solar glasses before they sold out.  But I'm almost glad we didn't because it was pretty fun to hang out in the back yard and make pin-hole projectors using a colander, our hands, hair, trees and whatever else we could figure out.


First Day of School

I failed at getting a first day of school picture of the kids so you'll just have to trust me when I say that they did, in fact, start school.  Ruth is pretty happy about all of her classes, and Jared is only excited about band.


Scavenger Hunt and Renaissance Fair

On Friday night we dressed up as Harry Potter characters and participated in a scavenger hunt to win comic-con tickets (yes, we already have some but that's beside the point).   We checked our team in and were given clues to 10 locations around the city.  So for the next hour and half, we walked all around downtown looking for the clues and taking pictures at each place.  It was fun because there were a couple hundred of us all in costume playing, so we'd just ask other players when we got stuck on particular clues.   We were pretty exhausted and running out of time so we jumped in our car to get our last two clues and then made it back with 5-10 minutes to spare winning the tickets.   Go team!

The next morning we dressed up again, this time in our old-fashioned clothes to attend the Renisance Faire.  This event's been going on for a few years but we've never been able to go.  It was pretty fun. We saw lots of craftsmen and dancers,  I had a swordfight with a Viking, and Ruth had a dancing lion vomit lettuce in her face.  There was a scary moment when one of lancers lost control of his horse and was thrown into the audience, luckily no one was hurt.   All-in-all a pretty fun day even though we were hot and exhausted from the escapades from the night before.

Stake Choir

Saturday night my smaller choir performed for the adult meeting of our church conference.  I didn't have as many sopranoes as I wanted, but overall that performance went well.   Sunday morning was our big conference and my choir sang two numbers.  They but turned out really well and I was happy with them.  I had chosen some very difficult music this year and was happy that my choir stepped up to the challenge.

This was like the 3rd day of school, but at least I got a picture.  Jared refused to get his picture taken. 

Chuck and Ruth playing Viking games at the faire.

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Our cousin Ben got back from Germany!