Sick of my printer

I have hated my printer (an HP Photosmart 3210 All-in-One) ever since we got it. For this reason: it uses ink so fast. And the ink is SO EXPENSIVE! I figure I was spending more than $15 a month on ink, sometimes $50. Every time I bought ink, I felt trapped into doing it. Instead I just wanted to throw away the printer.

It is made so that even if you make all black and white prints, a little of each color is used on each print also. So the colors all go empty on a regular basis. And each cartridge costs between $11-$14.

Our old printer would print black and white copies forever even when some colors were empty. Or if we had some blue left, I would just print all my documents in blue to use up that color.

Not so with this dumb printer. If ANY color is empty, it says it can't print until all the cartridges have ink in them.

I went to Staples Tuesday to buy some ink (AGAIN). And I was complaining to the employee, and he told me this wonderful news: He said we could go into the settings on the printer and change it to "print only in black," and then the printer will quit using all that colored ink.

I said, why didn't someone tell me this two years ago? So I came home and told Wayne, and we realized we don't know where the instructions are or the disks or anything. We have no way to reset the settings. So I am bummed.

The employee also told me that the best printer for me would be the Lexmark Pinnacle 901, because the ink is so inexpensive, and they advertise it as a penny per print. That would certainly be nicer than my current $5 per print (I hope I am exaggerating but I don't know.) However I just looked online and the Lexmark costs between $300 and $200 so I don't know when we would be buying one.

Technology makes me crazy.

Zac's Birthday

Today is Zac's birthday. And his birthday present to me was delivering his Eagle project on Monday. Hip Hip Hooray! I am so glad to have that out of our garage!

There are 20 cubbies on each side of this rolling cabinet, for the kids to put their backpacks in while they are involved in classes at Bond Park Community Center.



Here is a photo of Zac, Wayne, and Garrett leaving for a week in the Smokies this summer.




And here is Zac with a bunch of his friends in the early stages of his Eagle project, priming the wood.

We are so thankful for Zac!

Stake Baby Quilt Project is over

In May 2009 I headed up a stake baby quilt project, and we made about 65 quilts that year. Then in April 2010 we did it again, and ever since April my sewing room has been piled high with charity quilts in all stages of completion.

We did a big push to get a lot tied at Youth Conference in July, and then another big push to get the rest tied on Saturday, in a service project just before the General Relief Society broadcast.

At the end of the Saturday event, we had about 34 that were not tied yet, and the Raleigh University Ward offered to take them and tie them later.

Once they get done, all together since April 2010 we will have completed about 125 baby quilts/rest home quilts.








All from donated fabric and batting, with the exception of $90 of batting that we bought with RS funds. I think we did pretty good.

And I am very happy to get all of them out of my house.

Break the Fast

Every single Saturday before Fast Sunday, Wayne spends all day cooking up lots of good food for the University Ward to eat at their monthly "Break the Fast" meal after church.

Every time, he makes great food, but he uses every single surface and every single pot, pan and container we own.

Then he has to figure out how to transport it all there, and then bring everything home again.

On Saturday he bought 33 pounds of roast beef and huge bags of potatoes, onions, and carrots, and cooked the roasts in a pressure cooker with the onions and potatoes. He discovered he liked the carrots better when they were cooked separately, he thought they got too mushy in the pressure cooker.

The shopping and cooking took him all day. And the worst part is that I usually start fasting around 2 pm, and he has wonderful aromas of cooking food until about 9 pm. I don't want to smell that while I am fasting!

Today I am still putting dishes away and still have more to put into the dishwasher.

He really loves doing this for his ward, and I am so thankful for his willingness to serve. I am just happy he doesn't really expect me to help too much with the cooking. (I do the dishes, though, with only a medium amount of complaining.)

Pres. Hinckley's Six "B's"

Here is a trick using your hands to help you remember the 6 B's:

Be Grateful- Thumb. You should be really grateful for your thumb, you can't do much without it.
Be Smart- Point with your pointer finger.
Be Clean- Middle finger. Obviously.
Be True- Ring finger (Wedding ring, marriage.)
Be Humble- Little finger.
Be Prayerful- Clasp two hands in prayer.

Cleaning and Housekeeping

(News: Tonight is the big stake service project that I am in charge of. In the past few months, I have spearheaded getting 72 charity baby quilts ready for tying. Tonight, before the RS General Broadcast, we will be tying them.)



I am a marvelous housekeeper. Every time I leave a man I keep his house.
--Zsa Zsa Gabor

I don't do dishes and I don't do windows. I don't do dishes because I have a dishwasher. And I don't do windows because they don't fit in the dishwasher.

Some people have nothing very well organized. And some people have nothing, very well organized.
Unknown

If everything is under control, you’re going too slow.
--Mario Andretti

I cleaned my house yesterday, wish you could have seen it.

So here I am. This modern, liberated woman, doing so many of the exact same chores that June Cleaver was doing, without looking nearly so pert or having any cute aprons. Muffy Mead-Ferro, "Confessions of a Slacker Wife"

The most popular labor-saving device today is still a husband with money. Joey Adams

If God wanted me to clean and scrub, he would have made my hands aluminum.

My only domestic quality is that I live in a house.

Fancy Hairstyle

I was babysitting Elizabeth recently, and she brought me the box of barrettes and wanted me to fix her hair.

She said "I want lots of clips in my hair, like my friends."

I didn't know what she wanted, so she proceeded to fix her own hair. She put all these clips in by herself. I would be very surprised if this is the way her friends look.

Kids at a wedding

I was at the temple a couple of Fridays ago, and saw lots of people waiting outside for a wedding. There were at least 20 little kids carrying around these red-white-and-blue bags. I went up to one of the moms and asked what the bags were for. She said the grandma had purchased the bags for each grandchild, and had filled each bag with a water bottle, coloring book, etc.

I thought it was a really good idea for a temple wedding, to keep the numerous little grandchildren occupied during the ceremony. But I would have made a bag that matched the wedding colors.

Lots of help with Eagle Project

Monte was a great help with Zac's Eagle project. And Seth gave a lot of help too. And lots of different friends of Zac's came once or twice a piece. We are so thankful for their help, I was completely clueless how to make this big set of cubbies. We will be delivering them to Bond Park community center this week, they want them for kids to put backpacks in while they take classes there.

Internet fixed

The AT&T repairman came today to see what was wrong with our internet. He found out we have been using the wrong power cord for our modem, we don't know when it got switched, but it damaged the modem until it burned out completely on Monday.

So we have a new modem now, and the internet works great. Hallelujah!

I think having an iffy internet connection, which only worked once a day or sometimes not at all, was one of the worst disasters I lived through in the 7-Day Challenge. Who would have known even five years ago that my life would be so dependent on the internet?


ALSO

Wayne bought his convertible silver 2007 Mustang a few months ago, from a couple here in Morrisville. I saw that man at the grocery store parking lot the other day, and he recognized me and talked to me. He said, "I couldn't stand it. Look at what I just bought." And he pointed to a red convertible 2008 Mustang in the parking lot. So I guess that guy is just as hooked on Mustangs as Wayne (Wayne has owned 4.)

Life is messed up without internet

Our internet is still on again off again, and it really messes me up. Wayne had to work from home all weekend and it caused him some panic when the internet kept going down.

Needless to say, I didn't get my blogs updated.

Happy news, we found two remote controls which have been missing, the TV remote for two months, and the DVD player remote for one month. They were inside the lining of the sofa, underneath everything.

And more happy news, Zac's Eagle project is totally done and ready to deliver to the Bond Park Community Center. We hope to deliver it this week. Now I have to get him to do the write-up. And finish his Personal Management merit badge. And turn everything in. And then we will be done with scouts forever!

Wayne working from home was a problem as I tried to do the 7-day challenge, because he had to be working so I couldn't bother him with teaching me to do the emergency skills required. The assignment for Sunday was change a tire, so instead I did that this morning in my driveway. What hard work! And the rules said that Wayne was not allowed to do any of it. He could only stand there and give me instructions. I will post pictures on http://GottaWannaNeedaGettaPrepared.blogspot.com

P.S. I talked to my mom yesterday. She has had a bad case of shingles for the past two weeks. She said if she would have known they have a shingles immunization she would have got one. She encourages EVERYONE TO GET VACCINATED AGAINST SHINGLES because it is such a terrible horrible painful illness.

Counting my blessings

This week I have found out that two of my friends' husbands have lost their jobs unexpectedly, and that another friend's husband can see the writing on the wall so they are moving out of state to a different job before he loses his current job.

I am feeling very sad for all of them. Every day I wonder if Wayne is going to lose his job, and every day that goes by I am thankful that he still has one.

I feel so thankful for our food storage and our very minimal debts. I am very much looking forward to General Conference in two weeks, I am feeling a great desire to hear from the prophet and apostles, wanting to soak in the knowledge and counsel which they will give us. I need some comfort, and to be reminded that the Lord is in control and that everything is in His hands.

Seeds in a Can

I bought this can of garden seeds in 1996. I have no idea if they have been stored at the right temperature, but probably not.

So out of curiosity, I opened them in July 2010, and thought I would test them out. I had zero expectation that any of them would sprout, but I went ahead and planted some of them on July 21, 2010.

Surprise! The cucumber seeds sprouted. I got a few cucumbers off of that plant.

I don't think anything else ever sprouted. If I have written before that there were canteloupes and tomatoes that sprouted from the 1996 seeds, I was wrong. I figured out later that those seeds came out of vegetable scraps I had thrown into my compost bins.

I don't think buying seeds in a can is a very good idea, but I guess if you store them suitably maybe some of them will survive.

EMP ATTACK! (fake)

DAng! I woke up today and the challenge is to pretend that there is an EMP (electromagnetic pulse) that destroys all electrical technology, including the municipal water plants. So I am without water or power today.

I opened my solar oven, and have boiled lasagna noodles, and am about to make cornbread. I feel very accomplished!

And of course, I am cheating to be on the computer but I wanted you to know how exciting all this is to me, and to read about it on my other blog as soon as I get it posted.

Zac is having his last two Eagle project workdays on Friday at 1 and on Saturday at 9. If you want to come for fun, you are welcome. But I think he has enough scouts to do it all.

And the stake baby quilt project is wrapping up, we have created 33 which are done, 50 that are ready to tie, and 12 more which only need one or two steps done before they are ready to tie. We will be tying them at the stake social which is before the RS general broadcast Sept. 25. And it was all done with donated fabric.

Now I've got to turn off the computer and not get on it again today (SIGH).

Report on Water Contamination Challenge

(Written all day Sept. 14, 2010 for my other blog, http://gottawannaneedagettaprepared.blogspot.com/ I am just copying it here.)

I've been looking forward to the 7-Day Challenge, which I signed up for on FoodStorageMadeEasy.net. It is seven days in a row of mock disasters, which the participants try to live and then report on how they handled it. And Surprise! Today (Tuesday) is the day it started! I got my email for the morning and discovered this:

Day One: Natural Disaster: Water Contamination

Assignment: Go and shut off the main water supply to your house immediately.
I got home and immediately turned off the water to the house. Then walked into the kitchen and saw how dirty it is. My dishwasher is mostly full of dirty dishes. I am choosing to let them sit in there until tomorrow, they will be stinky but I'm not going to handwash them all. I know that this "water outage" will only last one day. If it was truly broken, I would handwash them right now.

I got a frozen water jug out of the freezer, and sat it out for drinking as it thaws. I like to drink my icewater!
Then I got some water jugs out from behind the sofa and sat them around my kitchen sink.

When I got my hands dirty, I poured some water on my hands and washed them with handsoap and rinsed them. I noticed the water was going down the drain. I decided to put some clean paper towels on the counter and next time I will pour the water over that, then I can use the wet paper towels to clean up something, instead of wasting the water.

I would usually rinse out empty ketchup bottles to put into my recycling. Saw the empty dirty bottle, did not want to spare any of my water to rinse it out, so I put it in the recycling dirty.

Flushed the toilet very seldom, using jugs of water.

Wish I had a rainbarrel so I could water my garden. Decided to let it go one day without watering it.

I am amazed at how many times a day I wash my hands. I am using a lot of bottled water just for that.

Assignment: For this day, and ALL days of the challenge: no spending money, no going to stores, and no restaurants.

I saw that I was almost out of milk, so I made some powdered milk. Used a can from 1991. We will see if we ever drink it, or if we just use it for cooking. I have always disliked powdered milk for drinking.

After it was cold, I took a swig. It didn't taste very good. So I put some Nesquick in it and it was totally drinkable.

Later, my son made macaroni and cheese. He used the real milk instead of the powdered milk. I told him that was a very bad choice, since that was all the real milk we would have for a week.




Assignment: Go to nearest source of fresh water and fill up several water containers.
In the morning I took a little ice chest and a big empty cottage cheese container with me and headed for the neighborhood lake. (I didn't have any spare buckets. I need to buy some more.) I had to walk down to the shore of the lake,and the ground was all squishy and muddy. I had to lean way over to scoop up water where it was about 2 inches deep, being careful not to disturb the bottom and get the water all muddy. The water was green and unappetizing, but I was surprised to see how clear it was. I was expecting it to be filled with algae and big floating particles but it wasn't. It took me a while using the cottage cheese container to scoop up enough water to fill the ice chest half way. I can see how a deeper place would have made it easier to get the water out.






Assignment: Purify that water with either a water purifier or an alternate purification method.
In the evening, my husband taught me to use his backpacking water filter. He said it was smart of me to have let the water settle all day, so the big particles were all at the bottom. He wanted the least amount of particles to get into his filter. The main cost of a water filter is the filter cartridge, not the pump itself. (He has a Sweetwater brand, he thinks it cost about $70 for the whole thing when he first bought it. When the filter needs replacing, that will cost about $50). We pumped the dirty green water up through the backpacking filter, and it squirted out clear water into a cup. I was afraid to drink it, but he took a drink and then I had the courage to drink it. It tasted just like tap water.




Assignment: You must find a way for you to bathe or shower today.
I put a pot of water on the stove to heat. I brought in a bucket of water that I had filled with the hose yesterday (which I had planned to use for watering the garden today.) I decided to use that bucket of water for me instead of for my plants. Carried the pot of hot water and the bucket of cold water into the bathroom.

I poured a little hot water and a little cold water into my bathroom sink and took a washcloth bath. (I didn't wash my hair today.) It took less water than I thought it would. I drained the dirty water down the sink.

I should have had more buckets, then I would have had the dirty water in a bucket instead of in the sink, and could have used it to flush a toilet or to water the garden.

In the evening, my son had to go somewhere, and he insisted that he had to take a shower. I gave in, and turned on the water for him.

Assignment: Cook all your meals with only the water you have in storage.
I cooked some carrots using water from a bottle. Drained the cooking water into a bowl so we could use it for cooking later. I ate several things that were already made. Cooking wasn't a problem and we had plenty of water in bottles to wash our hands and the counters. I left all the dirty dishes in the dishwasher until the next day when I will have real water again.

Things I learned:
I was mostly alone all day at home, and then in the evening my husband was the only one home. We barely used 3 gallons of water, but of course we neglected doing any of the main tasks in a home (washing dishes, doing laundry, showers, shampooing hair, watering garden, or flushing toilets much.)

We knew the disaster was fake and that we would have water the next day, so we just put off everything that needed water. If the disaster was real, we would have been in real trouble after a day with all those dirty dishes attracting bugs.

My husband was home alone in the evening, and made stirfry with meat and vegetables, and left quite a mess. He said he wouldn't have cooked those things if he was in a disaster.

I learned I had plenty of water for a disaster. I was happy about that.

No Water Today

This morning my internet wouldn't work (AGAIN!) so I left home to go walk with Patti. She graciously let me get my email at her house, and I found out that the 7-Day Challenge is beginning today. The Mock Disaster for Day 1 is "Water Contamination". We can't use any water from the tap today.

http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/2010/09/14/the-7-day-challenge-day-1-tuesday/


I had to come home and immediately turn off the water to my house. Then I walked in and saw how messy my kitchen is. It looks like I am going to have to hand wash all these dishes using water I have stored in bottles. And I have to heat it on the stove. Plus I am going to have to figure out how to wash my hair and get clean, because I have a stake baby quilt worknight tonight.

I will report more tomorrow. I can't wait to find out what tomorrow's challenge is.

Jokes by McConkie

I heard Elder McConkie tell this story about Pres. Joseph Fielding Smith on a cassette tape of talks given at the CES conference for Institute and Seminary teachers.

(Bruce R. McConkie married Joseph Fielding Smith's daughter, Amelia Smith. )

"My father-in-law told his children that in the beginning everyone had the surname Smith, but as people sinned, their names were changed."

I get the idea that Elder McConkie was quite a funny guy, when he wasn't speaking in General Conference. I've already posted another joke he made, also at a CES conference:

In verse 95, there is a prophecy:
"And there shall be silence in heaven for the space of half an hour; and immediately after shall the curtain of heaven be unfolded, as a scroll is unfolded after it is rolled up, and the face of the Lord shall be unveiled."

Bruce R. McConkie said that verse proves that there are no women in heaven.

I Am Lurch

This is a funny little version of Dr. Suess' Green Eggs and Ham.

I am Lurch.
I am Lurch.

From the Church.

That Brother Lurch!
That Brother Lurch!
I do not like
That Brother Lurch!

Do you like the Mormon Church?

I do not like the Mormon Church.
I do not like it, Brother Lurch.

Would you read
the Book of Mormon
Here or there?

I would not read it
Here or there.
I would not read it
Anywhere.

I do not like the Mormon Church.
I do not like it, Brother Lurch.

I'll have the Elders
At my house.
You could come over,
With your spouse.

I will not go
Into your house.
I will not let you
Teach my spouse.
I won't read your book
Here or there.
I will not read it
Anywhere.
I do not like the Mormon Church.
I do not like it, Brother Lurch.

We can talk about it
In this box,
With our latest convert,
Brother Fox.

I won't discuss it in a box.
I will not meet with Brother Fox.
You won't indoctrinate my spouse,
So don't invite us to your house.
I won't read your book here or there.
I will not read it anywhere.
I do not like the Mormon Church.
I do not like it, Brother Lurch.

I'll come and get you
In my car!
We'll go to church
It's not too far.

I would not,
Could not
In your car.

You may like it.
You may see,
We'll talk about Joseph Smith
or Genealogy.

I could not do genealogy,
Not Joseph Smith,
Lurch let me be!

Not in a box,
Not with a Fox,
Not in your house,
Not with my spouse,
I won't read your book here or there,
I will not read it anywhere.
I do not like the Mormon Church.
I do not like it, Brother Lurch.

A train! A train!
A train! A train!
We could go to Utah
On a train!

Not in a train! Not genealogy!
Not in your car! Lurch, let me be!
I won't discuss it in a box.
I will not meet with Brother Fox.
You will not get me or my spouse
To set one foot inside your house.
I won't read your book here or there.
I will not read it anywhere.
I do not like the Mormon Church.
I do not like it Brother Lurch.

Say! In the dark?
We can teach you stories
About Christ or Noah's Ark!

I would not, could not
In the dark.

You'll have to give up
your champagne.

There's nothing wrong with my champagne.
I'll need some when I get off this train.
Not Joseph Smith. Not genealogy.
I do not like them Lurch you see.
Not in your house, not in a box,
Not with my spouse or Brother Fox.
I will not read your book here or there.
I will not read it anywhere.

I do not like it
Brother Lurch.
I do not like the Mormon Church!

Maybe you think
Mormons are weird.

Were you told we have
Horns and a beard?

Mormons have parties
With snacks and Root Beer.
You shouldn't believe
Everything that you hear.

You know, I kind of like Root Beer.
And parties are not all that queer.
I think I'll give up my champagne,
I hear that stuff can melt your brain.
But no more cigarettes or tea?
I cannot do that! Can't you see?
I won't discuss it in a box.
I will not meet with Brother Fox.
I will not come into your house,
And keep your distance from my spouse.
I won't read your book here or there.
I will not read it anywhere!
I do not like it Brother Lurch,
I do not like the Mormon Church.

You do not like it,
So you say.
Try it! And you may
I say.

Say!
I like the Mormon church!
I do! I like it, Brother Lurch!
And I'll invite my friends to hear,
And teach them all to love Root Beer.

I'll throw away all my champagne,
And head for Utah on a train.
I'll do my genealogy,
It is so fun, so fun, you see!

We'll go discuss it in a box.
I'd like to meet your Brother Fox.
And you can take me to your house,
And have the Elders teach my spouse.
I'll read the scriptures here and there,
And convert my friends everywhere.

I do like the Mormon church!
Please Baptize me, Brother Lurch!.

Author Unknown.

My Love Has Flew

A dumb poem I heard once:

My love has flew,
Her did me dirt.
Me did not know
She were a flirt.
To those in love
Let I forbid,
Lest they be dood
Like I were did.

Self-reliance

(From the Provident Living website)


Self-reliance is drawing upon our own resources to care for ourselves and our families before calling upon others for help. A person may be self-reliant and still not be fully self-sustaining. Having done all possible for self, he or she may still need additional resources. Many aged people and those with disabilities are self-reliant, but still need additional assistance. We are all children of our Heavenly Father and are dependent upon Him for all that we have. However, He will not do for us what we can do for ourselves, and He expects us to be self-reliant.

"Independence and self-reliance are critical keys to our spiritual growth. Whenever we get into a situation which threatens our self-reliance, we will find our freedom threatened as well. If we increase our dependence, we will find an immediate decrease in our freedom to act" (Marion G. Romney, Ensign, June 1984, 5).

"Can we see how critical self-reliance becomes when looked upon as the prerequisite to service, when we also know service is what godhood is all about? Without self-reliance one cannot exercise these innate desires to serve. How can we give if there is nothing there? Food for the hungry cannot come from empty shelves. Money to assist the needy cannot come from an empty purse. Support and understanding cannot come from the emotionally starved. Teaching cannot come from the unlearned. And most important of all, spiritual guidance cannot come from the spiritually weak" (Marion G. Romney, Ensign, June 1984, 6).

Internet problems!

My internet is giving me fits. It keeps going out, so one of my kids needs to feel sorry for me and come fix it. (Hint hint).

(One minute later) Wow! I'm shocked! That posted! I have been fussing with this all last evening and this morning, changing the internet cord from one telephone outlet to another, maybe the one at my desk has gone bad.

Tonight I am excited to listen to Phyllis B. giving a presentation on how to contact your family members in an emergency. I am totally curious about that. I told Zac that if there is a disaster while he is at school, and the high school tries to hold him and all the other kids in the school forever until their parents can come get them, he needs to escape and walk home. We live close enough that if there is a huge disaster I don't want to have to drive there to get him. I think he could get home faster on foot.

I got up this morning and made whole wheat bread, Judy B.'s recipe (she makes great bread!). Everything went well except for getting the loaves out of the pan, there were some chunks that stayed in the pan (which I happily ate) (the chunks, not the pan). But I don't have good tricks for getting the loaves out all picture perfect, I will have to learn some.

I have ordered a solar oven, it will get here in a few days. I am very excited to learn how to use it.

Peace

There is a world cry for peace; everybody wants peace...

It is a curious commentary on human nature that men who cry for peace look upon peace as something that may be picked as an apple from a tree, something that lies about within easy reach of humanity. If I pick an apple from a tree, I have first planted the tree, cared for it, watered it, brought it to maturity. Then in due time I may have the fruit.

So with peace. It is not a thing by itself to be picked up casually, but it is the fruit of something precedent. Like the tree, something must be planted and nourished and cared for if we are to obtain peace.....

The Latter-day Saints, from the beginning of our history, have taught that the good things of life--above all, peace--can come only through acceptance of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ....It is only as the men and women of the world..accept the gospel of the Son of God that peace shall come to rule and reign and be established upon earth....We still proclaim without hesitation that there is only one way to peace, one way to the perfect human happiness---the way of the gospel paved with the principles that constitute the gospel.

Gospel Classics, John A. Widtsoe, Ensign April 2009, p. 11

Good comment about our church's youth

I read this news story last week, the title is "More Teens Becoming Fake Christians".


http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/08/27/almost.christian/index.html?hpt=C2

(CNN) -- If you're the parent of a Christian teenager, Kenda Creasy Dean has this warning:
Your child is following a "mutant" form of Christianity, and you may be responsible.
Dean says more American teenagers are embracing what she calls "moralistic therapeutic deism." Translation: It's a watered-down faith that portrays God as a "divine therapist" whose chief goal is to boost people's self-esteem.

The article states that of the teenagers interviewed, "Many teenagers thought that God simply wanted them to feel good and do good -- what the study's researchers called "moralistic therapeutic deism."

That sounds like a really lame kind of religion. However, I was happy to read the next quote about members of our church:

In "Almost Christian," Dean talks to the teens who are articulate about their faith. Most come from Mormon and evangelical churches, which tend to do a better job of instilling religious passion in teens, she says.
No matter their background, Dean says committed Christian teens share four traits: They have a personal story about God they can share, a deep connection to a faith community, a sense of purpose and a sense of hope about their future.

Thank God for the seminary program, righteous committed parents, and wonderful youth leaders in our church.

"Primary Idol" for singing time

In our ward, our Primary chorister sent out this email, and I thought the idea was so cute I wanted to share it with everyone.

I am looking for one more male judge for our 3rd annual "Primary Idol" next week in during Primary. If you think your husband is game for it, could you please ask him and if he says "Yes! I would love to do it!", let me know and I will add him to the judges panel. Their job as a judge will be to listen to the primary children sing songs, critiquing their singing and give them a score between 1-10.

They would also need to come as a character of their choice. Past years we have had Captain Jack Sparrow, Holly Wood, Suposez--a friend of Moses who wandered with him for 40 years, and Ed Cowell--Simon Cowell's younger, less successful brother. We need a judge for both hours of Primary, but if your husband can only do it for one hour, we can find someone else to do it for the other. The kids (and adults) have a great time and your husband would become famous! At least famous in the Morrisville Ward.

I asked her if I could put it on my blog, and she said,

sure--I have the judges judge different things. One will judge reverence, another participation, another quality of singing and knowing the words, etc. I do this shortly before the Primary program so the kids will sing their best and I can get a true reading of how well they know the songs and which ones we need to focus on before the program in the Oct.

What a great idea!

Evacuation

FlyLady's 11 Points to Preparedness for Evacuation

FlyLady has a good list here.

http://www.flylady.net/pages/FLYingLessons_Prepared.asp

Questions and Answers, Last Video from Wendy Dewitt

This video has a lot of odds and ends at the end of Sister Dewitt's presentation.


Video #9- Questions and Answers
http://www.danielsparkward.com/fsv9.aspx

New Air conditioner, Big fat caterpillar

Our downstairs air conditioner quit working, so SURPRISE! We got to pay $6200 for a whole system (a.c. and furnace).

I've been spending like mad on food storage and emergency preparedness items, I want to be all the way ready when the "7-day challenge" happens on FoodStorageMadeEasy. It was interesting to see the preparations being made on the Outer Banks this week for Hurricane Earl. Earl didn't hit them badly, so that is good.

Also, I was angry to see that all my tomato branches had their leaves and tomatoes all eaten off. I found a huge caterpillar eating it all, and I couldn't stand to squish it so I held a bucket under the caterpillar and cut the branch off so he and the branch fell in the bucket, and I threw him out in the road. I hope some car squished him.

And if you are wondering what was the mystery vegetable/fruit in my garden, they have turned out to be canteloupes.

My Adventure: Glenn Beck rally, #3

My Adventure with a Pass-Along Card

During the last Glenn Beck speech, I had gone up to the WWII Memorial, and had handed my camera up to a man to take a panoramic movie. That was the only part of the speeches that I really heard. Beck was saying (paraphrasing him) "Our nation must turn back to worshipping God. I don't care what church you attend, I don't care what synagogue you attend, I don't care if you attend a mosque. What we all have to turn to is God, and worship God, and begin again to believe this nation can only be protected and guided if we believe in God."

It was a very positive sentiment, and I felt good about that message. I felt great thinking that everyone in the crowd agreed with that, and that we were all wanting that same goal.

Then on my way back to join Anne and Frank G. and the K. family, I sat under a tree for awhile listening a little, but it was still hard to hear. While I was there, three men asked if they could sit there too, I said yes, and we chatted a little.

When I got up to go, I remembered I had 2 pass-along cards in my bag. I turned around and went up to the younger guy, and told him I'd like to invite him to read the Book of Mormon. He thanked me and said he might, because two of his best friends were Mormons.

Then I turned to the older man, and tried to hand him a pass-along card, but he said, no, he was a pastor of another church, and he had read it already and he didn't believe it. So he didn't take the card.

I walked a little ways to the third man, and when I handed the passalong card to him and invited him to read the Book of Mormon, he also said something negative but took the card.

I started walking the 100 yards or so to where Anne and Frank G. were sitting, and a teenage guy in a yellow Tshirt (name of a church written on it) came running up to me with my passalong card in his hand, "Did you give this to that man?" I said, yes, and he started telling me how false the Book of Mormon is. I said, "I believe its true, and I don't want to argue with you." He kept going on and on and walking along with me, telling me how I needed to be saved (I should have told him that I DID get saved at a Baptist summer camp when I was 12 but I didn't think of saying it to him until later) and I finally told him, "Listen, you believe what you believe, and I believe what I believe, and we're not going to change each other." He still kept going, and I was frustrated, and I said, "Why are you here? Do you know that Glenn Beck is a Mormon?". And he said, "I know. I agree with his politics but his religion is false."

I finally was able to shake him off about the time I arrived at Anne and Frank. The guy left, and Anne and Frank both looked at me and said, "Who was THAT?" I asked them if he had seemed belligerant to them, and they said yes, he was acting very demanding and angry, I knew it wasn't my imagination. He certainly didn't seem too Christlike even though he thought he was trying to convert me to Christ (his way of believing in Christ).

So I sat there and pondered the message I had just heard Glenn Beck give, of uniting in our belief in God and depending on God to protect and save our nation, and contrasted that with the way we definitely are NOT united, and I felt very sad and depressed.


My Adventure with Getting Back Home

We left the mall about 4 pm, had to stand in line about an hour to get on the trains at the Smithsonian metro station. I made sure to go to one of the portapotties that the rally provided before standing in line, since I knew that the metro bathrooms would still be locked "for security reasons." We were at the first stop so the train was empty when we got on it, that was a huge relief after the horrible crowding we had endured getting there.

We all had seats, there were very few people standing. We went to the next stop, and the train filled up, lots of people standing. We got to the next stop (I think it was Courthouse), and were completely shocked to hear a woman say over the loudspeaker, "You must all exit this train. All passengers must exit this train." We sat there, we didn't believe it. The loudspeaker again: "All passengers must exit this train. This train must go back to Washington DC. If you stay on this train you will go back the way you came. Exit the train now."

So we all made a stampede out that train and crossed the platform and CROWDED into a train that was already full. We were literally standing on each others feet and our bodies were crammed together. The 6 of us made it into the train, as we pulled away we could see one family, parents and some little kids, still sitting on the other empty train. And we saw that it was going in the same direction as us! We wondered why it wasn't going back to DC the way the woman on the loudspeaker said. I just assumed it was turning around at some roundhouse or something.

We had a very uncomfortable 30 minute trip to Vienna. At some stops a few people got off but mostly it was crowded all the way, most of those people were parked in Vienna.

When we all got off in Vienna, Victoria K. said, "You'll never believe this! I was sitting by a man, and I told him how crummy it was that they locked all the bathrooms for "security reasons", and he said, "Thats a load of crap. The union workers only lock the bathrooms when it is a group they don't like."

At that same time, as we walked toward the parking deck, we saw those parents with those little kids driving away in their minivan. THE TRAIN WE EXITED HAD COME TO VIENNA.

My mind was exploding with the realization: We had been sabotaged! First, to find out that the bathrooms were locked just to cause a hardship to us, Second, to find out that the Metro loudspeaker woman had lied to us, to make us be so crowded. I was sick at heart. All I could think about was secret combinations. Those people did not want us to go to the rally.

The six of us got into the van, and I think everyone was as depressed as I was. We hardly said a word for an hour.

Tiffany's Birthday

Here is our daughter-in-law, Tiffany. She balances Adam's personality perfectly. I love the way they care for each other and support one another. They live in Durham, so we get to see them a lot.

Tiffany, we are glad you are in our family, and we hope you have an excellent birthday!