And now... Deep Thoughts....

I've been thinking about things that I would like to document. So the following is a jumble of thoughts or experiences:

I loved Larry Esplin's funeral. Everything from the pine casket with flannel lining to the juniper and his hat worked into the casket spray. I loved the talks and I remember thinking I wished it would just go on and on. All of the fun stories about Larry's life were amazing and it is so fun to watch my nephews and my brother-in-law retell those stories with pride. Tim's talk was amazing. I was so touched by him talking about how much he wanted to be like his father and all the things he did, like joining the military, to try and be like him. In the end Tim realized that what he loved about his father couldn't be acheived by just experiences in life, but they were core parts of his personality. I recognize that it has been a while since the funeral and I am not quoting Tim very well, but hopefully I can still make the point. As I listened to Tim, I thought about how much he had changed since I had first met him and I could see him becoming more and more like what he admired in his father. It was truly beautiful.

What a great family those Esplins are! They have been so good to me. After that fateful day in Blanding, sitting at the kitchen table... I mentioned how excited I was to see everyone coming home for Thanksgiving and Donna "mentioned" how much she disliked the idea. Whenever we all got together we all just sat around and talked instead of helping and she ended up doing all of the work. She probably had a point but I felt like she had just thrown a bucket of cold water in my face. I told her not to worry about it and I would let everyone know they weren't welcome. From that day on, I tried not to ever go home for any holidays. Since I was single, I really didn't know what to do. Susan and Richard filled right in and I spent every Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter since that fateful day with them. I used to spend every 4th of July in Sigurd and I traveled to Sigurd or Orderville on many weekends. When I got married it was super traumatic to change the course of things. Still haven't quite gotten used to it. But, my point was, the Esplins have just adopted me and have always been so kind and accepting. I love them all and admire so many things about them and their families.

Blogging is so theraputic. I believe I could just type and type and type, except there are a few other demands on my time. So, more to come later in Deep Thoughts....

Clueless

I am grateful at times for my clueless-ness. Here are a couple of examples:

• It never occured to me that Adam Lambert was homosexual. I did wish he didn't paint his nails black and the guy-liner was always joked about... but really... gay? Clueless!
  

• The other day we went to the library and I saw a couple of teen age girls dressed alike. First thought was maybe they were twins... They both had their hair pulled back into fancy bun/pony tails and they were wearing matching red t-shirts. Later I saw another girl with them that was dressed just the same. Looking closer I realized they were just all wearing the exact same shirt. A red shirt club. Then a memory of when I was substituting this last year a girl gang would wear matching blue shirts to school, I teased them and asked them if they were in a club, acting like I had no idea they were a gang. It only took me a minute to realize that I was looking at their rival gang, the reds vs. the blues. Clueless!
  

Comedy of Errors

• We were down to our last roll of toilet paper (I really try not to let that happen! But at the same time I have been trying to stay out of the store to save money...). I went into the bathroom and Leah was standing on the toilet, reaching over to the sink playing in the water. She had peed right on the roll of toilet paper.

• I left the clothes in the washer over night... so the next day I did a quick rinse with some Arm and Hammer Washing Soda, then dried them. Apparently I forgot to change the washer back to the wash cycle and the next few batches I thought I was washing, I was just putting through a quick rinse! I washed a batch of my own clothes like that and all of the kids' sheets and blankets. Their beds are already remade and will stay that way until the next washing.

• S and hair! She wanted just a pony tail for church yesterday so I told her I would do a tiny pony tail. I just took a little hair and pulled it back, leaving most of the hair down. She looked in the mirror and decided that she didn't look beautiful like that, so she added a bow (brown and pink... her dress was black and gold). When we were walking in to church she saw her reflection in the door and wasn't pleased. She wanted to move the bow to one side. We were late for church and I just wanted to run in and sit down! She kept whining about her hair and the pony tail and the bow all through the opening hymn, prayer, announcements, sacrament hymn... She pulled her pony tail out a ways then pulled it tight again, leaving random strands of hair puffing up all over the top of her head. I had to threaten her with losing her fairy book to make her go sit by her father and leave me out of the mess.