Fill this out about your SENIOR year of high school! The longer ago it was, the more fun the answers will be! REPOST with name of high school and graduating year!

Graduate of Powell High School – 1991

          Attended Rancho in Las Vegas first 3 months of senior year (and previous 3 years of high school)

1. Did you date someone from your school? No, thank goodness I don't have to live that down!

2. Did you win anything in Senior's 'Who's Who'? No, I wasn't at all "in the loop."

3. What kind of car did you drive? 1984 brown Ford Tempo--4 cylinders and 4 doors. I bought it for $1300 cash with nearly 100,000 miles on it and put over 100,000 more before blowing the engine and finally scrapping it. (I did drive it with a blown engine for a while; this required a lot of refilling the radiator.)

4. It's Friday night...where are you? At work would be the typical answer, but I quit my job when we moved and didn't get steady employment the second half of the year--so I guess the answer would be at Home.
5. Were you a party animal? I never in my life went to a high school party. Yay!

6. Were you considered a flirt? Yes.

7. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? No.

8. Were you a nerd? No.

9. Did you get suspended/expelled? No.

10. Can you sing the fight song? Not a clue for either school.

11. Who were your favorite teachers? Mostly English teachers and one history

12. Where did you sit during lunch? Freshman--Outside of our next class; Sophomore—picnic tables on campus; Junior—home; Senior—I have no recollection.

13. What was your school's full name? Powell High School and Rancho High School Do any have long names?

14. School mascot? Rancho Rams and Powell Panthers

15. Were you on homecoming court? No.

16. If you could go back and do it again, would you? No. Not at all. Not that I wouldn’t like to change some things.

17. What do you remember most about graduation? My sister insisted that I where a long skirt under my gown, so everyone would see that I had something on, and it made me look fat. We had to fight to have a prayer. We weren’t allowed to throw our hats.

18. Where did you go senior skip day? I don’t remember whether I skipped; I don’t think I knew about it, but my favorite place to skip in Vegas was to Pistol Pete’s Pizza with my brothers and sister.

20. Were you in any clubs? French club for a while, but they conflicted with my work schedule and since they wanted dues and like $4 for a piece of Yule Log I gave it up without regret.

25. Who was your senior prom date? A nice boy. He was a gentleman; he cooked dinner, and we had a fun time, but we weren’t interested in each other.

26. Are you planning on going to your 10 year reunion? I already didn’t go. Who knows whether I’ll ever go to one, a 30^th sounds interesting—you can really see how/what everyone did.

27. Who was your home room teacher? We didn’t have homeroom.

28. Do you still talk to people from high school? I’ve been sporadically in touch with a couple but for the most part not at all.

THINK BACK TO 9TH GRADE...


- Who was your best friend? A nice kid.

- What sport did you play? None if I could help it. Street hockey was my favorite in PE. Also the girls in PE didn’t shower therefore they didn’t sweat. So we didn’t exert ourselves much.

- Did you buy your lunch? Yep. $7.50 a week and I could keep the change.

- What was your favorite class? World History

-Did you go to the dances? One church dance one time, and never again except for Senior Prom. A pain I’m glad I avoided.

- Who was your Science teacher? Mrs. Something. Second year biology. She wore jungle-animal necklaces. I obviously had first year biology as well; that was Mr. Idon’tknow. But we dissected both years and it was very interesting.

-Who was your English teacher? I always liked my English teachers, esp. 10^th and 12^th grade. I really liked them in college as well—I took over 60 credits in English in college.

- Who was your History teacher? Everybody liked gim.

-Where you a Bully or the one getting Bullied? I was bullied.

- Who was your Math teacher? Oh yeah, the police came and arrested my math teacher out of our class one day. That certainly was unusual.

-Did you think you were cool? occassionally

- Did you wear make up? Not much and by my senior year not at all.


-Describe your outfits. tight jeans

- Did you even have a cellphone? No, no one did. Beepers were the thing back then, but they weren’t allowed in school.

- What was the best about 9th grade? My friends.

- Do you miss it? Not at all

Tags: High School Senior Freshman Memories

0 comments View Entry

Common sense, it turns out is anything but common. So how do we know if we know what we think we know?

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Why would you want a bird in your hand? I always assumed it was to eat, but one shouldn't assume. Methinks he doth assume too much. Uh-oh. That can't be right.

A stitch in time saves nine. But every stitch you sew on Sunday you'll have to pull out with your nose. What is this—Dante's Inferno: Home Ec Edition? And what if that stitch has a glitch?

What is the sound of one hand clapping? Silence? The tips of your fingers patting your palm? Maybe it's a snap; snapping is cool—beatific even. Who came up with this philosophical pablum? I hope it was meant as a joke.

It's just an old wise tale. No, it's an old wives' tale! Ah, not wisdom but foolishness. I see.

And how is it that I'm blessed with a 5-month-old baby who sleeps all night every night, and yet here I blog at 2 AM in the morning. Well, life is like a box of chocolates; you never  . . . Or is it cherries? A box of chocolate cherries—then you'd always know. Or how about the kind with the little map that tells you which is which. Which witch whistled? Godiva puts in a color brochure and you go down the list to make a match. A positive ID. And review all the possibilities so even though it cost ninety dollars you have to buy more because you missed out on some. Gotta catch 'em all. 

Did Marcus love Ivanova as much as Romeo did Juliet? Now there's a tale of woe. How did those two ying-yangs get to be the gold love standard? "Greater love hath no man that this." Clearly Straczynski takes the cake.

Maybe all I know is this, and this has gone on the list--with your kiss. And as sands through the hourglass, so grows the list and this list gives life to--things that make you go hmm.

When McFerrin said, "don't worry; be happy," did he know he was being wise? Contemplate the mutual exclusivity of faith and fear? Take what you can, take what you will; take the cannolli. Can it; keep it; bottle it up. Liquid sunshine to pour out and walk on in a rainy day when you've spent the pocketful of stars and rain is still falling like death and taxes.

My sounding board, er, sister reminded me of the importance of contemplation. Search, ponder, and pray. These are the steps to enlightenment, personal revelation and inspiration. The way to ensure that what we know is right and is leading us down the straight and narrow path. Let not mind-numbing distractions idle away what would have been my epiphanies. These are words to live and grow by. Still, to all things there are seasons, a balance to every purpose; hence the hyperlinks.

Tags: Time Management Ponder Think Media

1 comments View Entry

I am boycotting my favorite burger place. My family has not been there for three months. And this has been no small change; before the boycott we went there2-5 times a week. It was my favorite place to go with my kids. I started the boycott when I found out they were a member of the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce and that one of their vice presidents is on the Chamber’s board.

I recently learned that a lot of other big businesses have joined. Some of them may have done it to avoid getting sued or angering the incredibly vocal homosexual activists. People like me are not usually incredibly vocal or political. We’re just trying to live and let live. I don’t think I or anyone else should ever have to speak out against what should be such a personal and private topic as anyone’s sexuality. Believe me I’d rather not bring it up. But while businesses and politicians bend over backwards to try to please homosexual activists,  people like me are having our rights taken away—for example the right to think something is bad and to say it.

I am not a homophobe. I do not fear homosexuals. I am opposed to homosexuality. I believe it is bad. I am worried while writing this blog that I will get hate-mail responses or that the blog will be removed. Before I started writing and intermittently while I am writing I have done some blog searches to see if the topic of homosexuality is addressed by anyone else. I’ve seen a couple of blogs mentioning that homosexuality should be accepted or that it is irrelevant but nothing condemning it. If people are allowed to say they think it’s okay, I guess I should be allowed to say I think it’s not okay—we’ll see.

Let me be clear that I honestly condemn the act not the person. If you are attracted to your same sex and are resisting these temptations, I admire you. We all have different strengths and weaknesses. The point of this exercise we call life on earth is to rise above wrong and choose right and help others do the same. Promoting homosexuality encourages people to give into base urges or fleeting curiosity and make them a defining factor in their lives.

I would like my favorite burger joint to have nothing to do with sex of any kind. That’s pretty much what I want for my kids till they’re grown-up and heterosexually married. Is that too much to ask? Or too much to ask out loud?

Tags: Burger Homosexual Sexuality Politically Correct Boycott Free Speech Right W

8 comments View Entry

I ceated a poll asking which super power you'd like. Almost half of the 41 people who have taken this poll have chosen invisibility. This is alarming to me.

I first pondered the question as a choice between flight and invisibility that was posed on a radio show. Their final analysis was that people who wanted to do good things chose flight and people who wanted to do sneaky things chose invisibility. So now I'm wondering what all the upstanding people who chose invisibility would do with their powers.

Another interesting thought the show brought up was asking people if they would be a superhero if they had superpowers. Most of them said yes. But one guy said, "No. I don't help people now, and a lot of people with no powers help people already." This was shocking honesty, and made me examine whether I'm helping people.

Am I using the powers I have for good?

Tags: Super Power Poll Invisibility Integrity Hero Save Help Give Agency Good Wor

3 comments View Entry

I used to get really mad when people asked me what was for dinner. I took the question as a personal attack, because not knowing what was for dinner made me feel inadequate. And I hardly ever knew.

Now that I've been studying how to be a better homemaker, I know that I should have a menu planned in advance. But I still don't seem to get it done. I blame part of this on my hubby; he is a picky eater, and on certain days he doesn't feel like eating certain foods. (Some nights only KFC will do, period.) When I was going up, dinner had less to do with feeling and more to do with what was in the fridge.

He grew up in a household with the philosophy "if you don't like what we're having for dinner, make yourself something else." My household growing up was more like " if you don't like what we're having for dinner, eat it anyway and dry up about it."

Figuring out what was for dinner when I was living at home as a teen (I did the cooking) wasn't very hard, because we ate the same things all the time: egg rolls, stir-fry, steak and mushrooms, hash browns or french fries, spaghetti, tuna casserole, and an occassional lasanga. That's about all that comes to mind.

So I know I should plan more. But I still don't seem to get it done. I'm considering giving the nights themes i.e. Mexican (tacos, burritos), Italian, Chinese (Hubby love's copycat P.F. Chang's Lettuce Wraps), breakfast for dinner, etc. Then just making sure I have some staples for these. Then Hubby could have flexibilty, and I would have guidelines.

Have any of you conquered this one? Let me know the secret. I'll get back to you on how it's going.

Tags: Dinner Menu Plan Organize Family Time Food

3 comments View Entry

I love it when the Bishopric gives flowers to all the adult women in the ward on Mother’s Day. I haven’t always been a fan of Mother’s Day. I went through my twenties without having kids, and I was skeptical that I would or even should be included. Now I have a testimony of the divine nature of motherhood and that it includes every woman.

Before I had kids, I wanted them. I had helped raise a lot of children, but I was never "the mom." Mother's Day was torture; I started skipping church that day. I wouldn't hold people’s babies. I'd been planning to have seven kids since seventh grade.  But I didn't know when or if it would ever happen. I turned 30 without children, but with the hope of them on my horizon.

I will always be grateful to my husband for making me a mother. I married him five days after my thirtieth birthday and became mom to his ten-year-old son. Nine months later I became second mom to his three daughters. Three months after that our baby boy was born. My oldest daughter asked me one day when the baby was a few weeks old what it felt like to be a "real" mom. I quickly responded, "It feels like it always has." And I meant it. I love my kids, all of them. Those I have now and those I helped raise before.  It took giving birth to make me know giving birth doesn't make a difference. I was always a mom; I just didn’t believe it.

To quote the Relief Society theme, “We are women . . . who: dedicate ourselves to strengthening marriages, families, and homes. Find nobility in motherhood and joy in womanhood.” Every woman is included. Any woman in the wide world who isn’t living these standards should be. We are here to help others; we each have the power. Satan is out to debase us in any way he can, by devaluing motherhood, belittling womanhood, by dividing women’s sisterhood when we all should be sharing a common purpose. (He is doing this to fatherhood, manhood, and brotherhood as well.)

We are here to nurture the present and thereby brighten the future. Every woman should be doing this. If a woman is giving or receiving on-demand abortions, or smoking a crack pipe, or any other of the countless activities which does not further Heavenly Father’s purpose, she is using her power for evil.

Since formally becoming a mother, I've had many trials. It isn’t all sunshine and roses, but there are sunshine and roses, and four-year-old boys singing “Twinkle Little Star” to their two-month-old sisters, and two-year-old daughters saying, “Mommy, I happy be your girl.” And a ten year olds, “Mommy, will you rock me?” And a fifteen-year-old son who sees Mother’s Day commercials and remembers to mail the second mushiest e-card he could find.

I have kids now. I didn't always have kids, but someone always needed my nurturing. Someone always needed my light to shine so that they could see my good works and glorify our Father in Heaven (Matt. 5:16). We are all here together to accomplish the same purpose; let us all shine to light the way for one another. A special day to celebrate the mothers we all are, have been, and shall be. Hallelujah Mother’s Day!

Tags: Mother's Day Mom Motherhood Children Gratitude Light Help Share Woman Women

2 comments View Entry

I started a blog. Here I am, blogging.
It was my husband's idea. I don't type. I am a hunter pecker. But a fast one, when I have both hands.
My husband has been blogging away all morning (I haven't read it but I caught a glimpse that he mentioned that I am not a morning person; I hope he handled it graciously.) He types. And he is a morning person, so are all our girls. I am not, neither are any of our boys.

Nonetheless, here I am. I wrote a blog, this is my second. I also created a poll. It has a typo. I guess Hubby will have a comment on that. He has a typo, and I foolishly brought it to his attention; I thought he'd be glad to know; I was trying to be helpful. He was not appreciative; the word "nit-picky" was used. Are nits lice eggs or lice babies? The point, however, is that they're very small, not that they're disgusting, so I guess I should only be slightly offended.

But perfection is the goal. It is always the goal, and it is the only goal worth having. So I get to work on getting up earlier, being more cheerful (so it is less obvious that I am not a morning person), not nit-picking others but helping out where I can, typing and proofreading myself, and generally striving for perfection. My poll has a typo. So does my husbands blog. We don't have to be perfect; we do have to keep trying to be perfect. And now the two year old is poopy. She isn't perfect either. No problems, I have all the time in the world. So do you.

6 comments View Entry

To journal or not to journal is not the question.
We know it's noble to write of suffering
things and points of enormous blessing,
store up anecdotes for seas of children.
And by documenting save them? To write: to share.
Much more--by writing say we live.
The triumph and the thousand tears for joy and loss
that man is prone to; it's a rollercoaster,
delicious, to be cherished. To write,  to share;
to share perhaps to fame: oh, that secret hope.
What journal has not that secret wish of publication
When generations sift through our wordly stuff?
To give them pause: to see respect
and awe that we conquered such a life.
A book that stands the test of time
That no one says is wrong, is to be proud of.
The labor pains, the daily chores,
the inspired callings and the talks
that moved another's soul and lifted us
outside our selves to greater planes.
I bare my soul? Who will read and know
that I stress and strain in my dear life
but that the sight of glory after death
the promised kingdom shining in my eyes
travels me strait and narrow down a path
that helps me bear the trials that I have
and bravely face the others that will come?
Thus my Savior makes me a warrior small,
purifying and refining all the way.
My soul is strengthened at the thought
that Heavenly help is with me every day.
You and I are not alone as currents toss.
I act; I write; I leave my name.

Tags: Journal Guilt Soul Search

4 comments View Entry