No, Not the Toilet!

Before we were given the stay-at-home order, Roland and I had ordered some tiles to finish the kitchen and change out the carpet in the bathrooms.  We had asked about toilet removal and were told that the contractors worked together and NOTHING would stop the production.  I think maybe COVID could . . .

 

picture from https://www.familyhandyman.com/list/100-home-repairs-you-can-do-yourself

We do have two bathrooms and so would be able to use the one that wasn’t being worked on.  Still it seemed unpredictable.  We didn’t feel good about it.  Especially after Lowes called to say they had received half the order and they would deliver it.  Um . . . no.  We want the whole order.  None of this waiting around for what MIGHT or MIGHT NOT happen.  We cancelled the order and said we would try again once COVID had ended (because by that time the Stay-at-home order had gone into effect – and though we would have liked to support the employment of those in need of finances seriously how would the crew be able to social distance in our bathroom?  Our entire house isn’t that big.)

It seemed a good time for road construction and many home projects but NOT the toilet.  I see pictures that have been posted by friends who grew gardens and added rooms and decks and landscape and what have you.  But every time I see a toilet I cringe thinking of all the time we may have waited for delivery and installation and possibly been without a second toilet – never mind the toilet paper.

 Meanwhile we purchased a new stove and gas line.  If we have another snowmegeden in which the electricity goes out again, we would like a back up so that we don’t freeze.  Plus the range that came with the house had crooked burners and only two of them worked.  I like our new stove and Roland LOVES it.  Before Covid we had a new roof put in and just added a front deck (which also needed to be replaced) and so the tiles have moved further down the list of purchases to make.  But perhaps by the time COVID does end for real we can move it back to the top.

Parable of the Sower

 

Today was supposed to be ward conference. 

Though we were initially scheduled to return on July 26

Circumstances have changed and we have not

Been able to attend

 

Last night the stake secretary provided a message

A virtual recording which I watched this morning.

It was only six and a half minutes long.

Short but powerful.

 

The message was on the parable of the Sower and

Compared this time to the seeds represented and

Which ones we will choose to be

You can listen and watch to this parable here

HOPE

 We all need Hope

Hope that we can attend church

without worry about coming in

contact or spreading coronavirus

Hope that schools will be

in session as they were before

where our children can play together

without Plexiglas dividers and social distancing

Hope that one day we will be able

to go out in public without having

to wear a mask

 

Hope that we can learn from history

and not erase anything and

everything we might find offensive 

so that we may learn

Hope that we can provide for our families

and not have to choose between

having to leave the house in order to provide

or staying home in order to keep safe

Hope that all of us will learn that we

are not really free if we are not safe

Hope that we will not have to watch

loved ones stumble and fall.

 

Hope that the persecutions

and judgement may stop

Hope that we may return

to our better selves.

                                                               kfr

Athletes: Is the Sacrifice Really Worth it?

I hear different stories about athletics – which sports are open, which ones should be open, which ones should not open . . . there are athletes who would like to return to playing – they’re bored!  They miss playing.  Some have returned but without an audience – but they are still at risk in my opinion.

Since the pandemic started I have heard “I am not going to hole up for the rest of my life – I am not going to die hiding out . . .  If I am going to go anyway, I’m going to be doing something I love . . . “  But is it worth it really?  Getting the cornavirus will not mean you will die – at least not right away.  You could be in the hospital for two weeks to six months and not be allowed visitation.  You may show no symptoms whatsoever.  You may be hooked up to oxygen for the rest of your life.  Is it worth the gamble to play one last game of football or golf?

Was getting the modeling job for Lucky Strikes worth throat cancer for Janet Sackman? (see here) Was receiving that final text really worth taking your eyes off the road?  How about that one last drink that put you behind bars because your reflexes wouldn’t allow you to break before killing someone? 

                   healthy lunge                                                                         Covid infected lung                                          

I wonder how the athlete, movie star, or any other celebrity will react when it happens to them.  Was the risk worth it?

Stinky Hand Sanitizers

I remember my brother scouring the city for hand sanitizer back in April.  He finally managed to get some (I don’t know if it was an online order or how he obtained it –it was not a brand he recognized) but he said it had a really foul odor that came with it. I was reminded of this when we were in New York and my daughter-in-law had offered me some sanitizer “if I could stand the smell”  I can’t smell and so do not know how stinky it was/is.

          I was watching the news yesterday and learned that there were far too many hand sanitizers on the market which are harmful to the body.  It made me question the safety of the sanitizer that different family members had purchased.  Check the label.  Stay safe.

For FDA updates see here.

Check Your Sources People

                Yesterday I shared a memory on facebook.  The photo was dated 2003 and therefore my memory was seventeen years old.  My first thought was:  Holy Cow!  I didn’t believe I had been on facebook that long.  I hadn’t.  Six hours after I shared the post I went back to it.  Nevermind that facebook hadn’t existed yet (or at least to the public) but the baby in the photo wasn’t even born until the following year that the post was dated.  I had not joined facebook until a few years before we moved to West Valley.  I had joined just before Jenna turned five.  The dates were wrong.

 

           This morning I shared the picture of the fish wearing a mask (from this post) with a reminder that in addition to checking spelling and grammar it is also important that we check references.  

I had obviously not checked.  So often fires are created on social media and spread information that may be true or may only contain truth.  There’s a difference.  My name, for instance, is NOT LaTiesha Cannon Romaro.  If you examine the photo you will find my real identity. 

 

Check your sources. Share truth.

Now It Seems So Final

         I’ve seen memory posts about walking Jenna to preschool and kindergarten – some comments about those who cried when they had to leave their child.  I didn’t cry when we lived in Kearns.  I did when we moved to West Valley.  Jenna was still in kindergarten in a school that wasn’t academically challenging.  She would cry as we walked to the bus stop and I would cry when I turned around to come home.

          Rather than torture us both by returning her to that elementary school I put her in a dual immersion program (here).  I cried again when she started sixth grade in Oregon and no longer a part of dual immersion.  This year it doesn’t seem to matter if she stayed with dual immersion or not. This year has been tough.

          I may have mentioned that I signed her up for online schooling which will start by the end of this month. She would rather be with her friends – but she won’t be happy with the new environment that is part of the school curriculum.   When the schools closed in March and she had online learning she really wasn’t challenged.  I’m sure the district did the best they could with the resources they had – working harder than when the students were in school.  I think Oregon Charter Academy will be a better fit for her at this time.

          Anyway we were contacted yesterday to submit her transcript.  The person I had to talk to was out of the office and so I left a message and said I would email her the request.  I told her how much I have enjoyed the district but with this odd year I think it best not to continue though the online learning they have available may be better than what was offered in April and May – but I don’t know.  I just felt this other option was the way to go.

          She returned my email with a reply for my kind words and Jenna’s transcript which I forwarded to the principal of Oregon Charter Academy. There are still tears in my eyes as I write this as it feels so permanent.  She has two years left.  I don’t know if she’ll return to South Umpqua or not.  And it hurts.

Do You Pray About Direction on Who to Vote for?

                In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we are taught that we existed before we came to earth.  Our Heavenly Father had presented a plan for each of us to experience life on earth.  Lucifer wanted to represent each of us in returning us home safely.  He wanted to make heaven great again.  He also wanted all of the glory.  Jehovah said he thought it would be better if we made our own choices and exercised our free agency.  2/3 of God’s children supported Jehovah’s plan while the other third didn’t want to make choices or think for themselves.  They weren’t Republicans necessarily because the Republican Party did not exist at that time (listen here)

                I find it interesting that the ones who followed Jesus wanted to make choices and exercise a free agency that we probably didn’t even understand – just as many Trump supporters don’t seem to understand now.  They read his tweets and take his words as golden truth but fail to actually listen to the man.  Seriously.  How could a person watch him speak and genuinely believe he knows what he’s talking about? HE DOESN’T!  He is such an overgrown self-centered child! 

  

                When I read through posts of others who seem to worship and idolize him I just shake my head with disbelief. Some of these are people I love.  I can’t understand the method to their madness. I often wonder if that is how I felt towards my brothers and sisters who decided to follow Satan.  On June 23 I wrote this post which has been in my draft box ever since.

              I don’t know which is worse, the coronavirus or the stupidity of some individuals who seem to make it hard for everybody else.  I heard on the news that Paris and Spain (wasn’t France and Spain or Paris and Madrid.  Two different sources – one using the capital and the other mentioned by country) have just barely gone into phase one.  Now these are other countries that had the virus before the US did.  Why did the United States feel superior to open in phases long before countries who were hit before?  Too many believing the numbers given are a hoax.  There is no way that US would have more cases than China.  I don’t know how accurate the numbers are in China, but it doesn’t surprise me that we have more cases.  It has always been my opinion that we opened too soon, and now cases are skyrocketing because some citizens couldn’t wait.

            That is just the tip of the surface.  Today I heard Trevor Noah comment on the politics of wearing the mask.  Certainly there are drawbacks to wearing them, but come on!  Show some respect for those you may come in contact with.  I don’t know anybody who likes wearing them, but they are required in many public places and should be.  Get over yourselves already! I will wear a mask just to offend Trump and his supporters.  

                He evidently fired his old campaign manager and has seemed to be following the counsel of his new one – except for when he is on Twitter and then it is free domain.  What an idiot.  What kind of president has so much free time he is willing to tweet so often that running a country is not a priority – especially during the cornonavirus.  But hey, there’s an election coming up so he will act a certain way in front of the cameras – or try to anyway.  He wants to remain president until the virus is gone.  No, no, please.  The last three years were tough enough but throwing COVID into the mix this year has been torute on our nation (or rather our reaction has)

                George Washington is the only president who won the 100% of the votes.  His party?  Democratic Republican.  Democrats have always been around.  The opposing party were Federalists, Wigs, Republicans.  I wonder if Trump has tarnished the Republican name enough that it will be changed to something else.  And why not?  We are, afterall, living in a time that we want to either deny or erase history.  Perhaps it will go away if all of the reminders are gone.

                I can’t believe how many people vote for a candidate based on party.  Oh, please.  Just because your family has voted that way for the last four generations doesn’t make it set in stone that you have to. 

 Fortunately there are those wise enough to see that it really is time for a change.

                So many Trump supporters repost without checking facts.  They make themselves seem uneducated and ignorant when they don’t check resources, spelling, or grammatical errors.

I have compared Trump to Satan and to Hitler

Why would any of us be willing to follow any of them?  We need leaders NOT dicatators or selfish babies (see here).  Think about it, make a decision and pray about who you think you want to vote for.  As I mentioned four years ago there are third party options.  Just be wise.

Three Little Pigs

        I think the couple who live behind us would like to be homesteaders. Their property is not big enough for a huge amount of livestock though they have attempted and add to the variety of animals which feature turkeys, chickens, roosters, pigs and dogs.  This morning I was woken up by the barnyard sounds (though there is no barn) ones that I couldn’t even identify.  I have since decided that it was the grunting sounds of the piglets that woke me up.

        It was quite an eventful morning. Roland had purchased 180 pounds of sand to plug up the hole where the water leaks into our yard – though I don’t recall having seen it this year.  The last time we saw rain was June 29 – though I don’t count it as such because it was less than a hundredth of an inch.  We may see heavy rainfall perhaps even snow come October or November. Though we had purchased the sand last night the labor had to wait until this morning as it was too hot to work last night.

        So he hoisted the sand uphill, filled the hole and had Jenna whitewash the fence.  Just before he made his way downhill he and Jenna noticed that three piglets had escaped our neighbors yard as they were wandering in ours.  Okay, I can see how possibly the baby black one could have squeezed through the fence, but the other two?  All three of them ran downhill and decided to graze under our new front deck. 

        We’ve had livestock in our yard before.  Hens and turkeys mostly.  I think today was the first for mammels other than the dog who doesn’t even live there anymore. Jenna and I were each able to get a few pictures of the pigs as we chased them around – though not intentionally.  I never knew that pigs could move so fast nor run uphill.  But they can.  Piglets are quick as human children.

        I used some dry grass to entice to return to the back.  Only the spotted one was brave enough to come toward me – though I did eventually get the back one by his side.  The brown one seemed the most frightened and was too quick for me to capture him next to the shed or the car.

        We finally got the attention of our neighbors and they sent their oldest son to ride his bike to our house.  He climbed to the top of the hill where the pigs had miraculously gathered by the time he came.  His mom handed him a board to prop against the pigs so that they would be penned in the corner.  She then climbed over the fence and lifted the noisy things up and over the fence.  It was then I decided it was their squeals that had woken me up.

        I don’t guess the stairs would have worked like the one they cast over for the chickens.  

We don’t complain about the sounds or the refuge they somehow seem to get when exploring our yard.  I would rather deal with the noise and escapers than criminal activities with those who sell drugs, human trafficking, and of that nature.  I would rather hear the animals than deal with the human stupidity.  They seem like good neighbors.  I just think they should have more space than what they have.

        Well, that’s my Sunday morning thus far.  It’s been interesting.

YW Service Scavenger Hunt

                As I was doing dishes this morning I was reminded of a memory from the first ward I had lived in as a wife and mother.  The YW president had called me earlier that week to see if I would allow a team of young women into my house to do various service projects for us: dishes, read to a child, change a diaper, fold laundry, etc.  There was even a space for miscellaneous chores. 

          I was thrilled to have someone else do chores as it never did become a regular thing with my boys.  Jenna was running around at the time, but still in diapers – which someone was able to change just before they left.  Pooey diapers were worth more than just wet diapers but Jenna’s diaper had not been messed in and so the girls didn’t get all the points they were hoping for.

          One did dishes the way her mother had taught her to and seemed to feel honored about getting to wash our dishes as though we were celebrities or something.  Whatever moves your motor, girl.

 

          I remember one girl had read to Jenna and we had given a girl a miscellaneous chore.  I had her write letters that my husband and I would send out to persons who had multiple properties.  She wasn’t comfortable with her cursive as she had printed them.  No big deal.  I think she had printed 15 before the girls left or I had given another task.  I don’t know how many points the team had ended up with but had admired their willingness and was very appreciative for their efforts.  Good memory.

Long Overdue Adjustment in Attitude

          A week before Jenna was born I started recording thoughts in a journal from what I thought might be her point of view.  I added pictures to my accounts.  By the time she was ten I had ten volumes of journal which we started rereading this month.  It has helped to take our minds off everything that is currently taking place and what limited activities I will allow.

I do not like the person I was when she was younger.  I was always so uptight.  I am so grateful to have left that person behind and that Jenna and I are friends with one another and that has her dad’s positivity rather than the attitude I feel like I have lost.  I certainly hope that I did.  I know I still have my uptight moments but I am such a happier and different person than I was for a long time.  I hope to always radiate positivity.

Coins Are NOT the Most Pressing Concern

        Each month this year has brought up a new set of challenges – most which still exist.

        January – Australia caught on fire

        February – Chinese citizens post videos of the effects of COVID19 – I never imagined it would become a world wide thing

        March – Several states go into a lockdown.  For Jenna the pendemic started Friday the 13^th.  The 18^th shakes Utah (where we came from and family members live) starts a chain of earthquakes and aftershocks

        April – nation is short on supplies – items such as face masks, hand sanifizer, ventilators and toilet paper.  Only those working front line have jobs.  People feel more exposed to risk while working front line.  People without jobs are financially worn out.

May – Rumor of Murder Hornets.  Not important enough to last more than a few weeks. George Floyd is killed, black lives matter protests and looters. Still going. 

June – phases and political mask wearing or not wearing. Freedom vs. safety – or is it stupidity vs. safe to be free? Spend more money on struggling businesses in order to keep safe

July – return to school protesting, coin shortage.  Oh, no.  Not coins.  The toilet paper and mask shortage I could live with, but coins . . . . 

So here are the theories.  No one is going to the bank with rolled coins anymore so coins are piling up in people’s homes;  rumor that some businesses are enticing patrons to bring in rolled coins to receive a free drink, slice of pizza or what have you . . . seriously?  Seems the masks and toilet paper have reappeared – especially masks.  There is such a variety of masks on the market now.   

Before 1999 became 2000 there was concern over the Y2K (see here) and we were advised to hang onto small bills of cash in the case we needed to barter or shop without the benefit of change.  They had always talked about bills.  Never coins.

We keep bills in the emergency bags we have on hand in the event we need to evacuate (due to fires or earthquakes; we had never prepared to stay in and NOT leave the house) we don’t have coins.  Coins add weight and our bags are heavy enough just with food.  No one ever told us to keep our charge cards on hand in the event that no one would want to touch the money and there would be places that wouldn’t accept cash.  We saw much of this during our trip to NY.

 We probably shouldn’t have gone.  We probably should have stayed home as we should continue to do unless it’s absolutely necessary to leave the house.  I’m not afraid of COVID.  I am not thrilled with so much of the nation seemingly experiencing the affect of hormones that come with pms or pregnancy though.  Enough already!

I wish the coin shortage was the biggest issue our nation had to face.