Momma's Little Helper

My sister, Sylvia, is an amazing cook. I can still remember watching her run out to the back yard and grab an apple or two before coming inside and whipping up a pie crust. Put it all together and the results were delicious.

Yesterday she made a lemon meringue pie. Her little girl helped her beat the egg whites and add the sugar in order to make a perfect meringue.

It tasted as good as it looks.

Got Safety?

After it falls to the earth, snow must be cleaned up. That is, driveways must be cleared, sidewalks and roads shoveled and de-iced, cars dusted off. In that spirit, my dad, mom, and sister (Patty) cleaned up the snow from off cars, sidewalks, and the driveway. It took a while, but they did it. And they did it efficiently. I watched the event from inside with my little nephew.

If only I could say the same thing for our city bureaucracies. This year, due to our "crumbling" economy, there isn't sufficient money (so I've heard) for cleaning off the roads. I don't know about you, but there are certain things finances shouldn't get in the way of, and safety is one of those issues.

I just wanted to vent a little.

Thank you to my parents and sister who efficiently cleaned off our little chunk of property.Baby Brian and I watched from inside...you can see that he isn't about to take his eyes off his mom.

S%#@

The word "snow" is a 4-lettered word in my opinion. Mostly, I hate driving in it. I wouldn't consider myself to be a nervous driver, but in the snow, any trip is taking with fists clenched and white knuckles. The thing that makes me the most nervous are other drivers who are completely oblivious to the weather conditions.

That said, I will admit that I like looking at snow as much as the next person. On Christmas day we got around a foot of snow in the valleys of Utah. I am grateful that I didn't have to drive in it. Some of my siblings and their families did, however.

The day after Christmas, I took a couple of pictures from the comfort and warmness of my parents' home. The posted pictures are of my parents' back yard.

Christmas Lights

My sister and I decorated our Christmas tree a little late this year. Oh well. I decided to take a picture of the lighted tree with my iPhone's camera function. I took the picture mostly to see how the iPhone's camera would work. I admit, it's pretty cool.

Technology aside, I love light and one of the things that I love most about the holiday season is seeing all the lights put up everywhere. It's almost magical.

I hope you agree.


Merry Christmas to all and Sarbatori fericite!

4th Time's the Charm

You probably can't tell from the previous post about Little Cakes that these are much better. As it turns out, the 4th time is the charm. There's no stopping me now!

Welcome

Saturday, December 13, 2008, my baby brother, Devin, became a dad. Congratulations to he and his wife, Amber. She's darling.
Welcome, little Elizabeth.

Little Cakes

A long standing dessert in my family growing up is a Norwegian treat called velstang (I'm not sure about the spelling). It's no surprise that we had trouble saying the Norwegian word as youngsters. We dubbed them "Little Cakes" and that is what they will always be. They are delicious and I thought you all might like the recipe.

Little cakes

1 cup water
1 cup flour
4 eggs
1 Cube of margarine

Bring a cup of water and one cube of margarine to a boil. Take it off the heat and add a cup of flour. Mix well into a ball. Add 4 eggs, one at a time, beating eatch egg into the batter. Grease a cookie sheet and place batter in spoonfulls in rows on the cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. (They should be golden brown). Frost after the product has cooled.

Here we go a Caroling!

On December 1, I began to listen to Christmas carols. I grew up listening to the typical Christmas carols we are favored with here in the States. I also grew up listening to German carols, in German. As a missionary, Romanian carols or colinde were included in my listening and singing repertoire. I decided to make two lists...My top 1o favorite secular carols and my 10 favorite religious carols. I've included the artist where I feel it is necessary, or the translation or where the carol is from (if I don't know the exact translation).

Secular
10. Sleigh Ride, Harry Connick, Jr.
9. Where Are You, Christmas?, Faith Hill
8. The Christmas Waltz, The Carpenters
7. Am plecat sa colindam (We've left to go caroling)
6. You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch
5. Grown-up Christmas List, Amy Grant
4. Believe, Josh Groban
3. Kling, Glockchen, Klingelingeling (Ring, Little Bells, Ring)
2. Pa Laver Sitter Nissen (Norwegian)
1. Santa Baby, Eartha Kitt (It's the only version, as far as I'm concerned).

Religious
10. Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht
9. What Child is This?, Sarah McLachlan
8. Es ist ein Ros Entsprungen
7. Steaua (The Star)
6. Il e Ne le Divin Enfant (French)
5. Oh, Holy Night, Josh Groban
4. In the Bleak Midwinter, Sissel
3. Still, Still, Still, Mormon Tabernacle Choir
2. Mitt Hjerte Alltid Vanker (Norwegian carol, sung by Sissel)
1. O ce veste minunata (Oh What Wonderful News)

Just because a carol didn't make my list, doesn't mean I don't like it, too. These are simply my favorites. I could listen to them all day and it would be way better than listening to the lame stuff on the radio that is played over and over and over and over until the carol is dead.

Sunset over Idaho

I've never been a big fan of the state of Idaho. Since my brother and his family moved there, I have had the opportunity to travel there several times. It's worth it to see my family. They love it there and are very happy, which is all that matters.

On our way home on Saturday, my parents and I got to see some divine art. Cameras and camera phones are unable to capture the depth of color but you'll get some idea of the amazing sunset we saw on our way home. It was truly awe inspiring.The picture is not bad considering I took it from my iPhone in a moving vehicle.

I Love You, Sweet Girl!

A cute little Princess and her aunt!

B's Botez

The Romanian word for baptism is botez. I was really happy to be able to attend my niece's baptism. She looked very pretty in her white dress and I was touched to observe my niece sneaking in one more practice run before they left the house for the service. I'm really very proud of my young nieces and nephews as I see them endeavoring to make the right choices in their lives. They help me stay on the right road. What a wonderful influence they are in my life.

Thank you my Little B for your goodness. I sure love you!

Perching

I went to Idaho with my parents on Friday night so that we would be able to attend my niece, Bethany's baptism the following day. Not long after we arrived, my mom sat on the couch. The result of my mom's sitting down anywhere is always the same: we call it perching.

1 Decembrie

Today is Romania's National Day. I thought it would be interesting to gather some information about this important day in Romania.

The following information is taken from Wikipedia. The URL is below. You can go to the Wikipedia site for more information and time lines leading up to Romania's unification.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_of_Transylvania_with_Romania)

Te iubesc, Romania!

Union of Transylvania with Romania was declared on December 1 [O.S. November 18] 1918.

The national holiday of Romania, the Union Day (also called Unification Day[1]) occurring on December 1, commemorates the assembly of the delegates of ethnic Romanians held in Alba Iulia, which declared the Union of Transylvania with Romania. This holiday, set after the 1989 Romanian Revolution, marks the unification not only of Transylvania, but also of the provinces of Banat, Bessarabia and Bukovina with the Romanian Kingdom, in 1918, the Union of Transylvania with Romania being the last event, sealing the unification of the country.

There you have it...to all my Romanian friends, La multi ani cu ocazia 1 decembrie!!!

Darth Lauren

These pictures say it all. I just love that niece of mine...she really brings a lot of joy and happiness into our lives.

Cousins, pt. 3

My nieces and nephews are great friends. I have said this before. It's a terrific thing to see. This morning, before the kiddies left, I took a picture. The first picture is of the sleep over groupies and the second picture is the sleep over groupies and their cousin, Brian. He is in obvious distress because his mom left him on the couch to be photographed across the room from her. But hey, they're all there in the picture.

The sleep over crew!!

Cousins.

The Sleepover

My sister Kathryn and I decided to brave a sleep over with 10 of our nieces and nephews. We watched movies and had pizza for dinner. We put all the girls in our TV room on cushions laid out on the floor and the boys (a.k.a. the Three Musketeers) we put on an air mattress in our guest room/exercise room/guest room for a night.

We all had a great time together. I love building memories!

The Turkey Apple

Here is a picture of a finished turkey apple for those who would like to see it.

Turkey Apples

It has been a long standing Thanksgiving tradition in my family to make turkey apples/apple turkeys...the order mattereth not. Needed for these holiday turkeys are apples, gumdrops, toothpicks, and orange slices (the gumdrop-like candy). One also needs a paper turkey head. My dad has recently given me a pattern for this head.

The gumdrops are placed on the toothpicks, forming the feathers of the turkey. The apple serves as the turkey's body. The orange slices are placed on toothpicks and used as feet.

If you decide to incorporate this tradition in your families, I hope you enjoy it!

Coming on Thanksgiving

I can hardly wait for next Thursday. Here's my top 10 for Thanksgiving:

10. No school.
9. Crisp weather.
8. Turkey apples
7. Lemon meringue pie
6. Cranberries
5. Stuffing
4. Turkey
3. A time set aside to reflect on my blessings.
2. Time with friends.
1. Time with family.

I'm it!

I got photo tagged. Thanks Divinity! Here is a picture from the fourth pic file on my computer at work. It's Allie and McKennah fall. They are not only cousins, but good friends as well and I love them both very much.

Getting Older

This is what I found on my white board this morning after 1st period. I wanted to say thank you to my 1st period class for the awesome b-day sentiments they gave me. I also need to thank the esteemed School Psychologist here at SJMS who brought some b-day treats this morning. That was awesome!

The Bass Clarinet

When I was younger my family lived in Jonesboro, GA. I played the B-flat Clarinet in the band in Utah, where I started my illustrious career as a clarinetist, and wanted to continue with that while in Georgia. My band teacher, a Mr. Julian Jefferson Cramer, had other ideas. He wanted me to play the Bass Clarinet. He offered to teach me privately, so I switched. I learned how to play the Bass Clarinet and fell in love with it. My aforementioned illustrious career was short-lived. We moved to Oregon and then subsequently back to Utah and I no longer wanted to be in the band.

20 years later...

I am a teacher at a middle school and there is a band. One day, a couple of years ago, I stopped by the band teacher's room. There was a Bass Clarinet sitting out. My friend allowed me to pick it up. I attempted to make a sound. Imagine my surprise when a decent sound was emitted from said Bass Clarinet. Even the band teacher was impressed. So impressed, in fact, that she picked up her camera and captured the image for my posterity.

2 years later...

My band teacher friend sent me a copy of the picture. I hope you enjoy it.

New Glasses

I got new glasses!!!

TGIW

Thank goodness it's Wednesday! At three o'clock this afternoon, I'll be starting a little vacation. Fall Recess, formerly known as UEA Weekend, is set aside for teachers to attend classes and inservices put together by the Utah Education Association. We teachers can, if we want, attend and get credit or re-licensure points. I'd like to thank the UEA for their generosity...but no thanks. I plan to reboot my brain over this weekend and rest my weary body. It's going to be AWESOME!!!

October is my Favorite Month!

Ten reasons why October is my favorite month:

10. I get a year older.
9. Halloween.
8. Daylight Savings' extra hour.
7. Halloween colored M&Ms.
6. I can start wearing sweaters.
5. Crisp air.
4. Not too cold.
3. Leaves changing colors.
2. Fall Recess!
1. NO SNOW, usually.

Parent/Teacher Conference

Today is the first session of our fall Parent/Teacher Conference. This means that I won't be home tonight until after 8 tonight and after 7:30 tomorrow. Teachers bi-annually squish 3 work days into 2. The life-saving benefit is no school on Friday.

I must endure 4 hours today and 3 hours tomorrow in a state of almost boredom. Almost. Being a Special Educator, I don't join the teacher mass in the gym where the entire faculty (minus 5) meets. In the gym there are masses of parents and students lined up in front of the teachers they want to see. Little children are often not left at home as their parents make the conference a family affair. These little children are tortured by their parents who make them sit still while mom and dad scrutinize the teacher and their middle schoolers. Some of the little ones manage to make an escape and freely run about the gym until restrictions are once again imposed.

The Middle School Student suffers torture of a different sort if their folks make them accompany them to the conference. If the student is a polite, well-behaved, academically appropriate student, the torture is easy to endure. If the student is the opposite of the aforementioned lot, watch out!

Parent: Why are your grades so bad?
Student: I don't know.
Parent: Well, are you turning in your work?
Student: Work?
Parent: Yes, work? Obviously not.
Student: We have work? We're supposed to turn it in?
Parent: Argh! Why aren't you turning in your work?
Student: I don't know.
Parent: Is it in your locker? On your dresser at home? In your black hole of a back pack?
Student: I don't know.

Is it any wonder this student is feeling tortured at the conference? Is it any wonder that the teacher is feeling a little tortured listening to the exchange? Heck, the parents probably feel tortured themselves.

The above sketch occurs in my classroom more than I would like to admit. The only difference is that there aren't 300 people possibly listening in to the conversation. In my room, it's just me, the student, and the parent(s).

Why do we put ourselves through this twice every school year?

Bill Cosby said it best and he said it in two words: Brain damage!

Art Show

A former student of mine invited me to her first ever art show a couple of weeks ago. My mom and I made the trek and had a very enjoyable time. I thought I would post a few of her paintings.

This picture is at a funny angle because I was trying to avoid getting people in the shot.

This is the first painting that caught our eye. It is actually my favorite of the three my student did.

Here are a few of the paintings that were done. The one by my student is the beach scene.

How to Save a Life

Last night I had the pleasure of attending a class for CPR/First-aid/AED training at the school where I work. Three gentlemen from the South Jordan Fire Department came to facilitate the training.

They did a really nice job and it was very entertaining as well. Here are a few things I learned that I will never forget:

The first three items are direct quotes from the S. Jordan Fire Department Instructor explaining the way to properly perform chest compressions.

"Some people's nipples might not be where they were when they were born."

"Mannequins are not anatomically correct."

"Kids are redundant and pliable."

These three come from the video about First-aid:

"Amputation is an injury that causes bleeding."

"Suspect a head injury if the victim received a blow to the head."

"Burns can be caused by contact with heat."

My Civic Duty

Tuesday: I get a notice for jury duty.
Thursday: My phone crashed. Grrr.
Friday morning: I wake up at 2 a.m. with major pain in my right shoulder.
Later Friday morning: I'm cranky at work. Never a good thing.
Friday afternoon: I'm feeling like I've been drowning at work since school started this year. My phone doesn't work, I'm sleep deprived. My shoulder hurts.
Friday after work: I stop by AT&T to see about my phone. They tell me I have to take it to the Apple Store.
Friday evening: I go to the Apple Store. I wait. Who knew one needed an appointment? I wait some more. They do take care of me. I get a new phone.
Later Friday evening: I call the courts...my number comes up and I'm to report on Monday at 8:30 a.m. for jury duty.

I feel that I can't handle one more thing. I thought most certainly that Heavenly Father would see to it that I wouldn't have to serve jury duty but since I was wrong I prayed that I would see the wisdom in the "one more thing" I was being asked to do.

Monday morning: I am right on time for jury duty. 8:30 sharp!
By 10:30 I am done and $18.50 richer. The defendant decided to take a plea deal.
I invited a friend who works down town to lunch and walked around Temple Square and checked out the Church History Museum. The weather was perfect.

So, it would seem, that I'm an idiot and I learned a great lesson about having more trust in my Heavenly Father who knows what's best.

I never would have taken the day off and I never would have gotten a much needed break to lift my spirits and replenish my energy. And on top of it, I performed an important civic duty.

I Wrote a Guest Post

While in California, I went to a computer museum near San Jose. I wrote a post about the chess game I played with Colter. If you want to read it please visit The Chess Game

Enjoy.

Labor Day

Today has been a glorious day. After only one work week complete with students, I was ready for a day off. It has rained and the temperatures have dropped into the 40s and 50s today. I'm not bothered. I'm at home. I'm enjoying alone time. I've read. I've watched TV. I've played with my iPhone applications, I've played on the computer.

I'm glad that Labor Day doesn't live up to its name!

Everyone's an Expert

I'm a big fan of the Olympics. Winter. Summer. I love them both. I have my favorite events, of course. My favorite winter games include ice skating, skeleton, luge, even some of the skiing and snowboarding. In the summer I'm a sucker for gymnastics, swimming, and diving.

When I watch these events, I become an expert. Instantaneously I know when an athlete's performance makes muster and when an athlete falters. I use phrases like, "stick the landing", "too much angle on the entry", and "pointed toes". I know if a gymnast doesn't stick the landing, he/she is not performing to the highest standards of the event.

Really I don't know anything important about any of the sports but I sure enjoy watching. I am pretty sure I'm not alone. Don't we all fancy ourselves something of an expert when we watch the Olympics?

Isn't that part of the fun?

First Week of School

The first week of school is an exciting time. At least I think it is. I love meeting the new students and seeing the old students from the previous year.

The first day is pretty exciting. Of course, it's a day of disclosures. The kids think it's boring and, frankly, it kind of is. By the last hour, I gloss over the disclosure, the rules, and procedures, because I see the same students three times.

The second and third days are dedicated to the proposition that all students must be tested. We need to know where they are functioning academically and what their strengths and weaknesses are.

The fourth day. Ahh, the fourth day. Now we're rollin'.

I have rules. All good teachers have rules. I'm pretty darn consistent about enforcing the rules. I even obey my rules myself. It is never surprising or shocking when students push the limits. Frustrating, yes. Thankfully, I have only one student who is really engaged in boundary testing.

Now, tomorrow...tomorrow will be a most excellent day.

Oh, one more thing, thank goodness it's a three day weekend!

August Already

Here it is August already and I've been back to work several times to get things set up. My classroom is ready to go and I've spent today making plans for the year. I'm taking on a couple of Math classes and so I want to be ready.

I always feel a sense of excitement as a new year begins. Very rarely do I feel any kind of a sense of doom in the air. I think this is going to be an exciting year and I know it will never be dull. It never is.

Below is a picture of my classroom. The view is from my desk area. I love my classroom. It's a cozy and welcoming place. I don't know if my students love it as much as I do, but then again, that really doesn't matter, does it?

Lodi

I just got back from my California vacation. It was a very nice time, completely relaxing, just what I needed. I spent the first part of the trip with my brother and his family. The last part of the trip I spent in Lodi. There were days by the pool, great company, visits to the beach, good food...a really, really nice time. The temperature was mild. It was even cool at times. My shoulder did not hurt me at all. There's something about that California air. Nothing could have been better than being greeted each morning with, "Good morning, Kirsten. How did you sleep? I love you." Thank you, Colter.

Cow Town, CA

I had a great time with my sister, Karin, in Vacaville where we visited family. We made a trip to Stinson Beach, and Petaluma, and Sonoma. We saw our brother, his wife and son and also our cousin and her husband. We also visited the grounds and visitors' center of the Oakland Temple. It was a beautiful night. The pictures are of my brother and his family, the temple, at the beach with my sister, and together with our cousin.

Mission Memory Monday: Capitalism?

When I lived in Ploiesti, Romania as a missionary, while serving with Sora Parent, we had a funny experience. We had gone to a little shop where we found some canned peaches. We were greeted with the typical, "Spuneti!" It means, speak. We had spotted the peaches and decided to purchase them. We told the woman at the cash register what we wanted. Her reply, "That's our last can of peaches." We again asked to purchase the peaches. Our second request was met with the aforementioned response. We may even have asked for them a third time only to be met with the same response as before.

These were the thoughts running through my head:

If you sell us your last can of peaches, you can order more. We will come back and buy them, too. You will make money. That's good. 

I don't think she would have appreciated that little lesson on capitalism.

Did we get the peaches? You bet!

Oh, by the way, every missionary I ever served with, the missionaries before me and the missionaries who served right after me have stories just like this.

iPhone 3G

Two o'clock in the morning, July 11, 2008: I wake up excited about the Big Day! The new iPhone 3G comes out today and I am determined to get one. I back up my systems, I get dressed, and drive the five minutes to the AT&T store closest to my house. I am seventh in line. I chat some with the guys just ahead of me in line. They have an entire set up: air mattresses, blankets, pillows, and a computer propped up on a blow up chair. They claim they have never done this before. 

At about 5 AM, the line starts to get bigger. Every subsequent hour the line grows. No one knows how many phones have been made available. As the line gets longer, we start guessing where the cutoff will be. Who will have to go  home disappointed? 

At 6 AM, employees start showing up to monitor the line. 

By 7 AM the excitement is tangible. A commotion starts up when the mother-in-law of one of the guys behind me shows up and then his wife. The people behind them aren't too happy. I can't blame them. Store managers come out and simmer  people down. A happy compromise is reached. It's a good thing because most of the people behind me have been in line since 5 or so and tempers can quickly reach hot temperatures.

A little before 7:30 AM the employees come and get a listing of who wants what...black, 16G, white 8G, etc. I put down my order...black 16GB.  We find out there are only 25 phones that have been allocated to that particular location. A lot of people will go home without an iPhone 3G. The line wraps around three sides of the building. 

Finally, 8AM. It is the hour of anticipation. The first people go in the store. They are only letting 4 or 5 people in at a time to avoid confusion. When they come out they hold up their purchase like a trophy. I feel victorious when I enter. The guy at the counter gives me a high five (we had spoken the day before as I was feeling out the possibilities) and he's glad that I made it. I get my black 16 GB iPhone 3G and stumble out of the store dizzy with accomplishment thanking those who congratulate me and offering my own congratulations to them in return. The drive home is quiet. Despite the fact that myriad people are having trouble finishing the set up, as do I, I manage to complete the set up for my phone. 

This is going to be awesome!

Picnic in the Park

Last week, I believe, I had the chance to get together with a couple dear friends from my mission. We met at a park in Bountiful and had ourselves a lovely picnic. Dee Anne and her family came. They are all so darn cute! We all had fun catching up.

Kim and Dee Anne, thanks for the good time!

Stair Sliding

My little nieces love the stairs at my parents' home. I captured some video footage of their antics. I hope you find it as enjoyable as I do. In this particular video, are my nieces Emma and Lauren and a little friend of ours who spent the afternoon celebrating at our house with her family.

Independence Day

Independence Day was a wonderful day spent with family and friends. Here are a few pictures from the day's celebration.

Here are my sister-in-law, April and my mom.

This is my niece Lauren. She's got quite the personality.

Here are my niece, Erin and my sister, Kathryn.