Dear Kids,
I went on a very short, very glorious hike down at the Jordanelle reservoir yesterday morning. It was the first time I’ve been there in more than a year. The sky was blue, the junipers were green, and the water was clear. I used my cane, but lots of hikers use walking sticks, so I didn’t feel odd. I’m planning lots of hikes, as my leg gets stronger. Someday I might even hike without the cane. Maybe I won’t even take it to church. I tried packing it away altogether, but I stumbled a couple of times, so I got it out again. At least I’m improving, even if it’s slow.
Anna has been taking piano lessons from me for several weeks, and she’s moving along really well. Donna practices with her at home, which makes a huge difference. It’s fun to have her playing Hokey Pokey and London Bridge and Can Can, and all the old goldies. She’s the only child I’m teaching right now; all the rest of my students are senior citizens. One man from West Valley, Claren Palmer, comes to our house, but I teach the rest of them at the senior center. It’s one of the highlights of my week. They all take it very seriously, and they even thank me. It pumps me up for the rest of my week.
Friday afternoon Dad and I met up with John, and then we went to the Provo Temple together. (That’s one place where I’m glad to use a cane. You get very special treatment!) After the temple session, we went to the Orem Costco. Following John through Costco is like following a tornado. He grabs things and throws them in his cart (2 carts that time) while he’s practically running down the aisles, almost like those shoppers who win shopping sprees. They try to see how much they can spend in just a few minutes. John takes a little longer, but not by much. It isn’t worth his time unless he spends at least $500. I asked him what his all-time spending record was, and he said probably $1,000, all in one cart. Dad and I together spent $23, on a jar of macadamia nut clusters and a brick of white cheddar cheese. Dad and I have a membership at Sams, where things are cheaper, but John told me that the average Sams club shopper has an annual income of only $44,000, compared to $78,000 for a Costco shopper. I still feel more comfortable with those low income people. You can take us out of the ghetto, but you can’t take the ghetto out of us.
Spring is really here, and I hope you’re all enjoying it like we are! Lots of love, Mom
Sunday, April 21, 2019
Dear Kids,
I hope you’re all having a wonderful Easter morning! We’re looking forward to church, and to getting together at Nora’s house for the Easter egg hunt and picnic this afternoon. I know we usually do all that on Saturday, but Nora had to reschedule because McKay was sick. It’s always great to get together, whenever it happens to work out.
We had a couple of warm, sunny days this week, and people everywhere seemed happier. Our cats are happier too, because they’ve been spending more time outside. Scout has learned to chase birds, mostly little ones. He hasn’t caught any yet. Jacob bragged that his cat Adeline had brought home her first dead bird. Go, Adeline. I hope our cats stick with chasing them only. Sonia had a little adventure over in our neighbor’s yard, the yard where Harley the Siberian husky lives. She got in under their gate and was wandering around their trailers, very proud of herself. Then the little girl who lives there decided to catch her, and Sonia forgot how to get out. She ran for the corner by our yard and couldn’t get through. She was doing flips and back flips in her panic, and trying to jump over, but it was too high. Thank goodness it was only the little girl and not Harley. (Although the dad insists that Harley would never hurt a cat. He only likes to chase them.) Anyway, Sonia wasn’t as bad off as she thought, and we opened the gate and coaxed her back into our yard, where she bolted for the garage door. I hope she learns to stay closer to home.
I know I’ve mentioned to some of you that there’s a spot on my lung. I had a cat scan last week that showed that it’s grown, but it’s still only a centimeter across. My oncologist says it’s still too small to biopsy safely (the needle might hit something else), and he doesn’t want to start any chemo or radiation until he knows exactly what it is. So he wants to wait and just watch it. I remember that after I had the colon cancer, they said they needed to check the lower part of my lung, because colon cancer likes to spread there. But the spot didn’t show up for another six months. Maybe it started with one cell that got away. Who knows? I feel like my life is in the Lord’s hands, and I’ll live as long as He wants me to. Maybe the spot will miraculously disappear. That happens sometimes. I’ll keep you posted. Naturally I still need your prayers.
Thank you all for being so wonderful and supportive! Love, Mom
I hope you’re all having a wonderful Easter morning! We’re looking forward to church, and to getting together at Nora’s house for the Easter egg hunt and picnic this afternoon. I know we usually do all that on Saturday, but Nora had to reschedule because McKay was sick. It’s always great to get together, whenever it happens to work out.
We had a couple of warm, sunny days this week, and people everywhere seemed happier. Our cats are happier too, because they’ve been spending more time outside. Scout has learned to chase birds, mostly little ones. He hasn’t caught any yet. Jacob bragged that his cat Adeline had brought home her first dead bird. Go, Adeline. I hope our cats stick with chasing them only. Sonia had a little adventure over in our neighbor’s yard, the yard where Harley the Siberian husky lives. She got in under their gate and was wandering around their trailers, very proud of herself. Then the little girl who lives there decided to catch her, and Sonia forgot how to get out. She ran for the corner by our yard and couldn’t get through. She was doing flips and back flips in her panic, and trying to jump over, but it was too high. Thank goodness it was only the little girl and not Harley. (Although the dad insists that Harley would never hurt a cat. He only likes to chase them.) Anyway, Sonia wasn’t as bad off as she thought, and we opened the gate and coaxed her back into our yard, where she bolted for the garage door. I hope she learns to stay closer to home.
I know I’ve mentioned to some of you that there’s a spot on my lung. I had a cat scan last week that showed that it’s grown, but it’s still only a centimeter across. My oncologist says it’s still too small to biopsy safely (the needle might hit something else), and he doesn’t want to start any chemo or radiation until he knows exactly what it is. So he wants to wait and just watch it. I remember that after I had the colon cancer, they said they needed to check the lower part of my lung, because colon cancer likes to spread there. But the spot didn’t show up for another six months. Maybe it started with one cell that got away. Who knows? I feel like my life is in the Lord’s hands, and I’ll live as long as He wants me to. Maybe the spot will miraculously disappear. That happens sometimes. I’ll keep you posted. Naturally I still need your prayers.
Thank you all for being so wonderful and supportive! Love, Mom
Sunday, April 14, 2019
Dear Kids,
We have a plan for Easter Saturday! The party will be at Nora’s house, and we’ll have the Easter egg hunt at 2 pm. Bring about as many eggs as your kids will collect–somebody suggested a dozen per kid. We’ll have the hunt at that wonderful park across from Nora’s house. Then we’ll eat after that. You can call or text Nora for a food assignment. I’m really looking forward to all the fun. And seeing green grass and tulips in Nora’s neighborhood. It’s still winter here. It snows almost every day, but it usually melts that same day. At least we won’t have to worry about a drought this year. The snowpack in the mountains is about 150 percent of normal.
Yesterday while I was using my computer the mouse suddenly stopped working, and then the keyboard. I called Tom and asked if he could come by and check things out. When he came, he brought another computer that has the same hardware as mine. The school district is always throwing them away, and Tom rescues some of them. He says he has “homed” quite a few of them, which means that he’s found them new homes. Anyway, instead of spending hours trying to find the problem with my computer, he just pulled out the hard drive and put it in the computer he brought. That only took about five minutes. He said it’s way easier than trouble shooting. Go, Tom! It’s great to have so many specialists in our family.
Our kitties are still keeping us entertained. Sonia has become obsessed with cords. I was trying to use my hand mixer in the kitchen, and I had it plugged into the side of the island. She kept grabbing the cord and trying to pull everything down. When I was talking to Katie on my phone, I had it plugged in because it was almost dead. Sonia kept biting the cord and unplugging it for me. I finally threw her into the bunkbed room so I could talk in peace. She bites the shoelaces in Dad’s shoes, and especially the long ones in his winter boots. When I sew she jumps up on the table and tries to pull the thread out of the sewing machine. I hope she grows out of this phase, because she’s really a nuisance right now. Scout lives to fight with Tina. They go at it as often as they can. There’s always lots of cat fur for Dad to vacuum up.
Lots of love to everybody! Mom
We have a plan for Easter Saturday! The party will be at Nora’s house, and we’ll have the Easter egg hunt at 2 pm. Bring about as many eggs as your kids will collect–somebody suggested a dozen per kid. We’ll have the hunt at that wonderful park across from Nora’s house. Then we’ll eat after that. You can call or text Nora for a food assignment. I’m really looking forward to all the fun. And seeing green grass and tulips in Nora’s neighborhood. It’s still winter here. It snows almost every day, but it usually melts that same day. At least we won’t have to worry about a drought this year. The snowpack in the mountains is about 150 percent of normal.
Yesterday while I was using my computer the mouse suddenly stopped working, and then the keyboard. I called Tom and asked if he could come by and check things out. When he came, he brought another computer that has the same hardware as mine. The school district is always throwing them away, and Tom rescues some of them. He says he has “homed” quite a few of them, which means that he’s found them new homes. Anyway, instead of spending hours trying to find the problem with my computer, he just pulled out the hard drive and put it in the computer he brought. That only took about five minutes. He said it’s way easier than trouble shooting. Go, Tom! It’s great to have so many specialists in our family.
Our kitties are still keeping us entertained. Sonia has become obsessed with cords. I was trying to use my hand mixer in the kitchen, and I had it plugged into the side of the island. She kept grabbing the cord and trying to pull everything down. When I was talking to Katie on my phone, I had it plugged in because it was almost dead. Sonia kept biting the cord and unplugging it for me. I finally threw her into the bunkbed room so I could talk in peace. She bites the shoelaces in Dad’s shoes, and especially the long ones in his winter boots. When I sew she jumps up on the table and tries to pull the thread out of the sewing machine. I hope she grows out of this phase, because she’s really a nuisance right now. Scout lives to fight with Tina. They go at it as often as they can. There’s always lots of cat fur for Dad to vacuum up.
Lots of love to everybody! Mom
Sunday, April 7, 2019
Dear Kids,
The conference sessions yesterday were wonderful, but there weren’t any earth-shaking announcements. Maybe there will be some today, when the prophet speaks. Or maybe he’ll just give his usual wonderful talk. Maybe all the rumors were just rumors. It’s all good. I love conference weekend!
Our bread and soup party last night was a blast, although we didn’t have as many people as usual. Half of Tom’s family was sick, and Nora’s family was just getting home from their trip. But I hope all the travelers had a good time. I saw the picture of Paige with her broken arm (and a cute little frown on her face,) but hopefully that was the worst thing that happened to anybody.
Our cabin joists were delivered a couple of weeks ago, (ahead of schedule!) but needless to say, nobody has hit the ground running yet. The same restoration company has been working on Donna’s bathroom for months, and they finally finished it, which was a miracle. At the rate it took them to do that little job, our cabin will be done in, say, five years or so. If we’re lucky, it might be sooner.
Easter is coming up in just two weeks, and we don’t have a plan yet, but I’ll talk to Nora today, along with the other people that will be here for lunch. We’ll hammer out something, and I’ll write the details next week.
I’m barely using my cane at all these days, and I’m finally starting to feel a lot better. My leg still hurts, but I don’t have that general sick feeling I’ve had all these months. Thanks so much for your prayers. I know Heavenly Father has been listening.
Love to everybody, Mom
The conference sessions yesterday were wonderful, but there weren’t any earth-shaking announcements. Maybe there will be some today, when the prophet speaks. Or maybe he’ll just give his usual wonderful talk. Maybe all the rumors were just rumors. It’s all good. I love conference weekend!
Our bread and soup party last night was a blast, although we didn’t have as many people as usual. Half of Tom’s family was sick, and Nora’s family was just getting home from their trip. But I hope all the travelers had a good time. I saw the picture of Paige with her broken arm (and a cute little frown on her face,) but hopefully that was the worst thing that happened to anybody.
Our cabin joists were delivered a couple of weeks ago, (ahead of schedule!) but needless to say, nobody has hit the ground running yet. The same restoration company has been working on Donna’s bathroom for months, and they finally finished it, which was a miracle. At the rate it took them to do that little job, our cabin will be done in, say, five years or so. If we’re lucky, it might be sooner.
Easter is coming up in just two weeks, and we don’t have a plan yet, but I’ll talk to Nora today, along with the other people that will be here for lunch. We’ll hammer out something, and I’ll write the details next week.
I’m barely using my cane at all these days, and I’m finally starting to feel a lot better. My leg still hurts, but I don’t have that general sick feeling I’ve had all these months. Thanks so much for your prayers. I know Heavenly Father has been listening.
Love to everybody, Mom
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