Scorching the World

Sadly, our friends had to leave this morning by 7:30am, but Tom made them a wonderful breakfast before they left. We had fresh-squeezed orange juice, grapefruit, fried spuds, and sausage from Tom’s work. I had been crocheting a hot pad while we were talking last night, and managed to finish it during breakfast, so I gave that to Carol. Her daughters were very jealous, so I wished I had a couple more ready to give. But Carol was happy. They got out of here in time to go decorate the pavilion behind the temple. Tom decided to go help and was glad he did. The 3 daughters were doing all of it alone, so they appreciated the help. I didn’t dare go help because my allergies have been really bad this year and knew being outside would make them worse. I was glad I stayed home because I had constant Clean Queen the whole time he was gone. It was sad to have them leave and know we wouldn’t see them again for a very long time, but it sure was fun having them here. When Tom got back, we wen...

Tom left for work and I spent the morning finishing up the cleaning and organizing so the house would be ready for company when we got home from the temple. Today we were expecting Carol and her daughers Kim and Margaret, and adopted daughter Bao. They were coming to Fresno because one of Carol’s granddaughters was getting sealed in the temple today. Kim and Margaret brought refreshments and decorations for all the family to share after the sealing, in the pavilion behind the temple. We expected them as early as 3pm. Tom got home from work, changed, and we left way too early for the temple. We had a good group today – the last day for this stake. Tanya even came and helped. It was a beautiful day in the temple. People have wonderful experiences there and always leave with a smile. After the temple, we got everything ready for company and began preparing dinner. They had errands to run and got to our house around 5pm. Knudsens also came, and Cannon brought his friend, McKay Hyer. I ...

Thursdays have become our favorite day of the week because Tom doesn’t go to work, we don’t work in the temple, and we have no appointments. Basically WE CAN DO WHATEVER WE WANT! What a concept. I realize it would be boring if every day were like that, but once a week is a real treat! I did a whole lot of Clean Queen, some cleaning of my own house, finishing the guestroom, etc. I listen to Come Follow Me podcasts while I do most of my stuff, which is sure uplifting! Tom did a whole lot of yard work. I should take pictures of what he has done.   He wants it to look nice for the visitors that are coming tomorrow. That’s the same reason I’ve been fixing up our guest room. At night we went to Laurel Lawrence’s class. Today is her mother’s 96th birthday, so she cut the lesson short and had some cupcakes and snacks so we all could socialize. It was really nice because all the people who go are super wonderful. It’s a privilege to be part of them! Tom had computer stuff he needed to...

Some might think my life is boring. Today I did a lot of Clean Queen, I painted the picture I’m currently working on, We worked in the temple, which is always really nice. By now we sort of know the people who cme and serve and count them as friends. It is just the most pleasant place to be and we love this calling! And we worked on the guest room and got it ready. I just need a dresser or shelf unit. The biggest surprise was that Tom took the door that we removed from our back entry and mounted it on the garage wall! What a shock! It isn’t that impressive of a painting, and it isn’t made for outdoor weather, so I don’t think it will last long. I painted it to only be seen by people leaving our house through the back door, not for the whole world to see as they drive by! It is both embarrassing to me and also extremely flattering that Tom loves it so much he wanted the world to see it. I just kept saying “I can’t believe you did that!” over and over. It took him 2 days to do ...

Tom left for work and I worked on Clean Queen, just like every Tuesday. My car was so dirty from our trip I really wanted to get it cleaned up, so I went out with the intent to wash it and started vacuuming. I got it looking way better when I realized I had a Clean Queen message. Clean Queen had been fairly quiet until then. One of the teams had arrived at their appointment but that house number didn’t exist. I ran in the house and spent the next half hour trying with them to find the address and contact the client. It took so much time and was so frustrating. It turned out that the person who supposedly had the appointment claimed he never set up the appointment. There was nothing we could do but pay the girls for their time and gas and send them home. They had wasted an hour. By then it was past time to talk with my sisters and I was still handling that when I opened Zoom so we could chat. Obviously I missed much of what they talked about until Jeramey and I gave up on that appoi...

This morning I had a hard time convincing myself it wasn’t Sunday. Over and over, I started getting ready mentally to go to church and had to correct my brain that yesterday was Sunday. I feel cheated that we didn’t get a proper Sunday even though we did our best to keep Sunday in mind all day. We listened to hours of Come Follow Me podcasts, which made the trip go faster and was more pleasant than radio stations fading in and out. The other thing this morning is that I have had You Light Up My Life going through my head ever since the funeral. I can’t get it out of my mind and it woke me up over and over all night! But I woke up feeling much better than all week, after a good night’s sleep in my own bed. Except for some lingering congestion and cough, I feel so much better! I did computer stuff until time to go to the temple. It was nice to be in the temple again. We are on the last week for the stake that is assigned the cleaning, so we said goodbye to everyone as they finished...

We set an alarm so we would wake up by 3am and leave by 3;30. It was a real shock when that alarm went off! I had turned the volume way down but I still jumped out of my skin when it went off. I went downstairs and woke up Trina and Dexter and we all quickly put our things in the car and were on the road. For some reason, we always miss the special turn off that gets you to the airport quicker, but we were still about 10 minutes early, so Trina didn’t have to rush too much to get to her gate. Sad to see her go! I love being with her and Dexter! Then Tom and I headed back to Salt Lake City to pick up the instruments from Charlet. I figured the airport would be at least 20-30 minutes from her house, but it was only about 10 minutes! I texted her when we got there, but there was no response. Then we tried to call, but it went to voicemail and the voicemail was full. So Tom knocked and rang the doorbell for about 10 minutes before she finally opened the door. I felt bad waking her up...

We were all very relieved to have the whole funeral planning and participating in done and done well. I think we all felt way more relaxed by Friday. This day was hard to plan. We arranged for the Morris’, Bowns, Trina and Dexter, and Tom and I to go to IHOP for breakfast in American Fork. We calculated over and over how early we would have to be up, and what time we would have to leave to make this day work out. Anne wrote it all down so we wouldn’t forget. It was a good plan. We did get out of the house on time. We both had to stop for gas on the way, then Anne and Acell picked up Carma and Vic and we all met at IHOP at almost exactly the same time. The problem came at IHOP. The service was very slow and then the waitress mixed up our order, so the food didn’t even come until almost time to leave. We ate quickly and paid as fast as the slow waitress could get it done, then we headed to the new Saratoga Springs temple where they have an open house right now. We were happy we wer...

We slept well at the Bown hotel. They are sure nice to us! Carme, Vic, Anne, Acell, and Tom and I met at the church at around 10am just in case Charlet or ReNae needed help with anything. They didn’t, so we just greeted wonderful family and friends as they arrived. Charlet and ReNae had set up the Relief Society room beautifully with lots of pictures on posters and LOTS of things that meant a lot to Paul – his instruments, his wood turning, etc. His casket was there and was made of a beautiful light wood that matched his wood turnings. People enjoyed looking at everything as we waited. Those of us who were going to sing How Great Thou Art went into the Primary room to rehearse. Cameo was nice to pick up Trina and Dexter at the airport and bring them to the funeral in time to sing with us! It sounded really good with just a few run-throughs. We had about 10 or 15 family members of 3 different generations singing. The funeral was beautiful. There was more music than speaking, whi...

Anyway, we made it to morning somehow. Our plan had been to take advantage of their workout room last night and this morning to offset sitting in the car so much, but I couldn’t face a workout in my condition. As soon as we hit the road – around 8:30am, I took my medication and went to sleep while Tom drove. Being sick and being with someone who is sick while traveling made it less fun for both of us. Tom went to a Walgreens and bought a Covid test for me. I was sick enough that I considered the possibility. We were very careful to read the directions thoroughly and made sure we did it right, so we were very relieved that it came out negative. If I had Covid, we would have turned around and gone home. That would have been way too sad. But we got to the Bown house without any problems. We stopped at a grocery store in Nephi so we could buy ingredients to make donut holes for them and Anne was watching on the Find Me app. She texted me to ask why I was at a grocery store in Nephi. Fu...

We had thought to leave after serving in the temple at 2pm, but our supervisor said not to let it hold us up, and to go ahead and leave early if it would make our trip easier. We were planning to spend the night in Las Vegas and it seemed a little wrong to trade serving in the temple for having more time to play in Vegas, but we did it anyway. The trip was nice but a little painful because I didn’t feel well, I slept much of the way and didn’t ever take a turn driving. That makes it hard for Tom on his neck and back to sit in one position for 6 hours. We did stop when needed and we arrived in Primm about 2pm. Tom checked with the front desk and talked them into letting us check in early. We were glad they let us! So we left all our baggage there, and went into Las Vegas which is another 40 minutes. We parked on the strip somewhere and then just walked around, looking in any store we felt like and picking up treats here and there. It was really fun. It is such an interesting city – ...

Tom left for work as on all Tuesdays. I did Clean Queen, computer work, balanced the checkbook, etc. I did a bunch of laundry and cleaned the kitchen, including the stovetop. After Tom got home, he worked in the yard until time to leave for Cannon’s game. He had a lot still to do, but we thought we needed to be there by 3:30 so we left at 3. When we got there, we found out this game was not until 5pm and it was at Clovis North high school. So we had almost 2 hours to kill, so Tanya invited us to their house. She made us dinner (and Kaden and herself). She put the dogs in their crate so they wouldn’t be jumping all over me but that means they howl, whimper, and cry the whole time, and we sat and talked while Tanya still held her little blind puppy and Tom had one that is less annoying. We both got covered with hair. But it was nice to be in her house. We rarely go there, mostly because of the dogs. She is in major repairs of the floors and I sure wish I had time to help her with the...

I did Clean Queen, laundry, caught up on tv shows and worked on my nails. Tom wanted to cut the grass at Christian’s house and at our friends’ house who he ministers to. Sadly, because of all the rain we’ve had both yards had weeds up to the knees, so he decided to rent a weedwhacker. He drove to Fresno, then drove to Madera to Christian’s house. The weedwhacker didn’t work, so it took it to the Home Depot in Madera, but they said they couldn’t repair it because it wasn’t theirs. So he had to go all the way back to Fresno, get it repaired, then go all the way back to Madera. That took hours of his day. He was able to trim down the grass, then we went to our friends’ house in our neighborhood and trimmed it down. He came home filthy and covered in grass clippings. I made him strip next to the washing machine. It was a very frustrating day for him, and he was really tired when he got home well after dark. He didn’t even make it back to Home Depot before they closed to return the stup...

Tom and I arranged to have Marc and Alissa host a family get-together today, and invited everybody. Tanya offered to drive all of us. I invited Christian who was happy to go, which surprised Tom and I both. Sacrament meeting was very nice! EVERY testimony was focused on Christ and very uplifting. One of the last testimonies was Tom Ockey who ended by saying, “I love my Savior with every fiber of my being.” I love that. He is an amazing man who has had near death experiences and is very near heaven, spiritually and physically. We left as soon after Sacrament meeting as we could, but I was playing the organ so we couldn’t leave right at 11 because the meeting ran long and I had to play postlude at least a few minutes. As soon as we got to the car, Cannon texted that they were 10 minutes from our house. We were riding with Knudsens to the Bay Area and had planned to leave by 11:30, so they had to wait for us. We barely got home at 11:30 and changed and got the car packed as fast as ...

I did some Clean Queen in the morning/most of the morning, and was very glad I was home and didn’t mind being interrupted. I had only 1 crew working today, but there were lots of questions and things with clients that needed taken care of sprinkled throughout the day. I also fixed my temple blouse which had one sleeve lining twisted upside down and didn’t know until I wore it Thursday! It didn’t take long, and I like that blouse a lot! Having a day at home with no obligations meant I could paint! So I finished 2, well 1 ½ pictures that were a lot of fun. I want to try painting that same picture again when I have the right paints. Fun stuff! I made a big salad for lunch and we ate outside in the sun by the pool. I told Tom “This is why we live here!” It was beautiful! We had our windows and doors open all day. I think it was about 70 degrees today. Tom spent almost all day trying to finish the door installation. He had to go buy the trim, and installing the trim took forever. Wh...

I had a lot of Clean Queen. It kept me busy all morning. Tom worked on removing our back door – the one that Todd kicked in and destroyed last summer when he was off his medications. We bought the new door months ago but couldn’t change it out while we were having so much rain, and Tom has been trying to find someone who would help him with it. We have installed a few doors over the years, and have never been able to do it so it hangs good with no problems. Sadly, he never got anyone who had time to come help, so he measured and remeasured and planned and thought about it and decided he was ready to take it on. He arranged for Caeli to come over and help at 3pm. He spent the morning taking out the old door and door frame. When we got back from the temple, Caeli arrived at just the right time to help heft the new door into place. Of course the new door didn’t fit the first time they tried it, but Tom cut and trimmed and they finally got it in. He is so proud of himself! It is a tigh...

Tanya is working on the flooring in her whole house. The dogs have peed on the carpet so much that she ripped out all of it except in the bedrooms. That left a bare cement floor, which she hoped she could deal with for 10 years or so. She cleaned it, painted it white, then sealed it all. Sadly, the paint still gets scratched and has dips and bumps in it all over. Each time she cleaned, painted and sealed, which took 2 coats each, she had to move all the furniture to the other side of the room. It was really hard and physically exhausting. I never helped at all, and neither did anyone else. She did it all alone. Anyway, she has realized she can’t live with the painted cement. It just is not a good finish so she budgeted to put in flooring. This involves renting machines to take out remaining ceramic tiles in the entry and renting another machine to remove thin-set and smooth out the flooring. This involves moving heavy furniture again. She did the first part of it yesterday and it t...

I don’t mind serving jury duty, I actually think it could be really fun to be part of a real jury on a real case. In all my adult years, I have not been available to serve until I got in my 70’s when you can actually get permanently dismissed because of old age. Now that I can serve, every time I get called in, every year, I get dismissed before I get to the level of actually being on the jury, except once! I got to serve on a 3 day jury. It was pretty fun but a little frustrating because I wanted to ask the people on the stand different questions than the lawyers did. But it was still fun. I got called in today and it sounded like it would have been a good case because they gave us all the warnings about not reading the newspaper, watching news on tv, or looking on internet or talking to family or friends about the case. But we had to be available through May 6. It would have been very hard to serve on the jury with my job, but I especially couldn’t do it because we will be goin...