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So, when I have multiple projects coming up, I make a certain kind of list. It's a little more detailed than a calendar, but not an exhaustive things-to-do list. I could relate it to making myself a sort of map of my upcoming tasks so I can get a bird's-eye view of a particularly complex period of time rather than risk getting bogged down at ground level. Usually, I keep my schedule mostly in my head and I can picture it fairly well. Sometimes I have so many things going on, I need a little help to navigate through the shallows. Processing things in this way also helps me break the big projects up into manageable bits. As things go along, I will actually cross things off to show myself I'm making progress. Often I get motivated and get more done in the early sessions and get ahead of the game, sometimes even while I'm making the list--THAT is a major triumph for me :o)

Monday:
Morning: Start Monday cleaning, Knitting Lessons, order flowers for 5th grade graduation, process memory book orders, send out emails about Generation of Excellence to Seminary parents and kids. Figure out who still needs help. Email Matt to find out if we are still having an auction on Saturday.
Noon: Lunch with a pal
Afternoon-evening: Monday cleaning, revise shopping list for camp food, email Patty to get Monkey Bread recipe she likes and Jill's shopping list, family home evening
Dinner: Pasta Salad with leftover chicken

Tuesday:
Morning: Continue working on shopping lists for camp, revise summer-tee knitting pattern, email students with revisions, Knitting Lesson at Shop, go to dollar store to price balloons for 5th grade graduation
Noon-thirty: Walk at Supreme with a friend
Afternoon-evening: Knit, read, help Johnathan with photog merit badge (oh yeah, fill out the forms to be merit badge counselor), go to pool with kids if weather is good or go over to moms to see the cousins from Arizona, Sam needs to study for finals
Dinner: Tacos

Wednesday:
Morning: Plan out pre-cooking for camp, decide on the "Garnish of the Day" (camp theme is Let Virtue Garnish Thy Thoughts Unceasingly), plan out daily messages for camp kitchen white board, Knitting Lesson at 10:30
Noon: Workout
Afternoon: Work on sock for class, check over pattern
Dinner: Mac and Cheese (activity night tradition)
Evening: Teach sock class at shop, kids and Eric to activities

Thursday:
During School: Tie up all loose ends for camp food, test Monkey bread recipe, start making breakfast burritos to freeze for camp
Afternoon: Make reminder calls about Generation of Excellence and certificates on Sunday, Pool?
Evening: Enrichment (don't forget to pick up Keira), Eric to late dinner with Client-kids home alone
Dinner: Breakfast Burritos ;o)


Friday:
Morning: Tie up loose ends for 5th grade graduation, knitting fun with a pal
Afternoon: Home with Corinne's kids-can't wait, by the way!
Evening: Make reminder calls about Sunday and Auction if its happening, E-mail Janice the names for GofE, hang out with Beth and Layne-maybe a movie?
Dinner: Homemade Pizza

Saturday:
Early Morning: 8 miles with Sue, catch up on laundry
Daytime: Time with Beth and Layne? Garden work
Evening: Auction???

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Pictures after all...

Today Jeff sent us several photos. This one just makes me weep with the beauty of the moment. This is Elder Nuss getting ready to baptize Hermana Yaniled in the Caribbean Sea. Bless his companion for capturing such a beautiful image. If you click on it to see it actual size, you'll their smiles.

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Letters from Jeff

We heard from Jeff this week. No new photos, but lots of good news. He is doing very well and loves the experiences he is having. He seems untroubled by homesickness, and is handling the day-to-day challenges he is having quite well. He had to go to the dentist yesterday, and while I haven't heard how it went, I know he'll be fine. He was able to take care of all his preparatory dental work pretty much on his own last year. He had his wisdom teeth pulled while he was out in Provo at school, so he's had some experience doing adult things like this. I'm glad he was so motivated and independent before hand, when I was available to help him if he needed it, so that now he's not fazed by having to take care of these kinds of situations with no availability of parental help.
Being a selectively neglectful mom always gives me mixed feelings-should I do more for them? Is it really okay to let them wear dirty clothes because they didn't get their laundry done??? I'm sure I've made the wrong decisions at times and not done enough for them, but seeing Jeff have real-life success with adult life helps me see that there's wisdom in letting them find out how much they can do without my help. It requires supression of pride and selfishness from me, because a great deal of motherly validation comes from knowing your kids need you as well as from turning shiny, happy, attractive little evidences of motherly skill out into the world for all to see. When others find out that Evan chooses to wear the same socks for a week, what must they think of me? I have finally gotten to the point where I don't mind what they think of me. I know I've taught him better than that, but the time comes when I have to let him choose for himself. Hopefully if I give them leeway in largely unimportant areas like socks, I can still wield some influence in the areas from which I will not budge, like morals and modesty.
From the time Sara was a wee bairn, she has not wanted my input on her appearance. I could never touch her hair and she started rejecting my choices for clothes at the age of 3. But, it seemed that as long as she had the freedom to wear pretty much any combination of colors and styles, I was able to put my foot down about sleeves and skirt lengths and tightness. I could live with that. Sure, I would have loved for her to always look so pretty and perfect. I knew she would be my only girl. It was hard to see her walk out the door totally mismatched and looking like a gypsy. The trade-off is that from the time she was two, she's known that sleeveless, short and tight are not options, but just about anything else is. She was a modest gypsy. Now she has developed her own cute style. More important to me is that we do not argue about modesty. In fact just the other day she brought me a darling dress she gotten as a hand-me-down from a friend. It was strappy and short and she came to me with a list of alterations and solutions already in hand so she could wear it. She didn't even think to wear it as is. I was so proud of her. So, in spite of my mostly imperfect parenting, my temper, and my sometimes disorganized ways, there are successes in my mothering life that show me that my kids are being blessed and that powers beyond my own are taking up the slack caused by my worrisome weaknesses. If they need me, they know I'm here, but I'm glad that their source of strength comes from knowing they can handle every-day life.

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Johnathan's Week

This week I saw my second son graduate. It was not old hat, as some moms told me it would be. It was tender and exhilerating and happy and everything else, just like Jeff's was. Johnathan is so different from Jeff, and I rejoice in that. Because of that, our experiences with his schooling and graduation have been singular and special in their own way. He is an extraordinary boy-sensitive and smart and hard-working.

He also graduated from seminary tonight with 4 years of perfect attendance. You may scoff and say "But it's in his house, big deal." Not so. Neither of my other sons has that accomplishment. He has just as much of a chance of oversleeping as anyone else. So, I am really proud of him for that. He spoke tonight at the ceremony and focused on missionary work and on his plans to serve a mission. He spoke of Eric's conversion story in college as well as some of Jeff's mission experiences. It was definitely a moment that helped enlarge the view of motherhood to include a few tangible rewards.

He continues his strides into the real world this week as he gears up for his Eagle Project on Saturday. I'm happy that he chose to set that goal, and I'm okay with him getting it at the last minute, because he has taken ownership of the process. It will really be his Eagle award. I'd rather him do it this way and experience the weight of responsibility than race to have it done by a certain age and have it basically be earned by me. I only push so far in these types of activities-the rest had to come from him. Soon, he gets to feel the flush of accomplishment, not me.

Anyway, here is a brief photo retrospective of the life of Johnathan-my darling second son...most like me in personality of any of my kids, yet filled with the strength of his dad-a very nice combination.


Here is is as a newborn. He ended up being a planned C-section so I remember getting up , showering , putting on a cute comfy outfit, a little make-up, doing my hair and going to the hospital--totally relaxed. It was actually a relief for me because with Jeff I had labored for 12 hours then had the C-section anyway(he never even entered the birth canal). We knew Johnathan was at least a pound bigger and the doctors figured I just had no chance of delivering him. Then, they put me, all cute and relaxed and reading a book while I waited to be prepped for surgery, in the regular labor ward! (this was a long time ago, ladies-birthing suites and centers were still a novelty unless you lived in California) so all these dear, miserable, laboring women had to watch me be wheeled past. I protested and they let me wait in the hall. Sheesh. ...
Everything went fine-I have been blessed with very uncomplicated C-sections and was usually back up on my feet in a week or two.

This was when he was about two. Jeff is 4. I was all of 24 going on 25 here. Johnathan has had every kind of hair-curly and very dark, dark auburn, straight, silky and bright red and here, fading to a lovely strawberry blonde and already so thick so as not to be believed in one so young.

Here he is three, and his hair has gone totally blonde. He never was a towhead-that beautiful white blonde (like Corinne's sweet little Preston) but always a lovely light, golden, ripe-wheat- rippling-in-the-breeze kind of color. It will still lighten up to that in the summer. He wore this style of red, round glasses from the time he was 2 1/2 till he was about 6 or 7, then we couldn't find them any more. I picked out the first pair because he was so little, then I guess he got used to seeing his face in those glasses and he picked them out on his own thereafter. I LOVED that Harry Potter's glasses were round.

Fast forwarding quite a bit, here is his standard pose for helping me set my lights for a studio shoot. I love this though, because he is quiet and not that demonstrative, but he really has a wonderful sense of humor and fun. Its good to see a serious, sensitive kid be silly sometimes.

Congratulations, Johnathan!

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8 Random Facts About Me

Tag, I'm it! Holly tagged me for this fun way to get to know each other better. And what would we all do without Tom's of Maine toothpaste-its the best!

The rules:
Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged, write a blog post about their own 8 random things, and post these rules. At the end of your post you need to tag 8 people and include their names.
Don’t forget to leave them a comment and tell them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

1. I go in cycles wearing make-up. I usually get dolled up for church, but during the week I will go weeks without it. Then, at some point, always, always, always, because of my pale skin and wee little eyelashes, someone will ask me if I'm ill on a day that I'm NOT wearing make-up. Then, I tend to get back into putting on my face...at least for a while.

2. I love quotes-literary excerpts, song lyrics, scriptures, etc. I have many quote books and read them regularly. I love to use quotes as inspiration for journaling, for photos, and for personal study. I need to share them more. I used to have my email set up to rotate through a collection of about 50 random quotes that I had collected, but when I had some computer problems, I lost them. I am now motivated to compile a new collection.

3. I am using Weight Watchers to try to, uh...watch my weight. It is a good system with enough flexibility to work for me. I have learned a lot about portion control. I have also learned that I can get away with 2 tablespoons of chocolate chips straight from the bag and still be within my points allowance. Yessssssssssssss. I am trying to be happy with slow and steady progress, even though I really really want to be skinny for my family reunion. Proof that "Vanity working on a weak mind produces every kind of mischief..."

4. Which leads me to this juicy fact: I prefer (should I whisper this heresy?) Jeremy Northam's Mr. Knightly to Colin Firth's Mr. Darcy. Colin just doesn't pull it off for me. Okay, okay the wet shirt scene is great, because he moves so well. In spite of that, I like Colin better when he's slightly bumbling and vulnerable-I prefer him in Love, Actually; What a Girl Wants; and Nanny McPhee. Jeremy Northam in Emma is is just so perfectly dreamy. Sigh...

5. I can't go to sleep unless I have my clothes picked out for the next day. This is due to my seminary years, I'm pretty sure. During the week, I pick out both my seminary clothes (have to wear Sunday Best every morning) and my outfit for later. Even if its just jeans and flip-flops, I feel much better when it's all ready.

6. I used to be able to pretty much recite every scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail from memory. My favorite scenes (don't fence me in on this) are when King Arthur is talking to Dennis: "Help! I'm being repressed!" and of course the French Guards: "Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!" and, we can't forget The Holy Hand Grenade: "Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out."
Ahhh, I'm gettin' giggly just typing this stuff.


7. I love animals and am grateful for all the good times we've had with our pets (currently a dog, two cats, a hamster, and a cockatiel) over the years, but I am looking forward to attrition giving us the eventual opportunity to be a human-centric house rather than one that feels faintly like an african safari.

8. The first time I ran a marathon I lost 7 toenails. They turned black and fell off. They grew back and I learned that running shoes should be 2-2.5 sizes larger than regular shoes so your foot has room to spread out when it hits the ground. Since I got properly fitting, good quality running shoes, I've never had any more toenail problems.

Well, that is a pretty random list. Hope that last one's not too gory for you. I have not been able to check everyone's blogs every day, so I'm wondering if most of the folks who read here have already been tagged. If not, consider yourself tagged. I'd love to read more lists.

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