31 Days of Praying For Our Husbands-Day 11

Oh, to my sweet hubby. I am soooo sorry that my prayer for you comes so late in the day! I had a brutal morning...the food bank line showed the worst of society today. I was so discouraged, plus I got, among other wonderful yummy things, 10 cukes...that had been frozen. They are now mush! The chickens are happy, but I feel sad that I cannot use them! Oh, I guess I am because we will get tremendous fresh eggs! Happy chickens make happy eggs! I am praying for this. Now, again, perfect hubby, on his knees night and day, and always listening for the Spirit and it's promptings. What a guy!

Writer's Workshop

A day in your life...recap.
Aahhh! A day in my life. We begin with the alarm on my cell phone going off at 3:05 A.M. Oh, just give me 5 more minutes!!! So, I snooze one time. Then up, get my foam mat, turn on the rerun of the 10 o’clock news and watch and exercise: 200 sit ups, 300 crunches, 50 boy push ups, 55 girl push ups, my 10 pound weights…you get the picture. At 3:30 I watch the national morning news, and at 4:00 I watch Ming on Create TV…he’s making sushi…I don’t like it, but Dee loves it. Too bad I can’t stay…I go out for my 3 mile run at 4:15- I say my morning prayers when I run…gets some good meditation time in, plus it makes any nut who thinks about attacking me think twice, since I am talking to my Heavenly Father, and look quite the nut doing so!-…back at 5:00. I clean the bathroom counter, get dressed, get Nate up, make Dee’s and Nate’s breakfast (heated frozen French Toast with strawberry jam for Nate, a whole wheat zucchini muffin and juice for Dee), pack Dee’s lunch, then Family Prayer with Nathan and Dee’s carcass and we are off to Football practice. I am back in an hour, help Dee out to the car, check email and google reader, then off to pick up Nathan. I get a load of laundry in before I go, and dry it when I return. I complete 3 scrapbook pages for our family album, get a popsicle break, clean Nate’s room, fold and put laundry away…and get 15 minutes of rest before my salad and cauliflower lunch. Today, the cauliflower has a bit of a problem…my extra fridge died a couple of weeks ago, and this cauliflower seems to have lost some of the battle…can only salvage half of it. Lunch is great until I take a bad bite of cauli…throw the rest out, and get a popsicle to remove the taste from my mouth! Then, I play a couple (ha ha ha) games of Bejeweled, and then my work. I vacuum, move furniture, vacuum, make beds, vacuum, scrub both bathrooms and tub, scrub floors and mirrors, vacuum, snack break on a couple of popsicles and some cheese crackers.and put it all away in time to make dinner: French toast (to use up my chicken bounty and the bread from the food bank). I melt some homemade banana walnut jam to have with the toast, if someone wants it. Then, we eat…I have my yummy salad, sans cauliflower….still that yucky taste (I hope I forget it….I just looooovve cauliflower!!!)After I clean up dinner, it is off to take Nate to football practice number 2, visit with Morgan, back to get Nate, a stop at QT for Nate’s Gatorade and Dee and I to share a diet caffeine free Coke with a squirt of Cherry, off to Sportsmans Warehouse for waaaay too long to get Nate a backpack for school (he starts on Monday!). We finally go home…talk about women shopping too long – just get a man out of a Cabelas or Sportsman’s Warehouse in less than a half an hour!! go for a swim (not too refreshing when the water is 93 degrees!). We watch Ming make that sushi in a rerun of the show tonight, I get Dee’s clothes laid out for tomorrow. Then comes laundry load number 2, final kitchen clean and check on those new little triplets and Stellan on the blogs, and, I hope, to bed, after my prayers,before 11:00. Phew!!! The sad thing…it all will repeat, Tomorrow

31 Days of Praying For Our Husbands-Day 10

You know, the more I do this, the more I realize that Dee is just simply perfect!!! He is, above all, a man of great integrity. He loves to go to yard sales, but never talks someone down too much. He gives more than an honest days work for an honest day's pay. My prayer will be that he will feel strengthened as he continues his life of honor.

31 Days of Praying For Our Husbands-Day 9

Today is, again, not much of a problem for my hubby! He is so good with money, though the stock market has not been very kind to us, as of late! I am praying for him to be impressed when the time is right. We so want to serve a church mission someday! (We would love to serve in India...and read an article last night that there will someday be a temple in New Delhi!)

Praying For My Husband-Day 8

Today's prayer is kind of a challenge for us. I have already shared the fact that hubby's job will end. He has spent over 30 yrs. here. He began as a machinist trainee. He worked to a machinist, then a tool room machinist, then Green Belt, then Black Belt. He then worked and completed his business degree, and went on to be a manager, a manufacturing engineer, and a transition manager. Now, after all this, he works his tail off every single day...to assist in the rapid elimination of his job. He still gives all in a day, and sometimes spends his own time in meetings with India to assist them in their successful transition to production of an engine. He has been successful in this career, as well as his careers as a realtor, and as a private disc jockey. These two industries are also suffering through hard times. Real Estate will probably come back in years to come, but the disc jockey business he started and worked at for 30 years is also probably going to end. I did not realize that our situation...no raises for years, reduced pay and benefits, and no dances makes him feel like a failure as a provider. I feel nothing but great and sincere gratitude for a man who has worked up to 20 hours a day, six days a week, for over 29 years to assure that I could be a stay at home mom. He works to make money, and he works on his time away from work to save money. HE fixes the washing machine. HE pours the cement. HE builds the block walls, the pizza ovens, the outdoor kitchens. HE drywalls the shelf units, the ceilings. HE cuts and lays the tile. HE repairs the cars...under the hood and on the body. HE cares for the pets. HE plants the garden and cares for it. HE nurtures the trees, picks the citrus bounty, and eats them yucky grapefruit. HE invents systems to take the water that runs out of the a/c and off the roof, goes underground through a pipe, and waters our thirsty pine trees. HE constantly monitors our pool so it stays nice and swimmable. HE stops the leaks in the plumbing, fixes the toilets. HE gets on Craigslist and finds new stuff when the old stuff dies. HE rebuilds engines and restores trucks, putting off his panel wagon dream. HE hunts for some of the best meat you will ever get to eat (except for the doves....yuck!)HE shovels horse manure outside a horse rescue facility and makes our compost pile. HE carefully scours yard sales and provides furniture, dishes, tools, and just about anything and everything our entire family needs (including the cast iron stuff that Mike loves...and must drive Allison crazy!). HE is the one who carefully sought out the BEST deal on solar power and solar water heating, and he was here the whole time to make sure the water heater - and our troubles with the company - were few. HE helps those who work here. HE made the attic as cool as he could for the guys who had to spend their entire day in early July installing our new A/C - another something that HE must have been prompted to do because he had been getting bids for weeks. HE reads his scriptures, and spends A LOT of time on his knees, praying for the welfare of each and every one of us, whether we are kind or nice or even civil to him. I could go on and on...HE also makes the best Chinese food, and pulled pork. All to save. A poor provider. There is just nothing that could be further from the truth!!! So, my prayer for today will be that he will be able to provide until the end of this job, and be able to find something when the time comes that will give him joy in the future.

Praying For My Husband-Day 7

I am being a bit of a maverick today. You can go to the site and see what they counsel to pray for...it is about not having inappropriate relationships. I think that is just a bit heavy for me today. So, I am praying for him in his church work. He is the clerk for our church unit. He goes to meetings, makes sure the records are kept up to date, keeps records for the ward, i.e. who is serving where, etc., he orders the things from Salt Lake City that the ward needs, he makes sure the Bishop has all that he needs, he prints certificates, he keeps records of meetings...just a lot of stuff. So, I am praying for him to be strengthened to do his best in his church work and that his work will help others to do their work.

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Praying For My Husband-Day 6

Here is today's suggestion from the blog.
Now, I am using some of these as guided suggestions. After 29 years, and all the drama we have endured, I am so very, very thankful that I can totally trust my husband. I do pray for his strength to remain, his ability to always choose good over evil, and to feel my never ending thanks for his honor. To be able to stand for what is right is truly an admirable quality, and to try to influence the world to choose good over evil is also a characteristic to build.

Food Storage Fairy

This morning, I saw this on one of the blogs I follow. Isn't it a cute idea...and much more useful than a plate of cookies! (Okay, Rice Children in Phoenix...you can stop complaining about the sweet potato cookies!!!)

Praying For My Husband-Day 5

Day 5

You know, it's really hard to pray for someone AND be too angry with them! I guess only 26 days left till I can get really mad! :)

Praying For My Husband-Day 4

Day 4

Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop

Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop Writing Prompt:

1.) They just don't make (now, don’t faint everyone…I have weaknesses and every once in a while I cave to the sugar pressure!) Hershey Kisses like they used to! Some background to start. I have always been a choco-holic…loved to have 30 chocolate chips for breakfast (yes, I counted them…70 calories, don’t you know!) years ago. Then, came weight loss. It started gradually, and, as I found things…like chocolate chips…that made my appetite go into high gear, I eliminated them. I lost something like 80 pounds. I hiked, ran, exercised twice a day… Now, I really try to keep my weight steady, though I can’t exercise twice a day, and I either hike or run (hey, I am almost 50…a 40 minute hike or a 3 mile run is about it for my hip!). I don’t have desserts, candy, etc. (though I will grab some of those mildly sweet animal crackers). I really have to watch everything, every hour, every day…because that old appetite still will go crazy. I will fight this all of my life….I may be thin looking, but I am really an overweight person in a thinner body.
Back to the prompt. With all that knowledge imparted to you of my lifelong quest for weight loss, I still am a stress eater. The other night, it was particularly crazy…I tend to do a lot of things wrong and so I get to hear what I do…or don’t do…from many. So, as I was walking by the candy dish (the same candy dish that I have on the entry table and, when my married son, Ethan came by and saw it empty, scolded his heathen brothers and sister for eating the candy…candy intended for guests…of which he is one-since he doesn’t live here! So, Kayty promptly filled it with an assortment from her “stash”)and saw a delightful Hershey Kiss. Oh, what memories of melting milk chocolate. I was mad…and tired…and frustrated…so I grabbed it, unwrapped, and popped it into my mouth. I waited for the yummy sensation of chocolate melting across my tongue and down my throat…and waited…but, to my horror, the thing tasted just awful! No yum. No milk chocolate fix. Just yuck! I was furious. Hey, if things get so bad that I eat sugar…that I indulge, knowing full well that it will mean swimming laps in the pool, or extra sit ups, or extra running…I sure want it to be worth the upcoming punishment. This Hershey Kiss…not worth it at all! Yep, they sure don’t make Hershey Kisses like they used to! Now, they better not dare change the recipe for Sees Nuts and Chews…or there is going to be a serious incident a-happenin!

Kayty's Love

Kayty came out today, new folders for school in her hand. She showed me one of the features, on the inside flap. It was a list...a list of planets. And there, in bold black letters, was the word "Pluto". Kayty was elated...this provides further proof that Pluto is indeed a planet. She has a true love for Pluto. She feels that the scientific community has committed a gross error, deciding that, due to the small size and irregular orbit, Pluto could no longer be considered truly a planet. Her feelings on this are abundantly clear, and vocally stands up in defense of small and irregular things...like Pluto. She even has become part of a Pluto fan club! Go figure...I guess that's what makes the world today what it is...a place where the small, insignificant, and even forgotten...even a planet, has a fan club. Go get 'em Kayty!!

Praying For My Husband-Day 3

This morning, I got a little scolded, and got a little angry. Anger makes for a good run: lots of talking to myself and tears, and no one sees (and those that see think I am a raging maniac, so they stay far, far away). Now those feelings are sorta gone, so here I go...praying for my hubby...day three...look here

31 Days of Praying For Our Husbands

It's Day 2...don't forget. Here is what to pray about...plus anything else you need to pray for.

I Love My Letter Carrier Today!

I got the very best thing in my mailbox this morning...a sweet, wonderful, and very terrific thank you note from a perfectly super dooper looper grandson! It came, with artwork included, and thanked Papa and Grammy for the birthday giftcard, telling (and showing) us what he purchased. It now hangs proudly on my wall over my sewing/craft table. Great things come in envelopes from Las Vegas!!!

God's Words Never Cease

This was shared with me on Facebook this morning.

31 Days of Praying For Our Husbands

This morning, I found this: a challenge to, for the next 31 days, pray for our husbands. It just absolutely inspired me. Now, I do always pray for my sweet Dee, but this gives me an even greater challenge, for the blog includes inspirations on specific things to pray for. I am a firm believer in prayer. I know that Dee kept his straight A's in college as a result of much study, and great prayers. I know that those going through challenges can actually feel the strength of the prayers of others. I know that prayer makes a difference. I know time and time again that I have prayed and been blessed...not always the way I think I should be, but the resulting answers have been exactly what I needed. I pray for my hubby, my sweet children, their spouses, my grandbabies...all 4 of them! I am totally psyched about this...31 days of special prayers for the person who is the most special to me!

Venting

It is so important for us to be charitable, to be there when another is in need. It is ALSO important for us to make sure we do not selfishly put ourselves into a situation that makes it so that others have to help us. Case in point: I have seen instance after instance in which a person/family is needing financial help...this is not a rarity during these hard times. Yes we should help. However, in many of those cases, I find that those needing have taken vacations, enrolled their children in private universities, signed kids up to be part of club ball teams, gotten pedicures, purchased meals out, etc. Now, I am no example of anything, but we drive old used cars...our newest is a 99 jeep that was totalled in an accident and we rebuilt rather than purchase another one. We never eat out, I never get a pedicure...and my only haircut in the last nine months was due to a gift certificate for mothers day from my kids. I didn't get a birthday present. Dee got nothing for Fathers' Day from me. I wore my running/hiking shoes until the soles had holes in them.Kayty is at a community college, postponing her university dream for a few years. I sit in a line every Thursday morning for 3 hours to get surplus veggies and staples. I drive to a foodbank to get their food club boxes. I write down EVERY expense on a spreadsheet, and then watch my budget like a hawk...even with adding a new adult to our household, I am still staying with the 100 bucks a week budget, including purchasing a few extra items for our years' supply. I keep our A/C at 83 during the day. I watch when I use the water. Now, again, I am not any great person, and I witness many wonderful people who do even more. I am just saying that people need to learn to live on less. It really isn't that bad. And eating new things is kind of an adventure...we had whole wheat sweet potato cookies today...with butterscotch chips, honey and pumpkin seeds...and they weren't too bad. Whew...I think my vent is over. Please forgive me if I have offended. I am not here to judge...only to challenge. We CAN live on less. Needs are that...needs...not wants that we talk ourselves into thinking we need!

I Wanna Win This!

I have turned into a person who truly loves to cook and to find new things to do with the things I get at the food bank, at the store, and from our garden. I exercise on Saturday morning...and through the week, for that matter, to cooking shows! I love America's Test Kitchen, Ming Can Cook, and Rick Bayless. That is why I entered this contest, and I hope to win this book. I don't have many cookbooks...I just scan the internet for yummy things. But this would really be so helpful, especially the fact that it can be made in 30 minutes. What a help for a football driving mom! Wish me luck!

Writer's Workshop

4.) Which appliance in your home would you most miss living without if you had to live without.
Wow…this brought a lot of thoughts to my mind. First off, which appliances do I love??Which ones do I use every day??
Well, I love my refrigerator. It keeps all the wondrous blessings from our garden, and from the food I get at various places from spoiling. It keeps the water COLD, and when it is 115 outside, it is just wonderful to have COLD water to drink. It keeps my popsicles…which are my sanity in a sea of craziness…from turning into Koolaid…something that I just hate. So, it could be my refrigerator.
Again, I also love my washer. I would just hate to have to take all my clothes, go and find a rock…and a waterway, for that matter…to wash in. Again, when it is 115, and one son plays football and practices at 4:00 p.m. and another son cannot drive due to poor choices he made and so he has to ride a bike, and hubby’s jeep air does not always work and…well, as you can see, this could lead to some “ripe” circumstances at our house, and at their places of business. So, I cannot live without my washer.
Now, this one may be kind of silly, but I also love my vacuum and I could not live without it. I know that sounds strange, but, for me, I need just a few things, and then, no matter what happens, I can handle almost anything. I need my kitchen island counter to be cleaned off. I need my living room dusted twice a week. And, I need my family room rug and living room to be vacuumed. If that happens, all else can basically go crazy, but I can handle it. A vacuum makes it so that, as little as you have time to do, if you run it across your floor, it looks better…it looks like you have accomplished something.
There…I think that’s it. All else can be dealt with…unless you classify a home air conditioning system as an appliance. Again…it’s 115 here in Phoenix! Mine finally died on July 2…we just got a new one installed on July 9…and we NEEDED it!!!! However, it was not inexpensive, like a vacuum, like a refrigerator…So that doesn’t count!)

Our Garden Runneth Over!

Gardening in Phoenix is a unique experience. We planted our tomato plants in February...that's right, February! Our growing season is unique here, but with some work, tender care, and some shading, we have been able to get a lot of tomatoes. I love to go out in the morning and pick the cherry tomatoes...one for the bowl, and one for Suzzy! Nothing better than a cherry tomato fresh off the vine! Normally, the blossoms will not set if it is over 100 degrees, but we shaded our plants and have gotten tomatoes way past 100. However, today, it is forecast to be 113, and that qualifies as baking weather, so we went out yesterday morning and picked all we could, watered very well, and hope to get one more small harvest before we say bye bye to our tomatoes. We also picked all our watermelon, and we have 4 sitting on the kitchen counter...they ate 2 yesterday! I made zucchini muffins this morning (this time, I remembered to add the sugar! Hopefully, the troops will approve!)I still have basil...it likes the heat, but everything else looks weak. Hey, if I were outside instead of in this wonderful air conditioned house (again, I love Alaskan Home Services!!)I would look limp and weak. So, thank you, dear garden, for tomatoes, for salsa, for grilled zucchini, for watermelon, for the smallest cantaloupe you could ever imagine (we're talking golf balls!), for zucchini muffins. Take a rest, for now, and be ready for winter planting in a few weeks!!

Surpises Are The Best!

I am not usually one for surprises, especially when they happen to me! I don't like birthday parties, singing to me, etc. I am a hopelessly "plan ahead" person, and I try to be spontaneous, but it shows that I am not comfortable. I manage, and try not to make the world too terrible a place for the ones I love. The other morning...my first cool morning in a long time (thank you Alaskan Air Conditioning for working so hard installing my new a/c to replace our failing 25 year old one)...my sweet daughter in law, Danyel, called and asked if I had seen Allison's blog. I hadn't had any time to even turn on the computer that morning. She urged me to get on NOW. I was a bit concerned...there again, me and the no surprises malady (the a/c going out was surprise enough for a long time!)I opened it and found...first, my two sweet grandbabies looking quite surprised! And then the best surprise of all...an ultrasound of a sweet baby boy! Yes, Mike and Allison are going to have baby #3 this December. What a happy wonderful good and very great surprise! Now, I have to work on that stocking for my fireplace to hang up this Christmas. And then, the only surprise can be what they name this sweet little blessing from Heaven! (Adam is leaning toward Christofuss...but I said that wouldn't fit!)Surprises can be very, very, very wonderful!

Writer's Workshop

1.) Tell us about a "dirt cheap" you've taken this summer.
Well, our “dirt cheap” has been dirt nothing!! Now, I know that everyone thinks: Arizona…Hot hot hot, and so it is, here in Phoenix. It will get up to 114 this weekend. (They say “it’s a dry heat” and that does make it a little more tolerable, but when the temperatures at 4:30 A.M. are 92 degrees, it really doesn’t matter, dry or wet!) However, few know the reality that, within 1 -2 hours, you can drive to places, in Arizona, that are 20 to 30 degrees cooler. One of these places is our favorite: Woods Canyon Lake, outside of Payson, Arizona on the Mogollon Rim. It is about 2 hours North and East. We planned on camping, hiking and fishing at there. There are great campgrounds, we can ride our bikes or walk to the lake, where trout fishing is king. (and when the kids get tired of not catching anything on day 1, they spend the rest of the time catching crawdads.), where we hike everyday around the lake, where it rains-just enough to cool the warmer afternoon, and were you wake up freezing. That was the plan. Then, Nathan’s football coach changed their week off to last week. Dad had meetings galore already scheduled at work, and India doesn’t understand the vacation concept. To complicate things even further, our air conditioning, 25 years old, and a must for Phoenix, decided to die last week. It still is working (our house is at 85 degrees), as long as we keep all doors to periphery rooms shut, don’t do anything warm (cooking) inside, and stay dark till the sun goes down. We get a new unit, ducts, and the works installed today. So, bye bye Woods Canyon Lake, again for another year.

2.) When I grow up I want to be like …Marjorie Pay Hinckley. She passed away a few years ago. She lovingly served as the wife of our church President, Gordon B. Hinckley for many years. She always had a happy face. She always looked for the good. She always saw things in a positive way. She once said, “Elder Neil A. Maxwell once said,’ We are here in mortality, and the only way to go is through; there isn’t any around!’ I would add, the only way to get through life is to laugh your way through it. You either have to laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh. Crying gives me a headache.
Another one that touched me…especially since I will turn 50 in a year, “Fifty was my favorite age. It takes about that long to learn to quit competing-to be yourself and settle down to living. It is the age I would like to be through all eternity!”
And, my favorite quote: “I don’t want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails. I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp. I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbor’s children. I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone’s garden. I want to be there with children’s sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder. I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived.”
She truly exemplified what it means to be a Christian, and that is what I would like to be when I grow up.



3.) Describe a difficult moment that you survived.
Oh, boy…I dearly, dearly love my sons. I love them more each day. And, because of the challenges I have faced with them, I love them unconditionally. Difficult moments come when your “plan” doesn’t work the way you think it should. My two sons served honorable church missions. However, one became ill on that mission, and served nine honorable months. The other became terribly discouraged and served twenty one honorable months. When the phone calls came, informing me that they would need to come home, I, for a brief moment, thought I was going to die. But, mom love immediately flooded my inner being, and from the time I saw my babies get off that plane, my heart melted and all I wanted was to hug them. They may still feel like they let me down, but nothing could be further from the truth!! They are honorable, good men, great husbands, and-hopefully someday-tremendous daddies.
Another difficult moment that I survived, was when I received a call from high school, telling me that another son had been caught in possession of a substance that was not allowed at school. I was flabbergasted, stunned, and totally shocked. I wanted to die, but mom love, again, immediately took over. We stood by him, through school expulsion hearings, through college and dropping that, through dui’s, and we still are there to support, though not so much financially. I never thought it would happen…he had been taught…the example had been set…but we love him, and I survived.


4.) List 5 things you like to do while camping...Well, when it comes to camping, I have 29 years of experience. That is the ONLY hotel I have been in...a tent! What do I like to do? The most wonderful thing we do at Woods Canyon Lake is to hike around it every day. It takes about an hour. You are surrounded by forest on one side, lake on the other. There are wild strawberries growing. There are places to sit on a rock and put your feet in the cool water. It is just wonderful. Another thing I like to do while camping...and this may seem strange...is to do the dishes! I get to put my hands in warm, soapy water and, for once in a day, I feel clean! I like to paint my Christmas ornaments while camping. I take my wood, my paints, and all my stuff, including brush bin and water bottle, sit down on a rock while my hubby fishes, and paint. It brings back such memories every time I hang them on my Christmas tree. I also like to go bike riding on our camping trips. We can ride on the great trails and you can end up on the edge of the Mogollon Rim and see the entire Verde Valley...pine trees as far as you can see! Finally, I just love to have my grandbabies on our campouts. Now, this has not been able to happen for a few years...they live far from our camping area...but I remember taking my grandson for a walk through the campground. He just loved cars, and he knew every make and model, at the age of 2! We would walk by a campsite and he would say, "What kind of car is that, Grammy?" and I would repeat (if I could read off the side of the car. If I could not, he would not be satisfied until we went up into the campsite and saw the true make and model).Then we would go to the next campsite and this would repeat. It was soooo fun! He would put on his helmet and ride his bike. It was just the best time. Maybe someday, a few years from now, we can do that again. Camping is fun. Food is great (especially Nate's blueberry cobbler!) and the COOL weather is the best!

5.) What are you paranoid about? I am not a paranoid person, per se, however, I really like things to be as planned as they can be. I get really out of step when I feel like I am flying by the seat of my pants, so to speak! If I get that out of control feeling, that is when I feel the most paranoid. I do try to plan for everything, though...and when things change, I pray and breathe....a lot (for both!)

Cameo and Ethan

This post is not anything more than a "thank you"...thank you Ethan for being wise enough to marry Cameo!! They came by on Sunday night...Cam had tried over and over to do something for my birthday: texted me to take me out to lunch, but my head and my lack of a/c was making me ill...then they both sent me birthday messages on my birthday...surely a great gift. Then, on Sunday, they brought me flowers, a neat accessory for my Winter village (get that, Kayty, not a Christmas Village...so it can go up on the piano come November 1) and my favorite...Sees Nuts and Chews!!! Cameo made sure we took pics, too...something I often put aside. She is just the most thoughtful person! She is unselfish, and kind, and dedicated and just wonderful. I feel so very blessed and honored to be her mom in law.

My boys may have made some of their teenage years an adventure in prayer for me, but they sure have made up for it with their gems...Cameo...and Danyel. I love them dearly!

Wise Thought

Having a man who I know is a living prophet on the earth today is such a great blessing. Thomas S. Monson guides the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as President, and he is the living prophet for the entire world. I was emailed this quote this morning. What he observed:

“Many more people could ride out the storm-tossed waves in their economic lives

if they had their . . . supply of food . . . and were debt-free. Today we find that

many have followed this counsel in reverse:they have at least a year’s supply of debt

and are food-free.”

President Thomas S. Monson, “That Noble Gift—

Love at Home,” Church News, May 12, 2001, 7.

We have been counseled to have a 3 month supply of ready to prepare food in our pantries, in storage. This can help on "a short week", a minor storm, or anything else that might happen. This just involves buying "a couple of extra" every time you shop. When you buy peanut butter, buy a couple of extra. If there is a great sale on pasta, buy a couple of extra. That is all...a couple of bucks every week. I am so grateful we have. I had to cut our food budget, due to Dee's reduced pay, and we now are helping Morgan get back on his feet. I have (keep fingers crossed) still not had to add to our shrunken food budget, and we are doing okay...thanks to "a couple of extra." It truly does work!

Fabulous Fourth!

Today is my birthday...my 49th birthday, to be exact. Yuck. I am really getting old! Anyway, I have never been the kind of person who liked a very big deal made of anything of mine, especially my birthday. This year, even with our failing air conditioner, it was nearly perfect. I awoke early...drenched in sweat due to aforementioned failing a/c, woke my sweetheart and we hiked the mountain at Thunderbird Park. Another year and I am blessed to be able to make it up and down. I have taken to this traditional hike, usually alone, to just be grateful that I can hike again this year....that I have good health and I can make it. We then went yard saling...got a few more storage containers for the pantry...some sponge brushes...Dee and Morgan got a few things. We packed a lunch and headed off for Prescott, Az. Nathan stopped at a gun store and used the money he has worked so hard for. We then found the mountain biking trail Morgan and Nathan wanted to try. They biked...Dee and I hiked. We drove around Prescott, headed home, and have had a good swim, and are nearly ready for bed. I received wonderful texts from my kids, a card and really "cute" glasses from Kayty, a cherished entry on my sister's blog from her, and wonderful, wonderful birthday remembrances from my dear friends on facebook. It was a perfectly wonderful birthday!!! A fabulous 4th of July!!!

P.S. I came in from the pool to find the most wonderful message on my cell phone from my two grandbabies. "Happy New Year, Grammy!" says Adam. "Happy New Year!" says Grace. "Happy Birthday!" I am sure they had come home from seeing fireworks, Las Vegas style! And how appropriate it was...yes, it truly is a new year! And a happy one it will be!

Thank you to all...for moms and mothers in law (my mom always calls at 3:14P.M.),to Ethan and Cam (can't wait for lunch with you!), to Doran and Danyel, to Morgan, Kayty (who always makes anything a party...keeps Party City in business!), Nathan, and especially Dee, for all you do, and for no Jackie Chan movies this year! Hooray!

Writer's Workshop

This week’s topics were more difficult to choose from. That mom guilt thing…well, there are not enough volumes to carry my thoughts on that. Allison wearing too small tap shoes “just one more time, honey”, Ethan being ignored when Nate was hurt in an ATC mishap and Ethan received a bad burn on the leg, and….well, I could go on…and on…and on!
So, my selection for this week is: “I'll be happy when…” Now, I am not foolish enough to even begin to think that one magical event will occur that will “make me happy”. And, to be honest, I really am not unhappy. I have a great hubby, fantastic kids, and the very best grandbabies, on earth and in heaven! My sweetheart has a job and works very hard for our family. We have a lovely, and safe home, and we live in a neighborhood that I can run and not be afraid. I have a car…with air conditioning (super happiness this time of year!) We are all, basically, healthy, and Kayty’s diabetes is in good control (we find out next week how good it is in…quarterly A1C). We have plenty to eat (thanks to coupons, lists, and food clubs, plus little helps here and there: you who help know who you are! And thank you, again, from the bottom of our heart!) We are surviving on much less money, and yet we still can tithe and pay all our bills on time. All the basics are met, and that makes me happy.
I love my home. The living room is just what I want…so is everything else, except for our bedroom and bathroom…and that doesn’t make me unhappy, just kind of unsettled. But, hey, it will come. I love the back yard, the pool, the garden, the fun things to do. I do miss our playground being filled with Adam and Grace, but when they do come it is just the best, so I have much to look forward to.
I love church and the things I learn each and every day. I love it that a temple will be built within a mile and a half of my home. I love the Lord, the scriptures, and all the opportunities I have to learn and grown. I love it that I know there is a living prophet on the earth today, and apostles that testify of Jesus Christ. I feast on their words every chance I get, and their teachings are there to help me be a better person.
So, it seems, happy is very much what I have. Now, don’t ask me to respond to this near Mothers’ Day…so much guilt there…but I am very happy. So, I will be happy when…well, that is now, so I need to just remember this when all is going nuts and I just can’t see straight. Maybe, I will be happy when I remember that I have so much to be happy about!