What I did on my spring/summer "vacation"

I haven't blogged for a while. I've been doing projects - you know, those things you put on a list and then hopefully find time to do. And time is key right now - I have plenty of it, being unemployed and all. So in a few weeks I will come back and list my accomplishments and post pictures. And even though it might look like I'm done, I will still have more projects in the works. I like it like that.

Strange to not have a job!

It's strange to not have a job. I will admit I like being able to get caught up on lots of things! I've cleaned out the garage, condensed Jason's stored things, replaced the food in our 72-hour packs, cleaned out cupboards, planted the garden, crocheted, read, washed all my kitchen decor, cleaned and organized for Amy in her studio and down in Phoenix for Jason and Brandy. It's fun to visit them and see our new sweet, darling, happy baby granddaughter - I made three trips in her first six weeks of life! I certainly couldn't have done that if I was working!! So, being sad at the end of my job didn't last long, not with so much to do and a new grandbaby to dote on.

Tomorrow I am painting the kitchen! I've put this off for years because I didn't have time. It will be a bold blue on one wall and pale blue on the other walls. I took all the Wizard of Oz stuff down and I will re-organize what I want to put back. It will be less and more eclectic - when you look at the items you might have to think about how they play a part in the movie. Of course I will still have my favorite Oz cookie jars and other items - I can't get rid of those!

Riley and I are going to Yellowstone sometime this summer and we have a trip planned to the Grand Canyon with the family.

And with Parkers living just 22 minutes away, there's always a project in the works with Jera! We made several quilts this spring, painted at Ben and Kristi's house, we're going to put a wallpaper border in her sewing room and we've found a few antique stores for ideas.

I know there is a job down the road for me - just don't know what it is yet. I did write an article for the Church News this week and it was good to be writing again. Plus I am editing an online newspaper in Springville and that's fun. Today I made five pair of earrings with my friend Tamela. we've been trying to do this together for about four years. Yes, I think I'm ok not having a job for now!

I'm in love

I have a new love. Her name is Artemis Valborg Nelson. She's pretty teeny tiny to warrant so much love - just 7 pounds 11 ounces. But how she makes my heart burst with joy - wow.

Details? I've got details.

Last Saturday I kept telling my friend Jera, who is temporarily living with us, it would sure be fun to have a birthday baby since my birthday was the next day. Brandy wasn't due until May 5 but I got a call at 11 p.m. from Brandy that her water had broken and they were going to the hospital. Who didn't sleep that night? Brandy, of course. Jason. Brandy's mom Jackie. And me. Too dang excited!! I thought she'd have the baby before church at 9 a.m. and I'd be able to announce the wonderful news. I was naughty. I held my cell phone all throughout church, texting Jason and my girls, running out to talk to Riley. All throughout Sunday School and Relief Society I couldn't focus - I just wanted to hear she was here.

After church Jera made potato salad and guacamole to take to my birthday barbecue, then we headed to my mom's house in Springville. My sister had coordinated a wonderful party with family and friends. We enjoyed burgers and all the fixings, chatted, opened presents and I kept checking texts from Jason which said, "we see hair," "coming now. Next 10 I bet" and "crowning." Then, at 3:21 their time, 4:21 our time, as my sister was serving my birthday cake he wrote "She is out   holy crap."  I laughed and cried with joy and held up the phone and gave the news - everyone was happy but maybe not as happy as I was!

We got pictures a few minutes later of a tiny black-haired wailing baby. Brandy and Jason have their own personal memories of the birth that I won't share - those are theirs to treasure. Mine were of gratitude to Heavenly Father for bringing this perfect little child to earth. We heard later she weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces and is 20.5 inches long. We got to see a few pictures and that had me hooked so much I felt compelled to just get to Phoenix and not wait. Brandy's mom was OK with that, Jason said he wanted me there "now" and I had no reason to wait. I needed to see my granddaughter.

I booked a flight for Tuesday morning and got to Phoenix by 10 a.m. Jason picked me up and took me to the hospital where Brandy and Artemis were waiting to be discharged. The baby had been in the room with them almost constantly, bonding, eating and sleeping. I walked in the door and saw the tiniest, truly most perfect little face, body, arms, legs. She is amazing. She looks like Jason as a baby and Brandy as a baby. She has skinny legs and arms with soft, soft skin. She has black hair that hangs over her collar. She has a tiny mouth, perfect nose, little eyebrows and ears. She is a calm, happy baby. She is easily consoled - really doesn't get upset at all unless someone annoys her like the doctor checking her out for her first pediatric appointment.

I'm pretty sure I won't be able to go home. I can't think of the day I will have to leave. All I know is, I will be back. A lot. I'm in love.

Big changes ahead

I haven't written anything for a while. Just didn't feel like it. I did write the following back in January but didn't post it. I guess this is as good a time as any to do that:

*** (Jan. 15) The shock still hasn't worn off. I got a call Wednesday night to come to a meeting at work on Thursday at 10 a.m. I told the department chair I take care of my mother on Thursday mornings. He said I needed to be there - it was important. I took my mom to her hair appointment and got our good friend and caregiver Melanie to pick her up. I ran some errands for my mom, then headed to the meeting. Several of my Daily Universe colleagues were already there, the rest filed in after me. We were sitting on one side of a long conference table. Someone joked about it being a firing squad. I joked about getting blindfolds.

Our department chair stood before us and gave us the results of a task force study which was done last fall. We each participated in that study giving our opinions as to why the Daily Universe was in trouble (we had no leader, ad sales were in the toilet, seven of the eight of us were doing what we could to keep the paper afloat financially). Then we were blindsided. Rather than choose a minimal fix, they went drastic. He told us all eight of us were being let go - downsized or some other term. The DU would go digital starting spring term (we actually already are digital) with a once-a-week paper rather than a daily. He said, "this decision is final."

The dean of the college was in there, plus three HR guys and several Comms faculty. No one would look any of us in the eye. Severance packages were explained, "thanks for doing such a great job" was offered. We asked questions about the 321 class and the newspaper. We were told the class would continue and the paper would be once a week. Students would still take the class. Several new positions would be created that we could apply for "if our skill set matches." We asked what the new plan would look like. The department chair (who has since announced he is leaving) didn't know - "we have a lot of work to do to figure this out." We were asked to be professional during the rest of our time at the DU. An HR guy, under his breath, said, "you'll need them to help make the transition." Yep, I guess so. ***

I've never lost a job. It's foreign to me. I thought if you did a good job, made yourself indispensable, you'd always have a job. Not so folks. I've seen friends and family lose jobs over the past couple of years. Could be age related since we are all over 50. What I've noticed in most cases is it was someone younger who let an older (but not so old) person go. Could be financial reasons - several people I know who were let go had worked for their companies more than 20 years, some more than 30. When you clear out the "old" folks, you can hire people at greatly reduced salaries and adjust benefits. The thing that's lost though is experience, knowledge and wisdom. Plus loyalty and investment mentally and emotionally.

I mistakenly thought the only people who lost jobs were those who messed up, fell asleep on the job, came late to work, showed up drunk, ticked off a boss or whatever. Doing a good job shouldn't lead to losing it.

I believe in Karma. I also believe in new beginnings and opportunities. I just thought it should be me making my life course decisions, not someone else. I guess that's a luxury.

One thing I've told my students who are upset about us losing our jobs is, when you go out in the world and you are in a managerial position, remember what happened here, and treat people better than you saw us treated. I hope my students leave the newsroom with the knowledge of how to be a good journalist but, more importantly, I hope they've been taught how to be a good person.

We like to travel!

Someone made a crabby comment to me recently about our travels. Seems I irked someone by sending our Christmas greetings and detailing where we went last year. I'm not going to stop traveling and I probably won't stop putting that info in our Christmas letters because many more kind, genuine, non-jealous, loving friends commented on how great it is we do get to travel here and there.

I grew up in Springville, Utah. I didn't get on a plane until I was 19. I didn't leave the United States until I was 28 (the 4-minute trip into Tijuana when I was about 12 doesn't count). Even still, the trip at 28 was one my friend Leslee and I won to Acapulco and I didn't travel abroad again for quite a few years. I think that trip did it though - getting on a plane and being somewhere totally different and exotic just a few hours later, seeing new things, meeting local people of a different country, eating the food of the area - I was hooked. Yet we really didn't travel much until we moved to Utah 12 years ago - picking up Jason from Taiwan and Andrea from Argentina, going to Tahiti for Riley's research and traveling to other countries with Riley for bug meetings. In fact, we've only taken two trips that weren't tied to bug meetings, research, a contest win or picking up missionaries - that was Paris in 2010 and England last year.

This is something Riley and I enjoy - traveling to a new country, seeing new sights, taking pictures, making new memories and hopefully new friends. We aren't "thing" people - we don't buy all the latest gadgets, we don't drive new cars, we are pretty frugal people. We save up Skymiles and find other ways to be frugal even when traveling. Riley travels a lot more than I do yet the past two years I've been able to get away about 20 days of the year. That leaves 345 days here at home to take care of our needs, my 82-year-old mother's needs (and there are quite a few under her umbrella), our cabin, my job, my church callings, helping in my neighborhood and town, working on personal goals and just generally trying to keep up with all the demands. Traveling also lets me get away from demands. It lets me rest my brain from all the "needs" here at home. I think I am due that once in a while.

I won't grant anyone the chance to make me feel bad for leaving for 20 days a year because they think it's unfair or they don't get to or they are jealous or whatever their reason is. We aren't wealthy people but we are blessed with a wealth of good friends and abundant memories, some made in distant lands. That's part of the fun of life, isn't it, to explore?

Goals for 2012

I checked my goals last year - waste less food - check; put pictures on blog - mostly check; write one thank you note a week - that lasted a month. Oh well. Two out of three isn't bad. This year my goal is to write my book about my contest wins. I have it started. I just need to carve out time once a week to work on it. I have other goals like going to the temple more each month and writing in my journal every day. (I've written every day so far since Dec. 31.) And getting on the computer less which means having time to write in my journal and go to the temple. Good luck to me! What are your goals?

A fabulous celebration

Todd's mom Debby is in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and gave us tickets to Sunday's performance of Music and the Spoken Word. Riley, Todd, Amy and I got to go and see that plus a mini-concert similar to the ones they performed the previous three nights. It was magnificent! (And sitting next to Amy and Todd after five months apart was a treat too!)

There were several things that touched my heart. One is the way you feel the Spirit through music. What a beautiful gift music is! The choir, the orchestra, the guest tenor Nathan Gunn and the cool people with the bells (I want to be one of those people!) all added to the magic of the night. I don't remember the production's final song but it ended on such a crescendo that my heart was bursting with happiness. It was amazing.

Another thing that impressed me was Jane Seymour, the narrator for the night. She read her scripted parts and told the wonderful story of Good King Wenceslas. I've sung this song at Christmas but have never understood the story. As the choir sang and Jane narrated, the words to the song were on large screens so it was easy to follow along:

Good King Wenceslas looked out,
On the Feast of Stephen,
When the snow lay round about,
Deep and crisp and even;
Brightly shone the moon that night,
Tho' the frost was cruel,
When a poor man came in sight,
Gath'ring winter fuel.

"Hither, page, and stand by me,
If thou know'st it, telling,
Yonder peasant, who is he?
Where and what his dwelling?"
"Sire, he lives a good league hence,
Underneath the mountain;
Right against the forest fence,
By Saint Agnes' fountain."

"Bring me flesh, and bring me wine,
Bring me pine logs hither:
Thou and I will see him dine,
When we bear them thither."
Page and monarch, forth they went,
Forth they went together;
Thro' the rude wind's wild lament
And the bitter weather.

"Sire, the night is darker now,
And the wind blows stronger;
Fails my heart, I know not how,
I can go no longer."
Mark my footsteps, good my page;
Tread thou in them boldly:
Thou shalt find the winter's rage
Freeze thy blood less coldly."

In his master's steps he trod,
Where the snow lay dinted;
Heat was in the very sod
Which the saint had printed.
Therefore, Christian men, be sure,
Wealth or rank possessing,
Ye who now will bless the poor,
Shall yourselves find blessing.

The message is of giving and receiving blessings in return - perfect for Christmas but one we should remember every day, not just during this season. Before Jane gave this reading she gave an impromptu speech about her feelings of being a part of the choir's production and how she loves Christmas but being a part of this made it so much better - that she felt something as she participated. What she felt was the Spirit and knowing that she will carry that with her is such an amazing blessing for her as well as a missionary tool, for her and others she will tell. Anyone who has ever felt the Spirit through word or song, especially in such a powerful way, cannot deny it. She pointed out to the audience that the choir, orchestra and many others are volunteers. She was amazed at that yet it is a wonderful common trait in LDS members to do just that, give of our time and talents.

The tickets to the event were free so much of the production had no cost attached. Yet there are those who are paid - the production crew who have these jobs to support their families. And there would have been cost for the grand decorations - the banners, castle scenes and costumes. So the Church puts on this magnificent production (and many others) to bring joy to people and have the Spirit enter their hearts through music and thoughtful words. I'm glad I live here and have access to these kinds of events and I'm thankful to Debby for giving us the tickets. The events of that morning gave me good things to think about for a long time. Merry Christmas!