Too hot!

OK, In my opinion 108 is too hot! It's ok for an oven to heat up, but not my car and certainly not the exterior air! It's stifling, nauseatingly hot! I'm not sure the air conditioner has shut off since I came home about 4 p.m. That's not good for our electric bill, not good at all.
Yesterday I got my nails done and a new perm, so today I have hair that looks like I've stuck my finger in a light socket or something. It will calm down, but tomorrow we're having our pictures taken - yikes!
Are you as sick of Michael Jackson as I am? Yesterday on the news there was 20 minutes of MJ funeral and etc. and 10 minutes of news - oh, and commercials thrown in there somewhere. We switched to BBC news and found out all sorts of things that were going on in the world, not mentioned on our national news. Since when is a strange person more important than national and international news? OK, so he was a great singer, actor, dancer, etc., but let's face it, a year ago people were ready to string him up as a pervert, etc.
I'll stop my gripe session now. Along the lines of gratitude - I'm thankful for big shade trees around our house. I'm so thankful to have been born in a free country. I'm grateful for my family here and there and everywhere. I'm grateful for modern communication - today I had calls on my cell phone from my sister and my daughter both checking about books I might want to read. That's so thoughtful and I do appreciate them thinking of me. I am thankful to have air conditioning. I can't believe the first pioneer wife who settled in this area without air conditioning (of course they hadn't been exposed to it) and it was still really hot and more dusty then than now I understand.
I just thought back to when we were kids living in Browns Mills, NJ. When we got hot in the summer we'd beg our dad to take us to the lake a couple of miles away. We'd take our dog along and a bar of soap. We'd all jump in the lake, soap up the dog and have a blast! Fun times.
Stay cool!

Temples

Good Evening! I'm excited because we're planning to go to the temple on Saturday. I love going there because I feel so close to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. My goal is to be worthy to be in their presence and I can't think of a better place to assist me in reaching my goal.
I recently read an article in Church News about the Guatemala Temple ground breaking. The Central America Area President Don R. Clarke told the Guatemalan saints that the temple is being built because of their faith and challenged them to make their homes a temple that all who enter might feel the peace of the temple in their homes. Another great goal!
I've been having some blood pressure issues. In spite of being on medication, my BP is still dangerously high in my opinion. Tonight it was 166/85 with a pulse of 75. That's scary. I do see the dr. on Friday for follow up.
Well, off to bed to get ready for another great day!

Random thoughts on a Monday night.

Tonight I feel overwhelmed with the many blessings I've received. I think about the torment and hardship so many people are having and I do feel guilty that my life is wonderful. My only torment is separation from my extended family. Daughter is in NJ only 45 minutes from my sister. Other relatives I really care about are in PA and NJ and bff is in NJ, 1400 miles away. But I'm blessed because I get to fly home every summer for our family reunion and get to laugh, keep weird hours, and eat funky food - especially fried clams at the ocean! I miss the ocean so much. I love to hear it and watch the waves move in and out. I love the ocean when a storm has passed by.
I've made a little progress on my cleaning of room 3 on my plan, but had to interrupt so hubby and I could have FHE. We watched a Dorothy Sayers "Lord Peter Whimsey" mystery. OK, so it's not the major spiritual FHE that a lot of people expect, but we did follow it with a half hour of scripture study!
We had a visit today from the son of the couple who used to live in our house. In the 22 years we have lived here, the appearance of the house and landscaping is entirely different. He was rather polite, though, and said it looked "good." We always try to improve any place we have lived. We are always thinking of what plant would work in a certain location, or how to get rid of noxious weeds in our "lawn." I put quotes around lawn because we encourage anything green. I think that has landed us in trouble right now because we seem to be harboring a major yard full of ground cover which contains lots of burrs. We've got to get rid of it and encourage other green type stuff to grow which will be able to live in a semi arid location and won't cause us to have to coddle it to grow, etc. Suggestions are welcomed!

I love this Country!

Isn't this a wonderful time of the year? I love the flag waving, fireworks, picnic food - I love it all. Today at Church I commented that when we lived in Germany we were treated very well. Our neighbors were wonderful and we felt we had the same freedoms that we did in the USA. But when we returned to the US after three years abroad, the plane flew over the Statue of Liberty and I just sobbed to see this wonderful symbol of our freedom. I know our country is flawed, but that just means we need to study out issues and vote responsibly. We must preserve our freedoms so that we can continue to worship in the way our conscience directs and take care of our families in the way we know is right.
My daughter introduced me to a book series called The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith. I've really been enjoying the books which are very readable and entertaining. There is a quote toward the end of the third book "Morality for Beautiful Girls," which I just loved: "She was a traditionally built lady, after all, and she did not have to worry about dress size, unlike those poor, neurotic people who were always looking in mirrors and thinking that they were too big. What was too big, anyway? Who was to tell another person what size they should be? It was a form of dictatorship, by the thin, and she was not having any of it. If these thin people became any more insistent, then the more generously sized people would just have to sit on them. Yes, that would teach them! Hah!"
Oh, ok, I know good health dictates we need to put the brakes on gorging ourselves, but who are we to fight the gene pool about our size? I think about my grandmothers. Neither of them were obese, but they sure weren't thin by today's standards. My mother wasn't a small woman and only a few years prior to her death, did she get down to what most doctors would say was the right weight. She used to tell me that you need a few extra pounds to lose in case you get sick. Her reasoning was that when you get sick you always lose weight! :) I love these excuses so I can still have my evening ice cream and eat my Oreo Fudgees for snacks!
This time of year I try to deep clean through the house. Wash the inside windows, take down curtains, wash them, and put them back up. Also wiping down the wall paneling with those Pledge wipe things, clean the ceiling light fixtures, etc. So far I have 2 1/2 rooms done out of 8 rooms. I have four weeks until my trip to NJ, then when I return from NJ, it's time for Seminary and not much discretionary time left. Oh, well. I'll do my best and I suppose that will have to be good enough!
I hope all of you have great goals for this summer time.

The upside of living in the same town for 22 years is that you have friends you've known a long time. You can enjoy each other's company and feel at ease around them. The downside is that I love the adventure of going to a new place, meeting new people, and not feeling stagnant. This past week I've been sorting out my Seminary stuff and mentally preparing for a new Seminary year. I got all my "Mormon Ads" in scripture order so when we study a certain scripture it will be easier to find a photographic way to present the idea. I found three great Mormon Ads for Seminary, so I chose one of them and prepared a simple post card of invitation, then mailed these to each of the 9 prospective Seminary students this year. I only know three of the students rather well, two I haven't seen in a few years and the other four I've never met, so I have my work cut out for me - get to know these six young people who are away from Church for some reason. That's quite a concern to me since the teen years make a major impact on an individual's entire life.
Our grandson was pretty sick last week and has now returned to good health. Now his sister is sick with an ear infection and she's on antibiotics now. We love these kids so much and pray for their well being as well as that of their parents. I was a little sick this week as well, but I think I'm ok now. I hate being sick!
G.A. got a new suit this past week and he posed for me to take his photo. Wow!
The reason I wanted to call this blog "Senior Moments" is because it seems that everything I've been coming in contact with has been geared to 30-40 year olds. A book I'm reading indicated that 40+ was old! Yikes, I'm in major trouble.