Word of (Two) Weeks: Disconcerting

disconcerting  /adj./  upsetting the composure of.  frustrating.  causing a person to be self-consciously distressed.  embarrassing or confusing.  mortifying.  bewildering.  being thrown for a loop.

disconcerting  /adj./  1.  For whatever reason, this has always been one of my favorite words.  I love a word that is (all by itself) a little revelation of its definition.  You can feel it's mortifying unease as the syllables break apart and switch directions on the way out of your mouth.  So I was excited to spotlight it, but forgot about the uncanny and disconcerting way the word-of-the-week determines my destiny.  As Amy commented: "last week when I saw "disconcerting" I knew it didn't bode well."  I wish I had had the same sense.

disconcerting  /adj./  2.  As I type this, it is disconcerting to realize that I can hardly remember back two weeks.  I remember I was going to comment on the disconcerting economy, the disconcerting lack of sagacious national leaders, the disconcerting speed that entropy takes over in my house, and the disconcerting bad grades my children continue to bring home in math and spelling.  I am starting to get the disconcerting feeling that I have very little "real control" over anything.

disconcerting  /adj./  3.  Last Saturday I volunteered myself and David (he was briefly disconcerted by this) for the Prop 102 campaign.  Here in Arizona there is a proposition on the November ballot to change the Arizona constitution to say that "only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state."  So we went and worked at a phone bank for about three hours on Saturday afternoon to poll registered voters about how they were voting and encourage those in support of the proposition to be sure to vote.  Admittedly this was a bit scary calling people I didn't know, and there were a few disconcerting calls, but for the most part I felt good about doing what we could to hold the moral fabric of our state together.  Plus, I thought that being a "political activist" might make me that much more attractive to David.  He now reports that I'm irresistible.

disconcerting  /adj./  4.  Caleb decided to enter an aerospace contest with some of his friends from school, in which they have to make a model of a space station for 100 people to live on for 2 years.  He asked me to be the "parent coach."  It has been a bit disconcerting to discover all the variables he has to address in the project:  food, water, power, oxygen, waste removal including carbon dioxide, the effects of weightlessness, docking, communication, radiation protection, and the list goes on.  This week we worked on air supply (that seemed like the most critical first step).  We made some progress, but quite frankly, I'm a bit overwhelmed with the magnitude of the project and secretly think Caleb would find it disconcerting to discover that I got a C in my organic chemistry class.  I'm seriously considering flying him out to his grandpa's house for a crash chemistry course.

disconcerting  /adj./  5.  Caleb and Olivia performed their musical number (Olivia singing, Caleb on the violin) in sacrament meeting at church this last Sunday.  It went well until the disconcerting moment when Olivia stopped singing.  She just stood there as Caleb finished the song and later said through her tears that she "just went blank."  I hugged her and assured her that it was beautiful and no one could tell that that wasn't how it was supposed to be.  So many people came up afterwards and told her how well she did that she was on cloud nine before we left church.  On the way home she told us that the bad part was forgetting the words, but the good part was all the compliments.  She kept track.  And counted 37.

disconcerting  /adj./  6.  The end of my canning season came this week.  Last week I made what I thought would be a year's supply of raspberry jam, but then made the disconcerting discovery that this wouldn't be near enough, when my family finished off an entire bottle at dinner that night.  And I was also a bit disconcerted when, after kissing David hello and after having him admire my jamming, he said offhandedly, "So what did you do today?"  Um.  Do you want to rethink that question?

And in a wholly brave move, I tried canning spaghetti sauce this year.  (I usually just do the tomatoes halved, but I had 60extra pounds of romas and decided to try something new.)  I find the process of box to sauce to jar nothing short of miraculous.  The only disconcerting thing about it was that these babies turned out to be about $5 a jar.  (Don't ask me how Prego does it, but I'm suspecting it might not all be real tomatoes in there?  How's that for disconcerting?)  My only consolation was that I added real sausage to the sauce as well, so it's ready to go as is.  I was admittedly proud of the endeavor, despite the disconcerting price tag. 

  

disconcerting  /adj./  7.  I got a UTI this weekend and if you don't know what that is, then you have been blessed and you can blissfully skip this definition, because the rest of this won't make sense.  All Sunday I kept having that disconcerting feeling that it was coming and then by evening I was completely miserable and David ran to the pharmacy for antibiotics.  I didn't feel like myself until Wednesday and then had to face my house, which nearly took the wind out of my sails again.  It was a disconcerting combination of the regular weekly mess plus two serious days of neglect, not to mention the laundry, some of which I had to wash twice, because people had just walked over it rather than wearing it or (heaven forbid) folding it after I washed it the first time.  It is nice to know I'm needed, but a bit disconcerting to think about how these darlings would survive without me.

Word of the Week: Sagaciously

sagaciously  /adv./  with acute mental discernment or keen practical sense.  shrewdly.  wisely.  sagely.  intelligently or keenly.  perceptively.  prudently.  judiciously.  cleverly. 

[torridly:  /adv./  with intense heat, subjecting something to scorching heat.  with so much heat as to be parching.  very passionately.  ardently.  zealously.] 

sagaciously  /adv./  1.  Last week when I posted the new word of the week on my sidebar, I had every intention of spotlighting the word "torridly," but when I went to type in the definition I started having second thoughts and ended up with the word "sagaciously," which is ironic since this was not a wise choice in any way.  I lived my entire week "torridly" and not a bit "sagaciously."  So in the most sagacious move of the week,  I'm going to sneak "torridly" in here as well.  This is also ironic since the passionate little "torridly" has never snuck anywhere before.

sagaciously  /adv./  2.  I spent lots of hours this week in my kitchen "putting up peaches for winter." (This is how Caleb refers to my canning and I LOVE it.)  The big question is always how many boxes to buy.  This year I sagaciously bought three for canning and one for eating.  This seemed to be about right, as I only really enjoy canning for about three boxes, any more than that and it starts to feel like a chore.  My favorite part is the eating though.  We've had peaches at every meal since I picked these up.  They are so good, and I've been torridly filling bowl after bowl of them for me and my darlings.  Yesterday we had them with whipped cream on top of our pancakes.  The kids asked what holiday it was.  It's peach season, lovelies.

sagaciously  /adv./  3.  The lady who sells me Utah peaches also has an in with the tomato farmers up there.  She had a couple of  boxes of gorgeous beefsteak tomatoes for sale and even though I'm getting three boxes of romas this week, I just couldn't help myself.  When I wasn't eating peaches this week, I was torridly eating tomatoes on crusty bread.  (September is quickly replacing November as my favorite month.)  I canned all the ones we didn't eat and sagaciously decided to make spaghetti sauce with the romas.     

sagaciously  /adv./  4.  Olivia finished her latest Laura Ingalls Wilder book a couple of weeks ago and has been positively destitute without something to read.  I sagaciously pointed out that she has shelves full of books she hasn't read yet, but she is madly in love with Laura and couldn't bear to start something new.  I finally took her to the bookstore on Thursday afternoon after her viola lesson and she has been torridly reading ever since.  She almost wouldn't let go of the book long enough for the man to ring it up.  Every night as I tuck her in she gives me the update.  (Mary's on her way to college and Laura's working in town, by the way.  They had to sell the calf for Mary to go.  I thought Olivia was going to swoon when she told me they were going to buy Mary a trunk.  "A trunk, Mom, a trunk!  Oh, can you imagine having a trunk?") 

sagaciously  /adv./  5.  I found out (through sagacious deduction) that our water softener hasn't been working since we moved into the house.  We've been here nearly three years, but I'm just discovering this.  Anyway, on Saturday I asked David to replace the salt in the softener so that we could turn it on.  He did and we ran the cycle and felt quite proud of ourselves.  Then the water pressure in the kitchen faucet and the shower went to practically nothing and the water softener, which hadn't run for three years, started leaking all over the garage.  I decided I was perfectly fine with "hard water."  We spent part of Sunday trying to stop the leaks and fix the pressure, but didn't get it all solved until last night.  This is how home improvement projects go at our house.  I not-so sagaciously think something will be easy, and it's always a hundred times more work and complication than it's worth.  It is only an indication of how torridly David loves me that he agrees to any of these projects in the first place.

sagaciously  /adv./  6.  David and I went out to dinner on Saturday night at our favorite restaurant.  (I sagaciously ordered the Oscar medallion with blue crab on top, oh my.)  And then we stopped by the grocery store on our way home.  A good date night always includes a torrid stop for bread and milk.  I find David loading the car with groceries among the most romantic of gestures.

sagaciously  /adv./  7.  You do not want to know how my gospel doctrine lesson went on Sunday.  I stand up there dying a little death with every word that comes out of my mouth.  But I have sagaciously formulated a new plan.  I told David I need him to get a substitute next time I teach so he can come and hear it.  I need his gorgeous, blue eyes looking at me, torridly telling me that no matter what I'm saying he thinks I'm H.O.T. Hot.  He said he'd see what he could do. 

Word of the Week: Burgeon

burgeon  /vt./  to grow or develop quickly, flourish.  to bloom or blossom.  effloresce.  expand.  thrive.  flower.  snowball.  sprout. 

burgeon  /vt./  1.  I need to get this post written, as this word's life and influence is quickly burgeoning into my current week.  And may I just say that I love a word that can be defined by both a snowball and a flower.  Clever word.  You can feel it's anxious, growing, proud self in the first syllable.

burgeon  /vt./  2.  David's love of politics has burgeoned from a sweet little crush to an all-out obsession.  I have felt a bit like a "football wife" for the past, oh, ten months or so, but it has been particularly bad this last week.  He has Fox News on his Blackberry 24/7 these days and he was cheering and clapping and yelling so loudly during Sarah Palin's speech this week that the kids got out of bed to see what all the excitement was about.  (In his defense, she is quite fabulous.)  He's even given up sleeping-in on Sunday mornings (gasp!) to watch the political shows.  That election cannot come soon enough. 

burgeon  /vt./  3.  My sister, Rachel, and I taught another of our body image classes last week and we have another one tonight and two more scheduled in the coming weeks.  I cannot explain the burgeoning popularity of the class, but we are so happy to teach it whenever we can to get the message out.  Though the more we give it, the more we see what amateurs we really are.  Really, you'd think our confidence would burgeon the more times we give it, but I think both of us are just more and more aware of our flaws.  I told her this last week that the one really great thing about it is that we get to spend more time together.  That part is admittedly delightful.

burgeon  /vt./  4.  Savannah was baptized this week and Olivia was unaccountably emotional about it.  As I was blow-drying Olivia's hair on Saturday afternoon the tears burgeoned to overflowing.  She finally threw her arms around Savannah's neck and sobbed, "I'm just so proud of you Savannah.  You make me so happy."  I cannot believe my luck in catching this moment on film.  Savannah's look so perfectly captures her bafflement at her sister's emotional (and decidedly lachrymose) moment.

burgeon  /vt./  5.  Much to my delight, Caleb and Olivia performed a musical number at Savannah's baptism, "When I Am Baptized."  Caleb played his violin and Olivia sang.  I accompanied them on the piano.  They did so well, despite the sheer terror (as Rachel described it) that Olivia experienced just before she opened her mouth.  I love to see my children's talents burgeon and flourish.  They have been asked to do the number in sacrament meeting in a few weeks.  Olivia has been quite conflicted about this invitation, vacillating between burgeoning fear and happy pride. 

I didn't have a picture of their musical number, but David sent me an email earlier today letting me know that I had neglected to include his favorite picture in the baptism post...I'm including it here, for him.

burgeon  /vt./  6.  Olivia had her first viola lesson this week and was bursting and burgeoning with uncontainable excitement.  Her teacher is a woman named Marie with a charming eastern European accent.  When I picked Olivia up she said, nodding at Olivia's joy-infused face, "Oh, she's just vonderful."  And so the practicing has begun in earnest, and I am aware of a burgeoning acknowledgement (again) that I should listen to my children...apparently they do know what they want.

Word of the Week: Doughtily

doughtily  /adv./  courageously and resolutely; steadfastly.  valiantly.  bravely and heroically.  stoutheartedly.  boldly.  intrepidly.  pluckily.

doughtily  /adv./  1.  This week's word almost seems unlikely to live up to its definition.  You don't expect a word with the beginnings of "doubt" to end up brave and bold and valiant.  Against the odds, as it were.  Perhaps this is why I like it.  The dark horse of courageous and plucky adverbs.  I spent too much of the week crying (clearly), but I am doughtily persevering and mothering and wife-ing all in the ugly face of the fallen world and the dangers it holds for me and the ones I love.

doughtily  /adv./  2.  I have been touched and sobered this week by the story of Nie Nie and her Mr. Nielson and all those who are doughtily rushing to their aid.  Though I do not know them personally, I have spent most of my mornings this week sobbing in the shower for the way their lives have been so changed, and praying doughtily for their care.  I have observed and admired their family doughtily doing whatever needs doing, and watched the blogging world doughtily rallying to do what they can (each in their own way) to raise funds for this family.  And because of their tender story, I've also vowed (again and once-and-for-all) to love the life I've been given, hold my darlings tighter and my grudges less, and to find joy in the simple yet extraordinary miracle of everyday life.

doughtily  /adv./  3.  We doughtily made our way through the third week of school this week, especially courageous since the adrenalin of the new school year has worn off and the exhaustion of routine and scheduling has finally caught up with me.  I went to curriculum night for the youngest three on two different nights, and took home armfuls of rules and calendars and unit plans and report card templates and expectations, and the stomach ache I haven't felt since May returned with a vengeance.  When Ethan's preschool teacher told us that she was going to divide the kids into two reading groups according to the level they were at, I thought I'd had quite enough and seriously considered pulling him out in defense of his childhood.

doughtily  /adv./  4.  I met my very good friend, Merri, for breakfast at the Farmhouse on Wednesday morning and enjoyed one of the best hours of my week over an omelet and orange juice.  We doughtily made a secret pact that has already blessed my life (though I haven't kept it perfectly, I'll admit that straight out)...and we have plans to meet for breakfast in a month to make another one.  We tried to take a self-portrait afterwards (to mark the occasion) but there was no memory card in my camera, which is too bad since we both looked darling.

doughtily  /adv./  5.  I told David that if I was going to continue to doughtily mother our gorgeous children through this school year, I was going to need more alone time with him.  This keeps me going better than anything else.  So we met for lunch on Friday which was delightful (even though most of the conversation was political) and then we went out on a real live date on Saturday night...a stop by the Mac counter and then to a movie.  David said the movie (a foreign film, French with English subtitles) had too much nudity, violence and swearing for me to be able to recommend it to anyone, but I did really love it.  So don't go see it, even though it was quite fabulous.

Word of the Week: Deprecate

deprecate  /vt./  to express earnest disapproval of; to urge reasons against. to depreciate or belittle. denigrate.  underrate.  pooh pooh. 

deprecate  /vt./  1.  I've always loved this word, especially the "self deprecating" combination, the way it defers and shrugs before it even really gets going, but I'm happy to see its week end.  With "deprecate" on my mind, my inside voices have been too negative and whiny to stand for much longer.   

deprecate  /vt./  2.  I spent much of the week deprecating Squarespace's new V5 version and the difficulties it created in my life.  But by Friday, I had worked out most of the bugs, created a new banner, and figured out the best way to upload pictures.  Whew.  Now if I could only figure out the other issues my computer is having...is it the memory, the modem, or the 10 million megabytes being taken up by Caleb's computer games?  I know just enough about blogging and computers to be dangerous. 

deprecate  /vt./  3.  One of things that David finds most aggravating about being married to me, is the way I deprecate big birthday celebrations.  (I ascribe this to nature and nurture, by the way.)  I find regular life taxing enough, and so I always quail a little bit at the monumental effort required for birthdays.  Especially the parties.  Despite all this, I encouraged Savannah to invite her friends over for a swim party (at my parents' house) on Friday afternoon.  I picked up a pizza and grapes and ice cream bars at Costco and we had an impromptu party with three of her best friends...no invitations, no presents, very little expense, just fun.  I'm expecting my Olympic medal any day now.

deprecate  /vt./  4.  Yesterday I taught my first gospel doctrine class.  And I'm not being the least bit self-deprecating to say that it could have gone better.  For the most part, people just stared at me, like, "Okay lady, go ahead and teach me the gospel.  I'm just going to sit here and watch you make a fool of yourself."  And we had really good material yesterday too...tons to talk about, but apparently I don't inspire that kind of really good classroom discussion.  The highlight of the lesson was when I used colored chalk to diagram the wars and epistles that went back and forth between the four main characters (Moroni, Helaman, Ammoron and Pahoran [my personal favorite]), but that was over in the first ten minutes.  David ran to Walmart for me at 9 o'clock on Saturday night for colored chalk.  Bless his heart.  He wanted to help, but there was just no help for it.

deprecate  /vt./  5.  My sister, Rachel, and I taught another body image class on Tuesday night and had another round of serious technical difficulties.  You'd think by now we'd have it down, but no.  This time we showed up without a cord to connect the proxima to the computer (an fairly important part it turns out) and so I had to call David to come to our rescue.  Even after he brought the cord we still couldn't get it to work and so he came in and tried to help us while I started the presentation.  I told Rachel later that it's either the devil or the Lord trying to stop this presentation and I'm not sure which one it is.  I was immensely grateful for David's expertise and IT support, and felt I ought to take back all the deprecating remarks I've made over the years about not having a "handy husband."

deprecate  /vt./  6.  One of the highlights of my week, again, was watching the Olympics.  I intended to go to bed early last night (I mean really intended), but I thought the closing ceremony was just so incredible that I stayed up and watched.  And then I couldn't leave without hearing Mr. Costas sign off one last time.  We have quite a relationship now and I just couldn't help myself.  (Did you hear the comment about laying the egg in the bird's nest?  Classic.  Be still my beating heart.)  And no matter your feelings about the Olympics in general, you just can't deprecate the efforts of Beijing and the Chinese people in their hosting of these most spectacular games.  I am quite at a loss as to what to do now.

Word of the Week: Bailiwick

bailiwick  /n./  a person's area of skill, knowledge, authority, or work;  domain, sphere or territory.  area of influence. turf. 

bailiwick  /n./  1.  My bailiwick as a mother has once again been invaded by the school, as my children went back to school this week and are now in the the classroom for 6 hours a day.  I tried to have a good attitude this year, but by Friday I was worn out and wishing for our long summer days and a good game of Bohnanza. 

bailiwick  /n./  2.  Our "down time" has been filled with the Olympics.  Which. I. Love.  I was even going to write a post last week about my not-so-secret crush on Bob Costas.  (I just about died when he made his quip about the dip in the Yangtze.  But I digress.)  Anyway, I love the Olympics for so many reasons, but especially to see people competing and dreaming and working hard in their own particular bailiwick.  I love that somebody is as passionate about badminton as somebody else is about swimming the 400 IM.  I love that track cycling has its own language and equipment and technique, and so does trampolining and pole vaulting.  And I also love to see all those athletes lined up on the track or in their sculls or on their bikes, all those colors and races and flags, all of them different and all of them the same.  I get completely choked up.

And my kids have really caught the Olympic spirit as well...making a poster and "medals" to celebrate.  I won one for making breakfast last week.

bailiwick  /n./  3.  My bailiwick at church has changed in the last little bit.  I was released (though my heart thought it felt a bit more like "ripped" than "released") from working with the young women in my ward and given a new assignment to teach Gospel Doctrine.  I know.  David is pleased as punch.  My first lesson is this coming Sunday.  RIM and CIM are both convinced it will be a disaster.  I am inclined to agree.

bailiwick  /n./  4.   With the start of school, it is also time (at least for me) to think about what activities my kids are going to be involved in this year.  This becomes an overwhelming exercise in balance, as I try to balance my kids' interests, our time, the budget, the practicing commitment each activity will require, how much I really want to be in the car, and what I think each child "needs."  This has only gotten harder as my kids' interests have grown and expanded.  Olivia came home the other day and announced that she wants to learn to play the viola.  "What about the piano?" I asked.  She replied that you can't get out of class to go to orchestra with your friends if you play the piano.  Oh.  I keep telling David I would appreciate some input, but he clearly thinks this falls under my bailiwick.  Naturally.

We have a back-to-school tradition...the Saturday after we finish (whew!) the first week of school we go out to breakfast and do a review of the week:  highs and lows, what they're excited for, what they're most worried about, everyone gets a turn.  It was so good to be around a table together.

Word of the Week{s}: Insouciant

Editor's note:  I wrote this post last week (as you can see from the time stamp), but could never figure out how to add pictures...squarespace changed everything up while I was "lost."  (Whatever happened to "if it's not broke, don't fix it"?)  Anyway, just so you know, all of this information is out-of-date.  I'm posting it anyway.  So there.

insouciant  /adj./  free from worry, concern, or anxiety.  unconcerned, undisturbed.  carefree and nonchalant.  debonair or jaunty.  easygoing, lighthearted.  heedless.  untroubled.  relaxed.  blithe.  breezy.

insouciant  /adj./  1.  My insouciant summer days are just about over.  Just 6 more days and we're going to be "back at it."  I told the kids last night that we ought to start practicing our "early to bed, early to rise routine," but none of us besides Caleb got out of bed before 7:30 this morning.  David, of course, was at work long before that and I think he is the only one looking forward to "normal life."  I, for one, am completely dreading it.

insouciant  /adj./  2.  My indiscriminant, insouciant, picture-taking days are also just about over.  My computer has been notifying me recently that my memory is running low and then today as I attempted to load a few hundred pictures from our Michigan trip onto the computer, it refused.  Since I've started blogging, I have taken so many more pictures of just about everything, insouciantly unaware that I would have to keep and store said pictures.  Now the question is what to keep and what to toss and how to load more memory onto my computer.  (Techinically, I guess that's three questions.)  And then there's the real question:  What am I going to do with all of  these photos after that? 

 insouciant  /adj./  3.  I've spent the last couple of weeks trying to get my "sea legs" back under me, filling the hours with laundry and housework, doctor appointments, getting the kids new backpacks and shoes and pants that fit, catching up on young women's, and slowly filling up the calendar.  We deep-cleaned the kids' drawers and threw out everything they could no longer wear and the kids spent a few insouciant afternoons earning money by scrubbing down the  baseboards and dusting the blinds.  Back to normal life.

insouciant  /adj./  4.  I took Olivia to the doctor last week with more breathing trouble, and he diagnosed her with asthma.  (A perfect word with all those suffocating consonants.)  A diagnosis we knew was inevitably coming, but which is still a bit daunting anyway.  Gone are her days of insouciant breathing and her albulterol inhaler has now joined David's in the red bin. 

insouciant  /adj./  5.  David and I went to two movies last weekend (The X Files, and The Dark Knight), completely abdicating our responsibilities and pretending we could do whatever we wanted.  We enjoyed them both immensely and had so much fun.  I think I could get quite used to the insouciant life. 

Word of the Week: Gloaming

gloaming  /n./  the period between afternoon and nighttime.  dusk.  twilight.  eve.  eventide.  nightfall.

gloaming  /n./  1.  As I write this post, the gloaming is just beginning here in Michigan.  The kids are downstairs practicing a play they are going to put on after dinner, our version of dinner theatre.  We are having a big celebratory dinner tonight, steaks on the grill and decorations on the table, a sure sign that we have entered into the "gloaming" of our vacation, the final days before we head for home.  David will arrive on Wednesday and then we'll head for Canada and a trip to Niagara Falls.  The kids are starting to panic just slightly at the dwindling days, protesting that I said we'd be here a month.  I assure them that we have been...it will be just one day over a month when we will arrive back in Arizona.  The fastest month of our lives.

gloaming  /n./  2.  This past week we went to a band concert one night after dinner and enjoyed the gloaming accompanied by Sousa.  The kids layed in the grass even though we brought chairs and played on a nearby playground.  The highlight for me was at the end, when we all stood and sang "America, the Beautiful" and the "Star Spangled Banner" just as the sun was setting and using its last rays to light up the flag.

gloaming  /n./  3.    On Tuesday night we had dinner over at Gary and Sara's house.  At the end of the night we had smores, melting the marshmellows over the firepit in their backyard, and sat around the fire in the gathering gloaming and talked.  David was sorely missed.  The kids, who were by now best-of-friends, made up a game of some kind on their hammock and were shrieking with laughter until Gary thought the neighbors might mind.  

gloaming  /n./  4.  We spent the end of the week in Paradise, MI, and left for the Upper Peninsula late on Thursday afternoon.  As I drove up into the wilderness, the quiet gloaming was just beautiful with the sun setting after a bit of rain and a little fog.  I felt completely alone on the road and it was one of those perfect, wistful moments after a fresh rain has stopped and the earth is quiet and damp.  It felt like a dream and I took this picture as I drove my way to the northern end of the peninsula.

gloaming  /n./  5.  I took the kids to see Tahquamenon Falls this week, and spent Friday's gloaming walking the boardwalk to the lower falls.    You just cannot imagine the profusion of nature, the thunder of the water, and the thumping in my heart as I watched my children walk through the "deep woods" (as I called it) with their friends.  The gloaming lasts forever in the Michigan summer and I have loved every one of them, though this one was one of my favorites.

gloaming  /n./  6.  On our way home from Paradise, we stopped just outside of St. Ignace on a beach that has become one of our favorites.  It was the end of the day, the end of the week, and one of the most perfect gloamings of my whole life.  The kids changed into their swimsuits in the car and ran through the waves, which were rolling and high.  The wind was blowing hard and they ran and jumped over the crashing waves again and again, racing the setting sun.  Ethan got out after a bit and climbed on my lap wrapped in his towel, shaking with cold and nestling into me.   I told myself to remember this moment forever.  Ethan's wet hair, the damp towel, the copper bodies of my other three children silhouetted in the sunset, the sounds of the grass blowing behind me and the waves crashing in front of me, as my children shrieked their joy.  They swam until the sun went below the horizon and we ran together for the car.  The kids stripped along the side of the road and changed into their pajamas, flushed and shivery at the same time.  As I turned on the heater and pulled onto the darkening highway, I was overwhelmed by the magic of my life.

Word of the Week: Effulgently

Editor's note:  I intended all last week to do a proper Mackinac post, with more pictures and lots of details, but here I am doing another word-of-the-week post with only a little SPT and holiday good wishes separating this "wow" and last week's.    A bit of vacation lag, I suppose, but I have more good intentions for this coming week.  (Ugh...I started this post two days ago and am watching all my good intentions die a slow, sad little death.)

effulgently  /adv./  shining forth brilliantly.  radiantly.  giving off light readily or in large amounts.  brightly.  luminously.  resplendently.

effulgently  /adv./  1.  We spent the week at David's parents' house, enjoying their little town and all of its charms.  David was born and raised here, but he never talked very effulgently about it, though I find it nothing but delightful.  I went to yoga at a little studio downtown on Tuesday afternoon and took a much-needed class.  On Thursday evening, we went to a concert by the Tridge (which is a 3-sided bridge) and then walked around Main Street window shopping and had pizza and the best ice cream I think I've ever had at Pizza Sam's.  We went back for more ice cream on Friday night and closed the place down.

effulgently  /adv./  2.  David and I went to dinner with our very good friends, Gary and Sara, on Wednesday night.  David and Gary grew up together and have been friends their entire lives.    Sara moved in during high school, and I happened along last and just feel lucky to know any of them.  It doesn't matter how long it's been since we've gotten together, it is instant joy to be reunited.  When we're with them, I laugh until the endorphins are just charging through me, and I feel crazy in love with all of them.  It really makes me just incredibly happy, and I left dinner smiling effulgently and wishing it wasn't so late so that we could talk for a few hundred more hours.

I snapped this picture on Sunday afternoon after the baptism of Sara and Gary's second son.  They blessed their fifth baby in Sacrament meeting this same Sunday.  We felt so lucky to share in all their joy.

effulgently  /adv./  3.  On Thursday we went to the Chippewa Nature Center and saw a whole lot of nature.  I kept throwing my arms out and saying, "Look at all this nature!"  To which David only indulgently smiled.  It really is quite astounding though.  The kids wanted to find frogs and armed with buckets and a fishing net they headed through the tall grass near the ponds.  Luckily, they didn't end up covered in poison ivy and actually found two very tiny frogs.  The girls effulgently carried them around in their red, plastic buckets, naming and mothering them, and sniffing a bit when it was time to let them go.  (We found out later that you have to step in the muck and wade through the nature to find the big frogs, but the girls were happy enough with their tiny ones.)  We saw cardinals and blue jays and other birds I've only read about or watched play baseball.  It was just incredible to see them in real life. 

On our way out we stopped by the Chippewa River and I told the kids to take off their shoes and wade in the river.  They said, "What's wading?"  Okay, there are some serious gaps in their childhoods here.  So I demonstrated and Caleb and I waded out to the middle of the river, just for fun.  The girls waded out and found some freshwater mussel shells and Olivia reverently declared them, "The most beautiful thing I've ever seen" and proceeded to fill her bucket to the brim.

effulgently  /adv./  4.  Our plans for the 4th of July  changed a bit mid-day, and we ended up staying in town for the fireworks.  We had a spectacular show on the grass near the Tridge and didn't even get eaten by mosquitoes as the city sprays the park really good in the days leading up to the show.  My favorite part of every show is watching my children's faces light up effulgently as the "bombs burst in air." 

(Incidentally, we had sparklers a few nights later as it was after midnight when we got home from the "big fireworks."  Of course Ethan burned his hand on the sparklers and cried anytime his hand was out of cold water the rest of the night.  My just desserts for bad-mouthing the Arizona legislature, I presume.)

effulgently  /adv./  5. We made it out to Wixom Lake on Saturday and had a great time tubing and jet-skiing...there was no waterskiing as the lake was busy and choppy, but my back was grateful for the reprieve.  Savannah was completely terrified of tubing, as last year she had a bad experience on the lake and wasn't about to forget it.  (One of the things my girls do best is remember their sufferings and/or tragedies.)  After a bit of prodding, I talked her into going with me on a "nice, slow ride" on an "easy tube," and she reluctantly got on with me and placed a white-knuckle grip on the tube.  We had a bit of trouble at first because she wanted to go so slowly that the tube couldn't plane on top of the water and we kept going under which completely terrified her.  But eventually we found a speed she could handle and she grinned effulgently at me and said, equally surprised and chagrined, "I like tubing.  I didn't know that." 

This was a "before" shot...Savannah is still uncertain about the decision to trust me.

effulgently  /adv./  6.  This week we also got to see David's brother, Jon, and his sister, Cyndi, and their families.  We spent most of the 4th together and then went to the lake with Cyndi and Jason (her husband) on Saturday.  My kids loved playing and swimming with their cousins, and I love that they get to spend these rare moments enjoying each other.  On Sunday we went to church with Cyndi and Jason and their kids, and Caleb sat with them in the row ahead of us next to his cousin, Tyler.  I had to swallow hard against the rising lump in my throat as I listened to these two, sitting side-by side, effugently and loudly singing out the words of the hymns, especially as they belted out, "the veil o'er the earth is beginning to burst."

Ethan and Caleb on the lawn with their two "Michigan" boy cousins.

effulgently  /adv./  7.  My in-laws are so good to let us come and invade their sanctuary for four weeks (can you believe this kind of hospitality?!), and are so generous to the kids with their time and hugs and care.  David's mom has MS and so she is down in bed a bit, but the kids just love to climb on her bed and get their one-on-one chat time.  The kids guard these moments jealously and sneak up to see her whenever they can.  Both of David's parents have such of gift of really listening and the kids just soak it up.  They emerge from these impromtu sessions beaming effulgently and busting with pride and self-esteem.  Bless them. 

Word of the Week: Halcyon

halcyon  /adj./  calm, peaceful, tranquil.   rich, wealthy, prosperous.  happy, joyful.  carefree.  bucolic.  idyllic.  contented.  unruffled.  golden.

halcyon  /adj./  1.  Halcyon is just the perfect word to describe our days in Michigan.  The weather is perfect and my kids have spent hours and hours just playing.  I know that doesn't sound like much, but it's so good for them and so good for me.  We wake late, we eat late, we go to the movies when we want, we take turns in the swing outside, we wonder what day it is and marvel at what time it is.  These are the carefree, halcyon days I have dreamed about for nine months.

halcyon  /adj./  2.  We took a trip up to Northern Michigan at the end of last week and spent a few halcyon hours on the beach of Lake Michigan in the Upper Peninsula, just a few miles over the bridge.  The water is ice cold, but the kids don't mind a bit and even I got in for a while.  The beaches are just what you would imagine (or at least just what I would imagine) with sand drifts and grasses making bunkers along the shoreline to protect you from the wind.  My kids can spend hours at the beach doing absolutely nothing, a quality I desperately love and wholly appreciate.

Sorry for all these pictures.  David asked this morning, "How are you going to choose?"  How indeed.  I had 285 pictures on my camera after the weekend...I need to do a slide show, but don't have the technology in my current location...

Can you see the bridge in the background?  David will want me to point out that it is 5 miles long and the only thing connecting upper and lower Michigan...aren't you glad you know that?

halcyon  /adj./  3.  We camped for three nights at a campground just outside of Mackinac City, so that we could take the ferry over to Mackinac Island for a couple of days.  Our camping experience wasn't completely carefree as we battled 6-foot-long mosquitoes and lots of rain at night.  But David cleaned the camp store out of bug repellent and the inside of our tent stayed relatively dry, so we managed alright.  When we woke Saturday morning it was still raining a bit, so we stayed in the tent and played a game of "Bohnanza" (our new favorite game) amid the sleeping bags and pillows, a rare halcyon morning in our pajamas.  The rain slowed everything down and this turned out to be a great blessing, until it was time to pack up our soggy campsite. 

halcyon  /adj./  4.  We spent two days on Mackinac Island, the most halcyon spot on earth.  We rode the ferry over from Mackinac City on Friday and Saturday and had two absolutely perfect days there.  There are no cars on the island and so we took the kids' bikes and rented a tandem bike for David and me, and rode our way around the island.  I honestly think this is the happiest I am all year...watching my children ride their bikes along a tree-lined path, with Lake Huron on one side and the sun shining over everything.  It reminds me of the carefree halcyon days I read about in books as a child, like The Five Little Peppers.  A quiet, schedule-free, hustle-and-bustle-free world that my children have never known.  We spent our days there doing lots of nothing: riding our bikes, skipping rocks, swimming in Lake Huron, getting lemonades at the Cannonball, visiting the library, eating lunch at the Grand Hotel, flying our kite, playing croquet, eating fudge and hamburgers on the lawn, taking an old-time beach photo, looking for Petosky stones on the beach, laying on the grass at Mission Point.  I always tell David, "Next time let's spend a week."  I hope someday we can. 

Here we are at mile marker 6...only eight miles around the whole island.  This is only state road in Michigan where cars are not allowed.

halcyon  /adj./  5.  From Mackinac we went to Petosky for church (you should have seen the looks we got coming out of the camp showers in our suits and dresses!!)  and then through Charlevoix (which I love!) and onto Traverse City where we stayed at the Wolf Lodge.  The kids had a great time playing in their indoor water park and we played a few more hundred rounds of Bohnanza.  I slept for almost 12 hours and David woke me up 10 minutes before check-out and said, "Guess what time it is?"  We scrambled to get our stuff together and then rented a cabana for the rest of the day at the waterpark, a halcyon way to spend the day there...we could play games and eat and talk and the kids would come and check in every once in a while and then run off to go down another slide or jump across the lily pads. 

halcyon  /adj./  6.  These past 10 days have been like being in someone else's life.  I watch my kids on the beach or riding their bikes and I just marvel that they are mine.  David and I came to Mackinac Island on our honeymoon, thirteen years ago, and though the halcyon days of early marriage are far behind us, I can see how there are even better days than those to live right now, and many more ahead of us.  I remember riding our tandem bike around the island when it was just the two of us, and then last year I was astounded to look behind me and see four little people riding behind us.  When did that happen?  And this year I was completely humbled to see these same little people riding ahead of us, already knowing where to go and what they wanted to see.  What in the world?  It's hard to catch my breath as I watch my past and present collide right in front of me.   These moments are so big for me, like giant chunks of eternity falling around me and my arms just aren't big enough to hold them all.