If you give a mouse a cookie

Or, if you give a girl a dresser.

With the new dresser, I started moving furniture and reorganizing (which is one of my favorite things to do) but I sort of opened pandora's box.

Along with furniture I moved storage locations of a whole lot of things.  I tackled my office once and for all (probably not once and for all, but I can dream) and I decided what purpose I wanted the room to have and anything that didn't belong was ousted.  Stuff started seeping around like floodwater from room to room.

The office kept getting messier and messier and it was a painstakingly slow process to get it into shape because I was trying to really limit the scope of what was contained in there.  I went through everything.  I wanted it more of a peaceful workspace and less of a storage room that could cause bodily damage if you turned too sharply.

As happens with nearly every project I undertake, I thought at several intervals, "I've made a huge mistake."

Adam mentioned in passing that he needed to go through his closet and get rid of things.  "Don't do it!" I warned.  "No good will come of that!"

I didn't take a picture early in the chaos but did take this shot of my desk when it was the last vestige of mayhem in the room.

Multiply that picture times a billion (more of less) and you get an idea of the disarray.

There are still pockets of things that need attending to, but I stopped to celebrate the victory of an office that makes me sigh in contentment.

Before, the closet doors were open and things were always spilling out.

Now it's a lovely little spot (I just want to paint all the trim white).

Firsts

Yesterday at recess a third grade boy had a football.  It was not exactly like, but similar to, this:

(I was going to describe it but we have google images for a reason.)

He threw it at me (I missed) and wanted me to throw it back.  Before I knew it, I was playing catch.  At recess.  It was the first time in my life that has ever happened.  What can I say?  I'm a late bloomer.  Also, I wasn't all that good at throwing or catching but I was at least as good as my playmate and I'd like to think we both improved as the game went on.

**

*

I took a fifth grade boy to "the ranch" which is the name of the classroom that the aides use.  He was very skeptical and suspicious and it was clearly his first time being called out of class like that.  He's fairly new to the school, from Venezuela by way of Florida.  I chatted with him in an attempt to win his trust as we walked down the hall.  The lesson I was teaching him was how to spell laugh.  I felt like apologizing to him on behalf of the entire English language.  I don't know why we spell laugh that way.  You would think the people that brought the world peanut M & Ms would be able to spell laugh somehow that makes sense.

I acknowledged that my son cried when he was little because he had to learn English.  (It's true.  It was Braeden.  He has trying to spell some nonsense English word and just broke down in tears and asked, "Why do I have to learn English?!?".)  My little fifth grade friend asked me, "What was your son's first language?"

I said, "English."

He raised his eyebrows in dismay but hopefully it made him realize we all have had struggles with words like laugh.

I asked him how to say laugh in Spanish.  He told me and wrote it for me.  I tried to say it and he told me I was saying it wrong.  I tried again and again.  He told me not to roll the R so much.  I tried again and he just shook his head.

I thought maybe it was time to stop criticizing me and get back to teaching him to spell laugh.

He had it by then though.  So I emerged as the slow one from that interaction.

**

*

Adam is conducting sacrament meeting on Sunday for the first time.  He said all he can think about is how to say it in Finnish.  He told me the entire welcome and it sounded melodic and burbling like Finnish does to my ears.

I will be disappointed if that isn't what comes out of his mouth on Sunday.

My mom and me

My mom and I both like to read.  We both like the same kinds of books.  We both like to quilt.  (Although I only like the hand quilting part--I'm abysmal at the piecing part.)  We both loved homeschooling our children. (I wasn't homeschooled; some of my siblings were.) We both like to take walks and we both approach things in a methodical manner.  We both wish I'd practiced the piano more when I was younger.

Unfortunately, I'm not enough like my mom though.

Growing up, sometimes my mom would find a mistake that some company or bank had made.  She'd get on the phone and get it cleared up.  She'd say to me, "I spend half my life correcting other peoples' accounting mistakes."

(My mom and I both like to exaggerate when we're trying to make a point.)

Sadly, I spend half my life correcting my own accounting mistakes.  My mom is a CPA. (Is that even the correct vernacular?  Does she have a CPA or is she a CPA?  That shows you how much I don't know about accounting.)

I am not.

If I were an accountant I would have been fired a long time ago.

Yesterday, when I was paying bills, I realized I had made a mistake.  I spent 2 hours and 15 minutes on the phone with various people.  I have a new best friend, Kevin, who is an employee at my bank.  He was SUPER helpful and even participated in a 3 way call with me.  With Kevin on the line too, I finally, finally was able to get results.

(Kevin for president!)

I was demoralized after the entire experience.  I was telling Mark my woeful tale and he said, "It's OK.  Everybody makes mistakes."

I went on to tell him all the other boneheaded accounting related mistakes I've made.

He said, "Maybe you should talk to your mom for lessons."

I don't know.  Perhaps my problem is beyond something that you can teach.  I'm just grateful there are Kevins in the world to save the day.

Unplanned

For a planner like me, Saturday was a topsy turvy day.

At about 10:45 AM, Adam and I were talking a bit about how we wanted the rest of the day to go.  (See above:  planner.)  Emma called.  She had texted earlier but I hadn't seen the text. (Otherwise she never would have called.  She doesn't like talking on the phone.)  Emma said, "I wanted to make sure you remembered about the tickets to the Hale Theater.

I hadn't remembered.  None of us had.

Emma said, "The show is at 11:00.  And I got you either one ticket or two, I can't remember."

Mark needed to see the show because he'd missed the door meeting when they show all the ushers the show.  It was during closing night of the show at his school.

I called the box office to find out 1) how many tickets we had reserved and 2) were there any more available.

We had two tickets and there were a few available besides.  "Just come to the box office before the show."

I yelled down the stairs to Mark, who was still in his pajamas.  I said, "Did you remember about tickets to the theater today?"

Mark said, confused, "But I'm not working today."

I said, "I know!  Just go get dressed.  We're going to go watch."

"What?"

"Just get dressed!"

Adam drove with more enthusiasm than usual (one of us has a lead foot and it's not him) and we got to the theater at 11:01.  Which is impressive because it's a 15 minute drive.

At the box office they were really nice and accommodating and didn't act like we were jerks for being late (even though they want patrons to arrive 20 minutes early).  We were seated in the dark theater.  The show was Newsies which I've loved since college when I watched the movie over (and over) with my roommates.  Turns out I love it still.

After the show, we did triage on our day and tried to piece together the things we'd planned to do earlier.

One item on the list was an errand Adam needed at Simply Mac.

We left in the late afternoon and asked Mark if he wanted to come too.  He didn't.  One store turned into three and then I told Adam I was getting hungry.

Adam said, "Let's stop for dinner."

I said, "Let's see if Emma wants to join us."  Because we were practically in Provo by then.

So we took Emma out for Korean food.  Then we went to the Provo City Center temple grounds.  Then we went to the Creamery.

About 9:30 Mark texted, "How much longer do you think you'll be?"

I really am a planner.

I am.

Grateful Friday

I've been grinning all week whenever I think of Mark's new job.  It is such a blessing for him to have a job he likes.  He said the other day, "I wish it weren't a whole week until I can go to work again."

That is nothing like any job I had as a teenager.

Mark and I took an excursion to the mall for work clothes.  He needs to wear dark sort of dressy clothes.  Basically what he'd wear to church except for not a white shirt.  He shunned everything dark blue, green, purple or burgundy.  He's colorblind and prefers wearing gray because, like he said, "I know it matches."

He looked so handsome (and happy), I convinced him to let me snap a picture when he got home from work the first night.

Then I had him lie on the bed next to me (it was late and I was already in my pjs) and tell me all about it.

"Well," he began, "I'm blue collar now.  I have joined the workforce."

Mark likes that it's at a theater and that his sister (who is one of his biggest fans) is there.  He likes the people and the work.

Mostly, I think he likes earning money. He has always loved money and he thinks about it and keeps track of it.  Because he prizes money, he is very grateful when money is spent on him.  When we had repairs for the van (which he drives now) he was a little shell-shocked at the cost.  "Thank you so much," he said, "I would never have been able to pay for that myself."  (Since it isn't his car, we wouldn't expect him to pay but I appreciated that he recognized the benefit of a car to drive.)

Since he values money, that could be why he almost fell off his stool the other day while eating breakfast when I told him about some of the wacky components of the "New Green Deal."

"That goes against every principle of economics!" he said.

Being raised in the same household by the same parents, we somehow got one child who loves politics, another who loves poetry and art and another who loves economics.  And they have strong opinions.

Since their father texts things like this, I don't think I should have expected anything except an interesting ride with these kids:

If I were a garden fairy

I would probably live in a toadstool like this.

Red and white, white and red.  I never get tired of it.

When I acquired a "new" castoff dresser, I didn't even really think about it.  I painted it bright white with red knobs on the front.

Red and white are my love language.

Here's a before and after shot.

The dresser is sturdy but the paint job is wonky and the whole thing is a far cry from perfection.

That's the only way I know how to live my life.

I purely love white and red though.

Lovebirds

Last night Desi and Adam and I had a conference call.  (Adam in Las Vegas, Desi in Provo and me in good old PG.)  Desi had asked to interview us for her eternal families class.  She said she needed to talk to "a successful couple about their marriage."

Flattery aside, we'd do just about anything for Desi so we said yes.

She asked us questions about our courtship and wedding and married life.  Overwhelmingly, with each answer I felt lucky and happy and grateful.  I love being married and I love being married to Adam.

Some of the questions were a little squirm inducing, like how have you needed to change?

Um.  They are the ways I still need to change.

Some of the questions felt impossible to answer, like how is your life different because you're married to each other?

Adam and I both struggled with that one.  I guess we've been married long enough that we can't imagine life without each other.  There are countless ways he's formed my life.

We hung up with Desi and seconds later, Adam called me back.

"Wow, I love you," I said.

"I love you, too," he said.  "That was fun."

Then we went on to talk about our day and ideas I've been mulling over from the book I'm reading and about opportunities and inequality.  He also told me about the amazing and enormous traffic circle he saw in Las Vegas.  "You know how I feel about traffic circles," he said.

"I do," I said.

I told him about the really abnormally quirky person I encountered at work that day.

Because that's life with Adam.  We talk about the mundane and the cerebral and everything in between.

And usually we look back at life together and comment, "That was fun."

My sidekick

I'm nothing if not obedient (except speed limits--sometimes it is not humanly possible to drive that slowly), so when they announced before every show of Anything Goes that we were not to take pictures, I didn't take pictures.

I did snap one during the curtain call the last night.

Mark had a lot of fun and he's glad it's over.  Like he said, "I want my life back."

He's a bit of an introvert and he's happy to have more time.

We celebrated more time by conquering a big project.  Mark is hands down my favorite partner in crime for rearranging things.  He is first and foremost big and strong so he can move things easily (plus he has lots of experience).  He is creative and flexible in thinking about spaces and willing to take risks and try things and humor me.  He is the one that knows when something won't work and he knows which way we have to approach hallways and turns and stairs because he has spatial awareness for days.

With Adam gone this week on a business trip, it was the perfect time to tackle a big switcharoo.  Adam hates change in his surroundings but I've learned he mostly hates contemplating change and having to come up with ways to change his surroundings.  If I do all the changing while he's gone, he comes home and may or may not notice right away and can adapt easily (as long as I don't change his office--I'm not crazy).

Mark and I moved two pieces of furniture from the top floor to the basement and moved two big pieces of furniture out of his room.  We sorted through all the things.

Then I started on a new project (because I was exhausted so why not?).  On Saturday one of our neighbors posted on Facebook that she was getting rid of a dresser if anyone wanted it.  I did.  Adam said, "But where are you going to put it?"

I said, "I don't know yet."

I mostly wanted to restore and paint a dresser.

Then Mark piped up that he wanted to change his room so the rest was history.  I gave him a dresser from upstairs which will work better in his room and I have a blank spot in my office waiting for the new one.

The new dresser is anything but new.  It was pretty beat up and very rickety.  I had Mark help me flip it over onto a table in the garage so we could assess.  Then he gave me advice on what he thought would help stabilize it.

Mark doesn't really know anything about woodworking but then, neither do I.  Mark is good at making strong Lego structures though and the skills must translate because the dresser is now in pretty good shape, at least structurally.

I love a good project.

And a good sidekick.

My best girl

Emma is twenty!

I failed to take any pictures at our birthday celebration for Emma yesterday.  During the singing of Happy Birthday, I took a Marco Polo because we had people singing in Cantonese, Russian, French, Finnish, Spanish and English.

Before they left, I realized I hadn't taken a solitary picture so Emma said, "Come outside and take one."

It was lightly snowing and fully cold but I did it because I love my girl.

There's a lot to love about Emma.

At Mark's show the other night, I dropped a mint on the floor of the theater.  "It's OK,"  Emma said, "some mouse will find it and be minty fresh."

She called me the other day to read a poem she wrote.

She sends texts like this one:

Her creative mind is always buzzing.

She helped Mark get a job.  (Which is a Big Deal around here.  He'll work as an usher at the theater.)

She will discuss (kind of at length) which word means exactly what you're trying to communicate.

She is a master of portmanteau which never ceases to delight me.

She works incredibly hard and makes her dreams happen.  The girl is going to Paris in the fall because no wasn't an option.  It terrifies me a little but mostly thrills me at the same time.

She has always terrified me a little but mostly thrilled me at the same time.

Grateful Friday

A little kindergartner who is new to the school and new to learning English, ran up to me yesterday, smiled nervously, took a deep breath and said, "Happy Valentine's Day."

**

*

I was writing with a very reluctant 3rd grade boy (my own sons prepared me for very reluctant writers) and I played music for him on my phone in exchange for him writing.  He requested an exceedingly repetitive electronic video game sound track that was something akin to fingernails on the chalkboard.

But the boy wrote.

**

*

Adam and I feasted on shrimp scampi for dinner last night.  You can't be uncheered by shrimp scampi.

**

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Yesterday Emma told me, "I'm all flowered up."  The night before Braeden gave her flowers too.   Like father like son.  Good men raise good men.

**

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I am substituting today in first grade.  It's not my favorite grade but it is my favorite first grade because I've been in the classroom and know all those little cuties.  Also, it gives me more recertification points.

**

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Mark has been exercising with me lately which is hugely motivating.  Also, sometimes he pretends like it's hard so I'll feel better.  Then he leads me in stretches with lots of encouragement.

**

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Everyone should have a Mark but you can't have mine.  I need that boy around.

My valentine

Tonight my romantic Valentine date will include sitting next to Adam at a play we'll be seeing for the 4th time (5th time if you count that we saw it a few months ago at the Hale Theater).

Because that's how we roll.

We both agree that there are a whole lot of things we would maybe rather do instead but at the same time we agree that there's nowhere we'd rather be.  Because Adam and I are more than just Adam and me.  We are Braeden and Emma and Mark too.

It is wonderful to be beside someone who loves these kids as much as I do.  They're our people and if that means going to the same production night after night, count us in.

Here are some other things about my valentine.

The other morning he saw my hand warmers on the counter and saw that I hadn't recharged them yet. He did them for me while I was upstairs getting ready for work.  It made him late, but that is the kind of guy he is.

He lets me put my cold feet next to his (always) warm feet.

He came home from work last night with two bouquets of tulips, one for me and one for Emma.  He always gets Emma flowers for Valentine's Day.  He got her flowers even though he was not planning on seeing her, but last night she very coincidentally came home to take a shower because the water heater in her apartment was broken.  And there Adam was, all ready with tulips.

He has a seemingly unquenchable thirst for adventure and always has good ideas and a willing heart.

He supports my dreams and is unwavering in his belief in me even when I am whiny.

When we are sitting together, holding hands and watching our kids in a choir concert or school play, he constantly makes me laugh with witty observations.  It reminds me of when we were freshmen at BYU and he would distract me every day in Biology 100.  (I didn't know until years later that he went to class twice each day so he didn't need to listen when he was in class with me...I just thought he was a genius because how was he doing so well in class when we just talked the whole time?)

I still think he's a genius.

And I'm a genius, because I was smart enough to marry him.

Light and truth

There was a teen suicide at a neighboring high school that had a direct impact on some of the people at the school where I work.  I felt heavy with the sadness of it all and came home and hugged my teenager a lot.

Last night we went to Emma's concert at BYU.  I went expecting beautiful music and I heard it.  Also, I felt lifted.  As I heard songs of encouragement and songs of praise I was reminded that we have a Heavenly Father who loves us and also a Savior.  There is pain and mental illness and tragedy and grief on earth but it doesn't last and there is comfort to be found.

I want to be a reminder of that Light just like those amazingly talented college kids who reminded me last night.

Recently I was at a social gathering and a woman was saying how much she hates BYU.

Can't relate.

Happiness is...

...seeing one of my students and his mom at Costco.  She thanked me for helping him into the school the other day.  For one thing, I'm surprised she recognized me since I wasn't wearing a million layers and for another thing, it made me realize that I'm not just helping a student into the school, I'm also reassuring his mom that there are people who care about her son.  I'm glad I have the job I do.

...sitting next to Adam during Mark's show (three down, three to go!).  He makes me laugh with his wry comments.

...having the Activity Day girls deliver treats for Adam.  They were giggling and thrilled to be on their errand.

...getting a Provo library card because I pay the fee to have an Orem library card.  Having fun isn't hard when you have a library card. (That's from Arthur; can't take credit.)

...no cavities at the dentist.

...not having to go to the dentist for another 6 months.

...having our upstairs furnace working 100% of the time now and we had new smart thermostats installed.  They are currently "learning" our schedule and I turned the heat up on my phone before I got out of bed.  It's reassuring to get out of bed when the heat is already blasting.

...errands with Mark and interesting discussions.  His brain is unique.  He told me he had been thinking about what he would take with him that would ensure him supreme power if he time traveled to the Stone Age.  We talked at length about it because there are a lot of things that would wow them. Matches, a pocketknife, solar panel, a pencil.

...knowing we have Emma's choir concert tonight.

...seeing birds outside.  It's still cold but birds mean it won't last forever.

Mark's first date

Mark tells us things in such an offhand way, it seems like if I weren't in the right place at the right time, I wouldn't know anything about him.

He mentioned in passing earlier in the week that he might go to the Sweetheart Dance at school.  That was news to me.  I quizzed him about who he wanted to go with and he had a friend in mind but another friend was going to find out in advance if she already had a date before he asked.

These are the types of things that make me grateful to not be a teenager.

So that idea fizzled and Mark was still wanting to go to the dance because a group of friends were going together.  I kept asking Mark about it because I am a planner and I feel anxiety when other people aren't.

Adam told me that if I stopped talking to Mark about it probably nothing would happen.  That seemed like a good idea because that kid is my baby.

Does he look old enough to go on a date to you?  Me either.

So on Friday afternoon, Mark nonchalantly mentioned he had a date.  Who?  How?  What are the details?

His date was a sister of a friend of Mark's friend, Michelle.  Which I guess is what happens when you find a date the day before the big dance.  Mark got tickets and he told me a lot of other guys were getting tickets that day too.  We talked about plans and transportation (because Mark can't drive anyone besides his immediate family) and what one wears to the Sweetheart Dance.

He had to send several texts to his friends to get answers.  Me peppering him with questions was my only role in the event.

He borrowed a suit coat from Braeden and got a short discourse on etiquette from Adam and me and then he was on his own.

They do day dates around here so Mark left in the early afternoon.  Adam and I went to the BYU Women's basketball game then shoe shopping and dinner with Emma then grocery shopping.  Somewhere along the way, we realized we hadn't talked to Mark about when he was coming home.  We've always been pretty laid back about curfews but we needed to at least have an expectation laid out.

I told Adam that sometimes I remind myself of Frankie Heck from The Middle.  Not quite on top of the parenting.

Adam texted Mark and asked him his plans.

Mark answered:

So he's a man of few words, but he has a decent vocabulary.

Later he texted these pictures:

the take-out from a Chinese restaurant they got for dinner

So some people have those smiling pictures of kids lined up in fancy clothes that they post on Facebook and I have that.

Sunday morning when I was asking Mark all about it, he told me one of his friend's parents were at the dance and took pictures.  So you have pictures?  He texted me one:

On Sunday afternoon when we had our kids over, Mark basically had 7 older siblings cross examining him about his date.  They didn't get any extra information out of him but it did end in a rousing discussion where people shared their worst dates and I insisted Adam almost went on a date with Tonya Harding when he was in high school and Braeden told me I was delusional.

(He asked a blonde figure skater on a date but she moved to Portland before the date could happen.  Now tell me that wasn't Tonya Harding!)

(Maybe I'm delusional.)

Grateful Friday

Yesterday my hairdresser texted me a book recommendation.  We mostly talk about the books we're reading when she cuts my hair.  We are both in book clubs and have similar taste in books.

I like people who read

**

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I'm grateful for the hand warmers Geri sent me and super glue.  My poor hands!  This is the time of year I glue my fingers back together every few days because they are splitting and cracking.

**

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I'm grateful for all the people that worked so hard on Anything Goes at Mark's school.  The sets!  The costumes!  The music!  They had a little orchestra accompany them which was awesome and also Mark's director plays the piano.  I love watching her because her entire body is invested in the show.  Her husband was the choreographer and there was tap dancing and ballroom dancing and it was fun to watch.

Opportunities for my kids to be involved in something they love makes me grateful.

I'll try to take pictures tonight.

Dispatches from Provo

Braeden worked as a TA last semester but the professor wasn't teaching that class this semester so he's been in the market for a new job.  He found one and he's pretty happy about the perks:

As much as that kid eats, an employee discount is worth gold.

Braeden also sent this:

Miss Emma Jayne does seem like a gracious gift, even though sometimes her text messages make her sound like a mob boss.

Priorities

Mark's show opens tomorrow night!  I'm always excited to see my kids in shows.  It's fun to see their hard work pay off and to see them so happy.

Between Mark's show and Emma's concert, if you need me, I'll be in a theater.  (Except Saturday afternoon will find me at the Marriott Center watching Paisley, which is also fun.)

Mark has had a busy rehearsal schedule with long days and late nights.  Last night Adam and I went in the Subaru to get him because there was so much snow.  Adam made it home in the van and I followed behind in the Subaru.  It was dicey but he made it.

Between school and rehearsal yesterday I outlined the chores Mark needed to do.  "But," I said, "your homework is the first priority, so do that first."

"No," Mark said, "eating is the first priority."

So he ate a snack.  Then he ate right before rehearsal.  And he ate at 9:30 when he got home from rehearsal.

30 minutes

Even though I usually see Emma at least once a week, I was missing her and invited her to have dinner with me last night.  Adam, Braeden and Mark all had other commitments so it was just my girl and me.

How I love her!

She is interesting and witty and predictable and unpredictable.  We talked about makeup (I asked her for advice because she is good at it and I am not).  We talked about college and Women's Chorus (they're singing at the devotional today and have a concert next week).  We talked about the new aides at the school where I work.  We talked about apartments and France and friends.

My own mom taught me that kids don't need their mothers to be their friends; they have plenty of friends.  Kids need their mothers to be their mothers.

So I've never been one to say they're my best friends, but I sure like spending time with these kids.

Adam joined us after his meeting and we talked some more.

One of the best parts of my life is being only 30 minutes away from my college kids.

Super weekend

Friday Adam refereed (and had a fan ejected from the game) and Mark hung out with his friends and I painted my nails and watched the Marie Kondo Netflix show that I'd been hearing so much about.  I've read her book which is much more interesting to me than the show.  At least the episode I watched, its main value was making me feel good about myself because the couple in the show found it too hard to fold their laundry and wash their dishes because they had two children.

**

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Saturday I pondered just how weird humans are.

First, Groundhog's Day.

How did it get started and how did it continue and how is it continuing to continue?

I like weather predictions as much as the next girl (probably more) but not from a groundhog.

Groundhog's Day did bring us the movie though and that's worth something.

**

*

Also on Saturday Adam and I had a party we called a Music Night with some of our friends.  We made a cheese tray that included lots of deliberation and going to three grocery stores.

We were so proud of our creation, I took a picture:

We noticed this in our backyard:

When Mark (who was at rehearsal ALL day) got home, I showed him the broken tree.  He said, "Yeah, I saw that a few weeks ago."

"Why didn't you tell us?!?"

"I figured you must have seen it.  Don't you look outside?"

Maybe I do and maybe I don't because I definitely hadn't seen it.

**

*

In a continuation of how weird humans are, there's the Super Bowl.  When we were in elementary school, one of Marianne's friends (a girl no less) told her that she liked Super Bowl Sunday more than Christmas.

What?

It is really strong and athletic men donning lots of protective gear so they can crash into each other in dangerous ways in pursuit of a strangely shaped ball.

I read this:

American adults say they will spend an average $81.30 for a total of $14.8 billion as they watch the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams meet up in the Super Bowl this year. The biggest spenders are those ages 35-44 at an average $123.26.

That is staggering to me.  I don't understand.  I know I'm in the minority here.  I know.  I may have a little bandwagon interest if the Seahawks had been playing but they were not.

We had our own Souper Bowl with our BYU kiddos.  I made three kinds of soup and we had two kinds of bread and some of our favorite people.

Emma later sent me this:

Liberty taught our Gospel Study lesson which was wonderful.  It's such a rare and unique time in our lives when we get these spectacular people to come over on Sundays.  We know how lucky we are.

I gave a little recap of the stake fireside we had earlier in the week.  Part of it was about how people (kids) need 8 hugs a day that last for 8 seconds each.  We had a spontaneous hug-a-thon, everyone counting to 8.  Leif said it seemed like we were part of a strange cult.

After everyone left and we emptied and reloaded the dishwasher (basic safety for a Sunday night especially when you used 27 bowls for soup), Mark and Adam and I played Speed-cheesi.  It is Adam's modified version of Parcheesi.  Adam tinkers with everything (except not hodgepodge soup because I won't let him--some things are sacred).

Our empty nest plus one is a pretty good place.

Even when Mark doesn't tell us about the broken tree.

Books I read in January 2019

Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan ***

This book felt like one of those books where the author really had a few different books and mashed them together into one.  I didn't mind so much in this one though because the story was compelling enough and I was rooting for the characters--even the gangsters.

Also, I told Mark they had abysmal morals in this book and he said, "Well, they're gangsters."

So there's that.  The book started with a 12 year old girl and followed her into young adulthood.  It mostly took place in NYC during World War II and even the characters who weren't gangsters had abysmal morals.  It was definitely not G rated and there were whole scenes I skimmed.  I liked it though.  I liked he interesting view of what it was like to be a a young woman in the workplace during World War II.

Goldfinch by Donna Tartt **

I didn't finish this book.  I really enjoyed it for quite awhile.  I listened to the book and it was a long 32+ hours.  The author went into great detail all the time which I enjoyed when I was enjoying the characters and which I purely hated when the tide turned.  The main character moved to Las Vegas to live with his cocaine using dad and step-mom.  He was friends with a crass Russian/Ukrainian kid whose dad beat him.  The teenage boys mostly drank alcohol and spoke crudely and I stopped listening.  The woes of listening.  If I'd been reading the book I would have just skimmed/skipped that part until it got to a different part of the story.

Venetia by Georgette Heyer ***

This was a light hearted Regency era novel that was funny and a tiny bit unexpected and just enjoyable.

The Rumor by Elin Hildenbrand ***

I like Elin Hildenbrand books even though they aren't PG.  For this one, I discovered that the skip 15 seconds ahead button did wonders since I was listening and couldn't skim.  This one was about two friends living on Nantucket and their families.  A lot of the characters were heading for absolute train wrecks and so it was a little stressful but I also liked some of the characters a lot and some of them were more characters I liked to hate and then some were characters I liked at first but then they bugged me.  So read the book and then talk to me about it because it brought out some opinions.  (Just skim/skip parts.)