Random Ramblings

~ This week is my Alma mater's homecoming. I used to be kind of fanatical about high school football. I'm still a fan, but not as crazy as I used to be. I think I'll go to the game.

~I'm really excited to go to conference and see my family up in Provo! We are also going to Mathan's mission reunion. Should be fun!

~My 28th birthday is this weekend and I get to spend most of the day with my best friend Mathan! I can't wait. We're going to spend the day in Flagstaff just having fun and enjoying the time together. We're also going to hit savers and few other stores. I love savers!

~ Last Christmas I was given a tea set that belonged to my Grandma Pew. It's a cute little set, but it is missing the tea pot. Anyway, we found a replacement on the internet and I'm waiting for it to get here! Can you imaging trying to track down a particular piece of china before the internet was established? It would probably take a lifetime and cost a lot more than it does now! I want to have a real tea party with cucumber sandwiches and scones, but what should we drink? Peppermint tea? Cider? Humm.

~ This year we were finally successful at growing tomatoes! I've made salsa and tomato sauce, and have really enjoyed having fresh tomatoes to work with. They are so yummy! For some reason we haven't been able to make them thrive in years past. An interesting side note: our summer squash didn't even come up this year. Usually that is the fail safe crop, but not this year. The cucumbers, beets and carrots have also done well. Sad to see the season coming to an end.

~ A few nights ago May asked Mathan how old he is and he answered, "almost 30". May looked all surprised and said, "that's old!" Then Ellen asked, "are you gong to DIE?" We had a good laugh over that. It's funny how old we seem in the eyes of our kids. I think my mom was 28 when she had me. It's interesting to think of my mom as my age, and feeling the same way I feel. She always seemed so confident and all knowing, but I'm sure she must have felt just like I do; young and inexperienced. I still have so much to learn!

~ I started working at the library again. It's nice to have a little extra money. I'm thinking of using it to put the girls in dance lessons. They both enjoy dancing and seem to have a lot of natural grace. We'll see.

~May is doing well in school as usual, but I'm a little worried by her need for perfection. She gets upset if she messes up, and can't rest until she fixes whatever it is. It's a good quality in moderation, but it's unhealthy in a lot of ways. Few things in life are perfect and that makes life hard for a perfectionist.

~ Today I feel so grateful for all that I have. A loving family, a home of my own with lots of gadgets that make life easy, ample food and clothes, a reliable car, lots of help and information at my finger tips... The list goes on. What's funny is we are what is considered "poor" in this country! Life is so hard for us poor folk with electricity, computers, fridges full of food, and dishwashers!

Monday Memories

Lots of things have sent my mind into little flashbacks lately, mostly things that my kids are doing. May and Ellen were playing outside and as usual I can't leave them alone for more than a few minutes. I constantly look out the window to make sure they're safe. Yes even in our secluded little town I worry and keep a close watch. Anyway they stayed out for longer than usual and I poked my head out the door to see what was entertaining them so well. It was dirt and rocks. That's all. Just dirt and rocks and whatever happened to be lying around. It reminded me of the hours I used to spend imagining rocks into houses with balconies and swimming pools, the same way that you look at clouds and see elephants with bow ties. I remember whole afternoons being spent in a miniature world with small rocks as people and big rocks as mountains and caves. I miss being able to do that! It seems so much harder to think creatively now.
   Another little moment happened when I took May to have her teeth cleaned and my uncle's dentist office. My cousin Brenda was working at the front desk, and while May was waiting for Uncle Trent to come check her teeth, Brenda took her behind the desk to show her the cupboard where the coloring books are kept. My breath caught in my chest just looking at the evidence of the passage of time! There was Brenda all grown up, a beautiful wife and mother, showing my daughter the same cupboard that she showed me years ago when we were girls. We used to run up to the office and raid the basket of little toys that they kept for kids who had had there teeth worked on.   It seems like such a short time ago that we were May's age and rummaging through the place where the fun stuff is still kept.
     I have a stuffed animal that has survived every toy purge of my life, and now my girls play with her almost as often as I did. She is a white cat named Candy, and her shape lends itself to being dressed up. My girls figured this out on there own. They dressed her in a dress that they both have out grown. It makes me smile to see them enjoying her in the same way I did. Candy went almost everywhere with me. She went on every road trip and spent every night in my bed. She caught many tears and survived a few tug o' wars too. Needless to say she's not really white anymore and the paint on her eyes is faded and chipped. She has even had her fur trimmed a couple of times. I'm going to keep her until she has been entirely worn out, which probably won't be too much longer considering that I let the girls play with her, then I'll see if I can find one on the internet that is in good condition. I'll give the original Candy a proper burial and keep the new one in remembrance of the Candy that gave me so much comfort.