Solar Eclipse Week

Back in mid July, I had ordered some eclipse glasses preparatory for the solar eclipse on August 21.  The price for the glasses was very cheap.  But you had to look carefully.  Some of them said they'd deliver in September... or you could pay $39 for them to arrive in time for the eclipse. So my glasses were due to arrive by August 4th-- before Rebecca left, so she could share some of them with Miranda or Jonathan's families (the cost of 10 was the same as the cost for two.)  Umm. the shipping date kept getting pushed back.  Then, they shipped... but the delivery date came and went with no glasses.  Finally they arrived on Saturday- two days before the eclipse!  Hooray!  So Tom and I went out periodically and watched the eclipse.  It was pretty cool.  Deborah got some great pictures.

This week I made airline reservations to go to my writer's conference in Florida. I made sense to combine this with a trip to Mom's so I will go and visit her from October 21 to November 2.  I decided I didn't want the stress and time waste of looking for prices between three airports in this area, two in Florida and two in California.  So I called USAA travel and they were very good and very fast.  I had specific times I wanted to depart and arrive and of course when you go on the travel websites, they don't give you a comparison of times and prices for each leg.  My only error was that I asked to fly out of Fayetteville, instead of NorthWest Arkansas Regional airport.  So my first booking had me leaving from North Carolina?  Oops.  Fortunately, you have 24 hours to make changes without penalties.

I have been busy and prosperous with my writing. This was the most profitable month of my writing career.  Nice!  I wrote a speech for the CEO of my cannabis cypto-token start-up.  I have a large project I need to get started on that will take serious amounts of work.  And I had an interview with a leading marketing firm in Torrance, CA and may have some work from them.

Tom finished Deborah's kitchen and wondered what he should do next.  That was quickly solved. We had a tenant move out of one of our duplexes and it needed a paint job throughout the house (It had been 6 or more years since that had been done. And the garage needed a bazillion nail holes patched and then painted.  He did a lovely job and it looks great.  He finished just in time for the new tenants to move in this weekend. The old tenant left an old mower there, so Tom was able to mow the lawn twice before bringing it home.

Our beans have been prolific!  We have been enjoying fresh beans. But we have also been sharing them with church members and with the food bank.  I keep thinking they are on the down hill... but each time we pick, I'm astonished! The tomatoes, however, seem to be on their last vine.

Our missionaries decided to host an art show.  They invited everyone in the ward and any of their friends to bring art to display-- fine art, fabric arts, three dimensional art.  It really was a lovely show!  We filled the cultural hall with art.  It was an opportunity to invite friends and to see the talents of others in our ward.  I had a number of complements on my artwork, including from a professional artist in the ward.  Felt good.  One of these days I'd like to go back to painting.

Tomorrow I leave to go to Miranda's for the long awaited birth of Baby Girl McClellan.  I don't think she has a name yet.  It will be fun to play grandma for a while.

I guess that's all the news.

Changing tides

The weather has cooled off, family is gone, and it feels like the tide is changing. I know we will have more hot days, but with clouds and rain, it just feels cooler. My ICO white paper is finished. One brochure is finished, another one coming to a close. I have just a little job... and then? With most of the projects out if the way, it seemed like a pretty relaxing week.

I do have a client who is supposed to be sending me a check for a big project. Then I will have about 2 months of work to do. It will be a sales funnel. I haven't really done one of these, so it will be a little demanding and stressful, although I've done portions of most of it.

But for this week, we weeded the garden and picked pounds and pounds of green beans and tomatoes. We've given some away at church and some to the food bank. We've asked neighbors if they want some. The green beans are nicer than they've been all season. The tomatoes, I think may be on their last leg. We've had wilt creeping up the leaves and now most of the leaves are brown and drooping.

With fall ahead, it's time to think about going to visit Miranda when her baby is due. A week from tomorrow I travel and baby comes on the 29th. I also need to look ahead to our Auxiliary training for Relief Society in September and our Woman's Nauvoo trip in October.

In the meantime, all the names that Aaron has collected have been weighing on us. So on Thursday Tom and I drove to the temple. We worked Thursday and Friday and got more than 30 ordinances done. It was lovely to be in the temple. Friday was our ward temple day, and we got to participate with several ward members for some of the sessions. We stopped at Panara Bread on the way home and Tom got a pecan roll for his birthday treat. On the way up and back we listened to part of the "Gregor the Overlander" series. It made the time pass quickly.

Tom was wondering what he would do with himself after he finished working on Deborah's house and kitchen.

 He got that done Wednesday and the new tenant moved in on Thursday. However on Friday we learned that the tenant had moved from the duplex and it needed nail holes in the walls patched and a new coat of paint throughout the house and garage. It also has a tenant scheduled to move in at the end of this next week. So Tom has much to do.

Tom decided to get the truck detailed. I admit I didn't expect to see much improvement. Wrong. It really came out looking great. Waxed to a shine, seats clean and floor mats sparkling. They painted the wheel wells (Or at least cleaned them so they looked freshly painted) they cleaned up the engine compartment so it sparkled as well. I was impressed and Tom was happy.

Today I drove to Mountain View, MO for branch conference. My friend Jennifer was called to be in the Stake Primary Presidency, so she needed to travel there as well. We carpooled and had a lovely time chatting all the way up and back. This is a small branch that struggles to attract and keep members. But there is a lot of strength there. I gave the RS lesson on the Power of the Book of Mormon. It was the source of my testimony and I have seen the blessings that come from reading it and living its principles. I also had a new counselor sustained and set apart today. It's nice to have two counselors again.

And our little chick is now old enough to roost... but still under mama.

Two Weeks

It’s been a busy/happy/sad two weeks. All good things come to end and it ended with Rebecca and family leaving. But in the meantime, it was good and busy.

July 31 (Monday two weeks ago) Rebecca and kids, Andy and Family and Deborah and kids and Tom and I went to Silver Dollar City for the day. The older kids ran off to do the more exciting roller coaster rides. Tom and I hung out with the parents and the little kids. So we mostly visited while they went on rides or became the accompanying adult for the kids on rides. It was fun to see everyone.

Deborah came to Mountain Home after Silver Dollar City, so we had a chance to visit with her and Ian was able to come up for part of the week as well. Deborah and Rebecca had some bonding time and the cousins played well together. We got some needed rain— one of the reasons Ian was able to come. He had grand plans to sand and paint their shed… but with the rain….

Deborah’s house had also come up vacant and she and Tom had decided that the next time it did that, they were going to renovate the kitchen. This was a complete gut and new cabinets, flooring, sink, countertops and stove.


And Tom decided the house needed painting inside as well. So Deborah’s visit to Rebecca actually became more of a work effort. Rebecca and I became the babysitters for the days when she went out to help. Fortunately her kids are pretty good. Ian went out and helped as well and they got a lot accomplished.

I spent some time working on my cannabis Initial Coin Offering white paper and some other stuff they wanted done. And I worked on a brochure for Exceedia, an Equifax partner that helps banks and credit unions use data to target loans and bank services.

The General Relief Society President and some of the counselors from the general board of the Young Women and Primary were going to be in Miranda’s stake over the weekend. They were going to have a meeting for all women ages 8 and up on Friday night (a broadcast) and then leadership training on Saturday. It was for the Oklahoma and Northwest Arkansas area, but I wanted to go and learn. So with my stake president’s approval I went to the meetings. I left on Friday about noon. This was the same time that Deborah and Ian were leaving to go home. It was also the same time Rebecca and family were packing up to go to Jonathan’s house. CHAOS!

However Rebecca did her usual marvelous job of shrinking her footprint until there’s nothing left. Tom went off to work at Deborah’s house with 16 people in the house and came home to a totally empty house. We had a little laundry to do and a few beds to remake.

The women’s meeting and training was excellent. We were reminded of the need to leave the 99. They have a good support group and can take care of themselves. Go show the Savior’s unconditional love to each one that has strayed. And be grateful for the 99. They are the ones that inherit all the father has. We were invited to ponder on “Why has the Lord called me to this position? And listen for the answer. I came up with some insights, and even weeks later, they continue to come. The overall message? Prepare sisters to be confident to meet the Savior.

It was fun to visit with Miranda, Dan and the boys. I got to see a little of Nathan too. Most of our visiting took place at 1:30 am when the tornado sirens went off and we stood or sat in the living room waiting to make a beeline for the under-stairs closet if we heard a tornado. It was really blowing rain! Nathan seems to like his job more. The warning expired, and we crawled into bed only to be awakened by a flash flood alert on the phone. Grumble. I’m on high enough ground I don’t have to worry about that!

After church I grabbed a quick lunch and drove back home. That is why you didn’t get this letter last week.

Monday I played catch-up. It’s been nice that the jobs I’ve been doing are hourly. So if they ask for more revisions, no problem. I turn on the clock and start working. However, I did feel like I needed to be accessible to get the work done promptly. In the afternoon we had the carpets cleaned and then in the evening we went to our Empty Nester’s family home evening group.

Also, our neighbor, Ernie, has had some health issues, cancer of the gall bladder. He also has family that seems to drain his account when they stay with him. A few weeks ago, our other neighbor saw him at the mail box. He looked terrible. Said his family had left him with no money and nothing to eat. So she took him in and doctored him. Made sure he took his meds, took him to the doctor to find out what was really wrong and how serious it was, (Ernie had thought it was liver cancer.) and learn what his prognoses was. (He should make a full recovery.) It was left to Tom to talk with the family and say, no, he doesn’t want you in the house, please move your stuff out. And to Tom to help him with his finances and get his bills paid off and back on track. Monday afternoon was the time he and Ernie and family met. After some yelling, it seemed to work out okay.

Tuesday I went to help Tom at Deborah’s house. We installed the cupboards, upper and lower. We put on some of the countertops and some of the soffit or box above the cupboards to the ceiling. It made a big difference.

Later in the afternoon I had a phone call with a new client, doing a brochure for a business broker (he helps people sell their businesses.) Then I went out with the missionaries to teach an investigator.

We felt sad that Rebecca had left on Friday and it was a rush. So we drove to Silver Dollar City and spent time there with them on Wednesday. Then she took a child on to White Water and we took Marian and Callie back to Jonathan’s and Kristy’s. We had a delightful visit with them, spent the night, and canned 21 quarts of peaches the next morning.

 

We left before noon on Thursday to head back to Mountain Home. Tom had a mole biopsied about 2 weeks ago and it was cancerous. So he went back for a 3pm appointment to have them remove all the edges. We thought we’d timed it better, but we actually drove directly to the appointment. No time to go home first. The doctor said the cancerous part was very thin, a good thing, and this should take care of it. However since he’s had one episode, they will follow him much more carefully for the next few years.

 

Tom thought it wouldn’t be that much- maybe an inch. after all, it was a pretty small mole. However, they make a diamond shaped incision so it can be stitched and hold better. And thus he has a 3.5 inch incision on his back with 13 stitches. It’s a bit ouchie. However, he was glad he wasn’t in Kristy’s hands. On Thursday morning, he’d watched her castrating piglets.

It’s been nice to have these jobs where I can do a little bit here and a little bit there. Fixing and correcting things doesn’t take as much time and concentration as creating the piece in the beginning. But I was a little concerned I’d spent 3 days doing other things. I got mostly caught up on Friday. I spent some time working on the Nauvoo trip our Relief Society has coming up in October.

Rebecca had brought home some rabbit livers from the Maples. (They grow and butcher their own rabbits.) Um. Tastes like chicken. So we cooked the livers and they did taste pretty much like chicken livers.

That evening we watched a movie Deborah had recommended. The Queen of Katwe is a story of a Ugandan girl from the slums of Katwe and how she became a chess champion. It brought back many memories of Kenya. And it renewed my appreciation for the gift of being born when and where I was born. We have such blessed lives!

Today we had a farewell from Gerry Rasumssen who is going on a mission to the Church Headquarters in Salt Lake City. Sounds like an interesting mission. She could serve at the museums, the headquarters building, family history center, etc.

Tom had Bishops Youth Discussion after church with 21 youth in attendance. Last night we prepared the ham and cheese sandwiches with the sauce of yumminess to go on top of them. They were a great hit.