A different kind of exercise

So . . . I can hear Julianne's temper rising upstairs-- the huffing, the "Aaaaagh", the stomping of her feet.

Finally, I ask, "Julianne-- what is the problem up there?"

She hollers back, "Mom, I am very, very mad. I am cleaning up my room and my silly putty is gone. Do you hear me??? Gone, Gone, gone, GONE, GGGGOOOOOOOOONNNNEEEE! You don't understand, I had it right here and it is gone, I tell you gone!!!!!!!! I am so mad at Catherine or Madelyn or Adam or AAAAAAAAUUUUUUUGHHHHHHH!"

I am just about to reply with some ideas on where to look when she chipperly states, "Oh, wait, here it is -- oh, I remember when I put it there!"

Now she seems fine.

This girl is all over the map. One moment she is mad, the next sad, the next cheery, the next giggly, the next furious, the next silly, the next helpful, the next defiant, the next pouty, the next tender --

I get exhausted watching her exercise all her emotions every 15 minutes or so.

Please tell me this is normal behavior for girls.

Not quite what I had in mind

Today after lunch my two sweet little ones (Madelyn & Adam) proceeded to dump 8 wooden puzzles, 5 floor puzzles (each about 24-30 large pieces), and 3 150 piece puzzles into a big pile. Trying hard to maintain my good humor in the situation, I called them over and explained that when we make big messes we have to do lots of cleanup. So we started the sorting. 30 minutes later we were finally finished. Madelyn exclaimed, "That was so fun, let's do it again!"

I have talked her out of it for now, but I won't be surprised if I walk into the room again and find the puzzles all mixed. Sorting is at least a good skill, right?

I'm an organ donor, Are you?

This past weekend, after a four year wait, my 21 year old cousin was the recipient of a new kidney. It was such a great relief for him and his family -- after the years of dialysis and the years of being so sick.

Kyler (my cousin) had previously recieved a kidney from his mother when he was about 1 year old. That kidney started to fail 4 years ago and he has been waiting for a kidney for a long time.

The reason I am blogging about this, is that the donor of his kidney was a 33 year old woman. We do not know any other details about her life or death, but it is certainly a tragedy when someone this young dies. It especially hit home for me as I am a 33 year old woman. I am grateful to the family of this 33 year old woman who was able to honor her wishes to donate her organs even in a time of such despair. I don't know how many other families were blessed to be recipients, but I am sure many, many families have been given the gift of life for one of their loved ones.

I am sure there are many of you who if you were to befall some tragedy would be willing to be an organ donor but you just have never made it official on your driver's license or notified your family of your wishes. I am hoping that you will change that. Unfortunately, none of us know the timing of our life.

Be aware that even if your driver's license indicates you are a donor, most hospitals will honor the wishes of the family even if it is not what the individual would have wanted. So have the discussion with your loved ones today and let them know what you want to have happen should something go terribly wrong.

How many ways to change a light bulb?

I googled "light bulb changing jokes" (because isn't that why google was invented? to find out really irrelevant information?). Did you know there are whole web pages devoted to these kind of jokes? I read a number of them and some were quite funny. Here were two of my favorites

Q: How many psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb?

A: One, but the light bulb really has to want to change.

Q: How many believable, competent, ``just-right-for-the-job'' presidential candidates does it take to change a light bulb?

A: It's going to be a dark 4 years, isn't it?

There is even a wikipedia entry on light bulb jokes.

What it really comes down to is this. We all know that changing a light bulb is a simple task. And yet, twice now I have come face to face with a light bulb that defies changing.

The first time was in our home in First Colony. We had a light bulb about 25 feet high in the middle of a staircase with walls on both sides. On one side about 16 feet up there was a large window with about a 2 inch window sill. Trent and I tried everything. We are lucky to still be alive. We tried putting the ladder on the stairs (using textbooks and phonebooks to level the stairs) and I would hold the textbooks and Trent would climb the ladder. At one point, I remember that Trent had one foot on the top of the ladder and one foot on the windowsill and I could just see him falling, landing on the stairs, rolling down and taking me and the ladder with him. It was after that vision that I put an end to our ridiculous ways. I was 8 months pregnant with Adam and did not want him to lose his father before he was even born.

Several nights later, we were playing games with some good friends, Andy and Laura, and we were retelling our feeble efforts. Andy asked to look at it and the next thing I knew, Trent had hoisted him so that his fingers could reach the window sill. Andy did a pull up (with just his fingertips) and managed to stand on the window sill (with out going through the window) and then putting one foot on the other wall did this crazy spider man thing and got the bulb changed. (I think Laura and I were both having heart attacks). But in the end, Andy made it down in one piece and we sold that house so we would never again have to change the light bulb (well, that was just one reason). Trent and I still laugh about it; In our mind Andy will always be "spider man."

So with this memory fresh in our mind, we noticed a couple of months ago that one of two flood lights high on the exterior of our house had gone out. Naturally, within a few weeks the other one went out. We were trying to come up with how to go about changing it when Trent suggested that the next time I talk to Peter (the owner of our house) that I should ask him how (if ever) he had changed those light bulbs. When I asked him about it, he volunteered to change them. (and I was not about to argue otherwise) So, yesterday was the day. Peter had bought one of those telescoping light bulb changing poles that reaches 11 feet. (the box even assures that "You too, can change a light bulb in minutes!" )

The first bulb went relatively well, It only required hanging halfway out a 2nd story window, 20 minutes, and my saying "please, don't fall out the window" 10 times.

But the second one was a little more problematic. The angle was all wrong for being able to get to it from the window. So we tried a 7 foot painters ladder, in an uneven flower bed with a birch tree right in the way. As Peter climbed the ladder, it would start to lean, so I grabbed the ladder, and he grabbed the tree. If he stood on the very top (which the ladder explicitly states in one of its bright red labels that you should not do) and put one foot in the tree, with one arm holding the tree, and the other arm holding the pole, he could reach it. I actually thought for a moment that this was not so bad after all.

But then the new light bulb would not fit because there was a fitting ring that was stuck in the socket. He tried to knock it out using the other end of the pole at which point he commented that it probably was not the best idea to jam a metal pole into a live socket. It was then that I noticed another warning sticker on the ladder that stated "This Ladder conducts electricity."

After much trying, and even with Peter and the tree becoming very, very close and personal. The new light bulb just would not go in. It serves me right for buying the "green" fluorescent bulbs that use less electricity, because as it turns out, they are shaped just slightly different than the traditional light bulb.

Peter was going to head to the store to get another light bulb, when I asked him about one other light bulb that I was unsure how to change (this time buried in the garden). He commented that he had just changed that light bulb and was surprised that it was already burned out. And in a funny turn of events, we determined that the whole socket was bad and perhaps even that light bulb still worked. We checked it, and it did. And IT was the same kind he would have gone to the store for. So he climbed back up the ladder, made a little more love to the tree and . . .

Let there be light! I think we were just as happy as God was on the first day!

Only the happiness was for two things . . . the light and the fact that no one was harmed in the changing of this light bulb.

A silly argument

Adam (age 2) is really coming into his own when it comes to communicating with everyone. It really makes him seem so grown up.

Yesterday, while I was in the shower, Madelyn and Adam were standing outside the bathroom door not so patiently waiting for me to finish. This is the conversation/argument I overheard.

Madelyn : "Adam, you are the littlest so get behind me. I am the biggest."

Adam : "No, Mommy is the biggest."

Madelyn : "No, Daddy is the biggest."

Adam : "No, Mommy is the biggest!"

(I am thinking, No I am not!!!! Is this how you see me?????)

Madelyn : "No, Daddy is the biggest!"

(I am thinking, Thank you Madelyn for defending my size!)

Adam : "No, Mommy is the biggest!"

Madelyn : "No, Daddy is the biggest in our family!"

Adam : "but Daddy is on the choo choo, mommy is the biggest here!"

I started laughing. They were both right, they were just looking at different parameters. I was glad that Adam recognized that I was not bigger than Daddy. And I was glad he had the verbal skills to defend his position. Then I laughed, because isn't that how most arguments really are. Both people are right -- from their perspective.

To the Mothers in my Life

My Mom-- I don't know where I would be today without you, but I know it wouldn't be where I am now. You have taught me everything. I often get asked, "How do you know how to do that?" And the answer is always, "My mom taught me." So here are some of the things you have taught me. . .

• to make freezer jam (and lots and lots of it)
• to can salsa (or better yet, watch you can it and take some home afterward for me)
• to sew
• to crochet
• to cook
• to organize recipes
• to plan meals
• to get dinner ready (all things at the same time)
• to eat my vegetables
• to teach my children to eat their vegetables
• to tape important instructions on the cupboards
• to swim
• to teach swimming
• to read (and to love reading)
• to paint
• to play the piano (I still am amazed at how much piano I knew, when we did not even have a piano!) (and for encouraging me all those long years when practicing wasn't my favorite thing and for paying for lessons even when you knew I had not practiced)
• to dive
• to play games (Rook, Pinochle, hearts, mormon bridge, mousetrap-- or whatever you call that game where we make our own mouse out of a napkin and string and roll the dice)
• to do homework (which resulted ultimately in several degrees)
• to do homework by myself (you were never the Mom who would do our work for us-- I always felt jipped, but now I know I really won and that the lessons I learned way back then often are the difference between me and others.)
• to always make time for myself (not necessarily by myself, but always for my own interests -- You were always tole painting when we were little and we were always around -- I think this taught me that it was important for a mom to have her own interests, but they did not always mean you were away from your family -- I loved watching you develop your talents)
• to use Dad's wood working tools (I may not be great at using them -- the drill press, the scroll saw, the table saw, the sander -- but I spent a lot of time with you finishing up projects using them)
• to love children and to relish the opportunity to be a mother (I always knew you loved being our mom and I love knowing that even when much later in life than you thought you found yourself expecting again that you wholeheartedly returned to full time mothering)
• to go without -- I know how much you went without (new clothes, new shoes, nice cars) so that we could have so much --
• to be patient -- i don't know how you managed to be patient with me so much of the time, when looking back I know how really rotten I was to you -- but don't worry -- I have a child just like me -- what goes around really does come around
• to try new things
• to never say no to doing, learning, and trying new things
• to serve and plan to serve
• to be scheduled and organized
• to not be so organized that you can't be spontaneous
• to never let a beautiful day go by unappreciated
• to love your husband (even if sometimes the things he does drives you crazy)
• to not be idle -- you are the busiest person I know
• to be kind
• to make do with what you have
• to be happy

I love you Mommy!

My Mother-in-law-- She hates the term "in law" but for organization sake I have to use it -- maybe I should start calling her, "My mother, who I did not have until I got married" or "My Mom, who was also coincidentally Trent's mom, and "no, I am not from Arkansas!"

I have learned so much from you also, here are some of them

• how to truly, keep a busy house full of children (she had 7) clean . . . all the time
• how to eat Sunday dinner on china
• how important it is to be ready and willing to go back to work full time if the circumstances need it
• how to quilt -- my mom taught me to sew, but only when you started making all the wedding quilts did I ever learn to piece a quilt top.
• how to cook -- lots and lots of food -- Over the years I watched as the Sunday dinner blossomed from 9 each week to well over 20 and you kept up with it all
• how to make frog eye salad, one of my personal favorites
• how to love children's literature
• how to treasure heirlooms -- I was probably the only one sad when you got a new temple dress -- I loved seeing you in your wedding dress. I would always close my eyes and try to imagine what you must have looked like way back then (but not too "way back when" since you are only 21 years old)
• how to love your husband (even if sometimes the things he does drives you crazy)
• to not be idle (you are tied for the busiest person I know)
• to love your children even when they are hard to love

Between these 2 women-- they have 12 children (5 and 7 respectively), 11 high school diplomas, 11 bachelor's degrees, 6 graduate degrees, 10 marriages, 16 grandchildren (so far), and so much more (and one still in Junior high).

They are proof that being a responsible, nurturing, caring mother can change the world far more than any single career move or occupation.

My Baba (my Dad's mother) -- who I love to talk to on the phone who inspires me to read more, learn more, learn about politics, get involved locally, learn new things (how many 80+ year old women can skype, email, and serve a family history mission helping people learn new technology)
My Granny (my Mom's mother) -- I miss you. I loved how you entertained. I loved that you were always so beautiful. I loved that you bowled and played golf and shot guns. You were always so much fun to be around. I loved your cooking and I loved hearing about your life. I loved Rancho veyo.
Grandma White (Trent's mother's mother) -- I have loved getting to know you through the years. I love hearing about the books you are reading. I love looking through your scrapbooks with you and hearing about your travels. I love the influence you have had on my husband's life.
My Sisters-- I learn so much each day as we are journeying through life together. I love being with you both. I love seeing and hearing about all Carrie is up to and I love watching Amber become a mom. You are always there to support and help me! Thanks! I love you!
My Sisters in law -- I have loved watching as each of you have grown up, graduated, gotten married or not, and had kids, or not. I love seeing your homes all decorated and watching you raise your families. I learn so much from each of you and your examples.
My Friends -- I miss so many of you and appreciate all the influence you have been on me. I love all my new friends. I love having peers who are going through the same trials and challenges and who remember how truly challenging the day to day grind can be. I hope I can be there for each of you like you have been for me!

My Little Green Thumbs

While at the store several weeks ago, I came across a temporary cardboard display box selling seeds. I realize that there are many, many of you out there that meticulously plan your gardens, shop around for seeds, build fancy boxes and the like, but I just want to let all of you know that I am not one of them; But the seed display was tempting. All those pictures of colorful flowers. All that yummy produce. All the things that the miserable winter had allowed you to forget right in one place. I closed my eyes and decided right then that I would just get a few.

Seed buying is apparently addictive behaviour. The rush of potential from one packet of seeds is suddenly not enough to keep you feeling euphoric, so you haphazardly toss another packet into the cart. I tried to walk away, but then I thought -- if my pizza is going to have home grown tomatoes in the sauce, I ought to at least get basil so that part can be fresh too. And then I remembered how much better Mexican food is with cilantro and added it to the cart too. I concluded with parsley figuring that I could always garnish the plates with it (you know, like I always do????)

But now, I had a new problem. Madelyn was holding pumpkin seeds; Adam was holding 20 or 30 varieties of flowers seeds. I would put some back and one of them would grab another.

They too, apparently were longing for spring and summer and using the seed display as an outlet. I figured what can it hurt? It's just a few seeds. They are only about a dollar a packet.

And before I knew it, $30 dollars was gone and my kids are talking about what they will carve into their pumpkins.

Well, here is my fly by the seat of your pants, try not to spend any more money, try not to have it all be deer food garden plan.

First I read the back of all the seed packets.

The sugar snap peas and the snow peas needed to be planted outdoors right away. So the kids and I moved a lot of rocks and got those planted. They are 2 inches high (and I will post photos soon). So far the deer have not found them.

The tomato seeds need to be started in a green house. (Really??? too bad I don't have a green house!) and the herbs (cilantro, basil and parsley) can also be started in a green house.

The rest cannot be planted until the danger of frost has passed. I looked it up online, and that means not until mid May. And though, that fact is rather depressing to me it is at least a gardening instruction I can follow. I happily put the pumpkin, zuchinni, yellow squash, corn, and sunflowers away in a drawer.

Now, I needed a cheap version of a green house. So I put a large banquet table in front of 2 doors we don't use, that have lots of sun and called it a green house. Then I used leftover egg cartons, filled them with dirt, and designated 1 for tomatoes, 1 for basil, 1 for cilantro and 1 for parsley. I called the kids over, and they had so much fun dropping a seed or 2 or 3 or 9 in each hole. We sprayed them with water, set them in the "greenhouse" and waited. I warned them not to be disappointed if they did not all grow, I mean afterall the seeds were kind of cheap and our methods not exactly orthodox.

But, darn it, all of them, I REPEAT -- ALL OF THEM -- sprouted and grew. And the kids love it. They love spraying them with the spray bottle, they even talk to them. In short, my kids are emotionally attached to them. My great plan of plant genocide is not going to work. They are simply not going to go away. And worst of all -- my kids have learned to count and they know how many of all of them there are. I explained how when 2 or 3 or 9 sprouts are all sharing one little egg hole that they will not be able to grow very well. I described how we would just pull out or snip all but 1 plant so that it can grow healthy. (from the shock in their eyes, you would have thought I was explaining to them selective abortion). Madelyn even cried a little, and so now I feel obligated to find a way to make this work.

I started looking online for a cheap place to buy little planter pots (there aren't any cheap ones in my range of cheap) but I did find lots of tutorials on you tube for how to make planter pots out of newspaper. I envisioned teaching my kids how to make all of these and I did. Julianne and Catherine can do it, but somehow I have now made well over 100 all by my lonesome. We carefully exhumed the little seedlings from their egg hole bed and pulled apart the 2 or 3 or 9 growing together and replanted them. I (again, very hopefully) explained how the transplant process might be a little rough on some of our plant babies and that they all might not make it.

But, darn it, all of them, I REPEAT -- ALL OF THEM -- have transplanted successfully. I am starting to wonder how anyone manages to kill their plants, they seem to be pretty resilient suckers.

The picture above is when I was halfway done transplanting them. I have now finished all the basil, cilantro, and the tomatoes. I just can't seem to get the energy to make another 75 newspaper pots to house all the little parsley babies. I mean who was I kidding when I thought I might want to garnish my plates with them???????

But it all comes back to my sweet kids. Especially my little Madelyn who has a plan for me each day. "Mom, today is the day. I have the newspaper, and the tin can all ready for you. We just need to make a hundred or so. I will count them for you." And she does. I figure that not only will we have fancy garnished plates, wonderful tomatoes, spectacular cilantro jalapeno ranch dressing, I am going to have kids that count -- REALLY WELL!

I wish I could tell you what I am going to do with all these plants. I just have this sick feeling that I have a lot of yard clearing, dirt hoeing, rock moving, and weed picking in my future.

I'll let you know how it goes. Oh, and if you happen to see me someday in the future buying a bow and arrow or even maybe a gun -- please now that my children are perfectly safe, but the deer are in big, BIG, BIG trouble.