TOO SICK TO CARE

Monday, October 23, 2017
Analiese was in bed again. I was up teaching my class. Great lesson, chastity and all that entails. I'm not sure if I had them turning red or squirming in their seats.

Ken and Analiese ALMOST finished the trim.

Analiese dutifully painting trim around the window.

They ran out of paint, of course, after I had gone shopping. I did get some more after picking up Jonathan from work. But by then they had pretty much wrapped it up. Ken needed to get back to mow the Chickasha lawn.

My throat started hurting around the time I left to get Jonathan and was roaring sore with a slight earache by bedtime. I do not need that! I've taken some Tylenol P.M. for the pain and sprayed my throat. Hopefully I will sleep well and feel better by morning.

Tuesday, October 24, 2017
I did NOT feel any better. I still took Analiese to Seminary and Jonathan to work. I intended on working on tomorrow's lesson at the church...but my laptop wasn't charged. Rats.

I went home, drank a large glass of orange juice, read scriptures with Analiese, and headed back to bed. After an hour and a half nap, I decided it was wisest to not go into work and try to head off more serious illness at the pass. If I did go into work, I would be worse tomorrow and the next day and I'd be really messed up. Wisdom dictated; I obeyed.

I still had to get Jonathan from work at three. I was feeling particularly awful around that time. So I stopped at a gas station and bought a Slurpee. On the way back, I went to Sonic and got another one. Anything to stop the fire raging in my throat!

The only great thing about today was providing my laptop to the sister missionaries so they could Skype into a baptism in one of their old areas. Isn't technology wonderful? (I say this today....)

Wednesday, October 25, 2017
Now it's a sinus infection.

Still went to work. Only lasted until five.

Drama at work. Don't need this. Made me more tired.

Thursday, October 26, 2017
Still so very tired and dragged out. Sinus pain makes me light-headed.

People wonder: why don't I go to the doctor? Been there, done that. He can't do much; he'll suggest an antibiotic. Me and antibiotics do not get along. So unless I'll die without it, I'll just have to suffer through it...

Went to work at 5 until closing. Not sure I got much done, but they needed my body there.

Friday, October 27, 2017
Other than Seminary and driving Jonathan to work & picking him up, I was at home resting. Made soup for dinner with the sister missionaries. Analiese helped me make an apple cake.

I am done.

Saturday, October 28, 2017
Had to work all day. Pretty much just tired and draining. Thankfully, the sinus pressure is gone.

Library drama still there. Like it or not, I got to hear more. Why burden me?

I did not go to the ward dinner and party after work. Too tired. So so done.

Sunday, October 29, 2017
After the Primary program for sacrament meeting, I went home. Still feeling dragged out. Pretty much zonked out until Ken came home from Chickasha and the kids returned from church.

Day of rest. Literally.

I DUNNO, JUST KEEP READING...

Monday, October 16, 2017
Happy Birthday to my Mommy! 

I was up early this morning for my class, but Analiese didn't have hers. The substitute she was supposed to have was sick. Seminary was canceled, and she got to sleep in. Lucky duck. Even being sick wouldn't be a good excuse for me. I could (seriously, though I won't) sit in bed and do an online class. No contagion passed along.

Ken and Analiese got started early this morning on painting the rest of the house exterior. We got some white paint for the trim and extra brushes to help with the task. Poor Analiese had the chore of cleaning off the mailbox, exterior light, and the house numbers. Besides being coated with dust, they had lots of sticky (and surprisingly strong!) webbing plus dead or alive spiders. She was not happy. For the record, I got rid of the live ones but left her to deal with the dead. Buck up, buttercup!

They (and Jonathan, who chipped in when he got off of work) got all the major wall painting done outside and started on the trim. My plan (ha-ha, we'll see) is to paint the mailbox, house numbers, and the front steps railing black on Friday. That, with the black shutters (we'll put them back up after all is said and done) will make a nice contrast to the light color of the house. As it is, it's already looking sparkling and new. I feel good just looking at it!

Tuesday, October 17, 2017
Another earlier-than-normal morning so I could substitute again for Analiese's class. I thought I'd have to do tomorrow, too, but her regular teacher will be back to do that. I think I'm going to have to start backing off on subbing (one of my worst faults is not saying "no" enough). I have too much to focus on, now that the house is getting painted and we may actually start to see some action. Extra teaching on top of it all saps me of necessary time and energy.

I found thirty books of all shapes and sizes on my cart today when I got to the library. I did them all. Yep. Now I know we received a box of audiobooks today that I'll be able to do once Janet is done with them. That's maybe six or eight. Then what am I going to do with myself? Oh, I have things I can do, all right - donated DVDs and music CDs. But they are neither pleasant nor easy to deal with. Gonna be a loooong work week!

Wednesday, October 18, 2017
The air smells so horrible right now, especially in the morning! The cotton farmers are using a defoliant to get the leaves off the plants so they can more easily harvest the cotton. But it smells just awful and we can't escape it, since the town is surrounded by cotton fields! It kind of gives me a headache. Makes me a little edgy, too, but I don't know why.

There were nine audiobooks in that box from yesterday. It didn't take me long to get them done, even with the four that I had to download records from directly. I worked through two more boxes of withdrawn books and sorted them, plus I had two new books come in the mail that I cataloged. That's it. There's no avoiding it - tomorrow I will have to do some DVDs. Maybe even some CDs. Shudder!

Thursday, October 19, 2017
This is the second morning in a row that the internet/WiFi at church isn't working. This means I can't work on Seminary stuff until I get home. Nothing else will get done at home. Something about the Church's firewall being down. Better figure it out by Sunday!

Yep. I had to do DVDs and CDs today. All of twelve movies and six music CDs. Painfully slow work. I though I was done sorting withdrawn fiction, but they showed me a 10x10-foot storage room in the garage FULL of boxes of books. Floor-to-ceiling. The thought of it is daunting. I asked Jonathan to pull some fiction boxes out for me. He managed to get five out and then gave up. He found out - books are heavy!

Analiese received a birthday package (a little early, but she didn't complain!) from our friend Karla. It was one of those Feisty Pets - stuffed animals

that have a lever in the back that, when you push it, the sleepy-looking animal (in this case, a rabbit) becomes a ferocious, teeth-baring beast.

It's hilarious and a little disturbing.

Friday, October 20, 2017
Analiese didn't have Seminary today, so she could sleep in. Not me, though. Jonathan had work at 7 a.m. and wanted a ride. So I dropped him off and made good time by going to Walmart. I had all four tires replaced; they were all getting worn and, with the possibility of a severe winter, I wanted them replaced. While I was there, I was able to pick up a prescription I've forgotten for three days now. So, for being up early, I accomplished much!

I wasn't done with the van, though. After a few hours at home, doing laundry, studying for Seminary, etc., I went off to the Ford dealership. Time for the regular tune up! And they told me the next one is free! I will really miss their reliable service when I move to Chickasha!

Saturday, October 21, 2017

I thought this was funny, being in the OK/TX area. Come to find out, they're offering it all over the US!

There was only three of us at work this morning. The one who was out, I don't know if it was time off or something else. One of the three of us left is fairly new, so HL came in during lunch hours to make sure we were covered. She came back for the Lego event later, as well.

I found a few books to be cataloged on my cart - about ten. Easily done. The rest of the day (not spent helping at the front) I spent sorting through some of those withdrawn books. I wore jeans today so I could dig through the cluttered closet. What a nightmare! There is so much in there that is just junk...like empty VHS cases, three boxes of them. No one is EVER going to use them again. Why keep them? I had to toss out some things just to make enough room to get other boxes out. A dusty, cluttered, mess!

After work, I quickly grabbed a bowl of chicken chili at home and headed towards the church. Some of the RS ladies were there working on prickly pear jelly. Note: those "prickles" are nothing to scoff at! They're practically invisible, tiny, and hurt like crazy...I'm still picking them out of my hands! We had tons of fruit and must have made at least 40 quarts of jelly and syrup

Sister-friend Ellaina filling jars of jelly.

(we ran out of pectin, having bought up all that Walmart had!). We ended up throwing out one large bowl of fruit, if we hadn't we could have still been cooking up to church starting tomorrow morning! We were there, as it was, until 11 p.m. (way past pumpkin time)! I kind of cleaned up as we went, so that wasn't too bad, but I am exhausted!

Sunday, October 22, 2017
Staying awake in church was SO hard! I made it all the way, but after church and family devotional, I went to bed and SLEPT!

The problem with sleeping, though, is that it took time away from what needed to be done. Like finishing Seminary lesson stuff - thought I did get that done - for tomorrow. Like greeting my husband when he came from Chickasha. Oh, and writing a blog. That got put aside for the moment.

Jonathan bought the latest (and best, in my opinion) Spiderman movie, so we had our Family night watching it with popcorn and plenty of commentary. Pretty mellow evening, but then, I didn't really have energy for much more.

CHALLENGES

Monday, October 9, 2017
That was awkward. I sat in the passenger seat of the Honda in the back parking lot of the church with the laptop in my lap. Teaching a video conference Seminary lesson. I could hardly see my notes or the scriptures because, even with the parking lot lamps and the light in the car, things were very dim. Class was very stilted and hard to hear, even with my earphones. No bueno.

No rain + 2 days of sunshine = PAINT! Angel Cousin let us borrow his sprayer, but...two problems: 1. Missing parts, 2. a little cup holder for paint and a big ol' house to do. Oh dear. So we headed to Walmart to see what we could get. They pretty much had the same stuff, but, since I was there, I did my grocery shopping. We went to Ace and they had what we needed - for $250.00. Ouch! Then we tried Rent City because maybe it's cheaper to rent a sprayer. Nope. $100 a day. So I called one of my VT sisters who had offered her sprayer and then we drove to her place to check it out. They couldn't find it. Now what? We couldn't afford to waste more time - already being 3 1/2 hours behind schedule because Ken had to unplug a clog in the A/C line first thing in the morning - so we decided to do it the old-fashioned way. He and Analiese got rollers and brushes and went to work!

Me? I was go-fer, safety monitor/ladder holder, and equipment cleaner PLUS I did laundry, picked and cleaned some pecans

, put out ant bait, picked up Jonathan from work and wash up from dinner (Jonathan grilled burgers

). BUSY!

Tuesday, October 10, 2017
It was bitterly cold this morning! Most of that was due to the icy Northern winds that blew all night. The internet was still down, so Analiese went outside to do some detail paint work on the house. Even in the sun, she was freezing!

She ended up coming with me to the library this afternoon so she could do her lesson work using their WiFi. She went home with me on my dinner break, staying there. It's a pain, but until we're up again, we have little choice. I did some Seminary work at the church this morning, but some of it had to be done at work in the evening (like opening up tomorrow's lesson). My boss is okay with it, though I try and do it on my break and use as little time possible.

I processed (besides books) some movies on DVD as some music CDs. I think I'm getting the hang of the movies by being a little sneaky and looking for information on other websites. But there's no hope for the music; I end up duplicating and older CD's record and just changing the information, which takes a bunch of time. Blech!

Wednesday, October 11, 2017
Still cool in the morning, but the day warmed up nicely. The wind has moved on to freeze out other folks.

After Seminary, I went to the medical lab to be there right when it opened. I needed to have some blood taken for my cholesterol levels for my doctor. He won't refill my prescription until I do. Oh well, it didn't take long; I was the first one there.

Analiese and I left early for the library today so I could first stop at the optometrist. One of my nose guards on my glasses broke off and was scratching my nose! They replaced both guards (they're impossible to clean so they get gross) quickly so we had time to stop at Walmart for ingredients I need to make a cake on Friday. The Sister missionaries are coming to dinner.

Analiese did her school work in the back near me and, when she finished, found a book and sat in the front in the Young Adult section to amuse herself. Jonathan came in at 20 after 3 from his job, staying until we all went home for dinner. My last fifteen minutes before leaving, they stood around me, breathing down my neck. I felt rather claustrophobic and very distracted!

Thursday, October 12, 2017
It's cotton pickin' time. Not just because the Chili Cook-off was last Saturday. Not just because the fields are bursting with fluffy white puffs. But because wisps of white are floating around town.  Who needs to buy fake spider webbing when pretty soon cotton will be festooned everywhere?

I'm so over this no WiFi thing. I spent extra time at the church this morning working on tomorrow's online lesson, so I didn't have to try to squeeze it into a break at work. Between emails from students and parents, grading yesterday's work and going over tomorrow's, I had a lot to do.

All of my books at the library were done yesterday. So I worked my way through eleven donated DVDs. Yes, a whole day's work for only eleven movies. Four of them were for one season of a television show. That takes a lot of coordinating because the labeling for each disc has to be precise. Then I had a trilogy of a popular movie which required a bunch of creative case-making: copying labels, cutting and pasting, etc. Most cataloging is pretty straight-forward. However, DVDs require a little more creativity.

It's been cold at night, warm during the day lately. Back and forth with these temperatures makes my throat hurt a little. It's like the weather can't make up it's mind.

Friday, October 13, 2017
I was up at 5:30 a.m. so I could teach Analiese's Seminary class this morning. They were all pretty squirrelly so we didn't get through all I wanted. Its's Homecoming tonight and I think that had something to do with their attitudes.

The AT&T technician was supposed to be here between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.. You know that generally means I'd be waiting all day at home. I planned to sneak Analiese over to the library so she could do her lessons and pray than in that 5-10 minutes away from the house nobody would show up. Gratefully, the AT&T truck pulled up around 9:00 a.m. This 6 foot, 6 inch cowboy (yep, boots and cowboy hat), had to stoop in my doorways to get to our computer/modem/router sets up. He looked at that a few minutes, then left to looks at lines and cables in our neighborhood. An hour later he had it fixed - I can't tell you how relieved Analiese and I were. She could do her lessons at home and I could work on next week's Seminary.

Plus, I spent my time making a zucchini-pineapple cake with cream cheese frosting and baking chicken alfredo lasagna rolls. The sister missionaries came to dinner. I could only eat one roll and a little bit of cake...it was so filling and yummy. Overall, a very good day!

Saturday, October 14, 2017
I had about seven non-fiction kids' books waiting for me at the library this morning. And a "collate and staple" project on my desk (they do know that $50,000 copier can actually do that, right?). My boss had been to the Hollis library yesterday and returned with boxes of withdrawn books for me to delete off of the system. On top of that, I cataloged 12 donated DVDs. Looks like I had plenty to do.

I took some leftover cake to my co-workers this afternoon. I don't need to have that cake tempting me at home. So the Carbohydrate Devil strikes again! They were thrilled. One of them thinks I ought to open a bakery. I do NOT want to have to work continually around hot ovens. That is a job for perpetually skinny and cold people. I need not apply.

I was alone this evening after work for a while. Jonathan was at a priesthood barbecue by the reservoir and Analiese was at a combined YW/YM acctivity with the Vernon and Seymour branches at the Vernon building in Texas. It was a pizza and movie sort of thing. She got home around 9. She even me a couple of my online students!

Sunday, October 15, 2017
We had a good conversation in Relief Society today about how to reach out to other faiths. Our teacher was a recent convert and her perspective was enlightening. There was a lot of good discussion.

Ken texted me at the end of Church, saying, "See you soon." I thought it meant he was leaving Chickasha right then after his meetings, early for him. But as we got home, we saw his car in the driveway. He had left right after sacrament meeting to deal with a work issue and then came straight to Altus. He was laden with treats and made popcorn so we could have a movie night together. But first, the kids had to show him some clean comedy routines they had found. One in particular addressed a spouse with Aspergers. He just had to hear it.

VERY WET

Monday, October 2, 2017
My Seminary kids all seemed to be sleeping this morning. I felt for them. I had woken up at 3:00 a.m. with a horrible headache. It took me a while to go back to sleep, even after taking the ibuprofen. After Seminary, I asked Ken to go get Analiese and took a one-hour nap.

I awoke to find them counting Monarchs in the back yard. It's mesmerizing to watch them fluttering through the yard.

I fought headaches all day. Ken and I went to lunch; I had a headache right after. Later in the afternoon, I had another one. They've been in different regions of my brain, too. I have no idea why.

I made a cheesy chicken and rice casserole for dinner, throwing in some broccoli. Jonathan wasn't pleased about the veggie (his least favorite), but it didn't stop him from eating two helpings. It was good, but garlicky. It will keep the vampires away!

Tuesday, October 3, 2017
After a drought of pecans last year, this season looks promising. Fat clusters of green pods hang heavily from the tree boughs. Analiese, outside clearing trash so Jonathan could mow, couldn't resist picking up a few of the early-comers. She's concerned that Steve the squirrel and his family will take the lion's share!

I was greeted by a Monarch as I left for work at noon today. I know they have no ears, so it couldn't hear my friendly "hello." But do you think that it was aware of me? I know, only too painfully and too well, that other insects have taken notice of me. It would be nice to be recognized by such a beautiful butterfly!

Plenty of books and audiobooks were waiting for me today. Though by the end of the day, I was finished with all the books and had made a dent in the books on CD. Here's a cute children's book I processed today: Pigeon P.I. The artwork and story had me chuckling literally from cover to cover. It was quite clever.

I have a headache tonight. I'd managed not to have one all day until the sun set. My only consolation is the bird chorus going on behind me on the power lines behind the library. Cheery fellows, the lot!

Wednesday, October 4, 2017
It was a drippy, wet morning again. It was only sprinkling when we dropped Analiese off at Seminary. But between Walgreens and back to the church, it really started coming down.

It had stopped by the end of her class and we left the building. On the sidewalk we met a new friend... a little frog was enjoying the wet concrete. Analiese christened him Freddie. He started hopping toward the parking lot, but out of compassion and fear that he'd get squished (we've encountered a lot of animal squish lately), we shooed him back to the sidewalk.

It was a normal workday. Books and whatnot. Jonathan came from Walgreens around 3:30 to wait to drive me home on my dinner break. He was pretty tired, he tried to take a nap on my book processing table! I told him he'd better wake up if he wanted to drive me home.

This evening at work a storm really hit. Some lightning and thunder, but definitely a lot of rain! It got loud for a few minutes! When it's a thunderstorm, we have to be careful at the library because our electrical system doesn't always handle it well. Tonight, though, it wasn't much of a concern.

Thursday, October 5, 2017
This morning found me too busy for the luxury of a nap. Bummer. Bills needed paying, emails needed replies (Seminary and EPIC), thoughts needed juggling. Before I knew it, morning was over and it was time to go to work!

I left Analiese with a personal project of her own to do while I was gone. In her Seminary class, they take turns taking goodies on Friday. Tomorrow is her turn and she wanted to take muffins - pumpkin muffins in particular. So we found a recipe she liked on Pinterest, bought the ingredients, and this afternoon she made them. She said they didn't look as nice as the photo on line, but I told her...they never do. I bet they will still taste great - she's taking after her mother, you know!

What a surprise this afternoon: we had a large, unexpected rainstorm. And me without my umbrella! It slowed down enough as I left for my dinner break and was good when I returned. But not long after...rain, rain, rain! The neighborhood streets are so flooded!

Friday, October 6, 2017
Analiese's muffins? They went over well with her Seminary class. I had some for my breakfast. They were moist and very tasty. Success!

Today dawned bright and sunny with many muddy patches and puddles! You wouldn't believe how many and how large the toadstools are! I told Analiese to watch out for fairy rings!

The insect population is out of control, too. The mosquitoes are a constant annoyance - I'm eaten alive - and the ants seem to have multiplied overnight. Today I also saw lots of dragonflies; I guess they're in response to the mosquitoes. I only wished they worked better.

I got a pedicure today. I decided to try the nail salon in Walmart. It's small and it wasn't busy, so I got right in. I've chosen a neon orange (think traffic cones) to brighten up my October!

This evening I made bean with bacon soup for dinner. It was a new recipe - yes, it was from Pinterest. The kids really liked it and Jonathan polished it off. No leftovers.

Saturday, October 8, 2017
Altus was swinging today! Besides the traditional 1st Saturday of October Cotton Pickin' Chili Cook-off (which now also includes BBQ & salsa), there was a Turkey Trot run today (they do know it's only October, right?) and some community yard/garage sales in business parking lots on Main Street. Oh, and the Downtown Marketplace was open with hayrides, bouncies, etc. It all meant that I had to take particular streets to get to home for lunch and back again to work. But it was a gorgeous fall day for it all. Bummer I had to work!

On my lunch hour, I set up dinner in the crockpot as per my norm. It was creamy spaghetti with everything (even the pasta) thrown in the pot. What makes it creamy? Cream cheese. It tasted good, but the spaghetti all clumped together and cooked into one gooey mess. The recipe told me to layer ingredients in the pot. If I try it again, I'd mix the pasta with the sauce, rather than layer. That should help with the sticking.

Sunday, October 9, 2017
Our Sunday started out with a challenge. You may think no WiFi/Internet is no big deal, especially on the Sabbath, but you have to remember: my calling DEPENDS on it! Everything from live lessons, to studying, to scheduling, to communicating with students, it all takes place on the website which means...Internet access is VITAL. Ken suggested that I take my laptop to church and work on my class stuff that I would usually to at home Sunday afternoons and do it during Sunday School. It was my best option at the moment, so I found an empty room on the other side of the clerk's office (so I wouldn't disturb any classes if I had to watch or make a video) and spent all of SS and part of Relief Society working on it.

After church we went home to find the connection status unchanged. Oh brother! I have my online class tomorrow morning...I NEED connectivity! We decided that this was an "ox in the mire" scenario and Ken went to Walmart TWICE trying to find a router that would work. No go, the problem wasn't the router. He spent quite some time on the phone with AT&T...we get a technician. Friday (eye rolling here). What to do in the meantime? In particular, tomorrow? Ken drove over to the church (he was really my hero today) to find the best WiFi signals available in the parking lot. Because I have my class at 6 and I don't have keys to the building and the Altus Ward teacher won't be there until after I need to get in. So I'll be doing Seminary in my car.

COOLING DOWN

Monday, September 25, 2017
It looks like it's going to be a damp, soggy week. Once again - SIGH - painting is not in the cards.

But Ken is here today and we went shopping earlier because he needs to leave by 3:00 p.m. Apparently he has to work at TB tonight by 7:00 p.m.

We did have time to go to lunch as a belated birthday present for me. We went to Applebee's, which sits just north of town, past the college, but before the movie theater. I had their four-cheese macaroni and cheese with honey pepper chicken bites (a nice combo, actually) and a Caesar salad. Not too much food, but just enough to answer my cheesy cravings.

Jonathan took Analiese and I to see the Ninjago movie tonight. It was okay; I'm not into that sort of thing. I enjoyed the Lego movie and the Batman Lego movie more. But the kids are fans of the Ninjago TV show, so I heard comparisons and critiques all the way home.

Tuesday, September 26, 2017
SOGGY morning. Jonathan gets some more rain-driving experience, but it feels like I'll be swimming to work.

When I went back to the church after dropping Jonathan off at Walgreen's, I saw a frog on the church sidewalk. Of course, this exciting encountered had to be announced to Analiese's Seminary class. They hadn't gotten started yet, so I wasn't interrupting!

There was plenty to do at work today, lots of books. Jonathan walked here after he got off at Walgreen's so that he could drive home. We've told him to take advantage of every opportunity.

There was a really weird thing going on across the street from the library around twilight. Birds - thousands of them - all perched on the Church of Christ's roof and annex, or huddled in their two parking lots, or on all the power lines around it and a house across the road.

There were even some on the power lines behind the library - I heard them chirp-chirping away - but it was very strange. Hitchcock-esque. They were gone by closing time!

Wednesday, September 27, 2017
It's another wet morning. Lather, rinse, repeat. I'm feeling somewhat waterlogged.

No strange animal encounters today. More's the pity. They certainly help break up the monotony.

I received a strange compliment from a coworker today. She said that, for a religious person, I was pretty cool. I said I would take it as a compliment and asked her to elaborate. She said I wasn't super-serious or pious all the time. I told her that I believed that God has a sense of humor. She laughed at that. Well, we're created in His image, so if I have a sense of humor, it only means so does He. And, "men are that they might have joy." The gospel means "good news." I felt happy to be a good example of how being a believer makes one happy.

Thursday, September 28, 2017
A morning without rain is like a breath of fresh air. Literally. The day is still gray, but at least the dampness is subsiding. For now.

I had let the LD borrow my special booster for my chair (for my back) today. Since I got my new chair, I don't need it and she's been really suffering the last few days with bad back pain. It helps you sit right (posture) in a chair. She told me later that it made a world of difference. I was glad it helped because she's been so miserable!

It's a very quiet night at the library this evening. Thursdays usually are. It's just three of us tonight and probably will be on Saturday, too. They did some interviewing today to fill the FD2 position AGAIN, but aren't too thrilled. Believe it or not, a lot of people don't even bother to show up for the scheduled interview! As a coworker said, "We have bad ju-ju!"

Friday, September 29, 2017
A friend the next town over posted on Facebook today that the Monarch butterflies are migrating. Sure enough, I saw at least half a dozen this afternoon in the backyard. They were smaller than I thought they'd be. They were also beautiful!

Other than basics, I didn't get much done at home today. Mainly, because I was just feeling blah. I mean, I got a lot of Seminary stuff done, like finishing off the week's assignment grading and prepping for next week. This stuff all seems to fall on Friday.

For dinner, I made a tortellini soup with fresh spinach. It was a definite soup night and, yum, was it good! I'd wanted to make rolls earlier, but the blahs prevented me.

Saturday, September 30, 2017
I'm loving the purple the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is wearing for Conference this morning. It's a deep purple dress on the ladies, with light and dark stripes on the ties of the men. And...I love being able to watch General Conference at  my job!

Before that began, I met another homeschool mom (anyone who comes to the front talking about that, I get called up). This one has moved to Granite (30 mins. north, where the prison is that Ken used to work at) from Hawaii (?!?!?). She has a daughter Analiese's age. She's also quite the mover and shaker. She's heading up some 4H stuff for Mangum with chickens and rabbits. Apparently while they get established, they'll be meeting for rabbit club with our group. She's already met a couple people from the Jackson County club. She has more energy than I do, that's for sure!

I heard most of conference, both the morning and afternoon sessions, with only a little break when I went to lunch and picked up tacos (from, seriously Pick-Up Taco) for the kids. The peace in the back of the library is quite conducive to listening!

Sunday, October 1, 2017
We stayed up too late last night. Mainly, we were waiting for Ken who'd been delayed because of TB, plus we were watching "The Apple Dumpling Gang" on BYUtv. It made me too tired and irritable this morning. No bueno.

Conference was great anyway. Listening, trying to be aware of spiritual messages unheard, helped to calm and center me. It put Analiese to sleep, though.

I had an hour nap between sessions, but I woke to find out that one of the Apostles, Elder Hale, had passed away in between. He hadn't been at Conference, being in the hospital, but it was still sad. Such a gentle giant of a man!

Of course his passing was mentioned during the afternoon session. The last speaker - Elder Andersen - even had a brief message that Elder Hales had wanted to give if he'd been healthy enough to come. Talk about enduring to the end! It was very touching. Apparently President Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, had left right after morning Conference to be by Elder Hales' side (and his family) and was there when he died. These men really love each other!