Sunday, January 11, 2015

 

 

Happy Birthday Grandpa Albert Alexander Strickland

born January 11, 1889

 

Today is our first day as official members of the Galveston 3rd ward, Chandler West stake.  Our meetings start at 11 am.  We sat on the second row between Sheri and Stacy's families.  We counted about 30 families in the ward, probably about a third of the ward.  We were warmly welcomed by many that we know. 

 

Today was high council week and we heard from two high councilmen, Brother Jeppsen, a member of our ward, and Bob Kaufman, the high councilman who is over our ward.  We have known Bob and Claire Kaufman since we moved to Chandler in 1971. The topic for today's meeting was the law of the Fast.  The Chase children sang: "Give Said the Little Stream."  I haven't heard that song sung in years.  They don't sing it anymore in Primary.  I guess it does go along with the theme of fasting and giving offerings.

 

Robin Finlinson taught Sunday School.  The lesson was on the calling of John the Baptist.  I sat by Laura during Sunday School and Relief Society.  Marion Chase taught the first lesson from the Ezra Taft Benson manual and it was on putting God first in our lives.  Here is one of my favorite quotes from the lesson: "If we put God first in our lives, everything else will fall into place or fall out of our lives.

 





 

For lunch/dinner James and I had our chicken and quinoa I bought at Costco yesterday.  It was quite tasty.  James loved it and ate more than I did.  Today I had no soda or sweets. 

 

This evening I connected James's phone to the Gonzales wifi and downloaded the new Gospel Library app for him and the Ezra Taft Benson manual.

 

It was a good Sabbath day.

 





Saturday, January 10, 2015

 

"All happiness, all success, all glorious achievement rest with the individual. 

He can make a heaven or a hell upon the earth."

-Ezra Taft Benson

 

Sheri, Evan, Joshua and I all rode together to Evan and Rowan's soccer game this morning.  Since Trina is the coach and Darrel was at work we got to spend time with Addy, Ruby, and Lola.  We did have to share them with Trina's parents.

 

 

Ruby was star student at her school this week and she got to bring home the class bear.

I can't for the life of me remember this bear's name.

 

Sheri, checking out her phone.

Joshua, Lola, Ruby, and Addy.

Lola reading a book.

Trina and the team.

 

One of the reasons that Joshua came to the game was for him to see if he would be interested in playing with Evan and Rowan. He was so cute at the beginning of the game, he was running along the sidelines and cheering them on.  After the game he said he did want to play so I told Trina and she said she would get him signed up.

 

We had planned on going to Zinburger today with the kids but Kim stayed up all night cleaning her "junk" room getting ready for carpet so she is probably going to sleep today.  We will try again next week.  James is trying to finish up some things at the airport.  There were a few drops of rain today, otherwise the weather is in the 60's-70's.

 

Sheri and I went to Costco after the game.  I got some food for tomorrow so now I don't have to go to Walmart.  After shopping I came home to take and nap and then James and I headed to MCC to see Addy and Ruby's dance team perform at the halftime of MCC's basketball game.  They performed a little earlier than what Trina told us and we missed it.  We got to seem them and take some pictures.  We also saw our friend Carol and Howard Gale.  Their granddaughter had performed too.

 No, Addy doesn't have four legs.  That's Ruby

hiding behind her.

 

Ruby appears!

 

Rowan makes the funniest faces!

A couple of clowns!

 

We followed Trina home because I wanted to see the Hogwarts Legos at their house.  I was not disappointed!



Trina even bought some special shelves to put in the family room to display Hogwarts on.

Looks like they had a war.

Trina helped the kids assemble this set and she

said she was impressed with the detail.

Speaking of Trina:

Love these two!

 

Trying to figure out plastic bubbles from the Dollar Store.

Anna got them started on these at Christmas time.

Rowan made a bubble!

 







 







Friday, January 9, 2015

Beautiful scene

 

"How could we pollute the Lord's name?  Perhaps by saying it in vain,

or by calling ourselves by His name without really relying on Him."

-John Bytheway

 

James and I were both up to get ready to drive to the valley at 4am.  He left at 4:40 because he has an inspection at 8am.  I am so glad his truck is out of the shop!  I left around 5:10 and will be going the Globe way because my appointment at the arthritis center is at 8:30. 

 

While driving I was listening to Jack Graham on the radio  He is a preacher and I am wondering if he is the son of Billy Graham.  He asks the question if there is slavery in America and then preaches a sermon about how we can become a slave to bad decisions and habits.  He then makes the point that it is through Jesus Christ that we can overcome our sins and bad habits.  He says that Christ changes us.  It was a good sermon. 

 

I stopped at a Circle K in Globe to get a drink and a sandwich because I was starting to fall asleep.  I drove straight to the Arthritis Center in Mesa and arrived at exactly 8:30 am and they took me right back to the infusion center.  When Frances ask me how I was doing I told her I had not felt well at all.  I had to be honest.  The girl who inserted the needle for my bloodwork and infusion had to poke me five times and she left a bruise on the lower part of my left arm. 

 

Finally I was settled in and could relax to watch some TV.  The only thing on was a special news report about the terrorist/hostage situation in France.  Twenty are dead since this started on Wednesday, including the three terrorists.  What is our world coming to?

 

I saw Dr. Caldron's physicians assistant today, Tiffany.  I told her how miserable I have been and she upped my Remicade from 300 mg. to 400 mg., starting today.  She also upped my weekly dose of methotrexate from 4 to 6. 

 

I was feeling pretty good when I drove to Chandler a couple of hours later, except I was hungry.  I picked up James at the house and we went to Cheesecake Factory to use one of the gift cards we got for Christmas.  I had the chicken stuffed tortillas and a piece of strawberry cheesecake to take home.  James had the fish tacos.  He ate two of the four and part of my meal.  I had the other two fish tacos for dinner. 

 

After lunch James was feeling dizzy, nauseous, and had chest pains.  I took him home so he could lay down and I went to Sam's Club to wash the mud off my car and to get a refund for a Christmas return I had.  I also went to Costco to return something and to do some shopping and to Deseret Book to spend my gift cards there.  While there I had a nice visit with Connie Barnett.

 

Back at home it was time to start moving Michael downstairs.  Instead of Stacy & Paul moving out of the master bedroom, we agreed we would take Michael's room and he would take the downstairs, at least until Dallin moves out.  

 

While Michael and Paul went to dinner at a new BBQ place called Piggley's Stacy moves some of Michael's stuff and when he gets back he is upset.  I also don't think he wants to move downstairs because he thinks he won't have any privacy since James'  office has been down there.  To remedy that problem I told James we should move the computers and office stuff into our bedroom, which we did.  We now have our bed in Michael's old room along with a table for his computer and a table for mine, along with a place for the printer.  I think I am going to like the bed we brought.  It's the one Karen Schneider gave me.  Also, for working all afternoon and evening I feel great.  Thank goodness for good medicine.

 

Facebook finds:

 

  Darrel reading to Ruby's class.  I think he is reading from

"Pinkalicious".  I love this picture!

 

This one too!  



Thursday, January 8, 2015



 

"But verily, verily, I say unto you, he that hath the spirit

of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another."

-Elder Dallin H. Oaks

 

 

James went to St. John's with Chuck Crane to get Cary Dobson to sign papers so we can get a tax credit for him grazing cattle on our land.  Cary has 260,000 acres and his ranch is worth 20 million dollars, but he's not selling. 

 

This afternoon we made a trip to town to take my tire to get it fixed at Discount Tire.  They said it was unfixable and they had to put on a new tire.  It's a good thing we had insurance.  It ended up costing us $30.00.  We also went to Chase and National Bank, the Book Barn, and had lunch at LaCasita.  We had to take care of business because we are leaving for the valley tomorrow morning.

 

 

Tonight we watched the second part of Christmas in Canaan and liked it almost as well as the first one.

 

 

Facebook find:

 



Wednesday, January 7, 2015

 

"The gospel of Jesus Christ opens the path to what we may become.  Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ and His grace, our failures to live the celestial law perfectly and consistently in mortality can be erased and we are enabled to develop a Christlike character."

-Elder D. Todd Christofferson

 

 

Am I ever going to sleep in my bed again?  I love the recliner in our bedroom almost as much as I love the one in the family room!

 

I got a good morning text from James at 5:19.  He is having more troubles and woes with the city of Chandler over the Hatch Hanger job at the Chandler airport.

I started my morning with what I call my lemon toddy which consists of: one squeezed lemon, one table spoon honey and one tablespoon vineager in a cup of hot/warm water.  This is supposed to be a good cleanser to use in the morning.  I am determined to drink more water.  Also, James and I are on a no junk food challenge for the next 3 weeks.  Today I had 8 glasses of water and one soda.  I told him I couldn't cut out junk food and sodas all at once.

 

Today was Niles Dutson's funeral.  I am sorry we missed it.

 

I worked hard today.  I swept, cleaned and polished the wood floors until I ran out of polish.  I changed the sheets on our bed and vacuumed and dusted our room.  I also paid bills and blogged.  James was home around 5:30.  He brought me an Asian salad and cup of chili from Wendy's.  We watched Downton Abbey and The Mentalist. 

 

The high today was around 50,  sunny and no wind.    It was 75 in the valley.

Gas in Show Low is $2.39 and in Chandler it's $1.87.  Come on Show Low!

 

Facebook finds:

 

Not sure what this is but I liked it.

 

 

It's always good to end with something spiritual. 

 

 

 



Tuesday, January 6, 2015

 

"A good life

is when you

assume nothing,

do more, need less,

smile often, dream big,

laugh a lot, and realize

how bless you are."

 

I took some Naprosyn this morning and I feel better.  I have been living on aspirin and Naprosyn. 

 

This year's gospel study goes something like this: Read the Book of Mormon every 3 months and bofm365 questions, the New Testament and the newtestament365 questions, Jesus the Christ and the Jesus the Christ study guide, general conference talks, and the church magazines, Sunday School lessons and Relief Society lessons.  I love studying the gospel and could spend all of my time doing it!

 

 

James called and said he got his ears cleaned out at the doctor's today and now he can hear.  He went to see an ENT specialist. 

 

I talked to Stacy about the house today and told them they could stay but we needed to keep it clean and have it ready to show at all times.   

 

Sheri sent me Rowan and Evan's soccer schedule.  I am excited that I will be down there and will be able to go to the games.  Trina is the coach so it should be fun.  I wish Joshua was playing too.

 

I felt better today.  I wonder if it's because I took six methotrexate tablets yesterday.  I had some of Sheri's homemade salsa today.  It sure is yummy! 

 

I got a call from Vickie and we talked for awhile.  I am also still watching Christmas movies.  I placed an order with Penney's today.  I ordered pants, a skirt, and a white jacket.

 

Facebook finds and random stuff:

 

 

Selfie at soccer practice

 

 



These pictures of Meryl Streep

were taken several decades apart in

the same dress.  All I can say is:

"well preserved."

 





Monday, January 5, 2015

 

"Courage is not just one of the cardinal virtues, but as C.S. Lewis observed: 'Courage is...the form of every virtue at the testing point...Pilate was merciful till it became risky.  King Herod was sorrowful at the request to behead John the Baptist but wanted to please them which sat with him at meat.'" (Matt. 14:9)

-Elder Lynn G. Robbins

 

James built me a fire before leaving for the valley.  He is one of my heroes.

I did my gospel study, some cleaning, and bill paying and two blog posts, December 13th and 14th.  The blog posts took almost two hours because of the pictures I downloaded.  I called the infusion center at the arthritis center to see if I could keep my 1:30 appointment today.  I left a message saying I needed to know by 9:30 because I would be coming almost 200 miles to get there.  No one ever called me back.  Another day of pain.

 

After taking a shower and getting ready to go somewhere I decided to go into the post office in Vernon to return the duplicate Madden game I got Max for Christmas.  I left the house at 11:38 in a bit of a hurry because the post office closes at noon for an hour.  When I got to the intersection of the Vernon road I pressed on my brakes and began sliding.  I know to let up on the brake but somehow the message did not get from my brain to my foot and I just kept pushing on my brake.  I began sliding on the ice still on the road and continued sliding until I hit the embankment on the opposite side of the Vernon Rd.  It's a good thing no one was coming or there would have been a collision.  I revved up my engine and got out of the ditch and considered myself lucky as I headed towards town.  I soon noticed that my car was making a terrible noise.  I stopped at the church and saw that I had a flat tire on the front driver's side.  I immediately called James. 

James was eating lunch at Jersey Mike's but he said he would call Chuck Crane for me. Chuck was at the church within 15 minutes.

 

Chuck Crane is another one of my heroes.  He proceeds to get the spare out from under my car and changes my tire even though he has a bad back and a bad knee.

 

Not necessarily Chuck's best side but nonetheless the position of a real hero at work.  I am so grateful for good friends and neighbors!

 

Today was a gorgeous sun shiny day with the high around 46 degrees.  I had planned on going to Show Low to get a salad after going to the post office but went straight home and had a hot dog with pork & beans instead.  I watched a couple of Hallmark movies, did some more cleaning and paying bills, and took a call from the arthritis center.  I have an infusion appointment and an appointment with Tiffany on Friday starting at 8:30. 

I am in so much pain that I take six methotrexates instead of four.

 

James exchanged James Hayden's boot that we got him for Christmas for size 10 1/2's.  I think he needed a reason to go to Bass Pro Shop to spend his Christmas gift cards.