It's all a matter of perspective

While I was getting ready for the day this morning, I was reflecting on some of the happenings of the past few days. As I thought about some of the frustrating things that have happened, a small blessing occurred. I began to see those events from a more holistic perspective. Before I share some of those thoughts with you, I'd better explain the photos. I was trying to think of an image that portrayed "perspective" and couldn't think of one, so I took some pictures of myself trying to capture the idea. In the first picture, I look like a Geisha...don't ask why, I just do. The second picture is me pretending to be Betty Boop or something...embarrassing. I think the 3rd picture did the best job, but I kind of look laxidasical.

Random Moments of Perspective:

• Our dryer broke and I have tons of laundry to do. Perspective: My husband took apart the dryer, purchased a replacement belt for $30, and repaired the dryer. I'm so blessed to have a husband who can figure those kinds of things out!
• Cooper had to go to the Orthodontist where we learned he has multiple things wrong. He will have to have an expander, spacers, retainer, and a few braces....for now. Perspective: Kurt's new job provided dental insurance right away. Even though it will only pay for half, we've been able to keep enough in savings to pay the other portion. We are so blessed to have insurance and pay tithing.
• I have gobs of stressful lesson planning to do and sometimes feel overwhelmed with it. Perspective: I was able to go off track with my teacher, so I'm able to juggle dental & orthodontic appointments along with lesson planning. I'm so blessed to be in the school I was placed in.
• It's snowing and blowing and snowing which makes errands a treacherous situation. Perspective: All this snow keeps me from unnecessary shopping. It will provide farmers with much needed moisture. This blessing will affect thousands.
• My husband is working 11-12 hour days this week making it difficult to spend time with him. All of the household issues fall in my lap. Perspective: He is earning much needed overtime which will help us pay our bills and it allows him to improve his abilities at his job. We are so blessed.

Take a moment and try to see the bigger picture in your life. It's uplifting and calming. I'm grateful I was given a little perspective today!

Blizzard Blanket

We have been doused with snow today. For some of you this may not seem like a lot, but in Meridian it's equivalent to an avalanche. Coop & I had a dentist appointment today and I didn't take him back to school because the roads were so bad. They've closed most of the college evening classes and the local school evening events. Hunter has a dental appointment at 8am tomorrow and I'm not looking forward to taking him out on icy roads. The fun part...hot cocoa, Biggest Loser, and pj's by 7 pm.

Our Beloved Prophet

Today when Kelli told me the news of the passing of President Hinckley, I wasn't filled with as much grief as I thought I would be. The past couple of years when he has spoken in General Conference, I've become emotional the moment he would begin to speak. His words always reached deep within my soul, prompting reflection and self-evaluation. He eminated love, just as the Savior asks of all of us.

Although I'm sad he has left us, I can't help but rejoice for him as he reunites with his dear wife. He seemed to miss her so. President Hinckley will always hold a special place in my heart and I'm grateful for the years he served me. May his family feel comfort and peace at this difficult time.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

The picture of Hunter and spider have nothing to do with one another, although I could probably come up with some similiarities if I thought long and hard enough. Yesterday, during my usual day of cleaning, the above spider decided to scare the daylights out of me. I was rinsing dishes when this little charmer waved at me. I screamed and jumped back. Of course Hunter & Kurt were gone, but Cooper yelled from downstairs to find out what was the matter. When I said there was a spider, he decided to stay in the basement for awhile....useless. Here's the thing: even though I hate spiders, I don't want them to die. They have their place in the universe. I don't mind if they live in the rain forest, at the top of Everest, on a remote island somewhere, beneath a glacier, in the middle of the Sahara. I'm a generous, compassionate person, but when spiders come into my habitat I have to dispose of them. Sometimes Kurt will take the arachnid (still alive) and put it in the backyard. Well, duh...all it's going to do is procreate and bring it's posse back with it. Think about it and don't judge the next time I tell you I sent a spider to that great web in the sky.

Hunter got a haircut...I think that is huge news. The picture doesn't do it justice because I had to catch him on the run. He is not thrilled about the cut and refuses to let me take a nice picture. Today he was on celebrity status as a ton of people told him how nice he looked...he responded with a grunt. By the way, he was accepted into the Caldwell EFY session. He has a week to decided whether he would like to go to a different session before they open it up to general enrollment. He is thinking about it.

A follow up on the dryer: it blew a belt. Kurt was able to find it, but we can't get a replacement until Wednesday.....AHHHHH! He took our 2 loads of wet laundry to our neighbors across the street. If you EVER find yourself in the same situation, call on our neighbors. Kurt came back with cookies and money (they pay us to stay in the neighborhood). Then, an hour or so later, the laundry came back neatly folded. Talk about service! I'm just glad my underwear weren't among the damp! Thanks Hatfields!

Wolf It!

On Tuesday evening I witnessed another interesting scouting ritual. Cooper achieved the rank of wolf. Of course, they made me come up so he could give me a pin. I just really hate that. I think the boys should be putting pins in their dads.

After the pinning, all the boys who receive this rank lined up in front of a table. In front of each boy, on the table, was an aluminum pie plate containing a plastic bag which holds their wolf badge. A can of Rediwhip was given to each mom (big mistake on their part) and the mom's had to fill the pie plate with whip cream. Then the boys had to eat their way to the plastic bag.

When I arrived at the meeting, before any of the peculiar festivities began, another mom approached me. She told me about the whip cream and enlisted my help in smashing the cool whip creations into the faces of the Den leaders. I was game of course. So, after Cooper was done, I took a plate and she took a plate and we chased those ladies down. As I walked back toward my partner in crime, I noticed I was the only one without any whip cream on me (I'm that good). Then the benedict arnold turned on me and slammed me with some left over cream...dang nabbit! There were a few condescending frowns as we left to clean ourselves up. I guess you aren't supposed to throw whip cream in the church...who knew? For heaven sakes, they had an open flame and stinky eggs in there...what's a little cool whip?

I better sign off. In the midst of this post, my dryer decided to throw a temper tantrum. Kurt is medicating it as I type, but it doesn't seem to be responding. Maybe a little cool whip will help!

January 20, 2008

Cooper wrote me a little note yesterday.....I'm guessing it was a not-so-subtle hint. His birthday is in less than a month. In case you can't read it, it says, "iPod + Cooper = birthday. Poor Coops is going to be sorely disappointed if he thinks this is even a remote possibility. I'm trying to prepare him for the inevitable. If I could buy an ipod based on his creative gift request presentation, he'd get one for sure.

We woke up to snow this morning again. After church, I went visiting teaching and when I got back I chatted in the car with my V.T. partner for a bit. While sitting there, as if by magic, one snowball after the other came flying over the fence only to splat against Hunter's car. Then I saw a small snow-covered glove wave over the top of the fence. I thought Coop was a pretty good shot for throwing blind.

Finally, I bit the bullet and signed Hunter up for EFY. He's never gone before and it's something I've wanted him to do. It was hard to give up that much money from savings, but I feel like it was the right choice. The way it works is you choose 5 possible sessions (from various locations) with your number one option being your most desired and number 5 being your least desired. Then, after a week of registration, there is a lottery (totally against our religion) to fill sessions. Our session choices were as follows: #1: Caldwell, ID (25 minutes from Meridian); #2 & #3: Cedar City, UT (different dates, but close to Kurt's parent's and Gentry's house); #4 & #5: Provo, UT (5 hours away and we both have brothers who live nearby). We'll be happy with any of those! I just hope he gets in at least one session.

Have a fabulous, story-filled, chocolate-eating, book-reading type of week!

Spider Chronicles, Part 3

I know what you are thinking. How do spiders and an ad for new oatmeal relate? You are going to be sorry you asked that question. Here's the background: My mother & sisters had been telling me about this yummy new healthy oatmeal and begging me to try some. I think they were getting paid by Quaker or something. I didn't know what it looked like and always forgot about it when I went grocery shopping, so I never bought any. Then my mom came to visit. She put on her running shoes and sprinted to the nearest supermarket to purchase some for me. She also bought a hot pot (I don't really know what they are called, but you put water in them, plug them in, and they get the water boiling quickly). I don't know where she carried all of it on her sprint back to my house.

Now, every morning, I turn on the hot pot and make myself a hot, steaming bowl of Simple Harvest oatmeal. Honestly, it is so delicious, everyone should try some (I hope Quaker starts paying me soon). I don't take the water out of the pot every day, but I clean it out every few days (because of the poo dust in the air and stuff like that). Yesterday there was plenty of water in the pot, but, for some reason, I decided to clean it out. I opened the lid and there IT was....floating upside down in the water. It's legs were all curled and one eye was still open.

I quickly called for Kurt, after plopping the hot pot on the counter and running for my life. My brave hero went in and dumped out the water. Guess what? The spider somehow,even in death, was able to cling to the inside of the pot. As I peeked from around the corner, I saw him take a spoon and scoop the creepy villain out and put it in the garbage. I bravely cleaned out the hot pot and ate pancakes instead.

ps. the next morning when I was eating my oatmeal, I just crossed my fingers there were not spider eggs in it! I was the bravest!

January 13, 2008

This was my first week as a student teacher and, although there were a few naughty moments, over all is was fabulous. I just really loved it. We also had tons of snow this week...more in the month of January here in Meridian than in the last couple of years combined. A couple school districts took a snow day, but not ours. Cooper loved the snow...except when some neighbor kids rubbed a bunch of snow in his face. Every day after school he would go play in it. Then I would have to lay a towel by the door and he would strip down to his skivvies (that might be a real word) and go get in pj's. Yep...pjs by 5pm.

Speaking of pj's, don't be jealous of my straight from the shower-no make up-wet hair-pj picture. When I'm not wearing make up and I see my grandma, she always asks me if I'm sick...now you see why. Kurt got me a Victoria Secret gift card for Christmas. I'm not quite sure how he thought I was going to use it, but I'm fairly certain flannel pajamas weren't what he had in mind. I've never really had matching pj's as an adult, but I LOVE THESE! I highly recommend them.

Speaking of Kurt, he was quite the charmer this week. One night he emptied the dishwasher and refilled it for me. Then, Friday, he came home with flowers. Saturday I came home to a gift (a misplaced Christmas gift, but a gift nonetheless). Hmmmm...I wonder what he did? For now I'm just very grateful for moments of spousal spoiling.

Yesterday I played volleyball again and I think my muscles would have been fine, but then I went and played walleyball directly afterward. Today, I can barely move. Every muscle in my legs, arms, and one (just one) in my back hurt. Everytime I stand, sit, or move, they scream out, but boy did I have fun. It was so worth it.

Finally, a plea to my loyal readers. There is a new show on T.V. called American Gladiators. It's so much fun to watch, especially if you turn the volume off. I have someone I think would conquer that show and I've already approached her, but she thinks I'm joking for some reason. My sister-in-law Tiffany was made to be the next American Gladiator. Come On Tiff....make me proud, and take me with you when you compete on the show. Also, remember when you did that weird finger gun at the olympic trials? Don't do that on the show, we'll come up with something even better! Maybe a hip thrust or something. It can be your signature move! TIFFANY, TIFFANY, TIFFANY!!!!!

Naughty Teacher Day!

Start counting your blessings that I'm not your child's teacher. Monday, I started a new project with my 5th graders. I put them in groups, assigned them an author and books to read written by that author. They will research the author and give a presentation. During class I heard giggling from a small cluster of boys. Then, one of them came over and said, "Mrs. Lott, Jake (not real name) is looking an inappropriate pictures." I called Jake over. I had assigned him Hans Christian Anderson and he was reading The Emperors New Clothes...why didn't I think to look through the book first. That's right, front and center was a large picture of a man...buck naked from the back. Dang It!!! Naughty Teacher, Naughty Teacher!

Then, yesterday morning one of the 3rd grade teachers, who happens to be the mother of one of my students, was waiting at my classroom door. My mentor teacher was gone yesterday, so I was also the sub. When she realized that, she asked if I knew anything about the book project. NOT GOOD! I said I was actually in charge of it. She said, "My daughter is uncomfortable with the content of the book. There are swear words in it". Seriously? How embarrassing. I quickly switched her to a new author and gave her a different book.

A few of my students sit on balls instead of chairs because they fidget so much. Well, one of the students decided to secretly have students sign his ball yesterday. When I found what was going on, I told them to stop and if he wanted to do that, he would have to at recess. What was I thinking? At recess, he asked me to sign his ball. I felt so honored he would even asked. I signed it Mrs. Lott and put a heart in the place of the "o" (ps. I don't even really like hearts...they rank up there with teddy bears and rainbows). Yes...I actually signed the ball. Why didn't I think the whole thing through? You see...pretty much everyone used washable or semi-permanent markers. So, when he sat on the ball....marker got on his clothes. It was at that point I realized someone needs to smack me upside the head.

So...count your blessings. This naked promoting, potty mouth idiot won't be teaching your child!

January 6, 2008

It's Sunday, time for my weekly recap. Today is a glorious day. It's the day we went from 3pm church to 8am church. It's not that I'm particularly fond of waking up at 6:30am on the weekend, but it is so marvelous to have the entire rest of the day to do things. For instance, it's only 2pm and I've already organized some lesson plans for tomorrow, played Risk with Hunter, played Trouble with Cooper, and read a chapter of a book with Cooper...plus, I'm ready for the day and I've already gone to 3 hours of church. It feels great!!!

Yesterday I had loads of fun. First, I had my first ward (church, not mental) volleyball game since last year. Remember the good old days when I could just hit the court full throttle and feel no ill effects? Those days are over. First, I hit the floor slowly, feeling the full effect of my fudge filled holiday break. Second, every time the ball came my way, it seemed like it was going in slow motion. You would think this would allow me to prepare quickly, but sadly my mind didn't catch up until after the ball hit the ground. This is not soccer, you don't want the ball on the ground. Lastly, I woke up this morning with a kink in my shoulder. Doesn't matter...I still had a blast and no one booed me. My coach (Marie) never got back to me on dress code, so I played pretty well despite the formal gown I was wearing.

After volleyball, I attended a primary activity. I had to share 5 unique experiences with my primary girls. My teaching partner and I had a blast doing it. Then we all met together to close the activity. I think we finished too early because, all of the sudden, the primary president started having teachers reveal one of their experiences to everyone. HELLO....I trust my girls and my teaching partner, but I'm not about to share those with everyone else...embarrassing. So I quickly called Cooper's name before she got to me and we skidaddled out of there.

Onto more pressing matters, my run in with the police. Let me state this up front: I have nothing against me on my driving record, it's spotless. So, Friday night I convinced Cooper & Kurt to go with me to Kohls so I could pick out my volleyball formal. We got about a half mile down the road when I noticed flashing lights in my rear view mirror. I pulled over hoping there was some emergency and the cop needed to get around me, but that wasn't the case. I was the emergency. He approached the car (in the pouring rain, poor guy) and asked me if I knew why he was pulling me over. I said something like, "Because of my broken rear brake light?" He replied, "No, I didn't even notice that (darn), you were going a little too fast...53 mph". Background: Up until 2 months ago, the speed limit on that road was 50 mph. Then they changed it to 40mph...so I was well over the limit. He asked for my license, registration, and insurance. Kurt started digging through the glove compartment for the registration & insurance, but we both knew the registration wasn't there and I couldn't find the insurance. I had accidentally thrown away my registration and Kurt had told me months ago I needed to get another one (He kindly reminded me while the cop was writing up the ticket). I turned to the police office and said, "You are just going to have to write me up for all of it because, even though I'm am insured and this is registered, I don't have the documentation". You might as well tell it like it is.

He came back, about 3 hours later (fine..15 minutes), and handed me the ticket. He didn't write me up for speeding (phew), but did for the lack of documents. If I take them into court by a certain date, I won't have to pay a thing. I think I got the nicest cop ever!

Before I sign off, here's a cute Cooperism: When I pulled out the Trouble game today, he said, "Mom, playing games isn't about me beating you...it's about getting to spend time with you".

Haircut Comedy Hour

I decided to chop off quite a bit of hair tonight (well, my hairdresser actually did it) and add some bangs. I saw on one of the morning shows if you have had your hair the same for 2 years or more, it's time to try something new...so I did.

I didn't get the responses I was hoping for. First, my hairdresser kept showing me pretty pictures of celebrities and telling me my hair looked like theirs. Then, after I came out from blowing it dry a little, she started laughing. She said it was something Cooper had told her...big possibility. Then, Hunter saw me and couldn't stop laughing. Luckily, Kurt loves it and I like it a lot. I really like the color as well!