iced in and...he wrote, he wrote, he wrote!

yes, this is the serious ice storm...




that closed us down for 2 days...



this is the best picture of ice that i could find...

i'm not a meteorologist- don't even know if i spelled it correctly- but i don't get freezing rain. it just seems that if it is cold enough, and there is precipitation falling...that it should be SNOW- not ice chips! (incredibly- 500 reported accidents today because of the icy roads) anyway...em and i had a happy day of being 'iced' in. we made brownies, played facebook scrabble, and watched american idol to enjoy the time away :)(also cleaned out a closet- i seriously have more bath and body products than anyone else other than bath and body!)

oh! and happily enough, em is going to EFY! she'll attend the denton location.

also...

i've posted tay's 10th letter and a new pic of him and his companion- and i'm hoping that i can get the other photos in a day or so...!

my new sunday calling...!

the first i became aware that i hadn't told you about my new sunday calling (job)was in a comment dani left-

i am the new sunday school teacher for the juniors and seniors in high school!

these kids are friends of taylor's and it is fun to be in there with them. :)

i look forward to the studying that goes into teaching the subject- but also the interaction with these kids, and the opportunity to share some the happenings with taylor.

this week at church, two of our missionaries are returning. one came back friday and the other will join his mom in utah, where she moved just over a year ago. patti was our women's leader and as a single mom (widow) did a fantastic job as relief society president. i am now happy to announce that she is also engaged! i'm so happy for her- and the funny thing about that is- it's taken me three (plus) years to get over the feeling like i couldn't breath when one of my single friends announced that they were getting married!

i feel sorry for the friends i let down with my paranoia. yikes!

also, dani asked what play was em in- emily was in theatre for her first semester and as a 'final' the classes were required to perform mini-logues. the one that em performed was a comedy- and one of the few that received consistant laughing. she had a girl partner and together they were perfectly cute.



forgive me for not mentioning it earlier- em put the big 'kabosh' on it and wouldn't let me tell anyone (this included her father) but then at the last moment lizzie arrived and sat with me. they are such good friends!

em started new classes this past week. her leap started up and she's into big reading- jane eyre, along with chinese cinderella and soon to follow, poisonwood bible.

i'm keeping three cups of tea bedside, hoping to get some of it read here and there!

this week proves to be short on news and long on work hours. i'm working next sunday, so it becomes one of my marathon stretches...13 days straight.

i'll be posting from tay as soon as i hear from him.

your comments are so much appreciated! thank you, thank you, thank you!

distractions!

i probably have had more time to write... okay, i KNOW i've had more time to write, but i've had a few distractions.

the biggest culprit has been FACEBOOK.

it's been absolutely wonderful to meet up with friends from the highschool days- and friends that i've known that have moved away.

and it's a bit of a silly place too- interactive, so it is rewarding to spend time there.

BUT my first love is blogger and i'm going to do better by it!

distractions... it seems elder barron had a few the last week- but they were good ones. he wrote people that have been hoping for a letter and i'm okay with going without so that others could have the opportunity.

HOWEVER... he will read a note from me today letting him know that next time he had better at least send a line explaining his plan so that i need not worry or ck my email 40 times looking for word from my 'favorite missionary'!

so- i was very excited for my photograph of scott to be used in his upcoming 'raw and wild' tv debut. he brought the poster in, unrolled it, and i immediately knew that it wasn't my pic. apparently they pulled one off from his website that wasn't a 'happy' scott, but rather a 'serious' scott. true- we didn't take any of him being so intent.

people who didn't know about me and the photo made comments about his pic- and they weren't kind about the expression he has- so i guess a small part of me thinks they made a judgement error...lol

BUT i discovered this week while watching a instructional shooting DVD that several of my photos were in it and i was asked to give them my info to be included in the credits. the DVD is called, 'Lipstick and Lead'...starring jeanie! fun!

and hopefully that last little tid bit was entertaining enough to read that you forgot that you were 'distracted' from the 'distraction' theme of this post so that i can remain on the thread i intended.

tay should write today.

and really- all this distraction thought is rhonda trying to click the time down until i hear from him again.

thank you for being that distraction!

you lovable distractions, you... lol

i'm not sure this is worthy

of being my 88th post but it's all i've got:

elder barron stiffed me this week!!!

and he stiffed his dad...

< HOWEVER >

em received one- good of him bcuz (texting mania creeping in) at least we know he's alive!

ergggghhh

my usual weirdness!

this week has been filled with activity- school started up again for both em and i... seminary is it's happy little 6am self... jeanie (elm fork) has said she misses my assistance and has asked me to help whenever i can...5 guys that have wanted to get together with me have stopped texting me about it...my christmas tree is 'tagged' for tomorrow...michael is leaving for israel...and that has me doing google searches on more israel history.

in less than 12 hours i had three different references to israel's 6 day war fall in my lap. k- i'm not jewish, haven't taken any history courses on the subject, and have no other ties to israel other than what we're taught from the bible. therefore, the 6 day war was new stuff to me. i was a year and a half old when it happened, june 1967. so, not a huge surprise, but even so, the story is remarkable enough that i can't believe if i did hear about it that i didn't pay any attention to it.

oh, and it's only called the '6 day war' by the israeli's- the other countries involved have their own names for it, while the syrians who were also involved have absolutely no reference to it in any of their writings.

strange stuff!

anyway, i'm rambling. the point is- what happened in those 6 days is what makes up the dynamics for what is happening today.

when i read the news reports of tens of thousands protestors in france, barcelona, sweden, lebanon, milan, florence, venice...all against israel fighting gaza- well, i couldn't believe it.

my curiosity is piqued. i don't get it. what am i missing???

i'm back to my research. articles on the net...might pick up a book by michael b. oren (history phd, american jew who moved to israel with his family as a teen and has an extensive army history. remember when i mentioned that all 18 year olds are required to serve three years? that service is required for one month out of every year following until the age of 42! there are many non jews that live in israel that volunteer for that same commitment)...and channel surfing last night brought up cspan history and a book review. maybe they'll have more.

if you have anything to comment on to help me out...please do!