David and Goliath

When I was a elementary school teacher one of my favorite things to do was have the children gather around me and we would have story time.  One of my favorite stories is about a boy named Alexander and the terrible day he has.

The Worst Day

Author
Judith Viorst

Publication date
June 1972

Alexander wakes to hair full of gum

trips on his skateboard,

and drops a sweater in a sink full of water.

At breakfast, his brothers are having a far better day — having found prizes in their breakfast cereal — which makes Alexander feel worse.  No prize in Alexander's cereal

School offers him no respite from his horrible day: he gets reprimanded by a teacher

he gets demoted to third best friend, and at lunch,

finds himself dessertless. Could the day get worse?

After school, the dentist discovers a cavity,

the elevator door closes on his foot

and at the shoe store, he has to buy plain white shoes (while both brothers get shoes with stripes!).

Later, he gets lima beans for dinner

and there's kissing on TV — Alexander can't wait for this day to end.

Later Alexander finds out that we all have "Terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days!' ......even in Australia.

Sometimes we all have bad days., even in Australia, and since we can't escape them we might as well muddle through them and maybe even try (at some point) to laugh about them.

If you click on this link and then the story time teller link, you can listen to the book for yourself and let me know what you think.

Terrible No Good Very Bad Day

 

    Well, it was a  "Terrible, Horrible, no good, very bad WEEK!" for us at our home.

      On Tuesday, there was a wind storm, rain, and even hail and snow.  Yes is really is May here in Utah.  Anyway, I was in the family room and I could smell something burning.  I ran into the kitchen and there was smoke and a toxic smell pouring from the dishwasher.  I couldn't breathe and I could hardly open my eyes because of the toxic smells.  I opened the dishwasher and flames were coming from the bottom.  The dishwasher was not even on, the flames were not from the heating element, but from what I would later learn is the celluloid, which I'm told is the brains of the operation. {Can you tell I'm not mechanical?}  I quickly doused the flames and the dogs and I ran outside to get away from the fumes.  The power began surging, the lights went on and off and we discovered that the oven and microwave no longer worked.  There is power to them but the motors were burned out.  As the day and later days went on we kept discovering more things that were destroyed.   The power continued to ark and to this day we have no:

heating or air conditioning, the pond pump quit but I think we have it restored until we can get it checked, the Jacuzzi is ruined, 3 televisions were destroyed, my computer and hard drive with all my pictures, etc.  one fridge, one freezer, many lights, ipod speakers, radios, clocks, etc., etc., etc.,  Well, not to whine but the heating guys can't come until Thursday, it is a holiday weekend so no one wants to come and do repairs.  We finally paid overtime to get an electrician to come and make sure the house wasn't going to burn down.  He "greased" the power lines that come into the house and said that should keep anymore power surges from occurring.  Oh, the joy of living in a house that was built in the 1940's. 

     Oh well, my husband has been promising me a new kitchen for a very long time.  I guess the TIME is here NOW!  As soon as we can get the insurance adjuster to give us a check we can start replacing the wiring and electronics.  It is hard to believe how dependent upon electrical devices we have become.  As we went to bed last night we thought of the pioneers and how grateful they would have been to sleep in our bed and enjoy the few electrical lights, etc. that we still have.  My heart goes out to those who are suffering from the earthquakes through out the world.  My heart goes out to those people suffering from the tornados in Oklahoma.  Our insurance rep. said there were 1,500 claims in Oklahoma alone last week.  As the book states, we all have "Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Days or Weeks," at some point in our lives.  Yes, even in AUSTRALIA!

So, I am going to choose to look upon the positive.  One of my favorite quotes is from our late prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley, "Things will be okay!"

  "It isn't as bad as you sometimes think it is.  It all works out.  Don't worry, I say that to myself every morning.  It will all work out.  If you do your best, it will all work out.  Put your trust in God and move forward with faith and confidence in the future.  The Lord will not forsake us.  He will not forsake us,...if we will put our trust in Him, if we will pray to Him, if we will live worthy of His blessing, He will hear our prayers."  (Gordon B. Hinckley, Church News, 10/04/97)

 

 

Here's to a better week for all of us and yes, even in Australia!

David Beckham, Favorite Garden Store, Blaze Game, & Studio 5 KSL TV

These pictures are for Carrissa, one of my students and friends from All My Memories.  She made a comment that she hoped we saw the 2 goals made by David Beckham.  Yes, we did see the 2 goals that he scored.  The first picture shows a dead ball penalty kick in which resulted in his first goal of the evening.

The REAL and Galaxy tied with a 2 to 2 score.  David is a class act.  He took off his jersey and gave it to a fan in the crowd.  He applauded the audience and then took time to interview with the press.  He is a superstar and he takes time to please his fans.  We were really impressed with him.

 

My new favorite garden store is J & J Garden in Layton.  I have been there 3 times in the last couple of weeks.  I have never seen such a wonderful selection of plants and garden supplies.  I heard on the radio that they have over a million, yes I said a million, bedding plants.  It is so crowded at the garden center that you can hardly get down the aisles and you often have to park out on the street because the parking lot is full.  Here a few photos from the garden center.

We went to our first Blaze game a couple of Saturday's ago.  The Blaze actually won which has been a hard task for the team.  It is really a fast paced action packed sporting event.  They had stunt bikers for the half time entertainment.  Ty and Andrea treated us to the game.  It was fun to spend time with them.

         

     And finally I was able to go to Studio 5  for a special celebration of prominent Utah mothers.  My dear friend, Lisa Bearnson was able to bring her daughters to the television show to celebrate Mother's Day.  They made delicious smoothies that their family has for a healthy breakfast.  Lisa talked about her family and the things they do to keep a tight-knit family group.  She also demonstrated special projects she had made with a youth group and decorating ideas using scrapbook projects to enhance home decor.  I love Lisa and her family. They are wonderful examples to all of us.  They have daily prayer and scripture study as a family and do many activities together including a family evening night each week.  Friends are always welcome at the house and they have an "open pantry policy" at their house.  I think those simple acts have really united them as a family.  Lisa also brought her neighbor to help her and the girls.  We enjoyed a wonderful morning at the television station and had a delicious lunch at one of my favorite restaurants.  Thank you Lisa and friends for such a wonderful day!

      I hope you have a wonderful week and a special hi to my family who live away from us. Hello to  my Mom & Dad, and my sisters and their families, and my aunt Nancy.  Have a great week!

 

Happy Mother's Day 2008

My mother and me with my baby sister.

 

     I would like to write a special tribute to my mother for Mother's Day 2008.  My mother is a very strong woman.  When I graduated from High School, my mother graduated from college.  My mother always worked while we were growing up.  She would go to school in the evenings.  When my mother graduated from college she began teaching elementary school and continued her education pursuits in the evenings.  She got her master's degree in Special Education while she continued to teach.  Later, she got her PhD. in Special Education.

     My father was in the Air Force for twenty years.  When I was born my father was stationed in Korea.  He did not see me until I was 6 months old.  Later in his career, my mother would take care of us in the states while my father served in Turkey without his family.  We moved many times while my father served his country.  We lived in Kansas, Minnesota, Japan, Nevada, Italy, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Texas, and back to Kansas.

      As a young girl my mother helped her mother raise a large family.  She was smart and athletic.  She played basketball in High School.  Today my mother continues to run and walk, lift weights, and does cardio exercises.  She is short in stature but strong in spirit and heart.

     In high school, I remember my mother driving me one hour each way to ballet twice a week.  She also sewed all of my prom dresses because I was "sewing illiterate."  She taught me how to work by teaching me skills I would need later on in my life.  She has strong moral values and taught me to be a hard worker and a righteous and law abiding citizen.

    My mother raised three daughters who all graduated from college and are good mothers and citizens themselves.  My mother worked for many years as a Special Education teacher and recently retired.  She still works a few side jobs to keep her mind and body active and strong.  She loves to travel, shop for clothes, shoes, antiques, and spend time with her children and grandchildren.  She is an excellent wallpaper hanger, painter, and even does plumbing.  She is not afraid to tackle any job around the house.  I call her the "Energizer Bunny."  She has more energy than me and she always has.  I would like to send a very special Mother's Day greeting to my mother and my two sisters.

   Mom thank you for all of the life lessons I learned from you.  I love you and I hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day.

Tomatoes Are Still Waiting For Spring!

 

My tomatoes are still inside waiting, not so patiently for Spring to come.  We woke up to snow on May 1st.  I do not ever recall having snow on May Day.  My tulips do not know what to think of this crazy weather.

              

 

   I took a walk around the neighborhood this morning.  It was about 39 degrees this morning but at least there wasn't any snow.  The spring blossoms and bulbs are out.  It is so beautiful that I had to take pictures before the heat of summer arrives.  Right now, it seems impossible that it will be 100 degrees in a few short months.  Utah has such extremes in temperature.  It is amazing that the plants bloom in spite of our state's extreme weather.

 

 

   If you have not taken the opportunity to pick up Lisa Bearnson's latest book, you must do so.  It is a wonderful book full of the most inspiring quotes and layouts.  I have a layout about my daughter, Nichole in the book.  Nichole had a minor surgery that turned into a very major ordeal.  The layout tells about the kindness that a complete stranger showed to me and my daughter during this very difficult time.  I later found out that the girl's name was Kim.  "No act of kindness , no matter how small is ever wasted." Aesop.  So, I would like to thank Kim for her small act of kindness that meant so much to me and my family.

 

 

I hope you have a great weekend.  We are going to the REAL soccer game this evening.  "THE DAVID BECKHAM" will be playing this evening.  I hope I can get some good photos of him for all of you David Beckham fans.  Also, way to go JAZZ last evening.  The team will be playing in Los Angeles on Sunday.  The win moves the JAZZ to the 2nd round of the NBA playoffs.  Way to go JAZZ!