This is Why

This is why we keep things. Things like old letters and scraps of paper, kept packed away in boxes, in the bottom of the closet. Why? Simply to make me smile on a Sunday afternoon as I sit on my bedroom floor sorting through boxes to "downsize" the "stuff".

This was in a letter from my Mom. She loved to write poetry. They were living in St. George at the time and for a few years, I was able to fly down and visit for a long weekend in February or March. It was a great time to escape the rain in Seattle and I usually timed it to attend Dad's Barbershop Chorus show.

Here is the poem my Mom wrote on my last visit. It was in March of 1998 and my Father passed away three months later in June.

TRUDY CAME TO OUR HOUSE

When Trudy came to our house
Things were changed around.
She straightened up my bathroom
And now things can be found.

She helped her dad at the computer
And made him feel the king.
She made for me some ID cards
To last me plum till spring.

And then guess what happened?
Trudy went shopping at the mall
She came home with new shoes,
I thought she'd buy them all.

It was early in the morning
We drove her in the car
Where she could catch the shuttle
It was early I recall.

Now she is back in Kent
A walking in the rain
And our home will miss Trudy,
To feel her touch again.

L.c. - march 1998

Nuttier than a Fruitcake

No, I'm not talking about myself, and not about you either.

This was seen on a T-shirt at the gym this morning. As I was driving home the humor of it hit me if you think of it from a few different perspectives.

What if the woman wearing it actually bought it for herself? And what if she didn't buy it for herself?

What if it was a gift from:

Her husband?
Her 15 year old son?
Her 30 year old daughter?
Her sister?
Her best friend?
Her ex-husband?
Her mother-in-law?

Regardless, it made me smile early on a Friday morning.

Mother's Day

I'm kind of at a loss for words today. Sometimes it's just best not to speak at all. Mother's Day wishes are everywhere you look. Including the chocolate candies given out today at church. The little children sang and it was so sweet. And to sit up front and see the faces of the adults while the kids sang was priceless.

Thoughts of my Mom have been with me for the last couple of weeks. The lilac tree given to me 7 years ago when she died, is blooming right now. She would have loved the fact that we have a lilac tree planted in her memory.

One of my friends posted this as her Facebook status today: Here's to Great Women: May we know them, May we raise them, May we become them! Happy Mother's Day!

A week ago I had the opportunity to co-teach Relief Society with the Young Women's president. It was very thought provoking to sit there with girls and women from ages 12 to 95 in the same room. The beauty of youth and the wisdom and wrinkles of age sitting together.

The dreams yet to come of those young women mingled with the pain, the joy and the life experiences of the older women. I felt it all in that room that day.

Here is a tribute to my Mom I wrote a couple of years ago on Mother's Day: http://tgaytan.blogspot.com/2009/05/blog-post.html

On this Mother's Day I pay tribute to the women who touch the lives of others in so many different ways.

I hope you know that you do make a difference.

April + Utah + Sisters + Daughters = FUN

I'm not sure what year it started. I think it might have been in 2000 when my daughter was going to school and living in Provo. Sometime back then I thought it would be fun to go to Utah in April and visit my daughter and my sister.

I do remember being there one year and having my brother-in-law Rand barbecue hamburgers for us. Rand passed away in 2003 so I know for sure it was before that time that this odyssey began. And one year I remember having my Mom with me and visiting my daughter's college apartment (however that could have also been in the fall, but it's a good memory anyway).

Sometime in the early years, my other two sisters from Idaho decided to join in the fun. Nancy was teaching school so our vacation time was determined by her spring break.

This year we all flew in on Wednesday. Sue and Becky arrived first, I was to arrive 15 minutes later. The agreement was to meet at the baggage claim. I went to baggage claim, looked for them, got my luggage, called them - no answer, kept walking around looking for them.

And then I spotted them, sitting against the window playing with Nancy's brand new iPad 2. Evidently there are some great games on it!

Natalie left work for the day and picked us up. From the airport it was off to Red Iguana for lunch with son-in-law Scott and cousin Russell. This was the second time I've eaten there and all I can say is if you live in SLC and have never been there - go. Go now, go tomorrow, just go you won't regret it, well maybe you will regret it later if you eat some of the spicier foods.

From there the four of us ladies went browsing at the Capital City Antique Mall. It was great fun to look around at so much STUFF. Even funnier was finding stuff that you actually have at home - and you still use it! It's a cluster of consignment booths, so really there was something for everyone.

I came home with two bracelets and a pair of earrings. Like I need more earrings.

Then we hit the freeway for Utah County. We had Papa Murphy's pizza for dinner and Natalie hung out before heading home and to work the next day.

Over the next couple of days we sorted, cleaned, organized, dumped, shopped, ate, you name it we probably did it. I'm pretty sure I managed two trips to Wal-Mart daily for one thing or another. I began to consider that my daily workout.

It is so true that many hands make light work. So much was accomplished. Nancy loved her new iPad and we got to Skype with the Madsons in Oregon and hear Harper sing sweet little songs, she is adorable.

We stayed up really, really late every single night. Usually watching movies, then winding down and reading. And did I mention there might have been some caramel corn, brown sugar fudge, creamies and 100 calorie Fat Boys? Can you really call them Fat Boys if they are only 100 calories?

On Friday we enjoyed a visit from two of our Aunts who drove up from Manti. We had a lovely lunch of chicken salad on croissants with strawberry shortcake for dessert. It was great to see them and to sit and visit.

Natalie took the day off work on Friday and hung out with us in Springville. Then Friday night I went with her to West Jordan to spend the night at her house. We met Scott for dinner at Lugano's and had some delicious Italian food.

Then it was home for 2 hours of Rock Band, oh yeah, Rock Band.

Saturday morning I headed to downtown to meet up with the Avalos family at the Salt Lake City temple. Why oh why did I not know about the Salt Lake City marathon that closed many, many roads that morning? I did make it on time and got to see Susie, Rudy, Lillie, Long, Goldie, Aleena and got to meet Isaac for the first time. That was fun.

I picked up some sandwiches from an Italian deli and Natalie and I then headed back to Utah County. Emily joined us at Lillie and Long's open house in Provo.

Then we were back at Nancy's for Emily's homemade lasagna, movie night and hair styling. Scott and Heidi came over a few times to pick up things, haul away things, eat and visit.

Becky got her hair trimmed and feathers added in. And then Sunday at the airport we started seeing more women with feathers in their hair. Not everyone can pull it off, but Becky's looked great.

Natalie also got a trim and some highlights and then it was eye brow waxing for everyone. Thanks Emily!

Sunday we tried to sleep in. The day feels like a reverse day of Wednesday, the day we arrived. We left Springville midday. Stopped for a tour of Scott's new house. It's a great place. Then we met Russell and Scott for lunch at Mimi's, browsed the book store and then off to the airport.

Our flights were about 45 minutes apart. So we got to hang out in the Southwest hub for a while longer to visit.

It was a great trip this year. We are already talking hot spots to see and eat at next year!

Here are a few pictures.

Two on the floor, one on the couch and one on the loveseat. (We're not sure how old is too old to be sleeping on an air mattress on the floor - I guess when that time comes we'll know!)

Trudy, Natalie, Lillie and Emily
Very pretty hair and very cool feathers.

Sisters Trip to Utah

It's an annual thing. I fly from Seattle, two others fly from Boise and we all end up at our sister's house in Springville, Utah. We clean, eat, watch movies, visit, read, play on computers and iPad,learn to Skype, clean some more, do laundry, haul garbage, shop at Wal-Mart (daily), and stay up very late.

We camp out in the living room, moving our suitcases from room to room each morning.

Here are pictures from the last six years (minus 2007, couldn't find the pictures from that year).

2006

2008
2009
2010
2011

April

I just noticed I only posted once in the entire month of March. Hard to believe March is over now. I think the highlight of March was my sister coming to town and attending three days of the Quilting and Sewing Expo at the Puyullap Fairgrounds. It's a wonderful experience and a chance to take classes from a lot of ladies who have sewing shows on TV. It gets you really excited to work on projects. And I have plenty of projects to finish, that's for sure. http://www.sewexpo.com/ Here is Rita's blog: http://sewingandstitcheryexpo.blogspot.com/

Just Do It!

I finally get it. I so totally get it now. Life is so much easier if you just "do it".

After working all day I come home and make dinner. After dinner I don't want to do anything. Some days I leave the dishes just sitting there only to discover that by the next day the only thing they have done while I've been at work - is multiplied.

And when I do take the time immediately after dinner to clean up the kitchen it always surprises me of how it doesn't really take me much time at all, and I love having a clean kitchen. It just makes me feel good and ready for tomorrow.

I believe that sometimes we spend too much time thinking, considering and pondering about something, when in reality we should just DO IT!

So just throw yourselves into that thing you keep putting off. You'll be pleasantly surprised how good it makes you feel.

Amenities

The reason I changed gyms was for the amenities. In this case a swimming pool, hot tub, steam room and sauna. I'm a huge fan of saunas. Most days I don't have time to change into my swim suit and enjoy these amenities, but today being Saturday I had all the time I wanted.

I learned today that the treadmill will automatically stop at 1 hr 5 minutes. That is a 1 hr work out with a 5 minute cool down and if you aren't paying attention, it just slows down and stops. What a surprise to me to discover that I'd been on it that long.

That is what a good book does for me at the gym. I'm currently reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett on a recommendation from my daughter and I absolutely love it. (Soon to be a movie, how's that for a debut novel?)

After my time on the treadmill I put on my bathing suit and went first to the sauna. They have put a new thermometer in there and it was reading somewhere around 190. That was the first time I felt the tops of my ears getting kind of hot.

Then I rinsed in the shower by the pool and sat in the hot tub, it was barely at 100, it's usually at 104 or so. But it still felt very good.

Then it was on to the steam room. The steam room is a little bit tricky. Unlike the sauna where you can see how crowded it is through the window, the steam room is well, steamy. So when you walk in it takes a minute to see where people are sitting and where the open space is. And then because I hadn't been in the steam room for months, I had to learn how to breathe in there all over again. The others sit relaxed while I sit and pant and breath through my mouth. But I survived.

After I had showered and dressed I went into the shower area to retrieve my bathing suit and there were two women, looked liked a mother and daughter, they were fully clothed and did not speak English. It appeared they were asking me how to use the shower.

Really, how to use a shower? Well I humored them and stepped into the shower and showed them the pump for the shampoo and pretended to put it my hair and then I showed them the other pump and pretended to put it on my arms. I then stepped to the side and reached in and turned the water on. I think this met with their satisfaction.

I walked away thinking I really must have been on candid camera just then.

My daughter coined the term "gym drama" to describe the happenings of the recognizable strangers you see at the gym on a regular basis.

I have created my list of sauna etiquette, but so far the gym has yet to ask my opinion on it. If I ruled the sauna these would be my rules:

• No talking on your cell phone
• If you must listen to music turn down the volume
• Don't dump your water bottle over your head when you are sitting next to me
• Be gentle with the door opening and closing, don't throw it wide open and let the draft of cold air in
• Be cautious when talking about your ex girlfriend, because I find it awkward when you show up with her 3 months later and you have talked about her to total strangers
• No shaving

Happy exercising to all!

Four Day Weekend

My daughter flew home last Friday for a four day weekend. Although I see her once or twice a year, she hadn't been home since 2008. We had a great time. Here are the truffles we made. We made milk chocolate truffles and also semisweet truffles. We started them Friday and finished them on Saturday and probably made about 100 balls!
We didn't eat them all, we shared them with friends.

A quick recap of the weekend follows:
There was lunch at the Banyan Tree at Kent Station, a movie. Lots of shopping at Westlake Center, and South Center Parkway. Lunch at Panera Bakery, dessert at Cheesecake Factory, a trip to Trader Joe's.

For her, dinner and a visit with high school friends.

A ride on the Link train to downtown. A walk to Top Pot Doughnuts, Pike Place and ice cream on the Seattle waterfront.

Trudy's Florist Shop, (much better than Trudy's Tavern). This is something we do, find places around town with our names on them. Like Wally Park and Wayne's Tires.


Waiting for the Link train.
Almost learned how to use the timer on the new camera!

Topped off the weekend with dinner at Wally's Chowder House.
It was a great weekend.

The First 8 Days

Last week, after working from home for three years we all returned to the office. What a big adjustment to my schedule that has been.

Here are some of the things that have happened in those 8 work days:

Carpooled - 2 times
Ate biscuits and gravy for breakfast from the cafeteria - 2 times (how can I resist?)
Bought lunch from the cafeteria - 3 times
Put coins in the vending machine - 2 times (both times on the way out the door before driving home, a really bad habit, in case you were wondering it was a Twix and red licorce)
Skipped the gym - 1 time
Took treats to work - 2 times (brioche bread and sugar cookies)
Walked at lunch time - 4 times
Ran into people in the building that I've known for years - many times

Weekly Menus

Last week I returned to working at the office after working from home for three years. A return to putting on nice clothes, getting up early and commuting.

In order to keep things running smoothly at home I had to make dinner menus before grocery shopping on Saturday. That way I know exactly what is for dinner when I get home from work and I can look ahead to know when to take meat out of the freezer, or when I might need an quick trip to the grocery store.

This was last weeks menu:
Chicken noodle soup w/sandwiches (Cash n' Carry soup)
Chili and cornbread muffins
Leftover chili
Sausage, rice and veggies
Whole roasted chicken w/roasted red potatoes
Baked potatoes w/hamburger gravy

This is the plan for this upcoming week:
Pork stir-fry with noodles
Russian chicken with rice pilaf
Flank steak tacos w/all the fixings
White chicken chili w/tortillas, cheese and sour cream
Layered enchilada casserole
Pork chops