One of my goals for 2002 is to write a book review on the books I read this year. I love to read. Sadly you have to read many bad books to find and realize a good book. 2012 is not off to a very good start with 2 bad books and only one good book read so far.
Two thumbs down goes to WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN BY LIONEL SHRIVER.
I am not sure what was so appealing about this book that I bought it. It has taken me a few months to finish it. It is letters written by the mother of a teenage boy, who murdered his fellow high school students, workers and a teacher. She is writing to her husband and goes through their life together and how she felt. It is mixed with her visits and relationship to her son as it changes.
It is too sad of a book and does not have a Happy ending.
Two thumbs down also goes to Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. I might be too much of a skimmer to read the deep meaning in this book. But it was just too weird for me. An old gorilla communicates with a man about how we should work with nature instead of against it.
Two thumbs up for THE SEVEN WONDERS THAT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE by Glenn Beck. This is a positive upbeat book with more than 7 things you can take away from it for a better life.
Two thumbs up for The weight of Silence by Heather Gudenhauf. It was one of the best written books I have read in a while. It is our book club book tonight and I am anxious to talk about it.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Friday, February 17, 2012
Where have you been?
I have been in many places, but I've never been in
Cahoots. Apparently, you can't go alone. You have to be in
Cahoots with someone.
I've also never been in Cognito. I hear no one recognizes
you there.
I have, however, been in Sane. They don't have an airport,
you have to be driven there. I have made several trips
there, thanks to my friends, family and work.
I would like to go to Conclusions, but you have to jump,
and I'm not too much on physical activity anymore.
I have also been in Doubt. That is a sad place to go, and
I try not to visit there too often.
I've been in Flexible, but only when it was very important
to stand firm.
Sometimes I'm in Capable, and I go there more often as I'm
getting older.
One of my favorite places to be is in Suspense! It really
gets the adrenalin flowing and pumps up the old heart! At
my age I need all the stimuli I can get!
I may have been in Continent, and I don't remember what
country I was in. It's an age thing.
PLEASE DO YOUR PART!
Today is one of the many National Mental Health Days
throughout the year. You can do your bit by remembering to
send an e-mail to at least one unstable person. My job is
done!
Life is too short for negative drama & petty things. So
laugh insanely, love truly and forgive quickly! From one
unstable person to another... I hope everyone is happy in
your head - we're all doing pretty good in mine!
Cahoots. Apparently, you can't go alone. You have to be in
Cahoots with someone.
I've also never been in Cognito. I hear no one recognizes
you there.
I have, however, been in Sane. They don't have an airport,
you have to be driven there. I have made several trips
there, thanks to my friends, family and work.
I would like to go to Conclusions, but you have to jump,
and I'm not too much on physical activity anymore.
I have also been in Doubt. That is a sad place to go, and
I try not to visit there too often.
I've been in Flexible, but only when it was very important
to stand firm.
Sometimes I'm in Capable, and I go there more often as I'm
getting older.
One of my favorite places to be is in Suspense! It really
gets the adrenalin flowing and pumps up the old heart! At
my age I need all the stimuli I can get!
I may have been in Continent, and I don't remember what
country I was in. It's an age thing.
PLEASE DO YOUR PART!
Today is one of the many National Mental Health Days
throughout the year. You can do your bit by remembering to
send an e-mail to at least one unstable person. My job is
done!
Life is too short for negative drama & petty things. So
laugh insanely, love truly and forgive quickly! From one
unstable person to another... I hope everyone is happy in
your head - we're all doing pretty good in mine!
Valentines 2012
Thank you Hunter, Ambree and Amy for lunch and valentines
Thank you Lily and Luke for decorating my room with valentines
Thank you Kyler and Kinley for Buca for dinner and valentines
Thank you West Jordan Achievment day girls for Valentines and cookies
Thank you Tami for my favorite valentine cookies
Thank you Lori for the Valentine treats
Thank you Ric and Ayla for the flower
Thank you sis for the card
Thank you Julie for the kind note
Thank you mom and dad for the card
Everyone tried to make it a nice day for me and show me I was loved.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
This is really Amy's story
Just so we do not forget
Colby the streaker
Colby was home and in the nude had gone into the garage to get something out of the freezer
Amy came to the door and Colby ran out of the garage to hide behind the sheds in the back yard
She go to see the whole show
We never will understand the logic on this move
Colby the streaker
Colby was home and in the nude had gone into the garage to get something out of the freezer
Amy came to the door and Colby ran out of the garage to hide behind the sheds in the back yard
She go to see the whole show
We never will understand the logic on this move
Dear Sister,
thinking about you today too
It is kind of blue day and I am glad I went to the gym
I was thinking today that I started dating Rob when I was 15
Rob was a senior and I was a sophmore at Skyline
We had debate together
He also had all 3 lunches and spent his time in the food court
I remember he warned me before going out that he was not interested in that Mormon stuff
I also remember he kissed me once after smoking out back of the school
I told him to never do that again and he didn't
In November, Jamie was born and in December he was at church for her blessing.
Two months later on valentines day he had given me a little promise ring that was shaped like a rose with a small diamond.
I remember it like it was yesterday
But then I guess you do too because you were there
You have always been there with me
It is kind of blue day and I am glad I went to the gym
I was thinking today that I started dating Rob when I was 15
Rob was a senior and I was a sophmore at Skyline
We had debate together
He also had all 3 lunches and spent his time in the food court
I remember he warned me before going out that he was not interested in that Mormon stuff
I also remember he kissed me once after smoking out back of the school
I told him to never do that again and he didn't
In November, Jamie was born and in December he was at church for her blessing.
Two months later on valentines day he had given me a little promise ring that was shaped like a rose with a small diamond.
I remember it like it was yesterday
But then I guess you do too because you were there
You have always been there with me
Like father like son
Or the story of how the DeWitt men have a flame for the Craner Women.
My daughter in laws have asked me to write this done so we never forget.
It is summer at Strawberry Reservoir in the mid 70's. Our family has a trailer there and the family has gone up for the weekend to go fishing. There are the married couples Steven and Cathy, Rob and I, Dianna and John and the rest of mom and dad's kids. The trailer cannot hold everyone so the girls sleep inside and the guys sleep outside.
I started out on the bottom bunk but for some reason we all switch beds during the night.
Early the next morning the guys get up to go fishing. Rob sneaks into the trailer and says good bye, even though he thinks I am acting funny , he plants a great big kiss on the lips , as I bend out the top bunk and ask " what are you doing"?
What is he doing? He is kissing my sister in law Cathy with a great big fat juicy one! I was laughing so hard I fell off the bunk!
Years later as we have all grown and have kids of our own.
Colby is on Internet chatting it up and hooking up with friends and new chicks.
He gets a hot one on the line. She is local, sounds funny, they have a lot in common. As the conversation proceeds, Colby thinks he has a real HOT one. A little bit more conversation and he finds out the hot chick he has been eyeing happens to be his cousin Marian ( Cathy's daughter) He ends the conversation.
It is so nice to have such a close family.
My daughter in laws have asked me to write this done so we never forget.
It is summer at Strawberry Reservoir in the mid 70's. Our family has a trailer there and the family has gone up for the weekend to go fishing. There are the married couples Steven and Cathy, Rob and I, Dianna and John and the rest of mom and dad's kids. The trailer cannot hold everyone so the girls sleep inside and the guys sleep outside.
I started out on the bottom bunk but for some reason we all switch beds during the night.
Early the next morning the guys get up to go fishing. Rob sneaks into the trailer and says good bye, even though he thinks I am acting funny , he plants a great big kiss on the lips , as I bend out the top bunk and ask " what are you doing"?
What is he doing? He is kissing my sister in law Cathy with a great big fat juicy one! I was laughing so hard I fell off the bunk!
Years later as we have all grown and have kids of our own.
Colby is on Internet chatting it up and hooking up with friends and new chicks.
He gets a hot one on the line. She is local, sounds funny, they have a lot in common. As the conversation proceeds, Colby thinks he has a real HOT one. A little bit more conversation and he finds out the hot chick he has been eyeing happens to be his cousin Marian ( Cathy's daughter) He ends the conversation.
It is so nice to have such a close family.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Painful memories
I remember when Linda moved into our neighborhood. Brian and her were the perfect couple. They were so in love, loved their beautiful kids and were dirt poor like the rest of us. Her son Chris was the same age as Matt and Shannon was the same age as Brent. She was involved at school and church so we became instant friends. Linda was extremely talented. She wrote her own music and sang like an angel. My most favorite songs were the ones she composed about Mary, the mother of Jesus. There was a group of us in the ward that partied together, Linda and Brian were always there. I treasure the many happy memories of them.
Then Linda got sick. She had cancer. She needed to take care of herself. But at this same time, she had left baby Adam downstairs in the washroom when she ran upstairs for something. Adam spilt the clorox and it burned his bottom and legs. Linda was devastated. She attended to all of Adams needs and ignored her own medical condition. When Adam was healed it was too late for Linda. She tried to get better but could not.
She wrote letters for her kids, she tried to remember all the milestones that would happen in their lives and recorded a personal note for each one. She drew pictures, wrote songs and spent quality time with friends and family. I remember her having a sleep over with all the girlfriends where she bore her testimony and love for each of us.
Her funeral was one of the saddest events I have ever attended. The church was filled with people wailing , moaning and sobbing.
When the bishop got up the podium, he chaste the guests and said that we were all keeping Linda here as she was trying to sooth us and that she needed to move on to her heaven mission. The bishop asked all to let her go. The whole atmosphere changed. You felt her leave. At the grave, you could feel her watching from afar but she was leaving us. She was saying goodbye.
Brian was left with the care of 4 kids and he struggled. They had physical and mental needs that would have been overwhelming for one person. He was a hard worker at Smith's in the Avenue but the kids, medical bills, and every day living was too much. For years he got by. I do not know how he did it. The ward brought in meals, they tended the kids, people cleaned his house, there was a lot of help but it was never enough.
Brian could not get over losing Linda. He kept everything in the house the same. Nothing was ever moved or taken out.
He had meet a young women and they started dating. It looked like maybe he would be able to start again. Maybe he was healing. Maybe it would get better.
But that was wrong.
One night Brian bought gasoline. He filled every teacup, bowl, sink, glass with gas and placed them all around the house while the kids were sleeping. He had plans of burning the whole house with everyone in it.
He was dressed in Linda's clothes. Chris had woken up and was watching cartoons, when his dad , dressed in his mothers clothes came into the room. It scared Chris and he actually thought at first that Brian was his aunt. Brian told Chris to get the other kids and to get out of the house NOW. Chris was so scared that he got the kids and went next door to the neighbors.
Brian did set the house on fire and took his life. Luckily at the last moments of his decision,the kids were spared.
They were alone, parent less, penniless and eventually were divided up by family members.
So is the story about Josh Powell painful. Yes it is. It opens up that place in my heart that had healed. A story about those I love that was filed away.
For days our whole ward was in shock.
Then a miracle happened for the kids and the ward. A letter was sent to the family from the presidency of the church. It was signed by the prophet. I do not have the exact words but I certainly remember the message.
It was a message of love for the family
Deep regret for their loss
and about forgiveness.
I remember it telling the kids that Brian would be judged for all the good things he had done in life and not just this one act. That the lord knew the intent of his heart and as a son of god he would be treated as such.
What a beautiful message. We are not judged for that one moment in time when we are at our worse. We are not condemned because we fell or lost hope and faith.
Our father in heaven knows our heart. The prophets words were : Heavenly Father awaited Brian with open arms as did his eternal sweetheart Linda.
I do not know enough about the Powell family to even begin to understand but I know Heavenly father is the same and the gospel is the same. I pray there will be peace for them all and for us.
Then Linda got sick. She had cancer. She needed to take care of herself. But at this same time, she had left baby Adam downstairs in the washroom when she ran upstairs for something. Adam spilt the clorox and it burned his bottom and legs. Linda was devastated. She attended to all of Adams needs and ignored her own medical condition. When Adam was healed it was too late for Linda. She tried to get better but could not.
She wrote letters for her kids, she tried to remember all the milestones that would happen in their lives and recorded a personal note for each one. She drew pictures, wrote songs and spent quality time with friends and family. I remember her having a sleep over with all the girlfriends where she bore her testimony and love for each of us.
Her funeral was one of the saddest events I have ever attended. The church was filled with people wailing , moaning and sobbing.
When the bishop got up the podium, he chaste the guests and said that we were all keeping Linda here as she was trying to sooth us and that she needed to move on to her heaven mission. The bishop asked all to let her go. The whole atmosphere changed. You felt her leave. At the grave, you could feel her watching from afar but she was leaving us. She was saying goodbye.
Brian was left with the care of 4 kids and he struggled. They had physical and mental needs that would have been overwhelming for one person. He was a hard worker at Smith's in the Avenue but the kids, medical bills, and every day living was too much. For years he got by. I do not know how he did it. The ward brought in meals, they tended the kids, people cleaned his house, there was a lot of help but it was never enough.
Brian could not get over losing Linda. He kept everything in the house the same. Nothing was ever moved or taken out.
He had meet a young women and they started dating. It looked like maybe he would be able to start again. Maybe he was healing. Maybe it would get better.
But that was wrong.
One night Brian bought gasoline. He filled every teacup, bowl, sink, glass with gas and placed them all around the house while the kids were sleeping. He had plans of burning the whole house with everyone in it.
He was dressed in Linda's clothes. Chris had woken up and was watching cartoons, when his dad , dressed in his mothers clothes came into the room. It scared Chris and he actually thought at first that Brian was his aunt. Brian told Chris to get the other kids and to get out of the house NOW. Chris was so scared that he got the kids and went next door to the neighbors.
Brian did set the house on fire and took his life. Luckily at the last moments of his decision,the kids were spared.
They were alone, parent less, penniless and eventually were divided up by family members.
So is the story about Josh Powell painful. Yes it is. It opens up that place in my heart that had healed. A story about those I love that was filed away.
For days our whole ward was in shock.
Then a miracle happened for the kids and the ward. A letter was sent to the family from the presidency of the church. It was signed by the prophet. I do not have the exact words but I certainly remember the message.
It was a message of love for the family
Deep regret for their loss
and about forgiveness.
I remember it telling the kids that Brian would be judged for all the good things he had done in life and not just this one act. That the lord knew the intent of his heart and as a son of god he would be treated as such.
What a beautiful message. We are not judged for that one moment in time when we are at our worse. We are not condemned because we fell or lost hope and faith.
Our father in heaven knows our heart. The prophets words were : Heavenly Father awaited Brian with open arms as did his eternal sweetheart Linda.
I do not know enough about the Powell family to even begin to understand but I know Heavenly father is the same and the gospel is the same. I pray there will be peace for them all and for us.
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