Lucky Rabbits

Tonight we celebrated Chinese New Year at our friends' Chinese restaurant. Our bookstore was right next to the China Cafe for nearly 10 years, and we became friends with the owners and their two sons, who have been like older brothers for Jack.

This is a particularly special Chinese New Year as the year of the rabbit begins. You see, Roger, Jack and I were all born in the year of the rabbit.

According to the placemat at dinner, the following applies to us: "Luckiest of all signs, you are also talented and articulate. Affectionate, yet shy, you seek peace throughout your life."

We are a family of rabbits entering the year of the rabbit. I do believe this means planets will be aligning in our favor.

Potatoes

I've actually got a lot of out-of-the-ordinary things to report today.

I thought of writing about a discussion we had in class today that led to one student sharing ideas for how to fake a drug test that I had never heard of before. But I decided that wasn't the direction I wanted to take my post. TMI.

I thought of writing about meeting someone who turned out to be my sister-in-law's sister-in-law (she recognized my name). But other than writing that she was very nice and it was fun to meet her, there wasn't much else to tell.

I thought of writing about visiting my 80-something neighbor in rehab and watching her do some serious leg presses with her new knee. But not much else to say other than we had a pleasant visit and I think she's awesome.

I thought of writing about the nerf gun Jack bought with some of his Christmas money and how I never knew they made nerf guns that use batteries. But really all I can say is that it's a pretty intense nerf gun.

At the end of the day, I decided to write about my first ever visit to Five Guys Burgers and Fries (I know!). Extra friendly service: check. Tasty burgers: check (even Jack gushed, which is very unusual). Peanuts in their shells to snack on while you wait for your order: check. Free soda refills: check. Fry sauce: check (A Utah specialty. Do they have it at Five Guys in other states?). Stacks of bags full of Idaho potatoes everywhere: check. The freshest tasting french fries ever: check.

A new go-to place for our whole family: check.

Meeting Hazel

We had the honor of meeting sweet baby Hazel, the girl with the loveliest toes, for the very first time today.

She's heading home from the hospital tomorrow to join her twin older sisters, who are not yet two. This is what I have to say about that: "!"

We couldn't stay long because Hazel was pretty insistent it was time for her dinner. In the few minutes we had to get to know her, it was very clear that she'd be able to hold her own as the smallest member of her family. She's a feisty one!

Congratulations Shelley and Trevor!

It's Catching!

Communications manager Roger has been inspired to write up a (pretty much) daily post about something he's found in the library at BYU.

His first post is about call number T 15 .U6 1892, a book entitled The Growth of Industrial Art. Click here to see it.

One of the many things I love about Roger is that he has a particularly good eye for seeing interesting and unique items that other people might overlook.

I'm excited to add http://lib.byu.edu/sites/news to my Google reader and discover what's at the library through his eyes!

Next Blog

Sick day today. Didn't set a foot out the door. I had to figure out to improvise. I decided my best bet was to do some virtual exploring and see if I could find a new blog to add to my Google reader.

If you notice at the top of this blog, there's an option called "Next Blog," which randomly takes you to another blogger blog when you click on it (geez, that's something I never said when I was a kid!).

I got sucked into clicking. I learned about a woman who is trying to figure out how to prepare gluten-free food. I met a family trying to save up money to do mission work in Honduras. I discovered Lisa who likes to post pictures of her cats. I found Emma's parents who have signed up to run the Gold Coast marathon in July. I enjoyed pictures of a lovely couple who just got married in India.

After all of my exploring, I decided to add two blogs to my reader.

The first blog is by a 28-year-old guy who is on his third year of posting a new thing to see or do in London every day. Today's post was about finding a band to play with on the Drummer Wanted board at Rough Trade East, where "musical hipsters come together to scrawl notes about how they need other hipsters to make their dream work."

I didn't know why the second blog I added appealed to me at first. But as I read through the entries I discovered it's the blog of an LDS mom who lives in the Boston area. Go figure! Getting caught up in it reminded me of this Salon article, which has recently been making the rounds: "Why I can't stop reading Mormon housewife blogs."

Sometimes the world is not so big. Even the virtual world.

The Square Root of 256 Is Always 16

Disclaimer: Technically this happened yesterday, but I was thinking about it today as I watched and read coverage of the uprising in Egypt. I hope you don't think less of me for playing a bit fast and loose with my rules.

I learned how to use a calculator to figure out the square root of a number. I haven't had to figure out how to find a square root since high school, and I have no memory of how I did it back then.

Lately I've been involved in some work that requires me to get back up to speed on high school level math. It's been unexpectedly satisfying because I usually spend my time and energy focused on subjects full of paradox and complexity, multiple possible answers, and competing values. Parenting, teaching writing, trying to figure out what I want to say to my state representatives in the midst of a stunning movement to erode public education that goes far beyond cutting budgets due to recession. Answers are not always clear.

But when x + 3 = 12, x is always 9. And when two lines cross, opposite angles are always equal. And the square root of 256 is always 16.

I find great comfort in that.

Eulogy

Today I read the last issue of our town's newspaper. I've never had to face something like this before, and, frankly, I'm a bit shaken.

The Springville Herald has been such an integral part of what makes us a community, and I am very thankful for that.

In its pages we have celebrated victories, marked important life events, rallied around neighbors in need, battled one another over issues like whether to change the high school mascot (we didn't) or pass a bond to build a new library (we did), and discovered many of the neat things that go on around town.

Personally, I have long since lost track of the number of times the Springville Herald helped me get the word out about various projects I have been involved with, especially our bookstore. And I'll miss chuckling (and sometimes guffawing) at small town police beat items and over-the-top letters to the editor.

I fear our little fish town will be lost in the big county newspaper sea.

The Smell of Lasagna Is the Air

Lately I've been stocking up on food from the Stouffer's outlet at the north end of town, right near the plant that makes many of the items I buy there. They sell products that are basically fine but don't quite meet retail standards. For example, right now they have cartons of 12 turkey dinners for less than $1 apiece because the boxes are misprinted with a 9 minute cooking time rather than 6.

I believe in the idea of voting with my dollars, though I confess I'm more committed to that in theory than in actual practice. It can be really complicated to (1) balance competing values, (2) know where and to whom my dollars are actually going, and (3) know what is involved in bringing the products I'm buying to market.

This I do know: Stouffer's is owned by Nestle, a multinational corporation, but the local plant is a strong contributor to the economic health of our community (and a sometimes contributor to the scent of the air, which is a good thing IMO).

On our way home from Jack's science fair at school today, my mother-in-law asked me if I'd mind stopping at the Stouffer's outlet. While we were there, I chatted with a friendly employee and learned a few more things.

• While many of the ingredients for the products made in the Springville plant are not local, the company makes a concerted effort to buy local whenever it can. (I'm a little nervous for the cows in the picture above.)
• Not all of the products they sell at the outlet store were made at the Springville plant. If items made in other plants get damaged in transit and Springville is the closest distribution point, the items come to the Springville outlet.
• The local operation employs as many as 1,600 people. That's a big deal in our community of about 26,000.
• The company focuses on implementing green practices like reusing, reducing and recycling. The employee told me that he, personally, had been reprimanded for discarding a carton in a dumpster instead of recycling. And he took me into the staff-only area to show me signage about safety and environmental procedures employees are expected to follow.
• I pretty much have to be related to an employee or be a VIP like the governor to get inside the massive, multi-story freezer at the plant. He said I would be blown away by the number of pallets it can hold if I could see it. That made me even more determined to get inside some day. Some day.

Spaghetti Tacos

Yes, you read that right.

Jack, inspired by Spencer's favorite meal on iCarly, talked Roger into making spaghetti tacos for dinner.

After some more serious posts in the last few days, I have officially been shoved back into the shallow water today.

We all tried them.

And, well, we can check that off Jack's bucket list.

A Tale of Two Speeches

In an unprecedented move, I called Roger to see if he'd meet me at the mall after work to see the newly Oscar-nominated film The King's Speech. We actually only get to movies in the theater a few times a year. Not because we don't want to. Mostly because we're not very organized about it. In this case I have friends who keep posting positive things about this movie, so I wanted to make a point of seeing it myself before the Academy Awards.

The King's Speech tells the story of King George VI, or Bertie, who had a stuttering problem that paralyzed him with fear, and his speech therapist, Lionel, who used some unconventional and risky tactics to help the king overcome his challenge. At the end of the movie, the king successfully delivers a critical radio speech to his nation upon entering war with Germany.

I was thinking about both Bertie and Lionel's tenacity when I walked out to the parking lot. I started up the car and the radio was tuned to a station broadcasting the State of the Union address, which had already begun.

As I drove home, President Obama was talking about how our country was founded on the idea that each of us should have "the chance to shape our own destiny" and that "the future is ours to win." He went on to quote Robert Kennedy who said, "The future is not a gift. It is an achievement."

I don't know what would have happened if Bertie had not worked to overcome his fears and Lionel hadn't gone out on a limb to help him. But they did.

And we can, too.

I Could Be Illegal, Eh?

This afternoon I went to a rally at the Utah State capitol that was organized to protest proposed immigration legislation similar to the law passed in Arizona last year. I arrived just as the rally began, snapped this photo, then joined the protesters on the steps.

I've never been to a political rally like that, and I thought my middle-aged, northern European face would be a good addition to the crowd that quickly grew to four or five times the size pictured here. I think I could be pegged as a potentially illegal Canadian. I do say "eh?" a lot.

For many reasons, I do not believe enforcing federal civil law through our state criminal system is an answer to the challenges we face and, in fact, I believe doing so would create additional problems that fly in the face of what makes the United States of America strong, vibrant, and generous.

When we frantically cling to some imagined America of the past, we risk suffocating the life and soul out of the amazing country we actually live in right now.

Honor

Jack received his Tenderfoot at a court of honor tonight, the first rank boys earn in boy scouts.

I'm proud of Jack because he is my boy, and he is an awesome boy at that. But to be honest, I've got mixed feelings about the adventure he's embarking on.

The only reason Jack is involved in scouting is because it's a key part of the boys' youth program in our church. Free spirits that we are, I don't think it's something any of the three of us--me, Roger or Jack--would have sought out for him on our own.

I'm all in with the focus on values like honor, integrity, and working hard toward goals. I'm all in with Jack learning leadership skills. And I'm all in with the fun of camping and the great outdoors and the male bonding over lighting stuff on fire and potty humor.

What I worry about is Jack struggling against the bureaucratic demands of scouting and conflating that with his spiritual journey. I worry about the way scouting accentuates an already gaping gender divide in our LDS culture. I worry about the conformity for conformity's sake and about the materialistic aspects of scouting (the sheer volume of inventory in the scout store makes me hyperventilate).

Maybe Jack will navigate all of the potential pitfalls I worry about beautifully, and all of my worry will be for nothing. I've got an amazing example in my dad, who was an exemplary scout master for many years. I've got wonderful brothers-in-law who have given me wise advice. We have good men that I really respect involved in our troop, like one of our favorite neighbors pictured above with Jack. And the troop is full of boys I'm happy for Jack to look up to.

So far Jack's experience in scouts has been positive, and the leaders haven't made him stop wearing the troop numbers that should be sewn onto the sleeve of his uniform shirt instead tucked into the band of the non-regulation Spanish military cap.

Let's just say I'm happy that Roger will be one of his leaders when he turns 12 in a few months and that we won't be holding Jack's driver's license hostage if he hasn't earned his Eagle.

An Extra Large Slice of Life

Tonight Roger, Jack and I went to a small dinner party at our friends Andi and Marco's cabin up the south fork of Provo Canyon. It's the first time we've been to their cabin, but more importantly it's the first time we've had a chance to enjoy one of Andi's abundant loaves of bread.

Over the past year or so, Andi has made more than 100 loaves of bread (with 14 cups of flour in each one!) to share with people. She calls it her bread-and-butter campaign, a way to create connections and community.

A week or so ago, she decided to start adding words. On Thursday she took a loaf to her friend Charlotte for her birthday that read "This bread is good. You are better." I discovered that when I saw a picture of the very loaf on my friend Karen's blog. Andi's community grew larger without her even knowing it.

And I'll tell you, Charlotte must be absolutely amazing because the bread was better than good!

712

(Not to be confused with 713.)

Roger and I went to Pizzeria Seven Twelve for the first time tonight. We've been meaning to go since we learned they use locally made Amano Artisan Chocolate in their desserts.

Such a good, good place to have a meal.

Besides the smooth, rich Amano chocolate pudding on tonight's menu, I enjoyed an unusual salad made with roasted beets, avocado slices, grapefruit, fresh ricotta and a few other ingredients. And, of course, there was the pizza!

This Alice Waters' quote is emblazoned on the chalkboard there: "When you have the best and tastiest ingredients, you can cook very simply and the food will be extraordinary because it tastes like what it is."

She is so right about that.

Idle

I am sitting like a lump on the couch watching last night's season premier of American Idol. And I'll probably stay up too late watching tonight's episode as well. Yes, that will be three hours of my life (minus fast forwarding through commercials).

As someone who still cranks up the car radio really loud when an Aerosmith song comes on, I am truly loving Steven Tyler as a new judge. This season should be good.

Yeah, sing with me, sing for the year

Sing for the laugh, sing for the tear

As an added bonus, here's a little memory of the radio station that got me through the 70s and early 80s:

The Experiment

Jack has been planning his science fair project for weeks, and tonight was the night to run the experiment. He wanted to find out if cats are any good at following scent trails the way dogs are, and if cats are better at using their sense of smell or their sense of hearing to track down their meal.

When the cats were good and hungry we locked them up in the bathroom. Then Roger opened a can of tuna outside the bathroom door and walked it (holding it low at cat nose height) two floors down to the basement. When he was ready, Roger radioed Jack on the walkie talkie and told him to release the cats.

The cats burst out of the bathroom, clearly smelled the tuna, and proceeded to go around and around in confused circles.

On to step two. We put the cats back in the bathroom and let the tuna scent in the air clear. Roger put the tuna in a bowl and took it down to the basement. When he was ready, he radioed Jack to release the cats and he started clanging on the bowl of tuna with a spoon.

Fluffy, who was the runt of the litter but who now weighs more than Doublestuff, ran out of the bathroom like a shot and straight to Roger and the bowl of tuna two flights down.

Doublestuff hung out for a bit, then just sort of sauntered out of the bathroom. He did go directly to the tuna, but didn't seem to be in much of a hurry.

Conclusion: Our scientific method needs a little tightening up, but we did prove that our cats are very entertaining!

Lopsided

Just back from the orthodontist. Jack got the fabulous news that he's almost done. I got the not-so-fabulous news that I'd be adding bands to the mix.

Check out the chart to see just how lopsided I'm going to be 20-22 hours a day. The right side is okay, but the triangle set up on the left hand side is seriously going to take some getting used to.

Did the folks at 3M know exactly what they were doing when they labeled the pack of elastics "bummer"?

This Little Light

Tonight our family joined the Walk for Life at BYU, commemorating Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the civil rights movement.

As hundreds of us walked from the Carillon Bell Tower to the student center for the program, we each carried our own candles.

Even though our flames were protected by paper cups, the wind would sometimes blow them out.

And when that happened we'd turn to one another--to family, friends and strangers--to relight them.

To the dream!

Oh, Deer

Look what we found in our backyard this morning (and sent Jack out in his pajamas to retrieve)! Antlers!

We've seen more deer in the neighborhood this year than ever before. They especially like to munch on our Halloween pumpkins that are composting in our garden.

They drive the cats wild when they're passing by. Last night Doublestuff was begging to go out long after dark, and as soon as I opened the front door and saw the deer sauntering down the sidewalk I understood why. The crazy cat actually stalked them for nearly a block before he gave up.

What did he think he'd actually do if he caught up with them?

Hot and Cold

Last night was the first time in a long time that I slept in our house without Roger here. I think it might be only the second time in our whole married life. It's weird how weird it is.

While Jack and I were nestled under thick blankets at home, Roger was sleeping on the ground somewhere in the snowy mountains with a bunch of boy scouts. He had thick blankets, too, but they didn't do him a darn bit of good. We're very thankful he thawed out enough to come home to us today.

Just a couple of weeks ago, Roger and I ended our stint teaching 7-year-olds at church, and he was asked to be an assistant scout master for the 12- and 13-year-old boys. Let's just say that camping is not on his list of favorites. Especially when it's below freezing.

To let him know how proud I am of him for braving the cold, I decided to brave the heat and bake him a cake.

I don't use the oven often. And I use my cool, red Kitchen Aid even less often. I got the Kitchen Aid for Christmas the same year I got the crockpot. Yeah, I was overly ambitious with my Christmas list that year.

Tomorrow I'll have to dust off the panini maker and make it three for three.