Such a loss....

Photo by Meridian Magazine

Our earth lost a great and marvelous man last night.

Sunday, January 27, was a typical sabbath day for our family. We woke up, got ready for church, attended our meetings and then came home to spend family time together and relax. That evening W and I took our youngest daughter back to the church for the Primary's Eight is Great program. Our baby, Tiny, who really isn't a baby anymore, was so excited to go becuase she'd learn about her pending baptism and get more information about attending Activity Days. Her excitement was contagious and we had a fun evening watching her interact with her CTR-8 pals.

When we got home from that it was just after 8:00 and we were getting into our jammies to begin our nighttime ritual when the phone rang. I saw on the caller ID that it was my mom so I answered it. She said that she was calling to say she was sorry. Confused, I asked her why... She said she is so sorry about President Hinckley. My mom is not a member of the Church, so her statement startled me a bit. I asked her what happened?

She proceeded to tearfully tell me that she'd seen on the news that President Gordon B. Hinckley had passed away. All I could say is, "Oh no, I didn't know!" and I started to cry. I don't really know why the news was so unexpected to me, since he is 97 years old and has been looking a bit worn lately, but it really took me by surprise and I burst into tears and said goodbye to her.

My husband was instantly by my side asking me what was wrong and I was crying so much I had to breathe deeply to even get the words out. I think I scared the children with my reaction because they really didn't know how to handle the news. My husband choked up a bit and we went to the television to see what the news was saying.

I admit that I did overreact to the news. While I am sad that we have lost a very dear prophet, I know that he is now reunited with his dear wife and that he is surrounded by the love of God in paradise. I am happy for him. It just seemed as though he would go on forever and forever as our prophet and mouthpiece for Heavenly Father...

I know that the church will go on because it is the Lord's church. I will accept whomever is called to serve as President with all my heart because I know he will be called of God. All is well and as it should be.

I've still shed a tear or two over the loss, but happy for the progression.

Have a giggle!

This video never ceases to make me happy... how can you NOT giggle at a baby's belly laugh??

The Importance of Friends

Do you have one of those people in your life that make you laugh until your sides ache over dumb little things? A person that when you spend time with them, the time just flies by in a blink? A person who makes you feel good about yourself just by being with them? A person who would do anything for you at the drop of a hat and not expect anything in return?

I have one of those people... and I thank Heavenly Father for her every single day.

I don't know where I'd be without my pal. She is absolutely incredible and I'm sad that I haven't known her my entire life (though I know I chose her in the Pre-Existence), it just took us a while to find each other here on earth. I've never met a more generous, loving soul. Ever. I totally want to be her when I grow up.

My buddy and I had lunch together today. We sat down at the restaurant and it was literally 3:30 by the time we got up to leave. It didn't seem like we'd been sitting there for 3 hours. We talked and giggled the whole time... I'm sure I burned off a few calories from laughing so hard (bonus!). Afterwards we stopped at the grocery store because we each needed a few things and I wasn't ready to take her home. Again, total giggles up and down the aisles. Even mundane things become fun when you have a friend to share it with (although, she can go to her gynecologist by herself...).

They say that you can't take anything with you when you die... but I know that our friends are the most prized posssessions we can have on this earth and we will get to be with the really good ones up in heaven. I'm hoping that our plots are right next door to each other. Every Wilma needs a Betty!

I love you, pal. Thanks for the day. See you next week!!

What a loss.....

Heath Ledger, who starred in one of my all-time favorite movies (shown below) died today of an apparent drug overdose. There are many facets of this news that is sad, not the least of which is that he was only 28 and that he has a young daughter who will now never know her daddy.

Reports are still unconclusive as to whether the overdose was intentional or not. He was in an apartment awaiting a massage and when an assistant came to tell him the masseuse had arrived, he was found naked and dead with pills nearby.

What a shame. He's such a beautiful man with so much promise in his career. It just goes to prove that it doesn't matter how famous you are, money will NOT buy you happiness. It's too bad that he didn't reach out for help before he got so low that this was the only way out for him. Owen Wilson felt the same way last year and had it not been for good friends and timely intervention, he would be in the same boat.

I will mourn this loss. How very sad.

Don't What?

This is posted on my 7 year old's bedroom door.

I promise to not disterd. I swear.

A picture is worth.....

Here I am, Before:




Here I am, After:



Please don't notice there is also a significant weight difference between the two photos. Fifteen extra pounds followed me home one day and decided to stay. I'm working on finding a good home for them soon.....

Still Brunette

Yep, I'm still brunette. Most of the reaction I've received has been positive, but I'm still not sure if they are being sincere or if they are just trying to be nice. I still double-take when I pass by a mirror and at one point my oldest daughter, upon seeing me from behind, wasn't sure who I was. The change is definitely drastic.

My husband wasn't able to see the fruits of my derangement until Tuesday night about 9:30. I came home from book club and he was in the kitchen so I just walked in and stood there. He looked up at me, paused for a brief second, and said, "Wow, your hair is dark." That's it. I think I expected something more... something like in the old Tom & Jerry cartoons where the characters' eyes pop out of their head with an "aaahhhhooooogggggaaaaa" sound... but, I just get "wow, your hair is dark."

After he'd had a day to have the change grow on him a bit I asked him what he truly thought when he first saw my hair. He said, "Just what I said... wow, your hair is dark." He did say that he likes it, it's just different.

Hmmm, "different."

On a whim, I called my hairdress to see what could be done to tone it down a bit and she said we could do some highlights to bring the color down but that would cost $36 - way more than I can spend on a hairdo I already paid for. Anything else requires bleach and could turn my hair a lovely shade of pink. Grrrrrr. I'm essentially stuck being a brunette for a while. Guess I better get friendly with the girl in the mirror.

I'll post pictures soon.

I think I made a boo-boo

Uh oh... I may have made a major mistake today, but I really won't know for sure until this evening when I bring others in on my moment of insanity.

What did I do?

Well, after months of looking at myself in a mirror and trying hard not to gag at the reflection, I stormed calmly walked into my hairdresser's salon and demanded requested a change. She smiled, sat me in her swiveling chair, draped me in the cape and pulled out her little swatches of hair to choose from. I pointed to one and she went to mix the solution. Hair color is a bit deceiving since it looks harmless in a nice white-colored cream, which she generously slathered all over my head. I happily skipped over to the dryer to sit and process all the while trying to read lips as she talked to me and I (hopefully) responded in the right places at the right times.

:: as an aside, why in the world do people like hairdressers and dentists try to carry on coversations with their clients/patients when it's abundantly clear that they are unable to hear/speak back?? Why??? ::

After the dryer it was over to the sink to be shampooed and conditioned. I happily carried on a conversation with my energetic hairdresser where we giggled and chatted over the antics of children and the frustrations of lunatic siblings... and that's when she spun the chair around so I was face to face with myself in the mirror.

GASP!

I now have the same color hair as my hairdresser, though she admitted that she had never in her life been a blonde as I had been just 45 minutes earlier. My hair is now the color of a dark devils-food chocolate bon-bon where it used to be the color of frosting you'd see on a maple donut. A difference of about 8 shades.

I've had a good part of the day to let the change grow on me, but I still double-take when I pass by a mirror. My husband is going to flip out when he sees it. And, when I say flip out, I'm not sure if that's in a good way or not. I also have book club tonight, where I'll be gathered with several of my closest friends, who all have no idea I've made any changes to my appearance. Their reactions will dictate whether I find myself back in the hairdressers swivel chair tomorrow or not...

So, here I sit... waiting to exhale.....

Hello?

Hello... Hello... Hello...

Is there anybody out there?

Can anyone hear me?

The lights are on, but I don't think anyone is home.

Why do I even keep this blog account open? Maybe I think that someday I'll get hit with a literary stick and I'll begin to spout amazing posts and become a world famous blogger where people will flock from the four corners of the earth to hang on my every word, where even the little black school children from Africa who don't own computers will know me by name because I am THAT amazing.

Not possible, you say?

Yeah, I know. But, it was a good visual for the moment.

Sigh.

Down with Wal-Mart!!

I just got back from a harrowing experience. I went to Wal-Mart. That, in itself, is enough to send shivers down anyone's spine, but it gets better!! Not only did I go to Wal-Mart, but I specifically went to their "Customer Service" department.

What was I thinking???

I had been in just yesterday, and in all the hullaballoo of scanning my items and putting them in bags then getting the bags into the cart, one of my items went AWOL. I got home and checked my receipt. Sure enough, one of the items I purchased didn't make it home with me.

Thus, the visit to Customer Service.

They really need to come up with a better name for that particular department. "Customer Shoot-Us," or "Customer, We Don't Care About You" spring to mind... But I digress.

When I arrived I was #4 in line. Ahead of me was a clean-cut young man returning what appeared to be speakers (I had plenty of time to study his box as I stood behind him, but I was too busy watching the clock tick) and ahead of him was someone who was cashing a paycheck (I heard him mention it to whomever he was talking to on his cell phone); and, ahead of him was a couple who thought that perhaps they were waiting in line at a Best Western because clearly they needed a room! Gag me. Seeing people making out is just gross, especially when they look like they just crawled out from under a viaduct somewhere. Lucky for me I had PLENTY of time to watch them. The line did not move for 25 minutes... as in NOT AT ALL! I glanced behind me often and empathized with those who were last in line. I was last in line once too... but here I stood, #4.

You may be wondering what was worth standing in such an agonizing line for so long... Well, I'd like to say it was for something interesting, or awe-inspiring... but... well, it's not.

It was a colander. A spaghetti strainer. A simple little $6 item.

And now I need to schedule an optometrist appointment so he can get this red hot pokers out of my eyeballs. I doubt Wal-Mart has a department for that.

Down with Wal-Mart!!!!

There's always a first time...

I can't think of a better title than that... Today I had my first EKG. It was supposedly a simple check-up at my doctor's office, where he would check my vitals and see how I'm doing to evaluate the medication I'm taking. The nurse started with the usual -- blood pressure, temperature, and pulse. She commented that it was rather fast. I said that it's always like that, no big deal. She made her notes and left the room.

My doctor came in next, discussed how I've been doing and then he checked my pulse as well. He was alarmed. I was sitting there, at rest, and my pulse rate was 125 bpm. He said it was cause for an EKG. "Great" I thought, "More tests to rack up our bill." Not having health insurance really sucks. Someone get my congressman on the phone!!

So, the nurse comes back in with a little machine and tells me to disrobe, all the way down. That kinda took me by surprise, but I complied, all the while thinking how glad I am that the nurse is female. She said that she'd try to keep this as modest as possible, but there were a lot of places to stick those electrical wires and that paper gown didn't cover much... Thankfully, my husband was the only other person in the room.

The hardest part of the test was getting the nodes in all the right places -- the actual test only took a few seconds. She recorded the readings and then left the room so I could get dressed again and the doctor came back in (good thing I'm a quick dresser, or I would have been caught in my birthday suit!).

The readings came back fairly normal (thank goodness!!) but, even laying down, at rest, my heart rate was over 110.

People who excersize have a target heart rate in that range, and they're losing weight while in that range... Unfortunately for me, I'm not. Instead, I'm gaining. I haven't weighed this much since I was getting ready to deliver my last baby. The weight and the heart rate, and a plethora of other things, are side-effects of an anti-depressant I'm taking to help with headaches, an after-effect of the car accident I was in last December.

Sigh... sometimes I think the headache would be better. Though, I'll need a bigger pill once I receive the bill!! :: shudder ::

I Remember....

I won't forget.

Literary Musings

I'm sure the buzz has reached just about everyone who isn't living under a rock (yep, even me) and the Stephenie Meyers books have come under your radar. What's the big deal, you may ask? Well, since Harry Potter is yesterday's news, the literary world is trying to create a new phenomenon.

Unfortunately for them, I'm not sure the Twilight series has that kind of caliber.

Stephenie Meyers is a break-out author who published her first book "Twilight" in 2004 (I believe) with the sequel following in 2006 and the third in 2007.

I heard about "Twilight" through an LDS online group -- incidentally, the author is also LDS --and decided to give it a try. I like vampire stories. I thought it would be a good fantasy read that I could share with my daughters. However, by the middle of the book, I realized this was not really written for children. It's marketed for children and young adults, but (in my opinion) it's a little old (read: mature) for them. Perhaps I had an unrealistic expectation that this would be up to LDS standards, but the more I read, the more I realized it really wasn't.

I don't want to give too much of the plot away, so I'll choose my words carefully. The main gist of the story is about a plain, all-American girl who falls in love with a vampire and how their relationship progresses. As I read I was surprised at how "familiar" (in the words of my father in law) this couple acted. I would be appalled if one of my daughters had a boyfriend sneak in her room at night to sleep with her (no sex, just sleeping, but still....) And, I found all the talk of his lust for her blood as disturbing as if it were lust for her body (which occurs subtly as well). Vampires, by nature, are erotic creatures... they've been portrayed that way for eons, and Edward is no exception.

Did I put my expectations too high hoping this was a good LDS book? Maybe. Am I reading too much into the story? Perhaps. Will I read the books all the way to the end? Yes, because I'm curious to know how the story unfolds. Will I let my girls read it? Maybe when they are older... I'd definitely give these a PG-13 rating.

All-in-all Mrs. Meyers is a good storyteller. She's no JK Rowling, but then again, talent like THAT is hard to come by. But, she writes in a way that you can relate to how Bella feels and thinks and puts the reader right into the story. I enjoy that.

I'll let you know if my opinion changes once I've finished the trilogy but for the time being, it is a nice story that takes me away from housework and laundry, and that's good enough for me!

Fixing Others' Mistakes

I have to vent for a moment, so please bear with me.

I work from home doing secretarial work, and it is often necessary for me to actually go in to the office to catch up on paperwork, etc. Yesterday was one of those days but instead of just the usual filing, etc, I had to put print/copy and bind several booklets containing 110 pages. I'd spent several hours compiling and printing the pages when Mr. Bossman points out that the odd pages are on the right instead of on the left. I looked at him like he was crazy to think I was going to redo everything I'd already done just to appease such a simple thing. The way he looked back at me spoke volumes... I was going to redo them. Sigh.

So, I was supposed to leave at 2:30, but instead I didn't get out of there until 5:45 and I get the distinct pleasure of going back on Friday to make more booklets.

Why is it that some people expect perfection from others, but if they were doing the same chore, they'd allow little things to slide by? If they had been my booklets, I would have just let it slide and kept the page numbers as they were.... But since he's the one who signs the checks, I gotta do what he says. Blech.

So that was my day yesterday... There was no time for anything else. :: insert an eye-rolling smiley here ::

It was a great day

Usually, Fast and Testimony meeting is my favorite meeting to attend. I love hearing all the different testimonies borne by members of my ward... my friends. However, the last few months have been painfully boring and uninspiring. Instead of spiritual messages of faith, we received travel-monies, brag-a-monies, and long-winded sermon-monies. It is difficult to get through meetings when these are being spewed over the pulpit.

However, today it was different, and back to the type of meeting I look forward to each month.

What was different? Perhaps it was me, and my willingness to search for the message of faith in their words, or perhaps it was those who stood to bear their testimonies that were different. In any event, I left feeling uplifted and spiritually fed, and it felt GOOD.

One particular testimony touched me where one good brother stood to tell about an experience he had earlier in the week where he was confronted with someone who was talking badly about the "Mormon Cult." He was hurt by the words confrontation and tried to dismantle the anger by subtly bearing his testimony to the irate man. It didn't accomplish much and the man stormed out of the office.

For a couple of hours afterward, this ward brother replayed the exchange over and over in his mind and worried that he didn't handle the situation correctly. Maybe he could have been more bold in his testimony, or maybe he could have taken a more "Porter Rockwell" approach. It was much to his surprise when a knock came on his office door and the irate man stepped in. He said he had come to apologize for the words that he'd said earlier and felt sorry for his behavior. The ward brother expressed how glad he was for the apology and, again, bore his testimony.

The entire exchange may have done nothing to change the irate man's opinion of the Church or its members. Perhaps he'll go on thinking his same thoughts and keep his same opinions. But what DID change is the way this dear brother will handle similar confronations in the future. He was an example of what Christ would do -- simply that he would love his brother and continue to stand as a witness of Christ and to not bow down in the face of adversity. He can walk away blameless that he did all he could to let the irate man know that Mormons are Christians and that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior, just as He is for everyone on earth.

I hope I could do as well in a similar situation.

I love the Gospel and I'm grateful for all our Savior has done for me -- little, seemingly insignificant me -- and He loves me. I'm so thankful for my membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and I pray that I can always stand as a witness for Him who stands at its head.

It was a great day. :o)

Didja Miss Me?

It has been a while since I've visited my own blog, let alone to add a new post. I just figured nobody was reading anyway, and I was uninspired as to what it should say. But, my thanks to Lisa M. for challenging me to write something new. So, here we go....

::tap tap tap:: is this thing on?

Ahem

Today is a monumentous day. Why, you may ask... because today is the day I created 3 monsters. Well, to tell you the truth, I created them 11, 9 and 7 years ago, but today just compounded the issue.... I taught them how to use the Internet and gave each of them, my offspring, an email address. So, now they have a tether to the World Wide Web. They are really loving the new and exciting world that stares back at them from the big white box on the computer desk.

This afternoon as I was catching up on some ironing, B, my 9 year old, comes up to me and says, "Mommy, now I know why you spend so much time on the computer... It's fun!!"

How am I supposed to take that? 1) My children acknowledge that I spend way too much time online; or 2) they finally get to use the computer because I'm not hogging it; or 3) they appreciate me for showing them something new.

I tend to lean towards #1.

I know I do.

Which Disney Princess Are You? Cinderella You poor girl, working your hands to the bone for your wicked stepmother and ugly stepsisters. Cinderella first scrubbed up for her role in Cinderella (1950)

Click Here to Take This Quiz Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

This is a good thing... Ironic, since Cinderella is my favorite. Don't we all feel a little "Cinderella-ish" at times? I'm still waiting for the pumpkin carriage to take me to my palace, but at least I don't have to wait alone... I did find Prince Charming.

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The West Your accent is the lowest common denominator of American speech. Unless you're a SoCal surfer, no one thinks you have an accent. And really, you may not even be from the West at all, you could easily be from Florida or one of those big Southern cities like Dallas or Atlanta.
The Midland
Boston
North Central
The South
Philadelphia
The Northeast
The Inland North
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

Oh my heck! No big surprise there... I've lived in the West my entire life. I don't think I have an accent at all, but others peg me as a "Westonian" almost instantly. Go figure.

Monday MeMe

I got this from Lammy, and figured it was good enough for a fairly quick Monday MeMe. The things I've done are blue:

Have you ever:

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink.
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain.
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive. [Not Ferrari, but Corvette.]
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid.
06. Held a tarantula.
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone.
08. Said 'I love you' and meant it.
09. Hugged a tree.
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea.
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise.
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game.
16. Been to the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby's diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne.
24. Given more than you can afford to charity.
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment.
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can.
32. Held a lamb.
33. Seen a total eclipse.
34. Ridden a roller coaster.
35. Hit a home run.
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was watching.
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day.
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment.
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk.
42. Had amazing friends [still do]
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your cds
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Posed nude in front of strangers
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party.
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days.
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an "expert"
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Gone to a movie by yourself.
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror.
96. Raised children [still doing it]
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Created and named your own constellation of stars
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived.
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds.
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Petted a stingray
110. Broken someone's heart.
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone.
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours.
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Petted a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad and the Odyssey
135. Selected one "important" author who you missed in school and read (LOTS!)
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating.
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146: Dyed your hair
147: Been a DJ
148: Shaved your head
149: Caused a car accident
150: Saved someone's life

Good News!

Thanks to all the parental displeasure and several calls to the principal, my daughter's first grade teacher officially resigned on Friday. She is no longer teaching in our school.

This morning Tiny was so excited to go to school that she was up and dressed without any prodding from me. She was sure to put on her new necklace and bracelet that Grandma and Grandpa brought her from Hawaii and wear them proudly (her teacher wouldn't allow the children to wear any jewelry to school). Tiny made the comment, "I can now, because [my teacher] is gone!" She was beaming.

So, it's true that the squeaky wheel gets the grease. The classroom should run much smoother and the children should enjoy learning again. I can't wait to hear all about her day when she gets home.

Woohoo!!