Sunday, April 27, 2008

I have been thinking a lot lately about what drives people in the direction of accomplishment. Is it a hereditary part of nature? A learned personality? Or maybe even both? I have pondered this because I seem to always need to accomplish some task. I find it really difficult to just sit back and enjoy a day of doing nothing in particular. I know that my parents were very hard working people. As a matter of fact my mother, at age 79 (almost), still works in her yard and keeps an immaculate house. Even though her health isn't good, spring and fall house cleaning are still a ritual for her.
I suppose I learned that while growing up so that was part of what I did as a young wife and mother. Typically, the work was always done before the play started. As life got more hectic with teaching school and working on additional educational degrees, I found it hard to continue that kind of cleaning even though I didn't let my house get out of hand. I guess what has made me think about this as of late is that since I have been married to Larry and am getting used to a different house with things in different places, I have been doing a great deal of reorganizing, cleaning, de-cluttering to fit my wants, needs, and life style. I'm sure there are those people out there that would be very comfortable just moving into someone else's domain and leaving well enough alone. It sure would be a lot easier that way. I think they call that "sitting around eating Bon Bon's all day."
This week we have taken on a new project. Larry and I are painting the bedroom, putting tile on the floor in the bathroom and having new carpet installed. I love doing these kinds of projects because I can actually see some results. Oftentimes when doing weekly cleaning, I know it is done but no one else actually notices. We got the ceiling painted last Saturday and I am working on the bathroom walls today. The target finish date is sometime around May 16 to have it all done. It has been enjoyable to me to be able to work together on this remodel job.
I have been concerned that Larry will wonder why the hurry on the cleaning and remodeling but like I said, I suppose it is drive for accomplishment coupled with my impatient nature to want to get things done in the quickest time possible so I can move on to another project. Did I just commit to creating more work for myself? Oh well, it will be fun to realize the fruits of my labors. Whether my drive for accomplishment is hereditary or learned, I don't mind work at all.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Warm Weather is really nice...

This winter in Utah has been SOOO cold and seems to have lasted a very long time. Granted, I did take a trip to Hawaii in January for a week but then I came home to more cold. Well, on March 21, 2008 Larry and I were married at the Lodge in Perry, Utah. It was a very nice occasion and we were very blessed to have all of our children, their spouses, and all 19 grandchildren in attendance along with a few friends.
After the ceremony and dinner, we took four days and went to Jackson, Wyoming. We stayed in the Cowboy Resort Cabins. You guessed it--more cold weather. At least it didn't storm. We saw all kinds of wildlife and some beautiful scenery. On Monday we drove to Rexburg, Idaho and were able to take in a temple session in the new Rexburg Temple on Tuesday. What a beautiful temple that is. I am so glad that we were able to plan that into our trip.
We got back to Pleasant View and two days later Keri had little Ellisyn. What a beautiful little baby she is, and from what I understand, she is a very good baby too. Kudos to Keri and Brett.
The next week I made the trek to Las Vegas to start the next chapter in my life. Larry and I will be living here for the most part but I will be visiting my home and my children and grandchildren in Ogden as often as possible. I am learning my way around Las Vegas pretty well for having only been here a week. I can at least get to the Meadows mall and several strip malls. :) I have been making a few changes in the house for my convenience as well as just a little updating. I am really excited that some of my children have already committed to come and visit us here. I think Spencer is planning on coming here for a few days also. We'll plan some fun things to do while he is here, however, he may just want to spend the days swimming in the pool in the backyard. At any rate, it seems like I have some things to look forward to in the next little while. Oh, and did I mention that it is nice and WARM here? Today it was nearly 85. Pretty nice if you ask me.