Ya Wanna Raise Your Bloodpressure?

It's easy. All you have to do is voice an opinion different from the noisy minority!
Yesterday afternoon we went down to Winlock and had a lovely visit with Grandma Huston. I want to be as gracious and loving and full of life when I am in my 80's as she is. What a great example of a lady.
What has this to do with heart-thumping encounters, you ask? Well, we got to talking about Obama, bail-outs, his statement that "we are no longer a Christian nation..." and what we think is right, and we all agreed that we better start getting informed, and making good choices at the polls, etc. I said that I think we need to start writing emails to our representatives, and start being a voice that states our opinion about the direction we'd like to see our country go. Yup, yup, yup, that's what we need to do all right.
Isn't it interesting how the Lord puts opportunity right in our paths? I checked my email before I went to bed, in case something wonderful was put on during the day, and a "friend" that I accepted to Facebook had taken up the whole first page with at least a dozen entries. Gadzooks. Among all the polls she had taken that day, and all the crud she felt the whole world needs to know about, ("I have 227 friends! I didn't know I was so popular!!")(barf) was her statement that we should not sign the referendum stating that marriage is between one man and one woman. She is in the group against it, and stated her opinion most decidedly. Fine. Have it. (She also used a bunch of initials when she said that "some of her friends are SBDEFZQ" (okay, the Q is the only one I remember) anyone know what that means?)
Soooooo, in the tradition that to not speak is to imply agreement, I commented back that I had already signed it, and that Heavenly Father has been very clear about his opinion on the subject. That's all. I WISH I had referenced the Proclamation on the Family from the First Presidency. WELL!!! This morning I had several return comments, one of them quite hostile. Whew!
Well, I just had the YW motto pop up in my head, "I am a daughter of my Heavenly Father, who loves me, and I love Him...I will stand as a witness of God, in all things, in all places, and at all times as I strive to live the young women values..." Guess what; It's harder than it sounds. But I did it, and I'm glad.
I commented back once more, that "I knew I was invoking the wrath of...hmmm, her I guess, but that this was a free country and I hoped I had at least as much right to my opinion as she had to hers, and let's us agree to respectfully disagree. Have a nice day." The End.
Then I took that person off my friends list, cause guess what? I've about had it with Facebook. I wonder if it's a good use of my time, because I blog to the people I REALLY want to keep in touch with, and the rest feels just a hair voyeuristic to me. I think I'd be better served to put my time into a note or a phone call. I know, I don't know if I'd do it either. Thanks for listening, I feel better now.

"Happy is the Bride the Sun Shines On"

Pretty soon it was time. Hard to believe something you wait so long for happens in just a few minutes, isn't it?

Hmmmmm...

Well, that was weird. My post went to 'drafts' and the pictures didn't make it. So, I'm going to repost them, and with my bloggercarma they will probably show up twice. That's okay, they're cute. :)

Logan

Logan was the reason for the trip. We were excited for Yellowstone, and for all the stops before and after, but the wedding was what it was all about. I am going to do this in a couple of phases. Since that is the way my laptop and Bloggerville interact anyway, it should all work out for the best.
Callie was a very easy girl to get to know, she plays along really well. She let me hold her and talked to me like old friends. Dad played a little wii with Julio, and we had a little BBQ, and everyone had a good time waiting for everyone to gather.
We made a quick run to the Logan temple Saturday morning, then kept watch over things while we once again waited for everyone to assemble at the church.

Huh?

As we were walking past a fellow camper this week I overheard a mother venting to her child. The tired mother was outside furiously peeling something while the little girl, who was probably six, stood there silently taking her tongue lashing. Now, of course, I realize I have no personal knowledge of how much whining, begging, or laziness had already occurred, or what hardships mom had already endured. What I do know was that the little girl was looking rather blank, and as if she'd love to know how to make it all stop.
"I am cooking dinner for you. The least you could do is be considerate."
We kept walking and she kept talking.
"You do nothing while I work...and I'm sick of it."
Good heavens, I thought, she's six years old. In the first place, does a six year old comprehend the phrase, "The least you could do.."? Next; "be considerate"? "You do nothing"? Huh? I wondered if the kid thought "I watched a movie and played with my toys you gave me. I ate lunch you gave me, I talked to you...whaddayamean I did nothing?"
We kept walking and I said to dad, "You know, she'd have gotten so much more cooperation if she said, "Mommy's tired, please go sit in the tent." (or go see Daddy, play with your ball, read a book, whatever.) Or, if there was energy: "Look, Sally, everyone needs to help. Everyone in a family needs to do their part. I'm making dinner and you need to pick up your toys from the tent. (or wash the potatoes or wipe the table or whatever.)
I've learned from working with a couple of hundred kids that they do NOT, repeat, DO NOT intuit much. You must be very direct with your request, including a time frame. For instance, you can't say, "Put that away" because that, loosely interpreted, means, "ruin this as you shove it in your desk out of sight, never to see the light of day again." Instead you say, "Please put this lying flat in your yellow folder right now while I watch." (Watch) "Thanks, nice job."
Also; always state what you want, not what you don't want. "Don't put your feet there" could mean, "Lean back in your chair and put them on the desk instead" or, "See if you can reach your neighbors chair". Instead, "I need your feet on the floor right now." In our campers case, asking the six year old girl to follow a specific request would have increased the odds for success 100 fold. Of course, that wouldn't have allowed her to Mt. St. Helen's her frustrations to the world, would it. But it would have spared a six year old a tirade she was helpless to stop.
The really sad part was that I have a hunch she was talking to the wrong member of the household about "the least you could do" and "consideration". Ya think?