If u will be in Austin the 1st weekend in December, u should really go to this…Maybe I’m biased, but I think it’s soooo good! & this year, my Jessica is doing the biggest bell in the bell choir! And if u can’t pick between attending Friday or Saturday night, I suggest Saturday, because my other daughter, Sophia, is performing with her quartet (I may be biased, but I heard them practice, & they sound AMAZING!)
The day of the week that I am grateful for is Tuesday: on Tuesday I get to do my favorite therapy–horse therapy, I get to hear from my son on his mission (it makes me so happy!), & I get to spend time with my husband (usually a lunch date, but it may include going places together). It is by far the best day of my week!
Speaking of horse therapy, when I started it, I got so tired from the workout, that it wiped me out the entire day! Unfortunately, I can’t sleep in the daytime, but once I had the strength to lift my iPad, I’d just sit & listen to an audio book. My horse therapy days quickly became my “audio books day”, cuz that was all I could do!
However, last year, I discovered the secret to regain my strength: don’t know if u’ve ever seen the cartoon of Popeye, the Sailor Man (I swear he’s in toonland at Universal, & he’s on you-tube). Anyway, I used to laugh at how when Popeye was tired, or getting beat up, he’d find a can of spinach, eat it, & his muscles popped out & he re-gained his strength—all from a little can of spinach! It seemed ridiculous! But I found out there may be truth to it, cuz my green supplement (that has spinach in it) really does make me stronger!
I believe that cartoon was created with a stroke victim in mind: spinach not only helps him, but he also can’t seem to use a side of his face, & talks pretty bad, like me! And if u want to hear what I mean, here I am, counting as I do knee bends on the tilt table:
Happy Halloween! This year, I didn’t do anything “fancy” for a costume, but I did get to finally do a long awaited costume that I keep asking to do: doctor/patient. To me, it’s such an obvious & easy thing to do!
Mark has been out of town a lot lately, which makes things a bit crazy for me, cuz I have to then be in charge: Which wouldn’t be a big deal, if I could just “step in”, but I can’t, so instead of doing what I usually do, I type a lot of schedules & texts, in order to find & coordinate people to not only help me “be me”(get up, get dressed, potty, & do therapy), but also find people to help w/stuff Mark does (like make meals, transport kids, etc.). The schedules are necessary to keep it straight in my head, & I also use them to help me to more clearly communicate with those who are helping me.
On the bright side, one of the girls who helps me, scrapbooks a lot with me, so since she has been here more often, I have posted a lot of new traditional scrapbook pages that I made for Jessie (& I copied some of them for Zach). My favorite page we made is a “tradigital page” (meaning it was partially made digitally, as well as traditionally). It has the most awesome photo, & I have been wanting to scrapbook this photo since the day I took it, but I could never find the embellishments I wanted…so, I finally just made my own embellishments—which I couldn’t have done 15 years ago, so I am so glad I waited to do this page!:
I posted several new traditional baby book pages for Zach & Jessie, as well as one of the few pages I made for Zach’s missionary album that I’m keeping:
My son, Zach, is serving a mission for our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in san Diego, CA for the next 2 years. He can only call home on Mother’s Day & Christmas, & he can only email us on his P-Day (“preparation day”, for him, is on Tuesday, every week), which is his “day off” to grocery shop, do laundry, run errands, & “have fun” (usually play basketball, I think!). The rest of the time he is sharing the gospel & the message of Christ, often in ASL. (If u are ever interested, there is a link to get a free Book of Mormon, which is what he is sharing as well, on the right hand side of my blog).
My youngest, Sophie has never been sure of the career she wants…I remember her feeling distressed in elementary school, cuz she wasn’t sure how to dress for career day…I suggested “a mom”, & was so proud of her for doing it! Maybe something sank in that day, cuz last night, Sophie had a choral concert. In the program, it listed “empowerment statements” by the show choir. I was touched by Sophie’s, that said, “I want to be a loving mother.” Sophie just rolled her eyes when I told her that I loved her empowerment statement, but motherhood is the most important job a girl can ever have, yet now-a-days, it is ignored, & they all want these fancy professions instead! Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for learning & knowledge (I was a teacher, for crying out loud!), & I love that girls believe that they can be in male-dominant professions!
The concert was to support breast cancer, so when the sponsor was speaking, & mentioned some of her favorite empowerment statements, I thought for sure she’d mention Sophie’s…but she didn’t, & it made me so sad to see how little motherhood is valued now-a-days! Some of the girls even were chosen to shout out their empowerment statements in one of their songs…Of course, Sophie wasn’t one of them!
I am thankful that I was raised in a way that I could see the nobility behind the calling of motherhood, & I am grateful that my daughters have recognized it as well (my middle daughter, Jessie, has always wanted to be a vet, but not at the expense of being a mom). I am thankful that my son is sharing the gospel with others, which also teaches of the nobility of motherhood! & finally, I am grateful that when all was “said & done”, two things remained after my stroke: my free agency & my family (mother/wife).
See the new scrapbook pages here!
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