Contrasts

Life forms of all sorts wander throughout my small space. Last week it was grandchildren. Each morning we greet deer, turkeys, our assortment of cats and other creatures. I spent Monday of last week cleaning up after our adventure with Ben and Jessica's children. We had such fun, but a day of reckoning almost always follows. I cleaned and washed as fast as I could on that Monday because Gerald, Frances and kids arrived that same evening. I was ready for them, just barely. We had a short but sweet couple of days with them, including a custom-made Easter Egg Hunt for Seth and Angelica, designed and carried out by Isaiah and Allegra. We slept once again on our wall bed. There is nothing like giving one's bedroom away to notice the length of a visit. It changes our world, but not in a bad way. The kids left on Wednesday and, happily, arrived in Taiwan in good shape.

"I'm so tired," Mom said with increasing frequency throughout the week. She began to have trouble breathing and was coughing up blood when we decided that she should go to the hospital. Layne and Cliff took her on Friday and discovered that she has pneumonia! It is often so hard to tell when a condition is serious. At least it is for us. Mom is now stabilized and it looks like she'll be fine. She's on antibiotics and had her left lung drained of fluid. So as of today she is resting somewhat comfortably. It is an up and down ride with Mom. There are days when I steel myself to lose her and there are days when it never enters my mind.

While Layne and Cliff were taking care of Mom, I was experiencing an "isotope study" at the doctor's office. It was done to look at my arteries to see if there is any plaque build-up. I've been looking forward to doing this as I really, really want to know what is going on with my body. Should I be worried, or not? The technicians were impressed with my 68 year old body. That made me feel quite hopeful. But the real skinny comes when I meet with the cardiologist next month.

We celebrated Easter with Audrey and family and Ben and family. It was a sweet time. We discussed the Atonement with the kids. They really seemed to understand it quite well. Lately I've been studying the New Testament and the Atonement and feel a much deeper appreciation for the Savior. This study is, for me, often an infusion of insight, awe and love.

The best use of time continues to be a challenge for me. I have two contrasting philosophies: get as much good stuff done as I can versus my fundamental principle that people should always trump stuff. I find myself fighting that battle almost daily. I'm trying to turn myself over to family needs more often. Actually, if I think about it, that is almost all that I do lately, if you count caring for Mom. I'm also giving myself to Ben's Jessica on Fridays, to help her with her busiest day of the week. I find it enjoyable and am trying not to think of it as a cut into my "productive" time. What could be more productive than bonding with family? Today I go to Reed and Dorothy's to help them with an over-demanding day. So there you are. For now, in the people versus stuff war, the people are winning.

Pictures: top is son Gerald eating the waffles that his babes ordered for breakfast. Next are Gerald and Frances' children, Seth and Angelica during their Easter Egg hunt in our back yard. Bottom shows me with friends Frank and Sharon Heiss, who came to dinner during their visit to California.

Full House

"Oh dear," declared Mom as I held her to brush her teeth tonight. "Oh dear," has become her favorite phrase. She repeats it at least 20 times a day, for almost every occasion. When I ask her what is wrong she routinely replies, "Oh, nothing." She is not one to complain. But I can imagine how difficult it must be for her to be so dependent upon us for help with just about everything. Once in awhile, she mentions her sorrow over this. I have taken to not responding much to that. What can be said that is a comfort except that we don't mind. How can she not not like her present condition? Perhaps there is some eternal benefit for her in experiencing this. Or perhaps the benefit is ours. Or maybe it is a little of both. Enduring now is the challenge.

As mentioned previously, Ben and Jessica are moving into a new home this week. So their four younger children have been staying with us. We had such fun together their first day, Tuesday. The little girls slept downstairs with Audrey and Cliff. We put the two boys to sleep in our new wall bed, in our study. It all went beautifully. The boys went right to sleep. So did we. I awoke about 1 AM to two soft brown eyes staring at me. "Grandma, I'm thirsty," 4 year old Zachary told me. So I got up and got him and drink and re-tucked him into bed. I was almost asleep when Mom blew her whistle, calling me to help her. "I need an tissue," she said. I gave her one and went back to bed. I was almost asleep when in came Zachary again. "William is sleeping in my spot and there's no room for me," he told me. So I got up and moved William and tucked Zach back into bed once again. I must tell you that I was very patient with all these interruptions. After all, I had a good night's sleep the night before. I was just settling in yet again when our alarm went off at 4:30, signaling our wake-up call to get ready to go to the temple. I felt amazingly good throughout the day considering my night.

But Wednesday night was a bit more stressful as Zachary exposed me to another set of bedtime problems. I could go into details of that night's challenges but suffice it to say that I didn't get much sleep that night either. So by Thursday night I was pretty scrambled. I slept like the dead that night in spite of Zachary's nightly concerns. I know I've gone on and on about my nights but I should admit that our days were pretty fun. The boys played and played. Baby Abigail has decided to like me and she became my little shadow. I loved it.

Every day was full to the brim but especially Saturday. It was our yearly Easter Egg Hunt. I know...it was early but the only day everyone could come. We had two hunts: daytime for the under eights and nighttime for the eights and older. I decided to have the older kids hide the eggs for the little ones and the little ones helped me hide the eggs for the older ones. It worked well. The clouds parted Saturday night, allowing a full moon to light the egg field for the older kids. Each egg had reflector tape on it to catch the attention of the hunters when hit with their flashlights. It was fun! After the night hunt, everyone went home! All that was left was the three of us and...the mess.

Putting Mom to bed tonight (Sunday) seemed such an easy task after five days of caring for Ben and Jessica's four children. In spite of the work I really enjoyed having them here. I believe I am in the happy position of loving the chaos of many bodies and also loving the peacefulness of having few.

Pictures: Top is Abigail eating waffles...her request for breakfast. Next are William and Zachary really getting some kicks out of their bubble bath. The younger kid's Easter Egg Hunt is next, then Reed and baby Bruce just after the hunt. Rayne is at the bottom. She was home from college for spring break. She graduates this year!

Diets and Such

I have been unusually motivated in my efforts at a low cholesterol diet. For two months now I've been avoiding all things animal and adding cholesterol busting stuff like flax and red rice yeast. I've been such a good girl, if I do say so myself. So it was with great anticipation that I went with Mother to have my blood tested. I was so hoping that I could control my cholesterol level with diet. I have a thing about drugs. It seems to me that, as a society, we are way "over-drugged". I'm determined not to fall victim to that. So imagine my disappointment when the blood test came back with no change! All of my efforts have been in vain! So I had some whipped cream on my pumpkin pie today. Soon I'll go in for a test to determine if there really is some kind of build-up in my blood vessels. Until then I'm going to live as I normally do. If there turns out to be a plaque build-up it seems to me that I'll have to consider medication. I don't want to, but I feel a little trapped.

Son Gerald and his family are temporarily settled in their Draper, Utah home for a few weeks. While we are enjoying the coming of spring with its wildflowers and sunshine, it has snowed in Utah. Our front yard is full of blooming poppies and lavender once again. It is beautiful. How I wish it would last through the summer. But I should live for today and feast on the beauty that is before my eyes right now. OK, so I will!

Lately it seems to me that I've become somewhat mentally lazy. I've noticed that, upon reading of new, thought-provoking ideas, my mind wants to stop before thinking too hard about them. I'm a bit appalled at how lazy my mind wants to be. Now that I'm sufficiently aware of this problem in myself I'm going to make a greater effort to broaden my learning efforts.

As I returned from visiting teaching my ladies on Tuesday, Audrey called me to say that son Ben and his family are moving! This was quite a shock as I just saw them on Friday and they had no such plans. Ah, children! I have such trouble keeping up with them. It seems that a house came up for rent on Monday and they applied for it and paid first month's rent. Now they are in a rush to move in, fast. Can you guess what happened next? The kids are here with us for the rest of the week so the move can actually happen. So here we are with babes. More about that later.
For now, I'm a woman on the run as there is a kitchen to clean, a mom to put to bed and children to settle in as well. So, I'm off.

Pictures: top shows our front yard with irises and poppies. So lovely; I wish it would last. Next is a view of our hills from the side of our property. It's worth a look because of the lovely green hills in the background. Once the rain stops they will be brown but now they are a little piece of paradise. Next is our baby orchard, where I love to hunt for rocks. Two of our cats are keeping me company. Bottom is daughter Audrey holding our little Bruce.