My Dad (thanks!) told me that he & Mom wouldn't go from Reno to Las Vegas to see shows. They went to Sparks, NV. He reminded me of one show in particular they'd go to see, which I remember them telling us kids about: Bertha & Tina, the performing elephants at the Nugget.
What's up? Snow?
To say that the weather in Oklahoma is bipolar is to totally miss the point. I think, instead, it's completely contrary. Basically, it does what it wants. This week, in particular, showed that emphatically.
Everyone - weather forecasters, prognosticators, and people with arthritic joints - were issuing dire warnings of a humongous snow-and-ice storm this weekend. A sister in my ward jokingly called it Snowmaggedon. In fact, the nervous of all the older & fragile-r members of the Branch won out and the party for this Saturday evening was canceled.
The skies teased us back and forth. Tuesday afternoon we had tiny, melt-as-they-go snowflakes come down for a short period of time. Analiese and I were in a parking lot when I saw "a" flake land on me. It was hardly visible and didn't collect a bit.
Wednesday morning was freezing and everything was frosted over. At the park where we walked (crazy us, my nose and eyes don't like getting cold!) there was frost coating all of the light strands. Yet, by that afternoon, going out I didn't even want a sweater. It was comfortable. Thursday was reasonable comfy, too, only getting cold once the sun set. We were out at a parade and I experienced a few dots of precipitation, but not much to call anything!
Friday was nice, though a little gray. Eyes were on the skies. I bought some rock salt, just in case. I don't want to slip on any ice, if it comes or not.
Saturday morning, you could tell it had rained and then frozen in the night. The remainder of the day was a cross between ice pellets, rain, and snow, depending on the weather which kept bobbing above and below freezing. This time, there was enough accumulation to note on the ground. The van that morning was covered with a good-sized sheet of ice!
But, it was not the catastrophe everyone was freaking out over. I think we could have still had the party; if anything, they canceled it too early (by Wednesday). It wasn't my call, though.
VIPKids Update
I'm in the certification stage, now. I'm going to online coaching classes and teaching "mock classes" to certify to teach certain levels. I'm focused on doing the interactive level two and hope to pass level three next week as well. The more levels I certify on, the more availability I have to teach student, the more $$ I get. Let's get going!
I took two mock classes in level two this week. The first went really well, but I had technical issues to resolve: lighting and camera quality (my laptop camera was very pixelated). I went to OKC mid-week to find a better camera and bought softer light bulbs to prevent too much glare. Though, I'm still awfully white on camera. But I think that's more genetics!
My second one had the technical stuff resolved. My biggest problem right now is timing. I'm taking too much time on the slides. I need to take only about one minute per slide. I know it's doable, but I haven't figured it out yet. At least not for VIPKids. When I teach Seminary, I have it down pat! Actually, I have alarms set so I don't go over! LOL
A sister in our Branch teaches High School English and, talking to her, she knows a couple of fellow teachers who teach for VIPKids and love it. I think I'm going to enjoy it, too. They say the little kids are fun to work with and from the videos I've seen, I think I will have a good time. Might as well like your job! If anyone out there wants to give it a try, let me know. I'll refer you...it benefits you and me! 😁
I love a parade!
The Chickasha Christmas Parade was held Thursday evening downtown. Thursday is Jonathan's day with the car (Norman Institute) and Analiese & I didn't really feel like walking all the way down and back in the cold. BUT...I had to go! Three of my students are in the High School band and one kept telling me all about it. She really wanted me to go and I couldn't disappoint her!
Nevaeh is on the trumpet on the very first row, very first person.
Joe is the tallest guy on the clarinet a little ways down in the middle.
Sam is the one you hear me shouting at, wrapped in green lights & playing the flute!
Luckily, we were able to hitch a ride with a family from the Branch (the Mom who teaches HS English). Analiese is good friends with the daughter and they sat on the pickup tailgate, sipping cocoa and huddling under a blanket. I tried to keep warm as I took pictures and waved at people I knew (mainly Branch people).
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| Analiese and friend Savannah (who apparently can take a serious picture, while my daughter can't!) |
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| Me, bundled up against the cold! |
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| Lots of trailers with people on them, throwing candy! |
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| Grinchmobile |
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| Doggie blow up on trailer |
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| Santa waves hi! |
After the parade, we walked a couple of blocks to the town square tree and the "snowball" fight. Basically, they were fluffy poofs that everyone chucked at each other while two guys sprayed fake snow over their heads. It was fun chaos!
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| Santa peeks over the store! |
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| Town tree. |
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| I've got a "snowball" |
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| Fun chaos! Fake snow! |
PH - CALIFORNIA, Here we come!
Following Nevada, my family made it to California, first moving to Cerritos. We only lived there a year, but here's what I remember. We rented a home on Sheryl Avenue, not far from the elementary school. We went to the Cerritos Second Ward there, where I made friends and was baptized. Shortly after that we moved to Norwalk, where my parents live at this time. Our ward stayed the same for several years, until they did some dividing around 1980 and made the Cerritos Fifth Ward and I didn't get to be with the all of the same friends.
The home in Norwalk has four bedrooms. With (eventually) six kids, this meant that we all shared a room. It has a large living room and dining room (people were always in awe of our huge dining table) and a big enclosed patio. Over the years it's become THE place to have baby and bridal showers and parties. Dad put up a dividing wall (aka The Divider) between the living room and the bedrooms, creating a hallway. It was a blank wall on the living room side and a huge book shelf, cupboard area in the hallway. We are big book readers and much of our personal collection was put here (more would be added later to shelving Dad built on the long back wall of the living room). It also became the realm of clutter, on top of the cupboards below. Goodness knows, I've done my share of dropping (and losing) stuff there over the years!
On the other wall between bedrooms in the hallway Dad put up a huge bulletin board. All kinds of important messages and reminders have been posted there over the years. Every Christmas-time, however, it is all cleaned off for Mom to be able to post all of the Christmas cards. It's one thing you cannot overlook in that house - the big board covered with cards at Christmas!
My bedroom was at the corner of the house, down by the second bathroom (the other bathroom is on the other side of the living room between a bedroom and the master bedroom). I've shared it with my sister Kym, and at one point with my cousin, Debbie. The last few years before I left to go on a mission and before I got married, I had the room to myself. After I left, Dad immediately (I mean within a day or two), turned it into an office for himself.
The back yard is sizeable, too, for SoCal home. Dad, Mom asserts, bought the house for the apricot tree. We kids, however, cursed that tree. The fruit on the ground was mushy, smelly, and full of bugs. Guess who had to clean that up? We were miserable when it was apricot time. Dad loved it, though, and Mom canned a lot of fruit or made jam. I do like apricot jam despite it all. Over time, though, the tree grew old and quit producing. Sadly, Dad cut down the tree.
We also had an apple tree back there for a long time. The apples, green, were strange. They weren't good for eating, as they had no flavor. But they made excellent apple pie and applesauce. To this day, I am spoiled about applesauce. The stuff in the stores is bland mush. Homemade - and warm - was like dessert. Nothing beats that!
Then there was (and is) the lemon bush/tree. It backs up against the back fence and is constantly growing like crazy and having to be pruned. It produces enormous, juicy lemons. My husband swears they are the best lemons for flavor. I miss good lemons in Oklahoma. Mom has sent me a couple of boxes of them, and opening them is like opening a box of sunshine. The first few minutes I spend just inhaling the goodness of them!
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