with apologies

So I realize it's been ages since I posted anything. Hopefully the last post explains some of that. I flew to Idaho to be with my family and attend the funeral of my oldest sister, Laraine, and was gone about 10 days for that. I'm doing all right about it, myself; I'm more worried about a few of the other family members. And I certainly don't evny my parents, who have to battle the legal issues (Laraine was killed in a car accident, and she left no will behind, including no power of attorney or anything), nor her daughter, who's in the hospital with a severed spinal cord and is paralyzed from the waist down. I certainly have much less to deal with, even though it all adds up to significantly more than I'm used to.

The day after Laraine's death, I was sustained and set apart as the Relief Society President in our student ward down here. That's been keeping me pretty busy these days. It's been great, though, and in many ways I'm very excited about the calling.

School is also quite time-consuming. I find myself just barely keeping my head above water, both with the classes that I teach and those that I take.

I recently joined Netflix, which I'm very excited about. I think when my roommates move (in December) and I'm in my own apartment, I might forego cable and just keep myself entertained with Netflix movies. They have a huge variety of DVDs to rent, including movies, TV shows, and documentaries. The first one that's coming in the mail for me is Jeeves and Wooster, so we'll be watching that this weekend. You're allowed to have up to 500 movies in your queue, and I already have 375 waiting for me. I'll keep you abreast of how things go.

The last quote (from before Laraine's obituary) is from the writings of Paul the Apostle, Romans 8:31.

Well! If that isn't the best I ever heard!

(This is a bit difficult to get without the following line, but that will give it away pretty easily. So, since it's a fairly general quote that might come from just about anywhere, I'll give 78 points for anyone who gets the source I have in mind, plus an extra 10 for the appropriate following line.)

In Memoriam: Laraine Wilkins

Laraine Wilkins 1965 ~ 2006 Laraine Wilkins, 41, of Salt Lake City, former Idaho Falls resident, died September 2, 2006, at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center from injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident near McCammon, Idaho. She was born 1965 in Provo, Utah. She attended schools in Provo and Idaho Falls; graduated from Skyline High School, Idaho Falls, in 1983; earned Bachelor's and Master's degrees in German from Brigham Young University; and did additional graduate work at Harvard University. She married George in 1986 in the Idaho Falls LDS Temple; they later divorced. She worked on university library staffs, taught German language on both the high school and university levels, was a technical writer and software support technician, and served as editor of Irreantum magazine and as director of Development and Community Affairs for the Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company in Salt Lake City. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, she served frequently as an organist, as well as in the Relief Society and Young Women organizations. Laraine was a skilled pianist and writer, and a person of widely varied talents and interests. She loved writing poetry, drawing, cross stitching, running, camping and hiking, especially in Arches National Park and Monument Valley, classical music and the Arts, including concerts, art galleries, and museums. Condolences may be sent to the family online at www.woodfuneralhome.com

Published in the Salt Lake Tribune on 9/4/2006. (edited by gryffinkat)

Some of Laraine's poetry, published at Weber Studies