March 2023

March 1st I got a call from Mrs. Shipman in the main office.  She asked me if I had lost Jesus.  I was really confused and she repeated the question.  When this still did not clear up the confusion she asked me if I knew where my phone was.  I told her I was going to assume that she had it.  Apparently, I had left my phone in one of the teacher bathrooms (not uncommon) and another teacher had turned it into the office because they did not know to whom it belonged.  I have a picture of Jesus as my "screen Savior" so I will make good choices while on my phone.  Most people have family pictures so it is easy to identify the owner of the phone.  The front office had a great time coming up with jokes about leaving Jesus in the bathroom until someone texted me and Jennifer Wolfe recognized the roadrunner me-meep.  It will be a while before I live this one down.

March 2-3rd Avian and I worked on completing the FBI and SBI forms for the background check in order to get their name change process started.  The forms aren't hard, but I was really nervous because I don't like filling out government forms.  I feel like there are certain parts that are just out there to mess you up.  We got them done and in the mail. That was a load off of my mind.  The rest of the process will be a piece of cake compared to this step of the process. 

Avian was invited to a volleyball expo in Greensboro in July.  They are really excited about it so we signed them up.  Any volleyball experiences between now and try outs for the school team will help increase skills and confidence.  Plus, Avian really has fun at these events.  

March 2nd was Read Across America Day.  Mrs. Perrotta arranged for several of the staff of pop into classes throughout the day and read to the kids.  I was lucky enough to spend time with the 7th grade.  It was a fun day.  It also reaffirmed to me that everyone loves to hear a good story.  

Me reading a gothic-style story to Ms. Killian's class.  The kids loved it. 

 March 4th Steve and Jeremy spent some time in the garage working on a wood project.  Steve was making a cutting board for the girlfriend of one of his previous scouts.  Jeremy had an idea for a cool gaming console and was bringing it to life.  Avian and I went to their final volleyball game of the season.  It was a tournament-style play where they would play each team a couple of times and the three teams with the most wins would play for the first position.  We had a great time.  The best part was that we were in the back court which had a view of the gym.  I took the picture below of Nick and texted it to him.  He was really confused for a moment until he looked up and saw me waving through the window.  It was fun!

He had no idea we were in the next room playing volleyball.  

This team had a rough time at the start, but by the end they were all friends and really enjoyed playing together.   

That evening I got a call from the Relief Society President and she needed some help packing one of our sister's apartments all packed up and ready to put in storage.  It was a Herculean task, but it is always fun to be there with other Church friends helping each other.  We made a good dent in the process.  

Cool pic of the moon over the trees at work.  I love the varying colors in the clouds as well.  

Wysteria grows wild here in the South and it makes for a stunning spring!

March 6th, Avian stayed after school for volleyball workouts.  They were in pairs, working with an 8 pound medicine ball, and Avian's partner wasn't paying close attention and dropped the 8 pound medicine ball on Avian's face.  Luckily, Avian moved quickly and averted what could have been a very bad injury.  

That evening, I was back at Barbara's house (aforementioned Church friend) to continue getting things organized.  This time I had the dream team (Eden and Blayke were there with me).   We took a load of boxed to the storage unit as we were running out of room in her small apartment.  Afterwards, we went to another member's house to get more boxes.  We laughed so hard while running these errands.  It was so much fun and we got a lot done as well.  

March 7th - Avian took the ACT during school which resulted in the day being a half day.  Steve and Avian both came to Barbara's house to help with the final push to get everything out of the apartment by the 6 pm deadline.  Four hours later, with the help of many hands and several trucks, we had filled the storage unit.  There was still a ton of stuff in the apartment and we were three hours past the deadline.  I was worried that Barbara was going to pass out because of exhaustion and the heat.  I was finally able to convince her to leave with the ride we had arranged to take her to her temporary home until her new assisted-living apartment was ready.  I went back into the apartment and grabbed a tea set that Barbara was particularly worried about and took it home to clean and properly box up for her.  There was not much anyone else could do.  All the men had done their best to get everything out of the apartment.  It was now up to the grandsons and their mother to get the rest of it out of there.  We just had to walk away.

March 9th Avian announced they needed some new shorts.  We went to Kohls to see what they had.  Avian picked out some really flattering shorts in several colors.  Steve and Jeremy did more woodworking in the garage.  Nick was at work (as usual).

March 11th I proctored the SAT.  Our coordinator called late the night before and was panicked because someone had cancelled at the last minute.  I was happy to help out.  It wasn't as bad as I remembered from the last time.  Probably because I had done it once before and it wasn't new anymore.  Also, everything is online for the set up and reporting which made the "paperwork" portion much easier.  

March 12th, I worked on getting my Dad pillows done for everyone.  Steve built a "house" for the archery target.  We can now just walk in the backyard, open the target up, practice for a bit, close the door and come inside.  So much better than trying to get the target from the garage to the backyard and back again.  

The doors open and the target is ready to go!!

March 16th I took the day off to get things done around the house.  I got four of the pillows done (the special order ones for my mom and sisters).  I got the rest of the pillow parts ready to assemble.  It shouldn't take long now.  I have found my rhythm.  . 

We also found out that Nick's friend is not going to purchase his old car.  Avian is now the happy driver of their own set of wheels.  No more relying on someone else to get from place to place.  

March 17th - Dad would have been 84 years old today.  I miss him.  I spent the day working on the pillows.  It was nice to feel like I was spending some time just with him.  I also helped Avian clean out Beatswalkin and get it up to their standard of clean.  We made a fun t-shirt for a friend's birthday and finished just in time for Avian to head to the party.  Nick came grocery shopping with me.  Jeremy was on campus hanging out with friends.  

I made this shirt for St. Patrick's Day.  I turned out better than I thought it would.

Percival, the St. Patrick's Day porch pelican

March 23rd we had a Relief Society dinner with the focus on celebrating our heritage.  Each of us brought a family recipe to share along with samples of the recipe for tasting.  I took my Grandma Hansen's Red Sauce.  Everything was so good, but I was especially delighted by one of the samples - Peanut Butter Balls!!  Karilee (my twin) brought them. It was a blast from the past.  Jenny and I used to make them all the time.  I was so nostalgic and had a couple (okay, more than a couple).  

This is a taste of my childhood right here!

March 24th Avian and I went to the evening performance of "Alice in Wonderland" at LNC.  A good friend, Ashley, was playing the white rabbit (the lead of the play).  WOW!!  they did such an amazing job!

Avian also found out they got a 30 (max of 36, I got a 21) on the ACT.  Way to go!

March 25th I FINISHED THE PILLOWS!!!!!

26 pillows - DONE!

Front - Dad loved the University of Utah and Coke

Back

Side - Jenny wanted the snaps from one of Dad's shirts on the her pillow.  Avian helped me some up with the idea to incorporate this into the design.  I love it.  

Percival the Easter Bunny porch pelican.  

The azaleas are really popping!

March 30th, I took a long lunch break to go and support the band at their MPA adjudication.  I thought they sounded great.  The pieces were a higher level than they usually play.  The judges gave them a score of 3 (1 being the best).  They were a little disappointed as they have always gotten a 1, but their songs were a lot harder and they had less time to prepare this year.  Next year we will get the coveted 1 again.  

March 31st I went to a cookie decorating class with a group of LNC teachers.  It was a blast learning how to make decorative cookies.  Pamela Heim-Donoghue is the best teacher.  Everyone's cookies turned out. I am going to be making more of these soon!

Yes, these are the cookies I made. 

My super fun classmates!

While I was at the class, Steve and kids went to the Silverbration at LNC celebrating 25 years!  Steve walked in the relay from 10-11 p.m.  It was a great day.  

The azaleas in the daylight.  I love how the light changes the color.