GRATITUDE

This afternoon the mirror for my bathroom was delivered and installed. Other than some decorative touches we are FINISHED!!! Hurrah, hurrah! I am so grateful for my new bedroom and bathroom. Our old one was so little and cluttered. It has really made me grateful for my new one. Almost every night when we climb into bed, I thank Tristan for being so good to me to let me remodel. And yesterday I got to soak in the tub. It was so relaxing and comfortable and I just kept thinking how lucky I am to have such a wonderful bathroom, bedroom and closet. I feel like the Queen of Everything!

Where Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone, Oh Where Oh Where Can He Be?

This morning I was walking in the cemetery with my friends. As we came around the corner, I could see Murphy running down the street outside the cemetery fence. For years, I have had to shut him in the garage when I go walking so he wouldn't follow me because there is a "No Dogs" sign posted at the cemetery. He has gotten so old and worn out that for the last year he hasn't even tried to follow me. So when we saw him this morning we were all surprised. He has cataracts and doesn't hear very well. We watched him cross the street and squeeze through the gate and start running through the cemetery. I started yelling and whistling at him, but he didn't see us or hear us. We followed him, but since he was running he got too far ahead of us. It was so strange to see him running! We watched him as he crossed the old bridge over the canal and ran across Main Street and disappeared by Lins. I had driven my car to the cemetery so that I could run some errands after I walked, so I got the car and drove over to find him. I looked for 30 minutes and couldn't see him. I came home pretty worried. When I looked at my phone messages I could see that Tristan had called me three times and Richfield City offices had also called. I called the city back and they said that Rich Persons was driving on Main Street and saw him cross the road and then later saw him up by the Chevron at the freeway entrance. So, he loaded Murphy up and drove him to the city offices, where they looked up his dog tags and called me. When they couldn't get in touch with me (since I was out looking for Murphy!), they called Jones and DeMille. Tristan was in meetings so they got in touch with Carson. Anyway, the city wouldn't keep Murphy, so Rich Persons took him to his house and I just went and picked him up. Rich said that Murphy was all tuckered out. I bet! He was glad to see me and now he sticks to me like glue. Besides cataracts and loss of hearing, now I worry that he has alzheimers and will take to wandering the streets like my grandma. What an eventful morning!

EASTER

Today is Easter. Our ward choir sang two songs. Music always brings a strong spirit to me and I know the words we sang are true. I am grateful for the atonement and for the resurrection. What a wonderful day to be grateful to our Savior.

This is possibly the first Easter I have ever spent without family. Except Tristan. It is the first Easter I have celebrated without candy Easter eggs, new Easter clothes, or Easter baskets and family activities. Those things are silly things when you think about the true meaning of Easter, but I realized something about them today. Those silly things help us to set this day apart from others. They make it festive and fun and they mark it a special day. Spending the time with family on Easter weekend makes it a special weekend. Maybe the activities fall short of the meaning of the day, but they set it apart as special. I really missed those things this year. I don't want to be away from them or my family another year if we don't have to. I was jealous of all the families at church who were together today. I missed being able to buy my girls a new Easter dress. All those cute girls at church in their new Easter dresses remind me that Easter is a day to signal new beginnings...spring, the resurrection, and becoming clean through the atonement.

Temptation is for the birds

For the last few weeks there has been a robin trying to get into our house. She keeps flying into the window by my computer in the laundry room. I have had to knock on the window to scare her away because she keeps at it all day long. You can hear her hitting the window even when you are in other parts of the house. I told Tristan about it and he could hear her doing it too. Yesterday, when Tristan came home from work, I was using the computer. As he was talking to me and the robin was hitting the window, he noticed my little bowl of glass cherries sitting on the window sill. All of a sudden he realized that the bird was trying to get at the cherries! Poor little bird, we have been tempting her with plump, ripe cherries for three weeks! We moved the cherries to another spot...

"Gray skies are gonna clear up, put on a happy SKIRT"

Another day of gray skies and wind. I am grateful, however, because it means it is snowing or raining somewhere and we can use the moisture. Can't wait for a nice sunny day to wear my new skirt I found at Christensens. Even better, it was on sale. That makes you put on a happy face for sure!

There Is Hope Smiling Brightly Before Us

Conference just ended. I hate for it to be over. I hate for that feeling to gradually subside. I am so thankful for prophets who remind us that in troubled times if we follow Christ we can be safe and happy and nothing else will really matter. Oh, to think that President Monson is the prophet for our whole world and so many do not allow themselves to find the comfort and direction in his words! What a great weekend. It is nice to fill up the gas tank and get going again.