Thank a Teacher!

Twelve and a half years ago a kind teacher, realizing that one of her students was embarking on a frightening time in his life, gave him a book. “Take this book to the hospital, it is delightful, you will love the story and its characters. You will find it enchanting,” she said. And so we did! Little did the boy and his mother realize what this book would do for them and the bond it would create between them.

Jordan underwent his first surgery and lengthy hospital stay in September of 1999. At this time the first three books of the Harry Potter series were in print; book three having just been released in July of that same year. As he lay in his hospital bed with tubes, needles, sutures from stem to stern and adjusting to a new digestive system – I began to read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone to the 10 year old boy. Throughout the ensuing year, a year of illness, pain, and discomfort unlike anything either of us could have imagined, two emergency flights and hospitalizations at Primary Children’s. . . Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets as well as Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban provided small moments of peace, enjoyment and diversion from a nightmarish existence. In July of 2000 to save his life, he underwent another extensive surgery. Harry Potter and Goblet of Fire had just been released. Again Harry, Hermine and Ron came to his rescue; occupying his mind with visions of mystical creatures and places far far from the realities of life.

When Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was released, Jordan was 14, his life and health had become stable and we “independently” read the novel, discussing each day the chapters we had read. Thus our love and quest of reading the Harry Potter series together continued. July 2007 as an 18 year old he young man, he and I shared the last of these books Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Not only did we read all of the books together, but in 2001 the first of the Harry Potter movies came to the screen. We had read these all these books together; certainly we had to go to the movies together. It was a connection and bond for us. In 2009, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince was released. Jordan was serving a mission at the time. I didn’t go to the theater, but rather purchased the DVD and waited for him to return from his mission to watch it together.

Yesterday our Harry Potter encounters came to an end. Jordan is attending college at the University of Utah. He passed up eight invitations to see the last movie with the comment, “I have watched all the Harry Potter movie’s with my mother and I am going to wait until we can watch it together.” As I had the occasion to be in Salt Lake yesterday, he and I concluded our Harry Potter pact and watched the final movie. I shed a few tears at the conclusion, not for Harry Potter, but for the end of a journey that had spanned nearly 13 years for us. I will always be grateful to a wonderfully kind teacher who unknowingly offered more than a book to a small child and his mother. She offered us a chance to share something special, create a bond, critique and question, expand our minds and imaginations, and provide a place of refuge from the storm.

Say thanks to a teacher who made a difference in your life!

 

More than just a hair dryer . . . . .

If you are a mom, grandma, neighbor, pre-school teacher, kindergarten teacher etc - you may have had to deal with kids writing on walls and doors and other surfaces which were not meant to have crayon on them!  I encountered this and after scrubbing paint of a couple of places, I googled it on the internet - duhhhhh.  So simple to remove, plug in your hair dryer - put it on hot and blow very close to the crayon, it will melt and easily wipe off in its entirety with a piece of tissue!  You've gotta love the internet!

Self Expression

Allowing our children to "find their own voice" was (is) challenging even to the best of parents.  Bringham Young's advice to "teach correct principles and they will govern themselves" however simplistic it sounds, is not always easy to do.  Don't we just want to nudge, push, correct, and insist so that our children will always find the "right" voice?  When my children were all still at home and "The Simpson's" was a highlight on TV, their mother was adamant that they not watch it.  I felt it was a program in which children did not respect their parents, talked back to them, made fun of them and were vulgar.  Some how this was all supposed to be funny.  Down the road, did they always obey me?  No, although I don't think they ate a steady diet of  Bart, some of them did snack on it.  Yesterday, while setting the table for dinner, I grabbed a hot pad out of the drawer to slap on the table prior to placing a hot dish on it.  I started to grin, then smile, then laugh.  One of my sons had found "their voice" while in middle school CTE class and machine embroidered good old Bart on the hot pad - just for their mom!  They did all turn out to be very wonderful children - each with a voice of his/her own!

"Dill Pickles" - A Legacy

Dill pickles may seem a rather odd "legacy" but the melding of Mark and Debbie into one family brought with it, oddly enough, a legacy of great dill pickles!  Both of our mothers made fabulous dill pickles - loved by all their children and grandchildren.  When we were married, I noted that both of them virtually had the same recipe.  Grandma McBeth's dill pickles had one ingredient that Grandma Christiansen's did not. Grandma Christiansen's recipe however also had one ingredient that Grandma McBeth's did not.  Just as the bible states, "and the twain shall be as one,"  speaking of husband and wife; I took it to heart and my mothers' dill pickle receipes became "one."  Our children love the pickles and put in requests for home canned dill pickles. So canning season 2011 begins with dill pickles and here are the first jars.  It is my hope that the vines stay healthy, the weather stays warm and the cucumbers abundant!  Below is the combined dill pickle receipe I use.  It is easy, fun and good eating! Some legacy!

1 quart apple cider vineger
1 quart water
1 cup rock salt
1/2 tsp. powdered alum

Boil this mixture and pour over quart wide mouth jars of cucumbers, dill, 1 clove of garlic per quart and 1/2 to 1 hot pepper (depending on your palate!)

Put on lids and bands, process for 5 minutes!

Pickles need to age for at least 1 month before eating!

For best results use small cucumbers, no longer than 4 inches.

Are YOU prejudice?

Ask me and I'll emphatically say, "No! The color of your skin, the lilt of your voice, the religon you profess, does not matter.  It is who you are and how you behave that matters to me."  . . . . . . . .  or so I thought!  I spent 5 days in San Francisco recently - a different world from my little corner of the USA.  I suddenly found myself taking Taxi cabs - alot.  Each taxi cab I rode in was driven by an individual born outside of the USA, each one was from a country in the Middle East. Each was pleasant, kind and helpful.  A couple of them in retrospect took advantage of the "out-of-towners" and drove around a few extra blocks to up their fare.  Sad to say, I was nervous each time.  "Does this person hate me because I'm an American? Would they like me obliterated because I am a Christian?"  I found it unsetteling in myself.  I think we are always disappointed to find out we're not quite the wonderful people we thought we were. In defense of myself, I am sure that the events of time and terrorists and mindless tragedies across the globe have contributed to thinking twice about whether or not we trust the individual in the front seat.  Wouldn't it be wonderful to trust the entire world? and if you ask me if I'm prejudice?  I'll try to say, "I'm trying not to be, I may think things in my head, but I would never vocalize them.'   Hmmm  next year I'll be a better person.

The Little Engine Who Could

This story was always a favorite of mine as a child.  I think because I often felt "less than" as a child, this story gave me hope that if I persisted, I could achieve whatever goal I may set.  In the ensuing years I have learned that persistence is good but that if I coupled persistence with the help of the Lord I could accomplish any good thing.  As I reflect upon my life, I see that with the help of the Lord I have been able to accomplish many good things. 

So now I have found myself caught in the "weight trap" - in applying these same two principles, perseverance and help of the Lord I can beat this trap too.  I have set a goal of 1 year to lose 20 lbs. I must be persistent and diligent in following healthy eating, cooking, living, principles.  These principles must be based upon divine counsel - which I have come to believe are the Word of Wisdom. 

Since I have wrapped myself around this cause with this focus - this quest has changed from just losing weight to living healthy - it is more positive, principle based and a concept wherein I can truly seek the guidance of the Lord as well.

The best part of it all???? I now feel happy about this goal.  It does not have the depressing burden of , "Oh I have a muffin top and can't seem to lose this fat." (FYI:  "muffin top" as defined by the picture below is now an official definition in Oxford dictionary!)

Feel free to give me help, advice, encouragement, ideas, recipes etc. 

Take a few minutes. . . .

I haven't posted for 3 months! I was gone every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday 4 straight weeks. I'm not losing as much weight on "Weight Watchers" as I would like to. My life is a wreck. . . . but I have taken a few minutes to do a couple of good things. Weight Watchers has put me back onto the activity train. I have been exercising for 45-60 minutes a day. But one of the best things I have done, is to listen to the recording on www.lds.org of Elder Bednar's simple, beautiful, inspiring instruction of being an Aspostle. If you don't do anything else with your time. . . .take a few minutes and watch this. It is so tender.