An Early Fall Clark Family Update

If I don't write it now, I'll forget to later, so...

When Will and I were playing in his room the other day, he pulled himself up to stand while holding on to a footstool - lo and behold, he let go while only holding on to the ribbon around the neck of a stuffed lamb sitting on the footstool. And he wasn't holding on to it to keep himself upright! He was just holding on to it for the fun of it, I guess...but anyway, he stood up alone for about two to three seconds before putting his hands back on the footstool to steady himself. It was crazy.

Anyway, other than that, life is good here in SLC. We've harvested a couple of banana squash that each weighed at least twenty pounds, and there are more on the vines. Also, I can't begin to count how many tomatoes we've eaten, pureed, frozen, cooked with and finally given away. I've got a good amount of peas frozen in the freezer, and our carrots should be ready to pull any day now. I've gotten some nice, sweet red bell peppers off our pepper plants, and am finding that vegetable gardening is truly worth every last bit of work and time you put into it. The satisfaction of a job well done is enormously gratifying. Plus, it's nice to eat fresh, homegrown veggies, and then look in the freezer at the mounds of them waiting to be used this winter in stews, soups, and crockpot dishes.

The weather is so beautiful now, too - Will and I really enjoy our morning walks/jogs/runs. I say that because it's about 50/35/15 - the walking is great, the jogging is tolerable, and the running is sheer torture. But it's good for me. I really do feel good after I do it.

It's amazing what I find to do to occupy my day. I rarely ever watch any television - I've got too much to do. I clean (always more of that waiting for me), I make and freeze baby food, I reorganzie closets, garages, and storage spaces, I run errands, I weed the garden or prepare it for winter, I play with the baby, I teach piano lessons, I teach a Sunday School class, I go walking/jogging/running, I read library books...I stay suprisingly busy. What was I so worried about when I gave up my job? I'm a doer! I'll always find ways to be busy. That said, I want to go back to school - can I fit that in, too?

Spencer's good, too. He will probably find it weird that I write about him, but I don't care. I promised him I wouldn't share the potentially embarrassing stories, but I can tell you that he's happy, goal-oriented, and a woefully underappreciated helper and baby caregiver. I need to say "Thanks!" more often to him. His current project "in the works" is our laundry room. It's the only room in the house that was unfinished when we bought it, and it's largely remained that way until a few weeks ago. Spencer and his kind Dad put in some electricity and a couple of wall sockets, and so we were able to install a big freezer in a large niche in the wall. I love it! Food storage, here we come. Now all that's left is leveling the floor under the freezer, washer, and dryer (it's not bad, but could be better), improving the plumbing, finishing the walls, putting in a ceiling, and doing some flooring. A breeze! It may take a while, but Spencer will get it done. He's really good about safely and knowledgeably completing his projects the way I like them. I really appreciate that!