guadium #99,991

The big day is tomorrow. We had a dry run tonight.

Faye in all her pumpkin-ness. Years ago her mommy was a baby pumpkin, too. I'll have to find the photo and post it.

Madeline as Madeline. Her coat is made out of an old and worn out blanket, happened to be the perfect color.
And Astrid? An awesome viking dragon tamer. Sadly, she left her weapon at home. She'll be sure to have it tomorrow night.
And those shoulder thingys, can you guess? Yup, it's an old bra that I cut up and painted. No harassing comments, please. It works. She is an awesome Astrid.


More over at GP.

china again

JLW flew out early this morning. He'll be back November 15, bringing Jiao with him.

Whew. Lots of frenzied activity ahead. Birthdays, holidays, a wedding, Meg's new baby. Haven't got time or tolerance for any more sickness. Beat it, I tell you.

happy birthday, bird

You never had much fashion sense when you were small. Used to wear your swim suit over sweat pants or moon boots with shorts. Years later you would ask me, "Mom, how could you let me dress myself?" as if I had any say. I always started out the day with you looking cute and presentable but before noon you had changed into some other odd combination. In fact, some days it was hard to keep any clothes on you at all.

I think of all this now and it makes me miss that quirky and endearing little girl so much. In a blink, you were all grown up. And now it's you (and your sister) who give me fashion and style tips and save me from my old lady self.

Happy Birthday, Kenzie. You're pretty great.

guadium #99,992

Antibiotics, folks.

pig pig gets sick

Going on day 4 here with my self-diagnosed swine flu. Today is the first time I've been able to crawl out of the covers and face the day.

Fever, chills. Check.
Vomiting. Check.
Killer sore throat. Check
Headache. Check.
Extreme muscle aches. Check.
Runny nose, fatigue, feel like death. Check, check and check again.

Ld has remained patient and not said anything when dinner has consisted of leftovers and fast food tacos this whole week. He has allowed me space to suffer, occasionally offering up his usual, "I feel bad you feel bad". Last night I told him I was totally convinced I did in fact have the swine flu. The internet said so. And to his credit, he took me seriously. Without missing a beat, he replied, "I have no doubt about it. All through your sleep you have been snorting up a storm".

Men are so nurturing.

How far that little candle throws his beams! - William Shakespeare

Remember a couple of weeks ago when you came home from church all distraught because the soles of your Sunday shoes had worn out and separated? You tried to convince me to take them to the repair shop and get them fixed. I said it would be better to just buy a new pair. And then you did. Those old shoes had seen many churchin' days.

And the other night. Remember when you were telling JLW with so much sincerity that marriage brings a lot of responsibility. I overheard you say that 'you are responsible for your wife and children. Your life is not your own anymore'.

I remember, just like I remember and observe, so many of the good and decent things about you.

A man who wears out his shoes in service. A man who has kept his family afloat for many, many years. A man who gives his time and money and days to the things that matter most to him.

Happy Birthday, ld. It's a good time to remind you that your life and example has touched us all, me especially.

Carrot cake and chocolate you don't have to share, then. Very glad that you were born.

the only way to do great work is to love what you do--Steve Jobs

It's all over the news of course. Weird to feel so sad for someone I never knew personally. But his genius is evident everywhere in my house. We own and have owned so many of his products and ld raised our children strong in the faith 'Macs are the one and only true computer'. Oh and the ipods and ipads, what was life like before?

It's a sad day. He was a genius, many people say. Interestingly enough, I read his famous (and now quoted and linked everywhere in his passing) commencement address a couple of weeks ago. I liked when he said:
Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life.

only I would add 'don't waste it wanting someone else's life', too.

The link then:
http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html

His passing is a good reminder to try, as he is famously quoted, 'to make a dent in the universe'.

head up, arnett

We are the orphaned children of Howard and Ethel. In our veins course their resilient and believing blood. C'mon, if their good and hard lives taught us anything it is to hang on and hang tough.

I want to go on the record here and say that I refuse to give up on myself and those I love. That means I have to work hard to keep pessimism and bitterness in check and on especially tough days I have to make a conscious effort to speak words of encouragement and optimism because hope, like so many other attributes, is contagious.

Don't talk to me that 'we aren't making it'. Don't speak to me that our lack of socio-economic status determines in any way our worthiness to be redeemed. Stop it.

If you want to commiserate with me that life is full of problems, that our personal demons sometimes discourage and trip us up or that our children have challenges, then okay, I can relate. But no matter how dark, discouraging and depressing our circumstances there is always hope. To say 'there is no hope for me and for mine' is to say there is no Savior and I do not believe that.

As a child I was always proud to be an Arnett, the HMA variety. It's true we have all had crushing disappointments and sometimes even been our own worst enemy. I call that 'mortality 101'. I am not trivializing our personal sorrows and private pain. They are real. But part of being an Arnett, to me, has always been about steadying ourselves in the Savior when those tough times come.

Our parents have long since gone, but I know they would tell us to have hope, to love and lift each other. They would tell us to put our faith where it is supposed to be - squarely relying upon our Savior.