A Good Ending

December 31, 2010 • church activities, family, friends, gratitude, scouting

Wednesday night was the Eagle Court of Honor for my son Sam and his good friend Matthew. It's the second time my pal Cathy and I have hosted a court of honor for our sons, and once again, it was a good thing. As usually happens with these...

December 27, 2010 • Christmas, family, happiness, holidays

It's the end of a really lovely Christmas weekend. A few of the new movies have been watched, the kitchen is nearly reclaimed from the firestorm of cooking and today has been a nice, quiet day of recovery and enjoying. My sister and her family...

December 23, 2010 • family, happiness, motherhood, siblings

A couple of months ago, when I knew I was having some younger children coming to stay with me, I bought some washable tub crayons, just for fun. My own kids love them and the crayons have taken up permanent residence in the shower, yielding some...

December 22, 2010 • reading, relaxing

Today I got my kids out the door at 6 am, checked my email and saw a book on my desk that I really need to return to a friend. I put it in my bag so I would make sure to give it back to her today while running errands. But I really wanted to read it,...

December 21, 2010 • lunar eclipse 2010, moon, skies, thinking out loud

Last night, I stayed up till 3 am to watch the Lunar Eclipse. It was of special interest to me that it happened the same night as the Winter Solstice. I love the skies and everything that has been imagined, written, studied and discovered in relation...

December 20, 2010 • book reviews

The Anglo Filesby Sarah LyallPart Memoir, Part DocumentaryYou might like this book if: You are interested in British culture or you enjoy books that examine other cultures in relation to American ideals.NYTimes reporter Sarah Lyall married an Englishman...

December 13, 2010 • Christmas, family, traditions

For the most part, the shopping is done. I still have a few things yet to be delivered, wrapped up, and, in some cases, mailed out again. I tried shipping things directly, but some things couldn't be gift-wrapped or the additional cost of gift-wrapping...

December 11, 2010

I'm at a big wrestling tournament which started very promisingly yesterday evening for Evan. Today however, he's running a fever and showing every sign of getting a nasty virus, so he's getting stomped every time. Days like this are for character building...

December 8, 2010 • Christmas, church activities, family, friends, thinking out loud

On Sunday evening, our family participated in a tradition that I love because it helps me remember what I want my Christmas season to really be. We watched The First Presidency Christmas Devotional, which is an hour-long program of music and speeches...

December 4, 2010

Update to this post, 12/14/2010: For some reason, the links to the actual recipe and blog post in the third paragraph below are dead. The whole article has disappeared. Drop me a line and I'll email you the recipe if you're curious. So, I've been...

December 3, 2010

Last night as I drove home from a teaching gig and some evening shopping, I chanced upon NPR's Hanukkah Lights. This is a feature that offers up to the listener specially commissioned stories by established authors during the Hanukkah season. I felt...

November 30, 2010

This is not an important day per se, but December starts tomorrow, which means 2010 is almost done. This year has gone by very quickly for me. It is still so fresh in my mind, that day in February I spent wondering how my son in Chile had fared during...

November 26, 2010

Our Thanksgiving day was simple and fun. We had friends over for dinner, we did a lot of talking and laughing, we went and did a little visiting of other friends, we watched a little LOST, and of course we ate all the good food. My overnight turkey...

November 25, 2010

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving day. Well, actually, 28 minutes from now is Thanksgiving day. A day all about the food. Food as symbol of bounty. Food as device for gathering. And yes, food for its own sake. Just for the fabulously delicious familiar comfort...

November 15, 2010 • Art 101 Assignments, happiness, paper, thinking out loud

I really like this one. It was fun to do and I love how it turned out. It is scrapbooking paper, torn, cut and glued down on illustration board. The image is 10x16. At my instructor's request, it is based on this assignment. and it was fun to reinterpret...

November 12, 2010

I know what it is like to consider having someone else take care of your children for more than an hour, and especially for an extended stay. It is a complicated combination of figuring out just who you can trust with these irreplaceable beings...

November 3, 2010

Since my last post: Saturday: Teaching, soccer, so proud of my kids, sewing, packing, getting sick. Sunday: Church, Young Women, Personal Progress Recognition, still sick. Monday: Time with friends, packing, shopping for concessions,...

October 22, 2010 • happiness, parenting, poetry

Three little ones came to stayI wondered if would remember how but it was a good beginningwhen he ran and catapulted himself into my arms for a helloand I did remember how to hold a book and a 4 year oldand a pillow and a blankieall at the same timeand...

October 19, 2010 • Art 101 Assignments

Today's assignment was hard but I'm trying to remember that this is not a painting class, it is a design class. If I look at this assignment that way, it is more successful than if I just look at it as a painting. So, because the original is so integral...

October 18, 2010 • anxiety, choosing optimism, friends, stress, thinking out loud

One of my most favorite scenes in all the movies in all the world is a bit from an old Disney flick called The Rescuers Down Under. Enjoy: So, did you see there at the beginning how he was freeing that eagle from the trap? He had just finished...

October 16, 2010 • knitting

This week I got a lovely message from a friend and student who I haven't seen in a while. She asked me about the availability of a pattern I designed years ago for my LYS to make good use of 2 precious balls of Touch Me yarn, one of the most delicious-feeling...

October 12, 2010 • Art 101 Assignments, funerals, thinking out loud

Today I was privileged to attend the funeral of someone I only met once, but who is precious to people who are precious to me. It was a tender service, full of loving tributes, sweet expressions of gratitude, and that most unexpected of feelings at...

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