Goals

That Which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do; not that the nature of the thing has changed, but our power to do so is increased. Emerson

I keep this quote in my scriptures, reading them is not something I'm necessarily good at. I should post it on the treadmill and the refrigerator too.


Like all goals some are more cumbersome. The more I persist the easier they become.

Accidents happen

I try to keep a clean house, granted like most homes, mine gets dirty too, despite what a few of my sisters may think. Growing up being the oldest of seven children, something was always out of place. Back then it seemed like it was a much bigger deal than I realize it to be now, maybe the realization comes through age or maturity?
Although, I don’t remember the exact circumstances that brought Kimmie, my niece, to our home one evening a couple of years ago, I do remember the spaghetti we were having for dinner, and the important lesson I’ve carried in my heart since. I was lazy and left the pots on the stove. I dished up Kimmie’s spaghetti and sauce and placed her plate on the counter. (I’m still amazed with how much she can eat.) It was her job to carry the FULL plate from the counter to the table, all she needed to do was to pick up the plate, turn around and walk less than 3 feet and sit at the table. As she did this, the noodles and sauce slipped from the plate and splattered in a heap onto the floor, the cupboards and dishwasher were speckled. My clean, freshly mopped kitchen floor! the kitchen rug would never be the same. Before I had a chance to think, let alone react. She said: “Like my mom always say’s, accidents happen.” I was shocked, a little anger was growing ever so slowly . . . of all the things to say, no I’m sorry? … Dumbfounded I said “What else does you mom always say?” It was about this time that I realized this is no big deal, yes, it was a mess, it needed to be cleaned up, but it was not intentional. I continued: “If that’s what your mom says, she probably knows it’s true.”

This “accident” has blessed my life. I believe it was a blessing from the Lord to understand this simple principle before I would need it on a daily basis. It has helped me to be a better parent. When accidents happen, which they always do, I’m able to handle the situation differently than I may have if I had not received this precious gem. Sometimes Mason will start to cry, does he expect me to be angry? Maybe it’s the chocolate milk that was tipped over at the table, or mud tracked across the floor, “Was it an accident?” “Yes, mama, yes it was.” “Its ok son, accidents happen. Let’s clean it up.”

An End or a Beginning?

(I wrote this several weeks ago.)

I think back to when it began, it hasn’t been very long, a couple of years at most. I felt guilty at first – It was an unnecessarily pleasure and I knew it. I felt it was a little frivolous but I completely justified it and more or less immersed myself in it. It was the first of a lifetime and I was making up for some lost time. How long can justification out weigh reality? Slowly the newness wore off and I enjoyed it less and less until I would go weeks, eventually months without it. (This description also applies to the treadmill too, but that’s hasn’t gone anywhere.) It was then I realized that it must go. So it has, the direct T.V. Is gone, and although we have a T.V. we have no programming coming into our home. Is this an end or a beginning?
I do miss it a little bit, but I don’t miss it at all either. I never watched it. I would hear others say “did you see so and so” or watch “such and such” and I was always clueless. Mason on the other hand loved having shows like Dora, Diego, Phineas and Ferb, and Curious George always available. He will say “mom, will you put on a show?” But . . . he hasn’t seemed to notice it’s gone either. We do have some DVD’s. I wonder how Alan will feel when the NBA season is underway? Will it matter? Direct T.V. tried really hard to keep us, 9 calls in one day, numerous letters. I give them credit for trying, but we were a lot cause. We never even redeemed the free movie coupon that they sent us. *sigh*


(I wrote this today.)
I never missed it . . . until today, when I heard it was Jay Leno’s last show. I thought “I’d like to see that,” And then I realized I wouldn’t be able to watch it, even if I wanted too.

A Shooting Star Moment

We had a situation I’ll call a shooting star moment, I came up with that analogy at 3 in the morning so hopefully when I’m coherent I’ll still think it’s witty and applicable. I’ve always loved shooting stars. A shooting star moment is a moments of sheer brilliance, that seem to come out of nowhere, moments that leave us in awe, and then seem to disappear just as quickly as they arrived.

I’m sure this is just a coincidence, but as we were entering the cemetery to place flowers on my sister-in-laws’ grave. Mason said “Look, it says no dogs allowed.” I had been off in my own world. Had Alan told him that? Had I missed something? I responded still trying to grasp the situation “Yes, yes, you’re right it does say not dogs allowed, smarty pants.” He was thrilled and grinned from ear to ear. I kept thinking how does he know that? He has been learning the words to Hey diddle, diddle. Could this be it? Maybe?
This happened on a Friday, and was shortly dismissed. On Saturday we were leaving our neighborhood, a neighbor was having a yard sale and asked if we had seen any of his yard sale signs. We hadn’t been out yet, so as we approached the corner we took an extra couple of moments to comment that you couldn’t miss the yard sale signs. It was then Mason said “Look, it says Trail Avenue.” He knows his address, but he has never been told that small green street sign identified our street name. It was ever so brief I’ve watched for it since, “the shooting star moment” to reappear, it hasn’t, probably merely coincidences, but my “shooting star moment” non the least, he teaches me how to look at the world differently. I’m so thankful for that.

Children are a heritage of the Lord.

SLC Connect Pass

My sister told me about this pass,I think that we will try to take advantage of it. There is a cost, but still may be a good value it you are staying home for vacation and want to do a lot of stuff. I wish we would have know about this pass last Thursday! We would have done more and saved money.

I'm not savey enough to have a link, so here is the site.

http://www.visitsaltlake.com/visit/activities/connect_pass/

Not quite as good as the Community Exploration pass issued through the libary since that pass is free.

Our Whirlwind Weekend

Since I was on vacation, Alan also took a couple of days off over the already long Holiday weekend. He was off Friday through Tuesday. After a short deliberation we decided to stay at home, and take little day excursions. This was our scheduled plan:

Friday – Go to the Cemetery and go to Wheeler Farm
Saturday – Go swimming at the Rec-Center and enjoy the indoor play ground. Plant flowers in the evening.
Sunday – Attend church, and go over reunion plans with the family at family dinner.
Monday – Go to the Aviary and in the evening find a park with an awesome play area.
Tuesday – Go to the zoo and do cub scouts (which we normally do on Tuesday.) It was irnonic I chose this day for the zoo, thinking that it would be a little more calm than any other day. It was field trip day! I've never seem so many children packed in there before. The parking lot looked tranquil with no busses in site. We even parked close to the enterance, the best parking spot I've ever had at the zoo. Mason wanted to be just like the big kids,run free and go where he wanted verses, hold our hand and stay together. It made for a few dramatic moments. Our scouts were even at the zoo too, what a Suprise.

All in all, it was a whirlwind weekend. It was nice just to do things together as a family. Be thankful for our freedoms and not spend very much money. YEA.

Mason would say . . . “What are we going to do next.”He will have a hard time adjusting back to our slower paced life. He likes to be on the go. He would often say “I don’t want to go home.” I think that is because at home there is no one to play with.

Memorial day - Thank You!

Memorial Day is a day to remember, and I found my thoughts lingering on our freedoms, I’m thankful for them, I thankful for the service men and women who sacrifice to ensure them. I’m thankful … very, very thankful.