well, I hate to bring this up and upset dad, but I have weird vibes going on this morning. It could be that I dreamt about him trying to find you, Bret. and that could be because of the book I'm reading, called Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult. so I was lying in bed this morning, and wishing I would have told you more good things about him. He was a lot of fun in high school, popular, athletic, daring, almost too bold, carefree, yet some people didn't like him. he tended to be a bit conceited, and was not very senstive to others. I don't remember what his grades were like. he courted me like Jimmy is courting Kathy. he bought me everything, took me to restaurants I had never been to, all the time, bought me flowers and candy and jewelry and clothes. oh, and we was also very musically talented, a great singer and actor. he was in a theater group.
His parents owned a florist shop, and they were very old-fashioned and looked very Irish.
he was never actually mean to me, esp before the divorce. he just liked to live his life, and expected me to cook, clean, and look pretty. he would wake up early am and go golfing, then come home and want a big breakfast, then he'd go play some tennis or basketball, then come home for lunch, then he'd go to the pool, then he'd invite everyone over for dinner, and not tell me until 4 or 5pm, and he would want me to make it perfect. he was a lot of show. I now realize he was on leave, and this was his down time. it was like his vacation. he he would come home for a few weeks and play all day and night, and then off he would go. I guess that is what all the military guys do on their leave, but I expected more. he was not deep, and did not include me in any of his sports. they were for guys. I see that more now, because I see what Tom and dad say when a girl comes to play b ball on saturday mornings. I guess I didn't actually want to play the sports with him, just to have time with him, but, doing what? he was all about sports. we did socialize often, and played a lot of cards and had couples over on weekend evenings. on weeknight evenings, if he was home, he just chilled and watched tv. most of the couples lived with us in the apartments there, and I know these apartments were government subsidized for us, because he was in the Navy, but I don't think any of the other couples were in the Navy. weird. at one point or another, every single one of those guys hit on me, more than once. They would come over when Terry was out at sea and want to 'help me out'. after a few times, I stopped letting them call or come over, because I finally realized what they all really wanted. (no, I never liked any of them or fell to their prey) and I found out later several of the women were having affairs. what did I know about people at 19 years old? byw, after we were married, he never really courted me again. it was all about him after that. he was not religious at all, but he did become Catholic for me so we could get married in the Catholic church. now that I am older and wiser, I wonder if he mostly married me because I would make a good wife, and not because he loved me. hard to tell. it's funny, but I don't even remember what day his birthday is. I thought you might want this in your blog journal. I only own one thing from him, a Navy pin he was awarded. I don't know what for, maybe everyone got one. I will give it to you someday.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
brazil
that Mexico trip sounds nice, but I was wondering if you two thought of going to Brazil next time? Ana said the tickets aren't too much, and she was just telling me about the trip her sister took on the Northeast coast of Brail, she went from beach to beach, for a week. all really cheap. she will email us the details. Duncan Campbell just went there. he loved it. just a thought.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Dreams
Last night Millie's parents called Millie and I up and invited us to go see a movie, "The Astronaut Farmer." I was excited to spend a night out with Millie's parents because, well, I like em! Also, I think Millie and I really needed to get out of the house, and our alternate plans were to watch a movie at home (which wouldn't have been bad, but I did want to go out). However, I have to admit, I don't think I was all that excited about the movie they chose to go see. All the reviews I heard were not that great. I Hadn't heard anything about the plot really, just that it wasn't very good. But again, it meant a night out, so we went.
The story is about a Rancher (Billy Bob Thorton), named Farmer, whose dream was to go into outter space. He grew up in a podunk town in Texas, joined the armed forces, went into NASA, and dropped out before making it to space when his rancher father commited suicide back home. His dream was borderline insanity which could have cost him his family; however, in the end it's what kept them together. There were two lines that caught my attention. First, Farmer's wife said (in response to his request to haul off the broken peices of his failed attempt to fly), "Without that rocket, we're just another dysfunctional family." The other was a comment by Farmer's wife's father. He said, "You're a great father. I couldn't get my family to eat dinner together. But you, you have your family dreaming together."
I'm not sure the point I'm trying to get at, but I think it's something like this...
I think it's important we have dreams, we share them, and we work to achieve them. On the spiritual aspect of things, we all have the gospel in our lives with the common end goal (or dream) to be together forever. I do think that is a great thing to bind our families together. But I don't believe that is all there should be (not that that isn't enough - but there's a lot of time to fill between now and then). I look at our families and see that we're not too shabby with dreaming. We have school, careers, vacations, and other such plans in the mix that give us reason to talk, share, and give us hope for future outtings together.
There's more I want to get out on the subject, but it's late... perhaps I'll post more later... after some of you (if any of you) post comments to what is here now.
The story is about a Rancher (Billy Bob Thorton), named Farmer, whose dream was to go into outter space. He grew up in a podunk town in Texas, joined the armed forces, went into NASA, and dropped out before making it to space when his rancher father commited suicide back home. His dream was borderline insanity which could have cost him his family; however, in the end it's what kept them together. There were two lines that caught my attention. First, Farmer's wife said (in response to his request to haul off the broken peices of his failed attempt to fly), "Without that rocket, we're just another dysfunctional family." The other was a comment by Farmer's wife's father. He said, "You're a great father. I couldn't get my family to eat dinner together. But you, you have your family dreaming together."
I'm not sure the point I'm trying to get at, but I think it's something like this...
I think it's important we have dreams, we share them, and we work to achieve them. On the spiritual aspect of things, we all have the gospel in our lives with the common end goal (or dream) to be together forever. I do think that is a great thing to bind our families together. But I don't believe that is all there should be (not that that isn't enough - but there's a lot of time to fill between now and then). I look at our families and see that we're not too shabby with dreaming. We have school, careers, vacations, and other such plans in the mix that give us reason to talk, share, and give us hope for future outtings together.
There's more I want to get out on the subject, but it's late... perhaps I'll post more later... after some of you (if any of you) post comments to what is here now.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Obama
30 rock made me laugh as one of the characters struggled with confusing Obama with Osama. Friday at Prudential our huddle quote of the day was from Obama. It was:
"We reward people a lot for being rich, for being famous, for being cute, for being thin... one of the values I think we need to instill in our country, in our children, is a sense of 'usefulness', in other words, are we useful, are we making other peoples' lives a little bit better?"
I really liked this quote. So I thought I would share it. Whether or not he really means this or if it is rhetoric to get a vote, I'm not sure. But if he really feels this way I think it is a good insight into his thoughts. As someone who is convinced our next President will be a Democrat (even if I want otherwise) and who hates Ms Bill Clinton, this is a good sign. Though I don't think Obama will be the runner for the democrats. Unfortunately I don't think most Americans are ready for a black president.
"We reward people a lot for being rich, for being famous, for being cute, for being thin... one of the values I think we need to instill in our country, in our children, is a sense of 'usefulness', in other words, are we useful, are we making other peoples' lives a little bit better?"
I really liked this quote. So I thought I would share it. Whether or not he really means this or if it is rhetoric to get a vote, I'm not sure. But if he really feels this way I think it is a good insight into his thoughts. As someone who is convinced our next President will be a Democrat (even if I want otherwise) and who hates Ms Bill Clinton, this is a good sign. Though I don't think Obama will be the runner for the democrats. Unfortunately I don't think most Americans are ready for a black president.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
My review - 30 Rock
I had my review this week. It was a little unexpected in the fact that I thought I was performing a little higher than my boss rated me. But it was an interesting review and I learned a lot. My boss, who will no longer be my boss starting next month, has really taught me a lot. He is much more used to managing people at a much higher level (like the Senior VP level). This means his expectations are much higher, but at the same time I really get a good view/perspective into what is expected at a higher level.
He is also very talented at diffusing a situation. I went into the review a little upset with plenty of things to say. He is very to the point and unlike every other review I've ever been in at Prudential he first showed me the money to get that out of the way (usually this is done at the end of the review) and then went straight to the point saying, "I know what you want to discuss, so let's just go straight there." Then he went on to say what a talented person I am, how he trusts me and sees me making a big difference here. He laid the compliments on thick and helped me make a goal as to when I should be promoted to VP (within 12-18 months) and then Senior VP (2 - 3 years). He was confident I can do this and believes nothing stands in my way.
He gave me great feedback on what soft skills I need to work on to make it to the next level. They weren't big things and certainly I am not lacking, according to him, the knowledge or talent. I "know my $#!+" and "everyone loves me." This last one - that everyone loves me - makes him laugh as he feels I've paid the whole company to love me - my "own little fan club." I need to work on not appearing so laid back (increase my sense of urgency to others) and make sure I don't get to full of myself (we all know I don't have a lack of self confidence). So, he concluded, I am rating you on where you should be in your next role, not in your current role. If I got the same rating I always get it wouldn't be a challenge. I need to stretch. I should want more. But if it were my goal to just be a Director the rest of my life then let's go ahead and switch my rating to the higher one, but of course, we know I don't want that. We talked about continuing a mentor relationship as I move on and I walked out feeling great and perplexed. Was this the greatest spin job ever? Possibly, but I believed him. I think his comments were legitimate. I think he really does respect me and thinks I am below my potential level. In his words, he doesn't think Prudential "has challenged you yet."
Whether a spin job or not, I definitely learned more from this review than all of my others combined. Here is a man that really understands how to tackle difficult situations and really looks for ways to motivate employees and get them to the next level. How do you motivate employees by giving them lower ratings than they deserve (even when you tell them they are really a higher rating!) and a little less money than the year before (still generous relatively speaking)? He does it. That's a talent we could all benefit from.
So, though slightly disappointed, I feel good about my position here. Now I have to determine if this really is for me. Can a be a VP and Sr VP here? Of course. Do I want to? Or is it time to move on to something else? That is to be determined by spending time on my knees over the next few months.
I was also impressed by the loyalty of my wife. Good thing she didn't live closer or she may have bombed the building. Let's just say that Tevia definitely thinks it was a snow job.
On another note, have you started watching 30 Rock yet on NBC after The Office and Scrubs (both great shows!)? If not, start. It is a great new addition to the Thursday night lineup and truly NBC has a Must See TV night again. Tonight, though I missed Scrubs, I laughed so hard in 30 Rock and The Office I almost peed.
He is also very talented at diffusing a situation. I went into the review a little upset with plenty of things to say. He is very to the point and unlike every other review I've ever been in at Prudential he first showed me the money to get that out of the way (usually this is done at the end of the review) and then went straight to the point saying, "I know what you want to discuss, so let's just go straight there." Then he went on to say what a talented person I am, how he trusts me and sees me making a big difference here. He laid the compliments on thick and helped me make a goal as to when I should be promoted to VP (within 12-18 months) and then Senior VP (2 - 3 years). He was confident I can do this and believes nothing stands in my way.
He gave me great feedback on what soft skills I need to work on to make it to the next level. They weren't big things and certainly I am not lacking, according to him, the knowledge or talent. I "know my $#!+" and "everyone loves me." This last one - that everyone loves me - makes him laugh as he feels I've paid the whole company to love me - my "own little fan club." I need to work on not appearing so laid back (increase my sense of urgency to others) and make sure I don't get to full of myself (we all know I don't have a lack of self confidence). So, he concluded, I am rating you on where you should be in your next role, not in your current role. If I got the same rating I always get it wouldn't be a challenge. I need to stretch. I should want more. But if it were my goal to just be a Director the rest of my life then let's go ahead and switch my rating to the higher one, but of course, we know I don't want that. We talked about continuing a mentor relationship as I move on and I walked out feeling great and perplexed. Was this the greatest spin job ever? Possibly, but I believed him. I think his comments were legitimate. I think he really does respect me and thinks I am below my potential level. In his words, he doesn't think Prudential "has challenged you yet."
Whether a spin job or not, I definitely learned more from this review than all of my others combined. Here is a man that really understands how to tackle difficult situations and really looks for ways to motivate employees and get them to the next level. How do you motivate employees by giving them lower ratings than they deserve (even when you tell them they are really a higher rating!) and a little less money than the year before (still generous relatively speaking)? He does it. That's a talent we could all benefit from.
So, though slightly disappointed, I feel good about my position here. Now I have to determine if this really is for me. Can a be a VP and Sr VP here? Of course. Do I want to? Or is it time to move on to something else? That is to be determined by spending time on my knees over the next few months.
I was also impressed by the loyalty of my wife. Good thing she didn't live closer or she may have bombed the building. Let's just say that Tevia definitely thinks it was a snow job.
On another note, have you started watching 30 Rock yet on NBC after The Office and Scrubs (both great shows!)? If not, start. It is a great new addition to the Thursday night lineup and truly NBC has a Must See TV night again. Tonight, though I missed Scrubs, I laughed so hard in 30 Rock and The Office I almost peed.
Sarah and baby Alexa
Lexi was born yesterday. 8lbs 10 oz, all is well. Sarah went 3 times to the hospital, and they sent her home twice. they also had a really hard time breaking her water, they had to give her medication to help it break. Kathy is out there, and she has been a big help with Trevor. I think they will have pics on their website by tomorrow.
teaching at RCK
once again I had the privilege to teach at ketcham. I can not believe they pay me for what I did. I went in at 8:45, for 3rd period. I had 4 kids in my resource room, and read Bridge to Teribithia while they did homework. and again, for 4th period, I did the same with 3 kids. I then had lunch, and then a free period which is called prep time for the teachers, but since I had nothing to prep... then, I had a 7th period resource, where I had 4 kids, and one actually asked me a question! hurray! I helped him for about 10 minutes as he answered questions about the movie he had seen in English, The 5 People you Meet in Heaven. luckily, I had read it. then, I was supposed to have a prep period for 8th, but I had already finished the entire book that I had just started this morning in 3rd period, so I asked the office if there was somewhere they needed me, and I was sent to another resource room, and had 4 kids. we talked and that was my day. all the kids were nice, no trouble, and a few were pretty strange. One kid, about 6'4'' tall, looked totally normal, but he was the strangest of all. he said things that were pretty out of the ordinary. he was telling this one girl that he would like to take some kids, put them in those rolling garbage cans, and roll then into walls. hmmm. the other kids in there seemed to not be over reactive to his strange ideas. they just let him ramble. he had a Jimmy Hendrix t-shirt on, and asked me why the news is paying so much attention to a porn star, and didn't do anything much for Jimmy Hendrix or James Brown. hee hee. I'd love to get into his brain and home life. oh, Kathy- I had Amanda Peebes sister Melissa in one class, and Doug Weeks brother, Zach, in the same one. she was nice to me and we talked a lot about your friends. she says she misses their presence in the school. she said Steve Orifice transferred from Havastraw to St Rose. she knew Jimmy, of course. and you.... :) she looks just like amanda.
and - when I see all these 9th and 10th graders at the school, they look so young. I used to think you were all so old when you were in high school. they look so funny swearing and hugging and wearing all abacrombie. weird.
and - when I see all these 9th and 10th graders at the school, they look so young. I used to think you were all so old when you were in high school. they look so funny swearing and hugging and wearing all abacrombie. weird.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Camelback and Sugar
Today Bret and I hiked up Camelback Mountain. The weather was overcast and a little chilly even. (It was even sprinkling when we reached the summit)So, this is the same hike that many of you did over the Thanksgiving holiday. Today I realized a couple of things. I will share those things with you.
Number 1. My body is far older than my mind is. I know this is an ongoing occurrence as we age here in mortality. I truly believe that our spirits are made up of much more tough and long-lasting material than this mortal thing we cart around called our body. In my mind I kept saying, "I am only about 16-20 years old", but my body was screaming "what the heck are you doing to me" in protest. It wasn't so much my muscles as my breathing capabilities that were feeling the burn. Each time we would come to a steep climb I would be totally winded after the ascent. At one point I thought I was going to hurl because my ears were cold and my chest was so tight from lack of oxygen and an over-worked heart. Which leads right into my next realization.
Number 2. I am very stubborn and proud. This can often be a cause of sadness in a persons life if viewed in a negative light. In this situation I believe it kept me going. First of all, it kept me from hurling all over the mountain and succumbing to tears of frustration that my body just isn't what it was even five years ago. There was no way in the world I was going to have a break down, especially when I saw senior citizens and young children (some of whom were somewhat overweight) pass me by. That, my friends, would be far too humiliating to live down. Second, I had great inspiration from those family members who had already gone before me. There was no way I could ever live with myself having known that Millie (who was pregnant when she did this hike) and Cari (who hasn't had as many opportunities to hike in her life as I have) and Risa (who isn't blessed with the same physical stamina and muscle tone as I am) could make it up, yet I couldn't. That would be a dark day indeed for me. Granted, I tried to justify all those things in my mind by saying I was "older" and have had 3 kids which none of these girls are or have done, but that would be a pretty lame excuse. So I am glad that I am stubborn and proud because it kept me going. Bret tried to encourage me, but in the end, it was me not being able to face the shame that got my sorry butt to the top of that mountain. And I was so glad for that because the view was absolutely beautiful. It took less than half the time to get down as it did to go up, but we pretty much ran most of the way down. It felt fantastic and I can't wait to do it again.
Okay, SUGAR...
Well, Bret and I tried to go off of sugar for 14 days to see if it would help us shed the last few pounds we are trying to get rid of. All during the two weeks all I could think about was all things sugary. I even dreamed about eating bowls and bowls of ice cream and chocolate. Then Valentine's day rolled right into the middle of the last week of no sugar. Sugar abounded in plenty at our house as the boys brought goodies home from school and mom sent a box full of candy. Oh how I have never in my life wanted sugar more than I did on that day, and was counting down the days till I could eat it again. The night before our last day of no sugar we bought some cookies and ice cream to help celebrate our no sugar weeks. I kept imagining how lovely it would be to just eat it again. Well, I was pretty amazed at what happened. The day that I was "allowed" to eat it, I actually had no real desire to do so. I think just the fact that I had banned myself from it, made it that much more desirable to me. When we finally did indulge in the sweet goodness of my very favorite ice cream (Ben and Jerry's mint chocolate cookie) it wasn't as good or as satisfying as I had imagined it would be. The ice cream still tasted good, but it wasn't as great as my mind had made it out that it would be. I had also taken a small bite of a Hershey's bar that mom had sent, and it was really not that great. Ultimately, I think I will continue to monitor my sugar intake and not eat things just because I want to have something sweet. I am going to stick to the really yummy sweet things and forsake all others! Well, at least that is the plan. I think I did feel better physically not eating so many sweet confections, and we don't even eat or drink nearly as much sugar as the average American.
So that is my blog. Take it, or leave it....
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Karma, Coincidence, or Answer to Prayer
Often in my life I wonder what is truly coincidence and what is a result of good karma or prayer. I am such an optimist and truly believe we shape our lives and what happens to us in life. I love thinking about things like this as it really makes you test your faith and wonder about how life works.
A recent example was quite dramatic and opened up this line of thought again. A few weeks ago one of my clients was starting to get out of control. One of our client contacts was becoming overwhelming and causing my employees angst and stress. She treated my employees poorly and after some time both of my employees were asking to not work on this client any longer. This client is an important client and though most people are very aware that they are no fun to work with I certainly could not replace both employees - but at the same time I did not want them to quit from being overwhelmed and stressed. So, for the first time in a while, I said a very specific prayer regarding this client and asked that things get better. One week later our client contact sent a note saying it was her last day and she would no longer be working with us.
So, as I read the email I wondered to myself if this was purely coincidental or an actual answer to my prayer. I mean, did a prayer made with faith make someone lose their position? Is prayer that powerful? Do I have that much faith? The reality is that the answer is probably somewhere in between these two extremes. But it is fun to think about.
A recent example was quite dramatic and opened up this line of thought again. A few weeks ago one of my clients was starting to get out of control. One of our client contacts was becoming overwhelming and causing my employees angst and stress. She treated my employees poorly and after some time both of my employees were asking to not work on this client any longer. This client is an important client and though most people are very aware that they are no fun to work with I certainly could not replace both employees - but at the same time I did not want them to quit from being overwhelmed and stressed. So, for the first time in a while, I said a very specific prayer regarding this client and asked that things get better. One week later our client contact sent a note saying it was her last day and she would no longer be working with us.
So, as I read the email I wondered to myself if this was purely coincidental or an actual answer to my prayer. I mean, did a prayer made with faith make someone lose their position? Is prayer that powerful? Do I have that much faith? The reality is that the answer is probably somewhere in between these two extremes. But it is fun to think about.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Death, Sleep, and Taxes
Death: It seems to me that a lot of people have been dying in recent months. There have been scary deaths, like the Trolley Square shootings that Jacob Webb mentioned in one of his comments. (The 15-year-old was a girl, though. At least that's what our newspaper said.) There have been expected deaths, like that of my mom's very good friend Eva Willis, who just passed on two days ago from lingering effects of her major stroke last fall. And there have been mystery deaths that the media can't let go. I'm not even going to mention the name, I'm so sick of hearing about that one. And then there's the constant reports of deaths in Iraq and Afgahnistan and Sudan and Ethopia and so on. Maybe I'm looking for patterns where there aren't any or maybe I'm just being morbid in concentrating on all the deaths that I've been seeing and hearing about lately. But it seems to me that Heavenly Father is calling a lot of people home these days. It just makes me think about what I do with my time every day and am I living each day like I really want to be. Have I done enough good with my life? Those kind of thoughts.
Sleep: Somedays, I see this as a necessary but unwelcome bodily function I wish I could do without. I mean, if I didn't have to sleep, do you know how many more hours of video games I could fit into a day? I could play as much as Jacob does. :P (j/k, honey) And then there's days when I wish my sleep would never end because it's just so comfortable. In case anyone's lost on this, Jacob has the most bizarre sleeping habits of anyone I've ever know. Some nights, he sleeps 12 hours, others he sleeps zero. Sometimes he sleeps more soundly than I do, other nights he's jumping on the bed, screaming out something being on fire, but then he doesnt' remember doing any of that. He will have full, intelligent sounding conversations with me while I'm awake and he's asleep, but then he doesn't remember anything I or he said. He might be pulling my leg on that one though. I'll have to do some further investigation. :) I, on the other hand, am waking up earlier and earlier every day no matter when I get to sleep the night before. Well, early for me, not the rest of the world. Yesterday, it was 6:30 am. Today, it was 8 am, which for a Saturday is dang early. I do fine, getting to work on time, not falling asleep at my desk. Usually. But I do worry about when Jacob joins the "real" workforce and needs to keep more regular hours. We both do. I don't know how well he's going to adjust to that "normal" schedule that seems to be so abnormal for his body. He's tried to keep that schedule, sleep around 11 to 7ish. It lasts about 3 days and then he'll lay in bed all night long, completely unable to sleep until about 8 am. Bodies are so, so weird. And so is Jacob, but I think we all knew that already. :) (Love you, Jake).
Taxes: I'm practically immersed in taxes 8 hours a day. Of course I'm gonna have a little something say about them. I'll try to keep it to a very little though. I know most people don't find taxes as interesting or as funny as I do lately. I have lots of little funny (to me) things to say about taxes and weird customer calls we get, but I've already deleted two paragraphs that I've written about them because I don't know if anyone really wants to read about it. So if anyone wants to hear all the crazy stuff that happens with taxes, ask me on the desert trip. :) I do want to put a little plug in for the company (though I kinda feel like a jerk for doing this). The website I'd suggest everyone check out is www.express1040.com so you can see what I ignored my husband for during the month of December. We don't support some stuff, so maybe no one can use it to do their taxes anyway. There's a link to the items the website doesn't support on the homepage. But we used it to do our taxes and already got our refund yesterday. :) Hooray for paying off student loans. Yeah, we're that boring that all we're doing with our refund is paying off student loans. But refunds are good, and I know about lots more deductions now than I used to, so if anyone has tax questions, lemme know. I'm starting to enjoy doing people's taxes. I don't know if I should be frightened of that or not.
Well, this post ended up being way, way longer than I intended. I guess when you don't blog for as long as I haven't, a lot builds up that you want to say.
Sleep: Somedays, I see this as a necessary but unwelcome bodily function I wish I could do without. I mean, if I didn't have to sleep, do you know how many more hours of video games I could fit into a day? I could play as much as Jacob does. :P (j/k, honey) And then there's days when I wish my sleep would never end because it's just so comfortable. In case anyone's lost on this, Jacob has the most bizarre sleeping habits of anyone I've ever know. Some nights, he sleeps 12 hours, others he sleeps zero. Sometimes he sleeps more soundly than I do, other nights he's jumping on the bed, screaming out something being on fire, but then he doesnt' remember doing any of that. He will have full, intelligent sounding conversations with me while I'm awake and he's asleep, but then he doesn't remember anything I or he said. He might be pulling my leg on that one though. I'll have to do some further investigation. :) I, on the other hand, am waking up earlier and earlier every day no matter when I get to sleep the night before. Well, early for me, not the rest of the world. Yesterday, it was 6:30 am. Today, it was 8 am, which for a Saturday is dang early. I do fine, getting to work on time, not falling asleep at my desk. Usually. But I do worry about when Jacob joins the "real" workforce and needs to keep more regular hours. We both do. I don't know how well he's going to adjust to that "normal" schedule that seems to be so abnormal for his body. He's tried to keep that schedule, sleep around 11 to 7ish. It lasts about 3 days and then he'll lay in bed all night long, completely unable to sleep until about 8 am. Bodies are so, so weird. And so is Jacob, but I think we all knew that already. :) (Love you, Jake).
Taxes: I'm practically immersed in taxes 8 hours a day. Of course I'm gonna have a little something say about them. I'll try to keep it to a very little though. I know most people don't find taxes as interesting or as funny as I do lately. I have lots of little funny (to me) things to say about taxes and weird customer calls we get, but I've already deleted two paragraphs that I've written about them because I don't know if anyone really wants to read about it. So if anyone wants to hear all the crazy stuff that happens with taxes, ask me on the desert trip. :) I do want to put a little plug in for the company (though I kinda feel like a jerk for doing this). The website I'd suggest everyone check out is www.express1040.com so you can see what I ignored my husband for during the month of December. We don't support some stuff, so maybe no one can use it to do their taxes anyway. There's a link to the items the website doesn't support on the homepage. But we used it to do our taxes and already got our refund yesterday. :) Hooray for paying off student loans. Yeah, we're that boring that all we're doing with our refund is paying off student loans. But refunds are good, and I know about lots more deductions now than I used to, so if anyone has tax questions, lemme know. I'm starting to enjoy doing people's taxes. I don't know if I should be frightened of that or not.
Well, this post ended up being way, way longer than I intended. I guess when you don't blog for as long as I haven't, a lot builds up that you want to say.
mouse in a restaurant
Ok, so what do you do? we are sitting in Ollies, a fairly popular Chinese restaurant close to the temple, crowded, people everywhere, when a guy at the table next to us says, "look, there's a mouse under that table!" we had ordered, but not gotten our food. do you A) make a scene?
B) leave? C) just eat anyways, which is what we did. Did we just follow along with the crowd cause that's what everyone else did? no one seemed to care. or were we just too cold to walk anywhere else? it was freezing down there, and dad had no hat or gloves, the car was too far away for me to walk, and I walk slowly now a days. funny. anyways, I did tell the manager later when I was waiting for dad to get the car. He just asked where it was, I told him, and he went to investigate; no apology whatsoever! the food was probably the worst Chinese food I have ever had, except dad ordered mango chicken and the mango was good. :) not the chicken. how can you mess up chicken? my lowmein was big, fat slurpy slippery noodles with maybe five tiny strings of chicken in it and no vegies at all. we won't go back there, needless to say. but, note to us girls, ( the place was full of male NY dancers and maybe models, there is a dance school next door, whoa, talk about a lot of good looking men from 18-about 28ish, all different cultures, from handsome to pretty, if you can picture that.) oh, not to mention the 3 homeless men in there that pretty much were freezing and most of the people ignored. they were in the front part of the restaurant where they serve take out. I had only one dollar, and I couldn't figure out how to give it to 3 people. (dad had already left).
B) leave? C) just eat anyways, which is what we did. Did we just follow along with the crowd cause that's what everyone else did? no one seemed to care. or were we just too cold to walk anywhere else? it was freezing down there, and dad had no hat or gloves, the car was too far away for me to walk, and I walk slowly now a days. funny. anyways, I did tell the manager later when I was waiting for dad to get the car. He just asked where it was, I told him, and he went to investigate; no apology whatsoever! the food was probably the worst Chinese food I have ever had, except dad ordered mango chicken and the mango was good. :) not the chicken. how can you mess up chicken? my lowmein was big, fat slurpy slippery noodles with maybe five tiny strings of chicken in it and no vegies at all. we won't go back there, needless to say. but, note to us girls, ( the place was full of male NY dancers and maybe models, there is a dance school next door, whoa, talk about a lot of good looking men from 18-about 28ish, all different cultures, from handsome to pretty, if you can picture that.) oh, not to mention the 3 homeless men in there that pretty much were freezing and most of the people ignored. they were in the front part of the restaurant where they serve take out. I had only one dollar, and I couldn't figure out how to give it to 3 people. (dad had already left).
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
albanians
what do you know about Albanians? ;) I signed up for ISR at the junior high today. fun! I like troubled teens. anyways, one of them had such a chip on his shoulder, he was Albanian, and he kept saying everyone in the school was prejudiced against Albanians. we had a long talk, as he explained some things to me. I was amazed. I love learning new things. I had 4 boys, all in IN-school-suspension for fighting. I was not supposed to let them have candy, any drinks but water, etc. and they have to sit quietly and do work. I took the liberty of bribing them with starburst if they got their work done, then I had a nice 5 way chat to let them air their grievences, then the last period I taught them how to make paper airplanes. :) well, they were done with their work, and they had a whole 45 minutes to just sit there. sooo, I thought that would be dumb. we made airplanes and talked about life and favorite movies and groups and sports and I told them I would get fired if they found out how nice I was to them, and they, these cool, tough guys, were so cute and over protective of me and made these vows to never tell. how fun is my job!
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Saturday, February 10, 2007
World Wide training meeting-favorite teacher
I don't know which of you gets to atend this today, but dad I just got back from it. it was really good. President Monson always comes up with amazing stores. the subject this time was teaching. it make me inspired to ask everyone us of to contribute a story to the blog about their all time favorite teacher, church or school. Kathy was blessed to have so very many excellent teachers. as I start to try and remember, I feel just the opposite. I can hardly remember any of their names, and not even one stands out to me from kindergarten on to high school. not even one! I can not think of one super duper intersting learning experience from any. I didn't even have a high school teacher that I could say I admire or that particularly helped me. Isn't that weird? I had nuns that gave me religious bookmarks for know ing spelling and math, but none that took any special interest in me. I did have one male teacher in about 5th grade or so that let me and Alexa stay after school and clean his blackboards and let us have Pepsis. now, I find myself questioning why? I am not even sure of his name. in high school, I now know, which I didn't then, that I was on the 'not going to college' track. I was never brought in once to talk to a counselor that I remember. I just went along with whatever classes they 'gave' me. I did like sewing, and did get the chance to opt to work half a day both my junior and senior years, which was awesome. so, who is my favorite teacher? dad. I love to hear him teach the gospel. truly. when I was dating him, I would go to his ward when he taught gospel doctrine. I was amazed at his ability, his knowledge, and the power he taught with. I never had a Primary or YW teacher, so that must be wonderful to have.
Friday, February 09, 2007
Ghosts
Okay,
So maybe we don't REALLY have "ghosts"... but our house sure does creak and moan a lot. In fact, Millie usually won't go to the third floor by herself, but she got brave yesterday and went up to look for a band aid! I'm so proud of her! I think for the most part the noises are just the heating ducts, but there are times where is sounds JUST LIKE someone walking around... and at the early hours of the morning it can be kinda scary if you let your imagination go!
I would also say that there are at least two animal ghosts running around now somewhere... but according to Mary, she paid to have their ashes spread over Mt. Timponogos so, they're probably running around up there somewhere.
Living out in the boonies (in Manila, UT) we don't get many police hilocopters or... well... anything... but last night we were in the living room and I saw a mouse run under a hutch, so I told Millie, "there's a mouse." She didn't believe me until is walked out to the middle of the floor... and yes, it just walked... So, I killed it with a pillow. Millie was screaming SO much... I thought it was kinda funny. I think the mouse was about to die anyway because of how slow it was moving, perhaps it got into some of the mouse poison Mary has out.... anyway... mice or ghosts, we're doin fine.
Millie is checking out as right on track with each doctor visit. She woke us up this early this morning with a charlie horse in her leg, but other than that, I think she's been a pretty healthy pregnant woman... lucky me!
Maybe she'll blog a more in-depth analysis of her health and status... Millie? :)
So maybe we don't REALLY have "ghosts"... but our house sure does creak and moan a lot. In fact, Millie usually won't go to the third floor by herself, but she got brave yesterday and went up to look for a band aid! I'm so proud of her! I think for the most part the noises are just the heating ducts, but there are times where is sounds JUST LIKE someone walking around... and at the early hours of the morning it can be kinda scary if you let your imagination go!
I would also say that there are at least two animal ghosts running around now somewhere... but according to Mary, she paid to have their ashes spread over Mt. Timponogos so, they're probably running around up there somewhere.
Living out in the boonies (in Manila, UT) we don't get many police hilocopters or... well... anything... but last night we were in the living room and I saw a mouse run under a hutch, so I told Millie, "there's a mouse." She didn't believe me until is walked out to the middle of the floor... and yes, it just walked... So, I killed it with a pillow. Millie was screaming SO much... I thought it was kinda funny. I think the mouse was about to die anyway because of how slow it was moving, perhaps it got into some of the mouse poison Mary has out.... anyway... mice or ghosts, we're doin fine.
Millie is checking out as right on track with each doctor visit. She woke us up this early this morning with a charlie horse in her leg, but other than that, I think she's been a pretty healthy pregnant woman... lucky me!
Maybe she'll blog a more in-depth analysis of her health and status... Millie? :)
Thursday, February 08, 2007
grandma and Sarah and 6th graders
Grandma did have a small stroke. the good news is that it only affected her foot. she will be moved to the floor for rehab, and stay there a few more days to learn how to walk again. she is in good spirits, and hopes it is only a short time before the strength and feeling come back. for those so inclined, she could use a card. google Parma hospital for address.
Sarah is due Feb 21. It is a girl, and they are naming her Alexa! I was glad to hear the name being used. Our Kathy says she will still use it.
I taught today for the first time since before Christmas. 6th grade at Myers Corners. It is so fun to be with this age. they are great. I enjoyed helping a kid do some simple algebra math homework, and having him so grateful. what I still don't understand is why they bother paying us TA's to come. I could have easily not been in any of the classes and the classes would have gone on as normal. it is state mandated that a class have a TA if there is even one kid with a learning disability. I am all for helping out those with special needs, but first of all, I can't even tell which ones they are, and second of all, in this instance as well as several others I've had, the teacher has total control over the class and doesn't really need me there 99% of the time. maybe if they are teaching a new math skill, for that period. I don't know, but I do love being there and watching them.
Sarah is due Feb 21. It is a girl, and they are naming her Alexa! I was glad to hear the name being used. Our Kathy says she will still use it.
I taught today for the first time since before Christmas. 6th grade at Myers Corners. It is so fun to be with this age. they are great. I enjoyed helping a kid do some simple algebra math homework, and having him so grateful. what I still don't understand is why they bother paying us TA's to come. I could have easily not been in any of the classes and the classes would have gone on as normal. it is state mandated that a class have a TA if there is even one kid with a learning disability. I am all for helping out those with special needs, but first of all, I can't even tell which ones they are, and second of all, in this instance as well as several others I've had, the teacher has total control over the class and doesn't really need me there 99% of the time. maybe if they are teaching a new math skill, for that period. I don't know, but I do love being there and watching them.
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
To catch a thief
I haven't had time to blog about something that happened a couple of weeks ago that I think should be written down. Some of you I may have shared this with, but for others this may be a cool story.
About two weeks ago we were awoken by the sound of a helicopter and the bright light from its spotlight. Though not usual, this is not an unusual thing to happen as about once every 9 months or so we get a police helicopter flying over scanning our yard (along with those around us). It is a common thing in Phoenix. I have heard they do this for reasons like the obvious of looking for criminals to searching for bodies in pools and pools that are not being maintained (leads to mosquitoes and West Nile). But whenever it happens you can't help but get a little nervous as to what is happening.
Well, after about 10 minutes of the helicopter not leaving, we became quite anxious. Tevia got up and looked out our front window and noted there were cop cars in our circle. This was a first - to have cop cars and a helicopter. We then could hear some of the cops as they were walking around the circle. Tevia's motherly instincts kicked in as she took Enok out of his crib and brought him into our room.
As I thought wondering what could possibly going on, I tried to imagine what type of crime would warrant a helicopter searching our yard and neighbors' yards. I kept telling myself it seems too much of a thing for a robbery, yet if it were a murder it seems the police would be knocking on my door letting me know there may be someone armed and dangerous.
Twenty minutes had now gone by and then we heard the police enter our backyard. This was odd because we usually have the side gate locked, but for some reason Tevia had left it unlocked this week. A few cops came into our backyard and they brought a dog. I tried spying on them as they moved to different areas of the yard (and had trouble opening our pool gate). It is a surreal feeling to be watching police through your windows and draperies. They were all business and the only things I could hear them saying or came through their radios were phrases like "what is the address of this house" and "we're on the wrong side of the fence."
After several minutes of hosting the police, they left our yard. A few minutes later we could see that they had entered one of our neighbors' backyard. I could see their flashlights and hear their voices. At this point it had been nearly an hour since we had been awoken. Then all of the sudden the dog started barking like crazy. You could then hear the cops yelling phrases like "come out with your hands up" and "good girl, you found him." And then it was over. The helicopter immediately left, the cars soon left, we heard a large truck come (which we later determined to be a tow truck) a few minutes later. We then settled back down to bed.
In the morning Tevia called the police and was told it was a car thief. Apparently he had ditched the car at the park or around there and dashed into our neighbor's yard. It was funny because as the whole thing came to pass I thought how lame it was to try and catch someone with the helicopter. With the helicopter you would just need to stay put and hide. But add a K9 unit and the effectiveness increases dramatically. And in the end they found their guy. This added a sense of relief to my night's rest and increased my faith in the work of our police. They pulled it off fairly efficiently and without too much disturbance. It definitely was an exciting night.
About two weeks ago we were awoken by the sound of a helicopter and the bright light from its spotlight. Though not usual, this is not an unusual thing to happen as about once every 9 months or so we get a police helicopter flying over scanning our yard (along with those around us). It is a common thing in Phoenix. I have heard they do this for reasons like the obvious of looking for criminals to searching for bodies in pools and pools that are not being maintained (leads to mosquitoes and West Nile). But whenever it happens you can't help but get a little nervous as to what is happening.
Well, after about 10 minutes of the helicopter not leaving, we became quite anxious. Tevia got up and looked out our front window and noted there were cop cars in our circle. This was a first - to have cop cars and a helicopter. We then could hear some of the cops as they were walking around the circle. Tevia's motherly instincts kicked in as she took Enok out of his crib and brought him into our room.
As I thought wondering what could possibly going on, I tried to imagine what type of crime would warrant a helicopter searching our yard and neighbors' yards. I kept telling myself it seems too much of a thing for a robbery, yet if it were a murder it seems the police would be knocking on my door letting me know there may be someone armed and dangerous.
Twenty minutes had now gone by and then we heard the police enter our backyard. This was odd because we usually have the side gate locked, but for some reason Tevia had left it unlocked this week. A few cops came into our backyard and they brought a dog. I tried spying on them as they moved to different areas of the yard (and had trouble opening our pool gate). It is a surreal feeling to be watching police through your windows and draperies. They were all business and the only things I could hear them saying or came through their radios were phrases like "what is the address of this house" and "we're on the wrong side of the fence."
After several minutes of hosting the police, they left our yard. A few minutes later we could see that they had entered one of our neighbors' backyard. I could see their flashlights and hear their voices. At this point it had been nearly an hour since we had been awoken. Then all of the sudden the dog started barking like crazy. You could then hear the cops yelling phrases like "come out with your hands up" and "good girl, you found him." And then it was over. The helicopter immediately left, the cars soon left, we heard a large truck come (which we later determined to be a tow truck) a few minutes later. We then settled back down to bed.
In the morning Tevia called the police and was told it was a car thief. Apparently he had ditched the car at the park or around there and dashed into our neighbor's yard. It was funny because as the whole thing came to pass I thought how lame it was to try and catch someone with the helicopter. With the helicopter you would just need to stay put and hide. But add a K9 unit and the effectiveness increases dramatically. And in the end they found their guy. This added a sense of relief to my night's rest and increased my faith in the work of our police. They pulled it off fairly efficiently and without too much disturbance. It definitely was an exciting night.
Monday, February 05, 2007
my mommy
grandma is in the hospital. she does not know what is wrong. we are hoping it is some kind of allergic reaction to her lupus medication. she woke up this morning and can not feel her foot. it does not have any feeling or strength. her vision was blurry, and her hands were shaking. her doctor said to go right to the emergency room in case it was a stroke. they did a cat scan, and found no sign of a stroke. her foot feels like someone has strapped a 100 lb weight on it. tomorrow she gets an MRI and some other tests. please say a prayer for her. thanks,
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Malik is growing up
Just a quick post. I can really tell that Malik is starting to grow up. I see it mostly in his prayers. For many months now his prayers pretty much consisted of "bless everyone to be good". He is starting to get more thoughtful in his prayers, and I can tell he is listening to what we are talking about during scripture reading.
The other night he was saying his personal prayers (which I still listen to) and he said "please bless Nephi and the Lamanites that they will obey God." He still almost always blesses Jesus and Heavenly Father too. And lately he remembers every time to bless Uncle Brandt on his mission. He is more thoughtful and takes time to think about what he is saying and tries to incorporate things we have talked about that day into his prayers. It is very satisfying as a mother to hear the spiritual progress of your children. I especially like to hear Malik's because I sometimes wonder if what we say to him is getting through. Apparently something is!
He is still sick today and has had a fever for the last 24 hours. Hopefully he will start feeling better today. All my prayers revolve around Malik when he is sick so we don't have to take him to the hospital.
The other night he was saying his personal prayers (which I still listen to) and he said "please bless Nephi and the Lamanites that they will obey God." He still almost always blesses Jesus and Heavenly Father too. And lately he remembers every time to bless Uncle Brandt on his mission. He is more thoughtful and takes time to think about what he is saying and tries to incorporate things we have talked about that day into his prayers. It is very satisfying as a mother to hear the spiritual progress of your children. I especially like to hear Malik's because I sometimes wonder if what we say to him is getting through. Apparently something is!
He is still sick today and has had a fever for the last 24 hours. Hopefully he will start feeling better today. All my prayers revolve around Malik when he is sick so we don't have to take him to the hospital.
Two lessons learned
Sunday after church Millie and I let the dogs out to run around and get some exercise, as is the norm around the ranch, but last Sunday was... different. Around 5pm we went out to gather up the dogs and put them in the kennel for the night since Millie and I were headed to her parents' for dinner. Only one dog came back. I didn't worry too much about at the time since Buster (the Lab) has always been a good dog about not running off to where he shouldn't go, and was always good at coming back, eventually... it's usually just Bandit (the Husky/wolf) that we have to keep tabs on.
So I figured that Buster would be back when we got home from dinner.
He wasn't.
It was getting rather late and it was cold. Millie and I gave it a little more time then we went to look for him. We drove all around the neighborhood, hoping not to find his lifeless body along the road somewhere... and we didn't. We were just about to return home when I felt we should check down by the empty canal that runs between the fields behind our house. We slowly drove the dirt path that runs along the canal and the further we went the more I felt we should keep going, even though there were a number of times I wanted to just go back. Just as we were approaching the end of the drivable road up ahead on one of the old wooden bridges that crosses the canal we saw a dark brown lump. My heart sank as we drove up only to discover it was Buster. I checked for signs of death, but found none. Millie helped me load him on a blanket and put him in my car. By this time it was almost midnight (8pm in Hawaii) so I called Mary.
She was so shocked that it was Buster who had died. I think her and Jim were expecting Bandit to go any day now but they had been planning on bring Buster to Hawaii with them eventually... one thing I don't think they ever really thought through was: Buster was a 13 year old dog who had both hind knees replaced, two back surgeries and was on three different medications... Needless to say, he beat buster to the crematorium and having his ashes spread over Timp to play with Kawisaki (their cat that died) for all eternity.
I think Bandit will be close behind.
But what does all this mean to me really?... much more than just finding a dead dog. I learned two major things from all this.
1) I cared about Buster. As much as I despised cleaning and smelling his poo everyday, and getting up a little earlier to feed and water him, I still cared about him. What more, I obviously care about Bandit too. My heart has been just breaking these past few days seeing and hearing him cry and morn the loss of his "life partner" (as Mary put it). Maybe it's a little too little too late, but I've been trying to make Bandit's possible last few days on this earth a little more comfortable by spending extra time with, and actually petting, him.
2) I can still be guided by the spirit. I almost forgot what that was like... in fact, I did forget. But last Sunday, as we drove around, I really did feel guided by the spirit to find Buster... and I listened, and acted. Sometimes I forget that although I'm excommunicated, I am still a child of God. I forget that He does love me and is ever conscious of me, my situation and my needs. I can't imagine how things would be had we not found Buster that same night. We might not have ever found him... not till spring anyway, when the farmers went out to plow their fields... and by then he would have been a decomposed mess. Mary would have had to go months wondering what happened to her baby, probably holding on to a false hope, only to be crushed by the news months later. As sad as the situation was, it couldn't have happened better.
So I figured that Buster would be back when we got home from dinner.
He wasn't.
It was getting rather late and it was cold. Millie and I gave it a little more time then we went to look for him. We drove all around the neighborhood, hoping not to find his lifeless body along the road somewhere... and we didn't. We were just about to return home when I felt we should check down by the empty canal that runs between the fields behind our house. We slowly drove the dirt path that runs along the canal and the further we went the more I felt we should keep going, even though there were a number of times I wanted to just go back. Just as we were approaching the end of the drivable road up ahead on one of the old wooden bridges that crosses the canal we saw a dark brown lump. My heart sank as we drove up only to discover it was Buster. I checked for signs of death, but found none. Millie helped me load him on a blanket and put him in my car. By this time it was almost midnight (8pm in Hawaii) so I called Mary.
She was so shocked that it was Buster who had died. I think her and Jim were expecting Bandit to go any day now but they had been planning on bring Buster to Hawaii with them eventually... one thing I don't think they ever really thought through was: Buster was a 13 year old dog who had both hind knees replaced, two back surgeries and was on three different medications... Needless to say, he beat buster to the crematorium and having his ashes spread over Timp to play with Kawisaki (their cat that died) for all eternity.
I think Bandit will be close behind.
But what does all this mean to me really?... much more than just finding a dead dog. I learned two major things from all this.
1) I cared about Buster. As much as I despised cleaning and smelling his poo everyday, and getting up a little earlier to feed and water him, I still cared about him. What more, I obviously care about Bandit too. My heart has been just breaking these past few days seeing and hearing him cry and morn the loss of his "life partner" (as Mary put it). Maybe it's a little too little too late, but I've been trying to make Bandit's possible last few days on this earth a little more comfortable by spending extra time with, and actually petting, him.
2) I can still be guided by the spirit. I almost forgot what that was like... in fact, I did forget. But last Sunday, as we drove around, I really did feel guided by the spirit to find Buster... and I listened, and acted. Sometimes I forget that although I'm excommunicated, I am still a child of God. I forget that He does love me and is ever conscious of me, my situation and my needs. I can't imagine how things would be had we not found Buster that same night. We might not have ever found him... not till spring anyway, when the farmers went out to plow their fields... and by then he would have been a decomposed mess. Mary would have had to go months wondering what happened to her baby, probably holding on to a false hope, only to be crushed by the news months later. As sad as the situation was, it couldn't have happened better.
Friday, February 02, 2007
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