Shelter Weekend

The last weekend of July was Shelter Weekend at the Scheullers' Park City home.  It's our one weekend a year to bask in friendship through 48 hours of non-stop conversation and chocolatey treats, with a backdrop of  aspens and freshly ironed sheets.  It's heaven, I tell you, and it's never long enough.  I love this little group that coalesced out of an open invitation years ago, to periodic dinners at Robintino's, organized my Michelle, our intrepid leader.  I guess you could say we were that last men standing after all the others lost interest or moved away.  And here we are, still relying on each other for all the little and big things in life.

Manicures for some, pedicures for others.  It was fun!  And one spa treatment a decade won't kill me, right?

Meanwhile, as the Shelter girls were relaxing, so were the Euros.  I dropped them off at my parents' condo and told them I'd come up and take them anywhere they wanted to go.  These kids are so nice, they never called me.  They just relaxed at the condo all weekend.  The only time I went up was to take Olympe to the airport Saturday morning.  We were all sad to lose her!  I would have left Ruby my car, but I was still extremely nervous about having her drive these other people's children around.  Not that they're children, for heaven's sake.  They all, including Ruby, travel around the world on their own.  It's just that I have a phobia of my kids driving, and I think it's because Golda was so timid about it.  Now that Ruby drives all over, I'm getting better at not being terrified.  As much as I wished I could have let them drive themselves in PC, I still didn't have the courage. I was more overprotective of the Europeans than my own kids.

Shelter girls at Sushi Blue

Like all good things, Shelter Weekend did come to an end, and we all went home.  Fortunately, I got to go home to Chloe's cooking!  Her recipes are adorable, in her French handwriting, and her food is delicious.  I can't believe we ever let her leave!  Come back, Chloe!

Lunch With the Ladies

Tiffany's house this week

Christine's house last week

Sarah's, March 14, 2016

Michelle's March 22. I'm adding pics later.

I have to document some of these tables.  Having lunch with my shelter friends every week is the best thing I could do for my sanity and energy level.  Just the beauty of a table set for a special event lifts my spirits and makes me think about what else I could do to bring beauty into the life around me.  It's given me the desire to make some special mealtimes for my family, although that certainly doesn't happen on a daily basis.  The other benefit to lunch with friends is the sounding board it provides.  Women need other women.  How could they solve problems if they didn't have each other to bounce concerns off of?  It would be very difficult to parent in a vacuum, and I'm glad I don't have to.

Lunch in the Dead Zone

Forget everything I said about not caring about "stuff." Of the 7 Shelter girls, 3 of us have October birthdays. The party was chez moi this time, and a gift bonanza it was. I love all my presents. The ladies "get" me.  And yes, I gave them gifts too...glass cake stands. They're so easy to buy for.

I had fun decorating for my Day of the Dead theme.  I love this little creative outlet.  For my birthday this coming Saturday, Ruby agreed to let me host her Halloween dance group for dinner.  Shelter lunch was a little warm-up for Saturday.  I can't wait!

Spookily wrapped cake stands.  The only thing I hate about lunch with some of my very oldest friends is that it ends too soon.  There were so many topics we didn't discuss.

We had a variation on taco soup, corn muffins. apples and caramel, and organic yogurt and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies for lunch.  My friends ate like birds, and there was a ton of food left over for the after-school set.  It was cozy to snuggle up and munch on leftovers on a warm autumn day.

I Never Promised You a Goodie Bag

 I read this highly entertaining book that I picked up at the dollar store called "I Never Promised You a Goodie Bag."  It's a memoir by a high-end party planner in Manhattan.  I loved the colors of the book and the title, so I made it the theme of Shelter lunch.  Sometimes we include little goodie bags with lunch, so it was funny.  At least to me.

 Lunch always includes chocolate and Diet Coke, the two secret ingredients to sanity, if not downright happiness.  We had Wingers sticky fingers salad this time.  It was spicy.  No matter, there were plenty of non-spicy peanut M & M's at my end of the table, and lots of good conversation.  Two hours a week sails by in the blink of an eye, and I always feel not only like I unfairly dominated the conversation, but that we didn't have nearly enough time to cover all the necessary topics.  Maybe if I would shut up, we could cover more!

 This lunch also included these three Dance Company runaways, who stopped by for a quick bite.  It's always fun to see each other's kids.  We love 'em all!  We just don't promise them goodie bags. 

Patty's

Our family has never been big into St. Patrick's Day.  We're not Irish, not from Boston, not Catholic and not very much fun.  This time of year isn't my high energy time; green decor, wind and kites don't inspire me.  I'm holding out for Easter.  It's Lent, isn't it?  Shouldn't we be giving up holidays for a few weeks?  Not Ptolemy.  He came home with a fully-formed notion of a Leprechaun trap, which he built out of everything green he could find.  Scott couldn't resist Ptolemy's excitement and went to the store where he bought...everything green he could find.  It's really hard to say no to Ptolemy, especially when leprechauns are involved.

They came!

This little leprechaun was pretty excited!

Scott got to take Ptolemy out for a green donut, too, because I couldn't get away from a clingy Tziporah at her dance class to go pick up Ptolemy at his.  Scott and Coco got him fed and to school on time.  Phew!

Shelter was at Liberty Hills Academy for St. Patty's Day.  Tiffany is the vice principal there, and she wanted us to see her labor of love, this private school.  I was impressed by the campus and the wonderful things happening there.  Tiffany is a great example of love in action.  And she can whip together a beautiful lunch with a bag full of cellophane-wrapped chocolate, a gingham tablecloth and Robintino's delivery.  As always, lunch was a heavenly respite.

 Good things always happen at Shelter.  Michelle hemmed Lexie's solo costume last-minute, and I was able to fix Matthew's cello bow for his concert tomorrow.

And of course, we solved a lot of the world's problems with chocolate, Diet Coke and sheer will.

We have been waiting all year for the Lancelle Night to Remember, to see my niece Lexie perform all of her drill dances, including a gorgeous solo.  What a fun night with my girls, Grandma and Grandpa and the Shelter moms, who came in force to support their "Shelter kid," Lexie.

Araceli posted this picture on Instagram with a touching tribute:

"Lexie, I just wanted to point out some things to you:  1. You are an amazing dancer!  2. I love you so much!  #.  I look up to you for advice, for an example and so much more.  4.  My life would be so different without you.  5.  You are beautiful!  6. You are the best cousin ever!  7.  You have changed my life for the better.  8.  You are so talented.  9.  When I see you, I see an amazing, gorgeous, loving, compassionate, committed and inspiring girl. 10.  You are my role model.  You did SO good in your performance tonight!  I can honestly say that you were the best one there.  I loved watching you dance!All the hard work has definitely paid off.  I love you so much!  Keep dancing!"

Isn't Araceli sweet?  I love how freely she expresses love.  And she was right; Lexie was the best one there!

These little girls of ours are taking flight.  Golda accepted her honors/housing scholarship to Utah Valley University yesterday, so it looks like she will be moving out right after the girls get back from Europe.  So we have three more months with her.  There's not enough punctuation in the world to make that sentence express how bewildering and life-changing that is!  I'm just soaking it all in.  I'm not going to lament.  I'm going to love every minute!

I had to counteract the reality of the big girls growing up by taking the little ones to the zoo.  Ptolemy was in charge, so the cake pop photo was the only one we took all day...until he asked me to take a picture of the beautiful peacock.  I think it's unfair that only the boy peacocks have the gorgeous feathers.  They probably don't even care!  And the peahens have to be all drab and brown.  They're probably not even impressed by all that plumage!  Jealous, maybe.  I know I am.  I miss my blue "plumage!"

Shelter Weekend

 Autumn is more spectacular in other climates, I'm sure, but if you're a Utah girl, there is nothing better than the Rocky Mountain landscape coming alive with the dusty, rusty colors of fall.  And I'm sure there are people in the world who had more exciting plans than mine this past weekend, but if I had to choose a place and a plan, there is noplace I would rather have been than in Park City with some of my oldest friends.  Nobody is sure quite how this particular group was distilled out of many years of shared Davis County memories, but I think it was meant to be.

The only drawback to a blissful weekend retreat is that something happens to the space-time continuum and time just races by at an astonishing pace.  Huge chunks of time just fall away amid discussions of everything under the sun and stuffing your face with chocolate.  It's like the opposite of what sometimes happens in Sacrament meeting when you wonder how it could possibly be the same day as when you arrived and the meeting is only half over.

We must have indeed spent those hours together, though, because we did go to Sushi Blue for dinner Friday night, I did get up semi-early Saturday and walk to the Silver Star and watch for poop fairies, we did fit in a little hike, and we did take an art class Saturday afternoon, we opened presents and cooked dinner and at the end of it all, a whole lot of Coke products were missing.  So there's proof that we did have the time.

Scott's weekend was flying by at home, too.  It's hard to be a single dad on Saturday this time of year.  We had to eliminate a cello play-in, a flute workshop and the Utah football game and just stick to the basics.  Scott was on a daddying high all weekend.  He eats this stuff up.  He would be a great stay-at-home dad.  The kids would be so clean and happy.

 And stoned.  Just kidding.  Golda went to the Halloween dance Saturday dressed as a hippie thanks to - who else - Jen Ramsdell's costuming acumen and generosity.  Thank you again!

 Evidently Scott bought some Halloween costumage so the rest of the kids wouldn't have to be strictly confined to old ballet costumes for the ward trunk-or-treat.

 OK, still somewhat old-ballet-costume heavy on some.

 Blatantly disobeying the "no crossdressing" rule at the trunk-or-treat.  You mustachioed rebels!

 Far more amazing than he looks.  lol

 Dopp kids, with Ellison subbing for Golda.

 Xanthe in her happy place, looking beautiful.

 And after that...Golda and her group came over after the dance for some caramel apples with Nikki's topping idea, and to watch Watcher in the Woods.  Scott loves to stage a party, and he's good at it!

 Emily and Jess (Christine's daughter)

Zach.  What a great catch for the Halloween dance, huh?  Anyway, all of that was going on while I was away.  I love that our group was getting texts and pics from our families the whole time.  We love to have these weekends together, but our hearts are truly with our families.  Still...what fun we had running away from home!

 Jen Ramsdell.  You know her.  Everyone does.  And since to know her is to love her, don't you just love her?  I do.  And in the foreground are the two women who share my birthday weekend, Michelle and Jennie.

 The Dopp girls of the group

 Tiffany, our real working artist, did not enjoy - or adhere to - the time constraints or artistic constraints of this project!

 Look at Jen's clouds!  Masterpiece!

 Sarah, my partner in art crime since the early days of routinely ruining my mom's Merle Norman makeup in the name of performance art, circa 1981.

 Michelle Butler (Okay, Fitzgerald), our resident expert.  She knows how to art and craft, and knows all the secrets and shortcuts of artistic success.

 Jennie was afraid she wouldn't be able to pull off an artistic endeavor.  What EVER!!!

 My palette expanded...and expanded.  I'm sure that definitely says something about my personality, that I couldn't restrict my color mixing to the designated space.  My luggage did the same thing, throwing clothes out all over Sarah's condo.  Let's call it right-brained creativity, shall we?

 Beautiful Christine!  She joked that if our paintings reflected who we are, then she is a five-year-old.  In reality, I think all the paintings in the class turned out great, and it was a lot of fun.

 They've taken me in, even though they know stuff about me that isn't even in the journals my kids have read.  I don't know that they had a choice.  I've just kindof always been there, pointing and flexing next to Sarah in a size 2T leotard, begging Michelle's 6th grade potato chips, showing up in smocked dresses at birthday parties, playing the violin with Christine, eating far more than my share of chocolate chip cookies at Chris and Jen's wedding, and relying on Jennie for advice of every kind.  I'm hard to get rid of.  Plus, I send out a lot of invitations, and eventually, you have to say yes.

 The birthday girls!

 Speaking of saying yes...YES!  Sarah, thank you for hosting us in your beautiful space.