Mar 06

Just kidding. The animals didn’t come alive – the 2.0s and I were smart enough to go to the museum during the day. (What, you’ve never seen Night at the Museum? Well, WE have and WE played it safe.)

I’ve discovered it’s easy to keep the title of “BEST SISTER EVER.” No, I did not give myself that title. I totally earned it. Just ask the little girls, who proclaimed it today. (Sorry Alisha and Jessie. I’m the oldest, and I’m likely to keep it.) Today, the rest of our family (minus Logan, who had to study, and Alisha, who is busy in Utah compiling reasons that she should NOT move to Missouri) headed to Nebraska today to attend the Winter Quarters Temple. (Alisha, you can’t count the long drive to a temple as reason number 1309 because we are getting a temple in KC. Scratch that off your list.) Once a temple’s dedicated, you need a recommend to attend it, and little kids can’t get recommends.  You can find out more about temples here or here, if you’re curious. The temple in KC will have an open house for whoever wants to come see it before it’s dedicated.

Since Sam and Cassie can’t go yet, someone had to keep an eye on them. I volunteered and we decided we’d make a girls day of it. It was SO fun! The 2.0s put together a soundtrack for our adventures (iTunes is a wonderful thing), we put it in the CD player, and we were off to Kansas City. They got to check out my new office (loved it!), went to Union Station (to pick up my mail, but they thought it was the coolest building ever), to the Nelson-Atkins (my favorite museum in KC, which is now their favorite too), and to Miller Park (where we ate the picnic they prepared and they ran around for ages). It. Was. Great.

And the whole “best sister ever”? Don’t tell the girls, but I already know who really has the title. Here’s a hint – it’s a tie between four people. Alisha, Jessie, Sam and Cassie have me all beat. For now though, I’ll claim it. After all, isn’t that the point of being the oldest?

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Jan 06

Shades of Gray

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My mom’s an artist - she paints. In my absolutely unbiased opinion, she totally rocks. Don’t take my word for it. Check out her work yourself. She normally paints with a technique called “grisaille” – she does an underpainting first in shades of gray, and then puts color on top of it. It’s pretty amazing to watch. Oh – you can watch it yourself. It’s on youtube. And for a little extra education – “grisaille,” loosely translated from French, means “gray tones.”

It’s a complex process, but it’s not just her paintings that are complex. Most things in this world come in shades of gray, because people are complex too. Wouldn’t it be unfortunate if you were so inflexible that you never recognized there was anything but black and white? (At any rate, it would certainly kill the grisaille method.)

In my professional life, I deal in grays all the time. Granted, my work isn’t the same as my mom’s, but work with me here – I didn’t get those creative painting genes, so I’m doing my best with what I’ve got.  Of course, in order to really grasp the grays, you’ve got to understand the rules that come with black and white. That’s just common sense. But when I’m at work (or anywhere else!) I remember that grays exist, and that’s part of what makes this life so interesting. The next time you’re out and about, take a look at the grays. You just might surprise yourself at what you find.

*PS – Notice my mom’s shirt is gray? Oh yeah, I totally planned that. Well, actually I didn’t. But I thought it was cool anyway.

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