My answer

I was fasting for a purpose yesterday and got a very clear answer in the Sacrament Hymn (#185: Reverently and Meekly Now):

Bid thine heart all strife to cease; with thy brethren be at peace.
Oh, forgive as thou wouldst be e'en forgiven now by me.
In the solemn faith of prayer cast upon me all thy care,
And my Spirit's grace shall be like a fountain unto thee.

I'm doing my best.

Deep thoughts on a Sunday morning

This is an actual transcription of a conversation that took place this morning between our 3 three-year old, Scott, and Mr. M.

Scott: (walking out from the bedroom) I have a sprain in my foot.

Mr M: How did it get there?

Scott: I put it in there.

Mr M: What is a sprain?

Scott: A sprain is something I put in my foot.

Mr M: Is it a big sprain?

Scott: It's a hard sprain.

Mr M: What color is your sprain?

Scott: It's white, but I painted it blue.

Mr M: Where did you get your sprain?

Scott: At the store.

Mr M: How much did it cost?

Scott: $50.

Mr M: How big is your sprain?

Scott: (holding up 10 fingers) This big.

Mr M: Oh, how big is that?

Scott: 50 degrees.

Mr M: How many sprains do you have?

Scott: I have one in my head, but that's my brain...

Last class

It is starting to sink in that I have taken the last of my classes in my PhD program in linguistics. How does that feel? Well... I no longer have to engage in conversations like the one below.... until such time that I have the opportunity to teach these courses.

;)

Laughing extends your life and relieves stress

So, we're moving, which means, I'm packing. Michael is at work - a real job - meaning full time and paid, which leaves me mostly on my own. Thanks to dear friends, though, I've had help packing and help watching the boys, so we're making good progress.

I took a few minutes this afternoon to sit down and read a book with Scott and my secret plot worked! He is now fast asleep. It was fun to read with him, but I admit to ulterior motives.

As I was tidying up a moment ago, I found some light blue cardstock scattered across the piano bench. 7 out of 8 pieces had some variation of this theme, scrawled in pencil in Ethan's all-caps, words-separated-only-by-commas-rather-than-spaces scrawl: "GO BYU!!!!!!!!"

The 8th page was a transcription of Scott's favorite joke, which he learned from Liz Willey:

Knock, knock.

Who's there?

Interrupting cow.

Interrupting cow wh..?

MOO!

Life changes quickly!

We are moving! In a week! We found out 5 days ago. We'll be managing an apartment building across town, in a nice neighborhood, near one of my dear friends from BYU... It's close to Mr. M's summer internship, as well as closer to his school. We are absolutely thrilled!

If you want more details, you'll have to call or email.