Full House

Isn't that when you have a pair and three of a kind
So Parker had his hand's full before reinforcments arrived.
His three of a kind: Anne, Peter, & Kate
His pair: Eden & Dean
He played the hand he was dealt deftly and all was well

As we staged it

 As it was

A Prophet's Daughter

Saturday began innocently enough with a 7am Worldwide Wide Leadership broadcast. I must admit to being jealous  just a bit of Brigham's stake who chose to watch the broadcast significantly later in the morning than we. The conference was focused on following up to the launch of the new Church Handbook of Instructions. Underscore by the introduction by  President Henry B. Eyring, First Counselor in the First Presidency “The handbook will become a treasure to you as you use it to help lead others to choose the way to eternal life. That is its purpose.”I enjoy how they blend these sessions with a mix of speakers, panel discussions; live talks and video feeds. It was a nice start of the day.

The meeting was followed by setting up the Relief Society room for a dinner that the Stake YM presidency and wives would prepare and serve to the Stake Presidents and YW presidents of the 7 Chicagoland area stakes later in the day. Finished setting up and watched our Ward's girl basketball team play basketball. Then off to home for house cleaning chores and losing to Parker in ping pong. The latter being a particularly painful point for me.

The back to the Stake center to decorate for the 7- stake dance and set up chairs for an Ann M Dibb fireside that proceeded the dance. We anticipated some 700 youth to attend the fireside - we got around 1,000 +. The fireside was well done.

 She spoke of standards and For Strength of Youth, then of prophet's speaking on standards and youth, the she gave a brief history of her father, a video clip of his biography, bore his testimony of his prophetness, did a lengthy question and answer about the prophet fielded questions from the kids, and than shared a video clip of President Monson bearing his testimony.

A few  items of interest: one was speaking of an experience of his youth that "the lesson was not lost on my father" - he learned changed and grew from experience; he has always been about doing good; and lastly his favorite scripture

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.Proverbs 3: 5-6

I enjoyed her as a speaker. Her remininces brought to mind Dad's favorite intereactions with President Monson before he was prophet. He had visited the home and gone swimming with Dadd in the backyard after meeting; and then in SLC at the church offices when Dad was set apart as the Chicago temple president. Dad felt a very personnel connection with Monson.

Her presentation was followed by a dance and needless to say it was well attended. They had a better dance mix then usual, though I'm still amazed how those doing the music can kill all activity by picking the wrong song - literally stopping all dancing. It eventually ended and then we cleaned up the building with the "no trace left behind motto".  With the dance ending at 10:15 I pulled in at home at 11:20pm A long but enjoyable day. My pictures of the day didn't turn out well.

Snow Structures

Robert ranks among the better snow architects / builders in the upper midwest. One of the delights for our kids of having Robert and Laura so close is their small chldren

justify going out and building a snow structure. And Robert is sooo good at it. With the latest dumping of snow over they went to dig, shovel, pack and create the latest version. Unfortunately this was last week and nothing has melted and all things snow are still around.

HSM

When is a theme more than a theme?
Tonight was our Ward's New Beginnings program and I thought they delivered a theme, a program, a thought that tied the young women together in a good way.. They did the traditional elements of: class purposes of each class; introduction of the new Beehives; an Overview of the Personal Progress Program. From there it took on an aire of its own.

Four vignettes of girls dealing with the challenges of every day life and how they are better, or more easily dealt with when: We are in all in this together. They were kind of cheesy, kinda of cute, and on target. We have frequently and consistently encouraged our boys to participate, attend, support, go and do a particular activity that might not have been the top of their list of interest but one which we felt they needed to be involved in because of Quorum. That the sense of Quorum provides strength and courage and support and ability to cope with the world that surrounds us. Tonight's presentation was the best non-quorum quorum presentation I can recall.

The YW president reviewed the YW's theme:
We are daughters of our Heavenly Father, who loves us, and we love Him.
We will "stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things,
and in all places" (Mosiah 18:9) as we strive to live
the Young Women values, which are:
Faith
Divine Nature
Individual Worth
Knowledge
Choice and Accountability
Good Works
Integrity and
Virtue.
We believe as we come to accept and act upon these values,
we will be prepared to strengthen home and family, make and keep sacred covenants,
receive the ordinances of the temple, and enjoy the blessings of exaltation.

The theme could be written in the first person but it isn't.
It could be focused on the me but it isn't it is the we.
The theme is built around the unity of the Young Women
The discussion was further strengthen by looking at the Mutual Theme for the year:


"We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men. Indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul: we believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things."(Article of Faith 13)

Count the "WE" that appear in these two statements. We succeed, we believe, we thrive together not as silos not as individuals but collectively. Now that is all well and good but it has to be done with a level of fun. So that was added into the evening with the YW advisers doing a dance number from High School Musical.They turned on the music, got up front of the group and 'cut the rung'. It was funny, it was entertaining, it helped connect to the girls.


Even the words of the song relate to the theme of the night
<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/NDHYZtwjFTs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>iframe>

Everyone is special in their own way
We make each other strong (we make each other strong)
Were not the same
Were different in a good way
Together's where we belong

We're all in this together
Once we know
That we are
We're all stars
And we see that
We're all in this together
And it shows
When we stand
Hand in hand
Make our dreams come true

Together, together, together everyone
Together, together, come on lets have some fun
Together, were there for each other every time
Together together come on lets do this right


Ok, maybe using a song from a Disney Movie is a stretch for you but it worked for me.I appreciated the evening.

Sarah's Key

Book Blurb:  Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old girl, is brutally arrested with her family by the French police in the Vel’ d’Hiv’ roundup, but not before she locks her younger brother in a cupboard in the family’s apartment, thinking that she will be back within a few hours.
Paris, May 2002: On Vel’ d’Hiv’s 60th anniversary, journalist Julia Jarmond is asked to write an article about this black day in France’s past.  Through her contemporary investigation, she stumbles onto a trail of long-hidden family secrets that connect her to Sarah.  Julia finds herself compelled to retrace the girl’s ordeal, from that terrible term in the Vel d’Hiv’, to the camps, and beyond.  As she probes into Sarah’s past, she begins to question her own place in France, and to reevaluate her marriage and her life.

oft times I find a good book first and am the leader in discovering a good read, My dad filled that function for me for years and led me to many a worthy discovery. Of late Blair and Brigham share their finds and the end result is a good read. This time I follow the reading by Mackie and Rindy. Sarah's Key is as stirring of a holocaust memoir as is to be found.I spend less time reading  novels, but my favorite works of fiction are those that also incorporate some history  ( think the name of the rose by umberto eco)- be it cultural, social or military - leaving me with both a sense of satisfaction with the story as well as the sense of having learned something in the process of reading. This book does that for me.

It is gut wrenching to read, as you know she will, the discovering of her brother in the closet. Those sobering experiences remind me of visiting concentration camps in Europe, or listening to Dad in a rare moment sharing horrific war memories with Parker. We must "never forget"; but as attested in the recently read "the blue sweater" we as a collective civilization do forget and repeat the wrongs. And so we must read and try to always remember (an interesting opposite of the words never forget; but i save that for a church talk).

Personally, I enjoyed the hearkening to living near Luxembourg garden and my living for a time in Paris. Not having the depth of the main character's experience of living in France for years; but having lived there long enough to relate.To appreciate the context, the French, their view of American's, the city.I furthered enjoyed the lessons in listening, truly listening that were to be learned by multiple layers and and multiple interactions where people did not listen.They missed things, they hurt people, they were scarred because they did not listen intently. And the secrets families do not share even with each other, where disclosure and the sunshine would clearly clear the air and breath life into relationships. More risk needs to be taken in communicating.

Sarah's Key , is haunting and unforgettable. A moving story and one which hopefully we don't forget

Despicable Me

The trailers to some movies just plain make them seem dumb, inane and unworthy of the time to sit and watch, Such was my perception of Despicable Me. I know their little characters became all the rage -

-but I must admit I didn't quite cotton to them. They left me unmoved. Mac and I sat down to watch the movie and I struggled to stay awake; ok I nodded off a couple of times. And then I had a Phineas and Ferb transitional moment. For you see, I truly did not enjoy Phineas and Ferb until one day I got it. And from that time forward I enjoyed it. Coming to that point in Despicable Me made the movie a good chuckle and fun to watch with Mackie

A trio of orphan girls cause the normally deplorable Gru to rethink his plan to steal the moon. He becomes a loving father to the three girls. What better movie to watch with my favorite daughter

Like all good movies it has good quotes including:

Aww man.. My caterpillar never turned into a butterfly
That's a cheeto..

Trying to explain to the kids why they can't find their book
Gru: That book was accidentally destroyed maliciously..

Gru: Do you speak Spanish?
Miss Hattie: Do I look like someone who speaks Spanish?
Gru: It's just that your face is so... Como un burro.
Miss Hattie: Oh! Why, thank you!


And a short clip

A Night on the Town

Chicago a cappella is a nine person classical vocal ensemble that creates a strong and moving sound that appeared downtown at Wentz Concert Hall. Its great having a quality concert hall within walking distance of the house (given the limited shoveling of sidewalks still and snowy conditions we drove). While Mackey had volleyball practice, Parker, Rindy and I attended the concert. They presented a range of composers and it made for a delightful listening experience. They were experimenting with performing two songs from each composer - one with and without piano, exciting "pairings". And though their pianist was splendid the majority of their a cappella material far exceeded the experience with a piano.


My favorite of the evening came early in the performance and was a piece by Randall Thompson. Though not their performance, I found a clip of the song to share; there are various renderings and this was one of my favorites. Its a calming song to listen to .






(and for those is the listening audience who prefer an Anime type version follow the link instead http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dd53KCKWdYQ&feature=related)

SNOWDACIOUS

It's not Boston with its 6' of snow

It's not Minnesota with its feet of snow and bitter cold

But it is a unique blend that we call Chicago.

Snow Days - what glorious words when spoken in moderation. Tuesday afternoon they started shutting the world of Chicagoland down in anticipation of the storm. I found that odd to close in advance of anything happening but so be it. It made the roads empty for doing chores and encountered few people along the way. Wednesday was a snow day. School closed. Work closed. Sleeping in late and hanging out at home. Remote access kept it from being entirely work free but its all good.

What made Mackey eagerly anticipate the call from North cancelling school for Wednesday, maybe even Thursday. The hero the uber-intoxicating combination of routine being broken and freedom from the expected? Let's call it freedom from routine for short. Aren't the greatest parties the spontaneous ones? Think of the best movies you've seen. They exceeded your expectations, right? What extraordinary concert still sticks out in your mind? The one that was just like the album or the concert that was an event?

An unexpected rest from the world is wonderful. Perhaps that is what they need to Egypt right now - a snow day to cleanse the world, calm everyone down, and give them pause. Something Snowdacious

The Showdown 1993

I was reading an article about the best superbowl ads of all time and it had a posting of one of my all time favorites.  Enjoy

The Blue Sweater

"The Blue Sweater is the inspiring story of a woman who has spent her life on a quest to understand global poverty and to find powerful new ways of tackling it. From her first stumbling efforts as a young idealist venturing forth in Africa to the creation of the trailblazing organization she runs today, Jacqueline Novogratz brings us a series of insightful stories and unforgettable characters — from women dancing in a Nairobi slum, to unwed mothers starting a bakery, to courageous survivors of the Rwandan genocide, to entrepreneurs building services for the poor against impossible odds." So writes her own organization the Acumen Fund in describing this book - and they are not far off the mark.

Brigham read it over Christmas and I picked it up this past week. And though not a spell-binding narrative a compelling life story and quest to contribute. I found her story uplifting and would that my daughter would read it to expand her vision of contributions by women and all my family to read  to learn: to listen better and add more value what ere they might do.

My favorite quotes of the book tended to be her quoting someone else and here are a sampling:

• patient capital - as a concept of investor funding that allows a concept to perculate and take-hold while still holding it accountable
• "you should focus more on being interested than being interesting
• Be fully present - listen  
• Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. MLK

• the future is here, it is just not widely distributed yet" william gibson

• people usually tell you the truth if you listen hatd enough. If you don't, you'll hear what they think you want to hear
• there is no currency like trust and no catalyst like hope
• people need to believe that they can participate fully in the decisions that effect their lives and have a stake in the societies in which they live
• the world will not change with inspiration alone; rather, it requires systems, accountability and clear measures of what works and what  doesn't
• you need to build a vision as if you were building a temple
• it is that suffering that binds us
• if you walk though the world with only your intellect you walk on one leg; if you walk through the world with only compassion you walk on one leg; but if you move through with intellect and compassion then you have wisdom

as a side note I found it interesting that at the end of her book she crosses paths and connects emotional with Seth Godin author of the next book on the list Linch Pin