Haiku for mothers

Yesterday while I was getting ready to post my blog I was reading the "the meanest mom" blog and she had written some Haiku poetry. I haven't even thought of Haiku since I was in high school and had to do it for a project. I didn't have anything to say at the ripe old age of 16 and if I had there was no way it would fit into the haiku formula. Funny thing happened this morning when I couldn't sleep I decided to try my hand at it.





For Lizzie 1/29/2007-2/14/2007





The dress hangs ready
Lovingly sewn by old hands
All for the new one.



Untouched baby clothes
an empyt, heirloom crib, but
eternally ours














Ode to the Laundry
In heaps on the floor
Waiting for someone to wash
shirts, socks, pants and towels

Still it piles up
a never ending supply
keeping the floor warm.

Someone should wash it
Their responsibility
not mine! not yours? whose?

Here is just a short one

Husbands

Man, looking for food

there in plain sight in the fridge

can't seem to see it.

Lately my family has been giving me guff because I never update my blog. I read other people's blogs and realize I have nothing funny to say.

American Idol has started up again. We always look forward to Jan and the return of American Idol. It's not that the show is so great but we use it as an excuse to get together as a family. It is like a family home evening for the less active Mormons. Last night we ate taco salad and laughed at the antics of those that somehow think they can sing and get upset when someone tells them they can't. Where are these kids MOTHERS? Isn't it a mothers job to tell her children they can do anything in the world they want to do but if they want to sing on national TV they had better be good enough not to embarrass the whole family? (not to mention the people watching) Apparently some mothers missed the memo. When I was young I sang with the church choir and my mother was the choir director. My mother would always ask others to sing the solos in the programs never me. When I asked her why, she told me I didn't have a solo voice, mine was more for a whole choir where I could blend in. I listened and when I was asked (on several occasions) to sing a solo I was so terrified I did badly. So I ask again where are these kids mother????? If everyone had a mother like mine only the kids that really knew how to sing would be on tv and they would be nothing funny about the show at all, so I guess it might be ok that their mothers were different than mine.

Even more of the same Summer

Sijing and her mother left and we packed our bags and headed for Moab. Courtland planned a family reunion for our family in July in Moab!? What was he thinking? Yes it was hot but it was so much fun that I think in the long run no one cared. All but Beckett and his family had access

to a jeep and they have their 4X4 truck so we all went on the trails. If you read my blog you know that we bought a new Jeep on Memorial Day and by the end of the family reunion we had the necessary "Rocky Mountain Pin stripping" to prove that this Jeep isn't just a pretty face. It is tough to know that our new Jeep is all scratched but such is life.

We went to Gemini Bridges on Friday and on Sat we took the LaSal Mountain Pass. Friday we cooked and Sat by the time we got to the top it was 61 degrees and the kids were all freezing. We had them wrapped in blankets and sweatshirts and finally put them in the car with the windows rolled up. The adults were cold as well. I even went places I never imagined I would go. I drove up Baby Lions Back. I had Courtland with me and he was a wonderful co-pilot. My husband wouldn't drive it so I felt obligated to do it to show I am a "real" woman. It worked. Joseph said he could now brag that he sat and watched his wife drive it.

Thank you Courtland for all the time and effort you put into making this family reunion one that we will remember forever. Don't ever think that your family didn't invest in the activity.

More of the Summer

I came home from Wasnington DC to find my husband standing at the airport with a 16 year old Chinese girl and her mother. My flight had been delayed so Joseph picked up Sijing and her mother Yangyang and then waited for me. Sijng is our little girl who was coming to compete in the Gina Bachauer Piano Competition. (For those of you who don't know about the piano competition you are missing out on a lot. ) These young kids know how to play the piano. The following week turned out to one of the highlights of my life. Sitting everyday listening to the kind of music I love most played by someone live in my house was a blessing I will never forget. They were the perfect house guests. They don't smoke or drink. they didn't even drink tea. They were very respectful and very appreciative of everything that was done for them. They liked my cooking and preferred to eat at home rather than go out. They loved watching the birds in the back yard and loved walking in the rose garden.

The fact that Sijing won the whole competition was the grand payoff. To see her face and her mothers reaction was priceless. Sijing plays with such passion that you can't help but feel the music. I would keep her if it was possible.

Here is Sijing with one of the other competitors.

Summer!!!

This summer for me has been one for the record books. It started the middle of June when my mother, sisters and I donned our trusty tiara's and headed for our nations capitol. Imagine 3 middle aged women and 1 elderly Gran wearing tiara's all over Washington DC. We went to places like the capitol building, Arlington, Mt Vernon, and government briefings wearing our goofy little crowns. We have learned that the 4 of us together wearing them is OK. People think we are a little strange but we get a lot of funny reactions. But one person alone just looks out of the sanitarium crazy. (like when you have to go to the restroom and you have to go alone) One thing that has become a standard for our retreats is the picture of nothing but our feet. So here we are standing in the absolute middle of Washington DC and our feet prove it. (can you imagine if you were there that day watching 4 old ladies standing in the middle of the rotunda wearing tiara's and taking a picture of their feet what you would think?)

Inanimate Objects

We have a small area in our front yard that is fenced off and is called "Arch's National Park With Benches" It is a place the grand kids (and unknown neighbor kids) like to play and look around. The micro-gust winds blow the pine cones out of the trees overhead and make it hard to walk around in the park. This morning I was out raking the pine cones and other junk out of the area when I bumped into one of the little figurines. I found myself talking to the little object and apologizing for having tread on it with my adult feet. As I realized what I was doing I started to laugh thinking if the neighbors were listening they would think I was nuts. (Actually they already know I am) I tried to figure out why I was talking to this little thing when I realized that after many years of having a family I have spent most of my time talking to inanimate objects. They are so busy doing their own thing that they can sit and ignore you while you are talking right at (not to) them. So I felt right at home in the park with all the metal, resin, glass and plastic do dads that make the park a pleasant place to be. You should come for a visit if you promise not to step on the little decorations.

Memorial Day

Memorial Day is a day to rememeber loved ones who have passed on and this we do in our society by buying hot house forced blooming mums and trecking off to some distant cemetery. Well this year we decided to do something different. We were going to stay home and weed the rose garden. I had gotten Joseph to agree to help for a few hours and I was excited. I was actually getting help from my husband in the garden! Well we awoke to the heavens playing a joke on me by sending rain. There would be no working in the garden! We called Gran to see if she wanted to go to lunch, but alas she was busy. We ran a few errands and were done for the day. Joseph called a friend who was working a tent sale for used cars and invited Joseph to come over for a free hot dog. Joseph loves free hotdogs so we decided to go. I am unable to explain how we got from eating free hot dogs to signing papers on a 2007 Jeep Wrangler Sahara, 4-door, 4x4. Oh how I wish Gran had been available.