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.

Gift Bags for the Missionaries

Today Tiff and I went to the MTC to help put together the gift bags for the missionaries. In each bag we put a Pentel pen, five sticky note pads, a pack of Swedish fish (the missionaries get Swedish fish every year; don't ask me why), and an assortment of chocolate candy. We left the bags open so a CD can be added tomorrow. We packed until we ran out of sticky notes. There were quite a few of the other things left to put in the bags, so they are going to have to find a lot more sticky notes. Sis. Madsen wondered if there would be any more sticky notes left in the valley.

After the MTC, we met our friend Yevon Romney for lunch at Zupas. Sandra and I were just there the other day and it was fine. Today was kind of crazy. It was 2:00, which you might think was after the lunch crowd. But it was still pretty packed. The order taking was not as coordinated as usual and our sandwiches did not arrive at the checkout when we got there. Usually, everything is all lined up and you just tell what your order was. Well, no sandwiches. But I saw a girl throwing around some takout cartons ripped in half with some sandwiches in them. Next thing I know, the sandwiches in the ripped in half takout cartons are being thrown our way. Those were our sandwiches. The lady at the cash register didn't seem to know the price for things. My salad was in a smaller bowl with everything just thrown in. Usually, the salads are put together quite artistically as you watch; but today everything was just being thrown in. I think they had run out of bowls and plates. And then there was someone back behind the counter who kept dropping or throwing a big load of things which would make the loudest crash. It was wild. When we sat down in our booth, Yevon sat on a big glob of salad dressing. Yuck. I'm wondering, what's up with Zupas? It's always been a really fun, good place to go; but today it definitely wasn't. Anyway, we had a nice visit with Yevon. She told us about applying and interviewing for the job of Program Director for Women's Conference at BYU. That would be my absolute nightmare job. But she would actually be very good at it. She'll keep us posted on whether or not she gets it.

We're looking forward to our sleepover with Camden and Riley tomorrow night. We should have lots of fun!

Also, I talked to Grandma FT this evening and she said she and Dick are scheduled to come up on the shuttle tomorrow after all. This is after I cancelled their reservations at the Residence Inn. She said they plan to stay at the Sandy house so Dick can take care of his daughter, Jeannie, when she gets out of the hospital. (Jeannie had surgery a few days ago after being run over by her son, Matt, who was in a drunken rage. He has since disappeared and there is a warrant out for his arrest.) So we'll see if they're actually able to make it up here. It's interesting that when I cancelled the Residence Inn reservation was when they got serious about the shuttle; where before, they just kept saying they couldn't take the shuttle for one reason or another. I think it has something to do with the fact that it is now their plan and not ours. Oh, well. Dennis is supposed to pick them up in Draper and take them to Sandy.

Lunch with Greg's Mom

Today Tiff and I had lunch with Greg's mom, Pam Bowles. She remembers seeing me when I went to church with Tiffany in Charleston last September (October 1, actually), but we never actually met until today. We picked her up at the apartment in Pleasant Grove where she's living with her son, Scott, and his wife, Laura, and their dog, Hans. We also met Scott. Pam recently started work as a nurse at the American Fork hospital; while Greg's dad, Gregory, lives and works in Phoenix. It's kind of an interesting arrangement, but sometimes you have to do what you need to do for employment. Anyway, we went to lunch at Thai Village in American Fork. We had "the usual," and it was delicious, as usual. It was nice to meet Pam and have a good visit.

Tonight while Steven was at the MTC (I didn't go as I am still a little under the weather with my cold, plus it's nice to spend time with Tiff while she's here), Tiff an I watched "While You Were Sleeping." We love to watch that movie--especially at Christmas time. Steven said it was a good devotional. Elder Lance B. Wickman was the speaker. That's two weeks in a row I've missed now. I better shape up.

I talked to Karalie tonight. She's home, and she sounded pretty good. We decided to go ahead and cancel Mom and Dick's reservations at the Residence Inn since it doesn't look like they'll be coming up on Friday as planned. The weather probably won't be very good, and they didn't try to make shuttle reservations until it was too late. I think that's the last time we'll make plans to have them come up. I think they're in St. George for the duration.

Back from St. George

Karalie and I got back from St. George yesterday about 6:00. We had quite the weekend in St. George! While there, I tried to do a post from the FT's computer, but it wouldn't let me do it. So I realized I'd have to wait until I got home. The weather was just beautiful all weekend. Karalie and I had a good trip down to St. George on Friday. We left about 10:45 and stopped for lunch in Fillmore at the drive-in cafe and had tasty rueben sandwiches. Then we stopped at the cheese factory in Beaver for ice cream, of course. Oops! I just remembered that I left my cheese curd in the fridge at the FT's! We got to St. George about 3:00. Kevin and Wendy were already there. Kevin had brought down a nice TV table from Shopko for the new TV that Grandma wanted to get, so he started putting that together. Grandma announced at some point that the new TV would be Dick's since she had decided to "give" it to him. That explains why he was so adamant about what kind of TV they would get. Grandpa wanted the 32" Sylvania from K-Mart and Kevin wanted to get a 37" Vizio from Costco for $20 more. Grandpa was insisting on the Sylvania because he didn't want some "no-name" TV in the house! Needless to say, things were a little tense around there on Friday night. I went and picked up some pizza and salad from the Pizza Factory for dinner (a margarita pizza) and everyone seemed to enjoy that. Later, while I was talking to Mom as she lay in bed, I asked why she thought she had to "give" the TV to Dick since she was the one who wanted to get a new TV in the first place and she was buying it with her money. She said she thought that if she "gave" it to Dick then he would feel better about her buying it. I told her that it was just complicating everything, that if she wanted a new TV she could get one and as long as Kevin was doing all the labor, then it should be her TV and go with the house; and, of course, it would be for the use of both her and Dick, but she didn't have to "give" it to him. I could just see his kids coming to "claim" their Dad's TV at some future date. Not a pretty sight. Mom said I was "scolding" her and that she could give the TV to Dick if she wanted to. So I just thought "whatever." I got up the next morning and went for a nice fall walk and enjoyed the cool, crisp, fresh morning air of St. George. I let out a few "grrrrrrs" and giant sighs while I was walking along, but I was thinking it's really none of my business what Mom wants to do. When I got back to the house, everyone was sitting around eating breakfast, wondering where I had gone. The first thing Mom said was, "After breakfast, Kevin is going to go to Costco to get a 37" VIZIO for ME." I just said, "That's great," and wondered what brought about her change of mind. I could only imagine what Mom told Dick I said to her. Karalie later told me that Mom told her I had "scolded" her, and Karalie had said to Mom, "Actually, what Diane said is right. You can buy yourself a TV and have it here for both of you to use without having to 'give' it to Dick." So Kevin and Dick went to pick up the TV. Actually, Kevin went with Dick to get a board for their bed and Kevin said they'd get the TV while they were out. So, they got the board and the TV and Kevin got everything set up before we went to Auntie Reah's party at 1:00. The party was wonderful. That's really what we went to St. George for anyway. Auntie Reah looked beautiful and there were lots of people there. It was fun to see all the cousins and aunts and uncles. Plus, there were a lot of people there from Uncle Bill's (Reah's second husband) family. A lot of the condo people came, too, so there were probably about 100 people there in the clubhouse. "The girls" had fixed sandwiches and veggies to eat, plus there were two yummy birthday cakes. Everyone sat around and visited and had a good time. Lots of people said how nice Mom looked with her hair done and wearing her pretty new top. I had tried to get her to walk over to the clubhouse on such a nice day, and she said, "Don't you try to talk me out of riding in my wheelchair!" That's when I decided it's probably a good thing that Mom and I don't live any closer because she would think that I was always on her case about something. After the party, I went and did a little grocery shopping and picked up some beef pies from Croshaw's for dinner. When I got back, Mom was in the living room watching TV with Kara and Wendy. Dick was in their room on the bed, watching the TV in there. They had switched places! Mom seemed to be enjoying the new TV. So that evening, we ate the meat pies for dinner (they were soooooooo good), then Kevin and I went over to Reah's to visit with her and Cousin Susie for awhile. Then we came home, and Kara and I watched the World Series on the new TV before going to bed. (Alas! The Rockies just didn't do well in the World Series! They ended up getting swept by the Red Sox last night.) The next morning, Kevin and I went to the 9:00 church at the Morningside 1st Ward. (A big Polynesian man who bore his testimony talked about having their little grandson there with them for awhile. He said his grandson was trying his patience. He said, "When I was growing up in Hawaii, we didn't have 'time out,' we had 'knock out'.") After Church, Kevin and I went back to the FT's to get ready to leave. Just as I thought we were about ready to leave, we got involved in some rearranging for Mom and Dick there in the living room. Dick seemed to finally be warming up to the idea of the TV even though it wasn't "his" and not the one he wanted; or, maybe he was just glad that we were going to be on our way. Anyway, he was being nice when we left. We got away a little later than we thought we were going to, that's why we didn't arrive in Orem until 6:00. Steven and Richard and Lindy and the girls were all enjoying a nice dinner which Lindy had prepared and brought over. Thank you Lindy! The little girls were eating their dinner and being so cute. Sidney gave Karalie a good growl as she went out the door to go home to SLC. I ate my dinner and then talked to Sarah and Tiffany on the phone. We were glad to hear that all was well with the Agates in South Caroline and that things had gone well for Tiff with her Dudley presentation and that she had had fun in Springfield with Greg on Saturday. It was quite the weekend for everyone!