Familial Research and Development

There's a danger with going through a therapeutic journal-it was written to vent any and all things and stuff (emotional/psychological splinters) so healing can take place. Going back through it, with the intent to blog it, well, it's difficult to know what to just leave out. I've always had problems with that-knowing which pieces to leave out. It's kind of like if you could only keep two of your kids, which two? They're all part of you, all part of your family-you can't leave any out without tearing your family apart. So here's a few ramblings that may matter to someone at some point, but they are pieces that have helped to develop and mold me, so here they are anyway. When I was 11 years old Paula Westcott's mom called my mom. You see her mom stayed home and didn't go anywhere. Paula's dad worked at a lumber yard and didn't get home until after 4 p.m. Paula wanted to join the Girl Scouts (or her mother wanted her to). She would need a compa...

I have many loves in life. My Savior is #1. Period. End of report. However, that seems to be more of a I think or rather feel it was before mortality and I am certain it is after mortality and I KNOW I can't make it through mortality without Him. That said I shall move on to loves of life, or mortality. Family has to be #1, with the understanding that the definition of a family is husband + wife. Kids? That's the frosting on the cake. Then I think my next greatest love is learning. It was always from books. I read dictionaries and encyclopedias and any and everything else I could get my hands on. Textbooks were always challenging-my mind just doesn't (thank Heaven's) think that way. But I love learning so much so that even textbooks are better than nothing. When I read books I find little gems and treasures that endear the book to me. I want to share a couple now. And I think I'll open this up again as the months of 2009 pass to add a few more. As I was reading ...

It has wisely been said: Procrastination is the thief of time. Edward Young English poet (1683 - 1765) More recently it has been said: "Procrastination is a thief of something greater than time. Procrastination is a thief of self-respect." --Thomas S. Monson Hence... Where’s the fun in keeping things up (house cleaning, laundry, homework, car/house-repairs, etc.), being on top of things, or rather not being caught with your pants down. Naw-life is more exciting if you're one who thrives on being a fire stomper-waiting until there’s pressure-bring it on! Wait until there’s stress-I live for stress! Wait until it’s almost too late. So, what then with the time that could have been spent wisely so there was no need to stomp fires? Is it a sin to waste something so precious a gift of time? What else could be done with time when it is not wasted but spare, extra, leftover because all is safely gathered in, chores done? Does one then sleep in peace and is at rest, has no anxiety...

Friday night for our date we went to the show “Walking with Dinosaurs, the LIVE experience”. It was awesome and David chatted the whole way home. He hasn’t chatted like that for a very long time, but he did this time. I guess this going on a date thing is a good thing for our marriage and relationship. The dinosaurs are large-scale (translate this to life sized) animatronics. There were a total of 15 dinosaurs used (some 2 and 3 of the same kind) and they came into town in 18 (or 20) semi-trucks. They came on stage according to the sequential time frame they appeared in. Yeah-it was good. Well worth the expense. The company that does it is from Australia and affiliated with Immersion Edutainment and the BBC. http://www.dinosaurlive.com/ Anyone-child or adult, interested in paleontology or not, would really benefit from attending this show when given the opportunity.

Last weekend I got this hare-brained idea to refinance the house, roll the two remaining debts into the mortgage and then work at getting the house paid off-sole focus. Sounds smart. 4.75% interest for a fixed 15-year mortgage. I asked Dove to check with the loan officer we last worked with about six years ago and he did on Monday. She called us back, got the gist of what we wanted to do, confirmed data saved from our last transaction and started the paperwork. We have refinanced about four times (in 22 years) and each time there has been an appraiser come out and check the value of the property. This generally means a walk through the house as well. This would mean they would also be looking into our bedroom. At the wall. That he had nearly pushed a hole through while he was kneeling beside the bed when we do scriptures and prayers every night, back when the sheet-rock was soft from leakage in through the basement window. Ah… Yes…. You see where this is going! You are very smart. Wedn...

Friday morning I got a phone message from Blondie (Ruth) about Barbie. When Blondie was going out to her car she saw Barbie at the bottom of the driveway-yowling, curled in a ball, she had blood coming out of her mouth. Blondie was in a hurry to get to work so she couldn’t stop and what was she going to do with/about Barbie anyway? Dove had taken the day off of work (so was available at home) and so Blondie felt it best to at least let me know what was going on. I didn’t hear my cell phone ring (it’s in my purse in a closed drawer at work-duh! I’m not going to hear it ring). I was going to clock out at 8 or 8:30 and do a doughnut run then return by the time the "Boss" was back. I clocked out, grabbed my purse, headed for my car, checked my cell phone, and then listened to the message. I had a very sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I had just rubbed Barbie's head that morning on my way out of the garage and told her I loved her. Needless to say I called Dove on my w...

When I first was hired at Creative Xpress Von had said, “Come in sometime between 7 and 9 a.m. and work your hours.” What does that sound like to you? Well, never mind-I guess because that’s where I’m working it only matters what it sounds like to me. To me it says, you can come in as early as 7 a.m. and because Provo Craft does not compel you to take a lunch you can leave after 8 hours. Well, that would be so, IF your boss didn’t come sallying in between 9 and 10 a.m. and then expect you to stay later each night just because she does. She’s salaried. She’s expected to stay later. I am not paid to do so, I am not salaried. So I end up getting my 40 hours in by Friday mornings around 10 a.m. or so and because Provo Craft does NOT want to pay overtime (or rather Avon doesn’t want it coming out of her budget) I then clock out and leave! Well, the "Boss" has asked me on several occasions to work later on Fridays but she usually does that on that Friday. This past week, on Monday,...

On our drive home she began talking about the entitlement attitudes here in America. I’ve said before I believe that’s why Obama got elected-the entitlement generation played right into his hands. Then she went further-Sodom and Gomorrah was filled with a generation of people who had the entitlement attitude. Interestingly enough today the focus at Church was on Unity-specifically Pres. Eyring’s talk on Unity and Pres. Joseph Smith Jr. lesson on Unity. With our conversation fresh in my mind and the words pouring from the pulpits it became apparent that the societal characteristics of unity seem to be the exact opposite of the societal entitlement characteristics. As to the entitlement attitudes, I hear one son talking about how the company he works for is raping the employee (charging the employee more for health care-HELL-O there are companies no longer offering health insurance because it’s costing them so much); students talking about how good it is in other countries and how bad th...

I have been asked multiple times by my daughters how I handled so many little children so close together with a husband who wasn't in the harness with me (at least he wasn't trying to drive the wagon-or there would have been an upsot cart. This question has been answered with several shrugs of the shoulders, I don't knows, and there was no other choice. Upon deeper reflection I have a more complete understanding and explanation. I recall a day, as a young mother, when I had to stop myself in all my frustrations and heavy distractions from what I wanted to do (read a book) and needed to do (housework, cook, work a mighty miracle with the budget, etc) and say, "I am the mother and right now I can't be a cook, accountant, housekeeper or indulge my desires to read and learn. Motherhood is my most important and greatest responsibility. "It-mothering- comes first; above what I want, above what I think I need, above my relationship with my husband because, one day th...