Here and There

*If nothing else, do watch the videos at the end of this post...they'll make your day!

I don't think I'll ever run out of things to blog about. Mostly because I have a terrible memory and want to remember everything. So, basically, that means that I write about everything. Lucky you.

I have Swiss Chard growing in my garden. Four beautiful, green heads of Swiss Chard. I didn't even know what Swiss Chard was until my mother-in-law planted it in my garden. I love it. It is just my kind of plant. On Saturday I went out and harvested a huge armful of leaves and stuffed them into a pan to steam with curry powder, ground cumin, and butter. Delicious! But the coolest thing about this vegetable, and the thing that makes it most compatible with me, is that it is self-replenishing. I take and take and it just keeps right on growing. None of this nurturing, and watering, and caring for a single head of lettuce only to have to pluck it out and wait for another seed to grow in it's place. I appreciate my Swiss Chard because it is low maintenance, a giver, and self-sufficient. So thanks, Mary, for introducing me to my perfect plant-mate. We'll have a happy life I'm sure.



Buddha is a magpie. Every time I go in the backyard, I notice that his collection of toys/knick knacks that he drives around in his coupe has grown...considerably. Maybe he'll grow up to be a collector of artifacts. That, or a taxi driver.



On Saturday night I was preparing some last minute items for my sharing time lesson in Primary. The topic was family history so I was pulling out journals and books of remembrance, etc. Well, the first journal of mine that I grabbed began when I was living my first year in Chile...which means that the entries were filled with anger toward my parents and hatred for Santiago. I so did not want to be there. I was upset that my parents had made me leave high school my junior year...before I had turned 16 and could date! I mean, really, can you imagine a greater travesty (try to think like a 15-soon-to-be-16-year-old)? So, I was flipping through and getting more and more embarrassed by each journal entry filled with words in all caps and threatening ultimatums. Then I happened upon this poem that I wrote while sitting in church services one day. At least I didn't lose my sense of humor, eh?

Chile

With smog-filled skies
And skyscraper mountains
God sent me to
A land of empty fountains.

But its beauty grows
As your lungs collapse
And before you know it
You've learned to relax.

The people are short
With one talent true
They whistle and whistle
Even if only perhaps at a shrew.

I've tried to change
But the process is slow
Now after a whole year
I'm still ready to go.

Please keep in mind that I do not, nor ever will, claim to be a poet. And, despite my obvious lack of enthusiasm for Chile, I did end up loving it there. The people are humble and kind and I made many wonderful friends whom I still keep in touch with today. Incidentally, I stayed up until 3am reading those old journal entries. I couldn't believe how much I had forgotten and how different I was then. My sharing time flopped with the junior Primary, but it went really well with the senior Primary.

Yesterday during sacrament meeting, a young man in our ward performed a musical number in between speakers. He had a lovely voice with a very theatrical tenor, coming in quietly and building strong only to die down to a whisper again. And his vibrato was strong as well. Buddha, who isn't exposed to much music beyond the Backyardigans, turned around and exclaimed for all to hear, "That guy's voice is weird." I should have wanted to crawl under a rock, but instead I was straining to keep from laughing out loud. Kids make my day.

Here are some kids who kept me laughing all day yesterday. Turn up your volume for these and I guarantee you'll be laughing, too.

This baby's father is playing golf on the Wii. Apparently the baby is quite taken with the game himself.

Listen carefully and you'll hear this baby's "whispering/weezing" laugh as he trails off. Hilarious!

And who can resist watching quadruplets laughing hysterically?