What I Would Have Blogged About

I'M BACK! You have no idea how excited I am to finally have internet restored to our house! It took three trips to the house to get the job done, but it finally happened, and now I'm happily catching up on all that I've missed. (And P.S. our home phone is working again too!)

As for you, here are some of the blog titles you might have read:

1) A survey: what's the last thing you'd expect to see my husband doing on New Year's Eve?
a) dancing b) cooking c) karaoking in front of the ward d) getting a root canal

2) Driving six miles across the Hoover Dam in two hours, while watching the gas gage drop from nearly empty to completely empty

3) Kids say the darndest things (subtitled, I have no response to that):

"I am thankful for not killing people" (written by a 2nd grader in response to a Thanksgiving assignment asking for a list of things you're thankful for)

Me, introducing a new book: "Do you like camping?"
4th grader: "I like camping, but I'm kind of scared of camping since my cousin got eaten by a bear when he was camping."

(And one that warmed my heart and reminded me that there really are terrific parents in the world!) In response to being asked to tell me what he'd done wrong: "When I get home I'm going to repent, because I'm eight now."

4) Guess who's getting married! And guess who's having babies! The family just keeps growing and growing!

So happy to be back on line!

Catching up and Celebrating the Unplanned!

I've been without internet access for a couple of lonely, sad months, with only brief moments here and there when I've tried to snatch a few moments at someone else's computer and tried to reconnect.  Such is the case now:  I find myself in Tucson with a computer at my disposal, and having deleted all the hundreds of read and unread emails, I think it's time for a short update to my readers--whoever, or wherever they may be!

It's nearly a new year, and like every other year, and with some time away from the routine, I find myself thinking about change.  Not to be confused with resolutions because that sounds so like everyone else (and--let's be honest--so won't happen).  Stuff I just need to do because. Here's to a fabulous 2009 that's filled with many accomplishments:  becoming healthy, becoming organized, and seeing my name on the cover of a book.  Taking control of my life in the smallest ways:  the inevitable five o'clock dinner question comes to mind as well as about a hundred other little things that just need to be planned. 

For instance, why can't I meet a December 1 deadline if I can meet a December 25 deadline?  It's questions like that which have been occupying my mind lately.  

As for celebrating the unplanned, we were the happy hosts of unhappy Christmas guests who wanted to be elsewhere but were determined to make the most of a situation which was beyond their control.  We loved sharing Christmas with Eric, Briana, Elena, and Danielle!  Thanks for hanging out with us!  And now we're enjoying a few impulsive days in Tucson, giving horsie rides to the grandkids and playing games with their parents!  So good to see Christy, Tom & Sophie and Jenny, Eric, Parker, Caleb & Maren.  Thanks for letting us crash your party!

Tomorrow we return to the snow, our young single adult kids, our puppy and our routine, our cups filled and ready to go to work!  

Happy New Year!

Kai--tender mercy or dirty animal?

The downside:
1) She sheds. Brushing and vacuuming help, but still, she sheds.

2) She smells like a dog, especially when wet. Bathing helps, but still, she smells like a dog, especially when it's been a week.

3) What goes in must come out, and nobody particularly enjoys yard duty.

The upside:
1) She loves you no matter what you do. When she can choose to be anywhere she wants, she'll choose to be with you. Guaranteed: nobody else will mourn your absence or greet your return with as much enthusiasm as she will. Even if you ignore her.

2) She's always up for a game, and you get to choose when, where and what. No need to negotiate or compromise. If you want to go somewhere or do something, she's always excited to join you.

3) She's a gentle alarm clock for sleepy sons! A snuggle and wet kiss coax reluctant wakers from their beds a lot easier than the whole plethera of clock radios, snooze buttons, squirt bottles and yelling/shaking/threatening/begging routines.

4) She's an empathetic listener when you're feeling sad, and she'll never interrupt or tell you you're wrong.

5) Her number one goal in life is to please you! Who else can you say that about?

I was thinking about this one day when I noticed her dirty paw prints crossing my clean kitchen floor, and it hit me--the simple truth: it's a choice. I thought of all the furry and not so furry creatures who have shared our home over the years, and realized that--while I would love to have a floor that stays clean and a house that always smells sweet--I choose life with what Julie called "the best toy" and Danny called "a tender mercy." The love and the joy makes the inconvenience worth it.

What is wrong with this picture?

Waiting at the checkout stand last night, I surveyed the magazine covers--and this caught my attention: Clay Aiken with an infant. The headline: "Yes, I'm gay!" From the smaller print, apparently the new dad has decided he has to be honest with the little one, as well as the rest of the world.

Say what? Something about this picture just isn't working for me!

What a crazy, mixed up world we live in!

One Hundred Words

That's it. I've been sitting in front of this computer screen for close to two hours and all I have to show for it is about 100 words. How can it be that something so much a part of me, something that screams to be heard--can be so much like pulling teeth some days?! I feel like whoever it was (a name you would recognize) who, the story is told, was found distraught one day and asked, "How many words did you get today?" He said something like "five" and then wailed, "But I don't know what order they go in."

But I'm so close! I've passed my 60,000 word goal, the characters are converging and the plot is winding down. Why is it so hard now?

P.S. I have yet to hear a single title suggestion . . .

Family Reunion at Bear Lake

The Ferris Wheel Ride

The carnival came to town last week. I was running errands with my 88 year old mother when she saw it spread over what used to be the library lawn. "I always loved the carnival," she said.

A day or so later we were traveling the same road when she commented on the carnival again.
"Wouldn't it be fun to ride the ferris wheel again."

"Would you do it?" I asked. She didn't answer.

And so Saturday afternoon, we kidnapped Mom and Dad and took them to the carnival. We sat on a bench and ate cajun shrimp and snow cones and watched the people go by.

And Mom and I rode the ferris wheel. We laughed at the sign that warned about rocking the car (while our car rocked) and waved at Dad and Alan as they watched from below. She told me about riding the rollar coaster with her first beau. And I thought about life and love and being young and growing old and the eternal circle of things.

"I haven't been on a ferris wheel in fifty years!" she said.

There are moments when you know you are doing the right thing. And that was one of them.