What Child Is This?

Each year our friends host a party that includes a reenactment of the Christmas story (Anna was an angel this time) and a visit from Santa. The size of the party, and resulting mass of children, varies from year to year. This year there seemed to be a LOT of kids, but maybe it was just me.

My favorite part was watching the kids, but it wasn't the nativity play that got to me. Strangely enough, my tenderest moment came during the chaos of visits with Santa. From babies to high schoolers, each child sat on Santa's lap for a picture. And they were beautiful. Every single one. I sat and marveled at the smiling, pouting, glowing faces.

And the thought occurred to me that this is the way God sees each of us.  

Grateful In December

Something I read this morning inspired this post. It was this month's First Presidency message (by Henry B. Eyring) about choosing to be grateful. I love that this message came in December. After President Eyring's message was a separate "gratitude challenge" by John Hilton III and Anthony Sweat (?) that I liked. It's 100 things to be thankful for, broken down into ten sets of ten. Here it is:

1. Write 10 physical abilities you are grateful for.

2. Write 10 material possessions you are grateful for.

3. Write 10 living people you are grateful for.

4. Write 10 deceased people you are grateful for.

5. Write 10 things about nature you are grateful for.

6. Write 10 things about today you are grateful for.

7. Write 10 places on earth you are grateful for.

8. Write 10 modern inventions you are grateful for.

9. Write 10 foods you are grateful for.

10.Write 10 things about the gospel you are grateful for.

Here are just a few things I am thankful for: 

We, the People of the United States... 
Blessings of Liberty to Ourselves and our Posterity.
I think our government seeks to promote the general welfare 
and we enjoy the blessings of Liberty --
we're still working on the more perfect Union part.

Give us this day our daily bread...
I  have more than enough food every day.
Beautiful friends helped me learn how to make this good bread.
I have a shiny red Kitchenaid that does the heavy work for me, and each time I bake
I am grateful not to have a tiled countertop with grout lines to clean out!

My kids go to good, safe schools. I am very grateful.
The vastly different schools I went to in 7th and 8th grade 
educated me in more than one way. Although I appreciate the perspective gained, 
I would not necessarily choose the same learning experience for my daughters. 
When you think about it, any school is a blessing, especially for girls.

I married a lasagna-making man.
It is a beautiful thing.

Luke 2: A light to lighten the Gentiles...
The greatest gift. 

Merry Christmas!

PS I am not happy about the formatting for this post, but will gratefully walk away now.

I'll Have A Who Christmas

Can you hear the TARDIS? I can.
Karen sent this. Cookie jars are cool.

BBC America has a whole lotta Who scheduled for Christmas Eve day. Then, beginning in the wee hours of Christmas morning, episodes run continuously until this year's Christmas special, "The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe" premiers at 9/8 Central.

...and in case you were wondering, Downton Abbey returns January 8th.

Hanukkah 101

Yes, we talked about Chanukah today in Seminary. I played this for them and they did a word search: Chanukah, Maccabees, eight days, dreidl, menorah, latke, gelt. You know, just the basics.

They looked at me kinda funny when I started this video. Kind of like the clerk at World Market last night when I asked if they had dreidls. And a second clerk. But MY class WILL know what a dreidl is.

Into The Fire?

I have blogged about some really good seminary days, but the reality is that most days are just OK and some are not very good at all. This morning was one of those. I am recording this in the interest of remembering what a personal challenge it has been. When I was released as RS president, a friend said it was out of the frying pan and into the fire.  I guess I need more refining...

Buon Natale!

We display this Star of David each Christmas.

My great friend and pretend sister, Sue, invited me to be part of their family tradition of "red envelope" letters for each day in December for missionaries in the family. Sue was a missionary in Toronto, Canada and now her son Marshall is serving in the same mission. He is one of a handful of missionaries  who learn to speak and teach in Farsi. This is what I wrote to him:

    Thinking of you there at Christmas made me remember my mission at Christmas. In English, “Christmas” is a compound word derived from “Christ’s Mass.” But in Italy, you say “Buon Natale” which roughly means, “good birth.” Sounds good, but in fact the holiday may have originated in Roman celebrations of the sun’s birth rather than the Son’s birth! Later on, Roman Christians designated their celebration of the Nativity for that time, maybe to claim the day away from the pagans. 

     Anyway, that Christmas on my mission the mail didn’t reach me in time, so the gifts I had came from a sister in the ward and a family we were teaching. I got tights, a nice leather wallet and a china doll. I gave the doll to my girls when they were old enough, and used the wallet until I was afraid it would wear out;  recently I began using it again.  

     That December we wrapped copies of the Book of Mormon in Christmas paper to give to people on the main pedestrian shopping street. One night we approached an older gentleman in front of his shop. I think we said we had something to share with him and briefly described the book before offering it to him. He accepted the wrapped book (many many people were not interested) then said he wanted to share something with us and disappeared into his shop. When he came back he presented me with a tile he had made. Painted in gold was a Star of David surrounded by a circle of flowers and carved Hebrew letters that spelled out “Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.” Those words, the Shema Yisrael, are used in Jewish prayer services and taught to children to say before bedtime. It is kind of THE statement of Jewish faith.

     Growing up I had many Jewish friends and have long been fascinated and impressed with the daily exercise of Jewish faith. As a youth, it seemed to touch their lives more than the faith of friends of various Christian denominations. I read books with Jewish protagonists and soaked up the culture to be found in them. So when I saw the tile and heard the words, even in Italian, I recognized them and was deeply touched that he would give such a personal declaration of faith to me.

    Now each year at Christmas I display that Star of David tile. Perhaps unusual for a Christian home, to me the star beautifully references the Savior’s birth in Bethlehem. It also reminds me of being far from home, trying to teach the gospel and being mostly rejected, and the special gift of faith I was given from a stranger.

     That is the beauty of this season: amidst all the hubbub and completely over-the-top commercialization, there really is a greater sense of giving and love. As a missionary this year you have a new way to experience the real “Spirit of Christmas,” the Spirit of the Lord touching hearts and minds. I hope you have many, many opportunities of sharing your faith and the joyful message of the Savior’s birth.

  “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.”   Luke 2:11

      Buon Natale!  

Leviticus & Christmas

Today in seminary we introduced Leviticus -- it is like an instruction manual on the Mosaic Law. To show the value in having instructions I set out tools and ingredients and asked two students to make something yummy. These were the ingredients:

Powdered sugar, cocoa, salt, eggs, vanilla, chocolate chips.

After some discussion with the studio audience my student chefs gave up and I brought out the cookies I had made the night before with those ingredients and a recipe I found via Pinterest.

recipe available here:
http://chocolateandcarrots.com/2011/07/flourless-fudge-chocolate-chip-cookies

We had a discussion on 4 pillars of the Mosaic Law (sacrifice, remembrance, separation, cleanliness) found in Leviticus and what it had to do with them today. They discussed. It was fabulous.

Another nice thing: this lesson plan came directly from the teacher's manual!

Following our discussion we took the first link from our Christmas Countdown chain (14 seminary days until Christmas Break) and answered the question inside. Today is was, "What is your favorite Christmas tradition?" Lots of fun sharing ensued.

Shout out to Karen for helping me come up with link topics, from "Egg Nog: Yes or No?" to "In your nativity, does baby Jesus go in the manger all month or only on Christmas Eve?"

Such a good morning. Tomorrow I will do the first of 4 advent lessons and introduce a Christmas Challenge based on Matthew 25:31-40.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Road Trip Resource

This is for those of you with no satellite radio (like me):

MyTravelTunes.com is a lovely little site that will give you the radio stations along your route. You enter your beginning and ending cities, choose the format(s) you like, and it will spit out a list of stations for your listening pleasure.

This Week In The OT

Mild-Mannered Manager By Day

Is this the John you know?

The other day I found John and Katie in the kitchen, laughing hysterically. I was going out to dinner with a friend and the two of them had decided to make a pizza. Apparently, they were unimpressed by the amount of pepperoni on their pizza. (It was rather bare at the edges). So John and Kate are cracking each other up with riffs on pepperoni inadequacy and the sort of person who can't place pepperoni properly. At some point in their joint stand-up routine they decided to write a letter to the company. This did not faze me, as John has drafted several letters to restaurants letting them know his opinion of mediocre menu items. It generally results in free stuff. Which, of course, is why he continues. 

As I left for dinner, they had moved to the office. Still laughing, and tremendously pleased with themselves, they informed me that they were writing a letter to the Red Baron. It's not that often I see them being so silly together so I smiled indulgently and didn't really think about what would prompt such hilarity. I figured they were just goofing on "the Red Baron" and the thought of there being an actual pizza-making, goggle-wearing baron to read customers' letters. Silly me.

This afternoon John forwarded their pizza correspondence, along with a request to show Katie the reply. I am sharing it despite the spooky legal warning because I love exposing John's goofier side:

Dear Red Baron, 

My daughter and I really like the picture of you on the front of your pizza box. We like your scarf because it is red, which is one of our favorite colors in the rainbow. Did you get your picture taken while you were flying your plane or standing on the ground? We think on the ground because you don’t have your goggles over your eyes. You have a cool mustache, too. We were wondering about the exceptional pepperoni placement on your Classic Crust Pepperoni Pizza. Is there a machine that performs this task or do humans do this? Finally, the spider on the front of your pizza box was a little scary for us. Was it for Halloween or do you, the Red Baron, have a giant pet spider? What’s her name? Please write us soon. 

Sincerely, John Cliff

---

Dear John,

Thank you for your email. The only question that I can truly answer for you is regarding the placement of our pepperoni.  The pepperoni on the pizza is placed by machine.
We ask that you email or call us at 1-800-544-6855, if you have any further questions. Our office hours are from 7 am to 9 pm Central Standard Time, Monday - Friday. We will be happy to help you answer any questions concerning our product.

Sincerely,
Nicholas

Consumer Affairs

This entire email message (including all forwards and replies) and any attachments are for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain proprietary, confidential, trade secret, work-product, attorney-client or privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited and may be a violation of law. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message. 

Oooh, Shiny!

"I shall call him squishy and he shall be mine."
"How are we gonna do that unless we give it a shot and hope for the best?"
"Don't worry, whales don't eat clownfish they eat krill. Oh, look! Krill!"

The hall bath needed t.p. so I went into the Harry Potter closet (under the stairs) to get some from the stash we keep there. I carried the roll spindle with me, but set it down when I found bags of items on the floor in front of the shelves that hold our food storage/extra pantry items. A child who shall remain unnamed was asked to put them away under the stairs last night. I suppose I did forget to specify they should go on the shelves. Anyway, once the items were properly stowed I backed out and noticed the hall bath light on. So I stepped in to turn it off and noticed that the t.p. holder was empty and the spindle was missing...

Sigh.

Remember Dory from Finding Nemo? I've been contemplating Dory and recognizing myself in all her whimsically forgetful glory. She was Marlin's companion, after all, so I am guessing she was middle-aged. I'm not sure I am completely comfortable with how much I can relate to Dory.

Beyond The Sea

Peppermint Oreos

"Winter" oreos. Because red says winter.
These Oreos are just colored versions of the original.
My friend Katie theorizes that they are fresher, since they're seasonal.

This limited edition flavor came out several years ago.
I bought a package -- so creamy and yummy! -- then never saw them again. Ever.
Sad story. 

This tricky limited edition flavor came out two years later. I think.
They were disappointing... the two-tone center did not make up for lack of creamy yumminess.

YUMMY!!!
These have a creamier filling like the Old Fashioned Candy Cane variety.
I stocked up -- because I know they aren't kidding with that "limited edition" business.

Wear Costumes And Run Amok (Amok Amok Amok Amok Amok...)

Einstein Book Report
(She got an A)

Aunt Karen Is Pretty Mod

Ozzy & Sharon redux
 Skeletanna

K-k-k-katie?
(She might eat your brain.)

If I Were A Zombie...

One of my favorite bloggers, CJane, posted this on her fabulous blog.
Love it!

Old Testament Magic Squares

"Magic Squares" uses a grid with stick figure depictions of hand actions you can do with the rhymes. But I mostly focus on the rhymes, which include the book and chapter only. I would put up a link, but couldn't find one that works -- so I've included the rhymes below.

If you never get beyond the rhyme to memorizing the complete reference, I figure you can at least get to the chapter you want and skim the verses to find the one you want. Of course, if you've marked the verse it makes that really easy! 

When I introduce these and quiz them I make sure to briefly outline the actual verse, because if you don't recognize it generally the rhyme will not make much sense or be helpful. I really hope we will become a lot more familiar with the verses themselves, but knowing where to find them is a crucial first step.          

Moses1: Glory begun                     

Moses 7: Zion & Heaven                 

Genesis 1: image of the Son        

Genesis 39: “she’s not mine”        

Abraham 3: chosen to be                 

Exodus 20: commandments a plenty

Exodus 33: “His face I see”        

Leviticus 19: don’t be mean        

Deut. 7: Marriage for heaven        

Joshua 1: Study scriptures a ton           

Joshua 24: Choose who you are for

1 Samuel 16: My heart is seen        

Job 19:  My Redeemer I’ll be seeing

Psalm 24: Clean hands open door        

Proverbs 3: “Trust in Me”        

Isaiah 1: Sins undone                 

Isaiah 29: Book of Mormon/gospel divine

Isaiah 53: Christ saved me /suffered for me

Isaiah 55: Our thoughts don’t jive        

Jeremiah 16: Fishing is keen        

Ezekiel 37: Two sticks from heaven

Daniel 2: Stone & kingdom, too           

Amos 3: God – prophet – me        

Malachi 3:  “Don’t rob me”        

Malachi 4:  Elijah restores more        

Cool

I just finished my lesson plan for tomorrow, have only supplies to gather for Thursday, and Friday's lesson is mostly video. It feels really good. Not in a shout-from-the-rooftops hooray! kind of way, but more like an I-am-so-grateful-to-get-to-this-point sigh of relief. 

Because I thought I'd be better at this. I thought it would take 2-3 weeks to get to know my class, have a study and prep routine down, be able to keep attendance and remember to track reading and note participation and come prepared to inservice meetings. I thought I'd be able to sleep (readily and soundly) and that I'd love it every day. But it turns out I've had some rough days and nights. I didn't anticipate how much planning time and effort it would take to reconcile fun/engaging/interesting with meaningful. I have doubted myself a lot. This is week 9 and I'm just hitting my stride.

Turns out I'm not as cool as I thought.

But I'll tell you what is cool:

• The Old Testament (craziest stories in the standard works and coolest prophets ever -- Elijah and the priests of Baal? Awesome.)
• My class of 18 regulars (they're sophomores, turning 16 this year)
• Magic Squares (rhymes help you remember scripture references) Memorizing references has never been a strong point of mine, but quiz me! I can do 1/2 of them already.
• Seeing progress.

I feel humbled, but hopeful and am thinking about this:

And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.  (Ether 12:27)

Shaking My Head

These were the top two headlines from the CNN.com gadget on my iGoogle homepage:

Lindsay Lohan Reports For Morgue Cleanup Duty
Gadhafi: Enigma In Life & Death

...in that order.

Pumpkin Carving Tips

Heigh-ho, Everyone!

Smarts

Scarecrow: I haven't got a brain... only straw. Dorothy: How can you talk if you haven't got a brain? Scarecrow: I don't know... But some people without brains do an awful lot of talking... don't they? Dorothy: Yes, I guess you're right.

I consider myself to be a reasonably intelligent person, but days like today make me wonder:

On the way to my 6 am inservice meeting I notice the gas tank is perilously empty and resolve to fill it before taking Katie to school. Anna may have noticed this last night but I pushed it off 'til tomorrow... No time now, because I am running late. I walk in just before we start but I have forgotten to bring my September report. (Wait, have I entered last week's attendance? Or the week before that???)

After the meeting, the teachers for our building gather to discuss a special activity we are planning for next week. As my phone starts buzzing it occurs to me that it is Friday (obviously, we're meeting) and Kate needs to be at school early for band sectionals. I jump up, making apologies, and head for home.

The car says I have 6 miles to go on my tank. I'm about 3 miles away from home. The school is about 2 miles away from my home, in the opposite direction from a gas station -- I can get her there on time or fill up but not both. I choose get her there on time.

As I pull away from the school my display screen shows I have 2 miles left. I am glad Anna had "doughnuts with dads" this morning. Hoping that my 6 am attendance translates to blessings of the petroleum kind, I call Sue for advice on which gas route is best. And because I don't want to run out of gas alone.

My eyes dart from the display to the road. Display. Road. Display. Road. Display. I hit zero a few blocks before the station. (Does it go below zero?) I miss the green arrow for the first station and merge back into line for the next. It prolongs my agony and adds a block to my journey but is safer than sitting at the long light. There's another car in the left turn lane. Go go go! I coast on fumes to the last free pump.

Not smart.

Wizard of Oz:  You, my friend, are a victim of disorganized thinking.

Let's Eat...

I don't know what's for dinner but the raspberry cobbler I made with Anna is in the oven.

Middle Age

Treasuring moments, however grand.

It sounded wrong when I was closing in on 37, but now that I am deep into 41 I'm pretty sure I am "middle-aged." Maybe the sign marking my arrival was the recognition that it's not such a bad place to be.

Anyway, I thought this was interesting:

"This just in: Mid-life crises aren't for real. 

In a fascinating post on the Scientific American website,Jesse Bering explores the history and mythology of the proverbial mid-life crisis. He notes that despite our commonly held assumption that middle age brings a full on melt-down replete with new girlfriend, new hair style and the requisite red corvette, mid-life crises aren't borne out empirically. 

Indeed, epidemiological studies reveal that midlife is no more or less likely to be associated with career disillusionment, divorce, anxiety, alcoholism, depression or suicide than any other life stage; in fact, the incidence rates of many of these problems peak at other periods of the lifespan."
-- Delia Lloyd, "Is it Time To Retire the Midlife Crisis?"  Huffington Post 10/10/11

That piece led me to this other interesting article:

"Today the daughters of these runaway moms, having arrived at the shores of middle age, are taking flight, too. But they’re not, by and large, dumping their husbands. They’re not looking to the job market with expectations of liberation. 

Instead, they’re fleeing to yoga, imitating flight in the downward-gazing contortion called the crow position. They’re striving, through exquisite new adventures in internal fine-tuning, to feel more deeply, live more meaningfully, better inhabit each and every moment of each and every day and attain “a more superior, evolved state of being,” as Claire Dederer puts it in her just-published book, “Poser: My Life in Twenty-Three Yoga Poses,” the latest installment in the burgeoning literature of postboomer-female midlife crisis. 

...There’s no sense that personal liberation is to be found by taking a more active role in the public world. 

Instead, making a home is re-encoded as a privilege, an accomplishment, even a form of freedom from the burdens and demands of the workplace. Kenison, finding self-liberation in a midlife journey toward “my own quiet center,” finds freedom in fleeing the wider world, not entering it more fully: “to create . . . for all of us,” she wrote of her husband and adolescent sons, “a protected island, a quiet place from which we could hold the world and its busyness at bay for a while.” 

In other words, the new “narrative of liberation,” as Dederer puts it, of the postboomer, “postfeminist” woman, the new incarnation of the ’70s girl who could do anything, appears to lead right back into a performance-enhanced version of “Mad Men”-era domestic fantasy. “In response to my 1970s mom, I had become a 1950s housewife,” Dederer writes. 

...For many women, this inward-turnedness, this seeking of salvation in an ever-greater connection to home, and in a homebound sense of self, is a direct rebellion against the outward-bound trajectory that their own mothers took. 

--Judith Warner, "Fear (Again) of Flying" NY Times 01/07/11

I don't know, but it seems to me that as the world continues to go-go-go and push-push-push against traditional values, the pendulum has swung back a bit toward respect for home and family in self development. Perhaps something had to give...

I am neither in crisis or into yoga. But I cannot deny my increased desire to "feel more deeply, live more meaningfully, better inhabit each and every moment of each and every day." I spent my youth and young adulthood constantly looking ahead. I missed a lot.  It may be middle age, this compulsion to slow down and treasure the beauty and sweetness . But it's a good place to be.

My Boo Boo Poet

Halloween is coming soon, better get out your costumes. 
Remember ghosts, witches, and werewolves, too.

Better watch out 'cause

Halloween is coming soon.

B000!

-- Anna Kay Cliff

Recollections

Grandma Cliff grew up in McCammon, Idaho

THERE was a time when meadow, grove, and stream,
The earth, and every common sight,
To me did seem
Apparell'd in celestial light...                                    -- William Wordsworth

THERE was a time when meadow, grove, and stream,

    The earth, and every common sight,

            To me did seem

    Apparell'd in celestial light...
                                   -- William Wordsworth

Grandma Cliff, John's grandmother, passed away last week. She was 90, the last of twelve children. We flew out for the graveside service in McCammon, Idaho. It was a gorgeous day, mountains framing the blue sky and dragonflies buzzing around in the sunshine. The flowers arrangements were pink, like the roses I remember in her garden and the bathroom in her house in Ogden. Cousin Karl conducted the service. John shared memories and spoke about the plan of salvation. His sister, Karissa, read a poem she wrote for the occasion. Sons Bill and John spoke about their mother and then John (Papa) dedicated the grave.

Afterward, we feasted on the generosity and goodness of cousins' kitchens and pantries. Peggy's mustard pickles, jams, and fresh bread would have been treat enough but there was also roast, green salad, marinated veggie salad, potato salad, "frog eye" salad and two kinds of cake. Peggy is cousin Karl's wife and she is a treasure. John, Fran, and Karissa went home with them to their place near Pocatello while we headed down to Salt Lake to see my grandmother. 

On the way, we stopped briefly to check out the Tai Pan Trading in Clearfield to see their Halloween and Christmas (!) items. When we got to East Millcreek, we chatted with Grandma Call in the sunroom, with the rustling leaves and babbling brook of her magical backyard as background music. It is my favorite sound. Cindy and Stephanie took us all to The Dodo restaurant across from Sugarhouse Park. We talked and laughed on the patio as the sun set. It was a perfect evening.

Next we continued on to stay over at my parents' place in Draper. We slept with the windows open, and woke to fresh mountain air. We headed up Emigration Canyon (fall leaves!) to Ruth's Diner for our traditional (two times and counting) breakfast with my Mom and Dad. We started with hot chocolate to warm up. Dad had Eggs Benedict, mom ordered French Toast with strawberries, and John and I both had omelets (John's with spinach and bacon, mine asparagus). We were eating our way across the state.

After we dropped Mom and Dad back at their place we continued down I-15 to see Mary in Provo. I had a blast-from-the-past moment as I stepped into her BYU apartment's kitchen. We headed to Guru's on Center Street for lunch, where John and I ordered half-salads. Of course there's always room for ice cream, so we stopped off at the Creamery on 9th for a cone before we took Mary home. 

Needing a pit stop, we detoured to Karen's house and dropped our bags before continuing on to see Mamacita (Grandma Spencer) in American Fork. John's parents were already there. Mamacita was in great spirits and charmed us with her good-natured responses to our questions about her youth. At 97 she remembers the names of all her siblings, and can recount details about the chores she did and schools she attended. We began to sing "Home on the Range" and she quickly joined in with us. She is amazing. 

On the way out we called Beautiful Aunt Kelly to see if we could stop by for a visit. She had just arrived from work but welcomed us. We compared notes on being Relief Society president, chatted with Erin about her upcoming study abroad to Italy, and marveled at how tall Evan has grown. Kurt was on his way home from the airport and agreed via text message to join us for dinner with Karen. We went back to Karen's and met up with them later at Pizzeria 712 in Orem. We swapped travel stories (scuba diving on Kurt's part) and laughed and laughed as we ate their yummy food. I pushed myself to try exactly one spoonful of dessert. 

We adjourned to Karen's house where I acted as quizmaster, using cards from her '80s trivia game. Of course Karen won. John and I didn't last long after Kurt and Kelly left and again slept with the windows open. I slept fifully (sadly, my current norm) but did a bit better once John had woken and left me to spread out. I dragged out of bed in time to enjoy my requested simple bowl of Cheerios that John had purchased for me and catch the first session of General Conference.

In between speakers, as the choir sang, I showered, dressed, and packed. We hit the road after the first session and headed back to Salt Lake and the airport. Although we had enjoyed Cafe Rio in Layton the first night (Doug was up there so we picked up Erika on the way and they joined in the Cliff party: us, Karissa, John & Fran, Bill & Nell) we thought we'd try it again on the way out. No dice -- too busy -- so ended up with a sorry Quizno's sub for the plane ride. Our exit row seats soothed us.

My visiting teacher, Linda, picked us up and got us home in time for John to change and run to the evening's Priesthood session of General Conference. I took the opportunity to stream the afternoon session we missed while on the plane. Anna practiced math on the kids' laptop while Kate practiced her clarinet. Then it was time to be off to bed for everyone.

Nice to be home.

Who Needs A Golden Ticket?

Forget-me-nots, specious sacrifice, and golden tickets.

Don't we all love President Uchtdorf?

Find this talk here at the 58 minutes mark.

God is fully aware that you and I are not perfect. Let me add, God is also fully aware that the people you think are perfect are not. ...Many of you are endlessly compassionate and understanding with the weaknesses of others. Please remember also to be compassionate and patient with yourself.

If we spend our days waiting for fabulous roses, we could miss the beauty and wonder of the tiny forget-me-nots that are all around us.

We focus on WHAT the Lord wants us to do and HOW we might do it but we sometimes forget WHY. ...seek out the majesty, the beauty, and the exhilarating joy of the WHY of the gospel of Jesus Christ. ...The WHY of obedience sanctifies our actions, transforming the mundane into the majestic. It magnifies our smalls acts of obedience into consecrated acts of holiness.

Thank you for who you are.

I loved the good / not-so-good sacrifice examples. I loved that he qualified these statements, acknowledging that each circumstance is different. I love the note that striving for picture perfect FHE can make everyone miserable. Love that he referenced Charlie & the Chocolate Factory  and I especially appreciate this reminder:

Don't close your eyes and hearts to the simple and elegant beauties of each day's ordinary moments that make up a rich, well-lived life. 

The happiest people I know... while in pursuit of worthy goals, discover and treasure the beauty and sweetness of  the everyday moments. They are the ones who, thread by daily thread, weave the tapestry of gratitude and wonder throughout their daily lives.

Gettin' Down on Friday

I just need to copy the OT version of this
and prepare Rice Chex markers for Bingo.

Yesterday most of my day was sucked up with seminary prep. The lesson never did get to where I wanted it, but I'm okay with that -- can't hit them all out of the park. Fridays are scripture mastery game days and I've got most of it ready.

We we we so excited...

JohnCliff Is Forty

Now he's officially old... like me!
He is still such a kid, though.
I love that.

Whaddya Noah?

Today we talked about Noah and the ark, and it was good. After consideration of past successes and failures, I stuck to one theme for the entire class and worked the activities and discussion points into that theme. I tried harder to make it more active and varied to maintain attention. I had to lighten up a bit. What do you know? Making things more fun got better results.

Some of the things we did:
I borrowed a game from another teacher -- she had scripture mastery reference and clues on different animal cut-outs (one went on each back) and the students had to find the other person to make a matching pair.

Each of the 4 tribes had sheet of questions about Noah and the ark. They worked together to find the answers in Genesis 6 & 7. First tribe done got to open the treasure box -- Jehosaphat won. Yes, they chose their tribe names at the beginning of the year. The box held animal cookies.

We talked about cubits (elbow to fingertip) and compared football player measure Josh to petite Katlyn. Then we went outside to the parking lot and counted off 50 cubits -- the width of the ark.

We talked about how the ark is a type of Christ and the Atonement.

They laughed. They read. They listened.

It was awesome.

Little Victories

The Rainbow Connection

I'm climbing the learning curve with seminary lessons -- prep, teach, evaluate, repeat. I am inching closer to where I want to be and trying to focus on the good instead of getting tangled up in the coulda-shoulda-woulda. Truth be told, I'm feeling a bit less-than awesome about myself in general, so today I am going to indulge in some self-promotion. Feel free to play along at home.

When I took out the trash today (go me!) I noticed the glaring difference between the new A/C unit's trimmed back greenery and the creeping vines that have completely obscured the concrete slab for the old unit. So I got out the kiddie rake and the shears and hacked/dragged the ground cover back to where it belongs. I did this while still in my skirt from this morning. I'm cool like that.

It has been two weeks since The Lice, so I liberated the front room pillows and throws from their trash bag exile. Now the love seat and chair don't have to be ashamed of their nakedness. Sweet. The scandalously bare church pew in the family room is about to receive the same treatment.

One week following the initial tidy, the office is still presentable. Enough.

Thanks to me, the laundry room floor is cleared and you can safely pass through to the garage again.

Three hot pink memo boards are going up in Anna's room today. I will use newspaper cutouts to make sure they are straight. I will do this unaided, with my bare hands. And a hammer.

Tomorrow's seminary lesson is about Noah, so it's animal cookies for the treasure box. I didn't have an appropriately themed gluten-free treat for my celiac friend but then realized Skittles would work -- you know, "taste the rainbow."

I rock.

Expelliarmus!

Harry Potter has thoroughly disarmed my reluctant reader. She's in fourth grade now, and I was starting to despair. A hint of progress came last year with Diary of A Wimpy Kid but I was anxious to get her into full-sized books with complete pages of text. My recommendations, selected from family faves, were shot down.

Enter Harry. I think seeing the movie this summer helped a lot, because it was such a big deal. Anna picked up the first book a bit later and worked her way through it, proudly updating me on her progress. When she finished that one, she immediately ran to find the second book. She read that one faster, and now she is on the third.

It has always been my policy to read the book first, watch the movie second. But in this case, I think the movies provided the context and familiarity with strange names and vocabulary she needed to succeed. It is exciting to see her progress through this increasingly challenging series. I hope she continues to the end.

Then maybe she'll try some other family favorites. Acchio, bibliophilia!

Better

72 degrees!

Toilets fixed!

Garage swept!

Anna reading!

Lesson started!

!!!!

Fixed, Broke, Broken

The A/C finally got fixed. The warranty covered most of the cost of the new condenser -- we paid $310. The week before I got my brakes fixed. Firestone coupons helped a little.

I paid the yard guys for August, a five-week month. That kinda hurt. (He's allergic to the world and I cannot take the yard on, too...)

We paid from the dregs of our account. You know, the one depleted by the second car we replaced this year?

So I am not going to get a mini projector. I am going to let my seminary class watch things on this laptop instead. It's about the same screen size as those TVs in the library and I think I've figured out network access.

On Friday I discovered Anna had lice. (Seen her cute short 'do? Thanks, Delsa!) We treated everyone, combed and re-combed, did 14 loads of laundry at the laundromat and several at home and fell exhausted into bed. We all slept late on Saturday, and again today.

September has come and it looks like the fever has broken. It is 83 degrees outside (10:16pm) and I am happy. Until I read Utah bloggers. Writing how HOT August was and how nice and COOL it is at night and how they can start to wear BOOTS and favorite fall clothes. La la la la la la la... can't hear you.

I updated my seminary calendar (cross-referencing secretary and school versions) and plotted out the entire year's lesson plans (consulting the pacing schedule, teacher manual, and birthday list). It hurt my brain.

I started a "healthy eating plan" earlier this week. Then the lice thing happened and another issue I'm not gonna blog about. Needless to say, the "healthy eating plan" is shelved while I medicate my poor, lice-infested, sleep-deprived, cornstarch-dusting pathetic little self.

I am so grateful for the long weekend.

First Contact

 Sleep is a low-level, unprotected command?

Seminary started on Monday, and I have a great class. We're two days in, and yes, I am tired. The newness and anxiety that goes along with it are killing my Zzzzzz.

I figure exhaustion will eventually kick me into sleep moode because this is how the past few nights have gone: Saturday night (Sunday) I woke up at 3am and never got back to sleep. I did catch a quick nap before church. Sunday night I slept fitfully and woke before 5am. Last night I tossed and turned in a state of agitated semi-slumber. I again woke myself up by 5am.

On the way to Anna's school this morning I was unconsciously on autopilot (but not unconscious) until she asked why I'd turned onto the slower street we never take. Why indeed?! So when I got home from taking Kate to school I decided a nap was in order. Maybe fifteen minutes later my phone rang. When I went to answer, the caller had hung up...

Resistance is futile.

*Yes, dear trekkie friends, the photo is actually from the Star Trek:TNG episode called "The Best of Both Worlds." But I needed to assimilate.