First Quarter Report

It is March 31st. The first quarter of 2012 is now behind us. April brings feelings of springtime; the Easter season; the promise of summer right around the corner; and for me, the end of the school year. Right now, I am buried under final essays, but April 11th is not so far away. Right? Though I only teach three hours, three days a week, all three of those hours are writing classes. And when the essays come pouring in, I can't help but ask myself what on earth I was thinking when I decided to go into this field. Surely there are other subjects I could teach? P.E., maybe? Or one of those classes where the tests are multiple choice and you use those very cool Scan Tron sheets. You feed them through the machine, one by one, and they come out the other side all graded. How would it be?

So instead of grading yet another essay (I've done five since second session of General Conference ended at 4:00, in addition to walking four miles), I decided to blog. Blogging is oh so much more fun than grading essays. That's not saying a lot because just about anything is more fun than grading essays, but stay with me here. I decided to report on the first quarter of 2012. What are the highlights of the last three months? How are the resolutions coming along?

Let's begin there. As you may remember, my goal is to walk 1,200 miles in 2012. That means I need to do at least 100 miles per month. So far that is coming along nicely. My miles for January, February, and March were 100.5, 102.91, and 103.62 respectively. Is it just me, or do those look like increasingly high fevers? Anyway, I'm happy to report success with this resolution. I'm even happier to report that I may have at least a part time walking partner. A woman from our ward expressed interest in walking and then texted me last Sunday evening, and we went. It was so great to have someone to talk to; the time flew by! Dana has a full time job, and she is also the Primary President, so obviously she doesn't have as much time to walk as I do. But even if she comes occasionally, I will be thrilled.

Okay, now for the other resolution. You remember, the one where I was going to try to cook at home more often? Yeah, about that. Not so much. Guys, this is just hard for me. Seth and I both prefer to eat in restaurants, and many nights it is just Seth and I. Sometimes we have Shulamith too, but she likes restaurants just as much as we do. And unfortunately, I find nothing in the entire cooking experience appealing. However! And this part is important. There's this other woman from our ward who loves to cook. She is seriously the very definition of "Molly." Shulamith and I were telling her about how we don't really cook, and she seemed utterly shocked. I told her I was trying to cook at least three weeknights in addition to Sunday but failing miserably, and she seemed even further shocked. So she has decided that she needs to help me out with this by improving my culinary skills. Well, they certainly do need improvement, and I'm so excited to have some sort of connection with people from the ward (even if it involves something boring like cooking) that I agreed. We decided to wait until next week to begin, giving me sufficient time to recover from the MTC drop-off.

And have I recovered? I don't know if I would say that, but I do have to say that I'm feeling tremendous peace. For one thing, we already received a letter from Eli!!! It came yesterday. He sounds so good, so happy, so enthusiastic, so Eli. How can I not feel the same? I have my moments, yes. I'll be going along with my normal activities, when suddenly it will hit me: Wait! He's not just at school. Or out with friends. Or at a piano lesson. Or at work. He's gone. For two whole years. And then there's this melancholic feeling that sinks through my body. But it only lasts a moment. Almost immediately, I remember one or another of the many kind words of support that my friends so lovingly offered me this past week. May I share some of them with you?

Sandra told me all would be well because "He's gonna be working for the Lord and he's a VERY generous boss!!!!" Indeed, Sandra.

Trudy told me to allow the Holy Ghost to bring me peace through the MTC experience. And I did. And he did!

Diane told me it is my calling as a mother to cry. That's one calling I'm really, really good at.

Both Celeste and Lindsey told me the they love me and that they were praying for me.

And Dawn reminded me how blessed we are for the opportunity to send a missionary. She said, "Both times that we dropped off our boys at the MTC there was such a feeling of relief, peace, and love. I know that part of it was the Spirit wrapping me in the promised peace. I would think of it being such a small thing for me to do compared to what Heavenly Father did letting each of us come to the Earth, and then letting his Son come down, knowing what he would have to face."

Do I have wonderful, supportive, and very smart friends or what?

So there we are, ready to begin the 2nd quarter of 2012. Ready to face the challenges, enjoy the blessings, and move toward summer with hope and joy.