All Hallow's Eve

Hey there my friends..........Greetings and salutations........and....
Happy Halloween! I don't have any cool fall-ish pictures to post. I wish I had pictures of my nieces and nephews in their costumes because I hear they are so cute! There's a lady bug, a Clone Trooper, princesses...cute! I dressed up as a nerd. Why? Because it was an easy costume to throw together.

To all of you out there...Happy Halloween!

I Haven't Had 40s Therapy. Yet.

On Saturday I will be 36 years old. A lot has happened in 36 years. I started life backwards. I was in a cast for a congenital hip and subsequently a brace for the better part of my first year of life. I started Kindergarten at the age of 4 in Maryland. I would attend 4 elementary schools, 3 jr. highs, and 2 high schools. I graduated in 1989 from Hillcrest High School. I attended Snow College, received an AA, then headed to Utah State. After getting a BA in History, I went on a mission. I remembered thinking that I had finally gotten to that stage in my life and I couldn't believe it because I had wanted it for so long. Romania was amazing.

I worked in a private school post-mission before spreading my wings again and moving to Kaohsiung, Taiwan, ROC. Taiwan was brilliant!

Finally settled back at home, I went back to school and got my teaching license. I started my career in teaching in my thirties. Today, when I was telling some students something about "when I was in my twenties" and then expressed the shock that I could say that, they kindly said they thought I was in my twenties. I will love those girls forever for that.

I've travelled more than many in my almost 36 years of life. I have seen almost half of my siblings get married, most of them have children. I've seen them grow and develop into fantastic young people. I'm proud of them.

I realize I still have 4 years left in my thirties. I feel like I should have more. Am I ready to head into my forties? I don't think so. I haven't had forties therapy yet.

The Selfish Giant

When I was a kid, my parents got us a cassette tape called "The Selfish Giant." I remember we listened to it over and over. The story began to Edvard Grieg's Pier Gynt, Suite 1, Op. 46 Morning Mood. I don't know why, but I've been thinking about that story lately. Knowing I can find anything on the internet, I searched it out. I didn't search thoroughly enough to locate the old cassette tape but I did find a printable version and a short animated film in three parts on You Tube. Because I am a techno idiot, I can't manage to upload the actual videos, I've listed the links here. Just copy and paste the links into your browser. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I have!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBWURy1surI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC8Gizdv3Go
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xu8797m_D8

Here is a link to the actual story written by Oscar Wilde.
http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/SelGia.shtml

Nonsense

Traffic signs make less and less sense to me, especially when they are posted in construction zones. Yesterday while driving home, I saw a sign in a construction zone (that probably recently celebrated its second birthday) that read "SIDEWALK CLOSED USE OTHER SIDE." That would be fine except for the fact that there is NO sidewalk on the other side. The entire road is torn up on that other side. It doesn't make sense to me. I hate construction these days. With another winter looming upon us, I am not looking forward to driving through a neverending construction zone again.

Cousins

It wasn't until one of my cousins passed away that I realized how important that relationship is. Because we moved around so much during my growing up years, I missed out on getting to spend lots of time with my cousins. I didn't even know my paternal cousins until I was in my thirties and I only actually met one of them. As an adult, I have gotten to know many of my cousins. They are awesome people.


Now, I am an aunt. I get to watch my own nieces and nephews interact with one another. They are such good friends. It's truly amazing to me to see what I missed. I love watching them play together. Caden is the only boy in Utah and really misses his cousins, Craig and Kavyn. They are like the Three Musketeers when they get together. The older girls (McKennah, Bethany, and Allie) play together and then there are the younger girls (Emma, Saydee, Erin, and now Lauren). I observed the younger ones, minus Lauren sliding down the stairs on their stomachs on Sunday. I love everything about them...their cute voices, giggles, kind personalities, even the crying (usually). Saydee made sure I got my share of the Jelly Bellys my sister brought.

I hope they are always good friends.

The Mom Song

All you You Tube fans out there will probably have already seen this. All you moms out there ought to see this. It's pretty funny! Just copy and paste the link and enjoy the ride.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anSpBUxsgAU