Baaaaad Week

This week was so bad I needed a day to recover.

So Thursday was that day. I did NOTHING.

Friday Larry and I went to the TEMPLE and received some much needed peace.

Saturday I stayed home all day and did stuff.

Yesterday my Sunday School lesson was awful. I was confused, the lesson was disjointed and the class seemed like they were asleep. Miserable.

AND, not to mention that THE YANKEES blew their chance to be in the World Series. They played absolutely terribly in the playoffs and did not deserve to win. I don't know what happened to the team with the best record for most of the year, but boy did they stink against the Texas Rangers.

BUT, here are pictures of some of my favorite little people in our big, luscious, comfy new leather chair and the sofa. THEY make me happy!

Enough already

You are probably as tired as me - of seeing my face on this blog. Man.

So what else?

Well, this video is hilarious. Maybe you need to be Italian to appreciate it, I don't know.

But just so you know, my grandmother's were not like this. I never heard either of them EVER say, "freakin!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQB9X1n-BF8

HEPPY HALLOWEENA - eh! (Yep...heppy.)

Oh, Katrina

Whenever you come back east, (as opposed to up north, down south and out west) you want to hook up with ME??? Really?

I am grinning profusely.

See???!!!

AND......

......if I come out west, like maybe to Herriman, can I hook up with YOU???

Kitty and a Keg (WHAT?)

It's 6:18am. I've been up since 5am. WAAAAY too early but that's what happened.

For your viewing pleasure, here is the cat curled up in my clothes basket. It's a first for her. I had finished folding clothes and left the basket on the bed. When I went back in the bedroom, lo and behold, there she was looking adorable.

and a closer shot

Wednesday night was the Census reunion. Larry thought it would be fun to take my picture by the keg of beer. I was oblivious. I have a paper clip chain around my neck that one of the guys made and then of course I am holding the duck. One of the Census operations was called "Questionnaire Assistance Center" or "QAC and Be Counted." Someone had brought in the duck for QAC (quack.) The poor duck was shot and killed daily by rubber band weapons.

The Yankees are 2 and 0 against the Minnesota Twins in the playoffs. Whew.

Oh and P.S. for those of you who want to know where we are going on the cruise, well it is Port Canaveral AND, ta da..... the Bahamas!!

Guest Book etc...

Dear Carol and Anya,

Thank you for the great suggestions on children's books! Amazon was the ticket. We now have in our library :

Bat Jamboree

Rhyming Dust Bunnies

Trouble at the Dinosaur Cafe

Corgiville Fair

and coming soon to a mailbox near me:

A Giraffe and a Half

Not a Box

I picked up a cute notebook at Michaels and then, instead of sweet treats for the treat basket, bought fun little toys.

Last week I had my first customers. Two darling little boys from down the road came to the door selling candy for Cub Scouts. Their dad was with them. I had them sign the guest book (and man, were they excited!) and then pick out a treat from the basket.

They didn't have time to stop in for a story and I thought the dad might freak if I asked to take their picture, but I did invite them back.

It was very fun.

OCTOBER!

My favorite month..........

Today is a simply gorgeous COOL fall day. Sunshine, clouds, blue sky and a cool breeze, cool enough for long sleeves. I love it.

Tomorrow is our 29th anniversary. 29 years!!! I think we are going out to breakfast.

Tomorrow and Sunday is also General Conference weekend! So happy for two special days coming up. Learn about it here.

Sending hugs to all of you :-)

Boy, Were We Tired (The End)

One last thing of so many I could write is from Marrilee Boyack -

She said, "EVERYTHING that occurs in our life is to bless us."

I believe that. I must.

Okay girlfriends in Rochester, sit down.

TIME OUT FOR WOMEN

is coming to Rochester next October!!!!!!! Look HERE!!!!

After the conference was over Saturday afternoon, we drove down to New Haven to go this famous place called Louis' Lunch. It's been around since the 1890's and claim to have invented hamburgers. I don't know if they did really, but I do know that it was the BEST hamburger I ever ate! Some famous chef even said that on the Food Network!

And then as we were driving around downtown New Haven, we found the campus of YALE UNIVERSITY. The most glorious buildings, tree-lined streets, picturesque campus ever. And as we drove through, the carillon rang at 5pm. I was enchanted. I had tears welling up. My little cousin Clare graduated from there.

So on the way home, we stopped in Syracuse to see our good friend Susie and her family.

Susie, yours truly, Gail and Linda

AMEN.

Boy, Were We Tired (Part Three)

One outstanding, inspirational (although I hate that word,) beautiful, tear producing, laughter inducing speaker after another.............

Emily Watts, speaking about working on a miracle said, "Don't ever stop trying because things could be happening that you don't know about."

She also reminded us that when we ask for our "daily bread," help will come. God doesn't give us stones when we ask for bread.

S. Michael Wilcox told us of the time they gave their four year old daughter a little pink Princess phone. One day she was involved in a very serious conversation. Her dad asked her who she was talking to.

She said, "Jesus."

He asked her what Jesus was telling her.

"He says to get married in the TEMPLE."

Boy, Were We Tired (Part Two)

Virginia Hinckley Pearce talked about living a successful life.

She said, "Get out of the business of comparison." Someone is always better than you and someone else is always worse, so what's the point?!

The ONLY one to compare yourself to is your true potential self.

She said, "Comparison between yourself and others is the fast track to being miserable."

Sister Pearce also said to look out for false measures of success, like your callings, or how many children you have, or if you are married or not, or how much money you have. She told of how people are all so excited to hear how many grandchildren she has. She made it clear that the number of her grandchildren doesn't mean she is successful! It was so funny how she said, "I had NOTHING to do with how many grandchildren I have!"

And then to follow up, she said that it is NOT a good measure of success if someone else's agency is involved.

We were spiritually fed every day.

Boy, Were We Tired

What I learned at our Time Out For Women conference in Hartford, Connecticut.

FRIENDS!! are so vital to my life. I can do anything with a friend by my side.

Listening is a gift in itself.

The hotel mirror shot. I was trying to cover the flash because I couldn't remember how to turn it off. But then I did.

Why is it that I look better backwards in a mirror?

The purses and bags lining our feet at the conference. You would have thought we were going on a mission what with all the stuff we brought.

Our beautiful African sister Mariama telling us her heart wrenching story of escaping Sierra Leone and finding the church.

My brain couldn't make up it's mind whether I wanted to laugh or cry. So I did both, almost simultaneously sometimes.

Sherry Dew couldn't make it. Very sad. But she video taped an incredible talk for us and then Virginia Hinckley Pearce came to the conference instead! Very happy.

Jenny Oaks Baker played the violin. Holy mackerel. I had no idea that I liked violin so much. I bought TWO of her CD's. The woman went to Juilliard. She can PLAY.

I will write over the next several posts some things I learned at our conference in Hartford.

For instance:

Someone asked Pres. Hinckley's wife Marjorie what her secret to a successful marriage was. She answered, "Lower your expectations." HA HA! I love it! She was married to Gordon B. Hinckley. I'm married to Larry. Maybe it's a good idea......Hmmmmm...

Mouse Elbow

My WRIST, FOREARM and ELBOW hurt like crazy. A whole LOT. I think it's either carpal tunnel or tendonitis or mouse elbow. So I am grumpy.

I'm leaning toward mouse elbow because the symptoms match a little better than the other two. Here are the recommendations:

1. ice

2. rest

3. ibuprofen

4. maybe a brace

Okay fine. In the meantime I am partly cloudy with a chance of storms.

On the HAPPY, SUNNY side of life, I am headed to Time Out For Women on Friday. Joy! Delight! To be with good girlfriends and a few thousand sisters will be oh so wonderful. Ya know when you need some good laughs and music and inspiration and tears of testimony? It's all there.

And I will be taking the camera! Imagine.

P.S. The top one is a mouse. I'm not sure about the bottom one. But who cares. They are adorable.

AAAGGGHHH

Was I nuts?

What a terrible picture!!

But I do like my owl nightgown.

If you all laughed then it was okay. I just rolled my eyes and groaned.

Have a lovely day.

Blimped out

Although I am most dissatisfied with my total self, I thought I would make you laugh. Ha Ha!

Here is me in my owl nightgown, feeling amazingly fat. And it is all the fault of the U.S. Census Bureau. Since I started that job back in November, my cute self has turned into an unrecognizable blimp self. Dirty shame it is.

For instance: tomorrow someone is bringing bagels in for breakfast and then we are having barbecue for lunch.

Oh and maybe one little teeny tiny other item - the lack of EXERCISE. Imagine such a thing.

One more week of work.

And the tears will flow because I will miss all the grand people I work with. I will also be happy because I will get my life back! And maybe a semblance of the old cute self.

YIPPEE!

Inspiration from Ardeth Kapp

I just found the most wonderful idea from Ardeth Kapp. She was the Young Women General President during some of the years I served in Young Women and is a HUGE inspiration to me.

See, with my weeping and wailing about not having children and being a new member of the church etc...etc...I learned that she didn't have children either and LIVED to TELL about it!

Anyway, I just read that when children come to her home, she reads them a story, they sign her guest book (how cute is that?!), she takes their picture and then they get a treat from the Treat Basket.

I SO want to do that. I think I will.

What stories?

What kind of treats?

And I have to find a guest book that doesn't look like it belongs at a wedding reception.

This is going to be FUN!

LARRY - he is fine, just a little blue. I think it has to do with not feeling needed at a job any longer. And being 64 is a little traumatic. We need a VACATION!!

Were you counted?

The 2010 Census is almost over.

I am almost out of a job.

But what a good time I had!

The guys, most of them anyway, were great to work with.

I laughed EVERY DAY!

Our administration area was the best in the region 'cause we had an incredible team with the best manager. He taught me how to LEAD as opposed to how to MANAGE.

We are planning our reunion already (October 7th.)

Now remember our friend Larry? The guy I am married to for time and all eternity? He usually looks like this:

Lately, he has been looking like this:

He is Grumpy Gus. His birthday is Monday and he doesn't even want to celebrate. It is very sad. He doesn't even want a CAKE. That is bad. He says he will celebrate when he feels better. The poor man makes me crazy.

P.S. MANY thanks to all of you who tried to find a way for me to get bigger pictures on this blog. I tried. Really I did. Now, I can't even change my template. It is very weird. I am usually not so computer challenged.

And Katrina, where are you??

28 years ago tonight

Your friend and mine namely Larry, (here he is ----)

is taking me to the 1000 Islands for a few days, our FIRST time away together in almost TEN years.

Isn't he just too adorable?

So we are going to take a couple of boat rides and wander around Alexandria Bay and Cape Vincent and Kingston, Ontario and maybe stay at a bed and breakfast.

His birthday is next week. He doesn't want to celebrate or have a cake or anything. He is BLUE. So taking me away for a few days is a huge sacrifice for him. It would be lovely if he actually WANTED to go but he doesn't. It's like the cruise. He doesn't want to go but he does things to make me happy and eventually has a good time anyway.

Sweet man that he is.

This was an arranged marriage you know.

God whispered in my ear to marry the man.

When God whispers, I listen.

Good thing Larry did too!

OH and August 15, 1982 I was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Click HERE to understand why I love the church.

Like I say, when God whispers to me, it's always a good thing to listen.

Randomness

I miss Christmas.

No really I do.

But I also wanted to see if I could get my pictures bigger yet. And no. Well maybe a little bigger.

Thank you Katrina!

If this is the worst that will ever happen to me I'll be lucky, right?

By the way, The finger is better. Still slightly swollen and still hurts a bit but 75% better I would say.

You can stop worrying now.

The Story of the Fly and the Finger

Excuse me while I scream. Please, can somebody tell me why oh why my pictures are small when I explicitly click LARGE on the upload page???

Some of the Cousins

ANYway, after a very wonderful reunion last weekend with the cousins (and OH how we love to be together) I was in a blue funk. P.S. These are only some of us. We were 18 altogether I think, with so many more who couldn't come.

THANKFULLY, my friend Sonnia showed up from Las Vegas and entertained me with answers for problems of the world.

But then,

every dang time I turned around, there was a fly in the house. A GROSS, DISGUSTING, DIRTY OLD FLY. My apologies to all you fly lovers out there, don't tell me who you are.

So I was swatting and shooing flies for fun and enjoyment.

One landed on the screen door. I opened it up to shoo it out and whilst I was waving my arm to get rid of the thing, smashed my middle finger on the door frame.

OHHHH the pain.

I do not know if it is broken or sprained. At this point I don't care. It hurts and it is swollen and black and blue. Larry tapes it to my ring finger for stability.

So I am mad.

I'll get over it. Really. But right now I am mad and sad. And need to go to bed.

BUT - I am giving a talk in church on Sunday and need to do some research. So no bed for a while.

Ciao for now...

The Cousins, 1957

Could we be any cuter?

On vacation at the 1000 Islands -

Yours Truly, Big Joe, Ricky, Mary, Dolores, Little Joe and Chuck. Eugene wasn't born yet . Can you tell which one is my YANKEES baseball pal?

There may be a fish somewhere in the picture.

Oh these events!

FAMILY TIME!!

The most awesome family around, of which I am a part, will be here this weekend for a reunion and I am EXCITED to the max! Here is what to expect:

Food

Bocci

Food

Singing

Food

Trivia

Food

and Talking into the night


Updates to follow.......