Thank You Officer...

Today Eli & Tanner had the day off from school, so I decided that I'd go home for lunch & spend some time with them. Living as close to work as we do, I can drive home for lunch every day & still not need to fill up my gas tank for two weeks...It's great!

So...I'm driving along, singing to the radio & thinking about what I'll make for lunch, when suddenly notice some flashing red & blue lights in my rear view mirror. I think to myself, "He's so far back, he can't possibly be pulling me over" but then I look at my speedometer & think "Yep! He's coming for me!" I was so busy thinking about other things that I hadn't noticed I was doing 47 in a 25...oops! I tried to be clever & polite in the hopes that he would let me go with a warning, but he still gave me a ticket. He did tell me that because I was wearing my seat belt he cut the amount I was over in 1/2 & only cited me for going 36. He then politely informed me that if I go to their traffic school the ticket won't go on my record.

Darn! It's been four years since I've gotten a ticket...I was pretty proud of myself for never getting pulled over in the two years I was driving to Draper every day.

I can't believe it...but after he had me sign his copy of the ticket, returned my driver's license & was walking away, I actually thanked him!

I love Fall...

When I first moved to Utah to go to school I fell in love with the Fall season...probably because in California the colors of the seasons are green or brown. I love to look up at the mountains and see the patchwork quilt of colors as the bright green fades from the trees and we begin to see bright yellows, oranges & reds.

"A fallen leaf is nothing more
than a summers wave good bye"

Well...except for having to rake leaves, I love Fall!

Are You My Mother...

As the boys get older I see personality traits of both Eli & I, but as far as who they look most like it kinda depends...sometimes I see me & other times I see Eli...sometimes I even see other family members like grandpa, grandma or cousins. When I saw this meter on a friends blog I decided to give it a try. No wonder I can't decide who they look most like...the look-alike-meter can't tell either!

Too busy to do the right thing...

It was “Ethics Awareness Week” at UVU this week, and on Wednesday the Excellence in Ethics Award was presented to Utah Supreme Court Justice Christine Durham. One of the Legal Studies faculty members was on the selection committee & invited the rest of us in the department to attend…so I “invited” Eli to come too.

Prior to receiving her award Justice Durham spoke on the topic of “Situational Ethics.” In her presentation she addressed the fact that even though you can teach someone the difference between right & wrong, sometimes because of the situation & circumstance a person is in wrong can begin to look a little right. She then told us about an experiment that had been inspired by the parable of the Good Samaritan.

Two psychologists reasoned that the priest and the Levite were probably preoccupied with religious thoughts as they traveled down the road, and further speculated that the Samaritan was probably thinking about more mundane matters at the moment of ethical decision and might not have had so demanding a schedule as those of the priest and the Levite.

In December of 1970, the two psychologists gathered a sample of 40 students from the Princeton Theological Seminary. Half of the students were given a copy of the Good Samaritan and were told they would be giving a sermon on the subject in a few minutes & the other half were told they would be speaking about employment opportunities for seminary students. All the students were told to report to another building to deliver their talk. Some were told to hurry because people were waiting for them, while others were lead to believe they had a little more time to get to the other building.

On their way to deliver their talks, each student passed by a poorly dressed person, slumped in a doorway, possibly in need of help. As each subject passed by, the man coughed twice & groaned.

Sixty percent of the seminary students walked past without offering assistance. The students thinking about the parable were no more likely to stop than the others. In fact several stepped right over the distressed man.

It seemed the deciding factor of whether to stop or not was time. The majority of the students that stopped to offer aid were the ones that had been lead to believe they had a little extra time.

The psychologists were drawn to conclude that as the speed of daily life increases, ethics becomes a luxury.

Her topic prompted me to think about how often I hurry past others without thought. I get so wrapped up in my own “to do” list that I forget to slow down & give thought to those around me. So for the past few days, as I rushed about my business, I’ve tried to be more aware of others. A friendly “hello” to strangers I pass in the hall, holding the door for someone loaded down with books, or not speeding up to beat the load of students that just got off the bus to the crosswalk, so I won’t have to wait forever!

I’m not sure that any of my actions actually equate to those of the Good Samaritan, but I had way less stress & felt much happier myself.

Something to Think About...

I heard this quoted at a meeting...
Life is 10% what happens & 90% how we react.

Life Is Good!

It's been a while since I've posted anything, so as I was trying to decide what to say in my post I realized nothing too eventful has been happening.

Eli is really enjoying teaching...I guess the fact that he has a passion for the subject really helps! I never realized how exciting the subject of printing & graphic art could be until one of our home teachers asked Eli a question about the history of the printing press...you could hear the love & passion in Eli's voice as he answered the question...who knew that printing & graphic art was something to get excited about. I guess he is passing that love on to his students...he gets little notes from them daily telling him it's their favorite class & he's their favorite teacher.

Tanner is also enjoying being a Monticello...and yes, Eli is his favorite teacher too! He has made several new friends & has some great teachers. He is even taking piano lessons from his music teacher after school once a week...very convenient!

Connor is doing well as a Junior. All A's so far...even in Biology! Hopefully the good study habits that he has started the year off with will continue.

And I still love my job! It's kinda crazy right now...we are finishing up the paperwork for our program to remain accredited by the American Bar Association & there's a lot to do, but I'd rather be busy than just sitting around!

Yep...Life is good for the Escamilla's right now. Except for a little cold that Eli is just getting over things are going very well at the moment...we are blessed!

Gratitude...

I've been trying to be more aware of the blessings around me lately & today as I was driving down the street & saw all the flags, that had been placed in yards by the Boy Scouts, waving in the wind I had an overwhelming feeling of gratitude. How lucky I am to live in a country where I can fly my flag whenever I want!