Gathering Graces 6/17/2018

*Today was a wonderful celebration of Father’s Day!!

*The morning began at church with a special recognition of our graduates.  Cosette, along with Matt and Kira Langer, and Gordan Bair were honored as college graduates, and Gracie Miller was honored as an 8th Grade graduate.  It was a wonderful time of celebration.

*After church, we had a wonderful dinner around 2 p.m.  Gathered around our Father’s Day table were three fathers that we honored today.  One was Paul, one was my brother-in-law Everett, and one was Cosette’s boyfriend Taylor, who was with us for the day with his beautiful daughter Saphire.  We had a wonder meal of baked steelhead trout, salad, asparagus, zucchini, steamed clams, and some pickles, olives, and other goodies.  It was a nice time.

*After we ate we did a “Google Hangout” with Zoe from Boise.  It was fun having her be a part of the festivities, even though she was miles away.  We wish she could have been here.   While we were talking to Zoe, Paul shared some special writings with his daughters.  He had written a sonnet for Molly when she graduated from high school, and shared it with her at her graduation ceremony we had up at the Sixth Street Theater.  He read that for her today.  Recently, he wrote a sonnet for Zoe and a vilanell for Cosette.  Each selection made each of the girls cry.  What a special thing to have a kind and loving father write a special poem for them.  I love seeing the relationship Paul has with each of his daughters.  Each is very unique and special.  They each posted beautiful tributes to Paul on Facebook today as well.

*Taylor and Cosette drove Molly back to Post Falls, and then they headed back to Moscow.  Paul and I worked on some little projects around the house, and then headed to bed.  It was a great day!!  God is good.....all the time!

Great group for a Father's Day celebration!!

Gathering Graces 6/16/2018

*The morning began talking to April M Lee over in Italy.  My how an hour goes by quickly!!  Before we knew it, it was 9 a.m., and I needed to say goodbye, and head to work.  But I am so glad we are getting in the habit of having weekly conversations again.  I miss our weekly coffee get-togethers from when April lived here.  But these are an okay substitute until we actually get to meet together soon for another coffee date.

*Paul and I ate a quick dinner of smoked salmon, cheese and cucumbers and tomatoes, then went over to Christy and Everett’s for a bit.  When I got home I was a little cold, so I decided a bubble bath was in order.  Once out of the tub, it was straight to bed for me.  I was tired!!

*Lots of people in Wallace today.  We had full tours almost every half hour, and the carnival was going full force outside, and the Gyro Days was also going on in Wallace.  If you are not familiar with Gyro Days, a big part of Saturday was dropping a large ball in the South Fork of the Coeur d’Alene River in Mullan, and many people follow the ball all the way to Wallace to the Sixth Street Bridge, when it is taken out of the water.  This is called the Lead Creek Derby.
Tickets are sold, and people guess what time the ball will be removed from the water.  Here is a video as the ball is getting dropped into the water in Mullan.  (Thank you Shoshone News Press.) https://www.facebook.com/shoshonenewspress/videos/1836845593042331/

Gathering Graces 6/15/2018

*The last two days spent at the Idaho Indian Education Summit was time well spent.  Today was focused more on actual curriculum educators teach to their students, and how it is incorporated into lessons.  One session I attended was some teachers in Hayden who created a musical play for fourth graders to perform incorporating some of the Native American history of the area.  And the Coeur d’Alene Tribe is also creating lessons they are beginning to share with their students, using the tribal language and the tribal philosophy of the four pillars of the tribe, which are membership, scholarship, stewardship and guardianship.  Here is a little it about each of these pillars:

The four pillars represent the heart of Coeur d’ Alene people. It is our hope that these pillars are so deeply rooted in our children’s heart that we will see them carried out in a relational, reciprocal, respectful and responsible way for generations immemorial.

t’u’lschint: Membership

Capable, decent, moral, ‘a good person’, a good citizen in your family, tribal, local and world community. A responsible, accountable and informed citizen in all spheres of relationship

snmiypnqwiln: Scholarship

Life-long, holistic learning with ideas rooted in tribal values, self-determination, self-government and sovereignty that produces deep knowledge to understand the world and meaningful application within the community

‘ats’ qhnt’ wesh: Stewardship

To care for all things with integrity, responsibility, accountability and social awareness in all spheres of life, human, animals, natural resources, and the cosmos, looking at each other from the heart

hngwa’yqn; hnshat’ qn: Guardianship

To protect our tribal ways of knowing and being through the protection, care and responsibility for our people, natural resources, culture, history, traditions, language and spirituality

*After lunch we spent time in a group being facilitated by two representatives of the Wellpinit School District, where the Spokane Tribe is located.  This afternoon session was about having conversations to help create a lesson plan.  We started off the conversation having a Nez Perce community member with our group to answer questions about creating a lesson plan about Chief Joseph.  As I sat and listened to her talk, it became clear to me that the story of the Nez Perce Tribe is much more than about one historical figure.  The tribe does not think individually.  They think collectively.  And it is a collective “we” story of all the tribe involved.  Tribal members even today are feeling the effects of the Nez Perce War of 1877.

*Each group that was being facilitated was asked to have one person get up and share a lesson plan with the whole group.  Paul was chosen from our group, and he shared a lesson he would do in his Speech class, where students would identify Native American speeches and study and research these people and share about what they said, and how their words show us that we are more alike than we are different.

*If you are an educator, and want to spend a worthwhile two days, I encourage you to attend one of these summits throughout the state.  The next one will be in Pocatello, and then in Boise.  And don’t feel like it is only for educators who have Native American students.  It is for all educators.  I believe this is an opportunity they will provide each summer.

*After the summit we met up with Molly and went and had dinner at the Fisherman’s Market.  She came home with us for the weekend.  We watched Black Panther, which is another Marvel movie to check off the list to help us prepare to watch Avenger: Infinity War.  I think the only one left is for me to watch Dr. Strange, (Paul has already seen it), then we will be ready to watch and understand better Avengers:Infinity War.

Gathering Graces 6/14/2018

*Paul and I spent the day at North Idaho College attending the North Idaho Education Summit.

*The day was filled with learning about Tribal Sovereignty, and the history of Indian policy in the United States.  The purpose of learning this information is to help educators teach about different subjects from a different perspective. Paul and I thought this would be an interesting summit to attend.  Paul is taking it to learn some new things, and get professional development credit.  I am attending as research for the book(s) I am writing. Today’s summit has given me a lot of great information, and good contacts as well for my research.

*We met a woman named Erica who is the wife of one of the guys Paul coached basketball with at Meridian High School when his brother David was head basketball coach.  It was really fun to get to know her, and visit with her throughout the day.  Her and her family often come to Wallace in the summer and attend the melodrama.  We told her we weren’t performing in either production, but that I had written the script for the July show, Nightmare at Dream Gulch...or, Wake Me When It’s Over.  She said her family will definitely come and watch the show in July.

*I also saw my friend Stefani Limandri Hoffman, who was also attending the summit.  She is the  Gear Up coordinator and counselor at Lakeside High School in Plummer.  I also ran into a woman named Helen who had also worked with Gear Up during our first grant when she worked for the St. Maries School District.  And I also ran into Diana Wick, who had been Zoe and Cosette’s first grade teacher at Sunnyside Elementary.  She now also teaches in Plummer.

*The day involved a lot of sitting, so after lunch, Paul and I walked downtown to Calypso’s and bought a coffee and walked back.  It felt great to get out and stretch our legs. 

*It was a beautiful evening when we returned to Kellogg, and around 6 p.m., Paul met with two former KHS students, Steven Johnson and Ashley Braley.  Steven and Ashley are getting married in July, and Paul is officiating the ceremony.

*Christy and Everett’s remodel is complete, so we went over to check it out, and Christy also gave a report from her doctor’s appointment regarding her upcoming knee surgery.  It sounds like everything is falling into place.

Gathering Graces 6/13/2018

*What a whirlwind day today.  I went from one thing to the next all day!!

*I left the house and stopped at the school district office to get my time sheet straightened out.  Then off to work at the Sierra Silver Mine Tour.  It was a rather slow day, but we did get to watch the carnival get set up that will be up and running for Gyro Days, which begins Thursday night.

*After work I jetted home to host our P.E.O. meeting, which began at 7.  We do this later meeting so we can hear the P.E.O. Convention report.  Carolyn Gibbs gave the report, and did a wonderful job!!

*Around 8:30 p.m., we had the pleasure of a visit from some wonderful friends former students, Nicole Estabrooks,  and Tyler and Corinne Carlson.  Nicole is here for a few days to visit with her sister and brother-in-law, and will soon be reporting for her Peace Corps opportunity.  It was so exciting to hear about what is coming in her life.  Tyler and Corrine live in California, and are here visiting, and it was so wonderful to hear about their life, and how well they are doing, and what a loving and thoughtful couple they are to be around.  We headed over to Best Shots to visit, and I had a salad, because I realized I had not eaten dinner yet.

*We are watching Bill and Debbie’s corgis and they have been really great!!  All our furry critters that we either own or are watching seem to all be getting along perfectly fine.  So Bill and Debbie....your corgis are doing just fine!!  The report from here is good!!

Maggie chillin' on the couch

Charley exploring the kitchen.

Gathering Graces 6/12/2018

*The evening was beautiful and peaceful tonight as I sat out in the backyard.  Around 7 p.m. or so, Bill and Debbie brought their two dogs over to stay with us for a few days.  While outside, I read more of the book I am reading, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin. 

*As I typically do each day, I walked around the backyard to survey how things are growing, and what is changing in the yard.  Almost every rose bush I planted last fall is blooming, so I took some photos of all the different roses blooming in the yard this evening.  Many of them are very fragrant.

*When Paul arrived home from his meetings, he went outside and enjoyed the nice evening as well.  He took the dogs outside so they could enjoy a bit more time in the backyard before bedtime.

*The carnival is coming to Wallace, and is setting up right in front of the Sierra Silver Mine Tour on Cedar Street.  This may have been the cause of a bit of a slower day at work, but I had plenty to keep me busy throughout the day.  I am really enjoying working at the new location, the expanded gift store space, and the ice cream parlor. 

*So now our menagerie of furry friends has grown in the last few days, and, at last count, we have three cats, three dogs and two bunnies.  And we are tied in the gender department.  Four animals are male, and the other four are female. 

Gathering Graces 6/11/2018

*Paul and I took a nice walk around town in the evening.  There were some garden ornaments over in the Community Garden in the City Park that I wanted Paul to see, so we strolled through the park and looked at the garden.  If you haven’t checked out the garden, go walk by.  It is wonderful to see the flowers and vegetables coming up, and the creativity of the raised beds in the garden.  What a wonderful addition to our town.

*After we strolled through the park, we walked down Hill Street, and walked along the north dike road along the river.  I love walking along the river.  But every time I do, or anytime I mention to people that I live right by a river, it sounds strange to me.  I think this is due to the fact that, growing up, the South Fork of the Coeur d’Alene River did not seem like a river.  We called it “Lead Creek” for a reason.  The river was filled with mining waste from mines up and down the Silver Valley.  You didn’t go into the river.  It was by no means a recreational body of water.  If you wanted to swim or float the river, you went “up the river”, which was the North Fork.  But now the river is clearer.  Fish actually live in the river.  I think I would still be a little leary of eating any of those fish, or swimming in the Southfork, but I think some people do.  It is very beautiful.  On my morning walks, I cross it two times.  It is beautiful in the evening, when the sun is setting, like the photo I captured last night.  So I need to take advantage more of the fact I live less than a block from a river, and it is very calming and peaceful to walk along the banks.

*Today was the first day back at my summer job at the Sierra Silver Mine Tour in Wallace, working at the counter selling tickets and merchandise to customers.  The office is located in a new building on Cedar Street in Wallace.  The gift shop area is now much larger and spread out, and there is also an Ice Cream Parlor in the building.  I love all the changes, and I look forward to working there throughout the summer, and into the fall.

*I can’t believe Paul and I spent most of our married life not preparing lamb chops.  But I have recently discovered that preparing lamb chops is easy, they are delicious, and it is now one of favorite kinds of meat to prepare. 

Gathering Graces 6/10/2018

*Pastor Dave delivered a very good sermon titled A Hub for Hope, focusing on how we as a church can give hope to those in our community who are contemplating suicide.  Our pastor is a Chaplain in the Army, and has had extensive training in dealing with soldiers and veterans regarding suicide.  One thing he shared that is easy to remember, is that we are holding the ACE, and when talking to someone who we suspects wants to end their life, we ASK them if they are thinking about ending their life, we show we CARE about them, and we ESCORT them to someone who can give them help.  Really, the whole of our pastor’s message was all about having a relationship with the person you are talking to, and let them know you do care.

*As Christians, we do believe we have the answer.  Simply put, we believe Jesus is the answer.  Jesus, who helps us realize that He is there for all who are weary and heavy laden.  He will give rest.  He does love us.  To me, accepting the fact that the Creator of the universe loves me unconditionally, and has given my life purpose was something I could and wanted to accept easily.  I often look at the stars at night and remind myself that I was created out of the same love that created the moon and stars.  To me, that thought is awe inspiring and humbling.  Some of my thoughts are shared in Psalm 8.

Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory
in the heavens.
2 Through the praise of children and infants
you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?

5 You have made them a little lower than the angels
and crowned them with glory and honor.
6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
you put everything under their feet:
7 all flocks and herds,
and the animals of the wild,
8 the birds in the sky,
and the fish in the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.

9 Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

*After church Molly, Travis and I drove up to KHS to pack up some of the items from my office.  I was glad to have Travis there to assist with taking down the lights that were strung around the ceiling in my office.  It took him about five minutes to get those lights down.  It probably would have taken me 15 minutes!!

*After leaving Kellogg today, Molly and Travis were attending a baby shower over in the Coeur d’Alene area, and they texted the hosts and asked if they could bring some food....which, of course, was the  leftover food from our Friday night party.  I was very excited to be able to box up five bags of chips, hot dogs, hamburger patties, hot dog and hamburger buns, pasta salad, Pepsi, and a few cans of Busch Lite, and they were delivered to a group of people who could also enjoy them, since we are unable to eat any of that food.  I really didn’t want it all to go to waste, so the timing was perfect!!

*Apparently Kellogg was struck with a rather big storm that swept through, bringing wind and hail.  I was completely oblivious to this event, because, at the time, I was napping.  I usually don’t sleep that soundly, especially when I take a nap.  But I did today.  I did hear Paul outside the bedroom window working on putting up trellises for around the bathtub where the roses are planted, so the three climbing roses have something to climb up.  So when I got up from my nap, and went outside, Paul shared with me about the storm.  We did get some branches drop in our yard, but fortunately, there was no hail damage to any of our plants.  But the wind was so strong that it uprooted a tree in front of Christy and Everett’s house.  There have been two times where we have had strong winds since having our birch tree in the backyard cut down, and we are very thankful we had it cut down, and that the strong winds did not blow it down.

*Around 6 p.m. we drove over to Bill and Debbie’s house for family dinner.  Paul and I toured Bill and Debbie’s backyard and were impressed with all the work they have done cleaning out flower beds, and planting vegetables.  We also loved the work that was done in their bathroom, and their new closet in their bedroom.  Their home is getting very close to being done.

*We took separate cars to Bill and Debbie’s house so Paul could leave early and go up to KHS and get his grading done from his classes.  The grades are due at 8 a.m. Monday morning.  I departed a little later from Bill and Debbie’s house, and, when I got home, realized I still had some steps to get.  I felt like walking, so I put on tennis shoes, and headed out the door for a walk around town.  I headed up the hill behind the Staff Houspe Museum, and walked around our old McKinley Avenue neighborhood.  I circled around, through the clinic parking lot, back down the hill, and then walked along the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes, through the Kellogg City Park.  I enjoyed seeing the Community Garden, and the different personalities of the items being grown in each individual raised bed.  I saw a man and his black lab walking through the baseball field.  As I was reaching the end of the park, Paul called to see where I was.  He had returned from KHS, and I told him to come down Bunker Avenue and join me in the rest of my walk.  So he joined me, and we continued down Bunker Avenue, circled around and through the Gondola Village, and then back home, which helped me meet the goal of 10,000 steps for the day.

Gathering Graces 6/9/2018

*Today was rather gray and drizzly, and we realized when we tried to turn on the heat, the furnace wasn’t working properly, so we decided a fire would be nice to warm us up today.

*Around 11 a.m. Paul and I headed over to Christy’s house to help with some things.  Paul put together a kitchen cart and desk.  I made some diagrams of how I thought the furniture should be positioned in the new, elongated living room once all the work is complete.

*Once the work at Christy’s house was done, we came home, and worked some around the house.  It was also the perfect afternoon to finish the book Digging In by Loretta Nyhan that I had been reading, as I enjoyed my cup of Yerba Mate tea.

*Around 5 p.m., Molly and Travis arrived with their two bunnies.  The bunnies will be spending the summer with us as Molly attends summer school in Post Falls, and Travis works in Post Falls during the summer months. 

*Once they arrived and were settled, I made a salad from greens from our garden, some celery, cucumbers, red peppers, toasted almonds, salmon, labneh cheese, Romano cheese, and a nice homemade Italian dressing.  It really hit the spot.

*Recently a movie was released titled Avengers: Infinity War.  Molly, Travis, Zoe and Jason all say we should see this movie, but there are some movies beforehand that would be good to watch to help fully understand the plot of Avengers: Infinity War.  One of these movies is Thor:Ragnarok.  So that is the movie Paul and I chose to watch with Molly and Travis tonight.  It was a fun movie.  (We always like to call it Thor:Fraggle Rock, though, because we think we are really funny.)

Gathering Graces 6/8/2018

*Tonight we hosted the KHS faculty’s end of year party.  Paul grilled some burger and hot dogs, and people brought a variety of salads, chips and dessert to go with the burgers.  It was perfect weather, and we also were joined by some lovely “furry” guests as well, Eddie, Molly and Doug.  Our little Sadie was the perfect host!!  We spent time eating and visiting, then, with those who remained, we had a bocce ball tournament.  The red team won!! (I was part of the black team).  K It was such a lovely evening with lovely co-workers.  We hope to do something like this again in the future!! 

Our wonderful guests

KHS Party Dogs

Bocce Ball

Gathering Graces 6/7/2018

*It was a beautiful evening as Paul and I walked through the first evening of the Kellogg Farmer’s Market tonight.  There was a large variety of vendors selling anything from clothing to jewelry to plants to pottery to cheese. It was the cheese where I tended to gravitate to this evening.  I brought home two delicious kinds to have for dinner tonight, both locally made, and located in Kelly Gulch in Pinehurst.  They were do delicious!!  The Cayenne Queso Fresco had a nice little spicy bite to it, and the Labneh had a very intense lemon flavor.  I can’t wait to go back to the market next week to try some different kinds!

Cheese made on local farms here in the Silver Valley.

*Today was my last “official” day as a Gear Up Site Coordinator, a job I have had for the past 11 years.  It has been a wonderful job over the years, and it was nice having a job that was on the school calendar with Paul and our daughters as they were in school.  My last day at work was spent doing some last minute Gear Up paperwork, helping interview candidates for a position at KHS, and then having our end of the year staff gathering after the students left.  They recognized the staff who are leaving and retiring, and I received a nice flower bowl and a card.  Then we did our secret pal reveals, and Jen Yasen had been my secret pal, and she gave me a wonderful bag full of goodies, including some gift certificates to local establishments, a journal, some chocolate covered blueberries and a jar of smoked salmon her grandfather had made.  Paul and I ate some of this for dinner tonight, and it was so yummy!  I also received a beautiful bouquet of flowers from my two Counseling Center co-workers Elana and Dan, and a nice card. 

*I actually am not completely finished at the Kellogg School District until August 1.  I cannot retire until I am 55, and need some hours in July, so my official end date will be July 31.  So I still need to go clean my office out and do some work with the counseling staff over the summer before I am officially done!!

*When we returned home from the Farmer’s Market, I took the cheese we purchased, opened up the smoked salmon, made a salad of cucumbers, tomatoes and onions in oil and vinegar, and opened up a bottle of wine we had been saving for a special occasion to celebrate my last day as a Gear Up Site Coordinator.  I feel really good about my decision to end my time at the KSD and move on to other things.  I am excited to see what things God has in store for Paul and I in the coming year.

Celebration dinner

Gathering Graces 6/6/2018

*Paul and I attended and participated in the Poetry Slam put on by the Kellogg High School Creative Writing class.  We were the only two non-students, but we loved getting up and sharing our poetry.  I shared You Were The Quarterback....You Were The Basketball Star.  I was the first one to get up and share.  If you want to read my poem, you can go here.  Paul shared a poem he wrote titled Bringing Back Thespis, about what the word drama really means to him.  There were three judges in the crowd, and each poem was given a number from 1-10, so this was a competition.  Two students ended up getting perfect tens and tied f for first place.  Paul received the next highest score, and received third place.  There was a great turn out in the garden area of Radio Brewery uptown.  There were also anthologies of the Creative Writing students work on the tables, so we were able to look at some of the things they wrote throughout the year. 

The crowd enjoying the Poetry Slam

*On our way home, we stopped at Yokes to buy a big bottle of blue mouthwash.  We needed a bottle of beer, so we went to Christy and Everett’s house to see if they had one.  Debbie was at their house, and she said they had a big can of Rainier beer her son had left last weekend.  Success!!  We are going to take the beer and the mouthwash, combine it with Epsom Salts, and supposedly create a spray that gets rid of mosquitoes in the backyard for about 80 days.  We will see if it helps.  You may have seen this image on Facebook.  I know I did.  We will try it and see if it works.  If not, our lawn will smell minty fresh!!!

Gathering Graces 6/5/2018

*Last night as I was getting ready for bed, I opened up my Coconut Body Butter to put on my feet, and I found a heart in the bottom of the container.  My feet LOVE The Body Shop Coconut Body Butter!!

*I now have a plan in place for the summer so I can officially retire from the Kellogg School District in August.  I didn’t realize 55 was a magic number when you are retiring.  Since that is the case, there were a few more hoops I had to go through to retire, such as being 55, which I will turn on July 3.

*Toby had to go get his teeth cleaned today at Kellogg Pet Medical Center.  He ended up having three teeth extracted.  Poor guy.  He didn’t eat much last night and was a little out of it due to the pain medication.  I hope he feels better tomorrow.

Toby

*The church we attended in Glendive, Montana, the Evangelical Church of North America, is have their 100th anniversary celebration this upcoming weekend.  We had been invited to come, but because we are still in school this week, that didn’t work out.  But we were asked, if we couldn’t be there, to send an update and a photo of our family.  It was fun writing up a little synopsis of our lives from the spring of 1991 when we left Glendive, to now.  We have such fond memories of our time living in Glendive, and it was exciting to think about all the ways God has been with us all through our lives, as we try and love and serve and minister to those around us.

*It is always a special treat when I get an unexpected phone call from one of the girls.  Last night Zoe called and we visited for about an hour about all kinds of things.  Her work year at Meridian Middle School ended last Friday, so she has a little more time on her hands.  This week she is dog and house sitting for some friends in Meridian.