The Old Folks at Home

I have had such fun with the computer this past two weeks that it is a miracle that the newsletter is getting printed at all. Thanks for all the help in re-sending your information! Some of it was just lost. I had read it and then it was gone forever. Thanks to Allen, the computer has now been swiped clean and newer versions of most programs have been installed. He thought the problem had to do with a lightening strike and the firewire program. I have re-installed some of the stuff I have that he does not use and, I guess (until next time), I am back in business. One thing I feel bad about is that I lost a lot of the historic photos I had been getting ready to share. Back to scanning them in and getting  them ready. I just get upset when I have to do the same job over again. I do appreciate all of you sending stuff to me on the myrna@nephitimesnews.com e-mail. I just cannot work with photos on the old msn hotmail site. It is such a process to open them that it takes forever and then I cannot download them, I can only open them. They are pretty well useless that way.

Dad has been busy helping at AnnMarie’s and trying to get the walls up in the laundry room/bathroom here. He has the electric wiring in and some of the walls are up. He is having problems with his wife. I do not want a really low ceiling and some of the furnace pipes, built to grade, would take a lot of inches out of the space on the ceiling. I have told Dad that I would rather live with pipes showing than have a “cave” there. He is working on ideas and so am I. His fireplace is a hit. The gas bill has already gone down quite a bit. I am almost too warm much of the time I am in the family room. That is a new complaint for the “Frozen Myrna” that I usually am. Next up is a decision on what to do about the solar panels and solar water heating system. The big storage tank sprung a leak. We turned the system off and, believe it or not, our power bill went down. Hum! Now what? We are trying to decide what to do and Dad is gathering information. Maybe, now that we have the quick recovery gas water heater, the solar system is not needed.

This has been a stay-at-home month. We have seen some of you, but we have not traveled very much. We did go to the Conference Center with Kimberly, Shawn, Helen and Helen’s friend. It was the conference for national choir directors and we really enjoyed ourselves. We are also taking Siovhan out to supper and a movie tonight so she will know she still has grandparents.

Dad and I also went to the Pink Panther movie. Even though I am not a fan of Steve Martin, the current actor, he did do justice to the part and the memory of Peter Sellers, Dad’s favorite. The critics don’t like it but Dad and I thought it was OK. There is one scene, as usual, that could have been left out. Nothing happens but it is the thought.

We love all of you. We are so proud of the people you are becoming. Thank you. Thanks also for the wonderful grandchildren that it is our pleasure to love.

Meanderings

Just so you all know, if you look at any of the photo CDs we sent to you, you will find photos of the family--all of those who have sent photos will find them on the CDs. In addition, there are photos of the new people in the family this first year of life. I hope you all have the CDs by now.

Next, I hope you all get your St. Patrick's Day packages. Remember, you all have the luck of the Irish (which can be either a good or bad thing in and of itself) by birthright. Both LHT and MT have Irish ancestors. So enjoy. This month, I sent all of the letters to each of the kids and each of you adults in one big package. That means you will all get them or none of you will depending on the mail delivery. I have, quite frankly, given up. We keep getting letters back.

The mailman delivers the mail according to the return address and not to the send address. Dad keeps complaining to the post office but it doesn't do any good. It is not only snail mail but computer mail that fails me. 

My e-mail servers both send out multiple e-mails when I just planned on sending one. I get multiple e-mails from the same sender. In addition, I keep getting the ones I send to Todd, Melanie and Kirsten back as undeliverable. Go figure.

Those with birthdays and the one anniversary couple this month, should all be getting or have gotten cards in the mail. I feel like the old cliche: "The check is in the mail." It really is but who ever believes that when it never shows up? 

By the way, one of the people will get $2. I got new bills and they kept sticking together. When I finished, I had one dollar left and I should have had two (out of $50). But it is not my fault, I inherited "bug eyes" as one of my friends (?) told me on Saturday. My eyes bulge outward, like bug eyes, she said. I'd worry about it but I have other things troubling me. I am getting ready to blow away. I have now been diagnosed with dry eye, dry skin and dry mouth. When I die, I will not need a casket. Dad can just put me out on the porch on a windy day and I will blow away. That "from dust to dust" statement must really apply.

I love you all. Have a great week. M

Caren Ericksen Wilcox

Hello Kate:

Thank you for your message.  I am curious whose granddaughter you are in Alberta?  I had the wonderful experience of going to Lethbridge a few years ago when I had to be in Banff on business.  I drove down and met first cousins who I barely knew existed!  It was a wonderful day and family reunion.  I probably met your grandmother there.  I am also copying this message to Ms. Trautwein who is also related to us, because I could not respond when she contacted me.

When I was in Canada, Bea's daughters kindly gave me a book from the Procter family and the copy I have has information about Lars and Stine in it.  I also went to Denmark in 1991 and went to Kolle Kolle and Fjarreveijle where they lived originally.  It was fun to see it.

As you may know Lars came here with his first wife, Birthe Marie Pedersen.  In Denmark the families lived not far apart, and I would think that they all may have been converted at about the same time.  Lars and Birthe Marie also lived in Copenhagen where they did missionary work (as far as I understand it.)  Then they came across to Utah.  Apparently Stina or Stina came across alone, but in the same company of pioneers as Lars and Birthe Marie.  Stine's mother also came to Utah and died in Mt. Pleasant, but I don't know if she came in the same pioneer company.

Anyway when they were in Salt Lake City on June 22, 1861 Stina and Lars were married at the Endowment House.  Of course, this was a polygamous marriage, and eventually when the U.S. Marshall's were sent to Utah to attack polygamy, it is my understanding that Lars was one of the men prosecuted or indicted or something.  I have never looked at the whole incident thoroughly.

I think this was a happy marriage, and I believe that after Louis - Lars' and Birthe Marie's last child was born, that Lars took good care of them, but I know no more children were born to that part of the family.  Stina went on to have 8 children, the oldest was Ferdinand.

She died at a fairly early age because of an internal injury when she was hooked by a cow.  Tough way to go, but there was no care at that time for injuries like that.

I have all their dates in my files if you need them.

I am attaching a copy of a picture from my copy of the book that was supposedly taken on the wedding day of Stina and Lars.  It shows Camilla and her sister with Birthe and the new couple.  Camilla or "Milla" as she seems to have been known in the family was a much beloved figure in the whole Ericksen family.

So enough of what I know.

Do you live in Canada?  I live in Washington, DC.

I am always glad to hear from cousins, which is why I post.  I apologize for not replying to Ms Trautwein when she kindly replied.  I have been in a job transition and not doing family history much right now.

Best regards,

Caren Ericksen Wilcox

Shawn Naps Photo from Kimberly

Message Boards: A reply has been posted to your message.‏

A reply has been posted to your message, "Re: Judge Ferdinand Ericksen" on "23 Aug 2005 5:41 AM GMT".

Board : Boards > Surnames > Ericksen
Subject : Re: Judge Ferdinand Ericksen
Author : Kate Thorpe
Date : 21 Feb 2006 11:29 PM GMT

http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/4MV.2ACIB/4.1.1.1.1

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The Message Board Administration Team

Tyler's Valentine

Kimberly: We have it. It came with out stack. Grandma probably is just not used to doing so may envelopes for your family yet! :-) We will put it in the mail to you.

Myrna: And I was trying to be SO careful! I am so sorry! What can I say? I would promise that I would never do it again, but that would be a lie. 

I placed each one in the envelopes one by one to keep from making a mistake. I did them by age of grandchild and not by family. I addressed the envelope for the family and then the Valentine to the child and put it in what I thought was the right envelope. DUH!!!!!!!

Are all the rest OK? Did I goof up on any others?

I still love you Tyler! I also really enjoyed the cards all of you made for me. Grammy is just losing it. When I get too bad, send me to the rest home.

Love, M

Bubba Knows Everyone!

Bubba was bragging to his boss one day, "You know, I know everyone that there is to know. Just name someone, anyone, and I know them." Tired of his boasting, his boss called his bluff, "OK, Bubba how about Tom Cruise?"

"Sure, yes, Tom and I are old friends, and I can prove it."

So Bubba and his boss fly out to Hollywood and knock on Tom Cruise's door, and sure enough, Tom Cruise, shouts, "Bubba! Great to see you! You and your friend come right in and join me for lunch!"

Although impressed, Bubba's boss is still skeptical. After they leave Cruise's house, he tells Bubba that he thinks Bubba's knowing Cruise was just lucky.

"No, no, just name anyone else," Bubba says.

"President Clinton, "his boss quickly retorts.

"Yes," Bubba says, "I know him, let's fly out to Washington." And off they go.

At the White House, Clinton spots Bubba on the tour and motions him and his boss over, saying, "Bubba, what a surprise, I was just on my way to a meeting, but you and your friend come on in and let's have a cup of coffee first and catch up."

Well, the boss is very shaken by now, but still not totally convinced. After they leave the White House grounds, he expresses his doubts to Bubba, who again implores him to name anyone else.

"The Pope," his boss replies. "Sure!" says Bubba. "My folks are from Poland, and I've known the Pope a long time." So off they fly to Rome.

Bubba and his boss are assembled with the masses in Vatican Square when Bubba says, "This will never work. I can't catch the Pope's eye among all these people. Tell you what, I know all the guards so let me just go upstairs and I'll come out on the balcony with the Pope." And he disappears into the crowd headed toward the Vatican.

Sure enough, half an hour later Bubba emerges with the Pope on the balcony. But by the time Bubba returns, he finds that his boss has had a heart attack and is surrounded by paramedics. Working his way to his boss' side, Bubba asks him, "What happened?"

His boss looks up and says, "I was doing fine until you and the Pope came out on the balcony and the man next to me said, 'Who's that on the balcony with Bubba?'"

Kimberly wrote: Change this to my friend Linda. Wherever we go, even out of state in CA last year, Linda runs into someone she knows.

Stress Management

Wow, it is like someone put a coin in a one-armed cliché bandit, and won, the cliché's just keep coming and coming.

-Shawn

Stress Management

A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked,

"How heavy is this glass of water?"

Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g.

The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance. "In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."

He continued, "And that's the way it is with stress management. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on. "As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden". 

So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down. Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can.  Relax; pick them up later after you've rested. Life is short. Enjoy it! 

And then he shared some ways of dealing with the burdens of life:

* Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue.

* Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.

* Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.

* Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can be recalled by their maker.

* If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.

* If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.

* It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.

* Never buy a car you can't push.

* Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won't have a leg to stand on.

* Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.

* Since it's the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.

* The second mouse gets the cheese.

* When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.

* Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.

* You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.

* Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.

* We could learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names, and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box.

* A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

Have a wonderful day and know that someone has thought about you today!

And remember to live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly, and leave the rest to the universe.

OK, I need help.

Myrna wrote: I downloaded some .jpg files sent by the county, and also three .jpg photos sent by Kimberly (for the newsletter), to my desktop. Now I cannot get them 
off and I can't open them, either. For some strange reason, as they are downloaded they lose the period before the .jpg. Instead a %2e and no period appears before the .jpg. Then the photo file has the "e" icon used by Explorer as the file front (usually you can see the photo as an icon). The computer tells me that they are being used by another task, Explorer, and they cannot be deleted until the task is over. Of course, it will never end because they are on the desktop and not on Explorer where they came from.  The files must be locked but I have no idea how to go about unlocking them.  I have downloaded tons of photo files just like these in the past and had no 
problem. Maybe it is my email provider. The photos no longer just automatically open as they used to do before MSN decided to cut back on the service to MAC users. I have to double click on the photo icon and then drag the opened photo to the desktop. Do you have any idea what I can do to get rid of the unwanted photo icons?


Shawn wrote: I would perhaps restart the computer (since it thinks another task is using them), then I would select and change the name on each file to show as the .jpg that you are expecting. That should allow you to open it, delete it, or whatever. I am not sure how the "%2e" would have gotten in there. Let me know if you are still having trouble.

-Shawn


Myrna wrote: I tried that and it still thinks another program is using it. I also changed the names on the files. I even went into the program so the spot where it, usually, lets you change ownership of a file. It won't let me do that either.

Love, M

Todd wrote: The %2e is an HTML translation of the period. Something is wrong with the
way your downloads are happening. Have you tried changing the file association from Explorer to word, or notepad? When you click on the file, is there a "properties" or something like that on the menu that opens? Sorry, my MAC knowledge of the desktop is limited. 

The I Can't Funeral

Thanks to the Trauntveins for this one. As an old (that is very old) school teacher and administrator I thought this one was great!

Thanks again,

Gordon

The I Can't Funeral

Donna's fourth grade classroom looked like many others I had seen in the past. The teacher's desk was in front and faced the students. The bulletin board featured student work. In most respects it appeared to be a typically traditional elementary classroom. Yet something seemed different that day when I entered it for the first time.

My job was to make classroom visitations and encourage implementation of
a training program that focused on language arts ideas that would empower students to feel good about themselves and take charge of their lives.

Donna was one of the volunteer teachers who participated in this project.  I took an empty seat in the back of the room and watched. All the
students were working on a task, filling a sheet of notebook paper with thoughts
and ideas. The ten-year-old student next to me was filling her page with "I Can'ts." "I can't kick the soccer ball past second base." "I can't do long division with more than three numerals." "I can't get Debbie to like me."  Her page was half full and she showed no signs of letting up. She worked on with determination and persistence. I walked down the row glancing at students' papers. Everyone was writing sentences, describing things they couldn't do.

By this time the activity engaged my curiosity, so I decided to check with the teacher to see what was going on but I noticed she too was busy writing. I felt it best not to interrupt. "I can't get John's mother to come for a teacher conference." "I can't get my daughter to put gas in the car." "I can't get Alan to use words instead of fists."

Thwarted in my efforts to determine why students and teacher were dwelling on the negative instead of writing the more positive "I Can" statements, I returned to my seat and continued my observations.

 Students wrote for another ten minutes. They were then instructed to fold the papers in half and bring them to the front. They placed their "I Can't" statements into an empty shoe box. Then Donna added hers. She put the lid on the box, tucked it under her arm and headed out the door and down the hall.

Students followed the teacher. I followed the students. Halfway down the hallway Donna entered the custodian's room, rummaged around and came out with a shovel. Shovel in one hand, shoe box in the other, Donna marched the students out to the school to the farthest corner of the playground.

There they began to dig. They were going to bury their "I Can'ts!" The digging took over ten minutes because most of the fourth graders wanted a turn. The box of "I Can'ts" was placed in a position at the bottom of the hole and then quickly covered with dirt. Thirty-one 10 and 11 year-olds stood around the freshly dug grave site. At this point, Donna announced,  "Boys and girls, please join hands and bow your heads." They quickly formed a circle around the grave, creating a bond with their hands. They lowered their heads and waited. Donna delivered the eulogy.

"Friends, we are gathered here today to honor the memory of 'I Can't.' While he was with us here on Earth, he touched the lives or everyone, some more than others. We have provided 'I Can't' with a final resting place and a headstone that contains his epitaph. He is survived by his brothers and sisters, 'I Can', 'I Will', and 'I'm Going to Right Away.' They are not as well known as their famous relative and are certainly not as strong and powerful yet. Perhaps some day, with your help, they will make an even bigger mark on the world. May 'I Can't' rest in peace and may everyone present pick up their lives and move forward in his absence. Amen." As I listened, I realized that these students would never forget this day. 

Writing "I Can'ts," burying them and hearing the eulogy. That was a major effort on this part of the teacher. And she wasn't done yet. She turned the students around, marched them back into the classroom and held a wake. They celebrated the passing of "I Can't" with cookies, popcorn and fruit juices. As part of the celebration, Donna cut a large tombstone from butcher paper. She wrote the words "I Can't" at the top and put RIP in the middle. The date was added at the bottom. The paper tombstone hung in Donna's classroom for the remainder of the year.

On those rare occasions when a student forgot and said, "I Can't," Donna simply pointed to the RIP sign. The student then remembered that "I Can't"  was dead and chose to rephrase the statement. I wasn't one of Donna's students. She was one of mine. Yet that day, I learned an enduring lesson from her as years later, I still envision that fourth grade class laying to rest, "I Can't."