Blog Death

It is so sad to me when a blog dies. I pronounce a blog dead when months go by and no new post has been displayed. Half the time I don't know the people I blog stock so I can't send them an encouraging "hey, I miss hearing about your life." I just have to accept that this could be the end. It's like when a beloved TV series is cancelled or ended. It's like that.

New beginnings and a new name...

I have a new calling at church. I was called with Cody to teach the 3 year old "sunbeams" in primary. We have a great class, but they are rascals, just like my nephews. 3 year olds have the attention span of a gnat and to try and teach them the plan of salvation or even that they have a body like Heavenly Father is not an easy task. I've taught for the majority of my adult life in church, but teaching 3 year olds is by far the most difficult. I don't think they grasp 1/100th of what I teach. And to try and keep their attention is impossible. Literally, I have about 1 minute or less of uninterrupted time before someone wants to tell me about buzbuz their monkey, or malia their frog, or show me their bracelet.

It's exhausting having 3 year olds in an hour lesson in a small, cold room, void of toys and color in the last hour (3rd) of church. We've made some adjustments after learning through experience. We now have "share time" to discuss the buzbuz and malia type announcements. We now sing non-church related songs like head-shoulder-knees-and-toes to get the wiggles out. We go on "exploration" walks to find pictures of Jesus outside of the small classroom. We use way more visual aids with colors to keep their attention on something at the front of the room. Mind you, we are nothing like the other professional sunbeam teachers who have a schedule, laminated hand-outs, puppet toys, a Mary Poppins bag with everything a kid might need, and the works, but we are getting better. I'm having to physically restrain the kids less. I'm actually enjoying all the kids now (I was in a fake fight with one particular girl who didn't behave so well initially).

Well, just when everything was feeling good, we experienced our low point as teachers yesterday. Turns out Kathrine is not really Kathrine, but Vanessa. We have been calling her the WRONG NAME for at least a month. She's very nice and a little shy. She holds my hand a lot. She has never once corrected us, but yesterday Cody remembered that her mother looked at him strangely last week when he said "Bye Kathrine" after class. And yesterday some 10 year old boys were calling Kathrine, Vanessa. I corrected them and they looked at me like I was crazy. They tried to insist, but caved. Cody and I shared stories and checked the roll. We do have a Kathrine, but we also have a Vanessa. BUST!!! After getting past the game of hiding her face when we asked her what her real name is, Kathrine confirmed that her name was indeed Vanessa. We were soooo embarrassed. We are officially the worst primary teachers ever! My confidence as a gospel instructor is seriously bruised. We all had a great laugh over how "silly" Brother and Sister Orvin are.

I will forever appreciate my future kids' teachers at church. I will not fail to say thanks for letting me get grown-up spiritual nourishment while you deal with buzbuz, light up shoes with Cinderella on them, and attention spans that border on non-existent. I will understand that if after a year, my young child has learned nothing but who Jesus is and how to pray, the primary teacher was magnifying their calling. I will know that primary is not just babysitting for the teacher, but an opportunity where teachers learn to balance spiritual instruction with active minds and bodies. This is hard work people!

note: I just read this post to Cody. His reaction was, "speaking of attention span your post is way too long Robin." Seems I'm doomed since I am naturally long-winded. Whatever. Also, I have changed the name of the little girl in our story. Cody insisted.

Justin Timberlake a Mormon?

So, I'm sitting in church as an invited guest to the singles ward (seriously, I received an invitation) and in walks Justin Timberlake. He is accompanied by his lovely elephant. I'm not phased by the celebrity or animal. Mind you I visit people.com daily and even a dog in church would catch my eye the entire meeting, but I hardly even acknowledge their entrance. He sits right next to me. Indifference.

Church is televised and everyone from the Newport Coast Ward is present, along with Justin and his elephant. Church is always televised in this case. Justin is a member of my church and he is being very reverent. I notice loud whispers and have to scold Sarah Crosby (a former member of the ward), who is sitting up front and being very distracting (she never would be in reality). She makes eye contact with me and I mouth "be quiet" and she leaves the meeting in tears. I'm not phased.

I then notice that Justin, who has been immovable, is now writing and stealing poems from the church screen for music lyrics. I AM phased. I tell him he is stealing. He, however, is unphased by my accusations. He proceeds to ASK ME OUT. I decline. I DECLINE!!! I don't care he asked me out, only that he is stealing. I don't care he asked me out because I have a ring on my ring finger (which I hide from everyone?). Cody is not in the dream, but I am married to him (he must have not received an invitation to the ward).

I wake up from my bizarre slumber. What was that? My mind is in a crazy place. You have to wander what I dream about all those times I don't remember. I tell Cody about my very vivid and weird dream. He doesn't really react and IS NOT PHASED THAT I DECLINED JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE, FOR HIM! I tell you, Cody doesn't get how lucky he really is. I mean, even my subconscious is faithful when faced with the opportunity to date the angelically voiced Timberlake, even in the wake of his Hope for Haiti performance. I've seen him in concert people - and he has some serious moves.

I am posting this dream as a way of rewarding myself, by publicly showing my devotion as illustrated in this dream, and as a means of remembering that at this time in my life - nothing is more desirable than my husband. That everything in life can be altered (elephants in church, church only being televised, Justin Timberlake a mormon, and me not caring I made someone tear), but I would never change the fact that I'm married to Cody. How can you not appreciate that?! I wonder.

Too Funny...

Last night in bed, Cody said mid sentence, "I love this time we have to review our day and talk about how the kids are doing in school." He's so weird. Anyway, during this time Cody wanted to know why I wanted the fan on last night (the same question he had the night before when I went to go get the fan from the other room). I again told him that I wish I knew why I wanted the fan on, I just did. He can't stand that I don't know WHY I want something. I wish I could give him a good reason like I was hot, but I had nothing for him.

He asked me if it was because I was on my period. What? I was so confused by his hypothesis. But, OK. I said sure, blame it on the period. He then started singing, "blame it on the p,p,p,p, period...I mean, a,a,a,a,alcohol." He proceeded to ask me if I knew who sings that song. He knew that I just learned who sings it while watching the Hope for Haiti telethon because I was so surprised to learn the actor who sings it (I didn't know he branched out and become a recording artist outside a movie role).

So, very confidently, I say, "of course, Samuel L. Jackson." He starts busting up laughing. I instantly know I'm wrong and how to correct it. "I mean James E. Fox." He starts busting up even more. He says, "you mean James E. Faust." I, again, know I'm wrong. Now, laughing myself, I say, "I mean JAMIE Fox."

Blame it on the a, a, a, a, a, alcohol is right. I must have been tipsy. Cody thinks I'm drunk on love. He's so conceited. I'll say I was drunk on tiredness (refer to "lets get physical" post).

Honeymoon - Spain, Palma de Mallorca

Forgive me, but I am going to be over the top about this port of call. It was our last stop on the cruise before heading back to our home port, Barcelona, and I didn't think any port could top the ones we had already seen. But, Mallorca was the climax, pinnical, high point, and favorite child of the honeymoon for me. Before we ever parked the boat in port, I enjoyed the cliffs and scenery of the island from our balcony.

Mallorca (Majorca) is the largest Balearic island of Spain and Palma is its capital. It is the prettiest island in the world (ok, I don't know that it is and Hawaii is quite beautiful). It has white sand beaches, clean waters, lush green subtropical plants, picturesque mountains covered with trees, and a wonderful climate. Here is the view of the island from the boat as we were arriving in port.


Now, we didn't have much time on this island since we arrived at 1:45 pm and as a result, we didn't plan anything aside from going to the Palma Cathedral in town. The walk toward the cathedral was lovely since you walk along the old city walls which are overgrown with vegetation on one side, and the harbor on the other. There were also many beautiful windmills along the way.




Once we arrived at the cathedral, the grounds were covered with entertainers. Cody was approached by a gypsy who was trying to give him some branch, telling him it was good luck and would make him look so nice for the cathedral. He was being polite and entertaining her, but the second he said he had no cash on him, she ripped the branch out of his T-shirt (where she had placed it in the collar) and quickly went to the next gentleman. It was so funny how flirty she was and how quickly she dumped him.

Anyway, we were enjoying our scenery when all of a sudden we found ourselves in a rain storm. We found a nice window doorway and huddled with about 30 other people and made some friends from South Carolina. We then transferred to a store for some shopping in the rain cause you might as well double task, right? Here are some pictures of the cathedral before the rain.


Here are some after the rain cleared. Mallorca had the most varied weather, but it made for a very interesting day. We paid and went inside the cathedral, which was enormous inside. It was completed in 1601 in the French Gothic style. It has some very interesting decor on some side chapels, gaudi actually helped renovate the main alter, and the main two flower stained-glassed windows are new.


Here are the inside photos.


Next we started exploring without going inside any building specifically. Our time in Palma flew by way too quickly. Actually I teared walking back to the boat that night, partly because the camera battery died, partly because of my hormones, and partly because I had fallen in love with this island and didn't know when I'd be back.

We went shopping and I bought a vase. Cody bought some fried dough which was quite popular with the locals. People started flooding the streets and the city became alive as the sun set. My favorite street was Jaume II and I loved the Plaza Major. Palma has a Las Rambla like Barcelona, but it was much less lively at night (more residential).



At this point, I had no more battery in the camera. Trust me though, the cathedral was all lit up and looked amazing at night. The following are pictures of Mallorca I found, which make me want to go back. The cruise line raved about the caves and beaches of this island.