Labor Day Weekend - Fun, Frustration, and Emotions

This has been an emotional week for sure. During the week I had some serious talks with several significant people.

Thursday night I had car problems - tail pipe fell off and dragged on the ground. My son, Chris, helped me but it took several hours. But when he drove home to get tools to work on my car he discovered that while in Japan, his garage had been burglarized and lots of his tools were missing. Expensive ones of course. This is the second burglary for him. The other took place at the shop when someone broke into his trailer out back and took very expensive woodwork tools, new saw, etc. So here's Chris, always out doing good things to help people and while he's out, he gets robbed. Pumba died so he didn't even have a dog to bark at intruders!

After Chris got the exhaust system off the car, I took it to my son, Justin's mechanic shop and he repaired it right away. What would I do without these great kids?

Friday we went waterskiing with Nat, Rob and family. We had a really good time until we headed out. Rob's car blew a hose and overheated. We couldn't find an open parts store on Friday evening of a 3 day Labor Day weekend. So, Steve and Rob jimi-rigged things with duct tape and clamps (Walmart came through with that). We still had to baby it to the summit and stop to periodically add water, but we were able to finally get home, though very late.

Saturday was also a nice day. Steve and I shopped together, got some great bargains and accomplished a lot!

Today (Sunday) I was released from my calling as R.S. President. It was time for someone else to have this responsibility and blessing, but it was hard for me to give it up.

Monday

Chris left this morning for Tokyo to meet Kiyomi, her dad and the kids to have a little vacation at Japanese Disneyland. Jenn, Fred and kids are at Disneyland in California right now. What's wrong with this picture? I love Disneyland! Not the prices, but I do love going there. I didn't renew my passport and decided this wasn't the year to try and scrape up the money for Japan so maybe another time....

Had a nice weekend with pleasant surprises. Met Steve's mom and he got information and good news about school registration.

Natalie has been absolutely amazing cleaning my house after the others left. She works fast and does great work.

Karla and Jon found out that the Chinese birth calendar has come through again. The ultrasound says it's another girl. They're happy.

Aubrey has also started school on base in Kansas, taking advantage of one military benefit so that's good. They like being closer to everything even though they miss their little house and town of Abilene.

It's quiet in my house and getting cleaner by the day. Lots to think about in the solitude too.

To the Singles Conference

I'm heading to Provo in the morning for the last couple of days of the singles conference. I plan to dance, attend some workshops and in general, enjoy a nice break in the presence of good friends. I plan to dance until midnight both Friday and Saturday. Should be lots of fun.

Five of us from the Repro Health program went to the Salt Lake Arts Festival for lunch today. We watched Drake, my boss's son play in his funky jazz band, Lake Effect. It was great.

I also got an interesting offer that I need to think about. It's work-related but will take some extra time. Also received some nice and welcome communication but also some disappointing news that Barbara is not going to be able to go to the conference with me after all. Her son's wife decided to be baptized on Saturday and she feels she needs to go to Las Vegas to support them. We have been needing to get together for a long time so it is a disappointment even though I understand. Much to think about today.

Ups and Downs

What a day of highs and lows. Life does tend to do that I think. Two extremes today but it's OK now.

"The happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the absence but in the mastery of his passions." - Alfred Lord Tennyson

"Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul.
And sings the tune
Without the words,
and never stops at all."
- Emily Dickinson

"How helpless we are, like netted birds, when we are caught by desire!" - Belva Plain

"Learn the art of patience. Apply discipline to your thoughts when they become anxious over the outcome of a goal. Impatience breeds anxiety, fear, discouragement and failure. Patience creates confidence, decisiveness, and a rational outlook, which eventually leads to success." - Brian Adams

Rainy Day Wednesday

It turned out to be a great day, in spite of the weather!

Contemplation

"Grow old along with me, the best is yet to be." - Robert Browning

"Maggie and Stephen were in that stage of courtship which makes the most exquisite moment of youth, the freshest blossom-time of passion,--when each is sure of the other's love, but no formal declaration has been made, and all is mutual divination, exalting the most trivial words, the lightest gestures, into thrills delicate and delicious as wafted jasmine scent." - George Eliot (pseudonym of Mary Ann Evans Cross) From The Mill on the Floss

"That man that has a tongue, I say, is no man if with his tongue he cannot win a woman." - William Shakespeare

"When a woman is deliberating with herself whom she shall choose of many near each other in other pretensions, certainly he of the best understanding is to be preferred." - Sir Richard Steele

"I looked on child rearing not only as a work of love and duty but as a profession that was fully as interesting and challenging as any honorable profession in the world and one that demanded the best that I could bring to it." -- Rose Kennedy

"I love you, not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you." - Roy Croft

"Thou art to me a delicious torment." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

"There is a place you can touch a woman that will drive her crazy. Her heart." - Melanie Griffith

"Love is the irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired." - Mark Twain

"The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard, but must be felt with the heart." - Helen Keller

"An archaeologist is the best husband any woman can have; the older she gets, the more interested he is in her." - Agatha Christie

"Missing you could turn from pain to pleasure, if I knew you were missing me too." - Brittany Murphy

"I think we dream so we don't have to be apart so long. If we're in each other's dreams, we can play together all night." - Bill Watterson

"We were not strong enough to drive out a half-million American troops, but that wasn't our aim. Our intention was to break the will of the American government to continue the war."

--North Vietnamese General Vo Nguyen Giap, in a 1990 interview with historian Stanley Karnow. (Hedgehog)

There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, in the end, 'Thy will be done.' ~ C. S. Lewis

Ron Howard about his acting and his wife, Cheryl: "Every once in a while, somebody asks me if I would be in something. But at a certain point my wife said, "We're raising four kids. If you're not pursuing acting as a career, please don't take jobs as a kind of lark. If you have a couple extra weeks, give them to us." I thought that was a really fair request."

Abraham Lincoln said, "If given the truth, they [the American people] can be depended upon to meet any national crisis...The great point is to bring them the real facts."

Benjamin Franklin said, “Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.”

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” ~ Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr

Off to Japan

Not me - but my oldest son, Chris and family. I'm dog-sitting their blind, diabetic black lab. What's wrong with this picture?

It's quite an adventure taking a family of six so Chris travels with them, stays a week and returns to work here for the summer. Japanese school is literally year-round so the kids attend during the summer. This allows them to better learn their reading and writing skills in Japanese. Since they speak it in their home, they're naturals with the language but learning the thousands of kanji and other Japanese writing characters is a lifelong process. So, Jordan who just finished fifth grade in the USA and Julia, going into second, will spend their summer break in school again this summer (and likely every year). They are so excited to see their other grandfather who spoils them that they don't even mind that they have to go to school when all their American friends do not. It will be a clear advantage for them one day to be totally fluent and literate in both languages but we hate sending them away every summer. At least we see them more than we did when they were full-time residents in Japan.

Kiyomi's family lives in Yamagata so it takes a while to get there even after they arrive in Tokyo. After they get through the immigration stations and customs, they board a bullet train to Yamagata. All in all the trip takes about 24 hours. They just let me know that they are in San Francisco now, waiting for their flight to take off. Then in August, Chris will go back for another week to help bring them home in time for school here. I may be able to swing it to go with him then. If not, maybe next year. They do get a little vacation break from school in August so I'm sure they will do something fun then.

Personally, I'm doing great!!

Interesting Sunday

Finally got my PC back up and running again! So, it was a productive and interesting day but feeling melancholy moments these past three days. Not serious problems; just concerning questions overall.

Thoughts for Today

My romantic dreaming comes from my hope for a bright future. I like the quotes because I appreciate how people put words together to paint pictures and describe feelings. Lacking in other artistic skills, I do appreciate writing!

“When I saw you, I was afraid to meet you... When I met you, I was afraid to kiss you... When I kissed you, I was afraid to love you... Now that I love you, I'm afraid to lose you.”

“They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.” - Carl Buechner

“I can live without money, but I cannot live without love.” - Judy Garland

“Nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion.” - Hebbel

Have you come to the Red Sea place in your life, where, in spite of all you can do, there is no way out, there is no way back, there is no other way but through? ~ Annie Johnson Flint

“Sure God created man before woman, but then again you always make a rough draft before creating the final masterpiece.” - Unknown

“Woman was taken out of man; not out of his head to top him, nor out of his feet to be trampled underfoot; but out of his side to be equal to him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be loved” - Unknown

"Integrity is not a ninety percent thing....not a ninety-five percent thing. Either you have it, or you don't."- Peter Scotses -

Still having some computer problems. We got Windows installed but there seems to be some problem with the internet so I still can't use it as I need to. Not sure what it's going to take to figure it out. The ongoing technology saga.

My Computer is back!

Last night Antje got my computer back together with the new power supply. I am so glad she knows what she is doing and was able to salvage it. As nice as a new computer might be, I really don't have the money for it now so this is great news. She restored the data that she had salvaged to her own hard drive. Now we'll transfer some files from her laptop (my loaner) to the PC and we'll be back in business. It's great to have friends.

I got good news today, enjoyed good communications and life is good!

Perfect Day!

It was a beautiful day for walking today. Went with a group from work (usually I go alone so I can think, dream and contemplate life) but it was a fun change and the weather was perfect. The medical director (who is a wonderful man we all love) occasionally makes a general announcement to invite staff to join him on a walk so it's a chance to meet others from the building that we don't work with directly so it was really nice. I enjoyed talking to someone about something different - yesterday I spent the whole day in program planning and though I like the 10 people in my program, we probably get kind of tired of always talking about the same stuff. It's good to meet new people and get to know them better. I also enjoyed a very nice better-than-food lunch today. This is a red-letter day for me. Hope you're having a wonderful day too! Life is good

Tonight is computer repair day so I should be able to get my own PC back soon. Yeah!!

“Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy simply, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed.” - Storm Jameson

“That's the difference between me and the rest of the world! Happiness isn't good enough for me! I demand euphoria!” - Bill Watterson

“A woman under stress is not immediately concerned with finding solutions to her problems but rather seeks relief by expressing herself and being understood.” - John Gray

“Men are motivated and empowered when they feel needed. Women are motivated and empowered when they feel cherished.” - John Gray

Can't sleep

"When you cannot find peace in yourself it is useless to look for it elsewhere." - La Rochefoucauld

"Those who do not know how to weep with their whole heart don't know how to laugh either." - Golda Meir

OK, so I guess I'm a hopeless romantic dreamer. I just want to throw out nice thoughts about romance, etc. But I need to go to work in the morning so I need to sleep! Now why would I think anyone would be interested in reading this? What a boring public journal. Well, pleasant dreams to you.

Love Thoughts

You know you're in love when you can't sleep because reality is finally better than your dreams. - Dr. Seuss

Maybe we have to meet a few wrong people before meeting the right one so that when we finally meet the right person, we will know how to be grateful for that gift.

Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies. - Aristotle

When the door of happiness closes, another opens but often times we look so long at the closed door that we don't see the one which has been opened for us.

It's true that we don't know what we've got until we lose it, but it's also true that we don't know what we've been missing until it arrives.

It takes only a minute to get a crush on someone, an hour to like someone and a day to love someone, but it takes a lifetime to forget someone.

Don't go for looks, they can deceive. Don't go for wealth, in the end it fades away. Go for someone who makes you smile because it takes only a smile to make a dark day seem bright.

There are moments in life when you miss someone so much that you just want to pick them from your dreams and hug them for real.

Love is an unusual game. There are either two winners or none.

Love doesn't make the world go 'round, it makes the ride worthwhile.

Love talked about can be easily turned aside, but love demonstrated is irresistible. - W. Stanley Mooneyham

Loving you is like breathing - how could I stop?

Love is real when you touch someone with your spirit, and in turn they touch your soul with their heart.

Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same. (Wuthering Heights)

Immature love says: 'I love you because I need you.'
Mature love says 'I need you because I love you.' - Erich Fromm

Love is a spiritual coupling of two souls.

“For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul.” - Judy Garland

Thoughts

"Meeting you was fate, becoming your friend was a choice, but falling in love with you I had no control over." ~ unknown

"If I never met you, I wouldn't like you. If I didn't like you, I wouldn't love you; if I didn't love you, I wouldn't miss you . But I did, and I do, and I will." ~ unknown

“How much of human life is lost in waiting.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

“May the love hidden deep inside your heart find the love waiting in your dreams. May the laughter that you find in your tomorrow wipe away the pain you find in your yesterdays.” ~ unknown

“We came together underneath the stars above. What started out as liking soon developed into love. I sense a certain something that, in my heart, felt so true that I knew I waited all my life to fall in love with you.”

“It is impossible to fall out of love. Love is such a powerful emotion, that once it envelops you it does not depart. True love is eternal. If you think that you were once in love, but fell out of it, then it wasn't love you were in. There are no 'exit' signs in love, there is only an 'on' ramp.”

“There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are messengers of overwhelming grief...and unspeakable love.” ~ Washington Irving

“Love comes when manipulation stops; when you think more about the other person than about his or her reactions to you. When you dare to reveal yourself fully. When you dare to be vulnerable.” ~ Dr. Joyce Brothers

“We come to love not by finding a perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly” ~Sam Keen

"Will we forget . . . no never. But we don't need to. We've loved. We've cared. We've cried. We've grown. And now it's time to smile again." ~unknown

“We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.” ~Joseph Campbell

Thoughts on Kissing

Today was an exceptionally nice day. The weather was fantastic and life is good! I think I have a serious case of spring fever and my thoughts turned to kissing and being "kissable." Hope you had a good day too.

~
"I am in favor of preserving the French habit of kissing the hands of ladies. After all, one must start somewhere." - Sacha Guitry
~
"The most eloquent silence; that of two mouths meeting in a kiss. - unknown
~

“I never thought it was worth it, you know waiting for your love, and then I felt your kiss, I could wait forever for this” ~ unknown
~

"The soul that can speak with its eyes can also kiss with a gaze." - unknown
~

"There's this place in me where your fingerprints still rest, your kisses still linger, and your whispers softly echo. It's the place where a part of you will forever be a part of me." - Gretchen Kemp
~

"Kissing - and I mean like, yummy, smacking kissing - is the most delicious, most beautiful and passionate thing that two people can do, bar none. Better than sex, hands down." -'Drew Barrymore
~

"Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves." - Albert Einstein
~

"What does kissing really mean to me? To me, if you feel, when you kiss a girl, that certain feeling of all those dolphins, like, swimming through your blood stream, and you get those good tingles inside your stomach, I don't think there's any better feeling." - Corey Haim
~

"Kissing someone is pretty intimate, actually very intimate, and your heart always kind of skips a beat before you do that." - Keanu Reeves
~

"Teach not thy lip such scorn, for it was made For kissing, lady, not for such contempt." -
William Shakespeare
~
"People who throw kisses are hopelessly lazy." - Bob Hope

"Kissing is like drinking tea with a strainer; you can never get enough." - unknown
~

Kissing Frogs (From Random Thoughts Blog by Lightfeather)

So sometimes you have to kiss
a lot of frogs
before you find a prince
and other times you
never find a prince
even then.

And then once in a
while someone just
happens in
when you least
expect it
and makes you laugh
like you have
never laughed before
and makes you feel
like you have never
felt before
and for that
time it becomes
magical.

And you are not worried
about how long it
will last
because maybe it will
not last more than
the next day
or maybe the next month
so you make no plans
on it
but for the time being
it is simply the way
it is supposed to be
and it just seems
like a little taste
of heaven.