Merry Christmas, Friends. I hadn't thought about this story for years--not until the other night when I was driving home from TKE.
Thanks for making blogging so rewarding. I cherish your presence here.
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Finding out about Santa
Tonight over dinner we talked about the moment when we learned the truth about Santa Claus. My daughter-in-law said she burst into tears. I did the same. Geoff said he never did believe, and Ken Cannon says he still believes. My dad was the real surprise. He believed in Santa Claus until he was twelve. Which strikes me as adorable.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
Merry Christmas, everyone!
Monday, December 23, 2013
Some Jimmy for you
As you know, I'm crazy about my youngest brother, Jimmy, partly because he sends me e-mails like these (I reprint here with permission) (although when did I start respecting people's privacy?) (This is an interesting development!) Anyway. I've always admired his knack for observation and the way he has with the words.
"I was in court today, and I decided to run by our process server's office. The office is on East Fremont Street, a place where several drug transactions, prostitution hookups, and petty thefts occur on a daily basis. Probably hourly. Broken windows, broken beer bottles, and broken lives abound. Regularly, there are condoms in the gutter. I am one of the few attorneys that chooses to pay directly at the offices. The elderly secretary asked me why I choose to pay there instead of paying online. She would not go there if she didn't need to work.
I told her that I enjoyed coming and looking out the windows onto Fremont Street. It's a window into a world of which I know little. "It's like 1000 stories an hour unfolding in front of my eyes," I said. She liked that.
After I paid my bill today and dropped off a subpoena for service, I was walking back to my car. You have to walk through an alley to get from the process server's office to the parking lot. As I was walking through this alleyway, a man angrily walked towards me and shouted, "Your tie is too long and you have a sucker in your mouth." I knew it was just the alcohol talking. He carried a 45-ounch Colt malt liquor can in his hand. He was clearly wrong.
My tie was not too long, and the sucker was in my hand."
"I was in court today, and I decided to run by our process server's office. The office is on East Fremont Street, a place where several drug transactions, prostitution hookups, and petty thefts occur on a daily basis. Probably hourly. Broken windows, broken beer bottles, and broken lives abound. Regularly, there are condoms in the gutter. I am one of the few attorneys that chooses to pay directly at the offices. The elderly secretary asked me why I choose to pay there instead of paying online. She would not go there if she didn't need to work.
I told her that I enjoyed coming and looking out the windows onto Fremont Street. It's a window into a world of which I know little. "It's like 1000 stories an hour unfolding in front of my eyes," I said. She liked that.
After I paid my bill today and dropped off a subpoena for service, I was walking back to my car. You have to walk through an alley to get from the process server's office to the parking lot. As I was walking through this alleyway, a man angrily walked towards me and shouted, "Your tie is too long and you have a sucker in your mouth." I knew it was just the alcohol talking. He carried a 45-ounch Colt malt liquor can in his hand. He was clearly wrong.
My tie was not too long, and the sucker was in my hand."
Sunday, December 22, 2013
One hundred years old
That's how old my father-in-law, Kenneth Cannon, would be today if he were still alive. It's his birthday, and my Ken and his sister joined their mother in Provo this evening for a little cake and ice cream and a lot of remembering.
Last week in church Ken talked about his father, how he always made sure the animals were fed before the family opened their presents. Young Ken resented this. He hated the idea of milking the cow before the celebrations began. Stupid cows. And yet the experience always turned out to be peaceful--the scent of hay reminding him of that first Christmas birth.
Thinking tonight of loved ones who are no longer here.
Last week in church Ken talked about his father, how he always made sure the animals were fed before the family opened their presents. Young Ken resented this. He hated the idea of milking the cow before the celebrations began. Stupid cows. And yet the experience always turned out to be peaceful--the scent of hay reminding him of that first Christmas birth.
Thinking tonight of loved ones who are no longer here.
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Christmas house in the morning!
I snapped this early this morning before the sun came up. You know. At 11:00 freaking a.m.
Isn't it pretty, though? Doesn't Ken Cannon do a good job with the lights? Happy winter solstice, everyone. The pagan in me is spiking the ball and doing a big old end zone dance. THROW THAT FLAG AND PENALIZE ME FOR CELEBRATING, REF! I DON'T EVEN CARE!
Soon the light will come . . .
Friday, December 20, 2013
Chapter Twelve: wherein I discuss the other fun thing that happened when I was an undergrad
I got married.
I know. "Fun" and "marriage"--especially when you're both still undergrads--seems like an odd combination. You know. Like some weird ice creams people make in pretentious restaurants (lavender ice cream, rosemary ice cream, honey and thyme ice cream). Basically here's my one of my Rules for Living: don't put herbs in your ice cream.
Anyway. Ken and I got married when we were young and stupid, and although there were adjustments OF COURSE I enjoyed him, and I enjoyed living at Wymount Terrace which was a lot like living in a dorm for married people. Or at least I assume it was, although I wouldn't know. As you'll recall I lived at home during college.
Anyway again. We didn't have kids right away, so we enjoyed a lot of time together--playing cards and board games, going to movies with discount tickets from the bookstore, watching General Hospital during lunch break. And you know what? Now that the kids are gone, we're doing a lot of those same things again--not counting the General Hospital part.
I know. "Fun" and "marriage"--especially when you're both still undergrads--seems like an odd combination. You know. Like some weird ice creams people make in pretentious restaurants (lavender ice cream, rosemary ice cream, honey and thyme ice cream). Basically here's my one of my Rules for Living: don't put herbs in your ice cream.
Anyway. Ken and I got married when we were young and stupid, and although there were adjustments OF COURSE I enjoyed him, and I enjoyed living at Wymount Terrace which was a lot like living in a dorm for married people. Or at least I assume it was, although I wouldn't know. As you'll recall I lived at home during college.
Anyway again. We didn't have kids right away, so we enjoyed a lot of time together--playing cards and board games, going to movies with discount tickets from the bookstore, watching General Hospital during lunch break. And you know what? Now that the kids are gone, we're doing a lot of those same things again--not counting the General Hospital part.
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Chapter Eleven: Wherein I discuss one of the two fun things about my undergrad experience
I went to London for six months on BYU's semester abroad program, and it was great. My roommate ended up being a girl from Durham N.C.--the hysterically funny Donna Draughon--and pretty much all we did was laugh and sightsee. Also eat. And eat and eat and eat. And it was awesome.
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