Will Winter End?

We have been experiencing a very cold winter this year, accompanied by lots of snow. This has created some difficult health problems for my husband. He wakes up every morning between 2:30 and 3:00 to check outside and see if more snow has fallen. If there is more than one inch, he gets dressed in his winter thermal leggings, heavy socks, warm shirt and pants, thermal coveralls, snow boots, along with all the head coverings and gloves he can find, and he heads off to work. His job is clearing off the high school parking lots and sidewalks before people start to arrive, which is around 6:00a.m. The more snow to move, the harder the job. The parking lot at the school is huge and extends around the entire school. Teachers park in the front and in the back, between buildings, and in their own secret places. Each parking area must be scraped and salted so the district isn't libel if anyone slips and gets hurt. With so much snow coming every day, the job never ends.

He does have a 4-wheeler with a blade that helps to make the job a bit easier, and the district maintenance comes and helps on really heavy snow days, but sometimes they make it even more difficult because they push everything into a huge pile and then it is harder to add any more to that pile of snow. For those who know the building and parking lot, here is an explanation: The "new" parking lot on the south side of the building goes around the football field. There is a large wall around the football field that is so tall that when you stand by the wall you can't see the field at all. The wall is probably about 8 feet tall. The snow is now piled up to the top of the wall and extends about 6 feel out of the wall. The parking lot on the north side of the building has piles in it so high that you can't see the cars on the other side of the median. The amount of snow is ridiculous!.

Then, you also have to consider all the sidewalks and steps. Around the Spartan Center there are so many steps that must be scraped off about 10 times a day. It seems like it never ends. All the sidewalks around the building must be snow and ice free. The walkways from the bus zone to the school must be cleared off before the buses arrive. There is also a walk-way from the sub-division by the baseball field that must be cleared off from the highway, along the baseball field, to the parking area by the football field. It is just a small walkway,used by about 4 people, but it is a hazard for the school. It is difficult to get to because of the snow on each side. There is literally no place to put any more snow when scraping off the walkways.

Two weeks ago there was so much snow each day. Garth was gone all day, spending endless hours on the scraper and shovels. Even though he wore warm gloves, using his thumb on that throttle so much resulted in very frozen, hurt hands. Last weekend his thumb was so swollen and sore that he could hardly use it. It hurt every time he touched it. The other day he noticed that his thumb is white. It is painful to use, and if it gets bumped he is in real pain. He tried to pick up something and move it yesterday and he winced, shaking his hand and gritting his teeth in obvious pain. He is going to the doctors tomorrow to have it looked at.

His back is also hurting him so badly he can't sleep at night. He had a shot less than 3 months ago that helped to calm down the pain, but all the work on the 4-wheeler has bothered it again. He was put on a medrol pak two weeks ago, and it helped for about a week. Now the pain is back again, so badly he can hardly walk. He will always continue doing his job, then come home hurting so bad that it makes me cry. I wish I could take his pain away from him.

He knew we were low on coal for our stove, so yesterday we drove up to the coal mine to get some lump coal. He had to load it by hand, big heavy lumps of coal. He loaded about a ton with the help of the one guy who still lives up there. It is a good thing we went this weekend instead of waiting a week because we got the last of the pile. This particular mine isn't working any more, so there is nothing left up there. If we need more we will have to find another place to get lump coal. But then, maybe we won't have to load it by hand. All that work just made for a bad night.

Today our plan is to just sit and relax his back and not pick up anything that will hurt his thumb. Even though there is a skiff of snow, he isn't going to scrape, shovel, or sweep. He needs rest. He is realizing that he isn't as young as he once was and that the hard work he has done all his life is catching up with him. The injuries are harder to recover from, and harder to accept that you must slow down.

He is still doing the floors at Alco all by himself, which is also adding to the pain. He works so much because he knows there is literally no one else in the county that will do the job. He knows that because he has called around and can't get anyone else to do it! No one will even come to help him, let alone take it all over and do it for the money. The money isn't enough to worry about, but he does it because they need someone to do it. It is almost to the point that he will be telling them "Thanks, but no thanks. Your floors just will not get done by me any more."

Garth is a great guy who cares about helping people out. But he needs to look at getting himself feeling better. Today is his day to just sit and relax and take time for himself. He has been too busy to take a few minutes for himself. Now is his time. I love you, dear!

What Is That?

Yesterday, as I walked into the faculty room to fill up my glass of ice water, someone (Sara) pointed at the window and asked, "Lori, what is that?" At the moment all I saw was that she was pointing outside in the direction of the flag pole, so I answered, "That flag?" thinking this was some sort of a test. She laughed and said, "No, that!" Since I wasn't near the window yet, and still knowing how she likes to test me, the obvious answer was "The sun?" Especially since the sun has not been shining in the past month! Again, more laughter...."No....That!" By then I was over to the window and saw what she was pointing toward. There, in the sky, was the biggest, brightest sun-dog I have ever seen! I hurried to my room to get my camera (which was a wonderful Christmas gifts because it is small and I can have it with me for moments such as this). I stepped outside my classroom and got a few really good pictures of it.



When I was younger I was taught to love looking at the sky, especially at all the wonders there. I remember many summer nights sleeping outside on the ground in "the hole" and Dad showing us the constellations, watching for falling stars, and wishing on the first star of the evening. Dad always laid there with us and told us stories about the Big Dipper and the moon. I loved those times. When I saw an especially pretty moon-rise, or a beautiful sunset, I would call Dad and tell him to go outside and look in the skies. A rainbow would always bring a phone call. I wanted so much to be able to call him yesterday and tell him to look through his front window and see what I was seeing. Perhaps he was able to see it anyway. I want to think that it was bigger and brighter than usual, and that I had friends to point it out to me, just so I know that he is thinking of me.

Thanks, Dad, for taking the time so many years ago, to teach me the wonders of the sky, so I can appreciate what my Father in Heaven has created. I will think of you every time I see something special in the sky.

Happy Birthday, Dallas

Just a quick message to wish Dallas a very happy birthday. We left really early this morning, so I am a bit slow in writing this, but I did tell Nancy to tell you happy birthday. And I did tell you on Saturday to have a happy birthday on Monday. I hope you did!

Till We Meet Again

We jokingly talk about gathering together as families at weddings and funerals. Right now we seem to be in the funeral phase. My emotions are so tender right now that it is very difficult to even think of words to explain.

Growing up here in Orangeville with family around, we knew we always had someone to turn to. Mom's brother and sister each lived on just the next block: a block "over" to Uncle Royce's, a block "up" to Aunt Barbara's. Cousins close by. Wayne was in the grade ahead of me, and James was there in my class. My two closest cousins. Me with the two boys. And James was just two days younger than me so we shared birthdays. I remember when he moved from Orangeville to Salt Lake, how I hated the thought of him not close by.Even though he was sometimes a pain and teased me endlessly once we got to Junior High, I enjoyed his company so much.

We had so many camping trips together to Blue Lake and Indian Creek. We talked on the phone many times. When it looked like the possibility of me not having a date for my own Junior Prom, James called me and said he would love to come down and be my date. I will always remember him for being so thoughtful of me. When he came down to visit for the weekend or holiday, he always came to pick me up, or I picked him up and we shared the time with each other.

I had just had a baby when James and Kelly got married. I wasn't going to miss his wedding for anything. I remember him seeing me there and giving me his big hug and telling everyone that I had just had a baby and would still be there for him. Of course I wouldn't have missed seeing him happily married for anything.

When James' wife, Kelly, recently passed away my heart was broken for him. I can still feel his arm around my shoulder as we stood looking at her and talking about our recent family reunion. We sat and talked so long with each other at the park that day. We laughed and talked and enjoyed each others company.

And now, they are both gone. Gone on to more wonderful things. I am so glad that James didn't have to wait long to be with Kelly again. Although I would have chosen for him to be here with us for a much longer time, the Lord saw that it wasn't to be. For whatever reason. Times like this we just have so many questions about how and why. The only way I can imagine being able to handle the emotions is just knowing that someone else is in charge.

I don't know anyone who doesn't believe that life continues after death. I hear that some people in the world don't believe there is an existence after death, but I don't know any who feel that way. I can't imagine what they think or feel as a person in their family dies. I just can't imagine what it would be like to not know that the person we love still lives on. I am so glad I have that to hold on to because it would be too heartbreaking to have someone just gone.

We cry because we love someone. We cry because the experiences we shared will not be added upon. What we had together is all we have, no more earthly reunions, car rides, no more stories to share, no more earthly hugs. However, we have a glorious reunion waiting for us in heaven at some future time. You just don't ever know when that time will arrive.

Thanks for being a great cousin. I love you and will miss you so much.

Another Project Completed

I finished up one more crochet project. I have been working on coverings for the Manti Temple. I did two already, but wanted to do one of the larger sizes. I decided to do one to fit on one of the longer altars, which are also very narrow across. I couldn't find a pattern that I liked, but had an idea of combining a section of an afghan I really like, and the temple bag I made from another pattern. So I tried to sketch out the pattern and I really liked what I came up with. It fit the requirements that I was given by the Temple Matron and it all just seemed to fit right in place. When I got to the edging I still wasn't sure what I would do. I tried several different ideas, but they just didn't look good or fit with the rest of the pattern. Then I started just "freestyling" it, and my eyes opened up and saw just what was needed. I'm not great at creating corners, but it all worked out. And the little picot at the points helped me to sit it was complete. I am hoping it fits the size they need for one of the rooms. It is amazing that each room has a different size, some being extremely huge! The size of this cover is approximately 22" X 56". Like I said, long and skinny. I feel really good about taking it over to Manti. It makes me humble to see something I completely designed and created from my own vision, and it turned out pretty good, (said with lots of humility!)Those of you who are crocheters, you will notice that the picture is taken from top to the bottom, and from the side. For some reason I didn't look when I took the pictures so they may look backwards to you. One of my pet peeve's is when people put crocheted items on a table or whatever and it is the backside up! This item is worked with alternating rows, so the only "front" or "back" shows up on the edging. But I can sure tell which end was the beginnning and which is the ending, and this picture is looking in the wrong direction for me! Hope it doesn't bother you.

Friday Night Out

We were planning on going to Manti to the Stake Temple Night on Friday, but we didn't make it. I was hit with a major headache about 9:00 am...Literally came one quick. My family knows I don't ever get headaches, so when one comes on I always worry. This one hit me like a sledge hammer, sudden and horrible. I hurried to the office to get in the cupboard hoping to find a tylenol, and found an Excedrin, which I took. It didn't help much. Took another one at 12:00 and found a little relief. It was a very difficult day in class with such a pounding head. I know the kids are really anxious to be able to go outside and play more. I hope next week brings a little bit of relief in the temperatures.

Garth has been taking 4 hours a day of vacation time so he doesn't loose his vacation from last year. But, of course, he really isn't vacationing. Instead, he is working at his second job. I guess that is earn money for the vacation this year, which we will probably never take because he gets behind at work if he takes vacation! What a circle of life! Anyway, the "second job" has been swamped with cars needing inspection and oil changes. He was going to take the afternoon off so we could go to the temple, but with my terrible head ache, we decided to just stay home.

The headache, busy at work, and the cold weather all lead to us deciding to just stay home. Boy did we give into temptation. We got pizza and bread sticks for dinner and just sat in our warm little living room and watched movies. Yes, my dear children, we watched movies, and I stayed awake. I can say plural "movies", more than one. Two in fact. But does it matter if it was the last hour of each movie? We didn't rent one, but went channel surfing. Found one movie that we had both seen before and watched the last hour, then changed to another movie we had seen and watched the last hour of it! It was great and I didn't fall asleep. My head was still hurting.

I tossed and turned most of the night with strange dreams. I dreamed it was the last day of school and I had report cards all sealed up in their envelopes, then remembered that I didn't put in the "Certificate of completion of third grade" papers, so I was hurrying to get them in. It is strange what teachers dream when they are doing report cards. Maybe that means they really willnot complete third grade.

So here I am this morning, Saturday morning, and I still have a headache. Not quite as bad, but one I can feel. I guess I will just sit here and work on grading papers, cleaning the kitchen and bathroom, maybe read a little bit. It is too cold to go outside and do anything else.

Have a great day!

Out With the Old, In With the New

Do you like my new background? I hope it reminds me to go to the temple more often, even if we have to drive for 2 hours to get there! And to read my scriptures more.....I suggest everyone reads The Old Testament Made Easier. The Book of Mormon ones were great and I am really get lots of in insights with the first volume of this one.

Several people have told me it is time to change my background, so tonight, while I had a little bit of time, I decided to do so. I never know when I will have a few minutes to change it again, so I wanted to choose a "generic" one, that wouldn't have to be changed to match the season. Mind you, I like all the seasonal ones, and I am seeing some very pretty things out there. I just don't do seasons well. My seasons seem to be "school's in" and "school's out". (Those are contractions for "school is", not singular possessive, for those school teachers out there.) Right now the season is "school's in" all the time because it is too cold to be out! Please pass warmer weather! Our students just can't seem to settle down right now. They sit inside with snowsuits on, hoping it will be warm enough to go outside. Those who brave the cold come in frozen but happy. Then they take 10 minutes just getting their coats, gloves, scarves, earmuffs, etc. all hung up out in the hallways. There is always the one who needs to go back outside to get a lost glove. Is it really worth is? The ones inside take 5 minutes to decide on a game to play, then 5 minutes to get it all set up, and then only get to play for a minute before I remind them they need to get to the restroom. When they get back, the bell rings and they spend the next 10 minutes cleaning it up. Or they leave the game where they left it, thinking I don't know it is their game to clean up. Then they fight about who needs to pick up what......Again, is it worth it? To quote someone dear to my heart: OH MY STARS!!!!!

I had a special holiday time with my family. Even though we experienced the lose of my dad, it was great to have all of my family in the same state at the same time. I so much appreciated all your love and concern for me. Hearing you all ask "How are you doing, Mom," shows me you are thinking of my feelings. I hope you are all realizing just how important fathers are, and reminding yourselves how wonderful your own father is. As much as you love your father, I love mine the same. Fathers are there to pick you up when you are down, to keep you laughing when you need to see the bright side, to offer a shoulder when you need to cry, to open their hearts when you hurt. Even old mothers like me need a dad now and then. He will be missed. I will miss his stories, even though I could tell them all by heart. I will miss our talks about school. I loved to keep him up on all the happenings in school, the new trends, the demands of the job, etc. I know he enjoyed hearing what was going on. I will miss that. There are times that I hear or see something and think how much I would love to share that with Dad. And that makes the tears come again. Like right now. I learned in the 30 years without Mom, it really never gets easier, just gets normal. There are still times when I wish I had a mom to talk with, to give me advice, to show me how to solve a problem. No one ever takes the place of a mom or dad. I just hope, in some small way, to be the mom that my children will look to for advice, a talk, help with a problem. Someone that my children will miss when I am gone. I know their dad will be that man, because he is such a great guy, just like my dad.

OK........I need to stop that......

Just the Tuesday and Wednesday before Dad passed away, I spent the school days in Huntington working on a project with our assessment supervisor, otherwise known as Jon. (Cousin Jon Boy as he calls himself.) We are creating mid-year tests to be given to all the students in 3-6, to measure achievement in math and reading to prepare for the state tests. I am responsible for the third and fourth grade math tests, and will be required to create two summative tests for each grade level. These tests must match the state curriculum, which means a lot of research and test writing on the computers. Because we only had a two days to get an overview there, and to get a good start, we (the four of us on the committee)are expected to put in more days at home, not on school time. We will be paid for some extra career days, and have been given a new computer to work on. Now, my questions is this: Is this computer mine to keep? I don't know and I don't want to ask! As long as no one asks for it back, I will keep it on my desk. If it is still here after the tests are completed and approved, and no one asks for the computer back, then I will assume I get to keep it..........What you have to do to get a new computer!!! Is it worth it? I think so. (Just don't anyone tell Jon that I am questioning this. He might just take it back because I am so air-headed.)

One more resolution I have for this year: I will go back through my posts and add tags for the entries, so the tag cloud is more accurate. Just something simple for me.

Happy Birthday to Maxwell!

I was so excited to be able to see Max around his birthday that I got it a day off. For some reason I was sure his birthday was on the 28th, so when I saw him yesterday I started singing Happy Birthday to him. I guess that is alright because that was the last day I would see him this year. We were so happy be able to have the Missouri kids home for a few days during the holidays. Even thought the occasion wasn't the best, it was wonderful to have them here. Max is getting so big, and his eyes keep getting bigger! What a handsome boy. We wish you a very happy birthday!

Why I Haven't Updated Lately

Christmas Season

We have been busy getting ready for Christmas, my favorite time of year. The cold weather last week helped us decide that snow would be better than cold. It was freezing, below zero weather. Not so bad if you can stay inside all day, but with my luck, I had morning recess duty. Monday was cold, but tolerable. It was a different story for the rest of the week. We asked the students to stay in, but they got all upset because they wanted to play in the little bit of snow outside. I reminded them about that "cold" day in October when it was 30 degrees and they were crying because they wanted to stay inside for recess. Why is an October 30 colder than a December -2 with snow? Could it be the snow that makes a difference? Go figure!
We were lucky to have Tammy's children here for the weekend last week. So they got to enjoy the snow and cold with us. Lexi went to school with me on Monday, but the boys stayed home with Grandpa and played in the snow until their little fingers were frozen. But they were so happy to be able to play outside all they wanted. We hated to see them go back home with their mom on Tuesday, but all fun things must come to an end, and we got back into the swing of our "usual."
The Labrum Christmas party was scheduled for Saturday up in Lewiston. At first we were planning on taking up Tammy's children because she had to work. But they were asked to attend a party for the Make-A-Wish foundation, so they stayed in Salt Lake for that. I am sure they had a great time, and it was ok to not worry about them as we drove.
Nancy also had to work, and with Tyler just getting his casts on his feet, he stayed home with his dad. Nicky was just moving in to a new apartment so she stayed to put her things away and make her new home. So it was just Garth and I on our trip to Cache Valley.
What a trip it was!We left here at 5:00 am and stopped at the Market Express to get a bite of food. It was there we discovered that Garth had left his wallet home on the bed. So we turned around and headed back home, all the time wondering just why we were experiencing this. Are we to NOT be somewhere at a certain time? Are we SUPPOSED to be somewhere at another time? Is this causing us to avoid something bad, or so we can do something good? I looked at the clock as we passed the large Nielsen Construction building; it said 5:55. We drove home and came back with now problems as all and reached the Nielsen Construction building at 6:55. We will never know we if avoided an accident by this hour delay. But it brings comfort to know believe that for whatever reason, we were still safe.
We stopped at Nancy's for just a minute (bathroom break!), then got to Nicky's in time to help with the last load of junk (yes, we move some that might be labeled as junk). We saw her new apartment, then headed to Lewiston.
The roads in Salt Lake were fine, once we got to 2-15 and Legacy because of freeway closures in North Salt Lake. But Ogden was a different story. They were really bad, so Garth tells me. Guess what I was doing? Sleeping, of course. Sardine Canyon was not pretty, but we have driven in worse. We decided to take the back highway through the smaller towns to avoid the traffic lights. That might have slowed us down because the roads had not been plowed. We slid a little bit, even in 4-wheel drive, but arrived as Santa was leaving. Thank goodness we didn't have little kids who missed the most important part of the day.
We enjoyed our visit with the family members who were there. I had a nice visit with my neice, Charla, whom I haven't seen in a long time. She was there with her husband and two children, her dad (Garth's brother, Lee) and his wife. They were the only people from outside Cache Valley except for us. Garth said he was determined to show everyone that we could make it up there. I think the others turned around in Ogden, but then, they don't have 4-wheel drive like we had.
We went home through Logan, which saved us some time. The snow was still coming down really hard, and the canyon was slow. But once we hit the freeway everything was fine. We stopped at Nicky's to make sure she was ok. She didn't have any heat because the furnace has to be replaced, but there is a gas fireplace that put off some heat, so she will be fine. We headed home, worried that Spanish Fork Canyon might be difficult. We were happily surprised to find it was not snowing there yet. We arrived home to just a few flakes starting to fall. We went to bed about 10:00 with a light snow falling.
But when we got up we found this:





It is wet, heavy, deep snow! A beautiful Christmas season. The roads to the church had not been plowed when I went for choir practice, so I was breaking a trail through 10 inches of fluff. But then I had to return home because I forgot my reading glasses and couldn't see the music. My feet were freezing because no one thinks to scrape a trail up to the sidewalk, so you have to walk in the piles of snow to step over to the sidewalks.
We came home after Sacrament Meeting because Garth needed to get to the school to start scraping. If it doesn't get done before it freezes more, or lays more down, he will never get it off for school. He is so dedicated to making it safe for the faculty and students. I hope they appreciate the time he puts in for them. I know it would be easier to just stay home near the warmth of the fireplace, because that is where I will be.
For now, we will just enjoy this beautiful snow.