A dream and a memory

When one of the senior couples was ready to leave Kenya, they said, "In just a few days this will all be a dream and a memory."   I think as time and events go by, sometimes my life feels like that, too.

We had a fun and busy Christmas.  It was a joy to see Mom and Kristy and Jonathan and family.  Then we had a houseful with Miranda, Deborah, and Andy and Families.  We had grandchildren playing, running, screaming, sleeping.... and then everyone left and it got ... quiet.

Deborah and Ian were the last to leave on Tuesday morning... but it seems so long ago.  A dream and a memory.

Monday we changed the sheets on three beds.  Tuesday we changed the sheets on the last two beds. (Some just got stripped and turned into sofas.  Sarah was astonished when her bed "transformed!")  We did laundry and some cleaning... and then we just had a quiet house.

We had snowy, icy weather Saturday and Sunday that canceled church.  Monday it was still cold, but Tuesday was a good day for Deborah and Ian to leave... although there was still some ice on the roads here.  We had a drizzle Wed night that iced everything up again and it stayed cold on Thursday.  Finally Friday brought rain and in the afternoon the roads were better.  It's been a crazy cold winter.

In a way I feel like I've been hibernating.  But on the other hand, I often stay inside and work.  Tom's kept the fires burning and kept the house warm.

This week I've started getting into the writing phase again.  I finally bought a white board so I can put up all the things I must do as well as the ones I want to do and should do.  I divided it into Jobs (paid work) Promotion/own business (Marketing or my business development) Personal (family and non work) and Church.

I feel like I've been in limbo since the stake split.  Technically, I was released from my job as Stake Seminary and Institute supervisor with the split.  But I continued to teach Institute.  Would I be called to this position in the new stake?  Still teach Institute?  What?  I had an interview scheduled with a member of the Stake presidency on Sunday Jan 5... but church was canceled.  I and a meeting scheduled Wed. Jan 8, but it was canceled due to the ice.  So I finally met with him Sunday Jan 12.  It was mostly a "get to know you" meeting, as people from West Plains really don't know the Mountain Home ward.  So I guess I'm still "volunteering" to teach Institute until told otherwise.

I decided I was too fragmented.  I wanted to copywrite and do options and buy houses to rehab, and maybe put photos on iStock... and water color.... and do clay.... and....  I decided I would focus on copywriting and options.  I'd love to have Tom take the photos and see if we could make money with them, but...   And then Zillow sends me pictures of a great house for $55,000 that could be a duplex.... and I think.... FOCUS!

Our "date" on Saturday was to do a little shopping, rent Hobbit and watch it so we could go see the sequel, and look for carpet for the downstairs.  We did the shopping.  Every carpet store (3) were closed by the time we got there.  I guess Mountain Home pulls in the sidewalks at noon on Saturday.  And no place had the Hobbit for rent (Not Hastings, not 4 Redbox's)  So we drowned our sorrows and hit up a pawn shop and found a few maybe decent DVD's to relieve them of.  Then we came home and watched two episodes of "Eureka."

Perhaps we are living "small."  But it's cozy.