Who is Vonetta Flowers, you might ask? She was the first athlete of African decent to win a gold medal in the Winter Olympics. She did this in the sport of Bobsledding in Salt Lake City in 2002.
Vonetta was the Convocation speaker for SUU on Tuesday this week. It is February, Black History Month, and one of the professors in our PE department had a connection with Vonetta, so the invite was made and she came. It was no easy task to get her here, either. She was in Vancouver BC serving as a Presidential Ambassador for the Winter Olympics. She had her 7 month old baby there with her and the grandma to help tend. Her husband and twins were in Florida. She left Vancouver to come to Cedar City on Monday afternoon/evening, but a flight was missed, a connection missed and she ended up spending the night in Las Vegas ("What Happens in Vegas!"). She was functioning on only 3 hours sleep by the time she finally got to Cedar in time for an 11:30 am presentation. Her presentation was wonderful. Afterwards, she ate lunch with the fine folks in the PE department. I joined them there at 1 p.m. We took pictures. I might have one to post some day. And then...
I got to drive Vonetta back to Las Vegas to catch her flight to Vancouver! We enjoyed our rainy drive down the good ol' I-15, through torrential rain through the desert. We chatted about her family, about bob-sledding, work, speeches, travel (nursing babies, storing frozen milk), surgeries she's had. She got in a little cat-nap. I got her to the airport in plenty of time. Then I turned around and drove back home to Cedar City through more rain. Rain and Darkness through the Virgin River Gorge. That's always exciting.
Any other person might have thought, "Oooh! Vegas! Free time! Shopping!" But I apparently am not a normal person. Couldn't think of a thing I needed. I WANTED some Krispy Kreme donuts, but didn't need them, so I didn't even stop there on the way home. Yeah, well. I didn't have my KK punch card with me, either. To the airport, then home. How boring is that? All my friends and family down that way live way off the beaten path, so I didn't even stop to do that.
Anyway, it was an interesting outing that I thoroughly enjoyed. She's a delightful lady. I'm glad we had the chance to visit.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Relief Society
I love Relief Society. Always have, since becoming a member at the ripe old age of 18. Actually 17 since I was graduated from high school and had left home by then.
This past Sunday we had a nice treat in our regular Sunday meeting of the ladies in our ward. Our RS president, Jackie, is a good friend of mine. She used to be one of my "Walkie-Talkie" buddies, and she's been my visiting teacher. Just an all-around good friend. It was her turn to teach the lesson on Sunday, so she shared with us a little tidbit about each of us is a part of the "Whole" of Relief Society and our ward. We did a little exercise and saw what we could discover about a painting just by looking at the subject and what that inferred to us. (Happiness, satisfaction, simplicity, joy, etc.) It set a nice tone. And then she did something that might not work in every ward, but it worked very well in ours. And she was very brave to do this. She had us go around the room and tell what we knew about the sister sitting right next to us. What were her talents and strengths that we knew of? What did we know GOOD about this sister? And everyone DID know good things! If the one sitting next to someone didn't know much, others chimed in. We knew we only had about 30 seconds to say what we needed to, and we did get all the way around the room. We have a back row of "classy" older women in our ward. They've been back there forever, but are full of wit and wisdom. We have younger sisters with young families who have known each other since Kindergarten!! Same neighborhood all those years. We have mothers and daughters, friends and neighbors, good friends, old friends, new friends. It was really fun and what I would call a "Feel Good" time.
We all need to remember to focus on positive things more often, especially about others. And doesn't it feel good when someone notices that we really are good at " fill-in-the-blank."? So smile and say something nice about the sister sitting next to YOU!
This past Sunday we had a nice treat in our regular Sunday meeting of the ladies in our ward. Our RS president, Jackie, is a good friend of mine. She used to be one of my "Walkie-Talkie" buddies, and she's been my visiting teacher. Just an all-around good friend. It was her turn to teach the lesson on Sunday, so she shared with us a little tidbit about each of us is a part of the "Whole" of Relief Society and our ward. We did a little exercise and saw what we could discover about a painting just by looking at the subject and what that inferred to us. (Happiness, satisfaction, simplicity, joy, etc.) It set a nice tone. And then she did something that might not work in every ward, but it worked very well in ours. And she was very brave to do this. She had us go around the room and tell what we knew about the sister sitting right next to us. What were her talents and strengths that we knew of? What did we know GOOD about this sister? And everyone DID know good things! If the one sitting next to someone didn't know much, others chimed in. We knew we only had about 30 seconds to say what we needed to, and we did get all the way around the room. We have a back row of "classy" older women in our ward. They've been back there forever, but are full of wit and wisdom. We have younger sisters with young families who have known each other since Kindergarten!! Same neighborhood all those years. We have mothers and daughters, friends and neighbors, good friends, old friends, new friends. It was really fun and what I would call a "Feel Good" time.
We all need to remember to focus on positive things more often, especially about others. And doesn't it feel good when someone notices that we really are good at " fill-in-the-blank."? So smile and say something nice about the sister sitting next to YOU!
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Giddy With Glee
A friend suggested that title and it fits. That's the way I feel ALMOST every day on my way home, or just randomly thinking about going home after a long day at work. Then after work comes water aerobics (not for wusses) AND the bike ride home, uphill, against the wind, in the snow...okay, so I'm milking it just a tad. But I really don't get home from work until about 6:30 pm.
It's what I FIND once I get home that makes me giddy with glee...
Dinner! All ready and usually on the table and ready to eat! A delicious, nutritious, home-cooked meal. Gail has been doing the week night cooking and I have just LOVED it! I can't even describe how happy this arrangement makes me. (Well, except maybe "Giddy with Glee!")
It's not that I don't like to cook. I do. And I can. It's just that she's here and she offered. So I took her up on it. The good part for HER is that I clean it all up afterwards and load the dishwasher, etc. And that's just fine with me. I suppose there will be some days when a crabby baby will trump getting dinner on the table, but for the nights that it has happened, it's been great.
She makes economical meals, too. And she uses up our bounteous food storage. And she shops. If you know how much I hate to shop, then you'll appreciate THAT, too! Of course, I watch the baby so she can go late at night and not take ANYONE with her, so that's a treat for her, too.
We've had MahiMahi; Bacon, Leek and Tomato pasta; Chicken Fingers; spaghetti with meatballs; roast with trimmings and many other yummy things. She likes Paula Deen recipes and likes to try new ones. She's also working in a kitchen that's not her own kitchen with stuff that isn't up to par with what she's used to, but that GAIL--She's up to the challenge, I'm tellin' you! Of course, it's not like it 's a totally strange kitchen or anything. She did learn to cook SOME things here once upon a time.
I think this might just work out fine.
It's what I FIND once I get home that makes me giddy with glee...
Dinner! All ready and usually on the table and ready to eat! A delicious, nutritious, home-cooked meal. Gail has been doing the week night cooking and I have just LOVED it! I can't even describe how happy this arrangement makes me. (Well, except maybe "Giddy with Glee!")
It's not that I don't like to cook. I do. And I can. It's just that she's here and she offered. So I took her up on it. The good part for HER is that I clean it all up afterwards and load the dishwasher, etc. And that's just fine with me. I suppose there will be some days when a crabby baby will trump getting dinner on the table, but for the nights that it has happened, it's been great.
She makes economical meals, too. And she uses up our bounteous food storage. And she shops. If you know how much I hate to shop, then you'll appreciate THAT, too! Of course, I watch the baby so she can go late at night and not take ANYONE with her, so that's a treat for her, too.
We've had MahiMahi; Bacon, Leek and Tomato pasta; Chicken Fingers; spaghetti with meatballs; roast with trimmings and many other yummy things. She likes Paula Deen recipes and likes to try new ones. She's also working in a kitchen that's not her own kitchen with stuff that isn't up to par with what she's used to, but that GAIL--She's up to the challenge, I'm tellin' you! Of course, it's not like it 's a totally strange kitchen or anything. She did learn to cook SOME things here once upon a time.
I think this might just work out fine.
Friday, January 22, 2010
No pictures, Please
Knowing who my readers are, I thought it might be OK to post something like this on my blog. It just made me chuckle.
The other night, I was wearing a black knit shirt and I'd worn my name tag home from work. I went back to my room to take the name tag off (so it wouldn't get pulled off or lost or eaten by a baby) and as I was un-doing the magnetic back of it, somehow I lost the magnetic back part. I was assuming it was going to drop to the floor. But it didn't. I kept trying to dig and shake things around to see where it had gotten stuck, but it was black, the shirt was black...I was just puzzled. Where did it go? I shook the shirt front and side... still no dropping magnet. Great. One ruined name badge if I can't find the magnetic backing. So I decided to just pull up the shirt and SEE just where it WENT! Guess where it went? It was stuck on my front side to my bra's underwire! ha ha.
The other night, I was wearing a black knit shirt and I'd worn my name tag home from work. I went back to my room to take the name tag off (so it wouldn't get pulled off or lost or eaten by a baby) and as I was un-doing the magnetic back of it, somehow I lost the magnetic back part. I was assuming it was going to drop to the floor. But it didn't. I kept trying to dig and shake things around to see where it had gotten stuck, but it was black, the shirt was black...I was just puzzled. Where did it go? I shook the shirt front and side... still no dropping magnet. Great. One ruined name badge if I can't find the magnetic backing. So I decided to just pull up the shirt and SEE just where it WENT! Guess where it went? It was stuck on my front side to my bra's underwire! ha ha.
Monday, January 18, 2010
The Long Weekend
I probably shouldn't be posting things quite yet, because the weekend is not over! But we had a fun Sunday evening with Damian and family from CA and my cousin Suz and her family--also from the same town in California. Damian said he needed to stick with their tradition of driving long distances to visit with them. They really only live 10 minutes away from each other in CA (same Stake, different wards), yet seldom see each other unless they've driven long distances. This one must be about the longest, however. Instead of meeting in Disneyland or Huntington Beach, they met in MY town! ha. OK, so I never really got a good picture of them. I tried. You can kind of see Kirk's head there on the right.
And here are all the kids. I guess Great-Grandma didn't realize all the adults had gone to the living room. We thought she was very brave. Gail and I were hoping she turned off/down her hearing aids because it was very LOUD in the kitchen!! Crazy Cousins!
We just all had dinner together on Sunday night. I'd hoped to play games, too, but we were just too busy visiting and the time flew by too quickly. It was fun. That's the first time Suz and family has ever been to my house, and we hope it won't be the last!
We also had a nice visit with one of the kids who went to school with D & T AND lived in our neighborhood. We had such a nice group of kids graduate that year. So many from just our street! I think every house on the block had a HS grad, and Jen was one street over, along with a few others on that street. I think there were about 12 or 15 kids from just our ward that year. And now, they are pushing 15 years out of HS! How do we get so old???? Hmmm? !!! It was fun to visit with Jen, because she lived for about three years in the Derwood Ward in Maryland where Eric served those first months of his mission. (She moved just last year.)
Damian brought a gift for us. It's a flag that was flown over his headquarters base in Afghanistan. He and Nick re-folded it. A photo of the certificate that accompanied the flag follows.
Today is Monday, and we're just going to chill. Caroline and Lexi had a sleep over at Grandma Linda's house. I get to do the laundry I postponed on Saturday, and Mike gets to help Gail and Seth moved the last of their stuff out of their home in Sevier County. Which SHOULD be selling/closing very soon--we hope, we hope, we hope and pray that it will very soon!!
It IS supposed to be snowy for days, but we have only seen clouds and more clouds. One flake. It didn't count ;-)
Tuesday, Ella gets to stay with me while Lexi and Braeden go to ski camp and their folks get to ski/board at Brian Head. So I get a FOUR day weekend!! Yay! Hopefully she won't be too bored with me.
Happy Long Weekend! Thanks, Mr. King :-)
And here are all the kids. I guess Great-Grandma didn't realize all the adults had gone to the living room. We thought she was very brave. Gail and I were hoping she turned off/down her hearing aids because it was very LOUD in the kitchen!! Crazy Cousins!
We just all had dinner together on Sunday night. I'd hoped to play games, too, but we were just too busy visiting and the time flew by too quickly. It was fun. That's the first time Suz and family has ever been to my house, and we hope it won't be the last!We also had a nice visit with one of the kids who went to school with D & T AND lived in our neighborhood. We had such a nice group of kids graduate that year. So many from just our street! I think every house on the block had a HS grad, and Jen was one street over, along with a few others on that street. I think there were about 12 or 15 kids from just our ward that year. And now, they are pushing 15 years out of HS! How do we get so old???? Hmmm? !!! It was fun to visit with Jen, because she lived for about three years in the Derwood Ward in Maryland where Eric served those first months of his mission. (She moved just last year.)
Damian brought a gift for us. It's a flag that was flown over his headquarters base in Afghanistan. He and Nick re-folded it. A photo of the certificate that accompanied the flag follows.
Today is Monday, and we're just going to chill. Caroline and Lexi had a sleep over at Grandma Linda's house. I get to do the laundry I postponed on Saturday, and Mike gets to help Gail and Seth moved the last of their stuff out of their home in Sevier County. Which SHOULD be selling/closing very soon--we hope, we hope, we hope and pray that it will very soon!!
It IS supposed to be snowy for days, but we have only seen clouds and more clouds. One flake. It didn't count ;-)
Tuesday, Ella gets to stay with me while Lexi and Braeden go to ski camp and their folks get to ski/board at Brian Head. So I get a FOUR day weekend!! Yay! Hopefully she won't be too bored with me.
Happy Long Weekend! Thanks, Mr. King :-)
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