I Blame It On the Cat

When the cat kneads me for food at 3 am

Is he surprised when he is tossed out the door?

The restless dreams that follow my rude awakening

transfer my anger at being awoken to

my poor sleeping husband.

When I wake, I am determined to continue

the argument in real time.

The poor bewildered man cannot know that he is

Fighting a battle he has already lost.

Hey, Whatta Ya Know!

Look at me. Writing for two weeks in a row.

Being Mormon, we don't observe Lent in an official way. But I do love the idea of Lent. I see it as an opportunity to become spiritually prepared for the celebration of Easter. I love the story of Jesus fasting in the wilderness for forty days, preparing for His ministry and mission. Certainly, one take home lesson in His story, is that we could all use more spiritual preparation in our lives.

So with the idea of spiritual preparation, I spent a few days asking myself what spiritual need did I have. The answer came to me suddenly on the morning of Ash Wednesday. I had already decided what I thought I should give up for Lent. But, as we gathered for family prayer, the thought came to me that I waste my time. Not only do I waste my time, but it bothers me that I am not spending my time as wisely as I should. And I knew that one huge time sucker for me was playing games on Facebook. So I gave it up. Cold turkey. I let all my crops die, my buildings go unbuilt, and my game missions left uncompleted. And guess what? I am okay.

It turns out, that I can get a lot more done with my time when I am not frittering away precious hours on frivolous, virtual realities. Of course, you who are so much wiser than me knew that already. But this is my life and I am slowly learning my own lessons! Thank goodness I am learning.

This quote seemed appropriate to me:

The prophet Brigham Young said: 'We should never permit ourselves to do anything that we are not willing to see our children do. We should set them an example that we wish them to imitate.' Each of us can start today by being that good example” (Mary N. Cook, “Be an Example of the Believers,” Oct. 2010 general conference).

Today

As I sit down to update our blog the Crosby Stills Nash lyrics play through my head, "It's been a long time coming."

Regularly updating a blog is a force of habit that, once you let slip, is hard to regain the necessary momentum to start again. One week turns into a month, turns into several months and before you know it, you don't remember your blog password!

A few months ago, I started a Masters Program through Western Governor's University. The degree I am working on is called the Masters of Arts in Mathematics Education (5 - 12). The program consists of a mix of pedagogy classes and math classes. I just finished Trig, am working on Probability and Statistics and will start a Calculus class in a few months. Am I crazy? I am beginning to think I might be.

Between working full-time, family life, church life and now school life, things are very busy. Thankfully, Douglas has been very supportive. His current lack of work has been a blessing in disguise. Since Douglas returned from the East Coast, he has finished writing his second Self-Coach Climber book. Even though he is constantly looking for work, he just hasn't found anything yet. In the meantime, he is able to bless our home life immensely!

Douglas is currently the axel that keeps our crazy wheel spinning. He takes the kids to school and picks them up. He plays with the boys at the park so I can study. He makes dinner several times a week. And of course, the apartment is cleaner than it has ever been under my rather lackadaisical efforts. He is a good man and I am grateful!

The National Zoo

While on the East Coast we are taking some trips to enjoy the resources of places like Washington DC. So today the boys and I went to the National Zoo with Elizabeth. It was a good day to go, it was sunny and warm, and since its November 9th it was not crowded at all!

The boys had a blast and really enjoyed the bird house, and the pandas, and the otters, and everything else. My only disapointment was not getting a better shot of the pandas. The spent most of the time with their backs to us.

Here are some photos from the day.

Images from the VIneyard

Just a few shots I've taken in the past couple of days.