Music and Old Friends

I have decided to get my piano chops back up (not that I was ever very good!) since I am no longer in school and have a little extra time on my hands. So, I have been practicing my piano playing almost every day. The songs that I am most excited about are the jazz duets that my sister, Becky, and I used to play. I have the book at my house, but I’m hoping we can play some of them next time my sister is in town. Anyway – I can tell it’s going to be a long process.

I have also been trying to get my singing voice back in shape – that muscle is really weak. I know I will never be a soprano again, but I’m hoping to enlarge my range a little bit. Randy made a CD for me of 13 of his songs where I sing the lead or we do a duet on them, so that I can practice singing along with them. It’s hard to find other songs where the range is low enough for me.

Speaking of music – Randy took today off from work and got to play music with his guitar player from Los Angeles (Ralph), an old missionary companion that was in town from California (Craig Nelson) and a couple of brothers from Provo that Craig knows. I guess one of them is head of production at BYU films and the other one is the son-in-law of one of the piano players that Randy has used on his recordings. Anyway, he had fun.

Also, since Randy’s Meniere’s disease has been in remission for months, he got some digital hearing aids. He has really been enjoying being able to hear tones that he couldn’t hear before – crinkling paper and running water are a bit irritating, however. I’ve had ANOTHER cold. This is the third one this winter, and they have all been pretty substantial. I’m pretty tired of it. Nyquil (nighttime and daytime) has been my friend this week.

Lastly, I saw some old friends this month. First, I was in the temple doing a sealing session since I had a few names from my mother’s family that needed to be done. A man came in near the end that said his name was Brother Tobler. Afterwards I asked him if his name was Karl, and he said yes. We talked for a while and I reminded him that we had dated one spring when I lived at the same apartment complex that he lived in. We talked about the people we remembered from there and about our families. I’m not sure he remembered me too well, although he said that he remembered my name. I guess he is the owner of Mattress Warehouse and is on their commercials here in town. Then, an old friend from California, Mark Baker, came up with his wife to visit their daughter and her family that live near here. Randy and I met him for lunch one day and visited about old times and talked about our families. Nice visits – nice people.

Blondes have more fun . . ?

Okay. So, my advice is to never read something while lightening your hair. I tried to hide my dark roots and left the lightener on for a bit longer than I should have. It hadn’t worked too well last time I used it, so I gave it a little more time and I was reading scriptures (of all things!) while I waited. When I washed out my hair, I had overdone it! So, my friend down the street (a hair dresser) will fix it for me, but she can’t get to me for 1 ½ weeks. So, I will be a platinum blonde, on top, for a little while!

And here’s a picture of Ingrid and Kalvin with his walker when they were here a couple of weeks ago. His look is “Mom – it’s easier when you do it for me!!” Pretty cute, huh?

My, Grandma, what big ears you have!!

The last 3 days have been, shall I say, unusual. Thursday night at about 9:30pm all of our smoke alarms started going off at the same time. We have NINE of them – one in the basement, 3 on the main floor, and 5 upstairs. The noise was deafening. So, Randy went around and started unplugging them. They are all connected by electricity, although 2 of them also had battery back-ups. We thought maybe the batteries needed to be replaced. So, after we got all of them unplugged (the one in our bedroom is on our vaulted ceiling, so this required getting the ladder out of the shed, setting it up, and working off of it to unplug that one), and replaced the 9-volt batteries, the noise finally stopped, and we plugged them all back in.

The next night at approximately 9:30pm we were sitting in the family room watching a DVD and they all started going off again! So, we went through the same routine of unplugging them all, including getting the ladder back out of the shed for the one in our bedroom. This time we decided to leave them all unplugged for the night and install all new ones the next day.

Saturday, after talking to a guy from church that works with fire and smoke alarms, Randy went to Home Depot and bought all new ones. I’m sure the ones in our home had been there for at least 10 years, and that’s when you are supposed to replace them. One of the smoke detectors that he bought was damaged, so he had to drive back down there and exchange it. But, finally, all of the smoke detectors were replaced. Randy could use a chair or a step-ladder to install most of them, but once again, he had to get the ladder out of the shed to do the one in our room.

Everything seemed to be fine when we hit the sack last night, until about 1:30am when the smoke detector in our bedroom started chirping. It didn’t wake Randy – it’s probably at a pitch that he doesn’t hear real well – but it really bothered me. I did not want to wake him, so I finally had to go and lie down on Dylan’s empty bed and close both doors. I tried for over an hour to go to sleep, but I could still hear it. So, I remembered that Randy had some ear plugs (for shooting guns) in his side of the closet. I got those and put them in my ears, but I couldn’t get them to stay in. So, I finally went downstairs to the couch. Since there was only one door closed between the detector and me, I could hear it better than before. I went into the office, closed the door, put the cushions from that loveseat on the floor behind the desk, and lay on them there. I could still hear the chirping, even when the heater came on (I was next to a return vent, so it was louder there). I turned on the desktop computer so that it would make a humming noise. I had to turn off the monitor because it was glowing blue all over the room, but I finally could not hear the chirping and was able to go to sleep. Around 7am I got up and got breakfast for my mother and went upstairs and turned off my alarm that was going off, and went back to the office and got a little more sleep.

I know I don’t hear as well as I used to, but last night I wished I had been deaf.

Puzzles and Disasters

My daughter, Heidi, gave me 2 puzzles for Christmas. Since I am obsessive/compulsive and also a Finisher, I have been working on one of them in my spare time for the last few weeks. I think I will wait a while to get the other one out!!




Also, while I was at the doctor's office for my follow-up visit after the cortizone shot to my leg joint (it is still doing great), I read an article in Time Magazine about natural disasters in the U.S. It said in the 1980's the number of natural disasters that cost at least $1 billion dollars per year on average was 1. From the year 2000 - 2008 there was an average of 5 of these disasters per year. In 2009-2010 there was an average of 7.5 per year. And in 2011 there were 12 of these disasters. (The article said that was because of La Nina). The prediction for 2012 is that there will be less - but they don't know about prophecy, I guess. "If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear."

Happy New Year 2012!!

I am excited that I no longer feel compelled to list what I did for the last month on each blog I write, since I wrote my History and gave copies to my children for Christmas. They are all adults now and can “write” their own from here on out – especially since their lives will inevitably go in different directions. With that said – I will blog about a few things that happened in my life during the last few weeks.

I DID finish my Master’s Degree! I AM SO GLAD. Also, I did get a cortisone shot in my hip and I only have a twinge of pain every once in awhile. It is wonderful. Of course, they say there’s no telling how long it will last – weeks, months, or even years. I’m hoping for ‘years’.

And, we did have lots of company over the holidays. First, Ingrid, Jeff and Kalvin came for 4 days over Christmas weekend. It was so good to visit with them. Ingrid has been working out and is looking great. Jeff was having a bit of pain in his back again (he had surgery last year) so he was trying to take it easy. And Kalvin is just a cutie! He really is a very good baby. They also brought their two dogs.

We talked to Jesse on Christmas (who was staying a little west of Topeka for the holiday) and everything seems to be going well for him and Amanda. We got to Skype with Dylan in Ohio on

Christmas afternoon. It was wonderful. He is growing in his testimony by leaps and bounds, it seems. Heidi was here for the opening of gifts in the morning, but she had to work that afternoon and evening, so she missed the phone call. Tyler, my mom, and my sister Connie got to talk to him, though.

Then, a few days after Christmas the Wood family came for a visit.There was Dan, his wife Naira, 10 year old son Arman, 8 year old daughter Monja, and Naira’s mother. His wife and mother-in-law are from Armenia. They had a lot of fun seeing some sites around Salt Lake and we tagged along for some of it. Originally, they were going to leave Sunday morning, but they decided to leave on Saturday morning and stay in Las Vegas on their way back to L.A. It was a really nice visit and we enjoyed it a lot.

So, for New Year’s Eve we ended up going out to dinner with Ralph and Sandy Edson at Tucano’s Brazilian restaurant. Then we went back to their place and visited and played a game. We were home and in bed by the time midnight rolled around, but we could hear fireworks going off outside.

We really feel like last year ended very well for us – Randy’s Meniere’s disease has gone back into remission after his surgery and subsequent steroids being shot through his eardrum, his work is going well, I finished my Master’s degree and it is all paid for, I no longer limp from the pain when I walk, and all our kids seem to be doing well. We look forward to 2012. Bring it on . . !

I AM OLD

Well, here we are in the thick of the holidays! In some ways I love it, in some ways I don’t. I’ve got 2 more weeks of school and then I’m done! We have friends from Los Angeles coming to stay for a few days before Christmas, and also Ingrid, Jeff and Kalvin will be here for a few days after that. Something to look forward to! However, I still have shopping to do. And I hate the cold.

At the beginning of November I had to pick up a new hearing aid for my mom – her old one had a tear in it. I also canned tomatoes. ..What?? Yes, I had picked a bunch of tomatoes off the vine when the first frost came and I had them in the window ripening. So, it wasn’t a big batch. I still have 3 tomatoes in the window that are green! One night we went down to Ralph and Sandy Edson’s for dinner in their new house. He used to play guitar in the band that we were in when we lived in Los Angeles. They moved up here after he retired, and have now built a beautiful new house. It was a nice evening.

I have been to a couple of doctor’s this month. I went to the eye doctor – this time an ophthamologist instead of just an optometrist – to have the cataracts in my right eye checked. I guess they aren’t getting much bigger so I can wait awhile for surgery. My prescription hadn’t changed much, either. Then I also went to see the doctor about my hip joint. It has been bothering me for some time, but progressively keeps getting worse. First it started hurting all the time when I was on the treadmill (fast walk – not run), so we got a stationary bicycle for me to ride. That’s been a lot better because I don’t put any weight on my hip during exercise, but my hip has continued to get worse. It’s not too bad if I’m just around the house, but if I have to walk any distance (like into a store) I have a noticeable limp and it really hurts. So, the regular doctor had me get an x-ray. Nothing showed up, so I have an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon this Friday. I hope they can do something non-evasive for it – cortisone shots, maybe?

We had our Thanksgiving meal on Wednesday night so that Heidi could join us. She had to work on Thursday. Tyler also joined us, so there were 6 of us. It was very simple, but gave us a chance to reflect on all that we have. Tyler stayed that night and helped Randy put up the Christmas lights the next morning. The 3 of us went to see “The Big Year” that day. It is a movie about bird watching. It doesn’t sound too exciting, but the stars are Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson. Narration is done by John Cleese, and a few other stars that I recognized were Kevin Pollack, JoBeth Williams, Dianne Weist, Brian Dennehy, Anjelica Huston, and Corbin Bernsen. We loved it. I still keep hearing the ring tone “♪…the bird is the word… ♫” We came back home and had leftovers and pie. It was kind of nice to not have to do Thanksgiving dinner on Thanksgiving!!

For the Friday and Saturday following Thanksgiving, Randy and I decided to have a “stay-cation.” Friday morning we went to an art gallery downtown called the “Rio Gallery.” They didn’t have much there, but it was enjoyable to walk around and look at the paintings and sculptures that were on display. Following that we were going to go to a much larger art gallery, the “Hope Gallery,” but it was closed for the long weekend. We will definitely have to go there someday, however. They have some pieces from at least 25 different artists, including some of the masters (Rembrandt, Carl Bloch, etc). So, instead we went to the State Capitol building and walked through it. The offices there were also closed, but we could see the paintings, murals, and sculptures that are placed all around the inside. There were also a lot of other displays to see. From there we found a hotel room and then grabbed some lunch. Next we attended a play at the Desert Star Playhouse. It was a satire (as are all their productions) of “It’s a Wonderful Life.” It was pretty funny. Then the actors and actresses sang a handful of Christmas carols. It was enjoyable. From there we went to Tepanyaki for dinner and then went back to the hotel for a swim in the pool (Randy only – it was too cold for me) and to sit in the Jacuzzi (both of us).

The following morning we ate breakfast in the hotel lobby (there was also a small-college basketball team there) and then checked out. We drove up to the University and went through their new Natural History Museum. It was beautiful, and quite large. I always get a little put off when they start talking about “millions of years,” but we enjoyed it on the whole.

From there we went to see the movie “The Help” about black families in the South that were no longer slaves, but were basically still treated like they were by the families that they worked for, and how a newspaper reporter writes a book about it. It was excellent. After that, we went to the Living Planet Aquarium and looked at all the underwater life there. It was a pretty good museum, although not too large, and we especially enjoyed watching the penguins. There was glass so that you could see them both above and below the water and they kept chasing each other around and jumping in and out of the water. We then grabbed some dinner at Fazoli’s Italian restaurant (fast food) before going to IKEA. I thought we would just be in and out quickly, but NO. We finally found the exit without getting anything, and left and drove home. It was nice to get away for a couple of days and not think of work or school, but it was also nice to be home and sleep in our own bed!

Finally, I attended a missionary farewell for Clint Hubbard, the youngest son of Connie (Mach) Hubbard. It was nice. It’s hard to believe that everyone around my age has all their children grown – I. AM. OLD!!

Here comes November...!

Well, I continue to be amazed at our incredible weather. I am loving it!! Ends tomorrow, though…

General Conference was the first weekend of October. It was great, as usual. I got to watch all the sessions and I even watched the Priesthood session online after-the-fact. Our November Ensign should be here sometime by the next week and I’ll get to read all of the talks, plus I also get the CD’s so that I can listen to them in the car. Those usually come in a month or so. I am in awe that I live at a time when the words of our modern prophets are so available.

We also had our Stale Conference this last month. On the Saturday evening where adults are invited, the Stake Presidency and all of their wives spoke. That was nice. Then on Sunday morning, it was actually a Regional Stake Conference, so it was broadcast from the Conference Center downtown. We got to hear the General Presidents of the Young Men (David L. Beck) and Young Women (Elaine S. Dalton), a member of the seventy (Craig C. Christensen), and the main speaker was the Apostle David L. Bednar. It was also a really good meeting.

We had the Primary Sacrament Meeting program last month. All of the kids did a great job on their parts, and they sang their hearts out. I have found a few tricks during Primary that gets them to really sing. I have an assortment of silly hats and I bring one every so often. The class that sings the loudest, or the best, gets to have their teacher wear the hat during the next song. I am amazed at how well they do just to see their teacher look ridiculous. The older Primary kids are very competitive. If I have a reward for the half of the room that sings best/loudest they will sing real well, so I try to come up with new ways of doing that. It is wearing me out, but I love to hear them sing!

Jesse and Amanda went on a cruise in the Mediterranean that they really enjoyed. Tyler came over and helped Randy put in storm doors on the French doors off the dining room. (Randy had previously put a storm door on the front door.) Heidi ran in a half marathon for the first time and did real well even though the farthest she had ever run in training was 5 miles. Ingrid and Jeff dressed up as gypsies for a Halloween party with Kalvin as their monkey. And Dylan’s letters from the mission field sound as if he continues doing well and enjoying his service. This picture is from a Zone Conference that he attended. He is the second from the right.

Monday night was Halloween and we had lots of trick-or-treaters come by – not as many as in years past though. Connie handed out the candy again this year. So (big breath) – holidays, here we come…!