Scorching the World

I had signed up to have the missionaries for dinner several weeks ago, so I wanted to get the Christmas decorations set up before they came. Tom and I had set up the tree with lights, but no decorations yet, and the lights were up outside, but nothing else. Tom had put all the Christmas boxes in the garage so it was easy to bring in one at a time and set it up. I started with the tree, and after a few minutes Ziona whispered to Trina that she wanted to help me. Within a few minutes after that, Trevor decided he wanted to help, too, then Geneva, so the tree got very full very fast. Tom called for help with reports a couple of times while they continued to add balls, so when I finished with Tom's stuff, I had to stop them from putting everything on the tree. It looked great! One by one i brought in boxes and kids helped put them wherever I said. It was fun. They went around and counted all the nativities and then they counted all the sheep they could find. It was really fun to do...

I spent the day getting Christmas cards ready to mail, but then we found a flaw on them - I ordered them printed this year - so we might not use them after all the work and cost. So disappointing. I managed to find a good program we can use for Sacrament meeting on the 24th and spent a lot of time translating it. So glad to have it done and ready! We had arranged with Knudsens to go to their house to celebrate Tanya's birthday a day late. I took some shephard pie, which mostly got eaten, then she opened her presents. She was very happy with the album I had made her. There was a lot to catch up on, since she was gone all weekend and missed all our fun but we couldn't stay long because kids had to get to bed, but it was fun to spend a little time with her.

My favorite Sunday of the year is when we get to go to the Messiah Sing-along at the First Presbyterian church in Fresno. It’s always the first Sunday after Thanksgiving, so today was the day! There are a couple hundred people who sing in it, so the sound is so beautiful and moving. It fills every fiber of my soul with joy, gratitude, and wonder. First was church. Tom and I went at  6:30 am, as usual and I practiced the organ for a couple of hours. I haven’t touched the piano the whole time we’ve had company, so I needed the practice. Sacrament meeting was good, but I remembered that I had left the bells home. I have a young man and a young woman who will play bells for What Child is This? Anyway, I ran home during Sunday School to get them for Choir practice. The choir is doing pretty good, but the kids on bells will need quite a bit of practice. I left right after choir practice to go pick up Trina from her church to go to the sing along. Tom had to do the tithing coun...

11/25 Mike and Becky came to our house for breakfast (They were sleeping at Tanya’s while Knudsens are in Utah) before leaving for home.  It was fun to be able to see them one more time before they left California again. Tom made potatoes and eggs again, and I made waffles using a new waffle iron I bought for $5 at a yard sale. It is big and worked pretty good but was pretty slow. Oh well, what did I expect for $5? It was sad to see Mike and Becky go. They are so fun and happy to have around. Sure wish we could get them to move back to California. They went to visit McGills a little while. I’m so glad they did! McGills can use the support. Pettus’ left about the same time Mike and Becky did. They wanted to go to a wedding reception in the Bay Area.  So Tom and I were left to ourselves! I worked on the sofa I was trying to recover. It took most of the day and I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out. It’s nice to have extra seating for now, but we will not keep both...

11/24                The fun just continued all day. We began with breakfast where I made mashed potato patties for breakfast. Some of the adults and a couple of the kids ate them and but most people wouldn't touch them, so pretty much they were a breakfast failure. Actually, with all the delicious food we had available, most of the kids just ate graham crackers. About 11:30 it was getting a little warmer outside, so we set up everything for ginger(less) -bread houses. Trina had bought all the goodies so all I had to do was make the frosting. Becky and Trina helped set up and guide the kids who wanted help. The houses turned out very creative. We used miscellaneous boxes as forms to build on, to make it easier for the kids.           Maggie loves all things kitty, so her gingerless bread  house is a kitty!               ...

11/23               I realized there was no way to finish the couch before everyone got here, so I just made the slipcovers for the bottom cushions and will finish with zippers and perfect fitting after Thanksgiving is over. So I did that, and barely finished before time to get serious about making dinner. It needs a lot of re-sewing, and putting in the zippers and fixing them, but they are fine for having lots of people sitting on them. When Mike and Becky were ready to come over, Mike called to ask where the stuffing was. I suggested he call Tanya and ask her where it was, which he did. They searched and searched. Tanya is super organized, so it’s easy to find things in the garage, but they just couldn’t see the box of stuffing. Tanya told them it is a box about 2’ tall and wide, and the stuffing is overflowing the box, so it’s easy to see. Finally they saw it when Becky realized what Tanya was talking about...

11/22               Mike and Becky said they would be here about 5pm, so I figured I could work on upholstering even after they got here; my main thing was to have the couch done before other company came for Thanksgiving.  We also wanted to pre-cook as much as possible to have less to do tomorrow. But my main focus was sewing, so Trina helped Tom with meals. I was sure glad she and Tom could take care of the kitchen and everything else so I could just sew. I sewed all day today, from about 7am until after 10pm. Mike and Becky came, and it was SO FUN to have them here, and Becky was very understanding about what I was trying to accomplish. It was super hard work because it wasn’t just sitting at a sewing machine. I also had to use the very hard staple gun to attach the fabric, and it was ………… well, without having to explain a lot, it was super hard. Then I’d get Trina to help me tip the couch on its back or...

11/21/17         Tuesday Trina and I went shopping for thanksgiving. Well, actually I was about to go shopping with Trina when Tom called (he was already gone at work) and asked for some reports. Trina ended up buying all the stuff we would need for Thanksgiving and the following days where we would be consistently feeding 15 to 25 people each meal and snacks and desserts in-between. That was a lot of food! I did shop later for a few things I specifically wanted, and other random stuff. When Tom got home, he went to Tanya’s to pick up a couch she was giving away. We haven’t been happy with our sofa ever since we bought it off Craig’s List, and have been looking for something better. She got a newer couch and was ready to give away one someone had given her. Couches just seem to be passed along from one house to another, over and over. Too bad they don’t come with a history written on the bottom – where they’ve been and what they’ve seen. ...

11/20    A couple of months ago, we got invited to join a family home evening group in Fresno. Everyone there belongs to a different ward from us, but they were happy to have us there anyway. They only held it on the 2 nd and 4 th Mondays, and every time after that first one, we had something else happing on Monday and couldn’t go. We finally were able to go last Monday, but found out after we got there that they had ended that group. I spoke to one of the members of the group and we decided to keep it going, so I invited them to our house and told her to invite anyone she wanted. It was scheduled for tonight. When I started cleaning and getting a lesson and treats ready I realized it was probably foolish to try to pretend I have a clean house when there are 7 of us living here. I spent all day cleaning and re-cleaning as it kept getting messed up. Plus, Tom and I started building shelves in the living room and haven’t finished, so the living room is still in a state ...

Tom and I both left at 6:30 for his early morning meetings and for me to practice. We took separate cars so I could go visit another ward. After I got back from visiting, in order to do choir practice, Tom and I realized we didn't need to go in separate cars; he didn't need his car at all while I was gone, so that was silly. We could have ridden together. I had asked Trina to join our choir to sing in the stake Christmas program since I have no altos. Also a sister who is leading the stake choir offered to come sing with us since she can sing alto, too. It was nice to have them here, but they both had enough difficulty with Spanish that they couldn't sing very loudly. I have had a hard time deciding what to have my choir sing for Christmas. I've tried several different songs, and made all the copies, then decided later that they would be too hard, especially for my pianist. I finally settled on two, but my pianist wasn't there again today, so I was trying to lead ...

11/18/17 Tom made his wonderful breakfast first thing while I got a turkey in the oven for our ward dinner tonight. Then we started working on the shelves. We finally got all the support boards on the walls by about noon and then started cutting the actual shelves. It took so long! We thought it was a simple thing, but it just took all day. I got the support boards painted to match the walls, and after we cut all the shelf boards, I painted them white outside. It wasn’t very warm, so Tom had to keep moving them to be in the sun so the paint could dry. We worked through lunch and clear until time to leave for the dinner and ALMOST finished. We had to quit to get to the ward dinner and we really would have preferred to finish the shelves, but oh well. We went and will finish the shelves on Monday, if Tom doesn’t have to work too late. Chris spent a couple of hours with his boys, cleaning up the yard cuttings, which was so nice! While I painted shelves, Tom got the new toilet...

11/17    Yesterday Trina went with me to Laurel Lawrence’s class. That was lots of fun. I was so happy she went with me.  Laurel’s class was on America! And all of the miracles and covenants    that are involved in living in this land. It was really good and I will type it up forthwith - which means when I have some time.  Later I needed to go to the store for supplies for a project Trina and I are doing; we're trying to follow a pattern to crochet a dragon that Nina requested. I’m not good at following directions, so Trina is doing one alongside me that she will give to Mila, to help me understand the directions. There are things I really want done before we have company next week for Thanksgiving. Mike and Becky are coming, and Ryan and Anitta are coming.   That will sure be fun, but I can’t bear to have   them come with some of the things that need done around the house. First of all, I decided I wanted corner shelves in the li...

11/15                I spent most of the day playing on the computer, creating spreadsheets for next year budgeting and other stuff. It was fun! I love playing with excel. Now if only I could figure out how to format the reports I do for Tom, my life would be much easier. Tom got home just in time to grab a snack and get leave again for mutual. When we got there, my first piano lesson texted that she couldn’t make it, so I practiced until the 2 nd got there. My 3 rd and 4 th were both no-shows. They are both new students who haven’t even had their first lesson yet, so I hope to train them to be more appropriate students. It was beautiful weather again and I just wonder when winter is going to hit. Loving it!

11/13   At bedtime Tom, to make conversation, asked me what I had done today. I laughed and said, “You must be kidding!”, because I had done work for him almost all day. I managed to do a couple of things I had planned, but mostly it was Tom’s stuff - running reports, sending his emails while he was away, looking up parks, etc., etc. I thought it was funny he would ask that. I don’t think he realizes how much time it takes me to do his stuff. I had signed up to take some dinner to a sister who just got out of the hospital and Tom got home from work just in time to go with me. On the way home we stopped and got a treat to take to a family home evening group in the evening. Tanya and family came over about 5:30. Tom had a made wonderful dinner and we all watched past episodes of Jeopardy!, until Tom and I left. We got there just in time but the house was totally dark. I texted someone to see if it had been canceled but she didn’t answer until we were back home that ...

Sunday 11/12 Tom and I took separate cars today so we could each do our own things. Church was good; it was the Primary program, which is always the favorite meeting of the year. The kids are so cute. In this ward, most of the children speak English so Primary is in English. But Sacrament meeting is in Spanish, so they sang most songs in English, but added one verse or chorus in Spanish occasionally. All their little speaking parts were in Spanish, but usually not with very good pronunciation or grammar. Many had to be helped to read their part in Spanish. It’s a very different dynamic to be in a Spanish ward in the U.S. The whole Stake presidency came to watch the program, along with the Stake Primary presidency. I thought that was nice. My ward choir keeps getting bigger and sounds pretty good even though it is only melody, no harmony. They are loving singing in the choir, which makes me very happy and I feel very humbled. Such good people. It’s fun to lead them. I visit...

Saturday 11/11  So I was sleeping in, because we didn’t have to go to the church to clean. The kids all slept in, too, so I enjoyed just being leisurely lazy when all of a sudden Tom said he needed to go to the church because there wouldn’t be anyone there to open for the people who were going there to clean. I wasn’t anywhere near ready to walk out the door or I would have gone with him, but oh well. As soon as he got back, he left to go help do a service project, cleaning someone’s yard near us. He had been gone a couple of hours when he called to ask if he could bring the cleaning crew home for breakfast in about an hour and could I just start the potatoes…. So I did and we fed 7 boys and men. We made spuds and pancakes and they ate and were happy. Tom loves hosting and feeding people. I had also made an appointment to feed the missionaries today and I wanted soup. It isn’t cold outside yet to warrant soup, but I was craving some potato soup. Tom made quesadilla...

Friday 11/10    Days fly. That’s why I do this blog. I hate it when weeks have past and I look back and wonder what I’ve done for myself, what do I have to show for my life, have I done anything worthwhile? Who am I if not a compilation of what I do? The last few days, I’ve done stuff for Tom, worked on birthday gifts, Christmas gifts, and all the regular stuff. We decided to refinance so I’ve spent some time working on compiling the paperwork. We had an appraiser come so we had to do some crazy cleaning, especially in the room where 5 children are sleeping, and all the stuff that Trina can’t put away but can’t do without, but it turned out fine. I went to a piano lesson where the student didn’t show up but I found out later that she was in the hospital, went to Laurel Lawrence’s class, sent to Daughter’s of the Utah Pioneers where I am now an official member (even though I’m not sure yet what the point of the group and meetings is or whether I want to keep goi...

Last time we saw Ryan, he asked me what I do all day now that I'm retired. I got wondering what it really is that I do cause I'm seldom bored, so I made a list. Thought you'd enjoy it. 1. Sheep Speak - the little newsletter I send the grandkids once a week - takes about 2 hours /week 2. Laundry, cleaning, cooking, shopping, food prep, taking cars to the shop or picking them up, home maintenance, showering, sleeping, and all that normal stuff- a few hours/week 3. I write on my blog (personal history) every day - about 1/2 hour per day 4. budgeting, paying bills, filing, etc., about 1 hour/wk 5. Family Home Evening - we belong to a group that gets together 2 times a month for a couple of hours each time. 6. Scripture study - 1/2 hour/day plus i go to a study class once a week for an hour. 7. visiting teaching - visit 6 sisters for half hour once a month. 8.Practice piano and organ - about 7 hours/week 9. teach piano - 1 hour/wk 10. shop/wrap/ or hand ma...

11/5   Tom didn’t have Bishopric meeting today, so we got to sleep in. It was also daylight savings, so we got another hour of sleep for that, too. It felt so good! We  dropped  off  Kaden and Caeli at their house on the way to the church.  All the meetings were good, and I enjoyed being able to stay in my own ward the whole time instead of leaving to visit other wards. In choir practice, I taught a new song – What Child is this? (in Spanish) Nobody there had ever heard of it before. My pianist wasn’t there, so it was a little tricky trying to teach and play at the same time, but I think everyone enjoyed the practice. We are preparing to sing in the Stake Christmas program. That’s a little scary to me because we aren’t really singers, but hopefully nobody will judge us too harshly. When we got home, we had some lunch and took a nap, then prepared dinner for Pettus’ for when they got home from church. Tom made spuds, eggs, and pancakes. There was ...

11/4                 Tom and I went to the church, as usual, so he could clean and I could practice. Another family came and helped, so we weren’t there very long, which was a good thing because the Knudsen kids had a recital and we finished in time to go to it, so we decided to ride with them. When we got to their house their garage was open, but nobody was outside. I said to Tom, “Let’s go sit in their car and surprise them when they come out to get in. We were there about 5 minutes when Todd opened the door and looked at the car. We could see that he was really looking at who might be in the car. He stared and stared, then went back in the house. He could see that somebody was in the car, but he couldn’t tell who it was. He thought it was Kaden, but then he found him in the house, so we went back to the door to look again. Tom finally opened the car door and said hi, but it was so funny to watch To...

11/3     I send out a little newsletter to all the grandkids every week, called Sheep Speak, and this week I wanted to include pictures of all the kids in their Halloween costumes so they could see how their cousins looked, since everyone lives so far apart and don’t see each other very often. It took a couple of days to get the pictures from all the mommies, but it also took a couple of days for me to get around to getting it put together and in the mail. I barely ran it out to the mailman as he was circling our street. Tom was working locally and it seemed he needed my help more today than when he’s far away. Sometimes I wonder why his company can’t do the stuff I do, but I do enjoy doing office work, and usually it’s not a big deal - just when I’m trying to get something else done. Thursday I barely made it to Laurel Lawrence’s class, and today I barely got the newsletter out in time. But I got it done and was able to accomplish a lot more the rest of t...

11/2      This morning I went to Laurel Lawrence’s class and it was the best ever. It was about the post-mortal life. I’ll type the notes on my other blog. I came so close to not going because Tom left me with urgent reports he needed, but I was very glad I made it.  So good! I went to Costco afterwards and got the pies for the Stake Auxiliary training meeting tonight and picked up a few other things that were such a good deal or that I thought I couldn’t live without. It’s so easy to spend money! It was still too early for samples, so I was pretty hungry when I got home at almost noon. I worked on some computer stuff most of the day and tried to prepare some for the meeting tonight. I got nervous that I hadn’t bought enough pies so I decided to leave early and buy another one. I also needed to make a couple other stops, so I left about an hour early. I got to the stake center almost half hour early. It’s so hard to judge how long things will tak...

11/1/17           Tom and I went for a bike ride this morning. It was fun and perfect weather for it. My bike is having a few little problems which Tom hoped he fixed after we got back home. I guess we’ll see tomorrow when we try it again. He didn’t have any more time to spend on it this morning. Tom had a lot of work to do at home. I was basically waiting for the plumber to come and give us a diagnosis and estimate on the repairs on the water leak from the bathroom. I did work for Tom and worked on other stuff while waiting, but at almost 3pm, when we started getting sleepy, I suggested to Tom that if we tried to take a nap, the plumber would surely come, and it worked! As soon as we got comfortable, there was a knock at the door. Unfortunately, the plumber said the caulk at the bottom of the tile was cracked and causing the water to leak all around the shower. We never used that shower, so only because the Pettus’ are here usi...

12/30           I had a visiting teaching appointment for today (I’m not as much a procrastinator as that this person kept never returning my messages. I finally got her to commit to a visit when I saw her at our Trunk or Treat on Saturday.) and fortunately, Tom was available to go with me. He knows her better than I do, so it helps. The visit was supposed to be with her and her mom, at her mom’s house, but the mom had to work late. It was a decent tiny visit but I sure don’t feel like I’ll ever win any awards (or points in Heaven) for my visiting teaching. Anyway,…… When I told Trina we were leaving to go do that, she said, “We’re leaving to go to Utah.” WHAT???? She said Chris was slated to begin working in Los Angeles on Wednesday but Mike told him he should go to their work dinner on Tuesday instead. So he decided to take the whole family since he’d be there a few days. They decided to leave at 1am tomorrow morning since Chris was still in the ...