The Willis Family at Home

3 Valentine Videos

2012-02-15T16:29:00.000-08:00

(I think she looks shockingly like Roger in this one.)

April & Roger 2/8/2012

2012-02-09T17:43:00.000-08:00

April has taken to calling Tyson "my prince" and/or "my friend." Excellent parenting feedback, that. He really is doing a good job. Here's some video evidence.

...and then here's April talking shop:

...and Roger discovering just how great my taste in music is:

While Roger has been sick, this is mainly what we've seen from him:

But when he's not sleeping, he's tummy-timin' it up with April and her children (she's very good with the solidarity thing):

Yep. Our kids are great.

Blessed Roger

2012-02-01T18:49:00.000-08:00

Roger's baby blessing was a wonderful experience for me. I am always profoundly grateful for my husband's righteous exercise of the Priesthood to bless his children.

We were grateful to have Mom Willis here from Utah (she was a great Pit Crew), and Sam & Emily up from New York. It was wonderful to feel the support of family even so far from home.

Caleb and Daisy were really cute about the "tiny baby," and April reveled in the rare joy of cousins (she was exhausted and ill and camera shy in the extreme, but enjoy them she did).

We loved to have the adorable suit from Grandpa Willis to dress Roger in [the jacket was too big,

...but the vest fit perfectly], and the blanket from Grandma Dastrup to wrap him in.

He was awake and reverent for his blessing, then fell asleep right after. We enjoyed the company of our family for the rest of the day.

Sundays at the Willis Home

2012-02-01T18:39:00.001-08:00

The following photos are unstaged. All of them. They represent a Sunday not in the park, without George.

April literally pulled our Apocrypha off the shelf, settled her little bare-legged self into the loveseat nook, and started in to study.

April likes Roger a lot. When she notices him, which is rarely. Mostly, she does whatever I'm doing... with her Susie. Anybody surprised? Here is a rare photo of April and The Rog (pronounced "rodge") in the wild.

My husband is not only ridiculously good-looking, he also makes sure I don't languish friendless and Harry Potterless in the nursing chair. We're almost done with Book 3 (Tyson read all 7 aloud when April was born, and we started again when we brought Roger home).

Our Kids This Week

2012-01-16T16:43:00.000-08:00

Here is what our kids look and sound like this week. Neither of these videos is terribly great (especially since April is on her way to a nap), but I am aching to introduce them in person to my loved ones and trying to do the best I can by video. And sometimes they perform, and sometimes they don't. Here, they don't, but April's hair is cute and Roger... moves. Enjoy!

Just in Case You Missed This Gem on Facebook...

2012-01-04T09:58:00.000-08:00

Twilight, by Dr. Seuss

Jake likes a girl. Her name is Bella.
Bella likes a different fella.

See this vamp? This is Ed.
Ed is pale. Ed is dead.

Ed saved Bella from a van.
Ed must be a special man.

Ed won't kill boys. He won't kill girls.
Ed gets fed on deer and squirrels.

This is James. He's a tracker.
He's a sort of vamp attacker.

James hunts Bella for a thrill.
Will Ed kill him? Yes, he will.

But James gave her a little bite.
Will she be a vamp? She might!

Edward fixes Bella's cut.
She won't be a vampire.
But...

She becomes one. Read some more.
She's a vampire in book 4.

(Not written by a Willis.)(Laughed at by 2 Willises.)

Grzegorz Brzeczyszczykiewicz

2011-12-31T09:12:00.000-08:00

So, this must be how Annie feels trying to say Polish words.

So Sad It's Blurry...

2011-12-26T17:03:00.003-08:00

...but you can still hear April's Christmas morning 2011 enthusiasm!

Roger's Famous!!

2011-12-25T14:14:00.001-08:00

Click Here to see his picture in the Boston Herald!

12 Hours Old

2011-12-23T13:46:00.000-08:00

Roger David Willis
8 lbs, 14.8 oz
21.5 inches
Fine matting of straight brown hair (whose kid IS this?).
Born 5 hours after induction began, with minimal effort by his mother.
Born 9 days after his due date.
It already feels like he's been part of our family forever.

Jim, Jimmer, Jimmest

2011-12-22T15:36:00.000-08:00

I thought this article was interesting. It'll be fun to see how the Jimmer does against Kobe and gang on Monday.

Tyson's HLS Friends Are Cool

2011-12-17T16:41:00.002-08:00

Dear Tax Study Group/Ames Team,
You guys are pretty much the coolest ever. We couldn't believe that you'd get our kids presents... and then when we opened them, we were amazed at how perfect they were (are). Here is April enjoying her tea set (which is now her favorite toy: she plays with it constantly), and we'll post pictures of Baby Boy luxuriating on his lamb rug when he arrives. Thank you so much!

Love,

The Willis Family

Imagine Elvis's "Here Comes Santa Claus" in the Background

2011-12-17T16:41:00.001-08:00

...Tyson (who is studying for his Monday Copyright & Trademark Litigation final at the moment) says using the song for home video background would be copyright infringement, even if we bought it. So you'll have to imagine it. But you can enjoy her sweet moves anyway.

4 Days of Class Left

2011-12-04T16:11:00.001-08:00

...I think April's starting to feel the pressure. But at least she knows where to turn.

Shhh...don't tell anyone

2011-11-28T15:46:00.000-08:00

[There was a cute syllogism here that we have since taken down. Annie was a little concerned about it. Suffice it to say that what you're about to read was a little mean of us. Or rather, me.]

I'll skip most of the background, but because we were talking about a Harry Potter lawsuit in my copyright/trademark class (my professor is J.K. Rowling's attorney), my professor handed out Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. I for one, was afraid to try most of them. But April got really excited about the prospect of jelly beans (she repeatedly asked for them all through dinner). So, when dinner was done, we had "family home evening treats."

She enjoyed the sausage-flavored bean, handled earwax with equanimity, and liked the banana. We gave her dirt and she asked for more. We gave her soap (which seemed like a good follow-up to dirt), and she asked for more. But after a few chews of rotten egg, she whimpered, "It's gross." And it got stuck to her teeth as she tried to spit it out. After finally getting it out, she said, "It makes me sick." I laughed a lot more than I probably should have.

Anyway, she was rewarded for her pain. She got a plate (not a jelly bean) of Mississippi mud pie (no real mud, just a lot of chocolate). And, lest she hate jelly beans forever, we let her finish off with candyfloss (or cotton candy as we call it on this side of the Atlantic), after I tested it to make sure it was safe.

Thanksgiving

2011-11-25T10:53:00.001-08:00

You have to love Thanksgiving. It's probably the only holiday where you are morally obligated to overeat. I like it. Here are 5 signs that you did Thanksgiving dinner right.

1. You'd love to go out shopping for Black Friday, but you're too busy digesting.

2. Before dinner, you could do 20 pushups easily. After dinner, you can't do any.

3. Moving hurts. And not because you're sore from the morning Turkey Bowl.

4. You don't have to eat again until Monday.

5. You ate so much that you can no longer get up from the table. Someone has to stop you from eating by taking the food away from you.

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving.

Oh, April. The 28-month Journal

2011-11-18T17:24:00.001-08:00

Here is the latest chronicle of The Child's hilarity. My very favorite is the bottom bit, a verbatim transcription of 35 minutes of last night's 3-hour Crib Monologue (this is EXTREMELY atypical, and I blame Daylight Savings).

This kid.... what would we do without her?

Ok, since I know almost nobody reads these, here is the monologue segment (parentheses are me):

"I don't know how to speak Dolphin. I don't know how Poco (zoo parrot)'s mother can speak Dolphin. The brown dolphin is wet. We have a black dolphin. The brown Dolphin is black! The dog is following my cousin Anna. Can I speak Dolphin? Absolutely! We can speak Dolphin at breakfast.
"____ (unidentifiable noun) is my favorite that we had at dinner. We had ravioli at dinner too (we didn't). It's my favorite food. Does James (ward friend) have a mother? He does! James's mother is neat, and so is Ellie (another ward friend)'s mother! Martha was one of those artists who aren't a bit touchy.
"Would you like to sing a song about 3 potatoes? 1-potato, 2-potato, 3-potato, 4-potato, 5-potato, 6-potato, 7-potato, 8-potato, 9-potato... HEE HEE HEE! (Repeated in "tiny voice.") That's what my cousin Michael says. That's what my cousin Anna will say in a story. 2-potato, 5-potato, 1-potato. She will tell me the story clearly. We speak Dolphin clearly.
"Today we are going to church today, after breakfast. And there will be fun bubbles, and fun toys. There's one table at Nursery! I saw a big grown-up Daddy big boy at Nursery!
"I have a doll Mabel and a Suzie at my house, and they match my shirt! I'm wearing my NEW shirt that is a frog shirt.
"I only have a flower that is a daffodil that I got from the park, from my garden. A daffodil! It's a beautiful flower. Flower is for F!
"BWA BWA BWA BWA BWA BWA... Sleep, baby, sleep... hee hee!
"We're going to take the screwdriver and screwdrive the caterpillar (Leapfrog toy - out of batteries in toy room), and then he will always work!
"My Grandma Dastrup's house! My grandma has a caterpillar that WORKS. See, it got broken, that's all! It's ok, we juts throw my grandma's ____(unidentifiable noun) in the garbage. It got broken, all right?
"Hey, Ellie (her pink bunny this time), what's your favorite toy? What's your mother's favorite toy? Is it your brother's ____ (unidentifiable noun) in the garbage so it doesn't get stuck in the Raisin Bran? How about... would you like your grandma's favorite doll? Baby Mabey? Polly? Out in the beautiful windy day! Fly a kite out in the beautiful windy day!!"

...at this point, Tyson came home from Home Teaching, and found me laughing with tears streaming down my cheeks. I am so glad April speaks Dolphin as clearly as she speaks English!

April Today

2011-11-07T08:57:00.000-08:00

Tithing on gross or net?

2011-11-03T15:28:00.001-07:00

The question came up recently in a priesthood leadership meeting as to whether we pay tithing on gross or on net income. The church has not given any specific guidance on the topic, and I will not attempt any doctrinal position. But it's interesting to notice that, under a simple income tax, you don't actually end up with more money by paying tithing on net. Here's why:

Assume you make $100, and that your tax rate is 33.33% (1/3).

If you pay tithing on the net, then you pay $33.33 in taxes, leaving $66.67 on which to pay tithing. You pay one tenth, or $6.66, and you are left with $60.01.

If you pay tithing on the gross, then you pay $10, leaving you with $90. Since the tithing is tax deductible as a charitable donation (see 26 U.S.C. § 170), you only have $90 of taxable income, on which you pay $30 in taxes. This leaves you with $60.00. The difference is a rounding error.

Now, like I said, this makes a few assumptions (the deduction doesn't take you to a lower tax bracket, you're already above the 2% minimum for itemized deductions, etc.), but they're fairly likely to hold true. And even without the assumptions, the deduction makes the final result pretty close. So given that it comes out the same for me, I'd rather pay the extra to the church than to the government.

"I'm a Costume! I'm a Costume!"

2011-10-31T07:44:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween from Tyson & Annie, Princess April, and Halloween Bear. And ?.

On our way to our ward Halloween party on Friday night, April burst forth from the elevator hollering, "I'm a costume! I'm a costume!" Our doorman got a big laugh from that.

Here we are on our way to and enjoying our building's annual Halloween Party. We really appreciate this; they give a beautiful party for the kids every year and we've really started to look forward to it.

Playing with Daddy, Parts 1 & 2 - October 2011

2011-10-26T12:01:00.000-07:00

It's hard to get much out of hide & seek in 800 square feet... unless you're 2 and you have the coolest Dad in the world!

[Also, we told April that her Christmas nightgown was for when her Grandma Dastrup came to help with her baby brother. She apparently translated that into "when you wear this, Grandma Dastrup will come!" and she insists on wearing it nightly. Keep hoping, baby girl. If you wait another few weeks, it will work!]

See the Sleeping Bunny...

2011-10-26T11:43:00.001-07:00

This is a slightly abridged version of "Sleeping Bunnies" - meaning that it's missing a few words and two strains of the chorus. But it's still cute.

Tip of the Day

2011-10-25T11:59:00.001-07:00

Don't google "law jobs 2011"... it might make you cry.

The funny thing about taxes...

2011-10-11T11:29:00.000-07:00

Yes, yes, I am actually going to attempt to share some amusing moments from the world of tax law. They all involve decisions on when an expense is personal and when it is for business.

#1 An author attempted to deduct many normal life expenses (e.g. hot tubs, TVs, traveling, daughter's college expenses, etc.) as business expenses because "[f]or fiction writing all personal experiences and observations are all business experiences and observations." He chose not to deduct expenses that, if listed, would give away elements of works in progress. My casebook states, "Despite his largess, the court found all the expenses inherently personal and not deductible."

#2 A man wrote a book on brothels in Nevada. I'll skip the details, but suffice it to say, his "business expenses" involved in writing the book were not deductible.

#3 A playwright tried to write off newspaper subscriptions, movie rentals, and theater tickets as business research. In an opinion in three acts (not including the prologue and epilogue), which included several footnoted references to taxation in theater and literature, the court denied the deduction.

#4 Clothing, such as work uniforms, is deductible only if not suitable for general or personal use. A welder tried to deduct his work boots as a business expenditure, but failed to convince the tax court that they weren't suitable for personal use. How could the tax court be so sure? Because he admitted to wearing the boots to the trial. Oops.

#5 A CPA tried to deduct costs of exercise equipment to build his stamina to do tax work. Clever, but also shot down by the tax court.

Some Summer 2011 Photos

2011-10-09T18:25:00.000-07:00

Introducing New Arrivals!

2011-10-09T17:43:00.000-07:00

This is Spencer W., Tyson's new best friend.

And Ludwig B., Annie's new best friend.

And Sally the Camera, our beautiful new DSLR. She has just a little touch of star quality... (And Tyson says "I don't know how to use this camera. It's too smart for me.") So the flash stays on.

As you can see, we had REALLY amazing birthdays this year. Just look at the excitement on my sweetheart's face as he prepares to blow out the candle in his apple pie. (We will post pictures of Tyson playing with his new birthday football as soon as we have live-action footage to shoot.)

Thank you, thank you to our wonderful home people for the super-coolness of our average-age-25 birthdays. We love you AND the stuff you gave us. Including the not-pictured AND non-tangible stuff (from Quiet Books to dinners, plays, movies, and storytelling festivals).

We so excited.

2011-10-09T17:40:00.000-07:00

For those who didn't catch this on Facebook:

I think April's learning, thanks to Rebecca Black, both the days of the week and the joy of a weekend. We so excited. (She not learn the English as well, though.)

The Little Mommy

2011-10-09T17:21:00.000-07:00

Every time I see April with her Suzie, Mabel, and Raggedy Ann dolls, I think of this quote from Elder Foster's April 2010 General Conference "Mother Told Me" talk:

"By divine design, nurturing seems to be part of the spiritual heritage given to women. I’ve seen it in my daughters, and now I see it in my granddaughters—even before they could walk, they wanted to carry and care for their little baby dolls."

Lucky Suzie gets her clothes and diaper changed several times daily.

April also puts her dolls and stuffed animals to sleep often; she rocks them, singing "Rock-a-bye, don't you cry/We will go to Granny's"... Then she lays them down on a blanket or pillow, tiptoes out saying "see you in the morning!" and gently closes the door. Suzie is receiving a kiss after her lullaby.

Yes, dear. Suzie's messy. Again. Oh, and April makes sure to put Suzie's juice and milk bottles back in the fridge so they won't spoil.

[Please notice the DRASTICALLY improved quality of our photos, even if my photography skills aren't always lovely. We LOVE our new DSLR!!!!!!!!!!]

Amusing Anecdotes

2011-10-05T07:12:00.000-07:00

#1 April, as we know, is both perceptive and precocious. Recently, when Annie went to pick her up in the morning, April astutely observed, "Dr. Priver doesn't have a beard on her chin."

#2 Apparently, the Bible is not a strong suit of some HLS students. In my evidence class, we were talking about King Solomon and about Abraham and Isaac (I think there may have been some tangential relation to the material, but I can't recall for sure what). The professor asked for someone to tell the story of Abraham and Isaac. I considered volunteering, but I'm glad I didn't, because I would have missed the rendition given. It went something like this:

"So, God told Abraham to kill Isaac, I don't remember why. So, he took him to a mountain, and he was about to kill him, when somebody stopped him--an angel, or maybe a ram, I can't remember which--maybe both. And he didn't kill him."

Yep. The angel-rams get me a little confused sometimes, too.

#3 April is very enthusiastic about family home evening. Recently she has taken up the habit of stopping about 5 minutes into dinner, folding her arms, bowing her head, saying a prayer, and then immediately after "Amen!" comes "Time for family home evening treats!" We explained to her that we have to have a lesson first, so now she concludes her prayers with "I'm going to teach a (adult) lesson, and then we'll have family home evening treats!" Obviously, she is rapidly improving in her understanding of FHE and its purpose.

#4 Utah State, for the third time this season, blew a double-digit lead. This was the second time they led my more than 10 in the fourth quarter and lost. While I'm certainly grateful for the most recent debacle, the urge to start adapting the old LeBron James jokes (like "Don't ask LeBron James to give you change for a dollar because he's only got three quarters) is getting to be overwhelming.

#5 (Warning: you may want to skip this one, it's kind of gross) Since you can breathe through your nose, and also through your mouth, it stands to reason that the two must be connected to some common place (presumably your lungs), and therefore that they are connected to each other. I had always assumed that this was true, but now I'm quite sure.

The other day during dinner, I felt something I was eating start to go down the wrong tube, so I coughed in an attempt to keep it out. I then experienced some strange sensation in my nose, as if it were partially blocked. I blew my nose, and, for some morbid reason, looked at the tissue. There were large chunks of carrot, pea, and corn in the tissue. Confident that I had definitely inserted the veggies into my mouth originally, I thought it safe to conclude that my nose and mouth must be connected. Aren't orifices amusing things?

Yeeeeeeeeeerghhhh

2011-09-12T16:37:00.000-07:00

Don't go out of town for 4 months after buying a brand new bag of rice from Costco and opening it once. You might have friends.

April Turns 2

2011-09-11T17:21:00.000-07:00

...a post-dated News Flash!
The day of her birthday, April did most possible fun things to do in Utah with Mommy and Grandparents Dastrup; Daddy had to work, but joined later. We went to the SLC Children's museum, swimming at the Murray pool, and Thanksgiving Point in the afternoon, then to the Pizza Pie Cafe where "the friends" came and sang to her; I doubt she'll ever forget that.

Hugs for Sarah at April's cabin party. She said she wanted cabin and cousins at her party... she got her wish! Thanks for the impressive Hokey Pokeying!

The Cake... EIEIO...

Grandma & Grandpa Dastrup

Cousins!

Aunts Christa and Emily - Thanks for coming even without your husbands!!

April's First Violin... [and not her last, if her Grandmas have anything to say about it]...

Enjoyed by all... Tyson couldn't resist an "after" picture. I think the sheep actually was eventually consumed.

Back in Boston

2011-09-11T11:55:00.001-07:00

You can always tell when I post instead of Annie. There's a lot of text, and no pictures. Maybe I'll try to solicit a little help to make this post more interesting.

We're back in Boston. The trip was interesting. We had 6 checked bags, a shoulder bag, a backpack, and a stroller. We had more baggage than a guest on the Jerry Springer Show. We were smart enough to get a ride with someone from the airport this time (as opposed to taking public transit), but it was still a lot of stuff for three people to handle, especially when one of those people is two and another is 6 months pregnant.

The baggage wasn't the only thing, though. We had carefully chosen our flight to arrive at 3:15, right before rush hour. About an hour into the flight, we heard, "Do we have any medical personnel on the board? Please come to the back of the plane." From there we knew it was only a matter of time before we made an emergency landing. We stopped in Chicago about an hour later, let one of the flight attendants off (she was holding her side, but we never got details), and eventually got back in the air, with our new arrival time being 4:30.

The remainder of the flight was fine (though the flight attendant getting sick meant we never did get out small complimentary cup of water), and we landed right about 4:30. But since we were off schedule, we didn't have a gate to get off at. And one of the jetways had blown a tire, so it took even longer. It was probably 5:15 when we actually got off the plane, and then we got rush-houred. We got home sometime close to 7:00.

Other than that, though, things have been great. We got our old car back, our own little home, our own little space. We went to church today, and got to say hello to all of the people that we haven't seen for four months and didn't graduate in that time, and it's been nice to be home. And we miss everybody in Utah already.

Scripture Study

2011-08-28T14:02:00.000-07:00

So, for scripture study, I thought I'd try something that's a little more immediately applicable to me. I looked up "lawyers" in the index. Yeah, bad idea. Every reference listed is about the wickedness of the lawyers (and sometimes the judges too). It was a little depressing. Don't get me wrong. I don't plan to be prideful because of my costly apparel or be corrupt or try to make prophets look dumb. But as for my goal of being a good, honest, righteous lawyer, I don't seem to have many good scriptural models to follow.

April & Fireworks - A Love Story

2011-07-06T12:07:00.000-07:00

Life in the West

2011-07-05T13:41:00.000-07:00

Although we miss our Cambridge friends,

we are renewing old friendships,

having fun in the sun,

giving hugs (even if we have to chase the huggee down to give them),

learning new skills,

and "running so fast!" to fully enjoy every day.

We have had a great time taking trips to Bear Lake and Thanksgiving Point, the Salt Lake Children's Museum and Highland Splash Park. We've shopped, eaten out, watched movies, and done a little work (except Tyson, who's done a lot of work). And we sleep a lot (except Tyson, who leaves for work by 7 Monday-Thursday).

Tyson is enjoying his work for Provo City and as a law & econ research assistant (via internet) for a professor in Cambridge. He is relishing access to a piano - hopefully we will have a polished video of his "La Campanella" to post by the time he is again pianoless this fall. He is gearing up for Round 2 of Summer Interviews this August. I am gearing up for the big #2 a week from today; I am priming April to enjoy her birthday celebrations, and I think as long as we have balloons, cousins, and candles, she'll be ecstatic. Stay tuned.

Our Camera is Found

2011-06-28T12:53:00.001-07:00

...but we don't have it yet. I am so glad not to lose those pictures of April - now how to get it home from Bear Lake?

...and can I still buy a DSLR?

Our Camera is Lost

2011-06-24T20:32:00.000-07:00

Sympathy please? We have lost more than a broken, battery-eating camera: there were some great pictures of April and our family from the past 3 months that will never be seen more.

Let us know if you find it.

April's Journal - May 1, 2011

2011-05-01T08:51:00.001-07:00

CLICK HERE to see April's most recent journal.

Battle of the Kings & C is for Cookie, Part II

2011-04-19T19:09:00.000-07:00

...featuring Tyson "Leggs" Willis.

Spiders & Chess, Part I

2011-04-19T19:07:00.000-07:00

It's usually much more tuneful. We were glad we got it on tape at all...

April's New Favorite Pastime

2011-04-17T14:05:00.000-07:00

The Harvard Law Couples' Association Kids' Club sponsored a great Spring Day Hunt activity yesterday, and April had a wonderful time. Despite the chill and the smell of turkey mulch, she hunted and hunted for eggs and other treats (bubbles, Spring Pez Dispensers, chocolate bunny in a box...).

Now she carries her little pink bucket around everywhere, asking us to hide the Easter Eggs so she can find them... over and over and over. She doesn't really care that they're empty. She just loves to play hide-and-seek with inanimate objects.

So now they tell me...

2011-04-14T18:26:00.000-07:00

I don't think anyone will deny that the first year of law school is hard. And to be honest, I'm a little stressed and a little worn out, and a lot glad that I'm nearly done--a week and a day of classes plus finals and it's all over.

So today, while I was choosing classes for next year, I thought I'd take a look at the graduation requirements. This year I've had 18 credits per semester for two semesters. As a 2L or 3L, they won't even let you take more than 15 (the minimum is a whopping 10). When you include my winter semester class, I will have completed 39 credits this year. I only need 52 more credits total during the next two years, and of those, only 36 have to be law courses. So if I decide to cross-register and take, for example, a handful of physics classes to make myself eligible for the patent bar, I could actually finish more than half of my total law credits in the first third of my law school education. In short, they make you work a lot harder as a 1L. I wondered why none of the upperclassmen ever seemed stressed out.

By the way, for the other 8 people in the universe that care, the NHL playoffs started last night. The Red Wings (yes, I cheer for a team from Detroit) won their first game. And I found out that they had by far the fewest fighting penalties of any team this year. Thirteen in 82 games. That's still thirteen too many, but it's less than half of some players individually. I knew there was a good reason to like the Wings.

PS: If we're in Utah for the summer (which is looking plausible again), and the Red Wings are still in the playoffs (which is also plausible, if not probable), I will provide food for anyone who provides me with a TV on which to watch games. But only if you watch with me.

2 April Stories I'm Afraid I'll Forget If I Don't Post Them Quick

2011-04-09T15:32:00.000-07:00

Story #1 - Really, Universe?

I just bought a 170-disc Complete Mozart Box CD Set. I love it. (Like, I think Tyson's jealous.) We listen and dance and talk about forms, cadences, and antecedent/consequent phrases all day long.

April sometimes asks for Mozart, but usually the Hamster Dance or Elmo's Song or Scripture Scouts. We sing primary songs and silly songs, we listen to classic Sesame Street and other quality children's music from Danny Kaye to Phala Tracy, and, let's face it, my kid hears a fair amount of harp music.

Despite this significant effort, the low point in my maternal musical universe came yesterday, during a rowdy country song at Texas Roadhouse. April, after grooving awhile, announced through her facefull of soft roll, "April likes this music! April LIKES this music!"

To placate two sisters-in-law who may take offense, I will modify my statement about low points in the universe, and rejoice at least that we are achieving the goal of musical eclecticism. Rap would be the true low point, I think; may I never find out.

Story #2 - You're Thinkin' Too Hard, Kid.

This afternoon we went to participate in a study at the Harvard Developmental Studies Lab (I probably got the name wrong, but that's the right idea). The 2 nice researchers played with her awhile, then took us into a little room with ceiling cameras for the study.

Part of the study was Researcher #2, Emily, in the course of "packing a suitcase," dropping things and asking April to help her by retrieving them. (I think the point was to see whether the child would pick up the object the researcher expressed preference for, or just pick one of the two objects at random.)

After a few rounds of this (and a few "Can you help Emily, April?" "No!"s), April obliged by picking up a toy and returning it to Emily. After she'd done it once and returned to her little chair, she responded to "April, can you help Emily?" with a somewhat saucy, "Emily can walk!"

Good point, child. Good point.

Also, here's April with Tyson's friend Ben. We took April to a brunch party for Tyson's HLS Section, hosted by his teacher, Professor Weinreb. I love watching Tyson's section-mates with April - they're so cute with her. April, being April, loved having an entourage.

Little Mommy & First Pigtails

2011-04-04T06:27:00.000-07:00

April likes to wear my clothes.

She does not so much like to wear pigtails, but I think she looks pretty cute in them anyway.

My Kid Being Funny

2011-04-04T06:13:00.000-07:00

Pictures and Utah

2011-03-29T15:59:00.001-07:00

March Madness

2011-03-28T15:36:00.000-07:00

With this year's NCAA tourney drawing to a close and everyone's bracket completely ruined (between the three of us here, we only had one correct final four pick), it's time to look forward to next year. Apparently the NCAA is making some big changes:

Onion SportsDome

And some of us are big enough dweebs that we'd still fill out ten brackets on ESPN.

Jimmer, Oh Jimmer

2011-03-24T18:50:00.000-07:00

...gee, what a real swell guy.

I'm going to miss him too. More than Danny Bower or Todd Christensen, two of my heartthrob cougars from ten years ago. More than Edward, Peeta, or Harry when their stories ended. We'll have to re-replace "teach me how to Jimmer" with "Teach me to Walk in the Light." Like Dear Departed Mouse, April will forget him. I suppose it's for the best. It's just time to part ways.

...unless the Celtics draft him...

Ugh...sick again

2011-03-22T17:46:00.000-07:00

I don't know how it happened, but April and I are sick again. It's the second time in about 3 weeks. Ugh.

Oh, and yes, I'm really, really sick.

Traveling with April, Monologues, and NCAA Brackets

2011-03-18T11:42:00.001-07:00

Traveling with April is an interesting experience. She was very well behaved, but it was still difficult at times simply because of the lack of space, or hands, or both. She mostly laughed and played with Dollar Store toys my brilliant wife had collected just for this occasion. She enjoyed looking at SkyMall magazine (do people actually buy any of the items in there?), and she played with (empty) vomit bags a little. Right before we landed in Salt Lake City, we heard her say, "Eat it," and when we looked down she was holding a safety instruction card with a bite taken out of it. We think that may be the source of the cold she now has.

On the way home from the Boston airport, we decided to take public transportation. Bad idea. We will probably never take the Silver Line (basically a bus line that goes to and from the airport) with April again. We had two suitcases, a stroller, two shoulder bags, a backpack. And a toddler. I think the bus driver actually buried his face in his hands when he saw us get on. The bus was crowded enough without our help. It was (insert expletive here) awful. We ended up with the big suitcase on my lap, the other suitcase and April at/on Annie's feet, and the shoulder bags and the stroller stacked up at the front of the bus. I don't know where the backpack was, but it somehow came home with us.

After the Silver Line it was much easier. We had a little more space on the subway, and plenty of room on the last bus home. April started monologuing as we left Harvard Station. We need to get one of her monologues on tape, because they're pretty awesome. Here's a rough transcription of this one:

"Oh, boy! Hunter! Oh, boy! Hunter! Milk! Milk! Want some milk. Hungy. Hungy. Jelly beans. Do you want a jelly bean? Yeah. Jelly beans for April. For rizzle, for rizzle. For rizzle, for rizzle."

People in the bus tried not to snicker, and one guy asked us as he was getting off if she really said "for rizzle." Yep, she did. All I know is, she didn't learn it from me.

As for the third part of the post's title, we filled out brackets on the way home. April filled one out, too. Or rather, scribbled on the paper while we filled out her bracket for her. And she's kicking our trash. As of right now, she has correctly picked 17 out of 18 games. She missed Morehead State over Louisville, but she had Louisville losing in the next round anyway, so it didn't hurt her that bad. She's good at this. For those taking notes, she picked Kansas over Syracuse in the final. Look for that one.

Jiggety Jig

2011-03-16T12:11:00.000-07:00

We are looking forward to going home again, mainly so we're not living out of a suitcase.... wait, did I just call Cambridge home!? This could be considered progress, right?

We've had a wonderful time reconnecting with family and friends. Thanks to all our Utah people for doing your best to make Utah feel like home.

Harvey Unga last July

2011-03-04T09:37:00.000-08:00

Harvey Unga tries out for NFL scouts, talks about new family - ksl.com

The Tragedy of Brandon Davies

2011-03-02T09:03:00.000-08:00

If you haven't heard already, Brandon Davies was suspended for the rest of the season yesterday for an honor code violation. I can't figure out how to embed this, but here is an ESPN clip talking about BYU's honor code. One of the guys has kind of an annoying voice, but it's really a good clip.

We wish Davies and his family all the best, and we sincerely hope that he will make the changes he needs to in order to be eligible to play next season.

I would buy stock in this...well, maybe.

2011-03-01T17:48:00.000-08:00

The other day I saw one of those ads on the side of my screen attempting to tantalize me with the prospect of a new MacBook Pro for $34, and for some reason (most likely a freak alignment of Mars, Io, Polaris, and Alpha Centauri coinciding with extreme boredom on my part) I actually clicked on it. It turns out it wasn't actually a scam. Not exactly, anyway.

It's called Quibid. It's kind of like ebay, except the prices are lower. A lot lower. After a bit of looking around for the catch, I finally watched the news clip video embedded at the top of the page in a somewhat conspicuous place and found out what the deal is. They charge you to bid. It costs 60 cents to place a bid. That doesn't seem like that much, but unlike ebay, where you can place a maximum bid and the price goes up in small chunks, on Quibid the price only goes up by a penny with each bid. And unlike ebay, where the auction has a definite end time, Quibid works more like a real auction, where after each new bid, the clock resets at 10 or 15 seconds. So an auction can go on for several hours, and if you leave for a second, you could lose it. But that's not the real problem.

Being both a skeptic and a mathematician, I had to crunch a couple numbers (they weren't hard numbers, so I'm not going to pretend like it was some huge mental feat, but it was interesting). Each bid costs 60 cents and raises the price by one cent. So the guys running Quibid are getting 60 times the sale price of the item. That means that if the $200 gift card auction that's currently at about $12 ended right now, someone would save roughly $180 dollars (after deducting the price of bids and shipping), and everyone else who bid on it would collectively pay the Quibid guys over $700 for a $200 card. They have a good racket going. Sure beats selling plasma.

So the question you should be asking yourself is this: Why pay retail price when you could pay much, much more?* Think about it. If you win the same percentage of auctions as the average member, and if the gift card is representative of auctions taken on the whole (which probably is a fairly reasonably assumption), then you'll be paying 3 1/2 times retail price and for the extra 250% you get the special feeling of "winning" a few times. Suddenly, it doesn't sound so good. Unless you're the one running the show. It looks like a highly lucrative business. That's why I'd seriously consider buying stock in it.

If you think about it (or if you watch the video and listen to the last two sentences out of the anchor's mouth), it's gambling. You're playing online slot machines. Small price to play each time, virtually no chance of winning. The odds are against you. You will almost surely lose. And if you bid a lot, you certainly will lose overall, even if you get a couple huge bargains.

If you find something you're interested in and decide to proffer, say, five bids on the item, you probably won't win. But you will be out $3. That could cover shoe rental next time you go bowling. Five more bids and you could bowl a game, too. For the same price as thirteen bids you could have gone to Cafe Rio and bought yourself dinner (including sales tax). It adds up fast.

So, my final conclusion is that you should stay away. It looks interesting, but it's a great way to lose money. It may be possible to study the prices stuff tends to go for, and only start bidding when things get close to (or above) that price. But I'm not going to spend the time tracking for months only for a chance at winning. The next time I need a new set of golf clubs, I'll buy it the old-fashioned way.

*Answers will vary. Correct answers may include, "Duh!," "Because I prefer to save money," or "Noticing that I have a positive marginal utility of wealth at all levels of wealth, I am confident that I can maximize my utility (happiness) by acquiring the goods I desire at a lower cost, thereby retaining a greater amount of wealth after purchasing the same basket of utile-bringing widgets. Although this is not a Pareto efficient outcome because I am better off at Quibid's expense, as a rational self-interested homo economicus I believe this is the optimal choice for me."

Dear fellow HLS students,

2011-02-24T04:35:00.000-08:00

Hello. How are you? Fantastic.

I'll get straight to the chase. I need a favor. For my education's sake. Would you be so kind as to use your laptops only for note-taking in class? I come to class to learn the law, not to read the news, and I think deep down you do, too. I admit that sometimes the NBA is more interesting than torts, but I think it's a problem when I know more about your fantasy basketball team than about strict products liability.

Yes, I know. It's hard to focus for 80+ minutes straight. And sometimes someone asks a question about something you already understand, and you don't feel the need to listen intently for a couple of minutes. I occasionally zone out myself when I already get it. But other times, I'm one of the people that doesn't understand and needs to listen, and that's nearly impossible to do while you're shopping for bras right in front of me. If my eyes were just a little better, I'd have your credit card number to hold over you, but since I don't, I'll just say "please." Please?

What about when we're reviewing material from the day before and we all have satisfactory notes on it? I feel you, but I still need your help on this one. Your crossword puzzle will probably suck me in so deeply that I won't actually notice when we move on to new stuff, and I'll be too busy trying to decide whether the 5-letter Beatles member is Ringo or Starr to pick up on how exactly to determine the validity of choice of law clauses.

There is a time to read your e-mail, check facebook, buy those $375 shoes, tweak your fantasy roster, watch Manchester United highlights, explore the stock market, update yourself on Perez Hilton's latest, look up that Magic: The Gathering card you need for your deck, or hold Gmail chat conversations with the person behind me. But during class is probably not that time. So please stop all of this. Your efforts will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Tyson Willis

Your 2011 Valentine

2011-02-14T06:47:00.000-08:00

Start 'Em Young

2011-02-05T15:30:00.001-08:00

We are not pregnant.

2011-01-29T12:08:00.000-08:00

Are we the only ones?

Congratulations, EVERYBODY!

Tess? Tess? Wook! Back - PAWN!

2011-01-26T21:16:00.000-08:00

"Chess? Chess? Rook! Black pawn!"

April is very preoccupied with chess.

It should be noted that all her chess press pics are unstaged. She loves Daddy's pawns and pieces and shepherds them carefully.

Also, this week we had a shark sighting....

Harp Solo at 7:18!

2011-01-25T07:17:00.001-08:00

...it's me and Elizabeth, but they show the backs of our hands for some reason, not our faces...

I am sitting first chair at my own harp (the gold one). The recording's cool, even if you can't see me.

Videos

2011-01-12T18:39:00.000-08:00

If you miss April and you know it... there are lots of videos, past and present, waiting for you on Youtube. Even if you don't, here's today's edition of April Being Cute Around the House.

(Incidentally, we, together with the rest of Massachusetts, are snowed in today.)

Christmas and 18 Months and Other Pictures

2011-01-12T17:43:00.000-08:00

Click here for April's 18 month journal.

New Year's Eve

2010-12-31T18:38:00.000-08:00

We learned something this week. Don't ever, ever, ever, ever try to go shopping on or near New Year's (for those counting, I think that's two fewer 'ever's than used when telling you not to ask a woman if she's pregnant). Stores and parking lots, and often roads, are zoos. This morning we went in search of a couple of ingredients for dinner, and I couldn't find a place to park at the store. OK, so that's not that unusual. But I also couldn't even make it around the block before Annie could run in and buy the things we needed, even with long lines. Yesterday was a similar story.

All that behind us, however, we did have a really good dinner. We made faux Cafe Rio food. Pork barbacoa. We couldn't believe it when we actually found caffeine free cola here. The food was amazing. I blame Annie for that. I would post pictures, but I understand that drool can cause short circuits in keyboards, and I wouldn't want to inflict that on anyone.

In other news, we have applied for a summer job. At one place. We need to get going and get a couple more out, but we've at least got one behind us. We also bought a crib/toddler bed/day bed/regular bed. It hasn't come yet, but we're looking forward to it. April's getting a little long for the pack 'n' play. Pictures will follow.

Happy New Year everyone! Since we get to midnight before all you MSTers, we can call you and tell you how it is if you like.

Nov 13 2010 Family Photos - Our Favorites

2010-12-21T20:31:00.001-08:00

THIS IS OUR CHRISTMAS CARD. MERRY CHRISTMAS, LOVED ONES!!

And many thanks to Keyla Sanders for her lovely work!

UNSTAGED

2010-12-19T10:54:00.001-08:00

MY. MOM. ROCKS.

2010-12-19T10:44:00.001-08:00

Thank you, Mother dear! This is the best Christmas present I could have hoped for. Say what you will, you are an artist.

April's Christmas Talent

2010-12-19T10:40:00.001-08:00

REIGNING CHAMPION

2010-12-04T18:22:00.000-08:00

Please click here. Oh please oh please. And scroll down. And look for Tyson.

An April Story and Christmas Begins

2010-11-29T17:38:00.000-08:00

I think April is really internalizing the messages of the holiday season, as she now trots around the house every morning singing to herself, "eeeee-bo HAP-py!" (April happy!)

Yes, she says her name now. It's pretty obviously "April," but if you turn your brain off it sounds a lot like "E-bo". I ask her if she likes her name, and she nods (a full body bob) and says "yeaaaaah."

I guess we did well.

In other news, Thanksgiving is over! Hurray! Yes, all my Christmas decorating is done, and most of my presents are wrapped and under the tree, although I've successfully restrained myself in order to have something to wrap in December. I love Christmas - can you tell? And I'm passing it on. Already, my daughter, directly upon waking up, wants to go see the Twinkle Lights ("ite! ite!") in the front room, and have a "sah" (song)... Christmas music now being legal. She dances quite wildly to "Jingle Bells," but likes quieter carols as well.

Boston in the Fall

2010-11-17T16:26:00.000-08:00

Morning Menagerie

2010-11-15T07:09:00.001-08:00

...and some pictures. (All April at 16 months.)

Halloween 2010

2010-11-06T19:28:00.000-07:00

I'm a nurse (I'm ALWAYS a nurse), Tyson's John Isner (70-68), and April is an exhausted ladybug at our chaotic ward party. This was April's second of three Halloween parties, and the only one for which she was zoned out... honest.

She had a very good Halloween, but THEN my childhood superstition about illness after candy overdose came true: April had a terrible week of roseola (high fevers and extreme crankiness followed by rash) this week. But the bodysnatchers have given me my baby back and life is proceeding.

Nostalgia

2010-11-06T19:20:00.000-07:00

Norma in Pajamas

2010-11-06T16:07:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am wearing pajamas. And pursing my lips rather oddly... Props to Mom for holding the camera still for almost 10 minutes!!

This is Elias Parish-Alvars's fantasy on themes (well... like one theme) from Bellini's opera "Norma." And it's really long. And the sound is not great. And my Mom's phone goes off in the middle of Variation something.

I had just won a national competition and placed in another national competition and was preparing for my third (international) competition with Norma, so I was a little sick of it... But still. I'm glad I have this recording (especially since the professional recording that exists of me playing it in concert dress in the first stage of the competition has never materialized - I got two copies of Stage 2 instead).

The Winning Chili

2010-10-30T07:52:00.000-07:00

I took first prize at my ward's chili cook-off. I wish I could claim credit, but the genius behind all my best recipes is Julie Badger Jensen.

Hearty Chili

1 pound ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped red/green pepper (Optional - I omitted)
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes (I used Diced Tomatoes with chilis)
1 (30 oz) can dark red kidney beans, undrained
1 (15 oz) can chili (I used Nally HOT)
1 tsp salt
1 T chili powder
1 T sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced (or 1 tsp garlic salt)
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 cup ketchup

Brown ground beef in a large, heavy pan. Add onions and peppers and cook until tender. Add remaining ingredients and simmer uncovered over low heat for at least 1 hour. Chili can be made the day before and reheated. Makes about 8 cups.

AND MAN, IT IS GOOD.

You Know You Miss Us

2010-10-26T07:54:00.000-07:00

...so here are a few pictures. So you don't forget what we look like.

April's Journal

2010-10-11T17:43:00.000-07:00

This link should work. Includes a current catalog of her words. To the best of our knowledge.

Motel 6, July 2007

2010-10-11T16:50:00.000-07:00

Bach trans. Renie "Piece en Sol"

Some stuff

2010-10-10T13:23:00.000-07:00

This is going to be quick since we're basically on our way out the door.

April is cute. There's no denying that. But her developments in speech are starting to become problematic. She now comes over to me when I'm studying for school, holds up a book, and says, "book" and "up," with the hope that I'll read to her. If I don't respond quickly enough, she closes the book I'm reading, says, "bye-bye," and then shows me her book and repeats, "up." She's just too clever. Thank goodness I have nights to study.

Posting. See?

2010-10-01T17:45:00.000-07:00

Our internet is down most of the time. It's somewhat debilitating.

But April is unbelievably cute. She's starting to be a great chatterbox; her "new-words-every-day" list is very long.

It's wonderful to have my parents here.

We love you all, dear readers!

Law School

2010-09-10T17:00:00.000-07:00

Since everyone's dying to know all about how law school is going (admittedly, it's probably more accurate to say that some people have an interest, rather than that everyone's dying to know), I thought I'd give an update.

I realized on the first day of orientation that I'm underqualified to be here. Everyone is smarter than I am, and they've all been doing much more impressive things with their lives. They've been writing for almanacs in New York, teaching English in Germany, doing humanitarian work in Colombia, and playing professional baseball in Belgium. Even those that enjoy the same things I do are much better at them than I am (for example, the two people I know that play chess are rated several hundred points above me, meaning they should beat me 80-95% of the time). They speak more eloquently, they write more convincingly, they study more effectively, and they perform more impressively. Everyone know the answer to every question our professors ask about every case in every class.

Then week two came around. People started coming to class less prepared. They got stumped more easily by hypotheticals. Sometimes they even answered questions incorrectly (gasp) when I knew the right answer (bigger gasp). I started to think I have a chance here. Of course, then my turn came to be Socratized (is that a word?) and I didn't fare a whole lot better, but hey, at least I don't feel as intellectually dwarfed when the rest of my section members aren't quite the invincible giants they appeared to be at first impression.

Don't get me wrong. These guys and girls are smart cookies. But I don't feel as out of place anymore. At least not until the beer comes out. But then I feel out of place for an entirely different reason.

So, what am I learning? First off, I learned that torts is a lot more interesting than civil procedure. Apologies to my civ. pro. prof. (b/c at HLS and in law in gen. we like to abbrev. stuff), but due process is not as fascinating as forceful denture removal.

As for actual law, I thought I'd share a few findings, holdings, and quotes from judges' opinions, some of them from the US Supreme Court:

Tomatoes are vegetables, not fruits* (Nix v. Hedden)

M-1 rifles are not "dangerous weapons"** (People v. Smith)

Superhero toys are "action figures" and not "dolls" (Toy Biz v. United States)

"Lightning, flood, tornados and estranged wives will always be with us, in this vale of tears." (Justice Brennan)

*Justice Gray also clarified that peas, peppers, eggplant, and squash are vegetables as well. In a previous case, Robertson v. Salomon, the court found that beans are not to be classified as seeds.

**So I had to cheat a little bit on this one. What the court actually found is that the M-1 rifle was not a dangerous weapon under the statute in question. The statute says "dagger, dirk, stiletto, or Other dangerous weapon except hunting knives", the point (no pun intended) being that this was a list of, as the court put it, "weapons of stabbing," and therefore the phrase "or Other dangerous weapon[s]" should be interpreted to include only other weapons of the same type as those enumerated (the obligatory fancy Latin term for this doctrine being "ejusdem generis," or "of this same type"). Thus, a rifle does not fall under the statute.

Anyway, law school is fun. There's a lot ahead of me, but at least for now, I'm actually enjoying school. And the Socratic method is not as terrifying as everyone makes it out to be. Just make sure you know enough that you can speak intelligently on the subject, and you won't be embarrassed. If you have a rough day, think of it as a learning experience. I'm already much wiser.

Finally, for some interesting law school trivia:

Number of people in my section named Oona: 0 (though we do have both a Jamal and a Jemel)
Total weight of my law school textbooks alone: 27.6 lbs
Total weight of all supplies for law school, including textbooks, Black's Law Dictionary, binders, printed materials, and laptop: 48.2 lbs
Total width of my bookshelf taken up by law school books: 18.5 inches
Number of times I've edited this post for spelling/punctuation errors: about 6

Super Size Me

2010-08-24T17:40:00.000-07:00

I don't know exactly what possessed us to do it, but Annie and I just got done watching Super Size Me. If you haven't heard of it, it was a Sundance Film Festival entry some years back about a guy who eats nothing but McDonald's food for a whole month. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. If it wasn't on the McDonald's menu, he didn't eat it. To make it worse, he wore a pedometer to ensure that his step count stayed around average: below 5000 steps per day, or about 2 miles. And this is a guy from New York, where people walk everywhere.

You guessed it--he suffered some adverse health effects. He gained about 25 pounds, his cholesterol shot through the roof, his liver started dying, and by day 20 his doctors started to wonder if he might do the same. This is a pretty extreme diet, but he went from unusually healthy to sluggish, depressed, and miserable in the course of a month. Oh yeah, and he started showing signs of addiction. And while he did eventually recover, it took him 4 months before his numbers, weight included, were back to where they started, and his girlfriend had him on a vegan detox diet for that time.

So what do we take away from it all? Well, for one thing, fast food is really bad for you. Nutritionists say that you should eat fast food once or twice a week at absolute most. Obviously, the ideal is never. For another, McDonald's salads aren't all that healthy either: 50-something grams of fat (the dressing really, really gets you?), which is more than a Big Mac. So not quite a healthy option. I wouldn't doubt that the numbers are not terribly far off for other fast food places, and possibly even some sit-downs. I'm sure there are people in the family that know more than I do on this one. The only question I have is how much of it was caused by not exercising. I think it's safe to say that the lack of activity was probably responsible for between 5 and 60% of the weight gain (my best guess, albeit it an uninformed one, is about 20%), but I don't really know from there.

You know, I guess it made me kind of grateful that I'm usually too cheap to get the meal with fries and a drink. I just buy the sandwich. My liver is probably grateful, too.

If you feel like watching it, go ahead. Here's the link:

Super Size Me

Or the URL: http://www.hulu.com/super-size-me.

It's a little disturbing, somewhat entertaining, and at times a bit propaganda-ish, but there may be some value to spending the hour-and-a-half to see it. You won't want to go to McDonald's for awhile.

In the meantime, I could really go for some celery.

Our internet finally works!

2010-08-14T07:35:00.000-07:00

We like our new apartment a lot. It's big, it's nice, there's a park, a golf course, and a jogging path around a pond right across the street, etc. The only complaint that we really had was that the internet wasn't working. I had spent probably 2 or 3 hours on the phone with the service provider, but to no avail. So we had a technician come. He couldn't fix it. So he came back again the next day. He still couldn't fix it. Another guy came a couple days later. He said the cable had probably been cut and they'd have to run a new one. Since there's no access to the ceiling, they would have to cut a lot of holes, and they quoted the property manager at about $1700.

So the property's maintenance people came to take a look before they paid for that much work. After about half an hour of working, testing, calling other maintenance people, etc., they found the problem. This tiny cable in the top of April's closet had been unplugged.
With one quick click all was fixed. That was it. So we feel a little silly after all the time it took us and different technicians to work through everything just to plug in a cable, but at least our internet works now.

April's first pun!

2010-08-13T10:49:00.000-07:00

Hello, Trolley People!

2010-08-02T16:28:00.000-07:00

April is Massachusetts Royalty. Everywhere we go, people stop us to chat with her and coo over her and make a fuss over her. She is extraordinarily popular. In Utah, babies are old news, but here, people of all genders, ages, and colors flirt with her.

We went over to the law school today to visit with some offices and try to compensate for our spotty internet access (health services - are all our forms in? admissions - are all our forms in? financial services - help...?!?!), and in each department, people would come out of their offices and congregate wherever Little Miss Mass was. They love her bows, her shoes and socks, her outfits, her hair... and then she turns on the charm, opens and closes her little fist, bats her eyelashes and says, "hiiiiii" like a southern belle.

I could get used to this.

Can't Make No Vows.......To a Herd of Cows....

2010-07-22T13:28:00.000-07:00

I miss my spouse. Did I mention that?

Tyson and his mom are driving across the country with our truck. For anyone who wishes to know, a 1986 Ford Crown Victoria Wagon is too heavy for a 16-foot Budget rental truck to pull on a 4-wheel trailer. Just sayin'.

They're probably at Niagara Falls as I write this. It's been wonderful to have time with my parents, and little April has been delightful, but I feel half (not halved - that's too gruesome... just half).

In other news, I heartily endorse and really want the Gaskell Trilogy... I think "North & South" may be my new favorite movie. Ever.

(Okay, I remain loyal to P & P. But it's close.)

One!

2010-07-15T20:36:00.000-07:00

The light of our lives turned one last Monday. We had a wonderful time with our parents. Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes; April was delightful for her first big party.

...can YOU see April getting sleepier?

From April's journal, July 12 2010:

"Your first birthday party was a quiet but fun affair; your 6 favorite adults in the world (Grandparents Max & Claudia Dastrup, Grandparents David & Carol Willis, and parents Tyson & Angela Willis) watched you gleefully play with your first birthday presents (books, a toy train from Willis grandparents, a Raggedy Ann doll and ball from Dastrup grandparents, and a shaker egg from Mommy and Daddy), but you got tired in the middle, laid down on the floor asking for your nap, and wouldn’t attack your cake. You never did care for your cake and ice cream, but your grandparents and Daddy did."

Third...Fourth..?.Fifth...

2010-07-12T21:21:00.001-07:00

Happy Independence Day, Americans! I love this country and am proud and grateful to be a citizen.

[thanks for the photo, Christa!]

START YOUR ENGINES!

2010-06-22T09:58:00.000-07:00

For anyone who wants to know, here is the Harvard Law 2010-2011 Academic Calendar.

Plans are now firm. Tyson leaves on July 19 to drive truck to Cambridge. Annie and April fly out to join him on July 27 (at like 7 am... eurgh).

Annie and April fly back for Liz's wedding (probably around August 27, returning around September 7).

Then you miss us REALLY BADLY. For a long time. Our current thought is to probably NOT come home for Christmas.

...but we are so excited for life in the East!

Blue

2010-06-21T08:07:00.001-07:00

...berry.

My baby has been playing the role of Violet Beauregard (of Dahl's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory") lately, virtually turning into a blueberry at every breakfast and many other meals.... It's berry season, friends!

In other news, meet the Utah State Bughouse Champion!

...and in still other news, APRIL WALKS! She took her first step the day before she turned 11 months (so... June 11), and she's really taking off now. She's starting to get into everything even MORE than she used to.

I'm Famous!!

2010-06-19T21:06:00.001-07:00

Mirrors and Health Foods

2010-06-16T15:54:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, Annie and I did a little research on the relative nutrition of certain foods. We only consulted one source, so we realize that our data is not complete or well-verified, but it seems reasonable.

The main thing we found is that leafy green vegetables are good for you. They're the best for weight loss and they're the most nutritionally "complete" (a score computed based on the concentration of vitamins, minerals, etc. as well as a couple of bad things like cholesterol and saturated fat). So eat lettuce, spinach, basil, and whatever else. It was not surprising that Romaine lettuce is better than iceberg. It was interesting to note that spinach, though very good for, was actually beat out by, get this, cilantro. I don't know if I could eat a cilantro salad, however.

As for mirrors (and I realize I'm covering the items listed in the title in reverse order), I think April has figured out that what she sees in the mirror is not actually a person. She has now taken to looking behind the mirror to see who is really there.

Oh, Sam...

2010-06-10T12:09:00.001-07:00

Sam found it!

My birthday's coming up....

!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-06-10T08:30:00.000-07:00

I haven't heard anything about the documentary that was supposed to materialize about the 2007 USA International Harp Competition..... UNTIL NOW!!!!!!!!!!! I have only watched the Youtube preview (see below) in which I show up once (very end, I'm on the far right), but I was interviewed later, and I'll be interested to see whether or not they kept the footage. In any case, this looks to be a very interesting account of what it's like to be in an International Harp Competition.

For those of you who don't remember, PBS originally asked me if they could follow me for this documentary and I ended up declining because I didn't want more to deal with. Whether or not there's more of me, I can't wait to watch the documentary!

Soccer is Boring

2010-06-03T18:58:00.000-07:00

Granted, I should have known it all along. But ESPN3 was showing Poland versus Serbia in a "friendly" pre-World Cup match, and I thought it would be fun to watch my mission country compete. I must have been more tired than I realized if I was that far off my rocker.

I watched the first 20 minutes. Poland came close to almost nearly scoring a couple of times. I think the Serbia goalie even had to touch the ball once. But the ball never crossed the line, so it was still 0-0 twenty minuts in. No biggie, right? That still leaves 70 minutes for someone to put the 1-foot-diameter ball into a 192-square-foot goal mouth.

Since the game was a replay instead of a live broadcast, I fast forwarded a few minutes hoping to catch a goal or two. No luck. So a went forward a few more. Then a few more. Then a few more. Then on to the second half. With ten minutes left in the game both teams stopped trying, and the commentator started talking about how they should go ahead and end the game since it was rainy and cold. But no one had scored, I thought to myself. Apparently, that doesn't matter in soccer. So the players aimlessly toddled around the field until 90 minutes was finally up and the bore-fest was mercifully halted. In an hour and a half no one managed to score. And this is the world's most popular sport? Seriously. I though baseball was slow, but at least they score...

Call of the game: "It's raining cats and dogs, but believe me, you wouldn't send your cat or dog out in this."

More.

2010-05-19T18:16:00.000-07:00

Teeth.

April.

Has.

Totaling seven. (My mom says eight.)

AND YET, o dubious ones, she biteth not.

*knocking*

Obituary Link & Tribute

2010-05-17T12:20:00.001-07:00

To view the obituary of Kelly Vella, mother of my friend Tyrie and a friend of mine, click here.

Sister Vella was a wonderful lady. She had a great sense of humor and always made her son's friends feel welcome (and usually also spoiled rotten!) in her home and wherever she was (from Sundance to Disney World). She was an extra-miler: the date dances and other events held under her direction were always a tasty and elegant success, usually topped off with something extra, from dress-matching bracelets to beribboned placecards, notes, or even sugar-free desserts. She went out of her way to attend several of my harp recitals and other life events, and was always thoughtful and generous. She was smart and gifted, a model homemaker and craftswoman. She was a notorious baby-stealer. Her life touched mine for good, and I am grateful for her example.

Our love and prayers to her husband, sons, family, friends, and neighbors.

Talk To Me About Sickness

2010-05-12T08:52:00.000-07:00

...is it the destiny of young families to always be sick? Not that we are, just that ... is it?

Top 10 BYU Classes

2010-05-05T19:37:00.000-07:00

So, as my time at BYU winds down, I thought it might be fun to compile a list of my favorite classes I've taken at BYU. Criteria include how much I learned, how enjoyable the class was (both material and professor), the workload and value of assignments, and how useful the class has been.

Oh, yeah, and I won't be offended if no one cares about this. I'm not entirely sure I would.

10. REL 325 - Doctrine and Covenants II (Brother Bott)

There's something to be said for the chance to pick Brother Bott's brain on a weekly basis and to learn the Doctrine and Covenants really well. And having tests that you learn from rather than stress over is a nice perk.

9. REL 341 - Church History 1805-1844 (Susan Easton Black)

Aside from the extensive biography of Joseph Smith, this shot down a lot of the crazy rumors you hear about the early church (or at least explained them). I came away with quite a lot. And I got to take it with my new wife.

8. ENG 150 - Writing and Rhetoric (Veronica Goosey)

Very difficult and a lot of writing (obviously), but my writing improved substantially and I'm proud of some of what I wrote in that class. It was worth all of the work.

7. AM HTG 100 - American Heritage (Dr. Holland)

Yes, that is Elder Holland's son, the now president of UVU. My experience with this class was much different than Annie's, but then again, I had a great teacher and I didn't already know everything. It was really hard, but I learned a lot, and ultimately I enjoyed it.

6. ECON 380 - Price Theory I (Dr. Lefgren)

Calculus and microeconomics. Can life get any better?

5. ECON 110 (Matt Butler)

I really liked learning basic economic principles. They just made sense and were interesting to me.

3/4. MATH 371/MATH 341 - Abstract Algebra and Theory of Analysis I (Dr. Swenson)

Yeah, yeah, I know. The beginning of the heavy proof-based classes are in the top 3? Well...yes. I took these at the same time, and perhaps it was the contrast to Intro to Partial Differential Equations the previous semester, but these two classes restored my interest in the math major.

2. MATH 487 - Number Theory (Dr. Fearnley)

I realize it's weird to get a kick out of proving the division algorithm and the fundamental theorem of arithmetic, but I do. The subject material was just really cool.

1. EXSC 151 - Beginning Ice Hockey

This was just fun. I looked forward to this class all week, and even when I could hardly breathe because I was so exhausted, I still was bummed when my shift ended and I had to go the bench for a line change.

Honorable Mentions: Math 450 -Combinatorics (Dr. Tolman), Latin 111 -Beginning Latin Accelerated (Andrew Stephens)

So, there you go. Now I'm going to eat some pizza.

NO MORE GOO

2010-05-04T17:32:00.000-07:00

After 9 months as the Princess of Goo, April no longer has two runny eyes and a runny nose (now she just has one facial orifice constantly producing liquid)(and even said mouth isn't as drooly as during heavy-duty teething season). She had her tear ducts unplugged last Thursday and has been doing beautifully since then.

My favorite three recent tricks are as follows:

1. Speed crawling, particularly in the maternal direction (or the antimaternal direction, if a diaper change is in process). She chases me around, laughing and panting like a little puppy.

2. Hurling things over the edge of her crib then crying that they're gone (particularly her comfort Pooh and binkie). She usually gets over it and falls asleep pretty fast - how fickle is baby.

3. Clicking her tongue and laughing about it. Early Khoisan.

Tyson is really enjoying Spring term, featuring Latin (I maintain that it was my idea), basketball, tennis, and golf classes, and a lot of unstructured frisbee.

I'm preparing to perform, coach, and present at the SAA Conference in Minneapolis at the end of this month. I'm also feeling fairly ready to record the Suzuki Harp Book 4 CD, but we'll see if the Suzuki Harp Committee agrees (also in Minneapolis, but unconnected except by convenience).

FINALLY... we have an apartment! We'll be moving to Parkside Place Apartments in Cambridge at the end of July. [A DISHWASHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]