I Can Vacuum!

BUT, I don't do it very often. Why else would I have four children?

This morning I decided that I needed to turn all the cushions on my sofa and loveseat.  It seemed like a good time to clean out the pencils and wrappers that breed under there and vacuum up the crumbs and lint.  Aaron came downstairs on his way to work and asked, "Did you lose something Mom?"  Then he hesitantly added, "Or are you just vacuuming?"

Despite my son's doubt, I finished the task and (since no one else was home to accept the chore assignment) decided to start on the carpet.  The vacuum cleaner began making one of those funny noises and I realized it was time to empty the canister.  Unfortunately, I've never emptied it before.  I am a pro at the old-school vacuum bag, but I once I removed the canister, I couldn't figure out how to open it.  Surely it couldn't be that difficult.  Then  I broke off the handle.  Now I have a broken vacuum and a dirty carpet.

How dare my kids head off to work, EFY and scout camp at a time like this!

Give it to me straight

* Did you make your guess as to where Aaron will serve his mission?  If not, join the fun by going HERE to leave a comment.*

How many times have you been to "The Happiest Place on Earth?"  One trip to Disneyland always stands out in my mind.  We were there to visit with John's Dad who happened to be in town.  We took our little boys swimming in the hotel pool and were chatting out in the courtyard.  Just then a man approached us asking for help.  He said that his family had come on a trip to Disneyland and had spent most of their money on tickets etc.  They were just getting ready for their trip home when their car broke down.  He said he could make the repair, but didn't have the cash for the needed part.  He showed John a price list from a local auto parts store.  It had the necessary part circled with the price underlined.

I was busy holding my baby and watching my toddler son, but something struck me as false about the man's story.  Then I noticed that he had four Disneyland tickets in his shirt pocket.  The tickets were arranged very carefully so that you could see 2 adult tickets and 2 child tickets.  Tickets don't arrange themselves like that. I suspected that the tickets were taped together and carefully placed to give credence to the man's story.

John's Dad must have doubted the man's story, but he still wanted to help.  He offered to go with the man to the auto parts store and buy the part.  The man refused his offer and only wanted cash.  Then he started to get angry and finally left.

It really bothered me that the man was trying to scam us.  Likely, John or his Dad would have given him a few dollars if he had just asked for money, but no one likes to be lied to or manipulated.

A few weeks ago, I saw a thirtysomething man near a freeway entrance.  He appeared to be in good health and was holding a sign that said:

 SUFFERS MENTAL ABUSE.   PLEASE GIVE

 What exactly did he mean?  I wanted to roll down my window and ask him a few questions.  Who was abusing him?  Did he really mean "mental illness" or did he just choose these words thinking they would evoke sympathy? I got my answer a week later when I saw the same man at the same corner.  This time he had a different sign:

OUT OF WORK.  PLEASE GIVE.

 I still had questions, but the light turned green before I could ask or give.

Later that day I was in a different part of town and I saw another thirtysomething, healthy looking man holding a sign.  His read:

WILL WORK FOR BEER.  PLEASE GIVE.

I laughed out loud.  If I had been the driver, I might have stopped to "give."  I appreciate honesty and a good laugh!

My question for you is:  How do you handle people looking for a handout?  When do you give?

Sweet Sunday - Father's Day

Today is one of a very few Father's Days I have spent away from my father. He is visiting two of my brothers this weekend and I am grateful they will be able to spend time together. Two of my brothers are loving and dedicated fathers and I know my youngest brother (who already has a special gift with children) will be an amazing father in the future.

Part of the reason my brothers are such fine fathers is because of the example of our own father. He always worked hard to provide well for our family. Dad lived much of his life without a father in his home, so he lacked the example of a strong father. Yet Dad always made his family a priority and strove to be a righteous father. Dad has never been perfect, but he has asked for forgiveness when he has made mistakes. I have been touched many times by his efforts to constantly improve and strengthen his weaknesses.

I have learned many important lessons from my father, but the most important lesson is to be a good judge. What exactly does that mean? Elder Dallin Oaks explained it perfectly in this talk when he said:

There are two kinds of judging: final judgments, which we are forbidden to make, and intermediate judgments, which we are directed to make, but upon righteous principles.

We must, of course, make judgments every day in the exercise of our moral agency, but we must be careful that our judgments of people are intermediate and not final. Thus, our Savior’s teachings contain many commandments we cannot keep without making intermediate judgments of people.

We all make judgments in choosing our friends, in choosing how we will spend our time and our money, and, of course, in choosing an eternal companion. Some of these intermediate judgments are surely among those the Savior referenced when He taught that “the weightier matters of the law” include judgment (Matthew 23:23)

My dad always taught us to make wise choices, especially when it really counted! He encouraged us to seek out "quality" friends and spouses. I have always tried to be thoughtful in making important decisions and I believe my siblings are all wise judges.

Thanks Dad for teaching me this lesson! I love you and will be eternally grateful for your guidance and example. Happy Father's Day!

Dad holding me as a newborn.
I love the smile on his face. It is the same today!
I also love the full bookshelf behind him.
I have clearly inherited my parents' love of books.

Can you guess where?

Aaron turned in his mission papers earlier this week! He is hoping to receive his mission call before the end of the month. His BYU roommate, Josh, predicts that Aaron will serve in Russia.

What do you think? Make your guess by leaving a comment. The closest guesser will win a $20 gift card to the restaurant or store of your choice.

One guess per person and you can name a specific country, state or mission. Even if you don't usually comment, please make a guess. Who knows? You might be right!

Looks Aren't Everything

Have you ever paid a lot of money for something really ugly?

(Well, I didn't spend this much.

This is from 2007 when I was in charge of ticket sales for one

of our Shakespeare plays. The kids LOVED helping to count the money!)

I finally got up the nerve to go back to the shoe store with the expensive shoes I hated. Jenny came along for moral support (and to try on a few pairs for herself). Fortunately, the people there were really nice and immediately went to work helping me find a pair I really liked. The girl who helped me was wonderful because instead of just telling me to walk around a bit, she told me to go up a staircase and down a hill before coming back through the parking lot. That helped me get a better feel for the shoes.

After trying on several pairs, I asked if I could try on some of the more minimalist running shoes. Several of them were really cute and I tried to convince myself that they felt perfect on my foot. Unfortunately, the ones that felt really great were also really ugly.

But you know what? They feel terrific on my feet. They have plenty of support and cushion on the bottom and are very light and free on top. That is really important for the 3-Day since we will be walking for 6-8 hours every day. They also cost even more than the first pair, but not much.

Aaron was surprised when I called them ugly and said he thinks they are "sweet". He helpfully informed me that Brooks was probably aiming for a much younger demographic. That made me feel so much better.

The funny part is, Jenny has the exact same shoes. We may have to change our team name from Annie's Angels to the Orange Uglies. Plus, we may require our team members to buy orange shoes. You can buy your own pair HERE. Let me know if you want to join our team!

The good news is we walked 17 miles last weekend and we're planning to do 18 this weekend. Best of all, we'll be looking sweet in our awesome orange shoes.

Our Life in Lists

Finished:
1 bouquet of flowers ordered
2 loads of laundry
3 closet shelves organized
4 packages mailed at post office

Music enjoyed:
Moonlight Sonata on piano
Now Let Us Rejoice on organ
Eric Clapton on ipod

You Tube videos watched and discussed:
Kennedy's "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech
Reagan's "Tear Down This Wall" speech
Fall of the Berlin Wall

Books read from:
The Book of Mormon
Key to Algebra
Hershey's Chocolate Lover's Cookbook
The Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe

Ingredients for the perfect FHE:
Casual discussion of dreams and goals
Frisbee at the park until we couldn't see anymore
Mint chip & rocky road ice cream

Have you ever heard of . . .

a rhombic hexecontahedron?

Geometry was the only math class I really loved in high school, but I had never heard of this shape until a few weeks ago.

With our school year winding down, Evan has had a bit more time on his hands and he's been exploring one of his favorite websites http://www.wolframalpha.com/ It is a computational knowledge engine. If you (like me) don't know what that means, you can take a tour HERE.

What does this website have to do with geometric figures? Well, the WolframAlpha logo is, you guessed it, a rhombic hexecontahedron.

Evan wasn't satisfied with just learning to pronounce or define it. He needed to make one for himself. He found a small pattern online at this fun site. Of course my origami loving son couldn't stop there. He needed different colors. Then he figured out how to make progressively larger versions.

I am now out of cardstock and glue sticks for my glue gun, but otherwise this was a very low cost project. Let the summer fun begin!

Sweet Sunday - Time at the Temple

Yesterday John and I went to the temple. As soon as I sat down, I noticed that a man near me was a little "different". Several times he tried to whisper across the aisle to his wife and she seemed slightly embarrassed as she put her finger to her lips to quiet him. I guessed that he suffered from some kind of disability or perhaps a brain injury.

Over the next hour or two I noticed how enthusiastic he was about everything. He was visibly excited for each step of the temple session. He watched the officiators carefully and was very exacting as he did everything required of him. Later, I watched as he stood, wrapped his arm around his wife and tenderly kissed her hand over and over.

By the end of session, I was in tears. His enthusiasm and devotion were inspiring. It was a striking contrast to the times I have struggled to stay awake or keep my thoughts from wandering while in the temple.

What would our temple experience be like if we were always filled with excitement? Are we joyful about our temple service?

"Now was not this exceeding joy? Behold, this is joy which none receiveth save it be the truly penitent and humble seeker or happiness." Alma 27:18

My Life As a Movie Title

It was a Clint Eastwood movie my Grandpa loved, but this week it describes my life.

THE GOOD:

I walked 7.25 miles yesterday and 8 miles today. That may not be much for you runners, but it's good for me!

THE BAD:

Our dog Roxy has suddenly become deaf as a result of antibiotics. We are hoping it is temporary, but it is not looking good.

AND THE UGLY:

I got a personalized fitting and spent $85 dollars on new walking shoes and after one short walk, I HATE them. My ankles are actually bruised. I pulled the old ones out of the trash can to wear until I work up the courage to see if the store does refunds/exchanges.

As a bonus, this one has yet to be categorized as good, bad or ugly. I'll wait and see how it turns out:

I recently chose two books to read based on reviews. It turns out that both of them have underlying themes that directly relate to my life. None of this was mentioned in the reviews and I really didn't want to deal with these issues right now. I guess God had other plans.

Cherished Advice

My mom was serving as the Visiting Teaching Coordinator in her ward when she passed away. In fact, one of our last conversations before she went to the hospital was about Visiting Teaching. I helped her order some supplies online to prepare for their ward Visiting Teaching Conference.

But this post really isn't about Visiting Teaching! A few months ago, I came across some handouts Mom made for the sisters in her ward. I kept them because they reminded me of Mom and her love of quilting. But yesterday when I pulled them out, I paid attention to the words. I felt like it was a message from Mom--a message that she wanted me to share with my family and friends.

So here it is. A message from Mom in her own writing.

It is good advice for a family.

*Cherish one another

*Visit regularly

*Be a friend

*Be prayerful

In fact, it is good advice for life in general!

Mom also made little bookmarks with this awesome quote:

"We must cherish one another, watch over one another, comfort one another and gain instruction that we may all sit down in heaven together." - Lucy Mack Smith

I suspect that when Mother Smith had something to say, people sat up and listened. I can't say I have always listened to my mom's advice, but I'm listening now. Thanks Mom. It's just what I needed to hear.