One day of catch up, one day of random.
Cutest video ever.
This is me. We should all be that happy.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Sunday, March 18, 2012
An Epic Day In The Tale
As mentioned previously, the second day of our shed building experience deserved it's own post. It was one of those days that, if seen in a movie or something, would be dismissed as too far-fetched to be realistic.
This is my life.
You may recall an Ode I did a few months ago for my lovely MIL when she invited me to see Wicked with her and one of Tarzan's aunts, who'd never been. Tarzan's cousin VT went as well, and if not for her I might have jumped in front of a bus several times that night.
It started early at the job site, we naively believing we could still finish the shed that day. We spent a lot of time measuring the front beam for cutting - I checked the marks three times - squaring the posts and aligning everything - this will become important later. But I had to leave by 3:00. The show was at 8:00, we were meeting around 6:30-7 for dinner before and I figured if I left before 3, which meant 3:30, I'd be home in time to shower, dress and be ready to go. (All that heaving and running around leaves a girl with a certain 'glow.')
I didn't miss by too much, getting on the road by 3:45. I'd be home no later than 6.
Except traffic was atrocious.
I don't know why, I was going opposite to all the commuters, there were no accidents, no freeway construction, nothing but slow cars and blinking brake lights. Tarzan called me frequently to check on my progress and we discussed alternate routes to get home. (Thankfully there is more than one freeway between my parent's neighborhood and mine.) But nothing was any better. Shortly after 5:00 Tarzan's mother called to see how I was doing because in their eagerness to get to the show and beat the traffic - they were staying with family, a good distance south of us - they were at my house already.
I was nowhere close to being there.
Time became a real issue but what can you do when the cars just won't move? I raced when I could, took all the shortcuts Tarzan could find on the map, relaying it to me between calls from Gamma but nothing doing. I started revising my schedule for when I finally got back, skipping lots of frivolous things, like eating. Gamma, AuntReese and VT went and got dinner for themselves and me, but they had to eat it in their car because they couldn't get into my house and there aren't any parks or nice places to just hang out in the dark in the south central Jungle.
Sad, but true.
I finally pulled in to my house around 6:45pm. I opened the gate and let AuntReese pull her car into Tarzan's usual spot.
(I forgot to mention that the whole deal was we were going to drive in my car because AuntReese didn't want to take her fancy, red car into the neighborhood where the theater was. She was going to park it at my house, behind our secure gate and then pick it up when we dropped me off.)
My car was in it's spot, so there was about three feet for me to leave the car I was driving - Tarzan's - while I raced into the house, tore off my filthy, construction clothes, donned my Wicked green shirt and black pants and raced out the door again. No shower, no dinner, not even a chance to brush out my hair. The other three were already in the car so I hopped in and pressed the button to close the gate.
Then I remembered parking money. Gamma had bought the tickets, AuntReese had paid for dinner, it was only fair I pay for the parking, so - and this is the stupidest thing I have ever done - I clicked the remote to open the gate before it had shut completely and ran into the house to get some cash. When I came out, the gate was partially open, where I had left it and beeping.
I had forgotten about that safety feature.
So I tried to unscrew the bolts that hold the cover on the motor by hand but they were too tight so I raced to the shed to get a wrench - in my haste nearly tumbling suitcases on my head - and got them off, flipped the switch that shut off the horrible noise and waited the 30 seconds for the gate to reset itself. I turned it back on and clicked the remote.
Nothing.
I tried again, and still nothing. I called Tarzan, he mentioned the "really big allen wrench" that we use to crank the gate open when the power's out and I ran to get that from the shed. I found what I thought was the wrench but couldn't find the place where it fit on the motor box.
I'm in a panic. I'm filthy, now also covered in grease, sweaty, tired, late and my mother-in-law - plus company - is witness to this all. She's on the phone with Tarzan telling him to come and fix it - remember he's a two hour drive away, with neither of our cars available - it's getting later by the minute and I am nearly in tears.
Finally, it's about 7:10, AuntReese suggests that we just go or we'll miss the first act - not true, but whatever, I am in no mood to argue - and with one last longing look at her car and my half open gate, we hit the road. I am not chancing the freeways again, so we take the surface streets. About 15 blocks up the road we pass a Burger King with six police cars outside, flashing lights and megaphones. Apparently there is some sort of disturbance and the authorities are directing all traffic around the area.
Fortunately, I know an alternate route to the one they are suggesting and we get around the jam. I am probably going too fast but we figure all the police are already occupied for the evening and no one's going to bother me. Despite many careful questions from the passengers we arrive at the theater by 7:30pm. Even I am impressed with myself. There have been times ATL and I haven't even left our house by that time when making a show at 8, so for the first time in five hours, I can relax a bit. Parking is a breeze and right across the street from the venue. We get in, find our seats - which are phenomenal. I mean, able-to-see-the-expressions-on-the-cast-faces good - and there's time to text Tarzan about my mental state and his mother's before the lights flickered in warning.
It was a good show. It's Wicked - it's never a bad show - but I thought Mamie Parris did a nice job as Elphaba. Good balance of emotions and excellent voice. Katie Rose Clarke as Glinda was also very good. She didn't overplay the silliness which I appreciate. Liz McCartney as Madame Morrible was 'eh,' Kyle Dean Massey was a good voice for Fiyero, a little too slapstick in his actions. Boq wasn't too stupid and Nessarose, though a little violent, was strong. I was really glad to see it again, and as mentioned before the seats were amazing.
At intermission I checked the dozens of texts Tarzan had sent me and he reminded me ATL got home from work shortly after we left; she was watching AuntReese's car so that made me feel a WHOLE LOT BETTER. I was able to reassure everyone, including myself.
After the show, we drove back to my house to see if we could get AuntReese's car out of my driveway somehow. Through Tarzan's second round of texts, he explained and I found the OTHER "really big allen wrench" in the shed, it also had a blue handle, and it fit, no problem, in the motor casing. We cranked open the gate - about 20 minutes of work - the car came out and since it was nearly midnight, the three of them left for the 45 minute drive they had to get home. I shut the gate, with the remote, after turning it back on, no sweat, threw all the tools in the wholly disarranged shed, went in the house and barely changed into pajamas before I fell into a pile and slept for nearly nine hours.
In the morning when I woke up, I finally got a shower and went back out to the Desert to finish the shed.
This is me and that was a crazy 24 hours.
This is my life.
You may recall an Ode I did a few months ago for my lovely MIL when she invited me to see Wicked with her and one of Tarzan's aunts, who'd never been. Tarzan's cousin VT went as well, and if not for her I might have jumped in front of a bus several times that night.
It started early at the job site, we naively believing we could still finish the shed that day. We spent a lot of time measuring the front beam for cutting - I checked the marks three times - squaring the posts and aligning everything - this will become important later. But I had to leave by 3:00. The show was at 8:00, we were meeting around 6:30-7 for dinner before and I figured if I left before 3, which meant 3:30, I'd be home in time to shower, dress and be ready to go. (All that heaving and running around leaves a girl with a certain 'glow.')
I didn't miss by too much, getting on the road by 3:45. I'd be home no later than 6.
Except traffic was atrocious.
I don't know why, I was going opposite to all the commuters, there were no accidents, no freeway construction, nothing but slow cars and blinking brake lights. Tarzan called me frequently to check on my progress and we discussed alternate routes to get home. (Thankfully there is more than one freeway between my parent's neighborhood and mine.) But nothing was any better. Shortly after 5:00 Tarzan's mother called to see how I was doing because in their eagerness to get to the show and beat the traffic - they were staying with family, a good distance south of us - they were at my house already.
I was nowhere close to being there.
Time became a real issue but what can you do when the cars just won't move? I raced when I could, took all the shortcuts Tarzan could find on the map, relaying it to me between calls from Gamma but nothing doing. I started revising my schedule for when I finally got back, skipping lots of frivolous things, like eating. Gamma, AuntReese and VT went and got dinner for themselves and me, but they had to eat it in their car because they couldn't get into my house and there aren't any parks or nice places to just hang out in the dark in the south central Jungle.
Sad, but true.
I finally pulled in to my house around 6:45pm. I opened the gate and let AuntReese pull her car into Tarzan's usual spot.
(I forgot to mention that the whole deal was we were going to drive in my car because AuntReese didn't want to take her fancy, red car into the neighborhood where the theater was. She was going to park it at my house, behind our secure gate and then pick it up when we dropped me off.)
My car was in it's spot, so there was about three feet for me to leave the car I was driving - Tarzan's - while I raced into the house, tore off my filthy, construction clothes, donned my Wicked green shirt and black pants and raced out the door again. No shower, no dinner, not even a chance to brush out my hair. The other three were already in the car so I hopped in and pressed the button to close the gate.
Then I remembered parking money. Gamma had bought the tickets, AuntReese had paid for dinner, it was only fair I pay for the parking, so - and this is the stupidest thing I have ever done - I clicked the remote to open the gate before it had shut completely and ran into the house to get some cash. When I came out, the gate was partially open, where I had left it and beeping.
I had forgotten about that safety feature.
So I tried to unscrew the bolts that hold the cover on the motor by hand but they were too tight so I raced to the shed to get a wrench - in my haste nearly tumbling suitcases on my head - and got them off, flipped the switch that shut off the horrible noise and waited the 30 seconds for the gate to reset itself. I turned it back on and clicked the remote.
Nothing.
I tried again, and still nothing. I called Tarzan, he mentioned the "really big allen wrench" that we use to crank the gate open when the power's out and I ran to get that from the shed. I found what I thought was the wrench but couldn't find the place where it fit on the motor box.
I'm in a panic. I'm filthy, now also covered in grease, sweaty, tired, late and my mother-in-law - plus company - is witness to this all. She's on the phone with Tarzan telling him to come and fix it - remember he's a two hour drive away, with neither of our cars available - it's getting later by the minute and I am nearly in tears.
Finally, it's about 7:10, AuntReese suggests that we just go or we'll miss the first act - not true, but whatever, I am in no mood to argue - and with one last longing look at her car and my half open gate, we hit the road. I am not chancing the freeways again, so we take the surface streets. About 15 blocks up the road we pass a Burger King with six police cars outside, flashing lights and megaphones. Apparently there is some sort of disturbance and the authorities are directing all traffic around the area.
Fortunately, I know an alternate route to the one they are suggesting and we get around the jam. I am probably going too fast but we figure all the police are already occupied for the evening and no one's going to bother me. Despite many careful questions from the passengers we arrive at the theater by 7:30pm. Even I am impressed with myself. There have been times ATL and I haven't even left our house by that time when making a show at 8, so for the first time in five hours, I can relax a bit. Parking is a breeze and right across the street from the venue. We get in, find our seats - which are phenomenal. I mean, able-to-see-the-expressions-on-the-cast-faces good - and there's time to text Tarzan about my mental state and his mother's before the lights flickered in warning.
It was a good show. It's Wicked - it's never a bad show - but I thought Mamie Parris did a nice job as Elphaba. Good balance of emotions and excellent voice. Katie Rose Clarke as Glinda was also very good. She didn't overplay the silliness which I appreciate. Liz McCartney as Madame Morrible was 'eh,' Kyle Dean Massey was a good voice for Fiyero, a little too slapstick in his actions. Boq wasn't too stupid and Nessarose, though a little violent, was strong. I was really glad to see it again, and as mentioned before the seats were amazing.
At intermission I checked the dozens of texts Tarzan had sent me and he reminded me ATL got home from work shortly after we left; she was watching AuntReese's car so that made me feel a WHOLE LOT BETTER. I was able to reassure everyone, including myself.After the show, we drove back to my house to see if we could get AuntReese's car out of my driveway somehow. Through Tarzan's second round of texts, he explained and I found the OTHER "really big allen wrench" in the shed, it also had a blue handle, and it fit, no problem, in the motor casing. We cranked open the gate - about 20 minutes of work - the car came out and since it was nearly midnight, the three of them left for the 45 minute drive they had to get home. I shut the gate, with the remote, after turning it back on, no sweat, threw all the tools in the wholly disarranged shed, went in the house and barely changed into pajamas before I fell into a pile and slept for nearly nine hours.
In the morning when I woke up, I finally got a shower and went back out to the Desert to finish the shed.
This is me and that was a crazy 24 hours.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
A Surprise
(I will return to the updating posting tomorrow.)
Tonight I will say this: Tarzan and I stepped WAY out of our comfort boxes and went to an Event (that's right, capitol E) at a local university where awards were given for excellence in helping out kids. I don't know the whole deal. Tarzan went because he's part of the program through his school and with all the negative press right now abut schools, he wanted to hear some good stuff.
There was a lot of "aren't we awesome," but the biggest surprise of the night was how much I enjoyed listening to Arianna Huffington speak. She's direct, honest but not mean or cruel - her introducer was quite right, she doesn't disparage anyone else's opinion - she's realistic, practical and she's funny.
Such a good speech.
Not overly long but very helpful and uplifting.
I would totally vote for her if she ran for President. (I know, born in Greece and all that but I think she'd be good at it.)
Do you remember in school, when the teacher asked who you looked up to? I could never think of anyone.
Now I have an idol, though I don't think that's the sort of attention she's looking for.
This is me and to think I almost stayed home tonight.
Tonight I will say this: Tarzan and I stepped WAY out of our comfort boxes and went to an Event (that's right, capitol E) at a local university where awards were given for excellence in helping out kids. I don't know the whole deal. Tarzan went because he's part of the program through his school and with all the negative press right now abut schools, he wanted to hear some good stuff.
There was a lot of "aren't we awesome," but the biggest surprise of the night was how much I enjoyed listening to Arianna Huffington speak. She's direct, honest but not mean or cruel - her introducer was quite right, she doesn't disparage anyone else's opinion - she's realistic, practical and she's funny.
Such a good speech.
Not overly long but very helpful and uplifting.
I would totally vote for her if she ran for President. (I know, born in Greece and all that but I think she'd be good at it.)
Do you remember in school, when the teacher asked who you looked up to? I could never think of anyone.
Now I have an idol, though I don't think that's the sort of attention she's looking for.
This is me and to think I almost stayed home tonight.
Friday, March 16, 2012
An Epic Tale - The Beginning
Where to start, where to start...
How do you blog about events in your life that are so huge you just don't know where to start describing them? The Christmas/New Year's thing this year was one of those monumental events, and it's only just barely over such that I can recognize it's been six weeks without a post of meaningful content.
Not because stuff hasn't happened - because it has, all over the floor it has - but because it's too immense for one post and I have no idea how to break it into many posts, so instead I do neither and watch six episodes of The Big Bang Theory instead. I know that's a healthy response. And that's not even including the whole Relief Society President responsibilities thing, though I have developed a lovely eyelid twitch because of that.
Completely different story.
I've been composing this post for a while now and I'm sure I'm omitting dozens of details but it seems to be blocking me from writing anything new, so here goes.
Early in December of 2011 my father got a contract to build a hay barn for a customer of his grain business. Because I am "the resident architect" - his words, not mine - and Tarzan is young, strong and willing to do most anything, we were conscripted to help my father, my sister and my brother get the thing up. Once Tarzan was on Christmas vacation we scheduled a visit. The night we had to drive the two hours out, we were at a family wedding - Tarzan's family - and it went a little later than planned so we were late leaving and therefore late getting to my parent's house and they do not like to be up past their bedtime, so that gave us a stellar start to the project. Oh, and a few days before that, Tarzan's parents came to town, ostensibly for the wedding, but also to see us and while I love them both, very much, it is stressful to have one's in-laws come to visit, especially when one has to figure out where to have them sleep in a house that - I am learning - is the size of most people's front porches. But they did, sleep, and so did we and we made it to my parent's in time to get up bright and early to work on this shed thing.
On the surface it seemed a fairly simple project. Four 4" square galvanized steel posts to be sunk into the dirt, a front and back beam, three 2" square support posts, twelve 4'x8' corrugated metal side panels and eight 8'x12' corrugated metal panels for the roof. A zillion screws and we should have been fine. We started with high hopes of taking one day for the structure, one day for the roof.
Hahahaha!
Oh, the follies of ignorance...
To begin with, there were no instructions. Not even a stick drawing. Tarzan and my father did not think this was a big deal but it's nigh on to heresy - blasphemy! - as far as I am concerned. I will deviate from a plan as required, color outside the lines so to speak, but I at least need to know where the line was. I hate flying without a net. As we plugged along, it became apparent that we would need a tool to notch the support pieces and the beams so the exterior panels would lay flat and give us at least two places to connect to. This necessitated a trip - which ended up being three trips - to Home Depot to get a grinder, which can also cut metal, with the right kind of blade. Of course, the cutting wears down the blade and with the kind of cuts were were making, we used up six blades over the course of the project. The first day took much longer than we had planned. We were trying to get as much done as possible so we stayed past dark and tried some fancy finagling to bend light around the corners and came home exhausted.
The second day deserves it's own post, so let's leave it there.
The third day we could finally see a light at the end of the tunnel, and the bloomin' thing hadn't fallen down in the middle of either of the two previous nights, so that was good for our morale.
This is how it came out:
Not too bad, considering what we started with. And with the sun still up.
It didn't take us two days however.
Grand total: Four days, a few more dollars than we planned and not a little pain.
AND THEN, to put the frosting on the cupcake, after the previous three days of crazy, my father informed us we had to buck the hay, into the brand new shed. Those bales are heavy. My poor fingers did not recover for days.
This is me, stay tuned for the rest of the epic tale.
How do you blog about events in your life that are so huge you just don't know where to start describing them? The Christmas/New Year's thing this year was one of those monumental events, and it's only just barely over such that I can recognize it's been six weeks without a post of meaningful content.
Not because stuff hasn't happened - because it has, all over the floor it has - but because it's too immense for one post and I have no idea how to break it into many posts, so instead I do neither and watch six episodes of The Big Bang Theory instead. I know that's a healthy response. And that's not even including the whole Relief Society President responsibilities thing, though I have developed a lovely eyelid twitch because of that.
Completely different story.
I've been composing this post for a while now and I'm sure I'm omitting dozens of details but it seems to be blocking me from writing anything new, so here goes.
Early in December of 2011 my father got a contract to build a hay barn for a customer of his grain business. Because I am "the resident architect" - his words, not mine - and Tarzan is young, strong and willing to do most anything, we were conscripted to help my father, my sister and my brother get the thing up. Once Tarzan was on Christmas vacation we scheduled a visit. The night we had to drive the two hours out, we were at a family wedding - Tarzan's family - and it went a little later than planned so we were late leaving and therefore late getting to my parent's house and they do not like to be up past their bedtime, so that gave us a stellar start to the project. Oh, and a few days before that, Tarzan's parents came to town, ostensibly for the wedding, but also to see us and while I love them both, very much, it is stressful to have one's in-laws come to visit, especially when one has to figure out where to have them sleep in a house that - I am learning - is the size of most people's front porches. But they did, sleep, and so did we and we made it to my parent's in time to get up bright and early to work on this shed thing.
On the surface it seemed a fairly simple project. Four 4" square galvanized steel posts to be sunk into the dirt, a front and back beam, three 2" square support posts, twelve 4'x8' corrugated metal side panels and eight 8'x12' corrugated metal panels for the roof. A zillion screws and we should have been fine. We started with high hopes of taking one day for the structure, one day for the roof.
Hahahaha!
Oh, the follies of ignorance...
To begin with, there were no instructions. Not even a stick drawing. Tarzan and my father did not think this was a big deal but it's nigh on to heresy - blasphemy! - as far as I am concerned. I will deviate from a plan as required, color outside the lines so to speak, but I at least need to know where the line was. I hate flying without a net. As we plugged along, it became apparent that we would need a tool to notch the support pieces and the beams so the exterior panels would lay flat and give us at least two places to connect to. This necessitated a trip - which ended up being three trips - to Home Depot to get a grinder, which can also cut metal, with the right kind of blade. Of course, the cutting wears down the blade and with the kind of cuts were were making, we used up six blades over the course of the project. The first day took much longer than we had planned. We were trying to get as much done as possible so we stayed past dark and tried some fancy finagling to bend light around the corners and came home exhausted.
The second day deserves it's own post, so let's leave it there.
The third day we could finally see a light at the end of the tunnel, and the bloomin' thing hadn't fallen down in the middle of either of the two previous nights, so that was good for our morale.
This is how it came out:
Not too bad, considering what we started with. And with the sun still up.
It didn't take us two days however.
Grand total: Four days, a few more dollars than we planned and not a little pain.
AND THEN, to put the frosting on the cupcake, after the previous three days of crazy, my father informed us we had to buck the hay, into the brand new shed. Those bales are heavy. My poor fingers did not recover for days.
This is me, stay tuned for the rest of the epic tale.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Oops I got fired again!
Hi all,
For the 2nd year in row I have been laid off by my school district. As a cost cutting measure they are going to replace all librarians with self service kiosks. I still don't get how the books are supposed to get shelved again. Some of my library regulars said they would give the machine a day before someone broke it. I'm not too worried though I feel sick inside at the general state of affairs in my school district. Acadeca is gone, school busses are gone, adult ed. is gone, not sure what will be left if this budget goes through. I've got my Patriarical blessing, I've been through this before last year (to no long term negative effect, good faith building exercise)and frankly I don't care or even bother thinking about this stuff anymore. I serve until released. Gotteswillen.
Jane and I are teaching students at my school how to swing dance for a musical, Zoot Suit Riot and will be teaching youth from our stake how to dance as well. I thinking of asking some of my students to attend the stake dance. Last night Jane and I went out to a casual sushi place called "how do you roll" that works a lot like subway. They assemble the rolls in front of you assembly line style. Tasted pretty good. We also went out Friday night to a little hole in the wall Chinese restaurant that serves the best beef rolls and dumplings Oh so good! Afterwards we wandered around a nearby Asian supermarket. It was like a field trip to a foreign country. Exotic fruits, more kinds of seafood than an aquarium and whole rows dedicated to the most delectable noodles and sauces you can imagine. Life is busy. No time for worries. Thank goodness.
For the 2nd year in row I have been laid off by my school district. As a cost cutting measure they are going to replace all librarians with self service kiosks. I still don't get how the books are supposed to get shelved again. Some of my library regulars said they would give the machine a day before someone broke it. I'm not too worried though I feel sick inside at the general state of affairs in my school district. Acadeca is gone, school busses are gone, adult ed. is gone, not sure what will be left if this budget goes through. I've got my Patriarical blessing, I've been through this before last year (to no long term negative effect, good faith building exercise)and frankly I don't care or even bother thinking about this stuff anymore. I serve until released. Gotteswillen.
Jane and I are teaching students at my school how to swing dance for a musical, Zoot Suit Riot and will be teaching youth from our stake how to dance as well. I thinking of asking some of my students to attend the stake dance. Last night Jane and I went out to a casual sushi place called "how do you roll" that works a lot like subway. They assemble the rolls in front of you assembly line style. Tasted pretty good. We also went out Friday night to a little hole in the wall Chinese restaurant that serves the best beef rolls and dumplings Oh so good! Afterwards we wandered around a nearby Asian supermarket. It was like a field trip to a foreign country. Exotic fruits, more kinds of seafood than an aquarium and whole rows dedicated to the most delectable noodles and sauces you can imagine. Life is busy. No time for worries. Thank goodness.
Thursday, February 09, 2012
Busting My Buttons
I know, it's been a while - no apologies, just a huge post that's coming - but in the meantime I would like to share the really good news we are party to.
One of the many things Tarzan and I do is coach the Academic Decathlon team at his school. Well, he's the coach. *I* am the coach's wife, provider of the cookie bribes and chauffeur. I help with speeches, practice interviews, offer support, encouragement, scoldings and make a lot of cookies.
We were a little disappointed after the last day of competition and the team was kind of apathetic about the awards ceremony tonight. We hosted dinner at our house and then went down to the convention center.
It was awesome.
Three medals.
Two perfect scores.
Most improved school in our district:
To put the whole event in perspective; the top five scores in our school district were the top five scores in the entire country. It is a smart group we compete against.
This is me and I am so proud of the team.
One of the many things Tarzan and I do is coach the Academic Decathlon team at his school. Well, he's the coach. *I* am the coach's wife, provider of the cookie bribes and chauffeur. I help with speeches, practice interviews, offer support, encouragement, scoldings and make a lot of cookies.
We were a little disappointed after the last day of competition and the team was kind of apathetic about the awards ceremony tonight. We hosted dinner at our house and then went down to the convention center.
It was awesome.
Three medals.
Two perfect scores.
Most improved school in our district:
To put the whole event in perspective; the top five scores in our school district were the top five scores in the entire country. It is a smart group we compete against.
This is me and I am so proud of the team.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
State Of Affairs
I am not dead, much as it might be WAY easier that way.
As a general indication of my state of mind right now, I am wearing green, elf slippers, not unlike these, only less pointy:
Also, navy blue sweat pants, a magenta t-shirt and a black cardigan. I don't know that I could be less co-ordinating if I tried.
This is me and a post of epic proportions is in the works, never fear.
Wednesday, January 04, 2012
Touching
I went to the church building tonight to meet with the previous Relief Society President so she could give me - even more of - the low-down on the people in the ward.
Wednesday night is a busy night at the ward building; basketball, missionaries, people taking down the Christmas decorations, Family Home Evening.
You know, the usual.
One of the kids - he's 5 - was messing around with the missionaries and the basketball came over to me and asked, "When are you coming back to Primary?"
Awww. Makes even an ice queen like me tear up a little.
This is me and it's nice to know they miss me.
Wednesday night is a busy night at the ward building; basketball, missionaries, people taking down the Christmas decorations, Family Home Evening.
You know, the usual.
One of the kids - he's 5 - was messing around with the missionaries and the basketball came over to me and asked, "When are you coming back to Primary?"
Awww. Makes even an ice queen like me tear up a little.
This is me and it's nice to know they miss me.
Sunday, January 01, 2012
New Hook, Same Fish
Did I mention they released me from being Primary President two weeks ago?
Wait, wait, before you get too excited and happy for me...
I was called to be Relief Society President in the same interview.
Oh yes, I believe this is called, "out of the frying pan and into the fire."
Thus far - all two weeks of it - haven't been too bad; I taught a lesson today that got positive reviews but there's a lot more to this position than the last one and I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. For when it gets hard or complicated or when someone dies.
To make matters worse, because of Primary callings, I haven't been to Sunday School or Relief Society in nearly 15 years. The whole system has changed since I last attended regularly, and now I'm in charge of it.
Oy.
After one meeting with the previous president I know more than I ever wanted to about people in the ward. And it's barely begun.
This is me and it's going to get interesting.
Wait, wait, before you get too excited and happy for me...
I was called to be Relief Society President in the same interview.
Oh yes, I believe this is called, "out of the frying pan and into the fire."
Thus far - all two weeks of it - haven't been too bad; I taught a lesson today that got positive reviews but there's a lot more to this position than the last one and I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. For when it gets hard or complicated or when someone dies.
To make matters worse, because of Primary callings, I haven't been to Sunday School or Relief Society in nearly 15 years. The whole system has changed since I last attended regularly, and now I'm in charge of it.
Oy.
After one meeting with the previous president I know more than I ever wanted to about people in the ward. And it's barely begun.
This is me and it's going to get interesting.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Ring Out The Old
As the last few hours of the year melt away I am a little bit sad, a little anxious, but mostly hopeful.
Hopeful that 2012 won't be as stressful as 2011.
On a global level; I hope we all can learn to get along. I get that every culture has their own history and holidays and traditions, but so many traditions come from other cultures originally and since we all started in a pond somewhere in Africa so it shouldn't be a big deal to let the small stuff go, right? I hope we can see the evidence of that this year.
At the national level; I hope we can become more responsible. Bring the factory jobs back to our own country and employ our own people rather than send all our money and jobs out. I know it makes more money for the board of directors but it doesn't help the economy in any way.
For the state; I hope we can figure out how to balance a budget. I don't understand why a problem that has taken years to create is expected to be solved in six months and I hope to see a measure of moderation in the cutting that needs to take place.
City-wise; I hope we will stop being a gigantic pile of selfish, greedy, stupid people and take an interest. Not in a solve-hunger-in-Uganda kind of way but in a care-what's-happening-with-our-neighbors-in-the-house-next-door kind of way. The 'think global, act local' adage is cute but means nothing unless we let the lady with two kids get in front of us in line and worry less about what the media tells us is cool and read a book. Or look at what the political candidate means rather than just what s/he says. I hope to see a rise in intelligence and kindness.
Familial; I hope we can communicate more, talk less behind people's backs and complain less.
Personally; I hope to be more organized and waste less time this year. I have a lot to keep track of and I really need to be on top of it all. I have felt one step behind a lot this year and I don't like it.
Those are my hopes and dreams for 2012. Of course, if the Mayans are right we don't have to think about any of it. If they aren't then we're going to be in the exact same place 365 days from now.
This is me and HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!!
Hopeful that 2012 won't be as stressful as 2011.
On a global level; I hope we all can learn to get along. I get that every culture has their own history and holidays and traditions, but so many traditions come from other cultures originally and since we all started in a pond somewhere in Africa so it shouldn't be a big deal to let the small stuff go, right? I hope we can see the evidence of that this year.
At the national level; I hope we can become more responsible. Bring the factory jobs back to our own country and employ our own people rather than send all our money and jobs out. I know it makes more money for the board of directors but it doesn't help the economy in any way.
For the state; I hope we can figure out how to balance a budget. I don't understand why a problem that has taken years to create is expected to be solved in six months and I hope to see a measure of moderation in the cutting that needs to take place.
City-wise; I hope we will stop being a gigantic pile of selfish, greedy, stupid people and take an interest. Not in a solve-hunger-in-Uganda kind of way but in a care-what's-happening-with-our-neighbors-in-the-house-next-door kind of way. The 'think global, act local' adage is cute but means nothing unless we let the lady with two kids get in front of us in line and worry less about what the media tells us is cool and read a book. Or look at what the political candidate means rather than just what s/he says. I hope to see a rise in intelligence and kindness.
Familial; I hope we can communicate more, talk less behind people's backs and complain less.
Personally; I hope to be more organized and waste less time this year. I have a lot to keep track of and I really need to be on top of it all. I have felt one step behind a lot this year and I don't like it.
Those are my hopes and dreams for 2012. Of course, if the Mayans are right we don't have to think about any of it. If they aren't then we're going to be in the exact same place 365 days from now.
This is me and HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!!
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