A Fun Weekend

What a fun weekend! On Friday we had neices come to stay with us while their parents were in Salt Lake for a relatives funeral. We all went to a Middleton community Special Olympics Welcome Gala that was put together for an Eagle project by a young man in our stake that is deaf and mildly autistic. The first 30 minutes a mother/daughter/ daughter in-law group sang, fiddled and played the guitar, while the athletes and any children who wanted roped hay bale steers and played sponge toss. It was fun to people watch and be entertained. An hour long program followed with various talents performed by groups in Middleton. Jordan sang the national anthem with an a capella quintet that he is in and danced and sang two numbers with his FX show choir. It's so much fun to watch him be involved. He is making the most of this year. The mayor recognized the athletes and then awarded them flags that had been designed in a grade school contest by a 4th grader who was honored. The evening ended with the choreographer of the show choir inviting the athletes and coaches to learn some line dances and then invited the community to participate. Most of the kids were brave enough to go and dance. I have humiliated myself plenty of times at the Saturday night dances when the youth pull me into those line dances and try to teach me the complicated steps, so the rest of us just enjoyed watching the participants have fun. The athletes LOVED it! They were pretty fired up and one of them gave an extended, highly animated tribute and thank-you to the audience in Italian afterwards. Avery was hot and hungry when it finally got over, but the rest of us enjoyed it. Our community was feeling the Olympic spirit last week.

Saturday Fred, Jordan and a few friends spent some good hours attaching rock to the outside of the Middleton sign. It is actually starting to feel hopeful that he will finish this project before his birthday. This has been such an incredibly fantastic thing for him to be involved in. It has certainly made him stretch and it will be something to be proud of.

Mikayla is starting to work on her value experiences in Personal Progress. I have been impressed at how she chooses things that are demanding and which recquire real personal investment. Currently she is taking a Book of Mormon Independent Study course from B.Y.U. and spends hours after school and on Sundays with her nose in the Book of Mormon and a computer on her lap. Today she approved another project for a different value and will start working on her personal history, which will be insightful because she is wired "deep"................ and loud...and quirky....and fairly violent;-)

Saturday evening Fred and I went to a stake adult Sadie Hawkins dance. Because Pres. Walkers (the 2nd couselor in our stake presidency) wife set a precedent of asking her husband out in a creative way and because he gloated about it in our ward's priesthood opening exercises, I had to give into peer pressure and I made an artificial GPS, and put it in Fred's car. The girls helped me with ideas and when I got home that night my bed was covered with heart candies and chocolates and standing atop the pile was Buz Lightyear with an acceptance card in his hands. In your "old age" you get kind of lazy about dating, but it was fun to put forth that extra effort. Some of our friends taught us how to swing dance and we exhausted ourselves twirling around the room and occasionally crashing into things. The music was poorly chosen and much too loud, which was disappointing, but the food and friends and dancing was so much fun. Fred and I are going to get a group of fun couples together and have a date night at the church and re-learn how to dance. It really was a blast!

My concerns at the middle school are being addressed in small, but positive steps and I am encouraged by the cooperation of the principle. There is still more that needs to be done, but at least things are heading in the right direction. Parents will now have to be contacted before two of the 6th grade documentaries are shown. At registration parents will now have all documentaries or unrated films on the parent permission slips that already contains choices for rated films, and all students who are uncomfortable with the curriculum now must be provided with an alternate activity, but each family will have to initiate that at a parental level. It is not the huge change I had hoped for but we are still in a very embryonic stage of diplomacy and things take time. I do feel that I have regained control of at least my own children's education and have been pleased with the responses as I try to get other parents in the community involved. Be aware that this broad curriculum is state driven, so make sure if you have 6th graders that you know what is being taught in your schools. I would specifically ask about the documentaries that they are showing. I think Charter schools will be less likely to have problems of this magnitude, because parents are generally more involved and proactive but better safe than sorry.

I AM READY FOR SPRING! I was ready a month ago. I'm feel like a prisoner to this inversion and cold. Mikayla wants to plant something so bad that she is itchy. Maybe we'll have to grow alfalfa sprouts in the windowsill.

Fred, Mikayla and I are now exercising on weekday mornings at 6:00AM. We are using Fred's old missionary routine, which is just a short 20 minutes, and isn't too much of a strain on my heart, but my muscles are OUT OF SHAPE and the sit-ups are just plain embarrassing. I am not too proud to tell you that I can not do even one traditional sit-up. I can drag myself across the 30 count finish line by using my arms as hoists, but with them clasped under my head--zippo. Since we literally roll out of bed and put on our sweats and start exercising within 5 minutes, Fred does half of the routine with his eyes shut, and without proper equilibrium. For the first week, I whined the entire 20 minutes and was no kind of farm girl. For three days my calves were so sore that just walking up and down the stairs was a calculated effort. Sad, but true, and last year I was running two miles every day without batting an eye. Those who currently workout regularly will not be able to commiserate, but can share an incredulous laugh at my pitiful condition. The rest of you can probably put your hands behind your head in the morning and sit up out of bed and feel very good about yourselves and maybe in 3 months, when I say, in the middle of leg lifts, "I love this!", I won't be lying anymore.

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