The future is as bright as our faith

We thank thee oh God for a prophet. I felt that so much more this weekend. 

These are some things I learned:

- each temptation we overcome strengthens us, not destroys us

- our ability to face and overcome afflictions is evidence of God's love

- pay attention to those who are wiser and more experienced

- spiritual darkness is a natural consequence of bad choices

- focus on our blessings as members of the church

- the future is as bright as our faith

As a friend kept saying during her labor, "it's okay, it's okay, it's okay..."

Friend Picture Friday

Life hasn't been too interesting lately so I'm thinking you might like to see more pictures. These are wonderful people I know:

Trisha, our sweet "daughter"

at BYU, who will be a Phys. Ed. teacher 

after she graduates this year!

Sonnia, she is like a 

sister. We can talk about

ANYTHING. And do. But 

she lives in Las Vegas 

so we burn up the phone lines

I feel blessed to have good friends in my life, who are more like family. There are more of you of course. I just need pictures!

Family Picture Monday

This is my grandmother, Cecilia Metildi. She was married to my grandfather from last week with the baby fishing pole. Will you look at this picture below.  I love this picture. She thought it was cute, too. We laughed over this together. She would say, " That bow in my head is bigger than I am!" And look at her umbrella! This was taken here in Rochester, around 1912.

This next one is at her Catholic first communion, probably 1916. There is so much to like about this shot - her shoes, the curls, her beautiful veil and the background!

Then this is 1952. She is holding my cousin Joyce, the one who died last year. I think I kind of look like my grandmother in this picture.

This one I think is about 1968 or '69. She was happy in her kitchen. We were happy too, because she was an amazing cook! She looks pretty here.

In this last shot, she is almost 90 years old. We were such good friends. We did a lot together. She was so smart, but even more, she was very, very wise. She had a GREAT sense of humor! We laughed together. I learned countless words of wisdom from her. She is always with me when I cook. I miss her terribly, every day. She was my champion.

Mars

NASA says this could be a mud volcano on Mars. For some reason, this strikes me as incredibly funny. I want to see a mud volcano.  Man, can you imagine how cool that would be? It says it could be dredging up little martian microbes. WHAT???

ANYway, for further fascinating information, check out the Astronomy Picture of the Day.

Does this officially make me a geek?

Weebles wobble, but I won't fall down

This has been a very interesting two weeks, with Larry out of work, and the two of us trying to feel our way around our emotions and thoughts.

It's been mostly good!

It took him days to fix the commode (refined way to say "the terlit.") He said he would fix it when he was ready. I told him that's why men get nagged. Excuuuuuuse me! Minor bump in the road which took a very good detour into a fine discussion. 

This morning we curled up in the family room and discussed:

 

1.  leaving a legacy,

2.  ethics, and

3.  section 49 of the Doctrine and Covenants 

Those three things. 

I've also been filing stuff today. 

Larry was outside with Harley. 

We watched Judge Joe Brown, Judge David somebody and Judge Marilyn with his mother. 

She LOVES judge shows. And COPS. And American Idol. And of course, the Yankees.

Baseball season is around the corner and I for one, am a very happy woman. Those guys look so stinkin' cute in uniforms....

Family Picture Sunday

Lately I've been thinking about my ancestors, so I thought it might be fun to include some old pictures here once in a while. I may even include some of me! Then if I ever scan some in of Larry, I'll include those, too.

So, here is the first -

This is my grandfather Anthony Iannidinardo as a baby in Italy. He is my mother's father. He was born in 1899 and died in 1987. He was a milkman, back in the days when milk was delivered to your door.

 We were pals. I called him "Pop" or "Papa." He loved baseball, especially the Yankees. We had season tickets to the Rochester Red Wings games for a few years and had a blast going together!

He loved to take us kids on rides. We went to Niagara Falls EVERY year. He also appreciated good food, so he took us out to eat every so often. Because of him, I learned to like apple pie with cheese, lamb roast with mint jelly, and tomato juice with a dash of salt in it.

When I had chicken pox and couldn't go to school, he taught me how to play Chinese checkers. We played regular checkers, too.

He was very cool.

This is him as a young adult -

And then as my grandfather with my grandmother. This is in the very early 60's.

I miss him!

Look! No snow!

It was a gorgeous day yesterday; kind of warm, kind of cool and very sunny. So I go out the back door and there is baby Harley looking depressed and sad and forlorn without Larry. He just sits there waiting for him to come out. Sometimes he barks.

So of course, there goes Larry out to keep him company. I tell you, those two are pals. Harley LOVES him. But I have to keep reminding Larry to wear a hat, because look at his head! He is going to get sunburn, or worse. That man.

Now this -

Larry lost his job on Thursday.

He was one of 200 hundred people that day who got "downsized" because of budget issues. 

Friday was weird. Larry was kind of lost. I was home and we wandered around the house. We watched one of our classes on the history of language, took a nap, read some Calvin and Hobbs books 

and talked a lot. It was definitely a weird day but good. We are surprisingly okay about it as we try to figure out our next step.

Yesterday we went to the temple and felt really peaceful. It was good. 

2010 U.S. Census

A few months ago a friend mentioned that the Census Bureau was hiring people to prepare for the census next year. So I looked on the website here , applied to take the test and lo and behold, I was HIRED! 

It's very cool. I get to swear an oath and even get fingerprinted. 

Then there are four days of training in April. 

I get to wear a badge! I mean, really.

 

New and improved

WAY better after a haircut, (but no makeup.) Still scary.

AND a very happy birthday to KayLee, Linda and Lana  (the first baby I ever witnessed being born and now she is 22 years old.)

Scary photo

So here is the latest picture of the old folks. Larry looks adorable. 

I, of course, need a trim.

Or something.

My hair makes me crazy.

Larry says, "Be thankful you HAVE hair."

A little more relaxed

Believe it or not, we've had TWO count 'em TWO days home without leaving the house once. It has been so, so nice to actually be home. We are getting some chores done, and reading and cooking and baking. 

So while this is a short post, it's a happy post. Finally.

My grandmother

used to say, "Things get better. They really do. If that weren't true, everyone in the world would be walking around crying all day. Grief never goes away, but it does get better."

Thank you, Joy!

Joy explained to me how to change the side bar color of this blog and now it looks just right! Thanks, JOY!

My toothaches apparently came from trauma from my last orthodontic adjustment. That adjustment hurt like no other. My mouth was really sore. It seems because of that, my bite was off from the shifting teeth. The tops and bottoms were knocking against each other. Hooray for my dentist who fixed it! There was more stuff from that adjustment but you don't need to hear all that. It's much better anyway.

My ring is still beautiful.

I just love the colors of this blog. It's ME!

Crazy days

Here are some things that are going on:

- work is busy because lots of volunteers and staff are in Buffalo for the plane crash.

- I have a toothache, well actually two toothaches and they came on all of a sudden and today I have to go to the dentist for help!

- Larry presented me with this gorgeous anniversary ring and I love him (and the ring.) At the jewelers, he placed it on my finger just like when we got married and I cried and then I kissed him. The owner said, "THAT'S the kind of reaction we like to see!" 

- Harley the Puppy next door was outside barking this morning for Larry to come out and play. So Larry gets on his coat and goes out. Is that dog spoiled or what. Or is it Larry that's spoiled?!

- My shoulder surgery was supposed to be last week. Back in December, I KNEW I shouldn't have it done, but it didn't make sense not to. There is a tear. It needs to be repaired. But something told me not to do it. So I prayed about it and I felt that the answer was to go to my primary care physician for his opinion. I went. He said if it doesn't hurt, don't fix it. So I went home and prayed about it again and felt that the answer was not to have the surgery. So I cancelled it.

Then our friend got sick and then he passed away and if I had had the surgery, I could not have been there for his wife. 

What I learned is this -

If you get a prompting that doesn't make sense, listen. If it does make sense, it's easy to obey. But when it doesn't make any sense, that's when it's so important to pay attention. 

I am so glad I did.

At peace

Our friend Bob had a grand send-off today, with a wake full of friends and family yesterday and then a beautiful funeral this morning. 

This is one of the picture boards, the one with his grandkids. Although we are all sad beyond belief, we have peace knowing that there is eternal life. We'll see our loved ones again. We just MISS them so awfully much when we can't see them.

I think I'll go hug Larry!

Blog experts

Okay all you blog extraordinaries. I need help. 

As you can see, I changed the look of our blog and I love the new colors. 

ALTHOUGH.

If any of you can tell me how to change the green color on the right side, like where the weather is and the archive, I would be happy. I don't even know if it is possible but if anyone knows, it would be you young whippersnappers. (I'm feeling old lately!)

Today is Saturday. It has been a very hard two weeks and I'm glad they're almost over.

Two good men

These are our friends Barb and Bob Ford, Christmas Eve 2008. Bob passed away on the 11th. His funeral is Saturday.

These are our friends Christine and Matt Burnett. Matt died this year on January 25. This picture was taken in 2005 right after baby Maria was born in a fast and furious birth.

We love these good people like family.

I'm sorry that these last few posts have been sad. It's how things are going and it's how I feel. We pray.

Saturday afternoon

This has been a really hard week. Our friend is so sick. His wife finally decided to spend nights at our house for a while 'cause we live closer to the hospital. She is so awful tired.

The weather got really nice today. We're not freezing our buns off! The January thaw came in February.

Tomorrow is Ward Conference, so I don't have to teach my Gospel Doctrine lesson. That's a real blessing.

I'm craving a cheeseburger.....and lots of chocolate. 

There is too much sadness around

In the past year or so: My Aunt Nickie died, my Aunt Mary died, my cousin's fiancee died, our friend Gary died, my cousin Joyce died, our friend Matt died and now another of our dearest friends, Bob, who has been fighting lung cancer for two years is in ICU fighting for his life. 

Plus so many other things.

It's too hard and I don't know what to do.

I guess this is when you leave it to the Lord and He carries you. 

I did WHAT???

Well, here it is. My most embarrassing moment. Hang on to your hats.

Our team responded to a house fire Tuesday. Pictures are here. We drove to the scene and parked and began to do all the necessary things for the clients and firefighters.

After a while, I needed to move the Red Cross vehicle, which is an RV for heaven sakes. The thing is huge. So I put it in reverse to back up a bit. Then I hear a horn. And then we feel a "THUD." 

Oh no. Oh no. What did I hit. So I climbed out of the driver's seat and a sheriff's deputy came up to me. 

He says, "You hit my car!" 

I hit a cop car??!  

Yup.

Well actually I bumped it. Or tapped it. But it did make a teeny little miniscule dent in his fender. Holy mackerel. 

Good thing he was nice. He said he had to call his sergeant but not to worry. 

Oh sure.

ANYway, the sergeant comes and thinks the whole thing is hilarious. Here is this middle aged midget, driving a monster truck that bangs into one of his deputies. He asked me for my driver's license and then for the registration for the vehicle. What? I don't even know where the registration is! He says don't worry he'll get it off the tag. Good grief.

So the story ends that everyone was fine, they were all so stinkin' nice about it and probably are still laughing their tails off over this one.

Don't ever hit a cop car.  It's too embarrassing.