This morning I woke up and thought I should go to the Farmer’s Market. I thought I should call Geo to see if she wanted to meet me there. But I’ve lost my cell phone w/ her number and L~ decided she wanted to go with me and so I just went.

I hadn’t been there 10 minutes when whom should I spy with my little eye?

Our lovely Geo!

She is soooo good at using the force!

We had a nice walk together up and down the market. I purchased artisan bread and she purchased tomatoes and peppers and eggs. We both purchased some delicious apricot amaretto jelly. L~ admired the tie-dye (I told the vendor L~ wants to be her apprentice) and we went on our way. I proudly carried my big blue bag from Pike Place Market over my shoulder and willed it to inspire the humble Provo one to bloom and grow and become even more fabulous.

Afterwards we met up at Geo’s and I went over to meet her lovely in-laws (pray for Rob’s family, please) and see the pine-box coffin they are lovingly crafting for their dear grandmother. Then Geo and her Rob presented us with some still-warm homemade bread and I and my L~ headed off to find Allred’s for a bushel of peaches.

Later that day I decided I needed a nap. As I curled up I realized a reminder of Geo’s hugs still lingered on my shirt and I drifted off to the calming scent of patchouli.

Even later I listened to BYU’s first win of the season as I braved my first double batch of soap. Orchid Rain and Lavender Rosemary. Monday I’m making another batch of Green Tea and Lemongrass. (Soapmaking is a good distraction.)

L~ and Z~ have just realized that one thing Luke’s departure means for them is that any time we have six of something (as in the six sourdough buns that became six French Dip sandwiches for dinner) there is now a remainder of one. They believe they should split the difference.

As for me, I can’t help thinking how much Luke would have loved the bushel of peaches (which he would have asked me to peel and cut for him and cover in brown sugar and half-n-half) and the loaves of bread and especially the French Dip sandwiches.

I asked someone who sent out a missionary why no one talks about how painful it is–this thing you feel inside your mother-heart. She likened the experience to giving birth. She supposed you must forget how bad it really is soon after or otherwise you would never be able to do it again.

I decide the giving birth analogy is apt–because there is also great joy, of course–yet I regret there is no epidural for this.

It’s a good thing prayers don’t cost anything because it feels like they are needed everywhere right now.

This week I wrote a letter to my good friends Phil and Lil Anderson who are serving in the Louisiana Baton Rouge Mission. They’re currently in the New Orleans area.

I let them know I was praying for them especially hard as I watch the path of Gustav. I just got an e-mail and learned they have now been evacuated, but they are worried for the people they’ve had to leave behind. There are so many who have no transportation and nowhere to go:

We are praying for their escape. They were trying to re-build this broken city.”

Pray for all of the people in the path of this storm. Pray for them to have faith, hope, courage, and the strength to protect each other. And the same for you. I suppose there is always a storm of some kind or other in our lives every day.”

I kind of feel like I already gave at the office airport. (I gave away a big chunk of my heart.) But I still wanted to participate in Nie Nie Day, in at least some small way. So I have two items up for bidding (you may place your bids in the comments section midnight MST (Mountain Standard Time) Monday, September 1st.). They are humble offerings, but no less heartfelt:

Item #1 is my last remaining bar of homemade Green Tea and Lemongrass Soap. It is available to the highest bidder living in the continental United States. (starting bid $5)

Item #2 is a homemade Sour Cream Lemon Pie. It is my specialty. (Sorry, due to the short lifespan of freshly whipped cream, this item is only available to someone in Utah County. starting bid $8.)

photo courtesy of allrecipes

Of course 100% of all proceeds will go to the Christian and Stephanie recovery fund.

Three days.

I took the past three days–the last three days–off of work so I could spend time with my Luke before he leaves. Shane and the rest of the kids are in school. I told Luke we could do whatever he wanted. I let him know if he wanted to spend time with friends that was OK, too. I was just going to clear my schedule and be there for him.

We shopped. We went to lunch with my mom. We ate breakfast together. We saw a couple of movies. We wasted some time in the Social Security office (do not get me started). We both watched in amazement as threads from both our pasts–a friend and former co-worker of mine and a dearly loved Primary teacher of Luke’s to name a few–wove their ways back into our lives at just the opportune moments to say hello and good-bye.

Today we are going to the temple one more time.

We did get a lot done. We talked and we laughed together. And thanks to the thoughts and prayers of dear friends (you know who you are and I thank you all) I’ve been able to keep the tears to a minimum. I think I managed to keep the nagging about the thank-you notes to a minimum, too (and now I’m letting it go–I could tell from those he did write that he gets it. And with this little time left it’s not worth damaging the relationship to go on about something over which I have no control).

Looking back over the past 19 years with a critical eye I realize there are, of course, a few (probably many) should-have-dones and would-have-done-differentlies.

Looking back over the past three days I wouldn’t change a thing.

I love you Luke. You are a good soul. I’m proud of you. I will miss you something fierce. But this is a wonderful thing. Your service will make the world a better place.

God speed.

Love,

Mom

a friend of mine and SIL to Nie Nie’s brother Jesse

dear friends, Jesse’s parents-in-law and Lindsay’s parents, Olga and Chris–thanks for the food! as always it was mar-vel-ous–we love you guys!

Luke’s choir director and mentor whose wife and family and extended family came clear from south county. and jumped right in to help w/ the balloons, because they’re nice like that

don’t hate me because she’s beautiful–even more big hugs to you C Jane–xo, Auntie

just so you know, there were a lot of people there. we forgot to bring the wide angle lens

it’s like the man on the corner, only different–Nie Nie’s brother Christopher, aka The Jolly Porter

i won’t lie to you. this is the part where i lost it. thank heavens for dark sunglasses

More thoughts…

The picture I wish I had captured but which remains in my mind was of beautiful Geo creating beauty on her balloons through her word and even simply her lovely script.

The feeling I wish I could capture or describe in the many tender yet intense hugs–freely given and received. I have been humbled by the force for good I feel throughout the Clark/Nielson families and amongst this vast and wonderful blogging community.

Finally, here are links to Lucky’s and ~j’s respective launches. They’re beautiful (both Lucky and ~j and their respective launches).

blessings…

One week from today.

I have been quiet on this front this week not so much because the kids and the husband all went back to school or because my oldest leaves in just over a week for the U.K. for two years, but because I can’t quite wrap my head around the terrible accident suffered by the Nielson’s. I haven’t known what to say because what I really needed was something to do.

So although most of you are already aware and following along on c jane’s blog, I wanted to add my thoughts and prayers to the rest of those throughout the blogosphere and the universe and post a link to Courtney’s post about what you can do should there be any other readers out there who want to do something as well.

Also, if you live near Provo or Orem or anywhere in Utah County and would like to send a card or letter (I’m calling them “notes for nie nie”) you are welcome to contact me (henfeatherzATgmailDOTcom). I’m hoping to gather and send a big love-stuffed envelope of all the cards and letters I can collect by the end of the week.

p.s. If you want you can read a simple tribute I wrote to Nie Nie early last year right here.

(disclaimer: it’s widely understood I totally stink at blog breaks, right?)

…because her Olympic coverage rivals NBC’s.

So between that and a nasty sinus infection I remembered I do own a TV and I have watched waaaaaaay too much of it this weekend. And here is my report:

LOVE: The spirit of the games. It’s catchy. I’m cheering for everyone. (And getting an ulcer from those photo finishes and the unstuck landings.)

HATE: The smog.

LOVE: The Bird’s Nest, but I really REALLY love the Water Cube. It’s so refreshing it even makes me want to go swimming.

HATE: The stupid interview questions after the swim events, particularly the prelims. How many times in one interview can you legitimately ask “Can you tell us what was going through your mind.” Followed up by, “So what were you feeling?” And in the 100 meter races, does one even have time to feel anything but wet?

LOVE: Two words: Dara Torres. Let’s hear it for the over 40 crowd. (You know, because any one of us could do stuff like that.)

HATE: The McDonald’s chicken commercials. They make me want to eat more fish.

LOVE: The VISA commercials.

HATE: When the commentators jinx the gymnasts.

LOVE: The LRZ. Except I wonder if Speedo shouldn’t get a gold medal for breaking so many records.

HATE: Did I mention how annoying I find the commentators?

Other thoughts:

I missed the entire opening ceremonies. My bad. I have to find someone who has it on DVR because it sounds like the performance of a lifetime. That said, I also have mixed feelings when I juxtapose the glimpses I’ve seen of the perfect (and expensive) spectacular against the rest of the story. I’m going to make myself read this when it’s all over so I can maintain perspective.

I cried when I heard how that sweet little third-grade earthquake survivor from the opening ceremonies saved one of his classmates after the earthquake and then went back in again, all because, he says, “I was the hall monitor.”

Shane wants to know, “Do the women’s beach volleyball athletes really need uniforms that are that aerodynamic?

I want to know if I should feel guilty watching so much beach volleyball. And, um, mens swimming.

One of my favorite things about Olympics is when sportswomanship transcends politics.

Synchronized diving? Who knew? And how did Holly Hunter get the commentating gig for that event?

I’ve decided I like swimming best. Mostly because it’s kind of hard to mess up swimming. You can’t fall. You can’t wipe out. You can’t mess up a landing. You either win or you lose. That’s so much easier on my nerves.

It’s the little things that rock my world as an observer of The Games. Cheering for the underdog. Watching a Chinese woman in the audience playfully smack her husband on the arm and realizing that these people with a culture completely foreign to me are not so different from me either. Witnessing when people get back on the horse. (or the bars, or what have you.) Enjoying rivalries and camaraderies. Watching the home team (China) succeed. Seeing people who got in by the skins of their teeth step up and nail their event. Being witness to so many moments of pure perfection.

VISA said it best: GO WORLD!

p.s. Dear France: Smash who???

I’m posting over at Segullah today. It’s a follow-up to a previous dish (of the non-Tupperware variety) about Relief Society. Want to have a say?

…or is it?

I stumbled across a new word today, in a nifty but guilt-inducing article about organization.

Apparently the days of getting away with mere multitasking are long gone. Now we must find it in ourselves to hypertask. According to the urban dictionary hypertasking is the following:

The simultaneous execution of an exceedingly large number of tasks. An otherwise unmanageable number of tasks that can be accomplished with an extreme level of concentration. aka taking multi-tasking to the Nth degree.

Now that I think about it, I believe we’ve already been doing this for years. The non hypertaskers just finally got around to putting a name to it.

Sheesh. No wonder I’m so tired!