My plans go awry -- again

So the photos didn't post in the order in which I described them. They were lined up differently when I wrote the article, and when I published they went wherever they darned well wanted to. But you can figure everything out, if you care to take the time. Sorry!

Finishing up

I guess it's appropriate to post today. I wanted to post some pictures of the people we especially hate to leave. The folks in the top left are Arnold and Karen Davis, who very kindly treated us to Leatherby's last week, and not only that, but they bought me a jar of Leatherby's caramel sauce, which is a food I really, really hope they have on the other side of the veil. The next photo is President Jerry Hatch, 2nd counselor in our mission presidency and one of our all-time favorite human beings, and the husband of our other all-time favorite human being, Kay Hatch, who is in the center of the bottom left photo. The other two in the bottom photo are Maaike and AJ Kingsford, who are replacing us in the publications department. The photo to the left of that is the group of missionaries we're closest to, and part of the group that we came in with. The couple in the middle are Shanna and Skip Bradley, our home teachers. We love them all!!! The two young elders are great fun. All the red neckties are because the Elijah choir sang that morning -- it isn't a uniform!

We're basically camping out in our apartment right now. Our phones quit working last night, for some strange reason, but won't be officially disconnected until tomorrow, after which we'll leave here and head for Texas. We are pretty much all packed up and only have to finish washing the bedding in the morning and load the car. We've had our last meal in the apartment because the food is all gone. We're going to the Hires drive-in for lunch (root beer floats) and will hang out at Liberty Park for a while, and then we're being taken to dinner by another of our favorite couples, the Sorensons, whose picture I neglected to post.

It's been a glorious 16 months. If we ever serve another mission we will sure try our hardest to come back to this one. I would love to work in the Church History library, or even the Family History one; but the Mission Office where we did work was the best of all.

We sure appreciated the visits, the phone calls, the e-mails, the refrigerator pictures, and the love and prayers. We can't wait to see everyone. We're bursting with love and so anxious to hug everyone, and then do it again.

I've enjoyed blogging; I just haven't had a lot of time to do it. Maybe that will change when I get back home. Keep checking back, but don't expect miracles!

It's been a while

I didn't realize how long it had been since I'd blogged until I saw Christi's comment about Taylor's MRI. Thanks, Christi! I'm excited about his possibilities, and I'm glad we're coming home when we are.

Today was our last day in the Administration Zone, and we had our friend, A.J., take our exit photo this morning. Bob doesn't like it and wants it done over again, but I'm going to go ahead and post it anyway. And then if the new one turns out better I'll post it too! We're going to go to the Training Zone next week and try to get caught up on NewFamilySearch. It's changed quite a bit since we were trained on it 16 months ago and we're 'way behind the curve.

It's sure going to be a busy week, and a fattening one! It has already started -- we were taken to lunch (ice cream at Leatherby's) by friends in the zone. A carmel sundae is the perfect lunch on a difficult day! Monday we have lunch with our dear friends the Catheralls and dinner with our In Group. Tuesday we are having dinner with our home teachers plus some other couples from their zone; Wednesday is the Farewell Luncheon the mission gives all the missionaries who are leaving; Thursday we're having supper with Bob's in-laws, and Friday we're having dinner with some dear friends from Simi Valley, Pam and Joe White. I'm not exactly sure how we're going to fit in all the packing and cleaning that has to be done before we can leave on the 30th, but we'll git 'er done some old how.

We accomplished the one goal we wanted to reach before we left the mission, and that was to finish the book . . . and we did! We took the CD to the print shop yesterday and today we got our proof copy back and delivered it to President Simmons for his approval. Hopefully we can start the final printing before we leave at the end of next week. It's a beautiful book and has 37 color pages. Very thrilling for our humble selves. And we still have some more wonderful musical experiences coming up: tomorrow the Elijah Missionary Choir is singing for our stake conference; Sunday (after the Tabernacle Choir broadcast) our stake choir is singing in the tabernacle, again for stake conference; Monday the Women's Choir is singing my arrangement for the devotional; and next Sunday I get to conduct my branch choir one last time, at the request of the new choir director. So we'll have music practically right up to the last minute.

I'll wait and wax philosophical in the next blog, when I have more time to gather all my thoughts. They are in a jumble right now -- we are so anxious to be home with our family and our dear little house, but so reluctant to leave this special place and the wonderful friends we've made. How we love them! It's been a great 16 months. I got back so much more than I gave, and I learned so much and acquired some new skills. And it was so wonderful to see Bob's work so appreciated and admired. His talents will truly be missed, and it will be a long time before the photography rises to that level again. But adjustments will be made and it will all work out just fine and things will keep humming along. We're very happy to be invited to come back in the spring for the U of U event, and we'll combine that with a week at the Family History Library. I hope it works out so that the tulips are in their glory -- it will be like coming back to Heaven.

So -- Texas, here we come. And California, see you soon!

Facebook is fine, but . . .

Sometimes I want a more permanent record of a feeling or experience, and then I turn to my blog. This morning is a case in point -- everything has been just perfect. The weather is gorgeous, and the Choir broadcast was wonderful and inspiring. We were literally in heaven. And it struck us as we were walking home that we only have 7 more Sundays left to experience these things. Only a little more than 7 weeks to bask in the fun and loving companionship of our friends in the Administration Zone and throughout the mission. Only 7 more Sundays with my beloved Branch choir. Only 7 more weeks with the Elijah choirs. Only 7 more weeks to try to get some family history research done while we have access to these two wonderful libraries. Only 7 weeks to get our replacements trained (whoever they may be!) and get the next book ready to go to press.

On the other hand, we just returned from a weekend at home in Texas that was so wonderful it was beyond 10 -- off the scale, in fact. And then we think, only 7 more weeks and someone else has to worry about the book. Only 7 more weeks and we can sleep in as late as we want to. Only 7 more weeks and we get to see our families again. Only 7 more weeks and we'll be back in Texas, where the skies are always beautiful, and you can spread your elbows out a little bit and get some space around you. And then we think: Salt Lake Temple - 3 minutes away; Dallas Temple - 35 minutes on the 75 and the LBJ freeways; church book store in Salt Lake -- 1 across the street from where we work and another about 10 minutes away; church book store in Dallas - 2 block beyond the temple. And then we think: Barnes & Noble in SLC - 20 minutes away; Half-Price Books in McKinney (I LOVE that store!) - 10 minutes away. Harmons's Market in SLC (our favorite), 15 minutes away; Kroger in McKinney - 5 minutes away, when it finally opens.We're getting a little dizzy from the back-and-forth we're feeling. We miss our home so much, as well as our family and friends, but we know we will miss the friends we've made here and the things we have been experiencing. Also, I have collected quite a bit of music while I've been here (organ, piano, and choral), and yesterday we packed most of it up to send back home. I'm going through withdrawal, just seeing my empty shelves. Can't wait to get home where I have ready access to all my music, my books, and my PIANO! Nevertheless, am I glad we came? You bet!! Will I be glad to get home? You bet!! Would I do it again? Yes!

While I'm blogging, I'll mention some other news: we just had a lovely visit from Matt, Angela, and the 3 kids, Katie, Ben, & Sarah. It was lightning quick, but we still had time for a visit to Leatherby's and the museum. We haven't seen them for a terribly long time, so it was just wonderful to get caught up.

And a cautious bit of potential good news: I went to an audiologist last Saturday, because I was so fed up with being deaf and felt that perhaps I could finally afford a hearing aid. He went through the usual tests with me with predictable results -- profound loss in the left ear. But then he did an additional test, a bone conduction test. The first sound through the device about knocked me off my chair. That indicated a loss just slightly below normal. So he told me that he couldn't in all conscience sell me a hearing aid when the indications were that there was something that might be done to restore my loss. He recommended an MRI to see what was left in the middle ear, and whether a prosthetic remedy might be possible. That would put my hearing at just below normal, and I would be in heaven. I'll wait until I get back home and look up a good ENT guy and see if anything can be done. I'd rather do that than have my knee replaced, or at least I think I'd rather do that first. The knee will have to be done sometime. After Hawaii, and after Christmas, and then after . . .?

And one more fun thing -- I was rounding the corner of our building the other day at lunchtime and ran into a dear old friend from Simi Valley, Pam White. We've done a LOT together, musically and otherwise, and I love her dearly. She was Amy's advisor when she was president of the Lambda Delta Sigma sorority. We plan to get together some time, some how. It was wonderful. Salt Lake is a great place for running into old acquaintances.

A week in heaven

Gosh, I'm bad about my blog lately. But we just spent a wonderful week with my daughter Amy and her family and it seems a shame not to blog about it and post a few pictures. Amy already posted the Leatherby's pictures on her blog, so I'll just skip to a few of the things that tickle me particularly.

First of all, the entire family on their last morning here.

Second of all, the main reason I so enjoyed their visit.

And third, the museum trip: Ben, creating a masterpiece.


Joshie, doing the mad scientist thing he does so well;

and Joseph as a shepherd with his lamb.

It's been a wonderful week for us all. I'll for sure have to blog after next weekend as well, because we're actually going home to McKinney for a couple of days, so we can be there for Jake's ordaination. I'm beginning to get terribly excited about it! When we get back, we work 2 days and then have a 4-day weekend, and then July will be practically over and we'll be on our last 2-month sprint to the finish line. It's been a fabulous year and we will miss this a great deal, but I have to admit we're beginning to get "trunky." Just wish we could take all our friends, this experience, and this weather back to Texas with us. However, we will be taking back the spiritual growth we've acquired and hopefully some new skills and abilities. Are we glad we did this? You bet!!

Did I have a happy Mothers Day?!

You be the judge!!

In addition to this wonderful day-long visit (which will extend through Wednesday!) I received books, ollallieberry jam, peruvian lilies, phone calls, homemade cards from my granddaughters, and much-appreciated phone calls, messages, and facebook posts. My heart runneth over. And in addition, my choir, helped out by Greg, sang beautifully today and I was thrilled. It's been a fabulous day. Tomorrow we will meet the kids for lunch and decide how to spend the rest of their time here. Such fun!

Happy Mothers Day to all my favorite mothers and potential mothers. If you had half as good a day as I had you were greatly blessed.

I Repent!!

I take back all the bad things I said about Salt Lake City weather. Any city that provides this kind of beauty can be forgiven everything. Bob needed exercise today, so after conference we took a walk through Temple Square and the Plaza (Zornes version: he hobbles, I scoot on the scooter). It made me feel bad that we've had to drive to work so many days this spring because we have missed a lot of the beauty around here. We'll take another walk during lunch tomorrow, this time with Bob's camera, and get some even better pictures. In the meantime -- Happy Spring!!

I'm speechless . . .

. . .and delighted, and sad, all at the same time. We got to visit with our Frisco stake president and his lovely wife and absolutely delightful mother yesterday afternoon, and today we find out that we were soundly hugged and kissed by a General Authority!! Jonathan C. Roberts, Frisco, Texas was announced today as a new Area Seventy. Quite a few months ago, I posted a picture of his mother, Sister Tessie Roberts, who serves with us in this mission. I'll post it again, and we're both shaking our heads that we didn't have the presence of mind to take his picture yesterday when he was here -- and Bob is the photographer! But we were so happy to see him -- we love him very much and are so extremely proud to know him. He's a lovely man. But we wanted him to be there as stake president when we returned, and now he won't be. (In the photo, his mother is the one standing next to me. The other lady is also serving in this mission, Arvilla Finlayson, formerly of Frisco, Texas, whom I used to visit teach.)

Why I'll never be a snow bunny . . .

I will forever after equate snow storms with trips down I-15 to the hospital, or back again. There was a snowstorm the day we drove Bob in for his procedure; there was a snowstorm the day I drove Bob in to the Emergency Room (on Sunday); and there was a storm Wednesday morning, when I drove to the hospital to pick him up (I thought!) and bring him home. The snow cleared during the day and there was some discussion about whether he should be released or not, because they wanted to do a CT scan and make sure there wasn't a bleed somewhere. But during the afternoon some snow began falling again and I took it as a positive sign that we would be going out in it later on. Sure enough -- he got to come home. Not to a comfortable, restful night, but to more pain and misery from bowel impaction due to the pain meds he'd been taking. It took about 24 hours for that situation to get corrected, but he's feeling pretty good now, and even worked a full day today, for the first time in two weeks.

Utah natives have assured me that once General Conference weekend is past, winter will be over for good, and I can only hope this is so but it has snowed the last 2 days, so I'm not holding my breath. My son Cameron is coming for a visit next week and I would love for the weather to be good. I believe the outlook is favorable, although temps will stay in the 50's all week. Still -- if family is here and if Bob feels better my sun will be shining regardless. We have missed essentially 2 weeks of work and by this time should have had the book at the printer's, but it will be very delayed this issue. Too bad -- Bob's health is more important. As regards his procedure, it was very successful and his heart is as steady as a rock now. We didn't expect the pain, swelling, and bruising, which were extensive and which is what sent him back to the hospital for re-admission, but by now the bruising is significantly better and the pain is at least bearable. He doesn't want to take any more pain medication after last night's ordeal. The swelling will just take a long time to go down. His right thigh is twice the size of his left.Bob took a picture of the two of us with my little camera, and I took a video of the snow because it seemed so unreasonable to me. (I see that the snow doesn't show up on the blog video. It shows up clearly on my computer. You would have been impressed!) Needless to say, Bob is back to his old handsome self by now.

The sun did shine for us today, however. Bob went back to work, but the nicest thing about the day was a visit from our beloved Frisco stake president, Jonathan Roberts and his wife Beverly. They were here for General Conference, staying with his mother, Tessie Roberts, a fellow missionary here. We do love those people so dearly and it was so wonderful to see them.

Hmmph!

We had a few days of spring last week. The gardeners were busy planting color in the flower beds; we see buds on the trees; the tulips are beginning to bloom; we had shirt sleeve weather in the afternoons; we even had the official first day of Spring.

Today it's SNOWING! What is it with Utah weather? Will I ever be able to send my boots and mufflers home? It just can't be right to have daffodils with snow perched on top.

And today Bob goes in to the hospital for his procedure, but we're feeling very calm about it. We got up early like always for choir practice and to sing for the devotional, and went up to the office afterwards so Bob could get a blessing, and he got a lovely one. I'll post again when it's all over with, but rest assured that all will be well and he'll be home tomorrow feeling fine.

I'm going to try to post some pictures of what we've been up to lately. We were in charge of the Zone birthday social this month, which had me in a lather for about 3 months -- I am most definitely NOT my mother's daughter when it comes to entertaining -- but we survived and even had fun. The next day was incredibly wonderful with a visit from Don and Julie, and a whole afternoon and evening together. And Don treated us all to dinner at Maddox BBQ in Perry -- well worth the drive. And prior to their arrival we had lunch with a group from our Zone in the Garden on the 10th floor of the Joseph Smith building. It's 20% discount week for missionaries all week, so we took advantage. Delicious and fun!

I'll bet you think all we do in this mission is eat, socialize, and sing. Wrong! We are in the process of putting out the next edition of Mission Memories and we are behind the curve a little bit because of the days we missed with Bob's troubles. We'll miss 2 more days next week when he goes in for his heart procedure, but we'll be back in the saddle on Wednesday and rarin' to go. And I'm cross-training with the other assistant editor, who is going to be transferred after this book is put to bed. It will probably prevent me from being able to take my computer to work with me to do music on, but I'd rather have lots of work to do than worry about filling up free time. Besides, I like editing and I think it will be fun.

I'm about to attach pictures. Wish me luck!

Today's thrill (for me & Bob anyway)

Here's picture proof that we actually got to sit in the tabernacle choir seats and sing. I never know where these pictures are going to land and don't seem to have any control over them, but maybe I can post them first and then edit later or something (Amy? Help?)

The first picture is of Herbert Klopfer, our organist for today. He's the one who checked me out on the organ that I play in the Joseph Smith building. He's the nicest man in the world. The next picture shows 5 of the ladies in our sextet. The two gals to my right, the lady behind the first empty seat to my left, and the lady on her left are 5/6ths of --- TA DA!! -- The Silvertones. Our most recent hit performance was "Your Cheatin' Heart" with different (genealogy research) words and we rocked. Sort of. The last picture I took and I apologize for my horrible camera technique. That's our director, Something-Something Cramer, a lovely lady and a wonderful musician. She sings in the Tab choir. And you all know the handsome gent standing with her, Something-Something Zornes. Oh wait -- HIS name I remember. It's Robert.

The most difficult part of today was that I lost half of a front tooth this morning and I was trying hard not to smile -- and it was hard, because I was happy to be there!

Gee, I've been bad

I haven't done so well on my blogging since I got on Facebook. The interaction there is so immediate, along with hearing from people I haven't touched base with for a long, long time, that it's very appealing. But I don't want to let the blog go for too long.

We are 3 days past our end-of-February cut-off date for the next Mission Memories book, so now we are into production big time. We are totally on our own this time, but are feeling fairly optimistic. We slipped schedule a little bit because Bob was quite sick for a couple of weeks with a nasty cold, but I think we can recover nicely. We still hope to get it to the printer before the end of March . . . we'll let you know how that turns out! Our "In" group (the group we entered the mission with) is going to tour the bindery next Tuesday, and I'm looking forward to it. I love books, and love to see how they're made and repaired. We have a wonderful conservation lab in the library that repairs the books and manuscripts that have had tough treatment. I think that would be a fascinating job.

I don't know if we mentioned that we extended our mission another 4 months (I probably did) and for the most part we're happy about that, but occasionally we get a little homesick. But now we have a week-end back home to look forward to: Jake, Christi's oldest son, is turning 12 in July and will be getting the priesthood. That's too special to miss out on, so we're going to go back for it. Aside from the tickle we feel inside about seeing our wonderful family again, it will just be nice to spend a few hours in our sweet little home. It should set us up nicely for the last 2 months of our mission. We are also looking forward to visits from family during the time we're still here. My brother Don and wife Julie, my son Greg and his family, and hopefully Cameron. I feel sad that the economy has ruined so many vacation (and other) plans and hope it doesn't take too long to get rectified. The Woods will be going back to Minnesota for a very special occasion -- the baptism of Greg & Cindy's granddaughter, Tamara, who has been praying very hard about this big decision. We're all so very happy about that. They'll make a stop in SLC as part of their trip.

This has certainly been a most wonderful experience and has exceeded my expectations beyond my ability to describe. I have never for one moment, even when the snow was yucky, regretted our coming here. It's hard to put into words the special spirit that permeates this place and this work. It's a great privilege.

Love you all! Bye for now.

Life in the bubble

Bob and I frequently comment on how nice it is to live in this particular "bubble," where things are mostly wonderful and the outside doesn't intrude unless we invite it to. So we were spared much of the anguish and all of the work pertaining to a pretty bad water leak that occurred last November. We were sitting pretty here in SLC, and our dear daughter and son-in-law were in McKinney handling the whole thing for us. How we apprciate them!! I'll post pictures at the end of this entry. I understand that it's all done now, and the carpet is in place and water damage to the wall all fixed up. I have no idea how many hours Christi spent at our house supervising. But at least one good thing happened -- she got to give a Book of Mormon to an interested worker. Nice!

I haven't posted for quite a while, and I'm embarrassed. It's not that things aren't happening -- they definitely are -- but I can't think of anything interesting to say about them. We just keep chugging along, doing the things we do best -- Bob produces beautiful images, and I produce some "do-able" music. I do mostly arrangements, but I've written some original things when asked. I've also been doing a lot of lyrics lately, and that's been fun. So glad that Cameron introduced me to rhyming dictionaries! Of course, the music is in addition to my regular duties, which don't change much. We were released from one of the activity planning committees and we're happy about that, although the activity we just completed went very well. Bob was the emcee and he was a big Wow and is still getting compliments on what a good job he did. They really enjoyed him and he had a ball.

On the downside, Bob caught the cold that's been going through our Zone, and he has just been laying low this weekend, hoping to get better enough to go to work on Tuesday. I think tomorrow will be another layabout day, which is driving him batty, but will hopefully do the trick for him. I believe he'll come over for lunch, though, because it's our Zone birthday social and we're having a wonderful soloist from the Tab Choir, Alex Boyer, entertaining us. He sings spirituals like no one else can and is wonderful. So there will be at least one good thing happening for Bob tomorrow.

Love you all -- miss you greatly -- can't wait to see you!!!

Something old (friends), something new (pvc's)

Those of you who get Bob's journal are already aware of how we spent our week: Monday, the ER; Tuesday, the cardiologist (the dreaded stress test); Wednesday, the Holter monitor for 24 hours; and Friday, the cardiologist who is the arrythmia specialist. To make a long story short, nothing here is life-threatening, and there is a very simple procedure to fix the problem of too many PVCs. It's called Catheter Ablation, and is done as an outpatient procedure, except that Bob will have to stay one night in the hospital. There is so little urgency about it that we are going to put it off until the next edition Mission Memories is off the press and in our hands (since he can't do any heavy lifting for 2 weeks after the procedure), so about the middle of May is when we'll do it. It will be good for me as well -- since he won't be able to lift my mobility scooter components in an out of the car, I'll just walk and use my cane. I think I can handle it just fine.

We had a lovely time this evening with Phill and Pat Catherall, old friends from Simi Valley, who took us out to dinner at the Texas Roadhouse. It was their first exposure to this place as they don't have any in California, to the best of my knowledge, but they have them all over the Dallas area and we were sure glad to be back inside one. Aside from the delicious food, it was so wonderful to get caught up with old and dear friends. To quote my husband: "You have cool friends!" I do indeed, and so does he.

Life is good and we are happy!

The milestones keep shifting!

A big one just shifted for us this morning, and as of a week from tomorrow, we will have reached what missionaries fondly refer to as "hump day;" the half-way point in our mission. Yep, we have added 4 months on to our service. They've never had as good a photographer as Bob in this slot before and they are loathe to let him go. He President Halverson) would like for us to have extended 2 years but was willing to settle for whatever we could give, and he would still have given us time off for our trip to Hawaii. But now we're leaving the mission at the end of September, so we'll still go to Hawaii with the Smiths, and it won't kill me to miss a flute convention. I've done it before.

It was lovely to hear Bob so fulsomely praised by such a taciturn individual, but I know that he meant every word he said, and Bob has done some beautiful work for the mission. It solves a dilemma for us, because while we were anxious to see our home (and piano) again we hated the thought of leaving "the bubble" we've been living and working in. But now the suspense is over and we know our future course and direction. I may even get my job right one of these days!

We would have had to endure the entire winter here regardless, and we are a tad less than thrilled about going to the Little Theater in the freezing rain this afternoon to sing with the choir for a family history devotional. It's worth it to hear Richard G. Scott, though, so we only feel like complaining when our teeth begin to chatter (which they do on that particular stage).

So that's all the news that's fit to print at this moment. We haven't quite absorbed it yet, and hope that everyone is okay with it. We love you all dearly!!

Here's some music on a different plane --

Here's a link to the devotional we had Monday morning. At about 50 minutes in the Women's Choir sang my arrangement of "My Redeemer Lives," with yourstruly on the piano: http://stream.lds.org/fh/devotional/missionary_devotional_12jan_09_engish300asf
We've really been quite busy this January. I was hoping for a little letup after December, but our new publishing deadline is looming and there seems to be much to do. The snow is almost all melted away, to my relief, but it's still plenty cold. I'll sure never complain about Texas winters anymore (I reserve the option of complaining about Texas summers). We're greatly looking forward to my brother and sister-in-law visiting in March and would sure welcome any other company that felt the urge to visit. We'll be heading for home the end of May as far as we know, but we have an interview with the mission president next week and we may re-think our options after that. I confess to being a little trunky, as much as I love it here.

Here's another link for any of my kiddos who may be interested: my cousin Nannette is about to publish a book, and has a blog about it. Here's the link:
http://www.comeautumn.blogspot.com/. She told me several months ago that she based her main romantic character on none other than Deane, so you may be sure that I'm very anxious to read the book. I would be anyway but that seems too good to miss.

Update and apology: I just tried the link and it got me to the player, but refused to play the video. I have no idea what will happen if you try it. Sorry about that!

Aha! Eureka! Ho ho! We dunnit!

Thanks to Amy and Matt, I was able to condense the files and upload the video -- actually it's three videos in one. Oh, I hope you enjoy this as much as we did! I wish you could see them better. They're such a good looking family, even the Dad. The youngest son is 12 and the fiddler is the only unmarried one besides the boy on the mission and the 12-year-old. He's so cute he won't last long. Happy New Year!

Okay, I know what happened --

The files were too big. I can only upload 100 megs and my smallest file was 193. So instead I'll post a picture of the cutest little family Suzuki group I've ever seen or heard. These little rascals were good, on their tiny little instruments. The littlest one was just a mere beginner but she had all the fluorishes down pat. I really enjoyed them! We had lots of entertainment going on the day after Christmas, including our own concert in the evening. But I'm bummed that I couldn't share Mama's Boys with you.