A Simple Woman's Daybook~June 1, 2011 (Re-do)

This is attempt #2 at getting this to print correctly. I have discovered the problems so there should be no further daybooks with big empty spaces! Fingers crossed.

So, For Today...

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Outside my window...it is overcast, drizzling and not a typical June 1st for sure. But then looking back it is like February and May traded places this year. I am tired of being cold all the time but I realize it is all relative and compared to the thousands and thousands that have suffered this winter...it is a picnic over here in CA. So no complaints will be issued here.

I am thankful for...Christopher's safe return, in good health, after nearly a month in third world countries. I am especially thankful for a wonderful daughter (I hate the term "in-law" with all my heart) so can I just say our daughter Melissa? Missy took excellent care of the four kids and everything else while Chris was gone and she just keeps plugging along never complaining. She is one amazing woman! I don't think I would be so gracious, but she is such an even-tempered wonderful woman. And she even had her birthday and Mother's Day without her husband to help out. She is just a doll, we could not love her more.

I am praying for..good results from some medical tests for a couple of my favorite people in all the world. Praying with all my heart things will be all right and perfect. And that the things that have been troubling them will be treated and will go away completely!

From the learning room...We need to just keep trying on the things that are difficult and keep learning an never give up. Big things and little things are all overcome in the exact same way. Work, patience, pryer and tenacity and gratitude for the small incremental successes.

I am reading...the scriptures, some blogs, and lots of genealogy sites to do research and trying desperately to keep up with my blog posting because it is essential to my sanity!

From the kitchen...We made tortellini soup the other night. Jim is taking it to a potluck at his old work place today. I helped him and took some photos. Hope to get the recipe up on the blog soon. We lost a bunch of our really favorite recipes on the computer when Master Cook decided to disappear. I am mourning that after hours and hours of inputting them! So I am trying to recover the ones I can, going through old paper files and planning to post some of them on the blog with photos.

I am wondering..if it will be snowing in Utah for our family reunion in mid-June?? I am wondering if the garden reception being held here in June will get rained out? I am wondering if we will get any windows washed in time for it?? Or plant any flowers?? And I am wondering if we are going to be overrun with wild turkeys here. Saw a mom and a bunch a fuzzy babies with long necks running through the yard and up one of the paths on Friday afternoon last week.

I am hearing...James Taylor, You've Got A Friend

Today if I could change one thing...that those with hard hearts towards the Gospel and their Savior would repent, humble themselves and avail themselves of the comfort and peace that they could have in their lives if they would only seek it.

I am quoting..."You cannot have the fruits without the roots. It's the principle of sequencing: Private Victory Precedes Public Victory. Self-Mastery and Self-Discipline are the foundation of good relationships with others and with yourself." Author unknown

I am thinking about...ways to help people that are suffering right now. Seeking direction and divine guidance on their behalf.

I am wearing...PJs

I am going...to get a lot done this week.

I am missing...simpler times, times when trials for everyone did not seem to mount so quickly touching every family, every person. things really are accelerating now on every front. I am missing the peace of a boring day once in awhile when things were not moving so fast and no news was good news.
One of my joyous pleasures...Our day trips, they are such a sweet escape from the day's work and concerns. I love the one on one time with my husband and discovering so many great things about the area we are blessed to call home.

Pet Peeves...Working on a daybook and them losing half of it. I figured out how it is happening. I was doing my daybook, publishing it at home and then proofing at the Family History Center...cannot mix formatting of the PC and Mac in the same post. Fixed a few typos and it totally corrupted the posts. Never doing that again. Nope, not a chance!

One of my favorite things...Self-discovery through writing and creative endeavors and designing.

An enjoyable movie I have watched lately...In The Heat of The Night with Sidney Poitier. That man is amazing and has been since day one. The movie is very good and really has held its relevance after all these years.

I am curious about...so many things, the older I get the more curious I am about the complexities of this life! And the more I realize we have to really try hard to lift and help each other through it day by day. We all need each other's support more than we sometimes realize. Just knowing someone is there for you makes all the difference.

Around the house...clean, orderly, decluttered = good. We are getting there one thing at a time.

A few plans for the rest of the week...today is June 1st, my brother, Gary's birthday, tomorrow is Owen's 4th birthday...the birthdays are ever ongoing in May and June. Just trying to make sure I do a post for each grandchild on their birthdays and talk with the adults at the very least. Robert graduates from his Master's Program on June 10, and our anniversary is coming up. And then Father's Day is on the way too. So thinking about all of that and visiting teaching for June this week, paying bills, working towards getting out of the house with all we need, having it ready for Laura's family that will be coming back with us, etc.

Here are some photos and thoughts I am sharing with you today....

43 years ago I walked into this building where I worked for over four years. It is the Standard Oil Building in San Francisco and on June 1, 1968 I had fourteen days before I would be getting married. I am sure that nothing going on the 8th floor was on my mind. I was thinking about what it would be like to be married to my sweetheart. I had absolutely no idea what being Mrs. JPM would be like in reality. Marriage is most certainly a leap of faith isn't it? It seems like a life time ago now.

There are very few things I would change if we had it to do over. By the grace of God we made a good decision and a commitment to each other that has been so sustaining. The blessings of that decision have been a continual source of learning what love really is, even in the times we may not have recognized it or realized it fully. That is one of the blessings of hindsight, it is 20/20. When people talk about the Golden Years, I think that is what they are referring to. Experience is a great teacher.

Reflections~ looking back is always beneficial!