And It Just Keeps Going

Fourteen more days languishing around the house.  Some places are starting to open back up, for instance, we have eaten inside Five Guys and just Saturday night we met up with Kristine, Doug, and Sandra for dinner at Homestead.  I am still waiting to go to a movie or play, and speaking of plays, I just found out today that the Shakespeare Festival has cancelled their 2020 season.  This is such a bummer!  I have attended the festival for the last 27 years in a row!  Now I feel like my summer is ruined too.    

I completed Wesley’s blessing outfit which was a BIG relief.  I had to restart it when the first sweater vest was too small, and then I had to let out the second one because it was too tight.  He just has a healthy round belly and I’m glad we got him blessed before I had to start an even bigger vest.  It was a lovely day with a small group of family in attendance: Grandma & Grandpa McGarry, Phillip & DeAnn & Eli, Lori & Emily, Beau & Audrey & Gus, Sandra, and us.  The rest of the siblings joined via Zoom and I hope they could see and hear the proceedings because Matt gave a beautiful blessing and Wes was content the entire time.  

The completed outfit.

After I got him dressed.

Can't have too many pictures of this adorable little boy!

Sandra, Katie, Zoanne and Wes. I'm still kicking myself that we didn't get a picture of Wes with all his grandparents.

Sandra called last Tuesday morning to see if I wanted to head up to the cabin and check it out.  I hurried and got ready and we were off. I spent my time crocheting on Wesley’s sweater vest, but Sandra stayed busy cleaning leaves, vacuuming up flies, and gathering endless pinecones.  

The last of the snow at the cabin--one narrow snow bank.  Daffodils were in bloom at SVR.

I set aside one day this week to focus exclusively on taxes.  I didn’t even take the time to get dressed.  Quinn drove up to Pocatello for a Costco run and brought me back a Sonic Route 44--bless him.  The taxes are officially DONE for 2019 and we owed plenty for both federal and state.  Every time I do them, I soon remember why I hate doing them.   

We got the graves decorated with flowers.  We usually go around on Saturday, but that morning we woke up to snow!  And it kept snowing for hours.  After the snow came wind and rain--no cemetery or golfing for us.  Sunday and Monday were much better days.  

I found these journal prompts on Pinterest (there were 21 total and now that I have clicked on it, I am seeing about 50 more choices) but I will answer a few:

1. I was looking forward to finishing my mission or attending a play, but it was cancelled.

2. My binge-worthy show has been: I watched Absentia and season 1 of Paradox.

3. My go-to snack has been: chocolate, well to be honest, ANY junk food.

4. The easiest part of this whole thing has been: staying home. I really don't mind staying home and finding things to do around the house (not cleaning though, obviously).

5. The hardest part of this whole thing has been: knowing who and what to trust. It has all been so confusing and contradictory. You can find anyone who will say anything and who knows what is really true.

6. An average day for me now looks like: I get up and listen to/read along three chapters in the Book of Mormon (in 3 Nephi right now), often go for a walk, breakfast, maybe shower, find something to do like quilting, puzzles, watch TV or spend way too much time on the computer, maybe clean something. When Quinn finishes golfing we usually eat lunch together by either fixing something or going out to get something, maybe nap, often go for a drive, read with Quinn from Come Follow Me in the evening, more TV or quilting or reading or puzzling or busy work. Very low key and dull. I may talk to someone on the phone or text.

7. Quarantine has taught me: I had to mourn my vision of what 2020 was going to look like. I was going to spend half of this year on a mission and we were starting to fall into a routine and adjust to the people and area. I loved serving with the other missionaries and attending the meetings and being immersed in thinking about service and the gospel all day every day. We spent a lot of time preparing lessons and finding what we thought would be beneficial to the people we taught. I tried to find the beauty in our surroundings. I loved the drive to Mesa and driving through the canyon. The people were good to us and I felt we were building rapport and I admired their resolve and their humor. There were so many things I wanted to experience: an Apache traditional sunrise ceremony, upcoming baptisms, attending all the temples in the area, going hunting for scorpions at night outside with our blacklight flashlights, and getting closer to the Relief Society sisters. I was learning to love the people. All that came to a screeching halt and it was hard to accept.

There are still signs of spring.

I got the quilt finished and delivered to Kristine.

Quarantine Life: Enough Already

      This is exactly what we did on March 20, 2020, when we left the mission field and drove home from San Carlos, Arizona. From that day until now, we entered a state of suspension called quarantine/ stay-at-home/ lockdown/ socialdistancing/ whenisthisevergoingtoend?
       We have been home for 54 days now and 95% of that time has been spent within these four walls. I can count on one hand the number of days I’ve applied makeup or made any attempt at fixing my hair. I usually end up wearing whatever I put on to go for a walk in the morning but I still feel pretty proud of myself for at least wearing clothes and not my pajamas all day. I try to stay on a strict shower schedule and try not to let over three days pass before showering. I figure if nobody is around to smell me, who cares, and I don’t count Quinn. He has golfed most days if it isn’t too windy. 

      I literally struggle to remember what day of the week it is and the other day on the TV, I checked the information on a show to see when it first aired and it said, 'April 20' and I thought, “How can they put up a date that hasn’t even happened yet?!” After further contemplation, I realized it was now the month of May and so my thinking was in error.
      As I look back at this quarantine smoothie where everything has just blended together, a few things do stand out:

• I have made three quilts: 
• a green lap quilt made mostly with fabrics I brought back from San Carlos that were already cut out.  After two weeks home alone, I had the grandkids come and I taught them how to set up a quilt and tie it.   It is now finished and we are waiting for restrictions to lift so we can donate it to a worthy cause; 
• a floral one also made with mostly fabrics from San Carlos.   Once it was finished, I sent to Mary Early Bird for her daughter Summer.  Mary called to tell me it had arrived and we talked for about 40 minutes. She has called me twice since I have been home to catch me up on what is happening on the rez.
• a flannel baby quilt for Tina’s girl due in August. That one I made with fabric I already had and it hardly used up any except for the background. It is now at the quilters.
  

  

  

  
  
• Found out we are on “open” status as far as our mission is concerned. This means that when this virus madness passes, we will be called to serve again and finish the last three months of our mission. We may or may not end up going to the same mission. At that point we will have the option of choosing whether we want to go back out. If we can hold off until September or October to leave, I think we may go.
• I put together two puzzles.
  
  
  
  
• Golfed with Sandra and Quinn on several Saturdays.
• Drove to Jerome to pick up our paperwork and plants and visited with Jacob and Amber on their lawn.
• I have made 9 masks: 6 for Jacob, one for Amber, one for myself and one for Quinn.
• Got all the receipts from our mission sorted and organized so I can claim them as expenses on next year’s taxes.
• Quinn and I have been to the shooting range twice. We always enjoy going there and having a little competition which Quinn usually wins, but when we shot his Sig Sauer that he bought to be his concealed carry, I hit the target 4 out of 6 times and he hit the target 0 out of 6. I just have to mention that because he usually does better than me.
• I have been to Costco twice, JoAnn’s once, Keslers maybe twice and Walmart twice.
• Chad and Peachy came for a weekend. It was fun to get together, play games, visit with the family and eat together. Saturday night we watched Knives Out.  I can't wait until I can travel to St. George and stay with them.

  

  All of us together except Jacob and Amber.  Taken at Audrey's house on Sunday afternoon.
  

• Got to spend time with my grandkids and cuddling with Wes. They all seemed to fall right back into making themselves at home at grandma's house. Our time together has of course including rides on the new golf cart and throwing rocks in water.

  

  Wes at 2 months.
  

  

  Wes the first time he came to grandma's house.

  Kash holding his new cousin for the first time.

  

  Three boy cousins getting ready for pictures.
  
  

• Sandra and I scanned about 2000 of her slides and saved about 1000 of them. It was fun to see images I had never seen before. I think we did it in four/five different sessions. Now all the ones she wanted saved are jpegs and on her computer and a flashdrive.

  

  I loved finding this picture of Jerry holding Quinn.  Even the pickup in the background looks cool.
  

• This week I am sewing a blessing outfit for Wes and his blessing is scheduled for this Sunday.
• Still don’t have my 2019 taxes done.
• Have spent WAY too much time on Facebook and Instagram and watching TV.
• Have taken a lot of drives! Sometimes we take the Corvette, and sometimes we go to Sonic so I can get my peach/mango limeade.
• Stopped in to see Marlene’s new home and get a tour and have a visit. She is so happy to be in her own place and she deserves it after what she has been through. There are still several projects that need to be completed like her back deck built, holes filled, and lawn replanted.
• Some miscellaneous shots:

  

  Had a little snowstorm shortly after arriving home.

  

  One drive was to see the progress on the Pocatello Temple.

  

  

  Quinn's gifts for Mother's Day.

  Still seeing some beautiful sunsets.