Monday, May 4, 2009

this and that over the weekend

Friday, May 1 10pm.

Benjamin must really miss Andrew. He has become something of a
chatter-box. Brother Paine, I think it was, after activity Wednesday,
mentioned Ben talking alot on the phone. He sometimes calls me at work
and talks more than he used to. I put on my Bluetooth and I can still
work pretty well. When I come home, it seems like he just cannot stop
talking for a good bit. And sometimes again at bedtime. It's not a bad
thing. Kind of fun. Just he's much more talkative now that he is alone
all day. I asked him if he wanted to try going to public school, but
that didn't interest him. He might take a couple of classes at City
College next year.

Rain! We are getting some really good rain tonight. Which means they
canceled the Light Rail Clean-up tomorrow. OK by me, I have too much
to do and I am tired.

Speaking of tired, I am the last man standing tonight. Waiting for a
load of hang-ups in the laundry.

It is really pouring out there! Water, of course, leaking in the back
garage door and also into the old "wood box." Not good. I need to
figure out how to seal off the wood box. Need to clean up in the
garage - who knows what is on the floor getting wet. There is a bad
smell growing in the garage. Sigh. So far the roof seems good. ; )

Sign in one of the Larson bathrooms:

"May the light always find you on a dreary day.
When you need to be home, may you find your way.
May you always have courage to take a chance,
And never find frogs in your underpants."

I am going to go brush my teeth and do my scripture reading. I am so
glad to be out of dreary Jeremiah, Lamentations & Ezekiel! Daniel is a
much easier read. Whether or not I am getting the message, I can at
least follow the story. ; )

... OH, NO! I brushed my teeth, then went out to check the dryer.
Done! good. Pulled out my clothes and found....my Bluetooth. This
cannot be good.


Sunday, May 3 10:40 am

The Bluetooth, not surprisingly, died.

Yesterday, I read "Daddy
Long Legs"
on Winnie, took Joseph to his ham radio class because
he overslept and it was raining, did an errand at the Post Office ; )
- busy place! took a long time!, chatted with Miriam (instead of
going to Radio Shack), picked up Joseph, conferred with Tom about
Sunday dinner (his bday choice), to Radio Shack where I got a USB
adapter and car charger for Winnie the Peg (the iPod Touch. I actually
prefer Peg, but Kent helped name her - in honor of getting her the day
Andrew entered the MTC preparatory to serving in the Canada Winnipeg
Mission), took Joseph to lunch at Subway (we split a BLT), gassed the
car, bought a birthday present for Tom at REI (safety multi tool -
compass, whistle, 2x magnifier (oh wow), led light, temperature,
safety mirror), went to Costco (replaced my Bluetooth), got home in
time to watch the Kentucky Derby (missed the pre-race stuff so I
didn't know the horses and their stories - incredible race - a 50 to1
long shot came from the back of the pack to win by 7 lengths going
away! amazing!) and worked on the front room. (The front room is
almost presentable!!! Still need to work on the mantel and the stuff
by the dining room. And of course, the walls and floors need
completely redoing. But basically, not too bad. For us. In fact, I
believe we are having Sunday dinner here. ) After dinner I played
Tennis and Bowling on the Wii with Benjamin.

Right now, Benjamin is watching Esther and Jared - actually getting
them ready to come here because Joseph is not ready to go there.
Benjamin and I have to go out collecting Fast Offerings. Here they are! Bye!

Monday, May 4 8:15am

Many ward members are (naturally) heart-broken at the news that Hinds
are leaving.

Have I blogged about this? Tom and Ruth got caught in one of those
nasty adjustable mortgage schemes. How is it, with housing prices and
interest rates crashing, pre-existing adjustables are soaring to
impossible heights???!!! They have tried for months to work with
their bank or find some other solution, but the upshot is, they lost
their house. Pretty sad for me! There go my favorite neighbors ever!
Actually working out nicely for them - they found a lovely house to
rent out near Elk Grove - in an entirely different Stake (geographic
division of the church, a collection of wards - congregations). They
will rent it until the economic situation straightens itself out and
then start again as first time buyers. I think we all enjoyed the
time they spent in the house they are leaving, so we don't count it as
a loss. Just a change. The new house is light and airy and bigger.
Now they can start thinking about adding to their family, something
they felt too crowded to consider heretofore.

Ruth was released yesterday with Erika Swenson replacing her and Sue
Altop joining the presidency to replace Erika as counselor. Sister
Swenson kept Sister Adair. Secretaries are not automatically released
with Presidencies. I didn't know that. Tom, whom Bishop had
previously said would be easier to replace, was not released. Next
Sunday is their last in our ward. : (

We did have Sunday dinner at our house. Our guests were much
impressed with our progress!

If I do not hear from Andrew by Wednesday, his 2 week anniversary, I
think I shall ask the MTC why.

On the way to work today, I started listening to another audio book
that Kent put on Winnie the Peg, "Pride and Prejudice". Much better
than "Twilight" and a better reader! This one changes her voice when a
different character speaks. The "Twilight" reader made you guess.

Weekends (especiallly Saturdays) and breaks are MUCH too short!

2 comments:

  1. You're doing much better at the diary style entries than I am! I love it. Sorry about the Bluetooth. Oops. What will we all do if we don't have all these gadgets to use? They make life so much easier.

    Tonight, while waiting for pizzas at Costco, Husband and I played air hockey on his iTouch (which he has not found a cool name for like you have). Now I want one.

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  2. I love the relationship your boys have. Ben is just too cute. Sorry about the bluetooth. I have never been interested in one, but then, I have never felt the need for one, wherein lies the difference.

    So sorry about Tom and Ruth. It does sound like a better situation for them. ARM's can get tough, and it will be nice for them to know their pymts will stay the same. But, you would think the bank would make more of an effort, eh??

    I hope you hear from Andrew soon. I know it is tough to not know what is going on, or how he is handling it. Maybe they discourage communication with the family until the missionaries are over the homesickness hump?? Just a thought. I doubt they want some kid walking out and throwing the whole thing away because Mom cried on the phone. Not you, but in general?? I hope there is a satisfactory answer somewhere.

    I love stealing Bill's BlackBerry. He traded his Pearl in for a Curve because the sim card tray was loose, and would not stay tightened. IT caused all kinds of trouble. The guys where he bought it could not have been kinder about it. I like this. We plan on going to them when I get a decent phone. LOL.

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