Emma Wishes You a Happy Mother's Day

Birthday Cut & Style

Emma turns 7 tomorrow. Took her down to the Great Clips today after school for a shampoo, cut and blow dry so she could go through her day freshly coiffed. Looks like we also could have opted for some aquamarine highlights in her bangs.

Emma shares a birthday with her cousin Julia, our bishop's daughter Becca, her violin teacher's father AND father-in-law, and David Letterman.

It's an off-year for a friend birthday party, so festivities will be low-key. Here's the birthday schedule:

1. Get sung to on the school bus.

2. Play violin at show and tell (I'm meeting her at school at 11:45 with the violin; she will play "Allegro" and "Song of the Wind" from Suzuki Book 1)

3. Distribute Blow Pop suckers to her classmates (Mandarin word for classmate: tongxue)

4. Have hot lunch with Mom in school cafeteria

5. Get picked up by Mom after school (she usually rides the bus, but she wants to hang out with her pals on the curb in front of the school while she waits to be picked up)

6. Open presents as soon as Dad comes home. She has been asking for one million things. I told her it's not like Christmas, yet what can it hurt a girl to ask. She wants a helium balloon kit, a scooter, musical bells, a "rock collection," a telescope, and bubble gum. She will get some of those things.

7. Have dinner at WaterMoon, a great Chinese restaurant down the hill next to Harmons.

8. Come home, have birthday cake.

9. Do ZERO homework.

Here's Missy Em just a few days after we met her in Hubei Province. Wish we could have celebrated her first birthday with her. But we've had lots of fun birthdays together since...and we look forward to so many more. Sure do love her. Sure glad she's our little girl. Happy birthday, sweetheart.

On a Clear Day You Can See...

...Forever!

Joey took this photo from the tippy top of the Church Office Building this morning (click to enlarge; I love the rows of trees in bloom on Temple Square).

Photo of the Day

Em is out of school this week, so she came downtown today for some chicken noodle soup at the COB. Her favorite part of lunch was the Funyuns. Greasy rounds of onion goodness. Yum!

A Sinceriously Long Post

First, Happy Year of the Dragon to all of you and yours and the dragons you rode in on. More about Year of the Dragon in a moment.

Second, Emma used the word "sinceriously" a few days ago and I thought it was such a cute word. We've been saying it to each other all weekend. I thought she just kind of coined it herself, and maybe she did (I haven't asked), but a few minutes ago I googled it and it's all over the interweb -- sinceriously this and sinceriously that. Maybe it's a word the kids these days are using and she picked it up at school. Has it been around for years? I think it's a great word.

We went to St. George for the weekend. It was nice to get away. Emma enjoyed busting loose from the first grade rat race and relaxing in relatively balmy 60-degree weather.

Saturday morning we had breakfast at the Cracker Barrel and played two seconds of giant checkers outside in the big rockers.


Later that morning we strolled the grounds of the temple. The temple up close is blindingly white.


In the afternoon we walked along the Virgin River and Em rolled up her pants and waded around and collected various rocks and dug in the sand and it was most relaxing.


So backing up a month -- we welcomed the Year of the Dragon on January 23. We had a nonregulation dinner of fajitas and cream puffs, but did roll out some decorations.


Emma also celebrated last month with a group of friends we see too rarely (only once a year or so), but it's always wonderful to get together with some of the other China Girls and their families.


The kids in the Mandarin immersion program at Emma's school put on a New Year's program earlier this month. That photo's kind of dim -- but Emma's on the front row in the middle.

Here she is with one of her pals from school, the "other" Emma (Emma B.). I knew when we named Emma "Emma" that she probably wouldn't be the only Emma in her class, and I was right. So now Emma has to write "Emma H." on all her school papers, and her teachers call her "Emma H." But whatcha gonna do..


She even writes "Emma H." when she's writing a letter to Mom and Dad (just so we're sure...):


And to conclude: We enjoyed Super Bowl Sunday at Aunt Boo Boo's and Joe took the annual rib-eating photo. The venue changed, so the chair's not the same as in years past, but the tradition continues.







I guess this wasn't so sinceriously long after all...more pictures than words, that helps.

Happy New Year.

So I Own a Collector's Item

In the early 80s I was a big fan of Fran Lebowitz, the author of Metropolitan Life and Social Studies. I think my sister Julie introduced me to her books. "Spectacularly funny. Astringent, quietly misanthropic, and yet wise...Lebowitz writes with a spare and lucid pen." (That's part of a review on the back of Metropolitan Life. Whenever I hear the word "astringent," I think of Fran Lebowitz.)

I probably read Metropolitan Life 20 times and used to have the first paragraph of "My Day: An Introduction of Sorts" memorized: "12:35 p.m.--The phone rings. I am not amused. This is not my favorite way to wake up. My favorite way to wake up is to have a certain French movie star whisper to me softly at two-thirty in the afternoon that if I want to get to Sweden in time to pick up my Nobel Prize for Literature I had better ring for breakfast. This occurs rather less often than one might wish."

Lots of Fran Lebowitz lines are stuck in my head:

"I look around my apartment (a feat readily accomplished by simply glancing up)..."

"I get up feeling curiously unrefreshed.."

"To me the outdoors is what you must pass through in order to get from your apartment into a taxicab."

"Breakfast cereals that come in the same colors as polyester leisure suits make oversleeping a virtue."

"Always a godmother...never a god."

"Adolescence is the last stage in your life when you will be happy to hear that the phone is for you."

"Generally speaking, it is inhumane to detain a fleeting insight."

You get the idea.

In 1984 I was living in Portland, working as a word processor for consulting engineers. I think I made $1500 a month, which for back then wasn't too bad, considering rent was $235 and I probably spent 30 bucks a week on food. I splurged on all kinds of things that year -- flew to Houston to visit Julie, bought gobs of Christmas presents for relatives. I also bought season tickets to a lecture series featuring various eggheads and writers, most of whom I hadn't heard of, but one of whom was Fran Lebowitz! The ticket price included a post-lecture reception at the Portland Art Museum where you could have a fancy refreshment and shake hands with the speaker. I was atwitter. So I heard her speak, she was very funny, and I ate some scrumptious little raspberry cheesecakes afterwards. And I did meet Fran Lebowitz, but don't remember shaking her hand. She was short and was wearing a white shirt with french cuffs. I'd brought my paperback copy of Metropolitan Life and hardback copy of Social Studies for her to sign. She was nice enough to personalize them and draw a little frowny face smoking a cigarette in each book.




So that was the end of that. A year later I went back to school and was suddenly much more fiduciarily challenged. At one point I sold about a third of my books to Powell's Bookstore (I probably got about $75). Social Studies was in that group, but I hung on to Metropolitan Life as a sentimental token of Lebowitz worship. I think about Fran Lebowitz about once a decade now (she doesn't do much; she's as famous for not writing as for writing).

So here it is 30 years after I bought her books, and almost 30 years since I sold one of them for probably a buck. Last night, I wondered if there was anything in our house that could be sold on ebay for any amount of money that might be worth the trouble of putting it out there. (Our neighbor has a full-time job selling stuff on ebay. She said she makes more money doing this than she did as a nurse. Not that I'm looking for a new job. I just had a thought.) So I started looking through my old record collection. Nine Joni Mitchell albums and a bunch of other stuff from the 70s and early 80s. Tons of these albums were already plastered all over ebay, going for a few bucks each. Nah. What else. I looked through some old sheet music. How about an old Jule Styne Songbook (Special Collector's Edition!). There were a couple on Amazon already for about 40 bucks. Maybe.

I started looking through my books, then started plugging in random titles seeing how much they were going for. Five bucks, 10 bucks. I typed in Metropolitan Life and started scrolling down and saw one offered at $250.00. Wow. Why so much? I started looking around on other sites. Another place, Allington Antiquarian Books, was selling a first edition signed copy for $435. It said "Copies of the first edition (i.e. the first printing) are rather uncommon, signed copies of any printing are more uncommon still, and signed copies of the first edition, first printing, are hen's teeth." So my humble paperback copy of Metropolitan Life might be worth something, being signed and all.

Then I went to another site, Biblio.com, and looked around. Both books were for sale for various prices. Some were priced pretty steep. I saw a copy of Social Studies for $140. As I scrolled by that one, I saw the word "Denise" out of the corner of my eye and went back and looked closer. Click to enlarge and check it out:


That's the book I sold to Powell's in 1985! Now it's at a rare book store in Long Beach, California. I want my book back!

So I bought it. For $140.00 plus shipping and handling. It should be here in a week or so. Then I'll own TWO collector's items. I figured maybe my signed set of two might be worth more together than separately.

Today Joe said, "So let me get this straight. You were trying to figure out how to make money by selling stuff on ebay and you ended up spending $140?"

(Am I crazy?) Should I keep them or sell them?

60 Years of Merry Matrimony

My mom and dad (Dick and Shirley) celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on Tuesday. Below is the two of them on December 27, 1951, celebrating wedding lunch at the Blue Bird Cafe in Logan, Utah. They were married earlier that day in the Logan Temple. My mom remembers it was a very cold and snowy day and the temple was packed with couples getting married because the Salt Lake Temple was closed.






And here they are 2 nights ago at the Skamania Lodge, on the Columbia River Gorge, celebrating anniversary dinner with my sister Julie and her husband Tom, and my nephew Ben and his wife Jax (who is expecting great-grandchild #18 in March).


Julie, I hope you don't mind I filched these photos off your Facebook. Congratulations, Mom and Dad -- You have accomplished so much in your lives together. Love, love, love you!!!

I Wish There Were Something Sweet Around Here to Eat...

Oh the sugary delight of it all.

Aunt Julie gave Emma the beautiful dress below, which Emma wore to Christmas church today.



Plus, Emma wants me to post the lovely rendering she recently did of her new (rental) violin, so I am hereby posting. It is rather nice. She starts lessons soon with a wonderful teacher conveniently located across the street.


Merry Christmas!!!

'Twas the Week Before Christmas

Emma and I were out making our usual yuletide rounds when we ran into Santa Claus and the missus. I didn't realize she was such a tough looking gal. It probably has to do with all them elves and reindeer games and such. I'll bet she knows her way around a nail gun.

Emma is no longer apprehensive about talking with Santa, in fact she is more tolerating than anything. In past years she wouldn't have anything to do with him, but now will pose for a photo if it means receiving a candy cane.

We haven't been out much yet for shopping, but still have a few days. I think it would help if we got out of this inversion and if it would snow a little bit. Ok then.

16 Things

1. Tonight for dinner we had pork enchiladas. Yesterday for dinner we had pulled pork sandwiches and cole slaw. Sunday for dinner we had pork roast and mashed potatoes and gravy. All this because we bought four little pork roasts at Costco on Saturday. They came as a set and cost about 14 bucks. We froze two, and cooked two in the crockpot on Sunday. So we got three meals out of those cute little roasts for a little over two bucks a meal (not counting your incidental side dishes). That's good porky value!

2. Speaking of food, Joe dropped in on me at work today. We're only about 10 minutes away from each other between 9 and 2, Monday thru Thursday. He snuck up behind me in my little cubicle and put a cinnamon roll on my desk. I was startled, in a good way. The cinnamon roll was left over from a meeting he'd just been to and was made by the Church cafeteria.

3. Speaking of the Church cafeteria, I had lunch there with Joe on Friday (at the Church Office Building). I love it there. It's so old school. The men are in suits and the women are in hose and sensible shoes. An elderly man was playing show tunes on the piano. I had meatball soup, green salad with chipotle ranch dressing, and a piece of disappointing key lime pie. The daily newspaper is stuck up along the walls and people eat at the counter and read the paper and scoot their trays down the row so they can read a different page. Like this:



4. Enough with the food.

5. How about that Super Committee!

6. Emma and I have been playing Monopoly lately. I used to let her win, but she legitimately walloped me on Sunday. We started a game before church, continued after church, and then finished up the next morning before school. I fought hard to the end but knew I was in for it when she had 15 hundred-dollar bills, all four railroads, both utilities, a bunch of other properties, and all I had was 90 bucks and St. James Place. Emma gloated wildly during most of the game, kicking her legs on the floor and crowing jubilantly whenever I'd land on one of her heavily developed holdings. She started feeling sorry for me near the end, though, which was touching. She counts in Chinese when she moves her token around the board. Sigh.

7. Speaking of tokens. Sometimes in Monopoly you draw a Chance or Community Chest card that says "advance token to Boardwalk" or some other spot. When I was a kid the words "advance token" meant absolutely nothing to me. I knew it meant you had to go to Boardwalk, but "advance token" was like a foreign language. It didn't dawn on me till I started playing with Emma that it was a command to "move your little metal dealy to Boardwalk." Of course! Advance your token!

8. Emma was a mermaid for Halloween last month. Here's a picture my dad took of her:



9. Halloween was so warm and pleasant. Joe sat out on the driveway in a lawn chair and handed out candy. It was really fun to trick or treat with Emma that night. We started early and stayed out late. She got a super bucketload of candy, but she's more into the having than the eating. She's still got a lot left.

10. I made a vow to not have any Halloween candy because eating the fun-size everything always starts me on a slippery slope that doesn't end until January. So far so good. I'm compensating with pork.

11. Joe threw a Thanksgiving lunch for his office last week. He deep-fried two turkeys. Then he brought home a bunch of leftovers and we had them for dinner.

12. A few weeks ago we had 17 Siberian elms removed from the side of our house. They were ugly and also making cracks in our neighbor's driveway.

13. This is what they looked like before removal:



14. A skinny little guy with a pony tail and cigarette perched in his mouth crawled up the tall trees and dismantled them with his chainsaw. He had just the right build for the job.





15. And this is what it looked like when he was almost done.




16. I was going to call this post 22 Things for November 22, but I have run out of steam! It's tired and I'm getting late. Sayonara.

October Update

It's been way too long between posts. And then the longer I wait the less inclined I am. It's like putting off homework, not that the blog feels like an assignment. Well, maybe it does a little. But the longer you put off the homework, the more insurmountable it seems.

I'm so glad I don't have to do homework anymore. Emma, on the other hand, has what seems like a lot of homework for a first grader. Stuff almost every night. Chinese characters to practice, and arithmetic, and reading and spelling. But right now she's on fall break for a couple days, so she can rest a bit. She's been working hard.

Joe's mom celebrated a big birthday on Saturday and we had lots of family in town. Cousin Mary from Arizona stayed the night with us on Friday. Emma's first sleepover. We went to Corn Belly's at Thanksgiving Point first.

Then Mary and Emma slept downstairs in the big king bed together. Super fun to have her over.

The next day we had family lunch at Aunt Boo Boo's. Gae was the guest of honor.

We had a really good meal (including 3 birthday cakes from Nothing Bundt Cakes: lemon, red velvet, and chocolate chocolate chip). Gae opened her presents, including this cool quilt that Aunt Susan made.

Here's Lou and Gae with 17 of their 24 grandkids, plus two greats.

It was a wonderful party. Happy birthday, Gae. We love you.

P.S. See our niece Marianne's lovely post about this same occasion here: http://www.theprignanos.com/

First Day, First Grade

Without my glasses and with the sun in my eyes, I snapped a few pictures of Little Missy Em's first day of first grade. It was Tuesday. She didn't eat much breakfast. But I was consoled by the fact that from now on she'll have hot lunch at school (and judging from the menus, Canyons School District does a far, far better job of lunch than I ever have).

Oh, the sun it was bright as the neighborhood kids gathered at the right spot/right time.

I asked her to give me a little wave as she boarded the bus, which she did, but as you can see, she was more interested in getting on with things than in sappy good-byes.

She has two first-grade teachers, Ms. Snow and Mrs. Lee. Mrs. Lee is her Chinese teacher and just moved here from Taiwan (leaving her husband behind so she can teach 50+ Draper, Utah, kids Mandarin). She's about 4'10" and has a great big smile with dimples. I hope Mr. Lee will be okay. Emma starts her day with a couple hours of non-stop Chinese with Mrs. Lee, then has hot lunch (oh, it thrills me), then has English language arts in the afternoon with Ms. Snow, a 30-year first grade veteran teacher who has been the district literacy specialist, so she's great with teaching reading.

Emma is already speaking lots of Chinese at home. It's quite remarkable. Lots of songs and little phrases. She just pops out with stuff. ("Almost as if she's wired for it," says Joe.) I'm excited for her. A whole Mandarin universe awaits.