In all seriousness

No one wanted to be my penpal. (Although I may revisit that idea.)

Luckily for me the great cure to self-pity is selfless immersion in service and a great opportunity has come my way. And yours!

I mentioned my upcoming trip to Peru in March. The group I am traveling with usually packs their suitcases full of medical supplies, but since the surgical team has made other arrangements our second suitcases are available for use.

Our group leader who has been before has seen a need for children's shoes, warm clothing and blankets. Apparently Peru isn't all hot and sunny, some mountain villages get fairly cold. These pictures (used with permission from Ascend) were from a previous expedition to Peru and you can see that they like hats, sweaters and are in need of shoes.

If you want to donate please contact me through the email address on my blog. If you live in the Treasure Valley I will be happy to come by and pick up.

If not, and you still want to donate I will email my address to you.

I won't get on my hands and knees to beg for a penpal. But I will get on my hands and knees to beg for your help, if I have to. My promise to you is that I will make my best effort to personally photograph the recipients of your donations and either send them to you or post them here.

To check legitimacy of my cause go here.

reinventing the letter

ooh, messy house

Cameron got mail today. My cousin in Utah has a first grader who needed to send Flat Stanley to another state. (More on Flat Stanley later.) So he sent Flat Stanley and a book about F.S. to us. I'll save our adventures with our house guest for another post. But Cameron opening his mail with such anticipation got me thinking...

I want to reinvent the letter. I discussed in another post my year in Virginia and how much I treasured the letters I received whilst I was away. That must be obvious since I still have them. I also still have the letters I received from my east coast friends subsequent to my return to Idaho. Oh mail. I loved getting the mail.



These days I have a terrible habit of neglecting the mail altogether. Richard gives me a hard time about this.

"Important things come in the mail, Jo."

Like what? Credit card offers as numerous as the sands of the sea? And by the way, how did I get subscribed to Field & Stream?

Occasionally I will get something worth the cold winter walk to the end of the driveway. But for the most part I avoid such walks, letting the mail pile up in the mailbox until Richard's return on Friday nights. Visualize this ritual;

We pull up from the airport. I unload the boys, Richard makes that walk down the driveway. Dramatic eye roll in my direction as he carries an armload of ads and bills that should probably just be dropped in the recycle bin on his way into the house. (At least campaign season is over, talk about a waste of trees.)

So I am going to reinvent the letter. Starting here. I want a reason to go to the mailbox each day. I want to experience the excitement of waiting for correspondence written on actual paper. I am looking for a penpal. For me, or for Cameron. Preferrably someone more than 1,000 miles away who we don't actually know. I know you are out there.

Your mailbox will thank you.

Oh, and my husband will thank you too.

Lent

Painting by Carl Spitzweg, taken from Wikimedia Commons

Although I am LDS and my religion does not practice Lent the way other western Christian religions do, I believe in the principles it teaches. According to Wikipedia "The purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer... through prayer, penitence, almsgiving and self-denial... for the annual commemoration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. "

Before reading that, all I knew was that Lent involved the sacrifice of a personal vice. A Catholic friend of mine gives up coffee for 40 days, a true sacrifice for her. Two or three years ago I gave up chocolate for Lent. This year I decided to do it again, but I wanted to learn more about it.

In addition to my belief that practicing self-denial strengthens character I know that avoiding my chocolate habit will have positive health benefits and will reassure me that I am not addicted or dependent on it.

The 40 day journey is made tolerable in that Sundays are Feast days so the abstinence can be broken. (The 40 days from Ash Wednesday to the Saturday before Easter exclude all Sundays.)

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. I encourage anyone who wants to sacrifice in preparation for Easter celebrations to join me by eliminating your own vice. If not, while some Christians focus on sacrifice during Lent, many others focus on service or finding ways to come closer to Christ.

Hosanna, Hosanna.

Follow-up

** First of all, Venice and Vienna are practically the same city, right? (Okay, wrong, but there isn't an Austrian restaurant in Boise that I am aware of.)

**Second- those heels either gave me tendonitis or exacerbated tendonitis I already had, resulting in my inability to train for a certain goal I have. Anyway, the heels have been banished, probably until next Christmas.

a Night in Vienna

My generous older brother Bryan and his wife Brit combined Christmas and birthday gifts for Richard and I this year in order to really spoil us with a night on the town. A Night in Vienna, actually. Well, not the REAL Vienna. They gave us a gift certificate to an Italian restaurant in downtown Boise, Gino's, and tickets to the Boise Philharmonic's performance of "A Night in Vienna". The performance was three Viennese inspired compositions by Mozart, Schubert and Shoenberg.

what odd faces we are making...

Our experiences in the Morrison Center have lead us to believe that "anything goes" when it comes to the dress code. But we decided to dress up and doing so made the evening feel important and romantic. And it was nice to get further use out of my black party dress and those incredible heels.

It was really a wonderful evening. The food was delicioso and the violin soloist was enchanting. It is nice to appreciate the arts occasionally and feel like there is more to me than worn out tennis shoes and jeans stained by grubby toddler hands.

Although, at about 10:00 I was dying for those tennis shoes...

roos

This post is a little on the lame side. But it was joy in a little thing, a pair of little shoes to be exact.

When I was a kid I was dying for a certain pair of shoes. They were KangaRoos. These shoes had a special feature, they had a small pocket (or pouch if you will) on the side. Now, as an adult, I am not so sure what was so exciting about that little pocket but I was dying for those shoes. When it came to be end of summer, school shopping time my dear mother let me get these shoes. I put various small things in that little pouch like a penny and my CTR ring. I loved those shoes.


The other day I was doing a little shopping on oldnavy.com and there was a special going on. Any purchase from Piperlime got you free shipping on your items from old navy. Shipping is $7 so I figured it was equivalent to a $7 off coupon at Piperlime. When I saw these shoes, and they were on sale, I was sold.

Eli is so lucky. In fact, I am surprised at his level of appreciation considering he isn't even two years old. He loves them. Come on by and he'll show them to you with pride. Truly my son.

When the man is away...

...the woman learns how to do "man" things. I hope no one is offended by my labeling some tasks as MAN tasks. But I guess my point is that these tasks can be accomplished by both genders.

Our computer had reached a level of slowness so painful I had to intervene. I am not a computer person, and while Richard isn't really either he is still more knowledgeable about these things than I. But I did my research (thank you all-knowing internet and Crucial.com) and ordered some RAM for our computer. When it arrived I couldn't resist trying to install it myself. I was too impatient.

Not all stories that start this way end as well as this one did. But, I installed it successfully. I tackled the motherboard and I won. It feels awesome.

In addition to this major task I also added wiper fluid to the minivan and cleaned out the garage. (Much less impressive, I know.)

We skipped naps yesterday to try to load up on our Vitamin D. It was a beautiful day, what I call a February teaser. Sadly though, the Vitamin D didn't stop tonsilitis from attacking and so today we are watching movies and napping.

Lucky for me I conquered the world yesterday.

call me stubborn if you like

I have considered the poor response to my interview post and come up with two conclusions.

Either

1. All the readers of this blog are humble and don't consider themselves worthy of an "interview".

Or

2. The readers of this blog have no confidence in my interviewing skills.

For the sake of my self-esteem I will you give you the benefit of the doubt and assume it is the former. But, I refuse to post again until I have three more subjects willing to be questioned.

Trust me, you are interesting people.

Did I mention today is my birthday?

Interview Me

My friend Krista was "interviewed" on her blog, and I enjoyed reading it because the questions were not a standard tag, but unique to her. She offered to interview me so here it goes:

1. I know you are a jogger. I am curious to know how long you've been doing it and can you honestly say you enjoy it?

I've been jogging off and on for a few years, but the last few months I've really committed myself to it. Do I really enjoy it? That's complicated.

Jogging is tough and sometimes I dread it. There are times when it is miserable; it hurts, it is exhausting, my muscles get sore.

But then there are moments I love it. I love jogging outside when the sun is shining. Because jogging is hard it makes it all the more satisfying. Maybe it is the endorphins or maybe it is the sense of accomplishment or maybe the health benefits. But put all those things together and I can definitely say I enjoy it.

2. We all know how crafty you are! What inspires you?

Other people inspire me. In fact, I'm honored that people think I am crafty. Mostly I am just a copy-cat. I've yet to come up with a project that isn't a version of someone else's invention.

3. What are you looking forward to most on your trip to Peru?

I'm a consumer. I value material posessions. But I don't want to be this way, and I am hoping that my visit to Peru will give me the opportunity to observe the ways people find happiness unrelated to money and objects. I am also hopeful that my service there will bless or enrich the lives of the people I meet in some way.

4. I remember from your list of 101 Things about you that you love board games. What is your favorite?

That is a tough one. I go through phases where I have favorites. Growing up my family played the game Acquire and I always looked forward to that. I like games with strategy and lately I've been into the game Ticket to Ride. I don't think I've ever played a game I didn't like.

5. Would you say there are any perks to having a husband who travels?

Yes. Richard's company is good to the employees, so when I have the chance to go with him we are able to stay in nice places and eat at nice places. He also accumulates frequent flyer miles and hotel points... which I look forward to cashing in. The sort of lame perks, but perks nonetheless are that I don't have to cook as much, I get all the hot water, the whole bed to myself and he can watch football while I watch old movies and foreign films. __________________________________________________

If you are interested in having me give you a few interview questions for you to answer on your blog, be one of the first five people to follow these instructions and I’ll be in touch.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Leave me a comment in this post saying, “Interview me” (please include your email address as well).

2. I will respond by emailing you five questions of my choosing.

3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.

4. You will include these instructions and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.

5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions each.

Happy Valentine's Day

(to everyone except my brother on a mission, no sweet nothings for you buddy)

Take a listen to the song to get you in the spirit of St. Valentine.
Hope you have a *LOVE*-ly day.

end of my special olympic infatuation

Here is my dad with the two athletes from El Salvador that my parents hosted. Cesar and Miguel are on the floor hockey team. From what I hear they are pretty good too. My dad said the only indication he had that one of them was any different than any other 23 year old male was that he didn't seem to mind carrying a pink Barbie backpack. Oh I love it!

My mom and I took the boys to watch Figure Skating. It was great. That's all I'll say about that.

To all Boiseans: All Special Olympic competitions are free and do not require tickets. They continue today and tomorrow, and from what I hear V.P Joe Biden is on his way... No offense to Mr. Vice President, but the athletes are what you really want to see.

You can find a schedule here.

this is how

When the subject of Richard's travel comes up, people inevitably say "I don't know how you do that." It must be my sensitive nature, but I always sense judgement when they say that. I suppose it is my insecurity showing its ugly face but I swear they all disapprove.

In spite of my paranoid delusions though, I believe there are people who care about me who would like to know. How do I do it? My keys to happiness husbandless are threefold:

1. Having someone who loves me (Richard being #1 on that list),

2. something to occupy my time and focus (besides phone calls, text messages and emails to said husband),

3. and something to look forward to (again, besides Richard's return).

1. I have wonderful family in town who helps with the boys so much and offers me company when needed. The boys, though exhausting and frustrating at times, provide me with never-ending unconditional love. And I have great friends who invite me to their homes and help me with projects.

Which brings me to my next point.

2. Projects help occupy my spare time and energy. I love accomplishing things. Improving spaces. Making my home personal.

I also am blessed to work one day a week with great people doing something I find satisfying and engaging.

Twice a week a girl from my ward comes over afterschool to watch the boys so I can go jogging.

3. Lastly, each week I look forward to Thursday nights. I have always wanted to be a dancer so last August I enrolled in an adult beginning ballet class. It is a highlight of my week. Learning something new does something wonderful for my soul. It is a thrill and joy to me. It is probably the most selfish thing I do. (Besides blogging...)

So despite lonely evenings, changing a lot of diapers on my own, and doing a lot of dishes by myself I have been able to continue in a meaningful existence. In fact, I would venture to say, in all sincerity without the slightest nuance of justification, that this experience has made me a more patient mother.

unity

When the Olympics were in Salt Lake City I lived in Pocatello. Only a three hour drive and to this day I kick myself that I didn't drive down just to be a part of something so great. So I really wanted to participate somehow in the Special Olympics World Winter Games here in Boise.


My parents hosted a couple of athletes from El Salvador (I'll have to post a picture of them later) and so they received tickets to the Opening Ceremonies. (I would have cropped out the guys in the background but to me they are just another testament of the joy and friendship in the atmosphere.)

Oh man. What an experience. It was AWESOME. And I mean that in the way the word AWESOME was formerly used. I was full of AWE. No one was thinking about enemies, war, politics or economy. These were 2,500 of the most exuberant and happy individuals I have ever seen and they came from 100 countries.

One hundred countries.

Oh it gives me chills.


The world gathered together yesterday in Nampa. I love it when the world feels small. And yesterday it felt like thousands of people from the four corners of the Earth all had something in common. Even though we were are all so different, we all had something in common. It was a feeling of unity that transcended language, race, religion, gender and physical and mental capabilities.

Not the least of the things we had in common was that we all wore a blue and white scarf. Knitted or crocheted by hand, there were 55,000 scarves. The story of the scarves brought the crowd to tears, but I'm not going to write it here. In fact, I can't even choose just one article to link because there are so many moving stories. If you have the chance, google "special olympic scarf project." It will inspire you as you read about the goodness of people.

One of the highlights of the event was when a local band played a cover of "HOT, HOT, HOT". The enthusiasm of the athletes was contagious and my mom and I were somewhere between laughing and crying at the sight. I spent a good portion of the event being choked up. All my life I'll never forget that three hours and the way I felt.

photo op: ordinary

More often than not we take pictures of the rare or unusual events of our lives. And rightly so. It is best to catch them on camera so we can later recall them with laughter, tears or what have you.

Our more menial daily events are typically ignored by the camera. I guess because they are so ordinary we see no reason to document them or draw special attention to them.

Sadly, Richard's returns from Spokane and elsewhere have become ordinary. We wish it weren't so, but, well, the money is good.

Or crucial, the money is crucial.

Anyway, I digress.

This picture is of something ordinary. Typical. Happens all the time. But no matter how often he leaves, his returns are always wonderful.

Having a non-functioning dvd player left us wondering how to spend our Friday night. Typically we relax and let Richard unwind and enjoy the comforts of home in front of the boob-tube. A good movie and a bowl of popcorn.

Any spouse of a traveler knows this worn out argument. Richard wants to eat at home, he's tired of eating out. Jo wants to eat out, she's tired of eating at home. With the promise of a homecooked meal on Saturday Richard took us all to Red Robin. (Not Five Star, but very family friendly.)

We then headed to my favorite, but not oft enough visited, place in Boise. Powell's Sweet Shoppe. We all picked a treat, I enjoyed some peanut butter gelato and then we headed home. That is what I should have photographed. Gelato. NOT ordinary.

Facebook left me wanting

Okay.

Deep breath.

Here we go.

Several months ago I dipped my toe in the waters of Facebook. I registered at the request of some college friends as a way to stay in touch. At that time I wasn’t familiar with the ins and outs of Facebook (I guess I’m still not) and so months went by where I didn’t ever pay any attention to it.

It seems that in the last month or so I have fully boarded the Facebook bandwagon. I’ve spent a good deal of time looking up people to re-establish contact (if you can call it that) and get updates (if you can call them that) about how they are doing. I have been generally successful in finding friends from my past and “re-connecting”. Making those original discoveries sent me into a tailspin of nostalgia.

So on a quiet Sunday afternoon while all the boys napped I dove headfirst into memories. I opened up my green trunk that contains all my memorabilia from childhood up to marriage. (Approximately.) I especially focused on one box. This box contains letters written to me during a period of ten months while my family lived in Virginia. After reading through these letters I am convinced that a movie could be made from them, from my perspective of the drama and desperation of a group of 15 year old girls at Fairmont Junior High.

So after reading many of them for the first time in years, and pretty much laughing myself silly all alone there in the playroom, I plunged further into reminiscence. So I went back to facebook. I looked at the ‘walls’ of these my jr. high friends. And…

I am left completely unsatisfied. So dear readers, I am in need of your feedback. I need to know…

Is it normal and healthy for me to want to reestablish REAL friendships again with these, now women, spread out across the country? Is it even possible? Have our paths diverged too far?

Or

Am I a pathetic loser unwilling to let go of the past and move on, finding satisfaction in new friendships? Because, chances are, that my dear friends have already done so?

****Comments are back, for now, by necessity. I know the term 'pathetic loser' is a little harsh, but please, be honest.****

Eli visits the ER (again)

When we first arrived and the nurse was asking the usual questions: Allergies? Up to date on immunizations? she asked "Does he have any chronic conditions?"

My response: "Clumsiness?"

Granted, this time he didn't do it entirely on his own, but nonetheless, he is a little accident prone. What exactly did he do? He took a tumble off of a chair and bit through his lower lip.

He was in such good spirits waiting in the hospital room and I happened to have my camera in my purse so I felt justified in taking a picture. He was actually quite happy and friendly to the nurses and doctors until they put the little oxygen probe on his toe. That made him pretty angry. My sister Lori works in the ER and she says that is pretty common. Of all the things they did to him last night it strikes me as so strange that that was the thing he hated most.


Here is the post-suture photo taken this morning. Poor little guy was still exhausted so I put him back to bed and he's been sleeping soundly since. Which is good, because the inside of his lip was looking pretty sore. He had some scary looking apthous ulcers going on in there. (That is the fancy dental hygienist word for canker sore.) The more he sleeps and the less he chews on his poor little lip the better.