What If I Made a List

of all of the things I do today
instead of all of the things I need to do?

It might be a really short list.

Do You Ever Put Everything On Your Bed...

...so that you'll for sure put it away before you go to sleep and then you get to the end of the night and feel so utterly exhausted that it all goes right back onto the floor?

I do too.

What's His Name? (Part IV)

On third thought,
let's go with

"Mark Daniel Peter Brooks."

You know the story of how we learned

the name of the Brother of Jared?

Well, let's just say I am grateful that

it was Daniel, not Mahonri Moriancumer.

What Do I Need For A Baby?

I was walking through Walmart and saw soothers (pacifiers) and realized that it hadn't really occurred to me to buy that or anything else in the baby section yet. So I bought them. Size 0-6 months and I felt happy at my conquest. (No thumb-sucker this time.)

The home birth supply list included receiving blankets. Oh yeah. So, I made a separate trip to the store and got those too.

Yesterday, Shawna said, "Well, have you gotten diapers?" Oh dear. I hadn't thought of that.

What else have I not thought of? I've done this three times, you'd think I'd have the hang of it.

So this morning I did what any responsible, well-prepared mother-to-be would do, I Googled "What do I need for a baby?" The list was 71 items long. I got overwhelmed and went to the store without the list. I bought newborn diapers, one bottle, one container of baby soap, and some baby finger-nail clippers.

I think I'm all set.

Am I?

Should I Feel Guilty for being Thrilled...

...that there is No One in my House for the Next Two Days?

How about guilty over the fact that I'm going to leave the dirty dishes, laundry, bills, bathrooms, vacuuming, and Church work for some other time?

I do feel guilty, but it seems insufficient to dictate a change in course.

I'm off to read a book.

Why Do So Many Things Have To Be Done EVERY Day To Be Effective?

Flossing
Studying Scriptures
Praying
Exercising
Practicing the Piano
Watering the Garden
Putting Lotion on my Dry Heels
Cleaning the Kitchen

I'm the kind of person who would like to pay my car insurance all at once even if it's huge. Would like to wait until the weeds are waist high so that it feels rewarding to get rid of them. And tends to gravitate toward other once-in-a-while sporadic projects.

I'm not so good with this daily endurance stuff. President Uchtdorf: "We don’t acquire eternal life in a sprint—this is a race of endurance." Apparently we don't acquire clean houses, healthy teeth or piano skills in sprints either.

How Many Days Will I Walk Past These Empty Frames...

...Waiting For Me To Put Family Pictures In Them?

It's been 59 already.

Why Are You Still In There?

I was in the shower for a long time.

Chas came to find me.

Why was I still in there?

Because I had promised to play Power Rangers with him when I got out.

I'm so bad at this sort of thing. (click here for original post)

Why Can't I Go To Bed Without Someone Here To Tell Me To?

Because when Dallin's away I read poetry late into the night. And watch BYU Devotionals. And look at James Christensen art and Norman Rockwell art, and even Jackson Pollock art online. And I dabble in the piano. And I chat with long lost girlfriends on the phone. And I go through my filing cabinets and throw stacks of stuff away. And then an hour after I fall into bed, someone small wets their bed. Or wets my bed. Or has a bad dream about bears.

When Dallin's away I get no sleep. I think I need a mother. I need the reverse of an alarm clock.

Do I Have To Clean This?

No wonder my kids say it. Do I have to?

Won't Anyone Write A Long, Wonderful Blog Post For Me To Read?

I've been filing these dumb taxes for days now and I would take any distraction on the planet.

I've already had a piece of pie,
read old blog posts,
scanned the news headlines,
and looked at pictures of my own kids on the screensaver for many minutes.

Please?

It's 2 Weeks Since Conference, How Far Behind Am I On My Goals?

Umm....14 days.

Math equation for General Conference here.

Why Haven't I Done That Yet?

...because it's not the last minute yet.

Why Do I Do That?

Now that's the question.

175 ÷ 83 = ?

After 2 days and 8 hours of General Conference, I have 83 things to work on. Insights specific to me. Surprise, surprise, many of them are questions. Things like,

What can I sacrifice?
When I go to the temple am I worshipping or rushing?
What do I focus on consistently? ("We get what we focus on consistently")
What can I learn from my parents before they die?
Am I using my spiritual gifts to navigate toward the blessings of eternity?

But some are just reminders of the same old holes in my life:

Make my prayers full of thanksgiving like President Benson.
Laugh to smooth out life's bumps.
Take inventory of the sacredness of my home.
Make my prayer time "sweet."
Be of one heart and one mind in my marriage.
Be careful not to criticize my children.
Be a student of the scriptures.

Well, there are 83 of them. And there are 175 days until next conference. That gives me about two days to work on each one.

I think that might be within my attention span. So, I've written them on index cards and I'll be diligently shuffling through them until October (I hope.) At least I hope I make it through the first 20. I'll put the most important ones first, in case I run out of steam.


(Dallin was our AV Guy, and successfully got us through all the feed blips with three computers, two speakers and a dozen snaking cords.)

(The Conference Candy game was mostly a success, but I think my children ate more sugar than they do on Halloween.)

(My children reverently listening to the last prayer on Saturday afternoon.)