"First-World" Problems

First I noticed that everything in the bottom drawer of the refrigerator was icy. The baby carrots stuck together in a clump. I ignored it. Later, I found that the potatoes and onions in the middle drawer were too solid. I let them be. In the weeks that followed, the freezing problem worked its way to the top of the fridge. When the milk froze into an arctic chunk I realized that there might be a problem. In the meantime I've been keeping most stuff in the garage refrigerator.
So when Tanner opens the fridge door he is very disappointed to find only condiments, eggs and a half empty jar of pickles. The other day he brought me an egg. It was frozen solid.

A Weekend Without Tanner

It was Saturday.  It was 2:00 in the afternoon. Tanner was gone so there was nothing to do. Usually when Tanner is home it's like running a day care for thirty kids.  Everything involves a  disaster cleanup.  I'm constantly locking and unlocking doors, turning on and off TV's, changing batteries and hiding toys that drive me crazy. But this weekend Hailey and I were unmotivated to do anything at all. It was scary quiet. We decided to just relax in bed and watch M*A*S*H all day long. It was weird being so lazy but it sure was fun hanging with the teen.

To the Top

It was the first warm weekend in months. We had been smothering in the valley haze for too long. During the chill of the winter season Hailey shut herself in her bedroom, surrounded by blankets and darkness. There she watched NETFLIX and did homework and only came out for dinner, still wrapped in a heavy robe and fuzzy socks. It was time to emerge from the cocoon and fly.

The best place to fly is Angel's Landing in Zion National Park. Even if it killed us we were going to trudge up the steep, winding path. The view itself was worth any amount of sweat and tears: even the risk of death! The safe portion of the trail offered magnificent vantage points. It was Hailey's first time looking down into the canyon. She said it was beautiful: I haven't heard her say that word for months.

When we reached the dangerous portion, the part where either one of us could fall to our death, we ate possibly our last meal. Hailey bit into a large, round, crispy fruit called an apple. I haven't seen her eat fresh fruit in months. Next we grasped the chain of life and carefully scaled the well-worn but treacherous path to the top of the world.

Hailey said the top of the world was awesome! We peered over the sheer cliffs on both sides of us. It felt like we were on a landing pad in the sky. After sitting in the sun and enjoying the serenity of it all, we grasped the chain and made our way down, carefully avoiding the small patches of ice still remaining in the shade.