This past week started out great with General Conference, which took up most of Saturday and Sunday. We had signed up to have the Elders over for dinner on Sunday and since the second session is during the dinner hour for us, we invited them to come watch the second session with us. We had snacks to enjoy during the session and then we had dinner when it ended.
I decided to try something different this time and didn't take any notes while listening to the sessions unless I felt like there was something I should do, related to what was being said. I always watch and read all the talks again afterwards, and take notes then so I just decided to relax and listen this time. It was nice to just listen, but I do feel like I listen better when I'm taking notes and also I can't remember much that was said now. Of course, that will change when I start listening to and reading the talks later. While I was listening I did some coloring to help me stay awake. I got a color-by-number book for Christmas so I worked on one of those. I finished the picture later this week:
Seth "listening" to the 2nd session on Saturday:
The rest of this week was mostly business as usual--Frank was really busy with work, Seth kept busy with school, and I kept busy with all the usual household chores. On Tuesday I had a YW presidency meeting that was pretty long so that took a lot of the day. Wednesday I did my last VITA shift for this tax season. I'm kind of glad to be done, although I did enjoy it and all the other volunteers I worked with were really nice. I took some donuts to share with everyone which they seemed to appreciate. We were fairly busy but not overwhelmingly so. We had one lady and her daughter come in and as we were finishing their tax returns we discovered that they had both filed this year already, they just didn't like the end result before so they were hoping to get a better result the second time! You wouldn't believe how many people try to do that. It was kind of frustrating since that was a total waste of our time. (But kind of funny too.)
We all had youth activities on Wednesday evening, as usual. Seth was in charge of bringing bacon for the YM activity so I was helping him cook it. Frank had to be there early to help one of the Primary activity day leaders set up some technology stuff for their activity, so he left while we were still cooking bacon. Guess what? It takes a long time to cook 3 packages of bacon when you can only cook 6 slices at a time (that's our biggest pan). Seth and I ended up being late, which stressed me out a bit since the YW had class activities so I really needed to be there on time. I texted my class advisor, though, and told her what we were doing and where to get the supplies out of the YW closet so it ended up working out fine. They were able to get most of the set up done before I arrived so when I got there with the final items we needed, we were able to get going quickly. My class did a painting activity--they brought quotes they liked from General Conference and painted them onto small canvases so they can hang them on their walls at home. I think they all did a great job!
Here is everyone working on their paintings...three of the girls (there's five in my class; two weren't there) and the advisor, plus if you look really closely you may see the advisor's 11 month old daughter peaking over the top of the table!
The YM cleaned up outside the church (a lot of tree branches had fallen and needed to be removed) and then they had "breakfast"--bacon, eggs, and biscuits.
Yesterday was pretty routine except last evening I got my hair cut. I also got the color done, including some highlights, so it took a while. Frank and Seth got haircuts while my color was processing, so now we all look classy! 😁
I'd say Frank has been busier than usual with work this week. They are trying to get all the bugs worked out of the new database so that keeps him busy along with all the usual emergencies that seem to come up regularly. He's been up late most nights working on things that need to be done after hours. Yesterday that place he interviewed with last week contacted him to let him know they just interviewed the last candidate that day so they are hoping to make a decision by next week. (Originally, it was supposed to be this week but one interview had to be postponed.) So maybe next week we'll know more about that.
This week has been mostly chilly and we've had a lot of rain. Today is sunny and I'm really enjoying that (even though it's still in the 50s so not very warm) because most of this week has been cloudy. I like rainy days, but when it is cloudy and gray for several days in a row I start to long for some sunshine. Yesterday we got some thunder along with some of the rain. This morning the river is up a bit...not flooded, but definitely higher than it's been. A lot of trees are blooming now although many are still completely bare. I feel like spring is taking its time getting here this year! The grass has become really green though and Seth had to mow the lawn for the first time this year on Monday so things are definitely starting to grow.
I have done a little bit of reading this week but not a lot. I feel like I only get a few minutes here and there to read lately and a lot of times I just don't feel like reading. I think I am really going to like Dune once I get into it, but I haven't gotten far enough in yet to be really motivated to pick it up. Maybe next week I'll do better.
One thing I have been enjoying in snatches of free time is indexing. Some of you probably already know this but Family Search has a new app called "Get Involved" that can be used to do indexing from a smart phone. The records have already been indexed by a computer, but they need human eyes to check them too. In the app, one name is highlighted at a time with the computer's indexing displayed underneath. All I have to do is choose whether it's a match or not. If it doesn't match, I can edit it to what I think it should be. I can also choose to say "unsure" if I'm not sure if it's correct or not. The app is super easy to use and I can index 50 names in just a few minutes. It's rather addictive!! This last week the 1950s Census was added to the app and one cool feature is that you can choose which state you want to index records from and you can also tell it a surname that you want to index and it will search for records with that name from that state. So I indexed a lot of records from Arizona with the surname "Pew" this week. Most of them were people I didn't know but I finally got to index the record that had Uncle Joe, Aunt Amy & Terry and when I scrolled up on the page, Grandpa, Grandma, Dad and Uncle Karl were also there along with Aunt Laprele, Uncle Andy, and Lloyd. So that was really cool! I've tried indexing records with the surname "Johnson" also but that's a much more common name of course so I haven't come across anyone I know yet.
We found out this week that Seth got accepted into the CTC Computer Technician Analyst program for next school year. This means that he will take two classes in the mornings at his regular high school and then go to the CTC for the two afternoon blocks each day. Basically, this course will take the place of his electives. He will be learning some valuable job skills so I think this will be a great opportunity for him. We hope he likes it, does well, and is able to successfully complete the course.
I was able to talk to Jared on Wednesday evening for a while, after I got home from the YW activity. His doctor called him that day because he got the results of Jared's MRI. The MRI showed that he definitely has a fistula. It is pretty likely that he will need surgery for that but the doctor wants to know whether he has Crohn's disease or not before operating because that will affect how he does the surgery. The doctor seems anxious to get it taken care of as soon as possible, though, so he will probably be having surgery within a few weeks of when he gets the colonoscopy results. Jared is experiencing a lot of the Crohn's disease symptoms which includes fatigue, joint pain, abdominal pain and cramping, and nausea besides the discomfort of the abcess / fistula. So he's not a very happy camper right now, but he's hanging in there. He told me on Wednesday that he is tired of not feeling well enough to be productive. A sure sign of being an adult...when you no longer enjoy lying around doing nothing!! Please continue to pray for him.
I texted with Tanner for a bit on Tuesday and he reports that the kitten is doing great. She isn't hiding in her carrier anymore, she likes their apartment and she cuddles with both he and Darlee every night. He sent me some adorable pictures and video clips.
That is all the news from us for this week.
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