Life in Haiku

March 18:  

  

Cupcakes, soft and sweet,

Icing piled high upon top

I resist, then eat.

Six weeks to teach class

Hard work, late nights, stress galore.  

Slowly, it does pass. 

My "mole" is not a mole. 

My foot is healthy and well,

but for the little hole.

Two People

March 17:  

I pinched TWO PEOPLE today:
1. Glen
2. Emma
 Emma tried to get away with wearing this sticker, but it kept falling off leaving her  with nary a speck of green on her.   Glen didn't even try.   I guess he figured that since he's the boss, no one at work would dare  trying to pinch him.

I definitely did not pinch these TWO PEOPLE today: 

I told off TWO PEOPLE today:
1.  My doctor

2.  The manager at the fitness center we just joined


I thoroughly enjoyed the YW activity that TWO PEOPLE planned:

1.  one of my Laurels planned to make this  ice cream bread
2.  another Laurel planned for us all to sing-along to Disney songs

Now I wish I were TWO PEOPLE.     

My head is barely above water right now and I could really use a clone  to help me get a few things done! 

SIGNS OF THE TIMES

March 16: 

Today we had to make a quick stop at the library to pick up a couple of poetry books for Adam's English class.   There in the library parking lot was this parked car.  

There was an old man sitting in the driver's seat taking a nap.  On his forehead was emblazoned the Alpha and Omega symbol.     Ellie and I giggled a little as we walked past, but I couldn't help but wonder:      1.  Could he actually drive with that contraption on his car?   2.  Was his mental health okay?   I assume the answers to both questions were, "no," but, hey, at least he's making a statement!  

Later on, we passed this awesome church sign:  

I love me a good church sign and this one is often full of good one-liner wisdom!  

On a related note, I think I'd thoroughly enjoy a stint as a church sign letter layer. 

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Beware the Ides of March

March 15:   

"Beware the Ides of March," Shakespeare warned us hundreds of years ago.   Still I woke up today and attempted to function!  And only a couple days after the advent of Daylight Savings Time at that!  

It was not pretty.    

I yelled at the kids.  I tore into a project, only to get half-way done and abandon it, leaving a bigger mess than I started with.   I backed out of a commitment.   I worried more over the situation with Mr. Jerk Bully.  I never put on make-up or changed out of my sweats.  I obsessed over a weird new mole that randomly appeared on my foot.  I was anti-social when a friend was over.  I laid down on the floor to do sit-ups and fell asleep.  I had to put myself into time-out several times.  

In a small victory though, I did manage to eat well for the day.   We are off the Whole30 diet now, but we are still trying to be better about watching what we eat.  Tonight we had baked salmon over chopped spinach with a fresh fruit salsa.   It was delicious and made me *almost* forget about wanting to eat a decadent dessert too!   I held fast though, even if it probably contributed to my general state of nonfunction today! 

Later, in an attempt to salvage what was a fairly crappy day, we went to the gym to at least try and get some exercise.   

Too bad the kids were so excited about rock climbing and swimming (things that need chaperones), that I didn't get an ounce of exercise. 

They had a great time and can't wait to come back again.  

I, however, will forever shun gyms and interactions with all humans, projects, and productivity on all future Ides of Marches that come along!    I think it probably best for everyone that way.  

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Ellie's Accidental Acting Troupe

March 14: 

 Ellie and her friends have accidentally formed an acting troupe and have been gathering regularly at our house to practice a play.   How do things like this happen accidentally?   Well, it all started out as a play date that over time has gradually grown into a weekly or  every-other-week play practice.   The play they're working on is, "Into the Woods," and it's been a fun experience watching them practice and prepare each week.  

Their preparations have included watching the movie to write down dialogue and lyrics, making costumes,  and lots and lots of practice singing.   And at one point during the show, Ellie's character screams shrilly.  I think it's adorable that  every time they get to that part, they come and tell me  right beforehand not to be scared or worried about the screaming, which is a good thing, because it's loud enough to make me jump even with the warning.  

These girls are full of creative ideas and I have loved watching it all start to come together.  

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Home from Church Quiz

March 13: 

Heigh ho, heigh ho, it's home from church we go!  

Which means that in this picture we were:

a) starving

b) well-fed

c) relieved

d) tired

e) rejuvenated

f) all of the above

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And the correct answer is {f}!    

After church we are always: 

a) starving--1:00pm church means that we usually don't eat lunch before church, so by the time we get home we are ready to  stuff our faces. 

b) well-fed--we come home nourished spiritually and inspired by the lessons and talks that were given

c) relieved--I always come home a little relieved that lessons went well and that we had no major hiccups 

d) tired--this late schedule of church means that I'm "on" during my low energy time of the day and I come home extra tired

e) rejuvenated--I love how church energizes me for the week ahead

Mulch Madness

March 11:  

Some people start talking about "March Madness" this time of year, but around here we start talking about "MULCH Madness."  What is Mulch Madness?  It's an annual fundraiser we do for our ward's youth group.    It's a HUGE undertaking where we deliver thousands and thousands (this year about 40,000) bags of mulch to local residents and it partially funds all of our youth activities for the summer.  

Usually I let Glen and the kids take the lion-share of our family's involvement with the fundraiser and I stay home with the younger kid(s).   This year, though, Glen was too busy and it was me or nothing, so I've spent the last two days toting vanfuls of youth around town and throwing around 50-lb bags of mulch like they were nothing.  

Here is my crew from yesterday.   

They may be cute and petite, but that doesn't mean they were wimpy!  I got to witness their amazing strength up close and personal!

They were AWESOME!!!!  

...and I slept VERY soundly last night.  

March 12: 
Today we woke up at the crack of dawn to go for day 2 of Mulch Madness.   This time Emma and friends went with another driver and  I ended up with Adam in my group.

He and his friends were bursting with energy and it was fun to watch their enthusiasm and positive attitude for a demanding job.  

I thought it especially funny that they just randomly decided to do a sit-up for every bag of mulch they delivered.  That meant nearly 900 just today and still they were smiling at the end of the day.   

My Saturday work crew!  

We delivered record numbers of mulch this year and still managed to finish in record time.   

We can definitely check this off as another successful MULCH MADNESS fundraiser! 

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A Little Brighter

March 10:     

We have a sibling group text going amongst most of us Crains. It's mostly a lot of political banter and trading cute stories about the kids, but since there are so many of us, it's not unusual that on any given day at least one of us is feeling a little grumpy or off.  

 It's become a tradition that when anyone says something negative about their day that we trade cute pictures of our kids.  My kids are cute-ish still, but really aren't likely to make anyone's day better.   It's Matt's kids that we really want to see pictures of.   Not only do they live across the Atlantic from us, which means we don't see them much anymore, but they're also the youngest of the Crain cousins, which clearly also makes them the cutest!   

 Seriously!  How could you keep from smiling with that sweet face beaming out from your text messages?  

Yesterday though, instead of sending pictures of his kids, Matt started sending out old pictures of US!  Here's a picture of me and my baby brother, Nate.   Actually we were both babies still.   I was only 13-months old when he was born and surely didn't really know what hit me, but it was fun to see that I liked little babies even then!  

I am grateful for Nate, Kristina, Peter, Heather, Matt, AnnaLisa, and Tim (and Mom and Dad)!

I'm blessed to call them family! 

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Awesome Night

March 9:  

The last couple of weeks have been one nonstop thing after another on our schedule.   So what better way to slow down and rejuvenate than a temple trip with the awesome young women and young men from our ward?   We only had about 50% of the youth there, but it was a fantastic night, made even more fantastic by the fact that so many of the youth brought their own family names to the temple...many of them for the first time.     In fact, they brought so many names with them that they didn't even get through a third of them (they finished about 100 out of the 319 names they brought).   

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Spring is Here

March 8:   

What's the best about homeschooling on a beautifully warm spring-like day?   

The opportunity to rearrange our schedules and spend time outside enjoying it!   

They still got some schoolwork done, but Ellie and Adam also ended up playing frisbee golf with their friend, Andrew, and Emma and I went for a walk at Gravelly Point with friends.  

Later Adam and his friend, Luke, spent time outside unwinding a baseball...

and eventually found out what the center looks like.  

Tonight we had one more youth family history night at our house and helped a few of them find 50+ more names to take to the temple tomorrow night!   

All in all, a beautiful and successful day! 

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Hi Laura!

March 7: 

Most people think that my parents were just creative spellers who decided to be cute and leave the "U" out of Laura when they named me.  But I'm here to tell the world that it just isn't so!    Not only is "Lara" its own name, with its own derivation (Russian) and meaning (citadel; shining one), but you won't even find "Lara" on the variant spelling list of "Laura", nor will you find "Laura" on the variant spelling list of "Lara".   

If my name was 10 letters long, I'd understand, but somehow the way those four letters comes together seems to confound everyone, even my good friends who have known me for years.   I try not to care when I get yet another email  addressed, "Hi Laura!"   But truth is, I do care.   I instantly feel a pang of worry that somehow that person doesn't care as much as I thought they did, especially when they don't correct themselves.  

  Please spread the word that it means a lot to people, especially to people with more unusually spelled names, that spelling matters!    

My name is  L-A-R-A, which is not interchangeable with Laura! 

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Laura: 

The name Laura is a Latin baby name. In Latin the meaning of the name Laura is: Laurel tree or sweet bay tree (symbols of honour and victory).  

Lara: 

The name Lara is a Russian baby name. In Russian the meaning of the name Lara is: Citadel (protection); Shining one.

A Delight

March 6: 

Glen and I have been talking a lot lately about making the Sabbath day more of a delight in our home.   The idea is based on the scripture, Isaiah 58:13, and it's been a thought provoking process for us.   For a long time, we've thought of  keeping the Sabbath day holy more of us keeping to a list of things we can't do, but now we're trying to be more deliberate about making it more of a day to bring us closer to God and help increase our faith.   

So what kinds of things are we doing to make the day more of a delight?   

Well, in addition to going to church, today we did boatloads of family history to get ready for our youth temple trip this week, 

we made and brought cupcakes to one of my young women whose birthday is today,

 we ate a simple break-the-fast meal of nachos, Glen and the girls went to their Savior of the World play practice, Emma got caught up on her seminary reading, I wrote a few letters and got some YW work done, Ellie did some artwork of a temple, and we listened to beautiful music on my favorite Sunday channel on Pandora.  

We're not perfect at it by any means, but as we've tried to be more deliberate about our Sabbath observance, I've definitely felt an increased peace and sense of renewal to begin our week.   

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8 Miles, A New Hobby, and Cami for the "W"

March 5:  

Adam and I went for an 8-mile hike today along the C&O towpath and  Billy Goat trail A.  Along the way we saw 11 great blue herons, 3 bald eagles, a bunch of beautiful scenery, and a raccoon.  

Tonight Cami and the women's lacrosse team played in a home game against U of U.   They beat the Utes 12-7 and Cami got  a little playing time, which was good since she had a pretty substantial cheering section there just for her.   

And on a completely random note, I skimmed this article this morning....

and couldn't stop laughing when I got to this part....

Apparently, some people have a wee bit too much time on their hands.

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Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Morning

March 4: 

These woods are ones I really know. 

I drive through them daily to and fro; 

I sometimes like to stop here 

To watch the woods fill up with snow. 

My little car must think it queer 

To drive with so many snowflakes near 

In the quiet woods near my house just starting to awake

The gray and sparkly morning:  likely the last of the year. 

I pause to soak it in and then a deep breath take  

And brace myself for another day to move and shake. 

My list of things to-do is long and deep 

Full of busy tasks and decisions to make. 

The woods are lovely, dark and deep, 

But I have promises to keep, 

And miles to go before I sleep, 

And miles to go before I sleep.

with apologies to Robert Frost

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