Never Say Never

Never Say Never

So that last post got me thinking (ironically as I was running this morning) about all those things I said I would NEVER do (and now do or did-like running) or things that I thought I WOULD do and didn’t or don’t, and just for the fun of it, I thought I’d make a list.  So here it is in no particular order.

·         I don’t know if I ever SAID it, but I certainly THOUGHT that I would NEVER have to visit a principal’s/dean’s office or get a failing notice in the mail, and although I didn’t have to do this personally, my first child obligingly provided me with these experiences.  (Someday I’ll blog about Dallin-but for now just know that he is an awesome kid who is brilliant, but somehow didn’t see the need to “prove” his brilliance through school work, and sometimes was mischievous-not bad-just mischievous-like his dad who I did marry, but didn’t want to raise.)

·         After my 6 years of girls’ camp as a  youth, I thought I would NEVER have to camp again-I see no point in sleeping on the ground, cooking over a fire, and being dirty, when I have a perfectly good bed, stove/microwave, and shower- However,  since being married, I have been the camp director twice, YW’s president, and in the YW’s organization numerous times, and as the wife of the bishop and a bishopric member have been to camp more times as an adult than I was a youth.  (Another disclaimer-I do admit that girls’ camp is AWESOME-if we could just get rid of the camping part J)

·         I was going to marry someone with dark hair and eyes cause I thought dark haired/eyed children are so cute.  I married a blond blue-eyed hunk, and my children are all blond (except one), and they are the most beautiful/handsome children in the world.  (And I’m not biased at ALL!)

·         I always thought it was a little “unstylish” that my mom wore a watch with a stretchy band.  Guess what’s on my arm right now? -that’s right-a stretchy band watch.  But do you know how CONVENIENT those things are?!   You can just push them up out of the way (rather than take them off) when you are doing dishes or bathing a child, and they are really FAST to slip on and off, no trying to do/undo a buckle with one hand.

·         Ok so that last one got me thinking about my mom some more.  And I don’t know if I ever thought I would NEVER do this, but my running shoes often (usually) have holes in the toes.  I remember that my mom always wore “Keds,” and more often than not there were holes in the toes of her Keds.  So I think I must have feet built like hers or walk like she does or something because literally within a few weeks of having a brand new pair of running shoes, my toes come “poking through” (and all my running socks have holes in the toes too-sometimes after the FIRST time I wear them.)  Of interest (or not): I tried buying a brand of running shoes that has leather across most the of the toe, but I didn’t like the way they felt, so I’m back to my Asics with holes in the toes.  Sigh.  And ….I really don’t know what this item has to do with my list of “never say never” items but I was thinking about it, and I certainly don’t think I PLANNED to (although I’m not sure I said I would never) wear holey shoes.

·         Back to the subject at hand:  I always said that I would NEVER home-school any of my children.  How could I give them as much time and attention and have as much access to resources and supplies as someone who was being paid to do the job full-time with training, supplies, and no interruptions (like other children, phone calls, laundry, etc.)? And don’t even get me started on the social pitfalls of pulling kids out of public schools. But guess what?  I ended up home-schooling three of my 6 kids when they were each in 7^th grade, and it was AWESOME.  (Someday I’ll blog about how the decision to do this came about.)  I took all three of them through an entire 9^th grade Algebra course, and when they went back to public school, math was sooo easy for them. One of my 7^th graders read the entire Work and the Glory Series as well as all the Jules Verne and Jane Austin books.  In 7^th grade folks!  Also how great was it to have built in babysitters for the younger kids if I needed to run someplace during the day and to have help with projects (We repainted the entire house-me and my home-schooled 7^th grader- one year.) And I got to use scripture reading and journal writing as part of the curriculum.  This was PERFECT for me-who LOVES school work and is somewhat of a control freak.  I got to teach and have COMPLETE CONTROL over the curriculum. (Although my 3^rd child to be home-schooled often teases me that homeschooled kids are “weird.”  When I remind her that she was home-schooled, she replies, “Yes, and I’m just now recovering.”  She is 18 and graduating on Friday-As Valedictorian I might add.)

·         Well, this post is long enough.  There are more things to add, and there may be a “Never Say Never” part II, but for now I’ll end with something I really though I would NEVER do!  I would NEVER have a baby at home.  (In fact the thought was so ludicrous to me that I don’t think I ever even SAID it-it was just a given.) I live too far from medical help.  There are too many things that could go wrong.  And well, it is just too scary.  But…baby # 6 was born at home, with Dad as the “delivery man.”  (His birth WAS a “planned” home birth, but the mid-wife didn’t make it in time.)  He is now ten with no ill-effects suffered from having Dad “catch” him as opposed to a doctor/mid-wife, and I count his birth as one of the coolest experiences of my life.  (Again, at some future day, I may blog his birth story, and how someone as adamantly opposed to home-births as me, decided to deliver at home.)  But for now, this post is long enough.

However, since I haven’t mentioned Corinne (my BFF and this inspiration for this blog) for a long time, and since she commented once that she was “taking a beating” in my blog, I will close with a “Never Say Never” example from her life.  Corinne, who only has one sister, always told me that she was going to marry someone with LOTS of brothers and sisters so her kids could have plenty of cousins.   And…..She married an only child.  But he is awesome.  He is a great dad and good provider and is currently serving as the stake president of our stake.  (I hope that doesn’t sound like another “blog beating” Corinne-it was meant as a compliment. Someday soon, I’ll blog some really GOOD stuff about you and me-there is lots and lots.) 

So the moral of the story-be careful what you say!

Some pictures from the above:

Lynae and Kay at girls' camp-my 2nd go-around as camp director

Home-schooled Kaylee-helps re-paint the living room and has some graffiti fun in the process

Baby Luke with "Doctor Dad" a few hours after his birth

I’m Weird-Post #3

I’m Weird-Post #3

I’ve been hesitant to compose another “I’m Weird” post because, well, I would like someone to continue reading this blog. (Hey I can pretend even if it is only my mother who reads it.) And I don’t want to scare away potential readers with my strangeness, but it may be time for me to reveal yet another weird fact about myself: I LIKE to exercise, and I particularly like to run. Now I know that is a shocker since I don’t “look like” a runner or an exercise buff, and I am fairly UNathletic, but I still like to do it. When I was younger I loved tumbling and gymnastics (Although my gymnastic career came to a screeching halt when I broke both bones in my right forearm trying to perform a dive cartwheel off a spring board in gymnastics class, and I never did learn much beyond back walkovers and being able to walk on my hands the length of the gym-although I can still stand on my head.) I enjoyed “aerobics” in the 80’s. And in high school I occasionally got up early enough to do the “20 minute workout” on TV. I liked (and still do like) to read fitness articles and try different new exercises. From 1992 until the Logandale church burned down in 2009, I did “aerobics” with a group of ladies every morning in the Logandale church cultural hall. We did “step,” Tae-bo, yoga, and regular-dancy aerobics. It was fun to learn complicated step routines some even using two steps. (We fantasized about performing these awesome 2-step routines where we traded steps and places-not only choreography- but formation changes-they were awesome-. But we never felt comfortable performing in our spandex and t-shirts for anyone other than our children who happily played in the back of the room while we visited and exercised in the front-the ultimate example of Mormon Mom Multi-tasking: We held pre-school, group therapy, and got our exercise for the day all in the same daily hour. My kids still have fond memories of “aerobics” and some of their first and best friends were made during this daily exercise hour. And in our family instead of saying, “It ain’t over till the fat lady sings,” We say, “It ain’t over till the fat ladies do sit-ups,” since the children at aerobics knew it was almost time to go when we worked on abs (our last exercise.) We still remember one little boy yelling, “Hurry, we don’t have much time! They are doing the sit-ups! They are almost done!” ) My freshman year of college, I began to run. First it was just “one-time around the indoor track after my ballet class.” Then I decided to see if I could do two, and pretty soon I was doing 5 miles. I found that I LIKED to get up at 5 a.m. and do 5 miles on the indoor track. (Totally weird-I know-college students are NOT supposed to LIKE to get up early.) It was a great time to think, and it made my day go sooo much better. (I think it reduced a LOT of my freshman year stress.) And in addition there was no pressure to “look good” since the only people on the track at that hour were 60-year-old professors-although once I did get asked out by a boy who worked the early-morning janitorial shift in the Smith Fieldhouse. I continued to run through college, after marriage, and even ran in addition to my daily aerobics with the ladies-just cause I LIKED it so much, but I usually only did 5 miles daily. Then, a few years ago, I had a friend convince me to train with her for a half-marathon. I did. And I did the half-marathon-13.1 miles baby! Then she wanted me to train with her for the Valley of Fire full marathon. (That’s a full 26.2 miles) This is a HORRENDOUS marathon which my brother appropriately dubbed the “Pure HILL” marathon (with the option to change the vowel in HILL to an “E” at the runner’s discretion.) I agreed on the condition that I would only “train” with her and not run the actual marathon. However, after 3-4 months of training runs on the actual course, I thought, “What the heck” and ran my first marathon, and it was FUN! Since then I have run 2 more full marathons and many 1/2s. (I like running the fulls, but the time commitment for training is prohibitive.) It’s been fun in the last few years to have a couple of my daughters old enough and interested enough to run with me. (Although I’m afraid I don’t run as fast as they do.) Analise ran the “Alien Run” ½ marathon with me-this was a midnight run near area 51. We ran with headlamps and reflective vests. Many of the runners dressed as aliens. We didn’t. And unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) we did not spot any aliens. We also ran the Halloween ½ down Provo Canyon together. We wore Halloween costumes and joined with hundreds of other costumed runners trotting down the canyon. It was a fun, fast, and very entertaining run. This past October, I ran the St. George full Marathon with Analise-her first full marathon. Again fun. And Lynae and I ran the St. George half marathon in January (Lynae’s first ½ marathon-she thought the track workouts in the spring were a breeze after running the 1/2.)(I may get an “F” on teaching my daughters cooking and sewing skills-although they have both thanks to diligent grandmas, but I get an A+ on teaching them to clean and exercise J ) I’ve alluded to my morning runs in several of these posts. I love the time it gives me OUT of the house with no distractions (like laundry or phone calls etc.) I love the time it gives me to think and plan. (Most my church lessons are prepared during these runs.) And I love being out in the early morning often before the sun is up. It’s weird-I know. In fact, so weird that I remember telling a cross-country runner that I dated in high school that I would NEVER run, that although I liked to exercise, running was just insane. Yep, I’m weird, and I’m eating those words-"I will NEVER run"-….daily.

Me finishing my first full marathon-Valley of Fire-2004

Kay & Analise Alien run 2010

Some of the costumed runners before the Provo Halloween Half (Analise and Kay are on the right in the front- batman and superman-not super creative costumes-but we like superheros.)

Kay finishes the St. George Marathon-Oct. 2011 and somehow she (instead of Analise) ended up carrying EVERYTHING.  Note the cell phone in one hand and camera in the other.  The ipod clipped to my shorts and pockets bulging with tissue, advil, fruit snacks and other running necessities.)

Analise finishes the St. George Marathon-Oct. 2011 carrying NOTHING!  The mom ALWAYS has to carry/hold stuff for the kid, even if the kid is 19 and the mom is trying to run 26.2 miles :)

Lynae ready to run the St. George half.  It was raining and we are so NOT used to rain and also we are so NOT those runners who have all the cool supplies (like the runners belts-which would have helped in the St. George Marathon where I ended up carrying everything-special water bottles, and stylish running attire, including rain paraphernalia).  So here's Lynae in a garbage bag ready to ward off the rain during the run.  But we did feel pretty cool (and always do) when we finished before some of the runners with all the running "gear."

P.S. I'm just realizing now that I have posted several of the most UNflattering pics of myself, and I'm sure my daughters won't be too happy that I posted race pics of them either (Although I think THEY look great.)  Of course, no one looks good AFTER running and therefore it is pointless to try to look good before, so of course all race pics are devoid of make-up and nice hair, and the picture above gives my diclaimer on race-fashion.   

23 years!

23 years!

Happy Anniversary to us.  23 years and his twinkly blue eyes and mischievous grin, still make my heart skip a beat. The video above was a gift from Kent for valentines in 2009.

Stretch Armstrong

Stretch Armstrong

I have not blogged for a while, and I really don’t have time to do it now, but I find that I really want the validation that comes from blogging.   My husband says I like to talk, and sometimes I find that I don’t have an audience for all my amazing thoughts and insights, so this blog makes me feel like I have an audience (whether anyone reads it or not.)  I have had so many ideas for posts running around in my head.  Each morning when I am running (literally), my thoughts are also “running.”  And  in order to save my dear husband from too much “yakking” on my part, I turn to this blog. 

So anyway, this morning, as I ran, I started to think about Stretch Armstrong.  (Random-I know.)  Now for those of you too young (or maybe too old) to remember Stretch Armstrong, this was a toy of the late 70’s early 80’s.  Stretch was in the shape of a well-muscled blonde man wearing a pair of swimming trunks.  And as his name implies, his most notable feature was that he could be stretched from his original size (about 15 inches) to four or five feet.  Now, you may wonder why I was thinking about Stretch-and …well…I don’t really know. (Maybe that country song that mentions him had recently played on my ipod.)  I think my little brothers may have owned one of these toys.  However, as I remembered him, I was struck by the similarities between Stretch and myself (and all mothers for that matter.)  No, I’m not a muscled male, I’m fairly “untan,” and I certainly don’t want to be paraded about in my swim suit.  However,  since being a mom I have been “stretched” further than I ever imagined possible (literally-how did my body ever stretch to hold and deliver 6 full-term babies?-and figuratively:  emotionally, mentally, and spiritually- How do I handle a cranky newborn or a moody teenager? What can I do to ensure that my children develop testimonies? What is the best method of toilet training? (Actually-I think I figured that one out-DO NOTHING-they eventually figure it out on their own.) And how can I squeeze 30+ hours of needs, wants, and enjoyment into a 24 hour day?  And as I reflected on my week (particularly last night, when I was simultaneously, ordering graduation announcements, helping a son pack for a band trip, and pressing “play” over and over while critiquing my daughter’s cheer tryout dance-all AFTER the band concert) I realized that I was DOING it!!! My arms and heart and mind CAN stretch, and it is amazing!  Now I don’t always handle everything perfectly, but I am getting “stretched out.”  Just like a new Stretch Armstrong doll, I was a little stiff coming out of the box, a little uptight,  a little “green.”  But this week when my daughter forgot and took my car keys home leaving me stranded at school, I didn’t even get upset.  (I didn’t just not get upset AT her; I really did not even FEEL upset.  Instead I found myself thinking, “It was an honest mistake.  It’s gonna be a pain for HER to have to come back to bring me the keys.”)  And at that moment, I realized that I think I can make it.  I am sorry that my first child had to get the stiff, uptight version of mom. (Luckily he has the most kicked back, resilient personality I know-thank goodness-I don’t think I damaged him too badly.)But with each task, each obstacle, each child, I find myself less stiff, and more “stretchable.”  And even though just like a well-used Stretch Armstrong, I may never get my pre-mom, unstretched “shape” back, that’s ok.  Like Stretch’s last name implies, MY arms (and mind and heart ) are strong enough  to do this, and the stretched out version of me just might be better than the “fresh out of the box” version.

How I Became A Mother....Let Me Count the Ways

How I Became a Mother....Let Me Count the Ways

1-Dallin

2-Analise

3-Kaylee

4-Lynae

5-Trent



6-Luke (These are 14-month pics of all my kids-Aren't they cute?!)




1-2-3-4-5-6.  I LOVE being a mom.  Thank you to all 6 of my kids for making my life so happy.  Happy Mother's Day to me! 

May Day-Multiple Meanings

May Day-Multiple Meanings

If you grew up in Moapa Valley (as I did) you know that May Day means the spring dance festival put on by the elementary school students.  How long this tradition has gone on no one seems to know for sure, but I participated in May Day each spring of my elementary school  career.  (I was an adult before I knew that the actual DATE of May Day was May 1^st-I always just thought it was whatever day the “May Day” dance festival was scheduled for.  The dance festival WAS “May Day.”)  Now I’m going to sound old, but I must reminisce about the “good old days” of “May Day.”  Of course, I think the way WE did “May Day” when I was growing up was the best.  (But don’t “old” people always think that?)  First of all, we always dressed up-like in our Sunday best.  (Of course, when I started elementary school the dress code required girls to wear dresses to school every day – except Friday -anyway.)  It was always fun to see everyone’s new “May Day” dresses and the planning for, sewing of, or shopping for said dresses began months before the event.  (It seemed a new “May Day” dress was more important than a new Easter dress.)  I remember my Grandma sewing me a full skirted dress for the Virginia Reel  in 4^th grade.  This was a dance I anticipated from kindergarten on.  I remember watching the 4^th graders perform this dance when I was in 2^nd grade and thinking, “When I am old enough to do the Virginia Reel, I will really be mature.”   And I can still hear the music and calls in my mind. (“Forward again with a do-si-do and all the way back to place you go.”) But then “back in the day” EVERY dance performed at May Day was a “partner dance” with formations and actual steps.  (No line dances-in fact I don’t think line dances had even been invented.) It was always a big deal to see who you would be assigned to dance with.   And IF you were a REALLY good dancer, you just might get to be an “extra” for another grade should there not be an even number of girls and boys.  This was a coveted position because “extras”  got to get out of class to practice TWICE –once with their own class and once with the class needing an “extra.”   The dances were performed in the “new gym”  (now the middle school gym) and the school (and valley) was small enough that everyone could fit and the students even got to watch each other perform.   Now the dances are performed at the fairgrounds, and I must admit I do enjoy the outside venue (not as hot), but I miss the partner dances, the fancy dresses, and I really mourned the retirement of the 4^th grade “Virginia Reel”  replaced by a new “favorite,” a “period dance”  (“Stayin’ Alive” disco) from the 70’s-the era during  which I was performing the "May Day" 4^th grade “Virginia Reel.”  (In fact, I was in 4^th grade during the 1976-77 school year, and the Bee Gee’s released “Stayin’ Alive” December 13, 1977-so ya we didn’t need to “dress up” in 70’s attire for a dance-it was standard every-day fare- though I don’t remember as many afros, chains, and shades as I see now in the 4^th grade dance performance.)  But whatever the case, I still love to go to “May Day.”  I now only have one child left in elementary school, and while I’m sad that he didn’t get to learn the “Virginia Reel” this year, I have to admit, he looked pretty cool in his “disco attire.”  “May Day” rocks!

The only pic I got of Luke in his 70's "May Day" attire ( he's in the black suit with the blond wig).  I took my good camera, but Kaylee had taken the battery out and it wouldn't work!  So Kent took this with his phone.  Also, although Luke danced right in front of us, the entire group (all 4 lines) faced north for the entire dance! We were sitting on the south side, so this was taken during one of the rare moments that the dancers turned around.   

These are horrible pics, but this is me (with the white knee socks) in 6th grade braiding the Maypole.  (6th grade was part of elementary school back then.)  This is 1979, but I don't see many afros or beads.  However, the guy approaching me is rocking the silk printed dress shirt and white dress pants-total 70's.) P.S. That's Corinne behind me.



Another 6th grade May Day shot-ready to dance with our partners.  Notice how I am the ONLY one wearing knee socks.  I wasn't allowed to wear panty hose yet, but everyone else was.  (Note the girls behind and in front of me.)  And on top of that my partner, Tony May, thought it would be cool to wear a HAT!  How embarrassing!



And now for the “multiple meanings” part of this post:  (Sorry Kaylee, I just can’t seem to make a short post-I have too much to yak about.)  Technically, I’m only going to address one other meaning so the post should be titled “May Day-Dual Meanings” but I liked the alliteration effect of the “m” words. 



So...Besides being the first day of May and the spring dance festival at the school, “May Day” is a call for help sent out by sinking boats, and lately, I have felt like a sinking boat.  Now I know that moms are supposed to be “unsinkable,” but so was the “Titanic.”  Some things that I’ve been doing this last week:  (Many of these are fun, good things- but each task adds weight to my "mom boat," and I feel myself riding lower and lower in the water.)

·         Orthodontist drama-will Kaylee ever get her braces off and will her teeth be straight and can this be done before she leaves for college in 6 weeks? (3 trips to the orthodontist last week.)



·         May Day with Luke

·         Two daughters answering prom dates, getting ready for, and attending the prom.

·         Campaign posters for Trent running for middle school student council

·         Physicals for Lynae and Trent for cheer tryouts and scout camp.



·         Midnight movie opening night The Avengers (I didn’t attend, but Kaylee did, meaning I was up until she got home about 3 a.m.-combine that with waiting up for prom returns, and ya, I’m pretty tired.  And I thought my sleep deprivation problems would be over when I no longer had babies who did not sleep through the night-ha!)

·         Cleaning my carpets



·         Ward temple night

·         Trip to St. George to pick up boat (Kent took Lynae’s prom group out to the lake-this necessitated getting the boat serviced which had been a to-do since last summer.  It also made my 2^nd trip to St. George during the week.  I had also been to Mesquite and Vegas during the week.)

·         Working every day in the high school library-we are doing inventory.

·         Trimming all my rosemary in the front rock bed.



·         Phone call from Analise who is here.  (Check out her blog here.)



·         Phone calls from Dallin who is here trying to work out class issues.

·         The usual-exercise, laundry, meals, etc. etc. etc.

·         Wedding reception

And I missed Lynae’s track meet (I was picking up the boat.) So I hope this week is a bit calmer, cause any more weight on my “unsinkable mom boat”  and it might be going under (even without an ice-berg collision.)

Some pics from the above:

 Kaylee and prom date Daniel

 Lynae and prom date Justin (Aren't my girls beautiful?!)

 Kaylee's day-time prom activity: Paintballing

 Lynae's day-time prom activity: the lake

 Kaylee and friends preparing for the midnight release of The Avengers

One of Trent's campaign posters-He designed and made it; I just punched out the letters.  It looks just like something a 13-year-old boy would come up with :)

Prom Preparation

Prom Preparation

I have two daughters going to prom this year. And things have changed a lot since I went to prom. Of course the dress (shopping for which is worthy of its own post) and corsage/boutonnière are still standard fare, but the ASKING for the date and the ANSWERING are a bit (no actually A LOT) more elaborate. In case you are as old as me, and remember the asking being a shy, awkward,  “I was wondering if you’d like to go to the prom with me,” and the answering being, “sure” (while either rejoicing that the “perfect” date had taken notice and asked, or trying to push down that “sinking feeling” that you would be enduring a formal evening with a less-than-perfect date all the time watching the “perfect date” enjoying the evening with someone else.) here’s a quick update of the new status quo in prom asking/answering etiquette: (And FYI, it puts A LOT of pressure on the parent(s) of the girl-aka me!). The preparation begins months before with the “reserving.” This is the gallant, medieval-type practice of the would be “asker” approaching the parent of the “askee” to obtain permission to “reserve” (and eventually ask) his hoped-for date. And this is also the point where the approached parent begins to feel as though she (or I guess it could be the dad-in my case it’s always been me) is being slowly submerged in a giant pressure cooker. Of course this conversation usually only lasts a few moments, but it feels like an eternity, as the parent (me) tries to remember who this young man is-in my experience this process has always been done on the phone so I sometimes don’t even know what he looks like-and if he is someone who 1-I should ALLOW to take my daughter to the prom and 2-she would LIKE to go to the prom with. After answering in the affirmative, the parent (me) begins a massive research project perusing old yearbooks, phoning friends, and hoping that the answer given was the “right” one. The parent may tell the girl that she has been reserved but should not reveal the identity of the “reserver.” (This requires a lot of parental tact, stamina, and continued reassuring that the "reserver" is "prom-date worthy,"  all while said parent keeps her fingers crossed that she will not be given three years of the silent treatment, if she inadvertantly gave permission to the wrong "reserver.") Then the girl, patiently waits for the “reserver” to reveal his identity through a formal (and the key word here is “formal”) asking ritual. This can be anything from a scavenger hunt, to flowers delivered during a school assembly, to a giant sign on the highway to any number of other creative, unusual, and/or embarrassing venues.  This year, Kaylee was asked via a scavenger hunt in which poems guided her to various locations which spelled out “prom.” The hunt ended at Mcdonald’s (The “M” in prom) where she found the “asker” who made the official request and then bought her a milkshake. Lynae came home to a balloon and streamer filled room with a rose-petal heart on her bed topped with an envelope containing the prom ticket and an “official ask” from the now-revealed date. BUT….it doesn’t end there. No, the ANSWER, must be as formal as the question, so now that prom is less than a week away, and both my girls have been officially asked (Kaylee’s was just made official Monday night), both are scrambling as they prepare their answers (in addition to figuring out the perfect hairdo, nails, and jewelry.....-dresses and all that associated drama have already been decided on.)

Aw, the pressures of youth. Forget about the AP calculus test coming up in less than a week, all free time MUST be devoted to preparing the perfect “answer.”

Burning "R"  (2nd stop on Kaylee's "P-R-O-M" scavenger hunt.)

 Lynae's offical "request"


P.S. Both girls plan to answer in the affirmative.  I must have "chosen wisely" in my parental responses to the "reservation requests."  Oh the parental pressure...And this is only the prom-good thing I don't live in an arranged marriage culture.