Greeting November in the neighbor's field

my big/little testimony

Just because I should be sleeping, doesn't mean I have to be sleeping.

I know my rights.


Tonight I read a blog post of a gal who is struggling with the LDS faith and has been pulling away over the last year.  Her writing was sincere and passionate.  You could tell that it took some time to write.  ...Or maybe it didn't.  I don't know.

She wrote with an air of defensiveness because she was well aware of the coming backlash of well-meaning folk, calling her back.  ...I thought about commenting.  I wrote and re-wrote and rehearsed comments in my head but, in the end, decided against it.  I would be one of those well-meaning folk and she wasn't open to that, as I could see in some of her responses to other comments.  She wants validation and support, as we all do.

But as I hummed and hawed, wanting to create a magically fantastical comment, I thought about all the words I heard this last weekend during our semiannual LDS conference.  (find it HERE)

just a taste-

I don't know this gal's personal story.  She shares online what she wants to share and the internet is grossly abused as a medium to really know someone.  In my limited understanding of her, I believe she is doing good things, offering good, wanting good...  And just like her, I want validation and support for my beliefs and passions. 

A testimony I have, which was reaffirmed this last weekend is this-   

The grandeur of the Gospel of Jesus Christ vastly exceeds the smallness of... 

the mistakes, the imperfections, the injustices, the misunderstood, the misheard, the misinterpreted, the falsehoods, the pains, the abuses, the problems, the confusion, the unfair and the suffering 

of our earthly existence.

If it didn't, it wouldn't be.



That's all I wanted to say.  ...but putting that as a response on her post didn't feel like the right place.

So I blogged it.

And you just read it.

Hi!

BTW- I LOVE October.  Really, I do.  It's definitely in my top 3 of awesome months.  July and December are the others.  Or February, but that's just for my birthday.  OK it's late.  I really should be sleeping...

**********

"The Son of Man hath descended below them all...

Therefore, hold on thy way, and the priesthood shall remain with thee; for their bounds are set, they cannot pass. Thy days are known, and thy years shall not be numbered less;
therefore, fear not what man can do,
for God shall be with you forever and ever."

 Doctrine and Covenants 122:8-9  

PS- I think chi talk is silly

Yesterday I told Kristen that I've got my chi back, now that the kids are elsewhere being parented 7 hours a day.

I'm playing my running music more.  I mean, not to run, but for my chi.  I'm getting junk done.  You know, something to show for the day, rather than just kids that are still breathing.

Got my hair cut.  Doin' some yoga.  CAUGHT UP WITH LAUNDRY.

  ...I mean, not ALL the laundry.  But, you know.  Lots of it.


Hold on.  Darwin Deez is singing....

I've gained a few piano students and with my chi, I'm an awesome teacher.  Yesterday, I seamlessly went from one student who is getting deeper into classical, to another who is focusing on heavy metal chord structures.  (It's all the same, really.  The only difference is swaying to headbanging.   ...my new haircut headbangs nicely.)

I'm practicing piano and guitar more.  I'm good at the former, sheepish at the latter.  

I killed a big spider this morning.  It came charging at me in the shower.  ...my running music was playing in the background...


Thunderstruck!

I should rename my running playlist to GETJUNKDONEANDKILLSTUFF.

I will be doing more running.  My knee is being weird, even after I told it I've got my chi back.  It'll catch up.

I'm sleeping more.  Hello!  That extra energy goes towards dead insects and ....the rolls I made the other day!  ooohhhhh I got it just right. 

I finally saw the new Beauty and the Beast.  It was ok.  Hermione couldn't fool me.  She's stuck in Hogwarts forever more...

I went rollerskating!  It was on the weekend, with kids, so it doesn't really count towards the chi thing but hey!  I'm not bad!  ...Not good, but not bad!


P.Y.T.  I wonder what was the moment like when MJ said Hey, we need some Alvin and the Chipmunks during the chorus...  I bet nobody questioned because he's freaking Michael Jackson.


While doing dishes today I was watching Carpool Karaoke with James Corden.  The RHCPeppers are hilarious and aging way slower than me.

New dishwasher!  Lots of photo work!  Never enough yard work!

If I had my own narrator, I bet he'd say She could go do yard work now but she's eating biscotti instead.  (My narrator is a guy who sings like Al Green.)

Whelp.  Kids'll be home soon.  I think I'll switch over some laundry and put on some pants.

This post is dedicated to my family who have asked me to post more but they also make fun of my childhood crushes.  So I've held back.  Can't reward such behavior.

Today!

My mom gave me permission to pretend I've done nothing in the last couple months (busiest summer EVER) and just pick up the blog from today.

Today!

I spent AAAAAAAAAAAALL morning (30 minutes) hunting down the contents of my purse after Garret had an all-night hey-hey-mom-left-her-purse-out party.  I could really use some chapstick right now, and do you think Sandwich Express would have mercy on a haggard mommy crying "My punch card was nearly full!  I had bunches of punches!"?

Remember the movie Iron Will?  I couldn't stand it because of the very visual lack of chapstick.


Our cat drama is like The Walking Dead.  Death, violence, pawing at the door... and, of course, the constant change of characters.

Today, it's Shawn, Gubsy and Toula.

Meet sweet Toula (who caught a mouse today!)-

Here's the Gubs (my bro's cat who we've been taking care of.  *whispering* Jokes on bro, 'cause I might not give her back) -

...and you've met Shawn.

What happened to the other cats?  Have you seen Walking Dead?  Mario, Darla, Buster...  They all went out for supplies and didn't return. We got down to one cat (plus Gubsy, who's real name is Shoogadabubs, aka Gubba) and the field mice got together, laughed at our lazy cats, and invaded the house.  So it was move, or bring in another character.  See?  JUST like the tv show.  Toula is now the "Darrel" of our house and we are saved! 

Today I didn't shower, or even get dressed.  Why be fancy when you're stuck to your computer all day? I did, however wear bright pink lipstick.  It was a chapstick substitute and I looked smashing.

Today was some awesome news that a wonderful person is making a miraculous recovery from what doctors believed was, for sure, his end.  I can't describe how happy I am for him and his family.  A true, true miracle!  The news really lifted my day, as dull a day as it was.  I have nothing to do with their story, but we're all connected, right?

So yeah, today was a pretty good day.  :)

how the 4th was won

It's been a few weeks since the school needed a break from raising my children which means I'm in full scramble mode.  What does this look like?  Well,  the last load of laundry I started I had to wash 3 times before I finally remembered to put it in the dryer before it icky-dried in the washer.  I'm not sure how long it's been since I washed my hair and this morning I drove to the grocery store instead of the pediatrician's office.

It's all good.  With McDonalds to the rescue, we will survive.

Hey, there was an opossum right outside our door the other night.  It was digging into a little catfood, not caring that we were 6 inches away, with just a little glass between us.  Nasty, craggly creature of the night...  It was awesome.


To celebrate the somewhat end of my seasonal allergies we went to a fireworks show last night.

For this to work with our entourage, we avoided crowds and stayed within 6 feet of the van.  When the booms began Garret slinked to the front of the van and peeked thru the seats.  Suzie narrated the many colors and shapes.  And Brenda ventriloquisted her dolls with comments of how never before has such a sight been sighted. 

So I've been told a few times, recently, that putting 2 spaces after the period is not proper.    You just put one space.     Just one.       I was born in the 70s and if my science is correct...      

This is AMERICA.      

So HAPPY BIRTHDAY USA!  

Some day my maker may tell me why I got to land in a cushy, blessed, safe, stable country, in it's prime.  Surely it's not based on merit.  Surely I won the lottery when being handed my Earth assignment.  And surely, there's no worthy description of what I owe those who came before.  Those pioneers, warriors and dreamers lived for something so much more than themselves and I don't want to go through what they did.  Heck, I doubt they really wanted to go through what they did.

BUT THANK GOODNESS THEY DID.

Ether 2:14

Happy 4th!

México es mágico

There is just no way I can tell all.  If you want it all, take me to lunch.  Otherwise, you'll have to be satisfied with the highlights.

IT WAS AMAZING.

And not "amazing" like us women tend to say about anything above average... 

It really was AMAZING.  

where lagoon and ocean meet in Akumal

I think I'm a pretty easy-to-please person, so Mexico didn't have to try so hard.  ...but it DID.

Valladolid cenote "Zaci"

My biggest surprise?  How much I loved the water activities.

Monica and I jumping (me first) into Ik Kil cenote (pictured in last post)

Tim and Monica (we brought them from home)

Me!

about to snorkel cenote "Dos Ojos"

Snorkel Mike!  SNORKEL!

Playa Del Monica.

 The water felt as good as the picture looks.

If I HAD TO pick my favorite activity (and I mean, life or death I HAVE TO PICK SOMETHING) I would say the underground river swim.

WHOA.  These dark tunnels, surrounding us with stalactites and -mites and bats and sights...

 
At one point the swim opens up above to show our depth.  Anyone seen Goonies????

AMAZING. 

How cute are we?

 At Xplor Fuego (cool park name, right?) we also jeeped, zip-lined and rafted.

 ALL AWESOME!


The ruins should have their own post, but that would require more work on my part. 

So here you go-

Ek Balam

ISN'T SHE LOVELY???

The ruins of Ek Balam are not too far from Chichen Itza but there is HARDLY ANYONE THERE!  We climbed and snooped and touched and camera-ed. 

 I believe we soaked it in as best as we could.

 Some of the entrances are fenced off to protect the carvings.  STUNNING.

temple doorway

jaguar teeth entrance

Chichen Itza was crowded, expensive, full of sales booths and HUGE.  

I've looked at pictures online, videos and read descriptions.  NOTHING compares to actually standing in front of the Chichen temple.  Totally worth the bother of the big park.

the Chich military building yard

I'm sorry there's not much description.  I look at one picture and am immediately overwhelmed at all I could tell.  Like how the fish in the lagoon looked as tho they have their own battery-powered neon lights and how silly I was crawling down the Ek temple while everyone else walked casually down.  (Hey, it was STEEP)  And how much FASTER a zip line goes when you're strapped to a bestie. 

I could tell about the shopping and the driving and the people and the buildings and the food. 

THE FOOD!

panuchos- my favorite meal

if only you could smell this picture!

But lets just get together and you'll regret asking and I'll lose my voice...

Cathedral of San Gervasi, Valladolid

we don't know how to pose for pictures

 Or better yet, just come with us next time. 

 Because we'll be back!

How do you say TEASE in Spanish?

 Guys, I've been somewhere MAGICAL.

When my parents offered to watch our kids and give us access to their flyer miles.  My first thought was HOW FAR AWAY DOES SOUTHWEST GO???

We picked Cancun, Mexico and the Gods smiled upon us. 

The only thing we saw in Cancun was the airport.  I'm sure the city is lovely but ADVENTURE awaited.

I can be reached for powerpoint presentation scheduling because, obviously, there's too much to share in just a blog post.

JK, I'll post more.  Eventually.

spoiler alert-  We even had some friends tag along.


I know, right?