One More Week/Three More Weeks

We have one more week until D.O. comes home. ONE MORE WEEK! I can hardly believe it! It has been a frenzy at our house with cleaning, and getting things ready and just thinking about him coming home. Did I miss the boy? You bet I did, but I was also very glad to have him gone for two years serving the Lord on a mission. I know he will be all the better for it and I'm grateful for the individual growth I've experienced myself. There have been some difficult times here at home but he had to face those same difficult times on his own. Our boy left two years ago and I know when he comes back, he'll be a man. Just with the same goofy sense of humor.

AND THEN in THREE WEEKS! L and R will have their first baby, and our first grandbaby. We've been lucky to have her here with us while R is up somewhere in the middle of Wyoming working for the Forest Service (and he's loving it by the way!). We travel between our home and their home periodically for doctor visits and then back again to work on things for the above-mentioned homecoming. They eventually plan to be together -- all three together -- at the cabin. R gets to be a ranger (complete with uniform) around the cabin area (LUCKY!). I just had to take a picture of L in her tie-dye. When she walked in the kitchen, I said, "Wow!" She is beautiful.

Can't wait to get up in the woods to the cabin. So many things to look forward to. I am happy for today, for this moment, to enjoy the happiness right now. Although looking forward is always a good things, my Mom told me to enjoy the here and now. Here and Now is looking pretty good and it is with a grateful heart that I thank Heavenly Father for the bounty in my life.

So sad. It had been 7 weeks so I tried having the splint off for a day. The Finger Bent. So it looks like six more weeks of winter . . . oh wait a minute . . . I mean six more weeks with the splint.

But we always tell the truth . . .

I haven't been able to type very well because . . . well because I had a torn tendon in my finger (ring - right hand). I did it taking off a sweatshirt! In my defense, I was taking off the sweatshirt and it caught on my glasses and I didn't want them to break and then it got too tight around my neck and I started to choke and I started seeing stars and I panicked and then I pulled really hard and then it felt like something bit my finger. So I have had a plastic splint on my finger. It has been an interesting adventure. Think of how many times you wash your hands in a day. Yeah, and the tape needs to be changed every time. I started wearing plastic gloves to do the dishes which is something I've never liked to do. And I wore a plastic glove in the shower so the splint wouldn't fall off when I washed my hair. When I told my neighbor friend (who by the way is age 7) how I did it, he looked at me so incredulously that I almost fell over laughing. Then he ran home to tell his Mom. They came over because they couldn't believe it. When I said that I'd have to make up a better story, my little friend looked at me in all seriousness and said, "But we always tell the truth." So every time someone asks, my little friend's voice runs through my head and I tell the truth (to be honest, I couldn't have made up a crazier story). The worst that has happened is the splint got caught in my brake handle when I was barreling down a hill on my mountain bike. The funniest is when my niece's daughter was afraid of "The Finger." The doctor ordered 6 weeks to wear it day and night, and thereafter an additional 6 weeks at night. If the finger got bent, the six weeks started over again. So I've actually been wearing it for about 7 weeks. I think I have only 1 more week to go. Yeah!

I was sort of feeling sorry for myself -- especially on the aforementioned day when it got stuck in the brake handle. Then at the top of the hill I saw a fellow who was riding his mountain bike with a prosthetic leg. He was amazing and I instantly realized that there are those who have it tougher and keep on going.

We've had L & R here along with their friends S & T for the weekend. It was a lot of fun. We went on an amazing flower hike. The desert provided a beautiful garden for us. The hill was pretty steep. L is 8 months along and S was toting her 8 month son, but they were like mountain sheep and scaled it without a problem. I was very proud of both of them as I huffed and puffed my way behind them. When we got back to the truck, we lost track of Buster for a minute or two. Then R said he had him. As I approached I couldn't see Buster. R told me to look down. There was Buster smiling at me underneath the storm drain. Thankfully, the grate came up easily (Thank you, R, for your bicep) and apparently it looked like so much fun, Buddy and Prana wanted to climb inside too. Needless to say Buster enjoyed a bath when we got home. Buddy, too, because he had rolled in something. Not sure what but he was happy. I am going to take B on the hike so he can take pictures. We will need to identify the wildflowers.

I have been reading The Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt. It is amazing; he is amazing. I knew he was an important figure in early Church history but . . . wow, it is well worth the read. The next book I am looking forward to is The Last Stand by Nathaniel Philbrick. He is the authro of Mayflower and In The Heart of The Sea, both very very good books. I think I've read In the Heart of the Sea a half dozen times and loved it every time. I've read several books about the battle of Little Bighorn so I'm familiar with the story. I am excited to read this one also.