Beneath the Wraps

             Ester's birthday is coming up soon.  I thought we should get her a book.  She seemed to be into princesses the last time we had seen her,  and so I chose one with Disney princesses.  It's a step-into-reading treasury included with six stories, a two sided princess poster and 24 miniature princess stickers. I think she will like it.              We were at Costco and Roland didn't seem in too much of a hurry and so I took my time looking through some other books that were on display.  I smiled as I read "Everybody Loves Bacon" written by Kelly Dipucchio and illustrated by Eric Wight.               Besides the wonderful illustration, I found it to be a clever story on remembering your friends and what might happen to someone who gets a swelled head.  I think Tony would have enjoyed the same humor that I fo...

         Aside from being overly quiet, my dad seemed very unobservant.   A running joke was that my mom could shave her head bald and spraypaint her scalp gold and he wouldn’t notice.   He said he would.   And perhaps he did notice things but never let on that he noticed – therefore we assumed he just wasn’t observant.          But now it is I who misses out.   I wish I was more observant than I am.   I think one of the greatest things about spending time with small children is that they observe everything.   They notice so many things that I have taken for granted.   I love it when I have the opportunity to explore the world through their eyes.          Roland is very observant.   Hopefully Jenna will continue to take after him and both of them will point out the things that I continue to miss.   Jenna...

            I remember listening to a ranger who loved and respected bears and did not care for zoos.  As a child, I thought zoos were wonderful.  Seeing pictures of bears is not the same as seeing a real live bear.  Many don't have the means to travel and search for bears in their natural habitat - and even then - watching through binoculars is still not the same as being close - though having an animal remain behind bars seems cruel.             A zoo can never provide the same amount of space for each animal as each animal is given in the wild.  The animals don't have to share inversion with humans as they do in the city - where their space is very limited.  Animals in captivity don't necessarily live longer than animals in the wild.  Perhaps the contrary.  There will always be two sets of answers.  That doesn't make them accurate. ...

            Yesterday felt like a Saturday.   Jenna was off because of parent teacher conference – which evidently was by invitation only.   I hadn’t been contacted – which they say is a good thing – but they said I could make a last minute appointment if they had the room.             So our appointment was for 7:50.   I dragged Roland to get a feel of what was needed for her math assignments and to assist with anything else.   He has worked a lot of parent-teacher conferences.   A LOT!   I remember many a years attempting to visit with the boys’ teachers all by myself.   Once it was 21 teachers for all three boys together.   I also had the challenge of maneuvering Jenna in her stroller when the boys were in high school.             Parent-Teacher conferences are do...

This month started out with the pattern of sunshine, sunshine, overcast, rain, sunshine, sunshine, overcast, rain.   I thought it might continue, but the last few days have been rather warm. Well, compared to Februarys’ past. It’s crazy that I would wish the air conditioners were up.   Never would I have ever considered turning on the A/C in February while living in Utah.   There is still snow on the ground and I generally don’t want take walks outside.   But I am fine being outdoors in Oregon.   75 degrees really is not that hot.   But 69 is perfect.   I like being outdoors when it’s between 68 and 72.   Anything above 72 seems too warm to me.   And the inside temperature is always hotter than the outside. Roland had turned the heat down in the bedroom.   He’s unable to turn his own heat down, however.   And he likes to cuddle.   Snuggling with his is like being smothered by a humongous hot water bottl...

            BYU had sponsored a bunch of youth activities over the years.   I remember staying at the dorms one time when our stake had gone for an activity for four or five days.   We’d have workshops and activities to do each day.   I remember having had enjoyed myself.               I don’t recall the year that I was introduced to pioneer trek.   I was looking for some history online, but thus far all I’ve come across is this article that barely mentions BYU’s involvement in the 1970s.             Our stake and at least one other would be making the trek together.   We were divided into groups.   There were three in my group that I knew from my stake.   Everybody else was from the other stake located in another county and thus I had never met them before. ...

    “Jumping the Gun” is a phrase I’ve used before – and although I knew what it meant, I didn’t understand its origin – so why on earth would I use a phrase that I myself didn’t understand?     I looked it up online and came across an explanation of foot racing (though I suppose it could find to any other kind as well) in which a gun was fired to start the race.  The runner who was “jumping the gun” was the runner who took off (or attempted to) before the gun was fired.  Thus “jumping the gun” is acting before the proper time.         We have been house hunting since before Christmas.  Our initial offer made on a house (here in Oregon) was made on December 1.  But we couldn’t get the kind of loan that we had planned for, and so we had to withdraw.      Meanwhile, we still owned a house in Utah but have signed that over to our youngest son.  He and his wife ...