Musings.....

I've had quite a few mild experiences over the past week (as opposed to some of the not so mild ones - think garage door). Some, you've already suffered through reading. But since this blog also kind of doubles as my journal right now, I've decided to add a few.

We had our ward conferences last Sunday, and as they asked for a sustaining vote for President Monson as prophet, seer, and revelator, it was as if electricity shot through me. I suppose the last time I sustained a new prophet I was less aware of things (ah, the wisdom of age) and it didn't affect me in the same way that this time did. Although I already miss President Hinckley and his eternally cheerful spirit, I'm excited to see what President Monson brings to the table.

Speaking of church....I've felt, I don't know....MOVED lately to be more prepared for emergencies, and have been compiling lists of things that we may want to store, foods that we need to obtain, etc. We had a rather unique experience on Wednesday that was helpful in this regard. We experienced a freak winter storm in Utah, and Saratoga Springs/Eagle Mountain was right in the middle of it. It began about 3:00 p.m. as I was preparing to pick up Alanna from school. I was then planning to run to the Smith's for a few groceries for dinner. As I approached the street the school was on I registered that traffic was backed up all the way down the street and around the corner, and it wasn't moving. I sat there a few minutes and turned around and went back towards home, and then around the back way to the school. By the time I got there, Alanna was nowhere to be found. The snow that was falling in little flurries when I left home, had become "whiteout" conditions, and visibility was non-existant. I waited for a while there, thinking that eventually she'd come back to where she was supposed to be if I waited, but she didn't come. I drove around to the front of the school, but couldn't see anything, so returned to the back. Parked and started walking to the front to see if I could see her. Got soaked, and eventually through phone calls to the office, she was redirected to the back of the school and we were reunited. I decided that I was too wet and cold to go to the store and we went home, where we shortly lost power. Now, in case this wasn't exciting enough, Mario called and told me that his car had died on the freeway, about the same time our power went out (4:00 p.m.). So while he was trying to find a tow truck, I was trying to find our camp stove. By the time I found it, it was getting dark and colder and I decided that I wasn't going to open the garage and cook in the cold, even if I could figure out in the dark how to hook it up and use it, so we got lanterns and sleeping bags and headed inside the house. We dined on cold cereal and milk, and then I read the kids stories by lantern-light and sent them to bed. I turned on the radio and was listening to the reports. It was unbelievable. Long story short (well, shorter anyway) Mario waited 4 hours for a tow truck, and then it took them 4 hours to drive from 53rd S. on I-15 to home. He made it just before midnight. And our electricity came on sometime between then and 1:00 a.m. I learned that I need to know how to use the emergency equipment and know where it is. Mario and I also spent Saturday taking an inventory of our food storage and then organizing it so we can use and rotate it. Mario's car cost $168.99 to fix. $3.99 for the part, and $165.00 for the tow. Fortunately we weren't charged by the hour.

I chopped all my hair off on Saturday. I've spent the last 8 months growing it, thinking that I'll like it long, and like doing different things with it, but if I'm honest with myself, I know that I hate it in my face and I hate it on my neck, and I love it short and sassy. I feel more like a person and less like a frowzy "mom" with it short. I'm also hoping that it will kick me in the butt again and get me going on my weight loss. I lost 10 lbs. last month, but the last couple of weeks, between illness and all the unexpected stress have derailed me. So I'm getting back on the horse and I'm going to have a good week.