Deadline Week

Here's a spring picture of our house.

This has been a busy, focused week. It started with Monday's two hour Motley Fool call. They didn't say the work was trash... but they did say that there were a lot of changes that would need to be made to make it acceptable to their regulators.  So I needed to rework it and send back the first 1000 words by Friday.

This meant a ton more research.  I looked at historical research and current British news clippings.  I studied old promotions that demonstrated the kind of hedging language they needed.  Not "will" but may, could possibly, might, in our considered opinion there's a possibility this stock might see an increase...
 I like it because it's genuine and honest, but also different from the way it's typically done in the US.

Monday we also prepped for chicks.  Tuesday we got up pretty early and drove about 2.5 hours to Lebonon.  It turned out to be a little longer as we took a wrong turn going up and a little scenic drive going home.  We found Cackle Hatchery and it took about 5 minutes to get the chicks.  A little anticlimactic...

When I got home,  it took time to get the chicks settled.  Since the temp was to drop to 39 degrees, Tom wanted the chicks in the house. I worked on a Video Script for an insurance agent.  We also figured out flights to LA to celebrate Mom's birthday the end of May.

The chicks lasted perhaps 24 hours in the house before I insisted they... and their smell... be taken to the shed.  We put the old horse water tank in there with hay and heat lamps.  After adjusting the lamps a bit, they seem quite happy.  The rule is if the chicks cluster under the lamp... it's too cold.  If they avoid the circle of light all together... it's too hot.  If they're scattered  around, they are probably comfortable.

Wednesday I worked on the sales promo and then went and did pottery in the afternoon. I had made some of these ikebana vases, went and glazed them, and now it was time for gluing the tops and bottoms together.

I found the glue didn't seal the top and bottom well completely, so Tom helped me put silicone calk around the  base to seal it.  This is what one looks like with flowers.  They are flowering quince and a Japanese iris from our garden.

 Marian, the potter, has peacocks.  They are quite proud of themselves in this spring mating season. One is an olive peacock, the other, the traditional Turquoise.  Marian gave me some of their feathers to add to the Ikebana arrangements.

 

Thursday I revised and sent off the video script. I also spent ALL DAY on the sales promo. Tom, bless his heart,  spent all day with the missionaries.  It was supposed to be a drive to Branson and an exchange of missionaries at 8:30.  They sent off the first one... but the companion apparently wasn't scheduled to arrive until 2pm. It was an enforced restful day.

Friday again, I was deep into the sales letter.  I did get an email asking if I would edit a book.  And I got the go ahead to do more video scripts for the insurance agent and I have some tech websites to do... so my plate is feeling pretty full right now.  I did manage to get the sales letter off Friday late afternoon.

I also went out for a late lunch with the writer I'd done a short critique for. Nice older guy who lived in Compton when there was only orchards and Japanese farms. He was there for the "resettlement" of the Japanese.  Eventually he went to Alaska for 30 or so years. He wanted me to take a look at some of the life events he wrote about while he was living there.  Very interesting.  In the evening we watched Pirates of Penzance.  I enjoyed it a lot.

Parts of our garden are coming up.  We have been eating asparagus regularly.  Peas are starting to climb and spinach plants are getting their second leaves.  Tom pulled a radish, but the carrots just look like a short crew-cut. Actually, the weeds are probably taller.

Saturday I did a little work on the start-up tech websites, but stopped about noon to turn my attention to the Relief Society Retreat program for next week.  I got it typed up and the bios of the speakers edited and ready to print.  I went and bought parchment paper to print it on... and gas for my trip to Ash Flat's branch conference on Sunday. Also snacks for the youth who would be coming over for the Bishops Youth Discussion on Sunday.

In the evening we watched the Ultimate Gift.  A nice low key, feel-good, movie with no violence or swearing.

Today I traveled to Ash Flat.  We had good training with a new president and a good lesson, I think. We also met as a presidency and ironed out the last of the details on our Stake Relief Society Activity for next Saturday.  And, after a great lunch, we drove out into the country to visit a sweet sister.  I got home about 4:30.  Tom had good meetings and a successful youth discussion... especially if that's defined as 15 youth eating a gallon of ice cream  and all the brownies, bananas, grapes...plus most of the celery and carrot sticks.

I've sent out letters to grand kids, missionaries, and now the blog.  It's time for a game of 5 Crowns!

Back to the Real World

 We had such a good time at the sibs reunion and visiting family on the way back.This has been a “getting back into the routine” week. All the things that piled up while we were gone, or we put off, were still waiting for us when we got back home.  We had tried to keep up with some things on our travels.

We called on the status of the septic system on one of our rental properties.  Still no word about the variance.  I’m a bit afraid to bug them.  If they deny the variance… I don’t know what we can do. Maybe I should find out… maybe I don’t want to know.

Tuesday I started in on my long sales letter for The Motley Fool UK.  I had a Skype meeting with them and went off to merrily write my headline, lead and outline.  Actually, I was a bit intimidated with the idea and procrastinated for a bit.  But I was going to be gone part of Thursday and all of Friday, so I HAD to work on it.  I finally got some blank paper and sat outside and just started writing.  I think I created a strong piece.

I sent it off Thursday and got feedback by Friday night.  There were lots of places they didn’t think would pass the regulator’s standards.  Sigh.  I really thought I had toned it down and put in all the qualifiers.  Some places I will just have to find proof to back up the statements.

Tuesday I also got my hair cut.  Tom had meetings that night.  Wednesday was mostly working on The Motley Fool Promo for me.  Tom had meetings that night.

Thursday I tried to get some of my Women’s Retreat for the stake on track.  There are still loose ends to clean up.  Tom and I left about two and drove to Branson to meet Jonathan and Kristy. They were celebrating their anniversary and invited us to come along and go to Branson with them.  We had a nice dinner out. 

On Friday we went to Silver Dollar City. There were some new shows this WorldFest and we saw most of them. We left about 5pm and let Jonathan and Kristy go on all the roller coaster rides they wanted to after that. We tried to head to bed early.

 

These were the fire dancers from Samoa.  The one on the right is a chief and the world champion fire dancer.

 

This was the African Acrobats

 

I found their costumes must less modest than anything I ever saw in Kenya.

Tom was up a little after 4am to get ready to go to a youth temple trip.  It was a good trip for them. The weather was nice for the drive… although it was pretty blustery here.  They had 13 youth go.  Saturday I did some work and then went to Marians to glaze my Ikebana vases.  Some had broken during the drying phase so Marian, bless her heart, made more for me and fired them all.  I choose glazes I thought would be interesting.

Here are the tops of the Ikebana vases when they were still greenware.

 

As Marian says, you never can tell how they will come out.  The glazes can vary due to the way they are applied, the kind of clay, how quickly the temperature rises, how long it stays hot, how slow or fast it cools and probably lots more things.  It’s all chemicals and chemical reactions.  I suppose that is part of the art and serendipity of pottery.  I had a fun afternoon there and got home soon after Tom arrived home.  I hope to have the vases finished before the Women’s Retreat and be able to give them to the teachers and my counselors as gifts.

Today was a fantastic day at church. Testimony meeting was wonderful as were both Sunday school and Relief Society.  Our lesson was on the Atonement and was taught by a sister in a wheelchair.  She’s young, but with a debilitating disease.  She said when she was in seminary her teacher asked her what the atonement meant to her.  She said, “I like it.  I think it’s good.” Later she realized he was referring to her limitations in the wheelchair. She said, “I think everyone has a wheelchair. Some are on the inside and some on the outside.”

In speaking of the atonement, she said that no one had ever done that before—taken on all the sins of the world.  What an impossible task that must have felt like.  But the Savior trusted in Heavenly Father and trusted in the attributes he had been given and went and atoned for us.

I believe that each one of us has a mission to fulfil here on earth.  Like the Savior, we agreed to it in the pre-earth life.  And it occurred to me that, like the Savior, we need to trust in Heavenly Father and in the attributes he has given us to go forth and do… even with the tasks seem impossible.

Sibs Reunion

This is a two week post.

A week ago, we left on Tuesday to drive to Miranda's house. Up until that Monday, we thought we were going to drive to Las Vegas via Miranda.  But then things changed.

Mom suddenly was not doing well.  She was back to being about as sick as she was when I was there about a month ago.  So off to the hospital and they found fluid on the lungs.  Her heart was not able to get all the fluid out.  We also think the medicine was again partly to blame.  They decided to put in pacemaker. So she had that done on Thursday.

Since Mom couldn't travel, we decided to move the siblings' reunion to Laguna Woods instead of Las Vegas. So Tom and I spent Tuesday night and Wednesday night with Miranda and Dan and family and then made a beeline to Albuquerque.  We'd planned on spending two nights there and going to the temple and maybe doing some sightseeing.  Instead, we got up early on Friday and did a session at the temple.

Then drove to Needles, CA. Saturday we drove to Sally's house in Downey. Sue and Steve were there... and a sick Sally.  I slathered her in oils and she seemed to improve a bit each day of the reunion.

We watched the Women's session of the General Conference at Sally's house and we all went to church the next day.  Then we drove down to Laguna Woods. Tom and I stayed with Cynthia and Jim. Steve and Kathy were already with Mom.  And Sue, Steve, and Sally stayed at an AirBnB nearby. Cynthia and Jim are always such gracious hosts!

It was a low key reunion.  Mostly we ate, visited, ate, visited, put together jig saw puzzles... oh, like most reunions.

 Behold us eating a toasted meringue that was a bit resistant to biting through it.  We took the creative approach... but sometimes the fruit and the whip cream got in the way.

Each day Mom seemed to be a little better. The fluid was gone from her lungs and she used less oxygen... but still had a cough. We had a TON of food! Oh my goodness. No chance of going hungry. I guess that's what happens when you have lots of good cooks in the family.  Kathy made delicious sticky buns. We had ham and funeral potatoes, pot roast, baked potatoes and toppings... and enough left-overs for lunches and another meal.

Wednesday Tom and I went to the temple in the morning.  Then we went to their special shoe store and Tom got fitted for special inserts and both of us bought supportive shoes. Sue, Sally and Steve spent some time going through Cousin Walter's photos and letters.  Some from 1918-1921.

Thursday we left by 7am to start the trek home. We made the 14 hour drive to Albuquerque the first day.  We hit a few snow flurries, but for the most part it was a smooth drive. The second day we finally ran out of books on tape. Those really help the time pass. We made it to Miranda's house.  They had already left to go to Jonathan's and Kristy's so we had the house to ourselves.

We again left early to complete our drive to Jonathan and Kristy's house.  We actually went to their church to help them since they had the cleaning assignment for the week. Then we visited animals and watched General Conference at their house. Miranda made cinnamon rolls and Easter egg salad for lunch. Jonathan made pizza for dinner. The men went to the priesthood meeting in the evening.

 Here the boys are licking the flour off the counter top after the cinnamon rolls were rolled and into the pan.

 Pizza eating.

Sunday we went to church for the first session of conference.  In the morning, I listened to the Morman Tabernacle Choir's Messiah.  It was supposed to be a sing-along... but I thing Jonathan found an older version of the MoTab... still lovely.  What was fun was that Zachery and Alex were fascinated with the singing.  They'd just sit enthralled. At one time 2 year old Alex was on the balcony waving a stick and singing Hal-lu-yah!

After the second session of General Conference we headed home... to an amazingly busy week planned. Got most things unpacked and are now off to bed.

More Funerals

It seems like this is the time for people to move on.  We had two sisters in our ward die on the same day this week. Another went into hospice and Tom met with the family to make funeral program plans.  In addition, there were some high stress families that needed his attention.  So it's been kind of a tough week to be bishop.

I bought a Microsoft Surface tablet with a keypad cover.  It arrived this week and I've had fun working with it... after I spent over an hour on the phone trying to get the key code for Microsoft.  Duh. You'd think they would include it with the computer.

On Monday I went over to my neighbor, Barb's house and did a photo shoot on her necklaces. They really are lovely.  The next step is to get them on a website with an order page.  I've done websites, but not order pages... and I really don't want to take the time to create it. I'm hoping Barb is adventurous enough to learn to do it on her own.

I've put in some time this week working on the Women's Retreat coming up in April.  Still more to do. Actually I've felt a bit stressed with week with everything that seems to need to be done... Especially knowing that I will be off for the next two weeks and then I will need to delve into a big financial newsletter promotion that will take up a lot of time.

Thursday I went to play with clay with Marian.  I had a very pretty short vase that was an Ikebana style- with a well and a pin frog to hold a few stems of flowers and a flat top.  Alas, it had a difficult encounter with the counter top and the ceramic top broke.  So I went to Marian's to make another.  and since one is good, 10 are better.  I decided I wanted to make them as gifts for the teachers for the retreat and for my counselors... and then they were just fun so I made a few extra tops for Marian.  She turned the bottom "wells" on the wheel.  I'm hoping that with gorgeous glazes, they will turn out very unique and attractive.

As with the cycle of life, I went to a shower for Lacey Arrndt Day.  She's due with a baby boy.  The shower had many attendees and lots of games.  I'm not a big fan of games... but many people seems to have fun. And I am pleased Lacey is doing so well.

I wrote a $1000 letter this week. I'd been doing websites for the start up companies and decided to write a letter requesting a form of compensation.  I had some investment into the start up company and asked them to consider my labors as payment in lieu of cash.  And they did!  I love it when my persuasive letters actually save me money!

Friday was Molly Shelton's funeral. Tom conducted it.  It was short and very sweet.  She was a great lady.  After we worked in the garden a bit.  It's been so warm... and last night we had a freeze and they predict one again tonight.  I don't know what that will do to our fruit tree blossoms and fruit.  We'll have to wait and see.

Saturday Tom spent most the the day driving to Springfield, then spending the afternoon with Elder Dale G. Renlund, a member of the 70 and leaders from a host of other stakes in the area.  He thought it was time well spent.  He got home about 7:30.

Today I drove to the Mountain View Branch for their branch conference.  They are such diligent and hardworking people.  It was a pleasure to be there.  Still A long day.  From 6:30 to 5pm including driving time, church, lunch and visiting.  Then  I have letters to write, blog to do, indexing...  I just need to remember to have joy in all the doing.

We skyped with Adam and that was fun and also visited by phone with Rebecca and Deborah.  I love my family!

Comments on adversity and progression

President Chandler- a psychologist and former stake president spoke at the women’s conference. I want to share with you some of what he said.

• ·         We create the world we live in through our minds—how we think and process. Your thoughts drive how you feel. If we’re depressed we look at ourselves and think, I’m no good, I’m broken or defective. And we imagine other people look at us and think the same thing. It’s not true. That’s Satan speaking. No one is a better or worse person. We are all just people- with some strengths and some weaknesses. Change your thoughts and you’ll change your mood. (But with clinical depression, you also need medicine to fix the chemical imbalance.)
• ·         There is no room for comparison in the gospel. If we think we’re better than others, that leads to pride. If we think we are worse, that leads to depression. We need to accept ourselves with our imperfections. Face us and say, yes, this is what I am. Then go to work to fix what you don’t like about yourself.
• ·         Acknowledge and face your weaknesses, but don’t be immobilized by them. They may be your companions all your life.  We may struggle with some weaknesses all our lives.
• ·         Our afflictions are not healed immediately because there are lessons to be learned.
• ·         He read a story about someone who asked about how to overcome pornography or other addictions.  He was told the answers to most of our problems is to understand and know our true identity and purpose.  What is our true identity?  We are gods in embryo. Our genetic coding says we are meant to be Gods. God gave us the capabilities and powers of Godhood, even if it’s in an infant state. It’s an eternal principle that like begets like. Giraffes make baby giraffes, corn seeds make corn. As sons and daughter of God, we have his genetics.
• ·         God knows we are not perfect. He knows. That’s why he sent his son. But you can become clean every day as you repent and look to the Savior. In Moses time, people didn’t look to the snake on the staff (a symbol of the Savior) because they didn’t think it would heal them. Do we trust the Savior to heal us? His arms are always open. We will make it back to Heavenly Father if we keep trying (even if fail a lot) and if we get really good at repenting.

Movin' Along

I'm not sure why I start out with extremely productive days, and then throw in some where I don't think I get anything done at all.

The weather continues to be unseasonably warm. The trees, daffodils, hyacinth, and now the grass all think it's spring.  The grass has greened up.  The phlox is ready to burst into a blanket of color.  Some of the peach trees are in full bloom.  The Bradford pears are all a frothy white.  And we still have a month until the last frost free date. We had forecasts of tons of rain this week.  Some places in the state were awash with water.  We just got a steady drizzle for most of the week.  It's good for the plants and the ground as it just soaked in.

Monday evening we went to empty nesters.  We had not had one in January or February.  No one volunteered to host it.  So it was nice to get together. We had a potluck and played a game and caught up on happenings.

Tuesday I worked on websites in the morning. I met up with another sister and we drove to Ava for their evening conference for Relief Society.  The rain was brutal on the way up!  Some real downpours.  President Chandler, our former stake president and a psychologist spoke at the Ava conference.  He was very good. I think I'll post some of the notes I took.  The lady I road with took her harp and sang.  It was lovely too.

We had a great dinner and the Ava sister were working on the service project A Time for Girls, just like Rebecca's group in Hong Kong was.  The teens there thought the project would be good to make for their 72 hour kits. Fortunately the rain quit and we had a dry drive home.

I've been trying to exercise more.  So both Tom and I have used the treadmill-- especially when the weather is not good. I found time goes pretty quickly when you're watching TV.  I even jogged a little.  I also want to try to play the piano better, so I sat down and practiced a bit about 3 times this week.

Wednesday night I worked on some family history and got the Jacob Joseph Seelbach family ready to take to the temple. I also finished the Stake RS newsletter and sent it to my counselors for review.

Thursday I don't remember what I did.  Some writing.  Some looking for work on Upwork. Exercise. Piano.

My first counselor and her husband had been taking care of his father for several years now-- 3 or 4, maybe more. He was a WWII vet and last week he decided to stop dialysis.  He passed away on Tuesday morning.  We went to his funeral in Ava on Friday.  Tom went with me.  It was a nice service. After, we went shopping at their bulk store and then went to lunch.  We were on the Missouri side of the border and the place that was recommended was a bar/restaurant.  The food was good... but they allowed smoking in there.  It's been a while since I've been around cigarette smoke. It hasn't improved with age.

The rain slowed the process of our septic repairs. Tom went out and marked a 100' arc from the neighbor's well and then 100' from our well.  That doesn't leave much room for the tanks and leech lines.Now the contractor needs to decide how to fit the field in the space.  It looks like it will end up with an expensive solution.  Tom  also worked at Rebecca's house fixing the roof. And next week he will replace a door that a dog chewed/scratched through.

Saturday I went to lunch with Barb.  We talked about how to help her necklace business grow. Do any of you know of some fashionable boutiques that would like to carry lovely necklaces? Both of us would be very grateful. In celebration of Pi day, I made crusts and Tom made an apple, pumpkin, and Toll House chocolate chip pie.  He served them Sunday to the youth for the Bishop's Youth Discussion.  They were a hit.

Today I actually stayed home and didn't travel... except to the Mountain Home ward.  It was nice to see friends and reconnect.  I'd been gone for the past 3 weeks, at least.  The Stake President came to visit and make a change in the Elders Quorum. He came over to the house afterwards and spent 1.5 hours visiting with Barb and answering questions.  Since he'd flown in late, late last night and gotten home about 3am... I thought he was very generous with his time.

I hope I can quickly get used to daylight savings.

Blessings

Some of the ward members speak of driving people to Little Rock for doctor's appointments, and I've always thought What a lot of work and time! But one of the sisters I visit teach needed a ride to see a neurologist, and I thought, why not? I can do that. So I said I'd take her.

Then, another sister needed a ride from the airport home, so I told her if she could be in Little Rock about 12:30 ish, I could bring her home. It turned out to be a delightful day. We chatted all the way down.  I read a book while she was seeing the doctor, and then we picked up the sister at the airport and drove home. I left a little after 9 and was home about 5pm.

I thought we were going to have a young couple over for family home evening at 6... so I was a bit rushed.  But when I got in the house, I learned they had canceled.  It was good/bad.  I was happy to unwind, but sorry we couldn't support and help them.

We had already voted, but were interested in seeing the results of the Arkansas vote on Tuesday. Some of me people made it, some didn't.  The senate contender got trounced and so did my presidential choice. My judges got in.  I also had my mastermind group call in the morning and have no idea how I spent the rest of the day.

I had looked at my calendar and saw no work for pay. Not good.  So I went on Upwork and got two jobs. One is writing emails to encourage people to go to a very interesting blog. www.gskang.com  He writes kind of stream of consciousness, but has some good things to say. It was fun writing the emails in his "voice" and projecting his image.  He is so not a "Guru" or strong leader... I had to figure out a way to invite people to listen to him when he says things like, "I'm not very smart." or "I'm not sure why I'm writing this." On the other hand,  he has a great rags-to-riches story and is willing to help millennials figure out how to live a life of liberation-- for no fee.

Wednesday afternoon I went and printed off invitations for the Stake Relief Society Retreat and then cut them into the quarter sheets. Did some other church stuff and spent the evening on family history.  Found some children for a family, so that was exciting.

Thursday I finished my Upwork assignments and got them mailed off.  I also spent time with a neighbor struggling with some issues. Friday Tom and I worked in the garden. It's far too warm for this time of year. Daffodils are blooming, tulips are emerging, our peach, blooming quince, and wild plum all have blossoms.  I kept waiting for a cold snap... and it can still come. April 15 is supposed to be our last frost date.  In the mean time, we tilled the garden. The chickens and cats were delighted with the turned up soil.

Saturday we went back and planted peas, spinach and broccoli. We attended a baptism that evening. This was the first time I'd met this sister. I guess that's what happens when you gad about to different wards. I had the chance to help her get ready and then guide her where she needed to be. She had been in a car accident and paralyzed at one time and still suffers from some brain damage.

Our newer house in Whiteville has a septic problem. We had the tank pumped last week. They said not good things about the tank.  Tom went back this week to dig to find the junction box and see if the leach lines were working. Alas, they are full of tree roots. We will need a whole new system.

This means getting the county sanitation department involved, having the thing engineered, and struggling to find a place on the property that is 100 feet from our well... and the neighbor's well. Currently the tank and lines are under the old rule of 50 feet from the well. Pray that they will grant an exemption for this system.  I don't think we have a place that's 100 feet from all the wells on the half acre. Alas, this is a big-bucks-cure.

Today was Ward Conference in Houston, Missouri. It's about 2 hours from our house. I left at 6:30 to be there for the 8:30 meeting. I really wanted to take some general conference talks to listen to... but couldn't down load them.  I think my burn drive wanted to do a CD instead of an mp3 disk. So I grabbed some conference talks off the shelf... Alas, they were DVD's and of course, wouldn't play in the CD player.

Still, the ward conference was very good. I taught the lesson again. I'm amazed that while I have the same lesson prepared, it ends up being presented so differently in each ward. Some wards I hardly get past the first page. This time, I got through the whole lesson with time to spare. But still, we had good comments and good stories. I love how the Lord guides lessons for the benefit of those who need it.