Goals for 2009

Okay, so here are the goals--any support and help will be much appreciated.

1. Daily personal and family scripture study and prayer (Conference issues of the Ensign also count).

2. Keep the Sabbath day holy

3. Live the law of the fast

4. Regular Family Home Evening

5. Attend the temple weekly--after work on Thursdays

6. Family history--research and work 

7. Regular blog/journaling

8. Work on photo albums during spring break and over the summer

9. Share the gospel daily in at least some small way

10. Regular calls and visits to mom

11. Work on budgeting and saving

12. Save for Kelly and Shannon missions

13. Fulfill my church callings

14. Exercise daily--walk with twins on weekdays

15. Container garden

16. Continue my reading plan on biographies of the presidents

17. Go back to school or at least audit online classes in the fall

Bigger picture--I hope

Here's a slightly larger picture of the nativity...

Beautiful Nativity

I forgot to mention a few other delightful gifts. Mike got me a beautiful nativity. It's by an artist named Jim Shore and all the characters in the scene are wearing outfits that look like elaborate quilts. I know that Best Friend would love this--I'm going to try to put the picture of it in here.

My mom also gave me a lovely nativity that lights up--the twins love it! Plus, she gave us a wonderful, red, enameled cast iron pot. I know I can cook up some yummy stuff in it.

Christmas was lovely and peaceful and I'm now trying to get my mind going on the new year.....

A low key Christmas

Hmmm......How to describe this year's festivities? First a bit of background--I was sick for the first three weeks of December. Oh, I made it to work (only missed one day) but I hacked and coughed my way through the period when it was "beginning to look a lot like Christmas." I couldn't sing a note, felt dreadful and did absolutely no decorating. I just went to work, tried to talk with my pitiful, croaking voice, and went home to rest. So, this was the year of no tree, no decorations, presents wrapped in gift bags, but not Christmas paper, and no Christmas cards. I feel a bit like a failure, but there it is. Then, once I felt better, I went to Utah to drive home with Lauren. By the time we got home, decorating seemed like kind of waste of time, plus it was very cold, I'm a wimp and I didn't want to go to the storage unit, get everything out, and freeze to put up a tree for only a few days. Plus, there was one more compelling reason to forgo the tree--Zeke--our wonderful, impish kitten. I know that Julie fought Bear over her tree, and Karen and Bob found their Jack perched on top like the Christmas star, so I decided that was the final, and perhaps most compelling, reason to skip the tree this year. I may be called a Scrooge, but that's that.

So, we enjoyed Julie's tree and opened presents over at her house on Christmas morning. The boys were so much fun to watch--their enthusiasm more than makes up for the lack of it in some of the older folks. I gave the girls cash, because I can't seem to pick out anything they like any more. Julie and Kara were thrilled --they love to shop, but Lauren, not so much.....Oh well.......

I know it's unfair, but I got the best Christmas presents. Mike bought me a bunch of beautiful shirts at Jones New York--they have gorgeous clothes, he loves to shop, and he doesn't feel guilty spending money. I wouldn't have had nearly as much fun buying them for myself. We also bought a new car--it's another PT Cruiser, this time in white with automatic transmission. He will actually drive it for the next 10 months or so as he attends a police academy in Mesquite, but after that, it's mine. Kara gets the purple PT to use now and to take to college, and Mike will keep the truck and his motorcycle. I'll drive the truck while he attends the academy. The new car is beautiful and if you're going to buy one, now seems to be the time, better deals are available now than have been offered in many years.

What else...I finally joined the 21st century and got a page on Facebook. My main goal was to keep up with my students who have graduated. I just love those kids and then they graduate and completely disappear. This way, I can keep track of at least a few of them. I've already received several emails from former students and hope to find more of them as time goes by. I also tracked down two of my favorite people from high school and have heard from both of them. It's amazing to think we've been out of high school for more than 30 years. But hey, I still get to hang out with the kids and have fun while doing it. I know I've said it before, but teaching is the most wonderful thing I've ever done. I love the kids and I am blessed to know them.

So, now we march on to 2009. I've worked out my goals and I'll post those next. I figure if I tell everyone about them, maybe I can get some encouragement to actually accomplish them.....

Travel Adventures

On Thursday, Dec. 18 (almost two weeks ago.....my how time flies) I was supposed to fly to Salt Lake City to meet Lauren and then help her drive home to Texas. She has just graduated from BYU, and is moving back so that she can live with Julie for a few months, find a job, save some money, and then strike out on her own. Anyway, the trip started badly, as my flight was delayed some three hours, then we found out that we would all miss our connections in Denver. Being stranded in Denver didn't sound too fun, even though I knew I would get on a flight to SLC the next morning, but luckily, I have wonderful relatives!!! My cousin Diana went far above and beyond the call of duty in coming to the airport, waiting more than an hour on me because I was trapped in a line with all the other delayed folks trying to get our boarding passes for the next morning's flights, then taking me back to the airport at the horrendous hour of 5 a.m. She deserves great kudos and thanks and accolades and I am so appreciative. So, I spent the night in Denver, saw Greg for about 5 minutes, had great visits with Diana going from and to the airport and finally arrived in SLC on Friday morning. I did meet some nice people on the plane, all of whom sent best wishes to Lauren on her graduation (that made me feel really good) and I'm glad I had a chance to visit with Diana, even if the circumstances weren't ideal. I was hoping that our trek south could take us back through Denver, so that we could have a real visit, but the weather did not cooperate. Interstate 70 looked bad going over the mountains west of Denver, so we took the more southern route home, just hitting the corner of Colorado as we went from southern Utah into New Mexico. Once Lauren picked me up and we got some breakfast (I love the bacon, egg and cheese bagels at McDonalds--try them if you get the chance), we headed south. We saw lots of snow on the side of the road, especially in southern Utah near Monticello and all through that southwest corner of Colorado, and we had some blowing snow on the roads in that area, but overall, the roads were clear and dry and great all the way home. We made it to Albuquerque by 8 p.m., found a reasonably priced hotel and hit the sack. I was especially pleased by the help given from several people in Cortez, Colorado. I had thought we might go on east to Durango, then catch highway 550 south into New Mexico and take it all the way to Albuquerque, but I was advised by three friendly people to instead go south from Cortez to Shiprock, turn east there to Farmington and catch 550 in Bloomfield. The folks in Cortez said the snow would get dramatically deeper if we went to Durango, so we took their advice. The road from Bloomfield to Albuquerque is a nice, four-lane divided highway that I had never been on before. Always in the past, when we took the southern route, we went all the way south from Cortez to Gallup, through the Indian reservation, then hit Interstate 40 to head east. This route took miles off the trip, and was a better road. (Once I got home and told Linda G. about it, I figured out why I'd never gone that way before--the road is only about five years old). Anyway, the trip went really well. Our only major delay was for a wreck on I-40, somewhere out in the boonies. It looked bad and had trucks and cars backed up for miles. Some people were driving across the median and heading back the other way, but we had to go east, and wandering around on the back roads of New Mexico didn't seem to smart. In the end, we crept along for about 45 minutes and then got clear and zoomed on.

We were amused by the Cadillac ranch just west of Amarillo, and then tired by the time we finally got to Arlington. You think you're nearly home when you arrive in Texas, but no....it's at least six hours from Amarillo to home....Big place, this Lone Star State.

That's it for our exciting trip.....another post for Christmas coming up.

You've Got to See This

Lots and lots of things to share, but I'll do it tomorrow when I'm more awake. In the meantime, you've got to see this....Love, love, love it.

Off to get the Lauren

Just to keep everyone in the loop, I'm flying to Utah tomorrow and will be driving (with BYU graduate Lauren) home to Texas on Friday and Saturday. Please keep us, the roads and her car in your prayers. I'm so proud of her for graduating and hope that you are, too.

More info when we return!

This sounds a little weird......

It looks like the creators of Southpark are now working on "Mormon Musical." It probably won't be anything decent folk can see, but it's definitely an interesting concept. Here's the link--see what you think.

More Defenders of Faith

After my post regarding Prop 8 and the backlash against people of faith, particularly those of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I was very pleased today to find this ad that ran in the New York Times. You'll have to click on the ad a couple of times to enlarge it, but I think the writers have some important things to say.

Trying to figure out how to add links

Here is the link for the Jonah Goldberg column. Oh! I think I've done it!!! (I'll try it out and see) I feel so proud of myself.......

At least someone is defending us!

I don't know if you've paid much attention to the Proposition 8 conflict out in California, but here is the Reader's Digest condensed version. In June, the California Supreme court "found" that the state constitution allowed for gay marriages. So, California immediately began issuing marriage licenses and 18,000 gay couples tied the knot over the next five months. Many people in California opposed the idea that five judges should make the final decision on this issue for the millions who live in the state, so they started a movement that eventually got the issue on the ballot in the Nov. election. Come November, the citizens of California voted 52% to 48% to prohibit gay marriage. Well, you'd think the gay rights folks could accept a legal and lawful election, but noooooo. They've been protesting and interrupting various faith's church services and picketing the LDS temples and sending white powder to LDS temples and beating up old ladies while stomping their crosses into the ground, etc. ever since. Last week they picketed the temple here in Dallas, and security personnel had to lock the gates of the temple to keep them out. A bit much don't you think? Today Jonah Goldberg, who writes for National Review (my favorite online political site--I highly recommend it if you are of the conservative persuasion--and even if you're not, it's a good read) stood up for us Mormon folk and his column is quite good. Here is the URL:

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YWZiMzYwZDNjOWI1NGVlZTk5OTg4Y2E3YzIyZTllZTg=

I'm not clever enough to figure out how to put links in here; maybe someone can show me someday. Anyway, I was pleased that a nice Jewish fellow stood up for us.

Thanksgiving

First--I'm so thankful that Lauren made the trip to and from California safely. Against my advice (amazing that you cannot pray away other people's agency, isn't it?) she decided to spend Thanksgiving in San Diego with her old friend Kat. Off she went. traveling 700 miles each way. The trip south was quite eventful. She called me from Victorville, California, to let me know that one of her back tires was completely shredded. Lovely, my beautiful daughter is stranded, alone, on the side of the highway more than 1,000 miles away from me. Luckily, we have the road hazard insurance on our cars, so she called GEICO, who promised to send help within a half hour. The California Highway Patrol also stopped to help; she got the donut tire put on, was advised to drive no more than 60 miles on it, and she went on her way, searching for a tire shop as she went. Unfortunately, no shop appeared, and about 100 miles along the way she stopped at a gas station and realized that the other back tire was shot. So, another call to GEICO followed by a tow to Kat's house. The insurance only covers a five mile tow, not a 60 mile trek, so it was an expensive outing, but she was safely there (albeit with one donut tire and two shredded ones). She had a lovely Thanksgiving feast with Kat and crew, then bought two new tires on Friday. Thank goodness, the return trip to Provo was totally uneventful--no problems at all, and now she's back where she belongs. Mike said that perhaps the whole thing was a blessing in disguise--she and I could have had the tire problems later this month when I fly up to Salt Lake City and then drive her home--to stay this time. It was a worrisome time for old mom, though. I pray and pray and pray, but somehow I seem to lack faith because I still worry about my kids (and grandkids). I'm just thankful, thankful, thankful that she made it back safely. And I hope the two of us have a much less exciting trip Dec. 19 and 20.

Our Thanksgiving celebration was lovely. The food turned out well--I even managed to make pretty good cornbread dressing this year. It's not as good as grandma's yet, but I'm steadily improving. Julie, Kelly and Shannon joined Mike, Kara and I and Nana came, too. We also invited our friend Joe (he's Mike's home teaching companion) and an old friend, Jeff, with his seven-year-old daughter, Holly. We had a fine meal, good company, great conversation--what more could you ask? Then, Julie, Kara and I topped off the day with an outing to the movies. It was perfect.

In fact, the whole week was restful and lovely. I had the entire week off, so I relaxed, read, slept, accomplished almost nothing, but had a great time doing it. I'm very thankful for vacations and time to be still.

Other things I'm thankful for:
Today Mike helped pull a man from a burning car. The accident happened right in front of him on the way home from work and he, along with two other motorists, ran to rescue the unconscious man from his burning car. I'm thankful to have such a good, kind, brave husband.

Terrific, fun, thoughtful daughters. I am blessed with three of the world's best.

Grandsons!!! Two are Terrific!

Many dear friends who love me despite my many faults and shortcomings.

The gospel of Jesus Christ and the freedom to worship in peace.

A career that fills and fulfills me. I love my students and I am blessed to be a teacher.

Meeting and writing about endlessly fascinating people and programs at UT Arlington.

The opportunity to travel all over the world.

Beauty in all it's forms--art, music, literature, marvelous creations brought to us by fellow children of our Heavenly Father.

This wonderful world--every creature and creation testifies of Christ.

Twilight

I had read the first three books, so on Thanksgiving, Julie, Kara and I were off to see the movie. I really liked it! Actually, in my humble opinion, it's much better than the book. NO WHINING!!!! My biggest complaint with the books is the pages and pages and pages of Bella's internal whining. Too much for an old woman who has lived through three teenage girls and currently teaches a boatload of them. And, though I have already expressed this sentiment to some, let me now put it on the record: the writing in Twilight and its sequels is mediocre at best. These are NOT classic novels. While the author does have a fairly compelling story, she really has enough good plot for about two books and the editors/publishers/money grubbers have stretched the series to four books. Too, too many pages of no action. Another confession, I skim and/or skip when the action wanes. Kara says that you must read every word, but I say there are no word police and if it's boring (unless you're reading for school, then you must read it all) skip it! There, I'll bet you never though you'd hear that from an English teacher. However, as a teacher and a professional writer, I just don't have the time or patience to wade through badly written, boring material. There are too many great books for me to waste my time on dreck.

However, don't think I'm consigning Twilight to the dreck bin. It is better than that. And, after seeing the movie on Thursday evening, I spent all day Friday reading the last book in the series just to find out how it all ends. (skipped the boring parts, though).

Gifted and Talented--Me?

So, it's time to try to catch up a bit. First, the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented conference which I attended with Lisa on Nov. 13 and 14. I really enjoy going to this conference because I get so many good (no, great) ideas to use in my classes. The best two sessions I attended this year were presented by Lisa. One, "Laughing Yourself Smart" revolved around ideas to bring humor into the classroom. (Although this conference is directed at teaching gifted kids, the information is really great for everyone). From her workshop, I got the idea to use the squawking chicken that we've had laying around the house as a motivation for my students. This chicken has a strong rubber neck that you can pull on to launch the fowl across the room and it squawks when it lands. So, I took it to school, and used it as my visual aid while telling them the story of the eagle who was raised with the chickens and failed to achieve his full potential. He just kept scratching in the dirt when he should have soared in the heavens. I told the kids they are all eagles but sometimes they act like chickens and when that happens, they can expect this fine feathered friend to visit our class. Then I launched the chicken across the room. It was great. And even better, during 7th period, one of my students fell asleep. Amazing how startling a squawking chicken can be when it lands on a sleeping student's desk. He jumped a foot at least. I was highly amused. (and he hasn't slept in class since).

I also submitted proposals and made two presentations at the conference. It was an okay experience, but I don't know if I'll repeat it. I can put this on my vita and it will look good, but I didn't really enjoy myself. In part that was because both of my presentations were the last of the day. On the first afternoon, only three people attended (my dear friend Lisa being one of them). It was called The Amazing Technicolor Dream Class and was about ways to engage students of different ethnicities and cultures. I thought it was pretty good, but the attendance was disappointing. Thus, I had few hopes for the second presentation on blogging (because I'm such an expert at this). Actually, I decided to talk about blogging and use myself as a testimonial--If I can do this with my students, anyone can. And even though that was during the last session of the entire conference, about a dozen people came. They seemed to enjoy the presentation; they were willing to participate and add their ideas, and it went pretty well. So, if I can come up with a really great idea, I might do it again, but I'll have to think about it first. Lisa has been doing this for three years and has built up a great reputation--almost 200 people were in her morning humor session. I don't pretend to be as gifted as she is, but I think I'm a good teacher, so we'll see what happens next year......