Our camping trip--The Camp

We went camping for a few days in lovely southern California. How was it? How can I say it . . . there was some good and some bad.

THE GOOD

1. Singing songs around the campfire.
2. Tyce and Mary playing really well together, even having FUN!
3. Eating camp food.
4. Having a lot of family time, because I love my family.

THE BAD

1. Sleeping in the wicked, wicked, wicked cold.
2. Camping next to hobos/hippies/homeless people who kept offering our kids candy.
3. Cameron falling forward by the fire pit and burning his hand.

THE UGLY

1. Those crazy neighbors partying--playing guitar, singing at the top of their lungs, shouting, drinking beer, and smoking pot--until the wee hours. The other party-minded campers in the area joined them and I think there were about 20 at the highest point. It was 3:30 a.m. before they went to bed our last night. Why didn't we complain? Because the two ladies over there were so nice to us during the day. And because the craziest drunk/high homeless guy was out there sharpening his machete. The nights were so terrible they deserve their own category of misery.

And this is where I plan to take my girls to Girls Camp.

If not for sleeping in the tent--if we'd had an RV or a hotel or something--the camping trip was wonderful.

Harrison preferred to figure out the flashlight to roasting marshmallows.


Cameron preferred eating marshmallows to pretty much anything else!


Tyce is thoughtful around the campfire.


Mary Rachel is a little campfire cutie.


Cameron and his infamous pout!


Our campsite was beautiful.


The little tent held all of our supplies.


Bryce and Tyce had a great time with the water guns!


Everyone had a great time with the fling sock--Mary and Cameron were especially fun to watch as they tried to figure out when to release it. If you click on the picture you can actually see where the fling sock went.


The H/H/H compound. See all the tents over there? If you click on the picture you can see some rough-looking neighbors. Like I said, the ladies were so incredibly nice to us. It was just scary at night.


When our car was waiting for a jump start, one of our neighbors, Angie, gave us this craft to do. Mary actually took over the project and I think she did a nice job. We hung it on a tree with duct tape.


It wouldn't be a Jones family vacation if there weren't some sort of disaster. Our battery died and we had to call roadside service to assist with a jump. Then we were off to the beach.


We spent quite a bit of our time at the camp. We went to the beach and took a day trip to San Diego. We were really only camping two days since we spent the third one packing up and coming home. It was a good amount of time for the little ones. And I know Bryce and I coulnd't have handled another night like the last one we had there!

Our camping trip--The Beach

The San Onofre beach. My dad says that this one is mentioned in the Beach Boys song "Surfin' USA" and I can see why. The only beach-goers were our family and cool dudes with boards. It was gorgeous.

Even though I don't like sand, or getting wet and then sandy, or saltwater, or getting sunburned--okay, I really don't like the beach--I definitely appreciate the idea of a beautiful and relaxing getaway and wouldn't want to deny others the opportunity to enjoy. However, I discovered that half of our family are beach lovers (Bryce, Mary, Harrison) and half are beach-from-afar appreciators (Me, Tyce, Cameron). So I guess I'm not alone.

Tyce with a cool find.

Mary loved everything--the water, the sand, and especially collecting things.

Harrison loved everything too. Despite his sometimes-crankiness, he is very adventurous and curious.

Cam was afraid of the waves and preferred digging the sand and tide pools. Unfortunately his shorts didn't have the drawstring in them anymore, so he spent lot of time pulling his clothes back on!

Our camping trip--Day Trip to San Diego

Our whale-watching cruise ship. Bryce and I had a misunderstanding about the Dramamine and ended up not taking it with us on the boat. This resulted in our 3-hour excursion being THREE HOURS OF TORTURE. There was barfing, crying, and cursing, the high point being when our chipper captain said, "Folks, you may have noticed we've slowed down--one of our engines is out. But we'll try to get it up and running just as soon as we can. We'll probably be about an hour late in getting back ot the harbor."

Luckily the engine was miraculously fixed, the rough water stopped, and we started to feel better. The only one fit for the sea was Harrison. Ironic, because he was in one of his "moods" and was by far the least cooperative/pleasant passenger on the boat.

Tyce and Mary Rachel spent most of their time up on deck with the binoculars . . . until they got too sea sick and came inside to, uh, recover.

Rebecca and Harrison. Don't let his cute smile fool you.

A beautiful view of Point Loma and its lighthouse.

Sea lions on a buoy. Looks like a nice way to spend the morning.

You have to click on the picture--and then look really close--but you can see the dolphins. We saw three types of dolphin: Risso's, common, and bottlenose. But no whales. Because we were denied the main attraction, we actually got a refund in the form of another free cruise. (Not sure what we're going to do about that.)


After the whale-watching cruise we went to Old Town San Diego, mostly because Tyce was begging to go to a good Mexican restaurant. No complaints from me.

Our first stop was the Mormon Battalion visitors center, where the super nice sister missionaries kept exclaiming how cute our children were. They dressed up the kids and told them a little about what it would have been like to have been a soldier. We saw a really good video that Tyce and Mary really liked.

The boys dress up and look appropriately determined..

"I'ma shoot us some squirrel for dinner tonight, boys!"

Our little soldiers.

Then we went to a Mexican restaurant for lunch. Bryce makes Harrison laugh, to keep him from running away again.

Tyce needs a big sombrero to cover his big brain.

My favorite picture of ALL! I told Bryce to do bunny ears behind me so everyone would look my direction. You can see that they all reacted to that . . . click on it so you can see their expressions.

Olympian

Mary won two medals at her school's Olympics on Friday. Her class's country was Canada, eh.

One was for a running race (I couldn't get the details out of her) and one was for sportsmanship. If you've ever seen her run, you know she is a little cheetah.

Because you want the play-by-play of my week . . .

Monday. The memorial service was really nice--and sad, as you can imagine. I keep thinking about that little girl and her not-yet-born baby brother without their daddy. Too, too sad . . .

I was fortunate enough to have one of the YW, Brittany, babysit for me so Bryce and I could go together. It was interesting to get to know our houseguests (the deceased's grandparents) through their remarks at the funeral. They are really sweet people who obviously love their family. I was really glad we could help in a small way by having them stay with us.

Tuesday. Another amazing YW, Tasha, babysat for the twins so Bryce and I could do a sealing session at the temple. Big kids had piano lessons in the afternoon.Tyce played with friends outside in the front (jumping over our landscaper's dirt piles with their bikes) and in the back (jumping on the trampoline). Mary went to Activity Days after dinner and made a butterfly wind chime.

I found out our landscaper's business partner (John) has a daughter who is an actress in Los Angeles. When I heard "actress" I immediately thought of a wannabe starlet, the teenage equivalent of a starving waitress. But I asked about her and he said, "Maybe you've heard of Daveigh Chase?" I hadn't, but I looked her up. Holy cow--check her out. I was so sad for him that he is obviously so proud of his daughter but he never gets to see her (as in, his ex-wife doesn't let him see her). I don't know, maybe there's a good reason for that, but I still felt bad for him.

Wednesday. Twins played at Emily Shapiro's house while I got ready for our "Laurels Birthday Party" activity that night. I spent an hour in the dollar store picking out party supplies. I know, how is that possible.

Tyce went to Scouts in the afternoon, we ate spaghetti for dinner outside in the backyard, and then I went to YW. I'd decorated the YW room with all the cool stuff I'd bought earlier. The party was super way fun. We played the "unwrap the candy bar wearing oven mitts" game, "Fruit Basket" and "Signs." Then I passed out the hats and blowers and we sang "Happy Birthday" to each other over cheesecake. Like I've said before, I have a great group of Laurels.

Thursday. Bryce and Tyce, Jim and Spencer are going to the basketball tournament today. Yes, they are all playing hooky. I wish I were playing hooky. (Bryce: "When a bishop asks me to do something, I've always been taught to say yes.")

I watched the three youngest Shapiro kids plus J.J. Marchant today and those little kids kicked my butt. Last time I had them all over it was easy as pie, but today there was a lot of whining and people being possessive (aka not sharing) stuff. I ran around the whole time referreeing. I should have had a whistle.

Rebecca S. said that Tyce made a 90 on his musicianship exam. Woo hoo!

I have to say a big thank you to Bryce's sister Betsie for teaching us about their home's structured study time. (And a big thank you to Bryce for implementing it at our house.) Before, we had the kids do their homework right after school amidst chaos, commotion, and neighbor kids constantly asking to play. I wanted the kids to "work before play" but the problem was that I couldn't monitor the big kids very well while chasing the little ones, making dinner, etc. Consequently, the big kids did a crummy job on their homework and never really got to play with friends. Now, we have our study hour (one hour for M., two for T.) at 7pm after the twins have gone to bed. The big kids have free time until 5:30, so they can play with friends or whatever. Then we eat, do our after-dinner chores, put the twins down, and do homework. The reason I am so happy is that everything is so much calmer these days, and Tyce's grades have improved quite a lot. (Most of his previous poor grades had been due to lack of organization--actually keeping track of what assignments were due when, etc.) Both kids sit at the table with one or both of us, and we're on hand to answer questions or check work. Bryce frequently does his own work right along with the kids.

But next week we're taking a break from normal life and going camping near San Clemente, CA for part of Spring Break!

P.S. Our sweet little niece Maya turned 2 on Sunday. What a cutie.

Weekend Update--Part 2

The other thing that happened is that someone we know from our old ward died. It is a really tragic circumstance too, as he was only about 30 years old. He has a wife who is 7 months pregnant and an adorable kindergarten-aged daughter. Apparently his wife got up in the night and saw her husband sitting up in bed with a strange look on his face. She asked if he was okay and he said he didn't know. Then he fell over. The ambulance came and took him to the hospital, where he spent the week. Unfortunately all his organs had shut down for some reason (aneurysm? blood clot? I'm not sure) and he was supported by machines. The neurologist said that his brain had swollen and would never recover. So the family had to make the terrible decision to pull him off of his support systems. He passed away several hours later.

We offered our casita to the family for extended family members and we have a set of grandparents staying with us. They are really nice. They have twin 3-year-old great-granddaughters and found our boys to be amusing.

The funeral is tomorrow afternoon.

Again, all my deep thoughts on death and life have been in the forefront of my mind.

The Weekend--Part 1

Two big things.

First, Youth Conference was Friday and Saturday, for all the kids ages 14-18. The first night there was an etiquette dinner and speaker. It was the most unusual menu: chicken fried steak, buttered penne, and green beans. I have never had chicken fried steak at a church function. I felt like I was at Luby's in Texas again.

The best part of Youth Conference happened the next day--we did a carnival for a disadvantaged elementary school without a PTA. Each ward was in charge of a booth. There was a soccer shoot-out, hair and face painting, bean bag toss, and the like. There was even a bounce house and a snow cone maker. Our group did a large-scale tic-tac-toe and, the favorite of the carnival-goers, DONUT ON A STRING. There were four pastries hanging from clips on a wooden frame, so four kids could "compete" at a time. Once someone ate their donut off the string the other kids could take theirs off too and end the torture. LOL There was nothing more entertaining than watching those little kids standing there, hands behind their backs, trying to catch a nibble while the donut spun around. (The trick was to either get above it or under it; otherwise they just pushed it around.)

It was wonderful to see the youth serving the kids and really enjoying it, and wonderful to see the families enjoy such a fun and free activity.

Later that night was what I considered to be the lamest part of the conference, the dinner and dance. The dance was DJ'd by an "old" guy (the dad of one of the participants) and he wouldn't allow any of the kids' music to be played. I understand that, IF YOUR COLLECTION INCLUDES MODERN MUSIC. Oh, those poor kids. They had to listen to Huey Lewis and the News, MC Hammer, Bryan Adams (Everything I Do, I Do it For You), and even Boot Scoot Boogie. There was a hula hoop contest (which was fun) and the song playing was "The Twist." One of my Laurels who likes to tease me said, "Sister Jones, why aren't you out there dancing? This song is from your generation." OOOOOOOO! She ran away laughing, the little punk!

I did get some good chatting in with the YW president of the Newport ward and a few other friends I don't normally see. Eventually when the talking was done I got really bored I decided to text message Bryce. I wanted to see what they hype was about, because all the young people are obsessed with texting.

i m bored what r u doin L8TR

Then I felt my IQ dropping so I had to stop.

Anyway, that was Youth Conference.

Book Club

We had our book club last week at Angie's house, where we discussed "The Glass Castle." It was an amazing tale.

She opens her memoir by describing looking out the window of her taxi, wondering if she's "overdressed for the evening" and spotting her mother on the sidewalk, "rooting through a Dumpster." Walls's parents—just two of the unforgettable characters in this excellent, unusual book—were a matched pair of eccentrics, and raising four children didn't conventionalize either of them. The Walls children learned to support themselves, eating out of trashcans at school or painting their skin so the holes in their pants didn't show. Buck-toothed Jeannette even tried making her own braces when she heard what orthodontia cost. One by one, each child escaped to New York City. Still, it wasn't long before their parents appeared on their doorsteps. "Why not?" Mom said. "Being homeless is an adventure."

Before she wrote this book, Ms. Walls graduated from Barnard with honors and worked as a gossip columnist for E! and MSNBC. You would think that someone who came from such a dysfunctional, poverty-stricken family wouldn't live that differently from how she was raised, let alone live on Park Avenue with a celebrity life. (She has since retired to the countryside with her husband.)

The parents in this story were tragic characters, as they were absolutely brilliant people stunted by paranoia, apathy, and alchoholism. By the grace of God their children survived and made something of themselves.

It made me wonder how many people I know in this world, that I know at this certain point--how many came from unspeakable backgrounds? Or at least uncoventional backgrounds? When I speak with the assumption that everyone thinks or feels the same as I do, because of shared experiences--how many times am I wrong?

Our next book is "Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor Frankl.

She got me

A few weeks ago Mary wanted to do Mad Libs. I took a turn to ask her to fill in the blanks. This is how our conversation went.

Me: Okay, I need an adverb. You know, a word that ends in "-ly".

M: No, Mr. Lavender said that an adverb tells time, like "yesterday." He couldn't remember what an adverb was so he looked it up in the dictionary, and so he's right.

Me: Well, that's a very narrow definition of an adverb, but that's part of it. To make this story right, why don't you just give me a word that ends with "-ly".

M: Hmmmmm . . . . . . . FLY.

Me: Ohhhhhkayyyyyy. That word ends in "-ly" but it's not an adverb. An adverb tells how something is done, like the dog ran happily, slowly, angrily . . .

M: MONOPOLY.

Going back a few weeks

After Mary's baptism everyone left except for my mom, who stayed a few more days. I'm so glad she did! We watched Touched by an Angel together, stuff on the Game Show Network (GSN), did housework, played with kids. So basically she just shared my normal day but it was really nice to have someone to talk to.

One day we even went bowling at Sam's Town. This time I made it over 100. Woo hoo! My mom hadn't been bowling for a really long time but she warmed right up to it. The kids were more naughty than usual, I think because Bryce was there(?). They seem to like to test him. Anyway, that was a fun day.

We also got to go to the temple together one morning, which was lovely . . . until the end. LOL You'll have to ask her about it . . . okay, I'll just tell you. She was given the wrong name at the beginning. So you can imagine that things came to a screeching halt at a certain point. Well, it all worked out just fine in the end and I'm so glad we got to go. I have to give a big thank you to Rebecca S. for watching the boys.

Thanks for spending so much time with us, Mom! We love you!

Backyard Tour

Come take a tour of our new backyard!

Before

After



View from the Living Room window. I love to look out and see something green instead of just a brick wall.



The playground--our landscaper put this together--what a job! The kids seem to really like the tire swing. It spins incredibly fast, especially if you have two people on it.



The grass and trees as seen from the LR window. This is in the center of the yard. I really love the triple queen palms (the tall ones). There are some beautiful plants in this bed, including blue hibiscus, rosemary, and lantana.



The trampoline. It is by far the least attractive and most popular part of the backyard. The ground cover is decomposed granite, a popular material here in the desert (at this point it looks and feels like dirt). We certainly didn't want to pay for grass over here because it would be impossible to keep alive. One day when we don't have the trampoline anymore I'd like to build a little terrazzo area and put a patio table and umbrella there. Or, as my landscaper suggested, a hot tub. (Not likely.)



Mexican palm.



Sago palm.



Cape Honeysuckle. We also have jasmine, which I am looking forward to enjoying. I can't seem to get anything done inside these days. I just love to jump with the kids and play around and enjoy being outside in this gorgeous spring weather.

Just the usual

Well, I haven't written for a week, have I? Last night we had the Laurels come over and make cookies and cheesecake pies. I have the best group of 16-18 year old girls. They are so pleasant and nice to each other. That is not the case with the younger group, the 12-13 year olds. I am slated to do some knuckle-whacking over there.

Guess what. Our backyard is finished and IT IS AWESOME. I love it so much. We have the grass and trees, a playground area, and a giant trampoline that kinda ruins the whole asthetic appeal but is SO MUCH FUN. I played outside all morning with the kids. I will post pics soon.

This weekend Tyce is going on the 11-year-old Scout campout with Bryce and I think they are both pretty excited.

That's all for now.

Mary's Baptism

The week before her big day, we had a lesson on baptism for Family Home Evening. Mary Rachel, who always knows the right answers and frequently blows her teachers and the bishopric away with her knowledge, was stressing out. Bryce pushed her buttons (sorry, honey, but you did) and by the end of the lesson she was crying, "I don't know if I want to get baptized! I don't want to be responsible for being good all the time!"

It was like she was thinking, "I want to delay my fresh start for as long as possible because after that, it'll all be downhill."

With some explaning and a lot of hugs, we explained that taking the sacrament each week, having the gift of the Holy Ghost, and repentance are ways she can honor her baptismal covenant and remain clean. This seemed to reset her mind at ease and all was well again.

That Saturday Bryce and Mare went to the church to get their baptismal clothes. M. said they looked like they were wearing space suits(!). After a prayer, some music, and a talk on the ordinance, our family filed out of the chapel and into the baptismal font area. I took M. through the restroom and out the special doors that led to the font, where Bryce as waiting for her in the water. I kept the door open a peep so I could watch; Bryce said the words of the prayer, and with one arm on M.'s back and one on her arm, he lowered her into the water and back up. She did it!

She climbed the steps back into the restroom, where I was waiting for her with a towel and dry clothes. I helped her into her new white dress, and gave her a butterfly necklace. I told her that she was like a butterfly, changed into something different and even more beautiful. I gave her a hug and she looked so sweet and happy.

In the Relief Society room Tyce and I sang a duet of "Beautiful Savior" accompanied by Rebecca Shapiro. Sister Small, the Primary President gave a short presentation, and then Bryce confirmed Mary a member the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and invited her to receive the Holy Ghost.

Bro. Callister welcomed our girl as the newest member of the Church and shared some thoughts on baptism and bore testimony of the Savior.

After a closing song and prayer, she got lots of hugs and compliments from grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends. Tyce's friend Dalton even came, so it was a missionary opportunity for him. (Besides, they knew they'd be playing at our house after!) Then we went back home for pictures and food.

These are Mary's account, as written in her new journal (which she handed me to read):

Feduary 16 2008 Saterday

To day i'm geting bathtisede! I'm very exsited! All our relitivs are coming. I was very nervis at first but when I stept into the warm water I felt calm and relaxst. I love my famly. After my bathtisem we had a huge lunch.

Thank you so much to friends, and especially our wonderful family, who traveled to spend this special day with our special girl.






Check out that angelic glow!

Happy Valentine's Day!

All day long the little boys looked forward to attending Mary's Valentine's Day party at school. Finally the time came to go to the school AND get out of the car, which was the question they kept asking ("We're going to get out of the car at the school . . . right?"). The party was great, filled with healthy food. But then the kids exchanged cards and got a ton of sugar to go with them! C & H were lucky that one little girl didn't care for conversation hearts and shared hers with them. One of the kids declared, "This is the best Valentine's Day ever!!!" I thought that was cute, that in all the living a 2nd grader has done, this is the best V-Day so far.





Tyce stayed home from school today so I think his day was a bit boring, filled with homework basically. He has meds for a sinus infection now but they hadn't started working this morning.

Later I made heart-shaped breadsticks with marinara dipping sauce for dinner. I got out the red tablecloth and the kids got excited and begged for dinner by candlelight. So that's what we had--a family dinner by candlelight. It was fun.

I'm off to the airport to pick up DBcm.

Arrrrrgh, Matey!

Yesterday the little boys and I were at Lowe's. Outside the store there is a guy who has a hot dog cart set up, and he was writing the day's specials on a his white board. As we passed him, Cameron noticed that the vendor had an eye patch. This seemed to delight Cam, and he cheerily shouted, "Hello, Pirate!"

A little more

Yesterday we had the carpets cleaned, which meant that I had to fabricate stuff to do out of the house all day long. LOL First we went to Lowe's (see above) and then to the park, which is known by the twins as "The Elementary School Park". Harrison suprised (and scared) me by going down the fireman pole repeatedly. Luckily he practiced while I was on the swings with Cam. The first few times I'd seen him attempt that feat I was up on the playground too, and that view from the top made my knees weak with the thought of him crashing from a great height. Once I saw that he was confident (and not lying in a heap) I stopped worrying.

We did a few more errands, and the boys took a nap in the car. I anticipated this and bought a "House Beautiful" magazine on one of our stops. I parked the car in the shade at Deseret Book and read, which may have been my favorite part of the day (!).

Then we went to DB, picked up M., and took her to her piano lesson. (Have I mentioned that she started piano lessons last month?) We played with the Shapiros for a while and then headed to a different park (Cinnamon Ridge) with all four kids. Poor Tyce is sick, and even though he went to school yesterday he felt terrible. I talked to our former neighbor Drake, and hardly recognized him now that he's in 8th grade. I used to take him to school when he was in elementary school. (Once in middle school I harldy saw him except zipping by on a skateboard occasionally.) And there he was, with one of my Young Women! I wanted to say, "Hey stay away from each other! You both have problems and you're just going to make trouble!" but I didn't.

After that we went to McDonalds for dinner, just so the kids could keep running around. I went through the drive-through and then took our stuff inside. Mary was lucky enough to have two friends there (sisters). Tyce did a little homework, played a video game, but felt horrible. The twins had a great time playing until . . . Harrison took off his pants/underwear and peed in the play tunnel. I. Wanted. To. Die. There was a mother there who freaked out and dragged her son out of there, which maybe I would have done too, but as it was I was just shouting "Put your pants back on!" which H. scurried away laughing. And what does Cameron do????? He takes his pants off too but doesn't pee (that I know of). So here are two boys, naked from the waist down, running around these tunnels trying to avoid capture by Mary (who has a history of making things worse), while Tyce crawls up with paper towels to clean up the mess.

I gathered my things without making eye contact with anyone. When the boys made it down the slide I took one, Tyce took the other, and I vowed to never take those naughty boys out in public again.

The Never Whisperer

Cameron has not mastered the art of whispering. He was super loud at church today.

Me: Cam, do you want me to tell you a story about Jesus during the sacrament?

Cam: YES.

Me: Okay, you have to be really quiet and listen, okay?

Cam: OKAY!

Me: Shhh. This is the story of when Jesus was born . . . [story] . . . and when the shepherds looked up in the sky, what did they see?

Cam: A BIRD!

Me: No, they saw a new star. Remember?

Cam: A NEW STAR!

Me: That's right.

Cam: {Fake cough cough cough}

Me: Cameron, don't fake cough, okay? You're spreading germs. Let's be really quiet so we can think about Jesus.

Cam: I WANT A CANDY FROM DAD. DAD, I WANT A CANDY.

Me: Shhh. People want to think about Jesus. If you're quiet, you can think about Jesus too.

Cam: {Cough cough cough}

Me: {Hand to ear} Listen . . . What do you hear?

Cam: I HEAR JESUS COUGHING.

How it went

I'm sure you're all *dying* to know how New Beginnings went. So I will tell you. After all our prep work that day and the weeks before, it turned out awesome!

The skit was great, the song was great, and the talks were great. Were there things I'd do differently next time? Absolutely. It certainly wasn't perfect. But overall it turned out really well. For being in YW a month I think we did a pretty good job.

And . . . we have Girls Camp squared away. Phew! (We're going to a camground near San Clemente, CA, which is a mile and a half from the San Onofre beach. Apparently--per Bryce--that beach is THE spot for surfing. So bringing 15 boy-crazy girls there *might* be a bit of a bad idea . . . but we will see.)

That's all for now. Ran errands this morning and the boys fell asleep in the car. So cute.

A Thought

I came across this beautiful ideal and hope to make it my own.

To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury; and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable; and wealthy, not rich; to study hard; think quietly, act frankly; to listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart; to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasion, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious grow up through the common.

This is to be my symphony.

--Willian Ellery Channing

Eight things

These are some things that have been on my mind lately.

1. Family. Many are coming to visit in 2 weeks for M.'s baptism. I'm really excited about that because I have a cool family and I am proud of our daughter. Boy do I have a lot to get ready. I really want all my family to stay here at my house, so if you're staying here and you're reading this, don't mistake my stress for anxiety. Anyway. That sounded bossy. I HOPE to have the backyard done by then, because wouldn't it be nice to have a place for all the kids to play?

2. Death. There's nothing like a premature passing to remind you that life is a gift and that there's no guaranteed time line. Thankfully all the deaths we've heard about lately aren't people in our immediate circle, but the cumulative effect of them all (there are a few others I haven't mentioned here) is sobering. Especially hard is to see or hear about the people suffering from their loss, whether it's a child or a great-grandfather. I am trying to shore up my reserve of courage and faith so that if/when I am ever called to bear that burden--and we all will sometime, which is hard to comprehend when everything is going so well today--I won't have to wonder what I believe.

3. Waste. Brooklyn's post reminded me about consumption and waste. I think the best way to teach is by example, but her words got me thinking.

4. Lost. Did you watch the season premiere? Guess what. We missed about 20 minutes in the middle. I could explain the technical glitch in the DVR recording, but I won't, because who really cares? LOL I am confused . . . what is happening with these flash-forwards? Why was Jack bearded and boozed-up in the first flash-forward (last season) and when visiting Hurley, clean-shaven and professional? Who are the "Oceanic 6" . . . and why are there only 6? Who was that scary black dude in the mental institution? What was the mistake that Hurley made going with Locke? What secret did Jack make sure Hurley wouldn't tell?

Bryce said, "You still like this show, right . . . because if you don't I'm not going to watch it. I'm just in it for you." That's right, honey . . . you weren't glued to the set and freaking out about missing that middle part. j/k

5. Youth. I am so glad I made it to adulthood without doing anything really bad that shut out opportunity for growth--including addiction, dropping out of school, bad grades, terrible friends, etc. I must have had a shield around me because I never wanted to do any of those things. I guess there's nothing I can say or do to *make* my children or the Young Women stay on the right path but I feel a lot of obligation to sure try. I want nothing more in this world than for my children to choose the things that will make them happy.

6. Girls Camp. I'm trying not to get huffy about the difference in budget between my organization and the Scouts. The Camp director found a really cool 3-day river rafting trip which we were totally into for the girls . . . until we did the math and concluded that even with the budget and a hefty family contribution we'd need a killer fundraiser to that netted $1000 to make the fee for 20 girls. Now you might be thinking that this was a really expensive excursion, when it's really that we have a really small budget. The thing that ruffled my feathers--but I'm trying to smooth them back into place and not dwell on it--is that the Scouts want to do the same trip. And they have the money.

We are going to have a fabulous camp regardless--I have the best director and assistant in the whole ward. See me having a good attitude?

7. New Beginnings. That is a special program for all the YW and their parents to kick off the year right. It is THIS WEDNESDAY. Holy shamoly. I feel like we basically have it under control. The theme of the evening is based in the Mutual theme for the year, which is "Be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in good works." The motif is a lighthouse. We have a musical number that some of the girls are singing, and a skit written and directed by my lovely 2nd counselor. I am giving a talk, of course. I just hope everything goes off without a hitch. I truly believe that everything will be fine but there are a lot of last-minute details to attend to, set up, and supervise. I will be glad when we have that (wonderful, inspiring, excellent) program over with. LOL

8. Mix and Match Day. Didn't you know your're supposed to wear crazy clothes today? Today was Mix and Match Day at Mary's school. Our girl took that to heart. Her outfit included purple capris, patterned shirt, swimsuit over all that, underwear over the swim suit, a baseball tie around her neck, two different shoes and her hair done so that there was one puff-puff down, one puff-puff up, and a tiny bun on top of her head. All morning I've been thinking about her confidence. There's no way I would have done that when I was her age. Some funky socks that didn't go with my outfit--sure. But underwear over a swimsuit? Never. She is a funny girl.



So those are my 8 things on a Friday.