Just Words Wednesday - Choice

I'm sorry but I am going to rant a little bit (maybe a lot). I try to steer away from complaining on my blog. But I am going to indulge myself and vent for a moment. You have all been warned.

Disclaimer:
I love Cedar. I would not want to live anywhere else.
That said, there is always room for improvement.
First, I am truly dissapointed in the actions of some middle school teachers and one principal in the Iron County school district. Cedar will start a charter school in a few days. In Utah, charter schools are public schools and they are free. Apparently some teachers are so threatened by this new charter school that they decided to visit middle school students enrolled at the charter school at their homes. Some of these teachers arrived on the doorsteps of said students, asked to speak with the students. Not the parents, of course. As a stranger they asked to speak to a minor and then proceeded to launch into a persuasive speech on how they should reconsider attending the charter school. How do I know this isn't a rumor? One of the charter school's board members had this happen to their own child. I'm sorry but it is just inappropriate to confront a minor as a stranger without the parent present.

To compound matters one of the elementary principals refuses to release parent signed school records release forms to the charter shool. That is more than inappropriate it is illegal.

And seriously, this is not a war. There are charter schools all over this state and country. They offer educational choices. Last time I checked our country is all about giving us a choice. I believe and know that we have fantastic teachers in all our elementary schools. I also believe that allowing parents and children a choice in their education should be and is a fundamental right. I am embarrassed for these self-appointed education vigil antes. They give their peers a bad name.

Secondly on a much more shallow level. I really wish Cedar had more shopping choices. I hate that I have two - maybe three choices of places to buy my son school shoes (he's very picky about his shoes and he already wears a hard to find size 7).
One of those choices has only one table full of shoes. The other choice has a wall full of $70 shoes. EEEK! The truth is I used to opt for the cheap Wal-Mart and Payless Shoes but they wore out before he grew out of them, and my son grows fast! So, every time I shoe shop for him or myself I whine and complain and wish that for just a moment Cedar was a little less small town.
So, tomorrow I am off to St. George, in search of shoes.

Write a Little.

My friend Nancy has a list of cool verbs on her writing blog spot. For this week's writing prompt I chose two of those verbs. Write a poem, a memory or a few lines using one or both of these verbs.

Evoke
Cleave

Restless dreams cleave me to slumber
holding me down in heaviness
even as skipping tiny feet
hurry down the hallway bringing morning
too soon.

Our busy Saturday

We had a great but very busy Saturday. My brother Jake came to visit, finally. So, we dragged Jake around with us all day. OK I know I am biased but Jake is so much fun. I haven't really seen my family in eight months so I was excited for a visit from my youngest brother. Saturday morning at 8:15 we traveled to Parowan for Isaac's first soccer game of the year. He is a great defender and he actually almost made a goal the last couple minutes of the game. We had an hour break before Becca's soccer game in Parowan, so I made Tom drive us out to the Parowan gap. I had never visited this famous local spot and I wanted to see the Native Indian petroglyphs on the rocks in the gap.

The space where the petroglyphs are carved on the rock is actually not very large. A short walk of 50 feet encompasses the whole rock show or story. Still, there is something so powerful in the images on these rocks. Even in this short distance there are hundreds of carvings. I spotted a deer and Isaac spied a snake and a sun. We also climbed into a little cave where we discovered some well worn symbols that looked a lot like crop circles. I found myself desperately wishing I could understand the messages and stories these ancient petroglyphs told. My brother Jacob suggested they were some ancient journal left by many different Indians journeying through the pass in the rocks. Whatever they may be an half hour in the Parowan gap left me intrigued and I am on a mission to find out more information about this area.

After our short visit to Parowan gap, where Isaac trudged around barefoot because he refused to wear his soccer cleats one more second, we drove back to the soccer fields and watched our little Becca play soccer. I have to admit she is really pretty good for a six-year-old, even if she does get tired fast. Good ole Jakers he yelled and cheered like any good uncle should. He didn't even act bored after two soccer games in one morning. We headed home where we all crashed and catnapped for an hour before heading out on another adventure.

Summer vacation is over in a week and I was determined to not waste this Saturday with Tom, Jake and the kids all to myself. We headed up into the mountains and the fresh air and amazing scenery brought me a refreshing feeling of peace. Of course we were headed to a not so favorite hike of mine. Tom wanted to return to Cascade Falls. Our last visit there two years ago was a little terrifying. The hike to these falls that shoot out of a hole in the rock is a narrow path on the side of the mountain. Last time we went we got stuck in a lightning/hail storm with a little baby and a four-year-old and a way too adventurous boy. I did not want to go back. Still there was not a raincloud in sight so I set off on the hike. I am so glad we went. It was still a little frightening but we all helped each other over the tough spots. The waterfall was beautiful and we all had fun playing on the rocks. I thought WOW! We made it. Of course we had to go back. And I have discovered with this hike the way back is often a little tricky. Tom trudged off with the girls while I hung back with Jake. Jake had found a tempting rocky climbing area that he stared at like a little puppy until finally he gave in and took off like a mountain goat. I didn't want to get too far ahead of him. I worried he would slip and fall. But no, I was to be the one who slipped on some loose rocks and fell. My lower back hit a sharp rock and I couldn't move for a couple minutes. My little Isaac had stayed with me, carefully watching to make sure I made it over the rough spots safely. He was a little frightened of the narrow path and apparently even more concerned for his clutzy Mom. As I was lying there trying not to swear in front of my ten-year-old, I hear loose rocks fly down the mountainside as my brother comes running up behind me, after he realized something had happened to me. I'm thinking, "great he's going to fall running down that path." But like I said before, the boy is half mountain goat. My brother and Isaac lifted me up and helped me limp to where Tom and the girls were waiting for us further up the trail. We all made it back safely. I'm a little sore and bruised. I wonder why we keep going on that hike. Something scary always happens. Still somehow we always learn something about teamwork and family on that little spot of mountainside. I always have some epiphany there. Last time it was about prayer. This time I realized that sometimes getting back is the tricky part, whether it is getting back to our car or back to our Heavenly Father. But somewhere, someone is waiting to help us, watching over us and sometimes that person is son or a brother or a husband, or our Savior.

The rest of the evening was relaxing. Tom and I cooked up some Pennsylvania shrimp - I'll post this recipe next Friday and some fried zucchini for Jake. We had to lure him down here somehow. I used food. We said goodbye to my brother this morning and spent a relaxing Sunday together.

Talented Thursday

I am a believer in developing talents. I really love to encourage others in their creative endeavors, their strivings, their growing. So I am going to devote my Thursday posts to the talent among us. I wanted to show a picture of my friend Taryn's beautiful crochet work. She is working on some custom pillows for me right now. She is not finished yet so you will have to wait for that post until later. Still, I discovered Taryn has another talent. She is a blogger techie supreme. She just ran over here at the drop of a hat to help me figure out how to change my blog background. Apparently she has been helping people with their blogs all day. Thanks Taryn, talented crochet girl, blogger extraodinaire and willing to help friend.

I just discovered that my friend Trinity has a talent she has been hiding. I already know she is an amazing interior designer. I ask for her advice all the time. I keep waiting for her to send me a bill. She just smiles and says I can help her sometime. She is absolutely phenomenal with kids, and she is a great cook. We recently took an oil painting class together and she is amazing. Reading her blog I have discovered that she is a talented closet writer.

I could literally go on forever about all the talented people I know. Too often we as women measure ourselves against some cardboard cutout. Do we fit the mold, do we have the right skills and talents? "So and so is so much more talented than I am." We spend way too much time measuring, comparing and knocking ourselves down. I can't think of one single person I know that doesn't have a gift or talent that makes them uniquely them. If you are struggling with recognizing your talent please come see me. You see that's one of my talents; seeing the strengths of others.

I have mentioned my love of daylilies in my blog already but I want to expand on this theme a little bit. I am grateful my world is filled with so many different talented people. I love my friends who uplift me, make me laugh, stretch me, listen to me, teach me. All of the people in my life are unique. Each person carries their own talents and personality. I revel in their differences, differences that make them beautiful. I could never live with a garden that only had one color daylily. I am thankful I am surrounded by beautiful talented people who make my life colorful.

Talkative Tuesday

I feel a little talked out today. So, I won't write a long post.
What have we been up to the past week. I watched my kids play in the rain, flushed two dead fish down the toilet (prizes from the 24th of July carnival, made bread twice, went swimming - in the rain, bought a new five dollar fish to replace free carnival fish, tucked my kids into bed each night, cried over other people's broken hearts, rejoiced over other people's long awaited victories. Now I await my husband's return from a week long male bonding trip so I can unload a thousand saved up conversations -- poor Tom.

Write a Little: Try something new

On Mondays, I want to stretch my writing muscles a little bit. I am going to post my write a little prompt of the week on my Monday post.
Henry David Thoreau said "How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live." So this week go out and try something new and then write about it. If you are proud of your adventurous spirit come let me know what new thing you tried this week.
I tried sushi for the first time this year. My sushi loving husband finally got me to try it and I must say I am hooked, except I still won't eat those little orange fish eggs on top of the sushi or raw eel sushi. Still, I tried the raw tuna and I did not die of food poisoning. Since, I am also experimenting with writing Haiku poetry lately. I'm going to go silly on this writing post and do a sushi Haiku just to see if I can pull it off. Hey if you can write a Haiku about your new thing this week let's see it. Haikus are three lines of poetry. Traditionally the lines have the following syllable rythmn 5/7/5 or short/long/short


colorful fish bites
courageous pops in my mouth
cultural tidbits.

Ok I have definintely read and written better Haikus than that.

Favorite Finds - Crockpot Bread and Purple Daylily

This week I had a victorious moment. I made homemade bread. It rose. It tasted delicious. I am still reeling from the shock. I am not a bread baker. I just can't seem to make it work. I made this recipe in the crockpot. I am going to post it here because I think, if I can do it -- well anyone can do it. It does come out shaped like a round cake and is a really hearty bread. But hey, I can't make cake either so, I feel like I just killed two birds with one crockpot.

Honey Whole Grain Bread.
2 Cups warm whole milk (not hot)
2 TB canola oil
1/4 Cup honey
3/4 tsp salt
1 pkg active dry yeast
3 Cups whole wheat flour/divided
3/4 to 1 cup all purpose unbleached flour, divided.

Spray 1 quart casseerole, souffle dish or other high sided baking pan w/nonstick cooking spray. In large bowl or electric mixer combine milk, oil, honey, salt, yeast, 1 1/2 cups wheat flour and 1/2 cup flour. Mix at medium-low spped for 2 minutes

Add remaining 1 1/2 cups wheat flour and 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup flour. Here is the trick, getting the right amount of flour. I add the flour slowly until the dough is less sticky. Transfer dought to prepared pan. Place pan in slow cooker; cover and cook on High about 3 hours or until edges are browned. Remove from slow cooker and let stand for 5 minutes. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.

My second favorite find this week is my deep purple daylily. I love day lilies. My yard has them in at least eight different colors. I like to find things that are a little different.

Last year I ordered these purple daylilies and they just bloomed for the first time a week ago. They are gorgeous. I ordered them from a catalog/online gardening site which has some unique flowers.
Here is the website www.waysidegardens.com
This particular daylily is called jungle beauty. They have some amazing varieties of standard plants.