Three Things

I stole this from my sister. She does three good things that happen during the week. So not to let a good thing go (and honestly - it's easier to think of three bad things than three good things that usually happen to me) I'm going to try.

1. I got through James solo and ensemble in band. For the first time, James had a solo and ensemble thing with band and had to play on the bass clarinet in front of judges. Since all his other solos have had accompaniment with a CD, this one couldn't, so I was appointed his accompanist. UGH! I am not a great pianist and to play in front of a judge knowing my son's depending on me is hard. But I did it. I didn't make any mistakes, he did well on the bass clarinet and we all were happy. Whew. Hopefully I don't have to do that again for a while.

2. I got an A in my class. Well, I took my final last week in my Organizational Behavior class on leadership and got my grade back today. I got an A- in the class. I am really excited about this. The class wasn't hard, but really tedious and dull. I started my new class this week and so far so good. I'm done with the second chapter and I know I am going to be sufficiently challenged (it's advanced business writing and I'm realizing I've forgotten all the grammatical junk I learned 20 plus years ago). So wish me luck.

3. Um, um, not thinking of a third yet.
3. see, I told you, it's sometimes to think of three good things.
3. oh, yeah. I made dinner last night. We pulled out some trout that we had frozen and brought home from our latest cabin trek. I cooked it up. Then I made potato salad from scratch (not really my son says - I didn't grow the cucumbers, potatoes, onions and celery). I had my mom's special recipe she finally gave me (it's a secret - if I told you what was in it, I'd have to kill you). It was yummy. See, occassionally I cook for my family.

So there are my three things. Hopefully having a positive outlook on life will make me a better person. Don't worry, though, I'm human, and I still complain a lot and will post them on this blog.

Happy V Day

I hope everyone had a great valentines day. We definitely did. The kids had fun at school and at home. I made mailboxes and they have been sending secret notes to each other. We have done sugar cookies, cards and the whole kit and caboodle. The girls even had a valentine tea at school where they dressed up in their finest and had juice and cookies in a formal setting. James had a dance at school where he danced with two girls (of whom he had sent a candy heart to earlier in the day). Dirk sent me a huge bouquet of lilies and surprised me by having it delivered and I got up at 5:30am to clean off the snow from his car (yes - it snowed 4 inches overnight) and shoveled behind the cars so they could get out. Then I made him breakfast and a lunch for him to take to work. He was very surprised. I also made pink pancake hearts for the kids for breakfast. It has been a great day!

Torture

Do you ever have a love hate relationship with an entity? Mine is college. I love to hate it. For twenty one years I have been playing this game. I went to BYU for three years, then my parents moved to Utah and over the summer I got a real job and dropped out. Two years later, my job sent me back to college part time. This time I went to the University of Utah. Then I married Dirk and got pregnant and dropped out. Then ten years later I find out that BYU will let me graduate from a distance (now we're in VA), so I re-enroll. To get me degree I have 15 classes to finish. Four years later (mind you I restarted this all with a 2 year old) I am down to my last 5 classes. I am taking my final in my business leadership class Thursday and ordered my next two classes today (Business writing and Marketing Management). Watch me stress as I am hoping to take two more classes by September. My goal is to graduate next spring. I hate taking classes and studying and writing papers. Yet I know I'll miss it. So I love to hate college. It's torture.

Snow

That is all I can say. If I try to be positive, I'd be lying. This winter has been full of it. We have probably had at least 10 snowstorms hit so far and another one is hitting right now. December we saw 29 inches of snow. January 18 inches of snow and in February already, we have had 10 inches of snow. The weatherman said that we have had measureable snow every other day for the last 2 1/2 weeks. Ugh!!! Guess who does the shoveling? ME! It always seems to hit in the night and all morning when everybody else is at work or school, so I am out there shoveling by myself. I keep trying to remind myself that moisture is good for us, and the kids love it, but let it hit everywhere except my car and the driveway and sidewalks. Albeit a pain in the neck, my southern kids have loved it. There is a good hill in the backyard and they sled down it a lot (it's hard to get up right now since the snow is 1 1/2 feet deep they are trudging in). We need to borrow gramps' snowshoes. Jenni went on a field trip with school skiing. James' young men's combined activity next week is to go skiing. Only Emma will not have tried out the ski slopes this year. James wants to try snowboarding, having used a plastic one in the backyard, so we'll see. James went on his klondike campout two weeks ago and they camped on top of the snow (it was apparently very very deep in the mountains) and had to use snowshoes to get in to their campsite. He loved it, though, and said he wasn't cold too much. We have had enough snow to make a good sized snow cave if the kids ever finish it. I will post pictures soon of all this fun. So you Virginians and Floridians just think of us. Even in the hardest snowstorms of all, there is no snow day from school, the kids still trudge through the unplowed sidewalks to get to school (sometimes I'll drive them, but usually I make them walk). I miss the snow days. I miss never shoveling. I miss temperatures above 32 degrees and nights above 10 degrees. We should get to 42 degrees this weekend so I will rejoice by wearing a short sleeved shirt outside - it will be downright balmy.

So who is visiting my post?

Alright everyone, here's your chance to let me know who is visiting my blog. So just leave me a comment, or just leave your name here, let me know who really cared enough to visit my blog. I'm hoping to get at least 10 comments on this posting, that way I know people care or don't care what is going on in our lives. Dirk bet me I'd have more than 10, so let's prove him right. Just leave your name or leave your name and a message. I'd love to hear from you all!

Why do I cave in?

Yes, I did it. I am now officially (as if I never was before?) a cool mom to my girls and a sucker to everyone else. Saturday, I hauled out the old checkbook and took the girls to see Hannah Montana, the concert, at the movie theatres in 3-D. Wow were they excited. Emma sat at the edge of her seat the whole time and beebopped singing (very loudly) every lyric of almost every song. She was ecstatic. Jenni on the other hand sat there watching it all going "mom, make her stop", "mom, quit bopping your head, people are looking". "mom, movies are for watching, not participating in." (Has she never heard of the Rocky Horror Picture Shows?). As we left, she said to me: that was so awesome mom, thanks. See, I am a cool mom. The sucker part comes when you find out I spent $18 a ticket, yes a ticket, to see the show. Now I feel foolish and part of the rest of the world being drawn into the commercialism of disney. That said, would I do it again? Absolutely, because in a few years, when my girls are teens, I doubt I will ever be considered a cool mom again. The things we do for our egos and for our kids.