mittan family chronicles

And we're moving on - hopefully

2010-10-04T16:18:00.003-06:00

This past year has been one of continual loss for me. First it was my grandmother who passed away in early-mid November, 2009. In May I lost a friend of many decades - one who would have liked to have taken the place of my mother had my mother not still been living. On Memorial Day my favorite uncle passed away and my step-father died the day my uncle was buried. Three weeks later, after a phone call from a hospital in California, I flew to Sacramento, drove to Stockton and spent the next five weeks at my mother's bedside. She finally passed on August 1.

It's been rough. I find the framework that has supported my life is suddenly gone and, like an infant, I am wavering and unable to stand or even sit.

I'll get over it. Day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute. In the meantime, as I struggle to overcome the deep loss, I want to take a few minutes to eulogize those who passed out of my life.

My grandmother - Ruth White Brown - was actually my blood-grandmother's first cousin. Some time after the death of my grandmother, my grandfather married Grandma Ruth. They were together for over 40 years. Grandmother was a very capable, intelligent business woman who loved to play fiddle and who was a grief counselor to the elderly. She outlived my grandfather by nearly 16 years.

My friend, Doris R. Griggs, was more a friend to the aunt who raised me, although we got along rather well. In recent years Doris became more and more incapacitated by arthritis and other ailments but she never lost hope that one day she would feel better and be able to walk without assistance once again. We chatted frequently by phone during these past several years. She always wanted me to come visit but I could only afford one trip a year and that trip was to visit my mother. I was saddened by Doris' death in May but when Mother died in August, my loss of Doris really hit hard. I would have happily visited her had she still been alive.

Uncle Ralph was a cheerful man who loved to tell stories and was quick to laugh. He was my 4-H instructor in numerous projects when I was a teenager. He taught me how to work with machinery in the field. He taught me how to care for cattle and horses. He taught me to love cowboy music and country living.

My step-father, Herman Paul Hermenau, was a brilliant, gentle, loving man. Fluent as he was in three languages (German, Portuguese and English), still one would never know he wasn't a native American. Completely loyal to his adopted country, Dad not only served in the U.S. Army in the 1930s but then enlisted in the Marine Corps shortly before the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 and served 4 1/2 years in the South Pacific where he earned a Purple Heart. (He also wore shrapnel in his chest till the day he died.) He told me, once, "I promised your mother I would never leave her." He passed away four days before their 37th wedding anniversary. Mother died 7 weeks later. Dad, you almost made it.

Mother, Harriet Margaret Brown Hermenau, was a teacher of all ages. She taught elementary school, Sunday School, Relief Society, and gave music lessons. A lover of diverse cultures and peoples, Mother took in the children of refugees, helping them to become acclimated to our culture, meanwhile instilling in them a love of their own as well. She also worked on a volunteer basis with their parents, assisting them in settling in to their new country. Of particular interest to her were her Hmong friends. She wrote down some of their native folk stories, hired a talented artist, then self-published the resulting books so that her beloved friends' culture would not be lost. During her last years Mother, an inveterate reader, frequently read three books a day. These she happily discussed with workers in the nursing home where she spent the final 4 years of her life.

For each of you, my loved ones, I offer my gratitude for the place you have had in my life. Thank you, Mother, for giving me life. Thank you, Dad, for the support you gave Mother and the love you gave our family. Thank you, Grandmother, for your place of stability in our family circle. Thank you, Uncle Ralph, for all the skills you taught me. Thank you, Doris, for the gift of your time and the gift of money that enabled me to begin visiting my mother in the first place. I appreciate you all.

agents and agencies and editors, oh my!

2010-05-06T21:16:00.001-06:00

Just spent several hours researching agents and agencies and contests listed on Hope Clark's

TOTAL FundsforWriters - May 2, 2010. I think my head is spinning but it was a good opportunity to read about different agencies and their staff. It was also interesting that Hope included a couple contests for flash fiction.

I'd never heard about Flash Fiction before I read Simon Larter's blog this week and, since I wanted to enter his contest, I decided this was an opportunity to learn. Carolina Valdez Miller wrote a blog (carol-in-print.blogspot.com) in which she quoted a couple of Simon's flash fiction stories. I read them and thought, Heck, I can do that. And so I did. Don't know if I could do it again but...I did it once.

Flash fiction, for those of you who, like me, haven't heard of it, is a complete story written in 1,000 words or less. It has to have a beginning, a middle and an end, just like any other piece of fiction. I read one tonight that was complete in three sentences, each two words long. I don't know who wrote it and I'm not certain of the wording but the gist was, "For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn." What a poignant story!

I'd love to be able to do something like that. My story that I wrote for Simon's contest was under 500 words so it didn't have a lot of extra wordage but I'll bet if I looked at it a month from now I could pare it down much further. I wonder....

a new contest by Simon

2010-05-04T02:05:00.002-06:00

Now that Steena and Stina's contest is over, here's a new one for my writer friends. It's a challenge. And it's fun. Try the poetry and by all means get into the flash fiction mode. It's a whole new learning experience. Find Simon Larter's contest at:

http://constantrevisions.blogspot.com/2010/04/most-epic-contest-in-history-of.html

And, Simon, if I knew how to put a button advertising your contest at the side of my blog, I'd do it. But I don't so I'm afraid I'm out two points. Dang! Oh well. I tried. :)

A contest! A contest! My kingdom for a contest!

2010-05-03T18:16:00.002-06:00

Here it is, the absolute 11th hour, but I just ran across a contest all my writer friends will want to enter. The prizes are like the bunch of grapes hanging out of reach of Aesop's fox ...Something to salivate over and wish, ardently, to possess.

Contest rules are to be found on: http://steenaholmes.blogspot.com/2010/04/steena-stinas-omg-contest.html

If you love chocolate.... And free edits.... and fun....this is the place for you.

2010-04-27T09:49:00.003-06:00

Don't you love the way I post every day? How about every week? Every month? Well, all right, so it's been more like once a year. My bad.

Actually I have an excuse. I've been having issues with Blogger. It has spent many moons trying to convince me I don't have a blog, have never had a blog, and need to set up a new account. Excuse me? I already have two blog accounts and can't even keep up with one. Why would I want to set up another one? Sorry folks, Masochism is not my middle name...or my first one, either.

That said, I want to say how pleased I was at the LDSStorymakers writing conference this past weekend to earn first place in the first chapter/historical novel contest with my biographical I, NEPHI... based on the life of early Jackson Hole homesteader, Nephi Moulton.

Yeah, I know. Y'all saw me running around with a goofy grin on my face, so you probably have an inkling what it meant. I really think, though, that if an old lady like me can learn to write well enough to win first place with a novel written in first person from a young male pov, any one of you can do the same.

It wasn't just that I won...but last year, after I finished the book, I sent a query and five pages to Nathan Bransford, literary agent with Curtis Brown, Ltd. Nathan promptly asked for the first 30. (Hey, when that guy says he tries to keep on top of things, he isn't kidding. He read my five and replied within two hours!) He didn't feel he was a good fit and so, ultimately, turned my book down but I felt it was an honor that he even requested additional pages.

Was I surprised that he turned it down? No. My book is too secular for the LDS market and too LDS-oriented for the national market. Nephi was, after all, the youngest son of a polygamist's first wife. He left Utah and left the LDS church (returning to the religion of his youth only as an old man) but he still carried his polygamous background with him. The book centers on his efforts to resolve the issues that shaped his life. So, while Nathan didn't feel he, personally, was a good fit for my book, I felt that the fact he even wanted to read more than the first five pages was almost as exciting as winning the first chapter contest at Storymakers.

Anyhow, they both show me the efficacy of Winston Churchill's famous words, Never give up. Never, never give up.

2010-01-06T16:59:00.003-07:00

Someone commented on my last post but it didn't come through correctly. If the person who posted it wishes, please feel free to try again.

That said, I want to say I'm really stoked about something and want to share with you.

In his "Daily Kick in the Pants" email yesterday, New York Times best selling fantasy author, Dave Farland, included some rules for writers that another gentleman had written. Mr. Farland invited his world-wide audience to add to the list.

I didn't have any rules to add but I did have several with which I disagreed. I chose one, wrote an essay explaining my differences in opinion and sent it off. Today Mr. Farland included my entire essay in his daily email. I cannot begin to express how pleased I am. Knowing that he has, for years, been a judge of writing contests, I feel like I was just awarded the Pulitzer prize.

I'm posting my essay below with Mr. Farland's introduction at the beginning.

This next one is from Karen Mittan. It’s long, but it’s worth reading every word, because it’s an excellent analogy. She says,

“I really like Mr. Miller’s analogy in his number eight rule for writing: Don’t be a draught horse. Work with pleasure only. It’s evocative. But I totally disagree with his syllogism.

To begin with, he seems to assume that draught – or draft – horses are all work and no play or pleasure. Having grown up with draft horses, I’d beg to differ. True, their work is generally tedious and repetitious. Our horses pulled farm machinery and sleighs in weather that no animal could enjoy…hot in summer and minus forty-five F. in winter. They did it daily and faithfully. But to assume there was no fun involved indicates, to me, that Mr. Miller maaaybe didn’t know his draft horses very well.

I’ve known horses that were clowns. (We had one who repeatedly performed a routine he discovered we’d laugh at.) I’ve known horses that weren’t above getting their own back at each other or at their owners. (We had one horse who was smart enough to figure out that chewing on my long hair would freak me. If it happened today, I’d have a word with the horse. But I was ten at the time and he got the reaction he was looking for. Knowing animals as I do now, I think that old boy had a lot of fun at my expense that day. He probably chuckled about it for hours.) I’ve also known horses that were the epitome of faithfulness, trustworthiness and loyalty while in the harness but full of play with each other once they were turned out to pasture.

And then, too, if one wants to compare what writers do to what an animal does, isn’t the ‘draught’ horse the perfect comparison? Draft one, draft two—draft twenty? Much of the work of writing is as tedious as the day-to-day work of a draft horse. Constructing scenes can be joyful. I frequently have a lot of fun with them. But ohmygoodness! those sequels are the pits. Making prose flow, bridging the gap between scenes, is very difficult and excessively tiring. At least it is for me.

In my experience, constructing a story that has thought, continuity and flow is not particularly pleasurable. It’s tedium ad nauseum. Like the draft horse’s routine work, in order to finish a story, an author must do the same thing over and over and over: apply the seat to the chair, the fingers to the keyboard and the brain to the project at hand.

It’s repetitious, too. While the draft horse may pull the plow in a new field tomorrow, he’s still pulling the plow in the same general pattern his owner determined for him today. So, too, the writer may be working on a new story but it has to have the same basic elements, the same general plot structure, the same carefully constructed language. And he’s not working for himself, either. His reader is his owner. Like the draft horse, if he doesn’t work hard to please the ‘owner’, he may not have too much food on his table next winter.

I think there’s a reason why draft horses were/are frequently called ‘plugs’. According to Webster’s finest, the word has a double meaning when applied to draft animals: ‘a worn out animal’ and ‘to work hard and steadily’. I think both definitions frequently fit writers just as well. We do become worn out with the seemingly endless drafting and rewriting of our prose/poetry projects. However, we also must work hard and steadily if we're to accomplish the task at hand.

So I identify with the ‘draught’ horses. I think we have a lot in common. Do I work hard and steadily? I try to. Do I always enjoy what I’m doing? Frequently not. It is, after all, work. Do I gain pleasure as I write? Sometimes. When the prose is flowing easily, when the humor bubbles up, when an acute phrase pops into into my head, then my work is a pleasure. Most of the time, however, I just plug away, knowing that, if I’m careful and consistent, the pleasure will come at the end of the day when I’m turned out to grass and I can read what I’ve written and call it good.”

2009-12-26T22:17:00.006-07:00

It's been a long, loooong time since I blogged. Last year I was too busy. This past summer I was too busy. This fall I've been too busy. Besides, if you don't have anything to say, why try to say anything?

Well, anyhow....

Steve and Jenn started their own business in January. They're doing pothole repair using infrared technology. It works very well and they've exceeded their projected income by nearly 300% for this year.

Larry was married to Cassie Stone on March 6. They moved to Spokane, Washington, later in the spring. Larry's working for a car rental agency and Cass takes care of Spence and Amanda's little girl. Spence works for AT&T and Amanda teaches message therapy at DeVry University.

Richie graduated magna cum laude in psychology from the University of Utah in May. After a trip to Europe with his wife and six weeks of intensive training in Phoenix, he moved to New Orleans where he is now teaching special ed and Lori is studying art at the university there.

Sue and Kevin moved to an apartment of their own in June. Kevin is our son, Steve's , foreman.

Mike and Tracy moved to New Orleans this fall. Mike is in construction and Tracy is auditor for a parking lot facility.

Chris' wife and daughter were terribly injured by a drunk driver a year ago. Pam is back to work and Keri is in school although she had to undergo corrective surgery this fall. Chris, who quit his job to take care of his wife and daughter, has found work again...a blessing all around.

We found a doctor who would remove Lili's tonsils this fall and she's healthier, now, than she's been in years. She will be going into Job Corps in January where she plans to get duo certifications in welding and as a CNA.

We took in a foster daughter this past October - Genie - a girl who has been Lili's best friend for years. She, also, is going to Job Corps - which is why she came to us. Her family had moved to Arizona but she wanted to go to Job Corps with Lili and needed a Utah residence. We've enjoyed having her here and Lili's ecstatic to have a 'little sister' finally.

Jenn, Amanda and Sue are all expecting babies in the spring. Our quiver is being filled with arrows.

Rick is still employed at a printing facility and I finished the book I was writing about the homesteading of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Don't plan to market it at this time. I'm hard at work on another book which I will market once I'm finished.

I think non-writers often have a naive view of what it takes to be a good writer. Telling a cohesive story is only a small part of the writing process. Steve made the comment to me that I just needed to relax and let myself go because my writing flowed so beautifully. Yeah, right. He hasn't a clue how difficult it is to make it flow. It's definitely not something that just happens.

For a writer, there is so much more than syntax and spelling to writing a cohesive story. There's extensive research that goes into the current Work In Progress. Even if it's sci-fi or fantasy, it still must be believable and believability takes meticulous research.

One must also be able to determine what will enhance the story and what needs to be trimmed like fat off a pork roast. Leave a lot of sludge on and you have a story that clogs the brain just as pork fat clogs the arteries. Sooner or later the reader becomes so overloaded with superfluous stuff he/she gives up in despair. That's as bad for a writer's future income as pork fat is to his health.

Knowing what and how much to trim is an art that must be developed, however. And rigorously applied. I'm afraid, after the holidays, I'll need to trim about 20,000 words off my current WIP. I think I'd rather be hung, drawn and quartered but it must be done. This book is too vacuous in its present form.

Then, too, there's always that horrendous bane of writers, called writer's block, which must be dealt with on a regular basis. One can see ones story unfold in ones mind but putting it down on paper is a whole 'nother ball game. I find the transitions to be incredibly difficult. Creating the scenes is easy. It's travelling smoothly from one scene to the next that taxes my mental processes to the hilt.

So when writer's block hits, I pace the floor, wearing my carpet to the threadbare stage. Upon occasion I even give about ten minutes of serious thought to finding a job in an office somewhere. But, since Corporate America and I aren't a very compatible duo, it isn't long before I'm forced to take a sanity pill (chocolate covered, of course) and get back to work.

Writing, regardless of the struggle entailed, is definitely the better choice for me.

normal fall at the mittan house

2008-10-31T19:27:00.002-06:00

What is it they say about ‘famous last words’?
And in my last blog I said something about it being quiet around my house, didn't I?
I wish!
Oh well.
I wouldn't change what's been happening but it sure ain’t quiet in our neighborhood anymore! And I’m not working for corporate America anymore. And our house isn’t kid-less anymore.

I think we’ve done an about face.

I quit my job the day Susie and Kevin asked if they might live in our basement for a few weeks until they got back on their feet. Kevin’s job was ending but the winter job he’s done previously was to plow snow for the state of Idaho. And who knows when Idaho is going to need him?

Sue was sick again – bronchitis, this time – so Lili and I went up and had her all packed and ready to be loaded by the time Kevin brought his camper home from the job site in Wyoming. We put in storage what was staying there, loaded Kevin’s truck, my truck and Sue’s car...and hit the road.

Now they and their three kids, ages 9, 5 and 3, are living in my unfinished basement. We threw up a quick wall at the bottom of the stairs and are busy getting ready to insulate and sheetrock the resulting room. If they stay long enough I just might get my basement totally finished some day. Wouldn't that be a switch?

Meanwhile, the two older kids are in school and I’m doing the ‘grandma-is-my-babysitter’ thing. Sue is working as a photographer for Sears, and Direct TV wants Kevin so I’ll be in charge of kids this winter.

Oh well. I’m grateful for the money I earned in the six weeks I worked but there are other things that are more important in life than money. I can always go back to work later on.

As for other news, tonight is the night for hauntings and witches and ghouls. You know the drill. Oooooooooo and all that.

There have been a few interestingly-dressed little creatures show up at my house but other than that, it’s pretty quiet around here. Larry and his younger cousin, Michael, are playing video games in Larry’s room but Lili is at a party and Sue and Kevin and kids are up in the Avenues trick-or-treating with Richie and his wife. Then the kids get to have a sleepover with their uncle and aunt while Sue and Kev get a night to themselves. It’ll be good for everyone concerned.

And Rick, being at work, gets to miss it all.
Poor Grandpa.

So here I am in a very quiet house. Hmmm.
I think I’ll go find a good book.

Happy Halloween y'all.

too tired to write a lot but here's some news...

2008-09-29T21:46:00.002-06:00

I recently took a job. . .the first full-time job I've had in years and the first corporate job ever. ...And it's really kicking me.
This old girl is 60 - that's the big six-oh, guys - and I'm supposed to be learning not one, not two, but at least four dos computer programs. I always knew there was a reason I stuck with windows! I think my brain is turning to jelly.
HOWEVER --- I am persevering and I am conquering.
It's been 28 years ago this fall since the last time I took a class where I had exams. And I can't say I'm jumping for joy with the grades I've gotten so far (91.5 on the first exam and 91.0 on the second) but it could be a lot worse. Some of the hotshot computer geeks in the class got far lower scores than I did so I guess I can't complain too much. Still, it's shredding my pride because the last time I went to school (with four little kids to take care of and a business to run in another state) I pulled a 4.0 gpa. So I AM complaining just a little bit.
But it's coming. It's starting to make sense. I'm starting to see a pattern. And I got assigned a different mentor, today(at my request), and so that's going much better. Overall, I am rather pleased.
My job is with the Marriott Vacation Club call center. I'll be answering questions, booking vacations and posting points and flyer miles. I figured it was something an old lady ought to be able to handle. Didn't know what I was getting myself into, actually, but I think I can handle it. I want to. We need the income right now and it's time for me to go to work full time. Besides, it's the first time in 38 years that I didn't have kids I was responsible for. D'yu know how nice that is????? :)
Lili's been pulling overtime at the video store lately. They've changed hands and there's a lot to be done. And guess who is the only one on the staff who isn't afraid to climb a ladder and take down signs or change light bulbs?
I guess she comes by it naturally. I've spent every spare minute I've had for the past six weeks up on a ladder scraping, sanding and painting my house. I should be finished within about a week - I hope. If the weather will just hold. I'm really trying to get it finished this fall. I'm lucky we've had such good weather most of the time.
In the meantime, Chris, in New York, has been doing something he's wanted to do for years. I'm including his Utube video of his experience. Check it out.
Ok, most of you know that I have always wanted to do this...

Now I have, and here is the video to prove it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARbPunmI3tQ
He also has joined a group of motorcyclists called Patriot Guard who, when requested to do so, ride as a group to escort fallen servicemen from the airplane bringing their bodies home to the grave site where they form a ring around the gravesite to keep hecklers away.
How sad it is that some people in our country are so insensitive as to create a fuss in the presence of mourning family!
I'm proud of my son for joining the Patriot Riders. I'm proud of his patriotism and his respect for those who have given their lives for the cause of freedom.
Well, folks, I've been on the go for nearly 18 hours. I think I'm gonna pack it is.
My thanks to those of you who have responded to my blog. It's nice to have you drop in.
Oh, and by the way, it appears that what was wrong with my daughter in Idaho was dehydration. Too much soda pop and too little water. She seems to be doing much better now. Thank y'all for your concern and best wishes for her.

the twists and turns of life

2008-08-26T16:18:00.001-06:00

Life sure is full of twists and turns.I was busy pressure washing my house the other day, doing the final prep work before hauling out the paint cans and my brushes, when I decided I was done for the day. The rest could wait. I was soaking wet, covered with various-sized moles of the paint that was peeling off my siding in huge chunks, and freezing cold due to a brisk Utah wind. Good time to call a halt and go warm up in a steaming hot shower, right?On the way through the kitchen I noticed my older daughter had called from Idaho. So I grabbed the phone and returned her call while I hunted for something warm and dry to wear.She answered in tears.She was at her doctor's office, grounded from driving because she's been having blackout spells followed by intense headaches. Would I come be her chauffeur and moral support while she got this problem sorted out? I left home about forty-five minutes later. And I'm still in Idaho - not having the faintest idea when I'll be free to go back home.In the meantime she's seen a neurologist and had an MRI. We're waiting for the results from that before the next test - a spinal tap.It appears that this might be one of two things. Either she's building up an excess of cerebral/spinal fluid and it's affecting her optic nerves (these 'blackouts' only affect her vision, not her hearing or ability to talk, walk, etc.) or there is the possibility of MS.The MRI should indicate if MS might be present. If it shows spots on her brain, the fluid collected from the spinal tap will be sent to a lab for further testing and confirmation of MS.The spinal tap, by itself, will indicate if her cerebral/spinal fluid is not being drained and absorbed as it's supposed to be.And in the meantime I'm her wheels.I'll probably go home once she's recovered from the spinal tap. Her friends and church members can help her get to where she needs to go after that. But I had to be here while the testing was being done. She needs me and I need to know what's happening to my daughter.So the house will wait. It may get painted this fall and, then again, it may not. Oh well.My garden will wait. I called Steve and told him to go raid my corn patch because I know full well Rick, Larry and Lili won't get around to canning or freezing it and they can't eat it all. (Oh, yes, Lili came back home a couple weeks ago.)And my life, while spiraling in unexpected circles, seems pretty much on hold, too.Seems pretty normal to me.

from Chris, in New York

2008-08-26T15:18:00.005-06:00

Chris just sent this to us. He's working for a company that builds grain silos. We'd been after him for photos and he finally got tired of being bugged.
This is so interesting to me. Corn, used as actual fuel to heat homes, is the hottest new item, it seems. The bottom photo shows a complete system from wet-corn storage, through the drier, to the dry corn storage.
Now, here's Chris' letter and photos. Remember that a left click of your mouse makes the photos large sized.

...so here it is. Some of these pics are extra big on purpose so you can see all the detail as well as possible.

This first pic is one of the biggest bins we build. It's 48 feet in diameter, and when we finished it, it was about 48 feet to the peak of the roof. In this pic, we have only 12 jacks set up around the silly thing. Each of these regular jacks is 10 feet 6 inches tall. We attach them to the bottom of that first ring, which is fairly light guage, and raise the whole building up 33 inches so we can attach the next ring, one sheet at a time. You can see the next set of sheets set up inside, where they are all stacked up and ready to set up as we go. We can only raise the thing up two rings at a time, then we have to reattach the jacks and start over again. As we attach each ring, we have 24 bolts in each seam between the sheets, and another 10 between each sheet and the one above, making 34 bolts per sheet. 16 sheets per ring, 13 rings... (34x16)x13=7072 structural bolts just in the wall of this thing, and we have to put bolts in the holes from the jack anchors every time we lower the anchors, plus the bolts that go into the roof, the door, and the ladder, so call it somewhere in the vicinity of 10,000 bolts in this thing, and I personally stuffed half or a little more of them. I don't even want to think about how many times I walked all the way around this stupid bin!!

Here you can see the stairwell we are building around the silly thing. Bins this big don't get ladders, like the smaller ones do, and I'll show the smaller bin later. This was at 9 rings. We had to add 4 jacks to the mix at this point, as the bin was getting HEAVY.

16 jacks, 2 of them taller so we didn't have to lower them around the doorway we built into the wall between the taller 2. The doorway makes the wall weaker and we didn't want to attach the jacks at the bottom of the opening as it pulls the wall out at the weak point, making attaching the bottom ring just about impossible. 3 rings to go...

Finished at last! 13 rings, each one 33 inches tall, makes the top of the wall 35 feet 9 inches tall, and the peak of the roof is another 13 to 15 feet beyond that, I'm not sure exactly how much. The bottom ring was just 1/32 of an inch less than 1/4 of an inch thick, so you can imagine that the whole thing was incredibly heavy by the time we finished. Each sheet on the final ring weighed around 240 pounds. We installed the door, which shores up the weakness in the wall where the opening was, making the whole thing rock solid again. These bins are set on a concrete base, which was 72 cubic yards for this particular beast. Check the next picture to see how the floor is installed, and for more info on how much corn goes in this thing.

These floors consist of panels that are anywhere from about 9 feet long at the shortest to around 27 feet 7 inches long at the longest. We snap them together on top of the supports you see, which are placed under the leading edge in staggered formation, on and between the lines painted on the floor as guides. When we finished this floor, it was all set to hold the 1500 TONS of corn the farmer plans to put in it this fall. Do the math... that's 3 MILLION pounds of corn!!!

Final picture for now. This is a complete system, including wet hopper for corn fresh from the field (center, smaller bin), grain dryer (on the left), and the storage bin. Follow the auger system we built from the bottom of the wet hopper to the top of the dryer, then from the bottom of the dryer to the top of the dry storage bin. This is a smaller dry storage bin at 30 feet in diameter, and only 12 rings tall. Notice the ladder system instead of the stairs like the bigger one got. From the time we start setting up to pour the concrete bases, to the time we hang the augers and finish everything up takes around 3 weeks. Our next project is another monster bin like all the above pics, but it's out in Massachusetts somewhere. We will leave in the morning to go out and set up for and pour the concrete base for it. We should be building on it next week.

summer happenin's

2008-08-07T17:37:00.003-06:00

ok. ok. it's been two months since i blogged last. i'm a disgrace to the writing community. but i have excuses. does that count?

first excuse is my garden. lili helped rick and me build the trellis before she moved to washington to help spence and manny with their new baby.

(Reminder - left click on each photo enlarges it so you can see details if you're interested.)

The garden's doing very well - especially considering the fact a huge hail storm tore through here a couple-three weeks ago and leveled my neighbors' corn patches but all of my garden was spared. I thank God every day.

Next project was the pondAll the plantings along the right side and front were done this spring and summer. They don't look like much yet but they're coming along. I also added the pond plants - and some fish.

I put in one 5-inch brown koi/goldfish cross, three 3-inch gold fish and two little 2-inch bristlenosed plecostomus.

Although they don't hold still long enough for me to be sure, I'd say the koi is nearly 10 inches long, the gold fish are between six and seven and there are at least 4 little brown fishes that are about 4 inches long. I doubt I've seen the plecos since they were put in there. Don't know if they even still exist, since I caught a water snake in my pond the day after we added the plecos and I haven't seen any signs of the algae being eaten on the sides of the pond. Where did these little brown guys come from? I haven't a clue. My guess is that the koi is responsible. Anyway, the gold fish get bored and chase them, occasionally. It's entertaining to watch.

I've looked at pictures of different types of koi and I think this one is part Asagi. It has the whitish head but the rest of its body is more a mottled brown than blue and it has absolutely no other color except for a silver streak down its back.

It's a very shy fish and the silver streak is generally the only way I can tell where it's hiding. I was just reading about koi and about training them to feed from your hand. THAT would be interesting to try. But I'll probably never have the time.

There've been three real highlights this summer - two happening the same week.

First, Mike and Tracy dropped in and spent a day with us. I invited Rich and Lori over for supper (Steve and Jen couldn't make it) and my three boys got together for some competition on the trampoline. It was fun to watch them - and so relaxing as we ate supper out on the patio that evening. Mike and Tracy have moved to Texas, now, and are running a little neighborhood cafe.

The second highlight was Rick's and my vacation. We flew to Spokane to get acquainted with our newest grandbaby, Sage. She was born June 1 and since Lili is playing nanny, we were able to visit her, too. I caught Rick and the girls sleeping one day. Sagie is a very fair-skinned baby, delicate and fine-boned. And generally very happy.Part of that, I suspect, is because her aunt, Lili, spends most of every day cuddling Missy Sage.

I'll post more photos of our vacation at another date.

The third highlight of our summer was last Saturday. We met with Steve's family to witness the baptism of Steve's oldest boy, Tyler. Just after the baptism, his youngest son, Isaac, was blessed. Isaac is only 6 weeks older than Sage but look at the difference in size, build and coloring!

Sagie is blue-eyed, fair and petite; Isaac is dark complected, dark-eyed and a CHUNK! I babysat him the night before we left on vacation and couldn't get over the difference between his solid heft and her dainty airiness. It'll be fun to see those two kids together when they get a little older.

I took photos of Steve with his entire family and Tyler, alone, after everything was over. Here you go.

During the baptismal service, Jordan sang a duet with her father, Steve. She has a lovely alto voice and sings very well for a 9-year-old. And isn't Tyler handsome in his first suit? (You can't tell I'm a proud grandma, can you?) Steve and Jen have done very well with parenting their little family. I know it hasn't been easy with Steve's work schedule but my hat goes off to them for the efforts they make and the successes they've seen with their kids.

Well, that's about enough for now. I have company coming , a house to clean, and more scraping and sanding to do on the eaves of the house so I can paint before bad weather hits this fall - so I'd better get busy.

Chat with you later,

Ciao.

2008-06-08T10:13:00.010-06:00

Hey everyone. I got to visit mom and dad twice this last week. I thought I would share the pictures I took of Isaac, Steve and Jennifer's new baby. I think he is super cute, and one of his pictures looks just like Dad Jim at that age. Don't be mad, Steve, it is only my opinion.

Enjoy!

mah baby's done graduated

2008-06-06T22:31:00.005-06:00

A major chapter of my life has closed. Since my baby graduated from high school yesterday, for the first time in thirty-three years I no longer have a child enrolled in either primary or secondary school.
No more frantic school shopping, trying to find the perfect clothes or shoes that fit or needed school supplies.
No more filling out medical forms, signing permit slips, or chaperoning field trips.
No more twice-daily trips to either a bus stop or a school building.
No more late nights trying to help a beloved child write a paper (that should have been written weeks ago) without actually doing it myself.
No more listening to kids whine when they’ve asked me to critique a paper and then don’t like my critique.
No more facing off with gym teachers who refuse to follow doctor’s written orders for my asthmatic child.
No more having a teacher physically or verbally abuse my child (mind, I haven’t a problem with a swat on the seat of the britches occasionally, and I don’t mind a teacher getting my kid’s attention with sharp words when necessary, but to literally drag my kid down the hall when the teacher wasn’t paying attention to her class in the first place, or to scream at my kindergartener for thinking he was supposed to be with me when I was visiting another teacher, is past what I consider appropriate).
Hey, and you know what?
Never again is a principal going to refuse to allow my kids to make up their work when I’ve kept them home on a stormy winter’s day...a winter’s day when the winds were clocked at 100 mph out by our house and one of the school buses was literally blown off the road.
And you know what else?
NO MORE PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES!!!
Ohmygoodness!!! I think I’ve died and gone to heaven!
Anyhow, here are the pictures I took of my daughter on her big day.

1- loading up at home 2- with Dad at the E Center just before graduation

3- walking to the future 4- stepping out

5- happy day 7- the graduate

7- at a family dinner with steve's family 8- richie, too

9- and with Larry, his special friend,Cassie, and another friend, Nate

It's A Beautiful Day

2008-02-10T14:56:00.000-07:00

It's such a lovely day today! Beautiful sunshine. Lovely blue skies. Days like this make a person glad to be alive.

I took a picture out back just to illustrate. We have such a beautiful view of the mountains from our patio - if you look through the Pacific Power poles.

Hmmm. I hear they're putting in fiber optics one of these first years. Then these poles will come down and I certainly won't cry. In the meantime I think I'm gonna plant trumpet vines at the base of each one. Doesn't that sound like a plan? It won't help much in the wintertime, though. Too bad.

On the home front, Lili finished off her last night in the play Monday evening. She actually did two shows Monday - one right after school (for the school faculty) and the other one Monday night for the general public. Rick, Steve, Jennifer and I went as guests Monday night.

Lili was glad when it was all over and so was I.

This is the first time I have been involved in any of Lili's school activities since I drew ballerinas in basic positions for a demonstration she did when she was in about second or third grade. I've always been so tied up with things Larry needed that there hasn't been a lot of time for Lili. I've never been convinced she really wanted my involvement, anyway.

This time I decided I was going to get involved because she'll soon be gone from home and I wanted her to have at least one memory of her mother doing something with and for her at school.

I'm glad I made that decision. I don't know if she really wanted me there or if she didn't, but I found out this is the last play the seniors will be in so if I'd waited, I wouldn't have had the chance. And who knows? Maybe some day she'll actually appreciate the fact I made the effort.

So there you go. Once in a while I might manage to get something right. ...Not too often but once in a while.

Apart from that, I have my book all printed out and ready to take to the publisher later this week - with the exception of the photo pages. I printed the book on my own printer but I'm taking the photo pages to be professionally done. My printer does NOT do well with photographs.

I would have had the photos printed out already but I was waiting for one that I didn't have. It came yesterday and I cropped what I wanted from it and added it to my photo section this morning.

Tell you what...don't ever let anyone try to tell you that writing a book is easy. I fight with Microsoft Word nearly every day - why in the world do publishers insist on using Word? Word Perfect is so much more user friendly!

I've searched for information and rechecked what I've received just to make sure it's correct.

I've written and re-written and re-written some more.

I've stood, for hours, before my printer hand-feeding paper through it because at the moment I can't afford the $50 it would cost me to have this printed off at Kinko's. (I'm making myself a promise that when I make my first million [yeah, I know - in my dreams] I'm gonna buy myself a fancy printer so I don't ever have to do this again.)

And I've re-read and edited all 300 pages until I'm absolutely sick of it.

It's time to quit. If it isn't good enough to go to a publisher now, I don't think it's ever gonna be.

So I'm hoping to take it to the publisher of my choice this coming week. I'm planning to attend a writer's conference in Provo, Utah and the publisher I've decided on is just 5 miles away. And I don't have to have an agent in order to submit to them. So...wish me well. I'm sure I'll need all the good wishes you can send.

In the meantime, I interviewed for a job this past week. I highly doubt I'll get it - they said they'd probably be hiring from in-house - but the interview went well and I think both sides were happy with it.

If I get the job, I'll be doing mortgages with the same company where Richie works. That would be nice. Good money and a good working environment. Probably an interesting job, too.

But if I don't get it, I won't cry. I have another book I want to write, anyhow.

So we'll see. I really don't know where my life is heading right now. I want to write. I want to make money as a writer.

And some people do.

Some don't.

I can't afford to spend the time I've spent on this first novel and only come out with a few thousand dollars as an advance. I've invested too much time and money into the research and writing.

I haven't minded this time. I had a lot to learn. But I'm not willing to invest equal amounts in another book without earning a good hourly rate. For this book, although I haven't kept track of the hours I've spent on it, I figure it's several thousand and at that rate I'd probably need an advance of at least fifty grand just to break $7.00/hour.

Maybe I haven't spent a full 7,150 hours on this book but it's been close. Many's the day I've spent between 12 and 18 hours working on it. And I first started it eleven years ago. True, I haven't worked on it all this time. I got it about halfway done and let it slide for several years while other things took precedence. . .such as running the ranch I was writing about. But, still, i've spent a lot of time and energy working on it.

And so we'll see if it was a worthwhile investment of my time or if it wasn't. Readers tell me the book is interesting. The question is whether a publisher will think it's going to sell. THAT is the $64,000,000 question now.
You can bet if it sells I'll be telling everyone on this blog! :)

Till Death Do Us Part

2008-02-01T23:17:00.000-07:00

Murder and mayhem are rampant at Lili's school these days. Opposing Mafia families gun each other down one night while pirates rampage across the high seas the next. . .in the form of very popular dinner-theater plays.
Tonight I took photos of Lili's play - "Till Death Do Us Part" wherein the daughter of one mob family weds the son of an opposing family. Lili is mother of the bride while a good friend of hers, Brooke, is mother of the groom.
Murder is committed and the audience (as guests at the wedding reception) gets to try to figure out 'who dun it'.
Cast members for the pirate play were waiters tonight. Lili's group will wait tables tomorrow.

I mentioned, in my last blog, that Lili had chosen a dress I wasn't thrilled about. Fortunately her drama teacher shared my opinion. She and I took Lili and the other 'mother' shopping and the end result was superb. The girls got identical dresses and did a lot of ad-libbing about it that kept the audience in stitches.

This has been difficult for Lili. She's been fighting a kidney infection for the past 9 days--has missed several days of school. But she hasn't missed the play. She didn't have an understudy and hers was a vital role. I'm sure she'll be happy when the whole thing is over Monday night but it's been a great experience for her. Her teacher is very good and all the kids have done a superb job.

And now..... here are photos I thought you would enjoy. Is it right or left click you do to enlarge them? Who knows?

My very tired, half-sick daughter before leaving for the play tonight.

Lili (Amelia Bordoni) and 'daughter Nina' (the bride) getting ready in the dressing room.

Lili in the middle of hair and makeup session.

We're a little farther along, now.

The two 'mothers' before Brooke put her 'Rosa' wig on.

'Rosa' (left) and 'Amelia' (right).

The 'wedding line'. Rosa Cabrini (Brooke) is on the right, Amelia Bardoni (Lili) in the middle.

As each of the kids was introduced at the end, he or she was supposed to do something - his or her choice. Lili, as Amelia, chose to pretend to throttle Rosa.

So...there you have 'Till Death Do We Part". Tomorrow night I'll be photographing the pirate play. I understand it's just as fun. - And I have no intentions of telling you who 'dun' what for either one. Sorry. If you want to know, ask Amelia. She knows. But I signed a blood oath that I wouldn't tell. If I do, my oldest son becomes slave to the drama teacher. :)

good news, pics, and more...

2008-01-08T18:14:00.000-07:00

Good news! Buzzy's little boy, Brandon, is now off his anti-seizure meds and his latest eeg was clean. He may start seizing again at some future date but for the moment, he's doing well. That is wonderful news to all of us.

photos - today we got copies of the photos taken of lili for her drama class. I love the black and white they blew up and sent home with her but the color pics aren't bad either. I'll enclude a couple-three of them here. Let's get a vote going...which do you think is best?

Although I like them all, I think I'd vote for either three or four. Four is better on her eyes but three is more Lili...more of her fun personality coming through.

I went down to the school, today, to work on costumes for the upcoming dinner-theater the kids are doing. After watching them rehearse, I'm looking forward to going to the production. Lili's group is doing a Clue-type who-dun-it about two opposing mafia groups where the son of one and daughter of the other get married. Lili's the mother of the bride.

Lili was chosen for her character because she already does an Italian accent fairly well. - She and Larry do different accents between each other all the time...limey, southern, aussie, italian or whatever. It's a lot of fun to listen to them.

A bridal shop from across town had some dresses they wanted to get rid of and donated them to the school drama dept. so I took Lili and four of the other girls from the play down so they could choose costumes for the production. That was interesting. Those kids had more fun trying on formal dresses.

Now I'm making alterations. I'm gonna have to do some major reconstruction on Lili's costume because it's excessively revealing. She actually brought two dresses home - planning to probably use the other one but the teacher didn't like the color. I don't like the fact this one is jersey and it's tighter than her own skin but I guess I'll just do the best I can do and we'll go with whatever I can come up with. And I have absolutely no intention of taking her father to the production. He'd have a fit, no matter what I do to the costume.

He got all uptight when he found out one of the girls was supposed to dress as a slut. If he were to see his daughter's dress he'd be all sorts of upset.

And speaking of Rick, we got the results back on his colonoscopy today. The polyp they removed was benign. That was good news. He became really ill about ten days ago. Chills. Fever of 102.6. I was about frantic. But he was over it in one day and his chest xray was clear so there you go. Blessings to be counted.

I've finished my seasonal job but next week I'll be starting a permanent job as office manager for a new multi-level company that's going in downtown. This should be interesting, to say the least. Challenging, too.

And I'll only get to see Rick on weekends since he works swing and I won't be home before he leaves for work. Ah well. One does what one has to do. The job pays really well, I can pretty much set my own hours - at least at first - and, for the most part, I'll be my own boss. What more could I ask? At my age I'm just grateful to have a job. - We'll see how this goes.

Also, in my news, I've done enough rewrites on my book that I'm about sick to death of it. But I think it's just about ready to be sent off. I've sent it out to a couple of readers and I'm waiting to hear back on their opinions - and I've gotta say I hope they don't suggest a bunch of changes because if they do it's probably going to be another six months before I even want to look at the thing. It's to the point where I think I've about memorized it.

Oh well. It's well written - I know that already. Even the parts that needed the most rewrites were interesting enough my readers have wanted to read more. Since this last self-editing go-round it's much tighter. I think I've pretty well conquered the problems that plagued me before. So ... I'm hopeful that it's about finished, now, and ready for production.

And on that note - I think I'd better go finish supper and then hem the costume I brought home tonight. Be sure and send your votes on Lili's pics, please.

thanks and ciao

October at Eden

2007-10-28T20:33:00.000-06:00

A week ago I attended a writing conference in Eden, Utah. It was different from the writing conference I attended last March; different format, different atmosphere, different setting. Still, it was very educational and informative.
While March’s conference stressed the craft of writing, this conference was focused almost totally on the business side of writing. I learned a great deal from the conference last spring - information that I tried to incorporate into my book to make it more interesting, more correct, and with better prose. But I was ready, by the time the Eden Conference rolled around, for the business aspects of my chosen profession. Does ‘chosen profession’ sound odd to those of you who have known me in other roles? –As a mother, a teacher, a genealogist, a gardener, a caregiver, a conservator/guardian, a landlord, or any of the other myriad hats I’ve worn throughout the years?
I’ll admit, I’ve done many things in my life. But underlying everything else has been the dream I’ve had since I was a child-to be a writer. However, as the Preacher said, To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven, so it is with me. My season of child bearing is long since over. With six of my eight children married, the seventh in his twenties and the eighth a senior in high school, my days of child rearing are nearly at an end, also. Since those two seasons are practically past, there is a lot more time to devote to what I’ve wanted to do for many, many years.
It’s not that I haven’t done anything in the writing field during those years. I sold the only story I ever submitted for publication. I won first place with another in a Chicagoland writing contest. I’ve written poetry occasionally, but it’s been very sporadic - more for my own entertainment than anything else although I’ll have to plead guilty to occasionally writing satirical poetry when I’ve been really disgusted about something. I’ve written road shows, songs (music and lyrics), an Easter anthem (again, music and lyrics) and letters. Myriads of letters. Long letters. Detailed letters. Letters that delighted some and sent others to their computers begging me to not send such long letters. (Sorry Charlie - I send form letters. . .as in one generic letter tailored to you after I write it. . .and if you want me to write something different just for you, s.o.l. Don’t have time.)
Attitude? Yes, I definitely have one. Busy woman? Yes, again definitely. Have time to meet the demands of persnickety readers? Not recently. End of discussion.
And so it goes. These past two months have been devoted, almost exclusively, to finishing and polishing my book. Writing is not easy. In fact, it’s just plain hard work. Work that has nothing to do with physical labor. Work that is almost entirely mental. Work that is, nevertheless, very exhausting at times. Frequently I feel completely wrung out, drained both physically and mentally.
I want to thank Chris and Sue and Nancy for their help and support. Last spring Sue sent one chapter back with the comment, "Mother, this sounds like a history text. You need to rewrite it." Her comment sent me on a lovely vacation with Dad where I personally visited the places I had written about, videoing and taking copious notes about the terrain. I don’t believe that chapter sounds like a history text any longer. :)
Chris is now reading--and re- reading for me. He has pointed out portions where my descriptions sound like a woman’s writing. Since my book is written in first person from a male point of view, comments from Chris are very welcomed. Yes, I can see that he is totally correct. I so wanted to share the experience that I tended to get a tad flowery. Gotta watch that. I also rely on Chris for critical critiquing. He’s a very intelligent - and critical - reader with whom I’ve had many enjoyable discussions on various writer’s skills and techniques.
Nancy has been a steady support. Her familiarity with the ranch I wrote about as well as the general area involved has made her enjoyment of my work a thing of encouragement to me. Any writer feels discouraged at times. Nancy, Chris and Sue telling me my book is a good read, an interesting story, has helped so much.
Now that the rewrites are almost over, it’s time to draft a query letter and start searching for an agent. Am I excited? Not even! It’s so much easier to write a good story than it is to write a query letter or a synopsis. I know how to write stories. I know how to write clear, easily understood prose that paints such a picture that the reader feels he’s there. But this query business. . . . . . . how in the world do you condense the essence of a book into one paragraph? OHMIGOSH! Tomorrow is gonna be a loooooooooooooooong, looooooooooooooooong day.
Before I close this blog, however, I do want to include a few photos. Pictures are worth a thousand words, right? So I post photos and don’t have to write so much. . . . Or something like that.
These are a couple of photos I snapped on the way home from Eden. Eden is a little valley high up in the Wasatch mountains northeast of Ogden. It's a ski resort in the winter. Heaven only knows what those folks do in the summer. But the town boasts a good writer's group - some of them very talented, from my point of view.
The lodge where we stayed was rustic. The counter in my bath was about five inches thick - cut from a log with the bark still attached. Highly polished and very beautiful. The roof in the foyer is held up by a tree trunk that's a good three feet through and some twenty feet high - all the branches cut off within 3 or 4 inches of the trunk. And it was beautiful. Expensive? Not too bad. My room was $89 for two queen sized beds.
Anyhow, I enjoyed myself, learned a lot, and snapped these photos of the canyon on my way back to Ogden. (Remember, double left click and they're monitor sized.)Note the storm rolling in. I hit snow on I-15 and I mean SNOW! Very thick, very wet, and accompanied by a STRONG wind. First snow storm of the season. I can't wait for winter! (Actually, I can't wait for spring. Forget winter. I've had my one snowstorm for the season. Now I'm ready for tulips and daffodils. Anybody got any suggestions of how I'm going to indulge that fantasy?)

New pictures...

2007-10-20T01:55:00.001-06:00

Well, I did it again! Make sure and check out my new family pictures I had done yesterday. I LOVE them! I must say, I am very impressed with my little family. Not only did we get 15 different poses done, we got them done in less than 20 minutes!!! YAY!!! Hope you all like them. Here is the link...
http://www.myspace.com/bigmommasontheloose
Once you are on my MySpace, right underneath my picture, you can view my "pics". The album name is OurFamily 2007.
Enjoy and love to all,
Buzzy

I am done!!!

2007-10-16T21:56:00.000-06:00

I am done!
I am done!
Dancing-jig time has begun!
Cause my tail can finally shed
this hard computer chair of mine.

I am done!
I am done!
I can finally have some fun.
No more typing till my fingers hurt
and pains shoot up my spine.

I am done!
I am done!
Relaxation time has come.
I will soak in hot, sweet-scented oils forever!

I'll put up my feet
Do something indiscreet
'Cause I'm done! I am done! I am done!

Did I say indiscreet? Well, maybe not indiscreet but I'm sure ready to take a few days off.
What's the celebration all about? I, Karen Mittan, have finally finished my book. I never thought I'd see the day!

So many times I've wanted to scrap the whole thing! So many times it seemed beyond me. How do you accurately portray the life of another real human being? How do you express, in clear, interesting prose, what that person was all about--especially as complex a person as my grandfather was? Have I truly accomplished what I wanted to accomplish? I honestly don't know. All I can say is that I've tried. And tonight I was finally able to write THE END.

Yes, now - 388 double-spaced pages and 118,836 words later, I AM DONE!

Tomorrow and the next day I collect the photos I want to include. Friday and Saturday I attend the writers' conference that I've used as the time by which I had to have this project completed. Sunday I entertain out of state guests. And Monday I'll start of the final re-writes.
I've already done a lot of re-writing. In fact, the first re-write is finished on everything but this past week's writing.
But I have a check list of things I need to go over now.

CAUSE AND EFFECT. I think I've done pretty well with that. I believe I understand the concept fairly well.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION - Got it. I think I'm pretty clear there. Only one thing I can think of that I still have to put in.
ARTISTIC UNITY - this is one I'm not sure about. this is where you get rid of the fluff. I've tried to keep my writing focused but I'll have to go over it one more time to make sure.
'WHAT IF' PRINCIPLE - I don't think this one applies so well to most of my book because it, although fiction, is biographical - based heavily on fact. Many of the incidents are fact. I don't want to get into a lot of "what would have happened if this had been the circumstance instead of that?". I'm not trying to change his life- just to portray it.
FOCUS - I think I'm pretty good here.
UNDERSTANDABLE - Ditto. Don't think it's far-fetched. I've done enough research it better be correct!
READER MUST - notice, understand, feel -- going to have to have some readers get back with me on that one. I know what I felt as I wrote it but how does a reader feel? Time will tell.
SCENE - I need to identify each scene, what it tells the reader and how it makes the reader feel. that's gonna take a day or two!
REWARDS - some of this is excellent. Some of it - ??? Necessary background but, oh boy. I'm not so sure.
PIVOTAL MOMENTS - I think I have those down pretty well.

Did you ever realize how much there was to writing a novel? Am I ever learning a lot! Maybe by the time I croak I'll have gotten it down.

Now I need to write my proposal and try to find an agent. With any luck I'll be able to pick one up at the conference. We'll see. But that's why I've worked so hard to finish. I didn't want to try to find an agent until I knew I was actually intelligent enough to put it all together because this past month's writing concerned the pivotal point of his life. It dealt with the events and issues that changed his thinking and, ultimately, the direction of his life.
It's one thing to write about changes in an imaginary person. Sometimes they WON'T do what you'd planned - it just won't work out - but for the most part you, the writer, can make them do pretty much what you want. When you're dealing with a real person, however, and you're trying to be at least relatively true to him or her, you have to be a lot more careful and thoughtful. I've sweated blood and tears over whether I was being true to him. I think I am. I can only hope.

Umpteen hour days at the computer are enough to make a REAL old woman out of me! I've put in more hours a day on this project, since the funeral, than I ever dreamed anyone could con me into doing. But it's done. Finis. THE END.

I'm almost finished

2007-10-14T17:47:00.000-06:00

I'm almost done! I'm almost done!

Actually, I can write Queen's English when I choose. The proper term would, I suppose, be 'I am almost finished.' But I've been writing colloquial English to the point . . . . Oh, heck. Why try to hide it. I don't speak Queen's English so why try to pretend I'm writing anything other than how I normally speak?

So what's the big to-do about? By this time tomorrow (Good Lord willin' an' the creeks don't rise) I will have finished the book I started 10 years ago last March. I'd actually hoped to 'git 'er done' yesterday but that didn't happen. And even though I will have finished the basic book tomorrow, that doesn't mean the rewrites are all finished. Most of it is about as good as I know how to make it but I haven't taken the time to do a thorough edit on what I've written this past week.

Many folks say you should write like there's no tomorrow and complete the whole thing BEFORE you start rewrites. My brain doesn't work that way. I write a little bit...then I look at what I've written...and go back and made a change or two...and the next thing I know the story has taken a completely different turn. Generally a much more interesting one than what I'd planned in the first place. Creation can be so fun at times.

Of course, there are those days when I look at the mass of words on my computer screen and think, "What an absolute disaster! Whoever would want to read this mess?" Nothing is coming together. Nothing is working.

Then it's time to either do some serious editing or go plant flowers and weed the garden.

Is that why it's taken me ten years to write this book? No. I actually wrote about half of it in one month. Then I was called to become conservator for the very ranch I was writing about and never even looked at my writing, again, until a couple years ago. In the meantime I learned so much that I really needed to know in order to understand what I was writing about that I'm very glad for the experience AND the time lapse. OHMIGOSH, is that a lousy sentence or what?

Anyhow, I'm grateful for the writing class I was able to take two years ago. And I'm grateful for the LDS Writers' Conference I attended last spring. I learned so much about how editors in today's world expect novel composition to be. I've had to do a lot of HEAVY rewrites but my story line is much stronger and I'm glad.

So what is my book about? It's a coming-of-age biographical novel concerning a shy, rather INsensitive young man, Nephi Moulton, who homesteaded in Jackson Hole, Wyoming in 1905. Besides his normal ranching persuits, Nephi rubbed shoulders with a self-proclaimed murderer, was unwitting host to a notorious, greatly feared poacher, and took a mad ride, horseback, over the mountains to find a doctor to save his brother's life. My book covers the first fifteen years of his experiences after he left home.

I knew him well; he raised me. He was my legal guardian from the time I was two until I was eighteen. I lived in his home. I worked on his ranch. And I adored him.

When he died, shortly after my eighteenth birthday, I set a goal to write his story - but marriage and eight kids shoved that to a back burner. Now it's almost finished. I've done extensive research, not only concerning his family but also concerning early day living in Jackson Hole. . . . And I've had so much fun doing research that sometimes it's been difficult to make myself get busy writing instead of reading.

But when I enrolled in the Eden Writers' Conference scheduled for Oct. 19 & 20, I determined I would have my book finished before I went. And it will be. I've put in far more eighteen hour days on this thing than I even want to think about. But tomorrow should do it. Then I can get busy looking for the photos I want to include.

And now, now that I'm nearly finished, I'm all excited about the next book I want to write. It will be about a relative of mine who was a gold miner in California in the 1850s. While the book I'm writing now is about a very moral teetotaler, my gold miner didn't exactly fit that mold. He left at least one illigitimate child that I know about. He was heavily into the liquor business and I've suspected he may have run a cat house in Point Arena, California, as well. I figure by the time my husband and I have finished researching this gentleman we'll probably have learned a lot! Could be quite interesting, don't you think?

In the meantime I'm scouting for an agent who specializes in historical/biographical fiction. Anyone got any suggestions?

Ok, 'nuff said. It's time to post some photos--that being my blogging stock in trade.
Let's see. Who's done what lately?

Spence called, recently, with some wonderful news. It seems I'm going to be a grandmother again. :) I love being a grandma. I get to spoil the kids and when they're tired and cranky I can send them home. But you know, the best part of being a grandma is that I don't have to feel totally responsible for their upbringing. It's so much more fun than being a mother ever was.

I caught this snap of Spence with one of Steve's kids at the family reunion. Doesn't he look like he'd make a wonderful daddy?

Other news on the Mittan front is that Rich and Lori come home tonight.
I'll pick them up from the airport at about midnight. They've been in Sao Paulo, Brazil for the past nine days...visiting Richie's friends down there. They called me from the airport in Atlanta, Ga. to let me know when they'd be in and what airline - and both said it was a wonderful trip. Lori loved Brazil and, of course, Richie enjoyed showing her where all he'd been the two years he spent there.
This photo, also taken at the reunion, is of Rich and Lori with Sue's little girl, Emily.

That's about all of the news. I'll include an excerpt from my novel and y'all tell me what you think of it. This episode is a little long for a blog but it was fun to write. It is fiction in that it isn't something we know he did. But his sense of humor and love of a prank was such I wouldn't have put it past him to have done it. His reticence at discussing personal issues, however, would have kept him from sharing an incident like this. So I borrowed something my daughter-in-law's grandmother pulled. As I said, it was fun to write.

EXCERPT FROM THE HOMESTEADER

As I attended meetings, I found a voice I hadn’t known I had. I truly was concerned about the local school situation, although not for the reasons everyone thought. They thought I was being very altruistic: a bachelor speaking for the safety of their children. No-one guessed I was there because I wanted a safe school environment for the children I intended to have one day. Had anyone even suggested it everyone else would have scoffed. Nephi Moulton was a died-in-the-wool bachelor and that was something the entire county could count on never changing. So I was free to further my own purposes without interference.
School meetings actually served a double function. I was being involved in preparations for my future children's scholastic success, yes, but I was also observing women. Single women. Unlike bachelors, single women frequently came to meetings like these with their married friends or relatives. It was a social outlet. And one that gave me the opportunity to watch them without anyone knowing. If one spoke up, I paid rapt attention without anyone suspecting I had anything on my mind other than the issues we were trying to resolve.
Single women also helped furnish refreshments which didn’t hurt my feelings, either. I learned to be casual as I asked who had made the delicious . . . .
The frosting on the school meeting cake came in the form of the opportunity to visit with T.A. once in a while. T.A., married to Lucille Blanchard from Driggs for the past several years, now had two little children so he was as interested in the school system as I was. We campaigned, together, for reforms we thought were necessary and I took our ideas to my home community to discuss with my neighbors who hadn't attended the meetings.
School issues weren’t the only thing T.A. and I discussed, though. I remember one meeting, in particular. It was being held in the small church building on Mormon Row, close to T.A.’s home, and I was a little late arriving. Fortunately T.A. was sitting at the back so I slipped into a seat beside him.
“Did you hear the news?” he whispered to me as soon as I was settled. “Wally got married last week. He and his bride are coming home tomorrow.”
That was real news to me. I hadn’t known Wally was even looking.
“Who did he marry?” I asked.
“A girl he met out in Idaho when he was visiting Mother and Dad,” T.A. said. “Her name’s Elizabeth Chandler.” He corrected himself. "Or was."
“Well, tell him I said ‘Congratulations’,” I said, and we turned our attention back to the meeting. At least T.A. did. I found my mind wandering.

So Wally had finally gotten married. That was interesting news—pregnant with all sorts of possibilities. I wondered what John thought about Wally being an old married man. I decided I needed to pay him a visit on the way home. This was one school meeting that was going to last far too long.
Then it occurred to me that visiting John after the meeting would present a problem. He lived about a half-mile past T.A.’s home. Marriage had settled T.A. to the point I doubted he’d approve of John and me decorating Wally’s cabin—which was precisely what I had in mind—and, since I would have to travel with him if I was to visit John after the meeting . . . .
Suddenly I turned to T.A. “I’m going to have to excuse myself,” I said. “I don’t think I’m feeling too well. I need to go home.” T.A.’s face registered instant concern.
“Are you coming down with a cold or flu?” he asked.
“No, I think it was something I ate at dinner,” I said. “I have to go!” I stood up as inconspicuously as I could and slipped out of the room. School concerns could do without me for one night.

John’s little cabin was dark and quiet when I arrived. That was disappointing. We would have had so much fun decorating something at Wally’s house but if John was asleep, already, I knew he had to be tired. I decided not to bother him.
The only problem was, I didn’t have anything with me that I could use for decorating. Hmmm.
But John did . . . and if I used something of John’s, Wally would recognize it and blame his brother. . . . This held promise. I decided to search John’s barn.
I hadn’t been there often enough to know my way around in the dark but I knew he kept a candle and some matches on the frame above the door. . . . I found them, then made sure the door was shut before I lit the candle. I didn’t want John to wake up, see a strange light coming from his open barn door, and come investigating.
As I looked around I saw the usual—saddle, bridle, horse blanket. A large bin that held oats. And mice. I stepped out into the middle of the barn and held the candle high.

Light glinted from metal above my head. Bells. Hanging from the joists of the loft. Horse bells. Cow bells. Even some smaller bells that he probably used for sheep or something. And John’s brand was engraved on each one. I wondered what I could do with them.
I didn’t want to hang them on Wally’s porch. I’d already done that to Joe Deyo so it would be a dead give-away that I was the one involved. What else could I do with them?
As I considered the possibilities, I looked for something to carry them in and something to hang them with. John’s large ball of twine that he used to sew his grain sacks shut would work for the hanging part. . . . And a grain sack, for carrying.

It wasn’t long before I was on my way.

Wally’s house was cold and dark, of course, but I knew where he kept his candles, too, and his house was far enough away from John’s and T.A.’s homes that I wasn’t worried about them seeing a light in the window. I lit a candle and looked around.
I considered just hanging John’s bells from the rafters but that was too tame.
It would have been nice if I could have run a cord from each to the door so they would all ring when he carried his Elizabeth over the threshold, but the door opened in, not out, so that wouldn’t work, either. What to do?
Then I saw the perfect spot. Half an hour later I blew out the candle, closed Wally’s door, and was on my way home.
I understand John caught all sorts of hell for tying his cow bells to the springs under Wally’s bed.

A reunion and a ball

2007-10-05T21:32:00.000-06:00

What is that quote from the poet, Bobby Burns? something about 'the best laid plans of mice and men often gang awry? Ok. So I butchered it. At least you get the idea.

I planned to write on my blog frequently, once school started. But it didn't happen. That was BF - Before the Funeral. Actually, my last blog was probably BD - Before the Death. I really don't remember.
Who died? My ex.
Now, normally a woman doesn't get all involved in an ex's funeral unless she's either A) dancing on his grave or B) still involved in some sort of relationship with him.

For me, neither really fits. I had no need to dance on Jimmy's grave. I held no ill feelings towards him. In fact, he was at my house two or three weeks before he passed away and we chatted for a while. He was going in for surgery and I told him I'd visit him while he was in the hospital.

Then I made a flying trip to California just in time to be with my mother as she had a heart attack (probably the shock of seeing me brought it on, don't you think?) and didn't get back until he was ready to be released. Less than five days later he was dead.

Because all of his children were coming home for the funeral - with their wives and little ones - Rick's and my oldest son and wife made the trip down, too. We did a military burial for Jimmy. Then everyone came to my house for an impromptu family reunion. I kept all the grandkids for the next two days while Jimmy's and my kids sorted through his belongings. And by then I was so exhausted I still haven't caught up. Hence no more blogging

The funeral and reunion were good, though. The weather was lovely. The park was empty so we could spill into it through my back gate and nobody needed to feel crowded. Rick, Richie and Larry each took the day off work; Lili sluffed school. And we got family photos - the first I've ever gotten with all my kids because Chris left for Illinois two months after Lili was born 17 years ago and never, since, have all of my kids been in one place at the same time. How I've envied my cousin her family portrait! Now I have one of my own.

So, who is who? Let's see. Back row, L to R: (Oh, and be sure to double left click to make the photo larger)
Lili, Larry, Chris, Me and Rick
Second row:
Tracy and Mike; Chris' wife, Pam; Rich and Lori; Spence and Amanda
Front groupings:
Suzie, Kevin and kids (Brandon, Sarah and Emily);Chris' daughter, Katie; Steve,Jenn and kids (Jordan, Tyler,Geoffey,Jacob and Ammon) All kids are listed in order of age, not placement. The only one missing was Chris' son, Keenan, who couldn't come.
Of this grouping, my children are Chris, Mike, Suzie, Steve, Spence, Rich, Larry and Lili. Chris was married nine days before his baby sister, Lili, was born. That's why it's been difficult getting all my family together. Chris lives near Syracuse, NY and Spence lives in Spokane, Wa. and everyone else is scattered somewhere between.

My family doesn't stay put very well. I think they all inherited their itchy feet from me. Lili spent time in Australia this summer and is planning a trip to Europe after she graduates from high school next year. Rich spent a couple of years in Brazil and just this week took his wife on a trip back to Sao Paulo. Chris and I have been to Canada a time or two and Spence, whose wife is Canadian, loves exploring the Canadian Rockies. He even lived up there for a while. ...And Rick has been to Mexico, Turkey and Germany. Steve goes to Mexico to get his dental work done and I'm hoping to scare up the money to do likewise. ...So we're rather a globe-trotting group. At least we're trying to be.

Now, for those of you who have been waiting for photos of Lili on Homecoming night. Ta Dum! Here you go. - Oh, before I post photos...you need to understand something. Lili is not allowed to go on single dates - it always has to be a double date or a group date. Josh has always been willing to be her 'chaperone' so this time she arranged a date for him with one of her friends. I did not get to see or photograph the girl so you'll only get to see the three muskateers, Cody (Lili's date), Lili and Josh.

First of all, Lili had to make sure Josh's hair was appropriately styled. (Looked more like he'd stuck his finger in a light socket but Lili assured me it was fashionable).

then I caught a snap of Lili and her date - Cody. Cody is the kid who snatched her from the street just before a bus would have run over her in Australia. They've been really close friends ever since.

I had to have a photo of the three of them together. Here are my three muskateers.

And, since Lili looked like a princess, she had to have a photo of her glass slipper.

Then they all left for the 'ball'. Lili's coach, for the night,was Cody's brand new Audi. Some folks have it tough, don't they?
For a report, the kids went out to eat first - Lili had duck and bacon-wrapped shrimp and loved them both. Then they danced the night away and Lili says she had a lot of fun. And this time Cinderella was home BEFORE midnight. Cody knows me well enough if I say be home at such-and-such a time he makes sure he obeys. :) I've trained him well (More like I've scared the poor kid to death but that's ok, too. It doesn't hurt him.)

So there you have it - a reunion and a ball. chat with you-all later.

I am hoping...

2007-09-02T15:34:00.000-06:00

So... With an impromptu family reunion coming up, I just wanted to tell you all how excited I am to finally have this opportunity. I am looking forward to seeing every one of you and spending, however brief it may be, more time than we have had together in at least 16 years.
I know I have been a mess this last week and I want to tell you all how sorry I am. I am trying to pull it together, but I had no idea this would be this hard. Thank you for your patience and for your support. I am doing my best and hope to be able to contribute some good things this next weekend.
Love to you all
Buzzy

summer's ended; school's beginning

2007-08-26T00:16:00.000-06:00

School starts tomorrow. That means autumn is nearly upon us. One thinks of shining apples, scarlet maple leaves and pompom chrysanthemums; football, plaid stadium blankets and perky cheerleaders; of autumn rains, the smell of burning leaves and children carrying book bags to and from school.

Summer, with its sizzling days, steamy nights, searing skies; summer with its children running through the sprinkler, water fights in the park, and nights on the trampoline under the stars; summer with its birthday parties, graduation parties and family reunions, will soon be only a memory. Where did it go?

Here, in images caught in the moment, is a summer of work, play and memories. ...Lili's summer and mine.

School was out June 2. Before Lili left for Australia on June 13, she and I worked with her brother, Steve, at his business -The Parking Lot Stripers (now known as Utah Sealcoat).

The parking lot as we were laying out the angles and lines

Keith painting the stripes - if you enlarge the photo (double left click) you'll see the yellow paint coming out at the front of his machine. Generally Steve did this job but when Keith was there, he did it and Steve helped us lay the chalk lines.
The weather was hot...in the 90s or 100s. That new asphalt was HOT and one day we had to lay chalk lines on brand new asphalt that had just been laid an hour or so before. (It comes out of the machine at 300F. ) That day was miserable! But we did the job and survived - somehow.

Then it was time for Lili to pack for her trip to Australia. Typical of Lili, the place was a disaster, she had things she needed to be doing, but she was engaged in her beauty routine and chatting on the phone. . . while Hobbs, determined he wasn't going to be left behind, attended his beauty routine, too.

Lili really enjoyed her stay in Australia. Unfortunately most of her photos didn't make it home but from the ones that did, I chose the following:

The Australian farm she visited. Of course she headed straight for the farm machinery.
And, as is typical of Lili, wherever she went, she found a furry friend.

She also found a friend when one of her fellow ambassadors noticed her forgetting that vehicles drive on the opposite side of the road and snatched her out of the street - just before a bus thundered by. She and Cody have since become very good friends. He's another regular, now, at our house.
When she came home it took three vehicles to transport everyone who wanted to meet her at the airport and once we were home, we threw a gala welcome home party.

Since then, we've worked - again with Steve's crew - which now does sealcoat as well as striping.
On this particular day I ran the blower to clean the parking lot of debris. Steve's new crew chief filled in the cracks with tar and Larry and Steve applied the seal coat with squeegies. Lili had a job interview but when she stopped by, afterwards, she drove the truck with the sealcoat tank until we broke for lunch.

Now Lili has a job with Hollywood Video, Larry is working as a busboy at The Training Table near the E Center where the Utah Grizzlies play hockey. Larry's girlfriend is staying in Lili's room until she gets into school and starts her new job with Qwest phone service (probably will be at our house through September) and Lili's friend, Josh, just graduated from Job Corps and will be moving into Larry's room on the 7th...to stay until he gets credit built up and can get an apartment of his own. It's a full house.

I spent nearly a week, recently, visiting my mother and step-dad in California. While I was there, Mother had a heart attack. She's still in the hospital but not because of her heart - it's her stomach, now. I'm concerned and want to talk to her doctor - maybe tomorrow I'll be able to connect with him.

Our final fling for the summer was this weekend. Friday night we celebrated Josh's graduation.
Saturday night Josh and Cody decided to surprise Lili when she got home from work. ...So, with my permission, they went into hers and Kari's room and.....a la Patch Adams.....proceeded to fill it with $50.00 of balloons.

Lili thought it was a scream - when she finally figured out why she was having trouble opening her bedroom door - and I bent my rules for a few minutes to let the kids play in there together (normally boys aren't allowed in the girls' room and vice versa).

So that's the story of our summer. Of course, there was a lot else that went on - Lili's birthday party, the pond and water fall we built, Ricks and my vacation, and...and...and - but that's all stuff for a later blog. With any luck, now that the summer vacation is ended, I'll be able to get back to my blogging - as well as one or two other things I want to do.
In the meantime, live long and prosper - as Spock always says.
ciao,
me

Chris and family take a trip to Canada

2007-07-27T15:46:00.000-06:00

On July 21, we went to Quebec (yes, the french speaking province, what a rush that was!) to see an attraction there called Parc Safari. We had a ton of fun, all day long, in a park that is a zoo in a most non-traditional sense. In this zoo, the animals run more or less free, and the people drive through in their personal vehicles. I guess I don't have much more to say about it, except to say that I have an online slideshow of some of the pictures we took. Check it out!

http://www.parcsafari.shutterfly.com/action/slideshow?a=67b0de21b35096aaa427&auto=1&idx=-1&m=1&d=1185574500199

If anyone has any difficulty with this link, please let mom know, and mom, please let me know asap so I can fix it?

Chris and Family

2007-06-23T05:55:00.000-06:00

Just thought I would add a quick post... I got to speak to Lili again on the phone the next day. She needed the recipe for syrup. The connection wasn't very good, but I at least got to say hello to her. I sure do miss her, and wish like everything I could be there with her. I am sure all of us wished that. She is currently signed in t the instant messenger, but I don't know if she will be checking it or not. I will certainly post anything she has to say. I know she is having the time of her life and wish her the best days to come. My love to everyone. Buzzy

IM from lili

2007-06-20T20:57:00.000-06:00

I got a phone call about ordering a school sweater for Lili, tonight. I didn't know she had expressed interest in buying one but I wasn't surprised. She was elected vice president of the drama club for next year.
Anyhow, I needed to talk to her about it and was starting an email when she started paging me on instant messenger. As nearly as I could tell, her messages were taking MAYBE 1/2 minute to arrive on my computer. Have we any idea just how wonderful the age in which we live truly is?
She had hopped online to see if anyone from the family was on the computer. She wanted a copy of my pancake recipe. She's with her host family, now, and they only have cereal for breakfast. She wanted to cook pancakes-a-la-mom for them. So I sent her my recipe and then I had to go to the store.
When I got back she had been back online waiting for me. When she found out I was home, she called. Sue and her kids, Nate (one of Lili's friends who happened to be here at the time) and I all got to chat with her a bit. Sue and I also spoke at length to her host mother. The family owns a farm and will be taking Lili out to it in an hour or so. Since Lili spent her early years on a ranch in Wyoming, she's very interested in seeing the equipment they use in Australia.
The host mom (Denise Muller) sounded very nice. She's a younger woman with several small boys. She said Lili was going to cook supper for them, too, if they could find the ingredients for what Lili wanted to cook. She made the comment, though, that she wasn't sure they had the same foods that we have here in America. I'm sure they probably don't.
At any rate, Lili is enjoying herself. She's taken a ton of photos but they're on someone else's computer and she doesn't know how to get them uploaded. I sent instructions for posting on the blog so we'll have to watch for something from her.

another letter from Lili in Australia

2007-06-17T20:39:00.001-06:00

After Lili's letter to Larry talking about learning to surf, I wrote her asking if she'd learned to hang ten. I sent the letter about 11am and had her reply when I checked my email six hours later. Isn't technology wonderful?! Twenty years ago it would have taken minimum a week or two to hear from her. A hundred years ago it would have been months. We are so fortunate to live in the day and age we do.

...Anyhow, as I started to say - she didn't have a clue what I was talking about when I asked if she'd learned to hang ten (surfer slang for having all ten toes off the board). ...At least that's what I've been told. I've never surfed. Don't want to. Went swimming in the ocean once and couldn't get out soon enough. I'm a LAND LUBBER for sure!!! :)

Oh, and before I paste her letter here, I want to comment on what she sent Larry. Her brother about went nuts when she left, he was so lonely for his little sister. They truly are best of friends - and that's a good thing. Also, I was so busy after she left I didn't get an email sent out telling all y'all to check out what I wrote about her leaving and listing her itinerary. Check it out if you want to know where she is and what she's doing day by day.

Anyhow, here's her letter to her Dad and me....

Hang ten? I think you kinda lost me. lol I miss you guys to. The first day I
went swimming at the Aquatic center then we went to the sydney opera house.
Then we went to dinner at this really cool place... The lighting and
everything was really pretty. Then  the next day we went to china town, and
annother place... I cant remember right now. Then we went to dinner at
another cool place... they are all really really nice resteraunts.. with
lost of hot waiters... :P lol then yester day we went sailing... I got to
steer the boat... and they all called me skipper.... lol it was great. I
never realized how easy it was... the captain asked me if I had ever been
sailing before. I told him no. But he said I looked like I had lots of
expreience... I was so happy it was fun I wish you could have been there.
Then we had the afternoon to go shopping... lol the whole afternoon. I got
airk his mug he wanted. and larry something, and mom something... and lolo.
I am still trying to find the perfet thing for dad... they have so many
amazing things here. But I don't want just anything for you guys... I want,
THE BEST!  tell buzzy I will get that shot glass she wanted me to get for
her friend.
I got some jewelry.. THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL! and mom your present.....is
GREEN.... with some GOLD. Just for you! :D I think about you guys all the
time... tell grandma and everyone... (leaders) I think about them and you
guys constantly... I did have jet lag for a while... but I have been waking
up early... I actually feel kinda good. Like yesterday I woke up at 4... but
thats okay because I was in bed at like 7... lol I really miss you guys. I
need to go eat breakfast... but  I am leaving today.. I will have to try to
find an internet caffe next time. Because we are leaving the hotel in like
an hour. We are going to head up to vision valley. and we have some of the
coolest people... like the bus driver... Malcolm. He is AWESOME! and the guy
who gets us everything. His name is john... They are awesome! Oh i remember
what we did before china town... we went surfing on the ocean! it was
great... and I think i got sea sick... lol but oh well it was fun. anyways I
love you and I miss you I will try to call later today for fathers day..
otay! I love you
lili

leelee writing from austrailia!

2007-06-17T17:52:00.000-06:00

hey larry,
sorry about that. I accidentally sent you a blank one. I miss you too linus... What ha/ ve you been doing while i'm gone. Thinking about me. :) I miss you.. everthing is AWESOME! Guess what guns N' roses is coming to sydney at the end of this month! I wish you were here. I would take you with me. Well... I cant go.. but if i could I would take you with me. Oh, i went surfing in the ocean yesterday. It was awesome... I miss you so much. I think about you all the time... YOu are my BREASTEST FWEND! :D lol i cant wait to see you again. I have to find a place to download picture... because i only have 20 min. on this one. and I cant download any of them yet... But some of them are so AMAZING!!! well I love you and I miss you ... w/b soon. I love hearing from you.. and yes... I will bring you back a leelee... :D

on telling your baby goodby

2007-06-13T15:10:00.000-06:00

A couple of days ago a friend of Lili's was visiting. This girl will graduate from highschool next spring with an associates degree from Utah State University...a degree that she has earned through online schooling. She's a hard worker and an excellent student.

While she was here, we were talking about her going to the University after she graduates and she casually mentioned her mother is going with her, rooming with her, the first six months. Excuse me???!!! I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I asked if her mother was leaving her little sister home, alone, with her brother and step-father and she said, "Oh, yes. Besides, my sister will be sixteen by then and my mom wants to finish her degree."

You know, I have a problem with that. We have one full fledged university right here in town, as well as numerous colleges and university extensions. If mom is so anxious to finish her degree, she can do it right here. And there is no way under the face of the sun I'd go room with my 18-year-old daughter when she goes off to college. Mothers and fathers need to let go and let grow.

Which leads me to telling my own baby goodby. I just walked away from her at the airport. I came home: she's flying to Australia for the rest of the month. Rick made the comment while we were waiting for her security check that there was one thing she'd forgotten to pack in her luggage - him. She said she'd love to take him. He said he'd love to go. I said, "Not me."

Lili looked a little surprised until I commented that I wasn't planning to move to college with her. Then she understood.

Being an occasionally-emotional mother I was all teary eyed as she checked her luggage and stood in line for security check but this is Lili's day. It's time for me, Mom, to step back and let her walk forward on her own. She can't become a mature, capable adult when there's still an umbilical cord attaching her to me.

Did I help her make sure she had everything packed? Of course. I held the list of required items and checked each one off as she put it in her suitcase. I looked over every shirt she packed and made sure there was no mending that needed done (I find even brand new shirts aren't always altogether). I ran her to WalMart a couple of times to pick up items she needed but didn't have. I took her to the dentist, the orthodontist and the doctor. I made suggestions concerning the gifts she took for the host family she'll be staying with - then let her choose and assemble what she wanted to give. I printed out several pages of family photos for her to take. I typed up and printed off copies of the lists we made of the individual items she packed in her suitcase and backpack. (One copy for me, one for her suitcase and one for her backpack.)

And then, when the time came, I walked away.

I was thinking, this morning before I woke her up, of all the things I could have and should have taught her before sending her out on her own. I took her shoe shopping a couple of days ago and after she'd tried on and decided upon the best walking shoes for the trip, she started towards the front of the store, leaving her purse behind. As she puts it, "Blond moment."

How could I have trained her so that she would pay more attention, be more careful? I guess I could have yelled at her a lot. But I don't like doing that. Will she leave things behind in Australia? Very possibly. But if it's something she values, she'll learn far more in losing it than she would have ever learned if I'd spent her life yelling at her whenever she didn't pay attention.

I tried to think of what I needed to tell her before she left. We had to make a flying trip to the orthodontist this morning because her permanent retainer had broken loose and needed to be re-cemented in place. It was a good opportunity to give her some last minute advice but, as I drove along, I couldn't think of anything to say.

Finally I asked her the questions one asks a kindergartener - who are you? what's your address? where do you live? phone number? and I added SS# as well because it's taken me several years to convince her that was a number she really needed to memorize. Then, about time she was becoming quite exasperated with me, I asked her who she was representing. She knows the drill - her family, her country, her God.

Then I talked to her about the family she represents. While I want her to represent my family well, she doesn't bear my maiden name so when people look at her they think of her father's family. They were fine people. She has a proud heritage from them and I want her to always think of how she represents their name.

I told her about her grandfather, a wonderful man whom I cherished. She has, of course, heard about him before but this time I think she really paid attention. This time I think it began to sink in. This time I hope I left her with a feeling of her place in the family and how her choices of actions reflect on the heritage that has been passed down to her.

Hopefully she will also begin to think of how her choices will reflect on the posterity she will one day have. I have never had much in the way of material possessions to pass down to her but I have been able to give her a good name...a heritage of people who were honest, hardworking citizens - people who tried to contribute in a positive manner to their communities. My hope for my youngest daughter is that as she leaves me behind she, too, will walk through life leaving a trail of positive memories in the hearts of those whose paths she crosses.

God bless you, my daughter...till we meet again. I love you.

Lili’s itinerary for her Australia trip

Leave Wed. June 13, 2007
Thurs. June 14 - lose a day crossing the International Date Line
Arrive Sydney, Australia
Swim at the Aquatic Centre - home of the 2000 Olympics’ swimming events
Fri. June 15 - Sydney, the largest city in Australia and the capital of New South Wales, is set on
the natural harbor of Port Jackson. A.M Go for the gold at the Aquatic Centre.
P.M. tour the ‘majestic Sydney Opera House complex. Dinner will be
overlooking the entertainment precinct of Darling Harbour.
Sat. June 16 - Learn surf life saving on the famous Manly Beach. (Surf life saving began in the
early 1900s and formally became an organization in 1907. It integrates sport and life
saving skills and is an integral part of the Australian seaside culture. Later explore
Sydney’s Chinatown.
Sunday, June 17 - Learn to sail in Sydney Harbour. Lunch at the Hard Rock Café amidst its
fascinating collection of music memorabilia. Group photo at Mrs. Macquarie’s Chair - a
stone bench Lady Elizabeth Macquarie, wife of a famous governor, used to sit on to rest
and admire the view while awaiting news from home via the tall ships entering the
harbor. This promontory boasts fabulous views of the Sydney Opera House and the
Harbour bridge. Later explore either Darling Harbour, the Pitt Street Mall or both.
Darling Harbour waterfront includes Sydney’s Chinese Gardens, complete with a
traditional Chinese teahouse. Close to the mall are Hyde Park, Macquarie Street and the
Art Gallery of New South Wales.
Monday, June 18 -Journey to rural Arcadia and Vision Valley. Participate in interactive and
challenging workshops that teach leadership skills, setting personal goals and stepping
outside your comfort zone. Either fly across a valley via a zip line or complete an
outdoor adventure course.
Tuesday, June 19 - Head to Canberra. Explore the Australian Institute of Sport - Australia’s
breeding ground of elite athletes. Next, explore the Australian War Memorial in
Canberra (it ranks among the world’s great national monuments).
Wed., June 20 - Visit the Australian Parliament House. Spend afternoon and evening with home
stay family and experience life as an Aussie.
Thurs. June 21 - spend day with home stay family - perhaps with the opportunity to attend an
Aussie school.
Fri. June 22 - travel to Victoria, Australia. Spend night at Sovereign Hill - Australia’s very own
recreated 1850s gold rush town.
Sat. June 23 - Can pan for gold if she choses. Travel on to Melbourne.
Sun. June 24 - Visit the Yarra River, Southbank and the Arts Centre. Explore the Old Melbourne
Gaol. (Is it truly haunted by previous inmates?) Continue on to the Moonlit Sanctuary for
an introduction to Australia’s nocturnal fauna. Finally, travel to Phillip Island to see the
mystical Penguin Parade at sunset. (The little animals are the smallest of the 17 species of
penguins in the world - only 13" tall - and can sleep at sea, dozing as they float on the
surface. Every night the penguins waddle from the sea to their burrows in the spinifex
grass.
Mon. June 25 - Explore a rain forest, see Phar Lap (Australia’s most famous horse), touch a
dinosaur bone or live a lifetime in no time at all at Melbourne’s award-winning museum.
Learn about Australia’s national gemstone, the opal, during a cutting and polishing
demonstration at an opal establishment. Discover why sports mad Melbourne people
love “Aussie Rules” football and cricket so much at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
(Then maybe she can come home and explain the game because it’s played in the park
next to our home every Saturday and we haven’t a clue!)
Tues. June 26 - Fly to Cairns. Enjoy music and dance productions at the Australian Museum.
Learn about Aboriginal culture. Experience boomerang and spear throwing
demonstrations. Explore the Wet Tropics Rainforest by land and water in a WWII
amphibious vehicle called an Army Duck. Close encounter with Australia’s unique fauna,
such as koalas, kangaroos, crocodiles and wombats in a wildlife sanctuary. Learn
Australian folk songs and learn how to bush dance.
Wed. June 27 -Snorkel in the waters of the Great Barrier Reef
Thurs. June 28 - Take a scenic gondola ride to Kuranda, a mountainous Australian village
surrounded by spectacular rainforest and tropical vegetation. Visit Mungalli Falls - the
only freehold World Heritage listed waterfall in Australia.
Fri. June 29 - Enjoy a variety of outdoor activities including “land sliding”, the adventure of
sliding down a hill on a toboggan. Dinner will be a BBQ followed by a bush dance.
Sat. June 30 - Journey back to Cairns via the scenic Atherton tablelands.
Sun. July 1 - Return to the United States

on writing poetry

2007-06-06T00:32:00.000-06:00

Last year, when I was an active member of the Utah Poets' Society, I used to go to the monthly meetings and shake my head at what was being passed off as poetry. To me, poetry should be the language of the soul. What seems to be popular these days appears more like mental exercises and thinly-veiled attempts to be cute.
I don't write poetry all that often but when I do, it's usually done to express something I feel deeply about. (And, yes, I know that isn't correct English. Oh well.) One of the members of our society kept urging me to write in one of the distinct poetic styles...preferably a sonnet. She thought that would be a good exercise for me. So I did. The following is the sonnet I wrote:

ON WRITING POETRY

Should I, a fledgling poet, try my hand
at writing sonnets, odes or villanelles -
word pictures left like wayward waves on sand
to tease and tantalize cerebral cells?

Perhaps a terza rima or a glose
would be a better style for my rhyme.
I start out well - but am not even close
To making my feet fit required time.

My fellow poets say I should not use
such archaic words - or phrases trite and true.
They seem to think free verse the only muse
and favor rambling form to clerihew.

I try them all but don’t know which is worse.
Perhaps I need to cling to doggerel verse.

And, as for my doggerel verse, the following is something I wrote years ago although it still fits today...

I'LL GARDEN ONE MORE YEAR

"I swear I'll never plant again!"
I struggle up the hill,
My aching back and muddy knees
And fingers, stiff with chill.

"A garden is a thing of joy
To some - but not to me!"
I mutter as I dig the spuds,
"Next year I will be free!"

But then the catalogs appear,
To cheer the winter days,
All filled with flowers and shrubs and trees -
'Perhaps I'll mend my ways.

I just must try that hybred pea.
The corn looks sooo divine.
Ah, well. I'll garden one more year
While I'm still in my prime.'

And so the summer finds me out
With spade and rake and hoe,
A-plantin' seeds, then groaning loud,
"Why won't this *@!?! (danged) stuff grow?!"

Another poem I wrote nearly twenty years ago is one that I've always been fond of simply because it so fits my opinion of Wyoming winters.

WYOMING WINTER

Wyoming winter stretches on
Through evening grey and muted dawn --
A fierce, forbidding winterscape
Of ice and snow and wind, to shape
A bleak and barren emptiness
That shrouds the spirit with finesse.
Each dreary day of somber hue
Demands depression as its due,
Extracting energy and cheer
Until the spirit is as drear
And lifeless as the blowing snows
That sift and drift in endless rows.

But when all life seems at its ebb,
Forever tangled in a web
Of desolation, dark and drear,
A chick-a-dee pipes up, "Spring's here!"
And, suddenly, the crushing jaw
Of winter's endless, gaping maw
Is closed. And joyous in its stead,
A glorious springtime rears its head.
The dawn, so muted yesterday,
Bursts gaily on the world to say,
In colors, vibrant, 'cross the sky,
"Arise and live again! Spring's nigh!"

And just for the sake of sharing - I'll include my son, Chris', favorite of my poems. Although it isn't the style of poetry I normally prefer to write - it practically wrote itself one night. ...Just for background - we had gone to our neighbor's house to pick Chris up or drop him off (don't remember which). There was a bright, full moon and as we drove past one of our neighbor's hay stacks, there was a huge stag on top of it - silhouetted against the moon. He looked forever like the Hartford stag. One impression led to another thought - you know how that goes - and when we got home I wrote the following poem.

DOWN COUNTRY LANES

A quick staccato beat of drums
Echoing
Down country lanes,
Long since silent
Of tramping feet.

Springtime.
And vibrant youth
With hopes held high
Of war soon won,
Say,
"Goodby, Sarah,
Mother.
I'll soon return.
You'll not know that I
Was even gone."
Militia men
For Concord bound.

Their women wait
While straining ears hear,
Silently,
A quick staccato beat of drums
Echoing.

To me this poem speaks, not just about the beginning of the Revolutionary War, but also the dichotomy of any war. Youth, in its inexperience, marches off thinking it is invincible. War will soon be won. Women, on the other hand, wait at home, worrying, praying, straining to hear, not just the silent echoes of leave-taking but the solid sounds of safe homecoming.

God bless and keep our troops and return them home again, safely, to those who wait.

WAY TO GO, CHIRS!

2007-05-20T19:41:00.000-06:00

WAY TO GO, CHRIS! Great blog. Thank you for sharing the insight as well as the fantastic photos. This is the sort of thing I like to see on the blog.

Don't want to seem like I'm trying to steal thunder - but I've been taking photos of my own flower patches for a couple-three weeks. I want to share them because I'm so inordinately proud of my flowers.
Before I go on, I want you-all to know that the flower bed on the east side of my front door was the only flower bed here when I first moved in and it was all overgrown with irises that hadn't been watered and hadn't flowered for who knows how long. In the back of the house there was a peace rose that desperately needed pruning (it was growing in under the siding), a clump of overgrown red tulips in desperate need of thinning, a dianthus and a pink creeping phlox. The east side of the house had nothing but dirt and weeds. There are still a lot of weeds but there's a lot of grass, too. Now for the photos.

My house from across the street. The original flower bed is the one to the left of the door as you're looking at it. The little tree on the left winter killed this past winter. It was an apricot we put in. I want to replace it with an Italian prune plum.
We dug out the grass on the west of the door and planted a lot of flowers last year. I've added a couple-three perennials this year. It's coming along very nicely.

We also dug out grass to make the iris bed on the east. You can't tell I love irises. I only wish I'd gotten a photo when the bed was in full bloom. It literally glowed!

This photo shows our two little apple trees we planted last year - as well as my iris bed and two rhubarb plants on the east of the house. If you looked on Google Earth it would show my home with absolutely nothing green back there. :) I'm very pleased with how well it's coming along - weeds or no weeds.
Now for the individual colors of iris in my garden. Oh, and by the way, Chris - I thought what I sent to you was all yellow iris but I've discovered there are some other absolutely lovely colors of iris out in my yellow bed so who knows what you ended up with. Check these out.
The black and orange irises on the left were absolutely stunning when they were in their prime. They were on their way out when I took this photo. The little irises were from Auntie's back yard in Jackson. The yellow, if you'll left click on it, is actually bi-colored. Very attractive.

So, Chris, you may have ended up with some of these maroon ones...or some of the purple and white...

or maybe a peach or white...

About the only thing you can count on not receiving would be a poppy

or one of the wildflowers from my red-white-and-blue corner (red celosia, white wild cranesbill (geranium) and who knows what the blue is - it came with the aspen tree we transplanted from the mountains. It's pretty though.

I have a few tips on turning a barren, dried-out area into a lush flower bed...water, water, and more water. Plenty of commercial fertilizer for the grass, and for the flowers, fruit trees and rhubarb, manure tea.
What's manure tea? Recipe: One 55-gallon galvanized garbage can. Add a couple shovel fulls of manure (I use goat simply because it's handy and free - there's a goat dairy about 5 miles from here and I cart it in by the pickup load for my veggie garden). Fill garbage can with water and let steep for a couple of weeks before using. When water is all gone, refill and use immediately since the manure will already be softened. One can use this over and over. Don't know how commercially packaged steer manure would work- I always use the pure, unadulterated stuff - but it might be ok if you can't find a dairy closeby. - And, by the way, I dip the tea out with an ice cream bucket. It takes time to water everything but the bucket works well.
I don't use manure tea on the flowers out front - it's too much work -but everything in the back gets plenty and loves it. Someone was trying to tell me, this spring, that manure tea would ruin my flowers but I haven't noticed. I used it on the iris, tulips, daffodils, roses, dianthus, phlox, delphenium, columbine and calendula as well as my apple and peach trees, rhubarb and raspberry plants, grape vine and everything in my veggie garden. I think these photos bear testimony that manure tea doesn't hurt a thing. If it did, I'd use it on the weeds. Dang! Maybe I need to discuss production of a weed-killer manure with those goats. Anyone got any formulas for that?

Seriously speaking, though, I can't overstress the importance of heavy watering (with regular water as well as the tea) - especially when you're trying to get plants established. Here in the intermountain west days get scorching hot and the wind blows almost constantly; horrendous drying combination, there. I try to moisten the soil surface in my gardens at least once a day - more often if the wind is really stiff. I water the grass deeply about three times a week. It's expensive but it's been worth it. I figure another summer and I'll have a pretty decent yard.

And that's all, folks. Need another posting from you, Chris. The one about your cacti was great! Can you possibly upload the photos concerning your stairwell? I'll tell the story if you're still so mad you don't think you should say anything - but I'm not sure how to upload the very funny photo you sent that idiotic inspector. I'd need your help.
Oh, and by the way, I can't find the photo of your looooong christmas cactus flower. Better see if you still have it. I hope you do. We'd like to see it, too.
Well - pardon the changes in font size - the program is screwing with my head.
Have a great week, everybody.

Check out what I've been doing!

2007-05-14T17:12:00.000-06:00

Ok, first things first, I've been playing with a green thumb. Mom already knows that I have some Christmas Cacti, and she has seen some pictures of my successes with them, but here it is for everyone, now, and Mom, you can just back down, now, and quit barking at me about posting here! LOL

This first picture is of the plant that Pam has had for years. Since before I met her, it has been a sad droopy little plant, and for the last 10 years it's continued to be a sad droopy little plant. Most of this has been my fault - I have been operating under the assumption that it is a true cactus, and have been only watering it about once a month, if that often. I can't believe that I didn't know any better, seeing as how Mom almost always had at least one or two Christmas Cactus plants around, but the pathetic truth is that I was wrong, and I can't believe how long this poor plant hung in there, waiting for me to come around and grow a brain. At any rate, this past winter, while browsing my Spring Hill Nursery catalog, I decided to take a more active interest in this poor plant. I can't show you how it looked before, because I don't have any pictures of it, but trust me, it drooped and sagged like an ancient little old lady. Here's how it looks now - and there is more text and pictures after, so keep scrolling down...

I told Pam that I didn't think this plant had had that many blossoms on it at one time in the whole ten and a half years I have known her and her plant. She looked at it again and decided I was right. They don't all show, but there are 17 blossoms on this one right now, and this is only this half of the plant. The other half bloomed out about 3 weeks ago, with not quite as many blossoms, but close - I think it was 12 or 13. I am thinking that I might very well seperate these two halves into two pots and see what happens, as these are clearly well established. I'm keeping a close eye on it to see if it starts to show any other signs of being too root bound.

Next, there is the plant that Pam's Father sent home with me about 2 months ago. He told me he was going to donate all of his house plants to the Church Bazaar, and I asked him to let ME have the two Christmas Cacti, instead. He readily agreed, and I am so excited - check this out!

The first one I took home with me that night. It is another one just like the one Pam had, and, while it wasn't as droopy, still, it was getting there. Pam's Dad is getting older, and just doesn't have what it takes to keep up with his plants like he used to, and these were both showing it. I don't mean any offense, just offering it as explanation. I brought it into the house and gave it a home right next to the Pam's, and started treating it the same way. Will get into what I have done for it later in this post. This is the second Christmas Cactus in my house, being the one on the right, not hanging. Haven't gotten a hanger for it yet.

As you can see, there is one blossom on this second plant. I haven't figured this one out yet, unless it was just slow - the whole rest of the plant was covered in them about the same time the hanging one was, about 3 weeks ago or so. I took a picture of those blossoms and sent it to Mom, showing that each blossom was as long as my hand. I have never seen them that long or big before. Mom, if you will send that one back to me, I will include it here, or you can if you want. Will insert here, whoever does it.

This next picture I took to show the incredible growth going on on this second plant. Like I said, I will tell you about what I am treating these plants with later on. Take a look at all the little red leaves pushing out. These will, if the past 2 months or so are any indication, be full grown and green in about 2 weeks or a little less. This was the best I could get a picture to turn out, and it doesn't show nearly all of the new leaves!

On to the second of the two that Pam's Dad gave me. I didn't have room for both of them that night, so he brought the next one down to me about a week later when he came to visit. It was in SUCH rough shape that I was afraid it was all the way dead. Turns out I was wrong again, thankfully! I ended up taking this plant apart into 6 seperate pots, and am doing everything I can to con them all into growing. I know for a fact that 2 of them are taking root and growing very well, and am doting on the rest as though they were as precious as my little grand daughter, who most of you have seen pictures of, and I will post some of her another time. My point is that I have been checking these 6 plants at least 6 or 8 times a day, though if you ask Pam it's more like 20...

Here are a couple of pictures to show the 2 that I know are growing well. They were little snips off the bigger main plant, which I found out had dead roots. I am particularly excited about these little guys, as they are from a plant that had red blossoms instead of the traditional pink!!

Two little leaves pushing up from the first joint on the right. I noticed them about 3 days ago, and have been dancing a little jig every time I think about them - they are growing just as fast as the ones on the 2 big plants have been!

One big leaf pusing up out of this one, and it's been growing there for about 2 days longer than the other small guy. These are looking to be starting well!

Ok, Ok, what AM I feeding them? Hang on to your hats, folks - this is not one that you will hear about from Miracle Gro^®! I've been feeding them my day old coffee! Brew a little extra, then the next day add water to thin it WAAAAY down (if you don't, it'll burn your plants!), and water your house plants with it! I can't even begin to tell you what a difference it's been making! You see a little bit of it in these pictures, but the pictures don't do them justice, they just don't!

Now, I know you are all saying, "But we don't drink coffee!" Well, I came up with a solution. Folger's^® makes little tea bag like single cup coffee servings. If you were to brew ONE bag according to the directions, then add about 12 cups of COLD water, it would do the same thing. You want to be able to see through the brew when you use it on your plants. I don't drink my coffee that thin, which is why I water it down, but if you can see through it fairly well, it won't burn your plants. Make sure you keep the soil for your Christmas Cactus (or Cacti, if you have more than one, lol!) moist all the time, don't let it dry out at all. I have been having amazing results, here, so let's hear it for COFFEE!! lol

Chris

PS ~ Love you Mom! *grin*

the joys of fundraising OR preparing for the garage sale

2007-04-29T09:32:00.000-06:00

When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. -- St. Paul, the Apostle

Parting with anything, be it paper scraps, ragged clothing, broken pencils or worn-out relationships has always been an insurmountable task for my daughter. She cannot put the memories behind her so she clings to everything. Because of it, when we moved into this house with its much-smaller bedrooms, there was no space for Lili to keep her memories around her. Much as I tried to get her to downsize, she would not. What couldn't be crammed into her bedroom was stored in the basement - in over 30 boxes.

With her Australia adventure rapidly approaching, she has finally decided it's time to de-junk a little and try to make money from some of the things she no longer cherishes as much as she did a couple of years ago. (Whoever said out of sight, out of mind was very wise!)

It started in her room where she discovered she had several large boxes of clothing that no longer fit or appealed. She was pleased - and so was I. While the pride of accomplishment was still fresh, I started hauling boxes up from the basement. Yesterday we had a marathon sorting session that nearly had my beloved daughter in tears but she now has an excellent start on a successful garage sale with 12 more boxes still to be sorted through.

I am very proud of Lili. I know just how difficult this has been for her. But she is becoming a young woman and has finally matured to the point where she is ready to de-junk a little.

De-junking isn't easy. There is always the paper parade that clutters up nearly every household these days...the postman brings it and, like old income tax returns that you really don't want around but which you know you will desperately need if you throw them away, you keep it. There are the gifts that really don't appeal but have been given by someone whose feelings you wouldn't hurt for anything in the world.

Perhaps one should de-junk one's job - strike out and DO what one has always dreamed of doing. Perhaps one needs to de-junk a habit that is outmoded and no longer useful. Perhaps what needs to be de-junked is a relationship that is something from which a person should move on but to which one clings because it meant something at one time.

There are plenty of things nearly every person could afford to de-junk if he/she were willing to cut him/herself loose...put away childish things, so to speak.

My daughter is putting away childish things as she ventures out into the world. Knowing this is being as difficult for her as it is for all of us, I am very pleased with the efforts she is making.

When she is finished, I think I need to follow her example.

2007-04-21T23:09:00.000-06:00

Last October Lili's old high school had a dance they called MORP (prom spelled backward) where the kids could dress in whatever Halloween costumes they wanted to create.

Lili and a bunch of her friends decided to make a day of it. They held a picnic in the park near our home, then played on Lili's trampoline for a while before getting ready for the dance.

Left to right on the park photo (left click for a larger version) Jeremy, Josh, Elle, Hannah, Micah (in the red shirt), Steven, Lili, (don't remember this kid's name - he wasn't a regular at our house), and Nick (Blondie from last week's post). On the tramp is Steven bouncing Elle with Micah, Jeremy and the unknown boy watching. - Just for reference, Steven is over six feet tall. THat will give you an idea just how much air Elle was getting. - I'd post my photos of the kids in their costumes if I could find them but I've filed them away somewhere - or maybe lost them when we had to clean my hard drive last winter.

Oh well. So goes life.

I really do have a reason for discussing last year's MORP. Because I can't figure out how to make these photos upload the way I want, I've had to resort to two blogs, today, in order to get the photos in the right sequence. Even then it didn't turn out the way I wanted but at least you get the idea.

Today's MORP - and other tidbits

2007-04-21T22:33:00.000-06:00

Nessa, Gabe, Julie, Larry, Lili and Josh

Gabe, Larry and Josh Today her new highschool had MORP. This time it was 'black and white'. Dress was casual but supposed to be something that would look cool under black lights.
Again Lili and some friends had a dinner. The girls had planned to have a picnic, again, but we got a spring squall just as they were finishing preparations so everybody ate in our kitchen. Dad and I retired to my sewing room where we could have some peace. :) The kids had a lot of fun without us.
Just before the kids were ready to leave for the dance Julie's mother called in a panic - she'd just seen some of the neighborhood kids leaving in tuxes and formal dresses with corsages and the works. Our kids must have misunderstood (our group was in jeans). I made a quick call to one of the boys I knew was on the planning committee and was reassured our kids were dressed appropriately.

I don't know where those other kids were headed. Maybe a Latino girl's 15th birthday bash. Who knows? We'd have been in trouble if our kids had had to have formal wear. I think Lili is the only girl who owns a fancy dress and Gabe was the only boy who had anything that even came close to evening wear.

Sometimes I look at my hair and marvel at how grey I'm getting! I think I just acquired another zillion white hairs today.

Lili, Julie and Nessa

In between everything else she had going today, Lili had a one hour meeting for her church youth group this morning and a two hour meeting for People to People this afternoon.

Today, after their People to People training session, the kids put together boxes of goodies to be sent to servicemen in Iraq...things the soldiers out in the toolies can't get - like small packs of Kleenex, hand sanitizer, gum, candy, playing cards, magazines, etc.

I was very glad the leader chose that as a service project. Other projects such as working at the aviary downtown and observing Earth Day by cleaning a hiking trail had been proposed by various parents. In my opinion People to People is about people and I felt the service project should be more people oriented. I was more than happy to contribute items to this project. Lili was, too. We even stayed late to help finish packing the boxes and load them in the leader's car.

Next month we'll be having a general fundraiser in the form of a flea market/bake sale where each family can have a table and sell items. Lili was already working on getting things ready for a garage sale so we'll just do this instead.

Before that day, however, Lili will take a snorkeling class so she can snorkel at the Great Barrier Reef. Some of the kids and one of the leaders will be scuba diving at the Reef but Lili won't be allowed to because she's asthmatic and it's against Australian law for asthmatics to scuba dive. Interesting law but it makes sense. It's much easier to rescue someone who's having an asthma attack if they're paddling around on the surface of the water rather than 50 feet down.

2007-04-15T17:12:00.000-06:00

How come nobody else posts on this thing??? Hello! Lets get with the progam folks, and pull together as a family, even if we don't always see eye to eye!
Buzzy

Larry's birthday party

2007-04-15T11:28:00.000-06:00

photo on right: Rich, Lori and Rick

photo on left: Left to right (back row) Blondie, Michael and Larry (middle row) Josh, Airk, Ashley, Vanessa and Julie
(front) Lili, Gabe and Nate
Because Larry's birthday is during the week next week and his friends from Job Corps could not be here, we held a surprise party for him after the completion of Lili's raffle drawing.
Most of the kids we'd invited were present for the drawing so afterwards, while the rest of us loaded Lili's things in my car, Airk Bennett took Larry with him to pick up Ashley. That gave the rest of us time to get everything ready at home.
Birthday time at our house is rather low key. We have a dinner - with whatever foods the birthday person chooses - and then everyone is free to hang out and do whatever they choose. Generally the birthday person knows when the party is happening. Larry and I had planned to have his party next weekend but when I spoke to the kids he wanted to invited, I found there as a conflict at Lili's school. So...at the last minute we threw it all together for after Lili's raffle drawing and Larry was one startled kid when he came home.
Attending Larry's party were his brother and sister-in-law, Rich and Lori, and his friends, Vanessa(with her fiance, Michael), Josh, Nick (can't remember his last name - we just call him Blondie), Airk (with his girlfriend, Ashley), Julie, Gabe(from Job Corps), Nate and, of course, Lili, Rick and me. We had a full house!
It's a very eclectic group of kids from a wide variety of backgrounds yet they sat in our living room last night and had the most fun. I couldn't help commenting to Rick how fortunate we were that these kids, raucous as they were, were having good clean fun. I can put up with the boisterousness any day. What I knew I wouldn't have to deal with was having to involve the police or an ambulance because one of the kids ODed or got stabbed or shot. I can't begin to express how grateful I am for that! Diverse as they are, these kids come to our house and hang out and have fun.
Julie was the first to leave. Since she lives around the corner from us, everyone walked home with her. You could hear the kids all the way to her house and all the way home - sometimes I wonder what the neighbors think of our noisy bunch. It was fun to listen to them, though. We'
ve had drive-by shootings just a few blocks from our subdivision lately. When Lili and Josh and Gabe were out selling tickets the other night some man started stalking Lili - not realizing she had someone with her. My kids weren't involved in anything I had to worry about as they walked Julie home. I have a lot to be thankful for.
And so Larry starts his third decade. He made the comment, the other day, that it didn't seem real. He thinks his life is on the downhill slide, now that he's no longer a teenager. I had to laugh. For me, the pinnacle was when I turned 18. I've been on the downhill slide for the past 40 years. Guess the ascent is pretty steep but the descent has been really gradual. I think he'll find his life is the same. I hope so, anyway.

finis - lili's raffle drawing

2007-04-15T08:07:00.000-06:00

lili stirs the tickets directions to support staff walmart manager, melissa,

draws winning ticket

Lili's People to People raffle closed at 7pm, April 14, 2007. Melissa, night manager at the WalMart Market that has so kindly allowed Lili to sell tickets in front of their store, drew the winning tickets. As we loaded the car after the completion of the raffle, Lili's heartfelt comment was, "Thank GOODNESS that's over!!!"

Approaching adults she doesn't know is very difficult for Lili. I am pleased with the People to People program because it has forced my daughter to develop in ways she never would have developed had she not been chosen as one of their student ambassadors. She may still be reticent to approach people in asking for something that will benefit herself but at least she has learned how.

This particular fundraiser has forced her to approach strangers and initiate conversations with them - soliciting sponsors and explaining her program. Although asking for donations - even if it means the person may have the opportunity to win a siginificant prize - was extremely difficult for her, she still had a lot of fun with some of the people who purchased tickets from her.

One of her very staunch supporters and helpers commented to me, "I've learned so much about people (from sitting with Lili outside WalMart, selling tickets)!" And it's true. My daughter and her friends have seen a much wider swath of humanity than they would have in any other way. It's one thing to run down to the Market with a list of items you want to purchase before hanging out with your friends and a totally different experience when you spend hours sitting in front of the same store watching and talking to the patrons who come and go. Teenagers generally socialize with their own age group. Through this fundraiser Lili and her friends have had to approach and interact with adults of all ages.

I'm grateful for Lili's staunch supporters. Josh , the young man in the photo I posted last week, spends every weekend at our house - has ever since he started studying welding at the Clearfield, Utah, Job Corps last July. He is one of Larry and Lili's dearest friends. I know I can always count on Josh to accompany Lili if I need someone to be with her for protection purposes. He's gone with her to sell tickets when she's gone door to door. He helped her with her car wash. He helped her sell tickets at the Market. He's helped her with the yard work project she has going. He's one of the very limited group of kids I'll allow in my home with her, alone, if I have to go somewhere and Rick is at work.

Vanessa has spent countless hours with Lili on all of her fundraising activities as well. Nessa also spends every weekend she can at our house. She and another of Larry's and Lili's friends, Airk, have worked with Josh and Lili on the yard project. She and Airk both donated the money they received to Lili's fundraiser. In gratitude, Lili gave them tickets equal to the amount they had given her. Since Nessa is getting married in May, Airk gave his tickets to her as a wedding present. Nessa won both of the messages in the drawing. The couple they did yard work for won the dinner at Romano's Macaroni Grill.

The grand prize was won by a gentleman who lives in downtown Salt Lake. I took Nessa and Lili down there to sell tickets the day Lili applied for her passport and he was the first person to whom they sold a ticket that day. We had met him when we helped his next door neighbors (another elderly couple who are dear friends of ours) move from their home a couple of years ago.

I am sure that all of the folks who bought tickets from Lili and her friends were very fine people. They were kind to my daughter and supportive of what she was doing. ...But I'll have to admit I'm so pleased with those who won - because I knew them all and I appreciate the particularly kind people I happen to know each one of them is. Good neighbors; good folks.

candid of lili goofing off with friends

2007-04-15T07:53:00.000-06:00

it works! :)

2007-04-10T07:53:00.000-06:00

ok - so i had to try left clicking on the other photos just to see if they'd enlarge, too. all of them do except the little photo of lili and larry. lili, as always, is very photogenic compared to the rest of us. but, hey, check out the detail in the old blog i posted about the wood carvings. they really look cool closeup! i'll bet spence's photos will look beautiful closeup, too. by that i'm meaning the landscape photos he did from jackson, washington and canada. skip the old time photos. they're too old to look all that good no matter what you do. :/

how to enlarge blogspot photos

2007-04-10T07:49:00.000-06:00

If you left click on Lili's photo - probably on any of the other photos in this blogspot as well...haven't tried them yet - the photo will open up the size of your screen. Good way to see how Lili's grown and changed since you saw her last. Our kids do grow up on us.

Lili's latest

2007-04-10T07:36:00.000-06:00

Elizabeth (Lili) Mittan, a Hope of America student, has been nominated, interviewed and subsequently selected by People to People International to join their Student Ambassador program during the summer of 2007. On June 13 she will travel to Australia where she will meet with Parliament officials, watch a session of Parliament, stay with a host family and attend a local school. A visit to the Australian National Botanical Gardens, the Aboriginal Cultural Studies Center, the Brisbane Opera House and a day of exploration on the Great Barrier Reef as well as a service project (still to be determined) are also part of the itinerary for the student delegates.
People to People International (which also sponsors Sister Cities and Project Hope) was initiated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956 in an effort to develop world peace through the understanding brought by cultural exchange. Students who travel with People to People can earn both high school and college credit in International Studies since each delegation is attended and chaperoned by State certified educators.
Each student ambassador is required to raise the funds for his/her trip. Lili had raised funds through private sponsorship and a car wash. She is now doing a raffle. Prizes are as follows: Grand Prize - a dinner for two at Ruby Tuesday plus an overnight stay for two at the Crystal Inn by the E Center. Second prize - a $65.00 message at The Enchanted Garden. Third prize - a $25.00 gift certificate for Romano’s Macaroni Grill. She is charging $2.00 per ticket and, to date, has earned nearly $500.00 through ticket sales.
Drawing for the prizes will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 14, 2007 at the WalMart Market at 4570 S 4000 W, Taylorsville, Utah.

photos of work on the sandy wally's world parking lot

2007-02-25T17:50:00.000-07:00

well, i was gonna load this one at the bottom but that didn't work. here's larry and lili - image from a recent photo shoot. this is what they look like when they're not out working in freezing temperatures. now we'll show you photos of them, steve and me working in freezing temps.

bollards, baby! here's lili dipping water, snow and ice out so she can fill the hole with concrete. note the water and slush drops in the air and the bottom of her orange cup behind the bollard.

here's steve manning the fire hose with me eating my lunch while i hold it up so he can move about easily. we were cleaning off this parking space to make it ready for striping on another day.

Steve and Larry mixing concrete.

lili loading gas for the cement mixer.
lili pouring gas in the cement mixer.

2007-02-25T08:30:00.000-07:00

I will never look at another WalMart parking lot with the same blase attitude. It's interesting how one's perspective can change. Before beginning to work with Steve on this project, I hardly gave the signs and parking strips a second glance. Now I look everything over for quality of workmanship. Let me explain.
Assuming all of you visit Wally's World once in a while, have you ever taken a good look at the handicap signs? In our area of the world, at lease, the metal signposts are set in parking-stripe yellow bollards. (A bollard is a HEAVY metal pipe about six inches in diameter. It's set several feet deep in concrete. Once that's dried, it is filled with fresh concrete into which the metal sign post is anchored.) Bollards and signposts have to be carefully checked with a level - as they're being set in the concrete - to make sure they're set completely verticle.
After the two different concrete jobs are set and secure, a third concrete job has to be done. The concrete the bollard is set in has to be built up an inch or two above the level of the pavement and sloped to the edge of the hole. Then the top of the bollard has to be mounded with concrete as well. You use a rather dry concrete mix for these last two jobs...if it's too wet it doesn't mound - it runs off. (been there, done that) After this last concrete is dry, the bollard has to be cleaned and painted to match the parking lot stripes and the actual sign has to be riveted to the metal post.

Of course, that's what happens when everything goes well. Since you're working on a construction site, all sorts of things can and DO go wrong. Workers running around with forklifts are the greatest problem. (When I was using the forklift I managed to not run into anything but that was only because Steve was outside guiding me. You can't see every little thing when you're up in a high cab - and i'm not talking about the little yellow forklifts you see in warehouses. I'm talking about great big green jobs probably half as big as our old Deutz-Allis tractor.) We had several signposts to straighten - still have one more - and the landscaping company has a bollard they have to fix for us - it's all caved in on one side.
Anyhow, Larry, Lili and I have all had our day of doing concrete finish work (it's really rather fun in my opinion). We've all done a stint on the fire hose (a two inch hose has enough pressure to knock you on your can, I found, if you aren't braced and ready when the water is turned on). We've helped lay out lines for striping the parking areas and putting the 'hash marks' on the fire lane at the front of the store. And we've learned a tremendous amount about the intricacies of construction work. Even the parking lot stripers have pages of blueprint instructions. Each parking block has to be a minimum of so many feet wide, each sign has to be a minimum of so many feet above the pavement (and each type of sign has its own code to be met), and...and...and.
Then we go park in the parking lot and are completely oblivious to the tremendous amount of layout, construction and finish work that gone into making that parking lot what it is.
I remember the day Lili worked with Steve and me. Steve had to make an equipment run so he laid out a series of places Lili and I were to wash with the fire hose so they would be ready to have yield and stop signs painted on them (we're speaking of pavement, here). We got everything done by the time he got back except for two yield areas. For the life of me I couldn't figure out what he was talking about and he wasn't with us. When he came back, he reminded me there was a little sidewalk poured from the store to the parking lot. A yield sign had to be painted on the pavement on either side. Duh. Here I'd been trying to figure out which entrance or exit from the parking lot he'd wanted me to clean.
Anyhow, we're nearly finished with that project. Tomorrow, weather willing, we'll work on a Smith's parking lot up in Layton - about an hour north of here - and sometime this week we should finish the lot we've been working on lately. In the meantime I've also been subbing - have another full day coming this Wednesday and two or three already scheduled in March. So I keep busy.
Sue and Kevin and kids have been here for several days this week. Lili and Larry had friends over, too. yesterday Sue did a photo shoot of a bunch of Lili's friends in our living room - we moved all the furniture around to make empty space. After Sue got the shots she wanted, the kids created their own groupings using Genie's digital camera. They had a lot of fun but it's been really hectic for me. Oh well. The kids were busy doing something constructive instead of getting into trouble. Sometimes I think parenthood is one exhausting round of trying to come up with legal, morally acceptable activities for teenagers.
Well, 'nuff's enough. Hope you all have a wonderful week. I certainly expect to.
I had planned to add some photos to this posting but that's not happening like it's supposed to so i'm gonna go ahead and post this in hopes i can add some photos later.

2007-02-17T21:50:00.000-07:00

Ok... So here is our latest.

Kevin is back to work full time. We aren't sure when he os going to be called out of town, so we are trying to get the camper all ready to go, just in case the notice comes only 2 or 3 days in advance.
He has been working in about 6 inches of mud this last week, though. BYU-I is building a new auditorium. However, since the university is built on almost solid rock, they have to drill into it, then blast it so that the rubble can be hauled away. That is where HK comes in. They drive down into the pit and get loaded with rocks the size of an easy chair, then haul it back to the crusher pit. And since we have been having rain and snow, mixed with enough warm weather to melt it all, it is a soupy nasty mess to have to drive truck in!

Brandon is doing awesome in school... Like that is any real surprise! We had his parent teacher conference last week and he is getting the equivilent of straight A's. He is also a drawing fool!!! He gets all bent out of shape if he can't find something to draw with and/or on. He is quite the little artist, too. My bedroom door is covered with his artwork and I love it!!!

Sarah is still our little diva. She is discovering her own artistic abilities, but I am less than impressed with some of her efforts as they are more on the walls and floors, including the CARPETS!!! Who knew you could color on carpet?!?!?!? She loves getting her hair done, and having makeup on. I have to watch her carefully, or she gets into my makeup and paints herself real good! Sigh.

Emily is having a time trying to get over all of her bottles being thrown away. She was sick for a week and so we babyed the crap out of her with the stupid things. After she was better, she felt she still had to have a bottle all the time, so we threw them away. She is on a soft sippy cup now, but she is a tad hacked about losing out on the original.
She is also discovering that she can rival her sister in the whiney department. Boy these two have Lungs!!!

I am just hagin out, trying to be a good mom, and trying to work. Sigh. I am really looking forward to not working this summer. I am hoping to be able to just take off whenever I want to go see Kevin. I plan on camping a lot this summer!!! The kids are really excited!

Hope all is well with everyone! Til next time!

a week at walmart

2007-01-31T21:48:00.000-07:00

Been an interesting week down here in SLC. Steve and his partner were asked to do an emergency cleanup job for the new WalMart they did the parking lot striping for in December. The store opening is next week and the parking lot was an absolute disaster. Debris everywhere, frozen into sheets of ice upwards of six inches thick in places. Larry and I needed money, the guys needed workers - so we've been working for Steve and Keith.
Larry's job the first two days was to work with the man they hired to use a huge bucket tractor and clean snow off. Lar's part was to pick debris out of the snow before the tractor loaded it in a belly truck to be hauled off. Yesterday afternoon he was allowed to use the tractor, himself, after the regular operator quit for the day. Larry thought he'd died and gone to heaven!
I, in the meantime, was using a hot pressure washer to break up ice. It really wasn't bad except the pressure gun leaked. It kept me warm but it also soaked me to the skin. My feet sloshed in my sorrel packs every step I took. But I'll tell you what, that little gun was a 'git 'er done' gun! I could cut through that ice like a hot knife through butter. It really was rather fun.
Then, wouldn't you know, it snowed last night?! So today there wasn't much for me to do. Keith was using my machine because his broke so I came back home after 2 1/2 hours. Supposed to snow tomorrow, too, so I'm going to sub out at Lake Ridge Elementary instead of playing in the snow. Larry will work with Steve, again, though.
All in all, it's been good. Nice to be out of doors for a while. There's nothing to do around here so I never go out except to haul kids around. This was a lovely change of pace. Thank you for the opportunity, Steve.
I don't think I'll ever wonder why nobody hears much from Steve, though. That man's a going machine! Gets his kids up and to school so Jenn can sleep since Ammon doesn't sleep through the night yet (likes to munch too much!). Then he's in Ogden by 8:15 to pick up hired workers. Down to the job site as soon as he can get there (this one is over an hour's drive away from Ogden), works at a run most of the day, quits when it's too cold to work any longer, takes his worker(s) back to Ogden then goes home and either babysits his own kids so Jenn can get out for a while or goes and referees area adult sporting events.
On top of that, he's got a bum knee. Wears a brace and hauls his crutches around in his car but doesn't use them. They 'd slow him down too much. If I work with him on Friday I'll try to remember to take my camera so I can post some photos to give you an idea of what he's doing. Today, while I was there, he did a lot of ice-chipping while I used a cold-water hose to melt the edges - in between stints on the hot pressure washer, hauling ice chunks off in a wheelbarrow and using a fire hose to wash slush off parts of the parking lot. When I left he was back on the pressure washer to give Keith a break. He talks about how, at age 30, he doesn't heal as fast as he did as a teenager. No duh! I can't imagine why.

2007-01-26T10:54:00.000-07:00

Hello all-
We are finally back online and ready to go! I am very happy to have my 'puter back!

Okay, so here's the news...

Kevin is back at work, kinda. He was called in this last week, and we were very happy about it! his boss says that more than likely he will be working by February instead of March. YAY!!! Meanwhile he is staying home with the kids and keeping house. He does pretty darn good too!

I am not working at Sears anymore. I am not sure how many folks didn't know that, so sorry to be repetitive. I am working at Mrs. Powell's famous cinnimon rolls. It is alright. I prefer to be working in the back, rolling. But they love me up front with the customers. The owner told me today that she wanted to put me in management, but I politely declined. No Thank You! Not after all that crap through Sears.
I am working with my friend Linda Hibbert to start our own studio. We are very excited and hope to have it going by the end of the summer. Meantime, I am doing weddings, families, and some senior portraits. It keeps me going, and I am really happy to still be behind the camera!

Brandon is doing really well. He had another EEG the end of december, and everything came back wonderfully normal. No changes in medications, which is terrific!
He is a total whiz at school, and picks up on things very quickly! I had the opportunity to sit in on his class for a few minutes and his hand was always one of the first ones up to answer a question. He gets a lot of them right too!

Sarah is very much a "pink" girl! Everything is PINK!!! Including (ahem) her eyes... Let me explain. Since pink is her favorite color she recently informed us that her eyes were pink. We assured her they were blue. She said, (and I quote!) "No guys. Blue is for BOYS! Pink is for girls so mine are pink! Complete with the "Hello!" expression.

Emily is finally in her twister straps. She is very pidgeon toed and it took almost 6 months, but she is in them, and they are already making a HUGE difference! Her Physical Therapist has never seen someone her age try to do the things she is trying, so he is very confidant she won't be in these for very long.

Well, that's all our news. I am excited to be able to hear fromeveryone through this! Love to you all!!!

Kevin, Suzie, Brandon, Sarah, & Emily

some interesting photos

2007-01-23T06:56:00.000-07:00

Great photo touchups, Spence! Wish I had your toy. :)

Quick news update before I go to work. These photos are from the trip Dad and I took on Martin Luther King Day to visit some elderly relatives of mine down in Provo, Utah. The carvings are done by an 84-year-old man and they're beautifully done! I only hope you can make them bigger so you can see the details. He's a superb artist.

Other than that, Larry's still job searching...and pickin' and grinnin'. Dad is trying to put food on the table and grateful for the best job he's had in years. Lili started a new semester of school yesterday - and came home with tonsillitis. Great start! We don't know if she's going to make the trip to Australia. Her fund raising is being very slow at the moment. I'm 'donating' plasma twice a week and subbing on other days.

As some of you know, Steve blew his knee last fall and had to have some rather extensive reconstructive surgery to repair the cartilage. He re-tore it a couple of weeks ago and it's looking like more surgery. Makes his work very difficult. I'm including their news because they have their hands full now that he's not motating so fast again.

Sue has her computer fixed. Yea!!! One of the little girls put a quarter in the back of her machine and shorted out the power supply. Bless children. As soon as she gets the internet back she'll hopefully be uploading her own news. ...And, by the way, she makes the BEST cinnamon rolls these days. She's working in a bakery and their recipe is about the best I've ever tasted!

Well, I gotta upload the photos I wanted to share and then run to school. Chat with y'all later.

Love,

Mom

Another one of dad

2007-01-21T15:04:00.000-07:00

This touch up proved to be mroe difficult as there were clouds and pavemnet that I had to reproduce in order to fill the patches. With the scan being of poor quality it was hard to get clear textures out of it. The result was a lot of swuare and agular looking patches. I had to be really creative to get around this, but it still resulted in an image that wasn't quite as original as I wanted it to be. Maybe if I can get a hold of a better copy to work from some day I can make a better touch up! Anyway I hope you folks out there are enjoying the nostalgia and some of dads sweet rides and clothes at the same time! Boy I wish I could of hung out with this fellow back in that day and age! Love you dad!

-Spence

Dads Photos - Touchups

2007-01-20T22:38:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to show you guys some befores and afters of some pictures of papa. I think they are pretty cool. Again larry scanned these and sent them to me, however the original he sent me was a small and compact copy - not a full blown scan - so basically they would look even better if I had a higher quality original to go with. With dads high school photo I have taken and removed quite a bit of photo damage. I removed a stain and crack and some scratches and and and etc.... I then took and smoothed his face out and removed some of the blemishes he had. What a handsome feller!

As far as the one of dad as a younger child I restored faded color. I then hand tinted it to bring kind of a primitive color film effect to it. I think this one turned out great. It took a lot of hours of tweakng, but I think it looks great from the glare in his glasses down to the accents and color of his gums. I really hope the family enjoys these as much as I do. Please send me more photos to play with. You can email them to spencermittan@comcast.net

Love you all;

Spencer Mittan

picture touch ups

2007-01-15T03:19:00.000-07:00

Okay guys and gals!

How's everyone doing out there?

I just popped on before I head to bed to share some image touchups I did on some photos I got larry to send me. Keep in mind that my touch up can only be as good as what the original was as far as quality. In this case I didn't have much to work with, but it was fun any way. You will see a before and after on all of these.

If you enjoy these and would like to see more than email me your originals - preferrably in a larger and higher quality format, but anything will work. You just might get a small photo back to you. For those of you who are unaware - my email is: spencermittan@comcast.net.

love you all and talk to you soon;

-Spence

P.S. I am start a new job here in about another week - once I clear the background check. I will be slling cars a the volkswagen and audi dealership here in spokane. I actually will be selling all the major brands from the Appleway/Autonation chain, but my specialty will be VW/Audi. For those of you who don't know - Audi is owned by VW and is just a glorified, more expensive version of their other vehicles.

My current job doesn't want to let me go so I am going to stay on there part time for the fun of it as a maintenance manager and plumbing specialist centered in the Westminster Apartments in the Browns Addition here in Spokane. The Westminster is a neat old building over 100 years old! I think the plumbing is abut that old too with all the leaks it has. It is a really neat building with a gothic/germany architectural theme. It is 5 stories tall and comes complete with the original Otis Elevator installed in 1906 and the coal powered boiler (which has been replaced, but still resides in the building) also installed in 1906.

Anyway... Talk to you all later.

-Spence

Top Of The Monday Morn'in To Ya

2007-01-08T11:25:00.000-07:00

Well, happy new week everyone!! Another week-end has flown away (sigh!!)! It is back to the ol' ratrace once again. In all actuality, I am grateful for the job that I have. I have waited most of my sometime's long, years to find a job where I am appreciated and valued by not only my fellow workers but also my supervisors. Alot of that has to do with sharing the same values. It is hard to find a group of peers, now-a-days, that share the same values and are working towards the same goals. When you do find it, hang on to it with the tightest of grip, and do not let it out of your sight or your life. Do what you have to do to preserve it. I have come to realize over the years that one of the keys to having wonderful blessings enter into your life and keeping them around is to constantly express "gratitude" to the "provider" of those blessings. If you don't, you stand in danger of losing that blessing. Take the time today to tell your provider of your blessing(s) how greatful you are for what you have been given or are allowed to share in. Don't forget to take time today to hug your wife or husband and tell them that you appreciate them, what they do and that you love them. If you have children, take them into the moment and hug them if they are in your presence or if they are a distance away, send them an e-mail, write them a note or letter or give a phone call and tell them. Give your pets a hug and tell them you love them, too. Talk to your plants, trees etc. Let them know that you appreciate their involvement in your life and howmuch you value them making your life a little brighter. If you get a chance let your friends know how much you appreciate their friendship. In the words of songwriter/singer Mac Davis:

You got to stop and smell the roses
You got to stop and count your blessing's everyday
You're gonna find the road to Heaven is a rough and rocky road
If you don't stop and smell the roses along the way!!!

Cheers!!
With lots of love for all and gratitude for being a part of our lives!!
Pops

Answer to 'May I?'

2007-01-07T22:24:00.000-07:00

The Chronicles is for boring - or not so boring - news. We can do another blog if everyone wants to join into FRIENDLY controversy. My main goal with this blog was give everybody the opportunity to keep everyone else posted on personal and family news. I hear a lot of "How come you never told me about that?!" With eight of you kids out there - plus teenaged grandkids -I can't keep track of who I've told what. Some of you have voiced the same problem - some of you haven't even tried to keep others up to speed with what you're doing or what's important to you. It's difficult. Hence this blog.

I want this to be positive, warm and friendly. That's why I'm saying 'no' to controversial subjects. I think most everyone is willing to cheer Katie on in her swimming or Spence in his photography. I'd love to have Jenn tell the rest of you about Geoffrey in WalMart when they were shoe shopping. It's a hoot. Maybe Sue can post some of Brandon's math or artwork - or tell you how he caught his dad on what to say about girls. You'll roll over that one! We'd like to see a photo of Chris' and Mike's houses, respectively. . . if you have the equipment to post photos. And I'm sure Kee and Keri have news to share - so should Rich and Lori (If nothing else, Rich can tell us his views of his current job)- and if Chris or Pam can get this website to Kenny and Jess, they're more than welcome to join in, too. Ken will probably have plenty to share about his new job and Jess has the little one to tell us about.

If y'all want me to do a blog for controversy let me know and I'll set one up. I only ask that you don't get into anything that's hurtful to someone else. Our family is very divergent in its beliefs and views. I will expect everyone to use the Golden Rule at all times. Since we each hold our own personal beliefs and views sacrosanct, we need to always give everyone else the same respect. I have absolutely no problem with saying, "This is what I believe or what I think." I have a HUGE problem with someone saying, "Well, you're wrong!" when someone else is expressing his/her beliefs or values. Religion and politics can be a real hotbed of emotion. If we, as a family, can keep in mind that we each have the God-given right to think as we choose and if we're all willing to respect each other's views regardless of whether or not we agree with them, then let's go for it.

I love you all - especially Any Mouses (or muses or mooses or whatever you want to call yourselves) :) ,
Mom

British Columbia Painting Pictures

2007-01-07T16:48:00.000-07:00

Ok - so as promised here are some some photos I took of British Columbia that I have touched up and painted. I really think some of them are pretty good and I am considering having prints made of them, because I think people will pay good money on Ebay for some fancy, but inexpensive home deorations. I just need to come up with the money to have one printed off to see how it looks real big! I can say that they look great when Iprinted them out and stuck them on the fridge in 8x11.5. Amanda was blown away! (or maybe she is being nice) Regardless I love it! I encourage everyone who reads this to send me pictures to mess aroud with as I am having a ball and I am excited to share some of the fun and funny things I can do with them - especially phot touch ups on old time photos. I even got rid of Amanda and her sisters freckles from an old photo! It's a blast.

Why did I get caught up in this. I saw this thing on the web that was a promotional video for this guy who does this for a living. I was amazed with the results he could get, so I set around to see if I could do it myself. Well I am not as good as he is, but I am getting there.

-Spence

P.S. For those who were wondering, all of the above photos are mine (I took them) The mountains with the sunset above them are from some late night ice-fishing on jackson lake. I was freezing my butt off, but I saw some spectacular sites. The fishing didn't pan out, but I have never seen anything like the clouds that night.

The night scene is of the fabulous new Trail, BC bridge in downtown Trail. When I say new, I mean newer than the old one that i believe is close to 100 years old if not older - but still open. It can be scary sometimes to cross it because it still has a wood bottom (newly remodeled in the 60s or something like that). ITs of course not as scary as the "one way car - other side is railroad track" wooden bridge you have to cross to get to the boundary/waneta border crossing when you want to get cheap gas in the states. You drive across this bridge which crosses the blasting outlet of the "7-mile" pend'o'reille river dam. Of course it's right where the Pend'O'Reille and the columbia rivers meet - so it's no lauging matter in size. You cross across this creaking hulk and you look out the window to see this magnificent splash of spray and a cataclysm of water poundin against a large cliff face. One can say you feel like you are seeing your doom when you cross this beauty - needless to say it's always green in that area with all the moisture!

The fish ladder picture is in Kokanee Creek provincial park between Salmo and Nelson British Columbia. Every year the river used to run red with Salmon - now it's dwindled down to a scant few thousand - but none the less the area is spectacular. When I took this picture three years ago I had just barely caught the park after the run had stopped and fall was setting in. The colors were spectacular!

The picture of the mountain with the fall colors is from the top of Mt. Revelstoke in the Purcell Mountain range 5-6 hours north of the border. This area is home to the farthest in land temperate rain forest in the world. What causes this? Well the mountains you see here don't look very big because I am standing on the top of a fire lookout tower on the top of a big mountain! The landscape goes from a valley at the most 600 feet above sea level (conincidentally it is warm and rains all year and they grow marvelous apples here) to mountains above the 12,000 foot range in the course of 30 miles! It is awesome! Up there they have year round glaciers and on average accumulate rouhly 75 feet of snow a year (This is another National park called Glacier National park - but not related or evenclose to our Glacier National park - which does extend into Canada, but is called Waterton (due to all the glacial carved lakes) National park up there). Mt. Revelstoke national park covers some pretty incredible territory - which brings me to my last picture of this group.

This one is from the giant cedars walkway in that rain forest I told you about. Here the trees are enormous and so are the ferns. You are a full nine hours away from the coast - at least, and only 15 to twenty hours by car to the arctic circle! Yet this place is over run with plant life and trees so large it would take dozens of us to encircle some of them. Who knew there were sleeping giants this far north! Anyway - I hope you enjoy the pictures. Feel free to print them off if you like family.

For those of you outside of family this pictures are copyrighted and any reuse or republishing of them in part or in whole can and will be punished to the utmost extent by law, and blah blah blah. j/k! Have fun people....

Love,

Spence and Amanda

A cold wintery back yard!

2007-01-07T16:32:00.000-07:00

So this is a picture over looking the llama farm in my backyard. Behind it you can see the hills and over those you will find two different lakes. I took this picture with my cell phone because who knows where my camera is. I still haven't gotten everything unpacked. It's a cool wintery day here in eastern washington. We got socked with a good storm friday night, but by the time saturday rolled around it warmed up and sent the snow accumalation packing. Boy it's great!

The second picture you will notice is a little more vibrant - I went into Adobe Photoshop and took an alienskin filter that gave it a film quality. I went for a Velvia 100 film look. You'll notic it kind of over-saturates the colors and makes it a little bit warmer.

The third picture - on the other hand - I have gone through and painted it digitally in a oil paint using snap-art. This filters are pretty incredible. I can do things in a variety of styles and make some pretty startling pictures. This painting doesn't look as good as some of my others because the quality of the original wasn't there to begin with (due to the fact the camera is a call phone!) and it's hard to cut down on the detail on the fence to make it look less phot-like without messing up the other details I want to keep. It's almost as time consuming as actually painting these scenes can be! (Ok not really, but when i really work on something it can take quite a while.) I love Adobe and I love it's capabilities.

I am going to post another couple of pictures after this to show you lovely British Columbia. I think you will like it!

Love;

-Spence and Amanda

May I?

2007-01-07T09:34:00.000-07:00

Am I allowed to use this to vent views - whatever they may be? Can we get some differing opinions on political, economic, family, personal, religious, etc, ad infinitum, ad nauseum? Or should I simply limit myself to the little boring news if and when it may happen? Someone wanna let me know what's up here?

Any Nomus

What's up, yall? About Me!!

2007-01-04T16:32:00.000-07:00

HEY PEOPLE'S!
Ummmm... I really dont know what to say...
Well I guess I will start with, I am going to AUSTRALIA!! BOOOYAHHH! OH YEAH GO ME! LOL, Just Kidding. I really am going to Australia this June. I have to raise $5,000 between now and the end of April. I am calling local businesses and asking them to sponsor me. Some are very kind and actaully have called me and said, " Hey, we have a check for ya... Come on in and get it!" and I'm just like "Shawwinng!" Haha... and yes i really like those words.. Lol. BTW if any of yall have any extra change floating arround... I am more than willing to take it :P haha! Other than that Im not doing all that much. I am working on making it onto the Excaliburs(my school's drill team) and I am really hoping to make it. I LOVE to dance! It is my latest PASSION! Well, other than guitar. I'm actually doing really well with my guitar too(breaking it over Larry's head) Lol... Not really. oh man he would kill me... Not only for hitting him but for breaking a guitar!!! and I would miss it GREATLY! Hmmm... I have been in my school's plays lately. I was margret in the last play called Much ado about nothing! A very intersting play if you ask me. Whoa... and Margret... what a Character... although she only has two lines she walks arround and she is kinda like a mime in a way... well... she also has this window scene...
*Makeout Scene* *cough*.... A very intersting scene... and the person that played margret... (Me) has the biggest crush on the Claudio of the play... One of the main characters.... OOOO... Gorgeous! lol my heart just went THUMP and woah i was gone... Lol well ummm I think that is about it other than school is really good... I have like a "C" in Financial literacy but every one knows i am not that good with math... the only thing that gets me is I have an "A" in Geometry... kinda weird, huh? I have a "B" in drama... not sure about American Studies... but I have had two big projects one right after the other in that class!!! About drove me UP THE WALL! well I have a "B" in French, An "A" in English.... Umm thats about all i know there... I believe I am done... Well have a WICKED AWSOME weekend! Luv you all,
Lili XohXoh

I am larry, an there were some that called me larry.

2007-01-04T15:54:00.000-07:00

Sitting down to enjoy a nice drink of ice cold eggnogger, he was unaware that lurking behind him was the killer rabbit.... Bunny. There's something in this eggnog.

So hi, I'm larry. You can call me.. larry. I'm 20, have no life so to speak and I play alot of video games. I'm also a intermediate musician, but that's not very important. Where to start with my very off the wall and different life. I spend half of my day writing music or lyrics. The other half is as follows, wake up, shower, eat, scare people, eat and last but not least my favorite sleep! I actually do alot more in life, but since this was something I was forced to do you can imagine why I'm writing like I am. *wink wink, nudge nudge, know what i mean, say no more*
So a brief dramatic and sad story from my life. Boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, boy and girl fall apart in seperate lives... Boy and girl die heartbroken. I wrote a song to explain how I felt bout the situation, it's very very deep however. So if you read it, it might be confusing. But the emotion is there if you imagine it in your mind as I did when I wrote it!

Ahem...
The Room
I see you sitting there alone
no one to call your own
the musics playing so loud
too many voices, too much sound
I reached out for your hand in mine
but you were only a fictional dream
I raced against the sands of time
it wasn't what it had once seemed
you couldn't see me standing there
a pure image of the clearest lucidity
for you I couldn't be there to share
I never had you, you never had me
I played you a series of songs
but the words remained the same
I forgot how to tell what was wrong
we washed away in the coming rains
now the time is over and the story done
I could never be your shining hero
for you I could never be that certain one
you let me fade away into the setting sun
you let me melt away into the dying sun

So there it is. Layed down on the line. I'm different, I prefer to stand out. However to you I am merely another human being in the world. Who until just barely you never knew existed. I have a million stories I could tell, a bunch of life experiences to share. Life can be interesting. I leave with you a small thought. Where would you be today, if the first person you ever fell in love with had never existed? And if you were still with that person, where would you be?

Update On RickyLee

2007-01-03T14:16:00.000-07:00

Well, I have less than one hour before work beckons it's call to another day of binding the Lord's books and magazines, which are shipped around the world in almost every language. The year 2007 is upon us and I have been anxiously awaiting the set-up of my home recording studio for my music. I hope to have it in action within the next week or so, perhaps days. I have spent many years (40+) entertaining the masses in nightclubs and private settings and now I feel the need for a new direction. I plan a focus on returning to the "Roots Of My Raising"
and to the music I grew up with and cut my "Musical Teeth" on. I plan on putting together a CD of tunes of the old west way of life and those pertaining to the state that I call home -Wyoming.
It will include some of the songs that I wrote and some that I grew up with that touched the lives of others along the way. I plan to focus on the "Cowboy Way" which will include old songs of the west and a little cowboy poetry here and there. I cut my teeth as a little boy with the Rocky Moutain Cowboy (Roy Barnes) and I plan on carrying on in his tradition. One of these days, soon, if you listen to the wind you may hear "Hello everybody, how do you do, this is Ricky
Lee, a coming to you!!" May the wind be at your back.......until then......adios!

Mom's News

2006-12-27T19:41:00.000-07:00

Guess what, guys - Christmas is over!!! :) So is the shortest day of 2006! :) I hate short days. Love sunshine - the more the better. So Christmas being over means the days are getting longer and that makes me a very happy camper! Each day means gardening season is one day closer. I can't wait.

My step-mom passed away the Thursday before Christmas and was buried on the 23rd. That meant a hurried trip to Idaho but for the first time ever photos were taken of all 11 of her children/step-children in one group. I'm looking forward to getting my copies. I had my daughter Suzie, who is a professional photographer, take photos of the group as well as of each of the children and their spouses. I don't figure I'll ever be together with everyone again so this will be a good memory. Too bad Momma and Daddy weren't there in person to be a part of it all.

I joined the Utah Poet's Society this year. It's been interesting. I have to confess I don't care for much of what passes for poetry these days, though. Give me Longfellow or Shakespeare or Byron any day.