Category: family

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Recovery: Anderson Style

So, she’s home. This, of course is a good thing. Now begins the phase where (hopefully) she gets waited on hand-and-foot, people (me) bring her homemade chicken noodle soup–with super awesome homemade noodles, and we write down all the weird things she says while coming down off the morphine and lortab. Should be entertaining.

We’ve already had some pretty funny references to this trippy YouTube video (warning: it’s completely weird, but pretty strangely funny) that fits the situation rather well.

Jillian has the next few days off so she can get my mom up and walking around every hour or so. Apparently, when they do surgery by scope, they inflate you like a balloon with CO2. So, post-op, they want you to keep your circulation flowing to get the CO2 out of your system so it doesn’t settle anywhere odd and cause problems. Who knew? Also, the walking is important to avoid blood clots.

She’s in good spirits, smiling and cracking jokes until she falls asleep mid-sentence. We’re looking forward to having her back in good health.

But in the meantime, we’ve got the pen and paper out, and maybe a little video camera, just for fun.

April

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Family ‘Success’

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“Families unite when they do meaningful things together. Children should work together under the leadership of parents. Common employment, even on a part-time basis, is valuable. So is a family garden. Common projects to help others are also desirable. Families may establish a perpetual missionary fund. They can research and write family histories and share them with others. They can organize family reunions. They can educate family members in the basic skills of living, including managing finances, maintaining property, and broadening their general education. The learning of languages is a useful preparation for missionary service and modern life. The teachers of these subjects can be parents or grandparents or other members of the extended family.

“Some may say, ‘But we have no time for that.’ As for time to do what is truly worthwhile, I suggest that many parents will find that they can turn their family on if they will turn their television off. . . .

“President David O. McKay taught:

” ‘The home is the first and most effective place for children to learn the lessons of life: truth, honor, virtue, self-control; the value of education, honest work, and the purpose and privilege of life. Nothing can take the place of home in rearing and teaching children, and no other success can compensate for failure in the home.’
Dallin H. Oaks
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Ten Things To Be Happy About

1) Baby secrets

2) Bags to cut up to make more…ahhh…bags.

3) Random things popping out of the ground

4) A box of new bows

5) New hubcaps!

6) An evening cloud burst

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7) Huge, strong, gentle hands

8)  A cute new book to read

9) Our mountains

10) A new daddy

~~~~~~~~~~~

Your turn—

Let’s add to our “Million Things To Be Happy About” page.

So, what makes YOU happy—right this minute?

Tell me in the “comments” and I’ll add it to the Grateful list AND the quote rotator.

GO!

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Organizing Photos (part 1)

Otherwise known as: The Great Picture Project of 2009

If you’re anything like me and have been collecting photos for the last couple of decades, then maybe your closet looks like this too. Hopefully not.

There are, of course, photo boxes sorted into whichever child is the main focus of the picture, but then there are scads of miscellaneous packages, stacks, bags and piles of ones that haven’t been categorized–or that don’t fit into the boxes at all.

I even have some in dusty old albums and baby books, and some in old frames or outdated collages. And perhaps we shouldn’t mention the file cabinet that I inherited from my mom with a century and a half of old family photos–you know–the priceless relic kind. I’m not brave enough to open that drawer yet.

Now, I’m not entirely brainless. I know that this is not the right way to treat your pictures and that I need to do some kind of acid-free, archival-type adventure and eventually scan and save them all on discs–or something. I even realize that the “Proper Preservation of Family Photos” police could be pounding on my door at any moment–but honestly—I just can’t think that far ahead.

This could all be a wee bit daunting…if taken in one massive chunk.

For that very reason, my plans will be much more modest. I just want to get these pictures sorted, organized and–most importantly–all in one place–so that I can find what I’m looking for without a bunch of crazy packages landing on my head.

That’s the extent of my big ambitions, for now. The acid-free-scan-and-disc-stuff will have to wait for another day…when I’m more mature.

I’m off to Wal-mart–with 30 bucks…not a penny more.

I’ll be back.

Wish me luck…

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Keeping Secrets

One year at Christmas time my little, then three-year-old Lyndi, wanted to help me wrap some presents for Daddy. Seemed harmless enough, so I let her do all the easy stuff–you know, “hand Mommy the tape,” and “pick which paper,” that sort of thing. The whole time I carefully explained to her that all these presents were secrets until Christmas morning and to be sure not to tell Daddy or it would spoil his surprise. We even practiced. Oh, how she promised to keep the secret.

Then Daddy came home.

She ran up to him and grabbed his legs and said, “Guess what? We wrapped your Christmas present today.”

Uh-oh, I think.

“It’s a secret…”

Good girl, good girl…

“…so I can’t tell you…”

That’s right, good job!

“…what it is…”

Well done!

“…but it ticks.”

…sigh…

If you’d have known this particular little sweetheart, you wouldn’t have been able to be mad at her, any more than I could at the time. Especially, since–from what I’m told, I was the very same sort of kid. Apparently, Christmas secrets or any other kind were just not safe with me. I don’t remember being the surprise spoiling blabber-mouth, but according to my siblings…I was.

Having lived a million years, since that time–I think I’m a little better at it…but sometimes it’s still really hard. I love to share surprises more than anything, which makes keeping a secret for very long–a trial. Probably why I have the “Secrets” tab on this very blog. I need to tell someone!

Then this very cool thing happened. Our household recently discovered a notebook stuffed full of “secret” famous recipes–just waiting to be tried and shared. And what-do-you-know, I’m really good at both things!  This could be the healing enterprise that I need…and the cool, famous restaurant favorites that  you need!  Hee hee hee.

So stand by. I’ve got some great recipes coming. Some from the “Secret Notebook” and some serendipitous finds from other places.

In fact, we’ll start with Brazilian Limeade, served at places like Tucano’s, from my sweet friend Susette.

What you choose to do with the secrets….

…is up to you.

 

 

PS—You are welcome to request a restaurant favorite and I’ll go on a hunt for it as well.  ;}