Well, guess what today is?

Hump Day!

On June 24, 2009, DS entered the MTC. He has been serving for exactly ONE YEAR today!! (more…)

Mom: Yup.

[pause]

Caleb: Mom, why would you ever want to fast?

When requests started coming in, I made more things. Within a short time, I had a little, mini-business going on. It’s amazing how many people buy t-shirts expressing a sentiment, position, or just to make a joke. Just about every topic imaginable is covered. You can get soccer tshirts, celebrity wearables, shirts to tout your hobbies. You Meyers fans can even get all the Eclipse apparel you could ever want. (Really?)

Lately, I’ve been thinking of jumping back into the t-shirt arena, but in more of a principle/political aspect. Yes, I did create some political shirts earlier, but things have changed so drastically in the past couple of years that the market is entirely new. And there’s so much more to say.

Do you have a great idea, slogan, or statement that you think I should put on a shirt? Share it here and I’ll try to make something of it. I’m good with typography, but definitely not an artist. Keep that in mind.

Insurance is a group pooling resources in order to protect individuals within the group. It’s risk management. It’s statistical analysis. It’s saying, “I’m willing to pay the insurance company more than I would probably ever need, in order to protect myself from financial ruin if I happen to be one of the very few (unlucky!) who actually does end up needing more than most people.”

When properly defined, it’s obvious that the idea of “insuring” people who are already sick, from getting sick, is ludicrous. You can’t insure people with pre-existing conditions because you are no longer averaging risk. Instead you are filling the pool with those who are already defined as the “few, unlucky” — who require everyone else to overpay. It’s like buying car insurance after you’ve had an accident or buying homeowners insurance after the fire burns your house to the ground. The numbers just don’t work.

“Insuring” people who are already sick is really welfare, public assistance, or redistribution of resources. It’s saying, “I’m going to take money from those who make it to pay for the medical expenses of others.”

In order to truly insure, we need to plan (and purchase) before a need, before a crisis, before an emergency. There are many kinds of insurance. Which you choose will depend upon your circumstances. (more…)

Ray and I are the parents of six wonderful, typical kids. We have actually “cut the apron strings” (or, more accurately, “untied” them) twice already, and prepare to do it again.

Our oldest daughter (child #3) graduates from high school this week. (more…)

I wasn’t sure if she was calling me or simply using it as an exclamation. Apparently “mom” has become the word among her friends, meaning “wow” or “seriously” or “dude” or “what?” or “whatever.” In the nicest most possible way, of course. I’m sure it’s never, ever, ever used a a pejorative. Ever.

Anyway, I thought about how my mom never had to deal with having her name said in vain. At least not like that. Or maybe she did. But not exactly like that. Anyway. It got me thinking about what I remember most about my mom. I only have a few minutes, because I’m determined to spend the afternoon napping and having my feet rubbed with scented oil. Hint, hint. But here are the things that pop into my head: (more…)

While I served in Young Women the church policy changed to allow only one fundraiser per year for the youth. (And, yes, the “scout” fundraisers didn’t count in the tally. And, yes, that bugged me. But that’s another post.) The counsel has also been to first look to the ward budget and, second, to the girls raising their own money. Then you can look to approved fundraising. In some units, funding won’t pay for a camp and having the girls try to raise it is really unfeasible.

So, I thought I’d gather up a great list of fundraising ideas for the archives. I’ll list those I’ve seen and please add your own in the archives! (more…)

What are they thinking? Is prom such a “special occasion” that it warrants a serious dressing down of decency?

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen photos (on blogs, on FaceBook, in person) from my good Mormon friends, whose good Mormon daughters are wearing dresses with any combination of spaghetti straps, halters, mini-skirts, strapless dresses, backless dresses, slits to the hipbone, plunging necklines. Sometimes they have a shawl thingy that covers nothing but their elbows and lower biceps…for a while.

A few years ago I sat near the dressing room of a store while Jessica tried on formals. The girl in the next dressing room was visibly uncomfortable and vocally upset with the less-than-covering dresses her mother kept bringing. And her (good Mormon) mother kept reassuring her that they looked beautiful and appropriate.

Seriously? Did you just fly in on a ship from Planet Wench? (more…)

And in the light of a new day, regardless of the wording, cheers to learning lessons and making a difference!

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I have been stymied about what to write for MM lately. The ebb and flow of my creative juices are just at low tide right now, and I haven’t been able to completely figure out why.

Regardless of the reason for my lack of posting, today [yesterday] I had an experience that begs to be written. I share this not to showcase my family in any way, but simply because for me it was an eye-opening experience that can be applied to multiple situations in life. I believe there is wide-spread application that fits within most people’s circumstances.

This [yesterday] morning started out normally enough - tired mom and tired kids dragging themselves out of bed to teach / attend seminary (in our home) and to get ready for school. Seminary ends; the rush to finish getting ready commences. And suddenly we have a volcano eruption of emotional outbursts on our hands. Four daughters and one mom… all fighting to maintain control of the hot lava. (more…)

On the other hand, I hate it when they shift. At least initially. It’s like someone taking that lovely cuppa cocoa, throwing an ice cube into it, and dribbling it all down the front of my new white all-purpose tee shirt. Hate it when people do that. And do that people do. That’s why I have a closet full of unwearable stained white shirts. I go in there sometimes and remember with fondness the days that I thought everything was a clean shirt and warm cocoa that never left its cup.

So. I have some bones to pick with a few of the cocoa-dribbling-white-shirt-ruining-paradigm-shifters in my life. Yeah, I’m talking to you, guy who I had decided was a tad inflexible. Instructor who I thought I could never please. Person who would never work with me. Why’d you go and pull the marshmallows out of my imbibement by offering to help me out of a difficult situation — in such a way that would never benefit you, only me? Now my cocoa doesn’t tickle my tongue. But then, it’s not so overly sweet anymore either, so maybe that’s a good thing.

And how about you, person I was pretty sure hated me, but then turned around and invited me to participate in a program you’d put together, doing nothing but appreciating my meager efforts all along the way? What did I ever do to deserve your kindness? You splattered cocoa on my shirt. Never mind that you volunteered to launder it but ended up replacing it in the end. Sheesh. (more…)