Good bye for

another year,

Witchy

(or Guy-- read her history here)

and
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Here's what I've been

doing all day.

Messy kitchen at 3 pm

from cupcakes (7 dozen), bread bowls, and
experimental tomato puree.

(someday I'll learn to clean up as I go)

Scary, huh?

Spider Web Cupcakes

Chocolate Cream Cheese Cupcakes (recipe here)

Frost with Chocolate Frosting 

Make three circles with white frosting

With toothpick drag out from center 6 or 7 times

Mummy Cupcakes

Frost with chocolate frosting. 

 Place 2 M&M for eyes 

With flat piping tip just criss-cross on cupcake.

Put a dot in center of M&M

 Kitchen at 6 pm

(At least I clean up my messes eventually)

Cupcakes all packaged up and ready for tomorrow.

Now I'm getting up and down as the doorbell rings.

The heavy rain doesn't seem to stop the kids from coming.

I'm glad, because I love to see them in their costumes.

If you could

have listened in on our conversations last night, you would be having doubts about us.

Natalie was here making her Halloween costume, and Gary and I were simultaneously watching a movie and working on our laptops. At one point Gary asked me, "What were you talking about a couple of hours ago when you were saying something about two people?"  I told him I had no clue what he was talking about.  He persisted in saying that I had said something about something two hours ago, and what was it?  If you know Gary, you know he can be very persistent.  He wouldn't let it go, and I was getting very annoyed.  Natalie was saying, "Why does it matter?"  We just kept having more such conversations.   I asked them when Daylight savings time ended.  Gary replied that he didn't know, but was sure we would hear before it happened.   I googled the date, and 5 seconds later said, "November 7."  To which Gary said, "What about November 7?"   We obviously are not communicating.    

Natalie said that she is going to call Misty and Tiffany and break it to them, gently, that Mom and Dad are getting old and losing it (as I was typing this I had to ask Natalie what word she used -- was it slowly or gently?)  Gary said, "Tell them to come, quickly."  He is now denying that he said that.  Natalie and I know otherwise.   (If you are confused by what I have been writing, you may be losing it, too.)

PS-- Here is Natalie's funky monster costume. Very Creative!

Notes of appreciation

Gary received an unexpected letter in the mail the other day. It was from a boy (now a man) who Gary coached in pony league and then later in high school.


In the letter, he expressed appreciation to Gary for all the time and effort he invested in him when he was a young man. He wrote that he didn't know if Gary had realized it, but that his family was in quite a bit of turmoil when he was child and young man. Among other things, he expressed thanks to Gary for being a mentor and for filling a void in his life. He sent a family picture with his wife and their five children and told a little of what was going on in his life. He closed with, "And thanks again for, after having watched me walk the bases loaded, to look me in the eyes and tell me you believed in me, so get yourself out of this. It meant the world to me."


Gary was very touched by the letter and amazed that someone would take the time, after more than 30 years, to write a note of gratitude. It has caused us to reflect on the people in our lives who have had a positive influence on us. And it makes us realize how much an expression of gratitude can mean.

Theft

seems to be common topic of conversation lately.  Recently several cars in our neighborhood have been broken into and items stolen from them.  That has happened as the car sits right in their carports and garages. Yesterday, I got a message to call the "Fraud Alert" number for my credit card.  When I called back in, they asked me if I had made an Internet purchase of $1200 dollars. Obviously, that is not a usual expense for me, so they were checking to see if I made it.  I did not!  They told me the name of the site that was ordered from, and I did not recognize it at all.

I'm very grateful they called.  Many times when we are traveling out of state, Gary's credit cards won't go through after they have been used a few times.   He always has to call the card company and tell them that it is him using the card and that he authorizes the charges.  I won't mind that inconvenience any more.  Had they not called me, I probably would not have noticed the charge until I got the bill.  That would have been a shock.

I did not lose my card, so obviously someone has gotten access to the number and tried to use it.  I wonder if it was someone from a restaurant or store in St. George?  Or maybe someone got the number from another Internet site that I have ordered from.  I have no clue, but it is quite disconcerting.  Anyway, they immediately closed my account and will not charge me for it. 

I think I'll make a habit of checking my credit card charges online a little more often.   I'm also now locking my car (even in the carport) and not leaving anything valuable in it.  

Somehow when you get

together with old friends, the years fade away.

I do notice a common denominator in most of my pictures from St. George. 

Fences

I'm sure there is a deep psychological reason why

in most of them we are trying to find a way around them.

I won't try to analyze it too much, though.    

We had lots of laughs, and lots of fun,

and of course, lots of flower pins.

No time to

catch up tonight.  I've had a crazy and fun weekend in St. George with 8 of my high school friends.   I feel very blessed to have such long lasting friendships.  Today has been spent getting ready for tomorrow, which is a Relief Society activity on "Creating a Balanced Life."  I sure hope I can learn something from it!

12 years ago today

our first granddaughter, Lydia, was born.

She was beautiful then, and she's beautiful now.

She has red hair, that she got from me (really, I was born with red hair).

She is all girl.

She is always so thoughtful,

and sends us sweet notes.

She is a great companion when I'm lost.

She is funny (and can imitate a fussy manicurist perfectly).

She is a wonderful sister to her 4 brothers.

I love you Lydia!

Creative

Friends. 

I have very creative friends.  I love them as friends, but I also love stealing their ideas. I would have to say that most of my creative ideas have been stolen from friends.  Because they are friends, I hope they don't mind that I steal their ideas. 

During the last week I have gotten together with friends

and made these Halloween cards and favors. 

They are displayed on a cake pedestal that

Eileen put together from a candlestick and plate.

So, if any of my creative friends think I have unjustly stolen their ideas,

I quote from another friend (Duke).

His now infamous line from a high school "incident" was:

"I didn't do it.  But if I did, I'm sorry."

Or to quote from my very best friend and husband,

"It's easier to beg forgiveness

than to ask permission."

What are the

odds of this being just a coincidence?

About a month ago, I ran into Jean Ann, an Anderson cousin.  (At Costco, of course).  I really didn't know Jean Ann very well growing up, because we didn't live by each other or get together often. (Charlene reminded me that we did live next door to each other for a while.  I guess I was too young to remember that).  My dad and her mom were brother and sister.   I've gotten to know her better during the last 20 years through family reunions.    She and her husband are very nice people.

Anyway, as we talked I found that she has a son, Matt, that lives in Medford (which is where Tiffany lives).  The next time I talked with Tiffany, I asked her  if she recognized his name.  She said she didn't think so.  But then she asked, "Is he by chance a dentist?"  I said told her he was.  She said, in amazement, that maybe she did know his wife.  Tiffany said that several times she had seen a woman around Medford that looked like a girl that she went to middle school with.  Yet she had discounted it, thinking it couldn't be her.  Finally, after seeing her at a play area in the mall, she asked her if she was Laura.  It turned out it was the same girl.  They hadn't seen each other since middle school, but they both remembered each other. 

Anyway, she had told Tiffany that her husband was a dentist in Ashland and that both or their families lived in Orem.  They exchanged phone numbers so they could maybe get together some time.  All that had taken place shortly before I asked her if she recognized my cousin's son's name.   So then the name clicked, and she realized that Laura was married to my cousin's son (which makes them 2nd cousins). 

Tiffany gave Laura a call and told her of the family connection.  She invited them and their 3 children over for dinner and family home evening. She said they had such a nice time and the kids had fun with each other.  For the family home evening lesson, Tiffany showed the family history scrapbook she had made which has a picture of her Grandpa Anderson and his Grandmother as children.  She also told a little bit of the family history.   He didn't know much of the history, and took the book home to make copies of it.  They mentioned that their children really missed being around all their grandparents and cousins, as they all live in Utah.  Tiffany said she told their kids that they don't need to feel left out, because now they have some cousins close by, too.  

I'm not sure if this makes any sense the way I've written it, but it makes a lot of sense that this was not just a coincidence.  And, I am so grateful that Tiffany followed up with an invitation.  I feel like "coincidences" like these are guided by loving, but unseen, hands.

Nobility

I copied this quote from the fictional book, "The Timepiece."   It describes, much more beautifully than I ever could, what nobility is. 

"As a child, to visualize nobility was to conjure up visions of queens and kings adorned in the majestic, scarlet robes of royalty. As a man, softened by the tutelage of life and time, I have learned a great truth--that true nobility is usually a silent and lonely affair, unaccompanied by the trumpeted fanfare of acclaim. And more times than not, it wears rags."  David Parkin's Diary, Dec 19, 1913.   The Timepiece by Richard Paul Evans.

I see nobility in the way a friend and her husband are dealing with her cancer.  I saw true nobility as I watched another friend and her husband deal with his slow physical decline and eventual death.  I see it in people handling tragedy with faith.  I see it in those who suffer humiliation and hurt, but handle it with humility and without bitterness and revenge. 

Nobility really is something that is hard to define. 

But I love the word. 

And when you see it, you recognize it .      

You know you're getting older

when you all qualify for the Senior Citizen's Menu at IHOP. 

When a good share of your discussions are about

health issues, accidents, or surgeries.  

But on the bright side,

at least we laugh about it!

The Nature

of "Gifts."  I've been thinking about gifts a lot lately.  Not the tangible, wrap up, and tie on a bow kind of gifts.  But the gifts and talents that are within each of us. 

I believe many of those gifts came with our spirits when we were born.  Many are cultivated.  Many are a result of our experiences.   But each gift is needful and has it's place in the whole picture of life.  No one can have all the gifts, and that is the beauty of it.   Yet often times we look at others gifts and talents and use those as a measuring stick against ourselves or others.  There is no beauty in that.

What triggered my thoughts about this was a segment I saw on a TV show.   They were talking with a woman who is very accomplished in her field.  People will ask her how she does it all, and she said that she doesn't.  Her home is not a priority, but the people in her life are the priority.   She shared pictures of her home, and neatness was definitely not her priority.   

So is it priorities or is it gifts?   Do we cultivate those gifts because they are our priorities?  What is easy for one person may be very hard for another.   There are the very obvious gifts, such as musical talent, artistic talent, public speaking, etc.  But to me, the gifts that really matter are the more subtle character traits. 

The gifts of . .  truly listening. . . having a loving heart . . . being a true friend . . . resiliency. . . knowledge (and the seeking of it). . . building up others. . . strength during adversity. . . forgiveness . . .

Misty made a comment this summer as we were talking about someone and the gifts she has of truly listening, caring about others, and giving you her full attention.  She said something to the effect of, "The world will be a sadder place when she is no longer in it."    I was struck by that comment.  I'm sure I haven't said it exactly as she did (do you remember, Misty?), but the meaning was clear.   If your gifts make the world a better place, then they are priceless to those you share them with. 

My life is filled with so many good gifts shared with me by family, friends, neighbors, and even strangers.   Right now I really am crying.  Not from sadness, or chopping onions, or because Tiffany lost all her pictures and videos from the last three years when her computer crashed (that truly is a reason to cry), 

But from graditude for the many gifts

that are shared with me

by you. 

I have been

shedding a few tears this morning.

My friend, Dianne, gave me a bunch of onions.

I don't particularly like chopping onions, so I usually chop a lot all at once and then put them in freezer bags (about 1 cup servings).  It is so nice to just pull the frozen onions out and add them to whatever I'm cooking.  I also love my onion chopper.   If I just peel the onions and cut them in half, the chopper does the rest.

This is what I tackled yesterday.  I basically sat in the living room chair for a total of 6 hours and got caught up on my magazines.  I clipped out a few recipes and a few photo and journal ideas.  Hopefully I'll use them some day.

Ahh . . it feels good to check things off my list

I was talking

with Tiffany today, and she was telling me about some "frayed fabric rosettes" she is going to make.  Hmm, do I dare get started with another kind of flower?  I just googled them and they are really cute.  I do have a lot of cotton fabric . . .      

TIffany also wondered about the bags that I mentioned in a previous blog.  They are made with place mats.  I bought these red place mats at a clearance sale for less than a dollar.  You can make them with any color or pattern of place mat.  Fold the place mat in half.  Sew about 10" of  braid on the top sides of the place mat.  Make sure the handles are the same length and placed in the same position at the top.  Sew up the sides.  You have a bag!  Of course, you don't want to forget the flowers.

P.S.  I got up on the good side of the bed this morning.

There's really no

reason to be tired and grumpy and sad.  But I am.  It seems like today I've been dwelling on all the hard things happening in the world, instead of appreciating what is good.  

I'm planning on waking up on the right side of the bed tomorrow.

While the cat's away

the mouse will make messes.

That's what I've been doing the last few days.  Gary has been gone to Atlanta since Wednesday, so I've had a project going on every floor.

Family room -- sewing

Sunroom -- Flowers

Craft Room -- Paper stuff

Gary asked me if he curtails my projects that much when he's home.  The answer is "no," but when he's not here I don't feel a need to clean it up.  And, I've finished two Mu-Mu's that have been half made (don't worry, Justin, I won't give them to Tiffany), finished 9 bags with flowers on them, done lots of mending, and made Christmas flowers, just to name a few of my projects.  I've watched almost a month's worth of DVR'd "Studio 5" shows and some "Masterpiece Mysteries," that Gary doesn't care for. 

But, I'm ready to have him home.  Having a few days of being accountable to no one is kind of a novelty for a short time.   But, It makes me realize how isolated people who always live alone can feel.  It makes me realize that I should reach out more to those whose days are unbroken by the comings and goings of family or friends. 

So, right now I'm cleaning up my messes, and happy to do it.
I miss him.  

Although . . . I may leave the sewing machine up downstairs, since I still have 40 more "Studio 5" shows to catch up on and about 10 aprons in the making.



Unfinished Projects

It's been kind of a rare time for me the last few weeks.  I don't have an immediate event  to prepare for or a big project in the works, so I've been doing a lot of cleaning out and finishing projects.  Here's one I resurrected from about 12 years ago.  It has been taking "Prime Real Estate" in the craft room, so I decided to either work on it or throw it away. 

Swedish Weaving.

 

I showed Natalie how to do it, and we enjoyed doing it as we listened to General Conference on Sunday. 

I was at the fabric store the other day (just walking by the 100% Polyester fabric), when I saw the monk's cloth that Swedish weaving is done on.  It was only $2.50 a yard.  So for 12 years I've held on to fabric that would have cost me only $10.00 to replace if I decided I wanted to do it again.  Yet I've held on to it 1) because I bought it  2) because I hate not to waste it because I bought it, and 3) Someday I may want to do it and the fabric won't be available.  Hardly worth holding on to.  But old habits die hard.

  At some point you just have to say that something has "fulfilled it's purpose," and toss it.    I like that phrase.  If you no longer use something, yet you're hesitant to get rid of it because someone gave it to you or you spent a lot of money on it,  then you can say "It has fulfilled it's purpose" and I can let it go now. 

I tell myself that a lot. 

But sometimes I have selective hearing.

Lucienne is actually 18 months older than Marshall!

Which makes their similar weight even more amazng.  It was a typo when I put 8 in my previous entry.  I really do know how old my grandchildren are.

"Reinforced Behavior Patterns"

Misty took Marshall into the Doctor today because she thought he might have an ear infection.  He has been very needy and screams when she leaves the room.  The Dr. checked his ears, and everything else, and said he is perfectly healthy.  (He's 8 months old and weighs 20 pounds.)  When she asked what could be making him act this way, the Dr. said it could just be some "reinforced behavior patterns." 

When Misty told me that we both laughed.  I asked if perhaps that was just a politically correct way of saying "he's spoiled."  She agreed it was.  Which is what he deserves to be.  He's my adorable youngest grandchild.  Here he is with me and Lucienne, who is 8 months older but weighs about the same as he does, at the reunion this summer.

 I wish I were nearby all of my grandchildren

so I could help "reinforce their behavior patterns."  

"Wall Street"

is the movie we went to tonight.  I don't even try to understand the whole process of stocks and investing.  Gary watches the stock market daily and always has Jim Kramer on.  I'm familiar with some of the vocabulary (puts.calls, short sells, etc.), but I couldn't tell you what they mean.  The whole process actually makes me nervous.  Gary has really wanted to see the movie, and I actually enjoyed it more than I thought I would.  It helped that there was a lot of human interest in it.

It really made me think about what drives "humankind."  For some, they can never have enough of whatever it is they're seeking -- be it power, money, possessions, or thrill of the game.  For some it is just a game, and if they are not winning then it means someone else is.  Others need or want very little.   I think most of us, because we are human, struggle with some of the more worldly desires.  But, in the end, we know what is really important.  And what we can take with us.

After eating too many

of these yesterday

I fully intended to go to Zumba today at 4:30.

But since right now it is doing this,

I don't think I'll be venturing out.

I have doc management work anyway,

so I should stay home and do that.

I think I've convincingly talked myself out of going to Zumba.

Ammendment posted at 7 pm:  The rain stopped by 4:15 and the server was down for work, so all my excuses for not going to Zumba. were gone.   So I went after all.

Text from Tiffany

at 9:22 am.

Enjoying our sticky buns and thinking of all of u!  Miss u and enjoy conference today!

Text from Gary to TIffany:  Ours r in the oven.  Nat will miss out if she doesn't hurry over.  I just keep eating til they're all gone.  We miss u guys too.  Love u.  Dad

Picture of Sticky buns right before I put them in the oven.

I hope Misty and family are having sticky buns, too. 

Oops, if Lydia is reading this,

in Missouri they are called "Monkey Bread"

Recipe here

Butterscotch Butter Balls

Buzzer is going off.  Bye.

"What about Bob-isms."

We use these a lot in our household.  I thought of it this morning when I told Gary something and he said, "Take a vacation from your problems."  That movie, with Bill Murray, is one that we've watched over and over with our family.  In fact when Misty was in the Payson hospital in labor with Jackson, we were watching it in the room with her.  That is, until the contractions were strong enough that she wasn't up for it any more. 

No matter what the situation, there is a quote that can be used in everyday life.  If asked to do something new or difficult, it is "If the craft is seaworthy, then yes I will go sailing."    Or if you're feeling particularly proud of yourself you can say "I'm sailing."    If you say something wise, it can be "The horse sense of that man.  Mashed potatoes and Gravy."   And then of course the classic, "Baby Steps. Baby Steps. Baby Steps."  "It's the Fam," has been our motto for a couple of our family reunions. 

2005

2009

I know there are more Bob-isms that I'm not remembering right now.  What are some other ones? 

Looking at these pictures makes me feel such gratitude for my grandchildren, but it also makes me miss them even more.   I love each of them so much.  I love them just the way the are.