flashback

okay, i hope i'm not politically incorrect or offensive in this post. i don't mean to be. many years ago (back in 96?) i worked with mentally handicapped adults. i was a life skills trainer. they lived in apartments with roommates and people like me would spend a few hours in the morning and evening and all weekend with them. we'd take them shopping, help them set goals, teach them some life skills, help them make dinner, remind them to bathe, give them their meds, that sort of thing. on weekends we'd take them on field trips. it was a pretty fun job with some of the usual stresses. i only did it for 6 months. one of my clients (as they were called) was actually the daughter of none other than hugh nibley. yes, it is true. she was very sweet. she would ask me questions about abraham - it took me a while to catch on to the pun. she was always writing notes and counting her coins.

anyway, she's not my story. another woman... oh wait, never mind. i just had a realization. okay, i'll tell you what i was thinking anyway. this other woman was quite a character. her name was kathy. she had a pretty annoying voice, and needed to be reminded to shave. other than that she seemed pretty normal. well, relatively. anyway, i've been attending the slc temple now for a few years and recently there's been one volunteer that has reminded me of kathy. she had her "look." for a long time i even questioned myself whether it was her. i think she was capable of working at the temple at least as a greeter - i don't know whether or not she was lds - but it's been a long time. well tonight, i got a close up opportunity with this woman. she was doing more than greeting, so i tried to test her by asking a conversational question but her response was too simple to be of much evidence. she did seem to stare intently the way kathy did, but with a mellower style. anyway, i was having a moment of happiness thinking that kathy had finally found a good balance of meds to help her get to this state of functioning, serving in such a manner. everything about her seemed calm and in control. i was very happy - it was a bright spot in my day. so i was going to blog about it. but, as you noticed, while blogging i had a realization. the woman working at the temple was not named kathy. and i'm nearly positive the lady i worked with years ago was kathy. wait, no, maybe her roommate was named kathy! oh dear, who knows. point is, i had a nice time in the temple and a nice time remembering my clients. even if i can't remember her name perfectly. and i like to think that they are all well and making progress in their lives.

Behind the scenes

Plewe's wedding day was a good time for all. It seemed everyone involved enjoyed themselves. I got to spend the day as plewe's right hand woman and chauffeur. The down time in the car was good for relaxing and reflecting. One of the best parts was just laughing about how funny it was to being running around in a wedding dress. If you pay good money for a dress you might as well make the most of it! one of our "errands" was back to figarro's for a makeup and hair touch-up. I finally parted ways from plewe at the reception. I'm still a bit pooped today.

Plewe knows how to party!

well it's late but I just had to share the highlights of plewe's last single night. The plan was to dine at cafe med and then hit the theater. When we gathered for food, though, we realized there were other more pressing activities so we skipped the movie and came home to resolve a veil question, test shoe solutions, and repack the luggage. Oh, and to enjoy some apple brown betty (recipe courtesy of the pioneer woman) while watching the office. So very nice! I got a couple shots at cafe med (where we happened to also run into a couple of dennis and plewe's friends). First, notice how many glasses of carbonation plewe needed after a long day of last minute errands. The lovely hat i'm sporting is actually carson, kristin's little guy. Later, back at the home front, he needed some nursing. It was a great night of warm friendship and happy laughter along with delicious food! Oh and I nearly forgot - the pained expression on plewe's face came as a result of drinking dugh (sp?), some supposedly healthy beverage of yoghurt, salt, and mint. I'm all about trying new things and it seemed like a fitting ritual to have plewe finish it off - like a rite of passage.

Lingerie

Did I spell that right? Anyway, the good friend plewe weds tomorrow night. As we were taking photos of the riotous bachelorette celebrations I remembered that I hadn't blogged yet about the creation of her bridal shower gift. Which, by the way, part of (you'll have to guess which part) is making it on the honeymoon! The creation involved puff glitter paint, beads, bells, dangly cupids, and sequins. I'm modeling the flashy garter over my yellow work out pants. The team of danielle creations was totally amazing, as usual.

tatts

as i've posted before, i do enjoy reading the ny times. this morning there was an article about tattoos and counterculture. i am no fan of such body adornments, maybe it's a matter of taste but i also believe that for me it is a matter of moral values - i feel the body is a sacred thing - a creation of god that should be honored and treated with respect. already i probably abuse it more than i'd like, what with my bad posture and m&m binging. but it's also something that should be enjoyed and appreciated. sometimes it's just a challenge to balance enjoyment with respect. for how much i don't like tattoos i can't help but find them very fascinating to look at. when i used to work the arts festival i got a kick out of the variety of adornments people were sporting that i never get to see during the school year. i couldnt' help but wonder where these people were hiding when it WASN'T arts festival weekend. anyway, in the article i came across a couple rather humorous lines that i had to share with you. not that you care, just that i hadn't blogged in a bit and a good line is a hard thing to keep to oneself.

A"rtists with prominent Chelsea galleries and thriving careers, practicing physicians, funeral directors, fashion models and stylists are turning up with more holes in their faces than nature provided, and all manner of marks on their throats and hands." this one cracked me up with the line about holes in their faces that nature provided - great imagery.

and this one just sort of made me sad after i laughed a bit. "A gig as a barista or a model is not a job at Morgan Stanley (although neither is a job at Morgan Stanley, anymore). "

'“The tattoo community sees them as posers,” Mr. Baxter said of the newly inked people. “It’s like going out in the 1960s to buy a Beatles wig. But Beatles wigs came off easily and tattoos do not. “It’s 20 times more painful to get it removed than to get it,” Mr. Baxter said. Part of that pain must surely be the mortification of having stamped oneself with an outdated motif.' and finally, what's worse than just being out of style?

Pleasant

I'm having a pleasant day despite an expensive one. This morning I took my car in for an oil leak and came away 5 hours and 900 dollars later with new rear brake things - calipers I believe. Anyway while waiting to hear from them I walked around sugarhouse conversing with a good friend I used to teach with who now lives in kansas. It was nice to catch up. When I found out the car diagnosis I decided to walk home to wait for it - that was another long walk, this time catching up with mother. It was a gorgeous morning so I enjoyed myself. Now i'm sitting at the trax stop waiting for my good sister who is visiting from cali to come pick me up for a couple hours of bonding. Later in the evening i'll attend a dance show - should be fun. Sometimes saturdays can be perfect. Today would have been more perfect if I hadn't spent so much, but hey, at least my car brakes more smoothly now!

too funny

i wound up walking downtown (20 minute walk) to attend the motab concert. the guest performers were brian stokes mitchell and some woman named denyce gaves, but she spells her name differently - both were amazing singers. the choir performed with the utah symphony as background and stars themselves - some famous guest conducter, erich kunzel, led them all. it was very patriotic. i liked how they got the audience involved for a couple numbers. i loved the good friends that went with me and had a grand time over all. i'm glad i went. on the way out, though, i spotted these dressy light up shoes. i HAD to share them with the masses. i only wish the photo were clearer - you know how walking and photographing can go, though.

Headache

It's a friday after an extremely long week. I have a headache from work and lack of sleep and just drama in general. I don't know what's best for me. Motab concert or video at home. Fridays can be hard like this. I think if I walk downtown to see motab i'll feel better than if I stayed home and did the video. Plus maybe i'll get some blogging material.

survivors

i needed a new post. so i thought for a moment of the major thoughts bouncing around my head and "survivors" came out. i started a unit with my reading classes where survivors are the focus. we're reading a few passages about survivors and what it takes to be a survivor. it totally fits with the news these days, what with ike's damage and all. luckily i have people in houston area so i can make personal connections. luckily? anyway, let's just say i am lucky to be here in utah. in fact i believe my granny flies in tonight to spend the next three weeks at my mom's house where there is electricity. something about south east texas and electricity are inseparable. thinking about my own personal trials - i believe i'm a survivor because i have an amazing support network. i've often philosophised with a friend that no matter how small my grip on reality is the ground isn't too far away because there are a million things built up to catch me when i fall - my faith, my family, my friends, my routines and duties - all these things that hold me accountable are also what catch me. i've tested it a few times - not necessarily by choice - and i've proven that i am a survivor. now to get myself some more water in my emergency supplies.

feeling the love

i guess the good president's wife was kind enough to write a letter to send to every school in the nation to be read to every student to make him/her feel welcome and excited to be back in school. we just got our copy today. my secretary (who forwarded it) said we could feel welcome to share it with out students.

Piles

That word makes me smile. My brothers have a way of saying it that makes you think of boy humor. I smile today because the piles are gone! I can see my street again. Parking is easier. Now maybe the sunday-driving scavengers are in retirement. Neighborhood cleanup is good but the piles get old. I'm always amazed to see what filth comes out of people's homes and even more amazed to see the scavengers gather it up.

good lesson

my brother in law is a bishop in california. he's the one who got me thinking about the proposition 8 debate going on there. i guess he went to a church leadership meeting last week. he reported a little exchange that i thought contains a powerful lesson about obedience, so i wanted to share it with you:

"Near the end, Elder Clayton spent some time talking about our Proposition 8 (constitutional amendment properly defining marriage). One bishop expressed some reluctance he felt from ward members to participate in campaign activities because they feel there is no way the proposition will pass. The bishop then asked how likely they, the GAs, feel it is to pass. Elder Ballard stood and said we need not worry about that because we are standing for the Lord, Jesus Christ. I didn't get the sense he was guaranteeing it would pass, but rather that we needn't fret about the outcome so long as we are on the Lord's side. Good encouragement, which I duly passed on to the ward today."

personally i find all kinds of applications for this lesson. my life is full of commandments that i hope will result in specific outcomes. it's hard to keep up the hope when part of me thinks that despite my obedience and hard work, i'll have unwanted outcomes. it's not so much about the physical tangible outcome - it's more about the spirit and what happens to that when you are obedient. i'm sure you can have better/deeper thoughts on this than i'm able to express.

rousing start to september

here it is - september. school is officially begun. no more holiday until mid october. so i wasn't surprised when the alarm went off and i painfully rolled out of bed. the eyes stung. the head hurt. the body was totally dragging. because i'm a slave to duty and routine i got myself to the gym. hooray - that can really make a difference. so now i'm here at school - on the prep period finally. last period tanked. i even had a kid storm out. when i reported it to the office they said his mom was checking him out. and you want to know why? a lip ring he wouldn't take out. yep. he threw away a day of school - after going to the trouble of even showing up close to on time - and he just gave up only half way through first period because he didn't want to take out his lip ring. no wonder he can't read. he's probably left school over all kinds of things his whole life - mom checking him out. i guess his lip ring is more important than his reading skills. do i sound like i got up on the wrong side of the bed? i think i did. i got up on the september side. where did my august go?

Impulsive

Yesterday I decided this adjective applies to me. I've suspected so before but yesterday was the nail in the coffin. The night before i'd found myself picking at the paint on my bedroom door. I have noted before that the doors in my house must have a million layers of old paint. I figured that if I ever got around to it I should probably strip off the old paint and start over. Their age and design make them hard to just replace so repainting seems necessary. So saturday morning I bought stripper and got to work on the bathroom door. I spaced my social plans and conveniently ignored the fact that i'm hosting a bridal shower next saturday and pretended it was still summer and that i'm not working 10 + hour days. Oh not to mention all the other obligations i've committed myself to for the next couple of months like my annual halloween party. No, I just took the bathroom door off the hinges, started slathering on some stripper and basically gave myself a bach ache that will probably last a week. I've only managed to mostly strip one side of the door. I still have the other side and have to repaint it. I can't imagine this will be done by saturday so my roommate suggested I take my bedroom door and put it on the bathroom. A sheet for a bathroom door in such a small house just isn't solid enough. I've never been much of a handy woman so I have no idea what happened to me yesterday but now i'm paying the consequences. I am praying for warm nights and a strong back so I can get this one door at least done by halloween.

Dona was good enough to document my craziness so that i'd have something for the blog.

legends of country

it's my new favorite radio station. really. i find it soothing. still some commercials - but not quite as many as other stations and the djs are less grating with less obnoxious extra noises. i have always loved krcl and probably always will, but, at least on the drive home these days, i find myself changing the channel as it is too loud and annoying. and when i change it i usually land on the country legends channel.

The hood

Some say my neighborhood isn't the safest. I say it's fine! My mother lives in the suburb of all suburbs and she's had her fair share of crime. But yesterday morning the cops came to my neighbor's house. earlier they'd found someone pushing a grocery cart full of tools and selling them - they belonged to my neighbor - he believes in labeling them. The real crime, though, was the fact that he keeps his tools in his van which he discovered was no longer parked in front of his house. So on my walk this morning I couldn't help but be curious when I came across 7 grocery carts piled up near one house.