Beneath the Wraps

It is said that laughter is the best medicine.  And why not?  We are happy when we laugh.  We’re content.  We’re not expressing worry, stress or anger.  Laughter allows us to move on with our lives. A family member on my husband’s side passed away unexpectedly.  The funeral is tomorrow and is out of state.  Initially we had considered getting a loan against the title of the unwanted truck and purchase a plane ticket – but the interest on the loan was outrageous; the airfare would be close to six hundred dollars. We have over drafted in our bank account and so someone wired some money to Roland so that he could drive down – only it wasn’t enough.  A hundred dollars for a 12 plus hour drive (I don’t know how many miles) we were still going to have to borrow some money one way or another. When we had gone for a visit just two short weeks ago (I made mention in my last post) we took my mom’s car.  As the car was not returned in ...

          Two weeks ago we left the state to be with Roland’s family.  We spent most of Friday driving, checked into a room and spent two days there.           We didn’t meet up with the family until after 4:00 pm on Saturday.  Roland and his brother had both come from out of state to celebrate their mom’s 85 th birthday.           The eldest sister had actually sent the invitations out in January.  We had told her repeatedly that we just didn’t have the finances.  And just the week prior, we didn’t even have reliable transportation.  We ended up borrowing my mom’s car and our expenses were paid for.           There was Elvis, and dancing, and hugs, and kisses and a tremendous surprise.  Roland’s mom had an exceptional birthday.  Cameras went off in all direc...

There are several variations of what may come to one’s mind when visualizing his or her perception of a hero.  There are comic book heroes such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, or even Word Girl . Many people have benefitted from the heroic actions of the police, firefighters, soldiers, etc.  It is the uniformed men or women whom they see as heroes.  And they are, and deserve to be recognized.                     There are “heroes” who do it for the glory – just to be recognized as heroes.  And there are the silent heroes who work behind the scenes, who don’t ask for recognition, many who would prefer not to bask in the glory.  These are the true heroes.           Roland is one of those heroes.  He does things out of nature – not because he’s seeking a reward or glory.  He just does things because th...

          After our youngest son, Randy, returned home from his mission, he decided to open an account at the credit union.  To complete the process, a driver’s license or picture ID with a valid address was required.  No problem.  His DL had expired and going to the DLD was also on the agenda.           But he still needed proof of address.  We had moved and his old DL revealed the old address.  He was asked for something to prove his new address – like a bank statement.  Are you kidding me?  It was like a no win situation.           Recently, (even though we had actually filed our taxes a month early this year) we were asked to include Randy’s FASFA on our taxes.  Randy had not completed his FASFA as he was waiting for the results on our taxes.           I never fully u...

          I don’t mind sunshine.  I can drive when the sun is out and lighting my path.  There are a huge number of summer activities that I do enjoy.  I just don’t care for the heat.  I would rather have it cool.           April hasn’t even ended, and already I’m changing my perspirated drenched clothes two or three times a day.  What am I going to do in July?  If it’s above 72 degrees I am an ogre.            Even the dog is panting after hours of sleeping.  Our walks now have to happen before school.  Just two weeks ago it was midday because it was too cold in the morning.  I think if the weather were to change gradually (maybe just one degree every other day) it wouldn’t be so bad.  This 20 – 40 degree jump has got to go.           I en...

          Last May the bishop (leader) of our ward (Church boundary) had some major health problems along with his second counselor.  My husband, who was serving as the High Priest Group Leader, said to me that if the bishop had passed away during that time, the mantle would have been handed to him and he would have had to step into the bishop’s shoes (metaphorically speaking) until a new one was called.           I don’t know how soon the first counselor (at the time of our ailing bishop) was called to take over the position of bishop.  But my husband was called as his first counselor.  It was to be his fourth calling in less than two years.           But his second counselor holds the record of short lived callings.  He had been called as a Sunday School teacher – I don’t know for how many months.  He was released in order to serve ...

          I’m not an avid facebook user.  In fact, the more “improvements” that are made, the less I use.  I haven’t deleted myself.  For one, I haven’t figured out how.  And I still like to look at pictures.  Especially when I know my brother-in-law is going to be posting better pictures from an event that my camera just doesn’t capture.           Truth is the novelty wore off for me about two months after I opened my account.  And now with facebook controlling which posts I view or what might be important to me (the pictures copied from wall to wall to wall with humorous captions are NOT what I would pick to clutter up my home page.  I would like to hear (or read) about how life is going for my friends – but then with all this new rig-o-moral, maybe everyone has decided not to include anything personal whatsoever)       ...

         The refrigerator in Sunny and Patrick’s house is buried in photographs and wonderful thoughts.  Family is very important to them and they are on display at all times.           Children’s art work decorates the walls above the dining room table and there are portraits upon the piano.  The house is decorated nicely, and the feel is one of warmth and love.  It is inviting.  It says that their children are important and family matters.  It is welcoming and full of joy and positive self-esteem.           Grandma also keeps photographs and art work.  Her refrigerator is covered with magnets that hold up treasured memories.  There are pictures in every room showing off her grandkids, her children, their spouses, etc.  It says that her posterity is important and it is good for our self-esteem.   ...

          I’m walking my dog at the park when two geese started honking.  Highness hadn’t even noticed them until they brought it to his attention that they were there.  So of course he starts yowling and the geese took off and started circling the park – honking loudly as they flew.           Now since I don’t speak geese, I don’t know if they were warning other birds that there was a crazy dog in the park or if they were announcing: “No – it doesn’t appear to be springtime over here, either.” Or if they were just lost from their flock and asking others to make themselves known. It’s supposed to be springtime huh?  According to the goose’s bodily calendar, it is time to end their southern vacation and get back to work in the north.  But the elements just don’t jive with their predictions.  And it’s frustrating. But geese are not the only ones to suffer here.  I...

            I am out of town right now and so did not post yesterday . . .  My computer and printer are both went to “fix-it” shops.  I did not plan on posting to my blog for the next four days. But it is raining now.  And the birthday party we showed up for won't be starting until later this afternoon.  So I am using the computer at the hotel.               I finally was able to add pictures on my 95 th post.  It wasn’t that hard.  Corey told me where the icon was.  I don’t know why I didn’t see it before.  What an idiot (me, not him)             For two years my daughter’s schools celebrated the first one hundred days of school.  Last year the student were asked to draw their perception of how they would look when they reached age 100.  This is...

          As I mentioned in my last post, there have been periods of time that we have had to do without.   The bills are too overwhelming at times.   We lost our first house due to the economy leaving us even more financially scarred.   After the move, Roland and Jenna were limited to DVDs from either the library or our own personal collection.           We tried doing without the Internet.   But the Internet is required just for finding a job.   It’s an assistant to Jenna’s education.   It was a necessity with Roland’s last job.   And he may be starting Internet courses pretty soon.           Our period without the Internet did not last for more than two weeks.   Eventually we added cable because it was only 8-10 dollars more.   But basic.   Very basic.   We had only 7 stations (perhaps ...

          When I was twelve years old, my only living grandpa bought me a subscription to TV Guide and continued renewing it each year until he died. And then my dad took over with payments until he died. And I let the subscription run out.           My mom asked why I hadn’t renewed it.   TV is just not all that important to me.   It may have been when I was twelve.   But each year I become less interested in the TV and programming.   I did enjoy reading TV Guide stories on occasion – but there were oft times that even the articles or the lay out lost my interest.           After I married Roland – there were two of us who really didn’t care if we owned a television and two that would “die without it”   and actually there have been months at a time that we have had to do without (especially after even local progra...

If there are more than two people banding together to undermine authority – it is considered gang violence or gang related or birth of gang actions.  I was not aware of this until this morning, but evidently this cause took place in my daughter’s school fairly recently.           From what I understand it was a bunch of sixth graders.  The principal said there had been about 30 of them who had decided to stir up some mischief and were plotting their aggressive actions in the hall by the doors when they should have gone out for recess.            Of course when they were reminded of the rules to go out for recess and to disengage their loitering, they stood together and refused – which then led to the principal’s office (who by the way is the most awesome principal ever and is even tempered and rational and deserves respect) and the kids somehow blew everything out of propo...

Jenna and I were returning home from my moms.   I happened to look over towards the side of the street to see 2 dozen or more trees seasoned in pink and white (mostly white) blossoms.   Standing next to them or just a few feet apart were naked trees withered by the harshness of winter.   If the traffic hadn’t been so heavy or if I had been in the appropriate lane, I would have stopped to take a picture.   Not that it would have done justice really.           The elements have taken turns.   The 31 st was so windy, it knocked me in a coma. But the first was really nice.   It snowed on the sixth.   It was too nice for wearing jackets on the seventh.   Weird.

          Jenna has liked caterpillars for as long as I remember.   I don’t know why.   I don’t know when – though I suspect it must have been in the womb.           There was a week the caterpillar/butterfly cycle was discussed during her first year at preschool.   Twice during the week the focus was on the caterpillar and the other two days were on the butterfly.   She was there for the caterpillar days chiming in her knowledge and sharing with the class more depth than the teacher was actually ready to go into, dropping her mouth in disbelief and then saying, “You are right, Jenna.   How come you know so much about caterpillars?”           “Oh, I just like caterpillars and so I know all about them.”           I don’t think Jenna had even seen a real caterpillar before...

I googled Odd Facts and came up with list after list of odd facts – but not all were “facts”.   I questioned some of it like “Ernie and Bert from Sesame Street were named after the cab driver and police officer in “It’s a Wonderful Life” – I could not find any evidence that confirmed that.   Henson said he was not there when they named the characters, but even he believes that it’s just coincidence. Then I decided I needed something to back up all the facts that I share.   Hey, but just because you read it on the Internet doesn’t make it true.   And just because you learn something in school doesn’t mean it will stick.   For instance, my peers and I learned about the solar system almost every year that I was in elementary school.   (I personally saw no purpose for it.)   We were taught that Pluto was the smallest planet.   Today we are told that Pluto is not a planet at all.   It seems that the International Astronomical Union deci...

                 I had always wanted to host a foreign exchange student.   While I was still a student myself, I had wanted my parents to take in a student from another country.   It wasn’t until after Roland and I were married for almost a year that I talked him into assisting my wishes.           Our foreign exchange student was from Thailand.   He was in his senior year of high school and our three boys were in junior high school. Ooki was the greatest example to our boys.   He was always assisting and learning and growing.   I miss having him around.                       Ooki came to us in mid August.   We introduced him around the valley and actually drove to parts of the state, where we don’t go normally, just to show him it wa...

          My three boys love camping, especially my youngest.   I think I must have enjoyed it at one time – when I was a youth and had no concept of just how much work goes into it.   My current body is not designed for the discomforts of a frozen or hard ground.   Give me a motel room.           The first year the Roland and I were married we had purchased two pup tents just before Christmas.   We gave one to Tony on Christmas day and the other one to Randy on his birthday (which was just ten days later).           At the end of May we took our first camping trip together (and actually the only one I went on, now that I think about it).   Halfway there we learned that Randy had brought his blanket.   JUST his blanket.   No sleeping bag.   He thought a blanket would be all that he needed.   Serious...