I planted bulbs last autumn and we have seen hyacinths, daffodils, and now a wonderful variety of tulips. I am totally sold on the tulips and will buy another warehouse assortment next May to brighten our spring.
The start of September was Fathers’ Day. We had a quiet afternoon playing a board game and with our Lego. I cooked crepes for Mark.
I’ve been building up my distance for running so that I can take part in an event in October. Three times I ran 10km, though it was pretty slow. Mark and I went to a public meeting about drainage, which was surprisingly interesting. We had received a flyer in the mail, inviting us, so we went. Fortunately we are just on the edge of the problem area. Thanks to the earthquakes, there is an area a few blocks from us that is now flood-prone and it will take a large amount of money to remedy it. Even if they decide to, it will take quite a bit of time, so residents are being warned to have sandbags ready for future flooding. We are happy to have escaped that problem, but will offer our services next time it rains a lot.
At our book group we read and discussed “Book of Mormon Girl” by Joanna Brooks. It certainly led to an interesting discussion, though much of the book was either whiny or a bit obvious. I was fascinated to read about the academics at BYU who were excommunicated in 1993.
Jonathan and I got to mind Seth one day. Seth likes to be held, so Jonathan held him so I could get the dinner ready. Jonathan is really good with Seth and talks to him all the time.
In the business, I have been working towards a conference that is on in the beginning of October. It is the New Zealand Association of Maths Teachers. Shane and I are having a stand, and I am giving two presentations and running a forum, as well as attending some other workshops. At the end of the week we will have a better idea of how much more work we are going to need to do to get the word out and the product used and paid for.
As a RS Presidency we had a Wellness Seminar for the Samoan members, similar to the English one. I gave a one minute talk in Samoan at the start, and I was REALLY nervous. It was a good experience, as I got to feel how some people feel when they give talks. I don’t usually feel nervous, and actually look forward to speaking in public. There has been a recent change in the Ward Primary Presidency, and they asked if Jonathan and I could help out with the music for the Primary Presentation, which we did. The children are great singers in our ward, and it went really well. Jonathan and I made up a new ending for one of the songs, and the children learned it and did it brilliantly.
There was a Stake leadership training meeting with Elder Hamula, which turned out to be just like the Sunday afternoon of Stake Conference, with short talks from the wives, and just sitting and listening. I had asked for an interview with Elder Hamula, but didn’t get one, but managed to talk to him in the chapel afterwards. I asked a few questions, including how they as an area presidency consult with women. The answer to that one is that they don’t. Elder Hamula was pretty receptive, so I kept going and made a few more suggestions, such as wording the area goals in a more inclusive way. I had been saddened at Stake Conference to see lots of discussion about the young men, and none about the young women. He asked me how I would word them, so I did some thinking and sent him an email a couple of days later. He replied, thanking me for my frankness, and said they would discuss my recommendations at their next presidency meeting. I felt great – I felt listened to! Until I had this calling I had no idea how little input women have in the running and decision-making of the church.
My friend Necia tells me it is really leadership “roulette” – it depends on who your leaders are. Some are more inclusive than others. It is difficult for men or anyone really to see the culture when we are imbedded in it.
My birthday was very quiet, which I was quite happy with. We went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner, and they sang happy birthday to me in Spanish. On Monday 23rd September I went on Radio New Zealand National, for “Best song ever written”. I got to talk about Rogo, statistics and Jonathan. You can listen to it here. Link to RadioNZ
Jessica and William have moved into a new flat, which has two bedrooms, so is better for the three of them. It is about twice as far away from us as the old one, but not too bad – about 15 minutes’ drive. It was a bit traumatic at first, as it had fleas, and they had to spend an afternoon with us while it was fumigated.
My computer started doing odd things and I took it to get fixed. Sadly they can’t fix it, but happily it was still working so I can get all the data off it. Because I use an external display, keyboard and mouse, the new one still feels like the old one, However it uses Windows 8, which has caused me some anguish.
Mark has been quite busy at work, as well as all his other duties. He went to see a movie - Elysium , which he enjoyed, but didn’t think needed to be seen on the big screen after all.
And that is it for September 2013.
Much love to all
Nicola, Mark, Jonathan, William, Jessica and Seth.
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