August 11, I went to Green Things Nursery, Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens and Tucson Botanical Gardens.
August 15, I went to Reid Park Zoo for the debut of Gwen the sloth.
August 16, I went to the Desert Museum because a lot of their cacti were blooming. It was a really hot day, though, so I didn't stay long.
August 19, I went to Pima Prickly Park.
Paul traveled to San Diego for work 8/21-8/24.
My First Light and June Noon bloomed on August 29.
My First Light bloomed again on 9/9.
I went to Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens on 9/11.
Paul turned 53 on 9/20. We went to Vivace for his birthday on 9/16. We went to Guadalajara Grill on his actual birthday.
Grandma and Grandpa celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary on 9/17.
9/30, we went to Apple Annie's to pick our pumpkins. I tried to take pictures of the sunflowers, but it was a windy day. They didn't seem to have as many as last year either. But I would like to go again to see if I can get better pictures.
I went to Pima County Cooperative Extension Gardens on 10/5
Nathan passed his geometry readiness test so he is actually the only student at his school taking geometry this year. He said they haven't had a geometry student there in several years. Plus, he got an A the first quarter! Nathan also made honor roll the first quarter! He got an 89 in social studies, 83 in science, 99 in coding, 96 in PE, 93 in geometry, 95 in literature and 95 in English for a 92.857 (3.714) GPA .
Nathan tried out for the boys volleyball team. There were 3 days of tryouts (10/2-10/4). He said a couple of boys were selected to pick teams two of the days and he wasn't chosen so he sat on the sidelines the entire time. Doesn't seem like a very fair tryout. He didn't make the team. It really doesn't make sense because he was the only one trying out who had been on a competitive volleyball team before. A few supposedly were on an intramural team prior. Nathan said that even a 6th grader made the competitive team and he isn't very good. Nathan did make the intramural team, but he decided not to participate. The intramural games are all on Saturdays and are at different Legacy campuses that are far away. He felt he should have made the competitive team and we agree. The coach was also supposed to contact us prior to practices to tell us when practices started and give us more information. We were never contacted, but supposedly they started practices the Monday right after they got back from Fall Break. The coach scolded Nathan on Tuesday for not going to practices, but he didn't even know they started. He didn't want to be on the team anyway. We talked to the Vice Principal/Athletic Director on Tuesday night at the High School Information night and told him that we were never contacted, but that Nathan didn't want to be on the intramural team. I had corresponded with him twice about the tryouts and our shock that he didn't make the competitive team. He just said that they support their coaches' methods and decisions. Typical response.
Nathan has expressed an interest in joining the flag football team next quarter, but he says no other 8th graders are really interested in playing. They all want to do tackle football. Then there is soccer the last quarter. So we'll see what he decides.
This past Tuesday (10/17) they had a high school information night at his school. Mountain View was there so we talked to them a lot. Thursday night (10/19) we went to an open house at Pusch Ridge Christian Academy. We were pretty impressed. It is further away and it costs like $7k/year, but there are some different financing options. There are currently only 12 open 9th grade positions at Pusch Ridge and the admissions process is rigorous. I think we are going to apply at both schools. Paul is in charge of this, though and I am not sure if he will get it all done in time. Push Ridge says applications should be complete by the middle of December. We have a little more time for Mountain View.
For Nathan' Fall Break, we went to Chicago 10/7/23-10/15/23. Paul had to work in the hotel room most of the time, but he took Friday off. Michelle and Dave came in town that first weekend so we went to dinner at Uncle Julio's near our hotel in Downers Grove with them and Grandma and Grandpa the Saturday Night that we got in town. The Chocolate Pinata was awesome! Sunday we all went to church together at Faith and then went to lunch at New Horizon. Monday, Dawn and Nathan went to Cantigny Park with Debbie and her kids. Nathan was happy to go to Olive Garden for lunch afterward because he likes their 6oz sirloin. The boy wants to eat steak for every meal these days. Tuesday, Dawn and Nathan went to Brookfield Zoo. It was a free day (we just had to pay for parking). That evening we met Lisa, John, Connor, Aubrie, Donnie, Austin, Grandma and Grandpa at Ledo's Pizza for dinner. We celebrated Donnie's 54th birthday (10/20) and Grandpa's 75th birthday (10/18). Wednesday, Dawn went back to Cantigny Park to check out the flowers and to Morton Arboretum. The trees were just starting to change in the area. Thursday I drove around a little bit. I wanted to go back to 31st St in Oak Brook to check out a castle looking house Nathan and I saw on the way to Brookfield Zoo. I found a forest preserve in the area so I went for a short hike. It was a beautiful day and I loved the trees starting to change colors. Then I drove around some of the housing areas to admire the huge homes, nice properties and surrounding Fall colors. That night we met Tracy at the BD's Mongolian Grill in Bolingbrook. Shane and Aaron didn't make it :( The food was great. I chose just the right sauces so I really enjoyed my meal. Friday, Paul, Dawn and Nathan went downtown to Shedd Aquarium and the Museum of Science of Industry. We saw ONE pufferfish at the aquarium. Dawn and Nathan also saw one when we went to the Brookfield Zoo. The most memorable part of the Museum was the U-505 submarine exhibit. Dawn was pretty bored there. The museum was always cool during the holidays when they have the Christmas trees decorated from around the world so that is the time that I like to go there. Traffic getting to and leaving downtown was horrible...don't miss that! We ended up going back to Ledo's Pizza for dinner. Saturday we did family pictures with the grandparents and GG. GG is 105! She is not doing so great, but hanging in there. We thought this may be our last chance to see her and so Paul decided that he wanted to get family pictures taken at JC Penney. Afterward we went to Olive Garden for dinner where Carol Lambros, Terry Ganzer and Janet Hardy met us. Paul realized when we went to pay that he had lost his credit card. Back to JC Penney we went to look for it, but no luck. He used it for brunch earlier that day at Lumes, but they were closed. We didn't find the card so we had to report it lost. Not a fun way to end a "vacation", but these things happen. Sunday we returned back to Tucson. Thursday-Sunday it turned cold and rainy in Chicago so it was nice to leave at that time, but it was still around 100 when we got back to Tucson!
The weather in Tucson has been hotter than normal. It was a long brutal summer that seemed to never end. They say it should finally cool down to normal Fall temps next week. We need to get up to Mt. Lemmon. Maybe next Saturday. I may try to go up during the week, too. There are a lot of Fall activities I would like to do, but there is just never enough time or energy! Butterfly Magic started at Tucson Botanical Gardens, the raptor free flight starts up again at the Desert Museum 10/27 (I didn't make it last year), there's Glowing Pumpkins at Tohono Chul Park, I would like to check out the sunflowers at the Marana Pumpkin Patch, it would be nice to go back to Apple Annie's to photograph the sunflowers there again, etc... Today they were feeding the animals pumpkins at Reid Park Zoo so I missed that :( In November I would like to catch the Fall colors in Sabino Canyon and Ramsey Canyon. I remember in years past I would be out taking pictures about twice a week and now it seems like I rarely have a chance to go out. The weather hasn't cooperated either.
July 18th, I had a gynecologist appointment. The blood tests results weren't very good and I had gained a lot of the weight back that I had lost in 2019/2020. Shortly after that is when Paul had his diabetic emergency and Nathan went to Academy of Math & Science that was far away (and he joined sports)! I was so busy taking care of them that I couldn't focus on my own health. After this doctor visit I decided it was time to get serious about my health again. I was 153 lbs when I started this new journey after July 18. That wasn't my all time high, though, because I think my all time high was around 161. I aimed to get 10k steps/day again and cut down on my iced lattes/sweets. After it cooled down a bit in the mornings I was able to start walking around the neighborhood for about 45 minutes. I worked myself up to an hour on the elliptical almost every day. The pounds started coming off pretty quickly. Then the progress slowed. Going to Chicago a week ago didn't help because I got out of my exercise routine. As of today I am 144 lbs so I have lost close to 10 lbs in the last 3 months. I can already notice a difference, but I have a long way to go. I was around 135 lbs when we got married. I was 110 back in college. Realistically, I don't think I will ever see anywhere near 110 again. However, my goal is 120-125 lbs. It's hard being so short because every extra pound shows. Going through peri menopause makes weight loss difficult, too. With the weather finally cooling down I hope I can out more to hike and to take pictures around town. I haven't been happy with my camera ever since I bought it so I am still considering buying a new one (even though I have only had this one for a couple of years). We are getting into the holidays, too, which means I will be busy and stressed and that always hinders weight loss as well. One day at a time.
Halloween is 10 days away. Nathan has decided not to dress up this year. Last year he was disappointed because his Ghillie costume was big on him and kept falling down. Of course I had asked him to try it on before Halloween and he didn't.
10/30 Nathan is supposed to get yearbook pictures retaken. This is the first year we want retakes. I wanted retakes in some years past, but I was outvoted. This year everyone agreed that we needed retakes. Nathan did his fake smile and the picture just wasn't good. Some said it looked like the Elvis smile. Others said he reminds them of Val Kilmer. Regardless, the picture wasn't good. They had picture retakes, but none of the junior high school students were called to do them! I contacted the principal so now they have another picture retake day scheduled for 10/30. She said they will also have 8th grade graduation pictures taken later in the school year. At least we got some good pictures taken of him at JC Penney when we did family pictures in Chicago (Matteson) last week.
