Familial Research and Development

Maybe that only applies to me, but I hear a song and a phrase here or there and it just says how I feel. Some of the lyrics I have to listen to and think about for a while before I see the connection. So I want to share the lyrics of some of the songs I most love and treasure and tell you why they touch me so deeply. I'm going to start with Charlene's I've Never Been To Me . The background-not fair-because when I first heard it I didn't have a prep. She's lived long enough to go through the dream-glamor years from teen, to young adult, to mature adult, to obviously not young any more... And she realizes that what she thought she wanted when she was younger-over experience and time-she's come to realize that wasn't what she wanted. So she wants to leave a message to young mothers who may think their life of motherhood and wife-hood is drudgery. This message I think is good for young women who might be thinking a life of bling and glamor is the way to go. She ...

Cap and Trade? Is it good? Perhaps. Yes, Pelosi-it will generate, "...jobs, jobs, jobs." And castrate the rest of us. Ah but if we have a 'free' health care system (for more doctors to 'practice' on people), then it's all going to be just fine, right? These steps almost sound like steps toward a Star Trek Society. Yet, they aren't. They are steps to failure. The ONLY way that these programs will work is IF (tiny word-HUGE implications) all (totally all) of American society drop money and benefits as part of life. That would mean that you go to work, clock in, clock out and the day is over. You stop at a store and pick up the food you need for that nights meal and the next mornings breakfast and afternoons lunch-and don't pay a dime for it. The farmer works for free-all of his supplies come at no cost. The trucker works for free-all of his supplies come at no cost. The grocer works for free-all of his supplies come at no cost. The politician works ...

If you're both deaf and blind and all alone and are trying to survive or get-a-long in life without the true and everlasting gospel(that would be pre-mortal existence and post-mortal existence type of everlasting-rules/laws/commandments in effect before time began and will be long after the earth is a sea of glass); it would be like being blind and deaf and stuck in the middle of a mine field. Any which way you turn may seem right but could be devastatingly wrong. And what's worse-you may have others dependent on you to help you make it through there safely. I think that's what my favoritest and dearest Great Aunt Piney went through too. I have born my testimony and heard others do so-trying to express what life would be like without the gospel and as hard as I've tried to find those words to express my deepest feelings-I have been unsuccessful; until now. Last night at the Temple those are the words that came to me. Aunt Piney had married in the Temple and found her hu...

...than the dog. Why's that? Because you brush your teeth! And then the lights went out for the night!!

Distance: 1.3 miles and rising Two weeks ago, speed was 2.1 and distance was 4-5x/week. Some times I mow the line for my 30 minutes of aerobic exercise. It is not a riding mower. It is now a self-propelled mower. Unless you define self-propelled as you yourSELF is PROPELLING it! :) Jell-O one to two times/day. Glucoasmine, chondroitin, & MSM 3 caps/day. Exercising at night allows my knees to recover while I sleep and then I can take off and keep going throughout the day. Jell-O and 3 Advil at night before bed. Don't know how far I can go, or how long, but it seems to be helping. 2x/week lift weights, including lower body workout. Bricks for lower body is now up to 3. Upper body-depends on which set of muscles, so with the weight lift set up it's 4-7 bricks and with the fast pack (free weights) it's between 5 lbs. and 12 lbs.

This picture was taken in 1985. That would make Dove 34 years old and I was 31 years old. It's always fun to look back at pictures and 'remember when'. As I was looking at this picture in light of my current state, many, many thoughts came back to me. I read, " How to Lower Your Fat Thermostat " I worked really hard to get skinny (in a year I had gone from 290 lbs. to 147) I ate a lot of food-but only the stuff God made and sanctioned for humankind I did it without the support (and without the heckling) of friends, family, spouse I began a rigorous exercise program and stuck with it until health issues denied me I read, " Side Tracked Home Executives " I learned how to organize myself and keep my house clean At a recent activity I made a comment about young adults will eventually get it (as I once was and so finally did get 'it'), in reference to keeping ones environment clean. Stupid thing to say to other people. It may well offend them if they ...

Well, that's what they said when they showed up. That kind of thing always takes me by surprise. To be wanted. To be loved. To be sought after. To be cared about. We get it from a few different angles, but yet when it happens, it always takes me by surprise. We don't try to impose sanctions and requirements and yet, they 'want' to come. 'Want' to visit. 'Want' to be around us. That's the way we have always 'wanted' it to be-for them to grow up that way. We can't play the money game of buying their love-we don't have enough money to do that. We can't play the 'I'm gonna die soon' game (thank heavens!), so that isn't an option. And we won't play the mind games that may or may not work with controlling others. So we're left to drift with the wind and let the heartstrings do their thing. Dove is up at the Stake building setting up for Youth session of Stake Conference so I'm home in a very quiet house-...

I've had a moment tonight to read a couple more pages in my currently, favorite series. Hannah, mother of Samuel is angelically speaking through the ages to Joseph father of Jesus. Hannah, "Y ou never stop loving your children, though they may not be with you. In the end you have to give them back to the One who gave them to you ." "...the reason the heavens and the earth were created..." Each baby carries within its heart the story of God's love. Mankind was not created for the sake of the world. No, the heavens and the earth were created for the sake of mankind." I have said of my children ever since the above sunk in, 'they will grow up and go away. It is as it should be.' 'They are borrowed from Father-they are His and I am their steward in His behalf.' I owe it to Him to do my very best; the best of all my parents did for me and then add upon it.

From the L. A. Times 1. 40% of all workers in L. A. County ( L. A. County has 10.2 million people) are working for cash and not paying taxes. This is because they are predominantly illegal immigrants working without a green card. 2. 95% of warrants for murder in Los Angeles are for illegal aliens. 3. 75% of people on the most wanted list in Los Angeles are illegal aliens. 4. Over 2/3 of all births in Los Angeles County are to illegal alien Mexicans on Medi-Cal , whose births were paid for by taxpayers. 5. Nearly 35% of all inmates in California detention centers are Mexican nationals here illegally. 6. Over 300,000 illegal aliens in Los Angeles County are living in Garages. 7. The FBI reports half of all gang members in Los Angeles are most likely illegal aliens from south of the border. 8. Nearly 60% of all occupants of HUD properties are illegal. 9. 21 radio stations in L. A. are Spanish speaking. 10. In L. A. County 5.1 million people speak English, 3.9 million speak Spanish. (...