When in Maine... or Massachusetts... or New Hampshire

David and I had the great opportunity to attend a business conference in Boston, so we decided to go in a few days early and go up to Maine. After we landed, we headed out of Boston to Gloucester and then spent the night in Rockport, Massachusetts. The next day, we were surprised to find such picturesque village, right on the water. In fact, one of the most painted places in New England was in the harbor- “Motif #1.” Tucked in among the cute little shops was a… lobster pound! On the top of David’s list of things to do in Maine was to find a lobster pound (where you pick out your live lobster and they cook it for you). But heck, when you find a lobster at a good price in a fun seaside village, you go for it, even if it’s starting to rain on the eating deck. Besides, we figured that for educational purposes, it would good to be able to compare a Massachusetts lobster with a Maine lobster. And so began our study of the epicurean delights of the lobster, or more correctly, in New Englandese, the “lobstah.” Day 1 of our study included that Massachusetts lobstah (“sweeter” than the Maine variety, we were told), a female who had smaller claws and a larger tail than the males. Wow, all I can say is that the first bite was a little bit of heaven! So sweet and luscious!
Later that rainy day, we found a Chinese restaurant in Freeport, Maine that had lobster in the seafood stir-fry. There's more to do in Freeport than shop! (The whole town is composed of outlet stores- most famous is L.L. Bean.)

Day 2 found us braving the elements to walk through the village of Boothbay Harbor, across a footbridge, to a local lobster pound to sample a male (larger claws and smaller tail- yeah, you know that does make sense). We did have an inside table, which was good since it was pouring, so this time we stayed dry as we gobbled up every delicious morsel. And, bonus… this place had been featured on Throwdown with Bobby Flay because they were famous for their crabcakes. So, we had to try those, as well. Yummy!

Moving on… in Portland, Maine we found another pound (complete with this guy pulling in customers from off the streets)

and tried a couple of soft shell lobstahs, as we sat on a dock during a short break in the weather.

At Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, we sat in the pouring rain under a big beach umbrella and tried a lobstah roll- a good alternative since the sand sculpture contest was pretty soggy (but impressive).

Once in Boston, we shared a cup of lobstah bisque at Legal Seafoods, and after our historic walking tour of Boston and just before we caught our plane home, we tried a lobstah wrap at historic Quincy Market.

I think you could say that we did not leave a stone unturned (or should I say we did not leave a shell unturned) in our study of the lobstah. Our conclusion- they all were delicious! What a fun way to really experience New England! Of course, we experienced a lot more than just lots of lobstah, including gorgeous scenery, quaint towns, revered institutions of learning and the arts, awesome lighthouses, wonderful historic sites, and friendly people.

It was interesting that the keynote speaker for the conference in Boston was Bert Jacobs, one of the co-founders of Life is Good. I was quite enthralled with the story of his company and its meteoric growth after his brother drew a simple little character named Jake who became the star of the T-Shirt show they operated out of their vintage Volkswagen bus.

The rest is history and his message on optimism, simplicity, humility and giving back to worthy causes was quite inspiring. Turns out that their flagship store was located in an historic Brownstone only a block away from the Convention Center, and it only took a minute or two to find this great shirt for David.
It truly had his name all over it and it was the perfect “day after Father’s Day” gift. It pretty well sums up our New England lobstah experience!

I Did It!

Yep, the lady in black running under the balloons is me! I did it! I ran my first 5K! It felt so good to finish, especially since I was "running on fumes." I knew it would be hard after not being on the treadmill or running on "The Boulevard" for 10 days, but I did think I would be over the jet lag (almost 24 hours to get home from Ireland). Wrong! As I started running, I thought, "What am I doing? I can't do this!" But, I just kept running and then walking a little, running and then walking a little. And, it got easier and I began to hope that I could finish under 40 minutes. (I did!) It was also good to stay focused on why I was running- to help Eliza and other MLD (Metachromatic Leukodystrophy) kids and help buy books for Eliza's Library.

It occurs to me that this is alot like life. There are times when things are hard and we're not sure we can make it, but we just have to put one foot in front of us and sometimes run and sometimes walk a little. It helps, as well, to focus on the bigger picture, have hope, and keep an eternal perspective. It brings to mind a scripture that helps me when I am in the midst of things that are hard: "Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of god and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life."

It works for me!. . . Tomorrow, back to the treadmill!

It's Official!

Can you believe it? Today, I signed up for my first race! I have been “blown away” by the efforts of my amazing running daughters, so I thought that I ought to get off my treadmill and follow their examples. So, “I put my money where my mouth is” (I’ve been saying that I wanted to run in a race, but never did anything about it) and got online and paid the entry fee. The best part about it is that I am running for my neighbor, Eliza. She is a beautiful 4 year-old who is suffering from Metachromatic Leukodystrophy, a progressive and terminal genetic neurological disease. If you'd like to meet Eliza, you can visit her website, http://www.elizaswish.org/. The proceeds of the race will benefit MLD research and Eliza’s Library, both of which you can learn about on Eliza’s website…. So, I’m hoping for the best with not “training” before the race because we’ll be in Ireland almost until time for the race. But, there’s always the walk option if the hiking around Ireland doesn’t quite qualify for serious training!… Move over girls, here I come!

I Am Glad for Many Things

We recently returned from Minnesota, where we attended the baptism of Emily’s oldest child, Braden. What a joy it was to be there for such an awesome occasion! Braden was so excited to be baptized and to have us be there. Brian was able to join us, as well, as he just completed the second year of his doctoral program and drove over from Michigan. For the baptism, Braden asked David to speak and Uncle Brian to sing with him.
It was a wonderful meeting!

Of course, it was so very fun for us to be able to spend time with Emily’s family and Brian. It was a virtual family feast for us since all of our children and grandchildren live out of Utah and we miss seeing them on a regular basis. So, we let the good times roll! We hung out, read stories, took a hike, planted a tree, enjoyed a mini piano concert, watched movies, attended Dallin’s Kindergarten music concert, went shopping…
heck, they even got us hooked on “24!”

Brian and David had a great “road trip” driving back to Utah, while I flew home to get back to work. Then we were able to enjoy Brian for a little over a week before he started back to Michigan. Highlights- dinner at the Mandarin, a mini “concert” of songs that Brian will be playing at Potbelly’s Sandwich Shop in Ann Arbor, being serenaded with “I Often Go Walking” for Mother’s Day, and just hanging out.

Ever since we got back from Minnesota, I have had this little Primary song running through my mind,

“I Am Glad for Many Things.” It pretty well sums up my feelings about the family times we have enjoyed in the last few weeks:

I am glad for many things,

Many things,

many things.

I am glad for many things,

That are mine today.

Thank you, thank you, my heart sings,

My heart sings,

my heart sings.

Thank you for the many things

That are mine today.

Deep, Deep Storage!

“Deep Storage” is a term used in Food Storage that refers to storing the basics to sustain life in time of great need- basics such as grains, legumes, non-fat dry milk, and sugar. Many of these items can safely be stored, following storage guidelines (including temperature- at or below room temperature) and proper packaging, for up to 30 years. Member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have been counseled to prepare for times of need, for decades. Those who have chosen to follow the direction of our Prophet and other Church leaders have been blessed for their obedience with an assurance that they have chosen wisely and are prepared.

One couple who have followed the prophet with strict obedience is Merlynn and Martha Tanner. One look at their storage room- with its slanted shelving that rolls the next cans in their storage stock to the front position so they can be rotated in a timely fashion and the every-ready wheat grinder and storage wheat that provides for the most heavenly whole wheat bread on earth

- is to know that Merlynn and Martha have always practiced provident living on a daily basis. In addition, their big chest freezer has always been full to overflowing and their fruit room has showcased beautifully bottled fruit and vegetables- all from their once gigantic and productive garden, raspberry bushes, grapevines, and fruit trees.

The danger, however, with Deep Storage is that sometimes when basics are “squirreled away” they can be forgotten since they are “out of sight, out of mind.” Merlynn and Martha had an unexpected lesson in this unforeseen danger this past week. They arranged for someone to give them a bid for blowing additional insulation in their attic. (The gas and electric companies are giving big rebates to help homeowners make their homes more energy efficient.) When the insulation guy was in their attic, he discovered a cache of sugar that had been stashed away in the attic for deep storage….

Enter David and Jan. We went down to Payson on Saturday to spend the day with Mom and Dad, visiting, bringing lunch, and helping out wherever we could- you could call it an early birthday gift for Dad’s 93rd birthday. Of course, the item of highest priority was removing the sugar from the attic. David climbed up into the attic and found a carefully placed platform stacked with 6 large bags, each holding 6 ten-pound bags of sugar. If you do the math, it works out to 360 pounds of sugar! He found a carefully recorded date on one of the bags- February 15, 1968! Forty-one years of deep storage!! David slit open the big bags and then passed the 10 pound bags to me and I climbed down the ladder and stacked them up in the kitchen. Up and down 36 times, but it was good exercise for a day when I didn’t get on the treadmill, lift weights, etc.! (Dad and Mom did take several bags from me, over my protests, since it wore them out.) As I carried the bags down, I marveled at how they were just like big white bricks and thought, “Hey, you could build a sugar igloo or a fortress for a good ol’ fashioned snowball fight out of these!”…. (FYI- The attic yielded an additional surprise, another evidence of M & M’s frugality- Venetian blinds that had been stored, just in case there might be a need, after new windows had been installed years and years ago.)

When all the bags were down, we discovered that three had small holes, so I cleaned out a big storage bucket and emptied the bags in there one at a time, breaking up the sugar clods with my hands. Amazing- the sugar was still pristine after 41 years! As far as Mom and Dad were concerned, there never was any question as to whether the sugar should be thrown away. It was carried down to the fruit room and stacked on the shelves and is ready to can more fruit or preserve more raspberries in the future. And, they had a plan that reflects the generosity that has always accompanied their provident living and obedience- when the grandkids come for a visit, a bag of sugar will be shared. Of course, they insisted that we take several boxes full of bags of sugar, to be shared with our kids when they come to visit, and the rest to go into storage in our basement… hopefully, not “out of sight, out of mind,” but on much less than a 41-year rotation!

Just a short P.S. to this post. . . Merlynn Tanner- almost 93 years young! He and David are showing off their "matching shirts," after moving the sugar and then pruning. David and his Dad make a good team- Dad directs and David does the work. Both were happy with the results.

Sensational Sixtieth

Birthdays traditionally are regarded as pretty happy days. In fact, all the ones I’ve experienced in the past have been categorized in this way. However, this year’s anniversary of my birth would have to be considered a bit traumatic and depressing- that is until it was transformed into something sensational.

I guess the problem was in my perception of being sixty years old. For all my life, sixty was old. My dad died when he was 65. Many more people in the Obituaries are in their sixties than are in their nineties. In fact, a friend of ours recently died suddenly, just short of his 60th birthday. Never mind that some of my best friends are in their 60’s and they are still very young in my eyes, as well as my husband, who will turn 65 this year. I have heard it said that the sixties are the new forties, but it was just too “up close and personal” for me to be excited about this birthday.

Besides that, the day itself was a bit of a downer. It snowed like crazy and I had to figure out how to get up the hill to drive in to work early in the morning, before the sun came up and before the snowplow came. I hadn’t told anyone at work that it was my birthday, so there were no birthday wishes (serves me right!) and our planned attendance at Ward Temple Night didn’t happen because there was no parking for us at the Temple with the snow situation. We came home and watched a Jazz basketball game instead, which I ended up watching by myself because David went to sleep on the couch.

Fast forward nine days later…. I gave myself an awesome birthday gift- a trip to Seattle! (Thank you Southwest for having a half-price sale!) David and I flew out on Thursday night after work and spent a fun weekend visiting family and seeing the sights. We spent the first two nights with my sister Jennifer and her husband Denis. What fun to hang out with them! They considered it my birthday weekend and showered me with special treats, breakfast, and fun times. We even caught the UW basketball bug and joined in cheering the team on in two different PAC 10 nail-biters!

On Friday, David and I took the bus downtown, had lunch, did a little impromptu shopping, and soaked up the ambience of the Pike Place Market on a glorious spring-like day.

Notice the sign- Local Color. . . . The guy was singing as he was balancing his guitar and hula-hooping.

This was the view from the park at the end of the Pike St. Market. Mt. Rainier is in the distance.

That night featured the centerpiece of the weekend and the big reason for the trip- seeing Jennifer’s show at the Seattle Children’s Theater. She is a set designer and had been working for a year on a world premiere, especially commissioned for SCT. It was a coming of age story of a spoiled young Pharaoh in ancient Egypt. We had seen the model of the set and heard the story when we were in Seattle in October, so we were very excited to see the end result.

We got all dressed up for the show (pretty much overkill) and found ourselves amidst a predominantly pre-teen audience and their enthusiastic parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, scout leaders, and other assorted significant others. I think we were the only “un-attached” adults in the audience. But the experience was spectacular, with the set being the star of the show, as evidenced by the questions asked by the kids after the show- “How did you make the mummy disappear?” "How did you move the walls?”

The next day, we visited my mom’s grave with Denis and Jennifer and left some cute baby daffodils bought at the Market the day before.Then we headed out to take the Ferry out to Bainbridge Island and right back. (Jessie the dog can’t be left for too long.) Ferry rides are one of David's great pleasures when in Seattle.That night, we met our daughter Julie’s family at a Chinese restaurant for a birthday dinner. The food was delicious, the candles and birthday fortune cookies (a chocolate dipped one for me!) were fun, and the rousing “Happy Birthday” song by the waiters and waitresses reminded me a bit of the “Fa, Ra, Ra, Ra, Ra!” song at the end of A Christmas Story. After dinner, we said “Goodbye,” to J & D and went home with Julie and her family to spend the next two nights. Julie had asked David to help her with Sharing Time in Primary the next day, so I stayed for one presentation- he shared an experience he had with the importance of obeying his parents- and then I went home to be with Meg who was recuperating from a bad bout with a stomach bug. After Church, the plan was to do a Sunday afternoon hike, but we settled for a wild, windy look at Snoqualmie Falls instead of taking a chance on getting blown off Rattlesnake Ridge

Dinner was a spectacular birthday celebration! Lance grilled his famous marinated salmon. . . . . . and Julie outdid herself with a wonderful salad, rolls, asparagus, roasted potatoes, and a double chocolate cake for her chocoholic mom. Caleb and Ashley added to the chocolate high by whipping up some fudge, as well.
There were candles to blow out and gifts to open. . .

. . . with the biggest and best surprise being a booklet, “Sixty Years of Memories”- 60 great memories shared by our kids, their spouses, and grandkids. What a treasure! I won’t lie, it did make me cry- and laugh. It almost made me wish I was older, so there would be more memories to enjoy- the important word here is “almost!”

We ended the evening playing games and loving an impromptu violin recital starring Meg.
Bright and early the next morning, Grandpa and Kate enjoyed a brisk jog to school before we headed out to the airport.

We had an awesome weekend of celebrating! Thanks to everyone who contributed to such an awesome birthday!! Amazing what joyful experiences will do for your perspective! Sixty doesn’t seem so old now that I am a few weeks into it and I love the comments that I’ve gotten from my “true” friends when they find out that I am sixty- “Wow! You’re a young sixty!”

There’s a lesson here- I was so focused on how depressing it was to be so old, I forgot to focus on the joys and the memories of sixty wonderful, memorable years and all the associated blessings. It was an important lesson on Gratitude and I am very grateful that reinforcing and strengthening our understanding of important principles is a continuing part of Heavenly Father’s Plan, no matter the stage of life in which we find ourselves. I’m older and wiser now and I won’t soon forget!

Even After 36 ½ Years!

In case you’re wondering if Valentine’s Day can still be fun and surprising even after 36 ½ years of marriage, consider these Valentine surprises that showed up at our house yesterday:

When I opened my eyes after David let me sleep in, I saw the roses on the counter in the bathroom. (He knows on which side I sleep, so he strategically placed them there so they would be the first thing I would see.) It was a big surprise and I jumped up instead of just lying there until I could muster up the desire to get up. Guess I missed the pineapple that was on my dresser, but I found it later. (David had gone to Costco looking for blueberries since I love them so much, but not finding them, he bought me a pineapple since I love them, too. And, he even tied a bow on it!) Ahhh… how sweet!

My contribution was the book, The Wednesday Letters. I had heard it was a fun little love story, so I bought it for David (and me) so we could read it together. While it snowed outside, we snuggled together on the couch and read the first chapter. Pretty fun! We continued our total commitment to the holiday by relaxing in the hot tub as the snow continued to fall and we couldn’t go anywhere because the snowplow didn’t come.

But, the surprises continued… Later in the day, David brought home a loaf of Great Harvest Cinnamon Burst Bread for me, just because I love it. Ahhh… how sweet #2!

The day's finale was the best… a date for the ballet. We attended Ballet West’s “Madame Butterfly” and it was spectacular! The sets and costumes were incredible, Puccini’s music was so beautiful, and the dancing was absolutely inspired. We have seen many ballets over the years and we both thought that this was one of the most memorable and beautiful!
A pretty good Valentine’s Day for a couple who has seen a lot of Valentine’s Days! Maybe we didn’t do so well at answering questions at the “Not So Newlywed Game” the night before at the joint Elder’s / High Priests Party, but we do know how to do Valentine’s Day right… at least this year!