New Year's Eve

Salt Lake

Hello,

Unlike your expectations of our behavior, Leroy and I will spend a quiet evening at home while Andy and Miriam go to a friend’s house. We, along with the children, were invited, but we are quite happy to babysit. It is especially easy because the party starts late enough that Miriam and Andy have put the kids to bed. The new year will no doubt come in after we are in bed as well.

So, for the last time this year Leroy and I went to the Lengthen and Strengthen class. Some results are that I notice that I am sitting up straighter than in the past. Lengthen and strengthen seems to have worked. Leroy also thinks that my upper arms have less flap, I am not so sure of that, but there is always hope.

This class will be replaced by TRX. I will at least try that because it is to have several different levels including beginning. The hard part is that we have to sign up for it 24 hours ahead of time. I really like just walking in the door. The yoga will also be replaced by TRX. I do not know what TRX stands for, but it should be good.

Our membership is up next week and we plan to leave the week after. The big question is should we buy a month’s pass even though it is much cheaper than paying for single classes. A month for the two of us combined is $35 while each class will cost $4.50 per person. We still have not figured out the exact day we will leave here, but we are getting close to that decision.

We will go back to Iowa to renew my driver’s license, visit Leroy’s sister, and visit my sister in Illinois before heading up to MN to visit Brian and Jen. Other than that our lives are a big question mark.

Happy New Year to all of you. May you find your lives full of amazing surprises that lead on the path you need for meeting the compelling love of God.

Blessings to you.

Paula 

The Zoo Again

Salt Lake

Hello,

It was free day once again at the zoo so off we went, however this time we left Leroy at home because with the additional child there were not enough seats in the car for six people. Once there it did not seem so cold to me, but I prepared better by wearing wool socks, wool sweater, and good winter gloves. It seemed quite fine to me even though others complained some about the cold.

The visit was quite the same with the addition of a tiger roaring. I have never heard such a sound before. It was similar to the lion, but with a little different ring to it. This animal carried on for about five minutes. The other noisy animals were the white-handed Gibbon monkeys who were quite loud hooters or howlers.

At first the zoo was not very crowded, but that soon changed as more parents, grandparents and multiple toddlers/early school children came charging in. I am glad there is such interest in this outing. I do not necessarily like to see animals in captivity, but I know that some species are still with us because of zoos.

Unfortunately Miriam’s back/hips have not healed, but became worse yesterday. Today it was back to the chiropractor. Hopefully this will help her to come back to normal.

It is good that Leroy and I are here to help with some of the lifting, stretching, sitting, and turning that she is not supposed to be doing.

Both Leroy and I are having a bit of a hard time with how long it is taking for another job to appear on the horizon. Are you out there God? But then I know that we are really well off because we are in good health and we have saved enough money to get through a long spell with no job. The hardest part is the health insurance. That costs so much more than we want to pay. But we have the money for that too for a while. After all it is only money right?

Paula

Wild Times

Salt Lake

Hello,

Forget about getting a Christmas letter from me. Each day marches past so fast that I have not had much time to read let alone think. A day without reading is like a day without sunshine. By the way, sunshine is back in our world. We are grateful for the beauty on the mountains.

This afternoon Leroy and I went for a short walk around the block. That may sound simple, but we were accompanied by four children and two dogs. That means just getting ready to set off takes about ten minutes or more to get a coat on each body, find mittens for all hands, shoes for all feet, leashes for the four legged critters who luckily did not need mittens and coats, and bags to collect any dog poop that was produced. Miriam and company are again babysitting for a seven year old (four days), dog sitting for a miniature border collie (five days and nights), and the neighbor and her three year old as well as an infant came for a visit. The walk was really quite painless once we were able to set off. Luckily these children have been quite well trained to stop at the corners when they want to run ahead. When we returned from the walk Leroy cleaned up the dog poop in the yard while the children played on the swing set under my watchful eye. Hands were cold by the time we went in, but it was good to have some time outside.

Miriam had a part of her back/hips go out of place causing a lot of pain. She was able to see a chiropractor the day before Christmas even though he was not scheduled to be in the office. He told her to call him on Christmas day or the next day at his home number if it was needed. She did not call again, but it was obvious that she was in agony much of the time even though she swallowed a lot of pain killers. Today she felt a bit better and went to Pilate’s class with me, but that was not really a good idea. She can stand and lie down, but sitting is not good. We hope each day gets better.

Paula

Sleeping through

Salt Lake

Hello,

This morning Miriam talked about the “child” activity last night. I was quite surprised to learn about it as I had not heard it. First Olivia woke up, crying quite a bit because she was uncovered. Later in the night, Nora disturbed people as she was talking in her sleep. I am astonished that I missed the ruckus. Generally I hear it even if I choose not to get up at that time. Does that mean I have been now sleeping with children in the area for long enough that it is normal? I think I always woke for my own children, but then I felt more responsible at night than I do now.

There is no school in Salt Lake schools this week and next week. Consequently, Miriam is babysitting for a girl who is seven years old. She plays very nicely with the girls so it is not as much work as some might imagine. This girl lo longer takes a nap, but perhaps because she is an only child she can entertain herself while the girls sleep. It does refocus our days. Also Andy’s parents are here so there have been eight people at the table when we sit down for lunch. At this moment, Leroy is flying in from Minnesota. Then we will have nine at the table for noon and eight the rest of the time until Andy’s uncle comes on Friday. Does this all sound like a full house? Well it is. However it all works because we want it too and this house has quite a lot of space.

Can you imagine what it will be like when Leroy and I are once again just two people in the house? Seems to me it will be quiet and sometimes rather dull, but at other times peaceful. What is my own schedule like anyway?

I just read a book called, 29 Gifts: How a month of giving can change your life by Cami Walker. It is worth reading if you have access and the time to pursue it.

Paula

Pollution on the Ground

Salt Lake

Hello,

I read in the paper that Salt Lake is from time to time, but especially in the winter, the No. 1 air pollution place in the country. It is commonly called an inversion. Somehow the mountains on the east and the west trap the smog in the SLC valley. Some of the smog comes from states to the west. Does that mean that when it blows away with a storm it is passed farther East? Sometimes we are generous with the negative things. Around here it just looks gray and has for more than a week. My sinus has been a bit irritated by it and both of the girls have stuffy heads also. Miriam tells me that the young and the old are both bothered by it. If it is severe there is the chance of death for people with respiratory conditions.

Besides the lack of sun that is a downer all on its own, there is a scent in the air. Apparently it also makes it colder. Park City which is only about 30 minutes away by car, basks in sunshine and pleasant views above and outside the inversion.

I tend to have a little bit of a headache, but that could be caused by not drinking enough water in this dry climate. It is enough to straighten my hair. I suppose I should get a haircut, but I do not like to do these tasks with a new person. Leroy and I have been fortunate enough not to need a doctor or dentist. I should get my teeth cleaned; however I canceled my appointment before we left Burlington. It is hard to start with a new dentist unless I am staying with that person.

I keep thinking I will write a Christmas letter, but nothing is coming to mind so as of yet all I can do is wish you a Merry Christmas.

Paula

Pollution on the Road

Salt Lake

Hello,

Nora was losing her voice last night and it was even softer this morning. It was clear she should not practice singing in the afternoon for the Sunday School Christmas program. She wanted her mom to stay home so I was the driver for Olivia who, in spite of a cough, was still in good health.

Olivia and I set out with enough time to get to the church a bit ahead of the scheduled start. As we advanced up State Street to the Interstate ramp I remembered Miriam talking about it taking 45 minutes, during Christmas shopping season on a Saturday, to get to a mall that is just past the ramp. Even Olivia was trying to help me out by telling me to get in the other lane because people were going faster over there. I did change lanes once because I would need to be there later to get on the ramp. Just as in the grocery store I have a talent for frequently picking the lane that is sure to slow to a stop. It did not take us 45 minutes, but we only had about three minutes to go when we got on the ramp. I suspected it takes about ten minutes from that point, so I, the person who likes to be early, resigned myself to being late. When Olivia looked at the cars on the Interstate she declared, “There is no traffic here.” I could almost agree.

On the drive home I again took State Street, because I had previously noticed that the oncoming lanes were not so full. I had learned which of the two turn lanes I should be in to get on the popular street with only one light cycle. So that was not so hard. As soon as we got past the exit for a big store we were mostly in the clear. The road construction causes people not to know which lanes to use so I mostly sailed along in the left lane with little company making our homeward trip quite simple.

One of the reasons that the roads are so crowded is that Mormons do not believe in shopping on Sunday, consequently they must get most of it done on Saturday and the roads are full of people striving to reach that shopping Mecca called the Mall.

Paula

One Exciting Day

Salt Lake

Hello,

On Fridays, Olivia goes to pre-school while Nora stays home or does whatever excursion is on the plan. Today the plan was to go shopping for groceries, store them at home, and then proceed to the mall before going back to pick up Olivia at noon. As we were in the car going to the first grocery store, Nora announced, “I need a tissue.”

I handed her a napkin because we could not find any tissues. After a bit I happened to look back and see that she was sticking the paper up her nose. I told her not to do that and with confidence that she would not, turned around to watch the traffic racing around on the interstate. Soon Nora cried, “I have paper up my nose.”

I could not see it, but she was sticking her finger in the nostril. She stopped as instructed, but snuffed her nose and cried some. We tried to get her to blow air out of that nostril with no success instead there was a little more snuffing. Miriam tried to get her to stop crying, but I wondered if crying would help to make her nose run and get it out. That made Nora stop crying. We were then able to get off the interstate and inspect this nose a little closer. Miriam could see paper, but not get it in this tiny three year old nostril. Nora’s nose was a little bloody, but that was probably from her fingernail. Miriam and I both thought that it would take a Dr. to get it out and because we were relatively close to their Dr.’s office we just went there. No Dr. could see them, but a nurse looked at it with the proper lighted instrument and thought she could get it out. She did a great job of showing Nora the two additional instruments that she would use: one to spread the nostril open and one to retrieve. Nora kept her head perfectly still and it was out in no time. The best thing was that there was no charge for this.

In the mall Nora was a bit bored and wanted to be on her own but we managed to keep her with us until the end. She was in my care when she declared that she had to go potty. I said, “Ok, but I want to call your mom first to let her know that we are going downstairs. In the time that I was looking at my phone, Nora moved off. Before I could complete the call, Miriam came up. At that moment I realized I could not see Nora. We called her name, looked over by the elevator, called her name louder, looked in a bigger area, and called her name even louder. Miriam had just approached a couple store employees about a missing child when an unconcerned Nora came into view.

Relief, scolding, and thankfulness were all mixed up.

Paula

"Amn't"

Salt Lake

Hello,

“Amn’t” is what I hear three year old Nora saying declaratively. What can that be? When she uses it the second time I realize that she is coining a word by contracting “am” and “not”. Besides memorization, surely that is how children learn language sensing the pattern and using it as required.

I will continue to talk about by granddaughters. When Leroy left, the girls did not realize he had gone as we made the plans after they were in bed and he left before they awoke. These girls like to come in our bed in the morning. For some reason it took them a while to notice that grandpa was not there. Shortly after learning that he was gone, they both left the bed and went into their parent’s room. Now I wonder if they had a need to check on Mom and Dad’s availability in the house. As Nora was leaving me she tucked her special bear up next to my ear and said, “So you will not be lonely Granny.”

One night I woke up in the middle of the night listening to an intermittent sound that almost seemed metallic. After about five minutes I just had to try to track it down. Was a faucet dripping? No. Was it the furnace? No. It was coming from Olivia’s room. Olivia was hiccupping forcefully in her sleep. When I came closer to her it did not seem so metallic. I did not know that you could hiccup while sleeping.

We have lost a library book. It is a skinny book so skinny books are now on the children’s banned list. We have had the book so long that today is pay or renew day. We have looked everywhere at least once and many places twice. We have even looked at the library on the shelves. I thought maybe it could have slipped inside another book so we checked that possibility in many places. We talk about this book often and the girls have decided they did not like the book. Grandpa is the only adult who read it. Do you suppose that he did something silly with it? Anyway, the plan is to keep looking and renew it the maximum number of times before paying for the book.

Paula

Getting Leroy to MN

Salt Lake

Hello,

I had been having “vibes” about Brian and his family for some four or five days, consequently, I was not surprised when Leroy related the script of Brian’s phone call. By the way the call came in the morning and it was not until evening that Leroy had a chance to tell me the business about the stress related to sick children and lack of study/work time.

I suggested one of us should go there. We immediately started considering options and looking at flight prices for the next day. After Miriam and Andy had the kids in bed, they got in on the decision making process as Miriam is an expert at finding the cheapest flight price and Andy considered the cost of us both going and driving.

Would you believe that just that morning we had renewed our monthly membership for the rec. center? I was also interested in singing in the church choir concert for Sunday. After all I had spent a good bit of time practicing. For those reasons I urged Leroy to go alone rather than both of us going.

After coming to the conclusion that Leroy would go and fly because it would be cheaper than driving when going solo, we called Brian and Jen to find out if they would indeed like this offer of help. Perhaps because I have always been the one who comes alone to help, they were a bit put back to think that it would be Leroy. He did assure them that he could do childcare so they urged him to come.

Closest flight purchase to departure that we have ever done. The ticket was locked in at about 9:30 pm. and Leroy took off at 7:00 am. That meant that we got to bed late with washing clothes, packing, and saying good bye to each other. We were up early so Leroy could prepare, eat, and be driven to the airport. He had planned to take the light rail in MN, but Brian got out of class early so was able to pick Leroy up on his way home. It was a little dicey because Leroy had not turned on his phone immediately after landing and Brian tried to call him to let him know he was coming to the airport. Leroy turned on his phone just as he got to the rail stop. Luckily he had not yet bought a ticket and the distance back to where Brian would pick him up was not far. Some things do work smoothly if we just trust.

Paula

Separated

Salt Lake

December 8, 2011

Hello,

A couple weeks ago, or more, I was complaining that I was spending too much time with Leroy. Mostly I suppose that means I was noticing all of his annoying characteristics. For the next two weeks I will not complain about that as Leroy is now in Minnesota.

Son Brian, a full time student, is facing finals. Accountant Jen is busy with yearend tasks at work. Consequently, it is a tough goal to provide child care when the children are sick and unable to go to another care giver. Hence it is Leroy to the rescue even if a bit late. However Brian’s finals are next week so it will still help some. Perhaps it is good because Brian and Jen know they can get through difficult times. I have been praying for them especially this week because they had been on my mind. I guess all of the stress was why.

December 9, 2011

We do miss Leroy. He is good for child care such as last night when all the adults needed to be at choir practice. Miriam and I were singing and Andy plays the drums. We will also practice Saturday afternoon in preparation for the concert on Sunday afternoon.

Leroy is also good for a fourth at games, an occasional witty remark, a hug and declaration of love, and good for doing dishes when I do not want to be bothered.

Needless to say we are quite busy around here. It is good because it gives one little time to sit around feeling useless which I believe is a low feeling. I think most people like to feel they are contributing to the good of all.

I could live close to all of my children and be quite happy. It is just hard to know who to select. I have no desire to live in DC so that is a big decision maker about that location. I suppose I could manage to be outside the city someplace in the eastern US and be contented. The real kicker is not having a job in any of these child centric locations.

Paula

Decorated

December 3, 2011

Salt Lake

Hello,

Yesterday, Miriam moved into decorating for Christmas mode.

December 5, 201

I am not sure what came up, but I was not able to finish this letter. I had been going to say that I was not really in the mode to decorate. It might have had something to do with the thought that we would not be decorating our own home. Also Leroy and I do not decorate for Christmas quite so early in Advent. Leroy dived into the project with enthusiasm. Now that it is all done and looks very nice I am happy to look at the changes.

Because Leroy and I have lived with just two of us in the house for the last 14 years, we sometimes find ourselves longing for “peace and quiet”. On the other hand I notice a deepening relationship with the two granddaughters who live in this house and keep it less than peaceful and quiet, unless they are sleeping. I am grateful for this time for us to spend getting to know them as our relationship has been much sketchier in the past. How to have it all? Is that possible? I am also aware that there are four more grandchildren with whom I am not spending time. It is not a perfect world is it? I sometimes fantasize about owning three homes, one close to each of our children so we could have some extended visiting time without being totally in their space. Sounds perfect to me! You must know that I have never owned even one home. Is home ownership all it is touted to be?

Last night we played a couple games with Miriam and Andy. In spite of my moans and complaints early in the games, I won both of them. Oops!

Was that a lesson to me that even when things to do not look as if it will be a winning time, all will be well? Life is not a game, but there could be some parallels.

Blessings to you no matter where you are in the game of life.

Paula

The Zoo

Salt Lake City

Hello,

Yesterday was free day at the zoo so we all piled into the car, except for Andy who was working, poor guy. At the zoo was a brisk 40 degrees with a wind blowing. Or maybe it was colder because the waterfall had big chunks of ice in it. What Leroy and I did not realize was that we would be quite a bit higher so it would be colder than it was at Miriam’s house. We did not wear winter coats, but jackets. Luckily we had on warm sweatshirts and we had gloves, not the warmest, but gloves.

This second zoo that we have been to in about a month’s time was also good. Because we were not traveling with a group of three and four year olds, but only two of them, we could cover much more territory.

I was impressed with the viewing set up for the porcupine. You could see it up much closer if you desired by going in a “cave” that was the home for various animal species who are active in darkness. In the top of this cave there were six openings of various heights that went into the porcupine home. They were safely topped with glass tubes.

When we visited Sarah and Stephen in Kenya we went on safari. It is so different to see these animals in captivity. It brought back some of the amazing sights that we saw such as two cheetahs feeding on an ostrich. Our guide told us he had not seen a cheetah in years so we were quite privileged to see that. Then at another time a mother elephant came quite close to our stopped vehicle. In a few minutes her baby came up and started nursing on the side that was closest to us. That was quite an unusual occurrence as well. We have been blessed in more ways than we can count. Who would have thought that a little Illinois farm girl would travel to such faraway places to see things she did not dream about?

Paula