Disneyland!

We had a lovely time at Disneyland with Adam, Savannah, the kids and the other set of grandparents. Savannah was our guide and organizer and we kept together most all the time. We went on several rides more than once because they were fun. 

I wasn't a fan of the rollercoaster rides, so I sat out with Miley.  One time we went on the steamboat and enjoyed a trip around the lagoon while others rode. Miley was fascinated.  Another time while Miley slept, Tom watched her and Piper and I went on bumper cars and on the Hungry Caterpillar  ride through all the partly eaten apples, watermelon and such.

King Arthur's merry-go-round and tinkerbell and Snow White.

Sleepy Miley

 It's a Bug's Life

 Christmas Themed It's a Small World

I think my favorite rides were Soarin, the Matterhorn, and cars. But really the most fun was watching the kids have a good time.

It was a sad parting on Tuesday evening.  It will be a long time before we see them again. We actually woke up Wednesday morning thinking about going back to Disney to be with them on their final day... but decided that would just prolong the sadness for another few hours... and then we'd have to be sad again. This is the hard part about going on a mission.

Wednesday we went back to picking up the pieces of life.  Working on my writing projects to finish, trying to learn the language.  Tom and I went clothing shopping. We checked out the sales at Macy's, Ross Dress for Less, a shoe store, Nordstom's Rack. I was mostly looking for comfortable dressey shoes.  Didn't find them. Did find a cool summer blouse.  And we lunched at In n' Out burger to get our fix there.  We also found the Sees candy store and bought some crispy mints. Mmmm.

Mom's old upstairs neighbor's husband passed away and his funeral was held on Thursday.  It was up near Griffith park in the Mt. Sinai Cemetery.  He was Jewish and it was interesting to see the Jewish ceremony.  Very respectful with good memories shared... and keeping him alive in your heart. But not much about living after death. However, they place a little soil from Jerusalem beneath the head of the deceased, so he can feel close to his homeland. And when people come to visit the grave site, the place a stone on the grave-- for permanence-- or a lasting memory. And these stones typically come from Jerusalem.  How important this land is to them!

It was an hour plus drive each way and we stopped to visit Sally on the way home and eat a 3pm lunch.  So it took most of the day.

Thursday night Tom started feeling crummy-- sore throat... then sneezles... then runny nose and cough.  He used lots of oregano, slept a lot, and felt much improved by Sunday.  While he slept, I got a lot accomplished on my writing. Sally came down on Friday and we had a nice visit as she helped Mom.

Saturday, I started with a sore throat.  I've been babying myself and took a long Sunday nap. Actually we all did.  Tom and I went to a 9 am Regional conference.  It spoke a lot about prayer, scripture reading and service.  We were encouraged to find and keep joy in our lives through gratitude and service.

After our conference we went to pick Mom up from Church... since Cynthia and Jim have also been under the weather. She had a congregational meeting and lunch. I stayed with her for that... Tom went home to study and rest.  We had a Choirfest we'd planned to attend at 2, but instead we all took naps for a few hours!

For dinner we had worst with sauerkraut, red cabbage, and potatoes.  Mmm good!

On the Train

Sorry it's been two weeks!

The week of January 8-14:
Once again, my goal was to get some of my writing projects completed.  Once again... that didn't happen.  I did get Chad's project done as far as I could and sent that off to be reviewed. And I finally got feedback from my Eagle project.  So they are moving forward.

Monday I went in and ordered a new set of glasses.  Argh... they cost an arm and a leg.  Tuesday, we met with our friend, John for Book of Mormon studies. 

We keep working on mission things. We got the shuttle ordered from the airport the the MTC. We met with our language tutor to create a study plan. It was very helpful.  We are studying and learning poly-poly... or slowly, slowly in Swahili.

Thursday, Tom got the stitches out on the incision on his back.  The stitches had started to cause an infection.  Unfortunately, the infection seems to have remained in one center spot. The rest is healing nicely, but this spot has drainage... and there will be a little bigger scar where the incision came apart and drained for a bit.

We decided to pay of one of the mortgages before we left on our mission. Bitcoin had been doing well for us, so we cashed some in. The amount to cash in grows when you add 10% for tithing and 18.5% for Uncle Sam and state taxes.  But it feels good to know that the loan is paid off and regardless of how Bitcoin does in the future... we are ahead that much.

Saturday we spent getting ready to leave.  We packed up the non-working clocks to take up for when Steve gets home from his mission and has a chance to work on fixing them.

We've been having very frigid weather!  Sunday morning we woke up to a dusting of snow.  We went to church.... and then the snow started falling in earnest. Many of the churches canceled services. We held Sacrament... and had about 75% of the normal attendance.  Then canceled the rest of the meetings.  Tom had planned a self-reliance meeting for the last hours of church.. So that needed to be postponed.

We came home, changed, and headed to Andy's house.  We were concerned about traveling small roads in snowy weather.  But as we went further south, the snow became lighter and lighter until it was non-existent.  However, the weather was still a chilly 27 degrees in the higher elevations.

We arrived at Andy's in good time and had a lovely visit with his family and with Miranda's family as they were visiting there as well.  It was too short of a visit.  About 11pm, after a rousing game of Five Crowns, we had them drive us to the train station in Little Rock. 

We didn't need to board the train until 3pm, but we had never been to the train station, and we didn't want them to have to stay us as late as we did.

It made for a long... mostly sleepless... night.  Once we boarded the train, we were probably in bed by 3:30 ish.  But the train rocks back and forth.  So when you lie on your back, you feel secure in bed.  But when you lie on your side, the tendency is to tense up to prevent yourself from rocking back and forth as the train moves.  Hard to sleep that way.  It always takes a night or so to learn to relax and rock with the train.

So Monday the 15th, we were kind of dead.  Mostly we read and slept.  They served good food on the train and since we had the sleepette, it was included in the price. On Tuesday I spent some time working on my copywriting, studying the language and playing a few games of Five Crowns.  When you play with two... the game goes faster and the score is lower.  Or at least, that's how it worked for us.

Stop in San Antonio?


Seeing JW Bush's wall along the border

One of the fun things about the train is that we sit with another couple at meal times. So we got a chance to meet people of different ages and interests as we traveled.  There are a lot of train riding enthusiasts-- those who don't like flying. Those who travel by train for environmental reasons.  Those who just love train travel.  It was a nice group of people.

Wednesday we got off the train at Union Station a little after 5:30. We rested in the station for a bit and caught the 7:30 train to Irvine.  Cynthia and Jim kindly picked ups up from the station and we went out for a chatty breakfast.

Thursday I had a long conversation with my Eagle editor going over all the suggestions and recommendations he made.  I hadn't expected it to take that long-- it was nearly two hours.  I think I have a good idea of what needs improvement.  Sally came down to visit with mom and help her and so we had a nice chance to visit with her.  Mom, Sally, Tom and I went shopping at Costco in preparation for Sunday's dinner with Adam and family.

Friday I worked for a while on my writing projects.  I can't remember what we did with the rest of our time.

Saturday we got up at the crack of dawn... no before that... to head to Disneyland.  We met Adam and family and his in-laws at 6:30 and got to Disneyland a little after 7. We were first in line at the ticket booth and easily changed the military vouchers into tickets.  We were first in line for the first ride in the California section.

Savannah had everything very well organized.  We went from ride to ride. She got fast-passes on the phone and plugged us all in. On rides that the little ones were too small to go on, someone sat out, and then they... and a few others, got a chance to go again.  We snacked during the day.  Then in the evening, we purchased dinner with a fast-pass ticket for front area seating for the Fantasmic Celebration.

Again, we got there pretty early so we could get a good seat, and then waited for an hour.  Good seating meant right next to the lagoon... but on the cobblestone path.  So we sat on the cement walkway for the performance.  The evening was chilly and the seating cool.  The mist from the show also chilled.  But the show was very impressive.  Great waterworks.  They projected pictures into the mist created by the fountains. Boats cruised by with characters from Disney movies, and a ghost ship from Pirates of the Caribbean had Jack Sparrow and Elizabeth fighting and sparring with the bad guys on the upper rigging of the ship.  Malificent's dragon appeared on the island and spewed fire into the lagoon. It ended with lovely fireworks. All in all, it was very entertaining. We left the park about 10:30 and dragged our tired feet home.

The miracle was that with a little ortho-ease, our bodies didn't complain about the nearly 10 miles we walked that day.  Equally amazing was how good the grand kids were. No arguing, complaining, bickering or anything.  They were excited to go on rides, willing to try anything, and just happy to be there.  Really impressive kids.

Sunday we had good talks and lessons in church. Relief Society talked about being one and not getting hung up on differences. There were insightful comments on imagining how you'd treat a person if you believed they would die tomorrow... or if you were just meeting them for the first time.  In both cases it is probably more kindly that you might treat those you know well.

Adam and family and in-laws came to church with us, then over to Mom's for lunch. Cynthia and Jim joined us for a little while. Then we went up to Sally's so they could load Uncle Otto's desk into the in-law's van. Success!  It fit.  We celebrated by having dinner at Sally's.  It was fun to see the grand kids having a good time there.  Randy (in-law) took pictures of the family and the 4 generations.  Then we drove home and conked out.  More Disney tomorrow.

Happy New Year!

We have been having frigid weather here.  Every time it stays below freezing for several days, Tom wants to test the pond.  Here he is... proving the pond has thick enough ice to walk on.  This time, I wasn't worried as it's been about 9-15 degrees at night and in the 20's during the day for the past 5 or so days.

I've been feeling sorry for the cats.  I went in search of a large styrofoam ice chest that could be converted.  I found a medium sized one... waste of money. Too small.  So I talked Tom into buying a 4'x8' sheet of foamboard and creating a cat house with me. We just taped the sides together with duct tape and made a round hole in the front and in the top, so there would be two exits.  This one is big enough for two cats.

The were unimpressed.  I washed the towels that served as cushions and put them out, hot from the dryer, then put Athena inside.  She peeked out the top opening, but stayed put.  Now even Zane will go inside.  Today it looks like both tried to make a quick exit.  The front panel was a bit off it's duct taped hinge.  We were planning on eventually encasing it in wood.  Maybe that needs to come sooner rather than later. Anyhow, I'm glad they have someplace warmer than the barn.

This week has been a frenzy of mission preparation. It seems we've had long lists every day. Get power of attorney, put rental loans on automatic payment, call missionary health department about flu shots... yes we really must have them... go get shots. Get tax prep done so it can be turned in early and we can sign before we leave the country, arrange travel, get set up with a language tutor, arrange travel.

The original flight out left on Monday, 19 March and had us arriving on Tuesday.  What? Waste two whole days since the MTC was finished Friday late afternoon? However, the mission president wouldn't be there to greet us over the weekend since he had a district conference.  So that got me thinking about possibilities...

Zurich was kind of on the way... which wasn't too far from Bern... and this might be our only chance to see Sue and Steve for a while... and we needed a chiming clock... and it might give is a day or so to get used to the time change... Tom looked at me like I was crazy (don't know why, he should be used to it!).

I called travel. They said we could go any way we wanted-- if WE made the flight arrangements. They would reimburse us for what it would cost them to fly us direct.  So for about $500 more, we get to spend a day and a half with Sue and Steve! We'll fly from Zurich to Zagreb, Croatia  Monday night... and still get there a day ahead of the original plan.  It was a little hectic as we checked flights, baggage allowance (we'll have to pay some extra for our extra luggage), checked with the mission president to see if our arrival time was okay, and finally buy the tickets.

After a two week break, we resumed our Tuesday evening religious discussions with John. He is such a nice guy and we have a lot of common ground.  I just feel so sad that he has not learned to access the Holy Spirit and all the guidance and help available that way.

Wednesday we had the sister missionaries over for dinner with another new convert.  I made Taco Soup and it was tasty. Later we went in to get a temple recommend interview with the bishop's counselor. While our recommends had a half year to go, they asked missionaries to go out with new recommends.

We need a state wide criminal background check and then it has to have an apostille from the Secretary of State of Arkansas.  And it can't be more than 9 weeks from our arrival date.  This is for the visa into Bosnia. So the request for the background check needs to be notarized, sent off, returned, then sent to the Secretary of State with the appropriate form and money. I will say that in my several calls to Little Rock, the civil servants there were both civil and helpful.  They walked me through the website to download the correct forms and explained turn-around time frames. I like my state!

Friday we spent the morning getting things notarized, getting flu and Tetanus shots, paying bills, and getting tax stuff. We met up with some friends for lunch and had a delightful time.

I have been trying to spend several hours a day on finishing up my writing projects... without the necessary feedback from the stakeholders. They keep saying it's coming... We've also been spending time practicing the language. I'm afraid we only remember a few words, but we keep trying.  I figure if my tongue and mouth are sore, I'm practicing enough.  It's the Tsv's and the gzuh sounds.  My tongue isn't used to running these letters together.

Saturday we went to the temple on the van with 8 other people. As usual, it was nice to chat up and back and good to be in the temple.  I can't attest to the fact that I was awake 100% of the time.  While it's been exceptionally dry and we desperately need rain, the good news is that it made for smooth driving up and back-- no ice, no snow.

Today was a good Fast and Testimony meeting. We have good people. We also started the new Relief Society curriculum with a Relief Society Council.  I like sitting in a circle where all can participate.

Christmas and After

It has been a lovely, relaxed Christmas season.

On Monday the 18th, I send off the email series to Eagle Publishing. I eagerly awaited their edits with the hope that I might be able to finish the project before Christmas. Alas, it was not to be. He was leaving town for vacation.  .

I turned my attention to the Chad promo and worked on that this week.  In a way I think I'm going around in circles with it. I just hope the circles are getting smaller and smaller and finally we'll have a clear direction.  I had sent some requests for more information off, so when it was time to leave for our trip to Jonathan's I felt no guilt at all about not taking any work with me.

Wednesday the 20, we decided to try to get the leaves off Barb's yard. She has wonderful trees... but come fall... it's a mess. We had hoped our friend with the leaf vacuum come come and help, but his machine was broken. The weather had been very dry and dusty for months. But we'd had two good rains and the ground was damp.

Tom came over with the mower and mowed and mulched. The sister missionaries raked the mulched leaves onto a tarp and dragged them to the burn pile. There had been a burn ban on, but with the rain, we thought it was likely lifted. So we started to burn the leaves.  It was going nicely when the neighbor called over the fence to say, "There's still a burn ban on. I heard on the short-wave radio that someone called the fire department about a fire on our road and they're responding."

Crud! We poured water on the fire. We heard sirens. They flew by our house as the last wisps of smoke were going up... and they never came back by.  The next day, we saw the ban HAD been lifted before we started to burn.  Sigh.  So now all her leaves are in a huge circle around the burn pile.

We made more cranberry bread and shared it. We had a couple over and the missionaries taught them. Thursday night we went to the movies and saw Jumanji. I liked it better than I thought I would. It was a fun movie.

Friday we drove to Harrison and connected with Deborah to hand off gifts to her family. Then we continued on to Branson and Silver Dollar City and met Miranda, Dan and family there. It was a mite chilly! We watched the Christmas Carol again, went on a few rides, took the train ride, looked at the lights and got home before 10pm. It was a nice day.

Except that while we were gone, the cows broke through the little picket gate next to the chicken coop and were wandering in our front yard, much to Barb's alarm.  We had her close the front gate across the driveway.  So when we came home, we were met with cows in the front yard.

They were standing on the cement under the porch roof. Then they proceeded to stomp and make wet, deep holes in my front garden, before we urged them back through the gate to their field.

On Saturday Tom built a stronger side gate. But when we let the cows back into that pasture, they immediately walked into the chicken run to eat a squash we'd thrown in. The edge of the fence next to the chicken coop wasn't attached well-- we used it as a primitive gate. However, I didn't want the cows using it as their gate!  So we tossed them back onto the east pasture only.

This week our trusty Toyota also turned the big 20... we got the picture at 20002 miles.

In the evening, we packed up presents and clothes.  Sunday we went to church and had a lovely Christmas program. We had been practicing a song with many minors and accidentals. It was tough and had dissonant harmonies. I didn't like it much, except for the places it resolved into lovely, haunting melodies.  But when we practiced it just before the service, it seemed easy and beautiful. I think we had angels singing with us.

Right after church we left to drive to Jonathan's and Kristy's.  Where we had rain, they'd had snow, and so as we got closer and closer, we got a white background that was lovely.  It was a delight to have a white Christmas even if it wasn't a complete blanket on the ground.

Sunday night we put presents out and Monday was a day of joy for the kids... and parents.

 It was a relaxed opening time where each enjoyed the joy of seeing others open gifts.  With 9 people, even a few gifts each takes time.  And the grand kids got lots of fun stuff. I like the Fox tradition of a simple lunch and the main meal at dinner time. We had a tasty ham and Kristy's fabulous macaroni salad.  I got to delve into a book I got for Christmas.  That is my favorite tradition- reading a book Christmas afternoon. Apparently no one thought to use a camera during the opening festivities.

Tuesday, Tom and Jonathan went out and hung the hammock and the hammock chair in the play house.  They also put in a roof vent and a solar light. They worked on putting up the last bit of paneling  and some trim. There is more to do, but now there is at least SOMETHING to do in the play house.  I can imagine the kids reading out there. Also onTuesday Nathan and Aaron came up in the morning and Andy and Kera and the rest of the family came up before dinner time. It was so nice to see them all.  Nathan left that evening, anxious to get to Knoxville and start working at a job.

Wednesday many of the adults and older children went over to help a neighbor move. These were the people who let Jonathan's family stay in their house after the fire.  So they were pleased to help. They thought it would just be the big things, but ended up staying to help pack and load boxes as well.  Then they came home to a friend who came to get some firewood.  err... still on the hoof, so to speak.
They went out with chain saws and a trailer and the trees ended up as firewood.  Tom, with some help from me, worked on the children's play house some more. Did I mention that it was cold!! in the lower 20's.

Wednesday, those not helping with the move, played some games and read. It was a relaxing time in and amongst the laser guns and the foam dart guns and the little drone zooming around.  But there were also puzzles and Lego construction and piano playing.

Thursday Tom and I got up and packed, visited, and then headed home.  Miranda and Dan were coming that day and we would have loved to have seen them, but Tom had a doctor's appointment we needed to get back for.  He needed to have another melanoma cut out. The surgery went well and he is recovering fine.  He's even doing a good job of taking it easy (maybe). This incision was about 3.5 inches long and is held together with 16 stitches.

Friday we got to visit again with President Melanokas. We learned more about our mission and about where we will be serving. We will be in Banja Luka, Bosnia. This is a Serb (Orthodox) section of Bosnia that is otherwise primarily Bosnian (Muslim) with some Croats (Catholic).  The 1992-5 war has left scars on the land and the people.  I need to read more to understand better.

Bosnia only recognized the LDS church and allowed a presence for the past 5 years, so it is all very new there.  Saturday we got to visit with the LDS missionary couple that we will replace. We learned more very useful things about what to bring and how to prepare. We might have room for chocolate chips!

Mini Vacation

I am always surprised by the number of things that start out on my list on Monday... and are still there on Saturday!  Are they just not that important?  Am I just so slow. Or do I just put an impossible amount of things to do on my list? Perhaps it's all of the above.

My major push of the week, work-wise, was my 10 email series.  It actually went well and I am on the last few pieces.  Of course I'll have edits come back and revisions to do. But I think the lion's share is done, and that feels good.

Tuesday was a carefully orchestrated day.  I got up early and worked on the writing project for 2 and a half hours. Then I went and got my hair cut and went Christmas shopping. At 1 my friend Margaret came over to get help with her website.  She left a little after 3 and I needed to start fixing dinner. The missionaries were coming at 5:30... or maybe 6.... depending on if we were to have another couple over for dinner and they needed to have a lesson before dinner.  Since my ususally 7pm lesson with John was also scheduled.  And Tom had to leave at 6pm for some meeting.

Well...the early couple canceled... and then John canceled...So, I thought, why not move dinner to 5pm so Tom could eat with the missionaries before he had to go to his meeting.  The missionaries could adjust... what problem could there be to move dinner up an hour?  It all worked out pretty well, since I'd planned ahead and knew exactly what I needed to do.

The meeting Tom was to go to was about family history.  So when John canceled, I went as well. We got lots of questions to answer to help with writing our personal history or learning about our relatives' lives.  While we were gone, we were "heart attacked" by the sister missionaries:

Tom spent the week working off the list of small repairs from our rental homes inspection. We have a duplex in Midway. When we walked into one bedroom, it smelled odd. Cassidy, the property manager said it smelled a bit like cat pee. But they have no cats. They newly moved in. However, we'd had a bat problem there.  Was the attic so full of bat guano that it stank?  Tom hired a young man from church to help him open the tightly sealed trap door to the attic and went to take a look.  Nope.  Bats were all gone (we'd hired someone to solve that problem.) and there was very little sign of bat poop.

However, a few days later, Cassidy finally got in to inspect the downstairs unit.  IT reeked of kittie litter and pee!  It would have saved some work if we'd been able to get into the lower unit the day we inspected the top one. But she'd changed the locks and our keys didn't work.  So the lower unit is on notice to clean up and get rid of the cat pee smell.  Jeepers. How can people live like that?

Miranda and Dan planned to go to Silver Dollar City on Friday... and maybe spend the night. Tom and I thought, why not go up on Thursday, do some shopping and join with them on Friday?  Then we looked at the calendar and decided if we wanted to get to the temple at all in December, Thursday was the best day.  So we left early Thursday morning and drove to the temple. We had a wonderful sunrise skyscape.

We did two endowment sessions and about 20 initatories.  Then we drove part way back to Branson and spent the night. In the morning we continued on to Branson.

On our way, we got a call from Miranda.  Rachael was running a temperature and had a snotty nose.  They would not be able to come. Hmmm.  We had invited some friends to meet us at Silver Dollar City so we could share some free tickets we had.  With Miranda and family, we were just along for the ride. We'd do whatever they wanted.  Now we had to be the adults and decide what we wanted to do.

We got to Branson in time to do most all our shopping. We met our friends when the park opened, about 1pm, and went to see two shows: A Christmas Carol, and It's a Wonderful Life. We wandered through a few shops and looked at the lights.

 I put on angel wings.

We didn't stay for the parade but also didn't travel home. We went to a hotel in Branson and spent the night.

We thought we might write our Christmas cards... but ended up watching Christmas movies on TV instead. On Saturday morning we did a little more shopping. It was very relaxing. We didn't have to rush anywhere.  We stopped for lunch... at Colton's,  a sit-down restaurant on our way home. No fast food.  We ordered the blooming onion, split a salad.... I was still so full I didn't need dinner! Ah... Tom might have ordered a slice of pecan pie for desert that we shared as well.

Saturday afternoon I napped, then caught up, kind of, on all the emails and such that had accumulated while I was gone. Tom played Santa and wrapped gifts.

This trip was a delightful, festive way to feel the Christmas spirit. We're having a low key Christmas season.  I have not decorated.  I pulled out a Christmas tablecloth and centerpiece.  And we have a Christmas drape over the sofa.  That's about it.  No tree, no lights, no nativity, no nutcrackers on the mantel. No one coming to our house to entertain.  And, you know what?  It's Christmas, just the same.  We are looking forward to visiting Jonathan and Kristy for Christmas.

A quiet week

It almost seems a shame to waste space writing about nothing... and yet it was a good week.

I got a review back on the emails I was writing for Eagle, and it was pretty positive.  I kept working on the package and now I'm over 1/2 done with the first draft. 

I also got feedback on the new outline for the Chad promo.  She liked the direction and had some other good ideas.  Chad's response was encouraging as well... but the data I need will likely be very slow in appearing.  So either I wait... or I pick something and say... will this do?

Monday night we had Empty Nesters.  I wanted to make tortellini, but wasn't sure how to keep it warm. I heated a crockpot with water in it. Then when the tortellini was done I emptied out the water and put the food in. It stayed nice and warm to church and through the serving.

For my bitcoin trading platforms, they encourage you to set up a two step authentication system. One easy way is with google authenticator app for your smartphone. It produces a new number every minute, so it's harder to duplicate than an email address.  When you create it, they also give you a 16 digit number to remember.  That way, if you lose your phone, you can reset the authenticator on a new phone.

Except I didn't know this the first time I set up the system. And I didn't realize the little blue dot that disappears is the minute countdown so you can tell when the number is about to change.  So I went back into CoinBase to change the authenticator, so I could write down the new number.  Had I been smart, I would have turned off the 2 stage... then turned it back on again.  But no.

I went through all the steps to set up the new number and write it down. The final step was to input the new code generated by the new authenticator number. As I was putting it in... the number changed.  When I hit what I thought was the back space... the entire program page for the change disappeared on my CoinBase.  So I had the old system on Coinbase and the new one on the phone. GAAKKK!

Good thing I don't day trade there.  It took about a week, but they finally sent me the way to fix it.  Then it took a few days (because they are really busy) to get my ID accepted. And I hope by Monday I'll be back on the site.  So if anyone wants to do the Google Authenticator.... just be sure to write down the 16 digit number correctly.... the first time.  Just saying.

Tom finally gave up on me. There was a sister in the ward that needed some extra money. So he hired her to come and clean the house.  She's not fast, but she's thorough. It's nice to have a clean house.  I'm not sure we can afford to have her on a weekly basis... but maybe every other week?

Thursday I went out to lunch with my neighbor. Had a nice chat. Thursday afternoon, I was so tired, I took a nap in front of the fire downstairs.  Tom fixed Macaroni and cheese for dinner for us.

Friday Tom worked off some of the things that needed fixing at the rent houses.  In the afternoon we went out to chop down the undergrowth along the back fence line. In some places the fence is okay. Other places, it's pretty crummy and needs replacing.  That evening, we still had leftovers from the Tortellini, the Mac and cheese and my leftover lunch, as well as some Spinach Quiche. So we invited our friend Barb over for a choose-your-own-leftover dinner and a nice visit.

Saturday Tom went off to cut wood for a priesthood work project. 14 people showed up along with 4 log splitters, a chain saw,several mauls... and some donuts. I guess they got a lot done in 2 hours.In the afternoon, he was supposed to go to one of the rent houses that had a previous bat problem in the attic. We'd been told it was all taken care of and that once there were no more bats, there would be no smell.  But when we were out there last time... there was still a smell.

So Tom planned to enlarge the crawl space and see what the problem was.  But the guy who was going to help, couldn't.  So he napped and cleaned out the fireplace instead.  I made three dozen rolls for the Christmas dinner.  There was some leftover dough... so I was forced to make cinnamon rolls.  Mmmm.... good.

The ward Christmas dinner was Saturday night and it was well attended with at least 190. I think they used every table in the building. There was ample food to go around and gorgeous table decorations.  I think a good time was had by all.

Sunday was our last Self Reliance class. It's been a great experience and many class members have seen their lives improve. After Tom's 3-5 class, he's been babysitting some of the kids in my 4-6 class. And tonight he stayed later to home teach one of the families in my class.... the one with the kids.  The inquisitive 5 year old pulled the fire alarm... creating loud sirens and flashing lights... but not all the lights worked.  And surprisingly, it didn't trigger a 911 call. Tom called to say it was a false alarm... and they came out based on that call. Apparently the alarm rang through to Salt Lake City.  I'm not quite sure how that is totally helpful. Anyway... Tom was somewhat delayed getting home and was forced to drown his sorrows in more cinnamon rolls.

December!

I forgot to mention that on November 20th, the Stake President sent our missionary paperwork to Salt Lake City. For senior missionaries the process takes about 5-6 weeks. So we will not expect to hear anything until about the first of the year.  Apparently, they send the couple's info around to all the sections that need senior couples- military, humanitarian, education, public affairs, office couples... to see if we have skill sets they need.  Then it goes to the apostle who looks at the list of requests and makes a decision.  Since we're happy to go wherever the Lord wants us to... I'm fine with that.  I'm just anxious to know where we'll be going.

I worked on writing this week.... to make up for my lack of work over Thanksgiving. My two main projects are a 10 email series for Eagle Publications, a financial newsletter; and a long sales promo package for Chad Walker, a new guy trying to move into the financial newsletter space.  I got some work done on both of them.

Chad's promo I'd done a lot on and sent it off to my a friend to copy-chief it. She reviewed it. We had a phone call... and basically I need to change it all.  But I'm okay with that. I think the revision will be much better.

I was also asked to do a little revision on the financial book I'd finished months ago. It's still in the production process. Deborah is doing more copy editing. And they keep adding more things for her to look for as she edits.

We had a monster wind blow through about two weeks ago.  It completely blew the metal awning type roof off of the tractor shed. It landed intact in the next field. Well... mostly intact. A few dings worse for wear. Tom and Katie and Aaron carried it back to the correct field and Tom started on rebuilding the support structure.  The last supports were a leeetle bit too close.  As in... the tractor clobbered one support already.

So Tom moved them out a few feet and nailed 4x4 support beams across the top. On Saturday, the cow people came over-- the father and two teen boys.  Together we hoisted the awning back up over the top of the support beams and slid it into place. This time we'll use metal brackets and other fastners to secure it to the beams and wall.

They had a half dozen round hay bails delivered as well, and I thought they could go into the barn. So Tom cleaned it out a bit-- organizing the wood and other odds and ends we collected in the barn-- and they rolled the bales into the barn.  It looks much nicer outside now.

Thursday we invited a new family in our ward over for dinner.  Their last name is Tobler... as in chocolate. How could we not invite them.  Their family line comes from Switzerland, too.  They have two little girls 4 and 14 months.  It was kind of a lively dinner and fun to get to know them.

Friday we did our sort-of-annual housing inspection. We went to all our rentals, plus Adam's, Deborah's, and Rebecca's to check them out. We ask if they have any problems- leaks, electrical outlets not working... etc. We see if they've added more or unauthorized pets or people to their houses and how clean things are. Does the yard need raking?  Most all of them were pretty good, except one of Rebecca's tenants was filthy. Fortunately, Tom fixes the problems (there weren't many) and the property management fixes the filth and other lease discrepancies.

We got back home in time for our new washing machine delivery. Tom had moved the old one out Thursday night.  So the delivery people got to shoe-horn the new one in. It's taller and longer, but fortunately no wider... so it fit into the slot.

Later in the afternoon, we went to see the Justice League movie.  It was entertaining.

Saturday, in addition to the awning work, we cleaned out the chicken coop, trimmed bushes in the front garden, and got the front area ready for winter. The neatly trimmed bushes look refreshingly precise and clipped.

Sunday we had a lovely fast and testimony meeting. In Relief Society they introduced the new lesson format we will follow after the first of the year. I think it will be a great change. After the meeting block, we met with the Self-Reliance Initiative leader from Tulsa area as well as the Stake leader.  We had some Q and A.  Then back at 4 pm for our next to last Self Reliance class.  In the evening will be the First Presidency Christmas Devotional.  That is always a delight.