Looks Like Spring

We have had a nice normal week.  No big events but I still feel busy and unenthused about doing anything.  It seems to be an extended cycle.  I suppose if I pushed myself a little, I'd come out of it.  But, so far, I haven't pushed myself to push myself.  So there.

The drama of nature is picking up outside.  Darkness doesn't come until 8 PM now.  It's so nice to have more light!  The yard is exploding with life.  It is amazing to see what appears to be dead coming back to life.  Sort of like the Lord's resurrection, don't you think?  Walking among the emerging life fills the soul with happiness.  It can't be helped.

Daffodils are the first sign of life and our yard is exploding with them.

The trees are full of blossoms. 

Here are our future apricots!

I've been practicing songs for our singing group and using my small keyboard to find some of the notes.  I can do that now...I'm so proud!  Anyhow, Layne offered to buy me a better keyboard.  We went looking and he bought me an electric piano.  So exciting!  I am having such fun playing it.  Or trying to.  I have a book of piano lessons and am trying to get though it.  But I'm having trouble making my fingers play scales using flat keys and minor chords.  I hope my brain can eventually wrap itself around it.  I'll keep trying.

It looks like the owners of our open spaces are going to begin building.  Oh how some of our neighbors are howling!  With promises that the land in our actual Hillsdale Development will not be developed, but only the land beyond us, I see little to complain about.  It'll be interesting to see how the dust settles on this.

After a weekend of General Conference, we are feeling pretty relaxed and inspired.  Conference weekend is one of the joys of the year.  I came out of it with some new goals in mind.  Now if I can just rally myself to actually do them!

Babysitting to the Max

We committed to son Ben and his wife, Jessica, long ago that we would babysit their children for a week while they took a trip to New York, to celebrate Ben's 40th birthday.  That job came up this past week.  Layne and I flew to California a week and a half ago to begin our babysitting assignment.  The BJ household consists of eight children beginning at 2 years and moving up to 14 years.  Our energy-filled daughter-in-law, Jessica, has all of the children involved in various lessons and activities that would make a normal person's head swim.  Jessica handles it all.  But we needed help to keep up her pace.  Layne did the running around and I maintained the household.  Grandson Scott (son of our son Reed and his wife Dorothy) spent most of the week with us and helped a ton.  Working together we managed to keep up Jessica's pace, plus keep the house in good order and prepare endless meals for the masses.

You may think it is crazy to take on such a demanding job.  Admittedly, it is exhausting.  But it is also rewarding.  We got close to each child and became acquainted with their interests and some of their thoughts and dreams.  For this, I would do the job again, and more.  Relationships are so very precious!

There were fun times.  Here is a selfie with the youngest two, Victoria (Tia), and Olivia.

Tia is a high energy little gal who loves attention and affection.  Here she is getting her share from Grandpa Layne.

Feeding this gang is perhaps the greatest of challenges.  They are in the habit of grazing continually.  I foolishly thought that if I prepared a good breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner I could make a dent in the grazing.  Silly of me.  They simply turned the snack into a lengthy process...finishing it off as the afternoons wore off and then, surprise!  They weren't hungry for dinner.  Hum.  Try as I might I could not change this pattern without locking up all food everywhere.  That being impossible, I made smaller and smaller dinners with low expectations for consumption.  That seemed to work best.

Here is part of the eating gang.

"Oh mom and dad let us play on the computer and watch TV when we got home from school," I was assured.  So when Zach's buddy Ivan showed up EVERY DAY after school, minecraft marathons ensued.  And a little TV too.  But when I told their Dad, it all changed.  He shut down the computers and the TV remotely!  Wow, the power of technology!  The days that followed were a bit quieter.

Here is some of the gang watching the forbidden TV before their Dad interfered.  Note Ivan on the right end of the couch.  Here's William, Zachary, Tia, Jonathan, and....Ivan.  They look pretty innocent, don't they?  No idea here that there is a family rule against watching TV on a school day!

Jessica has season tickets to musicals in San Francisco and one of them came up on the Tuesday we were there.  So she suggested that Alexis and I go.  "Just Uber there," she told me.  Easy as pie.  I've never "Ubered" so I was a little nervous, but I downloaded the app and made the arrangements.  Alexis and I Ubered to San Francisco's Golden Gate Theater to see "Into the Woods."  "It's a tragedy Grandma," Alexis said.  Hum.  I don't like tragedies.  When I seek entertainment, I like to be cheered up; to see happy endings.  But we went.  I liked the whole Uber thing.  Our drivers to and from were very nice men; both immigrants with interesting stories.  

Once there, Alexis, who loves all things theatrical, began reviewing some of her favorite musicals and singing the songs, while we waited to be let into the theater section.  With great enthusiasm she sang and talked and I listened.  Until the theater attendant approached us.  "You have a beautiful voice," he said.  "And lots of people are listening to you sing, so, please stop."  Hum.  What a very nice way to tell her that she was too loud, I thought.  Alexis does have a very nice singing voice, this is true.  

The play was very good; we both enjoyed it.  And although it can be seen as a tragedy (everyone on the story loses someone in death) the ending was a bit uplifting.  Or so I thought.  I worked to explain this more positive spin to Alexis on the way home, but it was a hard sell.

Here is Alexis, the day after out night out.

With the help of Scott, and house cleaners, we got through our week in good shape.  The week Ben and Jessica planned in New York took a rather different turn.  Google called Ben back to work on Monday, in spite of their careful plans to be gone.  He returned to work until Thursday and Jessica stayed in New York, in their accommodations there.  Since they could not get a refund, they flew daughter Jacqueline out to spend a couple days with her mother.  They did in the town and returned Thursday night.  Then Ben and Jessica finished up the week in a local hotel.  So they did have some time together, though not as originally planned.  It pays to be light on your feet!

We are home now.  I took a very long nap on this Sabbath day and am feeling pretty normal.

Ponderings

There are times when things feel muddled.  I'm going through a muddled frame of mind at the moment.  As a result, I've had an unproductive week.  I hate being unproductive!  Perhaps it is due to the diet that Layne and I are on.  We have our last meal of the day between 2 and 3 o'clock, then don't eat again until the next day.  It's great for losing weight.  But maybe it is a mind muddler.  I'm not sure.

I have recently discovered, while at the doctor's office, that I have lost 1 and 1/2 inches in height.  I'm shocked and a little sad not to be 5' 6" anymore.  Somehow it just isn't right!  As a result I've decided that I need to lose a little weight to be right for my new, shorter self.  Another old lady thing.  Slowly, we are called upon to surrender pieces of our youth.  Off it trots, without our permission.

Happily, my muddled self is losing some weight.  I'm even getting used to less food.

Growing older does bring some blessings.  There is time now to do things that I didn't have before.  But it is also a time for losses, it seems.  One of our dear Fremont friends, Benjapon Mellblom, just died of cancer.  I feel so sad to see her go.  She was one of those especially soft, kind and loving people that you so enjoy having in your life.  Even though I haven't seen her for awhile, the world feels less somehow without her.  Here she is with her daughter, Sarah.

On a brighter note, spring is upon us and Layne is getting yard fever.  He finds himself outside these days, planning the garden and repairing winter damages.  The bulbs are sending out shoots.  That is our only sign of spring as the rest of the yard still looks quite dead.  It is magical to see what appears lifeless come back to life with buds turning to a warm, soft green.  It is the joy of spring.  Here is a shot of our coming spring and our only green patch, so far.

Layne is on our HOA board now and so is privy to the latest news for our development.  We have enjoyed lots of open space here.  Part of it is Land Management property but part is privately owned by a company that hopes to develop it.  They are once again offering a development plan to the city of Star in hopes that they can build more homes on some of the open land.  One of the spots they own and want to develop is located behind our place.  Right now it is an open field, behind quite a few other homes as well as ours.  It's lovely to look out beyond it to the hills and the sunset.  It's a little sad to think of homes being there instead.  But the company has the right to develop their property so we will adjust, if it comes about.  My form of adjustment is to plant trees in the back of our property to create some privacy.  I've suggested it to Layne from the time we moved here, but he wasn't interested in doing it.  Until now.  I'm getting my hopes up for trees!

Here is our open field.  Open for now...

A Gendreau Project

Awhile ago, my daughter Jessica asked if we would come and work on a painting project for her.  Since she is a working girl, she has little time to do much in the way of home improvements but she has an artistic eye and visions in her mind for changes.  I love doing home projects, so we agreed to visit her and family and work on some of her room plans.  Layne and I thus flew to Seattle this past week for that purpose.

We worked for three days, pretty much non-stop, painting the dining room and kitchen, and all the cleaning that goes along with that.  We transformed the red dining room into a warm, golden white.  It made quite a difference in the brightness of the room.  Even though I hated to cover up the red (you know I have a passion for that color!), I have to admit that it looked very nice when we finished.  Seattle has lots of cloudy skies and rainy days, so it makes sense to lighten and brighten inside the house, to make the best use of the duller light that cloudy days provide.

It was fun to spend time with our Gendreau family.  They are all good to be around.  The kids are doing well in school and spend their time doing school work and home projects.  We visited a lot and even spent a little time in their hot tub one night.  I remember, once again, how fun that is.  Being in a warm tub on a cool night, sharing that warm, wet space, brings out sweet conversation and relaxes every part of the body.  When we finished tubbing, I fell asleep in minutes, warm and relaxed.  I'd love to have a hot tub of our own.  But that is unlikely, it seems.  I'm having difficulty talking Layne into my greater priority of a gazebo, or a pergola.  I'd settle for either one.  But, so far, he will not be moved.  But I have hopes of wearing him down.

I'm sad to say that we were so busy with our painting that I totally forgot to take any pictures!  That is unlike me as I always like to have a visual record of our adventures.  So instead, I'm inserting the kids' school pictures.  It will have to do for a Gendreau visual.

Gemma is now 17 and driving.  She is an exceptional artist and is generally made of amazing creativity.  Her imagination seems to be unending.

Miles is 15 and has a passion for science.  He belongs to a science club, loves to learn how things work and is very inventive.  

Peyton is an energetic, social girl, very observant of people and interested in them.  She is on a winning soccer team and is a very good student.

We returned home yesterday.  I realize my age most when physical demands are high for a few days.  We are tired.  But naps and time will cure that.  I love spending time with family.  I still miss being physically close to them.  But we aim to make the best of our time with family when we get it.  I'm thankful for that!

A Very Social February

Every once in awhile, Layne goes on a dieting kick.  He is on one now.  He starves himself into losing 20 pounds, rejoices over it for a day or two, then begins to delight in putting it all back on.  We are in the losing cycle at present.  Since I have 10 extra pounds that I've been thinking about losing for some years now, I decided to join him in his dieting efforts.  So we have come up with a system:  we eat breakfast, then only one more meal between 2:00 and 3:00.  Nothing but drinks after that.  I have to say that the pounds do drop off under such a routine.  My plan is to lose just a pound a month for this year so that I have some hope of keeping it off.  So far I'm ahead.  But once Layne goes off his diet, I may have a harder time.  We will see.

A little challenge to our eating plan comes up when we eat with friends.  Which we have done a lot of this month.  We've served dinner for our missionaries, our local CA friends, and several other groups.  I continue to be surprised by the social activities we find ourselves indulging in here on a very regular basis.  This is a social, friendly place like no other I have experienced.  Our CA friends, Chris and Hedy Eyre, came for lunch this week, on their way to Twin Falls, to visit their son, Adam.  They are quality people and a joy to be associated with.  It was a short, but lovely visit.  I'm happy that we are on the way to other places people want to go to.  It seems like we often get visitors on their way to someplace else.

I don't think I mentioned before that not long ago I went in for a yearly physical where they took my weight and height.  "Five feet four and a half inches," the nurse informed me.  Hum.  I'm supposed to be five feet six inches I told her.  Firmly she assured me that her measurement was correct.  I've lost one and a half inches!  That puts me in a whole new weight category!  Hence the weight loss discussed above.  Here you see me with Chris and Hedy.  I look pretty short, don't I?  But keep in mind that Hedy is six feet two and Chris is slightly taller.

Among the many dinner and lunch dates we have had was one with my neighbor and buddy, Carol Wintersteen.  She wanted to take me to lunch for my birthday.  Yes, I know it was in January, but this week was the first time we could get together.  And why not stretch a perfectly good birthday out for as long as possible?  So we enjoyed a Chinese lunch complete with a free Birthday dessert.  Not very good for the diet, but I didn't eat anything for the rest of the day.  Aren't I the disciplined one!  Here you can see Carol and me at the end of a delicious meal.

Our snow fall has been amazing this winter, and covered the ground for many weeks.  This past week brought lots of rain, finally washing all the snow away and revealing the dead lawn and plants below. How dreary the landscape has looked without its white covering.  But, we decided, for this year the snow is gone for good.  Then today a snow blizzard arrived.  We are under snow again!  What a wonder!  I'm sure it won't last as warmer weather is due, but what a fun, unpredictable winter it has been.

Lately I've been frustrated in my efforts to get any of my many goals met.  I have a whole list of things I want to accomplish.  But my mind has been made of mush lately.  "Just relax," my husband tells me.  So, for the last few days I have.  But my muddled mind is churning with a hazy view of what I should be doing.  How does one achieve the right balance between producing and relaxing?  I struggle with this, even now.  Perhaps I'll ponder this for awhile while I watch the snow fall.

California Fun

I wasn't home from Draper very long before Layne and I headed to California, mostly to attend the baptism of son Ben's daughter, Abigail.  She was born just before we lost our granddaughter, Carmen, to brain cancer.  So Ben and Jessica gave Abigail Carmen as a middle name.  Abigail Carmen was baptized February 11th.

We flew into San Jose the previous Thursday and rented a car for the weekend.  We got there just in time to help grandson, Timmy, celebrate his birthday.  We enjoyed a visit to Reed and Dorothy's for that purpose and had a great visit, including meeting grandson James' new girlfriend.  He is set to join the Navy in June.  It will be interesting to see how that works out for him.

Timmy loves legos.  That is just about all he got for his birthday!

My father's younger brother, my Uncle Mike, lives in the Bay Area.  He is 97 now and becoming a little frail.  He's now staying with daughter Judy and her husband, Stan.  We visited them in San Francisco on Friday.  Uncle Mike was lying on a bed in their living room.  I had a sweet visit with him, until he became too tired.  I fear that he will soon be gone.  He is the last of the "older" generation in our family.  When he is gone, we are next!  We had a sweet visit with Judy and Stan too.  I felt impressed that I should give them a Book of Mormon, so I did.  I get worried about doing that as I'm afraid of not introducing it properly.  But I did the beset I could.  I hope they will read it.  I have quite tender feelings for my cousin Judy.  She and Stan are good people.

We headed to Palo Alto on Saturday morning for Abigail's baptism.  I was blessed to speak on baptism.  I've spoken at the baptisms of most of our grandchildren and I've tried to make each talk unique for each child.  I struggled this time but had an impression to use music, and, of course, pictures.  So I illustrated each point in the talk with an illustration with Abigail's picture inserted.  As I spoke of heaven and the Lord, Reed played a sweet little melody.  When I spoke of temptations and Satan, he played a deep unharmonious  sound.   I worried that it might not work well, but it did. Reed did a perfect job and made it quite memorable.  We had a generally sweet time with all the family there, during the baptismal service and during the luncheon afterwards.

Ben and Abigail, just before her baptism.  The hot water heater was broken, so she was immersed in cold water.  She didn't seem to notice!

Granddaughter Rayne went to the temple for the first time last month.  We missed being there for that, so I felt anxious to go through with her during this trip.  So we did Saturday afternoon.  I love being in the Oakland Temple!  It is "our" temple and runs with such a warm, loving spirit.  Being with Rayne is always a happy goal with me so it was wonderful to spend this little bit of time with her and Audrey and Cliff.

Our Adams-Harts outside the Temple:  Rayne, Layne, Audrey and Cliff.

Earlier in the week Ben invited us to go dancing with him, Jessica and Jessica's parents, Judy and John Ault.  Dancing.  Ben doesn't like to dance.  He resisted all my efforts to teach him when he was little.  So this invitation was interesting, coming from Ben.  It turns out that a good friend of his recently retired and is opening a dance "club" of sorts.  He wants to sponsor a couple of big event dances a year, complete with a gourmet dinner, in various venues around the area.  His opening event was February 11th.  He wanted a full house, so he told Ben that if he and Jessica (and the rest of us) would come, there would be no charge.  So Ben agreed.

Could I turn such an invitation down?  Absolutely not!  Layne didn't give me much resistance either.  We agreed to go!  Then I asked him what the dress was.  Formal.  Oh dear.  That calls for a fancier outfit than I have and a tux for Layne.  I managed to find something that would do, and Layne rented a tux.  We set off.  What fun it was!  We danced all night and Layne did a great job of allowing me to lead him along.  Usually he forgets the dance step if I distract him with chatter, but not that night.  He was right on.  It has been so long since we have danced.  I loved it.  And I loved seeing my Ben dance with his lovely girl for many of the dances.  He even let me give him some dancing pointers.  Maybe he will get into it yet.  Dancing, you know, is like any physical activity.  It isn't much fun until your body learns what to do without effort and concentration.  But once the body is trained to it, dancing is euphoric!  Plus it can be a wonderful way to meet people.

Layne in his rented tux, before we left for the dance.  Doesn't he look excited?

 


After a lovely Sabbath with Audrey and Cliff, Reed and Dorothy and kids, we headed home early Monday morning.  We have been involved in tons of activities ever since.  I'm grateful that we can pull off such a frantic pace at this time of life. Well, not without a few naps.  Since our return, the snow has retreated and the temperatures are up.  We are now into rain, not snow.  "What a winter," the locals deep repeating.  In a complaining sort of way, mostly.  But I have loved it.  This amazing winter appears to be on the departure trail now.  Perhaps Spring is around the corner.

A Berrett Good Time

My brother-in-law, Bob Berrett, has been in need of a new knee for awhile now.  He has been putting it off, knowing that the following convalescence would take more time than he wanted to spend.  He worries about my sister, Maryanne, and the help she needs right now.  So I volunteered to help out when he decided to do the surgery.  That took place on January 25th.  So I headed to Draper, Utah, to assist where I could.  I spent 11 days with them.  The surgery went well and the convalescence has set in, as predicted.  It is easy to forget how long it takes to heal when one is outside of the experience.  Once in, it is hard to be patient.  It is hard for Bob.  He wants to be on his feet RIGHT NOW.  But all good things take time.

Bob in his kingdom.

Maryanne and I set up a routine; regular ice for Bob's knee; fixing food that he would eat (that's tricky as Bob doesn't especially like food); making sure he is warm and comfortable.  Then doing Maryanne's hair and helping her with various other things.  In between, we did some personal history and watched Hallmark movies.  The time passed quickly and pleasantly.  It might look as if being involved with this kind of caring would be hard and unpleasant but I did not find it so.  Instead, I found myself enjoying being with Bob and Maryanne.  There is something nourishing to the soul about being useful.  For some reason I have need of being just that.  It is rewarding to me.

Maryanne and I visited with our first foster daughter, Laura White, one day.  We bonded over Jamba Juice.  Laura is retiring from her house cleaning business and going on a mission.  LIfe has not been easy for her, but she has a buoyancy about her, and an enthusiasm for life.  She is a lovely girl and soon will be headed to Independence, MO for an 18 month mission.  She is so excited!  She is a lovely "spark plug" kind of girl who, I feel, is greatly treasured by the Lord for her faithfulness and
joyful spirit.

Laura and me at our Jamba Juice meeting.

Maryanne was with us too.

We spent a little time with nephews too.  B&M's sons Brent, Mark and Bryan, all came to visit.  Bryan's wife Jessica (yet another family "Jessica") came with two of her children.  It was such fun connecting with her little bundle of energy, Maggie.

Jessica with son James and daughter, Maggie.

One of my gripes about traveling without Layne is that he never communicates with me while I'm gone.  By the time I return home, he is always happy to see me, but I tend to feel a bit miffed about his lack of communication.  But this time he sent me texts every day!  I felt so connected to him.  When I got home I felt so warm and loving towards him.  Wow.  I knew this is how it could be and, this time, it was!  I think men don't always realize how important communication is to us women.  We like to bond on many levels.  Men seem to be perfectly happy to localized that bonding to just one rather physical category.

It is good to be home once again.  I'm finding that I need to readjust to where things are here.  I spent just enough time at the Berretts to get used to a routine and locations for things.  When Layne is home without me, he always manages to do something extra.  It is fun to discover his surprises.  This time he mended the laundry room ceiling, which has needed to be done for months.  He cleaned places I've ignored, in some cases ever since we came here.  He takes pleasure in accomplishment and I find that I do too.  So I'm enjoying his hard work and I'm back in my element here at home, and happy to be so.