Iggy

AND if you honest.

My Mom was kept busy with two teens still left at home, AND the Branch members only left her alone for the 8 hours at night when she should have been sleeping and then an additional 4 hours a day. The rest of the time they were visiting her (learning to make and bake nearly everything and anything, or to mend clothes, or talk and glean info regarding raising children). All of us kids either called her (half of us lived on the west coast while she lived in So. Dak.) the other half was with her as much as they could be. Living in the same town as her. Daddy passing affected me way more than it did Mom. She was with him when he passed. I had just developed a relationship in which we were writing to each other on a weekly basis, and my phone calls home were more with Dad than with Mom. I already had a close relationship with Mom. [i found out 20 years later that Daddy never wrote letters to any of his children, except me.] One thing that helped me and Mom was that we talked about him. Mom related stories about him, and I asked her if my memories of him were real or not. One thing ~ I really regret NOT writing this all down. All the conversations I had with Mom, NOT saving the letters to and from Daddy. I have only four pictures of him.

Hurrah !! Now how about getting a laugh button??

Dahlia, I asked my diabetic dietitian what I could drink/consume as a wake-me-up. She told me to eat a medium apple or drink apple juice (I buy the natural organic juice then dilute with water, equal parts), heat it up and add cinnamon. Cinnamon is a spice that tricks your taste buds into thinking what ever it is added to is sweeter than it really is. It is also a diabetics best friend. I buy the 50% sugar reduced juices - but I find that I like them so much I drink three times as much. Defeating my purpose, and OJ, Acai, pomegranate, cranberry + juices taste awful heated up. Apple juice tastes good to me, especially the organic, no sugar/fructose added juice/cider. As a diabetic I have to read the really fine print. No sugar doesn't mean there is NO Fructose, high fructose corn syrup. Fructose is as deadly as cane sugar.

Going to church for dinner. Turkey, Ham and every ones sides. Mashed, scalloped potatoes, sweet potatoes with brown sugar and marshmallows, fruit salad with marshmallows, green jello with grated/shredded cabbage, garden salad. Brownies, cookies, apple-cherry-and pumpkin pies. I am making my Grandmother's receipt for Pumpkin Pie. One 9" deep dish pie - 3 eggs, 1 cup pumpkin, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup whole milk, cinnamon, allspice, clove, nutmeg. Beat the eggs till lemon in color. add sugar, beat until dissolved. Add pumpkin, beat well, add all of the spices, beat well. Add milk, beat well. Place in raw pie shell in a pre-heated 400 degree oven and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce oven to 350 degrees and bake for 50 - 60 minutes until knife blade inserted 1/2 from middle comes out mostly clean. Cool on a raised rack. Serve warm or cold. I am taking 4 deep dish pies. Because there is never enough pies for everyone to get a serving. Not when they let the kids eat dessert first! I am hiding two of the pies in the kitchen, just for us privileged adults. Of all the gatherings and pot lucks - Thanksgiving is the only time we don't rush to clean up, and put the tables away and chase everyone out of the doors. We eat at 2pm, and generally we lock up around 7PM. We clean the food up, put leftovers into clam shells for the Missionaries and for those who we know don't have much food at home this time of the month. There will probably be two HUGE turkeys cooked and two HUGE spiral cut hams - so there will be plenty of left overs. Also, the Branch presidency has instant mashed potatoes (Idahoan brand in the envelopes), a box of turkey stuffing mix, jar of turkey gravy, can of green beans and corn, Marie Callandar brownie mix in the envelope along with 1/2 dz eggs waiting in bags to go with the turkey and gravy for those who didn't make it to the dinner and refused to ask for rides. For Christmas, the High Priests and the RS put together meals for the families who will not get a traditional dinner. The empty nesters whose children & grandchildren cannot travel here. The young families who are on tight budgets and cannot travel to parents or siblings homes out of state. There are two new members who need to be included in the getting - I hope both join us for Thanksgiving. For Christmas, husband and I are going to a restaurant in the third town north of us - and we are going to have either rib eye steak or prime rib. We will have garden salad, & sauteed vegetables instead of potatoes or rice and if we aren't too full, maybe hubby will have a dish of vanilla ice cream and I will have a slice of pie.

Tastes pretty good. Open the bottle/can the night before and let it go flat other wise it will foam all over the stove and make quite the mess.

Bolding, italics & underlining is by me. Folk Prophet, I am NOT a liar and I take offense at you stating such. I will not ever see another of your posts as you will be blocked to me.

It hasn't and I have been honest with my Branch President AND Stake President. I don't drink hot drinks at all. Let me ask all of you this -- how many of you drink Red Bull? Mt Dew? Pepsi? Coke? All of those drinks have way more caffeine than coffee and tea. And Vort, I respectively disagree with your post. The Hot Drink was later identified as Hot Coffee and Hot Tea. I don't drink Hot drinks of any kind. Not Hot Spiced Cider, Not Hot Cocoa. Not Hot Herbal infusions. Not Hot coffee or tea.

I am a coffee drinker. I can no longer have soda pop. The carbonation does me in. There are only two brands that use splenda, the other sugar free stuff gives me the foaming, blasting runs! I was fortunate that I had a full hour for lunch, and that my employer would let me eat at my desk. I would close my door, set my alarm to 5 minutes before the end of my lunch. Eat my lunch, then take a power nap for the remainder of the hour. Being hearing impaired, removing my hearing aids drastically reduced the outside office noise, but my alarm still came through. The power nap saved me from keeling over asleep at my desk, or worse yet, face down on the keyboard. I drink Ice Tea - and luke warm and or iced coffee. All of you who drink Pepsi, Mt. Dew, Power drinks, etc. YOU are all drinking massive amounts of caffeine (and so much worthless and damaging to the body sugars) - more than what is in my Iced Tea and coffee. So don't go there, okay. Dahlia, drink your coffee. Just don't drink it scalding hot.

Eowyn, you Dad isn't lost. You know exactly where he is, now don't you. He has gone through the door from mortality to the next step in the plan of salvation. Keep the memory of him vibrant and alive by talking of him, sharing your memories with your family and writing them in your journal. All of the memories you have. When my mother passed, my little brother and his wife took their four children to the temple, had a picnic on the grounds and explained to them that Grandma and gone through the door. Mom and left each of her grandchildren a tape recorded letter. My brother took one child into the atrium of the Portland Temple, let them listen to Grandma's letter and held them as they cried. The fourth child was only a baby so his turn in the atrium came many years later. Often I go to their FB pages and write a memory I have of my Dad, Mom and Grandma- it is the easiest way to share their memories. I also post the same memories with all of the grandchildren AND great & ggreat grandchildren. I often think of putting together a book, printing it and sending everyone a copy - but I am not finished with the memories, will never be finished, and printing costs would break too many bank accounts. But FB and email are so handy. Our loved ones are never lost - unless they have apostatized - they have passed through the door from mortality to the next step towards eternal life. My love and prayers are with you, My Sister in Zion, and with your loved ones.

A year ago in Oct I was in for 5 days. No surgery though. My insurance pays all but my $150.00 co-pay - - but they won't pay if they aren't billed correctly! I had a severe and rare allergic reaction to two high blood pressure meds that led to acute pancreatitis. In the five days I was there, I had 7 blow outs of the IV. My veins are crap! The last one was in my left wrist- they had to brace my wrist and hand so there was no movement. A week later, exactly, I was back in the ER - yet another severe reaction to yet another HB pill. This time I couldn't breath. I had only taken 1/2 the dose for two days, and none on the third because it made me really dizzy combined with diarrhea. Then I tried to walk to the bathroom (30 feet from my living room) and I ended up on the floor gasping for air. My ER visit, cost us $175.00. That was ALL billed correctly except for the ambulance. They billed the insurance carrier directly rather than through the hospital. Took three phone calls to correct that. The hospital stay however was more difficult to correct. The radiologist refused to bill through the hospital, and his payment was denied, repeatedly. After nearly 8 months I went to the hospital billing office in person and had a sit down with the hospital and the radiologists employee who was doing the paper work. The hospital told him the codes to use, my insurance advocate explained over the phone - in detail - how to code the billing and even emailed the directions AND the proper address to send it to. When he did lit WRONG again, the insurance called the Dr and explained that they would only accept the correct billing and that if it was not done correctly within a one week time frame, then he would NEVER get paid. He finally billed it correctly - but the hospital is still sending me bills saying I owe that amount (nearly $3,000.00 now with late charges and interest added on). I sent the billings to my insurance advocate and asked them to send a letter to the hospital. A month ago I went to the hospital to see if the billing and charges have been cleared up. It has. My grand total came to a little over $35,000.00. I really was expecting it to cost a lot more. Our out of pocket cost - $325.00. Love our insurance (Cigna) Bytor, so glad that you are on the mend. We have a sister in our Branch who just underwent quadruple bypass as well as a Brother who did so a month ago. The sister's was a total surprise. She is Type 1 diabetic and we all considered her the healthiest one in the branch, as she is so health & diet conscious. The brother has had lots of medical problems, so his bypass was expected.

I tried to post some pictures - but it won't let me. Go to lds.org online store. http://store.lds.org/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/AjaxCatalogSearchResultView?storeId=715839595&catalogId=10557&langId=-1&itemsPerPage=10&pageIndex=0&searchTerm=pictures+of+jesus+christ&submit= Is the picture you are looking for there? Or you could google : Images of Jesus Christ. http://www.divinerevelations.info/documents/jesus_pictures/jesus_christ_pictures.htm

It will be in St. George next year - Nov 6 & 7.

I haven't decorated for any holiday since - - - um, uh - - - 1999. The Thanksgiving I left my 1st husband. I put a fall wreath on my front door. For Christmas I strung lights inside on the exposed windows, and put up my three miniature nativity sets. The *tree* I had was 2 ft. tall one I got at Big Lots along with all of the tiny ornaments and tiny lights. My Maine Coon Cat had a lovely time batting the tree off of the stereo set so she could lie on the set. Loved the warmth and vibrations. The next year, I painted the 5' x 5' windows of the house I moved into. No way could I afford new lights for the three windows. Again my cat didn't like where I put the tiny tree. think she just didn't like the tree - because no matter where I put it, she would knock it off onto the floor. 2001 I gave up on the decorations. I did still make my christmas cards and got them out before New Years Day. 2002 through to-date, haven't done anything for any of the holidays except to use seasonal table cloth, place mats and napkins (all cloth). If I can find the tree, I may set it up on the dining room table as a center piece or on the buffet - out of the way. Maybe this year I will wash the windows and apply the x-mas clings. The windows haven't been washed since Oct 2010! The cats I have now, don't give a hoot what decorations are up, just as long as their litter boxes are clean, water & food dishes full and we don't chase them down to over cuddle them, they are happy campers. My second favorite day of the year is Husband's birthday. 21 April. He is so easy to please. Provolone Cheese Hamburger and fries from the local burger joint for lunch and pizza w/tossed salad side for dinner.

I went, I enjoyed, I am going again. And again. And Again. We were 45 minutes late getting there. We hit bumper to bumper traffic. The Oregon Colosseum where our TOFW was held, also was FULL with other venues - Even with a handicap sticker, we had to park in the lower 20. Our rooms at the Red Lion Inn were wonderful. There was a 25 year celebration for one of the raido/tv stations. What a loud group. They met in the lobby for no-host drinks, then went in for their dinner. We couldn't hear to register - had to write notes back and forth with the hotel staff. At least on the trip to TOFW went at a steady 50 mile an hour clip until we hit the off ramp and downtown. We hit every red light! It was nice and quiet at the hotel that night - at least it was around my room. The two rooms where the other sisters were in nearer the lobby were across the hall from two suites. One was a wedding anniversary party and the other was a wedding couple. Both partied well into the wee hours. If it had been me across from them, I would not have hesitated to call the front desk at 3 AM and requested they quiet the party goers. We all met at the lobby at 7 AM, traveled 0.7 miles to Elmer's Restaurant for breakfast. There were two cars in the parking lot when we got there. Got seated, and then waited, and waited, and waited, etc., for 10 minutes for our waitress. We hailed a busboy going into the waitress/kitchen area - finally our waitress came, took our orders and left. NO one had a difficult, or long cook time order, yet after 20 minutes we still were not served. One loud: Waitress! brought her out to explain that orders for a table of 8 on the other side of the restaurant was up before us. What? When did they come in???? Because she took so long to initially get to us, they got waited on first. We were 10 minutes late for the start of TOFW because of that. Even though we told the hostess that we were in a rush, needing to get served ASAP - we knew what we wanted as we had red the menu online the night before. I asked our waitress if Elmer's policy is that she share her tips with the hostess and/or cook staff? Yep. So she got poor tips from us. One of the sisters filled out the Courtesy cards too. Food was good - though my hollandaise sauce on my omelet was cool and not hot- and the eggs benedict eggs were way overcooked and with cold hollandaise also. TOFW - Saturday: It was great! Mary Ellen Edmunds - what a woman, what a sense of humor. She provided depth and humor in her The Sunbeam Influence. Tamu Smith & Zandra Vranes. Two black women (their words) teaching us how to live life with a little more SASS - http://tofw.com/Tamu_Smith_Zandra_Vranes_/p/48 . Mercy River, Whitney Johnson, D. Kelly Ogden, Laurel C. Day, Terryl and Fiona Givens, Sandra Turley. Josh Wright and Elaine Dalton. Coming home we stopped at Deseret Book Store, while there one of our sisters got a text regarding another sister in our branch. Sister Eva W had gone to the emergency room on friday with heart arrhythmia symptoms. Her condition worsened and she was taken to Corvallis by ambulance to the Good Sam's heart center. Corvallis is on our way home, and it was 6:45 PM -still visiting hours at the hospital. Could we please go see her? When we got there, she had just been taken into surgery - for quadruple bypass. Her daughter and son-in-law were there. Sister Eva W is a beloved sister to the entire branch. She has taught seminary for nearly 15 years, she is my favorite music director. The YW and the YM really like her - they actually seek her out at all of our branch activities! Actually she is one of my favorite people. She is type II diabetic and when I am in dire need of a supporting voice, she is it. Back to TOFW - I am going next year. 2015 ~ Living Proof.

Heard about it three years ago after some of the sisters had gone to it. Two years ago I really wanted to go - but again those sisters who went didn't alert the rest of us at the Branch. Last year, again no one announced it early enough to get the reduced group rate. So I went online and signed up for the email announcement from TOFW in my area. As soon as I got the email, I printed it out and announced it at RS. Every other Sunday I brought it up again. The same women are going plus two - myself and another sister. It is NOT sponsored by the LDS Church, it is sponsored by Deseret Books. BUT it is an all LDS venue. I know you get a TOFW tote - but what else is included? Did any of you take notes? Even if I start taking notes, I get so interested I forget to write. It really doesn't cost that much - Friday night and Saturday morning & afternoon for $55.00 IF you register and pay at least a month in advance AND have at least 4 in your group. Two hotels there offer discounts on rooms if you tell them you are going to TOFW. Like I said we all shared rooms - So the total cost of the double queen for 2 adults was $128.00 (includes tax). Divide that in two and it is $64.00 + $55.00 for TOFW. $119.00 for the weekend not including the food. I will give $10.00 to the driver to pay for gas. She is only asking $5.00 per person, but I feel it should be $10.00. One of the sisters rents a vacation home in Portland and she and her 5 daughters (including DIL) go as a group. They stay over until Monday - going to the Temple Saturday night and then each year they pick a different Ward to go to Church on Sunday. The husbands go with to take care of the children and to have dinner ready for them on Saturday, and then do the Sunday meals. I think that is a wonderful tradition they have started. It will be in Portland next year - 13 & 14th of November.

Has anyone here ever gone to Time Out For Women? Did you enjoy it? I leave Friday afternoon for a 3 hour trip to Portland, OR for the 2014 TOFW at the Oregon Convention Center. Six other sisters from my branch are going too. One sister is travelling with her husband and will stay with one of their sons, his wife and their children. The others are all traveling in one vehicle, and we all have rooms at the Red Lion Inn on the River in Portland. We are sharing rooms, two to a room, each room has two queen beds. I am so excited - and eager. The only thing is, the other sisters don't plan on eating a real meal. They are going to Panera - for sandwiches and soup/salad. That is okay for the meal on friday. BUT I am not about to order a sandwich and salad to go, put in the fridge at the hotel overnight to eat the next afternoon. If I could eat salad and NOT have to be near a bathroom for the next 4 hours, I would buy one of Safeways pre-made ones. I love them - but they go right through me. I'll make my own sandwiches at home, along with Campbells To-Go soup that I will heat up at the hotel. No way is this chickie paying restaurant prices for a sandwich - especially a cold sandwich. ANY WHO--- has anyone gone to a TOFW before?? Thoughts????

Go and enjoy yourself. Church activities are one of the safest places for a married woman to participate in. Nearly all of our *less* to totally inactive members (whether they are married to members or not) show up to the pot-lucks. They are welcomed with the same love and enthusiasm as the active members. When you come home your husband will see how much you enjoyed going. Bring the Spirit with you and soon husband will want to go with you. I love to go to our RS Enrichment Meetings - and I am bubbly, excited and running over with what transpired. Hubby listens and wishes that the Priesthood had something similar on a monthly basis. When members ask why husband isn't with you - they ask in case he is ill. Tell them that he is still shy and not used to the LDS way of life. A friend of mine - who is a devout Catholic - cannot understand how the LDS have so many potlucks (activities) just for the sheer sake of gathering together to be with each other. That the LDS members have UNconditional love toward one another. Blows his mind. He just cannot fathom the fact that we, LDS, truly believe that each and every human is/are our brothers and sisters. At his parish, the women hold gatherings, but you have to pay for that cup of coffee/tea, donuts, cookie, brownie. That money is then used to purchase the candles, flowers, alter stuff. He just gives them $10.00 and never goes. I much prefer our (LDS) potlucks - just wish they lasted more than 1.5 to 2 hours. When they are at the local park during the summer, then one can visit for as long as they wish. My neighbor came to a Thanksgiving dinner with me when I was recently divorced and before I married husband #2. He told me that he never knew that transported from homes food could taste so good. He absolutely loved the funeral potatoes, fruit salads and he couldn't get enough of the yams (candied and plain). He knew over half of the members there too - he is a bus driver and his route includes the city to the north of us and the town to the south of us!! (The turkey and hams were in the electric roasters, so they were wonderfully cooked, easy to transport and keep hot) This neighbor will never convert to LDS in this lifetime. The seed has been sown. I am confident that it will mature in the next life. Katie, just be patient with your husband. You might invite couples over to your home for dinner once a month - help your husband get to know the members on his turf. Also don't forget the widowed members - female and male. When I was single (waiting for divorce to finalize especially) I had the married seniors over when I fed the missionaries. Then I invited a widow and a widower along with the missionaries. Not to match make, but to include them in my circle of friends. For an adult convert our way of life is totally different from theirs. We don't meet in taverns/lounges/coffee shops to socialize. We don't consume alcohol as part of our 'winding down' from sports, work regime. Your husband has been hit with a double whammy. Getting married - which means he is now spending all but his working hours with you, and in the process of joining a church that will replace his off-time with the boys. It is scary. By having couples over for dinners, you are introducing him to new 'boys' to socialize with.

What is one of your favorite days of the year? Mine is Thanksgiving. Especially now that we are in this Branch in Oregon. We all gather at Church on Thanksgiving around 1pm for a real feast. Roast Turkey, Ham, mashed potatoes, funeral potatoes, variety of salads, breads, desserts (including pumpkin pie (this year I am making my Grandma's deep dish pumpkin pie - actually two of them). I may even make 4 or 6 loaves of homemade whole wheat (grind the grain myself) bread. Then we linger and visit for several hours. The Branch is my family now - and I really enjoy being with them.

Thankfully it only lasts from dusk to dawn

Our present Gospel Doctrine teachers are already following the same format that the Youth SS has been doing for 2 years. If you haven't read the lesson, you are going to be lost and not contributing very much. Now if the RS would follow suit. Personally I have never liked being read to, be it RS class or a *talk* at sacrament. We recently changed Youth SS teachers. The new one is young - barely 30 something - and a fast talker. She taught seminary in her old ward. Well, my husband (who is SS President) audited her class today, and he couldn't understand half of what she was saying or *teaching*. After the block, the students cornered husband and complained about the teacher. To sum it up: We were talked AT, not facilitated. Can you get her to slow it down??? Can you get her to stop "Broad Casting" please???? So he called her this early evening, saying that this call was a follow up to his email to her two weeks ago, he asked if she had gone to lds.org, to the Come Follow Me pages? Nope, not yet. He asked her to please do so before next Sunday. Two years ago, the Youth SS Teacher was a returned Senior Missionary, in her mid to late 60's, she and my husband coined the term Facilitator, to replace Teacher to describe the Adult in the class. The kids loved her, and responded eagerly to the new format. She emailed, texted and called them during the week. Expecially the students who were really shy, and also the new from Primary kids. She was prepared to *facilitate* if the student floundered, or was hit with stage fright. She would still be teaching - -'er, Facilitating, but she and husband are on a mission in the Philippines. I have been told by some of the students themselves and quite a few Mom's & Grandma's that they love it when my husband *teaches*. They learn more, and enjoy responding and participating in class. One grandma quoted her granddaughter: Br. Iggy doesn't broadcast, he doesn't spend the entire class time talking at and "preaching at" us. And when we come up with an answer that is better than the one he was thinking of, his eyes light up and he tells us right then and there - That is a great answer - Thank You. Proud of my hubby, Proud of the youth in our branch too.

Here is the link: https://www.lds.org/manual/teachings-of-presidents-of-the-church-ezra-taft-benson?lang=eng

Was just going to suggest you see a Dr to rule out HBP and Diabetes. I was plagued with insomnia in my adult years - starting when I was around 17. Once I married hubby #2 and started seeing a Dr on a regular basis and was diagnosed with: High Blood Pressure and Diabetes - the insomnia ended. Coincidence?? Don't believe in coincidence. When I forget to take my HBP meds I also forget to take my Diabetes meds and evening insulin injection - I get sleepy around 6 pm (which is just before dinner) and then cannot sleep at all. Husband has programmed my cell phone with alarms during the day for me to take my pills, and he also programmed my computer to alert me to take my pills, AND insulin. I do wake up during the night - have to make at least one bathroom trip and I have neuropathy in my feet and the stinging pain wakes me enough that I sit up and rub lotion unto my feet - the rubbing eases the pain. I never really wake up enough to keep me up. Also, in the last two years I need to have the bedroom temp below 60 AND with a fan (on low) blowing across the bed for me to sleep comfortably.

One does NOT use their teeth when they suck on something. Teeth are used for tearing off a bite and for chewing. When one of her children accidently bit her while they were nursing, she would un-latch them and tell them No- be nice. Every single woman I have known who has nursed, never once felt it was an imposition, hardship or bother.

We paid tithing on the income that was taxed. Husband had money diverted to IRA and it was NOT taxed. Didn't pay tithing on the untaxed diverted money. In the USA the employer pays half of your SS$ - so when you retire and you get your SS$, you get what you put in (which was taxed) and the half your employer put in (not taxed by you). Husband also gets his pension (which was NOT taxed). So we now pay tithing on only 1/2 of the SS$ and on all of the pension money. When he draws money out of his pension from his previous life - before he was LDS - he doesn't want to pay tithing on it. I pay tithing on it any way and just don't tell him. It is increase after all. Yep, Husband retired twice. I had been paying tithing for four years now on the amount Husband told me to. Well, I had to do an audit on our income and expenses since we retired and discovered we have been over paying our tithing by nearly 50%. Can't do much about 2011 -2013, but for 2014 I can. What has been paid to date in 2014 is 12.5% tithe on our income for the entire year. I asked Husband where he got the $ tithing amount. He said it sounded like a good round number. So, I showed him the result of the audit, and we reconfigured the tithe amount. We have been really biting the bullet the last two weeks of each and every month. Often having to draw money out of the IRA account every three months. Not good! With the new budgeted amount - we will only be biting the bullet the last few days of the month IF I am not careful with the household money (buying food storage cupboards that are NOT on a really good sale).