My week at a glance

As mentioned previously, I'm grateful for 24-hour pharmacies. (Extra points if you can figure out what book I took with me.)




This is my daughter's photo shared in a slideshow of student photos - a class project sponsored by a local photographer. (Had fun absorbing the photo tips myself.)




I love our fish. We recently got new ones, including "Little Leppy" next to "Leppy" -- short for leopard, since their coloring looks leopardish.

This picture came just a few days before we realized that our two goldfish were very sick. Did you know that when you get new fish, you aren't supposed to dump in the water from the store? I hate learning things the hard way. Now our whole tank is infected. Bleh. It was interesting to realize tonite how much the tank is usually a source of peace and tranquility for me. Not so much this week. 



I will just say that I'm proud of myself. I didn't lose it. Just took a deep breath and asked my husband to get the camera. It splashed as far up as the counter, over to the fridge and dishwasher. But the floor is clean, now, probably cleaner than it's been in a while!

I was excited to pick up this piece of furniture that I helped the furniture guy design. We are thrilled with it.

Not so thrilled with the fact that we can't yet put away winter coats, cuz, yeah, we still are getting snow around here.






Went to a couple of classes at Women's Conference. Awesome. More to come on some of my reflections, probably on my other blog.

Didn't get pictures of the funeral of my friend, or the garage sale preparations, but those have been big things this week, too. (Very big, actually.) And, I'm adding that I wish I had a picture of the pickup truck I FILLED with stuff for the dump. Losing that kind of weight is exciting in its own right.

What's your week been like?

On love and loss

Although they are bittersweet, funerals are, I think, important events -- a way to honor the one who has died, a way to get some closure, a way to support the loved ones in their grief. 

I got to know more about my friend, Sharee, today. We smiled (and laughed) as some of her children shared little things about her -- her love of sports cars and of driving fast, the long receipts from shopping trips as she spoiled her loved ones ("If you like a shirt in black, you ought to have it in all the colors of the rainbow"). We wept as we remembered her kind, courageous, loving, faithful ways.

Sharee was my visiting teaching companion for over a year and a half. I feel blessed that I had such an opportunity to serve with and get to know her. Truth be told, I think she served me more than anyone in our association as companions...she was there during some rough times in my life. I have precious memories of sitting in her car for hours after a visiting teaching appointment. We had some long phone conversations, too.

As I drove my children home from the funeral today, my youngest couldn't hold back the tears. (Sharee and she had quite a close relationship.) I shared with my children a quote from Elder Russell M. Nelson that has gone through my mind a lot these past weeks:

The only way to take sorrow out of death is to take love out of life.

This quote was shared at my grandma's funeral; it stuck with me and somehow gave me permission to grieve when my grandpa died two years later. The feeling I had was, "Bring it on!" -- let the grief come, I said to myself; it only matched the love I felt.

And so, we grieve, hard, today. Because we love Sharee deeply.

Rest in peace, friend...until we meet again.

Some people come into our lives
and quickly go.
Some stay for awhile
and leave footprints
in our hearts
And we
are never the same.

(printed on the back of her funeral program)

From chocolate candies to nutshells

Here's my new blog.

How Gentle God's Commands

I remembered too late that the choir was going to be singing her favorite hymn. The cancer had progressed enough that she was unable to come to church.

But I decided to run home and grab my audio recorder; the bishop had given me permission to do it for her.

I didn't get the whole song recorded, and I was standing too far away for it to pick up the sound well anyway.

But no matter.

The choir will sing it again at her funeral today. Assuming I can make it (oh, please, I pray that I can make it -- still sick and mornings are nearly impossible for me with my health issues), I think I am crazy to think I will be able to sing at all. (Nevermind the fact that I have very little voice due to this illness I've had.)

This is really such an understated hymn. I confess I was a little surprised when my friend said it was one of her favorites. But, considering the text more carefully, I can see why.  

How gentle God's commands!
How kind His precepts are!
Come cast your burdens on the
Lord and trust His constant care. 

Beneath his watchful eye,
His Saints securely dwell;
That hand which bears all nature up
Shall guard His children well.

Why should this anxious load
Press down your weary mind?
Haste, to your Heavenly Father's throne,
And sweet refreshment find.

His goodness stands approved,
Unchanged from day to day;
I'll drop my burden at His feet.
and bear a song away. 

~How Gentle God's Commands, Hymn #125, LDS Hymnbook

I. Love. Spring.

That's all.

Update....

Maybe I'm not a wimp. Maybe I am just really sick.

But after 12 hours with antibiotics in me, I'm back to being able to fake my way through much of the day.

I'm grateful for modern medicine. And for 24-hour pharmacies. And for the little mid-night thought that helped me remember that our local 24-hour pharmacy was actually Walgreen's, not Rite Aid.

Sometimes I feel like a wimp

I am sick. Again. And guess what? I cried in the doctor's office. I cried on the way to the pharmacy at midnight. I'm a mom. I should be strong and brave. But it's the middle of the night, and I am sure not feeling brave or strong. I'm feeling like I want to curl up in a ball and be mothered.

For someone who deals with chronic illness, I'm not a very good sick person.

Wah.