In which the center of the universe wakes up.

So I'm sitting at the computer this morning, getting ready for the day. Check the i-cal for appointments, check facebook for events, make a list on a post-it pad here. In my poking around online I find an album from which the proceeds go to support relief efforts in Japan. $9.99 for 38 songs. What a deal! I like the artists and it's only 10 bucks so I buy it and begin to listen to the songs. Nice. Good deal for me. (Pat self on the back.) Back to my to-do list. Only now I'm thinking about my counterpart in Japan, the mom, trying to decide what to do today. It strikes me how different our lists are. Mine includes things like this:
-Gym
-Copy of birth certificate to school
-Drop off dry cleaning
-Library
-Pray that little tickle in my throat doesn't get worse

Hers might include things like this:
-Find food
-Find uncontaminated drinking water
-Don't lose place at shelter
-See if missing relatives have been found yet
-Pray that they are not dead

It makes me weep. Literally weep. (I'm glad I keep tissues in the office.) Although I'm glad I found the great deal album with 38 songs for only $9.99, I am embarrassed that I haven't done more. Ashamed. If my biggest worries include the $25 fee for an immunization waiver for Sarah and what to serve with the smoked salmon this weekend, then I am truly blessed and have a great obligation to be more helpful. And I'm a great believer in the idea that guilt and shame are useful emotions, so I am going to make this week be about helping where I can. Not just Japan, but wherever I can. Pinch the pennies a bit more and donate financially, as well as work on putting together some hygiene kits for the church. I bet they have sent out quite a few in the 3 years since I last donated. Time to step up to the plate. It's definitely my turn. After all, I just got 38 songs for $9.99.

Rainbows galore

"The soul would have no rainbow had the eyes no tears" - John Vance Cheney
Oh, we got your rainbows right here. Plenty of rainbows. Oodles. We must have at least 5 rainbows a day around here. Sometimes we catch them on film. Enjoy.

Another runner?

My little Elizabeth, who at 9 years old really isn't so little anymore, ran her first marathon today. Well, let me clarify - she finished her first marathon today. Her school, Hurricane Elementary, has a fun program where the kids run a mile once a month during lunch to earn a treat. In conjunction with this fitness program, this year they organized a program wherein the kids ran more laps during recess and worked their way up to 25 miles. Then, on the day of the Sand Hollow Marathon, they came and ran the last 1.2 miles of the marathon, crossing a finish line at about the same time as some of the real marathon runners. Cool, right? Katie wasn't interested, but Lizzie worked hard to get all her miles and we went down this morning and ran the last mile together. In spite of the constant cold drizzle, I think it was a great thing, very encouraging to the kids. I hope this experience has instilled an interest in competitive and recreational running in my little girl, and in the other kids as well. The whole experience was very fun, and I give kudos to those who put so much effort into making sure it came together, especially our friend Liz Dansie. Great work, everyone!! We are definitely looking forward to next year.

Singing time

My calling in my ward is the Primary Chorister, which essentially means I engage the children in learning about the gospel through song. Some singing time plans come together easily, while some never quite seem to gel. Today we start a month of talking about prophets, so I made a matching game for the kids with photos of prophets from youth or childhood. I am hopeful that this will spark the kids' interest and keep them engaged. I'll have them take turns matching the photos, and if they get one right we'll sing a corresponding song about prophets. I just wanted to share the photos I found of 6 prophets. Some of them are quite fun. See if you can guess them. The answers are at the bottom of the post.

1.

2.
3.

4.
5.
6.
1. Thomas S. Monson
2. Gordon B. Hinckley
3. Ezra Taft Benson
4. Howard W. Hunter
5. Spencer W. Kimball
6. David O. McKay

Butter...better.

I just got finished making butter and thought I'd share a little trick we use at our house. And no, I did not take my own photos because I never take photos until the event/procedure is over, due to a recurring memory disorder I apparently suffer from. And let's face it: final results of butter look like, well, butter. Nothing unique to see there. Back to the subject at hand. You all probably know that we have a cow, and that we milk said cow, thereby giving ourselves lots of milk and cream to use and a killer morning schedule. There is only so much one can do with fresh cream, so we use quite a large percentage of ours to make butter. Making butter is pretty basic - whip it up in the blender or stand mixer until the butterfat separates from the buttermilk, then press the rest of the buttermilk out by hand. You are left with beautiful, yellow butter, which is delicious. But, it tends to spoil quickly left at room temperature (because I can never get all of the buttermilk out and that little bit of buttermilk left in it goes sour), and it is impossible to spread if you keep it in the fridge. So we have devised a clever solution. After I have churned and pressed the butter, I whip it up with the hand mixer, adding salt to taste and a bit of olive oil. I would guess I use about 1/4 - 1/3 cup of olive oil per pound of butter. When that is all whipped together, then I can store it in the fridge and still spread it on bread, etc., without committing Wonderacide (the act of slaughtering a piece of bread by attempting to spread it with cold butter.) This has worked quite nicely for us. The little taste of olive oil is not unpleasant at all, if you notice it (which I don't), and it still is one of the healthiest spreads you can find, as opposed to those nasty "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter"-type spreads. (Megan Mullally, you should be ashamed of yourself.) This trick would work just as well with store-bought butter, in case you happen to not have a cow. Just warm the butter to room temp, whip in some olive oil, then repackage in whatever nifty plastic containers you have on hand. Enjoy.