*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, today I had a group harp lesson. It was a big one. I had to take my harp so I drove the Escalade. It was over two hours long. Mickey was there. We mostly played Pirates of the Caribbean. It is tough but it is coming, but going to take lots of practice!  

I met McKay at Costco after. He wanted to buy things for his new Keto diet. I was nice and bought it all for him. I am impressed he has the discipline to stick to a strict diet like that. Kudos to him. I ran to Real Deals on my way home. They were having a big sale. I came home and worked on my talk for Sunday. I am truly enjoying all the church history things I am learning right now. I have been listening to Bro. Demonja's class recordings as well. I was so cold today. Dave made spaghetti while I was gone and it was good but I am doing a smaller version of Keto right now.  I am going without carbs (well not all) but bread and sugar since I have a Dr. appt. on Thursday and I want to weigh what I did last time. I have about two pounds to lose. It used to be easier to lose a few pounds but now since menopause, it is almost impossible. If I cut out sweets and bread, it's much easier, but I would not say it's easy, it's torture! And without running in the picture, it's so much harder now! I was telling McKay Keto is fine and all for a while but it's not ever going to be a lifestyle. He totally agrees. He is only on it until he loses the weight he wants. He actually looks great, but isn't happy since he has gained since his mission. I was trying to teach him that it's about moderation. I told him I weigh myself every day and if I am up a pound, I will cut back until I lose it.  It used to be easier but now losing one pound can take me a full week... or more! If I ever got five pounds up, I know I would never lose it and so I try to do it when it's only one or two. Unfortunately, right now I am up three-four from where I want to be. I never feel like I can eat all I want. McKay told me he has to feel full. I totally understand. I really don't eat that much. According to Dave I don't eat - period. Not true, but I would love to eat more.  I do agree I have good genetics but that doesn't mean I can eat whatever I want. I rarely feel full after a meal and I always want more. But it's worth it to me. One thing I do not like is tight clothes and I am not about to invest in larger clothes because I love the ones I have. Hah I tend to fluctuate though about three pounds. My goal is to lose five pounds, but I honestly do not think my body will let me anymore. Such is the fun-ness of aging! Sigh.... 
I went upstairs and turned on my heated mattress pad and got in bed and listened to the Saints from Bro. Demonja. I was so cold and that was the only way to get warm!

I looked out the window and what did I see???

A fawn peeping inside looking at me!!

Hello?  I guess no one is home!

dear tuesday, I hit the gym early. It isn't too busy on Tuesday. 

I wanted to get in some good hours on the family poem but I worked on my talk and did my nails. I went to Brinlee's dance class tonight to watch her. She is so cute. Her teacher was very nice as well. Haylie and I sat outside the door and watched. It was fun. I kind of miss being a dance teacher. Those were the good old days!  Brinlee was so happy to see me. She blew kisses at me while she was in class and then came out and said something about seeing, "my Jodi". That is what she calls me. She is so sweet. 

dear wednesday, today I was going to spend ALL day on my blog books. That didn't happen. Dave's dad called me early and asked me if I thought I could make a cake for Kellie whose last day is tomorrow at the clinic. Not just any cake. He asked me about how I used to make those bikini cakes for the boys and was wondering if I could make a fanny!  LOL  He wanted it to say it was a real bummer that she was leaving. Well, I have never done THAT, but I was up to the challenge. I got online and tried to find some ideas. I got an idea and went to work. Total time (including baking) was five hours. So much for the blog books. But here is the result! LOL

 This is my crumb coat. I had to carve and carve and it was difficult to keep all things from falling apart. It was a pain in the BUTT!

 Here are several views. Some look more realistic than others. 

I had to use fondant which isn't the best tasting, but it was either that or modeling chocolate BUTT it was a real BUMMER I didn't have all the ingredients.

 Compete with cellulite...

 View from other side

Sky and crew stopped by and Carson got a huge kick out of it. He is so fun. I was going to go to ballet class with Sarah but I got working on the blog books after Dave headed to his meetings. It was bitter cold today!

Carson made a macaron out of leftover fondant. Pretty creative kid!

dear thursday, today I got up early and headed to the Huntsman in Farmington for my Dr. appt. with Dr. Vaclava. He is my new oncologist. I am having mixed emotions because he is from Greece and has a heavy accent and I had a hard time understanding him. Dr. Henry was so mellow and he is not. We chatted about a lot of things and he wants some blood work done. I didn't make my weight goal either. Mainly because of making that dang cake yesterday and sampling it. Oh well. 

I always look at the people in the waiting room. Most (if not all) are either cancer victims, survivors, or family members of them. You either see worry and stress on their faces, or happy and positive countenances. I think a lot of cancer victims rely on the power of staying positive to get through it easier. It is a help.

Today is 02/20/2020. Pretty cool!

I headed over to the stores at Station Park and hit my faves, Home Goods, Marshalls, and Ross. I was looking for pantry organizers and I found a few. I hit O town for a couple stops as well. I finished up with the chocolate ecstasy for the Olsen's (BJ's Angelversary today) and for Dave's parents. It turned out extra yummy this time. Not sure why, but it was yum! 

 Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

I had some leftover ganache that I drizzled on the top and it was so good! I could drink that stuff!

We took lasagna, salad, garlic bread, and the dessert. Dave got home in time to run it over which was good because I was still trying to do Stake Bball sportsmanship awards. Sky stopped by and asked if Carson could stay with me. I love it when he stops by. I took him with me to basketball and he was so cute. He is so friendly to everyone. He took some craft stuff but ended up playing with a little boy. It was our last game of the year!  The stake leaders came and brought cookies. It was a fun night. 

PS:  The butt cake was a huge hit!  Dave said everyone was taking the funniest photos with it!  LOL  This is who I made it for because she is leaving. 

Today is National Love Your Pet Day.

Mr.Cat...aka Chilly Bam Billy, Cat, Pecial, Gato, Chillsville, Chills and Kit Kat (which he answers to none). But he is very loved! 💜🐕💜

dear friday, today I didn't go to the gym. I decided to spend all day on the blog books because I have a deadline. They extended it to Monday. It was tonight but gratefully I have more time because these things are taking FOREVER! Literally!  I honestly thought I could do one year in 30 minutes easy. Nope! After working on them all day and until 1 am, I only have two years worth done. I have had to go through EVERY single post and delete the generated signature because it prints SO big and takes up a ton of space! That is taking me at least an hour per year. And then I have had to fix some of the posts. It's not like I imagined, just slurping each year into the computer and VIOLA!  There is a lot of adjusting!  THIS is why it's taken me 12 years to do it!!!  That and the cost!  That is why I am motivated because I have a 50% coupon code right now!  I have never seen that much of a discount! I didn't even leave the house all day. I just worked on the dang books! It will be worth it when they are done, but HOLY, what a pain!!!

I LOVE my backyard neighbors!

 What do you spy????

 Could you see them?

Dave is on call this week and so he has an extra hour at lunch. I had mentioned this morning that I was craving a Kneader's turkey salad. And so what does he do? He drove all the way to Ogden on his lunch and got me a salad. He got it from Zuppa's instead of Kneaders (he forgot) and got chicken instead of turkey, but it was so sweet and it's the thought that counts. How nice is that?

dear saturday, today I didn't go on a walk because I had to focus on the blog books in the morning. I didn't get much time before I had to go pick up my mom for the play. We went to see The Lion King at the middle school. Haylie and Brinlee met us there. It was SO cute!  Brinlee loved it. Haylie told me that she or Brinlee has never seen a play before. I am glad they were able to go. 

She was so excited!  It was fun to watch her!

My Dad came and got my Mom. McKay was here and so she wanted to come and chat with him. They stayed for a bit. Then I went straight to work on the blog books. They are driving me nuts!  I am catching up 2011-2012- 2013 with just photos because I didn't blog much during those years. It is taking FOREVER!  I added 339 photos to 2012 and after spending hours on them and then another hour selecting them in the order I wanted to post on my blog, I accidentally hit something and they were GONE!   G O N E !!!!  UGH!  It was after midnight and so I just decided to go to bed. SOOOO FRUSTRATING! I guess it's a good thing I have a deadline or I would want to throw in the towel!

Carson met this funny bunny.

Scratchers is so cute.

dear sunday, I had to speak in Sacrament meeting today as well as teach the Sunbeams. I only got about 5 hours (if that) of sleep last night. Thanks to the blog books. My talk was ready, though my lesson needed some help. I worked on both and then headed to church. I chatted with Grant and offered to give him my time if he wanted to speak.  LOL He declined (he's a high councilor). Brother Packer was also speaking today. His topic was the Apostasy. I got to sit by Dave which was nice for a change. It's been 16 years since we have sat together in church minus a few meetings here and there of various kinds.  We ended up having lots of time and I was stressing I was going to have to really cut my talk short, but Bro. Packer took his allotted time and then I did as well. I mentioned how excited I was to speak which wasn't the norm for me but due to the topic (The First Vision) I was. And it was true. I have been learning and studying it for the past month or so and I can't seem to get enough. I was told by several that they enjoyed my talk and one lady told me she could tell how passionate I was about the First Vision. Haha Dave was very complimentary and Sky and Sarah as well but he did point out I mispronounced "available". I always do. I can't say that word for the life of me. haha  As well as controversial. Oh well. Hehe  Dave told me I sounded confident, poised, and well prepared. That made me feel better. He told me that it was one of the best talks he's heard. That made me happy. If that is true, I take no credit because it just came to me instantly. My joke at the beginning totally flopped though. I tried to say I was exited to be speaking but ONLY because of the topic and I turned back and told the Bishop to not get any ideas.  Yeah. Not funny. Hehe  I would screenshot my talk but all my changes were not saved and so I might have to take a photo of it to preserve it on here. I am struggling with computer issues as of late. I keep hitting the wrong key and things just keep disappearing on me!  A lot! 

I taught the Sunbeams and they were cute. We only have 20 minutes to teach and that is just NOT enough time. Even five more minutes would be helpful. On the way out some other people told me they enjoyed my talk. I got an email from a member that said: 
Sis Wilding-

Thanks for your talk today!   I appreciate your passion on the subject of the first vision.

You do great and ought to speak more often.

Umm.... more often?  No thank you. But I guess my passion was pretty obvious. Maybe too much??  Oh well, that can't be all bad right? I am passionate about that topic. But then again, I am passionate about a lot of things. That's just me.
Here the VERY edited version... I couldn't post the clean copy because it was erased. So here is the raw version.

We came home and I made cookies because it was a little boys birthday in my class and he was sick. I made Larry Jensen's Lofthouse copycat cookies and they turned out yummy but not as good as his. I think I baked them too long. Dave was at ward conferences and so we ate later in the afternoon. Sky helped with most of it since I was still doing the cookies. 

McKay bought a car! It's a 2011 white Mazda. I pray he doesn't have trouble with it and it will be a good car for him. He spent all his hard earned (and saved) money!  

These cute little deer were cleaning each other. It was so sweet.

I worked for hours on the blog books. These blog books are about killing me because the website is so UGH!  I need to have them all done by midnight tomorrow and there is no way it's happening! I make the books and then they disappear from my cart!  There is no customer service because it is the weekend and so I'm very frustrated! I have five books I made that are missing!  I am praying they will extend the coupon code again even though they told me they wouldn't.  I need at least three more days!

One week from today, I will have Winston and Kailani for five days and five nights. I am gonna be one tired woman!

A friend sent me this:

dear random, WHY do I keep adding these memories on here?  
BECAUSE...I went AWOL on my blog for a few years and so I didn't record most of this stuff on here.  So when I print out my blog books, I will have lost so many great memories and so I want them to be HERE at least for when I print out THIS YEAR'S BLOG BOOK. There won't be much detail but at least there will be something to remind me of the memory.

 This girl's mom (Kylee - Tracy is the mom) sent me these she found while cleaning her room. 

 I thought they are so stinkin' cute. I love McKay in them.

 Facebook's FRIEND video (still shots)

 Facebook's MOVIE (still shots)

 My 6th grade class photo (on top) and I think 5th grade on bottom.

Adding this one to give me a little boost for those days when I am feeling like an old hag. Which is most days lately! 

My necklace came back, but wrong.