Pictures from Gary Shaw, taken 15 Jun 1974, at Manti Temple. Our first day as a Forever Family!

And Here I Sit

So here I sit at my computer. I am in the middle of the second very busy week in a row. Unfair! I have been procrastinating putting the finishing touches on our year's schedule for our monthly Relief Society Meetings (shhh! Don't tell anyone, but I still call it Homemaking in my mind. I'm so bad!) I made a rough draft to take to Pres'y meeting a couple weeks ago, but somehow lost it, which is really odd, seeing as how I never lose anything. So I asked Phyllis and Jessie Del at our Tuesday meeting if I could borrow their notes, but they only wrote a couple things down, so I am thankful for the Spirit for waking me up in the middle of the night and reminding me of the items I had previously lost. So now I have a complete list, and only need to type it up for distribution to the necessary people. That's why I am at my computer. I also need to phone my committee members and set up a meeting for today or tomorrow. Looks like it'll have to be for tomorrow, since I have been very busy this morning loitering in Smith's, putting gas in our sweet little new car for the first time, taking my time driving home, etc. And so here I sit. I've really taken care of quite a bit of important stuff while sitting here, my brain percolating, stretching my feet, wiggling my toes, taking a lunch break (left-over chili, yum yum, always better the next day!), getting down to the business of checking my email, posting some sweet pix Gary Shaw just sent me, which I will attach in a sec, playing some Bejeweled on facebook, playing Bejeweled on my IPhone, looking at my fingernails from the front, the top and the back, getting up to refill my water bottle, and oh I think I'll check the DowntownRising website, to see what's happening a couple streets over as cranes and yellow-hatted orange-vested contractors make over downtown Salt Lake City, my favorite place to be..... Hmmm, almost one-thirty, and I still haven't started typing the schedule or calling the committee, but I have tried to decide what to wear tomorrow at the big political rally being held in the lounge here at Wasatch Manor. You see, I have been nominated for an office on our Residence Board, and all twenty or so of us who are nominees, are supposed to be at a meet and greet down in the lounge, telling all we see where we stand on the various critical issues surrounding life in the old folk's home. Since I don't have an opinion on anything, I plan to take a fresh-baked batch of my delish chocolate chip cookies, warm from the oven and let them speak for me. Not that great of a plan, but if I fix my hair, put on my nicest makeup, smile pretty and remember to wear my bridge, I should survive the event. If only it were Karaoke!

So, as I said, here I sit. and sit. and sit. I do need to do my laundry, and get the remote control for the dvd player, so I can show "Ivanhoe" tonight to book group, standing in for Jessie Del who is sick. So I guess I'll sit a little longer, and then just maybe, before I have to pick Jim up at work, I'll have time for a nap. After all, shouldn't all the minutia of life always yield the floor to those things of most importance? I thought you would agree with me... For what is of more importance on a quiet afternoon such as this, than a nap?

YouTube

Dave came over the other evening, and after we hung out some, I asked him if he could record me on my sweet new IPhone4. Yup, I have one. I know, I'm such a techie.... Anyway, so Dave said sure, and handed me my guitar. So I sang a couple of songs and he recorded them and we uploaded them to YouTube. If you are reading this you are probably one of my kids and so you've already seen them on Opa's YouTube Channel. (so, so funny ;-), he didn't even know he had a YouTube Channel. He never even goes on YouTube!!!) If you happened to wander on over here without familial connections, that's okay too... Opa's YouTube Channel is utahvocrehab. As in his email address. In case you want to see the videos, which I don't blame you if you don't, because they really aren't all that great. Let's just say I sound every bit of 62 years old. Anyway, this little venture into recording myself got me to thinking, which is sometimes not such a good idea. But I got to thinking that maybe I could record some of my kiddie songs for Little B and Emmy and Julie and GMC, because they don't get much chance to sing along with their Mimi. And what about if I did those songs Taylor, Payton and Hayden and I love to sing in the kitchen, like "Mommy told me something", and "Que Sera Sera"? And wouldn't my Benham kids want "The Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night"? Which made me think, what if I recorded my storytimes? I still have my storytime notebook with all my songs, fingerplays, stories, etc for a year's worth of storytimes for toddlers and preschoolers. So I acquired my own YouTube Channel, merrilywerrily, which is my Twitter name (not that I have ever tweeted!). Step 1 accomplished. And then, this morning I started thinking, Why not camp songs? Silly songs? Lullabyes? Those 80's inspirational songs by Michael McLean and JKPerry? Those mushy old songs I sent on a cassette tape to Opa when he was in Viet Nam? And what about the ones that are so fun to sing at Karaoke night? And on and on and on. Wow! All those 'what about's' really wore me out..... So don't look for anymore YouTube stuff in the near future. I think I'll just take a nap.......

Hi, My Name is Merry and I'm a Technoholic

So, Annie, this is the blog post I promised several days ago. I love hard drives. All sizes, prices, colors and capacities. But let's back up a little. We got our first computer, and Apple2+, in 1982. We had a family discussion about whether we should spend the money. Our kids unanimously said they felt it was a bad idea and would take up our family time. (If any of y'all don't believe me, I have a record of the discussion in my journal.) We wound up getting the computer anyway. It cost us $6000.00 and consisted of a teensy little monitor, the computer (I can't even remember what that looked like!), and an Epson tractor-feed dot matrix printer that weighed about a ton. There was a drive to put a 5 and a quarter inch floppy disc in to run programs. Soon we were all experts at Snack Attack, Sea Fox, Space Invaders, and kids, do ya'll remember Sticky Bear Bop? How about Burger Time and Pie Man? Good times, good times! I became so addicted to all things computer that I decided that since I already had a tax i.d. from being a Brite Music Distributer, I would become a virtual computer store, and voila, Southland Micro Products was born! I was right in my element. Those were early days of home computers, Apple User Groups, etc. When we left for Germany in 1985, Denny Sorenson asked if he could be Southland Micro Products. I said yes. Not long after arriving in Heidelbert, we decided to join the big boys and get a Mac. Wow! No more 5 1/4 floppies for us! Enter 3 1/2 in floppies. How techie is that! Fast forward to 1990 when we retired to Mobile, and it was obvious that the 3 1/2 floppy was here to stay. I started doing genealogy and loaded the DOS-version of PAF on our computer. More floppies. We gave in the the internet, and I fell in love with user-groups. And saved messages, etc, on ... wait for it...... floppies. I kept my floppies in supercool floppie holders. I had several. The years passed by and my floppy collection grew. Somewhere along the way, we discovered exterior hard drives. Huge cumbersome things, but so much memory! So I began to load floppy info onto the exterior hard drive. Each hard drive had a cord, a transformer? and another cord. They were heavy. But they held huge amounts of data. The last one that I bought holds 250 Gigabytes! So. Back in 2006 I bought my laptop, customized just for me. I even made sure that it had a plug and play A-drive for my beloved floppies. Fast forward to 2010. That was when I was browsing on Amazon and found this little puppy: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003HFG0U4/ref=oss_product Can you believe it? Neither could I. 500 gigabytes in an attractive little package not much bigger than an IPhone! And it's plug and play to boot! I had to have it. And so I did! and do... I plan to store all my data on it. Which brings me back to my floppie collection. It traveled with me to Saratoga Springs, to the Palladio and to Wasatch Manor, where I finally had to admit that it is time to lose the floppies. So so sad. But I did it! Saturday night I spent the evening downloading and discarding all my floppies. I was unhappy to find that probably 3/4 of my floppies were incompatible with my laptop. But I kept a stiff upper lip and through em all away. I actually felt liberated when I finished! Today I have my old dinosaur 250g exterior hard drive and my wonderful little green friend both hooked into my laptop and I am busy transferring files. The cool thing is that I have found lots of things I thought were lost forever! Now they all live on my little green guy. As is the habit of Jim and me, I really must name my little green machine. So, it is Kermit. And now you know the story of how I happen to be a Technoholic. Hope they have good refreshments at the support group meetings!
Over and out!

"Boris is My Best Friend!"

More ketchup

Today Cheryl and I had a date to go to the movies at the Gateway. We like going over there, usually to walk around, eat lunch at Appleby's and find awesome bargains at Banks. I don't remember the full name of that store, but it has the best kinds of things for fashion-conscious grandmas like Cheryl and I. They also have sweet sales, such as 70% off all their very attractive sweaters, etc. Our plan was to walk around until one o'clock or so, at which time we would go to the movie, planning to see "Country Strong" which we did and it was worth all the buttered popcorn we ate (two tubs) and the large diet-cokes and the afternoon spent on our dainty rear-ends in those comfy movie chairs. Anyway, we were browsing around in Barnes and Noble when Annie called. Am I the only 60-ish woman whose day is always made perfect when she receives a daughter phone call? I seem to call Annie when something I see or do makes me miss her even more, and this time she called me to tell me that she was at Kohl's and she thought of me because they are carrying Eric Carle books and stuffed animals currently for kids. I completely and totally heart Eric Carle. He is my hero at illustration and at knowing exactly what to say in a book that will grab every child's imagination and fancy. Once upon a time when I was Miss Merry at the Library, my storytime Mom's and kids all knew to yell in unison "Miss Merry's favorite!" when I would start an Eric Carle book by giving the title and saying "by Eric Carle." A favorite book of mine is The Art of Eric Carle, which goes step by step through how he does his papers which he uses for his awesome collages. (He paints them in bulk, by hand and stores them by color for future use. The coolest thing in the book is that he takes the reader step by step through his creation of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar." I have always felt this uncanny connection to his artwork, and then one day I remembered way back when, before I was wife or mommy or anything other than W Girl Art Student whose goal in life was to illustrate children's books. I had forgotten that. And I had also forgotten that my favorite media was polymer medium on colored-tissue paper, cut in shapes and garnished with ink drawings. !!!!! So, that is why I heart Eric Carle.

I have considered changing the name of this blog to something like "Downtown Girl" or Downtown Dowager, or City Living for Ladies of a Certain Age or something like that, as this is and has been really just my blog, not Opa's and mine, as he is not crazy abt this process, but for now we'll keep the original title. Unless someone comes up with something more creative.

I got to have a special visitor yesterday, Mr. Gavin James Benham, a cute nearly-four year old who is a fellow member of the Left-Handers Club, along with me, Andrew and Taylor, as well as one of my grandsons. His mom, Lynnie, let me have him while she chaperoned Brant's field trip to the Capitol bldg, which is just up State Street aways from where I live. Yea, downtown! We had a great time together and he confided many secrets to me, just between the two of us, one of which I will divulge. Gavin said to me "Boris is my best friend." I love that boy. And that dog. If I can find it, I will post a cute picture I have of the two of them.

Over and out. Love y'all!

Kind of an Update

Well, here we are again, after 2 1/2 years.... I just opened Lynnie's blog to find my gingersnap recipe on my blog, which is linked to Lynnie's and I noticed that Annie had updated hers, so after I mixed up some ginger snap cookie dough I read Annie's latest post, and missing her like crazy as usual, I decided that if she can update her blog, being as busy as she is, then so can I!

I have tried to make the gingersnaps many times since moving out here in 2007, and they always turn out flat, hard and heavy. So this morning I googled High Altitude Adjustments, and made the recommended changes: less sugar, less baking soda, more liquid and oven temp up 20 degrees. They turned out perfectly! So now I just have to reinvent my peanut butter cookies and all will be well.

Here is a very brief update since 2008. Jim and I moved to downtown SLC to the west side of city center into the Palladio. MAJOR expensive! Our first week in our new ward (church congregation) we found out about Wasatch Manor, where we currently reside. We love it here and are paying less than half what we paid at Palladio, plus utilities and wi-fi are included! We still live in city center, where we can ride the Trax for free, are across the street and down one building from the SLC public library and the beautful Washington Park. It takes about three minutes for us to walk to church, and I can even walk to Smith's to shop. So. Needless to say, we love living in Wasatch Manor. When we moved into SLC I was fortunate to find a job at the Flagship Store of Deseret Books. Worked there for a year, when I decided I needed to spend more time doing Family History and be free to fly to Mobile whenever I wanted to so I could spend time with my sweet Mother. Let's see..... So this past year, 2010, saw so many of our friends dying (are we really that old?) and so decided to help organize an Ozark Branch Reunion. That was help this past summer and was as wonderful as it could be, getting to spend time with so many of the friends we love like family. I was able to fly home to Mobile for a six week visit with my Mother in October and November. When I got back to SLC, I was here less than 2 weeks when my Mother passed away on Dec.6. She was 90 years young as so so beautiful and funny and healthy and smart and loving and just an angel on earth. I miss her. I am going to upload some photos of her if I can remember how.

I guess all of y'all know that I am a facebook addict. I have always considered fb to be "blogging for ADHD" and I should know! If anyone reads this who is not one of my fb friends, please feel free to friend me: On fb I am Merry Wells Cowart. Hope this is not too much info for one post. I am going to try to get back in the habit, so look for me more frequently and less wordy!

Love y'all!

Suspended in Time

After over a month in Mobile, I am finally returning home to Opa, riding with Annie to keep her company as she drives with her girls to visit the Utah family. It's been a good visit for me, but I'm ready to go home to my new home in the mountains. We spent last night in Oklahoma, partaking of the gracious hospitality of Dianne and Arin Mitchell and their three children. Their home is on a quiet street that seems far apart from the rest of the world. Last night I had the good night's sleep that I needed and was anticipating, on the sofa in their living room on clean white cotton sheets, covered by two wonderfully warm and worn quilts. This was where I slept last time we made this trip, and it is like lying down in a bed - an unbelievably soft, comfortable, supporting in all the right places bed. My knees always bother me after long rides in the car, but for some reason, that sofa's cushions rise just exactly where my knees bend, giving me relief and comfort. I went immediately to sleep, and awoke refreshed. I am sitting on the ottoman right now, looking out the window onto their little front porch. I really do feel suspended in time. As I look across the quiet street I see a white house with two large dogs lying companiably on the porch. One is a black lab, the other looks from here to be maybe a bull dog of some sort. There is a garden with lots of day lilies, a bird bath, bushes. I bring my eyes closer to where I am sitting, and focus on the Mitchell yard. I love the sycamore tree that shades most of the yard, the swing suspended from it, the portable basketball goal down by the street, which bespeaks the fact that boys live here - both young and old. The porch, which is closest in my view, so close I could touch it, is a place I could sit forever, just drinking in the simple beauty of this place. There are three metal chairs, retro, the kind I remember from Florida visits to my grandparents as a child. They face the white metal glider which is where I would sit, if I lived here. Diane's potted plants add more color and fragrance and simple beauty to the setting. She has a couple of those shephard crooks plant hangers, one of which holds a pot of petunias. Down one step is a pot of hens and chickens, which I haven't seen since my childhood at my Nana's house on another quiet street in the small town of Darien, Wisconsin. This street reminds me of that wonderful place, where I have my first memories, as we lived next door to Nana in a little white house my dad built.

Dianne and Arin have decorated their home to match this gentle country feeling. There are many quilts everywhere, each with a story, from grandmothers and friends. There are found pieces such as the sturdy coffee table that looks like it could have been purchase at a flea market in Metz. The television and components are held by a wonderful piece that says "I was built with love." It is obviously put together from this and that, cream-colored rubbed and worn wood, brown doors with paint genteely cracking - showing through to other layers of paint colors harking back to other incarnations, antiquey-looking glass knobs, a top that looks to me like an old picnic table. So beautiful. There is a love seat, a comfy recliner, that wonderful sofa, beadboard and plaster walls with wainscoting, all painted in different neutral shades. There are whites and beiges everywhere. This whole little house is full of country touches. No, not touches, it is all country. Every single part of this home beckons you to come in, sit down, relax, forget your worries, for there is love here. Thanks, Dianne and Arin, for opening your home to some weary travelers. I would stay here forever if I could!

Game of Tag

Annie, thanks for tagging me. It's been a while since I have blogged, or even been online on my loveable old laptop. I'm at Jake's where there is wi-fi and hooray, I forgot how wonderful it is to do this while sitting comfortably on the sofa. I am very excited at the prospect of our upcoming trip back home to Utah and Opa! So with no further adieu, here we go:


A. Attached or Single- Attached for close to 40 years.
B. Best Friend(s)- Opa
C. Cake or Pie- Pie, or maybe cake, how about I love them both!
D. Day of Choice- Sunday
E. Essential Item- My laptop
F. Flavor of Ice Cream- Breyer's butter pecan
G. Gummy Bears or Worms- bears - the little hard ones that came in individual little packets that I used to put in the school lunches way back when in Germany
H. Hometown- Mobile. I love living in Utah, but I am a GRITS (girl raised in the south) and proud of it!
I. Indulgence - my blogs
J. January or July- January
K. Kids- Three handsome sons and three beautiful exemplary daughters. They are my heroes.
L. Last movie I saw in a theater- I think the pre-showing of "Harry Potter- Order of the Phoenix" with my Vasses last July.
M. Musician: John Denver
N. Number of siblings- 2
O. Orange or Apples- Gala apples
P. Phobias or Fears- automobile accidents and snakes
Q. Quote-“When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes.” Desiderius Erasmus
R. Reasons to smile- Opa and the rest of my Utah family members whom I have missed and will soon get to be with again!
S. Season- Autumn
T. Tag - Jo and anyone else who reads this and hasn't been tagged yet.
U. Unknown fact about me- Other than the roach that once crawled in my ear, which I already mentioned in another one of these tag games, there is not very much exciting stuff about me that yall don't already know. I was going to say that I got to sing a line with The Lettermen way back in my days at Mississippi State College for Women in the sixties, but yall probably haven't even heard of them. They were very big way back then. Two of them were LDS.
V. Vegetarian or oppressor of Animals- If I had to choose, I would rather give up meat than veggies, so I guess that would be vegeterian.
W. Worst Habit- Lack of will power
X. X-rays or Ultrasounds- No clue.
Y. Your favorite Food- a crisp salad loaded with all sorts of veggies! Or home-made waffles with maple syrup
Z. Zodiac sign - Virgo

Thank Heavens for Little Girls!

"Is there anything more beautiful, anything that speaks more of divinity than a lovely little girl? I have little great-granddaughters, bright-eyed and beautiful, who sing and smile and touch my heart with thoughts of heaven. When I see them in their innocence, I recall the words of the Lord, "Except ye . . . become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:3).

The previous statement is a quote from our late prophet, Gordon B. Hinkley as found in his book "One Bright Shining Hope," which Lynnie sent to me as a Mother's Day gift. The book is quite a treasure, full of precious statements and words of hope. This particular excerpt especially touched my heart, for while I am in Mobile for this month, I have had the opportunity to spend time with my darling Emmertson granddaughters, Taylor, Payton and Hayden. They, as well as Riley and Ashli, bring joy to my heart in so many ways. I love all five of the beautiful young women whom I am blessed to able to call my granddaughters.