Baaartie! You bad Boy

 

Enter the doldrums of January. The time of year I wish we lived on a beach in Mexico…practically any beach with sun, sand, and warmer temperatures. Treasure Valley had days and days of fog, a thick rolling fog that removed any shred of sunshine. The first thick fog came on New Years Eve. I walked outside and immediately the word “Bartie” blared inside my head, with a cockney accent of course. So what did I do? Yelled the unique named out loud! New words followed in a wonderful, cathartic roll off my tongue: Baaaartie! Where are you? Where are you Bartie? Amelia came outside to find me shouting nonsense at the fog. “Mom? Who is Bertie?” That? I don’t know? Over the following days Bartie evolved into a sort of foggy doggy, a mysterious being that farts and makes a muss outside when loose. I find much joy in randomly shouting “Baraaartie!” Startling kids, neighbors, other animals, and husbands. It is a great stress reliever. Heck, I’m already crazy! Shouting at the fog does make an internal ray of sunshine blaze in the soul. I highly suggest you create your own fog pet. Farty Bartie ate Havarti at a party. I admit it, I am strange. 

Fawn called Saturday morning asking if we could dog sit Baylor if her daughter April needed us to. Fawn and Darrel are away on a 2 week cruise. April's Father-in-law is very sick and had an unexpected hospital stay that worried the family. They decided to drive out to visit just in case. Baylor is quite a silly dog, really a scaredy dog. He is terrified of Justin, tolerates Phillip and Everett while absolutely loves Amelia, Evelyn, and I. Baylor learned to squeeze his bulk through our tiny dog door with the squeaky chicken (I it use for photo sessions). He stands on the other side salivating, staring at me until I play fetch the chicken with him. He is excellent at catching things. It was strange to actually enjoy the dog, I still barely tolerate our geriatric dog Vader. He is a stink meister and quite boring. Baylor was my constant shadow for the week. All my pants had drool and dog hair smeared on one side. I took him on a walk early one morning wearing my pink wool comfy "shoes". Down near the bottom of our street I executed a perfect slip and splits on some invisible ice. Baylor regarded me with confusion, I was upset he was not impressed that this old lady can still manage the splits without snapping a muscle. He made us all laugh with his fetch obsession. April picked him up on Sunday after church. 

Evelyn had a screening interview with Meridian Advanced Psychiatry on the 10 right after meeting with Nina. We wanted a second opinion about ADD and Anxiety. Dr Aldous only used the Vanderbilt questionnaire which in my opinion was developed on data gathered on male ADD. We met with Shannon James and another practitioner needing hours for her certification. Justin really wanted to attend the meeting as well since his presentation of ADD is more internal than the typical hyperactive model the public embraces. The ladies interviewed Evelyn and spent half the of the interview discussing with her and asking us for a history. Once again it was helpful to hear Evelyn explain what goes on in her mind. I did ask about the relationship of ADD and ODD (oppositional defiant disorder) due to her outrageous turns in behavior toward violence. Next week Evelyn has a QbTest which is a diagnostic tool based on age and gender that tests attentiveness, concentration, movement, and impulsivity. Hopefully, we can get a better view of what is driving Evelyn. Justin was very talkative! He gave a lot of input about how his brain works. I joined the old ladies lunch club at Chapalas for the last 20-30 minutes on my way home. I got a cheaper burrito from Del Taco after the luncheon, I hate paying for overpriced Mexican food that tastes like Del Taco.

Amelia and I worked to finish the shrinky-dink earrings I started on Christmas Day. We had a nice time listening to tunes while figuring out cute earring patterns. Two of the charms need repairing, the hanger part snapped off while making the earrings. Sooooo cute!  

Friday was Art Mom day! Josie’s class learned about Van Gogh. There are 3 of us volunteers for Josie’s class, we take turns setting up, teaching about the artist, and modeling the art example. I was sad the mom completely glossed over Van Gogh’s struggle with depression and that his feelings paid a heavy role in his work. Josie was stuck like glue to my leg for half of the class! She loves to be right at my side, I love her right there too. Evelyn’s class learned about Monet. I am the only volunteer, prefer it that way truth be told. We painted a version of Monet’s Water Lilies with acrylic paints. That was a very fun project. The kids struggle with basic modeling, it took us the entire time just repeating the same three instructions. A handful of kiddos produced exceptional examples! 

I FINALLY finished all the editing on my photography plate. I am going to enjoy an entire WEEK with an empty plate…until next week when I get to photograph a new baby girl. Next month I am photographing cousins who are due to be born the same day! The referral came from Senada, I photographed her baby girl last year. Senada is from the Balkans! I love the sisters with their exotic features and gorgeous babies. 

Saturday I worked on replacing photos in frames after my large order from WHCC came in the mail with our fun family photos. I updated the large hallway photo, the birthday photos, and added some new photos to the wall with the new fodder. Saturday Evelyn and I made the large box into a puppet show theater. I cut the hole, glued reinforcements around the hole, and made some curtains. We used some animal socks the girls have as puppets. Amelia and I made a skit called, "Baaaartie!" Not very surprising. It's quite fun to hear the kids making up shows. The best part is the "theater" can be stored flat. Phillip went to his second dance, his first was the New Years Eve dance. He was quite disappointed the snacks were lame, just one type of cookie and weak punch. Justin offered him $2 per girl he asked to dance, he earned $6 that night. Amelia loves the Stake dances, she enjoys hanging out with the younger girls like Jocelyn,  Ambree, and Ava. 

Everett passed the Sacrament for the first time on Sunday. He carefully ironed his shirt, made sure he had a belt on, but still had mismatching shoes, one too large for his foot. He somehow misplaced his right shoe a few weeks ago. Monday he located the missing shoe at the Ostlers! All five new Deacons did a great job passing the bread and water with reverence and love. Sunday also happened to be our Ward Conference so lots of Stake members were in attendance. The Primary kids started learning Come Follow Me as arranged by Angie Killian, she added a beautiful verse and arrangement to sing as a duet sort of like A Child’s Prayer. I spent most of Saturday working on the Primary music plan for the year, exchanging the music from last year with songs we will learn and sing in the program this year.