Pheromones....

What do all these pictures have in common?

Probably my friend, Valene.

A few years ago, there were many commercials that featured a cologne from France that was full of Pheromone Concentrate.....a natural substance that the body secretes to attract the opposite sex. I guess our bodies must put out many scents that we can't detect but animals can.....

At our "French" lunch at Janet's on Thursday, we were rolling hearing Valene's latest "animal" episode. Animals attack Valene. I thought it was an isolated incidence when several years ago, we went bird watching at the marshes at the Great Salt Lake....and the terns started dive bombing Valene's head! I have shared it several times here but not one bird came after me (of course I was a moving target, rolling around on the ground laughing....)...but they kept kamikazing her. Well, apparently this isn't an isolated story.... animals are naturally drawn to her and in a not-so-nice way. Recently she and her husband were enjoying the gardens at Temple Square. An older couple walked by with their dog on a leash. Valene said they walked by....then the dog stopped, looked back, did a double take at Valene then starting growling, snapping and barking- trying to pull away from his leash. Going nuts. The older couple was horrified since "their dog NEVER acted that way before."

What can I say......Valene is one of the most delightful people I know. Go figure!

"No animal should ever jump up on the dining room furniture unless absolutely certain that he can hold his own in the conversation." -- Fran Lebowitz

What's Cooking for Sunday Dinner

When we were at lunch with my friends at Voila's house, everyone made a big deal out of how pretty the BBQ salad looked and we started talking about what "gourmet" was at everyone's home. Karlin said about as gourmet as they get at their home is Cheeze-It Chicken. It's her family's favorite. I was intrigued. How could I, who have attempted everything and raised a big family and been a starving student and read cookbooks like novels.....ever miss hearing about this dish? I guess it may be a little like Ritz Chicken.....but nevertheless, I'm making it today. It sounds totally lo-cal, low fat, doesn't it!











CHEEZE-IT CHICKEN




4 to 6 chicken breast halves (boned)


1 sm. box Cheeze-Its (for crumbs)


1 (8 oz.) carton sour cream


Salt and pepper


1 cube melted butter






Skin chicken breasts if desired. Dip first in sour cream and then into Cheeze- Its which have been processed into crumbs. Place in a baking dish and dribble with the melted butter. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes covered and 15 minutes uncovered.











BFF Cathy, remember to torch my laundry room when I have a heart attack after eating this!

Remembering France

It was so fun being with my "traveling to France friends" on Thursday. Of course, I'm with Valene all the time, see Karlin at Bucket Group and occasionally see Mary since she lives across the street from Valene. We had such a magical, funny time and ate ourselves to oblivion and back in France and it was fun this week to reminisce. These 5 posts are the essence of our trip. It shares all the excitement of Mary being surprised in the men's bathroom at the subway station, the beautiful man who found himself sitting next to a spikie-haired nutcase from America on the plane, the French countryside, eating, eating and more eating. If you are totally bored and have nothing else to do (i.e. almost comatose, waiting for a repairman who said he would be there 2 hours ago....) these are the links to re-live Paris with me.

http://constantgrowingamazement.blogspot.com/2007/11/oui-oui.html

http://constantgrowingamazement.blogspot.com/2007/11/paris-subways-and-van-gogh.html

http://constantgrowingamazement.blogspot.com/2007/11/marche.html

http://constantgrowingamazement.blogspot.com/2007/12/eiffel-tower-and-more-pasteries.html

http://constantgrowingamazement.blogspot.com/2007/12/au-revoir.html

Today

1- I remembered something else funny that happened at the surgical center the other day. As I was introduced to my "curtained" room and given my "gown"- the nurse said, "You need to strip your bottoms but you can leave your blouse on since it has short sleeves and it's so cute."




Really? I asked her, "If it were an ugly shirt, I'd have to take it off." We laughed. I think she got so dang excited about my cute shirt, she was just rambling!





2- I got an email from Maniac Rose yesterday, exclaiming that this little girl, who had been kidnapped "while we were in Tahoe" had been found. She said "Remember how they came to the door looking for her?" Of course I didn't. Well, maybe vaguely. I can't remember my name some days. Maniac Rose has a cabin/house in Tahoe and we used to regularly take girlie trips there. Biking to Fallen Leaf Lake, big fires in the BBQ on the deck where we'd wrap up in blankets and talk all night. Movies and great food, great friends. But what a hard, hard thing for all those involved in this situation. It sounds like the kidnapper started behaving similar to Brian David Mitchell, the kidnapper involved with the Elizabeth Smart case.












3- Yesterday was so awesome. My Ohh-La-La friends and I got to go to Voila!'s home in the Avenues for lunch. It was the first time we've all been together since France. Janet's (Volia!'s) home is so beautiful. They live in a historic area and basically had to level the home to the ground because of damage but rebuilt it with beauty and integrity to the neighborhood. The house has these fabulous wooden shingles on it. Janet told us that they hand painted every single shingle. They set up shop in the garage.... their kids, the neighbors and neighborhood kids would all come when they could and help dip the shingles in vats of stain, then hand brush them, then hang them on a makeshift clothesline to dry, then varnish. (Janet, of course I didn't get the order or system right but they get the idea...it was ALOT of work!)






Their home was so beautiful and filled with art and things from France. Below was a cute idea in the girls' rooms. They had a tree in the yard that fell so they took branches from the trees and attached them to their walls. The branches are decorated for the seasons! I love it!

Valene and I made the BBQ chicken salad, then we stopped at Bakers of Normandy for French desserts. We had such a good time laughing about our trip.

Sigh. We're all ready to go back again!

4- gotta run. Art in a few minutes. Love Friday mornings with painting. Although it is August, it is behaving like fall. Cool mornings, hot days. I just want it to last and last. The good and bad of it.

Do what we can, summer will have its flies. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Dave Barry Tells It Like It Is

I survived. Thanks for all the encouragement. It was good to know others had gone before me and lived to tell! Just one of those fun things to look forward to in life. Actually, it wasn't as bad as I thought. You know what a wild imagination I have so I really had it up there with having all your teeth chiseled out (haven't had that done, of course) or being eaten alive by jackals (Lion King) (I don't think that has happened either...)



For anyone thinking they need some entertainment soon and schedule the "c" word- I insisted on taking the pills (32 horse pills) with 64 oz. of water- and 12 oz. of ginger ale...rather than mixing the "drink." In a 2 hour period. The drinking is the worst part of the procedure but you gotta do it. Then many people told me how loopy they were after and said weird things. I WAS worried about that because I say weird things normally so I was worried I would take weird to a new level. Not so. I was given the drug that Michael Jackson actually died from (propofol)- not the one that makes you loopy afterwards. No after effects at all. And I'm still here.



A couple of funny things happened though. First of all, the gal checking me in kept asking questions to put in the file. She got to one "Do you have a living will?" and I stuttered around. We have a will, but I couldn't remember if we had done a living will or not and neither could David. She insisted on a yes or no...then she read the next statement (from her list) that said "living wills are not honored at the surgical center."





David and I sat there. Finally he said. "Well, why do you need to ask the question then?" She had no idea.....





They make a big deal of telling you of your patient right of privacy. (HIPPA) Then they take you into a room full of rooms only sectioned off with curtains where you wait for an hour or more, in your bed listening to the conversations and preps for all the other patients. I didn't need to know ANY of that stuff. So much for privacy!





I should have suspected something when my doctor, whom I have never met before, came in. He was nice enough, a man from India....but when he gave me his card....and I saw his email address was "gutwhisperer.com" I worried this was a nut case.....





So, my insides are a wreck. No big surprises although I thought it was limited to my stomach. My esophagus is lined with ulcerated sores as well. Stomach inflamed. Life is too much with me..... but I'll live.

Dave Barry is one of my favorite humorists and of course, he dealt with this topic. If you'd like more, in-depth information, just click here- honestly, it is hysterical. If the "c" word can be hysterical.....

http://www.scribd.com/doc/4895047/My-Colonoscopy-by-Dave-Barry

I'm glad I got this crossed off my Bucket List. I'm glad I don't need my bucket anymore. I'm a survivor. A new member of the "been there, done that" club. One of those things you are glad is in your past, not your future (sorry all you youngins!)







The end.







(get it? That was a pun...)

Fearful

It is a word that strikes fear in the heart and minds of all those closer to 100 than one.



Colonoscopy.



I'm in the worst part.



Today I've been allowed to have:

clear liquids which equates to 3 Popsicles
1/2 cup of pop


I'm in the middle of taking 32 pills and drinking 64 oz. of water.


It's fearful, I'm telling you.



Fearful.

The Beach

Saturday was the birthday party at the Herriman beach. I don't know if it really has another name but it is a new holding pond/swimming pond out in the nowhere with a wonderful beach and not a tree in sight. One of those man-made things but since the weather was 100 plus, it was a good place to be since there was a breeze. We were there for my son-in-law's birthday but he was too sick to come! The new medication he is taking really lowers his immunity and so when Addi had a little cold, Ryan got a HUGE cold and sinus infection and bad ears and migraine, etc. Not fun. He's still not over it. It makes me sad that his body is just so dang sick! But we tried to have fun without him. He really is my favorite son-in-law......

MUSCLE BOYS!

SAND CRAB

JOHN LAMBERT AND HIS GIRLS CAME. WE LOVE THEIR FAMILY (AND MISSED YOU, KIM!) HERE THEY ARE, KAYAKING IN THE LAKE.



ANNEE AND GRACIE

HALLEE BABE

HERES ADDI PLAYING IN THE SAND. SHE'S SUCH A SMARTIE. SHE JUST STARTED PRE-SCHOOL AND CAME HOME A LITTLE INDIGNANT. HER TEACHER HAD EACH CHILD'S NAME PRINTED TO TRACE. ADDI COMPLAINED LOUDLY TO HER MOM LATER- "I DON'T WANT A "S-O-N" ON THE END OF MY NAME! MY NAME IS A-D-D-I ."

SHE'S 3 WITH AN ATTITUDE!

BRANDI'S GOOD FRIEND LIZZIE CAME WITH HER FAMILY. THEY HAD A BATCH OF PUPS TO SELL AND ALL THE GIRLS LOVED PACKING THEM UP AND DOWN THE BEACH. I DON'T DARE EVEN SAY THE NAME BUT THEY ARE DOGS THAT DON'T SHED AND ARE NON-ALLERGENIC. THEY WERE ADORABLE.


LIZZIE'S LITTLE BOY FELL ASLEEP IN THIS POSITION, STANDING OVER A BEACH CHAIR. HE SLEPT THAT WAY FOR HOURS!

BRANDI, THANKS FOR PLANNING A FUN DAY FOR OUR FAMILY. WE LOVE YOU ALL!!!

“I honestly think the beach is the only place children actually entertain themselves.” --Donna McLavy

(p.s. I made the Grapes and Orange Tortellini Salad. I hadn't made it for awhile. There is a search on the upper left of my blog ....just type in A Yummy Salad and it will pull up the post and the recipe.)

CS Lewis on "Where is God?"

Last week, during my lesson on Adversity, I read this marvelous (though sad) quote from CS Lewis. I think there is always some times in the middle of the storm, when you feel like a door has been slammed. The commentary is by Jeffrey Holland:



One marvelously gifted man, a convert to Christianity, slowly watched his wife dying of cancer. As he observed her slipping away from him with all that she had meant and had given him, his newfound faith about which he had written so much and with which he had strengthened so many others now began to waver. In times of such grief, C. S. Lewis wrote, one runs the risk of asking:

"Where is God? . . . When you are happy. . . [you] turn to Him with gratitude and praise, [and] you will be. . . welcomed with open arms. But go to Him when your need is desperate, when all other help is vain, and what do you find? A door slammed in your face, and a sound of bolting and double bolting on the inside. After that, silence. You [might] as well turn away. The longer you wait, the more emphatic the silence will become. There are no lights in the windows. It might be an empty house. . . . [Yet he was once there.] What can this mean? Why is [God] so present a commander in our time of prosperity and so very absent a help in time of trouble?" [C. S. Lewis, A Grief Observed (New York: Seabury Press, Inc., 1961), pp. 4-5]

Those feelings of abandonment, written in the midst of a terrible grief, slowly passed, and the comfort of Lewis' faith returned, stronger and purer for the test. But note what self-revelation this bitter cup, this bloody baptism, had for him. In an obligation of quite a different kind, he, too, now realized that enlisting for the duration of the war is not a trivial matter, and in the heat of battle he hadn't been so heroic as he had encouraged millions of his readers to be.

"You never know how much you really believe anything," he confesses, until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you. It is easy to say you believe a rope to be strong and sound as long as you are merely using it to [tie] a box. But suppose you had to hang by that rope over a precipice. Wouldn't you then first discover how much you really trusted it? . . . Only a real risk tests the reality of a belief. [Lewis, p. 25] . . . Your [view of] . . . eternal life. . . will not be [very] serious if nothing much [is at] stake. . . . A man. . . has to be knocked silly before he comes to his senses. [p. 43] . . . I had been warned--[indeed,] I had warned myself. . . . [I knew] we were. . . promised sufferings. . . . [That was] part of the program. We were even told, "Blessed are they that mourn," and I accepted it. I've got nothing that I hadn't [agreed to]. . . . [So] if my house. . . collapsed at one blow, that is because it was a house of cards. The faith which "took these things into account" was not [an adequate] faith. . . . If I had really cared, as I thought I did [care], about the sorrows of [others in this] world, [then] I should not have been so overwhelmed when my own sorrow came. . . . I thought I trusted the rope until it mattered. . . . [And when it indeed mattered, I found that it wasn't strong enough.]

. . . You will never discover how serious it [is] until the stakes are raised horribly high; [and God has a way of raising the stakes] . . . [sometimes] only suffering [can] do [that]. [pp. 41-43] [So God is, then, something like a divine physician.] A cruel man might be bribed--might grow tired of his vile sport--might have a temporary fit of mercy, as alcoholics have [temporary] fits of sobriety. But suppose that what you are up against is a [wonderfully skilled] surgeon whose intentions are [solely and absolutely] good. [Then], the kinder and more conscientious he is, [the more he cares about you,] the more inexorably he will go on cutting [in spite of the suffering it may cause. And] if he yielded to your entreaties, if he stopped before the operation was complete, all the pain up to that point would have been useless. . . . [pp. 49-50]
[So I am, you see, one] of God's patients, not yet cured. I know there are not only tears [yet] to be dried but stains [yet] to be scoured. [My] sword will be made even brighter. [p. 49]

Beach Time

Last week Brandi showed me the new beach at Daybreak. We just stopped and played for a minute but it was instant love. Today the whole fam. is actually going to the beach in Herriman for Ryan C.'s birthday. I can't wait!

And the Winner is.....

Ann from Kearny! Ann from Kearny! Ann from Kearny! Ann from Kearny! Ann from Kearny! Ann from Kearny! Ann from Kearny! Ann from Kearny!Ann from Kearny! Ann from Kearny! Ann from Kearny! Ann from Kearny! Congrats!

Girl Therapy

Girlie Trip to Midway-Jan's beautiful home- dinner at Fanny's at the Homestead, then forever in the hot tub pools- posing for beach pictures- eating strawberries dipped in melted Symphony bars (my new favorite dessert)- hysterical that two people brought Dunford chocolate donuts-beautiful big comfy beds -hiking and climbing over fences, Rochelle's yoga, the gazebo, girl talk/life is a challenge talk, laughing and talking around the table, in chairs on the porch, the dead fly bag (!), the wetlands, the hawk, yogurt parfaits with tons of fresh fruit, lunch at the Blue Boar Inn







Ah, revived!

Our faces were unrecognizable: cherry red gums, cavernous wrinkles trailing from our eyes, overworked nostrils stuck in a permanent flare. We had finally laughed ourselves to death.

Movie Message Contest

Monday I watched Annee for the day. I have her Mondays until school starts. We played a zillion games of Aggravation, ran errands, swam and watched the movie Happy Feet. I had never seen it before but it had me laughing in several scenes.







Leopard Seal: Come here, sausage. I take you with ketchup!


Ramón: Yeah, but first you gotta catch up!





(April, I know you'll love that line!)











The writing in animated movies is really so cleaver....it frustrates me that I can't always hear or understand all the funny stuff or innuendo. (Not because I'm closer to 100 than 1 but because so much is going on at once.) I need to read a script so I can not miss a thing. So many of the films have great underlying messages. Lots of things little kids couldn't possibly understand make adults laugh.





After watching it, I tried to think of my very favorite animated movie. I don't think I could pick one but Toy Story and Toy Story 2 for entertainment, are hard to beat.





[Mr. Potato Head watches hopefully as Andy open birthday presents]


Mr. Potato Head: Mrs. Potato Head, Mrs. Potato Head, Mrs. Potato Head... hey, I can dream, can't I?








I love all the fairy tales ( Enchanted being one of my all time favorites)....





and I love and I love and I love them all. Except for Bolt! (I love Bolt. I just don't like not being a super dog anymore....)








So, since I am up at Midway today, having a ball, eating at the Boar's Inn and some other wonderful place, laughing with girlie friends, taking a gazillion pictures, etc. - how about a little contest?

Share with me:

1. Your all time favorite animated film

2. Your favorite princess

And if you can, share with me a favorite line from one of your favorite animated movies. (We'll do other kinds of movies another time.) (you can just google "Shrek quotes" etc. if you can't remember.) Something to make me laugh or think or just remember. Anyone can enter. I'll draw the winner on Friday morning at 9:00 MST. If you don't have a blog account and don't know how to comment, just email me at mdwillpoet@msn.com and I can post it.

Foodies

The girls (my daughter and my DIL's) have been saying it is time to get going on making salsa. Tis' the season. I'm going to try a trick this year. Since I grow just enough tomatoes for eating, I have to buy tomatoes for canning. Last year, while picking fruit at Grouchy Lady's house, she told me that she has switched to using canned tomatoes for her salsa and chili sauce! She buys #10 cans of tomatoes at Costco, then just substitutes them for her fresh tomatoes and Voila! How much easier could that get? (I know I have shared this before, but you know how I love to repeat....) I questioned the difference between the taste and she said she can't tell a difference. So Tenillie and I are going to try this, hopefully this week. We'll have a little taste test and see if we can tell the difference.

I'm also analyzing my garden issues for next year. Valene and I looked everywhere for asparagus plants to no avail. I want to order some so I have them for sure. I grew up so wanting to like the taste of asparagus but didn't acquire a taste until I was an adult. One of my favorite, favorite childhood memories was going to Idaho to visit my grandma and grandpa and favorite cousins....and my cousins and I and brother would hunt asparagus all along the canal banks. Really, it was just magical. But then Grandma would cook it up in a big pot and I would.....gag.

But I love it now.

Did you know that asparagus is a member of the lily family and is related to onions and garlic. In hot weather, (about 90 degrees) asparagus can grow 7 inches in one day! I knew you were dying for that information.....

I also need to order some more grapes. I planted two pergolas worth of grapes in my yard 2 years ago. They were climbing beautifully....until this past week (when EVERYTHING fell apart in the yard).....one beautiful climber totally died with grapes on the vine. Now my symmetrical pergolas are out of wack. Despair.

(I think I will live...the grapes are really just for show. I have more grapes than I know what to do with elsewhere in the yard.)

This is so Twilight Zonish....but as I was typing this, Grouchy Lady just CALLED me on the phone and said she has gazillions of blackberries and did I want to come and pick them? I'm out the door. I'm heading today to Midway, our little Utah Swiss village, where one of my art friends has a beautiful new second home I can't WAIT to see! I'll take a lot of pictures. A group of us are going up, staying overnight, eating at fun places and chattering non-stop, I'm sure. It's called "girlfriend therapy."

Adversity

Even the mere word makes me tremble. Today adversity is the topic that I'm teaching in Sunday School. I've read and read and read and thought and thought and thought and reflected on it all. There are many things that I can't share here (because of space) but I thought I would share a few quotations I am handing out on the subject. In addition, I have printed 5 pages of scriptures dealing with the subject. We can't/shouldn't think of adversity (unless it has been by our own willful choices) as punishment, but rather a natural and NECESSARY part of life. We could not know happiness without knowing sorrow. One of my very favorite quotations is that "Adversity creates two kinds of people- victims and victors." We choose.

I have found that it is much easier to speak of adversity in the past tense rather than the middle of the storm. As with hurricanes and tornados and other calamities, it is difficult to do your preparation at the moment of impact. Scripture tells us that if we are prepared, we shall not fear. Each of us need that personal fortification to survive the storms that come in life. Having a strong relationship with the Savior for me is a must. I am truly weak. I flail often. I get overcome by fear easily and overwhelmed. I'm so grateful I know when I'm empty, when I'm strong. I seek for strong......

Like the mortal life of which they are a part, adversities are temporary. What is permanent is what we become by the way we react to them. Dallin H. Oaks

"It is not on the pinnacle of success and ease where men and women grow most. It is often down in the valley of heartache and disappointment and reverses where men and women grow into strong characters" (in Conference Report, Stockholm Sweden Area Conference, 1974, 70).

"Every reversal can be turned to our benefit and blessing and can make us stronger, more courageous, more godlike" Ezra Taft Benson

Elaine Cannon reminds us of an important way these blessings come and how we can make the most of them. "When we are pushed, stung, defeated, embarrassed, hurt, rejected, tormented, forgotten—when we are in agony of spirit crying out ‘why me?’ we are in a position to learn something"

It is the words the Lord spoke to the children of Israel through the prophet Isaiah: "Behold, I have refined thee, … I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction" Isa. 48:10; see also 1 Ne. 20:10).

Lord Byron said, "Adversity is the first path to truth"

Adversity is the refiner’s fire that bends iron but tempers steel. Pres. Faust

President David O. McKay said: "There are those who have met disaster, which almost seems defeat, who have become somewhat soured in their natures; but if they stop to think, even the adversity which has come to them may prove a means of spiritual uplift. Adversity itself may lead toward and not away from God and spiritual enlightenment; and privation may prove a source of strength if we can but keep the sweetness of mind and spirit" (Treasures of Life[1962], 107–8).

Let us not presume that because the way is at times difficult and challenging, our Heavenly Father is not mindful of us. He is rubbing off our rough edges and sensitizing us for our great responsibilities ahead. James E. Faust

"There is an answer to the passionate longings of the heart for fullness, and I knew it, and the answer is this: Live in all things outside yourself by love, and you will have joy. That is the life of God; it ought to be our life. In him it is accomplished and perfect; but in all created things it is a lesson learned slowly and through difficulty." Robert Browning

Disasters and tribulation are not always for the punishment of the wicked, but often for the sanctification of the righteous. Glen Pace

The Lord is more interested in our growth than our comfort.

We are not to pretend that chastising is fun. But afterwards we gain the peace and joy of well-done.

Adversity is part of the plan. It is our education in this world.

Trust in the Lord. Life is like a roller coaster- around with ups and downs. If our constant response is trust in Heavenly Father we shall be supported.

"Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point." C. S. Lewis

"No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear." C. S. Lewis

"Some people feel guilty about their anxieties and regard them as a defect of faith but they are afflictions, not sins. Like all afflictions, they are, if we can so take them, our share in the passion of Christ." CS Lewis

"We are what we believe we are. What saves a man is to take a step. Then another step." C.S. Lewis

We have no right to ask when sorrow comes, "Why did this happen to me?" unless we ask the same question for every moment of happiness that comes our way. ~Author Unknown

A bend in the road is not the end of the road... unless you fail to make the turn. ~Author Unknown

The robbed that smiles, steals something from the thief. ~William Shakespeare, Othello

I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much. ~Mother Teresa

I ask not for a lighter burden, but for broader shoulders. ~Jewish Proverb


When it is dark enough, you can see the stars. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors. ~African Proverb

Adversity introduces a man to himself. ~Author Unknown

God brings men into deep waters, not to drown them, but to cleanse them. ~John Aughey

Mirrors

Since I've had the computer down for a couple of days (cut phone lines....) and I need to hustle out and work in the war zone (demolished backyard) I'll quickly share something I've wanted to journal.

I never mentioned what happened when I went to my art "lunch" when the cover for the poetry journal would be decided. It was a busy day since company was arriving that afternoon ...but I ran to the restaurant....not knowing who I was looking for....and waited and waited and waited. I had already been sick-to-my-stomach nervous....you know that. It was frustrating since I didn't have her number (she doesn't have a cell) and the two other people that she told me she had invited I couldn't reach by phone. I waited for about 40 minutes then came home. I tried the gal's home several times and when I finally reached her, she said that she thought it had been scheduled for another day. The "another" day wouldn't have been a day I would have/could have chosen but, oh well. My schedule's nuts so we decided that the following Wednesday, we would meet at the restaurant again...but I told her I couldn't have lunch since I was meeting my poetry friends in Kaysville that day. Carolyn C. and I were driving to meet our 3rd friend for lunch and writing (we do this every 3 months if this is confusing.) So, I picked up Carolyn and headed to the restaurant, still looking for someone I did not know. Again, no show. I'm ticked this time. I don't get it. And part of my being ticked is that I'm worried that I'm losing it. I know I could have messed up the meeting date the first time but surely not twice? Luckily Carolyn was with me so I didn't scream and wail and gnash my teeth. I waited until I got home to do that... We drove on to Kaysville where we had a great afternoon. I have mentioned these writing friends. We took a writing workshop together about 30 years ago. Carolyn actually lived in my Ward when we bought our first home. She suggested we take this workshop together....and I knew Linda from BYU and invited her so we all wrote together for about 3 or 4 years. The workshop ended but we continued to get together once a month, with a writing assignment and lunch. Eventually the group dissolved to just lunch (Carolyn is a professional writer so naturally she continued...) and then because of moves, we quit for a few years. Our assignment this time was "body images." Linda loves science fiction and actually wrote TWO (over-achiever!) excellent short stories about mirrors that do bio-feedback positive images. (who THINKS of that???) Carolyn wrote an article about being frustrated with curly hair her entire life....until she about loses it. She always has articles coming out in various publications...one at Halloween about people who actually think they've been abducted by aliens. She meets the most "interesting" people!




And me? I'm the slacker. I didn't have a minute to concentrate in the past 3 months to write a poem. So I shared an older one. I can't remember if I have shared it here (since I can't keep appointments straight either...although, I might add, that when I reached the gal....she confessed she totally blew it....) (maybe I'm NOT losing my mind!) (and I realized that this gal has health issues so I need to cut her some slack....like I've never forgotten anything before.....)


My kids constantly say I sound JUST like my mother. Well, I don't just sound like her.....



AFTER ALL THIS TIME


Before I wore glasses,
before the Big E on the
chart had fingers pointing
to a horizon away from her,
before first steps walked
from her hands
to the outstretched arms
of another,
she was the barre of my plié
a constant on which to focus
so expanding boundaries
kept balance.



Before I was educated
in the rudiments of world,
she was life’s vocabulary,
the vowels and consonants
rearranged in recognizable
patterns of our day.
She was the connecting verb
between my father and I-
my brother,
a dangling participle.
That was before I was
educated, before I could
read between the lines
of her face.



In the beginning, she was
the creator of worlds-
goddess of ocean belly,
giver of earth’s nourishment,
reflector of first light.
She was the cornerstone
that cradled my edges.
I knew her face before my own,
trace it now before the mirror,
recognize evolution,
the cycle of life.



I outline the lips
from which her words fall.
The veins of my hand pulse
with the blood of her heart.
I trace pattern upon familiar
pattern.
After all this time,
I have come back home
and she is born again.



Marilyn Darley Williams

Heartbroken

You work and you work and you work to create a welcoming, beautiful backyard. Then you have diggers come in (husband included)..... and not just dig a hole that you can hide a car in (new drain field for the septic....)....but they also take out a giant tree (the picture below just shows half of what was left before taking out the entire thing)......and dump dirt EVERYWHERE and branches and cut the phone lines (they were marked entirely somewhere else.) Good thing the weddings were earlier but I'm still having a little mourning party here today. I don't even know what to do with this.....

Dairy Queen

Need an excuse to buy a treat?

DQ Treat Day August 13 Buy a blizzard and help a child at Primary Children's .

I scream, you scream, we all scream for Ice Cream at Dairy Queen!!! (more specific a blizzard)

Every Blizzard sold tomorrow Aug. 13- DQ will donate at least $1 to help a child in need at Primary Children's Medical Center.

This is a great time to treat yourself and help a child. Talk about a win win situation!!! It's a great time to buy a treat in the summer heat. Why not treat your whole family maybe even a few neighborhood children? You'll be everyone's favorite.

Please pass this on to as many people as you can. Imagine all the good we can do to help a child in need at Primary Children's Medical Center if we all buy a Blizzard and if all your friends buy a blizzard today.

A Fish and a Coin

On Tuesday, the crazy anniversary day-I DID just drop everything and made it to the Jesus the Christ class. It is my lift of the week and certainly what I needed that day. I love to study in this setting and have the thoughts and conversations mull around in my head all week. My dad has a rock polisher and it takes months and months for rocks to finally get polished and I feel like that is the way it is with me.....these wonderful thoughts just keep going around and around about a particular verse of scripture or parable that I hadn't thought about before. In class, we talked about the difference between belief and faith, the parables of the lost sheep, the unmerciful servant/debtors and a few more. I think the parable of the unmerciful servant is probably the essence of the atonement.
As we extend mercy or forgiveness to another, it will be extended to us. Forgive us our debts, AS we forgive our debtors. For if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. I have to keep these thoughts circulating in my mind continually. Last night I had frustrated thoughts with someone and I just battled and battled in my mind. There is such a burden when you are angry at another. I could hardly breathe. But this little nugget of realizing the many things I do to annoy, offend or frustrate others can be made right only if I allow the same forgiveness in others. It is a hard discipline.....



One incident that I failed to really grasp the signifigance of was when Peter was asked if Christ would pay the "atoning tribute." This was a tribute the Jews thought of (not Roman taxes) for each male each year. It was a sacrifice to accompany supplication for ransom from the effects of individual sins...in other words "atoning" tax. Interesting that Christ, who soon would atone for each of us individually and had no sin, was asked to pay. But Christ didn't want to offend and told Peter to go to the sea and cast his hook and take the first fish that came up, open its mouth and that Peter would find a piece of money- enough for the tribute.

Christ didn't do an magic act. "What he did was provide the money by utiliziation of knowledge such as no other man possessed." (Talmage) In his infinite knowledge, he knew that there would be a fish who -knows- how- long- ago, that would swallow a coin, enough for the tribute. I've been thinking of this incident since reading it. I love it. I love what it teaches. This is He who also knows us infinitely...knows the details of our lives and thoughts to care and nurture us with that knowledge if we desire.

Anniversary

~Yesterday morning I woke up to a beautiful bouquet of flowers from David. It was our 37th anniversary. Isn't that sweet? Unfortunately things went downhill from there. While I was cleaning with Jan, niece Mallory (who has been visiting for a few days) came upstairs to say goodbye, and to say, "And you're going to be soooo mad when I tell you something." Yep, septic in the basement AGAIN.

Okay, I've had it. I know I've said I've had it several times before but this time I've really HAD it. I called David immediately at work. He was in a meeting so I had to leave this message with his secretary:

"Please tell my husband that although it is our anniversary and although I love him to death, the septic has risen again and if he doesn't take care of it, I'm going to leave him....."

She thought it was funny. It wasn't.

-Then I got a call from BFF Cathy saying they needed to cancel our date with couples that night.

Kirk and Cathy's anniversary is the day before ours, a year later.

The guys had planned (beginning with the flowers) a trip up to Park City for dinner at Ruth Chris. I've never eaten there before. We will do it Friday. Bummed.

As I've mentioned every year, we got married on my parent's 25th wedding anniversary. So yesterday they celebrated their 62nd anniversary. They have a wonderful marriage and I love that we share this special day with them. They had kind of a day like we had as well so last night while talking on the phone I suggested that we do a "start over" today. Pretend like today is our anniversary and all will go well. David said last night that it is good sometimes to have days like these....then you can really appreciate the "for better or worse!" But, heh, we're lucky to have our spouses. To love our spouses. You can't complain about that! Happy anniversary Mom and Dad! LOVE YOU!




Love at first sight is easy to understand; it's when two people have been looking at each other for a lifetime that it becomes a miracle. Amy Bloom

Garden Tour

Yesterday David came home to work on "the" problem (we can't get anyone here to dig trenches until tonight)- probably no solving of the issue for a few days..... so I ran to several stores looking for a cute baby present for a gal's shower. I wasn't having great luck (3 stores) when my phone rang. Marilynn Mikesell, a friend I don't see often, was calling to find out where I was. She had made arrangements for me to visit several gardens that were over-the-top with the Sandy Garden tour that I missed. And I had totally spaced it. (I don't have enhanced utilization of knowledge....) I jumped in the car and got there 1/2 hour late....frustrated, tired, cranky and embarrassed that Marilynn had gone to all that work. We did tour 3 gardens. Not just ordinary gardens but GARDENS! Really, I can't even believe the work AND the money that obviously went into these places. I just wanted to pull up a hammock and retire for a nap.


Above- an espaliered apple tree. It bears 4 kinds of apples!