Memorial Day!

I love this beautiful country where we live and can take a day off not just to honor those who fought wars but also to honor those who fought the daily battles of life to make our existence at this time on earth the best ever!

Mother's Day

It's Mother's Day -- a day to celebrate all women, really.  Doesn't matter to me if you have biological or adopted children or borrow children through relatives, neighbors, friends it's the implication of the word that has meaning for today.

Definition of MOTHER
a : a female parent 
b:  a woman in authority; specifically, the superior of a religious community of women
c:  an old or elderly woman

I hope that women who have influenced me over the years know that this day is for them.  I think about them, acknowledge them, and celebrate them!

I can't say that I have ever had a more exciting Mother's Day than today.  You see, the family was here in my home this morning for a couple of hours; but for 45 min 33 seconds we had the amazing pleasure of talking with Willie via Skype.  He was here, in our office, with everyone - Karl, Annie and Ross, Haley and James, Elliott, Wyatt, Molly, Jack, and Quinn, and ME!

We (people of the world) have been blessed with some pretty amazing technology these past years and Skype provided us an opportunity to be together as a family for some invaluable time this morning.  I am pleased to report that Willie is doing so very well -- looks great, enthusiastic, giggly, and excited to just see us and we him. It's hard to imagine that he was nearly 7,000 away from home and his voice and image transferred without any time delay, etc.  How cool is that!

Elliott and Willie

Elder Petersen and Elder Marshall



Time flies when you're having fun sitting in a hospital room!

Hi blog world!  I have spent a good  part the past 13 days sitting with my dad (and siblings) in a hospital room at IMC.  Arggggggggg . . . . .

As you are well aware, my Dad fell on March 17 (St. Patrick's Day, Eddie's birthday) and basically broke his neck.  The neck repair went well and he was off to a quick recovery when it became apparent that a misguided catheter placement damaged Dad's plumbing system pretty seriously which resulted in a nasty infection.  After a few intensely painful procedures and then a risky surgery last Thursday, he is finally on the mend.  He was released from the hospital this afternoon and enrolled for rehab in Legacy Village in Taylorsville.  After a few confusing transition hours he seems comfortable and ready for rehab.  The only tube in his system is the feeding line and that is a huge relief!

Hospital life is ok but extremely slow; it's like you hurry to wait!  Patients wait for medications, they wait for someone to help them to the bathroom, they wait for speech therapy and physical therapy, they wait for orders and changes in orders, they wait for someone to get them out of bed in the morning and back to bed in the evening.  However, I must admit that although life in a hospital is s l o w  we met some amazingly nice members of the hospital staff.  The nurses like Brandon, Cathy, Lindsey, Brent, January, Vonnie and others were competent, caring and helpful.  The CNAs, Regina, Carol, Laurie, Mary, and Kathy were kind and considerate and became my Dad's good friends and caregivers.  The PT, Dr. Nate and the Speech therapist, Jan were very good, as well.  They all joined in our family celebration of Dad's 85th birthday, April 4.  They became keenly aware of our love and commitment to Dad and making sure all his needs were being met.  I must say that I learned a lot.  I had no idea exactly what a prostate was/is until this experience.  Nor did I know how delicate the swallowing muscles are and if compromised take weeks, maybe months to get back to functioning.

At one point in the past weeks, Dad was frustrated that he wasn't getting better.  He had priesthood blessings and many prayers were offered on his behalf.  He was concerned that he "needed to have a little more faith."  Believe me, my dad is one of the most faithful, Christ-like men I know.  If he feels like he needs a little more faith, where does that leave the rest of the family?  I am so very thankful for the blessings Dad has received.  I am also thankful for the time all of us (the eight Huber siblings) have spent sitting with Dad in all kinds of pairings and combinations.  I can't say it was fun, but we did get along (for the most part) and let Dad know we were united in supporting him in any situation.

Needless to say, the past weeks have flown by.  When we dropped Willie off at the MTC six weeks ago, it appeared he would be there forever.  Now, his departure to Lithuania is just fourteen days from today.  I (we) have been so busy with Dad, the time has flown by. 

You know your day isn't going well when . . . .

Friday, March 28, was a day for the record books.

Karl reminded me on Thursday night that I needed to get gas in my car.  The fuel message read 45 miles to E.  Not to worry, I could get to my office and back on 25 miles to E.

My day began with a meeting at Lincoln Elementary School.  As usual, I took the "back way" route to Lincoln through a joint parking lot shared by the Jones Center.  Today, however the shared access gate connecting the two parking lots was chained and locked.  Not a problem, I decided to park at the Jones Center and just walk through the locked gate through the parking lot to one of the back doors into the school.  I was a little bummed that all of the back doors on the parking lot side of the school were locked (student non attendance day).  So, I walked to the front of the school, entered the one and only open door and proceeded down the long hallway nearly all the way to the back parking, 10-15 minutes late for the meeting.  There wasn't a chair for me ( the late comer) in the back of the room, so there was a big commotion and disruption in the meeting just to get me a chair.  Arrggg!!!!!!

Following the meeting at Lincoln Elementary, I headed to the district office for another meeting. I stopped at McDonald's for a Diet Coke on the way. The time in my office was busy but pretty uneventful.

Around 4:15, I talked to Karl and told him I was just about ready to head for home.  I pulled out of the parking lot around 4:25 and headed north on Main Street toward 2100 South.  As I approached the intersection of 2100 S Main Street, my car sputtered a little bit.  I didn't think much about it until the engine died.  I attempted to restart the car when it hit me -- out of gas. Rats! Why didn't I remember to stop and get gas at some point during the day!

Seeing a gas station just through the intersection (a few 100 feet), I so hoped that with any luck my car would make it there on fumes.  Sadly, no such luck :(

Embarrassed???  Absolutely!!!  Humiliated????  Yes!!!!  Call for help???  Absolutely not!!!

So, I turned the emergency flashers on, got out of my nice little Flex car and walked to the Shell Gas Station/Supersonic Car Wash on the NW corner of the intersection.  Once there, I approached a few workers asking if they had a gas can I could use because I had run out of gas in the intersection (I pointed to my car sitting patiently in the left turn lane with the flashers blinking).  They looked at me confused and got someone to help me who could speak English.  The English speaking worker chuckled as he fumbled through a few things in the back of the car wash building and came to my rescue with a gas can.  One of the Spanish speaking workers offered to help me.  I gladly accepted his offer even though I couldn't understand him nor him me.  I filled the can with gas and the worker and I walked to my car.  We couldn't get the gas into the tank.  Apparently there is a latch inside the gas tank area that can only be released by a gas pump nozzle.  Hmmmm . . . what do we do now?  I walked to the Jiffy Lube on the SW corner of 2100 S Main Street.  There were three workers there trying to keep their composure knowing full well my situation.  One Jiffy Lube worker decided to help.  I made him promise not to tell anyone, especially my husband.  He got a screw driver (you can fix anything with a screw driver) and after a few attempts at trying to break the fuel pipe thing, he and the car wash worker were able to release the latch inside the fuel area and pour the gas into the tank.  I told them not to share my story with anyone!  I was embarrassed and didn't want anyone to relish in my stupidity.  I drove to the Shell station where I felt obligated to pay the $3.42 price tag for gas (the most expensive gas around).

I eventually made it home - 30-40 minutes later than expected.  Karl didn't say anything about my later than expected arrival.  Whew!  By this time, he was hungry so we decided to go to Red Robbin for a hamburger.  (We drove separately because I planned to visit Dad and he wanted to get back home to watch basketball games.  Had we driven together, he would have asked me about getting gas.  Dodged an awkward conversation!)  We were seated at Red Robbin and had our Diet Cokes when the restaurant manager approached us and wanted to ID us for drinks?  What???  First of all, I think we look old enough to buy drinks that require an ID and second, we had our Diet Cokes in full view.  Go figure - he had the wrong table.  Embarrassing for us and him!

Needless to say, the day came to an end without any additional awkward and unfortunate events.  I haven't told anyone about my not so good Friday; I do however, want it recorded for posterity that every once in awhile I fall flat into a series of weird, embarrassing situations or events.  If you are reading this blog post, laugh a little and know that stupid is as stupid does.  I just hope the next time my day isn't going very well, I check the fuel tank message before there are no fumes left in the car.

The end!

It's in their eyes . . .

Even wonder if my children are related?  Just look at how the squint their eyes!

What to write about . . .

I haven't written much about anything but the mission and the missionary for awhile.  Not sure there's much else going on around here.  Karl and I have been "empty nesters" for 13 days now, and to be honest, it is very different.  We've been married for a long time (yes, it's a miracle that it's lasted this long).  Annie was born in 1978 and for the past 35+ years we have had a child/children living in our home with us.  We have given 110% to our kids and their upbringing -- no fancy vacations away from them, no "dates" without them, always there for them.  Needless to say they are turning out ok.  And, even though we have a full house for Sunday dinner every week and our home is always open to any and all, it's an adjustment to go from some to none.

I think one of our secrets to parenting success over the years has been pushing our kids through tough situations and helping them grow from disappointment. Mind you, we push(ed) with them; side by side and involved. 

For example, Annie thought she was a failure at AP Calculus and that I was an ogre for making her stick with it.  The teacher was not the most positive and instilled little confidence in her abilities.  For some reason, we worked through the tough homework assignments and hours of anxiety and stress and by the end of the school year, the teacher sheepishly admitted that Annie would like pass the AP test if she were to take it.  I didn't make her take the test; and by sticking it out in the class for the entire year she benefited in so many ways.

Haley excelled academically (and still does).  Her challenges were more emotionally charged.  She struggled with going to school and as the anxiety of a new week, a new term, a new year in school came around we took her emotions a step at a time.  We plowed through the ups and downs together with notes back and forth from teacher to mom and back.  We set goals and work hard to reach them, together.  She still gets emotional about school on Sunday nights, but she has made huge progress.

When Willie tried out for the 7th grade basketball team, he got cut.  He was devastated.  He recorded his feelings  in a blog post which includes his 7th grade problem-solving process:

So the bottom line is that when things appear tough for your kids, don't succumb to their level of emotion.  Rather, help them through the situation or circumstance that brings them down and gets in their way and help them to set goals to improve, to move forward, to do better and to be better.  It's worth the effort and both you and your kids will be the beneficiaries. 

I like the quote Willie included in his blog - "Disappointment, when it involves neither shame nor loss, is as good as success . . . "

One week down and 103 to go!

Last Tuesday, Willie was 100% ready to serve!  The image is a screen shot from the MTC homepage.

Then on Wednesday, we wasted time singing to the ukulele and then we headed to Provo!

Delivered our son to the MTC -- as documented on the car monitor at 12:52 p.m. - 8 minutes early!

Now just waiting for correspondence!

One Week and Ready!

We are at the final countdown with just one week until that son of mine reports for missionary duty.  Annie and Haley (mostly Annie) have prepared a "12 days before your mission" extravaganza for Willie.  Each day begins with a nice poem and includes a nice gift or activity.  We set everything up on the couch and so far the prizes have been:

 

Day 12 - 2/14: stationary, address book, stamps

Day 11 - 2/15: vitamins and vitamin d

Day 10 - 2/16: Band-Aids and mini first aid kit

Day 9 -   2/17: Tylenol and Advil

Day 8  -  2/18: mini umbrella

Day 7  -  2/19: Wednesday night dinner with grandpa and some sort of yummy treat - at mom's house.

2 Weeks (minus 1 day)

The time is creeping by as we prepare for Willie's mission.  It's exciting to be part of it all.  I have never been a missionary "Mom" before and I am, enjoying every minute of the preparation.

We have reviewed the checklists and guidelines over and over; and Willie has completed on online assessment of his preparation.  According to the missionary website, he is 80% ready to go.  By today I think that will be 91%!

50% Prepared

91% Prepared

Three Weeks!

Four Weeks from Today!

Four weeks from today is a big day for the Petersens! 

That's the day Willie reports to the Provo MTC to start his official service as a missionary.  We still have so much to do to get ready for everything. 

Most of the clothes shopping is done; just working on getting the little things purchased and ready to pack.  Getting a missionary ready for service is not an easy thing to do.  I am so glad we have had a few months to get things done.

We've had some fun getting ready.  We've been spending Friday afternoons together going to Mr. Mac's and the LDS Distribution center (ha ha).  Mostly we drive around listening to weird songs on the 60's station.  So, we were driving down Redwood Road and "What's new Pussycat" by Tom Jones came on.  The song is insane and we laughed like crazy listening to the words, you know, "You and your pussycat nose, wo-a-wo-a!"  Crazy lyrics and crazy singer.

We've taken the same pair of suit pants to Mr. Mac's 3 times and we are still waiting for the right length to happen. Getting the right fit on the new underwear at the church store has required repeat trips, too.  There are too many fabrics to choose from and you can't open the package to look at what you are getting.   But, I think we are getting closer to the fabrics Willie likes and the right combination of tops and bottoms. 

Willie is reading and memorizing all 900+ pages of the B of M, D & C, a 1937 publication of the Missionary Handbook (he found at Grandpa's house), and more.  He is also practicing the ukulele for a future musical number and teaching himself to speak Lithuanian with the CDs he got for his birthday.  In his spare time, he is doing some tutoring work at Hunter, Kearns High and Kearns Junior, Taylorsville High School and West Lake Junior and he plays weird games on the iPad.  He's been to the dentist twice this week and comes to visit me at work every now and then.  It's been fun getting ready and spending time hanging out. 

 

Some of the things left on our list:

umbrella
clothes hangers
twin size sheets (2)
sunscreen, lip balm (I think they mean chap stick)
alarm clock - no music playing components
passport holder (for wearing close to the body)
voltage/electrical adaptor
thermal underwear
24 month supply of vitamin D
moleskin
duct tape

Why I like Sugarhouse

Every now and again, I take a break from the office and get out to visit a school or even better just simply go for a drive.  I usually end up in Sugarhouse.  It's not too far from my office.  It's a nice little community tucked away in the southeast corner of Salt Lake City.  I can't drive through the area without reminiscing about days gone by.  My grandparents lived close to Sugarhouse; Dr. Newton's office was there and and after a visit to either place it was common to stop by Snelgroves for a yummy ice cream cone, a sundae or a malt or NuCrisp Popcorn for an individual bag of buttered or caramel popcorn.  I could never figure out why the bag of caramel popcorn was smaller in quantity than the butter.

I remember going to the only Sugarhouse department store, Keith O'Brien's (KOB).  Grandpa Eccles' sister Deloras worked there for years.  Both my grandmothers shopped there.  Granite Furniture and Southeast Furniture were the only places to buy furniture, appliances, carpet, and more.  You could set up accounts at either store (90 days same as cash or longer) for purchases as small as $100.  Walker Bank was just across the street from Granite Furniture and I remember going there with Grandma Eccles a few times.


At Christmastime, Santa was always waiting to visit with little ones in a little shed-like house on the Sugarhouse diagonal (2100 S 1100 E).  And we always drove through the Blaine Street and Christmas Street neighborhoods to see the lights.

It's been nearly fifty years since many of those memories were made and they are still fresh in my mind when I take time to escape the office and take a nice warm ride down a memory lane -- 21st South through Sugarhouse.


I like the new features of Sugarhouse -- Barnes and Noble shopping area, Sundance Catalog Store, Sugarhouse Park, the Dodo Restaurant, Schmidt's Bakery and the newly rebuilt McDonald's.  I guess the bottom line is that Sugarhouse is one of those comfort places I like to visit again and again.

2014 is Here!

It's hard to believe that just a little over two weeks ago we celebrated Christmas.  It just about kills me off every year getting ready for the big day and then it's over in a matter of hours.  I do enjoy all of the preparation; and it's so fun to see and feel the excitement that comes with all that's involved.

This was a long week at the office.  After two weeks off with some sleeping in, eating out, spending time with family, etc., getting back in the routine of the 5:45 a.m. alarm was not that exciting. But, we did it and survived!

Willie is patiently waiting his mission report date - February 26!  He and I ran some errands today (mid-day lunch break for me) and picked up a few things for the mission.  He misses school.  If he were in school this semester he said he would probably be taking four science classes.  He loves math and science and writing and really enjoyed his business class last semester. He started two part-time jobs this week in the schools -- AVID tutoring in the morning and credit recovery tutoring in the afternoon. (With the high turnover of hourly school personnel, there's always something available.) He is also finding time to do the crazy INSANITY exercise routine and is getting into studying Lithuanian. (His birthday present finally arrived - Lithuanian language CDs.) Plus, he's been to my office a few times this week and that's been fun.

Molly and Jack hung out with us last night (their parents were working late).  I love all of my grandchillins so much - even more when I have them without their parents.  We have amazing conversations!  Molly is a jabber box and says the craziest things.  Grandpa Huber hasn't been feeling well and she was concerned about him, "Grandma," she said, "why is, why is, why is your dad sick?  What is wrong with him?"  We talked about great-grandpa and I told her he is feeling much better.  Then at dinner, she needed something on the table closer to Grandpa Karl than she could reach.  Instead of asking him to get what she needed, she said, "Grandma, will you tell Karl to get me . . . .?"  Kids are funny and when they get to that age of figuring out names and identities conversations are so entertaining.

Thank you for the photo, Annie!

Well, it's Friday night -- Friday nights are not as busy for us as they have been in 3-4 previous years.  We are home in our respective spaces just hanging out.  I am sitting on the couch in the family room watching HGTV Dream Home 2014; Karl is reading, somewhere; and Willie is downstairs watching a variety of basketball games.  We are happy, healthy, and thankful for all of the blessings and opportunities of 2013 hoping that we will be blessed likewise in 2014.  If you are reading this, know that we love you and hope that your 2014 is a year of blessings and opportunity!

Happy Birthday, Baby Boy!

Merry Christmas!

My Christmas Wish For You

by Ruth Kephart

My Christmas wish for you, my friend

Is not a simple one

For I wish you hope and joy and peace,

Days filled with warmth and sun.

I wish you love and friendship, too

Throughout the coming year,

Lots of laughter and happiness

To fill your world with cheer.

May you count your blessings, one by one

And when totaled by the lot

May you find all you've been given,

To be more than what you sought.

May your journeys be short, your burdens light

May your spirit never grow old,

May all your clouds have silver linings

And your rainbows pots of gold.

I wish this all and so much more

May all your dreams come true,

May you have a Merry Christmas, friend

And a Happy New Year, too.

She's Home!

My sweet niece is home!  She has been serving an LDS mission in Paraguay.  She left balmy Paraguay and entered a winter wonderland in Salt Lake City late Thursday night. 

It didn't take long to start the transition to non missionary life.  She sent me a text last night with her new phone number.  Meranda is an amazing niece and we are so happy to have her home safe and sound.  There is so much in store for her as she takes the next steps in her life!

The longest day!

Today was absolutely the longest work day in many days.  It started out with snow-packed and slippery roads, power outages at intersections, and a slow drive to work.  The radio kept me (and all of the other drivers) informed about road closures, airport closures, accidents and more.  After 2, yes 2, hours to make an 11 mile drive, I was wiped out and not ready to get going on anything.  The clocked ticked by and finally at 3:30 I wished everyone a nice evening and headed home.  Oh my goodness!

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.

The day after Thanksgiving

So, it's the day after Thanksgiving and a beautiful day!  Not sure about how the rest of the world celebrated but we had a huge group at Dad's for dinner.  I think there were close to 50!  We overprepared and over planned and there was delicious turkey and all the fixins for all; and seconds, and thirds, too.

It was a great day!

50 years ago, and I can still remember . . .

I was in third grade and at recess at Webster School in Magna, Utah.  When we returned to class, Mrs. Thacker reported that everyone would be going home early because President Kennedy had been shot and killed and Mrs. Kennedy wanted all students sent home from school, all students across the country.  I was very sad; I liked the Kennedys. Not too many months earlier, President Kennedy was in Salt Lake City and visited with Mormon church leaders.  His motorcade was scheduled to head to the airport after the meeting going west on North Temple.  Mom and Dad loaded the five girls in the car and we headed to SLC to find a parking spot on the side of the road to watch the motorcade.  I remember the event pretty vividly -- black fancy convertible with the President inside, waving.

November 22 is my cousin Scott's birthday and back in 1963, a birthday was a time for family to gather and this birthday on a very somber day was no different.  However, the excitement of a birthday party was stifled a little as the grownups in the room talked about the events of the day and watched the recaps on a black and white TV.  Some important family members were missing that evening, Grandma and Grandpa Eccles. They were in Pittsburg, PA visiting Uncle Blaine and his family.  I remember feeling very nervous that they weren't there.  I was worried that they would get shot and killed.

The days that followed were heavy -- no school until after the funeral.  Hours were spent watching TV and listening to the radio.  As much as was possible 50 years ago was broadcast so all of the US could be involved.  I will never forget the funeral procession, Mrs. Kennedy and the kids and others walked to Arlington Cemetery accompanying the horse-drawn carriage with the casket.

Fast forward and as an adult I have visited Dallas, Dealey Plaza and the Schoolbook Depository building; I have walked the path taken by the funeral cortege to Arlington and viewed the eternal flame at the Kennedy graves site.  I have visited the Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston. Then and now when November 22 rolls around I remember very vividly the day President Kennedy was assassinated.  It was a very sad and solemn then and feels that way 50 years later.