How Wierd

This is the forecast for the next week. Look at today and then Sunday.

Sunday's low will be what today's High is!

They say in Colorado that if you don't like the weather, wait 10 minutes and it will change. I have never seen such a huge change in my life. They got 2 feet of snow, and it looks like by Sunday it will all be melted.
It started yesterday around 3 in the
morning and continued all day, into the night and is still snowing today. However it has gotten a bit lighter, but it is still snowing.


I have a web cam I use to check how Mom's weather is doing. I usually can see my mountains that I grew up looking at. It usually looks like this

















But today it looks like this.















I hope you are having a nice day in your part of the world.

~a

Tearful Reunion

Way back during my Ricks College days, I discovered a new me.

During my younger school years I had a lot of trouble making friends. I was terribly shy. I would duck into the nearest class room before I would meet someone I knew in the hallway to avoid saying "hello." I never knew what to say, so I would have rather hidden than embarrass myself. Most people thought I was stuck-up. Needless to say, I only attended two dances in my High School career. Yeah. No fun.

So when I graduated, I decided I'd had enough school and would never go further. I took off a year and worked at the University Bookstore. I worked for a wonderful woman, Marie, who was my mom's age, and she was so kind. She laughed at my jokes, she took me seriously as a person. My self confidence grew and I came out of that shell. As I served students, I discovered what looked like a pretty fun life. I decided to apply for college and give it a try.

Since I'd investigated the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a young girl with my family, I decided to attend their junior college. I went there as a non-member. It was more than I had ever expected. The campus was so nice. The people were as well. It was like a large High School with much school spirit.

The first week was "Hello Week" and they asked us to say "hello" to everyone we met in the hallways or on the sidewalks. Everyone spoke to one another. We got into the habit of saying hello and it became natural to greet one another for the rest of the year.

I met many friends. My professors called me by name. I had a date almost every week, and one Saturday, I had two dates, back to back. All these firsts gave me more confidence and I became who I am today, an outgoing, friendly, confident and happy person. Well I like to think I am those things.

I got a job on campus. I loved A Capella, German, Art, and English and looked forward to those classes. A Capella and German were every day. I grew close to the classmates in both those classes.

My mom, who never joined the LDS Church, made me promise that before I thought about joining the Church, I should read the Doctrine and Covenants (one of the four scriptures we read). She had read it, and felt I would benefit from reading it. I tried and didn't understand what was being said, so I asked a classmate, Mike, if he would help me understand. We made an appointment to meet every day at lunch time in the Student Center to discuss what I had read. He faithfully met me and helped me through. When the time came to choose to be baptized, I was required to get parental permission. The legal age in those days was 21. Today it is 18. But I went home for Christmas and approached my parents separately. Mom's reaction was "what did your father say?" Dad's reaction, when I asked him if I could talk to him, was to pull up an extra stool in the shop and sit down to listen.

It scared me to death, because usually when I visited him in the shop, he would continue to work, this time he sat down on the other stool to listen. I choked out the words, and his reaction astounded me. He said, "Of all the things you could choose in this world, I am glad you choose a Church." He went on to explain that some of the men who worked for him in the machine shop had children close to my age. Many of their children had made what seemed to Daddy like bad choices; drugs, pregnancy, running away from home, etc. He was glad I had chosen a Church. He then went on to make me promise to live its every principle. He told me I was joining the Lord's Only True Church. He said he couldn't do it himself, he didn't think he could ever quit smoking or serve as avidly as they expected him. I promised, and he gave me his blessings.

So when I went back to college after the Christmas break, I called the Bishop in my Ward and asked him how I could set up a baptism. I asked Mike to baptize me. On a cold winter night, January 16th, I was led down into the warm waters of the baptismal font and was baptized by Mike. My A Capella teacher sang "The Holy City", another music professor gave the talk, all my male teachers laid their hands on my head and confirmed me a member. I counted and there were 30 friends attending that special night for me. It was such a beautiful night, I will never forget.

I have always held Mike in high esteem for what he did. He was so kind and special to me. He was in my German class as well as in A Capella. He had a gorgeous tenor voice.

He left on his mission to England after the spring semester, and I wrote to him, but after he returned from his mission, I lost touch. Eventually we found each other and exchanged Christmas greetings, but not too much else. They were infrequent. Then one day after we had moved to Utah, he called me to say he was in my tiny town. He was there for business, he sold insurance. He wondered if he come visit me. He met the children, who all got bored and went to play. I assured him that my husband would be home any time, maybe they could meet. We visited for a while in our living room, but it got late and time for him to go, and my husband was late for some reason. I was so sad they couldn't meet.

Fast forward to last night. Our choir, The Choral Arts Society of Utah, got back into session last night after a brief summer break. The board member in charge of attendance introduced the four new members. As he introduced them a familiar name was announced. Mike M. I couldn't believe my ears but when they introduced his wife, I knew it must be the right ones as I recognized her name as well. I must have inhaled audibly because the attention was drawn to me and I was shedding tears, before I knew what had happened. He introduced himself and said they had recently been in a choir for a temple dedication. They had such a good experience they decided to join a choir, and he had remembered my letter inviting him to join from many years ago.

I then stood and explained that we had been friends so long ago, and he had baptized me. Needless to say, it was a tearful reunion. I knew which town he lived in, and as I passed by that town every week, on my way to choir, I thought of him and wondered if I would even recognize him were we to be filling in gas at the same station. I didn't know. Obviously I didn't recognize him until they introduced him. What a sweet reunion. After wards, I introduced him to my husband and he introduced his cute wife. I am so happy they joined. This is the fourth friend I have recruited for this choir. I want everyone who loves to sing to have the fabulous experience that I have here. I hope they do.

What a fun day it has been. A date with my sweet husband to the temple, then a happy reunion with a long lost friend. I am floating on air.

have a nice day
~a

How to get motivated to vacuum behind the dryer

Random Thoughts:

1) How to get motivated to vacuum behind the clothes dryer:

spill something dirty behind it. ie potting soil.

2) If I were to build a new house, I would NOT put my dryer off the kitchen or in the middle of the house with no place to vent it.

3) I hate riding the bus, but I guess if I had to, Mexico would be the place.

A little bit of history here:
When this old house was built, in the 1940's, there was no such thing as a personally owned clothes dryer, so it wasn't built with a laundry room in mind.

When it was remodeled in the 1960's, a large room was added to the side. We call this the *Cultural Hall. The existing kitchen which was 5 feet by 8 feet was converted to the laundry room. the existing dining room was converted to a kitchen, and the newly added Cultural Hall became a family room/dining room. The dryer now lives in the center of the house with no place to vent. When we first moved here, the dryer was vented into the basement near the heater. This was remedied eventually when I purchased a small plastic box that holds water from one of those random catalogs you get in the mail. The dryer vents into the water and the dust doesn't go too far. But sometimes I forget to refill the water. When it was vented into the basement, the heater naturally pulled the existing air which contained dryer dust. 23 years later, I still have dust in every room that looks like dryer dust. I have to find a chimney sweep who is willing to come clean my vents.

*The term "Cultural Hall" is in reference to what the room is called in our Church. It is the social place where we have all the parties, wedding receptions, Relief Society dinners, funeral viewings and dinners, and it is a basket ball court. The room is so big in our house, we wondered why they had built a Cultural Hall in the near-by Church.

A disadvantage to having my laundry room right off the kitchen, besides the noise, is the refrigerator sucks the dryer dust into its vents and I am constantly getting under and behind it to vacuum all the coils. If I were to build a new house, I would make sure the dryer has an outside vent and a door that closes it off from the rest of the world.

Anyway, I had placed a tray of peat pots filled with potting soil near the dryer on a shelf, temporarily. When I slammed the dryer door the peat pots fell behind the dryer. That's what I get for being lazy. I should have never placed them there in the first place. I added to my work.

I am packing for my trip to Denver with D2. I didn't realize it was so close at hand until we looked at the calendar last night. I am a week behind and was shocked to see it will be this coming Monday!

Mom is safely back from Mexico. My mom, almost 87 years old, rode down there in a van with some immigrant friends of hers. They stayed with their family and enjoyed the annual carnival that is held in their town, until the swine flu broke out and it was closed down. Then they left the van there for family, and boarded a bus for home. Mom says the bus in Mexico was so roomy and nice with a bathroom, lighted isles, air conditioning, and very comfortable seats. They had to change buses in Texas. The bus from Texas to home, it was not air conditioned, no lighted isles and cramped with the seats much closer together and very uncomfortable. hmmmm that doesn't say much for the US, does it.

Anyway I must get busy with the rest of my work.

have a nice day
~a
PS the lilacs are just coming out. By the time I get home they will all be gone. boo hoo

New Heading Picture

If you access my post from a reader or blog line, you will not notice that I have changed the photograph on my header. It is still a picture of my favorite mountains where I used to live, just another view.

I got it from the link listed to the right, Nick Wilde's blog. He gave permission to use it. I thought it was so nice. I gave him credit and a link.

I grew up looking at these mountains and thought they were literally mine, because every year on my Birthday, the Christmas Star was lit up on a mountain near to this one. I spent many hours studying them and the clouds that came over them.

Even though I live in another state, this will always be home to me. My mom still lives in the same house in which she brought me home from the hospital. I watched my daddy remodel that house and my mom make the yard turn into a park. Mom and Dad were a good match. We lived on 25 acres with alfalfa growing in the fields, cows in the pasture, cats and chickens in the barn yard. Actually they were two roosters that someone rescued from a research place. They accidentally hatched.
This picture shows our yard looking south. If you look carefully (click on the picture and it will enlarge), you can see those mountains between the trees directly in the middle of the photograph.


It still is a beautiful place. Mom is in her late 80's and still hauls the hoses all over that huge yard to water the beautiful established old trees, perfectly manicured lawn and perfect flower beds. The next picture shows it in December, looking east. How does she keep the grass so green?
I tried to find my favorite picture of the house looking west at the front door in the summer, but it must be in printed form, not on the computer.
When I do, I will scan and post it.

this was not meant to be a long post. I have other things I must do today.
have a nice one.
~a

Destination Estes

I love this web cam.
Whenever I get homesick, I can look at my web cams around my home.

I love the web cam because it updates every 10 seconds. I thought I had saved two photos of a sequence, the first being the family getting their picture taken, the second was supposed to be of the photographer giving the group their camera back, but somehow in my rush yesterday, I got two of the family getting their pictures taken. Ratz.

Estes Park is around 50 miles away from where I grew up. Dad and Mom used to drive us there once in a while.

I loved to walk around the shops with Dad. He was an inventor at heart, and he would look at the gag gifts and say, "I could have done that. Someone is getting rich off that invention." He did end up inventing and producing a novelty gag gift that sold for years. When I find a picture I will post on that someday.

My memories of Estes park include caramel corn and Salt Water Taffy. This is no ordinary salt water taffy. It comes in fabulous flavors such as Texas pecan with real pecans, cinnamon, mint, vanilla and other flavors, but those are the ones I get. If you click on the link, you can see the old fashioned taffy puller still working in the window. We always got those two treats when we went to Estes. The whole town was filled with amazing shops that sell souvenirs, novelty gifts and many useless things but it is a lot of fun and it was a beautiful mountain town and a resort for many visitors.

I have watched this Riverwalk web cam for several seasons. I have seen the sun rise and set, I have seen the rain and the snow fall, the lamp post turn on, the people resting on the bench, talking on the cell phone, giving a baby in a stroller it's bottle, joggers hurrying by, bicyclers swishing past. There is drama going on all the time.

When I visited home last time, I was determined to find this web cam. I had not even known about Estes' Riverwalk, and neither had my mom or her out-of-town cousin visitors who happened by while I was there. We all caravaned to Estes, each with a destination in mind. Mom just wanted to be with us and come for the ride.

That sweet little Lady used her cane and braved the whole 4 blocks up and down. The California cousins had their own agenda so we exchanged cell phone numbers and split up. I wanted to find the web cam, so I left my sweet husband with Mom and hurried east along the river. I was looking for that lamp post, that flower box and that bench. There weren't many like it so when I finally saw the lamp posts that look like the one in the picture, I knew I was near.
The web cam is on the corner of the deck, the lamp post, the bench and the flower box all match.

I stood under the web cam and took photographs of what the web cam sees. I guess if someone I know had been watching, they would have seen me. I should have called on my cell phone and had someone click print page and saved it. That would have been planning ahead.

Anyway I found it. That was my whole goal in Estes Park, besides getting some of that delicious salt water taffy.

I enjoy the web cam even more now that I have seen it in person. That is an amazing river running beside this walk. I think it is the Big Thompson River.

We were treated by Donna, our cousin, to a lunch in an outdoor restaurant along the Riverwalk and watched the people pass by. I enjoyed getting reacquainted this wonderful lady and her grandson who is actually my second cousin once removed. Donna would be my first cousin-in-law once removed. How fun to find family. We really got along well and had a nice visit. We exchanged emails and I hope we continue to keep in touch. In the end, we walked back to our cars and they were on their way to another tourist attraction, and we went back home. What a sweet and unexpected bonus to my visit to see Mom.

It was a fun adventure. I love Estes.

~a

ps
for some reason, looking at that river makes me so thirsty. Every time I see it, I jump up and go get a glass of cold water. Now I wish I could have a sound cam as well, I want to hear that water rushing by. There is nothing like a Colorado mountain stream. They are so amazing.

Neighbors

My daughter just moved. I don't know how her new neighbors are, but she really disliked the ones who lived next to her on one side at the other apartment. They were loud when the baby was sleeping, made rude comments to her when she came in late after going to the gym (her only time to work out) and left cigarette butts on the ground and dog poop in the grass where her son liked to play. Their bedroom is adjacent to the neighbor's. They could hear them "recreate" all night sometimes. How gross is that?
I hope she has better ones now. She lives on the ground floor like last time, and I hope they are more insulated. You could hear the woman's high heels walk across the floor all the time.

Neighbors can be hard. That is why I would like to live WAY out in the country away from 8 barking dogs on one side, away from a nosy one on the other side who uses his very large flashlight to see if we are home. Away from the one two blocks from here who decides to play his drum and his friend the electric guitar for up to two hours right during our dinner hour, so we really don't want to sit out on the patio to eat, besides the stupid dog on the other side, there is no peace. Away from the train that honks four very LONG blasts in the middle of the night (really the train engineers are my neighbors as well). Away from the large trucks who use our street to get to Main Street and shift up four gears just as they progress away from the stop sign on the corner, so when we talk, we have to cease for a minute to be able to hear one another.

I do have one I LOVE. Sister R, across the street, is around my mom's age. She is so wise. I love visiting her and philosophizing with her. She is amazing to me and I want to keep her around forever. I want to be just like her when I grow up.

Whenever we get the old Sunday School lesson on "who is your neighbor", I always feel guilty. I think, at heart, I am really a country girl, even though when we moved to the farm I cried for months every time I went out to the clothes line and hung diapers. We had just left a four-duplex neighborhood of young parents. Anytime I felt lonely, I would wash a batch of diapers and go outside to hang them. There was always someone in one of the other back yards hanging their diapers.

But I learned to love the quiet. I loved the darkness of the night with no lights but the stars. As Roon Dimik said in Big Business, "the only thing crowded was the sky studded with stars." I could actually see the Milky Way every night there. I was afraid of skunks, but that was about it.
I haven't seen stars very much since we moved to the neighborhood. Too many street lights.

I just got back from a short vacation to see my mom and children. Mom's house is located on 18 acres. She has neighbors, but they are fairly far away. Tonight after we unloaded our car, there to greet me, when I checked the mailbox, was a stupid dog barking at me. *sigh* I didn't miss him at all.

~a

Product Review

I have another "favorite thing" that I want to tell you about. A couple of weeks ago, I told you about one of my favorite things in the kitchen. Here is another one.

This one is called Henrietta Hen. She is an egg cooker. You add a bit of water, it has gradated wells where the water is poured. The deepest cooks the egg hard, the next is soft boiled and the last is for poached eggs, which I have never used. It has a special divided cup in which to put four eggs to be poached.
She is cute enough to sit on your counter top. When the water is all boiled out, she chirps. There is a small needle that you use to puncture the eggs before they are stood up in one of 7 little holes to boil.

My cute little mom loves chickens and it is sometimes hard to find her something she loves and is chicken-related. We don't always find things that fit those categories. Anyway I got her one, and she says she makes herself eggs all the time. I loved hers so much that I ordered myself one later on when I found it on a website.

Boiling eggs are not that hard to do, but when you have something like Henrietta here doing the timing for you, it makes it even easier. The eggs turn out perfect every time. I really need something that times stuff for me, because I find I get bored waiting for the pan to heat up and later find I have completely burnt the poor pan, so for me this is perfect. Now I know sweeties like HiHoRosie and Yard Snacker won't be interested because they are "Raw eaters", but for the rest of us who still like to eat eggs, you might just love this as much as I do.

Anyway, that is my review today.

~a

dealing with death. . . again

I apologize in advance for a depressing post. As you can tell by the title, we are dealing with death, again. Besides President Hinckley, and President Faust's wife (of the LDS Church 1st Presidency) there have been some local deaths.

Since I came home from visiting my mother, two elderly men in our town have died. Both from our Ward, both on the same day!
One, a neighbor was very ill with melanoma and he hung on to life like two cats, each with 9 lives. In the last two years, his sweet single daughter not only reduced her hours at work to take care of him, she gave up her job, social life, and church life in the end to take care of him. During those last years, she got him up, helped him do his "business", showered or sponge bathed him, helped him dress, tied his shoes, fed him, and helped him into his chair. She bought a new TV so he could see it. She took him to all his Dr. appointments. When he was feeling better, she drove him down south to his ancestral hometown and helped him put flowers on the graves of his parents and loved ones. If anyone will have many jewels in her crown in the next life, it will be my sweet friend, Lu Anne. Now her dad has finally died, the funeral is Friday, and then she has some decisions to make. Where will she work? She still has $600 a month house payments. She refinanced the home in order to pay for much needed roof and rewiring a few years ago. Will she sell that very sad little home for nothing (I am wondering if she can even command $40,000 for that postage-sized lot)move up north and pay more rent to get a job, since this town doesn't have much to offer?

The other sweet man who died was an amazing man. He always put you first, and acted like you were the most important and loved person on this earth. He always shook your hand and was always willing to talk. He was once a Bishop in this Ward, and everyone knew him as the handshaking Bishop. Good man. He and his wife served two missions in their latter years. His wife had died 14 months earlier and he really missed her. They were in love and treated each other with such kindness and love. He was ready. He had lived a good life, 88 years old. His sweet daughters spoke today at his funeral. One came all the way from Switzerland with her husband. Her 8 sons who couldn't come, were listed on the back as honorary pall bearers. She is bunking at my house and I feel honored to get the privilege of providing that service. I love her. She is a dear friend.

Both men had lived good lives. Both were widowers and ready to join their wives in the next life. It is hard to watch the daughters miss their dads so bad, but it is also a celebration for the deceased. They are joining their wives, and are no longer in pain. They lived long and good lives.

The other man, is MUCH too young to have a death sentence, but I found out on Monday that my chiropractor has pancreatic cancer. This, according to some research done on the internet, is a death sentence. I have heard as short as 3 months from diagnosis to death, to as long as 22 months. This cancer is terribly hard and the pain is terrible. It is a hard cancer to diagnose, and virtually has NO cure. Chemotherapy can be administered, but basically all it does is to shrink the tumor so the pain is not as bad.
This man is only 60. He has lived a good life, he has worked in the temple, he has served in the genealogy library, he is on the city counsel and is the Fire Chief for our volunteer Fire department. He is soft spoken, understanding and kind. During times when I was his patient, and was pouring my heart out about my woes, he always said "I understand." And I believe he really did.
He has 7 children, all but two are married. I was saddened to think of his poor little wife being left behind. She has worked hard and served faithfully where ever she has been asked. Those two daughters who are not married will not have their dad at their weddings. They are friends with my children, most of their children match up in ages with my children. This news is so depressing. I cannot imagine how it would be to know my dear Sailor was going to leave me for an indeterminate amount of time. I put myself in other's shoes and my heart is aching for dear Mary.
Now Sailor's mom called last night to tell him that a friend of hers drown (fell through the ice) while walking her dog. No one is quite sure what happened, the dog was not wet when he came home without her. She leaves behind a sweet husband, Al.
One more thing~a young man just had a longboard accident. Landed on his head (without a helmet). The Doctors put plates in his head, and some mesh where there was no bone left. He is in a coma and may not live. He is only 24. He and his little sister were really close. His little sister always was right in front of my S3 alphabetically at school and they both had the same name, except hers was the feminine version, so the announcer would have to change the pronunciation each time they read their names together and they would always stumble on their names.

So to those who are left behind, or who might or will be left behind I am so sorry. And to the reader, please say a little prayer for Lu Anne, Ann, Mary, Rodger, Al and Dallas, and all the others left behind. Go kiss your spouse and loved ones, call your dads and moms & children and tell them you love them, and count your blessings. Life is short.
~a

My Star is up on my Mountain!

I have a favorite website. In fact I added an RSS feed to my homepage so I can see what is happening there every day. It is actually a view of My Mountains.

These are the mountains that I could see from my home as I grew up. Today it was snowing there. It is sunny here. Even though I KNOW the effect it will have on me, which is extreme homesickness, I still have to look at it every day. Most of the time it spurs me on to call my mom and talk to her. This doesn't ease the homesickness, but it helps. I love that cute little lady.

I would sit under the shade of our willow tree and watch the mountains and the clouds that passed over them. I would draw them and dream about my future as I watched them.

After I met my sweet future husband, I watched them anxiously as he had told me that he was climbing the third Flat Iron that day. There are three slabs of rock called Flat Irons. Near that last one to the left of the screen, is the place my dad used to work.

To the north, or the right of the screen, is another mountain, a bit smaller than the main mountain. It is upon this secondary mountain that a star appears every year. For years, this star was lit on December 1st. My Birthday, so I thought that someone knew my Birthday, and it was for me. I was quite innocent that way. After all, my Priest, Father Pat used to send me a birthday card every year, and my Uncle Jude always sent me a dollar bill. Why shouldn't I think the star was for me?

Tradition held in my home town was this star stayed on until 12th night, or the 6th of January, which is the symbolic day the Wise Men arrived. The 12 days of Christmas, therefore start on Christmas and go from there, not end on Christmas day.

On 12th Night, everyone gathered at the local rodeo grounds, about a mile outside of the town, and would bring their drying Christmas trees. Miss Merry Christmas would bring a torch and light the pile of trees and everyone would gather and watch the bonfire. When the fire was out, the star would be turned off for another year.
Miss Merry Christmas was a local High School girl who was voted by the student body. She wore a cute Santa-type dress.

My home town has grown since then. The rodeo grounds are gone, and in its place is a shopping center. It is no longer a mile out of town, but about the center of town. And the star has already been turned on, it no longer waits until December 1 to be turned on. I guess all this is progress.

If you click on the link above, you will be taken to a web cam that allows you to see just about the same view I got every day as a little girl. If you click on it at night, you will see the star about the middle of the right third of the page, above the "s" in the word "buildings".

I still love my mountains. Besides giving me a wonderful view, they helped me with direction. Of course ALL mountains should be on the west of the town. This is how I grew up, so that is law. Isn't it?

More of Mom

Gratitude:
Sweet ZB is interviewing my cute mom and getting more memories of her Platt Deutsch sayings.




These next two talk about geese who don't have any shoes.





And finally, here is a sideways video. ZB and Mom are upset by the number of flies that have decided to live near them because they have some goats in the barn behind them. The goats are owned by some friends, and I think Mom made them clean the straw out and now they are catching the flies.

Mom

And now I bring you my cute mom speaking in Platt Deutsch. Low German. She is telling my sister ZB what Mom's dad told her when he saw all the trees she planted in her 3 acre yard. She is so precious. 86 years old and still watering and tending this beautiful yard. The last of the video was cut off. She said, "I am happy."

And here are the peaches harvested from HER tree! She LOVES peaches and is so proud of these, and rightly so.

Getting ready for company. . . again

As the time draws closer to our departure to Taiwan to pick up our Missionary son, I look around and realize that the very next day when we get home, we will have several sets of siblings landing here, like a circling sea gulls over a freshly plowed field.
Not that Guitar RM Boy is a bug, mind you, but a great treat the siblings have all been patiently waiting for to return home.
So I look at all the once-occupied bedrooms in this great house and realize that they have been sadly neglected. I should hire a maid to come in and dust, vacuum and freshen the sheets from time to time.
The joyous thought that all six of my children will be gathered here, for the first time in I don't know how many years, on Saturday and Sunday after his Mission report spurs me into looking at those abandoned bedrooms through "company eyes".
I love when my mom has prepared my old room with fresh sheets, blankets, and a fresh coat of end dust. In the winter, near Christmas, she decorates the rooms with tiny Christmas trees with lights. Her house always looks so cheerful and hospitable.