NEW CHANGES IN THE WIND

Monday, February 22, 2016
Because Ken doesn't have to go back to OKC until tomorrow, we had a lunch date and went grocery shopping together.  At Walmart. Several people said hi to him, even saying they missed him and one wondered if he missed the place. The reply was a strong "No!"

I have a lot of apples that are on the way of going past prime, so I made apple crisp to go with Family Home Evening tonight. I haven't done that in a while, so the kids are happy to have a treat. And the house smells fabulous!

Tuesday, February 23, 2016
The weatherman actually got it right this time. The rain started last night and continued through this early afternoon. More than just little sprinkles, too, actually rain. An accompanying wind cooled things off, so after a week of 80's, going down to 40's was quite a drop!

Today I got meet my new supervisor with Hallmark and start learning the biz, as it were. She's very nice and was very pleasant and agreeable to all my questions and requests. I think she likes me, too, because she said I had a good eye to notice things out of place (cards, in particular). Anyway, I have an apron, a badge, a box cutter, some reading material and a video (which I need to review).

Eventually I'll get a device to use for inventory and stock, but until then, I am a working girl!

Wednesday, February 24, 2016
Temperature dropped enough last night that some of the shallower puddles froze over. I wonder if this is confusing the trees, especially the ones who are starting to bud.

It's beginning to be Skunk Season again. Last week, a member of our ward got squirted in the back parking lot that backs up into a large wild field. Skunk squish is starting to be noticed smeared on the roads and highways. This morning I saw a fat fellow waddle his stinky rear across the road. They don't hustle, skunks.

I went back to the Optometrist. My eyes hadn't gotten adjusted to my glasses. I could see the far away stuff, and the little print with my bifocals. But the middle stuff - computer screens and piano music, was getting blurry. Unless I took my glasses off. So now I"m getting trifocals. Thankfully, it's covered by insurance. They'll make new lenses and then put them in my new frames. Then I'll have to get adjusted to that new line in between.

There's a large orange moon hanging low in the East tonight. I'd take a picture, only I know it wouldn't come out. Plus, I'd have to drive out of town to get a really good shot. So you'll just have to take my word for it.

Thursday, February 25, 2016
Spring is making an appearance. Trees are budding. This morning, under the acorn tree in front of the church, Chuckie sat nibbling on acorns. Coming out from Seminary, we spotted two robins and a blue jay doing the same!

A sim card for an older cell phone we have arrived today. Analiese will have her own phone. It's not anything special and has a problem holding a charge for too long, but it's for her to be able to get a hold of me, or Ken, or Jonathan if the need arises. With me going to work, even for just a few hours, and with us having no landline, this is the option we chose. She's been told not to abuse the priviledge. We shall see!

Friday, February 26, 2016
Today is Jonathan's last day at the Vo-Tech's Aviation Mechanics Program.

It's been 2 1/2 years, but he managed to do very well despite the technical stuff, study and pressure. It's a win for me, too, because I won't have to rush out of Seminary to get him to class on time or pick him up after school. He's relieved, but now it's time to get to work and ready for the next big adventure - a Mission!

This afternoon (after the final Jonathan pick-up) I set my nose east and headed toward Lawton. Like I surmised, the roads were spattered with Skunk Squish of all shapes and sizes (yet still the same smell). My first stop was Sam's for shopping.  I'm trying something new: I'm going to do major shopping for the whole month (excluding produce, which just won't last that long). It meant a lot of prep work - a whole month's worth of menus so I could see what I needed.  The only problem is whether or not I have enough cupboard and freezer space for all this stuff.

I also tried Aldi's for the first time. I've seen raves about it all over Pinterest - how it saves so much money - so I went to check it out. You have to pay a quarter to get a cart, but you get it back when you put it away. That keeps the costs down some so they don't need anyone to go out and get carts. Also, you have to bring your own boxes and bags, or buy theirs for 5 cents apiece. It's not an impressive store, nearly everything is off-brand. The produce is very limited and not much to look at and I didn't even bother with the meat section. It doesn't carry everything I need, but might be okay for things like canned goods, milk, and eggs. I have to run some numbers, so I'll let you know how it comes out.

After my shopping, I went to the Stake Center (and changed clothes) for the CES "Evening with a General Authority." Once again, our stake provided dinner - and it was marvelous! - for the Seminary & Institute teachers in the Stake and their spouses. I'm getting to know a few of them, the Institute instructor is our recently-released Stake President. Brother Sturges and his wife came from Norman to join us as well. After dinner we watched the broadcast; Elder Ballard of the Twelve Apostles was the speaker. In some ways, he was overwhelming, because he raised the bar - on us! The leaders of the church are so worried about members (youth and adults alike) not knowing the doctrine. It's up to us to study more in-depth the doctrines of the gospel to be able to clarify and correct anything our kids are learning - mainly erroneous ideas on-line! He mentioned several things to study, personal things to introspectively review, etc. In other words, I have homework!

Saturday, February 27, 2016
Last night, I got home around 9 and was so tired that I put what needed to be put in fridge and freezer and left the rest out and went to bed. So I have to face it all today!

Even though I had plenty to do, I did take some time to go window shopping with Analiese. We dropped Jonathan off at work around 3:00, then we went to some of the shops in the town square, just for fun. Some were clothing and jewelry shops, some were antiques. It was a fun break!

Ken came home from OKC this evening, bringing dinner from Buffalo Wild Wings with him for all of us. I would try the cheese curds and the cheesecake bites, but I didn't dare the boneless wings. He likes them with Mango Habanero sauce on them...too hot! Analiese tried them and I had to pour her a glass of milk to cut the heat! I knew better...

Sunday, February 28, 2016
The wind is up and so's the tree pollen count. My head just throbbed above my eyes and my eyes watered. I lay down for a bit before church with my cold lavendar pack, but even with that and Tylenol, it wasn't cutting my headache one bit. So I stayed home, went to bed, and slept three more hours. I'd have liked to slept more, but didn't dare. Even still, I feel tired.  And now my throat hurts some.

But - and this is my personal theory - I think it could be much worse. I've been taking a nasal spray on top of my medication for allergies lately. Usually, this kind of pollen problem would have meant an automatic sinus infection and I've managed to avoid it this year, so far. I really think the spray helps a lot!

I sent Ken with the kids to choir today. Between my head and my throat, it just wasn't an option.  But I didn't want my kids to have to stay home just because I could go. And, it's good for Ken to get out a little (wink, wink).

PUPPY LOVE

Monday, February 15, 2016
Still headachy and tired. Went shopping and felt totally exhausted afterward. I slept well the night before!

I asked Ken to give me a blessing. I think it's allergies and the wind and pollen count.  There's no fever or any other symptoms, just headache and fatigue. Good thing I had a day off!

Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Back to Seminary. Apparently three teenage boys from Altus died in a car crash this weekend and the town is reeling. So Megan put them and their families on the board for remembering in prayers. That's okay, I want them to thin of others, the community, etc.

Ken is packing for tomorrow. He heads off to OKC tomorrow to start training with Taco Bell. He'll be back Saturday evening and head out again next Tuesday morning. This will go on -  back and forth - until the end of March. Six weeks.

Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Ken left for OKC while I was in Seminary (though I did get a kiss goodbye before I left for class). He's going straight to a Taco Bell there for training and we're on our own here until Saturday night.

I took Jonathan to the Vo-tech from the airport for his end-of-year exam. He's been studying the past few weeks for it and felt ready to do it today. He got a 93%, so I guess he was right! He still has to go to class the rest of this week and all of next, but what he'll do, I don't know.

I was all by myself this evening. Analiese was at Mutual and Jonathan was attending a temple preparation class. This is a sign of things to come, and I don't know if I like it much. The house was very quiet, but I did get my lesson prepared for tomorrow and the dishes done. Still, it was kinda sad.

Thursday, February 18, 2016
Seminary was awesome today. We started on the Psalms today and our focus was on the Messianic nature of many of them. In particular, we studied the most famous Psalm - number 23 - "The Lord is my Shepherd." I came to the realization (in class) that the wording isn't "like a shepherd," or "the shepherd," but MY Shepherd. It's personal, and when you say it, pondering the meaning of it, the Spirit so strongly confirms it. He is MY Shepherd, watching, caring, protecting me. What a testimony that was!

Now that Jonathan has passed his exam for the year, he's sitting in class doing nothing...and going crazy. Nearly half of his class is in the same situation, and the devil finds things for idle hands to do. In point, they are bugging him about the Deadpool movie which, while he thinks Deadpool is funny, realizes that the movie is totally, certainly inappropriate. At home we joke that if we tried to watch it on Clearplay, it would be all silent. I guess the guys at the airport are pressuring him about it and it's driving him nuts. At least going to work today will be better. He works with good people of high(er) caliber, some of whom are his friends. I'm glad he's there.

Friday, February 19, 2016
Last night and this morning:

I got the job today! I will be a Hallmark Retail Merchandiser for the local Walmart. It pays pretty good, but not with many hours. Still, it is very flexible for my schedule and won't get in the way of Seminary!

So I celebrated by getting a much needed pedicure and picking up meds at the Walmart pharmacy. Party on! ROFL

Saturday, February 20, 2016
Nice to have - as our wonderful British sister says - a "lie in" on Saturday morning. The kids and I didn't get to scripture study until about 9 a.m.

We had a fun afternoon, though. Our friends, the Doshers, have got a new puppy. Their dog, Angel, had died a couple of months ago and they were feeling they wanted another one. They found an excellent breeder a couple of hours away who raises the Golden Retriever puppies in their home with little kids and even has them pretty well litter-trained by eight weeks.

So we were invited to go visit puppy and help them. Because, yes, they have yet to choose a name. It's a she. I guess they started out with 25-30 names and were trying to narrow it down when we got there. We put our input in - I liked Emma, and Analiese liked Sierra. They got down to 3 names by the time we were finished - Emma, Sierra, and Lucy.

She's a sweet pup, but was a sleepy baby when we were there. Analiese kept trying to get her to play, squeezing the squeeky ball, but she kept flopping down somewhere on the floor to sleep. Soft as a teddy bear, she's adorable. But our allergies kept us from being there too long. They have a cat, too, as well as their two rabbits. And I've been fighting my allergies enough. Analiese took medication before we came, so she didn't do badly.

And, I have no pictures. Because I left the camera in the van. Sorry.

Sunday, February 21, 2016
Nice Sabbath. Elder Christofferson of the 12 Apostles has been in Oklahoma for the weekend. Friday was a broadcasted fireside (from Tulsa) for the youth, and Saturday he spent some time with the missionaries in Oklahoma and with the bishops and stake presidents in Oklahoma and Arkansas. So we heard reports from the youth, the bishop, and the missionaries. The youth told me that he spoke a lot about Seminary. I said that must be because it's important! I like to feel justified.

The wind has really picked up, whistling around the house. It'll cool things down, for sure. We've had a couple of 80 degree days which - as Analiese says - is just terrible for a February. It isn't really even Spring, she says. But some of the bushes are starting to bud and leaf out. Tree pollen is up, too. Like I can't tell!

OF LOVE & RABBITS

Monday, February 8, 2016
Pretty much a normal Monday, though the winds have really picked up. The weather people have issued a fire advisory. Not that the weather is very warm - in the 50's - but the wind is drying things out and would probably blow a fire into a big problem.

I'm having fun planning the Seminary lessons for this week. We're talking about events that are still celebrated by Jews today - The Feast of Tabernacles and Purim. Jonathan has a couple of friends who are Messianic Jews, so I contacted one for some ideas (and recipes). I've also found a couple of videos from the Israel Tourist board about the holidays. While the spiritual nature of the lessons is most important, it makes things a little more interesting to show them that some of these things are still done.

Tuesday, February 9, 2016
"The best laid plans..." Oh, brother, did I have some! The missionaries (all four) are coming to dinner, and I've planned a pork roast dinner (I make a marvelous pork roast, if I do say so myself!), with potatoes, salad, and broccoli. But I also had planned on making Hamantashen - a Jewish pastry that is made for the holiday Purim in celebration of Esther and the deliverance of the Jews in Persia. That one must be for Seminary (wink) for tomorrow's lesson.

However, I come to find out this morning that the roast will NOT fit in the crockpot! So I have to slow roast it in the oven. Bother! When will I make the Hamantashen? After dinner & dishes? Good thing I scheduled the missionaries to come at five. That may give me a little time. Let's see how that works out...

Not terrifically. The roast was done by five, but not fall-of-the bone done. It was still good, but there were no juices in the pan, so I had to just make a brown gravy, not as tasty. And my mashed potatoes - I had to laugh - I thought I cut them all up before boiling them, but I missed two! And they were a little...firmer...than the others, so I had to take them out before mashing the others. They would have made two BIG lumps!

No dessert, a first for us feeding the missionaries. And, I didn't make the Hamantashen. Sometime - maybe as I was pulling the roast out of the oven - I did something to my right shoulder. When I tried to hug the sister missionaries goodnight, I felt the pull...and the pain. Ugh! So, obviously, I can't move my arm well enough to roll out cookie dough. Now I'm really bummed about tomorrow.

Wednesday, February 10, 2016
We talked about Esther; we talked about Purim. But no guest speakers, no Hamantashen. The kids did laugh when I read to them about how children celebrate Purim in the synagogues. I just wanted more (can you say overly ambitious?).

I got my new glasses today! I hadn't really expected them until the end of this week, because they said it would take about a week. Ken got his, too. That tiny print is much more visible, now. When will you see them? When I get the guts to have my picture taken again. It may be a while. You'd better wish for more baby animals for me to cuddle! LOL

Thursday, February 11, 2016
Two good things today:

One - My mom sent me lemons from California off of her tree. Ken swears they are the best lemons, no matter the tree, no matter the store.

Two - Well, sort of. I had a job interview. Over the phone. Automated. It was weird. The recording asked a question, beeped, and then I had to respond, pressing # when I was done. I'm to keep a watch on my email to see what they think of it. The hardest part was remembering thing from jobs past. After all, it's been 14 years! But I did reference some things from Seminary because, even though it's voluntary, it applies to work situations, too.  We'll see.

Friday, February 12, 2016
Sleep-in day! No Seminary because the high school is having parent-teacher conferences. I didn't sleep in too late, though, because Jonathan did have to go to the Vo-tech. He woke me up with fifteen minutes to spare until I drove him.

This afternoon was set-up time for the Rabbit Show tomorrow. I am going to be working the concessions, so I set up the kitchen area for the morning. It'll be the usual stuff...hot dogs, nachos, frito chili pie (fritos, chili, cheese - Analiese loves it), chips, soda and some homemade cookies/brownies. I'm manning the booth because last year I had a bad allergic reaction to all the rabbits. I'm hoping my isolation in concessions won't allow that to happen. But I will sneak out for some photos tomorrow!

Saturday, February 13, 2016
First thing this morning..at the Expo and the Rabbit Show. I went straight to the kitchen to set up the coffee, heat up the chili and nacho cheese, and to get the hot dogs warming. Analiese is old enough, she set up her rabbit station herself.

In the end we had 20 kids and 90 rabbits. We had mainly local people, but a few came from as far away as OKC. Apparently their 4H areas don't have active rabbit clubs. They did comment how friendly and helpful we were. We are a fun lot!

Rabbit agility was very popular. We are trying to drum it up in the local areas so that eventually we can have real competitions. Alice did very well in the trial runs, but got spooked in the "mock" real one with all the people standing around noisily. It certainly makes the show more interesting.

Analiese did well, with a third place in the Rabbit Quiz.

Alice won second place in Himilayans. There were lots of Californians (think fat Himilayans) and New Zealands, which are meat breeders, several Dutches (always popular) and even a few more Holland Lops than usual. My favorite was Mini Rex in a color called "lilac."

I closed down the concessions by 3:45, and had everything cleaned up and packed up by 4:30. Joy (our 4H leader) said I didn't have to do dishes, but she's having knee surgery this week and I figured that after all the show stuff, she didn't need to face dishes either.

But I was pooped. The floor in the concession kitchen is concrete and I was standing most of the day. I was fairly busy, but handled it pretty well on my own. It's not like the fair, which is teeming with people and you need 3-4 people manning it. As it was, I ran out of fritos, chili, and hot dogs. I almost went completely through the nacho cheese and had half a bag of tortilla chips left. I sold all of the brownies, no-bakes, and peanut butter cookies, with just three bags of snickerdoodles left.  And we made about $300 after the initial change for the money box. Joy says I should run concessions all the time!

Tonight was the ward Cupid's Dinner for the adults.

 The Young Women babysat, the Young Men served, and it was very nice. We had ham, scalloped potatoes, salad, green beans, and brownie parfaits.

A gal in our ward is a photographer and she took picture couples and we had a "Newlywed" game with different couples in the ward. Being single this evening, I didn't partake, but I enjoyed watching them sweat!

I left early, though, not staying for more of the activity. I was exhausted, my feet throbbed, and I just wanted to rest and get to bed.  I've seen some of the pictures they took, though, and it was really nice!

Sunday, February 15, 2016
Didn't go to church. I've been having headaches and feeling run down. So the rest of the fam went off to church and I went to bed.  I didn't even get up until they'd been home nearly an hour and felt like going back. But I'll wait till tonight. I don't want to be up at midnight!

SICK HUBBY WEEK

Monday, February 1, 2016
Today started pretty normally with Seminary and home chores. The only new thing I could think of was teaching Analiese personally (not from some website) how to write a 5-paragraph essay. Because, face it, I rock at essays! Or I did...in college.  No, I still rock them! LOL

Ken has accepted the Taco Bell Assistant Manager job. Arby's couldn't offer him the same $ for the same position, though he liked the guy who he interviewed with. His last day at Walmart is the fifteenth, and sometime after that he'll have to go to OKC for training for six weeks.

This evening just proved how mercurial the weather can be around here. The kids were watching a cartoon in the other room. Ken had texted me from work, "It's sprinkling." Well, I had looked at the weather TWICE today and there were no indicators of precipitation at all.

And yet, within minutes we had a thunderstorm and about an hour's worth of heavy rain and even a teensy bit of sleet. This does not build my trust in weathermen. Quite the opposite. I didn't mind, really, the rain is important and my roof holds just well, thank you. I just don't know how someone could be a weatherman in confidence.

Tuesday, February 2, 2016
Ken is home sick today. He was complaining yesterday of a sore throat and was stuffy. He came home early last night, too, just as I was getting ready to jump in bed. He sounded awful and wasn't better today. So...rest and fluids. Usually he does well with that recipe.

Jonathan texts me from school, "It's Groundhog Day!" I reply, "Yes. And?" "I'm watching the movie." Sarcastic Me: "Some education you're getting there."  To be fair, he was probably on his lunch break and texting me from the pilots' lounge at the airport where he likes to hang.

Wednesday, February 3, 2016
Ken is still sick. So he didn' go to work again today. He tires easily. Like when he took a shower; it exhausted him. At least he had some sick days he could take!

Made a new recipe for breakfast-for-dinner tonight. Buttermilk banana pancakes. Very light and fluffy. Jonathan, who hates have pancakes for dinner, ate three of them. "Not bad," he said. Analiese has rated the pancakes as her favorite all-time breakfast. Success, then!

Thursday, February 4, 2016
Seminary was different today. It wasn't a big scripture-reading, feel-the-Spirit lesson. It was more contextual and historical, setting the stage for everything after Chronicles. Since the books after that in the Bible are not organized chronologically, we had to go over what had happened (Israel splits into two, Northern Kingdom - Israel - carried by Assyrians into captivity are now lost to us. Southern Kingdom - Judah - eventually carried by Babylonians into captivity, but when Persia takes over, gets to go back) and try to place books & prophets where they belong in it all.  The room was split into sections for each area and 3x5 cards were set aside for titling books. It was a little complex, but the class bore with it well.

Ken is doing better. He has a lingering cough and still tires easily, but the headaches and stuffiness are gone. He isn't scheduled for work today. That will give him an extra day to recooperate.

Friday, February 5, 2016
Ken's much better today, just a little cough. We went together today to the optometrist. I haven't had a new pair of eyeglasses in years and my eyes are getting older. It's becoming more difficult to see the small print on things. So it's kind of nice to get a new pair, especially while we still have insurance.

Analiese and I had another practice with Rabbit Agility for 4H. To be honest, Alice needs more help getting used to being on a leash. Though, she does like jumping the hurdle.

We had to push her rear a lot to get her through the course.

At practice, we got to interact with some of the other rabbits,

including an eight-week old baby Dutch rabbit.

I was hooked - he was so sweet! I'm a sucker for baby animals.

Saturday, February 6, 2016
This morning was a work morning: Analiese had to clean Alice's cage, while Ken & Jonathan worked on cleaning up the back yard. I was going to help but ended up more as a superintendent...because I had Alice. I put her on the leash again (we need to do this every day) and gave her room to roam... within boundaries. She fought me a few times (I was a tree...I did not move) and pouted a good long bit, but eventually settled down to sit in a corner by the house where the chimney meets and nibble on dead leaves and live grass. I think she will like it eventually, because it will mean she can go outside. But also, we are trying to teach her who's boss!

SURVEY HERE - I'm SERIOUS!!! If I started a blog on my cooking, experiments and such, would you be interested? I'm thinking about blogging in a way that could earn a little $$, do you think I could do it? I'm thinking about calling it Cheap Chow (if the name isn't taken) and it'll be plain, family-friendly, homemade good eatin'. My stuff, plus what I learn along the way from trying other people's recipes. PLEASE COMMENT TO THIS BLOG ENTRY AND LET ME KNOW!

Sunday, February 7, 2016
Nice day at church today. The Spirit was very strong in Fast & Testimony meeting, and stayed that way through the rest of the meetings. Sundays like this make it easy to want to be in church.

Choir has started up again. We are working on stuff for Easter and for Stake Conference (in June, so we have a lot of time). Jonathan actually came with me and Analiese, too! We had lots of sopranos, altos and bases, but we really need tenors. Actually, I CAN sing tenor (women do it), so I think I will try next time. I practiced a bit with the choir pianist and I can hit all the notes. Besides, I think the lower notes are "yummier." Do not ask me to explain.