This & That

First, may I say that I couldn't be happier to greet the month of October. It's not that September was bad, but it just seemed l-o-n-g. Usually, January feels like the longest month; it's still cold, but Christmas is over. This year, though, it felt like September would never end. I found myself saying too many times, "Is it still September?" And sure enough, it was. But no more. October is here, the month of crisp, cool temperatures; longer nights; my birthday (yay!); General Conference (double yay!); and ultimately, Halloween. I'm going to pull out the decorations on Thursday and make our house spooktacular.

The temperature is supposed to drop into the high 30s this week. Mmmm. After this crazy hot summer, that sounds amazing. That is, as long as it doesn't drop down to freezing. That can't happen. Not yet. Shulamith and I planted grass seed in the back yard a week ago, and it needs to come in before the first freeze. You really should have seen us. If you think making a garden island was outside our comfort zone, imagine us trying to seed an entire back yard. But Shulamith really wants Swen to have a nice yard to play in next summer, so we decided to tackle this project. First we pulled all the weeds, which were everywhere and so tall! Then we spread fertilizer, followed by grass seed, followed by cover dirt. And we had to do all this, only when Swen would let us. He's a baby who likes to be held. Can't blame him. Don't we all? It's been one full week, and so far no grass, but we've heard it can take a couple weeks, so we are still hopeful.

Along with planting seed, at the request of a conservative friend, I wrote a blog post explaining my political ideology, and it attracted way more attention than most of the stuff I write. I suppose that is not surprising, considering we are just 35 days from a presidential election, but it still surprised me. My liberal friends (all six of them) loved it! My conservative friends (all 132 of them) were thankful to understand my beliefs; okay maybe not all 132 of them felt this way, but some did. Most fun, though, the blog post is going to be the featured article in the next newsletter of the Utah LDS Democratic Caucus. And speaking of them, they are hosting a pre-General Conference breakfast this Saturday at 8:45. It will conclude at 9:45, so everyone has time to get home to watch conference. Gerald, Seth, Shulamith, Swen, and I all plan to attend.

Yep, you heard right. General Conference is THIS weekend, as in 3 days from now. I can't even tell you how excited I am. I am so ready to hear the inspired words of our Prophet and other general authorities and auxiliary leaders of the Church. Conference lifts me like nothing else. I soak in every last word. We will watch both Saturday sessions and the Sunday morning session here at home in our jammies, but I think Gerald and I will sneak downtown and watch the Sunday afternoon session live in the Conference Center, one of the bonuses of living here in Salt Lake City. Will we take Seth? Uh, probably not. Remember last time?

Not that he hasn't matured in the last six months. He has. He is now a big 7th grader, rockin' it at the middle school. We are thankful he transitioned so smoothly from his life in Montana and now from elementary to middle school. He loves everything about it. When we ask who is favorite teacher is, he has difficulty choosing among three. When we ask who is least favorite is, he can't answer. "They're all good," he says. His favorite classes are science and business/technology. Today he brought home his first progress report. Not to brag, but he got solid A's in seven classes. His eighth and final grade, an F. Yep, you heard me, an F. What class was that? Home room. They grade home room? Apparently, he can't remember to fill out his planner and get it signed, which is the only thing he has to do for home room. Of course he thinks the planner is a ridiculous and useless waste of time (which for him, it probably is), but we will work on getting is signed nonetheless. 

Oh, and the first Presidential debate is tonight. I won't wax political since I already did that. I'll just say that I'm particularly thankful this time around for the full-page spread in the most recent issue of Ensign magazine, proclaiming once again the political neutrality of the Church, regarding both issues and candidates (W00T!). And I am super excited for the debates. I'm hoping Isaiah is here to watch with us, but now that he has his own wheels, we see precious little of him. He "couch surfs" through his friends' houses during the week. We mostly see him on weekends.

Before I conclude this very random post of "this & that," I should update you on Eli. Spider bite is healing nicely thanks to modern medicine. Yesterday was his final day in Blytheville, where he has served for the past six months. He has loved it there and is so sad to leave. Transfers are today! Where will he go? I won't know that until Monday when I get his p-day email. I can only pray for a wonderful experience in his new area with a great new companion.

I am an essayist. For real. And I will return to legit essays rather than random rambling right quick.

Promise!