Dry Shampoo

Have you heard of it?
I had quite a few compliments on my hair today and guess what?
It's three days, two workouts, and one very windy outing this morning into it's last washing.
I owe it all to a can of dry shampoo.

Maybe I am too lazy, time deprived or hold to the belief that washing and blowing out my hair too often will add to the damage that may inflict to shampoo everyday.
Maybe I am just excited about an appointment tomorrow.
This stuff is wonderful.
Few shots of aersol magic &  the grunge is refreshed.
It's a lesson for all.
And now you know.
Tomorrow I shall cut and dye.

(FYI-it comes in expensive "product" brands or you can get less expensive ones--that's the one I use and I really am happy with the results.  Like I said-compliments-with an s-today-how about that?  And I was using this stuff before I heard the professional recommend it to someone in his chair. Woo for me.)

Sunday School

Picture from here. (It's not an official LDS site, but it has good info.)

This is Elder Dallin H. Oaks.  He is a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
(The organization of twelve apostles who are chosen as special witnesses of Christ to all the world. The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles becomes the presiding body of the Church in the event of the death of the prophet, until a new president of the Church is chosen and ordained.)

Our lesson in Relief Society was based on a talk given by him last November.
It was titled "Love and Law."
You can find it in it's entirety here.

This is the very first thing he said:
"I have been impressed to speak about God’s love and God’s commandments. My message is that God’s universal and perfect love is shown in all the blessings of His gospel plan, including the fact that His choicest blessings are reserved for those who obey His laws. These are eternal principles that should guide parents in their love and teaching of their children."
(I'm not going to talk about the teaching the children part today, just wanted you to see it so you knew Elder Oak's main theme.)

And FYI- I believe God's choicest blessings aren't a nice house or an easy life. I believe they are eternal life and getting to life in His presence after our time here on earth is finished.

Earlier this week, I listened to a dear woman who said some things that were difficult to hear.
This woman who is almost at "wit's end." She is living in very difficult circumstances and has been for a few years. Her life is not turning out how she had "hoped or dreamed" it would. The situation she is in is not totally of her making. She feels that God does not answer her prayers and that He has abandoned her.

I wish she could know and understand the following:
"God’s choicest blessings are clearly contingent upon obedience to God’s laws and commandments. The key teaching is from modern revelation:


'There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—

'And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated” (D&C 130:20–21).

This great principle helps us understand the why of many things, like justice and mercy balanced by the Atonement. It also explains why God will not forestall the exercise of agency by His children. Agency—our power to choose—is fundamental to the gospel plan that brings us to earth. God does not intervene to forestall the consequences of some persons’ choices in order to protect the well-being of other persons—even when they kill, injure, or oppress one another—for this would destroy His plan for our eternal progress. He will bless us to endure the consequences of others’ choices, but He will not prevent those choices."

If a person understands the teachings of Jesus, he or she cannot reasonably conclude that our loving Heavenly Father or His divine Son believes that Their love supersedes Their commandments."

Our choices have consequences. We can choose how to deal with what we have been given to deal with in the life we are living right now.
God loves us & wants us back, we just need to be willing to do what He asks of us to get there.

I wish you could have been there for the lesson. It was very good.  Go read the article (linked above).  It's got a lot of "meat" in it.

(The D&C is the Doctrine and Covenants--visit here to learn more about that.)

Maggots, The Second Year Anniversary

Picture from here.

Because I may be feeling morbid this week.  Because you need to know what happens when little mammals die in your walls or floors or somewhere near you.  Because I am trying to stay at a certain caloric limit today.

This post shall be about maggots.

Two years ago, I had a run in with the maggots.  Big, big creepy maggots.

Backstory:   Two years ago, my mr. was living in Oklahoma working and I was living with four children (and apparently some other things) in Texas because of a work, school, and selling the house situation.  It lasted for 7 months. I believe we have overcome the trauma that this time wreaked on our family, but at the time it was quite an adventure (code for "oh my word, are we going to survive this?").

More Backstory:  Many, many adventures took place right before and during this time period.  Too many to tell you all, but here's a couple that have to do with the house-

Let's just say that it is no longer code for water heaters to be placed in the attics of two story homes without some expensive attachments and you had better be sure that the drain pans don't have holes and if a certain teenager's bedroom door (right below said water heaters) doesn't seem to open and close as well as it used to, then there might be a problem. 

(And it happened with both water heaters--I know-two water heaters-it was Texas, give me a break.)

And all of my homes now and in the future will have lever type faucets so as to make it easy for little hands to be able to shut off the faucet easily because when a faucet is left on in the upstairs bathroom draining into the drain that the airconditioner runoff also drains and that drain is clogged with the yuck that grows when the person who (or whom?) is in charge of the maintenence decides to skip the monthly pouring of the bleach that kills the yuck, the resulting flood is not nice to deal with. (That one happened before our 7 month adventure.)

I believe it all started with the snake that got stuck in the outside airconditioner fan. Or maybe it was the rat that was the target of the snake that got stuck, but didn't die.  Until a neighbor (or my mr.) took a shovel to it.

But it pretty much ended with the mouse that I thought was a rat that was the host of what this post is really all about.

The maggots. Back to the maggots.

I was sorting laundry in my first floor master bath (because we had a lot of laundry and I could fling dirty clothes and the floor was tile and if anyone came over, I certainly was not going to invite them into my bathroom, so they wouldn't see the mess--lucky them).

At a certain point, in the jeans pile, I saw a cream colored half-inch, thing that didn't look like it belonged. So I walked over there to get it, to throw it away.  I began grumbling because when I finally figured out what it was, I knew we had a situation to deal with.  The clothes had come from someone's upstairs closet and that room wasn't clean.  The house was going on the market very soon.

Oh baby. 

Mommy was not looking forward to dealing with this.

Then I saw more on the floor.

Then I felt I tiny tap on the back of my head that was looking down at the floor.

Then I put my hand to the back of my head and just about threw-up right there.

Then I looked up.

Those little creepies were falling from my ceiling!

EWWWW!

Then I laughed.

I went and got a garbage bag, tape, and step stool.

Very carefully, and tightly, covered the fan and the vent with the bag hanging down.

Those little guys dropped right into the bag & I was so glad I taped it tight, because-those little squirmers could climb.

EWWWW!

Then I laughed.

When I would come in the room, they would writhe around and make the bag crinkle.

And it was a white bag, so you could see them wriggleing around and trying to escape.

I laughed.

And then we figured out how to solve the problem.

And then when the problem came out from between the floors, all evidence of the maggots having squirmed away, with a couple of really huge flys trying to escape out the window, it was a tiny little mouse.

Then I laughed.

Here is what I've learned:

-there are some very gross pictures of maggots out in the internet world, I found a nice one for you-don't go looking-they are just gross

-I shouldn't judge my children's laundry

-nature has a way of dealing with life and death (yes, I knew this, but when I was tapped on the head, it hit home)

-you can find a solution to most problems if you look hard enough

-the trials you go through before others prepare you for what might come next

-once you are able to laugh, it gets easier

Parenting & Three Stooges

"Maybe it's not a good idea to let him watch 'Three Stooges' right before bed."
---my mr. as he was getting the 4 year old ready for bed after some television bonding.
little mr. j was acting out what he had seen.


Nuck, Nuck, Nuck

Sunday School

Picture from here.

Here's a story a young mom gave in her talk in Sacrament Meeting:

FYI-This is not going to be as good as when she told it, but I hope you can see through it to the message.

When she was a little girl in Colorado, their family had a creek that ran through their property.  The parents instructed the children to stay out of it when the snow was thawing and the creek had a lot of water in it and was running fast. This creek led to a larger river that sounded like it had a lot rapids in it.

She and her brother went down to the creek and yes, the snow was melting and there was a lot of water.  She decided that she could cross the creek & ventured in.  Sure enough, she got to a point where the current knocked her feet out from under her & the water started washing her downstream. She knew she needed to get out, but just couldn't.

Her brother grabbed a tree limb, ran down stream and stuck it out to her.  She was able to catch it and get to safety before she reached the river.

She related this story to how we all need help sometimes.
How we can be the person who reaches out a branch to help another.
It was a great talk.

I also think that sometimes we get in situations that are too difficult to get ourselves out of & we need to accept that limb from somebody else. Sometimes that's not an easy thing to do.

I know I am very greatful for all the limb givers in my life.
Hopefully I'll be able to stick out some limbs someday.



What is Sacrament Meeting? Click here for a definition.

The Little Girl With A Curl

There was a little girl who had a little curl

Right in the middle of her forehead;

When she was good, she was very, very good,

And when she was bad she was horrid.

(Thank you, Grandma Dodie)

Tonight I miss my little girl with the little curl. 
Tonight she is a young woman. 
Tonight she was not horrid, but our interaction made me sad.
(Just as much me as it was her.)
When they are little, life is a bit less complicated
even though there are some adventures.

"This actually isn't a nursery rhyme. It is a poem written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The line "she was very, very good" should actually be "she was very good indeed". Longfellow's second son Ernest says of this poem: "It was while walking up and down with his second daughter, then a baby in his arms, that my father composed and sang to her the well-known lines .... Many people think this a Mother Goose rhyme, but this is the true version and history"

--Susan Wichlett
quote above found here.

THERE WAS A LITTLE GIRL

There was a little girl,

And she had a little curl

Right in the middle of her forehead.

When she was good

She was very, very good,

And when she was bad she was horrid.

One day she went upstairs,

When her parents, unawares,

In the kitchen were occupied with meals,

And she stood upon her head

In her little trundle-bed,

And then began hooraying with her heels.

Her mother heard the noise,

And she thought it was the boys

A-playing at a combat in the attic;

But when she climbed the stair,

And found Jemima there,

She took and she did spank her most emphatic.

--HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW

Found something interesting while trolling around the internet with the curl reference:

"Help girls figure out the source of their anger. Because anger is a frightening and potentially dangerous emotion, it is often displaced. The real sources of anger may be hard to identify. Mothers are the frequent targets of their daughters displaced anger. In many cases, mother/daughter relationships are experienced as the only relationships where girls can feel safe enough to express their anger and know that they will still be loved.

Adults can provide a constructive outlet for angry feelings by helping girls to talk through their emotional responses. By creating opportunities for girls to be heard and responded to, adults assist young girls to become more balanced and genuine. Encouraging the healthy expression of anger is not an invitation to uncontrolled rage. It is an invitation to self-discovery and empowerment - a message that one can acknowledge true feelings and take constructive action to make a difference."

You can find the entire article here.

something I am thankful for....

dictionary.com

thank you and goodnight