Mitchowl's Musings

Cemetery Tales - Celebrating a Life

2012-02-17T08:48:00.000-08:00

I drove into the Teton Cemetery after work one evening last fall. It was about 5:00. At that time of day I was used to seeing an occasional car and maybe the sexton. I was surprised when I saw a large number of cars lining the narrow road on the far side. A large group of people were circled around typical of a graveside service. I eased my car to a stop to wait. I did not want to be a distraction for the service.

It was a warm evening, so I rolled down my window to get some air. I leaned back in my seat and just relaxed, watching the group from afar. Gradually I started noticing some oddities about this gathering. Snippets of laughter came, not once, but over and over. A lot of children were in the group and they were all holding brightly colored balloons. And then the singing started. They sang a few unfamiliar songs and then ended with "Happy Birthday to You". As one, they all let go and 50 bright balloons floated upward and away. It was beautiful.

Immediately afterward the group began to disburse. I heard one small child ask excitedly, "are we going to go watch the movie, now?" The cars all loaded and drove away as one.

I was extremely curious. After the last car had pulled out I went to the spot where the celebration had taken place. Small trinkets and tokens had been left on the headstone, and the date revealed that yes, today was this lady's 56th birthday.

Cemetery Tales: A Love Story

2012-02-12T11:03:00.000-08:00

I had just about finished photographing the entire cemetery. It was one of the larger ones I'd done and had taken me almost 2 weeks. I was on my last section.

An older gentleman was mowing the lawns and keeping his eye on me. I'd seen him on and off for a few days. Finally he came over to me and asked me what I was doing. I told him about billiongraves and he was quite interested. He got out his cell phone and I helped him find the app. Then he told me a story.

"See that grave right there? I need to tell you 'bout that one. Many years ago there was this feller who just loved his wife so much. He was, what you might call, obsessed with her. Well, that there lady done take sick, and well.... she ended up dyin'.

"That feller was so heartsick. He just couldn't stand the thought of never seeing his sweetie again, so he buried her right there, and left off the lid of the coffin. Then he went and got a big piece of glass and put it over the top. That poor feller was here every minute he could be so he could gaze down at his beloved.

"Well, time started passin' and that poor lady started goin' bad. The cemetery board had a little meetin' about it and had to tell that poor feller that he was goin' to have to cover her up.

"With a heavy heart he consented and put on the lid. I don't think the board trusted him none, though, cause look what they did."

And with that I looked and saw a weathered cement slab covering.

Cemetery Tales: A Broken Man

2012-02-09T08:33:00.000-08:00

One evening after work I decided to go photograph one of the smaller outlying cemeteries. I wasn't positive where it was, but trusted my GPS to get me there. When I arrived I was a little nervous to discover that it was at the edge of civilization. Miles of sand dunes on one side, a sagebrush dessert on another. I pulled in and got out of my car.

As I was halfway through the first section I noticed an old beat up car pull in. The car slowly drove around the entire cemetery before moving over to the section where I was working. It stopped right next to me. A man of about 30 got out of the car. He had an open beer can in one hand and a lit cigarette in the other. He was dirty, unshaven, and was wearing tattered clothes. And he just stood there watching me.

I was acutely aware of how vulnerable I was. I was in an isolated place, no one knew where I was, and I was a bit scared. I tried not to show my nervousness and kept moving from headstone to headstone, pausing to take the photo. I said hi to him and he mumbled a hi. Then he said, "are you getting ideas?" I told him then what I was doing. I said, "is your family buried here?" and he said yes. I told him his family would be able to go to billiongraves.com and look up pictures and information about his family that was buried there. He said that was cool and then I moved off down the row, snapping photos.

When I got a ways away I glanced back to where I'd spoken with him, and was shocked to see that he was down on the ground. He was crying and obviously in great emotional pain. I discreetly moved off to a farther section of the cemetery to give him privacy. After about 20 minutes I saw his car drive out.

I was curious. I went back to the spot where we'd spoken and looked again at the headstone. There was a photo on this one. A photo of a very lovely little family. All shiny and clean and happy; man, wife and child. The wife was the one buried there. The man in the photo spoke volumes of how far down the slippery slope of grief that poor broken man had come.

Cemetery Tales - Telling a Story

2012-02-07T17:56:00.000-08:00

Whenever I go to a new cemetery I feel like I'm meeting a new friend. Each one has a unique personality.

The Rexburg Cemetery is very traditional and stable, Sugar City is family centered and active. The Annis Little Butte Cemetery is sentimental. I could go on. Archer, Burton, Plano, Teton, Ammon, Rosehill. Each one has a "feel". Some of them have valuable momentos left behind by loved ones, some are as decorated as main street at Christmas. There are little notes and letters tucked in crevices for parents and toys left for children who have passed. I haven't met a cemetery yet that I haven't liked. So far they have all been friendly.

As I enter a new cemetery I look around for a place to start. Usually I start on one side and work across, but not always. If I have family buried in a particular cemetery I always do my family first. It just seems more polite.

I always read the name on the headstone. I am very aware that each one represents a real person. A lot of the time I also read the dates. They sure tell a story. When I see a family plot where many children have died at tender ages I feel a twinge of sadness and sympathy for the parents that they had to endure so much heartache while on earth. I'm always happy to see names of people I knew. Not happy that they have died. Just a remembrance of my interaction with them while they were alive. I've found former teachers, parents of friends, classmates, distant family, local "celebrities", and just plain old aquaintences. I find myself talking to them.

"Oh, so that's why I haven't seen you around for so long."
or
"I wondered what happened to you."

Every so often I come across someone who has a birthday on the day I'm there. I know it's weird, but I always sing a quick little "happy birthday to you" song for them.

I've seen, multiple family deaths on the same day, which reminded me of the bad car accident that I read about, a mother who died the same day as her stillborn baby, and a local man who died at the Pentagon on 9-11. I've seen historical figures from our local pioneer heritage and pauper's graves with hardly more than a rotting wood cross.

It always makes me feel like I'm connected to the whole of the human race, and to each individual.

Cemetery Tales #1

2012-02-02T10:08:00.000-08:00

There is a great app that I found on my smart phone. It's called BillionGraves. I was just browsing through the apps one day and saw this one. I've always kind of had a thing for trompsing through cemeteries, so my interest was peaked.

With this application you can go to a headstone and take a picture using your GPS capable smartphone. The picture is then linked to a GPS coordinate so that anyone finding the picture will know exactly where it is. You can also link the picture of the front of the headstone with the picture of the back with just a little tap on the screen. These pictures are then uploaded to the website billiongraves.com. On the website you can go in and transcribe the words of the headstone. This will go into a searchable database that anyone can access. If you just want to take photos and upload them, other volunteers can go in and do the transcriptions. If you don't want to get tendonitis of the foot you can just go to the website and start transcribing. There are people all over the world contributing to this. It's kind of fun to go in and see where the latest uploads are coming from.

I got really excited about helping with the project. I got my phone all set up, read all the helpful hints (which weren't totally necessary as I ignore a lot of them) and took off for my local cemetery.

Now do you want to know what happened on my very first day? Something very syncronistic. I was walking from grave to grave, pausing briefly to lean over and snap the photo and I saw out of the corner of my eye this large group of people walking down the road next to the cemetery. I was feeling a little bit self-conscious and foolish and tried to not look at them.

One of the guys in the group called over to me, "hey, do you mind me asking what you're doing?" So I swallowed my pride and told him. He said, "I thought that's what you were doing, but I thought, Noooo, what are the chances?" Apparently this guy was one of the developers of the app and was just in town visiting family.

Tennis Foot?

2012-02-01T18:14:00.000-08:00

It's official. I have tennis elbow of the foot.

It all started last summer. I spent some time in cemeteries.

A LOT of time.

I tromped over the uneven ground and took photos of over 17,000 headstones. And my foot has been hurting ever since. I thought maybe I gave myself a stress fracture. I just kept taping up my own foot, trying to ignore the pain, and hoped it would heal on it's own. After 6 months of this I decided it was time to visit my favorite podiatrist. The x-rays were clear. In fact my bones looked pretty darn good!

When he started twisting and poking at my foot, though, the problem became pretty obvious. I had overworked the tendon going to the outside of one of my right tarsals. It was inflamed and angry.

The treatment? A nice long painful shot of cortizone right into the offending tendon, and nice wrap job on the foot, and was told to keep it immobilized as much as possible for 2 months.

... right.

I'll do my best to hasten the healing. I need to get in top cemetery form before all the snow melts and I can hit the headstones again. I'm just dying to get out there!

The doc was asking me how I think I had injured myself and I started telling him about my propensity for haunting cemeteries. (ha ha ha) That led to telling him a few of the really interesting stories that I really feel like I need to write down before I forget.

Those stories will be great for another blog on another day.

Eggs-actly What I Meant

2012-01-27T15:45:00.000-08:00

I'm in a pottery class. It's definitely a relaxed fun time with Abby and Lisa. We don't get a grade, we don't have any assignments, and we just do what we want.

The first week we were all just playing around with the clay, pinching it into pots and shapes, and I decided to make an egg. It took me quite a while to get it all smooth and egg-shaped, all hollowed out so that it wasn't too heavy, and flat on the bottom so it would stand.

I should have taken a picture of it at that stage, but I didn't. Sorry.

I told Lisa that I wanted to carve a design in it, but didn't know what to do. She suggested a paisley pattern, so I googled "paisley" from my phone and started carving.

It stands about 5 inches tall. I can't wait to get it fired. But then I've got a new problem. What kind of finish am I going to put on it? Any suggestions?

Time Well-Spent

2012-01-23T18:58:00.000-08:00

There are two very dangerous places on the internet.

Very, Very DANGEROUS.

You should stay far far away from these two very very dangerous places.

You should.

I should.

But I can't.

I'm talking about StumbleUpon and Pinterest.

I've literally wasted HOURS mindlessly clicking through and marking hundreds of things that I find interesting, would like to try, want to look at again, or just like.

HOURS!!!

DAYS!!!

One night after spending 3 hours pinning I felt totally disgusted with myself.
I decided to make a list.

Things I Love To DO:
1. Make pottery
2. Work on my Picture Calendar
3. Knit
4. Crochet
5. Draw
6. Make jewelry
7. Practice Piano
8. Read
9. Blog
10. Fix or mend something
11. Sew
12. Quilt
13. Organize something
14. Paint
15. Walk the dog
16. Bake something
17. Try a new recipe
18. Take photos
19. Carve something
20. Cross stitch

Time constructively spent creating the list: 5 minutes

Next time I spend more than 5 minutes on either danger zone (Pinterest or Stumbleupon), I'm going to break out my list and DO something!

The Road Less Travelled is Usually the Wrong Way

2011-07-03T23:50:00.000-07:00

On the 23rd of June I received word that my Aunt Winone died. She was very good to me as I was growing up. My tribute to my Aunt Winone will be my next post, but in this one I would like to recount the car trip going to her funeral.

I told my mother that I would take her. The funeral was in Sacramento, California. We are in Rexburg, Idaho. On Google Maps it states that you can make the trip in a little over 12 hours. I've never driven that far in one day, but I really felt like I needed to make the effort to do this. Our Ford Explorer is not exactly new, and it's got a lot of miles under it's tread. Mike was not confident in it's ability to make the trip so he volunteered to rent me a car. The funeral was set for Friday, July 1st. I figured we'd drive down on Thursday, do funeral/family stuff on Friday and drive back on Saturday. I borrowed Joni's GPS unit and plugged in the address for the church where the funeral, and felt confident that we'd have smooth sailing.

The first hint that this may not be a dream vacation was on Tuesday when Mike went to rent the car. They were all gone. He tried every rental place for a hundred miles. All were completely booked. The closest car to rent was in Twin Falls, Idaho. 187 miles away. I was not happy about this. Mike was trying to make the best of things, but I was kind of being grumpy about the whole thing. We went to bed Tuesday night not knowing what we were going to do about it. On Wednesday my mother had her car serviced and readied in case we needed to take it. Then I received a phone call from the car rental place. They had a cancellation. We would have a car for the trip.

Thursday:
I picked up the rental, which turned out to be a Jeep Wrangler. A cool sporty Jeep Wrangler. I took the Wrangler over to pick up my 80 year old mother. I'm sure we looked pretty odd. A mid-50 and 80 year old women tooling around in this sporty SUV. The Wrangler had a great AC, which was a must. We heard it was in the triple digits where we were headed. We also discovered that it did NOT have a cruise control. I thought it was not a big deal. They never used to have cruise control and people lived. I was sure it wouldn't be an issue.

We started on our way. Mom told me that Laurie always calls her GPS unit "Babs", so we listened to Babs' cool English accent as she guided us out on the Freeway. Our route would lead us through Twin Falls, Idaho, Elko, Winnemucca and Reno, Nevada, and finally Sacramento California.

As we were driving along we started telling each other stories about trips that had gone badly in the past. Mom was telling me about the trip she took with Catherine when the radiator went out and all the troubles they had, and another trip she took with Dad to pick up egg cartons. I was just cringing inside as she was telling me all the horrors they had to endure and I actually said......, I actually dangled bait and tempted fate, by saying, "I've never had a trip like that."

It wasn't 15 minutes after I made that statement that we were following Babs' directions through Twin Falls. She said, "turn left" and we discovered she wanted us to go through a road that was closed due to construction. There was no detour, just a closed road. This road would have led us over the canyon. There are only so many bridges over the canyon and so it wasn't just a matter of going over a block and then back on the trail. We backtracked a ways until we found a diner. I went in and asked the waitress how to get over the canyon. She told us the route and we were once again off.

Things seemed to be going smoothly. We turned on to a road and Babs seemed to pick up our trail and told us to "drive 75 miles". It was a pretty straight and flat road. We drove and drove and I noticed a strange sensation in my right cheek. Not the one on my face, either. Right dead center in that Gluteus Maximus a stinging pain began. It felt like someone was trying to shove a darning needle straight in. I tried shifting in my seat a bit and it seemed to subside. We drove through a town, the road turning neither right or left and Babs remaining silent. I didn't think anything of it. I drove another 40 miles and saw a T intersection coming up. As I got closer and closer I kept expecting to hear Babs spring to life and tell us which way to turn. Right or left, Babs, right or left. I drove right up to the end of the road. Ahead of me was a dirt trail. Stretching out to the right and left was the highway. Babs was silent. I grabbed the GPS and looked at it. It was dead. It was plugged in to the socket, but it was not on. I pulled the plug out and stuck it in the other outlet. It immediately turned on. Bab's tried to locate us, and recalculate our route, but was strangely silent. I decided to go left, drove about a half a mile, panicked, stopped and turned around and went back to the T. There was a man stopped beside his motor home. I drove up to him and asked him if he knew the way. He said he thought we should go back 40 miles to the town we'd driven through. I guess the look on our faces told him we didn't like that option, cause he said, "...or you could go left. You'll be on route 50, the loneliest road in America People go out there to watch for UFO's. As long as the sun is in your eyes you're going the right way."

With a feeling of relief we turned left and started down the road. A few miles in Babs tried to redeem herself by offering us various suggestions. "Turn right" she once said, which, if we had done would have run us smack dab into a mountain. I turned the GPS unit off and then back on so that she could reboot and find her bearings.

As Wikipedia says, "The route crosses mostly desolate terrain in the journey across the state; US 50 passes through several large desert valleys and basins. The highway crosses 17 named mountain passes that break up the Nevada desert. To crest some of the passes along US 50 requires navigating steep 8% grades and hairpin turns through pine forests to reach altitudes of over 7,000 feet".

Or to put it in plainer terms, there were a lot of very very long straight stretches and a lot of very twisty steep mountain passes. It was during these long stretches that I noticed the needle in my buttock was getting pushed deeper and deeper. I would have to squirm and wiggle and sometime just push my back against the seat and raise my tush off for the pain to subside. It was about this time that my swift intellect reached the conclusion that not having cruise control was causing a muscle cramp due to continual pressure applied by my right foot to the gas pedal. Great! I'm 1/2 day into my 3 day driving marathon.

During one of the long lonely stretches my mother started looking around inside the Jeep. She reached up by her visor and touched a shiny metal piece. "What's this?" she asked. I glanced up and said, "Maybe its a mirror. Pull on it." Then I looked over at my side. Hmmm, I had the same thing. I looked at the ceiling and towards the back. Suddenly I realized what that shiny thing was. "Don't touch that! It's the latch to take the roof off." I could just see us cruising along at 80 mph and releasing the roof, which flys off dramatically, a scene straight out of a Chevy Chase movie.

We began to realize that by taking Route 50 we had added about 250 miles to our trip. Our arrival time, according to Babs, was much later than I knew I could safely drive. When we finally joined the road which we should have been on to begin with it was pushing close to 9:00 pm. Reno was just ahead and we thought we'd stop there for the night. I was watching the exits, waiting for a motel on the far side of Reno so that our trip the next morning would be just a bit shorter. Suddenly Reno was gone and we were on our way to the next town, Boca. I was determined to get a place for the night here. As we approached Boca we saw road construction signs. Through traffic was to keep left, the business loop was to exit. I exited. I found myself driving up a canyon, away from the town. Confused, I stopped, turned around and went back. Suddenly I realized I was inches away from entering the on ramp to the freeway heading back to Reno. I slammed on my brakes and turned around again. I trusted the business loop promise and followed the road as it went up the canyon a short distance and then looped around BEHIND the town. I was back on the freeway, never seeing so much as a store, let alone a motel.

The next town was Truckee. Mom suggested I stop the Jeep after exiting at Truckee and using the GPS to find a motel. I did so and saw a promising list. I wasn't going to be picky at this point since it was now after 10, and hit the first motel on the list. Babs led us around and around until she proudly announced us AT the destination. It was a half-built building. The windows were not even yet installed. I hit the second motel. Babs led us with her confident British accent proudly up to the entrance of a hospital. I joked with mom that maybe if we begged they would let us sleep in one of their beds. During this motel search both our cell phones kept beeping and ringing. All that noise added to Bab's constant commands kind of got on our last nerve, adding to the stress of the situation. I hit motel number 3. Babs led us up a canyon road that at first looked promising, with all the strip malls and gas stations, and then deteriorated rapidly. When Babs announced that we were at our destination my heart sank. The little row of cottages were shabby and dark, weeds in the yard, peeling paint, and no office sign. I reluctantly parked and mom and I started walking around looking for someplace to check in. Two scary looking guys in wife beater t-shirts walked past us and I found myself saying, "mommy, I'm scared". By mutual consent we went back to the Wrangler. Mom said she saw bikes leaned up against the buildings and that the place looked like a residence, not a motel. I was very glad to drive away from the place.

I hit lucky hotel number 4. We were led by our trusty? navigator to the opposite side of town. About 10 minutes later we pulled up to a very nice large motel complex. I went inside to inquire about a room and $150 dollars later found ourselves in a very comfortable place. The beds were excellent, and so was the breakfast the next morning. On a side note, when I checked in I noticed a jar of dog biscuits on the counter. I asked the clerk about them and she said that some guests think they're cookies and will pop off the lid and chow down on one before she has a chance to tell them. She said she'd rather tell someone their credit card was declined than to tell them they just ate a dog biscuit. ha ha

Friday:
We drove to the church where the funeral was held arriving at 9:50 am, 10 minutes before the viewing started. It was great for me to see cousins I haven't seen in 30 years. The funeral was small, Winone had only lived there for 9 months and didn't know a lot of people, but was a great tribute to her. My brother Ron and his wife, Vallerie had arrived right before we did, coming from Provo, Utah, so we sat with and rode out to the cemetery with them. When it was over we went back to the church for a luncheon put on by the Relief Society. We were able to visit with more family and met some that I'd never known before.

At 1:30 we left. Our goal was to drive to Winnemucca Nevada, arriving early enough to relax and enjoy the evening.

Before we'd gone more than a few miles we found ourselves creeping along at 0-5 miles per hour. The darning needle pain in my cheek was throbbing. I couldn't seem to relieve it. I tried to use my left foot a bit, to give my right one a break, but was too nervous that I'd mess up and hit the gas instead of the brake in this unfamiliar vehicle. Over 90 minutes later we finally passed all the construction that had halted our progress and we were at least a good 10 miles down the road. Things were not boding well for a day of smooth sailing. Our early evening was much later than we'd planned and we pulled into Winnemucca at about 8 pm. Two days of driving had worn us out, and I pulled into the first motel I saw. $150 later we found ourselved in another very comfortable room, shocked at the cost, but determined not to look back and just enjoy it. The excellent bed and breakfast the next morning made it not quite so painful.

Saturday:
In my morning prayer I asked that we might be able to travel without delays or detours. I guess the good Lord thought I needed to learn a lesson in patience more. Mom and I are in good spirits as we start out on our drive. We find ourselves starting to talk about car troubles we've had in the past. We looked at each other with buggy eyes and decided to stop that train of thought immediately. Thank goodness we dodged THAT bullet. We were driving along, making good time and a couple of hours into our trip I saw one of those electronic signs over the freeway. "Severe Accident Ahead. Expect 4 Hour Delays".

"Did you see that?" I screeched at Mom, hoping I had imagined it. I hadn't, cause she had. We pulled into the town. I was anxious to get inside the gas station store to see if they had any news. I walked ahead of Mom and entered the store. Suddenly everyone around me started gasping and rushing passed me out the door. I turned around in time to see many people around Mom, looking very concerned. Feeling like a very bad daughter I rushed back outside and helped her extricate herself from all the concerned good citizens. She had not seen a one inch rise in the sidewalk and had tripped over it, very nearly falling. She managed to stay on her feet and instead sort of crashed into the door of the store. She felt foolish, but really she did remarkably well considering she stayed on her feet. I know I would have gone down like a sack of potatoes. (Which I did on Wednesday night, but that's another story.) Inside the store everyone was buzzing. People were pouring over maps, trying to find an alternative route. There was talk of watching a movie in town, and someone heard that it had already been 3 hours since the accident. One of the store clerks called the DOT and announced to the store that one lane of traffic had been reopened. Not really having a choice, we gassed up and headed out. Pretty soone we were stuck in a line of creeping cars and trucks. We once again, for the second day in a row, travelled about 10 miles at 0-5 mph. About 90 minutes later we passed the scene of the accident. Two semi trucks were twisted and demolished, their cargo strewn for a half a mile. There was also a cargo van with the front end smashed. It was a sobering site. I hoped there weren't any tragedies, but I never heard.

There was relief and pleasure when we were finally driving down Main Street in Rexburg. The trimmed green lawns, flower baskets, and quaint storefronts were a welcoming sight. We'd made it home safe and sound.

Insanity or Fun - My Big Announcement

2011-06-21T15:32:00.000-07:00

When people discovered that my two daughters were getting married within 9 days of each other, and that I was doing all the decorating myself, I think they

#1. pitied me
and
#2. thought I was insane

I just want to go on record as saying that after we got passed a few major skirmishes
like
having both brides unknowingly pick out the same engagement ring,
or
major negotiations on who gets to get married first,
or
who gets the first bridal shower,
or
who gets to send out announcements first (and somehow they both went out the same day and people all over town thought we'd accidently sent them two),
or
who gets what photographer, and on and on and on.....

That after all that was said and done, I really had a great time helping my two daughters put together their special days.

I enjoyed
making the centerpieces
finding and redoing the backdrops
making lanterns
putting together the photo booth
and everything else I thought of that would make this a special time for the girls and their guys.

So
I may be insane, but I've opened a business called Rexburg Bridal.
My website has resources for the local Rexburg, Idaho bride-to-be. There is, and will be more, links to venues, florists, caterers, and musicians. There will also be hints and helps for helping the Do-It-Yourselfer, and planning aids.

The best thing is that I will also be renting out my inventory and services to help other brides-to-be make their special days truly memorable.

I'm excited for this new adventure. So check out my website, and pass the word along to any engaged women you know.

Let the fun begin. or continue!

Understanding Introverts

2011-06-14T20:21:00.000-07:00

Top ten myths about introverts

Myth #1 – Introverts don’t like to talk.
This is not true. Introverts just don’t talk unless they have something to say. They hate small talk. Get an introvert talking about something they are interested in, and they won’t shut up for days.

Myth #2 – Introverts are shy.
Shyness has nothing to do with being an Introvert. Introverts are not necessarily afraid of people. What they need is a reason to interact. They don’t interact for the sake of interacting. If you want to talk to an Introvert, just start talking. Don’t worry about being polite.

Myth #3 – Introverts are rude.
Introverts often don’t see a reason for beating around the bush with social pleasantries. They want everyone to just be real and honest. Unfortunately, this is not acceptable in most settings, so Introverts can feel a lot of pressure to fit in, which they find exhausting.

Myth #4 – Introverts don’t like people.
On the contrary, Introverts intensely value the few friends they have. They can count their close friends on one hand. If you are lucky enough for an introvert to consider you a friend, you probably have a loyal ally for life. Once you have earned their respect as being a person of substance, you’re in.

Myth #5 – Introverts don’t like to go out in public.
Nonsense. Introverts just don’t like to go out in public FOR AS LONG. They also like to avoid the complications that are involved in public activities. They take in data and experiences very quickly, and as a result, don’t need to be there for long to “get it.” They’re ready to go home, recharge, and process it all. In fact, recharging is absolutely crucial for Introverts.

Myth #6 – Introverts always want to be alone.
Introverts are perfectly comfortable with their own thoughts. They think a lot. They daydream. They like to have problems to work on, puzzles to solve. But they can also get incredibly lonely if they don’t have anyone to share their discoveries with. They crave an authentic and sincere connection with ONE PERSON at a time.

Myth #7 – Introverts are weird.
Introverts are often individualists. They don’t follow the crowd. They’d prefer to be valued for their novel ways of living. They think for themselves and because of that, they often challenge the norm. They don’t make most decisions based on what is popular or trendy.

Myth #8 – Introverts are aloof nerds.
Introverts are people who primarily look inward, paying close attention to their thoughts and emotions. It’s not that they are incapable of paying attention to what is going on around them, it’s just that their inner world is much more stimulating and rewarding to them.

Myth #9 – Introverts don’t know how to relax and have fun.
Introverts typically relax at home or in nature, not in busy public places. Introverts are not thrill seekers and adrenaline junkies. If there is too much talking and noise going on, they shut down. Their brains are too sensitive to the neurotransmitter called Dopamine. Introverts and Extroverts have different dominant neuro-pathways. Just look it up.

Myth #10 – Introverts can fix themselves and become Extroverts.
Introverts cannot “fix themselves” and deserve respect for their natural temperament and contributions to the human race. In fact, one study (Silverman, 1986) showed that the percentage of Introverts increases with IQ.

(Source: http)
Jerry Brito

2011-02-03T19:16:00.000-08:00

A Drive Down Memory Lane

2010-10-10T10:30:00.000-07:00

Today on my way home from church I decided to take the long way home. On a whim I started driving towards the home of my youth. The place where I grew up, spent my life from age 1 to 22. It was kind of a shocking trip.

I wanted to see how much had changed in the neighborhoods. As I drove down the street I passed many familiar houses. As I passed, names would come. Wynn's, Seeley's, Stewart's, Klingler's, and on and on. Then, as I got closer to my destination I found myself saying, "Ricks', I don't know, I don't know, John and Sylvia, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know." I knew I was close to the farm where I grew up, but I couldn't really see it. Where had all these houses come from?

I finally arrived at our lane.

When I picture this place from my childhood I see a long gravel road. It seemed about a mile long, with a horse pasture on the left and a grain field on the right. Halfway down the lane is the big white brick house in which my family lived from the time I was in 3rd grade on. It was then one of the larger houses in the area. And it was surrounded on all sides by fields. At the end of the road, after a gentle S-curve, was the farm. It had 5 huge chicken coops, an egg-processing plant, the old farm house that we lived in previously, giant walk-in coolers and freezers, numerous smaller outbuildings, an elevator leg and grain bins, and sidewalks, gravel, dirt, weeds, and old farm equipment scattered in nitches between buildings or laying at the edge of the 25 acres that my father owned.

The first shock I received was immediate. This road was paved! I would have thought I was in heaven if the road had been paved when I was learning to ride my bike. Even walking was hard on the large rounded rocks that passed for gravel back in the day. The finely crushed gravel that I see on some country roads now is still a definite step up in comfort to what we had. Driving a car on this road had to be done slowly, the sound of rocks flipping up and hitting the oil pan under the car was enough to slow anyone with sense down.

My next shock was the number of houses on this street. Big beautiful houses with gorgeous landscaped yards lined the street to the left. I drove slowly, gawking in awe at the change. It seemed like I had only driven about half of a city block when I suddenly realized that on the right was our big white brick house. Surely it had been a longer walk than that to catch the bus at the end of our lane. It kind of saddened me to see the house. My mothers beautiful black wrought iron posts that held up our front porch were replaced by ugly wooden logs. There were also blue shutters put up next to each of the front windows, that looked incongruously out of place. The trees and bushes had overgrown so much that the house was almost hidden, but the driveway was black-topped! That would have been nice.

I kept slowly driving and gawking. I couldn't believe that there was another road behind our big house that had houses on. There were more houses on the lane to the left on the lane from our big house to the farm. And, once again, it seemed so short! All of a sudden I was driving past the farm house, which hadn't changed. Many of the building had been torn down and hauled away leaving long flat expanses of cement. I drove clear through the loop of the farm, on the road which was entirely paved. It was a shock to the senses, the mind, the memories, and the emotions.

I'm kind of glad I went. Kind of. But I don't think I want to go back.

I Have a Secret

2010-05-02T14:02:00.000-07:00

For the past 10 years or so I have been engaging in a clandestine activity during church. My husband knows about it. My kids do too. I think I've kept it pretty secret from the rest of my church-going companions, though.

This is my secret.

I draw people.

Once I sat behind a young family. Obviously the mother took great care in styling her daughters long tresses. I was fascinated with the braids and ribbons. I came home that day with hair sketches. Sometimes I sit across from a very interesting wrinkled old face. I have to draw it.

Lately, though, I have been sitting on the stand. When I had my foot surgery in December I couldn't get around very well, so I got in the habit of staying on the stand for the entire meeting. The last few weeks I began to notice all the interesting views I was getting of the backsides of people talking from the pulpit.

I began to sketch. I have to be quick on Testimony day because I never know how long they will "pose" for me.

And just in case you are wondering, I find that I remember more about what they said when I sketch than if I just sat there.

So here are my "Secret Sketches" from the last couple of weeks. And please keep my secret. I don't want people to be self-conscious about what their backsides look like while they're standing there.

What Dreams May Come...

2010-04-12T16:48:00.000-07:00

I had a dream Saturday night.

I am the ward chorister. Every week I get up in Sacrament meeting and lead the hymns. I'm always a little bit nervous about it cause I'm not the best at it.

In my dream I arrived early as I usually do and went up to the front to post the hymn numbers on the display. All the numbers were ripped up, wrinkled and ratty. Some of the numbers had been replaced with torn pieces of lined loose-leaf paper with a big number scribbled on with a blue ball point pen. I was horrified but did my best to make the hymn page numbers look nice on the wall.

Then I went over to the music stand to adjust it to the height I like. As I pulled on it the top just pulled right off. It just totally fell apart in my hands. I tried to put it back the best I could. I had to hurry because the meeting was about to start.

When I stood up to lead the opening hymn I raised my baton ready to start. To my horror the end of the baton was all bendy and flopped around like a dead fish. I decided to use it anyway. I kept trying to make the best of every problem that arose. I just kept thinking, this is okay, I can deal with this.

As I brought my arm down to start the hymn and the congregation started to sing, I heard the choir behind me. They were following the choir director and were singing a totally different song. It was a chaotic awful sounding mess.

I was glad when I woke up and found out church hadn't started yet.

I arrived early, the numbers were crisp and new, the stand didn't break, my baton was stiff, and the congregation sounded harmonious and unified, and there was no choir.

Whew.

March Gifts

2010-03-31T21:09:00.000-07:00

What am I thankful for this month? Many many things.

~ That Andy didn't have any problems travelling to New York. And that he seems to be adjusted and doing well.

~ That Andy actually writes good letters to us! I feel like we know what's going on with him because he puts so much detail into his letters.

~ It was so fun to see Lisa be the guest soloist with the Idaho Falls Symphony. She did awesome. I'm not a huge fan of 20th Century music, and Bartok's Viola Concerto was not my most favorite piece, but it didn't matter. I enjoyed it immensely and appreciated the extreme talent it took to be able to play it.

~ That I was able to go to one concert with Abby, another concert with Lisa (watching Abby play) and go out to lunch a few times with all my daughters. And we had a blast getting ice cream after Abby's concert. They really are my best friends.

~ That I got my new computer! I love it. It's awesome. Thanks Mike!

~ That David got his Master's diploma in the mail. Whew! I knew he earned it, but it's always nice to actually get that piece of paper.

~ That the snow is finally gone. (mostly)

~ That I had fun creating some cute things this month. Okay okay, I realize I could maybe have been more productive, but sometimes you just have to feed your soul, you know?

~ That I saw some wildlife this month. A few herds of deer, a flock of wild turkeys (repeatedly, and I got some great pictures) and a moose. The wild bunnies in our yard are getting braver and braver (and hungrier and hungrier) and get closer to our house every day. I have about 30 little songbirds hovering around my bird feeder every day. I love watching all of them.

It's been a pretty great month.

Dyed in the Wool - My contribution to Spring

2010-03-28T21:59:00.000-07:00

I don't know what gets into me sometimes. I see something and I just can't help myself. I have to make it. I have to try it. I have to learn it. I feel a bit compulsive that way. My latest obsessive spree was spent knitting sheep.
Yes, I knit up some sheep.

My daughter Joni, just shakes her head at me, but she always has a smile and says, "yea, they're cute." When Lisa saw them today I thought she was going into a "cute fuzzy its-so-cute conniption fit".

Every time I saw a new colored yarn I wanted to knit up a new lamby.

And the most fun thing about it is that you can

DRESS THEM UP!

How fun is that? It's like 3-D paper dolls.

I need some wings for my little bee costume, but there's plenty of time before Halloween. Now, what shall I knit for the rest of their little itty-bitty Halloween costumes?

It's been kind of fun, but really I need to get something else done around here.

Spring Joys and Horrors

2010-03-19T13:22:00.000-07:00

Many areas of the country have been enjoying the blisses of spring for a few weeks now. On February 10th we made a trip south to Utah and saw people working in their yards, blowing leaves out of flower beds, raking up dead grass, and trimming trees. It was an amazing sight to us, because before the day was over we headed back home to the cold wintery Idaho which still had almost 2 feet of snow on the ground.

I keep tabs on the temperatures in a few places that I have a personal interest.
It's always kind of annoying to see how our temps here in Rexburg stack up.
Right now, for example, Newport Oregon is touting sunny skies and lovely 64 degrees. (and my kids wonder why I want to move there.) In New York where Andy is, it's a balmy 68 degrees. I hope he's enjoying it, 'cause here in Idaho it is now 41 degrees. It actually feels pretty darn nice. I didn't wear a coat or sweater today. Just last week the low temps were hitting single digits so this really does feel like spring.

Our snow has been slowly dissappearing over the last couple of weeks. I watched as our yard has metamorphosed from a wide expanse of white, to grass-rimmed snow fields, to patchy snow on our lawn.

I always watch the snow melting on our lawn with a kind of fascinated horror. I know what I'm about to see. As the snow recedes you can see the evidence of mice. Anyone who knows me well can tell you of my aversion, no, my crippling phobia, of mice.

We have a very large lawn, at least an acre, and there are mouse trails and mouse huts everywhere. Mice will build up a little mound of grass under the snow where they can stay safe and warm as the snow insulates them. They look like little grass huts.

They are kind of fascinating. In the same way that seeing an accident on the freeway is fascinating. You don't want to look, you know you will probably be sickened, but you just can't help yourself. I felt myself drawn to one of the larger mounds. I had a long stick and reached over and flipped some of the grass away from the top. My nerves were jittery to the point that as I flicked the grass away I felt myself shudder and leap backwards. Morbid fascination drew me close once again and I flicked away some more grass.

This time I saw what looked like about 6 little smooth oval stones. I thought, "how odd, do they use the rocks to hold heat?" Then I looked closer.

"EWWWWW! YUCK!! I shuddered and scampered away as quickly as I could. They were baby mice. They were about an inch long each, and they weren't moving. I couldn't get close to it again. But just then Joni came out and asked me what the heck I was doing. (I guess the sight of a 50-something year old woman poking with sticks and jumping around the yard was kind of noticeable.) I told her what I found, and Joni, ever the scientist, came out to invesigate. She pronounced them dead. Burns, our master-mouser cat was right behind her and caught sight of these tasty little bite-sized nuggets. Joni had to wrestle him away and then she gave the little critters a proper burial.

I hope Joni checks out the rest of the grass-hut mounds for me. I don't think my heart to take another round. And I definitely don't want any surprises during the first time I mow the lawn.

Saturday

2010-03-14T14:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday David brought his family to visit. While they were there Nathan (age 3) thought of a really fun game. He found his grandma's basket full of balls of yarn and methodically unwound them, going around and around the pool table. When he used up one ball he would go get another. Spider-slayer, aka "the little kitty", was under the table the entire time watching him go around and around and around. Every once in a while he would attack the yarn as it trailed past. It's been pretty funny since then. We left the yarn up and today the kitty is still hanging out in his Nathan-made cave, safe and sound out of Oscar's reach. Oscar will not cross the yarn barrier. I think "little kitty" wouldn't mind if we left it up permanently.

Last night the whole family, friends and half of Idaho Falls went to the Civic Auditorium to watch Lisa perform her viola concerto by Bartok. She sounded awesome and looked fabulous. Abby took photos of her on stage, which I'll try to borrow and post. After her performance, and during intermission, we all went back stage to congratulate her. I took my camera and snapped quite a few photos of that. Here's one that I really like. A few of her students went down to the performance and one of them went backstage with us and gave Lisa a bouquet of flowers. This shot shows her watching Lisa as she converses with some other well-wishers. Lisa's a really great role model for young up and coming musicians and I think it shows in this photo.

It was a pretty great day.

Knitted Coziness

2010-03-11T21:51:00.000-08:00

I never claimed to be a master knitter, like my mother. She can knit anything!
And she's fast!
And she doesn't even need to look at what she's doing!

I struggle. I have a hard time deciphering the patterns.

But lately I've really wanted to learn how to do it better.
I've knitted scarves.
Plain rectangles are not problem.

I wanted to do shaped things.
My biggest challenge is socks.
I really really wanted to knit a pair of socks.

I've knitted a half a sock about 6 times, and I always tear it all out after getting totally lost.

Then a couple of weeks ago I found this pattern. It was SO CUTE!!!

I paid for a download,
got the pdf,
bought my yarn,
and started knitting.

I know it's a beginner pattern.
But I'm so happy I was able to knit the whole thing!
And it even fit Oscar!

He likes to wear cozy sweaters when we get him groomed. It's still too cold for his blood here in Idaho.

Now maybe I'll tackle those socks again.

Boy Scout or Girl Scout?

2010-03-10T22:54:00.000-08:00

That is one scary looking mullet.

A New Look for a New Me

2010-03-10T13:34:00.001-08:00

I needed to be inspired. The old format was just not doing it for me. This one fits me so much better.

As soon as I get my new laptop, (thanks honey), I'll feel even more motivated to keep up on all things blog/twitter/facebook.

Back From My Hiatus and February's Gifts

2010-03-01T20:00:00.000-08:00

This last month has been filled with highs and lows. Some of those highs and lows involve the some thing, like having Andy leave on his mission. Some other lows include the bad accident Mike's mother had. She went to get her mail and fell, breaking her hip. This 90 pound 80-year old woman then dragged herself over 100 feet back inside her house and pulled down the phone to call for help. She's in the hospital where she had surgery, and will have to stay for quite some time. We are glad she is now in good hands and pray for her recovery. My mother had her little heart attack scare too, but that all checked out just fine, for which we are very grateful. On a less serious note I'm having some issues with my dang toe. The swelling is just not going down. My doc said some people have this issue. My lymphatic system is just not functioning too well and is not pulling the fluid out of the tissue very well. I have to keep it wrapped up with a compression bandage most of the time. I'm not complaining, though. I can now take my long 30 minute power walks and not have an achy toe at the end. That's definitely an improvement. Now for the gifts of February:

~ That the new season of LOST started! I'm still totally confused, but hanging onto the promise that questions will be answered tomorrow night! :)

~ That Andy went on his mission and is doing really well. He flew to New York this morning. We were able to talk to him for 3 very short minutes when he called us while waiting to board. It was good to hear him. I'm proud of him for making this decision to serve with no pay, not alot of time off, and away from family and friends. He's going to grow up so much. I kind of wish I could watch the growth in person, but if his mommy was hanging around I doubt much growth would take place.

~ That everything checked out good for my mother's health. Maybe she had that little scare when I had to call 911 just to get her into the care of a doctor. She needed to have a physical and be checked over, (it had been a long time), and she probably wouldn't have gone on her own. Now at least we know her heart looks pretty good!

~ That I was able to go watch Abby's orchestra concert. I sat with Lisa and Tyler. It was pretty good. Abby plays pretty good violin for not being a music major. *grin*

~ I have to put this one in because I remember my saying this. I'm thankful I don't have as much laundry to do, or as many groceries to buy since Andy left. Mom always said when one of us would move out she consoled herself by the "less-laundry" idea.

Januarys Gifts

2010-01-31T22:15:00.000-08:00

Gifts from the last month:

~ that Andy is now mostly ready for his mission. Only a couple more things to buy, then packing and delivering him to the MTC in 10 more days.

~ that we were able to go with Andy to the temple.

~ that I got to spend some time with my two awesome grandsons. They are so fun, and cute, and different from each other. I love them so much.

~ that both Lisa and I are out of our surgical boots. Yea for surgery to fix things, but even a bigger yea for healing up afterwards.

Ummm, How Many More Days?

2010-01-20T17:37:00.000-08:00

I'm losing track. It's not February yet, so I'm probably okay.
Andy's passport was approved and has been mailed to us. We'll probably get it Friday. I just ordered a second suit for him and we spent $100.00 on a good, nice looking pair of shoes. I taught Andy how to fold shirts today for packing in a suitcase. I did one, he did the rest. They weren't perfect, I really resisted the urge to "straighten them out a bit". He's going to have to do it on his own for the next couple of years so he might as well do it now, too.

It's been snowing today, really pretty flakes drifing slowly to the ground. I hear we're in for more. My foot is still getting better. One day I walk without a limp and then I limp for a couple of days. I'm very grateful for my handicapped parking pass. If I had to walk 1/2 mile every morning to get to work I would be hurting every day. I only have the pass until the 15th of February, so hopefully I'll heal up quick.

I've been using my exercise bike and am getting some sore leg muscles. I'd rather be walking. My big goal is to be all healed up by spring. I didn't get to hike last summer because of feet problems, but I'm going this summer. I will. You just watch me.

Start Your Day Right

2010-01-19T08:11:00.000-08:00

I just saw this You Tube video from my friend Rebecca. (Thanks). It put a smile on my face. I hope it puts a smile on yours.

I was up very late. Just as we were going to bed (at about 12:30 am) we noticed 2 fire engines, an ambulance, an aid truck, and about 4 police cars, lights all flashing, pull up to our next door neighbors house. Of course we had to stay up and watch the show. There wasn't much to see. Mike made a call to their son and he said he was aware of the situation, but he never told us what that situation was. We were concerned as the neighbors are an elderly couple who've had a lot of health issues.

We finally figured that they must have had a small fire with lots of smoke. We saw them carry in blowers and then a lot of smoke went up the chimney and then stopped. They never unloaded their hoses or hurried in any way.

I've got to go to work now. I hope I can stay awake.

Made My List and Checked it Twice - 28

2010-01-13T19:27:00.000-08:00

I came home from work and put my foot up on ice. Then I got out all the paperwork and wrote down everything that has to be done before the next 28 days are over. It was a long list. It made me schlump. I have so much to do I think I'll go take a nap.

29 Days to Go

2010-01-12T17:48:00.000-08:00

Andy had 6 shots today, 3 in each arm. I had to pay over $200.00 for them to do it. If you're reading this and your child is under 19 I would recommend you go have the shots now! You'll probably only pay about $12.00.

We haven't done much else in the way of missionary prepping. I've had bronchitis and just haven't been feeling up to it. I really need to kick it up a gear or two though.

I just returned from my podiatrist where he checked out my toe progress. It still looks pretty bad. It looks like I have two big toes on my left foot. My second toe, the one that he fixed, is red, puffy, and floppy. He assured me that when the swelling ever goes down it will be much shorter and not as floppy. I really hate that floppy feeling. It feels like it is boneless, like a little vienna sausage stuck on my foot. Weird feeling.

Something I Wish I Knew 10 Days Ago

2010-01-07T20:04:00.000-08:00

If you take your child in for an immunization booster 1 day before he turns 19 they get to pay the cheap prices. If you wait until that magic 19th birthday, then you pay through the nose. Dang. I wish I'd known.

Andy had his recommend signed by the Stake President tonight. Now we have to schedule with the temple.

It is cold cold cold. I am knitting my little buddy and very warm canine coat. I don't think the Santa coat will cut it after he gets shaved.
Hopefully I'm smart enough to make this thing. I'm definitely not a master knitter like my mother. But at least she close by if I get stuck.

New Clothes - 35 days to go

2010-01-06T18:51:00.000-08:00

We finally talked Andy into trying on his suit for us. Of course I took photos, and of course he told me "don't put those on facebook". So I didn't. I put them on here instead. Don't tell.

He's lookin' mighty fine.

Joni and I went to Walmart tonight to pick up a few necessary items before the below zero temps start back up. While we were there we wandered down the mark-down aisle and found Oscar a very awesome coat. It was marked down 75% so we only paid about $2.00. What do you think?

Andy's passport and mission home papers sent out today. Wow, nothing is as easy as you think it's going to be. Yesterday we arrived at the passport office about 10 minutes after it closed. They changed their hours, closing earlier than they used to, because of the "increased number of passport applicants". Does that make sense to you. If you have more customers you shorten your business hours? Oh well, $100.00 poorer, but it's done now.

A Helpful Tip - 36

2010-01-05T19:24:00.000-08:00

My son-in-law, Tyler, gave me this good tip.

Make sure that Andy takes only light colored washables.
his towel
his P-Day t-shirt
his sheets

and of course his regular missionary white shirts.

That way when he does his laundry, and throws in a red towel with the rest, he won't end up with a bunch of pink dress shirts.

Very good tip.

However I'd better make sure his dark socks are colorfast. I don't think his mission president would appreciate Andy dressed in a black suit and white gymn socks.

Not a good day at work. Can I just say I hate the new "My Byui". I swear, it better get better. It can't get any worse.

Not As Productive As I Planned.....37

2010-01-04T16:26:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow I think we're going to take care of mailing a copy of his driver's license and driving record to the mission home in NY and send off the paperwork for his passport. I think I may push to have him get his immunizations caught up, too. And maybe have him run a load of laundry, just to keep his skills up.

Wow! I was ambitious wasn't I.
Today didn't pan out as well as I'd hoped. Andy was able to get his H1N1 flue shot (even though he was sick with it for 3 weeks in Sept/Oct) and had his passport photo taken. He filled out a couple of pages of paperwork and made a call to the New York mission home about another matter.

Tomorrow he will HOPEFULLY get the rest of his immunizations, submit his passport documents, and mail off the info to NY.

Things I would like to get accomplished this week:
Order a second suit from missionarymall.com
Order 2 pair of shoes from same place.
Have Andy scrub the bathroom "just to keep up his skills" :)
Start packing a box to send to NY with stuff he won't need in the Provo MTC.

On another front,
WORK WAS STRESSFUL!

Classes start tomorrow. I went to a "1 hour training meeting" that ended up being 2 1/2 hours long. They were teaching us how to use the new and improved system. Ha ha. That's a big sarcastic ha ha, not a laugh cause it's funny ha ha. The meeting lasted so long because the system kept crashing and we all had to restart. When I finally got back to my office so I could get everything done for classes, which start tomorrow, the power went out! It was out for almost 2 hours. I couldn't do anything. About the time I decided to go home 'cause I was being totally unproductive the power came back. Then I had to stay late to finish everything for the first day of class.

and I thought it would be an easy week. HA.

Missionary Prep - T minus 38 days

2010-01-03T12:19:00.000-08:00

So much to do and so little time.

After Andy received his call to the New York South mission we kind of got lost in the Christmas shuffle and bustle. Now that the holidays are over I'm starting to feel the time squeeze. There is so much to be done. I counted everything up and divided it by 38. According to my calculations, if I do 395 things a day I'll make it. Ha ha, that's a joke. I'll bet I can get everything done if I do 39 things a day.

I can hear what some of you are thinking. "It's Andy's mission, HE should get everything ready."

You who are thinking those really loud thoughts have obviously never had a teenage boy. Of course in theory Andy will be doing the getting ready. But in reality it will be his mom who makes sure everything gets done. That's just the way these things work.

Of course we have a good head start on the job list. Andy picked up a lot of his clothes last week. He is now the proud owner of:
~ 1 two-pants black suit (and looks mighty fine in it, too)
~ 10 white shirts, half with short sleeves, half with long
~ 10 ties, assorted colors
~ 1 very fine waterproof overcoat with removeable lining. (Andy like this so much he wears it all the time now.
~ 10 pair dark socks (new and unopened ready for 2 years of hard wear and tear)

There are a lot of things we still need to get, but this is a good start. Andy paid for all the above items himself. I'm proud of him for working hard for the funds to do this.

Tomorrow I think we're going to take care of mailing a copy of his driver's license and driving record to the mission home in NY and send off the paperwork for his passport. I think I may push to have him get his immunizations caught up, too. And maybe have him run a load of laundry, just to keep his skills up.

The list goes on.........

December's Gifts

2010-01-01T21:54:00.001-08:00

~ For Andy's mission call. New York, New York South, which includes the island of Bermuda. I am so glad for him. We only have less than 6 weeks to get him ready. I work better under pressure, so no problem. *grin*

~ That I was able to get my toe fixed. It's caused me pain and discomfort for as long as I remember. I thought I'd live with it for the rest of my life. When the podiatrist told me the fix wasn't that hard I knew it was time to get'r done.

~ That I was able to enjoy the company of so many of my family members during the Christmas season. I am so glad that David and Emily live close enough that I can see my two grandson's occasionally. I love those little guys so much!

~ That my baby boy turned 19. Wow, that makes me feel old, ha ha. I'm pretty glad he chose Texas Roadhouse for his celebratory dinner, too. It was yummy!

~ I'm grateful for so many things. I'm grateful for this new year. I've got high hopes for good things.

School of Life

2009-12-12T22:16:00.000-08:00

I watch the students at the University as they arrive, fresh-faced, scared, some maybe crying a bit at leaving their home behind. Taking baby steps as they learn to navigate in their new world.

I see some of them plunge whole heartedly into everything that campus life has to offer. They challenge themselves with classes of substance and do everything to earn top marks, they join clubs, they find and cultivate new relationships. They get the most out of being in college.

Then I see some students who sign up for the easiest classes they can find, and maybe only 1 or 2 of those. They sleep til noon, watch tv or play video games and rarely leave their apartments, even to attend class.

And some students go through the motions. They take on a full academic load and then put forth the least amount of effort possible to earn a barely passable grade. Some of these will panic as the semester draws to a close and beg the faculty for "mercy" and show "death-bed repentance" as they realize they are falling short.

I see all these things every semester.

A parable of life.

New York, New York

2009-12-11T17:12:00.000-08:00

Andy has been waiting almost 19 years for the letter he received yesterday. A letter to change his life. As a young boy he would say that he hoped the letter would tell him he was going to New Zealand. Why New Zealand? "Because there aren't any snakes in New Zealand." I don't know if that's true, but it always made me smile.

Andy has taken Seminary for 4 years, Sunday School for 16, scripture study, (although that could have been better)and good clean living for his whole life. He was preparing to go serve the Lord, help people in need, and spread the good word.

He was very anxious waiting for THE letter, the one telling him where he was called to serve.

Yesterday it came. Last night the family gathered together to watch him open it up.
He started to read,
"Dear Elder Mitchell:

"You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the New York New York South Mission." Basically all of New York City except Manhattan.

When I heard where he was called I immediately thought, "of course, yes that is where he should go." He leaves Feb. 10. and will be gone for 24 months. It will be a tremendous growing experience for him. Kind of like the "right of passage" to manhood. He will pay his own way, work 6 days a week, and only call home 4 times for the entire mission. We hope he will forget himself and grow to love serving those around him. I'm so happy for him.

How exciting.

Holiday Humbug

2009-12-10T08:15:00.000-08:00

It's December.
time for twinkling lights
Bing Crosby on the radio
the smell of pine in my living room

and I'm just going through the motions.
I'm just not feeling it.

Yet.

How can I catch that elusive "Christmas Spirit" when all I'm feeling is a "Christmas Schlump"?

I've tried to become more aware of what makes me feel all warm and jolly and I've come up with a short list:

1. Attend Christmas Productions.

The Nutcracker Ballet was definitely a booster, not a schlumper. I will be attending the Messiah sing-along on Sunday and will embarrass myself whole heartedly, but I'll feel it again I'm sure.

2. Decorate the House for the Holidays.
I'm still only about half decorated. The tree is in my living room, but alas, totally bare. I briefly considered leaving it that way and just enjoying the sweet scent of pine, but I know my kids and grandkids would think I was "lame".

3. Make a Gift.
There is definitely nothing that sparks the Christmas spirit more than making a gift with your own two hands. It brings out the inner elf in you. I did a lot of my Christmas shopping online (another plus I think) but am making a couple of the gifts. I can't say what they are because the recipient might read this, but when I'm working on it I feel like whistling "Jingle Bells" or "12 Days of Christmas". And when the recipient shows up unexpectedly I scramble to hide it. Great fun.

That's it. I can't say much more than that is putting me in the mood. The snow outside is frightful, not holiday-ish. When the high temp doesn't get out of the single digits and the low is always in the negatives it feels more like January than Christmas.

I need help. What puts YOU in the Holiday Spirit?

November Gifts

2009-12-01T20:23:00.000-08:00

~ My sidewalk is done and I love it! The first day after they took off the tarps I just kept going out there and walking it. It's exactly what I envisioned. I'm so glad Mike let me draw it out the way I wanted. Thanks Honey!

~ That my podiatrist is really helping me with my foot pain. First of the month I couldn't take a step without pain, now I am virtually pain free. I'm thankful for modern medicine.

~ That Andy received his Patriarchal Blessing. It was a special day, and he received some wonderful promises.

~ That Andy's mission papers were sent to SLC. We are waiting to hear where he'll be going. It's exciting and kind of scary.

~ That David and Emily's family were okay after they were in a car accident that demolished their car. What a blessing!

~ That I love my job. I truly feel appreciated and like a contributing member of a valuable team. They are the greatest people to work with.

~ That I went to the movies 3 times! I can go a year without going to the movies, but for some reason this month we just went. It was pretty fun, too. I went with Joni and Abby twice and once with Andy and Mike. When I went with Mike the manager loaded us up with pop and popcorn for free. Sometimes it pays to be married to Mr. Social Butterfly. He has friends where ever we go.

~ I'm blessed to have a warm house, yummy food, a cuddle puppy, 2 feline friends, and so much more. It's been a pretty good month.

Love is in the Air

2009-12-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

Recipe for love:
Take a bunch of hormonally-charged young adults.
Immerse their brains in school work.
Overload them with projects, readings, 10-page papers that are due tomorrow.
Squeeze out all spare minutes, make sure they don't have time to hang out at their apartments, go to movies, or chill (after all this is a hot dish).
Intensely mix with other Geology students who are in the same pot of hot water.

...and watch the sproutings of love pop up here and there and every which where.

Maybe its ionic bonding.
Maybe its a magnetic pulling.
Maybe its the theory of "misery likes company".

These are science students, after all.

Peace

2009-11-27T21:52:00.000-08:00

For some peaceful thoughts.

I Should Be Dancing, Yeah....Dancing, Yeah

2009-11-19T21:25:00.000-08:00

Toe doc took another gander at my tootsies. Surgery is set for Dec. 14th. No big deal. Outpatient stuff that will even allow me to walk on it the same day. Still I'm not looking forward to the actual cutting. I am looking forward to getting something fixed that has caused me pain and discomfort for my entire life.

He also skewered my foot with another shot of cortisone. This one hurt. A Lot! He hit the nerve dead on. That's a good thing I guess. Tomorrow I should feel like dancing again.

2009-11-12T16:03:00.000-08:00

After my last post my pain came back almost full bore. Blech.

I couldn't bring myself to comment on it. I'm depressed.

On the bright side I get to go back to that lovely podiatrist next week. Maybe he'll be able to come up with something that chases the pain away a little more longer term.

It's cold today, but that didn't stop me from going out and working in the yard. I rototilled a small patch of ground. The wind was blowing so hard that I now have a mouthful of dirt. I raked it flat and laid paver brick. It was surprisingly satisfying.

Now I think I'll go brush my teeth.

Pain and No Pain

2009-11-06T21:46:00.000-08:00

Over the last month or so walking has become increasingly difficult.

It started in my left foot, my left heel to be more specific.
Every morning walking would be agony. After walking on it for a few minutes the pain would subside and I got along pretty well. Lately, though, the heel pain would come back over and over throughout my day. If I sat at my desk in the office for an hour or so and then try to walk down the hall it would feel like burning hot knives were being stabbed into my heel until I walked it out again.

In addition to my left foot I was having some trouble with my right foot. It started out as a slight pain between my 3rd and 4th toe. If I walked on it very much, like every evening when I would do my exercising it would really start to burn. I started to suspect I may have a fracture there. There were a couple of other painful places on my left foot, but those were the two main complaints.

It took having the pain become so severe that I was starting to hobble around like a crippled old person, both feet in agony before I went to a podiatrist.

That was yesterday.

He listened to my complaints, examined my feet (I apologized for having hot sweaty ones, and he said he's done this for so long he doesn't even notice anymore), and had his nurses x-ray both of them.

Then he came in with the news:
Left foot:
1. Plantar Fascitis
They wrapped it in a splint and it's felt marvelous since. They will probably make an orthotic for me to wear until it heals up.
2. Hammertoe
which will require a small incision underneath to the tendon so it can straighten out. This will be done at a later time.
3. Bunion
which is just starting to form. It causes some swelling and pain in the joint, but isn't too bad. This is another thing that we'll fix at a much later time.

Then on to the Right Foot:
1. The one and only thing wrong with this foot is a Neuroma.

I had a neuroma removed from that same spot 28 years ago, but sometimes they grow back. Mine did. He told me I could have a shot of cortisone into it to help deaden the pain and also to help shrink it back down to where it wouldn't cause me anymore problems. I told him to go for it. He gave me the shot, which seriously didn't hurt as much as the neuroma. He kept saying, "almost done, almost done, are you okay?" Ha ha. He must have thought I was a real pansy.

I couldn't believe how good I felt this morning. I got out of bed and walked, yes WALKED across my floor. I didn't hobble, lurch, or limp. It was so wonderful. All day at work I just kept looking for opportunities to walk. I probably overdid it because tonight I am once again having a lot of pain in the neuroma.

I go back in 2 weeks to see what else needs to be done.

Pain is a very disabling thing. When you're in pain it seems to cloud everything. I had people asking me all the time if I was tired, or upset, or not feeling good. I really didn't realize the extent to which it had affected me.

Today was a revelation. I was more outgoing, I was more energetic, and I was definitely happier. It made me very grateful for doctors who know the healing arts, for medical advances, and that my particular health problem is very treatable and I will recover fully. It made me ponder on those who are so much less fortunate than I. People who have chronic pain for years. People who have illnesses that linger and diseases that they may never conquer.

Through every life a little pain must fall, cause it really makes the painless days shine.

Village Shopping, Pumpkin Carving and a Pretty Puppy

2009-10-29T21:07:00.000-07:00

While in Utah we visited Gardener's Village. It was a really fun place to go. Everywhere you looked it was Halloween in all it's fun fantasy-ness. (is that a word?) Here are a few shots from our stay:

Joni and I carved pumpkins today. I did a cat and she did something else. I think it looks like an alien, she thinks it looks like a devil. Mike thought it looked like a cow, ha ha. Whatever it is, its cute!

We had Oscar clipped a few days ago and he's been freezing ever since. Today Joni bought him a sweater. Now he is one happy puppy.

Bomomo

2009-10-25T22:55:00.000-07:00

I don't know who puts these things together.

I don't know how it works.

I just know that when I find places like THIS,

I have way too much fun.

And spend way too much time.

Tree Art

2009-10-24T09:35:00.000-07:00

These are so cool! I love the people. They are surreal. I would probably be a little bit spooked if I walked in this garden after dark though. Enjoy!

Get Creative!

2009-10-23T18:02:00.000-07:00

I found this website.

A total waste of time.

....but it's fun!

You should try it.

Art Share

2009-10-18T10:15:00.000-07:00

Big Scary Baby Mouse

2009-10-14T17:55:00.000-07:00

We have a doggy door.
One of those little openings that our puppy can use whenever the urge-to-go-outside hits. I love it. I can work all day and not worry about Oscar dog dancing around with his legs crossed. We also have a underground radio fence, so I don't have to worry about him running away, or getting lost, but that's another story.

That's the good side about having a doggy door.

There's also a bad side.

Cats can also go through the doggy door.
We currently have 2 cats. How we got those 2 cats are also other stories for other days.

Cat #1. Named "Spider-Slayer", "Spike", "Gandalf Salrong Blah Blah the Grey", or more commonly called "Kitty". He is young, easily spooked, and very soft to the touch. He loves to sneak out the doggy door and park himself underneath the bird feeders out on the deck. The good news is that he's not a very good hunter. The bad news is he's getting better.

Cat #2. Named "Burns", not to be confused with "Mr. Burns", another cat we had until last winter. Burns is a pretty old warrior cat. He's been through many a battle. He's had his back leg totally shattered, broken off tooth that abcessed through his lower jaw, has urinary tract disease, and had his eye poked out. (The vet was able to put the eye back in and fix him up pretty good, but we're pretty sure that eye is blind.)

He's also a master hunter.

Every evening like clockwork Burns will announce his arrival with the nightly kill. His meow takes on a different timbre and we immediately know he's got a mouse. We run for the stairs, his favorite mouse eating spot. If we're really fast we can usually grab Burns and throw him outside before he gulps it down. He's learned he needs to eat it really fast before we take it away from him. I don't think he even chews. It just slides down in one long slurp.

We've learned to close up the doggy door every evening about dusk. Once in a while, though, we forget.

The little mouse critters are usually very dead before Burns brings them in, but once in a while he will bring one with a little fight left. That's when things get interesting. Burns has usually wounded them enough that its fairly easy to plop a bucket on top of them and wait until Mike comes home to remove it. I should rephrase that and say it's wounded enough that Joni can plop a bucket on top of it, I'm probably standing on the dining room table cowering in fear.

Me and mice don't jive.

A couple of nights ago I was home alone and I heard "the meow".
Crap.
I run upstairs and don't see Burns anywhere.
I go outside to see if he's ingesting his meal outside (he's learned to do that sometimes so we won't take it away from him).
No Burns.
Oh well, I think, and go into my bedroom.
OH CRAP!!!
Burns has a tiny little baby mouse on my carpet in my bedroom and it's VERY MUCH ALIVE!!!
I'm torn between running down the hall screaming in terror and nervously watching from the doorway. I'm swallow my bravery pill and watch. Burns lets the mouse run around and then pounces on it. It was a very tiny baby mouse. I just knew Burns was letting that thing have way too much freedom. He was going to lose it. I couldn't take it any more, so I went to close up the doggy door. (Why didn't I do it 15 minutes ago?) I turned around and there was Burns. He really wanted me to let him go back outside.

Wait a minute. Where's the mouse?

I knew it. That mouse was so little Burns didn't think it was worth the effort.
I threw Burns back in my bedroom and shut the door. I really wanted him to catch that mouse! He had totally lost interest.

I didn't think I'd be able to sleep in my bedroom knowing there was a rogue mouse loose, but after putting everything up high and making sure none of my blankets were anywhere near the floor, and, oh yea, after taking a sleeping pill, I managed to sleep pretty good.

Fast forward to the next evening. Joni came into my room and said, "mom, come here". I followed her out to the living room where she pointed at "Kitty". He had his nose buried under the recliner, his tail swishing rhythmically back and forth, just as it does when he's under the bird feeders.

We had located the big scary baby mouse. Mike, Joni, Andy, and I were all home, so I did the sensible thing and retreated to my bedroom. Mike, Joni, and Andy are all experienced mouse catchers. They threw Oscar in my room with me and went to do the deed. (Oscar is no help in mice catching.)

I heard shouts, felt thumps and bumps, and more yelling and shouting. At one point Mike yelled through my bedroom door, "WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT OPEN THIS DOOR!"
Like that was going to happen.

Finally the din quieted, Oscar quit barking, I heard the front door open and shut, and then Joni came in.

"we got it."

I knew they would. I thought about helping them, but I would have just gotten in the way. *grin*

Rexburg on a Sunday Morning

2009-10-11T10:48:00.000-07:00

Now what can they do with my laundry?

2009-10-10T15:07:00.000-07:00

Some of my favorite September pictures

2009-10-08T21:50:00.000-07:00

I'm Getting Cranky.....

2009-10-07T22:35:00.000-07:00

Andy's sick and I'm tired. Together we're sick and tired of the Swine.

and the pneumonia.

Andy's been on antibiotics for the pneumonia for 48 hours now and he's no better. He had a temp of 101 a couple of hours ago. If he's not better in the morning I'm calling up the Doc. Maybe he needs some breathing treatments or something.

The Swine came a calling 14 days ago. Blecht.

At work I'm having an issue of another sort. I am in charge of 20+ student employees. When they don't do their job I feel like it reflects on me. Tonight I'm quite unhappy. I just sent 2 buses full of students to hike the Menan Butte. Normally I have 2 of our more senior students lead each bus's field trip. I couldn't get enough to sign up, so I only had one student scheduled per bus. The busses leave 1 hour apart, so as one group gets done, the other starts. The rest of the time is driving to and from the Butte. Well.....I had a no-show student leader on the second bus. One student had to handle 2 busses normally handled by 4 students. I'm disappointed in them. I feel like kicking some butts. It's a good thing I have all night to calm down. By tomorrow I will just be ticked off. By tomorrow I don't think I'll draw blood.

An Apple a Day Doesn't Work

2009-10-05T16:48:00.000-07:00

All Andy's eaten for about a week is an apple a day. According to folklore this is supposed to preclude any doctoral visits. Not so.

We ended up taking Andy to the doctor this afternoon. They poked, prodded, listened to, asked questions of, and gave him the royal once-over and stated that they believe he has the Swine Flu. It's just what we believe he has. They had to draw blood for a confirmation. Andy said, "good luck with that". Doc asked him if he was afraid of needles and Andy said, "nope, I just don't have any veins". I think the doctor thought he was exaggerating. After all Andy is a huge 6'3" 230 pound guy. Usually guy's his size have veins that virtually pop out. 30 minutes, 4 tourniquets, 2 warm wet cloth wraps, and 3 needle sticks later they believed. The Doc and nurse both said he was built for self preservation. If a bear attacked he probably wouldn't bleed much. He veins would just dive for cover under his bones and cower there until it was safe to come out. But the Doc did perservere and got a blood sample. We'll find out tomorrow whether or not he has a confirmed case of the Swine.

While doing the body check the Doc noticed he had one lung that was not sounding too good. He sent us for x-rays. Before we got home we got a phone call telling us the x-rays showed pneumonia. Now he's on antibiotics for that. Poor Andy. He's not liking the Swine.

He hates the Swine,
It ain't so fine,
Can't work his job,
Feels like a slob,
When will it end,
When will he mend?

Sorry. I got carried away........

Snippets

2009-10-04T18:06:00.000-07:00

How long can the flu last? I keep thinking he's over it, but no dice. I guess he needs to build back up his strength. He hasn't had anything but apples for days. Don't ask me why he just wanted apples. He said it was the only thing that appealed to him. I did manage to entice him to eat about 2 ounces of steak tonight. He also had a heaping bowl of jello.

Well, that's not quite accurate. He heaped his bowl with jello, and then ate about half of it. I think his eyes were bigger than his tummy. And this is the kid I could never fill up.

It was my kind of day today. Rainy! I went for a walk in it. It was invigorating. Then I came back to a stifling hot house. Joni got at the thermometer again. I swear that girl needs to move to Arizona. Or the equator.

I enjoyed conference. The last two days were full of peace and comfort. I'm glad I could listen to most of it. I finished a necklace I started making yesterday. It's pretty good I think. Joni liked it and she's my fashion consultant, so I guess I did okay. Maybe I'll even post a picture of it. Maybe.

I decided to tackle my drawing again and turn it into an illustration. I scanned it and brought it into Photoshop. Wow! I really forgot how to use Photoshop. I worked on it for an hour, cleaning up the lines and designing it a bit better. Then I printed it out. My big plan was to transfer the pattern to a piece of Bristol paper and ink it. Then I was going to watercolor it. Now that it's on the paper and inked I almost think I might put it back in Photoshop and paint it in there. Who knows, maybe I'll do both. I'm just plugging away at my art, trying to get my groove back. I guess it will get easier, but right now I feel like I'm stuck in mud, straining at each step as I pull my galoshed boot from the sucking mud. I can't wait to get back on the little forest path that winds around in effortless and interesting ways.

It had to be Swine

2009-10-02T16:22:00.000-07:00

I found out how they keep the Swine Flue numbers so low for this area.
They don't test anyone to see if they have it!

Andy has been sick for over a week. I've never seen anyone so sick for so long. He really got bad last Friday and Saturday. On Sunday morning we decided we'd better take him up to the hospital. Mike called first and was told, "we wouldn't do anything for him that you can't do at home, and we'd just cost a lot more money".

So we kept him home.

When he first got sick I asked him how he felt.
"I'm dizzy everytime I stand up, I can't quit sweating, I ache all over, my stomach hurts, and it feels like I have tobacco in my throat."
Huh? I said, "I didn't know you knew what having tobacco in your throat feels like."
and he said, "I do now!"

He's had a high fever and a hard time breathing all week. He's sweated buckets. One night he lost 7 pounds. All the blankets sheets, and pillows he's used have been washed and rewashed. Every time I touch something I think, "Andy probably touched/breathed on/coughed on this" and I go wash my hands. My hands feel like dry sandpaper. The house smells like Lysol. I've got 4 cans that I continue to use in copious amounts everytime I think Andy has probably touched/breathed on/coughed on anything. I'm not known for my stellar immune system, but so far I haven't caught anything (knock on wood).

He's looking a lot better this afternoon. I'm glad. I just hope his fever doesn't spike again tonight. Just one morning I would like to wake up and not see a pile of sweat-soaked blankets and Andy-sized clothes strewn all over the bathroom.

Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go wash my hands and spray down the keyboard.

Just Start

2009-10-01T21:29:00.000-07:00

I was in a group of people. We were waiting. I had a pencil and a pad of paper with me. I looked around. There were some very interesting faces. They hardly moved as we waited. I started to draw. It felt pretty good. It's been a long time since I've drawn anything. I was quite startled to realize that what I was drawing was really good! I thought to myself, "why haven't I been drawing for so long? I'm pretty dang good at it!" The faces were captured on my pad, one after another.

The waiting ended. I hurriedly put away my pad and pencil and stood up.

and then I woke up.

I think it was a sign. I need to start drawing again, whether I feel like it or not.

So tonight, after cleaning up another vomit mess and feeling drained that after a week my son was still sick, I went in the studio.

I got out my pad, and my pencil, and I started to draw.

and I thought to myself, "why haven't I been drawing for so long? I'm pretty dang bad at it!..........but I'll get better."

And you know what? It felt pretty dang good.

Hope

2009-09-20T19:15:00.001-07:00

Fear not, I am with thee

2009-09-17T17:06:00.000-07:00

When little Jace was diagnosed with Leukemia last week, his world turned upside down.
And so did his parent's.

Things are never the same after a diagnosis of cancer. When in the thick of the illness you lose touch with the life you led before. Things that used to loom so important barely even register in your conscious mind.

Sports. (Why all the fuss? Did I really care that much? What was I thinking?)
Success. (Don't care about the promotion. Don't care about overtime. Just don't drop me from insurance.)
Popular culture (What new movie? What new book? Who cares what the latest style is as long as my body is covered so I can get to the hospital.)

I remember going to the store for the first time after learning of my Dad's cancer. I felt like everyone was so blind. Don't they all know of the change which has occured? Can't they see it on my face? Can't they see my pain?

And later, when all the treatments had stopped, and my Dad was within days of dying. I couldn't help it. When a store clerk or casual acquainences would ask if I was having a good day I would tell them.
No.
I'm not.

And I would think,
My Dad will most likely be dead by next week.
Thanks for asking.

There's something about learning of another's cancer diagnosis that brings all this back to the forefront. And makes it seem like it's happening all over again.

Even though my Dad was old, and the old are expected to die
It's still hard.

Jace is so young,
and so the pain is compounded.
He's been in my thoughts a lot since I heard.
And so have his parents.

And whenever I think of them, I think of these words:

Fear not, I am with thee; O be not dismayed!
For I am thy God, and will still give thee aid;
I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.

It speaks peace to my soul. I hope it will speak also to them.

Pics from the Coast

2009-09-05T21:53:00.000-07:00

He's so cute!

Mike, sucking in for the pic.

If you look really hard you can see people down in the water.

2009-09-02T18:36:00.000-07:00

Friday:
Drive to Newport Beach, Oregon.

Saturday:
Play, including scouting out the area for future possible retirement location possibilities.
Stay the night at Agate Beach, Oregon

Sunday:
Play, including going to the Dahlia festival and Richardson Rock Ranch.

Monday:
Drive home.

Can't wait.

Can't wait.

Can't

wait.

The Hike

2009-08-30T11:31:00.001-07:00

Upon finding out that Lagoon was closed on Friday........

Joni: (texting Lisa) "what should we do? we could hike Tablerock."
Joni: (immediately upon sending text, thinking) "please say no, please say no..."
Lisa: (upon reading Joni's text, thinking) "how do I get out of this, I don't want to go, its so hard, and hot.."
Lisa: (texting Joni) "sure! Let's do it."
Joni: (reading text from Lisa, thinking) "crap!"

Joni, Abby, Andy, and Lisa and Tyler go hike Tablerock on Friday.
Joni and Andy only got about 3 hours sleep the night before.
Joni kept reminding Andy to prepare, get food ready, Etc.
Abby didn't really want to go. Didn't feel good that day, wanted to go shopping instead. She decided to buck up and go anyway.
I asked Joni to make sure Andy wears shorts and eats breakfast before they leave.

Lisa and Tyler pick them up at 7 am.

Tablerock is a very strenuous hike. My family once took my brother-in-law on it. He is an extremely experienced hiker. Currently he is in Iceland hiking. He couldn't believe how hard it was, and how unprepared he thought we were. He said most experienced hikers would consider it a two-day hike. He insisted they all eat cookies and sugar to avoid altitude sickness. Not only is it an extremely long hike, but it is, in some parts, almost straight up, or straight down depending on which way you're going.

Friday morning arrives.

Andy had 2 pops for breakfast, filled 2 ziploc bags with fish crackers, and pronounced himself ready. He did wear shorts without any prodding from Joni, and was quite offended that I thought she would have to tell him. As he said, "you must not think I have any common sense."

It took them 5 hours.
Just to get to the top.
Andy, being a bit short in the common sense department, has to beg water off of everyone. He didn't bring any. He is sweating buckets. He tries to take shortcuts and instead of doing the switchbacks goes straight up the mountain. I'm told that it's a good thing I didn't see him do it. They all thought we'd have a funeral to plan before Andy got off the mountain.

Joni, being short on sleep, experienced extreme vertigo. She had to look straight at her feet only, crept along, hugging the mountain at times and refused to move. She started to wonder how freaked out she would have to get before they called a helicopter to come and pluck her off the top. When the breeze would gust she felt like the entire valley was swelling up and down, just like the waves of the ocean.
She would most likely still be up there if Tyler hadn't given her his walking stick and helped her along.

Abby was probably one of the smartest people in the group. She went on most of the hike, but then decided she couldn't do the last most difficult part. She stayed back and rested and waited for them to ascend and descend. She felt very badly that she didn't do the whole thing. I'm thinking Abby was one of the few who actually used a little bit of intelligence that day.

The very tired, very sore, hiking group got home about 13 hours after starting.

Walking looked painful.
Toenails may come off.
Sunburns hurt.
Blisters and rashes ached.
Joni's foot had a blister so large it looked like she had a sixth toe.

They all looked like they had so much fun.
I'm really sorry I didn't go with them......NOT!

Pictures from Lisa and Tyler, probably the only 2 who really enjoyed the day.

Mama's Wish List

2009-08-11T11:23:00.001-07:00

It's not too early to start putting out my Christmas List, is it?
This amazing little wagon thing would really save on my back and my knees while gardening. I would sure love one. hint hint

A couple of my friends have been doing this awesome workout that they say is FUN! I'd like to try it.

2009-08-11T10:27:00.000-07:00

Every new child that comes is so unique. It is a grand adventure to discover just who this little person is that came to bless your lives. Some babies just seem so easy. Their little faces are like open books, you can almost hear every little thought and emotion. They hardly ever cry and are "good natured".

Some babies are more mysterious.

My brother was one of these. You didn't really know what he looked like until he was about a year old due to the fact that his mouth was always wide open in "screaming and crying" mode. That auspicious beginning did not in any way foretell a life of moodiness and sullen behaviour though. In fact I would daresay that he is one of the most fascinating funny people I have ever met, (in a weird quirky way!)

My youngest daughter Abby was my little mystery. She cried almost constantly for 6 months, earning her the not very nice nickname "Crabby Abby". Now she is anything but. She is sweet, tender, thoughtfull, and probably the most calm of all my children. I'll admit it was very hard when she was in her crying phase.

And now my youngest 6-month old grandson seems to be following in he great-uncle and aunt's footsteps. He is a very tender little guy. He needs a peaceful calm atmosphere, startles easily, and cries a good deal of the time. As a grandmother I can see how wearing it is on his parents. I know they are doing a good job and nurturing and caring for him very well. I just hope they realize it won't last forever. And that if they will take the time and care to discover the wonderful little personality that is behind the wails it will be well worth it. He is such a precious little gift and I'm so glad he came to our family.

2009-08-10T08:53:00.000-07:00

I had big plans for this past weekend. There aren't too many summer weekends left. Our family was going to take a float trip down the river. I was going to babysit my 2 grandbabies while everyone else went. I wanted to set up tents in the back yard, have a camp fire, lots of good bonding time and fun.

It didn't turn out that way. Not at all.
No float trip - too cold
Alternate activity at the gym was a bust.
Andy and I set up the tents in gale force winds, determined to get them up.
Nobody (except one 2-year-old) set foot in them, but I did get a rip in one, courtesy of the wind.
No campfire. But that wasn't due to the wind. Saturday was actually pretty good in the weather department.

It wasn't the best weekend. Not at all.

The one bright spot was that I got to spend a bit of time with the babies. I love those guys so much. I get to see them on Wednesday also, while their mamma plays in the concert at the tabernacle.

I'm not making plans anymore. Everytime I do they fall apart. I need to just fly by the seat of my pants".

It reminds me of the weekend my parent's and siblings decided to have a family reunion. I'd just heard about another family reunion and all the fun activities they had. I decided to take one of those activities to mine. I showed up with all the equipment, visited for a while and then tried to get someone to come do the activity. Everyone just ignored me. I announced a few times that I had this awesome activity for anyone interested. No one was.

This last weekend felt a lot like that.

*sigh*

2009-08-07T20:52:00.000-07:00

"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live."
- J.K. Rowling

I was letting so much of living pass me by while immersed in blogs and the world wide web.

That is one reason I haven't had too much to say lately. And one reason I haven't visited my blogging friends more. I'm sorry. I need to be doing more things in the actual world, not the virtual one.

Yesterday

2009-08-06T08:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I:
~worked 6 hours at my job including making 2 illustrations for my boss to use during his devotional speech next Tuesday.
~picked strawberries
~weeded a flower bed
~power-walked for 30 minutes while watching lightening pop around my head
~made 2 batches of freezer jam
~blanched and froze a quart of peas from my garden
~read 6 chapters in my book
~watched half a movie
~crochet half of a hot pad
~made a loaf of homemade bread
~and worked on organizing my food storage room

No wonder I can't get into the mood to do much art. I don't have the time!

Either Pay Through the Nose or Gum it to Death

2009-08-04T09:09:00.000-07:00

I don't go to dentists. I grew up in the era of horrible deadenings, slow drills, smoke rising from the depths of my oral cavity, and PAIN.

I've been very blessed with hard teeth. Thank you Mom and Dad. Genetics can be a good thing. (or a bad thing, see previous post)

In the last 30 years I have been to the dentist 6 times, so you know I was concerned when I called and made the appointment for yesterday.

The good news is that my teeth look surprisingly healthy.

The bad news is that every one of my silver fillings has to be replaced due to decay underneath. Thankfully I only have 7 of them. And I have to replace a crown and have one additional crown.

The dentist said that should set me up for the rest of my life.

And it's only going to cost an arm and a leg, a small price to pay for a flashing great smile.

Joni says just do it. No one takes you seriously after your teeth fall out.

How Depressing

2009-08-04T09:05:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading a book.

On one hand it made me feel better because there is nothing more that I can do. I'm doing everything I can

On the other hand I felt terrible because there was nothing I could do about my sorry state of affairs. I'm hopeless.

The book?

Rethinking Thin by Gina Kolata

Wisdom Words of OSC

2009-07-28T23:33:00.000-07:00

"He lay down fully dressed on his bed, not meaning to fall asleep yet. He just needed to think. About what, he wasn't sure.

So instead he thought about nothing. About things in the room. About the athletic trophies in a box in the closet. How much of his life was that? The shelves of books - so much time reading. Neither of them amounted to anything. He ran. He lost or he won. No one remembered a week later. And the books he read - what did that amount to? University people were always so proud of being readers instead of television watchers, but what was the difference, really? It was a one-way transmission. I read, but it made no difference to the writer. He never knew. And when I'm dead, what will it matter the books I read? My memory is where the book ends up, just like the TV show, and when I'm dead, that memory is gone from the world.

Like running the hurdles. Work so hard, jump over every one, fast, high enough but no higher, because you can't afford to hang in the air. And then, when the race is over, you're dripping with sweat, either they beat you or you beat them...and then a couple of guys come out and move the hurdles out of the way. Turns out they were nothing. All that work to jump over them, but now they're gone."

Thank You, NOT!

2009-07-12T15:50:00.000-07:00

On their way home from church Abby and Andy saw a stray dog on the freeway. Being from a crazy-for-animals family they stopped and picked it up. It had a tag on it with a website address and a ID number.

They carted the dog home and put it in the garage. Oscar went CRAZY in the house. Abby got the number and Joni looked up the website. After calling the number listed on the site and giving the ID number they got an address. They Googled the address to find out where to return the wayward pup.

Meanwhile Abby had taken out a dish of dog food. No one will ever accuse the Mitchells of cruelty to animals.

As Joni was looking up the address Andy was saying that he should get the reward for picking up the dog. Abby laughed at him and said, "the dog probably was only missing for an hour. I doubt you'll get a reward."

With address in hand they packed the puppy back into the car and went to return him to his family.

They went up to the door, dog on leash, and rang the doorbell.

The door opened.....

A woman looked at them holding her poor lost puppy dog and said.......

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!!" (to the dog, not to Abby and Andy, thank heavens)

She took the dog and Abby and Andy returned home,

without even a thank you,

let alone a reward.

2009-07-07T10:26:00.001-07:00

I don’t mind getting out of bed in the morning.
But after that I don’t much want to do anything.

I don’t want to go to work.
At work I don’t want to work.

I don’t want to paint, or write, or talk, or walk.

I don’t feel well.

I don’t feel social.

Maybe a vacation would help.

Or Cymbalta.

June's Gifts

2009-07-03T08:53:00.000-07:00

I had this ready on June 30th, but just wasn't in the mood to list my blessings. I probably should have done it anyway, to quit feeling sorry for myself. But instead I allowed myself a couple of days of self-pity. I'm ready to move on.

In June I was thankful:

~in Joni's last semester of school here, on the last basketball team she played on they finally won the championship. They went undefeated, all got along with each other, no big egos or showboats, and Won the big gold trophy. It was a good way to end her college sports career.

~that we have wild bunnies hopping around our front yard. A nice little bunny family consisting of 2 adults and 3 babies (so far). They are fun to watch.

~that we had a record rainfall for June. I loved the weather in June. The cooler, wet climate always makes me feel the best. I have not felt well for the last few days. It's been hot. Me and hot don't get along.

~that we just decided on the spur of the moment to take Oscar to the lake. We were only there about an hour, but it was fun anyway. We laughed ourselves silly watching him try to swim. Big fat little Lhaso Apso bodies are not made for swimming. His little legs would start paddling furiously in the air as Joni lowered him into the water. His body just kept sinking until just his nose was poking up. Then she would help him get into the shallow water where he stood, belly deep, and enjoyed getting cooled off. The downside to this little outing was that it got me in the mood to go camping. My whole family is so busy that they all say they want to go, but nobody seemed to be able to fit it in.

~for some fun memorable ditcher-times with my daughters.

~for David's family being able to come for a visit. Even though the airshow was a little overwhelming for Nathan it was still a fun time having them here. I love my grandbabies.

Ditcher Time on the Taco Bus

2009-07-01T18:39:00.000-07:00

I have a fun tradition with my daughters. Every Tuesday at 2:00 we go to lunch together. We call this "Ditcher Time". The reason for the name is due to the fact that actually all four of us should be going to a meeting during that Tuesday 2:00 hour. We started this tradition about 3 years ago. It's great fun. Sometimes there are just 2 or 3 of us, but quite often we are all able to go. We take turns picking the lunch spot. We've eaten at Applebees, Wingers, Baijio, New York Burrito, Wendy's, Fong's, and a few other places. The problems begin when It's Joni's turn to choose. She would never pick a place. If we pressed her, she would tell us she wasn't hungry and was just going along for the ride.

Well, a couple of weeks ago she said that for the next Ditcher Time she wanted to eat at the Taco Bus. A new eating establishment appeared in town in the shape of a bus.

It has an awesome mural painted on the side.

She wanted to go try it out. I have to admit I was less than enthusiastic about climbing aboard this vehicle to have lunch, but that's part of Ditcher Time, going where-ever.

We pulled up to the bus yesterday at 2:00. As soon as we stopped the car we noticed about 5 guys all lined up at the bus windows staring at us. I felt a little weird, I was in a dress, after all, not exactly dressed for the casual dining a taco bus inspires. We made Joni get on the bus first, since it was her idea, and we all cowered along behind. Joni very bravely got on and said to the gawking guys, "So, how does this thing work?" The guys all pointed to a counter close to the back of the bus that separated the "dining area" from the "kitchen". We all marched back and placed our orders at the counter. Then we found our seats. The original bus seats had been removed and replaced with a long counter right beneath the windows. There was a long bench in front of the counters, so you sat on the bench facing the windows. Now we understood why all those guys seemed to be staring us down.

Since there was a row of bench/counters going down each side of the bus, it was a little cramped. When you finished ordering and tried to make your way back to the bench the other people behind you in line had to try to get out of your way.

As we were sitting on the benches we watched a lady pull up in her car, (now we were the ones gawking at her!), and climb the steps to enter the bus. She immediately started talking to us. "I hear this is a pretty good place to eat." There must be something about the intimacy of sharing a taco bus that breaks down social barriers that inhibit strangers from randomly conversing with each other.

The food was great! And very reasonably priced. And we had a great time. We just may make another trip back to
the taco bus

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggidy Jig

2009-06-30T19:43:00.000-07:00

All right, all right. I will tell the story of the bunnies. You can quit begging. There's only so much of that a person can stand.

I thought about naming this "True Confessions" but I thought I might get a bunch of hits looking for something a little wilder than a bunny tale. The confession will come later. First of all I'll tell you about the baby.

We have "wild" bunnies in our yard. They are loose and fend for themselves. For about 20 years they mostly stayed over in our next door neighbors yard, but for some reason about a month ago a couple of them moved into our front yard.

Last night Mike was mowing the lawn, his favorite past-time since all it involves is sitting and driving. Not too much manual labor involved. All of a sudden he started hollering and yelling. We were all in the house and couldn't understand a thing he was saying, but his tone of voice was very excited and urgent. Of course Oscar picked up on that and began to frantically run around the house barking and pawing at the doors. Finally I understood what Mike was yelling.

"Don't let Oscar out! Whatever you do, don't let Oscar out!!!"
I almost opened the door to ask Mike what he was yelling about, and Oscar surely would have escaped. It's a good thing I went to our big picture window and asked him through the screen instead.

Mike then told us there was a tiny little bunny under Andy's car. After a little while we saw it hop out onto the lawn, keeping close to it's mother. It was so tiny I thought it was just a little bunch of grass where the lawnmower had dropped some. The other rabbits are monster sized. They live the good life feasting on 5 acres of grass.

This morning I really wanted to see the baby up close. I walked around very quietly. I saw the hole which the adults had built a few weeks ago, but no luck with spotting the baby.

I told the girls that if they saw it while I was at work they were to get some pictures with my camera. Sure enough, as soon as I left a baby bunny came out and feasted. Abby got some good close shots of it. It was a different one than I had seen the night before. This one was brown. Last night's baby was grey with spots.

Tonight I thought it might come out again. I took a lawn chair, my camera, a bottle of water, and my sketchbook out to sit quietly and wait. There was one adult munching happily on the grass, not too concerned about the lady in the chair.

I spent some time sketching it as it moved around, changing positions and keeping a watchful eye out for any danger.

Mike saw me out there and brought Oscar out on a leash to keep me company. That was not exactly what I wanted as I knew the mother would never bring out her tiny baby with this excited canine lurking about. But it was still relaxing sitting out in the shade, sketching. I sketched some of Oscar, who never took his eyes off the big bunny 30 feet away.

I never did see the baby. I'm hopeful that I'll get a glimpse and some more pictures tomorrow.

Now for the confession.

The bunnies were originally ours. We got them for our kids for Easter,when they were little, about 20 years ago. The kids kept forgetting to lock the cages and the 2 bunnies kept escaping. I got so tired of catching the dang things and locking them back up that I just let them stay free. They moved to the neighbors back yard and thrived. We never told the neighbors where they came from. They are very protective of them and consider them almost like pets. I can't really see the need to tell them of our part in their origins.

So, I can't really complain when some of our pet's great-great-great-great.............. (well, you get the picture) grandkids, come back to their roots.

So Many Good Stories.....

2009-06-30T16:37:00.000-07:00

What should I write about today.

~ About the tiny little bunny that's hopping and eating it's way through my flower garden, and how it's mamma is keeping a close watch for that killer cat that we affectionately call Burns?

~ About the lovely little luncheon I had today with my 3 lovely daughters on the lovely taco bus?

~ About the Indianapolis speedway in my front yard?

~ About Oscar's swimming foray?

~ About having to choose between hot air balloons, a fifer, a death ride or nothing, and nothing may be winning the vote?

Decisions, decisions. What's the vote? What should I write about?

The Attack of the Potato Vines

2009-06-25T18:09:00.000-07:00

We didn't quite get around to dumping the old potatoes from our food storage room this spring until things got a little out of control. Abby insisted I take a photo of the room before we hauled away the boxes.

Poor little things. They were just looking for the sun and soil.

New York Times interviewed ME!

2009-06-24T13:18:00.000-07:00

Yes, they sought me out and interviewed me yesterday. Can you guess why?

Air Show

2009-06-23T20:42:00.001-07:00

On Saturday we went to the air show at the small airport in town. Here are some photos of the day.

A Morsel from My Art Readings

2009-06-13T17:21:00.000-07:00

"Keeping oneself alive is not living."
-Theophile Gautier

2009-06-12T16:03:00.000-07:00

Linda completed the quiz "Which Classic Hollywood Actress Are You?" with the result Katharine Hepburn.
You’re Katharine Hepburn! You are independent, intelligent, and extremely successful. You are one of a kind and loved for your unique beauty. Men are drawn to you because of your intensity and quickness of tongue. You have an unparalleled spirit and no woman can upstage a man quite like you. You take control of your future and will never let anyone define you. You will always be devoted to the love of your life, even it means facing scrutiny and ridicule. You really know who you are, and you will be remembered as one the most distinctive women of your time.
Classic Katharine Hepburn Movies: The Philadelphia Story, Woman of the Year, The African Queen.

Hearing A Silent Message

2009-06-10T16:31:00.000-07:00

As I was driving into work this morning I found myself stuck behind 2 slow-moving vehicles. They were going 35 in a 50 mph zone. The first one was a farm truck pulling a trailer, the second one was a landscape truck full of trees and shrubs. It was a long stretch and I couldn't see anyone coming. Normally I wouldn't have thought twice about it and I'd have passed them both. For some reason,though, I just stayed back behind them, poking along at 35 miles per hour.

Suddenly up ahead a car came flying out of a residence's yard and came toward us. He didn't stop and check for traffic. He just flew out and sped down the road.

If I'd been in the middle of passing I would have hit him head on.

I love it when my guardian angel can actually get messages through my thick skull.

And I love it when I actually listen.

Can't Lose For Losing

2009-06-10T12:40:00.000-07:00

12-15 years ago I was put on Advair. I never had asthmatic attacks, just that awful feeling of hearing gurgling when I breathed. Advair is expensive. I kept wondering if I really needed it.

Then I happened to read something that got me thinking about Advair's side effects. There was a big one.

Weight gain.

Sure the doctor's poo poo that idea. Say it's not a problem. But the more I searched on the internet, the more convinced I was that Advair was an evil sinister entity out to pump me up, and I don't mean with bulging muscles.

I quit taking my Advair. That was a week ago. At first I thought it would be okay. I was a little more short of breath, I couldn't walk as fast as I normally do (I usually almost race-walk) and sure I was so dead tired at the end of the day that I couldn't motivate myself to do anything.

That's not entirely true. I forced myself to take my nightly powerwalk and dragged my butt around the course, thinking the entire time that I should have brought my cell phone so I could have someone come and pick me up.

And I didn't lose a pound.

I gave up last night and inhaled a deep breath of Advair.

It was so invigorating to take a deep cleansing breath this morning. No tightness.
No fatigue.

I may not lose any weight, but at least I won't sleep through life.

You Know Who You Are......

2009-06-07T09:02:00.000-07:00

Just because you didn't want to deal with the last two kittens from the litter.
Just because you were cruel and heartless.
Just because you didn't think of any consequence passed the moment when you tossed those babies from your moving car.
Just because of all that I spent the next 18 hours dealing with your mess.
My eyes aren't swollen from crying anymore.
Not that you care.
Just because you're you.

May's Gifts

2009-06-01T21:41:00.000-07:00

I am thankful for:
~That Abby's not a teenager anymore. Whew! What a hard time having a teenage daughter. I'm so glad I lived through it. (see comments below) (Of course I didn't forget you Abby, I wanted to see if anyone else caught it. Way to go Lisa. You win the prize.)
~Andy being ordained an Elder. He's a good young man and I'm proud that he's made such good choices so far.
~That Joni, Mike and I took a little road trip and saw some cool interesting things.
~I'm thankful that Joni was accepted into law school, and even though she made the decision to pursue an advanced nursing degree instead of law, it is very awesome that she had both avenues open to her.
~That mom's cataract surger was a success and she regained the sight in her eye. She was so relieved and happy to be able to get back to her favorite activity.
~That I was released from being the primary chorister. I had fun doing it, but was starting to feel drained and stressed. Now I look forward to new things.
~That Andy graduated from high school with honors. Like I said before, he's a good kid.
~That I was able to watch Andy golf in a tournament. Joni, Abby and I all followed him around 18 holes of golf and had a great day.
~That Grandma Mitchell was able to come for Andy's graduation. We were able to celebrate her 79th birthday while she was here.
~ That we had a fun night roasting marshmallows over a fire in our back yard. There's just something about gathering around a campfire with your family that builds some good lasting memories.

I can't wait to see what June will bring.

Snakes

2009-05-29T08:07:00.000-07:00

There are a few snakes around here. The other day on my walk I almost stepped on one that was crossing the road. Last fall I found 2 of them in my garage. It really concerned me as I knew they were heading for a winter nest and I sure didn't want that to be in my garage, house, foundation, or anywhere close to me. I knew some people years ago that had a snake infestation in their house. I thought it was a fluke and not very common, but then I read in the local paper about 2 other houses with the same problem. Then a couple of years ago my neice and her family moved into an old farm house. They also are besot with snakes. She finds them everywhere. She could pull open a drawer to get some silverware and there would be a snake.

I really don't like snakes. They scare me everytime I see one, and it doesn't matter their size or "harmless" ness.

So you can imagine my level of anxiety when I watched as a large lime green colored snake slithered its way toward my front porch. I watched helplessly as it disappeared underneath it. As I was standing there wondering what to do I noticed the grass movement. There was another snake coming. This one was a lot smaller, and brown, but it too slid its elongated body under my front steps. I was starting to panic when I saw 2 or 3 more coming. I ran in the house to warn everyone to stay away from the front porch until we figured out what to do. One of my daughters immediately left the room. In no time flat she was back.......with the largest rattler I had ever seen. She deftly held it, and started taunting one of the other kids with it. I was scared to death and screamed at her to take it outside. She confidently kept holding the snake. I was screaming at her trying to make her see reason and take the snake out, but she continued on.

And then I woke up.

I hate dreams like that. But I'm sure glad it was one. I think there's a message there for me. I'm pretty sure I know what it is. That daughter has a monumental decision to make today. She can't listen to me. She needs to make up her own mind.

I Don't Know Whether She's Happy or Embarrassed

2009-05-26T08:53:00.000-07:00

My daughter's neighbor has a long haired cat.
It gets mighty hot here in the summer. After all, we are in a desert.
The neighbor is trying to keep her poor kitty cool, so she gave her a hair cut,
a lion cut.

Graduation and other family pictures

2009-05-24T16:58:00.000-07:00

Andy graduated from high school on Thursday. He surprised us all when he was given the honors cords. We're pretty proud of him.

David and Emily stayed with us for a couple of days before they went home. Nathan was fascinated with the horses in our back yard and kept wanting to go back to see them. Whenever we took him back there, though, he leaned as far away as he could. I think they were a little more intimidating than he thought they would be.

We gathered in Lisa and Tyler's back yard to celebrate Mike's mother's birthday. We took a group picture before the cake and ice cream.

David and Andy showing a little brotherly love....

The Fam

2009-05-16T11:28:00.001-07:00

I was looking at some old family pictures and found this one. It's one of my favorites. It's a bit outdated now. The baby in Emily's arms was just a couple of weeks old then. He's 2 1/2 now and she and David have another baby boy who is 4 months old. Time flies.
Back row, left to right: Andy (graduating next week from high school), Joni (RN who is trying to decide whether or not to go to the law school she was accepted at), Abby (photo major, smart and funny girl) Bottom row: Lisa (professor, private music teacher, and doctoral student), me (Geology department office gopher), Mike (7th grade teacher, Youth community service coordinator and overseer, and city recreation gopher), Emily (teacher, flutist, mom of the 2 cutest kids ever born on the planet), Nathan (now a 2-year old cutie pie) and David (finishing up an EdU grad degree and dad of the 2 cutest kids ever born on the planet).

Just Look Around

2009-05-13T20:11:00.000-07:00

I've been feeling down in the dumps a bit lately. Nothing serious, just kind of feeling "out of sync". The last 24 hours has slapped me in the face really hard, though.

Last night Joni and Abby were both gone. Abby was at work and Joni was at the school. About 9:30 pm we heard a knock on the door. I looked out the window and saw a sheriff's truck parked in the driveway. My heart just sank. After locking up Oscar so he wouldn't attack the sheriff I opened the door. After asking him what I could do for him he asked if my husband was home. He was, so I went to get him, thinking the whole time that I did not want to hear what that sheriff had to say. When Mike came to the door the sheriff asked him if he was Mike Mitchell. He said yes. Then the sheriff pulled out a paycheck notification and handed it to him saying it was found down at the corner gas station. Mike thanked him and I wanted to go let Oscar loose so he could bite him for scaring me so badly.

I'm so thankful all my kids are safe and healthy.

Three days ago a 21 year old young man that we know just suddenly died with a seperated aorta. Last night a 19 year old was playing softball with his friends and climbed the home run fence to retrieve a ball. He touched a power line and was electricuted. You just never know when things are going to change, so for right now I am very grateful all my kids are alive and well.

Tonight after work I went to Walmart. When I was in the checkout line I happened to notice the people in front of me. The man, about 24, we've known for probably 15 years. He had brain cancer as a baby and had a big chunk of it removed. He gets along, but struggles a great deal. There is both mental and physical impairment.

I was curious about the young lady with him. I could tell she was an aide of some kind. She reminded him to pick up his change and the bags, and was very patient with him. Suddenly I realized that I knew her! She had changed drastically. She was also about 24. In high school she was vivacious and outgoing, with wholesome "girl-next-door" charm and friendliness. Her voice was beautiful and she often performed solos with the select choirs. Today, though, she looked haggard and mousy. Her blemished splotchy face and stringy drab hair was such a change that at first I wondered if it was indeed her. My heart went out to her. Our eyes met and I smiled a hello. Her eyes were infinitely sad. All the spark seemed to be gone.

I wasn't surprised. A few months back we heard that her husband was put on trial and convicted. He is now a registered sex offender.

Literally 20 minutes later I was in the grocery store picking up a few additional items and then went to the check out line. Someone got in line behind me. I had to do a double take. She had put on quite a bit of weight since I'd last seen her, but I knew this woman also. She and I took a pottery class last summer, and she also was in a geology class right after. My heart broke for her, too. It hasn't been but a couple of months since her husband was arrested for beating their baby. We talked for a couple of minutes about classes and school, and then I looked her in the eye and asked, "are you okay?" She started to tear up and shook her head yes. I didn't want to be the one to start a break-down right there in the checkout line, so I just said, "I hope you are." She sadly nodded her head.

When I start to feel the blues and that life just isn't handing me a very fun basket I need to remember today.

Things aren't that bad at all.

In fact, there pretty darn great.

Thinking about Dad

2009-05-12T08:00:00.000-07:00

Birthdays
A time to celebrate the anniversary of the beginning of a new life. New things to experience. It's a happy time with the gathering of family, friends, eating things that aren't necessarily good for you - just good.

I've been thinking about my Dad a lot in the last couple of weeks. How, just one year ago he was told there was nothing else to be done and that Hospice would be called in. How he got out of bed long enough to play one last game of Zilch with Abby and Joni and I, and how we all kept purposely losing so he could win. How just a week before the end we wheelchaired him from his bedroom to the tv room and all watched Quigley Down Under, and how much he seemed to enjoy it.

and then on May 12th of last year he died.

Deathdays
I think maybe the day you die here on Earth is just another birthday. Dad was born into a new life. New things to experience. A happy time for him with the gathering of family, friends and maybe eating some very good things that can't be bad for you anymore. Maybe in remembrance of my Dad's second birthday I will go make a cake. A birthday cake.

Peek a Boo

2009-05-04T17:15:00.000-07:00

"I can see you, but you can't see me.."

April's Gifts

2009-04-30T22:52:00.000-07:00

~ I passed a pretty hard perspective class. Even got an A-. Not bad considering I was sick sick sick the entire last week and handed my final in a week late.

~ We signed the papers for our house refinance, a good thing with much lower interest rates.

~ Mike bought me a MP3 so I could listen to books on tape while I walk. I love it.

~ I started another class and it's pretty easy. A lot of reading, but not too time consuming. I'm glad I like to read.

~ I was able to rototil part of my garden before it got snowy/rainy/cold again.

~ It's now too snowy/rainy/cold to go out and finish the rototilling.

~ Joni was accepted into law school. Now she just has to decide if that's what she wants to do.

~ Andy is still golfing with the high school golf team in spite of what his coach did to him. I'm just waiting to see if the school district will do anything about what happened, but small town experience has taught me that they will look the other way.

~ Abby did awesome on her first wedding photography job. I'm proud of her and know she'll be successful.

~ I'm able to take my mom to church with me. Since she can't see to drive right now she comes with us. It's kind of nice for both of us.

~ I went to a fun party and made bracelet watches. It was fun!

I'm looking forward to May. April was kind of tough. My cough is finally going away, not gone yet, but going. 3 weeks is long enough to cough your brains out. I'll probably be taking a few days off of work next week, so that should be kind of nice too. Well it will be nice until I get my reduced paycheck, but you can't have everything.

Facebook Wisdom

2009-04-28T18:54:00.000-07:00

I see quizzes on facebook all the time and hardly ever take them. Today I decided to stick my neck out and just see what came up. I took this quiz:
Linda just took the "Which Greek Goddess Are You?" quiz and the result is Artemis.

You are Artemis! The Greek Goddess of the moon and the hunt. Many people don't understand your personality, but you don't care. You're a rebel and you usually fall on the outskirts of society. You're unique and you embrace every aspect of that. Some say you're a wild child, and like Artemis, you know you are!

Kind of close to the truth. Maybe these quizzes are pretty accurate. So I tried another one:

"Which Tim Burton Character Are You?" with the result Edward Scissorhands.
You are very talented and artistic. Your character is very sensitive, even though people may think otherwise by your appearance. You begin to warm up to people after getting to know them for a while and often seem to be meeting new people in the neighborhood. Congratulations! You are Edward Scissorhands! .

I like that! If I could choose for myself I think I would have chosen these two. I may have to take more quizzes.

And now for your entertainment click on the following link.

AmericasCowboy

Yep, that's my classically trained violist daughter performing fiddle-tunes with her in-laws. Life is good.

Some images from my week

2009-04-25T23:10:00.000-07:00

Small Town Politics

2009-04-25T14:56:00.000-07:00

Living in a small town can be an excellent thing, or it can be torturous.

When things are going along well, then it's kind of fun to know everyone in town.

But, if something goes wrong,
if enemies are made,
and past mistakes are never forgiven,

THEN
A small town can be a prison that you want to escape from.

I Wanna Go To Oregon

2009-04-21T16:50:00.000-07:00

I want to hike the trails lined with ferns.
I want to pick wild berries.
I want to go to Oregon.

Catch Up

2009-04-16T17:34:00.000-07:00

School has been over for a week now. I'm just starting to feel like a burden has been lifted. I can hardly remember living for the last 4 months. I was treading water as fast as I could, just keeping the nose above drowning phase. Many things happened during the last while. I know I neglected putting it all down, so as I remember what I've forgotten to pass on I will be laying it all out here. If it seems a little out of order, it probably is.

Mom - she's got Macular Degeneration and has been slowly losing her sight for the past year or so. Not a good thing for someone who loves reading, knitting, reading, tv, reading and, oh yea, reading. She's had to go in to the doctor about once a month or so where he would give her a shot in her eyes to try and stop the blood from seeping into the eye's interior and stave off the macular. It's not fun to be stuck in the eye with a sharp stick, but it sure beats the alternative - blindness.
Anyway, last week she went in for her shot and then 2 days later she was almost completely blind. Everything was totally clouded over, visually. She went back into the doctor who told her she had a spontaneous cataract form almost overnight. He knew, because he'd just seen her 2 days previously. We don't know if it will get better or if she'll have to have surgery. Gees Louise, if it's not one eye problem it's another. We're all hopeful that Mom will regain her sight. She's much too active and engaged to have this things bring her down.

I got an A- in my Creative Perspective class. Quite a surprise to me. It really varies from teacher to teacher whether you get a good grade or not. Last semester I worked my tail off, and never missed a class. The teacher gave me a B, which is what I expected. This class, I worked my tail off, missed 2 classes and turned in my last assignment a week late. A-. I was expecting another B. I am not complaining. This summer I am going to take one on-line class. It should be pretty easy. I'm ready for easy. I will probably also sit in on a Science Foundations class taught by my department chair and boss. It sounds fascinating to me and I don't have to do any homework. ha ha. After that I still have to take either Sculpture or Ceramics, Readings, and a travel class before I can graduate with my BS in Art. I'm so close! And I'm only 51. I've still got plenty of time, right?

We just got word yesterday that our house refinancing was approved. Hurray! Our interest rate will go WAY down.

Lisa is still teaching lessons and taking classes from ISU. She should be done with her coursework for her doctorate next spring. (One year to go!) Then all the writing and stuff. She and Tyler are doing very well.

David is still in school and may be done next December? I'm not sure, he doesn't tell me much. Emily and the babies are doing pretty well, I think. I wish they lived closer so I could get my baby kissing in, but I guess you can't have everything.

Andy graduates from high school in a little over a month. Boy am I ready for him to be done with that. So is he. He's on the golf team and back working at the cemetery. (Which I think is a great job for him.)

Joni graduates with her BS in nursing in July. She got her AS in nursing last July. Then, who knows what she plans on doing. I have a feeling she's not quite done with school yet. She took the LSAT test (I think on a whim) and may go to law school. She may also go on to an advanced nursing degree. Then again she may try to find a job (good luck with that one in this day and age).

Abby is out of school until next Sept. and is working at one job and will hear next week about another. Her grades came back good enough that she'll have 3/4 tuition paid next year. That along with working should take care of school costs. The photos she took of her ex-roomates wedding are wonderful. She's been busy editing them. She just told me today that she had someone else hire her to take photos for a recital poster. Word is getting out.

Mike is working 3 jobs, still. He quit one of them a couple of months ago but they wanted him back and Mike has never learned how to say no, except when I want him to slow down, exercise, or eat right, but that's another story.......

Ta Da!!!

2009-04-13T22:53:00.000-07:00

It may be a week late.
It may be too late for any kind of grade at all.
But I don't care.
I'm done.
I finished my drawing.
My exterior, 3 point perspective, city-scape (in my case, farm-scape) is DONE!
I feel like celebrating. I took a picture. It's not a great photo because the drawing was large and I couldn't get it all from directly above, but here's a peak at it.

I'm getting it scanned tomorrow and then I'll turn it in. Yippee!!!

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

2009-04-13T14:51:00.001-07:00

From the National Weather Service, Pocatello:

SIGNIFICANT SPRING SNOW STORM POSSIBLE

A STRONG COLD FRONT IS EXPECTED TO BRING IN MUCH COLDER TEMPERATURES INTO THE REGION ON TUESDAY. SIGNIFICANT SNOW ACCUMULATION IS POSSIBLE TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY AS A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM TRAVELS THROUGH NORTHERN UTAH. TRAVEL THROUGH THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS AND EASTERN IDAHO COULD BE EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY.