January is ending . . . time to move on

The month has passed quickly. School time this first month is so demanding. Getting syllabi ready, then classwork for the new university calendaring system which means combining what I used to teach into fewer sessions. This revamping has taken some time and my filing system for papers/lessons needs to be redone. Still doing that in my spare time.

I had the privilege of meeting with 37 students so far since Jan. 21, with just 3 left for Monday, February 2. At least the students are now heading in a direction that I hope will take them to success in both the management class projects and their family history. With conferences over, now I have a little more time, I hope, as the month ahead brings its own new experiences and travel and memories to make.

I got to watch a TV clip today of Kelly Hauschildt Butzen on the Ellen Show as she won tickets to the SuperBowl. What a fun thing for her!

Bill and I lead separate day-lives, but enjoy starting our days together--walking, praying, eating breakfast, reading scriptures . . . and then we have our weekends. School times are quite involved for each of us. But we've enjoyed seeing together some successful basketball games in town and at BYUH, and we are now ranked highest ever in our NCAA II history--4th nationwide, and lead the division. We've even enjoyed Spaghetti Factory twice in this month on those nights at the Blaisdell arena...an easy ride up Ward Avenue to see the games.

We've tried to catch some jr. basketball for Trevor at Laie Park on Saturdays, too. Maybe now that it is warming up it will be even more enjoyable. Our wet, cold, cloudy January did make us think and feel like "this is winter--brrrrrr"--at least, Hawaii's version! We've enjoyed bball indoors also at the CAC, and love having the Pierce Ohana join us. The boys remind us where the popcorn and snacks are sold, so we all enjoy these refreshments together and cheer on the Seasiders. Love our boys!!!

Preparing for Erin and Avery's time here is now at the top of the list for Dianna's Dine and Doze. I'll pick them up on Tuesday morning, February 3. I hope their trip away from Australia will go well...it will be hard to leave daddy behind for a few months, but their reunion will be special in late March when they meet to travel together for a BIG move to Pennsylvania.

Jenny and Aaron await little one who is due shortly. Pennsylvania calls for me to make a week's visit there the last week of the month. I'm excited and hope to be a help as Jenny recovers and gets back up on her feet. I wish her and Aaron the best and know it will be exciting bringing her to their new, lovely, family home.

Megan is back at school, too, so has gotten off to a good start once again in SLC at LDSBC. Her working time and school time and social life time balance out pretty well. I catch up with all the girls' lives and happenings at Facebook and blogs.

I was very happy with remarks on my class evaluations last semester! What a nice feeling to help others on their paths through life. . . brings me satisfaction. I enjoyed a comment from someone else I respect who said they enjoyed my teaching. I'm glad to play a part in sharing what I've been blessed to share. Such comments are rare enough to really stand out when they are expressed.

This weekend is a preparation for school weekend again...with a midterm coming up, it's time to continue the class revamp for MGMT. and prepare a review and a new test.

Life seems busy, full. . .but that is a good way to be.

I am grateful still for all that we are able to enjoy in this life . . .blessings abundant--how fortunate we are. Happy January--good bye, Fun February--Greetings!

House Memories . . . an era ends

While visiting Des Moines on our December 2008 trip, Bill and I drove by where I used to live. It is significant that I share this essay [written 1993] and the addendum at the bottom, written just now. This is for my family to know more about my life.

THE DINING ROOM - An essay about my home by Dianna Reynolds Neal

It was the largest room in our white, story-and-a-half, asphalt-shingled house. Over the years it contained many of the pieces of the put-together lives of my parents, three brothers and me.

I remember how big it must have been to hold two doilied buffets, one glass-faced china hutch, a coat rack, a photo gallery and a plate glass mirror, and the painting of the Last Supper. The upright piano and bench stood beneath a tier of three small windows on the east, framed by short, sheer curtains and mom’s shelf of African violets. The large, rectangular table surrounded by five matching Duncan Fife shield-back chairs was its centerpiece.

The sixth chair, the armchair, flanked one side of the doorway from the kitchen. That armchair, draped over the years by my brothers’ baseball shirts and football jerseys, welcomed helmets , caps, cleats, golf balls, bowling balls, basketballs, and other sports paraphernalia into its open arms, and dutifully served until my brothers were ready again to go out and play.

The table was a white-linened repository for school books, mail, clean laundry, school projects, doodads and gizmos, with a lush green philodendron at its center. I remember it served as the office at tax time, the term paper typing and assembling center at exam time, and the gift-wrapping and or cookie decorating center at Christmas time. It was the hub for extended family gatherings and those were the only occasions I can remember when we actually ate in there!

The sprawling legs of the table provided a twisted thoroughfare for toy cars and trucks, trains, road race sets and so on. They also served as the hills and dales for the battlegrounds of G.I. Joe and his buddies. The veil of the long tablecloth was a popular hideaway during a rainy-day game of hide and seek or provided a quiet place to be in this occasionally too-busy household. This room was the evidence of our living.

The dining room looks smaller to me now. I hear most things shrink with age. But almost everything there is still in its place, except for us. We’ve departed, taking all of the paraphernalia with us. But the armchair still faithfully sits in its place, this time holding all the memories it has kept for us through the years. And whenever we return it welcomes us again with its open arms.

The Reynolds family home was located at 705 Arthur Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa, just 3 blocks north of Union Park. It was sold in January of 2005, and after that it deteriorated and was leveled fall 2008. Glen, Elma [my parents], Bill, Mike, and Dan [my brothers] and I lived there from December 1957. My mother sold the home and moved in January 2005 following dad’s death in Nov. 2003. Other significant features of this home included the “R” on the aluminum screen front door for 47years, with an oval-windowed wooden door from the porch entry to the living room. A gingko tree grew on the front parking and a beautifully-shaped,scarlet oak tree filled the backyard with shade in summer. Rhubarb grew out behind the wooden garage, and Dianna cherished the fragrant, pink and white peony bushes near the garage on the east. She would pick a bunch of peonies on her birthday, each June 9. Lily of the Valley and a bleeding heart bush plus tulips or other flowers were also blooming in spring on the back and side of the house. Winter outdoors included games of “fox and geese” in the snow…with red foil JOYOUS NOEL as the window greeting on the enclosed front porch at Christmas time.