a few ramblings

I was asked to teach my home management and organizing class for Mid-Week Activity last week.  (The meeting formally known as Homemaking Meeting. ha!)  It was great to get all of my little ideas out of cupboards and closets to share with the sisters... selfishly, because last year, being that I was still pretty heavily medicated and had the new shoulder in the sling, I didn't do any January cleaning and de-junking like I usually do.  As I emptied things out of cupboards, I could definitely tell that it's been two years instead of one since my annual deep, deep cleaning.  Putting things away was fun because it gave me a project  inspiring, even though it's going to be a much slower process since I still can't reach anything above my head.  Darnit!

Carol and I went to see the Commuter with our MoviePass.  Very intense,  very intriguing, very CGI.  It was okay.  I probably wouldn't buy it, but it was worth watching.  Eh.  Because of MoviePass, I have now seen The Greatest Showman six times and Carol and I are going again tonight while Doug and Quayd go and see Maze Runner!  I LOVE Greatest Showman!  It's definitely my new all-time favorite movie! Can not wait to buy it the minute it is released in blu-ray!

We had our taxes done.  It was not the happy event that it has been in years past, as Doug made a bit of extra money last year.  The extra money was nice, but the lower tax return... not so much.  I thought our new U.S.president had performed miracles and we could pay off our house, go on a cruise and buy some fresh pickles or something too.  Apparently not.  No political statement, just silly me.

This past two weeks has been kind of crazy in our ward with several sisters who've been ill or had challenges.  It's a little more time consuming, but I do not mind it at all!  I love these women!

In September, we began to hear a noise in our bedroom.  It was the sound of running water. Doug had just winterized the sprinkler system and checked and doublechecked it to make sure that he hadn't forgotten anything.  This noise seemed to get louder each day... it was the sound that you hear when you are in one point of your home and someone is showering in another room.  And it kept getting louder.  Finally, Doug insisted that I call the city and ask them to come and read our meter to make sure that we didn't have a leak and end up with a bazillion dollar water bill.   They came.  Nothing.  Then we called a few more times, insisting that the noise was getting even louder.  They did discover a leak out on the main line under our street, but said it would be spring until the would repair it because they don't like to deal with asphalt in the winter. That was in September! 

Over the past two weeks, our bedroom, at night, sounds like a jet engine idling outside our window all night.  It's been hard to sleep, even with earplugs.  So, Doug wrote in his planner last weekend, "Call City" on Monday's schedule.  As he pulled out to go to work that morning, he noticed that our street curbs had water running down it.  The water was seeping up through the street because it had saturated to the point of no return.  He called the city and when Doug said the word "Sink Hole", the lady said, "Oh, dear."  Twenty minutes they were here. What a mess!

 Twenty four hours later, there were seven city vehicles, to backhoes and seven men working on our street.  They dug a hole big enough to put a long-bed pickup in it, worked a few hours scooping and vaccuuming out water like it was a river, and by afternoon, just minutes before it began to snow, the repair was made, the hole was filled and new asphalt poured.  We slept so well last night!  Silence!!!

We have our first funeral in the ward since my new calling tomorrow.  Sister Larsen was 98 years old!  They have 150 family members returning after the cemetery for dinner.  I found that our ward does something I've never heard of for the family.  Before serving the meal, and while waiting for everyone's return from the cemetery, they serve warm apple cider to the family members who've been outside in the cold.  I love this!  Have I mentioned that I love this ward!? 

Life is good in most every aspect right now.  I don't have to say which area is stressful.  It is pretty apparent but that's another post.  Parenting brings the most joy and the most pain of any other thing on earth.  Just sayin.