It Got Better...The House I Mean

So, Saturday there was a window salesman coming to our house. So I spent all day cleaning up. (For the window salesman.?!*.) And have been the clutter natzi ever since. We're going on 6 days of 'I can open the door for anyone'. Wish me (and those thwarters...I mean people...I live with) luck!

If You Have an Immaculate Clean House, Do Not Read This...

So I like to have my floors cleaned and my bathroom hosed down and my kitchen surfaces bleached once a week. But clutter just really doesn't get to me, until... Well, until it's so out of control that I want to have a panic attack. On Sunday I had a migraine (to be specific I had a stress headache with migraine-like symptoms) and these kind of headaches have been fewer and further between during the last two years than ever before, which has been awesome. But when I get one I'm pretty much out of commission for 2-3 days. So, nothing got done on Monday (which is the day that I usually do laundry and the three previously mentioned 'big' jobs) and I was still not at a functioning level on Tuesday (which is when I do the general pick up of clutter whether I'm bugged by it or not) and then Wednesday I volunteer in Benson's class and I had someone come to give us a bid on insulating our attic (embarrassing when I had only straitened the living room and he wanted to measure the whole house) and it was so sunny that I went on a walk until it was time to pick up the boys from school after which we went through all our photos looking for pictures to put in Alan's Autobiography, then it was time for scouts and after that we headed to my grandma's for dinner. So now it's Thursday and I just don't even want to start! Our house really is a disaster and I had to pull out the summer clothes so the boys would have clean shorts to wear! I keep telling myself that if I just pretend it's Monday I'll be able to do it all--but the truth is it's Thursday the day that I usually do something fun! I also want to kick myself for getting into such a habit of doing all these things so independently that no one else can really pick up and help me as they have not been trained to know what exactly to do!

The End of an Era...

With George finding himself having to drive more and more to the projects he's working on, it was time to invest in a more efficient mode of transportation. So with heavy hearts, we said goodbye to the Cutlass Supreme. It took exactly 5 hours on KSL before it was sold. It's a little silly, but I'm going to miss that car! We inherited it from Grandma Bird, and in the true sentiment of saying goodbye, I have to reminisce about how this came to be George's transport to and from the bus stop... When we moved into Grandma's house this car was in the garage. At first it had no keys, but after a few weeks Alan found them and we tried to start 'er up. But it was not meant to be. Nothing happened. After a while, George and I, with absolutely no knowledge of cars whatsoever, pushed it into the driveway where we attempted to jump start it. Nothing. So we pushed it back into the garage. By now several months had passed (read 8) and we had given up. We priced out a lot of possible problems that could be fixed, starter motors were $250, if you install them yourselves. To clear the fuel lines would be $120 if you could tow it to a garage. To have someone diagnose it was $60 an hour, plus a fee if they used electronic equipment. At this point I was driving George to the bus on days I needed the van, and it was a fun situation, we got to spend some extra time together (I would have to be in the van at no later than 5:10 am, drive to the bus stop and wait until the bus came around 5:30...Honestly it was turning me into a big grump) but at that time in the morning it really wasn't quality time. Then Grandpa Sumsion came. One day he showed up with a truck and towed the car away. A week later it was back, running, registered and detailed to boot. We couldn't believe it! So we asked Grandpa, "What was it? Starter motor? Fuel lines? Some other horrible condition only a mechanic would know about?" He didn't know what we were talking about. It had started just fine. Once he put some gas in it.

Welfare Square

So my friend Kim Flood always has these amazing ideas about helping children appreciate what they have. Up at Welfare Square in Salt Lake (on the west side of the freeway at 800 South) they have missionaries that do tours all day (I should specify, until 3:00) that anyone can go and take and learn more about where their fast offerings, donations to the D.I. and humanitarian efforts end up. There is a short movie (called True Religion, it aired between conference sessions a while ago), after which you walk through the Bishop's Storehouse, through the warehouse, the bakery, the cannery, the dairy, the D.I. sorting center and the employment center. We had two cute missionaries who guided our tour and were full of information about which people were employees and which were volunteers (which were most of them!). At the end of the tour we got to sample the cheese they made at the dairy, chocolate milk from the dairy, bread from the bakery as well as jam and honey from the cannery. One of the most impactful things to me was they had a photo of an 8 year old girl from Ethiopia who was starving to death, she had no hair and was very literally skin and bones. The Church helped send a supplemental food to help people in this area begin to be nourished again, and there was a photo of her 6 months later and she looked like a normal, healthy child. There are so many things that we have to be thankful for! To see the organized humanitarian effort that is going on daily is amazing. It was awesome to see the volunteers working together so happily. We asked the kids at the end of the tour what their favorite part was, they said the food. Second favorite? The movie. Someday I'm sure they'll remember this and it may have more of an impact then...

Enrichment...

In the interest of full disclosure I'm going to admit something... I generally don't attend Enrichment Meeting! Sometimes it just seems to be one more meeting (that happens to land on the same night as scouts), so since we've moved (a year and a half ago) I only went to one meeting until December when I was asked to help on the committee (possibly because I had only been to one meeting). Then this month I was asked to help again, so naturally I attended the Relief Society Birthday Party. Even being on the committee I did not realize what an amazing night had been planned. Everyone was invited, brothers also, to a dinner and then to hear Sister Gracia Jones speak. Gracia Jones is the Great Great Granddaughter of Joseph Smith and the first of his descendants to be baptised when she was 18. She's written two books; Joseph and Emma, as well as Emma and Lucy. She told us of her conversion and of her desire to share the gospel, especially with all of Joseph's descendants. She read a couple of things that Emma had written that were so touching and profound. I'd never thought a lot about what Emma's life had been like after the saints traveled west and she stayed in Nauvoo. Sister Jones encouraged everyone to watch the movie Emma Smith: My Story and pointed out that when Emma stayed she cared for Lucy Mack Smith, whose health prevented her from traveling west with Brigham Young although she would have gone otherwise, also, she preserved several homes that are still standing, and also had something to do with the preservation of the Kirtland temple. She had several artifacts, including a small tea pot, that had been owned by Emma and Joseph and an enormous roll of paper that had the names and information of 1100 of their descendants (she told us that the family organization now has 1800 names).

More than truly just enjoying this speaker, I realize that there might be something to this Enrichment stuff after all! Who knows, this could turn into a habit!

The Idol

Last season, when Marci and James, Richard and Carlie, and the Bennett's were still living in Springville, we watched American Idol all together! It was so so fun! And this season has been about half as fun. At our own house. Me and Alan and Benson (Rori sleeps on my lap). We're really into it. We cancel plans so we won't miss it. We are very very sophisticated judges for people who cannot sing. And would never get up in front of that number of people for any amount of money. I think this might be the only evening show we've watched as a family! We miss you Bennetts, Crawfords and Kentucky Birds!