A New Year's resolution (goal)

I just made a New Year's resolution. It's not even going to be a goal. It will be an ironclad rule. It's midnight. I was going to turn off the computer & was thinking about picking up a book.

I WILL NOT PICK UP A BOOK AT MIDNIGHT.

If the computer goes off at midnight, I go to bed. No books after 11:30 p.m. The other night I picked up a book & the next thing I knew it was 5 o'clock in the morning. Yes, that's right FIVE A.M.

I'm going to give the 144 books in 2010 challenge my best shot, but it will not be by reading all night.

144 books in 2010

Over on Goodreads.com I joined a challenge to read 144 books in 2010. That is 12 books in 12 months or a gross of books. Now is that gross or what? I have got to be a better guardian of my time. Last night I started a new book in the Ali Reynolds series by J. A. Jance. I've been reading these books backwards. Never thought that was a good way to read a series, but this way I'm filling in some things that I wondered about in book #4. With Jance's books I DO NOT read the end of the book. I don't have time. The books never slow down. At any rate, I read until 5:20 this morning. To say that I am tired is an understatement.

So, this is the way I have set up a way to achieve this goal:

° Alphabetically by author last name = 26



° Alphabetically by book title: = 26



° Dewey decimal system = 10


° Favorite authors = 24


° May Never Read = 10


° Memoir &/or biography = 12


° New author = 12


° Re-reads = 12




° TBR = 12


According to my calculations, this does it. Listopia will be a good source of books. Especially for my May Never Read mini challenge. That is books that I have tried to read & just can't seem to get through them. I have several of them, but I have forgotten. Then I go through the lists on Listopia & I remember.

I'll be posting more of my New Year's "goals" later in the week. Right now, I'm going to see if all these little tickers work, & go to bed. It's a work day tomorrow.

Christmas tree

For once I wanted a Christmas tree. It seemed to me that Don grudgingly put up our tree. Halfway through the process, he commented that he didn't know where any lights or ornaments were. Things got moved into storage & we faithfully pay the storage bill each month, but it's like stuff is in limbo.

I had thought about splurging on lights & ornaments, but I think we did that last year & now this year they are "lost." While I was waiting at a doctor's office yesterday, I saw a magazine that said to decorate your tree with paper products from a party store. Crepe paper streamers or garlands & big paper balls. If there is a party store in Logan, I don't know where it is. But I do know where the Dollar store is, LOL I spent $3 on crepe paper, poinsettias & wire ornaments. I came home & went out to close the cat door. There on the floor, right in front of the cat door was this little wire garland, still with the tags on it. It had never been opened. Don decorated the tree. It is pretty. No lights, but I don't care. Our electrical bill is exhorbitant anyway.

Don snapped this picture with his cell phone. I think it turned out pretty.

The day before Christmas Eve

And I'm still not ready. Oh well, the time trudges on & there's no way to slow it down, so I have to make decisions as to what I'll do. One day to do it in too.

I'm grateful Don & I have employment, even if I could use more hours.

Listening

The ward choir sang today. Two-thirds of the choir were members of two families. There were only 18, 16 actual choir members, plus the chorister & the pianist, but still .... They sounded wonderful. Don-Mike sings in the ward choir. I wish his dad would also sing in the choir. He has a wonderful voice, but ... he doesn't sing in church.

Don & I went to church this morning. We don't usually go to Sacrament meeting but Don-Mike sings in the ward choir. Don-Mike had taken Mother to church. She sat with our neighbors, Balzers, Paula & Amber. Don noticed a lady with no hair & asked me if I knew of anyone in the ward going through chemo & pointed her out to me. I said I didn't know of anyone. Mother was sitting on the back row, then there is an aisle & another bench. This couple sat on the very back row of the chapel, right behind Mother. About half an hour into the meeting, Mother started coughing & got up & went out. So, I got up & went out into the foyer to see if Mother was ok. I noticed a very strong tobacco odor as I walked out. The lady with no hair was looking intently at me. I smiled & kept on walking. I think she was coveting my pretty pink hat. It's crocheted & very soft. It was made for me when I was having chemo & had no hair.

In the foyer, Mother was still coughing & couldn't seem to get her breath. Paula was sitting there with her 5-year-old grandson Javen. She told me to go back in & ask Adrian, her daughter & Javen's mother, for some hard candy.

I went back in & again noticed the strong odor of tobacco. I got the candy & took it back to Mother. It seemed to help. I went back in to the chapel for the choir's next number & then after they sang, I got up & left. Last week the Gospel Doctrine teacher had wanted a copy of the Proclamation on the family for her Sunday School class this week. I know they are free at the Distribution Center, but I didn't know if I would get down to pick any up. I took a copy & copied them on parchment paper at The Citizen. I had forgotten to take them to church this morning. I was on my way back into town to pick up those copies. I asked Mother if she wanted to go home with me. She said she did. She hadn't taken her morning meds & the coughing spell had tired her out. She had started wheezing too. I took her home, gave her an inhaler treatment, she took her meds & I turned her oxygen concentrator on for her.

I grabbed the copies of the Proclamation & went back to church. I took them up to the Sunday School class. They had just started class when I delivered them. I noticed the Relief Society presidency in the hall setting out next year's lesson manuals. One manual seemed to leap out at me. I looked at the name & it said "Carol Hill." The RS always gives each sister a manual & they put our names on stickers on the manuals. I asked Shannon Knapp, one of the counselors, who Carol Hill was. She didn't know, so she asked Angie, the president. Angie didn't know, so she asked me. I laughed & said I had asked Shannon. No one knew who she was.

I laughingly told Don about it when I went back to the library. A little while later, I walked back up to the foyer & picked up my manual & Mother's. I noticed Carol Hill's manual was still there.

This afternoon Don-Mike, Mother, Don & I had tithing settlement. Don & I had the first appointment, but we let Mother & Don-Mike go first. While we were waiting, I noticed the bald lady standing at the top of the stairs. I took that opportunity to go up & talk to her. I asked her if she was going through chemo. She said no, she has alopecia & a lung disease. The smell of tobacco clung to her. I thought that if she had a lung disease, someone in her home had better stop smoking. But I didn't say so. I asked her if she were visiting, but then the bishop came out & handed something to her. She said no, she lived over on South State. That is part of our ward, so I asked where on South State. She said she lived in the trailer court but she doesn't get out to church very often. I had neglected to introduce myself, so I did & asked her name, "Carol Hill." I was both elated & astounded. I had never even heard the name Carol Hill, until I saw it on that manual. I had wanted to talk to her at church, but knew I wouldn't get a chance. They must have had an appointment a bit earlier. If Don & I had taken the time allotted to us, I would have missed the chance to talk to her.

I think the reason Mother had the choking spell at church is because of the cigarette odor. Tobacco smoke brings on her spells.

I called Angie & left a message on their answering machine to call me. She called me back & I told her I had found out who Carol Hill is. I told her & she said she thought they were visiting. I passed on the information I had learned from talking to Carol. Angie said she had never heard the name before. She felt bad that she hadn't talked to her. She thanked me & said she & her counselors would go visit her. I wonder how long they've lived here. Obviously long enough to have their records here.

After tithing settlement, I went to The Citizen to work on my Christmas project. About 6 p.m., I was at the counter writing down the copies that I had made so I can pay for them this week, when I had the distinct feeling I needed to check the front door to see if it was locked. I thought that was odd. I started back to my desk to leave & it was like someone said to me, "I thought you were going to check the front door." I immediately turned & walked to the front door, all the time thinking it was my OCD kicking in. I have worked there for 12 years & been in & out of that building at all times of the day & night & NEVER had the thought that I needed to check to see if that door was locked. I walked up, pushed on the front door & it swung open. I almost fell on my face. Not from shock but because the door swung open so easily. I locked it & walked back to my desk.

The janitor had just left & she had turned out all the lights. It was dark outside & I needed to see to get out of the building. I walked back & turned on the mail room light & then there is one light that you have to pull a string to turn it on & off. The string popped off in my hand. Crud. There was no way I was getting on a chair & tying that string back on. I left it. Made sure the back door was locked & went to dinner.

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Tithing settlement happens each December. Faithful members are supposed to go to their bishop & declare whether or not they have paid a full tithe that year.

Wedding anniversary

Today is our 27th wedding anniversary. We were married in the Logan LDS Temple. Mother & Daddy were married 65 years ago today in the Logan Temple & Mother's parents, Fred & Jennie Gilbert Porter were married on this day in the Logan Temple 89 years ago today.

My cousin Wade Esplin's son Derek was born on our wedding day, so he is 27 years old today. Don's niece Brittany Bartlomé & James Baltutis were married 2 years ago in the St. George LDS Temple. My cousin Sherrie Moser is 59 years old today. Mother says that one of my cousin Ricky Taylor's boys was also married on Dec. 15.

Today Don gave me 3 pair of funky socks & 2 Gerbera daisies. What a pleasant surprise.

Disneyland favorites

Today, on the way home from Logan, I asked Mother what her favorite part of the Disneyland trip was. She had a hard time deciding on just one.

The first thing she mentioned was the parade at Disneyland, followed by the fireworks. She really liked the hotel room at the Ramada Maingate. Especially the handicap accessible bathroom. She thought it was awesome to see the sun sink into the ocean & she really liked the Golden Gate Bridge. She maintains that is the first time she has seen it. I know we saw it in the 1970s when we went to Disneyland the first time.

She liked Tony Roma's Thanksgiving dinner, too. But hated IHOP. The interesting thing is, Nick did not want to go to IHOP. Mother wanted to go to IHOP, so I pushed for IHOP. It was almost as expensive as Tony Roma's the day before. Mother hated her food. It was over cooked, tough & cold. She kept eating it, complaining the whole time. So, we told the cashier Mother did not like her food. The cashier dropped the charge on it. But even though the others said not to give the waiter a tip, I did. It was kind of chintzy, only 10 percent of the total, but ... a tip nonetheless. A day or so later Mother said, "Just because you're old, they don't have to give you old food." Today as we drove by IHOP in Logan, she had to bring up the IHOP in Anaheim, LOL.

While we were eating at IHOP in Anaheim, a waitress stopped by our table to put something on it & paused a minute. After she left, I commented we'd just had a "drive by." I said she must be checking out the handsome young men at our booth.

Saturday, Day 4

Saturday morning we stopped at the T-Shirt Outlet where Don got souvenirs when he went to Disneyland as a chaperon with the PHS band in 2002 or 2003. We bought each of us t-shirts & one for Amber, our neighbor that fed our cats while we were gone.

We drove up I-5 & then turned west at Lost Hills & out to HWY 1. We went through Paso Robles & stayed the night in Monterey. We got to see the sun set in the ocean. It was so pretty along there. I would have liked to have seen it in the daylight.

We had 2 rooms in Monterey. One with a king size bed, microwave & fridge. The other one had 2 double beds. Neither room was handicap accessible, but Mother made do. Nick & Don stayed in the room with the king size bed; while Mother, Don-Mike & I stayed in the room with the double beds.

It had a nice wall heater & Mother sat in a chair in front of the heater. The guys went out to Wendy's for supper & brought Mother & I some chili & a hamburger to share. We were tired & I was cranky.

I think that was the only night on the whole trip that Don-Mike actually got to sleep in a bed. The other rooms had 2 queen size beds. We knew the handicap accessible room at the Ramada Maingate Inn in Anaheim only had 2 queen size beds. He offered to take a twin air mattress. He had a nice pump to pump it up with. He left it pumped up the whole time we were in Anaheim, just propped it up against the wall. He took sheets & a fleece blanket. He used the comforters from the beds as a mattress pad.

We activated the GPS on my cell phone. But we used it so much it died. I hadn't been able to find my car charger before we left, so we couldn't recharge the phone. We activated the GPS on Nick's phone & then had 2 GPSs to use for the weekend. It was really nice, because you can put an address or the name of a restaurant or motel/hotel & it searches from where you are & then gives you mileage & addresses. We found the Ramada Inn in Monterey that way. Then we were able to call ahead & see if they had any available rooms.

Disneyland, Day 3

On Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, we were on our way to Disneyland after renting the wheelchair for Mother at the Scooter Shop. Mother & Don-Mike were ahead & had been stopped by a salesman. If we would consent to listen to a sales pitch Friday night for Shell Vacation Club, we could have a ride in a limo & would get $150 in gifts. We didn't have to buy anything, but we did have to have an income in excess of $70 grand a year!! And an excellent credit rating. We don't have either one, but as Don-Mike said, maybe combined we have an income that high. I'm sure the boys have excellent credit ratings, but we don't. We also had to pay $20 in cash as "earnest money." LOL. Don-Mike had $20 in cash.

So, Thursday night, we extended our stay another night to listen to the presentation about the Shell Vacation Club.Since Mother & I only had a one day pass for Disneyland on Thursday, the guys spent the day at Disneyland with us. They went to California Adventure on Friday. Two full days at the park was better than the evening on Wednesday, all day Thursday & leaving Friday morning.

Friday evening Don, Don-Mike & I got a ride in a limo. I was NOT impressed. It was a rear wheel drive & I fell over the hump in the middle not once, but twice. On the way back, we had to sit facing backwards & I got car sick, uggg.

We listened to their 90 minute spiel. Kept saying no, thanks to not one, not two, but to THREE salesmen. It's a good thing Nick didn't go with us. We kept using him as our excuse. We don't travel much because we have a son on the autistic spectrum, blah, blah, blah.

Don-Mike got his $20 cash back & we got $100 in Darden gift cards. Darden Restaurants are Bajama Breeze, LongHorn Steakhouse, neither of which had we heard of, Red Lobster and Olive Garden. We also got $50 in ARCO gift cards for gas.

ARCO's web site says, "You can fill up at nearly 1,300 ARCO stations on the West Coast." Bold italics are mine. However, we only found one ARCO station that had diesel. We used $21 on diesel. and now have $29 in ARCO PumpPASS's left to use.

Back to using Nick as an excuse. He does NOT like to travel. Maybe he'd do well if we went somewhere & stayed. He does not like to ride in a car, but he will drive. Last year, he wouldn't go to Montana with us. We were afraid he wouldn't go this year. He did have fun at Disneyland & California Adventures; but did not enjoy the trip up the coast or home.

Links for Disneyland

Thx for asking about our Disneyland trip Janelle. I had thought about blogging about it, but your question nudged me. I am planning to do a scrapbook album for Christmas presents this year. Since this trip was basically planned at the last minute, it cost about $2,000 to pull off. With that kind of cash outlay, Christmas will be pretty skimpy this year. The idea, of course, is that the trip is our Christmas.

I just found out we went during a peak time. I guess the week before Thanksgiving & the week after Thanksgiving are the slow times. But, we enjoyed it.

Here is a video of the fireworks I found on YouTube. Actually, I found it on a cool website called Dis. Here is a link to their page, Christmas at the Disneyland Resort.

I found The Haunted Mansion is transformed into Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas" only in the fall. So, I am glad I got to see it.

I had never heard of Fantasmic! I thoroughly enjoyed it. Mother did not. Wheelchairs are on the dock, so she got the "smoke" from the fireworks.

Disneyland, Days 1 & 2

We left last Wednesday morning at 3:30 a.m. & drove & drove & drove. We arrived in Anaheim at our hotel about 5, I think. I had reserved a handicapped accessible room at the Ramada Maingate hotel across from the main gate of Disneyland. It was only a 5-6 minute walk.

I had also bought three 2-day park hopper passes online. We thought Mother would have to be there to redeem the tickets because I had used her credit card to buy them. With that in mind, we decided to wait until Thursday morning, Thanksgiving, to start using the passes. Thursday morning Mother wasn't feeling good, but she never feels good in the mornings. The Ramada Maingate had all these little shops in front of it. One of them was the Scooter Shop. With Mother's macular degeneration, she is legally blind & cannot operate a motorized chair. So, we rented a nice push wheelchair. Don-Mike pushed her.

We got to Disneyland & purchased 2 one-day passes for Mother & I. Mother didn't want to ride any rides. I would have liked to, but didn't want to leave Mother sitting in the wheelchair. I had been told Thanksgiving is the time to go to Disneyland because there aren't any lines, but it was busy. I wanted to ride 2 rides, the teacups & the haunted mansion. I also wanted to see the Christmas parade & the fireworks.

We didn't need any identification for the park hopper passes that I had printed out at home. I pushed Mother into the castle. The moat stunk. I know why moats were put around castles & I'm sure the moat around a real castle stunk worse than this one. It was quite a chore pushing her up the ramp into the castle. I saw the teacups. It is the Scrambler with teacups for the seats, so no, I didn't ride it.

Mother & I were tired, so we went back to the hotel & took a nap. So, glad we have texting on our phones. I texted Don, but he can't see without his glasses & he didn't take his glasses with him to the park. So, Don-Mike & I texted back & forth.

We had Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings at Tony Roma's right next to the hotel. At least, Mother, Don, Don-Mike & I had T-giving dinner. Nick had a full rack of ribs.

Then we went back to Disneyland for the evening. I wanted to see the parade & the fireworks. The parade was fabulous. Nick found a perfect place for us to see the parade. Then the guys left to ride more rides, LOL, they weren't interested in seeing the parade.

We were on our own to see the parade & it was a great place. Some Orientals walked right in front of us & stood there taking pictures. A man told them to move, we were there first. Then he & his wife stood one on either side of us & kept the view clear for Mother to see. I called them our guardian angels.

The guys came back & took us to ride the Nightmare Before Christmas. I told Don that was the only thing I wanted to ride, so they went with us. They knew how to do the Fast Pass & how to get Mother to the front of the line. This was the ride I remembered the most from the first time I went in the 1970s. Of course, then it wasn't Nightmare before Christmas, it was something else. Mother & Don-Mike had a package of wrapping paper with a lit fuse sitting in their laps. Nick & I had candy canes. He thought they were boring & would have liked the coffin in the empty car next to us. I can't remember what Don had.

We also saw Fantasma & then stayed put for the fireworks. The fireworks were awesome. The next day the guys went to California Adventure & Mother & I stayed at the hotel & rested.

Two days was a lot better than a day and a half like we had planned. It worked out a lot better

Tuesday, Dec. 1

We made it home last night about 8 p.m. A day later than we planned. We spent a day longer at Disneyland than we had planned, but we're home! Mother did not come home in a coffin!! Woo hoo!! She's awfully tired, but you can't keep her down.

She almost had all of their laundry, hers & Don-Mike's, done & stuff put away when I got to her place this afternoon about 2:30. I, on the other hand, unpacked a suitcase. Before we could wash anything we had to get a bag of laundry soap.

I've caught up on Jonah, Sheila, Angela & Gwendolyn. It didn't look like anyone else had posted on their blogs in the last week. I also caught up on Facebook, but that wasn't horrendous, as I've been doing that sporadically this week.

I took my laptop with us, but the internet was always SOOOOOO slow. The only thing I could access was Facebook, so I was glad to check on that every day. Sunday night Nick & Don hogged the laptop. I was too tired & upset to fight for any time. I read.