More legals

There were SEVEN (7) legals again this week. There will be almost 4 FULL pages of legals. At least Don & I aren't in there again for foreclosure. The mortgage company calls at such inopportune times. I know I need to call them back, but it takes almost an hour every time I talk to them.

Today was the Primary program. I got up & left the meeting because it was going longer than usual. My leg went to sleep from my hip to my toes. OMG, I didn't know if I was going to be able to put weight on it or fall to the floor. I knew the librarian from the other ward would be waiting for me in the library.

I didn't notice any water when I went down the stairs, but when Don came a few minutes later he told me there was a wet spot at the bottom of the stairs. We watched the puddle grow until when we left at 4 o'clock, it was creeping into the clerk's office. The Mother's Room is soaked. Someone said there was a classroom upstairs that was leaking too. It's right where the 2nd & last addition to the church adjoins. A rain gutter broke.

This is the part of our climate I do not like, autumn & winter. And cold rain, brrr. I don't think I've ever been in warm rain, but I don't think I'd like it any better.

Just before Don went to bed he said it was snowing in Grace & Thatcher. It's been raining all day.

Tuesday, Oct. 19

I've been looking at the first line in the quote in the Oct. 15 entry & have not liked the highlighted phrase at all. Every night when I come in & see it, I want to go in & edit it. Finally tonight I did.

I spent the weekend digital scrapbooking. It's a swatch book & I don't think I'm going to like it. I spent $20 on it. Another thing I NEVER do! But I enjoyed it. And Don-Mike seemed to enjoy seeing each new page. Maybe I'll give it to him for Christmas. Mother can't see well enough to enjoy it.

There has been a squirrel living in the building that houses The Preston Citizen. Sunday, during Sacrament Meeting, I turned all sounds off on my cell phone. When Sacrament Meeting was over, I forgot to turn the sound back on. I went to work & kept waiting for the phone to ring. Once the Citizen is closed, the phones are turned to voice mail. We can call out, but people can't call in without getting voice mail.

There were SEVEN (7) legals this week. One of them was the sample ballot for the General Election. I was really concentrating when suddenly, someone started yelling, "Are you in there?" It really scared me. After being yelled at again, I recognized Nick's voice. It was almost 8 p.m., & they were waiting supper for me. Since they couldn't get me on the phone, they had driven down to see if they could get me by yelling & knocking on the door. I let Nick in & by then I was spooked & wanted out of there. I hate working alone in the dark & especially with critters running around.

I picked up my regular glasses in the soft cloth glass case & headed out the door, still wearing my computer glasses. I can't see much more than 12 inches in front of my face with them on. Nick thought I could wait long enough to change glasses. No, I couldn't even wait 30 seconds to do it.

I've been paying for my impatience for the last 2 days. Those glasses have been no where to be found. I almost stood on my head looking for them in the car. Not just once, but twice. Nick looked. He went over to Mother's. No, they weren't there. So, then Mother started looking. I even cleaned out the rocking chair where all the stuff gets piled. I got down on my hands & knees & looked around the bed.

All day yesterday I thought of a pair of sunglasses I lost when I lived on Whitlock Avenue in Salt Lake City, late 1970s, with Nancy Yearsley. I used to come home every weekend & would go back to SLC Sunday. One Sunday, Nancy & Janet, our neighbor, were walking to church & Nancy found my sunglasses in the driveway, still in their glass case. She picked up the case & reverently carried it back to the townhouse.

Today, Nick & I walked out to get in his car & I was going to get in my car, on the passenger side, & get my fanny pack. There, on the ground, next to my car, lay my glass case. I had just missed running over the glasses when I pulled into park. I missed running over them both yesterday & today! They had been stepped on, but were not broken. A lens had popped out. The frame was misshapen. The glass case was laying in a pile of leaves & was exactly the same color as the leaves. The pattern on the case is even leaves.

We went to Eye Care for You & the lady who adjusts glasses had them back in shape in no time. They look good as new.

Yesterday Don-Mike brought my old pair of computer glasses from home to me at work. The left nose piece is missing. It digs into my nose. I've tried duct tape, a band aid & am now trying red string from a bag of cat food. Much more comfortable than the tape. It looks funny. The men said they wouldn't make fun of me.

I didn't get my usual Monday headache yesterday. But, in addition to having a comfy old pair of glasses, one of the fluorescent lights was out over my desk & over Rod's desk. I was psyched, then asked Rod if he wanted Kelly to change the light. He said no. So, when Kelly came in late in the afternoon & finally noticed our light, he was ready to go get another light tube. Bob spoke up before either Rod or I could & said we liked it.

Men are that they might have joy

I'm still reading the Old Testament, plugging along is the way I would describe it. I have a very colorful spread sheet to keep track of my reading.

Tonight I logged into my email account & went directly to my scriptures folder, clicked on the COMPLETED button & here is the quote that came up:

Sadness, disappointment, and severe challenge are events in life, not life itself. I do not minimize how hard some of these events are. They can extend over a long period of time, but they should not be allowed to become the confining center of everything you do. The Lord inspired Lehi to declare the fundamental truth, "Men are, that they might have joy." That is a conditional statement: "they might have joy." It is not conditional for the Lord. His intent is that each of us finds joy. It will not be conditional for you as you obey the commandments, have faith in the Master, and do the things that are necessary to have joy here on earth."

--Richard G. Scott, "Finding Joy in Life", Ensign, May 1996, 24

This is good to be reminded of. I decided to put it here instead of Quoghts to Ponder. I remember reading, when my kids were younger, don't always tell your kids you can't afford something.

I guess foreclosure is one of those "severe challenges." I spent 45 minutes on the phone with Citi this afternoon. I feel like we just started from square 1 ... again. I have had such a headache all day.

"... have faith in the Master, and do the things that are necessary to have joy here on earth."

Hmmmm, now that's a novel idea.

Tiffany

When we went to Cyndi's wedding on Sept. 19, Tiffany said she was going to take out her endowments the Saturday after General Conference. I asked her where & she mentioned a temple in Salt Lake, then paused a moment & said Logan. I said if she went to the Logan Temple I could go with her. I wasn't sure if Don would want to or not. Neither one of us had a temple recommend, but we got our recommends on Sunday, Sept. 26. Tiffany let me know she had made an appt at the Logan Temple for Saturday, Oct. 9, at 1 p.m. Great, I responded, we will be there.

Today was Beutler Farm Potato Day. We always get our potatoes from Beutlers. I told Don I had to be up at 10 a.m., so he woke me up. We made it to the potato farm, got our potatoes, & dropped them off at Mother's. We got ready & made it to the temple about 5 after 1, only to find out Tiffany & Gigi (Gloria) had been there since 11:30, & were in the 1 o'clock session. Obviously, we had missed it.

Tiffany, Oct. 9, 2010

 

 

Not all was lost, we did some sealings & then waited for them. It was a very special afternoon. Special always seems such a contrived word, but it was. I am so grateful Tiffany & her mom drove to Logan to include Don & I in this day.

Afterwards, we went to Golden Corral to eat. Here's where my hearing got in the way. I suggested it & thought I heard Tiffany say, "I'll wait." So, I'm trying to think of somewhere else to go. Gigi is not just vegetarian, she's vegan, which is even stricter. I was confused, we'd eaten at Golden Corral with Gigi & her family before. I knew they liked Golden Corral better than Chuck-A-Rama, but we don't have Chuck-A-Rama in the valley. I've heard rumor there is one in the planning to be built out in Providence, the "new" center of Logan, but it's not there yet.

What she had actually said was, "Always." Whew. Nick met us at Golden Corral just as we were finishing up. Gigi & the girls (Mindy, a friend of Tiffany's had come up from Cedar City with her) left, while Don & I sat with Nick while he ate.

Another tithing moment. I had only taken enough money out of savings today to pay for clothing if we needed it at the temple & money to eat. So, I leaned over to Gigi when we found out Nick was in the parking lot & said I'd need to borrow some money. She said she only had a $10 bill & some $1s. Ok, I took the $10. Don had $5 he handed over & I had 6 $1s. So, Don met Nick, paid for his dinner & came back, handed me the change, which I immediately handed to Gigi. Then, for some reason, I was digging in my little fanny pack. I think I was trying to zip it closed. Gigi made a comment on it not being big enough. I said it would be plenty big if I took out all the papers. I promptly took the papers out & started looking through them. Lo, & behold, there was a $10 bill!!!!!!! I could have sworn I was broke. I don't know how many times I've looked through those papers trying to find some money, LOL. I handed over the $10 bill to Gigi, she handed me back $6 & I counted through it, gave Don 5 $1s back & had $1 to leave as a tip.

The senior meals are going to do her in

Mother hasn't liked the senior meals for quite a while. I have complained to Rod (editor of newspaper) about them. One time (Uncle) Jim came in to the editor's office & asked how Mother was doing. I said ok, as I usually did. Rod spoke up & said, "Those senior meals are going to do her in."

Today was probably the worst one I've seen. This is what I posted on Facebook:

It's pretty sad when your mother has to pay for a home-delivered meal that ends up in the garbage, uneaten, & when you walk in 30-45 minutes later with food from a fast food restaurant, the garbage has to go out because it's stinking up the house.

I went over to Mother's about noon & Luana was standing by Mother at the table. Mother was trying to eat her home-delivered meal. She asked me what the main dish. I poked around at it & said it looked like stroganoff. Luana said that is what she thought it was too. Mother asked me to taste it & tell her what it needed. It was so pasty. It had been overcooked, I tried to swallow it without gagging. I told her it needed salt. I got in the fridge & grabbed ranch dressing. Luana laughed & said ranch dressing will help it. Luana told me to try the scone. She said when you took a bite of it & oil just oozed out of it. It smelled stale. I took one bite of it & spit it out.

Mother said the veggie was as old as she was. I told her it was pretty old (she's 84). I told her to put the honey butter on it, but it was cold & the butter wouldn't melt. The salad was good. It looked like it was dry jello salad. Luana had brought some apple crisp over yesterday or Monday & she took some of that & poured milk from the dinner over it. Mother said the milk was gross too. The milk comes in a cardboard carton & is warm. I remember how gross those cardboard cartons of milk were when I was in grade school. I took the chocolate cake, put the lid on it & set it in the fridge. But I threw everything else away. Luana chided me for throwing it away. She said Mother hadn't eaten anything. What was she going to eat? Then Luana decided to go home & make some soup.

I said I'd go buy some chicken. Mother said she didn't want chicken.

I came home because Nick was hurting. He thought Chesterfried Chicken sounded good. Why didn't we get some & go over to Nana's. I bought a chicken bowl. I LOVE chicken bowls, but they are so darned big!! A chicken bowl has mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, cut up pieces of chicken tenders with grated cheese sprinkled over the top. Mother & I can share a chicken bowl & still have some left over.

I offered Nick the cake from Mother's lunch. Mother wouldn't eat it because it was dry & she doesn't like chocolate. It was crumbly & he had to eat it over the garbage. I told him to eat it over the sink. He said it was good, but not to tell him what I thought (zucchini) was in it, LOL.

In telling Don-Mike about Mother's dinner he said Shannon (Montandon) came through the drive up window today at Big J's because her home-delivered meal was not good.

Ouch

Nick's chest is really hurting today. I think he probably hit the steering wheel rather hard Sunday in the car accident. There are no seat belts in the car. I gave him the choice of a heavy duty pain pill (hydrocodone) or alternating ibuprofen & XS Tylenol. He took the ibuprofen/Tylenol.

Sunday after the wild ride, I gave Mother a tramadol pill for pain. I thought it was the pain pill she can take. Must not be because she said she had a hard time sleeping Sunday night. She went on the ride without her oxygen. I carry it in my car all the time & no one thought of it until after the ride. She's been suffering all week & is "terrible."

Sunday driver

Don-Mike took Mother for a ride today in his blue Trans-Am. Nick & Don went in Nick's red Camaro. I think I jinxed them with this entry from another blog:

So, while my family is out enjoying a Sunday ride, I hope they are enjoying it & not broken down somewhere on the side of the road, I am nursing my headache.

At 5:41 this afternoon I got a call from Amber Hayes wondering where Mother was. She had a gift she wanted to give her. I told her about the ride & I was frankly getting a little worried about where they were. So, I said I'd call Don & call her back. I called Don asking where they were. Well, they were NOT along side the road, they were out in some field in Riverdale. I don't remember why, but they were on the old Riverdale highway. Don-Mike had passed a truck & then Nick decided to pass, just as the driver decided to turn left. Nick clipped her bumper & ended up out in a field. Don-Mike said he is amazed the car didn't roll.

The police were not called, but I've been thinking since, if he ended up in a field, was a fence broken? Will they be cited for leaving the scene of an accident? Nick can't afford another ticket & it was his fault. His license will be suspended for having too many points. Don says there was no fence, big sigh of relief. The other driver stopped & they exchanged insurance information.

So, Don-Mike came on home, stopped at Mother's & hared into the house because he had to pee so bad, leaving Mother to get out of the car herself. The door swung closed & shut her leg in it. She has this huge black lump on her leg. Amber was there & helped her in the house. Meanwhile Amber had started alternating ice packs & heat. Mother called me & wanted me to come right over. I wanted to see the damage on Nick's car. 

Don-Mike had come home, got the black Camaro off the flat bed trailer & gone to get Nick's car. I did wait until they got here with the car. There isn't much damage to Nick's car, but he is certainly depressed.

Conference weekend

It's a beautiful weekend for LDS General Conference, warm & sunny. I haven't listened to any of the sessions. Don-Mike went to the priesthood session for the first time in his life. No, actually, he may have gone a couple of times when he was a teen-ager, but Don doesn't go, so the boys haven't gone.

Don-Mike went with Ian Porter. I asked him if he saw Robert Bartlomé in the missionary choir, but he said he didn't. I don't know if Robert got to sing in it or not. I would assume he did, but haven't heard.

Don-Mike wanted to take Nana for a ride today. She loves Sunday rides. He wanted to take his "new" Trans-Am. He offered to take me, I would've had to ride in the back. Riding in the backseat makes me car sick & I already have a headache. He even offered to take the Duramax (extended cab pickup). I don't know how many times in my life I've gone on a ride when I've had one of these headaches. I have not enjoyed the ride nor have I made it pleasant for others. They went & I stayed home today. Nick wanted to take his red Camaro. Don rode with Nick. People laugh at us when we take 2 vehicles wherever we go, but it works.