friday night lights

I really enjoy high school football, and tonight, we went to see Gideon's team, the Nease High School Panthers, play in Citra, Florida.

And they won! Go team!!!

help wanted

My teaching partner quit because her little girl wasn't coping with daycare.

Tonight, I went to the Temple with the youth. At first I was told that I couldn't go into the celestial room, but then one of the workers came and found me and escorted me there. It was such a small thing, but it truly meant alot to me.

I was thinking that sometimes when you think that you have things worked out maybe just the way you want them...something happens. And the perspective from the celestial room is that although this rocks my little world for the moment, it is not devastating in anyway. And I am holding tight to that thought because...

I am still quite sad about it.

mother of 3 more

This week I am the mother of Dylan, Megan and Kirsty Berge while their parents take their brother Jordan out to BYU. Doug said he would do the seminary duty...for which I am quite grateful.

melanie's tag

ABOUT ME:
Jobs I've Had:
secretary for my dad's law firm
secretary for the art department at BYU
teacher for K, 1 and mostly 2nd grade

Movies I Can Watch Over & Over Again:
Pride and Prejudice (the new one)
Sabrina
American President
Muppet Christmas Carol

Shows:
SYTYCD
the last 10 minutes of What Not to Wear
Engineering and Empire

Favorite Hobbies:
needlepointing
reading
blogging
talking on the phone
gardening
hanging out at the lake

Places I Have Lived:
Utah
California
England
Florida
Argentina

Favorite Foods:
potatoes
smoothies
Kraft caramels
milk
bread
I would also like to say ice cream and cheese, but I am trying not to think about them

Favorite Getaways:
anywhere as long as I am with my husband
anywhere where my girls and their families are
millenia mall

Websites I Check Daily:
hotmail
lake county schools
fox news, just to see how the stock market is doing though

elder robert s wood

We had the most wonderful weekend with this most amazing man.

He told us many, many stories about leaders of the church and leaders of the government. Even one day later, it is hard for me to even try and sort through them all in my mind. I loved the story about Elder Scott. He said that the apostles wish he was married because he works so very hard. But, for some reason, in my book, he gets extra credit because he did not remarry. Anyway, he told us that when Elder Scott went to Brazil, I think it was, after being on the road for a few days, they were going to a new city. At 4.00 when he asked what the plans were for the evening they said they would be arriving at there destination at 6.30 so they hadn't made any plans thinking that an early night would be good because of the demands of the past few days as well as the demands upcoming. He said that was a waste of time. He asked them to call the stake president and schedule a meeting for that evening at 7.00. When they arrived at the chapel three hours later, there were over 1000 people there. After the meeting he stayed and shook the hand of every single person that wanted to greet him.

Having said all that about Elder Scott, I noticed that in spite of a very serious injury to his foot, Elder Wood made himself extraordinarily accessible to the members after our meetings.

I enjoyed the cute story he told me about Elder Packer who has a flock of ducks in his backyard that obediently go to the other side of the lake when he is conducting meetings down by his lake.

Elder Wood has four daughter just like we do. When he was meeting with some Soviet diplomats in the 80's, his daughter went and put some Russian Book of Mormons in the trunk of his car, just in case. He ended up giving one of the Book of Mormons to one of the diplomats and ultimately he and his whole family joined the church. It made me think about how often our own girls have helped us in our callings and responsibilites.

When he was called to the 2nd quorum of 70, he actually thought that he was maybe going to be called to something else. At the end of his initial interview, he was asked how his French was? He had served a French speaking mission, but had used it and kept it up and he responded that it was good. At the end of a telephone interview with President Hinckley, he was asked again, about his French and he gave the same response. Finally, he and his wife were summoned to SLC to meet with Elder Packer. They arrived early and his wife asked him to buy her some tapes about learning French at the Deseret Book store, which he did.

When they walked into the interview, before they even sat down, Elder Packer asked him how his French was and as he was about to answer, Elder Packer said, "Not that it matters, because we are sending you to Brazil." Needless to say, after the meeting they walked back across the street and exchanged the French tapes for Portuguese ones.

He told us that he would not be released this conference. Even though he is now 70 and even though he has served for 9 years in a calling that normally lasts 6 years. I am grateful for that!

notes from stake conference

• someday really means not this day
• reverence for the Lord means serving other and treating them with respect
• we can be faithful over a few things
• understanding our diving nature influences how we feel about our Heavenly Father and how we relate to other around us
• we must be "kind and dear"
• train your minds and your hands
• refine the quality of mercy
• DC 105:35 - There has been a day of calling, but the time has come for a day of choosing;
• rely utterly on the Lord and have confidence in Him
• uncomplicate our lives
• we have always had the darkness, wars etc that we have now
• DC 121:26-31 God shall give unto you knowledge by his Holy Spirit...
• never fear scholarship
• 85% of the people on earth have lived since 1820
• shall we not go forward in so great a cause?
• virtue means being true to our divine nature
• imagination helps us see the possibilities
• is our imagination strengthening and edifying vs being led away by wicked imaginations
• happiness of your life is dependant on the quality of your thoughts
• the mind can make a heaven of hell and a hell of heaven (from Paradise Lost)

a new coop?

When we came home from our trip to Savannah, I decided to let the chickens run around the yard for a while. However, when it was time for bed they had a new idea. So far they have been safe from the fox, but I worry for their welfare every night. Brianna and I spent half an hour chasing them around one evening, but never could get them back into the coop. They will walk there quite happily if Doug calls them. But for some reason, he doesn't seem to be around at dusk.
Clark enjoyed chasing them around the yard until they decided to come his way! He decided it was time to back off!!!

the first week of class

The bad news:
Yesterday was the first day of school for the students. I arrived to a classroom without air-conditioning, no classroom roll and no lunch numbers. Did anyone know that school was actually starting besides the 1000+ students that arrived and the bewildered teachers wondering how to cope in 100 degree temperatures?

It turned out that the AC had also gone out on Saturday and it had been fixed and again on Sunday and it had been fixed. Or, I guess not really since on Monday it was down again. I called Doug and asked him to bring over a big fan. It saved the day or at least the morning for me. By then the AC was up and running again. I daren't take it home as it is now my insurance policy.

The very good news:

Today, I have a teaching partner, and her name is Kathy Chestnut. Welcome, welcome!

back to school

Since the teacher who was supposed to be my teaching partner never showed up...it has been a busy week on my own getting ready for school. In addition, I joined with the vice-principal in the interviews for my other half.

Everything was finally ready and at "Meet the Teacher" all of my students showed up. That was a first for me!

Welcome to Florida

John, Joy, Mercedes, Gideon, Chanel, Mercedes, Mav and Zach!
We are so glad that you are here. We had a ton of fun on the lake this weekend. We also look forward to football games and other family adventures.

Savannah

A number of years ago, the girls and I went on a roadtrip together. One of the places that we went to was Savannah. I thought it was a beautiful place, and I have always wanted to go back there with Doug. This past week we spent four days together. I still love how beautifully they have restored the old Victorian homes.
With temperatures in the high 90's and the heat index approximately 10 degrees higher than that, we had to do our walking in the early mornings and after dinner. It seemed as if they have continued to restore the city. The squares were well kept. Such a pretty way to lay out a city!

One day we drove out to Skidway Island. We didn't get to see much of the neighborhood since it was completely gated. Then we drove over to Tybee Island to see this great looking lighthouse that reminded me of the one on Truby's Christmas sock.

my very hungry caterpillars

I found these very hungry caterpillars in my garden eating up the parsley. When I looked them up in my herb gardening book, it said that if I wanted to share they would turn into lovely butterflies. So far, I have only found three cocoons.

They are quite tricky about blending in!

Very soon we will be looking for...
...this very intertersing looking butterfly!

my notebook

I got a new computer this week. I am hopeful that eventually I will be able to understand how to use the cool features that are still a mystery to me. In the meantime, I am grateful to my husband who spent quite a few hours setting up all the wireless stuff. I am also grateful to Tricia/Dan and especially Chezzie who provided technical support. What would I do without you?

move in day

They are here! The Tanner and Cherylyn Nielson family accompanied by charming son Clark and baby unk. Oh happy day! I wish I had pictures. They were very organized and and apart from Chezzie losing Tanner on the freeway for an hour and later getting stuck without money at a toll booth and driving around Waterford Lakes looking for the rest of us, who were waiting patiently at the apartment, it went off without a hitch. They were very organized and in under two hours the truck was unloaded. By the end of the day there were even some pictures hung!

hairdos

When I was a girl, I had very long hair...as did my sister. Doug's first memory of me is at school with my hair in very tight braids, which was a favorite style that my mom liked because it was neat. I hated Saturdays because that was hair washing day. We lined up in the kitchen and my mom washed our hair at the sink while we stood on a chair. It terrified me to see my hair flowing into the big drain hole in the sink and so I cried, or rather screamed the entire time. At about age 7, my mom had had enough of it and told me I had to wash my own hair in the bathtub, which was actually fine with me.

When my girls were little, I taught them how to wash their hair in the shower, but I loved to blow it dry and curl it or braid it. Even now, I think of doing their hair on Sunday mornings because it was something of a ritual and we normally did something a little special for church.

Since I only have one granddaughter with hair, I look forward to Sunday mornings when she is around. She tolerates the blow drying and fussing, which pleases me immensely. Last Sunday, Tricia came and sat on the bed and watched. I can't explain how I felt, but it was something like comfortable and delighted. It was a pleasure and she looked just beautiful like always!