HAPPINESS OURSIDE OURSELVES

General Conference always makes me feel happier and more hopeful. It makes me want to try harder to be a disciple of Christ--to be more loving. For the next few days I want to share some of the concepts that touched me from conference.

Quote from April 2009 Conference talk by Dallin H. Oaks
"The moment you have a self at all there is a possibility of putting yourself first—wanting to be the center—wanting to be God in fact. That was the sin of satan: and that was the sin he taught the human race. Some people think the fall of man had something to do with sex, but that is a mistake...What satan put into the heads of our remote ancestors was the idea that they could ‘be like God—could set up their own as if they had created themselves—be their own masters—invent some sort of happiness for themselves outside God, apart from God.

"And out of that hopeless attempt has come...the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy." ( C.S. Lewis)

THE PASSENGERS

My good friend Carol Fischer called me yesterday to tell me the following experience. I started to write it for her but didn't have enough of the details to complete it so we ended up writing it together. Larry is behind and Carol and Johnny are in the cart in the picture here.

They came to church in a yellow taxicab. Maybe that should have been the first clue that they were not your everyday Mormon couple visiting our Seaside Ward. My husband Larry thought they might need a ride back to their hotel and asked if I would take them.

Oh, why not I decided. Larry told me that they were from Utah originally, but had lived in D.C the past four years, working for the IRS. And now they were here visiting the Monterey Peninsula.

When we got into the car it was a little embarrassing. The passenger seat was covered with sand where the dog had been sitting after a visit to the beach. Quickly, I tried to brush it off the best I could while trying to push the dog's water bowl under the back seat. The couple had on very nice clothes and my car was definitely not user-friendly on this day. I tried to start the engine, but my hand problem was making it difficult, and so the man reached over the ashtray (that still held my "Obama for President" button), and started the mini-van. I noticed he had monograms on his shirt cuffs.

It is funny the things I wouldn’t have noticed if I would have been alone. The dog had slobbered on the window and you could see track marks on the pane. Then there was the smell. I had forgotten that Johnny, my handicapped son, had thrown some garbage bags in the back of the car on one of his garbage runs. He gets a real kick out of throwing sacks in your car, anyone’s car, unaware. But it was not a good time to discover smelly garbage in my car when I was giving two nicely dressed strangers a ride to their hotel.

They asked me many questions; but I had a lot of questions as well. I was very curious about what he did for the IRS in Washington D.C. Instead, we talked about Johnny, my teaching, my naturopathic Dr. in Farmington Utah, his son who was going on a mission to Taiwan, their daughter who was going into special education etc. But what I wanted to know was what the gentleman did at our nation's capitol.

Finally I jumped in and said, "Well, what about you, my husband said you worked for the IRS?" "Well, not the IRS," replied the man "I worked on health related issues". I continued to pump. "So, what company did you work for?" Sheepishly, he replied and I have to admit I was surprised at his answer – he worked for President Bush. " Oh, what was your job description there?" I probed. He replied, "Secretary of Health". There was a moment of silence. I was speechless, almost. I managed to say, "wow!"

My passenger continued to reveal his business now that he was outed. He was here in Monterey, at the invitation of Leon Panetta, to be a guest speaker about health care reform. The other member of the panel was Tom Dashcle.

Now the circumstance of the untidy car was becoming increasingly more embarrassing. And I was sure that he could see that I was not a big fan of Bush (when he reached his arm over my Obama badge). Oh, well.

We arrived at the Monterey Plaza, on the historic Steinbeck Cannery Row—one of the nicest hotels in Monterey. They thanked me graciously and got out. I didn’t remember the name that they gave me, and so I hurried home and googled the information. My esteemed passenger was no less than Mike Leavitt, the former governor of Utah (for 11 years) and George W. Bush's Cabinet member for 4 years. Mormondom has no bounds for connecting.

They arrived in a yellow taxi, and I suspect that they wished that they had departed in a yellow taxi, but maybe not. All is well.

FAITH AND AGING

"The spiritual process that makes us gentler and kinder may be mistaken for the effects of aging to those who are uninformed or uninitiated. For those who have felt that distinctive (and welcome) change, it is much more than aging. It is the most serene of God's miracles. It is a process that is repeated thousands of times as we progressively rid ourselves of the natural man to make room within us for the disciple." Wallace Goddard, God Dragged Before Another Earthly Tribunal.

http://www.drwally.org/

REPOST OF ORANGE OAT MUFFINS - recipe mistake

I submitted this recipe to my Ward cookbook. Someone made them recently and told me that they were not very good...too much oatmeal. I feel bad that they ended up in two places with the wrong amount of oatmeal. I am re posting this recipe so if you saved it or tried it you can make them right. I just made them today so I know the recipe is as it should be and I still think they are good. I also took a dozen to the lady who discovered my error and ate 6 myself so they have been thoroughly tested. Thanks, Janet and sorry to anyone who made them with my mistake.

The recipe makes 2 dozen medium muffins. 1 C. of cranberries is good and nuts too if you are so inclined.

Heat 1 cup of milk until hot not boiling add 1 C. quick oatmeal and let sit while you measure everything else into another bowl.

1 T Grated orange peel

1 C Fresh Orange juice

1/2 C. oil

1 C. Brown sugar

2 Eggs

1 tsp. Salt

2 tsp. Baking powder

1 tsp. Soda

2 1/4 C. Flour

Add oatmeal and mix until everything is moistened.

Bake 350 for 15 min. in well greased muffin tins

Juice another small orange or 1/2 of large - add 1 tsp. grated peel and 2 T. melted butter with enough Powdered sugar for a thin frosting. Frost hot.

CHICKEN ENCHILADA CASSEROLE

I found this on http://chronic-fatigue-recipes.blogspot.com/2009/03/mexican-style-chicken.html this week and cooked it last night. I changed a few things because my husband would not touch the green peppers or the onions. This is my version. It is very simple and quick to put together (a great leftover rotissere chicken dish) and I thought it was very tasty. I will make it again.

Ingredients1 T. oil
2 Cloves of Garlic – grated
2 10-3/4-ounce cans cream of chicken soup
1 10-ounce can diced tomatoes with green chiles (I used the ones with jalepenos), undrained
1-1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
12 - 6 inch corn tortillas, cut into thin, bite-size strips
2-3 cups cubed cooked chicken
2-3 cups shredded cheddar cheese or a mexican blend. I added a little more because my hubby likes more and it was good.

Directions

1. Cook the garlic in the oil until it starts to brown add everything down to the tortillas.

2. To assemble, sprinkle about one-half of the tortilla strips over the bottom of an ungreased 13x9x2-inch baking dish . Layer half of the chicken over tortilla strips; spoon half of soup mixture on top. Sprinkle 1 1/2 cup of the cheese and another one-half of the tortilla strips over the soup mixture. Layer with remaining chicken, soup mixture and half of the remaining cheese.

3. Bake, uncovered, in 350 degree oven about 35-40 minutes or until bubbly around edges and center is hot. Remove from oven; sprinkle with remaining cheese the last 5 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Serve with Salsa, Sour Cream, Guacamole, Green onion or as is. Makes 8 servings.

THE WORD OF THE DAY - ASTRONOMY

As a writer I am excited about a tool that I have learned from Cori Connors (see my blogger friends) Cori has been using this tool for years to generate stories (and songs) and she is a master at it. Right now she has committed to write every day of the 40 days of Lent (she is not Catholic) If you want a treat go read her "Word of the Day" entries. She gets her words from a "Random Word Generator" on this site : //watchout4snakes.com/creativitytools/RandomWord/RandomWord.aspx

Cori says she will pull up about 3 words and then chooses one to incorporate in her musings. When I teach writing classes I try to get my students to do a "stream of conscious" writing session every day with no thought of anything but practice. The "Word of the Day" concept is more focused and perhaps easier to do. I am not sure I would be able to publish 40 in a row like Cori is doing but I am enjoying this adventure. Here is one I did this week and no, it didn't fall out of my brain necessarily as it appears here. I had to work on it plenty after the initial session. But, without the inspiration of the word I might not ever have written this:

WORD OF THE DAY - ASTRONOMY

We began as astronomers, Mike and I. Mike was intrigued with the stars when we met and I tagged along because I liked the stars he put in my eyes.

Mike understood lots of things that I didn’t. It was enough for me to recognize a few constellations and know that planets don't twinkle but stars do. Orion is exciting because it sprawls over a huge expanse of overhead sky. This Hunter is easy to spot with the bright jewel like stars in his belt. Scorpius is my astrological sign so I like it with its giant tail curled up on the Southern horizon. Once during our astronomer days the red planet Mars was plunked in the middle of Scorpius. It was a rare occurrence, symbolic and poetic so Mike wrote a poem about it. Did something about stargazing enchant his poetic mind at this time? He waxed eloquent often then.

Then there was Cassiopiea the Queen in the shape of a giant leaning "W." I could always find her. And I liked the Corona Borealis, the crown, as a "C," symbolic in my mind of Charmaine. Yes, it was a very romantic time.

I bought a little telescope that we used a short while. Someone broke into my Salt Lake Avenues apartment and stole it along with a small record player I had. I remember how upsetting it was to me. I had so little in material treasures then. In an attempt to feel better I tried to dwell on the scripture in Matthew 6:20 when Christ said: Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.

I haven’t had a lot of things stolen in my life. Someone snatched my purse after a baby shower in San Pedro when we lived there. It only had a few dollars in it. I guess I am lucky because this first big invasion was very painful at the time.

Sometime in our astronomy life Mike bought a 4-inch reflector. One summer, on warm balmy nights, we would set it up in his sister Alicia’s back yard to look for exciting celestial things. My favorites were the rings of Saturn and the moons of Jupiter, which were both clearly visible in the telescope. I also liked the craters of the moon because they appeared so large and close.

Mike had infinite patience with this stuff. My job was to hold the star map with a nebula or a star cluster pinpointed in the sky. It could take hours, but Mike was always excited when he located what he "thought" was it. I tried to be excited too as I peeked into the finder to see a fuzzy spot of light. I suppose the idea that you knew what it really was (and the time it took to discover it) made the find something to celebrate. A couple of times that summer we hobnobbed with the local astronomy geeks at the planetarium’s star party looking for fuzzy lights in the sky. It was fun.

Telescope or no, there is nothing more awesome than a clear night sky, void of city lights, strewn with the milky way and constellations clear and distinct marching around in a wondrous pattern. I understand why men have always been fascinated with these magical lights in the night sky.

Then we got married and life seemed to crowd out the time and energy to be astronomers. The 4-inch reflector sits in our storage room rarely opened since those long ago summer nights. Maybe there is still time to get it out so Michael and Luke can see the rings of Saturn, craters on the moon and the moons of Jupiter.

A RARE ABILITY

The following slide show is of a group of pictures that my son Ian worked on last year for a gallery show in Portland Oregon. God plunked him here on earth as an artist. From the time he was a very little boy his imagination was evident and amazing. At two years old he was carrying around little pieces of paper with his drawings. We have boxes of his art work from those early years. He would draw animals for awhile, then sea life, dinosaurs, dragons, space ships then Ewoks and Star Wars stuff. He even got obsessed with Chinese writing at one time. He spent 4 years becoming expert at airbrusing at Lagoon. By the time Ian was in high school his abstract renderings had their own look. He has a style of his own which every artist longs to develop. Ian you are something quite unique!

Gwash is a watercolor like medium. Ian actually does oils also. There are a couple of his pieces at the bottom of my gallery on this blog.

IAN'S HORSE PICTUES IN GWASH

LEFT TO TELL - Book Review

By Immaculee Ilibagiza with Steve Erwin
DISCOVERING GOD AMIDST THE RWANDAN HOLOCAUST

Lessons from the book:1. The genocidal murder that took place in the Book of Mormon never seemed real to me until after reading this book. A cultural tradition of hate and superiority fosters a situation where neighbors and friends can turn and kill you in a tribal frenzy. The Book of Mormon teaches that when societies begin to seperate into tribes humanity and order falls apart. The visual image and the smell of rotting bodies stacked up in heaps and laying along the road with flies and dogs eating their flesh reminded me of some scenes in the Book of Mormon.

2. Immaculee hid from the Hutus with 6-7 other women in a very small bathroom for 3 months. She weighed 115 lbs. when she went in and 65 when she came out. Satan will scream negative self-defeating thoughts in our heads if we let him, especially when we are in emotional and physical crisis. The negative head talk includes self pity, hate, anger and vengeance. If Satan can get us so discouraged that we lose hope he has won. The only way out is positive head talk associated with prayer—deep, soul wrenching, pleading prayer. I saw God rescue Immaculee in this way. Her prayers were amazing to me. They included her seeking scriptural promises and her core religious teachings. Only when the negative self-talk was controlled by prayers was the spirit able to teach her—then the ideas began to flow through her. Her ideas included ways to keep them safe as putting the wardrobe in front of the bathroom door and her inspiration to begin learning English. She was able to get some books from the Minister in whose bathroom they were staying. God helped her to learn quickly. Her ability to be taught and inspired continued through the entire ordeal as she was an instrument to help many people.

3. Imaculee began to understand that God was there for her and she started to lay out her righteous needs and wants and then go forward working hard as if they were already a reality. She imagined herself with a job at the UN, going every day, filling out the same forms and never giving up until she finally ran into the right person. When she decided she wanted to get married she made a list of characteristics she wanted, even drawing a picture and finally said, "by the way could you make him Catholic."

4. Nothing is more healing than forgiveness.

WASHING DISHES AND THE HIP REPLACEMENT

This is day 11 of Mike’s hip replacement. He is doing well. His pain isn’t bad and he is walking a mile on the treadmill in 10-minute increments 3 times a day. He has been able to walk up and down the basement stairs from day one. His appetite hasn’t been good, which for me has always meant a lack of zest for life. Something about the desire for food makes everything seem better. I know—that’s why we get fat. I am blaming the appetite problem and his intermittent sick feelings on to the remnants of anesthesia. Getting him to wake up after anesthesia is a bit of a challenge and scary. I know that yuky stuff can stay in your system for some time. All in all it could have been worse but I am not sure he is ready for the second hip surgery. Hopefully it will be like having a baby and he will forget the bad parts. I think the hardest thing for him has been his dependence on me—mostly for his right sock. My fingers are bad and it takes longer than he would like.

So what has been the worst part for me in all this?: I forgot how much I appreciate Mike washing the dishes. He made that commitment about 10 years ago and it has been a wonderful addition to my life. I don’t mind cooking but having help with the dishes feels so nice. There have been many times when we have had guests and Mike has left me at the table visiting and gotten up to wash the dishes. I feel indulged. Sometimes I think he should stay and visit too but he never wants to let a dirty dish sit for too long.

My dad with all his crazy faults would clear the table after dinner. I remember him often taking the food away before we were finished. Mike is not that bad.

Mike is not good at what to do with leftovers and that is fine. I actually don’t mind helping him. Dish time is good amiable chat time for us as I help him dry the pots and pans and put away the leftovers. I still feel spoiled. My problem with doing dishes alone is; well, maybe it is the aloneness. It seems to take so long with one, especially after I have cooked. I find myself getting distracted and wandering off to do something else half way through the job. The other night I was finishing the dishes at 11:00 PM. I know some women leave dishes in the sink all night because they just can’t face the prospects after cooking, but that was something that never happened in my mother’s home. I can thank her for wanting to wake up to a clean kitchen.

Could this be the secret to our happy marriage? : "...researchers...found that the best single-item predictor of long-term marital success among the couples they studied was ‘husband voluntarily and cheerfully participates in the housework.’ There may be a number of reasons why this item turned out to be such a powerful predictor, but my guess is that it has to do with attitudes. The husband who pitches in to do his share without having to be cajoled is clearly a team player." My Parents Married on a Dare, Carlfred Broderick, p. 77.

So here is a big cheer of gratitude for my dish-doing husband and a hearty wish for his quick recovery so he can get back to the job.