Sick On Easter

Easter is one of those holidays that makes me reflect on what I believe and what is important in my life. I remember Easter as a child getting a new dress to wear to church. So last week I made Mindi take me shopping to see if I could find something nice to wear on Sunday. After a few stores, we decided that the stuff in our closets was better than what we saw on the racks, so we left having saved lots of money. Rich was wondering why I was even shopping with my three closets full of clothes. He doesn't understand that girls don't like to wear the same thing over and over like they do. After church I came home and took my rolls out to raise and cut up my strawberries for dessert. As the day went on and my family came, we ate dinner. I just remember sitting at the table feeling sicker and sicker. I got up and went in my bedroom and pulled a blanket on and started running a fever and chilling. As my extended family came over and I could hear them laughing and visiting I felt so sad. My grand kids were all playing outside and I was in bed feeling like crap. The talks in church were all about the resurrection and how our Savior can take away all our pain and suffering, I was sure praying for some help as I was lying in bed. I'm feeling much better now and am feeling stronger everyday. Rich is sick too, but with a nasty virus that some guy passed along to him while working. He was nice enough to cut me two bouquets of roses off our bushes to use for dinner. I need to find out how I'm picking up these bugs that seem to always show up on Sunday. Maybe that's a sign that I'm doing something wrong, or maybe I'm just lucky.

"One Step Closer To Death"

This morning the chapter I was reading talked about death. We are all born and then we will all die. The point he was making today is that we never know when we will take our last breath. After Dad passed away so suddenly last year, I have often felt like if I would have known he was going to leave us, I would have spent all day everyday in the hospital caring for him and asking all kinds of questions. What would I do if I knew I only had a day to live? How would I treat those who are close around me? What experiences would I want to have before I died? I remember for years after Kamber passed away, I would ask God to let me hold her one last time and tell her I loved her. I think sometimes I'm so caught up in the everyday mundane things I have to do that I really don't enjoy the journey I'm on. The last paragraph said, "So, instead of getting lost in the normal mental chatter, why not contemplate the temporal nature of life? Why not think about something meaningful? Don't be afraid of death. Let it free you. Let it encourage you to experience life fully. But remember, it's not your life. You should be experiencing the life that's happening to you, not the one you wish was happening. Don't waste a moment of life trying to make other things happen; appreciate the moments you are given. Don't you understand that every minute you're a step closer to death? This is how to live your life. You live it as though you were on the verge of death, because you are." Wow! I've never thought of it like that, but that still doesn't mean I'm going to get in an airplane anytime soon, especially with what's going on in the world today. I'm not afraid to die but I don't want to be blown up in an airport, or a plane.

A Companion for Rusty

Last summer my Golden Retriever Mollie had a litter of seven puppies. The first six were born healthy but the last one wasn't moving or breathing and was basically dead. I started doing some chest compressions and blowing air into his mouth hoping he would come to life. When Mindi saw what was happening, she took him and turned him over and cleared his airway and got him breathing. It was a miracle and when we took him to the vet he said he looked like he would be okay. As the puppies got bigger, we could tell this dog was special. He was always by himself and we didn't think he could see very well to find his litter mates or food. So as we found homes for all the other puppies, we decided to keep him and have him as our pet. We offered him to some who acted interested but as soon as they heard he may have a little bit of vision loss, they didn't want him. So last month I took him to get neutered and we prayed that someday we would find someone special who would see his worth. Last Saturday a friend told us about a family who were looking for a kind gentle dog for their son who has a traumatic brain injury. That story isn't mine to tell but after years of bullying and unkindness this boy injured himself. So Mindi being the kind person that she is, offered this family Rusty, our special needs dog to go be a companion for him. They came and picked him up and wanted to see if he got along with the other fur baby family members and the kids. Their son is in a rehab center who will hopefully get to come home soon. As we cried as they took him away, we knew he would be a special dog for a special boy and hopefully Rusty is behaving and being the gentle giant we know he is.

An Answer To My Prayers

About three weeks ago I realized when I was taking off my jewelry that I had lost one of my diamond earrings. I have searched high and low in my house and around the yard where I thought it might be. I took a flashlight and went from room to room looking everywhere for it. I even vacuumed the whole house and then went through the bag, which was full of dirt and hair. Yuck! I have pondered and prayed and begged to find this earing that Rich gave to me years ago. I kept having a feeling that it was in my room but never did do the deep clean I needed to find it. Last week I finally gave up and called the jeweler to see how much it would cost to get another one. On Saturday I finally decided to dust the furniture in my bedroom. I started on Rich's side and put all his nails, screws and misc. construction items in a bowl, then moved to my dresser. When I lifted up a couple of boxes and started dusting there was my earing, at the very back of my dresser under my jewelry box. How it got back there I do not know, but I am so happy. What an answer to a three week prayer. We are taught all the time in church that our Heavenly Father is aware of us and our needs. That he loves us and wants us to be happy. That our prayers are answered, but not always how or when we want them to be. I know a diamond earring isn't that big of a deal in the scheme of important world events but it was important to me to find it. My parents always taught us to live a life worthy to ask for answers to our prayers, I don't know if that is true but I am so thankful for what I believe and have been taught, and especially that what I had lost was found. 

Insects in the Lemon Tree

The weather has been absolutely beautiful the last few weeks. I can't remember when we were in the 90's in February but these last few days have been cool and breezy. I have so many things to do inside and I'm working on a few quilts, but yesterday I decided to go outside and pick some lemons to juice. Rich uses them for lemonade in the summer and I need them for my jelly. As I was picking, I could hear some buzzing and knew there were some insects in the tree. I had two buckets full and was reaching for one big one when something flew at my face and stung me on the bottom of my nose. Of course I panicked and started running as fast as this large old lady can towards Mindi's house. I pounded on her window as this critter was attacking my head. When I got inside I grabbed some ice and was relieved that I hadn't gotten caught in a swarm of bees. It was really scary. Anyway, Mindi came in from her bedroom and asked what had happened and suggested I put some Frankincense oil on my nose. It's a little bit tender and I have a small scab but I'm glad it wasn't worse. I've been stung before by a bee and a wasp so I knew I wasn't allergic but I took some Benadryl anyway.  All of our citrus is starting to blossom which reminds me of traveling to my Grandma's house in Mesa when I was a child. Hopefully this nice weather will stay awhile because I'm really not ready for the 110's yet.

All Is Well

My goal for the weekend was to have all the animals and kids alive when Mindi got home from Colorado on Monday night. It was a success and all is well. I was lucky because the kids are getting older and more responsible and they help a lot too. Dave was also here to help with laundry, dishes and running the kids around. He even got the kids up and ready to attend three hours of church on Sunday. I was really impressed with that because I know most Dads would just stay home. It's always amazing to me when the Mother is out of the home how empty it feels. I think the women are so important to the spirit of the home. I had a lot of calls on the puppies. I always meet some really nice people when I am selling a litter. Some are trying to replace a pet that has just passed away and others want something for their kids to play with and learn responsibility. I also have some who call and say they are on their way and they will be over at a certain time and then never show up. That fires me up a little and I may say some not so nice things about them. I have noticed that since I'm getting older things are changing inside of me. It's taken me a long time to realize that I'm in charge of my happiness. No one really cares about how I feel, I have to give myself what those close to me can't or refuse to. I realize they are dealing with there own stuff. I want to find things to do that make me happy and not depend on anyone or anything to be responsible for my happiness. Now thinking that and putting it in to practice is a different story. I just don't want to spend the rest of my life being disappointed in who and what I gave my power to. Plus I'm just too tired to worry about it anymore.