Something to Brighten Even the Smoggiest of Days

The weather here is a little bit frightful, as in the inversion of smog is slowly killing us all. (Optimism is my middle name.) (I just heard we were ranked the most unhealthy air in America.) This tends to cause me to be a bit grouchy; however, last night I was reminded of the healing quality of Miss America. Ever since I was in college, we have been watching the pageant. Even if we were gone, we faithfully recorded the pageant, baked up some treats and sat back for the drama to unfold. Saturday morning I awoke at 6:30 am, looked out the window at the smog, shook my head and flipped on the t.v. To my delight, a show called Countdown to the Crown was on. (It has challenges for the contestants to perform to earn a chance to be in the top 15 at the pageant.) (How fun, I know!) I spent three and a half magical hours cheering the girls on to win a golden sash. It was a perfect bonding time with the contestants, and so when I arrived to watch the pageant I knew who I wanted to win, and more importantly who I didn't want to win. Unfortunately, my picks did not win, but it was still delightful.

Every time we watch the pageant, we reminisce about our all time favorite Miss America winner. We watched this clip every time we were feeling down. Once we popped it in our day was always a little brighter. The enthusiasm, the up and down movement, the dropping of the earring, and the eyes popping out; it all leads me to grin every time I see it. And so when you're feeling down on the smoggiest of days, just take a look at this little delight.

Thirty, Flirty, and Thriving

I am a firm believer that when it is your birthday there are a few rules that apply:
-You may eat whatever you want to eat (two kinds of cake, homemade cookies from a student, and a hamburger, It's all fair game.)
-You don't have to eat things you don't want to (your oatmeal, V8 juice, or your daily carrot and apple combo.)
- Whatever you wear will look good.
-Nobody is allowed to be mean to you.
-You don't have to go to the gym if you don't want to.
-You don't have to feel guilty about not going to the gym.
-You don't have to lift a finger in housework.
I also believe that when it is your thirtieth birthday, you have to do something youthful, impractical, and out of the ordinary. Therefore, I decided that even though I had only been back from Arizona for four days, I was going to fly out to Texas for my birthday weekend. If you have ever been to Texas, you know why: Everything is bigger and better there. (That's what they tell me.) While there, we bought these Texas sized rings with fake diamonds glittering in the sun to document all of our experiences. There is nothing greater then 30 glittering ring pictures at delightful and crazy places to remind you that birthdays are a little slice of heaven. It was fabulous. Pictured are only a few of those delightful moments: The old school roller rink, Texas's largest flea market, and NASA (which is highly educational, yet as you can see, fun filled. I even touched a moon rock. How fabulous is that?)

As much fun as Texas was, I'm a sucker for celebrating my birthday with my class. There is something delightful about being at school with my kids for my birthday. And so, I came back and found my room decorated with streamers, balloons, and banners everywhere. To my delight, not only were there Happy Birthday banners but Congratulations banners. I guess I had made too much of a fuss about how important this day was. Then my class brought in cake, pop, and a karaoke machine. How can you not have fun with a karaoke machine blasting out tunes, you standing up on a stool, 30 kids chanting your name with their hands in the air swaying to your song? (Which happened to be The Itsy Bitsy Spider.) As one of my students told his mother about my performance, "She gave it her all."

That night I went out with my best friends and we had a bowling extravaganza of fun. (In case you didn't know, crazy socks always help you bowl better.) One of my friends brought the most beautiful cake into the bowling alley, where they gave us a candle and applauded when I blew it out. I've always wanted to have a birthday party at a bowling alley, and it was all that I had hoped it would be. Sadly, the birthday is over, but that is okay, because even though I once again have to eat my oatmeal and V8, I am now thirty, flirty, and thriving.

The Break

My students write a little story called Fortunately. They start out with an event, then something unfortunate happens, then something fortunate happens, then unfortunate, and then fortunate. You get the picture. My favorite part is their imaginative unfortunate events. The craziest things always happen in their stories. Well, Christmas Break was just like their stories, except I didn't make up any of the crazy parts.
Here is my story:
A few days after my break started, I received a phone call from my mom.
Unfortunately, my grandma was sick in the hospital, so I immediately flew home.
Fortunately, she miraculously defied the odds and was able to come home. (Yeah!)
Unfortunately, the day she came home I became sick as a dog (miserable, moaning, awful sick), the basement flooded, and the ceiling began to leak. (My poor mother and father.)
Fortunately, I got better, we got the basement dried, and the leak stopped. (Phew!)
Unfortunately, I then started to break out into unfathomable, horrible hives. (A mystery still.)
Fortunately, they weren't the kind that stop you from breathing, and we had a fabulous Christmas. We even went out for a little run in the middle of the night.
Unfortunately, when we got back, the basement was flooded again. (Insanity!)
Fortunately, you can't keep a good person down.
Unfortunately, sometimes a good person will fall down while cross country skiing and do a little something, something to their ankle. (However, can you see the beautiful snow and sky? It was worth it.)
Fortunately, I gave it a little wrap and a little rest, and it is doing better.
Unfortunately, I had to leave the promised land of the hometown.
Fortunately, I got to visit friends in the Valley (or should I say Phoenix area?) and had a delightful time, they even turned on their air conditioners. (Air conditioning in January?)
Unfortunately, Utah isn't so accommodating and during my flight back it began to snow, and they shut down one of the terminals. We had to wait and wait, and then drive through ice to get home.
Fortunately, we're use to the snow and ice and got home safely.
And that is how the break ended, a little insanity sprinkled throughout, but as all stories should end, happy.

Merry Christmas from the Whole Family

In the blink of an eye, life became crazy, and I didn't get out a single Christmas card. I hope this makes up for the loss, my mother's festive card of the whole fam. That is right, the whole family wishing you a Merry Christmas!

The Door Whisperer: A Spooky Story

This is the true account of my brush with danger a few weeks ago. Read at your own discretion.


I will be the first to admit that I have a very active imagination. I will also be the first to admit you do not want to go with me to a haunted house. ( I tend to push, shove, and throw people into the face of danger.) I must also admit, I don't do very well being alone. However, I really do try to be brave, and I was doing just fine living in apartments. I knew my neighbors, there were always people out and about, and there were so many people together. Unfortunately, as soon as I got home from Africa I moved. (Yeah, it was a little crazy.) Fortunately, I moved to a nice new town home. Unfortunately, they are still building a lot of the town homes, and so that means few occupants, dark, vacant buildings, and a roommate who has been gone for the last four weekends. I of course, did what any person with a vivid imagination would do, I went to my brother's house every weekend. That is, I did until someone told me to suck it up and stay by myself. Unfortunately, I don't do well being thought of as a chicken, and so I decided to be brave and stay home. I devised a little plan to keep myself busy until I was so exhausted I would fall asleep. And so, I paid every bill, wrote in my journal, read my journals, organized my photos, read all of my friends' blogs ( they are all so great) and by about three I fell asleep watching T.V. I woke up a little after four, and I knew I was so tired I would sleep like an angel. I turned off the T.V., picked up my pillow, and walked over to the front door to turn off the lights.

(This is the cue for the scary music.) As I reached for the light, I heard a faint sound outside the door, puzzled I learned in closer and that is when I heard a man whispering. (Yes, it is true) It was at that moment that my heart leapt into my throat, I felt like I was in one of my nightmares. ( You know the kind where you can't move and all you feel is horror.) I however, found I could move, and I did. I leaped up the stairs with my heart pounding. I flipped open my phone, "Who to call, who to call?" In terror, I realized that I didn't have one person in my phone who lived remotely close. And so, I took a deep breath and tried to think more rationally. I knew I had a big imagination and so I wondered, "Was I just imagining the door whisperer?" I crept back down the stairs and went to the door again. Holding my breath, I listened again. . . . . Ahhhhhhhhh. . . . . . I heard the voice again, and this time I heard what he said, "There is no peep hole." All thoughts of being rational left me. Anybody who is talking about a peep hole at four in the morning is not rational. I hurriedly dialed my brother, woke him up, told him to stay on the line while I snuck out the back door into the garage, and hopped into my car. I locked the doors and raced out of the garage. As I drove by the front of the house, there was nobody there. Ahhhhhhhh. . . . . .. I was so spooked I couldn't stop my leg from shaking, which was bad because you have to brake when driving. I drove like mad, and then I got mad and decided to turn around and see if someone was really trying to break in. I am all for justice being served, and I had my phone out ready to call the police. (Nobody scares me like that and gets away with it.) Luckily, nothing appeared to be amiss, and so I drove to my brother's house and fell into bed relieved from worry.

(This is perhaps the anticlimactic part) The next day we all went out to the house and checked everything out. It seemed okay. And since then I haven't heard the door whisperer again. However, I have also not stayed home alone again, nor will I ever in the future. I really don't care if people think I am a chicken, nothing is worth having to be home alone and hear the "Door Whisperer."

Tanzania, Tanzania

Here are a few moments of life in Africa:

-Each morning we awoke to the Ramadan call to prayer and the smell of burning trash. (Which they just piled up by the road and burned each day.) Every night began with the slathering on of deet, the pulling on of long sleeved clothing, and the tunneling into our mosquito net for the night. Each night, as I looked up at the ceiling, I gained more appreciation for that net, knowing it not only kept out the mosquitoes, but the spiders, the beetles, and the lizards.

-Each day as we came out of our gate we would see donkeys, cars, goats, Masai on bikes, and women carrying huge buckets on their heads, all sharing the same road.

-I learned to enjoy porridge every morning and rice and beans every lunch and dinner. (Okay, perhaps at the end of three weeks the word enjoy may be a tad bit generous, it is true I actually dreamed about pizza.)

-I learned to teach without a classroom, and then in a room with no desks, no chalkboard, and no books, to children who spoke only a few English words.

-The last few days, I wiped away happy tears at the sound of those children saying English letter names and sounds, colors, numbers and words.

-I found myself screaming in horror as two, fat, killer lizards fell from the ceiling onto the floor in the middle of class. Forgetting all restraint, I ran from the room. Of course, all the children did likewise and tried to calm me down. Call the animal police, but the other teacher killed them as she exclaimed,"The children play with them. They are their friends. They will not hurt you." Friends or not, I did not feel an ounce of sadness. (Do not feel bad for those lizards, they were awful.)

-I discovered that all those random wet spots all over the playground were actually student made bathroom puddles.

-We explored a Chagga bat filled cave, where Nick decided to take a picture of a sleeping bat. I decided to run for my life after it woke up.

-We marveled at the Masai sand and dung insulated huts with live chickens inside.

-We cringed at the gaping holes in the Masais' ears, which according to the Masai preacher, were first started long ago when their herds were far from home, and they would put the new lambs in those holes to help carry them home. It's true, that's what he said.

-We rode what they call the dala dalas. They are old vans that act like buses for the people, since most don't have their own cars. They are however, crazy. There is always a man hanging out of the door scanning the road for anyone who needs a ride. The use of seats is also optional. People sit on the floor, on your lap, or hoover over your head. The dala dala is never too full for more riders.

-We were able to go to a newly formed L.D.S. branch. In a place so different, it was wonderful to find the same peace.

-We heard testimony in one of the U.N. Rwanda criminal tribunal court cases. (Which are still happening, even though it has been over 14 years ago.) It was fascinating, extremely sad that the genocide ever happened, and hopeful that justice will be served.

-I hummed Lion King music throughout our safari, as we saw amazing animals. They were extremely beautiful, okay, some of them were not, (Have you ever seen a wildebeast?) but all were extremely fascinating. I also have never seen such beautiful sunrises and sunsets in my life.

-I found myself falling asleep in the campground to the lullaby sounds of hyenas, lions, and water buffalo, the campground without any fences or gates. Amazingly, I actually slept.

-I learned that things aren't what make us happy.


-This is how my students would say goodbye every day. They would pray, sing about Jesus, shout about how happy they were, and then sing a goodbye song to their teachers. It makes me ask myself the same question each day, "Are you happy?" Humbly, and gratefully I know I can always say, "Yes!"

AFRICA

I'm finally almost 100% back from Africa. (I got home a little over a week ago, but my body has taken a little longer to get back.) Africa was a million different adjectives: amazing, despairing, fascinating, hard, heartwarming, heartbreaking, beautiful, frightful. . . . . . and the list could go on. I went with a nonprofit organization to teach, learn about the culture, and have some free time to explore. However, when I got down there I was truly overwhelmed by the immense need. It was hard because I knew I could not give back parents to all of the orphans, cure all that were sick, feed all that were hungry or give money to all that were in need. Looking around I felt very small and inadequate, however, I was reminded that I had two things that I could give in abundance to all I came into contact with. The first was knowledge. I am a firm believer that knowledge is power. We taught the children, the teachers, and the community. As a pastor we met said, " If you give me money I will cry and thank you, but I would rather you give me knowledge because after the money is gone, the knowledge will still be there."
The second thing I could give was love. My eyes were never dry as the children would run to grab my hand, sit on my lap, brush my hair, and squeeze in to be held. I spent most recesses with my arms around five or six children that didn't want to let go when recess was done. It was heartbreaking to realize that there are not enough hands to rock, hug, and love these little orphans. If only I could have brought them home.
I have truly been humbled and filled with gratitude. Whenever we told people we were from America their eyes would get big and they would cheer, "Oh America, that is our favorite country." We met many children named after American presidents, who have given great aid to the Tanzanian people. What a great country we come from, we are so blessed. It was however, also amazing to see these people who had nothing were so happy and welcoming. What a wonderful people and beautiful country. I would love to go back.

I of course have some delightfully crazy stories about falling lizards, swooping bats, sneaky pickpockets, and prowling lions that I will have to share next time.