Much Ado About Nothing

I think these are fun to answer, mostly because when I go back and read my answers months and years later, it is interesting to see what has changed and what stays the same. 1. What time did you get up this morning? 8:30 am 2. How do you like your steak? medium rare - pink center, not red 3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? The Harry Potter movie (Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince) 4. What is your favorite TV show? I haven't been watching much TV but I do enjoy law-centered shows like Law & Order, CSI, Boston Legal 5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? Phoenix in the winter and Colorado in the summer 6. What did you have for breakfast? I don't do breakfast. 7. What is your favorite cuisine? Mexican 8. What foods do you dislike? spinach and liver 9. Favorite Place to Eat? It's closed now, but really like Abuelo's 10. Favorite dressing? Depends on the salad. Thousand Island for Seafood Salads, Italian for Garden Salads, Ran...

It's been a busy week, which has been good. Lots of good and bad news which I think evened out in the end. Monday we checked email to learn of the death of our good friend, David Hibbert. Neil sent out messages to those he was in contact with from the "old ward". I love how they always refer to it as such even though the ward changed names, boundaries, and faces multiple times. I took Aaron and Daniel shopping and then Aaron went to spend the rest of the day with a friend. Neil picked up Derek and took him shopping. While they were out, he got the phone call from Chase offering him employment in their Collections Department. We are excited that he has a job and even more excited that it is with Chase. He will have his employment history back along with immediate benefits. Tuesday I had an appointment with WIC with the little girls. This involved getting their fingers pricked to check iron levels. They were not happy with me. But we got through it and both girls qualify. A...

The deaths of this past week have me thinking. I suppose it is common to become introspective at these times as you hear of the contributions of those now gone. It is not unusual to consider what you are contributing yourself and determine what type of memories you want to have shared at your own funeral. I don't expect mine to come for quite a while. I come from a long line of lively women. My great-grandmother Bingham lived well into her 90s. I recall spending the summer between my junior and senior years of high school with my grandmother in South Carolina and my great-grandmother was bed-ridden at that time. She must have been sick because I knew she was there but there were no conversations or interactions with her on my part. My grandmother McNeil is now 93 and though she has had some bouts with cancer, she is still fighting. I had actually hoped to get out to visit her this summer but with the job situation, we had to delay. I'm hoping she'll still be around next sum...

The BBC believes most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here. How do your reading habits stack up? Look at the list and put an 'x' after those you have read. 1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen X 2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien X 3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte 4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling X 5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee X 6 The Bible X 7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte 8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell X 9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman X 10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens Total: 7 11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott X 12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy 13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller 14 Complete Works of Shakespeare X 15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier 16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien X 17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks 18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger 19 The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger 20 Middlemarch - George Eliot Total: 3 21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell X 22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald X 23 Bleak Hou...

Neil and I did some late night shopping and were headed home to unload groceries. It was just shy of 9 pm and as we are approaching our street, we see a little girl, about 7 or 8 years old, on a scooter on the sidewalk. A gold car is next to her and we watch as there appears to be some conversation, then the girl gets into the car. It's probably nothing, but it doesn't look right. Neil reads off the license plate number and we begin to follow the car. It heads south to Thunderbird then makes a right turn, heading west. We follow. The car switches to the left lane and we do as well. Right before 56th Street, the car switches back to the right lane and heads north onto 56th. We pursue. The next light is Acoma and probably the last street we are willing to allow the car to turn onto to return to the neighborhood before we call the police. The car continues north and I dial 9-1-1. The operator asks for the emergency and I tell her what we have witnessed. We continue to follow the c...

I faced a conundrum. Two people had died and funerals were being held on the same day at almost the same time - close enough that I couldn't attend both fully. One person was the aforementioned "great man" who has been an important part of my family's life. The other person I had never met but was the mother of a sister in my ward. I can't claim that I have known this sister well or for very long - about the same amount of time as we have been in the ward. To most people, the choice would be obvious - go with the one you know. In fact, the information I had received via email was this: The Viewing for Br. Hibbert will be this Tuesday night from 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm at our building. The Memorial services will be Wednesday at 9:00 am also at our building. Bishop didn't tell me, but I know the burial will be at the Mesa Cememtery. They may want just family to attend there - I don't know. Unfortunately, Patty's mother's funeral will also be on Wednesday a...

It is not often that one gets to rub shoulders with a great man. Most often you are not even aware of their presence on this earth though there are a few who are noteworthy enough to get mentioned in the paper or on television. Some leave a mark on your personal world through coincidence but occassionally, there are a few whose influence affects you to the core. Being away from the computer and normal social circles, we came home from Thatcher to learn of the news of the passing of a great man. It was not unexpected - he had recently become extremely ill as his body fought off a cancerous invasion. But it was only two weeks prior that he had stood in Sacrament Meeting to bear his testimony and there hadn't appeared to be a significant change in his appearance nor his demeanor. He has always looked like an old cowboy and acted as ornery. Truthfully, I haven't known him that long. We moved into the ward shortly before Rachel was born so my association with him has been less than ...