MaeLyn's Musings

Late last night, I had sunk into a deep sleep when I was awakened by shrieks and growls that came from a distressed cat. Groggily rolling out of bed, I staggered down the hall and towards the kitchen. Dark shadows flocked at the entrance to the kitchen, and I tried to avoid stepping on them as I groped for the kitchen light. Three orange cats stood in the doorway watching the kitchen intently, their ears pressed back against their skulls. In the middle of the kitchen Ishmael faced away from me with his back arched high and piercing the air with his loud meows. At the far end of the kitchen, crouched next to the cat food and water dish, and also howling, was The Imposter. His long, fluffy black fur stood straight out from his back and he stared at Ishmael with bright green eyes. When I started coming towards him, he dashed past Ishmael, ricocheted off the dining room table and leaped to the windowsill above the couch in the living room. I opened the sliding glass door in the dini...

It was early. Too early for a summer morning when we didn't have to get up for school. I woke to what sounded like a low buzzing. My first thought was that a cell phone was vibrating. I opened my eyes and looked towards the dresser, where the phones were, but the only light in the room was what came peeking around the edges of the curtains from outside. It wasn't a phone. That was when I noticed the dark shapes by the doorway and realized that what I had taken for a buzz was actually a cat growling, deep in his throat. I sat up, and there was a sudden explosion as the growl escalated to a meow and something hit the dresser on its way out the door in a mad dash. What was that all about? Usually the cats get along pretty well together, and it is very rare for them to fight. Bewildered, I lay back down and tried to go back to sleep. It was later in the morning, after I got up that I noticed the other cat hanging around the outside of the house, and looking in the windows. It did...

Several days ago, Josh gave me a slip of paper with some information written on it, and told me to make a logic puzzle out of it. So here it is: Josh created a remote control for his rocket. Can you figure out what color each button is, and what it does? The button to launch the rocket is directly above the button that sets the rocket on fire. The button that smashes the rocket is not the grey button in the top left corner. The brown button is directly to the left of the button that floods the rocket. The yellow button destroys the rocket. The red button is directly to the right of the white button. The button that destroys the rocket is on the same side of the controller as the blue button. The button that rebuilds the rocket is directly below the blue button.

It is the last day of school! No more seminary. No more homework. No more uniforms. No more tests. No more concerts.  At least for a few months, anyway. Joshua and Mrs. Overton Yesterday morning as we were preparing to leave for school, Josh told me, "Oh yeah, the awards celebration is this morning at 8:00! I was supposed to make you an invitation, but I was doing MAPS testing and forgot." Luckily, I didn't have anywhere else to be that morning, so I got to attend Joshua's Celebration for 5th grade. The celebration was held in an engineering lab that had been decorated with streamers and balloons. They started off the program by showing a slideshow of pictures taken through the school year. Then they had some student presentations followed by the handing out of awards. What I liked best about this celebration were the many different cheers that the two fifth grade teachers had the parents and students do for the students being recognized. They had a different ...

It was about 1:30 yesterday afternoon and I was laying on the couch in the living room relaxing and reading an Agatha Christy novel for a few minutes before I needed to pick up the kids from school. Abish had made herself comfortable on my chest and appeared to be napping. Outside, rain poured from a dark sky. A flash of bright light was followed by a long rolling boom of thunder which startled Abish. She leaped from my lap and landed on the floor, where she looked at me reproachfully, as though I had woken her from her nap on purpose. For a little while I could hear hail stones hitting the patio roof with resonating clangs. A few minutes later, I dug my rain jacket out of the back of my closet and grabbed my umbrella and headed out into the storm. In a way, I was grateful that Steven was out of town because I had the car and could drive most of the way to the school, and I wasn't sopping wet by the time I got there. Usually when I arrive at school to pick up the kids, there ar...

Of the three kinds of derbys that our cub scout pack participates in, I think the Space Derby is my least favorite. Like the pinewood derby, each scout is supplied with a kit consisting of a chunk of balsa wood, some suggested building instructions, and a small bag of odds and ends to be used to make the propeller and the rubber bands that are the motor. Our boys brought their kits home from their den meetings last Wednesday, and the Space Derby was held last night.   The difficulties we experienced this year are probably my fault. I forgot about making the rockets until Monday morning. Remembering as we were eating breakfast, I found Steven's wood glue and glued the two halves of each rocket together while simultaneously trying to get the boys packed and ready to leave for school. When they returned home that afternoon,  I handed Josh and Peter each a sheet of sandpaper and told them to start sanding. (The balsa wood is supposedly soft enough that it is supposed to be shape...

Today was the final institute class for this school year. (Technically, it is called Adult Continuing Education, but it is a lot easier just to call it institute.) To round out the year, we spent the last half hour or so discussing what we have learned from the Book of Mormon this year, what made a difference to us, what we take with us going forward. Each week, I've come home and written about something that I learned from class that week. Here is a very brief outline of what I have learned (the dates are links to what I wrote for that week) : Sept 17, 2013 Purpose of the Book of Mormon - to convince the world that Jesus is the Christ. The Lord is merciful. When we are earnestly striving to be obedient in spite of the difficulties and trials, that is when God will endow us with power. That is when the miracles will come. Sept 24, 2013 Lehi's dream relates to the entire human family. Elder Neal A Maxwell : "So it is that the laughter of the world is me...

Saturday morning I woke up bright and early. Too early, really. The house was still quiet and still, but that wasn't surprising because the only other person at home was Hannah, and she could sleep until noon. I rolled over and tried to go back to sleep, but after a half hour or so I surrendered to the day. I showered and dressed and went to the kitchen and made muffins. Just about the time that the sweet aroma of muffins was filling the house, Steven and the boys arrived home from the father's and son's campout they had been on. It had rained during the night, and they had forgotten to bring the fly from their tent, so a lot of their stuff was damp and muddy. Josh and Peter had been buried in sand (why???), so they came home with a fine coating of sand and dirt on their necks, in their ears, on their clothes, inside their sopping wet shoes. I directed them to take their wet clothes and things straight to the laundry room, and then listened to them tell me about their ca...

We walk past the yellow house almost every day on our way to school. It is a nice house, with a two car garage with a flag pole on the side and a giant evergreen tree in the front yard and a wood trellis over the gate leading to the back yard. One morning several months ago, a realtor sign appeared in front of the house with a "Coming Soon!" tag on top. The lawn was mowed and the trim painted, and an American Flag waved to the world from its perch next to the garage.  A couple weeks later, the "Coming Soon" tag disappeared and a pink "vacant" notice appeared on the mail box. Signs appeared on the storm door asking visitors to remove their shoes so as not to track dirt on the brand new carpets. A lock box was on the storm door's handle, and the house seemed to be excitedly anticipating its new occupants, whoever they may be. After a few weeks, an "Under Contract" tag appeared on the realtor's sign, and I was happy for the little house....

Five members of the Hiatt family attended a concert in which Hannah performed. They sat in one row, with no spaces between them. Can you figure out what order they sat in and what color each of them wore? Peter neither sat next to Joshua, nor did he sit next to the person wearing green. The person in yellow is somewhere to the right of the person wearing red. The person wearing blue sat immediately to the right of John. MaeLyn sat somewhere to the right of Steven. Steven is not sitting next to the person in purple. Peter did not wear yellow. John is somewhere to the left of the person in red. MaeLyn wore purple.

Several years ago, I had an image stuck in my head. I sketched it. I painted it. I drew it in Photoshop. Still, that image haunted me. It was the image of a single candle bravely burning, while hands reached out from darkness to pinch it out. I was reminded of this image today during institute, as we read Moroni 7, and talked about the Light of Christ. The Bible Dictionary describes this Light: The light of Christ is just what the words imply: enlightenment, knowledge, and an uplifting, ennobling, persevering influence that comes upon mankind because of Jesus Christ. For instance, Christ is “the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world” ( D&C 93:2 ; see John 1:9 ). The light of Christ fills the “immensity of space” and is the means by which Christ is able to be “in all things, and is through all things, and is round about all things.” It “giveth life to all things” and is “the law by which all things are governed.” It is also “the light that quicken...

In Denver, Mother's Day weekend is usually when people say that frosty mornings are over for the season, and that we can finally safely plant things out doors. Saturday was warm, but overcast and cloudy. It looked like we might get an afternoon shower, but nothing too serious. When I went shopping that morning, I picked up a few flowers to plant along the fence facing the street. After coming home, I spent a little while playing in the rich earth, transplanting some tulips that were already there, and planting three shades of purple pansies, digging holes and setting the fragile flowers in their new home. I hoped they would be happy there. As I finished placing the last few plants in the soil, the clouds opened, and a gentle sprinkling of rain watered them for me. I envisioned the tiny plants blooming and growing, filling the space with their lovely flowers. Mother's Day dawned cold and wet. As I ate the delicious biscuits that Steven made for breakfast and admired the bouqu...

My Creative Writing class this week focused on nonfiction, specifically the more creative forms, such as memoirs and personal narratives. the homework this week was to think of a point in time when I was personally affected by a newsworthy event, focus on one specific moment, and describe it. We were supposed to try to think of something besides 9/11. As I tried to come up with something, my mind reverted to a memory from my early childhood. It was only when I did a bit of research to pin point when exactly it was that I realized how very young I was! I was supposed to focus on just one moment, so I had to refrain from mentioning the bookshelf lying on its face, with books sandwiched below it. I didn't describe seeing the kitchen floor covered with shattered glass, broken eggs and puddles of milk that had been tossed from the refrigerator. These memories are from the same event, but they weren't as personal. I was a blonde and blue eyed three year old that sunny Sunday afterno...

A common sight in the skies here in the Denver area is a small plane trailing a long banner advertising Geico Insurance. On Monday afternoon, that plane went down. According to newspaper reports, the pilot took off from an airport north of here and was headed south in the direction of downtown and Coors Field, where the Colorado Rockies were playing. At some point he realized he was losing power and needed to make an emergency landing. In an effort to lighten the plane, he jettisoned the Geico banner, but it wasn't enough. He didn't make it to the open space he was aiming for but instead crash landed into the rear of a house, only about 2 miles from where I live. Coincidentally, the house happened to be one that he had owned ten years previously, although he didn't realize the fact until later. Somehow the pilot, who as a fireman but worked part time for Drag'n'Fly Banners, survived the crash. He escaped from the wreckage, called 911, searched the house for occu...

Working on the path through the park A few months ago, I wrote about the park down the street, and how the city is rehabilitating it. ( See here .) A month or so later, they had made some progress, and I wrote about it again. ( See here .) Since then, the work has continued. outlining where the new sidewalks would go Some days as we walked to school, we were met with the loud cacophony of jackhammers breaking up the concrete sidewalks. Sometimes we got to see giant excavators digging up huge chunks of concrete or asphalt. bulldozers would push them into piles and then load them into trucks with giant open bins on the back to haul the refuse to a dump somewhere. New paths would be outlined with thin boards held in place by metal and wood stakes. Then came the excitement of concrete mixers and towering concrete pumps, pouring new sidewalks and courtyards. After the concrete was poured, workers would come, sometimes on hands and knees smoothing the poured concrete with trowels...

Several months ago, I read Lectures on Faith, and my understanding of what faith is deepened. I wrote about it here . In Institute this morning, as we were reading Ether and Moroni's words about faith in Ether 12, I had another one of those "ah-ha" moments. Someone in class said that there was a time in her life that she was waking up at 4:30am fully alert, and she was able to use that time to really study the scriptures, and so she had the Spirit with her throughout the day, guiding her and teaching her. Someone else commented that a returned missionary complained that after returning home, he didn't feel the Spirit as powerfully as he had when he was a missionary. It was brought up that maybe we don't need to feel the Spirit so strongly all the time. Sometimes the Lord trusts us to make good decisions without his guidance shouting in our ears. Sometimes the rewards for us are greater when we are walking on our own, in faith. There have been times in the ...

The more I learn about former President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Joseph Fielding Smith, the more I admire him. Yesterday, I got to teach lesson 8 of Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Fielding Smith, entitled, "The Church and Kingdom of God". In the first section about his life, we read one incredible story: A simple and unassuming man, Joseph Fielding Smith never sought these positions. But when the Lord called him to serve, he willingly and enthusiastically obeyed. He quietly exhibited this dedication one day when, at age 89, he went to a meeting. Walking from his home, he slipped and fell down a flight of steps. Although he hurt his leg, he walked about a quarter of a mile—“limping like an old man,” he said—so he could fulfill his responsibilities. After the meeting, he walked back home, where he finally allowed a doctor to examine him. The doctor found that President Smith’s leg was fractured in multiple places. President Sm...

Here is another logic puzzle for you. Can figure out each house #, color and resident? The six people are: Karen, the person in the house #7431, the person in the brown house, the person in house #8127, George, and the person in the beige house. House #7431 is neither white nor yellow. Laura's house is directly south of the yellow house. House #8716 is farther west than Casper's house. The white house is west of James's house, which is not brown. The tan house is east of house #7431. Karen's house is directly north of house #9241. House #7892 is north east of Casper's house. The white house is east of house #7768. Mary lives in the orange house.

This week in my Creative Writing class, t he lesson talked about the different types of fiction i.e. genre fiction, (like westerns or mysteries, the stuff people want to read) vs. literary fiction (which aspires to be art or makes a statement about the human situation or something highfaluting like that.) We also learned about some of the differences between a novel and a short story, (like length and scope) and we were taught a bit about character and plot development. My homework was to write the beginning (first 500 words or so) of a fictional short story beginning with the sentence, " Chris began to question the wisdom of this trip." Here is what I came up with: Chris began to question the wisdom of this trip. A few days before, when her mom had asked who wanted to accompany her and dad when they climbed Mt. Audubon on the last day of their family vacation, she had eagerly joined the group, thinking that hiking a mountain would be an adventure, and give her a chanc...