Tastebuds

 

          I was not fond of mayonnaise when I was in my youth.  I thought Miracle Whip was the bomb.  Today I cannot stand Miracle Whip and I think mayonnaise makes the BLT or tuna fish sandwhich.

 

          My parents (or Santa Claus) would bring us Life Saver books with ten rolls of lifesavers.  I would always trade my Butter Rum lifesavers for my brother’s wintergreen.  I LOVED wintergreen.  It is no longer my favorite.  There are probably sixty flavors I would put above Wintergreen. 

 

          I also loved Spearmint.  I remember Wrigleys had a Spearmint, a Double Mint and a Juicy Fruit.  I think the Juicy Fruit was my favorite of the three.  But as I recall the Juicy Fruit flavor did not last for very long.  And the Double Mint was my least favorite. Today I like Peppermint better than Spearmint.  I don't know if Wrigley's ever offered a peppermint.  They did offer Big Red as I got older.  A very strong cinnamon I think I had only twice.

 

I now like Double Mint but have not had sugared gum for a couple of decades as I find the flavor lasts longer in the sugarless gums.  For the most part I have to stop chewing before the flavor is gone. I like Orbit Sweet Mint.  I absolutely hate any flavor of Trident.  That would be worse than putting Miracle Whip in my mouth.

          So there you go. Some things you find tasty in your youth do not carry over to your adulthood. Fun, huh?

Omigosh

 

          I was calling the VA to inquire the amount on the latest bill.  I had used the 888 number instead of 866 – and the remaining digits were the same.  The first was for a life alert – which I could probably use – but that is not the number I meant to call.

          So the first answering machine tells me that I may qualify for life alert absolutely free.  I then get a robot named Jessica who tells me the benefits and asks questions but answers (though in a human voice) didn’t always match the response (can you imagine)

          I finally get an actual human who is walking me through the routine and asking questions and providing expression and the more we talked the more I figured this “free” was going to cost me even more than my time.  All I wanted to do was understand the VA statement was so high.  I finally guessed my error and hung up on the life alert call.

          888 and 866 was the only difference – which I still didn’t figure out until just before I started this post.  I think I should return to bed and attempt to restart my day.

Inconviences

 

In my last post I referenced my wounded hand – which is healing but still worse than I had thought. 

                                    

But not as bad as my cough – which I have had for seven months now.  I do have an appointment to see a specialist – but not until June!  I had hoped my cough would have been gone long before then.

We had a stake leadership meeting yesterday.  Those are generally my favorite of three stake conference meetings.  I had forgotten about the participation.  I could not participate myself.  Not only has this cough prevented me from participating with singing but just speaking in general.  I hate that!

The meeting had not even been that well attended.  We didn’t even have half the attendance that we usually get from our own ward. It had been raining off and on all day.  I don’t know if that played a factor and people just didn’t want to drive in it.

We had initially planned on returning for the second meeting after we got something to eat.  But not only did my cough persist but connected to my bladder and so we opted to return to Myrtle Creek.

It appears to be good driving weather right now, but once again I have opted to stay home.  I have NEVER gotten anything from the Sunday meetings unless I am watching from home – which had never been an option until 2021. 

I would rather deal with my ugly scratch than my annoying cough.  Doesn’t the marks on my hand look like it will leave such a fun scar?

Wounded Hand

        Whenever Sugar escapes and can’t figure how to get back, Cocoa bleats.  It’s like an alarm going off to warn us – though that may not be his intent.  Perhaps he feels left out.  Stupid goats.

          I should have probably just left her to fend for herself among the rocks, but I chose to go around and rescue her.  I don’t know what I was thinking.   There is no way I could have thrown the goat over the fence by myself.  Jaime helped me and we both got hurt in the process.

          Her wound wasn’t quite as visible – nor bleeding as mine was. 

It annoys me that the picture gives the impression of paint on my hand.  It’s blood.  I washed it and then took this one.

          I didn’t realize how far the scratch had gone.  Jai apologized that I had gotten hurt.  It wasn’t her fault.  And it certainly doesn’t compare to the injuries I would have received if she hadn’t helped me – or rather I helped her. 

          Her wound was from Sugar while mine was from the fence.  Darn Sugar.

          I noticed she uncovered the area where Cocoa had escaped just a month ago.  He had made it into our back neighbor’s yard – the one who used to house the menagerie – though it’s different people now. It’s a concrete wall!  Mary sent over her grandson to pull him out. 

          If they escape behind the concrete wall again, I’m not climbing the hill and pulling them out.  Hopefully the neighbors behind our yard and Mary’s won’t get upset.  The real hope would be that they don’t go over in the first place.

          Such a weird place for trying to keep protected.

Obstacles

           Just after 10:00 am this morning I received a phone call inquiring my presence for a presidency meeting with the Relief Society. I figured I’d get there by 10:15.  The biggest slow down is the speed limit into town.  Well, normally that’s the biggest slow.

          This morning there were obstacles.

          First obstacle – not so much my obstacle as for others moving headed west – or even north.  There was a dog in the road – either a Husky or German Sheppard – something along that line.  He was wearing a collar and standing in the road.  He wasn’t a threat.  His presence actually reminded me of Odie form the comic strip Garfield.  I thought that he (or she) could get hurt and needed to move out of the way.

          I suppose I could have pulled over and crossed over to it to guide it where?  What would I have done with the dog? I could have checked the tag in search for a phone number.  I had seen the dog before but I don’t know where.

          I was relieved to see another had pulled over to assist.

          For a brief moment I had different thoughts go through my head – both of which I think I have posted before.  One was about a test given at the University of Utah Institute students – only they hadn’t been given the details of the test.  All of those who arrived to class on time had failed the test.

          I wasn’t a student there and so this is only hearsay – but the instructor (who’s class I had taken) said that there had been several scenarios set up throughout the campus eg. a child with a broken bicycle, a student dropping a stack of books, a man falling . . . and if one had stopped to assist that person of course would be late for class. The lesson was seeing an individual as more important than a grade.  So I felt I had failed not only the dog but passing life’s test.

          Next obstacle: There was a utility vehicle ahead on the road I meant to take but turned on the street to see a man putting up a sign.  I did not see what it said – but when I saw two or three police cars ahead I decided to turn around and take the road I had initially thought to take.

          The utility truck was gone.  Hooray!  I took an unfamiliar road toward my destination – only to find the same utility truck blocking my path at the end of the road. 

          I looked over toward the middle school and could see a fire truck and several more police cars.  That was definitely cause for concern.  I waited for the man to put up yet another sign before he returned to his truck and moved out of the way.  I didn’t know what was happening at the middle school.  The sign the man had put up indicated that the road was closed. 

          When I arrived at the final street where the church is, I saw a truck had backed into a driveway, but not all the way.  The cab was in the middle of the road.  There was enough room to go around it. Two guys were coming towards it and I looked to seek approval to move around and hoped that both would know I was there.

          I finally made it to the church!  I had prepared a different thought than the one I had given.  I shared my experience and another that came to mind.  Only it was not my personal experience.  Hearsay again.  But I had no reason to doubt.

          I had been giving a lesson in primary several years ago (probably 1996 or 1997) when one of my students (a boy who had recently moved to our ward from Oklahoma) related the following:

He said he had a primary teacher who worked for the federal building who was already running late for work when she encountered car problems – weather a flat tire or stalled engine, I do not know.  She was still stranded on the freeway when the bomb went off here. 

Often we are faced with obstacles that may seem inconvenient at the time but in the end may work for our good and turn out to be a blessing in the long run - and maybe that’s the thought I was supposed to give as opposed to the one I had prepared.

When I returned home I think I saw that same dog – but in a different area.  I also saw some students from the junior high.  They had missed whatever it was and might not even be aware.  It turns out that the kids were not even in school today as there is a student teacher conference later this afternoon and the instructors were preparing for that.

According to facebook there had been a report of someone burning weeds and somehow it made its way to the school.  Apparently the conference is cancelled but school will start tomorrow as planned.  So glad it was not a shooting.  Still makes me wonder why there were so many police cars at the scene.  I didn’t think Myrtle Creek had that many and wondered if some were from neighboring towns.

Growing Holy Week

           On Sunday we had our Easter program.  It was Psalm Sunday.  Easter falls on Conference weekend and so we will be not meeting at the Church but viewing the world wide broadcast here. 

          I clicked on a link that was sent regarding Holy Week – a short video to take the viewer through each day.  Since the “Come Follow Me” program had been introduced, I have collected Easter thoughts and video links and have created eight documents which I add to each year starting with the outline.  Day One is Palm Sunday – today would be Ash Wednesday . . . I had never celebrated either until the last few years – though more of a recognition than a celebration on my part.  I feel extremely blessed to suggestive recognition. 

          I have added the Saturday Night Sedar (here) to my celebration going on six years.  Each year I spend more time moving from day to day as I read through my collections and watch videos and reminisce and appreciate.

Day to Day videos starting here and here

Four Seasons

 In 52 questions tradition section the last four questions ask what do you look forward to each season, what are the seasonal foods? places? hobbies? and so forth.

I'm sure I could go into more detail but this is what I have thought of so far:

Summer     –     enjoyed pool workouts for the first five years I was here.  The last two years have been more crowded for my taste.  I do enjoy outdoor picnics and barbeques.  I like being in the shade. It’s hot in Utah and equally hot in Oregon.  I don’t recall having fire season each year in Salt Lake.  There were parades and activities all summer long in Utah.  I don’t recall any of them being as hot as Summerfest.  I enjoyed taking the kids to the park for free lunch.  Seems a thing of the past. I prefer Utah summers to Oregon summers overall.

Winter     –     I like the winters in Oregon better than Utah winters where the snow and cold seem to make the season longer.  And the darkness.  Winters are always dark.  I look forward to the lights and decorations and music of Christmas.  I enjoyed sledding and tobogganing in my youth.  I like having green grass in Oregon.  I like Oregon’s moisture as opposed to Salt Lake’s dryness.

Spring     –     I like seeing blossoms on trees and daffodils.  Earlier I had said that Marigolds were my favorite flower but I think I prefer daffodils.  Irises are quite pretty also. I have memories of ham and potato salad that my mom made each spring. I was always grateful that the end of the school year was approaching.

Fall    -         autumn leaves in brilliant colors, the coolness after summer heat, I don’t know that I really have any hobbies.  I like apple cider and watching Jaime’s enthusiasm as it nears Halloween.  No food stands out that I don’t have access to every other season

The Grass is not Necessarily Greener

           We split our yard and kept the goats behind a fence we had secured – allowing them to graze almost a 3^rd of the yard.  It worked for almost three weeks and last night we received a call to let us know that the goats had managed to cross to the other side.

          The goats were staying in the yard at the top of the hill.  Richard and I were both very excited to see two of the “sticks” we planted now have blossoms – and so does the mysterious tree that I thought was a cherry but Richard thought apple.  I guess it’s apple; a daughter to a neighbor’s tree – though the once producing apple tree no longer exists.

          Richard and I spent three hours outside refiguring the fence and allowing more space for Sugar and Cocoa to roam.  When Cocoa returned to Mary’s yard, Richard was able to coax Sugar into crossing over also.  And then we shut the gate between our yard and Mary’s as we continued to secure the fence. 

          We put up a fence around one of the trees, patched where we thought there might be holes for Cocoa to escape (but Sugar cannot get through the holes as Cocoa can;  and really he’s the least mischievous goat of the two.) and I put a time limit and said we would have to return to the house by 6:00 – though we did not until almost 6:30. 

          We’d gone out this morning to tweak the security of the other tree as Sugar wants to eat the blossoms.  We’ll squirt the goats when we catch them doing something we don’t want them to do.  But we are not always out there to guard what we planted.

          There are a ton of weeded vines all throughout the yard.  Way more vines than there is grass.  Richard weed-wacked a small area and threw the weeds over the fence which Cocoa appreciated.  We had the gate shut and the goats were bothering Mary’s handy man.  But when we had finished with the tree we opened the gate and they were chowing down and seemed to enjoy it – though I noticed Sugar attempting to find an escape. 

          We’re not perfect by any means but are slowly finding a way – and enjoy having the animals do the work of mowing our lawn before summer hits – which is when we’d be mowing in Salt Lake.  But we don’t always have that option during fire season.  I have posted pictures.  We still have a hill in the yard.  Slopes. Slippery.  Wet . Muddy.  Looks as though it will rain again.  The goats don't like the rain.  I don't have a problem with it.  Most of the time I welcome it.

Mother's Memories For My Daughter

 

        When we had lived in Kearns and Jaime was almost three, there was a sister in our ward who had given us a Mother and Daughter scrapbook that she said she had but never used – and yet she had three daughters. 

          I made it a project for the two of us to work on and allowed Jai to pick all the pictures for the album and I would write about whatever the page instructed.  I wrote most of it in cursive not realizing few schools would even teach cursive anymore.  As with shorthand, cursive seems to be an art of the past.

          I never had pretty handwriting.  It’s somewhere between elementary and chicken scratch.  It wasn’t until we had moved here and I was working on some updates that I decided to scan the scrapbook, change some of the pictures, and use a font which Jaime would be able to read.  I don’t know how many pages I created.  There are a few tacked to earlier posts such as the ones found here

          I had hoped that Jaime would share my sentiment in preserving our legacy.  She does not.  At least not at this time.  Perhaps when she is my age it will be more meaningful (that is if it doesn’t get lost in the sauce and forgotten)

          In addition I have 12 binders of journaling from what I believed was her point of view.  After we moved here I continued to create pages but hadn’t printed anything.  There are volumes that will take up less space on a thumb drive than on a shelf.

Collecting Pennies

           When I was younger my grandpa taught me the art of collecting pennies and collecting stamps.  My brother and I each had books to collect pennies made in different years at different mints.  My neighbors across the street were really into it and found pennies made during the war.  I still had several pennies when I married Richard.

          He attempted on getting the boys into penny collecting.  I remember donating a couple of rolls of pennies to his cause – though I didn’t see any value to them.  But the boys were floored.  I had pennies dating as early as 1972.  Wow.  The year my brother was born.  To me they really weren’t that old.  But they were over 15 years older than each of the boys – therefore they were “antiques”

          I think within a week the boys had lost interest and some time later he had tried again with his two oldest girls.   Frances did seem interested, but as we really didn’t see them a whole lot, that didn’t pan out either.  So now he’s trying again with Jaime who tries to show genuine interest but is really not.  Richard keeps offering suggestions on what to do with extra pennies that were minted before this decade.

          I told her perhaps we should just keep them all.  After all the penny making has ceased and one day all of the pennies will be more valuable than they are today.  It’s just a thought.

Mother and Daughter Growing

 

          I am so grateful that Jaime has always had it together moreso than I.  I have been so much happier living in Oregon than I was in Salt Lake.  I have grown more in the last eight years than my entire lifetime in Salt Lake.

          Jaime was apprehensive with starting at Coffenbury Middle School after the summer we moved here, but she loved it.  I think of all her schooling she was happiest at Coffenberry.  I don’t know that she would have endured that same love at Eisenhower Junior High – which is where she would have continued her education if we had stayed.  She has also loved the small town life overall.

          She hasn’t been exposed to many active youth – even in Salt Lake.  I know there are more active youth in our current ward than there had been in our last ward.  Currently she has a boyfriend.  They have talked about marriage and are planning on moving out of state – which has made her apprehensive.  She doesn’t wish to leave us but at the same time she needs to live her life.

          She said she will be moving to a state where he will be closer to his family.  She has two sisters who reside in the same state.  Of course I am aware that the state is larger than Oregon and chances of running into her sisters might be slim.  But there’s the possibility.  I hope that they do make a connection.

          I know she will get growth there living in a larger city.  There are some aspects which she has missed.  I hope she finds it.

          I do know Jai is more comfortable with herself than I had ever been.  I’m fine now, but it has taken so long.  We have been so blessed with her.  I’m certain her growth won’t take as long for her as it has for me.

Being Disconnected

     

          My balance has been off and so I try getting at least 20 minutes of Tai Chi each day. I didn't do any Tai Chi on Sunday as I was feeling under the weather.  I don’t know what time I fell asleep on Sunday night.  I do remember hearing Jai come home after midnight and then she left again.  I had two things on the charger and got up to check on their status and to text Jaime but noticed she had left a note by the TV.

          I have made several references to NOT having the best sleeping habits.  Yesterday morning was no exception.  I had tried returning to my slumber but just wasn’t getting there.  I read a chapter in the Book of Mormon and 10 chapters in the Little Christmas Book.  At 3:00 I finally left my room and played on my tablet for a while.

          I don’t remember what time I returned to bed or how long it took me to finally fall asleep.  I did not wake up until almost 8:00 a.m.  When was the last time I ever slept past 5:30?  I was dumbfounded that I had slept that long.  And yet, when I count the hours I still didn’t get enough.

          I was so groggy. Richard said that he wanted to take some watches down to Ashland but I knew that Jaime would be returning and wanted to be home for her.  I really wasn’t up to spending three hours in the car. Again, I was out of it.

          I did clean the microwave and the yard.  I unloaded the dishwasher and filled it back up again.  I heard the beeping of what sounded like the garbage truck – but the garbage doesn’t get picked up until tomorrow.  And early.  When Jaime was in school the garbage wasn’t collected until after she left for school.  The last two or three years they have been collecting long before the dawn.

          Turned out that a neighbor two houses down had rented a dumpster which the sanitation was either dropping off or collecting.  Okay.  Glad it was an outside sound that didn’t need my attention.

          But then I could hear the sound of a school bell being rung – you know like they had on the set of “Little House on the Prairie”.  Our school bells do not sound like that – nor are any of the schools close enough that I would be able to hear it.  What the heck?

          I finally had that one figured out also.  The sound was coming from the dishwasher.  One of the pans was clinging against the water.  Great.  I was so disoriented for about four hours.  I really don’t like being that out of it. 

Midvale House front room 1963

 

I don’t recall our living room ever looking this spacious before.  I don’t remember the chair but I do remember the ottoman.  I had it (or one similar) when I married Richard.  The original color was green but had torn and I had attempted to reupholster it in a printed flannel.  That didn’t last long.

I remember breaking the tinseled tree – I had been looking for tinsel and not an entire branch.  It was an accident.  I didn’t know.

I don’t remember the painting/print ever hung in the living room. I remember it being upon the wall in my parents room. Corey claimed it before mom had passed.  To the best of my knowledge he still has it (here)

And I remember rabbit ears (referring to the antennas on the TV).  That child on the floor?  That would be me over 60 years ago.

Tiny Food

          How fortunate that Richard and I have small appetites – yes, I finally caught up with him taking two bites of whatever meal and exclaiming, ”I’m full” and actually losing weight.

          We went to Winco to pick up some items – bread, milk, eggs . . . I didn’t realize that everything had shrunk. We’re used to getting eggs marked “large”.  These ones were medium and barely bigger than hummingbird eggs. 

        Every container I picked up was half the size that I have been used to.  What the flip?

          I feel bad for families who have several mouths to feed.  OMIHECK!!!

Perspective

 So there is a method to my madness with the last eight or so posts I have created.  A sister in our ward has challenged us to answer 52 questions (one a week) some of which I've already done through my blog.  But there are some I have come across that I just can't seem to find.  I really thought I had mentioned the following but am not finding.  

47. What is a moment when you surprised yourself — in a good way? I had been driving the Plymouth Duster and had my two youngest siblings in the car with me.  I think we must have been on the way to Grandma’s house.  I don’t know if the car just stopped or if I had stopped at a store on the way.  I can visualize the area – it was 900 south and vine street and I told the kids we would have to walk the rest of the way.  

As we were walking a grandpa-aged man had stopped by to offer us a ride.  I told him where were going and he said he was headed in that direction anyway.  By today’s standards there is no way I would be putting my siblings in the back of a strange man’s car – and yet that is exactly what I did and as I was putting them in had thought to myself ,“What am I doing?  I don’t know this man.” 

It turned out to be a good thing.  He really did take us to grandma’s condominium.  I thanked him and called for someone to assist me with my car.

Another Text Mishap

 

          This time it was Richard’s phone. 

Richard typed the number into the ward directory – puzzled by the area code we had never seen before.  I didn’t think it was anybody we knew.  Why on earth would anyone in the ward want to use our shovel – unless they lived on our same street.  But then – how would they have gotten our number?

I told Richard that I was certain the message had been sent to the wrong number and told him to inquire the sender

We do know an Emily but she would not ask to borrow our shovel because of the distance between us – nor do we contact each other often enough that she wouldn’t have identified herself to begin with.

Richard did not get another text until about 45 minutes later

 

We did learn that both Cindy and Emily currently reside in California. 

Funny.

Who Played the White Rabbit?

         During two months of summer the theatres offered programs for children to view once a week.  I remember seeing the 1972 version of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. My brother Steven was somehow mesmerized by the show.  Years later we had watched it through one of those PBS fundraisers. Steven had asked us to record it for him – especially the credits as he wanted to know if Michael Crawford was the actor who played the white rabbit.

When the end credits started rolling, the viewing size was shrunk from full screen to a postcard size behind those who were making promises to those who would contribute to the station. We kept on recording though it was too small for us to see.  This was in the days before Google though Steven always seemed to figure out a way to find what he was after and did find it in the postcard size credits.  Sure enough it had been Michael Crawford playing the white Rabbit.

When Jaime was about three we had taken her to Toys R Us as we were looking for Christmas gifts.  I found a DVD Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.  I had to purchase it and gave it to Steven for Christmas that year.

Community Dish

     There was one time my family had gone to Lagoon – an amusement park in Farmington, Utah. We had taken some potato salad to eat for lunch and when it came time to eat lunch it was discovered that we hadn’t brought any flatware or paper plates.  We did have potato chips though. I don’t know what else we had. I do remember using potato chips to eat the salad from the large bowl.   It was just our family (six of us - though I don't think all six of us were actually eating the potato salad;  I think Kayla might have just eaten chips) eating the contents. I thought it was a fun solution.

Points for the Auction

 

          There was one ward I attended in which the Relief Society committee decided to have an auction on talents – which I had gone to before to raise money for whatever  needed to be raised. But for this particular activity there was no need for money.  We would be able to bid on talents based upon points.

We earned points according to a survey that was given upon our arrival.  Give yourself five points if you are such and such an age, if you spent time with your grandchildren, if you are single, if you read your scriptures, if you made your bed, if you said your prayers, if you did an act of service, if you visited somebody, if you talked with somebody in your family – and a time frame, last night, this morning, this week, everyday.

I remember our RS president was vocal about some of the credits on the list – like give yourself this many points for making your bed everyday this week.  She said, “Are you kidding? Who makes their bed?  What a waste” It made me laugh.  

Clooney Tunes

 

When I was younger my mom purchased records that we could listen to.  I think the majority of them had  Disneyland labels  I would play them so often that the scratches could be heard.  Not the best quality, but I played them over and over again.

There was one album I recall different from the Disneyland.  I don’t recall what the label read – I just remember the songs:

 

Rosemary Clooney Sings for Children (1950s)

 

·        Little Sally One Shoe

·        The Little Shoemaker

·        Me and My Teddy Bear

·        Betsy, My Paper Doll

·        On the Good Ship Lollipop

·        Willie the Whistling Giraffe

·        Little Red Monkey

·        The Syncopated Clock

·        Kitty Kats' Party

·        The Teddy Bears' Picnic 

When Jaime was a baby she had a teething ring with different animals on it. I would attempt to sing different songs relating to whatever animal it was. Two I had learned from the album.  I remembered most of the words to “Willie the Whistling Giraffe” but wasn’t so great at remembering the lyrics to “Little Red Monkey”

One day Richard surprised me when he brought home a CD of these same tunes as sung by Rosemary Clooney.  How awesome that was to have that. 

That night we played the album loudly and swayed to it as we were fixing dinner or whatever we were doing.  One of my Tony’s friends stopped by.  I’m certain he thought we were nuts getting our kicks dancing to children’s songs.  It is a fun memory.