*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, I got out on my walk. I'm still not running. The ankle is feeling better but I am afraid to push it quite yet. I finally got my Dyson vacuum hung up and I am SO excited to finally be able to use it. It is going to be a game changer not having to haul out my huge built in one. Since I took Rinda (robot vac) back, I have truly missed it!  Other than part where it ate my carpet.  The Dyson is going to be a blessing mostly for the computer room! I was kind of feeling in a funk today. I did get a lot of my blog caught up though. Yay me! It was a hot one!

Carson face-timing me this morning while I was getting ready:

I am not sure I have ever talked about the Promontory articles each week in our local paper.  BUT....it is classic.  Just give it a read for a few and I am sure you will be hooked too!  LOL

Some people take the paper JUST so they can read this each week.  

dear tuesday, UGH! I worked HARD on this thing (BLOG) and got most of it caught up (not photos but all my posts!) and then my computer decided to do a restart last night and it's ALL GONE!!!  TWO WEEKS GONE!  Just like that!  

So, I restored my computer back to yesterday but it must have been an issue with Blogger because it didn't restore a word!  So the two week's before this one will be pretty sparse as I have no idea what happened each day unless I have photos and wrote it in my planner. Most of the stuff I write about doesn't make the planner though. Sigh...

It's sooooooooooo frustrating because I am already so behind!  I am four plus weeks behind!  Writing doesn't take long, it's just the brain power it takes!  I have none!  Adding pics is what really is the most time consuming and I hadn't added too many, but the ones I did are also gone!  Geeze! It's times like this when I am about ready to throw in the towel with this whole thing!  It really does take a lot of my time that I do not have at the moment!  Time for CHOCOLATE!!!!

I got up early and practiced the harp. I am getting pretty tired of Happy Farmer and Glissando but I am STILL stuck on them. Mostly technique. I have the notes, it's the technique I need work on. She did start me on Minuet 2 though. She also informed me since it's a Bach piece that his Minuets are nicknamed "The Bears". Each one has it's own name like brown bear, black bear, polar bear, grizzly bear, etc.  Apparently no teddy bears! Dang. I am kind of in a spot in my harp where I am not excited to practice. It tends to either be that way or I am super excited to practice. My songs are hard and take SO much time to master and I get tired of the monotony of it all.  

This is page one, but page two is harder. It looks easy but the fingering is what makes it tricky.  So far I have enjoyed it though and it's not as challenging as I thought it would be.

After my lesson I was loading up all the DI stuff that I forgot to give Dave for our drop off at 1:00 today. You have to schedule out a time to just drop stuff off now!  They were 10 days out when I signed up!  Crazy!  They store it for a week I guess to prevent the spread of Covid 19.  I donated a lot because I have been saving it for months! Plus I have been dejunking and organizing a lot during the quarantine. I had nine large bags full of clothes, shoes, purses, belts, scarves, hats, etc., and nine boxes full of decors, dishes, books, frames, small appliances, a lamp, etc. It's worth a lot if I had to add up the total value.

I got out on a walk much later than I normally do and it was blazing hot! I only got in a couple miles, but better than nothing. I went to Wallies and then Sky tried to fix my computer. I also lost Google Chrome when it restored. Who knows?  We had burgers from the Traeger and I did some yummy cheesy asparagus. 

Here is the recipe:

Baked Asparagus (COSTCO)

2 cloves garlic minced

1 ½ Tbl olive oil

Salt and pepper

Mix together and spread on asparagus. Bake at 425 for 10 min.

Mix together

½ cup Parmesan cheese

½ cup Panko Bread crumbs

2 Tbl melted butter

Top asparagus with ¾ cup Mozzarella cheese then spread bread mixture on top.

Broil for 4-6 minutes.

dear wednesday, got on a walk. I loved this bird that was perched by the fountain thing. He just sat there forever enjoying the mist I guess.

Still no running. Waaaa! I went and picked up Sarah and Carson and headed to my mom's today to meet Calven James, my great nephew! My niece Chantel had him on April 28th and he weighed 9 lb 6 oz!  He is adorable!  I already love him to pieces!  

I had ordered some pasta salads from Hug Hes and my dad picked them up. We also stopped and got cookies from Twisted Sugar on the way. So yummy!  

We took turns holding him and I finally had to pull him away from Sarah! Hah She LOVES babies!  He slept a lot. Carson was so cute holding him though. I gave Chantel her baby gift (a carrier and a soft minky blanket and burping cloth) finally!

Carson always loves to play (torture) Grammy!  hehe We were there for quite a while. Grampy took Carson with him to wash the car and sent us this photo while they were gone:

He took him to Farr's ice cream. I wrote back, "Farts?" meaning Farrs. It was so funny. I have the best parents. They make life so much fun. I am so grateful I still have them both!

dear thursday, today I got in a good walk. Check out the pelican!

I even found a penny!  I haven't been finding too many because my route is always the same lately. 

Julie called and invited Carson to go to the Splash Pad with her grands.  He wanted to so I went and got him and we met them there. It was fun to see him play with her grands. They have always enjoyed each other. Of course, I don't know anyone that doesn't love to play with Carson. He is just the funnest and cutest little guy! While we were there Jarom was taking his doctorate final debate thing and we were all on eggshells waiting to see if he passed this time. He didn't last time and this was his last chance.  He finally called and told us he passed. Everyone was so happy (hugging photo). 

We came home and hung out a bit and then I took Carson to the church for the Primary Ice Cream Drive Through.  He rode his bike and I walked. I chatted with Karen for a bit and then we headed back.

I made dinner for Dave's parents (sloppy joes, potato salad, watermelon, chips, Rice Krispy Treats, etc).  Taylor took it to them. Carson and I watched That Darn Cat and then we did a craft. He was begging to do one so I found these cute animal envelopes online. They turned out cute!  McKay took him home.

dear friday, today on my walk I called Kenna who is Linda's sister in law that also had the same kind of cancer Jerry has. She gave me some ideas to share with Alli and Jerry and is the sweetest person. When she found out I had cancer she immediately sent me this beautiful letter and photo of an angel. She kept saying that it's a club we are forced into that no one wants to belong to. Agreed. I have always said that about the club of losing a child. You don't want to be a member but you have an instant bond with others who have gone through what you have. Having cancer and losing a child are two things that you cannot possibly "get" unless you have experienced it.  I have been texting Allie a lot about Jerry and he hasn't been doing too well this week. He has been so sick!  I feel so bad. I wish they were here close by family and the Huntsman. I don't think you can find better care than the Huntsman. They are always on the cutting edge of new research and improved ways to treat cancer. 

The baby ducks are growing so fast!

This afternoon I grabbed Carson so Sky could go golfing and was going to take him with me to the tea party that Brinlee invited me to that Sarah was doing. But he decided to go to Grammy's instead. I dropped him off and then met Sarah and Brinlee (and Liam) at the tea party in Ogden. It was at an Italian pastry shop.  It was very hot inside and stuffy and so I put on my mask since I knew I was heading back to my parents after and I don't like taking chances with them but I could not even breath in it. It was not a good environment and I am praying none of us were exposed.  If so, Sarah for sure will get it because she was there for many hours. She was dressed as Belle and looked gorgeous. She fits the part well. The party was fun. Liam was scared to death of Princess Aurora. He was ducking behind me when she came near. It was hilarious. Neither of them knew Sarah was Belle. It was cute. Brinlee is obsessed with Aurora though, so that helped. It was so fun to watch these tiny little girls just be in awe of them. It's so sweet. They think they are the real thing. It was a bit chaotic. They danced and had snacks and then that was it. 

The little girl's were in complete awe of Sarah.  They thought she was the real Belle. She definitely looked like it!  

Little Liam was NOT in awe. He was in terror!  Haha  He hid from Sarah as well as from Aurora. It was hilarious. He was cracking me up!

He did NOT want anything to do with the Princesses!

He did like the treats though!

Brinlee was enthralled with Aurora. She thought she was the real one. It was so sweet to watch!

It was so fun to watch the whole thing. They danced with them to the music from the movies. It was truly sweet.

Such a fun day!!!

Sarah is perfect for this job!!!  She is stunningly gorgeous and carries herself like a real princess.

Haylie followed me to my mom's house so the kids could see my parents and my parents could see them.  Brinlee showed Grampy her pink golf clubs and Liam took his outside and hit some balls. 

He hit them in a perfect little hole on top of Grampy's sprinkler system thing. 

He was afraid to grab them once they were floating in the water and it was hilarious. He would grab Grampy's hand and say, "Up!" and pull him over to retrieve them. 

Grammy then got him some tongs and he got them out that way. So cute! It was fun to watch him. So very entertaining. 

On my way back I got Carson some food at Wendy's since it was already after 8:00!  We were there a long time!  I dropped him off and then ran to check out a purple heart chair that Haylie found for sale but it wasn't in great shape. 

dear saturday, I walked today in my usual spot.  Mostly Pioneer Park and the high school. It was packed!  There was a softball tourney going on. I ran into my good old running pal Marci. We chatted for quite a while mostly about the current crazy state of the world and both concluded we were grateful we live where we do! I got in 4.5 miles today of strictly walking. Not sure when I am going to be brave enough to test out running again, but hopefully soon since my ankle isn't as sore as the last time I did.  I found a penny and a love note from heaven.

Dave and the boys were cleaning the garage and so I went out and helped them. I started with cleaning the white cupboards out there that needed it and then did the sink and the door and walls and railing. Next I did the fridges. I was giving them some pointers to help make it easier to organize and good places to put stuff. It was so bad. I have been wanting to get out there and just dive in and get it organized but it is pretty overwhelming and not something one person can do alone. After about an hour or so, they all left to go dump some stuff off and to do some stuff at the garden and then they ended up working on the back deck for hours. 

Their plan wasn't to clean the entire thing but just a few things apparently. So.... I was all by myself. Hmm... I kept working on the cleaning part but decided to go get on some gloves and just dive in! I worked my tushy off and ended up cleaning the ENTIRE thing BY MYSELF!  Once I got going, I could not stop.  I only ended up stopping about 9 pm out of sheer exhaustion and body aches!  Yeah, that speaks volumes.  I'm definitely not getting any younger!  Hah  I mostly straightened and re-located things and put things in proper places that made sense. I did a LOT of sweeping and got a huge pile of dirt. My feet were filthy! I saw so many bugs and spider webs and just dirt. I hate a messy garage. NOW, I need to get out there and really organize it. Every thing needs a place and it all needs to be labeled and then I will feel really good. For now, it is just more orderly and cleaner. Dave does have all the big tools labeled and organized on the wall (thanks to Skyler) and so that helps. I am not happy with how the totes look on the shelf though and I want to re-do all that plus all his "products" and other shelf. But, for now, it looks 100% better than it did when I started. I wish I had taken some before and afters. But here are my feet AFTER:

I took a nice long shower and then hit the hay. I didn't get much else done except practicing the harp today, but that's okay. It feels good to know it's finally a bit cleaner. Sadly, it won't last thanks to the 2nd law of thermodynamics, but maybe it can last a bit longer than the last time Sky came and organized a big cleaning. Either way, I feel so much more peace about it. 

dear sunday, I am so far behind while I am getting ready to post this and there was nothing at all on today and so I have no idea what happened. LOL  I know we did the sacrament and that Sky and crew came over to hang out for a bit. 

And we headed over to Dave's parents house to tell our niece Sara goodbye for 18 months. She is going on a mission to the Dominican Republic. But will first have to do HOME MTC for six weeks and then might end up in the USA for awhile before she get to the DR due to Corona. 

Mickey and Carson having fun!

The guys had fun playing pool! 

When McKay gets laughing EVERYONE gets laughing!  His laugh MAKES you laugh!  He is so funny!

dear random, so true but kinda sad...  We remember the firsts but not the lasts because we never know when the LASTS are.

🤩Whaddya know? PURPLE has been the solution all along!🤩

#greattimelybook #purplepeoplerock

This is pretty much how it was for me:
I grew up in Utah. When I was a child our area code was 801 but you didn’t need to use it. Eating out at a restaurant was a HUGE deal that only happened for special occasions. Dee’s was a very rare treat. Fast food was a bologna and cheese or pb&j sandwich to take outside in the yard. Eating ice cream was a treat on a hot day. You took your school clothes off as soon as you got home and put on your play clothes. We had to do our homework BEFORE being allowed outside to play. If you were too sick to go to school you were too sick to see your friends or go outside. We ate dinner at the table. We walked to school every day for grade school. In Jr high and High school some rode a bus with 2 to a seat. There was no taking or picking you up in the car, you walked! Our phone hung on the wall in the kitchen and had a cord attached to it, there were no private conversations or cell phones! We played Cowboys and Indians and Cops and Robbers, 1,2,3 Not It, Red Light Green Light, Tag, Hide & Seek, Truth or Dare, Freeze Tag, Baseball, Football, Army, Whiffle Ball, Basketball, Ditch, Kick the Can, swam in the canal (poor boys swimming pool), we built forts, and rode our bikes EVERYWHERE.
Staying in the house was a punishment and the only thing we knew about "bored"--- "You better find something to do before I find it for you!". We ate what mom made for dinner or we ate nothing at all and if you asked mom what she was making the only answer you got was "food". There was no bottled water; we drank from the tap or the garden hose that always had warm water first before it ran cold and we drank Kool-Aid, lots of Kool - Aid! We watched cartoons on Saturday mornings, rode our bikes for hours around the neighborhood.
We weren't AFRAID OF ANYTHING. If someone had a fight, that's what it was and we were friends again a week later, if not SOONER. We played 'til dark, sunset was our curfew and we didn't dare make our parents come looking for us. School was mandatory and teachers were people who you could TRUST and RESPECT. We watched our MOUTHS around our elders because ALL of our Aunts, Uncles, Grandpas and Grandmas AND our Parent's best friends were also our PARENTS (they COULD & WOULD WHOOP YOUR BUTT!!) and you didn't want them telling your PARENTS if you misbehaved.
These were the good ‘ole days! I grew up in the best neighborhood ever!! I loved my childhood, I wouldn’t trade those memories or those friendships for anything.
⚜ Good Times ⚜