A Few Thoughts

Tuesday, October 27, 2020

And it's Tuesday...

Happy Tuesday! The weather is crisp but nice! Yesterday was a little too chilly for no warning, which can be typical for Utah, lol. We love our weather fluctuations, right?? As if the fact that it's game 5 of the world series wasn't enough...it's also our annual Jack Taco night. I figured that might not be enough for some people, so I went looking. There's not a whole lot going on today, but I did want to comment on some of them.

National Potato Day - the potato has been one of the most maligned items that we eat. Is it a vegetable? Is it just carbs? Talk to the Irish, they lived on them for a long time... The potato has much to give us. But... if you're like me, they're good with so many other things. Like butter, sour cream, cheese, bacon, cottage cheese, chopped ham, chili, the list is endless. How do you like to eat your potato? Sometimes I just love a baked potato with butter and garlic. I do love mashed potatoes...but we don't make them healthy. I've tried the whole chicken broth thing, and it just hasn't worked for me. I probably should try again, but hey, at this point, my family might rebel. So, just for educational purposes, lol, here's an informative video on potatoes.

Black Cat Day - so, I guess in line with this being Halloween week, it's black cat day. Personally, I am not a superstitious person, so it's no big deal. We used to have a black cat, and I loved it's sleek fur. Are you a superstitious person? Well... I figured this video clip was good for the day and a laugh...

Cranky Co-workers Day - Everyone has that one co-worker that seems to be cranky. They struggle with finding joy and having happiness in their day. Nothing goes right from the copier always being jammed to the pop machine being out of ice. Some are the ones that say "but it always rains on the weekends." Regardless of who they are (is it you???) they are part of our working life, and we become fond of them. (Like Oscar the Grouch.) Sometimes you play jokes on them, sometimes you feed them candy, hoping that will sweeten them up. What have you done that you find helps? I am fortunate not to have run into many, so I can usually either turn their focus to something else, or leave the room, lol.

so - if you need something to cheer you up, music always helps with that. If you're feeling cranky, or dealing with a co-worker that's cranky, let's crank up some tunes and see if we can dance that crank out!

Have a great day!! 🙂

Wednesday, October 21, 2020

World Series Time!!

So - I never thought of myself as a sports fan person, but I did used to be more than I am now. I used to LOVE football, always wanted to play tennis (sigh...really miss that) and yet, never really been into basketball (though I watched the Jazz with my hubby when Stockton and Malone were a team... awesome!!) or baseball. I used to think baseball was boring...and then I got married. My hubby is a fan of baseball, he used to play it and he was pretty good, though not scouting good, just kind of naturally athletic. (dreamy sigh) Anyway - one thing we have done since the beginning of our marriage was watch the world series. It's one of those family traditions, especially when the Blue Jays were playing, as he went on a mission to Toronto Canada, and that is their team. Big deal... it was awesome. :) So... chilly dogs and Canada Dry ginger ale is a must for at least one game. All the rest still have the ginger ale, but usually some other fun hand food.

World Series 2020: Here's where the Los Angeles Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays played college baseball | NCAA.com

Some years we are rooting for the same year...last year we were on opposite sides, and that frustrates me, cause I don't like being on opposites! This year, we've been having a hard time deciding which team to root for, we like the Dodgers, though not as much as the Rays. I'm rooting for them. Dodgers have been to the series way more times than the Rays. And...anyone whose seen The Rookie will like and root for the Rays!! lol.

Amazon.com: The Rookie (Widescreen Edition): Dennis Quaid, Rachel Griffiths, Jay Hernandez, Brian Cox, Beth Grant, Angus T. Jones, Rick Gonzalez, Chad Lindberg, Angelo Spizzirri, Royce D. Applegate, Russell Richardson, Raynor Scheine, David

We had fun last night, but I'm glad it's only during the series. If we watched baseball all the time, we'd never get anything done! lol I really wish we could watch football...but they never televise our teams on regular channels.

There are a couple of food mentions... National Pumpkin Cheesecake Day... and National Caramel Apple Day. Cheesecake doesn't really go with baseball, but I think caramel apples would be good to munch!!

Well... Hope you have an awesome day!!

October 21: National Pumpkin Cheesecake Day October 21: National Caramel Apple Day

Read more at: https://www.thenibble.com/fun/more/facts/holidays-october.asp

Monday, August 17, 2020

Book Release!!!!

I'm so excited! today I am proud to say is the day of my book release.

That's right! Dear Maddie is available today! You can go to amazon.com and order it... I'm having a launch party at 5pm on facebook... so go to GParker Artworks Dear Maddie and join me for some fun!

https://www.amazon.com/Dear-Maddie-G-Parker-ebook/dp/B08FRQ8MFG/

Wednesday, August 12, 2020

I Spoke Too Soon.... Ugh

So - we got back from Oregon, and hit 100 temps. More than one reason to want to turn around, lol. But - then the virus got us. First my hubby came down with what we figured were allergies real bad- and I was close behind. By the end of the month, his sinuses were starting to bother him, and he'd developed a cough. I was right behind him, though my sinuses have not bothered me. By last Thursday, he was totally miserable, and called the dr to see if he'd give him antibiotics. He insisted on my hubby getting Covid tested, so we did that and then found out that he'd called in a prescription anyway - there is a reason we like this doctor. lol. That was almost a week ago. He has since started feeling much better, though his chest is still tight and he gets a little light headed... He also got his sense of smell back. He's gone back to work and is waiting on results of test.

Our son who had gone on the trip with us came home the same day as my hubby had test and was ordered to get tested because he had symptoms. He'd been home since, also waiting. His symptoms are not half as bad as ours have been, so that's something. Perhaps that's the whole age thing.

I have been SOOOO sick...I've had a temperature pretty much the entire last week. Yesterday was the first day that I didn't have one. My chest is still constricted, it's hard to breath, and I cough every time I move too quickly. I have had a hard time eating anything...feel so nauseous... but that is getting better. it's frustrating to be hungry and feel like your stomach doesn't want anything at the same time. sigh. But at least I feel more human. I've been very glad that I haven't gone back to work yet - that's next week. My co-workers are a little nervous, I think, but I've got masks and I'll take disinfecting stuff with me. I should have gotten tested the same day he did, but procrastinated... I got my test on Monday, so I won't likely know till Friday. sigh.

So.... we're alive...we're getting better...and we're both getting read for school to start. Things are totally crazy, don't you agree??

At least our daughter has escaped most of it... (the one that went with us) she hasn't come down with anything yet, and our youngest son has been paranoid and walked around in his full face mask for a bit. We told him it was a little late for that... He's been having slight cold symptoms, so he's probably catching some of it. Poor kid...the younger ones seem to not be as sick, so no big deal.

I had all these things I wanted to do before going back to work. I managed to get a couple of them done...and then came down sick where I could hardly move. I am trying to see if I can get something done these last couple days...

Hope you have a great August! I am really ready for 2020 to be over, lol.

Thursday, July 30, 2020

Return to Sanity....sort of, lol

Well...this is the second try. I wrote this whole blog yesterday, adding pictures, reliving my trip, and then clicked publish.

nada.

It was all gone!! I've never had that happen before, as blogger always auto saves - but apparently no longer. Let's see how it goes today...

I'm not going to remember everything I wrote down, so hopefully I can remember the points I wanted to touch on. Mainly...OREGON! lol

We have been planning a trip to Japan this year, and covid kicked it out... so we planned another one, to my brother's house in Oregon.

I served a mission in Oregon, over 30 years ago. It's amazing how much you forget in that amount of time. Like, peoples names, addresses and such. I meant to grab my journal and look up things about Roseburg, as we were going to spend a night there, but never got around to it. So, we never did hook up with anyone, but it was fun to go back.

We didn't get away as soon as we had hoped, and I ended up driving because Guy had been working his 10 hour shift, and everyone else was tired. It was a good thing, my knee (which has been bugging me and I had to get an xray for it this morning) was happier in the drivers seat where there was more room than in the passenger seat.

We made it to Idaho before midnight, and then headed off to Oregon the next morning. We got to Lakeside by dinner time, and it was wonderful...so much cooler!!! It never went above 70 the whole time we were there. My sister-in-law loves the cooler weather, and kept all the windows and doors open to get the cross breeze. We were freezing half the time, since our blood was much thinner, lol. She laughed that we had to have blankets over our legs or have the door shut. Oh well. :) We still love her, and loved being there.

That Saturday we went up to the lighthouse nearby, the Umqua Lighthouse. My hubby and I had been there before, but didn't realize that you could watch whales from there! We didn't see any, but it would have been fun. it was also foggy that day, or as my sis-in-law kept reminding us, had a marine layer most of the day. We went to the lake, Tenmile lake and looked at the amazing lilypads everywhere...and ordered up some grub. It was a tad expensive grub, We also went up to Thors Well. One of my friends had mentioned it and suggested we go. My bro hadn't done a lot of sight seeing yet, so he was game to go with us. It was kind of cool... a hole in the ground, lol. I wasn't able to walk down to it, but the kids did. They thought it was pretty cool. My bro walked down to it too, but I didn't think it was a good idea with my knee. We did walk down half way on the paved path...and then back up. It was a gorgeous day, even if it was overcast.

We had church with them on Sunday and generally lazed around, I think recouping from the crazy drive to get there. It was wonderful. Then we decided to go the local car show, which was kind of cool. Lots of Mustangs...which made us think of the Ford vs Ferrari movie, and which is why we watched it later with my bro.

Monday, we helped him clean out a bunch of stuff from his shed. He was having the roof re-done, as it was a mess, and wanted to get all the junk out. The kids helped, and then we made a trip into the dump. After which, we went to the beach and they went home. :) We were being such tourists. We had pizza and watched a movie that night - we introduced them to Ford Vs Ferrari. It was awesome.

Tuesday and Wednesday we touristed more, and I think my family was a little tired of driving, but it was so much fun. We watched Jumanji, (the new one with the Rock) and the welcome to the jungle one follow up, and then had to prep to say goodbye on Thursday. I wish we lived closer! I still can't believe I didn't take any new photos of them...

but this one works. They haven't changed at all. :)

We went down the coast for a bit before heading east. One of the beaches we stopped at had puffins! They had one that was made from garbage found in the ocean - none of which had been altered other than to cut it to fit. It was amazing.

We stopped at Roseburg for the night, and then went on to Crater Lake. I went to Crater lake when I was there on my mission, but I remember a dead forest of twisted trees on the way there. I'm wondering if that was another entrance (we went to the north one) or if that was due to a fire at the time or something. Nothing looked dead this time, except some obvious burned trees on one side of the road. I didn't remember the lake being so amazing though! And there were so many people... Who knew? I teased my hubby that only in the US could someone find a deep hole in the ground filled with water and people would go hundreds of miles to no where to see it. Right?? lol

So - it's back to dry hot Utah weather, and my own bed and kitchen. Doesn't get better than that, except I do miss the beach!!

Here's some more photos to help you dream...

Monday, June 22, 2020

It's a Crazy Crazy world!! A little heavy...

So - I don't know about you, but it appears to me that people are getting crazier as the days go by. Not only are they hyper about Covid (not to say it's not something to be concerned about, but so is the flu...and lots of other things in the world right now) and insisting that people wear masks, social distance and businesses had to close for a LONG time... (As I do face painting and my hubby balloon twisting, we've had NO events thus far this year, which is a scary thing. Good thing we don't depend on it for our lively hood at this point...) we have friends who do face painting and balloon twisting for a living who are barely squeaking by...didn't qualify for business help, and are scrambling to find a way to do business.

But there is also the whole race bit going on, with rioters taking over. I can't believe the amount of damage being done to public property in the name of history correctness. :( I guess I could see the confederate flag being offensive, and having NASCAR ban it (which will be interesting as that's a southern based venture and most of the south used it in their car decor, lol. I guess they'll be banning Dukes of Hazard next, right??)

Let's face it - it's not like my blog is the I Ching of information, and the center of popular reading, lol. I've accepted that long ago. However - that being said, I still feel driven to share my thoughts and express my feelings about current times and issues as they come up. I don't kid myself that my regular readers are interested in my in-depth thoughts, though they may like what they read. :) I also feel that I need to share the hope that is in Jesus Christ and His gospel and how it can help us during these crazy times. See? It's all good.

So - that being my caveat, I feel compelled to say that people are being driven by every wind. They are not thinking clearly, they are not seeking true guidance, and they are letting mob rule get into their brains. What logical thought says that statues of Roosevelt, or Christopher Columbus, or Ulysses S.. Grant is damaging to the history of our people?? What makes them think that destroying items of history is going to change the past? We are supposed to LEARN from the past, so we don't make the same mistakes.

These people that statues were created for were at some time admired, or had part in creating history. Now that we look back and decide some of that history was a mistake, or poorly handled, doesn't mean tearing down those statues will change any of it. Rioting and vandalizing and killing and all of what is going on right now does NOT CHANGE ANYTHING. It only makes things worse, and creates more chaos. The people that are promoting these things want for that to happen, believe it or not. They hate America. They hate the idea that the United States of America was founded on Christian principles of right and wrong, founded on the idea that the individual has rights; that the community has rights and that we were bound under that union to keep the government from overruling those rights.

Our founding fathers hoped that we would have more freedom than any other country had held, that God would be our guide and that we would stand firm. Our military was founded on the hope to protect those rights from other countries who would dominate and dictate and remove those freedoms. Since we have been successful so far in avoiding that, they have been working from the inside out. If they can destroy what we hold dear through our OWN people, then it won't be so hard to take us down.

The whole thing is so sad. Almost every day that quote from MIB goes through my head... "A person is smart, but people are dumb, panicky dangerous animals..."

And each day we see that played out. Our youth are brainwashed by the internet and the fake news into thinking that this is the way things need to go. Those who are my age are ignored because we have no say. Just because we've seen much...and those older than myself had seen even more... Just now I watched the planes from Hill going by in the missing man formation. How many missing men do we have now? How many have died because of the stupidity of people??

There are many times my husband and I have discussions about our Father in Heaven and how is it He doesn't just destroy the earth right now. Send the Savior to end it all and stop the horrors. How can He stand by and watch all the awful things that His children are doing to each other? Then again... think about our own situation...our children that make stupid choices and we have to stand and watch them do it. We have to let them learn and take on the consequences. The Come fallow Me study last week with Alma and Amuleck speak to this very thing. They had to watch the faithful who would not deny their faith be cast into a fire. So those actions will be borne against those men in the judgement...the Lord's judgment will be perfect.

People think that the things they do here, own here on earth have such large effect. Mean so much. But they don't. What matters is what we learn and grow and develop and care for others. LOVE is the only thing that is going to continue on for good. Everything else is going to dust.

So what can we do now? We can try to be the difference ourselves. We can love our neighbor, and serve and try to talk with them. We can support our local governments in their attempts to protect us from the riots and vandalism. We can be active in the elections of our country and strive to get good men elected. Unfortunately, at this point, I'm not sure a good person would get far. I used to think Mr. Romney was that person, but has since lost my confidence. There is no one running for president that would be the perfect person. That person wouldn't come forth at this point in our history without ...I don't know. I just don't think they'd get elected. To many corrupt people abound, and control and there is only so much we can do. At this point we have to have hope that our vote counts, that we can move things forward as best we can where we are.

Saturday we drove by the temple... It's been so hard not to go there every week as had been our practice. It's been three months now since we've been able to enter those doors. We miss the spirit of the temple sooo much. We watch the building of the Layton temple with much anticipation, it's only 2 miles away!!! We are so incredibly blessed...especially when there are those who still live hours away, and some long journeys away. I know we're all praying for them to re-open to all work soon.

Yesterday we celebrated Father's day. I was upset initially for my husband...it didn't start very wonderfully by our children, though he probably enjoyed his morning with just me. ;) But by the late afternoon and evening, all the children that could be here, were here, and things went well.

We did our best in raising our children, and trying to instill in them the values we thought were important. It feels like we're still working on the adults that live at home... but it's their choice now. We've done what we can. My hubby is a wonderful man, and sees things more cut and dried than many of our children. Things are right and wrong...and it's hard for him to see people pushing for the gray. I am so thankful that he's a righteous man that believes in God and supports me in all I do. I mourn that my sons aren't following in his footsteps, though at least a couple of them are faithful, just different. Which is what life is, and how it works out. They are their own person.

It's hard to see pictures of us and see the gray and realize we don't look the same on the outside that we fell inside, lol. When did that happen??

I feel greatly blessed to be on this earth, and to have been blessed with this man at my side, and the talents the Lord has given me. I mentioned yesterday to my children that I love our little spot on the earth. I love where we live and the feeling that no matter what is going on outside our little bubble, we still have a measure of rightness here. A piece of paradise that is still a work in progress, but wonderful, nonetheless.

Well, if you've read this whole thing, you're awesome. You deserve a prize!! lol It is my hope that perhaps you have taken something away from this bit that inspires you. I'm thankful.

Remember all things are possible through Christ.

Have a wonderful day!!!

Monday, June 15, 2020

Happy Summer Vacay! sort of...

So - I've been home off work for three weeks now, and it's gone by soooo fast! I can't believe it's the middle of June already. We took a weekend the first week and went to Brian Head. I've never been there, and it was fun, but the condo we rented was SO small... the bathrooms were a closet (as far as the toilets) and the 'deck' was only big enough for the decorative table and chairs that no one could sit in, lol. But it was gorgeous as far as decor, and we spent most of the time going down to Cedar City or going to Bryce Canyon, so it wasn't a terrible thing.

It was fun to have the time with my daughters, if it was only two of them. We did a video chat with the third one, so that was kind of fun, the four of us for a couple hours.

But you know, I think that's kind of the way of life. You have lovely daughters that you raise and try to dress cute, and do curls in their hair and bows and all...and then they start growing up and suddenly don't like you very much and then leave the nest. They get married, have their own children, and suddenly you discover that you have precious granddaughters to cherish as you did their mother. And as those daughters grow and mature, they come back a little, until you hear them tell their children that she likes to hang out with her mom as much as they like to hang out with her.

It's an awesome feeling - knowing that your children love you as much, possibly, as you love them.

And then my hubby brought the grandkids down on Saturday so we could spend the rest of the weekend together. We took them to Bryce Canyon, and it was soooo windy! But it was perfect weather.

The last day as we were leaving, was a snow storm. I had to laugh...we were way up high. Brian head is almost 9,000 feet. Where else in June, right?

One of the rules of the weekend was no politics and no Covid 19 talk. There had been sooo much of that the week before, and we just wanted to disconnect from everything. It was hard to come back and I did avoid the computer for a bit.

Now we're a week later, and I realized that I hadn't written to all my friends in a while, so figured I'd better get it done. We have been very blessed in this land, and now it's coming apart at the seams. I hope all of you reading this (which I know isn't many, but still) are healthy, and safe. I hope you have faith and are holding onto the Lord and His peace, because there's nothing else out there that's going to help us.

Take care...keep smiling, and remember that family is all, and love keeps us all sane.

Last Friday we went to the "poppy fields" which turned out to be a small group in a roadside bit north of Brigham City. I'll leave with some of those pictures... Enjoy!

Thursday, May 21, 2020

Another Thursday... and life continues!

Okay - so, we had a great rain storm last night - I love this time of year when everything is green, makes me think of Oregon/Washington and how amazing that was. I remember when my hubby and I went on a cruise a couple years ago out of Seattle and my niece took us to the ship. Driving through her neighborhood was like driving through a forested place where you could hardly tell where the streets were. It brought back lots of memories. I loved it. :)

I was going through my desk calendar my hubby got me for Christmas, which is a Bob Ross little flip calendar with different thoughts and paintings each day. The one for earlier this month made me laugh...

I never thought about naming my brushes!!! I do have some favorites in my facepainting ones...and lately in my regular ones. So, I made up my own gif...

What do you name?? My kids name their cars, and I think they got that from their dad who used to name his cars. He's named mine 'Diva', but he hasn't named his or his truck. But the kids still name theirs. I haven't really named anything that's inanimate at this point. I know some people name their sourdough starters, and that cracks me up.

Just for grins last Saturday, we went to Grannie Annie's now that everyone is sort of open for dinning in. If you've never been there and decide to venture in, just be prepared for portions that are the size to feed Hagrid. My omelet was the size of the platter/plate...and my sons pancakes were this...

I makes him look like a little kid in this photo, but he's over 20, so you can see how huge they are. He ended up taking one of them home. The cinnamon roll we ordered was almost the size of a single pancake, and three of us munched on it. So... just be prepared. :)

Today doesn't have a lot of note to share as far as celebrations go, but there are a couple things.

National Wait Staff Day - and I think this is especially pertinent for the past 2 months. Be appreciative of those people who serve you...they deserve good tips!! Most of them have been out of work for the past pandemic closure...

It's also End of the World or Rapture Party Day - which is kind of funny. One of my coworkers was telling me had an interesting class at Weber this past year. She took an English Apocalypse class. As part of the class, they were assigned movies to watch and reports and all that. Well...the 9th week into the class, the syllabus has them watch Contagion. I haven't seen it - but I have watched the trailer. She said it was crazy. The professor said that he wasn't psychic, and didn't know the future, it just happened that the week fell on the time when everyone was worried. This was the second week of March... He told the class that it was no big deal, they shouldn't have to worry, everyone seemed to have a handle on it. Then Friday the 13th everything shut down. It was pretty ironic and bizarre at the same time. I thought this scene where their in a grocery store and the shelves are ransacked was pretty similar... Whats even more crazy is this was made in 2011. So... what's next, Zombies??

So... on a lighter note, it's also National Strawberries and Cream day. Now that's a day to celebrate!! I even have strawberries! Hmmm... but, does it count if it's whipped cream??

So- to leave on a little brighter note - I discovered this video by MercyMe this week, and it's been my favorite of all time - I've been playing it like every day. Some of you have probably already seen it, but I don't think it gets old.

Side thought... I think we've been pretty fortunate in this go round of the 'shut down'. At least where we live... we haven't been confined to our homes, we haven't been unable to buy food - I think most of us have had supplies. I know some have experienced great challenges in relation to it, and some still are - But I and my family have been greatly blessed. Enjoy!

Friday, May 15, 2020

Happy Friday and everything...

Hey everyone! Happy Friday! Has this week seemed long to you?? Man, it has to me. I don't know why, but it's been crazy long. I'm really glad it's Friday. Do you realize we only have 2 weeks left of May?? It seems like while the week went slow, the month is wising past!

At least the weather has continued to be wonderful. I hear rumors that our summer is going to be as hot as ever, and I'm not looking forward to the hot days. I know some of you are heat enthusiasts, but not me... lol.

Anyway - just thought you'd like to know that today is National Pizza Party Day! I think that's an awesome thing to celebrate - 1, because pizza is just the best thing ever...and 2, because I think all of us need a good party! (as long as it's limited to less than 50, right?? or is that tomorrow?) Which is your favorite kind? You like thick crust or thin? Folded up or use a fork? Did you ever imagine that people could like so many different kinds and eat it so many different ways?? Crazy. I like the deep dish pepperoni, myself. Turkey pepperoni with pineapple...yep, it's awesome. 🙂 We even have one we make with eggs... no rising time, etc. 👍

I might have put this next one first, but ya know... it's National Chocolate Chip Day - In looking up information, I don't know why they picked today (those all knowing geeks that decide there needs to be a day to celebrate stuff, lol) The woman who invented the chocolate chip cookie wasn't born in May, she was born in June, and I just don't see why, but I guess that's the way it is with most of these 'holidays' lol. Right? Anyway - I figure it's as good a reason as any to bake some up!! (of course it's not like I NEED any, not to brag or anything, but my boss just dropped of a box of Crumbls cookies, so it's all good!!! 🙂

It's also National Slider Day - which I guess we're celebrating tomorrow, because that's what my son wants to make for dinner. We discovered that if you use the wheat dinner rolls from Smith's, they're the perfect size for the sliders he likes to make. Coolness... I don't know what the big draw is...3 little burgers instead of one big one???

And just to be silly - it's Nylon Stockings Day - if you remember this day from last year, it was a big deal when pantyhose was invented and women didn't have to draw lines on their legs... I wonder if I would have done that?? hmm... does anyone even wear nylons anymore??? (I don't!!) 🙂

Well, no matter what you end up doing today, I hope it's fun. And that you have an awesome weekend!!

I wanted to leave you with a fun song to get you dancing... I found it the other day and it just makes me laugh. 🙂