Hello, again!

I don't usually respond to challenges to answer questions about myself , but I couldn't turn down my favorite Canadian daughter-in-law.

1. What's your favourite day of the week and why?
Sunday would be my favorite day. Since we make it a practice not to work on the Sabbath I have a legitimate reason to not do any housework and laundry.  And then a lot of our family come over after church for dinner and discussions and fun!  Today Matt and Mir made supper (so delicious!) and Emme made an incredible cake (Wow!).  It was delicious and we all had such fun just talking and joking around.  Hayley surprised everyone by coming into town early so that made it extra special.  After all the dishes were done and the kitchen clean, Matt and Mir left to put their kids to bed.  Mike and Emme stayed and after scripture study we played a game.  It was a great day!


2. Recount an embarassing moment.
There are SOOOO many to choose from.  My favorite one takes too long to tell.  So, I'll just choose the three times I've asked someone when their baby was due only to have them tell me they weren't pregnant.  I don't ask now even if they are in labor.

3. What was your favourite toy or game as a child?
My parents, in fact my whole family, roller skated when I was a child.  We went to a skating rink every week and I loved that. I started skating when I was eighteen months old and my mother said I could skate better than I could walk.  But I remember when I was really little that I liked to sit on my dad's skate at home and roll around in the house.  I was so little and his skate seemed so big and it was like a little scooter.


4. What does your name mean?
Well, Courtney, Elaine is Greek and a variant of Helen, or French and it means "light" or "shining light". And, though you didn't ask, I've always liked my name a lot. Thanks, Mom.

5. If you could have any occupation (and you had no limitations of obtaining that occupation), what would it be?
Hmmm.  This one took a while.  I think when I was younger my secret dream was to be a country/western back-up singer.  I would love to speak multiple languages fluently and be a translator.  Anything that took me traveling around the world.  But, honestly, I'm just happy doing what I'm doing: nurturing, loving my family and trying to make our home a beautiful, clean, safe, loving environment for the most important people in the world.  I feel lucky.


6. What is your guilty pleasure?

Candy, specifically: chocolate caramel pecan candy, pralines, divinity, and fudge.  I don't get to satisfy that pleasure too often anymore. I've been dreaming of making pecan pralines.  Maybe Christmas.

7. If you could change anything about your appearance what would it be?
I would love to change my teeth and hope to do so in the next year or so.


8. If you could raise awareness about one topic (education, poverty, AIDS, etc.) what would it be?
Child abuse.  Every child is so innocent and vunerable and deserve all the love and tenderness their parents can give them.  It breaks my heart to see children treated unkindly or to hear of abuse in any form.  Parents need more support and training.

A Quick (not) Summary of May

I really fell off the blogging wagon. In fact, I was derailed after the wedding/makeover of our house/reception. Whew! So, now for a quick (and probably incomplete) rundown of our lives during May. May 6th-8th: Bill, Hayley and I load up our van and drive to Utah. We spend a few hours in a hotel in Cortez, Co and arrive in Provo on Friday around 11am. Bill and Hayley make it just in time to the appointment (made on the way up) with her college advisor. He is a great help and valuable source of information about classes, teachers and everything Hayley needed to know to get registered for school. Bill "the Bulldog" Boushka goes with Hayley to the financial aid office and convinces them to re-instate the scholarship she had been offered even though it was well past the deadline. Hurray! We all look at apartments around campus to get an idea of what they look like and how much it will cost. Hayley spends the rest of the trip on my laptop reading reviews of teachers and classes and getting registered for all of her classes. There are waiting lists for pre-nursing classes, but she manages to get most every class she needed by the following week. Yea! Friday night we attend Courtney's graduation from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Afterwards we go to a Mexican food place (I know, Mexican food in Utah, but it's very good!)and stuff ourselves. The next morning the three of us go to the gym in our hotel and try to make up for the night before and the upcoming night. Courtesy of Courtney's grandmother we all eat at The Roof, an incredibly good restaurant in downtown Salt Lake. Bill and I go to the Salt Lake Temple to do a session afterwards while Hayley goes to a movie with Drew and Courtney. The next morning I catch a shuttle to the airport while Bill and Hayley head for home in the van. May 9th: I fly to Dallas where I catch the shuttle to Tyler, Texas where my mother lives. It's Mother's Day and I've planned to surprise her. The shuttle drops me off in front of the house next door and I sneak in front of Mom and Jack's house and call from my cell phone. "Mom", I tell her, I know you told me not to send you anything, but I couldn't resist. Take a look on your front porch." "Okay", she replies, "I'll look right now." And, with cell phone in hand she opens her front door expecting to see flowers. She is looking down telling me, "There's nothing here, Elaine." "Are you sure?" "Yes, there's nothing here." "Why don't you look up, Mom?" Then she sees me standing there and can't believe her eyes. It was a great surprise! I love surprises and love it when I can pull one off. Mom and Aunt Lou Mom and her twin sister, Reta May 11th: Mom and I drive to Bowie, Texas to visit my Aunt Louise who is 90 years old and recently moved to an assisted living residence. She is as beautiful as ever and it was wonderful to visit with her and see that she is happy and doing well. She had lived in her home for around 50 years and I wondered how she would make the transition, but she is very resilient. May 13th I flew home. May 15th: Hayley's Senior Prom. She has the dress, the shoes, the jewelry, oh yeah and the boy, but wait. Morning of he calls and cancels. They were just friends and he now finds that he is getting back together with his ex-girlfriend and has to take her to prom. What? Hearing of her plight, Hayley's ex-ex boyfriend calls and insists on taking her. Gallant? Almost. They get into a big fight at the prom and ruin the night totally. Well, I tell her, you'll think it's funny someday. At least you have a memorable prom. May 22nd: Michelle swam in her first swim meet in over a year and I was the referee. It was great to watch her. It was also great to feel good and to feel tired but not totally wiped out by several hours on deck. May 24th-May 28th: The last week of school for the girls. Yea! It was a hard week. It seemed as if there were some end-of-year school activity everyday, sometimes more than one. It was hectic, but some good memories. Chelsea 'graduated' from eighth grade and besides being on the A honor roll all year, she was given the "Einstein award" for thinking outside of the box. Her teacher said he pities her high school teachers next year because she will keep them on their toes and he envies them because they will enjoy a lot of intellectual discussions and challenges. That night was also Senior Salute at our church. It was the 16th annual Salute. The seniors are honored by their friends and family and 'roasted' by their parents. They march in dressed in their graduation gowns to the processional music, there is a photo montage of them from baby hood to adulthood. And it is a custom for the parents to choose a funny hat that has some bearing to their personality or talents and tell stories from their life while hanging small object from the hat. For instance we hung a picture of a life preserver from Hayley's hat (a princess hat) and told about the time she saved Michelle from drowning. Then we gave her a scepter and said that she never let Michele forget it and forced her to do things for her because "I saved your life." As I was preparing this I found out that in middle school Hayley made Michelle call a boy and break up with him because no one could tell their voices apart on the phone. A couple of months ago Hayley tried vainly to force Michelle to go into the store where she (Hayley) worked and quit her job for her. Thursday morning was an 8th grade breakfast at one of the student's house and I helped with the preparations for that. Friday night was a dinner dance for the eighth grade. Friday afternoon we gave an end of the year school party for the fourth grade at St. Mark's hosted by Emma at our house. It was a lot of trouble, but a lot of fun, too. We had two jumping balloons, one a slide with water and a small pool at the bottom, plus they swam, played in Emma's fort, had a water pistol war and ate lots of junk food. Thursday, May 27th: Michelle models for a friend at school who designs clothes. It's at a tech high school. Bill and I get to watch and it is cool! Michelle is 5'8", 125 lbs and gorgeous. She seems to be a natural and have the "it" factor. Who knows? May 28-29: Mike and Emme invited us to join them in driving to Albuquerque, New Mexico to attend the temple. We left Friday evening, staying in a hotel in Albuquerque and attended the temple in the morning, ate at a good cafe, visited an impressionist art exhibit in the Albuquerque Museum and drove home. It was a very nice little trip. Now we are all caught up, but I guess I lied about it being "quick".

What did it all mean and where did it go? My trip to Europe

I can't actually say it was my life-long dream to go to Europe. I never even thought it was a possibility. It was too big a dream and I think consequently I still have a hard time realizing that I was really there. At times I would stop and say to myself, "You're at the Eiffel Tower!" or "This is actually the leaning Tower of Pisa, not a picture!" I even took a picture of myself standing on the stones of the Colliseum. (see above).

It was really all too much. I couldn't take it in. It was that feeling, I think, that made me concentrate on more mundane things, like toilets. You can't get any more "real" than that. I have pictures of "Toilets across Europe". They are different, more scarce in public, and often, cleaner, with attendants that need tipped. That's funny. One didn't tip in Europe except in toilets.

One of my favorite memories was one that was difficult at the time. I was lost, by myself, in Paris. I had to go back to the hotel by myself to retrieve my moneybelt which held not only money, but credit cards and passports. In other words, everything I needed and could least afford to lose. Thus, my solo trip through the metro including changes (to different lines). My problem was that I hadn't paid quite enough attention on the way to the Eiffel Tower as I was simply a follower of the guide and our group. On the way back I saw the name of the street on which our hotel was located and got off, only to find when I emerged from underground that nothing looked familiar. This was because, I later discovered, the street was correct, but it was a long street and I had hopped off too soon. I tried to re-enter the metro, but (remember that part about my money belt being at the hotel) was unable to buy another ticket and mine had run out.

So, my options were to walk, but which way? I tried unsuccessfully to go this way and that but still nothing looked familiar. I was getting a little panicked, but remembered to say a prayer. I asked Heavenly Father to send me someone who could speak English and be able to help me. A few minutes later as I fruitlessly studied the map above the Metro, a woman neared me and I asked if she spoke English. She answered positively and I asked if she could help me. She was so gracious. She was a Librarian in town for a convention and was on her way to a local library to spend the day observing. She had some time before her appointment and apent it all helping me to find my way. She even took me to the llibrary and used the internet to find the exact address of the hotel. Finally, she got me going in the right way and I walked the rest of the way to the hotel.