What is that???

Take a guess!!

Here is a hint-- IF IT IS FALL, MOM MUST BE BROKEN AGAIN!!




Well, not quite BROKEN, but definitely mobility challenged.

I have a problem with my thumb joint and have to have it immobilized for 3 weeks. I am sooo frustrated! I am not allowed to "pinch" with my thumb and finger. That means using two fingers to pick up a fork or spoon or paper or socks or anything!! I have gotten good at crocheting with those two talented fingers, but I can't thread a needle or sewing machine or hold a pen or pencil. It comes off for showers, but otherwise it is on full time. And I have no idea what I did!! The orthopedist says, "nothing", but what does he know?? I did cut a wedding cake for 200 and then write and address 47 postcards to RS sisters, but so what? Luckily we are going to Jen and Ed's on Saturday or this feast day would be a bust.

Decoration day on Friday will be a challenge, too, but Dad is here to help. If I can pry him out of a warm house into 30 degree weather to hang lights!! He will also have to light the Advent candles so I don't start a fire on Sunday.

Good-bye Halloween!!

Here are some of the views around our house for the trick-or-treaters. There was a wobbly ghost hanging from the storm door handle and a pumpkin with red eyes that shrieked when people approached. Clearly the theme is spiders and Pooh Bear, as always. They will all go back to their usual places and the next holiday will roll on out. Hope everyone had fun :)

The last beauty of the fall garden

Here is the last hurrah! The cosmos and giant marigolds are completely dwarfing the little lilac whose leaves are a soft magenta. The burgundy maple (close up of a perfect leaf) is a wonder of symmetry. And the sunshiny yellow giant dahlia has invited a plump bee to its center.

We had torrential rains and winds up to 50 mph today, so much of this is gone now. Dad and I went to the temple to continue work on the names from my dad's family, my great-great grandfather (Christian) John Munt (b. 1830) and my great-great-great-great grandmother Mary Pierce (Stiles) (b. 1766).

The day was wonderful!

Oct 13 temple trip

Over 4th of July, as you all know, we went up to Le Roy, New York, for an exploratory genealogy trip. The information bounty was amazing. In September we did baptisms for 9 women and 11 men. Then on October 13 (a Monday holiday) we did initiatories for those and an endowment session for my great-great grandmother Sophia Augusta Luplow (Munt) and my grandfather's oldest brother (Sophia's grandson) Paul Richmond Munt. Paul was the first of seven sons born to Frank John Munt and Mary Lucinda Richmond. I remember meeting him when I was a child. He was an engineer on the New York Central line.

I am adding Dad's remarks on that experience to this blog.

"Today I encountered what is to me the most intensely personal spiritual experience in the temple in my life. Mom is giving the background on how we got to today. I had ten names from the Munt family and the name of my Uncle Grover—my Dad’s brother—to do the initiatories for and to take one of the eleven to receive their endowment today.

I had started with Christian (John) Munt as he was the oldest of the group. As I completed a few names, I felt a very powerful impression of family and brotherhood among these men. Then it hit me. I came to Paul Richmond Munt. Mom will tell you about him.

For me, it was an overwhelming feeling that he had accepted the Gospel awhile back and has been limited in what he is allowed to do—his ordinances were not completed. I felt strongly that he is the “spiritual head” of the Munt family on the other side of the veil and he takes his responsibility very seriously.

I also felt a very strong impression that I was welcomed into the family. When Mom and I came back from LeRoy over July 4, we had several discussions about where we would want to be buried when that day comes. We decided that we would like to be buried in LeRoy, in the same cemetery as the Munt, Richmond, and Burr families. I felt Paul tell me that he and his family would welcome us and that we belonged there. It was our home as well.

Needless to say, I spent almost my entire time in tears. Every time I passed the Kleenex box, I took one!

It did not stop there. In the endowment room, it was a rich, warm experience—until I got to the end of the ordinance. Paul is certainly impatient. As I sat there viewing the last instructions before we go to the veil and into the Celestial Room, I felt his impatience manifest. I felt him keenly aware and alert—bouncing his legs—you know, like when you are really excited and rarin’ for things to start. Because I am a veil worker at the temple, I was one of the first up—again, an impression “good thing you are a veil worker, I’m not sure I could have waited”!!

At the veil, it all came together—all of the promised blessings of the initiatory and endowment filled me—and Paul. I had a great deal of difficulty with my responses. It is hard to talk through many rich tears.

In the Celestial Room, it was as if Paul was then moving away from me—at first, just looking around enjoying that beautiful place. As Mom and I passed through the doors to go change, I felt Paul stay behind—and move on to do his work on the other side. He is fully endowed now, holds the priesthood and has promises of eternal blessings, covenants, and an empowerment to make all blessings happen. He is on his way.

I am sure there will be more when sealings are done but for now, this tops anything I have ever experienced. It is amazing how thin the veil can become."

I love the gospel, and I love my husband.

It's October 15--again :)

Here are the pictures of today's pumpkins. The top image is the little, odd-shaped gourds and the two edible pumpkins along with a beautiful chrysanthemum from Bobby and Andy who are visiting for a couple of days. The bottom one shows the various pumpkins Dad picked out for me on Saturday. The green goose, the green apple, and the yellow-green pear behind it are gourds that grow in those funny shapes and are often shellacked or painted for decoration or birdhouses. The others are just interesting shapes, including the greenish flat one which is called a Cinderella pumpkin because it is the one that became a coach in the original fairytale.

Dad called from Des Moines this morning to sing to me, and today Bobby, Andy, and I are going over to Gettysburg to do the tourist thing and have dinner at the Dobbins Tavern, built in the 1700's and still operating. I am glad they got to come and enjoy a beautiful (although unseasonably warm--80's) fall experience.

Bobby and I met our senior year in high school in Tustin, and we roomed together for three years at UCLA. We met Andy early in our freshman year, long before I knew Dad. (Andy had escaped from Hungary with his family during the Russian occupation.) She was my bridesmaid and gave Eddie the Disney Pooh cell when he was born. You may recall their Christmas parties, and that they came to several wedding receptions since they live in San Jose. Good, life-long friends are beyond value. We love them both.

How disappointing

Debbie Carter had a great blog about a wonderful book list that I tried to copy and paste into this one, but I got a crazy HTML message that was gibberish.

Go to her blog (through Tricia's) and look at the list. See where you are. I have read 67 of them. That's what happens when you are an English major and a teen-age recluse. I would add many other favorite authors to the list (Faulkner and Michener, for example), but it is a great place to start!

Thanks, Debbie, for sharing, even if I am not technically savvy enough to post it here :(

I got what I wanted

For several years before I actually retired, I occasionally said I wanted my grandmother's life. I am not sure any of you remember Grandma Hofmann, but I really loved her.

She was born in Oklahoma in 1901. Her family traveled to Washington in a covered wagon in the early 1900's. She was a farm wife, complete with chickens (for egg money), feed sacks (for quilts and housedresses), a vegetable garden (for canning), and beautiful flowers everywhere (for Sunday bouquets at church). She taught Sunday School and Vacation Bible School. She picked fruit in the Yakima Valley to "bottle" and had an honest-to-goodness dirt root cellar. She wore a hat and gloves to the Methodist church every Sunday and served chicken and dumplings for Sunday dinner and soup and sandwiches for Sunday supper every week. She drove the truck sometimes on the farm, but never the car or the caterpillar tractor. She crocheted, heated her 100 year old farmhouse with oil, and shopped at Sears in Spokane once a month. She taught me how to plant stuff, and didn't get mad when I dug the bulbs up two days later to see why they weren't growing. She gave me a Bantam hen, Henny Penny, for a pet, and held me after the coyote got her. She let me eat chicken noodle soup in her bed when I had the measles. She let me watch when she caught an old hen or young rooster for cooking and took it with the ax to the stump in the back of the house. Because of her, I truly know what it means to "run around like a chicken with its head cut off". She didn't mind that I climbed her trees, but she drew the line at my dropping nuts on the minister's head as he waited at the back door. She gave me my own bowl and chair under the same trees to help shell peas or shuck corn. She came to my high school graduation and to my wedding. She held Eddie when he was 6 months old, and had the opportunity to hug every one of you.

Today I picked and chopped and froze about 5 lbs. of peppers from our little garden. I cut some cosmos and zinnias for a vase and smelled the roses. Then I went downstairs and worked on my latest quilt project. Tonight I will kneel by my bed to say my prayers as she taught me, and tomorrow I will read from the scriptures as she did every day of her life. I am so grateful to the First Presidency for granting me permission many years ago to be sealed to her line. Thank you, Lynn, for working on this family for me and all of us. I know Grandma is watching, and smiling.

Maud Mueller's poem

"Of all the words of tongue or pen, the saddest are 'It might have been.'"

Dad and I were just talking on the phone (he's in Germany and had just had a conversation with a German lady about our election choices). As we spoke, I had a brainstorm. If we hadn't left Ohio, I COULD BE RUNNING FOR VICE-PRESIDENT!!

Stay with me for a moment, please. Some of you are too young to remember, but I was PTA vice-president at South Elementary school and successfully ran for the Fairfield City Schools Board of Education. I was appointed from that Board to the City Planning Commission where I served for two years representing the schools' interests in development within our district (which was actually far beyond the boundaries of the city). I also spent two years on the County Joint Vocational School Board of Education and was active with the State of Ohio School Board Association (OSBA). There were suggestions by local leaders that I ought to consider running for the State Board, and I was seriously considering that move. Alas, we moved to California two months before my re-election. Just think, we could be on TV right now, the perfect family -- oops! -- I was never a registered Republican, but Jimmy Carter started with a local school board!! Oh, well.

BTW Our school district had over 9000 students and several hundred employees. (By comparison Wasilla AL only had a population of 5000 when a certain someone was mayor.) Our budget was larger than hers (Wasilla rose from $7.5 to $13.6 in 1996-2002), and Fairfield's is currently $67 million.

I guess for me, "It might have been" is not sad at all. But it is fun to think about :) (Hey, it's okay to laugh, but I promise I NEVER winked at an audience!)

It's officially ---- COLD

This is it. FALL has fallen. It dropped to the 40's overnight. We should have expected it. We only lasted an hour in the garden yesterday with the clouds and wind. And last night we watched the debate (?) with the fireplace on.

I woke up cold. The quilt is back up on the bed. It's time to use the 9 pairs of pajamas Dad got me for Christmas again.

The exercise room was freezing. I had to wear socks and it took forever to break a sweat.

We had HOT cereal for breakfast and HOT chocolate and HOT cinnamon toast. The cold milk kind is put away for the next several months.

I switched the A/C off and the HEATER on when I saw the thermostat shivering at 64 in the living room. It is time for the warm fuzzy sweatshirts and slippers -- good-bye to the flip-flops and roll-up jeans until next year.

I believe it will be soup for lunch and stew for dinner. I am ready to snuggle down and hibernate for a while. Maybe I am pushing the hibernation a tad, but even the groundhogs are out munching faster and plumping up. A good dash of Indian summer in a week or so would be nice, but I moved here to thoroughly revel in the seasons, and this is a good time to start :)

"Today is the first day of the rest of your life." -- song lyric

So, yesterday I was sustained as the President of the Relief Society of the Gettysburg Ward of the York Pennsylvania Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Whew!

Two weeks of preparation was ended. Dad gave me a beautiful blessing before we left for meetings. Bishop invited the former RS President and me to bear our testimonies, and I taught the fast Sunday Presidency lesson. (We have Stake Conference the weekend following General Conference, so this is how we scheduled things.) My lesson was on "Why do we come to Church?" (answer: to learn to live like Christ) with a few references to Sis. Julie B. Beck's reminders of the purpose of Relief Society from Saturday's broadcast.

After our new presidency was set apart, Dad and I went to lunch at one family's home and to dinner at another's. It felt like racing between in-laws on Thanksgiving Day!! We were stuffed!

I had handed over all the seminary materials to a very dear and capable friend on Friday, so there was no week of reading to do last night from the New Testament, no props to scurry around gathering, no hot chocolate mix to shake up, no alarm to set. We stayed up until 10 pm!!

This morning I woke to birds singing outside. The rain clouds are breaking up. The trees are beginning to turn color. The garden is starting to yawn in preparation for a long well-earned rest. I am ready to begin this new phase with the Lord's help.

I love this new calling already.

If you see one, there's bound to be more

I should have posted this when it happened, but it's been a hectic week.

Anyway, every morning before I go to seminary, I pray that my students would have safety in their drive to and from the church. It is dark and the roads are curvy, so I worry about them. Tuesday morning I heard myself ask for their safety and mine, which I never do. As I was driving along the shortcut through the wooded area and over the ridge, a deer suddenly darted across the road about a car's length in front of me.

Just last weekend I had heard a TV broadcaster talk about the fact that deer mating season has begun, and he advised everyone to be especially cautious driving. He specifically said that if one deer crosses your path, you should look to where it came from because there would likely be more. Consequently, I slowed way down and looked to the left and sure enough here came two yearlings crashing out of the brush across immediately in front of me. Had I not slowed down I would have hit them both.

It is always a joy to me to see prayers answered and I took a deep breath and said, "Thank you."

The last time I plan to see 4:10 am

Today was the last seminary class I will teach for a long time. It was time to say goodbye and not nearly as hard as I had expected.
Yesterday I taught Matthew 5 and discovered the theme for my new calling--truly living the "Be-attitudes". The perfect timing of this lesson and my needs was a gift of the Spirit to help me right now.
Today when I shared my testimony with my students, I felt impressed to tell them that they needed to build their testimonies a block at a time (I handed out a bag of Lego-shaped candies) in order to weather the things that will be coming. I think that is true for all of us. I know we must prepare to live like Christ, to know Him, not just about Him. I hope to share that with the 150 sisters in my ward.
Thanks again for your suggestions and prayers. I love you all.

Be careful when you bargain with the Lord

This has been an interesting week.
As all of you know, Dad will be making a change in January, and we have been seeking this blessing in prayer for over 9 months. All of you have had a part in this, and we appreciate your efforts and prayers as well.
As part of our prayers, we frequently asked for this blessing as a means for Dad to serve more effectively in this area because he would be home more often. We repeatedly offered to serve in any capacity that the Lord had need of us. (Of course, we both meant wherever He had need of Dad.)
Well, on our way home from Courtney's baptismal service I got a call on my cell from our bishop. He didn't remember we were out of town, but asked to meet with us when we were both home. I told him we would be getting in late Sunday evening, but that Dad would be here for much of the week. We set a time for Monday evening at our house, and didn't think anything more of it until the next day when we were actually driving home.
Since we were making really good time, we called Bishop Long from Frederick and said we could see him Sunday evening if he wanted to move things along. He said 6:30, and Dad and I speculated about what ways he could serve for much of the rest of the trip home.
When Bishop came over, he had some papers for Dad to sign and then looked at me and said, "I really came here to talk to you." Dad still thought the bishop meant him, and was confused because he wasn't looking at him.
Bishop Long then said, "No, I am talking to you. I have come to call you to be the Relief Society President."
My shocked response was, "You're kidding!!" because I really thought he was joking around. He answered, "I most certainly am not."
So-o-o-o, after a trip to the temple yesterday, Dad told me he had a clear confirmation that his change in employment was to support me. I will be sustained on Sunday the 28th.
Prayers are welcome.

3PD celebrating Courtney's baptism

If you are a United flier, you will recognize the title as the abbreviation for their travel series "Three Perfect Days". Well, we just spent a "3PD" weekend in North Carolina.

Our weekend actually began on Thursday afternoon when I drove down to Dulles to pick Dad up from a trip to California. I was significantly delayed from my planned departure by several random (and a couple planned) stops. Instead of getting him at 4:50, I didn't arrive until around 6:30. When I pulled up to the loading zone, there he was standing with ED!! They had bumped into each other in a hallway outside a restroom! What an amazing "coincidence"!! We went over to the hotel, checked in, and went to dinner together. It was fun to talk about our trip to LeRoy and the stories we gathered there. Jen and the kids arrived much later that night, and we hooked up the next morning. Everyone had breakfast, and we took the kids and left for NC while Ed and Jen went to the temple before coming down. The drive was calm and comfortable with great conversations and laughter. Dan called and warned us about gas shortages, so we followed his advice and filled up about 85 miles before Charlotte.

Our second "day" began with our arrival at Dan and Tricia's in time for great taco salad for dinner. Debbie and Doug were there, and we enjoyed conversation and friendships renewed. The first night's rest was wonderful, and we all got up excited for Courtney's special event at 10 am. The service was beautiful. Courtney's dress made by Debbie was so pretty. (You probably have seen Dad's emailed pictures by now.) Thank you to Courtney for her beautiful testimony, and to Doug's and Tricia's inspired talks. We all went back to the house for a yummy lunch spread with some of their friends, and ultimately everybody but Ed, Bella, and Dad (all napping) and I (reading up for seminary) went to the pool to enjoy the gorgeous warm weather and sunshine.

The third "day" began with a Perfect Storm football game (as Dad called it). BYU played and won an exciting game as UCLA (and I) melted down. Tricia and Dan live in a beautiful neighborhood with walking trails that I took the opportunity to explore. I really enjoyed a few minutes just talking with Debbie while the game went on upstairs. Dan and Dad got terrific fried chicken for dinner, and many of us played the game "Imagine if..." which I had never seen before. It seems we always get around to playing games with the family together and that is lots of fun. Bedtime came fairly early as the travelers planned to leave early Sunday morning. It is always sad to say good-bye knowing it will be a while before we are together again.

The next big time together will be next summer at Cami's baptism. We are looking forward to that.

COLEUS !!!!

Aren't they spectacular? And the ones at the front of the house all came up from seed from last year's planting. They are supposed to be too fragile to winter over, and with my broken leg I was unable to clear out the old plants until this spring. The surprise was a ground covered with babies who grew up tall and beautiful. I plan to let them all go to seed again this year. I love the variety.
Well, I am closing down and heading for the airport to get Dad and then cruise (float?) on down to Dan and Tricia's. Have a beautiful week.

Back in the saddle

It is Friday. Dad comes home tomorrow. (He is already on his way. I think he is sleeping in a hotel inside the Singapore airport where you can get rooms by the hour. ((Yeah, that sounds a little odd.)) He will take off for Dulles at 7:15 am Singapore time, whenever that is, and land here at 3:30 pm Saturday after changing planes in Japan.)
So this is my last summer Friday. I've done a bunch of picking up and running errands, etc., but it is time to practice a normal Friday afternoon--READ!!
The weather is perfect because it has been raining steadily for 8 hours--only 1 1/2 inches but good and soaking. I finished Steve Berry's Amber Room a couple of days ago, and I want to finish The Third Secret before Dad gets back. I had read The Romanov Prophecy on vacation, and Dad read it on this trip. He wants more of Berry so I have to get a few ahead. Soup for dinner, and popcorn to round off the night--wonderful!
See you all next week.

i love roses!!

I wish you could smell them! Mr. Lincoln (top, my Dad's favorite) is the most fragrant of the hybrids, and Mother of Pearl (bottom) is very delicate. In between them is JFK (white, Britt).

Roses from Jackson & Perkins are only shipped bare root in the spring, and so not all of the ones you told me about for last Christmas were available. Some have been backordered for next spring, but others need to be re-selected.

I am waiting for Wild Thing (Ed), April in Paris (Tom & Heather), and Peace (Grandma Hofmann). I just got Tropicana (orange, Grandma Munt) but it is not in the ground yet. I need choices from Bill, Dan (Tricia, I think you sent one, but I can't find the email), Lynn, and Julie.

Please recheck your selections and get them to me to add to the beds next spring.
I think Dad forgot to mention that I can only grow hybrid teas here--no climbers--so go to that section. If you have a different favorite grower, that's fine, just get me the details. I want to think of my "family of roses" whenever I sit on the patio.

before and after-math

There are 14 sets of sheets in the first picture, and towels from the 5 bathrooms. Because we are on the well, I had to space out washing loads to allow for refill time. After 2 days, the second picture shows everything ready to go back on beds, into closets, and onto racks ready for the next time any or all of you show up again. It was a task of love because I really like to fold stuff and put it away! Yeah, I'm weird.

Thanksgiving in August

Well, the last trip to the airport has been made.

The paper plates and cups and plastic forks, etc., are put away.

The leftovers are waving their foil covers in surrender.

I am feeling like we just had a huge Thanksgiving dinner, and I am too stuffed to move.

There have been a lot of hugs and a lot of pictures and a lot of laughter. There have been revelations and shared tears and reminders of our mortality and our immortality.

Thank you to all of you who came with varying levels of sacrifice. And a special thank you to Nana Bunnie for giving us this reason to gather for the first time in 9 years. Some of us saw little people we had not yet met, nieces and nephews who had grown up, and pictures we had forgotten (and even a few we wished had never been taken!).

We cheered the Olympic wonders and groaned at the blunders. And none of us got enough sleep.

Enough for now. We all need to digest this weekend and return to normalcy. Let's not forget the joy of family.

And, by the way, the socks, toys, onesies, controllers, and other stuff that was forgotten is being gathered and will be sent home as they are uncovered. Look for pictures of a few orphan items that I can't assign to families, i.d. yours, and it will all get where it belongs before too long.

I love you all so much. Thank you again.

Where did the last 3 months go???

Here it is -- August 7 -- and I am not sure where I have been. It sure hasn't been sitting here reading or writing blogs. I am so far behind, I might as well start over.

I guess that isn't right, either, but I only have time for a quick recap; and I will probably catch everyone up with pictures and stories next weekend. Can you believe this will be the first time everyone will be together since Christmas in San Ramon in 1999!!!

Last time I wrote, we were heading out to Hawaii. We had a very peaceful 2 weeks alone on Kauai. I read more than a dozen books, and we honestly did nothing except go from room to beach to ocean to pool to beach to room, over and over.

We were home just a week or so when we flew back to SFO to drive down to Carmel to celebrate our 40th anniversary at the same bed and breakfast, in the same room where we spent our honeymoon. Ed promised we would be back again in less than 40 years!

We were home again for just a couple of weeks and then we drove up to LeRoy for a spur of the moment exploration of genealogy stuff over 4th of July weekend. That was fantastic and really productive, too. We are definitely going back there soon! And a special cheer for green jello--more later.

Then Britt came out for a quick visit, and Austin and Kennan came up to stay for a week. They left on Sunday, after they got up at the crack of dawn (oops, no crack, still pitch black!!) to take me to the airport. I spent July 19 to Aug 1 in Provo helping Julie so she could spend every day on campus writing her thesis. Lynn came by one day from Huntsville, and Julie finished her 60 page first draft two days before I was scheduled to come home!! (Now it is just polishing that must be done.) We celebrated by going up to the U of U to see an amazing Monet to Picasso exhibit they were hosting. Julie will be encouraging her students to go see it for extra credit this fall.

I got home Friday night and Dad got in Saturday night. We have been catching the garden up and getting ready for the clan to gather.

Tomorrow at 3:30 am we go to BWI to catch a flight to Phoenix for Aidan's baptism on Saturday. Then we fly on to SLC to meet up with Julie and the little people to fly here on Sunday. Lynn et al arrive on Thursday, as do Bill and the kids and Ed and Jen and their young people. Tom and Heather come in Friday morning, Justin gets in Friday afternoon, and Nana Bunnie arrives a half hour later. Whew!! Dan and Tricia and the rest of the little people come Saturday, and the fun begins in earnest. Kennan's baptism is Saturday afternoon, with Misti and her family coming up. We'll all have dinner here afterwards.

Sunday church starts at 9 am and Julie is singing. After dinner that afternoon, she and her family go home so the kids can start school on Monday. The next morning the families of Bill (BWI to Chico), Tom (BWI to LA), Dad (IAD to Indonesia), and Nana Bunnie (BWI to Houston) all go home. I am not sure when Dan and Ed are leaving, but Lynn stays until Thursday.

I am so excited about this wonderful opportunity to be together. Let's pray for good health, good weather, and lots of hugs!! See you all very soon.

ALOHA

We are out the door in just a few moments. Sun, sand, honu, here we come! Tell you all about it in a few days.

ME day

Today is a day for ME. I know, you think what else is there if you're retired and your husband works in California?
Well, I am taking today off. It's Friday, so I have no seminary to prepare for until Sunday. In the last two weeks I have finished the required sewing (shortening the Sacrament tablecloths, altering two dresses for prom, making a modesty jacket for another dress for prom, making Maddie's blessing dress). I have completed a crewel picture for Lynn. I finished 1/3 (one bulky skein) of Ilana's afghan in camoflage pink. I worked with Dad in the garden to complete 5 of the long beds and bought tomatoes, peppers, and herbs to plant next week. I baked 40 rolls of Chicken Kiev for Relief Society last Thursday (the third monthly dinner in a row that I've cooked for!) and made raspberry sauce for mousse (which Dad made Wednesday) for the Seminary Teacher Appreciation Dinner last night. I paid my bills, mailed Mother's Day cards ON TIME, and fed Ricka. We flew to Mesa over last weekend, and the pod of Dad's apartment furniture just arrived on our driveway (but the keys to the padlocks won't be here until tomorrow--thanks for FedEx). We went to the temple and the airport yesterday, and IT IS POURING RAIN TODAY.
So...I am taking the day off. I just got The Host yesterday, and I am making hot chocolate and popcorn for meals today and turning on the fireplace and taking the phone off the hook...I can feel the stress draining away already. Catch you all tomorrow! And Happy Mother's Day to all of you :)

Everybody grows up

Well, the bunnies have moved out. I suspect they found adventuring out of the nest quite exciting. Eastern cottontails are abundant around here, and they can have several litters a year. I guess for now we just put out the "Vacancy" sign.

We have acquired another nestful of babies, robins this time. They moved into a nest built under our deck by a nervous dove. She left every time we came outside, but the robin family is perfectly comfortable. Mom and Dad do fly around shrieking when we walk close, but the robinettes are fine. If you enlarge the pictures, you can see everyone better.

By the way, please share these nature stories with the little kids. I am doing them for them.

a beautiful weekend

A beautiful baby...
A beautiful new dress...
A beautiful blessing!

a "hare"-raising morning

We were working in the garden yesterday when the lawn mowing group showed up. The bunnies had been quietly snuggled up in their nest under the chrysanthemums when they suddenly freaked out. It was The Secret of Nihm all over! Bunnies were hopping wildly every which way in fear. We gathered them back up (that was an adventure!) and put them back in the nest and put a bucket over it so they couldn't get out again. We told the grass cutters to stay away from the flower bed with the nest, and we left the bucket on the rest of the day. They settled down by evening and stayed in place overnight. I expect them to be out of the nest for good real soon. It was fun to hold them and feel how soft and cute they are.

Let's take another look

I am not very good at the video thing, but here is another take on the bunnies.


We are happy to share our outside with these little guys and their mom. She spends the days in the tree line amongst the brush and raspberry brambles. I saw her crossing the grass this morning which is why I went out to check the nest.

Beatrix Potter would be proud

Look at who is in my garden!!! This is a hard picture to see, but if you look really close, you will see some bunnies! If you zoom the picture, you can move around to see the bunny's little face!!
And in the video, you will see some wriggling and finally a baby foot stretched out.

big sister, little sister

It was soooo much fun to be in Arizona and help Lynn and the little people. Madeline is tiny, bright eyed, and very good. I held her early in the mornings to give Lynn a few more minutes of sleep, and any other time that was helpful during the day. Lynn is doing great, and the boys love their little sister. Eme is doing pretty well, too, but there was this one issue with a pair of baby shoes that were given to Maddie--it was Cinderella all over!

Countdown to Arizona

I love that my weeks continue to be full and fulfilling. Last Thursday and this Monday I got to do the thing I love--teach math. One of my seminary girls is taking her ACT's next Saturday and she needed help on the math sections. It was wonderful to teach again :)
Last Friday I did the new thing I love to do--QUILT. I went to a quilt show in Lancaster that inspired me (as I did my own economy stimulus thing) and as a result I spent 13 hours in the basement quilting on Saturday. Now that is all I want to do all the time!
But other stuff begs for time, too. Tuesday I helped the bishop's wife by remodeling a dress she got on ebay for our stake formal dance. Tonight I taught a group of YW and adults how to make several kinds of candy. Tomorrow I am teaching a Relief Society Enrichment class on quick chicken dinners. Then Friday I get ready to go to Arizona for Maddie and Lynn. Dad and I will do a car hand-off at the BWI parking lot. I leave and he gets in. My prayers to everyone that your days are full and fulfilling, too.

April is here!!

Well, in central PA April showers are the rule. But my flowers are already coming up! To me, nothing says or smells like spring the way hyacinths do. I bring them inside to flood the house with a great scent. And I love the sunny look of forsythia branches everywhere :)

Airports + Flight time = READING !!!

The one good thing about all the extra time spent at airports these days is the books that are read. Tricia had mentioned novellas a couple of blogs ago on Library Q. I just finished my sixth in the past 2 weeks. First, in honor of St. Patrick's Day, I read the Agnes Brown trilogy (The Mammy, The Chiselers, and The Granny) and the prequel (The Young Wan) by Brendan O'Carroll about a woman from birth to death (1934-1992) in the Dublin tenements as a single mom to 7 children. Wow! (Aside from the language, I laughed out loud too many times to count.)
Then I read Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, the story of a man and his family in Africa during the incursion of the white man. ("It is like the story of white men who, they say, are white like this piece of chalk...And these white men, they say, have no toes.") This was truly a Greek tragedy.
The book I read during Monday's trip home was the latest by Michael Chabon, Gentlemen of the Road, sort of a Don Quiote/Sancho Panza journey through 10th century Turkey. One of the best this year.
Next on my list is Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi, definitely not short. I think I will wait to start that one until I have a reason to fly back to SFO or to Phoenix in April, whichever comes first.
Happy reading, everyone.

"Waiting to Exhale"

This has been a breath-holding week, to say the least. From the dinner on Friday to the news of the Scherer tragedy on Sunday to the e-mails on Tuesday to the temple, Jen's call about Ed's appendectomy, and the request to speak at the funeral on Wednesday to the wonderful day spent with Dal, Taylor, Cami, Ed, and Jen on Thursday to the writing of the talk on Friday (and the red eye to SFO) to the funeral and all the old friends and tears and hugs on Saturday to the 7 hour drive (there and back) to visit with Bill, Kennan, and Austin and go to church in Chico on Sunday to the crazy idea of flying on the day after a holiday today (I got the last seat on my plane, last row, middle). I am ready to be calm and patient and quiet for a day or so. Tomorrow I plan to tour my yard and see what spring has brought while I've been gone--maybe forsythias and hyacinths. I'll share pictures then.
I am deeply grateful for the promise of the resurrection at this trying time.

HAPPY PI(E) DAY!!

It's finally here and in just a few minutes we can all cheer!! (Like the rhyme?)
So pay attention to the posting time for this entry. (Remember it is 3.14.... today.) When I taught geometry we always celebrated.
By the way what is your favorite flavor? Let's take a poll. Mine is pecan. Dad's is apple.
Dad remembers his mom making apple pies in the kitchen and letting him have slices of cinnamon apples. The first apple pie I made him turned out to be an apple cookie since I did not know to mound the apples high in the pan because they would cook down. Needless to say, he was kind and said it tasted just fine.
I remember making Bill's favorite for his birthday--and then putting candles in the hot pie. Ooops! After he blew them out and we began to remove them, they had no bottoms, only the wicks were left. We served the pie quickly before the wax rehardened. Nobody would have noticed, though, because of the chocolate chips and chopped walnuts.
{I would have made Dad a pie today, but he has a special dinner tonight over in Lancaster with some chocolate people. Think happy thoughts for him, please. We'll let you know what happens.}
Oh, drat--I tried so hard to post at exactly 1:59 so that the date would be 3.14159, but the time stamp comes from when I started the post. Oh, well, I tried.

"Fun, Fun, Fun"

Talking about my trips to the library in high school led me to a smile and a favorite Beach Boys song.
First, you have to know how restricted I was as a teenager. I never spent a night at a girlfriend's house, not even Bobby's. In fact, I was probably only at her home three times during our entire time as high school friends and college roommates. I was never allowed to "hang out" with other kids and go shopping or to movies or anything. I did get to date after my junior year was over, but no more than once a week. I was not allowed to have a job until after my freshman year at UCLA, and that was only because I worked at the same place as my dad, North American Aviation, and my summer job was a part of my scholarship. We only had one car because my mom never learned to drive, so I took the bus to school and back. We did go to the beach almost every day all summer long after I got my license, because my mom liked it there. I would drive Dad to work in the morning, and drive Mom and the boys to Corona del Mar after lunch. They played, Mom read, and I body surfed and tanned. Then I drove home to leave them off and went over to pick Dad up.
It was hard to go back to no car during my senior year, so I would ask to go to the library for projects and research as often as I thought I could get away with it. My life was perfectly caught in the first few verses of "Fun, Fun, Fun" except that the car I drove was a 1964 Chevy Impala--a big boat--but the Sport version which had bucket seats and a floor-mounted automatic shift. I was a terror!! My boyfriend called me "Parnelli" for Parnelli Jones, a predecessor of Mario Andretti.

"Well, she got her daddy's car and she cruised through the hamburger stand now.
Seems she forgot all about the library like she told her old man now.
And with the radio blasting goes cruising just as fast as she can now.
And she'll have fun, fun, fun till her daddy takes the T-bird away."

The rest of the song is pretty accurate, too, except my dad never caught on. Thanks to the library trip for this memory!

Tricia, this one's for you!

Today I decided to take the next step in my Spring Cleaning. (I want to get it done before Spring lures me outside every day.) I have been back at unpacking and putting away and came across the problem of more books than shelves again. It seems right to find a good home for my duplicates (check your emails for more on this), and I am not a seller of books. I thought about Tricia's blog on the library used book sale and remembered that I used to do something with this in San Ramon when I was in AAUW. So I trucked on down to my local library.
The new building was dedicated right after we moved here, and is beautiful although impossible to get to conveniently. I drove around the block and some back streets and over the railroad tracks until I found a barricade with "Street Closed" on it and a little sign with an arrow indicating the closed street was now the library parking lot.
When I finally walked in, it was nice and smelled like the library I used to escape to when I was in high school and could talk my parents into letting me drive to the library by myself. (More on this in the sequel.) I walked around a while and watched people enjoying the quiet reading places and the "Pennsylvania Room" full of historical items and genealogy treasures. I spoke to a nice librarian who assured me they would accept donations "but only a few at a time, because there is just not much room." I promised to bring in only a few at a time and to make sure they were in excellent condition.
As I drove home (without getting a library card), I realized why I don't do libraries--YOU HAVE TO RETURN THE BOOKS!! Once I read a book, it becomes a part of me and I can't just give it back. So, I will share and donate duplicates, but every book in my library is either already a piece of me or will soon be.

Catching Up

As I sit at the computer today, my thoughts have turned to my dear mother-in-law, Helen Dorothy Seguine. When I first met her, she welcomed me into her family and made me a part of her heart. She loved me, taught me to knit, shared recipes and laughs, hard counsel and soft tears. She told me she had wanted more children, but knew it would be her son who would bring her another daughter. I loved her!! I wish she had lived long enough to know all of you.

Marriages give us the opportunity to love more people. Our family has had lots of growth, and I am grateful for the additional family we connected with in Texas. We have all felt Bunnie-mom's love and joy, and the extended family there is wonderful, too.

At Christmas Jen made a beautiful picture for me of embroidered art. The poem is titled "To 'His' Mother." I'd like to share it.

'Mother-in-law' they say, and yet,
Somehow I simply can't forget
'Twas you who watched his baby ways
Who taught him his first hymns of praise,
Who smiled on him with loving pride
When he first toddled by your side.
'Mother-in-law' but oh, 'twas you
Who taught him to be kind and true.
When he was tired, almost asleep,
'Twas to your arms he used to creep.
And when he bruised his tiny knee,
'Twas you who kissed it tenderly.
'Mother-in-law' they say, and yet,
Somehow I never shall forget
How very much I owe
To you, who taught him how to grow.
You trained your son to look above.
You made of him the man I love.
And so I think of that today,
Ah! Then with thankful heart I'll say
'Our Mother.'

That was how I thought of Mom (and Dad) Seguine. Thank you, Jen and Tricia.

Just passing through...

Honest, I plan to settle back at home long enough to catch up on all the travel, but I got back from Furlong last night late and I leave for Provo tomorrow early. Today there was only time to unpack, repack, and restock the critters. Ilana's baptism is this Saturday and I come home on Sunday--to stay for a while:)

"Bus stop, wet day,..."

Just a quick comment. (I am on Dad's laptop, which has already done weird things twice.) We've been here in London since Sunday and have 3 days to go. Absolutely love it!!! Pictures after we're home.

check out Ken's new blog!!

Hey, everybody, look at where Uncle Ken is headed! Let's welcome him to the family hobby!!

The personality of a purse

There are not many things as personal as a purse. I have only purchased a couple in my life. I remember my favorites with warmth and sadness at their passings: the navy blue Stone Mountain leather shoulder bag was at the top of the list. I got it before Dan was born and carried it for years and years.
I replaced that with a brown leather minibag. I loved it mostly because it had a back zipper compartment that functioned as a wallet with pockets for credit cards. But it could not hold my insulin kit and had no convenient place for a cell phone. (It pre-dated that technology.)
For the past couple of years I have been using one from Boyds--functional but not well made. It tended to fold over rather than stand up straight.
Last week I began considering replacing it. We are going to London in 10 days, so a new purse was becoming important. Yesterday I decided it was time. I took Dad to the airport and stopped at shopping malls all the way home--Dulles Town Center, Tysons Corner, Frederick, the Gettysburg outlet mall--but nothing grabbed my heart. I tried the Nordstrom Rack and every shoe store and department store along that 93 mile route, but no luck. I was even ready to look at Walmart!!
Then today I went to Kohl's here in Hanover, and dug through their sale bins for an hour. Then there it was. The right purse for me! Black leather, lots of compartments, not too big, straps long enough to go over my shoulder--I did have to get a wallet, but the purse will accommodate my insulin and cell phone, and it won't break my back in the process.
I know this is a lame post, but January is slow-down time, and this is as exciting as I can get until all the decorations are put away!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! 2007 is in the BAG and on the shelf.

Let me be the first to blog a special wish for health, love, and success in 2008. This last year has been wonderful for family time and special stories and experiences. We have all finished 2007 with increased love in our homes and good health and happiness together. That is my "B"lessing.
Last year's "A"ccomplishment is the restructure of our home life. Mom is very happy in her own cozy place in Texas. She sees the girls often, babysitting about once a week to help Deb out. She's made friends, and continues to be healthy after last year's surgery. My own stress level is dramatically lower, and my husband is happier.
For next year the "G"oal is to redesign the outlook for the future. Thanks to Ed, Jen, Dan, and Tricia, we have started a new ball rolling. Stay tuned for outcomes. We are very excited!!
(Special thanks to Tricia for the whole "BAG" concept!)