Craig and his pillows

Some of you know that Craig has had to shift his bed obsession to a fixation on pillows. Beds are just too expensive. We've had our current bed for a good 18 months and that, my friends, is a record for Craig. With rapid bed replacement out of the financial picture, he moved on to pillows. His quest: the perfect pillow, the one that affords a night of restful sleep and an awakening free of any aches and pains. This is no small challenge and it is one that Craig takes very seriously. We are now the proud owners of our very own pillow library. If you ever stay at our house, you can visit the room where rejected pillows are banished. You can select and try any pillow you might have heard about or seen a magazine ad for. Let's just say that it is heaven for the 'pillow curious'. You want foam? We have it in all thicknesses and all shapes. Are you a 'back sleeper"? A 'side sleeper"? We have the pillow for you. Do you want a pillow that you can pump up? fill with water? Are you intrigued by memory foam? Or the bean bag effect? Perhaps you're a side sleeper with a shoulder that hankers for a cut in so you can nestle in more comfortably. Yup. We can meet your needs.
The only sad thing is that Craig's quest is unresolved. He has yet to find the perfect pillow. But, ever resourceful, he has embarked in a new direction. Today, he opened a packet of 'craft foam sheets'. Yes, pieces of foam in bright primary colors of various thicknesses. A white and blue have been slid into the pillow case along with a 'close, but no cigar' pillow. Who knows, tonight may be the night....

Russian

So, I am in charge of our new summer language institute. We got a hefty government grant to teach 'critical need' languages to ROTC students, and anyone else who wants to sign up and pay tuition. It was all kind of a panicky last minute thing, because we had about 4 weeks from getting the grant notification to the start of classes to find instructors, advertise, organize a training workshop etc. Classes started on Monday. The Russian instructor, the one you may remember me mentioning earlier this year who answers her cell phone in class. Did I mention that she tends to keep the phone tucked in her bra? Small detail. Anyway, she is doing the summer class. Here is what happened on day one. Fernando made a circuit to check that everyone was settled in their classroom. When Fernando went by she was sitting in the back of the room and there was a guy leading the class. At first he didn't see her and thought that there was a room conflict. He went in search of her in the lab. Half an hour later we both went by again and this time we saw her in the back of the room. The mystery man was still up front. She came out into the hallway and explained that the guy leading the class was one of her former students and, get this, is a "professional hypnotist". "if you need one" she added to Fernando. Bear in mind that an hour in this course is not an insubstantial amount of time given how much we are trying to cover (one year in six weeks). She was having him do a whole hour on relaxation, hypnotism and stress management techniques... What does one say????!!! I mean it's an intriguing idea, but could she have run it by us?

Stereotypes

Just back from the awards ceremony for 7th and 8th grade at Catherine's school. Its kind of nice in that they don't tell the kids what award they are getting so we all get to be surprised. She got an award for French. It is very inclusive in the American way - you know, lots of people are excellent. But there were also some totally predictable trends. Hmmm, they started with something called the Academic Team. These are the kids that compete for the school and last year our school team came second in the nation. 95% of the team members were Asian or Indian. But when we got to the choral and dance awards, well, they all pretty much looked like Nordic immigrants. There was an abundance of Olsens, Lindgrens, Lofgrens, etc.

Children in May

Catherine is 14

Here are a couple of pictures from Catherine's party.

Spring in Utah

Here are two pictures taken about a week apart. The first I took on a hike near our house. The second is one Craig took in Moab four hours southeast of here. What a difference those miles make!