And still more tennis

This weekend I've been suffering with a nasty head cold . . . sore throat, body aches, massive headaches. I think life caught up with me and is forcing me to slow down for a minute. My crazy intense reading class ended on Friday. Hallelujah! That means one more class down just in time to start another one tomorrow. Most days I have to keep telling myself I can do this.

BUT, the great news is I accepted a job to teach next year at Willow Elementary. I've been interviewing for upper elementary jobs so when the principal called to say they'd like me to teach 2nd grade, I sat there stunned for a moment and then said yes.

What. Was. I. Thinking?

I've got to start somewhere. After mulling it over in my head for an hour or so I got excited. It means a big mind shift from thinking I would be teaching 5th grade to teaching 2nd grade. They aren't even from the same planet. However, during this whole process I've prayed to God that he would put me where I needed to be. I've felt at peace with this decision. I know one of the other 2nd grade teachers and love her. Who you work with makes a huge difference.

Now I've got a summer of preparation ahead of me. I won't lie. I'm feeling very overwhelmed. That's why I'm a list maker. To help me manage my priorities.

Tennis also came to end last Thursday. Part of me was sad and part of me was relieved to recapture some of my badly needed time. Erik's first match was an intense 2.5 hours. He lost the first set. The second set went to a tie breaker which he won forcing the match to a third set. The third set was a killer. He had his opponent 6 games to 5 and was up 40 point to 15. All he needed was one more point to win. Unfortunately, his opponent got that point which deflated Erik. He was also hurting from leg cramps. That set also went to a tie breaker which his opponent won. And afterwards, instead of walking, he sat causing both legs to cramp intensely. He was in such pain that the trainer came by to help. We fed him pickles and mustard which supposedly helps with cramps. I had no idea that was the remedy for cramps.

Had he won his first match, he would have forfeited the second because he was in no condition to play another hard match. He gave it his all and slept a lot the next day to recover.

And then we came home to find his picture in the paper as the athlete of the week

and a mention of him in the Deseret News as a "monster" tennis player. He's a tough player and Nate's not far behind. Nate lost rather quickly, but it was a good experience for him to play at the state level to see what real competition can be like.

Kiersten and Jason found an apartment to rent, and Kiersten was able to sell her summer contract. She will move in sometime in June. Things are falling into place for those two.

We took a year off from planting last year due to limited funds. This year we're back at it again, replacing dead things and adding some new stuff. Tyler has been wanting a Katsura tree for quite awhile and the local nursery was able to order one for him. He was a kid in the candy shop picking that tree up.

Trees and faith

Eight years ago we had a big tree come down in a windstorm

and several months ago we lost another.

The first was due to a neighbor overwatering on the fence line causing shallow roots. Our other tree had a bore which weakened the tree. So here's my little life lesson from trees . . . sink your roots deep so that when the winds of change, the hurricanes of life come howling in, you will be anchored. And don't let small bugs bore their way into your life, infesting your soul. They will weaken you. Root your life in Jesus Christ with prayer and scripture study and keep a vigilant guard on the bores of the adversary which will try to weaken your resolve to stand tall and strong.

And sometimes you're going to need some support from others when your roots aren't quite deep enough. Accept their help and know that storms don't last forever. The time to jump ship or have a faith crisis is not in the middle of a tempest. Hold on; better days are ahead. Faith will always trump doubt.

Be where you'll say you'll be

For Christmas I gave Tyler a brochure from BYU that was a walking tour of all the different varieties of trees they have on campus.

So several weeks ago, he had an appointment in Provo with a credit union and Alex and I tagged along. As I was dropping him off, he noticed his phone was almost completely dead and he had no time to charge it. Since he didn't know how long his meeting would be, we decided to meet at Brick Oven several blocks away and then start our tour.

Alex and I went shopping and on the way back I decided I was early enough that instead of making him walk the couple of blocks, I would just pick him up at the credit union. I sent him a text letting him know where I was. Surely with only 5 or 6% power on your phone you can still receive a text message.

We sat and waited.

We drove around looking for free Wifi so I could get tickets to the Payson Temple open house.

We came back and waited.

After about 40 minutes I had a thought that maybe I should check the Brick Oven.

Oops. There he was. Waiting. For 40 minutes.

Before cell phones, we would always stress the importance of meeting places and being where you'll say you'll be. I blew that one. I was relying on a cell phone that was dead.

This week Ash called home from school, wanting to go to Ellie's house. She talked to Kiersten and Kierten gave the green light. Only problem is Ash had soccer practice. Our only problem turned into no problem. I would just go to Ellie's house and pick her up and take her.

Okay, no problem turned into a problem again when no one was home at Ellie's. So I drove to the elementary and peeked in Ellie's mom's classroom windows. Dark. I drove back to Ellie's and waited (Ellie's cell phone didn't work and I didn't have another contact). With 15 minutes left of soccer practice, Ash calls my cell to tell me she is at Ellie's brother's baseball game.

Hmmmm . . . . that wasn't the plan. She told Kiersten she would be at Ellie's.

Oops for Ash. After that little episode, we had to make some rules.

Number one:

Be where you'll say you'll be.
When you say you'll be there.
Doing what you should be doing.