Grumbles

I have known for quite some time that not everybody sees the world the same way I do. I accept that some people are happier when they are unhappy, or sick, or in pain, or stupid,.... I don't understand it, but I do accept it. And I know that there are a lot of people in the world who are just so smart I can't be in their presence because I don't measure up.

Tonight, I saw something one of my cousins had asked on Facebook. There were several comments made to that question that made me feel insulted, although nobody had said a word to me. It's the field I work in, so I've studied it a bit. I've seen it work...and I've seen times it didn't help. See my choice of words? I didn't say "..times it didn't work"...I said "times it didn't HELP" and there is a reason. The body is a complex machine, and no matter how smart humans get, we're never going to know more about that machine than He that invented it. So we're just not going to prevent it from breaking down and dying. We can care for its condition and give it strength and aid though,... and those methods available are many and varied.

My first choice when I'm hurt or sick is not a medical route. I prefer to take a "natural approach" whenever its an option. I only know just so much, so sometimes I have to get help. Sometimes that help is someone who has studied or experienced more than I have, and sometimes it's a medical doctor. Just because I don't choose a medical doctor to give aid for some things doesn't mean I will call him names or make comments like "they're a scam". I know I'm naive in my thinking, but its just how I am. If I give that courtesy, I expect it in return.

I don't have rude things to say about people who attend other churches as me. I don't have rude things to say about people who are of a race different from my own (I'm an equal opportunity insulter). I don't think of people who testify of a belief or experience as "frauds" or "scam artists". I know its silly,....but I expect the same courtesy. Why is it that there are so few other people in the world who feel the same way?

As I said in the beginning, it was not my cousin who said the rude things, so I don't hold ill will towards her. It was just another opportunity for me to get my feathers in a ruffle when other humans expressed their very human qualities of ignorance.

Now I feel semi-better.

22 Years and Counting...

On Friday, February 17, 1989, Tommy and I said "I do" and began our lives together. We've had good times, we've had bad times, we've had hard times and we've had fun times. Here we are 22 years later and STILL holding hands.

Take note of the part where I mentioned we've had hard times. We've had VERY hard times filled with financial impossibilities, life-threatening accidents and illnesses, terrible losses, emotional destruction and more. Those hardships have kept us from having much opportunity to celebrate our union. We've tried to focus more on our children and family than on just "us," and in some ways, that is a little sad. This year, I was feeling a little selfish and wishful and mentioned it to Tommy. Thank goodness I mentioned it during a payday period!!! I told him I hated how we never celebrated "us" and that for once, I wish we could just go somewhere to be alone. Somewhere we wouldn't have to be on edge making sure children were asleep and not listening to us. Somewhere we could watch tv...or not. Somewhere that would be OK to act like married people----whatever that means! I told him I wouldn't even care if that meant vacationing in Carrollton!

He took me seriously and booked a suite in Carrollton at the Holiday Inn Express. It isn't the fanciest hotel in America, but it just might be one of the nicest in Carroll County! He didn't get just any room...he got a luxury suite on the top floor...at the end of the hall. This room had a bed bigger than my bedroom at home! I literally could lay on it crossways and neither hands nor feet hung off the sides!! And there were pillows lined up from one side to the other....tons of them! There was a kitchenette and a lounge chair and.... no responsibilities in the form of work or kids or church callings or doctor visits or anything else. The guy that checked us in asked if we needed a wake up call. Tommy leaned over the counter to be sure he was eye-to-eye and said firmly "NO." Point was well taken HAHAHA!!

So we leave our things in the room and go across the parking lot to the Chinese restaurant. We picked out some favorites (he got Mongolian Beef and I got Singapore Mei Fun). We got BIG containers of it too! Then we stopped by Kroger and picked up some juice and strawberries and whipped cream. When we got back to the motel room, we sat together at our little table and ate. It was soooo good!

I'll stop there and leave out the really GOOD details, but I'll show you how yummy the strawberries were :)

I think the whipped cream must have been too! hehehe

The funniest thing is Tommy's obsession with the curtains. We were on the third floor, so nobody was going to be standing outside our windows peeking in. But there were street and store lights glowing, and that could be a nuisance. There was a sheer that closed completely, but the curtains only hung at the sides and couldn't meet in the middle. That bothered Tommy. He finished his food and then used his fork to remedy the situation. Take a look at this!




It was so nice. I slept totally surrounded by pillows (almost anyway. None at my feet) and curled up to them without Tommy ever being crowded. I didn't cough the whole night and no runny nose. When we went to bed, the lights were ALL OUT! Nobody needed the bathroom light turned on for them and no video games twinkled or chirped in the night. It was so quiet!

What a celebration!! Too bad I can't have that more often!!

My Bucket List

Have you seen that movie with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, The Bucket List? I enjoyed it. Well anyway, lately I keep seeing ads (mostly in Facebook) about things to put on your own personal bucket list.

According to the movie, a bucket list is a list of things you want to do with your life before you "kick the bucket", and in the movie, these 2 characters end up sharing a hospital room with life-ending diagnoses. They make lists of what they want to do before they kick the bucket, and then make a pack to carry out those dreams together. As you can imagine, this carries them all around the world---and then back.

So seeing the ads has me thinking. I'm 40 years old now. I pretend I'm still in my 20s, but in reality, I am definitely not. If I made a bucket list, what would be on it? What hopes and dreams do I have that are important to me and I really want to accomplish before I kick the bucket?

• I want to be a part of wedding receptions for all of my kids.
  
• I want to hold my grandbabies and sing to them.
• I want to obtain a couple more herbal certifications.
• I want to take a vacation with my husband and pretend its a honeymoon.
• I want to have a girls weekend with my sisters- the overnight kind where the children stay home with dad and just us girls get together, go out and eat something weird, maybe go play something childish, come home and stay up late giggling and snacking, fall asleep and wake up to go out for breakfast, shopping, lunch and then home to find the husbands and kids have made us a big family dinner. Tell me that doesn't sound like bliss!
• I want a road trip with my Mama.
• I want to visit the Manti and Mesa temples.

What else should go on this list? What am I doing to move toward any of these goals? How about you? Just wondering...

Elder-to-be

Manti really likes Elder Teulilo. I admit that I do too! He's agreed to come back after he finishes his mission with enough cows (and we've decided its best if its in the form of hamburger and steaks) to marry Mesa. But more than that, Elder Teulilo started a little spark inside my boy,...and that ember stayed lit for months. Sometime after Elder T was transferred, we got Elder Joos. He is such a motivated person and fun at the same time. He would ask Manti for rides, and then invite him to just hang out with him and his companion. That was successful in a lot of ways too. Then Elder Joos is transferred and his companion, Elder Hanson (or "Handsome" as Jared calls him) continued where Joos left off. He has continued inviting Manti to the missionary meetings each week and asking him to go on team-ups with them.

One day, Manti came home from one of these missionary meetings in our district, and he was different. He bubbled over telling me about his day. Elder T had been there, and was the one who taught their training. He also had a game for them, and Manti played too. Someone took a video of him throwing himself into a wall and put it up online somewhere too. They all went out to eat as a large group of missionaries with coupons, and the fun just continued.

Manti told me all this and much more. As he did, his face got brighter and brighter, as if someone were holding a flashlight to his face. It was so dramatic and precious to me, that I finally had to ask him if he was ready to go get his OWN missionary stories. He looked at me, smiled, and said "yes". I asked if he wanted me to pull out the links so he could start filling out his papers,...and again he says "yes."

The next day I verify that I've got the right links and I email them to Manti. He has worked on them ever since, here a little, there a little.

A couple weeks ago, he comes to us and says he wants to go to the Goodwill Store and find a cheap suit so he can get used to wearing one. Tommy took him and they found one for about $7.00. He's worn it repeatedly ever since.

Now, his paperwork is done and he is giving away his "crazy" ties and wearing a suit. Yesterday, he met with a doctor and had his missionary physical. That only leaves the dentist and turning in those papers. He listed his date of availability as his birthday--June 18th.

I'm already feeling the tears move in on me as I see my little boy preparing himself to be a man. He's trying to prepare himself emotionally and spiritually too! He has made small efforts towards doing things that make me smile--and sometimes cry. He has worked on his patience with his little brothers. He has made a point to intentionally guide his little sister when she's stumbled along her way.

Whoever gets my Elder Bailey will be getting a genuine servant of God.....and a young man I'm very proud of.

Jared

I love my littlest boy. He makes me laugh all the time. I guess he's a lot like me when I was little (if the stories my parents tell are true). My mom has said that when I was little, I couldn't help her do some chore because I had a bone in my leg. Mom,...I STILL HAVE A BONE IN MY LEG!

Jared is learning new words, I guess. It's the only explanation I can think of. I don't know what prompts him to use certain words when he does, but his timing is amazing---EVERY TIME!

Yesterday, Tommy and I had a meeting in the morning. It lasted a couple hours. From there, we had to go to a doctors appointment. From there, we headed straight home, picked up kids and went to a scout activity (that's a story all on its own!). During the day, Manti was out helping a friend of his build a shelter for her dad's new tractor. That means Mesa was home tending her 2 little brothers. She wanted to wash her hair, but those little brothers are 9 and 5, making them capable of getting into trouble fast and quietly so that you don't know until well after the fact that something has gone terribly wrong. She didn't feel like she could just jump in the shower, so leans into the shower and uses a shower hose on her head. She makes Jared sit on the toilet behind her so she can peek over her shoulder at him and make sure he's staying out of trouble. She even tells him this so he understands he isn't being punished, just supervised.

All of the sudden, the toilet flushes. Mesa is startled and turns around. She asks him what he was doing. He tells her...and I quote...

"I'm flushing my hopes away."

*crickets*

Remember in the story that I said we came home and picked up the kids and went back to scouts? This scout night was an activity night for the venture crew kids, which is Manti and Mesa's scout group. They were going to play a game of Capture The Flag in the dark at the nearby park. (The game was so funny! Little kids being the bait to draw out big kids, big kids belly crawling across a barely lit field to sneak up on the opposing teams flag, ... big kids sitting cross-legged against a fence- in jail.... ) Anyway, it was pretty cold. I was bundled up and shivering while sitting in the CAR! So you know the kids had be freezing. About 7:50 I called Jared into the car to warm him up. About 30 minutes later, we got home and everybody bustles about to put away their coats and empty pockets. Jared comes up to me and says "Mommy, I'm turning into a Methodist." I just stared him blankly, and said "WHAT?" He repeats himself, "I'm turning into a Methodist!" I asked how could that happen? He tells me "It started when I cold, and then it got worse and worse until you made me get in the car to get warm. It wouldn't have happened if Morgan hadn't tagged me and tried to make me go to jail!"

*crickets*

I still don't know how to answer that. I don't even know where he learned the word "methodist"! And what in the world does it mean in HIS language?

The world may never know.