Faux pas!

Why must I always end up putting my foot in my mouth?! It is so challenging being me. I see soft spoken, kind, gentle women and think how much I would like to be like them... but alas... I am loud, often harsh and a little difficult to take.

I walk with Luz every morning and we talk about everything under the sun. Well, she told me that an hermana from the Spanish branch who just had a C-section... Carmen Gloria who is 46 years old... was out raking leaves, vacuuming and cleaning the kitchen. She wouldn't ask for any help from anyone. So, I went to see Carmen Gloria and I told her to shape up and let people help her. The true definition of irony. Her neighbor was there, Hna. Marengo, and she just happened to be the one that told Luz about the raking of the leaves. The neighbor went back to Luz on Sunday and chastised her saying, "If I can't trust to to keep a simple confidence, how will I trust you with something bigger?" Luz comes back to me... wondering why I would tell Carmen Gloria that someone had seen her raking leaves?!

I felt a little chagrined (is that even a word?) but please! Who knew that the raking of leaves was supposed to be a secret? Oh bother. So, I have made quite a mess of things... adding a little more contention to the branch. Just what they needed.

I "threw the back out" again last Sunday. This time my back went into spasms when I sneezed before going to church. It was extremely painful Sunday through Wednesday. ... since then it has been progressively better. Now it only hurts to stand up. I feel like I lost that week... just like Ticee lost her month of October. Like I can understand her month lost because of my little week lost. Yes, I completely understand Ticee... and make sure not to rake leaves.

My poor husband has suffered so these past two days! First of all, Jimmy Johnson won the Nextel Cup and left Jeff Gordon in second. That has had him suffering in anticipation. The last race was yesterday. On top of that our RS had Super Saturday and I was gone from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. It didn't last that long, but there was a group of five of us that were determined to finish our project... so we stayed and helped each other finish. We made a pact not to leave until we were all finished. I had a great time! The only thing I need in my new ward is someone who is funny... must find a funny friend.

E was at home taking care of the kids and Steve came up to get some help fixing his car... emergency brake, blinkers, windshield wiper reservoir... E's dad also came by to get help with his car and E worked on our purple Durango. He wanted to take it down to Thanksgiving... but we don't really have the money to get it ready. So, sorry to all those who were holding their breaths, hoping to catch a glimpse of our purple monster.

Sunday E woke up with a cold. That always throws him over the edge. He was sure he couldn't make it to church, but he cowboyed up and went. Sacrament meeting was horrid this week. R used her guttural scream/cry any time anyone got in her way as she moved between E and myself. L kept bursting into tears at random moments. B acted deaf, never responding when we asked him to sit on the bench, move his legs, pick something up, not cause fights, etc. That only leaves S who gets so nervous when R & L don't obey her, she just keeps chanting her instructions over and over, louder and louder. I was determined to sing in the choir, which I did. (I lock the kids in the van with a movie on after church each week to go to a few minutes of choir practice. You 'll see me on the news someday.) We were so glad when church was over!

E's sorrows didn't end there. After counting the tithes he came home to watch the last NASCAR race of the season. A week earlier I had signed up to feed the missionaries at 5 p.m. and then later found out that they had changed Spanish choir practice to Taylorsville and I had to leave at 5 p.m. So, with only 13 laps to go he had to turn off NASCAR and take care of the Elders. Our practice continued into the night... we finally left at 9:45 p.m.! So, E had to put everyone in bed too.

You might think that he would be getting after me or something, until now he has suffered in silence. Being very kind about giving me my time. He truly is fantastic.

I made some super cute things at Super Saturday. Just the fact that I finished everything (9 projects!!) keeps me on a natural high.

Love to all,

Julie