MaeLyn's Musings

The light of the morning sun just begins to peer over the tops of the mountains, revealing the shapes of majestic pine trees. A concealing mist rises gently from the ground. Out of the dimness, figures appear, mounting rustic wooden towers. Lights appear, and the dark figures resolve into boy scouts in uniform blowing trumpets from the tops of the towers in a growing fanfare. Other trumpeters appear and join in from other heights until we are surrounded by beautiful music. Suddenly, two scouts drop from overhead, rappelling down long ropes, bearing giant flags - a scout flag, and the American Stars and Stripes. A scout calls for the audience to stand and salute, and thousands of voices join in reciting, in unison, the Pledge of Allegiance. No sooner has the Pledge been completed, than hundreds of cub scouts run forward to sing the National Anthem, with the accompaniment of a full orchestra I hadn't even realized was playing. Tears are streaming down my face, and I don't underst...

(I know Mothers Day was yesterday, but this post has been simmering for a few days and yesterday ended up being too busy for me to sit down and get out everything my heart wanted to say.) Happy Mother's Day. Happy Mother's Day to the mothers of children young and old, all over the world. To the ones who read their children bedtime stories, and the ones who stay up late waiting for their teenagers to come home. To the ones who let their adult children move back in when they have no where else to go. Happy Mother's Day. Happy Mother's Day to the mothers who are grieving the loss of a child, due to miscarriage, genetic disorder, illness, accident, suicide, murder, war, or act of terrorism. Happy Mother's Day. Happy Mother's Day to those who are missing a child, due to disappearance, kidnapping, running away, loss of custody, prison, or just plain lack of communication. Happy Mother's Day. Happy Mother's Day to the mothers who are grieving the deat...

I have a lot to say today, and I'm not sure how to say it. I guess I'll start by saying thank you. Thank you to all those who have helped to make this Christmas a better time for our family. Thank you to the brother in our ward who is letting Steven hang out in his garage, lending his tools and expertise to help Steven make special gifts for the children for Christmas. Thank you to a young family in our ward - the husband brought us a bag of gifts on Sunday and said his wife wanted to get the kids something for Christmas. Thank you to the members of our HOA who a few weeks ago gave us a Christmas card filled with cash, which has funded the few gifts Steven and I will be able to give our children this year. Thank you to the anonymous person who left four bags of gifts on our doorstep sometime between Sunday evening and Monday morning. Thank you to the boyscout in our ward who's eagle project involved collecting hats for children at a local hospital - and giving u...

Last night I was feeling stressed, overwhelmed, and frustrated. I had been trying to set up visiting teaching appointments only to realize I had lost the paper with the phone numbers for both my companion and one of the sisters we visit. (I had phone numbers elsewhere for the other two sisters we visit). One of the sisters had set up an appointment only to text me back a few hours later to say that wouldn't work after all, and she wouldn't be available again for two weeks... I had also been trying to contact my Primary secretary about picking up the pizzas for our primary program practice on Saturday, and she hadn't answered her phone, and she hadn't been at home when I'd stopped by there, and she had told me previously that she doesn't have time to check email anymore... I needed to talk to a friend in the ward about Thanksgiving dinner, because we were planning on having it with them, but we needed to figure out what we needed to bring. I was wondering what ou...

As some of you may know, Steven found a job and began working a week ago today. So far I have very mixed feelings about his new job. Pros Steven has a job with a large company. Steven is finally earning a paycheck comparable to what he was making two years ago. The job benefits include good health insurance and 401k matching. Steven gets out of the house so I get more done during the day. We don't have to move away from our home. The kids don't have to change schools or leave their friends. Steven's new job is across the freeway from a light rail station, so he could potentially take public transportation there and back when he gets comfortable with the idea.  I'm getting more exercise, riding a bike or walking when I need to get around during the day.  We will soon have money to spend on non-essentials again.  We can start paying off the loans we have borrowed over the last couple years. Cons After one week on the job, Steven doesn't seem to...

A little over a week ago, on Oct 5th, a girl named Jessica Ridgeway disappeared on her way to school. Five days later, her body was found, dismembered in such a way that it took two days for authorities to say decisively that the body was hers. She lived only 7 1/2 miles from us. As of now, police appear to have no suspects. At my own boys' K-8 school last week a 14 year old boy sexually assaulted a six year old. The incident was immediately reported, the 14 year old was removed from school, and letters have been sent home to assure us that increased security measures have been put in place to keep it from happening again. Hannah usually walks with friends to her bus stop. She learned last night that one of those friends wouldn't be walking to school with her until Jessica Ridgeway's killer is apprehended. This morning, I made sure that the boys were ready earlier so we could all walk together to Hannah's bus stop, and from there to the boys' school. I refuse...

I guess my last real post didn't really mention much about how we are doing. Nothing much has changed since my last status update. Steven is still busily searching for a job, and still isn't getting much response from anyone. No longer is he searching mostly in Denver with a few scattered jobs elsewhere. Now he is applying for whatever jobs he can find - mostly elsewhere with a few in the Denver area. We wish the phone would ring more from potential employers, and less from political campaigners. We are grateful for the assistance we have received from home teachers and other ward members in the way of food and clothes, as well as with car repairs. In spite of their help, Steven's Jeep is out of commission. Until Steven finds a job, we can manage with just the van. It helps that both the boys' school and Hannah's bus stop are within walking distance.  I sometimes wish that I were in a better position to bring in money, but I'm afraid I don't have the ski...

Early Monday morning, I drove Steven to the airport, and he flew to Virginia to meet with the CFO of the company there. He interviewed with him and several others in the office, spent the night in a hotel and flew home Tuesday morning. He liked the office, he liked the people, and he felt that it had gone well. That evening he received an email from the company saying that they would like to interview other candidates before they make a final decision. Our first thought was, "What?! Didn't you already offer Steven the job?" Apparently that was a preliminary job offer, contingent on their liking him when they met him in person... and I guess, for whatever reason that hasn't been made clear to us, they decided they wanted to keep looking. We are disappointed, to say the least. Frustrated and confused are also major emotions, especially because we felt like this was what the Lord wanted us to do, and now we haven't a clue where to go from here. It has been week...

Last month, Steven graduated with his MBA. (Read this post about his graduation if you didn't already.) That was almost a month ago. At that point, he had already had several job interviews, and we were confident that a job wouldn't be long in coming. Our prospects seemed to be looking up. With hopeful hearts we went on vacation, thinking that we would hear back from one or more of those companies soon. We didn't. After we returned home from vacation without hearing from anyone, Steven began contacting the places where he had interviewed. They had decided to hire other people. We are pretty much back at square one. Last Sunday, feeling depressed, stressed, and a little sick, Steven asked our home teacher for a blessing. We were hoping for comfort - a job would be around the corner. Instead we were told to be patient, to broaden our outlook. We were left with the impression that it would be a while before this unsettling stage in life is over. Steven started applying to ...

Last night John had his first Space Derby! They passed out rocket kits at last month's pack meeting, basically a block of wood with a hole down the middle, a propeller and a few rubber bands. He and Steven worked on sanding it down to the shape they wanted. John cut out the cardstock fins and painted it. He was so proud of it! So last night after dinner the whole family piled into the car to go to the church where the Space Derby was to be held. John got his number (#2) and after a while they had the flag ceremony, opening prayer, and the Derby began. They had a setup with four wires strung across the width of the cultural hall, each wire having a little plastic hanger with to attach the rocket. I think the point was not so much which would be fastest, but which could go the farthest. On his first race, John's rocket beat the other three he was competing against, and got about half away across the room. He was thrilled!  He only got to race his rocket one more time, and that...