Normal

Alert the media: I am fine! Yesterday I vacuumed and did laundry and mended the laundry sorter bag while the piano was tuned and did more laundry and made cookies and said goodbye to Joe and Kathy who are moving to Florida and made dinner and went to the park with Anna and cleaned up the kitchen and tucked kids in bed and didn't go to bed until the sun was down.

Highlights: I sucked up something from underneath Anna's bed but didn't investigate further. There was a french fry in the hall and chapstick in the washer. I found out that the upside down beaters at the park spin around really fast when an adult gets on them. Ditto the slanted turntable.

The official letter with results from my follow-up mammo came. That's the mammo they told me was to check for any scarring from the biopsy but I secretly suspected was to double check to make sure nothing suspicious was going on. You know, in case there was some cancer after all? This is the thought that has lurked in the back of my mind for the past six months.

Opening line: We are pleased to inform you that the results of your exam are normal/benign (not cancer).

See what I mean? I knew I was fine -- handsome doctor told me the day of my appointment -- but this letter, which for all I know could be sent after every routine mammogram, did nothing to dispel my suspicions about the check up.

Why mention handsome doctor? Because when you meet your doctor in a paper vest right before your biopsy it comes as a bit of a jolt to find he's not just a doctor but looks like he could play one on TV.

I Stop The World And Melt: Week Two

I'm tired. Still. And even though I am feeling SO MUCH BETTER I am not quite back to my former self. Wah wah wah.

This morning I took the girls to an orthodontic consult and then to see Gnomeo & Juliet. It was cute. Anna has a Destination Imagination meeting in an hour that I guess I'll take her to since she finally emptied the garbage. Kate is doing homework and I'm in the comfy chair with the ottoman, contemplating cutting off cable (and thus, all TV access). It is sunny and warm and a hammock would be a great place to spend the afternoon if we had one.

Did you know the theme for the week is sloth? It's a repeat. I am pathetic. It's kind of like in Apollo 13 when they shut down all but the most crucial systems. It's minimal laundry and cooking, although with my laptop I've been able to keep up with email and some Relief Society assignments.  

Last week some lovely friends who felt bad for my melted state decided that they needed to bring dinner. Not at all necessary but so nice! I love it when someone else cooks for me. Especially when it is yummy.

I've tried to do some normal things. I took Anna to the park one afternoon and sat on a bench while she jogged on the turntable doohickey and spun on the oversized beater thingamajig and flipped on monkey bars and rock climbed up to the top of the mountain. Then I came home to bed.

On Thursday I dragged myself to my follow-up mammogram (handsome doctor says I'm just fine). Afterward I went for a pedicure and sat in the big chair, completely zoned out for half an hour. By the way, I've decided that a pedicure is what you get after a mammo. "Mammo-pedi" -- it is the latest thing. Go get yours.

Saturday morning was our stake Relief Society conference. I thoroughly enjoyed being in the company of so many great ladies. I listened and learned. And then I went home to bed. It was 2pm.

I hit Costco one day last week (sadly, I ran out of steam mid-way) and sort of planned to visit a regular grocer's today but am out of energy. Do you see a theme? Because it is 1:30pm and I'd like to go to bed.

Truth be told, if Anna didn't have DI, I'd already be there. 

Best Valentine Ever

Great (love) story.

I'm still recovering from the awful whatever (flu?) and didn't expect the package that arrived this morning from Amazon.

I love Amazon. Mostly, I think, because John loves Amazon and I benefit from that love. I think for him it's because he likes to give but hates to shop. And then there's the free shipping.

So color me pink and add some frills: John ordered this for me and it wasn't even on my wish list. It's perfect for me (romantic but not mushy!) and obviously planned in advance.

He surprised me at Christmas with my Harvey's bag (I cried) and now he's done it again.  A girl could get used to this.

Last Dragon Chronicles

Don't let the cover fool you --
this is not your average dragon story.

I picked this book up at Barnes & Noble before the Great Freeze and really liked it. Sure, it's about dragons, but instead of castles, knights and maidens, the protagonist is a college student renting a room from the artistic woman who creates dragons. Nice twist.

I ordered the next four books in the series from Amazon (they FINALLY showed up yesterday) and am a good way into the second one, called Icefire. It jumps deeper into the fantasy pool, but remains tethered to the "real world." So refreshing!

For the past two days I've felt like there's a dragon sitting on my chest, not to mention the cough. I successfully supressed it at the orthodontist (herbal tea in a travel mug) and now that we're back home, I'm holed up in bed with more tea and cough drops and a stack of dragon books.

TMI/Update: What a horrible night... I gave up sleep attempts sometime after 2am and read more of the books. I finally managed a few winks from 5-7. Wonderful beautiful friends delivered Anna to and from school while Kate braved the frigid morning bus stop. John and the girls just left to see the Bieber movie.

The dragon has moved off my chest but sneezes and nosies have replaced the cough and I've been through three boxes of Kleenex. But I'm grateful the coughs let up a bit. My head feels hot even though the useless digital thermometer says it's not. Since tomorrow is Saturday I may break out the heavy meds that knock me out. Really not fun.

I'm happy to share the books, but they may need to be quarantined for a while. I wouldn't want to pass this on.

Rona's Whole Wheat Muffins

My friend Rona brought some yummy muffins to our Interfaith Quilting Activity (which turned out to be not so much Interfaith) and they were kind of healthier than the average muffin and SO good. Here is her recipe:

Pumpkin Mini Muffins
1 ½ cups white whole wheat flour (or regular flour)
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
15 oz can of pumpkin or about 1 ¾ cups or substitute cooked sweet potato
¼ cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs

¼ cup milk
1 teaspoon pumpkin-pie spice or 1 ½ tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp cloves, ¼+ tsp. ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup white sugar

½ cup mini chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°. Spray mini muffin pan with Pam or Baker’s Joy (I like mini-muffins because children enjoy the size, they look cute, and cook quickly).

Whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs, pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg, cinnamon, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl until smooth. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in separate bowl (or sometimes I just put on top of other ingredients and whisk a little there). Stir into wet mixture until combined. Stir in mini-chocolate chips for an extra treat. Fill batter to top of each cup.  Bake about 20 minutes or until lightly brown, they spring back when touched or a toothpick comes out clean when inserted.

Super Freeze

 Icy cool? That's bigger in Texas, too.

I read about the Super Freeze in the paper this morning -- which, mysteriously, continues to be delivered despite the ice lockdown that has prompted rolling blackouts and a third consecutive day of school cancellations. It's cloudy and cold and snow is predicted. We haven't heard about school tomorrow but Kate's solo and ensemble competition on Saturday has been canceled. Crazy.

It all started when above-freezing temperatures in the wee hours Tuesday morning allowed for sleet and freezing rain, which then developed into a blanket of snow-topped ice as temperatures fell before sunrise. Ice in Texas is not unusual, but it's generally a one-day affair. This time it hasn't gotten warm enough to melt the ice off the roads, so here we sit.

How bad can it be, really? I can't tell you. I haven't been out since Monday. But a friend with cabin fever reported that when she ventured out with her kids, McDonald's was closed. McDonald's closed?! They were unable to receive shipments. Amazon isn't delivering either. That really stinks, because hibernating is better with new books to read.

This morning, following two days of work from home, John set out for his regular commute. He says the local roads are icy but it gets better as you approach Dallas. Of course.

I won't cast aspersions on an infrastructure that, evidently, has been organized in the same manner that precludes snow boots for my kids. Still... I'm guessing the roads are clear in Arlington.


Update: I just got word on the fourth day of school closure. I'm not telling the girls until their homework is done.

Answers to Prayer II

A while back I referenced a talk by Elder Bednar, which beautifully explains how answers to prayer usually come "line upon line, precept upon precept." I love it. Because I just don't get big obvious answers very often.

Today, as icy road conditions keep us home from school and other activities, I stayed snuggled up in bed with my laptop, reading the online version of the latest Ensign. Which is how I came to read another great article about getting answers to prayer, based on a 2006 BYU devotional address given by Joseph Fielding McConkie.

Here are some of my favorite thoughts about prayer from "Finding Answers", Ensign, Feb. 2011, 28–32:

"There will be some instances when no sure answer comes. We have a series of revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants in which the Lord tells the early missionaries of this dispensation that some matters were to be left to their discretion. The phrase that is often repeated is “it mattereth not unto me” (D&C 60:5; 61:22; 62:5).

President Brigham Young explained this doctrine: “If I do not know the will of my Father, and what he requires of me in a certain transaction, if I ask him to give me wisdom concerning any requirement in life or in regard to my own course, or that of my friends, my family, my children, or those that I preside over, and get no answer from him, and then do the very best that my judgment will teach me, he is bound to own and honor that transaction, and he will do so to all intents and purposes.”

Loved this quote! I'm generally left to my "best judgement," which can be tricky. And sometimes I really really really want an answer. I've often heard about asking the right question, but I but don't think I understood what that really means. I interpreted questions in a linear way: ask A or an alternate to A. But if the appropriate question for the answer I need is so far from A it's more like Q... then finding the answer to A sure will be tricky.

Confused? Here's what Brother McConkie says:

"Few things facilitate getting the right answer like asking the right question. A mother told me a story about the disappointing behavior of a man after he had been called as a priesthood leader. “How,” she asked, “can I explain to my children that callings in this Church are inspired and at the same time explain the behavior of this man?”

While I share her concern over what took place, her question infers that if a leader makes a mistake then his calling was not inspired. Perhaps a better question would be: should my faith rest in the infallibility of priesthood leaders or in the assurance that if I keep my covenants, the Spirit of the Lord will always be my companion?

Often what stands between us and answers to our prayers is our failure to ask the right questions. Thus the role of the Holy Ghost is as important in determining what we pray about as it is in giving us the answers we seek."


Good stuff.