Reflection

I have not taken time for over a year to write in this blog. I guess when I turned 40, my blog moved to the bottom of my priority list. I have often felt that I shouldn't be neglecting my blog, that I could, perhaps, say something that would be of help to someone. Perhaps.

Many things have happened this year that cause reflection. My maternal (and last remaining) grandfather died in April. My brother Brian came out of the closet, just to name a couple of those things. I have come to realize the absolute importance of my relationships and am working to strengthen them. I have learned that through everything I have emerged a stronger person.

The most recent event to capture my undivided attention was the election for U.S. President. The results were, in my view, most unfavorable. However, I have undying confidence in the United States as a nation and the Constitution upon which the laws of the country are based.

My father, in light of the distressed feelings expressed by some of his children, sent this email today. I'd like to include it here because I think what he says is something that can bring peace...it certainly did so for me. I post this email with permission from my dad.




Some of you have expressed considerable concern and frustration over the recent election results. I can certainly understand that. Just as some folks found the 2008 election "historic," for us this election represented the possibility of something equally historic. It wasn't to be for now. There are a lot of reasons it happened this way, some of which are fairly obvious and others we may never fully understand.

Let me encourage you, however, not to let it bother you so much that you get ulcers or lose sleep over it. This country has endured any number of traumatic elections and bad presidencies and will no doubt endure many more. Keep in mind that Lincoln's election was greeted with the secession of 7 states before he was even sworn in. That's something worthy of the name "crisis."

It is worth remembering that we answer to a higher power than a president, or congress, or any other man-made government. Gracie Mantoan posted a photo of Pres. Monson on Facebook with the caption: "My president didn't change tonight." Whenever we get to thinking there is some magical political solution to the world's ills we need to reread 2 Nephi 4:34 and thank our Heavenly Father for our testimony of the gospel and for the blessing of personal revelation.

We owe it to ourselves and to our families to remain optimistic and full of faith that the Lord will help us navigate the roughest shoals and make a safe landing on the far shore.

Love you. Buck up. Keep your families close to you and keep yourselves close to the Lord.

Pop

All Hail Global Warming

With temperature lows at 3 and 4 degrees Fahrenheit, and with windchill factors making it seem even colder, I'm really grateful for the idea of global warming.

This morning when I was driving to work and watching the temperature gauge in my car rapidly drop degree by degree I couldn't help but think about how glad I was for global warming. After all, if humanity weren't facing such a global problem, we might all be Popsicles. It would be really difficult to move around. Imagine driving as a Popsicle...impossible!

Thank the heavens above that we are in the middle of a global warming crisis, we might all freeze to death!

Spiritual Therapy

The following are the contents of a message I wrote for my ward Relief Society newsletter this month.

Some time ago (I’m not sure when or how), I injured my shoulder. Not just any shoulder, mind you, but my right shoulder. The shoulder that’s attached to the arm that’s attached to the hand that does all the important stuff a hand does. For a couple of years I dealt with the pain that would creep up every now and then. I tried to avoid sleeping on it or over exerting it. I even altered my killer volleyball serve. It didn’t work. Over this last summer the pain went from annoying to bad. When I began having a difficult time washing my hair with both hands and putting on a shirt over my head, I started to really wonder about whether or not I should see someone about it. I even started thinking about how I would write on the board once school started again. Still, it wasn’t until a couple dear friends nagged me to death that I decided to get it taken care of. The doctor recommended physical therapy and I can tell you I was not super excited about it. I knew it was going to hurt; that it may not work.

I started physical therapy. The therapist assessed the damage, worked my arm a bit and gave me exercises to do at home. When I first started to do these exercises it was very difficult. I couldn’t do some of the exercises. Weights were eventually added to some of the exercises in order to build strength up in my shoulder. Over time, my arm and shoulder have regained some mobility. There is less pain. Now I can wash my hair without too much trouble, write on the board (if it’s not too high up), and even pull a shirt on over my head.

Here’s what I have learned through this experience: We are sometimes injured spiritually without even knowing it and while there may be a little “pain” in the beginning we make adjustments so we can continue to function spiritually. Sometimes we live this for years. However, over time we sometimes become spiritually immobile. When that happens, we need help. We need a “spiritual therapist” to work our spirits a little and give us daily exercises that strengthen our spiritual muscles. It can be painful at the beginning, but eventually, we will again know how to use our spiritual gifts and talents.

Our spirits need constant nourishment and exercise. I pray we will turn to the Savior. He is the ultimate Spiritual Therapist.

The Dress

For those of you curious about the dress comment made in my previous post, permit me now to clarify.

I was asked to be an usher at the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House. No denim allowed. Crap! Previous to Friday afternoon, I owned NO dresses...so...I went shopping. I purchased non-denim Sunday items. There. Now I can go to the open house properly attired.

Life is good.

Relief is in Sight

Neat freaks everywhere: Heave huge sighs of relief!
Okay...Really, I'm heaving huge sighs of relief because Chaos, a recent visitor to my household, is packing up his bags and getting ready to leave. The desk and book shelves have been assembled and books actually put upon them, cables have been hooked up to the computer, TV, and DVR. Floors have been vacuumed. Hallways have been cleared away. Laundry has been done. Dishes will be done. Surfaces are cleared. I can breathe! Ahhh. As my mom always said, "A place for everything and everything in its place." A sound bit of wisdom from my sage mother.

Now all I have to do is go dress shopping...but that is a subject for an entirely different blog post.

LOST

LOST is currently my favorite show on TV right now. It returns tonight for it's 5th and penultimate season. I can hardly wait!!!

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!

Succumbing to the Tag

Three Joys

• Reading
• Teaching
• My family

Three Fears

• Losing my family
• Forgetting Romanian
• Insanity

Three Goals

• Winning a Teacher of the Year award.
• Having enough money to go wherever I want with whomever I want.
• Buying my own little place.

Three Current Obsessions

• Books
• My iPhone (getting the new 3G as soon as it comes out)
• Treats

Three Surprising Things

• I love public speaking.
• I like fish. They're quiet.
• Gardening. It's kind of fun.

I tag April!

Another Flashback Friday

This picture is of my grandpa playing horse. On his back are my sister, Sylvia, and either me or Kathryn and one of my cousins. My late Uncle Ole is in the blue shirt on the couch behind us. My Grandpa Berg is a funny man. He was born in Norway and moved his family here to the States after WWII. He worked on the railroads (Southern Pacific) and built the house my mom grew up in. He is my only living grandparent.

Vater

There is much to be said about my dad. To say it all could fill volumes. 

My dad was born in Perham, Minnesota to Iris and Henry Abel. He was their eldest child. My grandma had been married before and had two daughters. Two sons came after my dad to complete the family. My aunts have many stories about my dad. Everyone thought he could read before he could actually read, because his sisters had taught him what the different bottle caps looked like. He was a young person during their dating years. His sisters' dates used to give him money to go away. "Here's a quarter kid, now scram!" I'm told he earned quite a living off that...or, at least, he got a lot of ice cream cones with that money. They lived in Vergas, Minnesota for a time and eventually moved to Downey, California. His older sisters stayed in Minnesota. They had both married and were settling down in Minnesota. I imagine it was somewhat difficult for my grandparents, my dad, and his two younger brothers to say farewell to his sisters and move so far away. 

My dad graduated from Downey High. Incidentally, he was a band student and in the same band class as Karen Carpenter. That's just cool! My dad went to BYU in Provo after serving a mission in the Central German Mission. He met and married my mom in 1970 and I came along about a year after that.

My favorite memory from growing up is that we kids used to wrestle my dad. He took us all on. We always won because he let us.

They raised nine children who are all trying to be decent people. So, I'd say they've done a good job. They have 12 grandchildren from their five married children and that number will move to 13 before the end of the year.

Here's what I've learned from my dad:

1. How to balance a checkbook.

2. How to pack a suitcase/trunk/shopping cart.

3. How to drive.

4. My love of history and books (especially books about history).

5. That sometimes we have experiences we don't like so we can  help others who have similar unlikable experiences.

6. Countless facts about everything imaginable, which I have mostly forgotten but I know they're in my brain somewhere. (My dad is a walking encyclopedia).

I've been told that I was a mommy's girl in my younger days and my mom says I've turned into a daddy's girl. Sorry about the beets, dad. 

Ich liebe dich!

The End is Here

The 2007-08 school year came to an end yesterday. Taking down my room was a quick and dirty process and by 10 o'clock I was chillin' with my co-workers in my room waiting for the faculty luncheon to begin so that it could end so that we could check out and leave. Students wandered the building despite the best efforts of teachers and administration to keep them in a classroom. Yes, our students who complain incessantly about having to come to school all year long come the last day and don't leave. They stay in the building after school all throughout the year, too. Sometimes they stay until 4 o'clock in the afternoon. I always tell them they have chores waiting for them at home so they'd better get a move on. They always stare back at me blankly as though I were speaking a foreign language (which I could, by the way, but it would be no more effective).

It rained and rained and perhaps that is what contributed the surreal feeling of the day.

It should feel pretty real now, because I'm sitting in my bed at 9:36 a.m. with a post school year head ache and writing this up.

The End is Near!

Another school year is coming to a close. That is obvious. Students are barely hanging on. Teachers are barely hanging on. End of year testing will be complete by today's end. It's been a good year. One of my best years, in fact. 

As my 6th year in the field of education comes to an end, I want to say thank you to my students who have made it such a great year (even though none of them will ever see this blog, because I won't ever give any of them my blog address) and my coworkers who have been so supportive and my good friends. They have made each day something to look forward to.

Ramblings

I have nothing to write about so I've decided to post some ramblings. For all of those who read this, it will be boring. Life has been moving right along. I have nothing to complain about and a lot for which I am grateful. 

I have a marvelous family. 

Amazing friends. 

Spring has finally decided to stick around. Yay!

I'm trying to limit my TV watching. I'm enjoying moderate success. Whenever a jewelry commercial makes an appearance, I roll my eyes. My sister waits for me to say, "Who wants diamonds? Get her an iPod!"

That's about it. Pa!

The Dance

When my youngest brother, Devin, was a toddler, I was 13 years old. As the eldest child, I did my best to help my mom with the baby. One of the things I liked doing the most was picking him up and dancing with him to the tune of Chicago's "You're the Inspiration." As Devin has grown up, he has heard me talk about that time in his life. 

Yesterday, Devin got married.

Because he and his wife (yes, I'm freaking out, too) met at a dance place, they set up the reception to include dancing. When "You're the Inspiration" played, my baby brother took my hand, led me out onto the dance floor, and danced with me. He looked down at me (he's been much taller than I am for some time now) and said, "It's a little different now, isn't it?" I danced the rest of the dance in tears.

Hristos a-nviat!

In Romania, at Easter time, a common salutation is, "Hristos a-nviat!" This means, "Christ is risen!"  I have always loved this tradition. When I lived in Romania this greeting served as an ever-present reminder of the greatest of our Savior's miracles to us. The angels said, "He is not here. He is risen." 

They can't pinch you!

This has never been my favorite holiday. Here's why: My mom was 6 (or almost 6) when she came to the United States from Norway. She was, of course, unfamiliar with many American holidays and traditions, like Saint Patrick's Day. She was a young elementary school student on her first St. Patrick's Day holiday. Students at her school were ruthless and pinched her arms until they turned black and blue with the bruises. It wasn't until a kind little girl in her class picked up a small bit of grass and put them in my mother's pocket, with the comforting words of, "There. Now they can't pinch you," that the torment ceased.

I don't know if my mom remembers the name of that little girl. My mom has never forgotten how she helped her. I'll never forget the story.

My Sister's Boyfriend

My niece, Lauren, who is 1 1/2 years old  is someone, who, like other young girls her age, only wants to be with her mom. She needs more than a little coaxing to be moved away from her mom especially when she is in a grumpy mood. This is not the case with my sister's boyfriend, Mike. Lauren seems to fancy him. It was really cute to watch her sit on his lap and color and then later, she let him put on her shoes and socks. Here is photographic evidence of the cuteness factor involved.

I've been tagged...

So I guess I have to write a few things about me. 

10 years ago I was living in Taiwan teaching English.

5 Things on my "TO DO" List:

1. Finalize my shopping list.
2. Read
3. Sleep
4. Run the dishwasher.
5. Study this week's Sunday School lesson.

Things I would do if I became a billionaire:

1. Pay tithing.
2. Pay off my student loans.
3. Travel and pay for my friends to come with.
4. Establish a savings account for all my nieces and nephews.
5. Pay off my sister's house for her.
6. Buy a brand new car.

Three of my bad habits:

1. I bite my nails.
2. I sneeze into my shirt sleeve.
3. Watching TV and talking to someone on the phone.

Places I have lived:

1. Provo, Utah
2. Ft. Meade, Maryland
3. Indiana
4. Massachusetts
5. Columbus, Georgia
6. Ft. Huachuca, Arizona
7. Augsburg, Germany
8. American Fork, Utah
9. Jonesboro, Georgia
10. Eugene, Oregon
11. Midvale, Utah
12. Ephraim, Utah
13. Logan, Utah
14. Ploiesti & Bucharest, Romania
15. Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Republic of China
16. Murray, Utah
17. Riverton, Utah

Jobs I have had:

1. Village Pet Center
2. Chick-Fil-A
3. West Jordan Care Center
4. S.E.P.S. Learning Center (Tutor)
5. English Teacher in Taiwan
6. Tester for Jordan School District
7. Educator

Things most people don't know about me:

1. I had long hair when I was younger.
2. I still have my wisdom teeth and my tonsils.
3. I seriously thought about joining the military when I was in college.

Okay, Julie, you're it!

I also tag my cousin, Kristal.

Cousins, pt. 2

It's always fun when family gets together. The kids pair up with one or two of their cousins their age. The boys always find a space, DS in hand and play away their time. Even though Craig and Kavyn are twins, when Caden is in the picture, they are just like triplets. The younger girls go off and play with each other or color or find an adult to read to them (very often it's me, which I love). The older girls find a place to play or choreograph their own dance routine to be performed later. Here are a few pictures from the last get together.