Weekly Review March 28 '14

Spring?  Well, not yet apparently:

 We got 2 inches of wet snow on Tuesday.  Above are my poor little purple crocuses, all closed up to keep out the cold.  Below are the little daffodils--a little braver, still open:

 You can see that we didn't get enough snow to even cover up the grass completely, though:

Thankfully, Mother Nature had pity on us and it didn't start snowing until after school started, and the snow did not stick to the roads at all, so we did not have another snow day, or even a 2 hour delay or early release.  Yahoo!!  It's been rather cold most of this week, but it's supposed to warm up this weekend and the temperatures look like they are going to stay warm at least into the middle of the week.  Winter cannot hang on forever.

A couple of somewhat exciting things happened this week--at least to us they were.  Saturday was the stake basketball tournament.  Jared's team had a game in the morning.  If they won that game, then they played for the championship later in the day.  They won their first game...it was a good game and they won by a decent amount although I was impressed with how hard the other team played.  They only had 5 people on their team, so no substitutions, while we had at least 11 or 12 on our team.  Anyway, Jared's team played again that afternoon...and they won!!!  Maybe this doesn't mean much to all of you, but our ward's teams have been losing almost every game for years so this is very exciting for us to not only have a winning season, but to win the whole championship.  (They have done better the last few seasons, so they've been gradually improving.)

The other exciting thing that happened is we got a set of sister missionaries!  I heard on Sunday that they were coming but...we've heard that twice before and then no sisters showed up.  But this time they really came.  I've seen them and I've spoken with them.  They are actually going to be here for dinner in about an hour and we are going to talk about all the ways that we can help each other.  It's going to be awesome! :)

Not so exciting:  I am leading a discussion for combined Priesthood / RS this Sunday.  The bishop asked me to do it last Sunday.  I am kind of anxious about it...not my favorite thing to do, getting up in front of a bunch of people.  But I've been pulling my thoughts together whenever I've had a chance this week (which hasn't been much) and I think I have it mostly figured out.  I'm supposed to lead a discussion, not teach per se, so hopefully some people will feel like discussing.  If they don't, I've come up with a lot of points I'd like to make so at least we won't be staring at each other with nothing to say.  Chances are, we'll run out of time before we get to discuss half of what I'd like to discuss.

Other things I did this week:

• Book Club on Tuesday.  We read a book called "And There Was Light".  You should really read this book; it is great!  It's written by a guy who was blinded in an accident at age 8.  During WWII, he was part of the French resistance.  He has some really profound things to say.  Not to be missed!
• Took Jared to the orthodontist.  They say he may be able to get his braces off after a couple more visits.  That would be nice for me as well as him...I've been making those half hour drives (one way) to the orthodontist for over 7 years now.  (I was taking Scott before I took Jared.)
• RS visits.  I visited two older ladies who are both lonely.  And they can both talk!! So it took most of a day to visit the two of them.  (They both live about 30 minutes away also.)  I enjoyed talking with them, though.  They have both done some pretty interesting things in their lives.
• Took Snickers to the vet.  He has a strange growth on his tail that needs to be removed and he needs his teeth cleaned again.  At least they will do them both at the same time so we only have to pay for anesthesia once but it's still going to take a big chunk out of our wallets.

Frank has been taking a class all week for work, which finished up today.  It was here in Frederick so he didn't have to drive as far which was nice.  He's been busy after work with clients and he's also been doing some work on the computers at the stake center.  He has an emergency with a client right now so I guess he's going to miss dinner with the missionaries.

It's a good thing they are girls, because Tanner & Jared are still at the school for play rehearsal.  I couldn't have the Elders over unless either Frank or Tanner were here.  We've seen more of Tanner & Jared than last week, but they have still had rehearsals every day for the next play, which is Catch Me If You Can.  Next week is "tech week" so they will disappear again.  This was the last week of the term and Tanner had a lot of work to do for his two AP classes.  He hasn't been doing well in either one of them, and I really hope he didn't fail either of them.  He stayed really late at school on Wednesday working on sound, even though I tried to convince him he needed to come home.  It was pretty frustrating!  I think they demand way too much of the boys during the plays and I wish they would learn to balance their lives a little better.  Because he stayed on Wednesday, he ended up staying up until after 2:00 am this morning writing an essay for his AP English class which was due today.  He missed Seminary again and was late to school.  I don't think he did as well on it as he could have, either.  Anyway, it is all water under the bridge now.  He can't do anything to improve his grades for this term now but I hope he has learned from the experience.  This has been a very stressful year for him...and for me!  Because it was the last day of the term today, the schools got out 2 hours early.

That brings you up to date on most of what we've been doing, and I need to go make dinner so I'm signing off for this week.

PS to Weekly Review March 20 '14

I forgot to mention that Jared has earned an academic letter from his school.  The ceremony was last night.  I thought he couldn't attend so I asked them to send the letter to the guidance office for him to pick up.  Then it turned out that he didn't have play practice until that late and he was asked to run the sound for the ceremony.  So he was there...but up in the booth and he still has to go to the guidance office to pick up his letter.  At any rate, we are proud of him for earning an academic letter.  They have to have a GPA of at least 3.5 for three consecutive semesters to earn it (can't get it until they are at least a sophomore).  Tanner received the same thing his sophomore year and he got a pin last year for earning the same thing.  Good for both of them! 

Weekly Review March 20 '14

Last week's post was two days late, and just to throw you off this week's is a day early.  Kind of have to do these whenever I get the chance these days. 

 

First things first, thank you for your prayers for Frank...his itching disappeared as mysteriously as it came.  Just glad he is feeling better!

 

Today is the first day of spring and I can't complain about it too much.  The temps got up into the low 50's and it was sunny.  It still felt a bit chilly because there was a breeze blowing a lot of the day, but sunny and 50's is a drastic improvement over what we've been getting most days for the last several months.  Right on cue, I found crocuses blooming in my flower bed today.  Also a few dwarf daffodil looking things bloomed a few days ago.  There's a light at the end of the tunnel!  (Although Frank informed me there's a storm coming next week that might be "epic".  Please let it be rain, not snow!)

 

Here's the pictures I promised from last week:

 

Seth wanted to be in the picture.

Here's a close up of our awesome St. Patrick's Day veggies...carrots, onions, red potatoes, and cabbage of course!  Plus my cool St. Patrick's Day salt & pepper shakers!

Here's the corned beef brisket!  Seth is really making a silly face, not a "oh no, am I going to have to eat this" face, even though it doesn't look like it.

For the actual St. Patrick's Day (Monday) we got...5 inches of fresh snow and another snow day.  Sigh!!  I really think we could have gotten away with a 2 hour delay.  The roads cleared up quite quickly.  I was supposed to have a presidency meeting at my house that morning, but instead we moved it to afternoon at the church (for privacy) and none of us had any trouble getting to the church.  The meeting took up most of the afternoon since we haven't been able to meet in about a month.  While I was gone, Frank made 3 loaves of banana bread with all the overripe bananas that needed to be used...bless him!  I spent some time with Tanner looking over BYU housing and I think we are probably going to sign him up for Helaman Halls for this first year.  It's a bummer that he doesn't have a close friend to room with, but hopefully he will get lucky and get a great roommate.  Scott didn't know any of his roommates ahead of time, and they all turned out to be great!  All the after school activities were cancelled on Monday also but since the opening night for Tanner's play is tonight (he's there now...actually hopefully it's ending right about now) the director found another place to have rehearsal (he wasn't allowed to use the school building) and asked everyone who could make it to come that evening.  So Tanner went to that.  We had family night Sunday night because we knew he'd probably have a rehearsal on Monday.

We went back to normal life on Tuesday thank goodness.  Snickers went to the groomer that morning.  I meant to take a "before" and "after" shot because this is the longest he's ever gone without a cut and he was super shaggy but I forgot to take the "before" picture, so you will just have to take my word for it that he looks like a new dog!  Tuesday evening Seth and I got his Shark project done.  A day early!  We were so proud of ourselves.

I have spent a lot of time this week doing RS stuff.  Lots of emails, phone calls, making lists, etc!  Seriously, I think I could do stuff like that all day every day and never run out of things to do.  I am trying to have "phone visits" with at least a couple of sisters each week...my solution to dealing with the stupid weather we've been having for months which keeps interfering with my efforts to make real visits.  Plus, it's a good way to catch up with some of the more active sisters, just to make sure they don't need anything.  I had several nice "visits" with women this week.  There seem to be a lot of crises with mothers lately.  One sister's mother passed away recently, another's mom had surgery last week and has to have another one tomorrow, and a third sister's 90 something year old mother has cancer, so she is not going to be with us much longer.  It's been a rough couple of months, with lots of ward members losing various family members.

Besides that, I have been trying to do my regular visiting teaching but I am ready to tear my hair out over that.  I can't get my companion or any of the sisters I visit to return emails, text messages, or voice mails.  It's so frustrating, but at least I have a clear conscience that I've been trying hard.  Maybe they are all avoiding me?

We had the Elders over for dinner, last minute, on Wednesday.  We just made our "family mission plan" so we shared that with them.  The biggest element in my plan is to try to meet people who aren't already members!   

Yesterday it rained all day and the windshield wipers on my car just broke so I couldn't go anywhere until evening (I got shopping done while Jared was at YM.)  It was kind of nice to have an excuse not to go anywhere and I got a lot of RS stuff done.

Tanner and Jared have continued to be very busy with play rehearsals and both of them have stayed after school every day until late evening.  My evenings have been hectic, dropping off dinners for them and then picking them up when they are done.  I will be really glad when this play is over (although alas...there is another one in a few weeks) because Tanner (and probably Jared also) needs to get some school work done.  He's not doing well at all in his two AP classes and next week is end of term. I am trying to let him handle it and not have a nervous break down over it (but I'm not doing too well with that). 

Frank has been working here in Frederick all week which is nice because he doesn't have to get up so early.  Today he had 2 clients needing immediate help, plus a printer at the church needing to be fixed so he didn't get home until after 8:00.  He works in Frederick next week also.

Ok, not a very exciting week but that's just how it's been.  As soon as they let us know when the last day of school is going to be (I think it will probably be June 12th) we will purchase plane tickets.  So looking forward to seeing all of you in 3 months! 

Weekly Review March 16 '14

Yes, I know I'm two days late posting this week's review.  This week end has been very busy.  It's been a productive week, though, and very spiritually uplifting too, so I can't complain.  I will have to give the short version of everything that happened, though, because I don't have a lot of time.

Before I forget I should mention that Frank has been having some sort of weird allergic reaction since about Wednesday.  It started out with the palms of his hands and the bottom of his feet itching.  Now his chest, back, arms, face, and head itch also and an occasional random hive will pop out at times.  On Thursday he also felt like he had a fever and the Benedryl I had him take for the itching made him dizzy so he took a sick day that day.  He hasn't been totally miserable, but he has definitely been uncomfortable.  So pray for him, please.  We don't know what is causing the itching and the medicine makes him dizzy so he doesn't want to take it.  Hopefully whatever it is will clear up soon.

Saturday was busy with lots of different activities including a trip to the library, a basketball game for Jared (they lost--but that's only the second game that they lost), housework, and a ward activity.  For the activity we were supposed to bring a dish from the land of our heritage.  For us, that is mostly European like English, German, Irish and French.  I made some attempt to figure out an English dish (and mom even looked up a beef pasty recipe for me) but in the end Frank said "let's just make peach cobbler because I'm from the south".  Since that sounded good and it was easy (and we didn't have much time) I agreed and it turned out great.  The activity was pretty fun.  Tanner didn't go because he was at the high school all day for a rehearsal.  After the activity, Tanner came with me while I picked up a few groceries for a sister in our ward who needed a few things (she can't get out on her own). 

Sunday was fairly eventful also.  First of all, I fell down the stairs.  I was at the top of a flight of six steps when I slipped and slid all the way down, landing hard on the laminate floor at the bottom.  Thankfully, I did not break anything!  I just got a few bruises.  I was pretty sore on Monday but by Tuesday I was quite a bit better and now I'm fine although I can still see a few bruises.  We had our Ward Conference that day and it was really, really good.  All the talks and lessons were so inspiring.  Besides that, the youth sang a song (the one they've been practicing all this time) and all I can say about that is "Wow!"  It was so beautiful and there was such a strong sweet spirit while they sang.  I admit that there were times I thought that they were having an awful lot of practices, but when they were singing, I had the distinct impression that the strong spirit we felt was because the youth were being blessed for their diligence and hard work.  The other thing that was wonderful about it is that Jared sang the male solo part and he did a great job!  I love music so much and I am tickled pink that one of my kids has decided he is interested in singing also.  The stake presidency was so touched by the song that they asked our youth to sing it again for the adult session of stake conference, which was last night, so they did and did a great job again.  They have also been asked to sing it for a stake Easter fireside.  The song they sang, by the way, is called "Come Unto Christ" and it is the YM / YW theme song for this year.  You can listen to it on the church's youth website.  I had a meeting with the stake RS presidency after church, we took Wanda home (we picked her up before church also) and later Erin & Dan came for dinner and we had the Elders over also.  We had a fun time visiting and eating.

Monday I spent a good part of the day with a sister in our ward (same one I took the groceries to on Saturday evening).  She needed a ride to the doctor and then I took her to lunch (as a late birthday present) and took her to run a few errands.  She has been very sick the last few months, plus she had a bad fall recently.  She got a concussion, and a big gash on her face that needed stitches.  When I saw her, the stitches had just come out but her face was still bruised and her cheek with the gash was quite swollen.  Anyway, it was nice to spend some time with her...I've been worried about her.

That evening I took Tanner & Jared to see a movie.  Our stake had made arrangements to have one of the local movie theaters show the movie "Saratov Approach".  Maybe all you Utahns have already seen it, but if you are not familiar with it, it is the true story of two missionaries in Russia who were abducted and held for ransom for a week.  It was a pretty good movie and it was fun to watch it with a theater full of people that we know.  I wondered afterwards that I had not heard about this event at all when it happened...back in 1998.  I mean, we were in New York then so we didn't hear a lot about church news but in the movie they made it sound like people all over the nation of many faiths were praying for them.  Maybe that was just something they did to make the story more dramatic.  At any rate, it all ended ok with the missionaries being released.  I spent the first few minutes of the movie trying to figure out why the actor playing one of the missionaries looked so familiar and then laughed when I realized it's the same actor that plays Satan in one of the new temple movies.  As we were leaving after the movie making our way through a crowd of people in the lobby and the parking lot, Jared commented "We're going to be doing the same thing this weekend, minus the popcorn!"

On Tuesday I went to the temple.  I was hoping to make it to the 10:00 session but a lot of things happened to slow me down and as I was getting close to the temple I was realizing that I was probably just barely going to miss it.  That is agitating since they only have sessions every hour and I really didn't want to be an hour behind getting home but I thought I'd maybe do some initiatories while I waited.  Then all of the sudden it dawned on me how appropriate it would be for me to do both, since it was the 25th anniversary of the day that I received my own endowment, and then it felt like it was meant to be and I relaxed and forgot about all the things I needed to do when I got home.  I was not really prepared, though, for how emotional an experience that turned out to be.  Emotional in a good way--it seemed more personal, and I was looking back and realizing how much those covenants have blessed me over all these years.  It was a really sweet experience.

Wednesday was not quite as busy.  I got shopping done and made lots of phone calls--setting up appointments and so forth.  I kept busy all day, but I don't remember details now.

We did have a few nice, somewhat spring-like days this week but Thursday was ridiculously cold--with temperatures between 20 and 30 with wind gusts reaching up to 50 mph which put the wind chill in the single digits.  So of course I had appointments and places to go all day long!  Grocery shopping, an appointment with Seth's teacher, put gas in Frank's car, picked up the boys from school, took Tanner to an appointment, and did a food order.  I met with Seth's teacher to discuss some ways of helping him focus and get more done at school.  I also did some sewing that day.  I have a knit top I purchased a year ago and after I bought it I decided that it was really too long so I haven't worn it.  I decided I might as well try to shorten it--I wasn't wearing it anyway so if I ruined it, it would not be a bigger loss than just having it hang in the closet unworn.  Knits can be tricky, so I did some research on the internet to learn some techniques.  Then I cut off the inch or two at the bottom and used the scrap to practice sewing, and tried several stitches to find the best one.  It's a good thing I used the scrap since I actually got the fabric stuck in the machine at one point and it was so bad I had to cut the fabric to get the piece out!  I have to say that doing this project helped me realize that I have gained a little bit of patience (at least where sewing is concerned) over the years.  I would have been tearing my hair out over this when I was younger but whenever something went wrong, I just thought "Well, I'll try something else then."  Not sure what has happened to me!  I am also enjoying playing with my sewing machine. :)  I used to be so focused on the end result that I hated the process.  I guess in my old age I am learning to appreciate the process!  I did run out of time on Thursday but on Friday I did finish the new hem (after a trip to the store to buy a product I needed).  It wasn't perfect, but it looks pretty good.

Friday was super busy because besides the usual things I do on Friday (budget, write to Scott, exercise, and this post) I also had a doctor appointment, I was finishing the sewing project, the Elders came to dinner, and I made three pies for a "Pi Day Party" we were going to (plus going to the party itself).  So that explains why this post didn't get written on Friday.  I did get everything else done, much to my surprise (but satisfaction).  We made pizza for dinner (well, more accurately Frank made the pizzas while I finished sewing) and since we saw a picture on facebook of a pizza with the "Pi" sign made out of pepperoni, we did that for one of them.  For the Pi Day Party, they had a 3.14 mile run and then we ate lots of pie.  Because of our dinner with the Elders we got there late so we didn't do the 3.14 run, but I did walk around the church several times while others finished up their run.  I made a jello pudding pumpkin spice pie, a banana cream pie, and a chocolate cream pie.  We had the chocolate one with the Elders and I took the other two to the party.  There were lots of yummy pies.  While we were at the church, Tanner & Jared had another song practice.  Frank was itching a lot so he didn't go to the party.

Yesterday was busy also but a very nice day.  The weather was beautiful, for one thing.  We had the adult session of stake conference for another and it was a really inspiring meeting.  They had several speakers and they were all either new members sharing their conversion stories (all amazing!) or members talking about things they've been doing to share the gospel (also all amazing!)  Tanner & Jared came with me to that meeting--to sing, plus the youth are all invited to those meetings now anyway.  Frank was itching again so he stayed home with Seth.  The highlight of yesterday, though, was that we got to go to the temple to see a family in our ward get sealed.  The mom of the family is my secretary.  The Sunday that I was sustained as RS president, she came to church for the first time ever.  She introduced herself and said that a friend of hers (a member of our ward) had invited her to come to her church, so she did.  She brought her husband and four daughters too.  They never stopped coming.  She was baptized a month later, in February, and her husband and oldest daughter (age 12) were baptized in March.  So last month she went to the temple for her own endowment and yesterday her husband received his endowment and then they were all sealed to each other.  It was the sweetest thing!  Frank helped teach them the new member discussions and the dad is an IT guy so they have become pretty good friends.  They asked Frank to be one of the witnesses.  Anyway, it was just very special to be in the temple with them and to see their whole family kneeling at the altar dressed in white.  I felt especially happy for those little girls, who will probably always remember that experience and who will now receive all the blessing of being part of an eternal family. 

Today we had the general session of stake conference which was a broadcast from Salt Lake City and again--it was very uplifting.  Oh, and we have 49 missionaries serving from our stake now!  This afternoon I took Jared & Tanner over to another family in our ward's house because they are going to be helping the son with his Eagle project and he needed to teach them some things.  (They are going to be teaching some basic science classes to 2nd-5th graders at our local library.)  While they did their training, I had a nice visit with his mom, who was my first secretary until they stole her to be the new Primary president.  We had corned beef and cabbage for dinner in honor of St. Patrick's Day tomorrow.  (I will put up pictures next week...I actually took a few!)  Now everyone is waiting for me to finish this post so we can have family night, so I'd better finish up. 

Sadly, it is supposed to snow tonight...again!!  Hopefully this will be the last of that until next winter though.  Wish us luck!    

Weekly Review March 7 '14

Everyone is healthy again at our house, thank goodness!  On Saturday Tanner & Jared helped put up posters all over Frederick to advertise their next play, Bonnie & Clyde.  Tanner went with the missionaries to an appointment and Jared had a basketball game.  Frank and I both went to the game.  Jared's team won...they have won every game this season except one.  Jared made a couple of baskets, too.  I went to the library, cleaned the kitchen floor, gave the dog a bath, and sewed some baby burp cloths for our RS service project.  It was a busy day but we got everything done and even had time that evening to sit down and watch a movie all together as a family.  I can't remember the last time we did that!!

Sunday morning I had Ward Council and while I was in that meeting Frank called to say that one of his clients' server had gone down.  We had bad weather predicted for Sunday evening / Monday so he needed to take care of that right away which meant he missed church...again!  It has now been five Sundays in a row that the two of us have not been to church together, either because of illness or because Frank has had to work.  We hope to break our streak this Sunday.  He did solve the problem, thankfully. 

On Sunday Frank also had an accident.  He stepped on something sharp in a pile of leaves that went through his shoe and punctured his foot.  So he had to go to urgent care to get a tetanus shot and to have his foot looked at.  The wound wasn't too bad but it didn't bleed at all which isn't necessarily a good thing.  So they also gave him an antibiotic and had him soak his foot in hot water three times a day for a couple of days.  Both his foot and his arm (from the tetanus shot) have been sore this week, but not too bad.

We did get the predicted snow storm Sunday night, which gave us about 5 inches of snow, so school was cancelled (AGAIN!) on Monday.  Also on Tuesday...I still can't figure that out since the roads were totally clear by then.  They say the roads were icy.  Originally we were told there would only be a two hour delay so we were all bewildered when they changed it to cancelled.  We are 6 days over our limit now, I think.  I'm still waiting to hear how that is going to affect the last day of school. 

I did not enjoy those two snow days much.  I am definitely getting cabin fever!  And besides that, it makes it hard to get anything done.  I was supposed to have a presidency meeting Monday and had to cancel...again.  (Last week I was sick.)  Not so much because the roads were so bad, but because with all the kids at home there was no private place to meet.  I've been feeling very lethargic and "blah", with the need to get things done but no energy to actually make myself do them.  I don't like that feeling!  The last few days have been better, though.  Yesterday I was able to visit one sister and talk to another one that I've been worried about.  Just doing little things like that helps me to feel a whole lot better!

On Monday afternoon Tanner and Jared met at a ward member's house to watch Frozen.  (Digital copies are available already.)  Tanner and Jared have seen the movie twice now and they totally love it.  The rest of us haven't seen it yet, but Tanner bought a digital copy this week so hopefully we are all going to watch it tonight.

On Tuesday evening I had my monthly meeting with the bishop.  On Wednesday I finally had my crown done.  It wasn't a big deal, but my mouth was numb almost all day!  Then when the numbness wore off, it hurt to open my mouth because he had shot the novocaine right in the joint of my jaw in the back.  After a few hours it started to loosen up, though and yesterday it was much better and today it is hardly noticeable.  The new tooth looks nice but it wasn't, of course, very cheap.

Tanner and Jared have had play rehearsals every day after school and a few song practices, too.  They are keeping very busy.  Yesterday we had the Elders over for dinner.  I'd planned to make lasagna, but then when I cooked the meat it smelled spoiled so we ordered Chinese food instead. 

For a ward activity we're having tomorrow, they wanted us to share how our family came into the church.  For me, that's pretty tricky since there are several different stories I could tell.  So I spent some time researching family stories this week...and crying with gratitude at what great ancestors I have!  I finally decided to share BF Johnson's story, since I have it in his own words. 

Tanner has decided to go to BYU-Provo.  (Not surprising.)  I think we are going to try to get him housing on campus, since he won't have a car or anything.  Plus for this first year I think it will be easier for him if he doesn't have to cook.  So all you Utahns will get to see him more often, hopefully!  At least...if you are willing to go pick him up. :)

Seth is having some trouble with school...he isn't focusing very well and isn't getting much work done.  I will be going in to talk to his teacher about it next week.  If anyone has any ideas that you think will help a 6 year old boy focus better, let me know!  Thanks!

Weekly Review March 1 '14

There is not a lot to write about this week because Frank and I were both sick most of the week.  Remember how I wasn't feeling very well when I wrote last Friday?  Well, it turned into the full blown flu with fever, body aches, congestion, headache, cough, sore throat, etc.  Not much fun!  I was down from Sunday to Wednesday and Frank was down Monday through Friday.  He seems to be quite a bit better today. 

It might be better to list all the things I didn't do this week:  I didn't have a presidency meeting, I didn't go to book club, I didn't go to the dentist to get a crown (had to be rescheduled).  I didn't do much of anything except lie in bed feeling miserable.  Thankfully, by Thursday I felt much better and was able to return to a normal routine.  Now my stomach is troubling me a bit but it isn't too bad.  Tanner was sick when I wrote last week, you may remember.  He stayed home from church with me on Sunday but he was able to return to school on Monday and he's gotten better every day.  Jared stayed home from school on Tuesday and Wednesday, but he never got as sick as Frank and I did.  Frank did a little bit of work from home, but he mostly just rested.  He also made several trips to the client who just moved, trying to help them resolve some issues with their phone system (not his fault).  It seems like he can never get completely away from work!  He did go in to work yesterday morning for a meeting with his boss, but after that his boss told him to go home.  The meeting was about his raise for the year and he did get one, and a bonus as well, so we are happy and grateful about that.

We actually haven't seen much of Tanner this week.  He has been going to rehearsals for the play Bonnie & Clyde nearly every day.  Plus he also ran tech for the school's annual talent show, so he had that (plus a rehearsal for that) to attend.  Jared has been busy with song practices and they also performed the song for the YW's New Beginnings program.  (Just a practice run, though...the real performance is for Ward Conference.)

Last Saturday I went to our stake's women's conference.  It was really good.  I attended three classes and they had a nice luncheon afterwards.  I wasn't feeling very well on Saturday either but I really wanted to go to the conference, so I did and I'm glad I made it.  While I was gone, Frank drove down to his co-worker's house and picked up the new freezer.  Then he spent a good part of the afternoon (with some help from Tanner and Jared) taking apart the old freezer and moving it out onto the back porch, and then moving in the new freezer and getting it set up.  It is nice to have a freezer again!  The new one is smaller than the old one, but it is nice and having a smaller freezer is probably a good thing--I won't be as likely to forget what I have put in there!

Yesterday was our stake temple day and thankfully I was well enough to go to that.  We had a special meeting on the 7th floor of the temple.  Those are always nice, because we can be taught by the temple president and in that setting he can discuss the temple ordinances with us freely...something we can't do anywhere but in the temple.  I learned a lot of things that I hadn't really realized before.  After the meeting, I did initiatories.  I wanted to do an endowment session, but that would have put me getting home around midnight, and I didn't feel up to that yet.  As it was, I ended up having a terrible coughing fit during initiatories and had to go out and get a drink every time I finished a name.  But it was still nice.  Since Frank wasn't feeling well enough to go, I found a couple of other women who were meeting their husbands at the temple and gave them a ride down.  One other sister's husband wasn't going either, so she did initiatories with me and rode back home with me.  So I had company going both ways, and that was nice.

The biggest news of the week is that Tanner has been accepted to BYU-Provo!  We are very excited about that.  He got the email very early in the morning...before Seminary...and woke us up to tell us!  I don't know if he has decided for sure if he's going to go to Provo or Idaho, but he will probably go to Provo.  His friend Elisabeth was also accepted.  They were the only two seniors in our ward who applied to BYU.  They've known each other since they were three, so it is fun for them to be going off to college together.

That is about all there is to say about this week.  The weekend was kind of warm but the rest of the week has been really, really cold.  We're supposed to get another snow / ice storm on Monday.  Ugh!!  It's March now, though, so this can't last forever, right?  RIGHT?   

Weekly Review February 21 '14

No pictures this week...how boring!  The only thing I took a picture of is the roses Frank got me last week for Valentine's Day.  But you really don't want to see the picture because they are looking half dead.  They arrived looking rather dry, but I thought they would perk up after we put them in water.  They didn't.  So after a few days I decided we should get our money back, and I took a picture of them in case I needed evidence.  Turns out the picture wasn't necessary, though.  I think the problem was the snow storm we had.  Frank said they were supposed to be delivered on Thursday, but they didn't arrive until late on Friday.  All that extra time in the box didn't do wonders for them.  But at least they refunded our money without argument.  Besides that, it's the thought that counts, right?  Frank did think to order roses for me for Valentine's Day, and I appreciate it!!

Speaking of refunds, I have to complain about something.  I was paying bills today and when I reviewed the bill for our business credit card, I was shocked to see a late fee and a finance charge on our bill.  I never pay bills late!  So I looked into it a little closer.  The bill was due on January 24th.  The payment was posted on January 25th.  I wrote the check and put it in the mail on January 18th.  How on earth did it take 6 days for a check to get from Frederick to Chicago?  So Frank called them to complain (the card is in his name).  They agreed to waive the late fee, but would not waive the finance charge.  They said that they are not responsible for the mail and we should be mailing in our payments 2 weeks before they are due.  Guess which credit card just got cancelled? 

Ok, that really bugged me and I needed to whine about it so now I feel better!  Well, emotionally anyway.  Physically, I'm kind of sick today.  Not so sick that I have to lie in bed doing nothing, but sick enough that I'm not enjoying being out of bed.  My nose is running, I'm coughing, and I have a headache and slight sore throat.  Tanner is sick with the same thing...only he's worse, so he stayed home from school yesterday and today.

That means Tanner has been to a grand total of one day of school this week.  The boys had Monday and Tuesday off.  Our "long weekend" (6 days) came to an end on Wednesday when everyone went back to school.  At least Tanner made it that day.  I tried to be productive all those days off.  I helped Seth with homework and Valentines (they celebrated on Wednesday, since there was no school Friday).  I had Tanner work on his Eagle project paperwork (he's almost done with it).  We kept shopping for things he needs for the Hill Cumorah Pageant.  I filled out the FAFSA for Tanner.  We did all the normal housework too. 

Frank was incredibly busy.  On Saturday his client moved to their new location.  He was gone most of the day getting all the new computers set up.  Then that evening the server crashed and he couldn't get it back up.  So he spent a good part of the day on Sunday solving that problem, but he was able to get the server back up.  He missed church, unfortunately.  I had a couple of people at church asking about him!  He was sick two Sundays ago and last Sunday he left after taking the sacrament (he had urgent work that had to be done that day too) so this Sunday was the third Sunday in a row that he missed all or most of church.  I had to reassure a few people that he is not going inactive!  Hopefully this Sunday will be better.  He was busy on Monday doing more work for that client, but things are starting to calm down.  He will be doing some more work tomorrow but soon he will be done with this huge project.

Saturday was busy for me too.  First thing in the morning I went to the funeral for the sister in our ward who passed away.  It was very sweet.  Her daughter gave a great talk about the importance of the family in Heavenly Father's plan, and one of her grandsons gave a very tender talk about the importance of grandmas.  I loved it!  When I got home, I discovered a sticky mess on the kitchen floor...Seth had tried to climb up the pantry shelves to get cereal and he knocked over a bottle of juice.  The lid broke off and juice had spilled all over the floor.  So I had to clean all that up...I was planning to mop the kitchen floor that day anyway, so I did the whole floor while I was at it.  It was a pain to clean up because the juice had spilled all over a bunch of stuff on the floor of the pantry.  I finished all that just in time to take Jared to his basketball game.  Except when we got there I discovered that my schedule was wrong and his game was at 10:00 instead of 11:00.  So Jared got there just in time to see one of his team mates score the winning shot (in overtime) as the buzzer went off.  Apparently, it was a very exciting game.  Oh well!  That evening Jared and Tanner went to a birthday party for a friend...it was a good 20 minute drive from our house...and then after that they went to a Seminary party.  So I was driving them to all those places.  Frank did pick them up after the Seminary party because that was about the same time that he came home (11:00 pm). 

On Sunday I had Ward Council, Missionary Correlation Meeting, and choir practice before church.  Tanner wasn't feeling well that day either so he stayed home and it was just Jared, Seth and I at church that day. 

On Wednesday I was planning to go to the temple, but then on Tuesday I was eating a cookie and a piece of one of my molars broke off!  What?!  So I had to go to the dentist on Wednesday instead.  They only looked at it and scheduled an appointment for me to get a crown, but the only available appointment time was in the middle of the day so that ruined any chance of going to the temple.  So strange that we were just at the dentist last week, and my tooth looked fine then!  At least they didn't charge me anything for the appointment this week.  The good news is, I probably won't have to get a root canal, just have a 3/4 crown put on.  (Not sure what that is.)  It's still going to be expensive, but hopefully not too much of an ordeal.  Wednesday evening the guys had YM and basketball practice; I went to a scout committee meeting.  Jared had a board of review and he'll be getting his Life rank at the next Court of Honor.  Frank had maintenance to do for his clients on Wednesday and Thursday nights. 

Yesterday I did a food order, which ended up taking all morning because sometimes people need to talk!  It felt like time well spent, though, because I was helping with spiritual and emotional as well as temporal needs.  I spent the afternoon getting caught up on housework and then I took Tanner to an appointment.  Jared had a song practice...the youth are singing a song for Ward Conference in a few weeks.  Tanner was going to sing too but he hasn't been able to make it to any of the practices.  Jared is going to be singing a solo part in the song, so he has extra practices.  (He had one on Tuesday also).  I was going to do some sewing last night but by then I wasn't feeling very well so I read a book instead.

We are going to be getting a new freezer soon.  Frank mentioned at work that our freezer had died, and one of his co-workers has one he wants to get rid of and offered to sell it for him for $50.  Umm,  yes!  Frank was supposed to pick it up today but they miscommunicated and weren't able to connect.  In the meantime, we removed the ice maker from our refrigerator freezer which created room for a lot more stuff and we gave some stuff away too.  We still have one ice chest of meat outside.  It is too warm now (we actually have had temperatures in the 50's the last few days--nice!) but we put some ice in there so hopefully it will be ok for a day or two more.    

Oh, I think I forgot to mention that Tanner was accepted to BYU-Idaho!  He found out last Friday.  He doesn't know yet if BYU-Provo is going to accept him.  If they do, then he will have to decide which school to go to.  If not, then...well, that makes it easy, doesn't it?  We'll just have to wait and see.

That's all our news for this week.  Not very exciting, but boring is good in this case.