A stressful day

I must have had a very stressful day, assuming dreams are anything to go by:

It all started off when I woke up in the hospital. I had been shot in my back, the bullet puncturing one of my lumbar vertebrae discs. The nurse told me the doctors weren't sure if I would walk again, so could I please try?

Thankfully, I could. My back hurt some, but a lot less than I expected. I wandered the hospital with a 104 degree fever while looking for something, but I couldn't remember what. They told me it was not a good time to travel, but I had to go back to Nigeria right away. The semester had already started and if I didn't get back, they would take away all my classes and force me to teach things I don't know anything about.

I finally made it out of the hospital and got into the car so we could drive to the airport. We had not been driving long when we got into an accident - the other driver's fault. I looked back at my parents' car: half of it was a little crumpled, but on the other half only the chicken wire frame that held it together was still there. The rest had been peeled off and lay on the side of the road.

What a miracle no one was hurt! The children got out of their seats and went wandering. I have a feeling that Prince said he didn't want to be in the Church anymore, but I don't remember hearing him say that. I looked for Joy to help me keep the kids together as the other driver came up to apologize, but I couldn't find her anywhere.

The other driver turned out to be a friend from Ithaca, who reminded me I needed to sell our trailer and move our stuff from Ithaca to Goleta before we left for Nigeria. But there was no time left. Then he asked how my job market went, and I realized I had forgotten to go on the job market this year!

And that was just the start of the dream. It got worse.

Two quotes: Success and fear

I read these quotes from Church News articles today and wanted to preserve them:

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, a modern day apostle, was speaking to the missionaries at the Provo Missionary Training Center where three new buildings were dedicated to house and instruct the influx of new missionaries.

Elder Holland gave the missionaries this formula by which they can know they are measuring up to the Lord's expectations: "Seek to be personally converted, obey the rules of the mission, strive to have the Spirit of the Lord in your life, and work hard. These are things every missionary can do. 

"If you do those things, I promise you in the name of the Lord and with the authority of my office, you are a success in His eyes regardless of how many other convert baptisms you are able to have in your particular corner of the vineyard."

An anonymously written article on fear and faith started with this thought:

The Bible Dictionary states, "The first effect of Adam's sin was that he was afraid. Sin destroys that feeling of confidence God's child should feel in a loving Father, and produces instead a feeling of shame and guilt. Ever since the Fall, God has been teaching men not to fear, but with penitence to ask forgiveness in full confidence of receiving it."

Their Favorite Music

[Oh yes, and we're back in Yola safe and sound. We dropped off the face of the earth for two weeks with debilitating illnesses that delayed our return. But we're all well enough now and most of us are finally asleep.]

Once upon a time, I kept diligent track of all the vast quantities of music Prince listened to and monthly reported on how his favorite songs were changing over time. It was one of the ways he and I bonded and we could both harmlessly enjoy our occasional OCD tendencies.

Then it stopped. He decided he did not like the system we had going for choosing music and didn't want to pick music any more. In part this was also because he developed other interests and wanted to go for them.

I finally found a new system he likes well enough, and with Princess talking she can also express her music preferences. More recently, he's also taken to dancing before dinner when I turn the music on. For old times' sake, I wanted to post their favorite songs for 2012:

Song title (artist if it's not obvious) - # times played   * if Princess also requests this, ** if she sings along
1. Go, Go, Go (Backyardigans - hereafter B'gans) - 30**
2. Super Mario Castle Theme - 28
3. Brush Your Teeth (Raffi) - 26    [Joy requests this too]
4. Super Mario a capella (BYU Vocal Point) - 25
5. Super Duper Mario (Daniel Tidwell) - 23
    Backyardigan Theme Song **
    Super Mario Wii Theme
8. Lady in Pink (B'gans) - 22
9. Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam - 20**
    A Pirate Says Arr (B'gans)*

Christmas Pictures of our neice

Aunt Emie made two of the yarn dolls. I asked how
we could tell them apart. Ours has red hair, just like our girl.

Going through my Christmas pictures, I was surprised just how many I took of my little one year old niece. She was really quite adorable. Knowing that some of the people who come to this blog also care about Steve and Emie's little girl, here are some shots of her wonderfulness.

Christmas Pictures of Prince

Santa brought Prince many wondrous things - things so wondrous it was really hard to get his face in a picture with the gift:


A big red ball, TWO Mario toys, and a talking Lightning McQueen, plus these little medieval figures on the left and a Wii game. For those keeping count, Santa must have found several of Prince's gifts on sale and was not as lucky with Princess'.

He got two Wii games - Big Brain Academy and Toy Story 3.

Big Brain Academy is apparently designed for 8 year olds, so he currently gets a D on their learning test... but wait. My 4 year old can get a D on a test for an 8 year old? Sweet! ... I get a B--? Funky.

Toy Story 3 is his favorite activity to choose as the family game. I get one life to make progress, then he and Joy get 3-5 lives to figure out what they are doing until I move us forward again. It looks very well made and we're enjoying it.

Christmas pictures of Princess

Santa brought Princess a talking Jessie. She was very excited to see her little friend. Then she looked around said, "Woody!" certain he must be around too if Jessie was.

Santa also brought her a Minnie Mouse doll. She likes Minnie well enough, but Jessie is the clear winner.

Princess has always loved clothes. She was very happy to get several new outfits and was eager to try them on - sometimes all at once! 

Santa got Prince a ball that Princess enjoyed playing with. The big crossover toy though was Kermit the Frog. Prince was happy to get him, as you can see, but Princess coveted "Frog." She carried Frog with her more than any other toy. She gets very excited to see Frog.