Falling Into Place

There was just so much going on today. And wow, it was one of those days where several little things fell into place to make it a smooth sailing day.


My mom and dad came up first thing in the morning to go to Logan with me to work on the house. They forgot their coffee (!) so we had to stop at a drive through for it, which meant that I could get a diet coke and that me really happy.  We were all pretty happy with our beverages and had a nice drive up the canyon.

We were up there to make some tile repairs in the kitchen. I took a stab at it by myself last week and messed things up real good, then decided I better get my dad to bail me out once again. And of course, with a little expert TLC from the professional tile setter in the family, we got it fixed. We found out that Lowe's has a guy who will make tile cuts for you, and all five of the pieces he cut for us worked perfectly the first time. That NEVER happens, at least not for me.

I got to use a little mortar to build up a cracked spot around the sink, and I got to push it into place with my hands! I'm sure my dad was cringing a little bit at that, but hey it worked, aided by his ingenious idea of using old tile pieces as a frame to shape the new mortar. We make a pretty good team, him and me.

While this was going on, my mom got a call about an appointment she has coming up, and since we were all right there together, we got all the details worked out. That would have been seriously more complicated if we hadn't been together when she got that call.

I happened to glance in the mailbox while we were there, and our property tax notice was in there. I'm not normally excited about getting a tax notice, but I am happy that I was there to get it instead of  having to depend on renters to forward it to me.

The whole job took less time than I planned on, and we were home in plenty of time to get Olivia from school. Yes, school. She started yesterday, and I have pictures to prove it.

Later this evening, Audrey and I went on a hike with our Young Women. I made it to the waterfall of Waterfall Canyon, even though my bum leg was killing me and all the way up I was having to sweet talk a tired and discouraged girl who just wanted to be done and didn't care about making it to the waterfall into continuing on. It worked. I got us both up the mountain. Late and tired, but successful.

And I don't know the tie in yet, but throughout my successful and crazy day, Mosiah 4:19 kept playing on a circuit in my head.

Figuring that out later. Off to bed now. My legs hurt.

The Privilege of Age

I know a sweet lady, just a couple years older than me, who has pancreatic cancer.  She is one of the funniest, warmest, friendliest,most upbeat people I know.  She and her doctors were fairly optimistic in the beginning that she could beat it, but now, six months in, she is not doing well. She is constantly sick to her stomach and in pain. I saw her a few months ago, and didn't recognize her at first. She had lost so much weight, as well as all of her hair. But she was her usual cheerful self as she described her treatment, and how she was coping with the challenges of chemo.  I saw her husband today, and with tears in his eyes, he told us how sick she is now.  She has lost another 22 pounds just this month. He described how if she has 30 minutes a day where she is not throwing up, they consider it a great day.  She is fighting a good fight, and she isn't ready to give up just yet,  but the chances of her winning this fight are not in her favor. She has a great husband, several kids who range in age from late twenties to late teens, and a few new grandbabies that she adores.  It just seems so unfair. She should have many more decades of life to complain about wrinkles and gray hair, fight with her teenage daughter, love her grandkids, and travel with her husband. It is hard to believe that someone as vibrant as she is could be struck with such terrible luck.

Thinking about this dear woman, I want to never complain again about that extra bulge that has appeared around my middle, because it means my body is working the way it should.   I want to never miss a chance to just hang out with my kids and husband, even if we are doing nothing, because doing nothing is a privilege.  I want to never take for granted getting out of bed and having a million errands to run, because I would miss those errands if I suddenly couldn't do them anymore.  I want to be thankful every day that I can help my parents out, because it means we have another day together. I want to love my wrinkles and jowls, because it means I'm still here to look myself in the eye.

My Grandpa Paulson is known for telling people that it is hell to get old. That may be true, but in my humble and still rather young opinion, it is a different kind of hell to not get to be old.  As long as I am here, and still getting old, I plan on enjoying it, especially if I have to enjoy it double for a friend who never gets the privilege.

Busier

Our little brood is back together after a few short-staffed days here at Motel Metcalf. Will and Audrey spent the past several days in Logan with their buddies up there, and Olivia went to Aunt Melissa's to hang with cousins. That left just me, Duncan and Dan to hold down the fort. And we were gone most of the time too, working, making trips to Logan to deal with rental home issues, and keeping my parents in check. Tonight is the first night in a week that me and the kids have been home together. Dan is out cavorting somewhere, but the rest of us had a nice hot dog dinner when I got home from work about 8:00,  and then we got enough chores done to keep the place from going completely to pot. The weekend will bring more time at work, a garage sale, and seeing my folks off on a flight to Nashville, which is a story in itself. There will not be much time for relaxing, or attending to the myriad of tasks to do around here, but all of that can wait, I suppose.

This was supposed to be the summer of relaxation, but so far, all we have done is run like crazy, or in my case, limp like crazy, since I got hit by a truck in case  you haven't heard. My leg is healing nicely, but it sure did put a dent in my June. Then our car decided to become temperamental about when and where it would start. Getting stranded more than a few times over the course of a few weeks convinced us pretty quickly that it was time for a new car.  So in all of our spare time between working, and taking care of family, we had to car shop with an old car that we were never sure was going to start. In fact, when we finally found a car to buy, we had to postpone the deal for two hours while we worked on getting the old car started so we could trade it in. Needless to say, we didn't strike much of a bargain in the trade in value. But we are now the proud owners of a 2011 Honda Pilot which will be known as Old Blue, because it is blue. All I can say is, it better start.

Then, it turns out that getting a kid on a mission is quite a process. We have had to apply for his passport, start visa paperwork, track down immunizations, shop, plan, shop some more, fill out more paperwork, and on and on. And oh, yeah, don't forget to get him spiritually prepared too.  And Duncan has been debating about whether to extend his mission for a few more months. We have also been finding out about job placements and benefits for him when his mission ends. It looks like he will be extending til the end of December, which will give us all time to get Will off before we have to worry about what comes next for Duncan.

Then we finally kicked our deadbeat renters to the curb, and July so far has been spent dealing with the mess they left behind. They left a filthy house full of garbage, two cars in the driveway, a bunch of junk in the back yard and garage, and an old broken down washing machine which we discovered was FULL OF WATER AND OLD MILDEWED CLOTHES that had been there for who knows how long. Who does that?? I could go on about other things we found too, but honestly, I dont't want to waste my time rehashing it all. Suffice it to say, it's been a mess in every possible way. And, we tracked down the renter's mother and told on them. So Hah. Oh, and we get to put a new roof on the house, which means we get to refinance so we can pay for the thing.  The joys of being a landlord.

So between taking nonstop calls from renters, prospective renters, car salesmen, roofers, bankers and real estate agents, the summer is passing us by with only one trip to the pool to show for it so far. I'm not confident that things are going to slow down any time soon either. But I am getting very adept at multi-tasking.

Oh, and By the Way....

MEXICO CITY SOUTHEAST MISSION!

Whew! He was so worried he was going to be called to Cheyenne.

Now all we have to worry about is drug lords, government corruption, and indoor plumbing.

Things are getting real now.

October 25 has never seemed so close.

The call came in the mail on Friday afternoon, and against Dan's better judgement, we waited to open it until late Saturday night, when our whole little family could be together.  Alisa had fortuitously planned a visit to Salt Lake, and she got into town about 10 pm on Saturday. Mitch drove down too, and we were all together to get the news.

I'm so happy we waited.

I hope this isn't the last time in two years that these six are all together.

Door Ajar

It is 11:00 a.m, I am eating my second ice cream sandwich of the day, and it is all my refrigerator's fault.

I had just settled in to a comfy spot  on the couch with my laptop and a diet Coke, to accomplish a few tasks online. I had zero intent of getting up for anything. Then suddenly,  my very intelligent fridge started beeping. Now technically, that beep means that the fridge door has been left ajar for some time. Over the years,  I have become well conditioned to respond to that beep. I don't know why the thought of the fridge door being slightly ajar is so disturbing, but it is. That stupid door alarm inspires the same type of primal, urgent response as a newborn's cry. As long as that beeping is happening, there is no way I can ignore it and focus on something else. I am compelled to go shut it up.

And you and I and the fridge all know what happened next. Really, what are the chances of making a mid-morning trip to the fridge and coming back empty handed? Those ice cream sandwiches were on my agenda before I even set the computer aside and hefted myself off the couch.  After all, I had eaten one for breakfast just an hour or two earlier. Of course my brain was tuned in to them. I swear I never even had a chance to say no.

It was such a smooth sequence of events; really a demonstration of the miracles of the human mind. Within a few milliseconds, I heard the fridge beep, subconsciously made the decision that putting forth the effort of getting up was worth the payoff of shutting the fridge, remembered the ice cream sandwiches, and concluded that I would get one.  Moments later, mission accomplished, I was back in my comfy spot and wondering what the heck had happened.

Why does my brain work this way? Why can't it respond so swiftly at five in the morning when my alarm goes off and it is time to get up and exercise? Surely early morning exercise releases at least as many endorphins as a stupid ice cream sandwich, albeit it takes a little more time and effort to get them flowing?  Maybe I should rig up my fridge alarm to my bedside alarm. Maybe if I think the fridge is open at five in the morning, I will be more motivated to get out of bed.  Of course, then I would be eating ice cream before breakfast, as well as for breakfast and after breakfast. But hey, at least I'd be up to exercise.