September 29th - Quiet Monday at Home

I like quiet Mondays - gives me a chance to relax after a busy, but good, weekend.  This morning the Dish repairman came to fix the HD satellite - again!  I wouldn't know the difference, but Bill does like watching his football in HD.  It turns out the received dish had moved - again!  This time, he put up a new mount, making sure he got it attached to a rafter, not just the wood.  Hopefully it will not move in the wind and we won't have to call them again.  I did appreciate that we were the first call of the day, so he was here by 8:00. 

I spent the rest of the day doing quiet things - like family history, working on next week's lesson, etc.  I was asked to do a presentation at the next RS weeknight meeting on how to stay spiritually balanced while raising and family and being busy.  That ought to be interesting!  I spent some time trying to find some background material.  I am not sure what is going to happen with that.

Not much to write about today - but I enjoyed my day in spite of a sinus headache brought on by the rain.  I just relaxed and actually accomplished several things that had been in my to do pile.

September 28th - Love My Sundays!

We spent the morning working on odds and ends - like our lessons and family history for me.  I also got dinner all put together.  We had a pot roast, so that was all ready to put in the oven just before we left.  Everything else was ready to finish up as soon as I got home.

My class went well.  I had a couple more people come in, so I hope they stick with me and catch the excitement of doing family history! 

The kids had gotten to the house just minutes before we did, so Lisa and I finished up the dinner things and we were ready to eat.  Both the kids ate really well - they were either very hungry or they liked what I fixed (probably the former!) 

We were quite entertained by the grandchildren after dinner - dances, races, singing, playing the piano, etc.  We had some pretty good laughs!  It is a lot of fun when everyone is in such a good mood and laughing so much.

Just after they left, our hometeachers came and we had a nice visit with them.

It has been a busy day, but I do love my Sundays!

September 27th - General Women's Meeting

Today was Saturday and that meant the usual cleaning, laundry, etc.  That pretty much took my morning.  By afternoon, I had a chance to do some family history - especially still working on adding photos.  I got a couple more things figured out.  Next time someone needs help at the FHC, I will at least have some idea of what needs to be done!

First thing this morning, I reminded Bill that the General Women's Meeting was tonight and that I didn't want to go down to Lilburn, but that I would like the TV at 8:00 so I could watch it here.  Even though football would still be on, he graciously agreed.  I almost never ask to watch something, so I figured it was the least he could do. Actually, we ended up watching it together.  Of course, it was a great meeting.  Most of the emphasis seemed to be on the temple and covenants.  President Uchtdorf was the concluding speaker and spoke about the need to live all the commandments and to do so with joy - live the gospel joyful was his phrase.  I am sure there will be a dozen FB postings by morning with that phrase.  It is a good one.

September 26th - Visiting Teaching

My companion picked me up this morning and we were able to visit two of our three sisters that we visit teach.  We had great visits with both of them.  That ended up taking most of the morning, since both are talkers and the one, particularly, was in a mood to talk.  We did get the message taught in both cases, too.

Back home, I worked on the photos on FamilySearch and was able to add several.  I think I have that part of it down pretty good.  There are still some things I need to figure out.

Bill's job was up in Tennessee today, so he left really early and got back late.  I was eating popcorn and watching another episode of The Tudors when he finally made it home.

September 25th - No Art Class - But Still Time with the Kids!

The preschoolers had a field trip to Mayfield Dairy this morning, which is why we had art class last Monday.  That gave me the morning to tackle the laundry.  I usually do one or two loads every couple of days, but I had not done anything this week, other than the sheets.  Needless to say, the laundry hamper was overflowing!  I managed to get four loads done, along with other routine stuff.

Lisa called when they finished at the dairy and said they were going to Moe's for lunch and invited me to meet them.  I had already eaten, so I suggested they pick it up and come here so the kids could play for a while.  And that is what they did.  They ended up staying a good bit of the afternoon, until Lisa had to get back for her piano student.  Ashby played "drive through" by opening my bedroom windows.  One of them does not have a screen, so it made the perfect drive through window.  She does have a creative imagination!

When they left, I worked a little bit on family history, but ended up trying to find more information on doing photos.  I think I found some stuff that should help me learn it all better.  By then, I was tired, so I ended up watching an episode of The Tudors. 

Bill had to attend Priesthood Leadership meeting this evening, in place of the YM President who could not go.  That meant I had a quiet evening at home - with some popcorn and another episode of The Tudors, of course!

September 24th - Family History Day!

Wednesday again - and of course that means Family History Center.  We had a busy morning, with three patrons and some workers there installing a new door bell system and putting up the new drapes.  Anything but quiet today!  I had a patron who wanted help with doing photos of FamilySearch, and while I helped him a little, mostly I wasn't able to teach him like I should have.  I will have to put in some time learning how to do it all!

Jan and I went to Moe's for lunch and had fun chatting and getting caught up.  It has been a few weeks since we got to do lunch, so there was plenty to talk about!  Then we made a quick run by the library to pick up a book I had there and then I took her home and headed on home myself. 

I was kind of tired out and lazy at that point, although I did do just a bit with the family history.  I quickly lost interest, though.  Since I finished the Lark Rise series a few days ago, I have been looking for something else to watch on my breaks and I started a series about Henry VIII.  It is by Showtime and BBC, so it is good quality, but there are scenes that border on going too far.  I kind of close my eyes during those parts, because the series is showing the character of Henry quite well.  We always think of him as the old fat man, but he was actually king while he was still very young.  Seeing him that way changes perspective a little.

September 23rd - Day at Home!

Other than the usual things that have to be done every day, I pretty much had this day to myself at home.  I like these kinds of days! 

I did wash the sheets, so we had a nice fresh bed tonight.  Otherwise, I spent my time working on my family history.  I have started making the corrections to the family I am working on.  I was able to merge the duplicates, which took care of the extra child on FamilySearch.  I have corrected some dates as I have found documentation to support my changes.  I still have more to do, though.  With 13 children, it takes a while! 

Hmm, sounds like a rather boring day - but I was certainly not bored!

September 22nd - Art Class Day

Art class is usually on Thursday, but the preschoolers have a field trip that day, so we had to move the class.  It turns out that today was the only day left, so we did it today.  Ashby wanted to have her friend Abby come, too.  She is also home-schooled.  They got here around 10:00 and we went to work on our project.  We looked at a couple of books about Claude Monet and then started a multi-media project of his lily pond.  We painted the back of a foam meat tray blue and while, so it looked like the pond.  Then we used mod-podge to attach little pieces of tissue paper to a piece of tag board.  Next week we will cut that into lily pads.  Our final step of the day was to take some clay and make a little frog, who will sit on one of the lily pads.  They had a lot of fun.  For free time, they both played with the clay.  Next week we will put the pieces together to complete our project.

We then went out to Del Rio for lunch.  We like to sit outside on the patio, as it is usually not busy and the kids can get up and move around.  They were playing some pretty good music and Brooks was up doing his dancing.  The girls even got up and danced a little.  We had a lot of fun.

When I got back home, I made an apple crunch for refreshments for Empty Nesters tonight.  I also worked on family history a little.  I am still on the same project, as I haven't really had much time to get it done.  I did get a chart done today, showing the parents and all the children and where they appear in the various census records.  FamilySearch has an extra child, but I wanted to be sure before I unlinked it.  Maybe I will get more time tomorrow.

This evening was Empty Nesters.  We watched a video from BYU about the crucifixion.  It was good, as they discussed details that we often overlook.

September 21st - Celebrating Grandpa's Birthday

Bill's birthday was actually yesterday, but Ashby was concerned because he didn't get a party or a cake, so we celebrated when they came over for dinner today.  Dinner was his favorites - pinto beans and collard greens.  We also had steaks on the grill, baked potatoes, corn, and rolls.  That way everyone had something they liked!  We also had a chocolate cake with one candle, so we could sing "Happy Birthday" and the grandkids could help blow it out.  Very fun!

I started my new family history class during Sunday School today and was happy that I had 7 people show up.  I wasn't sure if anyone would come.  I think it will be a good class.  It went well today, although time was a little short since the children did their Primary program today and ran over a bit.

It was a fun evening with the kids, besides the birthday celebration.  Brooks was outside a good bit and having a ball.  One of the things he wanted to do was to "paint" the playhouse.  So he got a paintbrush and a bucket of water and went to work!  The fallout from that was that he was filthy and muddy when he finished, but he sure had fun!  It was necessary to take a quick bath before putting on his jammies to wear home.

Ashby, on the other hand, was totally absorbed in the house, cutting paper and making things.  She finally ended up with a paper drive-up window that she taped to stand up on the coffee table.  She had Grandpa "drive" around to the window and order toys.  Very creative, again!

September 20th - Happy Birthday, Bill!

It was Bill's birthday today - #71 - but we didn't really celebrate.  Instead, it was pretty much a normal Saturday.  He took off around 9 or so to go help David on a job for the day.

Meanwhile, I tackled laundry and the usual Saturday house chores.  Nothing exciting there!

I headed over to Lisa's about 5:00, so we could babysit with the kids while they went out to a surprise birthday party for her friend Ashby.  Bill went home and showered and then came back, bringing a pizza and crazy bread with him.  The kids were excited - for the crazy bread and for Grandpa to play with!

We had a fun evening with them.  They were both really good and played well.  We finally got every to sleep around 9:30. 

We will try to remember Bill's birthday tomorrow - I put some pinto beans to soak this afternoon.  Once one gets to a certain age, the birthdays are often preferably forgotten!

September 19th - Busy Friday

I had a list of errands to do this morning, so once things were under control at home, I went out to the library, to Hobby Lobby for some art supplies for upcoming classes, and to Kroger to pick up a few things.  That always ends up taking more time than it should, but I got everything on my list taken care of.

It didn't take long to put things away, since I really didn't pick up all that much at the store, so I was able to do a little more on the family history stuff I had started yesterday.  I have a family on Bill's line that is a bit of a mess on FamilySearch, so I will probably take several days to get it all straightened out and documented.

While I was working on that, the sister missionaries stopped by and stayed for a little bit.  They always practice a lesson when they come, so they did that before they left.  Then I was back at the family history.

This evening, Bill had to chaperone the dance for youth conference, so I had a quiet evening.  Billy called to wish his dad "happy birthday."  (His birthday is tomorrow, but I don't think we will be doing any celebrating then.  Maybe a little on Sunday.)  I ended up just watching a couple of episodes of Lark Rise and then went to read.

September 18th - Art Class

For art class today, we painted our clay sculptures that we did last time.  We missed two weeks while I was out of town, so our clay was nice and dry and ready to paint.  Ashby did a really good job.  She wanted a gray kitty, with green eyes and a pink mouth.  Then she decided it needed pink heart cheeks, too.  Then she mixed the pink and gray and came up with a new color that she painted over much of the face and body.  Then she mixed the green and pink and came up with another new color that she painted on the back.  It all actually turned out quite interesting!  Her is certainly better than mine!  For her free time, she wanted to play with more clay, so she made a free form.  She kept changing what it was, so I am not sure what it ended up being, but I think it is a "silly plate with a pile of silly pancakes and a strawberry on top."  Oh, for such an imagination!

They stayed and lunch at Grandma's, too, so we had a nice morning.  I was so tired for some reason today, so I relaxed in my chair a little and watched an episode of Lark Rise.  In between I managed to get a couple of loads of laundry done.  Later, I got absorbed in some family history on the computer, so my day ended up being rather busy!

September 17th - Family History Day

This was Wednesday, so naturally I was at the Family History Center.  Actually, today was the meeting of the Gwinnett Genealogy Group, so I had to arrive early in order to get things set up.  I also had to do a presentation on Fold3, which went really well.  I learned later that after our meeting finished, four people from the group went in to the FHC and wanted to get on Fold3.  I guess they liked what they had heard!

On my way home, I stopped by the library to pick up some books that had come in.  I then fixed myself a late lunch and watched an episode of Lark Rise while I ate.

My visiting teacher came by later in the afternoon and we had a nice visit.  She does not usually make it by to visit, although she does keep in touch with me.  We are good friends, so I don't feel neglected, but it was fun to have a little time to just chat.

The rest of my day was pretty routine - got a couple of loads of laundry done, house straightened, etc.  I even fixed some dinner - spaghetti. 

I have a whole stack of family history things that I am wanting to get to, but I just haven't gotten it worked in since I got back from Iowa.  Maybe tomorrow!

September 16th - Pedi's

I was going about my usual morning routine when Lisa called and said they had just dropped Brooks off at pre-school and she and Ashby were going to get pedicures.  Ashby had asked if Grandma could come, too, so she was calling to invite me.  I needed one badly - besides I can't pass up a chance to have fun with them.  Now my toe nails are beautiful - I picked a very bright color and I might even glow in the dark!

Back home, I worked a little more on my presentation.  Actually, I was just going over it to make sure I would remember everything and not take too much time.  That will be tomorrow, if there is time, as it is the last thing on the agenda.

This evening, I couple of the brothers from the ward came over to get some help with their family history.  One of them was having trouble logging in, but we finally got that figured out.  The other was able to log in, but wasn't sure to go about adding his people.  We worked on several things so he could see how to do it. 

September 15th - Odds & Ends

This was a normal Monday - getting things back in order after the weekend, etc.  My biggest concern for the day was taking my little computer in to have it looked at.  I wasn't able to get wi-fi on it at home or at church and I was worried it might be a goner.  Fortunately, the Geek Squad at Best Buys was able to check the settings or whatever and it is working fine now.  They didn't even charge me!  It is working very slowly, though, so it might need to go back to have some diagnostics run on it at some point.  She did say that she had not detected any viruses, so that is good.  I did a disk clean when I got home and it defrags regularly, so I hope it will be OK.

Other than that, I spent a bit of my day working on my presentation for the Genealogy Study Group on Wednesday.  I will be doing it on the website Fold3 and I think I have it pretty much together. 

September 14th - Normal Sunday - Great Day!

Things felt a little more back to normal today.  We spent the morning working on lessons or other quiet things.  I got dinner all ready to cook. 

Church meetings were good.  The children were in the chapel practicing for their program, so the Gospel Doctrine class was moved to the overflow, which meant I was bumped out.  I sat in the foyer instead and was able to help one sister who had been having some log in issues.  I think we got her going now.  Next week I start the class again.

Bill had his temple recommend interviews after church, so we were later than usual getting to leave.  When we got home, the kids were all here and dinner was cooked and getting cold, since we were so late.  A quick reheat and we were ready to eat. 

It was nice to have everyone here and we had a great evening.  The kids were totally absorbed in their play.  Ashby had taped numbers to all the doors in the hallway and said they were all apartments.  She does get creative! 

They had brought their bikes over, so they also went out to take a walk/ride.  Ashby is learning to ride without the training wheels, but she wanted it to be easy today, so she had the wheels put back on.  Brooks had his tricycle.  Later, he was out in the back yard playing.  They were both very fun to watch.

So glad that we had a good Sunday today.  I miss not getting together on Sundays and it was very nice to be back to normal!

September 13th - Family History Fair

I had to get up and at 'em this morning.  The stake, in conjunction with several community genealogy organizations, held a family history fair.  I helped in the Family History Center where the director taught two classes on the computers about FamilySearch. 

When I got home, I had a late lunch and Bill and I chatted a while.  He decided it would be nice to go to a movie this afternoon and we found one that looked pretty good.  It was "When the Game Stands Tall" and was a true story about a high school football team.  It is always nice to support good, clean movies - even though I am not much of a sports fan these days. 

I was pretty worn out, so was ready for a quiet evening.

September 12th - Rather Lazy Friday

After all the work getting things back in order yesterday, we took it a little easy today.  There were still the usual things to do, of course, but I certainly didn't exert myself beyond what was needed!  Bill had a long list of errands, so he was gone a good bit of the day.  Now we have cars inspected, new license plates, books returned to library, and some groceries.

Meanwhile, Lisa and the kids came over for a couple of hours after Ashby finished her home school group in the morning.  She was really excited to get to see Grandma!  And, I might add, Grandma was really excited to see her and Brooks.  She cuddled a lot and they both played while Lisa and I got caught up on the last two weeks.

And that was just about my whole day!

September 11th - No, we will never forget!

Today was a day of trying to get back to the normal routines.  Sometimes it is hard to switch from vacation to life mode!

My biggest project of the day was the laundry.  There were five loads to do and that was accomplished by mid-afternoon.  It didn't take too much to straighten the house, as it had been left in good condition.  I did have to go through the refrigerator, though, and throw some stuff.

Other than that, I spent time at the computer getting caught up on stuff.  Among other projects that I worked on, I made some lesson plans for art school for the next month or so.  I also worked on the presentation I have to do next week at the Genealogy Study Group.  I even got all the books I read while gone added to Shelfari.

Bill also did some catch up on phone calls and then worked in the yard, which was getting a bit overgrown.

We picked up a pizza for dinner and just as we were going to eat, the sister missionaries came by.  We offered them some of the pizza and they accepted.  It seems their dinner this evening was rather sparse and they were still hungry.  We had a nice visit with them.

I survived my transition day.  I must admit that I am not quite sure I am ready to go back to normal, though.  Then again, I don't much of a choice!

August 31 - September 10 - Vacation!

I decided not to try to keep up with my blog posts, so I have missed the last week and a half.  A quick summary follows.

Aug 31- Spent the day with my dad.  Billy came down for a while in the afternoon and we all went out for dinner and then spent some time at Willie's before he headed back to CR.

Sept 1 - Labor Day.  Spent the day with dad.  We went in to Kohl's to shop a bit, but didn't do much else.

Sept 2 - I met with 8 of my high school friends for breakfast and lunch.  We met at Wit's End at 9:30 and then moved across the street to a restaurant for lunch.  The daughter of one of my friends is running it, so that is why we chose that place.  We had a great time and finally broke up around 5:00.  From there, Paula and I had dinner at a Mexican place in CR before driving back to her place in Davenport.

Sept 3 - 5 - Spent with Paula.  We didn't do all that much, other than going out for lunch, once with one of her friends and just hanging out.  On the 5th, we met Peggy in DeWitt for lunch.  Then I headed back to Dad's.  Bill was supposed to get in to CR about 5:45, but the weather was so bad in Chicago, where he had a connection, that all the flights were cancelled.  He ended up having to spend the night in the airport.  Billy stopped at Dad's on his way back to CR and I followed him on up to his place to spend the night.

Sept 6 - Bill finally got in around 12:30.  We spent the day with Billy.

Sept 7 - We got up and met Dad and a friend of his for breakfast in Amana.  They do the best pancakes ever made!  Spent the rest of the day with Billy.  We took a ride in the afternoon down to Kalona, an Amish community.

Sept 8 - We came back to Dad's on Sunday night, as Billy had to head back to Des Moines this morning.  We spent the day with Dad and some time with Willie and Kalee in the evening.

Sept 9 - We took off for home this morning, after I had washed the sheets and towels.  Dad wouldn't do it and I like to have them clean and fresh the next time I come.  We drove as far as Mt. Vernon, IL and spend the night there.

Sept 10 - We got home about 7:00.  We had thought about doing some touring on the way home and maybe taking an extra day or two, but the weather was rainy and we decided to just come on home. 

So, I guess tomorrow I will have to come back to reality and get back into my normal routine.  It has been a fun two weeks, but it has gone by so quickly!