Finding My Way

I'm not the only one dreaming of backpacking...

2012-01-23T21:34:00.000-08:00

Mark and I inadvertently started a tradition with our grandchildren in 2007. We took Josh, then 7 years old, on his first backpacking trip.

Josh (age 7) , 2007 - Opal Creek

We discovered that 7 is a pretty good age to take a grandchild into the woods. Big enough to carry a small pack, ready for an adventure with grandparents, not so little that they cry and need their parents when the sun goes down. We've continued every year, adding in his sisters the year they turned 7.

Josh (age 8), 2008 - Eagle Creek Trail

Josh (age 9) with his friend Cameron, 2009 - lakes near Olallie Lake

Kat & Sarah (age 7), 2009 - Twin Lakes

Kat, Sarah (age 8) and Josh (age 10), 2010 - Ramona Falls

Sarah (age 9), me, Kat (age 9), Josh (age 11), 2011 - Opal Creek

Of course I can't help but talk up "when you get to go backpacking with us..." to our other grandchildren. Especially the ones who will soon be seven.

And Katie will be next to join the summer backpacking trips, because she just turned 7 last week!

This afternoon her mom noticed she was working on a little writing project, all on her own. No prompting, just being literary all by herself. After a while she went to play somewhere else, and Polly took a peek to see what Katie had been up to...

"I will be going bac[k]pac[k]ing with my grandma, granpa, cusuns, me! I will like it."

I love love love this fabulous artwork and the fine writing that accompanies it.

Be sure to notice that along with her illustration of all of us backpacking is a trail sign to Ramona Falls.

The last time we visited, Katie was fascinated to hear that I had taken her cousins backpacking to Ramona Falls one year. Katie loves the Beverly Cleary books about Ramona, and she immediately said that's where she wants to go backpacking!

Sounds good to me. Stay tuned for a summer backpacking trip with Katie and cousins to Ramona Falls in 2012.

Grandbaby withdrawal

2012-01-21T18:27:00.000-08:00

We've been missing grandkids! Luckily there is no shortage of little ones for us to enjoy.

Last night little Jocyeln came over with her parents for dinner. Her mom wanted to make a fleece hat for her, and I had plenty of fleece and patterns!

Here's Jocelyn modeling her new chapeau.

Jocelyn with her personal seamstress...mom Letia.

Then this evening we got a call to spend some time with Maple. She came over to play while her mom and dad went out to dinner. Even though she's not technically a granddaughter, she knows us because she is cousin to Ender and Arora.

She enjoyed a bite or two from Grandpa Mark's plate. What a sweetie pie! She loves to play with toys and "talk" to us about them. We've had a couple of fun evenings playing with darling babies.

Around the World with Fabric Balls

2012-01-16T15:11:00.000-08:00

Last week I received this sweet photo in my email:

Another fabric ball spreads peace and love throughout the world!

This ball was made by Cleo in Indonesia. It looks beautiful, and I'm sure Cleo's darling baby will enjoy this new toy.

The internet is a marvel. Who would have dreamed that a simple little pattern, shared with me in Relief Society 30 years ago, would be making its way around the world today. I am always amazed when I look at the widget map or the live traffic button in my right-hand sidebar, and see all the places that the fabric balls are traveling on any given day!

Cleo closed her email with a farewell greeting: "Semangat." Google Translate said it means "spirit," which I think is a lovely way to say farewell. Thank you, Cleo! Sending peaceful thoughts to you.

Bead Maze: take one

2012-01-15T21:59:00.000-08:00

I had a darling two-year-old boy sitting next to me in church today. We're old friends from the nursery. His family lives on a farm, so he kept asking me to draw tractors for him. Hahaha. I'm no artist. But I'm very fond of this little guy, so when I got home I decided to tackle a tractor bead maze. I'd like to entice him to sit by me again next Sunday.

I had seen a couple of darling bead mazes that my daughter, Polly, made for her children. I looked on line for more instructions, but didn't see any, so what you have here is my best guess on how to do it. When Polly posts a tutorial, I will also link to that. She's sure to have more ideas and suggestions for you.

First of all: I am NOT talking about this kind of bead maze.

What I am talking about is made of fabric, and it's approximately the size of a hot pad. The fabric has a maze sewn into it, and there is a bead inside the whole thing that you can push with your fingers.

So. The bead maze.

To begin with, I needed a tractor, and you'll recall that I am no artist. I googled "coloring pages tractor" and got about a jillion tractors to choose from. I chose a nice, simple silhouette.

Then I flipped the paper over and drew my maze pattern. I simplified the tractor a bit and made the maze channels large enough for a pony bead to fit between.

Rather than try to trace my pattern onto the fabric, I just pinned the pattern to the fabric...

...and sewed through the paper as well as the fabric. What you can't see very well right here is that I have two layers of the green fabric. It was a little thin, so I also have two layers of white fabric inside, just to bulk up my fabric a little. This was the only green fabric I had on hand, and I wanted to make my tractor kind of John Deere-ish. (Which is also why I'm using yellow thread.)

After I finished sewing all the different lines, I carefully peeled the paper away. I left an opening at the bottom so I could slip the bead in, then I sewed up the bottom seam. You can see the bead bulging inside the fabric here.

I wouldn't say that my first try was an unqualified success. The bobbin tension was a little off, so I resewed the whole thing a second time. I'm not sure if that's because I was sewing over paper, or if it's because I wore my machine out over Christmas, and it needs to get serviced. In any case, I'm not particularly proud of the stitching lines you're seeing here. Oh, well. It's for a two-year-old, right?

Also, I had to take out some of my maze lines because the bead wouldn't fit through some of the places. Polly's bead mazes were made from left-over tee shirt fabric, which has more give. I think it would be easier to slide the bead in the narrow spots with a stretchier fabric.

Still, I'm pleased enough with the outcome to share it with you here. To finish the whole thing off, I took some red seam binding and quickly zigzagged around the edges. I was planning to just zigzag the raw edges, but I found the red binding in my stash box, and thought it would make a nice finishing touch.

I think this little bead maze will be attractive enough to my two-year-old friend that he'll come sit by me again in church. Which was the whole point.

Ukulele love

2012-01-11T11:57:00.000-08:00

Mark has been researching stringed instruments on the internet for a couple of months now. Not violins and cellos. He's been stalking youtube videos of mandolins, lutes, dulcimers...

One evening I asked him why.

Turns out he was searching for an instrument he could play and enjoy. He had tried guitar, even took lessons a few years ago, but his fingers never toughened up enough for him to enjoy playing. The guitar has been gathering dust for some time now.

He researched video tutorials, samples of musicians, different brands of instruments, music available. He thought about mandolins long and hard, but eventually settled on...

...a ukulele!!??

Yup. We visited Guitar Center last week and he came home with his new love.

Now, what makes this really fun for me is that I have owned/played a ukulele since I was a teenager. I used to know lots of chords, remember a few of the basics, never got good at strumming. Now that Mark is learning to play the ukulele, we've been having some fun together with this. I had no idea there were so many tutorials on youtube! Mark is learning chords and I'm finally learning to strum. Mark is picking up (pun...sorry...) how to pick the notes for some songs, too. (Can you imagine "Ode to Joy" on a ukulele? It's true.)

Here we are with our instruments. Mine is an heirloom banjo ukulele. (I just looked it up on wikipedia, and it's also known as a banjolele.) My banjo uke belonged to my great-uncle when he was a student at Stanford in the 1920's. They were popular back then. It has a higher, more banjo-ish tone than Mark's concert ukulele. They sound pretty good together.

We bought a very cool little tuning gizmo called a Snark when we bought Mark's ukulele. I thought maybe the salesman was just trying to get us to buy something, but it turns out he was right. The Snark makes it so quick and easy to get our ukes tuned up and ready to go.

We're currently working on "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." We'll make a little video for the grandkids as soon as we get it down, and I'll post it here for your listening pleasure.

Quick & Easy Upholstery Tips

2012-01-07T08:24:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I spent $35 and 3 hours going from this...

...to THIS!!!

These are beloved pieces of furniture from my grandparents' homes, shared with me over the years by my parents. The oak rocking chair had been hiding in the attic, waiting for rescue. "Old pink," a comfy occasional chair was getting ratty, but it (kind of) worked when we had our old sofa.

However, we recently had an antique sofa and arm chair (originally belonged to my great-aunt, also came to us via my parents) reupholstered. Something about that shiny new gold upholstery just didn't go with the scruffy pink chair any more! Also, since our kids moved out last week, we rearranged a couple of rooms, and we needed another chair to fill in the living room. Time to haul the old rocking chair with its worn leather seat out of the attic.

How worn, you ask? Take a look. Sadly, this is way beyond vintage.

Happily, this kind of chair is easy-peasy to recover.

Turn the chair upside down and remove the seat. It will be held in place by screws in the corner. Just unscrew the screws, and the seat will come right off.

Then measure the seat, and add inches to go down around the sides + about 3 inches on every side to tuck in a the bottom.

Use a staple gun (electric or manual) to attach the fabric to the wood frame at the bottom of the seat. Sometimes I remove the old fabric/staples if there are lots of layers, but in this case I left the leather in place and just shaped my new fabric over the existing seat cushion.

I attached the fabric at the sides first, same as the leather had been.

Corners can be tricky. Play with it different ways until you have a look you like. You can do a 45º angle fold, or you can make a bunch of tiny pleats. Check to see how the original upholsterer did it. Be sure to pull the fabric tight as you're stapling, or it will be loosy-goosy on top when you're finished.

Ta daaa!!

When you're finished stapling, trim the excess fabric and reinstall the seat with the screws.

"Old Pink" was a little trickier. I started with the seat, and kind of made it up as I went. Which is the point. Someday maybe I'll afford a real upholstery job on these pieces, but for now, at least I can use them and enjoy them! I promise that no one's going to notice the places where my less-than-professional upholstery skills are evident. No one is going to come into my house and turn my chairs upside down to notice all the funky stitching I did to pull everything tight, right?

This time I didn't take the seat off. I snipped and folded the fabric to fit around the chair structure.

Then I turned it over and did a combination of stapling and stitching.

I stapled where I could, and where the stapler wouldn't fit, I ran long strands of upholstery thread (thicker than regular thread) criss-cross across the seat bottom. Like I said, no one is going to turn it over, right?

For the top of the chair, I cut one piece of fabric long enough for the front and back. I laid it over, inside out, and pinned the fabric to match the shape of the chair. Then I used my sewing machine to stitch up the sides according to my pin placement.

The sides taper in at the bottom, so I sewed the last bit by hand.

To finish off the bottom edge of the chair top, I first tacked the back piece to the old upholstery with a quick hand stitch.

Then I folded over the edge of the front piece and sewed it to the back by hand.

Oh, I love love love my pretty new living room! Thanks Mom and Dad for sharing the family furniture pieces with me!

But you don't have to have family heirlooms to tackle an upholstery project. Thrift store finds...or furniture that you bought new, but it's seen better days...can often be fixed with some ingenuity and a staple gun.

DO start with a simple project like my rocking chair. (DON'T start with a sofa.)
DO buy the heavier upholstery fabric. Mine was $9.99/yard at JoAnn Fabrics, and I used a couple of coupons to cut the price almost in half. (Thanks for the coupons, Polly!)
DO take someone to help you choose the fabric. There were so many pretty options! Thanks to my sweet hubby Mark for helping me make this great selection.
DO have courage! I really wasn't sure I could successfully cover the pink chair. But it has such classic lines that I wanted to try. I kept telling myself that if it didn't work, I had only wasted $35, not hundreds of dollars.
DO use the original upholstery as a guide.
And DO have fun!

Second Christmas in Royal City

2012-01-02T22:40:00.000-08:00

We enjoyed a second Christmas and fun family time with Polly and her crew today. We drove here last night after church. This morning we heard a whispered conversation down the hall...

Katie: Be quiet, you'll wake up Grandma and Grandpa.
Seth: I want to open the presents.
Becca: I want the dinosaur. (Apparently Seth had the dinosaurs...)
Seth: No.
Becca: Screech!
Katie: Shhhh. Seth, if you'll share the dinosaurs now, I'll let you sit on my quilt pretty soon.
Seth: No.
Becca: Screech!
Katie: Seth, you should choose the right. Don't you want to choose the right?
Seth: No.
Becca: Screech!
Etc, etc, etc.

It was fun to watch the kids open the gifts we made for them.

Katie with her monkey neck buddy.

Seth with a large flannel board and felt planets, sun, moon, etc. Mark did a great job helping me make the flannel board.

Polly modeling her ear warmer. Katie immediately appropriated Polly's gloves.

Becca adding stickers to her Shape & Color book featuring family pictures.

Holly & David sent ping-pong ball shooters to the whole family. The sling shots were an immediate "hit." (Pun intended...)

Later in the morning we took a walk to see the progress on Polly & Eric's new house. Wow!

In the living room...

Becca had fun with Grandma's laptop in the afternoon.

Katie and the monkey did a puzzle on the computer.

Farewell, 2011!

2011-12-31T11:40:00.000-08:00

Update: Holly and the kids had a good trip and arrived safely in Wisconsin into the loving arms of their husband and daddy. We sold the extra fridge within 10 minutes of posting it on craigslist today. Mark and I are celebrating New Year's Eve by cleaning the carpets. Wheee!

And farewell to Holly, Arora and Ender.

The alarm went off at 3:30 am today...I don't think we'll still be awake at midnight tonight! We had Holly and the kiddos delivered to the airport right on time: 4:30 am for a 6:00 am flight to Madison, WI. They are SO ready to be reunited with David! And oh, is he missing them. Even though they missed Christmas together, they will be together for New Years and Arora's 4th birthday tomorrow.

Hahaha - we were back home from the airport at 5:30 am. Should we go back to bed? No, we were a little hungry, and...we wanted to reclaim our house! David and Holly were great house-sharers, but there's nothing like having your own place. I know they are anxious to be in their own home together again...and Mark and I were equally anxious to be empty nesters again, too! We puttered happily around the house for another hour or two, then we conked out and slept for a while this morning.

Now we've already listed the extra refrigerator on craigslist, and it looks like we have a buyer on the way within the hour. We'll rent a carpet cleaning machine this afternoon to clean the carpets, and it will be SO nice to just be the two of us at home together again. Ahhhhh....

I do want to say, though, that Mark and I agree that we are happy to share our home when family needs a place to land. In these uncertain economic times, it is such a blessing to be able to shelter loved ones when the need arises.

That said, we are kind of hoping that we will be living alone for 2012.

A few of the gifts I made

2011-12-27T18:35:00.000-08:00

Here is a sampling of the gifts I made last week for Christmas.

Several of the girls in cold-weather climates received ear warmers made from this tutorial. Here is Katie modeling hers. In addition to decorating them with bows, I also used ideas on this site for some darling flowers.

Several of the kids (and "big kids") got customized fleece hats this year. I used Simplicity Pattern 9224 as the basis for this dragon hat for Joshua. (Eyes from here.) (Unfortunately, this was one of the last photos we took before our camera died...again...on Christmas day. Ugh.) Apparently this Simplicity pattern is no longer sold in the stores, but it's one of my favorite fleece hat patterns. You can find used copies of the pattern online.

A got a Kansas University Jayhawks hat (see the side view, below). This one was really fun to design and pull together. Again I used my old favorite, Simplicity 9224 as the basic hat to embellish.

Go, Jayhawks!!

Bryan is in optometry school, so he got a googly-eye-glasses hat. Also from Simplicity 9224.

Audrey and Sam got monster hats. Again, these were really fun to design. I googled "monster hat" and "monster eyes" and got lots of ideas online. For these hats I used McCall's M5254 pattern as the basic hat. Gee, I guess I hang onto my patterns - this one is out of print, too! Again, you can find it online if you want it badly enough.

Girly monster eyes, lips, teeth, hair bow.

Macho monster with two rows of scary teeth.

I made darling neck buddies for Sarah and Kat. Sorry, it's another crummy photo, just before the camera died. Here's what they look like on the pattern envelope.

Sarah got a blue fuzzy dog and Kat got a purple fuzzy cat. Man, was that fuzzy fabric fuzzy! I was wearing black jeans and a black tee-shirt while I was sewing, and I was covered in purple and blue fuzz when I was finished. I used Simplicity pattern 5310 - just bought it last year and this one is still in print.

I made temple softies for a couple of the grandkids. Katie reported that Olivia loved hers.

You may remember that Arora and I made a temple softie back in September. The original idea came from here. It was fun to use leftover fabric from my first wedding dress (in 1974) for the bride's dress, and leftover fabric from Michelle's wedding dress for the temple.

I also made several fleece beds for little stuffed animals. Here's Mimi (Sarah's daughter) enjoying her little bear-in-a-bed Christmas morning.

Ender got a little stuffed carrot...

...with a green carrot bed.

I made a rainbow skirt for Arora. Her favorite "color" is rainbow. She adores all things rainbow. (If you clicked on the temple softie link above, you probably noticed that she was wearing the same shirt back in September. She wears it several times a week...her favorite one...until Holly insists that it must go in the wash.)

I also made some country soup-in-a-jar and cowboy cookie-in-a-jar from recipes I found online. It was fun to think of preparing meals and goodies for my sweet family far away. And I made a ton of other fun gifts, too...but that's all the photos I have for now!

The scene of the crime

2011-12-26T20:15:00.000-08:00

Ender looks oh-so-innocent here. Nonchalantly pounding squares and triangles into his shape toy. But do you notice that truck in the background, under his high chair?

Duh-duh-duh....

Just a little while later, I noticed the truck had rolled on into the living room. With Skipper's feet sticking out from under it!! At first I hoped for the best. Maybe Skipper was putting chains on the tires or something. After all, she came with a helmet and a skateboard. She's a pretty active little gal.

But alas, no. When the truck rolls, Skipper is dragged right along with the truck. She's in no shape to be fixing anything beneath it. I am sorry to report that we have a clear case of Barbie-cide here folks, right in the middle of my living room.

As for Mr. Innocent, well, he's no longer blithely pounding circles into the star hole. No sirree, that guilty party has gone to bed early.

The End(er)

Christmas Star

2011-12-25T20:48:00.000-08:00

On this Christmas Day, I am reflecting about not only that sweet innocent baby, but also...

...Mary, who consented to having her entire life changed by the miracle of his birth...
...Joseph, who shows me that having doubts is normal, even for individuals with heroic faith...
...the shepherds, reminding me that ordinary people can be witnesses of God's love and miracles...
...and especially today I am thinking about the wise men, who pursued their faith through extraordinary uncertainty, with only a distant star to guide them through unknown terrain...

Which sounds like my life.

Oh, may I be a wise woman, trusting in Your light, no matter how distant it may seem to me at times. Let me follow that Bethlehem star even when I cannot clearly see my way, trusting that faint sweet gleam to lead me safely Home.

Christmas Eve thoughts

2011-12-24T21:56:00.000-08:00

It has been days since I have posted...

...days filled to the BRIM with time in Santa's workshop. Fleece hats, ear warmers. flash cards in drawstring bags, soup-in-a-jar, cookies-in-a-jar, photo books for the grandchildren, stuffed animals, ping-pong ball shooters (Mark made those), temple softies, softie beds for little stuffed critters, 72-hour-kit blankets...I've lost track.

A week ago, I thought I'd have all the projects wrapped up in a day or so. Ha! Since getting out of school for winter vacation eight days ago, I have been giving every available moment to making gifts. A couple of mornings I was up at 5:00 am. I stayed up till midnight a time or two.

We barely made it to the post office in time for mailing gifts to distant family. I was tickled to hear that the packages made it to Kansas and Virginia today. I hope that every one of my children and grandchildren will be opening up gifts that I made for them tomorrow morning. (Except for Polly and her family -- they are waiting until we get to deliver our gifts to them in person after the new year.)

More than once during the week, loving friends and family have suggested to me that it's too much to make a gift for every one in the family. Or that I ought to have started back in July. More than once, I wished I were finished so I could go outdoors and enjoy the beautiful December weather. More than once, I longed for quiet to time to write, to think, to read a book for fun.

But while it's true that I became a manic grandma this week, and while I am undoubtedly grateful this evening to be able to (finally!) sit quietly next to our little tree, gifts wrapped, sewing machine put away, spending a few minutes thinking and writing before Mark and I read the Christmas story together, I have to say that I don't think I would go back and undo any of the hours I spent making gifts for my family. At least not this year. Mark thinks we should just give family gifts in the future, and maybe he's right (I'm not convinced yet), but for this year, I needed to immerse myself completely in pouring out my love for my family through my sewing machine needle, my overflowing stash of fabrics, some new recipes, some simple photo books for the children. Many of the gifts I made are soft and warm. I hope they feel like hugs to faraway family.

I don't want the Christmas season to be consumed with pressures about gift-giving, even if they are ~~all~~ mostly homemade. But when my family is so far away, I do believe that the gifts help strengthen ties between us. Mark and I have 9 children and 20 grandchildren. A few of them live nearby, but most are far away: Kansas, New Jersey, Utah, Texas, Wisconsin, Ohio, Nevada... I love my family, and I miss them. It was fun to make gifts for all of them this last week, even though doing so consumed every moment I had to give, and even though it meant that I didn't do other things I love, such as writing on my blog.

For years I was a bit grinchy every December. I whined about Christmas being too commercial, too much trouble, all I wanted was a peaceful season that didn't demand so much of me. I'm not so grinchy anymore, but I'm still trying to find a kind of balance in the season, a way to be engaged in joyful gift-giving while still reflecting on Christ's gifts.

It hasn't been all sew-sew-sew all week. Wednesday night I went out with a few of the young women at church to deliver gift baskets to some families in the ward. I spent several hours one day on an unexpected service opportunity. Mark and I helped Holly load her moving van on Tuesday, and yesterday I drove her to Vancouver so she could have her van shipped to Wisconsin.

And this morning I took a break from making gifts to help with the cleaning crew at church. I was the first one to show up, so I snagged my favorite job, vacuuming around the pews in the chapel. It was a tender feeling to think that I was vacuuming the Lord's house on Christmas Eve.

Freezing Fog

2011-12-13T18:29:00.000-08:00

We had a freezing fog Saturday morning. It was magical!

Fat Albert added a frosted spider web garland to his Christmas repertoire.
(But this is nothing compared to what Dorothy captured the other day.)

Sword fern...study in green and gold.
I love the way the fog-frost outlines the leaves.
You can see it even better if you click on the photo.

Holly emphasizing the prickle-points with fog ice.

Classy, sleek, elegant camelia bush.

Arbor vitae hedge going for the flocked look

Cherry trees with ice blossoms

Grassy weeds going all high-class elegant for the occasion

The stately redwood tree had some fog frost on the outer branches...

...and even more underneath!

Frosted rose leaves

Icy tangle of split leaf maple branches

Happy Winter!

While visions of blog posts dance in my head...

2011-12-12T06:08:00.000-08:00

...sigh. I have had so many ideas for blog posts in the last week. I have even taken photos! And not a single spare moment to post anything.

I'm still here! And hoping to have a few more minutes to be back on the blog this week. Along with telling you more about why things have been so busy.

Happy Monday, world. I'm here on Laurel Lane, hanging on to the same spinning planet. It never seems to slow down, does it?

It's beginning to look...

2011-12-02T21:24:00.001-08:00

...a ~~lot~~ little bit like Christmas!

Arora "stretches" to place the star on top

Ender supervises

We pulled out the 4' fake tree this evening and spent some fun holiday moments. The kids were excited to have a tree, and didn't seem to mind that it was just a tabletop version. This holiday season will be more complicated with David and Holly moving to Wisconsin,* so we decided to keep the decorations simple for now.

*Yes, I said Wisconsin. David was hired yesterday by Epic, a company near Madison. They make computer systems for large hospitals. He will be a liaison on project installations. He is flying to Madison on Sunday morning, to begin work on Monday. Holly and the kids will stay here with us for a little while longer, while David secures housing for the family. We are thrilled for David to be working again...and trying not to think about how much we will miss this precious family. It has been sweet to share our home with them the past four months...

The End

2011-11-30T20:45:00.001-08:00

Tonight is the end of NaBloPoMo 2011. It will be nice to blog at a more leisurely pace again, but I will miss some blog friends who post at a really leisurely pace for 11 months out of the year... (Anna, you know who I'm talking about.)

One of the fun things about committing to post every day for a month is discovering the topics for posts as you go along. Mark and I were chatting about this the other day, and I told him it was a good reminder to me to trust in stories. The stories are all around us. Why do people like to read blogs? Because we like stories. Commitments like NaBloPoMo force me to pay more attention to the everyday stories that happen every day, to be a closer observer of life.

Also, tomorrow night will be THE END of my PSU classes! It's the last class of the last class!

I will still have to finish my thesis (maybe by June???) for the MFA in Writing, but no more weekly drives into Portland for 4-hour classes. I've been taking the night classes almost every term for six years, so I'm feeling rather jolly about this milestone.

I'm trying to think of something else to write in this post, but I'm distracted by 1) the term paper I need to finish before tomorrow night's class and 2) my eyelids that keep heading south.

So goodnight, dear blog friends.

The End.

How to (Almost) Write a Chapter

2011-11-29T20:22:00.001-08:00

I feel really lucky that my literature professor at PSU allows students to write a creative piece that ties into the literature in some way for our final paper. This is as opposed to a traditional literary analysis paper. I met with her a couple of weeks ago to talk through ways that some of my thesis writing might work for this final project. Classic way to kill two birds with one stone. (Sorry, birds.)

I haven't posted a thesis update here in a long time. I've been stuck on the thesis for several months, but this end-of-term for my literature class is a great motivation. I hope this will help me push through my writer's block so I can get going againg.

Have I mentioned before how daunting it is to write in "the long form"? (Not that essays, short stories, and poems aren't also daunting, but a 120-page thesis is, well, longer. And harder. At least for me.)

Several days ago I went back through some old drafts for ideas, and realized that I really liked a lot of what was in the old drafts. I started printing out pages to see what I could pull from the older drafts for this newer draft. Then I cut the sections apart in the older drafts. Then I pinned each section on the wall to see what I had. Like this:

So far what I could see was a lot of different little pieces of the story. I had hoped that the writing fairy would "prang" me on the head at this point, and that the chapter organization would suddenly become clear, but it didn't.

I carried all the pieces around for a couple of days. Reread them. Wondered what I was going to do with them.

This morning I woke up extra-early. Thought of some lines in the middle of the mish-mash that might serve as a starting place. Came downstairs and started laying the pieces out on the table.

Low and behold, the mish-mash jigsaw puzzle resolved itself into three columns plus some left-over sections off to the right there, which I'll save for later or eventually recycle.

Then the three sections, plus a couple of transitions between them, morphed into one l-o-o-o-n-g piece. It took up the entire diagonal length of the living room!

Woo hoo! A structure! Maybe. Now I'm going through refining, fine-tuning, deleting a paragraph here and a paragraph there. Some of the sections have big (writing) gaps between them. They need some transition work. Maybe. Maybe they're beyond hope.

Can I get it finished in time for Thursday night's class? Plus a page or so of analysis and comparison to the literature we read for the course? Hmmm...time (not much of it left) will tell...

Goals Update

2011-11-28T21:30:00.001-08:00

Last week I set some goals for myself. If you're interested in an update, read on!

Write 1 page of thesis per day: So-so. I wrote 3 pages. Better than 0.

10 minutes of weight-lifting: So-so. Yes on 3 days. But I did feel stronger at my yoga class tonight.

20 minutes on the exercise bike: I only got on the exercise bike for 20 minutes one day, and 10 minutes the next. So it was kind of a fail. But I also went to yoga once, walked a mile with Mark through Singer Creek Park (hilly terrain), worked in the garden for an hour, and did the Huff and Puff Before You Stuff. So overall, I think it's fair to say that I met this goal.

Kiss Mark and least 3 times per day: Believe it or not, I was so-so on this one, too. Some days there was more romance in the air, but other days were pretty much the same as back before I set the goal. It surprised me that this goal was difficult to meet. I mean, I love this guy, and I spend a lot of time with him! However, just setting the goal was definitely a WIN. For one thing, Mark and I had several good chuckles, and that's always a plus. For another, we DO kiss more often now, and we mean it more when we kiss. So setting this as a goal has had a good influence on helping me get out of my rut.

Mormon grandma in a hip Portland cafe

2011-11-27T19:47:00.001-08:00

Tonight I went to the once-a-month literary reading for students in Portland State University's MFA (master of fine arts) program. It's held at a cafe in NW Portland. Called "Backspace." Pretty literary, huh?

I borrowed this cool sketch of Backspace Cafe from this website.

When you get inside the cafe, it's all cool and hip and Portlandish, with a low stage area and a microphone. I was too intimidated to look around to see if there was anyone else in the 57ish age range. Everyone around me was early 30-something. Dressed in hip, cool, Portlandish fashion. Sleek jeans and boots with high heels and bulky sweaters. I was still wearing my church dress with nylons and a little freshwater pearl necklace. Get the picture?

Can you say out of place?

Who cares?

For once, not me, at least not much. I was determined to do this.

I signed up two weeks ago via email to read. I had my 6 pages of thesis manuscript printed out, ready to go. And I had already decided, while driving the 30 minutes into Portland, that I didn't care if I looked like a middle-aged Mormon grandma. That's what I am.

Before I left, Mark asked me why I wanted to read. It's hard to put into words. It's not about attention. It's not about gaining respect from a group of writing peers. Everyone else there was in the Fiction MFA program, and I quite likely will not see them again (unless I go to more of these readings). For me, this reading was more about using my voice to articulate the hard things I am trying to write with my thesis. To say it.

Mark listened to me read my pages last night. Tonight he was tired and opted to stay home, which was fine, because I kind of needed to just go and do this thing on my own. It was raining really hard all the way into Portland. Dark. About halfway there, I started crying. I don't know--it was a mixture of feeling brave and vulnerable and determined and awkward all at the same time. I gave myself a little talking-to and kept driving.

Funny moment - when I found the cafe and a nearby parallel parking spot on the street and managed to slip into it very nicely, thank you, I realized that the parking meters do still work at that time on night on Sunday evenings. Oops. I had exactly 60¢ change with me. I put all my change in the meter and it flashed "23 minutes" at me. For a two-hour reading. In a 90-minute parking zone. I threw caution to the winds and hoped the parking meter goddess would be kind. Do the meter readers really give tickets on rainy Sunday evenings?

I don't remember anything from the first two readings. I was the third one. Yes, the experience validated something within me, something about raising my voice, sharing my voice. I didn't care that no one else was wearing a dress that came below their knees, with nylon stockings. I didn't care that everyone else was reading fiction. I didn't care that I wasn't in on the inside jokes among all the Fiction MFA people who have class together all the time. I was just me, and that was fine.

After I sat down, I was able to enjoy the other readings. There were some fine pieces, stories that are still resonating in my this evening. I am glad I was able to share in their stories. I hope they were glad to share in mine.

And a lovely treat - during the intermission, a former classmate (from a nonfiction writing class) came and chatted with me for the entire intermission. I had a friend in the audience I hadn't even known about!

The event broke up a little before 7:00 pm. The rain had stopped. And I didn't have a parking ticket.

Fat Albert's Christmas Star

2011-11-26T18:11:00.001-08:00

This is Fat Albert. I didn't make up his name. That's what his tag said when we bought him at the nursery in spring of 2007. (He's the fat little evergreen on the left.)

Fat Albert has grown a lot!

Here is a photo of Fat Albert today, 4 1/2 years after he began his sojourn in our yard on Laurel Lane.

This morning I noticed that Fat Albert is getting into the Christmas spirit.

He's added a maple leaf star to the top. He's quite the festive yard resident.

Happy Holiday season to everyone, from Fat Albert!

Cornish game hens

2011-11-25T18:53:00.000-08:00

Here's a little excerpt from some of my recent thesis-writing attempts. It is set in the spring of 1990, when I was still fairly new as an Assistant Scoutmaster for the 11-year-old Boy Scouts at my church. As a Mormon woman, I wasn't really supposed to go on the overnight campouts, but no one had specifically forbidden me to come along...and so I did...

TheBSA rules were clear: “two-deep leadership” was required at all times, even forour weekly meetings at the church, and especially when we were out in thewoods. But since BSA had only recently made it possible for women to serve asAssistant Scoutmasters, there were no gender rules yet about who those“two-deep” people had to be. The Church, however, did have rules about gender.While the handbook, at that time, did not specifically forbid women from camping with the Scouts (a more recent edition ofthe Mormon church’s Scouting Handbook does state that only men may camp with the Scouts), there was a general assumptionthat men would be the ones out camping with the boys.

Isqueaked in under the radar. In those early days of women holding leadershippositions in Boy Scout troops, the Mormon Scouting rules were just vague enoughto let a cagey woman slip through. Of course I always had two-deep leadership.But I always made sure that I was one of the leaders, even on the overnighters.After all, I had to go out with myboys. I was highly trained from Wood Badge, and my eleven-year-olds knew myrules and expectations. They always behaved better with me. Even moreimportantly, if someone else took them out into the woods, then I would stillbe stuck at home. And there were so many ways to creatively circumvent therules.

Thedistrict camporee is always held in the spring. Scout troops from all over thecounty join for a big campout where competitions are interwoven with ways toadvance in rank. To a Boy Scout troop, going to the annual camporee is a bigdeal. I began talking it up with my eleven-year-olds in April; the camporee wasscheduled at Metzler Park in May. They had to help plan the menus and then cookthe food for part of their advancement.

“Let’shave top ramen,” one of boys suggested. “That’s easy. I can cook it.”

“Noramen,” I said.

Theboys looked at me, shocked. “Why not?” one of them asked.

Ihad three scouts at the time. David F, Chris R, and MatthewL. Matthew was really in the other ward, but it’s no fun to have a Scoutpatrol with only one boy. The other Bishop had called my good friend, Lynne, tobe the Assistant Scoutmaster over eleven-year-olds in her ward, so she and Icombined our groups, which took care of two-deep leadership.

“Ramenis too easy,” I said. “Not nutritious enough. Let’s cook something really goodon the camporee.”

Theylooked interested at this. Eleven-year-old boys are foodies, but their range islimited.

“Macaroniand cheese?” one of the other boys suggested, to general assent.

Irolled my eyes. “Are you kidding me?” I asked them. “You can eat macaroni andcheese anytime. Listen, I’m bringing my Dutch oven. You can use the Dutch ovenand cook almost anything.”

“Anything?”David asked.

“Almostanything,” I said. I was thinking of camping staples: chili, stew, hamburgers…

“Cornishgame hens,” David said decisively. “With this sauce my mom makes with brownsugar and orange juice. And…”

“Uh,I’m not sure we have a budget for Cornish game hens, David,” I hedged. This wassuddenly out of my league. I had heard of Cornish game hens, but I had nevermade acquaintance with one in my own kitchen.

“Mymom has some in the freezer that we can use,” David said. He looked around atthe other two boys in the patrol. He had their attention. “And I’ll get mymom’s recipe for the sauce.”

All three boys turned to Lynne andme. Lynne shrugged. “Well,” she said to me, “it can’t be that different fromroasting a little chicken.”

On Friday afternoon Lynne and I and our three eleven-year-olds piled into the Vanagon for the drive out to Metzler Park for the camporee. Our troop--the wholegroup, including the twelve-to-sixteen-year-olds--were assigned a campsitetogether. Lynne and I had our boys set up their tent outside the main group ofboys, and we pitched our tent just beyond theirs.

We acted as if we were supposed tobe there, and none of the male troop leaders said anything to us about ourpresence. A few other troops had women camped with them, too, but they were thenon-Mormon troops. Maybe the men from our troop hadn’t read the manual.Probably they thought the Bishop had given us permission to be there, but Lynneand I were operating under the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” philosophy.

As soon as the tents were set up, I showed the boys how to start the briquettes for the Dutch oven. All around us, troops were heating up cans of soup or macaroni and cheese or top ramen. Our boys were very serious and solemn about tending the charcoal briquettes for the Dutch oven. David mixed his mother's brown-sugar-and-orange sauce

The only thing that drew anyattention to us being there was the Dutch oven full of Cornish game hens. Thescent of roasting poultry wafted through the evening air as dusk wrapped thecampsites in a blanket of boy voices and wood smoke. When it was time for thePatrol Leader’s Council—an evening logistics meeting of the boy leaders and anadult to back them up—David took his mess kit with him, full of our savorymeal. The Dutch oven had taken a little longer to heat up than I had planned,and he hadn’t finished his meal in time for the meeting. One of the older boysat the PLC asked him what he was eating, and when David told him, he earnedadmiring nods and comments from the seated group. I said nothing. It was fullydark now, and I doubt that anyone noticed my grin.

(If you have any feedback or suggestions for me, I would welcome your thoughts!)

Thanksgiving on Laurel Lane

2011-11-24T16:37:00.001-08:00

This morning I had to run to the store to pick up a few last-minute ingredients. I was intrigued to see what other people were buying on Thanksgiving morning. I saw people with bread and milk, roasting pans, things you would expect on a last-minute shopping trip on the biggest feasting day of the year.

But then I saw a guy walking out of the story carrying a...curtain rod? Hmmm...I guessed he and his wife were hosting Thanksgiving dinner and they had a bunch of people coming over and she made some new curtains that she wanted to have hung before everyone got there. Right? Why else would he have been walking out of the store with a curtain rod on Thanksgiving morning?

And then there was the guy in front of us in the checkout line. He was buying a steering wheel cover and floor mats for a car??? On Thanksgiving morning??? Was his car looking a little too cruddy...and maybe he had to transport someone picky, like maybe his mother, to Thanksgiving dinner somewhere, and he wanted his car to look a little better? Holly and Maleena both had a better idea (when I told them about this later)--they said he probably was on his way to a gathering where he would see someone that he was supposed to give a gift to, maybe a 16-year-old kid who just got his license or something. Sure, that made lots more sense.

So much for my shopping trip!

Mark and I joined up with the Jenson-May clan for their annual "Huff and Puff Before You Stuff" event at Clackamas Community College this morning. Here are a few photos. You can see a shot of the entire group on Dorothy's blog.

I love Dorothy's new hat - she's been busy with her crochet hook lately!

My best hiking buddy ever.

Back at the house, we were pulling together all our different recipes for our special meal. Mixed results.

The turkey recipe with the apricot glaze was delicious. It was the best of the recipes we tried. And the roasted asparagus was yummy, but we've enjoyed that recipe several times before.

On the other hand...

The dressing was good, but a little dry. The cranberry chutney was a little, um, strange. The bread pudding was runny, and the baklava...sadly...was soggy.

Ah, me...

But the company was wonderful, and we had a happy Thanksgiving anyway. Arora started feeling better and made darling turkey handprint place mats for us. Mark and I were able to make visits to Maleena, Max, and Hunter in the afternoon, and then we went to see Julia and Scott in the evening.

We had a happy day, and I hope that you did, too. Happy Thanksgiving!

Potpourri

2011-11-23T20:05:00.001-08:00

Random bits and pieces from the day...

Mark and I went for a walk. In the rain. Inside our cool rain gear. We LOVE rain gear. Came home wet on the outside and dry on the inside. Ahhhhhh...

Yellow leaves everywhere on the ground--a carpet of gold. The leaves are so pretty this year! We noticed that the sound of the rain is louder on the leaves than on the grass. That's if the leaves haven't started decomposing yet--if they're fresh leaves, then the rain sounds really cool on them.

Mark pointed out that the gold on the ground is last summer's sunshine. So true. Leaves and plants do such amazing things with sunlight! The studs and rafters and joists of my home--the bones of my house--are made out of sunshine. I live in a sunshine house.

Speaking of the rain, speaking of the house...we have a leak. Ugh. Same place as always, right alongside the skylight in the downstairs bathroom. Mark and I have agreed that the skylight has to go. And we can already tell that it's going to turn into one of those projects that is even more complicated than we think it's going to be ahead of time. Double ugh. We're hoping we can make it work until the weather is better...but we don't want the roofing timbers to rot in the meantime...ugh.

Remember a couple of days ago when I wrote about the simple little Thanksgiving meal Mark and I were going to have here at home, with just the two of us? Hahahaha. Yesterday at work, whenever someone asked me if we were hosting a big meal this year (they know we have a big family), I would say "We think it's just the two of us, but with our family, sometimes things change at the last minute." Ah, I know my family. This afternoon Arora started throwing up, so David and Holly will be staying here with the kids rather than going to Holly's parents' Thanksgiving gathering. We don't mind a bit, and it will seem more festive to have a celebration together...although I hope Arora is finished with her festive puking by the time we serve up Thanksgiving dinner. But do I know my family, or what?

I'm finished with my grading. Mark is getting close. (He teaches more classes than I do, so it always takes him longer.) Here's a funny comment I found on one of the finals I was grading. It's a writing class, and the question was something about reflecting on their writing over the term:

"Commas have always been the death of high school students."

Bwahahahahahahahaha...makes me laugh every time. Those poor dead high school students, stabbed by commas, bleeding on the classroom floor.

Trimester

2011-11-22T20:31:00.001-08:00

When you search for "trimester" images on Google, you get hundreds of photos of pregnant bellies.

Ummm...that wasn't quite what I had in mind.

I teach at a high school on a trimester schedule. Instead of two 18-week semesters every year, there are three 12-week trimesters. The class periods are a little longer (70 minutes for trimester, 50 minutes for semester), so students have the same amount of instructional time for a given course in two trimesters that they would get in two semesters.

On a trimester schedule, students take 5 classes every day, and teachers teach 4 classes + a prep period. At a semester high school, students usually complete 6 credits per year. At a trimester high school, students complete 7 1/2 credits per year, which allows them to take more electives or make up classes if they fail something.

Gee, I'd like to be funny or clever, but I'm too tired. It's the end of the trimester. We gave finals yesterday and today. Tomorrow is our grading day. Hooray for the Thanksgiving holiday almost here! On Monday we'll go back to school...to new classes...new students...aggghhhh!!!

So at the big blue house on Laurel Lane, here's what the end of the trimester looks like.

And because things look like this tonight...this is all I'm going to write!

Ghost of Christmas Past

2011-11-21T21:41:00.001-08:00

My lovely relative Anna posted some childhood photos today, which inspired me to give you...gems from Kathy's Childhood Christmases!

Christmas 1955, at my Jenkins grandparents' home in Sacramento.

The gal on the left is my mother (age 20), and on the far right is her sister-in-law, my Aunt Pat. My paternal grandmother, Grandma Jenkins, is in the middle.

What a cheery trio!

The baby on the left is me (age 18 months), and the toddler on the right is my cousin Marilyn, age 2.

Whew! That dizzy-making braided rug was all the rage in the early 50s.

Ride 'em, cowgirl! Here's me on Christmas morning in 1957, age 3 1/2.

Maybe it's a stretch, but don't you think I look just a little bit like my granddaughter, Olivia?

Check out those stylin' boots!

And the classy fit on the droopy-drawer jammies!

My mom is in the background, ignoring her darling daughter. Looks like she's ready to rip into another gift.

Check out the old-style carpet with the floral pattern. My family lived in an older home at the time...that carpet was pretty "old fashioned" for 1957. Wish I could have it in my house now!

I know many of you appreciate fine family photos for your Christmas cards. Here's a photo my parents took of my brother and me in 1957. (Still age 3 1/2 - same year as the cowgirl photo above.)

This is a darling photo, but it's made me mad for years. Who looks taller? My angelic little 2-year-old brother, Maury, of course. He's really shorter than me, but I'm cuddling the bear on my lap (note the bear's silk skirt). I'm not sure why I have the bear and Maury has the girl doll.

Check out Maury's shoelace shoes! No, velcro had not been invented yet. Can you imagine how many hours my mother spent tying shoes?

Ahhh...here's a classic! My gentle maternal grandmother, Nana Holman, made matching Christmas pajamas for the cousins!

The photo was taken Christmas 1958, when I was four years old, at my cousins' house in Alameda.

L to R: My cousins Mike (age 3), Karen (age 4), me (age 4), and my brother Maury (age 3).

No, Karen and I are not little devils. Those were kangaroo pajamas, thank you very much. They had a pouch in the front with a baby stuffed kangaroo inside. Mike and Maury had bunny rabbit jammies with a stuffed carrot attached. You can see the carrot on Mike's left chest. I don't remember how the carrots attached.

More about the bunny and kangaroo hats in a minute.

Actually, both of these pajama designs make me think of Max in Where the Wild Things Are.

Speaking of Christmas cards, here is a vintage 1959 DIY photo Christmas card. You bought these cards, and they had slots inside for sticking the photo into the card. This was the card my parents sent out the year I was five years old.

Here's the inside of the card. I think my parents chose this one because the cover illustration (kind of) matched the photo they were using. Get it?

My dad loved Jeeps. As in, old school Jeeps, not the SUV-Jeeps you see nowadays. No, we were hard core. We didn't bother with roofs, doors, seat belts, or even seats in the back.

Have adventure, will travel! Most of the time, the Jeeps kind of drove my mother a little crazy. But she's putting on a good smile for the Christmas card this year. She really is a good sport about a lot of things. Because she was (and is) nutso in love with my dad. He can aggravate her and charm her all in the same breath. And he wouldn't last more than about eight minutes without her. The greatest love story I know!

Here's another angle on the Jeep Christmas photo, where you can see our faces a little better. Don't you wish you could wear a hat like my mom and me? They had these scarf-tie things attached, to cover your ears and tie the hat on. Pretty neat. And pretty essential in an open Jeep.

And finally, these last three photos have the pajama-hat followup I promised you earlier. Remember the kangaroo pajamas? Well, this photo was taken in 1963--I am now nine years old--and I am still wearing the kangaroo pajama hat from 1958, when I was 4.

Mind you, I am wearing it perfectly nonchalantly, with my 9-year-old friends, as if sitting around and practicing the French horn in a kangaroo hat is a completely normal thing for a 9-year-old to do. I guess my head didn't grow much.

You'll want to note my mom and the family dog in the background of that first photo. She's bending over to do something, and the dog is taking advantage of her back being turned to check out what's on the table...

Don't you love the perky kangaroo ears? Don't you love these long braids? These were my two best friends in 4th grade. They were probably my only friends in 4th grade. I was kind of a loner. Kim Henzgen and Cindy Robertson. The 3 of us were practicing a trio to play at a school band concert.

And speaking of pajama hats, here's my brother...and the family dog again, hahaha! ...and he's still wearing his bunny hat, too. Man, we really loved those pajama hats. Take note, moms and grandmas, and make sure every child on your list has a pajama hat this year! Anyway, this is photo was taken in the same era, so he would have been about 8 years old.

And now, dear blog friends, it is getting late, so I leave you with this inspired image of my sweet little brother...who will always be my little brother, no matter how many birthdays he has! ...and wish you all sweet dreams, too.

Three Kisses

2011-11-20T17:46:00.001-08:00

I am in a rut.

It's not a bad rut.

I've joined Weight Watchers, which is going well. I am losing weight in a gradual, healthy way--which feels great--and the plan is pretty easy to follow. But I'm not getting enough exercise, and with colder weather on the way, I know my exercise-motivation-quotient is headed down the drain.

I am piddling around with my thesis. Pretending to accomplish something, but not really making much headway. And no one is bothering me about that, at least for now. But I have a 16-20 page chunk due the week after Thanksgiving, and I know I have to get serious about this.

And Mark and I are happy and contented middle-aged people. We get along fine, and life just keeps going along.

Like I say, I'm in a rut.

So yesterday I set some goals for this week.

Exercise: Ride the exercise bike for 20 minutes a day. Lift weights for 10 minutes a day.
This is do-able. I'm not committing to do it for a month, or the rest of the year, or the rest of my life.
Just one week. I started yesterday, and it felt so good to get my heart rate going and use my muscles. Of course, I'm giving myself a day off today since it's Sunday, but tomorrow I'm back on it again! (I was tempted to excuse myself from the exercising tomorrow since I have yoga class tomorrow night, but I don't want to let myself think I can make up an excuse for every day. So every day--except Sunday--it is.

Thesis: Write one page a day.
Again, this is do-able. It's not a chapter a day. It's not forever. I wrote a page yesterday. And I'll be writing another one today.

Relationship: Kiss Mark three (or more) times a day.
Haha! Does that sound silly? I set this goal because I realized that we had drifted into a pattern of just giving each other a good-night kiss on many days. It seems a little strange to think about because we are together ALL the time. We both teach at the same high school, we are assigned to the same teacher office, and some terms we even share the same classroom! (I teach in Mark's room during his prep period.) So you'd think we'd be plenty close enough. And we are, on an intellectual/thinking level. But you know, life just goes along, and before you realize it, you haven't checked in to make sure you're giving your sweetheart the attention he deserves. Did I meet the goal yesterday? Am I on track for today? Hahaha--are there bears in the woods?

So I made a little chart for myself and hung it up on my bedroom wall. I didn't mention it to Mark. But then a couple of hours later he found me in the kitchen and said, "You have a goal for kissing me?" And I said, "Sure, why not? We're in a rut. I think we need to kiss more often."

And he looked at me like I was nuts.

And then he kissed me.

Thanksgiving Menu

2011-11-19T21:24:00.001-08:00

Plans have changed again for the kids who live nearby, and it looks like everyone will be in other places doing other things on Thanksgiving. Am I sad and blue about having a peaceful Thanksgiving celebration with just my sweetie and me?

Not on your life! I was excited to look through the recipes on the Weight Watchers website and find some delicious recipes for us to enjoy on Thursday. Here's the menu plan:

Apricot Glazed Turkey and Sweet Potatoes
Roasted Asparagus
Apple-Raisin Sourdough Stuffing
Pumpkin Cookies
Baklava
Apple Pie Bread Pudding

Mmmmm...

400!!!

2011-11-18T19:54:00.001-08:00

398...399...400!!!

Today is my 400th blog post!

Wow...that is so cool...let me just say that again...

Today is my 400th blog post!!!

In honor of this amazing milestone, I thought I'd offer a little mouse-click down memory lane. Here to make you oh-so-happy are a baker's dozen of my favorite posts since January 2009. They are in chronological order, from most recent to oldest...because (duh) that's how blogs work.

Thank you, Blogger, for a world where ordinary people can speak about the mundane and the miraculous. (And can I say it again, just for fun? 400 posts!!)

Labor Day Weekend on the PCT

Sept 3, 2011

What’s in a face?

August 3, 2011

The surprising truth about my beloved Grandma Polly

July 15, 2011

Lovely Spring photos

May 4, 2011

Happy places in my house

March 30, 2011

Thoughts on blogging

Nov 30, 2010

Climbing Mount St. Helens

August 25, 2010

Nina, My Friend

May 23, 2010

Fabric Balls

March 28, 2010

Sunday Morning Walk

Feb 21, 2010

Thin Shoulder Blades Beneath a White Shirt

Nov 22, 2009

It’s a Privilege...

July 16, 2009

Extension Cords and Sump Pumps

January 2, 2009

I don't know if any readers will care to click back through some of these older posts, but I sure had a lot of fun looking back through the archives! Happy Friday, dear blog friends.

Ewww...

2011-11-17T22:14:00.001-08:00

...I am losing both of my big toenails.

Again. Sigh.

This time it's from a hike back in June, when Mark and I hiked Eagle Creek with our friends Liberty and Jason.

Mark and Jason hiked to Punchbowl Falls and back. They relaxed and read back at the car while Liberty and I hustled all the way to Tunnel Falls and back.

Whew! Twelve miles roundtrip at a fast clip. I loved every minute of it.

I felt my toenails catch inside my boots when Liberty and I were hiking downhill.

Sure enough, last week my big toenails were both halfway off.

It doesn't hurt, although it sure isn't pretty.

And you know what? I'd do that hike again in a heartbeat, toenails or no.

Profiled

2011-11-16T18:58:00.001-08:00

Hi, I'm Kathy
I'm a wife, mother, and grandmother. I'm a teacher at my local high school. I love waking up every morning. I'm a Mormon.

Want to know more? Check out my profile at mormon.org.

I posted it a couple of months ago, and it just came live a week or so ago. I'm excited! It's fun to read the profiles of so many different, interesting people. It's easy to click from one profile to another.

I've noticed a bit more traffic here on the blog lately. I wonder if people are linking to me from mormon.org?

Is my profile too long and wordy? What do you think? Let me know!

Self Portrait

2011-11-15T19:19:00.000-08:00

This week's homework for my PSU class:

Look in the mirror and write a self-portrait. Try to include some nuance or essence of self.

I never did wear braces. Mybrother’s teeth were worse—his two front teeth met at a 45-degree angle smackin the middle of his grin—and my parents could only afford one contract with theorthodontist. I never minded much, especially after I watched my own childrensuffer through gouged lips, tender gums, and aching jaws. I am a littleself-conscious about my teeth sometimes, but if you ask me, I will always denyit.

My father used to call me anankle-biter. He said I wasn’t tall enough to reach much higher, but I wasspunky enough to bite. I’m not that short.For years I said I was 5’2” to go with the song, “Five foot two, eyes of blue, hoochy koochy koochy koo, has anybodyseen my gal?” But I’m really almost 5’3”, and since the extra inch tips the BMIcalculator slightly in my favor, I claim it nowadays. As I balance on the teeter-tottermiddle point of middle age, I need every inch. My mother, after all, is beginningto grow shorter. It could happen to me someday, too.

I don’t like my knees. As a kidgrowing up, they were always too bony. I wanted dainty, petite knees, but minestuck out, all knobby and unladylike. In 2005, I injured my right knee when Ifell off a stepstool on the front porch, when Mark and I were remodeling thehouse and I was demolishing the front door frame that afternoon. Stupidstepstool. Most of the time that knee doesn’t hurt, but I can’t do poses atyoga class that make my knees flex a lot, like that one where I have to squaton my heels and put my elbows inside my thighs. I always end up quittinghalfway down.

Sometimes I stand in front of themirror and pretend I’ve had a facelift. I put my fingertips along my jaw lineand pull the skin up toward my ears. That jowly saggy spots at the corners ofmy chin disappear and my face regains the oval shape I took for granted as ateenager.

I would never really get afacelift, for so many reasons: vanity, expense, pain, self-consciousness, andthe good that could be done with the money instead. I don’t plan to ever dye myhair either, but for different reasons. I think I’m the only teacher at my highschool that lets her gray hair show, and sometimes I wonder what other peoplethink of me. But I know myself. I wouldn’t keep up with the touchups, and Ithink that gray roots look waaaay worse than hair that is naturally gray. So Icall the gray hair “my wisdom,” and I pretend to be proud of it. My hairdresserflatters that me I’m going gray attractively, “unlike so many other women,” but I’m never quite sure whether tobelieve her. But then, what reason would she have to lie? She could make moremoney if she convinced me to cover the gray. At age seven the hair waswhite-blonde, at age seventeen it was honey-brown, and at age fifty-seven Ipretend that the lighter patch over my left forehead is a blonde streak. I knowit’s really gray but this is one of those helpful deceptions.

The eyes haven’t changed. Hazel,green-gray, friendly, steady. At least that’s what I say. They are the sameeyes that look out of the photo of me, taken 40 years ago at age 17, the eyes thatlook back at me every morning from my dresser.

Photo on the dresser: me, age 17

Self-portrait taken while backpacking: me, age 54.

Fungus Among Us

2011-11-14T19:28:00.001-08:00

On our hike last Friday, I was fascinated by all the mushrooms and other fungus forms we saw in the woods. I stopped to snap photos of a few of them. So many different colors and shapes!

This one had to be a good 6" in diameter.

Classic mushroom shape - I love the lacy effect.

Growing out of the end of a log - so delicate and white.

A whole family of brown mushrooms.

This one looked like it wanted to be a golf ball. Just that size and shape.

Another classic toadstool - smooth and shiny brown.

These were tiny and delicate - growing out of a log.

More log-growers - even smaller than before.

And these were the tiniest log-growers of all! Still in the classic mushroom shape.

We included Mark's book in this photo to give a sense of scale.

Did some critter take a couple of chomps out of this bad boy?

This one looked like white broccoli.

This one had tipped over, but the colors were beautiful.

Was that a part of decomposition for this guy?

More of the white broccoli fungi.

Aren't these cute? Little acorn hats.

More of the delicate little white ones on a log.

White mushrooms, white leaves...it was all so pretty.

Another still-life...conk on the log + a maple leaf.

Almost back to the car, we saw this one. It's very black and upside down.

It's bigger than my boot.

It wants to take over Portland.

The moral of the story, dear readers...be careful!
There are fungus among us!

(Sorry, I couldn't resist saying that again. I've been wanting to say that ever since the hike on Friday. But truly...isn't it amazing that we so so many different kinds of musher-folk in just 4 miles of trail? I was impressed, and I hope that you are, too.

Lost and Found

2011-11-13T13:04:00.001-08:00

This morning's church program included a list of Lost and Found items housed in the church library, with a warning that they will be disposed of if not claimed by the new year!

At first the list contained the usual suspects:
*Big brown purse with colored pencils and plastic bracelets
*Pencil box with colored pencils, markers, and labeled "Hannah"
*Plastic bag of colored pencils, pencil box with crayons
*Children's books (titles included on the list), hand lotion, barrettes, a Clifford coloring book

Nothing too unusual about the list so far.

But then some fairly random things turned up:
Sewing machine regular foot attachment
(Sure, I often bring a sewing machine foot with me to church...)
Tire pressure gauge
(Huh? Checking hubby's blood pressure after dealing with the fussy kid?)
Potty Training Success DVD
(OK, I get it that people in the potty-training-success-DVD bracket are likely to forget things at church. But why bring this particular DVD to church in the first place??)

After I had read those items, I began to read some other items on the list with a jaundiced eye. By then, even some items that didn't seem so unusual at first glance began to make me wonder:
Girl's shoe - size 13M
(Wouldn't someone have noticed the missing shoe by now? And figured "Oh, yeah, we must have left that at church." How can you get your daughter ready for church for weeks at a time with only one church shoe?)
Lip gloss
(Give me a break, library ladies. Lip gloss? Ewww. Just throw it away already. No one's coming after that one.)
Stuffed animals (No surprise yet - but look what species they are): Pig and Reindeer
(Really? No teddy bears? Pig and reindeer seem fairly random to me.)

Gotta love the Lost and Found. But remember, you can only claim these items until December 31!

So step right up and claim your Pokemon cards, sippy cup, baby socks, hair brush, hand lotion, barrettes, scissors, black gloves, Clifford coloring book, and National Geographic Kids magazine. I know you've been wondering where they'd gotten to!

Autumn Hike on the Clackamas River

2011-11-12T14:10:00.001-08:00

Mark and I hike for three hours along the Clackamas River yesterday. We left Oregon City in the fog, and reveled in autumn sunshine along our river trail. It started raining when we got back to town.

Oh, it was glorious! Here are a few photos to share the joy...

The fall foliage was amazing.

My fun guy found some fungi.

(More about that in an upcoming post...)

Our trail wound its way up and down.

Sometimes near the river, like this...

...sometimes back in the wooded areas, over a carpet of gold, like this.

One of several fun little bridges we crossed.

Still life: vine maple leaf on moss.

Back to the river again.

We turned around and headed back just past this big bend in the river.

We think we had hiked about 4 miles by this point, but it was hard to be sure.

We saw an eagle just before I snapped this photo!

He flew away upriver before I could get the camera out...

We ate lunch here, in the sunshine.

Beautiful greens and golds...such a peaceful place to enjoy our lunch.

What fellow left this track in the sand by the river?

A great blue heron, I think.

He must be tall--his foot is almost as big as mine!

I couldn't get enough of the carpet of gold...

What a sweet, sweet afternoon with my sweetheart!

(Hiking in November = wear a hat, dress in layers, and keep warm!)

We hiked Clackamas River Trail #723. It's designated as a Riverside National Recreation Trail. You can see a map here.

It's 4.6 miles in length, between Riverside Campground and Rainbow Campground. We started at Riverside and hiked downstream for most of the trail, then turned back.

In addition to the trailheads at both ends of the trail, we discovered another entry point about halfway along the trail. It's not marked on the map, but there is a sign for "Riverside Trail" along the road, with plenty of pull-out space for parking.

This is a great, low-elevation trail (ie, you can hike it when other trails are covered in snow) in the Portland area. We definitely plan to hike it again!

PS - Yes, I sang my hiking songs.

My Favorite Veterans

2011-11-11T18:00:00.001-08:00

My dad, Ken Jenkins, served in the U.S. Army. He was drafted during the Korean War, but he ended up being able to stay in the United States (he was good at training other new draftees, so they kept him in Oklahoma, training new recruits on artillery). He served active duty from 1954-1955 (21 months). The government wanted to cut military costs once the truce was signed, and Dad was able to get discharged early because he had an agricultural job waiting for him. After he was discharged, he and my mom returned to California, where they raised my brother and me. Dad worked as a harbor engineer and harbor manager at Morro Bay and Port San Luis. He gave countless additional hours of service in those jobs. After he retired and my parents moved to Washington, he helped my brother start a business. This photo was taken while he and mom were selling real estate as a team for several years. They retired from that career last year, and they now enjoy their mountain home in northern Washington.

My brother, Maury Jenkins served in the U.S. Coast Guard from 1973-1997. (That's him in the back of this family photo--surrounded by beautiful grandchildren, with his wife, Linda, standing in front of him.) He and Linda and their four children were stationed in Alaska, Guam, Virginia, New Jersey, and other places in the U.S. He achieved the rank of Lieutenant Commander in the Coast Guard. Now that he's retired, he serves as minister of a small church in Washington.

My nephew, Aaron Jenkins, is currently serving in the U.S. Coast Guard. This photo was taken on the day he was promoted to Chief Petty Officer. He and his wife, Keelan, are parents of the beautiful children in the photo above. He is currently stationed in Ohio, on Lake Erie.

My niece, Becky Bateman, is a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Air Force. She and her husband (he's also a Staff Sergeant in the Air Force) are in Montana, where they help to guard nuclear weapons. It's a cold, cold duty in the flatlands of Montana.

Katie's brother-in-law, Chris Lewis, just completed his officer training, and will soon be stationed in Germany. You can read more about his graduation day on Anna's blog.

Thank you to these dear family members, and to all veterans. I appreciate your service to the people of the United States, and the institutions we hold dear. I wish you didn't have to leave your families and loved ones so often. You are in my prayers for a safe tour of duty.

Happy Veterans Day!

Hiking Songs

2011-11-10T21:39:00.001-08:00

Tonight, I give you two hiking songs.

The first one is sung to the tune of "Boom-de-ada."
I call it "Kathy's Boom-de-ada."
Everyone sing along!

I love the rocky trails, I love the PCT,*

I love the skeeters,* gosh, what's come over me?

I love adventuring wiiiiith my one true love.

Boom-de-ada, boom-de-ada, boom-de-adda, boom-de-adda.

I love the ridges, I love the gentle breeze,

I love the huckleberries, I love the Doug fir trees,

I love the talus slopes,* wiiiiiith their views so grand,

Boom-de-ada, boom-de-ada, boom-de-adda, boom-de-adda.

In case you didn't know...

*PCT = The Pacific Crest Trail. Haven't heard of it? Go google it right now, and thank me for saving you out of your ignorance.

*skeeters = cool hillbilly slang for "mosquitoes"

*talus slopes = Mark and I helped repair the trail along a talus slope back in September. You get good views on talus slopes because all the rocks = no trees.

Wasn't that sing along fun?
I composed the words two years ago when Mark and I hiked into Jefferson Park (not really a "park," but an incredibly beautiful, park-like bowl at the base of Mount Jefferson) in August 2009.

Here is a photo of the trail going across a talus slope.

Jefferson Park

Rock Lake at Jefferson Park, Aug 2009

View of Mount Jefferson from Jefferson Park, Aug 2009

August wildflowers in Jefferson Park, 2009

Adventuring wiiiiith my one true love, Aug 2009

Now let's try "The Whiny Hiker Song."
We made up the tune, so you'll just have to kind of guess and hum along.
You get to improvise the middle line and make up as many verses as you like.

Waanh, waanh, waanh, it's the whiny hiker song.
Waanh, waanh, waanh, it's the whiny hiker song.
My feet are tired and my back is sore.
Waanh, waanh, waanh, it's the whiny hiker song.
Waanh, waanh, waanh, it's the whiny hiker song.

This song can go on indefinitely, with many improvised middle lines.

...My tummy hurts and my socks won't stay up...

...The flies are a pain and Grandpa's jokes are stupid...

...The food's all gone and I want to rest...

...etc...

You get the idea.

This song was spontaneously composed on our first backpack outing with the twins. They were seven years old and...whiny. At least some of the time. We tried to inject some humor into the situation with The Whiny Hiker Song. They weren't too impressed at the time, but now we all sing it with gusto on every hike. The twins and Josh are anxious to teach it to their younger cousins when we begin taking them on backpack outings, too.

Twin Lakes with the Twins

Kat and Sarah on the way to Twin Lakes, August 2009

Setting up their tent at Lower Twin Lake, August 2009

Hot chocolate with Grandpa on the bouncy log, August 2009

Me, Sarah, Kat, Mark

Ready to hike back to the trailhead, August 2009

Two whiny hikers - rest stop

Sarah, Kat - August 2009

I confess I'm a bit of a whiny hiker myself this evening. Feeling burnt out and blah. I need to nourish my soul with some time in the woods. Tomorrow will be a holiday, and the weather forecast is...mostly clear. Mark and I have promised ourselves a hike in the morning, no matter what! I hope the other hikers won't mind a little singing!

I wanted to write something long and insightful...

2011-11-09T21:18:00.000-08:00

...but I'm sleepy and I still have papers to grade.

So tonight's post is short and sweet. Here's something that makes me happy this week:

This is the banner on my Weight Watchers eTools page. I've lost 4.6 pounds so far! I like to see the graph going down. Yes, there are those pesky little up-blips every so often, but I'm quite happy with the overall trend.

You can read more about it here, on The Skinny, the healthy living blog that Katie and I write, with a little help from our friends.

----------------------

And, on a completely unrelated note, does anyone know why my posts don't show up on other bloggers' side bars until a day or so after I make the post? It's been happening frequently this month. I'm not using the schedule feature - just doing a normal posting process, right after I finish writing the post.

I made a wedding dress: Part II

2011-11-08T21:29:00.000-08:00

Last month I made a wedding dress for Julia's sister-in-law, Michelle. Mark and I attended the sweet, simple wedding this evening. I snapped a few photos of the radiant bride and her new hubby.

Here's Michelle, a few minutes before the ceremony. She looked so lovely and so comfortable in her dress. No, I didn't make the veil.

Lanie, Michelle's new husband, is from Edmonton, Canada. His family wasn't able to attend the wedding in person, so they hooked up a Skype session off to the side. Lanie and Michelle are talking to his dad in this photo.

Back view of the dress. I really like the princess seams in this pattern. They are always flattering, and really comfortable to wear.

After the ceremony. Michelle getting ready to feed Lanie a bite of cake. Both of them were sweet and kind to each other, and there was no face-smeaing involved.

Michelle and Scott, her brother (Julia's husband).

Michelle and her mom.

A final shot of the new family. Lanie and Michelle - about to leave on their honeymoon.

It was fun to be involved with their wedding by making Michelle's dress. I was happy that it turned out to fit her so well. Michelle was a beautiful bride for her special day.

Congratulations, Lanie and Michelle!

I hate news like this

2011-11-07T22:42:00.000-08:00

I hate news like this. "This" being an article from the Associated Press that explains the growing "wealth gap" between generations.

The typical US household headed by someone 65 or older has a net worth 47 times greater than a household headed by someone under 35. Under 35 would be just about all of my kids and their spouses.

I lie awake at night with stuff like this. The AP article only confirmed what I have known in my gut for a long time: life is going to be financially difficult for most of my children. In the short term, for sure, and quite possibly into the long term.

Mark and I have nine children in our blended family. Our children range in age from 25-35. Out of the nine children, only three of them are in a position where they and their spouse have both finished their education, have a job in their field, and are settled into a solid housing situation. Only three of them (not the same three) have ever purchased real estate.

I came of age in a different economy. The expectations may have been similar, but the realities were entirely different. I was 25 when my first husband and I moved to Oregon. I hadn't finished college yet, but he was well launched into a career in his field, and he did not have a Master's degree. We had already bought and sold three houses in southern California; our new Oregon home was our fourth house that we bought. That was in 1979.

At the same time, what is really curious to me is another article I heard recently on an NPR broadcast. The article cites evidence that the "silent generation" - people in the US ages 66-83 years old - are angrier about the choices in the upcoming presidential election than the youngest voters. I am puzzled by this. Even though--according to some measures, at least--they have a greater household net worth than the younger voters, they are more dissatisfied with the direction the US is taking?

I think of things like...maybe they are more angry because they have lived longer and have seen more, and they understand things the younger voters don't yet. Or maybe the changing realities of the global economy and internet age have caught them off-guard and they feel vulnerable and angry. Or perhaps...I don't know. I want to listen, learn, try to understand where this view comes from.

Personally, I am more worried about the ongoing economic downturn--which is a worldwide problem, not just something to pin on a particular US presidential administration (Look at Greece! Look at Italy!)--than I am about one upcoming presidential election. I have a gloomy sense that the world's economic restructuring is going to outlast the 2012 elections, no matter who is elected.

I'm a mother and a grandmother, and I want things to be better for my children and grandchildren. I want these young families to be more financially secure, live in a more comfortable home, do more things and go more places. (What parent would want their child to achieve less than they--the pareent--did?)

I'm not sure I'm going to get what I want.

And what can I do about any of it? I encouraged my kids to be good students (and they were). I insisted that they go on to college (most of them did). I taught them to make responsible choices in their families and communities (and they do). At the end of the 20th century, that might have been enough.

The 21st century is another story. I don't know the plot, I can barely figure out the characters, and for sure I don't know how the rising action / climax / end of the story are going to turn out.

I see so many people my age--middle aged--working along in jobs, but my own kids struggle to find good employment. Are there too many of us older workers? But what would it help if we weren't working? Then we'd be dependent on the younger ones. I feel like it's my duty to my children and their generation to continue working so that I can prepare financially for retirement, when I can't work productively, so that they don't have to care for me. But in the meantime, there are now 4 years of new teachers graduating from college who can't find jobs. There's a recent grad in my PSU class who is all excited because he might be allowed to get his name on the substitute teacher list in my school district.

Where are all these talented young teachers going to find work? How will the college graduates of my children's generation find jobs in their fields--careers--to support their families, buy homes, pay off their college loans?

I'm not meaning to be all doom and gloom (and it's late and I need to get to bed), but these are thoughts that weigh on me sometimes. Usually I keep the positive outlook, follow the admonition to "be of good cheer," hang onto hope. I don't say much about all these questions that I carry. Not very often.

But that A.P. article, along with the NPR news item, have got me to thinking and wondering a little more...

I Stand All Amazed

2011-11-06T14:34:00.000-08:00

I had a wonderful experience Friday night, during my date night with Mark, an experience that has confirmed my belief in a Heavenly Father who knows us individually and loves us and cares for us. Here is what happened.

Standing in line at the Penney's checkout, I realized that I really needed to head to the restroom. I left Mark in charge of paying for our comforter and headed downstairs to the public restrooms. We agreed to meet at the escalator in a few minutes.

In the restroom, I was hurrying past the sinks when I heard someone call my name. "Kathy." I turned to face the only other person in the restroom, a young woman filling a baby bottle at the sink. She looked familiar, but I couldn't quite place her, a fact that must have been obvious from the look on my face, because she quickly filled me in. "It's me, Alice H------."**

Alice! I hadn't seen her in nearly 10 years. She was in one of my freshman English classes when she was 14, but I had known her for years before that. Her family had moved to Oregon City when she was little, and I had been friends with her mom. She and Katie were close friends with Sarah, Dorothy's daughter. They played together several times every week, all through elementary school.

But around freshman year, things began to go sour for Alice. She headed in the direction of other friends, other choices. Her school work slipped along with her attendance. About midway through her sophomore year, she slipped off my radar, although I heard from time to time that she was attending an alternative school, or in rehab, or back home again, or...

.....

Three years ago, I was cleaning out a bunch of bookshelves in my home. We had some extended family preparing to move in with us because of the economy, and I was putting a lot of things in storage for a time. On one of the bookshelves, tucked into a corner, I found a Book of Mormon--one of those inexpensive ones--with a testimony written inside the front cover, written in a childish hand. It was signed, "Love, Alice H-----."

Oh, Alice. How I wished I could give that Book of Mormon to her, with her own testimony written inside the cover. Perhaps it might help her. But I had no idea how to get in contact with her.

I knew that Alice's parents had moved out of state, so I asked Dorothy the next time I saw her if she had their address. She did not. Dead end.

And then, for the next three years, I kept Alice's Book of Mormon on my dresser. I didn't know what else to do with it. To give it away seemed like I would be giving up on that sweet young girl in my memory. Hanging on to it seemed kind of futile, but there it stayed. Other items often piled up on top of it, but then I would clean off my dresser, and there it would be, still, waiting.

.....

I washed my hands quickly and hurried out of the Penney's restroom. Alice had promised to wait for me. Just outside the door, she was pushing a stroller with her sweet 9-month-old daughter, Scarlett. Alice told me that she has been clean and sober for nearly a year and a half, and that her daughter has been what has kept her going.

"I have something for you," I told her. She looked at me, startled. "A Book of Mormon, with your own testimony in it." Her eyes opened a little wider. "I found it a couple of years ago on a bookshelf in my house. I have no idea how it got there, but I've been wanting to give it to you ever since I found it. It's a home, sitting on my dresser."

Alice gave me her phone number. She said that she has been on the verge of coming back to Church. "Not for anyone else," she said, "but for me." A tiny spark of testimony. A perfect time to be reminded that God knows her and loves her. She lives in Portland, and I will mail the book to her this week, or drop it off at her home on my way to class on Thursday. One of the sentences in the testimony is, "I know that Heavenly Father knows who you are, and He loves you."

.....

I ask you, what does it take for Heavenly Father to make this happen? The Book of Mormon landed on my bookshelf who-knows-when-or-how, and then it sat there for years. Then I found it three years ago, and felt prompted to hang on to it. Then Mark and I went to the mall on Friday night, which we rarely do. I drank enough water at dinner so that I needed to find the restroom right then, rather than wait until we had paid for the comforter.

And that's just on my end of things. I have no idea what was required for Alice to be there at that particular place and time.

But there we were, both of us. It wasn't a coincidence. It was a sweet, sweet experience of God's love and blessing in our lives, and the ways He helps us find our ways back to Him. I stand before you now, a reluctant missionary at best, all amazed at the love that flows into our lives.

**Not her real name.

Play Date

2011-11-05T16:30:00.000-07:00

Today we had "Play Day" on the calendar, but we just couldn't get excited about a rainy day doing...what? After talking it over, we decided to turn it into a "Play Date" last night, instead. Mark and I both wanted to have a quiet day at home today, to get caught up on grading and lesson plans, with the end of the trimester just 2 1/2 weeks away.

First stop: Out to dinner at the California Pizza Kitchen in Clackamas.

We decided to share a salad and a pizza, and we were quite satisfied afterwards. Who needs the full quantity of most restaurant menu items these days??

(Not to mention the calories and the cost!)

We ordered a delicious caramelized peach salad...mmmm! Then we enjoyed a California Club pizza on a thin crust. Sharing our entrees, along with the thin crust, kept me on my Weight Watchers plan. What a treat to have a delicious dinner out with my sweetheart.

After dinner we went to Penney's to shop for a comforter. We've gone back and forth for years about whether to buy one. Would it be too hot? Would we spend $$ on it and then hate it? Down? Down alternative? What weight??? Hmmm...

Have you ever bought a comforter? How did you decide? Here's what we did: We read all the labels. We handled the sample comforters to feel the weights. We decided on one, and then reconsidered at the checkout, when the clerk told us she had a different weight that she could use all year, but the one we had selected would be for winter only.

We ultimately decided on the medium-weight down alternative comforter. We were tempted by the down, but given Mark's propensity for allergic reactions, we decided to go with the alternative.

After Penny's, walking through the mall, we saw a hat store!

Mark has been wanting a good hat for quite a while. (Partly to show off his manly handsomeness, but mostly to protect his hearing aids when he's outdoors for a bit and it's drizzly out.) But a good hat can be hard to find. Not many stores carry a good selection of "man hats" any more.

We found this great hat, and Mark left the store a happy man.

The date was definitely a success so far!

Next stop: the cinema at Clackamas Town Center. We checked out the offerings and decided on The Three Musketeers.

If you're a family member reading this, stop laughing.

(I am notorious in the family for not enjoying movies, especially adventure films. What can I say? A little adventure is good for a girl once in a while.)

It was in 3-D. I suspect that many people would say the movie was fairly tame. But for me, it was fairly intense.

Long story short: Even though Mark saw more of the movie than I did (I closed my eyes and did deep breathing when the action got really intense), I enjoyed the movie. It's a classic old story, with a little bit of love, a lot of betrayal, a lot of swashbuckling sword play, and a healthy dose of a charming young fellow coming of age.

And I was actually fascinated by the 3-D effect. I have heard lots of people say that they don't enjoy it, or that it's not worth the extra ticket price, but for a once-a-year movie date with my sweetheart, it was a fun way to spend an evening.

We left the theater satisfied and happy. And I am happy to report that we slept very "comfortably" under our new comforter. In fact, we're kicking ourselves a little that we waited so long to buy one in the first place!

Cherry Cheesecake

2011-11-04T10:43:00.000-07:00

Mark and I loved this Weight Watchers recipe for Cherry Cheesecake. I don't know how many calories it is, but it's only 3 Points on the WW system. The little 1/2-cup cups of ice cream are also 3 Points (or 100 calories), as a way to compare.

Servings:  12
Preparation Time:  20 min
Cooking Time:  15 min
Level of Difficulty:  Easy

A perfect combination: rich, creamy filling and a light, buttery crust. Try different flavors of pie filling and whole vanilla wafers for crust.*

INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 Tbsp light butter, melted
2/3 cup low fat cream cheese
6 Tbsp fat-free cream cheese
3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 large egg whites
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup light fruit pie filling, cherry

INSTRUCTIONS
Place 12 cupcake liners in a cupcake pan. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and butter; mix well.
Spoon 1 tablespoon of crumb mixture into bottom of each liner and press down gently; refrigerate until ready to use.

In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, beat both types of cream cheese until fluffy. Add lemon juice, egg whites, vanilla extract and sugar; beat until smooth.

Spoon cream cheese mixture evenly into muffin liners; bake until set, about 15 minutes.
Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Top each cheesecake with 1 tablespoon cherry pie filling.
Yields 1 cheesecake per serving.

My variations:

I used vanilla wafer crumbs instead of graham cracker crumbs. I also used reconstituted lemon juice instead of fresh. Both substitutions worked fine. I also baked them about 10 minutes longer than it says in the recipe--the cheesecakes were still a little mushy after only 15 minutes.

YUM YUM!! Mark asked me to make another batch this weekend!

Football Dream

2011-11-03T12:49:00.000-07:00

Just before I woke up this morning, I dreamt I was running running down the field.

I was ready to catch the football. It was coming in over my shoulder, floating down. My hands were stretched out in front, and I was running just the right speed so that the football and I would connect.

It was just about to happen.

Then I woke up. And it was the sweetest feeling, to awaken to the sense that I was just about there.

(Of course, this is a hilarious dream for me. Football?? Are you kidding me? Definitely not my sport, on so many levels. But still, it was a sweet, sweet dream.)

Reminds me of this passage from Ricochet River by Robin Cody, one of my all-time favorite Oregon authors:

"I made up this drill called 'Impossible Catches,'" says Wade, the narrator. "I sent [Jesse] out on patterns and then fired the football at his ankles. Or behind him, or just out of reach. Outrageous contortions and near catastrophes were worth points in Impossible Catches...

"One evening we took our act up to the school grounds, where we would have more room to practice bombs. The deep stuff. His stride was so deceptive I had to try to overthrow him. He always seemed to get to the ball. Jesse angled out for one of my passes, nearing the limit of my range, and I cut loose with a good spiral. As the ball dropped toward him, it was slightly underthrown. Jesse looked up late--as you must in Impossible Catches. Without breaking stride, he put his arms behind his back. The football settled softly to rest, like an egg in the nest of Jesse's open hands, behind his back" (90).

PS - Interested in what your dreams might mean? The Dream Dictionary is a fun website with thousands of dream symbols and their meanings. Of course, ultimately the dream's meaning--if any--is up to you to ponder and decide.

World Peace with Fabric Balls

2011-11-02T19:18:00.000-07:00

Ahem: a little tribute to fabric balls. You know, the kind I like to show off here on the 'ol blog. There's a button on the right, or you can click right here to read a dandy step-by-step tutorial on how to make them.

I learned how to make the fabric balls about 30 years ago at a Relief Society meeting. That was back in the days when Relief Society was held on weekday mornings, and we'd sit around and make things together. Someone gave us the pattern...I can't remember who.

I made a few more over the years, but mostly the pattern just sat in my closet. Then grandchildren began to have their first birthdays, and I hauled the pattern and the scrap box out and began making fabric balls again.

During one sewing spree in March 2010, I documented each step with a photo, and wrote up the steps as a tutorial. I had seen some great tutorial examples on Polly's and Katie's blogs, so I had some idea of how to (try to) do it right. Polly helped me get the pattern into a format that would show up on the blog, and I hit the little "Publish" button.

Since then, the thing has gone viral, if I do say so myself. That one post is by far and away THE most popular post on my whole blog. Just today it's had 13 hits, even though I posted it nearly 20 months ago. Since it went up, that post has had 5449 hits. And counting. That's about 300 hits per month / 10 hits per day. Give or take a few.

The little map gizmo on the side of the blog shows up with hits from South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, Russia, Viet Nam, Singapore, Tazmania, Thailand, all over the Middle East, Australia, all over Europe, many, many places in Canada and the United States. We're talking a worldwide movement here: Occupy Fabric Balls.

Someone from Australia emailed me several months ago to ask if she could buy the pattern for a business venture. I told her I didn't own it; I am just the vehicle for sharing it with the world. It was freely given to me, and I freely pass it along.

I have always known what a genius toy this is. It's soft (think non-damaging to furniture, lamps, and other children's heads). It can be made for free from fabric scraps. It is intellectually stimulating, with an interesting geometric design. It's developmentally perfect for little fingers to grab, when other balls are too big and slippery-smooth for them to latch on to.

Now I teach the Church Nursery on Sundays. One of my little dynamos, Ryan, has a default arm action whenever any toy is in his hand: THROW. We had a lot of ducking going on until I brought in a couple of fabric balls and some bean bags. Now the nursery is safe and peaceful again. Ryan happily shares the balls and other toys. One more victory for fabric softness and goodness.

I'm telling you, someday in the future there will be a tense political moment. Nations will be poised against nations. Troops will be amassing. And then, during the last-ditch mediation session, one of the negotiators will notice something in the aggressor's office. Something small and round and brightly-colored in the corner of the office will catch his eye.
"General ___, what is that?" the negotiator will ask, pointing at the object with a stern glare.
"Why, your honor, it's my son's fabric ball," the General will reply. "He was here playing in my office yesterday, and he left it behind."
At that, the Major Domo from the other faction will look sharply around at the small, bright fabric object. "A fabric ball!" he will say. "My little girl plays with a ball made of that same design!"
"Oh yes," several more voices will chime in, "our children play with fabric balls, too. They are handmade from an old tutorial off the Internet."
And so it goes...the crisis is averted as everyone remembers why we are really here -- to love and nurture our children, and to help them to have joy and gain skills as we guide them in their growth.

Why, just today, another Fabric Ball post came up on a blog. Check out Rachel's lovely ball, here. She made it, of course, from my tutorial. I'm telling you, that's what Grandma Kathy likes to hear.

PS: Another sweet fabric ball post here, just for old-time's sake.

Welcome, Sweet November

2011-11-01T15:41:00.000-07:00

Not sure why, but I've been a little down the last few days of October. Awoke this morning with a lighter heart. Welcome, November!

I was surprised to feel this way. Seems like I'd feel gloomier as the days get shorter and the holiday stresses approach.

Maybe it's because this is the month of NaBloPoMo? I'm so tickled to look forward to daily blog posts from treasured blogger friends. Some of them I've met in real life, and others just on the internet, but they all lead interesting lives and have intriguing things to say. How can I contribute to that kind of conversation today?

One of my students recently asked me why I blog, and I stumbled around for a good answer. Does it sound too lame to say, "Because I'm here. Because you're there"? How much permission do we need to tell each other our stories, even when our stories are such tiny bits of our ordinary lives?

This morning at breakfast, Mark offered a tender prayer. He thanked Heavenly Father for His kindness in making the leaves turn colors this time of year, to be so generous to us in giving us a world of color. That's my story for today: I am married to a man who thanks God for yellow and orange leaves. It's a sweet, sweet story, one that I am grateful to live every day.

Farewell, October! Just for the grandkids - here's a photo of me in my Halloween costume yesterday, on my way out the door to school. I can tell you, I saw lots of grins as I was walking down the high school hallways! My own kids will recognize this ancient bit of family Halloween history--I can't even remember when it began hanging in my closet, but now I pull it out every year and wear it for a day.

Here's a scary thought about this costume: I bought the orange poncho-thing years ago at a thrift store without the pumpkin face. No, this is not a bathmat. Yes, it was constructed as a garment from the get-go. Tell me, who would purchase and wear an orange chenille thing like this, and they weren't wearing it as a Halloween costume??

What Came in Yesterday's Mail...

2011-10-28T18:29:00.000-07:00

It was so much fun to go to the mailbox yesterday!

Loved this Halloween card from grandson Ethan. It says, "Hope you like my Smash Monster!"

He's just 2 years old...so you know this is a great toddler craft! Looks to me like his clever mama, daughter-in-law Hillary, took a piece of orange card stock (approx. 6" x 6") and folded it in half. Then it was most likely a mother-son project to dribble some green paint (looks like it's acrylic) in the fold. Then smash (fold) it in half (Rorschach ink-blot style) to get the smash monster's shape. Sprinkle a little glitter in the paint while it's still wet...

After the paint is dry, glue a single googly-eye in the middle of the smash monster's face. Then use a sharpie pen to draw a unibrow over the eye, and a mouth below the eye. Add a greeting and send to a favorite grandma and grandpa!

(Update! Just got an email from Hillary...she confirmed that I figured out the gist of the instructions. Clever grandma that I am. She found the original idea on a Martha Stewart post, here.)

(Here's a photo of Ethan playing with cousin Olivia last April...the last time Grandma and Grandpa got to see him...)

The next treasure in the mailbox was a bulky little package...look what I won! Sarah at mimi and the boy sponsored a giveaway last week to celebrate her 300th (wow!) blog post. Lucky me...I won this darling autumn pillow, handmade by Sarah. Doesn't it look great against the new gold upholstery on my heirloom chair? (More about the upholstery job on an upcoming post. No, I didn't do it myself.)

Here's a closeup of Sarah's talent. I love the way she used scrap fabric cut into simple shapes to make a vibrant accent...for my home! Wish I could think up designs like this.

Check out the nice little finishing touch - a sweet tag to remind me of this pillow's special creator.

Gee, I wish every day were that much fun at the mailbox! Today was just bills and junk mail...

Have you had any special mailbox surprises lately?

Sewing Project

2011-10-23T19:43:00.000-07:00

I recently agreed to make a wedding dress for Julia's sister-in-law, Michelle. I told her I could do it if the dress of her dreams was fairly simple. She said "keep it simple" was her goal, so we headed out to look at patterns.

She chose this one: Butterick B5419

She wanted it with the long skirt and the boat-neck top (bottom right) with the sleeves (upper right). Michelle came over on Saturday for the final measuring/fitting. I had learned from many experiences making prom dresses for my daughters over the years, that it is often best to make a practice bodice, to check the fit. I don't bother with sleeves or zipper, but it gives me a chance to make sure everything is working the way we want it to before we cut into the "real" fabric. We tried on the practice bodice (bright blue...not her wedding colors!) first, and it was a perfect fit. On to the real sewing!

I had spent 4 or 5 hours working on the skirt during the week before. After 10 hours of sewing on Saturday, the top is finished, too! I'll post a picture of the bride after her wedding on November 8.

Block Party

2011-10-17T21:08:00.000-07:00

Mark and I hosted a little block party here on Laurel Lane last Saturday evening. We live on a one-block dead-end street, so we went up and down the street a week earlier, handing out invitations to a "get acquainted" root beer social at our house. The day before the party, we went up and down the street again with little reminder notices, which we attached to their doorknobs with rubber bands.

Six different households, including ours, attended the root beer social. If you count David and Holly as their own household, then there were seven. It was a nice size to entertain, and everyone seemed to enjoy chatting. We learned what people do for a living, some of the neighborhood history from "old timers" on the street, a little about each others' families.

We had distributed 25 invitations, so I was a little nervous about having too big of a crowd. If everyone had come, we would have been bursting at the seams, and it would have been too chaotic. Still, I wished that a few more people had come. Why wouldn't people want to get better acquainted with their neighbors? Since it's a narrow dead-end street, we drive by one anothers' houses all the time, but we rarely get out of our cars to say hello. People are friendly about waving, but Mark and I had hoped to help establish a little deeper sense of neighborhood here.

Mike and Lauren live across the street and kitty-corner from us. They are a young couple. He is an engineer and she teaches chemistry at LaSalle High School in Portland. They were really friendly and seemed to enjoy visiting with everyone. A funny story - they told us that they got a little freaked out when we attached our reminder invitation to their doorknob on Friday. Their dogs started barking, and they heard their front doorknob jiggle, but when they looked outside, there was no one there. Mike had grown up in a tough neighborhood in SE Portland, so his instincts went on alert. Then they found our little reminder and said, "Oh, it's just the root beer party."

Nancy and Terry have lived around the corner for years. We know them well from church, and also because are sons were (and are) best friends. We enjoyed introducing them to more of the Laurel Lane neighbors. Nancy teaches piano lessons, so people knew their house from the "Piano Lessons" sign out front. They had also noticed the big roofing job that Terry and Nancy completed on their home last month.

Dolores and Luddy have been my next-door neighbors for the entire time (32 years!) that I have lived on Laurel Lane. Dolores actually lived in my house when she was a girl. Her father bought the 5-acre dairy and subdivided it. He built several of the houses on Laurel Lane. They were interested to see our remodeling project. We did it 6 years ago, and had told them about it, but they hadn't been over to the house to see what we had done in all that time. Luddy used to be kind of gruff, but he has softened over the years, especially as he's come through some difficult health problems (heart attack, heart surgery, falling off a ladder) in the last few years. They were tickled to get better acquainted with more neighbors.

Glad is one of the "new neighbors." She lives in one of the six houses that were built down at the end of the street about the time Mark and I were remodeling our house. Their part of Laurel Lane is actually an extension of the original street, but it's still a dead end. Glad is retired, and always smiling. She has a wonderful optimism about life. She volunteers with a gardening program that reaches out to kids in the juvenile detention system. Terry had heard that Glad plays the accordion, and he was encouraging her to bring it to a future party.

I'm kicking myself because I can't remember the name of Glad's daughter, who lives a few houses down from Glad in the last "old" house on the street. Her name begins with D, so I'll have to call her that for now. D is about my age, and like her mother, she is always smiling. When I took Luddy and Dolores upstairs for a tour of the remodeling project, she attached herself to the tour. I didn't get to visit with her much, and would like to visit with her again.

After everyone left, we talked about ways to encourage more neighborhood get-togethers in the future. Maybe we'll try a backyard picnic in the summer, or a dessert social some other time. Out of all the people we invited, only 2 made us a little nervous about inviting them in the future. One guy, down at the end of the street, just seemed really "rough around the edges." I don't want to be unfriendly, but I might not drop off an invitation next time around. Another man, in one of the new houses, yelled at us when we rang his doorbell with our first invitation. We had seen the sign above the door that said "no soliciting," but we weren't selling anything. He just yelled at us to go away; he never did answer the door. Too bad. He has beautiful flowers in his yard, and I had hoped to compliment him. Then there is the elderly lady living down the street. When we dropped off her invitation, a relative answered the door and said she would give the invitation to Mrs. R, but she is 98 and probably won't come.

Anyway, that's the report on our little block party. I sometimes wonder if, in our busy, wired, connected world, it's a little harder than it used to be to get to know our neighbors.

The Portland 4T Trail

2011-10-08T19:51:00.000-07:00

Mark and I enjoyed our October "play day" today. We had seen signs for the "4T Trail" in Portland, so today was our adventure! (This site has excellent directions.)

The Ts stand for:
Tram
Trail
Train
Trolly

The 4T Trail makes a wonderful scenic loop all through Portland. About 6 miles of it is a hiking trail. There is a section on the MAX train, and another section on the Portland Trolley. Perhaps the most thrilling section is a ride on the aerial tram that goes from the Willamette River up to Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU) hospital.

The great thing about the 4T Trail is that you can do it any time the public transportation and the tram are operating, and you can start at any point along the loop. Mark and I started at the bottom of the tram. Then we did our hiking, followed by a MAX train ride. Finally, we took the trolley back to the parking area at the base of the tram.

The entire trail is VERY well signed. At every intersection along the way, and at every place we might have thought it was an intersection (but it wasn't), there was a 4T marker to guide us. We didn't have any difficulty at all. We did print out the directions from one of the websites, and that was very helpful.

It took us about 4 1/2 hours to do the whole loop, but we had a couple of extra stops along the way, as you'll see in the photos below.

Boarding the aerial tram. Mark is ready for the adventure!

Looking up the wires. We're headed for that big building (OHSU) along the far skyline.

Looking out over the view of Portland.

Here comes the other tram! There are 2, so one is always going up while the other one comes down. They pass each other in the middle, of course.

There's OHSU above us - almost to our destination.

Heading for the terminal at the top.

One last photo looking down. Those are the wires our tram took to come up to the top of the hill. Mark said it felt like riding on an elevator, but sideways.

After we disembarked from the tram, we hiked through the hospital campus to a nearby trailhead. Suddenly we were in a lush forest!

Maidenhair fern

Sunlight through cedar boughs

After four miles of steady hiking - mostly uphill - we came to a lovely park at the top of Portland. Council Crest is the highest point in the city.

We stopped to catch our breath and enjoy a snack and some water.

And we snapped a photo of Portland below us on this beautiful autumn day. Then we headed back into the woods, heading north toward the Oregon Zoo.

The happy hikers, pretty green-gold autumn foliage

Fungus on the forest floor

The BIGGEST, juiciest caterpillar I have ever seen. He was huge! We put our boots into the photo to give a sense of scale. After the photo, we moved him off the trail so he wouldn't get stepped on. But I'll bet some bird would love to find this fellow.

Six miles and two hours of hiking after we started, we reached the overpass over Highway 26, leading to the Oregon Zoo.

We stopped to eat a sandwich and cup of soup at the zoo restaurant...then we made friends with this big guy.

From the zoo, we could look south and see the tower on the top of Council Crest, 2 miles away. That's where we just hiked from!

Leaving the zoo, we headed for the MAX train. The zoo MAX station is deep underground, in a 3-mile-long tunnel.

We detoured a bit on the MAX train. Instead of getting off at the trolley stop, we continued on to the Saturday Market in Portland. So many fun things to see and do there!

A little street music...

While we were there, we shopped for my dad's birthday gift. He'll be 79 next week. We found a lovely gift for him, but of course I can't reveal it here...he reads this blog... (Don't worry, Dad--I'll get it in the mail right away!)

We backtracked on the MAX to the trolley intersection, which we rode all the way back to the south waterfront and the tram station. Our Metro tickets were good for two hours, and we had time to spare, even with our detour to Saturday Market.

An awe-inspiring view of the tram tower, just before we headed into the parking garage to retrieve the car.

If you go on this outing, here are a couple of tips to know about.

1. The tram costs $4 for a round-trip ticket. They sell the tickets at the bottom of the tram, and then when you get back on at the top (assuming you want to do the round trip), it's free. But if you're only going one way as part of the 4T Trail, and you want to ride the tram for free, then go counter-clockwise on the 4T Trail, so that you're going down on the tram.

2. For the hiking part, the section between the tram/OHSU and Council Crest is about 4 miles of uphill trail. From Council Crest to the zoo, it's about 2 miles downhill. Determine which direction you want to go based on whether you'd rather do more uphill or downhill hiking. Believe it or not, Mark and I prefer uphill hiking. It's so much easier on our knees than downhill! Even though we paid $4 each for the tram, we are really glad that we chose to go on the 4T Trail loop in a clockwise direction.

Happy

2011-10-07T07:38:00.000-07:00

I'm happy this morning.

It's my friend's birthday. Happy birthday, Dorothy! If you don't know Dorothy yet (and if you do!) take a moment to drop by her blog and wish her a happy day. You'll find thoughtful reflections about her garden, hilarious photos of her husband breaking in, a wonderful mix of wisdom and fun.

Last summer at Sparks Lake

Ken, Dorothy, me, Mark

I'm taking my last course for the MFA degree program at PSU. It's a literature course, Arab American Literature. I had been dreading another literature course (term papers to write!), but this is going to be great. The instructor, Diana Abu-Jaber, is a writer herself, and she wants our final papers to be creative. She gives us weekly free write assignments. The students in the class are interesting and thoughtful. The reading schedule is not going to kill me off. She sometimes forgets to give us assignments because she's busy with the book tour for her newest novel. After this course, then I just have to finish that thesis...

I listened to happy music on the radio last night. Haven't heard it in a while, but I clicked the station, and "Soul Sister" by Train came on. Take a minute to enjoy a fun song. It has a ukulele! Get up and dance! Happy music, for sure. (Sorry, there's a 10-second ad at the beginning.)

Want some more happy music? Try this oldie from Billy Joel. It came on the radio last night after "Soul Sister"! Hearing Billy sing "The Longest Time" always makes me think of how much I love Mark, and how lucky I am to be married to him. When we married back in 1994, it seemed like I hadn't had a strong and caring relationship for "the longest time."

I am a blessed, happy girl. I hope you're happy today, too!

Temple Softie

2011-09-29T05:42:00.000-07:00

Last night Arora and I made a temple softie, based on the instructions we found here. Check out the link for the darling and simple concept we were working from.

First Arora made the pattern.

I taught her how to hold the iron carefully so the fabric would be nice and flat.

We stacked up the layers and traced around the pattern.

Arora helped me with the sewing (which took all of about 5 minutes...this project really is super simple).

Turning it right side out...at this point Arora thought the whole thing looked like a rabbit.

I made the daddy doll first, and Arora stuffed him while I made the mommy doll.

With every stuff of fluff, she asked me, "Is that enough?" "No, not yet. Put in some more stuffing, Arora..."

And here's our finished temple with the two dollies in their pocket. The mommy doll's dress is made from a scrap of satin from my first wedding dress, which I made for myself in 1974.

Such a sweet little project. It's soft and friendly, and it reinforces our family's beliefs about the sacredness of families, and why we want them to last forever. Arora very seriously explained to her dad that the mom and dad have to be married in the temple, because that's where they are supposed to get married. She told her dad that she wants to go to the temple to get married someday, too.

And speaking of beliefs...I am SO looking forward to the worldwide General Conference of the Church, coming up this weekend. Conference weekend is such a sweet time to take a break from the world and soak up two days of inspiring messages that uplift me and help me be stronger for the next six months...until Conference weekend comes around again. If you'd like to join me for beautiful music and deeply meaningful messages that will speak to your heart, you can find the link here on Saturday and Sunday. There are four sessions, two hours each, beginning at 9:00 am and 1:00 pm Pacific time each day.

Mount St. Helens Crater: The Descent (Part 3)

2011-09-20T21:28:00.000-07:00

We didn't spend long at the glacier. With temperatures in the low 40s, and most of us damp--or worse--it would be unwise to stay still for too long. Only twenty minutes after we pulled the lunches out of our packs, our hike guides were rounding us up for the descent. We retraced only a small part of our route through the crater, and then we headed more to the east, to take a shorter route down.

Downhill felt good! At least for a while, until knees and toes started to grumble...

But it was never always just down. Volcano country is filled with more UP than down...or at least that's how it seems! Here's a little creek filled with minerals, and therefore algae and other plant life, from a hot spring upstream. But after we crossed the creek, it was back uphill again for another scramble up the ridge on the opposite side.

Here's another one of the cracked rocks. I think they are so interesting!

You might notice several things in this photo. One, I don't have my hat on! A dry(er) hiking experience, at least for a little while. Two, there is a surprising amount of green in the landscape. I was continually fascinated with the ways that the plants are making a comeback into the blast zone. Three, even though that's Mount St. Helens behind me, you couldn't prove it from this photo. The clouds were constantly shifting. I'd see a great photo op, and then the clouds would change again.

Here's a view of Loowit Creek. Downstream a little ways it drops off into a lovely long waterfall - kind of a "bridal veil" style of waterfall. This photo shows the dramatic effects of 30 years of a creek flowing through a volcanic landscape. The soils here are all so easily moved by water, that a simple creek can create this impressive canyon.

Believe it or not, this is cool. See the white fuzzy shape in the upper middle of the photo? Can you guess what it is? Figure it out, and then check your answer at the bottom of the post! *

Looking down on Spirit Lake in the distance. Woo hoo! There's a bit of blue sky overhead! I was able to tuck my raincoat into my pack for all of about 20 minutes. Then those fluffy white clouds moved in again...

Like I mentioned before, there is no simple route "down" in this rugged landscape. We needed teamwork to cross Loowit Creek. Longer-legged hikers crossed first, then extended a hand to help the rest of us "vertically challenged" hikers make the crossing. Then we scrambled back up the other bank, once again.

Still headed east, across the pumice plain, almost back to the cars. By this time I had my raincoat back on again, my little toes were actively hurting, and I was ready to call it a day. But I didn't complain! I was SO GRATEFUL to have had the privilege of hiking into the Mount St. Helens crater.

(I'm in the 2nd row, 4th from right)
Photo from the MSHI Facebook page

At the end of the hike, our hike leaders complimented us on doing so well under the brutal weather conditions. Having been a hike leader myself on lots of scout outings and other hikes, I can relate to the sense of responsibility they must have felt, shepherding 16 strangers through a demanding physical landscape with no easy access to help if it was needed, and with constant worries about temperature and visibility. They were wonderful hike leaders, and I would recommend this hike to anyone who is reasonably fit and ready for some adventure. The Mount St. Helens Institute will be posting next year's hikes on their website soon. I understand that this year's slots filled up within one day of the hikes being posted on the website. The schedule for next year's crater hikes will be posted in December 2011.

*Oh, and the white spot in the photo? Of course you guessed it, from my hint at the end of yesterday's post. That, my friends, was a HUGE mountain goat. Oh, how I wish the visibility had been better so I could have captured a better photo! I tried several different shots, and that was the best I could get through the fog/cloud. But really, he (she?) was SO big. And SO white! How can their coats glow so white like that in the middle of that gray and dusty landscape? I thought mountain goats were the size of a large dog, but this one made me think of a walrus! We kept him (her?) in sight for nearly an hour as we worked our way down a tricky bit of the descent. The mountain goat was perched on a shelf, quite comfortable, and not the least bothered by us clumping about his territory.

Mount St. Helens Crater: At the Glacier (Part 2)

2011-09-19T19:46:00.000-07:00

How can this frog...or anything...grow and thrive inside the crater of a volcano??

Mount St. Helens erupted and wiped out every living thing for 230 square miles on May 18, 1980. In the 30+ years since then, what was once a sterile volcanic debris field is gradually transforming.

The first plants to arrive were nitrogen-fixing plants like lupines, because they didn't need to have nutrients in the soil.

The flower in the foreground of this photo is Indian paintbrush, but the silvery plant in the background is the diminutive prairie lupine. Lots of mosses and lichens are also growing in this photo. I took it down on the pumice plain, before we got to the crater. There are prairie lupines growing in the crater, but not Indian paintbrush...at least not yet...

I don't know what this flowering plant is, but it was growing near the crater. I learned something interesting about the cracked rocks I saw everywhere in the area. I thought they cracked because water got into cracks and froze in the winter, but the geologist explained that the cracks happened shortly after the eruption. The magmatic rocks were incredibly hot. As they cooled, the outside surfaces cooled at a faster rate than the rock's interior, and they cracked in the process.

Grasses with seed heads growing near the crater.

A tiny Douglas fir growing near the crater.

The chorus frog was able to survive in this environment because there was a small glacial stream. The stream had some algae growing in it because of the minerals and heat from a nearby hot spring. The frog most likely eats algae and insects. The insects come because of the plants that are beginning to grow. I saw two spiders on the hike, one of them in the crater itself.

The post-1980 landscape north of Mount St. Helens has provided a unique laboratory for biologists to study primary succession. Which plants establish themselves first? What plants and animals begin to follow? What are the interactions between the various species?

We saw two herds of elk (no photos--sorry--they were too far in the distance for my little camera) down on the pumice plain. The biologist explained to us that most of the willows that are trying to grow in the area have broken tops because the elk rub their antlers against them to remove the velvet each year. At the same time, tiny little weevils have come into the area, and they attack the willows from the inside out. There is always a constant interplay between the flora and fauna in any region, but here, where the plants and animals have only gradually been reestablishing themselves, scientists have been able to observe their interactions in some unique ways.

In addition to food, the plants and animals need water. Of course there is lots of precipitation in the Northwest. In addition, two streams flow off the crater glacier.

So, the glacier. All morning long, this had been our goal. We would be eating lunch at the crater's snout. I had visions of sparkling ice with deep blue fissures. I think I must have been looking at ads for cruises to Alaska. This is what the Mount St. Helens crater glacier looks like:

That dark gray flat thing in the distance? That's the glacier. It looks so...volcanic. Duh. It's covered with volcanic ash, grit, and rocks that come tumbling down from the crater walls.

It's a very active glacier, growing (in length) more than 150 feet each year. (More this year, because we had so much snow.) This photo shows one of the streams coming off the glacier, and the active rock falls slithering down the face of the glacier.

It's hard to get a sense of scale. Everything is so big. The front of the glacier--the snout--is about 100 feet tall.

Face to face (snout to snout?) with the glacier. One of the things that fascinated me about being in the crater was how colorful the rocks were. Ok, they're still mostly shades of gray, but there are bright yellows, greens, and reds mixed in. The geologist explained that the closer a rock is to the effects of magmatism (near magma, heat, etc.) the more likely it is to be changed, and the crater rocks are newer, and showing the effects of their recent contact with magmatism. I confess...I hiked out with 3 or 4 small colorful rocks in my pocket. Please don't turn me in. I don't think the volcano will miss them...

I'd like to wrap up this post by explaining a little more about the structure of the Mount St. Helens crater. When most people envision a crater, they think of something like Crater Lake. Nice and round and symmetrical. But Mount St. Helens isn't like that. The south face of the mountain looks like that. That's the side that people are talking about when they talk about climbing to the summit of Mount St. Helens.

The north side of Mount St. Helens is another story. When it erupted in 1980, almost the entire north side blasted out laterally--to the side--heading north. If you're not familiar with that terrain, here are a couple of interesting videos to bring you up to speed.

This one is only 18 seconds long. It is composed from an amazing series of photos taken by amateur photographer Gary Rosenquist, who happened to be in the right place at the right time. Here is an explanation of his sequence of photos.

This one is 7 minutes long. If you can't spare the full 7 minutes of your life, then fast forward to about 4 minutes in. There's a really good animated diagram / explanation of the lateral blast.

Sunday morning at church, someone asked me if I had to know how to arrest my fall with an ice axe before I could go into the crater. I thought he was joking, until I realized he was thinking of a Crater Lake-ish crater. Hiking into the Mount St. Helens crater was a challenging uphill hike, but we weren't going over the lip of the volcano down into the crater below. We were hiking across the pumice plain and up the debris flow to the opening in the side of the mountain.

What was the coolest thing about being in the crater? Maybe it was just the realization that I was standing inside what had once been deep inside a mountain. As we were hiking up the debris field, in an area called the Goat Rocks fan, the geologist pointed out the moment when we "stepped inside the mountain," inside the imaginary line in the air that had once been the surface contour of Mount St. Helens.

No, I didn't get to see anyone up at the summit waving down at us. I had imagined that we would, because when Mark and I climbed to the (south side) summit a year ago, we had seen scientists about the size of ants way down below us in the crater. Due to the poor visibility, I doubt that anyone actually made it to the summit last Saturday, but if they did, they weren't seeing much of the crater.

I also didn't get to see the lava dome, which would have been a cool thing, but it's not accessible except by helicopter. It's back behind the glacier, which now walls off most of the crater. (It's the only glacier in North America that is growing, not shrinking.)

But I don't care. I was there, and I made it to the crater with a hard climb, in spite of the weather. I was inside the mountain, and I loved it.

Tomorrow: Stay tuned for the descent...and the mountain goat!

Mount St. Helens Crater: The Ascent (Part 1)

2011-09-18T21:07:00.000-07:00

Mike, Sarah, Bridget, and Julia were correct: some more volcano adventure came my way on Friday and Saturday!

Though a lucky set of circumstances, I was given the opportunity to join a guided hike into the crater of Mount St. Helens on Saturday. WOW!! Of course I said yes and began pulling my gear together.

The hike was sponsored by the Mount St. Helens Institute. I was one of 16 participants on the hike. We were led by a USGS geologist, a biologist and the volunteer coordinator from MSHI, and two MSHI volunteers. We met at the MSHI Science Camp, near the Cascade Peaks lookout point, on Friday evening at 6:00.

Here's a photo I snapped on the way to Science Camp. Will the weather clear up? Will it rain? Only tomorrow morning would tell...

Science Camp has two large tents, a generous and sturdy camp kitchen in between, and an outhouse-tent. As you can tell from the stove pipe, the tents are heated with wood...so cozy! The tour hosts fed us a delicious gourmet dinner inside this tent, and then we had a couple of talks by the geologist and the biologist to prepare us for what we would see on the mountain Saturday.

Most of the participants slept in the big heated tents, but I knew I would sleep better on my own. That's my sturdy red tent in the background. It's been on many backpacking hikes with me over the last twenty years or so, and best of all, it has a really good rainfly. I just didn't trust those clouds. The other tents in the foreground belong to other scientists who were based at Science Camp and out doing field work on the mountain all day every day.

Saturday morning we woke up at 5:00 am for breakfast and getting gear stowed before a 6:00 am departure for our hike. Oh, was I glad I had a good rainfly the night before...those aren't just clouds you see in the photo...those are Cascade Mountains rain clouds. I slept toasty warm and cozy, and ready to go hiking!

Here I am at the trailhead, ready to set out. My pack included a rain jacket (I'm already wearing rain pants), extra hats, lunch, 3 liters of water, the ten outdoor essentials, and extra socks. We can see part of the mountain, but the visibility won't be good for long. This is the last photo of me for the day without my rain jacket...

Here's our group headed west. We will be hiking between the pumice plain and Spirit Lake. Our route will be about 6 miles to get to the crater, and about 4 miles back. So far I'm feeling pretty good about this hike--good trail, level. It's in the low 40s and sprinkling, but I'm cozy inside my rain gear.

Across the pumice plain, the trail is marked by these rock cairns. It's nice to know we won't get lost!

Just a little further along, our guide turned left--south--toward the volcano, and off the path. For almost the whole day, we were hiking cross-country across the volcano debris. And as you can see in the photo, we were done with "level." For the next 2 1/2 miles we gained 2,000 feet on rocky, gritty, sandy terrain.

Looking back down...agghh! Did I really just climb up that?? There's not much view in the distance because we have climbed higher and/or the clouds have come lower, and we are now in the cloud.

Still dealing with poor visibility. Where's the view? Our hike leaders cautioned all of us to make sure we could always see the person behind us, so that no one would be left behind. He compared us to a long slinky, spread out along the trail, sometimes stretched out more, sometimes clumped together. Of course one of the MSHI volunteers always hiked the "sweep" position at the end of the group, to make sure we were all accounted for.

Still climbing toward the crater. I love the way the landscape is so dramatic (when the clouds part and you can see it--hahaha). The canyon in the center of the photo was carved out by a small creek in just 30 years, and it's a couple hundred feet deep already! The geologist explained that the water carves the landscape so quickly here because the soil is so soft and easily moved.

Did I mention that it was raining out? This photo was taken just after a particularly wet, nasty part. We had been hiking across a long, sloping plain, with the wind blowing a steady 40 mph (temperature in the low 40s), and rain driving right into our faces. It felt like needles. It was one of those keep-your-head-down-and-keep-hiking kinds of times. It wasn't fun, but...it was! After a while we dropped down into a little side canyon where the wind let up, and I gave a whoop - I did it! I felt strong and exhilarated to have made it through that in-your-face bluster from the weather.

Speaking of a wet hiker...and speaking of dramatic landscapes...still wet, but loving this amazing place. We are almost to the crater! We cross a small stream near this spot, and in crossing, I am just about to plant my boot on a...frog??!!

There it is, small and green in the middle of all the gray ash and red-brown rocks.

He (she?) was moving slowly in the cold weather, so the biologist scooped him up to show the other hikers. How could he live in this environment? That will be a perfect place to begin tomorrow's blog post. Come back then to read about what it was actually like inside the crater of a volcano.

Adventure is afoot...

2011-09-14T19:15:00.000-07:00

Oh, I am excited. SO excited. I get to have an adventure this weekend!

Any guesses???

Stay tuned for photos on Sunday or Monday!

9-10-11

2011-09-10T22:37:00.000-07:00

Today is a cool date. 9 - 10 - 11. I'll bet the number of weddings and scheduled C-sections is higher today than what you'd see on an average Saturday in September. Think how much easier it will be for all those husbands to remember their anniversaries!

On the other hand, that could be a little awkward because today is, also, of course, the day before.

The thing is, ten years ago today we didn't know that. It was the day before all the bad news. So we went about our business and did our normal things because there isn't that much that's special about September 10, as a date, except for maybe once every century or so. If only all those people in the towers could have known that it was the day before, they wouldn't have gone to work the next day. The airline passengers wouldn't have climbed aboard those planes. They all would have stayed home, and they'd be alive.

But life is like that. Huge things happen to us out of the blue. Things we didn't know were coming, things we never would have predicted the day before. Terrorist attacks, tsunamis, car wrecks, betrayals. You just never know.

Today I got to thinking about my 16, 17, 18-year-old students, and what to do with them to commemorate September 11. For the first few years after 9-11, I gave my students time to write about their memories, to reflect on whatever meaning those memories held, during class time on September 11. But the last couple of years, the kids have just looked at me. They're a little jaded. They've had this writing assignment every year, for gosh sakes, and they were just little kids when it happened. They really don't remember or know that anything different is about the world today than it was the day before. Whatever fears or griefs they may have carried within them from that ugly act of terrorism, they've kind of said it all.

In another three years or so, around 2014, my juniors and seniors won't have any memories of September 11, 2001. Of course they will of heard about it, and of course it's important to teach and remember, but it won't be a personal thing. Even now, the kids in my classroom were just in kindergarten or first grade, or maybe second grade.

There is something in all this that carries such poignancy. So many thousands of lives were directly affected by the terrorist attacks. Millions more of us have had our lives profoundly change since then. And yet there are millions of young people--billions of them if you take in the global populations (and it won't be long, believe me, before they are the movers and shakers in the world, and I'm slowing down somewhere in retirement)--for whom that day, that experience, is nothing but a sad story they've heard too many times.

I know we will remember the attacks tomorrow, and of course we should. But I am certain that celebrations around joyful family events are also going on, and I'm glad we've reached the point where we can schedule a wedding the day before 9-11 and it's not weird.

For me, I think the takeaway lesson of this curious juxtaposition of dates is simply to live each day the best I can. Because every day, in someone's life, turns out to be "the day before" they weren't expecting. I'm not trying to be gruesome here, or melodramatic. It's not the kind of thing I like to think about, necessarily, but it's inescapable and true. My heart goes out to all the fine people who still grieve losses from September 11, 2001. And my hat is off to all the celebrations linked to this very cool date, September 10, 2011.

How to Wrap up a Summer

2011-09-06T20:21:00.000-07:00

1. Go out to the garden and pick 5+ pounds of green beans first thing in the morning, while they're still damp from being watered the night before.

Can about half of them into pickled green beans. Here's a great recipe. YUM!! Then blanch the rest of them before tucking them into tidy packets for the freezer.

2. Get mean with the zucchini. Show them who's boss. Even nasty dudes like this 21" bad boy.

Bust out some new zucchini recipes. Try out Summer Squash Casserole and Zucchini Pizza Casserole. You will be very popular with the eaters at your house. Oh, and be sure your daughter-in-law makes a truly yummy batch of Zucchini Bread. (Thank you, Holly!)

3. Do something girly. Rummage around in the basement and find the extra tulle from decorating your daughter's wedding a couple of years ago. Use it to make a darling tutu to send to a faraway granddaughter for her birthday. It's so easy. And so fluffy. Check out this very easy tutu tutorial.

And then...if you're a school teacher...as I am...say goodbye to Summer!

Putting "Labor" into Labor Day Weekend

2011-09-03T20:53:00.000-07:00

Today I spent the day at one of my very favorite places in the whole world...the Pacific Crest Trail! I talked Mark into signing up with me on a trail maintenance crew on a section of the PCT near Herman Creek, in the Columbia River Gorge. We enjoyed perfect weather (88 degrees, but we were in the shade most of the time) and met some great people on our 7-person crew.

Everyone wears hard hats on a trail maintenance crew. I wore mine proudly today...I wasn't just out there hiking, I was working!

The Herman Creek area is so beautiful. We couldn't have asked for a lovelier place to spend the day. The section of trail in this photo did not need any maintenance, but it gives an idea of the scenery.

Here is our destination: a nasty, ankle-turning bit of talus or scree. It was difficult to walk across this section, and I watched my step carefully, remembering my nasty fall a few weeks ago. It was daunting to think that we would be able to repair this rocky section of trail in just one work session.

Who would have guessed that the primary tool used to repair trail like this is...a bucket! What that trail section needed was more rocks, and we were the "horsepower" to bring the rocks to the trail. Specifically, smaller rocks, as in gravel. Here's a photo of Mark demonstrating his manly bucket technique. I've often wondered where the trail gravel came from over my years of hiking. Did someone push a wheelbarrow full of gravel all the way from the trailhead?

Nope. When you need gravel on a trail, you scout it out. Here's another crew member, Steve Queen (he's the president of the local chapter of the Pacific Crest Trail Association), mining the "gravel pit." Earlier in the spring, trail maintenance had to be performed right here, because a (new) small stream had sent a bunch of gravel and rocks down on the trail. So our savvy work crew leader knew that we had a good source of gravel about 1/8 mile from our talus trail.

Here's a shot of Mark up above the gravel pit, sending more rock down for us to shovel into the buckets.

Mark enjoys a welcome break for the crew. We hiked 2 miles to our work area. Then we carted uncounted buckets full of gravel from the "pit" to the scree section of the trail. Every round trip was 1/4 mile...every four round trips added another mile to our "hike." I logged over 24,000 steps on my pedometer today! I'm sure I'll sleep well tonight, but I think I'll be feeling it tomorrow.

Before we dumped our buckets of gravel, another crew member would be arranging the scree into as flat a surface as possible. Here Leif is leveling the scree with a pulaski.

And Jeanette is arranging the rocks by hand. How many times have I carelessly hiked over sections of trail that cross talus slopes, with never a thought to the work it takes to make this into a good section of trail?

Greg dumps yet another load of gravel. I swear he was sprinting up and down the trail with those buckets. How did he do it??

But that work really did pay off. Here's our fantastic crew leader, Bill Hawley, checking out the new tread. Bill was patient with us newbies, very knowledgable about trail repair, and tireless. He kept us all working safely without any nagging.

In the above photo, you can see where the loose rock is still on the trail in the bottom of the photo, and the rest of the trail is looking...WOW! So much better already! I snapped this photo when we were about 1/3 of the way up our section of trail.

A closeup shot of the trail improvement. Bill's left foot is on the improved trail, and his right foot is on the "before" section. Bill told me that it's a great compliment when hikers don't even realize that the maintenance has been done. It just looks like good trail. But I can tell you that I will never look at sections of trail like this in the same way again. When they are lovely to hike on, I'll know it's because someone sweated on a trail crew!

Leif checks out the new tread. Can you believe that we've almost finished repairing this whole section of trail?! When we first arrived, and Bill told us we'd be improving the trail section one bucket at a time, I thought to myself, "Yeah, right." I had no idea how quickly a crew of only 7 people could fix such a treacherous section of trail.

Mark and me on the way back to the trailhead. (Did I mention that we also had to hike two miles out after all that work, to get back to the car...) Here we are at the crossing of Herman Creek. Most of the trail back to the trailhead was downhill, which sounds great in theory, but in practice...ouch! Downhill hiking is so hard on knees and toes. I was the "slowpoke" of the crew, but everyone was patient and good-natured about my plodding pace.

Good by, Herman Creek! It was lovely to spend time with you today. I am sore and sunburned, but I am so glad I could "give back" to the amazing PCT.

Early Morning Garden

2011-08-30T18:53:00.000-07:00

I glanced out the window about 6:30 am this morning. Something about the light caught my eye.

It was that half-light. Do you know what I mean? Partly dark with mystery, and partly glowing with promise. Something about that light beckoned me, and I went out into my early morning garden.

The spaghetti squash glowed like lamps on the lawn.

Bright glimpses of impatiens, ripening tomatoes, and marigolds peeped from beneath dark leaves.

One hollyhock lifted like a banner into the sky.

The geraniums were a swirl of color.

My window.

Only moments earlier, I was sitting inside there, writing, while the garden grew in light.

Lucky 13

2011-08-28T19:50:00.000-07:00

Whew! Woke up this morning with thirteen people in the house! Oh, it makes a grandma's heart so happy to have family together.

My lucky thirteen were:
1-2: Mark and me
3-6: Holly, David, Arora, and Ender (I can't remember if I've written about this in a post, but they have moved in with us for a while. I feel so very lucky to have a son and his darling wife, and two adorable children here with us.)
7-8: Mike and Maddy (They are here so that Maddy can visit with Josh, Sarah, and Kat, her siblings who live nearby. We've had such a fun week for these siblings who live on opposite coasts to spend some good times together!)
9-13: Polly, Eric, Katie, Seth, and Becca (They drove to Oregon City yesterday. This was a true sacrifice for them, as Eric just started his second year of teaching chemistry on Thursday. But they came anyway because they love their sister Maleena soooo much, and today was the day the Max and Maleena blessed their baby, Hunter, at church.)

To celebrate my lucky thirteen morning, here are 13 photos of some fun we've been having together.

David got up early this morning and made homemade waffles for all thirteen of us. What a champ! Holly, of course, was his assistant. Thank you David and Holly! The waffles were delicious, and all thirteen of us made it to church on time at 9:00 am. Wow!

Who can resist this smiley guy! Ender is such a character. His mother has nicknamed him "Trouble" - for his speed crawl straight toward whatever his parents don't want him getting in to. He turned one this month, and he is starting to walk! It is so fun to watch him taking 5 or 6 steps at a time.

I was in heaven today in the church nursery. These two sweet granddaughters, who are almost exactly the same age, but live on opposite coasts and rarely get to see each other, were there to play and have fun with Grandma. We had SO much fun together!

Becca and Maddy, playing with puzzles in the church nursery. I just couldn't get enough of them. I love two year olds!

Max, Maleena, and Hunter, after his blessing. He was such a sweet baby - not a peep out of him during the blessing, and he was happy and wide awake during the family party afterwards. Maleena and Max are doing a wonderful job raising him, and it was a joy to spend time with their family today.

Family outing at the zoo on Thursday. Kat, Sarah, Arora on the elephant. Then there's me, Mark, and Josh with Maddy. The children have been having a wonderful time together.

Maddy feeding two lorikeets at the zoo. What a gift to have time with these gentle birds. The kids were getting tired, and the lorikeets were the last exhibit we stopped to see. It was a perfect way to end the day--made some special memories with the kids.

Sarah and Josh feeding lorikeets (Grandpa Mark in the background).

Random times at home...Maddy helping me pick cherry tomatoes out in the garden...

...Arora pushing Maddy in one of the swings...

...Sarah and Josh teaching Maddy how to play "Hit the Deck"...

Here's one more photo from today. My handsome hunk with little Hunter. How I love Mark! I am so grateful to be married to this good, kind, hardworking man. He is a gifted grandpa. He always soothes the babies to sleep. I tease him that it's because he's boring, but that's just a little joke, you know...

And the last shot of the day...grandkids on the lawn after the baby blessing. A barrel of monkeys, as usual! Ender (escaping), Arora, Becca, Katie with Hunter, and Maddy. Seth was a little out of sorts and chose to skip the photo op.

Oh, happy Grandma day! I am a lucky, lucky Grandma!!

Camping Post #2: Family Campout at Ensign Ranch

2011-08-21T18:37:00.000-07:00

We spent Thursday night and Friday night at Ensign Ranch, near Yakima Washington, with my parents and Polly & Eric & children. With all of our travels this summer, we had not yet seen Polly and her family, who live just 4 1/2 hours away! We had planned to see my parents when we camped at Sparks Lake, but had to change our plans when I broke my nose, and we wanted to spend time with them, too. So a family campout was the perfect way to end our summer with dear family.

Ensign Ranch is a (LDS) Church-owned camp. It was so nice to know that our neighbors wouldn't be up till all hours with noisy parties. It is huge--it can accommodate 3 or more stakes of YW Camp at the same time--but we found a great spot for our family.

The campsites have wonderful teepees and wall tents. They can hold 10+ people! We had lots of space. The tents and teepees have good floors and are very comfortable to camp in. The campground we were in does not allow vehicle access, so we used the handcart to haul the gear from the car to the campsite - about 1/4 mile each way. Of course, the kids loved getting rides in the handcart!

Polly, me, Katie, my dad (Ken) and my mom (Nancy) - chopping up vegies for the foil dinners. You can see the Family Campout teeshirts we had made for the weekend. Polly said it might have been better if they were neon orange, so she could see her kids better when they wandered off through the bushes. :) No matter, the teeshirts will bring back happy memories when the kids wear them throughout the year.

I love cooking in foil - no dishes to wash! You just have to be careful to seal the seams really carefully to keep the steam in - that's what does the cooking. I also use 2 layers of heavy duty foil to prevent burning.
Mark was the "fire-man," and did a super job managing the briquettes for the foil menu and the Dutch oven dishes. Thanks, Mark!

After foil dinners, of course we enjoyed some marshmallows. Polly, Seth, Eric, Becca.

Seth really enjoyed his marshmallows! Haha - he is ALL boy.

It was so good to sit around in the evening and visit with family. The kids thoroughly enjoyed all the outdoor time. The mosquitoes weren't too bad, and the setting was really lovely.
(Polly, me with Becca and Katie, Seth, Eric)

I loved all the grandma-snuggle time! Here I'm enjoying some time with Becca and Katie.

My parents, Nancy and Ken, were the ones who got me started on camping as a kid. It's been years since I've camped with them, and I loved having them join us on this campout. They brought their new camping trailer and stayed in a nearby RV site. It was a little over 1/4 mile for them to walk from their trailer to the campsite where the rest of the family stayed.

Yum! Friday morning breakfast was French toast casserole in the Dutch oven. It came out perfect, and there were no leftovers.

Friday was filled with water play. First we played in the canoes. Ensign Ranch provides them for free! Katie wanted to ride with Grandma and Grandpa.

Polly, Seth, Eric and Becca. After a while, Mark and I were boarded by "pirates" - Seth and Becca climbed into our canoe! So fun to enjoy the time with the grandchildren, even if they do make the canoe extra "tippy." Sit still, kids! Mark kept saying...

After lunch we took the kids to play at the huge slip-n-slide. It really is amazing. The kids kept going for 2 full hours. Thank goodness we brought our shade canopy to sit under and watch them. That's Eric at the top in his green teeshirt, holding Becca. Katie is off to the right holding a pink inner tube, and Seth is sliding (off his tube--haha) with the orange inner tube.

Here's a little video that shows some of the action. In the video, Eric is sliding and holding Becca, and Katie is in the next inner tube, holding hands with Eric.

Back at camp, Becca helped me prepare the pineapple upside down cake. We also made homemade ice cream to celebrate three August birthdays: Mark, Seth, and my mom. Dad grilled steaks, and we all were about to pop! after supper. Oh, my, it was all so yummy.

Our last morning, Becca woke up with swollen puffy eyes - a mosquito got her on the eyebrow, and also beneath her eye! Poor kid - she didn't seem to mind too much. Good thing she was too little to realize how puffy she looked.

Seth enjoyed our final breakfast.

We loaded all the gear back onto the handcarts. (Eric, Seth, Katie)

And headed for the parking lot, and home. (Eric with Becca, Seth, Katie, Mark) We had so much fun!

Camping Post #1: Backpacking at Opal Creek

2011-08-17T22:58:00.000-07:00

We had a glorious 2 days backpacking at Opal Creek with Josh (11) and Sarah & Kat (both 9). The weather was perfect, the scenery was outstanding, the kids were great, and we had a blast!

We went to Opal Creek, a beautiful area of old-growth forest, just east of Salem. It's about a 2-hour drive from the Portland area. There are creeks everywhere, feeding into the North Santiam River. Huge trees, 500+ years old, are common in the woods there. We hiked in 2 miles and made our camp, then had fun with a day hike, playing in the river, making fires in our campsite, and just generally playing in the woods.

Here are a few of the many photos from the last 3 days.

At the trailhead - Monday early afternoon

Kat, Sarah, me, Josh, Mark

Sarah, Kat, and Josh touch a 1,000-year-old tree

How tall can it be???

Sawmill Falls, near our campsite

The kids love "secret" campsites. We found a great one, tucked back into the trees and down a small slope so we didn't get noise from the main trail. Kat, me, Sarah, and Josh enjoy the campfire Josh built...with some help. By the end of our campout, he was pretty good at it, and the girls were right behind him.

All 3 kids felt compelled to sharpen sticks. Only 1 bandaid required for the entire outing! Here Kat sharpens another stick.

Josh was our main cook, to help complete a Boy Scout requirement. Here he is mixing muffins in a ziplock bag. We cooked them in the bag with a gizmo called a "bakepacker." Yum!

Sarah sharpens yet another stick...

We all took turns pumping water through the water purifier, but Mark got the main workout. Thank you Mark!

Sarah had the first turn at this campsite's Log of Beauty" - another backpacking tradition with the girls. Isn't it amazing that every single campsite always seems to have its own special log for a morning beauty routine?

Before we left home I did a little internet research and found instructions to 3 different letterboxes along the trail. We found 2 of them. Here's Josh discovering the "Douglas Fir" letterbox tucked into the base of a stump near our campsite. We brought rubber stamps and a stamp pad, as well as our little hiking journals, so that we could add our stamps to the letterbox journal, and stamp the letterbox's unique stamp into our own journals. Fun treasure hunts!

Josh, Sarah, and Kat heading out on a day hike.

Snow melt!

The kids wanted to play in the water, but they didn't go in too far...

Sarah and Kat

For another of Josh's scout requirements, we kept an eye out for wild animals or evidence of wild animals. He had to identify 10. Here the family is pointing to bear evidence--the scratched-away section of a rotting snag. Mr. Bruin would have been looking for insects in the dead tree.

On Tuesday afternoon, the girls asked Mark to take them fishing. He had brought fishing line, bobbers, and flies, but he forgot the actual pole back at the car. No matter...they rigged fishing poles on long sticks. And Sarah caught a fish!! Too bad, it was an inch too small to keep, so they released it back to the stream, but it sure was exciting!

This morning, packed up and ready to head back to the car.

Me, Sarah, Kat, Josh, Mark

Backpacking with the grandchildren has become one of my favorite traditions. We started with Josh four years ago, when he was only 7, and we added the twins two years ago when they also turned 7. That's the youngest I want to take grandkids out into the woods for overnighters. It's fine to take younger children out backpacking when they are with their parents, of course, but to be away in a dark tent overnight when the trees make interesting noises...tough to do that if you're littler than 7. This year, the kids were talking about how fun it will be to include cousin Katie next summer, when she will be 7. They're looking forward to showing her the ropes.

Stay tuned for Camping Post #2, coming this weekend!

Robber in the House

2011-08-13T21:59:00.000-07:00

A.K.A. "Blueberry Bandit"

Ender, age 1 year as of last week, climbed onto a stray chair in the kitchen and proceeded to scarf blueberries that were safely (I thought) stored on the counter. All by himself. He can't even walk yet.

Hahaha! Let the "baby-proofing" begin! For those who haven't heard, Ender and his 3-year-old sister Arora and his mom (Holly) and dad (David) moved in with us this week. They'll be here for a while as they get situated in the Northwest. You know, looking for a job, that kind of thing.

Mark and I know that we will be empty nesters again...someday. In the meantime, we're excited to have some special close time with these dear grandchildren and their parents.

And I'm putting a lock on the blueberries!

Look what I made today!

2011-08-12T22:30:00.000-07:00

Can you tell what it is???

It's made out of heavy trigger cloth, and I doubled the fabric so it's even stronger. It needs to be strong, because it carries a heavy load.

Can you see something peeking through the drawstring hole?

Aha! It's a Dutch oven carrier! Such a great idea. I saw one in another family's gear when we were camping at Sparks Lake last week, and I vowed to come home and make one of my own. It makes it so much easier to carry a (cold) Dutch oven and best of all, the soot on the outside of the Dutch oven won't get all over my clothes or my car or my other camping gear.

Here's a side view. It shows how the heavy-duty straps go all the way under the bottom before they turn into carrying handles on the sides.

Here's the bottom view. I made the circle for the bottom by tracing the Dutch oven lid and adding a little for seam allowance. Then I measured how tall to make the sides: as tall as the Dutch oven + enough extra to gather in at the top with the drawstring.

Here's another cool little project that I made today:

Place mats for the Church nursery! They're about 12" square. They are made out of the tablecloth fabric you can buy off the bolt. I just folded them in half (right sides together), sewed around two sides, turned them right side out, and topstitched around all four sides. Easy peasy. We've been using napkins as a place to put the children's food during snack time, but we can reuse these - they'll wipe off so easily. If you try to make these, be careful when turning them right side out. You have to be gentle, or the fabric will tear along the stitching line. Can you tell I'm speaking from experience?

TOY and a little panic attack

2011-08-11T08:23:00.000-07:00

Back in the spring I received an email from a nice lady at the Oregon Department of Education saying that I had been nominated for Oregon Teacher of the Year (TOY). Hmmmm, I thought.

I still don't know who nominated me. I thought it might have been my principal, but she didn't know anything about it.

The nice lady's email had an attachment. Seventeen pages of forms to fill out if I wanted to apply to be Oregon TOY. I was too busy. Maybe after school was out.

After school was out I spent a week down at the Oregon Department of Education offices in Salem, working with another very nice lady who paid me for doing some work on the state reading test and some training materials for teachers to learn to score reading and writing work samples. Still too busy for that seventeen page form.

Then we went on our three week road trip, and I missed the deadline. Which was just as well, because I really didn't want to be Oregon's Teacher of the Year. I've reached a point in my life where I really don't want a lot of attention. It makes me skittish. The Oregon TOY is expected to be a spokesperson for all of Oregon's teachers, making profound statements on education policy and teacher evaluations. I might have relished that at one time, but not now. Too heavy a burden. Plus the Oregon TOY is required to attend a bunch of conferences, which means more time out of my classroom. I already get pulled out of my classroom too often as it is.

While we were on the road trip, I received another email from the (first) very nice lady, saying that they knew the application was a lot of work, so they had decided to extend the deadline. Hah! I guess I wasn't the only one who missed the deadline. Oh, all right, I thought. I guess I'll do the darn thing. Can you tell how excited I was about it?

Back at home, I allotted exactly one morning to fill out the seventeen page form. Pulled up the form on schedule, started filling it out, and made it through all of 1/2 page.

Why I am I doing this when I don't even want to be Oregon Teacher of the Year? I asked myself. Walking over to the recycling bin with the seventeen pages, I felt a momentary pang of guilt for not being more excited about representing all of Oregon's teachers, and then put the forms in the bin and forgot about them.

At 57, I am on the downhill side of middle age. There are enough things in my life that I do because I need to, not because I want to / love to do them. Why add one more thing? It was nice of that anonymous person to nominate me, but being a candidate for the Oregon Teacher of the Year just isn't a good fit in my life right now. Why fill out a seventeen page form for a responsibility I don't even want to have? So I emailed the nice lady and told her that I wished all of the other candidates well, and that I would not be submitting the application. Door closed, deal done. It feels good to say NO once in a while.

Last week I had a miniature panic attack about being a teacher. I was standing right over there, in my kitchen, putting a pan on the stove, when I suddenly thought about going back to school and making lesson plans. Do you know that making lesson plans is hard, every time? Some parts of it get easier, but even when I'm teaching a lesson I've more-or-less taught before, it's different. Different kids, different me, different world. I'm always a little anxious about whether or not it will work. Will the kids learn what I hope they will? Am I teaching it right? Am I even clear about what they should learn and what / how I should teach? Arggh. So I was standing there with the pan in my hand, and I thought, I don't think I can do this anymore. How will we pay the bills if I don't go back to work in the fall? The thought passed quickly and I told myself there was nothing to it, but it kind of freaked me out.

A couple of days later I had to pick up something from my office at the school. I don't have my own classroom anymore (I teach in someone else's room during their prep period), so my office is "my space" at school, where I keep all of my teacher stuff. I stood there at my desk--thank goodness I left it fairly organized back in June--and wondered if I would feel all panicky again. But I didn't. I was ok. It felt good to be there. I felt calm.

Yes, I think I can do this again. Not as Teacher of the Year, but just as me. Only two more weeks of summer vacation, and then, ready or not, back to school.

Grandma had a boo-boo

2011-08-08T17:51:00.000-07:00

Kendra and her family thought I needed some get well photos:

Lilly says, "I hope your nose is better soon, Grandma!"

Chris, Kendra w/ Lilly, Andie, Gavin, Abbi, Charlie

Yes, they are all wearing bandaids on their noses to show their sympathy. (You can see their bandaids if you click on the photo to make it larger.)

What a wonderful way to wish me well! I feel better already!! Thank you, dear family.

Nose Update: If you didn't know that I fell last week, you wouldn't be able to tell. The scabs, super glue, and bruising are all gone! Yay!! The bridge of my nose is still a little tender while that nose bone heals, but it doesn't bother me unless I accidentally touch it.

Sparks Lake, 2011

2011-08-07T18:37:00.000-07:00

Ahhhhh...I feel like I imagine a cat must feel when all it's fur is rubbed the right way, and it is purring contentedly. Three nights of camping in solitude do that for me.

How I love canoe-camping at Sparks Lake! It's a little volcanic gem tucked into the central Cascade Mountains of Oregon, just around the corner from Mt. Bachelor. Here's what we do: we load up the canoe with all the gear we'd normally take when we go car camping, then we paddle a mile or so up the lake to our secret hideaway campsite and offload our gear, and then we enjoy all the comforts of car camping, in a setting that feels like we are backpacking! During the day we paddle the lake, swim, and play to our hearts' content, and then at night we sleep like logs...and wake up the next morning to start all over again.

But before we get to the solitude part, first we played for the afternoon with our dear friends, Ken and Dorothy. They are the ones who introduced us to canoe camping and Sparks Lake, and every year before 2011 we have camped at the lake with them and other good friends. This year, the camping schedule didn't work out for all the others, so we camped most of the time by ourselves. But Ken and Dorothy were staying at their own special hideaway about 30 minutes away, so when they knew we were coming, they drove up to the lake with their canoe and helped us haul all that comfy-cozy gear to our campsite.

Would someone else be camped in "our" spot? We paddled around the point and into the familiar cove...and yippee! The site was available! Here is the cove, with the dramatic view out our "front door" of Mt. Bachelor.

These two canoes have seen a lot of good camping together over the years...

Before they left, Ken was determined to help us lay in a good store of firewood. He and Mark went "lake lumbering"...whacking on a poor defenseless dead tree, lying out in the water near our campsite. They sawed off all the branches that were high and dry above the waterline.

One last group shot...just like old times!...and then Ken and Dorothy paddled away, leaving Mark and me to enjoy our very first solitude experience at Sparks Lake.

That evening we went for a paddle out into the lake. The light was silvery, and South Sister commanded the view. The lake was like a mirror.

The next morning...out for another paddle! This time we headed up to the north end of the lake for a little exploring. Along the way we spotted a bald eagle. Can you see him? Try clicking on the photo to enlarge...he's sitting on a branch, dead-center in the photograph.

Here he is again, flying off ahead of us.

We explored one of the inlet streams. It was filled with thousands of little pollywogs, as fat as my thumb, all swimming in the same direction. How do they know? When we reached this log, we decided to stop rather than portage through the grass, which was humming with mosquitoes.

Mark enjoyed a snack...

...I played on the log...and then we headed back into the main lake.

Back "home" in our cove, I went for an exhausting swim...not! It is so relaxing to just float on the noodles and enjoy the sunshine.

Later that afternoon, dramatic clouds blew up behind Mt. Bachelor. We thought we were in for a storm, and we did have a few big, fat drops of rain splatter into the dust in the campsite. The clouds grew bigger, the wind blew...and that was it! The clouds blew past.

And the light began to grow silvery again as the earth turned toward dusk.

And that was my last photo of our three-day camping trip. I thought the camera was fully charged, but apparently not. No matter. We made memories for ourselves to carry us through the hectic days ahead, when school gets underway again and we are scrambling for enough time to keep ourselves together. We'll remember the silvery light, the mirror reflections in the lake, the eagle flying ahead of us, and so much more.

Ahhh...good bye Sparks Lake, until 2012!

PS: Dorothy has more good photos of Sparks Lake here and here.

What's in a Face?

2011-08-03T07:12:00.000-07:00

This week has certainly helped me become aware of how much I value my face. It is a part of my identity that I often take for granted.

I've also become more aware of how I tend to perceive others--and they may perceive me--based on my face. What did people think of me when I looked like this?

Taken in the car--Thursday, July 28

I wondered if they thought I was a victim of domestic violence. Very few people asked me "What happened?" but I got looks, you know? It was kind of weird. It made me want to stay home and hide. I pondered what all that said about my vanity and pride, and how much value I place on my appearance. I don't fuss much with hair or makeup, but still...I confess that I do generally like the way I look. The experience of having my face all messed up has been unsettling and thought-provoking. What if I didn't have the blessing of a body that heals? What if this were permanent? How would I face the world? I reflected on Stephanie Nielsen at the NieNie Dialogues and her courage in moving forward after most of her body was burned.

Thankfully, my body does know how to heal. What a smart body. I am so grateful for it! Yesterday I went to see the Nose Doctor, and she told me that my nose is healing properly, and I can go out and play. Yay! We are heading out to Sparks Lake!!

Taken today, August 3, at home. Can you tell how happy I am to be going to the lake?

My scabs are almost all gone, with healthy new pink skin beneath. The funky shiny place on my forehead is where the ER doctor super-glued my two largest lacerations. (They weren't that big - they probably would have required one stitch each if she had stitched them instead.) The super glue is supposed to come off all by itself in a few more days. I hope.

I hardly think about my face now. I forget that it still looks a little funky, except when I get a look from someone. I don't even care anymore that some skin is pink and some is tan--it's my face and I am so grateful for it!

Aging is funny, you know? Sometimes I look in the mirror and get all pouty about the little jowly things starting to develop on the lower corners of my face. I play with my skin and pull it up near the ears like I had a facelift. Makes me look younger, for a second or two. I can't go around all day holding my skin by my ears.

A couple of months ago I was washing my face one evening, and I suddenly slowed down, started smoothing the soap on my cheeks in slow caressing circles. I was being kind to my face. I thought, "This is the only face I'll ever have. Even if it's showing some age, I'd better love it." That was an "ahah!" moment for me then. I carry it with me. And I also carry the brief, instantaneous memory from last Thursday, of that moment when I was falling and I saw the rock just inches from my face, and knew that I was just about to slam into it.

Yes, this is the only face I'm ever going to have. I'd better love it, and I DO!

Trip Tally

2011-07-31T16:13:00.000-07:00

Mark and I made it safely home on Friday afternoon. Oh, it was heavenly to sleep in our own bed again!

We traveled from Oregon to New Jersey and back again.
In all, we...

traveled through 17 states
camped 3 nights (I wish it could have been more)
stayed in motels 2 nights
stayed with much-loved family 18 nights
visited 10 grandchildren and 2 foster grandchildren.

We also...

traveled 7,374 miles.
burned up 257 gallons of gas (29 miles / gallon!).
spent $1005 on gas.

Would I do it again? Sure! In a couple of years...
In the meantime, we will probably try to visit these dear families via air travel.

And since we traveled through Kansas, I feel justified in quoting Dorothy:
"There's no place like home!"

Day 23: OUCH!!

2011-07-29T07:27:00.000-07:00

After our fun visit with Angela and the kids, we drove a day through the desert to visit Mark's mom, LaVerne, in Atascadero, California. Oh, it was wonderful to be back on the coast, with the pleasant marine air! We spent a full day puttering on "handyman" projects at her home, and throughly enjoyed our peaceful time with this very dear lady. (Sadly, I was so happy and peaceful that I completely forgot to pull out the camera...) On our last evening with her, we went next door to play pool at her neighbor's house. Hahaha! Haven't done that since the one time I tried as a teenager. I was definitely the novice in the group. Mark was whacking the balls quite expertly into the pockets, and even LaVerne knew how to set up a shot. It felt like some huge physics problem--which angle? How hard to (try to) hit? I am pleased to report that I did successfully get 3 or 4 balls into pockets over the course of the evening. Maybe I'll have to try that again sometime...

Then yesterday morning we climbed into the car for the drive north, and home. We planned to take two days for the trip, so we decided to take a little play-rest stop on our way to visit The Pinnacles, a place both of us remembered vaguely from childhood family outings. We loved it then...would we still love it now?

Oh, yes, WE DID! The Pinnacles National Monument is an amazing place. It met every expectation we had hoped for.

Oh, we had a glorious 2-mile hike. We congratulated ourselves over and over for taking the time to play on our long drive, and we were almost back to the car when...

I tripped. I tripped on one rock and, in falling, promptly face-planted into another rock. Gravity works oh-so-well. You know how head wounds bleed? Mine was classic. Blood everywhere, from my face, out of my nose, oh my, oh my. Could I walk? Yes. Mark sacrificed his hankie so I could try to stanch the flow(s) and we made our careful way back to the car. Took about 15 minutes of hiking. At the car we pulled ice out of the ice chest and loaded me up with Ibuprofen, and Mark drove the 30 minutes north to Hollister, the nearest town.

They DO have a nice, new ER facility at the Hollister hospital. We spent about 3 1/2 hours there. Turns out I have a broken nose. My facial wounds were all "superficial" and the doctor superglued the two worst, rather than doing stitches.

My present appearance garners lots of sympathy, but I must say that I look WAY worse than I feel. (I've posted a photo from the ER, but you'll have to scroll down a ways to see it. Don't look if you don't want to.) They gave me a prescription for pain meds, but I'm doing fine on the regular Ibuprofen dose, and I'm actually only taking that to help with the inflammation and swelling, not because I hurt a lot.

We stayed in a comfortable motel near Redding last night, and now we're loading our suitcases into the car...one last time...and we'll be home in 7 hours or so.

No more adventures today. Haha! Oregon City, here we come!!

How do I feel? Ummm...kind of stupid. Sort of like Bride of Frankenstein. But you know what? I'm still glad we took that hike. I had an accident, which could have happened anywhere. What fun would it be to live life afraid of what might happen? And mostly I feel grateful. My injuries aren't severe. My glasses didn't break. I don't hurt (amazing!). And I have my wonderful sweetheart, Mark, who helped me all along.