order

"When I cannot bear outer pressures anymore, I begin to put order in my belongings....As if unable to organize and control my life, I seek to exert this on the world of objects." --Anais Nin

I read this in a Real Simple magazine not long ago.  The picture has been hanging on the wall above my desk.  It perfectly describes my life of late.  I love the picture that they chose to go with the quote!

But since I can seldom resist the urge to insert a little humor in a situation; I found this picture, which also quite adequately illustrates the quote.

Don't Look Back

One of my favorite Mormon Messages.  We're learning about Lot's wife in Seminary next week--I've really enjoyed re-watching this video!  To read more about Lot's wife and not looking back read this. 

Patience is a Virtue

I hate it when people honk at me when I'm stopped at a light when I'm driving.  It happened again today.  Let me make it clear, I am not someone who sits endlessly at a light without going--if I were, people could honk as much as they wanted to.

Take today for example.  I was unfortunate to be behind a Modesto City Schools bus that was belching unsafe quantities of thick black smoke.  I was also unfortuate enough to be driving "the truck" which does not have air conditioning, so I had the window down on a warm afternoon.  So when the light changed from red to green, I let the bus get a little head start so I didn't inhale too much of its' exhaust.  The person behind me honked!  I remind you, this was seconds after the light changed.  The people in the other lane hadn't even gone yet.  I feel this was very unnecessary.

Other occassions when honking is unnecessary....

• You really have to allow the person ahead of you enough time to move their foot from the brake to the gas before you honk.  We are not all sitting, gunning our engines like we are at the Indy 500.
• When people are still crossing the sidewalk, I'm not a fan of running people over just because they cross the crosswalk a little slowly.
• When cars run red lights coming the other direction.  I'm also not a fan of being broadsided just because the guy behind me is in a hurry.
• When there is a car in front of me. Don't honk at me, I don't ram other cars.

So remember, patience is a virtue!

Defining Ourselves

Today was not a fine day.  Generally I feel fairly confident about who I am, I try not to let the circumstances of my life define who I am or how I feel about myself.  But today was another matter entirely.  I hit a squirrel, with the car.  It was very unpleasant for me (and I'm sure for the squirrel as well).  But now all I can think is, "I am a squirrel killer".  I'll try to get past this new, unwanted definition of myself.

From the mouths of babes

Yesterday I told the kindergarteners the story of the little red hen.  It is a pretty cool flannel board story, and they were very interested!  After I was all done, one of the little girls raised her hand  and with all the earnestness of a 5 year old said, "if you don't do the work, you don't get any of the good stuff that comes from it."  Wisdom at its finest......

Lessons from this week

So I've thought about some things this week--some serious and some not-so-much....

1. I think I really love orzo pasta. I've never really used it, and in fact, until recently never even knew what it was. But it is such a fabulous little mix of pasta and rice! We had it the other night with some chicken with the most fabulous lemon artichoke sauce...delicious!

2. If you're going to teach seminary you have to have a really great pair of boots (or 2). It is really hard to get up on a cold morning and put on a dress. Wearing boots cuts the pain just a little bit. And there are some side benefits as well...you don't have to wear nylons every day of the week and you can wear some really quirky socks and get away with it!

3. I firmly believe that Special K is putting more yogurt clusters in my favorite cereal. It is hard to believe that in these difficult economic times you would get more of something, but I really think it is true! I haven't done a scientific study to prove this (e.g. counting them) but when I pour it in my bowl in the morning I really think there are more of those tasty morsels and sometimes that is a very bright spot in an otherwise ordinary day!

4. Live your life with no regrets. The husband of a dear friend of mine is missing in the rubble of a hotel in Haiti following a 7.1 earthquake on January 12, 2010. She is waiting to hear word of him and the anguish has been excruciating for her and all those around her. She has taken comfort in knowing the last words she said were "I love you".