Technomamma

Recently I have been accused of being a "first adopter". I got a Nook as soon as they came out. Then I got an IPAD. Now, after teaching 21 years. I am updating my skills to use a SMART board. I was even willing to change rooms for it, which is no easy task. My principal was happy I took the dive into tech world. So, happy me, off to clean and get ready for the new school year.

Revolving doors

Summer bliss is ending. I was so fortunate to have been with my Dad and brother all summer. One day, we got to have all 5 siblings and my Dad together. It's been ages since that happened. I left McCall the 29th of July, left the serene and peacefulness to come home to a revolving door. First to arrive home was Mad Man Steve, he will be living at home with me while he student teaches this year. It will be fabulous to have him home. He is so easy going, loves Football and likes to cook. He is such a great guy, I love hanging out with him. My dear, wonderful son, Kasen got home from his mission on August 3rd. He looks so happy and excited to be home. It was fabulous to hug him and really be with him. He had a great welcoming party. My terrific daughter got home on August 7th. She has wrapped up her teaching career in Las Vegas and now is headed for teaching overseas in an International school. We had a wonderful time as a little family for 5 days, then off she flew to Kazakhstan for 9 months. Kasen leaves tomorrow and I get to get ready for school to start. Steve will take Kasen up to Moscow and get him settled. I am so happy for all my kids. The are so wonderful. Each one is their own, unique person, yet they blend so well together. We had a marvelous time. It ended with Kasen and Steve giving Anne a blessing. As I sat there and listened, I could feel John in the circle. He was part of it all. He loved his children best of all. It is as it should be, letting go of grown children is hard, but they must go on to fulfill their lives with dreams and hopes and experiences that will enrich them and those they come to know. The revolving door has stopped whirling, and I am left to reflect and be grateful to have such incredible kids come in and leave apart of themselves in my heart forever.

Surrounded by Blessings

After spending a most wonderful summer with my Dad in McCall, I returned home and back to reality. I kind of had a mini- panic attack, feeling much better now that I am surrounded with my blessings known as Anne, Steven and Kasen. Greeting Kasen at the airport was fabulous. He is so handsome! His report and homecoming talk went well. The only glitch was a trip to the emergency room, but nothing life threatening, just a follow up with a surgeon tomorrow, but his abdomen is much better. Anne is always full of energy and fun! She is getting ready to fly to Kazakhstan in 2 days.. Steven has moved home to do his Student Teaching this year. Kasen leaves for Moscow on Friday.
Fall is full of changes. Am looking forward to new adventures.

Miracles in the madness: Forgiveness and miracles.

One thing that I have learned this week is that Heavenly Father has allowed me to rant and rave and get angry and frustrated about life, then lovingly taught me and reminded me of my Savior Jesus Christ and his atonement. Forgiveness and miracles. I have been void of the Spirit in a lot of ways this summer. Returning home after a vacation, I was overwhelmed with emotions. It is very difficult to come home to an empty house. I was trying to deal with emotions ranging from Kasen's homecoming and return to school, Anne coming home and leaving for Kazachstan. Steven coming to live with me for the next school year. Overwhelmed with this, I was angry, frustrated and felt myself losing control. It was like revisiting my darkest moments in the last few years. I found myself mad at John again, for not being here and for putting me in this situation. I was desperately trying to arrange housing for Kasen at the U of I. Nothing was working. Many, many phone calls later, I was about at the end of my rope. I called my friend Cindy to see if I could borrow her printer. She was home and said, "sure, come on over." Her simple answer and invitation reversed the self destructive course I was on . I was able to get the housing situation resolved, and my foul mood was abating. She invited me to go to the Botanical Gardens in Boise, with Jill, Shelley and Luke. We spent a wonderful, relaxing evening listening to a Blues Band and enjoyed a calm, beautiful, perfect evening. It was a healing balm to me. When I got home, I turned on the TV and watched Joyce Meyers talk about avoiding using words in anger and in a displeasing way. It was just what I needed to hear. I went to bed and read an Ensign article and played quiet piano music. I was able to sleep and felt so much better in the morning. About 9 a.m. I got a phone call from a man named Dave Mixa. He wanted to talk to me about John's mission. I was confused at first and thought he meant Kasen John, because he was calling from California. He continued to talk to me about John and how John had been the missionary that converted him to the Gospel in Rochester New York in 1973. He said it was John's humor, and spirit that converted him. He felt impressed to find John and thank him for changing his life. He has been married for 31 years, has 5 daughters, all married to return missionaries. His brother and sister were baptized and to date over 50 members of his family are active LDS members. I was very emotional, but tried to maintain my composure while talking to him. We chatted for about 30 minutes, and I was able to share some highlights from John's life, such as his work as a Prosecutor and his love for his children. After the phone call, I cried for a long time off and on all day. It was just what I needed to hear. I have moments when I get mad at John and just remember the pain and sorrow and the bad stuff that happened. This was a message from my Savior about remembering the good John, the John that was real and healthy. The John that made a difference in a whole family, not just one man he taught in New York, but a whole family who are now eternally blessed because he taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ. My heart was healed and mended, again, by the miracle the Savior provided me with. I was able to spend the afternoon with Ora, Dave had called her too, and we talked about our feelings all afternoon. You would think that was the end of the lesson to be learned, but it wasn't . Margie asked me to facilitate our ARP group last night. So I went to Nampa to do that. No one was there for the Family Support group. One sister came in about 15 minutes after the starting time. She was the only one there, but we had a meeting anyway. We read Step 2 about Hope. I shared my story with her, and she stopped me and said, "Wait, I remember you spoke in our ward one time about your story. You have no idea how your words has helped me over the last couple of years." I was blown away. She said how I had talked about pretending that everything was fine, and it wasn't. We were able to talk about her struggles, very similar to mine. I was able to talk to her about healing and miracles and share some things that have helped me. The Lord truly knows us. He loves us. He provides the miracle when we are ready to see, hear and feel it. I am so grateful for my Heavenly Father, his patience with me and is willingness to provide the healing I needed and the Hope to go on.

McCall's Magic Moments

Don't bother to come to McCall until the 3rd week of June. You will get rained on, hailed on, sit inside and wait for moments of brief sunshine, and warm weather. It will be much too quiet for you. None of the weekenders are up here yet. The serious tourists wait til the 4 th of July. Stay home till then. I will gladly go on hikes in the park and around the Cove. I will pick all those wonderful morel mushrooms that pop out after the rainstorm. I will walk around town and not worry about getting run over. It will be just fine to go into a restaurant and right away and not have to wait forever for a table.
That being said, we've had a wonderful summer so far. We toasted to it at lunch today on the dock at the Mile High Marina. We watched the Scottish American games, visited with friends and then had dinner at Ice Cream Ally. Now that the flatland is heating up, our serene
Village will become lively for about 6 weeks. We wait till Labor Day when once again we have it the place all to ourselves.

lamblegs: the true story

I guess it's time to tell the story of how lamblegs came to be. I was newly married. I received a phone call from my in-laws inviting us over for dinner. I happily called John at work and relayed the message. I said, "we've been invited over to have lamblegs for dinner at your mom's."

Silence...then laughter. "lamblegs???. Do you mean leg of lamb?" Is there a difference? Just picture drumsticks from a chicken. As kids we want the drumstick, easy to eat. Next, picture a turkey leg, some fairs offer them up for a delightful feast. Next, lamblegs... getting the picture. One does not hock around a lambleg. In the sheep world and gourmet cook world, neither of which I knew about, say, "leg of lamb". Oh. Silly me. From then on, when I did something silly, or off the wall, or not quite right, John would say, "Oh lamblegs, you've done it again." I even had a personalized license plate bearing the endearment.

Cultured

Saturday night outing with Dad went very well. We were dressed up, went to Cafe de Paris downtown and had a divine dinner with Jim. Swapped stories about various things. Some pretty funny memories about Kathy. The time she got thrown out of Tennessee Williams house for showing up with his boy friend. The time she got a job working for Orson Wells because her friend was his receptionist and forgot to hire a person to do the lighting, in walked Kathy and her friend, oh here she is, it began a long relationship with him and other young, starving artists, dancers and such. She was rich, so whenever they went out, she paid, she always let people sleep on her floor or in her car. Once she was in a movie and got spanked by Clark Gable. If you didn't know Kathy, you wouldn't believe it. She had a charmed life is some ways.

After dinner, we went to the Philharmonic, I got to sit in Kathy's seat. It was hand-picked don't ya know. She had a fine ear for sound. The program had a mixture of ballet and symphony. It was delightful and wonderful. We had a grand time. I was introduced to some fine society folks. Pretty cultural night.