Hearts, mobiles and Minnesota

It started out with inspiration from this blog – cut out hearts, write nice things about family members and put them up around the house for the month of February.  One logistical problem – 3/4ths of our children are away to school or on a mission.  Thank goodness for emails.  I asked each family member to write two or three things that they love or appreciate about the other members of the family.  I got a late start, so I decided to have those away dictate, via email, what they wanted to say and then I would write them on the hearts.  Rebecca and Line wrote their own.  With Laurie being at school so much, she ended up sending me a voice mail dictating what to say for our children who are away, because I had to get them in the mail.

So a  two or three day project got a bit strung out, but it turned out nicely and Sam even mailed cut out hearts on yellow paper that had a couple of words or a short phrase for each family member – SMART – for Atkin, etc.  Another logistical issue was also brewing – Katie’s apartment only allows Command strips to attach things to the walls and we ended up with 18 hearts for her – that’s a lot of expensive Command strips.  However, I knew from pictures of Katie’s apartment that there are ceiling heating vents from which things can be hung.  So early on, I decided to do a mobile for her and for Sam – since I doubt he would take the time to put the hearts up one at a time.  I had to consider that I would likely be sending these via Priority Mail, because homemade cookies were being included, so the dimensions of the packages were a constraint.  I looked at the craft store for loops that would work for the mobiles – nothing.  I was in the truck heading for the home improvement store when it hit me – we have two of those little, spring open, side window shades for the car that we never use – I could cut out the fabric and tie the yarn and hearts to the loop so it could be suspended from the ceiling air vent!  It worked wonderfully and I was able to collapse the loops down with the yard and hearts attached for easy shipping!

After assembling everything and prior to shipping, I hung them from our ceiling along with the hearts on our cupboard for those of us at home.  It’s been fun to see family reading the hearts to see what others said about them.

One of the collapsible mobiles

Heart Attack

In other news, Sam thought for sure that he would be transferred in January – after 11 months in the same area. Instead, he and got back an old companion and they were made Zone Leaders of the new St. Paul Asian Zone.  The zone is focused on the Karen, Hmong and Nepali speaking people – but they’ve also been know to work with refugees from Sudan, and other places.  Thank goodness for Elder and Sister Evertsen, they always send pictures along when we wish we could see Sam. 

St. Paul Asian Zone - created January 2012

Another note:  For Christmas I gave Laurie the rough plans of a necklace rack for all the long necklaces she has been accumulating.  Well, I got it done a few weeks ago.  Here it is!

Rack for long necklaces - and one of our engagement pictures!

Another note:  When I saw this blog, it really touched a cord with me - so I decided to make one for our home.  I got out one of my favorite toys, the router, and routed the words into the wood.  I a still not done with it - deciding what to do around the edges, but it's fun to work on projects like this.

Work in progress - routed lettering with pearl finish - suggestions for edge treatment are welcome!

One last note:  I had finished this post up to "Love more" and decided to wait until today to post it.  Well, at about 12:45 this morning we could hear Penny barking and making noise, so I got up groggily and went to the top of the stairs and here come Katie and Atkin up the stairs - they drove home for the weekend to surprise us!!!!  It will be so much fun to have them here for a few days!

Surprise!  We're home!!!!

Just Killing Time

Started this one over a year ago and set it aside to let it "mellow" - irony that you will understand by the end of the poem!

Just Killing Time

“I’m killing time” – it’s often said

as though it weren’t a crime

And most, I’d say, do it each day

in every hill and clime

Weapons vary, motives too

results are just the same –

Time is dead and can’t come back

no matter remorse or shame

Time is the stuff ‘which life is made

some portion comes to all

Each must decide how much to use

how much to let just fall

And killing time is often fun

there’s much to entertain

while we sit back and just observe

as such our lives don’t change

There’s not to show for time we’ve killed

No corpse, no blood, no gore

No line is penned, no music scored

No art to sit before

No house is cleansed, no food prepared,

no place is seen, no chore

We lounge and watch what others do

We never leave our shore

In years to come, when looking back

what memories will swell,

The ones where we’ve just lazed around?

The ones with time spent well?

Time we can use to learn, to grow

To master some new skill

To touch the hands of those hung down

To lift, to build, to fill

That’s not to say that recreate

Is bad, is waste, is wrong

‘Tis a matter of how it’s viewed

does it bless and make us strong?

But if our lives are focused

on fun, on merry, on mirth

then time it is, we’re out to kill

when time could lead to birth

Of gardens, paintings, poetry

paths trod, vistas viewed

There really is no limit

to a new life, a life renewed

So when you start to thinkin’

what to do to just kill time

dust off your dreams, get up and go

you’ve mountains yet to climb!