Gearing UP!

February 11, 2008

Tomorrow is election day, and in Maryland that means a statewide day off school, because how on earth can they use one room of a school for a polling place and still actually HAVE school?? Oh, wait, did I type that out loud? Sorry. It's been that way ever since I was a kid, why should it be different now-shouldn't complain-I do get to spend a day with the kids, which I actually do like. The bigger problem is that I am just flummoxed about who to vote for. I've been doing my homework and what I really need is a Frankenstein's Monster-Candidate who has all the bits and pieces that I want from each candidate's platform, conveniently bolted together into one package. I'm just not satisfied with any one individual. Sad. I'll just have to make my priority list and stick to it.

Tomorrow will be a busy day, so I'll just write about it now. It starts off around 7 with my niece getting dropped off. At 9 I have a knitting encounter with one of my most special young friends, then around 10 am the rest of the nieces and nephews come for the day. My sis is working furiously on her PhD proposal and my sister-in-law-in-law has to work. So, I'll have 5-6 extra kids around at different times of the day. Generally, the cousins do really well together, so it will be a largely peaceful day. My only worry is whether or not it will warm up enough for me to lure them outside for a while. I have to leave for a while in the late afternoon, so my strategy is to hold off on the tv and video games till then, then use those options while I'm gone. Johnathan is doing the quintessentially college-boy thing to do and ditching class to go skiing. It's kinda hard to come down on him when he works and goes to school pretty much 6 days a week without a break and never complains. I hope he has fun.


My afternoon errand is a very happy one as my pal's daughter (who is also my pal) goes to the Temple for the first time. In our faith, that is an opportunity to make covenants and commitments that shape one's religious participation and devotion as an adult. It is a very happy occasion because it is a choice that requires a level of spiritual maturity indicating that an individual is fully committed to the doctrines and practices of the LDS faith. The temple ceremonies are beautiful, simple, and rooted in scripture, but we don't discuss them because we believe they are personal and sacred. Some things need to be experienced in an atmosphere of faith and devotion rather than discussed and analyzed out of context. Tomorrow is in preparation for her marriage on Saturday, which will also take place in the temple. I'm so happy I will be in attendance to rejoice with my friend and her family.

But wait! The day is not over...by the time I get back from the temple, the munchkins will likely all be gone, unless my sis is having a really long day. In any event, at 7 pm, my house opens up as the Official Hang-out for Scarf-Makers once again. Hopefully some folks will come. That goes till 10 pm. By then, my lids will be heavy, my seminary lesson will be prepared, and I will be ready for bed. So, in case I don't get to check in tomorrow, you'll already know what I'm up to.

First week of Febrary

February 10, 2008

The shortest month is a fourth of the way gone. This week I spent about 8 hours of my time either at or driving to dental and orthodontic appointments. I had regular appointments on two of the days and then return appointments on another day. The good news is that Sara is completely done with actual braces and has her retainer. So far, she is doing pretty well wearing it when she needs to. I need to do better at reminding her. She is pretty happy to be done after 4 years. Of course, she looks beautiful.

I completely forgot to schedule any parent-teacher conferences, so I'm feeling like the champion lame mother for that. There were some reasonably good reasons why I forgot, but I still feel lame. So what to do with my feelings of lameness? Congratulate myself for at least being a champion at lameness (no mediocrity there), then forgive myself and move on. We'll all survive and my kids are doing fine overall. I'm in touch with teachers by email, and that will just have to do. I will try to avoid comparing myself to other, better, mothers and try to have a sense of humor about it all. I'm pretty sure my kids don't mind a bit that I didn't make it in to talk to their teachers.

This was the first week of my knitting project with the women of my congregation at church, and it was a most pleasant part of the week. 7 friends and their kids came to my house on Tuesday and either knitted or crocheted scarves for Cancer patients. I got bags of toys from the library and the youngsters did really well while the moms worked. I do love little ones. I love being an Auntie, a surrogate auntie and I think I'll love being a grandma. Someday...far away... Anyway, on Wednesday night I was at the church during youth and children's activities and got a few other stitchers started. I am very happy with the response. We should get plenty of scarves.

This week, the goals are to get Sara signed up for dance, get her an eye doctor appointment, get her signed up for dance camp, get Johnathan a consult with an oral surgeon to get his wisdom teeth removed, get a package out to Jeff, get to sleep by 10 pm, get seminary report cards out, and get myself running again. I've been under the weather with some odd symptoms lately and haven't run in two weeks. I've put on 8 pounds in spite of making some major dietary changes. Sheesh. Oh yeah, I also have to figure out who the heck to vote for.

Good things coming this week are: My pal's daughter's wedding and more chances to get together with friends for the scarf project. Okay...time for bed. I'm determined to be good.

Welcome to my life...

February 4, 2008

A Seminary Teacher's view of high-schoolers at 5:50 am. This made me laugh so hard. I promise I would never even consider giving them pepsi max to wake them up.

Bloggin'

February 3, 2008

Sam was home sick from church and my pinched nerve was acting up again, so I stayed home. I ended up doing quite a bit of study, did this frilly update on my blog (it reminds me of my Laura Ashley days in the 90's) and actually made some comments on pal's blogs. I also worked on some family history and scrapbooking. Not too bad a use of 3 hours.

I'm not sure how long this particular update will last, but I am having tons of fun experimenting with the connection between digital scrapbooking and blog design. All part of my education.

I got the notion to update from my sister's blog. At first I inadvertently picked the same background she has. That made me smile. Then I branched out on my own. The backgrounds are available here and they're free along with the instructions for changing the code. Now to put some of my own designs up.

Family Memory Saturday

There is a little-known day on our church congregation's (called a Ward) local calendar. It is Family Memory Saturday. For us it can be an especial boon because as the Bishop or lay minister in charge of our Ward, my husband gets to have a day off from those responsibilities. On these Saturdays, usually one per month, there are to be no church activities scheduled so that families can have a day without the pressure of calendared events pulling them away from home. Our church is a busy, social, happy church and it is wonderful, but sometimes the array of available activities to participate in can be overwhelming. So, yesterday was a Family Memory Saturday that turned out quite nicely. We shared the day with another family and spent a quiet and contemplative afternoon together watching the televised funeral services of our beloved Prophet/President, Gordon B. Hinckley, then our friends stayed for dinner. It totally cheered me up after a tough week. It may seem strange that another funeral would help cheer me up, but this one was quite different because of the nature of the death. It was full of testimony, counsel and inspiration. It made it seem possible to be the kind of person Gordon B. Hinckley was.

In the evening, we made memories with more dear friends as Eric and I and 2 1/2 other couples went to see U23D, an IMAX concert film of the U2 Vertigo tour. Friends, laughter, cheesecake, and BONO-can there be a more perfect evening?

In the afternoon, we made a list with the kids of Family Memory activities for us to schedule for the coming year. It is so cool that we can look to these days and know that there is nothing else to get in the way of a fun day together. Here is the list we put together:
Bowling
Splashdown
Spy Museum
Air Show at Andrews AFB
Wii tournament
Water Taxi around Baltimore
Lunch and shopping in Harborplace
Dodgeball or basketball game outside
Medieval Times
Go help Grandma and Grandpa with chores (my KIDS came up with this one, not me! Please join me in a moment of extreme parental pride!)
Make a movie together
Book store crawl
Nerf Basketball Tournament
Nerf dart gun battle
Mall scavenger hunt
Shadowland lasertag
Family bike ride to Lake Elkhorn or the B&A trail
Kayaking or canoeing (I see a trip to REI in our future)
Walk in the woods
Other local museums
Amish Country tour
Blackwater Wildlife Refuge
Spend a day in Annapolis
Spend a day in St. Michaels

I am going to try and use this just like a checklist and schedule these things on the calendar, budget for them, and have a year full of family memories!

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