We have had a full house this last week. Mindy and her family are here. Grandma Jo came for the week. We have done some great things. We went to Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, UT and walked the gardens. We went to the play "Chuck Wagon" at Pickleville Playhouse over by Bear Lake. We've gone hiking, fishing, and camping. I think we are going to go to Bear Lake and swim tomorrow. We have barbecued, and eaten well, way too well. Dan actually took the week off from work. It has been so nice. I love building memories with my family.
Tomorrow , April goes to Especially for Youth. This week I should finish up at work for the summer and get registered for college. Then summer will be half over . . .sad! This is my 3rd vacation so far. I'm hoping to still go to Jackson Hole or western Washington before it is all over. We are so blessed to live in such a wonderful, and beautiful country.
Sunday, July 06, 2008
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Far World Book Contest
FREE ARC of Far World by J. Scott Savage.
All that is required to enter the contest is to:
#1 post a comment here with your blog address included and
#2 create a link from your blog to this post telling others about my contest.
There will be a random drawing of the comments for the book in the first week of August. The publisher will directly send the winner an Advanced Reader's Copy of the book. The winner must supply their regular mailing address to me to receive the book. (Must live in the USA or Canada to win.)
I just finished reading Far World by J. Scott Savage. It pulled me in and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm slated to write a review of it around the end of August.
All that is required to enter the contest is to:
#1 post a comment here with your blog address included and
#2 create a link from your blog to this post telling others about my contest.
There will be a random drawing of the comments for the book in the first week of August. The publisher will directly send the winner an Advanced Reader's Copy of the book. The winner must supply their regular mailing address to me to receive the book. (Must live in the USA or Canada to win.)
I just finished reading Far World by J. Scott Savage. It pulled me in and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm slated to write a review of it around the end of August.
Earthquake Quiz
Take this earthquake quiz. I saw it on Anne Bradshaw's "What to do in an earthquake" blog post. I got 90% on it, but only because I just attended an earthquake preparedness class put on by our stake. There was so much good information there. I'm still working on getting some of the things that were suggested. There were probably 15 handouts and so much to take in! Good luck, and let me know how you do.
Friday, June 06, 2008
Food Storage, 72 hr kits, and 5 Gallon Porta-pottys.
Today Ryan sent me Glenn Beck's Get Prepared Part 3. It is as follows:
Get Prepared: Food Storage
Family Emergency Survival - Air, Water, and Food
by: Arthur B. Robinson, PhD
During emergencies - natural and man-made - one's family and friends may find themselves without ordinary essentials that make life possible. A human can survive only a few minutes without air, a few days without water, and a few weeks without food. Each of us has a fundamental moral responsibility to make certain that those people for whom we are responsible can get to the other side of an emergency alive, regardless of inconvenience or unhappiness that may occur during the event.
A safe air supply can be lost due to chemical, biological, or nuclear fallout contamination, or, of course, through simpler means such as flood waters over one's head. These threats are best met by public civil defense preparations - preparations that U.S federal and state politicians and bureaucrats have been unwilling to make. So, concerned private citizens must either buy costly air protection systems or arrange to live in locations that are less threatened. These preparations are beyond the scope of this article. Definitive and comprehensive civil defense information is available here.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, performs exactly the function that its name indicates. FEMA "manages" emergencies. It does not prepare for emergencies. The last remaining civil defense functions - physical preparations for emergencies - of FEMA were defunded by the Clinton Administration. People deprived of safe air die within minutes. All that remains to be "managed" is their burial.
A safe supply of emergency water is relatively easy to provide. One method is to simply close the inlet and outlet valves of the home water heater in case of impending emergency. This will preserve many gallons of life-saving drinking water. Storage of additional water is also prudent. This can be done in one gallon milk containers, 50 gallon plastic drums, or most other containers of convenience. It is best to use multiple containers rather one container, the possible loss of which endangers the entire supply. As time passes, regardless of the water treatment method, stored water usually accumulates contaminants that one would ordinarily prefer to avoid, but which are acceptable during an emergency. Excellent purification systems are available from many sources, although emergency preparation funds are probably better spent in other ways.
Stored water must, however, be protected from poisonous biological contamination that can accumulate with time. The simplest way to provide this protection is by addition of chlorine compounds available as ordinary bleach. This must be done safely and correctly. These procedures are given in the book, Nuclear War Survival Skills, available on-line without cost here. This book also provides instructions for expedient water purification procedures.
A safe and sufficient supply of food is also easy to arrange, but provision of emergency food is often misunderstood.
First, most adults and children - with the exception of infants - can survive for several weeks without food. Survival food storage is required primarily for emergencies lasting for weeks, months, or even years.
Second, stored food should provide essential nutrition - not gourmet satisfaction. Storage of freeze-dried ordinary food, for example, caters to the illusion that a food-requiring emergency will be such a benign event that the participants will be very concerned about the tastiness of their food. Nothing could be further from the truth. Emergency food preparedness involves staying alive and in functional good health - not catering to one's pallet. Every food storage dollar should purchase the greatest quantity of nutritious food possible - not unneeded luxuries.
Third, a family food storage program should include as great an amount of nutritious, long-lasting food as the family can afford - not an amount estimated for the family's personal needs. The family friends and neighbors who have not stored food will need to be fed, too. Very, very few Americans would, in an emergency, eat stored food while allowing their neighbors and friends to die from starvation. Consequently, a family must realize that their food will likely last only so long as they can feed themselves and their friends and neighbors.
Fourth, stored food should last for 50 years or more in good condition.
During the 1980s at the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine, we developed food storage recommendations that consider these requirements. These recommendations were subsequently adopted and publicized by FEMA. Our food storage suggestions are as follows:
1. Store whole grain - not ground or otherwise processed - corn, wheat, and soybeans in a ratio by weight of 2:2:1. In other words, if one is storing 40 pound plastic, nitrogen-packed pails of grain, store 2 pails each of wheat and corn for each single pail of soybeans. Combined in these proportions, ground to flour, cooked (as in corn bread), and eaten, 2 to 3 pounds per day of this mixture will provide the nutrition required for a marine in combat - except for vitamin C and salt. An ordinary person surviving during an emergency would require perhaps half as much. Note: soybeans must be cooked before eating to avoid danger to health.
Nitrogen packing helps to assure that insects cannot infest the food. Containers should be long-lived and rodent resistant. There are several good commercial sources of food already appropriately packaged for storage - for example, Walton Feed in Idaho.
2. Store 1 kilogram of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) for each person-year of food. This is 3 grams per day. People under stress require extra vitamin C for optimum health. For prevention of death from scurvy, however, about 1% of this amount will suffice, so storage of vitamin C in these amounts might save the lives of an entire community.
Store crystalline vitamin C - not pills. During storage, the pills may deteriorate. In a cool, dry bottle, crystalline vitamin C will last indefinitely. Vitamin C can also be obtained by simply sprouting some of the food grain before eating. In a serious emergency, however, sprouting may prove difficult. Store also, in a cool place, a supply of ordinary multivitamin pills.
3. Store lots of salt. This could be crucial to saving many lives. An inexpensive and convenient form is in bags or salt blocks obtained from a local farm feed store.
4. For infants, store dried milk available from food storage suppliers in #10 cans. Infants can live on the grain ration, but they may refuse to eat less familiar food and will do better with milk.
5. Store several 4 gallon plastic buckets each containing 25 pounds of ordinary table sugar - sucrose; 1 pound baking soda; 5 x 11 ounce containers of Lite salt - KCl &NaCl; and a teaspoon for measuring. Dehydration from burns and diseases such as cholera can be treated with proper oral administration of these items. Instructions can be found in the March 1988, Volume 1, # 12, Fighting Chance newsletter. These buckets could save many lives during a serious prolonged emergency, where ordinary medical care is not available.
In ordinary times, soy bean, corn, and wheat flour can serve as a base for delicious and nutritious corn bread - when cooked with lots of baking soda, vegetable oil, and fruit for flavor.
Prior to the current U.S. government program to burn America's food for fuel, the rations above could be purchased and stored for about $100 per person per year of food. Prices now are between $200 and $300 per person year. If Americans continue to allow repressive government regulation and taxation of their nuclear and hydrocarbon energy industries and tax-subsidized use of food for fuel, these prices will rise much higher.
It is best to store food now, while it is still available at a reasonable price.
Art Robinson is a scientist and currently a professor at the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has commended and utilized Robinson work on emergency preparedness.
So we went to Walton's Feed and bought a three month supply of dried corn, soybeans, and salt for our two families, to go with the wheat my dad has canned. It isn't a lot, but it is a start. I use to have a good supply of food storage, but we left a lot in Mesa with Mindy and company. It is heartening to know that if stored properly some things can last over 30 years according to Walton's website. Yet after reading on their website, I'm betting that the wheat and things I left Mindy aren't good anymore because we kept them in our garage and the storage got too hot.
Ryan and Becky are going to use the food canned in #10 cans as a foundation for their bed so that they can store it. Yes, it is a bit like the family in the movie The RM, but it will be worth it.
I've been reading a novel called "Patriots, Surviving the Coming Collapse". It is more than a novel. The author tries to make it a guide in how to prepare for the next depression, collapse of government, anarchy, and chaos. It is a bit thick to wade through, but it is making me think. I know that I'm not as prepared as I should be as far as food storage and things go. I've spent several hundred dollars lately getting 72 hour kits ready and some earthquake preparedness items since the Utah "earthquake lady" came and spoke at our stake. I feel a little more ready, but I hope we are never going to need it.
One of the things we did was to move our water storage and 72 hour kits out of our basement and into our garage so that they are easily accessible. We purchased 2- 5 gallon bucket toilets with garbages bags and kitty litter. It is exciting, I know, but I still feel better. My sister said that she needs to store hundreds of pounds of kitty litter for her big family. I thought about giving one of these toilets as a bridal shower gift . . . it would have been memorable.
Like I said before, it is a start. Ryan called it our life insurance. Now we just have to get it canned after we go on our trip.
Get Prepared: Food Storage
Family Emergency Survival - Air, Water, and Food
by: Arthur B. Robinson, PhD
During emergencies - natural and man-made - one's family and friends may find themselves without ordinary essentials that make life possible. A human can survive only a few minutes without air, a few days without water, and a few weeks without food. Each of us has a fundamental moral responsibility to make certain that those people for whom we are responsible can get to the other side of an emergency alive, regardless of inconvenience or unhappiness that may occur during the event.
A safe air supply can be lost due to chemical, biological, or nuclear fallout contamination, or, of course, through simpler means such as flood waters over one's head. These threats are best met by public civil defense preparations - preparations that U.S federal and state politicians and bureaucrats have been unwilling to make. So, concerned private citizens must either buy costly air protection systems or arrange to live in locations that are less threatened. These preparations are beyond the scope of this article. Definitive and comprehensive civil defense information is available here.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, performs exactly the function that its name indicates. FEMA "manages" emergencies. It does not prepare for emergencies. The last remaining civil defense functions - physical preparations for emergencies - of FEMA were defunded by the Clinton Administration. People deprived of safe air die within minutes. All that remains to be "managed" is their burial.
A safe supply of emergency water is relatively easy to provide. One method is to simply close the inlet and outlet valves of the home water heater in case of impending emergency. This will preserve many gallons of life-saving drinking water. Storage of additional water is also prudent. This can be done in one gallon milk containers, 50 gallon plastic drums, or most other containers of convenience. It is best to use multiple containers rather one container, the possible loss of which endangers the entire supply. As time passes, regardless of the water treatment method, stored water usually accumulates contaminants that one would ordinarily prefer to avoid, but which are acceptable during an emergency. Excellent purification systems are available from many sources, although emergency preparation funds are probably better spent in other ways.
Stored water must, however, be protected from poisonous biological contamination that can accumulate with time. The simplest way to provide this protection is by addition of chlorine compounds available as ordinary bleach. This must be done safely and correctly. These procedures are given in the book, Nuclear War Survival Skills, available on-line without cost here. This book also provides instructions for expedient water purification procedures.
A safe and sufficient supply of food is also easy to arrange, but provision of emergency food is often misunderstood.
First, most adults and children - with the exception of infants - can survive for several weeks without food. Survival food storage is required primarily for emergencies lasting for weeks, months, or even years.
Second, stored food should provide essential nutrition - not gourmet satisfaction. Storage of freeze-dried ordinary food, for example, caters to the illusion that a food-requiring emergency will be such a benign event that the participants will be very concerned about the tastiness of their food. Nothing could be further from the truth. Emergency food preparedness involves staying alive and in functional good health - not catering to one's pallet. Every food storage dollar should purchase the greatest quantity of nutritious food possible - not unneeded luxuries.
Third, a family food storage program should include as great an amount of nutritious, long-lasting food as the family can afford - not an amount estimated for the family's personal needs. The family friends and neighbors who have not stored food will need to be fed, too. Very, very few Americans would, in an emergency, eat stored food while allowing their neighbors and friends to die from starvation. Consequently, a family must realize that their food will likely last only so long as they can feed themselves and their friends and neighbors.
Fourth, stored food should last for 50 years or more in good condition.
During the 1980s at the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine, we developed food storage recommendations that consider these requirements. These recommendations were subsequently adopted and publicized by FEMA. Our food storage suggestions are as follows:
1. Store whole grain - not ground or otherwise processed - corn, wheat, and soybeans in a ratio by weight of 2:2:1. In other words, if one is storing 40 pound plastic, nitrogen-packed pails of grain, store 2 pails each of wheat and corn for each single pail of soybeans. Combined in these proportions, ground to flour, cooked (as in corn bread), and eaten, 2 to 3 pounds per day of this mixture will provide the nutrition required for a marine in combat - except for vitamin C and salt. An ordinary person surviving during an emergency would require perhaps half as much. Note: soybeans must be cooked before eating to avoid danger to health.
Nitrogen packing helps to assure that insects cannot infest the food. Containers should be long-lived and rodent resistant. There are several good commercial sources of food already appropriately packaged for storage - for example, Walton Feed in Idaho.
2. Store 1 kilogram of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) for each person-year of food. This is 3 grams per day. People under stress require extra vitamin C for optimum health. For prevention of death from scurvy, however, about 1% of this amount will suffice, so storage of vitamin C in these amounts might save the lives of an entire community.
Store crystalline vitamin C - not pills. During storage, the pills may deteriorate. In a cool, dry bottle, crystalline vitamin C will last indefinitely. Vitamin C can also be obtained by simply sprouting some of the food grain before eating. In a serious emergency, however, sprouting may prove difficult. Store also, in a cool place, a supply of ordinary multivitamin pills.
3. Store lots of salt. This could be crucial to saving many lives. An inexpensive and convenient form is in bags or salt blocks obtained from a local farm feed store.
4. For infants, store dried milk available from food storage suppliers in #10 cans. Infants can live on the grain ration, but they may refuse to eat less familiar food and will do better with milk.
5. Store several 4 gallon plastic buckets each containing 25 pounds of ordinary table sugar - sucrose; 1 pound baking soda; 5 x 11 ounce containers of Lite salt - KCl &NaCl; and a teaspoon for measuring. Dehydration from burns and diseases such as cholera can be treated with proper oral administration of these items. Instructions can be found in the March 1988, Volume 1, # 12, Fighting Chance newsletter. These buckets could save many lives during a serious prolonged emergency, where ordinary medical care is not available.
In ordinary times, soy bean, corn, and wheat flour can serve as a base for delicious and nutritious corn bread - when cooked with lots of baking soda, vegetable oil, and fruit for flavor.
Prior to the current U.S. government program to burn America's food for fuel, the rations above could be purchased and stored for about $100 per person per year of food. Prices now are between $200 and $300 per person year. If Americans continue to allow repressive government regulation and taxation of their nuclear and hydrocarbon energy industries and tax-subsidized use of food for fuel, these prices will rise much higher.
It is best to store food now, while it is still available at a reasonable price.
Art Robinson is a scientist and currently a professor at the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has commended and utilized Robinson work on emergency preparedness.
So we went to Walton's Feed and bought a three month supply of dried corn, soybeans, and salt for our two families, to go with the wheat my dad has canned. It isn't a lot, but it is a start. I use to have a good supply of food storage, but we left a lot in Mesa with Mindy and company. It is heartening to know that if stored properly some things can last over 30 years according to Walton's website. Yet after reading on their website, I'm betting that the wheat and things I left Mindy aren't good anymore because we kept them in our garage and the storage got too hot.
Ryan and Becky are going to use the food canned in #10 cans as a foundation for their bed so that they can store it. Yes, it is a bit like the family in the movie The RM, but it will be worth it.
I've been reading a novel called "Patriots, Surviving the Coming Collapse". It is more than a novel. The author tries to make it a guide in how to prepare for the next depression, collapse of government, anarchy, and chaos. It is a bit thick to wade through, but it is making me think. I know that I'm not as prepared as I should be as far as food storage and things go. I've spent several hundred dollars lately getting 72 hour kits ready and some earthquake preparedness items since the Utah "earthquake lady" came and spoke at our stake. I feel a little more ready, but I hope we are never going to need it.
One of the things we did was to move our water storage and 72 hour kits out of our basement and into our garage so that they are easily accessible. We purchased 2- 5 gallon bucket toilets with garbages bags and kitty litter. It is exciting, I know, but I still feel better. My sister said that she needs to store hundreds of pounds of kitty litter for her big family. I thought about giving one of these toilets as a bridal shower gift . . . it would have been memorable.
Like I said before, it is a start. Ryan called it our life insurance. Now we just have to get it canned after we go on our trip.
Sunday, June 01, 2008
High School Graduation
Tessa graduated from Mt. View High School in Mesa, AZ on May 22nd. It was memorable. It had been raining off and on all day and the higher powers were talking of separating the class into two groups to hold it indoors. The 803 graduates didn't want to be separated, so many sent texts to the head of the school board and said, "We are the class of 2008. We started together and we will end together. . ." It was held outside in the rain. We had a wool blanket and an umbrella, and it was still pretty miserable. I was happy that they let them graduate together. It would have been sad for them to not see 1/2 of their classmates and friends walk. Tessa thought it was neat. It was 52* when we drove away.
Tess was so sad to graduate. It meant that she had to come back to Utah and not be where her heart is, but many of her friends are already leaving, going in all the directions that kids go when they graduate.
I remember being so sad when I graduated 26 years ago. I loved high school, and all my friends. There were many that I have never seen again. There are a couple that I saw once and then learned of their deaths years later when I was hoping to see them at the next reunion. Life really does change so much after high school.
I really enjoy my high school reunions, or seeing old friends from that time of my life. Something about being with them makes me feel young and invincible again. I usually end up laughing and feeling carefree, and forgetting I'm an adult. I don't know if others have that same experience, but I look forward to it every 5 years. I hope it is the same until I'm 70+.
Tess was so sad to graduate. It meant that she had to come back to Utah and not be where her heart is, but many of her friends are already leaving, going in all the directions that kids go when they graduate.
I remember being so sad when I graduated 26 years ago. I loved high school, and all my friends. There were many that I have never seen again. There are a couple that I saw once and then learned of their deaths years later when I was hoping to see them at the next reunion. Life really does change so much after high school.
I really enjoy my high school reunions, or seeing old friends from that time of my life. Something about being with them makes me feel young and invincible again. I usually end up laughing and feeling carefree, and forgetting I'm an adult. I don't know if others have that same experience, but I look forward to it every 5 years. I hope it is the same until I'm 70+.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Singing in the Tabernacle
As some of you may have read already, April and I sang in the Salt Lake City Tabernacle with composer and conductor, Rob Gardner in his work of Joseph Smith the Prophet this weekend. It was a wonderful experience. We sang for the prophet on Friday night and got a standing ovation.
Another fun part of the experience was singing all the professional singers (which we are not, but April has high aspirations to be). Jordan Bluth was one of the soloists.
I love his cd! April laughed at me because I couldn't wait to meet him. She rolled her eyes and told me that I was silly. I made her come with me as moral support and introduced her and myself. He shook both of our hands, as I told him that I had to meet him because he was my new favorite tenor, even over Josh Groban. He said, "wow," and then put his hand on my shoulder, smiling as he left, having to run because Rob called for all the soloists to meet with him right then. April clearly was reveling in what she thought should be my great embarrassment. I wasn't embarrassed. I joked that I would never wash my right hand or shoulder again. He is rather dashing, and what a voice!
Rob Gardner is such a gifted man, too. He is truly a genius. This is the third time in five years that I have performed with him in the Spire Chorus. It is wonderful that it is a volunteer choir, because I may have been too chicken to audition if it had been otherwise. But most of the volunteers are incredibly talented singers.
April and Terry with Rob
Another fun part of the experience was singing all the professional singers (which we are not, but April has high aspirations to be). Jordan Bluth was one of the soloists.
I love his cd! April laughed at me because I couldn't wait to meet him. She rolled her eyes and told me that I was silly. I made her come with me as moral support and introduced her and myself. He shook both of our hands, as I told him that I had to meet him because he was my new favorite tenor, even over Josh Groban. He said, "wow," and then put his hand on my shoulder, smiling as he left, having to run because Rob called for all the soloists to meet with him right then. April clearly was reveling in what she thought should be my great embarrassment. I wasn't embarrassed. I joked that I would never wash my right hand or shoulder again. He is rather dashing, and what a voice!
Rob Gardner is such a gifted man, too. He is truly a genius. This is the third time in five years that I have performed with him in the Spire Chorus. It is wonderful that it is a volunteer choir, because I may have been too chicken to audition if it had been otherwise. But most of the volunteers are incredibly talented singers.
April and Terry with Rob
Thursday, April 24, 2008
I Lost 4 Pounds in Two Weeks
I am so excited. I got on the scales and was down another 2 pounds. I have struggled at this weight for the last year. At one point, I lost six pounds (last October) after counting calories for three weeks and kept if off until January when I put 8 back on even though I was exercising very regularly. So I had almost resigned myself that I was going to stay at this weight. I joked that if I had lived during the Renaissance my beautiful body would be preserved in the art of the time. I would be included in Michael Angelo's murals.
But after everything I've been doing since my 44th birthday, I've lost 4 pounds! I don't have the cravings for the carbs! It is terrific! I just had to share. I only want to lose 11 more to be at my pre-Katrina weight. Sweet!
But after everything I've been doing since my 44th birthday, I've lost 4 pounds! I don't have the cravings for the carbs! It is terrific! I just had to share. I only want to lose 11 more to be at my pre-Katrina weight. Sweet!
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Emotional Freedom Technique
EFT is a relatively new therapy that involves tapping on acupuncture sights for emotional issues of all kinds. When I was searching for something to help my hormone problems I linked to it through the Women to Women website. Since finding out about it, I had two sessions with Dr. Arden Compton at Abundant Health in Brigham City. I was quite skeptical at first, but I've found many testimonials from people that have had great success with it. I even found that the Discovery Channel did a show on using EFT for weight-loss. Well known Dr. Andrew Weil of University of Arizona uses a similar method for food cravings.
Because I spilled my guts in my last post about my depression this spring, I want everyone to know I feel incredibly better than I did one month ago. I don't know if it is the EFT, the better diet, the more consistent exercise, the new vitamins that I'm on, the fact that it is spring and there is more sunlight, or all of the above. Monday morning I found myself looking forward to work, to singing in Joseph Smith the Prophet, and to starting school in the fall. I was thinking about all the possibilities for my future and felt so excited about life! I stopped, amazed. I realized that I hadn't felt that positive about things in a balanced and whole way for two and a half years, since my personal Katrina (which happened the very same week).
I have tapped through a few of my issues since Saturday. It has been surprising where the sessions have led. I didn't realize that I have felt so inferior to a particular person in my life. I know that this person doesn't feel that I am inferior to them, but that it is my own issue. It is very interesting, to say the least. I am still skeptical, but not as much as I was because of the way I feel. I feel lighter, more capable than I have in so long. I don't know quite what to think. Even if it is placebo, I don't care because I feel better this week. And it is the week, if you know what I mean.
Because I spilled my guts in my last post about my depression this spring, I want everyone to know I feel incredibly better than I did one month ago. I don't know if it is the EFT, the better diet, the more consistent exercise, the new vitamins that I'm on, the fact that it is spring and there is more sunlight, or all of the above. Monday morning I found myself looking forward to work, to singing in Joseph Smith the Prophet, and to starting school in the fall. I was thinking about all the possibilities for my future and felt so excited about life! I stopped, amazed. I realized that I hadn't felt that positive about things in a balanced and whole way for two and a half years, since my personal Katrina (which happened the very same week).
I have tapped through a few of my issues since Saturday. It has been surprising where the sessions have led. I didn't realize that I have felt so inferior to a particular person in my life. I know that this person doesn't feel that I am inferior to them, but that it is my own issue. It is very interesting, to say the least. I am still skeptical, but not as much as I was because of the way I feel. I feel lighter, more capable than I have in so long. I don't know quite what to think. Even if it is placebo, I don't care because I feel better this week. And it is the week, if you know what I mean.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Depression and Swine Hormones
The last few months I've been experiencing some hormonal and seasonal related depression. I usually have kept this at bay with consistent exercise, good vitamins and amino acids, and learning something that I'm excited about.
I was doing well until the first of February when I cut the fleshy tip of my thumb off and started working again. That was the week. I dragged myself to our sales training for three days. I didn't want to be there! I wanted to be at the gym, dancing. I wanted to be at school finishing my open-enrollment computer class, and enrolled in school for fall. I wanted to be anywhere, but there. My thumb was hurting so I couldn't exercise even if I wanted to. I had to be at the sales training. I had committed to working another season. It is a great job, and I know it, so I felt guilty. My boss, (my sister) knew that I was thinking about more schooling and told me that I wasn't obligated to work for her. But I had committed, not only to her and my sales manager, but to my husband and myself. And it kept snowing and snowing and snowing. It all seemed to go downhill from there.
I took my computer test on Microsoft Word as soon as sales training was over, and set school aside until June when our sales campaign is over. But it seemed I had a mental block. The phone at work weighed a hundred pounds. I was having anxiety and guilt. But I started. Slowly. I called my best clients, and had some success. I remembered that I really like the people with whom I work. I was feeling somewhat better, but still dragging. My negative thoughts were getting the best of me. My heart wasn't in it. It felt as if I were carrying 100 lbs to work each day. I spent hours reorganizing my contracts, and checking my email (OK, it wasn't really hours). It kept ringing in my head, "don't want to be here, not a career, can't do it, heart's not in it, have to do it, have to do it, I'm committed, I'm not a flake," and so it went for a couple of weeks.
My emotions were right on the surface. I cried at work, about work. (I can honestly say that that is a first!) I had a confrontation with my sales manager (who is not my sister) about the fact that he didn't give me any of the good sales leads.
Description of said confrontation:
Me, smiling, and arrogant, as I handed him a renewed contract, "My last client just increased his ad by $2000!"
"That is great, kid!" looking at my contract.
"Do you know how I got that client last year?" I said, proudly. "I got it from the white lead sheets, which I didn't get any of this year."
"How would you know that?" he said, surprised, and puzzled.
"I saw that the others had them and I didn't. When did you hand them out? Were you thinking that I didn't deserve any because I am only part-time and in school, too?"
He paused, thinking, "I honestly don't remember, but it could have been something like that. I did it at the beginning of the campaign. Did you lose sleep over it?"
"No, I just was wondering how you expect me to increase my sales without any good leads." It was matter of fact. I didn't feel emotional. I felt better. It was out in the open. I was part-time. It isn't my career of choice. I really didn't want more work, more hours. The weight had lifted. (I know what you are thinking, big, scary confrontation, NOT!)
I remembered, I like my job. I'm good at it! I am an asset to my sister's company, if only for one more season, or if I decide to stay for many. I can pick away at my other dream education in the summer and fall, and enjoy the journey. The guilt is gone! I am committed for this season, and it is good.
Work has been so much better. Life has been better . . . except when those swine horrormones change. I have violent, scary nightmares for a couple nights around day 14, and feel withdrawn, sluggish, and worthless days 20-25, and then achy for days 1-3. In March on day 14 I was crying, feeling hopeless, and in the depths of despair and everything was GOOD! Logically, I knew it was good. I could spend days, even weeks counting my blessings. I was exercising some, but not enough and it was still cold, overcast and snowing. I knew I had to do something! In a 24 day cycle I had 11 days that I felt off! That is almost half of month feeling yucky!
I googled PMS and found Dr. Northrup's women to women website. I ordered her wellness program for my birthday. I started exercising 4 days a week. I have started a better diet, lower in refined carbs. I started taking the prescription of Prometrium (bio-identical progesterone) that my doctor prescribed in November that I had only tried for 2 months. I linked over to a website on Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) that Dr. Northrup's site said can help with health issues. I called Arden Compton, ND and set up an appointment. (more on this later)
My last cycle was much better. I'm excited about life again.
I was doing well until the first of February when I cut the fleshy tip of my thumb off and started working again. That was the week. I dragged myself to our sales training for three days. I didn't want to be there! I wanted to be at the gym, dancing. I wanted to be at school finishing my open-enrollment computer class, and enrolled in school for fall. I wanted to be anywhere, but there. My thumb was hurting so I couldn't exercise even if I wanted to. I had to be at the sales training. I had committed to working another season. It is a great job, and I know it, so I felt guilty. My boss, (my sister) knew that I was thinking about more schooling and told me that I wasn't obligated to work for her. But I had committed, not only to her and my sales manager, but to my husband and myself. And it kept snowing and snowing and snowing. It all seemed to go downhill from there.
I took my computer test on Microsoft Word as soon as sales training was over, and set school aside until June when our sales campaign is over. But it seemed I had a mental block. The phone at work weighed a hundred pounds. I was having anxiety and guilt. But I started. Slowly. I called my best clients, and had some success. I remembered that I really like the people with whom I work. I was feeling somewhat better, but still dragging. My negative thoughts were getting the best of me. My heart wasn't in it. It felt as if I were carrying 100 lbs to work each day. I spent hours reorganizing my contracts, and checking my email (OK, it wasn't really hours). It kept ringing in my head, "don't want to be here, not a career, can't do it, heart's not in it, have to do it, have to do it, I'm committed, I'm not a flake," and so it went for a couple of weeks.
My emotions were right on the surface. I cried at work, about work. (I can honestly say that that is a first!) I had a confrontation with my sales manager (who is not my sister) about the fact that he didn't give me any of the good sales leads.
Description of said confrontation:
Me, smiling, and arrogant, as I handed him a renewed contract, "My last client just increased his ad by $2000!"
"That is great, kid!" looking at my contract.
"Do you know how I got that client last year?" I said, proudly. "I got it from the white lead sheets, which I didn't get any of this year."
"How would you know that?" he said, surprised, and puzzled.
"I saw that the others had them and I didn't. When did you hand them out? Were you thinking that I didn't deserve any because I am only part-time and in school, too?"
He paused, thinking, "I honestly don't remember, but it could have been something like that. I did it at the beginning of the campaign. Did you lose sleep over it?"
"No, I just was wondering how you expect me to increase my sales without any good leads." It was matter of fact. I didn't feel emotional. I felt better. It was out in the open. I was part-time. It isn't my career of choice. I really didn't want more work, more hours. The weight had lifted. (I know what you are thinking, big, scary confrontation, NOT!)
I remembered, I like my job. I'm good at it! I am an asset to my sister's company, if only for one more season, or if I decide to stay for many. I can pick away at my other dream education in the summer and fall, and enjoy the journey. The guilt is gone! I am committed for this season, and it is good.
Work has been so much better. Life has been better . . . except when those swine horrormones change. I have violent, scary nightmares for a couple nights around day 14, and feel withdrawn, sluggish, and worthless days 20-25, and then achy for days 1-3. In March on day 14 I was crying, feeling hopeless, and in the depths of despair and everything was GOOD! Logically, I knew it was good. I could spend days, even weeks counting my blessings. I was exercising some, but not enough and it was still cold, overcast and snowing. I knew I had to do something! In a 24 day cycle I had 11 days that I felt off! That is almost half of month feeling yucky!
I googled PMS and found Dr. Northrup's women to women website. I ordered her wellness program for my birthday. I started exercising 4 days a week. I have started a better diet, lower in refined carbs. I started taking the prescription of Prometrium (bio-identical progesterone) that my doctor prescribed in November that I had only tried for 2 months. I linked over to a website on Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) that Dr. Northrup's site said can help with health issues. I called Arden Compton, ND and set up an appointment. (more on this later)
My last cycle was much better. I'm excited about life again.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Free Book, Check Here
I was linking through the wonderful world of blogs and found out that J. Scott Savage will give away an advanced reader's copy of his new book Farworld if a blogger will be on his book blog tour, review his book after reading it and have a Q and A with him for a post. The only thing is . . . I have to have an active blog to do it. First, I need to post more often, and then it may be active. But, I can't even get my kids to read my blog! Hmmm. It is a problem.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Kids Say the Darndest Things
I got this email today, and it made me laugh! I thought I'd post it after adding some of our Funny Family Folktale Kid Funnies.
TESSA (age 3) was sitting by the bishop's wife in sacrament meeting. She looked up at her and said, "You must be really old."
The bishop's wife smiled and replied, "Oh, I am really old."
Then Tessa looked at her and asked, "then why aren't cha dead?"
ROSS (age 5) "Mom, you need to buy a new bed."
"Why do we need a new bed?"
"For the baby," he said.
"Oh, honey, your Dad and I aren't going to have any more babies," I replied.
My husband piped in, "When you get married, you can have all the babies you want."
Ross could hardly contain his joy and said, "When I marry Hunter (little girl that he played with), I'll just cough it [the baby] out!" Cough was the word he used for vomit. Dan almost crashed the car, and I about peed my pants.
RYAN (age 11) After we had driven up Arizona's dirt "Hell Road" into the Superstition Mountains for 20 miles of narrow switch-backs, white-knuckle blind turns, and thousand foot drop-offs, we finally reached Roosevelt Dam. Ryan asked what the piece of equipment on the top of the dam was. Dan said, "it is a crane." Ryan replied, "I've seen a lot of cranes in my life, but I've never seen a dam crane!" It was just the comic relief that we needed. It was a good thing that the road had straightened out.
ROSS (age 7) While living in Mesa, Arizona, we would go to my brother, Jamey's house and the kids would jump on his trampoline. In the 110* weather, the sun had deteriorated the trampoline mat and whenever the kids would jump they would be covered in black. One day I said to Ross, "There is black all over you. I see you've been jumping on the trampoline again. " He said, "the bad guys snuck into the backyard at night and painted the trampoline black!"
Now the email
TAMMY (age 4) was with her mother when they met an elderly,
rather-wrinkled woman her Mom knew. Tammy looked at her for a
while and then asked, "Why doesn't your skin fit your face?"
SUSAN (age 4) was drinking juice when she got the hiccups. "Please don't
give me this juice again," she said. "It makes my teeth cough."
JACK (age 3) was watching his Mom breast-feeding his new baby sister.
After a while, he asked: "Mom why have you got two? Is one for hot and
one for cold milk?"
MELANIE (age 5) asked her Granny how old she was. Granny replied
she was so old she didn't remember any more. Melanie said, "If you don't
remember, you must look in the back of your panties. Mine say five to six."
STEVEN (age 3) hugged and kissed his Mom good night. "I love you so much
that, when you die, I'm going to bury you outside my bedroom window."
BRITTANY (age 4) had an earache and wanted a pain killer. She tried in
vain to take the lid off the bottle. Seeing her frustration, her Mom
explained it was a child-proof cap, and she'd have to open it for her.
Eyes wide with wonder, the little girl asked, "How does it know it's me?"
DJ (age 4) stepped onto the bathroom scale and asked, "How much do I cost?"
MARC (age 4) was engrossed in a young couple that was hugging and kissing
in a restaurant. Without taking his eyes off them, he asked his dad, "Why is he
whispering in her mouth?"
CLINTON (age 5) was in his bedroom looking worried. When his Mom asked
what was troubling him, he replied, "I don't know what'll happen with
this bed when I get married. How will my wife fit in?"
JAMES (age 4) was listening to a Bible story. His dad read, "The man
named Lot was warned to take his wife and flee out of the city, but his
wife looked back and was turned to salt." Concerned, James asked, "What
happened to the flea?"
The Sermon I think this Mom will never forget ... This particular Sunday
sermon ... "Dear Lord," the minister began, with arms extended toward
heaven and a rapturous look on his upturned face. "Without you,we are
but dust ..." He would have continued but, at that moment, my very
obedient daughter, who was listening, leaned over to me and asked
quite audibly in her shrill, little, four-year-old-girl voice, "Mom, what
is butt dust?"
TESSA (age 3) was sitting by the bishop's wife in sacrament meeting. She looked up at her and said, "You must be really old."
The bishop's wife smiled and replied, "Oh, I am really old."
Then Tessa looked at her and asked, "then why aren't cha dead?"
ROSS (age 5) "Mom, you need to buy a new bed."
"Why do we need a new bed?"
"For the baby," he said.
"Oh, honey, your Dad and I aren't going to have any more babies," I replied.
My husband piped in, "When you get married, you can have all the babies you want."
Ross could hardly contain his joy and said, "When I marry Hunter (little girl that he played with), I'll just cough it [the baby] out!" Cough was the word he used for vomit. Dan almost crashed the car, and I about peed my pants.
RYAN (age 11) After we had driven up Arizona's dirt "Hell Road" into the Superstition Mountains for 20 miles of narrow switch-backs, white-knuckle blind turns, and thousand foot drop-offs, we finally reached Roosevelt Dam. Ryan asked what the piece of equipment on the top of the dam was. Dan said, "it is a crane." Ryan replied, "I've seen a lot of cranes in my life, but I've never seen a dam crane!" It was just the comic relief that we needed. It was a good thing that the road had straightened out.
ROSS (age 7) While living in Mesa, Arizona, we would go to my brother, Jamey's house and the kids would jump on his trampoline. In the 110* weather, the sun had deteriorated the trampoline mat and whenever the kids would jump they would be covered in black. One day I said to Ross, "There is black all over you. I see you've been jumping on the trampoline again. " He said, "the bad guys snuck into the backyard at night and painted the trampoline black!"
Now the email
TAMMY (age 4) was with her mother when they met an elderly,
rather-wrinkled woman her Mom knew. Tammy looked at her for a
while and then asked, "Why doesn't your skin fit your face?"
SUSAN (age 4) was drinking juice when she got the hiccups. "Please don't
give me this juice again," she said. "It makes my teeth cough."
JACK (age 3) was watching his Mom breast-feeding his new baby sister.
After a while, he asked: "Mom why have you got two? Is one for hot and
one for cold milk?"
MELANIE (age 5) asked her Granny how old she was. Granny replied
she was so old she didn't remember any more. Melanie said, "If you don't
remember, you must look in the back of your panties. Mine say five to six."
STEVEN (age 3) hugged and kissed his Mom good night. "I love you so much
that, when you die, I'm going to bury you outside my bedroom window."
BRITTANY (age 4) had an earache and wanted a pain killer. She tried in
vain to take the lid off the bottle. Seeing her frustration, her Mom
explained it was a child-proof cap, and she'd have to open it for her.
Eyes wide with wonder, the little girl asked, "How does it know it's me?"
DJ (age 4) stepped onto the bathroom scale and asked, "How much do I cost?"
MARC (age 4) was engrossed in a young couple that was hugging and kissing
in a restaurant. Without taking his eyes off them, he asked his dad, "Why is he
whispering in her mouth?"
CLINTON (age 5) was in his bedroom looking worried. When his Mom asked
what was troubling him, he replied, "I don't know what'll happen with
this bed when I get married. How will my wife fit in?"
JAMES (age 4) was listening to a Bible story. His dad read, "The man
named Lot was warned to take his wife and flee out of the city, but his
wife looked back and was turned to salt." Concerned, James asked, "What
happened to the flea?"
The Sermon I think this Mom will never forget ... This particular Sunday
sermon ... "Dear Lord," the minister began, with arms extended toward
heaven and a rapturous look on his upturned face. "Without you,we are
but dust ..." He would have continued but, at that moment, my very
obedient daughter, who was listening, leaned over to me and asked
quite audibly in her shrill, little, four-year-old-girl voice, "Mom, what
is butt dust?"
Shadow, Paris, and the Elephants
Tale II in Funny Family Folktales. This is Grandma's story.
One summer our little black Pekingese, Shadow, had tangled with a skunk. No matter what I washed her with, I couldn't get the stench out. Because it was summer and the weather was nice, I just had to keep her outside.
One evening, I was watching my grandson, Paris, who was around five years old. He was very concerned about Shadow being outside and kept asking me if he could let her in. I told him no several times.
He said, "But Grandma, she is shaking. She is cold."
Sure enough, Shadow was shaking, but I knew she wasn't cold. "No, she isn't cold. She just wants in. It is warm outside," I said.
"But, Grandma, she is scared. That is why she is shaking."
"Paris, Shadow isn't scared."
"She is scared," he continued. "We need to let her in."
I, again, told him that there was nothing for Shadow to be afraid of and that she couldn't come in because she smelled too bad, but he wouldn't give up.
"Grandma, Shadow is scared of the elephants."
"What elephants? There aren't any elephants!"
"Oh, they are out there!" He said, "you just can't see them."
One summer our little black Pekingese, Shadow, had tangled with a skunk. No matter what I washed her with, I couldn't get the stench out. Because it was summer and the weather was nice, I just had to keep her outside.
One evening, I was watching my grandson, Paris, who was around five years old. He was very concerned about Shadow being outside and kept asking me if he could let her in. I told him no several times.
He said, "But Grandma, she is shaking. She is cold."
Sure enough, Shadow was shaking, but I knew she wasn't cold. "No, she isn't cold. She just wants in. It is warm outside," I said.
"But, Grandma, she is scared. That is why she is shaking."
"Paris, Shadow isn't scared."
"She is scared," he continued. "We need to let her in."
I, again, told him that there was nothing for Shadow to be afraid of and that she couldn't come in because she smelled too bad, but he wouldn't give up.
"Grandma, Shadow is scared of the elephants."
"What elephants? There aren't any elephants!"
"Oh, they are out there!" He said, "you just can't see them."
Monday, March 17, 2008
LDStorymakers, Bitten by the Bug
I had wanted to go to the LDStorymaker's Writers' Conference and when I went to register a couple of weeks ago, it was sold out! Then this morning I received a comment on this blog from Candace Salima and linked over to her blog. Hurray! She had a post saying that there were a couple of unexpected openings in the conference for anyone interested. Mindy and I got the last two seats!
For those of you who don't know, I've always wanted to write. First, when I was in third grade, I started writing romances. I wish I had kept them. My mother would roar with laughter when she read them. She never has been very supportive of my big dreams. Then in junior high school when my 8th grade English teacher assigned the class two page stories to write, much to her chagrin, I would turn in twenty page stories. She had me spend the time reading the book Dune to study his writing style. Looking back, I just think she didn't want to read or grade my long stories. Yet, at the end of the school year she told me to send her my first published work. (I don't think this blog counts...)
So onto Logan High School I went. I continued to love English, literature, and creative writing. Therefore, I took a journalism class my junior year. I thoroughly was taken with it, and much to my surprise the Grizzly Newspaper Adviser told me to apply to be on the staff.
I remember the conversation well. "Terry, I think you should sign up to be on the newspaper next year."
"Really?" I was flattered. "What position should I try for?"
"How about for the editor-in-chief?" he said.
I couldn't believe that he would suggest that. When they announced that I was the next year's editor-in chief, I couldn't believe it. I was so happy. It thrilled me to be a part of a team, and to write. I guess that counted as something that I could have sent to my 8th grade English teacher, but it never occurred to me until this very moment.
So fast forward 30 years, give or take a couple. I, yet again, have the urge to write. Finally, now that I have a little life experience, I may have something to share. I just need to do it. I've started with my blogs, found real writers and their blogs, and have been bitten by the bug.
Mindy went to the American Night Writer's Conference in Mesa two weeks ago, and loved it. She said that I should go to this one if I could. I didn't even think about the fact that she would be here to go with me.
So a small prayer has been answered. There are two openings with our names on them. I just hope now that the brain storms from the past will return and I'll be able to articulate them onto paper. What fun!
Make a Caption
These are my beautiful children! Don't you think they are somethin'? OK, I want your captions for this picture. What do you think the mugger is saying?
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
5 Cent Ice Cream Cones
This is the first of our Funny Family Folktales. This is Grandpa's story.
One summer in 1946, when I was 17, I ran an ice cream counter in the drug store on Main Street and First North in Logan, Utah. One warm summer day, a little girl that looked to be about 5 years old came in the store. Before she came in, I saw her talking to her mother for a minute, apparently receiving some kind of directions.
The little girl came to my counter and ordered a couple of ice cream cones and handed me a dollar bill. After her order, she said, "I want some change."
"What kind of change do you want?" I teased, thinking that the question might stump her.
To my surprise, she rolled her eyes while glancing out the front window toward her mother, and said, "Well, " with her hands on her hips, "if you're stupid, you're not suppose to work here!"
Copyright© 2008
Friday, February 22, 2008
A Kitchen Knife and My Thumb...
Sequel to "A Kitchen Knife and my Finger" by Mindy Ostler on MNOP.
I'll have you know that I had lived 43.75 years without cutting myself deeply when chopping food. Something about using very sharp knives and looking away for just that one second...and off comes the top of my thumb! Luckily for me, I had asked my nurse friend what Mindy should have done differently when she cut off her fingertip.
Funny thing going into shock over only a "flesh wound". After I announced that "I just pulled a Mindy" and cut my thumb off, I calmly went into the bathroom while giving orders to the family about how to finish dinner, grabbed some gauze, taped up a pressure bandage, joked a bit about how I couldn't believe that I had done the very same thing that Mindy did only two weeks before, then promptly had to put my head between my knees to make sure I didn't pass out onto the tile. I, too, had ringing in my ears, and was suddenly nauseated.
After realizing that I was in shock, I lay down, and propped my feet up. Then I thought I should probably have a professional make sure that I had bandaged it properly. I called my friend, Amy over who said, "Did you wash it out well?"
Nope, I didn't. So she washed it for me, made it bleed thoroughly to clean it out, and re-bandaged it. By then, I wasn't in shock anymore, so I visited with her and then ate my dinner.
That was two weeks ago. It still hasn't healed. I thought that the flap of skin was attached in one small spot, but I was mistaken. It was all the way off, but I put so much pressure on it that it adhered to the wound. I have tried to take pictures of it to put on my blog, but my new camera really doesn't take good pictures.
Oh, well. It is only the size of a thumbtack. I'm sure it will fall off and heal sometime before I'm 60, if I'll quit bumping it and making it bleed more. Maybe I should go have it cauterized...NOT!
I'll have you know that I had lived 43.75 years without cutting myself deeply when chopping food. Something about using very sharp knives and looking away for just that one second...and off comes the top of my thumb! Luckily for me, I had asked my nurse friend what Mindy should have done differently when she cut off her fingertip.
Funny thing going into shock over only a "flesh wound". After I announced that "I just pulled a Mindy" and cut my thumb off, I calmly went into the bathroom while giving orders to the family about how to finish dinner, grabbed some gauze, taped up a pressure bandage, joked a bit about how I couldn't believe that I had done the very same thing that Mindy did only two weeks before, then promptly had to put my head between my knees to make sure I didn't pass out onto the tile. I, too, had ringing in my ears, and was suddenly nauseated.
After realizing that I was in shock, I lay down, and propped my feet up. Then I thought I should probably have a professional make sure that I had bandaged it properly. I called my friend, Amy over who said, "Did you wash it out well?"
Nope, I didn't. So she washed it for me, made it bleed thoroughly to clean it out, and re-bandaged it. By then, I wasn't in shock anymore, so I visited with her and then ate my dinner.
That was two weeks ago. It still hasn't healed. I thought that the flap of skin was attached in one small spot, but I was mistaken. It was all the way off, but I put so much pressure on it that it adhered to the wound. I have tried to take pictures of it to put on my blog, but my new camera really doesn't take good pictures.
Oh, well. It is only the size of a thumbtack. I'm sure it will fall off and heal sometime before I'm 60, if I'll quit bumping it and making it bleed more. Maybe I should go have it cauterized...NOT!
Lost in Blogland II
Today I had Ross clean the house for me. He owes me some money, so I had him dust and vacuum everything. While he was doing that, I read, and read, and read.
I have a confession to make, the last couple of weeks I've been reading a questioning blog. I know, you are all shocked and horrified, but one of my favorite writers on there is Bruce Nielson, who according to his own comments is an "Orthodox Mormon". He is articulate, thoughtful, and respectful of other's differing views. I have really appreciated his insight and answers to the "let's read The Book of Mormon as an inspired, fictitious, 19th century document" group.
There are others on the blog in question that comment who are believing members of the church. There are links to other blogs and websites that are inspired, 21st century work. I have been linking over to those blogs, and drifting away from the first one. It has made me a happier reader.
Tonight I have read some wonderful, thoughtful literature on Segullah. It made me want to write. I mean really write. Express my thoughts, my stories, in a way that touches people like those stories touched me. They were poignant, honest, heart-wrenching, hopeful and true.
But I am afraid. How do I do it and keep the private things private? There are those stories that are true, but need to be told in a way to protect the individuals in them. Do I tell them in fiction? Do I write under a fake name where strangers can read them, but not those who may recognize the players?
I should ask the authors how they do it. I think I shall. Being lost in Blogland today was a wonderful journey into other's experiences and I came away inspired.
I have a confession to make, the last couple of weeks I've been reading a questioning blog. I know, you are all shocked and horrified, but one of my favorite writers on there is Bruce Nielson, who according to his own comments is an "Orthodox Mormon". He is articulate, thoughtful, and respectful of other's differing views. I have really appreciated his insight and answers to the "let's read The Book of Mormon as an inspired, fictitious, 19th century document" group.
There are others on the blog in question that comment who are believing members of the church. There are links to other blogs and websites that are inspired, 21st century work. I have been linking over to those blogs, and drifting away from the first one. It has made me a happier reader.
Tonight I have read some wonderful, thoughtful literature on Segullah. It made me want to write. I mean really write. Express my thoughts, my stories, in a way that touches people like those stories touched me. They were poignant, honest, heart-wrenching, hopeful and true.
But I am afraid. How do I do it and keep the private things private? There are those stories that are true, but need to be told in a way to protect the individuals in them. Do I tell them in fiction? Do I write under a fake name where strangers can read them, but not those who may recognize the players?
I should ask the authors how they do it. I think I shall. Being lost in Blogland today was a wonderful journey into other's experiences and I came away inspired.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Snow, Snow, and more...
This is a picture of our patio. It has looked like this since Christmas Eve. It has really been beautiful though.
The Cutting Edge
I saw this today at school. I sent it to my manager at work. I think he is feeling a bit like these three guys on the cutting edge. He has been working on our online Bridgerland Phonebook since September. It should be working any day now!
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Personality Test
| Your Aura is Violet |
 Idealistic and thoughtful, you have the mind and ideas to change the world. And you have the charisma of a great leader, even if you don't always use it! The purpose of your life: saying truths that other people dare not say Famous purples include: Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Susan B. Anthony Careers for you to try: Political Activist, Inventor, Life Coach |
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