Youth Pageant, Writing, and FREAKING OUT!

So Kendall and I got roped into participating (actually directing, producing, and writing) in our ward's youth roadshow. It was kind of interesting, how Kendall was asked to head up our group. The bishop called us in and said, "The stake is putting on a youth pageant, and three wards are combining to do one show. Will you be our ward representative?" And that was it. He didn't know anything else, and neither did Kendall for a week until he met with the rest of the wards and the stake leaders in charge. And after a few meetings with the other two ward representatives, it became obvious to Kendall that he would have to be in charge. Not his favorite thing to do, by far.
So how did I get involved? They needed someone to put all the ideas together and get them a coherent script, and I was available. Actually, it was rather fun, collaberating with Kendall in writing the thing. But then one of the ward's representative is involved with other plays around the valley, and can't participate, and they really needed to have one more adult to help get things organized. So here I am.
Anyway, last night was our first rehearsal. And even though I was trying not to throw up from tension before it started, it went pretty well. Now I have to be honest. Teenagers scare me. Not because I was a teen so long ago, but because I was a teen at all. I know what I was like, and I was a good girl. I'm not sure how to interact with teens anymore (which is why my next calling will be Laurel advisor or something equally scary).
The other stressful thing is having to bring all the kids to rehearsal because our built-in babysitter is in the show. So I had all three of the little ones wander through at various times during the 3 hours we were at the church, needing attention when I was trying to help get things going.
I guess I just had to vent, because just writing about it now is making my heart race and my brain leak out my ears as it melts from the residual stress. I'm sure everything will turn out fine in the end, but for right now I'm FREAKED!

Fate and the Italian Language

I read the other day in the blogosphere (don't remember who or where, or I'd link it) that Jodie Foster would get the most amazing desire to work out, hard, right before she was offered a big movie. She didn't know what movie, no advanced notice from an excited agent. It was her own intuition, her life path giving her a heads up about something coming.

I'm sure everyone has these kinds of moments, something that starts to rattle around in your brain, telling you to get prepared, because a big life change was coming to adjust your perceptions. I remember specifically having the bizarre desire to learn Italian in college. I struggled with the language, mainly because I couldn't figure out why on earth I was taking it. I even audited the class a second time, trying to pick up on what I'd missed the first time around. Then after several weird and painful years, I found myself in the MTC, desperately cramming Italian and the discussions into my head, wishing I'd taken that prompting a little more seriously. I would have been a much better missionary had I just followed through and been prepared.

I've also gotten those pushes from fate and made the conscious choice to say "No, thank you. I'm not interested in whatever this means for my life." And the promptings have gone away, and I've moved on through my existence, with no knowledge of what great experience I had missed because I said no.

I think (pray) that this time, I will listen and do what the whispers say. I don't know what is coming, but I know it's big, and I know that this time I want to be prepared for it. So I'm going to take the classes and learn the theory before it's time for my lab work to begin. Wish me luck.

Cleanliness, Godliness, and the Unholy Mess

So I don't know how many of you have troubles keeping a house clean. I've never, ever, been keen on keeping house. I never understood my mother's desire, need...no...Obsession...to keep a clean house. Until I realized that I really do like things tidy. When I'm not stuck by my guilt over having a messy kitchen, I can get all sorts of things done. Theoretically.

I guess the old adage "Cleanliness is next to godliness" has some foundation in truth. My brain is as scattered as my house is. Or is it my house is as scattered as my brain is? But when it's not scattered and cluttered with the surface things, with the other stuff that really doesn't matter, I am able to be centered and find that well of feelings and emotions that scream out to be explored. So I guess what I'm saying is that I let my life get cluttered with extranious stuff so I don't have to deal with the unholy mess that is my well of feelings and emotions. How's that for catartic revelation?

Rice, Bacon, and Conference.

It is that time of year again...General Conference. And for the first time in years (not since we lived in AZ), we are on our own for conference.

Now you have to understand. It's a family culture kind of thing. My grandfather and grandmother on my dad's side both come from West Virginia. They lived here in Utah for all their married lives, but brought some of their culture and food traditions with them. And one of them is Bacon and Rice. You cook up rice and serve it with bacon, and there you go. Thinking back on it now, it seems like a poor man's food, the kind of stuff you have when it's the only stuff you have. My understanding was that my grandfather used to eat the rice and bacon with the bacon grease poured over the top. All I can say is Eewww.

But then I guess our tradition isn't that far removed. For as long as I can remember (and I remember being 2) we had this for breakfast on Sunday morning. We take the cooked rice, crumble bacon on top, sprinkle sugar on top of that, and pour milk on it to create a warm, salty/sweet meal. I think the toasted English muffins with raspberry jam and grape juice came a little later, but it rounded out the meal.

To any newbies to this post, you may be saying Blech. And I would understand. There were years where I would eat the bacon on the side, but not add it to the rice and milk. And to this day the bacon has to be the right level of crispy or I won't add it, because there's nothing worse than soggy bacon. It 's like eating straight fat.

We used this meal as a litmus test for all potential in-laws. If they could eat it without gagging, they were acceptable. It was always funny to see the first bite reaction. I don't know what my other siblings did, but I gave my future hubby lots of info before his formal introduction. And he actually likes it now (better than I do, I think.)

So for years, every conference, we, and as many siblings as were around, would come to my parent's house for the traditional breakfast and Conference. Three of my four brothers moved out of state this past year, and my parents are in California with my VERY pregnant sister, so we get to do it on our own. The food won't change. Not a bit. And since I'm cooking the bacon, it'll be perfect.

I feel a little forlorn, though, realizing that yes, at nearly 40 and with 5 kids, I guess I'm finally a grown up and can do this on my own. But on the other hand, it's kind of exciting being handed the baton, carrying on the torch of tradition. So onward Oliphant family, along the well-tasted path of tradition. Yum!

On Being a Writer

I have to say that writing, for me, ebbs and flows with the needs of family. I wish I had the time to really devote to it, but then, would I really? Or would I spend my time avoiding the work by surfing the internet or finding other ways to distract myself?

I just know that when I do it, when I exhaust my brain and body to create something, my soul soars. Just had to share.

Mini Vacations

So here is a general question to the blogosphere. I want to do something with the fam for spring break, but what do you do with a kid range from 13 to 2? And with a 2 year old that hates, HATES the car. He does okay for about 30 minutes, and then it's all over, including crying so hard he makes himself throw up.

So we're thinking day trips, you know, something like a visit to the acquarium, Thanksgiving Point Dinosaur Museum, etc. What do you do with your kids when you want to get away close to home?

6th Tag

Well, I actually got tagged for a photo. When people say in "x" folder, and the "x" picture, they assume you are actually up to date and have that many picture folders saved on your computer. We only last year got a video camera/camera, and I'm still learning the ins and outs of the digital age.

That said, I did have 13 folders total, but most of them are weird things that have nothing to do with family. And the sixth folder only had 3 pictures in it (of boiling liquids for Sarah's science project.) So I went to the next one, which happens to be the family pictures we just took. So here it is, all five kids from about 2 months ago. Notice Andrew's grumpy face (blue shirt). His favorite mad look, up through his eyebrows.

So left to right, names and ages: Benjamin, 22 months; Sarah, 12 3/4; Andrew, 3; Meredith, 4; and Peter, 10.

I am Tagging Merci, to get her to blog something before the baby comes, Tina, because the pictures of Alan are adorable, Shelley, to help her keep her promise to her boys to keep blogging, Haley, to blog something before the baby comes, and Michelle, just to see what she's taking pictures of.

Balance

So I have discovered something about myself. I have no sense of balance. And I don't just mean literally (though the same vertigo problem that got me sent home from my mission in Italy still plagues me from time to time). Learning to find 'moderation in all things' truly is the journey here on earth.

So as I was saying, I have discovered that I lack that crucial element in my personality that would keep me from overbalancing in one direction or the other.

Sweets are a perfect example of this. If I eat them, I can't stop, because they just taste too good. They do not feel good, however, an hour later when I have a stomach ache and sugar rush headache.

Or take reading. I can't do this as much as I used to (which was ALL THE TIME), because nobody does my mommy job but me. Very annoying. ;-) But I would get so wrapped up in it, that I couldn't stop, not even if I was late for something.

Let's take household chores, too. Now I am not a perfect housekeeper by any stretch of the imagination, but when I get into a job, I can't quit until it's done, and done perfectly. Which is probably why I put it off so much, 'cause there is no "perfect" in this house. Far from it.

I could go on, but I'm sure you get my point. In all this areas and more, the trial and effort is always in finding the razor's edge between done and not done, too much and not enough. I share this for one reason and one reason only. IT IS DANG HARD!!!

Not so Boring!

So I found this list on my cousin Merrill's blog, and I thought it would be fun to add. You can copy and paste it yourself. Maybe I'm not as boring as I thought!

Here is a list of 99 things that you can copy and paste. Then you bold the things that you've done.
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Ran a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo's David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone's life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Life, burnout, and happiness

Well, no one is sick. That is happiness.

My glasses got broken. I am sick (burned out) of small children not respecting things that don't belong to them. (But when three out of your five kids are still in the toddler stage of "If I see it or want it, it's mine", what can a mom expect?)

Peter moved back to Layton Elementary, out of the Spectrum program. He was burned out (and so was I) of the homework and stress that came when he didn't do it and I had to ride him to get stuff done. He had been happier the past three days since the move than I have seen him all year. That is happiness.

Laundry Burnout. 'Nuff said.

We've changed our lifestyle to be healthier. Kendall and I have each lost 20 pounds. That is happiness!!!

Andrew had stopped having major meltdowns three times a day. That is happiness.
He had one the first day of primary and I had to drag him out screaming. Burnout.

Benji is a monkey with no sense of fear. I am burned out of finding laundry baskets, garbage cans, and the ottoman used as a stool so he can climb onto counters or get into the pantry shelves.

I don't think I'm cut out to be a parent of teenagers, tweens, or four year olds talking like their teenage sister. Burnout.

I actually got an entire plot line written down for my novel series. A road map, finally! That is happiness.

So, if you weigh the burnout vs. happiness, I guess life isn't so bad. Besides, I actually got a full night's sleep last night. There's nothing happier than that!