*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 we had to take in breakfast and dinner to Dave's parents. His dad is doing a bit better. I went on a walk/run by the high school and decided to just run as much as I could. I ran down a dirt road and tried to run back up. As I was coming up a truck was behind me and going real slow. I was a bit nervous. He passed me very slowly and kept driving only because a car went by us. After the car passed and was gone he pulled in a dirt driveway by a remote farm. This street has no homes or people unless a car drives by. Luckily, a few did. There are usually quite a few on the road and so I wasn't concerned at all. But when I had to walk past where he pulled in, there were no cars in sight. I got his license plate number and started to pray a car would appear soon and drive down the road. I was really getting nervous because I know I can't run fast anymore and I couldn't turn the other way because that was even more remote and my car was parked the direction I was heading. Luckily, another car came driving down. It was far away and so I ran the rest of the way to my car. A good way to motivate myself to run!  Hah

I made a chicken noodle casserole, jello salad, sugar snap peas, and rolls for Dave's parents dinner. I delivered it to them but Dave's dad had to go to the bank before it closed. I offered to go for him but he said he had to go. I don't think he had been out for a week or more. I left the dinner on warm in the oven. 

 I talked to Trevor about the incident last week. Hopefully all is well. 

dear tuesday, today I didn't go on a walk/run because I was going to meet Karen and Aubrey for Karen's bday but they ended up getting away late and so we decided to do brunch. That didn't pan out and so we ended up going to Idle Isle for lunch. 

We had a great time catching up and talking about the trip to Nashville as well as the boys and other things. I was going to practice the harp for a few hours today but other things took over as they always seem to do. I went to our RS bday dinner at the church with Julie. It was really fun. They had pictures of the apostle's wives on the tables and information about them. I grabbed Lesa Stevenson's and talked about her with our table. They told me I got to report on hers when it was our table's turn. I was happy to do that. I shared a few personal stories about her. It was fun to learn about all of them. 

Cheryl talked about Emma and I learned so much from her. It was a fun night. I chatted with Bonnie for a bit. Dave was at meetings pretty late as par.
I finally bit the bullet and registered for the Ogden Marathon. Okay, NOT the FULL, or even the HALF, but the 5K!  I figure I better be able to that by then!

dear wednesday, today it was announced that the church cancelled public attendance of general conference next month. I also learned Women's Conference is cancelled as well as my Breast Cancer Survivor Retreat that was in Midway in April. I am pretty bummed about that. This Corona Virus is making people a bit crazy!  Toilet paper is no where to be found. There is also a run on bottled water and hand sanitizer. I have never seen such insanity. I truly never thought I would live in a time like this. 

I had my harp lesson this morning. I then ran to the boutique in Farmington. It is always good. I didn't buy much though.  I am coming back tomorrow with Colleen, Janet and Karen. So I kind of hurried through it. But I did get a really cute purple Easter dress. 

I then ran all over trying to find rainbow sour candy for my favors for the Bishop's wife luncheon. I bought the food for that as well. I went to Sam's, Walmart, and Target. There was no toilet paper at any of them with the exception of Target. But I didn't buy any. I think we are good. I still am not sure why the run on TP? Baffling. 

Dave's sister Julie sent me this picture of her Costco. She was in line behind this guy. Hence, the problem. There would not be a run on TP if people would stop hoarding it, or trying to make a profit on it.

I stopped at my parents and helped my mom organize her address book. Chantel needs addresses for the shower and so I got all those and sent them to her. We had a good visit but I am noticing she is a little more abrupt than she used to be. Bless my Dad's heart. She is funny though. It's hard to watch your parents age, but I am grateful I get to. I am so blessed to have both of them.

Sarah has been trying to get me to go to her ballet class with her for months and tonight I finally did. 

It makes a difference that is is still light when I left for it. It begins at 7:30. The real teacher was gone but the substitute was cute. I know her mom. Sarah is always saying that everyone in this town knows me. Everyone she meets or runs into knows me she claims. The funny thing is, I often don't have a clue who they are. That is what happens in small towns when your husband is a doctor and SP. I had a much higher profile when I was the BC American Chapter president and very involved in the community in many ways when my boys were younger. It now comes from Dave and his family thankfully. Hah I loved the class. It was tough. I haven't stretched like that in many moons. I think it might be good for my knee and ankle. They were both getting pulled in ways they haven't in over a year that's for sure!  We did a very hard combination on the floor after a lot of barre work. I have always loved ballet. It was fun to do it again. The other girl in the class knew me because she is in our stake. I had no idea who she was though. 

dear thursday, sigh.... I am once again SO far behind on this!  I get caught up and then it seems just as fast I am behind. Last week put me behind in everything, so NO surprise!  My lunch with Colleen, Janet, and Karen was cancelled. No, not due to Corona but because Janet could not make it. I was excited to have some time to accomplish some of the things I am behind on, but the day turned into it's own and I didn't get much of that done. 
This is what my email looked like today when I opened it:

CORONA EVERYTHING! I am realizing this thing is getting more serious by the day. The world continues to go crazy with this insane pandemic of the Corona Virus!  As of today, we will not be attending our Celine Deon concert, our Frozen play in SLC, and the Young Ambassador/Marie Osmond concert in Provo. Basically everything is shut down! Schools, restaurants, the NBA, Broadway, the NCAA, NHL, church (CHURCH has been cancelled for the first time in my life!), pretty much everything!

 The Governor announced today that any event with over 100 people will be cancelled. And anyone over 60 should not attend anything with over 20 people. Okay, not sure how that helps much, since all it take is ONE person to infect you. But I guess they figure less people, less germs.  I just read they have postponed the Boston Marathon. At least they didn't cancel it. I can't EVEN imagine if they did that!  All the hours and hours of trying to qualify and training and intense waiting to see if you made it in and then not being able to run it. I'm sure it will still affect many people even if they still do it in the fall. But at least most will get the chance to run it. I would LOVE to run it in September! NO winter training! But training in the heat is also tough.  New England is supposed to be incredibly beautiful in the fall.  The Boston Marathon postponement story is HERE.

Now I am wondering if we should postpone Nashville with all the craziness. Especially since everything will be shut down and we won't be able to attend any of the fun stuff to do there. I need to chat with Karen.

Some good stuff amidst all the craziness!

 Audrey returned our pan back full of yumminess!

When I went to the PT gym this morning, I was told I had to enter through the ER entrance and then once in I was interviewed and could not go any further until I passed the test. I did and got a big orange sticker to alert everyone I was safe. Crazy!

I came home and worked on dinner for Dave's parents. I made them muffins and fruit this morning and delivered it on my way to the gym. Haylie asked me if I could watch the kids this afternoon so I rushed to get stuff done before they came. She dropped them off and no sooner did she leave, Carson and Sarah showed up. We had a good time playing. Liam was so sweet. He is a loving little guy. But he did throw Carson's phone in the toilet. LOL I grabbed it fast and put it in rice for a few days. Hopefully it will be okay.  Sarah delivered the dinner to Dave's parents for me. I fed the kids and then we played.

That face!  He was drooling over the candy. He usually just opens the lid and grabs some but today he just starred at it longingly.

 They put on a show. 

After Carson left we played "restaurant".

 Carson got a hamster! He is black and white. Imagine that! LOL  He named him Bamboo!  :)

I have been finding snakes ALL OVER my house since Carson left. They are seriously EVERYWHERE and a few have actually caused me to jump or scream!

Sarah told me the Walmart parking lot is packed like it's Black Friday and people are going nuts! Seriously nuts!  I never in my wildest dreams thought this would happen. Why don't they go this crazy over the flu which kills even more people each year. It's perplexing for sure. The stock market has dropped like a bomb.  Dave talked to the local Kent's market here and he told him that Kent's has never been as crazy busy as it was yesterday in the history of the store!  Here is photo one of my friends posted from Kent's:

I wrote an article about the craziness HERE called He Who Dies With the Most Toilet Paper Wins! (AKA The Great Toilet Paper Frenzy of 2020). It frightens me how crazy this has become. Seriously. I might have to re-write it now.

I am grateful for this man above, our living prophet today President Russel M. Nelson, as well as previous living prophets who have counseled us to be prepared. My testimony has been strengthened this past week in many ways. I am beyond grateful for their teachings especially today as we see how quickly things can change. We have been counseled by Pres. Nelson that it is time for a home centered church. When he said now, I guess he meant now. And he wasn't kidding when he told us to, "Eat your vitamin pills. Get some rest. It's going to be exciting." He also told us at our October conference that our upcoming conference in April would be memorable and unforgettable. No one can doubt the inspiration of that prophetic statement. 

dear friday, this morning the craziness continues...

The Boston Marathon has been postponed instead of cancelled!  I am so happy for those runners who worked their fannies off to get to Boston. I was worried they would just cancel it. Postponing it has more to do with $$$$ than anything else, but I know the BAA stood up for the runners and so helped encourage a postponement. I watched the press conference on it this morning. 

I really didn't want to watch the news today. I had enough of it yesterday. But schools are now shut down here for two weeks. And Karen and I decided to cancel our Nashville trip since basically we would have nothing to do or see since it's basically shut down as well. Now to get in contact with the airline to get a refund or postponement. One of my friend's was on hold yesterday for six hours trying to get a Delta flight. It will be a while before I can get a hold of them I'm sure. 

I didn't get time to run/walk this morning because I had a lot to do and it was the Bishop's Wife luncheon. I made the cream puff cake and it looked pretty freaky, but it turned out yummy. I got the rest of the stuff done and then headed to Kathryn's. 

These are the favors I made for it:

I was pouring the salad in a bowl and found a worm!  Ew! Yuck! Disgust!  Kathryn just blew it off saying we share the land. I had a hard time eating after that.  We had taco salads and even though only five wives came, it was a lot of fun with those who did. Kathryn A. cracks me up. She has worn the same shirt for the past four times. We didn't have one last year, due to my injury,or it would have been the 5th. She is a hoot. We chatted with Bishop Braegger's wife about their missionary son who had a rough go in Mexico. Sometimes I wonder how some of these missionaries survive. 

 Here are few from the past luncheons. I made this for Kathryn because she wears the same shirt to it each time. She is a hoot!

I ran some errands and was tempted to go to the grocery store but just didn't have it in me. My dad called and told me the shelves were empty at his store. People are now buying more than TP and water.  All the canned goods are gone as well as rice, flour, sugar, bread, milk, eggs, yeast and some perishables. I can't believe how crazy people are being. If this was a nuclear war or something worse, I can't even imagine the panic. And here in Utah where we are supposed to be "prepared".  Kind of baffling to be honest.

Dave and I grabbed a mini burger at Maddox drive in and it was packed. Everything is so crazy right now. I don't remember another crazy time like this since maybe 9-11. BTW, the kids who are seniors now were born in 9-11. I feel bad because they have cancelled all high school sports, the prom, seminary, school trips and possibly graduation! Those are big events in teenagers lives.  I wonder about how funerals will be held and weddings if gatherings of over 100 people are banned. 

Taylor and McKay are on their way home as write.  Well, Taylor is on his way to Yakima, but at least they are safely back in the country. Washington has more cases than anywhere in the US right now. They have had quite the trip to Costa Rica. They were with Natalie and CJ and all four bungee jumped!  At a very sketchy place. I have been praying so hard they would all be safe and it's a dang good thing too. Taylor told me the bungee place was pretty sketchy since him and McKay and CJ all worked at a zipline and they knew how all the safely rules as far as strapping them in etc. and this place did not do any of them.  He also said the bridge was all rusted. They said they got off the plane, got their rental car and while driving to their hotel they saw the bungee jumping sign and thought, "why not?" So they stopped and just went for it.  They didn't read reviews or check to see if anyone had died.  I am so glad I found out about it after the fact. I can't decide if they are brave or stupid. Gah.  Maybe just young and adventurous. And invincible. What is that word....???  Oh yeah, crazy! I watched the video and almost had a heart attack! I am convinced that is much more scary than sky diving!

This one deserves it's own space... WOW!

 McKay went to Las Vegas for spring break before he went to Costa Rica. USU had a big tourney there.

dear saturday, this morning it was raining. These two 90 year olds are out come rain or shine every single day!  Inspiring! 

These turkeys are also out every single day come rain or shine was well. But since I took this photo, people have been saying they haven't seen them. I wonder if someone panicked and they are now in someone's freezer!  ;)
I decided to hit Kent's and get the stuff I need for my St. Pat's dinner. I was pretty shocked to see the shelves looking like this:

Pretty obvious what people don't like. LOL  Arugula lettuce for one.  Very little produce, canned goods, frozen veggies, frozen bread, bread, water, and zero pasta, toilet paper (surprise surprise!), paper towels, eggs, milk, lettuce (except arugula), bananas, strawberries, hand sanitizer, and Cadbury chocolate eggs!

 There was NO shortage of donuts though. Odd...
They have since removed them from the case and they are now pre-packaged. No more getting your hands inside that case and spreading germs. Thankfully!

I ran into three friends I chatted with about the whole insanity. They feel the same. That it's crazy how panicked everyone is. Here are a few photos:

I then hit Smith's because I needed to find some eggs!  Cadbury eggs that is. Whew! What a relief when I discovered Smith's had an arsenal of them!  I got my stash!  I also bought some bread and pasta.  The lines weren't too bad. I am astonished at this entire ordeal!  

This ↑ is my social media post.

I went to the high school and got in a three mile walk.  Found some coins, but I'm sure it will be the last time I find a haul like this for a while since school is now closed. It was WINDY!

I watched the movie CONTAGION. Holy cow!  It is so much like what is happening right now! This is getting real!

I got a phone call informing me I won a $100 gift basket from the boutique I went to this week!!! WOO HOO!  It was packed with fun stuff too!  I love it!

One of my little Sunbeams dropped this by!  HOW CUTE IS THAT????

 Carson also made me some amazing presents!
I feel spoiled!!!

This is a good article titled The Church and Coronavirus: A Timeline of News Releases and Media Coverage.

dear sunday, today was the first day in my entire lifetime that church was cancelled. So strange. Dave on the other hand DID have meetings. He left at 8 a.m. and didn't get home until after 11.  He was overwhelmed with so many things to take care regarding all this that we didn't see much of him because he was writing so many letters and trying to get it all in place. What a crazy thing.  He took a break to grab McKay and they blessed the sacrament. So many missionaries are being sent home as well. 

It was kind of cool actually. We didn't do too much church as a family but I spent a lot of time watching BYU Devotionals and Women's Conference talks as well as reading a lot.  I worked on my St. Patrick's dinner and got the Shepherd's Pie done as well as the salad and the green lemon bars. Sky and crew didn't show up until an hour before we ate. He helped me with the asparagus. My parents didn't show up and so I called them. They thought it was on Tuesday!  Oh well. They hurried and headed here. We ate late, but it was fun. I love doing my traditional dinners. Sadly, Bryce and Haylie couldn't make it. She was exposed to Corona by her brother and didn't want to take the risk of getting us sick just in case.

 NOT practicing social distancing...though Mr. Cat wishes they were!

Dinner was fun!  It turned out VERY green!  

 Top O' the morning to ya!

 LOTS of shenanigans going on around here!

I am one LUCKY person to have all these people in my life!!

Everyone stayed until pretty late. I was so tired. Dave was on the phone ALL day it seemed like. This whole corona thing is wiping him out and he doesn't even have the virus!!  I feel so bad for him because all of this with his dad has made it so he hasn't had a day off in three weeks. Kellie moved so he's seeing her patients as well, and now this. 

Video from Sarah ---HERE
Check link

Sister Smith (Bishop wife) sent me this. So cute!