Life in Weyers Cave

I watched the 12-2 and 4-6 church sessions. The second one was kind of a bummer - a tribute to the tabernacle and not very fulfilling. Allen came for the second one. then Dianna and I went to the Pleasant Valley Church of the Brethren for a play that my dear friend Martha is in. Nice musical, good costumes, great kids singing, music was nice, theme of how we are all responsible for peace on earth and saving the planet. BUT it made me realize how glad I am to be LDS. The juxtaposition of the two religious and personally motivating idealogies of life gave me a clearer picture of who I am, what I really believe, and why I am LDS in the first place. I would be empty without my beliefs, even though I don't always follow them as strongly as I should.

I do like conference. It is so much better when you can sit at home and watch it. Our fold up chairs at church are really hard on my back and I am so miserable after the hour of sacrament, that eight hours in two days blows me away. But sitting on the couch is fine. We finally got a DVD for our regular television. I guess by the time they come down to $20 it isn't fair to say you can't afford it. Dianna tried to hook it up and had trouble. The VCR and the DVD and the satellite all going into the same line were causing trouble, especially since somehow Dianna reset the television so that the satellite came on 116 instead of 60. We didn't even get anything over 60 before. But yours truly got it worked out. :) The we had to set up the "new" printer on David's laptop. A friend gave me a broken two year old HP printer, I called HP to find out how to fix it, and they sent me a "new" one instead. It's a nice all-in-one. But I had to spend $30...

Someday maybe I will get some pictures of the red house up here. I never get around to it. There are lots and lots of lovely daffodils blooming there now. Jeff, my brother, came in yesterday. He and Allen worked hard today and I think have gotten more done in a day than Allen and Chantell did in three months. They have the hole in the upstairs ceiling patched, ripped out the bad spots in the downstairs ceiling and patched them, and almost finished the floor downstairs. Jeff is a go-getter and Allen is a hard worker when he stays on task, so I think they will make a great team. I went with Gail to Charlottesville today to talk to UVa doctors (by far the best around) about replacing her 25 year old hip. A year ago they were ready to do it, but then she had a bad fall and broke her hand. By the time she recovered, she was sick with one thing after another. Now she has had the bad fall and really needs it, but it looks like it is not meant to be. Her bones are too thin, her resis...

Dianna asked me to help her with her hair. I couldn't reach. So we had to ask David to check ... and ........ great sadness ...... Dianna is finally taller than I am. I am now officially once again the runt of my litter.

No church next week because it is Conference. It is also April Fools Day. I need to get someone good this April Fool's Day. But who? The following week is Easter and we will be at my mom's in Raleigh. My brother and sister will be there with their families and I am already collecting stuff for Easter baskets. Mom doesn't like candy in the baskets, and raisins are a bit of a let-down, so I try to get something more original. Tough for two 14 year old boys! Plus a 16 year old girl and 4 year old girl. Okay, the 4 year old is easy, but the others are tough - especially on a budget! There are also lots of babies being born right now so I am getting gifted out. I worked a bunch more on the garage - enough to get good and sore. Next step is GoodWill and other places to get rid of some of this stuff. Because of minimum tax laws, we can't take the writeoffs we did in the past. So I should garage sale it, I suppose. I hate having garage sales because I am too attach...

When you have lived in the same house 15 years and been through all the stages of kidhood in that house, stuff tends to accumulate. No attic, no storage in basement, so the only place is the garage. I haven't been able to park my car in my garage in several years. But finally, the furniture is moved out and it is getting to be a reasonable temperature, so it is time for some miserable work. Last night Allen came for dinner and then we dug in. I guess we cleared out about ten boxes before I was ready to call it quits. Plus he changed the lightbulbs and got down all the cobwebs across the ceilings and higher walls. As we surveyed the garage later, it seemed like we had done nothing and the task is insurmountable. But in all fairness, when I went in there this morning, I was struck with how much better it is. Cleaner, brighter, and roomier. So I guess if we keep up in this direction, we'll get there eventually. Allen interviewed for a job in Richmond yesterday. $500 a week i...

After I got Dianna off to school at 6:15, I crawled back in bed and listened to the wonderful sound of a gazillion or so birds chirping outside. What a musical masterpiece. It was so beautiful and restful and was a great way to start the day.

I went to give plasma today. Got there early, but forgot I had to have something with my social security number on it. I don't HAVE anything with that on it anymore. They took it off my checks and license. So I went to the Social Security Administration to get a new card. But there was a long, long wait, so I came home to get my passport. But the Social Security number isn't ON the passport. So I found an old license and went back. They said I had to be back by ten after and got there at eleven after, but they were nice about it. But they didn't like the license because it was expired. Finally talked them into taking it. Jumped over hoop after hoop until finally I was sent away with a bunch of papers to take to my diabetes doctor for permission to give the blood. So all that work and still just a brick wall. Chantell flew back from Raleigh to Boise today.

So, I guess since I have no news, you have good news. Mary Beth came by last night and we had David's favorite chicken pot pie and played SWAP. Allen gave me the first daffodil from his lawn. I put it in green food coloring since it was St Patricks Day. Allen is starting to blossom as he finds and talks to old friends again. Dianna made a fortune babysitting again last night. That's it!

Dianna was in her practice concert for Festival last night. She has a long solo. Allen has been really working hard on copious todo lists. So have I. Cathryn called and said she had given blood. She is so happy it is contagious.

After an interesting night that included a midnight aborted trip from Weyers Cave to Charlottesville, a semi-stolen car, and an almost dinner at Outback, Allen and Chantell have decided to call it quits. Allen asked me a couple of months ago "Where do you draw the line?" I think now he realizes that the line has been crossed. The marriage is definitely over.

I haven't been sleeping well lately. Yesterday, i slept in until 9:30! That is absolutely phenomenal for me! I always like to go to bed at a decent time and wake up early. (Okay, I as up at 6 to get DJ off to school, but then went back.) I ran out to Allen's to do some painting on his house. Then he came for dinner. David made his barbecued chicken. (Num!) Dianna didn't get any because the poor girl was babysitting and brought home $57 for about four hours of work. Sniff, sniff. After dinner, we graded David's tests and played a game. Then they all stayed up until midnight watching a movie. Of course, it was extra hard for DJ to get up this morning at 6. I wish they would realize the importance of a good schedule! Cat is definitely better. YAY!

I normally only like to put upbeat stuff on my blog, but when the bottom falls out of my life, or the life of someone I love, I feel I need to at least recognize the unfortunate facts. Chantell has left Allen. She is renting an apartment in Charlottesville. Allen still loves her very much and is committed to her and hopes they work things out, but the prospects are admittedly bleak. If I had to give a reason, it would be that they knew each other too short a time and neither turned out to be the person the other one was expecting. Realistically, neither will become what the other one wants, nor will the other one change what they want that drastically. But they haven't figured that out yet. So the mental games continue. *insert SCREAM here* I worked at the Red House yesterday, cleaning up the yard, polishing brasswork, cleaning windows, pulling screws, filling holes, and general pickup and cleanup. Dianna worked with me. Allen is working to get the floor done -- there are se...

I went to lunch with a friend yesterday and then took Allen Chantell and Dianna out to dinner. Too much food for me! After dinner Allen and Chantell came and moved furniture in my basement. It is going in the direction of getting cleaned up and that makes me feel really good. Got a lot done in the garage as well yesterday. I hate clutter. Faraday seems to be doing better. No throw up in a while. I bought her a bag of "natural" Purina at Walmart instead of the overpriced vet stuff for diabetes and allergies. She opened the bag herself and started eating direction out of it. Now, if her bowl is full of the other stuff, she meows until I give her the Purina. And she doesn't seem to give it back to me as often. I have been really doing well painwise. I haven't even thought about taking pain medication for anything in weeks. And where I was sleeping with ice bags everywhere, now I don't. So life can get better!

I hired someone to put on the new fascia and soffits for the redhouse. Guess finding the right workers isn't easy. He was very, very nice, but exceeded budget by quite a bit. Plus we forgot to put the cord out to give him electricity so he had to rent a generator AND we forgot to call to cut off the power for the day he did the board over the electric wire. It was supposed to be cut off Monday morning. I called the power company Monday and they said they couldn't get to it until Tuesday. Then Tuesday they couldn't get to it because we had had a big windstorm and power was out randomly all over the valley, and those came first. They called this morning and said they could do it this afternoon, but the carpenter is gone. He found a way to piece around it. He did a nice job, but next time I will have to get a firmer quote. He had that additional work would involve additional money, but to me he did less than he had said, not more, and the individual boards weren't...

I really love Dianna and feel blessed she is in my family. But why? Where did she come from? Who did she get switched with in the hospital and where is my baby? First of all she does her homework. All the time, without my asking. Second of all, she really would be a girly-girl if she weren't trying to imitate Cathryn. Deep inside, that is who she is. She cares about fashion more than she will admit. Recently she insisted on getting these ugly clunky black shoes because they are in fashion. Now someone said they look like the 60s and she doesn't want to wear them anymore. Plus she insists on having a lint roller and USES it! She can't stand wearing clothes with cat fur on them. And she didn't want to wear her jacket today because it is "dirty". I wash it all the time! The dirt is usually a tiny spot that no one would notice if they could. She always is checking the date on things and worrying about expiration dates on food. "I better not eat thi...

I got a call yesterday and they say that Gail has a screw loose . . . in her hip! I have always said this 90 year old woman has less dementia than I, which is true. So it is fun to joke around about this. I am sure she is in significant pain. She apparently splintered the large bones around her fake hip when she fell last week. But she is supposed to go home today. Bryan has had a bad cold -- he thinks he caught two different cold viruses at the same time. He decided to fly anyway and just ask the captain to do most of the work. But when he got on the plane, she looked worse than he did! Poor guy. He loves working both jobs and enjoys getting up in the morning (except for the colds).