Topics of Conversation

Christmas Eve my family had a nice sit-down dinner after the kiddos had all gone to bed.  Hey, if Bryce wants to eat chicken nuggets on a plate with ketchup on Christmas Eve, that's fine.  But the grown-ups are eating turkey and potatoes later on.

The meal was so (uncharacteristically) structured for our family that we even made a list of topics we would NOT be discussing on Christmas Eve.  For example, I wasn't allowed to talk about how much I hate Verizon because they don't want to sell me an iPhone.  Dad wasn't allowed to talk about how the NCAA must sell all college basketball tickets to Stub Hub so that good, law-abiding citizens of the United States of America are not able to purchase seats at reasonable prices.  Tay wasn't allowed to ask people about their celebrity crushes in general or Hugh Jackman in particular.  (Although, if you want to guess who my celebrity crush is... check out the otherwise unrelated picture at the top of this post.)  You get the idea.

So it was interesting to me what topics DID come up at dinner, when we weren't allowed to fall back on our stand-bys.  Here is a list.

• The 10 Plagues of Egypt (water turned to blood, frogs, lice, flies, diseased livestock, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, death of the firstborn)
• Morgan Freeman - has he ever won the Oscar?  (Yes, one win - for Million Dollar Baby- and five nominations.)
• Heinz 57 Sauce.  What's the 57 for?  (Heinz 57 Sauce is the 57th Heinz product.)
• Hours of the LDS Church History Museum (9 am to 9 pm)

It was actually a lot like the holiday dinner scene in "While You Were Sleeping" where we learn such interesting facts as that Ricky Ricardo was Cuban and that the mashed potatoes are so creamy.

The Phone Call

The other day I was talking to Tyler on the phone.  We were reviewing the highlights of the day, mostly what we'd eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Then I asked Tyler if he'd been to PE at school that day and he replied, "Traymes, I don't know what to say to you right now" and walked away from the phone.  Conversation over.

I guess it was a touchy subject?  Little punk.

My other favorite thing about talking on the phone with the nephews right now is that Bryce will quite often ask if he's talking to Michael Jackson.  I know he doesn't know who Michael Jackson even is, but he loves the reaction he gets when he asks if he can talk to him.

Thoughts On Pants

There’s been a lot of talk this week about women wearing pants to church. Apparently next Sunday was selected as “wear pants to church” day by a group of women in the LDS Church who are encouraging acts of civil disobedience to foster change. Then the event was cancelled after the organizers became subjects of personal attacks.

I don’t know a lot about “wear pants to church” day. I know I wasn’t planning on wearing pants on Sunday because I don’t have a lot of complaints about being a female member of the LDS Church. I don’t want to be the bishop and it doesn’t bother me one bit that my male counterparts have to attend “priesthood leadership meetings” that I am not invited to.

But let me say this. As a graduate student, it crossed my mind on more than one occasion that I was pretty darn lucky to be sitting in a university library wearing jeans at “my table,” studying for classes I was enrolled in. When I vote in an election, I always marvel that women have had the right to vote in the United States for less than 100 years. As an unmarried woman of a certain age, I am always grateful that I am able to sign a lease, purchase health insurance, buy a car and pay my utility bill in my own name. It’s never occurred to me that I WOULDN’T have the right to an education, a career, a family and a home… privileges for which I am indebted to generations of grandmothers, aunts, mothers and sisters before me.

Among those privileges, I do value my membership in the Church. Sometimes I complain when I “have” to put on a bathrobe and pillowcase for the ward Christmas party. Not everything we do makes sense. But in my experiences as a member, I have been listened to, been asked to teach and pray, and been depended on for service. I feel my worth as a daughter of God most strongly in the temple. I believe everyone should feel included and welcomed within the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I feel saddened that the simple idea of women wearing pants to church stirred up controversy and hatred. I will be at church at my LDS ward on Sunday and if you are wearing pants… or if you are gay… or if you just smoked a cigarette in the parking lot – you are welcome to come sit by me. I will save you a seat and I hope we can be friends.

Open Letter to Five Teenage Boys

Dear Young Men of the Bountiful 15th Ward:

Wednesday night you were leaving the church after a scouting activity.  When you walked by the gym, you noticed a Relief Society Christmas Dinner was just winding down.  You nominated a buddy to find "the lady in charge" and asked if you could start putting away the tables and chairs.  And when the answer was a grateful yes, you quietly came into the gym and started putting away 15 round tables, 3 long tables, and chairs for 120. 

We didn't know you, don't go to church with you, had never seen you before.  But you saw an opportunity to be helpful and you took it.  You didn't know we had spent the past 3 days making casseroles, cutting fruit, curling ribbon for jingle bell favors, and decorating tables.  We'd been up early, stayed out late, and now that The Big Event was over... the sight of those tables and chairs (along with the kitchen full of dirty casserole dishes) was making us want to cry.

So thank you for cleaning up the gym.  Thank you for doing it without being asked.  I thought for sure you were wanting to play basketball and that you'd be dribbling up a storm the second the tables were put away.  But you didn't.  When the gym was swept up, you left.  And that made your kindness all the more meaningful.  I hope you enjoyed the leftover chocolate cake we begged you to take.  But mostly I hope you know how wonderful you are.

Love,
The Party Planner/RS Activity Chair/Homemaking Leader of the Bountiful 7th Ward

Cute Girls

Oh Come All Ye Faithful

Love this picture that my sister-in-law Jess sent me with this caption:  Bryce thought Noah and the animals would like to see baby Jesus too!

I think that's exactly right, Bryce.  Thanks for making my day.

Under The Streetlamp

What do I love more than four cheesy guys in shiny suits singing and dancing to rock-n-roll classics from the 50's and 60's?  Not much, as it turns out.

Tricia and Heather and I went to an Under The Streetlamp concert at Kingsbury Hall to celebrate Biz's birthday.  They're pretty popular with the Lawrence Welk crowd and I can certainly understand why.  There was lots of singing along and dancing in the aisles at the concert, along with a significant number of elderly people (as well as some younger ones) doing the step-and-slide like it was going out of style.  Which I hope it never does.  My favorite song of the night was Neil Diamond's "I'm a Believer."  Enough said.