Not the way it was planned

I invested my afternoon into food preparations, and some mighty fine soccer play by Peter. Let's see, I started out with making a chocolate pudding to use up some milk that was getting kind of close to the pull date. Then I cooked some potatoes to make twice bakes for dinner tomorrow night. I had J-bers for a couple of hours so he helped me empty out the skins so that I could refill them. He was great about putting the mashed potatoes back into the skins and I think he will take great pride in serving them tomorrow evening. Then I cooked up 3 whole chickens so that I could pressure cook them and get them into jars to cook tomorrow evening. And fixed dinner of spiced mashed potatoes, Meat Loaf and Carrots with the pudding for dessert. And how have my efforts been received....not at all. My one and only is certainly not one that you can depend on and I know that, but I thought he might at least make an appearance, I was wrong.

And why do I do what I do? Heck if I know, I guess it is just a habit that is hard to break. But I did have some wonderful mashed spuds and meat loaf for my dinner alone. And I am well on top of the family dinner for tomorrow.

Joyce made comments about eating alone and how sometimes she goes to D.Q. just so there will be people around when she eats and conversations in the area. I get it, fact is I really get it. Unlike Joyce I have been doing this alone stuff for many, many years so it is not as devastating for me as it seems to be for her. In my pretend world I would fix healthy nutritious meals and my family would enjoy them with me, then sit down afterwards (and during sometimes) for good conversation about all sorts of topics. Boy did I miss the boat on that one! It worked while I had kids at home but the minute Nancy left for school it all crashed. But as I said, I enjoy my own company so it is not all that bad and most of the time I really don't care all that much.

So tomorrow we will have a family dinner, wilted lettuce salad, twice bakes, barbecued chicken and conversation....sounds perfect to me! Might even make cup cakes! I love having the next two generations well represented and close, I miss those not close but I celebrate those that are close.

The purpose of TV

I have come to the realization that there actually is a purpose for television. Allow me to explain. I got up and cleaned the bathroom, did four loads of laundry (I know, everyone else did more but there are only two of us!), folded, swept and all those things a woman does on the average Monday morning. Then I picked up my stuff and headed off to teach lessons in Oak Harbor.

I worked with 8 young people, some perfectly fine individuals but not stimulating students, and a couple that are just fun to work with (that would be Cara and Taylor). Did the wal-mart run to purchase some window cleaner on a stick, so to speak, for the front windows, which, after a winter of salt water spray are looking pretty opaque!

Drove home, took care of the things I purchased, picked up the dirty dishes that seem to appear while I am out of the house and looked around for something to fill the last hour of the day before I try to get a good nights sleep....rare recently. I could sew but I hate starting a project with no potential of finishing it. I could read a good book but I don't have one on hand right now. I could read the scriptures and will after this but I want entertainment, brain dead stuff and the scriptures are not that! Hence TV...it is what one does when one arrives at the end of the day with nothing left to shuffle into thought or productivity and still some time to fill.

Ah the challenges I do face....OK, not much, but they are mine and real to me. Guess life is pretty good.

9 and counting....

Monday the 26th Nancy and Jace had their son Easton Ray in St. George, Utah. He is a perfectly average little guy with an amazing head of dark brown hair. I flew down to help them manage but had little to nothing to do. At least I was able to do some cooking, something that I enjoy doing and they seemed to enjoy having. And you will be pleased to know the grand state of Utah offered up a varied plate of weather, from 5 inches of snow on Tuesday evening, flurries on Wednesday and cool sunshine on Saturday. This does not feel much like spring to me, but this is what is happening. Makes me wish I had packed a few more warm articles of clothing, but I am managing without chilling myself too much.

Easton Ray had to go back into the hospital in Cedar for a day under the Billi light when his jaundice levels got too high, that was an unpleasant experience. They care for the babies well but the mom has a chair on which to live. We took turns staying in the hospital so that Nancy could get back to their house and get a nap. My insomnia pays off sometimes and this was one of those times I think. He came home the second time on Thursday morning and has remained at home since then. He will have to go back a couple of times to have blood work done to check his levels but there is no reason to believe things are not just fine.

He is a pleasant young man, rarely fusses and just accepts things as they come. I hope he keeps up this style because he will be an easy baby if he is able to maintain what he has started.


The 9 and counting refers to grandchildren...3 girls and 6 boys will soon be 7 boys with the birth of Linda's little one here in 4 weeks. Just thought I had better explain that comment as there is nothing in the writing that refers to that!

April Fools Day

I was thinking back on April Fools days in my past. My father used to prepare us "Special pancakes" on this particular day. Mind you, he fixed pancakes most mornings for breakfast so that was not unusual....but trying to cut the special ones was always a treat. He would pour the pancake batter on the griddle, then gently place a well cut piece of cotton sheeting on top of the pancake, covering it with more batter. It made a perfectly acceptable pancake but it was impossible to cut and eat. He really had us all going the first time he pulled that prank, but after that the fun part was watching him crack himself up. My father was always the little boy when it came to many things, and his pancake pranks tickled his sense of humor greatly. We all knew what was coming but no one ever gave it away because it was just so darn much fun watching dad try to maintain a straight face as he presented his rigged pancakes to each of us.

I have always admired people that can maintain that sense of innocence into their adult, responsible years. That is what it is all about when it gets down to the bottom line. We are to nurture that child within each of us, that innocence and that wonder, while we go about our lives in a very managed, adult like way. It is the balance that makes it all worth the effort. So am I going to celebrate this day of fools....no, probably not. I am going to take the few empty hours that I am offered and finish a project that is on hold, put the beach that is living in my house back outside where it belongs and then head off to lessons and rehearsals. A good day to be the fool and enjoy life, but no pranks coming from my place in this world.

Rafts of ducks

There is a huge raft of ducks that love to come and harvest the flats in front of the cabin. They are really rather attractive birds but they sure do leave a mess. And then the noise, I kind of like it but it does get old after awhile. I find that the gulls leave when the ducks are in the area, a couple stay but the majority head to another bar. I get it, the ducks just power clean the beach. They come in waves and eat everything there, then they move on to another area. They were here for about an hour and now they are gone. I took a short video of it because it was interesting and different. I never remember seeing the large rafts of ducks in years past, although I have heart such existed in the last several years. Ever changing eco-system I guess.

I am supposed to teach a class on scripture cases tonight for the beehive girls. Not such a problem except you you hit the reality that 2 of 3 do not know anything about a sewing machine and I have a total of 50 minutes from beginning to end of this project. Could be interesting at best. I am glad Kristin will be there to make her own and then, hopefully, the other girls will see that it is possible for girls their age bracket. I also have Avery coming to help and that will be a big difference. If Kristin works alone and Avery and I take the other two girls on one to one then I really do think we might be able to accomplish the task. It certainly is a simple project, I simplified again and again and think I have it down to a minimum of seams and all easy seams! More than that I can not do.

And now I will have my dinner and get on with my project. Dinner is corned beef with red potatoes and carrots. Not an every day kind of thing but something I do enjoy on an once a year basis. Left over corned beef with mustard is really good, and fresh is good too. At least it is different and that is a plus.

Not such a big deal

Sometimes we invest a lot of wasted energy into believing something is a big deal, when, in reality, it is no big deal. Here a week or so ago I mustered up all my courage and decided that I would stop talking about doing something different with my hair and do something different with my hair. So, with Emily as my back-up eyes, I went to Bristol and told her to make magic. She did and I am now some sort of a blond. I thought it would be a big deal but it seems to be a big deal only in my eyes! Such is life. She put a rinse on my hair that took away the gray but made no attempt to go as dark or as red as my hair really was. I didn't want to be one of those older ladies that has dark hair with old skin. That looks so bad in my eyes. But, truth be told, I am not sure I like this either. It just looks so washed out and dead to me. I will live with it for awhile and see how it "grows" on me. All comments have basically come down to an "Oh"...not much change. I am thinking I want to go a bit darker next time and see if I can pull that off. I just have a really hard time seeing myself as any form of a blond, no matter how dark it is.

So my blond head and I are at Nancy and Jace's place. They are both at work so I am entertaining myself with the computer and with my book. It is nice to be able to just sit and read a book without the phone and other obligations like family and work. I love my family, the phone and work, but it is nice to be able to sit in the quiet all the same.

So there is my grand revelation.....and so life goes. Utah walls are nice for a change!

Winter Sunset at Maxwelton

Sometimes one gets to thinking that the summer has all the great sunsets. But I need to tell you that you are wrong. The colors were reflecting off of the water, off of the sand bars and everywhere. The picture hardly does it justice but it is the best I can offer you at present.

So, after assuring you I live in the most beautiful part of the world, I tell you I am flying south tomorrow to Cedar City and Nancy. My desire is to pack cloths that are for warm weather as I am always there in warm weather, but today it is not the case. We are warmer here than they are there. Sometimes it happens that way. Heck, a week ago we were warmer than Miami and several other places that are supposed to be winter havens. Such is life.

Now I am off to a basketball game. Stuart and Peter are in rec-league this season. Tonight will be my first Stuart game. Their team came out well last game, winning 25 to 4 I think Emily said. And Stuart scored a couple of shots and was a great factor in rebounds. Not bad considering he was by far the shortest kid out there. He certainly is not one to back down from some good physical play for the ball. That boy is not afraid of anything when it comes to a sporting event. I think he could be good at almost any sport...well, maybe not ice skating as the pictures posted awhile back will testify!