Let's Straighten Up The Workroom, Company's Coming

It's Friday, and it's 7:00 p.m. It's been nearly 13 hours since I woke up and got out of bed. Gloria was off to work early because Rick and Melissa weren't planning to be there today and she was responsible for administering the Advanced Placement Assessment Tests for those students who were registered to take them at the School Board Building. She wasn't looking forward to it very much at all.

I got dressed and took my medication by 6:45 and then finished getting dressed and freshening up in the bathroom. Then I started straightening things up in the sewing/computer room so that someone would have room to sleep in the bed. We went to Wal Mart last evening and purchased a new set of sheets and pillow cases for the full-size bed in there and Gloria washed and dried them so they could be put on the bed this morning. It is interesting to see how long that bed stays cleared off after someone has stayed at our house and slept in it. It's usually no longer than two or three days. It's like a large magnate that mysteriously attracts metal objects from its surroundings. Before we realize it, the bed is covered with fabric, books, papers, scissors, etc., etc. Then, when we expect company again, it's time to quickly do an emergency clean-up or clean-off drill. Oh well, why worry about it? It's just one of those things we live with in our little "cottage" in Carbon County.

I was checking out Michelle and Aaron's blog spot today and came across a picture of her and her sister-in-law in Las Vegas. While the doctors were in classes the wives were shopping for what looks like some booze in a bottle. What's up with this Michelle? That's quite the grin you have on your face. Did you enjoy it? I'll bet you did. Ha, ha. Just kidding.

"Here's to ya."

James called a little before 11:00 a.m. to tell me that he and the children were just leaving their house in Kaysville and were heading to Mel's house in American Fork to pick up some things the girls were sending to us. He said they would probably be here sometime around 1:00 p.m. At around 1:45, he called again and said they were running a little later than planned and were just leaving Mel's house and were heading for Price. I took a short nap from close to 2:00 to 2:40. By the time I got up and put my shirt on and combed my fly-away hair, it was time to medicate again. A little after 3:00, I called James on the cell phone and asked him where they were. He said they were in the front of our house waiting for the UPS driver to deliver a package to our door and then move his truck from in front of our driveway. While they were driving into the driveway and parking, I was thinking, "Who is sending Gloria a box by UPS from San Diego, CA?" I used Gloria's new Flip video camera to film the kids coming to the door and into the house to be welcomed by a loving Grandpa. And by 3:35 Gloria arrived to find and greet our anxiously awaited for guests.

As you might have imagined, Gloria began to work before she had hardly taken off her shoes and put on an apron. At 11:00 a.m. this morning, I had put the contents of two separate crock pots into their cookers sitting on the kitchen counter that she had prepared earlier this morning and placed in the fridge. They were to be used to prepare dinner for our neighbor across the street from us who's fiancee had died just this last Monday. After reading his obituary in the paper on Tuesday, Gloria spoke to her last night to offer her condolences and ask if we could bring her dinner tonight before the viewing at the funeral home. So, James and the girls were recruited to help prepare the making of a green lettuce salad with fresh strawberries (Sara), a delicious desert made from angel food cake squares, yogurt, and whipped cream with strawberry jello (I think) made by Laura, and the cutting up of chicken breasts for a pasta recipe of chicken and noodles in a creamy white sauce that was really tasty (Gloria and me). There was also some warmed green beans to go with it all. When it was all done, I filmed all five of them carrying everything across the street to the neighbor's house. After they returned, we all sat down and ate the very same menu that we had served our neighbors. And it was good to know that we had shared with someone who was probably feeling very sad and lonely today. That's what the Savior would have us do, I am sure.

James was pretty tired so he stretched out on the living room floor for a little nap. However, Gloria was too curious to let her package wait any longer. So, she opened it up to see what it was and who had sent it. James had guessed that it was from Nate and Macy. And he was right. It turned out to be a box of fresh, chocolate covered giant strawberries packed in dry ice to maintain their freshness. We each had our choice of brown or white chocolate and enjoyed every succulent morsel.

Before hitting the sack, the children watched a Disney movie on the video player (Pete's Dragon). Bradley can hardly wait to go swimming tomorrow at the swimming pool. James plans to drive to SLC to attend the Constitution Party Convention as a voting delegate.

That's about it for today. See you again tomorrow.

HAPPY TRIALS TO YOU, 'TIL WE MEET AGAIN. Love, Dad

It's Thursday, we must be in Price.

Top of the afternoon to everyone. Yes, it's Thursday. Sorry, but I missed yesterday's post. But, for some weird reason I tried justifying to myself that if I didn't get anything written for Wednesday that I could simply do it on Thursday, today. However, if I did that, it would show today's date on it rather than yesterday's date. Da! Oh well, I'll simply combine them into one, even though Blogger will only let me show today's date. So, here goes.

On Wednesday, I woke up early, around 5:15 a.m. Then, when I realized Gloria had gotten up and left the bedroom, I turned over from my right side to my left side, like I normally do, and went back to sleep. Normally, I hear Gloria using her hair dryer around 6:30; but, this time I did not. In fact, I got up around 7:00 o'clock and found the house to be as quiet as a proverbial church mouse. Gloria usually slips into our bedroom to say she is leaving to go to work and to say goodbye. Again, she didn't do so. She hasn't been feeling very well this week and it's caused her to be more than usual on edge. She's been anxious about getting some things done around the house and the yard but the persistent cold and windy weather has apparently put her in a bad mood. She's feeling the pressure of having to work all day at school and then come home and have to do so many things here at home, especially the weeding, mowing the lawn, cleaning up the yard, and getting the garden ready to plant. It has her frustrated because she's been having reoccurring headaches and back and shoulder muscle pains. Anyway, she's tired and worn out most of the time. And in addition to all the physical work she has to do, she also has to plan and prepare for her Primary class each week, along with the various and sundry projects that she is constantly working on. My goodness, it's enough to make me wonder how she is going to be able to keep up with it all. When will the madness stop?

I may have mentioned to some of you that I purchased a new lawn mower for the yard. I decided that since Gloria does whatever mowing there is to do that it should be as easy and labor saving as possible. So, we invested in a mower that is a rear-wheel, self-propelled model with a key ignition system. The instruction manual directed us to charge the ignition battery for at least 24 hours before the initial use. So, we extended an electrical extension chord out the back door on Tuesday evening around 5:00 o'clock and left it plugged in until yesterday, Wednesday, at about the same time. Gloria had driven to the gas station and bought a gallon of gas. She filled the engine with oil and gas, held the control lever down with her left hand, inserted the starter key into the ignition switch with her right hand, and gave it a twist. Brrruuuumm! It started like a jewel. We both momentarily stared at each other with a pleasant smile and somewhat surprised look on our faces. Then, I told Gloria to grasp the red accelerator handle and pull it toward her. She did so, and immediately the growling machine leaped forward with a jerk and started forward. It reminded me somewhat of a small woman walking a giant dog on a leash when the animal sees a cat or another animal and immediately lunges toward it at a swift pace, nearly pulling its owner off her feet and battling to try and keep up with the runaway dog.

When Gloria was finished mowing the lawn we sat down and ate left overs from two days back. In fact, we actually had meat loaf from last Sunday, beets from Monday, I think, and mashed potatoes from who knows when. I warmed them up while Gloria was changing from her work clothes to her house coat. After dinner, it was sewing time for the Mrs. and a little bit of TV time for Grandpa. I had over 30 segments of the Glenn Beck show recorded on our DVR plus some old NBA games and a couple of movies. I ended up erasing everything but one movie. It is called "War" and it was filmed back in 1994 I think. It starred Kevin Costner and is rated PG-13. I watched it until about 9:15 and then I decided to stop it and go to bed. I was going to finish it today, but it doesn't look like I'll get to it before I have to go to bed again. Oh well, maybe manaña, okay?

This morning I got out of bed around 6:00 a.m. I wanted to make sure Gloria didn't sneak out on me again. But, then I realized that I had an appointment to have my teeth checked and cleaned at 10:30. I got dressed and drove Gloria to work around 7:00 then I returned home and fiddled around on the computer checking emails and looking at the KSL-TV news website. I took a shower at 9:15 and was at the dentist's office by 10:25. The hygienist took me right in and began taking x-rays of my teeth. She was using a new digital scanner that was hooked up to her PC next to the chair I was sitting in and I could see the x-ray instantaneously on the computer screen. It was pretty cool. She then cleaned my teeth and the dentist, Dr. Stilson, came in. He looked at the x-rays and informed me that he could see a cavity in one of my teeth on the upper-right side of my mouth, the second tooth from the back. He said he would need to remove the filling already in the tooth to determine whether he can remove the cavity and make another filling or else put a cap on the whole tooth. A new filling will cost $168. A cap on the tooth will cost $700. With our dental insurance plan, the filling would cost us about $80 and the cap would cost us $350. I hope we have enough money in our flexible spending account to cover most, if not all, of it.

After the good news from the dentist, we made an appointment for me to go back for the dental work next Wednesday and 1:00 o'clock in the afternoon. Then I came home and ate some lunch. I got involved in some work online again until Gloria called around 3:10. I drove over to pick her up at the high school and we drove to the DMV (Dept. of Motor Vehicles) and paid for the renewal of our car registration. Then we drove to the Dollar Store to pick up some things Gloria needed. And finally we went to Wal Mart to do some grocery shopping. We cleaned up and reorganized the second bedroom so James' girls will have a place to sleep when they come to visit us tomorrow, Friday the 8th. Stephanie will be in the Buffalo, NY area doing a seminar so the rest of the family will spend the weekend with us. We hope they don't get too bored.



Well it's almost 9:00 o'clock and it's to sign off. So ......

HAPPY TRAILS TO YOU, 'TIL WE MEET AGAIN. Love, Grandpa

Greatest Bowl Comeback Ever? 1980 Holiday Bowl: BYU vs. SMU

I was thumbing through YouTube today and decided to Search for "BYU", and I came up with this so I decided to share it with all of you great BYU fans. It brings back old, cherished memories of the our first fall and winter here in Price. I was invited to watch the game at our neighbor's house because we couldn't pick it up on TV. When the score was so lopsided towards the end of the game, I sensed that they wanted to just turn it off and go to bed. But not me! No sir, I'm no sunshine patriot! I stick with the Cougars through think and thin. When it turned out the way it did, they thanked me over and over for sticking with the Blue and White and the outcome was glorious. It was fantastic! Once you start the video, right click on the viewing screen and the picture will get larger. Then when you finish, click the close cross at the top right to come to this blog.

I'm thinkin' Arby's!

I'm starting a little early today. It's 1:48 p.m. I went out and retrieved the mail awhile ago and it was mostly just the weekly marketing advertisements. But, as I looked at one particular one, I kept thinking the phrase, "I'm thinkin' ARBY'S." At that particular moment in time, I wouldn't have minded having one to eat and then wash down with a cold root beer on ice. But then I thought again and decided that I really didn't need the carbs and the accompanying carbonation from the drink, so I immediately erased the whole idea from my mind and focused my attention on a portable water purifier being advertised in the monthly catalog from Emergency Essentials.

Well, that's enough about food for now. I'll sign off for now and continue again a little later in the day.

Happy Trails. Dad

Monday, Monday.

It's 5:12 p.m. I had to transplant some squash plants into larger containers this morning. I hope they don't die from the shock. I wish it was warm enough to plant them in the garden spot, but with the unseasonably cold winds we have had I'm afraid of frost. So, we're going to wait a little longer to plant them and the tomatoes we also started from seed. I bought three of those hanging containers to grow some tomatoes up-side down to see how they do. But I first have to install some hooks on the eves of the house that will be strong enough to hold them.

James and his children a planning to come to Price this weekend. Stephanie will be going to New York State to do another seminar for the school she's working with. It's Mother's Day on Sunday. I hope it isn't too cold to enjoy it. It will be good seeing the children again; and we'll also welcome James, of course.

Gloria went to the dentist this afternoon at 2:00 o'clock for her six-month checkup that has turned into an eight-month one instead. Everything seems to be okay. It will be my turn on Thursday at 10:30 in the morning.

The weather was nice today. Not too windy, I mean. Gloria got the new lawn mower out of the storage shed to plug in the battery charger so she can use it tomorrow. The battery has to be charged for at least 24 hours before the first mowing and then again after each mowing. It will be nice for her to not have to struggle trying to tug the starter rope. Plus, it is self-propelled so she won't have to work so hard pushing it around the yard, especially in the back. We've been using the sprinklers for over a week now. So, we're ready to have spring get here for certain soon.

We called Mary and Tyler last night before we went to bed. Tyler and the children had just arrived home from their trip to Idaho to attend Jerome's baby's blessing. He said that he was glad that he had gone. Jerome (sp) told him how much he appreciated having him there. They were both a little teary eyed. Anyway, we sang to them to wish them a happy anniversary. Then Gloria went to bed and I stayed up until about 11:00 o'clock before I finally followed her.

That's about all for today.

"Happy trails to you, until we meet again." Love, Dad