The Power in Position

My initial post is costing more time than I am able to give for the moment anyway.  Guess this one will have to tie my readers over:

            The meeting ended early today and so the bishop decided to call a few members from the congregation to come and bear their testimonies.  I smiled as I thought about how often meetings were based on impromptu due to short meetings or just lack of speakers.  In this post I mentioned the majority of youth had their favorite impromptu meeting which was sharing one's favorite hymn and a little bit about why it was/is our favorite (or one of our favorites) and then we would sing that hymn as a congregation.  I think that is something we could do in this ward with our regular pianist, but I know there several in the ward who would not be comfortable playing some hymns out of the blue that they hadn't practiced for a while.

            Singing hymns brought reverence to our meetings and some of the reasons behind the individuals' liking the hymn was inspiring.  I related this to Jenna and she said she would like that opportunity.  I suspect the youth in this ward may know the hymns better than in my last ward when I lived in West Valley.

            Danny was not at church today, but did send her laptop and a cheesy video about Ester - a musical that we would not be able to finish - and didn't.  I interrupted some of it to say "Hey, I just want to let you know what's going on"  - and relate the Biblical version of Ester instead of just the video.  I do believe in the power of music, but I think this particular version took some liberties with their interpretation.

            We're not going to be able to watch starting January as lessons are now going to be only 20 minutes long as well as singing time.  There will no longer be a sharing time.  Church will only be two hours instead of three.  I am personally looking forward to the change.

My Custom Heirloom Walking Stick

      Jenna and I first met Chris just over a year and a half ago.  We met him at Millsite Park.  Jenna and I had been walking around and Chris was looking for the perfect stick as he had a request for making a cane similar to his (see this post)

      I thought that would be nice to have a custom-made cane for myself, and thought I would start collecting words that might describe me and ask him how much he charged.  Chris said he walked in Millsite all of the time.  That was the only time that I saw him.  I don't even know his last name. 

      When Roland was playing Friar Tuck in Hi, Ho, Robin Hood, he had stripped one of our wild junipers to make a walking stick for the character.  I decided that when he was through with it, I would adjust it to my own needs.  I would strip the wood, sand the stick and start a decoupage.  I decided to use more photos than words. Instead of multi colors, I hoped to keep them in the same color as the wood.  It didn't turn out as I expected, but there you have it: 

My custom heirloom walking stick:

stripping down the bark

printing pages full of words and pictures

Remembering Dottie

            I had purchased a package of "Strap Perfect" as it was on clearance.  Jenna and I both seem to lack in the shoulder area.  I thought we could each have three, only three had already been removed from the package.  Perhaps that is why it was on clearance.  I recall Jenna breaking one trying to get her bra off.  I kept one for my swimsuit in the event that I ever misplaced my swim shirt which I did the entire month of August. 

            After Jenna started going to the pool with me last year, she had a suit that didn't fit quite right.  I don't remember what it even looked like or what was wrong with it.  Dottie had brought us a suit that she used to wear and had given it to Jenna.  Dottie was always thoughtful of others.

            It was in August when I noticed Dottie using a binder clip to keep her swimsuit up.  I had misplaced one of the "Strap Perfect" clips but decided I would look for it harder so that I could give one to Dottie, but I couldn't find it.  One day she asked me where I had gotten my clip.  I told her that I had purchased it at Dollar General but have not seen it there again until today.  As I made my purchase I thought about Dottie and would give two clips to her if I were to see her again.  I don't imagine she'll have a use for it in the hereafter.  Dottie isn't with us on earth anymore.

            My hair is starting to come in white.  Whenever I look in the mirror I see my mom.  Except for when she kept the white she was thinner than I am currently.  But that wasn't always the case.  She had dark hair and I started out with white hair (when it finally came in) and looks like I'll be ending with white hair.  Dottie was the first to comment on my white hair and said that I should keep it.  

           After I chopped off my pigtails, Dottie told me how pretty my hair was and thought it would look great when I grew it out white with brown chunks at the end.  She was always so sincere with her compliments.  I don't know what color my hair will be in the hereafter.  I don't suppose it matters.  I won't be seeing Dottie again until it's my time to go.

            She evidently had a lot of health issues, but never complained about her condition.  None of us were aware of how many health problems she had or the severity of what was going on.  I think it was fortunate that she passed away peacefully in her sleep.  I hope her husband knows that.

            I don't recall ever having visited with Dottie outside of the pool except for a few times when she would join our group for coffee.  When I had my job interview in Canyonville, I received a text from Carol to come and join them at a cafe that had just opened up.  Dottie was there with the group.  I think that was the last time I saw her.  I will miss seeing her at the pool next year.

Welcome the Fog

                After fire season, the misty fog and rain are always welcome signs for our thirsty part of the world.  It does impair the vision to see far ahead.  I drove in it yesterday as I had an assignment through the school.  At least the light can be seen through the fog, unlike the darkness I had to drive the day prior.  I told Roland that when we set the clocks back, I will need him to drive as I won't be able to see at the time that I've been going.  But I would do okay to leave just an hour later - I think.

                Currently, the fog covers the sky and hides everything past the neighbors' house.  Usually, it lifts by 10:00 or so.  I don't think the sun peeked through until 11:30 yesterday.  I was on recess duty and had to find my sunglasses.

                I have been at the middle school most of this week, but not today.  It is teacher intervention and all of the students and subs are off today. I would like to spend time with Jenna but have been neglecting my room with each assignment that I've accepted. This week I've had four math classes each day.  Most of the classes have been learning about integers.  I would rather help in history or English than in math.

                Even though there is no school today, there is a homecoming dance tonight.  Jenna plans on attending.  She would like to be dropped off at the school at 5:00.  I think she is currently getting ready for it.  She still has seven and a half hours before she leaves.  Silly girl.

I DO NOT Accept the Challenge . . . at least Right Now

                The RS president sent an e-mail to the sisters to remind us of some challenges given to us in Conference yesterday. I am not prepared to accept the challenge of the 10 day fast from social media.  I am taking courses online.  Sometimes YouTube videos are required - though not always.  Sometimes I will search for tutorials on my own.  Giving up facebook will not be tough as it's been somewhat pathetic or disappointing overall lately anyhow.  I need to use my email for updates regarding my classes and to view confirmation on assignments that I accept for work.  Yes.  I got a job.  I have subbed as a teacher's aide for three different schools now and have at least two more for this week.

                I remember when Jenna took the challenge.  For the most part, it was not a big deal.  Steering away from YouTube was her biggest challenge as she enjoys cartooning videos and singing with videos.  She did this at a time when the internet was not a requirement for one of her classes.  I suppose I could do a partial fast.  There are some talks from conference and news article updates that I will want to review.  If I talk to Alexa, does that count as social media?  I am constantly asking about the temperature. 

                When I am on vacation, I am on vacation - or at least would like to be.  If I were to go on one right now, I'd still have to take the laptop in order to fulfill my school requirements. I don't have a touchscreen that I am glued to.  I update my blog post occasionally but not regularly.  I may be able to do a fast once my classes end, but not right now.  People still come before technology.  I know that I am rationalizing, but aside from school, I really don't get into it that much.  And I have NEVER nor will be surgically implanted to my cell phone.  It's not a big deal.

Sidenote

For a year I believed that my youngest granddaughter, Liz, shared her birthday with my son Tony, who is her dad.  It wasn't until I wished a "happy birthday" to both her and Tony that I was corrected.  It's true that Rochelle had gone to the hospital on his birthday, but Liz did not arrive until after midnight making her birthday November 4th instead of the 3rd.

This year Rochelle has been carrying extra weight with our only grandson who was also due to make his appearance in November but decided to come a month to six weeks early.  They must have checked into the hospital late last night after Tony had called to wish Roland happy birthday.  Their baby arrived before 2:00 this morning.

Recap:  Roland was born on the 3rd.  Two of his children were born on the 3rd.  Daddy daughter combo born different months on the 3rd - in fact, he and Jenna are exactly 50 1/2 years apart.  (see here) Tony and his oldest daughter are both on the third.  All four in different months.  Tony's second daughter was born just after his birthday and now our only grandson (who does not yet have a name) was born the day after Roland's birthday.  How uncanny!

 I haven't shared the birth or this discovery on facebook as it is their place to be the first to share their news.  I don't know how many mutual friends we have that may read my blog.  If you don't see a post from them on fb, mum's the word.

I'll provide more info at a later time. 

Another Ugly Cake . . . Happy Birthday

            Roland believes that every person should have a cake for his/her birthday.  It doesn't matter if they can have cake or want cake or don't like cake.  I believe that his motto is "No Birthday is Complete Without Cake"

            Usually when Roland's birthday is coming up and people ask, "What do you want for your birthday" he doesn't ask for a cake, but rather a homemade card.  But this year was different.  I asked what he'd like for dinner and he said he wanted me to make him a birthday cake from scratch.  Okay.  How very brave of you.

            I looked up a recipe under the topic "Birthday Cake" and followed the directions to this one.  (recipe at the end of her blog post before comments)

 I used blue and white sprinkles as that is what we had.  Fortunately for us, his favorite color is blue.  Jenna thought I ought to make an even simpler cake using ice cream sandwiches.  We already had orange frosting (orange in color, not flavor) in the fridge that I could spread over the sandwiches to look like a cake.  I don't think what her final creation was really what she had in mind.  We did not get a picture of it before she put it in the refrigerator - which probably was not the wisest move as the ice cream melted, but I suppose it is the thought that counts.

            Meanwhile, I had put my cake in the oven to bake while Roland and Jenna ran an errand.  I had them pick up some frosting while they were out.  My cake wasn't bad looking until I tried to take it out of the pan.  Apparently, I did not spray either pan well enough and the second layer crumbled over the bottom.  I used the entire can of frosting trying to at least make it look somewhat decent.  I think underneath the cake looked even worse than the ugly cake from this post.  Jenna took these pictures with her camera though we did not get any of the batter.

Jenna's melted "ice cream cake" creation

He did eat a lot of it - even though it was overly sweet.

Roland always lops off the top to make it flat.  I thought

would try putting the round on top.  Big mistake.

Beautiful, isn't it.  Like somebody had already broken into it.

  

We did light the candles and sing happy birthday

 Jenna did not get any still pictures of the cake with lit candles.  We sang happy birthday and she used her film feature.