Red Cross Blood Drive

Yesterday we held another Relief Society sponsored blood drive at the church.  Compared to our drive in March, I was surprised at how slow things were.  While I was giving blood, I asked the nurse about donor traffic.  She said the day before they were at a location where only three people donated blood the whole day.  It takes a lot more than three people to set up a blood drive.  She said that although our drive was slow, we ended up with over 30 donors, which means the Red Cross did not take a loss.  She said summer months are slow everywhere.  If you're able, Give blood this summer!

just keep RUNNING!

In fifth grade I participated in my first track meet.

I was NERVOUS.

Mom came to support me.

Track meet culture and etiquette was unfamiliar ground.

Having my mom there meant a lot to me.  What I didn't understand, was that by being there, she was entitled to stand on the edge of the track and yell my name and cheer me on.  I ran my best.  As I rounded the corner of the track to finish the mile, all I could hear was my mother's voice.

YELLING.

at ME.

I felt embarrassed.

"RUN Jenny! You can do it!  Run as FAST as you can!"

It was overwhelming.

I wanted her to stop.

She wasn't a mind reader, so I took matters into my own hands.

I stopped abruptly on the track, STOMPED my foot and yelled back.

"I'M DOING THE BEST I CAN!"

Then I finished.

*

We laugh about it now, but I feel bad about my stomping.  And yelling.  I want a do over.  I want to run towards the finish line and hear my mom yelling

"RUN Jenny!  You can do it!" 

This time I will understand what she's really saying:

"I love you Jenny!  I don't care if you finish first or last--GOOD FOR YOU for running the race!" 

Namaste

Last week I embarked on a new cooking journey, which, although I was very fond of the end result, did not end up being so popular. There was no weeping and wailing;  I give my peeps credit in the good sports column.  It has taken me five days of eating an extra large bowl of curried lentils for lunch to finish off the leftovers, but lucky me.  I happen to like curried lentils.

My husband asked me on a date to see The Avengers last Friday night.  On the heels of curried lentils, imagine his delight when I suggested going to see The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel instead.

I suspect he either

1) Looked in the family history books to see if the name Patel came up on my side

2) checked online accounts to see if I had booked passage to India

or

3) figured it would be less complicated to endure lentils and a movie set in India than to actually travel there.

He's a good sport.

We arrived to the theater just as the previews were starting.  Despite the dimmed lights, we made our way to some seats in the back, as the room was quite full.

I started giggling as he leaned over to whisper

"We are by far the youngest couple in this theater."

Then again, maybe it's our warped sense of self that had us believing that.

Whatever the case, we both enjoyed the show.

The take-away: life can begin again when you let go of the past.

This was either sweet or sad, depending on your point of view.

The film provided some interesting food for thought.

I happen to really like Judi Dench and Maggie Smith.

The cinematography was lovely.

For me, it felt like a little trip to Jaipur.

I taught THIRTEEN (lucky me!)

piano students this year.

Yesterday was our end-of-year piano recital.

The students performed to a standing-room-only crowd at a nearby nursing home.

Their smiles were bigger AFTER the recital.

Turn your heart

I am married to a man who loves old people and cemeteries and lives the words of this hymn:

"Turn your hearts toward your parents—

Generations gone before."

When we first married, we moved to Bolton and discovered that the town was founded by Mr. Dub's ancestors.  The official town historian shared his name, and we discovered that she was a distant cousin.  At that time in our lives, we became intimately familiar with all historical sites and cemeteries in the area linked to Whitcombs from eleven generations before.

Often, on our way to my parents' home we drive past a tiny little cemetery in Lancaster.  It is here that his eleventh great-grandfather and others are buried.

Today Dub decided to help our youngest two children become

re-acquainted with their grandfathers gone before.

There was some moss and dirt in the letters.  Dub took care to clean them out so the stones were more readable.

 He lovingly shared what he knew about his ancestors with his children, and then taught them about headstones and footstones.

 While Dub got busy cleaning out the letters on the footstone, Morning Boy decided to see how he measured up to Josiah.

 He's pretty tall in 2012... I'm thinking he would have been

a giant seven year old in 1713!

I am in love with Dub and his love for his people...

past and present.

There's no place like home

We felt like we did just about everything we could do as we filled the hours with sightseeing and rambling in the Big Apple.  Times Square,

navigating the train system

enjoying the art

"invitation to prayer" at the American Bible Society

 the NYC ballet

Central Park and Columbus Circle

 (a phone call from the Stake President)

The Public Library at Bryant Park

 and LOTS of fancy cars.

 Besides getting home on Saturday night, we both felt like we had found a sanctuary of safety when we stepped out of the subway and spotted the temple.

 There's just something so comfortable about stepping inside a church building or a temple (or in this case, both!)

to seek refuge from the loud, crazy city environment.

 If we couldn't be home yet, this was the next best thing.

"To all of you I say, “Come to the temple.” It may be that you look forward to the once-in-a-lifetime privilege of going there... to receive your own blessings, and to enter into your own covenants with the Lord. It may be that you have been there once or twice already. It may be that you go frequently. Whatever the circumstances may be, come to the temple."

-Boyd K. Packer

Welcome to JUNE!
AND it's Friday.
Hooray for the weekend!
*
Lovely Thoughts:
*
Only 20 more days until summer officially starts!
The pool is OPEN and ready for business.
(You'd have to be a penguin to want to put more than your toe in it, but our two youngest have adapted, and have been swimming for a week)
Leeli has named her right calf and six of her freckles.  I met the one on her belly.  His name is Tio.
Last night an inactive smoke detector (no batteries) which has been sitting on Mr. Dub's bedroom desk for weeks now, suddenly decided to function at will. At an indecent hour. It was quite shrill and suddenly annoying.  Mr. Dub tried several times to make it stop, then he opened the bedroom window and flung it frisbee-style out onto the grass to deactivate.
That made me laugh.
Piano lessons have ended.  Let the simplifying of the schedule begin.
We ate my first Indian dish for dinner last night, and there was no weeping and wailing.
I didn't add the milk or blend the lentils (because I like some texture with my lentils) and I used vegetable stock instead of chicken broth.  I also made the Naan.  I'm a convert!
The strawberries are ripe and ready for picking.
We be jammin'.
-
Enjoy your Friday, and Happy June!