Beneath the Wraps

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. ...

     I’ve always been an advocate of journal writing – but especially now that mom has passed.        After we put my mom into assisted living and were cleaning out her house in order to sell it, my brother, Corey, took mom’s journals with him to Las Vegas and has been transcribing them ever since.   He also took a couple of boxes of photographs. There have been several parts of her journal which have corresponded with unlabeled photos or have provided memories that have had us thinking, “Oh, yea.”      Other passages have given us more insight to our overly quiet dad.   And lately – mom’s emotions about caring for dad mirroring our own with caring for her.   It’s been a rather interesting journey.        Some journal entries often seem boring and it feels pointless to even write about.   Journal entries written by teens can often sound funny or dishea...

We had scheduled a dentist appointment for Jenna on Friday afternoon.    Fortunately I had contacted the school the day before.    Jenna noticed the bus go by and I took my cell phone out to see what time it was.    It went off in my hands.   That was weird. I saw that it was the school calling.    I was told that Jenna’s class would be going on a filed trip and wouldn’t be back at designated time and that I might as well keep her home.    When I repeated the words “field trip” into the phone, Jenna started crying.   She wanted to go. I called the dentist to reschedule and Jenna and I got on the next bus and she went to her field trip and not to the dentist. She explained a little bit about her day – not with great detail as she does sometimes.    There was a piece on the news about “Dreamathon” – where she had gone on her field trip....

          I’m not good at taking notes at conferences or Spiritual meetings.   I get so caught up in trying to get the exact quote or comment or whatever that I end up missing on so much more. Last night there was a Relief Society stake activity called “Women of Righteousness” featuring artist Megan Rieker.   I didn’t think the event well advertised   - at least in our ward.   I honestly didn’t know what to expect. Turned out to be a truly eventful night.   And I learned things – not just about the artist paintings but discoveries within the past as well as my own self. I’d taken an art appreciation class several years ago in order to appreciate fine art more than I do.   It backfired.   I often rolled my eyes when learning about contrast and balance and was more unappreciative about the entire fine art world long before the class was over. I started looking at paintings and wore less-than-flatteri...

Jenna told Roland that I wanted an umbrella for Mothers’ Day. It is a Beautiful Umbrella and big enough for both me and Jenna. I could have used it two days before Mothers’ Day but have not had a need for it since. The sun has been beating down on the earth.   But there has been a cool breeze that   makes it all bearable. The sun is playing hide-and-go-seek as the clouds pass over when I look out my back window the sky tells me that I will need an umbrella when I leave the house to go get Jenna. When I look out the front window, the sun laughs at me and tells me it will pound down and make my palms sweat as I hold my umbrella and that it will be a burden to carry. I end up putting my purple umbrella in my back pack – just in case.   I never needed it.    Not for rain anyway. I did attempt using it as a shield  to block out the sun - only a short time though  as I was afraid the wind would...