Anniversary

    Yesterday was our 41st wedding anniversary.  I like the symmetry of the date:  1.22.2011.  I really lucked out in the lottery of love, as a country song lyric should read.   (Or in other words, I am incredibly blessed.)   Just a few of the reasons I love my husband so much:
1.  He is a believer.  He knows what he believes, and he lives accordingly.  He has the integrity that comes with being a true Christian.
2.  He is a server.  He works in the temple two days a week and attends as a patron another day.  He constantly looks for ways to help others, especially his single-mom home-teaching families.  My neighbor was so impressed when she called him for help and his immediate response was, "Thank you for asking."  He took care of all of his mothers affairs the last year of her life, and now he manages his brother's finances.
3.  He is a doer.  He loves making lists and then checking things off.  He doesn't procrastinate.
4.  He doesn't complain.  He's had to put up with a lot over the years, doing his work and much of mine.  He waits on me, literally, hand and foot, but he never complains.
5.  He has a great sense of humor.  I love the wry, sometimes completely unexpected things he comes out with, and I love that he loves puns.
6.  He works hard.  I can't believe the number of hours he spent in the yard last summer, not to mention all the years of going the extra mile in his job.  
7.  He is thoughtful.  If I ever mention that I want something, he writes it down and gets it for me for a "monthaversary."  
8.  He is generous.  He is happy to have me spend money, even when we don't have much of it, and he's willing to help others as well, like contributing to our nephew's mission.
9.  He is very good at what he does.  He touched so many lives as a teacher. He's a great musician.  He's a great speaker.  All of these things are true because he invested the necessary time to become good.
10.  He's a quiet man.  He doesn't get angry, scream and yell.  Even when we disagree, he's not disagreeable.
11.  He apologizes.  He doesn't make excuses.  When he's wrong, (which isn't very often) he admits it and apologizes, then tries to make things right.
    That's just the start of a very long list, but I have to leave for church.  Thank you, Larry, for so many happy years.  I love you very much!!!!

Numbers

I like numbers, not to do math with or anything, just to look at and think about.  I'm pretty sure that if I were into numerology, at least one of the permutations for my name would indicate that I am smart, beautiful, successful, and due to live for centuries.  I like the year we're in-- 2011.  The two 1's at the end add up to 2, so the year turns into 202.    Then if you take 2 + 0, you get 2 again, so in one sense, we're in the year 2.  Everyone knows about the terrible 2's, so this year, feel free to think everything in the universe belongs to you, act out, and throw a tantrum or 2.

New Year's Resolutions

It's New Year's Eve, the time many people take stock of their lives and make resolutions. I can see the appeal: new year--new improved, thinner, fitter, richer, more organized you. In theory. In reality, I run into a huge problem. For the whole resolution thing to work, my first one would have to be STOP PROCRASTINATING! Obviously, I would procrastinate putting it into effect. You can see my problem. Putting off not putting off is so off-putting. So I guess I'll go another year watching my darling husband write things down, do them, and check them off, while I remain listless in every sense of the word. Instead of making new resolves, I'll just keep plugging along at the same old things, trying to be kinder, more patient, less judgmental, less complaining. Happy New Year!

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!  I'm so grateful for a warm home, loving family, beautiful children and grandchildren, goodly parents and a strong faith.   Speaking of beautiful grandchildren:

We took these last summer, wish we could have all the kids together all the time.

Thanksgiving A B C

Just a short list of things I'm grateful for:
A--Andrea, Addie, airplanes.
B--books, berries, baseball.
C--Cori, Chloe, Caleb, chocolate.
D--Dave, Deanne, daisies, doctors.
E--Eli, earrings, eggs.
F--family, friends, feta cheese.
G--Gideon, grass, gum.
H--Hillary, home, honey.
I--India, ice cream, idiosyncrasies.
J--Jake, Jesse, Joe, Jeopardy.
K--Kristen, Kennedy, kindness.
L--Larry, Livy, laundry, laughter.
M--Mira, mountains, Matt.
N--nights, noise, needles.
O--oranges, origami, oxygen.
P--pie, people, perfume.
Q--quiet, quarks, qi.
R--rain, roofs, roses.
S--Sophie, Sarah, sunshine.
T--Tyler, tulips, television.
U--umbrellas, unicorns, umbilical cords.
V--violets, violas, Velcro.
W--water, watermelon, wishes.
X--x-rays, xylophones, xi, xu.
Y--yellow, yogurt, yarn.
Z--zest, zeroes, za.

Leaves

My childhood home was on a large lot with great big trees. In the fall, all the kids in the neighborhood would come over and play in the leaves. We would rake mazes and then chase each other though them. We would outline elaborate houses with many rooms. We would make huge piles that reached the lower branches of the trees and then climb the trees and jump, becoming buried in scratchy, soft leaves. I don't remember actually helping get rid of those leaves, but I probably did.
Then I grew up, got married, moved around some, and my husband and I bought a home and planted our own trees. It took many years, but now our maple trees are finally big enough to fill the yard with leaves. It's not the same. The grandkids enjoy them, but not often. Larry spends countless hours filling countless bags so we can donate them to my sister's compost heap. Its hard work.
The magic is gone, but like wood smoke in autumn, the memories live on.

Water

Oh the wonder of water! When my houseplants are near death, a drink of water miraculously revives them. It cleans our clothes, our floors and our bodies. Soaking loosens baked-on grime and makes dishwashing a breeze. Summer rain settles the dust, greens up the grass and makes the world smell wonderful. A long hot shower soothes the body and mind. A cold shower invigorates. (At least that's what I hear--I've never actually had a cold shower.) A tall glass of ice water is bliss on a hot summer day. When I was a child, our epic water fights quickly cooled us off. Water makes puddles for splashing in and turns sand into a building material. It's a big part of who we are, as one Star Trek alien put it, "ugly bags of mostly water." As we count our blessings this season,let's not forget water!