A List of Musings

1. Why do the CSI’s in CSI: Miami drive Hummers? Are the Miami streets that rugged?

2. Why do the CSI’s in Las Vegas work in the dark? And never pull their hair back when they are working a crime scene? Honestly, I must watch too much TV.

3. What is all the hubbub about? I just finished Twilight and think it is a nice enough book, but am not all that eager to read the next two. I must be old and have forgotten what true, young love is like. Which leads me to #4.

4. Why are vampires suddenly the hot new thing? Aren’t they creatures of the night? Don’t they bite people? Why are there romance novels and TV shows about them? I’m just saying.

5. Why is it that when I click the box on blogspot to remember me when I log in, it never does. It is starting to effect my self esteem.

6. Why does every place that has a credit card machine have to have those silly flowers tied to the pens and then stuck in a flower pot of beans? I never recognize them as pens. I always assume that everyone has the same dumb flower arrangements.

A Weigh

This is my Monday outfit. Robbie asked me why I get dressed up to go to Weight Watchers. I think he thought it was a dress up kind of place. In actuality, this is the outfit I wore when I first joined, so as a control, I wear the same outfit every time I weigh in and know that the loss (or gain – heaven forbid) is not attributable to what I wear.

This is just one of the tricks of the diet junkie – control what you wear even if you can’t seem to control what you eat. Today, a young woman showed up in flip-flops, very short shorts, and a tank top. It was 45 dang degrees outside. But her clothes weighed next to nothing. I think she must have over indulged on the weekend.

This is not a great picture, but it's not a great outfit.

Any weigh (hee hee), I am down an additional 2.2 lbs for a grand total of 10.2!!!

Good, Better, Best

There must be a message in recent general conference talks out there just for me. Elder Dallin Oaks talked about all the good things there are to do out there in the world, but there are things that are better, and things that are best. It reminded me a little bit of the Berenstain Bears Ready Set Go where the bears compete. Some are good, some are better and some are best. Poor Papa bear is only best at napping. I think Papa bear and I have something in common. Sister Julie Beck, in General Women’s Conference urged us/me to focus on the essentials and forgo the frivolous. I knew in an instant what she was talking about. All the frivolous things I do came clearly to mind. Now, generally, these talks leave me with a great feeling of inadequacy. (Thank goodness for spell-check. I could never have done that on my own.) You know the feeling – not good enough, house not clean enough, not thin enough, don’t get my visiting teaching done early enough, blah, blah blah. On and on goes the voice in my head. Anyway, I decided to list all the frivolous things I do and decide if they are good, better or best – or not in the running. This is by no means a complete list:

1. Play Jewel Quest II. Not even in the running. I spend way to much time on this ridiculous game. It is sort of addicting; I even see it in my sleep. I start out thinking that I’ll only play a minute or two and then discover that my entire morning is gone.

2. Nap. Good, but better or best if I were in bed at a decent hour so that I didn’t have to go back to bed – which I sometimes do instead of play #1 above.

3. Sew. Better, or maybe even best if I forwent (I believe that is the past tense of forgo) #1 and #2 above. I would like to get Aunty Fran’s quilt done since I didn’t finish it before she died’ didn’t finish before her son’s birthday, and didn’t finish it before he graduated from high school. Maybe I’ll finish it before he goes/comes home from his mission.

4. Read. I actually haven’t read anything but Twilight in ages. And that took me 3 months to read. I used to read all the time, though some of the choices were only good – and actually some of them weren’t even that high on the list. I need to work on this one. Reading has always been my passion. It’s funny; I can read a novel (silly ones, especially) and can’t seem to get into a good/better/best regimen of reading my scriptures.

5. TV. Unfortunately, because I haven’t slept long enough, and then spend too much time at the office (not awful), by the time I come home and get dinner started, I am too tired to do much else. So I just sit and surf the channels until I discover that I have been through all the channels at least 12 times and there is nothing on worth watching.

So, I resolve to give up Jewel Quest II, drop 2 shows from my DVR schedule (it is amazing how much sleep I lose over the likes of Law & Order:SVU, Without a Trace, and Las Vegas. I am not quite ready to give up Ugly Betty or Bones). I also resolve to quit saying how busy I am because we all know that it is only 1, 2, and 5 that are really using up my time. I think I’ll also give going to bed before midnight a try. Maybe that will actually take care of #2.

PS – Latest report from Weight Watchers –down an additional 3 lbs.!! I have many to go to be at a healthy weight, but I am on my way.

Awful

It has been a really long time since I wrote this entry on my WordPerfect program. So I will just send it the way I wrote it and then will do an update sooner than this.

I picked the world’s worst day to go to Weight Watchers!! Granted, any day would be better than not going at all, but it couldn’t have been more poorly planned on my part. As background, I need to lose a lot of weight for the sake of my health. I have developed some very bad habits since I grew up (maybe I never had any good ones to begin with.) Anyway, I eat too much, eat out too much, drink too much Diet Coke (elixir from the gods), and don’t get enough sleep – because I am staying up too late playing on the computer or watching TV. That all adds up to no energy, a messy house, no exercise, and a whole bunch of unfinished projects because a) I am too tired, and/or b) I must be too busy. You choose.

So, we are in the middle of an office move. I promised Bob I would not call it the awful anymore because it bothers him. That was really only a slip of the tongue one day when I said "awful" instead of "office." Must be Freudian. Well moving is hell, whether it is 20 feet, or 20 blocks. We are moving into the office space next door to us. Last Thursday, we got about 85% of everything moved. It is the last 15% that kills you. We are still moving the last 15% 5 days later, and seem to have made little dent in it, although Bob thinks we only have 8% more. On move day, I don’t think I actually moved anything, I just spent my time answering everybody’s request for furniture placement and picture hanging advice. And yet, I was strangely exhausted. I think it was from just the sheer number of miles I walked in circles between the two offices.

So, Monday, I decided to go to Weight Watchers. I stopped at McDonald’s for breakfast on my way there. That is 15 points right off the bat of my 31 allowed points for the day. I went straight to the office, where we ordered lunch from a Greek restaurant. That took another 15 points. I now have only 1 point for the rest of the day. It is only 3 pm. I then eat 2 Hershey’s minis and another Diet Coke. It is now 6 pm and I have had no water (need 6 glasses - Diet Coke doesn’t count), no dairy (3 servings) and no vegetables. Did I tell you the woman who joined ahead of me was 5'4"and weighed only 115 lbs.!! She only needs to lose 5 lbs!! I could beat myself (or maybe her).

So, I went home, scrambled eggs, threw on some cheese, drank 2 glasses of milk (the three dairy’s), chugged down 4 glasses of water and some spinach. I then went to bed and dreamed I was in a Hannibal Lecter movie. I’ve never even seen one. Go figure. It must have been all that eating. I used up 16 of my 35 extra allowable points for the week. There will be no movie popcorn this weekend. Thank goodness it is fast Sunday coming up.

Anyway, the office is looking great. We will actually be able to get back into helping clients again soon. I had a better Weight Watchers day today. Only ate 21 of my 31 points. I think that is a no-no, also. Maybe I can add 10 back to my weekly overage.

PS - On my first week at WW, I (not WWI) lost 4.4 lbs. It may have been a lot more if I hadn’t eaten all of the leftovers the Sunday night before my weigh-in.

Leave Taking

I love fall. I haven’t actually ever sat down and analyzed why. I just do. Some see it as a harbinger of the long, dark dreary winter. Those are the people who don’t like winter.
I don’t like winter. I don’t like the lack of sunlight, the icy roads and slippery sidewalks. It reminds me of my high school years in Beavercreek, Ohio. The freezing rain left a thin quarter-inch coating of crystal clear ice on everything. Every sign, every road, every car. I swore I would never be warm again. Then I went on to BYU. Because I worked as a secretary on campus, I had to wear a dress to work (those dress code rules are long since over), and thus wore dressy shoes. No such thing as cross trainers, except maybe some ugly grandma hushpuppies or something. Being the fashion plate that I was, I wore high heels – with leather soles – which would soak up the water and as soon as they hit the linoleum floors in the JKB, so did I. I seem to spend as much time on the floor in the hall as I did on my chair.

Enough about winter, I am not crazy about summer either. Here in Utah everyone says the heat is OK because it is a dry heat. When it is a 104 in the shade, wet or dry, it doesn’t matter, it still feels like living in Hell. Now Salt Lake is not as bad as my Arizona friends, but it is still bad. One September, Bob and I went to a conference in Phoenix. I was not sure whose bright idea that was, because it was like going to Hell on a vacation. It was 110, too hot to even sit by the pool. I stayed in my room most of the time, except when I could run to my air conditioned rental car and then to an air-conditioned museum. So you can see, summer is not great either. And spring, while lovely, is simply too short.

Fall is by far my favorite time of year. The cool evening lend themselves to lazing about on the new patio. The mosquitos and yellow jackets are fewer in number and the crickets start to sing at dusk. Turning off the air-conditioner in September is a wonderful experience. The nights are cool enough that you can open the window and put another blanket on the bed. An acquaintance of mine called this "good sleeping weather." I just don’t get over heated. At my stage of life, overheating is sometimes a problem, so I appreciate the weather cooperating with me a little bit. Also, with MS, I find that I feel better when it is not so hot. I need all the good days I can get. I’m a little more energetic in the fall.

Mother nature brings out all her best colors in the fall. On Labor Day Weekend, as we drove over Trapper’s loop from Huntsville, there was just the ever so slight change in color. A little touch of red that could only be seen if you squinted up your eyes and looked ever so hard. This last Saturday, there was a significant change. All the coolness of the green leaves are turning to the warm reds and oranges and yellows I just love – I love warm colors, not warm temperatures. In another week, due to the drought, I read, the colors may be gone. I was going to take the opportunity to take a little side trip up Ogden Canyon and back over Trappers’ went to Ogden to file my property tax appeal (another story for another day) but found that I could file my mail. The rest of the week was pretty awful and by Thursday I didn’t have a car (again a story for another day) and was scheduled to help with the office move. Anyway, my wonderful Sarah suggested that we spend the night in Huntsville and then drive back over Trappers in the morning (another thing I can do now that Kathleen drives) and take these beautiful pictures. I have rambled enough. Just look at this fabulous site.

I agree with John Donne, "No Spring nor Summer Beauty hath such grace As I have seen in one Autumnal face. "

The leaves can’t wait, and neither can I.

Pandora's Box

Everyone remembers the story of Pandora’s box. At least every culturally literate person. You know the one – In Greek mythology, Pandora was the first woman. Zeus created her as a punishment for mankind, in retaliation for Prometheus' having stolen fire and then giving it to humans for their use–apparently not women, however. She had a box with all the world’s ills and evils. Curiosity gets the better of her and she opens the box and all the evils, ills, bad things, rap music, etc., escape. She slams the lid down just in time to keep hope from breaking loose. Thus, while we have bad things thrust upon us, hope is still present. I’m not sure that a box is the best place for hope, but that’s how the story goes.

Anyway, we had this very ugly wooden deck in our back yard. Just outside the back door, you would step up onto it. It had rows of wooden benches on each side, making the deck just a smidge too small for a table. We first painted the deck when we moved into this house 14 years ago and actually only used it when the kids needed to get up on the trampoline (which we no longer have). Otto, the devil dog, used the benches to look over at the cute dog next door. I was always afraid that he might jump over and that we would have a neighborhood incident on our hands. So, the wood rotted away until it was only good for putting splinters into your hind quarters. In the middle of July, we received a notice of the neighborhood cleanup. This made me think. We could get rid of the deck and pour a nice cement patio. I couldn’t get the thought out of my mind. I remembered that Paul, our friend who uses our pool more than we do, had offered to help out with any big yard project we might have as thanks for the use of the pool. How could I turn down such a generous offer. The next week, Paul came with the boys from the Capitol Hill 2nd ward to tear down the deck. Give teen-aged boys sledge hammers and tell them to get to work and they are in heaven. Great at demolition, not so great at putting things back together. You have to work to their strengths. And this was the beginning of Pandora’s box.

When the deck was gone, all the ills and evils of home ownership were apparent. There was a gas line to be moved, electrical lines to be moved, sprinklers to be moved, along with busting out the 200 lb. cement footings under the deck. Sod needed to be laid, the fence needed to be painted, and you can’t have a new patio without patio furniture. $$$$$$$. I found a plumber to move the gas line. He found that our gas meter shut off valve was buried below grade – a serious out-of-code issue. So the gas company needed to be called. There was also a leak at the meter. The gas company came and went, only digging out the valve and repairing the leak, and I found out later, disconnecting the line to our gas fireplace. Anyway, we did get the gas line buried and the leak fixed. Next came electricians. What was going to be a simple move of the line, became an all day project. We added new outlets, replaced light fixtures, mapped out the electrical schematic in the entire house, and I think that was it. All I know is that it added up to a whole heap of dollars. This is when you wish you were renters. Sprinkler Bob has been up here several times just trying to rewire the sprinkler system. It is finally done, though that devil dog Otto has eaten a few sprinkler heads. We laid sod, relaid it after Otto dug it up. Had the fence repaired and painted, planted some flowers in the pots, bought tables and chairs and yellow-jacket traps, and now have the most pleasant spot to spend my evenings.

I’m not sure I’ll ever go back inside. Maybe Pandora did us a favor after all.

RIP - no pictures 'cause my kids have my cameras!

Today officially marks the demise of the book group. Many of my friends and neighbors met on the first Tuesday of each month to discuss a book that we had chosen. Someone was the discussion leader – that person also picked the book. Someone else was the hostess; this lucky woman had us all over to our house for a lovely luncheon. These were golden times. None of us worked. Well, we worked, just not for money. We all had children at home and that was our job. We often laughed as much as we actually discussed the book. Like the time someone said that the lemon Jell-o salad with the maraschino cherry on top looked somewhat similar to breast implants. I have no idea what book we actually read that month, but I do remember the Jell-o salad. Several people suggested that I write a book about the group. It would be great. It could be one of those pink-covered paperback books you pick up in the airport. You know the ones, about society women, bored, spenders; except we weren’t society ladies – just middle class moms. No one was particularly bored, and I am pretty sure that none of us were big shoppers. A book just wouldn’t have been a good idea, however. I am not sure that any of us wanted funny stories told about us to strangers, even if the names had been changed to protect the innocent/guilty.

Anyway, over the past 16 years, the demographics of the group changed. Children grew up, sometimes there was a divorce, and a group member went back to work. It was like sending a child off to college, only you were sure that they would never come back. Once gone, it seemed that it was true that you couldn’t go home to book group again. The next change came when we began to invite others to fill in the blanks. We chose women like us, whose children had grown up and maybe didn’t have enough to do. For a while, we powered on again until people began to move to smaller houses or travel because they were no longer encumbered with school-age children. We were never again able to bring more than 5 or 6 of us together at one time. We even stopped going to each other’s homes so it wouldn’t be a burden on anyone. We tried to choose an interesting new restaurant each month. I even suggested that we give up the intellectual pretense of being a book group and just be a lunch group.

For me, I think the beginning of the end came when we read The Life of Pi. Most of the group thought it was a great, deep, even profound book. I just thought it was silly and perhaps I am showing a little shallowness, but I just really didn’t get it nor did I want to. I tried to read it and got about 3 chapters into it and said, "Enough!!" Sort of when I tried to read The Hobbit and only got to page 60 (3 times). So last month, Lani and I went to lunch all by ourselves. We didn’t have a book to read and no one else around to discuss it. It was a little sad that there were not more of us there, but I did have a great time visiting with Lani, catching up on her family. It’s funny how we are neighbors and go to church together, but sometimes have no idea of what it happening with our friends. That was the best part of book group. I shall miss it.
I never felt compelled to read something I really wasn’t interested in, but did read some things that I might not have chosen for myself and loved them. Here are some of the things we read over 16 years. It is only a short list. There is not enough room on the internet for the complete list:

The Known World. Letters from a Woman Homesteader. Follow the River. Angle of Repose. The Kite Runner. Reading Lolita in Tehran. Lincoln by Gore Vidal. The Woman in White. Crocodile on the Sandbank. A Morbid Taste for Bones. Northanger Abbey. The Three Musketeers. The Count of Monte Cristo. Eight Cousins. The Scarlet Pimpernel. The Deep End of the Ocean. Cold Mountain. Snow Falling on Cedars. A Lesson Before Dying. Ellen Foster. The Road to Coorain. Tuesdays With Morrie. Birdsong. Possession. Interpreter of Maladies. Man’s Search for Meaning. Leave it to Psmith. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

Book Group, Rest in Peace.