Beneath the Wraps

          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...

          For those of you interested in the “Once Upon a Time” series and have NOT watched the April 1 st episode in which we learn why Regina is such a witch, you may want to watch it before continuing to read this post as I’m about to reveal a spoiler.           Flashback to a scene where a horse rider and stable boy are embracing and she expresses her love to him.  But it is a forbidden love – one that her mother just wouldn’t understand.           I was actually trying to figure out what fairytale it was – and why the female character looked so familiar.  (I didn’t realize it was Lana Parrilla until she said the name of her character;  I hadn’t recognized her as that character because she was nice – likeable – not the character she became – the one we love to hate)         ...

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...

The owner of a convenient store in Preston, Idaho was interviewed about his selling the Mega Million tickets for last night’s lottery.   Still a chance to purchase. They don’t have the lottery in Utah, and so one has to go across the border to make purchases.   Over half a billion dollars.   It is mind boggling really.   I think 20,000 would be mind boggling.   Our account has never seen more than 4,000 at a time (and it went quickly.   Always does) So Roland comes home yesterday and recaps the news story and asks what I would do with that much money. “Well, first I would pay off all our bills.   I would buy new cars (or drivable cars rather) for ourselves and for Bill and Kayla (as they are also experiencing the sluggish dying car thing) and move.   Definitely move.   We could purchase a duplex near Jenna’s school.   Bill and Kayla could live on one side and we could live on the other.” “You’ve got half a billion dollar...

What is it that makes each of us happy? For many of us it consists of simple everyday things – intangible at that.   We enjoy freedoms.   We enjoy seeing pleasure or satisfaction displayed on the face of another.   Smiles, clean water, sunshine, rain, playing games or enjoying other activities with close friends or family members.   The associations we have built up for ourselves.   Serving others.           I am not a morning person, but I enjoy hearing Jenna singing in the morning.   It makes me happy to know that she is happy.   And I know that she is happy when she’s singing.           Experiencing joy is different from one’s definition of happiness. Happiness can come from material things – perhaps not permanently, but rather on a temporary scale.   We seek pleasures or feel contentment.   Riding a bike makes Jenna happy.  ...

          Roland and I purchased a playground set for Jenna the year that she turned three.   The set included two swings, a glider, sandbox frame, picnic table, slide and fort.   I must have taken at least a hundred pictures of Roland and our boys putting it together.           Jenna loved her fort.   When we moved, we dissembled it and put it back together about five months after we moved.   We like the yard here so much better than in our first house.   But she doesn’t seem to spend near as much time there as she used to.   I suspect she’s just outgrowing it. Over the years I’ve repainted at least twice.   And the wind has torn away the green nylon roof.   On the lawn itself one can find pieces of board that were initially attached to the play set.   When (if) we ever leave this house and move again, the fort will stay for the new ...

          There are several programs that we know our child has seen at least ten times just this month.  It’s true that many episodes get repeated.  But just as often, many programs just start sounding the same after a while.           I love the laughable things that are said.  Jenna and I can laugh at the same program, but usually at different parts.  And usually whatever is funny to me makes her wonder exactly why I am laughing.           There was one time (before Jenna had started going to preschool for four days a week) when she was in my bedroom watching Sesame Street.  I had just finished folding clothes and was going in and out of different rooms and putting the folded laundry away.  So I wasn’t watching Sesame Street, but was in the room long enough to hear this dialogue between Maria and Telly. ...