Beneath the Wraps

            At the end of last month (July 29) I mentioned that I decided to go back to school online.  Thus far I have taken four classes.  Two I've completed and I will have finished two more by the end of next week.                         Currently I am taking an English Refinement class and a Philosophy Class called the Introduction to Logic.  My instructor LOVES philosophy.  I do not.  Fortunately it hasn't been as huge a challenge as I had predicted. I've actually gained a repoire with my instructor and have been flattered by her feedback.             On the last day of July I posted the first assignment I had turned in for that class.  I shared it mainly for those that may be required to take the class also in hopes th...

          We've been told that Oregon's hottest month takes place in August.  Thus far I have not noticed a drastic difference with the weather here as I had in Salt Lake.  We moved in at the beginning of summer last year.  Oregon was going through a drought.  The entire summer was ALWAYS HOT.  Fire temperatures were extreme.  Grass was brown and dry.  We were told that would make for a hard winter.           By Utah standards, the "cold" winter of Oregon (west of I5) last year was really mild.  It was our first winter in Oregon, so again, we don't actually know any better.  We got snow.  We're told that snow is rare.  Perhaps we'll have a more accurate experience this year.           Thus far, the hottest days (in my mind) were July 28 - 30 - the three days that Myrtle Creek had their s...

                What is it with people saying, "Guess what"?  When I said/asked it to my parents, did I really expect them to guess? Does anybody?  Whenever Jenna has approached me with "Guess what?", I have given often given her an outrageous answer that she actually seems to enjoy, and it has become a game for us.                 "Guess what?"                                 "You woke up to find an elephant in your bed this morning."                 "Guess what?"                 "An elephant was reported ...

        I did not post between the 17th and the 23rd of last month as my sister and family had come to stay with us for a week.  The boys enjoyed climbing the hill that is basically our entire backyard.  Uncle Roland had introduced Gary to the blackberry bush.  Each day he would climb the hill and grab a few berries and bring them back to the house.         They arrived on Saturday night and went with us to church on Sunday.  Those who served in the nursery LOVED BJ and were hoping for his return the following week.  (Kayla and Bill do have beautiful children)  My brother-in-law took this pic just over a year ago. Gary and Anna were in the same primary class.  I sat with them during singing/sharing time.         I briefly described our Monday.  Picked blueberries and separated cars.  Roland went with Bill who drove his car ...

            Last month was definitely the coolest July temperature wise) that I ever remember.  28, 29 and 30 were hot.  Yesterday was nice and cool, but extremely windy.  It is the second time I recall an Oregon wind knocking me into a coma. It could have been a combination of the wind and the allergy pill I had taken  to knock out the huge amount of smoke from the fireworks.              The three hottest days were also the three days that were used for Myrtle Creek's celebration.   They have been doing this for 30 years now.   I believe they started the tradition on July 27 - or perhaps that's the day that Myrtle Creek was founded as a city.   But I don't know what year.   The celebration of summer festival takes place on the last weekend in July.             I did not take as many pictures ...

            As I mentioned in my last post, I had to read this article   for an assignment. The students were asked to summarize said article and place ourselves into one or more of the six stages and share reasons why.  This is what I came up with:                 "For this assignment, I would like to summarize the six stages of critical thinking as explained by Richard Paul and Linda Elder.   To simplify the understanding of my own mind, I will touch on just a few traits of each of the six stages of Critical Thinking. For the first stage I use some examples of characters that I think fall into that stage.  The rest of the stages I will compare to motherhood as an example.                 "The first stage is called an Unreflective Thinker .  So...

To "miss the boat" is to  miss the point of or fail to understand:                 Several years ago I was working for an employment agency in Salt Lake City, Utah.  The agency had sent me on a temporary assignment to state's Department of Family and Child Services (DCFS) -  a department seemingly to be more dysfunctional than many of its clients.  I was told the assignment would be for only a couple of months - but I was there for almost two years and off and on for almost the next five.                 As I recall, I made a suggestion of sending out letters to newly adoptive parents or potential adoptive parents - I can't remember the reason - but in my mind it seemed like it would be a start for whatever it was the department was trying to accomplish.  I was asked to write the letter and send it to...

            Last week our ward hosted a service project at the high school. There were three areas that needed attention.  First and far most was the shed/ticket booth.  That needed to be primed and painted.  Second, weeding of the grounds - particularly over by the restrooms and track.  Third, power wash the bleachers. Ron appeared to be in charge of said activity.  He gave the assignments and we all went to the areas we had been assigned.             There were six of us painting the shed.  Roland took over with delegation.  He has always been a "take charge" kind of guy.  Those who showed up to late to the activity  just assumed that Roland was in charge.  I was impressed with how Roland conversed with an eight-year-old from our ward (geographical boundary within the church) explaining what we were doing, why we were doing it, and how it wou...