MamaBlogga

Last night we had a men’s cake decorating contest at church. This was Ryan’s design from concept up (though I had to help with a number of things like making the frosting).

Today, I found out it’s the 30th anniversary of Pac-Man. Neither of us knew this yesterday, but I think they should totally give us an award now:

(Last year, there was only one entry. This year, more than a dozen. Plus, Ryan was judging, so we weren’t even expecting to be eligible—just wanted to make sure there wasn’t just one cake again!)

It took three bottles of blue food coloring to get the frosting that color, and it’s still not dark enough. I guess that’s just what color blue food coloring is.

Dearest PR people spammers,

Or should I just open with “Hi,” since that’s how you usually address me, no name, no reference to my website, no indication you have any idea who I am or that you even actually meant to email me?

I know you think Mother’s day is a great time to celebrate motherhood. I do, too. But I don’t consider telling my readers (mostly moms) how to buy gifts for Mother’s day “celebrating motherhood.”

Maybe celebrating commercialism.

No, I will not cut-and-paste your press release onto my blog. No, I will not be telling my readers how they can spend $600 on a purse to show the mother in their lives how truly special she is. (It won’t work.) No, I will not promote your overpriced, completely-unrelated-to-motherhood-in-any-way-shape-or-form crap.

I know you’ll never read this, since I know I don’t have a name or a face to you and that you’ve never bothered to even look at my blog except to harvest my email address and pretend like your commercial email is solicited.

(The government has, like, laws about all that, you know. And I report you.)

But just as a reminder—seriously. I’m reporting you to the government.

If you happen to have a product that might actually help moms feel better about themselves (or just feel better), and you’d like to send me a sample or sponsor a giveaway, then I’m ready to listen.

Until then, stop spamming me.

No love,
Jordan

Sad, sad screenshot by Matthew Maber

I think most of us have met Flat Stanley at least once—a far off niece, nephew or cousin gets an assignment in school and they send you a paper doll named Stanley. (In case you don’t know, you show Flat Stanley around and take pictures of local attractions with our man Stan and send them back to the sender.)

That’s a little like what Flat Daddy is about—the Flat Daddy project helps military families maintain unity even while their father (or mother, I’m sure!) is deployed. A life-size standup photograph of their loved one helps families to remember their dad and husband (like you could ever forget, but for little kids, it helps), and helps to make them an active part of their lives.

Here’s one family’s story about their Flat Daddy, as shared with their local news, which explains it so much better than I can:

(Okay, I’m crying just thinking about this.)

Elaine Dumler, the “Flat Daddy Lady,” is working to provide families with free Flat Daddies. You can help support our military families with donations of any size.

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Author (and friend) Annette Lyon brought the Flat Daddy project to my attention. She learned about this project while writing her latest book, Band of Sisters, about five military wives, and I’m happy to help her spread the word (and celebrate her book).

In fact, Annette’s book launch for Band of Sisters is tonight. Annette Lyon, Sarah M. Eden (author of Courting Miss Lancaster), and Julie Coulter Bellon (author of Dangerous Connections) are all celebrating a book launch at the Orem Deseret Book (by University Mall) from 6-8PM.

If you’re in the neighborhood, stop by for tons of fun and door prizes!

Enjoy your holidays!

I’m really upset, so I’m doing what I do best when upset: blog.

On Thursday I got home from a trip to the library to find a yellow placard on our door. It was a warning from the police—we were in violation of the city code because our lawn was too long. (That’s our house in the photo, minutes after I got home to find the warning.) The police officer wrote that we should call him. I gave Ryan his name and number, and Ryan left a message on his voice mail.

We assumed that someone had called the police on another neighbor, one who had let their entire lawn die, and the officer had just checked the whole neighborhood while he was there—until the police officer returned my husband’s call. The officer confirmed that one of our neighbors had, in fact, called the police. On us and at least three other houses on the street (at least two of which are rental properties that have gotten new renters in the last couple weeks). And (in the interest of ensuring domestic tranquility, obviously) this person had written the mayor and the city council to report us and other neighbors. And they said that we had neglected our lawn for the last three years.

We don’t actually know which neighbor it was that did this, but we can only assume it’s not someone we know well. Also note: last month (that’s July, in case you’re reading this tomorrow), we did let our lawn go for a while, while we had 26 people at a family reunion based at our house. But obviously, that’s not the case now.

I am furious.

I’m pretty sure we can find out who did this—but should we? Should we do anything to defend our good name in our community? Should we say anything to these neighbors?

This week, Ryan and I attended an awards gala for four Americans who have “fought for freedom with words or ideas.”

Mona Kashani Heern was born in Iran. After the 1979 revolution, she and her sister were expelled from school because of their Bahá’í beliefs. Their father was later jailed for the same reason. After months of waiting in the snow for hours to spend ten minutes with him once a month, they found out he’d been executed. Eventually, her mother smuggled their family into Pakistan, where they lived in jail until they gained refugee status. They later emigrated to Germany, where Mona and her sister had to learn German, English and French in order to graduate high school. Finally, they moved to the US.

Despite the persecution and hardship she’d endured, a prevailing theme in Mrs. Heern’s acceptance speech was the love and kindness that she’d experienced even in the worst, most oppressive circumstances. As a junior high English teacher, she has a passion for sharing her story with her students so that we Americans understand the privileges of freedom that we enjoy (and take for granted).

Sgt. Merlin German, another recipient, served our country in Iraq, participating in over 150 successful missions. When an IED exploded and knocked him from his Humvee turret, he was burned over 97% of his body and given no chance of survival. He defied doctors and not only survived, but relearned to breathe on his own, talk and even walk.

Concerned about burn victims who couldn’t afford the costly treatments, Sgt. German started Merlin’s Miracles. The foundation has helped thousands of burn victims pay for surgeries, compression garments and hospital stays. During a routine surgery last spring, Sgt. German passed away. His legacy lives on through the hundreds of doctors and patients he personally touched and his charitable foundation.

President Boyd K. Packer was the final honoree. He longed to become a pilot like his older brother. He promised God that he would devote his life to His service if he could live that dream. President Packer spent forty months in the Air Force during World War II.

Less than two decades after the end of the war, the Lord called President Packer’s promise due. Packer was called to be an assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, then to a member of the Quorum. Since then, he has devoted nearly forty years of his life in the full-time employment as an Apostle in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His ministry has included service all over the world. He is now the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the second most senior apostle.

The first award recipient, Neil Holbrook, was one of the original eight Navy “Frogmen,” the predecessor of the SEALs. In his acceptance speech, he told of a friend who was standing next to him on deck when his friend was shot. They both fell to the deck and his friend struggled to say something, but died before he could speak. Holbrook has spent six decades wondering what his friend would have said.

I’m passing the torch to the future generations. Please take care of that Constitution that I can’t enjoy. … I don’t have the liberty to go home.

When we thanked him for his service afterward, Mr. Holbrook said he would do it again tomorrow for people like us.

To honor the sacrifice of so many people this independence day, we have to remember what they were fighting for. We have to remember that the freedoms we enjoy in this country are privileges that not everyone has. We cannot forget those founding freedoms, and sometimes we have to fight with words or with weapons to keep them, at home and abroad.

Please remember this today as you celebrate Independence Day—and tomorrow, and afterward.

Newspaper coverage of the award ceremony with brief bios

Photo by Benjamin Earwicker