13 Colonies

Hi again!

It is officially Spring Break, and tomorrow we fly away but I had to post these pictures...Teresa had her 5th grade play tonight! Yes, some parents were miffed that it was the NIGHT before Spring Break, and they changed travel plans for it. But, ours would have been the same anyway. We leave tomorrow mid-day.

Teresa was a Seminole, and the play was "13 Colonies." The short story of How America Came to Be. The costumes were so cute, and the kids did SUCH a good job! They were very excited. There are 103 5th graders this year! The auditorium was packed. And of course, a very few people saved ALL the good seats with coats and programs (pet peeve...another blog, another day). But, we survived. Lighting stinks in the auditorium, so I just video-taped, but afterwards I got Teresa with a couple of friends and her teacher. (The big smile stayed on her face this whole afternoon and evening...she was really excited to do this performance.)

Tomorrow we get to GO to one of the original 13 colonies--more later, love, Kari

There are libraries, and then there are LIBRARIES

Hi!

Had to post a sentence or two before we fly away to the Arctic North for spring break! (My friend is basking in Hawaii at this moment, and I am scrambling to pack parkas and "get away" to...house-hunt in freezing rain??!?! What is wrong with this picture!??!!!??

(Actually, not a thing--we get to see Frank for the week! Yippee, over and over.)

Here's a photo I found online of a place we probably won't go THIS trip, while we're in Boston, but it looks really cool. Isn't this great architecture in the Boston Public Library? Makes me want to go do some research, or just enjoy the latest John Grisham novel.

Have a lovely Spring Break and/or Easter! Love, Kari

Sunshine, Submarines, Spring

Hola!

It has been a beautiful week here! (This is what people who DON’T live here, think it’s like ALL the time…) The media makes the world at large believe Southern California is Hawaii. Here’s a newsflash for you: it’s NOT!!!!!! I have been freezing here all winter, haven’t pulled out shorts until THIS week, when it’s been in the 70’s.

Anyway. David has a neat musical presentation tonight, that they – the church youth group -- have been practicing for, for the past 6 weeks. It is a “stake” musical, so there are probably 60 or 70 youth involved.

Teresa and Kara just had their chorus performance, 2 nights ago. It was Beatles songs, and they all wore tye-dye shirts. Very cute. You gotta love “Yellow Submarine,” and “Let it Be.”

This coming Friday starts Spring Break for us. We get Good Friday, and the following week off. The kids and I will be flying to Boston, to visit their dad and look around the area, and do a few touristy things. We will also be celebrating Easter in the Arctic North, which is such a wonderful, uplifting holiday to celebrate. I hope you can make some time to think about Easter this spring.

OK—here is the “formula” they use for when Easter is each year. It’s the FIRST Sunday, after the FIRST full moon, after the FIRST day of spring. It hasn’t been this early for 95 years, and it won’t be this early again for another 200 years.

Now you know. :)

Confessions of an Incompetent Mother

Hi! We served at a Senior Sisters Luncheon today...I think you have to be 60 to come to the lunch, and there are usually 25 or so women who come. The women actually have a pretty good time, and afterwards they participate in some activity--a game, music, or make something to take home.

With Easter almost upon us, today's activity was to decorate Easter eggs! We set up the cups of vinegar coloring, with the little wire holders and wax crayon and stickers. Most of them had not colored eggs for years! It was fun to watch and listen to them, decorating these them for grandchildren or themselves.

I was coloring eggs, too. One of the ladies made a comment about me doing it twice this year: once with them today, and another time with my own kids! (Here is where I made my crucial error.) I laughed, and said that I don't color eggs like this with my kids! We use markers and stickers, but I usually avoid the mess and stain of the vinegar color, and just use supplies that don't make as much of a mess...

It is at this point that I realize that the whole table of women is staring at me. It is quiet. "You don't color eggs with your kids?" I hear one of them ask. "Well," I stammer, frantically backpedalling now..."we do EGGS, of course, just not with the vinegar COLORING..." But I can tell it is too late. Any positive view or opinion they might have had for me, is now shattered beyond repair.

Sigh. I know, I am depriving my children of a fulfilling childhood experience, and I'll be paying for their therapy in the future. Maybe someday I'll learn to keep my mouth shut. Sooner than later, would be better.

A Breath of Fresh Air

Hola!

I have felt rather scattered lately, my brain jumping frantically from one thing to the next. Frank was here for a couple of days LAST weekend, so that was fun. We’ll see him again Spring Break, when I take the kids to Boston.

The house IS finally listed, so at least that first house hurdle has been passed. I called a plumber to fix the kitchen sink piping last week, so that’s taken care of. I’m trying to follow last week’s lesson in Relief Society (class in church) on “Living a Balanced Life.” I need to re-focus and gain some balance in my world.

SO. I was debating on what to write about, having been impressed by a couple of friends who did really nice blogs on one of the children in their families, because of birthdays, etc. I may still do that. But this morning’s newspaper was (gasp) uplifting to me! WHAT??!!? Yes, it’s true!

I have recently been disgusted when I pick up the paper. Yes, it’s important to know what’s going on in the world. But it’s so negative, and often unnecessarily so. Even the entertainment section depressed me yesterday, with 2 full-page articles on an author who wrote of a town closeby that has a huge gay population, and all the unsavory details he included in his book. The real-life townspeople are offended--imagine that.

But TODAY! The L.A. Times, has a hefty article that made the front page lower left, on a multi-billionaire who has been giving away hundreds of millions of dollars every year for the past 40 years, …anonymously. (How do we know it now? Someone wrote a book about him, which he agreed to, because now he’s trying to show other ultra-rich people that it’s okay, and even a good thing, to give while you’re still alive.) How refreshing this is!

The man is Chuck Feeney, and the book by Conor O’Clery is The Billionaire Who Wasn’t: How Chuck Feeney Secretly Made and Gave Away a Fortune.

I’m going to check it out of the library when it gets turned back in.

Have a great weekend! Love, Kari