Beautiful Day!

This is the kind of day you wish for if you've moved away from Hawaii. The sky is blue, the breezes are slight yet cooling, and you just want to be OUTSIDE! Devin and I enjoyed some planting time outside in front and then played a variation of croquet/chase tag out back. Fun! OF course I had to blow some bubbles, so spring has officially sprung here. I hope Papa and I can spend some time outside watching Trevor practice baseball tonight in this glorious paradise.

Finals are completed and I turn in grades tomorrow. Now I can make my home dust-free, tidier, and ready for those who will be here with Megan, minding the homestead, while we are on the mainland soon attending Jenny and Aaron's graduation. The kitchen is my first frontier...usually tough for rookies, but I'm ready for that now.

Preparedness seems to be a strong undercurrent here with the costs of gas and groceries/transportation for goods rising almost daily. Gas is now $3.75 at Chevron. A few weeks ago I bought our preparedness 10 by 10--that is, ten weeks of ten different canned food items to use, so 3 months. We've been trying to increase the savings account also to include a liquid stash of 3 months billings and expenses. That's taking longer to do. Even stamps will rise in cost next month. I bought some of the "forever" stamps at the current price so they can still be used when the new ones take place.--an idea for you all. Meg needs to send her grad invitations before the price jumps. She now has one Sunday to do that before I leave and since her orchestra concert is over and no more town trips will be needed. She's creating a label for those as she isn't happy with her handwriting.

Concert was wonderful! I'm not sure if I'll ever have the chance to watch Megan play again--it will depend on the participation and availability of an instrument for Mr. Taniguchi's Friday night ensemble adn if she ever picks this back up later in life. You can guess I was teary about that. 16 wonderful years of supporting my girls in band--I'll never forget "Crazy Clock" and some other very special moments in cafeterias, the gym, BYUH, and away from Laie. I'll be ever thankful to people like Mike Payton, Daryl Agena, Ernest Taniguchi, Gavin Min. They helped along the way. Those are moments you all made us so parent-proud.
Music-- a lifetime love, and passion for some. I'm grateful for it and what it brings to our lives and home.

Earth Day: Erin and Lindsey discussed going green--or greener. I finally bought the green fabric bags at Foodland and they give a nickel for each one used. In addition, they have a coupon stamp--get some freebie after the tenth use. Last week I took 5 stuffed plastic bags of bags to Safeway's recycle bin. Now we'll have fewer to deal with--just need to get into the habit of taking it in with me to the store. Planting these veggies, using them, and expanding our little container garden is a goal in mind. Once the lanai upstairs is ready for some plants, I think it will be the food fillers that will round out the space. I hope the Bush stimulus money can go to our needy lanai!!

And thus it is this Wednesday, April 23, 2008. I love you all.

Quote: Don't allow yourself to sell yourself short or to hold yourself back. You have amazing qualities that are yet to be developed. Be the one who says "I will" when someone asks for a volunteer. It's usually a risk worth taking.

April, May, and June

April, May, and June--They will be here soon--with all those things that they will bring--sun and flowers, rain and showers--with the sun so bright, the days will be just right--in April, May, and June. This ditty was created by me and a good friend, Theresa Vanek, when I was in 4th grade. We even had to sing it in front of the class, can you imagine shy me singing in front of 40 kids and my teacher!! Yes, I can still remember the tune after ALL these years! It HAS been rainy lately, and I'm looking forward to some sunnier weather. I could call Theresa my "first best friend" so that song has always remained special. She moved to Nebraska that summer and we were pen-pals for the next 10 years. She asked me to be her maid of honor then, but that didn't work out for me as I was on my "poor college student" budget. Since I was responsible for spending money [it would have meant travel by bus to Omaha] I didn't get to do that. Life and choices. Imagine how we could have kept in touch with each other if we'd had cell phones or internet back then. I guess I'm appreciating technology today, and appreciating that I can be in contact with each of you. Whoever would have thought this would be second nature, so very possible?

I must have had a thing for April. When I was a freshman at UNI I wrote a poem called, "Hello, Rainy April." It was about the many days of rain we'd had and my feelings about roaming the umbrella'd campus...I don't recall the lines to that one, though. Probably best!! In Iowa it was okay to carry umbrellas...Megan let me know that is NOT done here. You can get laughed at for being sensible like that. I'll still see she has one when she goes to SLC. Another place, so perhaps, a time for looking at doing things differently is not doing things badly.

The days march on...Classes keep me very occupied, and this coming week the end is in sight. With classes ending, I'm putting away/filing/organizing/throwing out materials from the academic year. I've enjoyed learning myself this semester. It keeps me fresh to have new things to explore and add into the classes. This time it is the new.familysearch.org program
for religion class. So many good features, and I'm now able to help my students with it and others who come to the Family History Center of Fridays. I means I'll need to edit the syllabus and materials for fall, but it is a good experience and prevents that class from being stale.

Learning is a hobby of mine--HEC 220 is fresh each semester in some ways because students choose their mini-lesson topics from a list. I then cover the "missed" topics, so I have to redesign what I teach each term. This again is a good thing and helps keep me fresh in the area, too.

This coming week will be unusual with dad away in San Diego and with Lindsey's family going to Maui, and with Erin and Jenny and their hubbies in their half-a-world-away from each other locations. "WE'RE HOME ALONE" will be the motto for the week. We'll miss you all--AND our boys visiting and playing with us, but glad they and Linds can keep John company on Maui.

Fransis Simram was/is here for a few days--he's like our son, calls us Mom and Dad--and he's now 44!! He has 6 kids, 5 boys, one girl. Oldest is NEAL SIMRAM--a good name! He was in Kona for a conference then took some personal days to come and stay with us/see friends and relatives, and attend temple times. Back to Pohnpei for him by Monday, I think. It's great to catch up.

Our Saturday was special--needed a town run. We're really combining errands now that gas is 3.55 a gallon here. We started the day at the temple for a session, then home to take Megan to her car wash for band, then back to the temple for the sealing of Daniel Skaf and Jacquelyn's baby girl to them. Had the car washed, then off to Honolulu for some lettuce wraps at PF Changs and then to Costco to get a new router for the wireless internet. Haircut for dad at Windward, then home for the Grandparents' naps!! That was our exciting day.

I'm ready for some travel! I'm starting to think about my trip now. Dad and I will travel mostly separately until PA, but I'm glad we will get to have that week together to celebrate Jenny and Aaron. It's always stimulating to me to plan a place to go. Would have enjoyed San Diego--I keep reminding dad I've not spent any time there except in 1987 at Sea World when we went with Petersons [SHELL gas station], so it's my turn!! We'll keep that one on hold for awhile. To Iowa, PA, and NY via Chicago and Denver and LA is coming up. Glad we're on United for those trips! It's been an interesting few weeks for the airlines industry--Aloha, ATA, Airbus, and now American. Glad "U" for United is at the end of the alphabet, as if that has anything to do with the matter!

Checking out for now. I've rambled long enough! Thinking of you and missing you. Please be in touch.

Quote for the day: Action plus knowledge = improvement.