Snowy Week

We had a snowy, cold, stay-at-home week. How grateful I am that we chose to go to Branson the week before. Otherwise I would have been worried about how to get there and how to get back home.

Last Sunday was Mountain Grove’s Ward Conference. Weather was threatening, but I was able to go and come without any problem. However the snowy weather moved in Sunday night and by Monday we had four inches of snow and no one was going anywhere. It was a good thing it was President’s day and many things—schools and banks—were closed anyway

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Monday seemed like such a lazy day. We lounged in front of the fireplace to read and work.

Tom got out… of course. He sees adverse weather as a challenge to overcome. He checked the church parking lot. While he shoveled snow off the walkways and steps, a church member with a little tractor scooped snow off part of the parking lot. We both worked a little shoveling snow off the driveway.

It did make for beautiful views. On Tuesday we went walking around our pastures and woods. Tom tried walking on the pond, but it was not frozen enough. The chickens were not happy about the snow in their run and stuck to sheltered areas.

Throughout the week the weather report forecast snow or ice or cold. It didn’t always come to pass. But Wednesday, the roads were pretty much okay and Tom took our neighbor grocery shopping. Our drive was still full of ice and snow… well, even today, Sunday, it’s covered in snow.

Thursday we did get some ice and it looked like this:

I had someone I’d written for before ask me to write an article on Cannabis stocks. I debated, and thought why not?  Well, it took me much longer than I thought to write. But I did learn something about the marijuana industry. When stocks go from $.02 to $1.20 and now trade at $.06 in a year… I suppose you could say you tripled your money…. If you actually bought it in the very early days when it was 2 cents. But mostly it looks like a great way to lose money. I learned you could speculate in companies that did software, security, consulting, manufacturing of equipment, real estate, and biotechnology for pot. So there were lots of ways to ride the roller coaster.

I wonder if I will start getting all kinds of ads related to this lifestyle now that I’ve researched so many sites for information about marijuana stocks.

Thursday and Friday we had internet and phone problems. As part of the cure, we decided to change over to a CenturyLink modem that Deborah had bought in the expectation of using after they moved. But they have a different system. Tom actually was on the phone with the technician and got it set up.

But I couldn’t connect on my computer… or the Roku. When we tried to connect, the only link we could see was for FBISurveillanceVan2. That seemed a little creepy. Then I remembered Ian’s quirky sense of humor. They had the modem long enough to name it… and put in the password. Once we figured that out we were able to connect to the computers, the TV and the Roku. Actually it was pretty amazing that we could do it by ourselves… without having to import children or grandchildren to do it for us!

Sunday we had really great talks for church. One was on the Sacrament and another was on change. I wrote about the one on change at www.letterstomissionaries.com where I write a weekly letter my Kenyan missionaries, the ones from Mountain Home, and any others who want a weekly letter.

Sister Andrus taught a great lesson on “Lord is it I?”  Then after she sat down, her pulse dropped to near zero. This is the second time it happened at church. We had an MD, two nurses, a paramedic assisting her before the ambulance arrived. I think she is okay. But I know they’ve had trouble getting her pulse stabilized. I thought, that’s the way I’d like to go. Teach a lesson and bam. Back to God. I hope Sister Andrus has many more lessons to teach. She’s a great lady.

Branson Work Week

Periodically I go on a writing retreat. I get a discounted $199 timeshare from our Travel to Go membership and delve into my writing.

So this week I went to Branson. Tom decided to come along too. I think that was good. He needed a get-away and I got a butler and cook. He took good care of me. We left Monday morning.

We stopped at the John Deer place in Harrison to get some lawn mower parts and at Aldi's to get some food. We arrived in Branson about lunch time... what to do?  There was Andy's frozen custard!  And the weather was warm enough to sit outside to eat.

Our condo this time was at the Royal Crowne Resort. It was pleasant. We had a one bedroom (not deluxe; it had a smaller kitchen and table.) But it did have a Jacuzzi!  It did not have curtains on the bedroom windows-- only blinds that did not keep the sun out in the mornings. Good thing I had eye covers. 

We had a pretty good routine. I'd get up and start writing. Tom would read a book, nap or watch TV. We'd have lunch, and then I'd go back to work for a few more hours. By 4ish, I'd stop. Or at least slow down a bit.

Tom went shopping by himself on Tuesday and declared it not as much fun as going with me. We went to the exercise room in the late afternoons each day and walked the treadmill. I find it easy to do when I can watch TV at the same time.

Wednesday late afternoon we did a little shopping. Then we came home and watched a movie and soaked in the Jacuzzi. Thursday we had breakfast out, then after work we exercised again and soaked and watched a movie.

I worked on researching and sending off a proposal to Wyatt research. It had ideas for series of emails/videos/surveys to help subscribers stay loyal and renew their subscriptions.

 I had worked in the past with my client and co-author on a larger book on dividend paying life insurance. There have been misunderstandings and ill feelings between two and I keep trying to figure out ways to help them come together to get this project finished. They are both really good people and I can see how each might be offended by the actions of the other.

My latest brainstorm was to suggest an agreement so they know exactly what each will be responsible for and who will do what. Because working in a timely way has been a problem, I even put in penalties if people didn't do what then needed to do to move the project along. I have heard nothing from either of them. I'm really not sure what else I can do. Sigh.

I wrote and sent out a Product Launch Formula newsletter. This is an article about copywriting for the people I met at the Product Launch Formula event. I'm multi-tasking, in that I also post it to my website and put it up on LinkedIn. And I wrote an article for my TeenStyleU.com website. I also read some books on marketing and listened to some training.

All in all it was a productive week for me. And it was fun to spend the evenings with Tom. In a one bedroom condo, you really can't get that far away from each other. Although when he went into the bedroom to watch TV, it was so quiet I couldn't hear it in the living room.

That is unlike the neighbors we gained Thursday and Friday nights. Tom said he could hear their conversations in their bedroom in our bedroom. I know I heard snoring from one side or the other on Friday night. Which means for sure they were vibrated by our Jacuzzi motors. I don't think this resort is high on our list to return to. Still, it was much nicer than a hotel room.

Tom and I came back home on Saturday morning. We stopped again at John Deer to pick up the part they had to order and to check out used tractors. We also looked at Kubota in Harrison. Somehow the price we think we might be willing to pay for a nice used tractor keeps going up and up. They say in a few weeks there will be lots of trade-ins to look at.

We came home unpacked and checked out the chickens and the neighbors. It was Ernie's birthday, so we invited him and Barb over for breakfast burritos for supper. Tom made brownies-- with one candle on top-- for a happy birthday cake.

Sunday was ward conference in Mountain Grove, MO-- about 1.5 hours north of Mountain Home. I left about 6:40 in order to get there for the training meetings. I needed to do some prep on Saturday evening for the training and the RS class. It's a great ward and we had good meetings. After church I went visiting to two sisters. They did serve a delicious lunch to sustain us-- pulled pork, bean salad, baked beans, and coleslaw. The coleslaw is supposed to go on the pulled pork on the bun. This is a Southern thing, I was told. And it was delicious!

I got home about 5:30. Now I've read everyone's great letters, written to missionaries and grand kids and posted this blog. It's time for bed!

Warm and Cold

Our weather has been a mix of warm and cold.  Last week we had a skiff of snow on the ground. Today it's 65 degrees.  I like the changes in weather.  It keeps things interesting.

After Christmas, the family helped take down and clear a big Sycamore tree by our parking pad. They did an amazing job of cleaning up all the branches, leaving only the long trunk.  Over a period of time, Tom moved sections of the trunk to the "fort" in the back field where the kids had played.  He used our dying tractor to do so (That's why it was "over a period of time."  We are in the market for a newer tractor.)

Then we had the stump grinder man come... and come back again.  The roots were everywhere.  He was so nice about coming back.  In the process of grinding roots out, a section of septic line got ground out, too.  This week Tom and two friends from church put down new gravel, replaced the broken line, and covered it all up.  They were able to learn we have about 100' of leach lines and they are clean and workable.

Tom also burned all the branches from the tree that had been laying around drying out.  Perhaps they were not dry enough.  It took a little coaxing to get them burning.  And now our yard looks much cleaner and neater.  Must be time for a new project.

Each year grass grows from under the fence into our garden. Last year we also had an invasion of turtles to share our garden bounty.  Those guys dig pretty big holes to get under the fence. To stop the grass and the critters, I decided to buy metal flashing and bury that rigid piece upright next to the fence-line.  I'm hoping roots and critters won't be able to burrow under it.

Some of our family names seemed to have gotten confused on our family records.  When they got moved onto the computer system sometimes the names and dates aren't connecting in a sensible way.  It's nice to see Susan and Liz and Sally and I all working together to try to get things right. I've been working on the Donop line and Walter Jr. has been very helpful.  Liz connected with some in the Grundon side of the family. I have been trying to do family history work at least once a week.

Much of the time life seems like "more of the same."  I write.  And I enjoy that. We read. We spend time learning on the Internet.  I do love Google Search.  Want to learn how to install soffit vents, search it out.  Want to watch a seed grow (for our Relief Society Retreat coming up with the theme of Bloom. We Are Seeds of Deity) click on images. There is a wealth of knowledge at our fingertips.  Sometimes I think I'm drowning in knowledge.  It's too much to absorb.  But I'm glad it's there and it's my choice to view, read, learn and watch... or not.

Keepin on Keepin on

If you’ve read Steve and Kathy’s letter or Sue and Steve’s letter—go and take a nap. If not, read my blog and it will put you to sleep. Not a lot is happening with us.

I’m back to writing monthly article for my executive coach. This one was on “stay” interviews. This is where you interview key employees to learn why they stay at the company and what you can do to make them want to stay. Interesting. I also got my Heating and Air Conditioning Newsletter finished and off.

While I had done visiting teaching early in the month, I got out and visited most of my sisters again. This month I’ll have a new route. I’ll be sorry to lose some of my sisters. On my new route, one sister is across the ward- probably 40 minutes away. I had really enjoyed the revision where we were all grouped by location.

Monday night Tom and I went to see “Night at the Museum 3.”  It was cute and we enjoyed it. It’s our second move in a month without popcorn… you’d think we’d lose weight or something.

We almost bit on a house to try and flip. Kevin Darracq called us about a possible cheap house. We went and looked at it… and it was pretty nice. It was one that was to be auctioned off and we’d have to deal with the auction company, even though Kevin had it listed.

We thought about it, prayed about it, and resisted the temptation. I can see the wisdom. Kevin has another buyer for the house, and together they are going through all the learning curve of bidding, auction title insurance, and lopsided contracts, etc with Auction.com. He’s getting the education. So the next house… if there is a next house… we will have a mentor to guide us.

One of the members of our ward bought a house to fix up. In the process, he hurt his arm and needed surgery. So the house is not yet livable. Tom and some other members of the ward have been going over and dry walling, texturing, doing some electrical and plumbing and putting in bathroom fixtures. So Tom’s been involved with that this week.

The stake issued a challenge for every member to read the Book of Mormon—one chapter a day. They have a website where people can make comments on the chapter they are reading. Today is the first day. The missionaries came into Relief Society to talk about it.

We talked about having a “why” for reading it. “Because we’re ‘sposed to” is not the best one. To draw closer to God, or to learn God’s will for me are better “whys.”  The missionaries said Elder Bednar told one young man to write down the question he had in the front of a softbound Book of Mormon. Then, after he read each page, he should return to that question and write down the answers he’d learned from that page. (The young man’s—a Muslim investigator-- question was: Why should I read the Book of Mormon?)  The missionary told about his question about an investigator, that he wrote in the front of a Book of Mormon. After a few chapters he had a full page of answers.

Today was fast and testimony meeting. Bro. Cubr bore his testimony as he does nearly every month. He is in his 90’s and such a good example of enduring to the end. He is active in family history and in missionary work. Up until recently he was volunteering every week at the hospital. His wife sang in the choir and played the piano until her hands got too bad and her voice got raspy.  Now she teachers every Sunday.

With so many of our friends around us having sickness or surgeries, the Cubr’s are such a great illustration of steadfast, dedicated, focused gospel living and the satisfaction it brings.  Oh… and I don’t think either one of them is over 5’ tall.

Life Goes On

The "quiet" life continues. I keep on writing. I've worked on my HVAC newsletter this week. The client I work for may actually be getting more people interested in a few months as he coaches some people on marketing. We'll see.

An old client emailed about writing articles again. So I'll do that until better paying jobs come along. I sent out some marketing letters and I need to work on my websites.

The huge tree trunk got it's roots ground up on Monday morning. It was a nifty radio controlled machine about the size of a hippopotamus. It was very maneuverable and he just ground down stump and roots. We were left with a HUGE mound of dirt and chipping. We loaded some onto the pickup and dumped them into the garden for mulch.

At the same time, Tom fired up the tractor to move the tree trunk. He cut it into 3-4 foot sections and then carted them off to the area where the grand-kids were building a fort. We tried to put them upright around the parameter. The tractor was as bit uncooperative and for some... we were just glad to get them over in the area.

This week Tom went to our Midway house and replaced the floor in the bathroom. The toilet was tipping backwards. Apparently there was as very slow leak that rotted the top layers (two of three) of the floor. We bought some vinyl planking-- our new favorite flooring-- and Tom installed it. But this flooring was glued down. The glue was slow to get to the tacky stage, and so the flooring took longer than he'd anticipated. He went back at least 3 times to get it all done.

Last fall I responded to a phone solicitation to go to an all-inclusive timeshare in Mexico. I paid a "good deal" amount for 5 days and airfare. I wanted to try one out. There was a bit of a hassle as the "no presentation" became a "yes, there is a sales presentation to sit through." and the "You have to be under 65 to go" became only one half of the couple needs to be under 65.

But I wasn't hearing back about being contacted for the air fare. My emails went unanswered. Phone calls just rang through. Then... phone was disconnected. Before this business went underground, it referred all business to... and unrelated business. So they know the turf, but aren't at all responsible for making good on any of the promises made by business #1.

It looks like I have the reservations for the nights... but not the airfare. And at $1400 for airfare, that's twice what I paid for the whole deal. I think I'll cut my losses and remember to never respond to phone solicitations again. Never. Again.

Friday Tom and I rode in the van the ward uses to go to the Temple. As usually we left at 5am and got to the temple for the 10am session. We enjoyed two sessions. Some people did sealings or baptisms. We left about 3pm and got home about 8:30 including a stop for dinner. It's a long day, and we enjoyed the conversation in the van with the 9 other people.

Saturday I had a meeting with my Relief Society Presidency in West Plains-- about an hour drive. We are planning our spring women's event.  It had been a while since we'd gotten together and it was so much fun. We got lots of ideas and really got a lot accomplished.

On to the New Year

Peace and quiet. It's finally come. At least for me.

This week I had almost no appointments, no places to go, no deadlines.  It was quite nice. I spent some time working in front of the fireplace. I caught up on some things.  I've been "nesting" a little and trying to clean up, straighten up and organize.

Tom organized the craft closet. My goodness! It's beautiful. He bought some bins and tubs from Walmart and separated the beads from the paint supplies, the crayons and markers from the play dough, the games from the puzzles, the mittens and hats from...well, everything else.

I suppose a quiet week means that I really did nothing that was particularly interesting to anyone else.  I continue to work on a Newsmax renewal email series. I'm starting work on my HVAC newsletter for spring. I've been uploading old letters at my www.letterstomissionaries.com website. I have not done any thing to my www.teenstyleu.com website-- but I keep meaning to.

I reconnected with a man from Mali, Africa I met at the PLF live event. He has an interesting concept.We are overrun with technological advances, but advances in people-- their brains and skill sets-- are not keeping up. His goal: To bring about that transition in people of all nationalities so they can be more successful and resourceful. I have given suggestions for his project and may actually work on it some.

Monday Tom and I went to see the Hobbit III. I liked it. In preparation we'd watched one and two recently. Tuesday Tom went to help a family finish remodeling their house. He came home white with drywall dust. Thursday Friday he went to Deborah's to finish their bathroom remodel. I think he got it nearly all done. There was a loose tile on the floor he needed to replace, so Deborah will need to grout that when it dries in a few days. But the old window is out, the new window is in, and all the bath surround tile is complete.  Here is a photo of the old bath.

 New tub surround.

 Mirror still needs putting back.

Saturday Tom took the church youth over to a member's house to rake leaves. Then, after he came home, he cut up parts of the tree trunk still sprawled across our front yard from the septic era. Our septic has been working fine. But we still want to get tree and roots away from the leach field.

Tom cut up the trunk in about 4' sections. Then we used the tractor to lift them onto the bed of the pickup and drove them over to the fort the kids had worked on. It sounds a lot easier than it actually was, as we have a cranky tractor. We want to try to make them an upright parameter for the fort.

Today was church. It was really a spiritual feast. I posted my Ahah! moment for the week in the previous post. My goal is to understand the why behind my actions. Why am I praying?  Why am I looking at facebook? Are my actions building the Kingdom of God?

Facebook has some justification. I discovered Adam and Savannah were going to Pocotello Idaho for his "residency" this summer. So I guess it's a way to keep up with family. To keep you up to date as well, Jonathan and Kristy put in an offer on a lovely house in Mt. Vernon, MO. They are moving forward with inspections. While it's scheduled to close mid March, that is lambing season and they will not move until end of May-ish, I think.  Here are two pictures of the house:

Here is the kitchen with the curved countertop and brick floor.  I love the tile behind the stove.