Enjoying a Tradition of Another

 

When it is near Christmas there are occasional stands or trucks parked selling oranges.  I hadn’t noticed tamales offered in the past but along with the oranges there have been vendors pushing tamales.

          When we saw Freaky Friday we had stopped off at a Mexican kitchen in Roseburg and that is what Richard had ordered.  He was disappointed with the results and thus reluctant to buy from vendors - though it does seem to interest him.

          We were surprised when Domingo and Maddie showed up on our doorstep sharing their tradition of warm tamales.  A dozen freshly made tamales.  It’s been eons since I’ve had tamales.  They taste delicious.  Thank you for that share. 

Every Sticker Tells a Story

           Well maybe not every sticker . . . but perhaps one day it will.

          I don’t know how long ago it was  when Jaime gave me a tablet that she had collected from another.  She gave it to me so that I could replace my kindle.  Truth is I used them both simultaneously.  I would play on one while the other charged.  I don’t know how old either product was, but my kindle outlasted the tablet.  And then Richard purchased a new tablet for me. 

On Christmas morning I received a skin to protect my tablet.  Along with the plain skin was a set of stylists and several stickers which I could decorate my tablet skin.  

These are the stickers I chose.

I definitely wanted the landscape in jar.  It fits my personality.  The coloring app that I currently use contains several choices that combine outlined pages with a mysterious inside.  This picture reminds me of many of those color-by-number that I have played.

I do not have a reason for the fish or sad cheetah.  Not as of yet anyway.  Although the sad cheetah could be me representing my idleness this month.  Hopefully it will be a thing of the past and I can return to a normal sleeping schedule and not feel so fatigued all of the time.

Although Bonnie is a different breed than the one pictured in this sticker, it reminds me of her as Jaime and I had settled on a flower illustration for the first name tag we had given her dog.

Two years ago our youngest son sent us a game called “What’s the Point”  

The cactus sticker reminds me of the many times we have played and enjoyed the game

Jaime and I have always had an inside joke with the elephant as mentioned in this post.

Alpacas and Llamas almost look the same to me.  I just thought the sticker was cute but I am reminded of a time when Jaime said she wished she were a llama.  I asked why and she said because then she could stretch her neck like this (demonstrating) It made me laugh. 

We also saw some alpacas on our initial move to Oregon.  I thought they were weird looking llamas.  

Jaime also loved giraffes when she was younger. I will include a now and then favorites closer to her birthday 2026.

No interesting story for the kangaroo.  Just thought it was cute.

Golden Gate Bridge always reminds me of visiting San Francisco and my mom as it is where she had been raised.

 

Though we never had a camper, these two stickers remind me of road trips.  And there have been a LOT of road trips.

Utah – my home state

The witch was added last as the flower I had selected seemed to get lost on the black background.  Jaime has dressed as a witch for Halloween.

Meanwhile I tried putting my flower on the water bottle but found I liked it against the background of my rolling desk

Gifting Themes

             In the beginning we had exchanged Christmas gifts with all three boys and their children.  That seemed to taper off as it never seemed important to our eldest or youngest – but we still exchange gifts with the one who lives in Utah still. 

This year they decided that all of our gifts should be themed.  So of course Richard’s gifts were superhero themed, Jai was Beetlejuice and for me they decided to do a peanuts theme.  Each of us received a deck of cards and travel throw blankets.  I had also received a neck pillow and a small peanuts scene which I will display next year.

They did send Jaime on gift that was NOT a part of any theme;  the movie “Klaus” as it is her favorite.  Richard and I had also contributed to the Bettlejuice theme.  She also received two calendars featuring Coraline (from them) and The nightmare Before Christmas (from us)

Warm

 I have several posts in the making.  None yet complete. 

Tradition on Christmas morning is to open our stockings first.

Santa Jaime had been filling them ever since they were hung.

She had asked what I wanted for Christmas.  I told her a package of fuzzy socks would be good.

She stuffed my sock full of fuzzy socks.  

The scarf, gloves, earmuffs and scrunchies came later.  

Merry Christmas!

After a month of mostly dismal weather, 

we were blessed with sunshine 

on Christmas day!  

Alexa says it is only 45 degrees outside.  

It feels much warmer.

Tired of Being Tired

 

I have always had poor sleeping habits – ALWAYS

Well, perhaps I did okay in the hospital right after I was born.

Mom says I was always asleep.  Every time she wanted to hold me

I was asleep. 

She said I was never awake during my time at the hospital

and says that after she brought me home

I was awake for the next five years. 

Slight exaggeration – but not much.

Mom said they had gone to San Francisco during a four day weekend.

Keith was just a newborn.  He always slept.  He was a good sleeper.

Actually quite the opposite of me.

Mom said I was awake the entire time during the drive there

and when they stopped at a hotel to get some rest,

they really didn’t as one of them had to stay awake with me

to make certain I didn’t take off or play

in the toilet or whatever they thought they needed

to stay awake with me for.

Mom said I finally killed over one afternoon in San Francisco.

Everybody else moved into the kitchen and talked in hush whispers

so as not to disturb me.

She said I slept for three hours and that was the only sleep I had

 during the entire trip.

When I slept at home, she read.  Never vacummed.

We didn’t even have traffic in our neighborhood.

I got used to the quiet. 

My brother had me around.  I’m assuming I made noise and

was not quiet.  He learned to sleep through the noise. 

But I never did.

It’s rare when I sleep heavy, but I have on occasion. 

Except for this month.

I have had a blah sense of fatigue –

which actually mirrors the skies we’ve had this month.

I don’t recall such a gloomy December.

How wonderful it is to have lights to

stand out in the dismal air.

We’ve had rain and fog. 

Some days we get two hours of sunshine,

but then it disappears

My husband is working a seasonal job

with odd hours.

Perhaps after the new year I will be

able to sleep better.  I hope so.

Joy and Light

        There were a handful of people gathered in the chapel yesterday.  A man had died and his caretaker had decorated the chapel so beautifully.  She brought this picture that she keeps in her office.

    Those who spoke paid beautiful tribute to a blessed soul who had always found the joy and light and in return he shared.  It did not matter that he had physical challenges which had slowed down his motor skills.  He smiled and yelled "touchdown" when he wanted others to know he was enthusiastic about whatever it was - church, football, socializing . .  he had a light and it shown brightly.

    It had become more than just a client/caretaker relationship.  She invites all to be part of the family.  She makes each feel loved and of value.  I am so blessed to be around her enthusiasm often.  

    I didn't know him as well.  But I did feel his joy and his light.

Two More Songs

both by Brandon Heath

Let There Be Music!

 My two favorite Christmas songs this year:

Frozen Honda

          “Where the Red Fern Grows” was released in 1974. I remember my mom having taken my two brothers and me to see the movie in December. I don’t know if dad was working late or just uninterested but he was not with us. 

          My mom had driven the orange Honda – not a practical family car - but there weren’t the restrictions of where children sat in the car. I would imagine that either Keith or I had sat in front and the other two were in back.  I would have been twelve, Keith ten and Steven would be four in latter March.

          After the movie had ended we returned to our car in the frozen and foggy parking lot.  I don’t know if the key to the door turned or not – I’m thinking not.  We sent Steven in through the hatchback to see if he could unlock the door for us – which he did.  But the door still would not open.  So Keith and I crawled through to assist.  The doors would not budge.  They were frozen shut.  My mom, who was four to six weeks short of giving birth to my sister, crawled through the hatchback as well.  Right now it just seems so unreal that she was able to do that.

What a memory!

That Was Different

 

          Richard and I had a few errands to accomplish – in the great big city of Roseburg – on a Saturday.  I took my tablet so I would have something to do while we stood in line.  There were no lines.  Not much in the way of foot traffic or even car traffic.  I was surprised.

          We first went to Staples.  I have NEVER EVER seen the store as empty as it was today.  First Saturday in the month of December.  I was floored.

          Next stop the UPS store – unwrapped framed picture art – more (way more) than Jai and I had spent on November 30.  Also a Saturday.  We were told we had missed the line.  No waiting there.  We were helped in less than a minute.

          There is an area on Garden Valley as one goes from Fred Meyers toward the I5 ramp where a group of people with picket signs stand and promote whatever issue at hand – usually a pro-Trump or whatever he is currently supporting.  Do they really think the drivers have the time to read all their signs.  Usually I don’t even look at them as I so disagree with what they represent.

          Only today the tables had turned.  The demonstrators held signs to promote democracy and anti trump.  Wow.  I told Richard what I had seen (the last sign hand-written flip trump - only it didn't really say FLIP) and he made the comment that most of them who were out there had probably voted for Trump.

          I don’t know many people by name who have admitted the error of their ways having supported Trump for more than twelve years.  I keep on looking to some facebook friends to admit the error of their ways. 

          Instead of getting on the freeway we went to the end of Garden Valley to pick up some clothing items at Coastal.  I don’t know how crowded Coastal was.  Parking lot seemed to have less wiggle room than did the store itself. Their inventory is so smashed together that it’s a wonder that any normally structured human can fit through – let alone the overweight ones.  And forget about trying to push a cart through – at least in the clothing department – which is the only place we were.

          We’re home now.  The ward Christmas party started half an hour ago. We did not attend as  Richard is tired.  I expect that he is taking a nap in front of the TV.  And I haven’t been feeling well or sociable.  Jaime is spending the day in Ashland.  Good for her. May she she blessed with not have to wait in any lines either.

Learning from Puzzles

 

I LOVE word puzzles –

I’ll play Pictograms on my tablet.

Pictograms is a cryptogram puzzle

With pictures to assist. 

For example I figured out mics and guitar

Based on the picture

But had no clue for the letter for the green box.

My and by were the only two

two letter words

I could think of. 

I had already used the M

and the B didn’t make sense

though I tried it anyway.

In Pictograms I have three attempts

Before I have to start over the entire puzzle.

But I had over 60 hints I hadn’t used.

I had to look up XY because 

I didn’t know what it was.

This morning I played Phrasel by myself –

Though Jaime and I usually do it together.

I had to look up the phrase as it is one

I’m not familiar with

We Used to Have More People

 

The church congregation seems to look smaller – not near the attendance we had when we first moved in.  Some people have moved on either by U-Haul  or death.  Sometimes both.

When we first started out our journey in Oregon, there was a Book of Mormon class offered on Tuesday nights.  Relief Society activities were also on Tuesdays.  Sometimes it would frustrate me to have both scheduled on the same night. 

The missionaries serving in this area would teach the Book of Mormon class.  The class was well attended – or so I believed.  Over the course of the years they changed “The Book of Mormon” into “Come Follow Me” – the missionaries were no longer required to teach as the subject of the Old Testament, for instance, was not their forte and may have taken extra time away from what they really needed to be doing.  And so members would take turns teaching –

I think we did well in the beginning – under the ward missionary leader.  We met on Thursday afternoons as I recall.  We had a pretty good turn out – but after the mission leader moved to another state, the class seemed to taper down until finally it was cancelled due to the lack of interest or commitment.  The last one to teach the class has also moved to another state.

I miss that extra class.

The Moving Tree

 I believe Bonnie likes when the 

Christmas tree skirt appears

She decides that it will make a fine bed.

It wouldn't be such a problem except

whenever she moves herself

she moves the Christmas tree as well.

Some of our ornaments are breakable!

Unexpected Growth

 Often times

during the summer

the flowers seemed

either withered or

non existing.  I

didn't blame them.

It was hot!

But now there are

a few brave flowers

that have grown in the 

35-45 degree cold.

Go figure.

Feeling the Spirit

           Last week I had been asked to prepare for the Relief Society lesson in case our instructor did not show.  There was a high probability that I would teach – which was fine.  In the summer of 2018 I had asked to be released from my position with teaching primary and had hoped to be called as an instructor in RS – not a part of the presidency.

          I enjoy teaching for the most part.  I have also enjoyed most of David Bednar’s conference talks – though this last one from October didn’t seem to resonate as strongly as some of the others.  Melodie had given me four days notice and I played the talk each day.  I printed the talk – marked what I believed should be emphasized.  Prayed a lot but never felt adequately prepared as I have been with other lessons.  I had hoped the Spirit would lead me.

          I fortunately had a good amount of participation – particularly from Carli who had implied that I was doing an amazing job.  I didn’t feel like it was amazing.  Okay perhaps but certainly not amazing. 

          We each feel the Spirit in a different way.  For some He is more powerful to others.  Perhaps I was teaching by the Spirit – though I wasn’t feeling it.  I remember saying something about the desire I had for the Spirit to work with me and put words in my mouth that I wasn’t even aware I was saying.  I remember a few times when I had felt the Spirit that strongly when hearing blessings said by God through various individuals.  I made the comment that I knew it was God as the one giving the blessing did not talk that way  - he was kind of a goof.

          Yesterday a sister came up behind me as I was making my way to the parking lot to make certain Richard was waiting for me still as Jaime was already gone.  Tori asked me what weeks I teach and I said that I had just been filling in and don’t normally teach the lessons.  She seemed disappointed and asked me to be certain to contact her the next time I give a lesson as she had felt the Spirit very strongly and felt a recharge in her system that she had been yearning for a while. 

          As I made my way to the car I started crying.  Touched to tears.  How grateful I am to have learned that the Spirit had indeed been a part of my lesson even though I hadn’t felt Him nearly as strongly as Tori had – or perhaps more.  I didn’t feel drained like those that I know spoke by the Spirit had felt – so I don’t know if He had taken over my mouth at all.  Maybe. 

          I had 25 minutes left on my lesson when I had glanced at the clock.  I thought only 10 minutes had passed before looked at again.  Class was over.  I was stunned.  So perhaps some miracle had taken place that I was unaware.  Feeling Grateful that Tori had felt Him and shared her experience with me.  I told her I’d be willing to converse with her anytime.

Safari Adventures

 

My aunt and paternal grandmother had made arrangements to take my cousin and me on a California adventure.  I believe were about eight and nine at the time we went on our week-long vacation. 

We stayed at a hotel in Las Vegas and saw Andy Williams perform.  And then we went to California.  Our plans included Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm, a Wildlife Safari and touring the Queen Mary.  My brother and another cousin did a similar trip the following year.  Only Grandma and Aunt Kristie deleted the safari and Queen Mary (as neither had been impressive in the year prior) and took the boys to Universal.  I think they got the better deal.

My husband, daughter and I moved to Oregon in July of 2015.  My brother came to spend a week with us in September.  He is the one who looked up activities that we could do together while he was here.  One of those adventures included the Wildlife Safari in Winston Oregon (here). 

He said he had always wanted to do a safari adventure and that particular day and time has definitely been the best day that I have spent at Wildlife Safari.  There was so much activity among the animals and Steven drove slowly through the different areas that Wildlife Safari has to offer.

I’ve been to the Safari several times over the past ten years and the time I went with Steven was definitely my favorite.  A far cry from the one my cousin and I had visited in California over fifty years ago.  It was a hot day as I recall and the animals definitely were not active. 

 

Great Memories.

Hopscotch Tournaments

 This morning I woke up with a 

memory from elementary school.  

I don't know what made me think of it after 

all these years.  

Our school had two main playgrounds. 

 I believe there were eight hopscotch outlines on 

the playground going south and 

six on the playground going east.  

Students would sign up to play against one another.  

The winner of each set of players would go on 

to compete with another winner.  T

hose winners would compete and down 

the line until only one was left.  

No Ideas of What Sparked That

 

Last night I dreamed of a modern day Robin Hood.  I don’t recall all of those that he helped except one.  A young mother was living in an abandoned building with her three young kids.  Robin Hood had used said building as a hang out in his daily routine.  He wasn’t expecting to see children.  He wasn’t prepared for their innocence or inviting him into conversation.  He stole a pillow from the only bed in the room and left a different way.  When he encountered the young mother he dropped the pillow and ran away.

The next day he carried two grocery bags to the outside of the room that contained the bed.  He knocked on the door and hid behind a pillar to watch the mother retrieve the two bags full of peanut butter, bread, jam and at least one butter knife, some napkins and small paper plates.

Later he brought two garbage bags filled with bedding and clothes.  Again he stood by and watched. He had never been a criminal but had been mischievous – and perhaps was being mischievous in a much different way.  He liked it.  He started doing good for others.  I don’t remember any details.  I thought it odd that I had dreamed it.  And perhaps just as odd that I'm sharing it.

Influence

 

My boys had a friend named Mike who would occasionally attend church with us.  He enjoyed being there.  It brought a sense of peace that was nowhere near his home life.  I don’t know what all evils existed but there was a point in time where Mike and his sister were sent to St. George (city in Southern Utah not to be confused with the European country)  to live with relatives.  I don’t know if it was ordered by the state or what exactly happened but they were gone for a couple of years.

While living in St. George Mike discovered a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and decided to attend there – I don’t know how often, but the results were quite positive.  When he moved back to Salt Lake he reunited with my boys and returned to our church for a while.  I remember one particular fast Sunday when he and each of my boys shared their testimonies.  It surprised me that Mike had been the instigator of getting them all up there.  I was touched by what he shared.

Mike was one of my facebook friends when we had moved from Kearns to West Valley. To the best of my knowledge Mike never did get baptized.  Unfortunately he stopped going to Church and picked up some of his dad’s bad habits.  His facebook posts became dark and disheartening.  After a while I lost track of him.  I hope that he returned to what once gave him stability. 

I hadn’t thought of Mike in years. But today I was reminded of the Mike had shared shortly after his visit to St. George.  It was a very uplifting testimony meeting today.

Now That’s What I Call a Celebration

           Beth Rankin passed away on September 14 of this year.  Her husband had made arrangements for a Memorial celebration which took place this last Saturday (Oct 25^th).  She is quite loved and respected by many.  Beth grew up in the Jewish faith and remained true to her Jewish legacy by never converting over to Christianity – at least by baptism.  Beth and Graham attended a Christian faithed church.  Her services were conducted at the Cooperative Ministries in McMinnville – where they had attended for the last twelve years from what I understand. Though she had been devout about attending services  She was quite adamant that everyone knew that she was Jewish.

          The services were beautiful full of tributes, memories and pleasure.  Beth has had a positive impact on just about everybody she meets.  I have mentioned Beth in at least ten posts – and unlike all the aliases I’ve given to most of my “characters” I have always referred to Beth and Graham by their actual names.  

Richard knows her from high school band.  I met her in August of 2013 after she and Richard reconnected through facebook.  She and Graham had been driving through Salt Lake City on their way to Oregon.  We all had lunch together at the Firehouse subs near Richard’s place of work and the hospital where my mom was a patient. We came out to Oregon for a visit and look for housing during Jaime’s spring break in 2015.  We moved to Oregon just a few months later. 

Beth lived in McMinnville and we’re in Myrtle Creek – about 180 miles apart. She had driven the three miles to help us settle in which Richard and I greatly appreciated. We didn’t often visit with one another in person but we had gone to McMinnville three times and she visited us three times. The last event we had planned was for a Passover that never took place as the year we had scheduled was 2020.  I’m sure the reader can guess how that turned out.

On three tables was a display of Beth’s handy work in the form of whatever she sewed, hand-crafted or organizations she was a part of.  There were signs that directed patrons to “take something that reminds you of Beth”.  Richard spotted a tote bag which reminded him on one she had made for Jaime when she was 11 years old – one which she picked out the fabric.  I remember Beth had posted it on facebook and gave credit to Jaime for coming up with the design.  Here is the bag she made for Jaime

 

and the bag that we retrieved from the memorial.  

 

Friends wore bright colors to celebrate.  Graham had given us the clarinet he had played when he was in high school.  At the service he played a recorder.  At the end of the service the congregation was asked to join the choir with this song.

 

It really was a fun celebration which I think honored Beth really well.  And a slide show with pictures of Beth and those she loved.  It was really beautiful.

Back on Track . . . perhaps . . .

 

          In addition to all the “Come Follow Me” videos that I watch each week, I also refer to the “Come Follow Me” page on facebook – not that I have ever read entirely through every post or comment made.  My brain is simple and not complex in understanding things like Isaiah or The Temple Pattern. But there have been gems worth digging for. 

          In the beginning many contributors would post links to their videos – which became a bit tiresome and seemed to distract for the purposes of the page.  There was a vote and contributors would be allowed to post their videos on Mondays . .  or something.  I actually lost sight.  Book of Mormon last year seemed to be monitored better than Doctrine and Covenants of this year.  Maybe not so much that way at the start of the year as . . . was it during the summer?

          A month ago one contributor posted: “What happened to this page? There are, like, five people posting 90% of the content, and the content is mainly reels.”

          It made me laugh as I had thought the very same thing.  I think there were seven comments made before an admin posted “Thank you for bringing problematic posts and comments to our attention”

Doesn’t appear that anything was done though with the death of President Nelson and conference the following week, it did seem understandable that there would be posts made not related to the Doctrine and Covenants or current study assignment..  Still a lot of shares not related to the topic at hand.  I get it.  It doesn’t upset me, but it did make me wonder if the page was even looked at by its creators – or if all the comments just seemed so out of control and the creators just stepped back and weren’t involved anymore.  I still wonder. 

Today the page appears to be back to normal.  Either way there are still gems to be had.  It’s just a matter of digging.

Up, Up and Away

 

Richard’s new guilty pleasure is Hulu’s “Inside Airport Lost and Found” which focuses on objects left behind.  When there is unclaimed luggage security is contacted to bring a dog to sniff the luggage.  The story unfold with an entire set unclaimed bags that had been setting in said destination for over ten minutes.  Ten minutes?

I recall returning home from my mission.  I don’t remember the airline – Continental I think.  I was the only sister missionary who was returning.  When we landed in Atlanta our connecting flight was just one gate over – but we had time to ride the shuttle and so got on it just for fun. The holdup happened in Denver as I recall.  I don’t remember the exact number of elders who were on the plane with me.  We had missed our connecting flight and had to be rescheduled or else the plane was running late or something.  One plane was overbooked.  They asked for volunteers to take another flight and were bribed with tickets for future plans.

I recall one elder wanting to take the opportunity and another counseling him not to since the tickets were arranged by the church and not the individual.  Turns out they wouldn’t have worked for said bribe anyway.

Meanwhile families had turned out to welcome back their missionaries.  This was back in 1986 when families could wait at the gates.  Mom said it appeared that the entire ward of someone had turned out.  When passengers started to disembark the crowd waited.  They waited and waited.  When the flight attendants followed by the pilots disembarked one of the family members who’d been anxiously waiting for his missionary turned to the crowd and implied that his son was some kind of jokester and we were all still aboard the plane.  But we were not. They had a LONG wait. 

My sister was hungry – everybody was hungry.  But Shelly was the only one willing to eat lentil soup which (at the time) was the least expensive thing on the menu.  People left.  How much longer would they have to wait around.  There were inquiries – where are the missionaries who should have arrived.  Some calls were made and some names were given.  I think there may have been six elders coming home – but I don’t know if all were by way of Salt Lake City.  Regardless, they had the names of whoever was supposed to arrive.  They had all the names of the elders but not the sister.  So of course my mom seemed to panic.  Where was I?

I arrived an hour and a half later with the number of missionaries headed to Utah.  My luggage didn’t seem to be on the carrousel so I told my family that we could go eat and just return for my luggage the next morning.  It was well over ten minutes.  Probably over twelve hours before I even called the airport to ask about the luggage. 

          I was asked about the color of my luggage.  Blue.  Like how many possible blue pieces could there be?  500?  1000.  I remember explaining to someone that I had come on Continental whatever number it was.  He said he remembered seeing it in the United terminal.  How?  What?  How could you possibly know those bags were mine out of the many pieces of luggage you much see each hour? but that I had initially been scheduled to fly United.  We all had.  But the elders’ luggage had been transferred to Continental.  Mine had remained with United which is why there wasn’t a record of me being on Continental. 

          I was grateful that I hadn’t stuck around to pick up my luggage with another 30 minute to how many hours later? I was impressed with the knowledge that this individual had regarding my luggage.  Perhaps it had been reported and that’s how he knew.  As I recall I did have to pick it up at the United unclaimed luggage and show proof that it was mine.  I hadn’t thought about that until just this very second.  Did the airport have dog security back then?