Sue

Diversity Rocks! Reading Challenge

July 28, 2009 by Sue 1 Comment

I’m signing up and posting my completion of the 2009 Diversity Rocks! Challenge all at the same time. I chose the third option, which is:

3. The Challenge Addict
I know you’re out there. You’re just itching for another challenge, and so far this one’s too easy. Or maybe you already have a diverse list of authors that you read. There are a couple of ways you can complete the challenge at this level.

Commit to reading 6 books, 12 books, or 24 books by authors of color in 2009.

I used books from my current challenges, and read 6. I enjoyed them all, but my favorites were Hurston and Tsukiyama.

A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini
Thousand Pieces of Gold, by Ruthanne Lum McCunn
One More River to Cross, by Margaret Blair Young and Darius Aidan Gray
Night of Many Dreams, by Gail Tsukiyama
Walk Two Moons, by Sharon Creech
Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston

July Garden Report

July 17, 2009 by Sue Leave a Comment

After the super rainy June and cool beginning of July, it is now hot and the summer flowers are really happy. Blooming now:

Perennials:
columbine, lavender, rose, flowering strawberry, delphinium, 2 types of salvia, 2 types of coreopsis, 2 types of veronica, 3 types of sage, 3 types of gaillardia, potentilla, aubretia, hollyhock, lamium, scabiosa, 2 types of daylily, echinacia, daisy, catmint, Jupiter’s beard, scrophula, rudbeckia, rosemary, Sweet William, and tall garden phlox.
Annuals:
many types of sunflowers, alyssum, nicotiana, marigold, nasturtium, geranium, petunia, and annual salvia.

Our Independence “Staycation”

July 5, 2009 by Sue 1 Comment

Staycations are all the rage now as people are unwilling to spend a ton of money traveling and prefer to stay local and visit places close to home. Brian’s work was closed this week so we did some fun stuff while he was home. On July 2, we went to the Living Planet Aquarium. On July 3, we hiked to Upper Silver Lake in American Fork Canyon, then went farther up the canyon to Cascade Springs because I love that place. After we hiked around, Scott thought we should drive on over the mountain because we’d never done that before, so we went to Heber and had shakes at Granny’s. After dark we did our fireworks in the driveway. On July 4, we opened presents for my birthday and Scott gave me an iPod Nano and armband to replace my old classic shuffle. We hung around the house, Scott BBQ’d shish-ka-bobs and we had our own personal cakes for my birthday. In the evening, we went to the Salt Lake Bees baseball game and watched the fireworks at Spring Mobile Ballpark. Fun!

Summer Hikes

July 5, 2009 by Sue 1 Comment

Scott and I made a vow that we would go on some hikes in the mountains this summer. We live right next to American Fork Canyon and haven’t really taken advantage of the natural wonders. So this summer it’s going to be different. So far, we’ve taken 3 hikes. They have been challenging, but as we are getting in better shape, we’re being more adventurous. Brian went with us on 2 of them.

Pinehollow Trail, AF Canyon, May 22

Scout Falls, AF Canyon, June 6

Upper Silver Lake, AF Canyon, July 3

Sue at Convention

July 4, 2009 by Sue Leave a Comment

National PTA Convention
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
luggage lost for 24 hours
visit to beach and trip around Intra-Coastal Waterway on the Water Taxi
lots of good seafood
Workshops, General Meetings, briefings, reception
rain every day but the first and some cool thunderstorms
swam in the pool twice, worked out in the exercise room twice
walked ALOT
roomie Alison and I had our picture taken with Chuck Saylors, the first male president of the National PTA in 113 years!