Is it spring????????

Still reading The Book of Mormon daily. I've only missed one day out of 62. I am so proud of myself. I have to admit the website, Readthescriptures.com did not help. It was actually the little booklet I snagged at work, Read The Book of Mormon in 100 Days.

I was diligently keeping track of my reading on a spreadsheet saved on the network. Nick kept warning us that the hard drive was iffy & we'd better save our stuff. Of course, I kept thinking about it, but never did it. Now it's gone, sigh, along with several other spreadsheets.

I have been keeping up on ReadtheScriptures.com, cuz I like the quotes that are given. The quote for today was quite appropriate.

"If we are well prepared, death brings no terror. From an eternal perspective, death is premature only for those who are not prepared to meet God."
--Elder Russell M. Nelson, Ensign, May 2005, 18

My mother is terrified to die. I don't know why. You'd think she'd want to be with her husband, children & parents. I'll have to admit, I'm not ready to lose her.

On another note, Mufasa killed 2 chickens Sunday. We didn't find out until Sunday evening when we took dog food over. Kim wanted us to get the chickens out of the kennel. It was dark, so we couldn't see what the kennel looked like.

Nick & I were afraid to go over to clean up the kennel. We are used to cats & expected total carnage - blood, guts & feathers all over. We were pleasantly surprised to see this sight. I only took one picture because Mufasa was so excited to see us, he kept getting in the way.

The chickens flew into Mufasa's kennel Sunday morning. He played with them, chasing them & grabbing them & shaking them like a big rag doll. They'd squawk & he'd let them go, chase them & grab them again. Once their necks were broken & they were dead, he left them alone. They weren't fun anymore.

We couldn't get a rope around him & so I squeezed my way into the kennel. Once I was in there, Nick held the door shut so Mufasa couldn't get out. I put disposable gloves on so I could pick the chickens up & put them over the kennel wall into the garbage bag Steve was holding. The kennel is 6 feet tall. I am barely 5'2", so it was a reach, especially to hold my arm up high enough to get the chicken over the fence.

We had a plan. I would clean up the chickens & Nick would hold the dog. Steve came out to help us. It was a clean kill, so I didn't need to pick up feathers & guts. I had taken a scarf to put over my face so I wouldn't smell the chickens & gag cleaning them up. Mufasa didn't bother me. He kept trying to force his way out of the kennel. I'm so glad Nick was there to hold the door. Steve suggested feeding the dog so that I could get out without fighting him too.

I cut my arm squeezing into the kennel. It is a 2" cut on top of my right wrist. It bled quite a bit. I took the scarf I didn't need for my face & Nick tied it on quite tight. I almost said something about not needing a tourniquet, but didn't want to incense him. I did need the pressure to keep it from bleeding. I cleaned it up at Mother's. It seems quite superficial, so I did not go into the ER to have it stitched. Don-Mike came home & took over bandaging it. It hurts tonight. I am so glad it was my right arm & not the left. The left is the one I have lymphedema in & it could be quite serious if that arm were to become infected.

2007: The Year of the Big C

GG, also known as Gloria, my sister-in-law bought Don & I Dave Ramsey's book, Total Money Makeover. She said she believes in it enough to give us a book on money management! I picked it up when it came, but it's been sitting in the same envelope it came in. I did put it on Goodreads as "currently reading." Well, we have 2 pending law suits. I don't know what happened to the other 2. We are in quite a bit of debt due to 2007: The Year of the Big C -- and literally no savings. 

One lawsuit requires us to be in court May 17 at 3 p.m., with 2009 taxes & our last pay check stubs. So, I'm feeling a little bit panicked.

Another blog

I just found another blog to add to my list of favorites: A Garlic Story. I need to go over to Mother's & check on her. It's also my turn to cook tonight & tomorrow. I thought I'd do my cooking over there. The guys can come over & eat there. That will give me more time with Mother & I can cook in a clean kitchen :) I can also bake those cookies I was going to do the other day when I crashed & burned & took a 3-1/2 hour nap in Mother's bed with her CPAP machine.

Paying my last respects

I am waiting up for 2 of our cats to come in from playing night games, yawn. Little buggers.

I probably could read another chapter of Alma while I'm waiting. This is the same place I got to the last time I attempted reading The Book of Mormon in 100 days. Lent is over, meaning the push to successfully complete the challenge of celebrating Lent is over. It was especially important to me after I failed so dismally last year.

Sam just came in, without a mouse. Now for Marsha.

Don, Mother & I went to the mortuary last night for Gwen Hulse Wheeler Cottle Fish's viewing. The new mortuary is SOOO nice. Today I took Mother to the funeral at our church. We could only stay for part of it because we didn't think to reschedule Mother's hair appt. But Mother was there for the life sketch, which Edna & FayeLynn gave. They stood together & talked in turn. It was really well-done. I wonder if they practiced. They mentioned Mother. Five of her 10 grandchildren gave "Memories of Grandma." Each of her 4 children were represented by one of their grown kids & both of FayeLynn's daughters spoke. It was a stretch for most of them, as her grandchildren are not active in the church. Derick, one of her grandsons, said, "Public speaking is not one of my strong points." He did very well. Public speaking is not a strong point for a lot of people who are active in the church. Most of us do get a chance to practice though.

I took Mother to her hair appt & went back to the funeral in time for the ending of the bishop's remarks, Robert Child sang "That Wonderful Mother of Mine," accompanied by his wife, Karen, who is also our (mine & Mother's) visiting teacher. The benediction was given by a stepson, Scott Fish. I went out to the cemetery. Gwen was buried in Dayton, next to her first husband Fay. After I picked up Mother, we ate at the Subway & then I took her back down to the church for the family luncheon so she could visit with Gwen's sister Venda.

It is so strange to look out the window & see Gwen's house sitting dark. It's strange to drive by during the day & see the drapes pulled. In the funeral today they said Wheelers moved into that house in 1953. I was just small. The house burned in the mid-'50s & Gwen & the kids lived in Glendale while Fay rebuilt their house. For virtually all of my life, Gwen has only lived 3 houses up the street.

Well, Marsha is in, so I'm off to bed.

Do what you can

More thoughts from ReadTheScriptures.com

"Remember, tomorrow is connected with today, and what we do with today determines the tomorrow."
--Marvin J. Ashton, "The Time Is Now", Ensign, May 1975, 85

Very thought provoking. Not something I want to expound on, just want to find it for future reference.

And another one:

Please don't nag yourself with thoughts of failure. Do not set goals far beyond your capacity to achieve. Simply do what you can do, in the best way you know, and the Lord will accept of your effort."
--Gordon B. Hinckley, "Rise to the Stature of the Divine within You," Ensign, Nov. 1989, 94

Reading The Book of Mormon is a goal I actually thought I could achieve, but reading 144 books in 1 year?? That is actually "far beyond my capacity to achieve."

I am enjoying the Kindle4PC that I downloaded from Amazon.com I enjoy reading books on the computer. I can make the words bigger for my "old" eyes.

Everyone says how wonderful conference was this time. I didn't even listen or watch it, my bad. But, I'll read it, or watch it online. A Facebook friend, Muriel Garvis, posted this about conference:

Yes, and you can see all the conference as they keep an archive. Just go to the church web site. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Right on the front page you can see the video stream. You may have to download the program they suggest but it was so good. There are actually lots of other videos that the church puts out on this site.

Conclusion of Lent & new phone

The traditional ending of Lent is on Good Friday, which was yesterday. So, was I successful this year in keeping Lent? Yes! I am SOOOO proud of myself. I read The Book of Mormon daily for 45 days. I have reached Alma 12. I have learned so much more this time from reading the BOM than I ever have before.

Today we bought a new phone for Mother from King's for $37.77. Just now, when I went looking for it, I found it on the jWIN site for $99.99! Wow!! It took me hours & hours to set it up. See the little remote to the side of it? It has a lanyard the person can wear around their neck & you can program up to 10 emergency numbers on it. I haven't figured out how to do that yet, but I will. And look at those BIG number keys! They are 1 1/4 x 1-inch square!

I had the phone all set up & then discovered it wouldn't "talk" to the other phones in the house. Notice it has a tether, or in other words a cord?? I didn't want Mother to have to get up & go answer the phone & then stand there to talk when the other phones are cordless. I was panic stricken. Then Nick called on my cell phone to find out where I was & what I was doing. I had this scathingly brilliant idea, which was a little late in coming. Nick would know what to do!!

I told him where I was & what I was doing. Would he come over & help me? Sure enough, when he did come, he knew what to do & we set it up.