This isn't what the GOVERN....meant!

My to do list has included getting my passport renewed for quite some time (a year). I determined that today was the day. I was going to take my 3 month old passport photos and my $110 bucks and get this job done. The paperwork said you could mail the renewal in but my mind works weird and I kept worrying that I may have misunderstood something because I would see people waiting to get their passports at post offices. I called the State Dept to see if I could just mail it and got lots of music to listen to but no person or information; I almost called the post office but decided to just go in and get it over with. I prefer the Tomball post office because in the past they have been much more efficient than the Louetta facility (of course, two year olds can put a fully functional nuclear attack sub in the water faster than the Louetta facility people can sell you a book of stamps) I had the paperwork filled out, my checkbook in hand and, as I walked in the door, two little girls about cut me in half as they zipped by, unattended, by the woman sitting in the passport application area who was chatting about some trip the passport processor was wanting to take someday. Another little boy went screaming out the door on a leash followed by a highly exasperated father who apparently was the spouse of the other woman in the passport application line who was on the phone loudly trying to get someone to dig through some paperwork at home so she could complete passport papers with a five week old baby in a car seat purched precariously on a table. The two little girls of the first applicant continued to catapult through the place without much concern for seniors (not me!) babies or unsuspecting patrons coming in the door; and so, we had two out of control little girls with a clueless mom (a third little girl would enter later with an equally unqualified care giver)and two harrowed parents who had only been there five minutes and had already lost control of their two year old. They had checked in for passports 12 and 5 minutes before me. Now, I will never be able paint a picture of the passport processor that any of you will ever believe but I have to try; She was somewhere between 45 and 65 years of age (it would be difficult to pinpoint her age exactly as some clearly hard living had been indulged in) hair that was half kinda blond and half very gray was held in place by a claw thing and it seemed as if she had never been formally introduced to hair care products of any kind (shampoo, conditioner, frizz control products) other than the occasional bottle of blond hair color; on her feet were house slipppers that I guess she might have thought were moccassins; she wore jean shorts and a plaid sleeveless top that had had the sleeves cut out and tattoo's encircling both ankles and her arm [now her arms made any Relief Society arm you have EVER seen look toned and chisseled]. She not only did not have ANY semblance of a professional, 'I am an employee of the US State Department' demeanor in her dress or her mannerisms, she could have easily passed as an inmate out on parole or a hillbilly from Kentucky (or East Texas). I am being mean but I was shocked. I honestly looked around to see if she was a baglady that had decided that she wanted to be a passport processor for a minute while the real processor was away from her desk. Sooooooo, I waited for one hour and seven minutes for the two families to conclude their business with my clearly blue application in hand while they filled out clearly beige applications (for new passports I was assuming) and with the children racing and screaming and crawling and bumping and getting their fingers caught (almost smashed once) while their parents just sat there and shouted at them. This doesn't count the very cute (they were all cute) little two year old girl that came in and knocked my purse off the chair and ran into a little man with a cane while waiting for her grandmother to get finished in the very long (18 minutes) postal line. Yes, I had time to track the timing on the line. The conversations between the processor and the second family consisted of comparing notes on the annoyance of finding they were pregnant with their first borns after only having dated the fathers for a couple of months and the process they went through to try to 'hook' the father or decide if they were even worth the effort of 'hooking' them and the decision after extended periods of time of living with the fathers to go ahead and put up with the
''$%*&*^' sons of ......uhhhh....guns" and how much 'fun' they had before they got saddled with brats. Oh my gosh!
She finally concluded with the little families (whom, by the way, I could have been in line AHEAD of if I had been 5 minutes earlier and she called me over. In 1.2 seconds (I hadn't even really gotten seated yet) the processor/bag lady looked at my CLEARLY blue application and said "I don't need to process blue aps, you can just put it in a envelope and mail it off!!!!!!"

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

My New Gig

It has been a busy summer and in Houston it is still VERY summer-like outside. We are in the high 90's and have high humidity and we're kind of tired of it; no more tired, I am sure, than the northerners get of snow and ice in April.

On my way home from a trip to Utah in August, I got a phone call from a member of the stake presidency (the one I am married to!) calling me to teach seminary and so all of my family history plans have gotten shuffled off to the side while I try to get up to speed on seminary. My poor little ancestors must have been SO excited only to have their hopes and dreams dashed yet again (they have heard me speak of getting going before) I hope that they can endure me. And I hope that the kids in seminary can endure me as well. We are into this three weeks now and the fatigue is already a tiny bit better and we are working out how to get this job done. Experience goes a long way and I don't have any. The first week I thought to myself, what in the heck have I gotten myself into. Second week better and this week better still. The kids are a delight and I adore them already. 16 seniors; mostly boys four girls and an eclectic group that is very sharp and who has some marvelous future missionaries in it. I am grateful for the opportunity and the blessings that I can see flowing into my life. Increased capacity on a couple of levels and I am hoping for some more because I really need it.

Chillin in Colorado

On our way to Utah for a family reunion and Liam's blessing we ran into brake trouble. Now mind you, we just had the brakes fixed three weeks ago to the tune of $1000. We had trouble with them the first few miles of our trip so we pulled over in Houston and took the car into Discount Tire to have the tires balanced again (Kerry had just had it taken care of the day before). We thought maybe the rotation and balancing job was improperly done. They rebalanced the tires and off we went two hours late but rolling. All day had difficulty on and off with vibration and drag. But our destination was Dalhart and stopping there for any length of time was not an attractive thought so the next morning we pushed on. More vibration in New Mexico so as we were traveling through Colorado Springs we were wondering if we should stop in Denver and have it looked at or just push on......question answered when we were pulling away from gas station in Littleton and the brakes seemed to 'lock up' and when smoke started to spew and rubber started to burn, question answered. Now, do ya think it is crazy that we were passing a Brakes Plus establishment as the brakes started to smoke and we were able to make a left hand turn and be there? And do you think that it is common to have a Comfort Suites AND a Fairfield Inn in the same parking lot as the Brakes Plus place when we found out a part would take overnight to acquire and we would be left overnight with no vehicle? And so....things haven't been going as planned but we have felt the hand of the Lord and are grateful. Seems to be a bit of a metaphor for life....Things don't always go as planned or hoped but help is available to assist through the changed plan or situation and peace is always available. We will see what today's adventure is going to be! On the bright side, had a fun visit with Scott Lewis...just camped out in the corner of the Brakes Plus place and visited for an hour or so.

And Happy Father's Day

I Determined I ought to make some mention of Father's Day while I am at it as it IS Father's Day. Kerry however is in London and so it just seems like a kind of super quiet not much going on day around here........... So happy Father's Day to you in England honey and happy Father's Day to our darling sons who are really quite extraordinary dads and to my father who is an example of the believer's who has lived a long and service-filled life. Kerry and I were just talking the other day about how we can see that 'enduring to the end' might simply be much more difficult that we might want that it will be. Maintaining momentum and enthusiasm is tough! Then as I look out at folks who have lived into their eighties and nineties, I have nothing but admiration for those who are able to do it well and keep their chins up. So chin up and thanks for teaching us the gospel dad, and know that we are grateful for the heritage of faith and hard work and dedication that you have devoted a lifetime to leaving us.

Mundane and Ordinary

I simply can never think of anything interesting or exciting to post. I love reading the kids posts and seeing their photos. I love reading other people's facebook entries that detail some of the daily and possibly mundane details of their lives but struggle to feel comfortable posting or publishing some of the mundane details of my life. They seem overwhelmingly mundane and uninteresting. It has almost become a mind block. I guess I am fairly certain that there is not a single interesting thing to report in my little day to day world. And yet I view blogs in particular and facebook a little less so as a valuable tool to record family history and share feelings and events and experiences and life! So I am going to attempt to post an entry. My last entry was May 5th...we are now into June. May was a crazy and overly busy month that bore much fruit in the memorable category. Chris and Ella had birthdays. Chris and Marisa were home for Corey's graduation. All five of the kids were here and that is something that isn't mundane to a mom in any way. What a delight to have all the kids together with their lovely families (we missed those cute Caden and Coleton boys and Chira and Ethan) but were delighted to have the kids together. They are the blessing and joy of my life...maybe that is why things feel so mundane now; after all these years of busy family life on a day to day basis, EVERYTHING will always feel mundane. I appreciated the effort that the kids made to get here. Supporting each other over time and distance is a challenge but one that I hope they will never give up on. Mabel was able to come and spend her 85th birthday with us. It was Corey's graduation day and made me wonder what I will be doing on my 85th birthday? Hmmmmmmmmmm............careful about the comments y'all!! Corey and Stephani sold their home and moved into an apartment downtown. Then Lisa and Ragnar and Natalie and Kerry and I took off for Hawaii. I was running a little low on gas for that trip and so I hope that we didn't slow down everyone's experience there. I have been running on empty for a number of weeks now and am trying to figure out how to get the energy levels moving upward a bit. Hawaii is a beautiful place and makes you appreciate the lovely world we live in not to mention the fun diversity of cultures that exist in the world. The polynesians are a beautiful and graceful people with a quiet intensity for living that I think may be contagious given some extended time with them. We came home to a lonesome dog and a house that needed (and coninues to need) a bit of attention and a trip to London for Kerry and a jag to Idaho for me. The next big event will be the advent of little Mr. Scharman. We are so excited to add a little fella to the family. How can one grandma possibly have ALL of the adorable and delightful grandchildren on the planet???!!! While I am in Idaho I am hoping to spend a bit of time figuring out how to download photos and organize pictures. Maybe this post will be the beneficiary. Till then...........

Feliz Cumpleanos

Feliz Cumpleanos is how they say happy birthday on Cinco De Mayo........so happy birthday to my darling not so little Texas born and bred son AND little Miss Adorable Ella Belle. We have a penchant for sharing birthdays in our family.....Chris was born six months after we moved to Midland and his new little guy, Coleton, reminds me temperamentally of Chris....Chris (and Coleton) was (is) a sweet natured and peaceful baby and we were very happy to add a son to our family all those years ago! And little Ella is a pleasure and a delight and we are happy to have her sparkly personality in our family! So smiles and love to Chris and Ella on their birthday....we hope it is fun and wonderful!

He Is Risen

I love words. I love phrases. I love poetry and observation and I love truth. This is a beautiful truth and a glorious declaration. One that words, as much as I love them, can't really provide any more illumination for. I love everything that Easter celebrates. We celebrate Him.

Happy Easter.