There's a party in heaven today!

At the age of 97, our beloved prophet Gordon B. Hinckley passed away yesterday. When I got the call late in the night last night I was surprised and saddened. But all I could think about is all the people in heaven who have been so anxious to talk with him. Seriously, I think of Joseph Smith, and wonder if he's just thrilled to get a Q&A with the prophet of such crazy times...his wife, his family, and just centuries of people wanting to talk with the prophet of the 21st century. So while I am truly sad for the world's loss, I am grateful for my knowledge of life eternal. What a heavenly bash!!

My Campaign platform: "Bring Back the Shame!"

With the national caucuses all over the map in terms of winners and losers (did anyone else have to ask who the heck Huckabee even was, much less a winner?), I thought I'd throw my hat in the ring.

Here is my platform: "Bring back the shame!"

I have decided that there is not enough shame in the world anymore. People flake, people are incompetent, people are irresponsible, they are uncouth, they are tacky...and they don't seem to care! Well I do, and I want them to know they should be ashamed of themselves!!

I have been on this soapbox since just before Christmas, and yesterday I realized I need to enforce this more in my own home. I also realized our home is too open and communicative. We have not appropriately created an environment of shame.

F (age 9--and our innocent, chess playing, math loving, naive 9 year old) said something that in a home of shame--would never have been said! S has a new favorite book--the dictionary. Except, the only page he ever wants to "read" is the S page with "Sports" on it, because it has a bunch of ball pictures. So every book he brings you, he asks to see the balls. (you can guess where this is going...)

He brought an animal encyclopedia to Jack and asked to see the balls. Of course, there were none, and S started to get emphatic! Jack pointed to some prehistoric amoeba with a bunch of circles on it and said, "Look, here are some balls, sort of, some dirty gross balls."

Enter F who from the door overhears and says, "I know of some other dirty gross balls." Jack asked what he was talking about, and he pointed down!!

If I here and now commit to bringing back the shame, will each of you do the same? Then maybe together, we can bring back a repressed, quiet, responsible, timely, perception oriented nation focused on what others think of us, rather than what we think of ourselves?

Please--I implore you!

Instant Alert

I received an instant alert at 5:30 a.m. this morning:

Alert Name:
School Closing 01/17/2008
Alert Type:
School Closing
Complete Message:
Floyd County Schools will be closed on Thursday, January 17, 2008. Again, all schools will be closed on Thursday, January 17, 2008.
School Name:
Floyd County Schools
Sent By:
Terry Arbogast

Good news for all the kids, but as the principal, I still need to report to work. But wait...at 7:30 a.m. I received an update:

Alert Name:
Emergency Leave 12-Mo Staff
Alert Type:
High Importance
Complete Message:
12 month staff have been granted emergency leave for Thursday, January 17, 2008. Again, 12 month staff are not required to report to work on Thursday, January 17, 2008, due to inclement weather.
School Name:
Floyd County Schools
Sent By:
Terry Arbogast

Time for some fun in the snow.

Two 'G's sledding. A total snowbetty snowboarding down our street.

Little S was not too happy but we think he liked it anyway.

And F is always looking for a snowball fight.

Time to start the dryer.

Goodbye Dallas!

Jaime and I have been trying to get our house in better order. In so doing, we have been using our clean sweep methods in order to simplify our lives. We recently put up more shelving in a HUGE bathroom closet that now serves as overflow for kitchen, sewing, christmas, and cleaning stuff. We are consistently reconsidering holding onto things that have no room in our lives. The great thing about giving things away to charity is that it can go to somoene else and hopefully be of more use to them than dragging us down with clutter.

So now it is time to say goodbye to my Cabbage Patch doll, Dallas. It has been a great 23 years.

If cats were kids, I'd now have 4!

I hate cats. Not in a violent, aggressive, sort of way--just in a stay away from me and my house and my yard and my children, sort of way. For about 6 months now, there is this cat that will not go away. We NEVER feed it, we don't even give it love or attention, and yet, he comes back. We try shooing it away, he rolls on his back for us to scratch it. We don't! We try to scare it away, he won't go. Whenever I see S at the window yelling, "uhh-ohh!" I know it is because that dumb cat is hanging outside our door again.He even snuck in the house once over the summer when we had the doors open and I found him at me feet in the laundry room (I prompted yelled at it and it didn't move, but I was able to chase it out of the house--but he was not very quick to leave). Today as we were playing outside like it was May 7, instead of January 7, this cat snuck under the fence and came in for a play date with the kids. I kept trying to scare it off and it would have nothing to do with me. Our friends were over and their 2 year old almost hit it with a bat (unintentionally, of course), and it still stuck around. I announced that I didn't like pets and that is why I didn't have one (hoping the cosmos would hear my announcement and send the cat vibes leading away from my house). But then G's friend JT (not JTT) said, "Jaime, you do have pets...this cat right here." The child thinks this is my pet because everytime he comes over, this cat is sitting on my porch or driveway. Anything, but a cat!! A dog or child I might consider taking in at this point, a mole or ferret I could call extension services about, but a cat is a pet. Just not a pet for our family. Anyway, anyone want to adopt what appears to be a loving, kind, unfixed cat?
Note my children up on the swingset waiting for the cat to leave like it was an escaped tiger!

Our sweet 40 year old trapped in a tiny body

F got a laptop for Christmas from Santa. From his Grandma and Grandpa Bob he got a chess set they bought in Poland. One of the many reasons we love F so much is illustrated in a conversation we overheard Christmas afternoon. When his Grandpa saw him playing with his laptop, he lead, "I bet I know which present was your favorite...." F said, "I bet you don't." Bob said, "It's not the laptop?"
"Nope," said F, "it's the chess set!"

Indeed, everyday since we have been back F and Jack have played a game of chess, with a 50/50 split on wins. Tonight, Jack and I were planning to have "date night" after the little boys went to bed and we kicked F upstairs. Get take out and watch a movie--ooohhhh.... F just asked, "So can dad and I play chess or is that going to ruin your date night?" How can you deny a boy and his chess? Guess I will pick up the food while they play a "quick" round!

Photographers note: If you haven't seen my house, please disregard the framed painting from Paris propped sideways against the wall...I swear that is not how we display art here in "the country!"

Top 10 highlights of traveling cross-country for Christmas

10. Dining with Royalty

9. Playing with Family we rarely see (Nita-email me a pic of Christmas at your house)

8. Finally being able to be No One in the Nativity re-enactment, instead of nearly everyone

7. Cookies for Santa from a package, not from scratch
6. Cousins, cousins, everywhere 5. Grandpa and Grandma and their Stories
4. Ditching winter gloves for windbreakers

3. "Look Ma, NO coat!!"

2. Liz's Favorite Things Party--which I am bringing back to Radford, so Ladies, get ready for the best party ever sometime in early Spring!!

1. Being on the plane back, knowing home is only hours away (thank you technology for babysitting my children during the over 13 hours of travel that day...)