Thanks for the ride

I was reading some of my favorite blogs and came across this one. It is so true.

"There seems to be a superstition among many thousands of our young who hold hands and smooch in the drive-ins that marriage is a cottage surrounded by perpetual hollyhocks to which a perpetually young and handsome husband comes home to a perpetually young and [beautiful] wife. When the hollyhocks wither and boredom and bills appear the divorce courts are jammed. …
“Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he has been robbed.

“[The fact is] most putts don’t drop. Most beef is tough. Most children grow up to be just people. Most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration. Most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. …

“Life is like an old-time rail journey—delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed.

“The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride”
(“Big Rock Candy Mountains,” Jenkins Lloyd Jones Deseret News, 12 June 1973, A4).
Thank you, Dear Lord. Thank you.

List maker/goal setter

I am a list maker. I make myself a list every day. I don't always do the things I write down in order but I pick a choose what to do next. I like crossing off things as I get them done. I don't think I could get enough things done if it wasn't for my lists. I am easily distracted. I even make them for Casey and Taylor. I'm sure they love it when I give them a list:) Now when I give them a list I put them in order and give them a time limit. I'm starting to get really bossy. I usually make a daily list, sometimes a weekly list and occasionally a monthly list. Right now I have wedding lists, harvest lists, family reunion lists and to do lists. Jay on the other hand was a goal setter. That is different than a list maker. His lists were of goals for next year or next harvest season or next hunting season. He wrote everything down. That is especially helpful for us. I know what he had planned and now I can make my lists so that I can get it done. Sometimes he would ask me what my goals are. I didn't really think about goals. I guess my goal was to be a good wife, good mom, good nana. My goal was to be nice, work hard and be happy. If I have a goal now , it is to continue to do the things that he had going. I think I should get started making a list. I have a lot to do.

Only 30 days!

Mindy reminded me that there are only 30 days till the wedding. When you say it is a month away that sounds better. But when you say it's only 30 days, well we better get some things done. We are makng a list, one month away, three weeks away, two weeks, one week and then the week of. I don't think I should panic but I am getting antsy. Yesterday, Stacy started working on a project. We heard this really cool song for the Father-Daughter dance. I know that Jay won't be there physically for this but I know he will be watching and enjoying it with her. Stacy wants to put together a picture show to be played during this music. It is awesome. Sometimes when I listen to the song, I just close my eyes and pretend he is here. Go to YouTube and look at Daddy's Angel. This is Jay at Stacy's wedding. He had tears when Mindy was toasting Stacy and Ryan. He is the best Dad ever.

Black Strap Molassas

A jar of pickles lasts a lot longer than it used to. Jay used to take a jar of pickles and sit down to watch a movie. He would eat almost the whole jar. He would leave one or two pickles cuz that wouldn't be cool to eat the whole jar. He also loved to eat uncooked pasta. I would have to hide it from him if I needed it for dinner. He would munch on it like most people would popcorn. His most recent thing was Black Strap Molassas. He would get it at the Health Food Store. He would take it out of the fridge and eat a tablespoon once or twice a day. I don't know what it was for, but thats what he did. You can come to my house in thirty years and it will still be there. I can't part with anything that was his. Not even Black Strap Molassas.

Abraham

This evening was kinda awkward. I was fixing dinner when someone drove up to the house. Mindy called to me that someone was at the door. When I went to answer, it was a Hispanic guy. He had a big smile and said hi and asked for Jay. I recognized him as one who worked in the past during our harvest season. It was hard to tell him where Jay was. He didn't speak English and I didn't speak Spanish. I tried to tell him but he just smiled and said "no comprende." It was hard enough to say it once , but to try and tell him again was too much . I asked him to follow me to the shop so the other guys that work here could help me explain. He just smiled and followed me. When Martin was telling him I just couldn't hold back the tears. His smile left his face and he said he was sorry. I know he was. Sometimes even tho my brain knows, my mouth just doesn't want to say it. It is still hard to believe it myself. So Abraham shook my hand and gave me a big bowl of cherries that he had picked in Washington. Martin got his phone number . Jay always had the best guys working here weather it was full time or just seasonal. He treated them very good and they always come back. I sure hope to see Abraham in November.

Happy Ever After

Love is as much of an object as an obsession. Everybody wants it, everybody seeks it, but few ever achieve it. Those who do will cherish it, be lost in it , and among all, never...never forget it. Curtis Judalet

Summer is the wedding season and we have been to four weddings already. We are invited to five more AND we are planning one of our own for Mindy. There is so much planning and scheduling to do. Each wedding is beautiful with every little thing thought of. Some are elegant. Others are romantic/country. Some are trendy. Mindy's will be a little vintage.

This got me thinking of my own wedding. Jay and I were engaged on Labor Day 1978. We were married only three months later on November 25th. My mom made my dress. A friend of Jay's mom arranged the flowers. Another family friend made the wedding cake. There wasn't alot of details. All I know is that I was getting married to my best friend. We were really young and in love. That was almost 30 years ago. We had so much fun and so much adventure ahead of us. There was a couple of years with just the two of us before we had kids. In those 30 years we have done so much. It was never boring. I never wished anything was different. I enjoyed every minute of it.

What I am trying to say is that so many times you put so much into every detail of your wedding and not enough into your life together. Just think how great your marriage would be if you wanted every day to be special. Being married should be as important as getting married. Of course, your wedding day should be perfect and you should be a princess. But remember it's your life together that is important and it should turn out happily ever after.

Little Red Hen

Friday was a fun day. We went to Silverton to "Old Stuff on Main." I got a few treasures and then found a couple more at a yard sale. We came home, watched the parade, bbq'd, watched fireworks and went to bed. Saturday Mindy and I went wedding stuff shopping. We spent the whole day goofing off. Stacy and Ryan and the kids took the 4-wheelers to the mountians to ride. Casey went golfing. So did Louis. Taylor went to the Woodburn races. So it was a couple of days where everyone got to do what they wanted. Today, we got up early, read the paper and then went to church. After church I had a gigancious list of things to do. Not just for me but for everyone. I made a list and let everyone pick what they wanted to do. I was trying to be bossy and it wasn't working out to well. They would do one little thing and then go away. So I would hunt them down and show them the list again. They would pick the easiest thing and then dissappear again. I felt like the little red hen. So, I cut my prettiest roses and took them to the cemetary. That seemed to help. I just have to remember to "not sweat the small stuff." When I came back home, we all had dinner and the little monsters came out. We got in the hot tub for a little while. I took a deep breath, thanked God for my family and hope they still love their bossy
mom.

Happy

If you have ever watched the Seattle Mariners play baseball, you would see the right fielder named Ichiro. When-ever he comes up to bat, he has this routine that he does. It is exactly the same everytime. Some of the boys on Taylor's baseball team have routines that they do too. Some swing the bat the same way before the ball is pitched. Some tap the corners of the plate exactly the same. When Casey was pitching, he would hop over the chalk line when coming or going to the mound. Lots of people have routines they do day after day for whatever reason.

Back in October I started reading a book called "Happiness Now." It tells you that happiness is available to you at all times. It is all up to you. It is your choice. So, every morning for the past months I have a routine. I shower, brush my teeth, put on my makeup and dry my hair. Then I reach for my perfume. It is called "Happy" by Clinique. I spray it on and imagine that it is magic spray. It is my choice and I choose to be happy. Now if only I could find a magic spray that is called brilliant:)