Monday hits like a brick

Talk about difficult to get out of bed to get ready for work this morning. I was really getting used to sleeping in and staying under the warm covers. Ready or not the day arrived and amazingly I made it through.  I mailed miss Mar's ovals, and I even got my hour of exercise in.  Wow!  Stranger things have happened.

Work will be crazy until the end of the month - working to get everything in order so the books will be ready to close for year end. I will be taking time off at the end of the month to spend with my family during the holidays, so I have to work double hard to get everything done. It will be worth it...I can't wait!

Tonight we went to Ralph's mother's to help put up a few decorations for the holidays. She has some beautiful crèche's out on display. We hung some garland and put up some lights outside. There is a house across the street from her that has gone way overboard with the holiday lights and decorations. Pretty close the Griswolds home in National Lampoons Christmas vacation. I like a tastefully done home, not the overdone - light every inch of our house kind of display.

Well...I can hardly keep my eyes open, it has been a long day.
Ta Ta for now

All I can say is...Wow

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude to me is more important than facts.... We cannot change our past...we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the string we have, and that is our attitude."
Charles R. Swindoll

Quick comment on yesterdays football game. Congrats to BYU for the Win in overtime. It was a crazy game. I don't think the refs called the game fair. But who does when you lose the game. The real stinger was after the game, Max Hall, the BYU quarterback talked about how the University of Utah, its fans, it's students and everyone associated with the University were "classless".  Unfortunately he has channeled all of his hatred because of a few fan stunts, which by the way weren't very nice, towards everyone associated with the U of U. The thing he didn't think about is that he represents BYU.  He also forgets that several of his church leaders are University of Utah fans. As much as you want to say he was justified because of the way his family was treated and because he is just another athlete - he wasn't.  When he signed on the dotted line to attend BYU he also agreed to their honor code.  His behavior does not exemplify the school he attends or the people who founded it.  I wonder how much the coaches feed into that behavior?  I feel sorry for BYU, Max gives them a bad name when he spouts off like that. I feel sorry for Max - he invites a lot of the negative attention he gets with his comments.   Instead of the focus being on their win, it is now turned to him and his comments.

Today, has been a true mixture of emotions. Ralph was released from his Bishop calling today. I am so glad to have him home with me.   There were a lot of comments about us changing wards.  I don't want to.  Life is so up in the air.  We could be moving.  Last we heard, the new buyer was supposed to close on the loan and purchase tomorrow.  So who knows what could happen from here.  It just feels like everything in life is so unsure right now. 

I'm a mess!  Well, like my brother said...You do all you can and then put the rest in the Lords hands.  Enough said
Ta Ta for now

Let's Get Ready to Rumble!

UTAH vs BYU
Can the Utes pull this one off?  I don't know, but I hope they give it everything they've got.  No Penalty's!!!  Wynn - Keep warm, don't be intimidated.  Defense - Stay tough and Stay open, with a little pressure, Max might pass it to you.  Offensive line - Protect your quarterback!  Ref's keep your eyes open - no dumb calls you could cost us the game!  I am excited - and hopefully we (me) can be good sports about it, no matter which way the outcome goes.

Not a lot to update - Riley was like a 2 year old yesterday.  "Please hold me, please pet me, please hold me, please take me outside, please hold me."  Just gotta love him though.  He had a great little nap yesterday.  Caught a picture of him.  I am not quite sure how he kept his balance, but he was quite comfortable.  It has been cold enough, if no one will hold him, he gravitates towards the heat vents to keep his nose warm.  Funny little dog.

I will finish decorating for Christmas and making my cards.    Have a great day.  Ta Ta for now.

Go Utes!

Thanksgiving Dinner and the aftermath

What a great day we had. Took it easy in the morning, dinner was oh so yummy. I ate way too much. The dessert was very tasty. I think that cranberry raisin pie will be going into the Ralph Curtis repertoire of recipes. I even had some for breakfast this morning. Can't go wrong with fruit pies for breakfast and a big glass of milk.  It was fun to spend time with family.  We don't get together often enough.  Everybody is too busy.  (I will leave that topic for another blog entry.)  We played a round of 5 crowns and watched a little bit of football.  I was hoping to watch a little of the Texas vs Texas A&M game, but I didn't have control of the remote.  Oh well.  We had a good time anyway.

Well, I guess you can say the Christmas season has officially started.  I haven't actually played any Christmas music on the stereo, but I do have three loaves of German Stollen on the stove raising.  Nothing says Christmas to me more than this bread.  Mom has always made it, since I can remember and it has become a staple in my home.  A nice soft bread with raisins, currents almonds and other goodies. 
The Thanksgiving decorations are down - my hope is by the end of the week (that would be tomorrow) most of the decorations for Christmas will be up.  We will going to visit my mother for the holidays, so Ralph and I have been debating on whether to spend the money for a tree.  The jury is still out, no decisions yet.   I have been working on Christmas cards today.  The main image should be finished by the end of today.  I should have the rest put together by Sunday evening.  Hopefully get them in the mail next week.  I haven't been able to get that job done on time for several years, so it is good to be ahead of the game.

Well, off to do more "stuff"  I will leave you with the recipe
Cranberry Raisin Pie
Pie pastry for a double crust - 9-inch
2 1/2 Cups fresh cranberries (1 12 oz bag worked)
1 1/2 C golden raisins
1 apple peeled, cored and diced
3/4 C sugar
1 tsp maple emulsion or 1/2 C sugar and 1/4 C pure maple syrup
1 tbls orange zest
juice of one orange
1 tsp brandy extract
3 tbls flour
1 tsp salt

Pour filling into 9-in rolled out pie crust - dot with butter.  Place pie pastry on top.  Seal and brush with cream, sprinkle with sugar.  Bake at 375 for 50-55 minutes.

Ta Ta for now.

I am thankful for...

Don't these pies look yummy? The lattice topped pie is a cranberry raisin and the fully covered in an apple.

I hope they taste as good as they look.  We are now in the process of peeling potatoes and prepping the brussel sprouts.  I have also started stamping my Christmas cards.  Once the potatoes are on to boil, I will run upstairs and get ready to go.  Sometimes I wish it was ok to wear my jammies all day, but Thanksgiving dinner wouldn't feel right or as special.

I have discovered there are many things I have that I could not live with out... well, life would be dramatically different with out them! I am so blessed to have:

A sweet friend to spend forever with

A testimony

Book of Mormon

My health
Puppy kisses and snuggles

A loving and supportive family

Terrific friends
Tender Mercies
My talents

My freedoms

A computer

Google

A job

Health Insurance

A car

Lots of books to read

A dish washer

A washing machine and dryer

Great Music to listen to

A warm home to live in

Hand sanitizer

The smell of rain

Mountains

Frosty leaves, meadows trees etc.

Daisy's - they are such a happy flower.
laughter

Rubber stamps and ink...

the list could go on and on and I will probably check back in to add more, but I truly feel blessed (such a mormon word)  I hope everyone takes time out to really think about those things that they are thankful for.

GOBBLE TIL YOU WOBBLE!

Thanksgiving Meme

My boss let me go 45 minutes early today.  Yay!
So I am home with my sweety and my dog fully looking forward to my time I get to spend with them.  On the eve of my favorite holiday I will be baking a couple of pies and contemplating the weekend.  Maybe even papercrafting a bit.

Here is a little Meme about Thanksgiving.  Feel free to copy the questions and answer them yourself - post them to your blog.
1. Do you cook all or part of the meal? If it was going to be at my house, yes I would, but we find ourselves at one in-laws or the other.  I always help out in one way or another.
2.  How much do you spend buying groceries for the meal? I haven't had to buy the whole thing, but I can imagine it gets pretty pricey.  Then again, you do get to have leftovers to eat for a few days.  Yum!  Makes it worth it, I think.
3.  Do you eat at home or go to someone else’s? As mentioned above, usually at another family members home.  I think my preference is with my family, because I like Moms dinner.  Not that it is better than anyone elses (I could argue that, but I won't)  but it is home.
4.  Describe your perfect bite? Mashed potatoes, stuffing, tiny bit of turkey, with a dot of moms cranberry sauce. Aaaaaaaaaahhhhh!
5.  White meat or dark? Yes.
6.  Stuffing with giblets or without? Without.  Sausage in the stuffing and giblets to help flavor the gravy.
7.  Anything you won’t eat at the Thanksgiving meal? I really don't care for brussell sprouts.  I tried last year to be accomodating but they were so overcooked YUCK!  This year we get to prepare them.  We are cooking them with bacon and onions.  Can't go wrong with bacon.
8.  Carve Mr. Gobble at the table or serve on a platter? On a platter.  We cook him upsidedown for most of the cooking time so he isn't that pretty, but the white meat stays juicy.  Plus, I can't stay away from the crispy skin before it gets to the table.
9.  Favorite pie? I love most all pies.  I would have to choose Pecan as my favorite with whipped cream.
10.  Formal table or Chinet? I love a formal table setting, name tags, favors goblets etc.
11.  Your menu:  (Don't know, but these would are some of my favorites)
An appetizer with fish - like crab cheesecake, or a shrimp cocktail or seviche.
Relish tray with a nice variety of veggies and dip.  Don't forget the olives.
Pickle tray - home made pickles
Tomato Aspic
Turkey
Mashed Potatoes & Gravy
Baked sweet potatoes with brown sugar, cinnamon butter.
Homemade Rolls with Butter and homemade freezer jam
Peas, corn, carrots
Homemade Stuffing with mushrooms and sausage
Frozen fruit cocktail salad
Cranberry Sauce or salsa
Fizzy fruity drink

Pumpkin Pie
Marionberry Pie
Pecan Pie
Mincemeat Pie
12.  Favorite leftover? All of it.  Don't usually get any at the SLC family dinner, but the GV dinner I enjoy it all.
13.  Extended family, friends, both or just the immediate family for dinner? Family and anyone else who needs a place to go.  
14.  After dinner, do you go to the latest movie or watch football on TV or just a turkey induced snooze?  All of the above!  Watch football, play games watch a good DVD, and nap.
15.  Do you watch the Macy’s Parade? I love to watch the parade.  I have great memories of sitting in the living room with my Dad and watching the parade with him.
16. Christmas decorations up before or after? usually the day after.
17.  Black Friday shopping or sleep in? It could be fun, but my pillow always wins out.  Too many crowds and never enough money to spend to make it worth braving the mobs.
18.  Any special Thanksgiving tradition? Not really anything special.  Just hanging out with family. 
19.  Favorite thing about Thanksgiving? It’s such a casual day and usually surrounded by family and loved ones!  I love the food and relaxation
20.  Favorite Thanksgiving memory? I seriously don’t have one. I love the years that we’ve had guests, family and friends. I love the traditions, the official "Let the holidays begin" feeling. Every Thanksgiving is my favorite Thanksgiving.
21.  Share your favorite Thanksgiving recipe:
"My" Pecan Pie
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup melted butter
1 1/2 cups pecans - coursely broken
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 tsp vanilla
pinch salt
1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell

Preheat oven to 350
Mix together all the ingredients in the order in which they are listed, and blend well.  Pour into the unbaked pie shell and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until the filling is firm.  Cool on rack.  Serve with whipped cream.

Don't overwork and have a great evening.  Ta Ta for now.

Just another day

Only one more day until Thanksgiving. Time is just flying!  I have been compiling a Thankful for...list - can't wait to debut it.

Just in case you haven't noticed, it has been kinda cold.  Comes with the season, I know.  One of my favorite things about the cold is...frost. When the light, whether it comes from a street light or from the sun, reflects on the ice crystals it just sparkles. Just like diamonds or glitter. I love sparkly things.  Another thing I like about frost is that if there is enough moisture in the air, then trees and fences are covered with enough frost they look like someone flocked them. So pretty.  Frost patterns on windows can be really cool to look at as well, except when you have to scrape them off of your car so you can see.

One more day of work to make it through before I get a break. Here are ten things I am truly looking forward to this weekend:

1. Sleeping In
2. Turkey Dinner = Food Coma - love it!
3. Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
4. Ralph gets released from his Bishop calling
5. Football...including the great rivalry game between Utah and BYU
6. Decorating for Christmas/Christmas Music.
7. Watching movies with my sweetheart and Riley B.
8. Spending time with Ralph's family.  Yes, I do like them.
9. Making Christmas cards to send to family.
10. Chex Mix!


I hope you have list of things you are looking forward to, tell me about them.
Well I am off to bed, lots to do tomorrow. Ta Ta for now.

Monday Musings

Oh my gosh...my house is full of smoke!  I can't breathe anymore. Cough, cough sputter cough.  Don't you fret though... my house is not on fire.  We made steak and guiness pie yesterday and had a spill over in the oven.  We turned the oven on to roast some veggies to have with dinner tonight and now we have smoke everywhere.  Oh well...at least the roasted veggies will taste good.  It is so cold outside I don't really want to open the doors to circulate air, but I don't have a choice.  I now smell like a fire pit.

Thanksgiving is three days away.  I am looking forward to some time off. 


Today, I felt like all I did was tread water.  I didn't get a lot of progress made towards getting my work done for month end reporting, but I did get all my phone calls answered today.  Ok...I didn't answer the call that came in at 4:30 p.m.  I just couldn't take another research issue on today.  Don't worry, if you would have called I would have answered.

This weekend is the biggest football game ever.  Utah Utes vs TDS.  It is the topic of conversations everywhere.  Even elementary schools are having a "wear the colors of the winning team" day.  Didn't know 5 year olds even cared.  I can hope that the Utes have their game on and that Max Hall gets rattled. I am excited to watch the game.

Signing off for the evening.  Ta ta for now.

My Sentiments Exactly.

Where did last week go?

I can't believe it... I am sitting at my compter a week later and haven't been able to get a blog entry done before now. I am in the middle of studying for my Sunday School lesson and actually needed a break.  I have had lots of thoughts and things to share, but none of them ever translated into a blog entry.  Everything from feeling blue, to its beginning to look a lot like Christmas too early for me.  We were supposed to have a bunch of snow this weekend.  Looks like the storm stayed north.  We will see what the weather brings tomorrow.

I went to the last home game for my football team.  Go Utes!  I am always sad to see our seniors go.  You could tell they were preparing for our game next week against the TDS (team down south)  It was a good game - we won.  It was so cold.  I am just now feeling like I am warming up.  Ralph was unable to go due to another ankle injury. (not the same ankle)  Needless to say he is pretty frustrated with himself.  I thought I was the klutz in our little family?  Ok - I need to honest here...I have a big old scrape on my back from trying to get out of our back gate without Riley.  It truly stung!  I guess we are both just a couple of bumbling klutz's


It was a weird week last week, and I am just glad it is over.  It seemed like there were things always going on, but I couldn't tell you what I have been up to, and I have nothing to show for it.  I have punched some ovals from paper to get into the mail on Monday.
 
I am already tired of all the Christmas commercials.  Buy, Buy, Buy.  When I take Riley for his walks, I noticed that there are several houses that have all their decorations up.  I understand the excitement for the holidays and the merryment, but I think it is way overdone!  What ever happened to being Thankful for what we have and this great country we live in, appreciating all the sacrifices those people made to have a new life for themselves and how much I have benefitted from them and from my heritage.

The calendar for December is quickly filling up.  Yikes!  Lots of social activities.  I think we will be ready for a break when Christmas rolls around.  Well my head feels heavy - I am tired, so enough for today.  Ta ta for now.

A Utah Man am I - and a completely lazy day.

We were supposed to wake up to a bunch of snow this morning.  When I finally decided to roll out of bed, it was to sunshine and a skiff of snow on the rooftops.  The outlook for the day was great.  Ralph even checked the weather report and we were not supposed to have any more snow.  Well...our not so accurate weather forecast was a little late.  The snow hit about 11:00 and it didn't stop until about 3:30.  It was a cold day.

Not such a great day for my Utes, but TCU has one awesome team. Onward Texas Christian Soldiers! I hope they get a great BCS bid. I also hope that Kyle & Co spend some time on the flight home gently reminding the team of how absolutely horrible it feels to receive a beat down like they did AND that they put it behind them and finish the regular season with an absolute hunger that results in a beatdown of SDSU and again in Provo the following week. Shoot, I hate losing! Anybody who say's winning isn't everything has never lost.

I got absolutely nothing done today. It felt good to be lazy, but I know I will look back and wish I would have utilized my weekend time a little better. I was going to finish Mar's projects and get them ready to mail and I was going to work on my Christmas card and a couple of birthday cards. Didn't get any of it done.  I think I was anxious for the football game start.  Kind of silly, but I can't help it. 

Ok I did get a few things done. I did get Riley out for a walk in the snow. He was begging to go until I opened the door.  He saw all that white stuff and put on the 4 leg stop. He was not going out.  I didn't give him a choice and he felt better for it - plus I don't have a mess on the floor.  I also made a great beef stew, you know...the kind with chunks of potato, carrot, celery, onion, tomato and beef.  I also made breadsticks to have with our stew.  It really hit the spot on a cold and snowy day. I am not ready for cold snowy weather.

I think tonight will be an early to bed night.  I need the extra sleep. 


Ta Ta for now.

Bookgroup Thursday and some figure skating.

Sitting down with a hot cup and tea and getting a little personal computer time.  Ahhh.


Lately, I feel like everytime I get home from work I am so tired.  Mentally finished.  We are working on the final stages of a new program that will go worldwide.  There are lots of things that have to be cleaned up.  It seems like issues from 2006 & 2007 keep popping up.  Those problems cut into my time I use to take care of current problems.  The pressure is on to get all of those old items taken care of my year end.  Yikes!

So I have been able to watch a couple of figure skating competitions on TV in the last few days.
 
I totally love to watch them.  The commentators may say some of the dumbest things, but the music, sound of the blades on the ice, the gracefulness and athleticism of the skaters, and their crazy costumes are worth it.  Ralph hates the sport, especially the commentators, and usually leaves the room when I turn it on.  I try to be mindful, but sometimes I don't care.  If I have to put up with some of his silly sci-fi programs, he can deal with me watching some figure skating.  By the way - the winter olympics are just around the corner.  I can't wait!

Last night I went to my monthly bookgroup.  It was good as always.  I love it when everyone can make it.  We read Middlemarch by George Eliot.  Took me forever to get through it, especially the first 200 pages, but as I got into the book and got closer to the end I decided it was worth hanging on and getting to the end.  I love listening to the other gals and their thoughts and opinions.  I get to host the group next month.  We are going to read Candide.  Should be interesting. 
I love a good book.


Well, I am off to bed.  Ta Ta for now

Oh my gosh...Christmas is coming and I am not ready

Panic has set in!  I don't even have a Christmas card design yet.

• It is supposed to snow this weekend - brr
  
• I haven't even made my Thanksgiving dinner shopping list.
• Our house might be sold by Christmas - we could be homeless.
• We are broke
  
• One of the radio stations is already playing Christmas music.
• Christmas is 43 days away.
• Christmas is 6 weekends away.
• There are really only 33 shopping days left until Christmas because we don't shop on Sundays or Christmas Eve.
• The goose is getting fat. (so is the gander)
• There are three pay periods left until Christmas.
• There are only 5 weeks until our Christmas open house
• Temple square and the COB are already decorated for Christmas - trees and all.
   
• We got tickets to the Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert
• There are only 14 days until I can play my Christmas music all day everyday without complaints from anyone!
• Ralph doesn't have to conduct tithing settlement this year!

I wish you happy planning.  Ta Ta for now.

A quick recap to catch up

Did you know...paper crafting can wear you out?  Actually I think it is more like my sister in law Marlene.  She is an energizer bunny.  I couldn't get her to slow down, even for my sake.  Needless to say, we had a fabulous time and each of us came away with some great projects.  These don't include the Christmas cards and neighbor gifts that didn't quite get finished, but there are enough pieces to have an excellent start.

We painted these blocks, and papered them, mod podged them, numbered them, labeled the bottom block and then mod podged them again.  Does anyone know which way the apostrophe is supposed to go?  One of the designer papers we used had Christmas trees all over it.  Silly me put the 9/6 numbers on that particular paper.  So when you turned the number one way it was right side up, then the other way all my Christmas trees were upside down.  BOO!  I ended up scraping paper off and redoing that side. Marlene and I had a good laugh.

I covered wooden letters with autumn paper and embelished with cute rub-ons, ribbons, and buttons.  I need to add a few more emblishments, but I ran out of creative juice.


This project was the most difficult to photograph, because...it is too dark without using a flash.  The flash creates shadows.  You can sort of see what it is, but I love it.  "Welcome family and friends"

I think my most favorite day was the day we drove to Manti to go to the temple.  It was such a beautiful day.  The temple workers were so nice to us and we ran up and down the hallways trying to figure out where we needed to go.  We were treated so good.  The temple artwork and murals are amazing.  I loved being with my Mom and Marlene.  Ralph was unable to go with us because of a business meeting.  I missed him.  We stopped on our way out of town at Freds sports grill.  I was so hungry and that burger was sooo good.  Bacon, cheese, beef, tomato, pickles.  YUM!  The fries and soft drink were icing on the cake (so to speak)

Well, we had a great time,

We had great food, and the company could not have been better.  I think this should become an annual event.

Well the dog is farting - so it is time to go for a walk.  Have a great day! Ta Ta for now.

Sleepin In and some Girl time

You would think that if it was your day off you would take advantage of sleeping in.

 I woke up right on schedule to get ready for work and I don't even have to go in today.  So... I stayed in bed and cuddled my puppy.  He is so soft and warm.  Just in case you were wondering Ralph was already up - watching the news and dozing.

Last night I put all my Halloween decorations away and put up some of my Thanksgiving decorations.  I love fall so much.

 
I realized, looking at the calendar, that November is going to fly by.  So much to cram into 4 weeks including the holidays.  We are having such great weather.  I am not ready to think about Christmas. 

The evening was pretty relaxing.  We had a great pasta dinner with the rest of Gary's baking masterpiece.  Did I tell you I love his bread?  It is so tasty - even on the second and third day.  Mom and Ralph watched Much A Do - one of my favorite movies.  Marlene and I went through my paper and stamp stash.  I got on a roll and I couldn't stop showing her all these great ideas.  Bed time came late - really late.

We (the girls) are going craft shopping today.  We are going to the Wood Connection, and then some scrapbooking stores.   I hope to find a cute inexpensive Fall decoration to add to my collection.  Fun times! 

Well we are off to take the doggies around the block and then off we go.  Have a great day - Ta Ta for now.

They're Here

Our guests have arrived! It was so good to see them here safe and sound. I think Riley was the most excited to see Millie Pups. I don’t think the feeling was mutual. I say…suck it up Millie.
(pretend these are doggies)

My brother sent a couple of baguettes for me on condition that I keep Mar from climbing the stairs. He makes the best French baguettes ever. So it will be worth it to Hog-tie Marlene. I had triple cream cheese (kind of like brie only creamier) spread all over the top of each slice. Oh so tasty! It’s just one more thing to look forward to when I get home.

I don’t think I have seen as much reality TV in one sitting as I did last night. We hopped from Entertainment Tonight to Dancing with the Stars to Little People Big World to an interview with Kate Gosselin and Natalie Morales and then it was 11:00 p.m. and way past my bedtime. I am sure tonight will include Biggest Loser. After that I am not sure. No offense to people who really enjoy watching those shows, but way too much drama and not enough action. It took a half hour to argue about who was going on vacation to the Virgin Islands. Shoot, if they don’t want to go I will! Maybe some paper crafting time tonight?!


Today is my last work day of the week. I will be taking three days off to spend with my family. I can hardly wait. It will make today go crazy fast because I have so much to get done. On that note…Have a great day. Ta Ta for now.

Choosing Happiness

The weekend did not quite go as planned.  Somehow we will make up for it.  Ralph ended up at the family compound for most of the day.  They picked and pressed the apples into cider.  I am glad the family opted to give us a call to come help.  We got 3 gallons of cider.  After we pasteurized the cider, we have about 2 1/2 gallons.  So Yummy.  I got 3 loads of laundry done, one bed made up and two bathrooms completely scrubbed down.  We made it to the football game, but not without problems.  We got to the stadium and realized I had forgotten the tickets.  So I had to go back home to get them.  Fortunately, we live close enough we only missed part of the 1st quarter. 

Today Ralph has taken the vehicle in to the fixit shop.  I am so excited to be able to drive the vehicle without worrying about it falling apart.  Ralph will also attack the honey do list.  He is so patient with me and I love him for it. 

We had this game, while we were growing up, where there was a camel whose legs were set on wheels and this front portion and back portion were connected with some type of spring mechanism. The object of the game was, as you each took your turn, to get as many of your straws onto the camel's back before it broke from the weight of all the straws. Hopefully you planned your move so your opponents would lay the straw that broke the camel.

Lately, I feel very much like this camel. Life has turned into a game where God keeps piling on straws just to see how far Cheryl can go before breaking. I know that is a fairly pessimistic view of life, but that is how I feel. Now, I know that Job was tested this way, but then again I am not entirely convinced the rest of us have to prove our faithfulness by losing everything we have. (I hope!) Another thing I do know is that we were given a plan for "mans happinesss" and that "men are that they might have joy". So where is the joy?

Ultimately, if your burdens are still heavy, if you are still feeling like you are on the dung heap then you haven't turned your issues entirely over to the Lord.  You need to step up the spiritual activities until you truly feel like your back is not longer breaking.  I am a pretty good pretender on the surface and I can involve myself so deeply in activities that there is no time to wallow, but I still carry those burdens.  I have somehow got to figure out how to truly turn them over and have the faith that I, and my issues will be taken care of.

President Harold B. Lee once said: “Happiness does not depend on what happens outside of you but on what happens inside of you. It is measured by the spirit with which you meet the problems of life.”  It will often be necessary for all of us to choose between having a good time and leading a good life.

Oh gracious & Holy Father, give us wisdom to perceive thee,
diligence to seek thee, patience to wait for thee,
eyes to behold thee, a heart to meditate on thee,
and a life to proclaim thee;
through the power of the spirit of Jesus Christ our Lord

Attributed to St Benedict
C 480-C547


I hope that I can make that choice each day - despite what is going on around me.
 
Have a great day!  Ta Ta for now.

A Ute Win and a picture perfect Sunday

Today I was all prepared to dive into another discourse on a great Win from the Utes.  Well ok, it wasn't a great win, but it was a win and I am ok with that.  I wasn't even for sure we had a win until the 4th quarter.  Mostly I was so glad I was able to go with Ralph and enjoy our Halloween together doing something we both love.

An extra hour of sleep felt so good.  It was such a beautiful fall day.  Crunchy leaves to walk through on the sidewalk, sun was shining, just the right temperature to spend part of the afternoon outside.  Riley thought that was a great idea.

I taught my Sunday school lesson today...and now we are all excited to do our geneology work right?  Glad that is over for the next two weeks.  Sacrament meeting was exceptionally good today.  I learned a lot from the spirit today. 

We were invited to have dinner with Ralph's sister and family.  Now think Norman Rockwell as I paint this picture. We had a great dinner - typical of Sunday.  Roast beef, mashed potatoes w/gravy, home made rolls, waldorf salad, and roasted veggies.  After dinner and dish duty we adjourned to the sitting area where there was a fire going.  Some of the children quietly played with lincoln logs and building blocks.  Ralph and his sister played duets on the piano.   A couple of his neices tied blankets around their wastes and danced to the music.  His younger brother, with his wife, worked on a puzzle, while I and Ralph's mother sat relaxing and listened to the music.  After several musical selections we returned to the dining room for apple crisp.  Could it get any better.  Just before we left, Ralph and I divied out the rest of our Halloween candy to the neices and nephews.  I am tired of Tootsie rolls - glad to get rid of it.  It was such a relaxing evening.  It almost makes it a little easier to swallow having to go to work tomorrow.

Mom and Mar will be here tomorrow and then it will a party for the rest of the week.  Hope your Sunday was as good as mine.  Ta Ta for now.