Random thoughts at the beginning of another day

Here are some of my assorted thoughts:
I went to a bridal shower last night. It has been bridal season in my neighborhood. There have been 8 different weddings in the last 5 months or so. So fun to see the beautiful little brides receiving cute things to furnish their nests.... But I ask myself, why isn't there a shower say at 20 years to replace all the broken stuff that older brides have lost? I was talking to one of my friends who said she would love to have all the broken stoneware replaced so she could have a complete set. And my bathroom rugs are old and dingy. It would be fun to have some new ones. But I guess we are supposed to be older, wiser, and richer now, so we have to take care of it ourselves.

Thoughts 2. Dear American Idol Judges. You are too old to do this job anymore. You don't know what sounds good. Leave Andrew alone. You have confused him. When he sings like he did last night, don't tell him he needs more rock star persona. He is fine as he is. I loved it. Tell Siobahn (spelling???) not to scream anymore. She doesn't need to. And tell her next time she has a chance to do R&B to do some Aretha for heaven's sake. She already has the attitude. And leave teflon boy alone. If you really don't think he should be there, the less attention paid to him the better. I don't think he is as bad as you think he is. And don't tell Crystal Bowersox what to do to improve. She is perfect. And Ellen, I know you can be funny, I know you think you are being funny, but don't you notice that some of your strange off the wall comments are getting nervous titters instead of appreciative belly laughs? That's because people don't know what to do or where to look in a trainwreck of this type. Stick to your pointless observations unless there is something truly witty you would like to share. Okay, I'm off my soap box now. Predictions for tonight? Even though Siobahn was the worst one last night, I predict that teflon boy will lose his non-stick coating and go home tonight. It's getting tougher every week.

Finally, Doncha just hate pointless assignments? I had a big one yesterday where part of it was trying to find an internet discussion group that had more than 10 messages that were about anything substantial. Most of the ones with more than 10 messages in any given topic had been infected by the evil porn spammers. I hate evil porn spammers. I don't want to see your naughty pictures, and your messages have no business on a discussion group that is supposed to be about the Constitution. I will not be sorry to see them burned out of existence. The majority of the people in the world would rather not be bothered with your nastiness. Go hide back under that rock you crawled out from under and leave the rest of us in peace.

Have a good day, and don't let the evil porn spammers get you down.

Saturdays are usually busy for me and yesterday was no exception. It starts early with Weight Watchers first thing at 7:00 a.m. I go to that meeting because it's early so usually no one plans stuff for me during that time, and because I like Bob, the leader. He is funny, and wise and NOT PERFECT. It's his imperfections and struggles with maintaining that make his so approachable.
We bought the 5th Fablehaven book Friday night and they told us that the author, Brandon Mull, would be signing books the next night, and that at 9:00 they would be passing out tickets to expedite the book signing. I came home, worked on a recipe for my recipe files and headed off to get the tickets. I should have gone earlier because they did them according to letters of the alphabet, and I got I... but more on that later.
I came home desiring to commit a random act of cleanliness on my fridge, which has been cluttered and gross for a while now. Didn't happen. Samantha and Emmanuel decided that for Dad's birthday we should all go to "How to Tame a Dragon" at 11:30. She told us that she was going to go at 10:30, because it is the opening weekend and she was worried about getting in. We got there at 10:30, but they weren't there. (snicker) It was a good thing, because we forgot our movie cups so we had them pick them up. The movie was AWESOME! Why is it that when Hollywood makes children's movies anymore they are witty, and deep, and great but when they make normal movies they are vulgar, and crass, and shallow???? Can't they do both kinds of movies good???? I would give "How to Tame a Dragon" 5 stars. Loved it. Want it on Blue Ray. It's one you could watch several times with the kids and not get annoyed.
When we got home I had to leave right away to a shower for a young lady in our ward who is getting married in 2 weeks. It was a pantry shower, and they had asked for a recipe card, so I didn't give her my usual Digital Recipe book; I will be giving her that for her wedding I guess. It was fun to shop for a few things that she might need in her pantry. I got to thinking about how there are so many things that we should have in our personal pantries when we are preparing to get married. A little patience, a little humility, a little humor... I think that one thing this little bride appreciated about her future husband was that he valued her not only for her physical beauty, but for her spiritual depth. If everyone looked for that in a spouse, there would be better marriages out there, that's for sure.
After coming home from that enjoyable shower, I finally got to commit an act of cleanliness for my kitchen. I not only cleaned out my fridge, but I cleaned another nasty area and did a thorough job of the counters. I love having a cleaned out fridge. All the old nasty stuff is gone and everything else looks great and is easy to find. Another thing that you find out when you clean out your fridge is what you really have. No more guessing when making the grocery list. I could be all deep and analougous and relate this to how repentance does the same thing for our soul, but I will spare you. Draw your own analogy. I dare you.
After the fridge was properly cleaned, we set out to enjoy our visit with Brandon Mull. Because we were letter "I" we ended up waiting for just over 2 hours to get our 2 seconds of time with him. Ashley took advantage of the time by having her face painted and making a mask. I love Brandon Mull's writing style. He has flawed characters, moral lessons to be learned, and good action and fun. I am only on chapter 3 because of my busyness, but I am sure I will finish it by the end of the week and have a proper review. So far it's action packed.

Today I am not feeling like the nice mother, I am feeling like the bad mother. I have been sick for over a week, and my house looks terrible. I had the bishop come by last night when I was out and I feel so ashamed of how I let things go. I can be so organized with my schoolwork, but the housework has me floored today. I am trying to implement a program of committing a "random act of cleanliness" everyday, but there is so much to be done that the task seems overwhelming. Then, after trying to straighten up at least the living room a little, clean a part of my family room that desperately needed it, and spilling slime green spinach soup (it sounded like a tonic yesterday) all over my freezer, I came in here for a moment to breathe... and I hear my Ted out there vacuuming, straightening and helping out in his own way. That's when I feel like being a mother is the best job in the world.

The other day, when it was rainy and stormy, I once again had it clearly manifest to me how the Lord can answer even simple prayers. I don't like driving in the rain, especially lately because I need new windshield wipers. Besides that, my van is extremely top heavy and gives me the feeling that it will be toppled over in strong wind. Add to that the little cold bug that I have been fighting for the last week, and knowing that if I miss any school I will get hopelessly lost in math... well I needed some help to get to school. So as I got into the car, I asked that "The winds and the waves would obey His will" and that I might have a calm commute to school. And I got one! And if I had any doubt at all about who was the one who smoothed my path, Brother Petromalo (institute teacher) had this quote on the board.
"If we would advance in holiness --increase in favor with God -- nothing can take the place of prayer. Give prayer -- daily prayer, secret prayer-- a foremost place in our lives. Let no day pass without it. Communion with the Almighty has been a source of strength, inspiration, and enlightenment through the world's history to men and women who have shaped the destinies of individuals and nations for good."
President Ezra Taft Benson, (God, Family, Country, pg. 8)

Another little glimmer of light that I can only catch when I am humble enough to pay attention!

To Blog or Not to Blog

So I thought I needed a creative outlet. I had forgotten about creativity in the time that I have been going to school, being totally swamped with schoolwork, I decided I would try this out for awhile and see if it will help me feel more fulfilled in that direction.

For today, the funniest thing at school today was how my English Professor was talking about being unbiased, all the time trashing people who oppose the health care bill, characterizing them as people who throw money at handicapped people when they try to voice their opinions, spit and curse at black senators and the like. I was disappointed in her. She didn't qualify it. Those people are wrong in their actions; the rudeness in this country has gotten quite out of hand. On the other hand, not everyone who opposes the new health care bill are gun toting, violent conservatives who are just waiting for their chance to be rude to those that don't oppose it.....