Scorching the World

1/29      I could have ended that sentence with lots of other things like,   …when you’re lame; …when you’re brain dead; …when you don’t check messages!   We had to go in separate cars to church because Tom was supposed to take a missionary to a faraway place for him to witness the baptism of someone he taught previously. But I wanted to go the same time as he did because if I arrive a little later, the building will be locked while he is in meetings. So we got there before 7am, for his Bishopric meetings. Nobody else came. Finally at 7:20, he checked his phone messages and found that around noon yesterday, the Bishop sent a text that there would be no Bishopric today. So I kept practicing the organ, and when it was time for correlation, he realized that there wasn’t scheduled for this week. SO we had another 2 hours to kill.   We decided to go to Tanya’s house and make them breakfast, because we hadn’t eaten. We didn’t have Todd’s phone nu...

1/28      So today Tom got to go to a meeting with the visiting General Authorities. The only people invited were members of Ward Councils. He took notes to share with me and really enjoyed the meeting. In the evening they scheduled the General Authorities to speak to all the youth, and on Sunday night they were scheduled to speak to the young single adults. So they were busy couples! I’m still not sure why they came. It seemed kind of out of the blue. We got two week’s notice about their visit and it didn’t coincide with anything that we knew of that was going on in the area. But I’m sure not complaining! Other than the meeting, Tom worked on his presentation for the 3 rd hour tomorrow and I worked on computer stuff. Nice day!

1/27      Living in NOT-UTAH, we get pretty excited if we get to have a real live   General Authority visit. The strange thing is that it wasn’t for a stake conference, or regional conference, or Northern California area conference like we have before.   For tonight they set up a special meeting for all women 17 years old and up for 8 stakes. I was so excited to be able to see and hear President Russell M. Nelson, President of the Quorum of Apostles! A real live apostle in our very city, giving a message specific for us. He was accompanied by Carl Cook and Elder Dorian, area authority. All were accompanied by their wives. They also set up a meeting with all the 8 Stake Presidents, another with all the ward councils of the 8 stakes, and another with all the youth of the 8 stakes Our meeting was tonight. Tanya and I arrived over an hour early and all the chapel and overflow seats were full, but we did get seats close enough to be able to see Elder Nels...

1/26       Today our Stake Relief Society presidency, which I am 2 nd counselor of, was doing a dinner for all the ward Relief Society presidents. We have 7 wards in the stake. We decided to do it at the Stake RS president’s house because it is pretty central to all the other wards. I was in charge of the salad. For easiness and deliciousness, I bought two pre-made salad packs and put them in a pretty bowl. I was also in charge of preparing a gift for the presidents. I created a picture in a frame. I painted the frames black, cut out silhouettes of Christ, and put the silhouette on antique-looking paper where I printed out theme for the year in little print all over the back as a background. We used a quote from President Monson, “Kneel down to pray, rise up to serve, reach out to rescue. They turned out good. I wanted to put the frames in a gift bag, but they are expensive, so I bought nice wrapping paper and made my own bags, using a You Tube vide...

1/25       No resting on Wednesdays. Tom and I spent the morning trying to finish the greenhouse. It's ALMOST done, but we did run out of time before we could do the last few items.   We left at 2pm to pick up Caeli, then went to her house to help the boys get their homework done.  We didn’t have to take her to gymnastics today. Tanya gets out of class early enough to take her now, so Tom and I ran to the store to get a couple things I needed for tomorrow, then went to the church for the piano lessons.   The first student didn’t show up. He is a new student so I think we probably didn’t confirm the day and time good enough. The 2 nd student texted me that she couldn’t come. The 3 rd student came and is trying to remember what she knew before Christmas because I canceled quite a few weeks at the end of the year. The 4 th student didn’t show – she thinks she is still taking lessons, but she really isn’t. The 5 th stud...

1/24 Before Christmas Tom bought a diy greenhouse kit, but we never had time to work on it. We felt that we needed to have a whole day to put it together, so it wouldn’t get left half done when rains and winds hit. We started it when people were here for Christmas, thinking that with lots of people helping, it would go together fast. Unfortunately, people only had a few hours to help with it, so it only got the foundation started. After that there have been so many rainy days, and Tom has worked so much, that we’ve never had time to even look at it.  So after Tom worked hard on Monday, he felt he had time on Tuesday to give it a whole day, so we started almost first thing after sunup, and only broke for lunch until sundown. It is very slow going, very intricate, and very detailed. Many times we made a mistake in the picture directions that caused a half hour or more delay while we undid one step and put it back together right. We did get a lot done  before s...

1/23       we had gone to the Bay Area Sunday night because Tom needed to get to some mobile home parks as soon as they opened on Monday morning, so we had to leave before most of the McGills were up, but Tom made some fried spuds for them for when they did get up. We drove around places that Tom needed to go and left flyers at most of the homes in two different parks. It rained off and on, but we managed to get the flyers out in-between rain storms, which was nice. We finally got home about 7pm and rested from our journeys. Mostly we had a lot of fun being together all day.

1/22       It’s nice that Tom’s Sunday morning meetings start half hour later. That extra half hour of sleep is wonderful! Church was fine and my talk went pretty good. After all the editing I did on it all week, I was surprised that sitting at the church Sunday morning before the meetings, I still changed tons of things and cut a bunch out. So it felt a little less organized with all the scribbling all over the papers, but everybody said they really liked it. It was on how to get more out of fasting. This ward really needed it, and I needed to refresh my commitment to better fasting. After church we came home and had lunch, then took off for the Bay Area. We stopped to see some open houses at a new community that is going in just north of us. It was amazing, and we spent way too much time there, but we finally got to Tami’s about 6:30. She and Phil had left to go for a walk and didn’t get back until about 7:30, then went to bed about 9pm, so w...

1/21       I woke up with a headache so I didn’t feel great, but managed to make it through piano lessons. It wasn’t a bad one, and I wasn’t very sick, so the day went well other than that. Tom and I joined Tanya to watch Cannon’s basketball game at 3 and afterwards, we took supplies there to make turkey enchiladas. The kids didn’t even remember what they were,  but they had fun helping assemble them and they turned out delicious! In the evening Tom went out with the missionaries again, so I had another relaxing evening. I have to speak tomorrow in Sacrament meeting, so I spent the evening finishing up my talk.

1/20       Friday It still rained most of the day. Boy, are we glad for all the rain, but I think the weather people don’t really know what they’re talking about and this year was actually an “el niño” year instead of last year when it didn’t rain hardly at all. Silly people think they know what they're talking about. Old man weather will teach them some humility! We worked on projects at home and the time sure flies. During Thanksgiving season, I bought a couple of extra turkeys at a good price so we could have more during the year. Tom’s been craving enchiladas, so I baked one of the turkeys today so we can have enchiladas tomorrow. Yum!  In the evening Tom went out with the missionaries again, so I had a quiet evening at home.

1/19        Tom was gone from 7am until 8:30pm. What a long day! He drove all over the Bay Area and was able to accomplish what he needed, so that’s good. I was happy to just stay dry and warm at home all day. I worked on my major project and finished the photo arrangement on the wall. I got a lot done and still had time to relax and just enjoy the moment. It rained really hard for a few minutes, and it was so pretty! The sun was shining through the rain. It looked so cool I had to take some pictures, but they don’t do it justice.  You can see the lake/river in front of our yard, but unfortunately, you can't see the pretty rain actually coming down. Our pool is getting so full, we are going to have to drain some of the water. Sure wish I could save it for summer when we need to add water!

1/18                       I have become such a home body in my old age. I used to love to be busy doing stuff away from home all the time (when the kids were little) but now I’m happy to just stay home and never get interrupted. It’s strange how we change over the years. But today was not a day to enjoy being home. I worked on projects in the morning, and in the early afternoon I had to go pick up Caeli from school, take her to their house where Kaden was home all alone, happily playing on his ipod. I got them to do homework until it was time to take Caeli to gymnastics. By then Cannon and Tanya were home. It was raining so hard I considered canceling piano lessons, but decided not to be a wimp. My first piano student canceled so I got to leave a little later, but on my way to the church, I got a call that my 2 nd student had also canceled. That only left me three...

1/17       Tom had to go to a meeting all day in Stockton, so I had the day to myself. I decided to skip the big project I ‘ve been working on and do something fun. I’ve envied Anne’s photo arrangement in her house for years because my pictures in frames never stay hanging straight. I can’t stand crooked pictures, so I’m constantly straightening them. I’ve used various things to help them stay straight, but still, it seems that every time sit down to relax and I look at them, one or more is crooked. It makes me nuts. Anne’s are all on canvas, which can be hung with two nails so they don’t move. Anyway, on Monday when Tom and I stopped in Dublin, I ran into Michael’s craft store and found they had a huge sale on canvasses. I bought a set of 10 and was so very excited to get the pictures on them. So while Tom was gone, I took all the pictures and made quality copies that I could mod podge onto the frames. I painted the edges of the frames charcoal g...

1/16/17                Tom needed to go to the Bay Area, and today sure seemed like a good day to join him. I have plenty of projects that would have kept me busy all day, but I sure love spending time with him more than anything else. We left about 7am and he had several stops he needed to do in and around Union City. He also needed to deliver flyers to all the mobile homes in one park, so I helped him which got him done in half the time. It took us about an hour and then I told him he owed me a good lunch even though it was good exercise and it was a beautiful day for walking.   We stopped at an Orchard Supply store in Dublin that’s going out of business and got some things we needed at 90% off! Crazy cheap!   Just as we were about to get home, Tanya called and invited us over for Family Home Evening, so we went straight there. It was fun to spend time with them. We went over 400 mi...

1/15/17                So since I’m now a “stake leader” I get to go to all the ward conferences. Today there were two. I worked hard with my organ-playing girls to be sure they could handle everything about playing – setting up the stops, adjusting the volume, turning it on, playing appropriate prelude and postlude, etc. And then I prayed for them.  So, like I said, there were two ward conferences in one building today, the first started at 9am. So I didn’t have to get up as early as Tom. I leisurely prepared and still got there on time. Both conferences were really good. Of course, we heard the same talks from the Stake President and his counselor both times, and I really enjoyed that. They meant much more the 2 nd time and I look forward to hearing them 5 more times. What they did was have Sacrament meeting, then a combined Sunday School presented by the counselor in the Stake presiden...

1/14       I didn’t feel great today, so I took another day off life. I managed to go to the church in the morning for piano lessons, and made it through one, then the 2 nd canceled and the 3 rd didn’t show and I didn’t mind a bit cause I didn’t feel like doing the lessons anyway. On the way home we picked up some more paint for the picture frames. Tom was busy all day. When we got home, he worked on his greenhouse, then he left to do home teaching. When he got home in the evening, he worked on things for Sunday. He would come out to me now and then to ask for help with the computer issues. He stayed busy until past bedtime and got up early Sunday morning to work on things more. Such a busy guy.

1/13       Friday the 13 th and nothing bad happened here. Tom had to work in faraway places and I took advantage of the time to re-paint the walls in the family room. When I painted them after we moved in, I bought a nice grey, but when it went on over the beige/tan of the old color, it turned a beautiful blue. I wouldn’t have minded, but I had recovered four chairs in blue, had a blue patterned area rug, and blue and silver curtains. My whole family was one big blue! I decided it was way easier and cheaper to repaint than to change everything else, so I went first thing in the morning to Lowe's and bought a very light grey. To be sure the color didn’t pick up the blue from existing paint, I painted the walls first with Kilz, then repainted with the grey. It was dark and cloudy outside and the lighting in the room is poor, so I had to use an extra lamp to see what I was doing. While I had the curtains down, I ironed them. The wrinkled ...

1/12                       I love Thursdays because I don’t have to get dressed or put on make-up or go anywhere. I took it easy all day today and just did fun stuff. Loved every minute!

1/11        During any and all spare time since the New Year began, I've been working on a project for birthdays for the year. I was facing the first deadline in February, so I managed to stay focused. Yesterday, I found a deal online that, if I could submit it to print that day, I could get it 50% off, so I worked frantically to finish it. The problem was that the computer was extremely slow and kept getting stuck. I had to restart the internet a few times and sometimes restart the computer. Luckily, I never lost any work or had to start over. I had to take time out to go pick up Caeli and Cannon and take them to their dentist appointments, run to the store for some last minute things for dinner tonight with the missionaries, and then leave early to feed them at the church, then teach piano lessons. (I've found it's easier to feed the missionaries at the church because we live on the outer-most boundaries of their area, and they usually want a ...

1/9         Tanya apparently didn’t think she was doing enough, working full time, being a mother of 3, being Young Women’s President, and running the household. So she started going to school part-time at the community college. Her schedule every semester depends on the schedule she is given at work, which depends on the part-time students who she works with. I think she's looney, but I guess if it makes her happy……… Anyway, Cannon needed a ride to his drama class at the school today (the kids were all still on Christmas vacation today), so I went and picked him up, took him to the school, and brought Caeli and Kaden here. Tom worked until almost 4pm, and Tanya came to pick up the kids for piano lessons shortly after he got home. She brought him a birthday present – a garden rake that he has wanted really bad. So I guess his birthday continued through today, especially since he got to eat some leftover apple pie. I...

1/8         I like to celebrate Tom’s birthday over several days; one just doesn’t seem like enough to tell him how glad I am that he was born. Tom spoke in Sacrament meeting today. He was so nervous, but he actually assigned himself because he had things he felt were important to share. I thought it turned out good. We left after Sunday School so we could get to Trina’s before everyone else for Tom’s birthday party. It was raining so hard on the way, it got pretty scary most of the way, but we made it safely. Hooray. We were so glad to get out of the car and out of the rain! Everyone came except Ryan and Anitta (and except Tracey and Mike who don’t live here). Most got to Trina’s about 5:30. I had provided so much food that there was more leftover than what we ate, so that was good. Nobody left hungry. While we ate, I asked questions about Tom to see how much the grandkids and kids know about him. It was fun and I gave out Hershey...

1/7         We went early to the church so I could teach piano lessons and Tom could help with the cleaning. We were there a couple of hours, then came home for breakfast. I made him eggs benedict again, and he added fried spuds. It was delicious. We took a happy nap again (we keep being awake long periods of time in the night) and then I ran to Costco to get last minute things for his party tomorrow. He got ready and when I got home, he left to go work with the missionaries. That’s one of his favorite things to do, so I’m glad he got to do it tonight. It’s been raining pretty constantly. We love it. I was remembering, back before this drought started, that when there were lots of long days and weeks of rain, we actually used to complain. How very silly of us. We had no idea what a blessing lots of rain is!

1/6        I wanted the day to be special and I’ve  put in a lot of time to try to accomplish that. First thing I made him Eggs Benedict. He had to work from 8am on, so he was happily surprised to have me make him some breakfast and doubly happy and surprised that I made him his favorite breakfast food. That was nice because I spent a LOT of time looking for the hollandaise sauce mix this week. In the afternoon we went to eat at Texas Roadhouse, one if his absolute favorite places. Luckily, Tami and Phil gave us gift certificates for there, so that meal was free and delicious! We were both stuffed! We thought about going for a walk to work some of it off, but instead took a little nap in the car before the movie. We went to see Hidden Figures and really enjoyed it. It’s quite well made and great actors. After the movie, we just went home and chilled the rest of the evening. He probably would have been happier if I had scheduled someth...

1/5         I had a stake RS meeting first thing in the morning. Tom worked from home. We almost got excited about buying a house with Tanya. Online it looked like a beautiful, large house with in-law quarters, but when we finally got to see it, it wasn’t nearly as large as the pictures made it look. It was rather disappointing, especially it is grossly overpriced, so we said, “never mind.”  We’ve said we would never move again, but if we had nice accommodations in an in-law situation, we might consider it. The problem is that we like our house so much, I’m sure we’ll never find anything we would want to trade for it!

Jan 4                      Tom has been home every day so far this year; it’s been really nice. I’ve done home stuff – projects. I never seem to run out of projects. Right now I’m working on something that will be all birthday gifts for my kids this year. The problem is that the first birthday is in mid-February, and it’s a pretty large project. I’ve worked on it 3 days so far and have a long way to go. We keep having car problems. Our repair guy thanked us for keeping him in business. I really hate spending money on car repairs! It’s my least favorite place for money to go, but we’ve gotta have the cars running. We’ve had a lot of rain, which sure is nice! Our swimming pool is full to almost overflowing and we have a little lake in front of our house. I keep forgetting to mention one of the things I love most about this house – there is a heater vent in our master close...

I love it when things are Brand new. There’s nothing wrong with them, they are shiny and clean, and they have unlimited possibilities. That’s how I feel about this brand new year. I’m excited to have another year with Tom, closer to his retirement, unlimited possibilities, and fulfilling life goals. Pretty exciting! It was still, as always, a shock to get up at 5:30 to go to the church. We didn’t celebrate New Year’s Eve at all so that we could wake up this morning. Nobody was there when we got there and we wondered if they changed Bishopric meeting to another time and didn’t tell Tom. But we were early, and the others were right on time. This Bishopric is very punctual. Testimony meeting was really good. There are a lot of very knowledgeable and spiritual Priesthood holders in this ward and I think this is the first ward I’ve ever been in where more men bear their testimonies than women. We hadn’t made arrangements to get together with Tanya for dinner, so we texte...

New Year’s Eve We weren't sure when Mila might have a party as things still aren't back to any kind of normal. Tami and Phil just don't really feel like partying yet, so we had breakfast with Trina and spent quite a bit of time there hanging out. Finally we found out that the McGills had gone to take the girls horseback riding. They just bought a horse for the girls last week and we really wanted to see her and see them ride her. It was fun and Tanya was there, too, so that made it more fun. After the riding, we dropped off the girls at their house, then went to an Orchard Supply where they were having a going out of business sale. We spent a lot of money and a lot of time there. It was really fun. Then we went and hung out at the McGill house. Ryan and Anitta were already there, so we gave them their Christmas presents and they gave us ours. It’s an original painting by Anitta. So cool! Eventually Marc and Alissa also came, Tanya was already there, and even la...

12/30     We wanted to go to the Bay Area for Mila’s birthday tomorrow, and Tom needed to do some work in that area, so I left with this morning. He worked in Watsonville and Salinas, and part of that included passing out flyers to 100+ mobile homes in a park while it was raining. I was supposed to help him, but since it was raining, he let me sit In the car while he did it all. So nice! We got to Trina’s around 2:30 and she was feeding the missionaries at 5, so we helped clean, organize, and prepare the food. She had everything she needed, but it took 3 of us peeling, chopping, and baking to get it ready in time. Even with that, the potatoes were just a little crunchy. She had ham, scalloped potatoes, salad, and veggies. It was all delicious and we were so glad it worked out. She was super happy to have had our help. She said otherwise, she would have wished she could do it, and then would have ordered pizza or something. After the missionaries le...