Hot/Cold; Young/Old

"Man, it's so sweltering in here," she said recently.  "I'm sweating."

SHE - being 22.

WE - being in our 70's were wearing a sweater and a jacket.

And, there you have it...

One of the many differences between the young and the old.

We like it hot, they like it cold.

Good thing I have a lot of sweaters and jackets!

Techno Tribulations!

Oh, I remember the olden days....

the television had an on/off knob and a channel knob with a few numbers on the side of the tv.

It was simple....on or off; then turn the knobs to select the channel.

Those were the good old days.

These days, there are no knobs on televisions, but there are REMOTEs.

There is one for the television, one for the DVD player, and one for the Apple TV.

These are very complicated devices, requiring a PHD in "How to Use These Devices Without Losing Your Mind!"

They are complex, frustrating, challenging, and can only be figured out by a ten-year-old.  No one over the age of 55 can even remotely figure these buggers out!

How did this happen?

But, it's not only televisions that have gone crazy...oh no, EVERYTHING.

Take a simple thing like a PRINTER for example.

On our first printer, we put the paper in, pushed print and it came out.  (Of course, it took up almost an entire room, but that is beside the point here.)

Now, printers do a variety of things, require complicated set-up instructions, link remotely to computers and - once again - require a degree in advanced technology to get it to print a simple document.

Another truly glaring example of techno troubles is the cell phone.  That little invention has revolutionized the calling industry.

But, in the early days of using a phone, we picked it up when it rang and spoke into it.  That's really all a phone did.  It could only be used for talking.  Not a bad idea...

Now, once again, we have been subjected to more techno troubles with our ever-increasing complex phones.  

Just viewing the screen is intimidating:

Sometimes just figuring out to even answer the blasted thing is a challenge!

Oh, it's handy alright; like I can find out all about my neighbors while I'm sitting in church by looking at FB.  I can take a picture of my Primary class while they are misbehaving right while in Sharing time, I can get a text from the pizza parlor offering me a sweet deal if I come over within the next 20 minutes, I can get directions to that remote location while I am driving, I can play an infinite number of games, can listen to music of my choice; I can do it all.  If I can just figure out the blasted thing!

All of this leads me to what started this diatribe early this morning.

The printer wasn't working.  I needed it - badly - for my Primary lesson.  But it was too dang complicated to figure out.

Where's my 12 year old grandson when I need him?!?!?!??!?!?

(For the record, I did get it working, but it's all frustrating no matter what!)

Get Out of Jail Free

In Monopoly, having a

GET OUT OF JAIL FREE card,

was a pretty nifty little thing to have tucked under one's side of the board.

Waiting, just waiting ....

for that delicious moment in the game when it was needed.

Get sent to jail.....whip out the card, and presto...one was back in the game, hopping around that wretched MONOPOLY board in no time at all, without having to sit and wait his three turns.

Life is not quite that simple.

Because there are no GET OUT OF JAIL FREE cards.

As RAH reminded me lately.

Oh, I'm not talking about literal jail cards; no, no, no.

I'm talking about wanting to step in and help our children out of problems they encounter in this battle called LIFE (Real life, not the board game here, folks!).

RAH tells me I always want to solve their problems; want to give them a helping hand when things get a little tough.

He says I want to just give them a

WHATEVER-IS-HAPPENING-IN-YOUR-LIFE, I'LL-BAIL-YOU-OUT CARD.

Well, he's probably right about that.... because, for me and my disposition, it's so hard to see children struggle.

But, he's wise and insightful.  (Oh, he's willing to help them in a variety of ways. Just not totally bail them out of struggles, challenges, hard times.)

And, he's probably right.  It's just hard for me to watch our children have problems or hard times....and they have had their share of challenges and struggles...some more than others.

So, with his guidance, I'll put away the GET OUT OF JAIL FREE card,

and turn to another way to help them in their lives;

PRAYER.

Okay, now that I can do.

I Wish...

that life were not such a struggle...

for so many, there is the struggle to survive financially.

For others,

there are health struggles and issues.

For some,

relationship struggles.

war in the world is a constant on any given day.

Constant battles and never-ending struggles.

I yearn for peace for all these battles raging in the lives of men and women.

I yearn for the PEACE that only the Savior can bring.

That will be good.

When the Family Comes to Visit

I-15 goes through St George.

It's like an artery of life blood taking travelers on their way to exciting adventures in Nevada and California or from those places up to northern adventures.

St George is a great sort-of-halfway point whether people are headed north or south.

And, since we have a lot of relatives/friends who travel to the north or south of us, they stop in for a potty break, a meal, a bed, a shower, a visit, a rest.

And, it's such a great blessing for us.

Right now, we have Allen's niece and family on a very quick overnight stay.  Allen is in the kitchen getting potatoes and I will soon go and make pancakes.

I love that people will stop.

I'm grateful we have the room to accommodate a few people.

I feel blessed that people would make the effort and time to see us.

It fills our home with love and laughter and camaraderie.

And, for that, I'm always grateful.

I miss having family close by....I'm glad our granddaughter is with us for a few more months; then she will be gone to grander, greater adventures.

It will be all quiet once again, and so I'm grateful, we are along the artery of travel and adventure.

That is good.

On Learning How to Be a Parent

Chris was seven years old when she thought:

Life HAS to be better than this.

There was no fun, connection, love, caring, sense of family in her home growing up.  Indifference, negativity, non-caring were the feelings she felt most often.

Jean was 16 when her mother told her it would be best for everyone if she moved out.   Jean was working, going to school, and getting very poor grades.  But, she was not rebellious or wild; her mother just felt she wasn't contributing to the work load, so told her to move out....obviously, her mother was with dealing emotions and problems of her own.

Dianne's home growing up was filled with anger, bitterness, resentment, much of it aimed at the church.  She yearned for a male role model to fill her yearning for love.

I know all of these women.

They had very tough growing-up years.  Their lives were in turmoil.

And, yet, today, each is raising marvelous, wonderful, good children.

Each is rooted in the Gospel of Christ and each is married to a wonderful Priesthood holder.

Each one has made a conscious decision to make her current home different from the one in which she grew up.

And, each one is succeeding.

None of the three had a good role model to follow in being a nurturing, caring parent.

So, then, where did these women acquire these SKILLS?

Each one had a mentor, a family friend, a relative who helped them navigate their lives......AND each has a husband who is committed also to being a good parent.

So, the truth is obvious.....many of us parent the way we were parented - whether good or bad, BUT, we can break the cycle of bad parenting.

It is hard work, according to each of these women; it takes effort, prayer, dedication and a reminder that they want better for their own families than what they had.

And, seeing them in action as I do,

THEY ARE DOING IT and making it work.

They are totally learning how to be a

FANTASTIC PARENT....even though they did not see those skills exhibited in their homes.

AND, they inspire me on a constant basis.

Parenting is always a challenge, but here are three women who are LEARNING how to be a GREAT parent.  And, it is a beautiful thing to watch.

Ha! Ha! That Time I Was Called a Patriot!

Okay, it's time to go through the filing cabinet.

Big Job.

But, once in awhile, something FUN and MEMORABLE shows up.

Like today's FIND.

Ha Ha...

I hardly feel like I deserve to be called a patriot, but nevertheless, this totally made me laugh.

And, can you tell that Alyn Andrus is a Democrat?!?!?!?  Ha, for sure.