How is Everyone?

Me to my children March 21

I just want to hear how everyone is doing.  I want to tell you that I love you.  And give you a virtual hug. 

We at the Patch are doing well.  

  Miriam is much as usual, so far not much affected by the Covid  19 situation. Hopefully, I will be able to replenish her main foods before we run out.  We have a couple or three or four days worth.  I will just have to face the long lines into the store.  Her foods are not (as yet?) the panic buying foods. And if I can do that, I will also be able to replenish our fresh foods. We have oodles of food.  We can eat well for several days, even if we cannot replenish fresh.  After that, we can eat a little strangely for a rather long time.  I have an erratic supply of food storage.  LOL  I hope and anticipate that store stocks of TP will stabilize before we run out. 

  I am a triple threat - old, diabetic, and blood type A.  (Not sure how seriously to take the blood type thing).  I don't feel particularly vulnerable.  I will go to the store as needed / when I can.  But I will be careful as I can.  For myself, of course, and we don't want to bring it to Miriam. 

   Joseph, so far, still goes to work.  He scans documents so that other co-workers can work from home.  When he was little, he was Safety Boy, so rest assured, that he takes health precautions.

    Sacramento City College is closed.  Andrew takes his classes and does his tutoring job on-line.  Not many students using the tutors, though.  They may not realize they are available.  

    That's us.  How are you?

    Love, Mom

Ruth - March 21

We're doing good. 

We have plenty of food, and I think enough toilet paper. And lots of books, games, schoolwork, housework, and movies. 

Tom has a whole lot of work. People are still encouraged to invest, so there are plenty of notaries to do. The title companies have closed their offices to the public, so their own employees can't do the notaries. And some notary republics (I think that's what they are called) are high risk. So lots of extra work for the others. They were swamped earlier in the week when we were with the Rosers. Tom did 6 yesterday (average day was 2-3) and 3 today (usually he doesn't have any on Saturdays, or only 1).  He is being careful, but I don't know if there is a lot he can do. (He is blood type O, lol.) We'll just ride this wave and if he or one of us gets it, he'll lock down, too. 

We continue to take walks and picnic. The kids have friends that have started a virtual book club.

We won't see anyone at The Patch, or anyone else high risk, until this is over. We're a little more dangerous because of Tom's work. 

Sariah - March 21

Rosers are good.

We have TP and plenty of food, though I plan to restock produce and perishables at some point next week.  

Ryan's office divided into two groups and take turns when they can be in the office so only half the office can be exposed to each other. But even then, most are staying home even when their group is "in the office". This week was his week home and he's planning to stay home this coming week too, unless something comes up where he really needs to go in.  We are very fortunate that he has a job where he can keep working safely and conveniently. 

Rori's still on Spring Break, actually, so technically, she hasn't missed any school yet.  They would be going back on Tuesday, but the governor just mandated that all schools stay closed through April 10, so she will be missing almost 3 weeks by then. 

Acadia is still in Gold Beach, OR. The mission just sent out an update today that all missionaries will be staying in their apartments except to restock necessary supplies. They are also instructed to go outside at least 2x a day to get fresh air and sunshine, but not to interact with people. They are doing all their work via technology.  Right now, we don't expect that she will come home early. They have been sending missionaries (especially those on the West Coast) home early, to make room for the missionaries coming back to the states from other countries, but that seems to be affecting mostly the elders.  

This all does put her homecoming celebrations up in the air, however.  We doubt that there will be any.  We don't see this being over in only a month. What that means, we don't know. We may have to just do a video broadcast of her sharing a message or something.  For those that were planning to come here, we have no idea what to plan for at this point.  I'd at least look into what the cancellation policies are for your flights and airbnb stay.  (Flights through SWA will be okay. They don't give money back, but they are extending the expiration of the credit you get when you cancel to something like June 2021 (usually it is one year from the date you purchased the tickets). I have no idea about the airbnb though.)  I wouldn't say to cancel anything yet, unless they have a deadline of when you can cancel and get your full refund, but be aware of what the policy is. We'll keep you posted as it gets closer.

So we are all pretty much in self-imposed shelter in place situations, even though our state(s) haven't mandated it yet.  OR has strongly suggested staying home but hasn't gone so far as to mandate shelter in place. AZ hasn't really done much more than close schools and dining rooms in restaurants. But since we don't need to go out, we are staying in and shouldn't be at risk.  I just have to try to be safe when I get out to the store next week.  And if I feel like it isn't safe, we could survive without me going.

Debi - March 21

We are doing ok over here! Lucas and I have been working from home since Monday and Molly has been off school the entire week, and not returning most likely this year (based on what the Governor is saying). We’ll see! The teachers are sending weekly assignments so we’re learning how to home school and work full time jobs. We only have her half the time, so we’re teachers Thursdays & Fridays and every other Monday!

We have done a couple of big “stock up” shopping trips and are utilizing our organic farm box that is delivering weekly. Also, Monday we should get an order from Raleys, as long as they have the items we need..!

We have several small packages of TP so we are hoping we are good until the stores are stocked. If anyone hears of Amazon or anyone selling online, let us know. We also bought wipes to make sure we have SOMETHING in case the TP runs out. :)

Anyway, it’s definitely an adventure, and we are encouraging Molly to journal daily as this is probably the first big world event she’s experienced/will remember. We are taking daily walks to get fresh air and trying to see the bright side (take your dog to work day! 0 commute!).

Love you guys!

Bethany  - March 21

We are doing well but really not much has changed for us since I'm still home with the baby every day and Ben is still working the same schedule. The restaurant is still open but it's only take out and to go orders so it's very slow at the moment and there's not many people working at a time but they are taking the opportunity to deep clean the restaurant and take care of maintenance. Getting formula for Jacob hasn't been easy but we've been able to find enough to get by and we have enough food to take care of Ben and I for the next several weeks. I will be heading to the store on Monday to get formula that will be ready for pickup if anyone needs me to get anything for them while I'm there. 

Love, Ben and Bethany

David - March 22

We aren't worried about supplies (restocked TP in Jan, so we should be good to May or June).

I got a slight cough (coughing briefly a few times a day) this week and my office has stated that I can't go in due to that. Teresa's brothers Justin (from Phoenix) and Ryan (Chico) were with us this week. Teresa came down with something on Friday - started with a sore throat, a mild fever yesterday, nasal congestion is the primary symptom currently. We aren't particularly worried so long as the fever doesn't return and congestion doesn't move to the chest.

AirBnB reservations can be cancelled before check in time for a refund of cleaning fee, but no other refund is available. We also have travel plans to visit Teresa's sister in Texas over Memorial Day weekend which we aren't yet planning to cancel (Southwest flights are the only reservations we've made for that so far). I am hopeful that things will begin returning to normal around Easter, but I think the transmission rates over then next two weeks will be a key factor.

 

hooray for computers

email to my missionary granddaughter

Oh,  my bad !  I usually try to write on Sunday, and if not, Monday morning.  Here it is WEDNESDAY morning and I realize I have not written to you yet.  

I am happy to report that within the last week, I have heard from all my children and my siblings and that everyone is doing ok.  My sister Kris, has long had a huge supply of TP stored up. I admit some of us laughed when she got it years ago. Who's laughing now? 

I went to the store Monday against guidelines, but tried to keep my distance.  Miriam was low on Almond Milk, a major part of her diet. At WinCo I got a 6 pack of toilet paper, as well as her Almond MIlk, applesauce, cottage cheese, and cheeses.  That should hold for several days, probably a week, but not two weeks.

I got in line to enter Costco about 11:30. The line was just across the double doors then, but it grew! There were 10-12 people ahead of me. We watched customer after customer come out - most of them with toilet paper! and other high interest items. We saw dozens and dozens of people leave. The guy at the door said 40 had to come out before he could let more in, but it was more than that. The guy in front of me stopped counting at 65. It seemed like a long wait, but was probably 20 minutes. Eventually we did get in and walked purposefully to the tp section. It was nearly empty when I got there, but not quite. A gentleman was picking up a package, I moved to stay out of his way, but he put it in MY cart! Then he did another lady and maybe one more before he got his own. Gentlemen still walk the earth.  

      Since I got our usual Costco TP pack, I put the Wicno 6 pack in my Luggable Loo for our emergency go supplies

We have food to eat well for days, pretty well for a week or two, and we won't starve for possibly months., but it would get wierd. Except, I will probably restock again in a week - depending on Miriam's supplies. the news and all. Also I am going to try Farm Fresh To You, vegetable delivery every Wednesday. Pricey. We will see how that goes.

Really, my life doesn't change all that much as I am retired. Andrew is taking his Sac City classes and doing his tutoring job via computer. His big hurt is giving up his D&D game Wednesday nights, but a he and a friend have played on-line Joseph still has to go to work We are surprised that his program is considered an essential service. He scans documents so that processors can work from home.

I have to call my Ministering Sisters instead of visiting them.  And call them more frequently, as I have lonely, high risk sisters.

The Relief Society Presidency has met by telephone which was pretty rugged. Last night we learned to use Zoom and had our meeting by computer. That worked great! I want to learn to coordinate our family so we can Zoom together. Way cool.

Monday, Teresa set up a quiz/game on Kahoots for our two households to play together. Pretty fun, but the technology was a little sketchy. We need to work on playing board games with Zoom. That would be fun.  

I am trying to work on sorting, organizing, and de-cluttering Incredibly difficult for me. I have some kind of handicap. Slow going. No one can see that I am doing anything. I have boxes and boxes of stuff - pictures my kids drew in kindergarten, unlabeled photos, etc. Emotional stuff. LOL . Yesterday I sat looking at a list of foods in Disney World and where to find them. I don't think I brought myself to put it in recycing (yet?) I frequently look at "The Navigator" from that little cruise to nowhere that Mary Jane, your mom, Aurora, and I took. Oh, how I want to go on a crusie to Alaska  Heresy! I am even thinking about considering a another cuise line Actually, I want to go Disney Alaska in 2021 and then try another line, probably Princess, another year. In my dreams.

I watched a sister returned missionary in quarantine give her homecoming talk from her living room on Facebook Live. Is it still Facebook live when you watch it later?? I don't know her. Her mom posted it on Missionary Moms. It was an incredible talk on peace in troubled times. One incident from her mission - they were tracting in an iffy neighborhood. She was scared. A little prayer and she started singing hymns. Fear left her. (and they were safe). I like recorded from home homecoming talks!

I am looking forward to your talk!

DT, B+, and the Patch went in together for a big Airbnb house for your homecoming. David is the organizer there. Despite being told that you will be in quarantine, he does not want to give up hope that things will change for the better. We may end up standing outside your house singing to you - until the neighbors throw things at us.

I love your music videos on Facebook!

Do you do your own arrangements? Thank you for sharing your talent and testimony.

Love,

Grandma Barbara

home based

 - early 2020- a pandemic has been declared as the Corona virus Covid 19 spreads across the globe. Gatherings of all types are being cancelled.  People are practicing social isolation. Stores are depleted of toilet paper, sanitary wipes, water and other items.  Panic buying.  Exciting times.   We have enough TP for a few weeks just in the natural course of things.  I do not have storage supplies of TP, however.  So, I am neither panic buying nor sitting back in utmost confidence.  When I go out I will look for TP to replenish, but not to stock pile.   Stores are still open although their wares may sometimes be erratic.  I have an erratic supply of food storage, so we could go some weeks, but it would be a weird menu. I expect to ride through this with relatively minor inconvenience.  Andrew is home as schools, including the community colleges, are closed.  Some classes are going on-line.  I think Andrew will work his tutoring job on-line.  Some things will have to be worked out later.

email to my granddaugher, Acadia, serving a full-time mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

It is great to hear of the people who receiving the light of the gospel into their lives. It must be a great joy to be part of that!

Our ward Relief Society had its birthday dinner just in the nick of time. The next day all church meetings and activities were suspended. Sisters brought enchiladas and hand holdable desserts. We were told to make our favorite enchilada recipe. Apparently, everyone likes chicken and turkey. There were no beef enchiladas. $$ The ones I had were tasty. We heard a little bit about the beginning and the goal of Relief Society. Our RS 2^nd Counselor was going to tell us all about Fiji, but she has a new job that sent her out of town for training. So a Fijian friend of hers stood in for her. Someone asked about ministering in Fiji. She said sisters visit each other all the time, but they didn’t report it as Visiting Teaching. She showed us various handmade articles made from plants in Fiji. They use every part of the coconut tree from roots to fruit. Youth danced a Fijian dance. Then our Stake Relief Society President told as a bit about the history of RS in our area and about service RS has rendered through the years. It was all lovely. 

I was able to bring a mostly homebound 87 year old sister to whom I minister. Along with her nonmember great granddaughter who lives about half and hour away, but was visiting Delores overnight. Delores called Katie her best buddy. 

Then things started closing down. The first thing to affect my life was learning that there would be no more samples at Costco. 

Then the church canceled meetings including broadcasting General Conference to Stake Centers. And then I realized. For the first time in decades, no missionary luncheon! The only other time we have missed feeding the missionaries during GC was when we visited you guys in Massachusetts so many years ago. It was the only thing about that trip that I regretted. 

We haven’t decided what we are going to do for Conference. Normally, we spend all day both days at the Stake Center. All my children in the Sacramento area (except Debi) and their families. We have sandwich fixings and other stuff for lunch for all the missionaries at the Stake Center and ourselves. We never know how many missionaries there will be, almost always at least a dozen. We may have had 30 once. Two dozen is not unusual. We do a family potluck ice cream party after Saturday afternoon conference and left overs after Sunday. We will probably be at my cluttered, chaotic house. We will see if our missionaries can come, but I think they are going to try to do conference with their “friends”. I wonder if most of my kids will want to stick to the comfort of their own homes at least most of the time. I suspect that the grandkids will advocate for joining us. We will talk after the Hinds come back from visiting your folks and maybe we know more the situation. 

The governor has asked all people over 60 or 65? to stay home and isolate. I am 68, also higher risk because I have diabetes. I do not feel high risk. But there is no question that Miriam is very high risk and we need to protect her. 

Teresa and I went to the temple and did a few initatories Friday. Again in the nick of time. Temples were closed to all proxy ordinances effective today. Some temples are closed altogether. 

I asked my Facebook friends how they are handling at home church. Most of them, especially those whose Bishops have authorized in home Sacrament (our Stake has not yet, but then our Stake has only canceled meetings for two weeks. I think that may change. David says at least until Easter because it would be weird to stay home, go to church on the 29, and then stay home for conference. Maybe) anyway, people who were having the Sacrament in their home dressed in church clothes (except one whose severely autistic adult son would have gotten upset if everyone got dressed up and didn’t go anywhere). One family put a white table cloth on the table and covered home focused items with white sheets so they were not distracted. I liked the idea some shared of reading the Sacrament prayers and thinking about the atonement even though we could not have the Sacrament. We studied Come, Follow Me a bit. Some people assigned talks or will for next week. I don’t think I will meet with much enthusiasm if I try that. Many people spoke of the wonderful spirit in their home as they worshiped and studied together. It is inspiring to see the Saints respond. I need to work our our home atmosphere. I am not a spiritual giant or good spiritual leader. Just keep trying, right? 

February was a dry month. Drought talk started up again. This weekend we finally got rain. It is raining now. I am grateful. We need it. 

Lots to do, as always.

Lots of love !

Grandma Barbara

I'll Be Seeing You

copy of email to my granddaugher serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

I thought I had read all the Anne of Green Gables series, but then I discovered “Further Chronicles of Avonlea”  which I am reading by listening to now when doing my chores.  Not about Anne at all, really, but again a number of stories about various residents of Avonlea. Anne does show up in one or two as a background character, and is mentioned in others, but does not figure at all in some.  Nonetheless, they are charming and lovely stories. 

Speaking of lovely and charming stories, I donated platelets this week and watched the Downton Abbey movie again.  Enjoyed it even more than the first time (in the theater!), I think.  Going to add it to my library.  : )

Working on emergency preparedness.  In February, our RS emphasized health and sanitation.  I bought a Luggable Loo (5 gallon bucket with a seat) and a pop up privacy pod.   Then, loving my family and wanting them to have the comfort of being prepared, I thought, “Yowza! What a great birthday present.”  So, David received a Luggable Loo and Teresa will get a pop up pod.  The pattern will repeat with my other kids.  Won’t they all be thrilled and excited. 

Speaking of emergency.  With the Covid 19 scare and talk about quarantines, I hear that it is getting hard to find toilet paper, paper towels, cleaning wipes, bottled water, some medicines and foods, etc.  So far I haven’t seen it except a sign at Winco limiting the number of items of that kind of thing that you can buy at a time.  But they have them in stock.  Of course, good LDS who have already followed prophetic counsel are feeling comfortable.  I am kind of mixed there.  I have a lot of canned food and we could eat for weeks, but it would be weird and unbalanced.   And I don’t have much paper and cleaning supplies stocked. 

My canned food storage is pretty old and needs to be rotated out, too.  We have started eating it down.  I planned to wait to restock until after the kitchen is done and things settle a little.  Although the family room needs major work.  One wall has rot and water damage. Some of the acoustical ceiling tiles are damaged, some loose.  Also part of the ceiling has water damage.  So much to do!  So, I want to reduce the amount of stuff we have.  But maybe eating down our food storage might not be a good idea. 

Debi invited us all to get together for a spring picnic - partly so Molly could personally deliver our Girl Scout Cookies without them having to drive all over the place and try to connect with everyone.  Last year, we complained because our cookies were not delivered by our Girl Scout.  Naturally Saturday  was the first time it rained in long over a month, so the “picnic” moved to Debi’s house.  We all enjoyed hanging out together.  And ate too much not the most healthy food.

I am actually not a fan of Girl Scouts.  I think they support Planned Parenthood.  And when we briefly dipped our toes in GS with Miriam and Ruth, I felt like they had many good things for girls, but did not really respect “traditional” women’s roles or women in the home.  But Molly is in GS.

And being a diabetic, I don’t actually need cookies, especially over priced ones.  But I got 2 boxes and have not yet decided whether I am sharing.  LOL 

It is time to plan for my 2021 Disney Alaska cruise.  Not easy!  Who is going? Your mom and Mary Jane.  Maybe Sami.  I am really hoping that you can come! But 5 people in a room is too much.   David and Teresa are thinking about it.  Which would be great.  We could have a mother/ daughter cabin and I could share with DT.  Teresa really wants to go.  Of course, she is pushing it as an anniversary trip even though we are planning for September and they were married in May (if I remember right).  Wouldn’t it be romantic to have your mother / mother-in-law with you?  But David keeps saying, It is really expensive.  Which it is.  My friends who have cruised are encouraging me.  I want to go before I am too old and can’t. 

And of course we are planning for going to your homecoming.  So excited!  Although a little sad to think of your mission coming to an end.  I know that it is hard for many missionaries to leave.  Relish the time you have!  Great things await you - on your mission still and when you transfer home. 

In RS, we had a great and sadly, much needed, discussion of Sister Aburto’s talk “Through Cloud and Sunshine, Lord, Abide with Me”.  One of our sisters just tragically lost the 2nd of her 3 (adult) children.  Sisters shared their experiences with “dark clouds”. Testimonies of the Lord’s love and healing power were shared and nourished.  We learned of some things that help us face the challenges of mental and emotional afflictions and how to help others.  It was a powerful meeting. 

I sometimes wonder why we are so much more blessed than people through most of history with  the abundance and ease of access to scripture and counsel from the Lord’s chosen leaders.  But then I think that while we live in physically easier and more comfortable circumstances, we live in spiritually dangerous and challenging times.  It seems to me that for much of history, one had to almost go out and seek for many sins and temptations that now intrude in our homes, insidiously sneak in to most aspects of our lives.  We NEED every bit of strength and counsel we can get. 

Blessings on you and the rest of the Lord’s army as you bring light to his children. 

Celebrate Your Name

copy of email to my granddaughter who is serving a full time mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Happy Celebrate Your Name Week!  

I am typing this on Sunday - Namesake Day.  Namesake Day is a holiday for learning about the story of how you got your name.  And where your surname comes from. Well, you know your story, do you not?  (Acadia was named for Acadia National Park - a pretty name for a beautiful place where her parents spend their honeymoon)

I have never been too fond of my name. It is from the Greek for strange or foreign, from which barbarian comes. When I told my mother I didn't like my name, she was hurt. She said she named me after her best friend. I wish she had told me sooner and had told me about Barbara. And why didn't I ask her then? Now I wonder what Barbara was like and what drew them as friends.  Maybe I would like my name if I knew. My mother is long since dead and I will never know. I have since known some lovely Barbaras and that helps some, but I am really still not fond of my name.

Which last name do I claim?  

I was born Mijares, a habitational name for millet fields in Spain.  Mijares is a noble Spanish name. Does that mean noble character or like upper class? I heard my family were landowners in the Philippines. 

My second last name or first adopted name was Reed.  I was thinking that someone lived near a marshy area and did something with reeds.  No, Reed apparently comes from Read, but is not about being literate. Read comes from old English read which means red and probably started with a red-headed person.  

My third last name, second adopted name, and legal maiden name is Owes.  The family story is that the family came from Sweden with the name Aas which was pronounced owes.  It comes from a topographical name like ridge which was a common name in many farmsteads. When the family came to America, smart alec Americans changed the name to double ss instead of double aa.  When the family learned what ass meant, they changed the spelling to Owes. 

My married name Robarts derives from the personal name Robert which is from Old German “hrod” and “behrt” which mean “fame” and “bright”.

What exciting happenings this week?  Well, I went to the dentist. Hygienist, actually. Despite the great improvements in dentistry, I still hate/fear going to the dentist.  My childhood dentist was not sympathetic, had big hands, and in a day when needles were sharpened and reused, he did the later but seemed to omit the former. I can remember the pushing, pushing, pushing before the needle broke through.  How wonderful are our super sharp, disposable needles! Probably bad for the environment, eh? What isn’t? No needles were required for my visit Tuesday. Just a check and clean. My hygienist was sympathetic, gentle, encouraging, and friendly. 

As Relief Society secretary, I am supposed to submit a quarterly history.  I wrote up the first two months and asked my president to check it out. She said she enjoyed reading it but it was not what they asked for.  So I reviewed instructions again and did a re-write. She likes it. We shall see what they say when I submit at the end of March. The sample they gave us referred to recognizing the hand of God.  After each event, they wrote of the HOG moment. We were not comfortable with that, so I wrote about being Touched By the Spirit - TBS. 

I listen/read the whole Anne of Green Gables series.  So charming and delightful. “Rilla of Ingleside” has a completely different tone than the others, however.  The others are light, amusing, and happy. Rilla is about the home front during World War I, and the care and worry about the boys over there.   Same charming personalities and home events, but all overlaid with concern for loved ones at war. 

I also read - on actual bound paper! - “The Wild Robot” and “The Wild Robot Escapes” by Peter Brown.  Very quick, simple, middle grade reads, but thought provoking, charming, and I found it hard to put down.  Roz, the robot, was the only survivor of a ship wreck and had to learn to survive on uninhabited (by humans or robots) island. 

The trouble with finishing a book/series is figuring out what to read next.  Listening to a book makes doing chores easier. We are going to need some good audio books for our drive to Arizona soon.  One General Conference weekend should get us there. But even General Authorities apparently read books and see movies, they quote them sometimes. 

I am Ministering Sister to the Stake Relief Society President who is practically perfect and always ministering to those around her.  What can I do for her?! A couple of times we went to lunch - sometimes with Miriam - and just visited without pressures and responsibilities.  Now she is working almost full time and does not actually get a lunch break. She is a Life/Job Coach working with slightly disabled people often at their jobs.  Well, little over a week ago, she asked me to pray for her as she prepared to speak at the Spanish Branch Conference. Gladly. I prayed for her to feel God's love for her and for the branch sisters and to help them feel that love.  I prayed for her to know what to say and how to say it. I prayed for her to be comfortable. I told her what I was praying for. That Sunday I sent her a little text emoji of praying hands and heart. She came right over after church was out and gave me a hug.  She said it was just what she needed and that she had told the sisters and one came up to her afterwards saying it was just was she needed! Small and simple things. 

Hugs to you!