Scorching the World

With Carma and Vic here, we all got up fairly slowly. Tom still wanted to go help clean the church, and we didn’t see C&V until after he got back, so that worked out well. Tom made his usual Saturday breakfast with his fried spuds, sausage, eggs with green beans, and blueberry pancakes. That was more than enough for 4 old people so we (Tom ad I) pretty much didn’t eat for the rest of the day. We managed to get another couple of games of pool in before they got all packed up, and we had time for some fun conversations. I sure love being around my baby sister! They left about 1:30. We had an appointment with a cement guy at 3 and Tom predicted that he would be late because he always is, but he rang the doorbell exactly at 3pm! Tom was shocked. Lol I wanted to see if there was any way we could afford to cement our whole back patio. We currently have 3 different types of pavers back there and it sure doesn’t look good. It is also very uneven and could be a trip hazard. After he h...

I started the day with a list a page long of things that I wanted to do today. I even woke up at 5am with all of it in my head and needed to write it down and start at the top of the list. I got a few things done, then Tom wanted help getting the Christmas boxes down. His arms/shoulders are so painful now that he really can’t do certain movements like lifting, raising his arm, or holding ANY weight with his arm away from his body – like holding a phone so that he can look at the screen is painful So sad. ANYWAY, I helped get the boxes down and we brought them to the back door. He brought in the Christmas tree and we set that up. I put lights on it, but before beginning to decorate, he wanted to get the lights up outside. That always takes a lot of time because we have to assess what works and what fits where. Last year when he took down the lights, he labeled the things he wrapped the lights on to tell us which lights go where, but we ended up doing them all differently anyway. We ...

We had such a wonderful weekend!   It was so nice having everyone here sharing the food and fun. I was asked to take Janice Melton’s place in the stake council meeting this morning at 7am! What a terrible hour to go to a meeting in the stake center! Last night Tom and I didn’t stay up to watch the movie Trina had chosen because I knew I needed sleep to be able to get up this morning so early. But the meeting was really good. I do enjoy seeing how things work from the stake level point of view. We spent a lot of time discussing how to activate the single adults in the stake. They are a hard group to motivate. I really don’t blame them. If I were suddenly to find myself single, I wouldn’t want to go to any multi-stake activities unless I had a friend to go with and hang out with – just like the young people. Anyway.,,… I got back home at almost 9am, so there was just time to grab a piece of toast, put together in bags all the things I needed to take for my lesson, and pack it i...

Today was take-it-easy day because we’ve worked hard all week. I spent the first couple of hours finishing up my lesson. I got the powerpoint fixed up and made some handouts, then printed the lesson. I planned no activities for today   and basically just put out food   that required no work so people could eat throughout the day. We watched a few Hallmark movies that were generally pretty dumb. It was pretty fun with Ravenna and Trina because we could make funny comments throughout. In the evening Trina put on one from HBO called 8 Bit Christmas with Neal Patrick Harris. It was really dumb, but still a nice change from the Hallmark predictability. The guys doing our cement work showed up at 9am and worked very quickly. They dug down and leveled out the ground about 4”. They had to break out one sidewalk and the cement blocks that the patio pillars are on so they can be put back on level with the rest of the cement. And they put in the 2x4 boards to frame the whole pa...

I started making rolls at about 8am. Trina made breakfast, but nobody came in to eat until almost 10am. After she made breakfast she went out to help Tom move pavers. Brent Thompson and his two boys came over about that time to help. With them, it only took about an hour to finish up. They got all the pavers moved so quickly. All that was left was some of the river rocks that needed moved out of the way. With Trina’s help, I continued to prepare Thanksgiving dinner until 1:30pm when we ate. I was so exhausted, I didn’t even care if I ate. I think it was harder than moving pavers. The food was mostly good. The kids ate mostly mashed potatoes and rolls, so I was glad I made a lot of those! While we were preparing meals, I got texts from Ravenna, Ryan, Kim, and Alissa, all telling me what time they would be here. I was so happy that nobody canceled! Nina came over from Tanya's house and Chris came from Barbara’s house, so we had16 people. Tom and I had bought a card table so b...

  Fun with Pettus’ 11/25 The Pettus’ woke up earlier than I thought they would after getting to bed so late. I had planned to study my RS lesson for Sunday but barely glanced at it before it was time to help make breakfast. Trina and I were Tom’s Sous chefs and he made his usual delicious breakfast burritos. We got everyone except Geneva to help move pavers. Dexter and Trevor helped take the wagons back and forth while Trina and I would load them and Tom would unload them at the other end. Ziona picked up the river rocks and put them in a bucket, filling one and starting another. We got a LOT done, but the kids and I were way too tired to finish. Tom said if we could just work one more hour…………… But it was lunch time so I came in and made some tuna and called everyone to come eat. Tom kept working for another hour. We watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. It was frustrating because they kept skipping all the bands and showing the Broadway plays and commercial compan...

Moving Pavers 11/24 I talked Tom into helping with my grocery shopping first thing this morning. We were both up and dressed by 6pm when Walmart opens, so we hurried over there to beat the crowds. There were plenty of other people who had the same idea, but it wasn’t too bad. We got almost everything we wanted, then went to Smart and Final for sliced olives and then to Trader Joe’s for marshmallows, which they were out of. We were one day too late for those. ☹ But we got everything else we needed and now are really prepared for Thanksgiving. We continued today to move pavers. We also have to move the river rocks that are along there. So our process was for me to load pavers onto the dolly, then Tom would take them to behind the garage while I loaded pavers into the wagon. Then I would load rocks into a bucket until he got back from unloading them. Then repeat the process on and on. We worked until about 3pm when I couldn’t move anymore and had to go in and lie down. Tom would have...

I have asked Tami for YEARS to create or post yoga classes online so I can do it with her. She is shy and not one to put herself out on the internet, but she just finished an advanced course and needs to do some classes as part of the graduation. I was so happy when she invited me to attend online 4 classes that she will teach!!! Happy Days!!! Today was the first one. It was at 9:30, so I ran to Walmart first to get the sheets for the studio, an a few other things, then had breakfast, and got ready for the class. I had to move a shelf unit and a chair because we were supposed to use a wall for some of the exercises. I was a little worried because the class was going to be 75 minutes, and I’m pretty sure I can’t do 75 minutes of yoga. But it was wonderful! The class was very relaxing and peaceful, yet good stretches, good muscle use, good balance, and good twisting. It was so nice. I love how she teaches. The rest of the day we spent getting things ready. Tom spent a lot of hours mo...

We needed a bed for the guest room because we moved that bed to the studio and now hope to have guests who will need a bed. Tom looked online and found a nice captain’s bed that we figured would be perfect for the studio because then we could take out the dresser. One fewer piece of furniture in a small space is good! I love that I’m not working now, so I could take off with him without worrying about being away from the computer. It was down in south Clovis, so it took about 20 minutes to get there. We were being guided by my gps but Tom always knows a better way, so he didn’t follow it. His way was supposed to be faster but actually took 1 minute longer. So funny. The Captain’s bed frame came without a mattress, so we still needed to find that somewhere. We got the bed all loaded up and tied down, then Tom decided to take the route home that the gps recommended and we were very glad we did because we found a yard sale where they had mattresses and box springs for sale!!! There ...

I woke up at 3am, wide awake. I think it was because of the movie we watched last night, but I couldn’t go back to sleep so I finally got up around 5am. I went back to bed about 6:30 and slept a little, but I was sure it was not nearly enough to face a full Sunday. I was fine all day, though. It is amazing how little sleep we can actually live and function on. I was playing the organ in sacrament meeting today, and had hymns that have been very hard for me to master, so I went with much prayer to the church 1 ½ hours early to warm up. That’s how much time I think I need to be ready to play, but still when the meeting starts, I always feel a bit of a panic wondering if I am ready to actually play in Sacrament meeting. All went well. I think I played fine. I was so glad it was over.  Sacrament meeting was good. A new missionary in our ward had been asked to speak and he also asked if he could play a musical number on the piano. It was so so good! He plays beautifully. Sunday sc...

How exciting to have Carma and Vic come to visit! We basically spent all day finishing up things around the house that needed done before C&V today and all the company we will have next week. Our renter moved out of the studio this morning. She packed everything up last night so she had everything ready to go so when she left for work she didn’t need to return. She will fly home to Atlanta for a couple of weeks before starting another stint in Vallejo, CA. So as soon as we were ready, we went to the studio and began cleaning. She left it pretty clean, but there are still always more things that need done so we spent a couple of hours cleaning up there, then washing the sheets and towels from the studio. We kept busy getting ready until time to leave for a funeral in Madera. A daughter of one of our favorite families, a single mother of 6 children died of Covid. We didn’t know her or her children personally, but we knew her siblings and parents. We hurried to make it to the ...

Last night I told Tom I probably wouldn’t go to Laurel’s class today because I couldn’t imagine I would feel up to it. But I woke up around 6am feeling almost good. My head hurt all night, and still hurt when I got up, but I was determined not to lie around all day again. So we got dressed and went. As always the class was really good. The topic was what happens when we die. We didn’t need to run any errands while in Fresno, so we went home and I started shampooing the rest of the carpet in the guest room. It didn’t take long, and since I still had soapy water in it, I went ahead and did a quick cleaning of the carpet in the office. I finished painting the sunflower on the back door, and started another painting just for fun. I practiced, got my cake made for RS activity tonight, we got a nap, and I did all the other things I normally do in a day. The RS activity was called Everything is coming up Applies and everyone was supposed to bring an apple dish. Tom thought I should ma...

I was excited to be able to go to breakfast with our stake RS presidency. They chose Huckleberry. I hadn’t ever eaten there before, so I was looking forward to what it would be like. We do have a good time when we get together. I didn’t think we had a lot to talk about, but we needed to plan the rest of this year and most of next year. We got interrupted a lot with the whole ordering, receiving, eating, etc., but still managed to cover all the important items. It was fun. I would consider the food average but it might be because I started not feeling good. I didn’t eat half of the food I ordered. After I got home I started getting a headache. I figured it was from the ice cream at 8pm last night and it might have been that plus the big breakfast on top of it. So that was my day. I finally took some medication at bedtime after we watched Jeopardy. We did watch one good movie, The Honest Thief with Liam Neeson. We liked it. It was Tom’s kind of movie with lots of action and suspens...

First thing this morning we went for a walk! We stopped doing our daily walks when the heat hit at the beginning of summer and until now forgot to get back into the habit. It feels so good and is definitely something we need. It felt really good. I was going to paint a new picture for the laundry bathroom, but couldn’t find my paints. I looked all over the place and wracked my brain to try to remember where I might have put them after the last time   I used them. We talked to Caeli yesterday about possibly moving out today, and to our surprise, she had everything packed up and kissed us goodbye at 12:30! She isn’t usually up by then, so we were super shocked! She left the room empty and clean! After she left, my paints re-appeared in the closet where they belong.  While she was packing up her room, her dog pooped in our living room. It made me glad that he will be gone soon. The highlight was to talk to my sisters at noon. We had a good chat with lots of fun things to ...

I  spent much of the day organizing little areas. We had 3 large boxes of forks on the shelves in the laundry room. I painstakingly moved forks from one of the boxes into another, lining them all up nicely so they would all fit. Then I got to toss one of the boxes. I did the same sort of thing under the kitchen sink, getting rid of things I will never use, filling soap dispensers all over the house, and emptying some bottles into others to consolidate. There were several other areas where I did similar type of cleaning/organizing. It felt good, but after several hours of it, I could see that it wasn’t anything noticeable, but still nice to have done. I’m playing the organ this Sunday, so my practicing is more focused and intentional. A deadline does that to me. The weather was supposed to get up to the low 70’s, so when the sun came out, I painted the new door to the mud room. Tom painted it before we hung it, but then he had to sand down areas so it would close. Sadly, it never ...

Tom had invited our renter to go to Church today, but she had to work. She wanted to go, so she arranged to take her lunch time to run over to the church. Actually she was an hour late leaving for work – getting there at 9am, and needed to leave by 9:30 to go to church. Because of that, we really didn’t think she would show. Nevertheless, we sat in the back and kept watching for her. She finally slipped in 45 minutes late, and Tom invited her to come sit with us. The cool thing was that this week was the Primary program, and the first song after she arrived was Wise man/foolish man. She was thrilled. She recorded part of it to post on her facebook page. She told us that when she was growing up, they sang that song every single week at her church. After Church she asked what church this was, like non-denominational? Or what? Tom showed her the program that was in her hand, where it said The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She recognized it and said, “Oh! The Latter Day ...

I designated today to get the back yard cleaned up. Tom has been collecting furniture, mostly things that Phil no longer had use for and was going to toss. Tom couldn’t bear the thought of perfectly good furniture (not what I would call it) being thrown out, so he has been bringing it all home. On our back patio we had a huge wooden desk, 2 round dining tables, and 6 dining chairs. In the garage he has a huge dresser and a smaller wood desk. In the yard, he has a bedside 2-drawer thingy, another 2-drawer side table, and a toy basketball standard that Tanya brought over. SO MUCH STUFF! He got a text about the furniture first thing in the morning, so we spent some time getting it to the garage, ready to show, but they never called back. We continued to work on cleaning up stuff in the back yard most of the day. Everything looks so much better!

Tom thought today was Saturday, so he got up and ready to go clean the church. When I reminded him it was Friday, we found plenty of other things to keep us busy. Caeli was gone all afternoon/evening again visiting her friend, so it was nice to have the house to ourselves for a while. We didn’t do anything exciting enough to report until after we had put on our pajamas and had cuddled up to watch Jeopardy. Then Christian called and asked if he could come over to visit for a couple of hours! What a shock! Of course we were thrilled to have him come over. We gave him some leftover tortellini and whatever else he wanted from the fridge or pantry. He wasn’t interested in the popcorn we made for him so we ate that later. He is currently the caretaker for his grandma Barbara, and she is in the hospital, so he has a lot of free time right now. He actually talked more than average, helped us with the Jeopardy answers, and discussed other things while we watched Penn & Teller and Sh...

I was disappointed to get an email this morning saying Laurel Lawrence’s class was canceled because it is a school holiday. So sad.  i think Tom checked the mail twice before I mentioned there might not be any because today is a holiday. But that gave me more time at home to get things done! Fun! We finished installing the hinges on the kitchen cabinets. I think it’s something that people will not notice. It’s the kind of thing that people notice when they don’t match, but don’t notice when they do. I also finished touching up the paint on all the cabinets. The kitchen officially passes my inspection. Yay!!! The rest of the day we just took it easy like a couple of old people. It was nice but I think tomorrow we’ll be ready to be more productive again. There is certainly always plenty that needs done. I’m so grateful I have a lovely home to fix up. I love fixing it up. It makes me happy. If we lived in a rental, I guess I would just find another outlet for creativity, but for...

We accomplished so much today! I love that Tom was home and didn’t go to help Phil and Tami this week. Of course I don’t mind when he helps them except I miss him. But it was nice to have him here, and have him available to help me. There are so many things that I want done that I just can’t do by myself. So today we did all this: Replaced more than half of the kitchen cabinet hinges Touched up some of the kitchen cabinet paint Replaced 4 electrical outlets Replaced the furnace filter and vacuumed the grate Replaced the filter in the refrigerator Made financial arrangements for our new renter to start December 1 and got the application signed Impressive, right? It was all SO HARD! Here is the long story of what we did. Feel free to stop reading now. A little back story:   When we bought this house, it was all beige - the carpets, the cement floors, the walls, the light switches and outlets. As soon as we moved in, I repainted all the walls in every room. Then pu...