New things

Monday--Surprise to me...no rental car was planned. For some reason unknown to me, Mike had planned for us to use public transportation and borrow people's cars if we wanted to go anywhere. Definitely not my style. So needless to say, when I had to walk to change the transit system and sat down with my purse, then left without my purse, only to discover it gone when we were halfway to Provo, I blamed the transit system. Mike pointed at the book I was reading and said, "I blame that." Mike had to get off, ride a train back to the platform, then get the purse, then ride the train back. Yes, and a little part of me was glad he left it on the train when he got off. Luckily, Linda asked where it was. Even luckier, Provo was the end of the line and Mike could get back on to get it. Yes, I blame his Iphone for that one. Well, I had less than a dollar in coins gone, my pack of gum, and about 10 gift cards to restaurants taken from my purse. Oddly enough, they also took all my pens. Thank heavens my keys, temple recommend, my debit and credit cards were still there.

Got to see Lydia. Got to see Maddy, Hannah, and Abigail all racing around upright on their knees to copy me "kneewalking' across the room. When they said that was a strange way to walk, I told them that is how grandmas walk, so they spent a giggling 5 minutes copying me. Racing back and forth. They said they were playing outer space...and the chair was their space station or base. I told them the couch was Jupiter. They looked at me oddly. I realized after watching them that space to them means aliens.

Tuesday--All plans went awry. Mike had my cold from last week. He was sneezing nonstop with a nose running like a dripping faucet. We did not visit anyone. We stayed home and made a quick trip to the store for kleenex, medicine, etc. for Mike.

Things I didn't know that I learned: 1. My dad's mother was a member before she married. She married a nonmember. She did not remain active during the first part of their marriage. At one point, they lived in Ely, Nevada during the mining era. Something bad got in the water and two of her sons, my dad's brothers, died within 2 days of each other after drinking the water. She was pregnant with another child and after the deaths, they promptly left Nevada for California. The child was born, but died when she was four. At that point, my grandmother decided she needed to go back to church all the time. By the time my father was born, she was totally active. When my father was 5 years old, he got blood poisoning in his leg and his leg was so swollen and the poisoning so advanced that he was rushed to the hospital. My mom had my father's sister, who worked for the phone company as an operator, track down the missionaries to come to the hospital and administer to my dad. The hospital was a Catholic hospital, so when the Mormon missionaries came, the nuns held up a sheets to make the annointings private. My father was completely healed and sent home the next morning with nothing wrong. My grandfather was so grateful for my dad's healing after having had 3 children die, that he investigated the church and joined shortly thereafter.

Nothing like a little company...

Nothing like a little company to get the blood flowing.

I've been sick with a cold that turned into a sinus infection on top of a previous sinus infection. This one had me looking like a drugged Rudolph, with the too frequent nose-blowing. I finally decided to stay home and heal. So...today (after Mike driving me to school with lesson plans and materials) I came home and crashed.

Crashed was a mild word. I slept straight from 8 till almost 2 p.m. I forced myself to roll out of bed and eat something--knowing a headache would follow if I didn't. I looked at the skin-covered slime on the stacked dishes in the sink. Even I could smell the odor...but I was too tired to do them. I finally washed my face because I couldn't stand the grease and promptly fell back asleep.

About 5 p.m. I woke up and was very groggy, but managed to call Mike to ask for Los Tres takeout. I lay back in my chair. My face was now greasy again, but not like my hair. It was so oily that it looked wet, but I was NOT going to wash my hair that late; I could endure it till the morning...especially since I was still in my pajamas. I lay back in my chair and dozed till the phone rang. The caller ID said my sister's name. I answered it. She asked how I was. I said I was sick. (I assumed she was in Montana). Well, I was so sleepy, that it took awhile to get it through my head that when she said she had just landed and wanted to take me to dinner, that she was in Houston and not Utah or Montana and that the dinner was for today.

If you know my sister, you know there will be pictures; she is the queen of snap shots. I looked at my face in the mirror. It was sad. There were dark bags under my bags. I looked at the house. It was clean except those scummy dishes. I had one hour.

Long story, short: I was up, out of my pjs, showering, dressing, doing dishes, putting on makeup, and ready when she got here about an hour later. Mike got food and brought it to the house for them. We had a nice visit...and the picture (I knew would happen) did. "Two sisters, who see each other once a decade". We had a nice, but short visit before they had to leave since they have to get up early for classes and a cruise. So nice that they came. So nice that I had the day off to rest. And so nice that one, once sleepy, grimey, 'sicky' could be transformed in an hour.

A Blast from the Past for the Slaugh children

1980s: This would have been the updated version of said Raggedy Ann doll.The hair was still yarn. The face was 3-d and not flat like the Raggedy Ann's, but the face, arms, and legs were still cloth for a few years, then updated to be plastic later and called Cabbage Patch kids. Your mom had a doll very similar to the one below. We threw out a couple of them last month.

The Cabbage Patch doll



1960s: Chatty Cathy was all the rage during my time as a child. It was a plastic-type body and had a string you pulled that had the doll talk. She would say something like, "Hi, I'm Chatty Cathy." Everyone wanted one. I never had one. :(




1880s-1930s: This would be a Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy doll. They were totally made of cloth, stuffed with cloth, and had button eyes. These were more from my grandparents; era, so if your mom knew about it it was kept alive by me, although I do believe we had one for awhile. It was fun to dress up as a Raggedy Ann doll for Halloween because the face was easy to make and the hair wig was fun to wear.

Special

I do lunch duty every day. This week they moved the disabled students to my side of the cafeteria right next to my table. This week I have seen a little boy...maybe 3 years old, have a mother and father come to feed him at lunch. They hug, they stroke, they make a special organic food. If the mom isn't there, the father is. I went over to talk to the dad and he says they come every day. I was commenting on how special I thought that was to another aide and she said that when we had the fundraiser run (laps =money) that dad came to help his son and ended up carrying him lap after lap while the dad walked the laps. I think the Lord reserves special parents for those special spirits.

More to post later

I have been BUSY. It was such a blessing to be off on Friday so we could get our home ready for Heidi's dad and sister. It has really been enjoyable to have them here. I think we have been blessed by their visit more than we are giving to them. It gives me great joy to know that David married someone from that family. I went to the regional RS meeting with sister Dew. Janet was with me. Such an enjoyable time together...just us. I am so proud of the woman she has grown to be. I had a dream that was very long and very symbolic. I wrote it down immediately after because I knew I would forget it otherwise. It is very personal, but so profound and it involves you all, that I will share it with you all when I get more time to post...and write more of the details.

Sunday

Went to church with my mom and dad. I'm not one to enjoy other wards, I like to go to my own, but I people watch. I try to pick out who the parents or children of the speakers are by their expressions.

Anyway, as the sacrament prayer was said, the enunciation was crisp, with perfect expression, in one of those voices of announcers on TV, etc. All through the prayer I was wanting to see who was saying it. It was an older man...who also ended up being one of the speakers. Wow, what a speaker. He was the ultimate story-teller. It ended up he was a professor at BYU. On the way home, I told mom he should go into drama or acting and my mom said that is what he teaches at BYU. Turns out that he has taught one of my nieces, who loved him as a teacher.

We came home after sacrament meeting because that is all dad can handle health-wise at this point. I took a long nap, then Mike did. We had Taco Soup with my parents.

Later, we picked up Cheryl and went to Linda's house. Linda had asked for a father's blessing. It was very special and Dave was there to help. Cheryl watched the children. We all had tacos at Linda's home and talked.

Early day of rest

Mike was sick. I read the book on mom's shelf, the biography of her great-grandmother. Wonderful stories. Mom and I were talking later and she told about a time she was in a choir at BYU for graduation. The graduation speaker was President David O' McKay. After the graduation, he turned around to shake the hand of every singer in the choir. When he got to mom, he held her hand longer than everyone else's, asked her name, and after hearing her name (Pauline Hanks), he looked straight into her eyes and asked what she had done to honor the heritage of her name. I didn't know that was why she has searched her genealogy so fervently all these years.

My brother, Brian, came over to visit. We talked for a couple hours. It was so nice to catch up on memories and each other's families.

Cheryl came over at 4:30 to pick me up and take me to babysit for Linda and Dave so they could celebrate their anniversary. Originally, Mike and I were going to babysit, but since he was ill, Cheryl volunteered to pick me up and come with me. It was so nice to spend time alone talking to her after Maddy and Will went to bed. It was also nice to watch her efficiency in handling all three children. She really didn't even need me there. She is such a good mother. I am so amazed at how well all my children parent the children they are given.

So now I'm home and can't go to bed because I didn't take my medicine. It will be awhile before I can lay down.