Merry Christmas!

Our trees this year.

Every child on earth is holy,
Every crib is a manger lowly,
Every home is a stable dim,
Every kind word is a hymn,
Every star is God's own gem,
And every town is Bethlehem,
For Christ is born and born again,
When His love lives in the hearts of men.
--W.D. Dorrity, 1909.

In the middle of December

Hello to all three of you who read my blog!  Here we are in the middle of December and not far from Christmas.  Just last night I finished and ordered the "My Family Tree" books that I created for my in-laws.  I created one for my father-in-law and his ancestors and one for my mother-in-law and her ancestors.  Today, I feel I have come back from the abyss.  Every spare minute, and even many, many unspare minutes, have gone toward those two books for the past almost three months.  I will have to post pictures of them here on the blog once I get them back. Pray with me that any typos will magically correct themselves.  I proofed the books so many times that I could no longer think straight.

When my friend Elaine blogged about completing something on her "bucket list" a few months ago, I thought about my bucket list (actually the "must do before I get dementia" list).  My bucket list is very, very short--almost nonexistent--but on that list WERE (until I finished two of them) these ancestor books.  Actually, I need to make two more to really complete that bucket list item--one for my father's ancestors and one for my mother's ancestors--but since those two people are dead, I  have NO  immediate plans for those books (don't even try to talk to me about that) nor adequate motivation (zero, zip, nada)  to overload another holiday season with them in the foreseeable future.  Also on that bucket list is writing histories of both my mother and my father before my mind goes, particularly because their grandchildren don't really know them and I want their grandchildren and future generations to have something to remember them by.  I also need to somehow make my two file cabinets of family information accessible or "necessary" to my family-history-disinterested children.  These ancestor books are part of that objective--pictures and SHORT histories of each ancestor for whom I have a picture.  That  is how I've arranged the books so far but I have lots more information than that. I've actually thought about these books for years and started them several times.  This time, I finished two. Yea!  I have also tirelessly collected ancestor pictures on both sides of the family hoping to make these people seem more "real" to my children.  Otherwise, I have no clue how to go about making all my collected information something my children will care to have once I'm gone or not able to use it anymore.  But enough about the bucket list.

A few years ago, I read a biography of Juanita Brooks and there is for me a haunting scene toward the end of her life where she is in her Salt Lake City basement, day after day, in an ever-increasing fog of dementia, trying and trying to put together another book--something she has done well in the past--and she simply cannot pull it off, though not for lack of trying.  I have seen this kind of dementia up close and it is not a respecter of persons.  I know it has my name and address.  I calculate I have about twenty years but years go by rapidly.  It will seem like tomorrow.

OK, back to the fact that it is mid-December and back to the the here and the un-dementia now.  I wasn't joking about my unspare minutes going toward the books and not toward other things.  Now that I am back from the abyss, there is so much to do.  Cleaning--egad, yes!  Decorating at least ONE tree for Christmas (it has been UP since Thanksgiving).  Doing more shopping (although with less money and therefore less gusto than usual).  Delivering gifts.  Wrapping gifts.  Ho, ho, ho.  All that Christmas stuff.  It doesn't matter that I wrote my family Christmas letter back in October.  You will not see it until after Christmas.  I've rescheduled working on Christmas cards/letters to accommodate these books and swim and church and work and family and life.

One little Christmas miracle occurred last night.  I was trying to hit the "30% off and free shipping" deadline of December 15th for the shutterfly books.  I had had MANY MANY MANY (you get the idea) interruptions already that day.  I had hunkered down and I had barely stepped away from the computer since early afternoon.  I was missing three pictures for my mother-in-law's book that I had ordered from dupinternational.com.  I had ordered them at the beginning of December but they had not arrived and there was no telling if they would.  I had to decide by yesterday whether to leave them out and hit the deadline or wait for them and miss the deadline.  I decided I would cross that bridge when I came to it.   About 8 p.m., I reached that "bridge" and I asked B to check the mail.  Viola! Guess what was in there? The disk with those pictures!  Hallelujah! It felt like divine intervention for them to show up exactly on time like that.  Exactly on time!  Awesome.

I've gotten to know so much about B's ancestry this past while.  I've thoroughly enjoyed that part of the project.  Plus, you cannot work on a book like this without feeling a closeness to some of the people and I hope they're pleased, too, with the final products.

Because my parents married so late in their lives, my lines do not go back as many generations in Utah as B's lines do (all of his lines and all of my lines come to Utah at some point and all converge in Dixie).  I would like to create something pinpointing (a) which generation in each ancestral line marks the oldest generation to come to Utah or join the Church, and (b) these ancestral lines' countries of origin. That's not a bucket list item, just something that interests me.

I have spent years and years collecting family pictures, both for my side and, once I married B, for B's side.  These past three months, I have found so many pictures (relatively speaking--no pun intended) that I did not have and I have found a lot of histories I did not have for his family.  God bless the Internet and technology!  The "hunt" for these things has been a little like feeding nickles into a slot machine--always hoping the big win would come with the next nickle.  The more things I found, the more things I was DETERMINED to find and I was CONVINCED that there MUST be more things out there somewhere if I could only find them. (Can anyone spell OCD.?)  If I wouldn't have had the Christmas deadline AND the motivation of SO MANY HOURS already spent trying to finish this specifically for this Christmas, AND knowing that life can be short and I need to get this done for my intended audience (my in-laws) while they're around to enjoy it, my OCD would not have let me finish . . . yet because in the back of my mind I keep thinking other big discoveries are just around the corner.

Well, I'm going to get dressed and then set a timer that I can clip on my shirt.  I am going to take a page out of the Flylady's book and I will work in 15-minute increments on different things, rotating around and around so as not to lose my mind over all I can't do RIGHT NOW, and thereby I hope to do a little on a lot of things that need more attention than I have time to give them, such as (a) clean the books, histories, and pictures from the computer area and put them away (a bigger project than it sounds like), (b) bring up the Christmas tree decorations and decorate the tree, (c) clean up the kitchen/family room area--o, woe is me . . . where is my shovel . . .well, maybe that is enough for today.  Here we are in mid-December, on a fast glide to Christmas!  Cheerio!

Two books in the works

I haven't posted for a while.  The time has just slipped away.  I am not sure where it went.  We had a great Thanksgiving at my sister-in-law's house and, while I enjoy hosting the Thanksgiving dinners, I did enjoy the break this year.  I have also enjoyed not having to work at my job for most of this week.  I like my job, but I have enjoyed the break.  Of course, I had hoped to accomplish thousands of things.  Perhaps I had my heart set on too many things because I have just a few of those hoped-for things done.

I'm working on ancestry photo books for my husband's parents for Christmas and it seems to absorb my time that isn't being absorbed by work, my new calling, L's swimming, general home life, my other kids (my two boys who I probably don't mention in the blog quite as much perhaps because of L and her swimming--which there has been a lot of this month), my husband, and all that seems to come up in the course of the average day.

Shutterfly.com has really come a long way since I did the other big photo book project back in 2009, and there are so many improvements and fun things.  If you received my handout where I wrote how to do a book on Shutterfly, ignore about 80% of it.  Some of it is still true--ALWAYS decide on the picture placement before typing one word of text, and the text still doesn't scroll page to page or column to column--but the whole process of putting a book together on Shutterfly has become so much better.

One new item available on Shutterfly is to design your own book from the ground up.  Of course, I chose that this time around.  And, of course, it taps into my OCD side and I'm having a difficult time keeping a narrow focus (e.g., I've changed the backgrounds numerous times, added multiple embellishments, changed the page order around, changed the cover several times, changed the font so many times that I can't always remember from page to page which font I'm using for which text boxes, added pages only to delete them, etc.).  I think I have the format down now and just need to forge ahead.  My father-in-law's book is the nearest to completion.  I can see the end in sight.  I think my mother-in-law's book will come together pretty rapidly since I did all the format dithering on my father-in-law's book and have now reached certain decisions.

I opted to do two different books because I just could not figure out how to have the subject matter flow.   It doesn't take long, going backwards up a family tree, to have a lot of people to categorize.  Just because I put them in some kind of order doesn't mean the reader will automatically "sense" the order and figure out how, for example, my father-in-law on page 1 is related to the people on page 25.

I have pictures for each of their four generations, some for their fifth generation and one for a sixth generation  (some pictures are better than others) and I have multiple pictures for some of their ancestors.  Part of my dithering has been trying to find even MORE pictures to add to this book.  I have made it a hobby since I married into the family to collect these pictures, except to call it a "hobby" really makes it seem far more casual than it has been.

I am so excited because I have found some pictures that my in-laws have never seen before!  I've found about a dozen pictures this fall, primarily at dupinternational.org on its photo index.  They are good quality pictures.  I have also collected (back when I first came into the family and had my own income and no children) many pictures from the DUP in St. George.  However, the pictures I recently ordered from the St. George DUP were very poor quality compared to the awesome pictures I purchased there about twenty years ago.  (Can I be old enough to have done anything like that twenty years ago? Whenever I refer to some past even in my life in terms of multiple decades, I'm taken aback.)

When I finish these books, I will have to post pictures of the book here on the blog.  I usually can't reach my own back to pat it but I really think these will be nice gifts for Christmas if I can finish them on time.

Out of the frying pan and into the fire! Ha ha!

Just a note to say that yesterday, I was released from my calling as ward missionary that I've had for about two months, and I am now 1st counselor in a new Relief Society presidency.

Big date

This summer, at a swim meet, I bought a raffle ticket, more to support the meet than anything because I felt bad that so few swimmers had come after all the trouble the hosts had gone to in setting up the meet.  Wonder of wonders, I had a winning ticket and I won a certificate for two tickets to any play at the Shakespearean Festival!  


A couple of weeks ago, B and I cashed in the certificate (just one week before the Festival ended for the season, shows ya how things go around here!).  For our big date, B and I went out to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants--where we haven't been in YEARS--and then we went to Noises Off, a funny farce, and laughed and laughed.  Because this was the 50th anniversary of the Shakespearean Festival, "they" were reprising favorite shows from the past and Noises Off was one of them.  We had a great night.  We haven't had a "big date" like that in . . . well  . . . a few years--it was high time.

Going "hobo"

Yesterday, L needed to dress up like a hobo for the "El Cheapo" dance at the high school.  We went to the local store and bought a white T-shirt.  


L proceeded to give it hobo style the minute she left the store.  She repeatedly threw it down on the asphalt and sidewalk and flailed it against our van tires.  She got more than a few stares particularly because she was so vigorous that she kept dropping her cell phone and wallet over and over again in the process!  


Then she came home and cut off all the hems, and all of the neckband and most of the pocket. She painted the t-shirt with muddy grey-black water colors and then she used the car to run over the it.  Afterward, she scrubbed the t-shirt around in the grass. (This sounds like preparation for a laundry detergent commercial, doesn't it?)  She then decided to make little cuts in the body of the shirt and random cuts to make the hem, arm holes and neck holes more tattered.


Once this shirt was deemed "hobo" enough, she paired it with a pair of pants that were well worn and holey at the time when she bought them brand new and that her brother J refers to as her "troubled pop star pants."  


She carefully "sloppily" braided her hair (over and over until she felt it was just right) and tied her braid with a remnant of her t-shirt.  She topped all this off with her oldest and dirtiest used-to-be-white Keds.  It took about three hours to attain that look, not to mention all the planning beforehand!  


Then, she and her friends showed up at the "El Cheapo" dance, decided it was "lame," and left after about ten minutes. Ah, the life of a teenager! 

L's artwork

Art by L

We recently framed and hung up this artwork by L.  I think she painted it back in 8th or 9th grade.  It has been one of my favorites, so I wanted to share it here.

Stinky snail mail

A while back, I saw a teenager's Facebook request that stated, "I need [your address] so I can write you creepy letters in the snail mail like old people do."  Of course I laughed, but I also sighed.  I LIKE letters.  I LIKE snail mail. I am NOT old.  I remember when we would go to the mail box every single day to see if we had received any letters. It was a happy day if we did.  My aunt was a letter writer and I "inherited" that trait from her.  I just like writing letters.  I like receiving letters.  Now, the times are changing and I write considerably fewer letters and I receive almost no letters whatsoever. I worry about the US Postal Service and about life without snail mail. So there's only one thing to do about it. "I need your address so I can write you creepy letters in the snail mail like old people do."  Happy snail mailing.

I need clones

Boy, do I need some clones to cover some of my life!  This last week was beyond busy. I felt like I was on the go from 3:50 a.m. on Monday until, well, right now.  If I had been cloned for this past week, I would have had one clone do all the sleeping.  I would have had the other clone show up at work.  I would have had another clone stay at home with a sick son and busy doing all the things that aren't getting done (read: LOTS).  I would have had the other clone do all the swim stuff (fund raiser, practices, this past week's parent meeting).  Whew.  Then, I would have started all my days off with enough sleep for me, I would have had a leisurely breakfast (cooked by a clone), and have had plenty of clean clothes to wear (also washed by a clone), a clean house to walk through (again thanks to a clone) and so on.  Hopefully, "my cloneless self"  will have a calmer week ahead. (Make photo @ fotoflexer.com.)

Calm Before the Storm

This weekend is the lull before the storm.  Although L started year-round swim a few months ago, she was just practicing with them, not competing with them.  She was on the city swim team here in the Tri-cities and was competing there.  Both year-round and city swim at once.  


The city team ended last month.  So she will swim competitively with the year-round team now.  Additionally, on Monday, high school swim team starts.  Both high school and year-round at once.


The year-round meet that was on the calendar for today was rescheduled.  I'm sitting here thinking how calm this Saturday feels--no practices, no meets, and actually, no other obligations that made it on my calendar.  I can barely relax to enjoy it, because I am psychologically gearing up for the next four months of early practices, getting up at 3:50 a.m., and this year, there will be practices after school on certain days, and practices on Saturdays.  This year, I will be working my part time job and cannot drive on my work days. I have yet to cobble together a carpool.  I am also in charge of a swim fund-raiser starting next week.


All of this swimming stuff going on in my life and my best-kept secret is I really can't swim, at least I cannot swim any of the official strokes. Shhh. Don't tell. 


As a kid,  I invented my own stroke, a kind of dog-paddle/freestyle stroke that I am sticking with.  It gets me around the pool without getting my hair very wet, it keeps me from drowning, and I can see where I am going while I am swimming  (remember I have really poor vision without my glasses).  :o)  


At least I do know how to drive and am licensed; I own a van; I am a good sport; I enjoy the kids; I can wake up when the alarm goes off; I can entertain myself hours on end; I like popular music (which the kids always like to have on in the van); and I love L.  These are the important qualifications for me to be a swim mom and let's face it, cheering from the deck is about as close to the water as I get anyway.

We think things will last . . .

"We have a tendency to believe 

good things will last forever. 

It is in our nature. 

The Beatles, for example.  

Oh, they'll be around forever.

The Sopranos--

that show will always be on the air.  

Philip Roth's Zuckerman series. 

Springsteen concerts. 

Good things are rare.

They are to be cherished 

because they always leave us 

too soon.

* * * 

[It is] our tendency 

to think good things 

will last forever.  

They don't. 

We think that 

we will always be young, 

that the 

moments 

and 

people 

we cherish 

are everlasting.  

But they're not."

Harlan Coben, Live Wire, 15, 354.

A new great-nephew

Welcome on 9.11.11, to my new great-nephew J, son of JM and SM!  

400th Birthday

 Earlier this year, on April 20th to be exact, I finished listening to the New Testament and I blogged about that experience briefly here on my blog.  Although I did not mention it then, the high point for me in reading the New Testament was that I was reading the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) during the Easter season.  I really enjoyed hearing again about the life of Jesus Christ and doing that at Easter time.  

Then, in the elation of that accomplishment, I rashly decided I would listen to the Old Testament, and I posted that commitment on the blog at that time, hoping that my public declaration would hold me to that goal.  And it did.  Oh, it did!  I often wanted to give up this Old Testament goal all together.  

For starters, the  King James Version of the Bible has 66 books and 1189 chapters, with the New Testament having only 23 of those books and a mere 260 chapters.  For those of you unwilling to do the math, that means that the Old Testament of the KJV has 43 books and 969--did you catch that????--969 chapters.  

Now I had read the Old Testament cover to cover once before so I thought I knew what I was getting into.  No, I can say I did not really know what I was getting into.  It is all together different to hear 969 chapters of the Old Testament than to read 969 chapters of the Old Testament.  Anyone who knows me knows I am an avid and a fast reader.  Reading 969 chapters is a lot but not overwhelming.  Listening to that many chapters was overwhelming.

At the beginning, I enjoyed parts of the text and would look up reference material when I had questions.  However, about the time when I was reading of the division of the kingdoms into "Israel" and "Judah," it began to seem like I would likely never finish the Old Testament in my natural life time.  So I began to listen in large chunks of chapters--as many as I could hear at any one sitting--eager to put this task behind me.  That was both good and bad. Good because I finished sooner but bad because it was often too much, really.  Once you cram that many chapters into your head, it is all you can do to collect your thoughts and move on with your day once you have finished listening. 

Another reason not readily apparent at the mention of the Old Testament is that, among other things, it chronicles people who are doing all kinds of terrible things.  There where times when my kids would pass through the kitchen while I was listening to the Old Testament and they would say, "Mom!  What are you listening to?! That's creepy! Turn it off!"  Yep, sometimes it was "creepy."  There is a difference between reading a recitation of awful events and listening to a recitation of awful events.  There is a graphic quality to hearing it that is unsettling.

During the time of my New and Old Testament listening, I found out that this year is the 400th birthday of the King James' translation of the Bible.  What a serendipitous thing!   I wish I could say that I knew that before I undertook my Old and New Testament listening goals, but I did not, although I am pleased with that convergence.  

Here's to the first and last time I will ever listen to the Old Testament start to finish--and I have accomplished that goal in a very auspicious year to boot.

Spendin' some time with my nephew

Just when you thought you were going to see another swim picture, I toss in this soccer picture just to keep you guessing, right?!  Saturday morning, I had the treat of going to my nephew's soccer game--just the two of us going and coming.

The man sitting next to me at the game did not know I was W's relative and he kept talking to his wife about what a good player W is and W's good work as goalie.  At one point the man said, "Why didn't they put W------ in during the first half? He's doing great!"

After the game, I said, "W-----, do you want to call and tell your mom anything about the game?"  He seemed mystified as to what he needed to report, so he said, "Ahhh, that we lost?"

He also pointed out that when he was goalie, he was wearing four shirts!  And this is in 100+ degree weather!  Goodness!  The team shirts hadn't come so he slipped the temporary shirt over his other shirts and then when he was goalie, that was another shirt added!  Bless him!

W said this was his favorite picture of the pictures I took of him that day.

I have to say that a soccer game is SSSSSOOOOOOO short compared to a swim meet!  Meine gute!  It seemed we'd just arrived and it was time to pack up my chair and go home!  Thanks for a nice morning!

Busy “doings” lately

Last Wednesday, I registered J for school.  It starts this coming Monday.  The summer has seemed to fly by.  Except for the extra vacation days during the school year, I’d wish for school to start in September.  J, L and I have been doing a bit of school shopping, too.  I think we are just about set to go.


Last Thursday, J got braces on his teeth.  He has really looked forward to the day when he can have straight teeth.  However, with the initial pain of it, I think he must wonder why he wanted braces after all.

Also for last Thursday, at a friend’s request, I set up a lunch so a couple of us could visit with my cousin KGG before she went home to Virginia.  I wish I’d taken pictures but we had a great time. 


On Friday at the crack of dawn, my sister and I drove northward, and I convinced her to come to a sister missionary lunch I had tried to arrange.  We had hoped more “girls” would come but we had a great time catching up.  My sister was an honorary “Schwester” for the lunch!

Right after lunch, my sister and I went to a reunion for my first cousins on my father’s side of the family. 

The primary activity was each cousin taking a turn talking about what was going on in his/her life and the lives of any siblings who were not there.  I really enjoyed catching up.


Then in the evening, on the way back home, my sister and I stopped in to visit one of my mother’s friends and then another of our cousins who couldn’t come to the reunion.  We got home about 2 a.m.  What a full day!


Then Saturday, L had her last city swim meet.  It started at 3 (warm ups) and we did not get home until after 1:30 a.m.  Yawn.

Sunday, of course, I was released from my young women calling.  After church, my sister and I visited our father’s only living sibling and reported on the reunion.


This morning, T got braces on his teeth, too. 

Today, my sis and I helped my niece CF set up a new apartment.  I had a great time with Baby T, CF and CS. 


Lots of things have been packed into the past few days with more “doings” ahead, no doubt. 

 I go back to my school library job when school starts.  Of course, I had to get a back-to-school outfit, too, right?!

It has been a good ride

Today, I was released from my calling as Young Women President in my LDS ward.  Since it was Fast Sunday, I took the opportunity to express certain thoughts that had percolated to the top of my brain since I was told last Sunday that I was being released and I have recorded it here.
 
The primary point I wanted to make was that I wanted to clarify something. When I accepted this calling and at other points during my two years and ten months in YW, I’ve said, “This isn’t a calling I would choose for myself.” While know what I meant by that, I don’t think others have understood.
When I initially got the call, I felt very weighted down under the responsibilities I had with my mother and with her estate in addition to church and family responsibilities. So to add the YW calling at that point was overwhelming to me. So, the first reason I would not have chosen that the YW president call for myself was because I already had so many pre-existing obligations. However, I’d also had a confirmation by God’s Spirit that I was to take the calling so I did and jumped in with my whole heart.


Another reason I wouldn’t have chosen the calling for me was that I was 31 before I got married so I’m a reformed old maid. At that time, I perceived the primary topics taught in YW to be marriage and dating. Who wants an old maid—even one who’s reformed--talking about marriage and dating to young impressionable girls? I’ve somehow avoided teaching about those topics for my whole tenure. In September, I was to give a lesson on Marriage and Dating. I suppose the Lord did not want to undertake the miracle it would have required.


Last of all, I have spent most of my adult life in singles wards (so wards without Primary and without Young Women and Young Men organization)  until I was married and then after that I’ve spent most of my life working in callings with the adults of the church. This Young Women calling seemed to be such a departure from that pattern and a departure from where I felt comfortable.
However, that phrase of “not choosing the calling for myself” should never be interpreted in any way that I disliked the youth or the Young Women program. It shouldn’t be interpreted that I wouldn’t try my best to do the calling once I accepted it or that I wouldn’t jump in whole-heartedly and try to do everything I knew to do to fulfill the calling. And it shouldn’t be interpreted that my initial feeling of intensely not wanting this calling would stay with me for all two years and ten month because it hasn’t been like that at all and I feel these negatives are the impressions my words have conveyed.


Once I got over the total shock of doing a calling I knew nothing about in a program I knew very little about, I have enjoyed the calling. I have especially enjoyed the association with the young women in the ward. I’ve enjoyed the mutual activities, even tubing down the Virgin River, the lessons, the personal progress activities, the girls’ camps, the youth conferences, and the teaching and the learning and the creative process in being a part of Young Women.
I’ve enjoyed the leaders I’ve served with in our ward and I’ve appreciated all their work. I’ve been grateful for the work of the athletics leader and girls’ camp leaders. And I’m grateful for all the people who have helped us with activities over the years. I’ve enjoyed working with good young men leaders.  I’ve been happy to work with the young men of the ward, including my own sons. I’ve enjoyed my associations with other youth and other young women leaders out beyond our ward boundaries.


When I was called, I had decided to set my sights on six years, like the tenure of the previous Young Women President, and just jump in and work. I really came to have my heart set on serving at least until my daughter graduates. Even though I know every calling comes with a future release date, because of that long-term perspective, this release seems premature . In fact, when the Primary presidency was released a few months ago, I rushed to the bishop’s counselor with whom I worked in Young Women and asked whether they were merely starting with the Primary and working through all of the auxiliaries or whether this was just a one-time deal, because I didn’t want to be released and they needed to leave me in YW for at least two more years. He assured me it was just a one-time deal. So much for bishopric assurances.  But then, the Lord moves in mysterious ways.


In 1977, there was an LDS-themed play referencing the plan of salvation called “My Turn on Earth” that depicted Barbara and four friend as they left the pre-earth life, lived in mortality and passed into the life after this.
Near the end of the play, a voice calls to Barbara that it is time for her life to be over:


“Bar--bara, it’s time to go hoommmee.”


She says in reply: “I don’t want to go. I mean I don’t want to go NOW. I’m not ready. My turn can’t be over yet. Have I done everything I’m supposed to do?”


The song that follows is entitled “I’m Not Ready” and has been on my mind this week. I’ve changed a few words:


[I’m Not Ready]
Is it over? Have I finished the [call]?
Have I [done] what I came here to [do]?
Just a few moments more,
I’m not ready to leave it all behind me.
I’m not ready. I don’t want to go
‘Til I know that I know I [am done].
I cannot bear to leave if I leave what I came for undone.
I’m not ready
[I’m not ready right now]
Won’t somebody show me [how things will be?]
I’m not ready
I [can’t believe it is] through
There are things I [would] do
There are still some things left I [would] say.
***


Then the voice calls:  “Barrrrbaraaaa, time to come hooommmeee!”


Barbara replies, “But I’m not rrreadddyyy!”


Then the final words, “Ready or nnnoottt. . . .”


So it is time for this calling to end.


If there is one message I would like to have the girls remember it is:  learn the language of the Spirit and live so the Spirit can be your constant companion to guide you at every step of your life.  The Spirit can be with you when are away from your leaders and parents.


I’m sure the new Young Women Presidency will take good care of the young women!


I’m thankful for the gospel and I’m thankful that God is mindful of each of us. I’m thankful for all the good things about this YW president calling.

A Sheep Epiphany

On fifth Sundays, we have a journaling class in our ward.  We discuss ways to preserve our history.  Today, our teacher challenged us to write about an experience that changed us.  That made me think about my sheep epiphany.

One lunch hour when I was in about seventh grade, a group of friends and I had eaten lunch and were going to the high school (yes, we were at a high school, 7th – 12th grades) to watch boys play basketball and to sit and talk.  As we walked into the gym that day, the alleged alpha female of the group said, “Hey, let’s sit down.”  So I walked ahead and sat down in a perfectly great spot.  Everyone else sat down with me, except the alpha female. 

The alpha female decided she did not like that spot and said, “Let’s move.”  Everyone (but me) got up and followed the alpha female to a spot about ten feet and maybe two bleachers away from where I was sitting.

Then after sitting there about one minute, the alpha female decided she wanted to sit on the other side of the gym.  Everyone (but me) got up and followed her. 

As they were crossing the gym trying not to get in the way of the basketball games, they walked single file to the other side of the gym with the alpha female in the lead. 

I thought, “They are acting just like SHEEP! They’re sheep!” Right then, I vowed to myself, “I will never be a sheep.”

After that epiphany, I made it a point to never be a sheep.  Some examples of this come to mind.  I would not dislike someone just because the group disliked someone.  When the girls would plan on wearing a similar item, I purposefully did not want to wear that.  If everyone wanted to read a particular book, I purposefully did not want to read it.  I did not do anything just because “everyone was doing it.” I never trailed anyone around ever again. 

After I graduated, a high school friend described how she had viewed me when we were in high school (7th – 12th) together, “You were a loner who fit in everywhere.”  What a great compliment to a non-sheep!

Youth Conference

We just finished a Tri-stake Youth Conference here in the Tri-cities.  The conference was youth-planned.  What a huge undertaking.  I guess there were about 650 youth (someone said nearly 700) and each of the 32 wards was to have four adults along (I was one of the adult leaders from our ward).  It made for a huge crowd.  

The theme was "Be One."  On Thursday ("One in Fun") there was a day of games along with a humanitarian project and lunch; Friday ("One in Faith") with skits, dinner, luau, a wonderful fireside (my second favorite part of the youth conference) and a dance.  And Saturday ("One in Service") where there were 30 ward projects, a breakfast, a lunch and a testimony meeting.  Sunday was a fireside to wrap things up.  

The highlight for me was the service project day.  In our ward, we selected three projects in our boundaries and we inherited a project from another ward.  We weren't sure how many youth would come and whether the youth would work. With our bishop beforehand, we had prioritized the projects.  We planned to just work our way through the projects until our time ran out.  

As it turned out, we had a WONDERFUL bunch of kids--sixteen from around the tri-stake area--and our three ward leaders were great, too (maybe here is where I can joke that I, the 4th ward leader was great, too, ha ha!).  Here are some pictures of our service projects.

The side of the yard along the street--"swept clean."

First, at the home of an elderly ward member, we did a fine-tuning of his yard.  One leader said, "Cut down any weed you see, and it's all weeds."  :o)  The priests had already made inroads a few weeks before since we knew we did not have time to do it all the day of the Youth Conference, but we really expanded on what the priests had started.  When we were all done, I thought it looked great.  I only regretted that we'd not brought some live flowers for his flower beds.

Behind the house--lots still to do that day.

The group in front of the finished project.  

The only youth from our ward were our two ward youth leaders.  The rest of the kids were randomly assigned to our ward by some kind of lottery.  We lucked out.  Like one youth said later, "I think we had the best group."  True, that.

The "before."  
There will always be weeds to create opportunities to serve..

Then we moved to another house in the area.  Some work had been done previously on this yard and we were to take out the weeds along the periphery of the yard.

The "after."  
No weeds along the city's easement on both streets at this corner.

We completed job that in almost no time at all.

The garden plot after the brother scraped and plowed it but before the compost.

Then we moved onto the project we had inherited from another ward.  We had had a brother from our ward scrape and plow/disk up a 25'x25' garden area.  Then our youth group unloaded and spread a truck load of "compost" (made from sewage and yard clippings--P.U.)

Too bad I can't "paste" the smell of it 
and the cloud dust that was coming off it as we shoveled..

The homeowner was there with us and so happy to see all our work.  Although this was the third project of the day, it was the first and only homeowner we would see that day, unfortunately.  I think it gave the kids a lift to meet the people benefiting from our work.

Egad, a trap for wayward tumbleweeds!

Next we worked at the home of an elderly woman who lives away.  As the project progressed, I came to the realization that we were doing the project more for the neighbors' benefit, in reducing the fire danger and the unsightliness of the place, than for the homeowner.

Anyone calculate what a lighted match would do with that?

This, above, was pretty much how the whole yard looked.

Viola!  Check out the carport "after"!

Those tumble weeds were no fun to tromp down on our trailer so we could add even more weeds to our pile.

Notice those dry fox tails are gone in this area.

Most of our projects serendipitously had shade for us to work in.

The clean up crew again at the end of our projects!

We did not have time to completely finish this project but we made great headway.  In fact, we had not thought we would be able to do anything with this project at all.  As we left, the neighbor lady thanked us profusely.

Before we left the other groups to set out on our series of projects, some kids had been moved into groups who needed more people power.  We had sixteen and I suggested sending some of ours to other groups.  One of our leaders said to me, "Well, probably only half of the kids will work anyway so we should just keep everyone in our group,"  That made sense based on past experience with outdoor projects and kids.  However, I did not hear one complaint and everyone pitched in happily. Everyone was working really hard to finish everything.  There were two kids that powered out a bit toward the end but they didn't interfere with the others who were working.  I was just so thankful and amazed at how well this activity turned out.

Employee of the Month

Guess who was "Employee of the Month" for June?  She was selected by vote of her fellow employees.  And when you work only about three months total, to get elected for one third of that is . . . well . . . something.  Good job, Girl!

The last little while

The past while, I've been busy.

We had girls' camp--great camp, fun times.  

Canoeing.

Zip-line.

Outdoor fun.

Of course there has been some swim chauffeuring and swim meets.

L in middle lane.

We celebrated the 4th of July.

Twice.

Boys keeping busy

with yard work.

B keeping busy with fires in AZ and NM.