The Other Side of Blogging

My husband is a blogger.

But he means business--it is more about his research and boring stuff like that.

However, he did get a little mention on this "best of..." list yesterday for his mini-biography piece on how he became a Mormon historian.

He was the box 1 mention.

He is so smart.

American Idol Polls

I don't win stuff very often so please forgive me for this self-indulgent post.

But check this out:

This if from a website called funofficepools and in my "virtual office" we have this little competition.

So look who is on top.  In blue!!!

I hope I didn't commit to spending money on this pool because I will inevitably lose. I just want to thank Paige for being so clearly in the bottom that it was safe to stick all 20 of my points squarely on her shoulders.

I also am technically in first place over here but for some reason the fuzzy math right-winger running the site gave someone a freebie point so I am in second even though I predicted correctly the bottom three and the one who was voted out.  Weird.

Anyway, this is one time event so thanks for letting me share.

No Offense...

but why does everyone have sons?

I am contemplating heading to Vegas for spring break and I realized that almost everyone one of my friends has a male-dominant litter.

This is marvelous for my son, who is surrounded by girls at home, but my poor Bridget rarely, if ever, has a friend to play with on these trips.  As she does love to read so much, I suppose I can stop by the library before these trips (after we pay the excessive fines we owe).

Just to prove it to you, let's consider two common trips for us:

1) Local yokel journey through Cali.  We stop here and here.  Two houses, boy count: 4, girl count: 0.

2)  Intermountain West.  We might stop here and here in Vegas on the way.  Two houses, boy count: 6, girl count: 1 (baby).  Once in Utah, we see this family and that family, and maybe if we are lucky we drive over to Denvah to see this family.  Three houses, boy count: 8, girl count: 2.

Total?  18 to 3.  Now, there are a few of you here and there that have girls but for some reason you have not moved to the pathway most likely to land us in your living room so for now I have to pray that Bridget will continue to love reading a ton, or that she will pick up a video game habit because I think she is just a little on the lonely side.

Resignation

I am finished as president. 

I took on the new charter full speed ahead so I will see that through as a non-officer, a non-public entity, and someone who doesn't have responsibility for such weighty matters as hiring and firing principals.

I am through with making decisions that no matter what you do, you anger someone.

I am finished with disagreeing mentally with people and then in the end deferring to the decision of the majority (because that is what good presidents do) and then taking the heat for a bad decision.

I am done with laws that are supposed to provide the public with more access to information but in the end force you not to work with people outside of meetings and therefore provide fewer opportunities for public collaboration.

I am no longer interested in having every word I say be seen as a public policy ("I don't think every teacher here is the best we could possibly find" turns into a witch hunt in which I have somehow marked people for termination while "you are amazing" turns into job security).

I have learned something about myself that I am really proud of, however, after this stint of very small time public office:  I have grit.  Daniel Pink refers to the science of motivation and suggests that people who are successful are not particularly talented, smart, or special. It turns out that what makes people successful is grit--the ability to stick with something.  So I did something that was really, really hard, and I stuck with it.  I think I will always feel good for the effort I put into saving the school and I hope I have a little more grit left in me to see this through to completion.  If you are smart, which doesn't do anything for you anyway, then you will click on that link and watch it.  Brilliant.  

Thanks for following the story, stay tuned.

The Return

So much joy. 

So much work.

Did you know that Meg was a lefty?

See evidence:

Come Back Lil Meg

Steve and Meg left us on Wednesday to go to Utah. Here is Bridget
saying goodbye before school that morning.

Return to me.

Is that thing still going on?

Yes.  Did I use the word "debunk" improperly?

Of Desserts and Lost Items

When I come back from trips I frequently find myself wondering what happened while I was away--my "personal space" has been rifled through by toddlers who have no voice to share the whereabout of lost items, my other kids' eyes gloss over as they try to vaguely recollect what happened to a special item that they know is off limits and my husband pulls a long face when I ask why there is a gaping hole in a recently purchased appliance.

These things happen when I am in town, but the cumulation the events whilst I am away highlights the chaos.

This trip it is my camera.  I am sure it is out and about but for the time being I am unable to provide you with photographic evidence of the details of the final four round of the dessert competition.  You will have to close one eye and try to imagine it as you leave the other open, riveted to the screen as you ponder these events.

It was Katie v. Jeannie and Lee v. Bridget

Jeannie has proven time and time again that she is an amazing cook and brought a chocolate stout cake.  It was rich, delectable, and the frosting was UN BE LIEVABLE.  A thick layer of a fudgy kind of sheet of pure heaven.

Katie, in her normal blow-your-sox-off presentation style brought profiteroles--otherwise known as cream puffs, with an incredibly light shell filled with cream and topped with chocolate sauce.  SO fantástico.

Bridget revived the V-day birthday cake special and made a chocolate cake with mint ice cream and whipping cream topping.

My own creation was a first-time recipe, found here and I was pleased with the results in spite of my rushed frosting job.  Chocolate cupcakes with a peanut butter ball baked inside and whipped peanut butter cream cheese frosting.

In the end, Katie's dessert barely pulled past Jeannie's cake (must have been the edgy incorporation of alcohol) and Bridget, at the ripe age of 8, was finally eliminated after beating premier adult chefs week after week of the competition.

Last night I experimented with the most incredible dessert (if you like sweet because they were OH so sweet) and I provided Katie with a sampling to try to psych her out for the finals.  I hope it worked.

Tres leches cupcakes and dulce de leche frosting.  Oh.  My.  If you want to wow your friends and enjoy spending time in the kitchen you simply MUST try this recipe.  I left out the coconut flakes because Casey doesn't like them.

The final touch was to bake them in a WS fancy schmancy pan that Melissa brought with her on this visit.  Very cute.  Too bad I was too lazy to make different colored frosting.

Tara, the Genius

Tara, you win the prize, which is a geeky education book.

It will be on its way in the near future.

It was genetics, and we were analyzing the scaffolding, good call.

Uh oh

Dear supe,

I toldya.  No RtT for Cali.

Congrats to the Landersons.

Where I Been

Check out this amazing stuff! A prize awaits anyone who can determine
what the topic of the day was from my notes on the whiteboard.

Luavul

I had a great time in Louisville yesterday. Visiting college roomies
definitely underrated.