a great weekend

hi all -

My friend Matilda* is flying solo for the next little while - while her hubby is out of town at a training conference. I feel for her - it is no fun being at home alone, but it sure is great for me. She's been hanging out with me during the day, keeping me company (it's so great to have an adult to talk to), helping me with the kids, and letting me help her on some projects at her house that she is trying to get done while he's out of town. (the helping on projects thing is good for me because she makes me feel like "super-competent woman" and it is a big ego booster. {like I need any EGO boosting, but that is another story altogether})

SO... last Friday we were just hanging out, and Matilda volunteered to watch the kids while Tim and I went to the temple. I took her up on the offer, then she said, "in fact, you guys could even go away overnight and I'll watch the kids." Oh la la! (I can count on 1 hand the times Tim and I have been away overnight without the kids, and that's including this past weekend. It's really hard for me to leave my kids...) The initial plan was that Tim and I would go away this upcoming weekend (it's my birthday weekend and I thought it would be great to take an overnight trip to Logan - both away time AND I could hold Charlotte's adorable little Heather!!!), but it was a little harder to figure out how to make it work, since Aaron has been working towards earning a camping trip with Tim (to go hunting for geodes), and this weekend was supposed to be the trip... AND the kids start swim lessons on Saturday morning... so we decided to switch gears and we quickly threw it together for last weekend. I tell you - Matilda has a GIFT! If you need "romantic" ideas - she is the one to call. We got the room reserved, then while Tim and I went out to dinner, she went to work sprucing up the hotel room. (with my 4 children in tow even... she's amazing!)

Tim thought we were just having a nice dinner date night (rare enough, in and of itself) until we actually turned into the hotel parking lot. When we got to our room, we found a vase of beautiful roses (Tim took a picture, which I'll post someday... maybe...but until then, here is a nice picture that give you an idea - but mine were way cooler!), Hershey kisses sprinkled all over the bed, more chocolate, a tray of cheese and crackers, sparkling cider, and strawberries. It was so great. We were totally stuffed from our dinner at the Olive Garden (I love their salad and breadsticks - mmm mmmmm) that I'm afraid we didn't fully appreciate the yummy treats, but the ambiance had been established, and we enjoyed a great break from real life.

THANKS MATILDA!!!!

We are going to take advantage of her again this weekend and go to the temple. Let's hear it for great friends!!! hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray! HIP HIP HOORAY!!!

* name is changed to protect her identity, since I just announced to the entire world that she is home alone...

I got this from Ali's blog and jsut had to see what I car I am. (i fully expected to be an OLD beater model t or something - but NO - I am AWESOME!!!

I'm a Ford Mustang!

You're an American classic -- fast, strong, and bold. You're not snobby or pretentious, but you have what it takes to give anyone a run for their money.

"Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

(I once told Tim that my "dream car" has always been a mustang, ever since high school. ( in high school I dreamed about a convertible mustang) I can't really say why - but now I know... it's because somewhere deep inside - I am a mustang!)

He did it again

Remember the (rhetorical) question I ended with on my last post - "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" In case you were wondering, the answer is NO!!!!

The afternoon session was another fantastic session of hope and comfort for me. I didn't have super high expectations, since the first session had already met and exceed every hope I went into the conference with --- and yet the very first talk once again touched my heart and lifted my soul. (and it kept going from there)

Talk about the "Balm of Gilead."

What an amazing day! I am so very very grateful!!!

Manna from heaven

boy oh boy! I have always felt that the best session of conference is the saturday morning one - and I sure LOVED this morning.

So many messages of hope and joy. Pres Uchtdorf (especially) spoke directly to me. I have been feeling such despair lately and I so desperately needed his message of HOPE. I also really needed Elder Perry's talk about simplifying our lives and feeling more joy and peace in so doing. I am going to have to buy the CDs of this conference when they come out, so I can listen to these talks again.

I am so very grateful for a Father in Heaven who loves me and who answers my prayers so directly through these inspired leaders.

It's almost time for the next session to start. It's hard to imagine that anything could be as fulfilling for me as this morning's session was, but you know what the scripture says, "is anything too hard for the Lord?" And so I will watch the remaining sessions with faith and hope, and I expect that the Lord will continue to send me my own personal Manna from heaven, until I am filled to overflowing. (Shouldn't be hard - apparently my eyes/tear ducts are already there...)

sharks & spiders & sleep - OH MY!

EVERYONE stand and give three cheers for me! I FINALLY mopped my kitchen floor today!

HIP HIP HOORAY!!!
HIP HIP HOORAY!!!
HIP HIP HOORAY!!!

Thank you thank you - It was SO SO bad. (you can probably tell my overwhelming feeling of gladness that it is finally done, by all the caps and exclamation marks eh?) It has needed to be done for a long time, and everyday I would tell myself that I was going to get it done, but I never could quite bring myself to do it. (the actual mopping isn't the worst part, but you have to get the kitchen clean first, since mopping is the LAST thing you do - of course!)
Today I was determined to get it done, but was still dragging my feet (emotionally and physically), so I employed a trick I use on my kids - try to somehow make it new and different and hopefully FUN. I called my friend Holly and asked if I could try out her new SHARK steam mop. She loves it, and I am desperately in need of a new mop and have been considering buying one for myself, but didn't want to fork out the $$$, just to find out I didn't love it. ANYWAY, she let me borrow it, and just knowing it was sitting there waiting for me to give it a test drive, gave me what I needed to finish the job. I cleaned the kitchen, swept the floor (3 times, to be exact, since every time I thought I was done, "magically" some crackers, or cereal got re-distributed...) then brought out the SHARK. I have to be honest. I didn't love it. I think my floors are just a bit too much (as in "disgustingly gross") for it to handle. It took longer to finish the job than my old mop and bucket of water - but it DID do a really great job cleaning the little indented lines in the linoleum floor,and I loved that it didn't leave the floor all wet - Caleb was crawling around while I did it and he didn't get wet at all. I also I loved that it would really be a water saver. Less than a cup of water as opposed to a big ole bucket of mop water, and no harsh chemicals or cleaners. - just the water. Trina absolutely LOVED it. She mopped for quite a while with it. (that was actually another concern. The unit is really lightweight, which is a plus, but I'm not sure it is durable enough to stand up to my "helping" kids. ANY WHICH WAY - my floor is CLEAN! and I am thrilled! (if only it would stay that way for more than a few hours. but oh well. that's life.

NEXT ITEM...

You all know I love nature. Well, not SPIDERS so much. Last night we saw the HUGEST (non-tarantula) spider I have ever seen. Every fall we usually see at least one tarantula in search of a nice warm place to hang out for the winter. When Tim first saw this little giant trying to come into our kitchen, through the open sliding door, that's what we figured it was - until we looked again. This sucker is a WOLF SPIDER. He's HUGE! I took out a ruler and tried to measure him, without getting my hand too too close, of course. He was easily four inches! ICKKKK!!!!! I know the photo isn't very good, but it's enough that you can get an idea of this guy. Poor Katrina couldn't fall asleep last night. "every time I close my eyes, I can see spiders, trying to come into my room!" poor girl. it was gone this morning, and I can only hope it went somewhere other than INSDIE my house, because I will totally FREAK out if I accidentally step on this guy in the middle of the night in my bare feet, or if I happen around corner and there he is. EEEWWWWW.

and the last thing -

SLEEP. Remember that song on Sesame Street, "one of these things is not like the other?"
Well - sleep is the odd man out. I have the shark (on loan), the spiders, but unfortunately I am not getting enough sleep! OH MY!

and that is all there is to say about that.

'cause I'm a WOMAN

More like a WANNABE woman.

I was driving afternoon carpool pickup yesterday, and listening to Dr. Laura while I drove. (I can't get that station in my house, so the only time I can listen is when I do carpool in the afternoons, but I have learned SO much from listening to her for just those 10 - 15 minutes a day for the past 3 years.)

Anyway, I won't go in to the specifics of the question that her male caller had regarding his wife, but the answer hit me hard. Dr. Laura said, "the problem is, that you are married to a FEMALE, instead of a WOMAN." She clarified a bit more, and said that you can look in a crowd of people and you can easily pick out the FEMALES as opposed to the WOMEN.

Females are the angry, scowling, right on the edge and easily annoyed at everything, chip on shoulder, "men are oppressive," "what's in it for me" - kind of people.

Real WOMEN, on the other hand, are happy and find joy in their lives. Real WOMEN delight in caring for their husbands, children, and homes. Sounds a little bit like the Sister Beck conference talk on "Women who Know" huh? I admit, I'm a slow learner and need to hear the same lessons over and over, and through various sources.

When I heard this caller yesterday, it totally pointed out to me that I have been acting like a FEMALE, not a WOMAN. I was annoyed with the house, and the cooking, and the running around, and the kids, and the ....... (you name it...)

I determined to once again to find the "woman" within. I caught a glimpse of her last night, and the fact that I'm still thinking along the same vein this morning is promising. I want to be a "real" woman. A "woman who knows." A woman who loves and is loved. I don't want to settle for just being a female. I was sent to this earth to be SO much more than that.

So - all you females out there -
RISE UP and be WOMEN!!!!
(and feel free to remind me that I want to be a REAL woman, the next time you notice too much female-itis creeping into my blog...)

sick day/weekend report

Nothing exciting here - just an "I'm sick post." (laced with lots and lots of LDS lingo) so feel free to move on...

I stayed home from church today, keeping Bryan and Caleb with me. Yesterday I woke up with a horrible, awful, terrible, sore throat. (also stuffy nose and all over general body aches... but the sore throat was the worst) I knew there was no way I could do the singing in Primary, so I got a sub. I don't do that very often. I love my calling, and the prideful side of me is pretty possessive it, thinking that NO ONE else could do possibly my job as well as I do! (is that asking for a lightening bolt or WHAT???) Just to be clear here, I KNOW there are lots and lots of people in my ward with more sheer musical talent, but I think I am a pretty good mix of basic musical ability, fun (albeit quirky) disposition, and overall ability to keep the kids attention (the majority of the time))
ANYWAY - my pride notwithstanding, I got a sub and stayed home. I was really hoping for a 2 hour nap, but it was not meant to be. I finally got Caleb to sleep about 10 minutes before the rest of the family got home. Oh well, that's life.

Yesterday Tim decided it was "paint the playground" day. Since we bought a wooden set, the wood is supposed to be sealed once a year, preferably in the fall, to protect it from the elements. Tell me again - why did we buy a WOODEN SET??? Tim bought a couple paints that are supposed to protect for 3 - 5 years. We'll have to see how they live up to their claims. We painted for about 1 1/2 hours, then I got Aaron and Katrina and myself ready to go over to the church to see Aaron's two friends, TJ and Rebecca, be baptized. then we came home, changed back into painting attire and painted for several more hours. I WAS MISERABLE! (I probably made Tim miserable too, for that matter, what with all my wheezing, whining, and "poor sick me sighing.") Then at 4:30 I came in, showered and got dressed up again to go over to the general Relief Society broadcast. It was nice. I really enjoyed Sister Becks talk and for a brief moment, felt up to the challenge of "doing more." - then my stuffy head and overall feeling of exhaustion took over and I'm afraid I didn't get a whole lot out of the next two talks. (although I did get the message loud and clear that I need to be attending the temple on a more regular basis.)

I enjoyed President Uchtdorf's talk. He is just a fun person to listen to. I rode over with my friend Holly, and on the way home she summed it up perfectly when she said after his talks she always feels better about herself. I agree. I think he often manages to hit perfectly that balance between encouraging me to do a little better and try a little harder, while making me feel that I am loved and accepted just as I am. Exactly WHAT he said (aside from that his wife is a great cook and all he can make is eggs and toast) is still rather a blur in my stuffy fuzzy head, but I took some notes, and hopefully they will make sense when I pull them back out to review.

I am totally excited for General Conference coming up this weekend. It is always such a wonderful spiritual boost for me. (was even more so when I could actually sit and listen and HEAR what they were saying - it's a bit trickier with children, but still WONDERFUL!!!

I think that's about it. I am tired. I'm hoping for a good night's sleep tonight, but Caleb has a cold, and I think he is finally going to cut some teeth - so he's not sleeping well (what's new eh?) and a little extra crabby. I think I just heard Tim come home (from a home teaching appt) I know he's supposed to be going out soon to collect fast offerings, then has another home teaching appt at 8:00. I'm thinking if I want to see my husband today, I'd better go up and visit with him now.

thanks for listening. blah blah blah....