The Things That Matter Most

A few months ago, Eden decided that she wanted to try out for next seasons Music Theatre of Idaho. We agreed to let her audition in November and experience the process and see if it was something she wanted to pursue and we felt comfortable with her pursuing. There was an audition coach option for those who had never been through the process, so we signed her up, thinking it might be a nice professional introduction to the "musical" expectations. It was advertised as three ½ hour sessions to help her find music and give her advice and practice for the audition. Fred went with her the first Saturday and came back with the most exaggerated comments (or so I thought) about the building and the instructor, that I was curious and went with her last weekend. OH MY GOODNESS!!! It is held in the MTI headquarters which is a little old house that has been rezoned for business and is the dumpiest commercial place I have ever been in! I've only seen a few other personal homes that are worse, when the R.S. had to go in and do some "emergency" cleaning. You walk into a tiny front office that has papers and books scattered everywhere and then you notice the smell—a mixture of age, filth and animals and when the black cat wanders in and rubs against your legs that makes more sense. From there you walk through a series of small rooms that have parked bikes and boxes of what might be props or costumes spilling out and the most mismatched furniture with stuffing falling out onto the floor. I'm not sure they have ever cleaned it in all the years they have been an organization and I think they started back in 1997. When we finally got back to "the practice room" there were a lot of old, bent metal chairs set up, maybe for choir or orchestra practices and trash was strewn between them all over the floor and falling from the 3 or 4 boxes of garbage in front that you had to walk around to get to the tiny piano and computer desk that were shoved in the corner. Eden's "coach" was a young (looked like Mikayla's age) likeable, but goofy kid who we later found out was "Dicken" in the Secret Garden production that we saw a few years ago, so he's talented and had some good advice for Eden, but it could have easily been given in one 1/2 hour session, not three. Her audition will be this Saturday, and luckily it is in the Nampa Civic Center. Honestly, I am a little worried about her working with a group that is content to have home base in a place that is so loathsome. It makes me wonder what kind of people are in charge, but right now we are just getting our feet wet. For a local, amateur company they have put on some impressive productions, a few of which I have been lucky enough to attend, so they know how to entertain, but they don't know how to clean.

Marg asked me at the family Harvest party how I was enjoying my time without any kids at home and I had to honestly answer that I felt like I had less time than ever. That has bothered me tremendously and yesterday, as I was re-listening to Elder Uchtdorf's conference talk I decided I really needed to make some hard decisions and learn to slow down and simplify, so I can focus on the things that matter most. With my children gone I have felt compelled to become involved in every good thing that I haven't done because my children were here and now  I never feel like I have time to accomplish anything at home. There are hundreds of women who are much more involved in the community and school and church than I and accomplishing things just fine, but I have to keep reminding myself that I am not those other women. I have my own unique capacity. I was talking to Renee the other day and she was telling me that her whole day is scheduled, including time for herself and her different responsibilities. I know I would feel less pressure and accomplish so many more "real" things if I did that, so that is one of my goals today, to redistribute my time in more effective ways.

It is so much fun to get Jordan's letters each week. He e-mails us the short one that I forward here during his scheduled computer time and then he handwrites us a longer, more personal one each week while he is doing his laundry. He sounds so good and I have been flying high emotionally, regarding him, for the last three weeks, so it was alarming last night when our family was watching "Friendly Persuasion" and my emotions went into instant overdrive when the Mom sends her son off to war. There was no warm up, no prep time--just an immediate flash flood. My poor children were confused and worried (I was a little worried myself), but without even skipping a beat, Fred's arm went around me and he just held on until I found my pace again. I really hope it's not going to be like this for two years and I especially hope that doesn't happen in some public place, because it is really quite disturbing.

Jet came to church with us again this Sunday. He is curious but confused much of the time.  We take so much of the basics of the gospel for granted and teach to those who already have a deep doctrinal foundation. Even in primary, the little children have a vast understanding of religious concepts. I suggested that he go to Mormon.org so that he can get information at his own leisure and his own pace. He is reading four chapters a day in the Book of Mormon and told Mikayla he really liked Isaiah because he's really depressing and talks about the end of the world. It's an interesting reason to like Isaiah, but Mikayla says he sees the world from a very cynical perception and is really interested in things like the apocalypse. I am impressed that he has been courageous enough to come and find out for himself what our religion is all about. I found out today that he is enlisted in the army and will be off to boot camp as soon as he graduates from high school. He seems like such a bright kid, full of such amazing potential that I want him to have something concrete to hold on during those hard days that are surely ahead. His presence has started some stirrings in our ward--people wondering who the "attractive" boy is with Mikayla--but of course she is  not phased because they are truly just friends. I hope he will want to come next week and the next week and the next....

ELDER BLOOMQUIST IN THE MTC--
STILL THE SAME GOOFY GUY
(the captions are what Jordan wrote on the back of his photos).

"From left to right: Elder Grillone, Elder Bloomquist, Elder Thompson,  Elder Pew. In front Elder Hymas"

"Me in the laundry room"

"Elder Perkins, Elder bloomquist, Elder Pew studyin' it up"

"You can't get much better looking than this!"

"Self explanatory don't you think"

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