it's april 22, people

why is today unlike any other day?

(1) on this day in 1509, henry VIII acceded to the throne of england after the death of his father.

(2) on this day in 1836, texas revolted. a day after the battle of san jacinto, forces under texas general sam houston captured mexican general antonio lopez de santa anna. booya.

(3) at high noon in 1889, thousands rushed to claim land in the land run of (you guessed it) 1889. Within hours, oklahoma city and guthrie were formed with populations of at least 10,000.

(4) in 1945, after learning that soviet forces had taken eberswalde without a fight, adolf hitler admitted defeat in his underground bunker and stated that suicide was his only recourse.

(5) we celebrate lola p. halberschmidt dee-yaz (a.k.a. 'my sister lauren') for being born and living every day for 25 years. just kidding, 26.

(6) also, it's earth day.

lauren is my best friend and one of the funniest people i know. also, despite what i may have told everyone in my toast at her wedding, she is a very organized and tidy person.

and now, a list of just a few of my favorite things about lauren:

a. she is really pretty and not one bit vain.

b. she's a recognized talent in floral design who occasionally arranges flowers for the dalai lama.

c. she once had a bunny named winston.

d. she doesn't like everything to be easy.

e. she's extra brave. (double extreme)

f. she has a mean sense of humor but she's kind to everyone.

g. she can make friends with any type of person, and they all love her back.

h. she reminds me of our mom.

i. she tells me when i'm being stupid.

j. she can frizz her hair straight up without hairspray.

k. she is allergic to cats.

and now, a short quiz for people who think they know lauren. which of the following is a lie?

(1) in high school, she dated her substitute teacher.

(2) she has attended 6 different institutions of higher learning and is contemplating a 7th.

(3) when she was little, she wanted her name to be princess consuela bananahammock.

i love you, larne!

readers, please leave your guesses & birthday wishes here...

p.s. historical facts provided by wikipedia. if they're wrong, blame them.

news roundup

this post is alternately titled, "not everything at trader joe's is good for you."

:: i have eaten many, many dark chocolate covered caramels this day.

:: diet hansen's creamy root beer has no sugar, no caffeine, no sodium and no aspartame. and yet, it is good. i love you splenda. i hate you splenda. i love you...

:: there is a garbage can at the end of my street labeled "dog poop." to whom does this belong? i don't know.

:: the basil and chives on my window sill have made a breakthrough.

:: i have been invited to teach the 12 year-olds (the 'beehives') at church. do we think this name is silly? who cares, i got a great calling! can you even imagine what kind of sordid, back-alley life i could be living if, long ago, my mother had allowed me to wear a bikini bathing suit in my first tap dance recital performance of "it was an itsy bitsy teeny weeny, yellow polka-dot...one-piece???

:: Little announced on our hike through the canyon this evening that she would not be accepting any help from us through the rocky or steep parts of the trail. her words: "a-yee do!"

'there lives the dearest freshness deep down things'

thanks, gerard manley hopkins, for inspiring today's little lovely:

my oregano is growing!

(not a peep yet from basil or chives. c'mon, little digs!)

Little and i enjoyed an evening romp & roll in the front yard. i love these cool evenings. and the deeper i get into richard louv's book on the so-called nature-deficit disorder of our children's generation, the more i want to spend every second outside. last night we went hunting for tadpoles in the creek and found lots. lizards too. all the way home, Little said bye-bye to the bees.

quick!!! it's poem in your pocket day

no one who's anyone will be caught without a poem in their pocket today!

you can get one INSTANTLY if you click here.

today's little lovely

have i ever mentioned that Little snorts when she runs?

also, she sings a lot. after the hymn in church ends, she just keeps on going...all through the prayer. i'm pretty sure she's going to be 'that kid' who stands in front of all the other kids (despite being the tallest) during the primary program and makes darn sure you can't hear anyone else singing.

for serious

yesterday my new bishop asked me if i wear a bikini at the beach.

come again?

the only way i could have been more surprised is if he had then turned to bim and asked him if he wears a speedo (which he does)* or if he had followed the question with a wink (which he didn't). the bishop wanted to know if i was worthy to work with the ward's young women.

i had to laugh. then i said, no, i don't wear a bikini. but what i wish i had said is: i am far from perfect--no matter what your standard of perfection may be--and in past callings with the young women i have had serious doubts about my fitness to lead them. why not say that? probably because i didn't want to make trouble. i want this calling.

becoming privy to the considerable and often heartbreaking challenges my yw faced in miami was pretty shattering. i lost a lot of sleep wondering how on earth my set of experiences could translate to anything like helpful advice for disadvantaged teenagers with little concept of what a better life would look like. what should i counsel a yw to do, for example, when her father scars her arms and threatens to deport her? how could i point her toward the scriptures when she can't even read? what do i say to a yw whose parents cut her off from every opportunity to leave her squalid home and improve her condition? or teach a lesson on modesty to a girl whose parents utterly ignore her and whose only chance at affection seems (to her) to come from the drop-out neighbor kid five years older than she is?

i became a lot less concerned about sleeveless dresses and a lot more concerned about what a yw's dress and conduct says about her image of the ideal woman. for girls this age, being "sexy" = being somebody. npr had a story about a historian who read young girls' journals over the last century. She found that whereas our grandmothers valued doing good, our daughters value looking good.

i don't know where to go with this. maybe brilliance and wisdom will distill on me in the night. not too likely, as it hasn't happened yet, but i keep hoping...

all i can say is that small improvements can feel like miracles. pray for more of those.

(*no he doesn't.)

we need more short people 'round here

what is heaven but eight small, wet people running around the backyard covered in grass and bubbles, hopped up on on lemonade and smeared with cream cheese? delightsome times. my new neighbors, traci and petra, along with friends jaymie and rebecca, brought their little ones over today for a play date. we went inside, then outside, then inside, then out. many days from now i will be looking back in fond recollection...

i changed a lot of diapers that day, and i downed a lot of bagels.

there were more bubbles than you can shake a stick at. but ruby tried anyway.

little was as happy as a pig in mud, and just about as dirty. but at the end of the day, bye-bye is a hard lesson to learn.