February 6th - Circus is in Town!

We went to the circus this evening with Lisa, David, and the kids.  What a great time!  It was Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show on Earth and since it was here in town at the Arena, we couldn't pass it up.  Even better, the kids are just the right ages to love seeing the circus.  And, boy, did they both love it!  We got there just before opening, which turned out to be the best time, as the expensive tickets had just been made available for the cheaper prices.  As a result, we were in the third row and had a terrific view of everything.

As first, Lisa was concerned that Brooks was going to be scared of all the noise and everything so close, but once the horses came out to do their act, he was fascinated and loved everything from then on.  His favorite was the tigers (and other wild cats, but he called them all tigers) and the elephants.  Ashby was so enthralled with everything that she couldn't even pick a favorite.  Everything was just "awesome." 

It was one of those totally fun evenings with kids.  We enjoyed the acts, as well, but watching their faces was the most fun of all!

February 5th - Family History Wednesday

So, Wednesday was just another routine day - except that the routine on Wednesday is family history.  I work at the Family History Center on Wednesday mornings, which I love.  My friend who usually goes with me had errands before, so her husband just dropped her off.  We had some great success on one of the names she was working on - we found 3 census records and civil war military records, plus some dates, etc.  She was excited and so was I.

We had one other patron come to the center, too.  It is a man who has been there a lot, but has not come in quite some time.  He has actually been quite a problem at times, because he seems to think that he can be there even when others are not.  At one time, he had the access code and would just let himself in.  He got insulted a while back when someone forced him to leave the center because no one else was there.  He decided to come back for the first time today.  He goes to all the other centers in the area, too.  He can be a nice man - just has an attitude of entitlement about the centers.

When we closed the center, we stopped and got some lunch at Firehouse Subs, then headed home, after dropping my friend off at her house.  I spent most of the afternoon at the computer or working on my family history files.  I finally had a chance to open the box of supplies, so I could finish up the files that were waiting for them.

Wednesday evenings, I go over to the church in case any one wants family history help.  I had one sister from my Sunday class who needed some help tonight, so we got her all set.

It has been a very good day.  I still need to get myself better organized somehow so my own family history gets worked on, too!

February 4th - Movie Night at the Mall

After a regular day (water aerobics, house stuff, computer stuff), we ended the day by going to the movies.  Bill got home early today and we were able to see "Saratov Approach."  It is the movie about two Mormon missionaries who were kidnapped, beaten, and held for ransom back in 1998.  It was very well done and we enjoyed it.

It did make me think of Jason, though.  He was in the hospital at the time this happened, and while we heard about it, we were just not following anything that was happening in the world.  The other thing that brought him to mind today was the FaceBook movie.  FB is celebrating their 10th birthday by doing movies of random things from your timeline.  It lasts maybe a minute or so.  On mine, in the "most like posts" section, there were a couple that referenced Jason.  It reminded me that there are still a lot of people who remember him.

February 3rd - Long To Do List

I kept pretty busy today, trying to get the to do list back down to manageable length.  I did a pretty good job of accomplishing it, too.  Among a lot of other things, I did the usual Monday straightening, worked on lessons and presentations coming up, made some phone calls.  I also ran out and did some grocery shopping - a coupon run.  I don't use a lot of coupons, as it seems to take more time than is worth it for the money saved, but I do pull a few that are for things I regularly used, plus I had the Kroger coupons that are generated from the use of the Kroger Plus card, meaning they were good savings on stuff I always buy anyway.  Then that necessitated having to carry everything in and put it away. 

I spent most of the rest of the day at the computer.  I didn't really get into family history much, other than the work on my next lessons and the presentations for the Genealogy Study Group.  I am the major presenter on the 19th, so I am trying to put finishing touches on it.

I was pretty tired after my busy day, so I hit the bed early to read.  I finished another book that I really enjoyed, The Girl You Left Behind by JoJo Moyes.  It jumps back in forth between WWI France and the present.  Very good read.

February 2nd - Fun Sunday

Sunday is usually the best day of the week and that is what I got today - the best day of this week.  We are still trying to get the new schedule worked out with the kids, but it worked pretty well today, so maybe we are getting there.

Church meetings were good.  It was Fast and Testimony meeting.  My Sunday School class went well.  We are in a "workshop" mode - just tying up loose ends, reviewing, addressing specific questions, etc.  Today I covered a few things that we didn't have time for on our last lesson about submitting names for the temple.  We spent the rest of the time talking about different places online to go to for help in doing additional research.  They had some good questions and we had a great class. 

When I got home, I got as much of dinner finished as possible - the black beans had cooked this morning in the crockpot, so I just needed to turn them back on to get hot again; I got the rice and water measured and into the rice maker, so I just have to turn it on; I got the broccoli cleaned and into the steamer tray to cook with the rice; I got the carrots in a bowl with butter, so I just have to stick them in the microwave; and, finally, I had to go ahead and bake the rolls, as they were starting to droop out of the muffin pan!

The kids didn't make it over until late, though, as everyone fell asleep.  Lisa sent a cute picture of David and Ashby sleeping in the master bed and Brooks asleep on the floor.  He never sleeps anywhere other than his crib, so I guess he must have been extremely tired!

When Bill got home, I went ahead and turned everything on and he and I ate.  He loves beans and thought it was the best meal ever.  Of course, he had been fasting all day, so that might have had something to do with it! 

It was also Super Bowl Sunday, so the game just started as we were eating.  We had barely finished when the kids arrived.  They love the DVR so they could just pause the game and start it over.  They all are dinner when they wanted and then we sort of watched a horrible game.  Of course, all games are horrible to me, but this was horrible to all Broncos fans.  I figured the game was over after the first play, when the center hiked the ball clear over Peyton Manning's head.  It kind of went downhill from there. 

We enjoyed the evening, and since everyone had slept so late, they didn't need to leave until later.  We had the game on, played with and were entertained by Ashby and Brooks, and just had a great time.  They are currently into the songs from Frozen and act out the song "Do You Want to Build a Snowman" over and over again.  They take turns and it is really cute.  Ashby also decided she was going to sing the whole sound track for us.  I think she got through 3 or 4 of the songs, when they finally had to leave, as it was starting to get late.

So, like I said, the best day of the week!

February 1st - Saturday -- Need I Say More?

Bill worked today, since he was trying to make up for the jobs that had to be postponed during the snow.  That left me at home all day alone.  But, I had a list a mile long of things that I needed to do.  I probably got half the list crossed off. 

I didn't feel like going out, so the running around chores were put off until Monday.  But, I did a lot of the around the house stuff - laundry, changing sheets, straightening, planning Sunday dinner, etc.  I also did a lot of the at the desk stuff - some emails, working on Bathcrest books (almost done!), Sunday lesson, etc.

Not too exciting, but I filled my day so much that I ran out of day before I ran out of things to do!  The negative side was that I never got to the family history files - and all my supplies arrived a couple of days ago and I have not even opened the box yet!  Maybe tomorrow!

I don't like when Bill works on Saturdays, especially when he works late like he did today, but he just can't seem to say no to people.  At least it keeps money coming in!

January 31st - End of the First Month of the New Year - Already!!

This month has literally flown by.  I can't believe it is the last day of January.  I celebrated by not doing anything special - Ha!  In fact, I was pretty much home all day, doing pretty much what I always do.  I did make a run to the library to return a couple of books and pick up another that had come in. 

I kept busy all day, but didn't do some of the things on my list.  I got a lot of little things done, plus a couple of loads of laundry.  I spent a couple of hours on the Bathcrest books, too.  That is a bit of a priority and should have been done already.  I didn't get to the family history at all.  I have also had an epic fail on deep housecleaning.  I had planned to complete the master bedroom and bathroom this month - oops!  Not done yet!  Well, there is always another month! 

It was actually a successful day and I was very busy all day.  I didn't even get a nap!