Miss Moo's Birthday and My Swan Song

Miss Moo turned 11 on the 24th. She didn't get a party and a bunch of presents this year because she went to 6th grade coast camp and we had to fork out a chunk of money for that.

As her birthday was getting closer I told her we could do a special birthday dinner for her, but it would probably have to be done on Thursday because I would be working at the restaurant on her birthday.

She thought and thought about it, and as it got closer I asked her what she wanted to do for her birthday. She said she wanted to come to the restaurant and have me wait on her! Perfect timing since it was going to be my last weekend to work there.

Mike brought the girls in and Miss Moo ordered the three cheese raviolis:

Nat ordered chicken dinosaurs, but instead of French fries, mashed potatoes:

The thing Miss Moo was really looking forward to was dessert. She knew she wanted Chocolate Lava cake. (That's my girl). Me and the other 2 waitresses and my friend Mary (who was washing dishes that night) came out with the lighted cake and sang to her.

It wasn't too long before we could hear everyone in the whole restaurant join in, with a couple of "awww, she's so cute's" thrown in. (I swear if it had been me at that age I would have crawled under the table.) As you can see, she loved it! (She's wearing big Sis' special tiara for the occasion).

On Saturday night it was my last night at the restaurant. The chef's gave me a hard time when I served my last dinners. They love to tease. I'm gonna miss them.

The chefs always make us an employee meal at the end of the evening. It's usually pasta with leftover prime rib and veggies or sometimes they make us pizza or nachos.

On Saturday they asked me what I wanted for dinner. I said, "What do you mean?" They said, "Anything you want off the menu." I was kind of taken aback. I've never seen them do that for anyone on their last night and I honestly was really touched and got a little teary eyed.

Then I pulled it together and ordered Filet Mignon. Mama didn't raise no fool!

Yes, Teacher!

I swear, if my little Nat doesn't grow up to be an educator of some sort I will be shocked. I've never seen a kid who likes to play school so much.

Miss Moo, being a couple years older doesn't really like to be taught by her sister, so Nat has taken to teaching the dog. Suey can stay quite attentive when there is a treat involved, and barring that, she will stay in one place when she's napping and Nat brings the lesson to her.

Here is "Mrs. Berry's" lesson on the brain along with doggy vocabulary words.

The diagram on the lower left is Nat's estimate of the actual size of Suey's brain. Notice how she added "or smaller", as a disclaimer.

The other day I spotted an old style school desk on display in front of a thrift store and just had to get it. (When I say "old style" I mean it is exactly like the ones I used to have in school when I was growing up. Aww...nostalgia.)

At any rate, I figured both girls would enjoy it, and maybe Miss Moo would even play with Nat if she had an official desk to sit in.

Here is Nat on the phone to her best friend, telling her all about her desk.

The desk has definitely been a big hit for my little teacher! Let the lessons begin!

Keepin' it Short

My little Nat made me laugh so hard yesterday. She kind of reminds me of a comedian who states the obvious and makes it funny.

Anyway, some backstory first: My husband is a known "talker". He's Mr. Social. When he goes to the dump (which is 10 minutes away) with 3 bags of trash, we aren't surprised when he doesn't return for 2 hours. He's obviously found someone to talk to. He's never met a stranger, and will strike up conversation with anyone anywhere anytime. For the most part it's nice, but sometimes it gets annoying (to either those of us waiting on him to come back from a short trip to the store, etc, and sometimes to the listener.)

So yesterday Nat says, "I don't get why people call me Mini-Mike." And I told her maybe it's because their personalities are similar. She is also known for striking up conversations, and I told her that maybe it's because she likes talking to everyone she meets.

She says, "Yeah, I guess you're right. But I keep it SHORT!"

I Did It-I Quit it

I quit my second job!

That was not an easy decision to come to, I tell ya.

When I thought about the wages I was going to miss and the tips I was going to miss it was a very difficult decision indeed!

But when I thought about the evenings I would now be home with my family, the extra hours in the week I could spend with them, the weekends (actual FULL weekends!) that I could take off and do something...like go see my 81 year old dad and see my sister...I think I've seen them twice in 2010 and they only live 2 hours away...and having time to visit my son...

...well when I thought about those things, it was an easy decision. My heart felt lighter just thinking about it!

So, I'll finish up September at the restaurant, then I'll only have one job! I've been working two jobs for over 2 years now, and I'm so excited! I'm a little nervous about our financial situation, but hubby has a house to build so that should get us through the winter.

Yay!

More Scenes From My Wildlife Camera

I’ve had my camera out again with limited success. We have a very friendly doe that frequents our yard and surrounding area. I refer to her as “that crazy doe” because I’ve seen her trying to play with the neighborhood cats, and she doesn’t seem fearful of anything.

One night I hung the camera up just across the street and sure enough the next morning I had some 30 shots of the doe. It was very reminiscent of a fashion shoot. As I clicked through it was almost like watching a stop-motion film. She apparently loves the flash of the camera. This has done nothing to diminish her "crazy doe" reputation, I might add.





Towards the very end I saw a little something else pop into the frame.

Then he was gone. Camera shy, apparently.

And another night we got this handsome fella:

Of course he must have heard from the dogs that the rear view is the preferred pose.

Last night we again put the camera across the street. Our cats followed us, and I figured they would turn around and follow us back to the house. Ha! The ensuing cat herding is very meticulously recorded on film.

This is when I went blind. I swear I had an imprint of the flash on my eyes for an hour!

Success at last! You can see Bitty-Bit's rear tucked under my arm.

Today we brought the camera in and relived the frustration of chasing stubborn cats around in the dark...

but then...
wait for it...

Oh, yeah! (By the way the two small rectangles you see in the distance are our livingroom windows.)

Ok, so it's only part of a bear, and a not-so-exciting part of a bear, but at least we're getting closer to a great shot! We're definitely trying again tonight!

Anti-Christ Like

I got some disturbing news yesterday. It seems the large community church in our town, the one who's parking lot is filled every Sunday, has for a topic of their adult Sunday School class, Mormon Bashing.

Now I don't think that's the actual title, but that's essentially what it is. They spend an hour every Sunday discussing how horrible the Mormon Church is. Really. There's a website and everything for their parishioners to learn more, including hateful cartoons and misinformation. That's fantastic, isn't it?!?

In contrast, we at the Mormon Church spend our adult Sunday School time learning lessons from the Old Testament, and how we can apply those teachings to our lives. Hmmmm. We spend absolutely ZERO time bashing other churches. I know, amazing, huh? In fact I've never heard any disparaging words about other faiths in a lesson or in casual conversation at my church.

The really discouraging part is that this lesson isn't only taught at the community church in my town, but other churches around the country. Is this really teaching people to be "Christ-like"? Is it uplifting to go to church and listen to hate? Are they really this threatened by the LDS Church that they need to spend time convincing others that we're a bunch of whack-o's?

I'm so thankful that I attend a church that focuses on the teachings of Christ and not hate-mongering.

What Would Jesus Do, indeed!

Touched By An Angel?

I was working the snack bar one afternoon at the lodge, and my co-worker Linda, said to me as she was finishing up handing out soft serve ice cream cones through the service window, "I'm tearing up."


I had no idea what she was talking about and then she said, "See that lady?"


I did see the older lady who was in the group just at our window walking away, enjoying her ice cream cone.


Linda continued, "She looks just like my mom. And when I handed her the ice cream cone she touched my hand and it felt just like my mom's touch. She touched me real gentle like my mom used to and it gave me the shivers."


Amazing, right? That little old lady gave my friend a piece of her mom that day and she didn't even know it.

An Independent Dog is a Good Dog

It was back to school for the kids this past week and back to my special ed classroom job for me. I wasn't looking forward to the kids going back, but I was looking forward to me going back.

I was working all week fostering independence with the little one that I'm a 1:1 aide with, and getting us both back into the swing of things.

Apparently I took my work home with me, because on Friday I went to feed my dog, and had her dish in my hand. She was at my side, and we headed for the door so she could eat on the porch per usual. The door was cracked open just a little, and without thinking, I told my dog Suey, "Open the door!" She kind of looked at me and I repeated the instruction very enthusiastically and added, "You can do it!"

Being the smart dog she is, Suey nudged the door open with her muzzle, and I stood there laughing at myself when it dawned on me that I had treated her just like the kids in the classroom.

Now that she has the door opening figured out, I guess I'll build on her skills until she can fill her own dish and feed herself! Good Dog!

A Thousand Words?

Time off from work

last week before school

visiting all my favorite people

Japanese Tea Garden

Swimming

Taco Salad, Cupcakes, Panda Express

Then Camping

baby catfish, granite islands, Uno in the tent


dirt, filthy feet, bear raid, time with cousins

Red Vines, giant marshmellows, dark chocolate

Dakota smoked sausages

chipmunk friends, potty promenade, corn rockets

sand castles

kayaks, ready on the beach

A beautiful end to summer...

Wildlife Camera--There's Just No *End* To The Fun!

We are always seeing wildlife in our backyard, from deer to skunks to bears, so I was excited to get a game camera. I think these type of cameras are generally used by hunters, but I thought it would be really cool to get pics of our wild neighbors with it.

You strap the camera to a tree and it has a sensor that is triggered by motion. It has a flash for night photos too.

So far this is what we've captured

Dog butt--center of picture, tan, curled tail

Dog butt---black and white, possible border collie mix

Dog butt--our dog's. Checking out smells from other dog's butt left in her yard.

But wait, there's more. Here are some shots of me and the girls trying to herd cats. We always make sure all the cats are in at night, but last night two of them were being very "playful" and wouldn't come in. I'd just get within reach, and they'd take off. It was such a fun game to be playing at 10 at night, and then add to that the flash from the game cam going off every time I moved.

The glowing orbs are Princess's eyes, and just to the right you can kind of see a gray Jo-Jo running away from me. I'm pretty sure he's laughing. And because no photo is complete without a butt, we have a picture of mine this time.

Here the girls came out to help me. I like how Sis has glowing eyes in this one, and of course we have the obligatory dog butt again.

I think our next plan is to put the camera up in the forest across the street from the house. Hey, we may even get lucky and get a picture of a deer butt! Wish us luck!

Favorite Wildflowers and Stick Horsie

This is my favorite wildflower

the Leopard Lily.

I'm fortunate to have them growing in my backyard right now.

I have fond memories of seeing these flowers on hikes with my dad. He was big into identifying plants and flowers, and I think this was one of his favorites too.

Dad always called it a Tiger Lily, or "tagger lily" as he would say. I still call it that as well, and was kind of disappointed to know that it had a different name.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And here is our little Nat. Our friend had this old broom when we were camping and told us just to throw it away when we were done with it. That was all well and good until Nat saw the potential of a stick horse in it.

She gave the broom a bath and then created the face, mane, tail, reins and even a saddle out of paper, and transformed it into Cupcake the stick horse.

I was proud of her ingenuity. What a funny kid!

Camping, Finally!

I swear, with my schedule it is so hard to go anywhere, but we finally were able to make a camping trip.

Such a gorgeous lake!

My friend made Pineapple Upside-down Cake in her Dutch oven. It was fantastic!

And no, my dog isn't dead, she's sunbathing. I'm surprised there weren't buzzards circling! She's such a freak!

Of course we did lots of kayaking. We explored the granite islands, and saw a bald eagle and lots of osprey. The waves and wind challenged our paddling skills which was fun too.

And we went for a hike. What a wonderful few days.

Fellow Bloggers....Help!

I keep getting comments in an Asian language. Possibly Chinese. I am not sure. I think this person is really a devout follower of my blog because they never miss commenting on a post.

Anyone else have this happen? I finally have changed my comments to moderated so I can choose to reject them. It's not that I dislike my Asian admirer, but because this is the internet and my blog is rather mundane, I doubt the commentors intentions are pure.

Does anyone know if this some sort of scam or spam or phishing or whatever else? Does anyone else have such an avid foreign admirer? Help please!

(Oh gosh, what I would give for an interpreter to read the comment I get from them on this post! Although I deeply expect the comments are trying to get my to buy a penis enlargement cream.)

Good News, Bad News

We were at a river on Monday for a picnic, and there was a campground nearby. I took Nat, who has always had a flushing phobia, to the bathroom. It was a pit toilet.

She wasn't that thrilled about that prospect at all, so I told her, "The good news is you don't have to flush!" Which she did really appreciate, and it made her experience more "enjoyable", shall we say.

Then I broke the bad news to her, "The bad news is nobody else had to either." And then I was regaled with lots of "Ewww! Gross mom! Don't say that! Ewww!"

Oh, man, how I love a set-up like that!

Baptized on the Fourth of July

Well, Nat got baptized today. She is such an awesome little kid. When asked just before if she was nervous, her response was, "Nope!" She was just ready to get the show on the road!

Nat in her 4th of July baptism dress

(Here she is in her church-issued jump suit ready to take the plunge!)

When she went a couple weeks ago to see the bishop for her interview before getting baptized, he told her she could choose anyone who was a priesthood holder to baptize her. We made a list of all the men in church that she knew. She looked at the approximately 12 names, and immediately narrowed it down to 2. One was our home teacher, and one was our former bishop.

Since the former bishop's health isn't that good, I suggested our home teacher, and she was very comfortable with that choice. We asked him, and it was a go.

I absolutely love our home teacher and his wife. He's been visiting us now for about 6 months, and he is so diligent about seeing us every month, bringing a lesson, and saying a prayer for our family. It's just wonderful. His wife is very spunky with a dry sense of humor and a sassiness I didn't expect, and we hit it off immediately. I was surprised to find out that he was 81, because he certainly doesn't seem that old.

At any rate, when we were at our ward's 4th of July party I found out from someone else that our home teacher was so excited to be asked to baptize Nat. They said he was just beside himself, and that this was his first ever baptism. That was so cool. I'm so glad Nat chose him and gave him that honor.

I French braided Nat's hair, just like I did with Miss Moo on her big day. That way it eliminates the issue of hair not going fully under the water,which would mean getting dunked again, and it also makes it easy to just dry off and go back for the rest of the baptism ceremony. In fact, she was the first one dressed and back in the chapel. She beat the young boy who was baptized and the two men who did the baptizing. No one's going to wait around for that girl!

Our former bishop was the one who did the Confirmation after her baptism, so she was able to have him participate in an important part of the ceremony as well.

It was a great day and we're proud of our little girl.

Psychic Dreamer

We have been looking forward to going to our ward's 4th of July pancake breakfast and pool party all week, so it wasn't too surprising that I dreamt about it last night. However, it was one of those dreams where I was trying to get somewhere and it just wasn't happening. In my dream I was trying to make it to the breakfast, but I ended up running late and I was driving on dirt roads with lots of forks, and couldn't find the right road to turn on. It was very frustrating.

This morning the girls and I got up and headed for the ward breakfast. I knew ahead of time that part of the highway would be shut down for the town parade, but I figured I would be able to get to the detour and get around just fine. Well, no such luck. I could not get out of my own little neighborhood.

I asked one of the guys at the road block if there was a way around to the detour, and he said, no, you're just going to have to hang out for an hour and a half. Easy for him to say! We had pancakes calling our name!

I did some quick thinking and decided to drive on the back roads up the hill to the next town (some 10 miles) then drop back down into our town, hit the detour and make it to the party.

As I was driving on these DIRT ROADS and RUNNING LATE I remembered my dream. Kinda freaky really. It was pretty darned accurate!

Well, we were only 45 minutes late, there were still pancakes left and we had a great time. I don't ever recall having a dream that close to predicting real life though. Weird.

Fourth of July Baptism

We're planning a Independence Day baptism. I'm really excited for my little Nat. She finally made the big decision to be baptized.

She didn't take this decision lightly at all. We had talked about it as her 8th birthday approached, and she really wasn't sure. I tried to nail down what the issue was. When she was 6 and Miss Moo was baptized she said she didn't want to when she turned 8 because she was afraid of water getting in her nose. I asked if that was still the reason, and she said no.

After much prodding, she finally said, she didn't want to because if she got baptized she would always have to go to church. Smart girl. She knows it's a commitment. (Also there has been a lot of changes in Primary lately, and Nat doesn't always adapt easily to changes. One of the biggest changes is that I'm no longer in Primary with her. So, with all that church isn't as fun anymore.)

I then explained to her, that baptized or not, as long as she was under my roof, she'll be going to church anyway. Then I told her that I didn't go to church for a very, very long time, but because I was baptized I always knew Heavenly Father was with me, and that I was a member of the church, and that got me through some tough times.

Well, last week we were offered to participate in a double baptism with our former Bishop's grandson, and that's when Nat decided to "take the plunge" as it were.

I'm proud of her for thinking this through, and not taking it lightly. I think her baptism after church on our Nation's Independence Day will be a wonderful day for lots of reasons.

Their Compasses Work

We've always had a health club with a pool in our town, but at the end of summer last year it closed due to financial reasons.

No one was happier than my kids to see that it recently aquired new owners and was once again going to open to the public.

They advertised everywhere with a flyer that read, "Grand opening pool party, everyone welcome". It then listed the membership prices. Well, to me, it read like there would be free swimming, so we showed up on Saturday ready to swim. We soon found out that it was not free at all but $9 for the first person, and $5 for every person thereafter in our group.

I told them I wasn't interested, but took a minute to go say hi to a friend I saw sitting poolside. She said she read the flyer and thought the same way I did, that swimming was free, but since she already told her kids they could go, she paid $24 to swim for the afternoon. She said she was even charged for her infant.

The girls were pretty disappointed. We left and headed for the car and to go swimming at the pool where I work, which is free for us, when the owner came out and said, "Hey, what's it worth for you guys to swim today? Five bucks?" I thanked him, but told him no, I misinterpreted the flyer and we were just going to go somewhere else. Then he said we could just go in for free. Again, I thanked him, but at this point was feeling a bit awkward.

He finally left, and I asked the girls what they wanted to do. They had really wanted to go to this pool with it's fun slide and everything, but to my surprise they said no, they didn't want to go in for free because it wasn't fair. They said how could we got sit next to our friends and use the pool for free after they had to pay so much money?

I was pretty proud of them all. Their moral compasses are working.

I've Finally Graduated!

I went to church for the first 11 years of my life, then I was inactive for the next 27. About 8 years ago I started going again, and because the girls were little, I hung out in Primary with them, and was soon called as a teacher and then a counselor in Primary. I only got a chance to go to Relief Society a handfull of times, so when I was released from my Primary calling, I was pretty excited about getting to go to Relief Society and hang out with the rest of the ladies.



That first Sunday, as I enjoyed the freedom of going to Relief Society with the women and not having to teach in Primary, I left the room and was immediately motioned over by one of the Bishop's counselors who wanted to "meet" with me. Well, he of course had a calling for me. Dang, those Relief Society women act fast! They just snatched me up before I knew what was going on.



I only have to teach every third Sunday, so it's not as demanding as my Primary calling, but it IS so much more intimidating to teach my peers. Actual GROWN-UPS. Yikes. This past Sunday was my first time to teach, and I was quite nervous. I told the ladies that if they messed with the person sitting next to them, or asked me if they could go potty, it would definitely make me feel more comfortable!



I always felt like my calling in Primary was perfect for me, because after having been inactive for so long, I really needed to start over from the beginning, and teaching the very basic lessons to the kids was perfect. Now that I've got that down, I guess Heavenly Father felt it was finally time for me to "graduate" to Relief Society!

Nuthin' to See Here...

But there's new stuff at my other blog.

A Heart That Was Heavy And Full At The Same Time

We live in a small community in a small county. Our county has somewhere along the lines of 50,000 residents, so we're kind of a close-knit bunch. The small towns often come together to support families through cancer or loss of a home through fire or any number of other hardships.

Recently in our little town, we lost one of our young men who grew up here. He was a Marine, killed in action in Afganistan.

Our town puts up flags all along the few miles of highway that serve as our main street, during Memorial Day, Veteran's Day and Independence Day, and as soon as word got around that this young man lost his life, the flags appeared.

Soon thereafter storefront signs changed to show their support of this Marine and his family and we heard that everyone planned on gathering on the highway on Sunday afternoon when the family returned to town to show their support.

After church on Sunday we gathered the girls and headed down to the designated area on the highway. It was overwhelming to see the show of support from our small town. There was an estimated time of arrival, but we were soon told that it would be delayed. The county sheriffs met the family at the county line to give them an escort, and it seems that not only was our town out on the highway, but every town from the county line on in, was out in force, lining the highway, flying flags and showing their support.

Many of us stood in the sun on the side of the road for a good hour and a half to two hours to honor this family and the sacrifice their son made for our country. It only took a few seconds for them to drive by, but it was the most worthwhile afternoon I've spent in a very long time. To see this young man's mom put her hand against the car window as she passed by as if to reach out and touch all those who were there for her was worth it.

My heart was heavy and full at the same time.

A sign in town said it best, "Let us insure that our future was worth all his tomorrows".

It Sure Beats Being T.P.ed

I had a conversation today about having campaign signs stolen that reminded me of an incident from my teen years.

It happened in the early 1980's. It was election time and there was a candidate running for supervisor who's last name happened to be the same as my first name. All around town were signs proclaiming, "MOODY" in big bold letters and under that, "supervisor".

Well very early one morning, round about 2am, My dad is awakened by someone knocking on our front door. He gets up to answer it, opens the door, and is astonished to see at least a hundred of Mr. Moody's campaign signs in our front lawn, along with a few of his 4'x8' plywood signs propped against the tree and cars.

Dad woke us all up to see this amazing display. I must say I was quite flattered to see my name all over our lawn. It was quite the tribute. However, my dad was FREAKING OUT. He knew we'd get in big trouble if anyone saw all these stolen signs, so unfortunately he plucked them all up out of the grass and stashed them in the garage before anyone else woke up and saw them.

I'm pretty sure my dad surreptitiously got rid of the signs, but thinking back I don't know why we didn't just call this candidate's office and tell him what happened.

None of my friends would ever admit to the mischief, but I pretty much knew who had done it.

At any rate, the gentleman in question went on to be elected and is now a senator, so I guess all those missing signs didn't hurt his campaign too badly. It did however, make a very shy, awkward teenager feel very special.

A New Blog

So, I decided to start a new blog on kayaking, because I'm such an expert and all now. It's called The Unlikely Kayaker. It has a total of two posts right now, the one featured here yesterday, and a kind of introductory post. Go on over and check it out if ya want...

Being a Dork Pays Off (Finally!)

(Being nagged by my teenager to update my blog also motivates me, so here I go.)

Back in August when I started my job at the school district, I received my first paycheck and immediately knew they had made an error and paid me WAY too much for just a few days work. So I called the office and told them that they made a big "whoopsie" on my paycheck, but they shouldn't feel bad, because nobody's perfect. The kind office lady told me no, it wasn't a mistake, that they spread my pay out over 11 months and that my check reflected that. Alrighty then!

Well, a couple weeks ago, someone from the office called to talk to me to let me know that when they upped my hours in November that that wasn't included in my regular pay, and I should've been sending in time sheets each month. By the way, she wasn't near so kind and understanding and I got the distinct impression that she couldn't believe someone who worked at a school could be so dumb. (In my defense, I work at the preschool level, so we don't do the higher math!)

Ya see, after the first paycheck incident, I figured the district office knew what they were doing, and so I never worried about my extra hours, because the nice office lady was going to make it all work out, being that she's so smart and all.

Well...luckily I log in every day in the class room, so I had a record of all my hours and I proceeded to fill out time sheets for the last 6 months and turn them in.

Anyhoo...this all coincided with spring weather, and my own case of kayak fever, and a pretty new tandem kayak that I'd been looking at, but couldn't figure out where the money to buy it was going to come from...and that's how being a dork paid off for me! The girls and I brought our new kayak home yesterday thanks to my inadvertent "kayak savings plan".

All weekend the weather had been spectacular (and I of course had been working double shifts at the restaurant so I couldn't enjoy it), but yesterday (heretofore known as "Kayak Day, Woo!"), was cloudy. It was still warm though, so I had no worries that when we got back from our kayak retrieving errand we could still go out for a paddle.

Just about the time we pull up to the house with our pretty new kayak strapped to the top of my car, it's starts to rain. Sigh. I was surprised though, that Miss Moo and Nat still wanted to go out. We put the seats, life jackets and a towel in a plastic bag to keep them dry, put the kayak on it's little cart and took off for the lake (about 2 blocks away).

We only got a couple weird looks for taking our kayak for a walk through the neighborhood. You can tell that Miss Moo is so thrilled to be helping me.

Here is my hearty "crew". As "captain" I sit in the stern of the boat (looking stern, of course) and the crew has to launch us, so I never get wet (hee, hee!). Also of note: this boat has a center seat area in case one wishes to paddle it solo, but I found out that if I strap the seat from my other kayak there, all three of us can fit. It was really a treat to all be in the same boat (cuts down immensely on the whine factor!)

You can see the rain on the lake. It never really amounted to much, or got us very wet, and we had so much fun!

Now don't you wish you were a dork like me?

(Side note: Sis, who was home on her lunch hour from work, had to help me unload the kayak from the top of my car because the little girls wouldn't be able to, and that's why we ended up walking through the neighborhood with the kayak, rather than driving it down to the lake, which made us look like DORKS, but since being dorky is working for me now, I didn't care!)

Best Quotes from My Mother's Day Cards/I Love My Mom Because Cards From School

"I love u more than my horse collection."

"She is 5'3" but most of it is her heart"

"She loves to go to Walmart to buy hoodies"

"I want u to stay with me all my life."

"Thank you so much for loving me as one of your own" from my son's girlfriend, Cass

3 Things for Mother's Day

Three things I learned from my mom:

1. Be a good homemaker.

Mom had a saying, "Keep your dishes done and your beds made and everyone will think you're a good housekeeper." There's definitely some truth in that. If your kitchen is clean, and your bedroom tidy, the rest of the house can be a disaster, but it doesn't look as bad somehow.

My mom was an exceptional housekeeper. We always had a picture-perfect, well organized, tidy home, but mom was more than a housekeeper, she was truly a homemaker. From delicious food, to wonderful holidays, she made our house a warm, comforting, fun place to be.

2. Value friendships.

My mom kept in touch with all her friends, from newly found friends to childhood and high school chums, she always made phone calls, sent cards, and took time to visit her friends.

She and her best friend from childhood kept up a monthly family dinner night for as long as I can remember. They would take turns as to who's house we would go to, but once a month I could count on us having dinner with Pattie Anne and her family.

3. Enjoy your children.

Mom truly enjoyed being with us. From regaling us with stories of our babyhood, to cheering and supporting us through each awkward stage of growing up, she was our rock, and she let us know that we were her greatest gifts.

Now for three things I've learned from my kids:

1. Lighten up and be goofy.

Don't worry so much of what people are thinking, just have fun!

2. Don't make assumptions about genetics or gender.

Everyone's unique and full of surprises! That little boy wasn't a handfull, but that little girl sure was! And just because two people look very much alike, their personalities will each develop differently.

3. Always put people before things.

Nothing (no thing) can replace time spent together.

Which brings me to my all time favorite mommy-baby poem:

Rock A Bye by Ruth Hulbert Hamilton

Cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
For babies grow up, we've learned to our sorrow.

So quiet down cobwebs, dust go to sleep,
I'm rocking my babies, and babies don't keep!

Even though my babies aren't babies anymore, this poem still reminds me to treasure the time I have with them, and that other things can wait. I wouldn't be a mother without them, and that's the greatest gift I've ever been given!

This Was My Week...

...as a special education aide.

We have an autistic boy in our classroom who's mom was frustrated because it was torture to give him a haircut. She and the boy's dad would usually get the clippers out and while one would physically restrain him, the other would shave his head. It was traumatic for everyone involved, but taking him to a barber didn't work either for the same reasons.

My teacher knows that I used to cut hair, so she asked if I would be willing to attempt cutting this young boy's hair. We figured we could get in a snip here and there during school, and if it took a week, so be it.

Well, Monday was the day, and I began by showing the boy my scissors and combing his hair a bit. He complained a little, but I was actually able to get a few snips in. Then we took him to the computer and while he was watching his favorite little video, I began cutting. If he fussed, we would pause the video, If he was quiet and let me cut, he could watch it. I got the whole right side of his hair done this way.

After lunch the other aide (aka my partner in crime), suggested we take him to play in the sink and see if that would work. He loves making faces in the mirror, so this seemed like a good idea. It turned out to be a success, and I was able to finish his hair. Our teacher called his dad, and told him about the hair cut, and when she got off the phone she said, "You just made that man's day!" Which in turn made my day as well!

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We have another little boy who was a tiny preemie, and one of the things we have to work with him on is his muscle tightness. He walks on his tip toes because he's just strung so tightly. Our teacher has asked me to sit with him and "stretch him" during morning circle, so he's my little buddy now. I sit behind him and we go through our stretches each morning. He has taken to fiddling with the digital watch on my wrist, and the other day he managed to put it on military time AND set the alarm to go off every hour! I couldn't even figure out how to fix it, but it made me laugh. What a little stinker!

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At snack time on Thursday the boys were enjoying peanut butter on graham crackers, and one little guy had got it all over his nose. Another little boy comes up to me and says real quiet, "His 'smell' is dirty." I thought that was just so cute! These little kids just really charm me.

Harbinger of Spring

Spring has been taking it's own sweet time getting here this year, so any small sign that it might be here to stay is most welcome.

I have gotten into the habit of not shaving my legs in the winter. You know, the added warmth of a "winter coat" and all. (Or laziness...)

For some reason the 25-year-old woman that I work with at the school thinks that this practice is disturbing. Because of that, I felt it my duty to desensitize her by showing her my hairy legs at every opportunity. You can imagine how much she enjoyed that.

Well, the other day I came in and asked her if she knew what a "harbinger of spring" was. She didn't. So I flashed this at her:

She was thrilled to know that I had shed my winter coat and spring had finally arrived at last!

And in a related story:
In our classroom we use "icons" to communicate with the kids who are non-verbal, and they come in everything from foods, to colors, to actions (no spitting!). Well my very thoughtful 25-year-old friend surprised me with this icon today:

Okay, I get the hint already!

So If You See Chocolate In Between My Teeth, You'll Know Why

I went to the dentist today to get a tooth filled. I'm a new patient of his, and I was feeling pretty comfortable with going to him (well at least as comfortable as I get). I got settled in the chair, was given the tv clicker and was enjoying watching Rachel Ray cook in HD, when the dentist came in.

He asks how I'm feeling, etc.

"Can I get you anything?" He asks?

I say, "No, I'm fine.", but what I'm really thinking is "Yeah, I would kill for some chocolate right now!"

Then he says, "Are you hungry? It's going to be a while before you can eat again."

I tell him yeah, I'm always hungry, but I'll be ok.

"I have some chocolate cookies that my wife made. Would you like a couple?"

[cue sound of needle skidding across record] What the what? Chocolate cookies?!

Gee, let me think... "Um, sure that would be nice."

So, yes, I ate chocolate cookies right before my filling today. My dentist is now my hero, and I am SO his patient for life!

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And off topic, but how ironic is it that while I'm researching how to rid one's home of carpenter ants, one of the dirty buggers waltzes across my computer screen? Yes, irony at it's finest, my little 6 legged friend! [cue crazy evil laughter]

I'm Updating My Blog. I Hope You're Happy Now

I guess I'm being a bad blogger, because last night I hear a call from the livingroom from my eldest daughter, "Mom! You need to update your blog!"

So, I'll just start with that. The eldest daughter has moved back home, after living with her dad for the last 9 months. And it's good. And she has a LOT of stuff. But it's still good.

I wrote previously about how Mike is the temporary night janitor (till the end of the school year) at the girls' school, and how the girls love going there after hours to hang out when I'm at work. Well now, my little Nat won't even come home. Her dad starts work right when school's out but she prefers to stay instead of coming home so that she can help all the teachers. She loves to sharpen pencils, stack books, sort recycling, or anything else that she's asked to do. I would even go so far as to say she a little obsessed. She's such a funny kid.

Oh, and speaking of that, it's kinda funny how kids have adapted electronic-speak for daily stuff. When I ran my daycare I always thought it was funny how the kids would be playing something (not a video game, mind you) and then say, "let's pause the game". The other night a nude Nat comes running in from the bathroom, and I can hear the water in the tub running, so I ask her what's up, and she says that she wanted to hang out with us until the hot water finished "loading".

Ok, now I've officially updated my blog. Yay.

Great Grandaddy's Legacy

I recently started a family tree on Geni.com to share with all my far-flung and long lost relatives. Everyone has been very excited about learning about our ancestors and I'm lucky enough to be in possesion of a lot of old photos and other family history tid-bits.

I've always wanted to find a way to share all this with my extended family and now thanks to the internet I can.

My 3rd great grandfather left behind a jounal entry that was translated from Danish. I've always thought that he wrote it for a reason--that being to leave a legacy to his descendants. Up until now, I have been the only one benefitting from this gift, but I am so happy now to be able to share it.

So, without further ado, here is the translation from Danish of my 3rd great grandfather's journal of his conversion to Mormonism and his subsequent immigration to the U.S. He was a Utah pioneer and later, at the age of 55 returned to his homeland on a mission for the Church.

Journal of Niels Hendrick Borreson
Born August 2, 1826

First some incidents from my childhood. I was born Aug. 2, 1826 in Skovhus, Solve, Ostereojborg, Presto Amt on Sjaelland, Denmark. My father was a school teacher for 20 years and was born 1779 on Moen; his name was Peder Christian Borresen. My mother’s name was Maren Kjestine; she was born on Moen March 7th, 1777. They were good to me. I went to school from my 7th to my 14th year, was confirmed by Pastor Sotoft and had second place in the group of confirmants. Then I was apprenticed to a blacksmith, Hans Rasmussen, who was my father’s neighbor. I was here only three months, as the work was too hard for me. For some time I was with Jens Skoffod, a fiddler, but soon gave that up, and May 1st I started working on a large farm for Hans Person of Baggebolleby. There I learned to plow, harrow, and cultivate the soil. Nov. 1st I went to another farmer, Boe Rasmussen, in Kragenby, and there again I cultivated the soil.
In 1846 I went to Copenhagen; arriving there May 2nd, I started working for Captain From. Later I was with a merchant Goldager. Later again with Sjofer. Finally on April 1st 1848 I joined up with the Danish Army and fought against the Germans, who had attacked Denmark. On May 29th I fought for two hours in one battle and on June 5 I fought for 9 hours at Dybbol Hill. Later I was assigned the job of taking care of sick and wounded horses. During the latter part of the war, from ‘49 until April 1st ’51 I was coachman for Lieutenant Borthty (spelling of this name questionable). I left Augustenborg April 2nd 1851; arrived in Copenhagen April 4th and was married to Hanne Marie Nielsen Nov. 1st ’51.
We started a small retail store and I got a position in the Federal Post Office sorting letters to be sent to all the capitals of the world.
During this time I became convinced that the Lutheran Church was wrong in it’s teachings. On Christmas Day 1852 I was in Holman’s church and in the sermon the minister said that though we lied, stole or killed; still the blood of Jesus atoned for all our sins, and we should be saved as the robber on the cross was forgiven. That was not my belief, and when I heard about Mormonism, I realized that was what I believed. I was baptized (Mormon) April 12th 1853, and my wife had been baptized April 8th 1853 by Ebbesen Jessen on Enikeswern, Copenhagen.
We continued our retail store on Reine Street, #200, and I kept my position in the post office until we left Denmark Dec. 25th, 1853 together with my brother Philip Borresen, my sister Anne Marie Olhus Borresen, my niece Trine Amalie and her husband Peder Christensen and their two girls, Anne and Sofie.
When we arrived at Gluckstadt, we stayed there some time, as the frost was so hard and the ice was so thick that the harbor was ice-bound. The people were so mean to us poor Mormons that we had no peace, night or day. Then our President, Mr. Olsen, proclaimed a day of fasting , and we prayed to God to deliver us, and He heard the prayers of 800 to 900 of his children who had left everything for the faith in the Gospel God had given them. The storm came and it rained and the ice broke. As the ship was ready to sail, we left Gluckstadt, but the sailors were bitter and spiteful and treated us poor Mormons very badly. I was seasick and my sister Marie bought a cup of coffee, which I drank. It only made me more sick, as it was made with salt water. This made Marie feel so bad that she cried.
Finally we reached Hull City safely, and from there we went by train to Liverpool, where we had to wait for passage to America. As far as I remember, 32 children died while there, and among them was my 18 month old daughter Herik Jette Marie Borresen. With hearts full of sorrow, we poor fathers and mothers had to leave them behind.
At last we boarded Benjamin Adams, a large ship, and we set sail. A few days out my niece’s little girl Sofie, 8 years old, took sick and died. She was put into a sack weighted with a stone and dropped overboard to the great sorrow of her father and mother, Peder and Trine Amalie Christensen. After nine weeks we arrived at New Orleans where Peder Chistensen died. Four men took him off the ship and we saw him no more.
Now we were transferred to a steamboat and sailed up the Mississippi River to St. Louis. From there we sailed on another steamboat to Kansas City. Many of our dear brethren contracted cholera and died and were buried there. The rest of us bought open and covered wagons and started on the long trek across the desert which took us 17 weeks. The Indians took some of our cattle, so President Olsen commanded us all to carry our guns on our shoulders. When we came to Fort Laramie (Wyoming) the captain with 32 soldiers promised us compensation for our loss. They pursued the Indians, but were ambushed and killed by the Indians, who then took over the fort.
We finally arrived in Salt Lake City October 5th, 1854 and shortly after that my sister Anne Marie Olhus died. We lived in Salt Lake City till the first of February, then we moved to Little Cottonwood and lived in a cellar, but we could find no water. I prayed to God and one day I took my spade and looked for a place to dig a well. As I walked, the word came to me to dig where I was standing, and I’d find water. I obeyed, and when I had dug about 6 feet, the clear spring water gushed out of the ground about 2 feet. Niels Madsen and Frederik Jessen came and got water too from the same well.
Dec. 11th we went to Lehi and on the 14th we went to Provo. Feb. 1st we went to Spanish Fork and the 16th of March as far as I remember, we went to Sandpete and Mount Pleasant. And the first of April 1861 we moved to Spring City.
I fought all through the Black Hawk War. I was out in the mountains during the winter of 1857 to guard Jorgensen’s Army. We captured a picket guard and he said he saw 100,000 harvesters.


My notes: When he talks about his conversion, and that he didn't believe what he heard in the Lutheran church, I think he meant that he didn't believe that you could sin and then repent on Sundays just to sin again. The way it's written almost sounds like Mormons don't believe in the Atonement, which isn't true. I think a little something was lost in translation there. Some of the other references too are a little vague. Not sure what he means in the last sentence about seeing 100,000 harvesters. He really had a rough life as a pioneer (as they all did), and I can't imagine the courage it took to go back as a missionary to his homeland some years later and repeat the trip across country and the voyage across the sea. He is a great example of faith and obedience.

Sharing the Legacy of Family History

When my mom passed away I inherited all the family history stuff. Among this was a journal from my 3rd great grandfather Niels Hendrick Borreson (pronounced Burson). I've always wanted to somehow share this legacy with others, especially long-lost cousins, so recently I started a family tree website to do just that. I was able to scan the journal entries and a lot of the old photos and upload them to share. I hope that it will inspire my extended family to learn about their ancestors.

My mom's side of the family is rich in Utah pioneering/Mormon history. I knew the maternal side (the Borreson side) was, but with a little searching last night, I am coming to find out the paternal side was as well.

It's exciting, but at the same time humbling to be recording the names and dates of my ancestors. Often there were 8, 9, 10 or more children but several of those little ones were lost in the first few years. As a parent, it really touches me to think about how difficult life was back then.

I found a picture last night of Niels Borreson's house in Spring City Utah:


along with this short description:
"This house, one of the oldest stone houses in Spring City, was constructed of two-foot thick random rubble stone. Borresen, a miller and horticulturalist, was born in Denmark in 1826. He converted to the LDS church in Denmark and came to Utah in the late 1850s. He moved to Spring City in 1860 and had three wives. He was a veteran of the Black Hawk War and was imprisoned twice at the Territorial Prison in Sugarhouse for practicing polygamy. In 1994 a wood frame wing was added and the original house restored by Peter and Inge-Lise Goss."

I knew that this ancestor was a polygamist from my family history research. I didn't know that he went to prison for it however. He married two widows; one who's husband's death was listed as "died at sea - on way from Norway to United States". These women both had 3-4 children and then went on to have 3-4 more with Niels. He fathered his last child at the age of 62!

At any rate, I plan on publishing his journal entry here over the next few days. It's interesting, and someone may just be looking for information on this prolific Utah pioneer and I would love to share what I can.

Pinch Me

Nat: "Do people have to wear green to bed so they don't get pinched in the morning?"

Mom: "Only if they have a brother. Since yours is in San Francisco I think you're safe."

A Kid's Dream

So imagine you're somewhere between the ages of 10 and 7, and you get to go to your school after hours and have the place all to yourself to do whatever you want.

You go into the top secret teacher's lounge, where students are strictly prohibited. Then you sit in the secretary's chair and pretend that you're in charge of handing out tardy slips.

You go up on stage and put on an improptu show with your sister that involves hula hoops, dribbling balls and being insanely goofy. You set up the microphone stands and take turns manning the stage curtains.

Then you go to the library to chill out. Do a little browsing among the books, lounge a little on the bean bag chairs, and cuddle with the stuffed animals.

Later you play hide and seek with your sister. So many classrooms to choose from. You find all the secret nooks and crannies, and doors that connect to other classrooms. You run and chase and laugh till you can't breathe.

The best part may be having the entire gym to yourself. You find the stash of balls, jump ropes, and scooter boards and use every one. You put on your Heelie shoes and run and skate with reckless abandon. It doesn't get much better than this!

Imagine how fun it is to explore your school with no rules, no teachers, no time limits.

Yep, that's what Nat and Miss Moo got to do tonight while I worked. Mike has been the substitute night custodian at their school this week, so this evening they got to go hang out with Daddy at their school. I came to pick them up 5 hours later and they STILL weren't ready to leave! They had just WAY too much fun!

I Am A Complete Dork At 2 In The Morning - Consider Yourself Warned

I'm sure you've all seen this video:



Well, that's what happened to me at about 2:30am this morning, but with the added twist that it was completely dark---the power had gone out, the curtains were drawn and there was no light at all. I literally could not see my hand in front of my face. I drew the short straw, and had to go feed the cat so we could get some sleep, but of course there was no flashlight to be found on either nightstand. I knew I had one in my purse...in the dining room. That would mean running the gauntlet blind through three rooms to retrieve it.

I felt around with my feet on the floor until I found my slippers...as I start to get up I realize they're on the wrong feet. Oh well. The first few feet are easy, I just have to keep my hand on the edge of the bed... but with dread, I know that I'll have to let go of this comforting anchor and navigate No Man's Land across the bedroom unassisted to get to the door of the bathroom.

No Man's Land involved waving my arms in front of my face while sweeping the floor ahead with my foot to avoid tumbling over the dreaded Ancient Sleeping Labrador. I was so worried about this happening that I completely overshot my goal, and ended up in the corner of the bedroom. As my flailing arms start hitting the clothes on top of my dresser I realize how far off I am, and because this so surprises me I start to giggle.

Mike can't tell if I'm laughing or crying at this point, and I'm really starting to lose it, so I can't form a coherent answer to his queries. This makes me laugh even more, and then I think how ridiculous I am flailing around, lost in my own bedroom, with a bad case of the giggles, and well, that really DID IT, and I started to snort!

Oh, gosh once the snorting started I just broke out in hysterical, crazy woman laughing (while I'm still making my way through the house with arms waving and feet darting out feeling for obstacles). I am just delirious and having a good old time by now. I'm giggling, snorting, and tripping over random stuff, which of course wakes up the girls...and the dogs...and the rest of the cats, who are all wondering what in the flip is happening.

I finally find my purse, fumble through it, find the flashlight, feed the *bleeping* cat, and make my way back to bed. The girls are fully awake now, as is Mike, and because the girls are afraid of the dark, I have to go find them a flashlight so that they can go back to sleep.

I woke up this morning and was still chuckling a little about what a spectacle I was in the middle of the night, all because of a pestering, hungry cat!

I Went to a Board Meeting

I went to my first school board meeting ever tonight. I've always been an involved parent, just not THAT involved.

Our district like many others, is facing a serious budget deficit. On the proposal to be cut are things like the ski program, music, the school nurse among other things and/or jobs. It is scary times, especially in California.

The good news is that we have an awesome school board, a bunch of committed and active parents, and our district gets funding mostly from property taxes and NOT from the state like other districts, which means that we are sitting in a much better position than most.

There were rumors that our small school up here was going to be shut down. Thankfully that is just a rumor and things would have to get really bad before they did that.

It was an eye opening experience, and though I arrived feeling anxious and full of dread, I left feeling hopeful and thankful for our little school district and our close knit small community.

Dental Phobia

Yesterday I went to the dentist. Big Whoop, you say? It's been 12 years and I'm a dentalphobe, I say!

My main excuse for not going for so long was my lack of insurance. I didn't want to go to find out I needed work only to not be able to afford it. My other excuse was that since as far back as I remember I've had to have dental work, and I never, ever had a time when I went and was told "no cavities". I was happy if I could count how many cavities I had on ONE hand, not two!

But yesterday wasn't so bad. And it was actually the first time I've had "no cavities"! I do have a couple fillings that need to be replaced, but remarkably, nothing urgent, no root canals, no gum disease (my fears) and it will be affordable thanks to my insurance. Huzzah!!!

Today I took my girls to finish up their dental treatment (all my kids have unfortunately inherited my crappy teeth). And in stark contrast to my experiences as a child, they actually look forward to going to the dentist. What's not to love about a safari themed office where you can play video games while you're waiting, bring a dvd to watch while you're getting your work done and nitrous oxide is standard? The dentist demonstrates each tool on their finger (Mr. Thirsty, Mr. Tickle, etc.), and puts a smiley face on their fingernail to show how the sealants work. Afterward they go "shopping" in the toy box and get a balloon.

Yes, dentists have come a long way, and I'm glad for my younger kids that it has. As for me, I'm proud that I finally had the courage to go, and that 12 years of neglecting the dentist wasn't as bad as I imagined.

From the 7-Year-Old:

Conversing with her 10yo sister, "So you know how cops like sushi?"

WHAT!? Cops like SUSHI? I thought it was donuts or something! Of course her sister goes along with it like this is common knowledge. (And I'm sorry I can't remember what the rest of the conversation was actually about.)

Then later, "I love-slash-hate Tuesdays."

What 7yo says "love-slash-hate"? Where the heck did that come from? And it sounded like it was mostly a hate thing due to what school work is required on Tuesdays anyway. Too funnny.

This Was My Week And It Was Good (not feeling the title today...)

This week in review...

Saw Cam and Cass' play last Sunday. I had to play hookey from church because Sunday's my ONLY DAY OFF! and I don't even get that off this week...wah! and I have to work 13 days in a row, between both my jobs...wah!, wah!, until March 7th when I get a day off FINALLY!....

...okay, now that I have my whining done...back to topic...

Sis and I drove down to "The City" (ya know, code for San Fran), and saw the play that Cam and Cass have been working so hard on the last couple months. It was at SFSU and they did High Fidelity. It was fantastic, but would have been NOTHING without the fabulous assistant director (Cass) and the drummer in the band (Cam). I was impressed by the talent and it was nice to have a day to hang out with my big kids.

Thanks to Sis for driving all the way home when I got a migraine and had to take my heavy duty prescription medicine. I felt great, but since I was having a hard time putting together a coherent sentence, I figured I shouldn't be operating heavy machinery, even if said machinery is only a Honda Civic.

Another highlight this week was getting my order of Girl Scout cookies. Along with Lemonades and Shortbreads we got a box of the Holy Grail of Girl Scout cookies: THIN MINTS, and I decided, why should we torture ourselves with doling them out one at a time, making them last, rationing, all that hooey...let's just eat the dang things and enjoy the heck out of them. So we did. We ate the whole box in one evening. And it was Gooooooooood!

Then Miss Moo wrote an essay for school featuring ME (of all people!) and how I should get a Best Parent Award:

My mom has two jobs and is not appreciated! I want her to be. Every day she works really hard. My mom absolutely must win an award for being the greatest mom ever.
One reason is she makes me laugh and is very funny. My mom acts really funny around the house. Around the house, she dances even when there isn’t any music on. Sometimes she makes jokes even off topic.
Another reason is she takes me shopping. She takes me shopping for toys, clothes, bikes, and, books. She takes me to a lot of different stores like, Wal-Mart, J.C.Penney, Ross, and T.J.Max. When we go school shopping we go all over the place.
The final reason my mom should win an award is for taking care of me. When I am sick she stays home with me and helps me get better. She cooks delicious food when my dad is not home. When I am having teeth problems she calls the dentist and makes an appointment for me.
My mom should be given an award for being a great mom. My mom helps little kids with autism. You have to give my mom an award for helping people, taking care of me, making me laugh and taking me shopping. You might not know my mom and you might not think she is great but, she is to me.

And this pretty much made my week, 'cause I was feeling like a pretty crappy, neglectful mom. Plus I like the part about me not being appreciated (hee,hee!), and making jokes "off topic". Just to explain the reference to me cooking: luckily Mike does almost all the cooking, but should he be absent, I make an attempt to heat something on the stove, which may or may not be mac and cheese.

And then Sis came up and spent the afternoon with me yesterday, which helped my demeanor immensely, even if she couldn't tell, and I still seemed sullen and whiney.

All in all, a good week!

Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid

Funny how I came to work with special needs kids. I mean really. The only experience I had with people who had mental disabilities was from my childhood, and it was extremely negative.

I had a distant cousin who had Down Syndrome. I saw her only occasionally at big family get-togethers, usually at Easter. She was quite a bit older than I was, and I was WARNED about her. Due to an incident involving another cousin of mine, I was specifically warned not to wear necklaces when she was around because she would try to grab it, and would choke me in the process. I was further led to believe that she was abnormally strong, and if she were to latch on to me, I would be lucky to survive.

I was so afraid of this sweet girl. It made me so nervous to be anywhere near her. I really didn't even want to go to any events that she might possibly attend.

I think that this girl probably did touch my cousin's necklace, and I imagine that my cousin over-reacted and her drama queen of a mother embellished the horror (or lack thereof) for her own enjoyment (my aunt was actually the mentally unstable one, as we would all find out much, much later). The story of the necklace grabbing and my cousin's narrow escape from death at the clutches of this girl soon became a family legend of sorts.

Because of this, the mentally handicapped always made me nervous and uneasy. Just by chance I ended up subbing in special ed when I signed on with the school district as an aide. As soon as I met the precious little ones afflicted with Down's, autism and other disorders, all my old fears and predjudices flew right out the window, and I fell in love, especially with the Down Syndrome kids, whom I've come to find out, are the sweetest and gentlest souls on the planet.

Just last week I came across this post which touched my heart. It's encouraging to see that people with special needs are more readily accepted and understood now, and I regret that I lived a good deal of my life with a bias against them.

Milkshakes are Special Ed Approved

The kids in our class get these little containers of strawberries with their school breakfasts, and being that they're preschoolers, they usually share a container and we put the others in the fridge for another time.

Well, we ended up with a bunch of these little containers and the teacher had an awesome idea...we needed to make strawberry milkshakes!

She went and got some vanilla ice cream then we put some in a cup for each kid, added a little strawberries, a little milk, and had them stir (sequencing and fine motor skills) then they had to suck it through a straw (oral skills), plus they were sitting at the table practicing their social skills. See, it was all in the name of education! (And of course we grown-ups had one too...role modeling, you see...yeah, that's the ticket!)

Trying to Catch Up on This Whole Blogging Thing

I was just starting to get back into the blogging mode and then hit another one of those "meh" kinda moods. I know my sister appreciates reading my blog, so in honor of her, here is what's been going on in my uber-exciting life.

Well, with the president's holiday weekend, we were very busy at the restaurant and I made good tips both Friday and Saturday. On Friday we were visited by a family that has come before...and we remember them...and especially their children, VERY WELL, if you get my drift...what's a nice way of saying that they were hellions? Well I can't think of a nice way of saying that so there ya go.

This group of people consisted of a couple sets of parents and about 6 kids aged 8-11ish. The hostess and I were literally babysitting these kids as they roamed the restaurant unrestricted by their parents.

Let's see, I had to take salt and pepper shakers away from 2 of the boys who had ventured near the fireplace with them and planned who-knows-what kind of science experiment involving fire, salt and pepper, then I had to run them out of the bar because they decided it would be fun to rearrange all the barstools, tables and chairs in there; after that I shooed them away from the hostess station/cash register area where they were trying to sneak behind the "employees only" gate and steal from the bowl of after-dinner mints that the hostess had to finally hide from them. Later, after they had left and I was bussing their table I found one of our spoons broken in half and another nicely bent. They obviously did that right under their parents' noses. Sheesh! What kind of parent lets their children act like that in public?

The good thing is that since our restaurant is a private, they will be hearing from the general manager, and won't be allowed to come again and let their children behave that way.

We had a huge crab feed at the restaurant on Sunday, which I renamed "Happy Crabentine's Day". We again worked our fannies off, but we all went home with a big bag of fresh crabby leftovers. Yum!

Yesterday Miss Moo went downhill skiing with the school -her very first time at downhill- and ended up falling and hurting her wrist. Nothing broken just a slight sprain.

About an hour before I had to go pick Miss Moo up from the school, I was trying to close one of our old-timey wooden sash windows which was being stubborn because of the wet weather, and ended up slamming the tip of my middle finger in it. Oh, ouch! Surprisingly enough I refrained from using any hard-core curse words and instead muttered "mother of pearl!" and "dammy sammy!" numerous times to spare little Nat's innocent ears. I did have to go lay down for a bit. Holy heck, fingertips are sensitive!

Speaking of curse words, tonight I ran to the store, and playing over the loudspeakers was the song that goes, "Haven't you people ever heard of closing the G-D door?". On the radio they edit out the G-D, but not at our store, apparently. In fact, this was the first time I'd heard that song in it's full curse-word glory. And mind you the G-D part is 80% of the lyrics to the song, so it's not like you could miss it.

I was kind of walking around, thinking, "Seriously? Do they not realize what they're playing? Did some kid say, 'Hey can I play my cd?' and they didn't question it?" I will definitely let them know about it. I'm sure they will hear from a lot of other folks too.

That's about it here in my little part of the world. We've been enjoying our "spring tease" with all the warm weather and sunshine, but we aren't dumb enough to think that spring is actually here. It's nice to pretend for a few days though.

A Nose Like A Bloodhound

Thursday Mike picked up the girls from school and Nat got into his pick-up and said, "Your truck smells funny Dad." He and Miss Moo didn't smell anything unusual, so he didn't think much of it.

He dropped the girls off at home and drove to the market where his truck caught fire. It was an electrical fire and luckily got put out before it became a major disaster, but definitely put his truck out of commission. Well, that explains what Nat smelled.(Mike will now have to get around in his old Land Cruiser that I swear is held together by rust alone).

Nat has always had a sensitive nose. When she was little, she would cry if we drove past a skunk because the smell was so strong to her. And there was also the time driving through the city, when she announced, "I smell French fries." We didn't come across the fast food restaurant until about 1/2 a mile later. She also can't stand the smell of banana bread baking. I guess it's just too sweet. Strange little kid.

From now on if she says she smells something we are going to take heed. If she says she smells smoke we're going to call 9-1-1 and ask questions later. Someday that nose of hers may just pay off...I wonder if she can sniff out truffles...

He Will Be Missed

...and remembered.

My Kind of Movie Star

We have the nicest older gentleman that comes in regularly to our restaurant. He's so kind, and fun to chat with. He likes to side tip the bussers and waitresses rather than add the tip to the bill. He'll call you over real low-key and then slip the money in your hand (and he's quite generous-both with his money and his hugs).

He's been battling cancer, and lost his wife a couple years ago, but his will to live and his love of life are so strong. He never fails to make us all feel grateful and happy when he arrives.

He is a Swiss immigrant and I had heard that there had been a film made about his life. All of us at the restaurant have wanted to see it, but just have never had the chance.

Well, when I started my job at the special-ed preschool, I discovered that one of the other aides was full-blooded Swiss. Being that she was only 24, and obviously not an immigrant, I asked her how that came about in America of all places! She said her parents were both Swiss and happened to meet. Well, I couldn't resist asking if she happened to know our Mr. Ruckli from the restaurant. She said of course she did, he was a distant relative. And I also found out she owned a copy of his film which she was happy to lend to me.

We watched the film the other night. It tells of Fred immigrating to America when he was 19, because he wanted to do better than he could in Switzerland. He wanted the American dream. He ended up working at his uncle's dairy in the SF bay area, but shortly thereafter the Korean War started and he was drafted. If he didn't fight in the war he could not become a citizen, which is what he wanted most of all, so he fought.

Years later he returned to Switzerland and was at a local bar; he told how he was proud of the fact that he could buy everyone there a round of drinks because he was now a successful American citizen. He told them how in America people don't call each other sir, mister or doctor, everyone knows everyone by their first names.

Also in the film, it shows him caring for his elderly wife who suffered a stroke and subsiquently lost her memory. He said now in their later years they could have traveled, but she wouldn't have gotten anything out of it, she was "in her own little world". When Nat heard that she said, "It's just like she's autistic, huh?" Interesting how my girls' understanding of others has expanded by just my working with special needs kids and telling them about them.

A couple days after we had watched his film, Mr Ruckli came into the restaurant with his daughter. I was excited to tell them how I had finally seen the film and how I had enjoyed it. He was surprised when I told him how my 7 and 10 year old watched the whole movie and enjoyed it as well.

It's just a simple little film about a war veteran, a father, a husband, a proud American and a man I know and admire. I would rather recieve a hug from him than any of your "Hollywood types". Mr. Ruckli is my kind of "movie star".

Losing...

a Father-in-law and a grandfather.

It's rough. He has cancer and won't last for more than another couple days. He has his family by his side which is all anyone would want.

I don't really feel like this is blog fodder, so I haven't posted about it. It's too real...hurts...brings up memories of my mom's death.

I do know that I have a testimony of Jesus Christ, and that He lives and because He lives we will all live again as well. Families ARE forever. This I also know is true. And that's what gives me peace right now.