Did Something New

Back at the end of February an e-mail arrived in my in-box from Liberty Lake Community Theatre. They were holding auditions for a reader's theatre. I enjoy theatre very much even though I haven't participated in any shows since I was in elementary school. Since this was a reader's theatre and a pretty short-term commitment, I decided to audition and see what happens.

I was cast as one of the villagers. My lines weren't very complicated and not very many but I enjoyed participating. And as with all experiences, there were some things I learned.

I enjoyed meeting new people in my community; people I wouldn't have met otherwise. Well, there were a few cast members I knew. One family I knew from church and a couple of other kids I knew from working in the schools. I learned that the LLCT would like to expand the number of community members who audition from their productions, but for right now, it seems to be pretty much the same group of 20 people trying out.

I learned that I am a much better actor in my mind than I am in reality. I try to remember that acting, just like any skill, requires practice to achieve success. I'm just trying to decide if I want to continue to practice. Maybe this experience was enough to meet my desire to act.

I'm not sure if it was because this was a reader's theatre or if it was this director's style, but I felt like there was not much direction or feedback given to me. I am sure that this was due to the fact that I had a bit part that wasn't a make it or break it role. I learned that I really do require words of affirmation or critical feedback, especially when trying out a new skill. I want to know if I'm doing things right/wrong and where I can improve.

I learned that what Carson misses most when I am gone is no dinner. I have no idea how many nights he had cereal for dinner. Honestly cereal for dinner is pretty much a staple at our house so I'm not sure why he was so sensitive to this during the 3 weeks of rehearsals. Well I guess it is nice to be missed for something.

Overall this was a good experience for me. It got me out of my typical "running for social interaction" mode and gave me a chance to tryout a new skill. Even if I don't participate in another production, I will find a way to support LLCT and the new group of people I met.

Making a Few Bucks

There was a bomb threat at Carson's high school on Wednesday. It wound up being a false alarm, but disrupted the student's day nonetheless as they were all sent home for the day.

During the evacuation the students were asked to leave all of their belongings behind. Carson decided that was a stupid request so he took his backpack with him. As it turned out, his decision to grab his pack earned him a few dollars.

Carson takes a cold lunch every day. It always consists of a Boost, a muffin, a fruit (usually applesauce but on Wednesday it was an orange), and 3 granola bars. He keeps his lunch in his backpack so he had his lunch with him when everyone was evacuated.

Can you see where this is going?

Carson is never one to pass up an opportunity to make a dollar or two, especially if he considers it easy money requiring little effort or sacrifice on his part. When kids around him started to complain about being hungry, he began to offer lunch items for a price. Of course he didn't sell it all to one person because "You make more money if you sell to more people because some people may be willing to pay more" as he informed me. He wound up making $4 for the muffin, orange and 3 granola bars.

I'm not sure if I should be proud of him for exercising his entrepreneurial spirit or embarrassed that he took advantage of others during a "crisis". If I'm honest, probably proud; he saw an opportunity and made the most of it.

Worse Than the Dregs

When you register for your first semester of college, you expect to get crappy classes and a crappy schedule. You reluctantly accept the 7 a.m. classes and the less-than-ideal classes because you hope and believe that with each semester things will get better. And at most colleges this is true.

BUT if you attend BYU-I and you are a second-semester freshman trying to register for classes, you are worse off than the first-semester freshman. BYU-I opens up registration to 2nd-semester freshman one day before 1st-semester freshman but then blocks them out of registering for any Foundation classes for a whole week.

Imagine Katelyn's frustration yesterday as she attempted to register for classes and realized that she couldn't even try to register for the basic requirements until next week. Last semester she took a couple of Foundation classes and several classes for her major. Her thought, and ours as well at the time, was take a couple of Foundation classes but focus on you major classes because they will be more interesting and motivating. TOTALLY WRONG thought process! But we had no clue about BYUI's crazy freezing-out policy for 2nd semester freshman. If we had known we would have had Katelyn take mostly Foundation classes last semester.

And don't even get me started on the number of blocks of Foundation classes only available to boys on the pre-mission track! I'm hoping with the change in mission age for young women and young men that misogynistic policy will go away.

Endurance

While we were in Rexburg we had the opportunity to see the movie,  The Impossible. It is a gripping, intense depiction of one family's fight for survival during the tsunami that hit Indonesia and Thailand on December 26, 2008 (I think it was 2008). The movie was intense with incredible special effects and stunt work. A few times during the show, I found myself gripping Dave's hand a little harder than he probably liked.

But what I really want to talk about are some of the thoughts I had while watching this film. First, I thought I really need to get Carson and Katelyn into a master's swim class to improve their swimming skills. I immediately worried about Katelyn and would she be able to overcome her fear of open water in order to survive.

That thought of Katelyn left me wondering if we had taught them enough about enduring. Had we provided them with enough experiences that demonstrated the importance of persevering, working hard, and fighting through pain, exhaustion, boredom, etc? I wanted to believe that the monotony of pulling weeds every summer or raking rocks or shovelling snow taught Katelyn and Carson that it is important to just keep going, no matter the obstacle or how stuck the weed is, and never quit until the job is completed.

Thinking of Katelyn, I also wondered had we taught them how to keep their wits about them during a crisis. Had they seen us keep our cool when in a pressure situation? I grew up in a household where a crisis meant keeping your head screwed on straight so that you could make good decisions and seek for a resolution. I didn't realize that this wasn't everyone's reality until my brother's first wife came along. I will never forget the time that their preschool-aged daughter fell down the concrete steps and cut her head open. That mother was hysterical and completely useless in that situation. She couldn't even get her daughter inside so we could put pressure on the wound and assess the situation. It was so ridiculous.

So I wondered if we had taught Katelyn and Carson how to keep it together when faced with stress beyond which they think they can bear. Were we good examples of how to react to stressful, intense situations? Were the building blocks there for them to access when needed?

Have we taught them sufficiently to draw strength from the Lord? Do they truly believe the scripture that says All things are possible through Christ who strengthens us? That is where my final thoughts went. This is the one I worry about the most. I worry that we, Dave and I, have been sorely deficient in our parental responsibility of teaching our children of Heavenly Father and Christ. I worry that because of this deficiency when situations get tough, Katelyn and Carson will not know (or won't remember because there wasn't enough repition) to turn to Christ for aid.

Having all those thoughts moving in and out of my head while watching the movie probably increased the intensity tenfold. I am glad that the movie had a happy ending. It brought a small amount of relief to my worried mind.

After having a couple of weeks to reflect on the thoughts and feelings I had during the movie, I have come to realize that Katelyn and Carson are strong young adults. They deserve to know that I have confidence in them. I know that they are brave. I know they are hard-workers (weed-pulling duties notwithstanding). I know they can endure hard things. I know that each, in their own way, believes and trusts in God and would know how to turn to Him in tough times.

Sushi I

Tonight we ate sushi. Katelyn mentioned last weekend to her Grandpa Whiting that she really wanted to try sushi while she was home. So tonight was the night.

Katelyn really liked it.

I loved it.

Dave and Carson, while adventurous eaters and glad to have at least tried sushi, probably won't have it again.

But Carson kept us entertained with some of his commentary.

Here are just a couple:

While trying to unsuccessfully pick up a sushi roll with chopsticks and taking a little bit of ribbing from his dinner companions, he came up with this line:
 
"The end of these things don't close. It is a serious design flaw."

And then after dinner:
"I wasn't really a fan. Maybe it's because Dad and I are fisherman and it just felt like we were putting things in our mouth that smelled like slimey fish hands."

But if you had watched Carson putting away sushi roll after sushi roll, you would have never guessed that he wasn't enjoying the dinner.

There was a funny moment with Katelyn as well. The sushi roll I ordered was called "Sex on the beach". After I tried it I said it was very good. My dad asked me which one I had, I replied "Sex on the beach." He said "It was good?" I said, "Yes, but it was a little sandy." Katelyn was following the whole conversation. Her face was red, red, red by time the brief conversation was completed. She maintains that she was really just laughing and that ther face wasn't red.

Quip from Carson

Last weekend we were in Rexburg. We stayed in a standard hotel room with two queen beds. The bed Dave wanted was the same one Carson wanted because it was right in front of the TV. I was already situated in the bed closet to the heater, which was not the one in front of the TV.

Carson, to his dad, after wrestling for the bed:

"You don't get a bed to yourself anymore. That's not what you signed up for."

He's a funny dude.

Enjoy the Moments...Even the Frustrating Ones

A couple of weeks ago a colleague asked me during lunch how the kids were doing. That question came shortly after a rather frustrating moment with one of the kids. Since this colleague has kids the same age as Katelyn and Carson, and I consider him a friend, I shared the frustrating moment. He just nodded in understanding.

I was still replaying the frustrating conversation in my mind a couple of days later. The angry words rattled around in my head as I read this blog post. Her personal revelation from the Lord, "It doesn't matter how long you have him, but how much you love him," was just what I needed to read at that moment. Because as I read those words not only was my heart softened, but my mind remembered another blog post that I had recently read.

I didn't expect to find such comforting and wise words on a running blog, but when I read that pain is a luxury I felt like my Heavenly Father was trying to poke me a little, to see if I was ready to be taught.

Now the knowledge that pain is just part of this life and that pain happens so that we might feel joy is not a new concept to me. I have been taught this principle my entire life. What was new this time was a different perspective on pain. Pain wasn't something just to be endured until we made through to the other side. It wasn't necessarily only given to make us stronger. To read "pain is a luxury" put a much more positive spin on how I viewed pain.

Those words taught me to realize how lucky I am to be living.
To be surrounded by people I love.

Those words taught me to be grateful for everything
Even for the frustrating moments

Because in the end, it doesn't matter how long I have my children (friends, family, colleagues)
What matters is how much I loved them.