What's New With Michelle?

Michelle is a stellar mom, and being a mom is about the most important thing she can be. It takes an awful lot of her time and sanity. But let's not get any ideas out there that there's nothing more to her life. (I'm looking at you, Michelle...) I'll let the blog itself serve as proof of her stunning accomplishments as a mother in Zion. Instead, I'd like to record in this post the other pies she has her fingers in. (I first wrote "the other fingers she has her pie in," but fortunately corrected myself.)

About a month ago, Michelle was put in as the president of the young women's organization in our ward. If you ask me, she had it coming, since the week before the call came, she bore a beautiful and emotional testimony in church about going to the temple with the young women and feeling how special they were. Guess the bishop was listening, eh? Anyway, I'm really proud of her for stepping right in and getting to the heart of it - not programs or meetings, but ministering to each girl in a meaningful way. It stresses her out, but she's thriving.

And she does a great job making friends in the neighborhood. We regularly have people over for family night or dessert, and you can bet it's not the socially backward husband making the invitations...

Michelle had the misfortune of marrying an English major, forever securing for herself a life of poverty. It will be a long time before we're able to afford going to the gym (or "gin," as Addison calls it), but she jumped at an opportunity to volunteer a few hours a week at the day care of a gym down the street, and in return she gets free membership. She'd rather run outside, but since we've skipped from summer directly to winter around here, it will certainly come in handy.

Never have I known M to have fewer than a half-dozen projects going at once, and right now is no exception. She's got Christmas projects coming out her ears, most of which I can't divulge at present, but since Bryn doesn't read the blog, I will say she is to be the recipient of this beauty:

Michelle also bottled a grand total of 122 pints of peaches this season, along with some apple sauce and tomatoes. She recently finished (well, almost) painting our room and the upstairs hall. And she's the driving force behind the slow evolution of our yard to an Edenic state - but give us about 5 more years.

She is also putting her music ed degree to use, teaching piano lessons. She currently teaches three students, and she's adding one more in January. And when I finish this blasted master's, maybe she'll take on more. Her students are really progressing, and she's really in her element when she's teaching. And little do her clients know what a steal they're getting for a piano teacher so highly qualified . . . though I know she sees it as much as personal and community enrichment as a source of income.

I'm really excited that Michelle has started pulling out the trumpet again. True, her lips drag on the ground after about 15 minutes of practice, but she's starting to sound really good, and I can see the fire in her eyes as she relives the glory days of BYU. Maybe I'll finally convince her to try out for the Orchestra at Temple Square. Or Chicago.

I should note that I'm also impressed with her reading. She devoured Mockingjay a lot quicker than anything else currently on her reading list, but she is also reading Annie Clark Tanner's autobiography, A Mormon Mother, about living with polygamy, and Victor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning. Not exactly fluff.

I will now conclude with an original poem using each letter of her name.

Marvelous

Inspiring

Capital B for the Bomb Diggity

Hot

Enchanting

Lots o'projects

Loves all God's creatures

Encomium-worthy