Happiness Is...

Hola!

I have been a little distracted lately. (Reality: I am the most distracted person I know.) I like to have a small semblance of control in my life (reality: Control Freak to the nth degree), but occasionally I find that there are a few things that are beyond the range of my control (reality: everything that happens from sun UP to sun DOWN…).

Given my state of mind lately, I have chosen to post a “Happiness Is” blog. Do you remember those 2 little naked people in the comics, who told us what Happiness Is...? Or maybe it was “Love is…” At any rate, this is a Count Your Blessings blog.

Happiness is…strawberries! It is strawberry season, and they are just delightful.

Happiness is…tortillas. I really could live on flour tortillas. (Even before we went to Mexico, they were one of my favorite foods.)

Happiness is…sleeping until your eyes open by themselves in the morning. If you didn’t set an alarm, and nobody woke you up, that…is heaven.

Happiness is…a hug. A heartfelt hug can brighten the dreariest day.

Happiness is…computers! No, really, when they work correctly, I get a lot of joy from email, editing and creating with photos, and more.

Happiness is…an unexpected call from an old friend.

Happiness is…no cavities!

I am also grateful for doctors, who have dedicated their lives to making life better for the rest of us.

I am grateful for forgiving friends, who may get a stressed response from me but later…they are still my friend.

I am grateful for teeth, transportation, and grocery stores. I am thankful for microwave ovens and

washing machines.

I love glass! Blown glass, glassware, artsy glass.

And I love that some people are so talented, they can hear a song in their heads and write it into beautiful ballads, concertos, musicals and operas, so the rest of us can enjoy the music.

We are very blessed. Of course this only scratches the surface, but even this short entry has made me feel better!

Happy Tuesday, love, Kari

Boston in Late Winter

Hola!

Wow, a whirlwind week! Last week was Spring Break for us, starting Good Friday and the week following Easter. I took the kids to Boston so we could visit Frank (yippee!) and see the area. Kara and I celebrated our birthdays on the planes…we flew out on hers (March 21), and flew back on mine (March 29).

We went to be tourists and to house-hunt, and we did a bunch of each. The kids thought it was a big slumber party, to sleep on mattresses on the floor in Frank’s apartment, and they each had opinions on the houses we looked at. We probably saw around 20 or so houses, not a huge selection at this point but we’re hoping more go on the market as spring progresses.

The “tourists” part was made much easier with the GPS in the rental car. Those things are like magic! “Stay to the right. Now exit Right.” “Make a u-turn if possible.” We had a good time just imitating the voice. (I know, I know, we should probably get out more…?)

Frank worked a couple of days of the week, and when he worked, I took the kids downtown to the Old North Church (one if by land, two if by sea), and Paul Revere’s House. I learn so much from those small museums. Paul Revere was a silversmith and married twice, and had 8 kids with each wife. 16 kids!

With Frank, we saw the U.S.S. Constitution, a.k.a.”Old Ironsides,” because cannonballs bounced off her sides and someone shouted “she has sides made of iron!” The name stuck. It is the oldest commissioned ship afloat in the world.

We also walked to Bunker Hill. Its monument is very similar to the pillar of Washington’s Monument in D.C. This one has 294 steps, and we climbed to the top for a fabulous view. Of course, Bunker Hill is actually Breed’s Hill, site of the first Battle of the Revolution. Whether by mistake or by design, the Revolutionary forces were ordered to go to Bunker Hill and went instead to the next hill over, Breed’s Hill. Supposedly this is where the order was given (not sure by whom): “Don’t shoot until you see the whites of their eyes!”

**It should be noted that upon learning that we would soon be walking over to Bunker Hill, Kara (2nd grade) immediately started chanting the words her grandpa (“Papa”) always recited, with the kids bouncing on his knee: “I’m the king of Bunker Hill…I can fight and I can KILL” and then they’d fall down or get swung around in a circle, or whatever. The verse is forever ingrained in their brains, and while it is not quite politically correct…it does rhyme.

This is a teaser for you, so you will start planning your next trip to Boston and come visit us. Of course it was cold in March, but it surprised us by being sunny every day but one, when it really poured. Frank says “Don’t think all this sun is normal!” But it was a good week.

Here are some photos, since Jolyn introduced me to this new option on the blog.

ALSO: David (7th grade) has started a blog, where he highlights the Children’s Museum and the Aquarium we went to. (BTW, he mentions a 1000-gallon tank. Correction: it was a 100,000-gallon tank. You wouldn’t even believe this thing.) His blog is http://www.maxridewings.blogspot.com/ if you want to check it out.

Love, Kari

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