Bluebonnets

When we were in Texas in March, the bluebonnets were in bloom.  I thought this little church was so pretty!

BIG WHEELS KEEP ON ROLLING - RIGHT OVER YOU...

We had to make one more trip to settle some estate affairs this weekend.  I dreaded the trip to come home because as soon as we get off of the state highway and join the Interstate (about 2 hours from home) I feel like we are in danger for our lives all the way home.  Our particular state has an incredible amount of semi trucks driving on the Interstate.  Maybe the main reason is because our state has many, many things shipped in from other states.  There's not a lot that doesn't come from other states.  The other dangerous thing about it is that there are a lot of uphill climbs.  The past 3 times we have come home we have had the same thing happen:  We are driving up a hill and have a semi in front of us and are passing more, slower semi's on the right.  The semi in front finally realizes he is slowing down too much so pulls over into the right lane to let us pass him.  Almost as soon as he pulls over, he realizes that the semi in front of him is going a lot slower than he is and he doesn't want to put on his brakes to slow down, so he puts his blinker on and starts to come back over.  Of course by this time I have already started to pass him and have reached the front portion of his back tire.  He starts to come over, realizes that I am there (and that there are also cars behind me in the left lane also wanting to pass him) so he tries to pull back over, but the semi in the right lane is going even slower now (coming to the top portion of the hill) and he doesn't have enough room and so hits his brakes, I hit my brakes, the car(s)  behind me hit their brakes and we all come within less than a foot of each other without (thankfully) causing a wreck (and I am so far to the right that I am on the shoulder driving on the rumble strips - no, I am past the rumble strips!).  Then he continues to pull all the way over into the left lane and finally passes the slow semi, and pulls back into the right lane in front of the slow semi.  After re-starting my heart, I floor it, pass him and pull into the right lane so the cars behind me can re-start their hearts and do the same by passing me.  AAAUUUGGGHHH!!!

Isn't there a better way than having so many semi's on the interstates?  Can't we make them take the state highways?  Or ship everything by rail?

Here's a warning:  If you are driving on the interstate and see a truck either put on his left blinker, or weave a little bit to the left - BACK AWAY FROM HIM!!  Even if you have traffic behind you, don't even think you can pass him.  Let him go ahead and get in the left lane and pass the people he is wanting to, and then you can pass him.  Because he's going to do it anyway, whether you're there or not.  :0+

I wish I had pulled in behind him when he finally got back in the right lane and wrote down his truck license number and reported him.

WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS

I've had computer/internet/blogger withdrawal for the past 10 days.  I had to send my laptop off to Dell so they could fix a broken hinge and it just came back today.  Woo-Hoo!  Not only is my computer hinge fixed, It has a new cover!  I guess part of the "fixing" the hinge was just replacing the cover.  It is the same cover (red) but I can tell it is a new one.  My husband let me use his computer to "chat" with my siblings on Sundays and to pay the bills online, and maybe another time or two, but that's all.  It was nice to be able to still get my email and get on Facebook by using my smartphone, so I didn't have total withdrawal.

So if you've been wondering why I haven't commented on some of your posts, just know it was harder to comment on my smartphone.  Do you ever foresee the time when we will just push a button and dictate our Blogger posts?  It may not be that far off....

THE NEXT GREAT ADVENTURE

"After all, to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure."  - Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, pg. 297

I've thought about this quote a lot in the past month.  My husband's mother recently passed away and we spent 3 weeks sitting with her round the clock in the hospital during that process.  The day we arrived, Hospice had taken charge of her case.  They gave us a couple of booklets on death and the process of dying which had some very profound thoughts.  I thought I would share a few of these and my thoughts with you.

First of all, life is a terminal illness.  From the moment we are born we know that eventually we will die.  Everyone will die - it's a given.  The only difference between a healthy person and a seriously ill person is that the seriously ill person is reminded everyday that they are aren't going to live forever.

Death is scary to most people, because Death is the enemy - to be fought against at all costs.  We don't want to talk about it or even acknowledge that it even happens.  Perhaps if we talk about it too much, it may hasten our own death?  Because of this phobia, not only do people not want to talk about it, they don't want to be around someone who is dying, or even acknowledge that they are going through the process.

Death can be our finest hour or our ultimate challenge. Some people facing death, are terrified to the point where they consider (or even succeed) in taking their own life.  In my opinion, this is the coward's way out.  What is so scary about death?  Can one say that maybe instead of being afraid of death, they are actually afraid of dying?

After being with my mother-in-law while she went through this process, I'm convinced that there were personages from the spirit world that came to "take her home".  I thought it was interesting that the hospice people also believe in this, not because of any religious affiliations, but because they have experienced this too many times to deny it.  I don't know how anyone can watch someone die and not believe in the afterlife.

Another quote from the Harry Potter books that I kept thinking about was in the 5th book (Order of the Phoenix) when Harry goes back to school.  He gets off the train and when he goes to the carriages that take the students from the train station to Hogwarts, he sees the winged Thestrals.  He wonders what they are, because all the years before he had never seen them.  He thinks that no one else can see them but him, but later he finds out that only those people who have seen someone die can see them.

Now that I have experienced this, I know what JK Rowling was trying to say to us.  I feel I can now see the Thestrals...

May the longtime sun shine upon you,

All love surround you,

And the pure light within you

Guide you on your way.

YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND IN ME

Inkling's post about the new little girl in her Primary class reminded me of something that happened around Christmas time at the Storehouse. 

We had a little boy come in with his mother to get their order.  While the mother was shopping for her order, the little boy was looking at and playing with our nativity set.  It was a rather larger nativity set and we had set it up on the table where we have church books, church magazines and newspapers.  The little boy had rearranged all the figurines in the nativity set so that the people were all in the middle in normal fashion, and the animals were facing away from the people.  The animals were facing the little bales of hay that the little boy had put on the outside of the scene.  One of the ladies at the Storehouse walked by and looked at his work and asked if he had put the bales of hay there to "keep the animals in".  I happened to be walking by at the time and said, "No Kathy, can't you see?  It's dinnertime and all the animals are facing that way so they can eat their dinner!"  The little boy looked up at me and nodded and smiled.  :0)

When the mom had finished her shopping and it was time to go, the little boy asked if he could have the nativity set.  This nativity set had been donated to the Storehouse by an ex-Storehouse missionary so we didn't feel like we could give it away (Although if it had been up to me, I would have given it to him).  When I told him that it really wasn't mine to give away and that it belonged to the Storehouse he said, "Do you have a picture of this?"  All of a sudden I remembered that we had a stack of FRIENDS (church children's magazine) on the table to give away.  These were magazines that no one had even colored or written in.  I leafed through the stack and found a December issue.  On the front of the magazine was a picture of a nativity, inside was a nativity that he could COLOR, and there was more nativity pictures inside.  Score!!
When I showed it to him, he was enthralled!  He said (in an excited voice), "Yes!  That's it!"  He was so happy to take that home with him!

Since that day I have had announced in 3 wards for people to bring us their "gently used" FRIEND magazines.  We really don't need anything other than that, because people are always bringing us all the other magazines, newspapers, and even church books to give away, but for some reason we get very few FRIEND magazines.  Probably because the Mormon kids that get them practically wear them out looking at them.  We recently had someone bring in a stack of FRIEND magazines that had no writing or coloring in them either.  Now anytime a child comes in with their mom or dad, we offer them a free FRIEND magazine! 

MORE CONVERSATIONS WITH A 5 YEAR OLD

Remember my 5 year old friend who came into the Storehouse awhile back?  Well, he came back today.  I was in the kitchen finishing the lunch dishes when he came and had just walked out right after they came in.  I wished I would have had a camera to take a picture of his face when he saw me.  He was so excited.  Immediately he said, "Hi!  Come on!  Let's sit down over here and talk!  It's just so nice talking to you!"  What a cute kid!  Unfortunately, the person who was watching the desk had gone off to take care of something and the phone rang a few minutes later, so I had to go answer it, which involved a few minutes of talking, finding out info, and talking some more.  When I finally hung up, there he was standing beside me.  He said, "You need to come back over here so we can talk some more."  Unfortunately his mom had finished getting her order about 5 minutes later so we didn't get to talk long.  When his mom came over to get him, he said to her, "Mom, can she come over to my house sometime so we can talk?  I just love talking to her!"  I told him that I loved talking to him too and I would see him another time.  He said, "Are you always here?"  I said, "Usually, but if I'm not here the next time you come in, just remember I'll be back another time." 

I don't know what it is about this kid, but he sure loves to talk.  He showed me his new CTR ring, and we talked about different video games that he liked to play.  But like I said, we only had less than 10 minutes. 
Part of me wonders:  Is this kid ignored at home?  Is he just drawn to me for some reason?  Is he just a conversationalist? Is it because I ask him a lot of questions about himself?   Whatever it is, he is just one cute kid.

THUFFERING THUCCOTATH!

Inklings had a recent post where she suggested people say the title with a lispy voice like Jan Brady.  I read her post and indeed could have read it with a lispy voice.  I recently had some extensive dental work, which has resulted in a temporary lisp. I was hoping that I would get used to this new condition and be able to overcome this lisp, but as the days go by I am unfortunately seeing that I will not be able to overcome it and that I will have this lisp for the next 4 months, at which point is the final stage of my dental work.  At first I thought about just staying home for 4 months, but now I have consigned myself to accepting it and hope that people have "washed their own windows" sufficiently and will not comment derogatorily to me about it.

In a way it's kind of interesting to me to talk to people and to see the inquizitive look come to their face as they listen to me talk. I really don't worry as much about the lisping as I do about the times when I go to open my mouth to say something and a drool of spit drops out of my mouth. :0+  It's going to be a long 4 months!