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Showing posts from May, 2010

Memorial Day - Big Life Lesson

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Found image here.
Be grateful for those who've gone before and made the blessings of your life possible.
I don't know all the people who have made my life what it is today. I know some. I am grateful to all. And I am grateful to their familys who've also made sacrifices.

(Sorry for skipping Sunday School this week, have something good-will save it for another week.)
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Book Club

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Ok, so one of my Beckys has asked for what order I would recommend reading the books I listed (see this post).
Earlier in my life, I was accused of being bossy, so I now have issues with the manner in which I tell people what they should do. I am now only bossy to those living with me, and I most always say please (even when I am asking them to not drive so fast because there are always consequences when one drives too fast).

So, I am not going to tell you. You can decide for yourself.
But, we will be discussing "The Help" at the end of the summer. :).
(We will be a very slow moving book club.)

And here are my short descriptions of some of the reads listed in that post:
The Survivor's Club--nonficiton, gives different stories of different kinds of survivors, if you have a code (you can only use the code one time) -you can go online and find your "survivor type," I am not tenacious nor do I have ingenuity-but I will survive on faith, love, and empathy.

The Little G…
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What I learned today:

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Today I learned that a sharpie marker will still work after it goes through the wash.
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Big Life Lesson

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Picture from here.
Consequences.
Everything has a consequence.
Thoughts, words, actions, etc., etc., etc.
What we do causes other things to happen.

And here is an illustration:

A couple of months ago, my mr. and I had the chance to head to the west without our children.
We flew to Boise, Id. Drove to Midway, Ut. Drove to Salt Lake. Drove to Taylorsville, Ut. Drove to Ogden, Ut. Then back to Boise. Drove to Lewiston, Id. Drove to Moscow, Id. Drove back to Lewiston, Id. Drove back to Boise. Flew home to Oklahoma. In a week.
It was very relaxing.
Phew.

We had things to do all all the listed places.  It was great fun.  It was great to reconnect with dear friends and relatives.  It was awesome to see the mountains and clear water again.  The driving didn't really bother me--except that someone was driving too fast and it wasn't me.

Besides making me nervous, the scenery was going by too fast.

I offered to drive. Denied.
I asked him to please slow down.
Momentarily accepted.
Over…
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The Dog (part 5)

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Ok, shhh.
Be very quiet about this, because I don't want her to know about it--

I am very happy.

She's not jumped up on me when I've gone outside with her the last few times.
She's obeyed me a a bit more & I've even been using my nice voice.
She's letting me pet her without attacking me and trying to reciprocate the touching (via her paws and tounge).
We even semi-successfully played fetch!
Progress?
Or has she been reading this blog?
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Awards Assembly

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To get to the source of this certificate, click here.
I want you to know that they gave me the degree, but I think they forgot to teach me a couple of things. (And they forgot to sign the certificate.)

And as evidence of that, I give you the following:

Today I forgot something very important.  Two letters came a few weeks ago.  I put the letters on the bulletin board in the hall that we all walk by everyday.  I emailed the letter senders to let them know they had forgotten one important item in one of the said letters. They said they would take care of it.

Tonight was the high school's major award ceremony & I had two beautiful girls who were to be awarded significant recognition of their accomplishments this year.

And as I was pondering on if I should go ahead and make dinner, since my mr. was not home from work and he said he had something special planned, but we were getting hungry and didn't know when he was getting home, one daughter came and sat by me and said, "…
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I read too fast

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and stay up way too late doing it. So, I don't remember all I've read.
I had a conversation with a wonderful woman a few Saturdays ago and discovered that we are kindred spirits in our reading techniques. I think she might even read blogs and leave nice comments, too. She goes to a book club.  I don't.
I am too afraid to join book clubs in fear that I will say something stupid or wrong or rude, so this can be my own private one person club.  Feel free to comment and join in.  I will share my one person club. I am very nice.  I will not call your comment stupid, wrong, or rude.  If it is (which I know none will be, because only awesome, wonderful people read this blog and very few of you comment), it will go in the trash can.
So, because I read too fast and can't remember everything I read, I am going to brain dump here. That way I will be able to come back and remember-or at least remind myself that yes, I did read that book. And I will call this, my club, "books.&qu…
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Sunday School

Ok, how about those Sundays where all the meetings are a little different, but the themes tie together quite nicely?

Sacrament Meeting (Main Meeting)-Reverence
--Not just the be quiet and listen in church kind of reverence, but reverence for the sacred. Reverence for God who has given us everything.  Reverence so that we can know what He wants for us.

Sunday School (the real class-not my mind meanderings)
--The Judges (Book from the Bible)
Ok, so I didn't take notes, but I did listen.  The following is from the text of the lesson:

The purpose of this lesson was "to encourage class members to seek influences that will strengthen them in living the gospel in a challenging world."
Through the following stories we were taught ways to do that:
1. Children of Israel & the apostasy cylce--the strength of righteous parents and the consequences of forsaking their ways
2. Deborah—the strength of a righteous friend
3. Gideon—the strength of faith in God
4. Samson—the strengt…
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The Dog (part 4)

My current feelings about the dog.

Last Saturday night, I went to pet the dog and noticed that her tags were missing and her collar seemed tighter.
I suspected something.
So I petted her and said goodnight.

When I was trying to go to sleep, thoughts of someone messing with her collar and taking her tags stirred in my head. 
And I began to worry that maybe someone would want to take her.
See, there's a lot of construction going on around us & there are a lot of workers around.
Workers that like to walk up to our fence and interact with the dog.
I think they are attracted to her.
And even though she barks like a crazy lady at them, really all she wants is their attention.
And when they give it to her, she swoons.

Every dog person (and I am NOT a dog person) who meets her says, "Oh, she's going to be a good dog."
I say, "Yeah, when."
They say, "Oh, when she's two or three."

So I have hope.
And I have two little boys who say they love her.

An…
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Busy, busy, busy

I don't like being busy, busy, busy.
I hold a belief that we choose how we look at our time & can somewhat control the busy-ness.
Sometimes that belief is wrong.

I told you this week would be a lot less gloomy and lighter & it has been - for me.
I just haven't had a chance to sit down pass some of the light on.
I have some fun ideas-just not the time to sit my rear end down & share with you.
It's frustrating, because I keep writing posts in my head-but there's nowhere for me to write them down.

So, here's some of my fun that's been keeping me away:

Laundry.
A lot of Laundry.
And I look at the piles and think, "Sheesh, does an army live here?"
And then I say, "Kind of."
And then I do it.
(At this moment, I am ignoring the dryer beeping-makes me feel powerful and in control)

Food Issues.
The people at this house like to eat.
So do I,
Hence, it must be dealt with.

Last Minute Realization that this is the last week of school for one …
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Mi perro está loco. (The Dog part 3)

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Picture from here.

Our fence is not solid. We can totally see out to the street and anyone on the street can totally see into our yard.

So I decided it would be nice to shield our neighbors from our backyard that is beginning to look a bit ratty because of a certain four legged resident. And to hopefully deter that four legged resident from barking at every kind neighbor that walks by.

I loved honeysuckles when I was a little girl. They smell so good and it was fun to pull off the flower and suck the sweet nectar. (Ok, now as an older person, I would have to look into that practice to see if it's really safe, but I would totally do it if it is.)

My dear neighbor (of the curtains-see this post) brought over some honeysuckle starts.
I was so grateful.

A couple of days later, I went into the yard- outside the four legged resident's fence.  I dug a little hole near the fence (because honeysuckles are a vine and need support to grow on-and would beautifully block the view).  I put i…
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Sunday School

This video was made for teenagers, but I think it's a beautiful message for all of us.


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What do you think?

New picture up top? 
What do you think?
I think I might need to go put on my sunglasses.

Just so you know, I do not know much in the way of photo editing and am just starting to learn about that kind of thing.  This picture and the earlier one came from a "free" header source.  I don't know what to do with them or even what kind of thing would look pretty up there. I did find another pic. that I really like, but I can't get the size right. It pops up very teeny tiny and looks silly.  And that's not the look I'm going for at all.

Again, I am open to your ideas and suggestions.
Thanks

And- I promise next week to be much post peppier.
And- Should I put a follower gadget up?  Would that bother you? Would it make Becoming Versed look too cluttered? Would I have to dust it?
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Things to know and do to help a friend or loved one with PPD

For a definition of PPD, go here.

This is a copy of a handout a dear woman gave to me a few months ago. (The title above and the words in italics come directly from the handout.) I wish our family had known this.  Maybe it can help you or someone you love.

-She cannot "snap" out of it.
-She will get better.
-WITH PROPER TREATMENT you will get your wife/daughter/sister/friend back.
-You cannot make this go away.
-PPD affects the whole family
-Make sure you are taking care of yourself.
-Do not asume everything is OK because she says so.
-Do not let her appearance convince you that she is feeling better than she really is.
-Do not tell her what to feel or what not to feel.
-Validate what she feels.
-Listen to her.
-Some things that made her feel good previously, may not work the next time.
-Tell her you know she feels miserable.
-Tell her she will get better.
-Tell her she can still be a good mother and feel terrible.
-Tell her it's OK to make mistakes--she doesn't have to be perfect.
-…
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What happened to me: the PostPartum Depression I didn't realize I had

This post isn't for sympathy--this is something I had, not have now.  I just want it out there so if maybe some mom like me might recognize herself in this, she can get help.  I don't want anyone else to have to endure this if they don't have to.

I didn't realize I had PPD when I had it.
I bet most people I was around would never have guessed it.

I put on a smile, coped the best I could and blamed everything on sleep deprivation.
I was wrong.

I had to work very hard to pull myself out of its depths.
I knew something was wrong when my baby was one year old and I still had to gather all my strength just to run to the grocery store.
I signed us up for a baby & mom swim class.
I had to give us a purpose. (Besides taking care of all the other people in our family-I did love that purpose, it just didn't get me going.)
Getting out once a week helped.
Then I started going to the gym a few mornings a week. That helped-when I could get myself together.

Quite a while la…
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I am sick.

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Picture from here. There's also an article on how to outsmart the flu at that link.
I don't get sick. I've been able to say that to myself for quite sometime now. But, not yesterday and today.
I grew up in a "get up, get dressed, and lets see how you are doing then" kind of a house.  Well, by the time I was up and dressed, I usually was well enough to handle a day. Not yesterday. Not today. I am fairing quite well, but it's almost noon and I am still in my pajamas and that scares me.
It scares me because for so many years, I did wake up, get myself together & go on with life. But I wasn't healthy. Days like today make me fear regression. I will not go back. It's taken me four long years to get to the point I'm at and I will not go back.
Staying in my pajamas and allowing myself to feel the haze that comes with illness is a very scary thing to me. It feels like the days when all I could do was care for one of my babies and sit on the couch. Sometimes I would …
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Happy Mother's Day

"The mother's heart is the child's schoolroom." -- Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887)
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Picture at top

Do you like it?
Yes or No
I think it's kind of big.

My talents do not lie in decorating.
I believe it to be a tortureous (sp?) excercise.
So, what do you think?

I really would like to pretty-up that box on top, but don't know how to do it & don't know what would be appropriate.

Any ideas would be appreciated.
Thanks

PS-Asking you the above has made me question myself, as I've made a heafty decorating decision this week  I hope it was a good one.  It only took me five years to make it happen. I hope I did the right thing.
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Window Coverings

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I have a neighbor who is incredible. Her yard looks like it fell out of a magazine, her dog is obedient and sweet, she's kind. She did something very funny before we moved in, that I won't tell you about, but I think a lot of people do it, only we caught her :). One day she said to me, "mrs, I could make you some pretty drapes for your bathroom." I didn't listen.
Then something whispered to me, "Maybe you should listen." So I did. She came and measured and we talked about fabric. I was supposed to go look for fabric, but as I am a recluse and only leave the house when I have to, I didn't do it. (I'm not really a recluse, I'm just lazy.) One day she called me from Dallas and said, "Can you go look at your email?  I just found the perfect fabric for you and it's only $not much.00, a yard."  I hurried to my email, looked and said, "Oh, yes. That's nice." Really, I said that because I know she has great taste and I trust her. …
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Oh, so bad

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As promised, here is what I did:
(And it's not a bad, me-the-mom story, it's just a bad me story.)

Our street has three houses all in various degrees of being built.
One right across the street from us (a son, who is a builder, is building it for his parents-isn't that awesome?).
Two down the little hill and almost directly across from each other.
They are being built by the same people that built ours.

I know that construction traffic is a consequence of choosing this house that we live in. Fortunately, our area is one that is blessed to still have some growth right now. Ususally, it's no big deal. We are just very careful.
Our mailbox has only been knocked down once and the builder mentioned above took care of it right away.

Today was an especially busy day on the street. Every contractor and their dog was there. (Well, not really their dog, but I just like that saying & when the house diagonally behind us was being built, one of the contractors did bring a litt…
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Sunday School

I almost skipped Sunday School today.
You wouldn't believe how beautiful it was here in Oklahoma. 
I really think today was a Garden of Eden day. Except, it was probably a little warmer in Eden-you know the nakedness and all. Anyway,
the temperature hovered around 80 degrees, the sky was baby, baby blue with the most precious fluffy white clouds set in the sky in such a attractive manner, the fresh new green growing, and a slight off and on breeze.  I even saw a butterfly and five white doves flying.
It was beautiful.
I could really deal with having days like this always.

I did get it together & here's today's Sunday School:

Once I went to a leadership meeting that was very, very good.
I was working in Primary at the time.
We were asked what we remembered most about Primary (those of us who went when we were younger, of course).

What do you think we answered?
We answered: music and how we felt.
Not many of us could remember many specific lessons.

I remember part of tw…
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