A Simple Woman's Daybook~May 17, 2011

This post has been compromised by blogger in a way I do not yet understand but it has happened to at least one other person in another state who responded to my Facebook inquiry. I am leaving it here to see what happens. Oddly the full text is on the editing page but it will not publish in full even though all day yesterday it was fine. B

So, For Today...

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Outside my window...it actually quite late on Monday night. I am looking out the window and all I can see is my own reflection cast upon it, by the light of the computer screen. There is no moon light due to a cloudy sky, no doubt ready to dump more rain on us. I was thinking this afternoon it is supposed to be..."April showers bring May's flowers," but it is more like, "January's spring, then lots of showers, has confused the little flowers!" And the people too. I am running back and forth between winter and spring clothes constantly!

I am thankful for...Stephen, a new friend and hopefully a cousin that is helping Jim and me so much in our family history search. He is an amazing genealogist and has been so helpful. He has become a friend and mentor and we both appreciate him so much. I just love people that are so brilliant in a certain field and are not afraid to teach and share with others in a way that lifts so many. He is so much like Jim in this way, I just know they are related. Steve has been working hard to prove just that. I hope he finds the link! We'd love that!

I am praying for...Hazie who appears to have some thing bothering her back. Jen says she a has some kind of infection, a cyst or something that looks bad. Of course Hazie cannot feel it ( a good thing in this instance) but Jen was concerned enough to take her to the doctor this morning. He thinks it may be a soft tissue injury of some kind so they will be watching it closely.

From the learning room..we must be vigilant in our pursuit of a close relationship with God. There is no coasting in this endeavor. Life presents challenges just when you think things are perfect you are reminded again we are 100% dependent on his love and tender mercies to us and our loved ones.

I am reading...the scriptures daily, mingled with vital records, passenger lists, commentary on early Italian immigrants, forms to be filled out for vital records I need to order, etc. My true delight after hours of research is browsing through your uplifting blogs and learning from you.

As for our calling as staff in the Family History Center, I think I am all in. I have not put my files and copious notes away all week. Usually I bring them home and put them away until the next Tuesday. Not this week. You know it is taking a big grip on your life when you look up and it is 2:00 and you are still in your pjs. Oh dear. Time to figure out how to add this big new thing into my life and still get the rest done.

From the kitchen...we have guests for dinner on Wednesday, possibly Thursday and for sure next Monday so I better start thinking about it a little more seriously on Wednesday.

I am hearing...my phone buzzing indicating I have a new message...hope it is from you! Also Aaron Neville singing, Since I Fell For You! He has such a velvety voice so soothing and pretty. I am such a music girl~I love it.

Today if I could change one thing..it would be that as the time is fast approaching where Hazie will want some answers about why she cannot walk or stand up or do things other kids can that we will all be blessed and inspired with the right answers. She is already asking, "What happened to me?" Does that just break your heart in two? It does mine. God give our kids and all of us the strength to put her mind at ease, to help her adjust and live a whole and happy life in spite of her tremendous challenges. May she mostly know how much she is loved by the Lord and all of us. Love changes everything.

I am quoting...the best quote I heard this week. I put in in my special book of quotes because it is that good..."What if you woke up in the morning with only the things you thanked God for the night before?" Ponder worthy, huh?

I am thinking about...How much I enjoy the quiet of a late night to just think about life, my loves, my needs, my friends and family, my prayers of thanks for countless blessings. I am becoming a night bird more since we do not get up at 4:30 am anymore.

I am wearing...back in those jammies I didn't shed until 2:00 pm today. Honestly I did accomplish a lot in spite of my attire today.

I am going...to go to bed and finish this in the morning.

I am missing...my mom. Today she would be 92 years old. I think I will give her twin brother a Happy Birthday call. He is our oldest living relative left all the others are gone now. He is such a cutie, so like mom it is almost like talking to her.


No idea why this big space is here! Blogger...what is up? Trying to become my new pet peeve?


One of my joyous pleasures...a clean and orderly house. Sometimes you have to mess it up quite a bit to get it clean. We have been getting rid of lots of stuff we do not use or need. Everything that flies outta here feels so freeing. Less is definitely more.

Pet Peeves...when the grocers put the ripe and rotting fruit at the bottom of the basket thinking we are not going to think to turn it over. Hello!

One of my favorite things...Going to the Theatre. We saw "Woman With All The Answers" this past week. It was a one woman play about Ann Landers. Very good. One of my things I would have loved to do in my life is work in a theater company doing something on the production end. I feel it is too late for that, I just realized as I was writing that. But just maybe it is not. I may be rethinking this...! Ah, I love the Daybook, it makes you take a look into yourself, in a way you don't do otherwise.

An enjoyable movie I have watched lately...James and I are watching The House of Elliot, a BBC TV series right now. It is pretty fun so far. It will be our Friday Night movie for several Fridays to come.

I am curious about..how some people can be so totally inspirational. This is a quote by a lady named Sheri L. Dew. She has a total handle on what the Gospel is all about, I just love her and this quote from a talk I heard her give one time in Sacramento. Thanks Julie for sharing it with me!


Around the house...We are down to one carpet and a couple of area rugs now. Three cheers for hardwood floors that are so much cleaner. Getting the carpet cleaned in the family room tomorrow and one of the area rugs. The other one is fairly new.

So here we go again tearing stuff up again in the morning moving out furniture, etc. It feels like we have moved several times in the past few years for all the remodeling and moving of our stuff, but we just haven't gone anywhere! So that is the big project this week along with some exterior painting if the weather permits.

Favorite Place I visited for the first time this past week. A restaurant called Lettuce. Very fresh, healthy food served there. You can find it in Walnut Creek.

A few plans for the rest of the week...Today we are working in Oakland, I just got back from my WW meeting, the carpet cleaner will be here in a few minutes. Jim has moved everything around, truly looks like we are moving! So tomorrow put the house back together, hair appt., missionaries for dinner. Thursday some friends coming over here for dinner and a catch up time, Friday, meeting, Room With A Past, Date Night movie, shopping and cooking for a dinner here on Monday for our Family Home Evening group. I have a feeling all of that will ooze over into Saturday. So a lot of company in the next few days, those are the big rocks in my jar and now we'll see what kind of sand fills up the rest of the week. I think a trip to SF will be stuck in someplace looking for baptismal records from the early 1900s.

Here is a photo and some thoughts I am sharing with you..

This is Chris in Tanzania, Africa. This village is right near Mt Kilimanjaro. They are testing out the drill they designed to dig wells inexpensively and easily for better water conditions for the people here. (The link takes you to a YouTube video, Chris is the second guy talking on it.) This time he is with four students and the people from the sponsoring company. I love how once I know where he is I feel so much more relaxed about him being so far from home. I just need that visual and now I can relax while he is away. Once a mom always a mom, right? Don't you find it odd that amidst all of this there is a Pepsi sign? It seems a bit incongruous. He says this is right near his hotel. He is just the imagine of his Dad, isn't he?