Martin Luther King Day Vacation

Today was a vacation day from work. Richard normally has Monday off and I don't go to work anywhere but here, so it wasn't any different for us; but Steven got the day off from work, so he had an actual vacation. He cooked up a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs w/Vienna sausages in them, hominy and toast. That got us off to a good start. Then we did some chores around here--laundry, snow shovelling (8 inches), etc. Steven put the blade on the four-wheeler and had fun moving snow around in the neighborhood and at the track. (We had fun but not as much fun as the Barretts on their snow day. Why didn't we go over there? Duh!)

Today was a travel day for Tiff, so I had to make sure she was home safely before I went to bed. She went from Angie's house in Pennsylvania to Baltimore. From there she flew to Midway airport in Chicago where she caught the CTA train to Quincy Station in downtown Chicago. From Quincy Station she walked to Union Station and waited for 3 hours for her train to Mattoon. Her train was the City of New Orleans! It left Union Station at 8:00 p.m. and arrived in Mattoon at 11:15 p.m. I had been checking the weather in Mattoon and Charleston on the internet and there was a severe weather alert for that area. It was supposed to be snowing from 8 p.m. on. But when Tiff got to Mattoon it hadn't started snowing yet, so her car wasn't all covered with snow and she didn't have to drive to Charleston in a snowstorm. (But the storm did start after she got home. I had said a prayer to that effect, asking that the storm hold off, and my prayer was answered; for that I'm very thankful.) What a big travel day! Now that she is safely home in Charleston I think I'll go to bed.

Twenty-two New Elders

Tonight Steven is at the MTC welcoming 22 new elders into Branch Four. The most new missionaries that have come into the branch at one time has been twelve. This week the number of missionaries coming into the MTC was more than doubled since none will be coming in next week because of Thanksgiving. So there were 700 missionaries arriving at the MTC today, with 22 of those coming into our branch. Steven was hoping that he and his counselors would be able to get them all oriented and interviewed tonight. I'll be interested to find out how everything went.

My VTs (Sue Jane McQueen and Alison Butterfield) came VTing this morning, and we had a nice visit. Then this afternoon I went to visit Debbie Runnells before going to Curves. I'm going visiting by myself this month because Lisa Murdock is tied up working at her husband's dental office. Hopefully, next month things will be back to normal; but Lisa still has to worry about Miranda's wedding next month. Sandra Stephan was nice enough to go to Debbie's and Kelli Johnson's with me last month. Tomorrow I'm scheduled to visit Kelli Johnson at 8:15 and then go get my hair done at 9:00. We don't usually go in shifts like this; but if it works this way this month, I'll do it.

I'm having things my way this evening since Steven is at the MTC and Richard is at work. I'm getting some laundry done plus other miscellaneous things that have been stacking up. I'll take off for AF in a little while to pick Richard up. After I dropped him off today, I stopped by the Barretts to catch Lindy up on our continuing saga with Heritage Makers. Camden and Riley were having fun playing on the computer with Nate. Sidney showed me how she is learning to "scoot-scoot" down the stairs. Then, while I was telling Lindy all the Heritage Makers stuff, Sidney was talking talking in a somewhat serious tone, mimicking how I was talking, telling us all about it. She is so funny.

Fresh Air!

It rained last night and this morning, getting rid of all that yucky stuff in the air. Then the storm clouds cleared up and it's been another beautiful fall day. We've gotten some good chores done around here today; that's what Saturdays are for, I guess. Steven got some really good things done outside and in the garage. I did something fun after I dropped Rich off over in AF. First, I went grocery shopping at Macey's, then I ran over to the Blue Goose Boutique in Lehi for a minute. It's kind of hard to get into all the Christmas stuff before Thanksgiving, but I just wanted to see what was happening. Our friend from the MTC, Jana Rampton, used to own the Blue Goose Boutique when it was Jana's Blue Goose. Now it's Teri's Blue Goose. I liked it better when Jana had it. After the boutique I had to fight all that northern traffic to get home again. It's crazy over there in Pleasant Grove, American Fork and Lehi. That intersection there in Pleasant Grove on the way to the Temple has got to be the worst. They keep trying to improve it, but it only gets worse. They were doing more work on it today, so the traffic was really bad; but maybe it will get better eventually. Richard and I have just about given up going that way. Then the craziest thing happened on the way home this evening. I was turning right onto State Street in PG, and as I did, this speeding car came out of nowhere and went right between our car and the car in the lane next to us. We were glad nothing bad happened. That was crazy.

A Most Spectacular Day!

I have to comment about the weather again. It is a most spectacular fall day today! It's nice and sunny, the air is cool and crisp, the leaves are still pretty. I can't believe the days we've been having. I wonder how long this gorgeous weather will last. I enjoyed my walk over at the track--the weather was perfect for a nice fall walk. Maybe it is trying to make up for the days now being shorter.

Today is election day. Steven voted on his way to work and Richard and I just got back from voting a little while ago. We hope that all the scare tactics of the opposition against school vouchers didn't derail Referendum One. Yesterday morning when I heard Bill Clinton on his trip to Utah on Sunday telling the people to vote against vouchers because a vote for vouchers would be a vote to take money away from the poor and give it to the rich, that clinched it for me. I thought if I were a fence sitter wondering how to vote, that would make my mind up fast. I hope that more people, like me, would think, "If Bill Clinton's against it, then I'm for it!" We'll just have to wait and see what happens. To think our own governor is for it and Bill Clinton's against it, and it very well may go the way of Bill Clinton.

I'm finishing up a little laundry then will head over to AF with Richard. Then it's off to the MTC to meet Steven for dinner and the devotional. I wonder who will be speaking.

Gramma Tries Something New

Today I thought I'd like to try something new--create a blog! I said to myself, "If the girls can do it, so can I." (But maybe not as well.) I'll have to find out from them how to put pictures on and things like that. Activities for today include: Send Steven off to work, read everyone's blogs, have breakfast, go to the store, get other things done (laundry, walking etc.), go to Lindy's to stay with Riley and Sid while Lindy and Camden visit the dentist, go to American Fork with Richard, meet Steven at the MTC, have dinner, listen to the speaker at the devotional (who will it be?), meet with the missionaries in district meeting, pick Rich up in AF, home again. Sounds like it should be a pretty good day. Actually, Tuesday is one of my favorite days.