Abril, avril (4/13/09)

There are a few times I don't like being a missionary, since being a missionary involves going and seeing many people. Superbowl Sunday is a bad day because everyone has their idolatrous parties. Easter also is not the best day. We didn't do too much yesterday, and the only person who wasn't an active member who answered yesterday didn't seem too happy we were there. Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, and the Fourth of July are all OK because those are non-proselyting days, but we received no such instructions for Easter. In my first area an investigator asked us accusingly, "You don't knock on doors on Christmas or Easter, do you?" Therefore, I was absolutely not going straight tracting yesterday, and was hesitant to see anyone else. We had dinner with members and watched To This End Was I Born (the non-investigator version of The Lamb of God) with them. I was glad when they gave us a big basket of Easter candy. It was raining pretty hard yesterday, and much of our time walking down the road we saved worms from venturing too far in the street. It always amazes me how many worms there are.

When it hasn't been raining this week we got to shed our suitcoats. It's weird to go back to this attire. This year I think I look a lot better with my pants since I actually have pants that fit now.

We've met a lot of weird people this week. I'd rather not go into it all. But in Elders Quorum yesterday we read the lesson on persecution from the manual. It just seems so obvious to me that we must be the correct church, or else why should everyone care so much to hate us? Like Paul, I take pleasure in persecutions (see 2 Cor. 12:10[1]). One particularly hilarious anecdote happened after district meeting when we went to lunch with two other elders. It is a missionary rule that when a missionary is backing the car another missionary must stand behind and back him. Usually the missionary doesn't really do anything but stand there but it's the rule nonetheless. In the parking lot was some skater who said something inappropriate to the missionary and made fun of him for backing. Immediately he totally biffed it on his skateboard. So the elder just got in the car and we drove away, the kid still on the ground, humiliated.

Along those lines, there's a house in our area that in November the missionaries knocked on the door. The lady was a real jerk. A week later, the missionaries walked by, and the house was burned to the ground.[2]

And of course this happens, because of the scripture you discovered about the commission to teach all nations, baptizing in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.[3]

Also, the last verse of the next gospel, Mark 16:20:
 And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.
The next time you send something, could you also send me some black socks? Most of mine have holes. Usually thick ones are the most comfortable and the most durable.

That's all I can think of for now. Have fun in Vegas. That's where my companion, Elder K., is from.

Love,

Elder Melville

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[1] “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”

[2] This was hearsay (my companion heard it from his previous companion), so it could just be legend, but I did see the burned house for myself.

[3] While on a vacation, my mom wrote, “We ended up not going to church today because your dad is sick and we  forgot one of the suitcases, the one with Sunday shoes.  We are going to try to buy some cheap ones before we leave so we can go to the temple this week. 

Since we didn't go to church we read the last week of Christ's life in Matthew. I didn't realize that the thing he told the apostles after his resurrection was to go to all nations and baptize in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. How cool that my own son is out doing that at this Easter time.”

March 14-19, 2016

I have a few extra moments to actually update this thing, so I'm going to return to the tradition of returning to last year's holiday. (Just this time, though. Don't expect more regular posts.)

Monday, March 14. I went to Kneaders for lunch, and I think I had a mint chocolate cupcake. I went to FHE, and Bishop Allen did a presentation with a March Madness theme. Bishop said he wanted to find this meme with a basketball theme but couldn't find one.

Brother Bailey and his children sat in front of me, and his older daughter kept kissing their baby. I leaned up and said, "You look like you're a really good sister," and she said, "I am." On the way home from FHE, I really considered stopping at Village Inn to get a mint pie for Pi Day (since I only eat green pies at that time of year), but I decided against it because it wouldn't be good for my family. I think my niece was annoyed that I didn't. I wrote in my journal:
"Today I went to Kneaders for lunch because I threw away the old sandwiches I had packed. It was rainy and snowy today. Home evening was bracketology by Bishop Allen. Brother Bailey's daughter was kissing their baby; I told her, 'You look like a really great big sister,' and she said, 'I am.' I painted more of my wooden shamrock tonight. I considered buying a mint pie, but I didn't feel like it...."

Tuesday, March 15. I used an informally published book called Ship Brooklyn Saints for the research described in my journal: 
"It was rainy and snowy today. I did some Chauncey West bios (Quartus Sparks and Orrin Smith) when I needed a break. I went to central hub institute for the last time, since we'll probably use a different building next time. Tonight I finished painting my shamrock. Now to let it dry."

Wednesday, March 16. I was able to test out my new trail running shoes on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, and it was also the first time I did a trail run with my Fitbit. I was surprised how fast I was on that trail (since the first part of it is flat, and I only had time for a short run). That night I watched Darby O'Gill and the Little People. I wrote in my journal:
"Tonight I ran two miles on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail for the first time since November! I went slower going downhill. It was my first time with my trail running shoes and my Fitbit. Tonight I watched Darby O'Gill."

Thursday, March 17. I wore my green pants, white shirt, orange belt, green glasses, and green socks to work. I stopped at a gas station on Beck Street and went inside the convenience store to see if they had sweetened condensed milk. They didn't, and I considered buying a king-size Lucky Charms bar, but I didn't. During the lunch hour, several employees were playing Irish music in a conference room, so many of us went down to listen. The Darowskis (whom I hadn't really met yet) commented on how much I got into it. Jenny Reeder sat next to Charlotte Terry and brought her laptop to work. Most of the music was instrumental, but Korben McBride sang "Danny Boy," and I didn't get why everyone was so enamored before he sang it (I don't get why it's so popular). After work, I stopped at Neighbor's Market to get sweetened condensed milk. I changed into my green shoes and "Irishish" shirt to go to tutoring. When I showed up at Camille's house, she said her boss had the same (or a similar) shirt. Doug and Ellie also came for tutoring, and on the way to tutoring, Ellie pointed out that the sign on the freeway had a holiday theme: "A designated driver is your lucky charm." I think I helped out a student in the separate computer room, and when I went back in, Camille wasn't riding home with us, and in the car Doug and Ellie were talking about how awkward it was, because apparently Camille was really mad at Doug. Doug said he wondered where I had gone, because he didn't see all my green. I went home and made avocado milkshakes (out of avocado, milk, sweetened condensed milk, and ice) and went downstairs to watch The Leprechauns' Christmas Gold. I wrote in my journal:
"Everyone liked my shamrock tie, green pants, and green glasses. During lunch hour, I attended a department Irish music concert. When I came home, I made Hawaiian Haystacks with green rice. Then I went to tutoring and helped Myles with vocab. When I came home (Camille didn't ride with us because she was mad at Doug), I made avocado shakes, using the sweetened condensed milk I got from Neighbor's Market on my way home from work. Then I watched The Leprechauns' Christmas Gold." 

Friday, March 18. After work, I drove to Wild Rose Park for my first-ever Fitbit trial on my favorite (at the time) trail. I did both the Wild Rose and Chukar Loops, 2.5 miles, which was a little less than I had expected. When I got home, our old neighbors, the Reeds, were visiting. They talked about lots of things: they were freaked out by the rattlesnake in our window, but Randy said it was a little less scary because of its "cowboy" hat (my Mom said it was a St. Patrick's Day hat, so that would be coming down). They talked about their son-in-law who would jump on their bed between them. They talked about their spoiled grandchild, and they attributed her behavior to not being spanked. They said she went to Olive Garden with her aunt, Nicole, and expected to get her own serving of something, while Nicole insisted they share it. They talked about how their son bought a house before he got a job and then got a job really far from their house. We talked about how four YSA wards meet in my church building. They talked about the Peterson family in the neighborhood, the wife of which had early-onset Alzheimer's or something. The Reeds talked about how sad it was, that they were at a funeral or something and she stared at the floor the whole time. Our cat, Jenny, started meowing because she wanted outside, so Rosa started meowing, and Jenny came up to her foot to be "petted," and Rosa tried to get her to go away. I wrote in my journal:
"Today I went to Nauvoo Cafe for lunch (for carrot cake, of course). When I came home, I drove to the Wild Rose and Chukar Loops and ran them with my new shoes and my Fitbit. And when I got home, Randy and Rosa Reed were visiting. I haven't seen them in a decade."

Saturday, March 19. I ran up to Wild Rose again, and I even went on the lower portion of the trail that had always been closed. It was really muddy, and part of the trail had me going through overgrown branches, right below the North Salt Lake landslide. I wasn't impressed with that portion of the trail, because it was surrounded by houses, muddy, steep, and full of litter. I had to take my shoes off outside when I got home because of all the mud. Then I went with my mom to pick up Allie, and as we were driving down 500 South, my mom was talking about what she could make for Easter dessert, either carrot cake or a cake like my Grandma Judy used to make, with jelly beans and colored coconut on top. I said I preferred carrot cake, because in my treat categories, that's category 1, whereas a decorated cake is only category 3. We went to At Home because I wanted an Easter decoration. I thought about an egg tree, but I got a little fake sugar egg. That night, we went to a musical performance, The Lamb of God, which was interdenominational, and my grandparents joined us. One of the prayers, from a woman preacher of another religion, prayed to God as "Father and Mother," which was interesting. We looked at some of the paintings on display, and we were a bit underwhelmed by the performance. After we went home, I pulled out the box of Easter decorations to put up. While I was decorating, I randomly had the laughable Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons rendition of "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" pop in my head, and I told my mom about how it had their signature style: "You better watch out, you better not cry-y bay-ay-by," and my mom laughed at the way I sang. I had to pull it up on my phone to play, even though it was out of season, since it so randomly popped into my head.
I decided that I would only put up what decorations I could get up that night before 9, since Easter was early that year. I wrote in my journal:
"This morning I ran up to Wild Rose, and I also ran on the portion of the trail near the landslide, which has always been closed. I went six miles and climbed 1,200 feet. Then this afternoon we went to At Home and Smith's Marketplace. Then Mom and I met G'ma and G'pa at a musical production of The Lamb of God. It was OK."

April 2-6, 2015

Please note: It has become burdensome to maintain this blog weekly, and you may have noticed that the quality of the posts has deteriorated. I am no longer committing myself to post weekly. I will probably still post from time to time, but it will not be as consistently as it has been. I get few readers on this blog anyway.

It's time to remember the days surrounding last Easter.


Thursday, April 2. I was dismayed to find that my brand-new laptop had bugs that had been on our home computer. Apparently I had downloaded some internet extensions that included adware. I tried to delete the programs, but every time I tried to delete it, it would try to install it again. Of course I also hated McAfee. (Seriously, why does that exist?) That night, I drove up to Tunnel Springs Park to go running. I went on a little trail that goes down in front of the hills, where I'd never been before. I passed some little flags and some kinds of wood structures. I felt like I was in a really random place, but there was a sign that said not to get off the trail because it was a blasting area. I had to cross a few ravines, but since I'm terrified of falling, I didn't care to cross over one and turned around, even though it wasn't really scary or dangerous. It definitely wasn't a good trail for running. I continued on that trail to places parallel to the main trail, and as I passed some tiny groves I thought it would be a nice place in the fall. (Everything's better in the fall.) I came up a trail that had been put in place when they were doing renovations in 2011. I passed a lady who seemed concerned about my lack of warm clothing, but running makes me warm. I went up a little trail that led into a small ravine, but soon the trail disappeared. I went up a hill with no trail, and there were ridges that were obviously man made, which perplexed me. I found what looked like a trail going down the other side of the hill, but it looked very steep, so I came down the side of the hill, careful not to step on the cactuses. Then I went home and watched The Easter Bunny Is Comin' to Town while eating bunny-shaped Sour Patch Kids. I journalized as follows:
"It was good to be down working in the library again, but I did get a little distracted with new features (and bugs) on my computer.
"Mom and Dad got home from their trip right after I got home. I went running on unofficial Bonneville Shoreline trails. I got a little uncomfortable in places, so I turned around. I followed a trail up a ravine, and then I climbed up a hill without a trail. I had to come down slowly. I was puzzled at man-made ridges on the hills.
"Then I came home and cut a pineapple and watched The Easter Bunny Is Comin'  to Town. Now my stomach doesn't feel very good.

Friday, April 3. Since my journal tells me that Journal History of the Church wasn't working online, that might have been the day I emailed the reference people asking when it would be back up, since it was essential to the project I was working on at the time. I decided to go to a mission reunion that night, since it was better than spending Friday night at home. I didn't want to go home beforehand, so I went to Smith's Marketplace downtown to look for an Easter decoration, and I was in no hurry, since the reunion didn't start until later. I got a box of carrot cake Clif Bars, and I went upstairs to their seasonal section and got a decorative egg tree. I also looked at their selection of Easter DVDs. Then I went back downstairs to their Easter candy aisle, and I got a carrot cake egg-shaped candy. While I was standing in the aisle, a little girl was talking to her dad about my egg tree, and I felt like a jerk for not saying anything, but she wasn't talking to me. I might have bought something for the reunion, I can't remember. Then I drove out to President Clark's house in Draper. I think I was the second person to arrive. President thought I knew the other guy there, but I didn't, although he had served in one of my areas after I had left. I told President Clark about how I worked for the new Assistant Church Historian, and he said he had read about his new calling. I think I ate some seasonal sugar cookies someone had brought, along with chips and things. I looked at the Clarks' books with all the missionaries. Elder Proctor was there and said he wasn't in the books. I said I thought I saw a picture of him, but when I showed him and his new wife, they said it wasn't him. His wife said her brother had gone on a mission but wasn't active anymore. I heard that my old companion Elder Wilson was coming, so I stuck around until he came. I talked with Colby Johnson, who said he didn't know where he was going to move once he finished at UVUl he said his mom wanted him to move home but he didn't know if he wanted to. I talked with the former Sister Van Noy, and later the Wilsons came. They brought their adorable daughter and let me hold her for a bit, but she didn't care for that. He showed her my Easter bunny tie, and he said he liked my "teal" shirt. He said they had moved to Provo, and I was sad that I had missed them there, but they didn't move there until I had left. We exchanged phone numbers in case we were ever in each other's territory. One of President's neighbors came over and he was telling him about my job and said "super smart." I remember him saying that twice, and one time I thought he was saying it about me, and another time I thought he was saying it about my boss, so one time I replied "I try my best," and the other time I said, "He is really smart." I felt silly if he was saying my boss was smart and he thought I was talking about me. Then I went home and wrote at my journal.
"Today I was a little distracted at work, but I don't know why. Journal History of the Church wasn't working. I researched various plants, Amasa Lyman in California, and the Great Salt Lake.
"After work I went to the downtown Smith's Marketplace, where I got an Easter egg tree (which is already broken) and some carrot cake Clif Bars.
"Then I drove to Draper for a mission reunion at the Clarks'. It was good to see them. I also saw Elders McKell, Critchfield, Johnson (Colby), and Proctor, and Sister Van Noy (Smith). I waited so that I could see Elder Wilson; it was good to see him again."

Saturday, April 4. Susanne came over and gave me some malted milk eggs and an egg decorative plate for watching their dog that week, and I didn't think I could finish all the candy before Easter was over, since we were having other candy as well. We received baskets with candy that my mom had bought from Winegar's, and their selection hadn't been good. We got the last two chocolate bunnies (Reese's) and spice jelly beans. I liked the spice ones and determined all the flavors: white peppermint, pink wintergreen, green spearmint, red cinnamon, orange orange spice, black licorice, and purple clove. Susanne said she didn't like the spice jelly beans. We dyed eggs while I turned on Here Comes Peter Cottontail: The Movie. I had five eggs to color.

We also had an Easter egg hunt. My dad and I went downstairs for the afternoon conference session, while my mom stayed upstairs, but she came down later. After that session, I knew I didn't have much time before the priesthood session, so I changed my clothes and ran up to the Wild Rose Loop. I was delighted to see that the "Restroom Closed" sign was taken down at the park, which meant they had turned the water on again, so I could get a drink from the drinking fountain. I was surprised, because it was supposed to be closed until April 15. I might have run past people going to view the session at the stake center. Then I went home and quickly showered before watching the priesthood session.

"Conference was really good today. Everyone was a little astonished when people opposed the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve. Elder Ballard talked about needing to get married, but another speaker (I can't remember who) talked about those who aren't married for various reasons. Between the first and second sessions, we found eggs, colored eggs, and watched Here Comes Peter Cottontail: The Movie. I made an Easter design, a multi-colored design, a shamrock design, a star design, and a snowflake design.
"Before the priesthood session, I ran the Wild Rose and Chukar Loops in their entirety. It was warm and sunny, but fortunately the park's drinking fountain was on again.
"I've been eating lots of candy, since my time is almost up. Nan got me some Easter gifts for watching Buddy."

Sunday, April 5. My mom was grating carrots while watching conference in the morning to make carrot cake for dessert. That afternoon, our relatives came over for Easter dinner, and my grandparents brought a ham. I was wearing my black "Hanging with my Peeps" shirt, and my cousin Peter told me he was disappointed that my holiday outfit was something that other people would wear, and he told me I was a hipster, which was definitely not true. My mom announced we were having carrot cake, and Peter began laughing, because he knew why we were having it. My mom had decorated it with jelly beans and bunny marshmallows, and the young kid Brennon wanted marshmallows by themselves. I made a Facebook status: "Whenever I read in Isaiah about "wizards that peep and mutter," I think of something like this."



I was surprised I wasn't getting more positive feedback, so my cousin April said she'd "like" it for me. After everyone had eaten cake, there were only two pieces left, and I was surprised that Allie wanted one, since people were still there and there most definitely was not enough. After everyone had left, there was only one piece, and I had it, but felt bad because I would have saved it for my sister, but my mom said she would have eaten it if I hadn't, so I didn't feel as bad. I did, however, feel sick from eating two pieces of cake and lots of candy. But it was the last time I would eat candy until May 22 (when I ate some red, white, and blue Twizzlers).
"I ate lots of candy and carrot cake today.
"After conference, G'ma and G'pa, Peter, Gildersleeves, and April came for Easter dinner. Renee forgot her e-cigs, and I don't feel bad for that. I wrote on my blog tonight. We found three extra candy-filled eggs that we didn't find yesterday. A decent Easter."

Monday, April 6.  This might have been the day I took my personal Geologic History of Utah book to work for research and annotation, because I was dealing with a document where the First Presidency of the 1850s said they heard volcanic eruptions in the mountains, and I knew that was impossible.
"Today I talked with Reid and continued researching. I even wrote a note about geology, because I know the early Utah settlers didn't hear a volcano.
"I didn't know about FHE tonight, so I went running. It took me eighteen minutes to get from the trailhead to the radio towers, so it probably isn't too much further to Ensign Peak, which I need to try again." 

April 17-21, 2014

Time to remember last year's Easter!

Thursday, April 17. In the morning I went up to the JFSB for the French Language Fair. I went into the foreign language lounge area, and one of the French professors assigned me and two others to be in charge of Le gare, the "railroad station." We set up a table and set up some maps and signs next to it. I talked to my "coworkers"; one was a master's student in English who had studied a lot of French, while the other girl was in a lower level than I was. We sat at the table and all the kids would come up and try to talk to us in French; we were to pretend they were buying tickets, and I somewhat felt it was a little silly to write a price on a piece of paper. I would ask them "aller simple ou aller retour," and many of them would repeat, "aller recour." I would ask "fumeur ou non-fumeur," and when they didn't understand, I would imitate smoking. Some of them said fumeur, not realizing what they were saying; but one student deliberately said it, so I said, "C'est mauvais pour la sainté!" I had never heard the pronunciation of the city Reims, but the master's student helping out pronounced it, and later one of the teachers did as well. Upon finding out that one student wasn't from a high school, the master's student said, "Quel collège?" The kid thought "collège" meant college, so she had to say in English, "What middle school?" Eventually, one Drew Bringhurst came by. He recognized me as being from the same ward, but he didn't immediately say so. I asked if Mrs. Jamison still taught French, but he said she didn't, and I thought he said it was Mrs. Gregg. Eventually, it was time to clean up. I was walking around in my red-orange pants, Eddie Munster shirt, and blue Converse. I didn't have any of the French pastries they were offering us, since they weren't Eastery. I wanted to see if I could find the WXHS French teacher, so I walked around, but didn't find anyone, but some of the kids remembered me from my booth. I even walked around outside to try to find someone from Woods Cross. Then I went to my apartment to work. Later, Mom called me to meet them at the Old Spaghetti Factory, so I drove up there. In the restaurant, they talked about how Mom had forgotten her credit cards, so Susanne had to pay for everything. After dinner, I got in my car, but it didn't start, so I called Mom and asked them to return. They did, and then they came over to my car--and then it started just fine. I drove back to my apartment, listening to my new Mamas and the Papas CD, and the song "String Man" came on. Then I met my friend Megan and we walked up to the Eyring Science Center so I could show her the stream table. I even brought with me a tiny piece of the plastic sand that I had accidentally taken home on a previous occasion. On our way there, I told her about participating in the French Language Fair, and she said her sister did that once. While we were looking at the table, one of my Geology 210 comrades, Hannah Checketts, looked in the room. Then we went down to Spoon It Up, and I had a bowl of cereal while she had frozen yogurt, and we talked about me only eating seasonal things, so I could have Easter M&Ms. Then she said that her friend Natausha had texted her. I went back to my apartment and watched The Easter Bunny Is Comin' to Town; my roommate Jordan was in the kitchen with this then-girlfriend Laura, and they seemed slightly amused by the show; Jordan half-heartedly sang along with the song "If You Do," and Laura went "aww" when it was over. This is a portion of my journal entry for the day:
"Today I helped out at the French Language Fair. It was funner than I expected, just saying, 'Bonjour, où est-ce que vous voudriez aller? Fumeur ou non-fumeur? Première classe ou deuxième classe? Aller simple ou aller retour?' I saw Drew Bringhurst from the 11th Ward, and he said the teacher was no longer Mrs. Jamison--maybe Mrs. Gregg?
"I worked, and then Mom, Nan, and Allie took me to the Old Spaghetti Factory. My car didn't want to start, but then it did."

Friday, April 18. We went up to our final for French 322. We got the prompts we could write about, and I chose one on gun control, since I had written a blog post about that. I cited examples of the Florida theater/popcorn incident and the Sandy Hook and Aurora tragedies. I expressed disdain that Obama's neutral plan was so widely opposed. During the final, Mme Petelo's son came in. Then I went to my apartment and prepared to go home. I got my remaining Easter stuff and drove home, and on my way home I saw a billboard for Ken Garff with chocolate bunnies, and I was excited that I would be getting some (but I didn't). When I got home, I showed Mom my Easter treats. I was going to share my carrot cake M&Ms, but she thought they were jelly beans and said "I don't want that." She wanted one of the egg-shaped Reese's ice cream bars instead.

Saturday, April 19. We probably had our egg hunt that morning, but I can't quite remember. I went to Famous Footwear and got some red Sperry shoes, and I think the cashier liked my Peeps shirt. That evening we colored eggs, and I couldn't resist drawing shamrocks on one and dyeing it green. My family was surprised I would do that, but shamrocks aren't exclusively for St. Patrick's Day. My family showed me the nutcracker M&M dispensers they bought in Vegas and let me choose one, so I chose the orange one, and I put the carrot cake M&Ms in it. Susanne had some, but Matt didn't want any. That night, sister missionaries came to our house to share a lesson. We talked about how I was finishing up at BYU, and one of the sisters had been there before her mission. They asked Allie about what we celebrate at Easter, and she was very shy in responding. At one point, my dad said that I had never done anything wrong.

Sunday, April 20. After church, I wrote on my blog. We went to my grandparents' house for dinner (my grandpa really liked my blog), and I was pleased with the basket they had full of candy. I was excited to eat it, and Peter was a bit surprised, but it was Easter candy so I could. (I couldn't, however, have dessert.) I was wearing orange striped socks, and he asked if they were Easter socks or just regular socks. Then I went home and wrote on my memory blog. I got an email with a special prize for helping out at the French Language Fair, but the prize was the text of Handel's Messiah so we could look at it while listening to the MoTab's Messiah concert, which I thought was a pretty lousy prize. But while writing my blog, I did listen to the concert to see if it was better than the MoTab recording I have from the 90s. The 2014 performance wasn't really that great, because the soloists were terrible and operatic. I wouldn't say they were an improvement over the earlier counter tenors.

Monday, April 21. I worked on the couch when there was a knock at the door. It was a guy my parents hired to redo our basement walls and ceiling, and he had come much earlier than anticipated. I let him in, and he began taking down the ceiling. He opened the door to let the dust out because he didn't know how to open our downstairs windows. I showed him how to take the storm windows out to open the real windows, and he said he had never seen that. Then my parents came home and were glad I was there to let the repair guy in. Then I played some video games before I drove back to Provo. I put on my new shoes and they seemed a little big, so I was debating whether I should try to return them for a smaller size, but I decided not to. (I think they had been clearance anyway.) Then I returned to Provo. This is my journal entry:
"Today I worked at home home, being there for Easter.  The folks are remodeling a lot, and the drywall guy came while I was there. It was a good thing I was home. I finished working, and he was still there, so I played a lot of video games (and finally got to World 8 on Mario 3). Then I eventually left, and tonight I went running."

March 19

I'm going to remember what I can about March 19 from years past.

2014. I think I went home after my weight training class so I could change for the Linguistics and English Language graduation banquet. I put on a button-up shirt, a tie, tan pants, and grey and blue shoes. Then I walked up to the Hinckley Center, where I had never been. I went and got a drink before I went into the banquet room. I sat down at a table, and soon other people came in and sat at my table. One person was a master's student who had been in my corpus linguistics class; I think Olivia Corey might also have sat at my table. I didn't care for the dinner; I thought it was too fancy. There were desserts next to every plate, and they told us we could choose what one we wanted. One of them was a round thing covered in chocolate; another had little pink round things on top. Some of the people at the table knew I only eat seasonal desserts, so they asked if I could have it. I told them I was trying to decide whether the pink candies made that dessert suitable for Easter; they said it was, and they also tried to convince me the chocolate dessert was egg shaped, but that was too much. They announced different awards for people with good GPAs. The only recognition I got was when Dr. Cynthia Hallen read off my name for participating on the student journal Schwa. The entertainment for the evening was a gamelan performance, since Dr. Elzinga was part of BYU's gamelan group. After the banquet was over, I went and talked to Dr. Mel Thorne because I was running out of mandatory hours for the student journal class. He told me not to worry about it and to send him an email reminding him I had talked to him. Then I walked back to my apartment, and I seem to remember seeing my roommate Scott, but he was becoming weird at that point in time.

2013. That afternoon I had a field trip at the Museum of Paleontology, so before it happened, I walked near the museum. I sat on the lawn by the football stadium and ate my lunch, which included an Easter marshmallow 3 Musketeers mini, while reading my geology textbook. Then I went over to the museum and waited for my classmates to show up. We went inside and had the tour from Dr. Britt. He criticized the mural of the Jurassic animals. He told us what the definition of a dinosaur was; he pointed to the humerus crest that was the diagnostic feature of dinosaurs, and he told us that if you take Triceratops and birds and find their common ancestor, then that dinosaur and all its descendants are dinosaurs. We went in the back where volunteers and geology students were working with fossils. A geology major named Josie told us something about "Quarternary rocks," and I was surprised she would use the outdated "Quarternary" instead of the more modern "Neogene." The "mature student" in our class was asking a lot of questions when we were being shown a turtle fossil. The tour lasted late, so I asked my classmate, Michael Arnold, if he could drive me up to the JFSB, since I would be late to class. He agreed, so I got in his van, and a shirtless guy was running along Canyon Road. I felt bad for Michael dropping me off, because it was awkward for him to turn around. I went down in the basement to go to class, and I saw Geoffrey Palmer, the son of my second mission president. He recognized me and talked to me, and I think he asked if I was going to the upcoming reunion. When I went to the classroom, there was a sign on the door saying that class was cancelled, so I didn't need to have Michael take me after all!

2012. That evening I went to Smith's so that I could get some Easter candy to put in my Easter jar. In the parking lot, I saw a guy named Andrew who had worked at the Distribution Center where I worked. I wanted to talk to him, but I didn't get a chance and I didn't think he would really know me, since we hadn't worked together too much. I got Hershey's cookies 'n' cream eggs.

2011. I went to Famous Footwear because I needed new Sunday shoes and new running shoes. I remember running down the aisles in the store to see how the shoes felt, and I felt really foolish doing so. My shoes total cost over $100. I thought that Famous did buy one, get one half off, but now I know that's only sometimes. I got all signed up in their system. That evening, my roommate Derek saw my new green and silver K-Swiss Tubes shoes and said it was hard for him to imagine me wearing something that looked that crazy.

2010. I drove home from Provo for the weekend. I had just gotten a DVD of the Peanuts Motion Comics Collection, so we watched them that night, I think while eating pizza. Each clip was three minutes long, so by the time we had watched the twentieth, we had the theme music memorized.

2009. I'm pretty sure this was the day when in the morning I got a package from my mom. It had mint Oreos, which I could no longer eat because St. Patrick's Day was over. It had Noah's Ark Easter eggs, each egg looking like an animal with cheap candy inside. It had two CDs, the MoTab's Consider the Lilies (since my mom had an extra copy) and Cherie Call's He Gives Flowers to Everyone. Thus it was this day that began my continual adoration of Cherie Call. I looked at the lyric booklet and really liked how "When I Sang" incorporated lyrics from hymns. During our lunch break, Elder Betenson turned on the Cherie Call CD in the Dans' stereo upstairs (the Dans were the members we lived with). He turned it up really loud, and Sister Dan asked if he could turn it down. He was embarrassed because he didn't know she was home. That afternoon we went to a members' home, the Jameses', to help them with a service project, and then they were going to feed us dinner. When we were done with the service project, there was still a long time before dinner, so I think we biked home and changed out of our service clothes. Then we went back to the Jameses'. Their sixteen-year-old daughter was pregnant, and the nonmember "F.O.B.," as Sister James said, "father of baby," was coming over. While we were waiting, we played Farkle with the teenage kids, including the F.O.B. Dinner took a very long time. Finally the corned beef and cabbage was done, and Sister James explained to her kids that corned beef and cabbage was a traditional Irish dish, so it went on sale at St. Patrick's Day. I had never had it before, but Elder Betenson was really excited to have it. At some point we had a conversation about scriptures and Elder Betenson shared one from the Law of Moses that had to do with bodily functions. We were there a long time, and we felt bad that we didn't do anything else that night. Looking back, however, I think our time there was very well spent, because that was a very difficult area to work in, and we helped forge a good relationship with the F.O.B. (he later gave us a ride one rainy evening). Then we had to go back to our house, where Elders Nixon and Bobo met us for an exchange.

The day after Easter

Well, the trio of Valentine's Day/St. Patrick's Day/Easter is coming to an end, so I'm going to remember what I can about the day after Easter.

2013. We were having FHE at our bishop's house, so I rode with Joel DeVore up to Bishop's. On the way there, one of the passengers was playing solitaire on his laptop. They were talking about The Onion, and I said that on April Fool's Day the Onion should run real news. When we got there, I admired Bishop's granite boulder, like I usually do. (It's inside his house.) When we left, I remember there was a discussion about dubstep. I was impressed with Google's treasure map theme, and I appreciated the Delicate Arch and Salt Lake Temple pictures they put on the map.

2012. I needed to do some grocery shopping, since I hadn't done it over the weekend. For some reason I went to Shopko, and I was surprised to see they already had patriotic Tootsie Roll Pops and Tootsie Rolls. I went over to Buy Low Market, where I had never been before. I could see why, because their oranges, while very cheap, were moldy. I remember seeing a lady buy a bunch of clearance Easter M&Ms, but I didn't because they were out of season.


2011. I would have driven back to Provo. I remember lying on my bed, looking at things and listening to music. My new roommate Nate Gardner came in and said hi to me--it seemed like he knew who I was from high school, but I didn't know him. I was doing situps and watching some Peanuts specials, when both my new roommate Chase Elwood and, at another time, my roommate Zach Zimmerman came in. Zach came in right at the scene in It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown about which I had shown him a YouTube video that showed that the audio was backwards.


2010. I went to my math class, and another student asked what conference talk was my favorite. I said I liked Elder Holland's; he said it wasn't his favorite, as it was another pornography talk.

2009. I'm not sure, but it's possible this was the day we called a member of the ward to give us a ride, since the other elders for some reason couldn't give us one, and the member came in his pickup truck, and he had expected us not to be dressed up, since it was P-day (even though we were required to wear our proselyting clothes when we were in public). He thought that if we weren't dressed up, we could ride in the back of the truck--which was also against the rules. I moved some papers over on the seat to make room in the cab, and he said the papers were very important to him. I assured him I would be careful. I don't think we called him again.

2008. I remember eating most or all of the fake chocolate ("mockolate") bunny that Sister Welsh gave me.

2006. I remember coming home from school and seeing that my family had gone shopping at Kmart. They got clearance Easter toys, little eggs that would spin around after you pulled the cord out. They also bought the movie A Boy Named Charlie Brown. I watched it, and I remember thinking that maybe it had a message for me, since I would be in the French spelling bee the next day.

2004. I had to turn in the Isaiah assignment that my terrible seminary teacher made us do. (Seriously. That guy should have been fired.)

2001. There had been a teacher strike earlier in the year, so we had to go to school on this day, even though normally it would have been a day off. There weren't many students there; I remember Mr. Unger (who I think was acting as a secretary at that time) was saying he could only remember one other day in all his teaching with such low attendance. My mom wasn't happy that I went to school that day.

2000, or 1999. It was on one of these years when I was in the kitchen trying to make a deviled egg (or maybe egg salad) and somehow I made it awful. While I was eating it, my mom's friend Jackie came over.

1998. My mom picked me up from my cousins' house. We went to Sam's Club, and I was talking about how early I wanted to go to bed that week, because I was super tired; I said I wanted to go to bed early on Friday, but she told me Sabrina the Teenage Witch would be on. We saw my teacher, Mrs. Fisher, at the checkout, and I was so tired I could hardly talk to her.

Good Friday

Easter is this week, so I will remember the things that happened two days before the holiday.

2013. I was taking a girl in my ward whom I home taught, Kayla, to the airport, so I parked over by her place and helped her load her suitcase in my car. We took off, and I was at a stop sign, waiting to turn left. Eventually I turned, and Kayla screamed. Another car was coming and honked--I hadn't seen them. I felt dumb the whole way for having done that. At one point I asked where Kayla got her mission call to--she said she hadn't even finished her papers. I felt dumb because I should have known that; I just got confused because so many girls were going on missions. We talked about the band fun. and I said I didn't like them; Kayla said she didn't like the lyrics of "We Are Young" but it was so catchy. We talked about little kids (since she was an el-ed major) and she told a story of a little kid saying there were bugs in raindrops (because he learned water could condense around bacteria in the atmosphere). My GPS confused me and I got off at the wrong exit, but it got me back where I needed to be and I was able to take off my sunglasses, since it was then dark. I went home and my mom had put a new Easter DVD on my bed. I asked if there was any candy I could have, but there wasn't. I went in her room while she cleaned and watched The Easter Bunny Is Comin' to Town, and then I went downstairs and watched Here Comes Peter Cottontail. I stayed up late writing a memory post, and my dad came home.

2012. I went to the library, and the computer I was working on on the second floor had all the settings really big. I bought a package of lavender-colored Hostess Sno-Balls. In my editing class, our teacher brought us Irish cheese that she loved and gave us apples. I tried a bit of the cheese, but I hated it, so I stuck to the packaged apples. I remember watching It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown while eating my second purple Sno-Ball. Here is my journal entry for the day:
"Today it was snowing! But it was gone by the afternoon. I got my semantics collection back and got good comments. In editing today none of the members of my group were there, so I got a bag of apples to myself. I got 88% on my geology test. I had a successful run, and tonight I made dinner, watched "It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown," and finished my logical fallacies assignment."

2011. We left Las Vegas and drove home. This might have been the day we were listening to my Owl City and Coldplay CDs. My mom looked in her CD case and said, "This one is for Pops"--it was a CD, "Funny Favorites," that she had bought for me for Valentine's Day in 2006, but I didn't like it so I gave it to her. It was a CD of annoying old songs. When "Purple People Eater" was playing, Matt said his mom always used to play it. During the song "Tiptoe through the Tulips," the CD began skipping a lot, and I was relieved for an excuse to say "Time for a new CD!" We stopped at Burger King in Fillmore, and Taylor Swift's "Mine" was playing over their sound system. That led Susanne to talk about how T-Swift had an apartment in Nashville, and Matt said she was stalking her for knowing that.

2010. I baked Easter M&M cookies to take to my mission reunion. I left some of them in the oven a little too long, so I didn't take the burned ones to the reunion. I listened to Handel's Messiah in the car. I showed up at the stake center by the Draper Temple, where the reunion was being held. My companion Elder Chun was visiting from California; he was surprised to see me, and he came over and picked me up. I was wearing brown corduroy pants and an orange hoodie. I was talking to President Clark, and he was impressed that I had make cookies if I was living in an apartment, which didn't seem unusual to me. He had bought a cake from Costco with a bunny on it, and he was dismayed when he realized it said "Happy Birthday"--he thought it had said "Happy Easter." But it was still Eastery enough for me to eat it. Before I left, someone dumped all the cookies (since lots of people brought cookies) into one bag, so I couldn't take mine home. I left, and it was snowing and really windy. I called my mom to see what the weather was like at our house, but she said it was fine. I got lost trying to get to the freeway, and I couldn't see the lines on the road because it was dark and wet. When I got home, I went downstairs to watch It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown, and while I was putting in the DVD, I was singing "All We like Sheep."

2009. We were teaching two boys, ages 8 and 9, and we were often impressed by their profound questions. Michael, the 9-year-old, asked this day why we celebrate Easter with eggs and bunnies. I told him it was a very good question. I can't remember what I told him. This is my journal entry:
"Today we actually were able to teach both the Youngs and the Williamses. The lessons went all right. We're hoping they will all show up for the Easter activity tomorrow so we will have a valid reason to attend. Michael Williams asked good questions, like why do we have Easter for Christ's resurrection with eggs. We've also been running into all sorts of crazy people while tracting, so it's good when we find some normal ones."

2008. We left early in the morning to drive up to our zone conference. It was snowy, and I remember pulling out my camera and narrating our drive. There had been a running gag that our zone leader, Elder Gammon, had cottage cheese skin, so I brought a cottage cheese container for him, but he was distracted looking for something. One of the new missionaries was Elder Wilson (who would later be my companion), and when we left, Elder Condie said bye to him, even though he didn't know him. I think this was the time that the Relief Society ran out of food for us, so President Clark didn't get any. Elder Condie got some packages from someone in a previous area. One of them was a St. Patrick's Day package that had been delivered to the wrong Elder Condie, so it was late. After conference, we went to the church, because Elder Condie was lazy and ruined those three months of my mission. That night we visited the Vaughans, and they had a two-year-old granddaughter visiting, who was saying funny things like "pretty sure" and "keep your hands to yourself."

2007. We went to a park in Nashville, and there was a train in the park. Preston would get mad at us and yell "No!" when we got near to it; apparently he had been trained not to go near trains. But that didn't stop him from touching it himself.

Allie was swinging, and I would give her a few pushes on the swing, then I would run over to swing myself. We saw Nashville's Parthenon. We went back to David's apartment to color eggs; after doing eggs, the kids took baths. It was snowing outside, and we were surprised it was snowing in April in Nashville. 

2006. It was our last full day in Moab, and we went to different places in national parks. When we got back to our trailer, we watched It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown on my little DVD player.

2005. I didn't have school, and we got our Easter baskets in the morning. I got the Easter Beagle DVD; my mom said my dad considered getting me Easter Parade but they didn't. I went and took a "nap" and watched It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown on my little DVD player. Allie came in with Preston's new telephone toy. It had a picture of a dog on it, so she pointed to it and said, "Woof!" It was the first time I knew she knew what a dog said. That night we colored eggs (I think Easter Beagle was on TV), and I was eating an egg-shaped Tootsie Roll Pop. 

2004. We went down to Fillmore to go to the sand dunes. Ya-ping and I slept in Grandma Judy and Grandpa Boyd's camper. 

2003. I probably ate a popsicle.

2001. I got the card game Blurt! in my basket, and my mom said we could take it in the car on the ride to Fillmore the next day, but she said my cousin Joey (who was going with us) might not like playing it.

2000. My mom and I went to Provo to help David move out of his apartment. We loaded up all his stuff in our car, and my mom said he would be sad because he would probably never see his roommates again. We went to Walmart and got jelly beans, and when we got home I put them in a bowl on top of our TV. 

1999. My cousin April was visiting, and this might have been the time she joined me in watching The Simpsons in my parents' room--it was an episode that I don't think was appropriate for a ten-year-old. My mom came home from shopping and I wasn't allowed to look in the bags she brought.

1998. We had all the cousins over for an egg hunt (after some of them had spent the night). My mom and aunt hid the eggs all over outside, and they explained how many eggs everyone was allowed. My mom said there were Skittles, and Sue repeated her, but there were no Skittles; I think they meant Starbursts. They told us there were small, medium, and large eggs and told us how many of each we could have. Rick Gildersleeve was helping Rhys find eggs. He found a medium one, and he asked me if it was a small one; I thought, if he thinks that's a little one, how big does he think the big ones must be? After everyone left, my parents brought out our Easter baskets, and I was disappointed to have them given to us in the evening. I got a little Tweety Bird thing that you connected to the water faucet and it acted as a drinking fountain.

1995. I awoke to snow covering all the tulips outside. My cousin Tammy had spent the night at our house, and my Thompson cousins were coming over for an Easter party. Tammy played the "Fluffy Bunny" song from the Picture Book of Songs. Some of the candy we had were Sweetarts ducks and bunnies.

Three days before Easter

Easter is in two weeks, so I'm going to remember what I can about the Thursday before Easter.

2013. I remember a few things, but my journal entry for the day sums it up just as well:
"Today I studied out in the sun and caught up on EME [Early Modern English] readings. I went to the JFSB courtyard and sat at a table, and a jumping spider was on the table. It kept staring back at me. I worked in the library on my source check; I'm almost done.

"Tonight I went to the temple. I called mom, but she couldn't talk because she was introducing Jackie to Jan Terri. Then I went running. My route got changed since there was something going on near the field house and because there was construction on 900 E. Then tonight I watched It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown."

2012. We had an upcoming test, so we went to class for a test review. Normally, when a professor doesn't show up, it's a good excuse to leave, but since it was a test review, we wanted him there. So after waiting a while, I went to go find him. I didn't know how the geology offices worked, so I went up to the secretaries and said, "Is Dr. Nelson in here?" They said, "Is he supposed to be?" They told me where his office was, so I went over and knocked on his door. He opened and I asked if we were having a review. He went "Oh no!" His alarm apparently didn't go off. I grabbed a drink at the drinking fountain before I followed him back downstairs, and he walked into the classroom with a sheepish look on his face. My journal entry basically says what I just said:
"Today I slept in until almost 10:00. I went to class. In Geology Professor Nelson didn't show up. I went to the Geology department and found out his office wasn't in there. They told me where it was, so I went and knocked on the door. Apparently he had turned his alarm off and lost track of time. If it hadn't been a review, we would have left. I made Hawaiian haystacks for dinner."

2011. It was spring break with my family, and we drove to the LaBrea tar pits. We looked at all the stuff in the park, and then we went in the museum. When we were walking in, a hobo was outside, singing some song about Minnie and Mickey (since Allie was wearing a Minnie Mouse hat) and said "hice" as plural of "house" to rhyme with "mice." Then he said, "Do you know that if something has less than four legs, you add s to make it plural, but if there's four or more, you make it -ice? That's why you have lice and mice but spouses and houses. It's the most obscure rule in the English language." (Today I would have said to him, "No, that's not the rule, it has to do with their etymology, because in Old English they had different inflections.") I was disappointed that despite the museum's insistence that there were no dinosaurs in the tar, they had lots of dinosaur things in the gift shop, likely reinforcing misconceptions. I liked looking at all the fossils, and Matt, Nan, and Allie all seemed anxious to leave. I was amused by the warning sign on the door of their courtyard.

We left, and when we got back to our car, someone had put their bumper up directly touching ours, since we had a big car and were slightly sticking out. We laughed that they had a ticket. Matt said we should take it and make them get a bigger fine, but we didn't. While driving through cities, Nan pointed out a rainbow store, and I saw a sign that said "Facebook cigarettes"; Matt said it was probably because Facebook is addicting. We drove out of California and stopped at McDonald's for lunch. Our destination was Las Vegas, for some reason. When we got there, we checked in at our hotel and went out to the strip, for some reason. We had dinner at Rainforest Cafe. Our waitress asked where we were from, and when we explained, she asked Allie, "You know that big castle-y building,"--my mom prompted, "the temple"--and the waitress said she was married there. My mom said they were married there too. Then that led to a conversation in which Allie said to Matt "You're not Mormon," and my mom said, "We'll get him one day," to which Matt said, "Ignoring." After dinner, we went to the gift shop, and I wanted a walrus bouncy ball, but then realized that it cost $4, an outlandish price for a small bouncy ball. We went to the Coke and M&M stores. I was disappointed with the lack of holiday stuff at the M&M store. We left, and there was a girl sitting on a corner, playing an accordion and singing with an operatic voice. I think a black guy representing a church did some street performance. I remember crossing the street and hearing M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes," a song I had never heard other than on Pandora.

2010. I showed up to my math class, and one girl said to another classmate that they had seen Elder Holland walking past the JFSB. He believed it, but then she told him it was just an April Fools' joke. Our internet was down, so I called to get it fixed, and I had my planner there to write down anything I might need to know. When I told my phone number to the guy who answered, I wrote my own number in my planner. (I only remember this happened this day because I put it on Facebook.)

2009. We tracted the street behind the house where we lived, one that I think only had a dirt road. We stopped at one house where I noticed a JW flyer--their typical "Come celebrate the death of Jesus," the only thing they celebrate--and I always felt a little uncomfortable seeing JW flyers, because it meant people would probably be even less inclined to talk to us, having recently been visited by a religion. There were some frisky horses at this house. Across the street, a 20-something girl answered and we set up a return appointment. We went to one house where the lady answered and said rudely, "Yes?" I said, "We're the..." and she said, "I know who you are. Get off my property, all of you!" So we left, and Elder Kitchen waved back as we left and she yelled again, "Stay away, all of you!" Elder Kitchen said, "That's the rudest person I've ever met!" At the house across the street, the wife was nice but not interested, and she seemed sympathetic toward us when we told her what had happened at the previous house. I remember when Elder Kitchen called our district leader that night, he told him how I wanted the rude lady's house to burn down. This is my journal entry for the day:
"Today we walked around which wasn't my favorite. We visited the Nelsons, in addition to some others. After dinner we tracted. Most of the people were nice, except for one lady, who demanded us to get off her property and never to come back. But before her we talked to a young woman who wants to ask us questions so we're going back on Saturday. We also met Dave Smith, a less-active member whose records are not on the list."

2008. What I remember about the details in the journal entry below are that Brother Coats lived in a house next to the Little Spokane River, and I gave an Easter spiritual thought, and that Sister Berger said she had done alterations for missionaries before.
"The first day of spring was a cold one, with snow and hail ruining our car cleaning. We met with Duane and Vickie who are still excited. Then we met with Richard Swinkels, who might come to church, then Brother Smith took us to Subway, then to see Brother Coats, a less-active widower, then the Bergers, but only Sister Berger was there.  

2007. We were in Tennessee, and this might have been the day we went to some kind of museum during the day. We had some Reese's Pieces eggs, which Ya-ping wanted to keep hidden from Preston.

2006. We were in southern Utah for spring break, and this may have been the day we were driving around in Canyonlands.

2005. This might have been the day when in my math class, one of my classmates shared some of the chocolate bunny her grandma had given her. Ms. Jordan said, "This is good chocolate!" Although I liked it, I could tell it wasn't really quality chocolate.

2004. It was spring break, and I'm sure I would have read some of Farewell to Manzanar, and it might have been the day I might Easter sugar cookies.

2003. I probably ate a popsicle.

1999. This was probably the day we were supposed to write about our best Easter ever. I explained that the Easters I remembered weren't very good, so I wanted to write a story instead. I wanted to write a story in which I got a basket full of multicolored chicks and bunnies, but that seemed too cheesy, so instead I said I got "just what I wanted--pets," and I knew it was a terrible story.

1998. Our class went to see a play adaptation of James and the Giant Peach at a children's theater. For the peach, they had an orange balloon grow on a tree, and then they had a giant cloth-covered thing that was meant to be the giant peach. I thought it looked really bad. For the cloud men, they had weird jugglers who looked nothing like clouds. Then we got back to school and ate our lunches in the classroom; Mrs. Slagowski had a sandwich with sprouts on it. We watched Here Comes Peter Cottontail and we had promises of Easter candy. Logan Smith kept saying the Easter Bunny was coming, and Mrs. Fisher said there was no such thing. I think Logan knew that, but I was still surprised at her directness. When we got our candy-filled eggs, there were weird candies that were like Fruity Pebbles but they were hard candies. Mrs. Fisher brought some chicks, and I remember watching the chicks after school on the porch in front of the school, a porch that is no longer there. A high-functioning special needs girl, Heidi, was sitting on a bench, eating a hard-boiled egg she had gotten in her class. I think my cousins came over that night for a sleepover, and we slept in my tepee.

1997. This might have been the first day I returned to school after breaking my arm, and Tally Prosence was the first to see me, but maybe that was a different day. Our teacher, Miss Slater, brought her pet bunny to class. It had a name from its previous owner, but she just called it Bunny. We had made little baskets out of strawberry cartons, and during lunch she hid them all over the room. She had a few people search at a time, and I was in the first group (maybe because of my broken arm). I was the first one to find my basket. I took it back to my desk, but I didn't start eating my candy until I saw Nicole Nutter start eating hers.

1995. We got bunny-shaped marshmallows, and we watched Here Comes Peter Cottontail, but we had to stop it at the Christmas scene.