After dinner, I finished typing the notes for the Activities Committee Meeting & sent them out. Then I also typed up a bunch of recipes that Rachelle sent to me. I watched highlights from the last few BYU games as well as a video on YouTube about an old school house that a family has turned into their home (they've made a series of ongoing videos about this project and I enjoy watching them periodically). Then I pulled out a bunch of old photographs; I was looking for tiny photos of the boys that I can use for wall decor in my dollhouse. I did find some that will work, including a couple of family photos, although I don't have any of Seth that are really small. I might be able to print a small photo of him, though.
It was a long day, and I was really tired and a little bit grumpy all day--probably because I woke up so early when I was up late the night before.
Sunday, October 11th: It was fast Sunday because of General Conference the previous week. It rained all day (remnants of Hurricane Isaias). Frank had stake meetings in the morning. I read scriptures and worked on record hints (mission work) before church. I went home after church but then Frank texted me to see if I had left yet. His foot was hurting so he was hoping to go home (he'd planned to stay for all the YSA meetings, originally) so I went back to get him. We had dinner and then I got a text from the misisonaries in our ward asking if I could go to an appointment with them. We have had Elders serving in our ward for the last several years, but that week the Elders were transferred out and we got Sisters instead. Anyway, I did go to their appointment with them, which went well. After the lesson, I asked them if they had eaten dinner yet--they hadn't--and they admitted that they didn't have a dinner appointment, so I invited them to come to our house to eat something and so we could get to know them better. They are very nice girls! One of them is brand new and the other one is on her last transfer. They shared a sweet spiritual thought, too. After they left, Seth immediately commented that he thought one of the sisters is REALLY cute! We talked with Jared for a while and I signed up to attend a community meeting (part of my new stake calling--although I still haven't been sustained yet!)
Update on my diet: I weigh myself every Sunday morning. Since starting the diet in mid August, I gradually lost about 4 pounds. On this Sunday when I weighed myself, I had lost 2 more pounds since the previous Sunday. I was surprised! (But pleasantly so.)
Monday October 12th: I didn't wake up until about 6:45, which was awesome! It was mostly a normal Monday with exercising, grocery shopping, laundry, vacuuming, and record hints (mission work), and FHE. I also made some granola and some bread. I read Ordinary Grace while I waited for the bread to get done. I got started on it later than I planned, so I was just waiting for it to finish baking so I could go to bed.
Seth went to YSA FHE and they carved pumpkins. This is the pumpkin he made (it's a character from a show that he likes called Murder Drones):
Unfortunately, it didn't last very long between squirrels nibbling on it and the heat. By the end of the week, it had collapsed and started to spoil, so we had to throw it out.
Tuesday, October 13th: This was another really busy day. I went back to sleep after Frank left and didn't wake up until about 6:20, so I got a late start, but I didn't regret getting that extra sleep! I moved as quickly as possible through exercising, showering, and eating breakfast. Then I sliced the bread that I baked the night before, emptied the dishwasher, cleaned the bathrooms, and planned meals. I got all of that done by 11:40 and ate a quick lunch. An elder who served in our ward a little over a year ago was in town with his wife, and had asked to come by to visit that day around noon. They were at church on Sunday too, so Frank did get to see him and talk to him a little bit which was nice since Frank wasn't home all day on Tuesday. Anyway, "Elder" Gregory and his wife came to visit with Seth and I for about 30 minutes. It was really nice to see him and to meet his wife. He was one of the best missionaries we have ever had serve in our ward. We enjoyed hearing the story of how they met and then he said "Sister Cleveland, I want you to tell my wife the story of how you and Brother Cleveland met; it's one of the best stories I've ever heard." 😂
After their visit, I had my weekly devotional for my mission. Then I took Seth to work and ran a few quick errands (picked up a prescription for Frank and got one thing at the store that I forgot to get the day before). I had a record hints training meeting after I got home, but first I quickly got everything ready so that I could leave for the temple as soon as the record hints meeting ended. I actually had to be there earlier than usual because I had been asked to help in the baptistry that evening and the baptistry sessions start a little earlier. We had a brief prayer meeting first. I was assigned to be the escort sister, which meant that I met the groups of youth as they came past the recommend desk and walked them down to a room for some instruction and then I walked them down to the baptistry. I also helped a little bit with getting clothing ready and I took completed name cards up to the office to be recorded. Originally, I was supposed to work in the baptistry all evening, but the groups who were scheduled for 7:00 and 8:00 both cancelled, so they didn't need as many workers (there were still some walk ins). Instead, after the first hour or so, I was asked to work in the office to help with recording, so I was trained on how to do that. I really enjoyed doing new things--both working in the baptistry and doing recording.
That day was a very warm day, by the way. It was in the mid 80's most of the day--felt more like early September than mid October--and since we had already switched from A/C to heat in the house, it got really warm. (I could have switched it back, of course, but it was going to cool down again in a day or two). Instead, I opened all the windows and turned on a couple of fans.
I noticed this day while I was cleaning bathrooms that the pants I was wearing kept slipping down a few inches. And throughout the week I noticed that all my other pants were also feeling loose. It feels like something "clicked" and the diet has really started to work. Very nice that my efforts have not been in vain. 😊
Wednesday, October 14th: Even though I was up late Tuesday evening, I was awake by 5:45 that morning. I did the usual: exercised, chores, mission work (mostly record hints; I also had my weekly meeting with my team lead). I had my follow up appointment with my cardiologist that afternoon. The echo didn't show anything new, which is good news. I have a slight mitral valve prolapse and mild mitral valve regurgitation, which I have had for decades, but it has not gotten any worse since last year. He did ask if I had any changes in my family history, and when I told him about the issues Ben has had very recently, he was very interested in that and asked me if I could get more information, because he wanted to add that to my chart and keep an eye out for any indication that I am having any of those issues (although at this point I'm not). He gave me a list of things to ask about. After I got home, I sent Ben the list, and he very obligingly sent me as much info as he could.
After my appointment, I did some more mission work, read a little bit, and did some packing for the trip to Shenandoah National Park that Frank and I had planned for Thursday - Saturday. That evening I had a follow up RS activities committee meeting. Frank did monthly maitenance for his clients and Seth went to Institute.
Thursday, October 15th: I was up around 6:00 am and did my usual morning routine. Seth had to be up early too because he had to be at work by 7:30. My friend (and former Seminary co-teacher) Tammy came over and we went for a long walk and got all caught up on what's happening in each other's lives. It was really nice--I miss the regular chats we had when I was teaching Seminary with her! I think she does too, because when she left, she said "we need to do this about once a month!"
After my walk with Tammy, I went to get some groceries. Frank was not at work--he took the day off because we were planning to leave for our trip that afternoon--but some sort of emergency came up, so he ended up doing some work from home. He was going to come with me to the store, but he was too busy working, so I went without him. He was done by the time I got back and we finished packing and I got most of the laundry folded and some vacuuming done. We left for our trip around 1:00 pm. We drove down to the south end of the park and stayed at a Holiday Inn Express in Staunton, Virginia, which is about 2 1/2 hours from Frederick. We went to dinner at Cracker Barrel, and as usual, I looked all over the store and took photos of all the cute S&P shakers. I don't usually buy any, but this time there were a few that I really wanted.
Sense & Sensibility: Salt; Pride & Prejudice: Pepper
They also had a cute sweatshirt with a picture of a bunch of books and below the picture it said "my weekend is fully booked". I didn't buy that, even though I wanted to!
After dinner, we went back to the hotel and relaxed--I finished reading Ordinary Grace too. It was rainy and foggy, so we decided it wasn't worth it to go into the park that day. Frank fell asleep by 8:00 pm; I stayed up to finish reading the book and I thought it was pretty late when I finished, but when I looked at the time, it was only 9:00. 😂I didn't sleep super great, though. For one thing, there was a stink bug flying around the room that was making some noise. If Frank had been awake, he would have taken care of it but he was asleep by then, and I wasn't going to wake him up over a little bug. I finally fell asleep, but then I woke back up a few hours later and was awake for over an hour.
Friday, October 17th: Because I didn't sleep well, I didn't wake up until about 7:00 am. (Frank woke up a few hours before I did, but he let me sleep). We got ready and then went down to get breakfast. Frank left about 15 minutes before I did, and it's a good thing he did because he got some breakfast. By the time I got down there, almost everything was gone. There was still over an hour before breakfast was supposed to end, so I was not super impressed by that! Fortunately, I had brought along several of the muffins that I often eat for breakfast, so I just ate those. I wasn't sure if the hotel breakfast would have many options that fit my diet, so I brought some things I knew would work.
Shenandoah National Park is basically a 105 mile long road (Skyline Drive) with about 75 scenic overlooks along the way. (There are also a lot of hiking trails, but we didn't try any of those because of Frank's foot.) We started at the south end of the park and spent all day (roughly 9:30 am to 4:45 pm) driving all the way through the park to the north end. We stopped at most of the scenic overlooks to enjoy the views and to take photos. There are also a couple of visitor's centers, and we stopped at those, too. We were very fortunate that the weather was perfect--clear, sunny, and warm! The fall colors were not as advanced as we had hoped (the 2nd to 3rd week of October is normally the peak, but clearly the peak is later than normal this year), but it was still really pretty. I will spare you and not share the 200+ photos that I took! I will just share a few, to give you an idea of how beautiful it was:
We got really tired getting in and out of the car so many times, and Frank's foot started hurting quite a bit, but it was worth it to see so many beautiful views.
At the gift shops, we got some postcards, a couple of reusable shopping bags, a sticker for my water bottle (but it doesn't fit because my water bottle has so many other stickers!) and this Christmas ornament:
That night, we stayed in Stephens City, Virginia...just north of the park. A storm was starting to blow in when we arrived at the hotel--it was very windy! We went to dinner at Outback Steakhouse. I was pleased that for most of the trip, I was able to stick with my diet. Besides the muffins, I also brought along a lot of fruit for snacking on. I did have to buy lunch on Friday in the park, and there weren't any options that totally fit my diet, but I didn't deviate too much from what I usually try to eat. It's good to know that if I prepare and bring a few things with me, I can travel without blowing my diet completely.
The hotel in Stephens City was older and slightly run down, but at least they didn't run out of breakfast! Our main complaint was that there was very little lighting in our room, so it was really dark.
Saturday, October 17th: We drove home via Winchester, Virginia--we stopped there briefly to see the temple that is under construction.
We got home about 10:30. After unpacking, I worked on RS activity stuff. I sent some questions to the RS counselor who is over activities, created a sign up sheet for crafts for our November activity, asked the RS secretary to make a flyer for the activity, made a poster, and gathered and prepared items for a display table.
A sister from our ward came over for a while so that Frank could help her with a job application (she needed help with some technology items). I worked a little bit on the finances, practiced ukulele, and cleaned the kitchen floor.
That evening, we were invited by Tammy's family to a "watch party" for the BYU / Notre Dame football game. It was held at the church. Several members of the ward came, and it was a lot of fun to watch the game with several other BYU alumni / fans. When BYU made their first touchdown, several of us sang the BYU fight song--the long version--and the teenagers all looked at us like they thought we were crazy! 😁 Seth got off work at 10:30; I texted him and told him he should come over when he got off work, so he did and he got to enjoy the exciting ending of the game. As many of you know, BYU played great in the first half and not so great in the second half, so that it ended up being one of those nail-biter-down-to-the-very-last-play type of games and we were up until after midnight, but BYU triumphed in the end, so it was totally worth it!! It was pretty thrilling to beat the #2 team in the nation and to see BYU ranked #2 as a consequence. We'll see how long that lasts...depends on how the game tomorrow goes! I have to say that Notre Dame played extremely well, and I feel like their team and BYU's team were pretty equally matched for this game.
I forgot to mention that before the game started, I had time to set up a display table for November's activity so that it was ready for church the next day (it's in front of our ward bulletin board, so the background is kind of busy):
Sunday, October 18th: We were able to sleep in a bit, which was appreciated after our late night. After regular church meetings, our ward had a "linger longer", then I had choir practice after that. We had FHE and dinner and talked to Jared, then Frank & Seth went to the stake center to help with some IT stuff for the stake priesthood meeting that was held that evening. (Frank was asked very last minute to help with this.) Seth was planning to go to mission prep class, but his friend Emma was struggling with some things, so he skipped mission prep so he could listen to / help her.
When I weighed myself Sunday morning, I had lost another 1 1/2 pounds from the previous Sunday, which brings me up to a total of 7 1/2 pounds lost since the middle of August. To get to my ideal weight, I need to lose about 16 pounds, so I am almost half way there.
Monday, October 19th: I fell back asleep after Frank left for work and didn't wake up until 7:00, so I got a late start and didn't have time to exercise because I needed to get to the store to get groceries before Seth had to leave for work. After I got back from the store, I showered and ate breakfast and started the laundry, then started doing work for my mission. In the early afternoon, there was an issue with the project spreadsheet that needed to be resolved, so I took a break and went to Michael's (Frank was home from work by then, so I had a car). I'd heard that the local Michael's was finally carrying some fabric and other sewing supplies and I also heard that some stores have dollhouse stuff, so I wanted to see what they had (both sewing and dollhouse items). I was happy to see that they do have some fabric--not a lot, but there were some really cute fabrics and also a decent amount of solid colors. I was also happy to see that they have thread, buttons, ribbons, pins, needles, etc. The dollhouse section was pretty small, but they had some cute things there too. When I got home, I went on the Michael's website and found a lot more dollhouse miniatures and they have some really cute things that I haven't seen anywhere else, so I will probably be ordering at least a few things from there, eventually.
After I got home, we had dinner and then I did some more mission work because I wanted to get at least 4 hours done on Monday. Meanwhile, Seth didn't get off work until 6:00 and he had YSA FHE at 7:00, so we didn't have FHE activity that night. For the YSA FHE, they had a Halloween party at the branch president's house and he invited Emma to go too.
Tuesday, October 20th: Once again, I went back to sleep after Frank left for work. I didn't sleep quite as late as I did on Monday, but it was close. I finished watching Wicked: for Good while exercising that morning. (I watched Little Women the rest of the week while exercising). I got the regular chores done before lunch (cleaning bathrooms and planning meals). Then I had my weekly mission devotional, followed by three hours of mission work (I worked on Record Hints and AI Research Assistant). After dinner, I watched a few short videos and then started shingling the dollhouse roof. I did the first row:
As usual, I was home alone Tuesday afternoon until late that night. Seth worked from 2:00 to 10:30. Frank had a big project at work--he had to install a big update for one of their products--so he had let his shift coordinator at the temple know that he wasn't going to be able to come in that night, but he was expecting to be at work until late instead. However, the install failed (not Frank's fault--the software manufacurer's) and he had to wait for that problem to be resolved so he could try the update again on Wednesday. (He did get it installed successfully later this week.) He got to the point where he couldn't do anything else around 5:30, so he decided to show up for his temple shift to see if they could use his help. His shift coordintor was VERY happy to see him! He did get to leave a little earlier than usual, but they definitely needed his help, and he was glad that he didn't miss his shift after all.
Wednesday, October 21st: I woke up about 6:30 and exercised, then I had some oatmeal for breakfast that I had put in the crock pot the night before--it was pretty good. I was ready to start on mission work about 9:00 and finished about 1:30. After eating some lunch, I made a double batch of breakfast muffins and did the Wednesday chores. Then it was time to make dinner. I had book club that evening and Seth went to Institute. At book club, we discussed Ordinary Grace; now we are going to read Dracula by Bram Stoker.
Thursday, October 22nd: I woke up around 3:30 and I didn't try to go back to sleep because I had a meeting that morning at 9:00, and I wanted to exercise, shower, eat, buy groceries, and get the laundry started before the meeting. I was able to get all that done before being picked up for the meeting. The meeting was a community meeting for an organization called the Faith Community Partnership of Frederick County. I signed up to go to it because of my new stake communications calling. The stake RS president was also attending (she's in my ward) so she picked me up and gave me a ride home (Seth had to leave for work before I got home, so I asked her for a ride). This meeting is held quarterly and is attended by leaders / members of several churches in Frederick County. If I undersand correctly, at most meetings they have an organization come to present to the group what their organization does and what help local churches can give them. This particular meeting, the presenter was a group called Project Belong Maryland, which provides support for foster children, their biological families, foster families, and social workers. It was really interesting--the meeting was 2 hours, but it went by quickly. I was impressed with all the things that they are doing and hope that our ward will be able to help out in some way. There was breakfast at this meeting too and I was happy to see that they had eggs and fruit because even though I had already eaten breakfast, I ate at about 4:15, so by 9:00 I was pretty hungry again!
After I got home from the meeting, my friend Rebekah picked me up and we went to lunch together. I decided not to worry about my diet for this meal because we go out to lunch about once a month, and there are just so few options that work with my diet and I don't want to eat the same place every month. I don't think it's going to do too much damage to abandon my diet for one meal a month. 😉 We've worked our way through the alphabet and are back to the letter A, so we went to Arby's.
By the time I got home from lunch, Frank was home from work. I finished chores and worked a bit more on dollhouse shingling. I did the second row and the two side roofs and started on the front roof, but didn't get too far on the front. For the front roof, a lot of the shingles have to be cut to fit around the dormer windows. I ran into some difficulties with that because although the shingles cut easily with a pair of scissors, they cut too easily--I needed to cut a square out of the top corner of one of the shingles and when I started to cut down, it would split all the way to the bottom of the shingle instead of stopping partway down, where I wanted it. I talked to Frank about it, and he had some good suggestions, but I haven't got back to working on it yet.
After dinner and after Seth came home from work, we did our FHE activity for the week.
Friday, October 23rd: I finally made it to today! This morning I went to the temple to do initiatories
I was listening very hard to everything the ordinance workers said, because I am trying to memorize the ordinances. When I'm a patron, I can hear in my head what they are going to say next, but when I'm a worker and have to say it myself, I can't always remember everything. There's just a few parts that I struggle to remember, so I was trying to focus on those parts and get them more set in my mind. We'll see how much it helped the next time I work in initiatories!
After getting home from the temple, I worked the rest of the day on updating finances and this blog post. I took a short break this evening to go get my hair cut. Frank had a haircut scheduled right after mine, so we went together. Both the budget and this post took longer than usual because I had two week's worth of work to do instead of one. Now it is super late (nearly midnight) and I have a busy day tomorrow, so I need to wrap this up.
I just want to mention one more thing--the last couple of weeks, my tailbone has been hurting a lot. I'm not sure why, but wonder if it's because I'm spending a lot of time sitting in the same spot on one of our couches. That's where I sit when I'm doing mission work, so I sit there at least 12 hours per week. (I've also been sitting in the same spot as I've been typing this post!) I guess I will have to start moving around to different places when I work, and see if that helps. Hopefully it will.
