Weekly Review August 28 '26

Some general information before I dive into this week's daily happenings. Frank's foot is very slowly improving. It still hurts a lot. He can't wear a regular shoe yet (has to wear sandals). He tried wearing a shoe yesterday and he regretted it! His foot does not look red or swollen anymore, though. He is still taking medication to help his uric acid levels go down. Frank is still going to PT twice a week. He says it seems to be helping his neck and one of his shoulders; they aren't hurting as much. It's nice to see a little bit of progress in that area.

Seth worked every week day this week again. He has been scheduled for close to 40 hours each week for the last couple of weeks, which is great. He's not planning to resume classes until January, at the earliest. In the meantime, he is adding to his savings. He is also paying a small amount of rent to us each month. (The agreement is that if he is taking classes, he doesn't have to pay rent). He wants to buy some equipment for making recordings, because he wants to create some YouTube videos, so he is saving up for that.

Friday, August 21st: I already wrote about what we did, but we had a nice sunset, so I took some photos:

Saturday, August 22nd: I woke up fairly early (around 6:00 am), but I took it easy and didn't get much accomplished in the morning. (I was trying to rest my eye a bit.) I did read scriptures and played some games and also talked to Tanner for a while (he called when he was on his way to work). 

Since falling down last Wednesday, I seem to have new bruises pop up nearly every day (although most of the soreness has gone away). On Saturday, my knees looked like this:

And my hands looked like this (the dark gray areas on my palms and wrists are bruises):

After lunch, I practiced ukulele and made a sign up sheet for our next RS activity, which will be group dinners. I also worked on the dollhouse a little bit while listening to the Follow Him podcast. I worked on the porch--I glued on the first railing and trim on both the balcony and the porch. (The dark things under the railings are two shingles stacked on top of each other...I used those to elevate the railings slightly from the balcony and porch floors.):

That evening, we went to dinner with some friends in our ward, which was a lot of fun although my eye wasn't feeling great. I was able to find things on the menu that work with my diet, which was encouraging--and they tasted good too!

After we got back from dinner, I cleaned the kitchen floor and then worked on the dollhouse porch / balcony a little more. I glued a porch post to each of the railings / trim that I had glued on earlier that day, then taped everything and left them to dry:

Seth didn't work on Saturday, but he was gone for several hours. He was "hanging out" with a girl he met at work. Apparently, they share an interest in a particular show and have become friends as they have talked about this at work. I asked him if it was a date, and he said "I'm not sure" but he acknowledged that he would be interested in dating this girl. Apparently, she was the one who suggested that they spend some time together. Anyway, they met at the mall and spent several hours there. I know they visited a store that has merchandise for this show they both like, but I don't know what else they did (other than getting some food). He had a good time.

Sunday, August 23rd: My eye was very red and goopy when I woke up. I had another quiet morning with scriptures and playing a few games, then went to church. Frank and I rode over together, but he went to YSA meetings, so didn't come to our ward meetings. This was my first week wearing my missionary nametag to our ward meetings. Most people didn't seem to notice. 😂 Most people also didn't seem to notice my very red eye, which I am grateful for. It doesn't really show up in this photo, but it's definitely red:

After church, I gave a ride home to another sister in my ward. (Frank came home later with Seth). I spent some time texting to make some ministering appointments. I also talked / texted with Jared briefly. They were driving to Colorado that day. They planned to drive to Amarillo, Texas on Sunday and the rest of the way to Aurora on Monday, but they ended up waking up early & getting a very early start. They decided to drive farther, and in the end they just ended up driving all the way to Aurora in one day. Jessie drove one of their cars and Jared drove the moving van, which was towing their other car. We're glad they got there safely! They were able to move in on Monday and have been getting unpacked and learning their way around this week. Both of them start new jobs on Monday.

Anyway, after Frank and Seth got home, a sister in our ward came over to bring Frank a walker thing that she thought might help with his foot. He also helped her with some computer issues. Then we had family night, including playing a game because we never did an activity last week. (We played Bank; Frank won). After family night, Seth went to mission prep class. I listened to podcasts for a while before going to bed.

Monday, August 24th: I didn't have a good night--I woke up at 1:45 am! I read scriptures and did some NYT games. Around 5:00 am, I gave up on going back to sleep so I got up, exercised, ate breakfast, showered, and started laundry. I also did some deer watching--there were four of them behind our house that morning:

Frank had an early PT appointment, so he went to that. After getting the laundry started, I was feeling sleepy so I took a nap. 

After my nap, I went grocery shopping, swept & vacuumed the living room, and then went to lunch with some friends. We were celebrating my friend Barbra's birthday. She has been living in hotels for about 5 years, but finally got into her own apartment at the beginning of August--hooray! I enjoyed visiting with friends and I was mostly able to stick to my diet. This place was harder to find options that worked, and I thought I had successfully ordered things that I could eat, but I'm pretty sure the carrots I got had butter on them! It was strange, because the menu listed buttered broccoli and buttered corn, but the carrots just said "carrots", so I thought I was safe. Oh well! They tasted yummy at least. 😅

Frank asked me to put gas in his car while I was out, so I did that on the way home. I worked on the dollhouse porch / balcony throughout the day. I did one step before going to lunch, another when I got home, and a third step after dinner. I had to do it in steps because the glue needed time to dry in between. I was able to finish all the railings, posts, and trim by the end of the day, and I am happy with how it turned out (and glad to be done with that part of the assembly!):

Before Seth went to YSA FHE, we did this week's family night activity. (We played a game called Quixx; I won.) I have a spreadsheet where I keep track of family birthdays / weddings, so I opened that up to add Taran's baby, Orion Mateo, who was born that day and discovered that I hadn't remembered to add a couple more of my great nieces / nephews, as well as a few weddings, so I spent some time getting the information I needed to completely update the spreadsheet. 

Tuesday, August 25th: The alarm went off for Frank at 3:45; I didn't have to get up, but I couldn't go back to sleep. (It was the first day of Seminary; I guess I just needed to get up early, for old time's sake!) I noticed a new maroon colored bruise on my right hand that morning:

I read scriptures and then took kids to school (for the family in our ward who need rides). On the way home, I filled my car with gas; then came home and exercised & ate breakfast. It was bathroom cleaning day, so I decided to do that before showering. I listened to Follow Him podcast while I cleaned. By the time I showered, it was lunch time. While I was reading scriptures that morning, I finished this "Journey through the FSY Guide" that I have been working on all summer. They asked the youth to do it, and since I was a Seminary teacher when it started, I decided to do it too. (There was a reading assignment each week, and I colored in a step after completing each week's assignment.)

After lunch, I planned meals for next week and then took Seth to work. (I needed the car to go to the temple). After I took Seth to work, I took a short nap before getting ready for my temple shift.

The training we had in our preparation meeting was really awesome; I loved it! I was assigned to help with sealings that evening, but they had a lot of workers, so I ended up being a patron / witness. I had to ask them to let me sit instead of kneel, because it still hurts to kneel down (cleaning bathrooms wasn't easy for that same reason!). After an hour doing sealings, I was assigned to be a veil worker. I got to be the "angel", which means that I helped direct patrons into the celestial room (some of them who don't know their way around head to an exit that the temple workers use instead of into the celestial room). I was really happy to be doing something that didn't require a lot of thought because my eye was hurting a lot more and throughout the day / evening, I noticed that it was getting goopier. I had to keep going to the restroom to wash it off. Frank was assigned to be the veil coordinator that evening, so he had to stay a lot later than I did. I was able to leave by about 8:45; I got home about the time that he left the temple to come home. Seth was at work until 10:30 and would need a ride home, so while I was waiting to go get him, I glued the roof ledge trim (that I previously painted) onto the dollhouse. (Photo taken Wednesday morning):

Wednesday, August 26th: I didn't wake up until 6:45, which was nice! I didn't exercise because my eye hurt and I thought maybe my eye was getting worse because I was overdoing it. I had another quiet morning; I took more time than usual for scripture study, which was nice. I also dusted and I called the eye doctor because I needed to change my follow up appointment that was scheduled for the first Thursday in September--I realized that I wasn't going to have a car, because Seth had to be at work earlier than normal. I also took that opportunity to let them know that I thought my eye was getting worse, and to ask if it was normal for it to still be bright red and goopy, nearly a week after the biopsy. (The whole white part of my right eye is--and has been--completely red since the day I had the biopsy.) The receptionist said she would write a note for the doctor; he was in surgery that day but she would call me back on Thursday.

After lunch, I glued the roof / 3rd story onto the dollhouse. (Frank helped me.) It is amazing how much better it looks, even with an unfinished roof!

It's really starting to look like a house, which is really fun. 😀

I had training for my mission that afternoon / evening from 4:00 to 6:30. It was mostly computer related stuff--how to use the various programs I'll be using, some of which I already knew how to do. The missionary who trained me was very nice and I enjoyed talking to her. After a late dinner, I read some Sense & Sensibility and talked to Scott for a while. My eye was still hurting and quite goopy all day and I had to wash it several times.

Thursday, August 27th: I woke up around 7:00, which was awesome. I had to wash my eye before I could open it because my eyelashes were stuck together. The eye doctor's receptionist called that afternoon and said that the doctor wanted me to start using artificial tears four times a day and see if that helps my eye. If it doesn't, then I am supposed to call back and he will want to see me. 

I was pretty busy all day with regular chores (grocery shopping, laundry, vacuuming the whole house), reading scriptures, checking and responding to mission email (I had to add some meetings to my calendar and send them a recent photo of me), and working on the dollhouse a little bit. I did some touch up painting and Frank helped me fit the roof pieces on and trace around them (they aren't getting glued on quite yet). I also looked at some photos of dollhouses to get some decorating ideas. 

Around lunch time, I noticed I had a headache and a slight sore thoat. I took some Tylenol which helped my eye as well as my head and throat. Thankfully, the sore throat disappeared after that! Frank was working from home because it is move in week at UMD and the parking situation is crazy so his boss told everyone to just work from home. He was contacted by a former client asking to meet with him so he did that; he may be doing some work for them again, but I will wait to see how that pans out before I explain anything else about it. That evening there was a RS activity which I probably would have skipped because my eye was really not feeling great, but I am in charge of the activities now, so I kind of feel obligated to go to them. 😂Besides, I wanted to go because we were touring the new Famly Search center at our stake center and I've been wanting to see it. I knew this activity probably wouldn't be well attended, and then right around the time everyone should be leaving, a severe thunderstorm blew in, which I knew would deter some of the people who were planning to come. So in the end, I was happy that 3 people came besides me! (Plus two other women in our ward were there because they work at the Family Search center). I drove to the stake center in an absolutely tremendous downpour; I also saw lightning strike something in the distance (there was a huge yellow / orange glow!) Thankfully, the rain calmed down a few minutes after I arrived at the stake center, so I was able to get inside without getting drenched. The tour was interesting and fun, but I was very glad to get home and go to bed. 

Friday, August 28th: I slept well and woke up about 6:45. Once again, I couldn't open my eye until I washed it. So far, I'm not noticing much impovement in my eye. If it doesn't get any better over the weekend, I will be calling the eye dr Monday morning. Today I noticed an area under my eye on my right cheek looks slightly bulgy, which means my eye is probably swelling a bit. So fun! 

Anyway, Frank went to PT and then later he went into work for a little while because he is helping do interviews to hire for a position and he needed to do an in person interview. I updated finances and talked to Tanner for a while. Seth had his 6 month medicine check up with the doctor this morning and then he went to work this afternoon. 

I did a short training and worked on a volunteer disclosure agreement for my mission (but haven't finished it yet because there is a technical issue with one of the websites). Before starting on this blog post, I painted one side of the dollhouse rooftop and rooftop extension. I also glued beads onto trim posts (these will be part of the trim that I will install in one of the next steps). 

Now it's time for me to go make some dinner, so I will sign off for this week. 

Weekly Review August 21 '26

I'm surprised at how many notes I jotted down for this week. I guess we did have quite a bit going on. 

Saturday, August 15th: This was a busy day with lots of errands and chores. I had a haircut appointment first thing in the morning. After that, I ran some errands; Frank came with me even though his foot was hurting a lot. We went to Walmart to get a few things we needed first. We also planned to visit the Fed Ex office that is there, but we discovered that it is closed on Saturdays. We needed to go to Costco too and I remembered that there was another Fed Ex office in between Walmart and Costco, so we stopped there and it was open and we were able to mail the letter we were sending. Then we went to Costco (Frank was able to use one of those motorized carts at both Walmart and Costco) to get protein shakes for Frank (and of course we found a few other things to buy while we were there).

I spent quite a bit of time working on stuff for the Labor Day picnic and for the next RS activity. I forgot to mention last week that I didn't meet with the sister in my ward to learn how to create and post flyers on Monday because she woke up feeling sick that day and didn't want to give it to me. But she did offer to create flyers for the Labor Day Picnic and the RS activity for me and send them to me for my approval. The flyers are beautiful! On Saturday I decided to see if I could figure out how to post them in Circles (we use this app for communicating in our ward), and after a little trial and error, I figured it out. I also printed up hard copies of both flyers to be distributed on Sunday. I created a sign up genius for the Labor Day picnic and sent a link to that to one of the ward clerks so he could email it out to the ward members. I also made a hard copy sign up to be sent around at church, because I know not everyone in our ward uses email / online stuff. Since I wasn't going to be at our meetings on Sunday, I took the flyers for the Labor Day picnic to my friend Rebekah to be distributed with the Sunday programs because she's in charge of the Sunday program / ward bulletin. I also arranged with the RS presidency to leave the flyers for the RS activity and the hard copy of the Labor Day picnic sign up sheet in their closet so that they could pass it around for me on Sunday. 

Besides all that, I also practiced ukulele, cleaned the kitchen floor, made some muffins (ones that I can eat!) and read some John Adams whenever I had a few minutes. I was finally contacted by the stake executive secretary on Saturday morning saying that one of the counselors in the stake presidency would be in my building on Sunday and would look for me during my regular ward meeting block so that he could set me apart. But since I wasn't going to be there for our regular meetings (I was going with Frank to a speaking assignment), there had to be some messages going back and forth to work something else out. I told him that I could meet earlier, and that's what we ended up deciding to do. We met at 11:00 am, before Frank and I had to leave for his speaking assignment.

Besides all of those things, it was also an important day for Scott (his birthday--we gifted him some money to help him buy a motorcycle helmet and also sent him some little cakes from a place that we know he likes) and for Jessie, because she graduated with her Master's degree. Woohoo for Jessie!

I promise not every day this week had that much going on!

Sunday, August 16th: As I mentioned, on Sunday morning I was set apart as a service missionary by one of the counselors in the stake presidency. Frank and Seth were both able to assist. I received a beautiful blessing--not all of which I can remember, but a few things I do remember is he said that Heavenly Father loves me & is pleased with me and that I will be able to feel His love for me and for others, and that my children would be blessed by my service in ways that I can't imagine. I was also blessed with the ability to do all the things I need to do in order to serve in this capacity. These are all things that I needed to hear, and I am grateful!

Frank's speaking assignment was at the Severn YSA ward, which is in Odenton, Maryland--very close to Fort Meade. It rained hard on the way there, which I didn't enjoy driving in, but we made it there fine. It was kind of fun to see another YSA ward--it was definitely a lot bigger than the one in Frederick (which is actually a branch). Frank did a good job on his talk. 

After we got back and Seth got home from his church meetings, we had family night. Later on, Tanner called and we were able to talk for a little while. Then I read John Adams and finally finished it! And a good thing, too, because I got an email from the library on Saturday saying it was going to be due in a few days. The library has a system so that books are automatically renewed indefinitely, unless someone else requests a copy, so I guess someone else wants to read it now. I'm grateful that didn't happen before I was finished reading it. 

Monday, August 17th: Frank worked from home again, although thankfully his foot started looking a lot better on Monday--not nearly so red & swollen. It still hurts, though, although not as much as it did at first. One of the main reasons he hasn't been going in to work is because the place he has to park is about half a mile from his office, and he doesn't feel up to walking that far. The doctor filled out a form so that he could get a temporary handicap parking permit, but it takes a while to process. He did finally get that in the mail on Monday, which was perfect timing because he wanted to go into work on Tuesday and go to the temple for his shift afterwards. The handicap parking permit allows him to park in a parking lot right next to the building where he works. 

It was super humid on Monday morning and in the evening we got a lot of rain. (We've actually had quite a bit of rain this week). I got regular chores done in the morning (laundry, groceries, vacuuming) and I also did some deep cleaning in the kitchen (will need to do more of that!), returned John Adams to the library, and put gas in Frank's car so that he wouldn't have to do it. Seth worked (he worked every week day this week but has the weekend off). I got to talk to Scott for a few minutes, which was nice since I hadn't talked to him since we were in Utah. We didn't have family night activity because Frank needed to get to bed early. Before he went to bed, he helped me move a bunch of pictures and other files off of my laptop onto my external hard drive. Then I spent quite a while going through my email account and deleting old emails. We did this because I knew I would need to free up some space for my mission work.

We had a nice sunset Monday evening:

Tuesday, August 18th: I had a hard time falling asleep Monday night--didn't fall asleep until nearly midnight. Then the alarm went off for Frank at 3:30 am and I didn't fall back asleep until about 5:30; then I slept until 7:30. That means 5 hours of interrupted sleep, which wasn't great but certainly that's not the first time that's happened to me! I wasn't super productive, but I did get the regular chores done (cleaning bathrroms and meal planning). Also, a technician from Family Search called and got my laptop set up with all the things I need for my mission. I listened to some Follow Him podcast; I did a little bit of coloring while listening (the rest of the time I was cleaning bathrooms). 

I've been wanting to start working on the dollhouse again, and Tuesday was the first opportunity I had. The next step was gluing on all the porch pieces--railings, posts, and decorative trim--and I was feeling anxious about that because the posts weren't fitting well and I was afraid I was going to end up with a mess! So I decided to skip that step and start preparing pieces for the next step, which is assembling the roof / top floor (the dollhouse has a mansard roof, so the walls for the third floor are also roof pieces on the outside). I painted the first coat of the roof ledge trim and the first coat of the 3rd story walls. 

On Tuesday I also started reading Sense & Sensibility. I was able to get a digital copy of that book. As I mentioned, Frank worked his temple shift. They assigned him to be the initiatory coordinator, so he was able to sit down for all of his shift.

Wednesday, August 19th: I woke up at 4:00 am, but at least I slept well until then. Frank went in early to get his blood drawn--he does this periodically to get his blood sugar and cholesterol checked, but they also checked his uric acid levels. (His blood sugar and cholesterol look good; his uric acid level is still a little high--which probably explains why his foot still hurts--so he is taking medication to help with that.)

I made bread and I worked on the dollhouse some more, while listening to Follow Him podcast episodes (I'm getting caught up on episodes I missed in July). I sanded the pieces I painted on Tuesday and then painted the 2nd coat on those pieces. Before painting the 2nd coat on the 3rd story walls, I marked the shingle placement lines on the opposite side (the roof side). I also remembered that I had not yet painted the 2nd coat on the top tower side pieces, so I did that too. I was "on a roll" and starting to feel more confident about assembling the porch posts, railings, and trim. I decided to try filing the porch posts a little bit to see if I could get them to fit better. That seemed to do the trick--they are still tight, but they fit between the porch floors and ceilings now (and I want them to be tight--just not too tight). I wanted to go ahead and assemble the porch pieces, but I was out of time and planned to do that later in the evening.

Roof pieces with shingle marks (my quilter's ruler came in REALLY handy for marking these!):

Roof ledge pieces with 2nd coat of paint:

Second coat of paint on 3rd story walls:

Top tower side pieces with 2nd coat of paint (I had to be very careful not to get paint on the floor):

In the meantime, I had an appointment to talk with the 1st Counselor in the RS presidency about activities. I had several questions which I sent her earlier that day and they discussed them at their presidency meeting and then she was able to give me feedback, which was helpful. 

While I was talking to her, I got a phone call from another friend in the ward, so I called her back when I got off the phone. Remember I mentioned last week that a group of us are helping a lady in our ward and her children get to work and back? Well, I was supposed to be picking up two of her kids from school (it was the first day of school on Wednesday and they don't have the bus situation figured out yet) and then pick her up from work and take them all home (which is at a hotel, currently--they aren't at the campground any more). The friend that called me had been asked to do the same thing, and she had just found out that I was also expecting to do that, so she called me so we could clear that up. This actually happened last week, too--the same friend and I were double booked to do the same pick up! (And thankfully, last week we also discovered the mistake in time to correct it.) I have to admit that I was feeling pretty frustrated by the whole situation on both Tuesday and Wednesday. I won't go into all the details, but the short version is that I thought I would only be taking this sister to work in the mornings each Thursday, but instead I have ended up, last minute, providing rides at other times. And then there's been all this confusion with double booking, and all the changes and confusion have ended up taking up a lot of time to work out. I actually agreed on Tuesday to do the Wednesday pick up, thinking that I would have a car because Frank works from home on Wednesdays. But I forgot that he was planning to do some work for a client in Virginia that afternoon (he told me about it on Sunday, but it wasn't on the calendar, so I forgot). He didn't remind me until he got home from the temple late Tuesday night that he needed the car Wednesday afternoon, so we had some juggling to do. Thankfully, he was planning to leave around 1:30 and Seth needed to be at work at 2:00, so it worked out that he could drop Seth off at work on his way out of Frederick, it just meant that I would have to pick Seth up later when he got off work. Frank and Seth had already left by the time my friend called, and it was almost time for me to leave to pick the kids up from school, so I told my friend that I would go ahead and do the pick up as I had planned. The car line situation at their high school was strange, but I did manage to find them, then picked up their mom at work (we had to wait a while--she was finishing up some things) and got them all back to their hotel. Also, there was some discussion among those of us who have been helping, and the RS service leader decided to set up a Google calendar to keep track of all the rides and that is going to help a lot with the organization and planning going forward--I think we will avoid the double booking and last minute changes from now on, so that makes me happy. 

After dropping this sister and her children off, I decided since I was already out & about, I would go to a store that sells locally produced jams. I've shopped there in the past, and a few days ago I suddenly remembered that they had "juice sweetened" jams, which might mean they didn't have added sugar. I wanted to find out, because jam without added sugar is okay for my diet. Sure enough, when I checked the labels, I discovered that the juice sweetened jam has no added sugar, so I bought 3 flavors to try, and now I can put something besides honey on my bread. It is ridiculous how happy that makes me! (I've tried the blueberry jam so far, and it is delicious!) 

When I was leaving the store, Frank called to say he was almost back to Frederick, and he suggested I meet him at Chick-fil-A so that we could leave my car for Seth when he got off work and I could ride home with Frank. I thought that was a good idea, so I drove to Chick-fil-A and left the car in the adjacent Walmart parking lot (that's where they want the employees to park, because the Chick-fil-A parking lot is small) and walked over to Chick-fil-A to give Seth the car key and for Frank to pick me up. Unfortunately, when I was stepping into the parking lot, my foot caught on a ledge and I tripped and fell hard onto the asphalt. I scraped both knees and bruised both of my hands. My dignity was also tarnished...I must have fallen pretty spectacularly, because two complete strangers in the parking lot asked me with great concern if I was okay. It was nice of them, but I just wanted everyone to ignore me because I felt so stupid! Frank was arriving right about that time, and he also saw me fall. When we got home, I washed all my scrapes and bandaged my left knee (my left side took more of the brunt of the fall than the right side). 

Grease marks on my shorts; thankfully they came out in the wash:

Some mild redness / bruising on my right hand:

And some redness / bruising on my left hand (it's hard to see...not great lighting):

Frank and I made dinner, both of us hobbling around the kitchen! Seth came home from work and then went to Institute (they also feed him dinner before class starts). I had planned to work more on the dollhouse, but I was feeling too sore and achy all over after my fall. (Such a bummer, when I was finally gaining some momentum.) I watched a few You Tube videos and we were also able to talk to Jared for a while. His last week of work was last week, and they are currently packing up and getting ready to move to Colorado. They will be leaving Sunday morning, and plan to arrive in Colorado Monday afternoon.

Thursday, August 20th: I woke up at 4:30. Frank went into his office to work. I skipped exercising to give my body time to heal. I felt pretty achy all over. I had an eye doctor appointment that morning; I wasn't sure exactly what he was planning to do that day but found out when I arrived that he was going to do a biopsy of my right eye. (I knew that was one of the possibilities; just didn't know for sure when it was happening.) The procedure was not too bad; it was rather uncomfortable and unpleasant, but only slightly painful. Having a numb eye is a strange sensation! Try to imagine your eye feeling the same way your mouth feels when the dentist shoots you with novacaine. My eye was slightly watery and irritated right afterwards, but I was able to drive and I decided to go straight to Walmart to buy groceries before going home. I'm glad I did that, because by the time I got home the numbness was wearing off and my eye was feeling more watery and starting to hurt. I just wanted to lie down and close my eye for a while, and since I had also woken up so early, I decided a nap would be a good idea. I had no trouble falling asleep and slept for about an hour, but when I woke up the whole right side of my head was hurting and my eye was red and sore. I took some Tylenol, and that helped with the headache and pain a bit. I was also still feeling quite achy from my fall--especially my left arm. My eye continued to be watery and sore / irritated for the rest of the day. 

After I had lunch, Frank got home from work. He stopped on his way to pick up some antibiotic eye drops the eye doctor prescribed for me. I decided to listen to more Follow Him podcast because I could do that with my eyes closed, but after listening for a few minutes I started to feel really sleepy again so I turned it off and took another nap. I was very surprised when I woke up to discover that I had slept for a couple of hours! Frank had a PT appointment that afternoon, and he went to the appointment and came back and I slept through the whole thing. Right as I was waking up I got a charley horse in my left calf, so that added to the fun! 

It was dinner time when I woke up, so I made dinner. After eating, I listened to more of the podcast and also watched an episode of Downton Abbey. Shortly before bedtime, I checked my email, and I had an email from the person who is supposed to do training for my mission, asking me to check my family search email because she had been trying to get in touch with me to set up a time to train me. I had completely forgotten that I had another email account that I needed to be checking! All the previous emails relating to my mission application had come to my regular email, so I just had it in my head that they would be contacting me that way to set up training, and I had been surprised that no one had contacted me yet. Silly me! 😳 I immediately sent an apologetic email to her. She had offered two times--Thursday afternoon and Friday afternoon, and of course it was too late for Thursday afternoon. I told her I could do Friday afternoon but mentioned I had just had a procedure on my eye that might interfere with my being able to do the whole 2 1/2 hours of training. When I checked my email this morning, she had replied and said the training involved a lot of visual input, and she was concerned about me looking at a screen for a long time after just having a procedure done on my eye. She suggested we wait until next week, so we set up a time for next Wednesday. I was concerned about looking at a screen for a long time, too, so I am grateful that she was willing to postpone until next week.

I was worried that I was going to have a hard time falling asleep last night, given my long afternoon nap, but I actually fell asleep fairly quickly and slept well.

Friday, August 21st: I wanted to go to the temple this morning, but since my eye was very sore last night and I needed to rest it often, I decided that driving that far would not be a good idea and I cancelled my appointment. I was sad to miss a chance to go to the temple--again!--but I'm sure that was a wise decision. When I woke up this morning, I didn't feel very well--again, the whole right side of my head hurt and my eye was still very red and sore. After eating breakfast and taking some Tylenol, I felt quite a bit better. My arms are still recovering from my fall; they feel like I've been working out! My left hand looks pretty bruised:

I haven't done much today--just updated the finances and wrote this blog post. I also called a friend who just moved and is feeling a little lonely in her new place, and contacted some of the women I minister to. My eye seems to be improving a bit--not quite as red--but it's still sore and a bit goopy, and my head hurts if I don't take Tylenol. I guess it's a good idea not to do too much, but I prefer to be busy & productive. I'm grateful that I haven't had a lot that absolutely needed to be done these past few days. The doctor didn't give me any idea what to expect after this procedure and he didn't give me any self care instructions either. Yesterday I did some googling and the recovery instructions for an eye biopsy that I found said that I shouldn't wear contact lenses or eye make up or do strenuous exercise for a while and that it can take up to two weeks to fully recover. Not sure why the doctor didn't tell me any of that, but thankfully most of that is common sense (I have no desire to put a contact lens in my eye right now!) and since I also hurt myself when I fell, I haven't been exercising. 

Seth just mowed the lawn and now he and Frank are planning to go see Spider Man. I am definitely not up to going to a movie, so I am going to make myself something to eat and enjoy a quiet evening. Until next week, then!

Weekly Review August 14 '26

My last post was so long; this one will probably be pretty short, and I only have a few photos to add. I didn't get the last post done and posted until Sunday evening, August 9th. There were so many photos to add and blogger had several issues, such as putting photos in the wrong place, so it took even longer than I anticipated. I worked on adding the photos for hours on both Saturday the 8th and Sunday the 9th.

Saturday August 8th: Besides working on the blog post, I got a lot of other things done. I made some wheat bread using a recipe Amy gave me because it fits all the criteria for the diet that I am trying out. The basic rules are: no sugar (in anything, and most bread has sugar--honey is okay though), no red meat or pork, no dairy, no oil of any kind besides olive oil, no corn, only whole grains. For the first couple of months, I am also supposed to avoid nuts and avocado. So what can I eat, you may be wondering? Chicken, turkey, and seafood are all okay. Fruits and vegetables are great. Quinoa, brown rice, potatoes, eggs, whole wheat pasta, whole wheat bread (without sugar) are all allowed. It actually hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be. That was a bit of a tangent...back to the bread. I mixed it in my breadmaker, but baked it in the oven because my breadmaker lid is broken, so it won't seal and get up to the correct temperature. I really like the bread--I don't think I'll ever be able to go back to store bought--and so does Frank. We're going through it a lot faster than I anticipated, so I had to make another loaf on Wednesday.

Besides making bread, I worked on several things related to church. I sent our bishop a list of the things that need to be done for the Labor Day picnic, with suggestions of what to assign to each organization. (He told us the next day at church that everyone had accepted their assignments 😊). I contacted the RS secretary to ask if I could meet with her to learn how she creates flyers using AI, as well as how to post them in our ward's Circles. We set up an appointment for Monday afternoon. (I need to know how to do these things for my RS activities calling.) I emailed the stake executive secretary to ask for an appointment to get set apart as a service missionary (haven't heard back yet, though...I need to follow up on that). I contacted my stake president to ask him to double check my application, because the mission lead for the group I'm joining emailed me and said my application still needs my stake president's approval. My stake president answered me and said I should be good to go, but the mission lead says the stake president approval is still pending. However, he said I could go ahead and get set apart, so I'm just moving forward with that. 

Besides all of those things, I also practiced the ukulele and prepared dinner for the missionaries. Seth ate with us and then he had to leave for work. After dinner with the missionaries, Frank and I went to the auto parts store and purchased and then installed new light bulbs for my rear license plate. Then we took my car to put gas in it. 

Sunday, August 9th: Frank had YSA stake meetings at the University of Maryland. He felt like his foot was well enough that he could drive (even though it was still swollen and painful). I spent the morning reading scriptures and texting Amy about autoimmune disorders (she wanted to know which autoimmune the eye doctor thought I might have; I actually don't know). Frank came with me to part of our ward meetings (he used crutches to get around so he wouldn't have to walk on his foot as much). He left our sacrament meeting early to attend the YSA Branch council and then he went to their sacrament meeting. I attended our usual ward meetings and then waited for the YSA sacrament meeting to end so that I could take Frank home. After church, I was in the hallway talking to the sister who was called to replace me as a Seminary teacher. One of the girls in my Seminary class walked by and commented "It's the ghosts of Seminary past and Seminary future!"😂

After church, we talked to Jared and had dinner and family night before Seth left for mission prep class. Tanner also called to talk for a little while that evening.

Monday, August 10th: Frank arranged with his boss to work from home this week since his foot is so painful.

This was a pretty busy day for me. I had a dentist appointment in the morning. Afterwards, I went to see my friend Wanda, who lives in a nursing home nearby. I haven't been able to visit her in a long time; she was very surprised but happy to see me. She doesn't get out much anymore, and it is sad to think about that. She is mostly in bed all the time. It must be very difficult for her, but she is always cheerful. 

After visiting with Wanda, I made stops at Target and Costco before going home. At Target, I got some fruit strip snacks that fit my diet criteria (and they are tasty!). At Costco, I stocked up on chicken, shrimp, and salmon. After my errands, I went home to lunch before heading back to do the regular grocery shopping. Somewhere in there I also vacuumed and got laundry done. We had family night and I read John Adams until bed time.

Tuesday, August 11th: I woke up at 2:30 am and didn't go back to sleep until 5:00, then I went back to sleep until a little after 8:00. I just got regular chores done (cleaned bathrooms & planned meals) and listened to some of the Follow Him podcast. I had my temple shift that evening. Frank didn't go because of his foot. I got a ride with my friend Mary Kay, who is in my ward and works the same shift that I do. It was nice visiting with her on the way down and back. At the temple, we had an awesome training. Then I worked in the laundry for a little while, was a hostess in the celestial room for a little while, and then worked in initiatories for the rest of the evening. We didn't have very many patrons, but that was nice because it gave me a chance to get some practice without feeling super overwhelmed. Everything went smoothly, and I am feeling more comfortable and starting to really love working at the temple.

Wednesday, August 12th: As I mentioned earlier, I made bread. I spent a lot of time reading John Adams and got within 100 pages of finishing it. I probably would have finished, but there were a lot of distractions--I'm in a group of people in my ward who are providing rides to work and back for a sister and her children--they don't have a car--and there were a lot of text messages going back and forth to arrange all that. I had book chat that evening. We had a great discussion and will be reading Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen next (I've already read it, but I'm planning to read it again). I still haven't finished reading John Adams, but I have to say that I have gained a whole lot of respect for him while reading this book about his life. He sacrificed so much to serve his country, and he stuck to what he thought was the right thing to do, even if it hurt him politically. We need more leaders like that!

Thursday, August 13th: This was another very busy day. I exercised and did regular chores in the morning (grocery shopping, started laundry, vacuuming). I went to lunch with my friend Rebekah, so we could get caught up on everything we've been doing for the last month. (We went to Chipotle, where I was able to get food that met my diet criteria.) Then I took Frank to his PT appointment and after dropping him off at home, I went immediately to an eye doctor appointment. This one was my annual visit with the optometrist to check my vision. My eyes have changed only slightly, so I don't need to get new glasses. He's going to have me try a slightly different prescription for my contact lenses, but if it doesn't make much of a difference, then I won't change those either. 

After the eye doctor, I came home and made dinner; I also finished folding laundry. Then I went to pick up two of the previously mentioned sister's children from work and gave them rides home. One of them is living with a friend and the other one is living with her mom at a campground. I was anticipating a very uncomfortable ride with two teenagers / young adults who would just stare at their phones and not speak to me (we had never met before Thursday), but I was pleasantly surprised that they were friendly and they talked and laughed with each other and with me. Also, they both thanked me when I dropped them off. 

In between everything else, I tried to read John Adams when I could, but didn't have a chance to read much. 

Friday, August 14th: I didn't wake up until 8:15, which suprised me because I went to bed around 10:00 and slept great all night. It was pretty awesome to get that much quality sleep! The only down side is that the day felt half over before it started. 😂 By the time I exercised and showered, it was practically lunch time. I spent the afternoon updating finances. After dinner, I went to a game night with a few other sisters in my ward. Frank was invited to a guy's game night too, but he decided not to go because of his foot. I had a fun time; we played several games and there was a lot of laughter. In one game, I kept banging my elbows on the table by accident. I hit my left elbow right on the tip, and it is really sore! (I did win that game, though, so I guess it was worth the sacrifice? 😄)

Frank finished his last dose of prednisone on Tuesday and since then has been taking another anti-inflammatory. He's really not seeing much of an improvement; his foot is still very painful. As a matter of fact, I would say it is more swollen now than it was earlier in the week. This is how it looked on Wednesday:

And this is how it looks today:

I think he's going to need to follow up with the doctor next week if he doesn't see any improvement. I really hate seeing him suffer! He keeps going along doing what needs to be done anyway and doesn't complain much, but I can tell he's hurting. Everyone please keep him in your prayers. 

On a happy note, look what I got in the mail today:

Hopefully I will be set apart soon and can get started on learning what I need to do.

That's all of our news for this week.