Another Opportunity

Three years ago I finished a four-year term on the BYU Alumni Board of Directors. I always considered it such a privilege to be working with amazing individuals from all around the country. In preparing to write this post I went back and read some of the entries I made in my journal about the experiences I had. In almost all of them I expressed amazement at how I ever got asked to be involved. I never understood it, but I always felt it was a direct blessing from Heavenly Father for which I will always be grateful.

A few weeks ago I got a call from BYU. They need someone to serve on the board for just one year and wondered if I might be willing to fill in for them. WOULD I BE WILLING?! I'm thrilled! I jumped in with both feet and quickly prepared for the annual Alumni Chapter Conference, which was last week. I love everything BYU. Being back on campus was like going home. The conference was a nice blend of being instructed, sharing ideas, and meeting new people mixed together with some pretty fun stuff. We got to see the Jimmer Fridette Exhibition Game. Yes, that's him -- #32.

We toured the new BYUTV broadcasting facility. Tom Holmoe was our breakfast speaker, and we saw the BYU vs UCF football game. Cosmo came to our tailgate party and I got my own special hug. Some people think Cosmo may be a girl, but if so, she's really strong!

BFF

My class reunion was really interesting. There were 150 kids in my graduating class. Twenty six of them have passed away and were honored at a little memorial service where we talked about each of them and released red and gold helium balloons in their honor. Two of my closest friends were among them.

The majority of my classmates still live in Utah. It was interesting to see how their lives have remained interwoven through fifty years. I felt a little bit like a satellite orbiting around at a distance. I have stayed in touch with a small group of girls that I still adore. They have been so loyal to me over the years. We are truly Best Friends Forever!

Finished Project

Well, I'm home and the finished project looks great. Snapped a couple of pictures just as it started to sprinkle. O'Donovans really exceeded my expectations. I expected to see a finished walkway and a lot of dirt and dug up plants to fuss with. They brought in sod and re-planted all my plants -- perhaps not exactly as I would have arranged them, but at least I don't have to do anything with them this fall. I've hated our front porch for years, and most of our company just came in through the garage rather than try to negotiate our front steps. I've locked the garage door and want everyone to use and enjoy my beautiful (and safe) front entrance. Come see us!

Day Four

Are you tired of seeing our porch yet? This is the end of the fourth day. Two more to go. Unfortunately, I leave tomorrow for Utah to attend my 50th Class Reunion. By the time I get back it will all be over but the bill.

I used to think that people went to their 50th High School Class Reunion in wheelchairs. Now here we are calling each other to see if we should wear Mary Janes or boots and wishing that we'd lost ten pounds this summer instead of gaining ten pounds (Perhaps I should have changed my goal from eating one Magnum ice cream bar every day to one Magnum bar every other day). Oh well, too late for that! I keep reminding myself that my classmates also do not look just the way they did the day we graduated. I'm taking my senior yearbook with me so I can study names and faces on the plane. Cedar City Class of 1961, Here I Come!

Geography Lesson

My blog post from August 12th describes my 29 hour road trip across the country with Travis and the boys. What it doesn't describe is something that I thought was really cool about the trip. As we drove through Wyoming we crossed the Continental Divide, which is the dividing line separating waters that flow to the Pacific Ocean from waters that flow to the Atlantic Ocean. Now we've crossed this line so many times over the years it has become kind of old, but it was fun to explain it to the boys. But what was really cool was that as we drove through Oregon we crossed the 45th Parallel, which is the line that is half way between the Equator and the North Pole. To cross both these lines within 24 hours was kind of unusual and presented an opportunity for a mini geography lesson. Here's something you might not know about the 45th Parallel. At this latitude the sun is visible for 15 hours and 37 minutes during the summer solstice. That's a whole lot of daylight. We lived in Oregon one summer when I was eight and the thing my dad talked about for years was that you could read a newspaper outside at ten o'clock at night. On the other hand, in winter you only see the sun for less than 9 hours. Not good.

Sun, Water, and Patience

In the Spring I wrote a blog about the beautiful flower beds at the Temple and my dream of converting one of my perennial beds into an annuals bed that would look like one of the beds at the temple.
After tearing out all the perennials and planting several flats of annuals I didn't have a lot of confidence that it would become something "Sehenswerdig" (or worth seeing) on my blog. Here's what happens with a little sun, water, and patience.
It doesn't exactly look like something you'd see at the temple, but it has filled in nicely and been pretty to look at as people have walked and driven by. It's not even over, and I'm already excited to try again next year.

Day Three

Four men, ten hours of work, 94 degrees, lots of cold water and watermelon, lots of perspiration, and it's starting to take shape. Working half a day tomorrow.

Better?

Before:

End of First Day:
End of Second Day:
Hopefully this is going to look better. They say sometimes things have to get worse before they can get better. I think this is one of those times.