Done!... sort of

My victory for the week was that I finished the last chapter of my financial book. At least the first draft of all 17 chapters is complete. Now I need to go back and start editing. There may also be comments and request for revisions from all the other people looking at it.

A little wrinkle. Orit, the marketing director had been pushing to get this finished, so I was really trying to meet an early deadline. It was okay. It was the same one I had set as a goal so I'd have a good 30 days to revise and such. So I send her some questions this week and I get an auto- response that says she’ll be out of office until May 3^rd. Yet she wanted all this by the end of the month! Ah well. I just did the best I could and kept trucking.

It’s time for me to start reaching out for other jobs, or I’ll finish this and have nada. On Monday we had our annual life insurance review and I talked to the agent about writing another book for her. When she found out it would not involve a lot of work on her part, she was interested. She has been getting a lot of good feedback on the book I wrote for her earlier. One agent at Mass Mutual pulled her over to the second-from-the-top guy at Mass Mutual and said, “This is the woman responsible for my success.” He went from $60,000/year to over $300,000/year in one year by mailing Becky’s book to every prospective client before they met with him. It’s nice to know it’s that persuasive.

Tuesday Charlie and Sandy Raff stopped by to visit. Tom was his best man and he was Tom’s best man, but we have not seen them since the 70’s. They now have a son living in Tennessee, so, hey… we’re not so far out of the way. It was a delightfully congenial visit considering the passage of time.

We also worked on getting the garden ready to plant. I had some volunteer cucumber plants sprouting among the asparagus so we transplanted them. I had a few volunteer lettuce plants. And the cilantro… that I never seem to use for anything… is growing like weeds. I bought some broccoli, spinach, and a basil plant. Then, on Saturday, I went to the master gardener’s plant sale and got two bushes and some more vegetable plants. Oh, and a Shasta daisy, I hope it flowers.

We bought the Hoover version of the Roomba… the tiny robotic vacuum cleaner. I finally found a 4’ space on a wall without obstruction to plug in the docking stating and we put the little fellow to work. The Jury is out. First, it’s such a fun little thing to watch it move randomly through the house. It will wander from living room to hall to bedrooms. Alas, it gets caught up on some transitions like from floor to rug or tile to floor. It gets stuck under beds when it hits the cardboard under the brick holding up the middle of the bed or wires or soft handles of luggage.

So to help it out, we cleaned out everything under the bed and took away all those awkward chair legs it bumped against. According to the little vacuum cup, it collected LOTS of stuff. But as I keep an ear out to listen to if it’s high-watered on the sloping foot of the stool or tried to eat cords… I think maybe I could be as productive if I just vacuumed myself. But it would not be nearly as much fun.

Thursday we went to the health fair. The hospital puts this on once a year. They do free bloodwork to check for diabetes… and a few other things. You need to be fasting to take the test. So the first day there are always LONG lines. We went the second day about an hour after opening, and the line was quite short. We met and visited with a bunch of friends and business people we know. Nice morning. We got our hearing checked. They couldn’t check mine because I had wax in one ear.

Thursday evening I went to a baby shower for a woman at church. It was short and sweet. My favorite kind. I am just not good at party games. However, since I’m not competitive either, I just hang around and make others look good.

Friday I went in to get it removed and have my hearing checked. Who knew ear wax could be so dark and disgusting? They had to flush out some of it… but it’s gone. And my hearing is fine. No guarantees on the selective hearing, however.

Friday night we went to a baptism. This was a man who had a tough life with some poor choices. It was a delight to see how the gospel can change a person’s life. He’s a good man and I think he will continue to grow and progress.

Severe storms had been predicted starting Friday and going through Sunday. We got little rain until late Friday night. Then we got a few inches. Tom was to take youth to a temple trip on Saturday. It was not raining a lot here, but as they started north they heard about flooding and road closures. So they turned around and came home. One sister said she turned around “when the edges of the road started to disappear” with water starting to cover the road. We didn’t have any kind of flooding, although our pond overflowed and water ran around the sides of the dam.

West Plains and Gainsville, both north of us in Missouri, suffered some major flooding. Lots of roads were closed as rivers overran their banks.

Tom had been reading “The Rent Collector” by Camron Wright. He thought it was a fascinating look at Cambodian life. I picked it up on Saturday and stayed up way too late finishing it. An excellent read. I highly recommend it.

Today was a bit thin at church. We had some members who live beyond low water bridges. They could not get out. Still, we had a great lesson on tithing and fasting with joy. And in the third hour Tom spoke to us about the stake goals and we learned about grace.

By the evening, the wind has blown all the clouds away, the sun is out, and most of the water on the cement and roads is dried up.

Service Week

Tom was blessed with the ability to do service this week. There was a blind man in the ward that needed to go to Little Rock for a doctor's treatment. So Tom drove him down on Monday. He needed to spend the night, so Tom returned on Tuesday and picked him up. That's a 6+ hour round trip, so it took up most of the days.

I spent time this week getting my Nauvoo trip a bit more organized. I got the houses reserved and added another house. I believe I'll have to add one more as we have nearly 80 sisters signed up for the trip! I am astonished! I expected maybe 40-50. We may have as many as come to our local 5 hour Women's Retreat.

I spent some time going through names to take to the temple and on Friday I went to the temple in the van. The driver and co-driver were both new in the area and unfamiliar with the roads. Plus, it was raining cats and dogs that morning. The driver had brought a phone, iPad and map. But the phone and iPad didn't respond without internet and the co-driver was too unfamiliar with the area to read the map. So I moved to the front seat and became the navigator. We got there fine, but a little slower than normal. I was able to do about 20 sealings, one endowment and seven initiatories. It was a great day!

On the way home, I turned on the location and let him use my phone to track the way home. He was a happy camper being able to see the map (he is a former UPS driver and needs those security blankets). I just hoped it wouldn't draw too much data. (It didn't) and he had a charger, so it didn't deplete the phone, either. Our biggest issue was where to eat? We finally stopped at a Subway... fairly decent food, inexpensive, and pretty fast.

Wednesday, we thought we did the final things to the house. One of them involved weeding poison ivy out of the front gardens. I was not excited about this. I got plastic gloves, root and stump killer, clippers, and a paint brush. Every time I clipped poison oak, I brushed on the root and stump killer in the hopes that it would take out the whole plant. I had intended to wear long sleeves. I might have avoided getting any poison ivy if I'd done that. I did bring a change of clothes and some degreaser. I cleaned up with the degreaser and then changed clothes. Then used the degreaser again. I still ended up with a few patches on my arms. Bummer!

We listed the house on Wednesday as well. The realtor was pleased with it. But when he took pictures, he found a few more things to do. So on Saturday we went back and painted the garage floor.

I don't think I mentioned that when I was mowing the yard... one of the very few times I mow. (It was in exchange for Tom rototilling the garden) The mower blew up. Well, actually, it blew a chunk of metal through the wall of the engine. Hmm. End of mowing for the day. Tom had been mentioning that the next mower he got would be a zero turn mower. Those are kinda pricy, especially after a $7,000 tax bill. But we needed a mower. So we went shopping. We looked at BadBoys, John Deer, Husky and Kubotas. Tom liked the Kubota best, but even a smaller-than-we-wanted mower deck would run $4000+. So I asked if they had any used ones... perhaps some old guy going into a nursing home turned on in. The salesman looked at me kinda funny. Yep. This 84 year old had just turned in a 3 year old mower--suspension seat, larger deck, headlights, a year remaining on the warranty and 90 hours on the mower-- all for slightly less than 1/2 price. It had just come on the lot and was still on the trailer. We checked it out and it looked great. It felt like a gift from God. They will check it out, clean it up, and have it ready by Tuesday.

That's a good thing. We've had a lot of rain. Nearly 3 inches in one 24 hour period and you can almost see the grass growing.

I'm down to two chapters on my Investment book! I'm so excited... but then the marketing director added about 10 more cryptocurrencies for me to write about. Gakk! But still, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I hope I will be finished writing and on to editing by the end of the week.

Sunday was Houston, MO's ward conference. It's a two hour drive away. It was a great conference. The bishop had just lost his wife to cancer and he gave a sweet talk. The choir sung one of the songs she had written about believing and having hope. I taught Elder Cornish's talk, "Am I good enough? Will I make it?" It is such an uplifting and encouraging message. Yes, we are acceptable before God. As we move forward with faith and try to do what is right, the Grace of Christ will give us the power to accomplish things far beyond our own abilities. God loves us and wants to bring us home to him. He won't take away our agency, which is why we need to try out best. It was a long day. I got home about 5:30.

Easter

Easter week was pretty low key as far as Easter preparations went.

We finished working on the Spring Park house (see previous blog.) You know, some people post pictures of their kids... some of their houses. One last thing to do is to get rid of the poison ivy in the front yard. I think I've figured out a way to do it. With gloves, clippers, root and stump killer and a paint brush. I'm sure you'll hear if I'm not successful in keeping the oil off me. We spent a good part of the week getting this all finished.

Did I mention that we lost a few more chickens last week? I was sad that it happened while we were out of town. The chickens are still giving eggs. But we are keeping them more confined and not letting them wander into the woods.

Monday night Tom went to the Calico Rock prison to do Bible Study with the prisoners. Most of the LDS ones are gone-- set free-- but the chaplain still wants him to come, and I know the stake president is pleased we have a presence there.

I also wrote most mornings and finished writing about cryptocurrency and about currency or forex trading. I'm seeing light at the end of the tunnel and it feels good. I also delighted in the power of asking. I wasn't sure if they'd pay for copyediting. I thought they might think that was part of my fee and my responsibility. But I asked... and they said they'd pay for it! Wahoo!

We got our taxes back and learned that Uncle Sam wants a pretty good sized chunk to satisfy his demands. Sigh. We'll have to put aside more for this year. Especially if/when we sell the house.

Thursday night we went to Branson. We stopped at Menards to return some unused tile. Tom had set out the receipt... alas, it was for the bathroom tile from Home Depot... They were very nice and gave us in store credit though. I wan't sure they'd take back three month old tile.

We met up for dinner with Miranda, Dan and family and then went to a lovely timeshare to spend the night. Friday we met Deborah at Silver Dollar City and had a very nice time. The weather was delightful, not too hot and not the forecasted rain. We saw the new shows-- flamenco dancers, balancing acts, and the earth harp that set the world's record for length. The kids had fun on the rides. 

On the way out of town we dropped off the truck because the compressor was making funny sounds. Alas, it was not just the compressor, the condenser was also part of the problem as was the 20 year old hoses that had welded themselves to the system. I keep wondering, do we fix or replace. So far Tom is opting to fix.

Then on Saturday, as I was mowing the lawn, the mower decided to throw stuff through the wall of the engine. I think this one we are going to have to replace. Sigh. All in all, it's been an expensive week. But life is good. The weather is lovely. We are healthy. We are late getting the garden in, but we are enjoying asparagus and we have some volunteer lettuce growing that will be quite tasty shortly.

Traditionally we have celebrated Easter with Easter baskets full of chocolate eggs and bunnies. As kids grew up, the basket may have disappeared, but we’ve shared chocolate candy with each other at Easter. This year, we did nothing. No basket, no candy, no treats.

But in another way, we did more. Our Relief Society lesson was on the Atonement and I read that and pondered on the last days of the Savior. On Friday I thought about Good Friday and why we would call it good when it was the day our God died. I suppose it’s good because Christ fulfilled all righteousness. He completed his mission on earth with Honor. He did for all of us what we could not do for ourselves.

Today in choir we spent an hour practicing “Oh Savior, Thou Who Wearest a Crown.” It was a wonderful time to think about the Savior’s sacrifice and suffering. Then we had a great talk about Easter in Sacrament. Then in Relief Society I was impressed by this quote from Gordon B. Hinckley:

When all is said and done, when all of history is examined, when the deepest depths of the human mind have been explored, nothing is so wonderful, so majestic, so tremendous as this act of grace when the Son of the Almighty, the Prince of His Father’s royal household, He who had once spoken as Jehovah, He who had condescended to come to earth as a babe born in Bethlehem, gave His life in ignominy and pain so that all of the sons and daughters of God of all generations of time, every one of whom must die, might walk again and live eternally. He did for us what none of us could do for ourselves. …

Wow! Of all the things that have ever been done in all of history, the atonement of Jesus Christ is the most important! And another sister said the essential thing we are here on earth to learn is to love others.

211 Spring Park Finished!

We worked at finishing up the last pieces to the house.  On Thursday the realtor came out and looked at it and then gave us his thoughts on a listing price after doing comps with other houses that were both for sale and sold. Nice price.  Higher than we had first expected. But after all the work we put into it, it would be nice to get a good price out of it.

We seem to do a bad job of taking before and after pictures.  Here are a few before pictures and a lot of after pictures.  There were four types of carpet in the house in all rooms, including the bath and kitchen.  All the wood, including cupboards were dark brown. There was an old tub surround in the bath and a yellow tub.

 The old bath torn out and the new tub surround below.

 Old bath above (with carpet.) New bath below, with tile.

 View from hall to living room old (above) new (below)

The old entry had 80's tile, so we upgraded a bit.

 View from living room down hall old (above) new (below) alas, the old pictures don't do it justice. it was kinda dirty.

Kitchen looking into the dining room old (above.) New (below)  The color for the new is actually a beige/yellow. Not sure why it looks green.

Old and new bedrooms. All three got painted pearl gray with white trim and have the stranded bamboo flooring.

 The old laundry room above after taking out some shelving. And the new laundry room below.

This is the laundry room looking in from the garage door.  I thought it was interesting how the long tiles don't show up much as tile looking down the long end, but they do looking across the short side.  The small bath is to the left and the outdent for the laundry is upper left, with the door to the back yard straight ahead. Below is the small bath to the left.

Now the azalias are blooming and the trees leafing out.  It looks pretty nice.

Relief Society Retreat

Monday was our empty nester's family home evening. We shared things that had been impactful to us about general conference. It was good to be reminded of some of the instruction, topics, and themes. We were to bring potluck. I have been a bit neglectful about shopping and I looked around the house trying to figure out what I could prepare and take that was a main dish. Low on tortillas, both flour and corn. Didn't want a pasta dish that could get cold... so I ultimately settled on Macaroni and Cheese. I have a Martha Stewart recipe I like that makes a nice creamy dish. It was well received. 

We had more than a pan's worth, so I cooked a second pan that came in handy when Tom invited the new missionaries to dinner. One missionary had gone home due to sickness, so the new one came to meet the bishop. I had bought ribs, but I wasn't sure they would be enough for four. So I added the macaroni & cheese, apple salad, cole slaw, and mashed potatoes, and we had leftovers.

Tom has been working on the house by himself this week. He power-washed the deck and stained it. He painted the deck ceiling and that freshened it up a lot. He's been cleaning out the garage and getting it ready to paint. And he's done some of the touch-up. Some things seem so small, yet they make a large difference. Calking the top of the baseboard or filling in the nail holes and painting over the nails... each small thing adds to a finished appearance.

We saw our accountant and discovered we had underpaid the IRS this year. Ouch! Lots of money due. We promise to do better next year. We didn't think we'd made that much money, but I transferred some money from an IRA to a Roth IRA and so that created a taxable event. And my work has been more profitable and taxation is double on it since I have to pay self-employment taxes. I'm feeling justified in raising my rates!

I've continued to slog away at my financial book. It's been interesting to learn new thing. I also sent off proposals for two other jobs and it looks like at least one of those will come to fruition. I'm not in a hurry. I just don't want one job to end and have nothing going forward.

This was the week of focus on my Stake Relief Society Retreat. All the ends needed to be tied up. I got men to agree to help serve, and people to greet. I picked up paper products and food and cooked and baked. And I felt really blessed. I made three gallons of soup on Wednesday and all the 130 or so cookies on Thursday. I also made another gallon of soup, since the first batches were a scant three gallons.

I tried to get more information and patterns for Days For Girls. I signed up to be an individual sewer and finally got patterns, but by that time, I learned we had enough patterns. I had wanted to get machines so sewing could take place, but then, the simple items of the pads and the bags needed the edges of the fabric serged first, and I didn't have a serger. So we let the machines go. I simplified things and reduced stress.

This was the most stress free retreat I've done. I really think it's because I've been working on trying to trust the Lord more. I'm working on recognizing that I can't and should not do it alone. I need to depend on Him. And once I've done all I can, to trust that it will turn out just as it should-- perfect or not.

I was so grateful to Tom. He suggested we spend Friday night in West Plains and made the reservations. So he came up with me on Friday when I met with my counselors to decorate. He helped haul stuff in. The kitchen was not as clean as one would have liked, nor the refrigerator. So Tom stepped in and cleaned it all. Throwing out aged single scoops of ice cream in 5 qt buckets, and being wise enough to save the buckets. 

We took Deborah's lovely little crocheted hearts and tied them to branches for centerpieces. 

There were extras, so we made little heart trees for the chapel and for one of the teacher's rooms. It all was festive and we finished in about 3 hours, probably a record for us. Tom and I went out for Chinese. As I wrote my talk that night, he watched part of Lord of the Rings.

The Retreat itself went very smoothly. We got lots of complements on the food, the decorations, and the classes. The classes were great. Our theme was "create in me a new heart." One sister used the parable of the woman at the well to illustrate a change of heart and we discussed how and why it changed. Another spoke of trials and the need for a changed heart. She told of forgiving her abusive father-- both how incredibly hard it was and the weight that lifted from her shoulders when she did. And one teacher taught about how interconnected our mind and body are. That we speak words and they create our world and influence how we feel. She shared ways we can change our subconscious so we can be happier and accomplish those things we desire. And finally, the service project of tracing and cutting out part for reusable sanitary napkins really touched the hearts of the sisters. It felt like a gift from one woman to another, giving women in Africa and India a chance for schooling and delayed marriage through this simple way to control their periods.

The sisters loved the heart necklaces and were very appreciative. I was surprised that all the different colors were equally loved and chosen- pinks, reds, blues, purples, several shades of green and even the tan ones I thought boring were mostly gone. I made three orange ones and a vivid yellow one I thought no-one would like and all but one of them were chosen, too. How nice that we all enjoy different colors!

I sat on the stand at the beginning of the meeting wondering what to do with the little crocheted heart decorations after the meeting. Then shortly after that, one of the relief society presidents came and asked if she might borrow them to use for their ward activity in a few days. It was an easy yes, and everyone was happy.

It took about an hour to clean up. We shopped at Aldi and were home by 5. It was a great day, but I was tired. And it was really nice to have it be over. The only sad note, 3 chickens disappeared the night we were gone. Probably the afternoon as Barb couldn't find them when it was time for them to come in. Probably dogs. Sigh. I'm sorry they are gone, but also sorry it happened on Barb's watch.

Today is fast Sunday. My focus is no how to make fasting a joy. I decided to start with words. First, I chose to tell myself I don't "desire" to eat. Instead, I want to make this sacrifice for the Lord. Also, in this weakness of hunger, it reminds me of my dependence on the Lord. I ponder on the "living" water and the "living" bread. Can being fed by the Spirit replace food for at least a day? One of the quotes from Elder Bednar from yesterday came to mind. It said something like, conversion is our gift to the Father for all that he has given me. I like it because it lets me realize I have control over my conversion. It isn't something that happens to me, it's a choice I make. And President Jones (stake Pres) said he felt the Lord was far more interested in our efforts than in our results. It's nice to know that trying to do the right thing counts as if you actually succeeded.

General Conference

This week we were back to the grind. Well, we’re seeing the fruition of our work, so it seems enjoyable… but still hard work. Tom has done the lion’s share of the house renovations. He laid a good deal of the floor and has the sore knees to prove it. He has been victorious, though. The jeans have lasted through the renovation!

This week we finished the floor and installed the trim. My, it looks nice! We have a little paint touch up and then it’s on to the back porch and the garage. We got a lot of the mess cleaned out of the garage. Took the metal to the recycler, took reusable stuff to Salvation Army. I think we need to work on our measurements better. We had four boxes of tile left over… but had to skimp and use odd pieces to finish up the last little closet with the hardwood flooring. Since that color is not out of stock, except by mail order, it would have taken 10 days or more to get the final pieces. And we couldn’t order two pieces it needed to be a box. So Tom used his ingenuity and solved the problem

I buckled down and worked on my writing. I feel like it’s coming along pretty well. Research. Write. Research. Write. This week I learned about Certificate for Difference, leverage, and day trading. Next week it should be currency trading and cryptocurrency. I also talked to two other people- one wanting to promote Atari gaming and one his recycling building material site. I need to submit proposals to them.

Next Saturday is my Women’s Retreat. As I looked at all I had to do, I thought, you did not do a good job of delegating! Some of the things I chose to do because I could, some because I didn’t want to put a financial burden on my counselors, and some because I just wasn’t smart enough or fast enough to delegate. Sigh. So this week I will be focused on that. I need to make cookies for 125 women and three gallons of potato soup. I need to buy all the other food.  Here are the finished hearts.  Silly blogger won't put the pic in right.

Deborah helped out a lot by making hearts for decorations and my counselor and secretary are doing most of the decorating. 

I finished gifts for the teachers and counselors and the necklaces for all the sisters attending. I’ve made final coordination with teachers and with the ward set-up person. I finished the program and set it off to be printed. Phew. Maybe most of it’s done. Tom has agreed to come and help serve lunch and I got other men from the ward to come as well. I keep wanting a checklist for this meeting. I’ve asked my secretary to do it… but I haven’t gotten it. So each year I we muddle along. And I haven’t taken time to do it myself.

It’s past time to start our garden. We’ve just been so busy. I want to refresh it with fertilizer or horse manure. And now the asparagus is starting to grow. It’s time to weed and prepare the rest of the garden.

We lost our first chicken of this group on Friday. She was there at 6 and feathers by 8pm. We left to go to the Donkey Basketball game and didn’t close everyone in because this one chicken was still out. If I have to lose a chicken, I hope it’s the one who insisted on wandering places she should not be.

The donkey basketball game was fun. A lot of laughter and rooting for both sides.

Happy Day! Today in General Conference we heard the announcement of the Nairobi, Kenya temple! What a joyful day. It is a dream come true for many saints in East Africa. I expect this announcement will inspire many saints to put their lives in order and to do more research on their family lines to be prepared to take their ancestors to the temple.

At our ward conferences we have been hearing that those we do temple work for become our guardian angels. How wonderful it will be to have more angels guarding the faithful saints in Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and other nations that will flow to the temple. Who knows? Perhaps peace will come to Somalia.

I loved listening to two days of General Conference. It was so uplifting. The overall message I received was that the world was in turmoil of the last days. We cannot avoid living in this tumult. We won’t change the world. But we can change ourselves. We can grow more spiritual, more Christ-like and more compassionate. We can have the Holy Spirit to be our guide. We can, from a depth of love, reach out to others to invite, guide, and correct so their lives may be blessed by Gospel Truths as well.

While we may not have peace in the world, we can have peace in Christ. Because of this peace we will rise above the trials of the world. It’s doing the little things, the daily decisions of prayer, scripture reading, Family Home Evening, keeping the commandments, and church attendance that step by step change our hearts and help us become like the Savior. I know for the longest time I thought the doing of these small things was the end in itself.

Only later did I realize they were just means to an end. The end is when we love as the Savior loves, speak as He would speak, think as He would think, and do as He would do. The more we open ourselves to his influence, the more we can change and become as he is.

I love General Conference because it inspires me to become a better person.