Phoenix Weather by the Numbers

2007 rainfall to date: 2.60 in
Normal to date: 5.01 in
D/FW rainfall to date: 37.98 in

Number of 100+ degree days in 2007: 94

Number of 110+ degree days in 2007: 29 (all-time record; 9 more days hit 109)

Average number of 110+ degree days per year, current decade: 22
Average number of 110+ degree days per year, 1990s: 14
Average number of 110+ degree days per year, 1950s: 7

Median high temperature over the past 6 months (Feb 28 – Aug 29): 100 degrees

Warmest winter days of all time: March 16th & 17th, 2007 (99 degrees)

Warmest lunch spot: Balcony of the ASU Memorial Union, where I ate lunch today with fellow PhD students. In central Tempe the temperature at the time was 112 degrees. No telling what it was on our concrete balcony. I didn't choose the spot.

Number of Phoenix summers I’ve spent without car air conditioning: 3

Temperature readings in my car: As high as 195 on the dashboard; 150 degrees in the center console. Usually around 140 degrees.

# of minutes a local fire chief said someone could survive in a 140-degree car: 20

Length of my commute in minutes: 22

Karate Testing

Well, we had another big day for karate testing. Little Robby is moving up the ranks to purple belt white stripe, and I am finally moving on to something other than white (in this case yellow). Jenna has been watching class on the side lines for a little while now, and I think she really wants her pink belt! Below you can watch and see how we did:

Little Robby performing his forms, as well as a little bonus footage.

And now, look out world, it's Karate Mama in action! Hi-ya!

Temporary Insanity (or Temporary Blindess)

I'm not sure which...

A week or so ago, Robby decided that he wanted to order some stuff from Church Distribution. He was happy to finish reading the Book of Mormon in Portugese (his sixth language to complete it in - English, Russian, Spanish, French, Ukrainian, Portugese), so he had to order a new language to add to his list. This time he bought the Book of Mormon in Italian and in... braille! Okay, so this wasn't my idea! He thought it would be cool to read the Book of Mormon in braille. As he was making the order, he asked me if he could. Well, he seemed so excited that I decided to allow him to do it even though I thought it was a little absurd.

A few days ago I was really excited to see the FedEx truck arrive with our package (since I had ordered a couple of things myself), that is until I saw the size of the package! Yes, I did know that a braille copy of the Book of Mormon would be large, but I didn't realize it would be THIS large.

So it comes in 5 volumes, and this is only one volume.

Here is the complete set! You know, it really is quite a bargain from the church, this set only cost $2.50! I used Jenna as a reference for this picture, so that you could get a feel for how big it really is. I thought he was crazy when he ordered it, but now I know he was insane (meant with all lovingness!) The problem I have now is that I have no idea where we are going to keep this. I just cleaned off all of my bookcases, and packed away books to provide a little more space, but not this much space! I guess they will have to live in the garage for now.

In related news, when Robby first sat down with the first volume, it took him 20 minutes just to find 1 Nephi. So, does anybody want to venture a guess as to how long it is going to take him to get through this one?

The Great Eggs-periment

Okay, so we are kind of crazy! Well, actually, Robby is crazy, and I decided to go along with his idea. You know how they say you can cook an egg on the pavement during a really hot day in Arizona? Well, Robby wanted to put a twist on it and try and cook an egg in his really hot car! About a week or so ago, he bought an oven thermometer to put in his car just to see how hot it was really getting. It does make a difference where you put the thermometer in the car. He discovered that the highest readings came when you put it on the dashboard - no surprise there. So, now you can enjoy our short video about the eggs-periment!

(Just in case you were wondering... Little Robby was over at a friend's house, and Jenna was taking a nap.)

Tagged by Abbie!

5 things I was doing 10 years ago:
1. Getting ready for my wedding! (It's crazy that we will be celebrating our 10th in about 4 months! I can't be that old!)
2. Starting my sophmore year of college as a ballet major
3. Living with my roomates, Sarah and Jamie. (Robby lived in the same apartment complex.)
4. Still hoping to pursue a Music Degree on top of my Ballet Degree. (I was temporarily insane!)
5. Spending every possible second with my Sweetie!

5 things on my to-do list today:
1. Get Little Robby to do his homework. (Which was like pulling teeth today!)
2. Go grocery shopping
3. Fold Laundry
4. Clean the kitchen (except Robby did this one for me -- He gets bonus points!)
5. Do this list

5 snacks I enjoy:
1. Frozen cookie dough balls (I make them and freeze them. Fortunately, I am out of them now, and I don't think I will be making anymore any time soon - they're too tempting!)
2. Baby carrots
3. Granola bars
4. Fresh fruit (apples, grapes, nectarines, pears, strawberries)
5. Crackers (But, I don't keep too many around because I snack on them too much.)

5 songs I know the lyrics to:
1. I Am a Child of God
2. If You Are Happy and You Know It
3. Popcorn Popping (Okay, so I have a 2 year-old, and I am the Nursery Chorister.)
4. It's Been a Long, Long Time (It goes like this, "Kiss me once, kiss me twice, then kiss me once again, It's been a long, long time..." It's from the 1940s era. This is Robby's and my song.)
5. Glue in the Saddle (This one is from a very silly night with Summer, Logan, and Robby)

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire:
1. Donate money to the Humanitarian Fund and possibly other reputable charities
2. Pay off the house
3. Save for retirement
4. Travel (Anybody want to come?)
5. Buy some nice stuff - nothing in particular

5 bad habits:
1. Cronic tardiness (Like being two hours late to Andra and David's birthday celebration! It's usually not that bad.)
2. Procrastination
3. Letting the dishes pile up in the sink too long. (I hate doing dishes! Thank goodness for dishwashers and a great husband!)
4. Staying up too late. (Primarily a problem when Jenna is my early morning alarm clock!)
5. Doing my bad habits in front of my kids

5 things I'd never wear again:
1. Two pairs of socks with alternating colors on each foot.
2. My one UNITS outfit (Does anybody else remember this store?)
3. My orchestra concert dress (Thankfully!)
4. Green toenail polish
5. A tutu! (Robby doesn't believe me!)

5 favorite toys:
1. Adobe Creative Suite 3, Web Premium (My web design software)
2. Our digital camera
3. Our two desktops
4. Our assortment of board games
5. Robby, Lil' Robby, and Jenna

People Tagged:
1. Marilyn
2. Katie (Robby's cousin in Houston... maybe you can send this on to your family.)
3. Donnette
4. My mom
5. Anybody else who reads my blog!

So I am mortified!!

(Big) Robby attended the orientation for the new Management Ph.D. students at the university yesterday. One of the "get-to-know" you activities involved mingling with everyone and telling them one interesting thing about yourself which they would write down. Well, Robby decided that he would use something interesting about me to tell everyone, and he said, "My wife is a ballet dancer."

Robby told me that things were a little loud in the room with everyone chatting together, and all seemed to be going well until... he was telling one of the professors, "My wife is a ballet dancer." Robby sensed that she had not heard him right so he clarified again and said, "No, she's a ballet dancer, not a belly dancer."

At the end of the activity Robby discovered that this professor was not the only one who had heard him wrong. As Spencer, the MC for the activity, was reading off each person's statements he read, "Robby's wife is a ballet dancer," and some of the people responded, "No, she's a belly dancer." Luckily, Spencer knows us so he clarified by saying, "No, ballet," but Robby was wondering whether everyone was paying attention. So, now he wonders whether anyone in the department still thinks I am a belly dancer. Oh, great!

When he told me this I tried to insist he send out a department wide email clarifying that I am a "ballet dancer" NOT a "belly dancer." He said that it would seem kind of weird, so now I think that if I ever show my face at the school again, I am going to have to introduce myself, "Hi, I'm Robby's wife, Sharon, the BALLET dancer, in case you were wondering."

The funny thing is that when he was talking to that same professor after the orientation she said that she thought he had said, "My wife is a belly dancer." And then when he clarified she thought he had said "No, she's a belly dancer, not a jelly dancer." She said that with Robby's "accent" ballet sounded like belly.

I can only imagine what they were all thinking!

Back to School!

Monday was Little Robby's first day at his new school. Despite the fact that we had gotten to bed the night before a little later than planned, both Jenna and Little Robby got up early! Much earlier than I had hoped. Jenna came to arouse us at 5:40am (so much for my rest) and then we heard Little Robby up and about around 6am. The excitement of the beginning of school was too much for him! I almost think that he anticipates the first day of school with the same level of excitement as Christmas. I am certain that Chap's excitement rubbed off on Jenna because she was following Little Robby around wanting to do everything that Brother did, including wear a backpack (which they both paraded around with for the last half an hour before we left for school!)

Here they are ready for school!

Backpacks are loaded and ready to go!

Jenna didn't want to put down her backpack, and she insisted that she have it with her in the car on the way to the school. When we arrived at the school, we all went in to get Robby's schedule and see him off to his first class (since the school is brand new this year then we were still finding out information the first day.) Jenna was so happy marching around the school with her backpack just like all of the big kids. When we walked into Little Robby's classroom she went and sat down in one of the chairs just like she belonged. We had to coax her to leave the classroom, and then as we were about to walk out of the building, she threw a fit! She wasn't about to leave the school. As far as she was concerned, she was going to school, too! Dad managed to convince her to leave by telling her she was going to go to "Mommy School."

I think she thought that we were going to go to a special place, somewhere other than home. Boy, was she disappointed! Then things got worse when Daddy left for school also. After he was gone she questioned, "Where's Daddy?"

"He's at school, sweetie." I replied.

"Where's Robby?" she then asked.

"He's at school, too, sweetheart."

"Noooooooooo! Waaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Yes, she wailed... and wailed... and wailed! She wanted to go to school, too! Poor kid.

Luckily, she has come to accept the situation over the last few days and we are past the wailing, although I am sure she still wants to go to that magical land of school!

Feeling at home in Philly

While on the East Coast this past week for a conference I discovered an eatery that reminded me a little bit of home- the "A.P.J. Texas Weiner Restaurant" in downtown Philadelphia. The top of their hot dog line is the "Texas Tommy" with bacon and cheese for $2.50. Word is the "Texas Robby" with kholodets didn't sell well enough and was removed from the menu.

Jenna dressed herself!

The other day I was doing laundry and had some clean clothes laid out on the couch to be folded later. It just so happened that the top two items on the stack were a shirt and pair of shorts of Jenna's, so she decided that she should get dressed (Jenna has been doing a lot of running around in just underwear because we are potty training - or rather regressing this week. We'll keep working on it.) So I was cooking in the kitchen when she came running in saying, "Mommy, Mommy, look!"

"Did you dress yourself?" I asked.

"Yup!" she replied proudly. (Notice that both the shirt and shorts are backward. :)

Vast Improvements

Ever since we moved Jenna out of Little Robby's room many months ago and consolidated our office into our bedroom, our room has been very chaotic. I must say that we have just about out grown this house, or at least the storage areas of this house. I think that if the space was allotted differently to allow for more storage space and a little less wasted space (halls and walkways) this house would be just perfect. Maybe the problem is not the house, but the "stuff collectors" who live in it! Anyhow, the bottom line is that I was tired of feeling like our room was a giant closet, so I finally did something about it! I wanted to post these pics because they will serve as my motivation to make sure our room stays this way and does not regress. The fun part of this was that I did this complete transformation as a surprise for Robby when he returned from his business trip to Philadelphia. And boy, was he surprised!

First, we have the brand new curtain surrounding the food storage shelves. In order to free up space in Jenna's closet for her stuff we moved all of the food storage to two plastic Home Depot storage shelves beside our bed. Lets just say things were very cosy before - you know, sleeping next to cans of wheat, dried potatoes, and rice. Robby would always say that the only thing that scared him at night was thinking that if there was ever an earthquake he would be crushed by several hundred pounds of food! Well, now with my nifty curtain he doesn't have to be reminded of his fear each night! :)

These other two pictures are just because everything was clean all at once!

Okay, under our desk doesn't look totally clean, but we have no more space in the closet for the items stored down there. Also, the sleeping bags in the corner are the ones waiting for everyone who ordered them for the Grand Canyon trip, so they will disappear from that corner in a few months. Oh and one last note, the purple wall was that way before we moved in and is on our list to be repainted. Let's just say, it is a vast improvement (as some of you know!)

Jenna, the little mommy

There are certain moments in life that are just so sweet. The other day I came into the family room to find Jenna putting her babies to bed. Watching her I knew she was imitating what I do when I put her to bed. It feels good when you see your children pretend to do the good things you do. (It feels equally as bad when you watch them imitate the not so good things you do. My hope is to see more good than bad!)

Here is Jenna, the little mommy, with her twin babies ready for bed.

Watch and see what she does next. (I didn't prompt her to do anything until you hear me talk to her.)

Hot Arizona!

I just thought I would provide the following images for you to understand what we have been through. These pictures are from July 18th as you can see. What I want you to notice is the outdoor temperature recorded in the lower right hand corner of each image. You can also check out the indoor temperature recorded to the left of the outdoor temperature.





No, we did not put a hairdryer to the temperature sensor, that was really the temperature that day! Don't you wish you were here during our summer!

Sharon finished her first website for pay!

Also I am pleased to say that I recently got paid for my first web design job. It was a fun challenge. You can see the fruits of my labors here:

www.twcaps.com

Robby's Dissertation Proposal Is Done!

This is just a short note to say (as many of you already know) Robby passed his dissertation proposal! Hooray! Hooray! Now he is focused on job applications. Give us a call if you want to know the possible universities that he will be applying for. We are really excited about this next year.

Also our thanks go to Tommy and Doris because their wedding planned for April gives Robby a great deadline to finish his dissertation by, and he needs a deadline!

The Latest in Jenna Fashion

This is a new one for Jenna... A couple of months ago I bought some training pants for Jenna in preparation for potty training. (We hadn't used them yet at the time of this photo.) Well Jenna found them, and thought they would make great hats!

What a little goof!

Stylin'!

Well since this time, she has learned the real purpose of these and is now wearing them the right way (thankfully!) We have been potty training for the last week, and I am glad to say that she is getting the hang of it. She doesn't always make it, but luckily I haven't had any huge messes to clean up (yet). I am hoping that she will be fully potty trained in the next month or so. Woo hoo! No more diapers for a little while!