Progress Report

I start my 5th class tonight (6th if you count portfolio 1)- Legal and Ethical Issues in Counseling. After doing the reading this week, I think this is going to be an intense class. After looking at all the assignments I think this is going to be a busy six weeks.

Here is where the self-congratulations comes in. But I can do that because this is my blog. I am going to give you a progress report.

I am 1/4 of the way through the program.

I have 12 of 48 credits.

I have a GPA of 3.92

and I am happy with that.

Now I am off to class.

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Indeed.

Rainy days and Sundays

It's raining today. I can think of no better reason to ignore the 3 chapters I need to read and the pre-test due Wed. evening and curl up with a hot cup of peppermint tea and watch a movie that was due back at the library last week. So, I did.

It was a costume drama. A period piece. A romance. And we all know my feelings on your typical romance. I checked this movie out from the library, but next paycheck I am going to purchase it.

"North and South"

Set against the backdrop of Victorian England's industrial north, it follows the fortunes of Margaret Hale, one of 19th century literature's most original heroines.

Played by Daniela Denby-Ashe, Margaret is a privileged, middle class southerner who is forced to settle in the northern town of Milton.
Margaret takes instant offence to the town and its people. She becomes terribly lonely and hates the dirt, noise and lack of civilisation, blaming their new way of life for her mother's ailing health.

Her distaste for the town and its people extends to handsome and charismatic cotton mill owner John Thornton, (Richard Armitage), whom she believes epitomises everything she dislikes about the North.
However, Margaret gradually begins to settle in Milton. Her social conscience awakens and she befriends some of the local mill workers, learning about their poverty and workplace struggles.

As events conspire to throw Margaret and Thornton together, the two spirited characters have to overcome their repressed physical attraction for one another and conquer prejudices of class and circumstance.

There are a few clips on the website linked above. (I also took the description from the same website) The following clips came from youtube.



A good overview of the movie





This scene is the best of the movie. She has spent the movie looking back at him whenever she walks away from him and this one time, when he wants it more than ever... I actually cried.

It is a romance, so we all know how it is going to go- they meet, they don't like each other, they begin to tolerate each other, they fall in love, misunderstandings abound, all is resolved and forgiven and they live happily ever after. Blah, blah, blah. You all know how I feel about that. But I tell you, I was beginning to despair that the resolution and happily ever after kiss was never going to happen!

Daniela Denby-Ashe as Margaret Hale was wonderful. A spitfire and able to give as well as she gets.

Sinead Cusack as Hannah Thornton- amazing. I wanted to dislike her. To hate her character, in fact. But I could not. For all her hard heartedness, she really is a softie and just loves her son and wants what will be best for him.

I am not sure who played John's sister, but her? The sister? I had no problem disliking.

By far the best romance I have watched in a very long time. And may I just say that Richard Armitage is one of the sexiest men I have watched in a long time? (can I say that in public?) Watch it and watch him and fall in love all over again.

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Indeed.

The Road

An excerpt from the book taken from Oprah.com

When he got back the boy was still asleep. He pulled the blue plastic tarp off of him and folded it and carried it out to the grocery cart and packed it and came back with their plates and some cornmeal cakes in a plastic bag and a plastic bottle of syrup. He spread the small tarp they used for a table on the ground and laid everything out and he took the pistol from his belt and laid it on the cloth and then he just sat watching the boy sleep. He'd pulled away his mask in the night and it was buried somewhere in the blankets. He watched the boy and he looked out through the trees toward the road. This was not a safe place. They could be seen from the road now it was day. The boy turned in the blankets. Then he opened his eyes. Hi, Papa, he said.

I'm right here.

I know.An hour later they were on the road. He pushed the cart and both he and the boy carried knapsacks. In the knapsacks were essential things. In case they had to abandon the cart and make a run for it. Clamped to the handle of the cart was a chrome motorcycle mirror that he used to watch the road behind them. He shifted the pack higher on his shoulders and looked out over the wasted country. The road was empty. Below in the little valley the still gray serpentine of a river. Motionless and precise. Along the shore a burden of dead reeds. Are you okay? he said. The boy nodded. Then they set out along the blacktop in the gunmetal light, shuffling through the ash, each the other's world entire.

They crossed the river by an old concrete bridge and a few miles on they came upon a roadside gas station. They stood in the road and studied it. I think we should check it out, the man said. Take a look. The weeds they forded fell to dust about them. They crossed the broken asphalt apron and found the tank for the pumps. The cap was gone and the man dropped to his elbows to smell the pipe but the odor of gas was only a rumor, faint and stale. He stood and looked over the building. The pumps standing with their hoses oddly still in place. The windows intact. The door to the service bay was open and he went in. A standing metal toolbox against one wall. He went through the drawers but there was nothing there that he could use. Good half-inch drive sockets. A ratchet. He stood looking around the garage. A metal barrel full of trash. He went into the office. Dust and ash everywhere. The boy stood in the door. A metal desk, a cashregister. Some old automotive manuals, swollen and sodden. The linoleum was stained and curling from the leaking roof. He crossed to the desk and stood there. Then he picked up the phone and dialed the number of his father's house in that long ago. The boy watched him. What are you doing? he said.

Cami told me about this book last week. I had never heard of it, but I went and googled it and became intrigued, so I stopped at the library and checked it out. I think I will purchase it.

At first I was not sure I was going to like the book. The grammer annoyed me. The puncutation, or lack of it or total randomness of it annoyed me. Sentence structure annoyed me.

Then I turned to the second page of the story. And all those things quit annoying me as I became engrossed in the story.

There were times that I felt as if I were reading an endless journal of someone's worst nightmare. Endless days of walking. Fear. Hunger. Cold. But still I read because I wanted to reach the end. The goal. The place where everything would be alright again.

You can find reading questions here. They are all questions that I had as I read.

This is going to be one of my favorite books. There is one thing that allows a book to become one of my favorites. The characters. The characters are so real, so compelling, so alive that they become a part of me. So much a part of my life that I cannot forget them when the book is finished, when I want it to go on and on and I am sad to turn the last page. This man and his son are those kind of characters.

Now I am going to say something about the last scene in the book. If you do not want to know how it ends, then skip this-

After I finished the book and was thinking back on it, I thought about the scene after the father dies. This is not the ending I had hoped for the entire book. In my mind they would get to the coast, find people like themselves, and wake up from the nightmare that was their life. But instead the father dies and the boy is left alone. Until he is found by a family that takes him in and loves him and teaches him of God. As I thought about it, I thought about how like our lives this is- We have a life that we do not remember, we leave that life and that Father and begin to live with a family that loves us and has waited for us and hopefully teaches us of God. But we do not forget the Father that is no longer with us and we still go off by ourselves and talk to Him.

And in the end everything will be alright again.

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Indeed.

Don't leave home without them

A few of my favorite things that I never, ever leave my home without using.

#22 Cinnaberry

but I got a new color #20RB that I am going to try this summer

or maybe # 30 Rosewood

No matter the color- every 6 weeks. It's an age/vanity thing, but I am a natural redhead- just check my birth certificate for confirmation.



The best moisturizing shampoo and conditioner on the planet.

Blow dry hair, spray, bend at waist and fluff hair with fingers, and never have to think about your hair again, even if the wind is blowing.

Usually in my signature fragrance "Luna" made with Cedarwood, Pear, and China Musk. But with all the oils and blends I can have something different everyday if I want. I am going to use Maui Pear and maybe some fig or frankensence or ...
Cover Girl Perfect Point Plus #200 Black Onyx

Max Factor Lipfinity

#191 Bronzed

Put it on, put on the top coat and never, ever think about your lipstick again. Eat, drink, talk and never need to re-apply. I don't even own any other kind of lipstick anymore.

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Indeed.

Matthew 5:14-16

Seminary graduation is over.

Who are these children, nay, Men and Women? I see these children every single day at school. I check their grades, their attendance. I hurry them to class. I scold them and lecture them. I laugh with them and joke around with them. Some of them I taught in Primary and some of them I taught in Nursery.

But tonight, sitting in the chapel with the Spirit radiating from them, I saw, not the giggling girls, the smart alec boys on the back row, but Sons and Daughters of God. And they touched my heart. A heart that swelled with love for these my brothers and sisters, grown into their spirit. A spirit that far surpasses anything I could have ever hoped for them. And I love them all over again.

And just a side note, as Matthew was conducting, Brandi leaned over and said- He is just like a Bishop. I hope someday he is my bishop.

2008-2009 Seminary Theme

Matthew 5:14-16

14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

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Indeed.

Time flies

I had my day pretty much planned out. You know where this is going, don't you?

I didn't get my last load of laundry in the washer until 12:30 this morning. I hate when my days go like that. But the garden is in and Brandi's hair is done and the house sorta Sunday ready, so if I threw the clothes in the dryer this morning then everything would be fine. Right?

I woke up at about 9:05 when I heard the a family from the other ward rushing into the church building (which borders my backyard). No one else was up yet. Crum, not enough time to get something in the crockpot, breakfast, showers, hair and makeup done and be on time. I had to change the dinner plans.

Everyone else made it on time and I walked in just after the opening prayer. But Matt informed me just before he walked out of the house that he had to be at the stake center by 4:30 this afternoon. Why? I asked. He has been on the youth council so I assumed it was another meeting. I assumed wrong. Seminary graduation is today at 6. Really? Today? and he is conducting.

His high school graduation is in 2 weeks. Where has the time gone? 18 years has not been enough time to spend with him. And now I had better go or I will be late for yet something else today.

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Indeed.

On the menu tonight

Hot water

Peppermint tea bag

steep for 6 minutes

Sip

Feel better-

long enough to finish homework anyway

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Indeed.

So True

I had a dream last night that I was late to an awards ceremony. The limo was there to pick me up and I hadn't even changed into my formal yet. Why? Because I was doing the dishes.

I have no idea what kind of awards ceremony I would be going to that required a limo and a formal, but the part about the dishes? That would be true.

**The picture is a stock photo and not my actual kitchen, even though most days it feels like it. this morning included after 3 days in bed sick- not a pretty sight, though I can see where the kids did do some of them.

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Indeed.

Happy Mother's Day

I didn't get a card sent to my mom for Mother's day. So I was going to write a wonderful post about her today. Instead I have spent the last 3 days in bed sick. That is, in bed when I wasn't running to the bathroom. I wish she was here. She could make me some chicken soup and I would be well. And I know that my laundry would be done and my kitchen clean when I get up in the morning.

Since I am sick and didn't get the post written, you won't get to know all the things I wanted to tell you about her. Things like:
*She is the only girl in a family of 6 kids
*She is the middle child and learned to give as good as she got
*She raised 7 children
*3 of her children went on a mission
*7 of her children were married in the temple
*She is always there to just listen when my life falls apart and doesn't go the way I planned- no judgement, just love
*She has 24 grandchildren- 6 of them married, 5 in the temple
*She had 2 great-grandchildren
*She was always home when I got home from school.
*She made breakfast every single morning and dinner every night.
* I never wanted to be anything when I grew up except just like her

But I am not going to get to tell you any of that because I am going back to bed now.

Instead I will just say, Happy Mother's day Mom.

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Indeed.

Why God Made Moms

I am sure we have all seen this, it has been going around e-mails for years and years, but it still brings a smile to my face.

Answers given by 2nd grade school children to the following questions:

Why did God make mothers?

1. She's the only one who knows where the scotch tape is.

2. Mostly to clean the house.

3. To help us out of there when we were getting born.

How did God make mothers?

1. He used dirt, just like for the rest of us.

2. Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring.

3. God made my mom just the same like he made me. He just used bigger parts.

What ingredients are mothers made of?

1. God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world and one dab of mean.

2. They had to get their start from men's bones. Then they mostly use string, I think.

Why did God give you your mother and not some other mom?

1. We're related.

2. God knew she likes me a lot more than other people's mom like me.

What kind of a little girl was your mom?

1. My mom has always been my mom and none of that other stuff.

2. I don't know because I wasn't there, but my guess would be pretty bossy.

3. They say she used to be nice.

What did mom need to know about dad before she married him?

1. His last name.

2. She had to know his background. Like is he a crook? Does he get drunk on beer?

3. Does he make at least $800 a year? Did he say NO to drugs and YES to chores?

Why did your mom marry your dad?

1. My dad makes the best spaghetti in the world. And my mom eats a lot.

2. She got too old to do anything else with him.

3. My grandma says that mom didn't have her thinking cap on.

Who's the boss at your house?

1. Mom doesn't want to be boss, but she has to because dad's such a goof ball.

2. Mom. You can tell by room inspection. She sees the stuff under the bed.

3. I guess mom is, but only because she has a lot more to do than dad.

What's the difference between moms and dads?

1. Moms work at work and work at home and dads just go to work at work.

2. Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them.

3. Dads are taller and stronger, but moms have all the real power 'cause that's who you got to ask if you want to sleep over at your friends.

4. Moms have magic, they make you feel better without medicine.

What does your mom do in her spare time?

1. Mothers don't do spare time.

2. To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long.

What would it take to make your mom perfect?

1. On the inside she's already perfect. Outside, I think some kind of plastic surgery.

2. Diet. You know, her hair. I'd diet, maybe blue.

If you could change one thing about your mom, what would it be?

1. She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I'd get rid of that.

2. I'd make my mom smarter. Then she would know it was my sister who did it not me.

3. I would like for her to get rid of those invisible eyes on the back of her head.

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Indeed.

2+2 = 4 in any language

I just got off the phone with Donovan. Both my boys in one week. Sweet.

One week ago today we had the ribbon cutting for the new addition at the high schoool. We have 29 new classrooms, training rooms, new offices, new stadium seating, concessions and a lot more. As the teachers move from their old classroom into their new rooms, they are finding they have an excess of things they no longer use- filing cabinets, desks, chairs, shelves, books, all sorts of things. The furniture goes into a pile of surplus to be auctioned off by the district if no one else in the school can use it. The books go to surplus but most of it has gone in a huge dumpster parked next to the school. We got 3 new computer labs complete with computers. The science rooms are filled with science equipment. Every classroom is equipped with a ceiling mounted projector, computer and state of the art lights that come on when someone enters the room and automatically turn off when no one is in the room.

In contrast, the high school in the city where Donovan is stationed, they have no room, no paper, no pens and pencils, no backpacks, no microscopes in the science labs, no math books. Some of the students do not even have shoes. There are no desks because there is no room for desks.The principal said he would love to have a whole new wing of classrooms so that he could house the students.

Donovan said that many units have promised this school help, but when they deliver it is mostly candy and non-esssentials. Donovan's unit would like to help this school and these students to be successful. He has asked me if I would do some sort of fundraiser (equipment raiser?). They are taking pictures and one of the wives is making fliers. I will post them as soon as I have them. The school has a 4 month summer so the children can work on the farm and raise and gather food for the winter.

Donovan says that just about anything needed for school would be welcome. Sandals or flip flops for the kids, $5 microscopes from Wal-Mart, computers, pens, pencils, paper, backpacks, Math text books to put in the backpacks because math is the one subject that is the same everywhere. The unit would love to be able to present the principal with much needed equipment before school starts again in October.

I said I would see what I could do. I love that my child still thinks that all he has to do is ask and I can make it happen. How do I make it happen?

Can you say overwhelming? I have never done something this big before and I have no idea where to start. Who do I contact, where to I begin, how does something like this work? And how do we get it done?

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Indeed.

3 for the price of 1

Today is Cinco de Mayo. It is not Mexican Independence day as so many believe. No, it marks a defeat by the Mexican army against the French army during The Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862.

In commemoration of this day, I am going to share with you three recipies for a yummy supper:

Cinco de Mayo Chicken Salad

2 large whole chicken breasts 2 TBSP Mayonnaise

1/2 cup Pace Picante Sauce 1 ripe avocado, chopped

1 tsp ground cumin 1 cup sliced celery

1/4 tsp salt Bibb or leaf lettuce

1/4 c dairy sour cream

4 cooked bacon slices-crumbled

Cut chicken into 1/2 inch cubes. Combine picante, cumin and salt in 10 inch skillet. Cook chicken in sauce about 4 minutes, stirring frequently until done. Transfer contents of skillet to a mixing bowl; cover and chill. To serve, combine chicken mixture, sour cream and mayo; mix well. Add avocado and celery; mix lightly. Spoon onto lettuce-lined salad plates. Sprinkle with bacon.

Serves 4

Sopapillas

2 cup hot instant potatoes 3 TBSP dry yeast

1 tsp salt 6 cups flour

2 cups milk (scalded and cooled) 2 eggs

2 TBSP sugar 4 TBSP oil or margarine

Mix ingredients all together. Let rise and punch down twice. Roll out and cut into pieces. Drop into hot oil until golden; turn over, then remove and serve with margarine, honey, jelly or shake in container of sugar & cinnamon.

Pico de Gallo

5 Roma tomatoes, chopped

1 jalepeno pepper chopped

1 meduim onion, chopped

1 small bunch of cilantro

1 small lime

salt

Chop the tomatoes, pepper, onion and cilantro. Put in a mixing bowl. Squeeze the juice of the lime into the mixture. Add salt to taste. Serve with tortilla chips or as an accent. Add to smashed avacado to make a yummy guacamole.

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Indeed.

Messages and phone calls

I told you that I don't like Valentine's day. I also don't like mother's day. I loved it as a child. I have the world's best mother. Growing up all I ever wanted to be was a mom as great as she is. I loved celebrating mother's day and doing things for her to show her how much I love her.

Then I grew up and became a mom and it became a dreaded day. I loved the little things my kids did, but they did them all through the year. I am not going to go into the reasons why I don't like mother's day, just know that it is a day I wish I could skip.

Today, however, I got two reasons to like mother's day again.

1. When I checked my e-mail this morning there was a sweet note from a friend about mothers. Thank you friend.

2. Trevor called me today and the connection was good and the call didn't drop. I was able to speak with him for 30 minutes before he had to let someone else use the phone. Hearing from far away sons is always nice.

So thank you to the two of you for today.

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Indeed.

Interviews and writing

Want to help me with a paper? Just answer this question in the comment section.

What do you see as roadblocks in the community or in the families of students to school success or career development?

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Indeed.

Sunday Thought

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Indeed.

In your eyes

Last Sunday we had a sweet couple speak in our ward. I really like this couple and I like their kids, which is a good thing considering one of their kids spends a big hunk of his time at my house!

They spoke about the atonement. This family has had some rough times, two of their three children were born with Cystic Fibrosis. About six years ago, their oldest child, who was 7 or 8 at the time, almost died. Sister K. was finishing up her talk when she brought this up. She started crying even though she thought she wouldn't. She finished up her talk and sat down. The choir was going to sing before Brother K. spoke.

I looked up at the front as she sat down. I saw Brother K lean over and say something to her. I assumed it was something along the lines of good job. Then Sister K. took a tissue out of her bag, and gently rubbed under her eye. She then turned her face back up to Brother K. He looked down at her and nodded his head.

This really touched me. This simple act of Brother K helping his wife look presentable and helping her fix her makeup. The look of love and trust that she had as she looked to him to tell her that all was well was amazing to me. I don't know if she went to the bathroom after the meeting to check her makeup or not. I like to think that she didn't because she knows how much he loves her and she can trust him in everything- even mussed mascara.

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Indeed.

Extreme Makeover/school edition

We got a new addition at the high school. Wed. we had the ribbon cutting and open house for the public. Go here to read the article and see pictures. There is even a short-short video with a member of the school board while the choir sings the school song- which I still don't know. I don't even remember if we had a school song at my high school growing up. Anyway, at the very end of the video you can see my arm in the extreme right hand side.

I got a new office in the new wing. The counselors moved into our old offices in the old wing. My goal is to someday move back to my old office, well one of the offices over there anyway.

Here are some pictures and a help question about the whole thing.

This is the old office. All of it. I am standing in the door way. There is enough room to the left of me to stand in front of the counter and for the students to get a note. The edge of the desk straight ahead is the doorway to the principals' offices. The desk to the right is (was) mine.

All that is left in that room is the desk straight ahead. Everything else is gone. This is going to be the career center now.

My old desk. The hall to the left goes to another principal's office and the front office. The only thing that fit on this desk was my computer moniter and a three ring binder. To the right is the doorway that I was standing in to take the last picture.

The sickly looking plant- not mine. It belonged to Sheryl, who's desk is to the right but she had no room for it, so she put it on my smaller desk behind my computer moniter. We mostly ignored it, but it never went away.

Here I am standing in the hallway looking the opposite direction from the last picture. We bumped each other with our chairs at least 3 times a day.
Did I mention that all the teachers used our office as a cut through to the teacher's lounge? Well they did.

Here is our new office standing in the entry door.

To the left is a nurse's station and sick room, a table and chairs and lots of empty room.

Straight ahead goes to the new faculty room, so we still get used as a cut through, but it is ok because there is room, the principals' offices, facutly bathrooms, storage, filing, teacher work area and a small kitchen.

To the right is seating for students and parents that are waiting, and a door into the resource officer's office. (the police officer)

The table and chairs. Sick room is to the right
Here is my first help question
What should we hang on these two walls? It is really bare in there and the walls need something. It is also like a huge echo chamber in there. Everything echoes and when we are on the phone if someone walks in and starts talking, we cannot hear the person on the phone. They put three! speakers in this room and turned them on maximum volume! We had them disconnect two of the speakers and turn the other one WAY down so we could hear ourselves think.


The same area only looking at it from my desk.

This area is just behind my desk.

Right now there is a centerpiece of flowers there that the principal gave me for secretary apprecitation week.

We all got one and this cupboard was bare on top so I put mine there to make it look better. There is also a vase behind it that I had some roses in. (did I mention that the principal took us all out to lunch on Monday and gave us roses too? I love our administrators)

There are also some rolled up flags laying there, they will be gone as soon as our flag holder gets here.

Here is where the next help question comes

What do we put on this cupboard?

I was thinking maybe some blue vases to bring in the blue from the other wall? A table top fountain? A lamp? A huge viking ship (our mascot is a viking)

And this is my desk/work area.

The magnet boards and shelf above them just got hung today. I was so happy to pull all of the phone directories, schedules, admin assignments out of my drawer and hang them where I can see and use them. Woops, there is a wire basket and some photo mats I was going to bring home. I was going to paint the mats black and possibly use them on the shelf, or the wall, or somewhere in the office.

Did you see? I actually have a phone now. I never had one before and I had to tie up the attendance office if I ever needed to call a parent or conference with someone. No longer.

Now I need to decide what to put on the shelf- besides my name plate, which also never had a place before.

Out of all of the new offices and classrooms, everyone always says they like ours the best. I agree. It is one sweet office.

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Indeed.