Choose the Right, Dude

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . Joy decided to play a game in which we each could choose to be something else. I assumed we'd be birdies or kitties, etc., but Joy said she was going to be a prophet. I asked if she was going to teach Daniel, whereupon she walked right over to him, knelt down by his side, and said, "Hey, Doodie. Choose the right, dude."

. . . Joy asking Daniel if he wants a kiss or hug, and he smiles and says "Nuh" ("Yes"), then they put their arms around each other. It's so sweet to watch.

. . . cooking a deliciously moist and tender roast in the solar oven. The solar potato recipe I tried was nothing to get excited about, though.

And another thing . . .

. . . I made chocolate chip cookies today. Every time I measure out some vanilla these days, I think of a little reminiscence I recently read. An old woman recalled baking with her mother as a child, and being enchanted by the delicious flavor vanilla extract could impart to a recipe. When her mom wasn't looking, she snuck the vanilla outside so she could swig that sweet elixir straight from the bottle. She was shocked to discover that something which can be such a delicious addition to a recipe is so bitter and unpleasant when tasted alone. I'm sure there's a broader life lesson there somewhere. :)

Back to Reality

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . seeing my husband and kids walk in the door this afternoon. It was good to see them again, and I think three days of solid Mama time is about as much as I can take.

. . . finally hanging some pictures on the walls of my kids' room, after three years of living in this apartment. Some people have a passion for decorating; I am obviously not among them.

. . . Joy asking to sample some of the trout Phillip caught and cooked. She actually liked it and asked for seconds. I'm often pleasantly surprised at the things she's willing to try these days.

Warm Heart, Sore Seat

Today's not-so-favorite moments included . . .

. . . my bum being sore from sitting through church, then sitting at the computer all day (Phillip and the kids are still gone, and I decided to spend my Sabbath working on my personal and family history).

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . reading short biographies my dad has written or collected about our ancestors. Some of the names and stories were familiar to me, others not so much. All were uplifting, and inspired me to carry on their legacy of character and faith.

. . . eating mini Snickers bars. Mmmm.

Dejunking with Billy

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . arriving home this morning, knocking on the door, and hearing little Daniel gleefully run to answer it.

. . . having lots of free time to just Get Stuff Done (Phillip took the kids up to my parents' cabin this afternoon). Most of all I wanted to sort through a bunch of clutter around our home, and though I've been looking forward to tackling this for weeks, it was such a big task that I almost couldn't bring myself to start it. Finally, I did the one thing that is almost guaranteed to put me the mood to work: I opened my favorite playlist and started Billy Joel's "A Matter of Trust." The opening bars just have a "Let's DO This Thang!" vibe to them, and they instantly got me off and running.

And another thing . . .

. . . I attended the temple this morning with a couple friends. We went so early that I spent most of the session half-asleep, but whenever I thought about the ancestor I was performing the ordinance for, I had the distinct feeling that she was glad I had come.

. . . since I just can't seem to make myself stop working or writing on the computer at a decent hour, I asked my techie husband to set our computer to lock down at 11pm. Hopefully that will help me finally get a full night's sleep on a regular basis.

We also set up the computer to block websites with undesirable content, but this afternoon I discovered that it wouldn't let me access any blogs. Not even my own. We fixed that snag right away.

The Prayerful Hacker

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . Daniel coming over to the table where I was reading, and folding his arms. I told him I wasn't praying right now, but Joy pointed out that maybe he wanted to pray. She asked if she could offer the prayer because she had a few things to say to Heavenly Father. Among other things, she thanked Him that Jesus died for us, and asked Him to help her and Daniel listen to their parents. Sweet girl.

. . . coming home from a church activity after the kids' bedtime, and Joy opening her door to ask me to give her a kiss. Of course, Daniel wanted one, too. It was sweet to love and be loved.

And another thing . . .

. . . a few months ago, we made Joy her own account on our computer so she could type or mess around with spreadsheets (she likes to fill in the cells with color) without endangering any of our documents or programs. We store some of our DVDs on our computer, and recently we've awakened each morning to find our daughter was already up watching Curious George or Monsters, Inc. We decided that so much passive screen time every day probably wasn't a good thing for her, so Phillip fixed the settings so Joy couldn't access the movies without asking us first.

Or so we thought. We woke up this morning to the opening song of Curious George again. I knew it was common for kids to be more tech savvy than their parents, but the fact that our four-year-old has won a round against my computer-geek husband is a little scary.

Hide & Seek

Today's not-so-favorite moments included . . .

. . . finding out Phillip would be home four hours late. He had a very good reason, but that kind of news always leaves me feeling really glum.

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . playing hide and seek with my kids. I particularly loved watching Daniel dash ahead of me to find his sister. It was also fun to hide in the bathroom, and make silly faces in the mirror until the kids found me.

And another thing . . .

. . . today's hide and seek game reminded of a mother I once met who said that when her kids argued and called on her to mediate, she would hide somewhere in the house. The two kids would start working together to find her, and by the time they actually located her they had become a team and the quarrel was forgotten.

Sand, Swings, and Snacks

Today's not-so-favorite moments included . . .

. . . watching a shower of sand drop from Daniel's hair when Phillip turned him upside down at the park. I then ruffled my son's hair for a minute straight, and there's still grit caught in those thick, wavy locks.

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . taking chocolate zucchini bread to an activity, and having lots of people ask for the recipe. It always makes me happy to know that others enjoy what I bring to share with them.

. . . watching Daniel grin with delight as I pushed him in a swing.

Dunking and Wafting

Today's not-so-favorite moments included . . .

. . . Daniel dunking a stuffed monkey in the toilet.

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . reading about 2,500 Latter-day Saints helping tornado victims in Alabama.

. . . Joy kissing my tummy so she could give a kiss to Baby Girl.

. . . taking the kids for a train ride to a park. Yes, we have another park within easy walking distance of our home, but it's fun to do something different now and then.

. . . smelling the aroma of Chocolate Zucchini Bread wafting through the apartment.

And another thing . . .

. . . I walked to the grocery store today, pushing Daniel in the double stroller. I also pushed thirty-seven pounds of Joy part of the way there, and twelve pounds of groceries all of the way back. I was worn out by the time I trudged in our front door. Not sure whether that's because I'm out of shape, pregnant, or both.

Define "Talk" and "Vacation"

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . Joy giving a talk in Primary today. Granted, she was repeating what Daddy read to her from the talk she could say from memory on the way to church, but that's a step forward from last time when she got total stage fright and asked me to just read the whole thing myself while she stood next to me.

. . . hearing that a ward member's daughter has been called to the same country where I served my mission ten years ago (it sure makes me feel old to say that). When the mother announced that good news, I couldn't resist yelling "Woo hoo!" in the middle of Relief Society. I probably should have been a bit more reverent, but I was so excited to hear of another missionary going to the land I love.

. . . our home teacher coming to visit this afternoon. He's such a caring, unassuming, genuinely good guy; we love having him in our home.

And another thing . . .

. . . for my Mother's Day present, Phillip is planning to take the kids up to Papa's cabin for a weekend. When I mentioned to my newlywed sister that I plan to spend most of that weekend tidying up my cluttered home, she looked at me like I was crazy. I would have done the same before I became a parent. Now that I have young children and it can be hard to carve out time for big, nagging tasks, I've come to really appreciate opportunities to just roll up my sleeves and plow through a project until it's done.

The Butler Eats Out

Today's not-so-favorite moments included . . .

. . . taking the kids to a sit-down restaurant. They quickly got bored and had little interest in the food--I don't think they're ready for anything fancier than In-N-Out yet. As soon as I finished eating, I took my restless son to the front where he opened and closed the door for everyone until it was time to go.

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . hearing Daniel chirp happily as he played with blocks.

. . . my husband leaving a bunch of comments on my blog. :)

Cuddles and Slugs

Today's not-so-favorite moments included . . .

. . . Joy disappearing at the grocery store. I searched for several minutes, and they were about to lock the doors when she finally reappeared from behind a sign.

. . . discovering that most of the lovely, ripe strawberries in my pots had been slug-munched on the bottom. I promptly gave the little rascals some slug bait to munch on.

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . cuddling my kids.

. . . just hanging out as a family this evening. Sometimes we played together; other times we did our own thing. It was relaxing and fun.

. . . talking with my sweetheart for hours.

Kisses, Blocks, and Chili

Today's not-so-favorite moments included . . .

. . . our phones randomly not working, so I didn't know Phillip would be home two hours late, and he didn't know I didn't know.

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . waking to the sound of my kids playing together in their room. Joy was building with blocks, and she'd put some in Daniel's crib so he could play, too.

. . . getting the giggles when Joy said she had some "snart" in her nose.

. . . Phillip texting to say he loved the leftover chili he took for lunch today.

. . . asking Joy what she was painting, and hearing her reply, "Just something fun. With spikes."

. . . my kids asking me for kisses.

Noise and Quiet

Today's not-so-favorite moments included . . .

. . . Child A pushed Child B down. Child B started to cry. I sent Child A to their room. Child A started to cry. Child B started to cry louder. Sigh.

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . going to our playdate/parenting class this morning. It's a nice change of pace for all of us--the kids get to play with other kids and different toys in a different setting, and I get to talk with other moms. Song time and snack time are also perks for all parties.

. . . making good chili with several freeze-dried foods (ground beef, celery, bell pepper, tomato powder) from Shelf Reliance. I've been wanting to add variety to our food storage (you can only eat so much rice and beans), but most canned meats and produce aren't that great. After tonight's success, I definitely plan to try more of SR's meat and veggies (and heck, maybe even some of their TVP). Assuming they are as good as the things we tried tonight, I'll buy more to slowly flesh out our food storage.

. . . watching Daniel contentedly explore random things in our home. It's fun to watch our kids laugh it up and have a great time together, but I'm glad they also have quiet times when they can just be themselves and do their own thing.

And another thing . . .

. . . lately Daniel has decided that he really, really likes me to pick him up and carry him around. Dude, why did you wait until you weighed 32 pounds to decide you were a barnacle?

Family Races and Thoughts on Worship

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . cooking a solar dinner on a partly cloudy day. It's nice to feel I'm finally getting the hang of this solar oven. It's still trial and error, but at least I have more successes than failures these days.

. . . racing to read the scriptures, like Sylvia Allred did when the missionaries were teaching her family. After we talked about Sylvia and her sister rushing home from school to get the first turn reading the Book of Mormon, we raced across our family room a few times to see who could reach our big Book of Mormon first. Whoever won got to choose a picture in it to talk about.

. . . after the races were over, Joy chose our activity. As usual, she opted to go to Menchie's for frozen yogurt. None of us minded that we were eating frozen treats on a chilly evening when we were all bundled up in jackets.

And another thing . . .

. . . food for thought, from a commencement speech delivered by David Foster Wallace in 2005: "There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And an outstanding reason for choosing some sort of God or spiritual-type thing to worship -- be it J.C. or Allah, be it Yahweh or the Wiccan mother-goddess or the Four Noble Truths or some infrangible set of ethical principles -- is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. If you worship money and things -- if they are where you tap real meaning in life -- then you will never have enough. Never feel you have enough. It’s the truth. Worship your own body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly, and when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally plant you. . . . Worship your intellect, being seen as smart — you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out. And so on."

Following Bap

Today's not-so-favorite moments included . . .

. . . suddenly realizing that Daniel was fiddling with the fire alarm at our chapel. Immediately initiated hyperdrive.

. . . hearing Daniel start crying really hard in another room, and later noticing that he had a Joy-sized bite mark on his cheek.

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . playing random sofa cushion games with my kids.

. . . making actual solar cookies (not muffins), using my usual chocolate chip cookie recipe. They turned out more moist than usual, and it was still a little odd to eat a muffin-cup-shaped cookie, but otherwise they were good. I can see myself doing this a lot in summertime so we can have cookies without heating up the kitchen. I'll probably use a regular-sized muffin pan, though, since the wider, flatter result seems more like a cookie instead of a really dense mini muffin.

And another thing . . .

. . . Joy has some random nicknames for Daniel. They include "Bap" and "Dudie" (presumably an affectionate variant of dude).

. . . the kids and I took a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure walk today. At every intersection or crosswalk, they took turns choosing which direction we would go. It was an interesting exercise in chaos theory.

. . . I still had some terrible Giver flashbacks today, but by evening they had become less frequent and I pray they will soon be gone altogether. I found it was somewhat helpful to use a method I learned from Tuesdays with Morrie. Instead of mentally cowering in fear of the memory, I would face it and acknowledge that it was terrible, then set it aside. I had to do that repeatedly last night and today, but it often gave me a reprieve from the horror and made me feel more in command of my thoughts and emotions.

Best of Times and Worst of Times

Today's not-so-favorite moments included . . .

. . . Daniel throwing his cup of blackberry smoothie in such a way that it splattered everywhere. Not for the first or last time, I reflected that the owners probably put brown carpet in before we moved in because they knew we had little kids.

. . . I was having a rough, stressful evening and Phillip was away at his second choir concert, so after the kids went to bed I decided to read some more of The Giver to lift my spirits. Reading about Jonas's new memories and wisdom has made me appreciate the richness of my own life more. Unfortunately, a few pages after I started reading tonight, I got to the part where one of the baby twins was released. I had guessed the substance of what would happen long before, but reading about it in detail was horrible, and it haunted me for the rest of the evening. It was not what I needed tonight at all.

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . going to the temple with other women in my ward. The temple is always uplifting, and on the drive it was nice to talk about everything from missions to solar cooking to the challenges of raising kids in a world full of electronic games and gizmos.

. . . Joy giving me a kiss on the cheek while we were playing, then Daniel reaching for me so he could kiss me, too.

Classical Music, with Tacos on the Side

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . attending Phillip's choir concert tonight, in which they performed Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. I had heard it performed years ago, but since I didn't know what the Latin and German lyrics meant it just seemed like a random, loud montage of songs (though the opening/closing number O Fortuna was pretty awesome--heck, any song is a bit more epic when accompanied by a massive drum and a gong). This time I actually read the translations while the choir was singing, and it infused the music with much more power and emotion for me. The performance was a thrill, and it was a delight to see my husband enjoy singing so much.

. . . it was also fun to eat tacos with him at a hole-in-the-wall Mexican place before the concert.

Giving Blood and Reading The Giver

Today's not-so-favorite moments included . . .

. . . a standard blood test for gestational diabetes. Medical needles don’t utterly unnerve me the way they once did, but they still inspire a certain anxiety and I hate the feeling of something sharp being jabbed into my arm.

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . reading The Giver, which countless people have told me they found very thought-provoking when they were young. I somehow never read it as a teenager, but I find it captivating now. I’m already halfway through it, and I’m intrigued to see how the story will unfold.

. . . experimenting with a chocolate cookie recipe. I tried about seven different chip combinations to see which I like best. The mint chips and the semisweet-white combination are the two winners in my book. Not sure I'll hang on to the actual cookie recipe, though--it spread like crazy and wasn't as soft as I'd hoped.

. . . watching my kids play.

. . . hugging my husband when he got home.

And another thing . . .

. . . anyone looking to buy an electric and/or hand-crank grain grinder? I'm selling one of each.

Quasi Cookies and Vented Molehills

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . my kids competing to see who could laugh louder.

. . . successfully baking some mini muffins in my solar oven. The recipe said they were supposed to be cookies, but I baked them in mini muffin tins (my cookie sheets won't fit in the solar oven), and the texture was more muffin-like. What's more, as I've compared the recipe to others, it actually bears a very close resemblance to several oatmeal muffin recipes I've come across. I guess if I want honest-to-goodness cookies, I should just use my own recipe.

And another thing . . .

. . . this morning, Phillip mentioned a choir-related schedule change that essentially torpedoed my dinner plans for the rest of the week. I was bummed and inconvenienced, but I knew if I told him that he would feel bad, offer to change his schedule, and end up even more bummed and inconvenienced than I was. I tried to just move on and accept that plans don't always work out, but the disappointment kept eating at me.

Later in the morning a friend asked how I was doing, and when I said I was trying to keep a molehill from becoming a mountain she insisted I tell her the whole story. Talking about my troubles didn't get rid of them, but somehow it made it easier to put them behind me. I don't think it's healthy to complain all the time, but every now and then it really does help to get your disappointment off your chest, and thus off your mind.

Soccer and the Hardward Store

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . kicking a soccer ball around with my kids. At first Daniel just threw it, but he soon caught on that Joy and I were tapping it with our feet, so he started doing that, too. By the end, both kids had developed pretty good aim.

And another thing . . .

. . . you might be in a hardware store if the tempting items by the cash register aren't candy bars or fashion magazines but calipers and stud sensors.

. . . you also might be in a hardware store if the entire "kitchen section" would fit in your shopping cart, and it consists of a meat grinder, cast iron cookware, two kinds of french fry cutters, and three kinds of hamburger patty presses. I don't think we're in Williams-Sonoma anymore, Toto.

Old Friends and Lots of Sweets

Today's not-so-favorite moments included . . .

. . . eating a week's worth of sweets at my sister's reception. Bleh.

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . giving an elderly sister a ride to and from a church activity today. I worried we'd have trouble thinking of things to talk about, but she had a great time telling me all about her family and friends, and I had a great time listening.

. . . catching up with old family friends at the reception. There is something special about seeing people who make your face light up even though you haven't seen each other for years.

And another thing . . .

. . . both my kids were quiet and well-behaved during the ring ceremony--Joy because she was content on Papa's lap, and Daniel because we were feeding him pillow mints. I grossly underestimated his rate of consumption, though, and halfway through the ceremony I had to squeeze past Uncle Nile and sprint to the nearest table for another fistful of mints to keep Daniel from getting fussy.

My Sister's Wedding.

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . watching my sister be married in the temple today. Outside the temple she and Sean were their usual cheerful, slightly zany selves, but as they knelt across the altar in the sealing room you could see that they took the covenant they were making very seriously. The solemn power of the moment took my breath away. It was awesome to realize that two people who had been single up til that moment can now be a family for eternity.

. . . watching Joy revel in the happiness of family gathered for such a wonderful occasion.

. . . spending more time with my cousins who live afar off.

And another thing . . .

. . . while the Lord never intended us to live in monasteries or convents, after today's temple experience I can understand the appeal of them. It's so easy to be happy, loving, reverent, and at peace in the temple, and it would be wonderful to feel that way all the time. On the other hand, we're here in mortality to learn and grow, and we do that best when we face challenges and overcome them. While I can't live at the temple full-time, I'm glad I can at least visit now and then to recharge my spiritual batteries and get a clearer perspective.

Buzzin' Cousins and a Big Train

Today's not-so-favorite moments included . . .

. . . Joy running into G-pa's rose bush and getting stuck among the thorns.

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . riding the train out to my parents' home with the kids (Phillip was already there with the car). I haven't ridden a big train since I was a child, and it was a fun adventure to share with Joy and Daniel.

. . . going out for a burger with my sweetheart while my family watched the kids.

. . . touching base with extended family at my sister's pre-wedding dinner. I was too busy tending Joy to socialize as much as I would like, but it was still pleasant to see them (and their babies, in some cases), and hear how they're all doing.

. . . watching Joy have tons of fun playing with her second cousin.

Anger, Fear, Pestering--The Dark Side Are They

Today's not-so-favorite moments included . . .

. . . Joy's little plate smashing on the kitchen floor when she accidentally dropped it after dinner (leaving just two salad plates intact of the original twelve). At least I didn't have to wash it later.

. . . Joy being in "perpetual pester mode" with Daniel all day. Tonight when I finally sent her to her room Daniel followed right after her (it's his room, too, and he can't resist opening a closed door). At first I objected, but then I realized if she started bugging him again he'd leave and she couldn't follow, so I just let him go in. Ironically, they got along better after that.

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . finding a few nice shirts at a the maternity store while my dear husband watched the kids. Since I've now sidelined nearly all of my normal clothes for the next few months, and most of my maternity clothes wore out their welcome two or even four years ago, it's nice to have a few new additions to add some welcome variety.

And another thing . . .

. . . Happy Star Wars Day. May the Fourth be with you.

. . . I love nearly everything about Trader Joe's. I love their friendly staff, their good prices (on most things), their varied clientele (which ranges from hippies to yuppies), their sample counter, and even the groovy oldies they play over their sound system. My only gripe about them has been their frozen entrees. With the possible exception of their pizzas, every one of their frozen meals I've microwaved has been forgettable if not outright lousy.

That is, until the kids and I discovered their Mac 'n Cheese at the sample counter recently. We've bought it twice since, and I've given up looking for a good mac 'n cheese recipe because this stuff is so easy and much tastier than anything I've yet produced. Sometimes it really is better to leave things to the professionals.

Solar Cornbread

Today's not-so-favorite moments included . . .

. . . a bunch of small, cumulative frustrations, culminating with my kids dumping a big box of Cheerios all over the floor while I was trying to make lunch. You would think roaring like Luke Skywalker when he's being zapped by the Emperor at the end of Return of the Jedi would be cathartic, but it really wasn't, and it left my throat kind of sore. Good thing we had a cold smoothie with lunch.

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . watching Joy push Daniel along in a toy car at the park. It always warms my heart when they play together and help each other out.

. . . baking some really good cornbread in my solar oven. It was my first attempt at solar baking, and I was a little intimidated because the temperature is lower than most recipes call for, and it can vary somewhat. I placed the cornbread in the solar oven with a prayer in my heart, and I was very pleased with the result. What to try next--solar bread, cake, or cookies? Pizza, anyone?

Btw, if you'd like a play-by-play of today's solar adventure, I posted pictures and commentary on our family blog.

World Affairs and Broken Glasses

Today's not-so-favorite moments included . . .

. . . our internet going down. Thank goodness for a techie husband who can fix such things.

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . playing as a family in the cool twilight.

And another thing . . .

. . . a while back Daniel nearly destroyed my spare pair of glasses (he detached the wire that held a lens in, and bent the frame halfway to next week).
Fortunately, Lenscrafters agreed to fix them for free today.
Unfortunately, they required me to sign a waiver that I wouldn't hold them accountable for any damage, and when they were reshaping the frame they snapped it apart.
Fortunately, they said the jeweler a few doors down could solder the frame back together.
Unfortunately, he charges $35.
Fortunately, he agreed to fix my glasses today and call when they're done.
Unfortunately, he hasn't called.
Sigh.

. . . on a more serious note, I learned (as you probably have) that Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. counter-terrorism troops last night. I've heard that many exuberant celebrations spontaneously sprang up over the news, but though I'm glad justice was finally served and he won't be able to orchestrate any more attacks, I can't quite bring myself to cheer and dance because a fellow human being was gunned down. What's more, I'm not yet sure what difference this will make in the War on Terror. America won a highly symbolic victory last night and I'm proud of my country for persevering to achieve what it set out to do ten years ago, but did we truly weaken Al Qaeda by eliminating its leader, or will another terrorist simply step into his place and carry on business as usual?

Tired but Loved

Today's not-so-favorite moments included . . .

. . . waking up really tired. Curse my night owl habits!

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . when Daniel was walking out the door for a stroll with Daddy, he paused and pointed to me, indicating that he wanted me to come, too. I needed to stay home with Joy (who was still napping), but it was sweet to know that Daniel wanted me to join them.

. . . plotting new experiments with the solar oven, since the days are getting longer, sunnier, and hotter. You don't actually need a hot day to cook in a solar oven (a sunny winter day works fine), but I'm especially loathe to heat up my kitchen on hot days. I'm planning to try chili and cornbread on Tuesday. Wish me luck!

Worship, Cake, and Nefarious Morning Glories

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . attending the temple with my family as my sister and her fiance received their endowments. It was wonderful to be in the temple together.

. . . pulling weeds with Joy. She quit after a few minutes because it was hard work, but before I knew it she was right back by my side pulling up those nefarious morning glories bent on world domination. We didn't get all of them this afternoon, but every little bit helps and I was proud of Joy for giving me a hand even though it was hard work.

And another thing . . .

. . . the temple cafeteria has odd priorities. The entrees tend to be limited and mediocre, but there are countless delicious desserts to choose from. Most eating establishments do things the other way around.