Apples! Apples!

My niece, Madi, is teething, and she loves gnawing on apple slices... I love apples too, so that's what has inspired this new logic riddle for anyone wanting a little brain exercise as the new year approaches (special request by the Bodines this month)...

• If there are 5 apples on the counter and you take away 2, how many do you have?

Done already? Can't relate with apples? Here's another one...

• At a sports banquet there are one hundred athletes. Each one is either a football or basketball player. At least one is a football player. Given any two of the athletes, at least one is a basketball player. How many of the athletes are football players?

Pre-Christmas Travels 2008

I took the day off from teaching, a first for the year,

to fly across the country before Christmas.

11 o’clock came around, time for departure was nearing,

then a text came, “flight canceled,” it was.

Spending the morning with the boys at the Huish’s

when this daunting text came my way.

With that, Mom booked a new flight with an alternate airline,

and Tisha became my ride to save the day.

At the airport the wait would increase by the minute.

How does that work when time is what flys?

Storms in Chicago raged; flights delayed by the dozen,

the first flight canceled… now I see why!

Delay, then some more, Kristen worked on the phone

looking for options to get her sis moving.

Matt, at the Southwest desk, advised the few Seattle-bound,

“Airport sleeping tonight, for you!” he was proving.

“Aha, I’ve found one!” my travel agent sister declared

“Alaska will fly you direct the next day.”

So the flight was booked and westward bound I would go.

Now, getting home to my bed, is there a way?

Holiday time- friends split town so very few were around

to give me a lift from the airport to bed.

Call after call, a dozen with no success I would soon realize,

until Simone picked up, and “I’ll come,” she said!

Home with no luggage, what a curious situation this created,

so to Target, I soon departed from home base.

Phone charger in hand and a bag of jerky for the next day,

walked into Julie and then Michael- familiar face!

Running to the car and driving home, I reflected on the day

“why all this? what’s the point?...I’m so tired.”

Thoughts came, gratitude, for so many evidences of God’s hand

All of this was not accident but most inspired.

Recall the truth from day to day that experience is His plan…

Experience today proved that alone I will never be.

Clearly surrounded I am by many friends and family true,

whether on the east coast or west, from sea to sea.

Gingerbread house Sweetness at the Johnson's

It's always a "sweet treat" to hang out with the Johnsons... However, on Saturday night, it was especially sweet as Cali had the kids decorating a gingerbread house. From Cannon's colorfully sweet porch to Bailey's carefully placed gumdrops, Macey's dotted windows and dripping snow, and Buster's sparse yet carefully placed dots, each contributed to what they decided would be a pretty sweet house to live in... Did I say it was sweet? Well, it was. :) And so were the kids... The frosting, as Buster discovered, even tasted great on pretzels! (oops... don't tell Jase and Cali!)
One of the highlights of seeing the Johnson's is having Buster run to the door for an enthusiastic greeting! More sweetness to come in 2009!

We'll have to work on the silly-face picture :)

Latest Adventures...

Having had an introduction to the city with Shelley a few weeks ago, this adventure was must less daunting...

Randilyn and I went to Manhattan to see the lights and become better acquainted with the big city! My friend, John, was really nice to give us a walking tour of lower Manhattan and the financial district...

-New York Stock Exchange (the lights on the pillars were even lit at 8am!) on Wall St.
-Ground Zero (under construction)
-Battery Park (looks out toward Ellis Is. and Statue of Liberty)
-Brooklyn Bridge (we opted not to walk it due to low temps, wind, and lack-o-warm-armor)
-The Bull (I hope this is representative of our economy soon!)

After warming up inside for a bit, Randilyn and I took off to ride the free Staten Ferry past the statute of Liberty to Staten Island. In the ferry terminal, we enjoyed the benches as a place of rest. Had we put out a mug, we may have made some money while we took a nice 45 minute nap among strangers. So... we were tired.
With brighter eyes, we journeyed back and went to China town and Little Italy. If I were a local, that's where I'd consider going for fresh produce. Parts of it reminded me a bit of Guam with all the dried fish and other food items in open-air containers sitting in the middle of a small crowded market. When I improve my Chinese, I know where to go... China (not China town- haha).

Next stop... uptown to Central Park. There we met a couple friends and went out for pizza.. New York pizza. It was tastey, which you can appreciate coming from one who does not care much for pizza... this was good. Fresh thin crust with a thin layer of fresh mozzerella, sundried tomatoes, topped with slices of prosciutto and fresh basil leaves. (my only caution is waitresses... don't take offense if some don't treat you equal to their other customers... nothing personal)

After lunch.... Central Park. I love the pedalling taxi tours (bikes with little buggies attached to take people around the city, or in this case, around Central pk.). We walked a few miles as the sun was going down and ended up by the Great Lawn and hopped on a nearby subway to go back downtown... another quick break from the cold was needed.

Back up to Time Square for our evening's last hoorah...
-Rockefeller Christmas tree all lit up
-5th avenue windows (includin Sak's which was, in my opinion, only second to Bergdorf Goodman's window displays)
-Time Square (warmed up [kind of] and had some food at the ESPN sport's bar while watching Sam Bradford, OK, receive the Heisman 2008 award)

To Port Authority where we caught the last bus up to NJ where we'd stay the night at cousin Rich's house.... 20 hours of adventure wore us out, and we were soooo happy to be welcomed by the Skeen's home with comfy beds!

Rise and shine... enjoyed better sleep than any train, subway, bench, or bus afforded all day! Rich and Jess, Jonah, Mirit, and Asher were so much fun to visit with in the morning! The kids are so cute, and they're home is beautiful in a neighborhood of great history. Rich gave us a neighborhood tour... I've seen some beautiful and unique homes, but none quite like these. I love it!

Rich and Mirit escorted us into the city where we toured a piece of their old stomping ground on 14th Street and then went to church at a local ward on 14th street on the 4th floor. NYC is a unique place in the way they manage to convert the space within buildings that have been around for decades so as to make them useful in modern society.

Soon it was time to depart from the island and catch the bus back to DC. Home sweet home.

Socks Solution...

Drum roll... FOUR socks! Although there are many socks in the drawer, there are only three colors, so if you pull out 4 socks you are bound to have at least one matching pair.

Application? If you limit the types of socks that you have in your drawer to only 3 (same brand, style and color), then you don't have to go through the woes of sock-matching any longer... UNTIL you mysteriously start losing single socks... that will throw off the statistic, unfortunately.

Great job Brittney (and Truston)!!!

Happy Birthday BRIAN ELLIOTT SKEEN!

Happy 20th Birthday to my handsome "little" brother!

Socks...

Ever wondered why you mysteriously end up with mismatched socks? In a perfect world, no socks would remain solo.

That said, here's some sock matching for thought...


Figure this one out... it's good for you- I PROMISE!

Don't Cry for Me, Madi Miller

Do you ever wake up with random songs in your head? Do you ever find yourself humming songs on your way to the car that you have not heard nor considered in years?

"Don't Cry for Me Argentina" has been one of my recent favorites, apparently. What does this mean? Maybe there is a nation that is missing me... or maybe it's my niece, Madison! The truth is, I never left her... I've kept my promise.



And it's about time... for bed.

Celebrating Elder Wirthlin

"Our Heavenly Father is a powerful, moving, directing being," are words of Joseph B. Wirthlin that frequently come to mind and have been a theme in my life for the past few years.

He passed away last night, Dec. 1, late in the evening, according to the LDS Newsroom report.

I am grateful for the wisdom and love that Elder Wirthlin taught and led by. It was through his words and counsel that I received many answers the prayers in the process of making some important decisions in my educational, career, and personal life since I returned from my mission.

While he will be missed, I am sure there is a need for him on the other side of the veil. I look forward to sustaining the man who is called to fill his position in the Council of the Twelve Apostles.

Rational Numbers for Pancakes

So this was the deal... Students performed well on operations and equivalencies using fractions, decimals and percents, and they earned a certificate to become a "Pastry Chef" in our exclusive math kitchen (aka. my classroom). After much deliberation in many of the students' cases, they succeeded and enjoyed using the recipe from the exam to make pumpkin pancakes. With their approval, I'll share a few pics of their experience.