Now what do I do?

I have prided myself in having what I call "virgin" hair. 

For my dad, who hates the word "virgin"

may I state that my meaning is stated below

 in number 2, 4, and 5:

vir·gin (vûrjn)

adj.

1. Of, relating to, or being a virgin; chaste.

2. Being in a pure or natural state; unsullied: virgin snow.

3. Unused, uncultivated, or unexplored: virgin territory.

4. Existing in native or raw form; not processed or refined.

5. Happening for the first time; initial.

6. Obtained directly from the first pressing: virgin olive oil.

Okay Dad? :) (whew!)

meaning that I had NEVER dyed it before.

(my hair, if you'd forgotten)

My intent was to grow

Gracefully Gray.

Gracefully gray ended for me last month

when I decided to cover up those graceful grays

after seeing some pictures of me

that I didn't particularly like.

I had always said that my hair grows fast.

Now I know for

a surety that my hair grows fast!

I dyed my hair twice last month . . .

and now have about an inch worth of

graceful grays showing up in my part line.

Lincoln, my hubby,

helped me cover up my first crop of growth (roots they are called).

He took so long from the front to back,

that my hair took on more red

(especially the roots) than I had hoped.

I tried to cover the second growth crop myself . . . .

by just doing the front of my head

reasoning with myself

that there are no parts in the back of my head . . .

What's to see back there???

I just didn't keep the dye on long enough

and can still see the inch of growth.

(arghhh)

I guess it's time for a do-over . . . .

with my husband at the helm.

I can see that going gracefully gray

and having virgin hair

has it's strong points!!!

But I think I'm committed now

Otherwise

I have a long wait to get back

to "graceful" again!!!

What to do, what to do?

 (I'm too cheap to get it done professionally

so don't suggest that!)

I really do like the color,

I just need to stop whining

and LIVE with it!

Then and Now (or proud mama time)

Here is McKay posing with his brother Chancy when they began swimming on a summer swim team.  McKay was quite a little tyke!

When we moved here to Maryland I and my kids spent A LOT of time at the swimming pool located just outside our back yard gate.  All the kids were FISH.  As a result, when McKay started swimming on the team he did REALLY well. He won quite a few races! 

In the older age brackets McKay didn't do so well . . . . he stayed small in stature for quite a few years and didn't do well AT ALL swimming against the other kids that had "gotten their growth."!!

This year, however, McKay has grown a bit and as a sophomore in High School has started doing rather well on his swim team. He was even a triple winner in one of his meets. He is a BIG FISH in a small pond!!!! :) 

He isn't as willing to pose for me anymore . . . . so I have to get whatever shot I can get of him . . . . thankfully I'm working the swim meets now and can get some good pictures when he can't hide from me. . . . .

Here he is doing "The Fly."  Even though I try to time my picture taking . . . most of the shots I try to get of him are of nothing, because he is under the water!!!

Swimming is quite a tough sport.  I'd say they probably swim 2 miles every practice.  I can hardly do 2 laps!!!  I can't wait to see what his Junior and Senior year bring him . . . .

Just gotta share!

When we went to Utah we had family pictures taken (as you can tell from my new header!) It was a lot of fun! This by far is one of my favorites. Love that daughter of mine! I love all my kids . . . . but Halley and I, being women, share with each other differently than I do the boys . . . .

Aren't we cute?????

Day Trip

On Martin Luther King day, Lincoln suggested we go to the Air and Space Museum that is located by the Dulles Airport which is a Smithsonian museum . . . The Steven F. Udvar Museum to be exact!

Since I spend so much time at home I was happy to get out of the house for a day . . . . but "another Air Museum?"  We've been to the DC Air and Space so many times, I can't even remember how many times!!!  I am glad we went . . . . . .

They have a air traffic controller tower at the museum and that was our first stop.  It was nice not to have to climb a mountain to get a good view of the area!  An elevator did the trick. . . . .

There were some very interesting planes at this museum.  I guess its kind of like a mall . . . . you need the big stores to pull people in to shop . . . . . here they had some "big" planes to pull people in.  (even though we didn't know about them in advance!)  I wish I could remember the name of this one.  An SR-71 Blackbird???

A Corsair . . . . did you ever watch Baa Baa Black Sheep?  Robert Conrad in a flight suit is something to be seen!!!!  Love those flight suits!!!

The Wing . . . . . An airplane made up of  . . . . . mostly wing :)

This one really interested me . . . from the museum's Internet site:  The Ohka (Cherry Blossom) was designed to allow a pilot with minimal training to drop from a Japanese "Betty" bomber at high altitude and guide his aircraft with its warhead at high speed into an Allied warship.

This is essentially a bomb with a spot for a pilot to sit and guide it . . . . . You'd have to put me kicking and screaming into one of these!  Those Japanese pilots had been brainwashed very carefully.

McKay wasn't very happy about being "out" for the day.  He'd rather be home playing Xbox on his free time.  The simulator soothed him a little . . . . but not much . . . . because the simulators that you piloted yourself were out-of-order!

I loved this exhibit of the Concorde supersonic airliner . . . . . . It could cross the Atlantic in fewer than 4 hours.

This is the Concorde from above . . . . very sleek.

And the nose . . . .

A model of the "Mother Ship" of Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind.

The Enterprise Space Shuttle.  We had seen a space shuttle at the Utah Air Guard base after it had finished a mission.  This one was in a lot better shape!

The shuttle again . . . . . .

To prove I was there!

A menagerie of planes . . .

I loved this exhibit!!!  My dad built one of these Benson gyro-copters when we were kids.   He would take us all out into the west desert to the salt flats and try to get it to fly.  Correct me if I'm wrong dad, but I don't ever remember it flying totally on it's own.  He and mom would hook it up to the tail-end of the truck to a rope and mom would zoom around the salt flats flying the gyro-copter around like a kite.  We would ride along with mom or dad would take us up with him seated in front of him on that small little seat!  We LOVED it!

And finally, the "Enola Gay."  The bomber that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima. . . . . . .

There were lots of fun planes to see . .  . . . if you made it through all of these pictures . . . congrats!

The great thing about Smithsonians are that the admission price is zero . . . . . in this case there is a $15 parking fee . . . . . so pack that car full of people and if you live in the area, it's a nice museum to visit!

Something fun

At church on Sunday we had a visitor from the past.  I watched her grow up from a wee little one . . . . and then her family moved when she was a teen.  She is here visiting her sister while her husband is off doing military training!  So fun to see her.

Right before Relief Society she came up to me with a piano book with my name written on it in the upper right hand corner.  She explained to me that she had had the book for years (probably 8 to 10 years) and had felt bad that she had one of my books and wasn't able to return it because her family had moved. 

She need not have felt badly, and I told her so.  I can't believe she thought to bring the book here all the way from Texas!  My husband and I just the day before had been discussing that there were probably hundreds of piano books with my name in the upper right hand corner (meaning they are from my "lending" piano book library) out there in various homes!!!  I write them off on taxes (I need the tax write-off!!) and so when they are returned they are a BONUS!

What is funny is I hadn't even really remembered that I had taught her piano lessons.  NOW I remember though!  She returned the book, and added that her last calling in the church had been as a primary pianist and  "thank you for teaching me" were her last words to me. 

Sometimes I feel that because I charge money for piano lessons that it really isn't much of a community service . . . . but I'm going to have to reconsider this train of thought . . . . it was really a fulfilling idea to know that she was able to serve in the church because of something that I had contributed to her life . . . . . I often talk about my "pay week" which is the first week of the month in my piano studio.  But this young lady gave me a REAL pay day.  I need to thank HER.

Churning in my head . . . .

Several thoughts keep churning through my head, and I keep thinking, "you need to blog about that" and just don't get to it . . . . so here is what will be a very eclectic blog post.

Pet Peave:  Fortune cookies that don't contain fortunes.  Fortune cookies USED to contain fortunes.  Now they just contain good advice or clever quotes. . . . . my most common thing to say after opening a fortune cookie is "THAT is NOT a fortune!"

Anyhow, I got a good "non fortune" the other day . . . . "Don't be afraid of opposition; remember a kite rises against the wind."  So true, so true . . . and something to be remembered when going through opposition!

Our ward has had three funerals since about a week before Christmas.  One before Christmas, one during the Christmas break (that we missed) and one last week.  One was an elderly lady . . . but not elderly enough in my opinion!  She was a great friend.  I had been her visiting teacher for the last 12 years.  The other I knew only slightly, and the last was a young lady of 25 who died of breast cancer.

CHILDREN SHOULD NOT DIE BEFORE THEIR PARENTS.  This hit home, as my oldest son is 25.  I'm glad we know what we know, BUT it doesn't help the missing of our loved ones while we are still here on earth.

I was asked to help a young lady make an "audition DVD" for her application to college.  It was so fun to get the music . . . practice (YES, fun!) because I had a goal . . . and go to the voice teacher's house to make the DVD.  It was Halley's old voice teacher and it was so fun to reminiscence about Halley and her voice lessons so long ago.  Halley . . . . Christine sends you a hug!  I got the actual hug, you get a virtual one!

My fingers still feel like they have plastic grapes attached to them because of my practice of the guitar.  I'm able to practice up to a 1/2 hour now instead of just a few minutes!!!  Woo Hoo!

Halley and Ryan have a lot going on right now . . . . my thoughts are with them, we are constantly praying and wishing and hoping for them.  Maybe I'll elaborate someday.

Chancy has been attending the Job Corp and my thoughts and prayers are with him.  As with our oldest son Justin, who is living life pretty freely.

Well, Lincoln is up and disturbing my thoughts . . . . so that is all for now!!!!  Happy Martin Luther King day!  No seminary!  No school!  Yippeeeee.

Christmas Tree Woes

Okay,

I realize that it is WAY past Christmas,

BUT,

I must blog about our Christmas tree.

because blogging just didn't happen in December!

I know a lady,

(some of you know her too)

who puts up 90-some odd trees every year.

(am I getting this number right?)

Her house looks like it could be a craft store.

A regular wonderland.

This year we put up 2/3rds of a tree.

I love this fact! Not even a FULL tree, just part of a tree!

Why 2/3rds you ask?

1.  I hate Christmas decorations (WHA?)

If I could, I'd just forget them all together.

I'm allergic to real trees  . . . 

and decorations seem like clutter to me.

2.  Our pr-elit/fake tree has been on the fritz 

for about 3 years now.

Branches have been falling off . . . . . .

Pre-lit lights are not working . . . . 

we have strung lights over those dead lights

EVERY YEAR.

I ASK AGAIN . . . WHY 2/3rds of a tree?

3.  McKay mistakenly put the middle of the tree in the 

base of the tree holder and 

WE LIKED IT.  

Just left the bottom section in the box . . . 

and used 2/3rds of the tree.

PERFECT!

Except . . . .

Our tree's life has come to an end.

It is in the merry land of the 

landfill.

Next year, we'll look for a smaller

more trim tree.

One that will take up little space

and will make me happy during it's

required month of use.

Is it to soon to say

BAH HUMBUG!

in January?

This and that

Other stuff . . . . . 

While we were in Utah we had our family pictures taken.

When I get them they may show up on the blog.

I'm still trying to negotiate getting digital images

if you can believe THAT!

(long story)

Molly joined us in our pictures.

Thus the red bandanna.

She is a sweet dog.

And I don't like dogs

so that is REALLY saying something!

We always put a puzzle together through the holidays.

Didn't get this one done!

Chancy took some of his Christmas money

and ordered this strap.

(don't know what it is called)

People who are good on them 

can do all sorts of tricks.

Ryan, Chancy and McKay spent time

trying to BALANCE on it

and take baby steps on it.

I wonder if Chancy will keep it up and learn some tricks?

We took lots of opportunity to eat out with family

and with friends.

Since we had packed our swim suits . . . . 

we decided to put them to use.

At the pool, I recognized one of my relatives

sitting as a lifeguard . . . . (not pictured)

what are the odds?  Pretty amazing!

Halley, Chancy and McKay all had to race against each other.

They all swim really well,

as they have all participated in a swim team.

The pool was warm and nice.

Justin didn't get to spend the last few days with us.

He needed to go to work!

I felt such a sense of loss when saying goodbye to him.

It was hard saying goodbye to everyone

and coming home.

Real life has come . . . . . . 

we have good memories to draw from,

and we had a very nice trip.

Something special

Even though it is hard to be away from family

there are some things that are nice about it.

One being that when you ARE in town,

you are something special:)

Meaning . . . . . lots of family activities occur

when you come into town.

Maybe more than would happen

than if you actually lived there . . . . . 

The family Christmas party waited until after Christmas 

so we could attend :)

We met some members of the family that we'd never met before . . . .

And some we had met . . . .

but had grown!

A Christmas tradition of exchanging "white elephant" gifts . . . 

which really weren't white elephant

at all!

even though grandma

"doesn't need a thing"

I think she found something she liked . . . . 

A U.S. Capitol ornament we gave as a gift.

We drove down south to Lincoln's sister's house

the long way, west of Utah Lake

just for the heck of it.

It gave me a real taste of home.

Beautiful nothingness.

 We convinced them that playing games
would be more fun than a movie.
Games are always more fun than a movie!

We learned a new game.

And grandma and Chancy cleaned our plow

with an old game!

(look at those hotels)

 Chancy's stack of money!

It was fun seeing him have fun!

he owned most of the board.

Family time is the best!

"e" friendship

Over the past year or so I've been developing an "e" friendship 

with someone through my blog. 

I found her through another friend's blog 

and realized that we had a lot in common. 

Did I say we have A LOT in common?  

Yes, I think I did just say that!! :) 

 

Growing up:

We lived in neighboring (very small) towns,

We know some of the same people,

We went to the same high school,

we both felt like "ugly ducklings" 

we were both "socially shy" 

 which we've both gotten over by now, OF COURSE!

 We have a lot of the same memories,

participated in a lot of the same activities,

and both love to blog. 

Words seem to come out of my brain 

a lot easier through a keyboard . . . . 

I think she is the same.

A few years separated us,

and our paths did not meet in "real life."

Could we have been bosum buddies?

We'll never know.

I needed to meet her

and although it was the Christmas season

and we both had family we wanted to spend every second with,

(can you believe her daughter lives in Baltimore?)

she graciously agreed to have breakfast with me

and take time away from them.

Did I mention I'm a lot better communicator 

with a keyboard at my fingers????  

Thanks Georgia for putting up with me and my stories!

(I enjoyed your stories)

It was great to meet you!

Christmas in Utah

We had a really great time in Utah.

We usually spend Christmas at home 

and at my sister's and parent's house,

but this time we chose to spend it with our children,

three of which have settled in Utah.

We have a tradition of opening Christmas jammies

on Christmas Eve . . . . . 

Lincoln put his on his head as turban

and all but Ryan followed suit.

Silly us!!

Our "jammie" picture!

Usually we are in our pajamas Christmas morning.

This year we waited until after church to open gifts.

(Justin and I got out of our church clothes as soon as possible, however!)

Halley sang a solo in church

making it extra special for us.

Halley made her skirt . . . 

she's becoming quite the homemaker!

Grandma Stevens spent the day with us,

it has been a while since she has been able to be with us for Christmas.

We had our "Christmas Eve" dinner a week earlier

with the Bainters' and Youngs'.

And had Christmas dinner with grandma and our kids.

Mmmmm good . . . . .

and if you are wondering . . . . . yes, that is sparkling cider Ryan is pouring . . . 

(just saying :)

We hope you all had a Merry Christmas!