Beneath the Wraps

I have mentioned in earlier posts that my sister, Kayla, is expecting her third child.   Her eldest, Anna, will be four in the first week of July.   Garrett turned two in February and B.J. will be born in August. As a result, Jenna and I have been going out to assist at least a few hours each day.    This past Wednesday and Thursday we had made arrangements to meet the kids at the park nearest Jenna’s school.   There is a park closer to where they live, but the bus doesn’t go by the park, and I don’t particularly wish to cross the street with the two children in order to get to the park.   So Bill has dropped them off at the other park.   We can make the return trip on the bus without crossing the street. So on Wednesday, Bill stood in line with them to get their lunch and then he took off.   After Jenna, Anna and Gary played for a while, we got on the bus to take my niece and nephew back to their mom.   The kids were de...

I have actually used baking soda as a cleaner, a medicine, a laundry booster, and perhaps a third of the suggestions listed here  and here  but my absolute favorite miracle (which I did not see listed) is that in addition to grease spots and stubborn stains, it also works on scorch marks and burns. In the past, when I have burned a pot beyond recognition (usually my fire is too high) I have just thrown it away.  But the other day, I was boiling some water on high.  I excused myself to visit the bathroom and just forgot to come back.  I wish I would have done before and after pictures.  It was so truly amazing that I was able to save a pan that had been on the expensive side. I was steaming corn – which by the way turned out really succulent and tasted great – when I realized that I had forgotten to turn it down.  The bottom of my pan glowed red along with the burner.  I thought that the fire had burnt a hole through the pan and tha...

After we had purchased the house Roland put the boys to work painting the trim red. That was seven years ago. Time to paint again. Randy needs money and Roland puts all three boys to work and says he’ll pay them 100 dollars each as soon as the work is done. The instructions are fairly simple:  Everything that is red needs to be painted over in green, everything that’s white needs to be repainted white. Biff was the first to show. He works graveyard and comes straight from his job though two weeks ago I think he went to the gym before coming here Roland had to work that day and so I had told Tony that he could be in charge I didn’t want Randy to be in charge because most of the time he doesn’t even know what he’s doing as he has managed to disappear each time Roland taught the boys a trade Randy appears to be genuine about helping or at least that was the case two weeks ago But he loaded the paintbrush so that it d...

I think I must post about cleaning the church at least once every four months.   I don’t mind cleaning the church building.   I really don’t.   There have just been some weeks in which I have been appalled over the tremendous amount of litter that is left behind. How can people be so careless and not take any consideration that they are in God’s house?          Today I put myself in charge of vacuuming the chapel – which is what Bro. McDobb had done every Saturday morning in which our ward had been assigned to clean the building.   Roland joked that he wouldn’t have been surprised to find him there this morning – even though he moved out of our ward over two weeks ago.          Programs had been left on several pews.   I get it.   I’m sure I am guilty of that as well – though I have tried to make a conscience effort to check the pew before I leave. ...

           I think I may have mentioned it in an earlier post that I grew up in a more established neighborhood.   Not a lot in the way of comings and goings – not that I can remember.           The first person I remember moving out of our ward was a girl named Diane.  I don’t know under what circumstances she moved.  I didn’t take it into consideration that there had been other people in the house who had moved with her.  It actually wasn’t a very big house.  Perhaps they needed more room.            When I was in Young Women’s, I can remember a family moving into that same house. They must have had five at the time and Grace was pregnant with number six.  I remember being called upon to babysit. I think all of the young women received a turn at one time or another – until the two ...

                  When I was very young (like in first and second grade) my cousins lived not far from Highland High School and Sugarhouse Park.   Aunt Fern and mom would often take us to Sugarhouse Park as it was so near by.   Problem was that the trees were not mature (as they were not much larger than us kids) and thus the park did not provide much (if any) in the way of shade.            Sugar House seemed to be an older area overall, but it seemed the park was fairly new.   I vaguely remember a playground.   My cousins and I must have spent time rolling down the hill – although I haven’t run across any photos of us at that particular park.            I wonder if the main objective for our moms was to take us to the park was to wear us down.   I wonder if it bac...

As I have mentioned in this post  Jenna LOVES to go to the dentist.   Seriously.   Often times when she says she really has to go to the dentist, I treat it much like “the Little Boy who Cried Wolf” I never really know whether she needs to go.  Usually I dismiss that she does not. When the dentist office called me, I made an appointment for the semi-annual cleaning.   Her dentist had told me that she had perfect teeth and that there were still nine baby teeth.   Really?   I was certain that she had already lost them all.   Guess not. The cleaning that she had in November – or was it December? – revealed a small cavity.   In April the office called again so that they could fill the cavity.   But apparently it was NOT a permanent tooth and so the dentist didn’t want to fill it. She had lost three teeth from when we were told there were nine.   But her dentist said he would need to pull the remaining six. They...

     Randy helped Roland put the A/Cs up on Memorial Day.   Roland had wanted to do central air, but the cost would have been more than remolding the bathroom (and getting a new tub – which is I wanted – but not the entire expense all at once) Three fires and still just barely getting by on Roland’s check.         Ten more days and Pamprin will be eighteen.   No more child support – well except what the stupid state is suspending from his paycheck on the two years that Roland was UNEMPLOYED – and what’s the point of fighting it when the lawyer may end up sucking more out of us than Maleficent did (still does)   Still we should notice an increase in his paycheck – at least I hope.      It was 88 degrees in our city yesterday.   Roland had looked it up online.   He said there was a difference of ten degrees from what his family members were experiencing in Tucson. ...