Beneath the Wraps

          A member of the ward had told me about the Burger King in Canyonville - which by the way is not called "Fast" Burger King or "Express" Burger King with good reason.  I'd forgotten about his comments until one day I decided to stop there on my way home from working at the school.  I could have seriously driven home and back before my order was ready.   And I had only ordered two items!           I don't know how long it was (a couple of months, I would guess) when I decided to give them a second chance.  No.  The post office would beat them in a race.  I have usually just parked the car and gone in and didn't realize that the drive-through would be faster (though not by much).  Roland and I were at the DMV in Canyonville and decided to stop off at Burger King on the way home.           A...

            On March 22 of this year Corey posted to his blog for the first time in two years.   Apparently it had been due to a request made when I mentioned how much I had missed reading his posts.   But that is his most recent - nothing more.   So last night he called me to relate his "Walmart" experience - although he really was not at Walmart.   It just felt like he was.   I laughed at his misfortunes.   It was nice to go to bed with a smile on my face.   But Corey does have a knack with relating experiences and telling stories and even making announcements with an entertaining flair.   So the following is a second-hand account of the things that he related to me.             First off he had to renew something - he must have mentioned it at least three times, but I failed to understand exactly what it was that he was renewing...

          I have followed a few blogs off and on.   Many of the creators have stopped posting.   Others have closed for privacy or discontinued the blog altogether.    My niece had three blogs going - though not all simultaneously.   The first one was one that a friend had started when they were living in Thailand in the summer of 2011.   She had started another the year that my mother died.   Her first post was a tear jerker.   She made some profound thoughts - much like her mother.   I have wished that Sunny would create a blog to post to.             Ellen (not her real name.   Unlike Corey and I, she uses the real actual names in her blogs) started off her first post mentioning how every journal she starts will include a history of herself.   I can relate to that.   I have tried cramming my entire life into a few pages - oft...

There was one year when Roland seemed to make more money than in previous years or even the ones that followed. He had managed to find a package deal through a travel agency and took us all to California just right after Christmas.   The boys were out of high school for the holidays.   Jenna was two. I have heard that between Thanksgiving and Christmas is the best time to visit Disneyland.   From personal experience, I know that between Christmas and New Years is the absolutely worse time to go. I remember riding the tram the first day we went to the park.   Jenna’s enthusiasm at riding the tram from the parking lot to the park was awesome.   All four of them were excited and enjoyed every moment. I’m not exactly certain why we had driven or taken the tram.   We spent two days at the park.   As I recall we just walked to the park the second day.  I know Richard and I went back to the hotel about four hours before...

Notice the date!   April First is April Fools' Day – Hence the title.      I think customers are lacking in intelligence for going to Wal-Mart (or just admitting it) and waiting in endless lines to be waited on by clueless employees who appear even less intelligent than the customer (who, by the way, is still waiting in line) I realize it’s wrong to stereotype, and I’m sure that somewhere in this Universe there really are happy Wal-Mart employees who seriously do understand their positions and really do enjoy being there as the Wal-Mart commercials would like us to believe.  I have personally just never met any of them. Embarrassing as it is to admit this: yes, once again we ended up at Wal-Mart.  Roland wanted to get some head-phones to give to Jenna on her birthday.  I thought it was a great idea!  He chose Wal-Mart so that he could charge it.  NOT a great idea.  Especially since we didn’t actually ha...

I don’t know which is worse – the Saturday before Christmas or the Friday after Thanksgiving.  I don’t enjoy shopping or trying things on or waiting in line or crowds or winter or parking or all the fragrances and plants which flare up my allergies.  Before I met Roland, I always had my Christmas shopping done by September –ALWAYS And then I met a man with a sporadic income, a greedy ex-wife, and a judicial system that sucks big time – you think we would have done better at spreading things out.  But we were struggling for our needs and so wants were ALWAYS on the back burner. I don’t know if Roland has always been procrastinastic about Christmas shopping.  As I mentioned before, he’s got a great heart.  He is always thinking of others.  But he doesn’t spend wisely for the most part. I opted to go shopping with him and Jenna yesterday – not that I really wanted to, but I wanted to get him a winter scarf because he asked for one – not ...

          I generally drop Jenna off at school a half hour before she needs to be there.   I also arrive on the lot before all other cars so as to not fight school traffic.   Jenna has always taken her time walking to school or across the field.   When I am the driver who is picking her up, I welcome her dawdling.   In first grade we were always the last car to leave the parking lot. I HATE school traffic.                   Kayla was looking for a sitter for her two and as Jenna’s school is the same distance from their house as it is from my own,   I figured I could watch them at Kayla’s house and then pick up Jenna.   I should have left her house the minute that Kayla came home.           It’s been four years since I had lived in that same neighborhood and wasn’t taking into account that the school in that area lets out...