...S.U.M.M.E.R. F.U.N. continued...

OK -

Are you ready to hear what the prize winner from the dollar store is? See for yourself:

Looks like I'm all ready to plant a garden now! (The little hoe was the $0.77 prize)

Thanks for bringing the gloves and pea seed, Mom. Thanks for the tomato plants, Em & Michael, and the pottting soil, Marlayna! Today's a good day for planting!

Some more recent highlights:

June 28th - Testing Center BBQ - We gathered at Sis. Grover (the secretary's) house, ate yummy salads, chicken & beef burgers, etc. Since there is an employee dress code, it was fun to see our 2 supervisors and secretary in shorts and t-shirts and...*gasp*...even flip-flops! Several of the boys were teasing them, saying that they should take pictures and hang them up in the testing center as examples of what NOT to wear. They just laughed and said that they knew someone would say that. :o) I think the highlight for me was Faith, little 3-month-old daughter of a co-worker! She reminded me that I have three little munchkins in Canada yet to meet, and I'm pretty excited!! :o) A good time was had by all!

July 1st - Happy Canada Day!! :o) I celebrated by singing "O Canada" in the shower (I found out that I need a refresher on all but the first verse). I even tried singing it in French, but that goes clear back to grade 7 and was patchy at best... Then, of course, I wore red and white. At work, Jenni, a co-worker, came up to me and said, "I have something for you... but I forgot to bring it!" I wondered at that until she explained, "I had a dance practice yesterday and had to bring a treat. I wanted to take something no one had ever had before...I had some left over and I knew that today was the First and you are Canadian!" AHA! Nanaimo bars! We didn't work together again this week, but she left some in the frig at work for me! :o) Normally, no one is allowed to work a campus job unless they are taking 12 credits, but here I am, working 2 jobs and no credits because I'm off-track. There are definite benefits to being Canadian! :o)

Working at the testing center is a new adventure every day! I wanted to mention one particular thrill that I receive on a regular basis. There are several tasks that we rotate through on the job. The front-line: where we hand out tests, the control center: where we collect completed tests and file them, and then there is proctoring: monitoring the testing room and those testing. The rotations are usually about every 15 minutes. Generally, proctoring is the least favorite...or that's what I gather, based on all the grumbling and muttering that sometimes reaches my ears. I don't mind proctoring, though, and it's doing this job that I receive the greatest thrill. I have to watch those coming in until they have started testing, and so I'm privy to an amazing thing! More often then not, while most people's faces are not completely relaxed and serene when they come in to test, they usually become so for a few seconds when that individual finishes arranging their materials on the desk and then bows their head, folds their arms, and puts up a silent petition heavenward! It is a beautiful sight, that puts a smile on my face, and a warmth in my heart, despite the near freezing temperature the room is usually at. (I guess a lot of energy is expelled from people who are intently concentrating, and it's necessary to keep those same people awake!) :o)

Well - that took a lot of words to explain a very simple thing, but I really can't describe the meaning that it has! Where else in the world, do you suppose, things like this really happen? It's a small miracle to me, one that strengthens my faith and is a reminder to me that no matter what kind of coherence and substance I get from my studies, no matter how much something makes sense to me, and how useful it is to mankind, there always has been and always will be only ONE source for all GOOD and all TRUTH! And this is our loving Heavenly Father, our divine parent, who wants to teach us what he knows, and have us "grow up" unto Him, to be like Him!

It's empowering to know that the students I serve take their studies seriously (and their honor) for this very same reason! It's a privilege to be here!





FHE: I have a great Family Home Evening group this semester! I thought I might share some of the things we've done that have been fun. Last Monday was Ultimate Frisbee. We had 5 vs. 4 players and had a blast. We have a (real) brother and sister duo and it was fun to watch them playing against each other. Jessica was giving Paul (on my team) a real challenge with her words, and I guess he'd had enough when she had the frisbee, 'cause he picked her up, frisbee and all, and carried her across the goal line! (I don't think we actually counted that point, but it was good for a laugh.) Then, when we were hot and sweaty enough, we went down to a little place called "Snoasis" and got snowcones....my FIRST snowcone ever, to be exact! I had a Jolly Green Giant - pina colada, lime, and green apple flavor. My defense for not having had a snow cone before was, "Why get all excited and pay money for a bunch of shaved ice with flavorings on it?" Well, I enjoyed it, I guess it was good enough for being "just a bunch of shaved ice with flavorings on it." My advice to those who haven't yet tried a snowcone: extra small is just as good as an extra large, AND it cuts down on the risk of brain freeze. :o)

Another fun FHE might best be described in pictures. I don't know how these will turn out, but we'll give it a shot:

You start by each writing just about anything at the top of the paper... mine started with "How many jubejubes fit in a jam jar?"


Then everyone passes the paper to the person next to them, and that person has to illustrate the words.



Then, before passing the paper on, the words are folded back so that only the picture shows. After it's passed on, the next person describes the picture. The picture that illustrated my jubejubes in a jar, was interpreted as "Pennies in a jar."






"The sad planets were stuck in a Jar, and were thoroughly displeased. Tears were even shed. It was sad."


The game continues until you get your own paper back. Then you read each one outloud, laugh and keep laughing as jubejubes turn into fishbowls, crosswalks turn into swimming pools, and polar bears into armadillos!








"The sad fishbowls floated in the sky." This is how my paper ended! :o)





Air-conditioning: One thing I'm enjoying these days (or nights, I should say) is air-conditioning! Buena Vista #2 is upstairs and so we don't get ants, but we do get heat! So...when it starts to cool off outside we turn on the air-conditioning! (Which, being interpreted, means that we open the door, place a big fan outside the door, facing in, on "HI" and let-er-blow! :o)


Who'd have ever thought it could happen in Rexburg? I came across an old post that I forgot to finish today, and it was entitled "S'NOW, it can't be!" Here's what it said, "Take note - June 11, 2008, it SNOWED in Rexburg, Idaho! Yup...I don't have the actual stuff as proof, but I have cold hands and windblown cheeks! How I love the Idaho weather! :o) "



So, from here on out, you'll hear no complaints about heat from me! :o)

And that's all for now folks! I'm going to clean my house, go for a run, plant my garden, and then get ready for some 4th of July Celebrations!

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!