Katy's "What If" assignment

Katy wrote this piece for a class at school. She is 13 years old and in the 8th grade! This is the second of this type of assignment she has gotten. It is called a "what if." This one is, "What if You Could Win Any Competition in the World."

Katy Payne
Period 3
What If #2
9-30-09

"On your marks!" yells the starter. I bend down into my starting position. I'm focusing on the track in front of me. My heart is beating faster than ever. Beads of sweat are forming on the back of my neck. I am thinking of nothing but passing the finish line.
"Get set!" he yells louder this time. I unbend my legs, knees still slightly bent, my chest stays low. My back leg starts to quiver. I close my eyes, trying to clear my head and calm my nerves. The butterflies in my stomach seem about to burst through the skin. I open my eyes, completely refocused.
I take a deep breath and then, bang! I push off with my front foot as hard as I can. I stay low, slowly lifting my chest for about five paces. I relax my face, not wanting the extra tension to slow me down. I focus on two things as I run, my breathing and the finish line.
I'm coming around the bend, just over one hundred meters left to go. As soon as I reach the final stretch I really have to push myself, make my body go faster than it feels is possible. Two other runners are gaining on me. I can hear their footsteps growing closer. I breathe harder, in through my nose and out through my mouth.
I've made it to the straight away now and I can't believe my heart is able to beat this fast. I see the crowd cheering all around me, yet I can't hear a sound they make. The finish line is getting closer and all I can think about is my dad, waiting for me there and screaming louder than anybody else in the stands. The runner in the lane next to me is out of my peripheral vision almost completely, just her arms show up with every arm pump she does.
I'm almost there. Just a few meters in front of me is the white line that tells me I'm done. I can't see the other runner at all anymore. A smile begins to stretch across my face as I sprint past the finish line. I've won and all the noise rushes to my ears. I continue to run. I go straight towards my dad. Every race I've ever been in, he has always been there, waiting for me with a smile from ear to ear and outstretched arms.
I did it. I won the two hundred meter dash of the world Olympics. I can't believe that my biggest dream has come true in under thirty seconds. I hold my dad so tight that I'm not sure if he can breathe. I can tell he doesn't mind because he tells me, "Katy, I am so proud of you."

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I'd like to post her other ones. I'm thinking of starting a blog for people to post writings such as this. Stories or journals or poems. Do you think I should start a new blog or keep posting these here?

Bart
VERY Proud Dad!

Conference is this Weekend. . .

Sunday night at Christopher's party when Tatia was feeling 'over the moon', Kerry told me about something he had overheard. It was about Daniel and Katy. They are the same age, however, Katy is half a body taller and gossamery. This is how it went . .
Daniel: "Oh, conference is coming up this weekend."
Katy: "Soo"
D: "Well, we'll get to hear Elder Uchtdorf talk - he always talks about airplanes."

It made my heart say, 'Thank you".

After the Defense

So, after the "defense" which took a bit of time, the men in charge let Christopher leave and when he came out into the hall, he said, "OK, let's go celebrate." We were all hungry and it was decided that we would go to "Chuck O Rama". That way, everybody gets to pick the food that they want. It turned out very nice as you can see by Griffin's smile. He is enjoying his food but, mostly he liked his rootbeer.







Here is Kylie being a perfect lady quietly eating her choices. She enjoyed her food.



Zak is a good eater and he enjoyed the cornucopia of assortments.



Quinn was pleased that day about the way his clothes turned out. He says when he gets dressed, he just picks any t-shirt, then any pair of shorts. (He never thinks about what he is going to wear). On this day he just happened to get a shirt and shorts that coordinated! But I think at a buffet he makes a decision about everything that goes on his plate. Both Quinn and Zak were very fun to talk with.



Here is Steven and Heather. They make a beautiful, fabulous couple!! I think we will be seeing more of Heather. Heather, we love you!!



Sorry, I guess when I was taking pictures, Christopher must have been looking for more food, cause I didn't get any pictures of him! And he looked so gorgeous, too, dressed in an elegant suit, tie, and white shirt. Very clean shaven and classy!!! We love you Christopher, and are sooo proud of you!

Now, here is the little family as they are ready to leave our home and drive to CA. Griffin cried (a lot!)because he missed Daniel. Everyone else seemed happy to leave. We shall miss them. They have a long ride ahead of them.



Kerry is backing out of the driveway. Kylie is waving her last tata. Goodbye all.
We enjoyed you all so very much. Drive safely and come back soon. We love you.

CHRISTOPHER'S DEFENSE

Yesterday we went to Christopher's defense (defending his Master Thesis). It was all about technical stuff - I didn't understand. I was just in awe how different our lives have been, and yet we are connected as Nana and beloved grandson. Anyway, as I sat there listening to him talking to his professors about all this new stuff that he had researched and they wanted to use in their teaching I thought about all the things that I can do better than Christopher!! Here are ten of them . . .
1. Herd cows.
2. Churn butter.
3. Clean my house 'till it shines like the top of the Chrysler Building!
4. Grow tomatoes.
5. Create a bouquet from my flower garden.
6. Make a snuggly quilt.
7. Pick Currents.
8. Pick the feathers off a chicken and pull out it's guts.
9. Brag about 22 grandchildren
10.Lose my big toenails!!

CONGRATULATIONS! CHRISTOPHER! WE LOVE YOU!

PARTY FOR CHRISTOPHER

Okay, I can't seem to get any pictures on the blog. Is it that too many people have used my computer lately? I don't know only that I have wasted hours!! Sooo, I'm just printing that we are celebrating Christopher's "defense" Sunday evening at 5pm. CARNE ASADA for all!! We want everyone to come!! But, if you want food, you must RSVP!! We want everyone to come - including CMP, TEO, Tanner and GIL. Plus, Bethany, Mike, and Hayden!! We will be done up in Blue and White (even if they are once again rated 20th) Love you all, see you Sunday at 5!!

Defense

Christopher will defend his thesis this Monday on BYU campus at 12:00pm. All the Coles will be there showing support!

We will be at Nana and Bumpa's house late Sunday afternoon. We are hoping to see lots of cousins.

We drive home on Tuesday. Yes, it is a quick trip.

We are not allowed to cheer or clap. We are to pretend that we are in court.

Congratulations, Christopher!

Glenn Family Update

Helped Tim and Hope move on Saturday. Nice new apartment in the Avenues. The darling kids are happy as clams.

Jessa sprained her ankle while helping. She made a conscious choice to fall down and let their computer monitor land on her, rather than dropping it and breaking it. She starts a new job tomorrow, working for U.S. Bank. Although she misses all her friends at Wells Fargo, the new job pays more and much less stressful.

Morgan had 2 of her wisdom teeth pulled on Thursday. She was paid $30 to participate in what amounted to a practice session for some new nurses at this study place. She had had the other two pulled previously and got paid a couple of couple hundred for it. Unfortunately, this time, not only was she paid much less, the medication she had to buy cost $24. Net gain - $6.

Dawney has a new job working for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. She's calling people to get them to volunteer to be locked up for an MDA fund raiser.

Mark & Dawney are performing in comedy competition on Friday at the WiseGuys club in Orem. The show is PG-13. I am thinking of asking Mom and Dad to come. The rest of you are all invited. But I will probably post something more explicit about that tomorrow.

Teo Graduates!

Teo graduated from his bassinet to his crib last night for his first all nighter. It was not planned, but I could not cram him into his bassinet any longer since his legs would not fit! He also has been wanting to roll over in the middle of the night and he can't do that either with the limited space.

So last night I put him in the crib in Tanner's room where he had plenty of room. He rolled around all night long and only woke up twice, as opposed to six times the night before. And he didn't wake up until 8:30am! That's the longest he's ever slept.

He obviously loves his crib, and I'm happy he's happy. Let's hope this begins many more sleepfull nights!

Girls Night Out!

Tonight is my first night out WITHOUT the baby. I am not taking him with me.

I am going to my favorite restaurant (Claim Jumper) with my Monrovia friends. I have already decided what I'm eating even though it is NOT on my diet plan. I am having french onion soup. Hmmmmmmmmmm.

I will feed baby at 8:00pm and then leave for my night out. There is milk in the fridge for Gil to feed to baby.

Wish me luck, dumbbell!

Monday Meeting??

I know we have not done the usual "Monday" meeting lately, but I told mom (nana, sherma) a few of the items I am using to get me through the day and she wanted a real list. So, here is my public list of some of my favorite products that are VERY low in carbs and taste good. Some taste like a REAL treat.

Ok, First off------------------------------->>>>>>
We have the Ocean Spray Cran-Lemonade. It is SO good. Only 5 calories, carbs don't even register in my mind. Really a great drink. It just a nice change from regular water; which I really like too.



Next is an item that is NOT my favorite. I just put it here so you do not get confused and buy it.

It sounds good, but I did not care for it particularly.

The Atkins Caramel Chocolate Peanut Nougat Bar

So, this one, I do NOT recommend.








Oh, My Goodness! This is the ONE! It is SO good, kind of like a Snickers!!

Atkins Caramel Nut chew Bar

You can see why I confused and

bought the other, non-reccommended bar, I thought they were about the same. No.
This is the good one. It also only has 3 Carbs!!






Another good one:

Atkins Coconut Bar

So good, and only 3 carbs also



I will usually have 1 bar a day, around 3 in the afternoon. It is a great snack and it really tides me over till dinner.

You can buy them at Walmart or CVS, or possibly your grocery store.

And there is also the good old celery and jicama. I eat those too. They taste good!

Friends

Sherry VanWagenen just asked me to be her friend on Facebook!!

I said yes.

Someone Noticed!

A casual friend that I haven't seen in a while saw me today at school and noticed (in a VERY nice way) my weight loss. She could have said "you are fat, but not as fat as you were", but she didn't. She told me the other day she saw me walking and she mistook me for another friend that has a FABULOUS figure; really the figure that is hiding inside of me.

That was really great.

Oh, she also called me a "blond mom".

Now look at the post below and take the quiz.

Quiz for People Who Know Everything

I think we can all agree that this is family of very smart people. Or at least smart alec people. I got this quiz in my email this morning. Out of nine questions, I got three and a half correct. (And I am brilliant, as most of you know)

I am posting the questions here and the posting the answers in the comments. Don't Cheat. Answer the questions and then post how many you get correct. Partial credit is allowed (I got one of the vegetables in #3, that's my 'and a half').

1. Name the one sport in which neither the spectators nor the participants know the score or the leader until the contest ends.

2. What famous North American landmark is constantly moving backward?

3. Of all vegetables, only two can live to produce on their own for several growing seasons. All other vegetables must be replanted every year. What are the only two perennial vegetables?

4. What fruit has its seeds on the outside?

5. In many liquor stores, you can buy pear brandy, with a real pear inside the bottle. The pear is whole and ripe, and the bottle is genuine; it hasn't been cut in any way.. How did the pear get inside the bottle?

6. Only three words in standard English begin with the letters "dw" and they are all common words. Name two of them.

7. There are 14 punctuation marks in English grammar... Can you name at least half of them?

8. Name the only vegetable or fruit that is never sold frozen, canned, processed, cooked, or in any other form except fresh.

9. Name 6 or more things that you can wear on your feet beginning with the letter "S."

"DAY OLD CHILD"

My day-old child lay in my arms.
With my lips against his ear
I whispered strongly, "How I wish -
I wish that you could hear;

"I've a hundred wonderful things to say
(A tiny cough and a nod),
Hurry, hurry, hurry and grow
So I can tell you about God"

My day-old baby's mouth was still
And my words only tickled his ear.
But a kind of a light passed through his eyes,
And I saw this thought appear;

"How I wish I had a voice and words;
I've a hundred things to say,
Before I forget I'd tell you of God -
I left Him yesterday."
Carol Lynn Pearson

For Bethany

Bethany, I wrote this yesteday for you, and got it on the blog! But, somehow, I pushed a wrong button and it all went away. Anyway, thinking about my new little great grandchild, and then thinking about you as a child, my heart spilled over and I wanted to tell you this:

Before I go to bed tonight,
I just wanted to let you know
That my Love for you is very strong
And will continue, always, to grow.

Before I go to bed tonight,
I thought that you should hear,
The times when you were tiny and we spent together,
I hold so very dear.

Michael Hayden Stephens

My name is Michael Hayden Stephens. I was born at 3:53 PM (EST), on Sunday, September 6. I weigh 8 lbs 12 oz. My daddy says that I look just like my big brother Ryan (which means that he is one cute little bug). My mommy is doing just fine. We are having our first feeding right now, and Daddy is taking lots of pictures.

My Grammy and Papa are very, very excited and can't wait to see me in person!

We're having a BABY

Beth's water broke at 4:00 AM, EST. They are in the hospital, watching TV. Beth is on a pitocin drip and an epidural. Seven hours into it, she is only dilated to a 4. This is going to be a long one. Will update everyone when it's over.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO GIL!!

Happy Birthday, Gil. Just look what you have accomplished in the last two years!!





Here is Candice and Gil in Paris on their honeymoon. Standing in front of the Eiffel Tower.



I think a ferris wheel (especially one in Paris) is a wonderful place to be romantic.



I love this picture of the whole family.



Kissing his pride and JOY. His Mom and Sis (Linda) flew out from Chicago to come to church for the blessing. How beautiful, wonderful, and supportive they were to Candice.



I love this picture of the family seeming very relaxed,and having a great time.



Just so you can see once more, and happily remember what a fun time we all had at their wedding on Mar 31, 2007. Gil, we love you, and have so enjoyed you. The children especially have enjoyed pulling the playful monster out of you so that they can scream and run and hide and hope that you find them! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Extreme Sheep - Herding

Dad sent this out via email. Someone should show him how to put this stuff on the blog.