Arizona Mom

Finding Balance - Julie Beck

2011-10-19T06:30:00.000-07:00

I have to save this link. It helps to listen to it often.
http://mormonchannel.org/programs/relief-society-episode-19?lang=eng

Familly History Dad

2011-10-03T16:27:00.000-07:00

This morning I was listening to a talk by Dallin Oaks about Tolerance. The word “tolerance” immediately made me think of my father. And then I wondered how many other people would associate that quality with my dad.

My father was Ernest Floyd Evans and was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1905. There are a lot of things I don’t know about him. I know that he was raised without a mother after he was five years old, that his father was reputed to be a hard and abusive man, and that he loved his Granny Yarborough. I don’t know who his heroes and good examples were, but I do know that he was good and kind and very intelligent.

My father was raised in Georgia in a somewhat impoverished family. From what I have read, it seems that most of the people in the south didn’t view Negroes as humans equal to themselves. The southern poor, who were often mistreated because of their insignificant economic status, would sometimes relish the opportunity to mistreat others of lesser status. It was what they taught their children and the way most of them lived their lives. My father did not share that view. From everything I have observed and heard about my father, he was always kind and accepting of others. Tolerant, yes. But kind too.

Being the youngest of six children and born when my father was forty-three years old, I probably had different parents than my siblings, just in view of the fact that they were all born to much younger parents. Most of the remembrances of my family members occurred before I was born. They remembered living in California, knew cousins I didn’t know, lived on streets I’d never seen and talked about pets and friends who were gone from their lives before I even came to earth. But I’m pretty sure that we all shared a dad who was patient, kind, gentle, soft-spoken and loving.

My father seemed to be a contradiction of himself. He was a southern boy from an impoverished background, raised without a mother by an abusive father , and was taken out of school after the 8^th grade. Yet he had no sign of a southern accent, spoke with perfect grammar, had an extensive vocabulary, was well read, and exemplified goodness and morality. Daddy treasured books and learning, enjoyed all kinds of music and poetry and taught himself to be an artist. He painted (I have a painting he did of a Hawaiian girl in the moonlight), carved (an ebony figure of my mother, though I have no idea what happened to it), and played a horn while he was in the Marines. Eventually, he started his own business called Evans Signs.

My dad didn’t yell unless you were far enough away that it was required to make himself heard. I was telling someone the other day about a teen who had let their dad’s brand new, hard-earned pickup truck roll over a cliff – due to his youthful lack of experience and forward thinking. The father didn’t say anything at all when his son came in appalled and mortified that he had done the unthinkable and began pouring out apologies. After several minutes, without removing the newspaper from in front of his face, the father said, “Well, I guess you’ll have to take the old car.” My friend commented that the father had learned to have amazing control over his anger. Then I realized that he didn’t have any anger that needed control. The father may have been disappointed and somewhat shocked, and he was probably tired and frustrated. However he put himself in his son’s place, realizing he was already suffering overwhelming remorse. He also knew that there was nothing he could do or say that would undo the terrible event. So, he acted with compassion for his son. That man could easily have been my father. That’s what Daddy would have done.

There were many years of my childhood that Daddy worked at home. He created advertising designs and plans. These were then displayed in various ways. Sometimes he fashioned them into physical structures that were on giant billboards along the highways, or spread across entire store fronts, or hung in front of establishments to publicize and promote their businesses. He also painted advertising on trucks, vans, etc., and lettered names and titles on the glass entry doors of banks, legal offices, medical offices and such. Sometimes he did the names and titles in “gold leaf” if the customer wanted to be recognized as high-class and sophisticated. This required a very special technique and was delicate work, using very thin sheets of real gold. I remember watching Daddy do this and he explained to me that you couldn’t touch the gold leaf sheets with your hand because it was so thin the natural body heat would melt it onto your fingers. It came pressed between sheets of paper and when the surface was prepared, Daddy would pick it up and apply it using static electricity in a wide, flat brush. It required meticulous effort and skill because any mistakes were not only time-consuming but very expensive to re-do.

Daddy would first make a sketch of the desired project. Then he would bring it up to size. That could be anything from one or two feet wide to sixty feet wide. Next he would make a pattern out of paper and put holes through it with a tracing wheel and affix it to the surface to be painted. He then took a pounce bag (a cloth bag filled with a fine charcoal dust) and struck it against the perforations to transfer the pattern. (Oh, I posted this before it was finished. I'll have to add to it.)

Most of my life I called my father Daddy. After I got married, I sometimes called him Papa. I know that Daddy’s favorite sport to play was soccer. He also enjoyed going to baseball games and he and Mama would watch the Friday Night Fights (boxing) on TV. I knew who Gene Fullmer was (a boxing champion from Utah) when I was quite young and was thrilled to meet him at a youth fireside once.

Mom and Daddy used to go to dances when they were young and they would occasionally put on old records and dance at home. This was “their song” and when I listen to it again I can see Momma and Daddy dancing around the living room and I get all misty eyed. I realize that despite our family’s flaws and faults, I come from a heritage where husbands and wives have loved each other. (If you google it and you can hear how it goes.)

Title: Al Jolson - The Anniversary Song

Oh, how we danced on the night we were wed
We vowed our true love, though a word wasn't said
The world was in bloom, there were stars in the skies
Except for the few that were there in your eyes

Dear, as I held you close in my arms
Angels were singing a hymn to your charms
Two hearts gently beating, murmuring low
"Darling, I love you so"

The night seemed to fade into blossoming dawn
The sun shone anew but the dance lingered on
Could we but recall that sweet moment sublime
We'd find that our love is unaltered by time

------ instrumental break ------

Darling, I love you so

The night seemed to fade into blossoming dawn
The sun shone anew but the dance lingered on
Could we but recall that sweet moment sublime
We'd find that our love is unaltered by time

I don’t remember my dad ever getting angry and losing his temper. I remember that he was angry with me once (which I entirely deserved) but he never lost his temper. I had disobeyed my parents and taken the car out of American Fork. I got a flat tire that I did not know how to change. It was about 11:00 p.m., winter and about fifteen degrees below zero.I called and asked Daddy if he would get up, out of bed, and come change the tire. Then I asked him not to tell Mom because I knew that she would be sure that I was punished to the n^th degree. He never yelled. He didn’t say anything at all. However I knew that he was angry and very, VERY, disappointed that I would be so disobedient, selfish, and inconsiderate. Feeling my dad’s disapproval and disappointment was terrible. I knew that I didn’t want to experience that feeling again.

My mom and dad did not go to movies. I’m not sure why. When Dr. Zhivago came out, someone (I think it was my brother Bud) talked them into going to see it. They loved it and went out and bought the sound track. Daddy loved the music and played it again and again. I was just 16 at the time and thought the story was too sad and depressing – about war and all. But I did like the music. As far as I can remember, mom and dad never went to see another movie.

2011-06-10T08:21:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=H-JkNUSraPY

2011-03-19T08:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a full day! I got up and went to exercise. Then David and I went to meet Christian, Leslie, Britt and Annika at the Lightrail to go over to the Arizona Science Center in Phoenix to see the Body World exhibit. Actually, David and I weren't going to go into the exhibit because it was too expensive and we had seen the exhibit several years earlier in NYC, but we were allowed to enter the Science Center on Leslie's membership and then we got a senior citizen discount and so it ended up costing us only $23. Since Lynn had given us $50 for lunch yesterday, we figured we had enough money to go in and spend more time with some people that we dearly love.

It was really lots of fun. The exhibit was amazing (though kind of crowded since it is Spring Break), and a bit "newer-looking" than the exhibit we saw in New York. (Small bits hadn't fallen to the bottom of the case enclosing the object being exhibited as we sometimes saw in NYC.) But it was all absolutely fascinating - even the second time around. And it was lots of fun sharing it with Christian and family. After we came out, Leslie shared the picnic lunch she had packed. It was perfect. Apples, cheese, carrot sticks, trail mix, grapes, blackberries, bananas, and peanut butter pretzels with nutella to dip them in! (Just enough for us all to have 2 or 3 pretzels each - but Britt cleaned the nutella container out with her finger and licking it off after we were all through. A girl after my own heart!)

Since David and I hadn't really planned to see Body World, we thought we would be home in plenty of time to get ready for the temple. We realized we would have to hurry to get there in time if we left right away. Christian and Leslie and Annika wanted to stay and do more Science Center. Britt decided to come home with us.

There is a billboard sign that we could see when riding the light rail that says, "Save the date." (picture of little box with check in it) "Christ is coming, May 21, 2011"
Who told them? Is President Monson keeping a secret from us, but telling other people? Yeah, right! Well, I expect to be around then. I wouldn't mind it at all if Jesus Christ came then and I'm sure there are a lot of people who would be very glad to see him.

David and I got home just barely in time to get ready. He really needed a haircut to look all neat and tidy for the temple, but there just wasn't time. (Don't worry, he looked all handsome and dignified in his "temple whites.") I sure like working in the baptistry. It just feels so good to be there and our coordinators - Bro. and Sis. Agle - are such great people. I just love it! We got home, got into our jammies and fell asleep in our recliners. We woke up and went to bed some time before midnight.

2011-03-19T08:22:00.000-07:00

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!!

This day is significant for a better reason, however. It is Anna Christine's birthday. She would be 30 years old today. Can you believe it?

It has been a good day. David and I went over to Glendale to pick up a commissions check and then we went to lunch (thanks to Lynn Cash). When we got home, we got a floral delivery. It was a gorgeous bouquet in pinks in honor of Anna Christine from her little sister, Anna Joy. I was touched and pleased and overwhelmed.

I had to take pictures of the bouquet and post them on my blog so everyone could see them (especially you, Anna!) I love them!

Notice the butterfly decoration?
These pink baby roses are just beautiful! And the pink lily and the little pink tiger lily with all the baby's breath compliment them so perfectly.
This shot is to show you what it looks like altogether (from one angle).
Here it is from another side. (The Gerber daisies are really a deep pink-red, not the scarlet color that they appear to be on this blog.)

2011-03-02T20:57:00.000-08:00

Wow! Weeks fly by!! And I have nothing to say right now but I am really tired and am going to bed now. I love you all.
I'm grateful to have a bed. And I'm grateful for pain killers. Nothing beets 'em when you really need 'em.

Poor Me!

2011-02-16T13:36:00.000-08:00

Don't get excited. I haven't actually come back from the dead (although that's pretty close to how I feel - with a few question marks after "come back"). I am sick of having messed up sinuses and a shoulder that doesn't really work and has to be babied. I've been on an emotional roller coaster with David's heart problems and have dug into some questions about my mother. I cry at the drop of a hat and that keeps my sinuses inflamed and sore.

I feel like I can complain here because nobody ever looks here because I never write anything.

Maybe tomorrow I will start a gratitude blog.

Repentance and Redemption

2009-12-21T10:59:00.000-08:00

So we sent to church in Cecily's ward yesterday because Cecily and Jason were Mary and Joseph in the sharing time nativity scene and Cecily sang a Christmas lullaby. She, Arinda, and Saylem were also in the ward choir that performed in Sacrament Meeting.

Tressa was kind of wild until Jason took her out, but after that she was very good and even WHISPERED. She and Treyjen actually shared a little pocket comb/mirror and said "please" and "thank you" (AFTER they grabbed it away from the other person, made them angry, and were instructed to "give it back." They were then prompted to ask nicely and prompted to share.) They actually did it! Hooray for them for being so good!

The Destroying Angel

2009-12-16T17:18:00.000-08:00

Today Tressa came over! Whew, I'm exhausted already. We went over to Muriel's so the Cecily's girls could help her arrange her Christmas Village.

"Oh, don't you look just like princess," Muriel said.

"Well, she may look like a princess," I said, "but she is a destroyer on two legs."

She runs around creating messes, disassembling , and scattering things. And she is especially quick at doing these things if it is something she knows she shouldn't touch or has been told, "no-no". Cecily told me that last night after she had been put to bed and Cecily had gone to bed too, she got up, took of all her clothes, climbed out of bed, took a blue marker and wrote all over the floor, doors, and walls in the hall and then jumped on Saylem and Treyjen who were in their beds and asleep and woke them up because she wanted to play with them.

Doesn't that picture of her at the top of the page look like she is extremely gratified because she got away with doing something she was told not to?
Most of the time she looks angelic. Looks can be deceiving.

Cecily has been asked to play Mary, the mother of Jesus for church this Sunday and sing "Mary's Lullaby." She needs to have a "Mary" costume. So we were trying to make that costume when she came over today. Cecily laid down on the floor so I could draw on the fabric where I needed to cut it to make the costume. Cecily and I thought it was extremely silly and we were laughing so hard I could barely take the picture. We took these pictures for you Anna. We knew you would appreciate it. (Can you tell Ces is laughing?)

2009-12-14T21:10:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!!

I just want to recognize that this holiday season is about, for, and in reverence to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for His love and sacrifice for us and for God’s love for us. I spent the past week preparing a talk for sacrament meeting about God’s Love and crying tears of gratitude that I am getting quite dehydrated. I am glad that I am past the public delivery part, but I am so grateful and never want to get past the gratitude.

I know that very few people ever look at my blog (probably because I haven’t been good at keeping it updated and most people don’t know I even have one or much care to read my random ramblings) so I decided to write a Christmas Letter.

David and I are just glad to be alive. We both had surgery recently and have had a much harder time trying to recover than either one of us expected. It has changed our lives considerably and we both hope that the changes aren’t permanent. And yes, we still love each other very much, in spite of the fact that our “discussions” sometimes get very impassioned and loud. But I think that most of our family is used to that. We’ve been doing that for about forty years (last June we celebrated our 40^th Wedding Anniversary). David’s mother Eilene died last month. It is hard to see the passing of those we love, but she was ready to go and rejoin her husband Victor, whom she missed terribly. Funerals aren’t quite so sad when the person being honored had a life well lived. That was very true of Eilene.

Christian and Leslie are doing well. They sometimes bemoan the fact that when you’re capable and responsible, you don’t get a lot of sympathy or help. I’m sure that’s true, but I want them to know that they have a lot of appreciation and respect coming from us. Christian often feels that the “church work” is endlessly long. I told him once that I expected he would be dragged to the Celestial Kingdom kicking and screaming. Their girls are doing well. Britt is 15 now and a sophomore at Mesa High, excelling academically and an absolutely lovely person to be around. The same can be said about Annika (except for the sophomore and 15 part since she is in Junior High and 13). She loves performing and always has her nose in a book. Kaisa (age 10 and also lovely) is being homeschooled this year so she spends most of her time with Mom and Sofia. Sofia is 4 and a cutie. She constantly comes up with interesting observations and totally unique ways of expressing them. They are all wonderful and I could write volumes on each person – which time and space prohibit.

Greg and Jen are living in Florence, Arizona. And No, they aren’t in prison. There are things in Florence other than the state prison, and it has been growing so fast, they keep dividing the wards every other month (well, almost). Their ward was just divided and Jen now constitutes the whole remaining Primary Presidency. Greg has been working on his Master’s Degree and has had to give up sleeping in order to fit everything in. Danny and Hunter are getting bigger (and Hunter especially taller) and along with Jilly (2) keep their parents hopping. The girls (Kendall, Madison and Hana) live with their mom during the week and come to Florence on weekends. I often wish they lived closer, but I’m sure they are where they ought to be.

Cecily and Jason live in Gilbert (Only about 10 miles from Mesa) and just got back from a vacation to Disneyland. Cecily is pretty much “Superwoman” but cannot see how that could possibly be, because she has no actual “ super powers” and has to do things the old fashioned way of mere mortals. Arinda, Saylem, Treyjen, and Tressa are wonderful, unique and interesting people and lots of fun. Our whole family enjoys the extra effort Jason has made this past year to spend more time with us and we really enjoy his company.

Joel is still alive. His house caught fire on Easter morning, but no one was hurt. He now has a new house (the inside, at least) that he is enjoying much more than he did the old one. I hope that is not too much information for me to give out. I made a serious mistake several years ago in writing a Christmas letter (that I never sent) when I said some things I shouldn’t have about Joel . He never forgave me and still distrusts me to this day.

Anna and Nate are still living in Manhattan. Anna is living the dream, living and dancing in NEW YORK CITY (and wherever else they travel to). She is a member of the Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company and enjoys it very much. Nate is an excellent trumpet player and works a lot, but Anna doesn’t seem to know much about what he is doing. My best source of information about Nate is his dad. Steve Botts usually knows the details about his son’s career and is very willing to talk about him. Hmmm. I guess I should have called him before I wrote this. Then I would have something to write.

I love my family, but often miss the old days when all my children were under one roof. I really enjoy all the additions to our family since then and wouldn’t want to give them up. Wouldn’t it be great to have EVERYBODY living in my house? (I’m afraid we’d all go crazy!)

Christmas letters make me very nervous anymore. I’m afraid I’ll say the wrong thing. I love you and hope you have had a good year and wish you the best in the coming year (Oh yeah, and David does too!).

2009-12-11T06:18:00.000-08:00

Take a deep breath and sit down. Ready? Yes, I have finally come out of the deep, dark cave and re-entered blog society.

Well, I've been busy! I have been

NOT using my right upper appendage (and when you're right-handed, that's pretty hard),
trying to steam clean my carpets (half- done and I was too exhausted to continue),
carrying hundreds of ice packs to the recliner and back,
recording So You Think You Can Dance onto DVD,
trying to reconstruct a whole year of business records in anticipation of taxes (because I did such a sloppy job of keeping records this year),
worrying about a talk I have to give in sacrament THIS SUNDAY! about God's love (that I haven't prepared yet),
berating myself for not having my Visiting Teaching done,
trying to remember to take my aminos six times a day (in the past 6 weeks there was ONE day that I managed to take all of them),
locking myself out of houses and trying to find someone who could crawl through a small bathroom window,
supporting a ward member who had a leading role in Remembering White Christmas,
going to physical therapy and doctor appointments,
going to Las Vegas for Grandma Woolf's funeral,
hours and hours of talking to loved ones on the telephone so I can stay connected with them and try to understand and encourage them in their very busy and stressful lives,
running down to Mesa Frozen Yogurt for a quick impromptu reunion with kids and grandkids (thank goodness it's close),
collecting mountains of doctor and hospital bills,
feeling sad because we have no outside Christmas Lights,
enjoying watching Joel get excited about Christmas for the first time in over 20 years and seeing him ecstatically happy,
fish sitting,
and trying to collect as many hugs, kisses, and "I love you Grandma"-'s as I can.

And that's only part of my list, but it's getting too long.

I missed posting anything for Thanksgiving and I have many, many things to be grateful for:

that David was able to come and have Thanksgiving dinner with the family
that Joel came for the first time in many years instead of traipsing around distant lands, and brought Camie, Jacob, and Emma too.
that Cecily and Jason graciously open their home and host Thanksgiving for us
a wonderful, loving, thoughtful, considerate family
the Gospel, the temple
homes, food, safety, health, etc., etc.,

Joel is so excited for Christmas! He knows what toys and entertainments are most desirable for 4 and 6-year olds, having researched all this, and calls me as he is driving home from work to tell me about the great bargains he has found. (I worry about him talking and driving though.) But his excitement grows every day.

As you can read, lack of sanity and normalcy reigns in my life.

Fresh little faces

2009-09-22T20:53:00.000-07:00

Tressa comes up with some of the funniest faces AND some of the cutest.

Here are the results of one photo session.

What faces. Maybe we should try labeling the expressions. Wait 'til you see the others!

2009-09-22T20:34:00.000-07:00

I love photographs. I'm sure that I love them more than your average person. In my next life, I want to be a dancer and a photographer.
Mostly I love photographs of people I love. Then maybe of places that I love.

I have two of the most wonderful, beautiful daughters in the whole world. They are so much more beautiful than I could ever think of being. I love to look at them.

And even though they are beautiful to look at, they are even more beautiful inside. My girls are strong, determined, kind, gentle and in tune with their Heavenly Father.

The Flora

2009-09-09T09:16:00.000-07:00

All the beautiful flowers I had in my yard are all gone! Kaput! Dried up and blown away. All those colorful photos I posted -- here's what's left.

Oh, there are some green leaves left, but a lot of them are brown. A lot of the green you see in the background is the grass or weeds that have grown up around the roses. Weeds grow very well in Arizona.
These photos are my hydrangea and my geranium. (If the photos end up where I think I am inserting them. Okay, so that didn't work. How in the heck do you get the photos placed where you want them or at least get the text near the photos you are commenting on????) I need blogging lessons. All the pictures I try to add go up by the other pictures. What am I doing wrong?
So the two photos of the pots with dried up, brown sticks are my hydrangea and my geranium (and for some reason the hydrangea is turned sideways). I am not sure what happened to my hydrangea. I was able to keep it alive all through last summer but I guess some kind of bug got to it. It just died. I have never been able to keep a geranium alive through a summer. I even buy the "Zonal" geraniums which are supposed to make it through the hot Arizona summers. NOT! At least for me. Goodbye green thumb, hello brown thumb.
Report Card:
Blogging grade . . . F

Deep Thoughts (By Jack Handy????)

2009-09-08T06:42:00.000-07:00

Actually, my thoughts aren't all that deep. I just tend to think more in the early morning hours that I do during the rest of the day. Maybe that is why morning prayers are so important. Growing up, I was taught to say bedtime prayers. It wasn't until I was quite a bit older that I started saying evening prayers.

Thought: I went out to water my few remaining (brown, scraggly, sick-looking) plants this morning while I was still barefoot, and I noticed that there were patches of my lawn that were very warm. I don't know why. At first, I thought that maybe a cat had been lying in that spot and warmed it up. . . but there were three or four spots (1 to 2 feet in diameter) that were warm and there aren't that many cats roaming the neighborhood right now, nor would four of them come lie on the same lawn at the same time and all run away when I came out. That is strange.

Thought: I'm going to give up sugar. Well, sort of. I know I am addicted to sugar. I also feel that part of the reason that so many of the joints in my body are sore and ache all the time is because I eat too much sugar. Besides, even if that is not the reason I ache, overcoming my addiction to sugar is a good idea anyway. I think that after I have gone month or more without sugar, that maybe I can introduce it again into my diet in small, controlled amounts. (I just can't imagine a life totally devoid of ANY frozen yogurt.) I guess we'll see how that goes. We had a lesson in R.S. last Sunday on Self Discipline and how to put it into practice in our lives. I asked Edonna for a copy so I could bring it home and study it more.
Thought: I am grateful for my son-in-laws who have been very good to me lately. It adds tremendously to my general well-being and enjoyment of life. I appreciate that Jason is willing to look at me and see who I am instead of who he thought I would be or expected me to be.
Thought: I have had an "empty nest" for about seven years now and it is still hard for me. I miss family. I miss having children around. I miss the bustle and the noise. I am glad that Christian and Leslie and Cecily and Jason live close enough and will let me just "drop in" sometimes to partake of family life. I'm glad that Jen is willing to make the long drive. On the other hand, it is a good thing that I don't have children 24/7 because my body is just getting worn out. Mentally and emotionally I want that. Physically sometimes, I just can't do it.

The flowers are all DEAD!

2009-08-31T14:17:00.000-07:00

They really are. The rose bushes are probably still alive, but everything else is dead except for my asparagus fern and the lantana. Even the hybrid, heat-resistant plants died. It just got too hot this summer.

So it's been three months since I last posted anything. But I've been gone. In May Jennie and Ken invited David and I to come stay with them in Las Vegas where they were taking Ryan and Britni for an extra wedding gift trip. We had fun being with Jennie and family and they weather was nice, but I really dislike Las Vegas. It just seems so sleazy and degenerate to me.

In June I went to New York. I bought a ticket to be there for Anna's jaw surgery and then the surgery got postponed. I missed Anna so much and was so stressed out about other unsettling things that I just decided to go anyway. Joel went too and we had a great time, but I was gone for 10 whole days!

Three days after returning from NYC, I left for Utah, driving up with the duPonts (all but Jason). We were gone the 7th of July through the 17th. David flew up the evening of the 10th and drove back to Arizona with us.

Anna came out to Arizona on July 21st and stayed until August 5th.
On August 6th we had planned to go to Las Vegas again for David's 46th year high school class reunion. David's mom, Eilene, had gone to stay in a private home where she could have companionship and nursing care (as needed) and no one was living in her house. Vicki said that we could come stay in her home. We asked her if it was okay if Jennie and Ken came and stayed with us while we were there and she said it was fine. So Jennie and Ken met us in Las Vegas for a quick four-day vacation without kids. (The first time Jennie left without Kasia since she was diagnosed with diabetes.)

Hey! This one never got posted. I guess because I never finished it. Oh well. I'll just post this much and tell you about the rest of my summer later. Let's see how these photos diplay.

Just Photos (mostly flowers)

2009-05-06T13:01:00.000-07:00

So here are my photos of my flowers. I have no idea why this text is underlined. The older I get the less I know.

De-junking! Clean it out! Toss it!

2009-05-03T21:26:00.000-07:00

2009-05-03T21:21:00.000-07:00

The garage is about half-way done here. The dirt and junk doesn't really show up too well.

I still have a lot to do. I guess we are going to have a garage sale next Saturday. We are getting rid of lots of stuff. Stuff that has been sitting around gathering dust for 30 years or so. I appreciate the help received by Cecily, Leslie, Christian, Joel, Arinda, Britt, Annika, Kaisa and of course Sofia and Tressa who supplied the diversion and entertainment.

More pictures will follow.

Sunday Dinners

2009-03-10T19:41:00.000-07:00

I love the monthly Sunday dinner tradition and I don't think we would be doing it without Leslie really pushing it. Actually, she started talking about doing it ten or more years ago but we never really did anything about it. She got a little more aggressive about doing it and we finally got it going. I think the first one was at Joel's last labor day, but I'm not sure. Anyway, it is really good. It makes me more grateful for my family every time we get together. Let's see if I have any photos from past get-togethers.

Some of these photos look like they kind of need some explanation. But I'm not explaining. We just had a lot of fun. Some Sunday dinners it is just the Woolf extended family and sometimes it includes the Russells or some of the Parkers or some of Joel's roommates or other people. Our family never was quite big enough so we just kept adding to it. Sometimes permanently and sometimes temporarily - mostly depending on the inclinations of the "additions."

Oh, and we have to include the photos of Jennie and Chica's wardrobe. They were kind of interesting too.

Grandma's crappy but important videos

2009-03-10T19:06:00.000-07:00

About two weeks ago Hana invited me to come to her track and field day at Franklin School on March 7th. She told me that it started at 12:30. It turns out that Madison's class had track and field in the morning and Hana had hers in the afternoon (if I understood right). Hana was kind of bummed that Greg was able to be there in the morning to see Madison perform but had to go to work and couldn't stay to see Hana, so she was quite pleased that I came.

The volleyball was pretty boring because they weren't really rotating like they were supposed to and the high jump was almost too easy. But Hana really shone in the hurdles and especially in the long jump. She took 1st place in the long jump! So look at the videos that I took and see how well Hana did.

Okay, so they were really short videos, but you can play them over and over again!

I love growing things

2009-02-28T21:33:00.000-08:00

I love to plant flowers in my yard. I didn't for many years when my kids were small because I didn't think we could afford bedding plants. But then I started to think about my mom and how she always planted pansies, mums, violets, bleeding hearts, honeysuckle, bachelor buttons, gladiolas, etc., etc. I decided that I wanted my kids to remember me for flowers too. But it took me a long time to figure out what would grow in Arizona and when. The ones my mom planted in Utah that will grow here - grow in an entirely different season.
Here are some from my front yard. Oh yeah! And roses. We both love roses.
The Gerber Daisies are for Anna. They are some of her favorites. I haven't figured out how to arrange the pictures on my blog the way I want them to appear and put the notes about my photos next to them. Oh, I'm SO computer illiterate!

I like my
petunias and snapdragons too. They are much prettier this year than they were last year. I guess I'd better quit with the photos. It is going to take forever to load.

I'll show you more flowers later.

My terriffic husband - David!

2009-02-26T21:35:00.000-08:00

David has been having a lot of very "unglamorous" medical problems lately. It's been very scary too. A lot of these things that he has to deal with could eventually be fatal. Well, life is actually fatal. What I mean is that some of these things are indicators that David could be moving on a little sooner that the rest of us. But then look at Marcia and Jim. Who would have thought he would ever outlive her!
Just to let everyone I know that I really love David. Here are some of the things I really love about him:

He loves the Gospel of Jesus Christ and always tries to fullfill his callings and be a good example to others. Well except for two weeks the summer of 1977. Muriel and West took the older boys to Wyoming with them and while they were gone, David took a vacation from going to church. He stayed home and slept and watched TV andeven washed his car on Sunday. When we got to the end of the second week, David asked me if they were going to be home the next Sunday. When I told him they would, he sighed and said, "Well, I guess I'd better get my butt in gear and get back to being a good example and a Father." I suppose he repented because we haven't noticed any serious lapses since. He's been a pretty darn good example.
David loves me. I know that David is not perfect (although I was young enough and foolish enough to think so at first). He makes mistakes and has his faults, but he is almost perfect at loving me. There have been many times when I have been mean and grouchy and absolutely awful! And he loved me. I have weighed more than 200 lbs and was embarrassed to show my face outside the front door. And David loved me anyway. I have been unreasonable, stubborn and critical. And David still loved me. I can trust him. I can depend on him. I believe he will always love me. My Dad loved my mom --"No matter what- - -" and I wanted someone who would love me like that. I think I found him.
David is sweet with his grandkids . He loves them and is delighted when they show love to him.
He is forgiving. He has been abused and maligned by a few people in his life and he forgives them.
He is clean and has good hygiene. He takes good care of his hair and his beard .
He listens to me and tries to please me.
He likes to give me gifts and I am very hard to give gifts to. He has made it a life-long study, trying to find gifts he can give me that I like. Mostly, I guess he just lets me do whatever I want to do and encourages me in it.
He is very smart and a fast learner.
He's nice to snuggle up next to at night and he makes me feel safe.
We can spend hours and hours together and enjoy ourselves the whole time.

I really like having David around. I hope he's here, with me, for many, many, more years!!!

I accept the challenge!

2009-02-25T14:58:00.000-08:00

So I googled "Barbara needs --"

a good swift kick in the #@$%!!
your help. (I'm not sure what kind of help.)
to be thin again. (Boy, ain't it the truth!)
our prayers and thoughts. (There was also - "our prayers and juice" and I thought of Treyjen. He often plops himself down in Grandpa's recliner and tells me "I need Blue's Clues and juice.")
to raise her insurance.
to go!!!!!
to retire. (Don't I wish I could afford to.)
to finish the vest (apparently I don't finish all my craft and sewing projects. NO!)
to reconsider her definition of "value." (Not sure where this one came from or is going.)
people who need people. (If I hum, I get the feeling that I have heard this somewhere before.)

P.S. I am trying to figure out why I can't get my mini-movies off my camera. When I do, you will have something more interesting to look at.

2009-02-24T22:22:00.000-08:00

My blogs are booorrring! I never write about anything interesting. But if you want to hear about a lot of blood and misery, just ask David what he has been doing lately. Actually, don't ask. Unless you go far, far away so I don't have to listen to how miserable he has been. Living through it once was enough.
I love him but when he gets scared he has a tendency to get carried away.

Trying to catch up.

2009-02-09T12:35:00.000-08:00

Yeah, right! My last blog said, "I'm baaaack!" NOT. I really intended to write more consistently. But this time, instead of feeling too down to write anything, I got too busy. I was anxiously awaiting Jennie's visit and enjoyed it thoroughly. Mostly we visited. I can't think of anything special we did except for going to Quartzite to visit Abe and Marilyn (her biological dad and step-mom). I'm not sure we would have done it had we realized how far away it was. I thought it was about an hour's drive from Phoenix. How about THREE. Which makes it four hours from Mesa. And there is nothing in between. It is almost in Blythe, California. It was a long, miserable drive to make with five complaining kids and one neurotic dog in a car. Actually, the kids weren't really that bad most of the time. But when we were still about an hour from Quartzite, they got hungry and started begging Jennie to stop and get them something to eat. "Sure," said Jennie. "We'll stop anywhere you want." There was nothing but desert, as far as the eye could see. "You just pick out whichever cactus or palo verde tree you want to eat at, and we will stop."

OH, oh, oh! (This is one of Jennie's witicisms that popped out of her mouth one day in Sunday School class.) Why did Jesus love little children so much? (the teacher asked). "Because he never had to travel in a car with them."
Jennie actually said it under her breath to Phil Peterson, but Phil immediately said it loud enough for the whole class to hear.

After Jennie left (I sure miss her) David started working 24/7 on an $8,000,000 bid for some work in Bullhead City. (Yup, that's eight million.) David had to go to Bullhead City to submit the bid and they were going to put him up for the night in a hotel over there and he wanted me to go with him so I did.

I've been applying for jobs online ever since. It sure is a stupid, unproductive process. I wish I knew someone who could put in a good word for me and help me get a job. Networking is really what it is all about. Otherwise, you are just a name and some words on a piece of paper.

I went to Christian's Ward Conference 'cause David had to go (as a Stake Leader). It was a very good meeting. Bp. Singleton talked about learning to rely on God instead of yourself or other men. He talked about his first BIG lesson in doing that when he was sent to Viet Nam.
Then President Speakman told us that the Bishop's Storehouse was not adequate to take care of the needy in the church during these upcoming hard times. He said that the bishop is likely to come to us and ask us to give food (or something else) to others in the ward that we have worked hard to have and that we will very likely need ourselves. He said that he felt that there were a large number of members in our Stake who were "consecrated" members, who would do whatever was asked of them, with willing and cheerful hearts. I really love Pres. Speakman. I can really feel the spirit whenever he talks to us.

The first part of this post was written over a week ago. I'm finally getting back. A big part of the delay, however was the two days I spent reading Leslie's blog about "You know you're an Arizonan if . . . ." I've been having trouble with my eyes the past couple of days. Maybe they just got worn out reading that blog! (Just kidding. It was really long, but pretty funny. I'm just surprised that anyone in Arizona had enough patience to write all that. Surely no one I know.)

Well, I finally have a job working at Kohl's Department Store as a cashier. I start my training today at 6:15 p.m. I need to find out about the insurance plan they have. I hope I like this job. It isn't at the Kohls right by us but at Val Vista and ??? --I can't remember the street. Somewhere down by the 202 -- way south.

We just found out that David has something else wrong with his heart -- an atrial flutter. Somehow that is different from and atrial fibulation. (however you spell it) Anyway, he has to go in next week and they are going to try to fix it with something called an ablation (I think). If that doesn't work, they may have to do surgery. All this is pretty upsetting. I wish all these heart researchers would get busy and get more stuff out there that we can really use. A few years ago David and I heard about how they could inject stem cells into a heart and they would start growing functioning heart tissue in hearts that had been seriously damaged by heart attacks. That is what is wrong with David. A whole one-third of his heart is dead. Non-functioning. Where are those stem cells? Why aren't they injecting them into his heart?

I'm Baaaa - ack!

2009-01-10T13:13:00.000-08:00

It's been a long time since I've written anything. My family has probably given up even looking anymore and so I guess I'll just be writing for myself. I'm sorry I've been so lax. I'll try to do better. I was just really frustrated and upset about something I could do nothing about and couldn't write positive things, so it was better not to write at all. I guess I've reconciled myself with trying to be patient.
But now I'm feeling grateful for some of the people in my life and will write about two of them now.

If you read Leslie's blog, you probably know about the purple Christmas tree. As I was taking it down yesterday, I was just feeling SO LOVED. To think about Leslie seeing that tree and buying it to give to me, and then their family -- during the busy, busy holidays -- making the time to take photos of everyone dressed in purple (and shades thereof) and making ornaments out of them! And then getting Joel to get me out of the house so they could bring it over and decorate it for me as a surprise -- well, I just feel really loved.

The whole purple thing is really funny. My mom liked purple and wore it sometimes. I guess pretty frequently, because when Cecily was a toddler, whenever she saw a woman wearing purple anywhere -- at church, in the store, at the mall -- she would run up and hug them around the knees and say, "Grandma!" Luckily, Cecily was so cute, that no one ever really seemed to mind. In fact, they were usually quite pleased. Then when Mom died and we were clearing out her home, I found a house dress that she had made out of polyester knit that was a length-wise striped multi-shade purple. It reminded me of Mom and made me feel closer to her and so I took it home and wore it for 15+ years. I liked it because of the sleeve length, and the fact that it had no buttons or zippers. You could just throw it over you when you got out of bed or out of the shower and you were instantly decently covered and able to walk out of the bedroom or answer the door.

After the first ten or twelve years of constantly seeing me in that housedress that never wore out, by husband started to complain. I don't think the kids ever noticed what I wore or didn't, but they picked up on his complaints and became occasionally vocal too. Finally, (since David was being paid better than he ever had before) I decided that I could afford to buy a new housedress. I couldn't throw that purple thing away. It had become a family joke. It was made and worn by my mom before me. It was more than thirty years old. IT WAS A FAMILY HEIRLOOM!!! So I tucked it away in the top of my closet and gave it to Anna for her bridal shower. I think she still has it -- probably hidden in some box under the bed in the room that used to be her bedroom. She'd better have it. It's supposed to handed down to her daughter, when she gets married. By then it will be more than 60 years old!!

Another thing that makes me feel SO LOVED is how thoughtful and considerate my son Christian is. Today he is installing a garage door opener on my garage door. He and Leslie had one that was so noisy that it bothered them. The decided to get a new one. Christian gave us his old one and said he would install it, if we didn't mind having a really noisy one. "That doesn't matter," David said, "we're both going deaf anyway." (We always argue about who is getting more hard of hearing.)

Christian and Leslie are both so thoughtful. Theyanticipate and think about problems we could be having and things that we worry about, without us even telling them. And I know that they are both so busy, and yet they still take time to think about us. I just love them so much that I'm sitting here with tears streaming down my face, just writing about them.

OKAY, on to another subject before I get all wet. . . .

When we were getting our new garage door (the other one bent into a V right down the middle) the salesman said, "You'll want an automatic opener."
"No," said David, "we can't afford one now."
"But how will you open the garage?" he asked.
"Well," David said wearing his most serious face, "we have hired a little Mexican boy that we take everywhere with us, and when we get home, we just have him hop out of the care and open it for us."
"Oh," the salesman said with his face just as serious.

(Do you think he believed David?)

Sometimes it's cloudy

2008-11-18T08:48:00.000-08:00

Well, the clouds were really only in my head. We actually had record heat yesterday (for the 17th of October). It was a lovely 85 degrees.
But Sunday I hadn't taken my 5htp so I was living with a thundercloud. I remember Cecily explaining to Jen how she had to take some aminos, wait twenty minutes, eat something, wait 2 hours, take some aminos, wait twenty minutes, eat something, wait two hours, etc., etc., all day long. And not only that, you have to eat protein or it doesn't count. And Cecily has the hardest time with it because she not only has to keep herself on schedule, she has four children with four different schedules that she has to deal with too. Not to mention a husband, church callings and large home to take care of. Cecily, you are AMAZING! You achieve miracles every day, even when you only manage to get a small portion of anything accomplished. I'm reminded of Roseanne Barr saying once in a comedy routine (wait, did I just admit to listening to a Roseanne Barr routine?) when she said, "I figure if the kids are still alive when my husband gets home, I've done my job." Some days are actually like that.

I've been reading a lot of Neal Maxwell lately. I guess I've been steeling myself for the trials ahead. I keep reminding myself that my job here on earth is to learn to accept God's will and make it my own. That the trials and struggles that I face are actually learning and growing experiences sent to me by a loving Heavenly Father and I need to be grateful for them. I need to learn to live the gospel well enough that I am not creating my own difficulties and struggles. I have to trust that when my trials and sorrows are brought about by the bad decisions, faults or sins of others, my Heavenly Father can turn them around for my benefit.
Whew! That's a lot sometimes. Remember, O remember!

Oh, the other colloquialism is "talk like a Dutch uncle." Apparently, a Dutch uncle spoke very persuasively or maybe so fast or was so verbose that you didn't have an opportunity to come up with an arguement. Something like that.

Why is everything a bigger deal than I expect?

2008-11-15T14:53:00.000-08:00

Very few people have ever accused me of being overly optimistic. I always tell people that I try to be realistic. (Which sounds a whole lot like pessimistic to a many people. Can I help it if life is really hard and bad things keep happening to the point where I expect the worst?) But anyway, I thought that it would be a quick little project to add the red-brown trim to the house. And there were cracks in the wood that I wanted to fill in, so I filled in the cracks first and waited 24 hours. Then I got the paint out. I had given the painter the paint swatches that I wanted the house painted. I had already bought the colors that I wanted it done, but only one can of each color. So I figured that the cans that I had could be used to touch up the paint after the painter we had hired had painted.

Well, they didn't match. I painted the few places that needed touching up and they stuck out like sore thumbs! (Another colloquialism for you Anna.) The paint was a different color! So instead of just touching up the paint, I ended up having to paint nearly the whole front of our house. The worst part was painting the peak of the house above the garage. Standing that far up on the ladder was really scary. Anyway, four days later, I finally have the front of the house done. I would go take pictures of it and post them but I am way too tired to get up and take the photos. But so far, it does look better. I smashed my toe with the heavy ladder while I was working and it is throbbing now. I'm covered with paint from head to toe (well, "splattered" with paint) and too tired to think. I suppose I am talking in circles by now so I'd better quit.

Painting the trim on my house

2008-11-11T12:28:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I didn't want to do advertising specialties. I felt tired and frustrated and absolutely did not want to do what I needed to do. So I decided to touch-up the paint on the house and add the brick-red trim that I have been meaning to do for 2 1/2 years.
When the house was first painted in May of 2006, I intended to paint the trim right after the wedding. Then my hip started hurting really bad and I spent lots of time going to doctors (in between my work shifts at US Airways) and was kind of afraid to climb ladders. My hip got worse and worse through the holidays and then in January of 2007 it was so bad when Gordon took us up to Utah to go snowmobile-ing that I decided to go to a specialist. Well, that didn't turn out too well. Finally, I went to Dr. Armstrong and he replaced my hip on September 25th, 2007.

So now that my hip was replaced, I had to do all the physical therapy and get moving again. By the time I went to NY for Anna's biopsy and then her mouth surgery and then to Utah for Jim's funeral and again for Nate's BYU performance and then his Carnegie performance in New York -- it was too hot to be painting the outside of a house in Arizona.

After record heat in Arizona through October, it is finally cool enough to paint the trim!
The first thing I did was fill the cracks and the holes with this elastomeric stuff. I hope it works well. I have never used it before. I have to let it dry for 24 hours before I can paint over it. Then I looked at it this morning and some of the thicker places, I need to go over it again. I'll probably go home and do that now.

I will have to finish this later, Cecily needs to take me home.

Leslie's picture tag challenge

2008-11-06T08:55:00.000-08:00

Hey! This is not bad. Not a lot of explanation here. This is Anna holding Sofia at Newport Beach. It was a FANTASTIC vacation! Gordon (or Blucor) rented a condo for our family right on the beach at Newport Beach for a whole week (I think in July). Greg and Jen couldn't come and Cecily was too pregnant with Tressa and couldn't come. But Anna, Christian and Leslie's family (including Klara), and Joel and David and I all went and spent the week. We all had so much fun. Leslie organized everything and made sure that we had groceries and were fed on a regular basis (I tried to be helpful by doing what she told me to do, but really had no hand in the planning or organization). It was great, but we really missed the rest of you!
This blog is in answer to Leslie's Picture Tag Challenge (woolfwanderings.blogspot.com). Try it! It's fun!

My goal

2008-11-06T07:08:00.000-08:00

I can't just post pictures to keep my grandchildren entertained or I lose the purpose of this blog. Which to me is to keep a journal of sorts. I need to write my thoughts and feelings and the things I want to remember and the things I want to be remembered by.

I decided to write down what my goal is for my life. I thought about it while I was walking the track this morning and I believe my goal, in the shortest, most inclusive way is: When I leave this life and meet my Heavenly Father, I want to hear him say, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."
I have been examining my life lately and realize that there are things I should be doing that I have totally neglected. Like Sister Rogers said yesterday in institute: "In the church, many of us put our families first and use that as an excuse to neglect our duties to God. We need to remember that God comes first and then our families."
True, some people can spend all their time doing "church work" and neglect their families,
There is also a time and a season for everything and sometimes our duty and service to God is taking care of the little ones who have been entrusted to us. That stewardship can be so constant, time-consuming and exhausting that we don't seem to be able to do much outside of that. During those overwhelming times, maybe putting God first is doing what we can at home:
-have personal prayers and prayers with our family
-have family scripture reading
-talk to our children about the gospel and Heavenly Father in relationship to their everyday struggles so they learn to love the gospel and apply it to their lives.
I can't tell you what is the best balance. I can only speak for myself. I know that God does not expect us to run faster than we are able. But now that my children are all adults and I don't have to take care of their physical needs, I realize that this is the season for me to whole-heartedly turn my life over to God. I want to listen to my leaders and hear everything they say and do my best to obey. I want to show my Heavenly Father that I will endure faithfully through all the "learning experiences" he has for me and be grateful for my growth.
I have learned not to commit sins, for the most part. But I really need to work on my sins of omission. I need to do missionary work, I need to do temple work and I need to be more attuned to promptings of the Spirit and to listen and to ACT.
I am so grateful for the scriptures and our leaders and the guidance and encouragement they give us. My life has truly changed and I enjoy my life so much more.

“Men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends and pour out peace. Whoever will lose his life in the service of God will find eternal life.” (See Matt 10:39)

-Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, (p.361)

I believe this and it gives me great comfort and joy.

Morning thoughts

2008-11-04T07:13:00.000-08:00

Today is election day. I am concerned. Proposition 102 is one of the most important things to me in the election. It is a constitutional amendment that declares that marriage is defined as one woman and one man. If it fails to pass, it could have severe and far-reaching effects on marriage, family, and religion. We have a female homosexual couple in our neighborhood who got up very early a few mornings these past few weeks and pulled up and destroyed all the “Yes on 102” signs. David and Jim Arrington got very annoyed and have been diligent at putting up two signs or bigger signs every time they pull one out. This is what the voters will see when they go down our street to vote at the school. (Like those signs are going to influence them much.)

Almost every morning I get up and go walking at the track at Mesa High. I have a little more freedom as to when I go, now that it isn't too hot to walk at 8:00am. I kind of like my morning time alone. I talk to my Heavenly Father and try to give all my worries to him. Sometimes they irrigate and then it smells like dead fish for a few days. Most of the time I am alone because people usually walk earlier before school starts. Good old Mesa High rubberized track. It's much better for my knees.

Surviving Motherhood

2008-11-03T17:54:00.000-08:00

Here are random photos so my grandkids have something to look at (This is Hana and Maddy).

Here are Kendall and Britt.

This was taken at Treyjen's 4th birthday when he claimed to be 15.

Britt, Kaisa and Annika in the aparment we rented for Anna's graduation.

Annika, Britt, Anna, Kaisa, Saylem and Arinda.

This article was sent to me by Crystal Akers (nee Duke) and it is just so perfect! It is SO Everymom.

THE NEXT SURVIVOR SERIES

Six married men will be dropped on an island with one car and 3 kids each for six weeks.
Each kid will play two sports and either take music or dance classes.

There is no fast food. Each man must take care of his 3 kids;
keep his assigned house clean, correct all homework, and complete science projects, cook, do laundry, and pay a list of 'pretend' bills with not enough money.

In addition, each man will have to budget in money for groceries each week. Each man must remember the birthdays of all their friends and relatives, and send cards out on time--no emailing.
Each man must also take each child to a doctor's appointment, a dentist appointment
and a haircut appointment.

He must make one unscheduled and inconvenient visit per child to the Urgent Care.
He must also make cookies or cupcakes for a social function.

Each man will be responsible for decorating his own assigned house, planting flowers outside and keeping it presentable at all times.

The men will only have access to television after the kids are in bed and all chores are done.

The men must shave their legs, wear makeup daily, adorn themselves with jewelry,
wear uncomfortable yet stylish shoes, keep fingernails polished and eyebrows groomed.

During one of the six weeks, the men will have to endure severe abdominal cramps, back
aches, and have extreme, unexplained mood swings but never once complain or slow down from other duties.

They must attend weekly school meetings, church, and find time at least once to spend the afternoon at the park or a similar setting. They will need to read a book to the kids each night and in the morning, feed them, dress them, brush their teeth and comb their hair by 7:00 am.

A test will be given at the end of the six weeks, and each father will be required to know all of the following information:
each child's birthday,
height, weight,
shoe size, clothes size
and doctor's name.
Also the child's weight at birth,
length, time of birth,
and length of labor,

each child's favorite color,
middle name,
favorite snack,
favorite song,
favorite drink,
favorite toy,
biggest fear and
what they want to be when they grow up.

The kids vote them off the island based on performance.
The last man wins only if...
he still has enough energy to be intimate with his spouse at a moment's notice.

If the last man does win, he can play the game over and over and over again for the next 18-25 years eventually earning the right to be called Mother!

After you are through laughing, send this to as many females as you think will get a kick out of it and as many men as you think can handle it.

Just don't send it back to me.... I'm going to bed.

(Hey moms! You are truly accomplishing miracles! I love you!)

Stake Conference

2008-11-02T17:33:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to blog. I can't right now. My thoughts are too solemn and that isn't fun to read. We had Stake Conference today (and the adult meeting last night) and it was so wonderful. I am so grateful for the gospel and our leaders. President Speakman stood at the pulpit and talked to us like we were his family and we could feel his love and the love of the others who spoke to us. Wilbur Woolf died today. He was our Stake President when we moved into this ward. He gave Anna her patriarchal blessing. He was a good man and I loved him.

I need to get a copy of my Patriarchal Blessing and I need to become a temple worker at least 2 times a month. I think I might be able to handle more before long.

I don't have photos and my grandchildren don't like to look at my blog w/o pictures. I'll do better next time.

Today my Sweetie is 63!

2008-10-27T18:14:00.000-07:00

Funny how he has a birthday and I feel older. Well, he went to lunch at Cheesecake Factory (the cement man took him), put up Prop. 102 signs, took a nap, went to the doctor to have his pacemaker battery checked, was treated to frozen yogurt by Cecily and kids and nuked his own frozen dinner (not in that order AT ALL). Life is so exciting!

I sure love him though. He's been a wonderful, supporting, loving husband and a good husband and a good example of living the gospel. HAPPY BIRTHDAY HONEY!

My trip to New York

2008-10-26T20:54:00.000-07:00

Anna is smelling the Rosemary in the Orangerie.
Anna in the Gazebo
Trees changing colors in Cold Spring and along the Hudson River.

Anna and I went up the Hudson River to a town (village) called Cold Spring. Very Gilmore Girls!

I love taking pictures of Anna.

2008-10-26T19:13:00.000-07:00

I hope I have figured out how to post a movie. It only holds 100 megabytes and the movie I wanted to post was 99MB. So I guess adding a title or something put it over. Whatever! This one of Tressa's 1st birthday was only 41 MB.

2008-10-26T17:25:00.000-07:00

Oh, I am so pathetic at this, but at least the pictures are adorable. Happy 3rd Birthday Sofia! (Or is that left birthday?)

Oh, wait! I think I got one. Let me try another.

(Sofia opening a gift from the Russells.)

Oh, the struggles of the aged and infirm!

2008-10-26T17:17:00.000-07:00

So last night I spent over an hour trying to post a 30 second movie I took of Tressa when she was first starting to walk.
Never happened!
Tonight I am going to try to post a couple of photos. Let's see what happens.

I'm flying away. . . .

2008-10-13T22:53:00.000-07:00

At 4:30 a.m. I am getting up so I can catch a 7:10 am flight to NYC. It's kind of hard to leave my husband and my business and all my grandkids and kids for a week. But it is also hard to live so far away from Anna and not be able to see her every week. I guess I just have to face it -- life is hard!

I really like listening to the scriptures on CD. They seem to have more continuity that way. I don't take things "out of text." But when I don't listen every day, it seems so easy for me to slip back into my old frightened, grouchy, panicky, faithless ways. I really need to get the scriptures or conference talks downloaded onto my ipod so I can listen when I am away from home or while I am exercising.

It's late. I really need to get into bed so I can get up in about 5 hours. I can probably sleep on the plane.

What do I want to remember?

2008-10-12T10:08:00.000-07:00

The purpose of my blog is to keep a journal. That is something I've never done very well. So now I have to decide what I want to remember and what I want others to know and remember about me. Ooooh, heavy!

Yesterday, while I was exercising and listening to the radio, I heard part of a story on a Christian Radio station about some biblical king who was being advised by a prophet (I think). But what he said was very interesting and I can see it in the world today. He was telling this king that power and wealth were enemies to righteousness, because they usually make people turn their backs on God. He said that when they turn their backs on God then they despair and when they despair, they absorb themselves in distractions (video games, pornography, excessive exercising or sports, alcohol and other addictions). He said that the distractions don't relieve the despair but just keep one from thinking about the hopeless feelings they have and also keep people from turning to God. He said that the only way to overcome this is to turn ourselves completely to God. By being obedient even when it doesn't seem to make any sense. (Like paying your tithing when you don't have any money.)

That leads me to another great quote by Ezra Taft Benson: "Men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends and pour out peace."

I just want to say how grateful I am for my family. I have a husband who has loved me for abut 40 years, despite all OUR mistakes and failings and I have wonderful children who have testimonies of the gospel and are teaching their children the gospel too. Not only by being good examples to them but by talking to them about it.

I am truly blessed.

Long, semi-boring day.

2008-10-10T16:33:00.000-07:00

I walked this morning (55 minutes), took a shower, visited with Jen, Pam and little Jilly(who dropped in to use our "facilities" and say "hi") for about and hour and then put on makeup and started working. When I was right in the middle of sending an email, my online connection died. It was out all day yesterday. Our phone was out too. So we called Cox and complained. They told David that they were upgrading our system and they didn't know how long it would be out. When he got off the phone (cell) the internet was on again and our phone too! I think David is feeling very smug about how effective his call was.

After getting myself ready for the day, I went to work. It's amazing how much time I spend working and how little seems to get done. But I guess I'm still in the learning stage. It took me hours to read all my ASI emails. I probably get about 30 a day ( and yesterday I couldn't get online). I figure I ought to read most of them so I know what products are on special and more about the products that are available. The suppliers are always giving you good information that will help you sell their products.

So, the highlights of my day were seeing Jilly (and Jen and Pam, but mostly Jilly) and talking to Anna on the phone (what is "sprechen-x-x?) and Jennie calling and telling me how much she misses me. Tonight David and I are going to rent a movie and take it over to Cecily's house to watch while we babysit. Her regular babysitter is out of town. (I don't babysit my grandkids on a regular basis. I just don't have the stamina to do that anymore.)

I don't have all my work done for today, so I will have to carry it over to tomorrow. I still have to pay bills and do my accounting or books or whatever you want to call it. And I have to look up the stuff Gina wants to order, what Scotts want to order, call Meletta and talk to her son-in-law about calendars and take catalogs and samples over to Mary Krick. Aaahhg! I'm so behind!

Well, I love you all (so far, I think that only Anna is even aware I have a blog and I'm sure that only people who love me and people I love will bother to read this anyway). Keep the faith, read the scriptures and live the gospel. (And I really love you Jen. Without you I wouldn't have that adorable little granddaughter.)

My first post.

2008-10-09T16:45:00.000-07:00

Okay, I have no idea what I am doing here. But I guess this is considered my first post. Ta-dah! I decided that having the title "Justamom" was not good because it made "mom" seem insignificant or something less than important. And I think being a mom is just about the most important job there is. I decided to be "Everymom" because I think I can identify with nearly every mom in the world in some way or another.