We Need a Little Christmas

Last week I was in my mother-in-law's home and saw the Sears Christmas Wish catalogue on the coffee table. Doesn't it seem like it comes a little earlier every year? I can't decide if it is added pressure and stress or if the early reminder will relieve the pressure and stress in December.

My oldest daughter has always loved Christmas music. I used to start listening to it in late September because the month of December just isn't long enough to really enjoy all the great seasonal music. Every year, my daughter tries to convince me to put in a Christmas CD a little earlier. Last month she had an idea. Maybe I would let her and her sister play some one day a month, say the 25th since Christmas is on the 25th. The idea sounded fine to me, so I agreed, sure they would find it a novelty for one month.

Guess what yesterday was. That's right, the 25th. I assigned the kids the chore of washing all the walls and then went into the office to do some work. When I came out to see how things were going, they were singing Christmas carols at the top of their lungs. When my husband came home for lunch and heard what was playing, he just rolled his eyes. He maintains that Christmas music should only played in December and put away on December 26th, but he determined years ago that he lives in a weird household and tolerates our quirkiness with a smile.

So this family celebrates Super Bowl Sunday in our own peculiar way and we listen to Christmas music on the 25th of every month. It keeps life interesting. What strange things do you do in your own families?

P.S. I apologize in advance to my daughter's roommates. I hope you like Christmas music!

Stretching

My kids take after me and are all avid readers. Like most young people they have a favorite genre and most of the books they read come from that genre. I suppose many adults are the same way. My son enjoys fantasy and some distopian and devours books so quickly I can hardly keep up with him. He tells me quite regularly that other books just don't interest him. I can relate. I read everything but fantasy.

Just before school ended in June, the English teacher asked my son what he planned on reading this summer. He listed a few books - all in his regular genre - and his teacher was impressed with the amount of reading he thought he could do. Then she told him that he should stretch his mind and reach something that he wouldn't normally pick up. She challenged my son to read a few classics and let her know what he thought.

When he told me about the teacher's challenge, I just shook my head. This is the first summer he has worked full-time and I couldn't imagine him taking what little spare time he has and using it for something that doesn't interest him.

I was wrong. This summer he read Ben Hur and he just finished Great Expectations. He can't wait to report back to the teacher about his summer reading. He just started reading A Tale of Two Cities and was wondering what to read after he finished it. I told him he should read some Shakespeare, quite sure he would laugh at the idea. Tonight, I noticed my volume of Shakespeare was on the couch. Somehow this teacher inspired him to try something out of his comfort zone and, even though he probably won't admit it, I think he is actually enjoying the experience. At the very least, he is inspiring me. There are several classics I've been meaning to read and I think it is about time I start on them.

What books have you read lately that have stretched your mind?

Graduation

It hardly seems possible that my daughter is old enough to graduate from high school, but on the 20th I attended her graduation ceremonies and watched her walk across the stage in a cap and gown. The ceremonies we attended were just the formal celebration. She still has several weeks left of school.

My daughter and I spent weeks working on her dress and finding the perfect jewellery and shoes. She had a clear vision in her head of exactly how she wanted to look. There was no talk of sophisticated or glamourous. She just wanted to be modest and look like a princess. She also didn't want to look like the other girls. In the end she loved her dress and still wants to find excuses to wear it. She chose a dark green satin with a black, embroidered organza overlay. That alone made her different, since most of the dresses were brighter colors. The fact that she also chose a modest sleeve also made her stand out.

When I began making the dress, I chose not to take the normal shortcuts I usually take to keep the cost down for clients. The layers of lace and satin in the bodice were hand-basted together. I chose to add an inner layer of flannel to give the bodice some body and also to provide a place to attach the boning so it wouldn't be visible on the finished dress. This layer was also hand basted in. Once we got the bodice just right, the skirt went in easily. There was a crinoline attached to the dress and, just out of curiosity, we measured the length and found that the circumference of the crinoline hem was 500". We could stretch it from one end of the house to the other. The finishing touches were the brooch she found on clearance and the 1,500 Swarovski crystals we attached to the hem. You can't really see them in the picture, but when she moved, the crystals caught the light just right. It was a lot of work, but so worth it. The happiness in her face was the best payment I've ever received for a dress.

When I graduated I wondered why the school held grad so early. As a parent, I see the logic behind the decision. There were dresses and dates to find, hair and nails to be done, and general excitement on top of the many activities the kids planned. I don't think many of the graduates focused on school work the whole week. Now that the fun is all over, they have to buckle down for the real work. Departmentals - a government exam given in each of the core subjects and worth 50% of the final grade - are coming and bringing with them all the stress of studying. I can't imagine how hard the tests would be if the weeks before were taken up with grad preparations.

I'm so proud of my daughter and all she has accomplished. One of the speakers said that graduation is just the beginning, and I can't wait to see what she does with her talents and abilities. She'll definitely go far. At the same time, I am still trying to figure out how she is old enough to graduate. I think we get closer to being the same age all the time.

Catching Up

Life has been so hectic and doesn't seem to be settling down. Here is the abbreviated version:

1. Canadian Thanksgiving was this week. We had a lovely dinner with lots of extended family at our home. Everyone contributed so there wasn't too much work for anyone. Great food and great company made for a wonderful evening.

2. My mother and step-father are staying with us for a few days. They are visiting from Arizona and have been with us a week. I haven't seen my mom in two years. Arizona is such a long distance, so it is hard for us to get down there and hard for them to get up here. We've been having a great time visiting, although my work is really falling behind.

3. We've had to hire a tutor for one of the children. When it became obvious that extra help was needed we made the decision to spend the money even though we didn't know where it would come from. Less than twenty-four hours later, I received a phone call from the school offering me a two month position, filling in for someone who is taking medical leave. It is definitely one of those tender mercies. I'm so grateful to know He watches over our needs.

4. NaNoWriMo is coming up quickly. With the new job and everything else I have to work on, I'm not sure I'll be signing up, but I haven't entirely ruled out the possibility yet.

5. My oldest daughter informed me the other day that there is a formal dance coming up at the school. Out school usually holds one formal dance during the year, but in the last few years I've noticed they are planning more and more. Of course this means that she needs to find a dress. Because she is a difficult size to find and the local shopping is incredibly limited, I have some sewing to do. It'll be fun if I can just get her to decide what she wants.

6. My office is almost finished and as soon as I put the final touches in, I'll post pictures. I'm very happy with how it turned out, although the project did remind me that I don't really enjoy painting. I'd much rather do my creating with words or with a needle and thread.

7. So far the reports I've been getting on Finding Rose have been positive. I'm getting many requests for the second book.

8. And that all leads back to the writing. The next story is almost entirely plotted. I have a little research to finish up and then I'll get it all on paper. I'm excited about the story and some new characters who have taken up residence in my mind.

My Tough Girls

I had the opportunity to go to Young Women's camp last week. To be honest, it wasn't something I looked forward to. I had been called to work with the girls only a month before camp, so I wasn't involved with the planning, but the other leaders kept talking about how it would be a survivor experience, at the girl's request. On top of that, I knew I would struggle with my allergies.

The Laurel's (the 16-17 year-olds) left on Wednesday to canoe the river. As a mother, I was a little concerned because they had so little experience. Every time they planned a practise trip, it had to be cancelled because of the very wet spring we had. The rivers were always too high, and they were lucky the one they ended up going on had dropped low enough for them to go. I sent my oldest daughter of and trusted that two of the men going with them had enough experience to bring them all in safely.

The rest of the girls and leaders met Thursday morning. We loaded up our gear and headed out to the campsite. When we arrived, I was glad to see the older girls and they were certainly glad to see us. My daughter started crying when she saw me and gave me a huge hug. She didn't look so good. Her face was a little swollen and her eyes were puffy and red. She told us how they had had quiet the adventure on the river, and almost every member of their group had been dumped from a canoe at least once. At one point, she ended up in the water and got tangled up in a tree branch. It held her under water a little longer than was comfortable, but she realized that if she stopped fighting it, she might float free. It worked, but left her quite shaken.

I realized quickly that the red face was more than the result of a few tears. Over the next 24 hours it continued to swell and become more painful for her. I suggested several times that I take her home so we could get medical attention for it, but she refused and insisted on sticking it out. We gave her antihistamines and watched her closely.

The first thing the girls had to do was set up camp. They had planned on building their own shelter and the leaders weren't supposed to help. The also had to dig a latrine and set up a food preparation area. It took them some time, but they worked together well and accomplished the tasks. The other big activity they had was their version of the amazing race. They were given maps and directions, then they had to use a compass to follow the map and get to each station. At every stop there were certain tasks they had to do - fire starting, whittling, first aid, making a travois and transporting a team member, and identifying edible and non-edible plants. There was also a difficult obstacle course just after lunch. It was a hot day and the activity took a lot out of them, but they did it. Of course, when all that was over, they were grateful for all the free time when they could just play in the river.

I was so proud of my girls. My youngest felt a little out of place. It was her first camp and she has a hard time relating with the other girls there, but she never complained. She kept a smile on her face and went out of her way to encourage others and cheer people up. As for my oldest daughter, I have rarely seen such strength of character. I would have quit long before she did. Instead of moaning about how difficult things were, she kept asking how the others were doing and trying to help them out. She worked hard even when some of the other girls didn't want to. Saturday morning, she finally agreed that a trip to the nearest emergency room would be in order. While I finished getting things ready to go, she busied herself helping another leader do some work around camp. And through it all, she smiled and kept a positive attitude. I don't think I could have done the same.

By the time we got home, the pain finally got to her. Her smile faded and she just wanted to sleep all afternoon. The medication seems to be working slowly and we made another trip to the doctor today. He thinks she reacted to the sun and possibly the sunscreen. The swelling is starting to go down, although she is still quite red. She looks like she has two black eyes (well, really red and purple eyes). The hardest part for her is realizing that she will have to be careful when out in the sun. I told her she'll just have to make hats part of her own personal style, although she thinks she'll look dumb. She things I'm just being a silly mother when I tell her that she will always be beautiful.

In the end, I was very proud of all the girls at camp. It was wonderful to be with a group that got along, worked well together and didn't have any little fights during the time we were there. They were strong and I hope they all learned that they can do hard things. As for my own daughters, I hope I can live up to their example. They are amazing girls who teach me everyday. I'm just thankful I get to be their mother.

The Subtle Difference

Tonight I had the opportunity to attend the school band concert. My children tried to convince me it would be a long, horrible experience full of musical errors and sour notes. They don’t understand that to a mom, every performance is wonderful. The musical selections for the evening revolved around Hollywood and we got to hear songs from Spiderman, Harry Potter, Aladdin, Lord of the Rings, and more. The senior elementary school choir began the evening, followed by the grade six band. I was truly impressed with how well the kids played after only having their instruments for eight months. The evening continued with each grade’s band taking a turn until we reached the high school choir, and the concert band (grades 10, 11, and 12). These groups did an amazing job and finished the evening off with a bang. It was an enjoyable concert.

What I really noticed was how different each level was, and yet how subtle the differences were.  Each grade improved slightly, but if I compared the youngest musicians to the oldest, the difference in skill was amazing. It is neat to see how far they come during the years they spend in band. The youngest kids played well but lacked a some of the finesse the older kids had. They made more mistakes and lacked a little confidence. The older kids had the skill and the ability to play more smoothly, put dynamics into the pieces, and make fewer errors. But they lacked some of the enthusiasm of the younger kids.

It got me thinking about writing. As I’ve been doing some serious editing lately, and when I read things I wrote several years ago, I am amazed at how far I’ve come. The differences between each piece are minor, but when I compare some of the earlier things I wrote with what ends up on the page now, it is gratifying to see the improvement. Even those subtle differences show me that I am still learning and improving my skills. Those day-to-day differences aren’t always noticeable, but they are there. I always tell my kids that as long as you’re learning, then life is good. Every year in band they improve a little more and every time I write, my skills grow. I can’t wait to look back ten years from now and see how far I’ve come. Meanwhile, life is good.

Easter Break Score Card

Just day-to-day stuff:

• 1 easter picnic with the extended family
• 6 loads of laundry washed and folded
• 1 family home evening activity in the city with the kids
• 6 dinners cooked
• 1 grocery shopping trip in the city
• 1 date night in the city
• 1 blog written
• 1 migraine
• 1 sewing room cleaned
• uncountable hugs given
• 1 pair of pants hemmed for a neighbor
• 1 hoodie mended after a run-in with a band saw
• 0 school work
  

For the play:

• 1 play practice attended
• 6 skirts sewn (with help from my lovely assistants/daughters)
• 8 pairs of pants sewn
  
• 6 vests sewn
  
• 3 pirate shirts sewn
  
• 6 sashes made
  
• 6 eye patches made
• 1 felt pirate hat sewn complete with blood-red plume
• 40+ metres of fabric used

And writing/editing:

• 2 very short hours

Oh well, there's always next week, right?

A Little Busier

Starting today, my son and oldest daughter will be attending practices for a play. I knew my daughter would try out since she loves acting and singing. She was given the biggest part, although she was a little disappointed because it doesn't involve much singing. What really surprised me was my son auditioning.

When he was much younger, he suffered from terrible stage fright. During talks at primary, he would usually start giggling, then become more embarrassed and start crying. I can't count the number of talks I had to finish for him. Yet if you put him in costume, he seemed to be okay. I couldn't imagine how the audition would go, but apparently he was absolutely hilarious.

Anyway, it means we'll be listening to the music at home and helping kids read lines. Then there is the scheduling. My daughter needs to rearrange her schedule at work to accommodate practices. Luckily she has a great employer and this shouldn't be too much of a problem. The directors are also willing to give her a little leeway as well. I told her I would drive her to work on nights when she needs the extra half an hour to keep up with homework.

On top of it all, I am the costume director. Anyone have a few extra pirate costumes for teenagers just hanging in a closet somewhere? The performances will be May 12,13,14 but I want to have the costumes mostly finished by the end of March because April will be crazy with the writer's conference and Easter. As if we don't keep busy enough in our house. Should be a fun busy though.

A New Year and a New Start

2009 wasn't a great blogging year for me. As I think back, maybe it's because not much seemed to happen and the things that did happen kept me from the computer. I seem to take on more and more projects and I wonder how I get anything done. Anyway, I'm not looking back right now, this is all about looking forward. There are so many things on my plate and the biggest challenge is going to be scheduling everything.

1. Community Service: There are some new jobs I need to learn. I'm a member of the Cultural Arts Society in town and only barely managed to avoid the position of president at our last annual general meeting. I ended up as vice-president. It was made quite clear that they are grooming me to take over. Hopefully that is several years away. I am also on the public library board and at our last meeting they asked me to take on the role of secretary as our old secretary is retiring. I tried to beg out of that one, but no one else would step forward, and the job needs to be done. Sometimes I want to walk away from both of these, but they've had so few volunteers in the last few years, and both are important to me and to the community. I guess I'm in for the long haul.

2. My family is also expecting more homemade bread and other goodies, thanks to the Bosch mixer that Santa brought. It is a huge step up from the old -fashioned egg beater I had been using. I made a couple loaves of whole wheat bread yesterday and couldn't believe how fast and easy it was. I'm excited to try new recipes and add all the fancy grains I love. I'm tired of paying so much at the store for a high fibre loaf of good bread.

3. I also signed up for Weight Watchers online a few months ago. It's been going really well (although Christmas really got me). I plan on hitting it hard this year and I can't wait to see the results. Already, I'm wearing a skirt I haven't been able to wear in two years.

4. Education: I took a huge leap and signed up for university. My husband and I have been having a lot of conversations about the future and my lack of education keeps bothering me. We finally decided going back to school is the right thing. I'll be doing most of it through distance education, which will give me the freedom to stay home with the family and take as few or as many courses as I can handle at one time. I've been wanting to do this for a long time, but now that I am actually looking at course manuals, I wonder if I have enough brain cells left to make it work.

5. Writing: I'm still working on the edits to my novel and hope to get it resubmitted very soon. The revisions are lengthy, but I can see how they are going to make the story better. I'm looking forward to the LDStorymakers conference in April and will likely be bringing a bunch of writing friends this time. This past year I started a critique group that has been valuable and a lot of fun. We kept things pretty casual, but with a rather large donation of funds, we had to go more official, so the group elected me Chairperson of the Southern Alberta Writer's Workshop. Should be another interesting learning experience.

6. And last but not least is family. Despite all the other things going on in my life, I need to spend more time with my family. I keep thinking about my oldest daughter and how she only has a year and a half before she heads off to university. It seems like it is coming too fast and I have to spend every moment with her that I can. Then I look at the other two and realize they aren't far behind. Every moment is precious. I'm especially grateful for my long-suffering husband who takes the pieces of me that are left and never complains. He needs more time too.

So with all that I am juggling, I don't know if this blog will be any more active. I'm not setting any concrete goals here. I'll just be here when I can and hope you will all continue to drop by once in a while.

Happy New Year!

A Good Day to Stay Home

Nature's insulation. Kind of obstructs the view, but it's pretty at the same time.


Out the front door - or at least we could go out the front door if we could get it open. My son had to go out the side door and come up the front steps this morning to get his newspapers from the bin that is buried somewhere under that snowdrift.


Another shot of the front porch. You could lose a small child in there!


Shovelling the snow from the walk is going to be a fun job. Should burn a lot of calories. It is still snowing and blowing furiously, so I'm not sure how long a shovelled walk will last.

Of course, when my husband did try to take the van out, he ended up stuck. Our wonderful neighbors came right over when they saw the problem. They were out and on their way in no time. Seems like a good day to turn on the oven and fill the house with the warmth and aroma of Christmas baking.

The Month at the End of the Money

It's a common problem. Most people I know suffer from it at least a little. In our house, we are finding that the month at the end of the money seems to be growing.

We tend to be frugal here and when I try to think of ways to cut back even more, I draw a bit of a blank. We shop at second hand stores as much as possible, we eat very little prepared food, and we don't go out often. I suppose I could feed my family more beans instead of the cheap cuts of meat we usually eat, but I've never been successful there. Somehow, I'm the only one eating those leftovers.

So the next option is mom finding a job. Subbing at the school last year helped, but it just didn't quite fill the gap.

Because we live in a little town, thirty minutes away from the city, employment options close to home are quite limited. Ideally, a full-time aid position at the school will open up but until that happens I have to look at other options.

It is so important to me and to my husband to have me be available to the kids and home as much as possible, that our solution has to be somewhat creative. Hopefully with the little bits here and there, the month end and money won't be so far apart. So here it is. . .

First, I'll keep working at the school as often as possible. Hopefully when a position opens up, they will already know me and I might have a chance of getting the job. Then there is the place where Rick works. His boss has been asking if I would be available to pick up some hours here and there doing warranty returns. That's only five minutes from home, so that's okay.

The one I'm the most hesistant to step back into is sewing again, but I do have the ability and there always seems to be some demand for it. After sewing for so many years I suffered some severe burn-out. The three year break I took leaves me ready to do some more. Besides, my oldest daughter will be graduating next year and will want a grad dress for that. I need to refine my skills again so she can be the belle of the ball. I'm also working on getting some products up on etsy.com. I'll let you know when there is something there. So I guess this is me hanging out my shingle again.

"Seamstress for hire."

Too Soon Gone

It seems far too early this year. Here it is the third day of school and I still feel like I got cheated out of summer. I've already paid for two sets of school pictures to be taken and ordered a new band instrument for the youngest daughter (trombone - who'd have guessed?). My canning supplies are still in the kitchen waiting for the next batch of fruit to come and the last few days have been the hottest of the summer. Of course the pool is closed now since all the life guards have returned to school. That's okay though. Who has time to swim now that it's homework season again.

My oldest daughter started grade eleven and is going to try keeping her job at the theatre throughout the school year. I've always insisted that my children have early bed times which gradually get later as the kids get older, so working late on a school night might be a real trial for her. But if she can pull it off, she'll learn valuable time management skills especially since she'll have to work her way through university. This year is going to go too fast and, as she keeps reminding me, next summer we get to start shopping for grad dresses. I'm trying not to think about it.

My son started grade ten and officially entered high school. This is the kid who has had 100% attendance for five years now and is shooting for six. This is also the kid who hardly ever brings home homework. Tonight he brought home some math. I think he'll find high school to be more challenging than what he's used to. I'm glad. He needs it. He's counting down the days until he turns 16 (although that is still over six months away.) He's sure he'll start asking girls out right away and we're sure he'll turn out just like every other guy in town. Only time will tell. (Is it legal to lock them up until their brains become unscrambled?)

Then there is the youngest. She's finally in grade six. She's been looking forward to this for three years now. The school is part of a pilot project where every student in grade six "owns" a laptop for the year. They use it for many of their assignments at school and get to bring it home with them. I'm trying to smile about that, but the injustice of my 12 year old getting a laptop of her own, while mine rests in computer heaven just makes me want to cry. Okay, that might be a little over the top, but still. . .

Even though all this is a constant reminder that the winter snows will be upon us before we're ready, I have to admit I'm looking forward to the change in the seasons. It's one reason I choose to live where I do. I can only take so much warm weather before I start craving a mug of hot chocolate and a good snowstorm. My mind has started to think about the holidays coming up - what sort of pie will I make for Thanksgiving this year, what Halloween costumes will the kids want, and Christmas lists? (Santa really is going to get started earlier this year.) My two critique groups will start up again and I begin the job hunt in earnest.

Summer went too fast and winter will probably do the same, but the return to routines is welcome and the cooler weather will be a nice change. I suppose it's about capturing the joy of every moment before it fades into memory, since the memories are all that's left when the moments fade away.

Another Milestone

Last Tuesday was one of those days this mother has dreaded and looked forward to all at the same time - my oldest daughter got her driver's licence.

Just before school got out for the summer she got a job at a movie theatre in the city. Her other options were limited since our little town has emplyment opportunities for very few youth. But this job meant a 30 minute drive there and back every time she had a shift.

So I've spent my summer driving her to work, then hanging out at my mother-in-law's and then driving her home again. I've enjoyed the relaxing evenings away from home but it has really cut into my summer plans and time with the rest of the family.

As with most teenagers, she got her licence and then immedietly thought she should be able to drive everywhere. I let her drive a few places around town just so she could get used to being in the vehicle by herself, butI still drove her to work a few more times so she could get some more practice night driving. Friday evening was the real test. Rick was camping with the scouts and I didn't feel like going to town another time. So I surrendered my keys to her along with a few words about safety and then let her go. I think I held my breath for the next six hours thinking about my baby, my sixteen-year-old, sweet, innocent girl out late at night on the dark highway by herself.

She did well and I hope the next time it will be a little easier to let her go. I don't think the worry ever goes away though, and I wonder how often my mother worries about me. Maybe I should ask her. . .

Never a Dull Moment

This spring began with an exciting and inspirational trip to the LDStorymakers conference in Utah. I've gone three years now and I'm already looking forward to the next one. It can never come fast enough.

Then there was highland dancing. It started out with competition in May, where my daughter won the aggregate trophy for her competition level. Then there were two recitals. I love highland dancing and I'm looking forward to the Highland games in August where she'll compete. Bagpipes rock!

I also spent time helping my daughter with her first date. It's a sad commentary on our society when a girl's first date has to be one she plans. It was the Sadie Hawkins dance and she asked one of her best guy friends. This is his answer on the road in front of our house. This work of art took him about an hour after the sun went down. She was pretty impressed. I worked with her to plan a barbecue for her, her friends, and their dates. It was a great evening and they all had a great time.
Then we had soccer season. I think I only missed one of my son's games. Soccer definitely gets more exciting as the kids get older. Gone are the days when they sat in a corner of the field picking dandelions. Now they really get out there and work. Makes for an entertaining evening.
The ballet program was a new thing for us. There was a small recital last year, but this year was a full production in a real theatre. I was informed the dressing rooms even had lights around the mirrors. I'm not that knowledgeable about ballet, but I love how the lessons have made my daughter more graceful and aware of how she moves. The important thing is that she loves it, which is good. I can't imagine having to drag her to all the extra practices and photo sessions if she hated it.

My oldest daughter got a job in the city, which means I drive her in when she has to work until she gets her driver's licence. I hope that happens soon, but until then, I spend more time on the road than I used to. I'm going to start hanging out at the library or my MIL's house and do some writing while I wait for her shift to end.

Now I'm busy working on 22 costumes for a pioneer trek my kids are going on. The stake is planning several small vignettes the kids will stop to watch as they are on the trail. I have a work meeting planned for Thursday night, so hopefully we can get the majority of them finished then. After that, I have to sew pioneer clothing for my daughter to wear on the trek.

And then there is still the class reunion. Don't even ask how that is going. Everyone seems excited to come, but aren't really available to help. We all keep so busy these days, no one has a spare minute anywhere. Somehow it all comes together in the end. If anyone has any great ideas for reunion entertainment or games, I'd love to hear them.

So that has been the last few months at my house. I haven't done much writing, although I did finish editing a manuscript and submitted it, and I'm almost ready to submit a second one to a different publishing house. I've also done a lot of thinking about my newest character (a lot of plotting can be done while watching a soccer game). I think I've almost got her story figured out, now I just have to figure out where it begins. Once I get the time to actually do some real writing, the story will just flow. I can't wait.

At Least it's Spring

Spring has finally arrived (although my ears are still cold after watching my son play soccer tonight in the wind.) Along with spring there are the year-end recitals for dance and band, soccer season, and all the end of school activities. We always have to be somewhere and trying to balance the time between all the events takes careful planning and coordination.

On Saturday, my oldest daughter attended a highland dance competition. While I was in Utah at the writer's conference, she called and said she fell down some stairs and sprained her ankle -- two weeks before competition. After a week on crutches and a week of babying it she chose to dance anyway. As she danced, I held my breath every time she came down on her foot and was just glad she didn't injure it again. She placed in each of her four dances and won the aggregate trophy for her age category. She didn't respond when they first called her name because she didn't believe it or expect it. I guess that just goes to show that with a little determination and lots of training and hard work, anything is possible.

While the girls and I were at the competition, my husband and son attended a stake sponsored ham radio course. They both took their test and passed, so now I have two licensed amateur radio operators in the house. This is part of the effort our family is making to become more self-sufficient and prepared for emergencies. We are also hoping my son will find it fascinating and pick up a new hobby to replace some of his video game time.

Somewhere amid all the things my kids are doing, I need to finish editing my manuscript and send it off. I'm hoping to get that done this week, and then the waiting game begins again. At least it's spring. There is always somewhere to be and something to do, and on top of that, there is always another story building up in my head.

The Smell of Danger

We had a scary experience Saturday evening. My husband and I went out to dinner with my brother and his wife, leaving my youngest daughter babysitting my niece and nephew. My daughter is barely old enough to babysit, but does a great job and is very responsible.

We were gone about four hours and when we arrived home, the first thing I noticed as I opened the door was that she was doing my sister-in-law's dishes. The second thing I noticed as I stepped in the house was the intense odor of natural gas. We immediately began checking the furnace and the stove to see if the pilot lights had gone out and opened all the doors and windows.

The two kids were sleeping soundly in their beds, and my daughter didn't really notice the smell until we pointed it out to her. She had been standing next to the stove for some time and the room filled with gas so gradually, she wasn't aware of it. When the gas company finally arrived, he came to the conclusion that my two-year old nephew had been playing with the dials on the stove and turned the oven knob just far enough to open the gas valve, but not far enough to turn on the oven. My daughter had turned the dial to the off position earlier, but with all the doors and windows closed, the gas had nowhere to go. There's no telling how long the gas had been leaking into the room before she turned the dial off.

Here's the ironic thing. At school on Friday morning, the gas/electric company came to the school and put on a play about the dangers of electricity, carbon monoxide, and natural gas. The only problem is that our home has never had any sort of gas leak we have an electric stove. All the descriptions of the smell of sulfur or rotten eggs didn't do a bit of good when she had never smelled either one. She knew what to do in the case of a gas leak, but she didn't recognize the smell even when it surrounded her.

Everything turned out fine. The gas company checked out all the gas appliances, we aired out the house and it ended up being a great learning experience for my daughter. Unfortunately, she suffered from over-exposure to natural gas and spent the next four hours throwing up and had a bad headache all day Sunday. I'm sure she'll be aware of odd smells the next time she finds them. We are counting our blessings that things didn't turn out worse.

Sweet Sixteen

Sixteen years ago I welcomed a new little person into my life. People used to call her the gerber baby. Her dark hair formed the cutest little curls and she had beautiful dark brown eyes. I loved just sitting and holding her, amazed by her.

I can hardly believe how much she's changed. My tiny baby has grown into a beautiful young woman - taller than me by several inches, long honey coloured hair, but still the same big brown eyes.

Her talents constantly impress me and I can't wait to see what wonderful things she accomplishes in her life. This year she started taking voice lessons and is developing her beautiful voice. I love to listen to her sing. She also encouraged me to start a writing group for her and some friends. I'm interested to see where her writing - which is already quite good - takes her.

As we celebrated her birthday this past weekend and it reminded me of my own sixteenth birthday. My mom made a big deal over my eligibility to date. I figured no one would ask me out, but played along with her anyway. Imagine my surprise when she told me to get dressed up on my birthday as I had a blind date. I didn't know what to think, knowing she was up to something, but not able to figure out what.

The night of my birthday, I put on a dress and tried not to be too nervous. The doorbell rang and my siblings ran to answer it. My dad stood there holding a single rose. I was so relieved to see him. He said he thought it would be a good idea for my first date to be with him. He escorted me to the car and said we had a few minutes before we had to leave for the restaurant for our reservations.

We drove around town then down to the 'fish pond'. There in the camp kitchen, they had set up a card table, covered it with a white table cloth, and my rose was the centerpiece. My dad pulled out a chair for me and my uncle stepped up to the table, a white dishcloth folded and draped over his arm. He handed us the menus - hand lettered by my grandma - and took our orders.

Since my birthday is in August, the weather was beautiful. My mom is a good cook, so the meal was scrumptious and my father was great company. What a wonderful opportunity to sit and visit with him.

After we ate salads and the main course, we left and went out to the cemetery. Dad talked to me about our family as we visited the graves of my grandparents. Listening to him I gained a new appreciation for my heritage and my father had for his family. After spending some time there (probably to give my uncle time to pack up the table and dishes and get back to the house.)

When we returned to the house the whole family waited for us, then we opened presents and had cake and ice cream. I think it is my most memorable birthday. I felt special and felt like my parents were truly acknowledging a milestone in my life. In the long run, I was correct. I didn't date much at all, yet Dad made my first date something I remember with fondness.

February Love Challenge

Christine challenged us to post about the things we love during the first 14 days of February, so here goes...

This seems a little frivolous, but I love Super Bowl Sunday. You can go read this post to understand why.

Let's just say:

two buckets of ice cream
chocolate sauce
caramel sauce
strawberries
bananas
pineapple
candy sprinkles
family
Whoonu game

= Super Bowl Sunday

Picture Tag

The rules of this tag are that you open your picture file and pick the sixth folder and then the sixth picture in that folder.

This is a picture taken at my oldest daughter's birthday three years ago. (I can't believe we are gearing up to celebrate her sixteenth birthday in three weeks. Time sure flies.) Anyway, her teacher had been reading the class The Guardians of Ga'Hoole by Kathryn Lasky. Both my daughter and son loved the series so she got the boxed set of books 1-6. These are books I keep saying I'll get around to reading, but I just haven't picked them up yet. Maybe I still will at some point. Considering how much we love books and reading at our house, it's appropriate that the picture is of a book, although I'm not sure why we took this picture.

Anyone who hasn't done this yet may consider themselves tagged.

Righteous Desires

For the last two weeks, my oldest daughter has been talking about Especially For Youth. She has never attended before, but this year her friends have spent many hours trying to convince her to go. Last summer we told her to wait until she was sixteen. Since money is always tight and our small community doesn't have many opportunities for teenagers to earn money, we knew she might only get one chance to go. This year she is going to be sixteen, but every time she brought it up, I put her off. I told her she needed to sit down with me and her dad so we could discuss whether it was actually a possibility.

I think EFY is a wonderful program and wish I had had the chance to go when I was her age. For me the issues were the same - money. It wasn't such a big deal though since hardly any of my friends went. Now it almost seems like something all the kids do.

We sat down one evening and discussed with her all the issues we were concernced about. First, there is drivers ed. She needs to take this course soon so she can get her license and possibly get a job in the city. That will set us back many hundred dollars. Then there is the EFY factor - several more hundred dollars. She has also been hinting that she needs a dancing kilt for her highland dance. I agree with her, but that is several more hundred.

That's when we get to the issue of righteous desires. All these things are good and will benefit her in the long run, so how do you decide where the little money you have goes? She offered to pay for all of EFY on her own, but I was concerned that she wouldn't be able to replace it, not having a job, and then what would she do the next time something came up?

In the end, her dad and I talked and agreed because she doesn't spend money lightly and almost never asks us for a single penny, we would pay half of the EFY costs. All three of us felt good about this decision, so last Friday I let her register. Let's just say she was a little excited. Actually, I've never seen her so hyper.

Then yesterday she came home from school and asked me if I remembered an assignment she'd been given in her computer class before Christmas to design a poster for Crimestoppers . I didn't. She went on to tell me the teacher had encouraged them to enter the finished poster in a contest the Crimestoppers association was having. So in class yesterday, the teacher received a phone call informing her that my daughter won the contest. The prize is $500. Almost exactly what it was going to cost to go to EFY.

Amazing how things come together when we have righteous desires. We'll still pay for half of the EFY, but guess who gets to pay for half of drivers ed.? It's a win-win situation for everyone. (Another bonus - the teacher told the class that if any of them happened to win, they would receive 100% on the project.) Can I just say what an awesome teenager she is and how proud I am of her? I love these moments!