How I know...

This is how I know the angels in heaven want me to index.

I got the message, angel-friends and I will keep on keepin' on.

I promised myself many, many years ago that if I were ever to be blessed/cursed with twins that I would name them Lady Elaine and King Friday. From Mr. Rogers.

There are no coincidences.

Happy Shark Week, everyone!

And to those of you who don't celebrate for religious or other reasons - merry large fish holiday. We DO celebrate in our family. We celebrate the 3rd eyelid of a tiger shark and the fact that they are the trash compactor (merry recycler to you greens) of the seas. We root for the rubbery mass of sawing teeth that jump 10 feet out of the water instead of the big brown-eyed furry cuteness it's trying to eat. We draw sharks, we hope of sharks, and we eat fish all week.

To celebrate this year, beyond the usual watching of all things cartilaged-fish, we did more. On Wednesday, the Young Women from my church came over for a Shark Week pool party. We wore fins on our heads (or tried to) and hunted down 100 gold fish that mysteriously were in there. It was a way we could swim a mile in a shark's shoes. Empathy. It was really frustrating to be chasing a fish only to have it dart out of reach at the last second! (87 of the fish reside happily in the pond now - a much better life than that of normal feeder fish)

Friday was Ultimate Sharkalicious Meganight. It was so Mega that my aunt Rosemary and cousin Adrienne drove two days to be here for it. Nicki made Ultimate Extreme Super Shark cupcakes with the kids - they only took about 5 hours. We ate fish tacos and made our own Shark Week t-shirts. Jaymeson rigged up a projector and screen outside and we were able to watch AIR JAWS from the pool with all the lights out. And Mythbusters Shark Edition:

• Tickling a shark's snout WILL hypnotize him.
• Magnets DO freak them out.
• Playing dead doesn't work and you probably won't have enough sense to poke a shark's eyes out while being eaten.

It gives you such a warm feeling to know the true meaning of Shark Week and even more - to apply it in your own lives.

The faith of little ones...

In the car today, Mason (6!) and Preslie (3) were discussing which of their suckers was better.

Mason's was blue.

Preslie's was mango.

Finally, Mason yells,"I DON'T LIKE MANGOS!!!"

To which Preslie says,

"OH YEAH??!! Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for the day. Please bless Mason will LOVE mangos..."

Time Travel

I'm going to go into the future to when time machines are invented and then go back to last friday to warn myself about dropping my iPhone into the toilet. This plan is brilliant brilliant brilliant!

Hawaii!

I wish I could post a bunch of pics, but alas, I forgot my camera.

A New Job?

I applied for a new job today.

WHA?!

It's not in design. It's not in art. Here are some sample questions from the test I will have to take next month:

1. Multiply the numbers below:

1.5 x 6.3

A .945

B 9.45

C 94.5

D 945

2. In the set of numbers below, choose the number that

does not follow the pattern.

... 40, 140, 239, 340 ...

A 40

B 140

C 239

D 340

I hope I can find my thinking cap that day. I actually called to see if I could volunteer and they said,"we don't take volunteers - but we'll pay you." So I guess I'll do it that way. I want to be a Census Taker. Seriously. It's on my life passport just waiting for a stamp.

It's because of Indexing. Indexing is a volunteer effort going on all over the world through the LDS Church to digitize all of the old handwritten records - censuses, death records, marriage licenses, etc. so that people everywhere can search them (for free) and find their ancestors. I started doing it at the end of last summer and quickly became addicted. It's fascinating. Here are some of my favorite things I have come across:

A 40 year old woman with a 16 year old husband... with a 3 month old baby and somehow a 6 year old daughter... I'm pretty sure that was scandalous even in 1920.

Stars name their kids the craziest names. Meet Rob Lowe. He named his daughter Lowe Lowe.

This guy was born "At Sea"

And this is my favorite name: True Love Hall. Her Grandson was named Brownie.

C'mon. That is a good time, right? My addiction led me to a new calling in the ward: Indexing Czar. So now I have to motivate the people at church to love it as much as I do. Some people love it even more. We have indexed almost 65,000 names.

I write stories in my head about the names I index. Like the "boarders" who have secret affairs with the "servants" without the Head of the household even noticing. But what did he think would happen when they are all the same age living in such close quarters? Sometimes the stories are already there. I feel sad for the 30 year old black widow in Louisiana in 1920 with seven kids. None of them could read or write. When I get my flux capacitor fixed - I'm going back in time to help her. Poor thing.

It has gotten me thinking about this year's census and about the stories and crazy things that are happening RIGHT IN MY TOWN! I really want to know. So I know I'm crazy, but this summer I hope to be going door to door and writing everyone's information with really illegible, horrible handwriting so that future indexers will spend extra time scratching their heads and wondering about my little town.

(NO, Melanie, I won't get killed and plastered into a basement wall. What is wrong with your brain?)

The Hills

Hey. So...I don't know...you know, right? Maybe you don't. I'll fill you in.

We went to visit Marilyn on Friday and had another great chat with her family. They are great people. ("I have only just met you but I love you."a la UP) After we left they called us to tell us that she had passed away. Then my heart was broken. Not because I was close with Marilyn, but because I didn't want them to have to go through that. Too sad. Also, I couldn't help but "liken" the situation to myself. They had a beautiful collage of Marilyn and it was amazing how much she looked like my mom. Same hairstyles, same clothes - they grew up in the same time bubble. I couldn't help but think about what they must feel like. Then I was not ok. I couldn't live a minute without my Mom and right then I made her promise me that she would live forever. Her answer came via text and it was while she was driving, so I don't know how sincere she is. Shame on her. But I forgive her because I love her with all of me and then some.

I remembered the feelings I had when my own dad passed away from cancer when I was 17. Lexi came down into my room early one morning and simply said,"He's gone." It was as if the emotions Relief, Grief, Peace, Longing, Happiness, and Wonder were blended up for me and I drank them down. The result was ok-ness. Peace prevailed. People came over and awed that we were not crying. But the prayers of our friends and the love of a sorrowful Heavenly Father, whom I believe only took my Dad because He needed him more, buoyed us up and carried us around through that time. Hearing all the stories and seeing all the people whose lives Dad touched was uplifting and happy. Now I'm on the outside looking in - feeling the same way the people who watched us felt. I'm wondering how Marilyn's family will get by. They just will. What choice do they have? I hope they will have the same feelings and help we had.

I also remember when the prayers and thoughts and donuts and visitors slowed down and eventually stopped. It was a physical feeling. Like we were set back down on the ground. It taught me to try to keep those going through troubles in my thoughts long after the commotion dies down.

To clear my head and simultaneously torture myself, I went for a long run. I thought and thought and thought, not noticing what was going on around me. Suddenly, everything felt easier. I felt almost... good? I pulled out of my thoughts and looked around. I had just finished climbing a long, ugly hill and was on flat ground. I wanted to kiss it. "Thank you for being flat", I thought. I realized that I wouldn't care at all if the ground was flat if I hadn't just climbed that hill. I hate hills. They're the worst. But they sure make you grateful for the flat ground. I'm sorry that we have hills in our life. I've had a few big ones and some other more rolly ones. They weren't any fun but they made me stronger and more able to handle the ones that are inevitably coming up. They also made me grateful for the times when there aren't any and put into perspective the size of the ones I do face.

Mary Beth and Joe and their families have to face a giant hill. I wish I could give them a ride. I wish they didn't have to do it at all. I guess all I can do is keep praying that they'll have the strength and endurance they are going to need.

And maybe bring them some socks.