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Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Ho Hum....

So today is one of those days...you know those days when you just don't want to do anything.  The problem is I have to do everything.....the house has reached critical mass, and it is vital for sanity that I finish what I started yesterday.  I have a monkey mind....so I clean here, and I clean there..... now I have a bigger mess.

I need to talk myself into this....

My grandmother, Minnie, who totally rocked, would always tell me..."Donna Lynn (all girls from Texas have 2 names - I knew when I was little that only the unloved girls had just one name) I am not afraid of work...I can lay down right beside it and go to sleep."


Don't you love that?

Minnie told me that having silver was a wonderful thing, but then she would wink and add that it was even more wonderful to have someone clean it for you.  I do have her silver, sadly I have never had anyone clean it for me.


She loved to meet my friends, always measuring folks with her special yardstick..."Donna Lynn, she seems like a sweet girl, but does she set a nice table?"  To her setting a table was a barometer on how much we care about our family and guests.  As harsh as that sounds, I understand it.  Going to a little extra trouble makes folks feel more important.  And that is what she liked to do.  Just make people feel better....and she knew food, a great story and a comfortable chair could do that......but she never took it all too seriously, we ate Thanksgiving dinner at half time of the Texas - Texas A&M game!
Every time I set my table I think about her.  She didn't save her things, Minnie assumed that every day was a special occasion.  "Y'all will never know what tomorrow brings...enjoy today."

My grandmother loved to fish, she loved jewelry, plants of all kinds, me....and her "things".  I have most of her things, my silly cousins didn't marry very well, so when she passed away, they didn't want the silver.  My husband wondered why I wanted it too.  He thought it was just a lot of work.  And it is.....but it soothes the soul.

OK, I feel better, got to get back to work, silver to polish, plants to water....Y'all have a great day!!



Thursday, April 12, 2012

It's not about what you think it's about....

This whole thing about whether women are really working is not about what the media is making it about. 

This is just about contention.....the adversary knows exactly how to push our buttons...and we fall for it every time.  All day we have been mad, defensive and argumentative.  And I feel awful.

Do you need to defend any righteous choice you have ever made? 

No.....
 

So whether your journey is working at home or working outside your home....we are all still working.  And supporting hopefully each other. 

Don't let the adversary win....he is not only the father of lies, he is the father of contention.  The Savior was very clear, "let there be no contention among you".   He said that for a reason...He knew we would subjected to trials of every kind on earth and He wanted to warn us...


Regardless of what religion you belong to, or what higher power you listen to.....that advice would be the same.  Let there be no contention among you


As women we know a whole lot.  We have a PhD in life....we don't need to be a CEO to get it, we don't need to punch a clock or invent a new widget....we don't have to discover a cure, a new land or facilitate a Middle Eastern peace treaty, we don't have to change diapers or scrub toilets to know.....we don't have to be anything but a woman to know.  And we know most things just because.....because we are women.  CEO's scrub toilets and change diapers....SAHM (I learned that today thank you twitter) invent products and write books....we are powerful!


So if anyone tries to minimize you....give them the Braveheart speech and remember who you really are.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Do people really run out of Gas?

Do people run out of gas any more?

I am on the side of the road waiting for my daughter to bring gas because the car ran out of gas.
Understand I didn't run out of gas..

The car did.

With 2 smelly dogs.....

And a 5 O'Clock deadline.

Oh my.....

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Wouldn't Stevie Love This?

A friend asked me if it was normal to be depressed.....so I thought about it for a minute and came up with something I am going to do today....

I am actually going to follow my own advice.

Everyone gets depressed ....embrace it, you can even give it a whole day if you want...but then move on.  If it lingers too long you may need to find out if it is organic, and then get some real help.   We are all made of fallen stuff, and that means it is normal to go through ebbs and flows. 

So try some of these simple fixes.....Be your own best friend....take yourself to a nursery if you like plants,





a bookstore if you like books....












to Williams and Sonoma if you love to cook, or maybe find a new herb. 






Listen to some music from a time in your life that was totally without responsibilities.

.

Have a great prayer and tell the Lord how grateful you are for all the amazing blessings you have...here are four of mine....






But the sure fire cure?  Make a list of 3 women  you know that have recently gone through a trial.  Be their Fairy Godmother...stop by just for a "hug and a kiss"  drop them a plant or a book or some music or a new herb (see how you can multitask?)
Depression is a part of life,  unless it is organic, it will pass.

And even if you aren't depressed this is a good idea.....right?

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Spring Ball!

It is said with great reverence from the land of my birth.....there are only 2 real sports.  Football and Spring football.

It is wonderful to sit in the stands on a beautiful April day and watch football.

#Ilovemylife


Sunday, April 1, 2012

Is Elvis a Mormon?

Today I read a wild email from a friend who is now prepared to watch the coming presidential race from under her bed....frozen with fear that someone is going to ask her about temple rites, baptisms for the dead or polygamy and she won't know the right thing to say.

Today no less a famous person than Maureen Dowd, New York Times columnist, is wondering if Elvis is Mormon.

What does that mean?

Is this a brace yourself moment? Are we as a religion about to be broadsided by a secular landslide that will rock our world? I don't think so...But if you are a Mormon I think it is time to put on your big girl (or boy) pants and start talking right out loud about your beliefs.

Most Mormons have been asked about their religion from an incredulous co-worker or neighbor with the opening salvo...."I heard something about your religion that didn't sound right and since I know you I thought it can't be true."

And then they proceed to ask questions from why can't you eat chocolate on Sunday (we can) to why do we hoard food? (we don't) There are others far more distasteful, and some just flat out profane. I enjoy answering questions....I don't think my parents asked me one question about Mormons. I joined the church at 18. Unfortunately my aunt was all too eager to answer their questions using information she had gotten from sources eager to distort. I should have cowboyed up, simply had the courage to talk to them. But I was young and I didn't know enough. I don't think as a group we have done a very good job explaining our religion. And if we don't start explaining it we have no one to blame but ourselves when Maureen Dowd steps up to do it for us. Ms. Dowd is a gifted writer, but she has a cynical streak when it comes to religion, especially, it seems when it comes to Mormons...should she be the one to explain what goes on in the temple?

I understand that Governor Romney is reticent to speak about our religion because we are so often misunderstood, and this election is not about religion...but I hope that he doesn't distance himself so much that we are deprived of the "when I was on my mission" stories that all returned missionaries enjoy telling. However he had an experience on his mission that few missionaries have. in June 1968, the car Romney was driving was hit by a vehicle head-on along a winding road in rural Bordeaux; the accident killed the wife of the mission president and severely injured the president, while Romney was knocked unconscious - and at first mistakenly declared dead by the French police. When the president returned to the US to bury his wife, Romney was left in charge of the mission. The missions work was in disarray. In a letter from his father George Romney quoted a line from Treasure Island, saying. "work on in your despair". Romney turned the mission's dire situation around. In a brazen move, Romney convinced the missionaries to shoot beyond their set goal for baptisms and when the year ended they had just that. (from Time magazine) And remember he was 21.

Wow I got way off the subject...I was going to write about baptisms for the dead...I will get back there.

Mormons are all about agency...the freedom to choose. I was sad to hear that Holocaust victims were baptized posthumously without family permission. I understand now that Jewish people have been forced throughout the ages to renounce their religion, and the thought of someone taking it upon themselves to baptize their dead sounded like tyranny to them. I would like to correct that misunderstanding right now. No one can force you to accept anything you don't want. Whether you are in this world or the next or Kemah Texas no one can force you to accept anything. I am glad that someone with authority from the church dropped a house on those folks who were going through the Enquirer choosing famous people to baptize. Which is, I guess, how Elvis is now a Mormon....remember only if he accepts it.

Mormons have great respect for family histories....we feel our ancestors are our ministering angels. Who else would know us more? Love us more? Or be able to protect us better? A dear friend of mine often tells the story of her grandfather Oscar McConkie who gathered his family together and told them, "I am your father, grandfather, husband, and uncle. I have prayed for you every day and just because I am going to die does not mean that will change. I will continue to pray for you every day no matter where I am."

The thought of my mother, grandmother.....Raymond's aunts....being my ministering angels gives me such peace, and a sense of unity of purpose. We were family on earth and we will still be family in heaven...family units going on into eternity.

So my message is simple.....you might hear some odd things about Mormons this year. Politics are ugly and the opposition may want to make Romney as weird as they can. Like his politics, don't like his politics but when you hear outrageous things about Mormons ask me first before you believe it.

Here is Ms. Dowd's column about whether or not Elvis is Mormon. She is a kick....

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/18/opinion/sunday/dowd-is-elvis-a-mormon.html?_r=1&ref=maureendowd#