Scorching the World

I didn’t sleep well last night because of some random pain in my right shoulder blade. When I got up, I had quite a bit of Clean Queen to do so I worked on that a long time, then, still in my pajamas, was working on CQ things that had come up, when Tom reminded me it was nearly time to leave for the temple! I still had to dress and put on makeup! I started making a list of Clean Queen things I needed to attend to when we got back home, and we got to the temple on time. We did our preparatory jobs, then when nobody was there at 9am, we started going other jobs. We got quite a bit done when 3 people showed up at 9:20 am. They said it had been announced in Church that they were to be there before 9:30! We didn’t know that because we left early yesterday! Anyway, we got them working and each did a couple of jobs. We managed, even with a tiny crew, to get the important things taken care of, but we were there from 8:30 to almost 10:30am. From there, I needed a couple of things I need t...

The Pettus’ all managed to get themselves up, dressed, and on time to Church with us today. I know that the more people you have, the longer it takes to get ready, especially if people have to wait for their turn in the bathroom, so we were proud of them. Sacrament meeting was nice and we enjoyed being there with Trina and family! We miss having family with us in Church, so that was a special treat! We all decided not to stay for the 2 nd hour. Pettus’ needed to get packed and out the door, and we wanted to be there with them. We wanted to make turkey enchiladas to use up some of the turkey we didn’t get to eat yesterday with dinner. So as soon as we got home, Pettus’ started packing, and we started on the enchilada prep. When we were ready, Ziona, Trina, and Dexter helped Tom and I assemble the enchies. It’s always fun assembling them because Tom and I disagree on how it should be done, and he always says he has been making them since “before I was born”. Silly! As soon as th...

Tom left early in the morning to go get some flour tortillas for breakfast. He didn't buy them before because of a little communication mixup between us. We always have people sleeping all over the livingroom and family room so we don’t start breakfast until most of them are awake. Knudsens came over in time for breakfast. They sure didn't want to miss Tom's breakfast burritos. Today was Tanya’s birthday, so as soon as they came in, we all sang to her and made a big deal of it. She was feeling sick and thought it was allergies, so she spent almost the whole day bundled up with a cloth over her mouth. She brought her puppy because she loves cuddling with her, but Ziona spent all day carrying her around and cuddling her. On Thursday Ziona spent all day carrying around one of Ryan’s dogs. She sure seems to love dogs! None of the other kids want anything to do with any dogs. So we had a whole new Thanksgiving dinner again today with Knudsens here. Tom and I put the turkey i...

The day after Thanksgiving the fun continued. Trina and Chris got up early to go for a morning jog/run around the neighborhood. I think mostly they were glad that they didn't have to go to work today! After they had run, they went for a very early shopping trip, looking for clothes the kids needed. They said the stores they went to weren't too bad that early in the morning. At noon Tom and I left to go clean the temple. We really didn't expect hardly  anybody to show up because so many people are either out of town or have family or are just too busy, but we had the biggest group ever. Some were there because it was the only day they didn't have to go to work. There was one young couple there who were so cute! They had only been married 1 1/2 years. The wife was so happy to not be at work and be able to serve. She told me how much she loves serving wherever she can. When I asked her if she would do the sinks and counters in the bathrooms, she said, "I was really ho...

Tom and I always wake up so early that it isn’t very compatible when we have a house full of people sleeping everywhere. Before Pettus’ arrived, I moved my desk and computer into our room so Geneva could sleep in the office. Tom moved his computer out to the studio because our renter, Kamila has gone to Utah for the weekend. Anyway,  We went walking with Trina first thing in the morning while everyone was asleep. It felt good to be out in the cool, crisp air and get some exercise! Trina walks way faster that we do. She has joined a gym and is in great shape, especially compared to us! So I was working on computer stuff while we waited for others to wake up. At 5:30 or so we went out to get the roast to put it in the crockpot. Tom decided we should put that in the studio too so we didn’t make noise in the kitchen. One of the times I was going from the house to the studio, I found Trina in the mudroom. She was up and ready to go for a walk! So Tom and I got ready quickly and jo...

Today was all about getting ready for Thanksgiving. I made the sweet potato casserole, I one batch of stuffing, and a couple of other things, so by the time we went to clean the temple/supervise the cleaning of the temple, I was already aching all over. There was also a lot of Clean Queen stuff to do while I was trying to do other things. We had a small group for the temple and a couple of them were way too detail oriented. Tom did a lot of jobs. I did one, and Tom had to keep going to find workers to see how they were progressing. In the end we did get most things done but it seemed a little chaotic. From the temple we went to Walmart to get the rest of the things for Thanksgiving dinner and things I wanted to make. When we got home, I was very tired and needed to lie down for a while before I could get back to preparing food for tomorrow. Tom helped me a lot in food prep and cleanup. I sure couldn’t do all that without him! After we finished cooking, he got the guest room ready...

There was some amount Thanksgiving prep focus today. That's mostly what I worked on. Tom left early for work. I had a nail appointment at 10 and planned to do some shopping on the way but when I was almost to the exit, I realized I forgot my phone!!! I can’t live any amount of time without the phone, so I had to take the exit and then get back on the freeway back home for the phone. So silly. It was good I did, though, because there were already messages even though I had only been gone about 10 minutes. I stopped at Target but didn’t find what I was looking for. I was in a rush so that I wouldn’t be late for my nails. When I was 10 minutes away from the nail place, they sent me a reminder. I thought that was pretty funny because by then, I’m either almost there or not coming! I’m not very pleased with my nail girl. She is sure she knows what I need better than I know what I want. It’s hard to find someone who will do what I want. Anyway, after the nails, I tried to shop ag...

We like Monday temple cleaning more than Wednesday or Friday because there are no patrons there so we can start as soon as everyone’s ready. Plus Tom and I can go earlier to get things ready and do some prelim jobs. On Mondays we basically just get up and get ready to go. I wanted to stop at Costco on the way home from the temple, so we took clothes to change into. Usually we wear our temple worker clothes back home. We were at Costco by 10:30am, and it was already pretty busy, but we found what we needed and lots of other cool things and got out of there as fast as we could. I had quite a bit of Clean Queen before we left for the temple, and Jeramey handled things while I was gone, but there was a big backlog of things waiting for me, and some of them were urgent. So as soon as we put away the groceries, I went to my computer and stayed there pretty much all day. Whenever I was waiting for someone to answer my call or text, I would go open the piano and turn it on, then they wou...

Tom went to clean the chapel this morning, then went over to Tanya’s to pick more persimmons. He said this is the last of them, which makes me really sad. Fruit is so good in its season, but the problem is, you have to eat enough to get your fill within a couple of weeks, then you don’t get any more until next year! On the way home he also stopped at the grocery store for 1 thing, and then got the oil changed in his truck. I did a lot of clean queen while he was gone, getting a copy of everyone’s paycheck texted to them. I couldn’t do it before today because Pesata (the co-owner of Clean Queen) hadn’t set up the spreadsheet for the rest of the year yet. He’s so genius with spreadsheets! Then I swept and mopped the whole house (except for carpeted areas). I started a new painting; I finally declared my last one finished. It’s hard to know when to say, “good enough”. I’m quite excited about the new one. It is a picture I really like and hope it turns out. I really like painting, ...

Tom left at 5:15am for work. I got lots of stuff done while he was gone. He got home in time for the temple. This part of the day that deserves a comment. We had a crew of about 7 I think, which is pretty good, but most of them were very old, decrepit, very slow, and couldn’t understand instructions, so they took the full hour to do their jobs, and to several of them Tom had to just say, “Ok, thank you so much! Go ahead and get dressed."  And then he had to finish their job for them. .” We are still grateful for them and their sacrifice! When we finally got out of the temple, I had 27 messages from Clean Queen. Fortunately, Jeramey had checked them and knew they weren’t urgent. In the evening we tried to find a good movie to watch, but didn’t watch all of any of them because they just weren’t good enough to give that much time out of our evening to. Jeopardy this week and next is the tournament of champions and is extremely stressful! The 3 remaining contestants seem v...

Tom went to the Bay Area today for Synergy to try to convince one mobile home park owner to let them work there. She would not give in, so he was frustrated about that. He tried to see Tami while there, but she wasn’t available at the precise moment he was. I made it to Laurel Lawrence’s class, which was a little miracle because Tom needed a lot of help before he left, and I had to make sure Clean Queen was all working smoothly. Her lesson was on gratitude and was really good, but I had to leave before she ended because I was getting a lot of CQ messages I needed to take care of. While Tom was gone I decided I had to make cookies. He likes to have cookies on hand, and says grandmas should have a cookie jar full of cookies at all times. I told him if he buys cookies, I won’t make them, so he didn’t. I tried a new recipe and it turned out ok. And before he got home I made a soup. It turned out awfully spicy-hot. I guess I added a little too much salsa! I'm always so happy and r...

When I need to put on my temple cleaning clothes at 11am, I really don’t feel like getting dressed until then. I hate hanging around in pajamas, but I hate changing clothes over and over more. We had lots of computer stuff to do. I’m working on a budget spreadsheet and Tom has been doing a lot of Synergy work that he always needs help with. It’s nice to feel needed. We had a very small crew again – only 4 men and 1 woman, but they got more done and faster than any group we’ve ever had. It was amazing! I love meeting these people who are so choice and dedicated who give of their time to serve in the temple! The rest of the day was very similar to Monday and Tuesday, so I won’t bother to type it again.

Tom kissed me goodbye to go deliver sausage while I was still in bed, wishing I were asleep. He gets back around noon.  I try to get a lot done while he’s gone. Today I had Christmas presents to wrap so he wouldn’t see. We have Christmas about 90% purchased and wrapped. That’s a good feeling before Thanksgiving! And when I’m awake at 5am, the day sure is long! By the time Tom gets home, I feel like I’ve lived a whole day already! I met Tanya and 2 of her friends at another restaurant for lunch. She is trying to eat tacos every Tuesday, at a different restaurant. Since the Fresno/Clovis area has thousands of restaurants, there are plenty to choose from. This one was in downtown Clovis so it took nearly half hour to get there and then I had to parallel park! I haven’t parallel parked for decades, so it took 4 tries. The food was good and it’s always fun to talk to other women. We never run out of stuff to talk about. They are all a generation younger than me, but we still have ...

How did I get so far behind with my blog? Well, I can tell you. I’ve been playing with Excel in my spare time. It’s way more fun to create a budget spreadsheet than to sit and remember what filled my day. So today we went to the temple first thing. We only had 3 people show up, so Tom and I did a lot, and only the bare minimum got done. But still, it is the most pleasant place on earth to be! The rest of the day was not noteworthy, and I'm ok with that at our age!

This day was special because we love Sundays. The two girls who went to bed near 9pm were still asleep when we had breakfast at 9:15am. They probably didn’t sleep as well as we did, and they woke up very slowly. We were worried about how I would get my car out of the garage with Nina’s parked behind it but Nina woke up just in time to move her car so we could get to Church on time. We left lots of options for breakfast on the counter for them, but they didn’t eat any of it. Silly girls. Sacrament meeting was really good. The speakers were wonderful and Janeen Durant sang the YW theme song for this year. Very nice. I was sad that I had to leave in the middle of Tom Ockey’s talk because our stake RS presidency was visiting 5 th ward today. Their Relief Society meeting was really good. The young sister who taught the lesson did an excellent job. I love visiting other wards! I hurried back to our building as soon as 5 th ward ended because I had left Tom there without a car. Then...

We woke up slowly around the house, or at least Caeli and Nina woke up slowly. Tom was up by about 5am, I stayed in bed until 6am, then we worked quietly in the office until Tanya came over. She figured Nina would need her to watch her dog while they were at the renaissance faire. Tanya brought her own dog with her because Tanya's puppy is not happy when Tanya is not there. She stayed for breakfast because Tom made potatoes, scrambled eggs, French toast from sourdough bread, and sausage. It was all delicious. After breakfast, Tanya left with the very active puppies, and the girls got dressed up for the faire.    I bagged up cookies to take to my ministering sisters on the way home from the food drive. We had told all of our neighbors about it, so Lisa brought over a bag of canned goods, then when we were at the stake center, Sarah and ? also brought over a bag. We went in the truck in case they needed help taking food from the stake center to the Bulldog Pantry. The whole th...

Happy Veteran’s Day! Tom was sad he forgot to put up the flag. He left early for work. I had been so sick when we went to bed at 9:30(!) that I really didn’t think I would make it to the temple today at all. But to my surprise and astonishment I woke up feeling much better! I was so sicky-poo last night. This is yet another temple miracle! Tom’s work delayed him so much he thought he might not make it in time to come home before going to the temple, but he did get back just in time to change clothes before we had to leave. We were in such a rush to get out the door that we forgot the bag with our temple shoes. So we had to borrow some. The last session of the morning seemed to be very slow leaving so we started cleaning 20 minutes late! But we had a good group show up and got everything done, although we did have to rush a couple of people to finish or quit because it was time to go. We were expecting Nina (Nico) to come tonight and she texted me while we were in the temple tha...

Fun doesn’t actually always describe a day, but I wanted to continue the title for at least a week, even if it is not actually true. I felt sick all night. It just doesn’t sit well with me to eat a big meal after 5pm. My head hurt and through the night I felt sicker and sicker to my stomach. I should have only eaten the vegetables, which were delicious, and saved the rest for lunch today. So sadly, I missed Laurel’s class this morning. Tom and I woke up about 5, but I stayed lying down and dozing off and on until time to leave. I did manage to get some Clean Queen work done now and then. But I had agreed to go with Janice, the Stake RS president to take Maria Luz Rico to lunch at 11:30am so we could do a little in-service training. We’re never sure what is going on in the Spanish ward where Maria Luz is the RS president. I thought the only thing I could possibly eat for lunch would be a soup, so that’s what I ordered, but it tasted awful to me. I just took little tastes of it a...

I managed to stay in pajamas until time to go to the temple.  I still got stuff done, but that was saweeeet! We only had 5 people show up to clean today – 4 men and 1 woman, but the men worked so fast that they got everything done in half the time a big group usually takes! Tom and I did a couple of jobs, just to help it go smoother, but I was totally amazed at how fast they worked! It was cool! On the way home, we stopped at Walmart to return something. When he got in the car, he threw his jacket in the back seat, then drove us to way southeast in Fresno to pick up Tom’s Comet where he got some upholstery done. It was a long way down there! After he paid for it, he asked if I wanted to see what they had done, but I said I can see it when we get home. Little did I know. When we had dropped off the Comet a couple of days ago, Tom said it was running rough, almost not wanting to keep going, so I told Tom I would follow him all the way home to be sure his car made it. It was a...

Tom left early for work, as usual, on Tuesdays and Fridays. I was already awake but stayed and relaxed in bed for a while. It was so cozy and warm. I didn’t have a lot of Clean Queen, so I went back to working on my picture I’m attempting to paint. It is a picture that came up as a screensaver on my computer and I love it so much I printed it out. The problem was that I wasn’t watching the time or my messages good enough while I painted and had a couple of emergencies because of that. I really wanted to go to Taco Tuesday with Tanya and her friends, so I was watching the clock, but it suddenly went from 10:30 am to 11:15am, and I hadn’t even dressed yet, so I was a little late. It’s hard to watch the clock while having such fun. I finished an 8X10 version of the painting, then wanted to try a bigger one. Too fun! Lunch was good, but the service was very slow. By the time the food arrived, it was almost time for me to leave. I wanted to get home in time to chat with my sisters a...

Based on the past couple of months, Tom and I thought we might not have a very big turnout for the temple today. I don’t know why our ward and the YSA ward don’t get more people, but we decided to be prepared this time. So we went a little early to get some prep stuff done. In 15 minutes we can save quite a bit of work for the group. Today the goal was to actually move all the moveable furniture to vacuum underneath. We’ve been skipping that since we’ve always had too small of groups on Mondays. Today we decided it would be first priority even if other things didn’t get done. It turned out we had a fairly big group! We were very pleased. Everyone has reasons they can’t do it – health problems, work, or other conflicts, or just old age, but with faith, they come anyway. Janice Melton has had severe pain in her knee but said she prayed hard last night that her knee would not hurt too much to help in the temple. She woke up with almost no knee pain, so she came. I love seeing that kind ...

I got a frantic text last night from Emma Freeman’s mother – a group text to the 3 of us who play organ, asking if one of us could play today. Emma was scheduled to play but couldn’t.  I was the first to respond, that I would have been happy to except that 2 of the 3 hymns are beyond my ability to play on 1-day notice. One other organist said she was not available, and the other never responded, so we decided to change the hymns so that I could play. I practiced a little but it was too late to spend much time on it. This morning we got to sleep an extra hour for the end of daylight savings, which was really nice because for some reason Tom and I were both awake and got up a lot in the night. Seems like a pattern for us. We still had plenty of time to get ready to go to church an hour early so I could practice on the organ there. It definitely isn’t the same feel as my keyboard at home, so any time I can spend on it really helps. Our testimony meeting was really good today. Th...