Home Alone

I've been home alone for three days now with three more to go. Don't worry I have a loaded gun under my pillow and a wicked home security system that is fully operational so that if anyone even touches my doorknob, the police will be in route. That being said, I feel perfectly safe. I wouldn't have imagined it, but I do.

I've never been alone for this many days. Never in all my 50 some odd years of living. It's kind of an adventure. It's kind of a challenge to see if I can fill up the hours and stay productive. Many of my single girlfriends do this type of living on a daily basis. I admire the heck out of them. I did before this experiment and I do more than ever now (and what do I know, it's only been three days??) It's totally one of those things you have to experience yourself to even begin to understand it.
Here's some discoveries I've made:

• Hours will go by and I lose track of time completely
• I've got A LOT done. You know those projects that NEVER get done? Like dusting off the printers the keyboard and the monitor, going through the bins in the laundry room, moving my summer clothes upstairs and bringing in the winter clothes (about time since it's December 6), folding socks, vacuuming up dead flies from the window sills, washing all the sheets in the house, going through four closets and loading four bags of stuff for DI? Yeah, those kind of projects. Done. Seriously, I've make great progress.
• I've read six children's Christmas books. Love me some good children's Christmas books.
• I've totally decorated my house for Christmas. I even did some serious cleaning while watching movies. Christmas music has been blaring the entire time and it's really kept me company.
• One of my daughters said she'd kill for this opportunity. I told her to just wait another 25 years and the opportunity will come calling. But then she won't want it. Hahaha. Silly how that works.
  
• I've worn my lime green totally comfy and totally ugly leisure exercise suit for 24 hours straight and nobody cares. All day, into the night. It's an all purpose piece of clothing.
• I've wrapped all the Christmas gifts. Did you hear what I just said? I've wrapped ALL the Christmas gifts. Miracle of miracles. Never, ever have I wrapped all the Christmas gifts before 11:30 pm on Christmas eve. Wow. I amaze myself.
• I've eaten what I want, when I wanted. I had 8 fish sticks for lunch at 2:30 pm with half an avocado and half a pomegranate. I've had cereal for breakfast and for dinner yesterday.
  
• I've taken two bubble baths a day instead of just one.
• I've stayed up until midnight every night doing stuff and I've stayed in bed until 8:00 am.
• I've had contact with humans by going to the BYU Christmas concert on Saturday with three girlfriends, going to the MTC Christmas party with the two other couples, going to church today, enjoying visits from Colleen and the parents of one of Andy's friends and working on Friday. I've talked on the phone to the man of the house and our kids. I'll work the next three days as well so that I can use my voice for a few hours a day. Otherwise, no need to talk.
• I've still got three days to go and my list still has 22 "to do" items on it. Wish me luck.
  

Even with all these amazing discoveries, I'll still be happy when the man of the house comes back. It's just strange to be here alone. I miss him. I don't think I'd be any good at it for the long haul, especially when those 22 items are done.

Tis the season for...Christmas music

I love Christmas music! As soon as Thanksgiving is over, the time arrives to begin playing Christmas music. We have a pretty impressive collection of all the great stuff. I like to put on five CDs at a time at home to play one right after another. I like to have another five different ones in the CD player in the car and then change them up after awhile. When I'm home alone they keep me company. They fill my mind and my spirit with wonderful thoughts.
Here are my two new favorites for this year. I would recommend them. I love the new Andrea Bocelli CD with one song done with the MTChoir. In fact, I somehow ended up with two Luciano Pavarotti's O Holy Night CDs. First one to request the extra gets it. I'll mail it to you! We've had Pavarotti's music on cassette tape for years and we about wore it out playing it so often. Now it's available on CD. It's stirring Christmas music and I love to listen to Pavarotti belt it out.

Another great source for Christmas music is Pandora on the internet. Seriously, I love Pandora. I listen to it at work every day. Here is the link if you haven't tried it. You can put in your favorite artist and then find the link that says "holiday" after the artist's name and Pandora will play all the Christmas songs from that artist and also similar artists for hours on end with only one or two commercial breaks. Good quality music, for free! If you don't like a song, you can give it a thumbs down and Pandora will move on to the next song. Right now I'm listening to the Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby holiday thread. I love the old stuff, the new stuff, the religious stuff and everything in between.

Happy Birthday little Ellie

Happy 2nd birthday to sweet little Ellie. She is an amazing girl who brightens any room she is in. I hope you have a fun party today sweetheart. Grandma Vonnie loves you!!! Gampy can't wait to see you tomorrow!

Tis the season for...giving

One of the best parts of this season is the chance to do some good. I love to hear ideas of what people come up with to help others. The people I know are ingenious in thinking of wonderful ways to serve, to bless, to care for and to give. Recently our missionary wrote the following:

-->"I have said it once and will say it again, where much is given much is required. We all have been given a lot and much is required of us. I know that’s true, maybe one of the biggest tests we will face in life. You got to give it all up to get it all in the end. Anyway I have just been thinking a lot about this and am going to try to help out Turuu and all the rest of my comps and friends here as best I can. If I don’t I just won’t feel right about myself. Anyway I love you all and would just ask you all to give this Christmas season. Give whatever you feel you need to give. Give whatever you have been prompted to give. Give your time, your comfort, your provisions, your heart, your ears. People will and do receive blessings from God but so many times something is required of us to help other people receive those blessings. A lot of people ask themselves where it all ends, but I think most of the time we need to ask ourselves where it starts."

It isn't about money. Sometimes it makes a bigger impact if giving involves time spent with another person or service given such as offering a listening ear or a shoulder to cry on. Sometimes it takes some planning and thought and sometimes it can be a family activity that children will remember long after their gifts are forgotten. I just think we need to make a conscious effort to reach out. It feels so good to be of service and it is so needed in the world. It's the anecdote for sad feelings on both sides of the equation.

Elder Andy continues:
-->"Well my companion (Mongolian) is almost done with his mission. He gets done on Dec. 13th. He is worried about life and has been down somewhat. I have just been trying to be here for him and listen to him. It is interesting and really humbling hearing sometimes what these humble Elders and Sisters have to say. My comp has no work, no school, no family, no food, no clothes, to go home to. He gets off and goes back to living life day by day. He is good though. Things will turn out. They have to. It’s going to be hard for him though. It is interesting that the best life these Mongolian Elders and Sisters live is on their missions. They have food, a warm house, clothes. It’s ironic that normal life here is about the hardest life we as Americans could imagine. We are so lucky and spoiled and yeah I just better not start. It’s not like I am not overwhelmingly thankful for my blessings. It’s just that I don’t feel like I deserve them."
The pictures show the work they did on his companion's home in the summer so that he would have a roof over his head when he got home from his mission.
In addition to some giving and service we will do locally, we plan to send some money to help this Elder who has no parents or other means of financial support. Join us if you feel so inclined or look for your own ways to give.

Tis the season for...some frustrations

It seems like every year we struggle with Christmas lights. Can't someone, somewhere PLEASE make a string of Christmas lights that work for more than 10 minutes? I'm sure whoever invents a string of Christmas lights that work consistently would become a millionaire almost instantly. I'd spend a good $100 or more to buy some lights to replace the piece of crap lights we have in a heartbeat. I'd be the first in line with cash in hand. It would make my holidays so much brighter in every way!

We don't ask for much. We don't set our sights too high. We're not perfectionists. We don't measure the distance between each light with a ruler. But here's one problem...the outside lights that we use to put along our roof line (that are bigger bulbs) seem to burn out after working for about two hours. They are as fragile as a spider's web. We no sooner get them up and turned on, then one or more burn out and we have to get back on the roof to replace the bulb. And another problem...if you put more than three strings of lights together, they will inevitably blow a fuse. This happened again this year! We got them all up, stood back to admire, and BAMM, out they all went right before our eyes.

I said a few choice words, Rick yelled out disparaging comments.

Is this any way to begin the holiday season I ask you? I think not.

Oh, and it doesn't end there.

You can't find those little fuses anywhere in the stores to replace the ones you just burned out. The stores stock about five packages of those and they are never available unless you stock up in August. You need three sizes: 1. the little tiny itty bitty ones that you can't even hold on to yet they determine whether your entire tree or garland will light up. 2. the medium size ones that cost $1.00 each that are very hard to find (when Rick dropped two in a row into a flowerbed, let's just way that there wasn't a lot of holiday cheer in the air.) 3. The 'Big Boy' fuses that are needed for the larger strings of lights. Of course they can only be replaced if you can get that stupid little case open to replace them. Could those be any harder to open and close? Help me.

Yeah, not done yet.

The small little lights on the Christmas tree. I swear that if my pre-lit tree ever doesn't pre-light, I'm going to pick it up and throw it out the front door. I hold my breath every year. So far so good, but I have a tree that is only a few years old. One of these years it's going to let me down, I just know it. These lights are a particular annoyance. Usually one little tiny light comes undone and half the set goes out. Then you have to wiggle and touch each light to see which one is at fault. When they are already wound around the branches, this is a trial. Oh, and what about the time when the lights go out on a fully decorated tree....I'm getting the shakes just thinking about it. Just shoot me. Now.

I have great admiration for people who have huge outdoor light displays. I really do. I marvel at their ability to figure it out and not blow up their homes in the process. And to those who have entire Christmas trees that light up year after year, I bow in respect. We called a professional lighting service a few years ago to get an estimate. To do the small amount of exterior lights we do - $350. It would be worth every dime and will be our future when we are no longer able to risk our lives by getting up on the roof.