Hey - That's My Bedspread!

Our Relief Society met Wednesday and held a mix between a quilting bee and a bag sewing party. One of the women in the ward wanted to learn how to make a quilt for her daughter, so we decided to set one up and put it together so that it could be done quickly.

We have several women in the ward who quilt -- some with more dedication than others. One of whom brought her daughter's quilts for decoration and example; one's they had made together as projects over the past couple of years. The daughter graduated this year, and now has three quilts to her credit. They were gorgeous, and I told the lady next to me (who was a neighbor as I graduated high school) that it wasn't fair.

When I was in young women's, our ward used to make a quilt for every young woman that got married. By the time I got married, they had discontinued that practice and I was sooo disappointed. We had made each other tied quilts instead, and I still have that blanket, though it's starting to come apart.

Mom Bean was really into quilt blocks. She made a gorgeous Christmas Tree skirt of blocks that had the folded strips sewn together. I'm afraid I don't have that kind of patience.

In 2006 my best friend entered the State Fair Quilt Challenge. This contest has specific fabric/theme and is a wall quilt. The quilt is not only appliquéd, but hand sewn and machine sewn as well. It's amazing what they come up with, its so much fun! You can see that she won a ribbon for her efforts.

Personally, I am amazed with all the different styles and work that make up quilting. I would definitely call it an art form. Many quilts are hung on walls now as decorations, and it reminds me of the great tapestries of the past.

My mother made a crazy quilt that I was able to hang onto for a while -- but it disappeared when I moved from California. I bemoan it's loss, because I didn't have many things that were made by my mother, and now it's gone. I found a photo that was very similar to what she did. However, instead of the light stitching, she had used black thread, so it really stood out against all the different fabrics.

I guess part of quilting is a skill that's been handed down from one generation to the next -- partly as a necessity and partly out of the need for creativity. I'm just thankful to have been taught the basics, and to have lots of people around who are masters at the craft. They are amazing, and my hat's off to them.

Now if I could just convince one of them to make me a new one for my bed...

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The End is Near

I should probably say the end has come, as for most of us, I hear school got out last week. For my district, today is basically the last day, though everyone but high school will be going tomorrow. I got these off a friends blog, because they are soooo funny. My husband and I have both worked in the school district and the only thing we would do, is change/compare some of it from teachers to tech support -- he gets questions all the time like "Don't you have the summer off???" Rigggghhhht.

1. YOU might be a school employee if you believe the playground
should be equipped with a Ritalin salt lick.
2. YOU might be a school employee if you want to slap the next person
who says, 'Must be nice to work 8 to 3:30 and have summers off.'
3. YOU might be a school employee if it is difficult to name your own
child because there's no name you can come up with that doesn't
bring high blood pressure as it is uttered.
4. YOU might be a school employee if you can tell it's a full moon or
if it going to rain, snow, hail...anything! without ever looking outside.
5. YOU might be a school employee if you believe, 'shallow gene pool'
should have its own box on a report card.
6. YOU might be a school employee if you believe that unspeakable
evils will befall you if anyone says, 'Boy, the kids sure are mellow
today.'(or you try very hard to not even think it)
7. YOU might be a school employee if when out in public, you feel the
urge to snap your fingers at children you do not know and correct
their behavior.
8. YOU might be a school employee if you have no social life between
August and June. (I don't quite get this one...whatever)
9. YOU might be a school employee if you think people should have
a government permit before being allowed to reproduce.
10. YOU might be a school employee if you wonder how some parents
managed to reproduce.
11. YOU might be a school employee if you laugh uncontrollably when
people refer to the staff room as the 'lounge.'
12. YOU might be a school employee if you encourage an obnoxious
parent to check into charter schools or home schooling and are
willing to donate the U-HAUL boxes should they decide to move
out of district.
13. YOU might be a school employee if you think caffeine should be
available in intravenous form.
14. YOU might be a school employee if you can't imagine how the ACLU
could think that covering your students chair with Velcro and then
requiring uniforms made out of the corresponding Velcro could ever
be misunderstood by the public.
15. YOU might be a school employee if meeting a child's parent instantly
answers this question, 'Why is this kid like this?'
16. YOU might be a school employee if you would choose a mammogram
over a parent conference.
17. YOU might be a school employee if you think someone should invent
antibacterial pencils and crayons...and desks and chairs for that matter!
18. YOU might be a school employee if the words 'I have college debt for
this?' has ever come out of your mouth.
19. YOU might be a school employee if you know how many days, minutes,
and seconds are left in the school year!

I've Been Tagged!

This is a little different than I've done before. Should be interesting...lol
Carrie tagged me, so she deserves whatever I come up with, right? grin

Here's how it goes:
1. Each player answers questions about themselves.
2. At the end of the post, tag 5 people by posting their names.
3.Go to their site/blog and leave a comment telling them they've been tagged. Invite them to your site/blog so they can read the tagged post.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you've completed your tagged post.

1. What were you doing 10 years ago? Ten years ago we were finishing a remodel on our home in Salt Lake and trying to sell. I don't remember doing much else...grin

2. What are 5 things on your "To Do" list? Submit a novel, Get novel published, get painting ready for the fair, get garden planted, get son ready for boot camp...

3. What are 5 snacks you enjoy? (In no specific order) Um...apples with cheese, crackers and cheese, celery with cream cheese, bread and peanut butter, dried apple slices...(I'm feeling very unimaginative right now. I think I like cheese..)

4. Name some things you would do if you were a millionaire. Oh wow...we would pay off our home and any other debt we still had, demolish it and rebuild. We would then get my brother out of his house and demolish and rebuilt IT. We would start our own publishing company and my hubby would be my agent/pr. We would also go on a long family cruise and be able to pay for sons missions without worry.

5. Name some places where you've lived. Fremont, Hayward, Shingle Springs, California; Salt Lake, Ephraim, Kaysville, Utah; Sandy, Estacada and Astoria, Oregon.

6. Name some bad habit you have. Procrastination. big time. oh--and reading when I should be doing something else, see above...grin.

7. Name some jobs you've had. I used to write obituaries for the newspaper agency. I've been a maid at Jackson Lake lodge, I've been a cook at Jacob Lake Lodge, a keyboarding instructor for night school, and a computer lab aid.

8. Name those whom you are tagging.
1. Pamela..(not that she knows me, but I read her blog all the time - grin)
2. Matthew - He probably doesn't remember me very well either, but Hey - I've got both his books!!!
3. Paul - good writing buddy of mine - you need a break! come play.
4. Nichole - blogging friend and all around nice person! (grin)
5. Sandra - a good friend and great person to get perfume from!! :)

Memorial to the Living

Memorial day is kind of a strange day for me. On one hand, it's the first weekend of summer, and on the other, a time to remember the dead. I didn't grow up thinking it was a day to visit grave sites, so I thought it was a bit odd that my mother-in-law did it every year. When we lived at a different house, it had a huge snowball bush in our back yard. She would come every memorial day and harvest what was left of the large blooms to go decorate graves. I thought it was a little morbid -- but ya know.

As time has gone on, and more of my loved ones have left us, I have seen the wisdom of this practice. Yesterday we thought we'd beat the crowds and go visit my moms headstone. Unfortunately, I forgot to take my camera (I'm not thinking blog moment every day yet...grin) and so I can't show you how cute her headstone is. It's raised up off the ground about two feet, and has a darling carving of Winnie the Pooh on the back, chasing butterflies, with the words from my mom and dad's favorite song. Something about feeling butterflies... The joke at her funeral was how she'd raised all of us on Winne the Pooh before it became popular.

As we were gazing around at the different headstones, I realized there is quite the art to them. There are different stones, different sizes, and many varied styles. No longer is a simple headstone that sits in the grass the only option. Many people are going with larger things. There were a few benches, which is what I've told my hubby I want. He's thinking big stone thing, I'm picturing a wooden one like in the movie Nottinghill.

There are some really beautiful ones. My father-in-law has an assortment of little icon type things around the base in the back that depict all the interests he had in life. There is a carving of the Salt Lake Temple, and then the names of all their children.

On my mother's, there is a carving of the view at Fish Lake, one of their favorite vacation spots. My niece (that died when she was twenty in a car accident) is a simpler version, since my brother couldn't afford much else. It's an above ground one, almost square, and has her name carved with a rose. It's touching in it's simplicity.

I looked around the internet briefly, trying to find a good photo of a headstone to show, and I discovered that not everyone does them with lasers. These flowers are from a site that still does them by hand, and the flowers are gorgeous.


The thing that makes me think of them as art, is the carving. Someone spends a great deal of time and skill making these monuments that are simply a way for us left behind to commemorate those that have gone home. It does nothing for the departed. They do not have anything to do with life after death. But there is great beauty in the carving and the efforts that go into them.

What is kind of ironic about the idea that I like the carvings, is that most carving is related to statues. I've never been into statues, probably because most of the world renown ones are either fully or partially nude, and I would rather not...grin. My favorite statue is the one of the Christus in the visitors center on Temple Square. I could sit and gaze at that marvelous piece of work for hours.

The knowledge that someone could carve something as hard as stone into what looks as soft as cloth is simple astounding.

While no one likes to dwell on their headstones, or funerals, for that matter, it's going to happen sooner than we think. All of us have to face the idea that we are mortal and have to face the reality of leaving loved ones behind. How do we want to be remembered by them? What do we want as our legacy?

While it would be fun to outline what I want on my tombstone/headstone, and what I want said at my funeral -- I'm hoping that what I've done with my life, and the things I was able to contribute will leave a greater impact than what is placed to mark my remains.

I know that my father and mother, my foster mother and my other ancestors have left me a great legacy of integrity, faith and love. I am honored to have been their daughter and to try and pass down their ideals and loves to my own children. That is a legacy no one has to see a gravestone to remember.

Return to The Neighborhood.

The Beauty of Code

I got to thinking about the internet and websites today, as I played around with my browser. I usually use Firefox, and it was on the fritz, so I had to go to IE. I don’t like IE - I’ve never been a big Microsoft fan – call it the rebel in me. But it gave me options to install a theme, and once I got looking at them, I wasted a good half hour or more finding one that I wanted. I now have a dolphin for my cursor...

It made me wonder what other people look for in a website. Have you ever thought about what it is that draws you to a place on the internet? Take yourldsneighborhood. What is it that you like about the site? Myself, I like the artwork. It’s fun without being cutesy. Sort of like a scrapbooking style, you know? I like the different sites in it. It makes me feel at home.

Believe it or not, there seems to be an art to websites. How can it be art when all that makes it up is code? It’s what you can do with that code. There is a type of HTML that’s called CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). It’s amazing in the hands of someone who knows what they’re doing. If I had loads of spare time, I would love to learn how to use it correctly, because I think the sites that use it are outstanding. Check out this site, and look at the different styles they came up with, using the same content.

Since I do not use (or understand as clearly as I’d like) HTML on a daily basis, I am thankful for templates and programs that do it for me. I used to work with a program called Dreamweaver for a job I had in Salt Lake. As part of my job, I created the schools website. Actually, they had one before, but no one was keeping it updated. So, I created a new one. I kind of like it – you can see what I mean, here. I first heard about CSS at that point, but I didn’t have the time to delve into it. It still fascinates me.

Along with that, it occurred to me that I haven’t promoted my own website on my blog. I don’t know why – but for some reason it never entered my brain. Go figure. I kind of like my website – it’s not as fun and interactive as some I’ve seen, but it works for me at this point. One of the biggest tip offs that I hadn’t been promoting it, is when I looked at my stat counter.

0. A great big 0. Nada. Zip. NOT ONE VISIT in the past six months. (Of course, I also discovered that I hadn’t added it to my new blog when I changed templates, and there wasn’t any record of anyone going there, either -- sigh)

I could really get depressed, but I figured it’s simply an example of lack of promotion. No one knows about it, so no one would go visit. And, since I don’t keep a blog there, it’s kind of boring for someone to visit and then go back. With a blog, they want to go back and read (if they like what they’re reading, anyway). So, I’m going to promote my website this time. I’ve already added a link on my blog page (did you even notice?) and now I’m going to have a little bit of fun.

We’re going to play a game. The first five people to tell me the answers to my questions will be the winners! I’ll even mention who you are on my blog, so you’ll be sort of famous. If I had the right materials, I’d send you a prize, but that is kind of up in the air right now. You’ll be playing for fun and curiosity. You know you want to...

First question: What is the name of the painting that I won a ribbon for at the County Fair in 2007?

Second question: How many stories do I outline on my writing page?

Third question: What book did I do the illustrations for?

Fourth (and last) question: What is the general color of my website?

I’ll let you know on Monday’s blog in a week how the response went...

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Here He is!

Well, I finally got the photo editor up on my computer so I could edit his birthday pictures. Isn't he cute?? I'm not biased or anything...right. Anyway, this is one of his crazy moments. I also got a group shot of all them posing in front of the birthday banner.



They are a fun bunch of kids, and I was glad so many of them showed up. If any of you watch commercials in Utah, or have seen the movie Mobsters and Mormons -- the large kid on the right is the son of the actor that played one of the henchmen. He's got an amazing tenor voice.

Anyway, it's been a month, as most of you who have had graduating seniors know. Sunday was his seminary graduation, and his grandmother was able to come. It was a neat time, especially since we don't think he's going to walk with his friends...sigh. I won't go into that now...

But here's a shot with him and grandma.



She's a sweetheart, and we were glad she could make it. She has like four other graduations this year...lol

I just can't believe my little boy is all grown up. I get to have him for another month before he goes into basic. I'll have to get a shot of him in his camos...

Origami

My daughter discovered something a year or so ago, and it's been a consuming passion for the past six months. I thought she would get tired of it and move onto something else (which is my children's wont) but she hasn't. In fact, she has continued to be more fascinated with it and keeps buying more stuff that has to do with it.



I'm talking about Origami. She started out with a book/kit her grandmother gave her for Christmas last year, and went on from there. Her favorite store to shop is Barnes and Noble (she's a bookaholic as well) and they apparently keep much of this stuff in stock, because she comes home with something new every pay period. At first she was buying books about it -- how to fold more, etc. Then she discovered little kits with loads of paper. Apparently it's all about the paper.



There is big sheets (well, relatively) and small sheets -- then she came home with a mini-origami set. I couldn't believe it. That's her favorite size. She thinks they're amazing when their little. I think it's fun, and it's good to see her doing something other than read...grin.

For Easter, she folded up some butterflies for us out of the paper napkins I had bought for something else and had left over. It was fun to have them on the plates. I had her fold up a selection of what she does without even needing the instructions. She has made me a ladybug (which is kind of my trademark) and a heart for Valentines Day. As you can tell by the picture, she's gotten pretty good at it.



In doing some quick research on the art, I've discovered lots of interesting sites from basic to complex. I guess the best way to get started is with a basic kit. According the the Wikipedia, you can use any medium that can be folded to create an origami. Apparently it's been around since the 1600's in Japan, when Buddhist monks brought paper over from China. Even Samurai warriors would give gifts with items that could have been origami on them. (I guess you could say that means it's not necessarily a feminine thing -- and neither is giving gifts...lol)

Personally, I always thought it was cool, though I never bothered to learn how to do it. I'm sure most people are familiar with the basic form since that's what is shown in the movie Pearl Harbor with Ben Affleck.

I never thought I'd have a daughter caught up in it...

I'm just glad we don't watch tv and have young teenage daughters, then we'd be caught up in the whole American Idol thing with David Archuleta and his fame. Which -- by the way -- if you have this problem in your household, you might want to check out the interview they have at yourldsneighborhood this week about Brett Hales, the family spokesman.

Oh...and I finally got the program installed on my computer so that I can post the pictures from my son's bday party. Hopefully I'll get to that tomorrow.



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My Mailbox

Last year we had an issue with kids throwing pumpkins at our mailbox. I don't know how many of you suffer from the same disease we do here with regards to no brains and pumpkins, but it's a yearly illness that routinely takes out the mailboxes. Sometimes they get tired of waiting and use a baseball bat -- they've even been known to use a car. But this time, it was a pumpkin. We weren't the only ones struck by the onset of the disease, there were several other mailboxes that suffered a similar fate.

Well -- it was sad news. We had just purchased a new mailbox to replace our old rusting metal one. This new one was black (which wasn't my first choice, but when you are looking for cheap, white is usually more expensive.) and my hubby insisted I paint our name on it. I humored him and painted it up, adding my traditional ladybug, and all. He proudly mounted it on the post we share with our neighbor, and we were happy with life.

Sure enough -- this was the same mailbox that was smashed with a pumpkin. It hit our neighbors as well, but our box took the brunt of it. It took some of the paint off where I'd painted our name, and took the door off, as well as knocking it off the post.

Our first impulse was not to replace it, I mean, I didn't want to keep painting on mailboxes -- what if that was the reason for the pumpkin? (grin) So, we put the old metal one back out there and hoped it would last a while longer.

Surprise, surprise, we found one to replace the black one at a yard sale or DI, I can't quite remember which. The point was, it was like $2 and a little more solid that the other one we'd purchased. Hubby informs me that I need to paint this one too.

This was about six months ago.

That's right...the thing has been sitting in our house, waiting for it's application of paint before it took it's place beside the curb. Well, finally last Saturday, I painted it. I used the new paint hubby gave me for Christmas -- water soluble oil paint.

Now, I usually don't like oil paint. It's messy (I'm a messay painter, usually getting paint on me, clothes, furniture, easel, etc.), the clean up really smells, and it takes FOREVER to dry. But when we found this water soluble (or in other words, clean up is with soap and water) I was excited. There's nothing quite like oil paint for mixing colors and getting a smooth effect. I had forgotten all about it until Saturday.

By the time I was finished, I wanted to go paint something else. I had a very small sampling of colors, as it was a beginning kit, but I was able to do everything I wanted with it, and with a small amount of paint. I'm used to working with acrylic, and I generally go through tubes of the stuff. (This is why they talk about starving artist...supplies are not cheap.)

This is what the side looks like:


And this is what I did on the front:


I thought it turned out rather well, myself. It reminded me alot of tole painting. When I first moved to Utah, my foster mom (which later became my MOM) took me to tole painting classes. She was always doing some kind of crafty or painting thing -- she even took the woodshop class at the local high school, making hope chests for my sisters and a bedside table for me. Anyway, I loved that class. I've pretty much forgotten the real technique, but some of it came back just working with the paint. It was wonderful. sigh.

So now the paint has finally dried...(it only took four days) and I can tell my hubby to stick it out on the stand. I'm just glad it has a few months before the worry of pumpkinitis hits again.

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My treadmill is stuck...

I've mentioned that I've been walking every morning on my treadmill, right? Well, last week, I decided to do a hill or incline, so that I got more of a workout. When I was finished, it went down, but not all the way. Now it's stuck in a slight incline that is just enough to make you feel it, but not kill you yet. sigh. Today wasn't as bad as yesterday, but it's still a stress on the ol' knees...

It's been so fun this spring to look out over the apple trees. One of our trees really got pruned this spring -- mostly. We still needed to top it. Anyway, it's blossomed in a way that's totally amazing. I think every single spare inch of branch is covered with blossoms! It's the most gorgeous thing I've seen. Wow.

Well...was reading Carrie's blog this morning and saw a blog about a 6 word memoir tag. I thought it sounded intriguing. This is where it originated.

Here are the rules:

1. Write your own six-word memoir.
2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you want.
3. Link it to the person who tagged you and to the place of origin.
4. Tag five more bloggers, with links.
5. Leave them a comment and invite them to play.

Six words??? Let's see what I can come up with...

Happy crazy writer painter wife mother... Hmmm. Wife writer mother artist joyful sharing? I think I like the second one better.

I can't think of anyone to tag, my blog's been kind of quiet lately, so I'm not sure who all is reading me besides Candace and Carrie...lol. But if you like it, see what you can come up with!

Welcome to the World of ART

Greetings on this first day of blogland for the LDSneighborhood. I'm excited! grin. Today I wanted to talk about the word Art, and what it means to me. Have you ever thought about what that word entails?

I used to think that it meant only physical things; paints, brushes, canvas, paper, pencils, charcoal, pastels – the list is endless. But it's so much more than that. There are lots of different aspects involved in art. There is dance, music, theater, etc. Since I’m sure there will be different blogs on music, as well as perhaps the other aspects I’ve listed, I’m going to focus mainly on the visual art – painting, sculpting, and photography. Yes, Photography is art too. Ever hear about Ansel Adams and his black and white photos? Pretty cool stuff.

I’m sure you’ve heard of masterpieces, and 'the masters'; referring of course to those who created amazing pieces of art during the early years of man's development. Some of the people regarded as masters aren't really someone I'd emulate, (such as DaVinci, and don’t stone me) but I think it gets to the point where one person's taste is different from another – especially when we are talking about abstract art. That’s definitely not my taste – something along the lines of ‘beauty being in the eye of the beholder' and all that.

Take the new age art work – sculptures out of garbage. Personally, that wouldn't interest me, but there are people who think that any art is worth it's price.

Talking about price – how many people can really afford to purchase large paintings or sculptures? The average Joe, such as myself and my family, can't. The most I can get is the 5X7's or 8X10 that they sell in bookstores.

In the future, I hope to highlight several of the LDS artists that we are privileged to see in our culture. We have many that are really talented and do glorious works of art.

If you are unable to afford going to the museum downtown, there is an alternative. I love the LDS Church Museum. It's a great place to browse and absorb the presence of art. It's a quick ride on Forerunner and Trax to get there now -- which if you have a large family like I do, is a bargain -- especially with gas prices the way they are.

Anyway, we have some artists in the LDSneighborhood too -- you might want to look around and check them out. It might enlarge your perceptions and enrich your spirit.

Be sure to look at this CD about President Hinkley...it's a form of art that someone else will be covering -- music!

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Party Weekend and Mother's Day

Wow...what a weekend. We had my son's bday party on Friday, the first available time since his real bday in April. It was crazy, all the people he invited came to the movie (I won't want to take 12 kids to the movies any time soon...ouch!) and then to our house for rootbeer floats. It was great fun, they were good kids, and I took a picture of them in front of the banner on the garage. We got a bunch of tiki lamps and made a pathway to the back yard, and had balloons everywhere, it was just way fun. sigh. Makes me want to be a kid again. I never had a party... It's been fun to give one to my own children.

Mother's day was way fun. I got breakfast in bed, and wasn't allowed near the kitchen for the rest of the day. I love that aspect of the day, let me tell you. Although, sometimes what comes out of it is less than desired, this years offering was wonderful. We went to my mother-in-law's for dinner, provided by my hubby. It was wonderful grilled (marinated) chicken. man! We haven't ever tried it before, and it was mouth watering and tender! He also made me strawberry pie...a traditional favorite. He always makes two -- one to share, one for ME! grin.

He's a wonder, let me tell you. Have I mentioned how much I love him? ;)
Anyway...great weekend. Now for the week ahead, I'm not sure, but it's looking to be a crazy one. I hope you ladies all had a wonderful Mother's day!!

I Joined the Neighborhood!

I'm so excited! I've been given the opportunity to blog about specific themes for the LDSneighborhood. I'm sure you have heard of it (those of you who live in Utah -- it's been everywhere. Those that live outside, it's on the internet!) by now, and it sounds like a great idea, huh? I'm just excited to be a part of it. So, in the future I will be blogging about art and weddings, which are two of my interests outside of writing and family...lol

If you haven't checked out the website yet, you need to look it up. Just remember that everything isn't set up yet, it's still a work in progress.

And don't worry...I'll still have my lame everyday life posting here along with it, so you won't have to worry about missing anything...grin

Don't ya Just Love it?

I had the joy of talking with Tech Support again today. It's been a little while because things have been running smoothly. Well...remember the movie Transformers where the guy is trying to get through to the Pentagon on a cell phone? That whole scene is one of our favorites. "I'm in a freakin war! This is ridiculous!"

Well...after going through all the stuff they've told us before, and getting no results, I finally called them because my husband REALLY needs to have access for his classes. That's when I found out that I'd plugged the wires in the wrong way in the back -- although I didn't know this at first cause it disconnected me from the technician. darn. lol

So, I waited a few minutes to see if he would call me back. He didn't...so I called them again. I got a new person, and this one seemed a little more with it. That's when I discovered I'd plugged the ports in the wrong way -- sigh. I'd been thinking I needed to check it before I called....but they haven't been working even when they are in the right spot, so who knew???

He was nice...said have a good day, yada yada. sigh.

Don't you just love tech support??? Wish I had a job like that. "Ma'am, is your computer showing a green light?"

lol

Have a good one!

Is it Real or Is it Memorex...

Remember that old commercial? Well, I think it has lots to do with our lives. My husband has been struggling with the idea of going back to school. It's not something you consider lightly at our age, and he's worried about the expense, the time, etc. We've prayed about it forever, but he never feels like he's gotten an answer. Instead, he feel that something is always getting in his way to stop him. Same thing with exercise -- but that's another topic.

For example: We've had issues with our internet connection in the past, but over the past couple of months we haven't had any problems. It's on all the time, never blips out and remains steady. Until Wednesday. See, he had to do a conference call, and look at a powerpoint presentation at the same time as the call. Suddenly, the internet was down and he couldn't look at the powerpoint. sigh.

Then, yesterday, he had his first assignment he was doing. The internet's been up most of the day, does down the minute he sends the first part of the assignment, before he can send the second part. Seem a bit odd to you? Did to me too...but it's always the same thing. It's taken since January to get this whole thing going because they had lost part of his information and we had to resend it.

One could blame it on gremlins in the wires, opposition in all things, or one could wonder if the Lord is trying to tell us something. Something we haven't been able to hear yet. My first impulse is that satan is REALLY working overtime on this puppy and couldn't he just give it a break? I mean, good grief!

My hubbies first impression is that perhaps he isn't supposed to be doing this. sigh. I think it's time to go talk to the Bishop, but I don't know if he will. It's just another road block in the many we've had in the past couple of years. It's hard for him to be positive about it.

People!

I had this post all done in my head...and then I woke up. Don't you just love having senior moments when you aren't really senior yet??? sigh. Kids do it to you every time. Since I've got seven of them, I think it counts...grin.

So...if the thought comes back within the next day or two, I'll post it.

Meanwhile...we had snow today. I was just glad it didn't stick. Tonight I get to go to the temple, and enjoy the evening with my hubby. Tuesday we went to the Salt Lake Temple...haven't been there for almost 9 years!! It was wonderful...but I've discovered I like the Bountiful Temple better. Is that disloyal??? Hmmmm

Well...off to change clothes and go exercise. Have a good May day everyone!!

(can you believe it's May already???)