December!

I need to record the events and experiences of the past few months.  If I don't, I am not likely to remember them at all or tell anyone about them. I am home chilling for a few hours before my meeting schedule begins for the day.  I have a pretty amazing life filled with blessings of family, good health, associates, work, church service and more that lead to ongoing happiness, purpose, meaning and substance.

Family Party

Saturday, December 7, we hosted the annual Petersen Family Christmas Party.  We had a good crowd but were missing more family than in previous years.  Annie created the menu, Haley and I were support staff and everyone there had a nice family evening which included several rounds of TREE (Bingo for Christmas) with prizes for all.

Who'd have thought . . . 

I grew up in a small community only 1.9 miles from where I currently live.  It was a pretty positive upbringing for the most part, not perfect, but good parents and religion moved all 8 kids in the family along. Last week, Friday (December 6), I sat on a pretty high profile panel of education, workforce, and government leaders to talk about the future of young people using Pathway to Prosperity as our reference.  The author of the Harvard document was the key panelist.  The panel was organized to speak with attendees of the national ACTE conference (Association of Career and Technical Education) held in Las Vegas.  It was a pretty amazing experience, to say the least.

In October, I made a lightning-speed trip to New York City to sit on a panel of large district, school counseling leaders from across the country at the Fall Forum of the College Board.  My charge there was to share how school counseling is experiencing a transformation to emphasis the importance of college and career readiness for all students. While right downtown in NYC I found my way to the top of the Empire State Building to the center of Rockefeller Plaza.  I had an interesting cabbie, Vido, who provided a travel/historical dialog to the airport. 

Grands!

Having now five grandchildren is quite an accomplishment and so much fun.  I had some alone time with all of them after Thanksgiving. What cute little chillins!  Elliott is so smart and wants to be helpful and has a million questions and ideas.  Wyatt is very strong-willed and a little on the stubborn side but so endearing.  Molly is my "golden granddaughter" and she is always so good when it's just the two of us.  Jackity-Jack is s sweet little boy who manages to understand and communicate in his own language.  And, Quinn is my chubby-wubby who patiently waits for me to look his way to share a huge smile. 

Lithuanian Express

Willie's Fantasy Basketball Team is affectionately call the Lithuanian Express. Preparing a missionary is a new thing for all of us.  When the "call" came in September, I thought "why so much time to prepare"?  Now, with just a little over two months from MTC time, I am feeling a little pressure.  Willie is ready! Now, we just need to get the shopping done -- for two years!  We are all excited to send a missionary off; but our excitement pales to what Willie is feeling.  He's ready!

U of U Student

One semester down and seven or eight to go.  With concurrent and AP credit and one semester nearly completed, Willie has enough credit to be considered a sophomore!  It's amazing how he has made the transition from high school to the college scene.  He's focused, he studies hard, and it has been a good life prep program to give him some substance to draw from as he moves to a new life experience.