'Tis the season......to trim the tree.

I can hardly believe that it is already time to decorate for Christmas again. Every year it seems to come sooner than the year before. I know that isn't a reality but time goes so fast. The month of November was definitely a new experience, living here in Vegas for the most part (it was 74 degrees today). Larry had knee surgery this month so he has been able to spend quite a bit of time at home and on the road with me. We made a trip to Ogden in the middle of the month so I could complete my coaching visits with the new teachers I work with. We also spent quite a bit of time with my children and grandchildren while there. We even had Thanksgiving dinner--just a week and half early. I really enjoyed having all the kids and grandchildren there. Thanks to all of you for making an effort to be there. Since Garrett came down with chicken pox just before Thanksgiving, that was the only turkey Ryan's family got this year. We spent a very quiet Thanksgiving here in Vegas with me, Larry, Jeff and Steve. Later Larry and I went to see Twilight.
Now one of my long time traditions has been to go shopping on Black Friday. This year was no exception. Larry was a trooper and got up and went shopping with me. I didn't really need anything but I enjoy the hustle and bustle of the biggest shopping day of the year. Call me crazy. We were smart in that we didn't leave the house at 7:00 am--after all the door opening mob scenes.
Then it was time to get out the Christmas tree and get it decorated. We had purchased new ornaments in new colors for the tree so I was pretty excited to see if the vision in my mind would actually match the finished decorating project. I must say, we did a pretty good job. We also revamped the very large wreath that has been adorning the stairway wall each Christmas (and from what I hear, some years even longer). Larry took pictures to share.

Christmas is my very favorite time of year for many reasons. I love giving gifts to my family. I love watching others out shopping for gifts for their loved ones. I love the reason we celebrate the season--the birth of our Savior. I love the memories and traditions of the many past Christmases in my life. I love the smells, the lights, the colors that represent Christmas. And yes, I even love the freshly fallen snow that comes during this season, at least in Ogden.
Even though this may be a little early, I want to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a wonderful new year.

...And he says he doesn't snore.

Sometimes the most logical things turn out to be the most humorous. I had one of those experiences this week. I'll preface this with the fact that Larry had a cold this week. At times it has been a little difficult to breathe while sleeping so he hadn't slept well for a couple nights. Wednesday night I was having a difficult time getting to sleep. I tossed and turned for over an hour. The situation wasn't helped by the fact that Larry was making all sorts of obnoxious noises (snoring noises)(loud snoring noises), and yes, HE WAS SLEEPING. Sometime in the wee hours of the morning I decided that if I was to get any sleep I would have to find another place to lay my poor, tired body. Of all the places in the house that I could have found, (you know, sofas, the extra bedroom) for various reasons, I chose the floor in the closet. After I sprawled out on the floor I decided I was cold so I raised myself to a vertical position again, grabbed a large beach towel that was hanging on the closet door, laid back down and covered up. About that time I heard some talking from somewhere. Hmmm. I sat up, looked into the bedroom and there was Larry. Sitting on the edge of the bed, cell phone up to his ear, listening to ...........phone messages? Mind you. It is still the wee hours of the morning. He had been sound asleep just moments ago. Who gets up at 1:30 a.m. to listen to their messages? The only thing I could think of to say was, "Larry, who are you talking to?" The answer. "I saw my phone blinking so I'm listening to my messages. Why are you in the closet?" my answer. "You were snoring so I came in here to sleep." After I had presented him with my feeble reason we both started laughing. I didn't know any situation at that time of the night, lacking sleep, could be funny. Well, when all was said and done, I had promised that in the future I will wake him up when I hear the snoring and........... no more sleeping on the closet floor.
For another perspective to this story, click here.

Everyone should laugh more

This has been a great weekend. October has many birthdays in our family. Thursday we were able to celebrate Carl's birthday at the cemetery with flowers, balloons and a pizza party. Friday we all met at Stacie's house to celebrated birthdays for Stacie (Oct. 2), Carlee (Oct. 16) and Maggie (Oct 6). It is Larry's birthday Tuesday but he wasn't there to celebrate.
Saturday I was able to watch conference before I left to come back to Las Vegas. I was very enthused about Elder Worthlin's talk on finding opportunities to laugh more. I was interested in this talk because in the last nearly 2 years, Larry and I have found many things to laugh about. In fact, sometimes we can hardly catch our breath we are laughing so hard.
Well, today we had the opportunity to laugh again. I even had tears rolling down my face. If you have read Larry's blog, you know he had a bit of an accident today. He fell in the pool. Yes, you heard me. He fell in the pool. Now the pool has been part of his back yard for nearly 15 years. You would think he would know where it juts out for the steps. Not so. We were pulling the pool cover on when he stepped backwards and found nothing but water to put his foot on. As he said, the water parted and he fell in. When I turned to see what was happening I saw his arms were flailing and heard an awkward sound coming from his mouth (not sure if it was a screech or a loud ARGGG). Then he went under. When he popped up I really wasn't sure what to expect. Would he be angry? Was he alright? (Look at me trying to be compassionate.) I was relieved to see him laughing. And then he said it was cold water. I know this unexpected dive took him by surprise but he was certainly good humored about it. We (Jeff, Jack, Larry and I) have laughed all afternoon about it. I'm sure that is one of those things that will keep us laughing for a good long time. I really wish it had somehow been recorded for America's Funniest Home Video's but you will all have to tune in and watch it on the Heaven Video when we all get there.

EEEEEK!!!!

Last night I had been out with my girls and the rest of the Bruce female relatives enjoying dinner and the Women's Conference. After the event was over, I returned home, opened my garage door and pulled in. I grabbed my purse, opened my door, exited, took a step backwards to check the back seat and that's when I screeched. EEEEEEK! Only two inches from my foot was a SNAKE. I leaped from that spot in the garage to the step into the house in just a couple steps, alerting my Keri and Michelle of the impending danger.
Upon closer inspection (I hope you have a visual of three adult women slowly walking along the side of the car to see if the snake was moving), we discovered that the said snake was indeed... dead. Evidently I had run over the slippery little thing when I pulled out of the garage some five hours earlier. How did the thing get in my garage? Did he not know that at least half the people in my family have an extreme dislike for snakes? Oh, and the snake was only about a foot long, but a snake nonetheless.


Thanks to Michelle for providing the picture. She is always so prepared.

Technilogically Challenged!

I'm venting! Can I just say how much I hate being challenged in the photo/computer area? Why is it that my children can download pictures and send them to Costco or Walmart to be printed and I just don't get it. I have been trying for over an hour to get some downloaded pictures of Larry and I off to Costco. For some reason, I just can't figure out where the pictures are that I supposedly downloaded to my desktop. I could have driven clear across town and inserted my flash drive into the machine and had them printed in this amount of time. Oh, maybe not. I DID take the flash drive into Costco a couple days ago and the pictures wouldn't show up on the screen. All my pictures from Scandinavia were there but not the ones I need to get prints of. Hmmmm. I don't feel any smarter about computers and getting pictures printed having vented than I did five minutes ago. I guess I'll turn the computer off and do something that I know I can do.

Who says I don't have compassion?

Recently Larry and I have spent a good amount of time talking and joking about compassion, and maybe my lack of it. I wonder how much compassion a person should have. Is there some kind of a “compassionometer” that we need to be living up to? I understand that I tend not to show compassion as much as many people, especially if compassion is measured by flowery verbage. Don’t get me wrong. I can tear up with the best of them when I hear a story that tugs at my heartstrings. (In fact, for about 35 years my eyes were moist more than they were dry.) I fear I have taught my daughters through my example in this area of non-compassion. I know some of my sons-in-law complain about their respective wives not showing a high level of compassion. Just this week Larry stubbed his toe before he went to work. He hobbled to the sofa, sat there while vocally reaffirming how much pain he was in. Finally he motioned to me with his hand and said, “Come here and give me a hug. I need some compassion.” You guessed it, I just stood there watching him try and figure out what to do with the pain. In my head I was probably thinking something like this: “Well, get your shoes and socks on. You’ll be late for work. And besides, I need to start my WiiFit exercising.” Or maybe, "If you had had your shoes and socks on this wouldn't have happened." In other words, buck up and deal with it. I hope those who know me well do see the compassion and sympathy that I show. And just for the record, Larry tells me I am very compassionate. But we have sure had some good laughs over this topic.

Summer's coming to an end...

As usual, I have kept very busy this past month. I took a trip to Ogden to attend workshops for my part time job mentoring new teachers in the district. I may be a little crazy but I really enjoy the interaction with those teachers who are just starting their careers. I remember how frustrating it was for me when I first started teaching so anything I can do to ease their lives a little should be a good thing. I met with all six of the teachers I have been given this year and will meet with them each month when I am back in Ogden. This will give me an opportunity to visit my family while there too.
On a different note, I have finished yet another of my many projects in our house in Vegas. I made valances for the family room windows and updated the fireplace decor. I was pleased with how they turned out. Here are some pictures.


Now, on to the next project. I think painting a bedroom in on the docket since we started taking down the wallpaper border yesterday. Thanks Larry for allowing me to keep working on things in the house. I have to have something to work on.