Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

The city arts council is showing Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat for the summer theater production.  I am involved with the arts council in a round-about way.  I do the office stuff.  I make copies, schedule the building, and make sure the reimbursements and bills are paid, and get the contract put together with the biggies in New York so that we have the copyrights to do the shows, and I recruit my kids to come and help at the ticket box office.


I saw Joseph the first time, at Tuacahn I think, and many times since.  Tazia was one of the brother's wives at her high school production.  But since the first time have seen it a myriad of times.  I love that show and actually it helps explain why the brothers turn on Joseph which I didn't understand from reading it in the bible.  Jacob obviously didn't see the danger in doting on Joseph and voicing that he was his favorite and then giving him a beautiful coat of many colors.  My mom and dad used to debate about how Joseph got into Egypt.  My mom said that the brothers sold him into Egypt, and my dad said that the brothers sold him to some Ishmaelites, who then sold him into Egypt. They called me in to solve the debate and I was not going to side with either of them.  I just read what it said....Joseph was sold to Ishmaelites....and according to the musical, my dad was right.


The costumes, sets, and the acting are surprisingly excellent.  You know when you see excellence because you tear up and it takes your breath away for a few seconds.  Each show that the arts council puts on hits the excellence mark and continues to move up the excellence yardstick.  


Joseph faced many disappointing times and was in jail a long time, and in service for an even longer time, but HF had a plan for him.  I believe that HF has a plan for all of us.  I don't believe that we have to bungle through this life alone.  


When you see the courage and strength of someone else it gives you courage.  Even this Broadway version of a bible story gives me courage and strength I need.  


One of my cousins posted this on FB yesterday:  "This is for someone out there - God asked me to post this for you!  Be strong and courageous.  Do not be terrified, do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.  Joshua 1."  I am sure she posted this for me. 


And so I take courage from people around me that I see have struggled and are still struggling with life.  Because I still struggle.  Joseph, you are my hero.

Beta I and Beta II

A few months ago a friend posted on Facebook that they were moving and would someone please adopt their beta fish.  Being the lonesome girl that I am, I sent a message and she delivered the fish to my office the next day.  The kids wanted to know if they could come and visit the beta anytime.  I said SURE!

I took the fish home and he wouldn't eat.  He lived for about a week without eating and then one morning he was racing around the jar he lived in like something was after him.  When I came home for lunch he was belly up and he found his resting place in the white throne.

I immediately went to Petco and bought another beta because I was so afraid that the previous owner kids would want to come and see the fish.  I bought another beta that was very similar, but not identical.  He is a very beautiful bluish turquoise color.  His name is Shark, which inspires him to be the best he can be.  He started eating the next day after he came home with me.  I like him a lot.  Except I think that he is trying to live up to his name and is trying to eat me.  Twice he has gnawed on my finger when I dipped it in the vase during a feeding frenzy.  Holy smoke Shark, down boy.  Then tonight when I was sprinkling his odd-shaped worms on the water for the feeding, he jumped at me again.  It isn't like he doesn't get fed.  He eats well and jumps at his food like he has to kill it.

A couple of weeks ago I bought another beta fish.  He is such a beautiful pink.  I remember when my kids used to have beta fish and we would put them side by side in their tank and watch them flare at each other.  It was the thrill of the day.  My two fish must be used to each other because they don't care and don't ever flare at each other.  But Shark does continue to try to eat me.  My new fish isn't this dark coral, he is lighter and pinker.  The new fish is named Fin.

I like these guys.  They know me....not like "Hi Cheeryl, how are you today?"  But as soon as I walk into the room they are flipping and flopping all over the place trying to get attention.  Perhaps it is because I am the bearer of food.  Even when I put them on the table when I am studying, they move to the side of their tank where I am.  I kinda think they like company too....well at least I know they like food.

Life Isn't Easy I

It breaks my heart to see so much strife in this life.  People driving into washed out roads and a teenager killed...an 8 year old boy, walking home from day camp, killed and dismembered...and health problems...and emotional upsets....and more marriage problems and divorces.  Why can't we all just be ok?  Why can't we all just get along?  Why are these bodies temporary and falling apart?

Some days the only things that pull me through the sadness and depression of life are the little happy things I find around me...my quilting class, block of the month; taking a grandson to a splash pad and watching him make new friends; the sun on my face; two roosters in the neighborhood that wake me up each morning at 4:00 am; the flowers on my porch; my grandbabies, O how I love them; my children, they inspire me; Luke Peterson's farm open for business; people that recognize me because of my kids; and music and stories and scenery that touches my heart and soul.

I organized all my paperwork.  It only took all day Saturday last week and part of this week, but it is done.  I loved the surprises I found as I went through it.  Dated memories.  Poems from my children and one in particular from Kateka.  Coupon book of service from Tazia.  Letters from my missionary boy Travis.  Pictures of Makayla and jj just after they were married at Christmastime, they just glowed.  I finally have all my paperwork in one filing cabinet in my closet.  Even just getting one part of my life organized makes me happy.

So I guess the message of this blog is that through all the trials, and misery that we face as mortals, there is still so much to enjoy and be happy about.  Generally it is the small things that make us feel ok again. I am back to  coming up with a happy thought each day.  This was an emotional survival technique that me and the kids came up with at a point in our lives when we were so sad after the emotional earthquake in our lives.  It was amazing to me how well it worked!  In fact, one of the papers that I found while going through paperwork was from Kateka, and it said, "Here is your happy thought for the day" and it was something about getting together after school, after work.  Just the smallest things can make such a difference.  Sometimes that small thing is something you do for someone else to lighten and brighten their day.  My dad always used to tell me that "Happiness is a by-product of things you do for others."  Thanks dad.

Sometimes happiness is a byproduct of taking the time to notice the little things that make a big difference.

Hexbug Nano

I bought two Hexbug Nano for the grandbabies to play with when they come over.  Gentry slept over last night so I got the Hexbugs out.  One is black and the other is green.  I think the green one is a little faster.  The Hexbugs are eerily realistic and remind me of crickets.  They were crawling all over the counter and then jumping, and crawling all over the floor and under the door into the pantry, and then getting lost under the goodie cabinet and were out of control.  You should see them crawl across the keyboard of the computer...I really had to resist the urge to get the fly swatter out and beat the L out of them.  I knew they needed to be contained.  I got out a cookie sheet and the Hexbugs were so happy to be running on it.  They run into the walls and immediately turn and head in another direction.  They bump into each other and it doesn't even phase them.  They flop over on their sides and immediately can right themselves.

These are pretty amazing little pieces of technology.  We took them with us outside to dig in the flower garden, and they came along when we had lunch, and Gentry just found a new habitat for them in the lid of the taffy jar.  We have had to try them out on every surface we could find.  Hey, how does it work on my arm?  How about in your hair?  How about on the driveway?  Can they move in carpet?  Now we want to get 20.
http://www.hexbug.com/nano
Gentry just asked me "What if they were called Creepytrons?" He will have to design those.

Dang that Toothpaste

Arrrrrrg!  I am so sick of waking up in the morning and finding that the inside of my mouth has peeled due to toothpaste!  I was using Colgate Total and loved it, but was a little annoyed because the bottom left side of my mouth would peel every morning after using it.

I talked to the dentist about it and he said I should buy a "sensitive" toothpaste.  I bought Colgate Sensitive and was so happy with the large sized tube.  I thought for sure that my peeling problems were over.  After using the sensitive toothpaste, I woke up and found that the WHOLE interior of my mouth had peeled, clear up to my lip line!  What the L???  I waited about two weeks and tried it again with the same results.  I want my money back!

I contacted Colgate and will see how this turns out.  I don't think I am defective, because my dentist said when he uses certain toothpastes that it makes his mouth peel also.  I love my dentist and believe every word that falls from his lips.  And the most important thing..he has cute hair :)

Serenading Crickets

Each night when I go to bed, crickets serenade me through the moments when I am falling asleep.  Their busy little legs are working overtime.  I am so glad it is crickets instead of dogs barking.

It always drives me nuts when I hear the neighbor's dog barking just outside my open window.  I want to get out the paintball gun and plaster him with neon pink paint!  If I had a paint ball gun that is what I would do.  Then when I go to work the next morning I would see my handiwork plastered all over the black and white and pink dog.  With a smirk on my face and a giggle in my heart I would love to see that as I drive past.  I bet it wouldn't be too long before the dog learned not to come to my yard and bark his guts out at night. 

So the crickets are a welcome sound outside my window and remind me of happy thoughts as I drift to sleep....home in Tabiona....Jimney Cricket...

Birthin' Babies

I watched The Business of Being Born yesterday and actually felt quite proud of the birthing choices I had made.  I had three of my babies at home and all of them natural and would have had the fourth at home except for several factors that played into it:  living in Colorado away from the midwives, being in labor and not knowing how bad it was going to get, stopping in Roosevelt, having to travel many hours in the back of a van to get to Salt Lake.  All these things played into it.

As a young girl, when I read Mrs. Mike that was the first time I thought of having babies at home.  Mrs. Mike was married to a Canadian Mountie and had no choice except to have a midwife with her for the birth of her babies.  The romantic factor that played into it was when the Northern Lights danced when her babies were born.

Before I was even pregnant I bought a book Spiritual Midwifery by Ina May Gaskin.  I read it from cover to cover several times.  Ina May lived on the "Farm" which I think was a hippie commune.  She was a midwife and delivered babies all the time without incident.  At the end of the book it says, paraphrasing:  "If you are pregnant and can't take care of the baby, please come to the Farm and have the baby and let us take care of it.  Don't have an abortion."  I loved Ina May at that point.  I loved the Farm and the idea of having babies at home.  I knew my mom was going to have a problem with it though and she always did.  I was the first person I knew in my generation to have babies at home.

When I was pregnant the first time, I went to a medical doctor and tried to express some of my interest and fears, and he blew me off and said, we will talk about it when you are closer to having this baby.  I walked out of his office feeling like a cow in a herd.  I started searching for midwives in Utah and I found some incredible organizations and women.

So as I watched the movie yesterday, all the feelings came flooding back about birthin' babies.  Even though baby #1 was born in a hospital, I did not take drugs, so I have never had a drug induced birth.  Let me tell you, they were painful.  After baby #1 was born, I talked to my mom and said, "I can't believe you did that 5 times!!!!"  All the books I had read talked about moving, and walking, and being an active part of the birth rather than laying there like a slug.  I didn't want to be a slug.  I didn't want the drugs I took to have an affect on my babies.  So those are the reasons for my choices.  Husband, at the time was very supportive because we had no insurance and because a home birth was only around $1,000.  Cheap!

Please do not be offended by anything I have said here.  This information is based on my life and my choices at the time when I was having babies and does not reflect any negative sentiment on having babies in hospitals or with drugs.  It is always your own choice and however you choose to have your baby is perfect.

Can Your Horses Sleep Over?

I live on an acre of land and am not good at plowing down the weeds, or should I say "natural grasses" that thrive here.  So I am always grateful when someone asks if they can bring over their horses to eat their way around the house.  Currently I have a friend's two horses right outside my house plowing through the weeds for me.  Last night at a meeting I heard that the rye grass was only about 18 inches tall in our city.  Not so at my house.  The rye grass is over 3 feet tall here.  So you can see why I am always glad that friends will allow their horses have a sleep over.

There's a Spider in my Dishwasher

I opened the dishwasher and a big, fat, black, hairy jump spider jumped and ran down the interior door of the dishwasher.  It was a clean load of dishes.  How in God's green earth did a jump spider get in the dishwasher you ask?  Well, I'll tell you.  I don't know.  But I knew I had to kill the spider and wash the dishes again lest I find a spider nest and webs on my clean cups.  I chased him inside the dishwasher with a fly swatter and accomplished my task.  What can I do next that will rival the fun of a jump spider in the dishwasher?

This is a test

This too!