I Vote For a New Temperature

 

              August is near its end. 

September creeping in.  

        We’ve had fires this late before.  

Smoke billows from the south over the hills.  

            It’s hazy. 

                            It’s hot.  

Please let it rain.

casse-tête examples

 

I don’t know where Richard came up with the idea that I LOVE doing thousand piece puzzles.  I do not.  I have learned that I especially do not like the type that offer casse-tete pieces!

According to several online dictionaries the French word(s) casse-tête translates to puzzle, challenging or complicated puzzle pieces, and headache.  I agree with the last definition.  So I have mentioned that Richard seems to be gung-ho about gluing all puzzles that we have done – though I have vetoed the idea with those that I really would like to put together again.  But definitey not the last one with its one thousand casse-tete headaches.

 

The three hundred piece circle was much easier than the thousand piece cats and birds.

By Invitation Only

         It has been several months since the missionaries had been teaching the Gospel Essential Class.  I thought it would be cool if they had started that up again rather than have the new member interest attending the Gospel Doctrine class.  But that was just my opinion.  I obviously do not have the authority to change that.  I did however remind Richard that it had been a thing.  He is Sunday School president and brought it up in the leader’s meeting that takes place before church.

        Last week Richard taught the gospel essentials and had invited those members who have recently been baptized and those who are seeking, the missionaries, and a few supporters – including candidates for teaching the class. It is a class that I had attended during my time as a counselor in the Relief Society.  Even though I continue to serve in the RS presidency, I am in a different position (secretary).

        Meanwhile a new instructor has been called to teach Sunday School and I somehow felt obligated to show my support to her by attending her class – which was really great.  The Come Follow Me program has our reading in Psalms and last week’s theme was on repentance.  Oh, my.  What a powerful lesson.  Participants pointed out the difference between guilt and shame.  Some of us found comfort in Psalms 51:10 which reads:

        “Create me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.”

        Heavenly Father loves us unconditionally.  It is important that we can see ourselves through His eyes.

Another Triggered Memory

         Today in Sacrament meeting one of the speakers talked about reading scriptures as a youth and striving to meet a goal.  It reminded me of Biff’s reaction to Pres. Hinckley’s challenge in August of 2005 to completely read the Book of Mormon by the end of the year (see here).  Biff is not the fastest reader in the world as it takes him longer to process information.  

 

   I can’t remember where in the Book of Mormon he was as December 31 came near its end – but had a ways to go before he would be able to complete.  He seemed to feel somewhat defeated and I suggested that we read the captions of each chapter. With only four hours left until Midnight I read with him from where he left off. We continued reading each caption until we got to the end.   We finished between 11:30 and midnight if I remember correctly.  He was not satisfied and stayed up until wee hours of the morning to complete his goal without skipping the verses.  I have always admired his ability to endure.

CBQ#84

  Who performs more random acts of kindness than anyone else you know?

 

        Jaime is always thoughtful of others.  The other day we went to Subway and she left a very generous tip.  She said she could tell at least one of the staff members was being trained and there were three splitting tips instead of just two.  She wanted them to each have the same amount.

        That is just one example.  There are more.  Lots more.

        It’s a quality I’m guessing she got from her dad.  He is often doing random acts of kindness – like sending out Labor Day Cards.  Who does that?

CBQ#148

 Are you a penny-pincher or a big spender?

 

I am more of a penny-pincher because for so many years I did not have the option of spending money on more than basic essentials.  I know that problems may arise (the car stops working, the pipes break, things have to be replaced . . . ) that I would like to afford at the time it happens and not take out a loan so that I end up paying two to three times as much.  Once in a while I will splurge for something, but it’s rare.

We Are SO BLESSED

          A couple of months ago the light between the closets had gone out.  Richard changed the bulb to a brand new bulb that would blink on occasion until finally it went out leaving us to believe that it had something to do with the wiring.  Finding those that repair (such as electricians, plumbers, etc) is like pulling teeth.  Even before the gas price increase, it seemed a difficult task to find someone committed enough to come. 

          After two months Richard climbed up the latter to check what might be the source of the problem.  He had me turn off all the electricity.  Apparently it was the bulb.  How blessed were are that it was something simple.

          Next problem.  We were no longer receiving hot water through our taps.  How can that be?  Well the house is over 20 years old and the hot water heater is probably the same hot water heater that came with the house. We weren’t thrilled with the idea of replacement but knew it would/will have to be done eventually.  Two days without hot water and realized when all the switches had gone off for the electric – there was one that was missed when we switched back on.  Simple fix.  How blessed were are.

          The fridge has been a problem for some time now – with constant scraping of ice build-up and added feature of door not sealing properly.  It is over ten years old and has been moved from house to house – I thought that may have added to the problem.  We have looked into replacing the fridge.  The problem is the space for the fridge is smaller than the new fridges we have been looking at.  And it doesn’t seem feasible to try and widen the space. 

          Richard saw an advertisement for Umpqua Appliance and we called them to come out.  It wasn’t an outrageous expense and we were given many options on how to save money.  It is so nice to have the freezer part working again.  How blessed were are that it was something simple.

          On Saturday morning I took a shower.  Richard and I went to the temple and came home to a leaky driveway.  Neither one of us noticed the leak until later.  Weekend.  We didn’t know where the leak was even coming from.  We left our number with every plumber we could find.  We ended up turning off the water and calling Tri-City Water to ask if they could investigate.  We were told about a plumber who we hadn’t contacted as the name did not come up in our research – but Yeager’s Plumbing came out right away and replaced a tiny plastic part that had somehow dammed the water over time and had finally broken off.  The leak happened beneath the drain of the shower.

          Richard and I had both predicted that we would have to replace all the pipes.  He was thinking 4,000 dollars and I was thinking 7,000.  But we have been told we’re good to go though we should really contact our insurance and ServicePro to dry up the water that has accumulated under the house.  The damage is not as bad as we had anticipated.  How blessed were are that it the expense was in the hundreds rather than the thousands.

CBQ#258

 What’s your most and least preferred forms of exercise?

Most Preferred: Water aerobics.  There’s so much more I am capable of in the water that I have difficulty doing on land

Least preferred: sit-ups or chin-ups – anything that involves lifting the entire weight of my body. 

When the pool is closed I also like to dance (here)  - or attempt to.  I get exhausted quite easily however.

CBQ#447

 If you were offered free cosmetic surgery by the best plastic surgeons in the world, would you take it?

Probably not.  I would like to clean up the areas around my chin and neck that have started to droop.  But I suspect I would have to find a way to get to the surgeon as I would doubt that he/she would come to me.  Right now I am not willing to travel for a little lift.  Right now it would be a vanity thing.  I’m okay without cosmetic surgery.

CBQ#76

 What’s your favorite item to cook?

 

        Don’t enjoy cooking at all.  I enjoy eating.  I am great at making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches

Check Before You Throw Away

               Going to the mailbox lately has NOT been worth the trip as I had mentioned in an earlier post. The other day we received three pieces of mail addressed to Richard and one to “Current Resident” – that right there tells me it is probably not worth my time.  I would have just trashed it based on that, but handed it to Richard along with the other garbage (like his last opportunity to switch insurance or purchase a burial plot or apply for credit or something like that) and put the bill aside as I’ll need to pay it.

          He opened the one from the CDC Foundation – the one addressed to resident.  A bribe enclosed to be part of an important national study.  An actual bribe with a promise of more to come if only you’ll participate.  Richard said he had done it before and it paid out.  He said I could have a turn and get paid 10 dollars for it.

          As I sat down to start the survey Jaime came into the room and I asked her if she would like to do the survey instead.  She said she would – which was good as the selection of candidates that CDC was searching for would preferable fall into the ages of 18-24.  Jaime just happens to be 18. 

          The survey advised that the surveyor find a private moment and place to do the survey – to be answered honestly without the eyes of prying parents I guess.  Only in Jaime’s case she wasn’t going to take the time to fill it out on her own (they promised only 20 questions – or did it say 20 minutes?) as she doesn’t like to read but will willingly answer the questions if someone will read them to her.  Thus she did not do this privately as recommended but I knew her answers were truthful.

          The questions for this particular survey had to do with drugs – mostly e-cigs and vaping and other tobacco products but also bigotry and bullying – which Jaime doesn’t even recognize for herself but is aware of it as used against others.  For taking the survey she has been promised to receive not 10 but 20 dollars!  Just for answering a few a fair amount of questions.  Cool.

          Moral of the story: Do not throw anything away from CDC Foundation.  Take a peek at what is inside.  Perhaps that might apply to other “junk” mail as well.

CBQ#369

 Who your first boyfriend? What was he like?

 

I don’t know if I would categorize him as my first boyfriend, but he was my first kiss.  Not that I have many followers left who would even know him, I will still use an alias.  So Bradley Chase was not his real name.  I think I had a crush on him during my sophomore year but had not gone out with him until my junior year.  I don’t even remember why I was in the car with him or why we were out in Draper parked not too far from the prison, but he decided he would kiss me.  I don’t even remember if he had asked my permission or not.  But I wanted to kiss him.  At least I thought I did.  It was a French kiss and I thought it was gross.

After we had both graduated high school and I was working with my dad downtown.  Brad said he had been looking for a job and I knew of some openings with the company my dad and I were working for.  Sometimes he would catch rides with us, but Bradley was definitely NOT an on-time person and that annoyed me to no end.  Going out to dinner was no big deal if we had gone at 6:00 or 8:00 – but tickets for a performance have a certain time.  I started lying to him about what time a performance would start – giving him a two hour leeway.  Seriously.  I realized he was not worth deception on my part. I lost interest in him over time.

    He once asked me if I knew a girl he had worked with previously.  Her name is Teresa (actual name).  I don’t believe we had much in common, but sent him reeling after her as I thought I could do better. He ended up marrying Teresa.  I hope that they are still happily married. I don't see either one of them on Social Media - although she had created an account.  It doesn't appear that she has been on since 2017.