18 June 2009

Roosters & office politics

I have found it! The ultimate solution to my office politics problem! It's a rooster!!! Any rooster, it seems will do, even!
We are not mall shoppers. Growing up, my mall of choice to hang out on the very rare occasion I did such a thing was Fashion Place Mall. My sisters was Valley Fair Mall. Both of these malls are currently undergoing massive makeovers, so I do not guarantee maps and such on the links. But, anyway, while walking through Fashion Place Mall yesterday we happened upon a store called Asian Gifts. We went in, hoping to find a birthday gift for my mom's best friend. Her birthday was also on Sunday and I hope she had a good one, too. We found a couple of things of interest, but mom decided on a set of 3 Chinese wisemen for Judy's birthday gift. This particular shop does not have its own website. They are to help bring Good Luck, Wealth and Health to your household and are best placed in the dining room.
In looking around, this shop was very good about having papers posted explaining the purpose of many thing on display. One especially caught my eye, it was for The Rooster:I laughed and showed my mom and Steve, who just basically rolled his eyes. Many of you know my background with "jobs" and will immediately get the reason for our reactions! I don't know that I will be in a position to test this purpose, but I found it amusing, at least! Office politics are not my friend...oh the books I could write! My many experiences also lead to my fascination with the only reality show that I really like and watch faithfully, The Apprentice!

So, what are your experiences and solutions to office politics where you work or have worked?!

14 June 2009

Flag Day & Birthday wishes!


I love the United States of America! Most anyone who knows me, knows this. I especially love Flag Day. I also have great respect for the flag of the United States of America! For years now, I have worn a heart flag pin. Way before 9-11 and some people started wearing pins and ribbons and such, for a short while. I still wear my pin, the current one I have I got from AVON in 2004. I have others that I wore before that.

When I worked at the Mesquite Library as a page, one of my duties was to take care of the flag. On days that I worked opening, I was to put it up the flag pole. On days that I worked closing, I was to pull it down and fold it when it got dark or the library closed, whichever came first. I was a bit of a stickler on flag etiquette. Meaning that if it started raining, I was right out there to get the flag down or if it was raining, I would not even put it out. We made sure to fold it properly every night, too. I loved this task of being in charge of the flag.

This day is also special because it is the birthday of two very important people in my life. My Uncle Larry is my mom's brother, who we did not know until 1981. This is when we flew to Florida to meet my mom's dad for the first time. She was 32 yrs old.

The other is a great friend from high school. Rob was a very important part of my high school friendships and learning. Some of the best times we had were during and after the ACT prep classes, remember?! LOL! I wasn't even close the friend to him that he was to me!

Happy Birthday Larry & Rob...hope your day was great!!! Happy Flag Day to everyone else!

09 June 2009

Grumpy Old WOMEN



The year is 1993 and the movie is Grumpy Old Men, which was followed in 1995 by Grumpier Old Men. My dad loved these movies! I can take it or leave them, but my dad loved them! My dad was known as grumpy, but it was more of an act than anything sincere. For example, we would ask for him to take us to the store and he would grumpily say, "It's too far!" We would whine and then move on about our business. A few minutes later, usually 10-15, he would come in and say, "Let's go!" This was common, he tried to be mean, but usually he would give in or just be teasing. In fact, it sort of ran in his family...his older brother was grumpier than my dad. One time we went to visit him, this was just a couple of years ago...he was in the kitchen being grumpy, I told him that he was just like my dad...he smiled!!! From then on, whenever we went over, he would smile. Ok, so back to topic....

This post is about the flipside of that, Grump Old Women! In looking for any info to share on this topic, I found that there is a TV series in the UK by that name. This made me laugh...but, today, I am going to talk about one Grumpy Old Woman in my life, my MOM! Ok, so I don't believe she is old because I believe that age is a state of mind! But, my mom just turned 60 and she thinks she is old! But I know a lot of people that would agree with me that she is GRUMPY!

We will be walking in the store, Walmart for example. Ok, most people have been in Walmart or most any grocery type store. There is one main aisle that people walk up and down to get to the regular aisles where the groceries are, right? Ok, so we are walking up and down this main aisle and someone comes out of an aisle too fast or isn't watching for anyone in the main aisle. Mom gets mad and says that she "should have the right of away". Same trip at the store, we are in a regular aisle and come out, mom in front and not watching or caring and someone in the main aisle is in her way and she still says, "I should have the right of way." I will sometimes look at the person in an apologetic way as we move along. I'm sorry, but I don't see how it can work that way. Both directions can't have the right of way for her? This is probably the most common example of her grumpiness.

So a week ago Sunday, we are having a game night of sorts, one of many, in fact, at our house. There are 5 of us playing, myself, Steve, my mom and two of my cousins. As we are getting started, I mention that the ASL class would be starting the following Saturday. My mom turns to my cousins, both teenage boys, and tells them "sign language would be a really good thing for them to learn." The topic goes by the wayside as we get into playing games.

We start by playing The Game of Life, and for whatever reason, my one cousin owes Steve $5000, but he only has the $10000 bill. So, he goes to hand it to Steve and then pulls it back. They are playing around and my other cousin and I are laughing about it. It is all in good fun! The cousin wants Steve to pick up the change and they can exchange it at the same time. Steve refuses, and I point out that that isn't how it works in real life, you pay your part and then get the change, right? Well, when the time comes that Steve gets a grip of the bill, it rips. Ok, now, this game belongs to me & steve, not my mom, who doesn't like the game in the first place. I don't care one iota that this bill is torn, it only shows the game has been played and enjoyed, imo! I would have probably just thrown the little torn off piece away. In fact, the cousins, Steve and myself kind of laugh about it! But, not my mom, NNNNOOOOOO, ...She gets mad, really mad! She makes the other cousin get the scotch tape. She says, "All Steve had to do was pick up the $5000", I come back by saying, "All had to do was give Steve the money!" She yells at me, I get mad...and would normally start crying because I'm mad...she knows this and so I say, loudly, "And I'm not going to cry!!!"

That did it, the rest of the night; we spent basically walking on eggshells. This is nothing new for me as I do this a lot. It isn't an easy thing to live in the same house as your mom, at least not for us! We finish that game of Life and then move on to Payday. We all pretty much expected mom to go to bed, but she didn't, she stays up and plays Payday, too. In this game, there is a lottery, where each player that chooses to play chooses a number 1-6. The player landing on the lottery then rolls the die and whosever number comes up first wins the lottery. This same cousin that was involved in the tearing of the $10000 bill, which we now call bill, calls out the number 3. Steve can't hear well and even less this night because he has been having some issues with his ears. So, we were trying to hold up fingers to show him what numbers we were calling out. Well, some of us were. This cousin says 3 but uses the sign for 6

(which is the same as the sign for the letter W) and is used by much of the world’s population to say 3 and I know this.




This is really the sign for 3. I took that moment to tell him the difference between the sign for 3 and the sign for 6. Mom didn't seem to like this lesson and told this cousin that it didn't matter for "people like them." Now, she didn't elaborate, so I am not positive what exactly "people like them" meant. Now, mostly because of the grumpiness earlier in the night, my brain was not exactly following the process of all conversation that night.

Later that night, as my non-stop brain was going over the events of the night, I realized that at the beginning of the night, my mom was telling the cousins that learning sign language would be a good thing, but late in the night she tells him that it doesn't matter for "people like them." Hmm....WHAT?????

So, a couple of nights ago, one of these same cousins was over playing games again. We were playing games again and for some reason I mentioned something about sign language and/or the class. Mom told cousin that it would be a good thing for him to learn. He and I glanced at each other and after a moment kind of laughed a little. She didn't catch on that we were laughing at her and her constant changing mind.

Now, call me crazy (I didn't marry into the BATTY family for nothing, you know!), but AAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I guess I didn't know what crazy was until the last 4 years and I'm certain it is only going to get worse as time continues on...so I decided to let out a little of this and do a post called "Grumpy old WOMEN". This woman isn't old and the thought of just how grumpy she will be when she does get old scares the living daylights outta me............good thing I love her so much, huh?!

08 June 2009

ASL

"You will be the same person in 10 years except for the people you meet and the books you read." ---Dave Ramsey

Yesterday, I did something I have not done in quite some time, too long, even! I bore my testimony in sacrament meeting. Sitting in the back row, it was a long walk up to the pulpit. Our ward does not use the microphones, so everyone has to go up to the pulpit, although, I usually did anyway. Ok, so I started out with the Dave Ramsey quote above and went from there. From the moment I was done and walked back to my seat (using the hallway vs walking back through the congregation), I have not really been able to remember what I said.

I remember thanking a few people in the ward for their examples on adoption and talking about looking back at our lives and acknowledging the people we have met that fit the criteria in the quote above.

I remember mentioning that I am a bookworm. Without mentioning any specific books, I noted that I always have a book I'm reading and that I have been blessed to gain something from every book I've read. Maybe that is why I blog all my reviews now, I don't know.

I remember thanking the Macedone's for starting and teaching an ASL class. They have such passion for ASL and the deaf community. I have been told that our stake is getting a deaf branch in the near future. So, the timing of this class is GREAT! I would encourage everyone to learn ASL. In the flyer below, you will see that this class if for anyone 9 yrs and older. They don't have to be LDS, just understand that there will LDS terminology and hymns taught. I decided to blog about this and include the original flyer for the class, with Jim's permission, of course. I also put it on my google calendar and invited everyone that knows me and especially my husband to come and learn. The next class is on 20 Jun 2009. For more information, contact me, or the Macedone's and we will give you the details. We had a great time at the first class and welcome all that want to come!
I also know that I really did bear my testimony. It has been way too long and I am grateful that I took that moment to do this during fast & testimony meeting yesterday!
Incidentally, yes, I do know there is no post for yesterday. We are down to one computer and I chose to not get on yesterday, so I didn't post. Also, I'm hoping that maybe it will get me to post early in the day rather than late at night.

06 June 2009

Optimism

Back in the year 2000, we were living in the north part of Salt Lake City. Some refer to this area as Rose Park. We had run into some issues with family that had made our situation not the best. I have this overall habit of being optimistic about most everything, no matter how bad it looks. During this time, I was having a talk with our Bishop and he told me that I shouldn't be optimistic and that I needed to be realistic. This bothered me, until a matter of weeks later when during General Conference, there was a talk about being optimistic and that optimism is a good thing.

This made me feel better. I have my days of being really upset over even little things. Overall, I am optimistic and I believe, realistic. Even with everything going on in our lives right now, I'm still optimistic. Worrying and stressing isn't going to do anyone any good, is it?! No, it brings so much negative into our lives. Why would anyone want that? I know how dire things in the world seem today and I know that there are lot of people out there a lot worse off than we are. I know that we make our own choices and we have to live with the consequences of those choices.

Ok, a week or so ago, my bestest friend and I were talking about Twitter. We had both checked out the website, a little. We were both thinking that there was a lot of fluff surrounding its popularity. Then a day or two later, I read an article about using twitter in genealogy. So, I took the plunge, I am on twitter. I am still figuring out how to use it to benefit my own genealogical work and that of my potential clients. I am following mostly celebrities, local and national. I actually don't mind it. You can set it up so you can receive the tweets of those you are following as text messages on your cell phone. You can receive one, more or all of them on your cell phone. If you are on twitter, click on the link to the right and start following me, too!

One of those that I am following sends out a daily LDS thought, today's is below and that is what prompted this post: "Of all people we as Latter-day saints should be the most optimistic and the least pessimistic pres Benson" He said this in 1986, in an article in the October Ensign. But even in this last conference, Pres. Monson said, "be of good cheer, and do not fear", but more on that talk in a future post.

So, basically, I will continue to be optimistic. I hope that many of you will allow yourselves the blessings of optimism, as well. I know that we will be fine through our current issues and I know that most everyone else will also be able to work through their issues and come out above where they were before. This is a major part of having so many trials. We are here on earth to learn and grow! We do this, mostly, through trials. What lessons are you currently being taught?!

SMILE, inside and out, it really does make a difference!!!

05 June 2009

remembering conference talks

As many of you know, I've been working my way through the conference talks from April 2009 General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I know loads of people that watch or listen to conference every 6 months, then they're done until the next one. I know some people who listen to the talks over and over between conferences. And, then there are some, like mentioned in the article that basically only do the monthly lessons for Relief Society and Priesthood.

I am usually the last one, I watch conference and have all the feel good feelings and I will even take notes, usually. This last conference was different, though. It was Steve's birthday and we had plans for the weekend. I did manage to listen to or watch every session, but didn't take notes. I have an Ipod now, so I have them all on there, too. We are among the evil and don't have church magazine subscriptions...OH NO! Anyway, so I listen and then I read on lds.org. For the first time, I have a blog and am taking the time to share my 'observations' from each talk.

This morning, I happened upon this article and I was very pleased with myself that I am making more of an effort this time to remember exactly what encouragements we received. So, I thought I would take a moment and share the link/story with all my readers! What do YOU do to help yourself remember the counsel received during the 6 months between conferences?

04 June 2009

PART 1: 4 Apr 2009 AM session General Conference

Welcome to Conference, President Thomas S Monson: "In the near future, we will be dedicating the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple, and then in the coming months and years there will be many more dedications." I include this quote for the technicality in wordage. It should bring some comfort to some out there. "There is something about a temple dedication which prompts a reevaluation of one’s own performance and a sincere desire to do even better." This is so true. It never ceases to amaze me what big and little things it takes for us to stop and take a look at our lives and where we need to improve. "The work of the Lord continues to move forward uninterrupted." This is most always true, but we are continually reminded because it is important to know and remember!!!
Becoming Provident Providers Temporally and Spiritually, Elder Robert D Hales: "what we learn now, in our present circumstances, can bless us and our posterity for generations to come." I believe this would apply to anything in our lives, not just monetary lessons. "Of course some debt incurred for education, a modest home, or a basic automobile may be necessary to provide for a family." I love how this is worded and we have been given this advice for many many years. As a fan of Dave Ramsey, I do strive to not go into debt for automobiles or even education. Although, with current circumstances working out education possibilities without going into debt is looking to be difficult. "I pray that in the next few minutes, and throughout this conference, you will be filled with hope in our Savior, Jesus Christ, and find hope in the doctrines of His restored gospel." I know a few people that have looked at these hard financial times that many of us have and lost hope or have becoming somewhat paranoid, in a way. As I listened to and watched conference, I heard many little encouragements like this to have hope! "Our challenges, including those we create by our own decisions, are part of our test in mortality. Let me assure you that your situation is not beyond the reach of our Savior. Through Him, every struggle can be for our experience and our good (see D&C 122:7). Each temptation we overcome is to strengthen us, not destroy us. The Lord will never allow us to suffer beyond what we can endure" As one who has endured some stressful issues, although I openly acknowledge that even our current problems could be so much worse, I have to continually remind myself that I can endure and that there will be blessings to come out of each trial! I'm not always the most patient in waiting for things to work out or for the blessing to come! "Our success is never measured by how strongly we are tempted but by how faithfully we respond" This is very comforting to me! "What is a provident provider?
All of us are responsible to provide for ourselves and our families in both temporal and spiritual ways. To provide providently, we must practice the principles of provident living: joyfully living within our means, being content with what we have, avoiding excessive debt, and diligently saving and preparing for rainy-day emergencies." I absolutely love that he uses the word "joyfully" when talking talking about living within our means! Getting there is the hard part, in my opinion, but once we do, I can imagine the joy that will come! "There is an equally important principle underlying these lessons: we can learn much from communicating with our husbands and wives" 'nuff said "The foundation of provident living is the law of the tithe. The primary purpose of this law is to help us develop faith in our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. Tithing helps us overcome our desires for the things of this world and willingly make sacrifices for others. Tithing is the great equitable law, for no matter how rich or poor we are, all of us pay the same one-tenth of our increase annually (see D&C 119:4), and all of us receive blessings so great “that there shall not be room enough to receive [them]” (Malachi 3:10)." Early on, as an adult, having not been taught strongly about many things of spiritual nature in my home, tithing was a hard thing for me. As time moves on, my faith in this 'law' has grown and I now have no doubts of the great blessings that come by obedience to this law. I love that there is a certain equalness in this law. The amount of tithe paid in regards to total dollar amount is not the important thing and should never come up in comparisons with others. The equality is in the fact that no matter who you are or how much money you make, we are asked to pay the same 10% of our income! "as children of God, our deepest hunger and what we should be seeking is what the Lord alone can provide—His love, His sense of worth, His security, His confidence, His hope in the future, and assurance of His love, which brings us eternal joy." Again, the encouragement of hope "in the future" even!

03 June 2009

fire safety at Madeline's

Late last week I got a phone call from a neighbor, she said that another neighbor suggested she try calling me. She then asked if I would be interested in listening to a fire safety presentation and get a free meal at Madeline's in South Jordan. Normally for these type of things, you need to go as a married couple, but for this one, that didn't seem to be the case. My mom lives with us, for those that don't know, and so her and I went to this presentation. The presentation was very informative and actually quite enjoyable. Landon was great! They talked about several things, including what rooms are the most common to have fires start and why. They also talked about charitable work and saving lives. Both my mom and I are glad we attended and I look forward to a possible opportunity to attend again with my husband, at some point in time. We had to choose between three delicious meals. My mom got the salmon, so I got the steak. I'm sure that if Steve would have been there, he would have gotten the chicken penne. From the bread, to the green beans to the potatoes, it was all wonderful! We quite enjoyed the food, which really was very tasty! It was 100% true when it said you did not need your wallets for anything! There was just a lot of good information and very good food! I would encourage anyone living along the Wasatch front and willing to drive to South Jordan to attend one of these meetings to take the time and go! No, I don't get anything, at all, for having people I know attend, and I still encourage it because I really believe it was worth my time and know that it would be worth yours! Email me or comment this post and I will make sure my friend calls you, too!

02 June 2009

The Chocolate War BY Robert Cormier

Let me start by saying congratulations to UW for winning the 2009 WCWS in Oklahoma in 2 games over Florida!!! WOOHOO!!! Good job HUSKIES!!!



rating: 1 of 5 stars
I got this book while working at the Mesquite Library. It seems to be a high school book, but I don't really remember if we read it at my high school or not. I chose to read this while waiting for my copy Sisterchicks in Wooden Shoes to come in at the library. It is a small short book, so I figured I would read it quick, but it took forever! Almost a month, actually. Ironically, I did finish it right about the time my sisterchicks book came it. I don't normally allow myself to write spoilers, but I don't recommend anyone I know read this book, so I don't care this time!

***SPOILER ALERT....STORYLINE IS CONTAINED BELOW...SPOILER ALERT***

The book starts off introducing a lot of characters very quickly. This alone was a bit confusing to me. Maybe my brain was never completely into reading this book. I did not like this book at all. I had to force myself to finish it just because I hate leaving books unfinished. At one point, it did start to get a little more interesting, but then I really didn't like the ending or the overall themes and really did have to force myself to finish it.

The location of the story is Trinity, an all boys Catholic school. The main character would be Jerry. He has recently lost his mother and his father is not dealing with it, therefore unable to help Jerry deal with it. So, Jerry, a freshman, decides to put everything into making the football team. Then you have Archie, the assigner for the Vigils (Trinity's gang), who is about as evil and cunning as they come, for teenage boys. There is also Brother Leonard, the stand-in headmaster running the show while the headmaster is unable to do so. The story revolves around the annual chocolate sale. Which because of the evil Brother Leonard's choice, is now double the usual...double the quantity, double the price of each box!

Jerry is assigned to not sell the chocolates for so many days. After the assignment ends, he decides to continue refusing to sell the chocolates. He is taking a stand. This is about the best thing in this book, the courage of one boy to not conform and to stand out on his own. Well, Jerry's decision is hailed as a great, in the beginning. That is, until Brother Leonard starts freaking out that the chocolate sale is not going well. He can not afford this sale to not succeed. Enter Archie, who enjoys nothing more than playing with the minds of everyone at Trinity. In the end, he has the Vigils selling all the chocolates but those assigned to Jerry. Then, he sets Jerry up in a fight with another student that Archie has been messing with for years. Here all the students are gathered at the football field buying into a raffle where they write down what punch they want thrown and who they want to throw the punch, this is how the fight is to go down, step by step! With the third draw, which is read off before realizing that it is a low blow, which is illegal, and causes the fight to reel out of control. Just as chaos breaks out with the students about chanting for Jerry's death, the lights go out. The teachers have arrived. Just in time, too...Jerry is about dead. They get him off to the hospital. The story ends with Archie and Brother Leonard celebrating in their own ways for the successes of thier evilness!

Another thing that was very bothersome in this book isn't the fact that there really isn't any female characters of importance. It's that the women spoken of, in any way, are used as sexual beings. Meaning that the only purpose of women is for the pleasure of men, whether the men are alone or not! I will not go into any further details there, as I'm sure you are all smart enough to know what it means!

Needless to say, I am glad to be done with this book and I do not recommend it to anyone! Originally there were a few pages I had noted for quotes, but looking through them now, there really isn't anything worth mentioning. Except maybe, "Do I dare disturb the universe?" A very important question, I think...do we dare NOT conform? I would hope we all would, at some point, stand for ourselves and not because we are told or taught a certain way. Isn't that what free agency is about?!

01 June 2009

The Jaguar Touch (WJHS 1989)

June 1st...this day holds several bits of history for our family. First, 21 years ago today, my grandpa, Bailus VanBuren Dye, died. We had only known him for about 7 years at that time.

20 years ago today, the class of 1989 graduated from West Jordan High School. We had our commencement in the gym at the school. Now they do graduations in big event center places, like the Ecenter, the Huntsman Center or the Marriott Center. Having recently attended a couple of these services, I told my mom that I was glad we had ours in the gym at the high school. I was one of the nerdy ones that actually purchased a videotape of the commencement. I think we may have tried watching it right after we got it, but I don't think I've watched it since then. I pulled it out and watched it this afternoon. It was not the best quality video (audio) I've seen on a video, but it was 20 years ago. I was pretty impressed that it was all over in about 90 minutes. They did the presenting of the class, individually, after they showed the closing prayer. So when it cut off abruptly after the reading of the names, it caught me off guard, until a moment later when I remembered that they had already shown the prayer.

Here is what I could make out that impressed me:

The motto: Today we follow Tomorrow we lead

Michelle Plouzek: We are individuals solely responsible for our actions. Take the road less traveled.

Wendy Griffin: We truly have the best mascot in the state, the Jaguar. (She pulls out a stuffed animal) The Jaguar is the largest most powerful wildcat in the world. Jaguars stand for strength and power. The sky is the limit for us now. We are the ones that others will follow to meet their needs.

MaryAnn Mabey: (with great enthusiasm) High school became exactly what we decided to make it. Graduation is by no means the end of our opportunities. Recognize opportunities and use them for our best interest.

Dax Kiger: He could hardly keep a straight face as the students recognized noisily every time he proudly mentioned the school. (Was this the bouncy balls or was it some other clap/stomp thing? He was by far the funniest speaker.) He closed by commenting that we are the leaders of tomorrow.

Chris Davis: Do we dare stir the universe? Do we dare disturb the world? (I just finished reading The Chocolate War and this was one of the themes of the book, you will see the review for this book this week sometime. If he had made reference to this book before the above comment, I didn’t hear it.)

Jerry McCleary: (addressing the parents, mostly) This class has probably been the best one we’ve ever had. They will accomplish things that you and I have not been able to accomplish in our lifetimes. They are truly unique. They are the last class that attended WJHS for a full four years. God Bless you.

Dr. Tom Owen, Area superintendent: reiterated the motto above. He also quoted Denis Waitley by saying, “Losers make promises…winners make commitments.” I hope you are committed to be the leaders of tomorrow.

14 years ago today, my sister was part of the class of 1995 at West Jordan High School. They, too, had their commencement in the gym at the school. I remember going to her graduation and it feeling like a reunion of sorts from our class as many of us had siblings that were graduating that night.

This year we celebrate our 20-year class reunion and I am sure I will blog about that late in the summer. In preparation for this, if you would email your contact info and the info of anyone else from our class that you may have access to, we can update our file, thanks! I have many other memories about that night 20 years ago and I will share them another time, maybe next year, maybe 5 years, time will tell. But, for today, what are your memories of that night?