Life's Getting Busy!

Things are so exciting with everyone moving!  We’ve tried to keep tabs on Miranda and Dan as they’ve been out house hunting and offering all kinds of (likely) unwanted advice. Kera and Andy are moving forward with their move-- as evidenced by Andy coming up on Thursday to borrow our truck for the next two weeks.

Sunday, in a moment of a “perfect storm” thinking about mice in the chicken coop and friendships—I agreed to take two kittens as barn cats. They delivered them on Monday. These little things could fit in your hand. We put them in a stall in the barn. This stall had rolled up carpet from the garden, the mower, stacked chairs and other odd things. The kittens would hide in a different spot each time I went to check. After a few days, they’d come out when I called and be reasonably happy to be picked up.

Last week I had a very nice conversation with the vice president of a large financial newsletter. She asked me to send her a proposal for projects for both retention and renewal on their entry level newsletters and back end trading programs. It could be very lucrative. I said I’d get the proposal to her in a week. Then I headed off to Jonathan and Kristy’s for the next few days.

So that meant I really needed to be active getting this done at the beginning of this week. I spent the majority of Monday working on it. Then I spent several more hours on Tuesday and finally got it sent off late Tuesday night.

Tuesday I’d wanted to get my hair cut. She’d been closed last Tuesday (the walk in day) and when I drove there Tuesday, she was on vacation for the week! Gaah!  My hair looks like a tumble weed!

One of my friends is an inactive member of the church. He said he’d like to believe. It made him happy when he believed. But he can’t. I went to visit him and share a way I thought might help him to regain his testimony. I told him belief was a choice. He could choose to believe and try it, or not. When I asked if he’d try it…. he said no. He said miracles are like magic. You see it happen, but you know there has to be a rational, scientific explanation. There is no god. No miracles. Nothing after death. I felt sad for him to feel so confident in his unhappy state he could not risk trying to believe and be happy.

Wednesday I had my Mastermind call for my copywriting and then a Circle of Success (writing) training call. Then Tom and I packed up and went to Girl’s Camp. We brought the fixings for ice cream sundaes. We had foil wrapped meals for dinner, a devotional, and then Tom spoke to the girls for a while. We left Girl’s Camp about 10pm and drove north to Rolla and spent the night.

Thursday we got up early and drove the rest of the way to the temple. We had a couple from our ward whose son and wife were getting sealed in the temple. They asked us to attend, so we juggled things to go. After the session and the sealing, we went out to lunch with our friends, the Drakes, who had also attended the sealing. On the way home we stopped to shop at Aldi’s. We would have shopped at the feed store, too… but we arrived at 7:02 and they closed at 7. We got home about 8 pm and Andy arrived at 8:30.

I finally succumbed and had Adam buy me a smart phone-- A Samsung Galaxy 4-- same as Tom's.  It arrived on Monday.  But I waited until we were in St. Louis (where Sprint has service-- instead of here where we are on roaming) to activate it. Now I need to put in contacts.  But I've started taking pictures! Alas... they are not very good ones...  Here are the kitties.  They just wouldn't hold still!

We had a nice visit with Andy. Friday Tom and Andy cleaned out the truck. Andy also spent time on the phone trying to find out if the movers would move his 1000 pound piece of heavy furniture and investigating alternatives.

Friday I finished writing a heating and air conditioning promo. I also had a call with my Living Benefits Insurance agent and another agent. They’d been asked to write an article for real estate investors on how to use the policy to accomplish that. And also on Rebecca for breaking the glass ceiling and becoming the first woman to be top producing agent in the 175 year history of Mass Mutual. Since an article needs to have one main focus… this was a little tricky.

Friday night Tom and I went to see the movie San Andreus. It’s about a huge California earthquake—from LA to San Francisco… oh yeah, Nevada too. We got to see Hoover Dam collapse, a tsunami devastate San Francisco and some spectacular rescues. It was a pretty good movie.

I decided I need to find out what kinds of shots the kittens needed and what it would cost to neuter them. I don’t want more than TWO cats. Akk!  Free kittens aren’t free! It cost a fortune to do all this medical stuff. But they purr so nicely when they are held. The calico cat has long soft fur and a small black beard. So cute!  And the ginger and white one is fiercely independent. It’s so fun to watch them play and pounce on one another.

Saturday I sent off the Heating & Air Conditioning promo and got the first draft done on the Rice article. I called those I visit teach and checked on food preparations needed for next week’s Stake Conference.

Today I heard my Stake Relief Society counselor was called. I need to touch base with her and set up a meeting for next Saturday to visit together. My sweet grieving widow was at church today. So nice to see her there.

After church we went to a nursing home to visit a choir member who has been in failing health. We took a portion of the choir and some hymn books and went in to have a “choir practice” or at least sing songs together. I knew he had MRSA, but I didn’t realize we’d have to gown up and wear gloves to go into his room. Since we had a nurse as a choir member, she got us all robed up and in. I’ll include a picture of us. It was fun to sing and he was really touched by it.

Next week starts the ramp up to Andy and Kera moving… and Kera and Dan M. helping their Dad pack his house and move down to Russellville area as well. Miranda and Dan made an offer on a house and it was accepted. The house is in Broken Arrow… and even in their same ward. They should close on both houses on the same day—July 17—JUST before the reunion.

Andy and Kera held a farewell party for all their friends on Saturday. That was the time Nathan’s mission call arrived in the mail. So he was able to open it in front of all his friends. He will be serving in the Iquitos, Peru Mission and will report to the Peru MTC on September 22. We are so excited for him and know he will have a marvelous experience.