JUST MORE

I love to listen to my husband talk to his daughters and his grandchildren on the phone. He is sooo in love with each of them! He bought a bunch of Halloween candy and left it on the dining table. Ladybug and I were snooping around it, but the OSM one insisted we could not touch any of it because the grandchildren get first pick! I swear he sent half of what he bought to the grandchildren to fortify their stash!

On Halloween, I hide out in my room all night. This year, I left my bedroom door open and I could hear my hubby passing out the candies. He is sooooo funny! I could tell he was enamored with the younger trick-or-treaters. I heard him say, “A Princess! Oh! My granddaughter is a princess this year!” then I heard him say, “OO, great costume, buddy!” However, when I heard the older voices at the door, there was not much response from the OSM one. He was very generous! We did not have a lot of candy left.

I watched a fireside on TV last night where President Uchdorft spoke to the young adults. He told the story of the ugly duckling and its mistreatment by the other ducklings. Ultimately, the ugly duckling was able to recognize its own value and identity as a glorious swan. At one point, President Uchdorft said, “you are not but ugly ducklings, you are glorious ….” I misinterpreted him to say, “You are not BUTT UGLY ducklings…” I could not stop laughing! It reminded me of when a therapist told one of my foster daughters that she had to get to know someone for two weeks before you could tell them they were BUTT UGLY.

President Uchdorft gave the youth encouragement regarding remaining strong and having faith. He also talked about finding their mate. This was a very funny portion of his talk. He got after the boys and said they just needed to ask. Then he got after the girls and told them you don’t have to say yes to just any marriage proposal, and that they need to be kind when telling a boy “no.” He further admitted that he was immature when he first fell in love with his wife. However, after attending flight training in the US, he returned to Germany. When he asked his wife on a date, her comment was “my how you’ve matured while you were away.” It was so funny.

I have faced a few challenges head on since I last blogged. I bore my testimony in church, which felt like having a panic attack. I pushed myself to do a bit of walking and jogging, which raised my heart rate to 190. It was a little difficult following the two challenges while waiting for my heart rate to return to normal. I also had to rush out of work to catch the bus, and left my medication behind. At first, it concerned me, and I had a few moments of increased breathing and heart rate, but was able to maintain composure until the adrenaline receded. These were all great accomplishments for me. Oh! Moreover, I went to the grocery store! Hardest challenge ever! I looked for Xing tea and assumed it would be on the aisle with the energy drinks and ice tea. But it wasn’t. So I continued looking and ended up in the soda pop aisle. But it wasn’t there either. I looked in all the little refrigerated cabinets at the end of the aisles and at each check stand but couldn’t find it. Then I went down an aisle where the beer was. I remember thinking there is no way they put the tea on the same aisle with the beer, but I think that WAS the aisle where I found it! I had traveled from one end of the store to the other and was probably inside for about ½ hour. I love the Xing tea flavor called Half-and-Half. It is mostly lemonade with a bit of pear juice and black tea. I also really like the Mango flavored.

I found an old photograph that I believe to be my maternal great grandparents. This gave me renewed purpose in getting more scratches out of the dining table. I am just about finished! Perhaps this weekend, I will be able to stain it again. Sanding the burn marks out of the inserts of the table was particularly difficult. Once I removed them, I needed to sand onto the main table portion because so much had been taken off the leave, that there was a large difference in the levels.

The sawdust is everywhere! I am totally covered in it! One of the girls opened the garage door to tell me something and when I looked up, she said I looked like a mad scientist! I had my haired pulled back with a headband and it was sticking straight up due to the way it is cut. My face and hair were covered in sawdust and I had my sander in my hand, which added to the effect.

One time Ladybug passed behind me to go pick up the mail. She thought I was aware of her so she returned the same way, through the garage. But I wasn’t aware of her and she startled me. I whipped around fast and held the sander up toward her. Augh! Ladybug! Never sneak up on me when I have a power tool in my hand! Then I taunted her as though I was the chain saw killer.