Pride and Humility

I know that pride and humility are the opposite of each other and that is the point.
14 years ago I graduated from Portland Community College. My major was graphic design. While I was attending PCC I had a job in an office answering phones, filing etc. basically your run of the mill receptionist type position. I did well, but then I've always done well in every job I've had.
At one point, a department secretary said something about how she went to PCC and now look at her. My thought at the time was, "Well, I want to be more than a secretary in an office."
Oh, for the fall of pride. I had NEVER had a problem getting a job or keeping a job.
Then it was graduation time, I won't bore you with how wonderful my grades were or the great internship I had or any of the other things that made me someone great to hire. I will say that a job didn't just land in my lap. In fact I really struggled. I had a few part time graphic design jobs, one full time job and then, poof! nothing.
I finally gave up on graphic design, not because I didn't love it or because I wasn't good at it, but because I didn't feel like I would ever be able to work in that industry. New programs come out almost constantly and I had been left behind.
Now comes the really humbling part. I would love a job as a receptionist or secretary. I have applied to a local school district for such jobs only to have NO luck at all.
Sometimes I wish I could go back and talk to that PCC receptionist that I was and tell her to just stay where she is and be thankful for her job.
No longer proud, but very humble.
Love to you all.

It was a beautiful day!

I'm not sure, but I don't believe that breaking your arm is on the 50 things to do before you die. If it is, I have just completed one more.
On Friday the 13th (I know, ironic) we were in Utah and babysitting Lilia (see picture). We went to the park, it was a beautiful day. Then BAM out of nowhere came this latter and tripped me. I will skip the gory details and say that the bone that is suppose to be one piece is now in four.
It has slowed me down quit a bit, for example, I have taken most of the day to type this left handed.
I do feel really blessed, for more reasons than I want to spend the time to type, but the following picture represents a lot of them.

Grow something

The next one of my 50 things is "Grow Something".
Over the last 40 years or so I have had some successes and some failures in the grow something category.
One plant I have had for over 30 years is a shamrock plant. I got the start from my Grandma Houk. I'm not sure where she got her start, but the point is, I've had this plant for 30 or more years. When my youngest daughter, Jeanette (named after said grandmother) got married she wanted a start of that plant. As luck would have it my mother-in-law (MomMay) had a shamrock plant too, also given to her by her mother. So I took some of mine and some of MomMay's plant and planted it in the same pot. If you look at the picture of Jeanette above in the cute skirt she made with my help, you will see a plant in the window. That is the plant that Jeanette has that is from plantings of two of her great-grandmothers. Pretty cool.
Love to you all.

Scuba Dive

This is one of those 50 Things that I have not done. Will I ever? I don't know. It is nice to have something like this on my list. It is something that I have always wanted to do. I know that scuba diving takes a lot of training, so if I ever get the chance to go snorkeling I will probably count this as done.
Love to you all.

Pass on a nugget of knowledge

As a mother I'm sure that I have passed on many nuggets of knowledge. The one that comes to mind most recently was a year ago when I visited Jeanette and helped her to make a skirt with her new sewing machine.It was a fun bonding time for Jeanette and I, and she felt very accomplished.
The trip to see Jeanette was the first time I had ever driven to Salt Lake by myself. I spent two or three days at the Family History Library. I would love to go back and spend a week or two at the library.
Jeanette and I also went to the Lion House for lunch one day. After we ate lunch we went out of the lunch area and there were these stairs. They didn't have a rope or a sign saying we couldn't go there so we went up the stairs. It was cool, with the old fireplaces and mantles and antiques everywhere. There was an old piano and Jeanette was about to plunk on a few keys when I said, "Don't, I'm not sure we are suppose to be here without an escort". A few minutes later we were heading down a hall to see another room when this woman comes out of a closed door. She said, "May I help you?". We said we were just looking around. She informed us that this was NOT open to the public and we could tour the house next door. We didn't feel bad, after all nobody had told us that we couldn't, and there was no sign or anything. It was fun.
Love to you all.

My 50 Things

I was online this evening and I found this site: http://www.my50.com/
It has 50 things to do in your life time. I decided to copy some of them and add them to a list of things I would like to do. Some of the ones they suggest I have no desire to do, so I didn't include them. Some I have done (like the one on this blog entry) some I have not. I will write about each one (or at least that is my goal).

Watch the sun set and rise

I have not done this on the same day, which they don't require at all. But I have many times seen the sun set at the beach. I love that time of the day, it just seems so peaceful and beautiful. Knowing that we are watching the sun go away and someone, somewhere is watching it rise. I have often said that before I die I want to see the sun rise on the beach.
January of 2010 I was able to watch the sun rise at the beach. We were visiting Clifford and Jill in Japan and I asked if we could go watch the sun rise. Clifford was very hesitant to get up that early to watch the sun rise. But he wanted to please his mother so off we went one dark cold morning. What we were surprised at were the number of people that were there to watch too. It was wonderful and beautiful and the Japanese people apparently thought so too.
Here is a picture I took on that day:
Love to you all.

Success

We had a wonderful lesson in Relief Society today. It was given by Bishop Gary Brown. At one point he talked about success in the Gospel (at least that is what I heard, but I couldn't quite find the quote). The thought came to me, "I have been a failure in my life. I am a failure in my career, I studied graphic design and I couldn't find steady long term work in that area. So here I am subbing in the school district. I have failed more times than I can count in losing weight.
The reality is that I am NOT a failure. I succeeded in the important things. I have three wonderful children and two equally wonderful children by marriage. All have been to the temple, two married in the temple. I married a wonderful man in the temple. I love my Savior and I am so grateful that I have been a "success" in my life.
Love to you all.