I am so proud of that Mariah. Since becoming a certified nurse's assistant she was working with the elderly and now she's working with troubled teenage girls. She seems to love it and says it is very challenging and rewarding. She has a wonderful bedside manner and ability to be patient and empathetic. I can't help but think how proud my Dad would be/is of her too. I think that the older my Dad got the more he worried about his family. He asked me every week how Mariah was doing - if she was happy, associating with good people, and most importantly if she had chosen a major and if she needed any help paying for school. My Mom was always able to assure him that the kids/ the grandkids were doing fine - making their own, but good choices. My Mom told me the other day how proud she is of Mariah, and I know that he would be very proud too of the life she has made for herself. Mariah knew that once she got her education she could come home to look for a job in her field, but we also knew that she was enjoying her independence. This did not offend us at all. And we have met some of her "peeps" - the people she chooses to spend most of her time with. Especially those people named Hillary, Andrew & Audrey Dobbins. I'm happy that they live in the same town and get together often.
As far as what Mariah does next, there is one thing I know for sure - it will be something that SHE absolutely chooses and wants to do. There are so many choices in this life - places to go, things to do, people to be with. I know that Mariah will choose exactly what Mariah wants, and it will be an adventure no matter what!
When Addy and I have our computer time together, watching Disney videos, I often put this one on and think of Mariah. (Although she better never go rock climbing without some safety gear on. That's just crazy!)
A few weeks ago Samantha told me that she really wanted to go to her senior prom and she had a couple of boys in mind that she wanted to ask. I told her to hold off until we could talk about it a little more. The next day she came home and said that she asked a boy today and he said yes. I could not believe her bravery! I wanted to prepare her to not be too sad if the boys said no - that's a possibility for anyone - but she went for it and it all worked out! So now she has been in Heaven shopping for a prom dress.
Last Saturday I told her we could go to a couple of stores to look and she asked if Reggie could take her instead. I gave Reggie the biggest smile and the biggest hug, and my honest opinion that he is the best Dad in the world. Samantha remembered that Reggie took all of our girls prom dress shopping in their day and so she wanted to keep up with the tradition. I don't think Reggie had intended to start this tradition - for Julia and Hillary he knew of an outlet store in the city that I didn't want to drive to, so the 4 of us went. With Mariah - I love her with all of my heart! - but by the time her senior prom came around Reggie just understood her better than I did, and on one of those days when we needed a break from each other he took her out shopping and they found a dress; a beautiful, perfect for Mariah dress. I was so proud of him. And I got to be involved as well, in making a little jacket to go with the dress. So I did not/do not feel slighted at all that my girls have had the prom dress shopping tradition with their father.
Reggie and Samantha didn't find anything when they went, so today Julia, Lester and Addy have taken her to look. If they don't find anything then I think it will finally be my turn to take her. You know, I think that over the years I have talked quite a bit about loving our 4 daughters and surviving our 4 daughters. The teenage years have never been the easiest for me, but they certainly are worth it. And let me say one more time, I love that prom-dress shopping father of theirs!
Nothing like a stormy day off of school to put you in the mood for a Lord of the Rings marathon, in Luke's opinion anyway. It kind of makes me smile, actually, because sometimes you just need a lazy day. I still had work, however, but I had to smile again when I got home because Luke had made a fresh batch of cookies and started dinner for me. As far as work goes, even though I would have loved to stay home, I am feeling pretty lucky. Not only did we get paid for working today, but the district paid the usual $35 per person fee for us each to take a CPR class. I'd done this years ago, when my children were young, so it was great to refresh my memory and learn even more. They also provided a nice lunch and then we learned more than I really wanted to know about "bloodborne pathogen training" and workplace safety. But knowledge is a good thing.
Like I said in my last post I realize and admit that I blog a lot about the media; about things I enjoy in the media. Here are some lessons I've learned and discovered recently, which I feel like blogging about:
1. I was watching a season of the amazing race where a father and son team had to pull out of the race because of an injury. The father ruptured his achiles tendon while running in the second episode. Amazingly he and the son ran two more legs - traveling to 2 more countries while the Dad was on crutches and they came in FIRST on both of those legs! I have never seen anyone run on crutches like that man did! Like I said, they did pull out on episode 5 because the doctor told the Dad that he needed to have surgery within 7 days of the injury. I couldn't help but think that if I had had this man's attitude years ago when I ruptured my achiles tendon I wouldn't have gotten so depressed. I would have handled it a lot better. The next time I am sick or inured for longer than a day I hope to remember this man's attitude and remember that everyone has challenges, most of which are temporary, and there is still joy in life while you endure. And I am very happy that they were chosen to run the race again in an all star season, once his leg was healed.
2. There is one 30 second scene at the end of the BBC version of Emma that has affected me profoundly. Emma's sister and Mr. Knightly's brother, who have been married for years, are staying with the Dad to hold down the fort while the newlyweds head off on their honeymoon. The husband says, very sarcastically and depressingly, "great, while they are off on a secret destination for their honeymoon, we get to stay home and watch the chickens". At that point I was expecting the wife to blast him with comments like "why do you have to be so negative?" and "we had our turn and now it's their turn, so stop feeling sorry for yourself!". But instead she gives him a hug and says something sweet and positive - something like "well, when there is a wolf at the door we need a man around the house to protect the chickens." He smiles, hugs her back, and his mood instantly and completely changes as they wave goodbye to the newlyweds. I have realized that I don't give my family members enough understanding and patience when they are discouraged our in a bad mood. I instantly scold them and tell them to snap out of it. But one kind word - one smile, or one sweet gesture can change the whole situation. And if it doesn't change the situation right away, that's okay too. It's okay to need some time to be sad and then happy again. Reggie has always been good about that with me and I have a new goal to be like that more with him and all of my family.
So here is the shortest clip I could find to show that part - it is at 7:27, if you're interested. And, one more thought: I love the actor who plays the Dad - old Dumbledore himself. When he is saying goodbye to his daughter (at about 6:40) - he captures perfectly the sentiment that I feel when I have to say goodbye to my children.
Recently I've had the opportunity to put together a little music program for our class. Sometimes it's tempting to think that the kids aren't really getting anything out of it, because they don't always sing along, but later on we'll hear them singing to themselves at random times It's cute; and they do learn from it - like songs about the days of the week, or sharing, or the seasons, etc. etc. I'm loving it. It was especially cute the other day when one of our little girls who doesn't talk much was singing quite loudly to the music from Frozen. She didn't get that from our music class, but I can relate to having Disney music around the house and in the car like she does. Music can just put you in a great mood. For example: I challenge you to listen to "Apples & Bananas" by Keith Urban or "Happy" by Pharrell Williams the next time you're getting ready for work and just see if it doesn't start the day off right.
I've also realized that I seem to write a lot about the media on this blog; I love adding videos of songs that I've discovered, or writing about the positive things I've enjoyed about certain t.v. shows or movies.
Addy has a favorite Disney music video that we watch together everyday - Brother Bear's On My Way. Tonight I realized that Addy must like it so much because it is really HER LITTLE SISTER'S SONG!. Her little sister is saying "tell everybody I'm on my way"! We are so excited to be expecting our third grandaughter, due this summer!
Yesterday was mine and Reggie's 27th wedding anniversary. Hurray! We celebrated by going to dinner at the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay. This place came highly recommended by Julia & Lester who, for Christmas, gave us a gift certificate. They said the food was great but the view and atmosphere was the real treat and they were right. We had a lovely dinner with a spectacular view, then went walking around outside, then went inside and sat by the fire and talked and talked. It was a wonderful way to celebrate.
It reminded us of the White Sands Hotel in Avonlea, and of the song "Putting on the Ritz" - in my mind the Fred Astaire version, in Reggie's mind the Young Frankenstein version. Either way it was a great evening and a fun memory.
We've had some rain lately which has been such a blessing. But now it is a beautiful weather - in fact almost too hot - 70 degrees! Maybe it feels like more in our house since the sun is shining through all the windows. This and the fact that Addy and I were looking up sesame street videos the other day reminded me of a song. My sister and I raised our kids on Sesame Street and I remember her especially liking this one.
Something interesting about my sister. She and I are alike in many ways: similar sense of humor - our families think our laugh is totally the same and totally ridiculous. We both like old movies, Jane Austen, and uncharacteristically the show Once Upon a Time. We have a great time, and often get into trouble, whenever we get together. There are a few things that are totally opposite about us, however. She and all her family is skinny and I'm well, not. She is very good at cleaning and doesn't particularly like cooking and I'm the other way around. And the biggest difference is that she has a sheer talent/gift for speaking spanish and I absolutely do not. She took a Spanish course in high school and has spoken it fluently ever since. She has turned it into a career - at first coming up a curriculum for her own preschool, and now teaching high school Spanish. In fact there is another similarity yet difference about us - we both work with children but I prefer being with little ones and she prefers being with teenagers; we are both in awe of each other's abilities/patience in that regard. She married a man from Guatemala, and when people hear her speaking Spanish they assume that she is from a Latin country as well.
So anyway the above song reminds me of her and how much fun we've had raising our children together, etc. throughout the years. We are taking a trip to Texas this summer to visit her and the family, and I can't wait!
This was an amazing weekend for Samantha - one that she looks forward to every year. Friday night and all day Saturday were spent at a youth conference at the Oakland Temple.
I had the pleasure of taking her to the fireside Friday night. We left right after school because I felt I could face Bay Bridge traffic a lot easier at 3:30 than at 5. The fireside started at 7 pm. We got to the temple at about 5 oclock and went to a Round Table Pizza across the street for dinner. Italian Garlic Supreme is a family favorite. It was nice to have this one on one time with Samantha. After dinner we walked around the beautiful grounds. If you are ever visiting that temple remember that you can walk around the top of it as well as the bottom.
I love this girl so much!
After walking around we had about an hour till the fireside started. My original plan was that we find a quiet place to sit and work on math together, since Samantha had a lot of weekend homework in that subject. We did notice that we could go into the auditorium already and get a pretty good seat for when the fireside started. The speaker was going to be the General Young Women's President from Salt Lake City. So we sat down and worked on math. This became harder and harder as people started to come in. The organist and choir did some warming up. Samantha soon wanted to look around for her friends instead of looking at her math. She did a good job at getting some work done but we finally gave up and I took the math to the car while she found her friends. It was a wonderful fireside - the people the music and the speaker.
Saturday morning Samantha was headed up to the temple again with Reggie. The day started out with the kids registering and then doing a service project - making hygiene kits for a homeless shelter in the city. After that there was a keynote speaker - the retired 49er football player Steve Young. Samantha will be the first to remind you that Steve Young is the great great - well I don't remember how many greats - grandson of Brigham Young. Reggie said Samantha was smart because she asked to take a picture with him before the presentation. After the presentation there were tons of kids getting his autograph in their hats, jerseys, taking pictures with him, etc. His talk was very inspiring.
The rest of the day was spent at workshops, having a catered lunch by another one of Samantha's favorite places - Subway Sandwiches and dinner catered by L&L Hawaiian BBQ. It ended with a dance, which again, is right up Samantha's alley.
She kept mentioning the fact that it was a great "last youth conference" as she will be moving on to the young adult activities after she graduates in a few months. I'm so happy she had such a great time.
This weekend Reggie and I took turns switching off kids. Friday night I took Samantha over to the Oakland Temple for a fireside. Luke stayed home to help celebrate Julia's birthday. The best part of that for Luke was watching "Catching Fire" which had just come out on Blu Ray that day. He and Julia have very similar tastes in books and movies. They are avid readers and usually enjoy the movies that come out based on the books.
Saturday morning Reggie took Samantha back over to the temple for an all day youth conference. Luke was my partner through thick and thin/ the fun and work of a busy Saturday. We started off the day by participating in a beach clean up. Luke did this as part of earning a merit badge for scouts. I helped him pick up cigarette butts, sunflower seed shells, and other little bits of garbage that don't seem much to us, but we learned that they could mean death to the birds that put such things in their mouths. Then we headed to Costco for the grocery shopping. Luke doesn't mind this task too much because there is usually some good taste-testing going on and he talks me into buying things I hadn't put on the list. The rest of the day was all about cleaning the basement, dishes, etc. I was so relieved to have his help that we finished off the night by going to see "Mr. Peabody and Sherman". Luke has really been wanting to see this movie and I enjoyed it too - especially because I remember the original cartoons that were part of the Saturday morning "fractured fairy tales" back in the day.
My favorite part of the movie was when they played this song.
Tomorrow is Julia's birthday. Unfortunately I won't have much time to celebrate with her because I have responsibilities from morning till night. But I want her to know how much I LOVE her, how much FUN we are having with her and her adorable family in the house, and what a BLESSING she has always been in our lives. And here is a story about her.
About 3 months after Reggie and I got married I was THRILLED because I was sure we were expecting our first baby. I went to the doctor and took the test and it came back negative. I was so disappointed. I was working in an office at the time, (for a sea and air freight service) and on my lunch break I went and sat by the water, listening to the radio. The song "Julia" came on, by Conway Twitty. I just knew that the test had to be wrong, and I dreamed that we were really expecting a baby girl and would name her Julia. A week later I took the test again and found out that our baby really was on the way. We wanted to find out the gender before she was born but the doctors said they couldn't tell/couldn't determine if we were having a boy or girl. We picked out the names "Luke" if it was a boy and "Julia" if it was a girl. I kept the fact that I was hoping for a girl to myself, which is okay since Luke had another 13 years to wait. I was THRILLED when I heard the words "It's A GIRL!"
Reggie has been working long and hard to get Addy to say "Grandpa". She absolutely does now, very sincerely, but she can't help it coming out with a Donald Duck sound to it. It is very cute and Grandpa is very proud.
And here are some adorable pictures of Addy doing Grandpa's hair. They both look so proud!
