April 28, 2010

Two years ago today, I dropped Jeffrey off at the MTC (Missionary Training Center) so he could begin his mission.

He spent 8 weeks in the MTC learning Spanish and 10 weeks in the Salt Lake City South Mission waiting for his visa to Mexico.  He arrived in Veracruz in mid-September and has been busy serving in that area since that time.

And now it's all coming to a close.  He will be flying home on Thursday, May 3rd.

I am so excited to see him!

It's an interesting thing being a missionary mom.  At times it seems that he can't possibly have already been gone two years.  And at other times it seems like he has been gone forever!

Tomorrow night, I will write my 104th - and final - e-mail to Elder Jeffrey Clutter in the Mexico Veracruz Mission.

I have to admit, while I am so excited to get to see Jeffrey, part of me will also miss being a missionary mom.  It's a special club to belong to.

I'm proud of Jeffrey for choosing to serve a mission.  It's a big sacrifice, but I know he will be a better man for it.

Just 5 more days and he'll be home! 

Thomas Kinkade

Thomas Kinkade passed away today. He was only 54 - so young.

I love his art. I know a lot of people don't like it, but looking at his paintings makes me happy. I am fortunate to own reproductions of two of his pieces. The one below, Clearing Storms, is my favorite. It's hanging above my fireplace and probably will hang there as long as I'm around.

My post today is not really about his art but about how cruel people can be. A few hours after hearing that he had died, I went on Twitter and searched for his name. I wish I could say I was surprised by the many cruel comments I read, but I really wasn't.

I don't care if you don't like his work. I understand he wasn't to everyone's taste. But it would be nice if people could show some respect for a man who just died. Or maybe consider the fact that he has a family that is mourning his loss right now.

What happened to good old fashioned human decency?

RIP, Thomas Kinkade. I, along with millions of others, will miss you and your tremendous talent.

One Month!

Jeffrey will be home from his mission in one month! May 3rd is the day!

It's hard to believe he's been out 23 months already. (Actually, he hit the 23 month mark on March 28th, so he'll serve a little over 2 years).

I can't wait to see him! And hug him! And listen to him talk in his Mexican accent! And feed him whatever he wants to eat!

One month! 30 days! Woo hoo!

Wisdom Teeth

On Friday Scott had his wisdom teeth removed. What a fun last day of Spring Break for him! He needed them out, though. His two bottom teeth were horizontal in his mouth! I'm pretty sure that's not a good thing!

His surgery was quick. We got there at 7:00, he was called to the back at 7:15, and we were on our way home by 8:15. And Scott was pretty awake and aware by the time we left. Not bad.

Once the bleeding stopped and Scott could take the gauze out (a few hours after we got home), he did really well. I made him take Motrin twice, but I don't think he even needed it the second time.

I took this picture on Sunday evening to document the swelling. I waited a little bit too long - the swelling had already started to go down.

I'm glad his wisdom teeth experience has been pretty uneventful. And it's nice to have gone through that for the last time.

My Kingdom for a Filter!!

Today I changed the filter in our refrigerator. I always comment on how heavy the old filter is when I remove it. (Go ahead, ask my kids. They'll back me up.) Today I decided to weigh the two filters and see just how much stuff had been collected in the used one.

The new one weighed just under 12 ounces.

The old one weighed 24.75 ounces. More than twice the weight!

That's a big difference. I don't know what's being collected in the filter (and I probably don't want to know), but it sure makes me glad our refrigerator has one!

A Cougar in Our Midst!

Jeffrey was accepted to BYU! He will start this Fall.

I'm slowly adjusting to the fact that all of my children won't be Aggies. I guess if one of them has to go somewhere else, BYU is a good choice.

He's so excited. I know this is what he wants, so I'm happy for him.

But I'll always bleed maroon!!

Not What I Like to Read

Today I read the following on the U.S. State Department's website:

"You should exercise caution when traveling in the state of Veracruz. In recent months, the state of Veracruz has seen an increase in violence among rival criminal organizations. In response, the Government of Mexico has sent additional military and federal police to the state to assist State security forces in implementing operation “Veracruz Seguro” (Secure Veracruz) that focuses on combating organized crime."

I don't like to read stuff like that when I have a son serving a mission in Veracruz! Fortunately he'll be home in a little over 2 months, and I won't have to worry about his safety in Mexico any more!

Too Long

It's been over a month since I last blogged! I think that's the longest I've gone. I'm going to try to come up with a few things to write.

1. Poor Scott. 11th graders in Texas take the exit TAKS test. I know they are phasing out TAKS, but it is still being used in high school. Because Scott wasn't in Texas for 11th grade, he has to take the exit TAKS this year, as a 12th grader. He is not excited. He knows he will finish in about 30 minutes and then have to sit there and do nothing for the rest of the time. Poor guy.

2. The youth in our ward are going on a Pioneer Trek during part of Spring Break. We were invited by the Katy Stake. At first, Scott was excited about going. But as more details emerge, the less he wants to go. Robert and I finally decided he didn't have to go. I'm not really happy he made this choice, but if I force him, he might make it miserable for everyone in his "family". And that's not fair to them. (For the record, if this were our stake's youth conference, he wouldn't even be complaining. But since our ward is a tag-a-long, he feels differently.)

Here's the part that makes my kind of happy. I had already ordered two pioneer shirts for him. So I told him he has to wear a pioneer shirt Thursday, Friday, and Saturday - the days he would have been on trek! Oh yeah - that's the kind of Mom I am! He's now threatening to not leave the house those days. I may have to arrange some fun day trips...

3. Robert has been home since Thursday evening. It's been nice having him here, and I'm sad he has to leave today. We went out to dinner with different friends on Friday and Monday, and we went to dinner with Kimberly on Saturday. It's been fun to do things like that. I'm really going to miss him when he leaves tonight.

4. Suddenly our standoffish male Siamese, Brynner, has gotten kind of mellow! He likes to sit on the arm of my chair, and will often crawl into my lap! This is very unusual behavior for him. It's kind of nice to have him so sweet!

Well, there's a few items. Time to run some last minute errands with Robert.

Stamps

When we talked to Jeffrey on Christmas Day, he surprised us all by announcing that he didn't want to go back to A&M. He wanted to go to BYU.

Surprise is probably not a strong enough word. Kimberly, Brian, and I all reacted by shouting, "What?!?" at the computer screen (we were Skyping).

We are a family that bleeds maroon, not blue.

I'm still recovering from the shock of his announcement. Brian isn't convinced that we shouldn't disown him, but I would only consider that if he had announced he wanted to go to UT.

Since he wants to go to BYU, I'm doing everything I can to help him get his application finished by February 1st - a date rapidly approaching. It would have been easier if he had made this decision in October...

One of the things I had to do was go to the high school and request an official transcript be sent to BYU. I had to bring a large, addressed, stamped envelope. I wasn't sure how much postage would be, so I stopped at the post office inside Ace to find out.

I was told it would cost 88 cents. I had forgotten to bring any stamps so I decided to buy two. She had two choices:

Hanukkah or Kwanzaa. Seriously. That's all she had. No flags or flowers or anything.

I know it wouldn't have mattered, but it just seemed weird sending Jeffrey's transcripts to BYU using Hanukkah or Kwanzaa stamps

So I went home and got two of my flowered forever stamps.

It just seemed like the thing to do.

It's Official!

We have another Aggie in the house! Scott found out that he was accepted to Texas A&M! Whoop!

We weren't surprised. He's in the top 2% of his class, and anyone in the top 10% is guaranteed acceptance. But it's nice to have it in writing!

His plan is to go to A&M for one semester. He will submit his mission papers in August or September and hopes the timing works so he can begin serving in late December or early January.

It's hard to believe that by this time next year, Scott will have graduated from high school, completed a semester of college and started his two-year mission for our church.

Where does the time go?

A Good Start!

Today in church we sang "Ring Out, Wild Bells"! That made my day! I love that song and so often we don't sing it at New Year's.

Thank you, whoever picked the music! You made me very happy!

The Highs and Lows of Singing

Yesterday at church I was all ready to teach my Primary class - and no one showed up! Two of the kids were out of town and the other girl was sick. So I went in to Relief Society.

This is where the low of singing comes in.

We sang "O My Father" for the Opening Song and "Families Can Be Together Forever" for the Closing Song. Don't get me wrong - I like both of those songs, and I'd be happy to sing them most other times. But it was the week before Christmas, for crying out loud!!! Why were we not singing Christmas songs!! I don't care what the lesson is about - you should sing Christmas songs the week before Christmas!!

Can you tell I feel very passionately about this?

Fortunately, last night I experienced a high of singing. My sister's ward was working with a Methodist church to put on a Messiah Sing-a-Long. The soloists had been assigned and had been practicing, and there were some people who had been attending practices to learn their parts. But the rest of us just went that night and got to sing the great songs from the Messiah.

If you've never sung the Messiah, you should sometime. The music is beautiful and fun and challenging to sing. The last time I sang it, I was a soprano, but I can't hit those notes anymore! So last night I sang the alto part for the first time, along with Kimberly and my two nieces. I didn't hit every note, but I hit enough of them so that I didn't embarrass myself!

There were probably over 300 people there, so it was a large group singing. After we sang the first song, "And the Glory of the Lord", the four of us could hardly contain ourselves! We were so excited! To feel the power of that beautiful work being sung was so incredible. The "Hallelujah" Chorus was, of course, the highlight of the evening. I never fail to be moved by that majestic piece.

I was tired last night, but I'm so glad I made the hour drive to Clear Lake to participate in the Messiah Sing-a-Long. What a beautiful way to remember our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Fortunately, the high was much higher than the low was low. (If that makes sense at all).

I Know the Feeling

Friday evening, Kimberly and I went out for dinner. There was a family of five seated near us. Mom and Dad, plus 3 kids. Two boys, ages about 14 and 10, and a little girl, age about 6.

After Kimberly and I finished our meal, she slipped off to the restroom. So I was watching the family, who had just received their food. I'm nosy like that. The 10-year-old somehow stuck his sleeve in some sort of sauce, so he and the Mom were working at wiping it off. The older brother must have been making comments, because suddenly the Mom leaned toward him and said the following (with accompanying hand gestures):

"Just please stop commenting! Please! Just stop it! You are so exhausting!"

Then she resumed eating, while I tried to keep from laughing out loud!

You are so exhausting!

I'm going to remember that one!

Betty Crocker - I Thought I Knew You!

Let me just begin this by saying that I've been making boxed cake mixes for over 35 years now. (Yes, I do use boxed cake mixes. I think they taste better. I never use canned frosting, though.) I've had great success over the years making cakes.

So when I made Kimberly's birthday cake in September, I was expecting it to turn out. Imagine my surprise when I turned the cake out of the pans and the bottom stayed in the pans! I was not expecting that! Fortunately I was able to salvage the bottom pieces and reconstruct and frost the cake. It wasn't the prettiest cake I've ever made, but it still tasted good!

Fast forward to the end of October when I made Scott's birthday cake. I decided to read the instructions more carefully. To my surprise the instructions only said to grease the pans. There was no mention of flouring the pans. I have never made a cake where the instructions didn't say to grease and flour the pans. I even looked at a Betty Crocker chocolate cake mix to see if it was just the white cake mix that had changed, but no, the instructions on both boxes were the same.

Recalling the cake fiasco of Kimberly's birthday, I followed the instructions (although a little skeptically I might add) and just greased the pans. Sure enough, the cake came right out with no sticking.

When did Betty make this change? What did she do to the cake mix that warranted this change? And why wasn't it written in big bold letters on the front of the box!! I do know that Duncan Hines still requires greasing and flouring, so it's not an industry wide change.

I have to say, now that I know, I may stick to Betty Crocker cake mixes. I have always hated flouring the cake pans so it's nice not to have to!

Hooray!

On Saturday, Scott got his official over 18 driver's license. It doesn't expire until October 29, 2017, when he turns 24.

What does this mean?

It means that all 3 of my boys have driver's licenses that will expire when they are 24.

What does this mean?

It means they will be old enough to go to the DPS by themselves.

What does this mean?

It means I NEVER HAVE TO TAKE A CHILD TO THE DPS AGAIN!! EVER!!

**Happy Dance! Happy Dance!!**

Can you tell how much I love the DPS?

Two Important Dates

I wanted to make note of a couple of important dates:

October 28th.

Jeffrey hit the 18 month mark on his mission. How did that happen? His mission is 3/4 over. He will be home in 6 months.

Time has gone by very quickly. Yet it also feels like he has been gone forever.

I'm so proud of him for choosing to dedicate two years to serving the Lord. I love this picture. I think it shows how happy he is to have made that choice.

October 29th.

Scott turned 18. And I don't have a picture. What a bad mom I am.

I'm finding it hard to believe that MY BABY IS 18! I'm getting old.

Scott's a great kid. I actually enjoy having him around. I'm grateful for his strong desire to do what's right and for his love of the gospel. In a little over a year, he'll be serving a mission. Following in his older brothers' footsteps.

It's exciting to recognize these important dates in Jeffrey and Scott's lives. I'm proud to be their mom.

The Driving Test

Scott is a licensed driver! Woo hoo!

But it wasn't easy.

The whole ordeal started a couple of weeks ago when Scott and I went to the DPS near us and discovered he would have to wait six weeks to take his driving test. We weren't happy about that, but weren't sure what we could do about it.

I had heard that the DPS an hour from us had shorter wait times, but the only way to find out would be to drive there. The DPS is too busy to answer their phones any more (as the message on their phone so nicely states). I wasn't thrilled with the idea of the drive, but one morning I got up and did it. I made the drive.

The only good thing? There's a very nice Buc-ee's along the way. I love Buc-ee's! (And if you don't know what Buc-ee's is, that's your loss)!

After waiting a few minutes, it was my turn. I asked the nice woman behind the counter how long the wait for the driving test was. She told me they were making appointments for a week from that day. I asked her if there was any way we could change Scott's appointment to their location. She asked if he was with me, I said no, but I had his permit. She took it, looked him up online, and asked when the following Friday we would like to come in. I left their office with an appointment for Scott the next Friday! Hallelujah!

The day finally arrived. We made the long drive to the DPS. After waiting a little bit, Scott and the DPS tester went out to the car. About 15 minutes later they walked back in.

Scott was not happy.

Apparently he had hit the curb while parallel parking (which is the first thing on the test). This was enough for the tester to flunk him. He didn't even let him do any driving. Because he hit the curb while parallel parking. (I'm still not sure what they were doing out there for 15 minutes).

We were very annoyed, to put it mildly. We rescheduled for the following Monday - 10 long days away.

It was not a fun hour drive home.

I blame myself for his parallel parking problems. With Robert working in Salt Lake City, it fell to me to teach Scott to parallel park. I'm a pretty good driver, but I'm not a good parallel parker. I understand how to do it, but the execution isn't always good. Also, the night before his test, we had driven to the DPS closer to us to practice in their parallel parking area. He was doing great there. The problem is that their parallel parking spot is about 2 feet deeper than the parallel parking spot where Scott took his test. So he got used to going further into the spot.

But even if he had hit the curb, that seems to be a stupid reason to not let him continue the test.

Fortunately Robert came home the weekend before the retest. So on Saturday we made the hour long drive to the DPS so Scott could practice parallel parking there. And receive coaching from Robert - who is a very good parallel parker. By the time we left, Scott had parallel parking down.

Monday morning we made the long drive back to the DPS. Unfortunately he had to retest with the same guy.

Fortunately we had a much better outcome this time. He passed!

As we waited at the desk for the tester to complete the paperwork, he told Scott that he needed to work on relaxing while he was driving. Really?!? This man had already failed Scott once, and he expected him to be relaxed while driving with him? I really had to bite my tongue to keep from saying something!

Needless to say, it was a much pleasanter ride home!

And now my baby is a licensed driver. Here he is in front of his sweet ride:

(Okay, it's not a sweet ride. But it's ride. And that's all that Scott cares about.)

It's nice to have him driving. But now he's really independent. And that's a little bit sad.

Steve Jobs

I was sad to hear of the passing of Steve Jobs yesterday. What an incredible innovator he was. My life has been impacted by his genius.

I have an iMac and a MacBook Pro, and I'm constantly amazed at how easy they are to use.

I've had an iPod Shuffle and I currently have an iPod Touch. The majority of my music is stored on my iPod. With a simple touch I can choose between a wide variety of music.

I've only had my iPhone for a month, but I already love it and can't imagine having any other phone.

iTunes was a lifesaver in Italy. It was the only way I could download Criminal Minds every week (and you know how I love Criminal Minds).

I'm sad that he won't be around to create more Apple products.

But I'm sadder for his family. He leaves behind a wife and children who will miss him very much.

Steve Jobs was only 56. Only 5 years older than me. Way too young.

R.I.P., Steve Jobs. You will be missed.

Switcheroo

I bought a Blu-Ray player. We don't have any blu-ray movies, and I will still probably buy most of our movies in the DVD format. But it will be nice to have for certain movies, and I like the idea of accessing Netflix and other things through the TV.

After an explanation of the differences from a friend (Shelley), I bought a player that had built-in Wi Fi (the same one she has). This meant the player should be all ready to access our home Wi Fi.

Only it didn't work out that way. As I was reading the instructions, I read that I would need a LAN adapter for the USB port in the front of the machine. And when we hooked up the machine, the message on the screen said I needed a LAN adapter to access the internet.

Shelley didn't mention anything about a LAN adapter. I was confused and gave up last night, deciding to call her in the morning.

This morning I was looking at the instructions again and noticed that they were for model number 380. I was pretty sure I had bought model number 580. I looked at the box, and sure enough, it said 580 on the front. So I looked at the Blu-Ray player itself.

Model number 380.

No wonder mine wouldn't access the internet while Shelley's would.

It wasn't the right model in the box.

I'm wondering. Did Sony mess up? Or did someone pull a switcheroo at Target?

I'll be heading back to Target this morning. I hope they don't think I'm trying to pull the old switcheroo!

A Small World

Today I had the opportunity to go see Gladys Knight and the Saints United Voices Choir. (That could be a post all on it's own. They were truly amazing.)

I was sitting next to an older woman. She turned and said, "You look familiar. I feel like I should know you". She didn't really look familiar to me (I'm terrible at recognizing people), but I told her my name.

She got an excited look on her face and said her name was Jeanette Matis. Her husband had been the bishop of our student ward at Texas A&M when I was there 30+ years ago!

When her husband turned to face us (he had been talking to the friend they brought), I immediately recognized him. He looks pretty much the same - just older.

It was so much fun to talk to them and catch up on their family. I told them about our family, and we talked about other students who had been there when Robert and I were there.

I have a special place in my heart for Bishop Matis. He made it a point to go to the weddings of any members of the ward who got married. Remember, this was when the closest temple was in Mesa, Arizona. So no wedding was close. That year at least 10 couples got married, and he made it to every wedding.

Our wedding was in Manti, Utah, so it wasn't easy for him to come to it. But he did. And I'm so grateful to him. My parents aren't members, so he was like a father figure for me there.

I told them both today how grateful I was that he had come to our wedding. I wanted them to know that the sacrifice he made, back when he had still had young children at home, was still remembered by someone - 30 years later.

I love how, in the church, you never know how or where you might run into someone from your past.