Weekend

Birth Order

One of my friends blew my mind one time when she said that Heavenly Father knew what order our kids should be in so that was the order He sent them.

I'd always thought of it the other way, like they became a certain way because of their birth order.

It really doesn't matter, but I like my friend's idea.

Mark was who I needed for a youngest.  (Also, he's really good at being spoiled, so there's that.)

Friday I wanted to take down Christmas decorations, but I felt sick still and it's kind of a big task.  We're going to Nevada next week and then Adam's in Phoenix for a few weeks and I wanted to get it done.

Then Mark's team was told not to come in to work (it's a very slow time of year, apparently).  I was very happy to have Mark home!

He hauled boxes for me and chided me to take breaks and drinks of water.  I don't have everything sorted, but all the big stuff is done and it's a great feeling!

He is very patient with me and knows from long experience what matters to me.

I winnowed the stuff down by one bin.  When I used to help my grandma decorate for Christmas, there was a lot of stuff that she didn't use, but still kept.  I determined then that I was going to get rid of stuff I don't use (with a few exceptions, like my grandma's ornaments that I'm too afraid to put on the tree because I don't want to break them).

Mark always hangs up the quilted wallhanging above the mantle by climbing up on a ladder and putting a thumb tack in each corner.

Before he moved the ladder over to retrieve the wall hanging, he said, "I want to try something," and he went and got the pizza peel.  Much like his namesake, he likes to figure out creative solutions.

Much like his namesake, he is pretty good at it.  He gently slid the beveled pizza peel under each thumbtack and they popped right out of the wall, but stayed in the quilt.  He handed it to me and I took out the tacks.

Braeden and Anna gave me darling Swedish angel chimes which I love!  It's the kind of thing that rotates when you light a candle under it.  It came in a sturdy little box that I set aside to store it in after Christmas.  When I was sick on Thursday, Mark cleaned up the downstairs and I couldn't find the box.  I was sad because it was such a perfect box to keep it safe and compact, but I was also grateful that Mark had cleaned up.

I asked him about it and he told me where it was.  He said, "I knew it was a nifty box and you would want it."

I'm grateful for that kid!  I'm grateful Heavenly Father gifted me with my very own Mark.

Most Bizarre Winco Experience to Date

Braeden calls it The People's Costco.  It's kind of like a grittier version of Walmart or the DMV.  It's often a wild ride.  The most bizarre thing we encountered there on Saturday was not even the man with two small dogs stuffed inside his coat walking inside the store.

We were in line and as we were standing there, I whispered to Adam that we had the world's crankiest checker.  She always has the most miserable bored look on her face and she never exchanges pleasantries (which I'm OK with--I am not really a small talk kind of person).

I am an everyone asks me advice kind of person.   I get stopped often in stores with queries and I don't think I look all that friendly, but I must.  

I was fishing out my debit card and Adam was starting to bag groceries and the checker said, "What's it called when a family owns land and they can use it for a specific purpose?"

I said, "A trust?"

She said, "I don't know if that's it.  What's it called?  Like they can use the land to cut trees for shipbuilding, but that is all."

"An ordinance?"

Adam said, "An easement?"

We didn't know.

She looked at Adam kind of derisively and said, "Don't you have a phone?  Look it up."

She handed me a piece of paper and a pen (sorry everyone in line behind me, I guess) and had me write down all the words we'd said.  She said she'd never remember.  

I don't think we answered her question, but we will never think she's the crankiest checker again.  I mean, the woman has depth.

Sick of Being Sick

My eye infection flared up again, which I hate.  My eye hurts and it waters and stings and itches all at the same time.  Oh, and everyone keeps telling me that I could go blind.  There's that too.  The medicine I have to take for it makes me feel kind of sick so I quit taking it sooner than I should have last week because I thought my eye was doing better.  I'm determined now that I am going to take the full dose for the full time.  

Adam and I were intending to go to Starr Valley on Sunday afternoon, but we both still felt under the weather.  I think if one of us had felt fine, the other would have rallied and ridden on the other's coattails, but both of us were droopy.  We rested and had a clean the fridge sort of dinner and are ready to go to Nevada this morning.