Arkansas Fox week 3/19/17

My week continues to be divided into writing work and house renovation work.

On the house side, we finished installing all the tile. It really has more steps than I remember when I say, “Oh, let’s do tile!” First the hardy board gets fitted and screwed down every 8 inches. This means drilling a recess for the head in the hardy board then driving in the screw through tough cement board deep enough so the head is at or below level. Then you mix the thinset, let it set 10 minutes, stir again and glue down the tiles, making sure they are firmly attached, in the right position, and level with the one next to it on all corners and edges. Um. That’s perfection. We didn’t quite get there. Tiles need to be cut at corners, walls, around floor vents, etc. We had out-dents for stove, frig, and dishwasher that all made for extra tile cuts.

Then you wait about 24 hours and go back to grout. Again, you mix the grout and let it set. The problem is that at first the grout looks too sloppy. But by the time you’ve let it set and started grouting it becomes thicker and thicker. The thicker it is, the more work it takes to get it into the grout lines and under any tiles that don’t have the thinset all the way to the edges.

It’s easiest to go back pretty quickly and clean off the extra grout. The problem is that when the grout on top of the tile is soft, so is the grout in the seams— the stuff you want to stay there. So you can carefully clean, or go back and clean, or both. We had thicker grout in the dining room and it took probably 4 times going over that tile to get it all off. AND a lot of elbow grease.  Then 48 hours later the grout needs to be sealed, wiped clean and then sealed again.  A good set of knee pads is a must!

We had Miranda and kids with us all week. It was fun to have them around. Dan helped with some of the tile cleaning on Saturday and Miranda came over on Wednesday to help clean tile as well.

Thursday the plumber came back for the last time to install the sink in the smaller bath. It’s a pedestal sink and a little tricky, so it was nice to have him hook it all up. He was most impressed with what we’d done to the house. Then our realtor stopped by. He kept saying “Wow! This is really nice! The kitchen is so light!” We’re hoping all that translates into a higher price for the home when we sell it. We’ve invested over 500 hours by now.

So Friday we started on the bamboo hardwood floor. It was a snap. Literally. Easiest floor we’ve put in. I wish I would have done the dining room in this instead of tile! We probably laid 400 square feet in 5 hours. And that included cuts for the hall way that bends around two closets. On the straightaways I could lay flooring faster than Tom could cut the end piece.

Talk about never being happy. We look at the beautiful hardwood floor and say, “It will look better when the baseboard is in.” We have the three bedrooms to do in the hardwood and their closets. It all clicks together without any transition pieces into the bedrooms. Fortunately the flooring fits together well whether you are sliding the large “clicker” edge under the bottom of the one in front, or on top if the “clicker strip” behind it. So we don’t have to start north and go south. We can go down the hall north to south… and then enter a bedroom and lay south to north. Nice stuff! Sorry, no picture yet.

I got my glazed hearts back and I’m very pleased with them.

 You can see some the hearts with round bubble imprints on them where we actually blue dye bubbles and spread them on the heart. On te ones below, the glaze broke and settled into the grooves in a different color.

 I have the lace to make the necklace part and my neighbor Barb agreed to help me with that. For our Women’s Retreat we are also going to do a service project called Days For Girls. You can find out about it at daysforgirls.com. These are cloth sanitary pads and holder for girls and women in third world countries who cannot afford monthly pads. They are colorful and made so when they are hung on a line they look like wash cloths, not pads. They enable girls to continue in school instead of sitting at home during their menstrual cycle. It’s really a life-changing project. Here’s some info: https://www.facebook.com/dfgteamatchison/posts/1477567372521874

I have been making progress with my book. I’m starting chapter 10 of 15. However, I’m moving into less charted territory. These chapters discuss day trading of currencies and commodities. I need to learn before I can present well. I had worked with an agency and they were not forthcoming with payments. I thought, aw nuts, I’m going to get stiffed. But after a few emails I got a response saying, “Oh I was on vacation. Here is most of your payment. But we’d like you to be cheaper on this page.” I did go down in price, and I will do another job for them to see if we’ve worked the kinks out… but… it could be time to let this client go.

Miranda had hoped to go camping with Tom and the boys, but it was just stinkin’ nasty cold all the first part of the week. We had some snow flurries, but Sunday’s snow pretty much melted to just windy, cold nastiness. By Friday the weather started to warm up and the last few days promise spring. My phlox is liking it.

We had the missionaries over on Tuesday night. Then there were transfers so the missionaries stopped by on Thursday to introduce the new missionary. I didn’t invite them to dinner. I was a little crabby because I knew Tom needed to leave to go home teach and he’d delayed his shower thinking they’d be there any minute. About 40 minutes later they showed up. Just about when dinner was coming out of the oven. And they stayed…  Then I felt guilty for not inviting them to stay for dinner because we did end up with enough to spare. So we took them to dinner on Friday after we finished working on the floor and before Jonathan and Isabelle came to visit.

On Miranda’s way out on Friday, Tom took the morning off and they all went for a long walk in the woods near Rossi Park and then out to breakfast. Miranda, my wonderful delightful daughter, stripped the beds and vacuumed. While they were gone I washed the sheets and the three of us quickly remade the beds before they left. So they were ready for the new guests.

Jonathan and Isabelle were here to dig up some young trees from our back woods. They found 8 they dug out and took home with them to plant on their fence line. Apparently the lightning house is progressing will with drywall in and painting started. Once they left, Tom dashed over to the renovated house to mow the back yard and then off to Super Saturday with the youth.

We had a good day today at church with a lovely talk on listing to the Holy Spirit and on the blessings of family history and genealogy.

Which master am I serving?

I've been thinking about the hate and anger over political division in our country.  These strong emotions can become habits.  I wonder if this is what is meant when the scriptures talk about Satan binding us with silken cords that become cart ropes.  We get angry about one thing... and then another... and pretty soon we're mad all the time.

And I thought of the scripture that you can't serve two masters.  When we are angry, revengeful, envious, jealous, and don't forgive we can't at the same time tune into love, peace, hope, and happiness. It's impossible to be both or serve both masters at the same time. I always hated it when the scripture said we were serving Satan.  "No I'm not!"  But the negative emotions cause misery both to ourselves and to others.  Who is the father of misery? Whose work are we spreading?

Ak!  I hope that I can remember when I feel negative emotions and choose to act on them, that I am indeed serving a master I don't want to serve!

The problem is that just because I am aware that I have these negative emotions, I can't just wish them away. So what to do?  I thought about the mission president's wife's talk about gifts of the spirit.  She said there were many  more gifts of the spirit than were listed in the scripture. And we are told to ask for these gifts.

Her solution was to consider how her day went in her prayers each night. What had she done that was not right?  Was it a sin (rebellion against god) and therefore needing repentance? Or was it a weakness and therefore she needed to turn to God for help fixing it?

With a weakness, she needed to find the compensating spiritual gift. Suppose I yelled at my husband. What might be the compensating spiritual gift? Only the spirit knows the right one. It might be patience with his foibles. It might be gratitude for all the good he does. It might be increased love to see him as the Savior sees him. It's important to pray to discern the spiritual gift that is right for me in this circumstance. Then I need to seek it. I need to work to develop that gift. Then the enabling power of the Savior can assist me to overcome that weakness.

We are not to let our children fight and quarrel and serve the devil. Ah. Now I understand better. If they are causing misery to each other, they are serving the devil. I wonder if  helping them connect these dots and teaching them to pray for spiritual gifts could make for a more harmonious home.

I appreciated the insight I gained and thought I'd share it.

A week in Pictures

This has been a varied week.  I've continued to work on my financial book. Had some editorial revisions to do. They will make the book stronger, but they slow the forward progress of the writing. I am understanding more about some different areas, especially CFD (Contract for Difference) but I need to learn more about currencies and commodities.

I went twice this week to Marian's to work on my hearts for the Relief Society Retreat necklaces.  Here are the bisqued hearts.

And then the start of glazing hearts.  When I went back, I finished glazing all of them and loaded some into the kiln.

We continued to work at the house.  While the garage is somewhat cleaner than it was, with the hardiboard and much of the tile and flooring moved into the house... it still has a ways to go.

However, the inside of the house is progressing. Almost all the tile is laid and it has been grouted in the entry and bath. We needed to buy the kitchen/dining room grout and did that on Saturday.  Here is a picture of the outside of the house we have been putting so much blood, sweat and tears into.

Tom has been wearing his "old jeans" to work on the house. His goal is to be able to finish the house before he has to break out some new "old jeans." So this set has been patched a couple of times... but the holes are winning.

 Tuesday night I went to Ava for their Relief Society Birthday party. It was lovely. Sister Loveland, the mission president's wife spoke.  She talked about spiritual gifts and how we need to ask for them in our weakness.  When we pray, we should examine where we have not done well. Have we been angry or critical?  We need to look for the spiritual gift that is the antidote of this weakness and ask for that blessing. Perhaps we need to be more patient or to love more.  As we seek these spiritual gifts we can improve ourselves through the Grace of God.

Friday Tom and I drove down to Andy and Kera's. Bless their hearts, They postponed travel to let us come and stay.  It was nice to visit with them and the children. The next morning we drove on to Fort Smith to go to a baptism.  This is the baptism of one of the men Tom had met and talked to in prison. He had been waiting to be baptized for a long time.  His friend John, had introduced him to the church while they were both in prison.

 Jame's daughter Misty came to the baptism to support her dad.

 It was a great baptism. The speaker on the Holy Ghost said that we are imperfect in communicating. We don't do all that well with others, and we lack perfection as we speak to God.  Part of the Holy' Spirit's responsibility is to take our imperfect words and make them acceptable to God.  Then on Sunday, the 7th verse of "Pray is the Soul's Sincere Desire" reinforced that idea.

We went to lunch at Five Guys with James, John, their families and the missionaries. Good food and good visiting.  But we needed to head home. Miranda and family were coming to visit, and a snow storm was blowing in.

We stopped at Fayetteville to shop at Aldi's and when we came out it was sleeting. It was just above freezing and since it had been warm, the snow melted as it hit the road.  But as we got to Harrison-- about an hour from home, it started to stick on the roadsides.

 As it got dusk, the snow turned blue.

 Then, at the river, it was foggy and snowy and socked in.

The chicken coop netting on top of the fencing collected the snow like a blanket and folded it all into the coop. I think it took down part of the fence as the chickens were wandering around outside today.

 On the way to church today it was beautiful!  The roads were clear but the fields and trees were full of snow. Our poor willow was bent nearly to the ground.

I'm glad I took pictures on the way to church because by the time we got out, much of the snow was melted.

It has been nice to have Miranda, Dan and kids here.  They had friends from Broken Arrow come to church today who were vacationing in the area.  Their spring break wasn't quite as sunny as they had anticipated.  So we invited them over for dinner tonight. Someone had given Tom three loaves of bread. What on earth could we do with them?  So we decided to have lettuce tomato and bacon sandwiches... and burritos for the kids who didn't want them.  It all worked out well. Tom made brownies first for the youth who came for BYD (Bishops Youth Discussion) and then for our company.  I am blessed with a fantastic brownie maker!

It's been a good week.

More of the Same

This week was focused on writing and working on the house. I continued my routine of getting up somewhere between 5 and 5:30 I've been pretty successful in getting about 1000 words written for the book each day. I also finished up the last of the edits on the autoresponder email series.

I had accepted what I thought was a simple edit job for an agency working with a realty company for 4 web pages. I sent the first page off on Tuesday. He didn't like it. Wanted it more upscale. Sent a second one off on Wednesday. He didn't like it. Too upscale. He then sent me the layout of the web pages so I could see what they were looking for both with space and layout. And he sent a creative brief where the client told about their company. Oh. That's what you want. I thought, wouldn't it have been nice to have these right off? But it's my fault. I thought about it, but didn't ask. I thought it would be simple. So Thursday I submitted a third draft. That was acceptable. So I had until the end of Friday to get the remaining 3 pages in. I send them in by 1pm... and didn't hear anything back. I am assuming that meant they were okay or he didn't even look at them.

Arkansas has started a new verified driver's license. They said the old DR would not be acceptable for flight identification or entering federal building. I intend to fly, so I needed the enhanced DR. So I collect stuff to take in--passport, address verification, etc. I get there and wait about a half hour. In the past, there's been virtually no waiting at the Revenue Office. I get to the window. I'd brought a paycheck with stub. That was okay for one address. I had just been to the assessors and assessed a vehicle so I had the bill. No. That was not good enough. Did I have the stamped paid receipt? Yes. I ran to the car and got it. Did I have my Social Security card? um... no. Too bad.

So I went home and found my buried social security card and went back two days later. Wait. Go to window. Present passport and other stuff. She shows me the fine print on the bottom of the Social Security card. "For tax purposes only. Not valid for identification." It's the only Social Security card I've ever owned! She cheerfully explained that I could go to the Social Security office and request a card and wait three weeks or so for it to come in the mail. Or I could use the end of year statement from a 1099 or the SS itself. Oh. The ones we just dropped off at the tax accountant the day before.

So we call. All the wage statements do not have the entire SS number on them. Just the last 4. The only one with a complete number is the SS W-2. And the accountant said her husband had gone in with a trash bill. That was not accepted. It needed to be utility bill like electric, gas or water. But we only have electric, and that's in Tom's name. They don't make this easy. :(

So I will go pick up my SS form and try again.

Sadly this week Nathan decided to leave home live in his car. We hope that he's found another job and things go well for him. It may be an opportunity for him to learn real life skills.

We have put in long hours at the house. We got the larger bathtub surround in and tiled the floor. On Thursday we grouted it all and it looks great. Tom put down the hardiboard on the floor of the kitchen, dining room and laundry room. Even just a uniform floor looks better. Monday the tiling starts. We got the last set of cupboards painted and up and the medicine cabinet in the small bath rehung. For some reason, that was a job and a half--getting mollies and screws in the right places in the wall so it would be centered over the yet-to-be-put-in-place sink. If anyone ever takes it off the wall, it will look like buckshot holes in the back. Should have drawn a smiley face there as well.

I invited my RS presidency for a meeting and lunch on Saturday. We are preparing for our Retreat and I wanted to get approval for the potato soup and for what kinds of cookies I should be making. So I made up several batches. Since the theme is "Create in Me a New Heart," I wanted heart shaped cookies. I tried some spritz cookies. Not heart shaped and a little small. But I tried variations with chopped choc. chips (Still too large and blocked the holes.) Then I used a fluted tube opening which worked pretty well. And I added some peppermint which made the most delicious cookies. I also made sugar cookies and choc chip cookies you could cut out with a cookie cutter. They turned out pretty well. I wanted to dip them partially in chocolate, but I melted choc chips and it never got runny enough for dipping. So it got smeared on half. It looked okay and tasted very good.

Deborah and kids had come up on Friday evening. So she was a help with the baking and such. We tried mini chips and large chips with the cut out cookies. However, we ran out of time and still had three bowls of cookie dough in the frig by the time my meeting began. Nevertheless, we had plenty of cookies to sample.

Deborah came up to inspect her house. So Saturday after my meeting she and Tom went to look. They measured the kitchen and talked with the tenant about updating the kitchen cabinets, countertops and stove. It was well received. So sometime AFTER we are finished with the Spring Park house and Deborah has figured out the cabinetry they will install it.

I was impressed with how well Deborah's kids behaved at church. I don't remember mine being so obedient at that age. We had a great Sunday school lesson on pride and humility and being kind to spouses based on D&C 25-- the Lord's revelation to Emma Smith.

Getting Things Done

I have such a supper supportive husband!  I told him that I wanted to keep my schedule of getting to bed by 9pm and getting up about 5am.  And he agreed to do it and has been encouraging me when I'm a little slow to bed.  Sometimes it's a little hard to sleep, but I've been waking up slightly before the alarm goes off.

And I've been super productive with my writing.  Most days I've gotten 1000 or more words written. I finished my Financial Advisor's email series including edits, and we may move forward on another letter. I also have two other people wanting me to do work. Akk. I hate to turn down interesting work. I think/hope I can do it all.

I've also been going out to the house most afternoons. It's interesting. When you start a renovation, the mess just grows!  You end up with piles of debris from junk in the house now cluttering up the garage-- old bathtubs and shelving, broken tile and drywall. Then there's new stuff to go into the house-- new doors, flooring and tile.  And the house itself is full of dismantled things-- doors off hinges, appliances moved from their traditional spots, baseboard lying in the middle of the floor to be painted, cabinet doors on saw horses getting painted or leaning against walls awaiting rehanging.  Shelving and door knobs and hinges and paint cans and cleaning supplies, rags, buckets, stools and tools... the clutter makes it such that you can hardly walk around the house.

Then "slowly by slowly" as the Kenyan's say it, things start to improve. Doors get rehung and shelving moves back into newly painted closets. Blinds get rehung or put out with the trash. Cupboard doors get replaced on newly painted cupboards. Paint tarps get folded or trashed. It's like a tide receding.  At first you don't believe it's happening.  Then, you can walk through the rooms and down the hall.  The new house begins to shine through. This is the gray paint with the various shades due to the light.

When I'm tired of seeing the mess, I look at the beautiful white fireplace against the crisp gray wall.At this point, we have all the house painted... er, except the new garage and back doors and trim and the laundry room cupboards. But the uniformity of wall paint and the contrast with the white cupboards is delightful and satisfying!  Tom also worked on tiling the tub surround. It turned out well. We will tile the floor then grout it all. He's been bagging up trash and putting some out at the house we're working on and bringing some home to add to our trash, so the piles in the garage are diminishing. Mostly it's just the flooring left. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.



I think it will be a beautiful house.  I hope the realtor and buyers agree and we get a nice price for it.  Tom has clocked over 300 hours of work on it. (I contributed some few hours of that.)

We've had amazingly warm February weather. It's been in the 60's at night and the 70's during the day.  The plants are confused.  It looks like spring.  The fruit trees and bradford pears are in full bloom.  Daffodils are up along with crocus. The grass is greening.  But the last two days the temperature fell below freezing at night. I expect that means no fruit from the trees this year. Sigh.  And likely March will go back to winter.

Here is a gratuitous picture of Athena who was outside when I went to take the peach tree picture.

I did some visiting teaching this week.  I invited my hairdresser to come to church with me and she did!  That was nice.  I also went and worked on clay on Friday.  I'm making clay hearts for my RS Retreat.  I finally finished the RS newsletter with information about the retreat and the Nauvoo trip we are planning on October 5-7. Anyone want to come with us on that?

Saturday Tom took some new converts to the temple to do baptisms.  We have some wonderful new members. They are a delight to know and apparently they had a great trip there and back and a spiritual experience at the temple.


Last night my friend Tanya and her daughter Maddie came to visit and spend the night.They lived in Mountain Home 11 years ago, when Maddie was born and have kept up on friendships here. So they went to church here today to connect with special friends..Today at church it was fun to listen to the hymns and the speakers through the eyes and ears of my friend sitting next to me. I think she enjoyed it. The spirit was there.

A great visit

I had a great week with the Mama this past 10 days! It was so fun to spend time with her. I had a lot of writing to do, so I needed to be organized. I tried to get to bed by 9pm and up by 5am. That way, I could get writing in until 11 or 12. By that time I was brain dead, so I was grateful for the chance to go off with Mama. By the end of the week, I’d sent off my first chapter to be reviewed and revised. It gave me a little break.

Saturday we had nothing planned in the morning, so I went off to the temple. It’s such a blessing to be 15 minutes from the temple! I LOVE it! And it was a wonderful session. I felt blessed to be able to attend.

Monday, Mom, Gloria (her friend) and I went to the Swiss ladies luncheon. The food was delicious. Sally came as well, so we had a nice time to visit. Everyone in the group is so friendly. I thought we had good traffic because it was President’s Day. I was a week early… but we still had good traffic. That evening Cynthia and Jim brought in Olive Garden dinner.

Tuesday Cynthia and I went to brunch about 10:30. Jim had a new toy— a Jaguar. Well, it’s a golf cart with a Jaguar front end and rear quarter panels. It’s SO cute! 

Cynthia picked me up in the golf cart and we road to Laguna Café. It’s kind of an open-air experience where you feel you are a part of nature— the air, the weather, the scents— as you travel. It was a mild day without wind and it was really fun. It was fun to sit and chat, catch up and think about the future. Jim’s health is not what it once was, and that is a concern. He can no longer drive. I guess, for each of us, we may be only one illness away from a major change in life.

I got home just in time to take Mom to her physical therapy. We did a whirlwind shopping trip at Macy’s and then on to get a blood test done. She is in remarkably good health.

Wednesday after a good morning’s work, I saw that Susan was on Skype, so I called her. We had a lovely visit. They keep busy with the temple work. I guess that’s why it’s called “work.” After lunch Mom and I went out shopping and then to Cynthia and Jim’s for a delicious salmon dinner. They are such good cooks! Then it was home to pack.

I was up about the same time on Thursday morning and Cynthia and Jim drove me to the airport. I was glad I’d chosen to fly out on Thursday. We had fog and the flight was delayed for an hour and a half, but storms rolled in on Friday and I understand all flights were canceled that day. The delay gave me a chance to respond to revisions on the chapter I’d submitted and make final changes so it could be sent to compliance. After a layover in Los Vegas, I was off to Miranda’s. On the plane about 2/3rds of the way through, a guy on the widow seat in my row, but on the other side of the aisle suddenly stood up, turned around and yelled at the person behind him to stop hitting his seat. Whoa! So this is what airplane rage looks like. I was looking around to see what would happen next. And this big, burly guy next to me… who I had not spoken to… said, “Don’t worry. I have your back.” What a nice thing to say. We chatted the rest of the way. He was an army drill instructor for 4 years. Retired, and now works security for Ryder. It was an enjoyable way to finish the trip.

Miranda and boys picked me up from the airport (I was about 30 min late) and we went out to dinner as it was past dinner time. Here's a picture of Dan and the boys.

 Then back to her house to bed. Friday, after Camden went to school, we drove to Deborah’s house. She was feeling a little punk, but was still a gracious hostess. Tom arrived shortly after we did. We made sandwiches for lunch and then headed home. Of course the car took us to the ReStore in Fayetteville on the way home. We found a nice fireplace glass and screen front at 75% off- $15! Score! It’s for the house we are renovation. Well… if it fits.

It is good to be home! I can’t believe how warm the weather has been. It was almost short-sleeve weather. The daffodils are blooming and our peach tree is blossoming out. Silly thing. There’s probably an 85% chance it will freeze at least once between now and April. We’d meant to dormant oil spray it. So I pulled out the sprayer and hit most of the trees. I hope it’s not too late. Tom spent a good part of the day picking up sticks and small branches that came down in a fierce wind storm we had while he was at Miranda’s last week. We also went over to the house and painted cupboards. They take at least three coats. And there are a lot of cupboards. But the white really brightens up the kitchen. And we’ve decided on the paint we will use in the dining room, kitchen, and laundry room.

Today I drove to West Plains for their ward conference. It was quite foggy. A gray blanket covered the road and hills. Skeletal tree branches reached from the road side and the center line quickly disappeared into fuzz. When I turned east, the fog took on a pink hue as the sun rose and tried to shine through. In patches it lightened to a mist among the trees with striations of sunlight creating a pattern.  Then I’d dip into the silver, shadowless gloam once again. By the time I got to West Plains the cotton enclosed me. Signals suddenly appeared through the gloom and I had to slowly anticipate turns I could not see. Still, it was a lovely drive. I marvel how the same road can appear so differently at different seasons, weather, and time of day.

We had good meetings. I taught about President Hinckley and his eternal optimism. “Everything will work out.” I thought how often we worry about things. And of all the things I’ve worried about— everything has worked out. He said we live in the fullness of times. All the good has been brought forward at this time. Of course there are evil and hard times, but we can be cheerful through it and look for the good.

Traveling with 90+ year olds

Today I went to the Swiss Park with Mom and her friend, Gloria.  Gloria is in the 90+ group, is hard of hearing, but trots around with her walker.  They sat in the back and chatted as we went to the Swiss Ladies Luncheon.

I loved that they were chatting about personal trainers and the gym equipment they were using.  Gloria joined the 1000 mile club-- adding up the miles she does on the treadmill, the bike and the newstep. Goodness sake! These two are like 95 and 92 and they are working out more than I am!

So we attend the luncheon and the president is giving a report.  Someone asked about the gardener of the park and why we had a new one.  She said he had died.  As people expressed surprise, she said, "Well he was about 90.  He was REALLY old!"  Then she clapped her hand over her mouth and said, "I need a muzzle."  There was another lady there who drove herself perhaps 60 miles to attend... and she was also over 90.

Fortunately, Mom and Gloria are both hard of hearing and didn't catch most of the meeting part.  On the way home, Mom asked me what transpired at the meeting.  So I'm driving 70+ miles an hour on the freeway in the HOV lane yelling back to Mom and Gloria in the back seat about what went on the the meeting. (I omitted the gardener part.)

At the end, Mom turns to Gloria and says,  "Could you hear Sandra talk about the meeting?"

"Meeting?"

"Yes, the meeting."

"Which meeting?"

"The one we just had."