More Gratitude

1. I'm thankful that my mom taught me how to sew.  I love picking out patterns and fabrics.  I love spending a day creating something.  It's therapy to work through something a step at a time.  I'm thankful for my Pfaff 1222, my high school graduation present.  It still runs like a dream.
2. Ibuprofen.  I'm a whimp.  I don't like the slightest pain or discomfort.  I don't take it daily, but I take a lot, and it helps.
3. I love trees.  I'm getting excited to see the blossoms and all the leaves budding out.  I love their bark, branches, and unique shapes.  I love the birds and squirrels that hang out in them.  I think trees are almost like people.  They have their own personalities.    

Monday of Spring Break

I still feel crumby today, but I had signed-up to deliver milk to the women's shelter, so I ventured out.  Of course it started hailing.  What kind of spring break is this!  Actually it only lasted a few minutes and it made me feel good to donate milk.  It also made me feel good to buy all healthy, fresh vegetables and tofu at Winco.  I'm going to be making purees and using them in my sneaky recipes.  The sun came out with some blue skies.  My pansies are happy, and Terry is taking me to Blue Cow - medicine for my sore throat.  I've finished 4 books that I've been reading since Christmas.  I have my sewing machine out.  I've ordered the crochet patterns, and cleaned one room.  I think everything will be good.

Plans

At school I have to write lesson plans for each day.  These are my plans for Spring Break - which by the way, started yesterday and last  night I had a sore throat, and I've been feeling crumby all day - not a great start, but I'm still planning on great things.

I'll have to clean my house, write the primary newsletter, and spend a couple days on report cards, but after that I want to see Dad and Mom, Nan, Andrea, and friends.  Someone should be good for lunch, or a movie.  I have material for 2 baby quilts and a queen sized quilt for my bed.  I want to get at least one of them done.  I want to try a recipe, from Jerry Seinfeld's wife, for chicken sandwiches.  I also have a new cookbook from the sneaky chef, where she adds vegetables to everything, like cauliflower puree to macaroni and cheese.  I want to try a couple of those recipes in an attempt to find some standard recipes that are more healthy.  I also am ordering the patterns for these cute baby shoes that I want to learn how to crochet.  I have four books coming from Amazon on Wednesday so I'll be reading too.  I'd like to learn how to knit and go over to Eugene and see Ty, but I think both of those things will have to wait until summer.

Green Chutes

A very cool place has opened in the revitalized Collister Shopping Center.  It's an art gallery-studio-cafe-hangout-co-op.  I went to the grand opening with my artist friend Mary.  It's a mini Art in the Park with lots of places to sit and relax.  I think I want to hangout there.  I want a Green Chutes t-shirt too.  I'm definitely going back to buy some button beaded jewelry.  One of my former students was there with some of his work to be displayed.  I loved his prints - bright, funny, and happy.  He'll be a successful animator soon.  Right now he has to finish high school, but his name is Andrew Adams and I knew him when he drew darling cartoons on his fourth grade papers.

The Tale of Holly How

I've been reading ahead of my book group.  Our November selection is a mystery from a series call The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter.  I love Beatrix Potter and English cottages.  I've decided to spend a good deal of my summer reading this series, out on a patio swing, with lemonade, and maybe even cucumber sandwiches.  It's like a cross between the books of James Herriot and The First Ladies Detective Agency in Botswana.  The animals talk and help solve the mysteries and it works.  I've been delighted.

We were watching the basketball tournament this week and one of the teams were the badgers - maybe Wisconsin.  I've always thought of badgers as being mean and stinky, but now that I've read about Bosworth Badger, I really like them.  Bosworth keeps the history and genealogy of the badgers.  He has a beautiful library in The Brockery.  I like him better than Professor Galileo Newton Owl, and I've always loved owls.

This morning I was reading a chapter that started at breakfast in The Brockery.  There are a variety of animals at the table since the badgers take in permanent and temporary lodgers.  They were all rested and full of exuberant energy and interesting plans for the day--always a wonderful day, because animals rarely worry or imagine the worst of what is to come, as people do.  They are generally planning a picnic, or a foraging expedition, or just loafing on a quiet river bank.  I thought wouldn't it be great to have toast and marmalade with them.  What a way to start the day.

Last Minute Thriller

Watch for him in the finale.

Bry came over on Thursday night to watch BYU play Florida.  They lost in overtime, and it would have been a disappointing evening except we turned to watch the end of American Idol to see who was being sent home.  Bry has never watched a complete episode of Idol, so he didn't realize how momentous it was.  Casey, a genius of a musician, had the fewest votes so he had to sing for his life.  The judges never save anyone this early in the competition.  They weren't even to the top ten.  But when Casey started singing, Ryan stopped everything.  The judges said he didn't need to sing, they were absolutely saving him.  The eleven left will go on the summer tour instead of ten.  That five minutes on Idol was so much more dramatic than the basketball game.  The evening was thrilling.

Shout for Joy

As the primary secretary, I've been going down the hall to check on nursery, and then slipping into the RS lesson and spending 30-40 minutes.  It's just been years since I've been able to go, and I really miss the women and the spiritual boost.

Last Sunday the lesson was on the word of wisdom, and one of the quotes stated that in the preexistence when we found out that we would receive a body, we shouted for joy.  You looked around the room at a good number of middle aged women and wondered how many of them would shout for joy now when looking in the mirror at their body.  Since about the age of 12 most of us have struggled in some way with body image.  I can't say I love the roll around my middle or the fact that what few eyelashes I have are stubby and blond.  There's about 15 pounds of me that I don't like at all, but I am happy and grateful for the body I have.

I've been especially thankful for the good health I've always enjoyed.  I like my brunette hair and have never desired to be a blond (maybe a little auburn).  I have good eyesight, and even now that I use glasses for distance and reading, I can get away without them.  I'm glad I didn't blast music into my ears through headphones.  Hearing aides just aren't the same.  Physically I've been able to walk, climb, lift, carry, and work.  I have good balance.  I've never been too athletic, but I'm not competitive either so sports weren't a priority.  I'm most grateful that I was able to be pregnant and give birth.  That whole miracle was thrilling and enjoyable every minute.

So a shout for joy every morning might be in order.  What I'll be working on will be making good food choices, and staying limber and active.  I need to take calcium, vitamins, and get check-ups.  Most important I need to learn how to let my spirit have control over my physical body.  I'll work on those things.

So when I think about it, I could shout for joy.