Lord's Hand in October 2008

10/31/08~ All the costumes are ready, and I think they turned out pretty good if I do say so myself. Bud's was a bit tricky but we managed. Bear is the only one who had school and the only way I could talk him into going was he had a Halloween party and got to wear his costume. It made him happy that no one else was going to a party, he was special. I'm just glad I remebered to send him to school, I always forget if no one else has school.

10/30/08~ We found out our neighbor, Nancy, fell the other day so all the kids went over and helped me rake her yard and sweep her driveway. They are such big helpers and always great at service.

10/29/08~ Bear, Bud and I went out and got the stuff for everyones Halloween costumes. I think it would've been cheaper for me to buy the costumes at Wal-Mart instead of trying to do them myself. Of course, when Beaner got home she said she'd changed her mind on what she wanted to be. She decided she wanted to be a vampire instead of a witch. Since most of her stuff can cross over relatively easily I didn't see the harm. I guess we'll wait and see which one she decides on. Bud wants to be five pumpkins stuck together, he really likes the poem "Five Little Pumpkins". Bear wants to be a ghost, not hard. Bug wants to be a mad scientist. We got her some plad pants with a tie-dye shirt, she looks cute.

10/28/08~ I went to a conference with the Pulitzer prize winning author Sonia Nazario. She took us into her world as she discussed the behind the scenes of her novel "Enrique's Journey". She did an awesome job telling us from a jornalists point of view every thing that went into writing this novel: research, actually walking in Enrique's shoes, the countless interviews. It salidified for me that I am in the right field. Of course she did say that if she had kids she would've never rode the tops of the trains for 1600 miles. I've often worried about that, what am I willing to do and not to do as a mother and a journalist?

10/27/08~ My two nephews came over to play with Bear. They found a stash of forgotten lipstick and applied it, not only to their lips, but also the back of my couch.

10/26/08~ My whole family stayed home from church sick, except me. I had a pew all to myself and I was actually able to listen to the entire sacrament without having to shoosh anyone. Well I wanted to shoosh the couple behind me once or twice, but I didn't think the former 2nd councelor of the Bishopric and he wife would appreciate it much.

10/25/08~ Big D took the kids most of the day for me. I was able to write my paper and get some relaxation in before I realized it was a beautiful day outside and I didn't want to relax anymore. I took a nice walk over to the park my family was playing at and took some fun pictures.

10/24/08~ I have sickos in my house today. Poor Beaner wasn't feeling good yesterday when she got home from school, so we let her ride in the cart as we dragged her around Costco. She had a slight fever and today she woke up with the same fever. I think she was a little too excited to stay home from school though.

10/23/08~ I know this probably isn't a big deal for most people but Costco opened today. We went to look around, and of course you can't not buy something. They had tons of samples so I didn't have to make dinner last night, yeah for me. I felt like it was Christmas morning walking around running into everyone we know. The down side is we bought $86 worth of stuff and there really wasn't that much stuff. Well there was a lot of stuff just not a variety of stuff. I'm still excited to go back. Big D made it a rule that I'm not allowed to shop there unless he's present. I can live with that. It's probably wise for me to have some one there to slap my hand.

10/22/08~ I spent 90% of my day at school. I had my class, then lab, and to top it off I had to go hear some "Biggest Looser" guy give a speech so I could write an article. I was so done with school.

10/21/08~ I think I am in a bit of a funk. I haven't been able to write anything. I've been lazy. I don't want to get dresses. I need to pull myself out of this or my whole family is going to suffer, who am I kidding they probably already are. I keep telling myself that I deserve a break after all the hard work I've been putting into my canning and school. The truth is I felt so much better when I was keeping myself busy.

10/20/08~ I think I'm thinking too much on my papers. I started the semester off great and I fear my writing is getting worse and worse. What do I do?

10/19/08~ It's getting harder and harder to want to go to church when all I've been doing the past two years is babysitting other peoples' kids so they can fill up their spiritual well while I run on empty.

10/18/08~ We took the kids to our universities homecoming parade. It was a long parade especially since they had to stop the parade for thirty minutes because two kids, in separate incidents, ran out in the street after candy and got hit by floats. I've heard that city officials are thinking about making it against the rules to throw candy at the parades anymore. I think this parade probably pushed the issue over the edge, which is too bad since this is usually how we get our Halloween candy. We're cheep.

10/17/08~ Okay I'm back on the world wide web thank you thank you thank you. I've been going nuts. I'm pretty sure the dudes over in the Phillipines that I've been on the phone with for the past two days think I'm nuts too.

10/16/08~ I've been having some problems with my internet and I finally lost the whole shibang. I never realized how addicted I am to the internet until I was cut off cold turkey. It is amazing how much I got done around my house though, hum.

10/15/08~ I wrote to my new boss and turned down the job. I couldn't find the time to squeeze a job into my life. It was a nice experience and I was grateful for the opportunity but I have the rest of my life to work and a limited time with my kids.

10/14/08~ I'm coming down with a stupid cold. I spent all day in my car driving from one side of town to the other and back. I wanted to stay in bed and sleep but that was not in the stars. I went and got groceries, over to my mom's to help her can, and over to pick up the girls from school then back to my mom's. I was supposed to go to a meeting but my head was pounding and it was not going to happen.

10/13/08~ I went and picked up my nephews, Lowell Jr. and Hyatt. They went we Bear and I to get a slow leak in my front tire fixed and then to the mall to play in the play ground. Les Schwab said it was only going to take 30 minutes to fix my tire and then we'd have about an hour to play. An hour and a half later we finally we able to go play, but by that time we could only stay for 15 minutes before having to pick the kids up from school. We still had a good time and the boys all got along well. Everyone kept asking if they were twins or triplets.

10/12/08~ My Primary President came up to me and said she was looking at when I was put in as Nursery Leader and it's been about a year. She asked if I was getting burnt out or if I wanted to stay in longer. I told I was getting burnt out since I was in as Nursery worker a year to a year-and-a-half before they called me as the leader. So cross your fingers I may be getting released here soon. Of course, there are a lot worse callings than nursery so I shouldn't start to celebrate just yet. You know who will here me.

10/11/08~ Our first snow of the season. We started a fire in the fireplace and watched as the flakes got bigger and juicier. Big D and I commented what a perfect day it was and we don't have to go out in it. Then my mom called and asked if we'd hurry and pick apples at her house before the snow snapped the branches. So much for my cozy day at home by the fire. I even have a book I wanted to read. It was suppose to be a perfect cliche of a day.

10/10/08~ After a sleepless night of rewrite Bonn, my new boss, thinks my new article is "wonderful!!!" That feels better.

Bear had a field trip to the pumpkin patch. We took Bud with us since he didn't have school. We had fun feeding corn stalks to ducks, bunnies, pigs, and horses. We got lost in an educational maze and searched high and low for the perfect pumpkins to bring home.

10/9/08~ The lady, I don't know if I should call her my boss or not because I don't know if I have a job or not. The lady did not like my article. I had to convince her to let me try again now that I had more of an understanding as to what she wants. I don't think I'm ready to write for other people's approval yet. Accept for my professor but that's just because he lavashes prase on me.

I finally got my new camera I ordered. I haven't been able to enjoy it yet because I'm too stressed about my article. Maybe tomorrow after my deadline.

10/8/08~ I got an interesting email. A lady at my university said I was recommended by my professor for a job. I've never been approached about someone wanting me for a job before, it feels good. Of course, then the stress sets in. I contacted her and she asked me to come to her office. I thought I was going in for an interview but she just sat me down and started telling me what she wanted me to write a 200 word article for the alumni magazine. Oh, and it needs to be done by tomorrow. Now the stress really set in.

10/7/08~ I really don't remember what went on this day. We just had a kicked back none memorable day I guess. Sometimes that's just the way I like it.

10/6/08~ I got a paper back saying how disappointed my professor is in me. He did say everyone has an off day and this must have been mine. I am letting the pressure get to me. How do I quit doing that?

10/5/08~ My Mother-in-law, my sister Ann, and my Step-mother Honey all have birthday's this week so we celebrated them all today. We did a nice family breakfast at my in-laws. Then we did a huge family and friend dinner at my dad's and step-mother's. Poor Ann just got a phone call because she couldn't afford to come home for her joint celebration with Honey.

10/4/08~ I canned peaches all day and Big D set up new shelves in the girls room. We enjoyed listening to conference while we were working. The kids ended up going out to Grandma Honey and Papa Guy's house for a sleepover. Big D and I were took exhausted to make a night out of it.

10/3/08~ We all went up to my brother Lowell's house and watched 'Iron Man' on his projector. It was a bit different because Lowell's family wasn't home. We had the whole house to ourselves, what a trusting brother. About the movie, I thought it was okay. I'm not a Robert Downey Jr. fan, I think he plays one character and that's all he knows.

10/2/08~ Big D didn't have to go to school so we spent a nice relaxing evening with the kids. You'd think it was the weekend around here with him renting movies. The kids loved having him home to spend some quality time with them.

10/1/08~ My morning class got cancelled due to computer problems so I took Bear, Lowell Jr. and Hyatt to the park. Kinnzi came with us too and she had a bit too much fun running off so she got stuck on her leash. You'd think she'd learn.