Huntsman Seminar (and Senator Jones)

The next event in my busy June was a week long conference, the Huntsman Seminar.  Before my trip to Jersey I participated in the "Creating Extraordinary Citizens" conference, and the seminar went hand in hand with it.  I'm now inspired to kindle in my students a sense of civic duty.  I enjoyed meeting local politicians and mostly feeling important. We went on a tour of the Utah State Capitol which I had never done before.

 And we even got to sit in Utah Senate (in the actual Senator's chairs!)

We were also "wined and dined" with free lunch every day.  I always get jealous when Clint's work gives him free food, takes him to the movies, etc.  Teachers don't always get a lot of free stuff.  Fortunately, this program was not publicly funded, it was privately funded by the Huntsman Center.  Woot!

I also really enjoyed the day we studied the court system.  The Scott M. Matheson Courthouse is really beautiful.  I didn't take any pictures though, so here is a lifted pic of the outside.  I wish I had some pictures of the interior rotunda as well.

There we spoke with Honorable Jill N. Parrish, Justice UTah Supreme Court.  She told us all about the Utah  legal system and why in Utah we don't vote for our judges.  I never thought about it before, but according to Judge Parrish, one study found that 46% of judges in Texas, Ohio, and Louisiana admitted that campaign contributions affect their decision-making as judges. Yikes! I also got to meet the Mayor of Salt Lake, Ralph Becker, in the Utah City and County building, (also very beautiful).

On the last day of the program, Utah Senator Pat Jones spoke to us about funding education in Utah.  This woman is a-MAZING! She definitely knows how to get all the teachers on her side!  As various politicians and CEOs spoke to us, a number of them said things that were slightly offensive or backwards.  But Senator Jones seems to have a good understanding of what teachers face and some of the absurdities of the public education system.  I'll probably have a separate post later on detailing some of these issues, but I wanted to focus here on her fascinating proposal for funding education.

In Utah, we have a funding problem with education because such children are such a high percentage of our population.  The republicans have this hair-brained idea that we will be able to claim federally owned lands within Utah and use them to generate revenue.  (It seems doubtful that the feds will let their land go.)  They also seem to think that by spurring the economy, we will have more revenue with which to fund education.  Senator Jones points out that this is a chicken and the egg debate.  Sure if we grow our economy we will have more money, but won't having a better educated work force grow our economy?

Anyway, Senator Jones pointed out that in Utah, the money for education comes from income tax.  But families can be exempted from income tax based on the number of children they have.  It doesn't really make sense to exempt people from paying a tax that funds public education when they are the very ones that are utilizing free public education. So she is proposing a bill that would cut state personal exemptions of number of household for income tax!  Now, she understands that some families with economic challenges need this exemption in order to have money to care for their children, so she has built into this proposal provisions so that families near a certain level of income can still be exempt.  But in general, this means everyone is paying into the education system, which seems like a good idea to me!

Fiesta de Clint

After I returned from New Jersey, I put on my party planning hat, and executed a celebration for Clint.  First, we went on a little hike to Donut Falls.

We stopped by a bike store on the way home, then grabbed some wings at Wing Nuts.  Next, birthday time!

I made Clint birthday popcorn this year, since he said he didn't want a cake.  The man loves his popcorn!

 I gave Clint a Duluth Trading Co. shirt and ultimately, some "headers" for his car, whatever those are.  The drill is technically from his mom.  Interestingly, I purchased one, his mom purchased one, and it turns out that Clint purchased himself one as well.  Hah!

In the evening we stopped by a friend's BBQ and grabbed some hot dogs, then relaxed for the rest of the night.

Halcyon Days (Or Not): NJ Part 3

Thursday was essentially my last day in NJ.  (Friday was my eventful flight home.) We headed out with the kids for more park time at Verona "Fortress" Park, so called due to my mom's reading of reviews on YELP.  Check out some of Denis K.'s review:

The mystique of a superhero is shrouded not only in their special abilities but also in the secrets they carry - a secret identity, a hidden weakness, or a veiled origins story. Stripped of all that, a superhero is a regular joe like you and me, vulnerable to tragedy and susceptible to anguish. Whether it's in a dark, brooding cave or a remote icy fortress, a common human refrain is to seek out and create a hidden bastion impervious to trouble and defiant against time itself.

Often, I am asked, why don't you move closer to NYC? A reason. Though infrequently visited, Verona Park is my fortress, my bastion that I would lose by moving away. Here I can reminisce and ponder about life as Thoreau once did at Walden. Against a beautiful backdrop that could leave Bryant at a loss for words, I can find solace in the natural world around me.


Bwahaha!  I would like to meet this guy.  Mango J.'s review also provided some excellent entertainment.  Anyway, at the park we audaciously loaded up the kids and paddle boated on the lake.

 I kept trying (and failing) to get a picture of this strange diving bird we saw, to no avail. So, here are some geese and some people.

I had an idea that paddle boating would be an idyllic pastime with halcyon weather. This was not exactly the case.  My quads started screaming as I tried to navigate the unwieldy boat while propelling it forward, and I quickly became very sweaty in the hot sun.  This is why I took photos of everyone but me.  Ha hah!  It was a good last hurrah for New Jersey anyway. Until next time!

New Jersey Part 2

On Sunday my sister arrived with her fam in tow which commenced the kids activities portion of the trip.  On Monday we went to the New Jersey State Botanical Gardens.  Most of my time was spent playing "good guys and bad guys" with Ben.

After the gardens we headed to Shephard Lake, which was something of a disaster.  My sister was changing into her swimming suit, my mom was tending to the fussy baby, and I (not wearing a swimming suit) was left to tend to the two wild ones who wanted to drown themselves in the lake.  The life guard kept saying, "ma'am, your children..." when they started getting in too deep.  I kind of wanted to kill that life guard, or maybe suggest that she get off her tooshie and help me prevent them from drowning.  I also decided that my sister is a saint for dealing with three little munchkins at once.

Speaking of saintliness and multiple munchkins, the next day we met up with my study abroad friend Emily and her triplets +1.  Holy Cowza!  My mom was flabbergasted and said that it's impossible to even watch all four at once, let alone wrangle them all.  Observe the chaos:

Afterwards I had to escape to Acme and the bakery with my mom, and relax with some Drop Dead Diva. Whew!  How do they do it?

The next day, Wednesday, was an eventful day.  Megan and I had some girls only time and got manicures.

Then we headed out with the kids to a small park in Nutley.  I enjoyed snapping some wildlife pictures. I got this great one of a heron:

My sister and I spotted a muskrat which excited my mom because she had wanted to see one at the swamp park.

I was vastly pleased to see a duckling as well.  My mom said she hadn't seen any baby ducks the whole spring.

But this photo was definitely the winner of the outing: 

Just Ben, Grandma, and some quality play time. After the park we hustled home and got ready to go to a play at the Paper Mill Playhouse.

Note my hideous early 90s dress.  This would be because I neglected to realize I would be wearing a compression stocking most of the time and I packed a knee length dress.  So...I borrowed this longer wonder and a white knee sock from my mom.

I enjoyed the play and the music, but I was not prepared for the ending.  I heard this play was redolent of  The Little Mermaid, but I was expecting the Disney version, not the Hans Christian Anderson version!

NJ trip

So now to update you on my little summer trip to NJ.  Getting out there in the first place was somewhat of an adventure.  This was in part due to my blood clot fiasco--I wasn't even sure if the Dr. would let me fly and I had to have an ultrasound of my leg the day before I flew.  Fortunately, they decided it would be ok as long as I wore this dreadful thigh-high compression sock and got up every half an hour.  However, that wasn't the only hurdle to jump.  My flight left ridiculously early on Thursday (June 7) so I checked in the night before.  And low and behold, after I got through security, it came to my attention that my flight had been canceled due to weather conditions in Dallas (my layover).  So, I had to go back through security to the front desk, and get a new flight.  This new flight (with a layover in Michigan instead of Dallas) arrived in La Guardia, so my mom had to dither about weather she could drive to La Guardia, but it all ended up fine (though in Michigan they told us we were going to be delayed in take of an indeterminate about of time...but then basically said just kidding and we took off).  Now, this may not sound that bad, but let me just say now that I repeated the problem on the way out.  I checked in the night before...and when I got to the airport my flight had been delayed for two hours.  Apparently it was hurricane season in Dallas.  So  I waited for hours in the airport/airplane (we sat on the tarmac for a while) and eventually I got to Dallas, where I waited for three more hours because, of course, I missed my connection.  I finally got to SLC after nine at night.  I suppose I learned a lesson here...NEVER check in the night before! It depresses me how obnoxious flying has to become.  It used to be these luxurious experience, and now it's becoming more and more like the greyhound bus.  They even made me stuff my pillow in my backpack and my purse in my suitcase because they were extra items.  Hello!  I'm not putting my purse, backpack, or pillow in the overhead bin, so why do you care?!  At least I didn't get molested at security this time.  Also I flew over central park on the way home (and saw Ellis Island from afar) which was nice.

At any rate, once I got there my mom and I grabbed dinner at this NJ place called Muscle Maker Grill, and I went for a walk with my mom then bummed around and watched Cougar Town before crashing.  (I did wake up REALLY early and go to bed way late the night before.)  As a side note, Muscle Maker Grill was awesome! The name sounds terribly unappealing, but it's a healthy eating establishment started by some fitness guy. I wish we had one here.  The black bean soup was amazing.

On Friday I also had a pretty chill day.  It was nice to be a bum for a few days since school just ended and I'd had some craziness with the leg, the hives, and leaving a conference in the middle to do the ultra sound, blah blah.  I went for a run, we had dinner at the house, then we went to the New Jersey State Opera, which was temporarily housed like ten minutes from my parents house.


The opera was really well done; the orchestra and the singers were all very impressive.  I felt very cultured, especially when I realized that this opera is where the famous "Figaro, Figaro, Figaro" line comes from.

On Friday I went running again, of course.  The cross-country team at Cyprus has started doing a mile club.  You can earn either 100, 200, or 300 mile club, and you get a sweet t-shirt with bronze, silver, or gold.  In order to be in a club you have to run that distance within the three months of June, July, and August.  I really want to earn the 300 mile club.  (No one did last summer.  I hardly ran last summer due to the skateboard incident.)  The bronze 100 mile club shirt looks nice, but I think the silver is ugly, therefore, I must go for the gold!

Anyway, also on Saturday, my mom wanted to visit "the swamp park" which is really Richard W. DeKorte Park sponsored by the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission as a conservation effort.  I suppose the Swamp Park is a more fitting name--it's a swamp, not a meadow.  Anyway, it was fun to walk along the boardwalks through the swamp.  We saw a cute crab, and lots of birds.



After we visited the park we dithered about where to go to dinner with a possibility of going to Rut's Hut which is apparently a famous New Jersey place.  They are known for rippers, which are hot dogs that are deep fat fried (which split in the oil, hence, "rippers").  We ended up passing on the dogs, and landed at a hibachi place.  It was pretty tasty (especially the tempura veggies) but also adventuresome because the fire alarm went off and we all had to evacuate.  So we chilled in the parking lot with three fire trucks for a good 15 minutes.  I was also entertained/disturbed  by the giant tanuki in the foyer.  Apparently this "racooon dog" is a famous Japanese thing.  I just think it needed some underpants, if you know what I mean.

School's out!

To celebrate the last day of school, Clint and I headed to a local sushi joint, Sushi Groove.

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Do I look slightly exhausted in this photo?  If so it would probably be for one reason aside from the unusual end of school drama and the fact that I am sans make-up.  I went through somewhat of a saga which started with me thinking I had a blood clot, which was then misdiagnosed as lymphangitis, which led to a series of antibiotics which resulted in me having a fever and hives.  After an emotionally charged round of steroids etc. I recovered from the hives only to go back to the doctor and discover that it was, after all, a blood clot. Fortunately, a month later, the issue is now mostly resolved. Lesson learned: Do not rely on instacare.

As a side note, I was not terribly impressed with the sushi place.  Tsunami is still my gold standard.

Summertime and the livin's easy...

It's summertime!  Woot!  This means actually posting on my blog again.  Also, Clint got me a camera for my birthday (to replace lost camera #2) so I actually have photos.  I will attempt to be somewhat chronological.
Sorry Christmas, any photos from you are on Clint's phone or relatives' cameras.  I can at least say that I gave Clint a Ho Ho Hoey CD that he listened to on repeat.  I also gave him Buick cuff-links, a DVD of Red, and an Ecodrive Citizen watch.  Go me!  He gave me a desk, a lamp, and some ceramic knives.  We opened our stuff before flying out to NJ.  I don't remember that much about Jersey...but I do remember that we visited Lambert Castle which was all decorated for Christmas.  They also had a sweet gingerbread house display with some elaborate confections.  They smelled good too!

Next would be Valentines Day.  This year, it was pretty chill.  Clint cooked me a nice dinner, then I headed to a Young Women's activity where we frosted cookies and delivered them to some old people in the ward.  Yes, I said old people.  I can't remember exactly what Clint cooked, but I think he gave me a DVD of the movie Ruined.  (Such a good one.)  I think I gave him some fancy shave gell from Nordstrom. BTW he also snagged some heart shaped balloons from his work which lasted for about two months.  I'm not kidding.

Then came my birthday.  Clint surprised me in the morning with a card and a little gift bag on the table containing a pyrex pan with a lid.  Then in the car there was another gift bag and some treats to eat at work, including, of course, Nestle's Turtles.  Yum.  Then that night he gave me my "real" gift: the illustrious camera!  Unfortunately, we don't have a ton of pictures of the day because the camera only had this mini memory card in it.  We then headed to dinner at Settebello where I ate this delicious salad:


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which I believe was prosciutto wrapped around goat cheese and arugula with Parmesan cheese and a balsamic vinegar reduction.  We followed it up with some pizza and gelato goodness and then headed to the Capitol Theater for this:



















 A friend from work let me use her season ticket to the ballet.  Clint had never been inside the Capitol Theater before! We enjoyed it, but we were both pretty exhausted so we headed home and crashed.  On Saturday (the next day) Clint bought me an ice cream cake and invited a few people over.  Notice the race car on the cake... maybe Clint thinks of me as a 7 year old boy? Not sure, but over all it was a good birthday.




After I got the camera I took a bunch of garden photos.  I love it when things bloom that I didn't have to plant.