Retake

The photos are all blurry due to the fact the camera was set on nighttime mode by accident. And of course there was a member of the family MISSING. So, I don't care if the cards are late this year, let's retake the photo at the next opportunity which I'm guessing is next Sunday.

The house looks nice and the tree is beautiful!

Mom

All I can say is . . .

Jamie I think it gets worse the older we get. You have my sympathies. Every time the thought of Christmas pops into my head, I squelch it as fast as I can before the butterflies in my stomach start up. I'll start thinking about Christmas next week.

Today Skyler got a letter from his mission president. You know it's totally cool that the MP and the office "couple" are friends of Carolyn Parker. Anyway, in addition to his already extensive list of things he needs to bring, they have added: a set of twin sheets and two pillow case and a towel and two washcloths.

He picked up his suits and pants today. He got himself a navy suit and a gray suit, and a pair of black slacks and dark olive slacks. The trench coat I bought him is beautiful. He ordered all his shirts and I've already purchased him several ties and three pairs of socks. He also ordered I think three more pairs of socks, a knit cap and a pair of gloves. Oh, and he bought two pairs of shoes. He needs more socks and ties as well as the bedding, a pair of pajamas, his garments and baptism clothing. And I think he needs his first aid kit and some grooming stuff, an umbrella ummm I can't remember now what else.

I found out my final is on Monday not Tuesday. So that means I have to study for it on Saturday instead of Monday. So, if we get the tree on Friday, I'm wondering if you're all up for decorating on Sunday? After Monday I am going to go into overdrive and try and finish my little quilt projects and do Christmas shopping. Wish me luck.

Maybe Sunday we can take the family photo?????????

Love, Mom

I think I am having a nervous breakdown

Wow, it is 12:01am and I am so tired but I can't fall asleep. I hate it when you lie down and all you can do is think! Think about what you need to do the next day or what you didn't do today, or just wondering about the strange things that pop into your head when you are so tired. Nick is still up working on school projects so at least I'm not lonely. The worst part about thinking about all these things is that I know I will forget half the things I thought of tonight that I need to do tomorrow. (I already can't remember what I was going to put on a list that I got out of bed to make) see? Now I will be up trying to think of what I have already thought of. are you following me? It is one big mean game that our minds play on us. It is really making me mad as I am sitting here writing about it. So I am going to do the one thing that I remember thinking of (water the christmas tree) and try to go to bed again.
jamie

Old photos

Here's a kind of interesting web site. This guy finds old rolls of film and develops them: http://westfordcomp.com/updated/found.htm

I'm Sad

Did we all give up on the blog? I think we should try renewing our interest in it. This may be the best way to stay in touch with our new missionary!

It's hard to believe it is December. I can never remember a time when I felt less like Christmas. I'm having a hard time focusing. When shall we get a tree? Does everyone want to do it together or shall Dad and I just go get one? Who will help decorate it? When shall we take a photo? Maybe we will skip the letter this year. It's been a really sad year for us - so many losses. What do you all think?

Gifts? I need a list from you guys (and Natalie, you have to put more than just "money" on your list :P)

xoxo mom

Finally... done...

From Venezuela

This is a letter from the most recent President of the Venezuela Maracaibo mission, that I received via a listserve:

Dear Elders and Sisters,

Well, today is October 23, 2005, and we can finally write and tell
you all what is going on here in Venezuela. Many of you have
already heard rumors, but we were not allowed to say anything.
October 19, MY BIRTHDAY! We received a phone call from our Area
Authority, Presidente Costa, stating that our missionaries were to be
on LOCK IN the next day. This was for ALL the 4 missions in
Venezuela. We were VERY surprised!!! The next night after a day of
LOCK IN we received another call that said to get all your North
American missionaries and any from other countries (we had one from
Ecuador) in to Maracaibo, THEY WOULD ALL BE REASSIGNED TO OTHER
MISSIONS!!! We were told NOT to say anything. We were told that the
Prophet and his counselors and the 12 Apostles had been in the temple
all day and they felt it was time to take all North Americans out of
Venezuela. Wow, we were really shocked and were still not allowed to
say anything. The N.A. missionaries were not allowed to call home or
write home, their parents were being called by someone from the
missionary committee in Salt Lake to let them know of the transfers.
Those who would be finishing their missions in December would be being
released NOW. Those who would finish in June would be re assigned to
serve in the USA, Spanish Speaking. Those after June were all
assigned to CHILE. We now only have 44 North American missionaries in
our mission. It has been almost a year since any new ones have been
allowed in.

On Saturday October 22nd Presidente Rogers along with all the other 3
Mission Presidents and all the Stake Presidents in this country were
to meet in Caracas with the Area Authorities for a meeting.
This meeting was to explain that this country and this country
only, was given permission to call WORTHY 18 year olds to serve Full
Time Missions!! WOW! When we think that many of our Latino Elders
have only been members for 1 year and that neither of their parents
are members, we are again surprised!! However, those missionaries
have been some of the BEST! When you have to make changes in your
life to become a member we find that they KNOW the Truth and they have
embraced the Gospel. Who knows, perhaps the Lord has risen up another
bunch of STRIPPLING WARRIORS! As you all know too, we have not been
able to receive any North Americans since last December. It is the
same old VISA problem. With that problem the numbers have continued
to go down.
So, the missionary force has to come from within! What an
opportunity for this country!! The work continues to move
forward!! WE have good converts, really good, lots of young
couples with small children!!

The morning of October 22, Presidente Rogers was taking out the
first group of missionaries to the Airport to leave and went over
to tell the Stake Presidents that were there to fly to Caracas for
the meeting good by and to have a great meeting. The Stake
Presidents had NO idea that President was leaving!!! They were just
SHOCKED!! They cried, asked why, couldn't believe it. This has
really been a shocker! There truly have been indications of something
like this but we are just all really shocked.

We are SOOOOOOOOO Grateful to have a Prophet who is a PROPHET, SEER
and a REVELATOR. We started this mission with 210 missionaries and
today we have 87. This is NOT the lowest this mission has ever seen!!
As I have collected a History of the past 10 mission Presidents of
this mission it has never been lower. Our replacement is Teodoro
Hoffman. He is the Director de Bienestar de Venezuela (welfare). He
is a past mission president and many people and even some of the
missionaries know him. He will be here until the new President is
called and comes in July.

Now this has NOT just affected our mission because we are the only
North American Mission President. Presidente Guerra, who is
presidente of the Valencia Mission, is also being sent home to
Chile, where he is from. He works with the Church Education System as
an Institute Director and will go back to his job. President David
Hoopes, and his counselor, Brother Johnson, serving in the Caracas
Temple are the only remaining North Americans in Church service
remaining in Venezuela as far as we know. They are okay because their
movements are restricted from apartment to the temple and can be
monitored easily. We will see if this changes in the future also.

As all this happens, we recall when President Rogers was set apart by
Elder Eyring and he said, "I bless you that there will be PEACE ENOUGH
that you may accomplish the things the Lord needs you to do". The
baptisms continue!! We are retaining MOST of those we teach and
baptize. This new program Preach My Gospel is a wonderful program.
The new Area Books are sooooooooooooo important in the progressing and
retention of new members.

We are so grateful to be a part of this Great Missionary Effort and
we just pray we are doing everything we should be doing.

We are VERY sad to go, we had so many things going and feel like we
wanted to finish them! The mission is in GREAT SHAPE! It can and
will handle this change with NO problems!! The missionaries here are
OUTSTANDING! We will be returning home by the end of next week. We
will sleep for a full week and then who knows what!

Take good care of yourselves!!!

Love,

President and Sister Rogers

I'm Green with Shades of Blue

I posted this over at Family Ties but I wasn't sure everyone would see it, so I'm posting it here, too. What color are you and how accurately do you think this describes you? I was a little surprised at how accurately it describes me.

http://www.albany.net/~mgoodman/color1.html

Yeah!

Skyler, I'm so glad you're home. I guess I just got a little taste of what it's going to be like in a few months when you're gone for two years :(

I'm excited that you have your interviews tonight. And I'm looking forward to hearing more about the Florida experience.

Love, mom

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Debi,
I hope you have a great birthday and look forward to your birthday dinner tomorrow night!

All alone, boo hoo

It's Halloween, I'm all alone and hiding from the Trick or Treaters. You'd think with all the lights off at the front of the house, they wouldn't bother to come to the door. But they do. I didn't buy any candy or anything. Bah Humbug.

Dad is somewhere in New Mexico or Arizona I think. Chelsea is out babysitting. I've just finished posting on the other blog about my amazing encounter with my boyfriend Paul McCartney. I am still having fun with that. One of the ladies on my quilting email list said that she has dibs on him because she saw him back before anybody ever knew about him. But I pointed out that she did NOT have him wave and wink at her personally like he did me, so I think she's out of luck.

Jamie has Billy Joel and I have Paul. Not bad. :)

I should go to Curves tonight but I am way too tired. Now I need to think about eating something. Tomorrow is my birthday but it doesn't feel like it's my birthday. I have a dentist appointment and I have to go out to Kaiser Panorama City to do some paperwork. It never ends. I probably even have homework I should be doing . . .

xoxoxo mom

Friday night blues

Jamie, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that everything works out for you at Samir's. You wouldn't want to have to waste those cute cards your Dad made for you :)

Nick I hope you're caught up on all the school work now. I have a test on Wednesday but I'm having such a hard time focusing on school work between the clinical rotations, work, and home life. And I have to prepare a talk on faith for next Sunday!!!

I think I mentioned I got started on my wall hangings for this year. They will be very cute. I think in general though, this is going to be one of those "let's cancel Christmas" years. I just can't even begin to think about preparing for it. Everyone wants Jamba Juice certificates, right?

Jamie, I think the answer to question about the cards is: do you like getting them? If you do, then you need to send them out. If you don't care about getting them, then don't bother. Did you find the label web site? I'm going to order some Christmas ones from them. I finally ran out of the old ones.

I had a long day today at my clinical site. I think I'm not feeling very well so I've been really tired all day long. And I'm lonely that Dad is out of town. He probably won't be back until sometime Sunday. I will look forward to everyone coming over then. I am hoping that Natalie will come and will bring Matt, but last I heard he hadn't given her an answer yet.

Tomorrow I have a long list of errands and things to do, including studying!!

Poor Nick

Nick has worked so hard all weekend and still didn't finish all that he wanted. I had to stay out of the house all day yesterday. It was hard to think of things to do when you don't have anything to do. It was dangerous for me, I went to the grove. First I went to Cost Plus. So many cute things! They have all their Christmas stuff out and I wanted to get everything! I had to call Jessica so she could tell me to leave because I couldn't do it on my own. But I did get some cute "happy holidays" cards for my clients. I can't decide if I should send out Christmas cards out to family and friends, I always like to get them but I don't know if I want to start that. Once you start you have to do it every year. Then I went to Forever 21 and I couldn't help myself! I got some new work clothes that I really needed, and I got some other things that maybe I didn't need so much.
Today I am going to start working for Samir. hmmm....I am not sure how this is going to work, but I need to give it a try. My wrist is starting to feel a little better, but it still hurts a lot. Thats about all I have to write. Bye

WHERE IS EVERYONE?

No one ever posts here anymore. :(

Dad is gone for the week bringing RVs back from the Katrina areas. I am trying to figure out my clinical schedule for school and getting ready to write a paper (tomorrow). Today at clinical I saw a bunch of dermatology patients and a couple of people with the flu. How exciting.

Actually what I did today for excitement was join Curves. I figure I might as well try it. I joined on a month to month basis to see how it goes and that way I won't lose any money for paying a bunch in advance and then not using it. I like the idea of a 30 minute work out although I'm not entirely sure that it works. I guess we'll see. A couple of weeks ago I was in the last few minutes of a Tai Chi class (long story) but let me tell you, I was sore for two days. I had no idea what a work out that could be.

I can't believe the holidays are around the corner. I've got lots to do if I'm going to get my annual wallhanging done. Would you believe that this is the LAST year? 12 years of those suckers. I'm doing little parasols for "April." They will be cute. I'm doing them using batik fabrics. I know you're all excited about that. ha ha ha

But at least I'm writing.

Love mom

What a week!

Geez, those fires got close. It's an interesting exercise to pack for an evacuation. What do you take? What is important? It's comforting in a way to discover that very little is irreplaceable - very few items are that important . . . some quilts, some photos, some personal papers . . .

Conference this weekend!

Love mom

All she said in her note was that she moved, she calls it her "new address" so I just assumed that i was a "new address" .

Just to let you know our Venezuela trip is coming along well...the guy I was waiting on finally wrote me back. It is a little hard to make plans with people over there. They are very slow or I guess I should say relaxed about things and they are not very traveler savvy.

Grandma's new address:
207-w Los Angeles ave #233
Moorpark, Ca 93021

Take a look

I found this blog about secrets fascinating. The human element is really quite touching. Even though some of the secrets are heartbreaking there is something to celebrate in the essential humanity revealed. It made me feel connected.

Sunday Morning

I'm sad that we've all sort of fallen away from reading and writing on the blog. Of course a few of us never did start writing but I'm hoping we can change that. It has been such a whirlwind summer for me I can hardly believe it is coming to a close. School starts for me in a couple of weeks and while I'm excited about it, I'm going to miss the work I've been doing with Buena Vista and being involved in the day to day functioning at work. The job has been a great challenge and project and I feel like I've managed to get the systems designed but not quite implemented. And of course like anything new, there will be many modifications that will need to be made once everything really is implemented and I'm afraid I won't be there to do the fine tuning.

Today since Dad is at an RV show I'm supposed to teach his Gospel Doctrine class. And it's kind of a boring one on the succession in the presidency. Just how much can anyone say about that anyway?

The Red Cross called me yesterday. They want me to work some more downtown and I said I would. I've decided that my time is so short that even if they did call to deploy me, things have just gotten too hectic. I'll have to content myself with working with the local Chapter when I can. I sure hope that they have things better organized when I get down there than they did last time.

Vegas Baby

Nick and I are going to Las Vegas on Saturday night. We will come home late Sunday night. We know that it is only for a day, but I really want to see Alyssa and Samuel! and of course oma and my grandma and cousins. We haven't decided if we are leaving before or after the concert thing. Right now we our leaning toward after so we can support Kristi and "Ashton Zayer." Well I hope you guys are not to upset that we won't be at the house on Sunday night I know how you ALL look forward to seeing us EVERY Sunday night, but I think you will make it though it. Just put our picture on the kitchen table or on the couch and pretend that we are there. Well, hopefully we will see you at the concert! love you guys!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday!

Today is Chelsea's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY GIRL!!! Now that you are 21, maybe I can't call you that anymore.

Love, mom

Scripture Reading 1NE 1-4

I'm reading, looking for God's generosity. Right away, first chapter, verse 20: "...I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen...". This verse follows a block (v5-19) where Nephi described how God's tender mercies were given to his father, Lehi. WOW! His tender mercies have more to do with enabling us to get through life by doing what is right, evene when we screw up and deserve less, than saving us from the consequences of our decisions. Ch2:2 also showed me that these consequesnces, and God's mercy, for our actions, extend to others in our life around us. In this case, Lehi's family.I aLso saw a lot about sibling relationships. I think we can choose which sibling we want to be: nephi, Sam, Laban, Lemuel. They all had different personalities. Generous of God to show us these types of roles, right in the beginning, so we can model ourselves after whichever one we choose.This section (ch2:11-13) also shows me the danger of murmuring (complaining, looking for fault, criticizing harshly), especially in a family. I wonder why L&L murmured so much. Anger? Fear? Selfishness? Hurt? Loss of confidence in Lehi? Sense of fairness (Nephi gets birthright, no them)? I'm learing that I've murmured too much and too often about my children's choices, and that this continued murmuring has made me more stiffnecked towards them than I should be. Without thinking (or choosing) I may have become more like Laman & lemuel than I realized. Time to change.Had to do alignments Monday, so this Monday post i coming on Tues am. I know you all were waiting for this post. HA HA. Sorry.Love,Dad

Still Alive

Well, I almost forgot all about the blog, it's been so long since I've had time to read it. Jamie, I miss both you and Nick!! I'm sort of glad to hear you aren't going to Las Vegas this weekend because hopefully that means you'll be coming over. And we've got presents . . . New York was lots of fun in spite of the terrible weather. We did EVERYTHING. It's hard to say what the highlights were: Coney Islands and the Nathan's hot dogs; Wicked; shopping on Canal street buying counterfeit Prada bags and other fun stuff; the Met; the food . . . of course hanging out with Chelsea was the best of all.

Honey, I think it's great that you and Nick want to talk scriptures, but just remember we're having a hard enough time getting SOME people to even read the blog!

Natalie started over at Buena Vista this week and I know she's had a tough week. It's hard to get new organizational systems in place and until we do, things are rather chaotic over there. But it's getting better!

Don't mind me, just feeling sorry for myself.

I miss Nick. Am I the only one? I have 31/2 days left of being alone.:(

Book of Mormon introduction

This introduction page was written by Moroni after all the other pages of the Book had been recorded. Interesting. I wonder, why? So, it summarizes the purpose of the book. It is usually taught that the purpose of the book is near the end of the second paragraph: "...the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that JESUS is the CHRIST, the ETERNAL GOD, ...". If we read the whole paragraph we can see that there is a list of 4 reasons for the book, and that this is the Last reason. The first 3 (possibly also more important since they are listed before) are: 1) "show remnant of House of Israel (that's us, today) what great things the Lord has done for their fathers," 2) "that they may know the covenants of the Lord", and 3) "that they may know...that they are not cast off forever...". Each of these reasons is thought provoking. Personally, I like no 3. It reminds me that there is always hope for me. That I can still make it into the Celestial kingdom. I find it generous of God, and makes me want to start over each time I let him down.
I'm going to read the book this time looking for God's generosity. I'll let you know what I find.
Love
Dad

SCRIPTURE COMMENTS

Nick and I decided it would be fun & interesting to share our impressions and thoughts about our scripture reading here on the blog. Everyone is welcome to join in...read and commnet please. We are going to average reading about 4 pages per day, starting today Wednesday. At this pace Nick & I will finish reading the whole Book of Mormon by around Christmas. Pres Hinkley promised the blessings we need if we read the book and complete it by the end of the year. I believe him. We are going to post at least every Mon-Wed-Fri. Since we all love Nick's insights & understanding of the Book, let's ask tough questions and see what results! Lke the old saying goes: "no deposit, no return!"
Love, Dad

Being released

Well, Sunday was quite an emotional day. This is the toughest release from a calling I have ever had, the only time I have actually shed tears.
The day started with bishopric meeting, where privately Jim, Myron & I exchanged thoughts and feelings about the work, the members and eachother, for one last time. We have shared many up & downs in that office, a lot of fine memories.
Ward council followed next. Not a many jokes as usual, and tears started flowing from a couple fo the girls (Julie & Maren) as soon as they entered the office. Jim led a very touching prayer about God's, and his, love for the ward members. Besides a pin dropping, all I heard were sniffles all around. After Jim shared his very personal feelings/testimony, Myron & I were asked to do the same. Myron couldn't even look at anyone without tears. I was doing fine, until I had to speak.
By the time sacrament meeting started, we were cried out...no more tears. Myron & I sat together on the stand and hugged for several minutes, looking out at the congregation from that vantage point of a sentimental last time. Sitting right next to us was Pres. Pace. This was our last act of defiance, as we have sevral times been warned about too much PDA! We gave our testimonies, I had to go first. Feelings were so mixed. I had to stop myself from sermonizing, and just share feelings.
Wivws also gave heartfelt testimonies, especially Nancy about the joy and importance of having a family.
The rest of the day was very mellow. Went to Jim's for a BBQ, and later to SC for a priesthood meeting. AG1 bishopric made an appointment for Thursday, most likely to call me to a position. I was approached last week to teach seminary in Agoura, but turned it down. It is not a calling, so I don't feel too bad about it. I just didn't think I could devote the time necessary...average2+ hrs per day prep time, plus teach the class.
Love you all...
Dad

My Birthday

Nick is the best husband. He is way to good for me. Sunday night he took me to the Fairmont Miramar Hotel in Stanta Monica. It is one the the most beautiful Hotels I have ever been in. I wanted to have our reception there when we got married and my mom basically laughed in my face. Anyways, it was wonderful we had room service and chocolate covered strawberries. I was very spoiled, and I loved every minute of it.

Singles Ward

What I'm going to miss most about the Singles' Ward in no particular order:

(1) Having singles over to our house to just hang out, eat, and relax;
(2) Not having a calling;
(3) No noisy kids during sacrament (I really appreciated that when I went to the Calabasas/Woodland Hills ward this Sunday);
(4) Matchmaking (real or imagined);
(5) Associating with the Doolans on a regular basis;
(6) 1:00 p.m. Sacrament meetings;
(7) Break the Fast dinners; and
(8) Being in church with my kids.

It's going to be a drag going back to a ward where no one knows who you are.

In the meantime, I'll getting ready to go to Palm Springs on Thursday with Natalie. I will return on Sunday in time for church and then it will be off to New York the next day. I'm excited!!

And oddly, I'm excited to go back to work tomorrow . . . I like my new job and I am really excited that Natalie is going to be there soon . . .

Love,
mom

Newport Beach Temple Trip

The temple is beautiful...who would expect less. Several things impressed me:1. The building exterior blends in with the neighboring buildings in color and archetectural style, except for the tower & Moroni statue. At first I was a little disappointed, as I always imagine temples to be the most striking in the area, symbolic of all people looking toward & focusing on the temple. But as I walked through the inside and saw the beauty therein, I realized that the symbolism of this temple is that many things are plain, or ugly on the outside, but beautiful on the inside. The outside also symbolising the temporal world, and the inside representing the spiritual world of the gospel. Reminds me about the scripture of how looks upon our heart more than our outside.2. The inside was beautiful and rich in quality. It felt "solid" and clean in there. of course, other than people talking, it was peaceful and mostly quiet. There was order to the floorplan. However, it definitely felt different than any other temple I ahve been in. I realized this difference was because this building had not be "dedicated". I realized that there is something very different about a building that has been dedicated. And so for people. Those that dedicate their lives to some purpose bigger than their own interests seem to have a special aura or feel about them. It is comforting, and reassuring, in many ways. Those that dedicate themselves to only themselves manytimes have an uneasy feel about them, or maybe no particular feel at all. They are just there, probably very nice, but just there.3. Either way, going through a rtemple, walking the grounds, can be a Life Improving Experience (LIE). It was for me, on Saturday. Glad I shared it with nancy, Jim & Skyler.I hope you all make it a priority to go and be there for a short while.Love,Dad

Family Ties

Well, so far I've got Natalie, Skyler and the Awesomes all signed up at the new blog for extended family. I've sent out invites but who knows if anyone else even knows what a blog is about. So please do your part to encourage everyone to join. I think there will be a learning curve :)

Skyler, maybe you can give Samuel a call and get him started and he can get the rest of the Joneses signed up. Remember that the new blog is linked at the bottom of our links here, but Blonken will remain private. The url is familiestied.blogspot.com because familyties was not available.

What are the chances of getting Skyler and Chelsea posting anywhere at all???

Petriscak / MacDougall blog

Question....

What do you all think about starting a Petriscak / MacDougall blog? This can help us all keep up on what is happening with the extended family. I think this is important.

Anyone want to set it up?

Love,
Dad

Mom's the Hospice God!!!

Tina Scotto just dropped by the lot. She is the RN from AG1 ward who works with mom as a hospice nurse, and also owns a motor home in our program.

She went on and on about how she loved working with mom, and was impressed by how much mom knew, and how confident mom was.

"She is an answer to prayer" Tina said, and proudly shouted "Around the office, she's know as the Hospice God!" as she returned to her car.

Not bad for being the new kid on the block.

We're all proud of you, Sweetheart, Mom, Debi, Sister Onken, Hospice God! (whoever you are!)

FHE this sunday

FHE this sunday night at our house, 7:30pm.
Everyone welcome.
Topic suggestions? Otherwise we will watch the famous CES Oakes talk on dating/hanging out.......there are 3 or 4 MORE important things he taught in that talk besides the freeloader section. We will look for them, and discuss them, ans skip the "it's marriage time" section unless someone wants to get into that topic also. I think you will find it enlightening and thought provoking. I hope also discussion provoking!!
See ya there,

Gen Conf talk - Beware of the Evil behind the Smiling Eyes

I really loved this GC conference talk. It really applies to me in my work because some people are really nice in the beginning, and sign our contract, but when they return from their trip some they get vicious. We get blamed when their trip doesn't turn out as they planned...even when their problems were not related to the motor home. Luckily, these are the minority.

I've also been involved in personal relationships over the years (not currently, or recently, thank God!) where proviously loving eyes turn mean, even evil.

Couple of quotes touched me, that I want to share for all to ponder...

"We can work, study, laugh and have fun, dance, sing, and enjoy many different experiences. They are a wonderful part of life, but they are not central to why we are here. The opportunity to choose good over evil is precisely why we are here."

"Not one of us would say, "I want to choose evil." We all want to choose the right. However, the choice of choosing good over evil is not always easy, because evil frequently lurks behind smiling eyes. Listen to these warnings: "Take heed...that ye do not judge that which is evil to be of God." (Moroni 7:14) "...Satan desireth to have you" (3Ne18:18) "Satan hath thought to deceive you, that he might overthrow you" (DC50:3)."

"I have known a few young me who began with every intention to stay firm .... but who slipped from the path beacuse they did not see the evil behind eyes that appeared quite harmless."

All this makes me think that Satan, more often than I want to believe, makes evil appear to be good or right. It also makes me think that the definition of evil has more to do with anything that keeps us from the greatest happiness we can have; than things that have to do with obvious misery like murder, drugs, etc.

Do you suppose that Satan would allow, even encourage, us to have a little happiness if it prevents us from having the greatest happiness we can experience?

I'd love everyone to read this talk and ponder it, and give your comments on this blog.

Love,
Dad

-intruder

Hello. You have formally been invaded by an intruder. I would just like to say hello and that this is Lindsey taking over the awesome computer. I miss you guys and always ask Jamie about you. I am not going to school right now, since it is summer, but will be returning in late august with Nick. Don't worry, I'll take good care of him and show him around the big school. I am also working at an Italian resturant in Redondo. It's a really nice place, and the people I work with are really nice too. I work mostly all nights, so I find myself at the beach (at least running by, if not laying out) almost everyday. I'm sure I'll see you all soon, but I just wanted to say hi.

Tuesday

Haven't blogged lately. I'm happy to say that I've started my new job at Buena Vista Hospice and I'm soooo excited about it. I can tell already that I will enjoy working there. The patients are nearby and everyone is really great. They start each morning with a prayer!! Awesome. Today I saw patients but tomorrow will be my "Director of Nursing" role so lots to learn and I have to learn a lot of it by Tuesday when the Department of Health comes out. It was weird to quit Vitas. I turned all my stuff in on Monday. But today I really felt glad to be starting fresh. And I realized that my new office is really just around the corner from Mobilesense!

Do you want to be safe???????

Well if you do, i have the place for you!

The Mormon Church records vault: It's not enough that the vaults are encased in rock at Granite Mountains, Utah. Metal gates bar the tunnel entrance. In order to visit, you must first pass inspection by an armed guard and sensitive metal detection equipment. Only then will the gates open.

It ranked #5 on the top ten safest places in the world.

Neat thought

Read this at an LDS blog site, ByCommonConsent. It is a post by a reader, who comments on the main article. Below is the clip of the article that he refers to, and then his thoughts:

"Which led me to wonder about the Celestial Kingdom, where, if our current thinking is correct, everyone will have accepted some (presumably radically fuller) version of Mormonism"

Aside from the ordinances, I think the only characteristic that will be shared by those who live with God is a highly developed ability to love. I have always liked this statement by Joseph Smith:
“Our heavenly Father is more liberal in His views, and boundless in His mercies and blessings, than we are ready to believe or receive. …the nearer we get to our heavenly Father, the more we are disposed to look with compassion on perishing souls; we feel that we want to take them upon our shoulders, and cast their sins behind our backs.”

It is an interesting exercise for me to look around at all the oddballs, nuts, wierdos, and crackpots who inhabit my neighborhood, ward, workplace, and family tree, overlook the differences, and see them as children of God, fellow strugglers who are probably doing their best, such as it is. "

Sunday nights

I recently got several impressions that we should have a regular FHE family night on Sunday nights. We have not done many spiritual things as a family recently, and I do not want to fall out of the habit (was it ever a habit, I ask myself?). Anyway, as I pondered about these impressions I have been having, I was reminded of the promises that come with having family spiritual time together.

so, I thought I'd throw it out for suggestions.

My first thoughts were to have a short thought or topic, say limited to 15 minutes, unless everyone agreed under special circumstances to have it longer. We could take another 15 min or so to discuss it. Then dessert. No singing. Rotate topic assignments. About 30-45 min each Sunday. When there are YSA firesides, that will be our family night activity, even if mom & I are released.

Any ideas? We do not have to do it this way, just a place to get started. We might rotate places, once at our house, another Sunday at Natalie's, another at N & J.

Guilty!

That's me. Guilty of not posting in awhile. Of course there are a few in our midst who are much worse!!!!! Work is keeping me busy. I'm even going to see a couple of patients tomorrow morning, but I need to get back in time for the window guy to come and wash all the windows and put a film on that high window in the front room so it stops fading my furniture!

This morning I paid waaayyyy too much money for tickets for me and Chelsea to see Wicked when we are in New York. I'm pretty darned excited about it, but I think I now owe my first born child. So Nick, sorry to say you better start packing your bags up because I think you'll be collected here in the next week. :)

Tomorrow is Skyler's birthday. 19 years old. I'm looking forward to the big hot dog fest on Saturday. Skyler, you want a cake or ice cream or what? I don't suppose you also want presents do you? ha ha ha

Chelsea started her summer math class this week and is over at Alesia's studying instead of home keeping me company while Dad is at the temple. I didn't get home until late so I had to bow out of temple night. Lucky for me Netflix delivered three new movies to the door so I guess I can watch one while I'm home by my lonesome. Of course I could always pay bills . . .

Kewl Internet Links 2

Make your own punk song: Punk-o-Matic. I'll post my own soon.

Translate web sites into Snoop Dog lingo with
Gizoogle. Here's an example: MobilSense's website. Hahaha!

Wanna learn how to do something? Like fake an appreciation for art? Or convert to Mormonism (haha this is for real)? Or maybe get a ferret? Go to So You Wanna.com!

This website finds news articles every day that talk about or mention mormons or things related to the church: LDS Today.

Isn't this the truth?

When I'm bored, Miniclip has a lot of fun little games that I play.

yum!!!!!

nick and I just had the best pizza ever! It was so good, it hit just the right spot. I just got home from a busy Saturday and I am ready for the weekend to start. Sunday will be nice since I don't have to plan or give a lesson. And it is break the fast so we will probably go to the singles ward for some good free food.
Monday is the Forth of July!!!!!!! I think we are planing on going to Santa Barbra. That will be fun. Well I really have nothing to say and come to think of it I didn't have anything to say when i started this blog.:( Please don't hate me for wasting your time by reading this!!!

Chelsea?

I know Mom, Dad, Natalie, and Jamie are alive (because they post)... I know Skyler's alive, only because I saw him today in the office....

BUT IS CHELSEA ALIVE?!?!?!?!

Link Happy

Since we're all about "kewl" links, how about this one about pavement art? Amazing, huh!

Just finished my first week back to work in over 3 months. I enjoyed it immensely. But I also have managed to get some weird eye infection so I'm glad I'm off today. The pain, runny nose and light sensitivity would not have made me a welcome sight at a patient's home. I think I will putter around the house today, maybe do an exercise video, finish the laundry, and read my book (The Time Traveler's Wife).

I'm glad Skyler is home from camping. Perhaps he will regale us with an accounting of his adventures in the wilderness? I didn't really get a chance to chat with him last night between trying to finish up work related stuff, nursing my poor eye, and then him leaving for the evening.

The 4th is ahead of us. What is everyone planning? I'm thinking a trip up to Santa Barbara, packing sandwiches, hanging out on the beach and watching fireworks sounds good to me - but I'm open for other suggestions.

Skyler's birthday celebration (19!) is schedules for Saturday the 9th, the day after his "true" birthday. We'll have hotdogs and just hang out with however many people show up. Please raise your hand if you are coming. I've already asked the friend-girls (Hillary and Ali) to spread the word. I just need an approximate head count. Skyler, be sure to invite your church friends.

We need some serious blogging here folks . . . .

Love mom

Kewl Internet Things

Make your own t-shirt: Neighborhoodies

Make your own stamps:PhotoStamps

Learn how to do the moonwalk, complete with video: Pop and Lock (I almost got it!)

The next sport I'm going to take up, as seen here: Parkour

Jordan's band, with 4 songs: Pigmoney

Need I say more? Bonsai Kitten

Hungry much?

This thing is awesome. Look at mine and make your own: ArtPad

Love,
Nick

PS: If olive oil comes from olives, where does baby oil come from?

Ninja question?

I just notices I scored "0" in 2 of the 4 variables in the test. Does that drop my personality GPA to like 2.0 or something? Disturbing.

Ninja what?

Boy, that was a hard test. I still hate them, maybe that's why it has been 31 years since I'vs taken one! Seriously, last attended college when I was 20.
Next test I'm willing to take will be in 2036.


Never saw a Ninja Turtle show, movie, anything.


Here's my results:

Leonardo

You scored 6 Leonarditude, 2 Donatellism, 1 Michelangitude, and 3 Raphaelity!
You are a student of discipline, hard work, and positive attitude. You care about those around you, consider their feelings, and often are seen as a leader for that reason. It wouldn't hurt to think of yourself every now and again, though. Even the most selfless hero does no one any good if he doesn't take a break every now and then.




My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 99% on Leonarditude

You scored higher than 0% on Donatellism

You scored higher than 0% on Michelangitude

You scored higher than 99% on Raphaelity

suprise!

Nick came home from work today around 1 and brought a surprise with him! He got a T.V. cabinet. ( the one I've been asking for for months!) He wanted to make it but just hasn't had the time. I guess he realized he was never going to have the time. I told him he can make something else, but we'll see. It is just beautiful! It has made a very big differance, now we want to get a new desk and cabinet for our computer and files and things. It just doesn't stop, and I don't think it ever will. Nick is sure lucky I have some self control! Well, we will see you guys at the game.

Monday

Today I mailed Chelsea's quilt off to the quilters. I will be excited to see it when it comes back. Also I phoned work and told them I would be available starting tomorrow - time to start earning $$$$. I'm looking forward to the Dodger game tonight - should be fun. Skyler is off on a camp out until Thursday. We'll just have to plan his birthday without him :)

Did you notice a change with blogger? They've added a photo option so you can easily upload photos rather than linking them from some other service.

I officially finished the quarter with a 4.0 - but it was a close call! I'm so ecstatic to be out of school for the summer, I'm actually looking forward to work.

I don't have a lot to say - I'm not as interesting and fun as Jamie is - but I did want to post something since it's been awhile. Don't forget next Saturday for Skyler's birthday. I'm thinking hot dogs (read "easy").

What is Jamie????????

Balanced
You scored 4 Leonarditude, 3 Donatellism, 3 Michelangitude, and 2 Raphaelity!
You are an even blend of two or more of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Your style of fighting, and of living, has variety, and people probably find you interesting and fun. Hooray!




My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 50% on Leonarditude

You scored higher than 27% on Donatellism

You scored higher than 72% on Michelangitude

You scored higher than 13% on Raphaelity

What turtle is Nick?

Michelangelo You scored 4 Leonarditude, 2 Donatellism, 5 Michelangitude, and 1 Raphaelity!

Slacker! You eat pizza, read comics, and play video games when you should be training, doing homework, etc. You also have great passion for life, however, which makes you a serious chick/dude magnet. Cowabunga!

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 50% on Leonarditude You scored higher than 9% on Donatellism You scored higher than 90% on Michelangitude You scored higher than 4% on Raphaelity

Link: The Which Ninja Turtle Are You? Test written by tofurage on Ok Cupid

Ninja turtles

Okay, I have no idea what any of this means, but here's mine:

Raphael
You scored 3 Leonarditude, 1 Donatellism, 3 Michelangitude, and 5 Raphaelity!

You're a short-tempered smart-ass. Congratulations! You are also fiercely dedicated and protective of those you care about, even if you aren't very good at showing how you care. You big sweetie!

Natalie

What is your new address? I need it so we can send fun stuff!

Father's Day

So do you think it's really lame that I enjoy reading my new friend Kacy's blog? I mean how weird is it that I am so entertained by this woman's on line journal that I try to learn more about her and think of her as my new friend? Pretty weird, I know. But in the midst of my jumping around on various links as I follow her recent adventures (she's just returned from girl's camp and I think her birthday was yesterday) I found this very funny thing which must be someone Kacy knows; all I know is that I laughed out loud and I highly recommend it. But don't have milk in your mouth when you start to watch. You don't want to have that come out of your nose or spray all over the keyboard. Yuck.

Today is Father's Day. As I read a few essays in the paper this morning I am struck once again by the realization of how much I really like men - and I mean that in the best of ways. One of the essays talked about men becoming irrelevant or marginalized because of their brutish ways. I don't see that at all. Men are just wonderful the way they are and my particular man, Martin, is a perfect case in point. So here's a short and not at all comprehensive list of the things I love about men and why the one I picked for my own and to be the father of my children is so wonderful:

1. Men are strong. If that sounds politically incorrect and a sell out of my liberated female self, well so be it. I love that men can do things physically that I cannot do. They do physical things that I don't WANT to do. Like change a tire, or take out the trash or open hard to open bottles, or move heavy things. It makes me feel secure and protected in some odd way. And while I could (and do) do many of those things as necessary, it's a nice feeling when a man does them for you.

2. Men are helpless. I know that sounds completely contradictory to the above statement but it's really about the particular ways in which they are helpless. For instance, men rarely can find anything without assistance, even things that are right in front of their noses. At times this can be an irritating trait, but often it is amusing and endearing. It reminds me of a story told by Marlo Thomas about her then cross-country marriage to Phil Donahue. She said it would drive her crazy that Phil would call her to ask her where his blue socks were, but it made her even crazier that she knew just where they were. Or how about Dad's total inability to distinguish colors? Just this morning before he went to his bishopric meeting he asked me if his tie matched his suit pants (it did) and then I had to point out to his that his butt was covered with Punkin fur. These are small things and I have to admit that if Dad were as helpless as I hear some men are, it might not be so endearing, but overall it helps me feel like the two of us are part of a team. He does some stuff, I do other stuff - like make sure he doesn't have fur on his butt.

3. Men are simple. As in not complicated. They have a very direct way of looking at things. It's not that I always agree with the man's take on life because they do miss the nuances and the underlying issues or messages, but frankly that's not always a bad thing. They can cut through the you-know-what and get straight at a thing without the emotional anguish and uncertainty that comes with feminine intuition and sensitivity. And having raised two of each of the sexes I have a real appreciation for that straightforward lack of drama that comes with the Y chromosome.

4. Men are problem solvers. Once I figured that out about men, married life got a lot easier. I had to learn that men are not mind readers and are not likely to intuit what you want and need. But if you put it to them plainly, they really do want to make you happy. They like a task, they equate themselves to the task, it's what they "do". I also learned that if you do not want them to solve your problems, you have to tell them that: "Honey, just listen, do not try to fix it." In that way you give them a task (listening) that they can apply themselves to and you don't get angry when they use their uncomplicated, simple approach (see point 3 above) to try and fix what you don't want them to fix (because it's so complicated!)

5. Men know weird but useful stuff. I'm not saying that knowing all these sports statistics is useful. But I like that men know things about electricity or cars or algebra or physics. Now I realize that these may be things that are particular to my man. I'm certain that there are many men out there that know far less about these kinds of things than their women do. But then I'm sure that their women picked them for whatever weird but useful stuff they DO know.

Which I guess brings me to the bottom line . . . thank goodness men are not like women; thank goodness that we're like two halves of a whole and are able to balance each other out most of the time.

And especially I am grateful for my husband who is kind and patient and generous to me and to his children, who never hesitated to change a diaper or rock a sick child and who actively and lovingly parented his children through the years and still does.

Honey, you're the BEST of men and I'm glad you're mine.

Now what?

It's always the weirdest feeling to me to finish a school year and suddenly feel depressed instead of happy and full of energy. It's just hard to change gears and find a new focus. Today I've been sifting through the mountain of papers I'd accumulated this quarter trying to decide what to keep and file and what to throw away. First grade is up: an A+ in pharmacology for the quarter. Not that I did that great on the final . . . I got a 98 out of 109 . . . that's a lot of questions to miss and that doesn't count the 4 she threw out. But my class ranking out of 99 scores was either 11 or 8. (I can't understand actually why it says only 8 people got a 90% or above, which is my percentage, but then said my class ranking is 11 - whatever). I know I got an A in my clinical class so now it's just the dreaded disease of the week class. I dreamt about that final all last night and got progressively more anxious about it. I'm trying to resign myself to the probable B I will get for this class. Not a huge deal, but it would have been nice to have the 4.0!

I am going to make a list for myself about what some of the things are I want to accomplish this summer. I'm hoping that will give me a focus. One of them is to shed the 15 lbs. I've gained since last October!! I have to get back to the gym. Skyler said he'd come and help train me!

Cleo just asked me if I would mind them planting a hydrangea plant near the trash can corral. I love hydrangeas!

Lynda and I are going to Disneyland on Thursday. She'll come in on Wednesday evening and spend the night here. I'm looking forward to it. I figure I've deserve a little break before starting work.

Institute last night

Institute last night was an occassion for mixed feelings. it was the last class for the currnet teachers, as we completed study of the New Testament. These teachers have a strong testimony, and love the students in our ward. Unfortunately, they are just about the worst teachers I have ever seen. I expressed this concern to the bishop & high counsel some months ago. As a result, a high counselor and a couple of local CES administrators were sent to the class on several occassions at separate times to observe. To make a long story short, the teachers submitted their resignation (CEs teaching is not a calling, but an appointment) so after.
I feel like I caused them to be offended and quit. Although I know in my mind that we need better teachers, I feel bad that they most likely quit because of the stir I caused.

Thursday!

I'm living for Thursday. My last final. Skyler comes home. It can't get much better than that.

Hey Nick, after you left, dad came home and guess what he was wearing? Ha ha ha . . .

Please remember me in your prayers . . . pharm final tomorrow (it's cumulative!). My brain is full.

Love mom

Library

This article talks about a library that, through their website, offers Audio Book rentals. You download the audiobook and can burn it to CDs, put it on your MP3 player, etc. Click here.

WOW! What a Birthday

I can't tell you how much fun I had celebrating my birthday with you all yesterday!
OK, I will.
Among all the happy making things of life, there really is the GREATEST joy in your family. Part of that greatness is that despite the many issues in life we all have, sometime even with eachother, we are able to put them aside when something important comes up, like a birthday celebration. I helps me understand how much "nobility" we each have.
There really is a GREAT joy in sharing yourself with those who honor & have affection for you. I felt a lot of that yesterday.
There is GREAT joy in being grateful to family & friends who have done something for you, as you all did for me. Knowing it was given generously, without strings.
There is great joy in preparing and having it succeed, especially when you do it together.
There is GREAT joy in having your affection for eachother grow as you experience wholesome, events together.
There is GREAT joy in having a new member of the family, pitching in even with vacuuming the dreaded stairs! Thanks Jamie!!
There is GREAT joy in having Debi as my eternal spouse, I was reminded of that during several reflective moments these past two days.
Thank you again for the many really important gifts each of you gave me.
Some statistics:
SATAY: 20 lbs of pork butt (5 lbs of fat removed); cut into approx 1400 pieces, 1/2' each; enought to make 150-200 satays, actually made 360; 5 hrs for cutting, approx. 3 hrs putting the meat onto the sticks; 3 hrs to BBQ them;
Fried Wontons (Panceit): 5 lbs ground pork; 8 packages of wonton skins; enough to make 200 panceits, actually made over 400; started frying at 1:45, finsihed frying 6:15.
SODA: 13 bottles, & about 20 cans
Peanut sauce (Pitchil): I didn't see mom make it, but we bought 3 big jars of peanut butter, probably made more than 1 gallon;
Vegatables: I guess about 20 lbs here also, maybe more.
PEOPLE; we're guessing over 50 altogether
1st arriveal: Paul Church, about 2:45, 45 min early
last to leave: Tie, Blair & Nathan, around 11:30pm
Ate the most: my personal vote: Brian Anderson
Ate the least: Brea Haley (didn't eat alt all, I don't think)
Highest anxiety: Mom, she wanted it to be perfect for everyone, plus anticipating finals this week. Thanks, Babe!!
Lease anxiety: Punkin, we let her outside more & more, now. She's in heaven sunning herself.
Nicest surprise: Alecia helped a lot with clean up & entertaining Eli
Most beautiful women: Tie, Natalie, Chelsea, Jamie & Debi
Love you all.
Dad

Stop having fun without me!

On my way to another day at the salon. Nick as always is getting ready with me and is going to take me to work so I don't have to drive for hours looking for a parking space. He says I act like a five year old whenever I go to work.:( "I don't want to go, can I stay home? etc. And then I look in the lunch he brought for me and I see pudding and instantly I get excited about one thing and it is much easier to get me out of the car. I sound like I hate my job, but thats not it. I just hate the effort it takes me to get out of bed and get dressed and get to work. I am not like this everyday, mostly just on Saturdays. Probably because I know Nick is home and that if i can somehow stay home I can have fun with all the other people who get to stay home on saturdays. And of course I know everyone is having fun without me.
Well Nick has to wait for the comcast guy today from 1-5. I guess thats not very fun. Debi I'm excited about having yummy food tomorrow,thanks to Martin getting one year older! well I hope you all have a fun filled Saturday without me.
Jamie

New York! New York!

Okay, I just booked tickets for Chelsea and me. We're leaving 8/8 and returning 8/15. That means we're leaving the day after Natalie and I get back from a long weekend quilting with Lynda and Emily and returning the first day of Moorpark's fall semester. Chelsea will just have to miss her first day of classes. Of course I still haven't figured out exactly where we're staying or what we will be doing when we get there - lots of planning to do. Anyone have any suggestions on that? Gotta start looking for a hotel at least. I think we might be able to get away without renting a car and just using mass transit.

I have a hair appointment in the morning on Saturday so will probably start on the cooking around noon time. If you can help, I'll see you there.

The furniture guy came and at least the sectional pieces line up better now. He's going to try and order a new seat cover for one of the cushions that I think is sewn poorly.

Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love)

Ever since I watched that movie De-Lovely last Saturday, Alannis Morrisette has been driving me crazy. If she doesn't shut up soon I'm going to have to take desperate measures.

As for the menu suggestions . . . You didn't pick up on my not so subtle whining about the work involved with satays. Oh no. Now you've added pancits and lumpias to the menu. So in the spirit of compromise (and with the knowledge that you have all offered to provide free labor to this effort) I'm proposing: satays with pitjel of course, gado gado, rice, and pancits. Oh and that cucumber stuff that has a name but I don't remember what (ask Dad). I will have to borrow one of those big steel inserts from the warming thing at church to make enough rice. I think rice will be less labor intensive than bami. We will have to run a satay and pancit factory (Nick can fold those little boats:) on Saturday. But it can be done! Of course we should probably have some Debi Dip, sodas, and some kind of dessert, too. Waddayathink?

Today is my last day of the quarter - we're having a meal over at my clinical instructor's home in the Marina. I'm bringing Debi Dip and that spinach salad we all know and love. Next week I have finals . . . one on Tuesday (pharmacology) and one on Thursday (on angina and heart failure) which means a lot of studying for the next little bit until I can officially say I am half way through the program.

not so good news

My aunt passed away last night around 9. When my family left her yesterday the nurse told them it would be very soon, within the next 48 hours if not sooner. So, even though you know it is coming it still hits you pretty hard. Which I'm sure you all understand. Well at least she is in a better place and she isn't in pain anymore. She must have hated to think of what she was leaving behind. A daughter who can't take care of herself and a grandson who is in foster care. She was the only family he really knew, since she had taken care of him since he was a baby and a few years ago went into foster care. Its just very sad.
Debi, thank you for all your help and info that you were so willing to give. I know my parents really appreciate it. (they have told me they do on many occasions)
Well, anyway I bought our tickets today and they already went up from yesterday! We are going to be gone from Dec. 29 to Jan. 9 ( debi, we get back at 4 in the aftternoon) It is a few more days than I was planing but its cheaper if we leave and come during the week. I am excited it will be a lot of fun. Well I hope you all have a good day. -Jamie

p.s
Debi we enjoyed the chesse and quilts yesterday!

Vanilla with Magic Shell instead

Not that any of you were ANY help at all when I asked about ice cream for Break the Fast. And of course I discovered last night that I am the butt of jokes in the family. I have secretly suspected this for years but now thanks to Jamie and Nick I know it's true. All of these years of laughter are not because I'm so clever and witty. Oh no! Hmmph. Well I can tell you what that means. It means I'm certainly better qualified to appear on the Discovery Channel's 100 most important Americans list than any of you. I mean if Madonna, Tom Cruise, Michael Moore, Michael Jackson and Ellen DeGeneres can be on that list, then it's pretty clear what the American public thinks is important in terms of historical contributions to this country. And none of it involves discovering a cure for cancer or inventing a pollution free, self-sustaining energy source or that kind of boring stuff. Making a spectacle of yourself seems to be quite enough, thank you very much!

It's much too pretty ouside to be stuck in here with the computer and my pharmacology books. But since the computer is grafted to my hip what can I do? LOL!!! Okay, okay, it's true.

BBQ next Sunday for Dad's birthday. Still debating the menu. Dad would like satay. Who wouldn't? The bigger question is, if it's satay and we have invited the whole single's ward plus more, just how many satays are we talking here? Maybe more than we would like to think about. I'm open for opinions. And if we have satays, what ELSE? Now I hope you'll all be more help in this decision than you were on the ice cream question.

Natalie, do you need earplugs to sleep at night?

Well I am almost off to work, but before i go i thought i would like to blog. Debi i really enjoyed your last blog! It made Nick and I laugh a lot! Yesterday was a hard day for me. I went to Forest Lawn with my Dad and grandma to finish all the arrangements for the funeral. Then I went to visit my aunt. She doesn't look good at all. It was really very sad. You can't even see her anymore, she just looks likes she is gone already. I feel mostly sad for my grandma and I can see it taking a tole on my Dad. But I am glad I went so I could say bye. Well, I have to be going now. I have a ton of updo's for proms today. have a good day eveeryone!

Glad some people can sleep

So I am totally all alone and it's 1:25 a.m. and I'm not asleep as you can see. Tonight I decided to take myself to the movies but I didn't want to see anything that Dad might want to see with me so I watched Madagascar - which was very clever and had parts in there I know that no one under the age of 45 would get, including a reference to a great scene from Planet of the Apes (when Charlton Heston discovers the ruins of the Statute of Liberty "Da*n them") and a brief reference to the old Twilight Zone episode "To Serve Man" (It's a cookbook, stupid!). I ate popcorn with butter on it and a whole bag of peanut M&M's and a large diet coke and when the movie was over I thought "what the heck" and I got a free refill of my diet coke and bought another ticket, this time to see The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. I also got a "gourmet" pretzel for $4 (!!!!) dollars. So all that was my garbage dinner tonight. The Pants movie was entertaining, definitely a chick flick and one to go and see with your girlfriends. But I don't have any girlfriends that live nearby. Well, Lisa of course but this was such a spontaneous thing or I would have called her. The movie was filled with giggling teenyboppers. And when I got home I found that I had missed a visit from the Awesome Ones. Darn, darn, darn. Then I played several rounds of Snood (evil level) and then I spent some time reading more of my new friend Kacy's blog - including one entry in which she mentions a band called The Killers who has a lead singer who is a bad boy Mormon. So I found a website with some of their music and found that I really like their music and decided I should buy their CD next time I go out. Maybe tomorrow when I got get the ice cream (how about neopolitan?) for Break the fast. You know, maybe it's not just grad school that's putting the weight on me. Maybe it's serving in the Singles Ward!!!!! Or maybe it's going to the movies.

Did I mention that Skyler got a big packet from Westpoint in the mail? I burned it of course. :P

Okay maybe I'll try to go to bed now.

In case you're wondering

Where all your bedding has gone . . . I am the "Artist of the Month" over at the Quilt Emporium! I took a bunch of quilts over there today and they started hanging them all over the store. It's a weird feeling to look up and see mine, Skyler's, Chelsea's and Nick's "bedspreads" hanging on the walls. On Monday evening starting at 5:00 p.m. there will be an official wine and cheese open house with me "explaining" my quilts. I would love if everyone would come. To get an idea of what they're doing, check out the Quilt Emporium web page: http://www.quiltemporium.com/artistopen.htm.

Dad took off for LV today and Chelsea is spending the weekend house sitting with Alesia. I'm all by my lonesome. While is probably not so bad for me because I have a bunch of studying (what else?) that I need to catch up on. After next week, I'll have two finals and then NO SCHOOL UNTIL OCTOBER!!! I can hardly wait.

I did let work know that I will soon be available to earn some money. Which we'll need considering that I want to go with Chelsea to New York in August and then Dad and I will be going to Venezuela in December/January. And of course by then Skyler will be off on his mission. Where is the money tree when you need it? I am going to have to opt out of Asilomar next year because there's no way I can do everything. :(

Fast Sunday this Sunday and I'm in charge of ice cream. Vanilla or chocolate?

Dad's update

I'm going to visit my mom in Las Vegas this weekend. It will be great to see her. She has gotten much older these past few months since Opa died. her health seems fine, although she still does not sleep as much as before. But mentally and emotionally she has little life...probably depressed and overwhelmed going at life as a widow. She still is seeking for a new purpose to her life. She believes, as we do, that God will take her home when her work on this earth has been accomplished, but she just doesn't know what that work is. I feel sad for her.

Otherwise, drama reigns in the Onken family east of the California border. Ruby has her angioplasty. Successful! Third in 4-1/2 years! The spots found on her lung by x-ray were not there when a CAT scan was performed. WOW! Spots on the lung 99% of the time means lung cancer. Another miracle! However, she continues to smoke! I can't believe it. I'm so mad, and disappointed in her. She says it is hard, and that she has cut back. For every 4 cigarettes she used to smoke, now she only smokes three. Her doctor, she tells me, told her this was OK, but that completely quitting was better.

I've learned from this that I often also settle for less than what is best for me, rationalizing that "good" is fine and that I can live without "the best". I also see that what might be good for me in the present will often not remain good for me in the future. IN fact, what is good in the present will probably be really bad for me in the future. For instance, my health. I never worried about my diet before, and that was good because I seldom, if ever, got sick. But now, in the future of my past, I find I have high blood pressure, nothing serious, and high cholesterol. What was good for me in the past has betrayed me today. I wonder what other things, attitudes, feelings, etc seem good for me today but will betray me in my future.

The ultimate question, I guess, is whether things that seem good today, already a compromise from getting the best, really are good for me at all. Or whether it is a false reality I create by compromising and settling for things that are merely "good".

The drama with Dennis is another, very long story for another entry. Needless to say, what I learned from his experiences is that anger, if unresolved, festers into something very ugly that everyone, except the angry person, sees and suffers from. More on these adventures later.

I am so luck to have you all as my family. I am honored to be associated with each of you. You enrich my life.

Dad

Whats up with you guys?

You guys are sooooo boring! I come to to this blog to see some lame thing someone wrote and there are no new posts! I am so disapointed in all of you.

The world of Mormon Blogs

Ah me. I am avoiding studying. I am enjoying reading bits and pieces from the many, many LDS blogs out there on the WWW. Today I found a new friend. Her name is Kacy and she is hysterically funny. Check her out! I'm going to keep an eye on what she posts. She's almost as funny as Marie.

Natalie's new place

Is darling! Congratulations honey on your first "all your own" apartment. I'd love to help you decorate it when you get all those boxes organized.

The furniture repair guy came and our sectional is now officially hooked together. He also fixed some of the other little things (like staples that were poking out). He didn't speak much english but brought he daughter along to translate. She was very sweet, but all dressed up in Goth style. Anyway he did say that I spent too much money to have furniture with such poor workmanship. I'm going to call Reeds on Tuesday and complain to them on general principle about the shoddy workmanship and quality control of Robert Michael (the furniture manufacturer.)

Today is the Shisley wedding and reception. I will make an appearance and give them some money as a gift. I need to work on some pharmacology study guides.

I'm so glad that yesterday was my last clinical day for the quarter. I'm really looking forward to summer. I think next Wednesday I'll stop by the office and give them my hours so I can earn some money. Chelsea we need to plan exactly when we're going to go to New York so I can plan around that. And Natalie, we may have to figure something out for our August date with Lynda and Emily in Palm Springs, now that Grandma has disowned me. Although maybe you can borrow the keys instead of me. :)

Skyler it was great talking with you on the phone last night. You should post some of it to fill in the rest of the family!

Love mom

California_Screamin_1

California_Screamin_1
Originally uploaded by debionken.

This is the one in the Jesse montage.

potatohead

potatohead
Originally uploaded by debionken.

Now who are these lovely ladies?

Disneyland History

Little did I know that my friend Queen of Disneyland made sure that she and I were part of Disneyland History. The photo murals that have been placed all over DL in honor of its 50th birthday . . ., well here's what Lynda sent me:

Photo: "California Screamin"
Collage: Jessie
Location: The Golden Horseshoe, Frontierland
Position: Row 36, Column 19, Middle Center, Behind Jessie

This is the picture of you and me, the same one I'm using for this year's story quilt....

So, make sure you look for us next time you go!

Just a bunch of BL-ONK!

Recently I became aware of a slang word "plonk" so I wanted to know what the heck that meant, being dangerously close to my made up work for the Onken Blog. Well I found out it was British net slang for cheap booze. NOT a good idea.

For the heck of it, I googled the word "blonk" and found this: http://www.jaapblonk.com/Pages/biography.html Some poor Dutch guy out there has that unfortunate name. But it was pretty funny to read his bio. Jaap Blonk and his band the Splinks.

And you MUST listen to one of his recordings. (Warning, do not have any drink in your mouth when you hear this: http://www.subdist.com/kontrans850.htm You have to click on the recording Oslo.)

Do people pay money for that? I mean, really. And he's a year older than me and dad. LOL!

Hooray

It finally arrived... the newest member of the family, my new G5 PowerMac. It's AWESOME. Now I don't have time to take bathroom breaks while I wait for web pages to load! Yay!

pretty Natalie

Nat_052305
Originally uploaded by debionken.

Nice hair! Good job Jamie.

Sore legs

Awesome time at DL with Nick and Jamie. Even with all that walking though I think I gained 10 lbs. My legs hurt. I didn't post the photo of me shooting aliens because I didn't want to make Nick and Jamie look bad :P

School was soooooooo boring today. 8th week, 10 to go and finals then I'm officially half way through.

Disneyland

So I ditched my second class on Monday to go with Jamie and Mom to Disneyland. It was a really nice day, and the park wasn't full at all. There's a Toy Story 2 ride where you sit in a cart and shoot things for points; to see the picture of me and Jamie, go to this page and cut and paste the code 493F2B9AC914264A22500759D32E7582
. That ride was awesome.

Must see

Check this out.

Hope you guys (Jamie and Mom) have fun at Disneyland!

Saturday

Nick, I looked at that Cosmic Encounter. It was too complicated for me to understand. I think it's another role playing game liike you guys play!

I officially decided not to pursue the CNS dual specialty that would have kept me in school through 8 weeks of summer. I feel a weight off my shoulders having made that decision. Now I can work a little, play a little and decompress. I've got one paper, a take home exam and two finals left in this quarter and I'm just hanging on by my fingernails. I got my exam results back from that last exam and I only did 1.5 points better than the previous exam. That means I still have a B in that class. It will take a miracle to pull an A out of the class and I'm disappointed because I was really hoping to maintain that 4.0 average. :(

Dad was at a ballgame last night so I stayed home and worked on the alumni newsletter, watched a movie and pigged out on ice cream. There goes the diet!

Can't wait till tomorrow . . . a relaxing Sunday. What shall we have for dinner? Quinn called me today from New York to ask for the Debi Dip recipe!

Long Day

I did okay on my test I think. Had dinner with Nat and Dad - love you pretty girl. Now I'm tired and need to veg.
Love mom

Question

You know, every time someone posts something here, even a comment to a post, I get an email. That's cool, but I don't think any of you get those emails. So I'm thinking I should set us up on a mailing list that the blog site uses to email those posts to all of you. What do you think of this idea? Please let me know if you'd like to have these posts emailed directly to you.

I am soooo edgy today. And Chelsea found I lost my ATM card. Fortunately I remembered where I used it last (making a deposit yesterday) and so I called the bank and it was there. Close call.

I got a whopper of a parking ticket today during my clinicals. I'm bummed.

Big exam tomorrow. The last Bachelor tonight!

love mom

Celebrity siting!

Melissa Ethridge just came into our place to rent an RV for trip to New York! Very warm & friendly. Hope she rents.

my day

I had a great day today, even though nothing went as i thought it would. We got up and had our usual morning conversation about what we plan on doing for the day. We were going to chruch and then going to the beach and then we were going to have to go to the ex relief presidents house for a long and boring dinner that I felt to mean to say no to.
I get to chruch late and alone standing outside the chapel looking for Nick. I can't find him anywhere! Then I see him, he is sitting on the stand getting ready to bless the sacrament and the first thing that comes to my mind is"oh great!" Poor me I was going to have to sit alone for the first part of the meeting! I hate that. Well I sat down and got out the hymn book and started reading the words to the song everybody was singing around me. That made me feel terible, here I was feeling sorry for myself because I had to sit alone! How lame am I? So i take the sacrament and said a prayer and felt the spirit take over. It ended up being one of the best meetings I have gone to for a long time.
Then we have to stay in the chapel because we are going to learn about family history work.Of couse the first thing that comes to my head now was "Ok this is going to be boring and I will fall asleep if they turn these lights off." Whats the first thing they do? Turn the lights off. And of course it ended up being a great lesion tought by our stake president. and to think i actually turned to Nick and said"why don't we leave now and go to the beach" I was 1/2 joking. And again proved wrong by the spirit.
Then we come home and get ready to go spend a nice sunny afternoon at the beach with our Ensigns. We get there and it is overcast and cold. Disapointed we come home and have a great afternoon together enjoying eachother.
Then the dreaded dinner comes. I have nothing in common with these people! What are we going to talk about? This was going to be very long and very boring. Well what comes to my mind now? The article Nick posted the other day about the Breakfast Club. So needless to say we had a great time. I am happy to say that I had a total attitude ajustment and after what I thought was going to very a sucky day ended up being one of the best days I've had for a while.
Well I hope you all had a great day also. Debi, I really like the sofa. Looks like it is just waiting for me to sit on it!
Oh this thrusday I'm teaching enrichment on hair. Anyone have any ideas?
And Natalie I thought you were going to call me about your hair!

New sofa

www.flickr.com

Sunday

Raise your hand if you are missing Skyler! (ME! ME!)

We got the new sofa for the family room. It looks great! But of course now I think I need a new area carpet, new lamps and maybe take the old wallpaper down in the kitchen and try something new. But all in all, the whole family room looks cozier. I am going to go and get a tray I can use on the ottoman to be able to use it as a coffee table. I'll take a photo and upload it later. I also need to think about some quilt displaying ideas.

Chelsea is home from New York but I will let her tell the story. She's sleeping now. I'm hoping she'll be able to go to Sue Graff's fireside tonight.

I sure wish more people would POST.

Oh, Lisa Hanson sent me an email essay she found somewhere. I think it tells it like it is and says a bit about what I feel like at this stage of my life, although I didn't really read a lot of "expert" books, and I have four children rather than three, I almost feel like I could have written this one myself:

On Being a Mom

by Anna Quindlen

If not for the photographs, I might have a hard time believing they ever existed. The pensive infant with the swipe of dark bangs and the blackbutton eyes of a Raggedy Andy doll. The placid baby with the yellow ringlets and the high piping voice. The sturdy toddler with the lower lip that curled into an apostrophe above her chin.

ALL MY BABIES are gone now. I say this not in sorrow but in disbelief. I take great satisfaction in what I have today: three almost-adults, two taller than I am, one closing in fast. Three people who read the same book I do and have learned not to be afraid of disagreeing with me in their opinion of them, who sometimes tell vulgar jokes that make me laugh until I choke and cry, who need razor blades and shower gel and privacy, who want to keep their doors closed more than I like.

Who, miraculously, go to the bathroom, zip up their jackets and move food from plate to mouth all by themselves. Like the trick soap I bought for the bathroom with a rubber ducky at its center, the baby is buried deep within reach, barely discernible except through the unreliable haze of the past.

Everything in all the books I once pored over is finished for me now. Penelope Leach., T. Berry Brazelton., Dr. Spock. The ones on sibling rivalry and sleeping through the night and early-childhood education, all grown obsolete. Along with Goodnight Moon and Where the Wild Things Are, they are battered, spotted, well used. But I suspect that if you flipped the pages dust would rise like memories.

What those books taught me, finally, and what the women on the playground taught me, and the well-meaning relations --what they taught me, was that they couldn't really teach me very much at all. Raising children is presented at first as a true-false test, then becomes multiple choice, until finally, far along, you realize that it is an endless essay. No one knows anything. One child responds well to positive reinforcement, another can be managed only with a stern voice and a timeout. One child is toilet trained at 3, his sibling at 2. When my first child was born, parents were told to put baby to bed on his belly so that he would not choke on his own spit- up. By the time my last arrived, babies were put down on their backs because of research on sudden infant death syndrome. To a new parent this ever-shifting certainty is terrifying, and then soothing.

Eventually you must learn to trust yourself. Eventually the research will follow. I remember 15 years ago poring over one of Dr. Brazelton's wonderful books on child development, in which he describes three different sorts of infants: average, quiet, and active. I was looking for a sub-quiet codicil for an 18-month-old who did not walk. Was there something wrong with his fat little legs? Was there something wrong with his tiny little mind? Was he developmentally delayed, physically challenged? Was I insane? Last year he went to China. Next year he goes to college. He can talk just fine. He can walk, too.

Every part of raising children is humbling, too. Believe me, mistakes were made. They have all been enshrined in the, "Remember-When-Mom-Did Hall of Fame." The outbursts, the temper tantrums, the bad language, mine, not theirs. The times the baby fell off the bed. The times I arrived late for preschool pickup. The nightmare sleepover. The horrible summer camp. The day when the youngest came barreling out of the classroom with a 98 on her geography test, and I responded, What did you get wrong? (She insisted I include that.) The time I ordered food at the McDonald's drive-through speaker and then drove away without picking it up from the window. (They all insisted I include that.) I did not allow them to watch the Simpsons for the first two seasons. What was I thinking?

But the biggest mistake I made is the one that most of us make while doing this. I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of the three of them ,sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages 6, 4 and 1. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less.

Even today I'm not sure what worked and what didn't, what was me and what was simply life. When they were very small, I suppose I thought someday they would become who they were because of what I'd done. Now I suspect they simply grew into their true selves because they demanded in a thousand ways that I back off and let them be.

The books said to be relaxed and I was often tense, matter-of-fact and I was sometimes over the top. And look how it all turned out. I wound up with the three people I like best in the world, who have done more than anyone to excavate my essential humanity.

That's what the books never told me. I was bound and determined to learn from the experts. It just took me a while to figure out who the experts were....

Friday Nite

Dad and I went to a dinner for the Agoura 1st Ward. Nice to see the old faces. Chelsea made it safely to New York. I hope she and Kristi have a good time. Tonight Dad and I were talking with Jennifer Brown who told us that Dental Hygienists make a ton of money and are in hot demand and pretty much can call the shots: they only work a couple of days a week, make $400 a day and only see 8 patients or something like that. Sounds like a good job.

I had clinical today and have to work on a paper and study for an exam tomorrow. Lucky me :(

I got some cute shoes from shoebuy.com. I love shoe shopping this way. Saves money and hassle.

Neat article

I was perusing Times and Seasons, a mormon-themed blog where people post thoughts or ideas and people (most are members) comment on them. The link to one cool article in particular is here , but I'll post it here, too:

The Breakfast Club Redux
by Elisabeth Calvert Smith
As my 15-year high school reunion looms dangerously close on the horizon, I’ve been thinking a lot about the classic 80’s movie of teenage sturm und drang: ‘The Breakfast Club’. For those of you who may have missed one of the 157 airings of the TBS ‘Dinner and a Movie’ versions of ‘The Breakfast Club’ (’Twister’ is this weekend!), the story is about five teenagers all from very different backgrounds, forced to spend the day together in the school library one Saturday as punishment for various indiscretions or acts of violence perpetrated upon unsuspecting freshmen.


At first, the teens eye each other uncomfortably and pretty much keep to themselves, but then, with no other form of entertainment around to distract them, they finally start talking to each other and, of course, discover they have a lot in common. The day of detention then becomes a day of discovery and reconciliation. And, true to form for all respectable John Hughes movies, Molly Ringwald ends up with the cute, but rough around the edges, guy (Judd Nelson, for all you fans of ’80s trivia).

But everyone watching the movie knows that while they’re all happily dancing around the library now (where is the principal when all this is going on?) and sharing their innermost teenage secrets and desires, they’ll awkwardly ignore each other in the school hallways on Monday morning (completely forgetting the Simple Minds’ prescient warning ‘Don’t You Forget About Me’).

So, back to reality. Jim Faulconer has a great post up today about (among other things) how much he appreciates all of the unique people and their interesting personalities in his Ward. Which got me thinking. Are our experiences at Church like “The Breakfast Club"? Where we say hello, share a few meaningful spiritual experiences together, go home, and never make much of an effort to really get to know each other? Are we supposed to spend time outside Church activities getting to know each other as part of building a community of Zion, especially in places where there are few members? Do we have to be friends with people just because they are Mormon?

And, in our every day lives, how often do we go out of our way to acquaint ourselves, get to know, and appreciate people who are different than we are, i.e., of a lower or higher economic class, different race, religion, etc.? When we find out that someone is different in ways that we may find difficult to identify with, do we want to continue to be their friend? Say you just found out that someone at work you like and are getting to know better is gay and lives with a long-term partner. Do you continue the friendship in the same way?

How many of your friends are just like you? Do you socialize with people of different ethnic, religious and social backgrounds?


The comments are interesting, and can be viewed by visiting the link I posted above. What do you guys think?

I just checked out the airline tickets again and they went up $10. So they are $413 now, which is still good but I wonder how much longer we should wait. I talked to a travel agent the other day and he has not gotten back to me yet. What do you think? If you want to check out the tickets go to American air and check dates from dec 31 to Jan 9. Check by fare not by schedule. Debi, you have to go down the page for a while before you get to the flights that come home early on the 9(around 5 or 6 pm).

Chelsea have fun in New York!!!!!!

Big Bear

Grandma just called and said she's booked a place in Big Bear from July 22nd to July 27th. Mark your calendars. It's an 8 bedroom house on the lake.

Questions for the Man

I recently found out that the Camarillo YSA ward is holding a fireside that our ward has been invited to. The topic will be "Questions & Answers". They are asking members of the 5 YSA wards to submit questions in writing, anonymously if desired, and will take more when we get there. What questions would you ask, honestly, if you had the chance to ask it anonymously? I don't know who will be answering the questions, I guess it will depend on what the questions are. Anyway, what are life's puzzling questions that you would ask? No answers will be offered, just interested to see what the important questions of our heart are. The reason? It is said that the trick in life is not to know the right answers, but to ask the right questions.

Here's one I'm pondering these days: Why do we forget so many important things that we swear, when we experience them, that we will never forget? Like with my dad, I find myself thinking of him less often, and forgetting several things like his smell, touch, fameous phrases, etc. Puzzling, and a little disconcerting.

Love you all
P.................. (you know)

Thank you!

I had THE very best Mother's Day ever. The only thing that kept it from being totally PERFECT was the absence of the baby of the family. However, he was so amazing by sending Ali over to the house with tulips and a hug. Skyler, thank you so much for thinking of me. We all missed you very much. Here is a list of all my special treats in no particular order.

.Chelsea speaking in church. She was awesome. Not only did she not cry, you could not tell that she was even a little bit nervous.

.Natalie came to see Chelsea speak!! And she hung out the whole day and helped Dad pull off the amazing party and she stayed until late in the evening. I enjoyed every minute of her being here. She is amazing.

.Clayton came to church.

.Skyler sent a flower and a hug and later he called

.Nick and Jamie came and stayed until late and gave me hugs and gave me a gorgeous picture frame

.Tarrik, Diane, Ashley, Blair, Blake, Jacob and Scott came to join our celebration. Kristi came! The house was full of people.

.Dad made my favorite dinner - Brower chicken and that spinach salad! Chelsea made mashed potatoes. Everything was extremely yummy and I didn't have to do any of it.

It was a perfect day. Thank you all so much. I can't tell you how special it was for me. I have the BEST husband and the BEST kids.

I cannot believe it is raining. Too weird. But a good day to stay at home and study for that pharmacology test I have tomorrow. Maybe hit the gym this afternoon when Chelsea gets home. Chelsea, did you finally get to sleep last night now that your speaking assignment is all over? LOL!

Skyler, thanks for the pix. I enjoyed them very much. But don't feel you can't fill up the pages with photos. We will enjoy them very much. Where did you find to upload them from?

Love mom