1] Being able to participate in grandson's school funraiser--even if it is online! [Rachel's candybar was easier & cheaper at church tonight! She just walked around with her bag, looking cute!
2] Additions to the household going smoothly. Yes, we have another cat--two year old and abandonned, Puck. Not the Faery King of Shakespeare, no, she is named for a hockey puck. Oh well. She's only up to almost 5 pounds, and she's getting some meat on her ribs at last.
3] Costumes are coming along--though I feel like I'm dragging and pulling, but the additional marketplace are almost done! My goal was 1 Oct--we'll probably not be quite finished, but awfully close!
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Sunday, September 23, 2007
M is for...
M is for Miracles. All kinds. There is a song from the musical Flower Drum Song that says it succinctly. My favorite line is about a girl not 2' tall not falling over as she walks.
M is for Musicals. Do you know that you can teach the most wonderful lessons through musicals? [see above] My favorite is the song "You've Got to be Carefully Taught" from South Pacific which explains the phenomena of racial prejudice. Children are NOT born with it, they must be carefully taught, "before they are six, or seven, or eight, to hate all the people their relatives hate..." One can teach lessons of hope, of faith, of charity all through musicals! They are also great for waking up the family on school days. My kids threatened me with death and worse at times, but getting them up with a rousing musical definitely brought a better mood into our home than other methods. [The Music Man starts out with whistles and 76 Trombones; 1776 starts out with a drumroll--my two personal faves]
M is for Monsters at the End of [the] Book, and other great reads for an with children! We sit with another family at church always. They have 4 kids aged 6 to 1; two of them are readers, the other 2 like books. They love to see what "Aunt [Allrie]" has brought each week. Won't it be fun next week when we add two grandsons to the mix?!
M is for Moms. Old or young, with many children or just one, actual physical mothers, or "other mothers" who stand in parentis locus both formally and informally. What influence on the next generation! How important to the secure development of each and every child. I've written about "other mothers" before, but I think they do not get enough credit. They may be family friends, they may be aunts, they may be teachers etc., but kids need not only their own Moms but the "Other Mothers" in whom they can confide and from whom they draw strength, and look up to and just generally know the security that they are loved and cared about by more than just their own Moms. "Other Mothers" usually have a different experiential background and can relate to the kids in a way different from their own Moms. And Moms, at least the good ones, love their kids unconditionally, providing a base of support for each and every human being--if all worked right.
M is for lots of really important things...I could go on, but my son wants the computer. M is also for "Mine" a favorite word of any two year old, but I am past that point in life, so I will share. My child deserves his turn.
M is for Musicals. Do you know that you can teach the most wonderful lessons through musicals? [see above] My favorite is the song "You've Got to be Carefully Taught" from South Pacific which explains the phenomena of racial prejudice. Children are NOT born with it, they must be carefully taught, "before they are six, or seven, or eight, to hate all the people their relatives hate..." One can teach lessons of hope, of faith, of charity all through musicals! They are also great for waking up the family on school days. My kids threatened me with death and worse at times, but getting them up with a rousing musical definitely brought a better mood into our home than other methods. [The Music Man starts out with whistles and 76 Trombones; 1776 starts out with a drumroll--my two personal faves]
M is for Monsters at the End of [the] Book, and other great reads for an with children! We sit with another family at church always. They have 4 kids aged 6 to 1; two of them are readers, the other 2 like books. They love to see what "Aunt [Allrie]" has brought each week. Won't it be fun next week when we add two grandsons to the mix?!
M is for Moms. Old or young, with many children or just one, actual physical mothers, or "other mothers" who stand in parentis locus both formally and informally. What influence on the next generation! How important to the secure development of each and every child. I've written about "other mothers" before, but I think they do not get enough credit. They may be family friends, they may be aunts, they may be teachers etc., but kids need not only their own Moms but the "Other Mothers" in whom they can confide and from whom they draw strength, and look up to and just generally know the security that they are loved and cared about by more than just their own Moms. "Other Mothers" usually have a different experiential background and can relate to the kids in a way different from their own Moms. And Moms, at least the good ones, love their kids unconditionally, providing a base of support for each and every human being--if all worked right.
M is for lots of really important things...I could go on, but my son wants the computer. M is also for "Mine" a favorite word of any two year old, but I am past that point in life, so I will share. My child deserves his turn.
Enough is Enough
Enough is Enough is the name of a campaign to ask that performers everywhere behave in a respectful manner when speaking of our Savior. Apparantly some actress--whom I understand is pretty well known--but not to me: Kathy Griffith [?] accepted her Emmy with a statement taking the Lord's Name not only in vain, but doing so in the most calculated and offensive way possible. The Miracle Theatre in TN decided they'd had it, so took out a full page ad in USA Today saying so. All they asked was that respect for our God, or at least our beliefs be shown. Any other religious group would not be forced to receive this growing degredation and persecution in America. I agree, so I decided to tell my family and friends about it. For more info, and to sign the petition [they are trying for a million signatures so it will be listened to, just go to their website--scroll past the theatre info [or read it, as did I] and you will find the whole story. www.MiracleTheater.com. And I was going to say M is for miracles! I'm not sure wether or not I will now...but then again...
Monday, September 17, 2007
3 Things yet again!
1] Daughters: one who makes me think about the things for which I am thankful on a regular basis. Thanks for starting this, Sariah!
2] Tomatoes. And Bro. Schultz. He supplies our whole ward with tomato plants for our gardens, then during the season, he brings a couple of big boxes full of tomatoes each week to church. I am busy laying in a years supply. I'll soon be set--I don't know about the rest of the household!
3] Friends. I have friends here. Real friends. Not just see you on Sunday, but call you up and say have you had lunch yet? Want to run to _________ with me? And whom I can call in the same way. You don't really appreciate having friends like that 'til you go a number of years without them! And it is not just one or two--I have lots of friends here--it's so great!
2] Tomatoes. And Bro. Schultz. He supplies our whole ward with tomato plants for our gardens, then during the season, he brings a couple of big boxes full of tomatoes each week to church. I am busy laying in a years supply. I'll soon be set--I don't know about the rest of the household!
3] Friends. I have friends here. Real friends. Not just see you on Sunday, but call you up and say have you had lunch yet? Want to run to _________ with me? And whom I can call in the same way. You don't really appreciate having friends like that 'til you go a number of years without them! And it is not just one or two--I have lots of friends here--it's so great!
Sunday, September 16, 2007
L is for...Light
I really don't appreciate the new OH law which does not yet accept Seminary as school, so until the 20th I have to go with Richard as he cannot drive 'til 6:00am, and Seminary begins at 5:45 am. I have, however always liked the early Light of pre-dawn and the Light of a beautiful sunrise. It makes me feel renewed in a way sleeping in does not.
I love the way a silver lining looks, an edge of Light, caused by clouds and sun lining up just right--and it really does look like the proverbial "silver lining". It tends to make one believe...
I love the look of rays of Light refracted through a cloud--like we see in the movies. Once we saw it from the air in a small plane all around us when I was a kid--a sight I cannot begin to describe accurately. Suffice it to say that it filled me with awe.
The spray of refracted Light that is a rainbow is fun for everyone. You can see them in rain + sun; you can see them in sprinklers. Sometimes we see double rainbows, sometimes just partial rainbows. But the rainbow I remember best was in AZ, as we traveled. It had the most clear, vivid colors--especially purple, that I've ever seen in a rainbow--and Olie [exchange student from Berlin] said he'd never seen a rainbow before!! His first was a real goodie! We have to remember the pollution that Communism had hanging as a pall over East Germany [which surrounded Free West Berlin] while he was growing up. I wonder if he sees rainbows there yet?
Prisms also refract Light, making little rainbows, and it is fun to play with the Light. We have a glass bird feeder hanging on our front porch. It was placed there to draw birds to the front windows for the cats' entertainment...and they do like the birds, but Todd, especially likes the play of the Light as the glass refracts it into the living room. The more birds, the more the Light dances on the ceiling. Now he has discovered that he can make Light dance on the ceiling when he pushes his water dish. The water is acting once again to refract the Light.
In theatre, it is quite simple: The purpose of Light is to make the show visable. But it is usually much, much more. The colors and shadows can affect, even control emotions, without the audience even being aware of the manipulation of their feelings.
We study about the Light of Christ within each of us...that quickening which gives us Life...and we can understand because Light [or the lack thereof] does affect us. Think about it the next time you are at a play, movie or concert. What are they doing with the Light? Speaking generally, Light, like music, plays to the emotions. It affects our attitudes, expectations, and moods.
I will enjoy sleeping in once Richard turns 17 this week, but I will usually then miss out on dawn's early Light. It energizes my whole day when I see it, so, I guess I'll just have to get up--watch the sunrise--and then go back to bed!
I love the way a silver lining looks, an edge of Light, caused by clouds and sun lining up just right--and it really does look like the proverbial "silver lining". It tends to make one believe...
I love the look of rays of Light refracted through a cloud--like we see in the movies. Once we saw it from the air in a small plane all around us when I was a kid--a sight I cannot begin to describe accurately. Suffice it to say that it filled me with awe.
The spray of refracted Light that is a rainbow is fun for everyone. You can see them in rain + sun; you can see them in sprinklers. Sometimes we see double rainbows, sometimes just partial rainbows. But the rainbow I remember best was in AZ, as we traveled. It had the most clear, vivid colors--especially purple, that I've ever seen in a rainbow--and Olie [exchange student from Berlin] said he'd never seen a rainbow before!! His first was a real goodie! We have to remember the pollution that Communism had hanging as a pall over East Germany [which surrounded Free West Berlin] while he was growing up. I wonder if he sees rainbows there yet?
Prisms also refract Light, making little rainbows, and it is fun to play with the Light. We have a glass bird feeder hanging on our front porch. It was placed there to draw birds to the front windows for the cats' entertainment...and they do like the birds, but Todd, especially likes the play of the Light as the glass refracts it into the living room. The more birds, the more the Light dances on the ceiling. Now he has discovered that he can make Light dance on the ceiling when he pushes his water dish. The water is acting once again to refract the Light.
In theatre, it is quite simple: The purpose of Light is to make the show visable. But it is usually much, much more. The colors and shadows can affect, even control emotions, without the audience even being aware of the manipulation of their feelings.
We study about the Light of Christ within each of us...that quickening which gives us Life...and we can understand because Light [or the lack thereof] does affect us. Think about it the next time you are at a play, movie or concert. What are they doing with the Light? Speaking generally, Light, like music, plays to the emotions. It affects our attitudes, expectations, and moods.
I will enjoy sleeping in once Richard turns 17 this week, but I will usually then miss out on dawn's early Light. It energizes my whole day when I see it, so, I guess I'll just have to get up--watch the sunrise--and then go back to bed!
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
K is for ...Kites
As we loaded costumes into the back of my friend's van last Sat to return to our building, she apologized for the lack of room due to the fact that their family went to fly kites the day before...and I recalled a time when, with the single adults, my oldest three kids and I not only flew kites, but made them first! Fortunatly my friend Kent, [kitemaker extrodonaire!]helped a lot--my dexterity leaves something to be desired. The kites did get off the ground, tho they didn't do as well as store bought kites. Good memories.
As a kid, I had a neighbor, Randy, who would fly his kite from the cliff edge of their house. He let it out so far that it seemed to fly miles over the valley before he would reel it in. I loved to watch as I was the Charlie Brown of kite flying in our neighborhood!
Then my mind turned to darker things. Where I taught in Richmond, the science committee sponsored Kite Day each spring. I had a combined 2nd/3rd grade class that first year. My class was the overflow, asnd when I was hired, each second and third grade teacher was asked to choose who they would send on to the new class. [Very unfair to the incoming teacher because you know they did not send their best behaved students...] but one of my little second graders was of particular concern. Because of what he said and drew, I felt that he had been sexually abused [I had previously worked in an area where I received special training in catching these things.] I did not believe it was at home, nor was I sure that it was ongoing. But I was positive that it had occurred. I duly reported to the school counselor, and to my disgust it was dropped. Until kite day.
Because k-2 went out at one time, then 3-5, I sent my 2nd graders out with another class, remaining behind with my third graders. We were working away when a child from that other class came saying I was needed right away!! So out went my third graders and I. The boy I had suspected of having had sexual abuse was now pulling the pants off some of the sweetest and most naive girls in the grade level! Moms had also been called. As we discussed the situation, I learned that my concerns had not been passed on. The counselor just brushed it off because generally our school population knew more about sex than their ages warranted anyway. If the Mom had known, she could have gotten the child in for counseling, and removed him from the day care [an uncle] who was the suspected perpetrator. Those little girls would never have had to suffer such trauma.
So, now when I think about kites, I think of that infamous Kite Day where lives were changed for good and ill. Kite day was totally changed at our school by the next year. So K is not my favorite letter, but it does remind me that we should all be vey careful with our precious children [and grandchildren] and help to keep them safe from predators. My neighbors found me to be a crazy woman, but I would practice with my kids on what to do it someone snatched them--kick and howl like crazy: "This is not my mother! this is not my father!" It can save a child from a kidnapper. [We also have a code word to ride with even someone who is know to them.]
So K is for Kites. . . and Safe Kids. . . and bad Kidnappers/molesters.
As a kid, I had a neighbor, Randy, who would fly his kite from the cliff edge of their house. He let it out so far that it seemed to fly miles over the valley before he would reel it in. I loved to watch as I was the Charlie Brown of kite flying in our neighborhood!
Then my mind turned to darker things. Where I taught in Richmond, the science committee sponsored Kite Day each spring. I had a combined 2nd/3rd grade class that first year. My class was the overflow, asnd when I was hired, each second and third grade teacher was asked to choose who they would send on to the new class. [Very unfair to the incoming teacher because you know they did not send their best behaved students...] but one of my little second graders was of particular concern. Because of what he said and drew, I felt that he had been sexually abused [I had previously worked in an area where I received special training in catching these things.] I did not believe it was at home, nor was I sure that it was ongoing. But I was positive that it had occurred. I duly reported to the school counselor, and to my disgust it was dropped. Until kite day.
Because k-2 went out at one time, then 3-5, I sent my 2nd graders out with another class, remaining behind with my third graders. We were working away when a child from that other class came saying I was needed right away!! So out went my third graders and I. The boy I had suspected of having had sexual abuse was now pulling the pants off some of the sweetest and most naive girls in the grade level! Moms had also been called. As we discussed the situation, I learned that my concerns had not been passed on. The counselor just brushed it off because generally our school population knew more about sex than their ages warranted anyway. If the Mom had known, she could have gotten the child in for counseling, and removed him from the day care [an uncle] who was the suspected perpetrator. Those little girls would never have had to suffer such trauma.
So, now when I think about kites, I think of that infamous Kite Day where lives were changed for good and ill. Kite day was totally changed at our school by the next year. So K is not my favorite letter, but it does remind me that we should all be vey careful with our precious children [and grandchildren] and help to keep them safe from predators. My neighbors found me to be a crazy woman, but I would practice with my kids on what to do it someone snatched them--kick and howl like crazy: "This is not my mother! this is not my father!" It can save a child from a kidnapper. [We also have a code word to ride with even someone who is know to them.]
So K is for Kites. . . and Safe Kids. . . and bad Kidnappers/molesters.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Three More Things
1] Talents--mine and others. It was interesting performing in the Relief Society Dinner Theatre this past weekend. I also supplied the costumes from our Nativity Marketplace, with several of us wearing our own costumes. It is nice to be considered a "good" actor--even tho I know that I had to write the first two words of both my paragraphs on my hand!!! I simply could not remember which came when--too similar! The whole program went really well. I heard comments like "Wow! I didn't know Jill could sing like that!" [I did--I sit next to her in choir.] and so on...
2] Birthdays! Even tho I missed getting Parker's box mailed on time, at least he's too young to care, and it will be there early for Aiden! Richard will soon turn 17 and I won't have to go to Seminary any more [OH law does not allow for a 16 yr old to drive before 6:00am and Seminary starts at 5:45.] Plus...my next birthday means Sr. Citizen discounts at many places. Yay!
3] Sleep and quiet days. I've been extra busy of late, with my regular committments, plus the RS play, plus gearing up for pageant, plus helping a friend with a particularly hard move, plus helping a neighbor with some issues, etc. So today, after seminary, I came home and returned to bed for several hours. I did work on pageant stuff most of the afternoon, but it was paperwork--calm and quiet. My migraine is all but gone and my eyes are functioning again. I love sleep!
2] Birthdays! Even tho I missed getting Parker's box mailed on time, at least he's too young to care, and it will be there early for Aiden! Richard will soon turn 17 and I won't have to go to Seminary any more [OH law does not allow for a 16 yr old to drive before 6:00am and Seminary starts at 5:45.] Plus...my next birthday means Sr. Citizen discounts at many places. Yay!
3] Sleep and quiet days. I've been extra busy of late, with my regular committments, plus the RS play, plus gearing up for pageant, plus helping a friend with a particularly hard move, plus helping a neighbor with some issues, etc. So today, after seminary, I came home and returned to bed for several hours. I did work on pageant stuff most of the afternoon, but it was paperwork--calm and quiet. My migraine is all but gone and my eyes are functioning again. I love sleep!
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
J is for... Jars
The rows of tomatoes in canning jars. Little tiny jars for little tiny babies. Fancy Jars in fancy shapes for perfumes or oils. Jars of plain glass. Jars of blue glass. Jars that are really brown bottles. Jars on a window sill filled with water, but each jar containing a different mixture of food coloring makes a rainbow come in the window. Jars...of creams both as lotions and for eating. Jars with salsas and jars with basalmic oils. Glass jars, clay jars, marble jars. Jars...1" tall in a row on a 3" shelf. Jars 1' tall on a fire place, filled with cat tails and rushes. Jars of paperclips. Jars of coins. Jars...an amazing word for a wide range of similar yet, amazingly different items.
Monday, September 03, 2007
Three Things
1. Experience done with. I'm grateful to have gone though having had a child with Thrush so that when I am asked about its symptoms I can recognize it--but not have to deal with it any more myself. Time for someone else to benefit from my experience.
2. Parades: I love a parade and though our community is small, and the parade was not the fanciest ever, it was a fun time for one and all!
3. Keys--since I have to go to Seminary at 5:45 with Richard until he turns 17, I'm glad I have keys that enable me to work on Pageant stuff by going upstairs as needed, getting into the library as needed, or just taking a nap. I will ride my bike home, but have to wait until it is a] light out, and b] rush hour is over. Then I can cross Hwy 33!
2. Parades: I love a parade and though our community is small, and the parade was not the fanciest ever, it was a fun time for one and all!
3. Keys--since I have to go to Seminary at 5:45 with Richard until he turns 17, I'm glad I have keys that enable me to work on Pageant stuff by going upstairs as needed, getting into the library as needed, or just taking a nap. I will ride my bike home, but have to wait until it is a] light out, and b] rush hour is over. Then I can cross Hwy 33!
I is for...ice
This one took me awhile to figure out, but I is for Ice. Ice on the water. Ice for skating, ice for cream, ice for drinks...just ice.
I appreciate ice in the summertime, or on a warm/hot day like today. Sitting in the sun for 2 hours watching our town's Labor Day Parade made me grateful for the ice in the drinks tub--I didn't care so much about cold drinks as sucking on ice putting ice down backs [and fronts] and just generally cooling off with ice!
As a hockey Mom, I am intimately familiar with ice rinks. I love them in the summer when I really want to cool off! In the winter they're OK, because they are pretty much the same temperature as in the summer--and so familiar.
I remember ice skating on Lake Indiana as a young child. My Aunt & Uncle lived on the lake. I learned to skate there--withh every dog on the lake following my Cousin D around--and she was my skating teacher! I think now that that is the perfect way for a hockey player to learn--not that I ever played hockey! But I thought I did. Remember...this was on an open lake--no boards. My job was to chase after and retrieve wild pucks. Of course the game had gone on with another puck, but I saved quite a few in my day.
I also went ice skating on the Elkhart [IN] River. A particular section was cordoned off and cleared for safe skating. You know how you carry skates--laces tied together and skates draped over the shoulder. Once I returned home with just one ice skate! Now that takes true talent.
Then we moved to California and my ice skating days were over. In vain each year I would watch for a pool to freeze over. Even a large puddle...but, no, it was not to be. So ice became most useful for crunching, for shaving and adding syrups: the 7-11 Slurpee, and home made ones. Shaved ice also made great ice cones in the summer.
So Ice went from a winter joy to a summer treat.
I still like to crunch on ice and hang out at ice arenas, though my puck chasing days are long over. I'm thirsty--guess it is time for that perennial favorite: ice water.
I appreciate ice in the summertime, or on a warm/hot day like today. Sitting in the sun for 2 hours watching our town's Labor Day Parade made me grateful for the ice in the drinks tub--I didn't care so much about cold drinks as sucking on ice putting ice down backs [and fronts] and just generally cooling off with ice!
As a hockey Mom, I am intimately familiar with ice rinks. I love them in the summer when I really want to cool off! In the winter they're OK, because they are pretty much the same temperature as in the summer--and so familiar.
I remember ice skating on Lake Indiana as a young child. My Aunt & Uncle lived on the lake. I learned to skate there--withh every dog on the lake following my Cousin D around--and she was my skating teacher! I think now that that is the perfect way for a hockey player to learn--not that I ever played hockey! But I thought I did. Remember...this was on an open lake--no boards. My job was to chase after and retrieve wild pucks. Of course the game had gone on with another puck, but I saved quite a few in my day.
I also went ice skating on the Elkhart [IN] River. A particular section was cordoned off and cleared for safe skating. You know how you carry skates--laces tied together and skates draped over the shoulder. Once I returned home with just one ice skate! Now that takes true talent.
Then we moved to California and my ice skating days were over. In vain each year I would watch for a pool to freeze over. Even a large puddle...but, no, it was not to be. So ice became most useful for crunching, for shaving and adding syrups: the 7-11 Slurpee, and home made ones. Shaved ice also made great ice cones in the summer.
So Ice went from a winter joy to a summer treat.
I still like to crunch on ice and hang out at ice arenas, though my puck chasing days are long over. I'm thirsty--guess it is time for that perennial favorite: ice water.
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