Are you poor or rich?

I have gotten myself involved in YouthLinc again. Someday, I will have to do some posting about my previous experiences in the organization which resulted in accompanying some of my high school students to Kenya in 2001. This was before the blog and I've never posted about it.

Now, I have formed a satellite program of YouthLinc in Massachusetts. I have 3 students from nearby towns. My students are volunteering in the local community to earn a partial sponsorship to do another international service expedition. They are also busy fundraising the rest of the cost of their own trips. They have chosen to go to the YouthLinc site in Peru! I'm not going with them this time, but I'm mentoring them through the experience. It is such a long story and I don't have time to tell it, but I came across a piece of paper this afternoon that reminded me why I'm investing my time in this program again. This is what it says:
--------------------------------------------------------------
Who are the poor of the world?

* the poor are the 3 billion people on this planet who will go to bed hungry tonight
* 2 billion of them are chronically malnourished
* over 1 billion of them are starving
* 40 million will die this year
* nearly 30,000 children will die today
* those who survive will grow into adults handicapped physically and/or mentally
* over 3 billion people live in mud huts and sleep on dirt floors
* 1.5 billion people cannot read and write
* 1.3 billion people live on less than $300 per year
Of these:
* 80% do food preparation and cooking on the ground
* 86% report no tooth brushing or washing
* 65% report they don't wear shoes
* 70% have neither hot water nor soap to wash dishes
* 97% report not having access to latrine facilities

Who are the poor of America?

The US Census Bureau in 1997 declared any family of 4 making less than $16,000 per year to be below the poverty level. That $16,000 would not include income from "safety net" services such as public housing subsidies and government health care subsidies.
Of these "poor":

*41% owned their own homes, the average includes 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths and a garage. The most severe housing problems reported by poor Americans were repeated breakdown of heating and having to share a bathroom with an unrelated person or family (2%)
* only 7.5% of the housing facilities would be considered "overcrowded" --having 1.5 persons per room. Nearly 60% had 2 or more rooms per person.
* the average "poor" American has 1.3 more living space than the average income Japanese and 4 times as much living space as the average income Russian.
* 70% of "poor" households own a car. 27% own 2 or more cars
* 97% of "poor" households have a TV. Nearly 50% own 2 or more TV's
* 75% of "poor" households have a VCR
* 66% have air conditioning
* As a group, American poor are not malnourished. In fact, poor Americans are more likely to be overweight than are middle-class persons. 84% report their families have "enough" to eat. 13% state they"sometimes" do not have enough to eat and 3% say they "often" do not have enough to eat.

Who are the rich?

* If you have a floor in your house, you belong to the upper half of the world's most prosperous people
* If you can read this and you have more than 1 pair of shoes, a change of underwear, and can choose from 2 or more foods for your next meal, you belong in the top 10% of the world's richest people
* If you have all of the following: a car, a computer, a microwave, a refrigerator, and a VCR, you are among the wealthiest people the world has ever known throughout its entire history.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Are you rich? I am sure I am, in more ways than these too. If you are interested in donating to this cause, please let me know with a comment and I can tell you what you need to do. I am actively seeking sponsors for my students.

the small things make all the difference

These are some small, but significant things I am grateful for this morning:

* Harriet did not wake up when David and the dogs tromped down the stairs like she usually does.
* because of the above, 30 extra minutes of sleep
* carnation instant breakfast and the money to buy it (that stuff is SO expensive and it's the ONLY thing my kids will eat/drink for breakfast)
* a daughter who loves PE - the exact opposite of me
* a school bus that comes within 20 feet of my mud-room door to pick up Grace so that we can wait for it inside the house
* no rain this morning after 3 straight days of it
* fresh exciting e-mail from a good friend on the computer when I woke up (instead of things to do from work or church)
* my clean dining room and kitchen (how long will it last? this is day 3!)
* our old, beautiful, silly dogs - Velvet and Shadow always wake up with energy to play even though they are 10 and 8 years old. They are ETERNALLY patient with our kids and completely loyal and sweet. (this one isn't so small, but extremely significant)

(poor Velvet...yes, she has a balloon tied to her collar...ask Grace)

My Big Girl

Hattie is a big girl now. She has moved into Grace's room which is now the big girl room. She has a new bed and we re-did the whole room to make it into "theirs." We just need to find a quilt for Hattie's bed to finish it.

I think Grace likes having Hattie in the room, but sometimes she is a little miffed to have to share her perfect room she loves so much. She didn't like that we had to rearrange the furniture.

Hattie is really excited, but still loves the nursery room too. She still takes her naps in there on the tiny bed. It actually works out well because the nursery is much quieter and Grace can still use her room and get her things during Hattie's naptime.

Yay for big girls!

Manly Adventure 2008 (aka Man Trip)

A couple of weeks ago I embarked on another annual trip with some of the guys in my ward. This has become an annual tradition that has been going on for the last six years and I have participated the last two. Last year we went to Maine and did some white water rafting and hiked Mount Katahdin (see my post).

This year I was privileged enough to go again, but I also had to plan the trip. Early in the year we threw out some ideas and people wanted to do some canoeing and hiking. I spent several weeks investigating possible trips. In the end I choose Lake Placid, New York. This was mostly due to a co-worker who has told me for three years I need to go to Lake Placid, and because none of us had ever done anything in the Adirondacks.

So with some planning and preparation, we decided that we would drive 250 miles with 3 canoes, canoe across Lake Placid, spend the night at a lean-to on the trail, hike Whiteface Mountain, and then spend a day touring the Olympic Village. The trip really came together nicely.

We left early Thursday and made the drive to Lake Placid. This included a ferry ride across Lake Champlain near Fort Ticonderoga that was rather interesting. We were lucky enough to all fit in one car (although we must have been a site with a canoe on the roof and towing 2 canoes behind us). We had a lot of fun chatting about the trip, backpacking gear, and next years adventure. We got to Lake Placid around lunch time and I have to say that I was quite impressed with the town and the lake. It reminded me a lot of Park City, UT. It had a small town feel but with that touch of yuppie. Not so much as to be offensive, but just enough to have some nice shops and eateries.

The canoe across the lake was a lot of fun. It was just over 3 miles across the lake to the trail head up Whiteface and we had originally planned to hike in about a mile and spend the night at a shelter on the trail. However, the map I had showed two Adirondacks on a island on the north part of Lake Placid that we decided to check out. In the end, lake front property won out (even though we did hike in and check out the trail shelter) and we spent the night on Lake Placid. This was definitely the right decision. Lake Placid is beautiful and we were able to enjoy some boating, swimming, and our dinners by the lake.

Canoeing across Lake Placid

Lake Front Property!

The next day we got an early start and canoed the 3/4 of mile to the landing and locked up our boats and headed up the trail. Whiteface is the fifth highest peak in New York and is referred to as the sacrificial lamb of the Adirondacks. It is similar to Mount Washington in that it has a road going to the summit with a weather observatory, restaurant, and loads of tourists in high heels. The hike up the Whiteface landing trail was fun. The first mile is pretty flat, but then it quickly becomes quite steep. You are in the trees until near the top, but for the last half mile you have nice view looking out over Lake Placid. It is also interesting to come to the summit and round the bend and come upon people who have driven up. They looked shocked that someone would actually hike when you can drive.

I promise that we didn't take the elevator the first time we summitted.

The views were very nice and although the hike wasn't as memorable as Katahdin, it was still very enjoyable. We ate lunch at the summit and then decided to attempt another of the 46ers, Esther Mountain, but in the end had to turn around less than a mile from the summit due to injury. One of the guys I was with had slipped and banged his leg against a rock leaving a 3"x4" hematoma on his leg. We had to hike back to Whiteface and luckily we arranged for the staff there to drive him down the mountain and leave him at the restaurant we were going to eat at that night. Jeff's time at the Wilderness Inn is another story in and of itself. Sufficeth to say, he charmed the crowd and had them all thinking we were horrible friends who had abandoned him by the time we showed up.

The intrepid group at the summit.

Looking back at Lake Placid (a little hazy that day).

Knowing the Jeff was going to be down well before us, we hussled down in about 90 minutes to our canoes. Unfortunately we had 3 miles of canoeing to do into 35 mph headwinds. I don't know how many of you have canoed in that kind of wind, but it is not easy. We had 2' high waves and I think that we went back 1 stroke for every 2 forward. It took us twice the amount of time to canoe back as it had the day before. By the time we got back to the marina we were all exhausted. It was nice to enjoy a nice dinner and a state campground with hot showers that night.

Saturday was our fun day. We had scheduled to go down the bobsled track in Lake Placid and we also were doing a ropes course in the trees in Bolton Landing, New York. The bobsled was great fun and it was interesting to see how the technology changed between the 1932 and 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid to the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City. The g-forces going around the curves were intense and we all want to go back and do it on the ice in the winter.

2012 Olympic bobsled team?

The final piece of the trip turned out to be the most memorable. Adirondack Extreme opened up a couple of years ago and have done a very nice job incorporating zip lines and obstacles course through the trees. They have four courses that progressively get harder and higher up. This was a blast and the only regret is that it is 4.5 hrs away. We had a great time alternatively encouraging and sabotaging each other's attempts across the obstacles. In the end, only 2 of the 5 of us made it through all 4 course (I had to be "rescued" half way through the final course), but we all had fun. It culminated with a long zip line where we raced against each other. I should have come in first, but was aced out by 1/100 of second due to my lower mass.

How do I get up there?

Anyway, it was great fun and it is too bad that I have to wait a whole year for another adventure. Here's to man trips!

Fantasy Sports

For the last several years I have been participating with the same guys in Fantasy Sports. It is pretty laid back. We don't bet or have a pool of money for the winners. We just play for the fun and bragging rights. When I first got talked into it by my friend Jared I was pretty dubious. I'm certainly no sports nuts and it shows in my overall performance. The main reason that I participate is to keep an association with the guys I play with. It is a small thing and yet it really does a good job in keeping me involved with people that I associated with in SLC. I feel bad that a couple of other friends of mine (read Bryan and Jeff) don't partake of the fantasy fun.

Over the course the year we have a football, basketball, and baseball. This keeps me checking box scores through the course of a year. When I first started playing, I would rationalize my drafting of players on teams I despise. I would find myself routing for my real team, but hoping that the opposing player would have a great game. This lasted for several years until this year I finally said enough. It was time to cheer for my team and to not care about fantasy players. It seems to have worked in baseball. My best finish was a couple of years ago when I came in sixth during the regular season, but I rode a hot streak and finished third in the playoffs. This year I finished first and sailed through the regular season. Currently we have 1 week left and I am up 13-6 in the championship game. The best part is that I was 3-0 against Jared.

I thought my new strategy was going to work in football as I was in first with a 2-0 record. Or at least I thought I was. I woke up this morning for the start of week 3 and found out that they corrected some scores and I lost by a measly 0.1 point. Not such a big deal until Pittsburgh did nothing on offense today and it looks like I am going from 2-0 to 1-2. Another long season awaits. But in the end, it doesn't matter. The fact that it helps me stay in touch with friends is what really matters.

Of course winning doesn't hurt!

reading

I have a new addiction. Reading. I don't know if it's the constant fighting between Grace and Hattie or what, but apparently, it appeals to me to escape into another life during the day by reading a book. I used to watch TV for such needs, but the two little stinkers I'm raising won't allow a channel to be on that doesn't project animated programming.

I have always loved reading, but didn't really have time to do it recreationally as a student or during my career as a teacher. Not that I really have time now, but I can adjust my schedule a bit to include it. (or ignore a chore, or a child, or an errand.) I have belonged to a couple of book clubs, but rarely would I attend having finished the book being discussed. Not so anymore (unless the book is a non-fiction book longer than 200 pages - like I said - ESCAPE is the motivator, not LEARNING!)

Well, I don't know why I feel the need to share, but I just finished Stephenie Meyer's latest vampire novel, Breaking Dawn. If you're not a fan, its the 4th and I think final in a series that has been compared with the Harry Potters. On the surface, her books are pretty standard melodramatic teen romance novels. I felt silly starting the series, my friends in book club all roll their eyes at me, but my MOM got me into it! (I felt the same way when David and I started reading the way-too-popular-for-our-tastes Harry Potter.) But, I was hooked from the first page of "Twilight" - the first of the vampire stories. I think the first appeal for me was how Meyer described a girl who had to move from sunny, arid Arizona to dark, rainy, claustrophobic Washington State. It was all too real to my experience moving from Utah to Massachusetts. I had to keep reading.

Then, there's the romance. It was annoyingly dripping with way too much lovey-dovey stuff at first for me, I could only relate having recently been a high school teacher. But once I really got into it I started thinking of her writing in a different way. You have to look past all the grammar errors, spelling mistakes (who is her EDITOR!), and 600 page-long run-on sentences, but in the end, those things probably make me like her writing more than if she wrote like an English Professor.

I'm just blown away by 1- her imagination, 2- her ability to write these things while staying at home with 3 little kids, 3- the really great underlying messages in her stories, 4- the endless ability to write something that demands to be read until the story is over. Part of it is the 600 page run-on sentence problem - you can't put it down until you finish a sentence!
These are things I've learned (or been reminded of) from reading about "vegetarian" vampires in love:

1- the gift to choose your actions is the greatest gift you will recieve
2- you are responsible for all choices you make
3- you do not HAVE to do anything just because your biology or your history or someone else tells you to do it. you can choose otherwise.
4- love beats all
5- family is way important
6- love and family are eternal
7- there are many lives to live
8- everyone has a gift, some are more useful than others, but every gift should be used for good and they are often more powerful when used that way
9- the power of self-control will save you and those you love from otherwise dire outcomes
10- no matter how different another creature may be from you, you have more in common with it than you don't

I have also just finished reading "The Enchantress of Florence" by Salman Rushdie. (a book for my book club) He is supposed to be one of the world's "most important living authors." After finishing this novel fraught with seriously seriously disturbing scenes, nearly rated X descriptions, sad and depressing views of love, war, and religion, convoluted story lines, and really not much of a point in the end, I really wonder which of the two is the more important living author. The esteemed Salman Rushdie, or the stay-at-home mom vampire novelist, Stephenie Meyer.

Ok - all you PhD English major people can shred me in the comments section. But, have you read the vampire books yet? Let's just say that there is NO WAY I would read 750 pages of anything else in less than 4 days.

I know, I know - I should be reading the scriptures! don't judge...

conversation with Hattie

mommy: what's your name?
hattie: two (spoken tuuoo)
mommy: how old are you?
hattie: two
mommy: what are your doggie's names?
hattie: two
mommy: are they shadow and velvet?
hattie: sure, shadow and velvet
mommy: how many doggies do you have?
hattie: two
(hattie picks up her Elmo phone and says hello)
mommy: who are you talking to?
hattie: Santa
mommy: what do you want Santa to bring you?
hattie: presents (spoken pesents)
mommy: what kind of presents do you want?
hattie: purple ones and a blue one (spoken pople ones an a bue one)

the school bus

I've said this many times, but Grace has wanted to get on the school bus that comes to our neighbor's house every single morning since we moved in. This morning, that bus came for Grace. I'm still in shock.Grace was nervous and worried and kept saying she was scared and held onto me while we were waiting. But, when it pulled up in front of our house, she hopped on and didn't even look back or wave to me from the window.
Hattie moaned "I want go school bus a Gace." I cried. She's gone to school.

a last day of summer

Wednesday, Grace didn't have school because of the kindergarten orientation schedule. We took advantage of our new found health, beautiful weather and day off to get out.

I took the girls to Drumlin Farm. It's usually the same old, same old, but it is always a fun place to go and at least a change of scenery. We got lucky this time though. The baby piglets were just born last week, so we got to see them before they got too big. They get really big and not so cute, really fast. We went on our standard hay ride and made the rounds of the farm. It was totally great. Then, we had a lunch out at McDonald's. I hate McDonald's, but the kids love it and they had lots of fun. We also ran a bunch of errands for daddy. He left this morning on a manly adventure to row across Lake Placid, do an overnight backpack trip, and bobsled at the Olympic park. Hopefully, he will blog about that.

Then, to finish up our outing, we went to the town library to claim our summer reading prizes. The kids did great and listened to over 50 books this summer, including several big chapter books. We're reading The Trumpet of the Swan right now. It has been very exciting because we have 2 swan who come to visit in the spring and fall and they are back. They were out on the river right in front of our house a couple nights ago.Bye Bye summer...

First Day of Kindergarten

It has come. My first child's first day of school. I have completely ignored that it was coming all summer. I didn't do much to prepare. I did buy the required school supplies, and I did order the cutest collection of school clothes that Grace would let me buy (all blue and tan - many horsey shirts - and some blue suede mary jane shoes with horses on them), but other than that, I have put it out of my mind. It felt natural, something that I knew was coming for a long time, and it's just school, right?

Well, Sunday night in bed, I had a panic attack. It sunk in. I'm sending my gorgeous little girl off to a place where I won't see her, to be in the care of a government institution, letting her travel on a bus with a driver I don't know, (I have yet to let her ride in a car with any non-family member) and it's really the beginning of something that is going to continue until she moves out of my house and isn't mine anymore. I really freaked out that I had let it build up without thinking it through. I didn't do much to prepare her either. Well, of course, we talk about it all the time and she's totally excited and we went to orientation in the spring. I guess that's all you really can do. It seems like I should have done more though - to prepare for such a huge day?

Well, even up until bed-time last night, I didn't do anything! We were out on errands and had a late dinner and went to get ice cream at Erikson's. We came home and had a speed bath and started to bed. I realized I hadn't asked Grace to do her name tag that came in the mail (weeks ago) that she was supposed to decorate for the first day. I didn't have her snack and backpack ready, and we really didn't know what she was even going to wear. How unprepared am I??? I was really in denial. I know I put it off on purpose subconsciously.Well, all went well this morning. Luckily, school started an hour late this morning and no bus, so Grace got to sleep late one more time. We packed her backpack, she did do her name tag before bed, we didn't fight too much over what she would wear after I promised she could wear anything she wants to school every Friday. I didn't do her hair. I still want to be able to control her clothes a bit, but I've completely given up the hair. She even ate her breakfast this morning which is something she either does not do, or doesn't do until about 11am.

Then, David told her that he wanted to give her a blessing. This is something totally foreign to me. My dad couldn't do those kinds of blessings, so growing up, we never had them. My friends always talked about their "back-to-school blessings." I'm glad my kids can have them. I think David kind of procrastinated his freaking out too. He got pretty choked up giving her the blessing. Plus, school is a really big deal for him. (not that it isn't for me... but...) He has lived most of his life so far in school and is extremely devoted to education and higher learning. I think he was pretty proud to be sending his little girl off to her first day.

So, the actual first day of kindergarten here was a little weird. Parents were required to come and stay for the whole time. David has been so great to earnestly try to be part of our kids' lives. He always takes time off work to go to things at school or whatever they are doing. This morning, he stayed home with us and took Grace to school with me. Hattie came too (we weren't supposed to bring her, but really didn't have another option of leaving her somewhere.) We pulled up and walked up to the front of the school to wait for the teachers to come out. Mrs. Keough came out with a big butterfly for the kids to follow. They followed her into the classroom, hung up their backpacks, and sat on the floor for the morning meeting. Grace's nerves and natural desire to be the center of attention got the best of her. She raised her hand often even if she had nothing to say. She blurted out answers, interjected comments, and looked like she was so excited to make sure everyone knew she was there that she might explode. We just sat in the back with snide, knowing smiles and a few chuckles.

Mrs. Keough read a story about first day jitters that ended up being about a TEACHER who was sick to her stomach about the first day of school. It was a book after my own heart. I got nauseous every time the school calendar rolled around both as a teacher and a student. It has continued as a parent.

Then, we were excused for a parent's meeting and the kids had the rest of their first day. When we picked up Grace at 11:30, she looked a little unsure and weepy. She wasn't terribly happy on her way home and all through lunch. I stared to think that she didn't have such a good time. Finally, it came out, that she was terribly sad that she didn't get to stay for the whole day. WHEW!

Thursday will be our first REAL BIG DAY of school. She actually doesn't have school tomorrow because the other half of kindergarten is doing their "first day thing." On Thursday, the bus will pick her up in front of our house at 8am. (I think I will be sick then too.) She has wanted to ride the school bus since she could say so, and probably before. So, I hope that it is just the absolute best day for her.

catching up on horse camp

Now that we are mostly better from this horrible sickness, I can catch up on the blog post I really wanted to make last week.
The week BEFORE getting croup, the girls and I spent a week at our barn, Hybid Farm. Grace enrolled at camp and Harriet "helped" me teach lessons and manage things around the barn. I know I spent more time managing Harriet than I did horses and kids, but that's how it goes.
Spending a week at horse camp is something Grace looks forward to every single year. She is actually finally old enough to enroll as a real camper this year, but she's been going since she was 2 years old! Our barn is such an idyllic place for kids to ride and be with horses. We do not have one mean-spirited or unsafe horse. It is really incredible. (well, we do get rid of them if one crosses the line, so that helps.) And, they aren't "broken down" like so many horses you find at places where safety is essential. They are still spirited and have personalities and live extremely happy lives. In fact, we call our barn, the horse "spa" because they are treated so very well. The ponies are seriously the most adorable ponies and the kindest creatures. Our favorite is and will always be Tinkerbell, but Grace has branched out and tried riding some others. This summer she fell in love with Mac and even got to like Lilly (who she still thinks is a bossy pony.)
The days did get a bit long for all of us. We had to be at the barn at 8:30am every single morning all ready to go with complete riding gear and 3 lunches. By the time we got home and got Hattie down for a nap and I got a shower it was 4pm and we had to start making dinner. It got pretty tiring. The crazy thing is that when Grace was exactly Hattie's age, I did it for the entire summer and she went to the Ponies Rule! class for the whole summer as a 2 year old and I taught lessons all day long. I was so organized - I would make dinner at 7 in the morning so it would be ready to throw in the oven or on the grill when we got home. There is NO WAY I could do that with Hattie. I was lucky to teach one lesson a day and she was in constant need of attention.
Hattie did like going to ponies rule a little though. By the end of the week she would say "I want go ponieses rules pease." Grace has SUCH a good time. On Friday, the last day, I could NOT get her in the car to leave. We tried to leave at least 8 times. After finally getting in the car 2 hours later, she SOBBED all the way home. Sometimes, I'm not quite sure if she is really passionate about horses like I am. Maybe she just thinks that it is fun. I don't really care either way, but it would be great for me if she was totally into it. On days like that last Friday, I get a glimmer that she really really likes it and it isn't just a fun thing to do. Yay for horsies, ponies, ney's, whatever... we love them all!