Bake a Cake or Something

I read the Hunger Games Trilogy recently and can't get those characters out of my head.  I am anxiously awaiting the movie and am debating re-reading the series (this would be a first for me--I have never re-read a series just for fun.) Here are a few of my favorite quotes:

“Here's some advice. Stay alive.”

“Deep in the meadow, hidden far away 
A cloak of leaves, a moonbeam ray 
Forget your woes and let your troubles lay 
And when it's morning again, they'll wash away 
Here it's safe, here it's warm 
Here the daisies guard you from every harm 
Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true 
Here is the place where I love you.” 

 “Aim higher in case you fall short.”

“What about you?"
 "Not a clue. I keep wishing I could bake a cake or something.”

 “I think....you still have no idea. The effect you can have.”

 “As we ride the elevator Gale finally says “You're still angry.”
 “And you're still not sorry,” I reply.
 "I will stand by what I said. Do you want me to lie about it?” he asks.
 “No, I want you to rethink it and come up with the right opinion,” I tell him.”

Cheaper Eggs

I was so excited this weekend to discover how to purchase eggs cheaper.  I have been purchasing my eggs at the Cackle Fresh Egg Outlet (remember the one? They sell mainland eggs, LOL!) I've been purchasing their Large Eggs in a 30 count tray for $5.  We go through about 2 trays a month.  Sometimes more, sometimes less.

On the price board at the Cackle Fresh store it lists the different sizes and prices and other items for sale. I had noticed at the bottom it says CHEX $3.08. Since they also sell chicken scratch and other odd items there I just disregarded it.  That is until I went in last Friday and overheard the woman in front of me ask for 2 trays of CHEX.

Trays means eggs, I thought.  Sure enough, the cashier came back with an order of eggs.  I asked what CHEX meant. She told me that the CHEX are the imperfects that get set aside when they CHECK the eggs over before sale. The eggs may be dirty, slightly discolored, not quite the right shape or size but perfectly fresh and edible.

Our family was used to having eggs of varying colors and shapes and sizes when we had our chickens in Washington.  Why not do the same thing here for a $2 savings?! I am so excited to be getting eggs for 10 cents a piece!

Arise and Shine Forth

Can you find Heath in this video? It was filmed here in Laie, we know many of the kids and all the locations very well. He's tough to spot so here's a few hints to find him.

•  At 3:19 you can spot the top half of his face right above the girl in the purple shirt. 
•  At 3:27 You'll see the back of his head in the group shot watching the sun come up. He's wearing a light blue shirt, almost looks white, in the second row, right in the middle of the picture. 
• At 3:30 Heath is standing directly behind the main character guy who is wearing the purple shirt. As the guy walks to the right you will see Heath momentarily before he turns to follow. 

 He's in there a few more times too but you have to be quick to catch him.

 

Paying the Price

Dave told me once of a small disagreement at the high school between him and a teacher. The teacher was complaining about some changes being made by the administration and complained to Dave, "What gives you the right to make these decisions?"

Dave calmly replied, "I have more training, education and more certifications and furthermore, I have the job title that says I have the right. I paid the price." He also would be the one paying the price if things didn't work out but he didn't bring that up at the time.

Often people will say to me, "Oh, I wish I could move to Hawaii." When they do I think about Dave's encounter with that teacher years ago and respond, "you can if you're willing to pay the price."  Usually they think I mean the price in money, which is not what I mean, but I generally don't bring up what I really mean.

You can move to Hawaii if you find a job, any job nevermind what it pays. You can if you are willing to uproot your family.  You can if you are willing to sell most of what you own, including things you love and have worked hard to get.  You can if you are willing to move away from family and friends and familiar surroundings. You can if you are willing to do without some of the things you thought were necessities and live in a place smaller than you are accustomed to. You can do ANYTHING YOU WANT if you are willing to pay the price.

Yesterday as I was doing my taxes and got to the part where I itemize all my charitable contributions I nearly had a breakdown.  I had to go through pages and pages of handwritten notes and pictures of all the things that I donated to Goodwill, Salvation Army and Deseret Industries.  All the things that I had loved and cared for and worked hard for and then had to abandon.  I didn't expect it to affect me and was unprepared for the rush of memories and feelings that it brought back.

The cut glass cake plate with gold trim we got for our wedding. The dread in the pit of my stomach of being separated from Dave and then from loved ones. The beautiful blue porcelain pitcher that I used as a vase for my fresh cut Dahlias. The headaches from the stress of preparing for the move and lack of sleep. The snow boots and bibs I bought the girls one month before learning about the new job.  The fatigue from the seemingly endless packing and cleaning and purging. The boxes and boxes of books we had collected over 15 years. The longing for home and the anxiety of what awaited me on the other end of the plane ride.

These feelings reminded me again of Dave's statement to his teacher friend, "I paid the price," and it also reminded me of a speech given by Shari Dew in which she points out that the Lord has promised that all He has is ours if we just pay the price.  "You want inspiration?" she asks. "Pay the price: live worthy to receive it.  Want to be of service to your fellow man? Pay the price: listen to and follow the promptings of the Spirit.  Want to feel peace in your life? Pay the price: pray and read the scriptures daily.  Want an eternal family? Pay the price: be worthy to attend the temple and do it." The list could go on and on but it all comes down to the same thing: Are you willing to pay the price?


 The price I paid hit me a lot harder yesterday than the estimated worth of the charitable contribution--though that was pretty hefty too--but I'm glad to have paid that price because I love where I am and what I'm doing. To me it's worth it.
______________________________________________________________
What do you want? To move to Hawaii? To get a better job? To get fit and be healthy? To feel more energetic? To pay off bills? To graduate from college? To feel peace? To gain understanding?

What is the price of it? Time? Energy? Hard-work? Dedication? Sacrifice? Money? Determination? Humility? Patience?

Are you willing to pay the price? Why or why not?

To-Dos

I've taught for 14 of the last 17 school days. Last week was my first full week, all 5 days, working.  It is nice to know that not only will I have enough to pay my bills but I'll also be able to put some money away for the summer when I will go 8 weeks without a paycheck.

Though there are no sub jobs today there's still plenty of work to do. Here's my list:

• taxes
• laundry
• scrub the showers
• mop the floors
• change and wash the sheets
• tidy the garage
• straighten up the back porch
• wash windows and mirrors
• clean up my sewing table
• make goodies for the two last ladies whom I visit teach
• vacuum out the couch
• clean out the refrigerator
• clean out the kitchen drains (stinky!)
• re-caulk behind the kitchen sink (leaky!)
• replace kitchen faucet and toilet seat (both broken)
• water my plants
• start some new seeds
• file paperwork
• take cans and bottles in for recycling deposit
• buy eggs
• begin composing next months shopping list
• make an ortho appt. for Cora. (A bracket broke off a tooth and is dangling on the wire.)
• make an eye appt for Afton.
• Contact the school speech therapist
• Deposit my paycheck
• Make an Aloha tie for Dave
• work on my grocery spreadsheet
• complete inputting data into my new Quicken Software
• make tonight's dinner
• bake some banana bread with my mushy bananas
• go to the BYU-H devotional?
• surf?
• go to the temple tonight?

It will be a miracle if I get all this done today. I'm half hoping not to work tomorrow just so I can get a little closer to completing all of these things before I go back to work on Thursday.  Yes, I've already got a job for this Thursday and Friday!

Sea Life Park

While Ladd and Peg were in town we went to Sea Life Park.  Well, it was supposed to be we but I got a call to sub and couldn't pass up the opportunity to work. So, everyone, except me, went to Sea Life Park on Friday, February 10th.  They had a fantastic time.

By all accounts it was a small park but it was reportedly packed with stuff to see.  The small grounds made it comfortably accomodating to grandparents too.  Dave did say that if he had paid full price he would have been disappointed.  They were able to get Kama'aina (local) rates using our grocery rewards card from Foodland.  This discount is only available ocassionally.

Since I wasn't there I can't really say much about what was going on in these pics but I think you'll get the jist of the day. Dave was the photographer of the day.

Beginning of the day.  Checking out the turtle tank.

Everyone got to pet and feed the baby turtles.  Soooo cute!

We have a million pictures of seals from other zoos and from beaches, etc. I thought this picture was interesting because of the reflection of the clouds into the pool and the seal swimming through like he's flying through the clouds.

Sea Life Park is located on the East shore of Oahu and is south of Kaneohe.  It was a beautiful day.

The dolphin show was the highlight of the day.  The kids told me all about the tricks and the trainer that swam with them and surfed on their backs and was pushed through the water by them, etc.  Sounded cool.

Refreshment time, chillin' with Grandma and Grandpa at the in park cafe.

The girls enjoyed talking to the different trainers.  This is the penguin trainer.

Primary

I am a Primary Teacher at church.  I teach the 5 year olds.  They are so cute. I adore every one of them but one of the boys really cracks me up.

A few weeks ago our lesson was on families.  As an activity the children were to draw a picture of their whole family.  The crayon box that I happened to get from the library that day was short on brown crayons, which wouldn't normally be a problem except almost all the kids in the class have brown skin.  They were arguing over who needed the brown crayons the most and who could use black crayons or peach crayons, etc, when one of the kids (who has light brown skin) shouts out, "I don't need the brown crayon because my mom says my sister is white. My Dad is brown but I'm white too."  And then he walks over to me with his arm up.  He places his arm next to me and finishes his thought, "Look I'm almost as white as you!"

Same kid at church today is waving his arm in the air frantically during Sharing Time.  He wants to answer a question that the leader has asked. When it looks like he might be the one called on to answer he turns to me with a worried look on his face and quickly asks, "Oh, oh, who is that old guy?" 

"What old guy?" I answer looking around the room.  

"That old guy with Jesus and the Holy Ghost?"

"Heavenly Father?"

"Yeah, yeah! Heavenly Father!"