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I am a Co-Coordinator of the Green Party of Utah. for nearly a year there has been much divisiveness over the presidential candidate selection at the national GPUS convention. The majority of Utah Greens wanted David Cobb as its choice of candidates but a small group of a few were instrumental in hijacking the process and prevented our party from having its choice. Details can be obtained at GPUT FAQs.

Due to the strife of the split in the party and subsequent actions by former members (who were suspended for a period of time), the GPUT found it necessary to protect its assets by incorporating and obtaining a trademark with the state of Utah.

While any group has the right to gather signatures for a petition to gain recognized status as a political party, no one except the GPUT at http://www.gput.org has the right to use the name “Green Party of Utah” under state commerce law.

If you find yourself being approached to sign a GPUT ballot access petition, please be sure it has the official GPUT mailing address (Layton, UT) and “Tom King” listed as the filing officer. This is the only petition that has authorization to use the name “Green Party of Utah”.

Registration of Incorporation with the state of Utah:

Certificate of Trademark with the state of Utah:

Both items’ status are listed on the Dept. of Commerce website at:
https://secure.utah.gov/bes/action/searchresults

I’ve been having a pretty rough month with hormonal issues. My last three periods have come every two weeks. I’ve had hot flashes so intense I’ve been sick, accompanied by dizziness, headaches and heart palpitations. I almost had to go home from work on Thursday but I stuck it out.

Still, I”ve been diligent about walking, bike riding, and hiking, which always makes me feel better.

I keep telling myself that this is natural…..

One of the most rewarding things in my life, besides raising my children, has been my career as a teacher. Despite 23 years experience, I still find joy and excitement in helping students discover the world around them. I have mostly taught adolescents, but my experience ranges from pre-school to senior citizens. I mostly have taught music (and still do), but have also taught technology and special ed math and language arts and study skills.

There are many, many experiences I could share, but I’ll share one humorous one for now. Several years ago when I was teaching special ed language arts, a few of my students presented me with a giant card they had made on the last day of school.

On the outside it read: “Ms. Taylor……”

and on the inside it read (with great color and flare I might add):

“…..You’re the Beast!”

I haven’t stopped laughing over that since. It was cute.

I have always had really, really bad self-esteem. Since I was a child, various events and experiences as I was growing contributed to this.

I have never viewed myself as “smart” for a variety of reasons, inclusive of being embarassed and called names regarding my “smartness”. If you have ever watched the movie “Forrest Gump”, recall the scene where he says to Jenny, “I am not a smart man,” where you know that Forrest realizes his capabilites. I had a bonding moment with Forrest the first time I heard that line. I feel like that a lot. It’s frustrating at times, because you know what your limitations are for understanding things. Yet one learns to develop coping mechanisms for this.

Aside from the intellect issue, I have all my life struggled with weight problems. Up and down, all my life. In first grade I weighed 80 pounds! I remember my doctor putting me on a diet and chastising my mother for allowing me to get that big. The funny things was that I truly and honestly believed I was the fastest runner in the entire world. (sad) I lost weight that summer and was really thin by second grade. I have lived a roller coaster weight game throughout the years. When I lost 70 pounds about 10 years ago, I managed to keep it off, although with the advent of all the hormonal issues, I have gained weight again. I don’t eat much and I exercise ( I eat the right things, though). It seems harder and harder to keep it off. Almost every minute of every day is filled with thoughts of being fat and it sometimes impairs my functioning. But I manage. I try to keep my mind on other things so I don’t think about my body so much.

I just wish I could accept things the way they are and not worry so much.

At least once per year we like to go camp in the Utah West Desert in the Thomas Range, where the famous Topaz Mountain is. We camp in a remote spot and hike for about two hours to a fairly remote spot to gather crystals.

We also like to collect obsidian rock, or “Apache Tears” in the vicinity.

Here is the legend of the Apache Tears:

“One day a party of Apache Indians was ambushed by an enemy tribe. The Apaches fought bravely but were greatly outnumbered and were driven to the top of a very high mountain. Their arrows were gone, and they could fight no longer. Refusing to be taken captive, they leaped, as one, from the cliffs to the rocks below.

“The Apache women, grief-stricken over the death of their brave warriors, shed torrents of tears. The tears became petrified and turned to stone.”1

Apache tears are actually small pieces of obsidian or volcanic glass. When held in the palm of your hand, the stone appears to be black. When held to the light, you are able to see through the stone.

Today Tom and I bought a car for our son, Brian, as a graduation gift. He is so excited. He just obtained his drivers license last Friday. Here’s a photo:

Yes, that’s right, “Hormone Hell”. My mother hit menopause at age 45. I don’t mean the “pre-menopause”, I mean THE menopause. She stopped menstruating at that point. I am age 45. I first began having symptoms at age 30, then I became pregnant with my third child.

For the past several years (since winter of 2001), I have had significant symptoms. Sometimes the symptoms impair my daily functioning. I am choosing to “go through” this time naturally, as did my mother. When my heart races and I experience anxiety, I sometimes wonder if I could have some relief through medicinal means, but then it passes and I feel good that I have developed other methods of dealing with the symptoms – without medicine.

Sometimes I cannot wait to be officially declared “menopausal” (one year after your last period). But then again……

The most important thing for me to remember is that this is a natural and normal part of life. Ever since the death of my grandmother I think a lot more about our mortality and I try to cram in as many things as I can, knowing how little time I have, yet at the same time I attempt to balance that with savoring the many pleasures of life on this planet. I try to keep the mindset that each day is a new adventure with new things to learn and do. Enjoyment and happiness are at the top of my agenda. If I cannot have those, I cannot be an effective contributor to the global community.

And so I try to look at these bodily changes as another adventure with a new set of challenges, enjoyments, and wonders.

Attitude is everything.

Here are some useful sites on Menopause:
Minnie Pauz
Menopause and Beyond
Land O’Links – Menopause Online Resources
Early Menopause Symptoms
Menopause Links

This is available as a button and magnet from
Minnie Pauz

People for Peace and Justice of Utah (PPJ) is a peace advocacy group that formed after September 11, 2001. Since October 2001 PPJ has held a weekly vigil in front of the Federal Building in Salt Lake City each Thursday from 5-7pm. This vigil is in its 4th year.

The vigils have been held in all weather, have had as few as one person and as many as 60, depending on the political climate.

These vigils will continue until there is worldwide peace and justice.

I have been playing piano for nearly 40 years. I began at age 6 and have not stopped playing since. While most kids cried over having to practice, I had to be pried from the keyboard to do other things like, uh…..homework and, uh….eating!

I come from a line of musicians. My grandmother was a singer and my mother also sang and is a great piano player. My dad is a guitar player. When I was growing up my mother played piano all the time. It was common during a thunderstorm to sit in the rec-room and play with my siblings while my mother played and sand familiar tunes to musicals like the Wizard of Oz and other songs we enjoyed. My dad would often entertain us with bluegrass tunes he liked on the guitar.

I majored in piano and voice in college. I prepared and presented four solo concerts all together – two piano and two vocal. I have since taught piano lessons privately. For 10 years of my 23 years of teaching, I was the piano department chair at a high school in Maryland, developing curricula for the county piano courses, teaching in a piano lab, and chairing the piano proficiency program of the Visual and Performing Arts Program, a magnet program offering AP and college entry-level study for students from all over the county who auditioned for and attended our program for 1/2 day and returned to their home schools the other half of the day. These were students who intended to go on to college as music majors. Most of my students were able to test out of the beginning piano placement tests when placing for such for their freshman college year as music majors.

Because of my years of music study and experience, I was able to teach myself how to play flute. Currently I am teaching myself some guitar and mandolin and hope to be able to teach myself violin at some point. There is so much to learn!

Tom plays violin. His dad was a violinist with the Utah Symphony and a trombonist in jazz bands in nightclubs. He taught Tom to play violin. Tom has a 7-string electric violin made out of a tree that was cut down at a local college.

Music continues to be a big part of my life – in my career as a music teacher and in my personal life. I cannot imagine life without music.

In 2001 Tom and I formed Blue Sky Institute, a non-profit educational organization. We wrote and developed a music curriculum where we taught adolescents traditional folk songs and prepared a show that was presented at several area rest homes and care centers.
We have also provided materials and instruction for teaching children how to make native-style flutes out of pvc pipe. We hope to continue offering this program as the opportunities arise.

We just found out that we have been granted permanent 501(c)(3) status as a tax exempt organization. We hope this will give us more leverage when applying for grants. We have applied for several grants and have not been awareded any.

We also offer the service of promoting locally owned, socially conscious businesses atBlue Sky Alternatives.