Beach Bummed

Well, the decision was made today that there aren't enough women available and able to go to the beach this year for "our annual break from reality" to make it financially feasible, so our reservation has been cancelled and there will be no Beach Trip 2009. I am truly bummed, but life goes on. Even though I am sad about the end of a fun thing, I am even happier that I got to be included in this awesome activity for the past two years and that I got to share it with each of my daughters. We all have some wonderful memories of our time at the beach together.

Road Block

The oldest son's wedding has hit a road block.
The road block is not really a surprise.
We have been aware that it existed for a while now.
There have been warning signs flashing
along the road as we have moved toward our destination.
Every now and then we have even caught a glimpse of it
off in the distance and wondered
if there would come a time when it
might impede our forward progress.
Road workers were consulted
and they predicted that most likely,
with caution and some help
from an experienced road crew,
it could be navigated around.
That's why most of us were a little taken by surprise
when today we got right next to the road block
and discovered it's actual size.


What had appeared to be rather small and manageable
from a few miles away
now appears quite massive and a little scary.
And the hardest part of all
is that while many of us can stand here
and offer support and suggestions
the heavy duty road block removal
has fallen on the tiny shoulders of the fiancee.
It is her road block to conquer.
At the moment she's not sure if she is up to the task.
The road block appears huge
and she is so small.
She has known for a long time that this road block
was going to have to be approached
and dealt with at some point in her journey
but now that she is face to face with it
she doesn't have a clue how to make a dent
in this gigantic mountain before her.
She is feeling overwhelmed and discouraged.
It seems like it would be easier to just give up.
Perhaps turn around and take a different route,
but now that she has acknowledged the road block
it seems to stop her progess
no matter which direction she turns.
She is stuck.
I hope she can realize
that she doesn't really have to remove
this road block all by herself.
Her loving Savior, Jesus Christ,
is an expert at getting rid of
seemingly insurmountable obstacles
and he is waiting right there
ready and willing to help
as soon as she asks.
We, on the other hand,
are just waiting
and praying.

Unwelcome News

My mom had a follow-up appointment with her doctor today to have some of her stitches taken out, her catheter removed (hooray!) and to get the results from the tests on her lymph nodes. The good news was that 9 out of 10 of her lymph nodes were cancer free. The bad news was that one of the lymph nodes had a cancerous tumor in it, which means that she will need to start radiation treatment as soon as she is completely healed from the surgery. She will probably be having radiation 5 days a week for 6 to 8 weeks, but not until at least November.

This was not the news we had been hoping to hear, but we are grateful that there are medical procedures that can hopefully stop the progression of the cancer in her body.

Perhaps I'll get to come back to Utah to welcome in Winter as well as Fall.

Mamma Mia

I have put off writting this post long enough.
I have something I know that I need to say
but I really don't want to say it.

I went to the movie Mamma Mia
for my birthday with my hubby.

I enjoyed it a lot.
It made me laugh hysterically.
It made me want to fly to Greece with my best friends.
It made me remember what it felt like to be 20 again.
It made me want to lose 100+ pounds
so I could don metallic pants and go-go boots
and dance
and wiggle more than waddle
and sing at the top of my lungs
and run up mountains
and jump on beds while doing the splits.
It made me feel good
and happy
and accepting of life.

I wish I could just accept entertainment
at face value
and be entertained
and leave it at that,
but I can't.

I have to think.

I have to look beyond the fun
and the laughs
and the light hearted moments
to the message that is being sent
in that feel good package
to what I am really being accepting of.

That 3 dads could possibly be better than 1.
That dot, dot, dotting with 3 boys in the same week,
none of whom you are married to, is awkward,
but not necessarily wrong.
That getting married at 20 is limiting and short-sighted
and it's much better to go explore the world with a boyfriend
than to settle down with a husband.
That men liking men is just a way of life.

Now, I will be the first to admit
that I went into this movie with my eyes wide open.
I knew from the previews the basis of the story
and I still wanted to see the movie
because it looked entertaining.

Sometimes I chose being entertained over
doing what I know is right.
What the Holy Ghost tells me is right.

I knew that the content of this movie,
while possibly not being explicit,
was not going to reflect my standards
and my values
and by beliefs.
I knew it before I went
and I went anyway
and I enjoyed it.
Except when I felt the spirit
pricking me in my heart.

I am disappointed in myself.

I read that 92% of the people who saw this movie
would recommend it to someone else.

If I recommended this movie
what would I be recommending?

The entertaining, possibly harmless parts
or the values that don't reflect my own?

My recommendation is
Go out and buy the CD,
Collect all your best friends,
Go to the beach and rent a villa
and sing and dance to your hearts content.
Oh and if you need to lose weight before
you can safely jumb on a bed
go ahead and do that too.

Olympic Issues

I am a little embarrassed to admit this but I have

Olympic Issues.

Not Olympic-sized issues,

although I probably have those too.

No, I have issues with the Olympic Games.


I am not a showy person.

I do not like to be in the limelight

or be the center of attention.

I am not ambitious nor competitive

and perhaps that's why I just don't understand

what motivates these athletes

to put themselves through

the whole Olympic experience.

Most of them don't even look like

they are enjoying themselves.

I just don't get it.

Yes, I understand the desire to do something to the best of your ability

(understand it but don't often achieve it).

And I guess if your best is also the World's best

then it is perhaps your responsibility

to be competing at the Olympic Games.

Unfortunately, there is only one

WORLD'S BEST

at any given moment in time

and if you happen to be a male swimmer

and your name is not Michael Phelps

and you aren't an American

then too bad -

this week you are not it.

I guess I put my focus in the wrong place.

While everyone else is watching

the amazing American Relay team

(and I will admit they were amazing)

jumping up and down and

talking smack about the French Swimmers.

I am watching the French swimmer in the pool,

head bowed,

pretending not to cry,

who just gave his Very, Very best

and it just wasn't good enough.


I have a hard time with losers.

I have a hard time with the concept of losing.

Especially when more than one

person (or team) is good.

In fact really, really good.

In fact, faster than World Record good

and deserves to win.

Yet they still lose.

I like to think that the athletes

who compete in the Olympics

and don't walk away with the Gold medal

are able to look at the Olympic experience

and see what they have gained

and not what they have lost.

But, I don't know if I could.

I don't know if I could spend 4 years of my life

(or a lot more for some of these athletes)

focusing on one specific goal

and then look at the bright side

when I reach out for that goal and

someone else's hand gets there

a split second before mine does.

I don't think I could stand in front

of a National TV audience

and respond positively and politely

to a silly news reporter

who asks even sillier questions.

Describe your emotions right now?

I don't think so!

I obviously just don't get it.

But wait,

I have more Olympic Issues.

Opening Ceremony Issues.

I watched most of the opening ceremonies

on Friday night

and they were amazing and impressive.

I was amazed at times and impressed at others.

They were spectacular!

The Olympic Opening Ceremonies

are suppose to be a spectacular show.

I think China put on a great show and

I enjoyed it

but...

The pictures on this website

show it all.

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/08/2008_olympics_opening_ceremony.html
even the parts we didn't see and

the place where the billions of dollars

might have been better spent.

The two events that stood out the most to me

during the opening ceremonies were

the young Chinese girl singing

"Ode to the Motherland"

as the group of children representing

all the cultures of China marched in and

the young boy who carried a Chinese flag,

next to Yao Ming,

who had saved two of his classmates

following the recent earthquakes

because he was a hall monitor

and a leader in his school.

Not the flashiest parts of the program,

but those that touched me the most.

I had more issues today

when I found out that the adorable little girl

who sang the song

really didn't sing.

The little girl who the voice belonged to

was deemed "not cute enough"

to represent China in front of the whole world.

Her name is Yang Peiyi.

She is 7 years old and

she has crooked teeth.

Maybe she is like me

and she doesn't like to be in the lime light

or be the center of attention,

and she was perfectly happy

not to stand on a pedestal

and sing in front of the whole world.

but I still have issues.



I will be eternally grateful

to a Heavenly Father

who set up the rules

for the "Game of Life"

that we are all participating in.

That He will never

single out one winner.

That He wants each and

every one of us to win.

That there are

enough "gold medals"

for every single person

who does his or her best

and deserves to win

regardless of whether they can swim or not

or if they have crooked teeth

or if they can sing or not

or if they are American, or French or Chinese

and even if they don't understand

why people would want to participate

in the Olympics.

All good things must come to an end

Well, I am sad. Very, very sad. Not just because today is the last day of my vacation at the beach with my friends, even though that is enough reason to be sad. The even sadder part is that we found out that the condo we are staying in is scheduled to be demolished and a hotel is going to be built in its place. Before next year at this time our "beach bunny bugalow" will be no more. I have only come here for 2 years and this news breaks my heart, but some of these women have been staying here for 13 years and I can't imagine how they must feel. I hate "progress". Especially when it includes tearing down a pefectly good building to build another one in its place.
We're looking for a new place to call home. Anybody know of any nice, cheap oceanfront property for rent?