Mr. Rogers, the Beloved and Missed.

--> FACEBOOK CONVERSATION <--

ML: I am looking OH SO ATTRACTIVE with tissues stuffed up my nostrils. Gotta love spring colds/allergies/whatever it is.

H: Ha! I was just wondering, sadly (C has a fire going), if I could slither up the stairs unnoticed. My puffy eyes, runny nose and blotchy skin must look so lovely. I've been crying -- reading about Mr. Rogers! Meanwhile, my kitten allergies have kicked in. I HAD to teach Miss M how to hold the sweet, furry, purring kitty! For a long time ... As Mr. Rogers would say to You, "I love you just the way you are!" -- I say it too M!

about an hour ago · 

ML: Well aren't you just sweet (as are the furry, purring kitties). But why have you been crying over Mr. Rogers?

38 minutes ago

H: Oh, I LOVE Mr. Rogers! I've been looking for something for a very special young man's 15th (!) birthday next Friday ... 

The more I read about Mr. Rogers the more I admire him. He was a man of complete integrity & humility, & unlike so many famous men, he was consistent & true his entire life. He cared passionately for children & what is Best for their positive growth; this is so sorely lacking in 2010. If K would have Mr. Rogers as a role model & not men with tricked out names like: Tiger, Jay-z or Jesse James, if he is 9/10ths like Mr. Rogers, I will die a happy mother.

When Mr. Rogers passed away K & I cried together.

I'm actually surprised at how strongly I feel for him. Just read that he showed up in Eddie Murphy's dressing room at Saturday Night Live when EM was making fun of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood (with drug addicts etc.). When EM saw him, naturally he swore [great] and, naturally, Mr. Rogers hugged him.

I see a lot of Christ's example in him, the humility, intelligence, deep spirituality & love of children.

(Hey, thanks for a blog post here!)

Transparent & Current Government: the White House Blog

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/

A is for Amazing Alpine Loop!

JUST REALIZED THAT I NEVER POSTED ABOUT THE MOST MAZING PART OF THE SUMMER! I RODE THE ALPINE LOOP WITH MY PAL ABL! FOUND THIS IN the DRAFT FILE OF MY EMAIL... DON'T KNOW WHY I DIDN'T SEND IT. THE BREATHLESS QUALITY IS FUN. I WAS ON A HIGH FOR WEEKS AFTER THE RIDE. I HAD NEVER EVEN DRIVEN THE LOOP. WE RODE ON THE 3RD OF JULY, the weather was perfect. Spin 3x/wk isn't enough or the same... I CAN'T WAIT TO GO AGAIN!

Hi ABL!

To be read with a grin spreading across your face: I told a tricked out cycling pal that I rode the ALPINE LOOP! "You?! Rode?! the Alpine Loop?!" Yes, I did!!! and it was AWESOME! My friend ABL is so completely amazing!

Everyone I have told the broken brake story is amazed. 5 min earlier or later and you would have been seriously hurt, if not killed. Tender mercies. I've also heard some stories of bad spills, both of them on the DOWN hill -- tell I.

***--->How many tickets do we need for Oz tomorrow? I'll make sure I get the right amount first thing tomorrow, after spin.

I feel great by the way. Yes tired. Fasting didn't really happen. In the middle of Primary I raided the junk drawer in our car. Ate 2 melted granola bars ... grains, sugar & chocolate (yicky milk chocolate). Thanks for taking me! I had a GREAT time. I was feeling extra bad about how long it took and then I realized we stopped and then we also stopped and talked at different points, which was also great!

Onward!

We are about to leave on a picnic.

Love you,

H

o is for o wow.

• clothes washer broke. 13+ gallons of water on the floor, again. SOAKING clothes, on the floor. C put them on the clothes line (now up) and they froze.
• the fix-it man fixed the dryer door too.
• s left at 4:45 this morning for CA. i'm already missing her.
• on the way home got a flat -- found out on the driveway. C replaced it. {Hero award is at the shop too, will be back soon)
• subaru needed fixin' and pickin' upin' -- a mysterios metal bar was hanging of of it. Thanks Terrific Uncle Doug for the car collection tour! wow o wow.
• worked in the garden. our yard is waaaaay too big.
• cello A string went north.
• s's shoe broke, in the shoe shop. her shirt had a hole. her vest had a hole in the back. it apears she chipped her front tooth?
• ever have one of those seasons where all sorts of things go bonkers at once?
--> Yes, as a mattter of fact my life is a comic strip.

E is for Extraordinary.

http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com

Found this under books and more. Va va voom!
My Mum still hates pigeons.

YES!!!

President Barack Hussein Obama.

That sounds great! I love that he kept his middle name for the inauguration. 48 years ago the world was a very different world. I hope that the modern Muslim world will appreciate the courage it took to keep that middle name, as an American. (I love that a kind and gentle Heavenly Father has a sense of humor.) I love that Americans, 80%, support him, even if they didn't vote for him. I love that he inspires us to be better, do more, look more deeply.

As a family we are keeping a "Golden Rule" calendar to record the service we do. Last night for FHE I read his letter to his girls to SKJN & M. So far it is doors open and sharing juice boxes, cheerfully helping around the house.

Loved the music at the ceremony! "Yo-Yo Ma along with Itzhak Perlman on violin, Gabriela Montero on piano and Anthony McGill on clarinet performed the new work composed by John Williams, 'Air and Simple Gifts.'" Aaron Copeland's, "Simple Gifts" was so perfect! Piano, clarinet, cello and violin! The poetry was great but the reading was odd. As if the punctuation was. Off.

ONWARD.

Cheney looked like a sick and twisted, iniquitous, feeble, decrepit Voldemort. Hope time reveals his crimes and that he is alive to receive his judgment... he will eventually. Bush looked like he had another good night of sleep (The former :) president always went to bed at 9:30?! No wonder were are in such a mess.) -- how did the country elect him TWICE?

ONWARD.

Y is for Yum!

My pal Stephanie Higginbotham made this amazing cake! My very chic, smart and fun cousins Jody & Mel, and thier 3 fantastic, smart, sweet and funny sons were coming to Utah to visit us (and ski) just past Christmas ... I knew I needed one of Steph's cakes. As long as she is making her wonderful confections, I'll never make another cake. If you have read this blog for a while you probably know any holiday or celebration, is an excuse to order one, or two, of her cakes. Isn't it lovely? Her cakes taste as good as they look! Above is the Before picture and below is the After:

Y is for Yuck.

La de da. This post is for Misha! :P
A short while back C and I went shopping together. Well, I probably dragged him along for "one or two things"... Allen's (a locally/Utah owned grocery store) is a "one or two" store. You can easily leave that store with the one or two things that you need -- unlike Costco, the $100 Store. That is, unless you just happen to need mesh canvas in assorted colors. Who needs colored mesh canvas?! Guess you can't have too much of that hanging about. They sell all sorts of unrelated things, especially for a grocery store.

So, we are strolling down the isles and the vertical cheese cake caught my eye... I commented that perhaps this (see below) isn't the best way to sell cheese cake. Needed to take a picture of it for K since he HATES cheese cake and always has. When I showed him the picture he noticed that it is right next to the (unrefrigerated) vitamin drinks. Good point. Mmm.

As I got closer to take the picture, C noticed something different... Yuck. Caramel Apple Cheese Cake, now not only vitamin packed, but botulism packed too! Care for some spores with your dessert?

Scary.

L is for Lucky!

http://www.uvmag.com/novdec08/54_55.htm

N saw this and said, "MAAAAAAHHHHHMMMMM, [Mom] you are so lucky!"
I said, "Ya know... the harder you work the luckier you are."
S (16) said, "Whoa. You are amazing." Meaning... where do you keep all these corny sayings?

This is from Utah Valley Magazine. Last year when the home tour was canceled I called UV Mag and told them that our house was kinda decked out, might be good in a future Christmas issue. Jeanette Bennett and her husband came by and took lots of pictures. Fun! Doesn't quite capture all the glitter though. ;)

FUNNY true story

One advantage of not sleeping is making discoveries while not making any noise in the house... can't vacuum, might as well clean up my computer's desktop. Realize that I've never posted this. It is a sketch of a night a year and a half ago:
26 May 2007
6:40 p.m.
Roll Camera! Action.

Higgin-s drive up in a full Suburban. Steph, Dave, 4 children and one friend, Tatum. The plan is to do some tie dye.

H is asleep in the van, lost track of the time. Crashed there after a Long day. Even in the van 4 people have come up to her and talked to her, before the friends arrive.

One little boy w/o his CI starts out the evening with a time-out in a closet. Freaking out in family room.

Adults at counter calmly eating fruit, bread and cheese. Roses on the counter, v. smelly.
Conversations about high school senior parties/trips. Drunk kids.

Amy, Jay’s wife, walks in with the wee bitty baby. Asking if it’s OK to change the baby’s diaper. Fine, fine. That means that Jay is here to get the llamas, all 7 of them? Just having a little party, did you call to say you were coming by? An hour later she is seen feeding the baby in the dinning room. No one sees or hears from her the entire evening.

The children are playing out side, they take the taekwondo kicking target outside and fill it with water, first time in 1½ years.

Wee bitty baby crying in the back ground.

Jumping on the trampoline?

The children start helping Jay get the llamas. Karl gets kicked in the hip. Joey, Karl’s friend in a tie dye shirt, was not out there at the time.

Julian’s animated friend Jared is visiting. They start making a movie.

Tie dye starts, can’t get the kids to come in to soak their shirts. Stephanie mixes up the die.

H starts to clean out garage, extract a second table. Gets a phone call about needing to pay $1.50 for Nathan’s school lunch account. Never mind that it is a Saturday night and he doesn’t ever take school lunch, and the one day (practice for 1st grade) he did he brought the money but the school never got it. Will send it again.

Sick boy in hammock: Gabe. Oh dear.

3 little girls, 2 w/ hearing loss. Running around squealing. Flashes of cuteness.
Gama (from California, didn't even know she was in town!) shows up with a very elegant silver cake server in a humble, crumpled brown paper bag. Talk about family reunion of sorts.

Neighbor Jeremy, C’s friend, shows up on a racing BMX bike riding wheelies. Tries out C’s grandpa bike, does wheelies on that too! (Later we found out that Jer's wife (also a close friend) was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and that same week his sister had passed away, to cancer.)

Husband of the house, C, is cleaning his mountain bike?
Jay & Jeremy talk.

Ann Maeser drops by mail from old house (we moved 4.5 years ago)
- announcement: random (unknown) ugly girl getting married. Good for her.
- K’s scholarship certificate $100.00, for string camp.
- Precious niece’s birth announcement!

Random neighbor with a dog shows up, we don’t know her but her dog drives our Ginger nuts. Must put G in studio. Bark bark bark.

Tie dye squirting all over.
S’s friend Ashley shows up. They start to tie dye. Will wear shirts on yearbook day.

Llamas in a trailer, some in the road. (K got kicked here) Some llamas attached to trailer, others loose walking in the road. Cars going by some slowing down, some going fast. Tatum combing baby llama -- it rears up scarring her and H.

Ice cream treats. Can I have seconds? NO. Push ups, drum sticks, fat boys.

More tie dye. More shirts, plastic bags, drips.

A cel phone rings.

H is wearing some favorite clothes, a linen shirt. & A tie dyed apron.

N is coughing.
Dave is coughing.

C takes girls on bike ride in trailer.

Children spinning around fast fast in hammock chair.
Dave sitting with Gabe, who is really not feeling well.

They are about to pull out when it looks as though Gabe is going to puke. H dumps cute plastic tub of rubber bands on to table. He doesn’t puke. She swaps for not so cute hotel ice bucket.

S and Ashley are sitting in a car, anxious to practice. No license.

All the lights are on in every room of the house.
9:40 p.m. Fin.

G is for Gilgal.

S is for a Sunday Stroll. (17.5 miles by bike.)

Yesterday we went for a Sunday picnic up the Provo Canyon. It was lovely and everyone was on a bike, 'cept M who slept her way up the canyon in the trailer. N, J, K, S all cheerfully rode and rode and rode to the over-crowded park where we hung out for a long time. Picnic in tow -- feta walnut dip is messy, fresh pineapple is great. I rode with a wacky colorful chair on my back and my new helmet on my head. S made sure she was always about 200 feet away from me. She, in 16 year old modern style, text-ed friends (non-stop) and listened to her iPod.

It was a dream come true for me, like everyone skiing together. And, like a dream... no pictures.

Next time I think we'll head up American Fork Canyon... less commotion?

G is for GARAGE SALE!

Hey WOW. I'm cleaning stuff out and have filled up our Garage! Also stuff from our office... come check it out. Saturday 26 April 2008 7:00-1:00

That is Hailey O'harrah~the Dummy. Ugh. My mum bought her for me about 25 years ago and she has been haunting me ever since. I might just keep her just to keep her haunting my kids. She freaks S out.
Charming.

I hired Marie Ricks to help me organize my home/family. (see earlier posts for more details about that.) Perhaps we really need counseling but this is a start. She is really fantastic and pointed out a lot of interesting things. One of the many things she suggested I do is get rid of half my stuff. Go to DI twice a week. Less stuff means less to clean. AMEN to that.

I was going once a week and was about to give away some nice things. I didn't grow up having garage sales. I've never had one before. Then it occurred to me that this is a great exercise for the kids. Now we are all into it. Suddenly I could throw our that 25 year old creap-o-rific doll that happens to share my first name! (I have no clue why else my mom bought me that thing. I have no NO interest in ventriloquism. When I moved out it didn't move with me. EVER.)

With new eyes I saw all the extra winter hats, lunch boxes, clothes etc. that we have stashed away. Antique things, old doors. Baby blankets that need to be (crochet) edged, that I'm not going to do. Expensive gifts that I've never wanted yet had to keep. A lot is new and I could get some money for it. In the past I medicated myself with toys, and too many toys for my children Ugh... hopefully I am growing out of that a bit.

A is for lost Art. Willow Tree Headstone.

This is so beautiful. I weep just looking at it. Suits my mood today.

Ann Williams is a pioneer great grand-aunt of mine.

H is for House of ORDER!

I realize that the darling friends that occasion this blog grew up in orderly multi-child homes, with parents who taught their children what household (calendar, laundry, clean-up) questions to ask -- and the answers, always keep their laundry done and have practically perfect children. It is wonderful to call all of you friends. For me this large family thing is a happy struggle. I love to hear the music being practiced. I adore SKJNM's smiling faces, feeding my family is a pleasure (when I decide what to make), driving gives me time to be with the children, my marriage is dreamy and yet... what is wrong? Nothing terrible or necessarily profound ... but there are unresolved issues.

Last summer I decided to finish the house. When we built the addition we left a lot undone to save money, keep our payments low. First priority was the girls' bathroom. That snowballed into the family room, which was in need of attention. Meanwhile the garage was finished. That snowballed into the dreaded Holiday Home tour that wasn't; I am still cleaning up projects related to that. My mantra became, HOUSE OF ORDER.HOUSEOFORDER.HOUSEOFORDER!

The thinking was, once the house is in order the children will make better progress with their music, they will do better in school, I will loose weight. Hmmm. Months have gone by since I ate chocolate, or significant sugar. I go to spin classes 3 days, and on other days walk Ginger and do other activities. I am patient, only so much can be done. What is up? Is this all somehow related to stress? If so, how can it be reduced? Can it be? What gives?

Last month Marie Ricks came to speak at our ward. I had read her articles in the Deseret News. And while looking up "house of order" serendipitously came onto her web site. The morning after her visit to our ward I sent her an email and asked if she could visit my home. She does this for a modest fee. She said she would and we set a date.

I had looked forward to her visit (S even teased me about it), yet I didn't over-do it on the house. It was in it's natural state. She was wonderful and super kind to Margo.
Here are some of my notes and my/our assignments:
• Do 2 loads of laundry a day, NO MATTER WHAT! No one gets dinner until their laundry is put away. Period. Turn their plates over. If they say, "I don't want dinner. Raspberry." Say, firmly and calmly, "That is o.k. but you still need to be here. ... or, put your laundry away." She told me that if my laundry is done everything will fall into place.
•No phone before noon --- I'll add: no email either!
•Get rid of half of our stuff. Too much stuff = stress. This I know and regularly purge. Her assignment though is tough: Go to DI (Goodwill) twice a week. Really. No need to give away treasures.
•I am doing many things right. :)
•Give the children a job that they will have for a month (not weekly).
• (For the upcoming transition of C's job) C needs to make a list, room by room of what needs to be done.
•Start a room by going to the right, wall by wall.
•Women today are not the same as women of the past. It is FINE to hire people to help with the house cleaning, and drop off laundry service (My favorite!).
•The entry way is the most important for the children. Make it a top priority.
•Expectations are not the same as Inspections of children's jobs.

There were others as well.

I had told her about my schedule. Going to SLC for speech therapy with N &M twice a week. Classes (music, taekwondo & ballet). Trying to improve services for Deaf children in Utah County. Advocacy. Homework. C's incessant traveling. Spin & Diet. Creative projects. Project time with Ashley. M's preschools. Church.She looked at the calendar and heaved a sigh.

I mentioned that perhaps we need to see a family therapist and I was unloading too much on her. Marie said I'd be amazed at what she sees and says. After giving me the laundry assignment she said, "... and I will tell you Why." The children feel abandoned. She went on to tell me that I feel abandoned. The children don't have a reason to succeed, there is no time to do their homework together with us, or even alone. They don't see it as a priority to us. The need to take care of N & M, and often S, K & J, leaves everyone in the cold. While I am away they don't progress. I am often away (as I am now, typing or working on a project etc.) even when I am home. This is a lot to think about. C and I had a long talk this morning. Other very important things have been abandoned too.

This will all be accomplished by the end of May. Ongoing, of course, but good habits will be established. She will be coming again in April.

C is for Conceptual Crap and Art.

C and I were just in California for the 100th year celebration for CCAC, now CCA.

CCAC used to stand for California College of Arts and Crafts. A few years ago the powers that were changed the name to the very generic and bland CCA, for California College of the Arts. Several people at the celebration had buttons created by the print-maker Jack Ford, that read, "Conceptual Crap and Art." Seemed fitting.

I really miss "Craft" in the name. Craft is so dang right and cool, not only the 70's macramé and scrap booking (all that is great too!) but the notion of craft, doing a skill so well it becomes art. The question remains, can graphic design, architecture, art education be a "craft?" Of course. All of it can be art as well. Dialog about a teapot or a blown glass vase can be just as valuable, deep and riveting, as that of a sky scrapper, or logo design or painting.

Them is fighting words ... to put that in writing makes artistes defensive and craft people repulsed. Don't compare my teapot with some lousy logo... Don't compare my use of clay with your use of steel or that %!™&#*¡?* computer! All the elements are the same though! Line, contrast, content, composition, materials, intent, use, location, climax, value, color, flow, the list goes on and on, happily. Embrace it all -- and GET TO WORK!

The place (CCAC's Treadwell Hall, the ceramics building, especially) is still so inspiring to me. Someday (strike up the soaring violins and moving cellos) I'd love to work/teach there, simply be more involved. Or ideally, create that environment in my family life, it is serious and committed while also being progressive and light.

The above art that I discovered in a bathroom at CCAC is an example of that last statement. :)

Wouldn't you just love to see this artistic combo at a bathroom at BYU? Within a day it would be sanitized, treated as vandalism. What a shame.

The contrasts between BYU and CCAC were staggering to me. One school (CCAC) celebrates and encourages creativity through any outlet necessary and the other tries to teach creativity through obedience to all sorts of ideas, religion, leaders, famous dead artists' rules, to craft. How ironic that CCAC had craft in the name and now doesn't celebrate craft and BYU was supposed to be spiritually based and had no spirit.

W!

Here is a lovely W for anyone who is missing one.

W for Wow.
Lovely Women at the Well.