Ups and Down$ Tuesday

 I cannot remember all of today.  It has been some day.

There was the pre-surgery Covid test. (MOHS surgery for basal cell carinoma on my nose Friday.)  I was quite nervous, especially hearing the children cry while I waited my turn. (If I was nervous this morning, just wait until Friday!!) But it was really nothing.  They did NOT  try to swab my brain through my nose as I heard they used to do. My nurse was very nice and he just swabbed around each nostril a number of rotations.  Not really even uncomfortable.

I had thought about looking at cars (my car was rear-ended and totalled last week), but I didn't really have time before I had to be home for the plumber (the bathroom pipe under the sink broke last week also).  I did have time to buy eggs and cottage cheese to replace those ruined in the car accident, as well as a few other things.

Better Place Forests called.  I have purchased spreading rights under a redwood in the Point Arena Forest for my final resting place. However Better Place Forests is opening up a forest near Yosemite.  I know my children would be more likely to visit the Yosemite area and my contract does include right to transfer forests until ashes are spread under my tree.  I really like my tree, but I will go and see the Yosemite forest and see if any of the trees speak to me.  Better Place Yosemite will start having tours in October.  I will go look the trees and see if one speaks to me. 

AAA called.  They offered what I think is a fair settlement on my totalled car (poor Gracie!).  Not overly generous, but a little above the minimum I thought they should pay. 

Two Bonney plumbers came.   Very nice guys.  I hired them to fix the bathroom sink (the drain pipe broke( and to remove the solar water heater in the garage which is no longer connected to solar, has corroded, and is leaking.  They fixed the sink this afternoon (the pipes are fine now, but the basin has cracks) and will come back to do the water heater tomorrow morning (and I will talk to them about the cracks). 

I started rice in the rice cooker and set it on the stove.  OOPS.  Apparently, I bumped the stove knob and turned on the burner under the rice cooker.  Good bye rice cooker.  I was able to transfer the rice to an Instant Pot (first time using the Instant Pot for rice.  I have heard it is not so great for that) and was able to clean the stove top.  No, I did NOT put the IP on the stove top.   I think I will avoid doing that now.

Dinner soon and then I have Relief Society Presidency Meeting.  

....  Wednesday - Although I certainly do not remember seeing them before - including when I wiped down the sink - the plumbers showed me a picture they took before working on the sink and although the picture was not sharp, it looked like there were cracks.  More like scratches, actually, not like cracked through.  The old, unused, leaky water heater is gone.  Do I get to count that as deluttering something?

Oy vey! Such a week!

     It must be recognized that my house is not burned, flooded, swept away by a whirlwind, nor surrounded by Taliban.  I acknowledge and appreciate that I am very blessed.  Still, this has been a bit of a week.

Tuesday afternoon, I was headed home with over $250 worth of groceries in the back of my car. Some of which was to make dinner for a family of 8 adults whose grandma had died a couple of days ago. A small school bus stopped in the right hand lane with yellow lights flashing. In the left lane, I slowed, trying to remember what yellow lights mean. Then the lights went red and the stop sign flipped out. I stopped, of course.

Unfortunately, someone else did not.

I certainly felt the impact, but I was not hurt and my airbags did not deploy. I was fine, although I knew Gracie (my car) was not.

The other car front was pretty crumpled. The airbags had deployed, so I could not see the other driver very well nor could I hear her IF she responded to my inquiry if she was alright. There was no blood and there was movement, but it was a little scary. I could see that she was on the phone. When I called 911 a moment later, the accident was already reported, so that may have been her. Help was on the way. CHP and the fire department looked after her and got her out of her car. She appeared undamaged, but her head and shoulder hurt. And she was very shaken.

My sweet daughter-in-law Teresa dropped everything, picked up Andrew, and came to rescue my groceries and me. Thanks to them, I only lost 2 dozen eggs (cracked & scrambled) and a large container of cottage cheese (broken open).

My friend and Relief Society leader Nila happened to call me while I was waiting for AAA shortly after the accident and she immediately assumed responsibility for the dinner I was supposed to take the family, even though she had taken them dinner the day before and I told her that I could make dinner when I got home, but I didn't know what time. Their dinner was on time. Our dinner was a bit late. tasty, but late.

Wednesday was fairly quiet. I was authorized for a rental car, however there wasn't one available. I don't really need one right now. And, if needed, I can borrow from Miriam, or ask Teresa, or another offspring or friend for a little while. I sadly took things out of Gracie, wondering if I would ever put them back.

Thursday. oy vey!

AAA sent a truck to take Gracie to the shop. Later I got the phone call - Gracie was totalled. She absorbed all the impact and sacrificed herself to protect her passenger. After lunch, Teresa took me to the shop to get the things I had forgotten or had been unable to get to. The collision guy, Dustin, got out the dog ramp which was wedged by the impact and opened up the spare wheel well where I had a bicycle bar and chains. We had a nice chat wherein he spoke well of Hondas and sang the praises of his Honda Pilot. I appreciate that he undestands the trauma of losing a car that you really like. I am going to have to fiigure out how much I can afford to spend in addition to whatever amount AAA gives me for Gracie. Will I replace Gracie with another CRV - I really liked that car - or do I want to go a little bigger and get a Pilot? Used, of course. I won't have money for a very recent model, but I do hope to go a little newer than Gracie (2012), as I will need it to last a long time. I probably cannot afford to get a Pilot. I do not plan on going into debt for this.

More fun at The Patch: while I was cooking dinner, Miriam and Joseph discoved that the pipe under the bathroom sink is loose or broken. It cannot have been very long without us noticing, can it? Yet things under the sink were soaked and the bottom of the cabinet is warped. Previous problem? Sometimes it might be nice to be able to call the landlord rather than being the owner.

Yet more fun. Miriam eats in her room and uses plastic disposable plates and utensils because she needs things to be light weight. We wash and reuse them. The plate looked fine when I dished up Miriam's food, but at some point it cracked. Butter on her sheets and mattress protector. Blessings on Andrew! He moved all her stuff off the bed, making sure nothing touched the floor, stripped the

bed, found and put on a sheet. Not the entire bedding package, but enough to get Miriam through the night.

Today is Friday. What will the day hold? Almost certainly better than yesterday, right? I need to get a plumber. I need to wash Miriam's bedding. I need to do homework - Dustin, the collision guy, warned me not to accept the first offer from the insurance company, but to be ready with cost of replacing Gracie at the same age and mileage. I had intended to drive Gracie for years to come and have been robbed through no fault of my own, and I have been paying AAA for years, so it is right to try to get a good settlement. I also need to do research on getting the next car. Such a big responsibility. I need to get it right. Like I did with Gracie.

Still - no fire, flood, hurricane, or terroristic regime. I am grateful! I have my family, home, and food

and many other blessings. And I believe that even when things are horrible, the Lord will make all things right - eventually. May I trust and have faith always in good times and in bad.

Olympic lesson

email to my grands.  

I have long thought that I should write to my grandchildren now and then.  Today, I wrote an email. Perhaps I should do "real" letters, though 

Dear  Acadi & Patrick, Aurora,  Esther, Jared, Samuel, Peter, Molly, and Jacob

(although I am sure Peter and Jacob are too young understand any of this)

Hi Kids,

    Have you been watching the Olympics?  I have not very much, but I did see something that impressed me.   

     I was watching Skateboarding - Street.  You may know that Skateboarding is new to the Olympics this year and has two categories - Park and Street.  Park is where they skate in those deep bowls like they have at skate parks.  Street has elements that one encounters on a city street - stairs, handrails, curbs, benches, walls, and so on.  I, personally, would rather you not do either, it looks dangerous, but anyway...  The street boarders launch themselves off a  wall or top of the steps or ramp and do various tricks.  A lot of somehow leaping on top of a handrail briefly, then flipping down to the ground at the foot of the stairs, often while rotating the board or moving their foot position,  and skating on to the next element.  I don't understand or even completely see all that they do and are judged on, but it is amazing to see anyway.  

    They do sometimes  fall.  Hard.  On cement. While going fast.  With the whole world watching.  More than I expected from Olympic athletes.   The thing is, they get up, get back on their skateboard, and keep going.  They probably have lost their chance at winning a medal.  And they are probably a bit bruised and sore.  And maybe embarrassed.  But they don't quit.  They don't give up.  They don't decide they are failures.  They keep going.  That makes them winners. 

    We all want to do what is right.  We want to be good and do good.  And sometimes, we fall down.  But we should not get down on ourselves.  We should not give up because we are not perfect - or even close.  We should get up and keep trying.  

   Our former Stake President, Alan Fisher (your moms may remember him) just got back from a stint as a mission president and visited our ward today.  Anyway, he told us about an incident he saw while watching the gymnasts competing on the rings.  One fellow leaped up to the rings, started to do a maneuver, and fell.  His coach ran over and said some encouraging words.  The gymnast jumped up, grabbed the rings, began his routine, and fell again!  His coach came out and talked to him again.  The gymnast started over and fell a third time!  Again his coach came out and spoke to him, encouraging him.  The athlete jumped to the rings, did a very complicated maneuver and completed his performance.  He did not medal, but he was a winner.  He can be proud of himself for facing fear, embarrassment, and disappointment, and doing what he started out to do. 

    Sometimes we will have trouble and fall, but God will still love us, and encourage us, and wants us to keep trying.  God will give us a 2nd chance, a 3rd chance, a 4th chance - as many chances as we need if we keep trying.  

    Also,  we should be kind to others when they fall and disappoint us.  

   

    You are winners.  I love you.  God loves you.  I hope you love you!

love, 

    Grandma Barbara