These are some of my siblings- Loretta, Sharon, Everett at my niece's wedding this past summer.
But as I get older I find that eating whatever I wanted has placed a toll on my body. I have mentioned before that I have Rheumatoid Arthritis and Ankilosing Spondalitis. I have also given birth, a lot of times. I also used to be a dancer and a choreographer. And my joints ache from it all.
When the doctor told me that the pain in my stermun was from the RA and Ankilosing, I started asking questions- What did I do to cause it, how do we make it go away, cure it, make it better, all those things. He told me that there is no answer to the what causes it, no cure and he could give me medicine to help me tolerate the pain. He also told me that both of them are programmed in my DNA. However that doesn't mean that they will activate and that science and doctors don't know what causes them to activate, probably stress and wear and tear on the body- dancing, having children, living with an abusive husband for way too many years, those types of things. Then he gave me some meds to try and sent me home. They didn't work and we tried some more and did that dance until we found something that helped.
But to tell the truth, I didn't want to spend my life taking a handful of pills everymorning and evening and giving myself an injection every Tuesday morning. Especially because I can only do the injections on my thighs, back of my arms or the worst place of all, my stomach. I can't even touch a pen to my leg without my thigh muscles tensing. Because I didn't want to live forever with these meds, I started doing some researching and experimenting.
I may not be able to go back to what I was and did in college, but what I do and eat now makes a huge difference. Yes, I can tell you when a storm is coming and if I am outside when it is cold, it will take me 40-50 minutes before I can hold a pen or pencil. So I just make sure I wear gloves. Wearing heels makes my back and tail bone hurt more, so I need to stop being so vain and find cute flats. And if it is cold and the pin holding my foot together gets cold, heels are just going to make that pain worse, so I am in search of a new shoe wardrobe.
But the most important thing I learned is that the food I eat makes the biggest difference in how I feel. And the biggest surprise of all? When I stick to what I have learned, I lose the weight I have been fighting for years. I didn't make huge changes, just small things over time so that they were easier to continue doing.
What I did:
1. I started to eat like a baby. Really. When I am hungry I eat, even if it has only been two hours since I ate last. I no longer make myself wait for the meal and then stuff myself silly because I am so hungry. I keep a few low calorie things in my desk and a water bottle full of ice and if I am hungry, I eat. Graze.
2. I started drinking soy milk. It took me a while to find one that I like, but I finally did.
This is the brand I like the best. I use the original for cooking and the vanilla to drink. Once a day I add a scoop of Whey Protein powder to 8 oz. of the vanilla.
3. I stopped eating processed foods.
4. I identified the way my body processes foods. I learned that my body burns protiens much more efficiently than it does carbs. But I have to be careful, high protien diets are very hard on the kidneys and liver.
5. I became a lable reader. No sugar, high fructose corn syrup, asparteme, words I can't pronounce. The kids have started reading the labels as well. (here is a good blog on why you don't want this stuff in your body) Sometimes this is the hardest of all. Sometimes the manufacturer changes the ingredients and if you are not reading the label regularly, you might be surprised. This past summer I told my mom about a drink mix that I was using instead of Kool-aid. It had no sugar, tasted great and the kids would drink it. Guess what? What I didn't know at the time is that one of the ingredients is asparteme- just under a name I didn't recognize as asparteme. Bummer.
6. Water, water, water. When I get to work I take my water bottle to the lounge and fill it with ice. I then eat the ice and as it melts, I drink the water. I usually fill it again after lunch. If I am wanting something with a little zip, I add a packet of True Lime, True Lemon or True Orange.
Is my diet perfect? No. I still wish I had someone to come in and make me some menues complete with recipes, but I can tell the difference. When I am on track, I feel good, when I give in and eat that piece of fudge at the office party, I feel it in my joints and see it on the scale. And you know what else? I no longer crave the fudge, the cherry coke, the cinnamon rolls. We had no candy this Christmas except what the neighbors gave us. No one noticed or complained. And I am not going back to work having gained those 5-15 holiday pounds. In fact, my doctor mentioned that I had lost since I saw him last month.
And I no longer fell like Diet is Die with a T.
Donovan, Kristina and Hunter are coming over for dinner today. Donovan and Trevor just told me that they are probably not going to get leave to come home the end of March. That means that when they fly out on the 1st, they are gone till they get back from Iraq in a year. Donovan will miss the birth of his little girl, his birthday in a month, Hunter's 2nd birthday, so much.
I made manicotti for Trevor the Sunday he came home and made sure that he had stuffing and pumpkin pie for Christmas dinner. Today I will make sure that Donovan gets meatloaf, greenbeans and a cherry cheese pie. I won't get to cook for them for a year. I won't get to make a birthday cake for either of them, phone calls will be rare and today I am sad for all of that.
I know that many moms, wives and children have gone through this over the years, but I thought I had one more leave before I had to say a long goodbye. So after all the meatloaf and pie is gone, Jess will take pictures of all of us, and I will try hard not to cry too hard.
Love you boys
Semper Fi
Today is a special birthday at our house. One that we acknowledge but don't really celebrate. It is the birthday of Brandi's birthmom. Now, I am not supposed to know this information. When we were at the hospital waiting for her to be born, I had to register as if I was the one giving birth. This was a fairly new hospital and their first experience with an adoption. The registrar wasn't sure how she was supposed to enter my information so that it would be on the birth certificate (it wasn't supposed to be there until the judge made it legal six months later). Anyway, she went to ask someone and left the birth mother's paperwork on the desk. Now, I had not met the birthmom and knew very little about her. I took a paper and pen from my purse and started writing.
Then about a month later this same hospital sent a bill to us instead of to the adoption agency. The adoption agency was supposed to black out any vital information pertaining to the birthmom, then send the bill to the insurance. I was supposed to never see it. But I did. I made a photo copy. Both of those papers are in a lock bock with the rest of the adoption papers.
So, I know that today is V's birthday. I mentioned it to Brandi and she just looked and me and said, "oh, ok" and went to play with her friend. But I would like to say Happy Birthday to V and thank you for my beautiful baby girl. I know that life is hard for you and that the circumstances you find yourself in are not the best, but when you made the choice to give Brandi to our family, you made my life brighter and better. So thank you for that. And I hope that today is a good day for you.
I am pretty sure that she will not see this blog. The choices she has made in her life preclude her access to a computer. And even if she had access to one, I am pretty sure that she is not spending her time looking at and mindlessly reading blogs. She has 6 kids (she gave another daughter for adoption the year before Brandi was born) and works 3 jobs and lives in a slum somewhere in Ohio. But all of that aside, I still pray for her and her other children, she did for me what I could not at that time in my life- something that I believe we all three agreed to before we came to this earth- and I love her for that.
I am sick. I would feel better about it if it was a sugar induced candy sick. Maybe. But it is not. I asked Santa to not bring candy this year and he obliged. We got buffalo jerky, fruit leather, pinons (pine nuts for those of you not from the southwest), and the stockings overflowed. But mine is still full of all of that because I woke up with a little cold and didn't feel like eating anything.
This morning I woke up half dead. Fever, coughing, sore throat, stuffy nose, earache, headache. I sound like a Nyquil commercial.
I would just go back to bed except I have to take Matthew in for a CT scan. He needs his head examined. No, really. He has been having daily headaches for a couple of months now and we can't find a reason, so this is the next step.
Is turkey soup as good as chicken soup for colds?
Today will be a list post with a parable at the end
*Donovan and Trevor are home for the holidays!!! They got home last night. 3 hours early! When they got to the airport, one of the employees bumped them and another Marine up to an earlier flight so they could get home sooner. Wasn't that sweet of her? She had told Trevor that there was only one open seat on the earlier flight, but somehow she made 3 open seats happen. Merry Christmas to her.
*Even though I am "done" there is still lots to do today- Brandi just reminded me that we need to make cookies for Santa. Jess wants to go to a store that is going out of business to see if we can get her a tripod for her camera. So I guess we had better go shopping. I think I'll pick up cookies while we are out.
*I hate shopping and hate it at the mall even more. However, last Saturday I went to the mall to get something for Jess. I got sidetracked at another store that is going out of business. They had some skirts that I have been wanting for a very long time, but I really did not want to spend $60+ for one. I got 3 for less than $20- total not each. Score!
*I love Christmas Eve. I love the anticipation and the magic and wonder of it all. Today, this is my favorite website. I see that Santa has already delivered to Dustin and Cindy, my brother and his wife, in Australia.
*Last night the teachers in our ward did a Secret Santa service project. There is a family in our ward that was not going to have much of a Christmas. They were going to deliver stuff to them last night. Ethan didn't get home until after 10. He has spent since Sunday trying to figure out what to get for their little girl. We discussed the family and what kinds of things the parents would appreciate or not appreciate their children getting. He told me that they had a lot of fun shopping and picking it all out, but that the delivery was even more fun. Then they delivered food to some other families that don't have much. (and if you are in my ward and reading this and got a delivery, please let these boys stay anonymous- it was such a great experience for them)
On second thought, I think I will do the parable in another post so that I can work a bit on it and make it exactly what I want it to be.
Happy Christmas Eve everyone! And no peeking!!
Matt working on the bottom row
Here it is the Sunday before Christms and there are still so many things to talk about. We had our traditional Christmas song Sacrament meeting where our choir presents the program all in song. There are songs and words I want to talk about from that. Then there are all the things from our Sunday school lesson I want to talk about. The least of which is this, why whenever Brother D. is the teacher do I always get called on to give one of the prayers? Not that I mind, just askin'.
And then there is the Relief Society lesson. Just what I needed to hear today to help me with my issues with Brandi's principal. One thing I learned about myself this week- I am not always a nice person. I may do the right and nice thing, but that doesn't mean I am thinking the nice thing. You know the movie "Field of Dreams"? Remember the part where they are at the school board meeting and the mom calls the other mom a Nazi cow? Yeah, I have had to repent of my thoughts a lot this week.
And, no one brought in the mail yesterday. I noticed it as I walked past the mailbox on my way to church. I sent it back in the house with Brandi but I kept out the envelope from my doctor. Bad news, the blood work shows that my kindeys are "irritated" so I have to stop taking the pain meds that he has me on. We had agreed on Th. when I was in that I would go a day or two without it and see how I felt. So I hadn't had any Friday or yesterday. This morning I could tell that I hadn't taken any and my back and tailbone were hurting. So I took a pill so I could sit on the hard chairs at church. He did give me a prescription to exchange it for- Predisone. I don't want to take Predisone. I just lost almost 20 lbs and don't want to regain it. I also don't want to fill my body with it. I keep thinking that I can control all of this with my diet, but I am having to learn what and what not to eat or what to replace and what to replace it with and it is slow going. What I really need is someone to make me up about 4 weeks worth of menues and the recipes and then I would be set.
Because it takes less time and thought process on my part, I am going to post a couple of videos from this year's Christmas in the Grove instead of going into the above mentioned topics.
Calypso Christmas- a fun little upbeat tune
Monotone Angel
Another fun little upbeat ditti. The "angel" actually has quit a good voice, but this part was perfect for him, he is quit the ham. I used to choreograph plays and if we had had blooper reels from rehearsals he would be featured in most of them.
Halle, Halle, Halle
Kathryn always has at least one audience participation song and this is one of them from this year's program. It is also one of my favorite tunes this year. Sometimes I think that the Hulseys must have been Southern Baptists before they left South Carolina and I got the gene that wants to sing the Olde Time Religion songs, because they are always my favorite.
When I wrote the short, short story "The Choir", the choir director was inspired by my friend Kathryn Little. I know I didn't quit catch the essence of her, but when I go back and do some more revising I will work harder on that part. But you can see a bit of it in this video. You can also tell the moment that Brandi realized I had turned the camera in her direction.
I am behind. I hate being behind. It makes me feel rushed and out of control. I have two weeks off of work and school for Christmas break. But I also am helping Matt with a present for Whitney that is very time consuming and we should have started last month, but he barely asked me last week. I also have 20 chapters to read for school, close to the same amount of articles, 2 papers to write, 3 projects to get done, a questionair to create, interviews to hold, a zillion loads of laundry, somewhere I know I have a kitchen table and why is it all my stuff on the table anyway? I want it to be someone else's so I can blame them for the mess. The kids want to go to Spanish Fork to see the lights tonight. I still need to upload Brandi and Jake's piano recital videos, Christmas in the Grove videos, Jake's Christmas concert video, at least 3 month's worth of pictures, wrap 4 more presents, send my Mom and Dad's present......
Yet I sit here blogging. Probably because when I look at it all like that, I feel overwhelmed. But it will all get done, it always does and what doesn't get done just won't matter. Sorry Mom and Dad, your present will probably be late- again. I used to be so organized, the laundry will get done because I am only going to do what absolutely has to be done for Sunday- the rest can wait for Monday. The table will be cleared as soon as I put my homework away and take the 3 bags of stuff for Matt's project to my room, homework will get done and if I don't upload the videos until some time in the future life won't cease. And I will take the kids to Spanish Fork and if I let someone else drive, I can continue to embroider while we travel if I turn on the small light.
There, I feel better already. But I did have to share one of the videos with you from Jake's concert the other night. It is just too good to let sit. He forgot to tell me they were coming in the way they did, so I am sorry for the beginning. Jake is second from the end on the right- black jacket, white hat. It was my favorite number of the evening.
Enjoy.
Hannah hurried to the stage. It was time for the choir to warm up. Her new white dress, long and flowing, made quiet whispers as her silver slippered feet took her down the hall. Her long red hair was a beautiful contrast to the white silk. Her hair and the twinkle of happiness in her deep blue eyes were the first thing others noticed about her.
There was a buzz in the air. Everyone was busy rushing here and there. White robed orchestra members, their trumpets gleaming with recent polishing made their way quickly down the hall . The gold of the french horns gleamed in the light. Timpaniis and cymbals also made their way to the gathering place. Excited chattering filled the hall as the orchestra hastened to their assigned places. This would be the best performance ever. Hannah turned when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
“Thank you for being here.”
It was Kathryn, the choir director and one of Hannah’s best friends. The smile on Kathryn’s face was reflected in her deep brown eyes. Yes, tonight’s performance would be the best yet.
“My stomach is dancing in anticipation. But I am so glad you talked me into joining the choir.” Hannah replied. “I know that I am not the most talented singer in the choir and my notes are off key more often than not, but I do so love the music you chose for this program.”
“You’ll do just fine.” Kathryn gave Hannah’s hand a final squeeze of reassurance and then turned to put her music in order.
Kathryn stood. Her brown hair made a halo around her shining face. Hannah looked around the room. It was so full that she could not see the beginning nor the end of the audience. There was no time for Hannah to feel nervous. Gabriel began his narration.
“Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.”The curtain opened on the stage and the lights were brighter than Hannah remembered them being in rehearsal. In fact it seemed that one light shone almost as a spotlight, making itself brighter than all the others.
The strains of music began in the brass section with the trumpets. That beginning of the music always brought a quickness to Hannah’s heart. She looked at Kathryn in anticipation. Kathryn’s face was beaming. That beaming seemed to be reflected in everyone . In fact, it seems as if the whole heavens were filled with this light, a light that spilled to the earth and bathed the shepherds in glory.
Kathryn raised her arms. The choir stood a little taller.
“Glory to God. Gloria in excelsis Deo..”
Hannah was overwhelmed with feelings of love and gratitude. It was time to sing the first noel- the proclamation of a royal birth- and the strains were glorious and beautiful and filled her entire being. It was here, the birth onto earth of her beloved elder brother, and she got to tell the world.
Update:
I spoke with the principal at the school where I work because I wanted to make sure I was not overreacting to this whole thing. I deal with enough parents on a daily basis that do over react that I really, really don't want to be that parent. He felt that I was not and that I should call the principal's supervisor. He helped me outline what I wanted to say so that I could do it calmly and rationally. I spoke with the supervisor, and he was surprised that the sentence of 3 days suspension was given, not happy that Brandi was held for 3 hours without parental contact and displeased over me not being allowed to see my child when I requested it. But of course, he needs to speak to the principal and I would not have expected it to be any other way. Now I am just waiting for the supervisor to get back to me.
Sometimes being a mom is like walking a tightrope. There was a bit of trauma and drama at our house yesterday and I had the enviable position of doing the balancing act of supporting a punishment that I felt was too harsh and supporting a child who had made a bad choice.
Brandi was accused of something at school and the principal twisted everything around to make her the ringleader. I was told that Brandi was a "secretive, sly, manipulative, sneaky liar who is a bully." Now, I do not care if my child was caught red-handed in whatever was going on, but don't call me after you have had my child in your office for 3 1/2 hours and sit me down while she is in another room, not let me see my child even though I have asked you 4 times and then start by calling my child those things. If you do that, I am going to become defensive and not hear anything else you have to say.
After I finally got mad enough that the principal let me see Brandi, I had Brandi tell me her side. Yes, stuff happened and yes, Brandi was involved, but Brandi was trying to tell her point of view and was interupted over and over with the princpal's version. The principal would not listen to anything Brandi had to say. And then she said to me, "well, everyone I talked to said that they never saw bulling behavior on Brandi's part. All the teachers and the playground aids said that she is sweet and nice and always nice, but that is just not true."
Brandi said, regarding the bullying behavior, "I didn't know that I was being a bully. The other girl was laughing and going along with us and she never said that I was hurting her feelings. How can I know I am being a bully if no one tells me?" And the principal said, "You are a bully and you should just know." Brandi is 9! 9 year olds don't always know when something they are saying is considered bullying.
So, the punishment is an automatic 3 days suspension. Here is where my tightrope walking comes in. This is a first offense. There was never a warning of any kind given to my child, never a principal conference, never a parent conference. The norms are: 1.student conference with principal, 2.parent conference with principal, 3.suspension to a parent conference, 4.three day suspension- but 1-3 never happened. But my child was involved, so she should be punished and the suspension is the punishment that the authority in charge has meted out.
So how do I not undermine the principal- whom I disagree with- and help my child understand that you choose the behavior, you choose the consequence, but then on the other hand I want Brandi to understand that I believe her version and which parts she should have done differently and that I think the punishment was unjust?
At the high school this would not have resulted in a 3 day suspension for a first offense student with nothing on their record. We would have done a suspend to a parent meeting which means that I would have been called in immediately, Brandi would not be allowed in class and the principal would talk to me as soon as I got there. We would be told that the next offense will result in a 3 day suspension, and Brandi would be allowed back at school the next morning. That is how it is handled for 14-18 year olds. I am trying to be objective- hard to do- because my child was involved and I don't want to be the "not my child" parent. But I really feel that the principal and punishment were too harsh. And I hate this part of motherhood.
So, punishment at home includes no television, no computer, no playing with friends. And while I am at work Jess gets to be the monitor of behavior. Brandi can only clean in her room, do her chore, and do homework or read. I don't want this to turn into a vacation for Brandi or feel like she is home sick. But part of me wants to soften it somehow.
I hate this.
This is an open letter to my children.
The room at the front of the house that has the piano and the couch and the fireplace? It is called a living room. It is not called a locker, a closet or a bedroom. Those are located downstairs, to the right and down the hall. Please come pick up your shoes, socks, backpacks, binders and drum sticks and put them in their proper place, or I will have to put them outside, in the snow and you will be forced to use the snow shovel to find them.
Thank you. I love you.
Mom
Today I am angry. Extremely angry. And that is an understatement about the how angry I am.
When we got home from school, I sent Ethan to the mailbox to gather the mail and bring it to me. I was happily sorting it into piles- garbage (which was most of it), stuff for Jess, a card from Mom and Dad (thanks), no bills (wonderful) and a magazine addressed to Trevor.
My first thought was "why have they started putting his Marine magazine in a plastic bag?" Then I turned it over. Then I got mad. Then I called Trevor and I didn't care that he was in California at training. I calmly asked him if he had subscribed to this particular magazine. One that uses a bunny as a symbol. He said no, he had no idea why it would be addressed to him or come to our house. I informed him that I would be calling the company and cancelling it. Fine with him.
Just opening the magazine to find their phone number made me feel dirty. There was a double page ad insert inside. I pulled it out and wrapped it around the cover. It could have been comical if I had not been so disgusted. Jess was laughing at the way I was trying to hold the magazine closed and thumb through just the bottom of the pages looking for the phone number.
I finally found it and called. The lady that answered my call was quite nice, but I think a bit delusional. First I asked for the account to be cancelled. She looked it up. Actually she tried to look it up using several different methods- name, address, zip code, account number on the address label. Then we went through it all again. And again. There was no account to cancell. The magazine had never been ordered! Now I was no longer mad, but angry.
Then she told me that they often send out complimentary copies. Now my anger was outrage. I told her that I did not find it complimentary at all, but a denigration and filth. She replied with, "Whatever." Ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you, the cover was not covered in any way shape or form except by a clear plastic bag. And the 8x10 glossy on the front cover left nothing to the imagination. According to the law, having that where underage children can see it is considered child abuse- and this company was sending it through the mail! If I had not been home, it would have sat on my table, been shuffled and moved and probably viewed!
I politely, through clenched teeth so I could remain polite, asked her how to be assured that this would never come to my home again. She told me to call the post office and request that anything of this nature be returned without delivery.
So I called the post office and was informed that they do not do that because if there is ever a substitute deliverer, they would just deliver the mail and not return something. So, I was to put the magazine back in the plastic cover and write "Did not order, return to sender" and put it back out in my mail box. So, I did.
But I left the two page ad wrapped around the cover.
Oh, and Ethan didn't even look at what he was bringing in, he just grabbed it and handed it to me. Thank goodness
Over at the Top of the Morning blog they are doing a top ten movie post, eventually. But that post and the ensuing discussion has had me thinking about movies and the lines that the kids and I quote most often. I have also been thinking about the movies that have touched me the most. And then there are the movies that I like, just because and for no other reason.
So just because I need a break from homework, I thought I would post a list of movies and why I like them or what remains with me from them. They are in no particular order, I am just going to add them as I think of them.
Six Pack- The movie was forgettable. Really. When I watched the trailer again I had forgotten most of it. Two things I remember about this movie. 1. I saw it my second year at Ricks with Everett, his first year there. 2. When the Kenny Rogers character, Brewster, tells one of the kids no the kid responds by calling Brewster "a yellow bellied, gutless ..." Brewster responds by saying, " I hope that isn't the same mouth you eat out of." I love that line. In fact, I use that line on students.
Sea Biscuit- I will admit right now that I had never seen this movie until Dave posted about it. I remember wanting to see it, the kids watched it, but for some reason I just never did. Last week I watched it. Wow, am I glad that I did. I LOVED this movie. I am just sorry I took so long to watch it. And I agree with Dave about it having one of the best movie lines of all time, "You don't throw a whole life away, just 'cause its banged up little."
Pirates of the Carribean- The Curse of the Black Pearl- Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow If I were to start listing all of my favorite scenes from this movie, they would all include Captain Jack. Is he drunk or just crazy sane? And tell me, Why is all the rum gone?
Frequeancy- I blogged about here
Raiders of the Lost Ark- Ethan says I like this movie because of Harrison Ford, but that is only part of it. The photography, the special effects, the story, the adventure. Marion's shoes in The Well of Souls. Why did it have to be snakes? I hate snakes. I'm making it up as I go.
The Hunt for Red October- based on a Tom Clancy novel which was based on two historical events. Men that stand up for what they believe is right, even though it is not popular and could cost them their lives.
The Wedding Planner- A couple of reasons I like this movie. I just like listening to Matthew McConaughey's voice. He could read the phone book and I would listen. But my favorite scene from this movie is after Mary sees her ex-fiance at the flower market and Steve takes her home. I love that he is roasting marshmellows over a candle. But even more, I love what a gentleman he is and that he leaves instead of staying where he is not supposed to be. And then one of the most romantic lines comes next:
"I barely know you, I don't know your dad's first name. I don't know if you ever wore braces or contacts or glasses. And I have no idea how you came to be a wedding planner, Mary. But I know the curves of your face. And I know every fleck of gold in your eyes and I know that that night in the park was the best time I've ever had."
Oh how about a bit later when Mary's dad says to Steve, "You mean to tell me that she loves you and you love her and neither one of you got married today? Then why are you standing around here?"
The Core- The suspense, the story. Thing we always say: "Feel free to throw up, I know I did" Will you take a check? Why not use a credit card? You'll get miles" "How many languages do you speak? Well, I speak one" "You want me to hack the planet?" "Is there anything you can't do? Not that I'm aware of." "You want to save a million people, I just hope I'm brave enough to save three." "I can't wait to get in an untested ship, go to the center of earth and restart it's core with a thousand megatons of nuclear weapons. Then we outrun the biggest shockwave in history."
Star Wars- The first one. And I mean the very first one made. So that would make it #4, right? It gets so confusing. Numbers are not my strong suite. But I like this movie for a couple of reasons. 1. it opened the way for so many special effects in movies. 2. My grandma took me to see this movie when I was in jr. high. Not many good movies came to our little theater in our little map dot of a town and this one was a biggie and my grandma sat through it because I wanted to see it. So I will always love this movie because of that.
Top Hat- with Fred Astair and Ginger Rogers. I always wanted to dance like Ginger (just like Fred only in high heels and backward) I was on my way, but I decided to be a mom instead. Great choice, but I do miss dancing. (and I saw you and Michelle laughing at me last night, Jess but I can't help it, it's in my blood) Cheek to Cheek and Piccolino are two of my favorite numbers in this movie
Vertical Limit- I haven't watched this one in a while because Donovan took it with him when he left. I love how the movie comes full circle. How we make judgements about someone else's decisions, but it isn't until we are in a similar situation or have to make a similar choice do we even begin to understand. And suddenly everything is clear and forgiveness and healing can come. It doesn't hurt that this is an overall great movie.
And as a Psych major, I have to include movies about people with psychosis or neurosis on my list.
What About Bob? Bob is so clueless and so neurotic. I just love him. Poor Dr. Marvin."There are two types of people in this world. those who like Neil Diamond and those that don't" "Baby steps" Our favorite quote? "I'll be quiet. I'll be peace."
Groundhog Day- A great story about seeing our own flaws and changing them. I love it when Phil quits acting and becomes worthy of the love he wants. When he quits thinking about himself and starts to put others first.
The Man Who Knew too Little-Bill Murray cracks me up. The chase scene is one of our favorites. Whenever we have to go through a round-about here in town someone always, always says- "Tomorrow let's go the other way" Don't take yourself too seriously.
A Beautiful Mind- The story of John Nash. "I need to believe that something extraodinary is possible" "Perhaps it is good to have a beautiful mind, but an even greater gift is to discover a beautiful heart."
Runaway Bride-The best proposal ever. "Look, I guarantee there'll be tough times. I guarantee that at some point, one or both of us is gonna want to get out of this thing. But I also guarantee that if I don't ask you to be mine, I'll regret it for the rest of my life, because I know, in my heart, you're the only one for me."
I keep thinking of other movies that I would add on my list, but I have got to get back to the homework, but these are some of the movies that I turn to time and time again when I just want a break. I'll add a favorite movie list to the side bar during Christmas break. Maybe.
Indeed.
Today is Jack Frost day. I bet that a lot of you just thought of that line from The Christmas Song- "... Jack Frost nipping at your nose." didn't you?
Tell me about Christmas carols. Reindeer, talking snowmen, chestnuts roasting, riding in sleighs. Those, at least, are pretty easy for a kid to understand and sing. But the songs about Christ? Not so easy.
Last Sunday was our stake program, Christmas in the Grove. Brandi sang in the children's choir. (You know there will be video soon) She was reading a Christmas book to me a couple of days before that. At the end of the book were the words and music for the song, Oh Little Town of Bethlehem. She read me the words and then said that she would be singing it in the program. I asked her what the song was about. She didn't have a clue. So I explained it to her and that started me thinking about our Christmas carols.
I have a lot of thoughts rushing around in my head about my most beloved carols and their meaning. I also keep thinking of the way kids mess up the words that they don't know or understand so that they make sense. None of that is coming out of my keys in a way that I want to post. So I will let it stew a bit longer.
In the mean time, tell me two of your favorite Christmas songs
1. Your favorite kiddie Christmas song and why (you know, reindeer, talking snowmen, that sort)
2. Your favorite reverent hymn and why.
In the mean time, I'll leave you with my favorite reverent hymn, sung by Luciano Pavarotti
Loretta tagged me a while back and I am just getting to it. Actually, when I have a minute to blog, I write 3-4 and then schedule them to post later. In reality, if you could see me now, I am sitting in class, taking notes and talking about human development across the lifespan, as if anything much has changed from the last 3 incarnations of this course. If you could see my dashboard, I have at least 3 scheduled and 5-6 in draft form that are works in progress. As long as they are stewing, they should be really good when they finally get posted.
But back to the tag:
Rules:
1. Get the book that's on your nightstand (or whatever you happen to be reading).
2. Open it to page 56 and find the 5th sentence.
3. Post the next couple of sentences on your blog, along with these instructions.
4. Do not go and find your favorite book; it has to be the one you are reading now!
5. Tag five other people to do the same.
Development Across the Life Span, Robert Feldman 2006
Ok, pg. 56 is a table and I do not want to go to the bother of scanning and saving and inserting, so I am going to just open to a random page in this chapter
Pg. 35: The evolutionary perspective draws heavily on the feild of ethology, which examines the ways in which our biological makeup influences our behavior. a primary proponenet of ethology was Konrad Lorenz (1903-1989), who discovered that newborn geese are genetically preprogrammed to become attached to the first moving object they see after birth.
I know. Facinating stuff. Now I have to go finish my paper on the summary of Piaget's Theories and stages of learning and then compare them to one other theory of classical and operant conditioning.
I don't suppose you also want to discuss if there is a "fixed" determination of the role of genetics vs. environment, or if it is variable? Didn't think so.
But that is ok, because tomorrow is Jack Frost day, so we'll talk about nippy noses instead.
And I am supposed to tag 5 people now, but I am tired and still have writing to do, so consider yourself tagged if you want to play. Then you can come back and tell me in the comments and I'll go see what good books you are reading.
A bit of small background. Jessica is dyslexic. The particular way that her dyslexia manifests itself is called Dysadisia. Basically, putting information into her brain is like straining peanut butter. And then getting the information back out is sometimes just as hard. Add to that, her brain does not process information the same way the rest of us do. It's like trying to run a program for a Mac computer on a PC.
Her entire public school career was a nightmare and I fought one battle after another for her and spent countless hours reading her her assignments and retyping her papers so that they said what she wanted them to say with no spelling errors. She earned every single blood stain and sweat drop on her high school diploma.
She took a well deserved year off of school. This fall she enrolled in college in the graphic arts program. Her goal is to major in graphic arts and photography. If you have been here before, you have seen some of her work. Or you can go here and see some of it. If I knew how to get it to play right on here, I would post her Joseph Smith project from about 4 years ago. But I don't know how to make the power point play right on here. But trust me, she is a natural when it comes to this stuff. She has a good eye for design and photography and all that jazz.
And tonight it is not just her mom saying that. I need a picture frame. She just walked in from class and handed me a certificate. This is what it says:
Jessica S.
Congratulations for achieving the distinction of being named to the Dean's List for Summer Term 2008.
The Dean's List!!!!
I am so proud of you, sweetie. It's about time someone else recognized how wonderful you are.
Christmas in the Grove Happy Birthday to my friend Dave over at Top of the Morning.
The rest of you, head over to Dave's site and make it a party and wish him Happy Birthday.
Happy Birthday, Dave. Hope it is a good one!
The nurse called me from the doctor's office today. She wanted to give me the results to my sleep oximeter test. It looks probable that I have sleep apnea. Meaning that I stop breathing when I am sleeping.
I also probably have hypoxemia. That means my blood is not getting enough oxygen so I need to have further and more involved tests to determine why.
Now, I may not have a medical degree, but it would seem to me that I am not getting enough oxygen because I am not breathing!
On the upside, though, I get new jammies because there is no way I am wearing my old, comfy Eeyore pjs to sleep in public.
The man that gave us:
these characters,
and the happiest place on earth
Saturday and/or Sunday night viewing. When I got my tree out last Saturday it . was missing a key piece. Well not missing so much as the piece was broken. I finnagled and glued and wrangled it until I thought I had it secure. I put the lights on (something I don't mind doing thank goodness because there are never enough for me). I then had Ethan put the angel on top. I heard a slight cracking sound and yup, the piece broke again. So I did me some more wrangling, finnagling and glueing and got it working again.
Working at least until I turned my back on the tree. I heard that cracking sound again and turned around just in time to be head butted by the angel as the tree fell on me! I still have a huge goose egg on my head from it.
Oh, then I went and got a screw and screwed the whole thing together. Why didn't I think of that to start with?
The offending angel, Miriam. I used to think so fondly of her.
Indeed.
I used to have a calendar that had a holiday on every single day. It was a great marketing tool when I did party decorating and sold party pariphanalia. I always had a reason for my customers to have a party and purchase party goods from me. I got very good and putting together themes and decor.
It's December 4th and you want to have a party, but you can't think of a theme that doesn't involve one of the major Dec holidays? No problem for me because it is: National Cookie Day, Wear Brown Shoes Day, Day of the Artisans (Honors all workers), Manila Paper Birthday 1845, National Grange Birthday 1867, National Dice Day, Ribbons and Wrap Day.
Still can't find a reason to celebrate? I have a list of 24 monthly events for December, maybe one of them will peak your interest. Or I could take any of the above reasons and show you how to decorate, dress up, what to serve to eat, what kinds of games/entertainment to have.
But I no longer do theme parties. No, I work in the highschool keeping students on track and in the evenings I read text books and write papers. Unless it is Wednesday, then I am in class for four hours. Except today, I get a one week break between classes. Well, a break on the being in class part, I still have 100 pages of text to read and a three page paper to write for the first day of class next week. But I digress.
I was trying to find something to blog about this month that wasn't my favorite Christmas song/ornament/tradition etc. Something that I could write about while taking a break and I decided to pick an obscure December holiday and blog about it each day. When I choose Charles Dickens in America day, I hadn't planned on the post being about my change of heart, it just turned out that way. Nor did I plan on the wise men showing up in my post about telescopes. But after they did, they gave me the idea that maybe I could take the obscure holidays and somehow relate them to life. Kind of like a parable or something.
Then I looked at today's list and came up with nothing.
I just looked again. Nope, got nothing wise and profound for you today. Sorry.
I think I'll just pick Ribbons and Wrap day and go put some paper and tape and bows on presents for the kids.
Today is the birthday of the telescope. There is some debate over who actually invented the telescope. Was it Galileo or was Galileo's telescope a more powerful copy of a scope invented a year ealier by some spectacle makers? Here is a nice article that talks about why people usually think of Galileo when they think of the telescope.
For me, I don't care who invented the telescope, I just enjoy using one. I used to have one but for some reason it got given away about eight years ago. I miss my telescope. Laying on my back on the front lawn looking at the stars is great, but looking at the heavens through a telescope is amazing. I wish I had had it still a couple of months ago when three of Venus' moons were visable. I did get a look at them with some binoculars, but the view would have been so much more incredible with a telescope.
It took me a long time to figure out where the things I wanted to look at were in the sky. I needed to take more time to study the astronomy and learn where things are. I am not always sure where the most common of constellations are. I can find the big and little dipper, though, and the North Star is pretty easy. My neighbor had a computerized telescope. You could type in what you wanted to look at and the telescope would reposition itself to point in the sky where the object is. All you had to do was focus.
Before the telescope was invented, there were not many ways to explore the heavens other than just looking at them, but the same constellations that we know and love were there. They were familiar to the people then. The North Star was a constant and steady presence in the sky, just as it is today and was a point of reference used to orient and guide those traveling by night.
Those traveling by night were very familiar with the night sky. They were not like me, they did not have a hard time recognizing the constellations, the planets and other things in the sky. They spent time studying and learning the charts and maps created of the heavens. When a new star and unfamiliar star appeared in the heavens they didn't need a telescope to help them focus. They knew the prophesies, the signs and what it meant.
The promised Messiah was born, the prophesies had been fullfilled. Freedom from spiritual bondage was here and they knew it because they were more than casual observers. They were able to follow the star and find the Savior because they had already figured out what they wanted to look for and had repositioned themselves to that point, all they had to do was focus.
So perhaps I should ask myself am I like the wise men or am I just a casual observer? Do I know how to find my Savior, or will I miss Him because I do not know what to look for, or how to reposition myself and focus?
Chains that Scrooge learns to cut. Chains that no longer burden and weigh down Scrooge when he learns to give and think of others. 
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