Saving money by bundling w/Qwest

Think again. We have been having a financial crisis, so we've heard the same stories everyone else has heard, bundle your Qwest bill & save money. Oh, right! Not only did we save money (sarcasm intended), but it sent us into an out of control downward spiral. I'm still not sure if I see an end of the tunnel in sight.

I spent an hour on the phone with Qwest this morning. By the time I got off the phone, I had to change my clothes from the skin out. I was wet from my elbows to my waist. The man I talked to was very nice. He said he had set up a payment plan that is called "extreme arrangements." LOL Thanks, we need someone on our side (no sarcasm intended). Several times I could hear my voice screeching out of control. I consciously fought to bring my voice under control. I also said, "Oh, fart!" at one point. And then apologized for my obscene language, LOL. He said he gets worse language than that & no one apologizes.

Our phone bill was almost $800 because when we bundled, they closed one account, set up another account & we ended up with 3 accounts. In the scriptures it says that in the last days mens hearts will fail them. I know why. The stress.

Talk in church & fireworks

Yesterday, Sunday, Don, Don-Mike & I spoke in church & also sang in the ward choir. Don & Don-Mike both taught lessons. Don teaches the 4th Sunday Conference talks & Don-Mike teaches the 8-11 yo boys in Primary. Both Don & I are in the ward library. I told N he needed to go to church & support us, but he said he we could do without his support.

It was my turn to cook Sunday dinner. I didn't remember until it was almost time to go to church. I wasn't sure what to have. I thought of what we had in the freezer. I baked hamburger patties with gravy & opened a couple of cans of corn. Mother had a gallon of potato salad that she has gallantly been eating since Sunday, July 11. It is still good, but after 2 weeks of eating potato salad, it's getting old. So, I decided to perk it up a little. I added sour cream, honey mustard & boiled eggs. For dessert we had Deseret vanilla pudding. I followed the directions, only added a banana and some plums. For some reason, it didn't turn out very good. It was the first time we'd had it. I'll try it again.

We went to the Rotary Club's Fireworks Spectacular for Pioneer Day at the rodeo arena Saturday night. There are only bleachers to sit on. Mother wanted to go. A family with a little boy sat behind us. He was wiggling & kept kicking Mother in the back. I stood up to change places with her & she said it was too hard to move. I had just sat down to regroup, when the lady grabbed the little boy & moved. The guy stood up & started yelling "God bless you!" at us. I had taken my hearing aid out, so I actually missed what was going on behind us. I didn't ask them to move. In fact, I was considering asking Don & Don-Mike to grab the blanket Mother was sitting on & pull it down. I don't know if Mother caught what was going on or not. Our guys were totally clueless when I asked them about it after the fireworks.

Anthropologist

I feel like an anthropologist trying to uncover a lost temple.

Annette, on FlyLady's Facebook thread, "Flight Plan for Wednesday, July 21, 2010." She was talking about her bedroom. I'm talking about my house.

Courage, sacrifice & obedience

It took so long for the internet to reboot, I forgot what I was going to say ... ummm, courage, sacrifice, obedience. Those are the subjects Don, Don-Mike & I are supposed to talk about Sunday in church & how those three attributes pertain to the pioneers. Don-Mike took courage. Don said he didn't care, so I took obedience, leaving him with sacrifice.

I've been reading Numbers in the Old Testament & I've about had it with sacrifice. But then the Israelites were not very obedient either.

Don & I went to Sacrament Meeting this past Sunday & I have to admit I was so bored, I turned off my hearing aid. I know I went to church with the wrong attitude.

First annual Saturday in the Park

Today was our first annual Saturday in the Park. If it weren't for Dorin's family & Donna & Maxine, there would have been no one there, but me.

Sheila drove up from Syracuse (Utah), Marcie & kids up from somewhere in Cache County (Utah), JaNae & kids from Bear Lake (Idaho), Jim & Donna from Tremonton (Utah), Bernard & Maxine down from Blackfoot (Idaho) & Dauntes & Michelle & kids from Cub River, Don (Kofoed) & Nonavee from Preston & their son & his wife (from I don't know where). Donna & Jim went & got Mother & brought her over to the park. My Don & Nick came up to park & brought lunch for us.

It was hot today, then this afternoon, after we left the park, the heavens opened up & it just poured.

Sheila & I talked about it several months ago. Mother & I talked about it, but I stopped talking about it, shrug, figured the time was set & we'd just do it. Mother was irritated today because the first she knew about it was last night. It was no wonder nobody showed up. Thx to Sheila & Michelle & their efforts in getting the word out to their brothers & sisters, no one would have showed up

Hot chocolate & M*A*S*H

What does hot chocolate mix have to do with M*A*S*H? Tonight Don-Mike was looking at the groceries we got from the bishop's storehouse this past week. He comes in & said the hot chocolate mix reminded him of M*A*S*H! Now, I realize M*A*S*H is part of the weft or the warp of our family. I stopped & said immediately, "What does hot chocolate mix have to do with M*A*S*H?" He said, "It's like M*A*S*H getting coats in the middle of summer." I laughed & explained that I LOVE Deseret hot chocolate & when I had a chance to get it, I wasn't passing it up.

Circadian rhythm

I'm tired. I have been going to bed LATE for a while, late as in 2 a.m. Then I sleep in & can't function, then I take a nap, & so I'm not tired & stay up late & the cycle becomes vicious.

It was 12:55 a.m. I was going to be in bed by 1 a.m. So, I was closing all the windows that I had open on the computer. I got to the last one & it's an untitled Notepad document with a quote from Reading the Scriptures. Now, I had 2 choices. Save the document & forget about why I had saved it in the first place. Open the blog & save it without any commentary. Or, just close the document unsaved. So much for getting to bed by 1.

I had a 4 hour nap & woke up at 10 p.m. I needed to read my scriptures. Reading the scriptures is more than just sitting down & reading the text. I have to understand it. So, I open the Institute of Religion's Old Testament Student Manual & read it along with the text of the scriptures.

"True greatness ... always requires regular, consistent, small, and sometimes ordinary and mundane steps over a long period of time."

~ Howard W. Hunter, "True Greatness", Ensign, May 1982, 19

OK, "regular, consistent ... steps over a long period of time." Resetting my body's clock, my circadian rhythm.

Learn something new every day

In my last entry, I asked what the toe space under a cabinet is called. So, I went looking, & found it on wisegeek.com . It's called a toe kick.

A toe kick is a recessed space built into the bottom of a cabinet which sits on the floor. Many people may have noticed that cabinets which sit on the floor are raised slightly to create a small space under the cabinet. This space is the toe kick, and it is designed to allow people to stand close to the cabinet without stubbing their toes against it. Toe kicks are especially common in kitchens, but they are also used with other types of cabinetry which sit flush with the ground.

Many people utilize the toe kick without being aware of it. When someone steps up to a cabinet, as for example when someone is working at the kitchen counter, the toes slide into the toe kick. Without a toe kick, people would be forced to stand back somewhat, which would force them into an awkward position at the counter. Being forced into a strange position can strain the neck and back, in addition to making people uncomfortable, and it also throws them off balance. Toe kicks allow people to balance in a position which is comfortable for work.

The depth of the toe kick should be around three inches (almost eight centimeters), and it should roughly three and a half inches (nine centimeters) high. This provides enough space for most feet, in or out of shoes. Making the toe kick deeper does not accomplish anything, other than creating a crevice which is hard to clean, and if the toe kick is much higher, it can start to eat into cabinet space without really providing any additional working room.

Well, with an axe handle taking space in the toe kick, we definitely weren't getting our toes under there. I wonder what else is under there. The axe handle is now leaning against the front of the house, under the mail box. I wonder what the mailman thinks when he sees an axe handle leaning there. When I went to St. Louis, I should have taken my axe handle with me, so I could have had a weapon when I became part of the Axe Murder gang. Don't we look like a deadly crew?

I learn something new every day. Sometimes I go looking for it, like with the toe kick & sometimes it just quietly comes along. I learned I cannot hear on the vintage phone that is hooked up to our landline. Nick found this phone at the Deseret Industries for $1.50. It works. It really needs to be sitting on Don-Mike's computer desk instead of Don's. Don-Mike has a whole fleet of cars sitting on his desk. I couldn't figure out what else was sitting on the desk, but decided it is a two hole sprinkler. I don't know why it is there. The cards are reminders for Don's dental appt. I hope he has them recorded somewhere. One of Mother's retirement checks got put right there & lost.

Drama queen

So, I was being a bit dramatic in the last post, LOL. Nick started looking at leftovers in the fridge & found some taco salad from about 3 weeks ago. He took it out, the fridge immediately started smelling better, the kitchen then smelled like death. I got a plastic grocery bag out, had him dump it in there, tied the sack shut & threw it in the dumpster. Now, the back yard will smell like death, especially with the sun shining on the dumpster, argh!!

I took Mother to Logan to have her protime taken. It has gone up from 1.8 to 2.3. At least she is out of stroke range. Today when I was taking my meds, Nick stood & watched me. He told me I dropped a pill. I looked down my neck, in the sink, I was standing over the sink, & down at my feet. He told me it dropped to my right. I got down on my knees & looked. I found an axe handle under the counter, where the toe space is, what is that called? I pulled it out, asked what it was. Nick said it looked like a handle of some sort. I said, ya, an axe handle. What in the world was an axe handle doing under there? Nick finally found the pill over by the dishwasher, about a yard from where I was standing.

Good thing he was watching, I would have never known why I didn't have to pee. However, I may not have missed it because I had the Mexican two-step (caution, R-rated definition, but it's just the way I felt today, but not from spicy food).

Then, when Mother was taking her pills, she dropped half of a coumadin pill. We couldn't find it. I got down on my knees again, only this time one of my knees gave out from under me & I sprawled on the floor. I looked in the stove, under the burners, everywhere I could think of. I told her if a mouse got hold of it, it would bleed to death. She huffily told me she doesn't have mice in that house. We do. Nick found a mouse in the lasagna pan on Monday, happily gorging on the last piece of lasagna. He said it was so fat, it could barely get under the burner. When I was telling Don about Mother losing her coumadin pill, he said they caught the mouse last night & Nick was ecstatic.

I told Mother her pill would show up, not to worry about it. She doesn't have any cats to worry about eating her pill. I got her another half of a pill & she took it.

Being brave

I thought about titling this entry, Last Will & Testament, but I don't have time to make one up & what do I have to leave except messes & debts? I am being brave & setting out where no one else dares to go, pulling out the crisper in the fridge & seeing what smells so bad. I wonder if a mouse crawled up in it & died.

Au revoir

Mystery solved

Considering I have been singing the first verse of "Lodi" by Creedence Clearwater Revival, I'd say that is what was being sung in my dream the other night.

Just about a year ago, I set out on the road
Seekin' my fame & fortune, lookin' for a pot of gold
Things got bad, & things got worse
I guess you know the tune
Oh, Lord, stuck in Lodi again.

Lookin' for a pot of gold, things got bad & things got worse. Well, there it is. I'm certainly looking for a way to get out of this financial mess & things are going from bad to worse, sigh.

General Conference? I have been reading Leviticus in the Old Testament, that is a powerful book. I am learning so much & it sounds like The Book of Mormon wherein the Lord will protect his people if they keep his commandments. (my emphasis) So many times the Nephites were outnumbered, but still won.

And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.  Lev. 26:18

So ... I need to fast, pray, pay my tithing & be more mindful of other commandments.

CCR sings in LDS General Conference

I had the weirdest dream last night, I don't remember much about it except I was at LDS General Conference & Creedence Clearwater Revival sang. I remembered what the song was when I woke up, but don't remember it now. It was weird. When I woke up I was pinned like Gulliver, only by cats, not Lilliputians. I said it was a 4 cat night. It didn't help that it was no longer morning, but afternoon when I finally awakened.

As soon as I struggled out from under the covers, Marsha stood up & yawned & stretched. Could have made it easier if she'd got up first.