An Ode to Thrifty Ice Cream

Chocolate Malted Crunch, oh how I love thee (and so does my dad and little sister),  Let me count the ways....Never forgetting thee, oh delicious Mint Choco Chip, the love my my older sister's taste buds.  Cookies & Cream - you are the creamiest ever!

Cylindrical 15 cent scoops from the old Thrifty stores...year round.  Oh how I've carried thee  on my hips for almost 30 years!

All these cartons, and I haven't opened any of them.  I'm trying to be good again.....

THE STORY:  In planning a day trip to Southern California to IKEA, I called the nearest open Rite Aid (they've all closed in Vegas, adding to the heartache)  Barstow was the nearest and I called to see if they indeed carried it - because those in Oregon do NOT (the gall of them).  On the way back from IKEA and Crate & Barrell, we anticipated the last shopping on our list...BARSTOW.   Carolyn and I took in 2 empty coolers with us and we filled them as full as we could (28 cartons) and checked out.  People laughed with us, others scoffed at our gluttany.  I didn't care.  I had people to please - bringing a simple joy to those who completely understand and savor the experience of eating Thrifty Ice Cream.  On Facebook, it's been funny to see the responses - the delicate memories shared of those who grew up here.  Others respond quizzingly, feeling out of the loop.  I cannot help them.  They just cannot and will not ever understand.

So we brought it all home, stacked my garage freezer pretty full, and began the deliveries.  The overwhelming joy in my sisters' eyes - spoons out ready, drool sliding, eyes wide... aaahhhh the joy!  My dad's excitement coming over to get his anticipated treat.  I even had 2 teachers who I haven't seen in years come over and buy a few from me...Facebook is an amazing tool to keep in touch with people!  We had a nice visit - it's been 5 years! 

Funny how a little sugary treat can bring people together.  We plan on making another ice cream run and selling it out of the freezer - we'll take orders...and wait for it to go on sale this time!!!!!!!!!!!!!   

So thank you, Thrifty Ice Cream, for bringing others joy and happiness in each delicious spoonful!  (as for me, I'm passing...back on the wagon!)

Griffith Peak saga...exposed

So, as a "P.S." to my former post, claiming that our 2nd attempt to climb Griffith Peak ended because it started snowing on us and unfortunately we didn't have proof because of lack of cameras, I add the following:       At the 2nd overlook, when we decided it was beginning to snow a little and that we should turn back down the almost 4 miles downhill, we met a nice Air Force guy with a nice camera (married - YES, I looked).  Not being shy at all, I asked him if he'd take our picture as 'proof' and email it.  He was nice enough to do this and just today, I received them.  So now, for your viewing pleasure, here we are with the snow just beginning to fall on us as "dippety-dots." 

Luckily Loralee had an extra poncho - this is us BEFORE the skies opened up on us.  The other shot shows the snow beginning to accumulate on the ground and how the same landscape became encased by clouds/snow/rain so quickly.  Cool, huh? 

OK, OK, enough about hiking.  Someone told me that hiking is all I blog about.  (It may or may not be one of my "lurkers.")  That's because everything else is boring.  But here's another entertaining activity this week:

YCLs (Youth Camp Leaders)

Last week, many of our YCLs came out at 5:00am to cook up some breakfast for our 4th years before they left on their 3-day backpacking hike.  It's become a tradition.  Our YCLs did a great job with the pancakes, sausage, eggs, and drinks.  They are so much fun - I will really miss actually "doing" camp with them this year (this year our stake is doing "ward" camps - we'll see how that all goes.)  I love their youthfulness and humor.  Sometimes they're more fun to be around than adults! ;o)

June Ramblings

Oh what do you do in the summertime???

Well, June is half over already - amazing how fast these 3 weeks have gone.  Here are some hiking highlights.

Griffith Peak is the pointy peak just next to the light pole in the picture to the right.  It has snow on the right side - the side we attempted to climb 3 times already this month.  It's the 3rd highest peak in Nevada.

June 5th - Attempt #1 to climb Griffith Peak (11,000+ feet up)  - a grueling 10 mile hike, 5 miles straight up and then those 5 again going down.  It's a strenuous hike - not for the weak toed!  Stephanie, Linda, Loralee and I started out early - it looked promising for a good mile or so...then it happened.....  

Our first glimpse of the snow!  We aptly named this landmark "Avalanche" for future reference.  We carefully crossed this area to the sunny side of the mountain and continued our journey another few hours, enjoying the views and VERY warm weather.  THEN it started getting interesting....  After about 3+ hours hiking UP, UP, UP, we crossed many stretches of snow to clearer trails before calling it quits for this attempt.  So, we made it only about 2.5 miles up (out of 5) and headed to overlook #1  for some lunch.  There, we met our 4th year girls who were hiking that day as well.  Upon hearing our trechurous tales of hiking on ledges in the slick snow, they called it quits as well.  We snapped this shot to remind us how far we got as a reference for next time.

June 12th - Attempt #2 - Loralee and I took one of the 4th years who didn't hike last week with us on this attempt.  The weather had cooled off a lot in Vegas, so we knew it would be cooler on the mountain...just not THAT cool!  (I forgot my camera, so no pictures to justify this tale).  We started off again, hoping for good weather and less snow.  Hoping gets you nowhere!  We hiked a good few hours as the sun began to disappear and the gray clouds and MUCH cooler temps moved in.  We continued on past the stopping point last week and were able to brave the cold and snow patches all the way to the 2nd overlook this time (3.5 miles)  Feeling pretty darn proud of ourselves, we sat down for a quick rejuvenating snack as other hikers (we only ever saw like 4 other men total) told the harrowing tale of trying to go further and being stopped by too much snow on the trail.  THAT, and the fact that it was now about 30 degrees and snowing on us, motivated us to start our way back down.  The snow kept coming - like white "DippetyDots" ice cream - it kept coming and decorated the trail for a good while.  We descended fast, as the snow turned into rain - cold rain - and the sky was very dark - but it was beautiful at the same time.  Thank goodness Loralee had an extra poncho!  Of course, we were laughing and enjoying the fact that this would be a great story - one which could NOT be backed up with pictures!  Finally, we made it down to the car - wet, cold, thankful to be alive!  It was a great adventure, with a slight disappointment of once again not reaching the peak and signing our name in the book again.

June 18th - Attempt #3  Linda and I started out a little later than usual, but ready to make this the day!  We passed Avalanche area ease, passed the overlook #1 and #2 - proud of making our way up and up and up with much less snow to contend with.  We continued up another 1/2 mile or so in the snow hoping to at least make it to the saddle area and sneak a peak at Griffith Peak.  I stepped in a bad snow foot print and buried my leg up to my thigh in snow - getting out was a chore and I was convinced I was going to leave my shoe buried 4 feet below.  I maneuvered my way out and we called it a day.  This time, the pedometer read 3.9 miles.  We were just over a mile from reaching the peak.  The day was much warmer in the sun and nice and cool in the shady areas.  But the higher up we go, the snow still lingers.  We turned around and made our way back down.  It's funny how going up and down 3 times makes the trail very familiar.  Down seems to be so much faster than up!  We enjoyed the fresh air and exercise though.  

The question remains...will the Attempt #4 be this week???  Will the snow finally be melted enough?  Can our feet take it?  Stay tuned..... 

Other exciting summer activities:

1.  Saw the play "Willy Wonka" at Spring Mountain Ranch

2.  Saw "Robinhood"

3.  Attended a Cross-Cultural conference for 2 days

4.  Attended a training for teachers of Reality Spanish for 2 days

5.  Picked up Suzi from the airport

6.  Read a book

7.  Swam with my niece and nephew

8.  Went to lunch with work friends

9.  Helped sand whiteboards for an Eagle Project

10.  Changed banks

11.  Went to the dentist

and

12.  Am deciding how to redesign/decorate my master bedroom...finally

Woo-hoo for summer!!

Good Read

I finally just finished reading a birthday gift (from November!) "THE HELP" and really enjoyed it.  It seems to be the hot book for book clubs these days, come to find out.   It follows the courageous experience of 3 ladies in the south during the civil rights movement, specifically the black maid to white lady boss relationship - the fear, the love, the dependence, the co-dependence, the rights/laws, and the culture of the day.  I enjoy reading about issues like this in context of a story because it opens your eyes to why people do/feel the way they do sometimes.  I've been attending some Cross-Cultural conferences recently where I've been exposed to issues that frankly, I have not given a second thought to in my little white, middle-class, Christian, English speaking mind.   It's good for us to open our minds and see things from the perspective of others.  I'm thankful I have a multi-cultural basket of friends with whom I can speak about such topics as this and expand my own perspective.  (I also enjoyed "Cane River" - see previous blog last year)

Oh yeah, and did I mention...I LOVE SUMMER !!!!!

The fat lady has sung...at Priest

SCHOOL'S....OUT....FOR....EVER!  (at least for me at Priest!)

My time at Priest as officially ended.  I have completely moved out of my office (into my garage, unfortunately, for hopefully not too long) and have begun to party this week with the friends!  To begin, we had our 5th grade graduation last night -  a big shin-dig at the high school and then about 1/2 the staff went out afterwards for a few hours (others stayed until 3am!)  It was fun to relax and laugh with them now that all the pressures are off.  I will miss them a lot and hope to stay in touch.  Here's some highlights:

Tara, Lisa, Pagano, Me, and Lauren - some of the great women I had the pleasure of working with.  I was the original teacher in rm 67, then Lisa, then Pagano.  It's the best room in the school!

 Annette has been such a great partner as the literacy specialist for the past 2 years.  She inspires me to work harder...and arrive much earlier!  Amy is an incredible teacher and is so upbeat and positive. 

This is the Arroyo family.  We have snuck them on a zone variance for years.  They just touched our hearts - the girls played violin, were in Chinese club (and many others) and are the sweetest ever.  What a great family.  I will miss seeing Alexis through 4th and 5th!

The "after party" at Timbers - Pagano, Kelly, Amy, Me, Lauren, Barb, Tammy, Sydney, and Stephanie for this shot.  Different people would come to our table and hang out for a while - it was fun to laugh with them now that all the pressure is over!  I was touched by their sadness to see me leave the school - you never really know how much you're appreciated until you leave a place!  I will miss working with these, and many other, people at Priest.  We have 7 years of great memories (and not-so-great!) 

Then there was the PACKING of the office...BEFORE and AFTER...so sad.  It's like I was never there.   I'm just a memory now!   There are many things I will remember about Priest - here are a few off the top of my mind tonight:   1) Mrs. Cano almost burning down the yellow pod (year 1)     2) The school dedication (my family catered)      3)  Our walking "club" walking around the inside "track" of the school in the mornings    4)  The year of teacher deaths and illness    5) The black closet nightmare!!!    6)  The talent show teacher finales - early on   7)  The most amazing Field Days ever   8)  Science Camp in the mountains   9)  Ely trips - road tripping with the teachers    10)  Valley of Fire fieldtrips - making up the geology lectures as we went!   11)  My surprise lunch/gifts before surgery    12)  Yearbook collages   13)  All the performances    14)  The Carina's class peeking in my office reciting the words I taught them "Paleontologist" and "Intonation & Expression" every time they saw me   15)  Teachers tears shed behind my closed doors dealing with ridiculous people  16)  Going to ELL kids' houses to bring them to school to prove a point!   17)  The freedom and trust    18)  The chance to go study for a summer in China   19)  The most amazing office ladies ever  20)  Some wonderful friendships that helped me on the rough days, enlightened me on the stressful days, encouraged me on the crazy days, and appreciated me for what I was able, or wanted to be able, to do for them.  I only hope that I was as good for them as they were for me.  I will be forever grateful for them all and am glad for Facebook to keep in touch!    

That's it, folks.  The end of an era.  The tribe has spoken.  It's time to say goodbye.  The final line of this chapter of my life.  I am anticipating the next chapter and will remember the last one for all it's good, bad and ugly!