guadium #99,990

As we move through life we collect spiritual experiences that stretch us and sustain us and leave us better equipped to handle whatever else may be thrown at us in mortality. I know this. But once again, like so many other crucibles I have experienced personally, the events from this past week have left me sobered, grateful and in awe.

The Lord hears and answers prayers and we’re blessed beyond anything if we know and experience this. Routinely my prayers include gratitude and acknowledgement and mindfulness. But this week they included pleading, too. Oh yes. In times such as this past week prayer is asking, and asking is faith.

And the Lord always, always responds to faith. And then later when gratitude and relief flood us because what we want and pray for aligns with what God wants, well that is indescribable. Still, there have been times in my life when my prayers have not been answered the way I want. In those times faith becomes trusting.

The asking, the trusting. Such important factors in our relationship with our Heavenly Father. My life teaches me that God exists, and He has responded in both quiet and subtle ways. And then sometimes, for whatever His reasons, He grabs me and those close to me by the collar and intervenes directly and in dramatic ways.

Whatever way He chooses to show He is listening and in control I am so so grateful that He is there.

Feeling alittle exhausted. And feeling so much love for my beautiful daughter and our new little grandson.

It’s like every now and again we need reminders of our place in life, and just how fleeting life is.

Some pics from little Faye’s birthday party. I’m posting them because they are proof of a creative and loving mama who worked her guts out on this party. The untouched cake is sitting in the fridge, the decorations still hang, the presents unopened. A gentle reminder that things can change on a dime.*

How precious and tenuous life can be.

*See Megs own account on her blog.

jiaoanny

JLW sent these this morning. They are pics from the wedding celebration (even though they're not married yet, weird I know). They will both be here tomorrow. Yikes! So much to do still. Brig and Keny have been frantically painting in preparation.

These pics make me cry. They look good. And happy.

i can breathe again

We received our miracle. Megs blood levels are normal, her bleeding is under control and they are saying they will try her on solid food this afternoon. Considering where she was and where she's been this is a miracle. As ld posted over at the Grandparentals, they surprised Meghan by bringing her baby up to see her. Truly a tender moment, not a dry eye to be found. He could only stay for 15 minutes before they whisked him back to NICU, but for both mother and baby this was a definite morale booster.

Can't thank you all enough for your fasting and prayers. Our pleas were heard and she has according to her Doctor, turned the corner.

please join us

We are starting a collective fast for Meghan and her baby today. Please family and friends join us. I know for a fact that there is strength and efficacy in combined faith, fasting and prayers. I will update and keep you all posted.

She continues to be upbeat and we are confident with each passing hour she will get stronger and her blood levels will rise. They are taking out the balloon this morning, pray all goes well there and she doesn't lose any more blood.

Baby boy started on some meds to help his heart. Kody said nothing wrong structurally but the valves of his heart still think he is in the womb and not opening right. Doctors said meds will help with this. He is 7 weeks early, but really doing well considering.

Kody's parents drove all night and arrived in town around a couple hours ago. So grateful as I think Kody is a bit 'shell-shocked' and needs them. Faye is being well taken care of, we've managed to keep her at home as routine is best for her.

Thanks to all of you, we feel your prayers. Your support and strength has been such a blessing.

And to my dear brothers, you are simply the best.

This is all a bit too much deja vu, but I know God is a god of miracles and can intervene. He already has in so many ways.

grammatically correct

In college my Mom used to send back my letters with the punctuation and grammar corrected. She took her red ink teacher pen and circled inaccuracies and spelled out any misspelled words. About once a week, when I received a new letter from her, my last one to her would be tucked in. I never thought this was odd as she was a grammar nazi and well it was just Mother.
Woo whee she must be rolling her eyes now. Sorry Mom. I'm letting everyone know you taught me better.

A reminder then:

Your vs. You’re
This one drove her insane, so I don’t make this mistake too often.

“Your” is a possessive pronoun, as in “your cat” or “your blog.” “You’re” is a contraction for “you are,” as in “you’re showing how dumb you are by using your when you really mean you are.”

It’s vs. Its
This used to drive her bonkers too and she would always say it’s easily avoided by thinking through what it is you’re trying to say.
“It’s” is a contraction of “it is” or “it has.” “Its” is a possessive pronoun, as in “this blog has lost its charm.” An easy rule of thumb—repeat your sentence out loud using “it is” instead. If that sounds weird, “its” is likely the correct choice.

There vs. Their
“There” is used many ways, often as a reference to a place (“let’s go there”) or as a pronoun (“there is no Halloween candy left”). “Their” is a plural possessive pronoun, as in “their bags” or “their opinions.” Do the “that’s ours!” test—are you talking about more than one person and something that they possess? If so, “their” will get you there.

Affect vs. Effect
Ld is always hollering to me from his computer on this one. Candy, which one do I use?

“Affect” is a verb, as in “Your ability to study will affect your grades immensely.” “Effect” is a noun, as in “The effect of a parent’s education on a child’s future is well documented.” By thinking in terms of “the effect,” you can usually sort out which is which, because you can’t stick a “the” in front of a verb. While some people do use “effect” as a verb (“a strategy to effect a settlement”), it’s usually found in legalese, so ignore, real people don’t write like that.

The Dangling Participle
Whenever I made this error I could count on my mother writing in the margin “try to be more clear, dear”
Ha! Your opening phrase should always modify what immediately follows. If it doesn’t, you’ve left the participle dangling, and will confuse your readers.

I think the reason why I have poor grammatical and punctuational discipline is because I am lazy and relied so much on my mother. I could always count on her to know the rules. Lame excuses, I know.

And I am the worst at periods. They always go within quotation marks. Which means I need to seriously comb over this blog and correct all my inconsistencies on that score.

Sheesh, Mother. If the rules of heaven allow you to read my blog, perhaps you could leave any needed corrections in the comment section, eh?

Until then, I'll have to consult this:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/2664713/Associated-Press-AP-Style-Guide-the-basics

Wait here’s more:
http://www.xeromag.com/cheat.html

have you seen this?

One of my moms notebooks, filled with thoughts, stories, poetry. Some of it cheesy, some of it not, clipped from random places and pasted onto the pages. An assorted collection of things she thought interesting or helpful and wanted to remember, for whatever reason. It makes me smile.

Mother was a blogger, a paper one, long before computers. I love looking and reading and flipping through her pages and wonder with each entry what prompted her to save this or what was she thinking that made it important enough to make the cut. And that’s the point. She was thinking, all the time.

What we choose to read and the voices we allow to influence us, well they are such an important part of our growth. And sometimes we come across little gems, ideas or thoughts that we want to tag or underline in our memory.* Those little nuggets that speak to us and resonate quite often reveal where we are at the moment in our thinking.

I use my blog in much the same way my mom used her pasted up notebooks. It is helpful to me to catalog snippets here and a link there, helps order my ‘rumble tumble pell mell’ thoughts.

Blogging can be another window, another glimpse, along with journaling and life histories and other personal writings, into the heart and soul of a person.

So, again, all 3 dear readers of mine, the sermons and the quotes and the lists and random stuff found on this site, they are all for me. And even though there is vulnerability in my sharing, I can’t stop. Just like my mom and her ‘paper notebook blogs’ I have some genetic need that compels me to document what I read and see and learn.

It makes me cry a little, seeing how close that little apple falls toward the maternal tree.

Mirror, mirror on the wall
I am my mother after all.


*Pinterest, Megs?

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.

saturday doings

Megs and I threw our first and possibly only garage sale yesterday, and we were pretty well pooped by noon. At 4:30 we headed up to the Conference Center in SLC to support our Keny, who was singing in the choir. As far back as we were it didn't take us long to spot her. Front row, middle section, 6th person in from our left. We could hear her singing above all the rest:) Man, we love our little songbird.

We parked about three blocks away and trooper Meghan hobbled along with her swollen pregnant lady feet. She finally removed her shoes and we were able to quicken our pace.

Other highlights, apart from the excellent singing and blistered feet, of course:

The gal sitting next to Megs in the conference center who decided to clip her toenails with her fingers and flick them on the carpet. Eww.

President Uctdorf's wonderful talk about the little blue flowers. I leaned over to Meghan before he was even through and whispered: "How long do you think it will take Deseret Book to start merchandising and stocking all things related to Forget-Me-Nots?"

After the meeting, we hobbled back to the car and drove home, straight to WinCo, where we purchased a few things for Sunday dinner. Exhausted as we were, the whole trip a thumbs up. Sweet little memory, a 'forget-me-not' occasion. He he he.

Grandy's SRC Bookworm Party

Bookworm Bubbie, she heard 3 little girls were celebrating a big achievement, so she popped in for a visit.


Some achievements are worthy of a certificate, eh? 100 books read for Cate, 50 for Maddie and Faye.


Their very own bookworms. Thank you All A Dollar. Yes.


Balancing a book on your head is trickier than it looks. But toss the worms off the blanket parachute style, well, that kind of fun is addictive. Just ask Maddie Sue.


Roll the dice, match it to a circle and build your worm. Such fun for the 3 and under crowd.


Bookworms love sugar, dont'cha know?


Reading is FUNdamental. He he he.


Children are made readers on the laps of their parents. Yup.

claim to fame

Added to this months MoDa selection, a wonderful short story, just recently published in 322 Review:

http://www.322review.org/issue10.html

Yup. The author of A Thousand Distant Cousins is our very own Lacy Lee.

Love her writing. Love her.

internet i love you

You’ve heard of the Khan Academy, yes?*
It is a godsend for math dummies like me. Seriously, I don’t want to die so stupid.

http://www.khanacademy.org/

And just look at all there is to learn. Even a G-mat test section, Kody & JLW please take note. It’s a little weak in the humanities category (like none) but promises to be coming soon.

Seriously, go check it out. You don’t want to die so stupid either.

*Click on the link and then scroll down to Khan Academy news reports and interviews. There’s been quite a bit written about it, I am late to the game. And before you pooh-pooh it consider that BYU-Idaho’s Kim Clark has been given a charter to develop just such a radical new education model. They are starting to assemble a global online adjunct faculty that doesn’t need to be full time, or reside in brrrr cold Idaho. It’s possible Khanacademy will render Math (and others, too) departments obsolete.

de fam

When Chea was here last month she asked me where I wanted to go to take photos. I showed her my favorite spot and she said she could make it work. I love this view driving from Kenzie's back to Orem. Thanks fam for braving the weeds and tall grass. It was worth it.


Time never changes,
The memories, the faces
Of loved ones, who bring to me,
All that I come from,
And all that I live for,
And all that I’m going to be.
My precious family
Is more than an heirloom to me.
--Amy Grant

hard is good

Went out to cheer H and Lexi on today. They both ran the Spanish Fork Half Marathon. They are some kind of awesome.


Here’s Lex, tired but triumphant. 13 miles and she ran the whole way.


And here’s H.B. Gotta say, it was inspiring seeing him push himself across that finish line.

Here I was losing faith in human nature and bemoaning the aging process, then here comes H being so inspiring and all. Luckily, I wore sunglasses so the leaking tears wouldn’t show, eh? Anything is possible and it’s not too late. To run a half-marathon or to achieve personal goals. I needed the reminder.

He wasn’t in much of a talkative mood right after. I think he was hurting and just wanted to get home.

"There will be days you don't think you can run a (half) marathon. There will be a lifetime of knowing you have."
--Unknown


Nicely done, good brother and lovely niece. Nicely done.

guadium #99,993 an outing with the grandies

Highlights:
1. SLC and Trax. A new experience for Cate and Maddie.
2. Gateway Olympic Fountain. The dancing waters are magical. Citius, Fortius!

3. Bubble gum and Mike & Ike's.
4. Children's Exhibit at the Church History Museum.

5. We were hungry from all that fun, luckily J.B's is just down the corner from the Museum. Spaghetti, French Fries!, Sprite & Chocolate Pudding. Yes, I felt sorry for the waitress who had to clean up after us.
6. Rode Trax again to where we parked the car. The girls were zonked out not 5 minutes into the ride home.

We were originally hoping to visit the Discovery Children's Museum but found out when we arrived they were closed for seasonal maintenance. Some guy in the elevator felt sorry for us and secured us some free passes for next time. But the Interactive exhibit at the C.H. Museum was more than a suitable replacement. We've been to several in the past and I think this one is very well done. The girls loved it.

More info if you go here:

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705387015/For-the-kids-5-things-youll-find-at-the-new-Church-History-Museum-exhibit.html

http://lds.org/churchhistory/museum/exhibits/current/0,16116,4089-1,00.html

http://www.heraldextra.com/momclick/activities/article_ca0cfb94-7208-11e0-a87d-001cc4c002e0.html

More pics at the GP.

happy birthday mr. jlw

A beautiful, wonderful man. Knows what it is to fight his own personal monsters and demons, just like we all do.

A grape juice toast then: To Janny. Here's to all your hard work in overcoming your Goliaths and here's to a bright and hopeful future. Clink.

http://youtu.be/j0IMASimhRo

Close your eyes,
Have no fear,
The monsters gone,
He's on the run and your daddy's here,
Beautiful,
Beautiful, beautiful,
Beautiful Boy,

Before you go to sleep,
Say a little prayer,
Every day in every way,
It's getting better and better,
Beautiful,
Beautiful, beautiful,
Beautiful Boy,

Out on the ocean sailing away,
I can hardly wait,
To see you to come of age,
But I guess we'll both,
Just have to be patient,
Yes it's a long way to go,
But in the meantime,

Before you cross the street,
Take my hand,
Life is just what happens to you,
While your busy making other plans,
Beautiful,
Beautiful, beautiful,
Beautiful Boy.

Keep your fingers crossed for him. Jiao has her exit interview on September 28th.

Unkulele has inspired me

So here’s the deal.

After much tinkering and fiddling around, we're almost ready to go into mass production with the, drum roll please …Aunt-ordian.

What’s the difference between an Aunt-ordian and a regular accordian, you say?

Well, the sound for one thing. Water damage and mold produce a truly unique squawk, er sound. The Aunt-ordian has been aged in a temperature uncontrolled, damp garage for like, 30 years. Sort of like a fine wine, you can’t rush the process.

And if you tape down the F# it creates an outer spacey mood.

Oh, and here’s where the biggest difference comes. Through a lot of trial and error I figured out how to tone down that sometimes big and annoying accordian sound. Yup.


By putting a pillow muffler on the back of the instrument it significantly reduces the volume. Which is useful when you want to go for a more mellow and romantic mood. Like if you want to be one of those strolling guys who play in restaurants for people in love and such. Or if you need to play in church.

But here is the biggest selling point, people. When you get tired of wandering around playing for lovers and church goers and need to take a nap, well you can just turn your dang Aunt-ordian over and Presto! Your instrument turns into an amazing pillow pet.


Yup, yup. I know. Genius.


Selling for $899.03 plus tax.

milking & churning

At it again. Another talk and lesson to prepare. How do I make the topic fresh and relevant, especially if said topic has been hashed and re-hashed? Yeah, dilemma. It's all been said before.

I've been hitting my files and researching ideas. Reading what others have said, certainly. But in the end, like it always does, it will come down to my own take, my own thoughts and words or it will not fly.

In other words, I milk a lot of cows but I churn my own butter. Yup.

Ok, this then. It's fitting. From "Do I Repeat Myself? The problem of the 'already said'”:

Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But since no one was listening, everything must be said again.

Originality, after all, includes not only saying something for the first time, but re-saying (in a worthy new way) the already said: rearranging an old tune in a different key, to a different rhythm, perhaps on a different instrument. Has that been said before? No matter: on with the story!
Whole article found here: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/08/do-i-repeat-myself/8572/

Oh, and this, too: http://tmiesen.com/tag/creativity/

People think creativity is like that; “creative” people are able to invent something new and original.
Well, I’ve got a sad story to tell you: Nothing is original. Everything is a mutation of a previous idea; it came from somewhere. It’s a recombination of previous words, objects, and technology to build something different.

and later:

Nobody has experienced the world in exactly the same way. Anything you make, everything you do, and any ideas you think of are combinations of every bit of the world that you’ve ever encountered. Nobody has been subjected to the same stimuli. Nobody has had the exact same conversation with the same person, and nobody has devoured the exact same media, pop culture, and advertising as everyone else. Your creative output is defined by your past. It’s only fitting that creative things come in many different forms.