Beneath the Wraps

          I started this blog on New Years of this year.  I was faithful to write every single day – or almost every day.  But when school ended, so did my once-a-day posts.  My focus had to be on Jenna.  And when school started back up, mom’s memory had deteriorated and so I seemingly started spending more time with her (especially when Corey had gone back to Las Vegas – where he is now registered as a permanent resident in the state of Nevada) and so I still haven’t gotten back to one a day. Perhaps I never will.           Kayla and her two children met Jenna and me at my mom’s on the Thursday of Thanksgiving.  I had gone because it was my day and we had already celebrated Thanksgiving dinner with the family on the Saturday prior.  Kayla brought her kids because Bill wanted to clean the carpets.           They had left the hous...

The thing I enjoyed most about Thanksgiving was that each year was spent with a different group of people than the year before – not always.  For the most part our Thanksgiving dinners were intimate.  10 -12 people.  Nothing overwhelming like the 30+ number that my neighbor from across the street likes to have.  The more, the merrier – or so is her opinion.  I prefer less people.           Sometimes we would enjoy the Thanksgiving holidays with various neighbors.  Sometimes extended family.  Sometimes just us.  Each one different.  Each one with positive memories.           I recall one year spending it with a couple who had two children.  I think mom and dad had only three at the time.  The movie, The Jazz Singer (the version with Neal Diamond as Jess Robin), had just gone to the dollar theatre.  It was part of a double feat...

          Jenna was so excited to be going to Melody’s dragon themed birthday party.  We both wished we lived closer so that the girls could spend more time together – though my cousin is ALWAYS connected to a schedule – or it seems, wanting to make plans and have get togethers but rarely ever finding the time.           She and her husband seem to spring for more elaborate parties than Roland and I could ever give – though we have attempted a few times – there was always a restriction on how many friends could be invited.  Always less than ten.  I’m guessing Melody’s invites have always been 30 – 50.             Michelle and John started out with Gymboree ,   MusicTogether ,   and other playful invites.  Michelle didn’t want to deal with the mess at her own house – though I don’t think this is actually the first ...

          The church was across the street from our first house.  The members used to do a Halloween party every year.  There would be a dinner, costumes and activities.           People would gather in the multipurpose room to begin with.  And there were 4-6 rooms off to the side where the children could go and participate in various crafts, games and stories.            One Halloween my family was asked to host a room.  We found one that did not have windows.  We set up a large cardboard box in the middle of the room.  Roland and the boys worked from inside the box.            On the outside we had painted pictures of tombstones, skeletons, ghosts and maybe leaned toward the scary icons of Halloween and not the cute pumpkins and such.   ...

          On June 3 of this year, my brother, Corey, marched in the Pride parade.  I wanted to show him my support by marching with him – but it was at the same time my granddaughter was being blessed.  And so I did not march in the scorching sun drenching my clothes in sweat or caused pain to my feet or back while walking in improper shoes.           Yesterday I walked with Jenna in the youth parade for Days of ’47.  We walked with a small group of girl scouts.  We’d been told that we would be number 40, but shortly after we arrived, we learned that our group would be second following the police officers on their motorcycles.           I thought the girls who were leading were walking entirely too fast.  We were walking much faster than a parade pace in my opinion – we weren’t spaced out well enough behind the moto...

        In addition to sharing my birth month with Mothers' Day, half of my birthdays happen to fall on Memorial Weekend - which actually bothered me as a kid (or rather when the holiday was pushed to the Monday prior to the 31st) because everything was always crowded, nothing but war movies all weekend long, and like I really have a strong desire to visit cemeteries on my birthday.         But now that I think about it, having freedoms is a pretty awesome birthday gift.  So thank you men and women who helped fight (and continue) for this awesome gift.  What an honor it is to celebrate your day with you!  Have a good one

          Roland had been in charge of putting together the  Mothers’ Day program last week.  It was AWESOME – one of the most amazing Mothers’ Day programs that I remember.           It was based on Pres. Uchtdorf’s talk from the September 2011 Relief Society Meeting.  The theme of the talk was based upon the “Forget-me-not” and five pieces of advice that we should not forget.           Roland introduced the theme of Pres. Uchtdorf’s talk and introduced those who would be speaking. The first speaker shared with us a bit about his childhood.  He has seven siblings.  All eight children were expected to play a musical instrument. The first petal was to “ forget not to be patient with yourself ”.  No one is perfect, even though there are many who may appear so.  The first speaker reminded us of patience. I unfortunate...

          Two weeks ago we left the state to be with Roland’s family.  We spent most of Friday driving, checked into a room and spent two days there.           We didn’t meet up with the family until after 4:00 pm on Saturday.  Roland and his brother had both come from out of state to celebrate their mom’s 85 th birthday.           The eldest sister had actually sent the invitations out in January.  We had told her repeatedly that we just didn’t have the finances.  And just the week prior, we didn’t even have reliable transportation.  We ended up borrowing my mom’s car and our expenses were paid for.           There was Elvis, and dancing, and hugs, and kisses and a tremendous surprise.  Roland’s mom had an exceptional birthday.  Cameras went off in all direc...

            I am out of town right now and so did not post yesterday . . .  My computer and printer are both went to “fix-it” shops.  I did not plan on posting to my blog for the next four days. But it is raining now.  And the birthday party we showed up for won't be starting until later this afternoon.  So I am using the computer at the hotel.               I finally was able to add pictures on my 95 th post.  It wasn’t that hard.  Corey told me where the icon was.  I don’t know why I didn’t see it before.  What an idiot (me, not him)             For two years my daughter’s schools celebrated the first one hundred days of school.  Last year the student were asked to draw their perception of how they would look when they reached age 100.  This is...

          Roland and Jenna have birthdays exactly 50 ½ years apart.           Roland enjoys comics.  He has read DC, Marvel, Black Horse, Gold Key.  He enjoys Hulk, Batman, Green Lantern, Green Hornet, He will watch programs that feature superheroes, Justice League, Dark Knight, Iron Man.  His absolute favorite is Superman.  He has collected comic books, posters, George Reeve tapes, Christopher Reeves, and more recent than that.  He has watched Lois & Clark, Smallville, cartoons and whatever else might be Superman related.  And Jenna has watched some of his programs with him. For her birthday this year, she decided to have a cake with Superman.  Oh, really? We talked about doing a superhero themed birthday party.  She had watched Justice League with Roland and was aware of Wonder Woman and decided to go as her.  Now she would l...

General Conference has been cancelled due to the weather The IRS is sending 700 dollar checks to everyone who has sent their paper work already.   These checks will be sent issued in June. Gas prices are expected to go down by the end of this year.   You will see happier people with extra money in their pockets as they will be able to fill their tanks at less than two dollars a gallon. Mitt Romney has dropped out of the Presidential election NBC has decided to rerelease the original three seasons of Star Trek in prime time.   If the three seasons are as well received as they hope, they will start the forth season with a look-alike cast.   Auditions are scheduled to take place next month. Ocean Spray has a new product in the makings.   It is called “Pine-berry” jam.   It is a combination of pineapples and cranberries.   This product has been introduced to consumers as a sample and has been very well received.   Pine-berry jam i...

          Last year Jenna excitedly left the house.  She was dressed in green from head to toe (at least four shades as I recall)  I wish I would have gotten a picture of my very non-Irish looking girl enthusiastically greeting the day.           Yesterday she wore the green shirt that she had received from girl scouts the night before.           There is a parade this morning.  She wasn’t happy about the last parade that she was in.  The elements are different.  The last parade she was in was on July 17. It was hot and unbearable.  The last couple of days have been very windy (actually this entire month, I think) and probably will be today. For this post I will share a bit of my daughter’s fun personality: Jan 23, 2012:           My dad was a math gen...

                   Every year Jenna’s goal is to stay up until Midnight.   To stay up until Midnight would make her so much more mature than she already is.   Only grown-ups stay up past midnight.   Oh, the joys of getting older.           Each year Jenna has conked out around 10:00 or so – not to mention Roland and I – who have somehow turned into old fogies who fall asleep before nine.   This year I actually made it to Midnight.   Jenna was asleep at 11:30.   Face down on the couch.   It was actually quite amusing.           Roland came in to send her off to bed.   I asked my grumpy little girl, “Would you like to me to wake you in half an hour to wish you happy New Year?”   She mumbled and plopped in bed.   I smiled and turned to my Blog.  ...