Fable of the Porcupine

It was the coldest winter ever. Many animals died because of the cold. The porcupines, realizing the situation, decided to group together. This way they covered and protected themselves; but the quills of each one wounded their closest companions even though they gave off heat to each other.

After awhile, they decided to distance themselves one from the other and they began to die, alone and frozen. So they had to make a choice: either accept the quills of their companions or disappear from the Earth.

Wisely, they decided to go back to being together. This way they learned to live with the little wounds that were caused by the close relationship with their companion, but the most important part of it, was the heat that came from the others. This way they were able to survive.

Moral of the story: The best relationship is not the one that brings together perfect people, but the best is when each individual learns to live with the imperfections of others and can admire the other person's good qualities.

WW: Go Bears!

Oh, PT...

Things that happen while I'm on a 10 minute chat with a friend:

• the plunger ends up in the kitchen
• 50 blank cd's are strewn across the floor
• the dog dishes end up on the couch
• I find a notebook in the hall
• the recycle bin is dumped into the backyard

I think I miss the days when he just unrolled an entire roll of toilet paper onto the bathroom floor. Oh wait, I don't... that was just this weekend!

I love you PT. I'm going to shower while you sleep. You can clean up your own mess when you wake up from your nap.

Are You There God? It's Me, PT.

I don't know why these playground phones are so entertaining for little kids, but PT loves them. Typically they have 2 "phones" to yell into and you feel like the 2 kids are actually talking to each other. In fact, I have a shot of Tasha and PT doing that at our park. But on Friday, I went to the zoo and there were something like 5 or 6 of these things throughout a small play area. What? Who's talking to who? Is it a conference call? Is there call waiting? I don't know. At some point I figured that they were just sending their thoughts out into the universe. Then it reminded me of the book by Judy Blume, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. Aah, memories of my youth. I'm old.

Shipping Out 2010

My friend Scott kind of challenged me to come up with things I accomplished last year. Part of me wants to strangle him (chuckle, chuckle) but since I walked right into the challenge I guess I have to live up to it. It's hard for me to look back and think of things I've done as successes, but I think this process has actually been good for me. You know, I DID do something worthwhile this year! I think that part of what I have to recognize is that some things that come easy to me are hard for others. Sadly, a few things on this list are fairly simple for others but were HUGE hurdles for me (see items 3 and 5, specifically!).


So, here's what I've got:

1. Found, registered, and joined the PTA at a new school for Kyra. (McKemy Middle school, a public school in Tempe, but not our home school)



2. Volunteered to be the Parent Council Co-Chair at Tasha's school. (Desert Marigold, a Waldorf inspired charter school)



3. Filed all the paperwork to get Payton's birth certificate. (a multifaceted process if done after the first 7 days your child is born, at home, with no medical staff present)



4. Lost all the weight I gained while pregnant with Payton.



5. Successfully nursed Payton for a full year (and running...)



6. Planned a trip to the Gila Valley Temple Open House for the young women and their families. (I had plenty of help from my presidency and family)


7. Successfully pushed to have Bishop's Youth Council and Bishop's Youth Discussion on the same night and held regularly, even though we only had about 4-6 active youth at the time.


8. Started tutoring again, working for a non-profit that my friend runs and actually wants to turn over to me and her daughter.

"Modern cynics and skeptics... see no harm in paying those to whom they entrust the minds of their children a smaller wage than is paid to those to whom they entrust the care of their plumbing."
John F. Kennedy

Christmas PJ's

Mickey Mouse on Payton's feet.

He and his 2 new buddies will sleep well tonight.

Thanks Momo!

Merry Christmas to all and (hopefully soon...)

to all a Good Night!