A Pretty Nice Weekend

Nothing much new here. I had the privilege of having tea with the LonDolls on Saturday. Unfortunately, Bree is not here this summer...but it was still lovely. I decided to take Tiny with us since she is an honorary LonDoll. She was also looking a little bored, lying in front of the tv on a hot summer day. She really perked up when I invited her. When we got to the bakery, she just lit up, looking around the room at all the teapots and decorations. I loved her reaction. While the tea was great and the company was, of course, excellent, it became very warm in the bakery and pretty uncomfortable. It is proving to be a sweltering summer, not improved by being pregnant.

Saturday night, our church ward had a potluck. I am now in charge of arranging such activities and had a lot of help from others setting up. It turned out pretty well, and the food was great. Sometimes I feel a bit overwhelmed by all my church callings. But, of course, it always works out.

Sunday, we visited my brother-in-law's family because my nephew was ordained a deacon at church. Afterward, we had a great dinner and cake and then hung out, napped, and played around. It was a pretty pleasant day, except for my not feeling very good.

I always wondered how women were confused about whether or not they were in labor. Both of my labors were pretty clear cut and unmistakeable. But yesterday, I woke up feeling odd. I had a dull ache in my back and across my stomach, like when I have PMS. This lasted through the day, only slightly increasing. I was having fake contractions, nothing new. It was a bit frustrating because I was pretty uncomfortable at times and thought that if I was going to be that uncomfortable, that it should at least progress, or diminish. Anyway, I didn't feel better until really late last night. So, now I can understand a little better why some women get confused.

The house is coming along slowly. I started working on Mister's room today and only got about halfway done. He still has a lot of stuff under his bed and in his closet to sort through. That kid has a large garbage collection littering his floor. Tiny's room will be next, followed by my own, then I will work a bit more on the rest of the house. I'm not going for a spotless house, just more organized and easier to maintain, with less stuff cluttering it up. I'm hoping this isn't a neverending battle.

Nusery Before and After

Before:

After:

Words

"See that you are merciful unto your brethren; deal justly, judge righteously, and do good continually" (Alma 41:14)

It's been a while since a scripture has deeply impacted me. I found this while reading the June issue of the Ensign magazine yesterday and I loved it. It was in an article titled "Cultivating Sensitivity to Others". It really stood out to me because this is something that I have strived to do since I was young, before learning the Gospel and joining any church. Whenever I would hear someone constantly speak ill of another person, it would give me great discomfort. I thought that surely this person couldn't be that bad to warrant being put down repeatedly. Being young, I, of course, did not always abstain from gossip or ill-speak. But I never felt right about it.

As I grew older, my empathy only grew and I tried to be careful about understanding a person's situation or point-of-view before I spoke of them. I think some of this may have come about from being the one of whom others would sometimes quickly and thoughtlessly speak ill. I was a child that would sometimes make poor decisions, and because of those, many of my friends' parents would speak ill of me, judging me without trying to know me. It hurt. Sometimes people think that kids have so much attitude that they're bulletproof. They're not. And some of those harsh words and feelings from years ago are still felt.

But, there were also some excellent examples of how we should behave towards others, especially the wayward. I had a few best friends whose parents showed me nothing but love and acceptance, despite my continuing to make some bad choices. They would show that they were opposed to the action, but continued to show love to me. What an example.

It is because of those people, and the guidance of God that I believe I now possess the blessing of being discerning when it comes to what is said about others. I even have a wonderful husband that has told me time and again that what he loves most about me is that I do not speak ill of others. It is such a wonderful feeling to hear that from the man I love, someone who I respect greatly.

So, I am hoping that you will read the scripture above and remember it the next time you come across a wave of gossip or someone who has nothing but bad things to relate about another. Words can hurt or they can uplift...either way, they are permanent. Choose them carefully.

A Tiny Morsel to Tide You Over

My posts may be sparse for the rest of the week because H is in Arizona until Saturday night and he took my laptop with him. It's not as comfy to sit in front of his office computer and type out the happenings of life. We are also keeping pretty busy. This summer is already proving to be an active one. In the last two weeks, we've been to 2 bday parties (one of them Tiny's), a baby blessing, a playdate, the library twice, and I finished the baby's room.

The "before" pics of the nursery are, of course, in my laptop. But I will not deprive you of the final result until I get it back. So, here you go...I hope that will appease you for updates for now. We'll be having Tiny's BFF over for a sleep over tomorrow night for her real bday. We will also be visiting the library again, Tiny has a dentist appt. on Thursday, attending another bday party on Saturday, picking up H from the airport, and then I am teaching at church on Sunday. Keeping busy and counting the days until I won't have the time or energy to do anything at all.

Just because my kids are getting older doesn't mean I have to.

I am (im)patiently waiting for Tiny and Mister to fall asleep so that I can bring in her bday presents to wrap them. Her bday isn't until the 11th, but H will be out of town then and we wanted to celebrate while he is here. My Tiny is going to be 8! It's so hard to believe sometimes. With my pregnancy, I am thinking more and more about when the kids were little. Mister is going to be 12 at the end of the year. Now that's crazy.

For her birthday, Tiny chose to have a couple of friends come with her and Mister to a family fun center and then come back to the house for gifts, lunch and cake. So, that will take place tomorrow. Kind of last minute, but I think she will have fun. So, while I am about to bake the cake and wrap the gifts, guess where H is? That's right. The same place he is when I'm wrapping gifts on Christmas Eve at midnight...asleep on the couch. It's becoming a tradition, I think. I hope I don't pay for this late night too much tomorrow.

So, besides getting the house in order, I'm doing Tiny's bday and preparing for H to be away for a week. He asked if I'd be okay for a week on our own. I reminded him that I've done it before. I usually just indulge myself and the kids a little more to make up for missing him so much. We watch movies, eat out a bit and keep busy. But it still passes pretty slowly.

I am missing my LonDolls. Whit is newly married and busy with that and school and work. Liz is working two jobs and is dating someone steadily. Melissa is working...and, I think, going to school. And Bree is in Florida, soaking up the sun and her husband. Liz, Melissa and I are hoping to visit Whit soon. It may be tricky since we're all pretty busy and I'm getting more preggo every day.

I can't complain. Life is good, everyone is healthy, and we are pretty blessed. Hope it's the same for all of you.