MaeLyn's Musings

At Institute this week, we discussed the first few chapters of Ether - the whole bit about the tower of Babel, the languages being changed, and Jared and his brother and their families and friends leaving and traveling to a promised land. It's a fun bit. One thing that was brought out in class that I hadn't really contemplated before was the importance of working and doing our part. First of all, you have the tower, and God changing the languages of the people and scattering them all over the earth. Jared and his brother didn't just sit around and wait to see what was going to happen to them. In other words, they didn't wait to be acted upon, they took action themselves. First of all, they decided they didn't want to have their language changed so they went to the Lord in prayer to ask to be able to keep their language. They didn't just settle for that, either. They thought about who else they would like to be able to communicate with, and then prayed to the L...

I lifted the lever on the faucet to turn it on a few days ago and, as expected, water poured from the spout and into the sink. I noticed, however, an unexpected trail of water leaking from the hose at the base of the pullout spout and dribbling down over the base of the faucet. I didn't look, but I knew there was probably water dripping down the hose as well, and into the cabinet beneath the sink. Years ago, I had lined the bottom of the cupboard with leftover linoleum from our kitchen floor to protect the wood which was already warped from water damage from other faucets with similar issues. At the moment, I was glad that it was there. I had liked this faucet. I liked how I could pull out the nozzle to spray the inside of pots, or fill a pitcher of water even when the sink was crowded with dishes waiting to be washed. I liked how I could change the water pressure depending on whether I wanted to spray stuck on scum from dirty plates, or gently fill a tablespoon for a recipe. But...

I need help! I'm still working on my homework for my creative writing class: writing about something I hate. I've written two pieces, and I can't decide which I want to submit. Please, read them both and then comment and tell me which you like better. Which is more interesting? Which shows more individuality, or more voice? Which best describes what it is and why I hate it? ______________________________________________________ There is a comedy sketch in which a man walks into a restaurant that serves bisque. He asks the waiter what kinds of bisque they serve, and the waiter lists several: mushroom, tomato, asparagus, lettuce, shrimp, but dwells on the house specialty, which is lobster bisque. The customer doesn’t care for lobster, and so he orders the mushroom bisque. A few minutes later, the waiter returns to apologize and inform him that they are all out of mushroom bisque. So the man asks for tomato bisque. The waiter tells him that they are out of tomato bisque as...

Here is another logic problem for you. Figure out each person's favorite dessert, favorite movie and favorite number. The six people are: The person who likes cheesecake, the person who likes “Monsters University”, the person who likes #9, Joshua, the person who likes Chocolate chip cookies, and the person who likes #3. John likes #7. The person who likes “Aladdin” also likes to eat brownies. Between Peter and the person who likes “Muppet Movie”, one likes donuts and the other likes #88. MaeLyn is either the person who likes oatmeal raisin cookies or the person who likes “How to Train Your Dragon.” Joshua does not like brownies or #88. The person who likes “Music Man” does not like #89 or chocolate chip cookies. Steven likes #17.5. The person who likes chocolate also likes #88. Neither Hannah nor the person who likes chocolate chip cookies likes “The Lightning Thief”. The person who likes “Aladdin” does not like #3. John does not like cheesecake. The person who likes “...

My lesson in my Creative Writing class this week is on individuality. It is about allowing my writing to reflect my uniqueness, my point of view, my interests. It was suggested that we keep a journal in order to practice writing, to hold our thoughts and ideas and impressions, to explore. I haven't been a very good journal writer over the course of my life. I kept a journal in high school and for the first half of my mission. Over the last several years, this blog has become my journal in that I record in it the major events of my life and what I happen to be thinking about. In that way, it is a reflection of my interests, and hopefully my uniqueness. The problem is that this blog is public. It isn't free writing, such as is encouraged for the class journal, because I am very careful about what I write and how I write it. I try not to record things here that would humiliate or embarrass family members or friends. I edit and revise. I try to keep to a consistent topic. I am aw...

I mentioned last week that we had checked out the movie "Monsters University" from the library. It inspired last week's Monster Logic puzzle. Since then, I have been having fun drawing the monsters that were referred to in the puzzle. I finished the last one today, so I thought I would share. Warning: if you haven't solved the puzzle and don't want me to give away the answers, don't look at this! These were the sketches I started out with when I created the puzzle to help me remember who was who, and who had what. Art was drawn entirely in Photoshop. Herbert was sketched in pencil, then colored with colored pencil. Ponzi was originally colored in crayon, then scanned and changed a bit in Photoshop. Theodore was drawn entirely in Photoshop. Bonzo was drawn entirely in Photoshop. I'm not the only one who drew monsters this week. I was just having fun with some random monster sketches, and Peter added a picture of the real Art ...

At institute this morning someone mentioned that "how to be happy" (or variations on the theme) was one of the most searched for topics on Google. Curious about what kind of things would come up, I tried searching for "how to be happy" myself. As I finished typing this phrase into the search box, several suggestions popped up below the box: how to be happy alone, again, single, at work, in a relationship, with yourself, after a breakup, and everyday. The results that came up were interesting too. Amongst the 494,000,000 results, there were 12 step programs and 7 step programs, scientifically proven ways to be happy, 10 things not to do, 10 things to do, secrets, tips, and myths. There were blogs and articles, books, products, apps and games. Suggestions included everything from looking beyond imperfections, choosing to be happy, and being grateful, to spending time outside, improving your physical health (improving eating, sleeping, exercising habits), and spendin...

Sitting down to Easter dinner Easter has all the ingredients for a great holiday. It has traditions that are fun - like decorating hard boiled eggs and playing hide-and-seek with candy filled plastic eggs. It might even mean a new outfit or a basket full of goodies. Easter means good food - a great dinner, and scrumptious candy. It can mean good music. The deeper significance of Easter is just as meaningful as Christmas, with the idea of resurrection, eternal life and rebirth. I enjoy this time of year, watching my tulips and daffodils open up and tiny seedlings sprouting. I love the trees that break out in pink blossoms. I am entertained by the squirrels as they chase each other up and down the trees, and by the birds trilling their sweet songs for all to hear. Peter's candy creation This year, the kids woke up and began their search for  candy-filled eggs that were concealed amid the books in the bookshelves, behind pictures on the piano, and amongst the cushions on the...

The silver sedan flowed along the snowy highway, its bright headlights illuminating the blowing specks of snow in the darkness and giving the impression of travelling through starry space at warp speed. Heavy branches drooped from the pines lining the sides of the road, occasionally dropping their wet load with a quiet slush. Inside the car, Loretta and Mick sat in tense silence. Mick’s fingers were almost white as they clutched the steering wheel, negotiating the gentle curves. He was glad there were no other cars on the icy road tonight. Loretta sat in the passenger seat beside him staring through the windows at the huge drifts on the sides of the road, watching for a sign that would tell them they were finally approaching their destination. Suddenly, with a screech like a hundred fingernails scraping a chalkboard, the car collided with the darkness. Mick and Loretta flew forward, their seatbelts suddenly feeling much too tight against their chests. The airbags deployed with a whoos...

The lesson in my Creative Writing class this week is about 'showing' rather than 'telling'. It's the difference between saying, "It was very cold." and saying "My teeth were chattering, my lips were blue and my toes felt like icicles." Some keys for 'showing' include using specific details, involving different senses, using comparisons (metaphors and similes) and creating scenes that reveal action, or things happening. I was unsatisfied about my account of my adventure on Saturday with the car overheating. It didn't have the spark that I wanted it to have. I think my problem was that I was telling about what was happening, rather than showing it. I didn't show the impatience I felt as I glanced up from my Agatha Christie book every few minutes and peered up the road hoping for a glimpse of a familiar cyclist. I didn't write about the sickly green of the coolant pouring into the tube, like snot being snorted into a huge nos...

This week our family checked out " Monsters University " from the library and got to watch it for the first time. I enjoyed watching it, and it inspired a new logic problem: Monsters! Figure out each monster's name, color, special feature, and number of eyes (between 1 and 5).  1. The five monsters are: Ponzi, the monster with 5 eyes, the monster with the tail, the yellow monster, and the monster with two heads. 2. Art is not the monster with horns. 3. Bongo has more eyes than Theodore. 4. Of Herbert and the monster with horns, one is red and the other has only one eye. 5. The purple monster does not have a tail. 6. The red monster has one more eye than the two headed monster. 7. Of the red monster and the monster with three eyes, one has tentacles and the other is Art. 8. The green monster has more eyes than the monster that breathes fire. 9. The blue monster has only one eye. Click here for the chart.

I am researching drivers ed programs. Is that crazy? In Colorado, a teenager has to have her driver's permit for 12 months before she can get her license. That means that if Hannah wants to get her driver's license when she turns sixteen, she has to get her permit when she turns fifteen, and has to take a driver's ed course within 6 months of taking the written test - so kids can enroll in driver's ed as early as 14 1/2 years old! My mind is boggled. I remember taking driver's ed when I was a teen. It was offered at my high school. I think the semester long class was divided into two sections - half health class and half driver's ed. We'd learn about the rules of the road - how far before turning a corner we were supposed to turn on our turn signal, or how many feet behind the next car we were supposed to leave to give us space to stop. Of course, since I had no real concept of how far 200 feet are, or 50 yards, or whatever, they were just random numbers t...

Just noting for history's sake, yesterday I was sustained as a cub scout den leader. I will be helping the Bear Cubs in our pack. While I wasn't overjoyed at receiving a fourth calling, at least this one isn't on Sundays. Second Sundays are already crazy for me as I lead the music in Sacrament Meeting, play piano in Relief Society, and teach in Relief Society. As was mentioned in yesterday's Relief Society lesson, "If we fully appreciate the many blessings which are ours through the redemption made for us, there is nothing that the Lord could ask of us that we would not anxiously and willingly do." Whatever inconvenience I may experience serving in my ward is nothing when compared to Christ's suffering for my sins. So when the bishopric extends a calling, I accept it.

Yesterday I got to teach Lesson 6 of Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Fielding Smith, entitled, The Significance of the Sacrament in Relief Society. I loved that our Sunday School lesson on Moses ended talking about the Passover and how it was the precursor to the sacrament that we take today. I felt it was a great introduction to my lesson. I started by showing a picture of The Last Supper and asking what significance this event has for us today. Then we read about President Smith's thoughts on the subject. I'm not going to to through everything we talked about here. I essentially asked questions and the sisters taught each other. Frequently, their comments would lead to something in the chapter, and I would have someone read the paragraph or scripture that was applicable. Some of the questions I asked were: What benefits do we gain from taking the sacrament weekly? What can we do to keep the sacrament from becoming commonplace and losing its significan...

"Are you sur e the car will be okay?" "Yes!" Steven assured me. "We replaced the radiator and got it all put back together before I drove it home last night. I added coolant this morning. It should work just fine now." Neither Steven nor I know much about cars, but we are lucky to have a friend who does, and he had helped us when our only car's radiator got a crack in it. With increased confidence, I gathered the library books and the kids who wanted to accompany me and headed out the door. The day was warm; we wouldn't need jackets, but there were storm clouds looming on the horizon as John and Joshua and I climbed into the van and set off. As we approached the library less than ten minutes later, however, I noticed that the car’s temperature gauge was creeping upward, and was nearly to the red by the time I pulled into a parking space. I'd had experience with cars overheating before and I knew that was bad. As we headed into the li...

The night we buried my grandmother I returned home exhausted and angry. I was mad at my parents for putting my grandmother in a nursing home. I was angry at the people at the nursing home for letting her die. I was angry at my grandmother for leaving without telling me goodbye, and I was angry at myself for not being there for my grandmother’s final hours. With tears slipping down my cheeks, I buried my head under my pillow to block out the crickets outside my window.   I fell asleep thinking about my lost confidant, my dear friend, my loving grandmother. In my dream, I was walking through my grandmother’s house. This wasn’t the sterile nursing home where she had spent the last few months of her life, but the cozy yellow bungalow where she had lived the previous seventy years. I breathed in the familiar scent of lavender as I wandered through the familiar rooms. In the front room I came to the cabinet where my grandmother had kept a collection of tiny bells, and as I...

This one is challenging, but I guarantee that it is possible! Of John and the person with the beige luggage, one would like to live in Japan and the other would like to visit Orlando. Of the person who would like to live in Virginia and the person who would like to visit Paris, one has blue luggage and the other is MaeLyn. Of the person with the brown luggage and the person who wants to live in Quebec, one would like to visit Paris and the other is John. Of Hannah and the person who would like to visit Nepal, one wants to live in London and the other has blue luggage. Joshua has green luggage. Of the person who would like to visit Nepal and the person who would like to visit California, one has green luggage and the other would like to live in Japan. Of Peter and the person who would like to visit Brazil, one wants to live in Denver and the other has black luggage. Print out a chart here.