MinneSNOWta!

Living in Minnesota is not for everyone. As a matter of fact, sometimes I don't think it is for me.

After calling MN home for 20 years, I know that the positives FAR outweigh the negatives that we can experience in the Great White North. This winter has been great for snow and not too bad for below freezing temps. The worst cold I can recall was when the temperature didn't reach 0 for more than 3 weeks. That was years ago. We have certainly had some cold, but after several days it breaks and gives us a balmy day in the teens or low 20s. It is all perspective people.

Following one of our good snowstorms I was able to get some pictures of my MN family. I think church was cancelled for this storm. That almost never happens. Dave is blowing out the neighbors. I think this particular storm had him blowing snow for a total of 6 hours. Happy, but sore boy!

EGD? EsophagoGastroDuodenoscopy

"Do you have acid reflux?" was the question I kept hearing after I had a laryngoscopy to assess some vocal changes I was noticing. My reply was always "No". I have had heartburn and gastritis before and I didn't have any of those symptoms, so of course I didn't have reflux. Well, long story short, I figured out through trial and error that I had something acidic going on in my system. My family doctor recommended taking some biopsies of my stomach and whatever else is down there to check for H. pylori, celiac, and Barrett's esophagus.


I was a bit worried about the procedure. This is a picture of the type of scope used for an EGD. Right before the doctor started the procedure he was asking about other surgeries I had had in the past. I told him I was a little nervous for the EGD because most of my "work" had been done in the nether regions. Is that too much information? He laughed and I relaxed. I was at the clinic for about 3 hours, but the actual thing takes about 20 minutes. I have no results yet, but I am glad it is over. To celebrate being done. We all went to lunch at Hunan.

So, I will keep you posted on any developments. I don't know how long the little chunks of me have to grow before they can tell the doctors anything. I'll let you know.

1:00 p.m. Church!

Warning:
This post has been infected with a bad attitude.

Does anyone really LIKE 1:00 p.m. church? Sitting or working through three hours of church on a Sunday afternoon is REALLY a test of faith. Yes, it is difficult to wake up early and make it to 9:00 a.m. church, but at least you have the rest of the day to recover. This morning I got out of bed at the perfect time...when I woke up on my own. If it was up to me, NOTHING would start before 9:30 a.m.

After being awake for a couple hours I thought we should all get dressed for church, but my husband informed me we had a couple more hours before we need to get gussied up. I gave up and went back to bed and read a book. Now, I'm not saying this was a bad thing, but an hour or so later I had to get back out of bed and get going to church. Aaaaagh! Here is what I think Sunday afternoon should look like.



This is what my Sunday afternoons look like currently:During the winter months 1:00 p.m. church is particularly difficult because:

It is cold, dark, and late when we get out of church. Let's face it! It is winter here a lot.

We have just one more Sunday until January will be over. Hurray! I will have just 11 months left. If you subtract two General Conferences, two Stake Conferences, a few weekends for traveling purposes, a couple sick Sundays for myself or a child, and I know I can make it to that golden 9:00 a.m. time slot. I will make it because God has promised that I can do all things with His help. I will not apologize for using a miraculously spiritual concept of being saved to explain the way I feel about 1:00 p.m. church.

Boys on Skates

Normally when I drop the girls at their Activity Days group, C and I have a "date" on our own. Well, today I asked D if he wanted to steal my date time with C to use their new skates. They both have purchased skates in the last few months. D thought it was a great idea and so the boys strapped their skates on and had some fun.
I took a couple pictures and some video, but it was FREEZING cold outside and I didn't want to be out there much. This is C's second time on his new skates and without the "skating walker" you can see he isn't quite upright yet. (Couldn't get the video to upload. Imagine bent over boy.) He is chasing a ball back and forth that D is throwing. We will need to see about getting a puck and stick or something to play with on the ice. Winter Fun!

Little Feet

I went to a doctor appointment this morning and again I heard music. This time I heard the theme song for The Land Before Time children's movie, "If We Hold On Together" sung by Diana Ross. The first time I saw the movie I was at my sister Bonnie's house and I was expecting B. The characters in the story are so endearing. It has been a favorite movie of mine since my children were small. The main character of the story is "Little Foot" a long-necked dinosaur. He and his new friends have many adventures trying to make it to "The Great Valley" where they find their families.

Now that my children are older it has been years since watching The Land Before Time. It just reminded me that a chapter has closed. No more diapers, strollers, sippie cups, and nap times. Time has an interesting effect on our memories. Generally, time sifts through our memory and selects several pleasant vignettes to retain. I know there were MANY difficult experiences with my little ones, but now looking back through time...it seems pretty great.

We are in a new chapter now with all of the successes and pitfalls of a prize winning novel. The challenge is to enjoy the day today. Do not wait until time has faded the color and flavor of the experience. As much as I like leftovers, the presentation of a meal the first time is unequaled. Enjoy today while it is still here and buy The Land Before Time it is so cute.

Footprint Poem
The pitter patter of little feet
Leave behind something dear and sweet
A precious treasure for me to keep
The memories of your little feet.

TV Theme Songs

I just took a trip down memory lane with Les and Mom discussing TV theme songs. I wish I could say that I was one of those mature and gifted children that found no entertainment in television, but that wouldn't be honest. I loved TV. I was addicted to TV. I could surf 13 channels like nobody's business. You name it, I could watch it, especially if there was work to be done somewhere in the house. That makes me sound like a terribly lazy kid, but I turned out OK.

This TV addiction is one of the reasons why we don't have cable or satellite today. We haven't had it for years and I find that we are all much more productive without it. However, we have a few shows that we watch on the computer. Guilty pleasures! :-)

Anyway, TV memories... As a child we would have sleepovers at my Grandma's house. She and my Aunt Betty lived together and they kept very late hours. When we would stay at Grandma's house we would have TV dinners ;-P and get to watch several TV shows back to back. My favorite show at Grandma's was The Love Boat, but in order to watch it I had to endure The Lawrence Welk Show. I am sure I learned a few things from both Lawrence and Captain Stubing, but Lawrence Welk was probably a little more helpful since I have always been involved in music. To this day I have never taken a cruise. I am already married so what would be the point?
I am pretty sure that we also watched Dukes of Hazzard while at Grandma's but I don't think Grandma and Betty watched that with us. Later we would "watch" the news. I don't know what I did during that time, because the news is still hard for me to watch. Actually, yes I do know what I did. I sat next to Betty and she would tickle my arms and back. I love to be tickled. Not the ticklish kind of tickle, but just fingernails on my skin. Aunt Betty had awesome fingernails. Directly following the boring news was M*A*S*H. I think I enjoyed that show as a kid, but I am sure I didn't understand 90% of the humor. I now own every season of M*A*S*H. I understand all of the humor and the heartache. My kids now watch the show with me and Dave and they think it is pretty funny. I am sure that they don't get most of the humor, but they will. Traditions passed from one generation to the next.

After M*A*S*H I would climb into my hide-a-bed and try to go to sleep while Grandma and Betty would have their late night meal of toast, Postum, and who knows what else. The toast smell and clinking of dishes was all I really witnessed. Boy, those 2 ladies were amazing, quirky, and incredibly loving. I miss them both very much.

So, that is why I included several TV theme songs. Very vivid memories flood over me when I hear those songs. If you are old enough to know about some of the TV shows you may wonder how I was able to watch them since they played during the day. Well, let's just say I was sick occasionally. I was also "sick" occasionally and I ALWAYS watched TV when I was home from school.

Oh dear, more memories coming. I probably should stop before I tell you that I called PTL - Praise The Lord televangelists several times as I was home watching TV. That was Jimmy Baker's ministry and they always told me to call. They wanted to talk to me, help me, and pray with me. So, I called. And I called. And I called. I never said a word so the prayer warrior on the other end of the phone probably thought I was conflicted or suicidal, but I was just small. I didn't realize that it COST MONEY until one night lying in bed I heard my Dad ask my Mom, "Becky, what are all these calls to California?" OOPS! Dad called the number and found out what it was and in typical Dad fashion he asked me IF I had called PTL. I don't remember what all he said to me, but I remember being very grateful and feeling loved afterward. I never called PTL again and that is why Jimmy Baker became corrupt and ended up serving time in prison in Rochester, MN where I would live 13 years later. How do you like that cause and effect? Whew! It wore me out.

I am sure that this will not be my last TV post because, as I said, it was a big part of my life. For now, I will say "Good night, sleep tight, and pleasant dreams to you..."

New Socks and Shoes

Going to church is always an adventure. Don't get me wrong. I love attending my church meetings. I am lifted up as I study the word of God and fellowship with my brothers and sisters in the gospel. However, I have moments where my mind wanders or I may get distracted by something else in my life. Well this is one of those moments from today. I got some new socks and shoes a couple weeks ago and today is the first day I wore them to church. Aren't they cute?! Don't pay attention to the bright white stumps sticking out of the socks. I don't know who those belong to. I just looked at those legs again and I am embarrassed for that person.

So the shoes are J-41s which are some of my favorite comfort shoes. Last weekend I went shoe shopping with two of my sisters, Heidi and Leslie, and we all bought some of these and some mules as well. Yippee! This is the first time that we have all fit and liked the same pair of shoes.

After returning home, Heidi emailed my sister Bonnie to show her the shoes that we all bought. Not much later, Bonnie called and said she had bought the same shoes a couple weeks ago. You do not understand how amazing this is! It is not amazing that Bonnie had bought shoes, she owns more shoes than the rest of us combined. But we all picked out the same shoes for the first time ever!

Yes, we are all sisters. We were all products of the same gene soup, but we are VERY unique women. It is so much fun to get together and learn from one another, but I digress! Don't you love my new shoes?

Leslie

Well, I can't sleep so I might as well do something.

Today was a lot of fun. Besides starting my new blog I was able to spend time with my Leslie updating our family blog. Whenever Leslie and I are together it is a hoot. I don't know why but we can laugh at the strangest things. We really enjoy watching TV together and commenting on everything that rubs us the wrong way or tickles our fancy. This activity eventually has us laughing to tears and whatever troubles we may have suffered that day dissipate in the giggles.

Today was no different in the laughing department except that we were laughing more at ourselves than anything else. This is us laying on her bed blogging. We took this photo with my camera and were laughing the whole time. We laughed to tears when we looked at all the goofy pictures that resulted. Laughing is a very good thing, but it is a great thing when you can do it with someone you love. Thanks Les!

Why a Soundtrack?

I have been thinking of starting a blog for years but my perfectionist tendencies have hindered me from "putting myself out there". I am hoping that I can set some of those feelings aside and just have some fun. Even though this is my very first post on my very first blog I have known what I wanted to call my blog for 3 years.

On my way home from Washington D.C. I was wasting time in the Minneapolis airport by myself because D was taking a later flight to gain a voucher. I don't love to travel by myself so I was trying to keep myself busy yet relaxed. I walked around looking at shops, purchased my favorite noisemaker at Brookstone and started to make my way to my gate. As I was walking a VERY long distance to the commuter area I passed several gates and waiting areas. I was surprised to hear that there was different music playing in each area. The music was peaceful, happy, and well known to me. It was as if the music had been hand selected according to my preferences and my needs. I was smiling as I walked and felt blessed by this "coincidental" music montage. Then, I heard singing. Singing? In the airport. Not only was it singing, but it was good singing. A choir of young people, probably college age men and women singing "The Lord Bless You and Keep You" by John Rutter. Are you kidding me!? What are the odds?

I had just walked a long distance hearing song after song that brought back memories of the many blessings I have enjoyed throughout my life. This miraculous event culminated with a beautiful college choir singing one of my all time favorite songs. I found myself standing in the terminal singing and crying. Perhaps people thought I was mentally ill or something, but I was merely having a miraculous witness of God's love for me through the music he has given me throughout my life.

Since this experience, I have thought more and more about the soundtrack of my life. I have thousands of songs that have played in the background of my childhood, adolescence, budding adulthood, motherhood, and recently the rediscovery of who I am in this great experience of life.

This blog will be an area that I share my thoughts and experiences and inevitably the soundtrack that accompanies my every day. I hope you enjoy it, I know I will.