Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Greg and I had a wonderful trip to St. Louis yesterday! I was in desperate need of a break after working ten straight days at the Lincoln Home with only one day off. So Greg took the day off yesterday and we went to the Cardinals vs. Astros baseball game. We had a delicious lunch at the Cheesecake Factory (my new favorite dessert is their blueberry white chocolate cheesecake), and then we went over to Busch Stadium. It was pretty cold--especially for a spring day--but we were nice and bundled up.

We got to the stadium early enough that we were able to have some baseballs autographed by four-time all-star Jack "The Ripper" Clark! He played for the Cardinals from 1985-1988.













Our seats were right above the Cardinals' bullpen, so before the game started we were able to get some action shots of starting pitcher Joel Pineiro and catcher Yadier Molina warming up.

We also got to see my favorite MLB player Albert Pujols playing first base. He is such a good player. One of the Cardinals' five runs was from a stolen base by Albert. We also got to see Ryan Ludwick hit a home run. The Cardinals beat the Astros 5-3! We were pretty frozen by the time we left, but it was worth it to see the awesome game. Greg had to take care of a funeral today, and tomorrow it's back to work for me. Thursday was an incredibly busy day at the Lincoln Home. I seriously don't know how many tours I gave--it was one after another. We had a record-breaking day there with 1,372 visitors going through the house! The neatest thing that happened on Thursday, though, was quite a coincidence. I was supposed to give the 12:00 tour, but one of the other rangers asked if they could trade me for the 12:10 tour since they needed to be somewhere. As visitors were gathering for the 12:10 tour I noticed a couple joining the group wearing black missionary name tags. When I asked everyone where they were from, the missionary couple said they were currently from Chicago but originally from Utah. I told them that I'm from Utah too, but we didn't have much of a chance to chat about things then. At one point on the tour, we had a minute to talk, and I saw that they were from the Chicago South Mission. I noticed that their name tags said President and Sister Roach. Then a light went on in my head, and I remembered that Mom had told me about her friends who were going to preside over the Chicago South Mission. Due to my fear of cockroaches, the name Roach stuck out in my mind. :-) I asked them if they knew Diane Farnsworth Taylor, and Sister Roach said, "Oh yes! She is my good friend from high school." It is definitely a small world. They were just spending the day in Springfield. What are the chances that they would end up on my tour of the Lincoln Home? That was a neat coincidence.

Grandma's Birthday!

Today is Grandma F. T.'s 85th birthday! Happy Birthday, Grandma!!! Grandma is one of my favorite people in the whole world, and I hope she has had a nice day today. She is a wonderful grandma, and some of my favorite memories are from family dinners at the Provo house and many fun trips to St. George. I love you Grandma!

Today was a crazy busy day at the Lincoln Home. We had ten school buses full of wild 4th and 8th graders come to the park (but supposedly during May, the norm is 28 buses a day--seriously!). The 4th graders were actually very cute and attentive, but the 8th graders thought they were way too cool to be there. It was a fun day though, and when you are giving one tour after another the hours seem to fly by. I gave either five or six tours and am feeling much more comfortable with the tour now. On one of the tours in front of me, there was a man walking around with a video camera . . . and a mullet! He had the most perfect mullet I have ever seen (and I've seen some good ones). I also almost got to see a suspicious person get arrested by Adam (one of the law enforcement rangers) and Kaiser, but the person drove off too soon. So we got to just sit and pet Kaiser for a few minutes instead. He is so big, fluffy, and adorable! He has these cute white whiskers that look like bunny whiskers. We learned that yesterday Adam and Kaiser had to investigate a suspicious package that was sent to Senator Dick Durbin's office. (Senator Durbin rents one of the historic houses on the Lincoln's street and uses it as his central Illinois office--even though he's never here.) Someone sent him some syringes full of mushroom spores! I am learning that there is never a dull moment at the Lincoln Home.

I also found out today that I have a new job. In addition to taking people on tours, helping with the living history program, and developing a new cell phone tour of the neighborhood, I am going to be the Public Programs Coordinator. That sounds very official! Whenever the park is going to have a special program (for holidays, etc.), I will be in charge of lining up guest speakers, inviting VIP's, and publicizing the events. I think it sounds like a lot of fun, and though my head is kind of spinning right now, I am excited for all of these wonderful opportunities.

Livin' the Dream

I did it! I was very nervous when I gave my first tour of the Lincoln Home on Sunday, but as I gave more tours throughout the day, I relaxed and the tour started to feel more comfortable to me. Six tours later my feet were tired, but I was happy. Except for when the bolt of lightning hit somewhere in the neighborhood. As you know, I have a deathly fear of lightning, so when my group was in the last room of the house and a crash of thunder shook the windows, I was a little flustered. The visitors were nervous too, so we waited on the back porch of the house until we felt like we could venture out into the yard without getting zapped. Sunday was a very rainy day, but I enjoyed my first official day as a ranger at the Lincoln Home.

Each tour lasts about 25 minutes, and though each ranger develops their own tour, we have a themed outline to follow. The theme of the tour is "The American Dream." We talk about how Abraham Lincoln went from living in a one-room log cabin (which was about the size of the kitchen in the Lincoln Home) to being President of the United States. We also emphasize that he believed all people--regardless of race or gender--should have a chance to be successful in life if they were willing to work hard enough. Originally when I was contemplating this theme, I was thinking that maybe our world is so messed up these days that the American Dream is kind of getting reversed--as in the case of the Connecticut firemen who were denied promotions that they had earned because their city was worried about getting sued by minority groups for not promoting a more racially diverse group of men. But then as I thought about things for a while, I realized that even though there are some unfortunate exceptions, the idea of the "American Dream" is still alive and well--especially when we consider all of the opportunities available to people today in comparison to the rampant discrimination of pre-Civil War America. It is indeed true that Abraham Lincoln not only lived the American Dream himself, but also made it possible for others--including all of us today--to live it too. As I walked past the Lincoln Home on this crisp spring morning, I realized that I am truly livin' the dream--I have my dream job!

Unfortunately the Small Town Mayor Dream did not come true for our back yard/across-the-street neighbor who ran for mayor of Athens. The results just came in this evening, and the winner got 225 votes; the runner-up got 212 votes; and our neighbor got 6 votes.