Weekend-Saturday

I may run out of time before I run out of retelling.

We went to Nevada this last weekend so everything is compressed this morning.  

It was a very nice weekend though (no mice!).  My dad has been the hero (the role he has been destined to play my whole life) and he stopped up where we think they're getting in and he has emptied traps until the situation is resolved.

I hope it's now resolved.

Our initial plan was to go Friday night, but Adam had a late enough meeting that we decided to go at the crack of dawn on Saturday instead.  (Actually dawn had cracked, but it still felt early for a Saturday.)

After the sometimes frenetic pace of things, it is so nice to sit side by side in the car and just talk.  We didn't even listen to a podcast.  We had one picked out, but we ended up just talking the whole way.

Our little pleasant hill was beautiful.  There are tiny buds on the trees and the tulips are blooming.  The yard definitely still has a wild feel to it and we would love to glam it up a little and revitalize the lawn, but I also love the wildness.  I don't want it too manicured.

We did a few tasks and then went over to Aunt Olivia's and visited with her and Uncle Brad.  It is a gift to have them in the neighborhood now.  We likely overstayed our welcome, but we had such a great time visiting with them.  They gave us a king sized bed (so then we had four king sized beds in our three bedroom house).  We are going to give one to Olivia (sister) but she wanted to wait until Edgar is home.  It feels like I'm deep into a family when I'm there.  We share and trade everything.  Aunt Olivia also gave us an airplane toy for grandchildren that she didn't want.  I said, "What about your grandchildren?"  She said the last one was just baptized.

I had Adam and the Cobian boys (sometimes you have to borrow teenage sons) put it behind the house.

Isn't that cute?  Braeden said the picture looked like the cover of a Midwest emo album.  You see what I mean about it being a little wild.  Marcos moved that tree off the lawn right before we put the airplane in place.  It had fallen down in a storm.  I pretended like I was helping, but that kid is strong.

Adam and I assembled a platform bed for one of the king mattresses and used many of the tools Geri gifted us when we first got the house. We talk about what a great gift it was every time we are there.

Adam mowed and I went to (sister) Olivia's to help her make pasta salad for Sunday.  Marianne and my parents joined us.  We moved to the living room and Adam came over too (he had run out of battery power, not lawn to mow).  I love sitting around and visiting.  It is the main draw of going there.  We went to my parents' and had my dad cut a dowel stick.  They had been at a track meet earlier and my dad said, "You know where my saw is, why didn't you just come over and use it?"

I also know where all my fingers are and I want to keep them there.

Grateful Friday

I am grateful for this beautiful spring weather.  I love the shoulder seasons:  spring and autumn.  They are so lovely and pleasant and made even more lovely by their brevity.

I am grateful we are wrapping up (mostly) one of the big tests.  We still have several to go, but I'll be grateful for what we've done.

I am grateful for Marie Louise.  She brought me Anzac cookies yesterday.  She said they are the American version, so softer.  I didn't even know what Anzac Day was.  It is a day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand to remember World War I.  

I am grateful for Adam.  I could go on and on and I often do about what a good husband he is.  He is also such a good dad.  The other day Emma needed a new tire and he spent a few hours helping her.  They went to a park and did one of their super hard sudoku puzzles that doesn't seem fun at all to me while they waited.  I know what it is like to have a dad who is your go to and I'm grateful my kids have the same.

Speaking of my dad, I'm grateful we're going to Nevada this weekend.  It feels like a lot right now thinking about all the things that need to be done, but I'm always glad we go.

Sentimental + slightly harrowing journey

Yesterday we walked to Orem Junior High to watch Seussical Jr. which their theater program was presenting.  It is always a wild time walking there (crossing 8th North!) and keeping an auditorium full of excited elementary students civil in the minutes leading up to the show.  

Then we walk back and they are all thirsty or have to use the bathroom or wonder what time it is.

But Seussical!  It brought back many many happy memories of when this boy was a Wickersham brother:

He was 15!  And having the very time of his life.

Hearing all the songs brought back all the drama mama feels.  It is so exhilarating to watch kids you love (and I loved his friends too) sing and dance their little hearts out.  And I loved seeing the joy on their faces during the curtain call.

There was one girl who attended Bonneville in the show.  She was in Janelle's class, not mine, but I was excited to see her.  The cast greeted us as we filed out of the auditorium and she shyly said, "Hi, Mrs. Davis."

She had played a very sassy sour kangaroo on stage, but she was just a sweet little girl after all, hoping a Bonneville teacher remembered her.

I do!

We got to see Mr. Dawson, our old principal, who is now the principal at Orem Junior High.  One of my boys threw his arms around him.  This is the same boy who asks me multiple times a day for a hug, or just walks up and gives me one.

I had That Student (I'm sure you can imagine) walk at the head of the line with me and I had an intrepid parent volunteer head up the back of the line.  Every 2nd through 6th grader from our school was making the walk and I turned around frequently and counted heads.  At every intersection, I made sure we had everyone before we crossed.  The Orem police helped us cross 8th North which was very kind of them.  

While we were walking back after the show and students were a little whiny and lagging, things got interesting really fast when four police cars, an ambulance and two fire trucks zoomed past, sirens blaring.  They were heading right toward Bonneville and I felt a brief panic because all that was left there were the first graders and kindergartners.  Our principal was even with us!  But when we got closer, it was not our school, but a nearby house which had been run into by a car!

We kept everyone moving and on the sidewalk (it helped that they were hungry + thirsty + needed to use the bathroom).  When the answer to, "Teacher, I need to use the bathroom!" is "The school is the closest bathroom," they are motivated.

We made it back.  Everyone safe and sound.  Well, everyone except the house....

Work vs. outcome

I love listening to the podcast The Next Right Thing on my way home from work.  Emily P. Freeman is the podcaster and she is one of my pretend friends.

The episode I listened to yesterday (from back in March) was an interview with Parker Palmer.  He said something that resonated with me so much I turned off the podcast to think about it the rest of the way home.

(That happens often when I listen to podcasts, mostly the Follow Him podcast.  I've got to stop and think.)

She was asking Parker Palmer, who is an author and speaker and activist about his vocation and what he wanted to be known for. Here is part of his answer:

I think it resonated with me because it is outcome season at school.  All the high stakes tests are happening.  We will be judged as teachers and as a third grade team and as a school and as a district and as a state by how our students do on these tests.

Gulp.

I am not there to guarantee test results though, not really.  I would love it if they do well (and some of them REALLY won't) but what drives me is the connection I have with them.  I love the improvement they make, the growth I can sometimes tell even though it isn't measurable to anyone else.   I love seeing them want to read and help each other. I love that they begged me yesterday to keep reading aloud to them.  I love when I take away their books because they are reading when they should be doing something else.  They are readers!

I love seeing the student who was so paralyzed by anxiety at the beginning of the year that they wouldn't even talk to me has a friend now.  They are inseparable and things are so much better. 

The outcomes come and go.  My attachment to them does not.

One of my boys is the younger brother of a former student who is now in junior high.  He stops by to see me before or after school when he is picking up or dropping off his brothers and I am just so proud of what a handsome and confident kid he is.

They are in my heart.

An even bigger portion of my heart is captivated by my three babies who are fully grown.  Braeden, Emma and Mark.  My work is to be their mother.  I know only too well that if I have hitched my wagon to the star of a particular outcome, I may feel like a failure.

I still want to be their mother though.

Come what may, I'm their mother.

As mother and as teacher, I will focus on what I can do.  I will dedicate myself to the cause.  My dogged trying is the outcome I'm looking for.

It was a Monday

I woke up with a headache (which I resent).  I was about five minutes late for school (which I hate!) but at least Matt was walking in at the same time as I was.

I realized I had before school traffic duty.

My eyes were feeling allergic again, so I looked tearful and felt annoyed by them.

I still had a headache.

We had testing and first the internet wasn't working, then I didn't have a fellow proctor because of a mix up, then my student who doesn't speak any English was supposed to have it in Spanish, but just kidding, it actually needs to be in English.  I had two students absent and testing always feels stressful + a lot to manage.

We're still having intense conversation about next year and it is...intense.  I had a low key confrontation with another teacher and I hate that too.

Everything was out of sorts all day long.

After school we had an opportunity to get a $40 gift card in exchange for completing an hour long survey from a BYU student about our science curriculum.

Almost every teacher did it.

I did not.

I needed an hour to calm the crazy in my classroom way more than I needed $40.

It reminded me of Fried Green Tomatoes, when Kathy Bates character said she was older and had more car insurance.

Same.

Weekend

Friday was the typical situation where Adam and I were tired puddles of exhaustion.  We went to Marley's for dinner and there was a band playing outside and a lot of men in leather jackets milling around the Harley Davidson store that is connected to Marley's.  Adam walked through and looked at some motorcycles.

I can't even list all the reasons that make that a no.

Adam said, "Wasn't it fun in college when you rode behind your friends on their motorcycles?"

I had to admit it was.

Also, such a big no.

We looked at all the shiny objects though and then went home and went to bed like the sensible middle aged people we are.

Saturday was a big chore day.  Adam and I prioritized our list for our house in Nevada and categorized.  We did errands.  We contemplated the future of our deck cushions.  We came up with a curtain solution for a bookshelf in Nevada for when it is fly season.  We get very invested in bizarre projects.

While I did my chores, Adam and Mark tried to wash the robin detritus off the windows.  It wasn't easy and there is still a little remaining.  They used the power washer multiple times and Mark scraped the windows with a dish scraper but it was stubborn. They are thinking some enzyme spray will do the trick.  

We found ourselves at Winco at 9:00 PM, when we finally got around to grocery shopping.  We decided to divide and conquer to make it quicker.  There is a definite stream of traffic at Winco and I went the opposite way to meet Adam in the middle.

It reminded me of when Mark would get kicked out of Smalland at IKEA and I'd have to go upstream to get him.

Yesterday I taught Sunday School.  It makes me nervous every time, but I feel like I am learning a lot.  It is good for me to think about it and talk about it so much.  I immerse myself in the lesson because I don't want to look foolish in front of everyone, but that immersing is blessing my life.

Mark was sick again on Sunday.  He sent me these texts.

It is sobering to think about how vigilant he has to constantly be and to know that sometimes things just go awry despite his best efforts.  

He upgraded to a new sensor yesterday which is awesome because it is way smaller, taking up a fraction of space on him and he said it didn't hurt at all when he attached it.  All of that change and rigamarole messed him up though and he went really high and it made him sick.

Sigh.

I can't even tell you how few nanoseconds it would take me to take that away from him if I could.

Like I told him, God isn't thinking, "Oops...that got away from me."  He knows Mark and what Mark needs. 

This I know.

Marie Louise came over and after a long hiatus we worked on family history together.  It felt so good to be together again.  It's been several years since we worked (she showed me her list that is seven and a half pages long with her tiny handwriting of names of women whose temple work she has completed since we last worked together) and it was amazing to me that some of the names were still familiar to me.  There would be a married couple with record issues we were resolving and I would say, "Oh, that's the one that is related to you. I remember."  They have sunk into my brain.

She insists they're "our" family, not just hers.  She tells me that we're building an army on the other side to help us.  We fantasize about taking a trip to Berkshire together someday where all her family are from in England and we imagine meeting them all in heaven someday.

And she also makes fun of my American pronunciation.  

There's some of that too.

I went to a bishopric training meeting because they wanted the wives and then we had our kiddos over for dinner.

It was a good weekend, but I need a week of school to rest up after it!

Grateful Friday

This has been a busy week for Adam.  I could start every blog post that way, but this one has been extra.

It is a really busy time at work, with him working into the night editing documents.

He has had church responsibilities Tuesday, Wednesday and last night.  

I haven't seen much of the kid.

Last night I was already in bed--which has been the story of the week--when he got home.  He lay down next to me to talk for a few minutes before he got back to work.  It was brief and then he got up wearily to go sit in front of a laptop for hours.

He said off-handedly, "Does my haircut look OK?"  He cuts his own hair now.  

I said, "I think so.  I can see four of you."  My astigmatism is extra exciting at night when I'm tired and not wearing glasses.  I told him I would get a better look later and let him know about his hair.

I said, "I love all four of you."

He said, "We all love you too."

He left, but before I went to sleep, I said another prayer.  I'm grateful for Adam.  I'm grateful that he daily chooses the better part.  He acknowledges his exhaustion, but he never complains about the meetings/trainings/YM activities he has to do.

He just does them.

And I'm grateful to be married to someone like him.

Living the actual dream

Things I love:

blossoms on the trees

the green hills

sunny days

my class

being a teacher

School has been downright fun lately.  We laugh a lot and we read a lot and they tell me jokes and show me magic tricks and I love it.

While lining up for library, one of my students showed me how her book had medals on it.  One was a Newbery Honor.  I explained what Newbery Awards were.  I told her about Miss Hickory which is the wackiest Newbery I've read.

She checked it out at the library.

The secret to getting a kid to read a book is to tell them you dislike it and that is science.

Another student was reading Wild Animal Facts and did you know that narwhals don't have a horn, it is actually a tooth?

I was 51 when I learned that.

I also got hiccups yesterday and my students told me to "search it up on my phone" how to get rid of them.  Search it up on your phone is their answer to everything and anything.

I read that if I pressed my index finger between my upper lip and nose and breathed slowly for 20-30 seconds, my hiccups would go away.

I tried it.

They all tried it along with me.  I said, "You don't have hiccups!"  Solidarity though.

And it worked!  My hiccups went away immediately.

It's a small little life in the walls of an old and very un-fancy classroom, but I wake up every morning happy to go back and that feels like a gift.

A tale of two deliveries

Well, it's a tale of only one delivery.

In January, I got my new temporary driver's license.  They were going to mail the hard copy.

It never came.

I looked into getting it sent again and one place told me to wait three months before contacting them and one place suggested 8 weeks.

Are they attaching it to a carrier pigeon and just sending it in the general direction of Pleasant Grove?!?  Have they decided to live up to the nickname snail mail?  If it's snails you want, it is snails you get.  

I imagine the snail has not made too much progress from the DMV at this point.

It didn't ever come, so Monday I called and after the usual array of phone menus and button pressing, I finally got a person.  She seemed very unconcerned that my license had never arrived.  She said they would send another one.

She said, "And if it doesn't come in 8 weeks, call back.  We will send it again."

How often does it not work?  This staggers my mind.  How unreliable is our mail?

Also on Monday, my little retractable keyring/ID badge holder that I clip onto my waistband broke.  I need it so I got on Amazon and ordered another one.

When I got home from school...it was on my doorstep.

3rd grade program

We did it!  Our second annual 3rd grade culture program was yesterday and I loved it!

(I'm not biased or anything.)

The entire third grade sang three songs together, "The Alphabet of Nations", "I'll Be Nice" (which has a Ghanaian part), and "This Land is Your Land." Miriam's class sang an African song and did an African drum song.  My class sang de Colores (all those kids who speak Spanish are a huge help, but all of them did great singing in Spanish) and danced the Mexican Hat Dance.  Hannah's class did a Samoan sasa.

Here's my class doing the Mexican Hat Dance:

I didn't get many pictures of the event at all because it is kind of a full contact sport.  I was handing out flags for them to wave for one song and leading the music and directing students on and off the stage.  Phew!  It was exhausting but also really fun.

Please notice the balls that were a whole EFFORT to blow up (including driving home for our air compressor) and the flags which were another effort.

Miriam is 6'2" or 6'3" (yes, she played college basketball) so she managed the lower flags but, though we tried, the huge ladder was too heavy for us.

I had to ask and cajole and remind the custodians, but they hung the top flags for us.

The finale of our program is every student saying in unison:  We are better together!  Then, we sing "This Land is Your Land."  You look into the earnest faces of sweet kids with roots in Europe, Africa, Mexico, Central America, South America, Asia and Polynesia and try not to cry watching them sing "This Land is Your Land."

It gets me.

If I were in charge, my immigration policy would be this land is your land and the more the merrier.

During one song, I had a vantage point to watch the parents and it was delightful.  They were grinning.  I also loved the appreciative hooting and cheering of some islander parents during the sasa.  

It was a good time.

And now we only have to finish the school year, including all the end of year testing and prepare for the dance festival.

No big deal.....

Weekend

Adam and I were both beyond tired on Friday night.  He was even more tired than I was and went to bed earlier than me which has only happened a handful of times.  Sometimes life just takes it out of us!  We also wanted to go to bed early because we knew we'd have a full day on Saturday.

Saturday we left first thing for Nevada.  We had a few little tasks to do around our house there and some things to pick up (including our pressure washer so we could deal with the mess the insane robin has left on our windows).

My mom was gone--as were both sisters--but we visited my dad for a while and borrowed a level for one of our projects.

I did a little weeding outside and it was an extravagantly beautiful day.

Sunday we sang "How Great Thou Art" at church and the second verse sums up how I feel in the yard there.

When through the woods and forest glades I wander, 
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur
And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee, 
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee, 
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

There isn't exactly a forest glade, but there are certainly birds in the trees, a view across the valley, a brook and a gentle breeze.  It is a lovely spot.

All the animal kingdom seems to agree and want a piece of it.

A hawk is very perturbed when we are there and lets us know.  Birds made nests in the sagging boards under the porch roof and then there are the mice.

My dad has been trapping them and we didn't see any when we were there and I'm very grateful to my dad! 

One of our projects was the porch ceiling.  We cleared out all the nesting materials (happily there was no bird actively nesting there) and I pushed the boards up ineffectively with a broom handle and Adam, atop a ladder, drilled screws to put them back into place.

It feels like a grand adventure.  We could be home doing things like laundry, or I don't know...resting...but instead we go there and work together and talk a lot and listen to podcasts while we drive.  We try our hands at many things we don't exactly know how to do and we dream big dreams.

On the drive home, I had a notebook and we made a list of everything we want and need to do there.  

It is such a long list.

We are having fun in the striving.  There's no one I'd rather do it all with.

Grateful Friday

I revamp our reading groups at school all the time, looking for the right fit.

I think I've found it.  We read silently (me too!) and the kids love it and so do I.  I call a small group back to my table, we read for ten minutes and then talk for about five minutes about what we're reading, then I call back another group.  I have an aide that does the same thing at a different table.  They can read whatever they want.  Yesterday I had a few kids reading graphic novels, one was reading a big book about space, one was reading her second book about fairies, one was snickering over a book of knock knock jokes and one was reading a book about how to write jokes.

It's a magical time and I'm grateful for it.

I'm grateful that my watch is working.  I took my silver Tommy Hilfiger watch that I've had for about 20 years to get the battery changed.  Several times when I have done that, the guy will tell me that it is not the battery, but the watch.  They've told me that it won't work much longer.

This time, the guy said, "The battery still has a lot of life left.  I think the watch isn't working."

Low key panic.  

I had him put a new battery in anyway and the watch is working.  If it's only running on love at this point, I'll take it.

I'm also grateful for students-bringing-me-flowers-from-recess season.  I have little vases in my classroom for just this thing.

I'm grateful for this picture my dad texted me, my grandma's daffodils from our house in Nevada:

He included two of the most beautiful words in the English language:  no mice.

Ever since our horrifying mice weekend, my dad has been checking the traps daily and I appreciate him (and the fact that we seem to be at the end of them).

For now.

It isn't for the faint of heart.

(And I have a faint heart.)

I am grateful for no mice!

The sunny side

I had recess duty yesterday and recess duty when it is sunny and warm is divine.  I have a bucket of sidewalk chalk I brought outside and two of my girls were drawing on the sidewalk.  They said, "Teacher, we're doing math!"  I felt so proud that my students loved math that much.

One of them came to get me later to admire their work.

She said, "See!  I did 10 X a million."

She had written 10 x 1000 = 1100.

I crouched down and showed her the actual answer and reminded her of how to multiply times ten.

The first rule of teaching is don't get too cocky.  They may not actually have retained anything....

It was such a beautiful day, I didn't let it get me down though.  The snowy mountain practically glowed in the bright light and there wasn't a cloud in the blue sky.

The second graders go in from recess 5 minutes before the third graders do.  I help wrangle the 2nd graders and they had already gone in and there was a little guy sitting on the slide.  I knew he wasn't a third grader, but I wasn't sure he was a second grader either.

I said, "Hi I'm Mrs. Davis, what's your name?"  I thought he said Jack.

I said, "Hi, Jack, what grade are you in?"

He looked at me derisively, "My name isn't Jack."

I bent over so I could hear him better.  His name was Shep.

I said, "OK Shep, what grade are you in?."

He looked at me angrily and said, "I'm not in a grade!"

I said, "How old are you?"

He said, "Six!"

Was he homeschooled?  He seemed too young to be there on his own.  I said, "Where's your mom?"

He said, "She picks me up later!"  He was annoyed with my line of questioning.

I said, "Who is your teacher?"

He said, "Mrs. Astorga."  She is a kindergarten teacher and he said it like I was the biggest idiot around for not already knowing that information.

I said, "Let's go inside and back to class."

He was not having that.  I started talking to him about his favorite colors, all the while nudging him along toward the building.  He was happy to chat about colors and order them by preference.  He forgot about being mad and we went into the office and the vice principal said, "Shep!  What are you doing out of class?"

I left him in her capable hands.  (And when an administrator knows a kid right off the bat like that, they are office frequent fliers!)

The whole exchange kind of delighted me because it reminded me of something Ramona would do.  I told my class and it delighted them too.  It's fun to be a grown up 3rd grader and look fondly at those kindergartners, so young and naive!

This week we've read stories about Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony.  As a capstone I showed them the clip of Sister Suffragette from Mary Poppins.  Of course I did.

Then I had the lyrics in my head all day:  though we adore men individually, we agree that as a group, they're rather stupid.

Those lyrics are a very low-key revenge for centuries of oppression, but I'm here for it.

Tragedy struck during lunch recess in the form of a lost toy dragon.  One of my girls was sobbing and had looked everywhere and asked everyone.  All the girls in my class were worked up into a frenzy of sympathy, huddled around her, hugging her and offering suggestions.  One of them, who has been the distraught owner of something lost a few times, said, "Don't worry.  I found my squishy and my earring.  Teacher helped me."

So, no pressure....

To try to stem the tide of disaster in the air, I sat down right then I sent an email to all the teachers.  I got a careful description and read it back for approval.  They had a few clarifications to improve my description.

After that, they seemed satisfied that it would be found.

I was not so sure.  There are some sticky fingers around there.  I told them that Finders Keepers wasn't so great when you lost something so if you find something you shouldn't just keep it, but try to find the owner.

After school, I got an email from the head lunch lady.  She had the dragon!  It had been left in the cafeteria!

My reputation as the finder of lost things remains intact!

Yesterday I just had a really good day at school.  I realized towards the end of the day that it could be related to the fact that I had six kids absent.  Even when you love everyone, it is just easier when you aren't so vastly outnumbered.

And I do love everyone.  I told Adam, "I feel so sad to have this school year end.  I love my class!"

He said, "Well that's good."

Except that I feel sad to have my class move on.  There are no guarantees for next year; some classes are just hard.

I'll enjoy these sunny days while I have them!

I get by with a little help from my friends

Our 3rd grade culture program is next Monday.  We would appreciate your thoughts and prayers at this difficult time....

Miriam's class is performing an African drum dance and the "drums" are yoga balls in baskets.  They needed to be inflated.

I agreed to help her after school.  We got the two air pumps the school owns.  One is old and the other is roughly from the Civil War era (I'm guessing).  I grabbed electric tape in my classroom because I have a little bit of everything in there.  I tried to patch up all the holes in the hose but it blew air on one side and kept falling out on the other side.  It took me 10 minutes to do one ball and we needed 23.

I drove home to get our little air compressor.  I figured it would be worth the time it took me to go fetch it.  As I was driving, it occurred to me that I had only ever used it on car tires and I didn't know what I needed to do to use it on balls.

I called Adam.

I called Mark.

I called Braeden.

None of them answered.  So I called my dad.

He explained what kind of attachment I needed.  I said, "OK, so where is it in my garage?"

Happily there was a little compartment on top of the air compressor with attachments.  I wasn't strong enough to open the little door but it was see through so I knew I had what I needed.  

I called my dad with the good news. 

He said, "Do you have a wrench to change the attachment?"

I said, "Do I need one?"

He said, "Yes."

I had already left home and I had already left Miriam alone with 23 yoga balls to inflate.  I figured somewhere in that school there was a wrench.

Walking into the school I saw Ethan, who is a custodian about Mark's age.  I asked his help.  He popped the little door open like someone who doesn't have arthritis in his hands.  I said, "Do you know how to attach this?  He looked at it for a few seconds and said yes and did it.  He didn't need a wrench, so apparently this air compressor is different than my dad's.  

I went to the gym and Miriam was merrily filling balls.  My air compressor was about twice as fast as hers so I think it was worth the trip.  

Emily came and talked to both of us about special ed. referrals while we worked.  She had her laptop balanced on her knees and was sitting on the steps while we all projected our voices over the sounds of two little engines that could.

One way or another, we get things done.

Eclipsed

So we have an insane robin.  

It first showed up a week ago and slammed itself against our window repeatedly.  Like for two hours!  I googled it, like you do, and read that sometimes robins see themselves reflected in a window and try to scare themselves (?) away to eliminate the competition.

I banged on the window and told the robin to go away and he did, but he has come back every day.  Our window is a mess.  Is it blood?  Is it snot from the robin's nose/beak?  I don't know.  But it's gross.

Adam put blue painter's tape on the window as an indicator, "Hey bird brain, this is a window."

Sunday morning I watched the bird aim for the middle of the x.

Yesterday morning it was smacking into the window again.  It was early enough that there was no reflection because it was barely light at all.  I told it, as I have several times, that it was dumb and should go away.

I texted my family the bird report (because this is the kind of riveting content you are promised when you are in fam-a-lam.)

Braeden texted this:

He's the same kid who used to take spiders out carefully on a piece of paper rather than squash them.

We had an assembly at school and a man named Tom Ballard (not the same Tom Ballard I grew up with) was the presenter.  Before the assembly started and I was observing him interact with students, he struck me as the happiest person I had seen in a long time.  

He talked to us all about his rocks.  He cuts rocks into slices and then into hearts and then he gives them away.  He had one for every student and teacher in our building.

He said that giving them away makes him happy.

His very demeanor changed my day.  I sent this text:

The heart rock guy eclipsed my insane robin angst.

And that wasn't the only eclipse that happened.

My joy at seeing my students eclipsed the groan I felt in every cell of my body when my alarm went off at 5:45 AM.

During the actual eclipse, I had 6 pairs of glasses for my students to share, and share them they did.  They would exclaim in excitement and then pass the glasses on to the next kid.  I'm almost always just so proud of those kids!  They are kind and patient and understanding of lack.  They get it.  There are only 6 pairs:  we can work with this.

Adam conducted a funeral yesterday and here is part of his talk.

His wise words and the way they make me feel eclipse everything:

“At this moment, light is quite literally coming back into the world. While we have been in here, others have been outside staring at the solar eclipse. During an eclipse, the sun is emitting as much light as it ever has. It is only our ability to see the light that is temporarily diminished.

"Perhaps as we sit here or as we have sat with our thoughts over the past week, we feel like light has gone out of our life. We need not confuse recognition with resignation. We can recognize that the light has dimmed, at least temporarily, but we are not resigned to the idea that it will never be restored.

"Jesus Christ is the light and life of the world.”

Weekend

It felt like an extra long weekend because we were home Friday, which was nice.  We shopped with Mark and did a lot of the Saturday things.

Friday evening we had dinner with Shannon and Chris.  It is fun getting together with them.  We have some pretty fundamental differences of opinion about some things and I think it is good for all of us to get together and talk and say, "But I disagree," and then talk about why.

It is very easy to get in echo chambers and only converse with people who agree with you, so this is good for our brains.

Plus we really like Shannon and Chris.  

We don't just talk about things we disagree on.  We also give each other TV show and movie and book and travel recommendations and laugh a lot and Chris gets Adam's analysis on the latest Supreme Court happenings.

Dinner with friends:  one more great thing about being empty nesters.

Friday evening, Braeden called from Chicago.  I wanted to hear all about his presentations and he wanted to tell me all about the art museum which he had been to twice (he got free admission as part of the conference).  He told me he'd "get to" his presentations and proceeded with the art.  He shared his screen with me and I admired all the pieces he had seen.  I have set my sights on going to Chicago!  At the conclusion of my art tour via Braeden's phone, he said, "Thank you for teaching me about art."

I mostly wanted to teach my children about the Gospel, then reading, and art was third so that made me happy.  

I was also glad to hear about the political science/networking side of his trip.  That boy is hustling to make a career for himself and it is good to watch.  I've always been a card carrying member (the founder in fact) of his fan club, so if he needs a letter of recommendation, I am ready.

Saturday Mark came over (Emma was feeling under the weather so watched conference at home) and we enjoyed him.

I felt humbled and also inspired by watching general conference.  There are so many ways I could do better.  It is good to be reminded and also encouraged.

I always like a good project and on Saturday I worked on making crayon initials for my students.  I had brought home all the broken crayons in my classroom and Adam and Mark helped me some to peel off the wrappers and break them.  I bought a silicone mold from Amazon and experimented with different methods and temperatures.  None of them turned out exactly how I was planning, but I still like them.

(I guess that could be a metaphor for life....)

I had more crayon pieces than I needed so I made extra letters.  Maybe this will be my new thing:  Christmas ornaments for them in October conference and crayon initials in April conference.

Adam and I took a windy walk by the Lindon temple between the second and third sessions of conference.  It is coming right along!

Sunday was more enjoying conference.  Emma came and did a puzzle while she watched which feels like all is right with the world.

I really loved conference.  The message I want to remember is that God loves me and wants me back.  He has provided many ways for me to draw nearer to Him and make covenants.  It's up to me to decide how much I want to participate and enjoy those blessings.

As soon as it was over, I said, "Who wants to make an appointment to go to the temple?"

Mark said, "The website will crash."

He was not wrong.  This was for the Mt. Timpanogos Temple:

I will try again.

We had all the kids over for dinner.  There were ten of us and I didn't take a picture of the table, but I cut daffodils from the front yard so it was pretty.  We got to meet Clarissa's new fiancé, Matthew, and we were happy to meet him. 

I'm always happy to have those kids around.

Now it is back to school.  Monday after spring break is not for the faint of heart.  They either traveled and are exhausted and their sleep schedule is messed up or more likely they were home and played video games and watched YouTube endlessly and their sleep schedule is messed up.

In either instance, they are not ready to learn.

May the odds be forever in our favor.

Grateful Friday

I am grateful to be home, even though my to do list stretches in front of me.

I am grateful for conference weekend.  I love it!  I am looking forward to being fed by the good word of God.

I am grateful we had our trip.  It was a good time.  I loved the beauty and sunshine and variety.  It is a beautiful world we live in!

It's nice that Southern California is there for Utah County to relocate to every fall and spring break.  The Veenkers were on our flight (he is in our stake presidency and is the one who asked me to speak in stake conference and I've forgiven him so it was fun to see them).  They told us about two other families in the stake they'd run into and we told them about our PG friends we'd hung out with there.  

I'm grateful for pictures Braeden has sent from the Art Institute of Chicago.  He is in Chicago presenting at a conference (when did he get to be such a grown up boy?!?) and I love that he 1) went to the art museum and 2) sent me pictures.  Having children that appreciate art makes me happy.

The thing I'm most grateful for today is Adam.

I am fortunate to have that guy.  He quietly figures out ways to get the first class seats on the flight for a great deal and strategically uses vouchers from his frequent Marriott stays to get us amazing beach front hotel rooms.  Nyla was amazed by how kind he was and I just take it for granted.  He'd drop us off and pick us up and make everything easy for us.  He is also the first one to swerve to see something interesting.  There is no way to quantify the amount of experiences I have had because I hitched my wagon to his star.  

Good morning

 

I am sitting on the balcony of maybe the best hotel I have ever stayed in.  This is my view and I love it.

Blogging on my phone is cumbersome so we will see how long this lasts.

We traveled light so I didn’t bring my laptop.

It has been a great trip and we have done all the touristy things.  Point Loma, Hotel Coronado, Old Town, great Mexican food, great seafood, Balboa Park, Seaport Village, the USS Midway (more of a drive by than anything of that one, but it stressed me out when we did the tour—the deeper we went on that ship, the more I hated it.)

One happy surprise of the trip is that Emma’s good friend Vanessa and her mom Nyla are also in San Diego.  We met them in Old Town Tuesday night for dinner and then met up again at Balboa Park Wednesday afternoon and they spent the rest of the day/evening with us.  We spent most of the time on the beach outside our hotel.  The girls and Adam swam in the ocean and Nyla and I sat in beach chairs, wearing cardigans looking very much like the middle aged school teachers we are.

It was fun to have a teacher friend on the beach and I staged a campaign to get her to come to Bonneville.  I would love to work with her.

Now I will try for more pictures:

I took this picture to show Enoch how much leg room I had on the plane.  Take that, tall kid.  When you are the short one, you need to capitalize on any advantage you find.

Here we are in Smoky, which what we named our rental car.  He wasn’t actually smoky but had a very new car smell.  It was because of his color.

Balboa Park








The beach:








As always, Adam has
been the hero of the trip.  He makes good things happen.

Here are the cute girls at Hotel Coronado, looking properly posh:




That is all for now.  I know the formatting is wacky on this post and I will fix it and have more to say when I am on my laptop!  

Just for my mom:  here is a post!

Of mice and men

Mostly of mice.

It wasn't our best trip to Nevada.  We caught over ten mice in traps which was horrifying.  Through unspoken agreement, Adam is the one who deals with all the mice in traps and I am very appreciative.  On Sunday morning I pinned him down to have a real conversation if he wants to abandon this whole adventure because every time we come, there seems to be some sort of mishap. (We also had an under the kitchen sink leak.)

I feel guilty, like he is doing it just for me.

He assures me he isn't.

I went out into the kitchen (carefully, tentatively, checking the mousetraps just in case) and I looked around the beautiful room that I love and out the windows at the falling snow (Elko County springs are not for the faint of heart) and it is worth it.  It is very often a hassle and/or money pit, but I also love doing it all with Adam.  I have learned new things about him and learned new ways to appreciate him and that is kind of exciting after almost 30 years of marriage.

So we will forge on.

And I am going to try to convince an exterminator to come from Elko and figure out where the mice are getting in.

I wish we could figure out how to keep a cat around to catch the mice outside, but my mom said cats in the neighborhood are disappearing.

Saturday morning I saw a mountain lion/cougar/puma/choose your own adventure out the window down by the barn.

Do mountain lions eat cats?  That feels weird.

Wolves are officially in the area too, not to mention coyotes.

I don't know.  Now I'm just rambling about all the reasons I'm not going to let QE go out and play by herself any time soon.

As ever, it was nice to be near family in the neighborhood.  On Saturday morning we went to help my aunt Olivia and uncle Brad move into my cousin Hannah's new house that used to be my uncle Drew's house.  It's confusing so don't worry if that doesn't make sense.  Hannah and her family are in Europe for four months and Olivia and Brad are living there until they can build a new house.  

The Dahl family:  we re-use houses and names apparently.

Emma and I took a walk with my mom and Olivia (sister Olivia) in the afternoon and stayed and visited with my parents a little.  

We enjoyed a nice rest of the afternoon with our two kids.  We listened to music and Adam and Mark attached doors to a cabinet and Emma and I did a puzzle.  We went back to visit my parents and stopped and picked up my jacket I had left at Olivia and Brad's.  

I love being related to the entire neighborhood.

After church yesterday we had a lovely Easter celebration at my sister Olivia's house.  Aunt Olivia and Brad and my aunt Claudia were there as well as my parents and two of the Cobian family's friends, Riller and Gustavo.  The dinner was delicious and then Olivia had planned a very nice program.  We read scriptures and shared testimonies and sang songs.  I cried.  Olivia is a wonder as she orchestrated it all, switching between English and Spanish with panache.

I loved hearing testimonies from Olivia and my parents and my aunts and uncle.  

Like the rest of the Christian world, Easter has been on my mind.  I'm grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  I'm grateful for the hope and peace it gives to me knowing that this life is not the end and that I can repent and be forgiven.  Since I've known those things all my life, I think I take them for granted more than I should.  It's nice to have holidays to pause and remember and appreciate.

Adam and I drove back to Utah a day earlier than we'd planned.  We're having a Goldilocks problem because our bed there is not just right!  My neck and back, which have been going along swimmingly, were not happy with the bed situation.  Also, since we're going to San Diego tomorrow morning it seemed like a good plan to have a day home to regroup.

We weren't sad about leaving the mice behind either if the truth be told.