Dude!

I just noticed that I have a new follower! See that handsome fellow with his bride - that's my eldest son! (Dude is his my nickname for him.) Welcome, welcome!

Music

I love music. It's a huge part of my life. I love listening to it, playing it, singing it, and dancing to it. I also collect music boxes. Music was a big part of my childhood. I used to go to sleep at night listening to my dad play the piano. I think I learned to sing at church during the weekly children's meeting, and also at school (back in the "dark ages" there actually were regular music classes in elementary school). I really enjoyed it. My mom has a terrific voice and we used to sing as we washed the dishes together - it made dishes almost bearable. We also used to sing in the car during long trip to see grandma. My dad also used to take us to hear the local symphony orchestra when they had dress rehearsals. When I had the opportunity (in school), I learned to play the cello and my dad taught me a little about playing the piano. I've also taken the opportunity to sing in our church choir for many years. In previous years I've reversed roles and taken on the assignment to teach music to the kids at church. Currently I've been assigned to be the director for our congregation's choir. It's challenging, but rewarding.
One of the times that I realized how big of an impact music has on my life was when I heard one of my children telling their friend that when they wanted to ask permission to do something or to go somewhere, they would wait until they heard me singing, and then they would ask, because if I was singing I was in a good mood and there was a better chance that they would get a positive response.
I also didn't realize how often that happened (my singing around the house) until my children became teenagers and were on the phone alot. They'd be talking on the phone, when suddenly their friend would ask them "What was that?" They'd stop and think and then answer, "Oh, that was my just my mom singing." They were so used to it that they didn't realize at first what their friend was asking about. It's nice to know that their friends weren't complaining, they had nice comments and were sometimes suprized to find out that it wasn't the radio.

My Weekend

I am having a really great weekend! I'm on a roadtrip with four of my children. We rented a van and made the long drive to Salt Lake City, Utah on Friday. When we got into town we got to see the play Mulan put on by the local Junior High School. My brother was the musical director. They did a great job. There were about 120 kids in the play. Music is very important part of life for many people in Utah. Many people get private music lessons for their children for voice and/or instruments. Utah also still has music classes at school, too!
Another interesting thing for us to see (coming from a small country communtiy) was the size of the Junior High School. It was 3 stories tall. The High School that my kids went to is about a fourth of the size of the one here.
The next day we attended the wedding of my daughter's best friend - the main reason for our trip this weekend. It took up the entire day. The actual wedding took place in the Salt Lake temple at 8 am., followed by a luncheon a couple of hours later, and a reception in the evening. The bride's family used to live in our "neighborhood" for several years before they moved to Utah 4 years ago. Not only were our daughters friends, but our whole families were friends, so it was really great to see them again. We spent the time between the wedding and luncheon and between the lunch and reception with the family, visiting and helping with last minute preparations. It was like visiting with family. In fact, it was more like visiting with family than visiting with some of my extended family. We also stayed to the end and helped them clean it all up. We got home a bit late, but spent another couple of hours visiting with my brother and his wife, whom we are staying with. Today we went to church with my brother and then after lunch we went to visit and old style farm. We had a grand old time looking at the animals and climbing trees and chasing geese. This evening my parents are joining us all for dinner.
It's alot of driving for one short weekend, but it has been so worth it! I have the best family and friends in the world!

Engagements

This weekend I attended the wedding of my niece. It was a nice wedding and reception. I love her to death and hope that they have a long, happy, prosperous life together - but I have some concerns. They just started officially dating around Christmas this last year, and had only known each other for a short time before that. She says that she knew that they were right for each other, so why wait. Now, while I believe that it is possible to know relatively quickly that a certain person is right for you, I think that it is not particularly wise to jump into marriage that quickly. We do believe in chastity outside of marriage, so maybe that was a motivation. It would be for a lot of people, but I don't know if that's the case with them. I also believe in personal responsibility, and that people have the ability to exercise personal choice and control, so just because you love each other does not mean that you can't wait. I wonder if it is just youth and naievity, thinking that loving someone means that everything will work out just fine. In reality it is not that simple. Men and women "speak different languages". Individuals come form different homes where there are different values; things are done differently and there are different expectations. Marriage is challenging for people who know each other well, but if you haven't taken the time to do that, then your asking for some really difficult adjustments in an environment where you're the most vulnerable. That's were the engagement period comes in. It's not just so that you have enough time to plan a reception and send out announcements. It's a time to get to know the person much better, plan your life together, and make decisions about how you'll do things together, to lessen the "culture shock" of marriage and increase your chances of success. Once in a while, during this period a couple will find out that there are incompatabilities that were not obvious earlier on. While this is difficult and sad, it can be a very important function of engagement. It's much better to figure out before marriage than after. Well, like I said, I love her to death. So, having made her decision and gotten married, I'll pray for their success and be there to support it however I can.

Les Miserable

One of my favorite movies of all time was Les Miserable. When it came out in theaters several years back, I had never before read it or seen it onstage. I had only heard that it was good and knew that it was a classic, so I decided to go and see it. I LOVED the story line! It tells about a man who in France who was thrown into years of hard labor because he had stolen a morsel of food because he and his family were starving. In prison he is treated like a piece of garbage. When he is finally released, his traveling papers label him as a convict, so he is unable to find a job or even a place of lodging. Finally, he asks for lodging at a parish and is admitted. The priest treats him like an honored guest. In the middle of the night, Jean steals the gold silverware and splits. He is caught by the law and brought back to the priest, who suprisingly tells the officers that the silverware was a gift, and that Valjean had forgotten to take the candlesticks, which he then gives to him. The officers then release Valjean. Valjean is confused and the priest explains to Valjean that he has now been redeemed and has the opportunity and obligation to make something out of his life. From this beginning, Valjean works hard, always sacrificing and helping his fellowman. Even though he is always humble and does not seek attention or fame, he becomes very successful in business and society, accomplishing much good for his town.
This is a very short and simple synopsis. The play and book are even better.
It is one of my favorites because I love this example of how faith in God, in one's fellowman, and in oneself can make a monumental difference, not only to one individual, but to all the lives that he touches. This is how I try to live my life.

Octuplets

I never expected to post a rant, but here it is.
I just read a story on Yahoo about a woman in Southern California, Nadya Suleman, who gave birth to octuplets at the end of January. Well, octuplets isn't even the shocking part. The shocking part was learning about her life situation. She has 6 other children, ages 7 and under (so now she has 14 children age 7 or less)! On top of this, she is single, lives with her parents, owes $50,000 in school loans, has been unemployed for several years and is currently collecting several forms of welfare from the state of California. While I can understand finding yourself in a situation where you're temporarily unable to provide for yourself and your family, I do not understand purposely compounding the situation. What in the world is she doing in a fertility clinic? I personally love being a parent and understand and support the whole pursuit of happiness thing, but not at the expense of others. What about personal responsibility? Why should your and my tax dollars be spent on someone who is being so irresponsible. Isn't there some reasonable way to protect society from this kind of insanity without curtailing the freedoms of reasonable people? While I have compasion for them as people and hope that they get the help that they need, I also hope that part of that is getting her the help that she needs to be responsible for her actions.

AGE

Some of you may have noticed that I included my age in my personal description. In our culture it may be a bit suprising that a woman of my (haha) "advance" years is willing to reveal that information. Personally, I find age an item of great interest. It can be a type of benchmark to give you a more complete understanding of a person's experiences, young or old(er). I'm also of the opinion that in many areas of life, it is not chronological age that makes a person old. Attitude, perspective, maturity, behavior, knowledge, wisdom - these are some of the many factors that can be used in assessing one's "age".
I've really enjoyed my 44 years, even though some of them have been extremely difficult, and am pleased with the way they were spent, so I don't mind claiming each and every one of them.
I'm also one of those "strange" women who doesn't color her hair. I do have gray hairs, and I've earned each and every one of them. In fact, if earning were a factor, I'd have quite a few more. I've decided that I love them, partly because mine aren't gray - they're silver. I love shiny things. They're beautiful. So when I see my silver hairs in the mirror, it feels like a celebration - like putting tinsel on a tree at Christmastime.
I think that age, in some ways, could be compared with a tower in a large garden. The view of the garden at the bottom of the tower is beautiful. The climb to the top of the tower can sometimes be difficult and tiring. But once you get to the top and take a look around, the view is breath-taking. Never could you say that the view from the bottom is more beautiful than the view from the top of the tower. I think it's marvelous that life is give us the opportunity to enjoy both views, and, if we're wise enjoy the journey in between.