Nothing quite like make-believe!!

Calvin and Agnes were playing that they were camping out.  I love their imaginations!!

Backpacking 101!!

Can you tell what Henry got for his birthday??  He was pretty excited too.  And of course, Mama had to weigh in on how it was worn!!

 

And Grandpa and Dad too!!  Backpacking is a Terrill tradition - apparently a Fillmore one too.

"Ssttrriikke!!

We just got back from a weekend trip to visit Phoebe and family and to celebrate Henry's 12th birthday.  It was raining a lot today, so we had to do something indoors - and bowling was the unanimous choice!!

Bowling is not something I've done a lot of in my life - and I'm not sure why.  When I was in high school, we walked to the bowling alley two blocks away and had bowling for P.E.  It was like a 6 week unit or something, but it was a lot of fun.

It probably cost money - and that's probably why my family didn't do it as an activity.  Or maybe my mother thought the atmosphere in a bowling alley was not very good.  For whatever reason, I could count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I had been bowling after high school.

That is until a couple of summers ago when I discovered "kids bowl free" at the local bowling alleys around here.  When the grandchildren come in the summer, especially, there is only so much swimming that can be done.  And only so many jigsaw puzzles to put together.  And only so many movies you can stand to watch. 

But bowling!  They seem to never tire of it.  And even though bowling alleys can seem a little dim - at least they are not smoky anymore!! 

And the price is right!

During our session today, I wanted to capture Sullivan's absolute joy in bowling.  He cheered everyone - especially himself.  High fives were in abundance.  If only we could all find that much joy in anything!!

This was the best I could do - maybe you had to be there.  

But I was there - and it was great!  

I even got a strike!!

Long ago - and pretty far away!!

My friend Pattie posted this on Facebook.  I hadn't seen this photo ever - it was taken in June of 1966 - which makes it pretty old!!  It was taken in England somewhere - the tail end trip of our Study Abroad Program in Grenoble, France.

She had some others - I will post them in the future - as soon as I can remember the stories that go with them!!  A particular phenomenon I have noted is the fact that even with my journal from that trip, some experiences just don't jog my memory - I wrote the stories down, but even reading them - and in the case of a couple of the pictures - even seeing them - just doesn't jog a memory.

I'd be worried except it's something that I noted years ago when I was younger - reading my journal from my first year at BYU is kind of amazing - almost none of it rings familiar.  I'm no scientist, but I suspect that the thoughts and experiences I wrote about were not truly significant - and other more significant events have transpired since then to displace these older, actually insignificant memories.

I can remember asking my mom about her bridal and baby showers - way back when when I was a teen and young adult.  When she said she couldn't remember much about them, I was aghast.  Now I know that most bridal and baby showers are in and of themselves not very life-changing or significant - at least mine have not been.  They have been fun and appreciated - but their effect has not been life-changing.  Hence, they don't move to the front of the memory bank.

I can ask my mom lots of questions about her life - and those events and people that are of importance to her continue to fill the stories she tells me.

I just wonder how you know which things are going to end up being important??

You just never know!!

(This photo actually has little to do with the subject at hand, except that it shows me in a classroom - and I want to talk about an experience with a former student - but I don't have a picture of him or the class he was in.  You get my drift!!  Also it's an old photograph when I was much thinner - so it makes me feel like all things are possible!)

The other night a young man came to the door asking for donations for the MHS football team.  He was on the Varsity squad.  He was a nice polite young man - and I like to support the local team - so I donated.

Then tonight, as I was heading into Pavilions, I noticed what looked like another local high school football player soliciting donations outside the market.  Well, I thought, I'll just tell him I "gave at the office!" and that should take care of that.

So imagine my surprise as I got closer, and the young man said, "Mrs. Terrill!  How would you like to support the football team?"

What made this even better?  This boy was basically kicked out of Clifton and sent to the alternative school.  He couldn't follow instructions or do his work or stay out of trouble.  And he was a former student of mine.  I'd like to say I'd always known he would "make good" but that would not be true.  I had visited his home a time or two trying to figure out how to help change his behavior - maybe with some home support!  I was relieved when I no longer had to contend with him daily.  

I will say that I had always liked him - underneath that "tough guy" exterior I usually saw a young boy who was floundering - but he didn't seem to know how to take help - and after a while I got frustrated.  Bill Card once told me, "Barbara, sometimes you just have to give up on some kids and go help the ones who will take your help."  And that's what I had done.

This young man told me that he had a 2.7 gpa, was planning to get it up to a 3.0 for next year, had indeed made it out of the alternative program and back into the high school.  He seemed genuinely proud of his success - maybe that was the best part.  If he can feel good about himself, the other problems might not be so insurmountable.

Someone at the alternative program apparently succeeded where we had not been able to.  Good for them!!  I'm just "pleased as punch" to see a former student succeed like this.

And of course I donated again!

Another great read!

I need to stop starting books!!  I find myself compelled to finish them in record time - so I can start another one I guess!!

If you have read Dancing At the Rascal Fair, you will find this read intriguing - because it deals with the locale and some of the characters from that story - only it's almost 40 years later - 1960 to be more precise.

I love the way Ivan Doig brings a whole region alive for me - and the characters seem like my neighbors or something - I feel like I will know them when I run into them on the street!

And the story lines keep you guessing right up to the end!!

All of his books are not on Kindle - nor are they in the library - so I am being creative at getting hold of them without having to buy them - don't want to break my New Year's resolution to not buy any "physical" books.

Thus far I've managed to procure one of them as an early birthday gift!!

Watch for my review!!  (I'm saving this one for the plane ride to Oregon!!)

I think Harry feels like he is dragging me into the 21st century!!  He really wants me to want an iPhone - his old one or even a new one.  But at this point in time - and I won't say I will never change my mind - I really don't want one.  I use a cell phone for purely utilitarian reasons.  I don't want to be be able to look everything up on the spot.  If I can't find it at Pavilions or Target or Kohls or Marshalls or CVS, I pretty much don't need it.  That's what the internet is for - the internet I access in the comfort and large print of my desk top computer!!

And I can't read a map to save my soul and I usually won't drive anywhere strange and new without rehearsing the directions several times in advance.

And I really don't like tiny touch screens.  Maybe if my fingers shrink up I will be interested.  I'm not sure how all the men with large fingers are so adept at using them - but my little keyboard on my phone suits me perfectly.  Since I really don't get a large quantity of calls - and Harry usually shares all the calls I don't get - I'm covered.

And I'd rather read my emails on the big screen.

But I digress.  For Mother's Day, Harry got me a dock for the old iPhone.  And he loaded all the cd's we have that he thought I loved onto it - and now I can serenade myself in the kitchen to my heart's content.

Maybe he is not really trying to drag me into the 21st century.  Maybe he is just thoughtful and considerate.

Although every time we sit down to watch something on the new flat screen TV, he gives me a little tutorial about how to use it.

But I've still never used it by myself.  There hasn't been anything I wanted to watch so badly that I wasn't willing to wait until someone more technologically savvy showed up to show me how to do it.

And the grandkids usually know how to do it!

But I love my music!

(P.S. The California Cutting Board came from Bonny!!  I love it too!)

Happy Unbirthday to you!!

My friend and colleague Marcie, has always very thoughtfully celebrated the birthdays of everyone in our "lunch bunch" at school.  Her birthday is in August, however, so we were never celebrating hers!!  A couple of years ago, she suggested we draw names - it was getting a bit much for her to do it all - so we gladly agreed.  But somehow it seemed that the summer birthdays - and hers was the only one - got forgotten.

We remedied that yesterday with an "Unbirthday" celebration - complete with cake, flowers, and gifts.  The theme was "Vintage Marcie?" or "Marcie, Vintage?" since this year - at least in 3 months - she will have one of those "significant" birthdays!

A wonderful time was had by all!

May Day in Monrovia!!

When I was a girl, May Day was a holiday that was celebrated in fine style.  At our elementary school, we had a May Pole Dance, where we wove the ribbons over and under, and at the junior high level, we even had a May Queen.  

What made the holiday so spectacular in my mind was the carnival at school that always accompanied it.  I headed first to the make up booth, where someone dolled me up in fine style. When I went home, I tried to avoid having anyone notice that I didn't wash off the make up!  Other prizes included gold fish - always a hit.  Life wasn't so lavish then, so a school carnival could rival Disneyland in my mind.

I have photos of the junior high May Pole dancing, but it's lost in cyberspace, I guess.  So I am going to pretend that Phoebe and Meli are trundling up and down Primrose, delivering May baskets.  They actually did that, but I'm not sure this was the day.  They are trundling Eliza anyway!!

I love remembering how they saved strawberry baskets, made ribbon handles, and stuffed the baskets full of flowers from the Pulokas garden.  Then they hit the neighbors - especially Mr. Sands and the Shorts - rang the bell and ran.

May Day - a lost art I suppose!

Don't get me started on how the holiday ended in the U.S.!!