*Monday Memos*

*MONDAY MEMOS*

 

                          
 (If pictures are too small, just click to enlarge - if print is too small, you need glasses! ☺)

dear monday, I mostly spent the day doing little tinkering things around the house because Sky was here and I wanted to be able to be with him since he is heading back to Hawaii tomorrow.  I even cut my run short.  He was pretty exhausted but did a lot of work that he got behind on while gone - mostly answering emails etc.  Taylor headed up to USU to check out housing, so we got to chat a bit.  I asked him what he wanted for dinner since it was his last until he left and he really didn't care.  He finally decided on a toss up between beef stroganoff and sweet and sour pork.   I made beef stroganoff.  I am really glad I made a lot because Dave's parents dropped by and they also had some.  McKay wasn't feeling well and so he went to bed early.  

I realized I used this photo on last week's post even though I took it on Monday of this week.  But, I'm going to use it again.

dear tuesday, today was a busy crazy day.  Sky got up and left for the airport at 6:15 a.m.  McKay was sick and so he stayed home from school.  Taylor was packing to head out at 2:00 p.m., but first he went out to breakfast with Amber.  She was supposed to make it for him, but they ended up at Mickey D's.  Dave was off and so had a huge list of things to accomplish.  I was meeting the Sista's for lunch in Ogden at noon and I had to speak at Relief Society at 6:30 p.m. (it was only a five minute presentation on Preach My Gospel and so I didn't really prepare too hard for it).  And to add to the list, the weather decided to turn to winter!  I am NOT ready for winter! Brrrr......  It was cold and windy!  

dear sistas, we decided to try out the new restaurant called Pelicans in Riverdale.  After we had planned it, I heard it got bad reviews and so I read a few and was a little leary, but it wasn't as bad as some of them.  It wasn't my favorite place either.  I doubt it will stay in business too long.  It was fun catching up with everyone.  I felt bad we only had six there, but at least we had six.  It seems the same ones keep coming each time though.  I wish I knew how to get the others to want to come.  I miss them.   Carla was telling me how handsome Skyler is and that is his looks are perfect and he could be a model.  She kept saying how good looking and ripped he was.  I told him about it and he blew it off and told me to please not tell him again if he is the topic of conversation in my ladies group and something to the effect it's kind of creepy my 50 year old friends are talking that way about him.  LOL  That's just so him!  I loved it.  If someone were talking about me that way, I would be saying, "Tell me more!".  haha   I told him maybe they were thinking of you for one of their daughters.  Still makes me laugh though!

dear christmas shopping, UGH!  Even though I try and try to resist the fact that it is really here, I can't.  After lunch I headed to Michaels and Sams and tried to get some things done.  I got the things I need for my neighborhood gifts at Michaels and got one of the cousins done (for one of my boys) checked off at Sams.  Now only 400 more things to get!  That may or may not be an exaggeration.  hah

This is what I am making for the neighborhood gifts. I am going to come up with a little poem to go with it about melting our hearts or something.

dear skyler and taylor, off you go!  It's crazy to think that Sky left almost eight hours before Taylor and they ended up in LA for a layover and then got on the same flight to Hawaii.  Taylor definitely got the better end of deal on that one!  I just pray Taylor gets back home safely.  Skyler tends to be a wee bit adventurous!  Did I just say wee bit?  Um, let me correct that.  A HUGE wee bit!  

dear relief society meeting, when I was asked to do my part on the missionary night program, Taylor was asked to do it with me and then he left me hanging while he is hangin' 10 in Hawaii.  I was to take five minutes and talk about chapter three in Preach My Gospel.  It is the longest one in the book and according to Taylor the most important one.  The others got three minutes.  Let's just say, no one took only three minutes.  Most took 10!  It was one long meeting, but I am not complaining because I do have a new love for Preach My Gospel.  I really like this book.  It is FULL of everything (and then some) of what we need to know.  It's a very comprehensive study guide.  So basic, yet packed with so much!  My new goal is to study it and get to know it really well.  There is a spirit about that book.  There is a quote about it that I couldn't find but it went something to the effect that this book will be the last one of it's kind and it will carry us into the millennium.  Kind of cool.

Haha, I suck at selfies even after my niece tried to teach and me and her mom how to do them.  She said she was teaching the "elderly" how to do them.  Apparently the "elderly" are unable to learn.  hah  I wanted to get a photo of all of us Relief Society sisters wearing our missionary name badges because it was such a cool sight, but I forgot and so this is the best I got.

dear wednesday, I woke up and thought I must have been transported to the north pole!   It was a FRIGID 16 degrees!  Seriously!  That is cold!  AND that doesn't even include the wind chill.  The wind was blowing fiercely!  I am sure it was below zero with the wind chill.  Needless to say I sat on my heater wrapped up in my soft and warm blanket for quite a while. I couldn't force myself out the door to go on a run.  Just. Too. Cold.  I am not a fan.  I am just so not ready for winter.  Of course, I will NEVER be no matter what, so I guess it might as well just come and get on with it.  Brutal is the word for how I feel about it.   

I cut McKay's hair since he stayed home the first half of the day, but he got feeling better and went to school for the rest.  Then I did some cleaning and got in my running gear to go hit the treadmill but I remembered my visiting teachers were coming.  While here, Audrey invited me to lunch at the Grist Mill after they went and got one more visit in.  She was going with her sister Ashley and she said Ashley told her to invite me.  I love Old Grist, and Audrey, and Ashley and so how could I turn that down?   I forgot to get a picture dang it!  But suffice it to say, it was yummy.  Hot soup on a cold day can't be beat.  

 I ended up not running today.  Two days in a row and tomorrow isn't going to be much warmer.  Time to bite the bullet and climatize!  Or make good friends with my dreadmill!  Groan...

dear blog book, after lunch, Audrey was nice enough to come over and get me started on publishing my blog book.  I had tried once before, but never got it completed and then ran out of time and so it was nice to have someone there making sure I did it right.   After she left I had to tweak it a bit, but I got my first one ordered!  It's not cheap, but I know it will be worth it.  I decided to do my running blog one first just to make sure I like how it's formatted and done before I go and do this blog. Yippee!  I think I need a personal secretary to get me on board to do all those kind of things that I put off.  That would be awesome!

                                                                     This will be on the front cover  

I know it's a hideous picture of me, but it really shows what I was feeling at that moment when I was just about to cross the finish line of my very first marathon.  I don't ever want to forget that feeling.

And this will be on the back cover.  Why?  Because I dedicated the book to Tyson.   I run because he can't.

dear halloween leftovers, when I cleaned out my fridge, I found the black noodles had now become officially purple.  I have to say I kind of like the look.  Now Dave on the other hand, couldn't even eat any leftovers because the sight of these made him lose his appetite. 

dear many views of mr. cat (most of them sleeping), seriously...how cute is this?

And this?

Ahh....

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to take a nap like this and just sleep so soundly?  The picture on the right ↑ is what he was doing while I was running on the treadmill...aka dreadmill...aka deadmill. (That thing about kills me!).  Mr. Cat just likes to sit there and watch me die.

He jumped up on me when I was curled up in my blanket and curled up on top of me.  I was LOVING this!  Such a rarity!  I held really still so he wouldn't want to jump off and leave.  It lasted a whopping 8-10 minutes!

   

dear manic manican, this week you are dressed for summer.  I guess we can all dream of days gone by. ☺ I must say that extra large dragonfly bracelet is a nice touch.

dear skyler and taylor, it looks like you two are having a great time together.  You left at the perfect time.  The day after you left turned to instant winter.  No slowly easing into it this year.  Just BAM!  Be glad you are in paradise enjoying the sun!

My two boys eating at Hoppers. It is a cool place.

Spear fishing and his catch!

Lobster catch!

Black sand beach

I think he is having a good time!

 Sunsets!  SO gorgeous over there!

Okay I STILL need to get a post done on MY Hawaii trip!  I feel so overwhelmed because I took so many pictures!  But I just need to get it done! BEFORE Christmas hits!

dear long run, well, maybe not technically a long run, but when I am not in training for a full marathon, anything in the double digits counts as a long run. THAT training starts in January.  I made it 10 today.  It was really tough to force myself out there because it was still very cold, but I managed to get out and once I was out, I was okay.  It did start to snow on me about half way, but I actually loved that.  The flakes were huge!  I tried to capture them in the photos but not sure I did.

I posted some photos of this same spot a couple weeks ago when the leaves were falling from the trees and it was a beautiful fall day.  This week, snow was falling.  Bye bye fall and hello winter.  Bleh.  But, it was really beautiful and peaceful.  That was until I heard some chainsaws down this road from a couple of men that were cutting down a tree.  

Seeing my pal Izzy, always makes my day.  She is my little bright spot on the run.  You can kind of tell in the photo on the right how big the flakes were.  No, not talking about me!  Hah.

I was NOT happy about seeing this!  A butcher truck parked right in a field that I always run past.  It was butchering the cows right in their field.  The field they live in!  House call butchering!  Oh man, that made me sick to see.  I felt bad for the other cows that were witnessing it knowing their turn was coming up next. 

 It was a chilly-blustery-snowy day!

dear friday night dinner with friends, Troy invited us to his house for dinner with a group from our ward in the YM's.  As is with everything Troy does, it was done to perfection.  He had a theme as he always does.  It was a french theme with lighthouses on the side.  

We started off playing the get to know you game of two truths and one lie.  I have played it many times before but can never remember what I usually write.  Tonight I wrote:  

*I kissed a guard at Buckingham Palace that was on duty standing at attention and made him smile.

*I went sky diving over the Hawaiian Islands on my 50th birthday.

*I ran the Boston Marathon the year before the bombings.

I was having a hard time deciding on the middle one or: *I walked the streets of the Red Light District in Amsterdam when I was 20 and got out my camera to take pictures when a man in an overcoat came up to me and told me that I better put my camera away or it and I would end up in the canal right by me. 

I threw most people off and they didn't think the first one was right, but those that knew me well guessed the middle one was the lie about running Boston.  The next time I play this game I hope I can write it down as a truth!   Of course, without "the year before the bombings"! 

Dave's were:

*I took care of President Hinckley while doing my residency at LDS Hospital.
*I played the part of the Pastoral Christ in the Hill Cumorah Pageant.

*My family moved 13 times in my childhood.

His lie was the one about President Hinckley.  He actually took care of President Benson and President Hunter, not President Hinckley.  That guy never got sick!  Pretty cool to be able to say he took care of two prophets!   

I took a pumpkin roll for dessert.  There was so much yummy food there.  I ate way too much!

 I got to meet Troy's new kitten Sophie. She is a doll!  I instantly fell in love with her!  Oh my she is adorable!  And we matched!  She has her own litter box toilet that actually flushes.  Crazy!

 It was a really fun night.  Coooooold, but fun!  I love getting to know people better and it seems these kind of things are the best way to do that.  

dear saturday run, I was so grateful I did my long run on Friday because it was even colder on Saturday.  I am having a hard time acclimatizing to this immediate cold.  I know I will eventually, but for now, brrrrrrrrrrr...  Dave was working down by his parent's house winterizing the garden and so I ran down that way and stopped in to see his progress.  He works so hard on that garden and he loves it so much that I think it depresses him when it's all done and gone.  I ran by the cemetery and cleaned up the mess the leaves have made by Tyson's place.  Then I stopped and swang (is that a word? swung? swinged?) for a good five minutes.  I could have stayed longer, but I needed to get home.

That sky...

Sadly, this is true!

dear mckay, nice job on this little table you made at school.  I was way impressed with the workmanship and the fact that you made a table!  That's a first.  None of your bros have came home with a real piece of furniture. I'm pretty proud of you.

dear message from God, I really love this little app that posts to my facebook.  Some days I get some really profound messages, like this one:

 

Today, Jodi, we believe God wants you to know that ...
each day is sacred.
If you are spending too many days doing things that bring you unhappiness, then you are not honoring the gift of your time on earth. 

Amen to this!  

dear taylor, you get tagged on facebook so often on pictures from your mission that I haven't seen and so I try to share them on here when I remember.  This one is of all the departing missionaries that was taken the night before you returned home with President and Sister Scisi.  Great picture!

Not sure where this was taken, but it's a cool photo of your surroundings.

dear mr. cat, just one more!  Sorry, I just can't help myself!

Sleep in heavenly peace...

~~~~~~~

And just a few thoughts to end the week...

This is truly an incredible thought in every way.  And it's true!!!

On to next week!