Blog Break

While everyone's been having Spring Break, I've been having "Blog Break." I can't believe it's been a whole week since I last posted something. I guess I've just been kind of busy doing whatever.

Last Friday (April 11) I took off for St. George by myself. The weather was good and it was a nice day, so I was able to cruise along quite well. I wanted to stop in Fillmore at our favorite little place for lunch; but, unfortunately, it was closed and it looked like there was some remodeling going on. I hope it was remodeling and not just tearing up. Hopefully, it will reopen before the next trip down. So, since I couldn't have a Phillmore Philly, I drove through town and had a rest stop and got snacks at the convenience store at the other end of town. That left me ready for an ice cream cone (Snickers flavor, yum) when I got to Beaver. From there I just cruised on down to St. George. I got there about 4:00. I didn't know what to expect, really, once I got there; but, actually, everything went quite well. At 5:00 I went to visit Auntie Reah at her new assisted living place. She has been there about three weeks and has a very nice setup. She was glad to see me and seemed to be doing quite well, although her short-term memory is gone and she kept repeating everything. But she seems happy. When I got back to the condo, Dick had made some tasty potato salad and a neighbor had brought over some delicious fresh-baked rolls, so that's what I had for dinner. Dick seemed okay with me just eating what I wanted, so that was a relief. That evening, Dick's friends from Sandy, Clark and Ellen Wallace, came by on their way to California. They arrived about 10 p.m. to stay over night and then be on their way by 4:00 a.m. Dick enjoyed visiting with Clark while Mom and I visited with Ellen. They're really very nice people. I don't know if their visit had something to do with it, but Dick seemed to be in a pretty good mood the whole time I was there. It was quite different without all that angry tension in the air.

I spent Saturday helping Mom with her clothes. She tried on the new things I brought down for her to see what would work and what wouldn't. Then I made several trips back and forth to the mall to find a few other things, have her try them on, take some things back, bring back some other things, etc. That took up a good part of the day. At 3:00 we went to Red Lobster for a late lunch and to use the gift card Kevin and Wendy had sent for Mom's Bday. It was a $25 card, and our lunch (w/out the tax and tip) came to $24.99. Mom had broiled trout, I had stuffed flounder and Dick had shrimp linguini (or fetucinni, I can't remember). It was all very delicious. Especially with the cheese biscuits. Yum! Mom seemed to get around quite well with her walker. It just takes her longer to go places and do things. After that, I made a couple more trips to the mall .The last trip was to take back some store slips that got into my bag by mistake, so the sales clerk gave me 15% of what I had bought earlier because I brought the slips back. I had already gotten an extra 15% off with the sale that was going on, so I got a pretty good deal. When I got back, I laundered Mom's tops and got them all freshened up. I thought Dick might be mad at me for doing so, but he wasn't. I was trying to figure out his change of attitude towards me. I decided that maybe he knew how relieved and happy I was to get them back down to St. George last December and I had said something about never bothering them again about coming up North. So maybe he no longer feels threatened by me or worried that I'm going to try to get them to move up North. Whatever the reason, he was actually quite pleasant the whole time I was there. On Saturday morning, I even made some oatmeal, which Mom wanted, while Dick was asleep, and I didn't even get in trouble for it later.

On Sunday I went to their sacrament meeting with them at 10:50. While there I saw two friends who used to come to club but don't come any more, Margie Mortenson and Lisa Day. They were both down there vacationing. After church we came back and had a little lunch (baked potatoes a la Dick) and then I took off for home. It was a nice day so it was a good trip back. I passed two accidents on the way home, however. One was a large pickup rollover and another involved several vehicles--a large pickup, a couple of cars and a motor home that was obliterated. Kind of strange to see on a good-weather day.

Soon after I arrived home, Lindy and Nate and the girls arrived bringing Sunday dinner. Lindy had prepared a delicious veggie lasagna and salad. She brought some whole wheat french bread to go along with it and lime rickey floats for dessert. It was all very tasty and we had a lot of fun. Sidney was happy and chowing down on her dinner, just like old times.

On Tuesday, Steven and I went to the devotional at the MTC where Bishop Richard C. Edgley and his wife spoke. Bishop Edgley gave the missionaries Six Principles of Success: (1) Remember who you are. You have been empowered and have a calling. Heavenly Father is with you. (2) Keep the message simple. Jesus is the Christ and His Gospel has been restored to the earth. (3) Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of the Lord. (4) Let the Spirit testify. (5) Keep yourself worthy. You cannot be disobedient and have the Spirit with you. (6) Remember work is the engine. He then told of an article he had recently read by Mitt Romney titled, "Swim in the Deep Water." In it Mitt told how as a young boy out on the lake with his family he would never go in the deep water because he was afraid. One day his brother took him waterskiing out into the deep water. Mitt was mad at first, but then realized it was better out in the deep water. He said, "Since then I've never done anything but swim in the 'deep water.' " Bishop Edgley said that is a good example for the missionaries to follow: "Stay in the deep water. Let that be your motto."

We enjoyed the devotional and our meeting with District B afterward--six elders and three sisters going to Chile, Chicago North, New York, Spain and Canada. They're going all over. The sisters are very sweet and nice. Sis. Leau is from New Caledonia and doesn't speak much English. She did well in the meeting with her English and Spanish. Her companion, Sis. Wiesner, is from Switzerland so the communicate in French. The other sister, Sis. Sellers, is from Arizona. They all seem to get along well.

Other than my trip and the MTC I've just kept busy going to Curves and getting things ready around here for Sarah and Joel to come. I got new bedspreads for Sarah's room and our room. They give the rooms a new an different look.

This morning I went and reserved the White Willow Reception Center for Tiffany and Greg's wedding luncheon on Saturday, October 18. It should be a nice, beautiful place for the family and friends to gather after the wedding. Tiffany likes the historical aspect of it all--"adaptive re-use" as she would say. If you're wondering how many days until the wedding, just go to Tiff's blog and the "wedding countdown" will tell you.