Doctor appointments

Mark had his 6-month follow-up with Dr. Dutta, the urologist, today. The blood tests show that he continues to be cancer-free. Dr. Dutta says he is on a normal progression of healing following the surgery. It can take 18-24 months for complete healing - a slow process, but we are so grateful that Mark is healthy and does not need to worry about the cancer.

Then we went to our family physician and finally got our H1-N1 vaccines. I also had blood drawn as a follow-up to my Vitamin D testing the doctor did with me earlier in the year. A blood test in August showed that my Vitamin D levels were low, so I went on 3 months of prescription-level Vitamin D. Today's follow-up blood test will show whether I can get my Vitamin D with just an over-the-counter vitamin, or whether I'll need the prescription strength.

I am so grateful for good medical care! I worry about our young families with crummy insurance.

I sent our Christmas letter to the print shop a few minutes ago, and will pick up copies later this afternoon. I'm hoping to get them in the mail in 2009 - guess I'd better hurry up!

3" of Snow!

Today was supposed to have a high around 40 and a low around 34, but it never got above freezing all day. We were forecast for rain, but it turned out to be snow instead - 3" of it, which is a pretty good dump for Oregon City to get all in one afternoon.

Traffic was a mess this afternoon - no one was ready for the snow. Mike Koponick left work early, and it still took him 3 hours to go 15 miles. David and Holly were over in Oregon City, and they got stuck, had to put chains on in the snow to get home.

Everyone is safe and sound now. Julia and Maddy have had the stomach flu today, but they seem to be on the mend. So glad to hear that you got a new listing. Good for you to be on floor duty! We are cozy and happy here on Laurel Lane.

Good memories

Here are some favorite photos from our trip. We loved spending Christmas with you! Thank you SOOOOO much for all you did to make us welcome and comfortable. We can't wait until we can come back again.

Ice skaters on Rocky Lake.

Charlie Brown Christmas tree, with Maleena's stocking below.

Christmas morning

Cute couple

Working in the shop.

Goofy card game.

New Links

I added two new links to the blog:
The "Dream Dictionary" down at the bottom.
Mike Koponick's blog - he writes some insightful things, including a recent post about his stomach surgery. It's with the other family blogs.

We are having a wonderful time with you and Dad! Thank you so much for all that you are doing to make us so very welcome.

Home for a day

Had a great trip home yesterday. Arora was good as gold - it was so nice to turn her over to her mommy and daddy last night! Lots of errands and projects to work on today. We plan to leave by 8:00 am, hopefully arrive in Colville by 4:00 pm. We'll be in touch along the way. Can't wait to see you!

Here's Arora in the airport, watching a movie (Chicka Chicka Boom Boom) on my computer.

Safe and Sound in Provo

We arrived in Provo after an uneventful trip from Rexburg. Got here about 5:30 yesterday afternoon. Bryan and Katie fixed us dinner and we had a fun evening together, enjoying all the kids. Olivia is 3 1/2 months old now, and such a little doll. I can't post photos from my computer till I get home, but I'll post some then. She was laughing at Uncle Chris playing peek-a-boo with her.

Arora is having a good time with Abbi and Charlie. She is happier with me than I thought she would be; we didn't even have any big problems with sleep last night. David and Holly spent the night in a motel in Ontario, Oregon last night, and they called this morning to say that they are getting underway for the rest of the drive. They should get in around 5:00 today. It will be nice for Holly to have time tomorrow to get some things organized before Arora arrives. They'll pick us up at the airport at 7:30 pm tomorrow.

I sure do miss Mark, but I am having such a nice time with these young families. Looking forward to seeing you THIS WEEK!

In the Airport

I'll be boarding in about 10 minutes for the flight to Salt Lake. Kendra and Chris & kids will meet me at the airport - we'll arrive in Rexburg about 11:00 tonight if the roads are good.

David says that they've really been working with Arora to get more familiar with me. Now when they say, "Grandma Kathy," she says "Airplane!" Oh, I hope it goes well!

Four graduates! Eric heard for sure that his dissertation was approved! Chris finished his last paper! And David and Holly will walk the stage tomorrow night. I am so proud of these kids. What amazing accomplishments.

I went in to Mark's class to tell him goodbye at 11:00 this morning. He gave me a little hug around my shoulders, and one of his students said, "She's your wife?" Ha ha! I spoke to them in Spanish, told them I was Señora Haynie and that I teach English, and they were really funny about it. I'll miss him, being away for 4 days.

Do call Julia & check in with her about her root canal. The infection was worse than they thought - it may be what's been making her so sick. I hope! Mike has his stomach surgery tomorrow, so Mark is taking a day of family sick leave to watch Maddy.

The plane's about to board - got to go - love you!

This Will Make You Laugh

If you haven't already checked it out, you should go to David's "Funny Clean Videos" blog and check out the video of herding cats. I think you and Dad will appreciate it on a number of levels. One, you had cats for so long; two, you live in a ranching culture; and three, I imagine that pulling a real estate deal together is kind of like herding cats sometimes.

The week is going well, except that there isn't enough time. Cub scouts this afternoon, and then Mark and I went to the temple tonight. Tomorrow is my last night at home to finish up some Christmas projects before I get packed to fly out on Thursday. Hard to believe that Christmas is only 10 days away!

We've had a good rain here - it got up into the low 50s this evening. Sure is nice to have it a little warmer. As we were driving home from the temple this evening, the car headlights were all so pretty reflected on the wet roads.

At home with Polly and the kids

We had such a nice time with Polly. Boy, did we work hard! I wish I had taken a "before" picture, but here is an "after" picture of her making waffles with the kids on Sunday morning.

The house is small but new, with very nice landlord-neighbors living next door. It will be wonderful for them once Eric arrives at the end of the week. If you click on the photo, you can see it bigger. Katie has a darling new short haircut. Laurie Last, Chris's mom, cut her hair while Polly & Eric were loading the truck, and hair was long enough to be donated to Locks of Love. Polly & Katie love the new haircut - so much easier to take care of!

On the way home, we stopped off at Multnomah Falls to enjoy the ice show. I-84 was well sanded and mostly free of ice by the time we drove through around 1:00 pm, but the parking lot at Multnomah Falls was really slick - like a skating rink! We didn't notice it driving because of the 4-wheel drive and studded snow tires, but it was tough to walk over to the lodge to take a picture. The build-up of ice around the falls was spectacular.

Now I need to get my lesson plan ready for tomorrow. Hope you have a great week!

Surprising News from Kendra

No, she's not pregnant.

Kendra called last night to say that they are re-thinking their plans for Chris to complete his Masters in Library Science program. I don't remember the university--I think it's in the midwest--but they have satellite programs all over at different universities. Chris has been planning to attend the one in Salt Lake, and is all signed up for it to begin in January.

They got to thinking about where they want to end up when he graduates, and they do not want to live in Utah long-term. They realized that if he does all of his masters work and internships there, that is where he is most likely to be hired. They would rather end up in the Northwest.

So, he has permission to switch to the satellite program housed at PSU in the spring! They are already looking online at apartments in the Clackamas area, so he can ride the MAX train to PSU. He has to take 3 entry-level classes in Salt Lake this term, and then he will be able to switch and take the rest of his classes here. They will move in April or May.

Wow - another one of the kids back in the Northwest in just a few months. Hard to believe! It will be wonderful to have them nearby.

Little Miss O

I snagged this photo off her mama's blog. That's her at Thanksgiving with her great-grandma Brimhall. Reminds me of her mama at that age. I hope it will work for you to be able to see them when they come in April.

Polly update

Talked with Polly last night. She and Rebecca drove from Woodinville to Granger in the morning, arrived before noon. Power had been out, but came back on just before their arrival. She really likes the house - bigger than their apartment, new, and nice. A crew from the ward arrived to help off-load the truck about 4:30; the power went out again just before they arrived (3rd time in 2 days for Granger). The neighbor/landlord has a generator, so they hooked that up to a light to illuminate the back of the truck. A good crew showed up and the unloading went quickly - they used flashlights in the house.

By 8:30 the power was back on and the house was warming up. Rebecca had just been fed and was happy, so Polly was going to tackle the job of organizing all the stuff. She and Rebecca will sleep at the home of a ward member, 2 doors down, a couple about our age. She hopes to continue unpacking all day today, then drive back to Woodinville first thing Thursday morning to pick up Katie and Seth. She will turn around and drive back Thursday afternoon; snow is forecast for Snoqualmie Pass by Thursday evening, and she wants to get herself and the kids settled before the weather hits.

She is very upbeat and happy to be in her house. I am sure proud of her - she's a brave girl!

Oh, boy

First day of the new term - first period class at 8:00 am this morning.
38 students! 24 of them boys! Oh, boy.

This will be an interesting term! I'll have to bring in some boy-type essays, and give them some good, active topics.

Turned in the PSU essay on time this afternoon, and spent a peaceful evening at home.

Polly and Rebecca will drive to Granger early tomorrow morning to unload the truck. She will leave Katie and Seth with Liz & Dave Carlson. She has some people coming from the ward to help unload. I wish it wasn't so COLD for them to be doing this work, especially with a baby along, but Polly says she will be fine. She bought a warm snowsuit for Rebecca, and there is a retired couple two doors down that belong to the church, who can help with the baby. Brrr!

It never got above 29 degrees here today, and I know it was colder for you. Kendra and Katie have LOTS of snow!

Engaged!

Maleena and Max shared with us this evening that they plan to be married next September 25!

Please put the date on your calendar.

Whew!

I'm finished! (almost) with my 4000-word paper. Whew! What a job. I still don't have a good title for it, and there are a couple of rough patches to rub with a little bit of writing sandpaper, but I'm almost there. It's due under my professor's office door at PSU tomorrow evening - no later than 6:00 pm - and then I'm done with another writing class.

We've had a quiet day here. Went to church this morning, but skipped choir practice this afternoon, and the church Christmas broadcast this evening. I had homework to do, and Mark had a sinus headache from the cold wind. He's feeling better now, and I'm ready to put this project away and head for bed.

Tomorrow - new students! I wonder who they will be? I'm anxious to meet them.

Funny little Dutch girl

I'm so glad you played the hand-clapping game and sang songs with the grandkids. So much of children's experience today is electronic. Let's keep it real!

Update on kids, testing, temple work

Polly and the kids and Liz Carlson are almost to Seattle. They have to be there by 3:00 today because one of the Carlson girls has a dentist appt. The trip has gone well. Polly & the kids will go to Granger early next week when the moving truck arrives with her stuff. Members of her new ward will help her off-load. (I chuckle to myself imagining Polly & Katie unloading the truck! Ha! But no, they will have help.)

Kendra is back to going to classes, and she worked on a book last night. I'd say she's over the worst of her brief, bad illness.

David and Holly are in a whirl, finishing up the last 2 1/2 weeks of class. They will start packing soon, along with finishing up classes and taking classes. Whew!

Mike Koponick is counting down the days getting ready for his new job. He just has today and tomorrow on the old job, and he will start the new one on Monday. He is really ready to make this change. Julia continues to have good days and bad days. She is seeing a specialist in infectious diseases and another asthma specialist to try to get to the bottom of her long slog of feeling crummy.

"No news is good news" for David, Angela, Josh, Nathan, and Maleena.

The excitement in Oregon today is the "Civil War" football game between U of O and OSU. Go Ducks and Beavers!

My big testing sessions have gone well. Now I just have to get finals graded. I'm a little nervous about a meeting tomorrow morning at the middle school. I'm supposed to facilitate some curriculum development meetings for their intervention classes. The classes are in reading and writing, and they are not necessarily taught by English classes, so the curriculum has to be "user friendly." Some of the English teachers aren't so happy about that...hey, I'm just the messenger! We'll see how it goes.

Mark and I had such a very, very nice time at the temple last night. We did the baptisms for Uncle Bill & Aunt Pam Jenkins, Uncle Charlie Jenkins and his mother, Cam Mitchel's parents, and several others. There was a really good spirit. Who knows if our belief is true? Maybe they really are on the other side, anxious and waiting for us to do this work for them. Maybe not, but if that's the case, all I can say is that it was a very meaningful way to honor and pay tribute to two much-loved uncles and other family members. I felt close to those two uncles who I loved and admired while they were here, and it seemed that they felt close to me, too. Makes me a little teary just to remember it.

Tonight is my last PSU class. It should end early because the rest of the class members want to go watch the Civil War game on TV - fine with me - I'll get home a little earlier for once!

Polly making good progress

Talked with Polly a little bit ago. They have the moving truck almost loaded and she and Liz (mother-in-law) are cleaning the apartment. They are still on schedule to get into the car tomorrow and head north. Polly is in good spirits.

Took the cub scouts out this afternoon to distribute bags for the "Scouting for Food" service project. We'll go out again on Saturday morning to actually pick up the bags with food donations. Will it work to call me earlier or later on Saturday? All the cubs and families will be meeting here at our house at 9:00 a.m., so 8:30 gets a little busy.  We should be back by 11:00.

Today was a busy busy day at work, but I was able to do the things I needed to. I am caught up on grading as we head into finals. Still have lots to do tomorrow morning for last-minute preparations for the big writing test - we will be giving an online writing test to 200+ juniors in the afternoon, after finals, and I'm in charge.

Poor Kendra!

Kendra is having an awful day. Please keep her in your prayers.

Last night she had severe vomiting/diarrhea for several hours. They thought maybe food poisoning. Katie said that Kendra wasn't "ill" during the day yesterday - lots of perky energy as usual. It came on suddenly in the evening. After several hours she was still vomiting and in a lot of pain, so Chris took her to the emergency room. The last I heard about that was that they were taking her in for a CAT scan. I don't know any results of diagnosis of the vomiting, but she was able to go home during the night. This morning Bryan called to say that he was watching the kids, and Kendra was on her way to ER again. She got up to use the bathroom this morning, passed out, and hit her head and arm hard. Her arm is in a great deal of pain, especially near the elbow, so they took her in to get it checked to see if it is broken.

Poor Kendra! Please keep her in your prayers.

Can you get into the blog?

Mom, I'm sorry I wore you out with stupid computer work on Saturday! Please let me know if the new system is working for you! You can try to post a comment below (you may have to click on "post" more than once - not sure why - or you could send an email.

We had a nice day today. Church, of course, in the morning. In the afternoon I did some family history research on the computer, and now I'm getting lesson materials ready for tomorrow.

That was nice to hear that Dave Jenkins has some old documents. I probably have the info already, but it will be good to see what he has. Mark and I are going to do the temple work in December for Uncle Bill & Aunt Pam Jenkins, and for Uncle Charlie Jenkins. I don't know why I've waited so long. I'll wait to do the work for Uncle Bill & Aunt Mary Anne Kenny until next spring, because we have to wait for at least one year after the death, and I want to do them together. We'll do Mike's work then, too. It will be nice to have all those wonderful people "hooked up" in heaven.  (Polly & Eric did Grandma & Grandpa Jenkins' work a little while ago - Grandpa Jenkins made me promise never to do his work, and I never did...but my kids did. :) Someday he'll thank me. )

I don't even want to think about this next week. It's going to just be crazy-busy. At least it's not supposed to rain on Tuesday and Saturday when we take the cub scouts out for the annual "Scouting for Food" service project - a door-to-door food drive in our neighborhood. I'll post again during the week to let you know how I'm surviving.

Thank you again for coming all the way to visit us! Won't be long until we're visiting YOU!

Sure is fun to have you here!

Plans for Friday

David, Holly, Arora, and Nate, Ashley, & Blake will all be able to come over on Friday evening. I've invited them for leftovers. I think I'll cook a pot of rice and make some cream of chicken gravy, and we'll have Hawaiian Haystack - very easy.

Do you have any ideas of something you would like to do on Saturday? Mark and I have thought of going into Portland to wander around Saturday Market, but are there things you would like to do? Please be thinking about it. We are flexible. Looking forward to seeing you!

A Good Hike

Mark and I went hiking in the Columbia Gorge today. It was his idea to go - perhaps the first time in my marriage to Mark that HE has been the one to invite ME on a hike! Usually it's the other way around. It was supposed to be rainy, but the weather turned out perfect. It drizzled for maybe the first 1/2 hour, but after that we had overcast and cool, beautiful hiking weather. The fall colors were breathtaking, and we saw creeks and waterfalls everywhere we looked. What a glorious day! Here are a few photos.

A beautiful day in the Gorge.

At the viewpoint - top of Multnomah Falls.
(You can click on the photos to make them bigger, so you can see more details.)

One of the many waterfalls on Multnomah Creek - above Multnomah Falls.

It was THIS big. Wonderful scenery, including the big old Doug fir trees. We hiked about 5 miles, from Multnomah Falls to upper Multnomah Creek, then west to upper Wahkeena Creek, down to Wahkeena Falls, and then east back to the Multnomah Lodge.

Mark crossing a small bridge on upper Wahkeena Creek.

Back in the parking lot - Wahkeena Falls in the background. Just 1/2 mile left to hike back to Multnomah Falls. We had such a wonderful day!

Good books

My friend Dorothy Jenson mentioned a series of books on her blog today that I think you would enjoy. (I think I would enjoy them, too, if I had more leisure time to read!) If you click here, it will take you to her post. It starts out about how she's trying to choose colors for painting her house, and then she talks about the books she's been reading.

Standing Up

Maddy is doing more and more big-girl tricks. This evening she was standing by herself at the coffee table. She has such a lot of personality - I know you will really enjoy her when you come down for Thanksgiving.

And did you know that David and Holly will be here then, too? They are coming to town to take care of Holly's step-brother's kids while he and his wife go on a cruise.

One more bit of news -Mike Koponick has had TWO job interviews this week, and it looks like he'll have offers from both companies. We'll keep you posted on how that is going.

Making You Laugh

I posted a funny story on my other blog today. And be sure to check out the Do-Re-Mi video on David's blog - it's really fun to watch.

Puttered on projects today

Today was a good day for puttering. I got the checkbook balanced this morning, then graded some papers. After lunch I went over to Sheila's house so we could plan our lessons for next week. Then I went out to the high school for the Christmas bazaar - I almost have the Christmas shopping finished! Went to the grocery store, and did a couple of sewing projects this evening.

I hemmed up some jeans for Kat and Sarah, and with the parts I cut off I made little denim purses for them.

Then I made a Thanksgiving table runner for LaVerne for Christmas - a lot like the one I made for you last year with the cat fabric. This one is some nice Thanksgiving fabric I picked up last year after the holidays, when it was on sale. I'll put a note in for her to open it before Thanksgiving. She has Angela & Tim and the kids coming this year.

Here's a cute photo of Maddie, feeding herself her bottle. She is sitting up really well, and trying to figure out how to crawl. She is such a little dolly!

Remember, if you want to see the photos bigger, you can just click on them. Love you!

Thanks to a Vet

We had the wonderful Veterans Day assembly at OCHS again today. It really is magical to experience an event where 2000+ kids are quiet, respectful, even reverent for over an hour. I would so love to be able to host Dad, Maury, and Michael (Koponick)--the three family vets--at that event some year.

Today for cub scouts we practiced how to do an outdoor flag ceremony. First we had to make a flag pole - out of an 8' branch we cut from the maple tree last summer. Mark put a screw eye at the top, and I ran a long loop of twine through the eye. Then I put the pole up using 4 tent stakes w/ 4 twine guy wires. I use a taut-line hitch to keep the guy wires snug.

Next I have to teach the boys how to carry the folded flag tucked under their arm, how to attach it to the twine loop hanging from the pole, and how to raise it by pulling on the twine loop. Then we practice taking it down and folding it up by triangles so they can tuck it under their arm again. We do the whole thing a couple of times through before we do it for real and say the Pledge of Allegiance.

Speaking of the Pledge of Allegiance, we say it once a week at the high school, during morning announcements. On Monday I was in my classroom alone during announcements, when the prompt came for everyone to stand and say the Pledge. I felt a little self-conscious standing to say the pledge by myself (would someone look through the window and see me?) but I stood and said the Pledge. It was more personal and meaningful to say it by myself like that. When I say it with a group of cub scouts, or a classroom full of students, I always have the sense that I am setting the example for them. But this time, with no one watching, I was doing it just for me.

Thank you, Dad, and Maury, and Michael for your service to the United States of America. Thank you for what the flag and citizenship mean to me. Thank you for being who you are. I love you.

(This is an old photo of me helping the boys with an outdoor flag ceremony over a year ago. We didn't have a pole that day, so we used a twine loop hanging from the upstairs window of the garage. I prefer the pole, but this worked. )

Outstanding!

Oregon City High School just got the news on our state report card - we achieved "outstanding" status! Before this, the best we ever accomplished was "satisfactory." The report card is based on our state test scores, dropout rate, attendance, etc. Woo hoo! This evening I went to the board meeting with the principal and other administrators to deliver the "outstanding" news.

This is the team that made the presentation: Sheila Zachry, my wonderful English department chair and close teaching friend, me, and Jen Crutcher, the young math teacher who is the new math coach this year. Each of us made a presentation to the board about the scores (Sheila-writing, me-reading, Jen-math).

The principal had t-shirts made up for everyone on the staff. They say, "Oregon City High School is Outstanding!" (You can click on the picture to make it bigger if you want to.)

Baby News

Nate told us that he and Ashley are expecting another baby! Due at the end of June - Blake will be about 13 or 14 months old. The pregnancy wasn't planned, but they are happy about it. Ashley will be a busy mama! That will make 18 grandchildren for Mark and me. Yikes!

Our Play Day

Mark and I played at home today. I posted some photos and what we did at my main blog. I sure hope the links are working for you!

Other Blogs

I've added a new feature to the blog - a list of family blogs on the right side. You can click on the links and see what some of the kids are up to. Unfortunately, the family blog for Katie and Hillary's blog are private - they don't want photos of their babies showing up on the internet. It's possible to get permission to see their blogs, but you have to email them and ask to be invited. If you don't have Hillary's email, and you want access to her blog, let me know and I'll send it to you.

There is one blog that isn't family, but I thought Dad would enjoy it. I've been following the blog of a 16-year-old girl from Australia. Her name is Jessica Watson and she is sailing alone around the world. She's doing it "unassisted," which means she can't stop in any ports to take on food or water or get any kind of help. It's labeled as "sailing alone around the world" in the blog list.

Polly's craft blog is funny, and so is Katie's poetry blog. The list will change as the kids update their blogs. The most recently updated blogs will appear at the top of the list, so you can tell pretty easily if you've already seen their latest post. Kendra doesn't post very often. Angela posts once in a while, and when she does, she always has lots of photos. David posts funny clean videos from the internet for a class project at college - not sure if he will keep it up after he graduates.

Back home, safe and sound

We had a good flight home yesterday evening. A little bumpy, but it is so good to be home and settling back into the routine.

Little Miss O's blessing was very sweet. Here are a few photos:

In the blessing dress and bonnet Katie made for her. Soon after this photo was taken, she fell asleep and then slept all through her blessing.

Miss O keeping track of things with her laser-beam eyes.

Snuggled with Grandma.

Reading a book with Grandpa.

Yesterday (Monday) we went bowling with Abbi and Charley. Here are a few photos from that adventure:

They had this little metal stand for the kids to launch their bowling balls from. Abbi sends her pink ball flying.

Even if the balls went crooked, the lanes had bumpers set up to keep the balls from going into the gutters. It's a pretty kid-friendly way to bowl.

Charlie lines up his ball.

Hooray! We knocked down some more pins!
Well, it's nice to know that life can be so exciting.

Today, though, at work, it was nice to NOT have any excitement. Things are settling into some kind of "normal" after losing Scott (the counselor). His service will be Saturday. I think it helped to have a weekend with a goofy holiday after the news on Friday.

We had a beautiful autumn day today, but rain is in the forecast. Hope all is well with you. Sending love! Kathy Lou

Halloween Fun

We're having such a nice time here in Provo. Easy flight; arrived 20 minutes early! When Katie and Bryan picked us up yesterday, we went for a visit to the amazing Salt Lake City Public Library before driving to Provo. Here are a couple of photos:

It has a glass elevator - four floors of books!

As you enter the library, there are little shops all along one side. The rent goes to help support the library - I think that is such a good idea. I bought your Christmas gift in one of the shops yesterday.

This last photo is from the roof of the library, where they have an amazing rooftop garden. Gorgeous view of the Wasatch Front to the east of Salt Lake City.

After we got to Provo, the fun began for Halloween. If you click HERE, you can see more photos of the grandkids on my family blog. I tell about the dinner party there, and there are photos of Abbi, Charley, and the Palshikar kids back home. The Halloween dinner party that Kendra and Katie hosted was fun - the kids were so excited and the grownups were in costume, too. I wish my camera hadn't run out of batteries - I would have taken more photos of the adults and the food. But here's one photo of Kendra and Katie (Fred Meyer employee and cowgirl).

Mark had lots of fun making his fish hat peek up above the sheet for the "fishing game." Here's a photo of him enjoying a few moments with Olivia.

OK, I think that's enough for now. I'll post more photos later, after Olivia's blessing.

Tough day ahead

Today will be a tough day. We learned yesterday that one of our high school counselors (young, only 31, basketball coach) died by suicide. He had been out on medical leave since June.

We lost another counselor last May. Her family did not share the cause of death with the school community.

The district will have crisis intervention teams and extra counselors from neighboring districts on hand at the school today and into next week, but it will still be a long, tough day.

I'm glad we get to go play with grandbabies and celebrate Olivia's birth with her blessing this weekend. Love you guys.

Oregon Book Awards

I had SUCH a good time last night! I've wanted to attend the Oregon Book Awards announcements for years, and this year I finally went. It was a great evening.

I took my good teaching friend, Sheila Zachry, with me. Usually Mark goes with me to these kinds of things, but Sheila is teaching the Creative Nonfiction Writing class with me for the first time this term, and she feels nervous about being a teacher-writer, so I thought she and I would really enjoy the evening together. It was a good call - we both want to go again next year, and bring other friends with us, including Mark, of course.

The event was held in the Gerding Theater in Portland. It's in North Portland, just one block from the big Powell's Bookstore on Burnside Street, so we parked at Powell's and walked the block. The theater used to be an armory, but it's all remodeled and really lovely inside.

The MC was funny and literary and inspiring, and the authors were dear. They were so sweet about receiving their awards, and they, too, were funny and literary and inspiring. I got to see a number of authors and writing students, who I've met over the years, in the audience. Of course I bought three books that had been nominated, and I've already started reading the first chapters of two of them.

Afterwards Sheila and I went to Powell's to use the bathrooms (the ones at the Gerding were packed) and we each bought a book at Powell's, too, so we could get our parking receipt validated. We were home by 9:15 after a truly lovely evening out. So much of life has been so stressful lately - this was a wonderful, peaceful, relaxing, inspiring, funny evening out with a very dear friend. I felt nurtured when I got home.

A good Saturday

Maddy helping her mommy open a package.  :)

Mark and I had a good day yesterday. We got bills paid in the morning--gosh, I am so grateful for a good job with steady income--and then we went out to work in the yard. It was a beautiful afternoon, with a blue sky but still cool enough to be able to work hard without overheating.

We finally got the last of the pile of maple branches cleaned up. In a perfect world, we would have trimmed them all into kindling and firewood, but the reality is, that we just don't have time. We loaded them into Little Red for a trip to the dump. Before we made the dump run, we put all the lawn furniture away for the winter, gave the yard it's last (I hope) autumn mowing, and pulled up the last of the tomatillo and cucumber plants out in the garden--I had already pulled the tomato and bean plants two or three weeks ago.

My back is a little achy this morning, but it's a good ache, from good work well done with my sweetheart and best friend. I know you know that feeling! My pedometer had over 12,000 steps on it yesterday! It was a busy day.

Today: church, choir practice, and then I'll go over to Sheila Zachry's house to work on some plans she and I are hatching for the English dept - trying to move folks forward on actually teaching writing instead of just assigning it. A shift in thinking for some of the colleagues - not that they're being bad teachers, but just that none of us, including Sheila and me, were trained in how to actually teach writing. We became English teachers because we love literature, and we're all pretty good, more or less, at writing, but we do it as a natural skill, not something we've had to pay attention to how to teach and learn the finer points. I'm on my 15th year of teaching now, and I only just learned how to really teach comma usage, so that kids could learn and apply it, 4 or 5 years ago. And even though I've shared the technique with my department a number of times, it's taken until this fall for the entire department to agree to adopt the strategy. Sometimes the work is a slow go!

Happy/Sad: Here's a photo of little Garrett with his mommy, Ellen (Carlson) Goldsborough. The photo was taken about two weeks before he died. Such a beautiful, happy little guy. Such a sad, sad loss.

Working hard on my writing

I trying to finish my essay for my PSU class tonight. It's supposed to be 3,000 + words, and so far I'm at 2400. Sigh. I'm really tired tonight, so it's hard to make myself buckle down. Tomorrow night we have parent-teacher conferences, and the class is Thursday night, so I need to get busy!

Did I tell you that Julia is sick? She has pneumonia, and is having a hard time getting better. She's on antibiotics, but they're not doing much to knock the germs out yet. Some of the ladies from the ward have been helping with Maddy during the day.

This afternoon we had cub scouts. My den helped sanitize all the toys in the church nursery. We used lysol wipes and spray lysol. I think the boys got sanitized in the process, too!

OK, now I really do have to get busy with the writing. I love you!

I am so excited for Christmas!

Oh, I am so excited to come and share Christmas with you in the mountains! When things get hectic in the next few weeks, I will think about coming to Dragonfly Cabin and getting to spend time with you.

Also, I bought airline tickets yesterday to fly to Salt Lake City in time for David's college graduation from BYU-Idaho on December 19. I'll fly to SLC on the evening of Dec 17. Katie and Bryan will keep me at their apartment over night, and then I will drive with them to Rexburg on Dec 18. We'll drive back to SLC on Dec 20, and then I'll fly back to Portland on Dec 21. I hate to be away from Mark for so long, but he can't get the 18th off...too bad...

Here is a photo of David & Holly with their "Haunted House" pumpkin they decorated yesterday. They say it's not worth carving pumpkins in their cold climate - they rot in 2 or 3 days if they're carved.

And here is a photo of Arora getting her first haircut!

Olivia getting ready for her baby blessing

Looks like Olivia is practicing for her baby blessing! Here she is in the blessing dress Katie made for her. I think the first photo is sooooo funny. :)