I Got Called to Teach RS

You may be having one of three reactions:

1.  Laughing hysterically

2.  Thinking, 'What in the...?'

3.  Wondering what RS is

I did all three when the bishop broke the news to me...just kidding.  I mostly had a panic attack.

The minute I decide to magnify my first calling ever I get released and get called to do one of the most feared jobs in the church (only outdone by Gospel Docterine Teacher, Bishop and above callings, and RS president).  

Thank goodness I don't have to teach out of the Joseph Smith book.  I am grateful because if you have recently listened to a lesson out of it, or have recently read something out of it you understand that I, being church-dumb, don't get it.  

I have to teach out of the Ensign.  This may be indicative of my experience with the Ensign:

RS presidency member:  Hi Myndi.  Thanks for accepting the call to be a teacher.

Myndi:  Uh, er...hmm...sure.

RS PM:  Well, if it makes you feel any better we'll have you teach the 4th Sundays and you will be teaching from the conference edition of the Ensign.  The stake picks out the lesson for you.

Myndi:  Phew.

RS PM:  (Laughingly) Well, do you have a copy?

Myndi:  Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm no.  BUT, I can get online.

RS PM:  I guess you can have mine.

I even told her I am a crappy teacher this morning when she delivered the Ensign to my door. She didn't seem to care.  I'll keep you posted about how things go.

So the moral of this story is:  If you don't want a crappy calling, don't magnify the one you've got.  JUST KIDDING, but keep posted for an upcoming entry about my thoughts on 'attitude.'

What Should Baby Be for Halloween?

I can't decide because they are all so cute. I didn't include the lion costume I found but it is super cute too.

You can preview the costumes here:

Hippo

Lil' Devil

Elephant

Monkey

A Parenting Tip

Parenting is hard. What a cliche, but I can't help saying it because it is so freaking true.

Just when I get the hang of something (e.g. diaper changing, 2 am feedings, soothing, bathing, humoring, pacifying, etc.) Baby begins a new developmental milestone.

I just got the hang of bottle feeding him without having a load of puke to clean up while, at the same time, getting all the gas out so he wasn't screaming in abdominal distress for hours when The Book (no, not The Good Book, the baby book I read to teach me how to take care of Baby) and the pediatrician indicated it was time to start solids (and the babysitter, and my mother-in-law, and the lady at the store, and my friends, and my visiting teacher, and my neighbor, and my co-workers, and the Internet, and and and and).

So we did.

And even though every child with a camera-owning parent has pictures like these I've just about lost my patience with food going EVERYWHERE instead of inside the mouth AND down the esophagus.

We are on a time schedule in the morning and Baby doesn't seem aware to that fact. It is imperative that at this feeding we are somewhat efficient because neither of us can afford getting less sleep (i.e. get up earlier) to accommodate such a food fiasco. Part of the problem is that he wants to use the spoon and feed himself. Cool, but also annoying, messy, and slow. Every time I move the spoon toward his mouth he grabs at it with both hands and if he latches on he does not let go at any cost...and the food keeps flying around the kitchen.

I one-upped him though. I decided to hold his hands down with one of my own and fed him with my free hand. This has a 50/50 chance of working since he's good at weaseling and wrestling his hands free and if you know babies once their hands are free from restraint they flail them around crazy-like which causes even more food flying around the kitchen.

I finally caught on. All of you parents out there probably figured this one out long ago but parenting, much to my chagrin, has not come easy to me nor do I have much of that parenting 'common sense' to which all of those books and human resources often refer . Anyway, this morning I gave him a separate spoon to fiddle with while I fed him. He ate his cereal in 10 minutes flat and only had food on his face, neck, hands, arms, bib, and the high chair tray.

And his new favorite food is plums.

Moab

In a previous entry I described unique things about Utah. I failed to mention Moab. I had never been until last week when I attended a conference there. Moab is heaven to outdoor recreationalists.

Five miles north of Moab is Arches National Park (but I didn't know that until I got to Moab). I first went to Arches 10 years ago with some friends. That time we didn't have time to hike to Delicate Arch and so come hell or high water I was going to hike it this time. You know Delicate Arch, it's the one on the Utah license plate. Maybe you don't know that...when I came home and was, what I thought was, bragging to the Utah-Native in my family, Luke, that I had hiked to Delicate Arch he said, "Mmmm," translated to I-Don't-Really-Care. And then a few minutes later said, "Why didn't you hike to the famous one?" (I'm going to remember that for my coming soon Quirks Pt. II post under Luke: Doesn't know famous Utah landmarks even though he has lived here all of his life).

I traveled to the conference with three other W.HS employees, all working in a different unit than me. I am only familiar to two of the three, and them I, as the fact that we all work at the same building. The third and I went to this conference last year together, but with one of my direct co-workers who happens to be a good friend. Last year, this guy was a total buzz-kill (if I drank...although I needed a drink after 5 minutes of interaction). So lame. In fact, he refused to eat meals with us (we are there for three days), talk to us (the drive is 5 hours long), hang out with us out of the conference, or hang out with us during the conference (he sat across the room, alone). But the weird thing is, he totally said hi to me in the office after that conference.

This year, he was equally lame...for totally different reasons. He REFUSED to go to arches. Apparently he has been promoted between this year and last and so he is a supervisor over his team. He exerted his 'authority' by passively aggressively refusing to go. What I mean is he would joke around the subject but wouldn't give a definitive answer and he kept hold of the company vehicle keys. Since he is a supervisor of course nobody wanted to risk insubordination by confronting him or by forming a mutiny.

Like I said, I was going to hike Delicate Arch come hell or high water...

And so I sought out the best therapist I know, who happened to be at the conference, and tattled. She has been working for W.HS for nearly 30 years and she loves hiking and Arches so much she owns a condo in Moab. She is willing to risk insubordination and she told him off, in a therapeutic way. I've been told off in a therapeutic way by her before and it sucks...bad...I watched with smugness as his face fell with submission during her rebuke--it was like watching a gushing waterfall at spring run-off. He not only gave in but changed his attitude from passive-aggressive to sickingly-pleasant.

So we paid the $10 and went to Arches National Park. I had forgotten how breath-taking it is. Despite not being prepared, I hiked 3 miles uphill on slick rock in wooden flip flops with zero traction, with no water, and with no hair tie. Yes I got sweaty, thirsty, and loads of blisters including between my big and index toe, the entire ball of each foot, and on top where the flip flop straps are. It was worth it. I'm just

not sure what made it more worth it--the view or the change in Supervisor's attitude and behavior.

Since I wasn't prepared with my camera I used my phone camera which doesn't give you a great idea of how spectacular this scene really is--but no camera could. If you haven't been to Arches National Park it is definitely worth the off-the-beaten trail to get there. Southern Utah offers much more than Arches including the equally dazzling Bryce Canyon, Goblin Valley, and Hell's Canyon. And the Grand Canyon is only a hop-skip-and-a-jump away.

BTW, Supervisor hasn't said hello to me since! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Recipe of The Month: Garden Corn Salad

A summer treat combining garden flavors I love:

4 cobs of sweet corn
3 scallions, chopped
1/2 cucumber, peeled and seeds removed and cut into quarter inch dice
1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeds and ribs removed and diced very fine
1/4 c cilantro, roughly chopped
1 lime
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Cut the corn kernels off the cobs and blanch them in boiling water for three minutes (If you want to sweeten up your corn add 1/4 cup of granulated sugar to the boiling water before you blanch the corn). Drain the corn and run under cold tap water to stop the cooking.

Combine the corn, scallions, cucumber, jalapeno, and cilantro in a medium bowl. Squeeze the juice of the lime over the mixture and season with the salt and pepper. Let the mixture sit at room temperature for 20 minutes for the flavors to combine. This is a cold or room temperature salad.

You can leave the chile out or you can add more. Or you use any chile you like/have on hand.

My Garden Corn Salad is really good with anything. I used it as a salsa for tacos last night. But it can be used on top of grilled/sauteed fish, in burritos, as a salsa with tortilla chips, as a relish on a green salad, or as a stand alone side. Enjoy!