Last Ortho Before Surgery

Chris went to the orthodontist for her last visit in preparation for her surgery.  Dr. Nicholls was down last weekend and met with Dr. Yousif on Friday.  They are both on the same page with her surgery and follow up treatment.

I am getting increasingly anxious.  I can't explain it.  4 of our 5 children have had surgery for one thing or another.  But I am just really nervous for this one.  I think I need a blessing.  I'm finding myself a little short tempered and controlling about cleaning the house and getting everything in order before I leave this weekend.  I know those things are necessary, but I'm masking my anxiety with them and making them more than they are.

My visiting teachers came by tonight.  I needed that.  They gave a good message and encouraged me.  They are really good visiting teachers.  I am grateful for them.

Garage Work Bench

The clean and purge continues.  I think I use that sentence a lot when talking about what I have been doing the last few months.  But I just seem to do better with a simpler life around the house.  And as I grow older, I seem to want a place for everything and everything in it's place.

I am not a horder or 'acquirer' by any means, but it sure creeps up on you that all of a sudden you have all this stuff, and so I keep cleaning out.  For instance,  I kept all of the kids bulletin boards from when they were underclassmen in college.  Why?  They were so worn out and used up, so now they are gone.

The work bench in the garage collects things over the months and year.  We tend to 'set' them on there with the intention of putting them away 'later'.  Later doesn't come.  Haha!  Look how nice and clean and organized it is now.

 This drawer was a tangled mess of extension cords.  All colors, kinds, lengths.  Now they are separated, coordinated, and we know what we have and where they are.  What is your guess for how many I have accumulated over the years????

 In another lifetime, I painted that cute sunflower box!  Now I'm using it for small tools and such.  It brightens the space.

 Everything is grouped with like products and we know what we have and what we don't.  I'm embarrassed to say how many expired things I had to toss.

 Some of my hand tools for gardening.  These were dirty, grimy, gross, and kind of rusty in some places.  I washed them and then used a fine steel wool on them.  It took every bit of garden gunk away.  Then I sharpened them and added new loops to hang them with.  Overtime, the originals somehow broke and came off.  I used an old leather shoelace for one and the wire from a broken pair of ipod headphones for the other.  Abracadabra!  New loops.

This is one of my very most favorite tools now.  It is a Garden Plus.  I got it at Lowes for $5.  You put a little drop of 3 in 1 oil on the screws of your garden tools and it lubricates them like they are new.  Then a dot on the blade and with the handy-dandy sharpener at a 20* angle you draw it across about 5-6 times and your tools are SHARP.  I wanted a Speedy Sharp (which is basically the same thing), but they didn't carry that brand and I find that this works just as well.  I sharpened all my garden cutting tools, a shovel, and even Duff's fishing knife!

It's Just Another Day....It's Just Another Day

• Nothing really new to report.
• I'm feeling much better, must be the weather changes.
• Only they say more SantaAnas are coming back as of midnight tonight.  I'm tired of the wind.
• Got the laundry finished finally.
• Christine's practice was cancelled and we were grateful for that.  It allowed her to get all her homework done and get a little ahead AND relax a bit.  Sometimes I wonder if her academic schedule is too much....
• Adrianne made a divine lasagne tonight.  It hit the spot!
• Josh and Meredith got the dead, pregnant rat out of their wall yesterday.  The pest control came and retrieved it.  They've been sleeping in another room because of it.  Yes, we live in a city that's in the country!  Lots of critters.
• Talked with Nats.  Her brain is mush.  She is nervous and her emotions are all over the place.  The bar exam is less than two weeks.  Josh and Robert were the same way, but as in all things, it's different when you are the one going through it.  It will be what it is: pass or fail and either one is okay.  If she has to take it again at least she has one exam under her belt and can use that for experience.  Her job has been very nice to give her these last 3 weeks off.  She is taking an online review course because that is what fit in their budget, so she truly has to do all the work on her own at home.  You go girl!
• I'm making progress on my counted cross stitch pillow top.  Every evening a tiny bit more.  It is cuter than in the picture.  I have already decided I'm not going to finish it off like in the picture.  Too 80's country-ish.  So some updated fabric in a simple way.  I like projects like this.  I 'think' a lot while doing them.  They are kind of like life:  one little stitch at a time.  Some parts are very straightforward and easy, simple.  Others are complicated and take much more time and strategy.  Sometimes you have to put it away and come back to it to ponder and gain perspective, figure it out,  other times you sail through each stitch.  In the end, you have a beautiful piece.  And you know you can tackle another one. Maybe even a more complicated pattern.

6/21

Today is the 21st.  It is the first day of summer, officially.  The weather has been perfect these days.  You can't beat 73 and sunny with gentle breeze.

Today is the 21st.  John is 7 months old today.  He has 2 teeth, is crawling completely, loves to get under every table and chair he can find.  He pulls himself up on everything.  He loves to 'talk'.  He likes to pound on things and here himself make noise.  He is a great sleeper and napper.  He is good natured and happy.  He has discovered arrowroot cookies and loves them.

Today is the 21st.  Two more days until school is out.

Today is the 21st.  Monday.  That means laundry.  That means picking up from the weekend.  I got Shaun's room all cleaned out and up and gone through and ready for his next visit home.  Clean sheets on the other beds.  Washed all the towels and the bevy of pool/beach towels hanging on the hooks outside in the garage.  That sure has helped not having large wet towels in the house on the laundry room floor constantly.  I got all the things that belong downstairs down and upstairs up.  Isn't it crazy how they make their way from place to place?  I got all the shredding done that has been waiting for me.

Today is the 21st.  That means June is almost over.  Where did it go so quickly?

Family History--I Am Doing It!

Ha! Well, I'm learning how to do it, a bit at a time! Lisa and my dad tried to get me signed up for the new Family Search program. The only problem was that since my temple district is not 'live' with it yet, I CAN'T sign up. When I put my member number and confirmation date in, it knew exactly where I lived and told me I couldn't sign up yet. Bummer. So Lisa went in to my family records under her name as a 'helper' and boy was I surprised.

Not much done. This new program is so thorough and complete that it is eliminating all the duplications. I learned that where a lot of previous family members have said they have the geneology 'done' in a lot of cases means they have done the research but not the actual temple work. On Duff's side there are a lot of things ready to be done, they just need someone to physically go and do them.

It is VERY exciting and now I understand the enthusiasm and passion that Lisa and my dad have for redeeming the dead! It is a REAL physical feeling when you go into this site and see YOUR family on those pages. I am going to call NBeach Temple and see if they might know when we will go 'live'.

I sent Natalie and Robert and Christine and Darla home this afternoon. I will stay until Sunday night and then fly home. I haven't had a minute to visit with my parents. They got home around 8pm.

Josh's finals finished up today. He is soooo glad to be done. I will be able to spend some time with he and Meredith the next couple of days too.

We had some delish paninis and chicken noodle soup for dinner tonight at Lisa's. No one felt like cooking so we just cleaned out the refrigerator and used leftovers to make the sandwiches. Lisa steamed some asparagus and we put those on the sandwiches with the other leftover stuff. Gosh it was good!

Today is Jessica's Bday. She is Greg's daughter. I haven't seen her in about 14 years. But I think of her often and wish her a wonderful life and happy times. Maybe some day we can celebrate her birthday together in the future! Happy Birthday, Jess!