Holiday weekend

Such a nice time.  It was the perfect mix of getting ready for Christmas, resting and spending time together.

I did some online shopping, tied ribbons on gifts we already have, and we decorated for Christmas.  Well, mostly.  We haven't done our big tree yet and we need to switch our regular dishes for our Christmas dishes.  (Christmas dishes make me happy.)

I am steadily feeling better, but I am still trying to preserve energy when I can so I had Mark and Emma carry all the boxes up and down the stairs and I was just the boss.  Doing the actual decorating was really fast.  Mark handled all the up on the ladder stuff and he doesn't mind when I say, "Move it port side!" because that is easier for me than right and left.

My kids think I'm crazy but having a weird mom builds character.

Emma wasn't here to help decorate last year and it was a huge difference having her back.  Arranging things is one of the few things I'm very picky about and she always does it to my satisfaction.  She also keeps Mark in line.

For example, we were decorating the small living room tree and Mark was just sitting on the couch and throwing ornaments at it and Emma put a stop to that.  

Friday night both kids were at work and Adam and I had a top secret purchase to make in Salt Lake City (our kids don't read this blog but what if they start today?).  Adam said there was a German restaurant he wanted to take me to.

It was called Bohemian Brewery and that confused me because I think of Bohemian style when I think of Bohemian and this place was decorated in an Alpine ski lodge way and served things like schnitzel and brats.

Adam said Bohemia was a place and I didn't know that (there could be volumes written of things Adam knows that I don't). So we googled it, like you do, while we were waiting for our food and learned that Bohemia is a German speaking part of the Czech Republic.  Also, the food was delicious.  

Saturday I pulled out some felt and Emma and I cut circles for tree skirts.  She has a little tree in her apartment and I wanted a tree skirt for my little tree in my classroom.  She was going back to her apartment Saturday night to watch an edited version of The Shining for her horror film class.  Why she would take a horror film class is completely bonkers but she didn't ask me.  I showed her how to blanket stitch and do a running stitch with candy cane striped embroidery floss so she could work on it while she watched.  She wanted to embroider snowflakes.  I said, "You're artistic so you'll figure that out easily."

Before Emma went back to Provo, she joined Adam and me on a Trader Joe's stop.  For our regular grocery store shopping, I always have a list.  At Trader Joe's, anarchy reigns.  Peppermint JoJos, ginger scented hand cream, cedar balsam candle, peppermint meringues all got tossed in the cart with abandon.  Adam asked if we had a reason to buy lemon curd.  I said yes.

Because lemon curd.

Later in the evening Emma texted me this.

I don't think I've ever taught her anything that she didn't immediately become better at than me.

Yesterday evening Adam and I went back to Salt Lake to visit my grandma and my parents who were also in town.  We have had very few visits with my 93 year old grandma or my parents since the pandemic, but sometimes it just feels warranted.  We had a nice visit and ate pie (and my grandma chided me for not cutting bigger pie slices).

This morning I am back to school and I'm excited to see those little faces again.  I want to see their reaction to our Christmas tree.

Grateful Friday

When you are ridiculously tired and 1/3 of your family is in Virginia for Thanksgiving, Chuck-a-rama seems like a good idea.

Last year one of my friends posted pictures on Facebook of her family going to Chuck-a-rama for Thanksgiving dinner and at first it struck me as strange and then it struck me as genius. 

When I told my sisters, they said, "No!"

When I told Emma, she said, "Um..."

When I told Mark, he said, "Yes!"

When I told Adam, he said, "Whatever you want."

(one of many many reasons I love Adam)

It was pretty good.  We won't make it a tradition but when your goal in life is to be as lazy as possible so you can regain your health, it worked.

We listened to "Dave Cooks the Turkey" while we drove.  That is a tradition with lasting power.

We also went to a movie in an actual theater!  We hadn't done that in all of 2020.  We saw The War With Grandpa.  It was kind of dumb but also kind of funny and hey, we were in a movie theater!  We were eating popcorn just like they did in A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. That counts for something.

I felt a little sad in the afternoon like I was a sort of unfit mother because I didn't make Thanksgiving dinner but my family rallied around me and hugged me and told me that it was fine.

They're keepers.

I'm grateful we got to FaceTime Braeden and Anna and I'm grateful to spend time with my family around here.  I'm grateful for the way they showed their stripes on Wednesday.  Adam and Mark drove Braeden and Anna to the airport in the 4:00 hour.  I said, "You should let me drive them.  I get up earlier than you do usually."

Adam said, "You would deny us guy time?"

Adam and Mark went to breakfast together after the airport and they love their time together.

I love that Mark went to help Emma clean her apartment because he "wanted to spend time with my sister anyway."

I love that when Emma got home, she was happy to leave soon after to run a few errands with Adam and me.  After teenage years of never wanting to run errands, I value every yes I get now. It's freaky.  She says yes to everything I ask.

Freaky.

 

Giving thanks

I have loved pausing to reflect on what I am the most grateful for this week.  It is humbling to recognize all the ways I've been blessed and all the wonderful things I experience just by being alive.  I have friends who have lost their sense of taste and smell because of Covid.  It has reminded me what a gift our senses are.

There's no ranking my gratitude list.  Who could say what is most important?  I think it's all interconnected though and at the very center is my Heavenly Father, the architect of everything wonderful in this world.  I know He loves me and I know He has a plan for me.  I know He doesn't take every hard thing away from me (even though I keep asking) because He wants me back and knows that it is through my trials that I will become better.

I know Jesus is the Christ.  I have felt the sustaining power of His mercy.  I have felt forgiven and the ability to forgive.  I have hope for a better world and I have hope I will see loved ones again because of Him.

I know President Nelson is a prophet of God.  He feels like an extension of God's love and the Spirit testifies to me when he speaks that it is the truth.

I love the Book of Mormon and the Bible.  It is grounding and soul giving to pause every day and read a little and be reminded of truths I know. I know that Joseph Smith was inspired by God to restore the Church of Jesus Christ and I feel connected to ancient people when I recognize that they worshiped Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ the same way.

Everything else that I'm grateful for can be traced back to these truths.

There is beauty all around

I think some really good evidence that God loves us is all the beauty to be found in the world. (Adam took every one of these pictures. 

The natural world is breathtaking.

I'm grateful for art and music and literature.  I'm grateful for the imagination people have been blessed with and then in turn share with the world.  I love art museums and libraries and book stores and museum gift shops where you can find all sorts of interesting things.

    I am grateful for National Parks where jaw dropping beauty is preserved.

I love color and texture and colorful contrast and sleek monochrome. 

I love sunrises and sunset and mountains and beaches and valleys and forests and everything in between.

There's nothing like blue blue skies, snow drifts sparkling in the sunlight, crunchy fall leaves, spring blossoms, warm summer nights.

It's a beautiful world.

Technology

Yesterday Mark went to the doctor and came home with a prescription for antibiotics and a diagnosed ear infection. 

It reminded me how grateful I am for modern medicine.

Without it, Adam, Emma and Mark would all be dead.  I would be blind in my left eye.  I think Braeden would be OK, assuming he survived all the various infections and illness he's had that have been treated with antibiotics.

It's humbling to think about.

I'm grateful for Mark's insulin pump and glucose monitor that not only keep him healthy, but are more convenient and pleasant than pricking his finger to test his blood and giving himself a shot six times a day.

I'm grateful for contacts and glasses.  

I'm grateful for central heating and air conditioning, indoor plumbing and a gas fireplace.  I'm grateful for refrigeration and a washing machine and a dishwasher.  There are many devices that free us up for other pursuits.

I'm thankful every cold morning for a seated heat and (glory!) a heated steering wheel.

I'm grateful for the internet and cell phones and the ability to stay in touch and find information.

I'm thankful for the little things that don't feel necessary but make life nicer like ice cubes and a toaster.  

I'm grateful for podcasts and streaming videos and online shopping.

It's a nice life with all this technology (especially when it works).

A good cry

Friday evening refreshed my soul.  

After school, we watched President Nelson's message which was wonderful.  I'm grateful for a living prophet who is kind and optimistic and in tune with what God wants us to know.  Whenever I start to worry about the state of the world, I like to think of the calm and hopeful and faith filled leaders we have.  They reassure me.

The prophet invited us to share our gratitude on social media.  I've never liked Facebook so much!  How refreshing to see a flood of gratitude.

Later in the evening we watched Emma's last choir concert.  In true 2020 fashion, it was virtual and the singers were wearing masks and were very spread out so it was hard to catch a glimpse of our girl.  (Men's Chorus sang after Women's Chorus and I never did see Hyrum although I enjoyed the sound!)

All the songs were songs of praise and hope and peace.  The messages made me cry.  All the weighty matters of the world just felt a little lighter.  My burden was lifted.  I don't live in the kingdom of Thelma. I live in the Kingdom of God and every time I'm reminded of that, I'm grateful.

The fact that it was Emma's last choir concert didn't help with the whole crying business.  Ever since she was in junior high, we have enjoyed going to her concerts and watching her sing.  

Emma called after the concert and I put her on speaker phone and we all cried together (except Mark who has ice water in his veins).  

I'm grateful for my little song bird who has brought so much beauty into our lives with her music.

Grateful Friday

This week a few students told me they wanted to sit in the front.  Then they all told me they wanted to sit in the front.  In our socially distanced classroom, those in the back are far away. 

I came up with several new seating charts that didn't work.  It was OK though.  I've been moving furniture my whole adult life.  I've been roping children into helping me move furniture.  I'm not afraid to say, "Pick that up and move it here."   "Actually no.  Move it here."  They were troopers.  

I finally came up with a solution that required moving a rug.  I said, "I need strong students to help me move this rug."

They all started flexing and showing me their muscles.  

They rolled up the rug and I said, "Bring it back here."  

They all grabbed hold and I noticed little legs kicking.  I have the tallest third grader and the very shortest third grader in my class.  This short little girl, who is small but oh so spunky, had grabbed onto the rug but when the other students lifted it, she hung on and could no longer reach the floor.

She was giggling and kicking her legs.

I grabbed my camera to take a picture because it was so funny to me.  The picture turned out very blurry. 

Adam said it was like an impressionist painting and captured the moment better than an unblurry photo.  It was a moment of pure joy for me.  These children I love were helping me problem solve and their cooperation and boundless energy and delight made me happy.

I'm grateful for joy.