Last Sunday of 2008

Next week our ward(1) goes from the early schedule(2), 9 a.m.-noon, to the middle schedule, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Maybe I'll be able to get up & go to Sacrament meeting(3). I have had a hard time getting to the library at 10:10 this year. I haven't been to Sacrament meeting, which is the first meeting of the block(4), very many times this year because 9 a.m. is too early for me. I am always so tired that it is nothing for me to sleep 10-12 hours a night.

Today Don-Mikel gave Sharing Time(5) in Primary(6). He did a great job of including the children. I went up for part of it. I missed the first part. He had the children sing, "Do As I'm Doing." He assigned the two boys in his class to stand in front of the Primary & do anything they wanted, but not to follow him. The Primary president said she was watching the boys thinking, "They're just goofing off. They're not following him."

When they finished singing, Don-Mike thanked the kids in Primary for following him & not following the boys. He went on to introduce a scripture in puzzle pieces. Then he showed pictures from the Gospel Arts Kit(7). He showed a picture of John the Baptist baptizing Jesus & then asked how the kids could follow Jesus. That was an easy one to answer, but some of the other pictures were more abstract, like Jesus walking on water.

He asked the children to draw a picture of how they could follow Jesus. By drawing a picture the Sunbeams(8) could participate. The children could then share their pictures with the group. One little Sunbeam got up & she described her picture in detail, LOL. It was so cute. I'm glad she explained it, because it didn't look anything like what she was saying. While the children were drawing their pictures, Don-Mike had the song, "I will follow Jesus," playing on his boom box.

There were several times when I thought, "That's not how we discussed it." I thought of jumping in a couple of times, but restrained myself. I reminded myself that I have been in Primary off & on for over 35 years. At the age of 23, I would not have been in front of a group of teachers & children giving a Sharing Time. He has improved so much since the first time he gave Sharing Time two years ago.

Back in the library(9), I was able to hear part of Don's priesthood(10) lesson on listening to the spirit. The Elder's Quorum meets in a room across the hall & down a small hall from the library. They usually have the door open. As he was telling about our Christmas Day, a couple of people came to the library & needed help, so I could no longer listen. During that little noisy bit of time, someone closed the door to the classroom.

EXPLANATION OF FOOTNOTES:
For my friends who are not LDS, let me explain a few of the terms I have used. It seems like LDS people almost speak a different language.

Sacrament Meeting(3) is the worship service for all members of the ward(1) or congregation. It lasts an hour and 10 minutes. A block(4) is the time spent in meetings. We meet in a block schedule(2) of 3 hours & then we are through & can go home. Each church building has at least 2 wards meet in them. Our building has 3 wards meet there. Our ward has had the early schedule this year. We will go to the middle schedule come January 1 & in 2010, we will go to the late schedule, 1-4 p.m.

Don-Mike teaches the 8-10-year-old boys in Primary(6) or Sunday School. Primary meets right after Sacrament Meeting for almost 2 hours. They have an opening exercise where the children will give talks, a scripture & an adult, usually a member of the Primary presidency or a member of the bishopric, the three men who lead the ward, will give a "talk." A story or something like that. They also sing. Then they have singing time for 20 minutes where they learn songs & have fun with singing. After singing time, they have Sharing Time(5). Every 4th Sunday a Primary teacher gives Sharing Time. A 20 minute lesson with activities, songs, skits to the entire Primary. Our Primary is so small that we only have one session. So, it's a challenge trying to give a "lesson" that will involve children from 3 years old to 11 years old. They then have 40 minutes of class time.

The Gospel Arts Kit(7) is a box of pictures on gospel subjects, Old Testament, New Testament, Book of Mormon, Church History, General (subjects) & Gospel in Action. Some areas of the world do not have a library(9) or a room that is set aside for housing visual aids such as pictures, posters, flannelboard stories & other things like that. There are also TVs, VCR & DVD players w/videos, DVDs, books, office supplies, chalk & eraser, easels, manuals, magazines. All they have is the Gospel Arts Kit. I have been asked to be the ward librarian or the keeper of the library, LOL. Don helps me in this job.

The different age groups in Primary have names. A Sunbeam(8) is a small child of 3 years old.

While the children are in Primary, the adults have their own meetings. Right after Sacrament meeting is Sunday School. After Sunday School, teenagers & adults move into a third meeting. The teenage girls from 12-18 years old are in Young Women. They meet in an opening exercise & then move into class sessions divided by age groups. The adult women from 18 to the elderly, have Relief Society, a women's organization, & are given lessons. The men & teenage boys from 12-18 years old are in Priesthood(10) meetings, also divided by age groups. The Elders are from age 18 to the elderly. They also have lessons &, as I mentioned, Don teaches the 4th Sunday lesson.

How to explain the priesthood? Here is a link to check that out, if you are interested.

Snow caps

Since I couldn't find my phone yesterday to take pictures, I took some today. Snow is still shrouding everything. Look at the snow caps on my bucket garden. The two little yellow things in front of the white buckets are hanging solar lights. They have snow caps too, but you can't see them very well.

Don went out & shoveled Nick's '97 Camaro off. I had wanted a picture of that too. It hasn't been moved since the first snow fall. It was buried, you could hardly tell there was a car under that pile of snow.

It's been lightly snowing all day & it's been a gray day. The mountains are invisible.

This is the first picture I've had of the new porch on the new addition. There is siding on the wall beneath the porch. We were excited that the new siding matched so closely, yet in this picture it doesn't look that close in color. Don-Mike cleaned off the brown truck in the picture so he could go get Luana's snow blower to clean out the new driveway. The truck is a diesel & he had plugged the truck in to warm it up. He came back a couple of hours later & the extension cord had not been plugged in. So, he transported the snow blower in the trunk of Liz. It sure came in handy to clean out that new driveway.

Monday we need to go to the Preston Police Department & get a copy of the accident report so we can get a new panel to fix Liz.

I told Don it would have been nice to have that to dig a path to Mufasa. Maybe we need to put snow blower at the top of our list of "must haves."

Speaking of Mufasa, here are some pictures I took on the way down to feed him.

This first picture is the trampoline that didn't get taken down this fall. Remember I said I pushed the tiller & the lawnmowers under it to kind of protect them from the weather?? The shed in the background is the old chicken coop where Mufasa's food has been put to protect it from the weather & from marauders.

I stepped out the back door of the garage & looked at disbelief in the scene before me. It didn't even look like Eddie & I had shoveled. I stepped off the porch & fell. I'm so glad there was a big snow pile there. The roof on the old garage is metal & the snow had slid off.

This next picture is a shot of Mufasa's kennel. Look at the snow on top. There are some panels to enclose it so that he can't jump out or something can't jump in. I can't believe the snow is piled on top. It's chain link with large enough holes that I wouldn't have thought snow would pile up. It had to have come fast enough to pile it like that. And there is the snow shovel. I can see the handle sticking out of the snow bank. I guess they took it down when Mufasa got out & left it there.

I had to come back up to the house & ask Don to come help me dig out the door to the shed again because I couldn't open it. Nick dug it out for me yesterday. None of us have snow boots. I guess that should go before a snow blower.

Speaking of digging out. We just dug out Mufasa's door yesterday & look at it today!

Don says it will snow all night. I am already sick & tired of snow & being stuck. I got stuck in Luana's driveway three times on Christmas Day. Nick got stuck twice today on his way to & from Logan.

It's been a long time since I've seen snow like this. There must be a lot of righteous people praying for it.

Digging out

Today was a beautiful sunshiny day. It was so bright, it hurt the eyes. I wish I'd had my cell phone to take pictures, but we couldn't find it. The snow was just piled in the trees. It looked like one of those Christmas cards you see with snow in the branches of the trees.

Mufasa didn't get fed or watered yesterday, we were too busy shoveling out & recuperating from our accidents. But today was another day. I'm grateful Eddie was here today to help me shovel a path to Mufasa. I didn't take my walking stick with me. I had a broom instead. We could only find one shovel. Nick had to have the snow shovel to dig out my car.

Finally, after shoveling a path three-fourths of the way down, Eddie gave in & let me take the lead. I only shoveled a few yards, when I gave up & just plowed through the snow that was past my knees. When we finally got to the kennel we could only see one pan. There are supposed to be 2 pans & a large plastic dish. So, that meant we had to shovel to the ground to open the door. Mufasa was trying to push out, but even with his help we couldn't open the door. The snow was piled in front of the kennel which faces south & it was coated on the front. The snow must have blown from the south. There are several inches of snow on the top of the kennel. I guess it's a good thing there are panels up there. I can't imagine what his kennel would've looked like without. How wet & miserable that would be. Mother suggested we put tarps on top & front of the kennel.

We found the leash & put it on him. Eddie held Mufasa outside the kennel while I went in with the shovel. I started digging where I thought the water pan would be. I had to chip the ice away with the shovel. I finally found it. He was so thirsty, he wanted in right away, but Eddie decided to take him for a walk so I could dig my way to the shed for the dog food. That proved to be too much, so again I just forged through the snow. I couldn't open the door. It faces south too & the snow was piled in front of it & plastered all over it.

I wasn't watching Eddie & Mufasa because I was concentrating so hard on shoveling snow. Eddie said Mufasa just laid down in the snow & rolled. I wondered if he was trying to make a snow angel.

I was so tired, I kept falling & was ready to start crying. Nick came down & finished shoveling the snow in front of the door to the shed. He got it open & I got the dog food. Mufasa went willingly into the kennel, we locked the door & left.

The boys carried the shovels & broom back to the house, so I had nothing to steady me on my trek back to the house. I was hoping no one was watching me stagger along the path. They would have thought I'd been drinking liquor.

The next time I'm in Yellowstone & see one of those cool wooden walking sticks, I'm buying it, even if I have to use a credit card. The wooden flag pole I'm using works, & I won't go to the dog kennel again without it, but one of those wooden walking sticks would be so cool. I could even use it for a cane.

Houdini is alive & well. We didn't get the peg at the bottom of the door in the casing & Mufasa was out running around when Don-Mike got here. Again, Eddie's help was invaluable in getting him back in the kennel. They had to do more digging in the snow to find the casing the peg goes in. This time I was at work & didn't get in on the fun.

A day of thanksgiving

I thought today was Sunday. I kept thinking about working a production day tomorrow & Don was asking me to trade days to cook with him. Don cooks Monday, Friday & every other Sunday, plus practically every holiday. So, I was thinking, "How can I do that???" I was also thinking I should've gone into Parenting Bipolar Kids & changed the weekly update before I went to church today. Since it wasn't Sunday, I didn't go to church. It's been such a long day, you could've fooled me.

I didn't finish all my wrapping last night, because I was just so tired & irritable. So, we had to wait for me to wrap my presents. Then after we unwrapped presents, Nick decided he would go home until dinner was ready. He called about 5 minutes later & I could hear him talking to someone in the background about calling someone. He told me he'd call me back. I told Don that Nick was in some kind of trouble & so we left.

We finally saw him as we rounded the corner by Stokes MarketPlace (grocery store). We could see two pickups as our street turns off HWY 91. Nick's green 1969 Chev pickup was in the snow bank with a big black pickup beside him. I thought the pickup had forced him off the road. No, Nick was driving too fast & couldn't make the corner, slid into the stop sign & snapped it off. The black pickup had pulled up to see if he could help. So, I pulled beyond our street in the far lane of traffic that hadn't been plowed, put on my hazard lights, & a city police officer pulled up behind me.

I called Don-Mike to tell him about Nick's accident. He'd been out in his driveway shoveling snow. To answer his cell phone & hear me, he'd stepped back into the car port. While we were talking, a Toyota king cab pickup left the highway, jumped the canal & plowed right into the driveway & broadsided his car. He said, "Oh, my gosh, a truck just hit Liz.!" Liz is his 1979 Chevy Impala. It is Mother's old car & she named it Liz. I thought maybe he had taken Liz & was coming to see what had happened with Nick, so I said, "Where are you?" He told me he was in the carport & Liz was in the driveway.

We were blessed this day. If Don & I had not driven off to check on a phone call that had been cut short, my car would have been parked right where the pickup came to a stop. If I hadn't called to let Don-Mike know about Nick's accident, he would have been out where my car was parked & would have been run over or worse yet pinned between the pickup & car. If his car hadn't been parked there, at the speed the pickup was going & the direction they were heading, they would have ended up right in Mother's living room.

I told Don-Mike I'd call the sheriff's dispatch & tell them about the accident. The dispatcher told me it would be a few minutes because the officer was investigating another accident. I said, "I know. I just left it. It's my younger son. This is my older son." She asked me if anyone was hurt & I said I didn't know. She asked me to call & see if she needed to send an ambulance.

The pickup came so fast, & hit with such an impact, the car was pushed about a foot over. Liz is a heavy car & that panel is pushed right into the trunk. I had to move out of the officer's way so he could take a picture of the damage. It didn't look like the pickup sustained any damage, but Don-Mike said the passenger door was hard to open. Nick explained that the "crumple zone" had collapsed. It's gonna cost the guy a "pretty penny" to get that fixed.

The speed limit right there is 45 mph. Don-Mike said all 4 tires were bald & she, the 18-yo driver, was driving too fast, hydroplaned & flew off the highway. We have stood in Mother's big picture window & watched huge fire engines catch air as they hit the bump where the canal crosses the highway. Her mother explained to me that she was only going the speed limit.

There were 5 people in the car. I was talking to Nick on the cell phone when they started piling out of the pickup. I'm going, "OMG, there must be a dozen people in there." He asked me to take pictures with my cell phone, so I did.

This is how close the pickup came to Don's car. As they were leaving, Don-Mike wanted to know if we should get the guy's car insurance information. I asked them if they had given their insurance information to the officer. They assured us they had. I just hope they had insurance, but she didn't get a ticket for no insurance. We had to give the officer Liz's registration & insurance information, even though she was parked legally in her own driveway.

Don-Mike said the driver was given a ticket for driving too fast for conditions. The police officer told her to be glad it was Christmas Day, he was letting her off easy because he could have given her a "reckless" driving ticket.

Nick got off easy too. He wasn't even given a citation. It didn't look to me like his pickup even has a dent in it.

It has been a wet & snowy day. I spent the day at Mother's. Don-Mike spends most of his time here. He came home about 8 p.m. He asked me if I wanted him to drive me home. I said no I could make it. I crawled at 20 mph., through town. Don had just shoveled about 5 minutes before I got home. It had snowed 12 inches then, but it's supposed to snow all night. I'm worried about Don going to work in the morning.

There have been 2 major accidents on the corridor between Preston & Logan in the past 2 weeks. One was a fatality. One a pickup ran a red light & flew through the air, did a couple of flips in mid-air & hit a utility pole by the Hyde Park Maverik. My friend Kim & her daughter Shari were filling up. If the utility pole hadn't been there, the pickup would've ended up in Kim's lap.

So, we do have many things to be thankful for this snowy Christmas day. Not the least of which is the celebration of the birth of our Savior. I spent about an hour listening & watching YouTube & different renditions of the hymn, Mary, Did You Know.

BratFactor.com

I checked my Freecycle group tonight, firstly to say that I had received two bags of winter clothing for the Kiwanis Club Coats for Kids Drive. Secondly, to offer a black & red computer keyboard that Nick is going to throw away because it is cheap & the legs on the bottom are broken off. While on that email account, I checked the emails from FlyLady.net, BratFactor.com, Every Day Cheapskate, Living on a Dime, & Heroic Stories, five newsletters that share that email account.

At Brat Factor I signed up for Pam Young's 365 Surprise. Every day she sends a short email. I got behind on them because I wasn't checking that email account every day until I added Freecycle to that account. I knew the emails from Freecycle would get lost in the clutter on raynib9@yahoo.com. So, now I check that account everyday. I'm down to 50 unread surprises. Seldom do I throw one of those surprises away. I've subscribed now for almost 3 years & she seems to send out the same ones every year. Every so often I'll search to make sure I haven't saved duplicate messages.

So, why am I blogging about this? The first email I opened today was Oct. 7 & she asked what kind of thoughts you have when you fill up at the gas station. She said she caught herself thinking, "What if ..." thoughts of fear one day as she was filling up her gas tank; thoughts about inflation & how that would inevitably lead to a file in her brain filled with past thoughts of financial struggles.

Today, as I filled up the tank & watched the numbers whirl, I was grateful that we weren't paying $4.12 a gallon as we were in July. A man at the pump across the island from me was telling me that now crude oil production is being cut back so that the price of gas will go up again. I've always been afraid of filling up a car. These thoughts & fears go back over 30 years to my days of living in Salt Lake City & the fear I had of stopping at a strange gas station & having to go in & pay for the gas. I would run out of gas rather than stop & buy gas. I had a hard time going from Cache Valley to the big impersonal world of a city. It was a constant struggle. I've always been full of static electricity & would get shocked when I touched a gas pump. I was always afraid the gas pump would blow up because I touched it.

It's only been the last few years that I haven't been afraid to fill up the gas tank. My family gets the credit for helping me with that fear. I still drive until the empty light comes on. One reason being that I don't bother to check my gas gauge. I forget.

Pam quoted Caroline Myss in the Oct. 7 email:

"What drains your spirit drains your body.
What fuels your spirit fuels your body."

She said she made out a 3"x5" card with an uplifting message that she will take out when she fuels her car to read to keep those "What if ..." thoughts at bay.

Tonight I picked up a box that came from somewhere. Things at my house just seem to suddenly appear, bubble up out of the black hole. Kind of reminds me of the musical, "Brigadoon." I took the box in the bedroom, sat down on the bed & started going through the box. I found a sack of scrapbook supplies from an October scrapbooking seminar a few years ago. I found a planner that I had started to make with laminated pictures & favorite quotes with a few entries from 2001. It wasn't finished & I hadn't finished using it. The only thing I can surmise is that it went missing & now, seven years later, it has bubbled to the surface again. I didn't want to throw it away, but wondered what I could do with the thoughts & pictures. I thought about dismantling the planner & making myself a small booklet of those pictures & thoughts to look at while I was filling up the car.

If I put the box back where I found it, it will probably go missing again with only one or two things thrown away & one thing rescued. Then I wonder why there are so many boxes & messes, sigh.

The "Step-Down Principle"

The University of Idaho extension educators write articles for our weekly newspaper. They are always very interesting. The county agent, Stuart Parkinson, writes articles on gardening & farming. The home economist, Laura Sant, writes articles on cooking, diet & home.

In June, one of Laura's article was on saving money by using a "step-down principle." The example she used was that you could go buy 3 pancakes at IHOP for approximately $5 or you could take a step down & buy pancakes from McDonald's or you could buy premium frozen waffles or store-brand frozen waffles. Each alternative was a step-down & you'd save money.

This was an interesting concept to me. I've been wondering how I could save money since I shop the DI or clearance racks & buy store brands to begin with.

I also subscribe to a newsletter called "Everyday Cheapskate." I don't read them every day & they pile up in the folder called "Cheapsk8" in one of my email accounts.

Tonight, I've spent a couple of hours just reading & enjoying the things I've read. It's a nice break from the book I'm reading about bipolar.

So, I found an antibacterial solution in the Nov. 24 issue of Everyday Cheapskate entitled, "Don't Poison the Family on Thanksgiving" & I thought, "Hmmm, if I leave this here, I'll never find it again." I immediately thought of copying the paragraph here, but wondered if that would be copyright infringement & saw this little sentence at the bottom:

Copyright © 2008 Mary Hunt. All rights reserved. Permission to reprint required.

So, yes, it would be copyright infringement if I copied the whole paragraph. But if I write about it, is that copyright infringement?

To make the solution, take 1 gallon of cool water plus 1 TEASPOON liquid bleach. I looked at it again, just to be sure that it didn't say tablespoon or cup or anything like that, but no, it says teaspoon. It also says to measure carefully. Ok, so I'm not the most careful measurer. It also says LIQUID bleach. I don't like to use liquid bleach. I have holes in clothes & also some towels that were once a pretty color & are now some ghastly shade. The newsletter claims that this solution will not harm wood, paint, marble or fabric. However, the newsletter does not tell me how to store it.

Now, I'm a great believer in 409. I love 409. Is this a step down from 409? Does 409 harm wood, paint, marble or fabric? Will the weak bleach solution clean as well as 409? I guess the only way to find out is to try it.

The hand of God

In my reading today I came across this, "... how I've seen the hand of God in my life that day." I realized that is what I've been trying to do, not how I've been led, but how I've seen the hand of God.

In the grocery store a week ago Wednesday night I ran into Rex Pitcher, a prominent businessman in town that lives in our ward, while I was in the frozen food aisle getting some frozen pizza for supper. I haven't seen him for a long time. Anyway, he owns a plastic processing plant. He said he had some vinyl siding to offer us. The only thing he wanted is that we come out & look at it right away & move it off his property. We can have it. No charge!!! He doesn't know if it will match our existing siding or not. But to come look at it. I was so excited I would've gone right then. In fact, I had to contain myself not to call Don right then. I told Rex that Don-Mike & I could go out the next day. He said, no, he was going to be out of town. Friday or Saturday would be soon enough.

Nick & Eddie wanted pizza & I couldn't afford take out from the local pizza parlor - any of them. I said I'd buy them frozen pizza & garlic bread. I may have told Rex that. I know I did tell him we were waiting for Don's mom's house to sell.

Don-Mike said we could go out first thing Friday morning. It will have to be first thing. I work Friday.

They got enough siding to do our entire house & it looks nice, they've started putting it up. They got enough for our old garage & shed. Woo hoo!!

Freecycle.com

I have discovered freecycle.com. We have a chapter here in Cache Valley. So far, I've netted a garbage sack full of kids' coats, hats & mittens. I've also spoken for 2 sets of sliding closet doors. I don't know if we can use them or not, but we'll get them & see. We just have to get a pickup to Logan to pick them up. I'm hoping we can do that tomorrow.

The Kiwanis Club is having a Coats for Kids drive. As far as I know, this is the first time they've done it. I saw a boys coat offered in Clarkston on the Utah-Idaho Freecycle group. I jumped at it. We emailed back & forth & I told her what they were for. So, she dug a little deeper & came up with the garbage sack full. I dropped those off today. Sandra Tondini, the person collecting the coats, said that she has had several garbage fulls all day today. Her pickup cab is full. I think they have a twin cab. I'm so thrilled that they are getting such a good response & that I helped contribute. She also said that the clothing will be taken down to a dry cleaners & will be cleaned & mended if needed.

I hope they do it again next year. If I had all year to work on it, I could knit or crochet some hats & scarves. I remember doing some mittens for my kids & myself. They were huge & didn't fit very well. I'd like to start knitting again. I started reading Debbie Macomber's series about Blossom Street & love the knitting patterns she's given in each book. I remember knitting used to calm me. Which reminds me, I signed up for an online stress relief course through Don's insurance & the new class is posted each Wednesday. I wonder if I did last week's homework.

Stress is one of my big health concerns. Mother asked me not too long ago what I had to be stressed about.

One of the things I've started doing again is keeping ONE list & not little lists strewn all over. Another reminder, I left it out in the car!!

More about Mufasa

Mufasa finally seems to have settled down a little. Today he finally got fed in the daylight. I hate working until 6 p.m., & coming home in the dark. After Mufasa knocked me flat & I bumped my head so hard, I haven't dared go down by myself to feed him. I'm going to have to start doing it before work.

Today, I got home from Logan & my foray into Christmas shopping & it was still daylight, so Don & I went down to feed & care for him. His kennel needed cleaning out. I got the rake & was raking it up, while Don was holding Mufasa. I commented to Don that it looked like a horse stall. Don commented that he was as big a small horse.

I took one of the sleeping bags that Don & Don-Mike were going to throw away & put that in the corner where he sleeps.

He has been knocking his food bowl over & hasn't been eating his dog food. I bought the brand that Lynette told me to buy, it just wasn't chicken & rice, it was lamb & something. So, when I needed to buy more food, Wal-Mart still didn't have the chicken in that brand. They had more lamb, but I've been worried that he isn't eating. I bought Purina One in the chicken & rice. He gobbles it right up. I know it's not what she wants him fed, but I'm not about to drive to Brigham, just to see if they have the chicken in that brand.

NIck's Christmas present

This is a picture of Nick's Christmas present, a 1951 Willey Jeep pickup. Nick took them with his cell phone.

Don-Mike & Nick picked it up in Farmington (Utah) on Tuesday for $100. The pickup they had taken to haul it back with didn't do well with the added weight. They were only going 35 mph on the freeway. Don-Mike said he did get it up to 45 mph.

Don-Mike had thought of going out to Jim & Donna's near Tremonton (Utah) & parking the trailer there, going on home & getting another pickup. I suggested Loraine Selman's place. Chris & Loraine are right off the freeway in Elwood, near Tremonton.

So, after much debate, it was decided to leave it there. I met them at Loraine's & Nick drove my car home to Preston & Don-Mike & I came on home in the diesel pickup.

We are grateful to Chris & Loraine for graciously allowing us to park the trailer & pickup on their property.

Fire at Big J's

If you live in the Preston area, you know that Big J's was gutted in a fire the first part of October. If you don't live in the area, you may be surprised to hear it. I found a really cool blog called Preston Idaho Digital News. It is one I follow. They have some pictures of the Big J's fire on their blog. I have included that link here. I have mentioned it in passing, but never specifically said, "Big J's burned."

Don-Mikel is an employee of Big J's. Bob & Nancy Egbert, the owners of Big J's & Pizza Villa in Preston & Richmond, Utah, were so well insured that their employees' payroll is covered by their insurance. If the employee does not get another job, their salary is paid by the insurance.

Front door in front room

About 2 weeks ago, Saturday, Nov. 22, to be exact, I made an entry about the front room remodel. A couple of the points were:

• Move door to south corner of room, approximately over heat vent, 36” wide door, like back door.
• Move heat vent from present location to under new window.

But a friend posted a picture of her front door & when I showed Don, he said that's what he wants to do with the door in the front room. The door in the picture is just like the door we installed for the addition. I really like it.

I obtained permission to post the picture here so we have a visual reminder of what we want to do. Hold the control key down & click on the picture, it will open into a new window & is greatly enlarged. Notice the heat vent is just to the right side of the door, under the window. We may be able to do that here & not have to move the heat vent or if we do, it will just be a few inches & not a few feet. The door is in the corner too. That's where I want the door here. In the corner & not in the middle of the room. Almost every house I've ever lived in has had the door against a wall, not opening in the middle of the wall.

With the door in the corner of the room, the traffic is directed along the wall & not right through the middle of the room. I love the hardwood floors, but that's not going to happen here. It will be carpet, at least in Mother's part of the house.

Mufasa did what?

Tonight Mother asked me if Gwen (Fish, neighbor up the street) or Heidi (whose married name I do not know, but Gwen's granddaughter whose parents, Mark & FayLynne Owen, live down the street) had called me. I said no, & asked why were they going to call me. Arlene (Wanner, neighbor across the street) said that Gwen had called her & told her that our big dog had bit Heidi & broken the skin. Now, if Mufasa had bit Heidi & broken the skin, why wouldn't they call us or come & tell us? Heidi is a grown woman & I think is on her second marriage. It's not like she's a little kid & couldn't come to tell us that our dog had bitten her.

I know Mufasa hasn't been out on his own all this week. Don took him out for a walk on Monday on a leash. They went around the block. On Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, he was out, but he didn't get away from me. Eddie & Don came down to help me untangle him from the trampoline. Then yesterday, Don came down & held him on his leash, while I cleaned out the kennel. Or at least thought I had the kennel cleaned out. I left a pile of doo doo in the middle of the kennel & walked through it, **GROSS**

A few times before that, we'd let him out, but he'd come right back, with the exception of one evening, it was the night of Don's service dinner. I thought we'd lost him for sure, but he soon came bounding back, jumping on Don & dancing around.

Then there was the day that someone let him in the house. So, I'm a little torqued that Arlene & Gwen are again spreading rumors. I'm glad Mother let me know so that if a police officer comes pulling up to the door & tells me my dog bit a neighbor, I am forewarned.

Mufasa has "bit" us. He mouths us, but if he intended to bite, he'd have bitten. He could've chomped down on my wrist & broken the bone. He doesn't have a mean bone in his body. He's just an overgrown puppy that's not used to be caged up & has boundless energy.

Adventures with Mufasa

I'm sure I'll be able to laugh at this at some point in time. My head still hurts & I can still smell Mufasa. I must have manure on my shoes, I changed my dirty sweatshirt & washed my face & hands, but didn't change my shoes.

I slept until noon & still felt like I could have slept another hour or 2, but it was NOON. And good mornings start at noon. It took me another 10 or 15 minutes just to get up into a sitting position, much less jump up like a piece of toast. I fed the cats, cleaned their litter box & I could smell my towels in the washer. I had washed them on Monday & forgot to reboot them by putting them in the dryer. Yesterday, Wednesday, I went out in the laundry room & could smell them. I run them through a cycle with vinegar. So, I put a scoop of Borax in the washer & ran them through another cycle. I took my meds, got dressed & decided I'd better care for Mufasa. It's much easier to care for him in the morning than at midnight.

He hadn't been let out of the kennel since Monday & I could see that there were quite a few piles of manure. So, I got his purple rope, put it around his neck & let him out. He was so excited he was dancing around & jumping up on me. I went over on my back like a felled tree. I didn't even have a chance to yell timber. I hit my head, hard. I laid there & yelled & yelled for Don-Mike until my throat was raw. The dog was still, but as soon as I moved, he was right there, pushing me back down. Finally, he stood still & let me use him to stand up. I was dizzy & felt like I was going to throw up.

Don-Mike had driven a fence post in the middle of the garden so we could put Mufasa on a leash & let him be out of the kennel. I put him on that, gave him some water & walked on up to the house. Don-Mike had the radio on in the garage & there was no way he could have heard me screaming. I'm just glad one of the neighbors didn't see or hear & call the police.

I took a rake & went down & raked out his kennel. I felt like I was cleaning out a cow stall!! Then took a garbage sack & filled it up with straw & manure. I didn't put any more straw back in. I thought I'd save the straw for his bedding. Then I put feed & water in the kennel.

Don-Mike brought this very long nylon rope down. I said I didn't want to use it because I didn't want him to get to me. When I was finished, I took the long nylon rope & tied one end to the kennel and tied the other one around Mufasa's neck. I used slip knots because they are the only kind I know how to tie that won't come untied. I didn't want Mufasa roaming the neighborhood.

By then, I was sweating freely & felt even worse than I had earlier. I put the towels in the dryer & went in the front room & sat down. I was dirty & sweaty & tired. I can't be disheveled because my hair isn't long enough to be disheveled. It's always disheveled. You can't tell whether I've combed it or not. Don didn't even notice or speak to me. He was reading The Preston Citizen. That irritated me. I said waspishly, "At least Don-Mike asked if I was all right." Don asked what was wrong & I told him. I said that now I'm afraid of Mufasa.

Finally Don got off of Runescape long enough to go to the convenience store & get some refills. First, I wanted to go tell Mother that we hadn't forgotten her. We were still planning on having dinner at her house.

We got our refills & I went down to check on Mufasa. He barked at me from under the trampoline. I thought that was clever, he'd shaded up. I had pushed the lawnmowers & tiller over under the tramp so they'd be sheltered a little bit from the weather, since Mufasa now occupied their shed.

I had noticed earlier that the sleeping bags that Don & I had used in the camper were in a trailer that Don-Mike uses to put garbage in. When it fills up, he takes it to the land fill. So, I decided to pull one or both of them out & put them in Mufasa's kennel. They were at the bottom of the trailer, wouldn't you know it? I tugged & pulled, moved other garbage & finally got one out. It was wet, so I walked over to the tramp to throw it over it to let it dry out.

I walked around the tramp to check on Mufasa & he was in a predicament. The rope was wrapped around an aspen tree & several times around the frame of the tramp. The rope was wrapped so tightly that he was hog-tied to the tramp.

This time I decided that I wouldn't try to untangle him alone. I went back to the house & asked Don & Ed to come help me. I was trying to undo the slip knot around his neck. It was so tight that at first I couldn't even get my fingers under it. I finally loosened it up a little & here came Eddie. Mufasa, of course, wanted to go greet him. He stood up & was trying to get to Eddie, &, in the effort, was tightening the rope. My fingers weren't strong enough to loosen the knot. Eddie decided to go get some wire cutters. I said to let Don-Mike know we were going to cut his rope. It will have to be cut anyway because Mufasa had been gnawing on it & gnawed through one of the strands. Don asked to let him try. I let him & in a matter of seconds, had it untied. By then we had the purple rope back on him. Eddie & Don took him over to the kennel to put him in. I stayed by the tramp & untangled the rope.

When I finished with the rope I walked over to help with caging Mufasa. Don took charge of this activity. He took the short blue rope, put it around Mufasa's neck & had Eddie hold it through the fence, back by the food & water. I was door keeper. I held the door shut & as soon as Eddie had the rope, I opened the door & Don walked out, with Mufasa lunging on the leash. I shut the door & Eddie let go.

To lock the kennel gate is quite complicated. First, the traditional latch on a kennel door is latched. Next, a bolt is slid into place at the bottom of the gate to hold it shut. There is a metal hole, held in place by a brick. After that, a tie down is put across the bottom on the outside of the gate. There is already one on the inside that is not removed. The outside tie down is even with the inside one. Then, there is a tie down across the top even with the latch. Meanwhile, the whole time you're securing the gate, Mufasa is jumping & whining, wanting to get out.

It took almost 3 hours to do all of this. I went to get the rope off of Mufasa & in all of this commotion, his food bowl had been tipped over & the food was all over the ground, sigh.

After caring for the dog, I feel like I've had my exercise. Why pay money to go to a gym? I get paid to work out by dog sitting.

More Brat Factor quotes

This is something I need to do more often:

Treat everyone with politeness, even those who are rude to you - not because they are nice, but because you are.

Author Unknown

And another one:

"Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible;
and suddenly you are doing the impossible."

Saint Francis of Assisi

I love this one:

"There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is
a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle."

Albert Einstein

Front room remodel

These are the things that I want changed in the front room.

• North window, 5' wide x 4' high opening, new double pane window
• Move door to south corner of room, approximately over heat vent, 36” wide door, like back door
• Make window where present door is, 36” wide, with an oval top to match door window
• Move heat vent from present location to under new window.
• Replace, repair flooring.

Once addition to the house is done, the door to the kitchen will be blocked off & a bookcase/desk like in Aunt Vi's house installed in that opening. Making the counter top as a desk, could also be a small table for Mother to eat at & a small fluorescent light installed under the top shelves.

Dru's kitchen installed on north wall – a small sink w/cup- boards above & below and a small bank of drawers next to sink with a counter top over it, with a small fridge set up off the ground & a microwave.

These pictures were taken in a small mother-in-law apt that a lady in DUP had built for her mother out of a 2-car garage. Her mother has passed away & now one of her grandson's is living in the apt. She let me go in & take a couple of pictures the last time we had DUP there.

Here is another picture of Dru's kitchen that shows that the fridge does not go all the way to the floor. By setting the fridge up off the floor it won't be so hard for Mother to get in the fridge.

What is Thanksgiving to me?

Amy Peck texted me today with this question, "What do you think when you hear the word Thanksgiving?" I was at work caught up in a manic production day. When I heard the "bling" that heralds a text message, my first thought was, "Oh, crud, did I forget to pay the cell phone bill?" About the only time I get a text message is from Verizon. I flipped open my phone & read her text. I immediately texted back: Food & family.

Since I've been home from work, I've thought of what Thanksgiving means to me. Most of my memories do revolve around food & family. But I have also thought how grateful I am that I have family & Thanksgiving dinners to remember.

I have been checking emails for the past half hour, mostly from Brat Factor.com I love those emails. Pam Young, author of the book Sidetracked Home Executive: From Pigpen to Paradise, sends an email a day.

I don't check her emails daily. I had over 100 that I hadn't read. Here's a thought that come with one recently:

Real things haven't changed. It is still best
to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what
we have; to be happy with simple pleasures; and have
courage when things go wrong.

Laura Ingalls Wilder

A reader sent the words to this traditional hymn & Ms. Young shared it with us:

"Tis a gift to be simple, tis a gift to be free,
Tis a gift to come 'round where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in a place just right
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight

When true simplicity is gained,
To bow and to bend we won't be ashamed
To turn, turn, will be our delight
Till by turning, turning we come 'round right."

Wow! And was this an eye opener:

Most people do not realize the many health benefits of gratitude. Studies indicate that thankfulness is directly linked to physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being.

I'm going to forward the last email to Amy. It may help her in the talk she is preparing for Sacrament Meeting on Sunday. I'm sure she is doing a great job in preparing her thoughts for her talk. Too bad she is in Inkom or I'd go listen to her & Colby talk. But I find that a little far to travel for a talk in church.

Coincidence?

Today was a very busy day. I worked this morning & then since they don't feed us lunch at Daughters of Pioneers anymore, Mother & I went out to a small restaurant on HWY 91, Noey's, for lunch. Then to DUP, then to Mother's cardiology appointment in Logan. Run, run as fast as you can.

On the way home Mother needed a drink. I suggested Sonic. No, she wanted a bottle. I stopped at a convenience store just out of Logan's city limits, the 20-oz Mt. Dew was $1.49. Maybe I read it wrong because as I got in the car, the sign in the window said the liter was $1.49. At any rate, I was not going back in to check it out again. I was tired, sigh. The clerk was probably confused when I told her the pop was too expensive, LOL I told Mother we'd stop at the "new" Sinclair station in Smithfield.

We stopped there & I got my cup refilled & a 20 oz. bottle of Mt. Dew for Mother. When I went to pay for it, there was a sign that said the cashier was out filling propane & to go to the deli register. I walked over to the deli & there were 2 cashiers. One was telling the other that she needed a tarp. She'd checked Family Dollar in Preston & they didn't have any, so after work she was going to check Family Dollar in Smithfield. I told her that the best place to buy a tarp is at Bob's Mart in Preston. She, of course, didn't know where Bob's Mart is because it isn't Bob's Mart anymore, it's True Value Mart.

I found out she lives in Franklin, but is relatively new. I told her that I worked at The Preston Citizen. She asked if they needed any help. I said no, but she might check Bear River Publishing. I told her she needs to hand out resumes to different places. She said she didn't know how to do a resume. She said what she really needs is to find out where they hand out commodities. I asked her if she needed energy assistance. SEICAA had just started taking applications for energy assistance. She didn't know what SEICAA was. She handed me an order form & I wrote down SEICAA, aka SouthEastern Idaho Community Action Agency, with directions on how to find it. Gave her my name & phone number & I would be glad to help her with a resume.

I said, "You know why I stopped here don't you? I stopped at another convenience store & the pop was too expensive, so I told Mother we'd stop here." She agreed with me that I was supposed to stop there & help her.

I turned around & there was Mary Capparelli (Priestley) at the main register. I was surprised. Mary & I have known each other since 1st or 2nd grade. She was busy & couldn't talk. But a little after 7 she called from home, here in Preston. She asked if I would help her with her resume. She was desperate. She doesn't have a computer & needed help updating her resume. She needs to have it in the mail by noon tomorrow, but didn't know what to do. She said she couldn't believe it when she looked up & there I was. She said I was definitely an answer to prayer.

An instrument in God's hands. I read a book where the author kept a journal each night of how the Lord had led him each day. To look for the Lord's hand in your life. One of my favorite articles is "His Mysterious Ways: More than a Coincidence." It is a monthly feature in Guideposts magazine. So, as I recognize these occurrences, I have been trying to journal them.

Mufasa aka Houdini or Sirius Black

Mufasa has been getting out of his kennel lately. Once at 2:15 a.m. Sunday morning, Saturday night. Then again at 7:30 a.m. Sunday morning & then today. When the boys came home from Logan Nick was met at the door with Mufasa.

Today was a work day for me. It is the day the paper is put together for printing. The boys went to Logan. When they got home, they were met at the garage door by a very terrified Sam-cat. Nick opened the door to the kitchen & Mufasa was overjoyed to see him & jumped on him.

Nick called me at work & I was stressed anyway. The paper wasn't going that well. For one thing, it was only a 12-pager & there wasn't room for ANYTHING!!! Nick said he wanted to know what dumb-a**ed neighbor let the dog in the house. I said, in a very stressed voice, "I don't know what dumb-a**ed neighbor let the dog in the house." I wasn't exactly keeping my voice down either & my comment stopped everyone in the computer room. They just stared at me. I don't normally use language like that.

I told Nick I was glad somebody did let him in the house, I didn't particularly want to lose the dog nor did I want a fine from Animal Control. Nick said the dog trashed the front room. When DH came home, he was met at the door with the saga of the afternoon. So, when DH called me, I asked how bad the front room was. He said he couldn't see there was any damage. When I got home, there wasn't any damage. OMG, I wouldn't even have known there was a giant dog in the house.

It reminded me of the time when the kids were little. We lived in Bountiful & I came home with them to find an open door. Scared me so bad, I went to the neighbors & asked to use their phone. I called the police dept. & they sent an officer out. He went through my house & came out to tell me the house was trashed, but no one was in there. So, I went in with him & had to tell him it didn't look any different than when I had left home that morning. DH had forgotten to close the door. I'm so glad the cop didn't call the health dept or CPS on me because of my filthy, cluttered house.

Don said Don-Mike got something to fix the kennel door. Since Don-Mike had fed the dog & Don had checked on him after his work & there was still food, I didn't even go down tonight. Both Don & Don-Mike had watered him.

Harry Potter's godfather Sirius Black's animagi is a huge black dog. The kennel door has not been open, but still latched the last 3 times the dog has got out. So, I've been saying Mufasa morphs into Sirius, walks out of the kennel, turns back into Mufasa & runs off to the house. Don-Mike said the tie-downs holding the door shut are wet & slip, letting the dog out.

Medical alert bracelets

I need to order medical alert bracelets for Mother, Nick & myself. I don't know if the medical alert bracelet for Mother would have enough space. I guess a little information is better than no information. I counted 7 lines & Mother has 9 of those in the list below

I need one for lymphedema that says:

LYMPHEDEMA ALERT: No Blood Pressure - No Needles into this Arm

Nick would need a sulfa allergy. I never thought of one for autism. But that would certainly help in an emergency. Would he wear it?

Here's an idea

JOHN SMITH
ON COUMADIN
SEE WALLET CARD

Here is a list of medical conditiions suggested:

• Abnormal EKG
• Adrenal Insufficiency
• Alcoholism
• Alzheimer's
• Angina
• Asthma
• Bleeding Disorder
• Cardiac Arrhythmia
• Cataracts
• Clotting Disorder
• Dementia
• Diabetes (Insulin Dependent)
• Diabetes (Non-Insulin Dependent)
• Emphysema
• Glaucoma
• Hearing Impaired
• Heart Valve Prosthesis
• Hemolytic Anemia
• Hypertension
• Laryngectomy
• Leukemia
• Lupus
• Lymphomas
• Malignant Hyperthermia
• Mental Retardation
• Myasthenia Gravis
• Pacemaker
• Renal Failure
• Sickle Cell Anemia
• Seizure Disorder
• Situs Inversus
• Stroke
• Vision Impaired

Wondering if Nick would wear a medic alert bracelet reminds me of an incident he had last week. I need to find it & post it later. It's an accident he had on Main Street in Logan. He seems to be doing pretty good with his encounters with policemen. But he is certainly vague when it comes to knowing what his medical conditions are & what meds he is on.

Mufasa

A huge, powerful, male lion, Mufasa is the King of the Pride Lands at the start of the Disney movie, The Lion King. The name "Mufasa" means "King" in the Manazoto language.



We are dog sitting a huge, powerful, male Newfoundland named Mufasa. Since I don't have a picture of Mufasa, I found this picture of a dog named Sandy on a blog. I'll try to replace it with a picture of Mufasa. I have never particularly cared for dogs. We had a little terrier/poodle mix named Nikki, that I dearly loved, but I left her with Mother & Daddy when I went on my mission & moved away from home. I have always been deathly afraid of big dogs. And huge dogs? No, way. But Mufasa is such a love. I NEVER thought I'd say that about a dog, much less a huge dog.

He makes me tired, literally. This afternoon Don-Mike got a couple of bales of straw from Nancy at Big J's. She used it for decorating. He asked if he could have a couple of bales & told her why & she said yes. So, he brought it down, dropped it off & cut the twine. I had put the rope on Mufasa, & tied him to a post of the kennel while I was spreading the straw out in the kennel.

Nick came down to talk to me. He doesn't like Mufasa, says he is allergic to him. Anyway, he wanted to go eat. So, I got out of the kennel with Nick's help, but I left Mufasa tied with the rope. I wasn't sure how I was going to get the rope off of him through the kennel. He wasn't being cooperative with Nick there. I decided I'd go back later & take the rope off of him.

Don-Mike & I can deal with him, but Nick & Don don't want to help. Anyway, I went down to take the rope off of him tonight about 10 p.m. Don-Mike had gone home. I was going to ask him to go down & help me, but I hadn't heard him say good night. I was in Nick's room using Eddie's computer & had my back to the door & my hearing aid turned off, when he left.

I didn't know how I was going to even see to do it, much less do it alone. The light had been unplugged because Nick had moved it & Mufasa had chewed on the cord. I had removed that section of cord. Don-Mike has his shop light down there. He had 2 extension cords on it. One short one & one long one. Mufasa had chewed on the short one. As Nick said, "It's a good thing it was unplugged."

I took the car down behind the garage & trained the lights on the kennel, then walked down, plugged the extension cord into the light, walked back to the garage, plugged the light in, walked over to the car & turned the lights off, then went to feed Mufasa & water him. I didn't take him out for a walk today, so he was anxious to get out & run around. Anyway, I had no clue how I was going to get out of the kennel. I stood there & prayed, telling the Lord that I couldn't do this alone. I was hoping that maybe Don would come down. But I was standing at the gate & telling Mufasa "NO." I don't know a lot of dog commands, we have cats. Suddenly, I thought of & said, "Sit." He sat. I was amazed. Having success with that command, I thought I'd try "Stay." He wanted out really bad & was whining, but I told him I needed to get out & he had to stay in the kennel. I got out, with just a minimum of pushing him to stay in.

I immediately thanked God & Mufasa. But tonight, I'm just exhausted.

I hope Lynnette, Mufasa's owner, comes up Saturday. They can take him up to their property in Glendale & let him run.

44 odd things about me

My niece Bonnie sent this to me, so I thought I'd use it as a blog entry.

1. Do you like bleu cheese? Absolutely

2. Have you ever smoked? I tried it once. I found some cigarettes Daddy had picked up from the city park where he worked as a caretaker. He had stuck the package in the glove box of his pickup. Daddy, Mother & I were there. I asked if I could try them. They said go ahead & watched me. I was standing on a manure pile in the corral on the farm & I threw up my toenails. Never wanted to try it after that.

3. Do you own a gun? No. I used to love to target practice though with Daddy's .22 rifle.

4. What flavor Kool-Aid is your favorite? Black cherry

5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? Not usually. We have so many doctor's appt., that the voice message on my cell phone suggests I might not be answering because I'm in a doctor's appt., LOL

6. What do you think of hot dogs? Once in a while I'll eat them, but I normally get a severe attack of IBS.

7. Favorite Christmas movie? I don't have one. Unless it's the church one named from the scriptural reference from Luke.

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Water & Mt. Dew. The Mt. Dew cuts the phlegm in my throat.

9. Can you do push ups? Probably not.

10. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? It was my CTR ring, but it broke.

11. Favorite hobby? Internet

12. Do you have ADD? ADD was ruled out. I probably have bipolar disorder.

13. What's one trait you hate about yourself? I have grand plans & can never follow through with them. I think it's called grandiosity.

14. Middle name? I don’t have one

15. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment.
(1) Is there going to be any more trick or treaters?
(2) I told Mother I'd go help her with trick or treaters & didn't go do it.
(3) Why did I start this?

16. Name 3 drinks you drink regularly. Water & Mt. Dew. Kool-Aid on Sunday.

17. Current worry? Money

18. Current hate right now. My messy house.

19. Favorite place to be? My mom's

20. How did you bring in the New Year? I was either sleeping or getting ready to go to bed.

22. Name three people who will complete this. That's not something odd about me, but then #15 asked for 3 thoughts right now, so that upped it to 46, & now we're down to 45. And, of course no one will complete this because I didn't send it to anyone, LOL

23. Do you own slippers? Yes, I think I do, somewhere.

24. What color shirt are you wearing? Heather with a glittery picture of a cute little witch that says "Miss Witch." It was my costume today. I should've looked for my witch hat, but I forgot.

25. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? I have a funny to tell about this. I've never slept on satin sheets, but Mother made me some sheets out of tricot. She also made me some nighties out of tricot. Anyway, I know now that I have restless leg syndrome. But I was wearing a tricot nightie & was sleeping on tricot sheets & had a nightmare & fell out of bed. Never slept on slick sheets since. My favorite kind of sheets are fleece or cotton.

26. Can you whistle? No, I never learned. I can't pucker since my brain surgery either.

27. Favorite color M&M? Doesn't matter to me, as long as it's an M&M. I don't like substitutes very well.

28. Would you be a pirate? No, I don't think so. Their value system goes against mine.

29. What songs do you sing in the shower? I don't shower. For one thing, we don't have one. For another, I don't like showers. I hate the spray hitting me. I don't sing in the tub either.

30. Favorite girl's name: We were going to name a daughter Justine. I like Bernadetta too.

31. Favorite boy's name: Has always been Michael & Nick.

32. What's in your pocket right now? $120.36 Nick just got paid today & paid me his rent & telephone.

33. Last thing that made you laugh? I don't remember. I don't laugh like I used to.

34. Best bed sheets as a child? Flannel sheets

35. Worst injury you ever had. The concussion I had when I slipped on the ice about 5 years ago. It split my right cheek open.

36. Do you love where you live? I can't think of any place I'd rather live. I lived the first 20 years of my life here, & it looks like I'll live the last 20 years or so here.

37. How many TVs do you have in your house? I think there are only 4. We have more computers than TVs.

38. Who is your loudest friend? My LOUDEST friend? I don't think I have a loud friend.

39. How many dogs do you have? No dogs, but we have 5 cats. We just lost 2 of our oldest cats in September.

40. Does someone have a crush on you? A crush? LOL.

41. What is your favorite book(S)? My favorite genre of books is mysteries. But I'm beginning to like memoirs.

42. What is your favorite candy? Still has to be chocolate, truffles or malted milk balls

43. Favorite sports team? I don't like sports

44. What song do you want played at your funeral? "Because I Have Been Given Much, I Too Must Give." I love that hymn. It was sung at my father-in-law's funeral.

Nick's "new" chair

Nick still weighs over 300 lb. He has broken another chair. This time an office chair. The carpet in his bedroom is thick wool carpet & even though it's almost 50 years old, it's still thick although threadbare in some places. It's not threadbare in front of his computer. There is no chair pad either, so the chairs take a beating trying to move on the carpet & also they're not designed for his weight either. He's been using a folding chair. I don't know how many folding chairs we've gone through.

He came out this morning & said he'd found another cheap office chair at Staples & he was going to ask Nana if she'd buy it for him. I do Mother's checkbook & I told him she didn't have enough money in her account & besides that, he needed a heavy duty chair that would hold his weight & trying to scoot across the carpet.

So, Mother & I went to Logan today to have her protime taken. It's still low, but is coming up slowly. And dang it, I forgot to fill her pill box with the right dose of coumadin. I'll have to try to remember to do that tomorrow.

Anyway, I'd been thinking about Nick's chair all day. On our way out of town, I asked Mother if she minded if we drove by the DI just on the off chance that there might be a steno chair or executive chair. She said that was fine. She didn't feel like going in though. So, I went in without my purse. Not that the purse would have done me any good anyway, there wasn't only a couple of dollars in it & I knew a chair would cost more than that. My purse is heavy & I really didn't want to carry it. Mother tells me that she is only supposed to lift 10 lb. & my purse is too heavy for her to lift, hehe. Because of that, I weighed my purse on the digital scale the last time she was at her doctor's appt with Dr. Carlson, her primary care physician, & my purse weighed 5 lb. something.

Anyway, I walked back to the "As Is" & was disappointed that there were no office chairs in the furniture department. As I was turning to leave I noticed there was a room called "yard." At the old Logan DI they had a "yard" area that they kept miscellaneous things that didn't really fit in the dept. in the store. So, I went back there, just to see what was there. I saw a bar stool. Nick & I had measured how high he needs his chairs & we decided he needed his chair 20 inches off the floor. I measured it against my hip, then wondered how tall that was. I turned away & there was a steno chair. It was just like the chair I had at the church office bldg. Wow! My heart did a leap. I checked it out. It is sturdy metal & the upholstery is in really good condition.

A lady I know saw me looking at the chair & she came over. Are you going to buy that chair? I said yes, it was just what I needed. She said, "Do you have a desk to use it at?" I'm thinking impatiently, "If I didn't have a desk, why would I be looking at a desk chair?" But I said, "Oh, yes, we have 2 or 3 desks to use it at." We actually have 4 desks here at this house & one at Mother & Don-Mike's. Only one desk has an actual desk chair at it. And it's on it's second desk chair. Nick broke the first one. Two of the desks have folding chairs, one has nothing & Don-Mike's desk at his house has a kitchen chair at it. We talked for a few minutes & I told her that I had left Mother sitting out in the car & I had to run.

I wheeled the chair up to the front & the DI was really busy. I thought that if I left the chair there while I ran out to get my money, it would probably be gone by the time I got back in. It had been hidden in the yard area, but now I had unearthed it. I saw a supervisor standing there & I boldly walked up to him & asked him if he would watch my chair for me while I ran out & got my money. He grinned at me & told me that he was 99.9 percent certain it would still be there when I came back in.

I ran out to Mother & asked her if I could have $10 back of the $20 I gave her. I felt like a little kid begging Mama for money. I told her I'd pay her back. So, I took her wallet back in & there was the supervisor with his foot on the base of my chair. I told him thanks & paid for my chair. I wheeled it out in the parking lot & Mother's eyeing it. "Where are you going to put it?" I said I was going to call Don & ask him to come by & put it in his car. I sat there on the chair next to Mother in the car. She felt a little silly with me sitting on a chair in the shade of the car. Luckily we were parked in a handicapped stall & so there was no problem of someone coming in & parking next to us. We visited while we waited for Don to get off work. He gets off at 4.

Mother asked me if the chair had jumped out & grabbed me. I laughed & said no. Then I slowly said, "Well, I guess it did. I didn't see it right away." I guess I've talked too much about being "led." **BLUSH**

I had called & left a message for Don & then about 10 after 4 I called him again. I told him where I was & he said he was about 2 blocks west of me. He thought I would be in town & so he was heading to Wal-Mart. That's where I'm usually at. So, within just a few minutes he was there. We put the chair in the trunk of his car & came home.

Mother, Don & I "knew" Nick wouldn't like his new chair. And he doesn't. But, it's like I told Mother. If it's still in one piece when we finally get the house finished & I get my scrapbooking "studio," I'll have a chair I can use.

Another Monday

It happened again. A death notice showed up just as a hole showed up! I never plan these holes, they just kind of show up when they are needed.

Today I had TWO, yes two, ladies to help with the paper. Besides that, the paper was chuck full of ads. Kelly bragged that HE packed the paper tight just so it wouldn't be too hard for us to edit. I let Vicki Atkinson, new co-worker, & Karen Naylor, she used to work at The Citizen, my two helpers today, proof & Karen made some of the changes on the computer. At 4 o'clock Karen & Vicki had caught up to me. They had seen all 18 pages, minus the 3 full page ads. So, we let Karen go home. I told Kelly we would be through by 6. Vicki stayed & I'm sure glad she did. She was my runner, she did the checking on facts, spellings & signed us off on the pages. And yes, we were finished by 6!! So, cool, that's the first time we've been done that soon all year!! A cause to celebrate.

We have to sign off when we release a page to go to the next step. I was the second copy editor today. It reminded me of Mrs. Pollifax & the Second Thief or Tony Hillerman's The First Eagle. In both cases it was the second one that got caught, hehe.

Anyway, about 4:30, we got to a sports page that had a 1 column by 2-3 inch hole that Bob (Merrill, assistant editor) had put a box & instructions to use an in-house ad. I had just scrolled down to it & was commenting to Vicki that we needed to find something to fill this. I hadn't even finished making my comment when Stacey (Comeau, ad salesman) came around the corner with a fax in her hand & said, "I don't know if you guys have seen this obituary. It was on the fax machine." I just sat there, took the obit & said, "No, we haven't seen it." I said to Vicki, "This happens all the time. And it never ceases to amaze me."

I went in to the editors' office & told them we had a space to fill & we had an obituary just handed to us. Neither Rod (Boam) nor Bob batted an eye. Bob said, "Well, then fill it."

It fit, perfectly, of course. Just blows me away. I never expect it. If we plan it, it never happens. I hadn't even started on the obituary page this morning about 10 when Doug Webb called & said there was an obituary. He promised it just after lunch. At about a quarter to 3, I told Vicki & Karen that we still hadn't got the obituary. Before I could finish what I was going to say, Jessi interrupted & said Webb's didn't get to dictate when we finished the paper. That if they didn't have the obit there by 3 p.m., they were out of luck. Vicki called Webb's at 10 to 3 & told them that we had to have the obituary by 3. Jordan said he only had 2 paragraphs left to type. OMG, that was a humongous obituary. We had to split cards of thanks & move 2 of them over to another page.

I was getting so agitated, I was ready to bitch slap someone.

Food

I took the chicken & Alfredo sauce from Amy's & brought it home. She told me I could have it. So, it was really thick. I thinned it out with some milk, heated it up & put some linguine with it. I like linguine a lot better than fettucine, but can never remember "linguine." When I send Don to the store I tell him I don't want fettucine, but the one thinner than that. He'll tell me linguine & the next time I want linguine, I can't remember it. I think I must have a mental block where that's concerned. I had to stop & think when I started typing this. Nick really liked Amy's Alfredo sauce, but I noticed he still put a lot of ranch dressing on it. At least it wasn't catsup. Mother puts catsup on everything, shudder.

I went to Ogden this weekend to a scrapbooking seminar. It started Friday evening, but I was too tired to drive down after spending Thursday night in the sleep lab with Mother at Logan Regional Hospital. I kept falling asleep at work on Friday & then at the computer Friday night. I went to bed at 8:30 p.m. Friday & woke up at 9 a.m. Saturday morning. I left as soon as I took my meds because Nick was obsessing about something & I wanted OUT of here.

I still had trouble staying awake while I was driving. I stopped in Dry Basin in Sardine Canyon, & got out & walked around. I stopped at Wal-Mart in Brigham City. I got to the checkout stand & couldn't find my money. I had stopped at the bank & withdrew $50. I thought that would give me enough to buy gas, some goodies & still give me $20 to spend at the vendor booths at the seminar. Anyway, no money. That gave me an adrenalin rush & woke me right up.

I called home & no one could find my money. I know it's in the house somewhere. I had paid DUP dues from the money the camp members had given me. I kept $77 & hadn't taken care of it Friday. It was still in the car. Whew. There was one check for $22 & the rest, $55, was in cash. I've been spending that. I'll have to replace it when I find my money.

While I was gone, Don-Mike fixed the "green baize" door. I thought they were going to get a "real" door, but they didn't. Don-Mike took a piece of plywood & put hinges on it & a handle several months ago. He also lined the inside of this makeshift door with a green piece of fleece & a piece of a blue blanket. The door that separated the staff from the family in Victorian England's big houses was lined with a fabric called baize to keep the sounds of the kitchens & behind the scenes activities from filtering out to the "family." Baize typically came in green, so it was called the green baize door.

Don-Mike took a handle & fixed it so that the door latches. There is still a crack that you can see out, so Don said they'd take some cloth or plastic & put it down that seam on the outside of the door. I have a roll of plastic that has been laying in the doorway between the kitchen & the front room for a couple of years. Yes, I said years.

Another social blunder

We missed another wedding anniversary in this week's paper. How do we do this? I think somebody confiscates them & then sticks them in the envelope after the fact. If I had someplace to go, I'd quit, sigh. But I need the money.

I caught Golightly in Clover's wedding announcement, Dale & Michelle were spelled Golighty. But this one just did not show up. I'm so bummed. Another one I did not see & Jessi & Ann say that it was in the envelope. Jessi did confiscate it, so she can talk to Kelly. So, I gave her a couple of ideas on a memo, then gave a copy to Kelly & one to Jessi.

The bill for the concrete work came today. We had saved enough money for the quote, but it came in at double the bid. I told Don to pull out the money we'd agree to & then tell the contractor that we would pay him $50 a month & the balance when his mom's house sold. I also told him to ask the contractor to help us pray that the house sells, soon.

Mike suggested dropping the price on the house to $99.9.

Fall out from death notice

I found out the family of Jon Roley was upset that we published Jon's death notice & wouldn't publish an obit. I guess I wasn't "led" after all. Oh, well, it saved them some money.

Amy got a call & had to leave really fast yesterday. She called me tonight, after she texted me at 11:35 p.m., to see if I was still awake. She had left the crockpot on & they weren't going to be home until tomorrow.

Amy's last day?

I don't know. She didn't come in to say good-bye. In fact, everyone left without saying good-bye except Rod & Krysta. Vicki Atkinson, my new job-share partner, came in today. I don't know how she'll remember everything cuz she won't be back til Dec. 1. At least she shadowed Amy. Shadowing stresses me out.

I didn't feel good again today. I need to make appts with the Nurse Practitioners & Dr. Broadbent. I forgot to get Mother's coumadin. She'll be low again. Nick suggested I put it on my cell phone calendar, which I promptly did. I'm sure glad I have a cell phone.

Don-Mike priced siding today. It will cost over $2,000 to buy siding for the house. Which ain't gonna happen until Don's mother's house sells. Don & Mike talked yesterday, but I don't know what they decided. Mike had been up to rake leaves & shut off the water. He stopped & talked to Don-Mike on his way through Preston, but DM said he didn't say anything. Mike drove right by Mother's, he should've recognized his mother's car sitting on the side of the road. But, if he's like Don, he wouldn't have noticed, LOL.

More Big J's stuff

Don-Mike worked last week &has worked so far this week helping clean up after the Big J's fire. Today he's cutting the combination locks off the employee lockers in the bathrooms. The combinations were filed in the office.

There are so many little things you don't even think about that are lost in fire.

Today I walked into the kitchen & found a sheet of paper with Don-Mike's writing on it. He had documented an accident at the light on State & Oneida from several years ago. There was no date on it & so I assumed that it had just happened. I asked him about it & he said it happened several years ago.

My house is like a black hole. Little things get lost & every so often something will regurgitate to the top & you're wondering, "Where did that just come from?"

Hat box

Yesterday at lunch I saw a "Vote for Pedro" t-shirt in the window of Gingerbread Shoppe & so I walked over to look at it. I was window shopping when 3 hatboxes caught my eye. I've been wanting a hatbox for the hat that Ev gave me. It's still in the car because I don't want it to get smashed & really have no place to put it.

The hatbox I REALLY want is an octagonal metal box. Gorgeous. It has a scene on both sides, but only one side opens. It is only $16.95 or something like that. If the money I had in my pocket had not been for groceries, I would have bought it. I want it that bad. I gave Don this idea for a Christmas present. I have a hard time reconciling spending money on something "frivolous" like this, when we need other things. Basic things, like heat, electricity & mortgage payments.

I'll give him a week or 2 to act on this idea & if it's still there in a couple of weeks, I'll get it for myself. It's so pretty & practical. That's what I like about it. A pretty place to store my hats, hehe AND, it's NOT round, they are so hard to store, but has edges & could be stacked with square things, if I had to stack it. I want to just put it on end & display it.

Where was the calm?

I read the entry just below yesterday's entry that reads:

Sometimes God calms the storm,
other times he lets the storm rage on and he calms his child.

& every time I've wondered, "Where was the 'calm' in my storm yesterday?" I think the "storm" was in my head. Is this what a bipolar episode is?? I have had them before.

I can plainly see, now, where the turning point was. I was so upset that they were so quick to tell me that the page was gone & there was nothing I could do. Now is a perfect time to get the "control journal" or job manual updated with the little "nuances" of the style.

Almost quit today

We kept having obituaries and weddings come in. We had a death notice from an accidental shooting of one of the community's prominent citizens. Mike Kunz, a businessman & city councilman, was cleaning his gun at his office down town this morning. It discharged & killed him. We also had an obituary. And then 2 weddings. Amy, job share partner, accepted one & had to jump the weddings, but turned the second one down. It was too late, there was no room.

Amy was so overwhelmed from weddings & obituaries & death notices that when I asked if the obituary was Mike's obit or a new one, she told me it was a new one. I asked who, she said someone from Whitney. She's new in the area, the names don't mean anything to her & I know this. Whitney is too close to home. I go to church in Whitney as part of the Whitney 2nd Ward & our ward shares the building with the other Whitney ward. I was positive it was someone I knew.

Then I found out that they had redone the obit page, page 9, and had started obits on page 5, the social page. Well, they (not sure who, but I'm assuming Rod, Bob, Kelly, Jessi & Krysta) shoved pages 5 & 11 through without me even seeing them, & checking for style. Pages 8 (DUP) & 9 (OBITS) were redone & sent to Bear River Publishing without me checking for style. I wanted to see page 9 with the new obit. They refused to let me see it. It was already gone, there was nothing I could do. I absolutely lost it & had a temper tantrum right there. I wanted to read the new obit. I wanted to see who it was. No one was telling me who had died. I was so upset.

Krysta handed me the page. I saw that it was Josie Winward. She was 101. Her daughter Gayla was in the same grade in school as I was. Josie has a daughter Renee & the husband's name is Rene. How strange is that? In reading the obit, I also noticed that all but one of the obit pictures were not the requisite 4 lines down from the name. That's ok, who's going to notice but me & Abby, maybe Necia. Amy either doesn't know or can't remember that little tidbit.

They ruined my DUP page, absolutely ruined it. I had a terrible headache. I thought I was going to have a stroke. I can't get that angry & upset.

Then they did pages 5 & 11 without me seeing them. They did an obituary & Mike's death notice on page 5. You don't put obits on the Social page, but if you get them late & have to pull something, you pull the filler articles anyway. Page 11 was the book signing of the guy that didn't like the last article we ran.

OK, something positive did come out of this. I finished by a little after 10 p.m. & don't have to go back in the morning. Woo hoo! I do have to go back in tomorrow afternoon & do Jean's personalized children's stories that I was supposed to have done a week ago. She came in today at 4 & wanted them. I was so stressed. Kelly came in the editor's office & then turned around & left.

He had upset me before the obit fiasco by telling me to get back to work. I was out in the bookstore using the classified ad computer showing Nancy Cale the blog for Baby Jonah. Jim was there & he & I had been talking about Jonah. Nancy Cale wanted to hear about him. She couldn't comprehend a baby so tiny. I thought Kelly had come in to tell me to get back to work. Jean said she guessed she'd better go & not come in on Monday's.

Kelly told me later he had come in to tell Jean not to come in on Monday's & bother us. But then decided against it. I'm glad he told me, but I was still upset. I was so ready to just gather up my stuff & walk out the door.

I'm still considering it.