Lessons Learned

I just got back from a Time Out for Women, sponsored by Deseret Book, a fun chance to get together with other women in the Portland area and hear some great speakers. I had a great time and really loved most of the presentations.  It's always good to get perspective on one's own challenges.

I drove a group of women to the Conference Center in Portland Friday night and then again on Saturday.  On Friday night we had a most interesting experience, from which I have learned a few lessons.

Lesson Learned #1 -  When you get an uneasy feeling, which could perhaps be a prompting, follow it. Don't question it.

This is what happened: Our group arrived at the Conference Center in my van and tried to decide where to park. We ruled out a few options because they seemed too dangerous to access at the end of the evening (ha ha ha - ironic twist coming soon).  We chose a parking lot near the center which was mostly deserted at the time. As we were paying at the automated kiosk, some sorta scary looking young men were also lingering around the kiosk. We talked about the price of parking, and they said something about a "rave" which would be held in a nearby building and said that the parking lot would be filling up with people coming for the rave party. Ding, ding, ding, ding . . . does that send off warning bells in your head?  Well, it certainly triggered some uneasy feelings in me. I felt like we should go park somewhere else, but didn't do anything about it.  After all, we had already paid our $8, the parking lot was empty right now and so convenient to the Conference Center.  So, we left the car and headed into the Conference.

Fast forward to 9:30 p.m. when we left Time Out, which had been peaceful and uplifting. The closer we got to our car, the more the environment became the opposite - really loud, raucous music, flashing lights from inside the building, groups of kids everywhere (wearing very little clothing but lots of piercings and tattoos), and the smell of marijuana permeating the air. When we reached my van we found five or six young men leaning on it. We asked them to move and then jumped into the van.  Whew - on our way.  Right?  Wrong. People had parked in such a haphazard manner that we could not back out - there was literally no room to swing the car backward to get out of the parking lot. I tried twice, with one of the women with me directing me from behind.  Couldn't do it. Pretty soon we had the attention of many of the kids hanging around.

Here's Lesson Learned #2 - sometimes people who look pretty scary can actually be very helpful. There were three or four guys and one girl (who literally had a flashing belly button, which her outfit readily revealed) who guided us from all around the car for half an hour as we tried and tried again to maneuver the van out. The conversation went something like this:  "Back up one more inch. Now stop. Now crank all the way to the right and go forward two inches. Now crank all the way to the left and back about four inches."We made progress, but it was an impossible task. Finally, one of the guys grabbed a friend (whose car was behind us) and told him to back his car up. However, this was tricky, because apparently this kid was SO sure his car would be stolen in this very dangerous parking lot, he had removed some of the key mechanical parts of the car and stored them in another friend's car so no one could drive it away. Yes, this is the lot where I left my vehicle. Finally, he put his car into neutral and pushed it back a few inches, just enough for us to barely squeak around.  We thanked the very nice, albeit scary looking young people and were on our way.

I was really calm through all of this - I don't fall apart easily during a crisis - but afterward I was quite shaken. When I got home I had a headache bigger than Texas, and then I couldn't sleep for many hours. Then up again the next day at 6 to drive the group back to Portland.  It's kind of ironic that we parked in the same parking lot (the rave was over, but the parking lot was full of litter and trash.)  It really was in a good location, and during the day much more likely to be a good choice. But, we had learned one more lesson.

Lesson Learned #3 - Always park in such a way that we won't have to BACK UP to leave.  We did this, and pulled right out with ease at the end of the day. 

 It was really a wonderful weekend, and I needed the time to think and journal while I listened to speakers.  I feel inspired and ready to be a better person.

Walking in Sunshine

I have a love/hate relationship with my treadmill.  Mostly hate. I am a walker and I can walk forever outside (and fast, too, with my Springer legs), but after a few minutes on the treadmill I find myself bored, sweating, and counting the seconds until I stop.

So it's especially wonderful that there have been many nice autumn days the last few months so I can walk outside instead. I am enjoying this respite before the rain sets in. I told myself that every day it's not raining I will go for a walk around the neighborhood before picking up Joseph at the school bus stop. So far I have followed this plan (except for the one day when I totally forgot to pick up Joseph . . . but that's a story of negligence for another day).

It feeds my soul to walk through the crisp fall air for a few minutes. I breathe deeply and have conversations with myself, sometimes out loud (sorry neighbors). I think about my struggles and things I am grateful for, and sometimes I cry. Sometimes I pray and sometimes I zone out to music and think about nothing.

Today is an especially fabulous fall day. The sky is bright blue, which contrasts nicely with the orange, red, and yellow leaves. The high temperature is breaking records. It is one day of stolen summer on the precipice of winter. After Joseph and I walked home we played soccer on the front lawn. We crunched through leaves, dribbling the ball while he bossed me around ("I'm the coach. So do what I say.  Run fast.  No, faster. Be more 'gressive.") When we stopped playing, I sat on the front steps and closed my eyes, savoring the feeling of the sunshine on my face. Wow, it feels amazing.

I love sunshine. All that Vitamin D is so therapeutic. And I love this day.

Happy Halloween!

We attended Stake Conference on Halloween. After church we made rolls, cauliflower soup, and apple crisp. It was a rare treat to have NO MEETINGS in the afternoon for me or for Dan, so we enjoyed hanging out together. In the afternoon we carved pumpkins.

 This pumpkin  was carved by  Bailey, who was not in the mood for picture taking.  After dinner we abandoned our home (and our neighborhood which is really crowded on Halloween) and spent the evening playing games with the Fultons.

                                         Feeling some gooey rat eyeballs at the Fultons.

Drinking Orange Julius in Halloween goblets.

Trunk or Treating

The Friday before Halloween we attended a trunk or treat at the church. Our kids knew it was their chance to haul in some candy, as they had decided to not trick or treat this year on Sunday. This pathetic mom never gave a thought to costumes for the kids, as it wasn't a "typical" Halloween. Just before we left, Aubrey put together a baton twirler costume. Recently she found my old baton, and she has been learning to twirl it like a pro! Aubrey's friend Emily joined us.

Luckily, Joseph has an entire wardrobe of Superhero costumes to draw upon, and he chose Ironman for this particular occasion.  He had to show me how superheroes shoe their superpowers.  Oh, what will we do when Joseph outgrows this superhero stage?  Life won't be nearly as fun!

This is Bailey's "mean football player" look.  Menacing, eh?  Bailey is the only one of our kids who was able to wear a costume to school.  Her school did a "Run for the Arts" fundraiser, and the kids were able to wear a costume as they ran around the school track.

 Bailey helped Joseph trick or treat around the parking lot. The kids got a decent amount of candy, but then Dan (who was handing out candy by his car) ran out of candy (and we had brought a LOT of candy), so he talked Aubrey and Bailey into letting him give away their candy!  After the trunk or treat we helped with a Halloween party for 25 or so screaming, sugar-hyped kids.

Porter's Annual Disgusting Dinner Delight

On Tuesday the 26th of October we celebrated all things Halloweeny by serving our annual Disgusting Dinner Delight.  Four of the kid's friends (the Tobiassons) joined us for the meal.  The menu for this year is as follows:

Porter’s Annual
Disgusting Dinner Delight

2010

 Please select three #1s, three #2s, three #3s, three #4s. 

Proceed at your own risk . . . .

_____Alien eyeballs                         _____ Blood

_____Scab picker                            _____ Wolfman’s Special

_____ Bloody cat hearts                  _____ Zombie Intestines

_____Dastardly Torture Spikes        _____ Goblin Droppings

_____Shivering Slimy Ghosts            _____ Empty tomb with Witch’s Brew

_____Arachnid nightmare                 _____ Vampire Vomit

_____Leftover toejam                      _____Slimey bat brains 

_____Crunchy toenails                      

It's always an adventure to choose food from the Disgusting Dinner menu.  For instance, if you chose a Scab picker, Goblin Droppings, and Empty Tomb with Witch's Brew, you would receive a spoon, a roll, and a spooky-looking drink in a Halloween cup. After each person receives his or her items for each course, there is a flurry of activity as the kids try to match up the ghoulish names with the actual food.  They soon discovered that Wolfman's Special was awesome (pepperoni pizza), as was the Arachnid Nightmare (the super cool spider cookies I made with chocolate dipped pretzels for legs and no-bake cookie as the body base).

Also pictured below:  Shivering Slimy Ghosts, Alien Eyeballs, and Vampire Vomit.

 We set the stage for the dinner with decorations, spooky music, and candles flickering. We set up a barrier on the counter so the kids couldn't see what food was being prepared.

I didn't get a lot of great pictures this year because Dan was gone at a work dinner meeting, so I was the cook, hostess, server, and photographer until he arrived home to help with cleanup.

It was a really fun night.  I love these kinds of fun experiences . . . hanging out with the kids and their friends, laughing together, talking, making memories. It's worth every bit of effort and preparation.