KIDS

HOW CUTE—THE GIRLS MADE ME A GIFT, WRAPPED IT, & PUT IT AT MY COP.!

HAD A BLAST W/JESS, & RETURNED 2 MY CHILDHOOD: I POPPED BUBBLEWRAP FROM A PKG., THAT SHE PUT ON THE FLOOR 4 ME 2 ROLL OVER. HERE’S YOUR OWN BUBBLEWRAP (TRY MANIAC MODE):
http://www.therightfoot.net/mystuff/whatever/swf/bubblewrap.swf

DECIDED 2 MAKE MY NEXT POST COPIES OF SOME EMAILS THE GIRLS SENT 2 ME:

FROM JESS—
HERES SOME!
1. WHY IS IT HARD FOR LEAPARDS TO HIDE? BECAUSE THEY’RE ALWAYS SPOTTED!
2. WHAT DO YOU GET IF YOU CROSS A SNOWMAN AND ATIGER? FROSTBITE!

FROM FIA–
i hope u einjoy my joke book
1.teacher:spell mouse.
lady bug:m o u s
teacher: but what”s at the end
lady bug:a tail!
2.what’s the difference between a paino and a fish?
you can tune a paino but you canot tune a fish!
3.what dose a vampier eat for dinner?
fang dogs
4.nock nock me oh me ileft so i cuod stop heaing all of thes bad jokes
5.why is 6 afirad 7
becouse 7 ate 9

6.what time is it when a gohst comes to dinner
time to run

THOUGHTS

I WAS SEARCHING 4 THE ENSIGN ARTICLE (ABOUT HYMNS, BY MY FRIEND, Jack Rushton) THAT INSPIRED MY ENSIGN ARTICLE. DISCOVERED THESE WORDS OF WISDOM, IN A 2ND ENSIGN ARTICLE HE HAD PARTICIPATED IN:

Everything can be taken away from you. But no one else can control your thoughts or attitudes. I often think of a quote I once heard: ‘Pain is inevitable, but misery is optional.’ Nothing can force us to be unhappy.”

THEN, AT CHURCH SUN., THERE WAS A COMENT THAT GAVE ME A THOUGHT 2 SHARE:

IN PRES. MONSON’S TALK, “Abundantly Blessed,” HE SAID, “To you who are parents, I say, show love to your children. You know you love them, but make certain they know it as well.” THIS IS SOMETHING WWE ALL CAN DO.

NOW-A-DAYS, I CAN SIGN “I LOVE U”—FEW OF THEIR FRIENDS KNOW THE SIGN’S MEANING, & IF THEY DO, THEY DON’T KNOW “JENNY-ESE,” SO THE KIDS CAN SILENTLY KNOW THAT I LOVE THEM, & R NOT EMBARRASSED BY MY SIGN OF AFFECTION.

BUT B4 MY STROKE, I

I DID THIS 2 MY OLDER 2 KIDS (DOUBT SOPHIA REMEMBERS, AS SHE WAS BARELY 2 YRS. OLD, WHEN I HAD MY STROKE): I COULD REACH OVER, GRAB A HAND, & SQUEEZE THEIR HAND, 2 SECRETLY SAY ” I LOVE U”, SO I DIDN’T EMBARRASS THEM IN PUBLIC.

RECENTLY, SOPHIA HAS BEEN QUESTIONING MY UNCONDITIONAL LOVE, & ASKS REPEATEDLY “WOULD U LOVE ME IF I _____.” SHE REALLY SEEMS 2 BE TESTING ME, AS SHE’S RECENTLY HAD A STRING OF CHOICES THAT WERE ROUGH. BUT, AFTER HEARING PRES. MONSON’S TALK IN APRIL 2008, (“Abundantly Blessed”), COMFORT WAS SPOKEN 2 MY SOUL:

WHILE IT HAS BEEN QUITE THE STRUGGLE 4 ME 2 ACCEPT THE IDEA 2 NOT BE YOUR “TRADITIONAL” MOM, I COULD STAND PROUD AS A MOM, BECAUSE THE KIDS KNOW I LOVE THEM, & EVER SINCE I COULD SIGN “I LOVE U”, THERE ISN’T A DAY THAT I DON’T SAY IT, SINCE THERE’S NO GAURANTEE I CAN SAY IT TOMMORROW.

SPEAKING OF TOMMORROW , OUR PERCEPTION OF THE FUTURE IS A DAY, A WEEK, A MONTH, OR EVEN 20 YRS. DOWN THE ROAD. I BELIEVE THE LORD’S PERCEPTION OF THE FUTURE IS ETERNAL. SO WHEN THINGS R TOUGH, OR NOT AS WE EXPECT IT 2 BE, INSTEAD OF WONDERING, “WHY ME?”, WE SHOULD ENDURE, LEARN & GROW FROM THE HARDSHIP, & SEARCH 4 THE GOOD IN IT. U MAY NOT C THE BLESSINGS UNTIL LATER, BUT THE LORD KNEW WHEN U WERE GIVEN THE HARDSHIP. HE KNOWS WHO U ARE, & WHO U ARE TRYING 2 BECOME, & PLACES THOSE HARDSHIPS THERE, 2 GIVE US THE CHANCE 2 BECOME WHO WE SHOULD BE…

AS MY FRIEND, Jack Rushton SAID, “The Lord knows why, even though we don’t.”

MY BODY

I USE A LOT OF HUMOR 2 DEAL W/THINGS, SO HERE’S SOMETHING U MAY ENJOY:

MY KIDS & I WERE PLAYING A GAME (“APPLES 2 APPLES”) A LONG TIME AGO. IT WAS MY TURN 2 SHARE A WORD. THEIR JOB WAS 2 DEFINE THE WORD THE BEST THEY COULD, W/THE CARDS IN HAND (THE CARDS HAD WORDS), BUT THE TRICK WAS 2 DEFINE IT, SO I WOULD PICK THEIR DEFINITION. MY WORD WAS “BODY.” MOST WOULD BE HORRIFIED BY HOW MY SON CHOSE 2 DEFINE IT: “USELESS.” BUT I DOUBLED OVER LAUGHING & PICKED HIS DEFINITION!

MY STROKE IS A BLESSING & A CURSE. I THINK MANY C THE CURSE, BUT FEW C THE BLESSING. I EVEN HAD A CHOICE IN HOW I SAW IT.

IT’S LIKE WHEN U SEND A CHILD 2 COLLEGE & LOOK BACK AT YRS. GONE BY. SURE, U MISS “THE GOOD OL’ DAYS.” BUT U R GRATEFUL 4 THE EXPERIENCES U HAD IN “THE GOOD OL’ DAYS.”

LATER, THAT CHILD BLESSES U W/GRANDKIDS, & U R AGAIN GRATEFUL 4 “THE GOOD OL’ DAYS.” U R ALSO GRATEFUL 4 WHAT KNOWLEDGE U HAVE OF “THE GOOD OL’ DAYS”-IT MAKES U APPRECIATE THE CHILDREN MORE, & U HAVE LEARNED 2 TREASURE SMALL THINGS, LIKE A CHILD ON YOUR LAP 4 STORIES, & U SLOW DOWN & TRULY PLAY–U GET DRESSED UP & HAVE A TEA PARTY.

IT IS LIKE THAT: SURE, I MISS “THE GOOD OL’ DAYS.” BUT, NEVER AGAIN WILL I UNDER-APPRECIATE SIMPLE THINGS LIKE TALKING (I AM LEARNING), OR THE SIMPLE TASK OF TURNING ON A LIGHT SWITCH. MY BODY “LEFT 4 COLLEGE,” IF U WILL, & IN A SEASON, I BELIEVE IT WILL RETURN. IN THE MEANTIME, I HAVE HAD A CHANCE THAT MANY YOUNG MOM’S MAY NEVER HAVE: I CHERISH THE TIMES THEY SIT ON MY LAP & READ 2 ME, WE PLAY ON THE COMP. 2GETHER, I ROCK AT PLAYING THE GAME “RED ROVER”, RIDE BIKES (I COME FULLY EQUIPPED), GIVE WAGON RIDES, PLAY BASEBALL, DRESS UP, , HAVE “TEA” PARTIES, & MORE. NOTHING, OF COURSE, IS HOW “TRADITIONAL” MOMS DO IT, & I MAY NEED HELP (LIKE MY HUSBAND, MK, FIGURED OUT HOW 2 ATTACH A WAGON 2 ME), BUT I’VE HEARD MY KIDS SAY, DESPITE EVERYTHING, “I’M GLAD I HAVE A MOM” & “AT LEAST (U) CAN STILL DO FUN STUFF.”

MY BODY IS A GIFT. SURE, WE LAUGH ABOUT HOW I “DIDN’T NEED THAT (BODY PART) ANYWAY,” BUT MY BODY IS SLOWLY “COMING BACK FROM COLLEGE.” & JUST AS OTHERS CAN MORE FULLY APPRECIATE THEIR GRANDKIDS, I CAN MORE FULLY APPRECIATE HAVING A BODY, BEING A YOUNG MOM, & THE EFFORTS THAT GO INTO SIMPLE TASKS, LIKE TURNING ON A LIGHT SWITCH.

ALMOST 4 YRS. AGO, NOTHING OF WHAT I CURRENTLY DO SEEMED POSSIBLE. I AM THANKFUL 4 WHAT FEW THINGS THE LORD HAS SEEN FIT 2 LET ME RE-GAIN.

ENSIGN ARTICLE

I’M ONLINE! THIS IS HOW I “READ” IT, SO IT IS EXCITING 2 HEAR IT THERE. IT’S MORE “REAL”.

SO, IF U DO NOT GET THE LDS ENSIGN, U CAN LISTEN HERE: WWW.LDS.ORG>GOSPEL LIBRARY>MEDIA FORMATS>AUDIO>ENSIGN, SEPTEMBER 2008> PRIMARY SONGS BLESSED ME. HOW ODD 2 BE ONLINE, & HOW ODD 2 HEAR IT READ…IT’S DIFFERENT, BUT BETTER, THAN HOW I READ IT IN MY OWN HEAD!

SO NEAT 2 BE IN THERE, WHEN U WRITE AS I DO, BUT THERE WAS LOTS OF HELP: MK, MIKE, MY PARENTS, & OF COURSE, GOD. EVEN OTHERS, LIKE MY PEN-PAL, LISA, & MY SISTER-IN-LAW, NICOLE, HELPED ME SEARCH 4 A TITLE (BUT MK GETS THAT, & WHEN IT WAS SUGGESTED, IT HIT LIKE A TON OF BRICKS, & I THOUGHT, “DUH! WHY DIDN’T I THINK OF THAT!” BUT, I TRIED ALONE, & IT DIDN’T WORK.

MY CHURCH ARTICLE IN THE ENSIGN

MY CHURCH ARTICLE IN THE ENSIGN, ISN’T IN TEXAS OR IN AUDIO YET ON THE CHURCH WEBSITE, BUT MY COMPLIMENTARY COPY ARRIVED. ODD 2 C EVERY1 ILLUSTRATED, BUT I WAS MORE EXCITED 2 C MK & THE KIDS DRAWN, THAN MYSELF! THE KIDS WERE DELIGHTED 2 BE DRAWN (FIA WANTS 2 TAKE IT 2 SHOW & TELL), & ZACH RELISHES THAT HE’S THE ONLY 1 THAT I NAME IN THE ENSIGN ARTICLE!

2 ANSWER SOME QUES.:

1. OF COURSE I REMEMBER PEOPLE IN INDY, & I HOPE MY ARTICLE IS SHARED W/ALL WHO WERE IN THE PRI. WHEN I TAUGHT, AS THEY WERE SOME OF MY INSPIRATION.

2. I AM WRITING A BOOK. IT’S BEEN ALMOST 4Y EARS SINCE I STARTED, & WASN’T SURE HOW 2 END, UNTIL RECENTLY. BUT I AM NOT A GREAT WRITER, DESPITE WHAT IS BEING PUBLISHED! (MANY WERE INVOLVED HERE, & IT’S VERY HUMBLING 2BE IN THE ENSIGN, ESP. WHEN U TYPE AS I DO!). BESIDES, I LACK THE SAME DRIVE 2 WORK ON MY BOOK. I SEEM 2 GO THROUGH SPURTS IF I GIVE MYSELF A DEADLINE. BUT AT THE RATE I’M GOING, IT WILL BE YEARS, IF I EVER FINISH!