*Monday Memos*

*MONDAY MEMOS*

   

 (If pictures are too small, just click to enlarge) 
Weekly recap of my rather crazy, insane, but fun and rewarding life!

dear monday, WOW!  Hard to believe exactly one week ago I was ran swam the Boston Marathon!  I'm still trying to process it all!  

I went for a walk/jog....wog today. My legs were feeling pretty good!  I went to lunch with Robin today at Brigham House.  We had the chicken cordon bleu special.  She wanted to hear all about the crazy marathon. She said she watched it and was crying while watching knowing I was out there running in those insane conditions.  She is running Mt. Charleston this weekend to try and BQ.  I told her I am 99.99% sure I won't get in Boston for 2019. I am okay with that. I will try again for 2020 when I run St. G this fall.  I can't wait to get back to Boston even after swimming the race this year.  I gave her her bday present.  I came home and worked on this. I am never going to catch up!  I am still so caught up in reading posts and articles about the race.  I spent way too much time reading stuff tonight.  I practiced the harp for almost two hours.

dear tuesday, I got up and ran three miles this morning.  It was crazy windy!  Brought back memories of a week ago!

I almost got hit by a car.  It was the closest call I have ever had. I was crossing a street and a car was at a stop sign and when she drove forward (toward me) her head was down looking at her phone and she didn't even see me. I was watching her like a hawk and running as fast as I could because I could tell she wasn't watching.  She missed me by maybe three inches!  Wow!  That shook me up but not her. She just kept on looking at her phone while driving. She had no idea she almost killed me. She had no idea I was even there! I actually know who it was too because she is one of the YW in our stake that plays basketball.  I then came home and practiced harp for another hour.  I headed to my lesson and it went really well.  

Canon in D is coming.  I really feel an urgency to get it learned and mastered.  I thought it was for Aubrey's wedding but just Mickey is going to play.  I met Dawn at the Black Bear Diner in Layton.  

Holy cow, the food is amazing there!  We had a really good talk. She is always so inspiring to me and we always have such a good time. I always leave uplifted after being around her.  She is a very special friend and I feel so blessed to have her in my life.  I just wish we lived closer to each other.  I would love to spend more time with her.   I saw some Brigham-ites Tasha and Jenny there as well.  We took some silly pictures because...that's what we do!  hah  We both love silly pictures.  

I then ran some errands and then ran a bday gift to a lady in our ward.    Dave was on call and so worked late and then headed to meetings. I tried to catch up a bit on this.  Will it ever happen?  Ugh!   Poor Bryce worked 11.5 hours at work again and then came home and mowed Dave's dad's lawn for another two. He looked so beat and worn out.  Poor kid. He is seriously the hardest worker.  And it's going to be 80 degrees by Friday.

dear wednesday, I headed out west and got in three miles. I was feeling much more sore than before and so I had to wog it again.  Saw some geese. Whoop-de-doo!  lol

 I was so excited that I had all day with nothing much on the agenda and so I was going to catch up my blog and get my room back in order.  That didn't happen. I ended up shopping for a baby gift and a good luck gift for Robin for her marathon and then while I was out Scott called and wanted me to meet with him about the court date for my ticket.  That took longer than planned. Then I saw Downeast was having a warehouse sale and so I hit that.  I went to Papa Murphy's pizza sale as well and to Wallies and it seemed my entire afternoon was shot.  If you give a mouse a cookie....  Needless to say, I didn't get much of a chance to work on it until evening and by then I was so exhausted because I only got 3.5 hours of sleep last night.  Taylor came home after his lab and I fed him. 

dear thursday,  I headed out early on my run this morning.  Four miles today.  It was nice to be out early.  I do love warm days!  I got busy working around the house. I made cookies, made a cake for Dave's parents, practiced the harp, and tried to catch up on some paper work.  

I completely forgot about my Women's Forum meeting until 30 minutes before I had to be there!  It was a miracle I looked at my phone and saw the alert.  I barely made it there in time.  The  meeting was long because we were trying to determine all of our breakout sessions.  I now have a lot of contacting to do to round up the speakers I suggested.  We did have some fun though.  I dropped off a gift and some cookies to a family in our ward who just had a baby and got to visit for a bit. I love newborns.  There is really nothing like them. So soft, sweet, innocent, and still trailing heavenly clouds of glory.  You can just feel it.  When I got home I hurried and made dinner for Dave's parents.  I made Turkey Divan with our leftover turkey. It was really tasty.  I will add the recipe below.  I also made a yummy angel food cake with pineapple that was super duper easy and really good as well.  

TURKEY DIVAN

1 lb. sliced turkey (can use thinly sliced from deli)
1 bunch of cooked broccoli
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1/2 C sour cream
1/2 C milk
1 teaspoon garlic salt
2 shakes curry powder (or to taste)
1/2 C roasted slivered almonds
Can add rice (optional)

Layer broccoli in bottom of 9x13 pan.  Place turkey on top.  Pour sauce  mixture over turkey. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes. Top with grated cheese. Put under broiler to melt.  Serve with toasted French Bread.  

I had Stake YW softball tonight.  We had a pretty good turnout. I kept score. I was glad because I didn't want an injured finger. Hah  I chatted with Karen most of the time and heard about her trip to Spain and Vegas.  I am in the mood for a trip to Europe!  It was 77° today!  I actually put on shorts to wear to softball.  I am so excited for warm temps!!!

dear friday, I got up an out early and it was chilly at first but quickly warmed up.  I progressed to five miles today.  I am taking it slow that's for sure. I really thought I recovered quickly this round, but lately I am feeling such tightening in all my leg muscles and a lot of aching. So maybe I actually didn't.  Whatever, I know I need to let my body repair itself after that brutality I put it through.  I found a penny on a remote road and that was pretty awesome.  I was feeling good.  

I had a "spring" in my step.  Spring has that effect on me no matter what though.  

I met Jen for lunch.  We always have a great time.  We chatted for about three hours. We could seriously take eight hours and still have a lot to say.  I love talking to her.  I feel blessed by her friendship.  I actually remembered to take a photo this time! Yay me!

I ran some errands.  Trying to find Bryce some birthday gifts.  He hasn't given me any ideas and so I still came up empty handed.  Dave managed to get a couple things.  He may be getting $$$.  I'm sure he's good with that but it seems so impersonal to me.  I practiced the harp and then we picked up the Herzogs and went to Brigham House to eat.  I had their Philly sandwich, it was good.  We then went to their house and watched The Greatest Showman in their theater room.  I love it!  We sit in big recliners with blankets and it's so nice.  We had a good time with them.  They are fun.  

dear saturday, Mr. Cat woke me up at 5 a.m. Ugh!  Of course I could not go back to sleep after that try as I might.  I laid there for a long time and finally just got up.  Taylor was here and already up studying.  That is seriously all that boy does!  I really pray it pays off for him!  I went on a six miler this morning.  Weird when a six miler is your long run for the week!  I went to the high school and ran on the track for a bit.  I didn't find many coins which was unusual.  More like how it is in the summer months.  It was 65° when I left (in the morning!) and almost 75° when I got home.  We may be skipping spring this year and going straight to summer.  It was hot!

I did a few errands and then was determined I was going to get my Boston stuff caught up on this.  Not sure I ever will! I can't sit that long to do it!

dear sunday,  today is Bryce's birthday.  Crazy to think that he was born 27 years ago.  Here's my FB post:

░H░A░P░P░Y░ 。*★•。* 。*。★
• ★。* 。*。 •★ ░B░I░R░T░H░D░A░Y░ to my intelligent and handsome son Bryce today! What a bright spot he has been in our lives with his humorous and adventurous spirit! There is no one with a kinder heart and more generous soul than Bryce. He is one of the hardest workers I know and will continue to accomplish great things in his life as he follows his dreams. He is always there for you no matter what! He even let me talk him into running the Boston 5K and did an incredible job! We have been greatly blessed to have him in our family! Thank you for being there to support me at Boston! I couldn't have done it without your enthusiastic encouragement and faith! I feel blessed every single day to be your Mom! I love you bud! 💕💜💕

This kid really is a huge blessing in our life!  He is so selfless and will honestly do anything for you.  If I just mention I need something before I know it, it appears.  He is amazing.  We are told by friends, relatives, acquaintances what a hard worker he is.  I am very proud of this boy.  He is always happy and cheerful and is so kind to even perfect strangers.  I love his personality.  He has quite a sense of humor and he is always very respectful and polite (almost to a fault) to everyone.  I sure do love him!

I woke up when Dave left at 5:30 a.m. and tried to go back to sleep to no avail.  It was really nice to not have to prepare a lesson or practice the piano.  I did however need to make Bryce's cake (he wanted the angel food pineapple one) and lasagna for his birthday dinner.  

Looks burnt in this picture but it really wasn't.

I was happy that Sky, Carson, and my parents were going to come for dinner and cake.  As I was leaving for church McKay arrived.  He was so nice to come for Bryce's birthday.  The Parrish's were at church today and it was so good to see them.  I really miss that family.  It was Emily Lindsey's homecoming so the place was packed and I was lucky enough to get to say the closing prayer.  hah I headed to Primary for my first week and we had four kiddos.  Cru was asleep on his sisters lap and Brooke handed him to me and he was adorable.  The Primary secretary gave him a sucker and that seemed to wake him up.  Only problem was the other kids wanted one. I talked him into putting it in the wrapper and waiting until later though.  The kids were all so dang cute. I just love them all already.  It will be completely different than teaching teenagers that's for sure. I taught the Sunbeams when I was 19 and so it's been a very long time, but I am so excited.  They are so dang cute and innocent.  Cheryl taught and I assisted with keeping their attention span and potty breaks. I teach next week.  There is a couple that will be a bit of a handful, but I am up to the challenge. haha  When I got home Sky and Carson were here. Cute little Carson had made me four pictures (presents).  He works so hard on them I almost feel guilty!  What a doll he is.  I have missed him.  I feel bad he didn't get here soon enough to go to Primary though.  My parents arrived and we ate dinner and then gave Bryce his presents and sang Happy Birthday.  McKay gave him a fly fishing pole.  Sky gave him a cool backpack.  We gave him bullet shells and money. I couldn't come up with anything and he usually has ideas for me but not this year.  

Dave and I had to leave the company and head to Logan to Taylor's Institute graduation. It was at the Logan Tabernacle.  There were a lot of graduates but they kept it to one hour.  I am very proud of Taylor.  Graduation from Institute is not an easy thing when you are taking a full load of hard classes but he made it a priority and I am so grateful.  None of his roommates graduated.  And very few people I knew.  But he's always been an over achiever so no surprise.  We got some photos and then gave him some dinner and headed back.  Sky and Carson were still here but left soon after we got home. 

 He's in the white shirt and blue tie facing the audience as they read his name.

 So very proud of this boy....

 Bad lighting ↓ but I am in love with the color of spring so we took one anyway.

dear random,

So stinkin' cute! 

 YES!

*Monday Memos*

*MONDAY MEMOS*

   

 (If pictures are too small, just click to enlarge) 
Weekly recap of my rather crazy, insane, but fun and rewarding life!

POSTING THIS EVEN THOUGH I HAVEN'T POSTED THE BOSTON MARATHON RACE REPORT OR BOSTON TRIP YET.

dear wednesday, didn't sleep much.  I do think Mr. Cat is miffed at me.  He is ignoring me since I got home to punish me for leaving him.  I decided to make him wait to come in and see it that changed his disposition any.  Nope.  Still miffed.  

I got up and practiced and headed to harp. All my make-up, curling iron, etc was in my luggage and so I wore a hat and my Boston shirt. I headed to my lesson and it was okay considering I hadn't practiced all week.  I then went and got Bryce from the airport.  Luckily, they let him grab my luggage!  When I pulled up to get him, he said, "Hey, can we give this guy a ride?"  I looked to the side of him and it was a guy in a suit and Bryce told me he was from Kenya. He lived on 3500 South in SLC.  So typical of Bryce.  That kid has the kindest heart.  He would give the shirt off his back to anybody. He just overheard this guy on his phone talking to his buddy to get a ride and Bryce just freely offered him one.  He has more compassion in his little finger than most people do in their entire body.  He is amazing. I just had to smile.  The guy was very nice.  He came here as a refugee and now is studying at the U of U. I took him to get some lunch and then we came home and I tried to unpack and do laundry.  I am still feeling so caught up in the whole Boston experience. I did a lot of reading about other's stories on the FB group page. I can't get enough of hearing about everyone's experiences.  Someone posted their mantra list:

Taylor and McKay both showed up.  Taylor brought me a Swig cookie!  Ahh...  How nice is that?!  I love those cookies so much!  I fed them dinner and then McKay headed back but Taylor spent the night. 

dear thursday, I woke up to loud wind and I seriously felt some anxiety!  I think that race has traumatized me for life! haha  At first I thought there would be no weather to run in that would ever bother me after that, but I think it has made it more of a fear now because I don't want to go through that again!  It was nice to not feel pressure to run this morning!  I love the after marathon vacay from running.  I do want to get a massage though because my muscles are really tight.  I am walking really well though.  I finished unpacking and did some grocery shopping.  We took dinner into Dave's parents tonight (a roast and all the fixins'). They were very grateful.  His Dad asked me if I knew my picture was in the paper while I was gone.  I told him that I had heard that. Haha  I am so far behind on this blog, I may never catch up!  After big vacations is when I struggle the most!

The Boston Marathon results were published in the Ogden Standard this week though:

HERE is the link on the website.

dear friday, I went on a short walk to loosen up my muscles this morning.  I then went to Ogden for a much needed massage. I just googled a place and ended up going to my mom's best friend's daughter's place called Therapeutix without knowing it at the time.  She knew who I was and introduced me to the staff telling them I just ran the Boston marathon.  The therapist said I got special treatment of the apricot oil because I was a family friend of the owner.  It was nice.  I felt like she worked a lot more on my back than my legs, because I told her my back was hurting pretty bad during the race. I am sure it was because I was so cold and so I tensed up.  I would have preferred more on the legs and feet though.  I wish it would have lasted about another eight hours!  I love massages!  It was a nice place.

I ran some errands after and then was going to visit my parents but they had taken off to Layton to a nursery to get some stuff to plant.  I came home and Dave and I went to dinner at El Toro.  We then went through a car-wash to wash the car and HOLY!  The sounds and the effect of the water, brought back memories of Monday!  It truly was like running in a car-wash and the sounds were so similar. Great! I am having PTSD going through a car-wash!  LOL  I had to laugh!  Too funny! 

We rented the new Star Wars movie. I fell asleep after about an hour.  Not my fave.  I was beat anyway.

dear saturday, I heard more wind this morning. Yikes!  LOL  I headed out on a walk.  It was pretty nice. It felt so good too.  I worked on my lesson and piano and tried to get some cleaning done.  Sky and crew showed up in the afternoon and Sarah and I went to Smiths and Kents to grab some of their stuff on sell.  Carson was so cute.  He brought me a whole stack of "presents" he made for me. I sure do love that little guy! 

 With my "presents"....

 He loved his Boston shirt and SPIKE I brought him from Boston.  

They took a few four wheeler rides.  So nice to have warm temps again!

I made Twix Bars for my SS class treat and for Sarah because she really wanted me too because she loves them.  It was a gorgeous day.  Carson made his potions while I worked in the kitchen.  

 He loves making his potions. He had about every ingredient in the kitchen today!  

Taylor and McKay were here. Bryce took off for Wendover to a concert. We had a great dinner of ribs. 

Carson played in the sink for a while and then we watched the rest of the Wizard of Oz and hit the hay.

dear sunday, I got up early to work on my lesson. I got a text from Troy asking me to meet with Janzen before church. I am sure it means I am being released.  Oddly enough, I had just told Dave I was getting tired of preparing the same lessons over and over.  My guess is I will be called to the Primary.  I finished my lesson prep and headed over.  Sure enough, I was being released from SS and my RS piano job (lucky them!) and called to be the Sunbeam teacher.  I am actually excited! I love Sunbeams.  Carson will be in my class. I hope that is good.  I have to say I am a little sad though because I have been teaching the 16-17 year olds for seven years!  I have loved it.  I will miss it.  I love working with the youth.  When they announced it in Sacrament, Holli (who is 20 something but in my class because she is mentally about 10-11 and has been coming to my class for several years) said very loudly, "That's not fair!"  She wasn't happy.  I will miss her a lot.  And the class I have this year is one of my favorites. I just love them.  A couple of the mom's told me their kids are very sad I am being released.  That made me feel happy and sad at the same time!  I was also told by three other people that they tried to get me in callings for so long and they were always told no.  Hmmm....  Glad to know I was at least wanted. I know when Dave was Bishop he wanted me working with the youth so that might be why.  Either way, I haven't been in Primary for years and years.  It will be a fun change. You do kind of get lost in there but I am still going to love it.  

I taught for the last time in SS. They all wanted to know about the marathon and so I told them a bit about it.  I took them to the stage for an object lesson. I needed it to be really dark and our classroom isn't dark. Bro. Matheson was visiting (in SS Pres) and he said how sad they are to lose me. He has told me so many times how much I am loved as a teacher and some very nice things.  That just makes it harder to go!  But, I am actually ready for a change!  I will not mourn the piano job at all even though it has been nice that I have been forced to practice.  But, I won't miss it!  I played for the last time in RS and it actually went well.  Until I dropped my book on the piano keys.  A nice farewell send off!  Haha  The lesson was given by Lindsey on the talk By Divine Design and it was really good.  She did a good job.  Jen made a comment about how the Lord puts people in our lives when we need them and then she brought up how when we were in the RS Pres together, she felt that it was by divine design. She said some really nice things including how I helped her with her parenting when Abby was a bit of a challenge. I don't even remember that.  She said that I taught her to not label our kids because they live up to their labels and she said how I told her about what we did with Bryce when he was very mischievous and so we called him Angel (she actually said she thought we called him Devil....that made me laugh).  I tried to explain how by calling him that, he lived up to it and it really helped change his behavior.  It really was amazing the change we saw in him after doing that.  And she was so sweet and said some other really nice things about me. I wish I had been on top of things and shared how when her flowers arrived four months late, that had to be by divine design as well.  But it came to me after.  After we found each other and hugged and both told one another how much our friendship means and what a blessing we both feel to have it.  Her friendship has truly been a blessing to me. We both needed each other at a time when we were able to help each other through.  Tender mercies.  

I found Carson and then talked to Heidi about my class.  She told me she had to beg for me and was so happy the Bishop finally consented when she explained to him why. She never told me what that why was.  I wonder if I should be worried??  Maybe they are a difficult class???  But, it should be fun even if they are.  Sunbeams!  Yay! I just love little kids so much!  It will be fun.  When I got home, Linda, Lynn, Tanae, Denver, and new baby Brynlee were all here. I hadn't met her yet and so I was so happy to finally get my hands on her.  She is adorable. She has a cast on one leg due to her club feet, but she is handling it well.  

They stayed for an hour or more and when they left, we all helped get dinner ready. Dave was at a meeting and we had to wait and wait for him. We were ready to start without him and then he showed up.  We had a turkey dinner with all the trimmings. It was so good.  Then I watched a movie with Carson. His tummy was hurting and so I rubbed it and gave him a heating pad. We watched Sleeping Beauty and then they headed home.