Overheard at Home Pre-School

"Jesus made our bodies." Yes, He did, I affirmed in the simplest explanation available to a barely three year-old, who is not my child. Her statement made me slightly guilty. Our theme today was, in part, the letter "E" and for snack we were making elephant ears. Fry bread the size of a basketball hoop covered in sugar. Guilty because it isn't exactly the healthiest snack for little God-given bodies.

It's all about the theme right?

Around a mouthful of fry-bread she added, "Jesus gave me a boba."

Um . . . okay?

"And Jesus gave my brother a penis."

Oh! So at your house you use the correct word for male anatomy, but not female, apparently.

My own baby Jedi pipes up and says, "Boba is green."

"No!! My boba's not green. It's by my bum."

"Yes. Boba is green."

I realized, in time to break up any further argument or proof from the little girl ready to pull her pants down, that THIS:



was the Boba in question.

And The Youngling is right. His armor is green. I'll have to take Miss Visitor's word for the rest.

Almost as funny as the language misunderstanding between two pre-schoolers however, was finding this picture while looking for Mr. Fett.


The title of this gem? "Boba Fett is My Dad." And while my inclination is to offer my condolences, it is important to note that the child looks ridiculously happy. This picture came from a blog post boasting 40 BOBA FETTS. It is more than possible that nobody here (except maybe TamathyC) geeks out on this kind of stuff the way I do, but can anyone offer an explanation, psychological or cultural or otherwise, for how Boba Fett, a character with only a single line in the original trilogy, became such a cult-classic?

Officially Filed Under "Duh"

This story appeared in my local newspaper today:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Billy Ray Cyrus says the Disney TV show "Hannah Montana" destroyed his family, causing his divorce and sending daughter Miley Cyrus spinning out of control.

In a December interview published in the Feb. 22 issue of GQ Magazine, Cyrus said he wished the show that launched his daughter to pop stardom had never happened.

"I hate to say it, but yes, I do. Yeah. I'd take it back in a second," Cyrus said. "For my family to be here and just be everybody OK, safe and sound and happy and normal, would have been fantastic. Heck, yeah. I'd erase it all in a second if I could."

Cyrus and his wife, Tish, filed for divorce in October. They have three kids together — Miley is the oldest — and two from Tish's previous marriage.

Billy Ray Cyrus said when he asked about the rumored video footage of his daughter smoking from a bong at her 18th birthday party in December, he was told it was none of his business. He refused to attend the party, saying it was wrong to have it in a bar.

Cyrus says in the interview that he tried too hard to be a friend instead of a parent to his daughter. He said he is scared for Miley and compared her current path to those of other stars whose lives ended tragically, including Kurt Cobain, Anna Nicole Smith and Michael Jackson.

"I should have been a better parent," Cyrus said. "I should have said, 'Enough is enough — it's getting dangerous and somebody's going to get hurt.' I should have, but I didn't. Honestly, I didn't know the ball was out of bounds until it was way up in the stands somewhere."

He said his entire family was baptized before leaving Tennessee for Los Angeles to protect themselves from evil, and he believes Satan is attacking his family."

Are there ANY circumstances under which you would encourage your child to become a star, or even attempt to go that direction? Is it possible for ANY teenager to properly grow up with such public scrutiny and money? I saw True Grit last weekend, and was astounded at the depth of talent and intelligence clearly on display by the young actress in the film. I am with a recent critic of the Academy Award nominations who said that is wasn't clear "exactly WHOM Hailee Steinfeld was supporting" indicating that she clearly deserved to be in the "Best Actress" category. With Miss Cyrus I've always thought, "What are her parents thinking???" and with Miss Steinfeld I can't help but think how awful it would be if she goes the same direction.

Maybe there is hope. Miss Steinfeld reports that her parents insisted she go to bed on time the night of the news release concerning Awards nominees. When her name was on the list, they came into her room and told her. The night that Miley Cyrus' most recent movie was released? She was seen lap-dancing with the director at a wrap party. She was 16. Her parents were not at the party. Satan can't get in your house unless somebody hands him the keys.

Breaking Up

I am so over you, Baked Cheesecake.

Do you remember ward parties growing up, and every get together in college, somebody would bring that Jell-O No Bake Cheesecake that tasted, well, like death? Especially when somebody had the brain wave to put a can of hypo-sugar cherries on top of it?

I was actually in college before I tried this horrible stuff. A roommate made it, and I ate it (it was SUGAR, after all), but the whole time I was wearing the you've-got-to-be-kidding me face. You see, the no-bake cheesecake recipe I grew up on is the one that used to be on the back of every can of Eagle brand sweetened condensed milk. Four ingredients. Ease itself. And a family of six who fought like gladiators for the last two pieces in the pie dish.

In fact, I was in college before I even realized there was a thing called "baked cheesecake." I thought cheesecake was my mother's divine simplicity or the Jell-O monstrosity.

Discovering baked cheesecake was like wandering in the wilderness for forty years and finally glimpsing the promised land. For years I have dabbled in different recipes, and I often get it at restaurants on those rare dessert-dates. I sometimes daydream about a springform pan, half a dozen eggs and enough cream cheese to satisfy even my lusts. I have imagined myself pulling the PERFECT cheesecake from the oven, waiting patiently for complete cooling, and serving it to awed guests from far and wide.

Am I crazy?

Perhaps. But that is neither here nor there.

But today. Valentine's Day. I have created the perfect . . . no . . . no. . . you didn't misunderstand. The PERFECT dessert. You never break up unless you trade up.

STM's No Bake Cheesecake

1 graham cracker crust (I did homemade this time; I think it would be divine to use one of those pecan nut-crusts also)
2 bars cream cheese, softened
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 large lemon
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla

Beat your cream cheese with a mixer until it is fluffy and smooth. Slowly pour the sc milk into the cream cheese, continually beating. When it is smooth, add a teaspoon of lemon zest and then 2 Tbsp of fresh squeezed lemon juice. When the mixture is smooth and blended, pour in the cream, beating for another minute or two until everything is slightly fluffy. Add the vanilla and keep beating until everything is smooth. Spoon it into the crust, making sure to leave behind plenty in the bowl for liberal licking. And I mean VERY liberal.

Chill for at least five hours before serving.

Thank me later.

In other news . . . .

1- My 200-miler is now looking more like a half-marathon in July. We ended up a few short of being able to get a team together. I was rather relieved, truthfully. I started strong and then got sick for three weeks. The last week's exercise has felt a bit like starting over.

2- Our YW New Beginnings program was last Wednesday and it turned out completely cool. I wrote a really sweet little play for our girls to perform and it turned out nearly perfect. E-mail me is you do Young Women stuff in your own ward and want a copy of it.

3- I have braces. Hating that. There will not be pictures.

4- Our Relief Society teacher on Sunday quoted Hugh Nibley. Liberally. I LOVE her.

5- Wicked tickets arrived in the mail this week. Wa-hoo.

The cheesecake was the "frosting" on an amazing dinner (if I do say so myself). If you want more recipes, just let me know. I'm more than happy to share THE BEST CHICKEN EVER. Really.

A Little Controversy

There is nothing like stirring people up to get the day going.

I get a regular e-mail from an on-line "magazine" of sorts called LDS Living. I believe it started when I ordered something from Deseret Book some time ago. I open it occasionally when there are news stories that look interesting or Family Home Evening ideas. Before my route this morning, and while I was trying to muster enough ambition to leave the house at 3 am in 25 degree weather despite a cold that has been lingering in various incarnations for three weeks, I opened one of these stories.

Here is the link.

The article is brief, but the upshot is that a high school with a majority LDS population decided to attend a cheer competition held on Sunday. It is a cheer competition inside Utah, with dozens of other Utah high schools participating, probably with similar demographics of LDS populations (according a commenter, anyway). Two girls told the coaches they wouldn't be going, expecting them to be understanding. They weren't.

Instead, they tried to have the girls removed from the team.

A meeting was held between parents, coaches and administration, where the parents argued that booting the girls from the team would be discriminating against them based on religion (not because they were refusing to fulfill team requirements). The coaches relented to avoid a big scene and allowed the girls to stand in the back of the main formations, with a small part so that they could be removed on competition day.

Due to scheduling conflicts, the cheerleading squad could only practice on Monday nights.

The girls complained again. This time they were booted. One of the mothers said the girls were "devastated," and the girls expressed how hard it was now to go to school and the games because they can no longer cheer. The article labeled the coaches, "unwilling to compromise."The girls' families said they don't want to make a scene.

It was very early, remember, when I read this. There were already two comments, speaking the girls' praises up and down. I had to create an account so I could make a comment.

Mine reads:

"I appreciate that what these girls did was hard for them, but the reality of my non-Utah LDS community is that our kids have to make decisions from the time they are very young to avoid competitive sports all together if they want to avoid Sunday participation. Nearly all of our youth leagues play at least a portion of their games on Sundays, and it can be very hard to find supportive coaches who are willing to tweak the schedule or work around being a man short on the Sunday games. Besides sports, LDS kids in our area seldom can attend birthday parties and a huge variety of community and school events because Sunday is the day of choice for so many activities. As a former teacher, it is also clear that the school did the best it could in the circumstances. I think the magazine blew this story way out of proportion by turning a very commonplace decision for LDS kids all over the world into a dramatic and newsworthy event."

As of noon today, there were 47 comments. Which, truthfully mostly seem to discuss my threadjack.

I'm not sure how I feel about that. I always like discussion, but I also realize I created a fair amount of conflict between people who all seem very sincere and mostly reasonable. I have not weighed in again.

I think I would like to here. What I cited above are not my only issues with the whole thing.

1 - We are talking about cheerleading, people. Cheerleading. The girls are not being denied any kind of academic activity. Remember, the ACTUAL purpose of the public school?

2 - And while we are talking about cheerleading. Just how modest ARE those uniforms? If we are going to get ticky about keeping unstated commandments, maybe that is worth addressing. (Just ask Loradona.) With the wholesome attitude toward the subjects of this article, it makes it sound as though cheerleading is some kind of inherently uplifting and virtuous activity. Not that it necessarily has to be the opposite, either; but if I had a daughter on a squad, I'd be as much concerned about certain types of dancing and uniforms as Sunday competitions.

3 - The coaches WERE accommodating. Very. They chose to allow the girls to stay on the team until they refused both to compete AND practice. There is no organization where you can just show up on performance/game/presentation day and expect to be unpunished. Maybe the coaches should have thought through signing the team up for the competition to begin with. There is no discussion from their viewpoint in the article--was a conversation held ahead of time with parents about this possibility? Did the team vote to participate? Again PUBLIC school. Nobody requires to the cheerleaders to actually do anything, or even exist for that matter.

4 - It is called a SACRIFICE, darlings. That is the whole point.

5 - And when your sacrifice is made public (the not-wanting-a-scene-mothers had to be interviewed for the thing, right?) and hundreds or thousands of people read it, and many comment on the fact that you are a "hero," doesn't this totally undermine actual spiritual growth that takes place in quiet moments of reflection and private decision making?

I want to reiterate that I can appreciate that this decision was hard for these girls, and they are to be commended for it. By their parents. But the "devastation" these girls feel shocks me with its lack of actual perspective. With its complete misunderstanding and overshadowing of the truly meaningful sacrifices young men and women make all over the worldwide Church every day. This is not a "Team Utah vs. Team Mission Field*" thing as implied by one appalled comment maker; it is a call to identify teenagers actually worthy of notice.

And here is the first one I'd like to call attention to: Sedrick Tshiambine. His story, found near end of this article, is one of true inspiration, sacrifice and dedication.

Clearly, the readership here is more selective, and probably more left of center than the mainstream US Church, and I'm interested in your take. Even if you disagree. Especially if you disagree.


* I really hate that term "mission field." I can't even begin to express why. Maybe another day. I think it is time to put the soapbox away for the day.