my music man

Since January, Wesley and I have had fun every Wednesday morning at our Kindermusik class. It has been awesome. I was a little shocked at the tuition, plus the materials fee, but in all honesty, you get out of it what you put into it. We had a total blast and learned tons of songs and activities that we can do for years down the road. I consider it money well spent.

Our class was for infants up to age 3, and most of the kids were 1 or older. The "class type" was called "Our Time," (I guess there are lots of different classes) and the curriculum this semester was called "Away We Go." I really liked it. The "Away We Go" music program all circled around transportation means and methods and such. In the beginning, we seemed to focus on trains, then it morphed to horses and finally "pioneer" themes like wagons and floating down the river in tugboats and such. I noticed the copyright on the CDs was 1999 so I think Kindermusik works really hard on its programs and just cycles them through the years. I'm not complaining, it was fresh and new and fun for us.

Anyway, every class would start with these wooden sticks... I think they have a fancy name, though I have no idea what... and our instructor Miss Katie would have us "keep a beat." I even found some wooden things at home that Wesley and I can keep a beat with. Anyway, we'd keep a beat and then sing the "Our Time Hello" song where we tapped the sticks, drummed on the floor, swished them like windshield wipers, etc., and we'd go around the room and sing hello to all the children. I know all the kids' names in our class... none of the adults. So sad right?


The second thing we did every day was get out these bars. Big bar, little bar, big bar, little bar, and they'd hit them with mallets and we'd sing another version of "Our Time Hello" where Miss Katie would outline some of the things we'd do that day, like "we're going to go to Arkansas," or "we'll go on a wagon ride" or "we'll ride the horsies," etc.






I was pleasantly surprised that toward the end of the class Wesley "got" what was going on. He could hit the bars! He knew what they were for. At the beginning of the class, the mallets just looked like lollipops. So his growth was pretty cool.

Here are some of the activities I remember (plus commentary of course):

• Every day we'd do a bounce, where he'd sit in my lap and we'd bounce. At first we bounced to "New River Train" and we'd do it three times: normal, slow, and then fast. It helps the kids develop tempo. At another point, our bounce was "Bumping up and down in my little red wagon," and then a wagon wheel would "fall off" and we'd bounce again but flail them every so interestingly. Very fun.
  
  
• I first realized Wesley was having a good time when we did "I've Been Working on the Railroad" one class early in the year. For the beginning of the song, we'd march pretty slow and sing slow, then at the refrain when it goes "Dinah won't you blow, Dinah won't you blow," we'd scurry around the room and sing really fast. Wesley loved it. I think he loved the erratic frenzy of running the best, but he loved it. We even do this at home, singing while running circles around our papasan chair in the living room.
  
  
• We did some interesting "vocal play" activities, where Miss Katie encouraged us to use matchbox cars and make auto noises and have fun with our little ones. I like to do some on the rhymes at home: it talks about a little car going on a trip, and the car takes a trip to your nose, your knees, etc., as the adult drives the car around on the kid's body. We were really working on body parts for awhile so I added a lot to the song (Wesley laughs the most when we drive on his back).
  
  
• Our materials fee bought us a couple books we read in class, and they all have a rhythm to them. One particular book is about Shiny Dinah the choo-choo train, and I hear Wesley humming the rhythm to himself when he falls asleep at night sometimes. It's awesome. As this class has gone on, I've discovered that although the linguistic synapses in his brain haven't quite clicked (like he um, says no words), the musical ones have. He can "sing" Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Shiny Dinah and the "I love mommy, she loves me" song. It's amazing. Miss Katie says for some kids, music clicks quicker than words.
  
  
• We'd also do unstructured "musical" play with things like jingle bells, tambourines, drums, etc. She'd hand them all out, we'd play for a bit, then she'd put on a song and the kids just did whatever they wanted to do while listening to the music. Pretty cool.
  
  
  
• There was this "horsie" section which Wesley didn't like at all. I couldn't get him to "get" any of the activities. There was this jingle we'd recite, "Giddy-up horsie, giddy-up horsie, giddy-up horsie, go go go!" At one point it was our daily bounce, and he never liked it and got off my lap and ran around the room instead. Another time, Miss Katie brought in these plush horses with tails the kids could ride (you know, a pony on a stick?), but when I tried to put it between his legs and get him to "giddy-up" he was astounded at the thought. He froze. The look on his face was priceless. No. Thank. You. Mother.
  
  
• I enjoyed it the best when Miss Katie would bring out the parachute. I can't do fancy parachute activities at home! We'd all gather 'round and sometimes sing this song about an "Old Brass Wagon" that would circle to the left, then circle to the right, etc., but my favorite one was an activity that taught tempo using a riverboat metaphor. The song started out, "we're floating down the river," a real lazy and slow tempo, and we'd sorta swish the parachute together very smoothly, and then the song would speed up, "two in the river and you can't jump Josie," and we'd go nuts swooshing the parachute up and down really quickly. I re-created that at home with just a fleece blanket that I sway over his head. He loves it!
  
  
• Miss Katie would get out bouncy balls and we'd sing about a steamroller and a jackhammer... the steamroller would be "rolling along to my steamroller song," very smoothly, and the jackhammer would be "bumping along to my jackhammer song," and we'd bounce the balls. Very cool metaphor for the smooth and staccato.
  
  
  (Wesley and various people in our group with their steamroller/jackhammer balls)
  
  
  
  
• Omigosh I almost forgot this one. This one was my favorite. The song was "The Egg Shaking Blues," and it's this hilarious song about shaking eggs essentially. We started singing it around Easter, and I came home and put rice in some plastic eggs and we "shake our eggs" all the time at home. Wesley even broke an egg the other day and Shane came home from work and asked, "why is there rice on the floor?" Oop.
  
  
• Every class ended with a snuggle: Miss Katie would turn off the lights and put on a sweet slow song, and we'd hold our little ones. Ahh it was nice. Sometimes we'd sing and sway. And sometimes he would run circles instead of calming down. That's life.
  
  
• One more lesson learned: moms need to be ready to move. I rolled around on the ground, I marched, I fell down then got up again (repeatedly!), I jumped, I did crazy cardio in circles, I sweated. It was fun. But hot. After the first class I never wore long sleeves again.
  

There you have it, some of our awesome memories from Kindermusik.

You know, honestly, a lot of class, Wesley ran around the room in circles. He didn't "get" a lot of things. He loves to run and laugh and trip over his own two feet, then get back up and repeat. There was a big wall-to-wall mirror and he loved to go up to it and stare at himself and try to lick it. (Tangent: Miss Katie actually told me that speaking and singing in front of a mirror can help some kids develop language, since they can see what their mouth is doing when they make noises. Interesting). Basically, some days it was very frustrating. But, we got so much out of Kindermusik at home, I know it was completely worth it, and it was an awesome experience for us.

We have three more classes, with another instructor and in another location, that we get to "make up" for some sick days. I'm kind of glad we're not 100% done. We might sign up again, but Miss Katie is moving so she won't be teaching and that's sort of sad. We could try another location. Wesley had four friends in this class he already knew from playgroups before, and it's just nice to have friends already, so I wonder if I'd like another teacher in another location as much. Katie was really sweet, very enthusiastic, and of course very talented at singing. I tried my best to be an involved and excited momma, and I sung right along. I guess she doesn't get that a lot, since I noticed not a lot of the other moms would sing, and they'd just sort of hang out and make sure their child wasn't tearing the place apart. But something else that is interesting and a bit crazy, is that after class today Miss Katie spoke to me and said, "I don't know if you work or are interested, but you have a wonderful singing voice and should consider becoming a certified Kindermusik instructor!" Isn't that funny? Maybe in my next career. It would be so fun, of course I'm super busy now and it doesn't seem right right now. But it was still the nicest compliment ever. Since they need to hire someone to replace her, she said they like hiring "people we already know," which made me feel like if I was interested they'd really consider me! Wow!

OK enough of that. Long story short: we had a dang good time.

why i love my family, part 3

Happy Birthday to my mother today.

Momma, I love you.

This past General Conference, M. Russell Ballard, one of the apostles, spoke on mothers and daughters. He said:

"My dear young women, with all my heart I urge you not to look to contemporary culture for your role models and mentors. Please look to your faithful mothers for a pattern to follow. Model yourselves after them, not after celebrities whose standards are not the Lord’s standards and whose values may not reflect an eternal perspective. Look to your mother. Learn from her strengths, her courage, and her faithfulness. Listen to her. She may not be a whiz at texting; she may not even have a Facebook page. But when it comes to matters of the heart and the things of the Lord, she has a wealth of knowledge....No other person on earth loves you in the same way or is willing to sacrifice as much to encourage you and help you find happiness—in this life and forever."

And think... my mom does have a Facebook page! How cool is that! But seriously, now that I am a mother, I know what it means to love someone so wholeheartedly, more than any other person on this Earth could love. It's amazing someone feels that way about me. Thanks mom.

So, on to the good stuff. You may remember this post from a couple years ago, so here are some more great things about my mom:

• I'm so grateful that when I was a baby, all those years ago, my mom listened to the Spirit in her heart and knew she should join The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Her decision has impacted my life more than she could ever know. My brothers served missions, and our testimonies are all so strong. Because Mom wanted to take her baby girl to a Church, so many lives have peace now. Thanks Mom.
  
  
• I love how involved in our lives my mom was. Even though I would feign embarrassment, it was fun when she was a Girl Scout co-leader or she taught my Sunday School class. Every once in awhile she'd chaperone a field trip or come to girls camp and that was exciting. We've made so many memories together, and I love it. Mom served on scout committees and band booster clubs and more and more, because she loved us.
  
  
• I loved that Mom read to us when we were younger. We'd go to the library and check out bags and bags of books. And we'd read them all. We'd check out some over and over and over again. Another one of my favorite things when we got older was that Mom would read novels by authors like Michael Crichton and Robin Cook, and when she was all done we kids would gather 'round and she'd tell us the whole story! It was awesome. Think medical dramas and Jurassic Park. I remember thinking to myself when I heard they were making a Jurassic Park movie, "my mom told me all about that story!"
  
  
• I love that Mom always supported our goofy ideas. Do you remember the golf course we wanted to build in the backyard? All the lego structures we left all over the house? The times we'd play "school" and I taught my little brothers? She 100% supported our creativity. We could do whatever we wanted to. I love that. I love that I feel like I was an active kid... no video games, no cable. I read and played and experienced. You better believe a lot of that had to do with the attitude of the Mom in the house.
  
  
• My mom is very meticulous. Every time we needed a check for something at school, Mom would put the check in the typewriter and type it out. It looked neater that way! She loves to type things up on the computer and print them out nicely. She wants to be proud of a job well done, and she can be. She does so many things so well. She's definitely helped me set a high standard for myself, and encouraged me to do my best.
  
  
• I loved that Mom stayed home with us kids when we were little, even though when we got older she needed to go back to work to help support the family (and all the bills we were no doubt racking up, with getting stitches and playing sports and eating all our food). I really loved that she worked close by, and my brothers and I sometimes during the summer would ride our bikes to her work during her lunch breaks and spend them with her. That was so fun.
  
  
• She made our Halloween costumes every year. We'd go to the fabric store and look through the books of patterns and hand-pick what we wanted. It was awesome. I was Dorothy, Tinkerbell, a Hershey Kiss, a bride -- all handmade by my mother. My brothers were pumpkins and clowns and Peter Pan. Mom, you totally rock. I need to learn to sew so I can make Halloween costumes.
  
  
• Speaking of my bride costume, I need to say I am so grateful to my mom (and dad) for going to the temple in 1986 and sealing us as a family. I still remember some of it. I needed to wear all white, so I wore my Halloween costume from the year earlier. My socks were too dirty so the temple gave me socks to borrow. I was young, but somehow I knew it was a special day. And it was. We're a family forever, thanks to Mom and Dad.
  
  
• On our birthdays, Mom would tell us our birthday story. Every year. I didn't mind :-) She'd make whatever we wanted for our birthday dinner -- I usually requested this chicken casserole with green beans and biscuits on top. Mom's specialty.
  
  
• I remember going Visiting Teaching with my mom. She was an awesome example of a good visiting teacher. We'd go to this one sister's house, and she had all these toys and us kids would play with them on the floor while they talked. To me, that was visiting teaching: playing with toys at this one lady's house. Mom must have visiting taught her for years, since it's all I remember! I try my best to be a good visiting teacher today.
  
  
• Whenever my brothers and I would argue, Mom would spontaneously start singing "Love at Home." It was funny. Sometimes it worked and we calmed down. Usually it just aggravated us.
  
  
• I love that my mom can laugh. As a family, we have quite a few "inside jokes," and the best thing is that Mom gets them all. When we all get together and start reciting them, she's laughing just as hard as the rest of us, and chiming in until we're all on the floor and crying from laughing. There are so many great stories.
  
  
• I really feel that my mom really loves us kids, and gets what it means to be a mom. How can I tell? She cries. She is so happy for us, the tears flow. And you know what? I do the same thing. I love my little Wesley so much that it makes me cry. Being a mother is an amazing experience, and I believe she took it seriously.
  
  
• Once we took a girls' trip to Hawaii. It was awesome. I had a blast with my mom, eating pineapple at breakfast, sitting by the pool, singing "Pearly Shells," and getting our pictures taken with hot Hawaiian luau dancers. Mom organized it all, and she just wanted to play with me. I was happy to oblige!
  
  
• I love what a sweet Grandma she is. I know she loves Wesley so much. She came to stay with me for a whole month after he was born and Shane went back to work. I was able to take showers because she'd hold him while he cried and neither she nor I! knew what to do. Thanks mom. Babies take a lot of energy and patience. I know it probably wasn't the most fun to be here when Wesley was at a pretty non-sociable age. But he's growing into a wonderful little boy and he has an amazing Grandma.
  
  
• Some characteristics I think I've gained from my mom: organizational skills. The tendency to assign sentimental value to things. A brain that sees the big picture -- yet doesn't forget the small stuff. The desire to please. The desire for peace. Optimism. The ability to smile. A love for arts and crafts and creativity (and love of "projects").
  
  
• Sometimes I tell my mom things I tell no one else. I know she loves me, she'll listen to me, she'll understand me. There are just stories about my life I want her to hear. Things I've done I want her to know about. Experiences I want her to share. There is no other relationship quite like that of a mother and a daughter. I've got such a great mom. Sometimes I really miss her and wish we lived so much closer.

Oh geez, I could go on all day.

I love you, momma. I hope your day is wonderful, and you don't have to bake your own cake! Happy Birthday.

explain the physics of this

Sorry, no photo here, but what you're about to read boggles the mind.

Wesley is in this crazy "let's throw everything all the time" stage. Sometimes it's funny and cute, sometimes it's downright dangerous. I haven't quite figured out how to explain it's OK to throw nerf balls and stuffed animals, while it's not OK to throw remote controls and heavy-duty play cars. And, on top of that, it's not OK to throw things at people ever. (But even if the stuffed animal doesn't hurt? And technically it is OK to throw that at mommy? What do I do here?)

When I was cooking dinner Saturday I had him playing with a wooden-handled rubber spatula and a metal bowl on the floor. It was good fun. I set the table. We had roast beef in a crockpot, with hoagie rolls and au jus, and as a side, "sweet potato chips" which I made in the microwave and had placed in a ceramic bowl. (important detail.)

The table was set. The food was steaming. We were ready to eat. I picked up Wesley, spatula in hand, and he launches it toward the table.

The next thing happened very quickly. I didn't even see it, which makes it almost impossible to believe, except I saw the outcome.

The spatula hit the ceramic bowl, at some angle, and the bowl completely shattered around the sweet potatoes, and they just sunk gracefully onto the table, still in a little pile, when all around them -- all over the table, our plates (thankfully not in the crockpot), the floor, our chairs -- were shards of ceramic bowl.

I don't get how it happened. No food was flung. Just glass. We took the next 10 minutes cleaning, in our perplexed state, while Wesley watched us and probably had no idea he caused this crazy situation.

Ahhhh raising a toddler. Heaven help my dinnerware.

what we eat a lot

I think it's interesting that um, everyone eats several times a day, yet we don't talk about it a lot. Right? I don't know any of your famous family recipes, and you don't know any of mine. Every now and then my friends post recipes to blogs, and sometimes I try one and it is a raving success or miserable failure (and I think surely when my friend prepares it it isn't as terrible as when I prepared it.) But for the most part, food prepared at home is a pretty private thing. Even though it is a seriously big part of our day. I find that interesting.

So, in the Gottula home, I try my best to be a good wife and mother, and we eat dinner at the table every night. I plan my meals a week at a time (I always have a piece of paper on the counter with planned meals for the week, for me to pick what I'm in the mood for and knowing full well everything needed to prepare it is in the house), I cook before Shane gets home, I set the table, we sit and pray, then we eat and chat. Well, Wesley eats and throws his food, but Shane and I tend to chat.

A normal family routine right? Wrong... evidently not a lot of families actually eat at the table. I can't believe it! I want it to be a goal of mine for my whole life that my children will always have dinner at the table with their family. Articles I have read say it adds to stability and confidence in the home. That is so important to me.

So, since we eat together -- often -- what are we eating? I thought it would be fun to brain dump my "frequent flier" foods.

Breakfast:

• Love breakfast burritos. Love eggs over easy with toast and a piece of ham or something. Shane doesn't; he prefers scrambled.
• Sometimes all I want is a fruity yogurt and a toasted bagel with butter.
• We also do a lot of cold cereal in our house. Honey Bunches of Oats is a staple. I usually like something rather whizz-bang-free (Special K, Cheerios) that I can put fruit in. Shane likes Raisin Bran. Wesley loves Cheerios.
• I made an amazing almond granola this morning that I make a lot. Whenever I have a huge tub of yogurt I need to get rid of quick, I make this granola. (I generally hate plain yogurt. But Wesley was out of yogurt and they didn't have vanilla at the store and strawberries were on sale, so I bought a tub of plain yogurt and said I'd mash strawberries and combine them at home. It didn't get rid of the tartness of the yogurt, though, sadly. Wesley won't touch it. I've got to eat it... hence the granola.)

Lunch:

• We do a lot of leftovers.
• Love peanut butter and banana sandwiches. Almost exclusively. Love a side of chips, but I'll settle for baby carrots.

Dinner:

• For my mom-friends with new babies, I always make a creamy potato soup with onion, carrots, and celery, and it's best in bread bowls. I tried for years and I've finally found the perfect foolproof bread bowl recipe. It's awesome. The secret to bread bowls? Make them by turning a muffin tin upside down! Thank my brother Kurt for that idea.
• I love huge pots of chili. The chili recipe I love calls for one each of all bell peppers, onion, can(s) of beans, can(s) of tomatoes, ground beef, some spaghetti sauce, some chili powder, and you're done. Topped with sour cream and cheese always, and sometimes tortilla chips from the bottom of the bag or Fritoes (sinful). Plus a side of cornbread if I have time. I love all the leftovers. (PS I'm totally looking for a great cornbread recipe since all mine are terrible.)
• Chicken pillows. Basically shredded chicken mixed with a slab of cream cheese and some frozen peas and garlic powder, divided into little balls of goo and wrapped in a stretched-out Pillsbury crescent roll. Then sometimes dipped in crushed corn flakes. I know Pillsbury stuff is bad for you (all those trans fats), but they're so dang good.
• Hawaiian haystacks. We do this a lot. Chicken and cream of chicken soup, with rice, and a bunch of toppings like pineapple, ham, green peas, green peppers, almonds, coconut, cheese, tomatoes, chow mien noodles, YUM.
  
• Quesidillas and black beans. One of my FAVORITE quick easy meals. Cheese quesidillas, made on the stove top, cut in quarters and topped with sour cream, black beans, and salsa. I just LOVE this meal.
  
• We also do a lot of soup and salad. You just can't beat the quickness.
• The best grilled cheese sandwich I've ever made includes ham, roma tomatoes, fresh basil, and cheese, with the butter used on the outside of the sandwich mixed up with crushed garlic and Parmesan cheese before it's spread. It's amazing.
  

Dessert:

• Pumpkin cake roll. Yes, my signature dessert isn't even chocolate. Shocking! I love this, and I make it every once in awhile for a real treat. It's a big, slim pumpkin cake baked in a cookie sheet, with cream cheese spread on it and rolled up then sliced. It's best frozen.
• Twining M&M cookies. If you've never had these, ask for some. Chocolate- and peanut-butter-chip cookies with M&Ms on top. A memory of my childhood.

I guess that's all for now. I'd call these things my "signature" items. I'm curious, what are your signature items? And feel free to post to your own blog so we can learn a bit more about each other and this little thing called eating (which most of us do constantly!)

terrific tulip town

A photo essay from our morning adventure to Tulip Town in Mt. Vernon with some friends yesterday. It was gorgeous.

(tulips as far as the eye can see)

(my new Facebook profile picture!)

(our buddy Amia was mad about something... I love the looks on Wesley's and Grant's faces)

(Wesley loved the wind sock!!)

(my artsy fartsy photo for the trip... I like taking pictures of flags)

We had a great time! There was only a 50% chance of rain, so we got blue skies and a chilly wind. Ahh gotta love the Northwest! I'm so glad we went and that a place so cool is nearby. I brought some tulips home for my dining room table, too!

first egg hunt and more sugary goodness

Happy Easter!

Playgroup was awesome on Thursday. Our friend Erin went all out and prepared a great Easter party. There were bunny ears to make, cupcakes to decorate, stories to read, and many eggs to hunt.

Here's my cutie pie with his bunny ears... he doesn't like wearing hats and usually throws them off as soon as he can, and this was no different. Persistence on my part is the only way I can get him to wear hats -- and these ears. But look at how cute he is!



Erin's felt-board story was about Easter eggs of different colors, and she handed out all the eggs at the beginning and when the kids heard their color they came up and put it on the board. So fun.


My only beef with the egg hunt is that all the older kids went fast fast fast and picked up all the eggs, while kids like Wesley -- who only sort of got what was going on -- didn't move very quickly and were kind of left behind on the action. Wesley got 3 eggs I think... he got one, then we found a second (and another kid ran up and wanted to pick it up, and I gave him this look and he backed off), then several minutes later while all the other kids had given up and thought they found them all, I went looking for some eggs. I brought a few eggs myself and tried to hide them pretty well-- and I found one! So I took Wesley over there and was like, "look bud! what is that!?" and so he found a third.




(P.S. do you totally LOVE that Easter basket?? I saw them a couple years ago, and couldn't bring myself to buy one because full price they were like $7. But last year I found one at Value Village for $1.99 or something. Yahoo! It is so cute. I love Peeps.)

The cupcake decorating was fun. They had colored coconut grass and jelly beans so we could make nests, and I made it for Wesley and he promptly grabbed a jelly bean and stuck it in his mouth! Gah! Choking hazard! I think he can handle it (he has 16 teeth and all), but I had to watch him very closely to make sure it all got chomped. It did. But not without a lot of drool and looks of concentration. He is so funny!



This morning the Easter Bunny came and brought fun things like Cadbury eggs and springtime scrapbooking ribbon for mom, Peeps for dad, and a farm animal noise book, crayons, and Hot Wheels Corvette for Wesley.



Another fun thing this season has been our egg shakers.... there is this song we've learned in Kindermusik called "The Egg-Shakin' Blues," and me and Wesley love that song. I took a couple eggs and put rice in them and wrapped them with packing tape and we have our very own egg shakers!! We have four, and I might make two more so dad can join in when we shake. Wesley loves them.

Yesterday at the grocery store we found a couple eggs in the produce section near the asparagus, and boy howdy if they didn't have candy in them. I let Wesley play with one (he was shaking it, of course) and at the checkout line I asked if it was OK if we took the egg. The cashier, who happened to be a manager I think, said they did an egg hunt that morning and he was surprised we had found some leftover eggs! He said we must have been pretty observant since his employees have been looking for leftover eggs all afternoon and they didn't think any were left! We out-sleuthed them! Seriously, there were like 5 near the asparagus. I guess people just don't think to look near green veggies.

And of course, I need to put in a few of the Seattle Times "Peep" diorama submissions... which I always love. Here are some of my favorites (more seen at SeattleTimes.com):

(Peep My Ride)

(Diet Peepsi)

(Let My Peeple Go)

(Lady PeepGa)

(Dancing with the Peeps)

(Skagit Valley Peeps Festival)

It's been a fun season!! Of course, I love the pastel colors and candy (I cheated on my diet with mini Cadbury eggs twice this week; I'm so embarrassed!), but I'm grateful for the real reason for this celebration -- the reason often overlooked -- the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. This weekend is also General Conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and it has been awesome. I feel so spiritually uplifted. I'll post more on that later. I am most grateful for my Savior today, that is for sure. I feel comfort that I know where I came from, the reason I'm here, what happens after we pass on, and how it all works out. I definitely feel like this knowledge gives me power to deal with the things that happen in life, good and bad -- especially the bad.

Happy Easter!