Melancholy in Texas

Melancholy.
  I want to call my sister, but then I would cry.  Or she would cry.  I know my mom would cry. Sadness, no - not sadness.  I am not sad, I am actually feeling quite peaceful and content.
I just came home from a worldwide broadcast.  I am a member of the oldest and largest women's organization on the planet.  The Relief Society of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  It is a marvelous organization - supporting women in all of our many roles, promoting literacy and education, providing all levels of service around the world and next door...
Twice a year we have a worldwide broadcast.   Tonight was my first in Texas.  I know that my sisters, mothers, daughters and friends... scattered as we are... we all hearing the same inspiring instruction.

Sister Farewell 2015

I was reflecting on my first broadcast in Washington.  It was the end of September 2001, Jackie had just turned five years old and I brought her along because I had lived there just under three months and didn't really know anyone.  I remember spotting a few women I knew, but they were busy with one another.   Instead I spoke to complete strangers and knew it would get better.
September 2015 ... I was out of town and listened to the broadcast with my daughters.  I was relieved because I knew I would have been sad to join in with my many friends for the last time.  When my sister moved to Washington we used to take turns attending one another's buildings.   There was always a friend to invite - and then go out to eat with later.  Always, I could look around and find a room full of women that I love.

Farewell to Oregon Nov 2015

I have been here just over three months.  I am new and I find myself older and quite content to watch the women interacting - all without feeling lonely.  I am happy to see friends greeting each other.  Tonight I had friends as well.    I have met some of the most amazing women, it is a privilege to know them.  I know that it is just a matter of time before I can look around and find a room full of friends again.

Nov 2015 -  Farewell to Washington

Yesterday there was no school and I needed an adventure.  David, Kimberly and I headed out to explore and ended up in Palestine, TX.  There is Dogwood festival and we saw some of the most beautiful country!  We saw rhododendrons in bloom - evergreen trees - hills - I loved it.  I also loved the flat open country as we drew closer to Dallas.  So much sky - and Sunshine!  As I drove I contemplated how I could love this country so soon, especially when it is so different from my beloved northwest.
Why would I question it?  I have a deep love for many areas of this country.  Who would have thought I would ever be grateful for moving around as a child?
1991 - Nathan was born and I didn't know that I could ever love another human being as much as I loved him... then the children kept coming and the love kept growing.  I guess it is the same with places that we live.  They are all different, but we can love them all.
And friends.  I love so many friends... from high school, college, California, Oregon, Washington, and now it begins in Texas.
This must be one of Life's greatest (and sweetest) lessons.

Feb 2016 -
Welcome to Texas

Ok - as I speak of Texas... this is all in spite of the fact that, although it is a clear, warm night--- it sounds like a hailstorm outside.  This is because these rather repulsive flying beetles of some sort of bombarding it trying to get to my light.  I hope they hit it so hard that they die... there must be thousands of them and I find it more than a little nauseating... I think I saw their larvae in the ground while digging in my yard the other day.  They fell off my car when we  parked in the garage tonight.  Ummmmm, this is going to take some getting used to...

Melancholy.....

Musical Surgery

In my opinion, a chemotherapy port is a sizable piece of equipment to have implanted... so to remove it under a local anesthetic seems like something I wouldn't want to do.  When he was 17, they put him to sleep - at 22, Greg was awake and able to give us a play by play.  He sent an email today with this report:

So probably the most interesting thing this week was my port removal surgery. If you're not a pediatric patient then you don't get put out for it. And if the doctor has some strange reason to not show up (I don't know what happened) she sends her PA to do it. ( I am really bummed that Dr Scaife did't get to do it. I really like her.) Nathan came up with me and got to watch. Everyone got to watch except for me. I was just numbed with lidocaine and then they sliced, pulled, snipped and all kinds of stuff while I tried to keep a conversation going that would keep me distracted from what was happening. So the port is out, I survived, and it really is purple. Now I just have a huge bruise from all the messing around.  

 A fun note about the surgery. They asked what kind of music I wanted. I didn't care so I said classical because that's the best kind to go along with a surgery, keep everyone calm. But the music kept keeping time to what was happening. As the doctors got ready the music was sad and tense, as if it was a dramatic TV show. Then as they operated it was sad as if I was dying and my family waited outside in the waiting room anxious to hear about me. The music came to a triumphant end right as they pulled the port out! kind of fun. Then there was a commercial break on the radio, just like TV. As the doctor sat and held pressure on my neck to make sure I didn't bleed out, the music was slow and thoughtful. Perfect for an end of episode montage. Me in the room, good news to the family, the guy who hit me in a car accident being led out of the court room. The lawyer being thoughtful, back to me and the music ended again right as the doctor was done sewing me up. That was kind of funny and we kept laughing about that. 

Blee & the Eagles

Someone recently reminded me that the stress of moving is equivalent to having a death in the family.  This helps explain why I am living in slow motion - I think I am still recovering from those last crazy weeks.  Most of this was my own fault - I wanted to see and spend time with everyone that I loved... and I couldn't leave town without painting my friend's kitchen cabinets, or any number of other projects which I felt driven to accomplish.

One of my all-time favorite photos!

  One big one - David's Court of Honor.  He had earned his Eagle Scout Award several months before, and he was just waiting for his best friend to complete his paperwork so that they could celebrate together.   Looking at the calendar one day we realized it would probably not be possible --- but never say that to my friend Heidi, she pulled out all the stops and her son began making phone calls.  Thanks to many helpful people, he completed his paperwork.
  Time was up - we were moving - but... Heidi and I both don't like to be told we cannot do something that we really want to do - and so... on the first day of moving we asked our movers to leave early so that we could all go down to the church and celebrate the hard work of these two Eagle Scouts.

New Years Day hike along
Columbia River

  That evening was even sweeter than we had anticipated because Kimberly had also been working hard.  She had earned her Young Woman's Medallion and so we were able to add her to the program.  Having spent so many childhood years together, it was fitting that we celebrate together as well, especially on our last night in town.
  For anyone who knows these kids - take a minute (or 6) and watch the cute video that Natalie put together (quickly before we packed the computer).  You can watch them grow up before your eyes.  My favorite part is watching David and Kimberly together - they have such a sweet brother/sister relationship.  See how his arm is always around her, protecting her like a big brother should.  Also notice how they are usually playing outdoors - it's not secret that this is where I like to see my kids.  (Blee is what David called Kimberly when they were babies and he couldn't pronounce her name.  Almost 14 years later it seems to have stuck.)  click here: Eagle/Medallion Slide Show

There were Three Musketeers, why
can't I find the photo with Sheadan?

Serving Mom and Dad
an anniversary dinner

  Kimberly's Young Woman Medallion, or Young Woman Recognition Award, is something to be proud of.  It is something that the girls at church begin to work on when they are 12.  In the past they had to finish it by the time they were 18, but it is now open to all women.  I earned one when Jackie earned hers, and again with Kimberly.  I thought I would try to get three with my three girls, but I managed two with an Honor Bee - so I am aware of how much work these can take.  I want to briefly explain what this award entails.
There are 8 "Values" that the girls learn about and incorporate into their lives.  These are:

• Faith ~ learning to trust in our Savior, Jesus Christ
• Divine Nature ~ we are all daughters of God
• Individual Worth ~ each of us is very important to our Lord
• Knowledge ~ we must participate in learning at every level
• Choice & Accountability ~ we are free to make choices but must accept consequences
• Good Works ~ service to others brings joy to everyone
• Integrity ~ we must be as good as our word
• Virtue ~ our thoughts/behavior must be based on high moral standards

Another road trip

With each of these values, the girls must complete six "experiences" and a 10 hour project.  Experiences include a wide range of activities, studying, service, learning/teaching, etc.  Completing eight 10-hour projects is very impressive.   The entire program is called Personal Progress and it is aptly named.  My sister told me that she is never a better person than when she is actively working on her Personal Progress.    Just like a grown man who has earned his Eagle Scout award will almost always stand out, so will a woman who has taken the time to develop her mind, her talents, her spirit and learned to care for others through Personal Progress.  The Honor Bee I mentioned is an additional award that is available to girls and women who have completed Personal Progress - it has several requirements which include 40 hours of service.

Holding hands along the way

So today I am just celebrating Young Women and Scouts and my children and brothers who put their arms around their sisters and playing outdoors and friends who help you pull off big events on the day you move away and that I managed to bake 90+ rolls for a dinner tonight and none of them burned and my husband's trip next week just got shortened by a day and that I can see my trash can blew over but didn't spill and... that there is always something to smile about!

Nathan and Greg are both Eagle Scouts
(They set this goal at a young age)

AND everyone celebrate that at this very moment - 1,000+ miles away, Greg is having his chemotherapy port removed!  That means that he is over 6 months post chemo and cancer-free!  Let's keep it that way!  He's happy because it has added another port to his collection.  I am thinking that two is a large enough collection!

The Book Whisperer - Part Two

   Here in Texas we have a very early Spring Break - it is next week!  We've decided to go exploring a bit and are going to see what we can find in Arkansas.  What I am really looking forward to is shutting off the kids' phones for a few days.  I figure that this is a family vacation and their friends do not need to come along.
   I began this blog post in 2014!  I found it while searching for my original Book Whisperer... It only contained these two photos which are straight out of my old Family Home Evening scrapbook.  They are from 1999 and contain a list of some of the books that we had been reading aloud... OH!  How I wish I had kept that list going!  Anyway, reading the original Book Whisperer post was fun.
  My sister, Lori,  just asked me what we are doing for Book Whisperer now... I am glad she didn't ask me much sooner since I finally got my act together just a couple weeks ago.  I'll explain our new program right after I report on our first one.
  We began in September of 2014 and officially ended last summer.  Kimberly wanted to be done by the end of the school year and she did it.  Mark and I completed ours soon afterward with David and Natalie following up this past fall - mostly finishing up I think.  IT WAS GREAT!  The fact that we were required to read was wonderful!  It meant that there was always a book nearby and I reawakened my old habit of reading before I fall asleep.   In fact, everyone was going to bed sooner so that they would have time to read when possible.  We had a lot of quiet evenings as we sat together reading - when does that happen if you aren't Book Whisperers?

When Lori texted me her question
I looked up and there was Kimberly
reading "Standing Next to History"
A fun book we have all shared about
the Secret Service during the
Reagan years.  How we miss
Ronald Reagan!

  The other really positive aspect of our program was that we were required to read so many different genres.  They included Realistic Fiction (5 books), Fantasy/Science Fiction (5), Biography (5), Historical Fiction (5), Mystery/Western (4), Informational (4), Poetry (2) and My Choice (10).  This really worked to broaden the scope of my reading.  It also gave me permission to read some really fun books - before this I felt that I should be reading all "informational" books - and they can get rather boring.  Another aspect I loved... we shared books.  Someone would read and recommend a book and we could all pass it around over the next month or two.
  I had intended to report on some of the books that I read, but I cannot find my list - when I find it I will write about it.  For now, I will share our new plan:
  This time around we aren't counting books, we are counting pages.  We can read a lot of small books, one large one.and anything in-between   (Natalie just pulled out the unabridged Les Miserables which should fill her Historical Fiction requirement by itself... ) We will each read a minimum of 1,500 pages in the following genre:  Realistic Fiction, Fantasy, Biography, Information and Historical Fiction.  We will also have 3,000 pages in My Choice.
  A new twist... This time we have to write.  Yes, write... and I heard more than a few grumbles about this.  I bought the set of Moleskine notebooks from Costco - a little nicer to write in than composition books.  Inside of each book is the record sheet (since I kept losing my last one... seriously, once I found it outside in my backyard?!?) and the new rules.  We just have to write a short report on each book and what we learned.  I know... this kind of defeats the purpose of the Book Whisperer -reading-for-the-joy-of-reading... but last time there wasn't a prize.  This time we have prizes... and it isn't hard writing - more of a record that I wished I had from before.  What if I had written down a few notes on every book I have ever read? What a treasure (for myself)!  So... we will be writing.
  Kimberly has a big head start since she finished our last program in June 2015 and hasn't quit reading.  I explained this new program to her at the time... but (this will make everyone feel better) - I didn't get around to making these books and explaining it to everyone else until last weekend (Feb 2016).    Oh well, that's the way it goes...
  So - next week is Spring Break (without  friends texting).  The sunshine which has been so beautiful and present each day is going to be hiding behind some clouds/rain. We will be in Arkansas... and just in case rainy Arkansas doesn't keep us busy... we all have instructions to pack a couple books!  Let the games begin!

For more information search for my first Book Whisperer post - or Google "Book Whisperer" and learn about this incredible teacher.  It is inspiring!