Sandy, Boxes, Tractor, Missionaries

I am worried that Bryce, Marianne, and Gabrielle are going to be without electricity for several days if Hurricane Sandy's effects go through Pittsburgh.  I urged them to get a Coleman stove, and was very thankful to hear they bought one.  I hope their area turns out to be fine.



There are still boxes everywhere in our house, the pantry got completely done on Saturday, but all the food won't fit in there, so I have to go to Plan B and start figuring out other places to put it.



Wayne spent a long time trying to figure out how to work the tractor, he was having trouble controlling his vocabulary because the manual was SO POORLY WRITTEN that he wanted to cuss and scream at whoever wrote it.  John Deere needs to hire a better instruction manual writer.
I can hear the tractor going right now, so I guess he is practicing driving it around.





Here is an article about the huge increase in missionary applications occurring right now.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/25/mormon-missionary-application-increase-471-percent_n_2011973.html

My head is exploding

The roofers have been on my roof ALL DAY THURSDAY, ALL DAY FRIDAY, ALL DAY TODAY.

BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, HAMMER, HAMMER, HAMMER, SCRAPE, BANG, BANG, BANG, HAMMER, HAMMER, SCRAPE, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, HAMMER, HAMMER, HAMMER, SCRAPE, BANG, BANG, BANG, HAMMER, HAMMER, SCRAPE, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, HAMMER, HAMMER, HAMMER, SCRAPE, BANG, BANG, BANG, HAMMER, HAMMER, SCRAPE.



And the builders have been finishing my bookshelves and the painter has been painting my pantry shelves.  I totally feel like Shelley Long or Tom Hanks in "The Money Pit", I walk through my house  every day, saying hello to all the workmen either inside it or looking in through the windows.

When will it ever end?

Bryce and Marianne's new baby, Gabrielle

No photos yet, but Gabrielle Rose was born last night, October 17.  More information later.

Wayne's new baby, John Deere

It has a front loader, a mower, and a tiller.  We have to buy a blade to scrape the rocks in the driveway.
I don't think all those implements are supposed to be on there at the same time, but thats the way he bought it.

August: Trip to Utah

I attended BYU Education Week in Provo Utah in August.  It was wonderful being there with a lot of my siblings and my mother.  We took a lot of pictures in Salt Lake City before we went down to Provo.

My mother lives in Salt Lake City, right across from the temple.  When I sleep at her condo, I leave the curtains open, and the lighted temple is the night light.  (These are my sisters, Cheryl and Cindy.)

We attended "Music and the Spoken Word" at the Conference Center.  It was my first time to be inside, and it was HUGE!  It was especially touching to me to see the very dignified and interesting presentation made by the sister missionaries as the crowd came out of the building, the sisters were so charming and sincere and the presentation was done so well, I could see how hundreds of people would feel comfortable agreeing to walk around with them for the tour of Temple Square.

My beautiful mother and I in the Conference Center.

Here we are inside the Tabernacle.  L to R: me, my mother, my sisters Cheryl and Carla.

I absolutely loved all the flowers around Temple Square!

Checklist

Done

Start sleeping at new house.
Start cooking at new house.
Get well repaired at new house.
Get old house painted.
Get old house recarpeted.
Handyman repair things at old house.






To Do

Get new roof at new house.
Buy a tractor.
Get DSL at new house so we can move the computers.
Move my deskwork and paperwork to new house.
Get shelves built in new pantry.
Put all food away in new pantry.
Sell old house.
Start blogging regularly again.

Sewing Room Floor

My grandson, Anson, sitting on my new sewing room floor.

I have always hated having carpet in my sewing room.  And this time, I got the exact flooring I wanted:  vinyl with exactly 12" squares.  It makes your eyes crazy when you look at the room, but I have heard from other quilters that with this floor, you can square up quilts and even measure fabric.  How cool is that?

The Nerve!

Yesterday at rush hour I was driving down Highway 55 (a busy 4-lane highway).  There was a grass median in the middle of the road, and through a gap in the traffic, I saw a black man run across the road.  He ran to the median, yanked up a Mitt Romney campaign sign, and went running back across the road.

I was so astonished and angry I laid on my horn.  I couldn't get over the fact that he would feel comfortable doing that while about 50 drivers watched him.  Isn't it some sort of a crime to steal campaign signs?  Or shouldn't a person feel some shame that they are being so rude in front of many other people?  I wondered if he was assuming that all who watched him were Democrats, and would approve of his actions.

Interesting article about Mormons

 This article was written by a non-LDS man who lives in Utah, who wants to tell everyone what Mormons are like, and to reassure people that they shouldn't fear having a Mormon president.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/10/a_view_from_mormon_land.html

Food, not ammo, says Elder Oaks

 I spent all day advising the workmen who were altering a couple of rooms and closets for us.  We can't move into our new house until these things are finished.  It is making me crazy!

I am also having our old house carpeted on Thursday, which means I have to completely move out of my sewing room by then.  That is going to be a huge headache.




Interesting article:

 "LDS Apostle tells Mormons:  Stock up on food, not ammo"

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/blogsfaithblog/54913284-180/apostle-lds-oaks-conference.html.csp

(Thanks, Keri, for the heads-up)