U.P., U.P., U.P. and Away...Day Two...

We were at the Tyler home a few minutes after 8 this morning. We loaded our luggage and stuff in their van, gave Katelyn hugs and instructions, and we were off on our UP adventure.

We would drive from Muskegon to a rest stop for our first break. Here is the picture I eMailed my family about our first tourist stop of this vacation assuring them we did know how to have a great time.

After this stop we headed on to Mackinaw City. While discussing the fact that Todd got a Bear Tag to be used in the western part of the UP, Claude said, "You just have to be sure, if you shoot a bear, it is no more than you can bear." Think about it. We all got a chuckle.

I was amazed at the marshland in Michigan. We've been here before but I just don't remember noticing so many marshlands. They are beautiful. Again, Claude was the quick witted one, "Whenever I'm near a marsh...I fell mellow."  Think about it. Again, we all got a chuckle.

The goal here was to get a good picture of Claude and me in front of the Mackinaw Bridge.
We found the rocks we wanted to use in the picture and got our pictures, Claude and me and then Nissa and Todd.

Pictures taken, we were ready for a lunch break. That would happen across the Mackinaw Bridge in the town of St. Ignace.

As we were crossing the bridge, a car in front of us had a licence plate with 3 letters on it "GTC". Nissa wondered what the letters meant. I stated they might just be initials. Todd pointed out they may have reference to the car. It had the letters GT on a metal circle on the trunk. Todd said maybe it was GT Cobra. Then he paused a moment and said, "Or it could mean Get The Chicks." Again, the chuckle could be heard in the car.

We ate at the Mackinaw Grille. It was just wonderful. They have a big deck on the back side of the restaurant and we ate there. Every one of us ordered well and totally enjoyed our lunch. The view is of Moran Bay and Mackinac Island across the water. There is a splash park on the jetty with a lighthouse at the end. The jetty next to it has railroad cars and a track from the days before the Mackinaw Bridge was there. Todd told us they shipped everything by train and these tracks date from those days. You can see Mackinac Island behind this jetty.

I learned something this trip. As we journeyed from St. Ignace to Tahquamenon Falls we passed an ice cream shop with the name 'Troll Trap'. It was named that because everyone who lives 'below' the 'Mackinaw Bridge' would be trolls (not a UPer). Cute and clever I say.

We missed Tahquamenon Falls on a trip we made of the UP with Bonnie (Claude's mom) years ago. Todd and Nissa were kind enough to include it on this trip for us. Tahquamenon Falls is made up of two sets of falls, the Upper and the Lower Falls. We visited the Lower Tahquamenon Falls first. These lower falls have an island in the middle. You can rent canoes and paddle across to the island and walk around. The first picture is the island with falls on the left and right side. The second picture is the left side of the lower falls. The third picture is the right side of the lower falls.

We opted to drive to the upper falls and not take the 4 mile hike there. The upper falls are the taller of the falls.

These falls are beautiful and well worth the stop and the walk back to them.

We drove to the Bear Farm but it was closed. Nissa LOVES bears.

Then Todd found our hotel for the evening in Newberry, Michigan. Nissa gave a nice big yawn while we were driving. I said to her, "Vacationing is hard work." Nissa replied, "Yeah." Then I told her that it was good practice for when they retired.

There was a Pizza Hut next door so we could even walk to dinner. I'm not sure what the conversation was about but at one point Claude made this clever statement, "I have reasons for what I don't know." You can think about that one all you want and it will still give you further pause for thought.

We are safely tucked in our respective hotel rooms for the night. My Blogging for this trip is caught up. Today was a wonderful day with good food at every meal and tons of wonderful scenery. Bring on tomorrow.

U.P., U.P., U.P. and Away...Day One

Tuesday, June 26th, we began our Upper (U) Peninsula (P) of Michigan trip. Nissa, our oldest daughter, and her hubby, Todd, invited us to go on their vacation with them. It is a driving tour of the Upper Peninsula.

We left home at 8am and drove to Dry Ridge, Kentucky for my favorite quick breakfast on the road...2 plain biscuits and a Dr. Pepper from McDonald's. Claude does not understand my pleasure at this breakfast but he does enjoy his Diet Coke and bacon, egg and cheese McGriddle. While eating my biscuit I happened upon the taste of bacon. I'm not sure how that happened but there was a bit of bacon in my biscuit. It was delicious and I reached for my Dr. Pepper to swish it all down. I had the most amazing flavor experience. The combination of a bacon flavored biscuit and Dr. Pepper suddenly tasted like the most perfect flavored plum I ever ate. It was just like I was having a little fruit with my breakfast. Yum!!

The drive across Ohio is tedious at best. The speed limit dropped to 65mph and there were highway patrol all over the place. Time just seems to creep by at this slower speed between 70 mph Kentucky and 70 mph Michigan.

At one point we passed the place that sells those big propane tanks people have by their home. In the center of their lot were two very large propane tanks. All around these two tanks were lots and lots of little propane tanks. It looked like mom and dad propane tanks surrounds by 101 baby propane tanks instead of 101 dalmations.

As we covered the miles these were two of the clever comments spoken by Claude and me:

1. Claude:  My life is a constant stream of pills and batteries to power the functions. (He realized he was given the wrong size batteries for his hearing aids.)
2. Sandi:  You know a hot flash is bad when you have to take off your sandals to get a little cooler.

We are trying to age gracefully but sometimes we just crack ourselves up with the aging process.

As we journeyed further down the road I sent this eMail to my family to see if they could guess where we were:

...Where we are? Think John Denver:  "So smile and be thankful next time you get weighed!!!"

The answer:  We were at Toledo, Ohio where the scale comes from. This was a fun song of John Denver's that Claude and I loved and thought others knew. Alas, not so much.

My dear friend Laura and I eMail back and forth when I travel and eMail is possible. I'm working on a piece of cross-stitch that has 5 little kids from countries all over the world on it. As I finished the first little kid, I took a picture with my cell phone and eMailed it to Laura. Laura eMail back asking how many things were left on my list to accomplish. Here was my response:

I brought 2 small books to read, the June Ensign, a baby afghan to crochet, the piece of seasonal cross-stitch I started, my next Sunday School lesson to prepare, and this piece of cross-stitch to work on. I also brought my laptop so I can play with my pictures each night. Ahhhhh...sweet rest.

Silly Moi!!

After a stop in Grand Rapids for Krispy Kreme donuts, we made the last half hour of our trip and checked into our hotel. Just as we pulled in front of the hotel, my cell phone rang. It was Katelyn, our oldest grandmonsters wanting to know how close we were. She had just finished work and was very anxious for us to arrive. We told her we were across the street getting ready to check into the hotel. We agreed to meet her at her home.

We met Katelyn and had time to get the air reservations done for the trip she is taking with Claude to Utah in August. That was so much easier to do with her sitting there and she and Claude being able to tell me at the same time what would and would not work for them.

Nissa and Todd got home from work and the 5 of us headed to the Pita Place for dinner.

Then we came back to the Tyler home for a brief visit. Katelyn was working on homework and we were able to share some insights about using Word and Excel. Then Claude and I went to the hotel to get a good night's rest before leaving for the Upper Peninsula (UP) on Wednesday.

First day...full and complete.

Genealogy, I Am Doing It...

Well, yesterday was the official beginning of a new chapter for my life.

For several years now Claude and Papa have been going to the Family History Center at the Alumni Building to serve a shift helping patrons as they needed it with their family history research. These patrons are members of the Church as well as lots of non-members who are very interested and dedicated in their family history research. When one or the other of them could not go, I have filled in. This was easy because I didn't really need to know anything. They were the 'experts', or at least knew the drill, to assist as needed. Really, they were a perfect match for this. Papa had been a family history center director years ago in Louisiana for several years. He knows all about doing on-site research in court houses, libraries, cemeteries, etc. He also knows all the reading equipment like microfilm and micro-fiche. Claude knows computers and how to use the New Family Search. Between the two of them they could usually help the patrons at the library find their answers.

During 2012 we have noticed that Papa has a harder time climbing in and out of the Jeep when Claude picks him up. But more importantly, Papa's back is so far gone that sitting up straight or standing for any length of time is prohibitive. Their shift is from 10am to 2pm the first, third and fifth Tuesday's of every month. That is a four hour shift of sitting in folding chairs. Papa has tried to take a break and go to the lobby of the Church and stretch out on the sofa for a bit but it just has not worked. Their last shift in May Papa voiced the idea that he might have to give up this work he loves so much. That is an indication to me of the pain he is actually in. Their first shift in June Papa actually told Claude he was going to call the Family History Center Director and ask her to find someone else to cover his shift. Papa tried to call and left messages on her home and cell phones. Claude told him he would also contact her via eMail.

Claude came home and we continued our conversation that started when Papa first voiced his concern about his back and continuing his work at the FHC. We determined that we would see if I could work with him, taking Papa's place. Claude contacted the FHC director and she was very happy we would cover this need.

So, yesterday was my first shift as a FHC consultant with my dear hubby. I've asked him to slowly teach me the things I need to know. I think I'll learn it better if we focus on one thing each time and not flood me with all of it at once.

So yesterday I learned how to open and close the FHC. We had a call about microfilm and I stood with Claude as he answered the ladies questions. Then we covered where the microfilm is stored and how to find what a patron might be looking for. There are actually two kinds. They have temporary loans which the patron orders on their own at home on-line or on one of the computers at the FHC. The patron uses the microfilm and then it is returned to Salt Lake City. They also have permanent loan which is stored in cabinets in the FHC.

We arrived at the meetinghouse, unlocked the door to go in and were immediately blown away by the odor. They were resurfacing the gym floor and the odor was overwhelming. We hurried to the FHC which is at the end of a hall by an outside exit.  Even in there the odor was powerful. We actually only stayed for 3 hours, then we left.

Since I've been systematically going through my sewing room cleaning out and setting in order to finish all my projects I've collected over the last 8 years, I determined I will use my time at the FHC to finish typing my mother's journal. I have a good start on this and it takes time so this four hour block at least two times a month seems perfect for completing that project.

It is a fun journey to type that journal and read life through my mother's eyes. I've found so many things with dates that I couldn't remember. I had a miscarriage and that is recorded in her journal. Since I was not a journal keeper then, I'm very appreciative of having that date now. Yesterday I was reading about Claude's graduation from college when we lived in Denver.

Several weeks ago, when I was typing for a bit, I came across this lovely entry about Jake, our son. This is what Mimi wrote on her 50th birthday. It is now a treasured remembrance through my mother's memory.

June 1979
            June 9^th was my 50^th birthday. Of course I still only admit to 29 of those – ha!  Seriously 50 is not a bad age. It is neat to look over all the changes in my life from the country home where I grew up with no electricity or gas – heated with wood – water drawn hand over hand from a 40 ft. swell curbed with hand split cypress boards and dug by hand to a comfortable air conditioned home – a good car to drive and automatic washer and dryer. Truly we have come a long way. As I look back I am amazed at the progress in all areas that we enjoy and take for granted. It is fun to speculate on the future also. With our growing family – who can say what will happen yet during our mortal years. The girls all call for my birthday and I enjoyed that so much. Sandi’s children each individually sang “Happy Birthday Dear Mimi.” Jacob now 4 had a ‘funny’ on and decided to sing Happy Birthday to Mimi – You look like a monkey and you smell like one too then laughing his precious deep laugh that I can hear so clearly he said “I love you Mimi.” Life is so full.

I'm typing with errors just as my mother wrote with her hand. Papa made two copies of this journal and gave one to Junie and one to Neffie (my sisters) last year for Christmas. So they each have mom's journal. I want the digital copy so I can share it with my kids and my nieces and nephews and they can easily pass it to their kids.

So...I'm off on another adventure and hope to learn much on this journey. It is kind of a funny coincidence. They are starting a Family History class at Church on Sunday during the Sunday School time. I teach the adult Sunday School class. They came in a few weeks ago and announced that this class would begin in a few weeks and then asked for a show of hands to see the interest level among the adults. I raised my hand first and Bro. Squire said, "Everyone except Sis. Christensen, please." We all got a chuckle out of that. Now I'll have my own personal learning time at the FHC with my dear hubby. Can't get much better than that!!

The Joy of a Quick Visit...

Our oldest daughter, Nissa, is divorced. She has two children from this marriage. They are to visit their father every summer by court order. Our home is the drop-off and pick-up spot for this transfer of my grandmonsters. The nice part is this assures Claude and me a quick visit at the beginning and again at the end of their summer vacation. This last weekend was the Quick Visit.

Nissa, Paul and Aubrey Anne arrived Saturday afternoon around 2:30pm. So happy they made the long drive safely. We settled in for a bit of visit time. Part of that was giving Claude his Father's Day presents a day early. The Tyler household gave Claude an 'Old Guy's Rule' T-shirt and a cap that says 'All American Grampa'. I got Claude a T-shirt that says 'Bazinga' from his favorite TV program "The Big Bang Theory". Claude was one happy guy.

Claude and I were offered seats in the Whitaker Bank box at the Whitaker Ball Park where the Lexington Legends baseball team plays. Claude requested and received three tickets. The game was Saturday evening. So Claude purchased two additional tickets on the first base line. Now all five of us could go to the game. Claude, Nissa and Paul would take the Whitaker Bank box seats. Aubrey and I cheerfully took the first base line tickets.

Aubrey and I found our dinner before finding our seats. We purchased pepperoni pizza and sodas. Then found our lovely seats and settled in for a great evening.

It turns out it was 'Bark at the Park' night. The Legends have taken the tact of inviting a non-profit each night to support their cause. This was their second 'Bark at the Park' night this year. Between the two night they have had a total of over 500 dogs in attendance. I will admit the relief I felt as Aubrey and I found our seats and realized the dogs and their owners had seats in another part of the stadium. Between innings they had a man performing tricks with a pack of dogs. Basically they chased frizbees. It was still fun to watch. One dog was the bat boy during the bottom of an inning. The funniest was near the end of the game when they were acknowledging the dogs and their owners. Several owners and dogs were on the field between home plate and third base. One large dog determined that was his opportunity to do a big power dump behind home plate. Bless his heart that is what he is trained to do...see grass, take your opportunity to go. The audience was having a laugh, the owner was trying to do a poised grin, and the MC just said, 'Well, I guess that is part of live show."

Aubrey and I ate our way through the evening. I'm a huge lover of Dippin' Dots ice cream. Aubrey, love her heart, is also. We did begin our evening with something a bit more solid, that pizza I mentioned earlier. From then on it was just fun stuff.

After our dinner, I waited a bit and then asked Aubrey if she needed anything. She thought it was time for Dippin' Dots. I gave her money and she was our runner. She dutifully brought back ice cream and we enjoyed the cool on a very hot night with the sun now down yet.

We watched a little baseball and then the cotton candy guy came around. We tried to be a bit circumspect in junk food eating so shared a cotton candy. Aubrey picked the color and it was pink...of course.

We watched a bit more of the baseball game. I pulled out my crocheting which surpised Aubrey a bit. Claude is very used to this and could really care less. After another inning, the frozen lemonade vendor came plying her wares. Aubrey wanted one of those, I did not. so we purchased a strawberry flavored one for Aubrey and I crocheted and watched while Aubrey enjoyed her lemonade treat.

During this time they had several things to entertain the audience. In keeping with the 'Bark in the Park' theme, they had us all stand and howl like dogs. The winner enabled their section to get free food at McDonald's or some such nonsense. Aubrey and I tried our best but were not able to help our section get the coupons. Another time we were to dance along with the kids on the dugout roof. We tried again but were not successful. We tried to get the free t-shirt by waving our arms frantically and calling out. We tried to get the squishy footballs by waving our arms frantically and calling out.  Neither of these bits of silliness helped us win a thing. Nissa was watching from above and this was her report to Facebook.

"So while sitting in the sky box seats with my dad I was able to witness mother bark like a dog, do her own version of the Cotton Eye'd Joe, and howl for a foam ball. Truly an eye opening experience. What do you expect from the worlds greatest mom! — with Sandi Lawrence Christensen and Aubrey Thompson."

I again asked Aubrey, "Do you want anything else?"  Her response, "More Dippin' Dots please." So off our runner went for more ice cream. Now this was a good thing. the ice cream comes in Lexington Legends baseball cap cups. This would give us four cups. We could now give Hayden and Bailey each a cup and Aubrey and Paul could each have a cup. Not bad rationalizing.

I did get a picture of Claude (in his Bazinga T-shirt), Nissa and Paul in their seats high above us  with Big 'L' and Little 'L' signing autographs. 

The Legends won, thank heavens!!! And we pointed the Buick toward Sadieville.

After a welcome night's rest, we had a big breakfast together before everyone hit the road. Aubrey and Paul were off for a summer in North Carolina, Nissa was back on the road to Michigan, Claude was headed to Owingsville, Kentucky and I was headed to Georgetown, Kentucky. You can't get more spread out than that.

I was a quick visit but full of fun and memories built to carry us through until the next visit. 

The Truth Just Might Hurt...

Sunday I was at the nursing home to visit my mother while my father was there feeding her lunch. I held my mother's hand while Papa fed her. Her tendency is to rest her face in her hand and sleep. That is less that desirable when you are trying to get her to eat and drink. My holding her hand helps her to stay awake a bit for Papa to feed her.

I watched my mother very closely this time. I have been doing this for the past couple of weeks. But Sunday, I was particularly in tune with where she is physically and how she is doing. 

Since her bout with shingles she has taken a decided turn downward. Feeding her is a much bigger struggle that ever before. She appears to have a hard time remembering (or maybe just having a reflex action) to drink through a straw. She has for a long time pushed her tongue forward instead of taking food in and using her tongue to get the food to the back of her mouth. Now you must press her tongue down to get the food back in her mouth. Then, often, she will let the food lay there for a bit before she recognizes she needs to swallow. Sometimes we try to get her to take a drink through the straw just so she will swallow what is in her mouth. And sometimes, it is like she has a sore throat and swallowing is just difficult. We have been told by the nursing staff that sometimes Alzheimer's patients completely forget how to eat. The instinctive actions are just gone.

The other item is her inability to look up and take notice of things. I can have my face right in front of her, big smile in place and talk to her calling her by name. Most of the time now she doesn't look at me. Yesterday I did coax one smile out of her just before we left.

Her eyes can only be called vacant. My mom has big brown eyes so her pupils tend to blend in with the iris of her eye a bit anyway. But now it is just one brown spot. And when I watch her eyes closely they almost look like someone having a seizure. They even seemed to roll around a bit yesterday. To me the eyes are the biggest manifestation of how far this decline is.

My feeling has been that they gave or were still giving her medication for the itching of the shingles. I determined to find a nurse and be sure what medication mom was receiving.

I found a new nurse and she pulled mom notebook and looked up her medication chart. It seems they are giving her vitamins and a blood pressure medication, that is all, nothing else, no mood levelers, nothing more for shingles. I thanked the nurse for helping me to have peace of mind. At least now I know for sure, this is a step much further into late stages Alzheimer's.

I share this just to acknowledge that I work much better knowing the truth about things. It hurts to know my mom is coming closer to the end of her struggle with this vicious disease. But there is a peace of a sort in understanding and knowing that is okay. There is further peace in knowing so I can prepare myself to handle the end as it comes.

As hard as it will be for me, my heart aches for my father. His purpose in going on each day to provide a meal to my mom and a visit each day of her existence. He is so tender and caring with her in his own way. I'm not sure how he will handle that emptiness that will come when those hours aren't filled with her care. I'm sure he will persevere. He knows and understands the Plan of Salvation and the purpose of life. That knowledge will carry him along.

So I face this week knowing we are definitely closer. Mom is not sleepy or unable to eat and drink easily because of medication. Mom is just a lot further along in the last stages of Alzheimer's. I'm grateful for knowledge and understanding. It helps the hurt.

Chuckle...

Yesterday afternoon while singing with Papa at the nursing home I had this little experience. This was my Facebook post right after it happened.

Papa just picked up his mandolin to play it here at the nursing home. Eva, one of the residents said, "That's a little fella, isn't it?" I told Papa what Eva said. Papa looked at Eva and said, "Yep, it was picked before it got ripe!" Old people crack me up.

The Chauntenette's

The Chauntenette Women's Chorus is from Orem, Utah. This organization is 66 years old. They hold three performances each year. These performances include a performance of Sacred Music, a performance of Popular Music and a performance of Christmas Music. Every other year they do a performing tour. They've performed from Independence Hall to Yellowstone Lodge.

Retired Colonel Hughes in the Owingsville Ward (congregation) has a daughter who used to sing with this group of ladies. He received notice that this year the Chauntenette's would be touring in Tennessee and Kentucky. They indicated to him they would be performing in Nashville on a Saturday. They further indicated they would be willing to perform the next day, Sunday, in the evening between their Nashville engagement and one in New Albany, Indiana on their way home. Arrangements were made and the date of Sunday, June 10th at 7pm was set for the Chauntenette Women's Chorus to perform for us.

Sunday I reminded Papa of this performance. He was very interested in attending. So I arranged for Claude and me to pick him up and take him with us.

It was a totally delightful experience. They performed music from their sacred selection.

Two of the highlights for me were, first, "The Lord's Prayer". The accompanist for the group, Irene Jenkins, played the organ and her hubby, Terry, played the piano. It was a most moving duet. The next to last piece was titled "Savior". Immediately after this number I looked at Claude and found him looking at me. We smiled at each other and both said, "That was superb." This one seemed to be acknowledged as a favorite by many after the program was complete. The sister that leads our stake choirs was getting that message from many of us for future use. She already had it starred on her program to find the music.

I found myself looking at the choir seats full of ladies and thinking, "That lady looks familiar to me." Of course, I didn't know any of them. But still, they were strangely familiar. Then it dawned on me...they looked like ladies I do really know. It was an interesting feeling to realize how similar we all are even when we don't know each other and live thousands of miles apart. Sort of a comforting kind of feeling.

They were all mothers, grandmothers and great-grandmothers. Most had a few years on them. Their bodies showed a lifetime of child-bearing and rearing, work and play. But they still all loved to use the talent with which they were blessed. How nice it was to find that you can keep using that talent.

I am truly happy these ladies decided they could stop in Lexington and share their talents with us.

Literacy Speaking...

The Scott County Public Library is our library. We live in Scott County and this library serves all our county. The library building is in Georgetown, Kentucky and is a truly beautiful facility.

I'm impressed with the way our library is reaching out to our community and thinking outside that 'library box' to meet the 'new' needs residents have from their library.

• So many people read eBooks now and our library has eBooks you can check-out as it were.
• Our ward (congregation at Church) had a picnic a couple of weekends ago and they were going to do fishing. I learned that one can even check out fishing poles from our library.
• There is a beautiful Kentucky Genealogy library room at the library.
• The kids section is just super.
• There is a large meeting room, a computer room as well as computer plug-ins at all the tables so you can bring your own laptop to work.
• I've noted the selection of books and documentary DVD's and other items that the library loans to the nursing home my mother resides in.
• When I got my hair cut a few months ago in Sadieville, there was a basket with an nice assortment of books in Tyra's shop. These books you could read and return OR read and pass on to someone else without returning them.
• I know the Bookmobile was at our Sadieville in September festival last year and comes regularly to this northern part of Scott County.

With so many possibilities for the community to use the library one might ask, "What could they possibly do to serve the community even more?"

The answer to that would be a 'kiosk' in the outlying communities. The very first community to get a kiosk is Sadieville.

Earlene Arnette, who is in charge our the Scott County Library, has worked with the City of Sadieville to select a place to built this kiosk that would best serve the citizens of Sadieville. The spot chosen was the side of City Hall. Herb Archer, a resident of Sadieville, was hired to build the kiosk. The work was completed and a dedication event was schedule for yesterday, Sunday, June 10th at 2pm.

Fortunately, this Sunday choir practice was canceled after Church. Papa and I had already picked out songs to sing at the nursing home for last Wednesday and didn't get to use them because he was sick so I didn't have to go to Papa's. That just left visiting Mimi and straightening out her clothes. I was able to leave Church at 12:30 and head to the nursing home, straighten out Mimi's clothes and then sit with Papa and Mimi as he fed her. I left at 1:30pm and made it to City Hall for the dedication with a few minutes to spare.  Whew!!

The library staff did a wonderful job of creating a fun dedication. Appropriate dignitaries were invited to attend. Our city officials were all there except Jamie Donovan who was on vacation. The library staff were also there keeping the program going.

Short thank you speeches were made. Then the ribbon was cut using the Chamber of Commerce scissors.

The kiosk is behind this group of people with the sign saying 'Library Express' on the side. Inside the kiosk it looks like this.

All we have to do is go on-line to the Scott County web page, select the item(s) we want from the library. When it is time to pick up the item(s) we go to the kiosk and on a key pad that is on the wall to the left (it doesn't show up on this picture) press in the last 5 digits of our library card number. When we have done that successfully, the door to our box will open and inside will be our item(s). The computer monitor to the right is to help those who may not have Internet access at home. They can use it to key in their requests. There is also a box outside the kiosk that you can drop items you want to return to the library.

Claude and some others were asked to try the system out first. Claude opened a box and inside was a Scott County Library T-shirt.

After the dignitaries opened their box, the public was each given a turn to open a box and each time they found a Scott County Library T-shirt.

The Bookmobile was on-site for checking out of books.

An ice cream truck was there for refreshments. The ice cream was free and was greatly enjoyed on the hot summer afternoon. This is Herb Archer getting some ice cream.

And a magician was there to entertain the kids and provide face painting after his act.

It was a wonderful event and enjoyed by all. We are grateful for this addition to the City of Sadieville. I don't see how in the world the library could do more to meet the needs of the citizens.

Politically Correct...

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God and another testament of Jesus Christ. I am also the gospel doctrine (adult Sunday School class) teacher in ward (congregation).

We have a four year rotation of studying of our scriptures. Two years ago we studied the Old Testament. Last year we studied the New Testament. This year we are studying the Book of Mormon. Next year we will study the Doctrine and Covenants/Church History. Then we'll rotate through all again over the next four years.

This week, as happens very often when studying any of the scriptures, our lesson dove-tailed perfectly with my weeks experiences in living life. Our study for the week was Mosiah 29 - Alma 4. The particular bit of our study I am referring to in this Blog references to the change in the form of government for the Nephites people.

Their king, Mosiah, was aging and knew he needed to set things in order. Mosiah was the king as well as the prophet for these people. His sons were not interested in succeeding him to the throne. In fact they were among the Lamanites teaching the gospel.

Mosiah requests of his people that they consider changing their form of government, which at that time was a monarchy/theocracy, with a new form of government having a system of judges. In this form of government the laws would be based on righteous principles, things would be done by the 'voice of the people' and there would be higher judges and smaller judges who would be accountable to the voice of the people. There would also be a system of appeals against judges who did not judge by the law.

Mosiah's plan for this tremendous change in government was presented to the people. The people 'reliquished their desires for a king and became exceedingly anxious that every man should have an equal chance through the land.' The people assembled themselves together in bodies throughout the land, to cast in their voices concerning who should be their judges. The scripture tells us they were 'exceedingly rejoiced because of the liberty which had been granted unto them'.

I have studied this particular portion of the Book of Mormon many times. And, again, as when studying any of the scriptures, I found lovely impressions come into my heart and mind that felt new to me. One of those was the awareness that king Mosiah was actually already giving the people their own voice in the process of this change. I liked that.

Fast forward to my own personal week. My hubby and I are registered Republicans. We were delegates to the 4th Congressional Convention for the Republican Party earlier this year. This last Saturday we were delegates to the State Republican Convention in Somerset, Kentucky. It was such an interesting experience after pouring over and studying the 5 chapters in the Book of Mormon, particularly the ones regarding the change of government.

One of the guest speakers was Mitch McConnell. I find him an interesting man to listen to. He has so many years of experience in this kind of speaking. He gives interesting insight from his perspective of governing in Washington, DC. We lived in Maryland and Claude worked in Washington, DC for 20 years. Our local news was usually also international news. Things that happened in the government were just a part of our local news and the talk about town. From that experience I can say I appreciate hearing Mitch McConnell speak. Granted, he is speaking to the choir, but it is still good insight from an insider.

But on Saturday, my mind kept referring back to all my scripture study during the week and the parallels contained in those scriptures and the language bantered about during the convention.

Mosiah warned the people that a monarchy form of government would be okay if you could always have a righteous man to be king. However, and this is a pretty big and solid however, many times the king will make laws to suit him only, he will surround himself with his men so you do not have access to him, people will murder to keep the king's place on the throne, the people will be made to work to support whatever the king desires.

One of the things Mitch McConnell was telling us was "a government big enough to give everything to everybody is big enough to take everything from everybody. He was very forthright is stating that, frankly, we can't and shouldn't give everybody everything. Government doesn't need to be that big. To me, that fit right with Mosiah's counsel to his people.

Mitch also said that American is the 'land of opportunity'. He stated there were only two ways to fail in this country: 1) quit and 2) die. That is pretty blunt. He stated that America is the 'land of opportunity' because for years when things didn't work for Americans individually or collective they have picked themselves up, dusted themselves off and grabbed on to that 'opportunity' and tried again and again. That is the true American way.

Mosiah's people, after accepting this opportunity to be the 'voice of the people' expressed a 'willingness to answer for their own sins'. They were ready to take responsibility for their own choices. They were ready to seize their 'opportunity' and work for their own good, answering for their own choices.

I was also struck by the number of times during the convention that the phrase 'voice of the people' was used. In fact, one of the portions of a convention is to vote to accept the resolutions committees proposed set of resolutions. There were 24 of these resolutions presented to the convention delegates. We were all given a printed copy to review. When we got to that portion of the convention, we had a motion and a 2nd to accept the resolutions. Then the floor was open for discussion. The wording on several of the resolutions was discussed with amendments to them to fit new wording. I found it interesting as I read our agenda that the lion-share of the convention time was allocated to getting the resolutions so they could be accepted.

In the Book of Mormon in Alma 2 a man named Amlici decided he should be king. He amasses supporters to his cause. The matter is brought before the people. We are told the people 'assembled themselves together throughout the land, every man according to his own mind, whether it were for or against Amlici, in separate bodies, having much dispute and wonderful contentions one with another'. They 'cast in their voices' against making Amlici a king.

I loved that phrase 'wonderful contentions'. One year when we lived in Maryland it was an election year for president. We had three young people living in our home that summer. One was a republican, one a democrat and one an independent. We had some 'wonderful contentions' that summer as each shared their opinion about their particular choice of candidate. It was wonderful to observe these young people and their interest in having their 'voice heard'.

I felt like that convention floor with the discussion about the resolutions was a bit of 'wonderful contention'.  The marvel of it all was that, after all comments were given and potential amendments to the language the resolution committee's proposal was reviewed, the voice of the people was heard. We were asked to voice yeah or nay. Once that vote was clearly taken and all could see the outcome, it was accepted. The voice of the people was heard in preparing those resolutions, during the discussion portion and during the voting portion.

Back to Mosiah 29 and king Mosiah's counsel to his people. He stated, "Now it is not common that the voice of the people desireth anything contrary to that which is right; but it is common for the lesser part of the people to desire that which is not right; therefore this shall ye observe and make it your law--to do your business by the voice of the people. Amazingly, I watched that happen several times on Saturday.

Now, I believe this same type of thing happens at the Democrats conventions. This is the process for our government. It is such a good process. We don't do it perfectly. But most of the time we get it right.

I came away from my scripture study this week followed by real life experience with extreme gratitude in my heart for being blessed to live in the United States of America. I'm grateful I have a voice that can be heard. I'm grateful that I understand clearly that, if I do not get out and let my voice be heard, I should not complain. I also firmly believe that, once the voice of the people is heard, we need to pray for that person we have elected to lead us in whatever capacity. Then we need to keep on working for the good of all of us. What an amazingly wonderful process. I'm also very grateful for the Book of Mormon and the teachings contained therein that confirm the importance of the governing process in the United States.

This week was very powerful for me.

A Day for the Birds...

Wednesday was my Countryside Homemakers outing. We don't have an official meeting in June but we like to treat ourselves to lunch at a nice place and enjoy one last meeting at the beginning of summer. Our choice for this outing was Boone Tavern in Berea, Kentucky.

Claude and I went to Berea in 2005 to see the Kentucky Artisan Center. It is right on I-75 and is a lovely facility with very expensive arts and crafts inside. After visiting the Kentucky Artisan Center we drove on through Berea and noted Boone Tavern but did not stop there. It was placed on our bucket list of places to visit sometime in the future. There is an Inn that is also a part of Boone Tavern and it seemed like a nice getaway place. So my adventure with the ladies was something I was looking forward to.

Berea is a college town. They have lots of little shops along another side of Boone Tavern that the college students display and sell their crafts.  We made sure we arrived early so we could walk the street and browse those shops before our lunch reservation. This is Faye and Charlotte walking ahead of me.

While we were waiting near the porch for everyone to arrive, I noticed a bird's nest. When I went around and inside the porch, to my surprise, I found a little bird staring at me with a threatening gaze. Quick, bring the camera up and get some pictures. I was able to do this before we shopped and again after we ate and before heading home. It turned out there were two birds and, I'm sure, some little babies in that nest. You can see the one bird watching by the nest and the fuzzy spot above is the other bird flying around and then away to keep my attention away from their nest.

Boone's Tavern is just surrounded by beautiful flowers. Here are a few.

Lunch itself was delicious. They serve you unlimited 'spoon bread' instead of rolls. It was delicious. My lunch was chicken salad, croissant, and fresh fruit. It too was delicious and  very reasonably priced.

After enjoying the birds on the porch again, we headed back to Sadieville.

I had just a few minutes before going to Georgetown. Wednesday is the day Papa and I sing for the residents at the nursing home. Papa was sick and could not sing. I went to his apartment first and picked up a DVD to show the residents in lieu of our singing. Papa was red and felt like he was burning up with fever. I suggested he call his doctor and get an appointment sooner rather than later.

I sat with mom while the DVD played. Then I opted to stay and feed my mother dinner. She is struggling with her eating ability but we got all her dinner down her.

Then I took Papa his DVD back. He had made his doctor appointment while I was gone. I asked if I could take Tiny (his little dog) home with me so he could rest and not worry about caring for her. Amazingly, he said yes this time. Tiny and I headed for Sadieville.

I changed into stretchy clothes when we got home. Then I took Tiny outside for a walk on the hill.

I got to the edge of the patio and heard a strange rustling sound, almost like an enormous bee was flying around my head. I looked up and saw a hummingbird sitting on the wire cage for the tomato to grow in one of the Bourbon barrels. Somehow I always think hummingbirds are flapping their little wings 24/7. No so. This one sat on the wire cage and looked a me for a few seconds. Long enough for me to realize I didn't have a camera or my cell phone to take a single picture. Drat!!!  I tried telling it I was friendly but it flew off to my magnolia tree and perched on a branch of it.

I walked over to the adirondack chairs to sit and watch Tiny and the hummingbird flew away. It did come back later while I was there and perched on the railing of the upper deck. Here is what that little hummingbird was trying to safely get to.

This was our Christmas gift from Jake. Claude bought the hook and got it up on the railing of the upper deck. It is an old fashioned hummingbird feeder. I filled it this week. This was my first sighting of a hummingbird actually knowing the feeder was there and trying to get to it.

This morning as I was doing my shoulder exercises I saw that hummingbird actually feeding from the feeder. I told Claude the hummingbird was back. It turns out he has seen one that was red in color. The one I've seen two times now is green in color.

Yeah!!  We will enjoy this gift and the beautiful little birds that come to sup at their table this summer.  I totally enjoyed my day with bird sightings.

It's Coming Together...

This August I will have lived in this home for 8 years. Every year we have done some things to the yard. This year Claude and I both commented about how it really feels like things are coming together outside.

Here are some things Claude and I have done this year:

First, Claude replaced the solar light pole on either end of the lower deck. He installed metal pipes and placed the solar lights on the top. I think he had a great idea and they look really nice.

Second, Claude repaired and painted the Adirondack chairs on the lower deck.

Third, Claude decided to not garden in the yard anymore. We'll grow what veggies we can eat on the decks and patio. Tomatoes are in the Bourbon barrels and two hanging Topsy-Turvy planters. Bell peppers are in large flower pots on the lower decks center portion. Strawberries are in planters that look like hollowed out logs that line the end of the lower deck. Lettuce and herbs are on the upper deck in planters. Peas are in the flower containers on the patio.

Fourth, Claude determined we needed another flower bed by the driveway near the garage. This place is funny to mow. Claude drove his tractor around the edge and that formed the placement of the bed for the new bush. Where the tractor didn't cut would be the bed. Then Claude picked out a beautiful little bush, purchased stones like the other flower beds he made when we first moved in and placed them along the edge of the new bed. He planted his little red leafed bush and created a beautiful addition to the left side of the driveway in the front of the house.

Fifth, we moved the irises from the rain garden under the trees to the tiered garden spot and added 3 blueberry bushes in with them. I now have to find plants to put in the water garden but that will come later. My shoulder must rest a bit first. The irises look pathetic in this picture but they will perk up over time. They are a hearty plant.



Sixth, we planted two butterfly bushes in one of the water breaks in the back yard. This spot held two tiny blueberry bushes before. We gave those to Andie when she visited for her yard. This is a picture of a blossom on one of the butterfly bushes and the object on it is a butterfly that looks like a brown leaf.

I believe that covers the projects so far. Other than the plantings I did in the flower beds on the hill and the work Claude has done on the path he is slowly building down the hill. It just feels like things are coming together for us in this huge yard.

Just Stuff...

Monday, May 21st I committed to do a presentation of my Israel pictures for the residents at the nursing home. I worked the weekend before to get the pictures in order for them. We already had some of them set up to use to teach about the places we saw in the life of the Savior. I simply used that set up and edited it to be pictures from most of the places we visited.

Monday I also took some of the things we brought back from Israel. I also picked up a friend from Church and took her with me to see the pictures. Papa also came and watched them.

It was great fun to go back through all the pictures from that particular trip. It has to be my favorite trip of all times. Such a grand opportunity and so many, many things we saw. Geraldine Cannon kept saying, "You saw all that. You really got to see all that."

I do think the residents enjoyed it and it helped to fill a special need in this resident appreciation month they had in May.

Tuesday, May 22nd I took Claude to the hospital for his every-five-year colonoscopy. He was a good patient. He had two more polyps but they were not malignant. We'll repeat this process again in 5 years.

Wednesday, May 23rd we took our City Clerk to lunch. Then, in the afternoon, I sang at the nursing home with Papa.

Thursday, May 24th Papa and I attended the Family Council they have every few months for family members and residents of the nursing home. This time a dietician from Central Baptist Hospital came to speak to us about a diabetic diet. She was a good speaker and kept our attention. We are not diabetic but that is a healthy diet for anyone. At the end of the evening she had a door prize that she gave to the person with the next birthday. That turned out to be me. Couldn't believe it. The prize was a very nice cookbook called Soul Food but it is written for a diabetic diet with just good old southern cooking.

Friday, May 25th I met a lady I visit teach at the Japanese restaurant in Georgetown. We had a wonderful lunch together. Then I visited Lowe's to look at plants. I came home with three blueberry bushes. I also purchased two house plants.

Saturday, May 26th Claude and I went into Georgetown to Galvin's for a date. I wanted the muffaletta sandwich and Claude wanted a salad. We asked the nice server and she split each of our meals and we each got half a sandwich and half a salad. Then we headed over to Lowe's for Claude to pick up more dirt. While there we purchased two butterfly bushes.

This particular day our temperatures were in the 90's and way too hot to be outside for long. We came home and waited until between 6 and 6:30pm and then we headed out to plant our new purchases.

The plan was take our irises out of the rain garden and put them in the upper of the two-tiered garden beds. Then we would put the 3 blueberry bushes in the lower tier.

Claude set to work digging three holes in the lower bed. I set to work digging up the irises from the rain garden. Then I heard a groan from Claude and looked up to see frustration written all over his face. It seems he found a rock (go figure!!!) and he couldn't find the edges of it. This was in the third hole he was trying to dig in hard, dry ground.

Plan B was now created. Claude would plant the 3 blueberry bushes in the top tier and I would plant the irises in the lower tier.

I finished digging up irises and joined Claude by the garden spot. He now had holes dug in the top tier but was still frustrated that the taller plant would be in the front. I looked at our situation a bit and then had one of the 'flash of intellect moments' I enjoy occasionally. I suggested to Claude and we put blueberry bushes in either end of the first tier and in the center of the lower tier. Then I would plant irises in the center of the first tier and either end of the second tier. We both liked the idea. I proceeded to turn up the soil where Claude had not dug holes while Claude planted the 3 blueberry bushes in their new homes.

While I planted irises, Claude moved over to the waterbreak on the other side of the back yard where we were going to plant the butterfly bushes.

All this was grueling work. It was still close to 90 degrees. There was shade moving over from the house. Most of my planting was done from a bent over position. This is not fun at my age. Claude, bless his hard-working heart, ended up digging 8 holes when he should have only needed to dig 5 holes. We came in totally spent.

Sunday afternoon, May 27th Andie, Hayden and Bailey arrived and visited through Tuesday morning, May 29th. (see earlier Blog entry)

Wednesday afternoon, May 30th Claude and I used the last of my Groupon's for the Georgetown Theater and saw Dark Shadows. This movie is full of old songs from our younger days. There were only two other couples in the theater with us for this viewing. At one point the music in the movie was the Carpenter's singing "I'm on the Top of the World". Claude and I loved the Carpenters. Great to harmonize with and just good music generally. It didn't take but a few bars before we were each humming harmony in alto and bass. Then we were actually singing the words out loud in alto and bass. Now my hubby can hit the low notes and I just LOVE when he does. At one point he hit a very low note and I looked at him and he looked at me and grinned. He knew I would like that low note. Then we just kept right on grinnin' and singin' out loud and truly didn't care if the others saw or heard us. Great moment in time.

Thursday, May 31st I did some visiting teaching and came home and finished my Sunday School lesson planning. Then I crashed for the rest of the day. Sometimes I just run out of steam.

Friday, June 1st was a day for Claude and I to fill as we saw fit. They don't happen often. I did want to visit my mother during the day to see how she was eating. We made a plan and then called Papa. He was ready to participate with us. Claude drove me in to the nursing home and I joined Papa while he tried to feed Mimi. Afterwards we all met up at our favorite Mexican restaurant for a nice dinner together. How nice to have a quiet spot in busy lives. The food was excellent and Papa took home half of his. Claude told Papa that is why we like to bring him there. We know he is getting two meals every times we go there. One while we are in the restaurant and one in that little white box he takes home each time.

Saturday, June 2nd was Clean Up Sadieville Day.  We were over to Sadieville at 8:30 in the morning. We were able to weed the flower beds in Warring Park and around City Hall. It was a good effort and we were very efficient in getting the job done. Yeah us!!

Claude got me home so I could wash off the poison ivy before I added to that which is currently a week old. Then he took me out to Wendy's for lunch.

Whew...that is a synopsis of my life over the last couple of weeks. Time just keeps on a passing and we just keep filling it up as best we can.

The Honk of the Wild...

I spent some time weeding flower beds again. Friday, May 25th, I hurried outside while the air was still a little cooler to weed the beds on the hill.

I was side-tracked by the fact there was a bit of shade from the trees on the hill up the back yard and covering the beds we used to use for garden plots. I proceeded to weed them first. There are three of them in total.

Then I headed down to the flower beds on the hill. Once again I was side-tracked by the tier Claude made when we first moved here and put a concrete bench on it. There was something growing there that was tall and made like a thistle except it had yellow flowers on the top. Maybe it is some strange crossover between a thistle and a yellow daisy. I found myself weeding this tier next.

Then I headed down to the flower beds on the hill and made it there this time.

Now, as steep as the hill is you must pause every now and then to rest. When I do, I am always struck by the sheer beauty of the place where we live. The creek runs down slowly along the flat and the hill going up the other side. The opposite hill in the summer is full of all kinds of trees each in its own shade of green. The birds chatter in the trees above me as I work. And there is often a lovely little breeze the cools that sweat pouring off my brow. It is just peaceful, beautiful and makes life feel right.

This Friday though as I paused for a bit of respite, I heard that lovely honking of geese. You see, there is a family of geese that nest along our creek every summer. I saw their babies a few weeks ago. This time several pairs and several babies were actually at the bottom of the hill on the flat in the grass. I had not seen them because they were behind Zachary's play set (our next door neighbor's son). They must have realized I was there when I started singing my new favorite song as I worked. I realized they were there and they knew I was there by a honking sound.

I tried to talk gently to them. As a child I had several comic books with princess tales in them. In some of them the poor girl who lived in the woods would talk to the animals and they were not afraid of her because of her goodness. Alas, I'm still sure if I'm calm enough and speak gently enough the animals will not be afraid of me. So, I tried my best goose whisperer voice and they honked back.

Pretty soon the mothers had the babies in the creek and were swimming away in a line. Meanwhile that male goose was doing a steady honk. It wasn't a frightened honk. But it was consistently the same sound. I listened and in the distance I could hear another good honk back at him. It was not an echo. It was another goose. It truly seemed as if they were at either end of their territory and they were the guards stating all was well but there was a human in the vicinity still. I think, for just a minute, I understood how the scientist who study animal behavior could sit and listen for long hours at the time to try and determine what the animals were saying. It was just fascinating.

Eventually I went back to my weeding, the geese all swam down the creek, and I started to sing my new favorite song while I worked. It was a good morning and I enjoyed my four hours of weeding.