I love to wrap gifts. I love to box things up. I love to clear tape them so well that nothing comes awry in the postal process. I love to see the boxes all lined up waiting to head to the car for transport. With this love of mine I should be a little worried that my bank account will always be depleted since I feel the need to give in to this fettish and mail gifts and packages. I bet the recipients hope I do though.
We slowly trudged up seven flights of stairs as a group. We left our phones, backpacks etc in a locked office before we headed up. How cool was this opportunity to tour the air traffic tower in Juneau where Devin works. Once I finished huffing and puffing the dark viewed windowed tower with illuminating little lights from the runways was beautiful and peaceful. Every screen and information was so foreign to me but I trust these smart controllers. Now I know. Now I can visualize. Now I can assuredly say that I have been in an air traffic control tower. How truly cool is that.
Excuse me – cheese waffles? Brooke is the absolute “go to” breakfast person and I love everything she makes but when she told me we were having cheese waffles I was apprehensive. Putting my complete trust in her culinary successes I indulged and loved my waffle. There was a crunchiness to it and so different from whatever I have had before. You know . . . I might just be asking for that recipe.
I picked up the Toy Story 4 Alien Fishing game for the kids but upon playing it we found that we couldn’t grab the aliens as the spaceships spun and we were frustrated. This was the latest supremo game following suit from the standard fishing game we played many years ago. Such sadness. So what does the smart grammie do? She heads to Fred Meyer and buys the original game and it delighted us all for the rest of our trip. The pictures tell who all enjoyed it the most. . .
Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. We attended Hatcher’s violin performance at Glacier Valley School in Juneau where the entire kindergarten class mesmerized us with their discipline and skills on using a violin. The upper grades played a number of songs as the kindergarteners followed along. So very well done and total kudos for the grant that has allowed this opportunity to unfold. Hatcher did very well and how cool that he was directly in front of us. A true highlight of our trip.
Oh dear, it is a deer. The deer got the chop up as we arrived in Juneau but those precious horns are coming home. What will become of the horns? If the horns were mine I would clean them up and hang jewelry on them, or have Kristi do a macrame on them, or hang a hat or some keys on them. I would hang them low for the kids to hang their coats or backpacks or as a great glove dryer. I would paint them “Restful White” and use them as my living room decor. I don’t think I’m getting the horns though.
I have been shopping online, making lists and ordering away so that all fifteen grandchildren (soon sixteen) can have the most “perfect” gifts and also for our children and spouses. Back in the day the JC Penney Christmas would arrive in the mail and I would have the kids circle in either different colors or they were to initial their desires. At first the intent was pure but when you give a child two hundred choices their eyes are big and those circles became very plentiful. As the catalog was returned to me with wrinkled pages and well worn markings I was mesmerized as to what we would buy them. We usually bought what we initially planned to buy them but the catalog brought excitement, and it was definitely a favorite Christmas pastime.
This week was full of many many laughs between my companions and our district! We like to pull pranks and scare each other a lot and of course since I get scared to easily I’m there main target.
I’m sure I’ve talked about my district, but they are seriously the best! They are so funny and they are so nice and supportive!
This week we did PROMAX again twice. And we have one more left. Its actually not that bad! Each time it gets better and better. We honestly have the best latino district we switch with! They are all so funny! But it’s still pretty hard, since the whole day all I speak is Spanish, my brain for sure hurts after those days! On the plus side, I finally learned the best way for me to memorize words, all thanks to one of my teachers. We were memorizing some phrases during class and he came up to me and said try using your hands when you memorize things, and sure enough that day I memorized like 12 phrases. Hermana Dabb and I were on a roll that day!
I cant think of much else the has happened this week! It was a full week or class time, teaching and lots of spanish! and now I’ve only got about a week and a half left here and then California here I come!
I love and miss you, and hope everything is well!
Love,
Hermana Styers
The best thing ever is when a memory pops into your mind that was a forgotten gem. That happened to me today. I was flooded with happiness and promised myself I would hold on to it so now I’m blogging about it. When I was young my Grandma Clifford, who I adored, always washed her dishes in a dishpan in the sink. I couldn’t figure out why she didn’t fill the sink, why just fill a small dishpan in the sink? Today I had a few dishes to wash and I grabbed a rectangular pan I had and washed them up. Why fill the entire basin of a sink when a dishpan is all you need? Right then the memory came back and I remembered it. I think I see a faded red basin and I remember what I see outside her kitchen window in her little pink house in Delia, Alberta.
Deb and I hit up a great movie today. We saw “Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” where a flood of wonderful memories filled me with good thoughts. Fred Rogers was an amazing man with a good deep soul and Tom Hanks played his role brilliantly. There were moments where the tears welled up and times where laughter bellowed. We grabbed a Diet Pepsi and my palette demanded a little chocolate so we shared a box of Junior Mints. I laughed while holding the box. The “King Size” container was highly deceiving – this was no king size at all.
Tara Truly 