Bishop Jay

Yes, I've got to post about my husband, Jay.
Something happened on September 12th this year to us.  Jay was put in as Bishop of Ephrata 1st Ward in our town of Ephrata, Wa.
We are members of  ' The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' (Mormons). 
We both have grown up in the church and been members most of our lives. Our children were raised in the church, too. (of course).
Here's a link to our church website - if you are interested in knowing more.....:)
LDS.org
     I really never thought I would be a Bishop's wife, but now I am and I don't know what to think of it!!
I'm hoping I can just hide in the background and not have to say or do much.  But people are telling me that I can't do that.  I do keep busy at church with either playing the organ or the piano for our meetings. I am comfortable now in being in that role. And I have been in the presidency and as a teacher in different auxillary organizations in the church. (Primary, Young Womens, Relief Society)  I am thankful for all the experience that I've gained from being able to serve in these positions.  Right now I'm the 1st counselor in our ward Relief society, but I think that will change soon - since Jay is the new Bishop.

   About Jay being the Bishop, I have no doubt that he will do an excellent job. He is a great leader and has such a good, kind heart.  And he definitely does get things done.  It's amazing to me how he already has stepped right into the position and it seems to fit him.
He really cares about the kids and the young men and women. They all seem to like him, too.
I think it didn't hurt that for all these years he has been known as the Candy Man.  He always has something in his pocket for the kids after church. It's usually a wrapped candy, like a smartie or jolly rancher or pepperment, etc.  It will be interesting to see how he will handle this now with all of his other duties.

  He was in a Bishopric about 10 or so years ago (as a counselor)  with Dave Hammond.  Dave lives by us and he and his wife and family have been good friends.  Jay learned a lot of good stuff from Dave and will always be grateful for that time to work with him.  Dave was the reason our boys got their Eagle Scout Awards.  I know they wouldn't have been able to receive that honor without all of Dave's help. So we are eternally grateful for that and so are our sons.  It really does take a village to raise a child.  And I'm glad the Hammonds are in our Village!

Yesterday

Yesterday.....all my troubles seemed so far away. Now it looks as if there here to stay.....Oh, I believe in Yesterday.......
Sorry... after I wrote that title. It made me think of the song "Yesterday".  Not a bad song. But it's not exactly how I feel right now.  I feel pretty lucky and don't feel like I have a lot of troubles right now. (knock, knock, knock on wood). 

I just thought I'd blog about the great walk around the river that I had.....Yesterday. Here's a pic that I took. Doesn't the river look so peaceful?? In fact, it looks like a lake in this picture. The water doesn't look like it is moving at all.  But I promise you - it is the Columbia River in Wenatchee. There was one place that I walked by that was so stagnant that the algae smell was very, very strong.  This is not how the River usually is - so that's why I took the pic.

On this walk, I also had my first encounter with a deer as I walked aound a bend in the path. I don't remember ever coming face to face with a deer on this walk.  I was a little startled, because I about ran right into her, but she seemed calm and just moved very slowly away.  Wierd, usually the animal is more startled than the human.

Well, it was a nice day and today was great, too.  I can't complain.
I was able to go in to work (Columbia Basin PT) one day this week and I felt like I worked hard that day. It always makes me happy that I don't have to go to work every day.  But I do enjoy the socialization of it all.
 I see a lot of old friends and meet new ones every time. It's good for me.

Blog name change

Yes, all day  today - I've been thinking of changing the name of my blog. 
I guess I can't change the Url of it, but I can change it on my heading, anyways.

I walked the 11 miles around the river today. (I just saw a sign today that said it was 11 miles not 10.
Wow.  that makes me feel better.) I guess I could clock it and find out, but who cares.

Well, Anyway, I thought of a lot of different names like:  Trying to be realistic... or Smile..... or Marie's
blog...(real original). But nothing seemed to fit.  So towards the end of my walk, I was listening to my tunes and Jimmy Buffet's song came on " Trip Around the Sun".  It just seemed to be my answer......:)
  If you get the chance, listen to that song.   I was trying to copy out the lyrics on-line, but they asked for my cell# and I think they were trying to charge me something or make me sign up for something.  So I decided to forget that.
So the reason why I'm changing the name is that I notice that more and more -I'm not talking about my walking/running goals. I'm talking about whatever.....anything and everything else.  So it really shouldn't be called Marie's Walking/Running Blog.   Let's face it, I'm no pro at that,  but at least I tried.
And I will continue to keep trying....walking that is ....maybe not as much running anymore.
Today was a different day on my big walk. It looked like it would rain the whole time, but it didn't.
Then the minute I got into my car - it started to rain a little.  I still don't know what happened to the summer.

I can't believe this is September 8th.  Well, I'm doing my best to hang on while on this trip around the sun.

I'm still here.

August 2010 Gwendalyn

Well, I just can't seem to keep up with my blog the last few months.
I guess because it's a walking/running blog and I'm not doing my walking/running as much as I use to. (that's probably it - except today I walked 4 miles......:)

Above is a picture I took of our latest grandaughter Gwen. She had a cleft lip, but the surgery in July really changed that.  I'm so glad that she doesn't have to wear the apparatus on her face and the arm restraints anymore.  Her next surgery will be in December.  The Dr. said that she needed more time to heal.  But hopefully, this next surgery will be her last.  They will look at it when she is 5 years old and decide if she needs another surgery.  I'm so glad that they have the technology now to easily fix a child's smile.
I have an uncle that had a cleft lip and was born in the early 50's and he had many, many surgeries for many years.  I've always felt bad about hearing how much he had to go through.

Well, I don't know where to begin in posting about all that has gone on this last month. It's been a busy and fun month. I had the best 51st Birthday.  I went to three lunch parties that week. Two with friends here in Ephrata and one with my parents in Zillah.  I really felt loved and on top of that - my husband gave me the most beautiful flower arrangement and said the sweetest thing ever in a card.  Okay, I guess I'll share it, because I think it's something anyone would appreciate hearing.  It said,   " Everyday I'm thankful for the day that you were born".  wow.....pretty good, huh?!

I also had a great trip to see Staci & Chad's family and then go to Utah BYU Education week for a few days. I loved it. I try to go whenever I can.  I've gone on and off for the last 20 years to it. I have a lot of good memories of going to that and I have lots of notes from all the different classes that I've been to.
Every hour of every day this one week in August - they offer tons of classes.  And the subjects are so diverse.  This year I was into some of the financial classes on Retirement.
 I guess Jay & I need to think of preparing for Retirement.  Yes, we are getting old.  We need to prepare.

I also, took an organizing class and went crazy when I got home with organizing my house.  I'm kind of an OCD type -cleaner person anyways, but I realize that I really love to organize so I'm getting my(our) house into better shape.  Although, it has lead from one thing to another. I'll explain.
We moved the big entertainment system in the living room to another wall and that lead me to clean out everything in that entertainment system and organize it.  Then I decided that all the photo albums need to be in one place (which they weren't) and all the DVD's, CD's and videos need to be organized and it one place.(which they weren't either)..  Well, you can see what I'm saying.  Then I noticed the wall that we took the big mirror off - needed painting. Yep, that's leading to me painting the living room.  And then I decided to put all my piano music (which is a lot) into one place.  So we bought some files for the computer room and I decided to change the whole computer room around.  Oh, you are probably getting bored .....if you are reading this.  I'd better just stop, because you certainly have gotten my point by now.  But to make a long story short........I've just about organized and cleaned every room in our home here.  There's always more to do, but I feel good that I've been able to get a lot done.

Now if I can get back in to my walking/running routine again.  Hopefully, this week!!

Oh! Another reason I was inspired to organize and clean things around here - is that my parents moved to Zillah, Wa. from Toppenish, WA this summer.      I don't know if I've said anything about that.
I was able to go visit them and help with the moving a little bit. They really did clean out and give away a lot of things. They moved into a smaller place, but it is perfect for them and they are closer to my brother and sister that live there.  Which is great.
So it really has been a busy summer.

Never Ever Give Up - Meridian Magazine

Never Ever Give Up - Meridian Magazine

Should I be scared??

I had another great walk around the river today. Saw a lot of people on bikes. I'm noticing that more and more -people are riding bikes - instead of walking these days. I guess it's the thing to do, but I really don't want to get into it. For one thing, you have to buy an expensive bike. Then you need a helmet, and then you need biking pants and then a biking backpack and then gloves(I've seen a number of people wearing these weird gloves).  Well, you get my point.

I've had a couple people tell me in the last month - that it's not good that I walk by myself on that walk around the river.  That something could happen to me. You know I've been doing it for at least 4 years now - (sporadically) and I've never felt scared.  I don't walk at night and I always have my cell phone in my hand (ready to call 911) if I have to!  I use to carry mace, but  I've stopped that.  I really have decided that I'm old enough now - that I don't think anyone would want to mess w/me.  And if they did - well, I've had a good life.  ummmmm. I guess I should not sound so non-chalant about it.  But when you are walking in a public place w/lots of other people running and biking - you feel pretty safe.

Now walking out here alone around the farms - maybe that's what I should be scared about!

Sunday morning I was doing my usual 4 mile walk out here by our place - and on the last 1/2 mile ( coming down Rd. 5 )- I spotted a couple walking towards me on the road.  They had a gas can - so I asked them if they had trouble and needed some gas.  Well, yes, that was true.  So I walked them back to our house and had Jay help me get them some gas.  Now their story had some holes in it, but I won't tell all the details here.  Just that I was surprised that at 9am on a Sunday morning - I would encounter a questionable looking young couple on the road outside of my house. You never know, but I still don't think we should walk around being scared all the time.  It takes so much joy out of our lives.

Do I have anything to say??

  Well, I did walk the river this week!! It sure was hot, tho.  I had to sit down and cool off -( half way through the walk.) I even went early, but it's just a hot week - what can I say.  I don't mind the heat as much as I do the cold, so I won't complain.
Oh, wait, I already did complain! lol.
Anyways, something about walking around a big river of flowing water just makes me happy.
I'm okay with walking around the farms here when I can, but it's just much more fun being around the river.
So I will continue to try to walk that 10 mile walk at least once a week -for as long as possible.

I still work now and then as a sub at the Physical Therapist's in our town. They called me in for tomorrow - so I'm happy to do it.  I like to be around people and at least feel like I'm doing something to help them.
But I just didn't like to work this job everyday.  I guess it's cause I like my freedom too much.
Yes, I'm spoiled.
My husband has been the bread winner all of our married life and it has worked out great for us!! I'm thankful to have a sugar daddy!  There I said it.  I don't care what anyone thinks of it.
I try and do what I can to contribute to our happy life and it has worked for us.  I know that most people don't have this luxury, but I'm so thankful that I do.  Whoa.......I don't know how I got off on this subject.
I really thought I had nothing to say today.......other than the fact that I did walk the river this week.
But I guess I do have a thing or two to say.....:)
I've tried working over the years of raising our kids ....and it just hasn't worked out too well for me.  I love taking care of the home, cooking ,being there for my family, having time to walk and do volunteer church work.
I am in awe of women that can do it all and I have many friends that seem to be able to. That is: to work full time and still take care of their family pretty well.(plus all the extra stuff)  
My hat's off to them, but I don't like the fact that we sometimes criticize each other.  We should be supporting each other - not tearing each other down.
What works for one - might not work for the other.  That's all I want to say!

Still trying to keep up the walking....

Yes, this is a pic of one of the spots around the Columbia River where I try to walk at least once a week in the summer.  I just haven't been keeping it up as good this summer as I have the last two.
(Well, I guess there's still August left.....)
   I did walk at least 3 - 4 miles around the farm these last two days, but hopefully, sometime this week -
I will walk the 10 miles around the river.
  Life always gets in the way and the first thing I tend to do is: stop my walking.  They say it takes 21 days to do something and make it stick as a habit.  I don't think that applies to walking/jogging.  I can be very diligent at doing it for a long time and then all of a sudden something happens and a week goes by, then another week and then....... I'm all out of shape again.
I started this blog about a year ago. And I started it so I could keep up the walking/jogging thing and report about it.  I thought that being accountable to a blog might keep me going.  Well, it did for quite awhile and I did accomplish finally doing a full marathon.  But it really has been hard to keep myself motivated to continue. I suppose I should try for another marathon, but I can't get myself to commit to that again.
I think it's okay if I try and just keep doing the 1/2's, but they aren't easy to find  and plan out either.
Oh, well............
This has got me thinking.....
I need to just plan the next 1/2 mara and have something to look forward to that will keep me going.  I guess it's time to start doing some research on 1/2 maras for this fall. Back to browsing on the internet again!

Way behind

Wow.  Since I've started this blog, I've never had such a lapse in updating it.

All I can say is that it is July and we were on the road for about 3 weeks.  I did take my laptop, but never seemed to have the time to do any posting.  
I don't know where to begin on explaining  what has happened this month.  But it was quite an experience and we did make it down to Mobile, Alabama and back in one piece.  We took Jay's truck and trailer.
 Talk about guzzeling gas! It seemed like we were stopping every couple of hours to get it!
 But we did get all of Rocky's stuff safely delivered to him - so he is happy.
 I had one bout of heatstroke that has never happened to me before, but I lived through it. (so I shouldn't complain)

And we had a good time babysitting the grandkids for 3 days while Chad & Staci took baby Gwen to Salt Lake for her surgery.  It all turned out well, but poor baby Gwen has to wear arm restraints and all this face apparatus for 6 weeks, then she will have another surgery and do it all again.  I guess it is best to get it done now so that she won't remember it.  But it has been tough for Staci & Chad - the feeding thing has especially been tough for Staci.

 The picture above is Gwen after the Surgery.

Well, I have felt like a slug, because I haven't been walking much at all.  So I'm trying to get back into it.

I did the walk around the river yesterday and Man! I'm feeling a little sore today.

But I am glad to be back home and getting into the swing of things.

Hopefully, I can do better at posting on this blog now!

What kind of a Grandma...am I???

  I just realized that I haven't put up any pics of our newest grandchild and it has been over a month!
So here are some pics of the baby and her mom and the rest of the kids! Aren't they adorable! (I'm not biased or anything)

I know I haven't been posting to this blog - like I usually do. I couldn't believe that it's been 2 weeks since my last post!  Summer hits and daylight is longer - so you spend more time outside....or I do anyways.
 I have to report that I have been walking a lot.....not doing much running since the last race. But I have been doing my 10 mile walk at least once a week and then a 3 or 4 miler everyother day.
I don't have any big races coming up on the horizon, but I have talked to some buddies about doing the Leavenworth 1/2 mara in October.......we'll see.....:)

    But now to go back to the pictures that I posted above.  I realized that I hadn't posted any pics of the grandkids, lately and especially baby Gwen!  Yeah, what kind of Grandma.......am I?!
I really adore these kids and of course, their parents.
Isn't our daughter Staci ....so beautiful?!  She is an amazing mom to these kids.  I just wish they lived closer - so I could see them more often. But I have to take what I can get.......:(

   We are going to go on a trip here soon to take Rocky (our son)'s stuff in a u-haul like trailer to Mobile, Alabama. (Yep, that's a lot of driving) But he is already down there - working and waiting for his stuff.
This will be an interesting adventure, I'm sure.....:)
 On the way back, we will stop in Idaho Falls, ID and watch the other 3 grandchildren (Weston, Analee, and Kallista) while Chad & Staci take baby Gwen to the hospital in SLC to have the operation on her lip.
  I feel so glad that we can help them in this way.
I'll have my laptop w/me, so I'll try to post an update.  

Well, that's all for now.

Sage and Sun - 5 miler

Yep, I did do the Ephrata Sage and Sun fun run. I chose the 5 miler, because I had done it in the past and thought I would have no problemo. But I was wrong - everyone else that ran the thing - ran the whole thing!  I know that I'm a walker/runner - I can not run the whole way. 

Well, for some reason this time - there were no walker/runners - just runner/runners.

That's okay, I guess.

It's just that my name will be last in the Ephrata newspaper - which is a little humilating. It brings back all those memories that I think I told here in my blog awhile back. 

It's a story about when I was young and in a long distance race and was the last one. My Dad loves to tell it and has told it in church a few times. He says, and I quote,"Marie was way behind everyone else and should have just quit the race, but no she did finish it and was given a standing ovation - just because she finished!"

I know he is emphasizing that I didn't quit and that's what is important - but much to my chagrin - I still feel the pangs of being the last one and everyone thinking I should have just dropped out of the race - because I was sooooooooooo far behind.

Well, I will get over it now, because I am 50 and I feel like I don't care about the ego thing anymore. There are plenty of people like me in the 1/2 maras that walk and run - and do it for their health.  I will just have to stick to those kind of races!  Because I'm not last in those kind of races!! (knock on wood)

I do have to say that is was nice of Roger Pugh.(who had a shirt on - that on the back said, "Don't let the fat guy beat ya!")  Anyways, Roger did run back after he finished the race and both him and his daughter ran to the finish line (again) with me!  They were nice to think of me........:)

Discombobulated....

DISCOMBOBULATED - having self-possession upset - thrown into confusion.

   I heard this word on the radio the other day and it really intrigued me.  I kept saying it over and over - I'm trying to add it to my vocabulary, but I never seem to find the right time to throw it in.  Oh, well...........
I thought of it again today on my walk and decided that when I get home - I will look up the definition.
Well, that's the definition (above).  But why don't they just say: confused, or bewildered, or disconcerted??
That's what I thought it meant.
 I guess I'm pretty close.

I'm really not feeling discombobulated, but then again, I'm sure I should be. There are so many things we should be feeling discombobulated about these days, right?!   The Oil still pouring out in the Gulf,  the War on terror still going on over seas, the uncertainty with the immigration problem, the mess with our Healthcare system, and........just give me another minute and I'll think of more............you get my point.

   Well, I really don't want to talk about all that stuff.  I just wanted to present the word ..'DISCOMBOBULATED'  to you.   I think it's a cool word. :)

Here's a pic of a pretty tree on my walk/jog. What a beautiful day it was today and I can say that I went 10 miles. I'm feeling it tonight, but it's not that bad.   I just felt like I was in heaven today.  Everything looked so beautiful to me.  Everything looked so green and the sky blue and the sun shining and............

need I say more?  I felt so blessed to just have the time to be able to do this today.

I listened to my wonderful tunes and it seemed that all my favorites just happened to play today.  Okay maybe I'm laying it on to thick, but I want to just enjoy how wonderful it all was.  Because we all know that life goes on and in order to have these wonderful moments - we have to have the ugly, sad and not-so wonderful moments. 

You've gotta take the good with the bad or you don't deserve the good.(what my Dad always says.)

The critters......

Well, I had a great walk yesterday - even though I got rained on a little bit. But I was surprised at all the critters that I encountered on my walk.
The first picture is of some ducks (or geese??) and their little ones following behind.  I couldn't get them all in the picture, but there was quite a bunch of them and all out floating on the river.  It was a beautiful sight, but for some reason doesn't look as good to me in this picture.
  Then when I was walking across the footbridge over to Confluence Park - I looked below me and saw at least 20 (I counted) big fat gophers or muskrats or whatever you call them.  You can't see them very well in this picture....but they were there.   I was surprised to see so many of them hanging together. It looked like they were having a family reunion or something.

  And I think you can tell by this last pic - Yes, it's a big snake - but it's just a bull snake.  I was close enough to see that it didn't have any rattlers on the tail.  I'm also surprised that I saw a snake this early- usually it's toward the end of the summer - when it's really hot.  Oh, well....................
    And the other day I saw a huge Eagle fly right over my head.
 Oh, and while I'm mentioning wildlife - I saw the cutest little owl on my walk around the farm here.  I thought it was a baby owl, but Jay says there are small owl species around here.
   So you never know what you will see if you just get out and walk.  Sometimes it is hard for me to get out there, but I'm always happy that I did and I always feel better afterwards.

Now I have another pic to post.  It is of Rocky Jay and me.  We took this before the Elma, WA 1/2 mara (that we didn't end up doing) a couple weeks ago. When we went to the race start - there was hardly anyone there and we realized that this was a very, very  small town race.  In fact we were worried that we were the only ones in it, because the other people that were there - were in the bike race part.  I've never been to a race that looked that badly organized - they even gave us a shirt from another race.  They didn't have their own shirts!  So we decided to go up the road and the guys could go golfing.

 That's okay - I'll learn to check out the reviews on the races next time I sign up.  This one didn't have any reviews - I should have known.

Couldn't help it either....

This is from one of the blogs I follow - The Neologist - (Sarah)
I got a kick out of it - so I thought I'd repost it.  :)

Stay motivated?

Wow.....I'm really finding it hard to stay motivated on this walking/jogging thing ,lately. 
You would think that I've been doing it long enough - that it would just be second nature
and I wouldn't have to keep struggling to make myself find time to do my 3 - 4 mile walks
every other day.(at least)
   But no, it's still hard to keep myself doing it.  I haven't felt the energy in me.
Yesterday I did go 3 miles on the treadmill - cause it rained all day.  And today I did get
up and go 4 miles around the farms.  But I'm in a gloom.......I've gotta shake it off.
  
I just read something good that I would like to put as a thought here today:

Life can be legitimately seen as a painful tragedy or a purposeful triumph.  Each of us must
choose.  I choose to see God at work blessing His children in wise and loving ways.  The
very fact that God has created a world in which everything can be seen in gloomy or glorious
ways seems to be evidence that He honors our agency.
-H.Wallace Goddard

So Yes, it's all in my attitude..........I can shake off the gloom.............

My black remote automobile key thingy.......

Yes, today started out so wonderful, but as we all know- things can change in a heartbeat.

I was finally getting the chance to take my long walk around the Columbia river that I try to do
at least once every 2 weeks.  And I was feeling much better than usual today - I just felt so happy
to be out in nature and enjoying the beautiful scenery all around me.
I think part of it was because I had been  babysitting for the week before and now I was free!
Free to do what I want!
I had walked for at least 3miles - (listening to my tunes and jogging every now and then)-
When I touched my right pocket and realized that it wasn't bulging w/my black remote automobile key thingy.   Usually I put my key in a special compartment in my jogging pants - where it doesn't come out.  But today I put it in the right pocket of the windbreaker that I was wearing.  I even covered it with some kleenix - thinking that there was no way it could come out.  I know......I know......I should never change my procedures when it comes to my walks/runs.
Well, all of a sudden everything changed - I was in a panic.  I retraced my steps (3 miles worth) and I asked everyone that I encountered on the path "did you see a black auto key remote thingy anywhere??"
No one had..........so then my mind automatically thought the worst - what if that shady-looking guy that I saw earlier - found it and went to the parking lot and stole my car!!
I do believe that if you think of the worst that could happen - then what happens isn't usually as bad as you thought.   Well, that did work for me today.
 I got back to my car (which is new and I've only had for a month BTW)  and I realized that I have this thing called  ONSTAR  that came free w/the vehicle for a year!
Talk about amazing......that's one benefit about living in this day and age.   I was able to call onstar on my phone and they just asked me a couple questions and 'Whoooola'!  I heard a click. :)   My car was unlocked.
 Oh, and I forgot to say that my other ring of keys was in my purse that was locked in the car.

I still am waiting for the right moment to tell Jay , since he is fixing our broken oven at the moment.  Maybe sometime when we can both laugh about it.  I feel like it is just too fresh of an incident to laugh about right now and I am still feeling guilty about losing the key remote.
  Isn't it funny how an incident like that can change the mood of your whole day?! 
No, I guess it's not that funny.

Baby Gwen

Yes, little baby Gwen did come! What a long day it was for my poor daughter.  She was induced (early, early in the morning) and had contractions on and off all day, but nothing big was happening. 
Then I guess all of a sudden at 4:30pm the baby started coming and she came within a 1/2 an hour. I guess when the baby comes that fast - they tend to get really bruised.  Yes, she looks bruised and she has a cleft lip.  Not a cleft palate, but a cleft lip - which did scare Staci at first, but I think she now realizes that it's not that bad.  The baby seems to be healthy in every other way.  She (the baby) will have to have surgery to fix the lip within the next couple of months, but the Dr. seems to think it's not that big a deal.
It's true that it is such a miracle that all things come in to play - so well orchestrated - to put together this little person.  So as I tell my daughter that it is not something that she did and she can't blame herself (as most of us tend to do) - I do understand why she is so emotional about it. Hey, it's a big event.  It's soooooo emotional anyway.
What a wonderful thing it is - to see your daughter and son-in-law  - be such great parents. They really are amazing and they show much love to each other.  What more could a Mother and Grandmother ask for??
I am faring okay with tending the other three, but of course, I won't be doing any walking/running until I go home.  That's okay - I feel good that I could help out. 
My 6 year old grandson is quite a funny little boy. Yesterday when his 2 sisters were bugging him - he said,
" Hummmmmmmmmmmm.......this makes me wonder how I'm going to handle another one."
I tried hard not to laugh, but it was so funny the way he said it.  Out of the mouth of babes..........:)

baby tomorrow??

Our daughter, Staci is getting induced tomorrow morning. She will be having a baby girl.

I just realized that it will be May 18th tomorrow - the anniversary of Mt St. Helen's blowing
it's top! And the 30th Anniversary at that!
Well, I just told her about it and of course, it doesn't really mean that much to her. She wasn't
even alive when that happened. 
But I can vividly remember that day. I was 8 months pregnant with her brother, Greg.
It was a Sunday and we were in church.  I remember the whole congregation walking outside
to look at the big black cloud that was climbing into the sky. 
We lived only 40 miles to the west of Mt. St. Helen's at the time and most of our family lived
at least 180 miles or so to the East of it.  It was funny that it didn't affect us as much as our family
and friends that lived in the Columbia Basin and the Yakima Valley. I guess the wind was blowing
it over their way.   Most of the ash came down on
them. Their day turned into night.  So they thought that if they were getting so much of this ash coming
down on them - we must be wiped off the map!!  My parents and other family members tried calling us
- but the lines were down.  At the end of the day, my mother finally got through to me and she was crying.
We didn't even think that it would have affected them that badly.  What a crazy time!

We did get  some ash come our way - two weeks later. It was enough for us to realize how bad it must
have been for all of our family and friends on the other side of the mountain.  What a pain it was to wash
that stuff off of everything.  I will never forget that time  and the years following. Even 2 to 3 years later -
we would see carloads of people (tourists) come through our little town of Toledo, Washington  with surgical masks on their faces.  And here we were walking around in this contaminated area with nothing over our faces!  How funny.......

The Be's..........

Be Grateful.
Be Smart.
Be Involved.
Be Clean.
Be True.
Be Positive.
Be Humble.
Be Still.
Be Prayerful.
(Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley)

I've always liked the above mentioned 'Be's. President Hinckley gave a Conference talk on them years ago and it was something quite witty that we all liked and remembered.
 He said that these 'B's will bring purpose into your life and give you direction to your energies. 
I have a little plaque in my bedroom with these Be's on it (that my sis-in-law gave me). 
It always makes me smile.
Well, I've tried to live by them, but I know I faulter daily.  It's a constant struggle. I guess that's what life is, huh?! 
Anyways, today I'm thinking of getting ready to go to Idaho Falls this weekend to be with my daughter and her family.  She is due and they will induce her  (this weekend) - because she has had a lot of false labor and is already dilated.  I love being a Grandma and sure enjoy being around those grandkids. (just wish I had more energy).

Today I walked 4 miles as I did yesterday and the day before.  I'm trying to keep it going, but I'm sure feeling slow and tired.  I haven't been doing much running or jogging.  I guess I'm kind of in a slump.
But now with the change of such beautiful weather - I intend to get out as much as possible.
( I don't know if that will work while I'm in Idaho Falls, tho).

"A person's a person - no matter how small" (- from Horton Hears a Who)

I read an article about Kids and how hard should we push them on learning a talent, sport, activity, etc.???
Many people responded with their ideas and what parents should do.

It made me immediately go back to my memories of trying to get my kids to play the piano. One child in particular who made my life miserable for that one year that I made him take piano lessons! I realize now that I really shouldn't have even forced him to take that one year.  But many parents will disagree with me. I was surprised to read from these parents that they thought it was the right thing to do - to force the children to do these things and they(our kids) will thank us later.  It didn't sound right to me.

 Here are a couple quotes that I wrote down from the parents' ideas that I liked:

"Respect a child's humanity and individualism, do not force anything that isn't required for their safety or health."
"We can try to help and direct them onto the right path for them.  They need the opportunity to explore activities and find what suits their likes and dislikes."

I know my daughter wishes that I taught her to sew, but she is taking a sewing class now and enjoying it very much.  So it's never too late.
Speaking of my daughter, she is due with our 4th grandchild (a girl) in a week or so.  But she is already having some false labor, so I'm thinking I may be going to Idaho Falls soon.

Rocky and I did the run around the river yesterday - and he did about 4 miles more than me, but I'm not as sore as he is today! yay!