It's become cold enough to see my breath this morning.
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| Fog on the field next to the church parking lot. |
I'm in a very cheery mood this morning, wanting to sing carols, smile at everyone and laugh a lot. My back's feeling much better and my anxiety's leveled off. Life is good.
This evening, Ken and Analiese put up the Christmas tree
Tuesday, December 6, 2016
CRAZY DAY! I got to the church at 6:00 a.m. to find all the lights were out in the building. It was windy, so I thought that may have done something, so I went inside to check the breaker, etc. Turned out, the back half of the church had power. I texted my students, telling them to come through the back and we'd meet in a room back there. I went back and forth, setting things up and moving things from our normal classroom to the back, when I saw the clerk's office. The door had been torn open
A new text to students...change of plans. Seminary is cancelled. Because I knew now I'd be stuck there...talking to the police and the bishop. My first call(s) were to the bishop and bishopric. Nobody was answering their phones! But I knew one of the student's dads had replied to my texts, so I called him and asked if he'd come to the church...if only so I didn't have to be there alone. He called the police for me and arrived just before they did.
I spent the whole time I would have in class, talking to the police, going over the building, etc. The bishop eventually made it over. Imagine having to deal with that as a new bishop! "Angel Cousin" Dennis came over as well. I had called Ken (waking him) to tell him I might be later and why and he called Dennis and asked him to go check on me (he lives close to the church).
I was only really nervous when I was alone, but was pumped up on adrenaline for a while until I hit my 9:00 a.m. chiropractic appointment. Then it all drained out and I wanted to sleep! But, I'd told the librarian I'd come in for a couple hours to work after my appointment while she went to the funeral.
I did get my nap...after the library, but then Ken woke me up saying I had to go to the police department and give them my fingerprints. Mainly to separate mine from any the perpetrator might have given. So I did that, picked up Jonathan from work, ate dinner and then went back for the rest of my shift at the library. Gee whiz, this is all so exhausting!
Wednesday, December 7, 2016
It's business as usual at Seminary. Though, one of the dads patrolled the hall during class. And the bishop came by afterwards to see how I was doing. I'm fine, I can't imagine the person(s) coming back. There wasn't anything to take before - as they found out - and there isn't anything now.
I made sugar cookie dough this afternoon. It needs to chill thoroughly so I made it today. Tomorrow I'll start shaping and baking cookies. They are for the 4H Rabbit Club's Christmas party on Friday. I even purchased a rabbit cookie cutter (back in April!). I thought the kids would get a kick out of it.\
A newspaper article in the Altus Times today has a picture of a police officer examining our clerk's window yesterday.
Thursday, December 8, 2016
I felt positively indolent this morning, shaping and baking sugar cookies as I watches "A Christmas Carol" on my laptop. It was well-timed; I finished the cookies around the same time I did the movie!
More laziness...I sat down IN FRONT OF THE TV (this is a luxury for me lately) and watched "White Christmas" while eating my lunch. This is a rare occasion, when I actually have time to sit down. I think I'm "trunky" (mission vocabulary) for Christmas break!
The library was super quiet, tonight. At first that made me antsy...and then it made me tired. Two men were here on our computers, pushing the boundaries of inappropriate material. I had to watch and keep track. Oh joy. Zero tolerance - from the library and me!
Friday, December 9, 2016
I was up at 4:30 a.m., out the door at 5:00 a.m. The kids and I headed to Lawton in the pre-dawn hours (and cold). First, it was so I could attend my 6:00 a.m. Seminary Inservice meeting in person at the Stake Center. I was glad I did so, too, because we were able to discuss some important issues I was having in my class and...there were actually some answers! Also, one of the other teachers has a daughter who's recently returned from Quetzaltenango, Guatemala! She's going to text me her daughter's contact information later so Jonathan and she can talk. I guess her daughter really loved the country and her mission...didn't want to come home!
The rest of the morning was shopping - missionary, Christmas, Seminary - with a little sidetrack to the park to see their Christmas lights. So it was breakfast at Chick-Fil-A, then Sam's Club, Ross (lots of good stuff for Jonathan there) and Target. The kids came home exhausted; they aren't used to early mornings.
This afternoon was getting ready for the Rabbit Club Party. I had to gather all of my supplies - cookies, frosting, sprinkles, containers for take-home, knives, plastic table cloths, etc. I had had the brilliant idea (the one's Ken calls the one-timers, because it's only going to happen once) that I'd put colored frosting in some Wilton bottles and they could squirt it out to decorate cookies. The coming out part wasn't the hard part...it was the getting it in! What a mess! I never would have gotten it done on time without Ken and Jonathan's help.
The party was fun, as usual, with pizza and soda, and the cookies for the craft/dessert. I pulled out my phone to play Christmas music (cuz how's it a party without music?) and sat down and enjoyed myself talking to the adults. The kids adore doing the cookies and were excited about the rabbit ones!
Saturday, December 10, 2016
A day of play in Lawton yesterday means trying to catch up today in between working. I needed to go back to the church and make sure everything was cleaned up yesterday (they had a sub), do my menu for the week, and go grocery shopping. Yeah. It's frozen pizza for dinner tonight, folks!
I forgot to take my church keys with me, so the plan of doing that on my lunch break was a bust. I brought Analiese with me when I went back to work, though. Jonathan has work this afternoon and who knows when Ken will be off. With all the break-ins, etc., I don't feel super comfortable at the moment letting her be alone for too long.
The library was pretty quiet and slow, which meant I could do what I needed during my quiet time at the desk. We did have a party of five being weird, though. They came into the foyer, sat down on the benches - though someone sprawled out on the floor - and proceeded to argue among themselves. One guy even got on his phone and was chewing somebody out there! What was up with that? Warming themselves up - physically and emotionally - in the library? I was glad to see them go.
The fun thing I get to do at the library is help patrons find things. Today I helped a regular patron find a book on the Duke Lacrosse team scandal. Not certain that we had any books on it, I tried Amazon first for some book titles. What do you know? The second book on their list was on our shelves. He was so pleased I'd found it. I enjoyed seeing him happy and I felt like a regular sleuth.
The ward Christmas party is tonight, but none of the Boltons are going to make it. Jonathan will be working and who knows how long Ken will be. He'll probably go home and sleep anyway, he has an early morning tomorrow, too. Analiese is with me in the library and, while we're done by 6:00, the ward party is actually from 4:00 to 7:00, to make time for those who want to participate in the city parade, which is at 7:00. We're not doing that, either. 4H doesn't have a float this year.
Sunday, December 11, 2016
The Box family visited our ward today. I got hugs from several of the kids - my, how they have grown! The twins are actually old enough to pass the sacrament! And, of course, I had to hug and talk with Irelia. She was so excited to hear about Jonathan's mission (of couse, it's Spanish-speaking!) and wept with me as I explained the bittersweet pride I have as I face/look forward to his leaving. I knew she'd understand!
After taking neighbors home from church and Jonathan to work, I went to tithing settlement. Alone. That was weird. Jonathan is meeting with the bishop next week, so that's no problem. But nothing in Ken's schedule worked with the bishop's schedule, so they said I could do it. Alone. I'm assuming the tithing is right; Ken is the one who does it online. It looked pretty straightforward to me on the printout they gave me. Hey, I'm doing the best I can here!
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