You Didn't Read About it Here

Okay, so I'm not really supposed to write about the kids anymore. They are too old and find mom's blog too embarrassing. I'm definitely not allowed to post videos anymore.

Having said that, I must discreetly express my pleasure that a certain person who may or may not live with me (we'll call this person *am) and to whom I may or may not have given birth may have just done really, really, incredibly, amazingly well in a certain County Championship in their weight class in a certain sport. I can't tell you what it is but it rhymes with prestling. I can't tell you what place *am came in, but it wasn't 2nd or 3rd.

You didn't find out from me...

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My Exciting Life

Here is something completely fluffy and fun. I loved reading this on Mendy's blog and thought I'd give it a go:
The ones in red are the ones I've done.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a Praying Mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo's’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in movie
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Talked your way out of a ticket

53 for me. That was fun to do! Here are a few caveats, not that this is a competition or anything, but I feel you should know that:
I have been to Walt Disney World. I know, not the original, but hey, that's why he built another one-not everyone can get to California.
I am going rock climbing in a few weeks for the very first time.
I have been in the caldera of a live volcano.
While I've never been in a movie, I have been on a local access cable show.
Like Mendy, I've been to the Great Salt Lake, but never swum in it.
I have assisted in the killing and preparation of an animal for cooking (chicken) but I did not do all the work.
Meeting someone famous is relative-I have met many knitting celebrities and several people who are famous to Mormons, but no one who is generally known.
I was outside watching the sky during a total eclipse (May, 1984) but it was cloudy so we couldn't actually see anything. It was a bummer because here on the east coast, we were in the best place possible and there had been MONTHS of news stories and preparation, etc.

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Little Things

I've discovered a blog that has become very meaningful. Almost exactly 8 years ago, a woman I knew died unexpectedly. She still had a daughter at home, in high school, and then older kids at various stages of life. She was someone I admired tremendously. Her sons were friends with my brothers. Her daughter was my son's violin teacher. I worked with members of her family in volunteer work through our church. Her death was a terrible blow to many people.

Now her children have started publishing her extensive personal writings from letters, speeches, journals and other sources onto a blog called Lessons My Mother Taught Me. Reading it has done so many things for me, from helping me to remember her and think about what I admired about her to helping me to remember to live and to notice and to appreciate everything. She wrote to her children who were away from home about walking to school and seeing mushrooms and leaves falling. She wrote about blue skies and listening to music. She was admirable but not perfect, wonderful but humble-writing with tenderness about her foibles and fears, her worries for her kids, and everything else. She wrote a lot, of course not knowing that she would die so young, and to me it counts as a miracle that she did write and for her family to now have her words every day, to feel her voice and her way of speaking again, to have her wisdom close by.

Today as I was reading I was struck by her attention to all the details in her life. In catching up on blogs over the last couple of days, I've rejoiced at all the little things my friends have recorded and written about. God really is in the details I think. I do write letters every week to my son, and reading this friend's letters to her kids has inspired me to write even more than I already do. It makes me happy to think that my words could be a comfort to my kids someday, even if I were gone too soon.

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Happenings

Last weekend was my annual trip to the cabin in PA. It was great as usual. A favorite time. The words I would use to sum it up are:
Cozy
Cabin
Snow
Icicles
Food
Books
Conversation
Laughter
Tears
Spiritual
Amazing
Women
Friends

This week has been spent running, recovering from runs, anticipating Sara's music festival tomorrow, rejoicing in Sam's good week of wrestling, and wondering if Evan has pinkeye. Tomorrow is one of those Saturdays with no blank space on the calendar and everyone going different directions, but it is all good stuff, so it should be a good day. I've put up a couple new book reviews (see the sidebar) and started a new book which has me thinking way too much about the concept of Happiness. I'm not sure being happy lends itself to thinking about it a lot, but I'll let you know if it actually does help. Oh, and Ev does not have the disease most dreaded by school nurses.

For your viewing pleasure, and knowing that this is not nearly as universally enjoyable as a child's first steps or a trip to the pumpkin patch, I offer up Sam's last wrestling victory. He is in the Maroon uniform and starts out on the left. If you don't know anything about wrestling, I'll tell you that he won 5-2 and pretty much dominated except for one moment when the other kid got the better of him. Overall, it was a good win for him. Commentary is by Eric and my Dad. Also, he got a mention in a local sports write-up. Sam's match (160) is one of the ones that the other coach said they expected to win but they didn't!

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