Eric's last day of public education

Eric had his last finals today. Next Wednesday is the class picnic (wonder if they made alternate plans in case it snows...I wore my coat today...brrr) and then next Friday is graduation and the grad night party.

A very short trip down memory lane:

Waiting for the school bus on his first day of kindergarten in August 1996.

After coming home on his last day of high school
28 May 2010.














His plans for the fall are to live at home and take classes at the local community college (WNC). Don't know what he'll be taking yet, but we'll get to cross that bridge soon.

a mini-Glennie, in case you were wondering/Jacob update

When the Academy gave out semi-Glennies, they were made from clothes pins. Glennies are real trophies ordered from a company. Mini-Glennies are the cutest of the bunch:

* * *

And Jacob is staying with his Grandma Lowe for the week. He called us on Saturday night and said he still on pain killers (don't know about now, however), his right hand is in a cast and making life a bit difficult for him, but the swelling on his face has really improved and he is doing well. He wasn't taking any classes this semester, just working, so he is not behind in his studies (though I guess he is poorer than he originally planned). But he is happy and recuperating and should be back in his apartment for the weekend. Yea!!!

I must be hallucinating/Academy Awards

I must be hallucinating because I look at the calendar and it says 22 May 2010. Last frost date for our area is supposed to be May 15th...only these aren't pictures of frost. It actually snowed last night....of course, not much and it's probably all melted by now. But still. (insert a joke about global warming here...)

Now, for a type of snow it's OK to see any time of the year:

One of my favorite treats while I was serving my mission was a cookie called Alfajores (remember the "j" is pronounced like an "h"...they really need to find a new name for them...). Anyway, in a recent Relish Magazine insert from the newspaper there was a recipe for authentic alfajores. You first make the dulce de leche filling by taking an unopened can of sweetened condensed milk, putting it in a large pot, cover with water and let it boil for 3-5 hours (always keeping it covered with water, of course). Let cool. After you put your cookies together, you sprinkle them with snow--uh, powdered sugar (or dip them in chocolate...which I have never personally tried, but it sounds fabulous).

If you want the recipe for the cookie part (which is a melt-in-your-mouth cookie because it's half cornstarch and half flour) go to this link:

http://www.relishmag.com/article/39695.html

ACADEMY AWARDS

Glen has a group of people that are his Academy. They go to the plays...sometimes each night of a play...and then meet, make up categories, and decide on winners. There are 2 types of awards...the beginning theatre students win "Mini-Glennies" and the theatre 2, 3, and 4 win "Glennies." When his theatre 2 was a separate class from the theatre 3 and 4s, they won Semi-Glennies. I miss the Semi-Glennies. (I know, I'm nuts, but I love Mini-Glennies, Semi-Glennies, and Glennies together...too cute)

After the Academy has decided, we all meet and have an Academy Awards show at the auditorium. Alex got an award for playing Tiny Tim in "A Christmas Carol" last December (above is a picture of the entire play winning an award). Glen got a Mini-Glennie for best director--of course, that doesn't mean as much when you know he was only in the running against himself. He was a riot, running up on stage as if he were all excited and nervous. Eric was nominated several times, but didn't win. :(

Another thing that happens at the Academy Awards it the changing out of the ITS (International Thespian Society) officers. Above is the hat-passing-off ceremony (or whatever it's called). Eric was webmaster and Alicia was President.

Alicia as Glinda the Good Witch.  As you can see in some of the other pictures, those presenting awards dressed up as characters...

Great fun.

Glen's birthday and an Evening of Improv and Jacob

Yes, we are resetting Glen's "clock" and he's starting back at one...actually I'm just too lazy and cheap to put 47 candles on his cake.  Happy Birthday Glen!

Night of Improv tonight was fun. And you all missed it. You're not going to believe it, but I was actually on stage. And it's true, with the bright lights, you can't see the audience so you can almost forget that they're there and that you might be making a complete fool of yourself. I almost refused to participate when asked, but I'm not always a party pooper (usually, but not always).

I got to do sound effects for a skit that Eric was in. He was SO funny. There was another student in the scene with Eric and a student helping me with sound effects. The scenario was a plane that was crashing. Eric got his legs eaten off by pirahnas (I smacked my lips) and blood was gushing out (glub, glub) and then when he was paddling (splash, splash), he lost his arms, too. RIP Eric.

Thought he was brilliant (channelling Harry Potter there...there was another improv scene where Eric turned it into Draco and Harry dueling...quite good. Happy Christmas.). Another scene he turned into an exercise routine. "Feel the burn, girls!" he said to the 2 girls dancing on the stage with him. He really is good at improvising.

Alicia and Michael (along with other drama students, of course) also participated. Michael did not get picked on the Dating Game show. Perhaps his referencing his pig in the mud and his love of tractors had something to do with it. Alicia was quite funny in the standing, leaning, sitting game. She really knows how to throw herself on the floor. It really was fun.

My nephew Jacob is now recouperating as his grandma's house. If you wish to send him a get-well card, the address is:


465 East 460 North
Mapleton UT 84664

some advice

Here are just a few of the things that Glenn Beck said in his commencement address to Liberty University on Saturday May 15, 2010. This is from advice he wrote down to give to his daughter when she was going to start college (but never did because he said it wouldn't fit in the card):

Marry for love. Marry for laughs, but most importantly...marry for God--without God, life's storms are too strong to withstand.
 

Wealth and fame are an illusion. We've been rich; we've been poor. We've been happy both times.

The only time I've been truly miserable is when I was lying to myself or to others.

Alcohol and drugs make life easier for a very short time, and then they destroy.

Call 911 first and then call your Dad.

Always have a picture on your desk of someone you admire.

I Am That I Am is the most powerful phrase in any language...Use it to create who you want to be. I am ________, but know that if you don't fill that blank in, someone else will. You can't ignore it, but if you do, it will be filled by others or just by life....only you can fill it in and be happy.

Anyone who wants to take your choice away is evil. There are varying degrees of this, but I believe it to be universally true.

The Lord lives and is personal, and He loves you. He's always there to help. We have to learn to train ourselves to hear Him. Like a muscle, the more we use it, the louder it becomes. Desire and faith are required at first.

Serve Him in all things. Stand where He wants you to stand, for you have a purpose. Your job is to remember who you are and to remember who you are and to remember what you agreed upon.

Life is hard, and then it gets harder, and then we die. But every second of life is worth it.

Always forgive, but don't forget so much that you put yourself in the same situation.

Question authority, including everything I have just told you.

Gentleness, meekness, kindness will all be the currency of any true value. Stuff doesn't matter.

Forgiveness is divine. The Atonement is real. You are worthy. Hell is an eternity of regret.

It is never wrong to do the right thing.

Read the scriptures every day because they are alive. He speaks to you through them.

There are no coincidences in life. Look for [connections].

Never want anything too much--you will pay too high a price one way or another.

Shoot to kill.

Always tithe. Tithe first.

Your Dad misses you. Call him. Call him now. Why haven't you called him yet?

You will have very few real friends. Cherish those that you do. Things will change. You will fall in and out of each other's lives, but when you come back into each other's lives, it will be as if you never left.

A fast without a prayer is a diet.

Why haven't you called your father yet?

OK, so that was Glenn Beck's advice to his daughter that he shared in his commencement speech to Liberty University on Saturday.

My nephew Jacob's condition

Jacob Perazzo was crossing a street near his apartment in Provo on Saturday evening near sunset. A driver rolled through a stop sign and hit Jacob.

Main injuries were to the right side of his face, he had a concussion, and some of his fingers were dislocated. Yesterday he said his fingers were the most painful part.

In David's words: "Jacob is able to talk, but still can't remember anything of the accident or the ambulance ride which is bumming him out, he would have like to remember that ride or anything about the ER."


This morning he was in surgery for 5 hours...longer than expected because it turned out he had more bone fragments than they expected. They put metal plates above and below his right eye (his eye will be fine but is currently sewn shut while it heals) and also in his cheek.

His sense of  humor is still intact as he was joking with his Dad that even with one eye he can still be a baseball umpire.

He is in room 669 at Utah Valley Hospital if you are so inclined to call or visit.

Senior Prom for Eric

Caitlyn and Eric

Boutonniere time (spell check is a blessing)

Raphael, ?, Evan, ?, Alicia, Aaron, Brenna, Kevin (of the 24 hour comic-book-writing marathon fame), Caitlyn and Eric

Senior Prom, which is being held on the Fallon Navy Base, is tonight. (I just love the idea of having a Navy base in the middle of the desert, don't you?) The gang met at Alicia's house for appetizers and dinner. Hopefully Eric will be allowed on base for the dance...he doesn't know where his wallet is (with his ID in it). So, we photocopied his birth certificate, social security card, and his graduation announcement which has his picture and name on it (so glad I picked those up today). I'm sure it'll be fine.

Hannah and Ryan are at a dance in Winnemucca. Glen's at his play. Alex and I were going to go to the play (I only saw the first act last night and was going to see the ending tonight) but the prom dinner was running late. I decided to stay home as I would have missed almost an hour of the middle of the play. I'll watch the video so I can see how Michael looks in his dress...can't wait. 

Congratulations Jennifer

Today I attended a little get together for a friend who just finished her last semester at UNR and now has earned her bachelor's degree! Grade-point wise she graduated summa cum-laude but since she wasn't in the honors program (or something like that) they wouldn't let her officially graduate summa cum-laude. Raspberries to them. So we did it for her and gave her her very own, engraved summa cum-laude metal. Wonderful visit, wonderful lunch, wonderful friends.

191 Captain Pierce Road Scituate, Massachusetts

 Me with my parakeet, Captain Pierce.

Denise, Beth, Scott, and the 2 Thurlow girls (Kate and Rachel) from next door at the back of our house.

Scott and a neighbor at the front door...yes, the door was pink and the house was blue, though the color in this old photo is a bit off.

I was recently listening to a book on CD called "Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War" by Nathaniel Philbrick. As I was listening and they kept mentioning different towns in Massachusetts, I wondered if they would ever mention Scituate. I went to 4th-7th grade there.

Not only did Scituate get mentioned, it got mentioned in connection with a Captain Michael Pierce.

Now, our house was on Captain Pierce Road (I did a mapquest but the star is placed too far down the road from our house). I knew that our road was named after a real Captain Pierce, but I don't know that I ever knew anything more than that.

So, what I learned was that a man named Benjamin Church (totally fascinating man...I might have to do a little more research on him...he was like George Washington in that he would be in battle and bullets would whiz past him, put holes in his clothes, but not touch him)...anyway during King Philip's war, Benjamin had been asked to lead some men against the Narragansett Indians. He said he would if he could have 200 white men and 100 Indians. They said no, so Benjamin turned them down. The job was then offered to Michael Pierce, who said yes.

The following is from  

http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/horsemusket/kingphilip/default.aspx

"One of the bloodiest massacres—and darkest moments for the English—occurred at Cumberland, R.I.

"On Sunday morning March 26, 1676, after receiving word that a party of the enemy lay near Blackstone's house at Study Hill in Cumberland, Capt. Michael Pierce marched from Rehoboth, leading a company of 63 English and 20 friendly Wampanoag Indians." They were ambushed by 500-700 Narragansetts.

"According to an account related by Hon. Edwin C. Pierce of Providence, the English retreated across the river to set up a defense on the west bank (now part of the City of Central Falls), but were attacked by a blocking force of about 300 Indians. Pierce formed his men into a circle and they continued to fight in ever decreasing numbers for about two hours, until only a few remained. Pierce was killed early in the battle. A few of the Wampanoags managed to escape by disguising themselves as attackers. Nine English were captured and taken to a spot in Cumberland, now called Nine Men's Misery, where they were tortured to death."
Anyway, it was just kind of fun for me to find out about a piece of my past.

snow

We knew it snowed it Reno yesterday...well, last night while we were sleeping it apparently snowed here, too. Obviously, it didn't snow a lot but it's May11th...just mind boggling.

Update

In regards to that fact that I don't remember our house being messy yet didn't recall my mom cleaning mentioned in the previous post:

I called my mom today and she pointed out to me that for many years my grandmother, her mother-in-law, lived with us and she guesses that's why the house was in order. She had help. She also mentioned the fact that she learned to put things away immediately. Mystery solved.

Happy Mother's Day and an Andrew Update

Family photo summer 1964 Columbus, Ohio 

Denise, Mom, Scott, Dad, Beth (Kyle wasn't born for another 10 years)

These are some of my memories of my mom, but I cannot swear that they are 100% accurate (I can't help how I remember things):

My mom has a can-do, no nonsense attitude. Growing up I had the impression that there wasn't anything that she couldn't do.

For example: In Scituate, Massachusetts (I was 9-12 years old there) we had a mantle to our fireplace and I guess my mom didn't like it. I remember her taking a crowbar and prying off the wall herself. Don't remember if she had to repair the wall underneath it, but it looked just fine when she was done.

Next we moved to Metairie, Louisiana (I was 12-18). The kitchen was the smallest I have ever seen in a regular house. It basically was a square shape with a very small built-in pantry. The fridge was opposite the pantry...when you opened the fridge door and the pantry door at the same time the doors would hit each other and meet in the middle of the kitchen. That's how narrow it was...and it wasn't too much longer than that either.

Anyway, mom occasionally said she was going to take an ax to the pantry. I didn't believe her. Turns out she wasn't fooling. She tore down the pantry...and then of course had to fix the ceiling, floor, and wall.

My mom is artistic. She didn't have too much time to draw and paint while we were growing up, but we had a few things that she had done in her younger years and I do remember her dabbling just a little. After I left home, she started painting again. Besides oils she started taking watercolor classes and also has done some drawing. I love the fact that I now have a few of her pieces in my home. I would like to paint beautiful pictures too...and I have tried, but I have a long way to go.

She currently lives on the Pacific coast in Brookings, Oregon where she in very involved in the local art group. She's been on the board and had other jobs at the Manly Art Center. She headed up the annual Azalea Arts Festival a few times and is currently knee-deep (chin-deep?) in helping out again this year (it's held every Memorial Day weekend).

I never remember the house being messy...and I can't say I really remember her cleaning. Did she get up in the middle of the night to take care of things? Don't know. Don't know how she did it. I haven't been able to follow in her footsteps in this category. I seem to always be cleaning and yet my house alway seems messy.

I remember when I was a teenager in high school, Mom and I would play scrabble almost every day. She's also an avid crossword puzzler and I love to work on them together when we are visiting each other. She knows a lot of stuff!

So, Mom, Happy Mother's Day and thanks for all the great times. Can't wait to see you in a few weeks!

*********************************************************************************

While I was typing up the post for my mom, we received Andrew's call for Mother's Day. He was just transferred on Thursday, so it was really good to hear from him. Depending on where he was transferred last week, it might have meant that come July when the mission presidents were changed and some of the boundaries were being changed that he might have been switched to a different mission. Though the chances were small for that happening, it was still possible.

His new area is Waterloo, Iowa, therefore he will still be in the Iowa Des Moines mission come July. He says it is larger than Fallon but smaller than Sioux City where he had just been serving. It is about 220 miles directly east of Sioux City (for a comparison, Fallon is 200 miles from Sacramento). He is the district leader, and Sister Evans, who was in his district in Sioux City and was transferred with him, is still in his district. She and her companion, Sister Myers (who was in Andrew's MTC district), are serving in Cedar Falls. Cedar Falls and Waterloo are like Sparks and Reno...sister cities. The Cedar Falls ward and the Waterloo ward share a church building. Andrew hasn't been to church yet, but says the ward is like ours...with 2 large families. They are the Jolleys and the Osterleys. I asked him to figure out if we are the Jolleys or the Osterleys and get back to me.

Andrew's new companion is Elder Chris Wilson from Eugene, Oregon. Elder Wilson has been out for 6 months and has been in Waterloo, his second area, for 6 weeks. The population of the area there is about 50% black. Previous Elders lived in a more dangerous part of town and got their car shot. Andrew says they are in a safer area now, but they have already been tracting in the ghettos. I told him to just be obedient and then I wouldn't worry about his safety.

Andrew was able to have 2 baptisms on Tuesday in Sioux City before he left, so that was a nice way to end his time there.

He's planning on finding out what his address is and emailing it to us in tomorrow's email.

Below is the plaque that the ward had made...and after only a few months, we finally got a picture of Andrew to put in it (had to find a photo and blow it up and crop it...I chose a photo from outside the Salt Lake temple the day before he entered the MTC)... and it will go up in a display case outside of the Bishop's office.

Thursday May 6

First off, Happy Birthday Yesterday Jackie! Your non-birthday party tonight should be fun.

Busy/boring day yesterday. Proctored the AP English Lit and Composition Test. I'm not supposed to read, but Glen thought it would be OK if I worked on memorization. So I brushed up on my 13 Articles of Faith and some Spanish words. I think I'll go for "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" during today's US History test. Might just doodle.

Anyway, Eric had his final for his community college anthropology class. He came out chuckling. He was bluffing his way through the extra credit question, but he thinks he did OK on the rest of the test. I'm just glad I won't have to shuttle him back and forth twice a week anymore. Well, not until he starts classes in the fall.

The Nevada State Supreme Court was in Glen's theatre yesterday. Since yesterday was also opening night for his new play "Exit the Body" that meant Glen had to dismantle the entire set to clear off the stage...then put it up again after school to be ready for opening night. Once again, Glen wasn't sure if the students would be able to pull it all together, but they did. I'll be going on Saturday night.

In today's school announcements it says:

The Justices complimented CCHS, saying that we had a great school and that the questions students asked were the most thoughtful and intelligent questions they had encountered in the high schools they have visited.  Special thanks to Mr. Perazzo, ... Sarah Jamieson, and everyone else that helped in setting up and cleaning up the theater.

Ryan had his penultimate (second-to-last...I can't remember if it was in my blog or just in Andrew's emails that we discussed that word...) swim practice. His final meet is this Saturday in Carson. I'm so glad he's been participating in swimming.

Hannah went to the worm barn. Don't know if she stapled boxes, filled the cups with dirt, or counted the worms or all of the above.

Alex played with cousins.

Besides AP testing, chauffeuring the kids around, and not putting out any effort to make dinner, I listened to the School Board Meeting on my computer. I had gone to the meeting at Numa on Wednesday so I had had enough live drama for one week. I hope that things get settled soon. Will Alex stay at Numa? Will his cousins join him there? Will we switch him to EC Best? Don't know yet. I just hope everyone calms down and the best answer can be implimented.

I also created a new blog last night. This blog (treadingwater) is mainly for me to let my mom and sister (and anyone else who cares to take the energy to read it)  know what is going on with my family.

My new blog (my pensieve) is really mainly for me. I plan on posting about things I am currently learning...and the topic for right now is politics. Though come Ed Week in August I'm sure it'll be full of whatever I did there. I debated even mentioning that I had another blog, but then I thought there might be someone else interested in some of the things I am. So even though it is for me that I'm writing my second blog, I'm not opposed to others reading it.

http://mypensieve-beth.blogspot.com/

full week-church, work, friends, sports

Elders over for dinner on Monday. I survived. So did the Elders. (I dislike cooking for others...it makes me feel very insecure). They really are nice and it was good to have them over. Served Amy's Ravioli casserole recipe. Yum. However, I killed the yeast on my dinner rolls, though. I warned the Elders they were like soft rocks. The dear, sweet Elder said, "But I like soft rocks!" Bless him. Bless them both.

Quarterly Primary Activity Day on Tuesday. I joke and say my only goal for activity days are getting them over with, but I really do care. I think it went well...but I'm still not good at planning on enough that keeps the youngest ones engaged. So, it could have been better. We'll work on that. We had no power at our house for 5 hours that afternoon (due to the hurricanal winds, I'm sure), but luckily it stayed on at the church so we didn't have to freak about having 36 kids in a pitch-black gym.

Thursday and Friday I subbed. Once again, I joke (well, only half-joking sometimes) and say I set my standards low and that I consider it a successful day of subbing if no one gets injured. I accomplished that (though Glen almost had a girl fight on his hands this week, luckily it didn't go past verbal). I like it when I can really feel like I helped the students. Mixed review in that category for this week.

Friday night I had Intervention/Quidditch at my house. Lots of laughing. I asked Glen if we kept waking him up. Surprisingly, he said no. But we all know he can sleep just about anywhere (see paragraph below). As far as the name now goes...it used to be called scrapbooking, but usually no scrapbooking got done, so we switched the name to Intervention. Some of us really feel it helps to keep us sane and makes us nicer to our families, so it fit. Then the name quidditch got brought up. Jennifer wanted to be able to tell people, "I can't tonight. I have quidditch." I'll have to ask her if she's used that phrase yet. Anyway the fact that broom flying is involved also makes it fit... "Quidditch" is just funner than "Intervention," don't cha think?

The choir's trip to the San Francisco Giants/Colorado Rockies game got canceled, but since Glen and his brothers had already bought tickets, they loaded up a few of the boys and went anyway. It made for a very long day, but they had a great time. Though my nephew Michael tells me they took a picture of Glen, Eric, and Alex napping during the game. Typical...there was napping going on during church today too. What will Glen do with all his time in the next life when he won't need to sleep anymore?

Ryan, who originally was going to go to the baseball game, stayed home and participated in the swim meet. He was scheduled for 2 single events and 2 relays...but the last relay was canceled because one of the 4 boys on the relay team hurt his shoulder in a previous heat. Ryan knows he didn't improve his 50 yd freestyle time but results haven't been posted on his 100 yd free yet...but he thinks he was 1 second faster. Don't know about the relay yet (and I was one of the timers! Didn't think to write down their times).

Saturday evening I began to fear I was coming down with a cold...I hoped my nasal distress was due to the wind kicking things up, but this morning's heavy head confirmed that I caught a little bug. I'm feeling better this evening and I'm hoping for a good week--I'm proctoring some AP tests at the high school, so several half-days of work.

Andrew's mission has transfers this week, so no Monday email. We'll get one on Wednesday instead. He's been training a new missionary in Sioux City for the past 2 transfers, so we're pretty sure he'll get a change. Can't wait to see! It's always so exciting.

So, here's to only 24 school days to go till summer vacation! And Eric's graduation!