All that we had going on this week was Elisa’s primary program today. It’s been stressful for Elisa for a looong time. The primary kids weren’t stressed, but Elisa was stressed. Luckily I was really quite calm up until last Sunday. They had me in charge of the final practice and two hours is just too long to sing the same 8 songs over and over again. Towards the end of the practice the kids were getting a little chaotic and I was getting a lot overwhelmed. It is a good thing I only had a week of being REALLY stressed about it. It was a LONG week. They had a two-hour long practice last Sunday and another long rehearsal on Friday too. Now that the program is finally over she is still anxious with a little residual energy. Once the program started I was able to relax a bit and just enjoy it. It was a great program. They did really good, as everyone in the ward has been telling her. Elisa looks really good up there and all the primary kids like her so much. If I were in the primary I would have a crush on Elisa. Instead Chad got to sit next to me right up in front and hold up song cues. He is a lovely assistant.

Elisa and I went to a dinner theater with Larry and Tara and Daniel, and Cheryl and Sean Meckley. The 4-course meal was spread all throughout the show. It was amazing to see what some people can do with their bodies—things I would not even dream possible. It was pretty intimate too, so the people who had been goofy and mingling around you as characters all of a sudden start doing these incredible acrobatics and circus acts. It was pretty fun. It kept getting better as the night went on. I found out that I wish I could do a sideways flip in a tuck position. You’d have to see it to appreciate.

I took the GRE this weekend. It’s a graduate school exam. I took a version of it that is just for computer science. Of course I didn’t read the instructions until the night before the test. Their rules are that they don’t allow mechanical pencils! When was the last time I even used a non-mechanical pencil? (Do they have another name besides non-mechanical?) So I allotted some extra time to drop by the store in the morning. Well, Elisa woke me up the next morning and said, “I couldn’t find you a pencil sharpener.” She has been having some agitated dreams this week. Just that night she had been spooked and I had to walk her to the bathroom door because she didn’t want to leave the bedroom alone. 🙂 I know it is a little weird of me to get all freaked out but there are many adults that are affected by nyctophobia (fear of the dark) that lead completely normal lives. I am working on it. 🙂 For the record, Elisa doesn’t lead a normal life. That’s why I married her. On Thursday night she woke up in the middle of the night and told me that she just remembered that the bishop had asked her to speak in church. I told her she should wait until morning to decide whether she was remembering correctly. She had actually dreamed of the request, and then dreamed of forgetting it, and then woke up right as she dreamed remembering it again. I was especially troubled because I have our last practice for the primary program that I’m in charge of the same day. Anyway, Saturday morning as I’m waking up she says, “I got you an Odwalla and some bananas and some pencils. The pencils aren’t sharpened though.” I thought that was nice of her to be so concerned about it that she thought of it in the middle of the night. I told Chad they were on the counter and he didn’t believe me. He thought for sure I had dreamed the whole thing. But really I couldn’t sleep so I went to the store and got him the stuff. Elisa was so insulted that I didn’t believe her, and I thought it was so funny that she has these amazingly realistic dreams. There’s nothing wrong with dreaming. It took me awhile before I realized Chad thought I was full of it. I walked out into the kitchen and… there was a shopping bag with the pencils and food in it! I don’t think Elisa’s ever going to let me forget it. We also thought it was funny that night when we pulled a board game out of the closet and inside were eight sharpened pencils.

Elisa and I have started adding some blog entries that are only meant for friends and family. If you are not logged in then these protected entries simply will not appear. To get a password just email Elisa or me. If you already have access to the Jack Parry Family website then the passwords are posted there at FullOfItLink.