Another week to be grateful

So many things to be grateful for this past week, so I will get started with the count down right away.

• More physical therapy

I am thankful for a kind and patient physical therapist and the finances to pay for the treatments. My neck and shoulder continue to improve.  I am still not 100% and I still have pain (especially at the end of a tiring day or after a stress event) but I am learning new exercises, postures and habits which are helping me heal.  I am only supposed to be spending about ten minutes at a time in front of my computer, and more than that is quite painful, but that does make writing and reading blog posts difficult.  

• A new, new purse.

I am thankful to find a purse I like, big enough to hold all my stuff, that doesn't hurt my shoulder. When my shoulder started to become increasingly painful, we were on vacation.  I thought a new purse might be the answer to my pain, so I went to a large, national retailer (T J Maxx) and purchased a moderated priced cross shoulder bag.  I thought that having a bag with a long strap that held the purse across my body would more evenly distribute the weight.  My physical therapist told me I had the right idea, unfortunately, my new purse broke with a week and a half.  I've been known to be hard on purses, but I usually get at least a few months of wear before the thing wears out.  (The purse I bought at Ross last year didn't wear out for six months). Not so this time.  I still had the receipt, so returning the defective bag for a refund wasn't a problem, but then I had to find another one that would work as well and hopefully last longer than a week and a half.  I searched several stores, but didn't find what I wanted for the price I wanted to pay (did I mention that I am quite frugal?)  As a last resort, I decided to try Wal Mart. I shop at Wal Mart pretty regularly for lots of things, but I have never been a huge fan of Wal Mart clothing items, so I really did not expect to find what I wanted. Boy was I wrong,  I found not one, but several bags which fit the bill exactly This is the one I decided on - a sturdy canvass shoulder bag that will hold my wallet, a bottle of water and a book or my Kindle (necessities) for $15!  The light color goes well with most of my clothing and if it gets a bit soiled, it's washable.  

• Another care package

I am thankful to have a son serving as a missionary. I was able to get another "goodie box" packed and in the mail and ready to go to Elder Jones.  I found out that last month, the mailing rates to Mexico increased, but it is more important for Josh to know that we love and care about him, than for us to pay a few extra dollars in postage.  He told me in an email, that he has recently sent another SD card full of pictures home, so we are praying that makes it here safe and soon, so he can have pictures of all the great people he is meeting and the wonderful memories he is making!

• A sweet thank you. 

I am thankful for abundant opportunities to show kindness and help others. A few weeks ago, I sent a care package to a missionary whose family is far away (n Fiji). The cannot afford postage to the U.S., so this young lady rare hears from home.  I received this sweet thank you note from the missionary this week.

• Book project complete - almost

I am thankful that our new bookshelves are filled and organized.  They are a great addition to our family room and a wonderful place for the books we treasure. This has been a huge job since we have a lot of books.  Also, trying to move and carry books with a painful back and shoulder has sometimes been tiring and challenging (yes, my physical therapist said it was OK to "exercise" my arm and shoulder in this way - if I lifted and carried correctly - which I am been trying very hard to do). 

Reorganizing our books has also given us the opportunity to look at every book we own and decide to keep it or pass it along. Yesterday we took over 100 books to a used book store for sell back.  We then donated the rest of the books to Good Will.  

• Summer time

I am thankful for summer time weather that has been typically warm (low 100s) but not oppressive (which for me is over 110).  Last week, we it was warm and a bit humid.  We had some wonderful clouds, but no rain. Rain would be nice at this point.  Charly and I were both able to walk every morning.  We enjoy that daily exercise.

• Back-to-school time

I am thankful to have had a good summer and jobs for both Charly and I to return to when it is over. We have basically one more full-week of summer vacation, so even if we aren't ready, it is time to start thinking about going back to school.  I picked up some "back-to-school" supplies at Wal Mart the other day.  I haven't been able to accomplish all the curriculum writing I needed to do this summer do to my shoulder pain limiting my time at the computer, but I am hoping to make some progress and get some necessary "teacher stuff" done during the coming week.

I will close this post with this thought to ponder in the coming week:

Your Sacred Yes - A Book Review

Today, I am reviewing this Christian non-fiction book by radio minister, Susie Larson, Your Sacred Yes. Bethany House Publishers provided me a copy of this book without charge, to read and give my honest opinion of, so here is my honest opinion.

The back cover of the book asks.  "Are you worn out form life's ought-to's and should-do's?"  Many of us could probably answer yes to that question.  The back cover teaser goes on to explains "It's so easy to give away our time to things un-appointed by God.  We commit to something because it's a good cause or there's a great need.  Or maybe because no one else will help out.  The result?  The days blur together and we find ourselves overworked and underjoyed, desperate for a faith awakening."

The book promises to teach the reader how and when to say no without guilt or shame, how to find a pace and perspective that matches God's best and how to discern man-made obligations from God-given invitation.

There were many good thoughts in this book.  The basic concept the author, Susie Larson, teaches is that good is the enemy of great, and the way this book is written actually exemplified that.  It is a good book - not a great one.  Ms. Larson teaches that there are many "good" things that we can spend our time and life energy on, but those good things that fill our days and make us feel busy and overwhelmed may take us from the truly "great" things that God in mind for us. Certainly this is true and something that many Christian and other good people have a hard time with.  We only have so many hours in the day - how best do we spend the time and energy we have been given? 

I marked up the book quite extensively because there were some very inspirational passages that were excellent and spoke to my heart, however, much of the book was redundant and wordy.  It felt that the author said the same thing over and over again, slightly changing the wording.  It felt like her editor was telling her to make the book longer, when in reality, the really inspirational stuff would have more impact if it hadn't been unpacked and restated in so many ways. Also, Ms. Larson's examples were mostly stories from her life as a radio minister and Christian author, neither of which I related to.  I am neither a radio minister nor an author, but I am a wife and mom (as are so many other readers of Christian non-fiction) so perhaps stories from her family life and relationships would have been more relatable to and effective for a broader audience.  In the last chapter of the book, Ms. Larson does movingly describe her own father's passing.  It was very touching and I wished more of the book could have been on par with this chapter (last chapter before the "Bonus Chapter"). Ms. Larson should have taken more of her own advice when writing the book, because she tried to say so much in so many different ways, that the really good and inspirational points she makes get lost. This book is a good one, with some very good content, but it is not great.  With five stars being the best, I give this book three. ***

Looking back on favorite moments....

I will start this week's favorites post with a few more vacation pictures...

On the Fourth of July, we rode the "Heber Creeper" historic railroad...

...with our daughter and her family.

Here we are on the train with the grand kids - all ready to go.

 The kids thought the train ride was a real adventure.

 It was lots of fun. There was live music...

 ...and singing patriotic songs and waving flags.

It was a really great way to spend the morning of the Fourth of July!

The train ride took us to Deer Creek Reservoir - beautiful scenery, and it looked like a fun place to go fishing - maybe we'll try that next year.

Later in the day, we went to Park City to spend some time at the condo where Charly and I were staying.  There were two pools and three hot tubs to choose from.

The grand children had lots of fun.  Here is my son-in-law playing with two of them in the pool.   He is such a great dad!

My seven-year-old grand daughter had a lot of fun doing somersaults into the pool.

 There was also some water balloon fun.

 After some pool time, we went for a ride in a ski lift...

 ...to get a bird's eye view of the area of Park City where we were staying.

After leaving Utah, we drove to another of our favorite Mountain locations, Flagstaff, Arizona.  We had this little visitor come to our condo shortly after we arrived.  Fortunately, he just stopped by for a picture or two and did NOT "add" to the aroma of the fresh mountain air.

Charly and I love Flagstaff.  It was the perfect place to end a very nice vacation.  I wish we could spend more time there every year.

Coming back from vacation, there is always lots to do.  We have been working on moving our books to the new bookshelves.  It is a huge job.

It is however, giving us the opportunity to sort through our books and get rid of duplicates and those we are no longer interested in reading.  This is my "pass along" stack so far.  These books will either be sold on Craig's List or given to thrift stores so they can be read and enjoyed by others.

I have also been working on organizing and backing up the pictures on my computer.  It is another job that is bigger and more time consuming than I expected it to be.

I haven't been reading as much as I usually do, and I will explain why in just a moment, but I did finish this book today and will be doing a review very soon.

I haven't been reading much lately, because I hurt my back and shoulder several weeks back.  Here's a "selfy" of the area that has been very painful the past 2-3 weeks. It is hard to sit still for very long or do any activity where I use my arms (like holding a book or Kindle).  I am not usually one to run to the doctor with every ache or pain, but finally, after the pain (and numbness in my arm) actually got worse when we were on vacation, I decided that I needed to see what the problem is.  The verdict is (in layman's terms) a tight and swollen neck muscle that has pinched a nerve and a blood vessel going to my arm.  The probable cause - STRESS!  Now I am on a regime to reduce the pain and numbness. I will have to unlearn some poor, unhealthy habit and replace them with better habits. I am also doing some work on relieving stress - trying to stay positive and grateful - letting God be God and taking life one day at a time.

A lady from our church congregation, who I really don't know very well, heard about my little shoulder issue and came by Friday evening with these lovely flowers.  We had a nice chat and I am happy to have made a new friend!

The doctor told me that continuing my early morning walks of at least two miles is imperative to my well-being and recovery.  I am blessed to live in a really nice, "walking-friendly" area.  Here are some scenes from one of my walks last week.  It was about 6:30 a.m. and the sun had only been up a short while.

This is one of the main streets into our neighborhood, which runs right in front of the main police station in town, which is over to the right in this picture.

 This is another street I walk along most mornings.

This is a nice park I walk past.  It is usually deserted early in the morning, except for the occasional dog and owner out for a walk.

This morning has been cloudy and overcast. Temps have been cooler, but impending rain has made things fairly humid and muggy.

One more favorite thing this week was this cute postcard from my grand son which came in the mail a few days ago.  I especially liked the part where he said, "I love you."  I am so proud of this boy and all of my grandchildren. I feel very blessed by every moment I get to spend with them!

I will leave this post with this positive, stress-relieving thought:

I am joining once again with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story

for Friday's Fave Five!  

Vacation time - a fun visit with family and friends

I have been out of the loop for a couple of weeks while we traveled north to Utah to spend time with family and friends.  Here are some favorite moments:

The first leg of our journey was  Phoenix to Las Vegas.

We've stopped and stayed the night in Las Vegas before, but we aren't really fond of Vegas so this time, we drove right on through.

We stopped the first night in Mesquite, Nevada, which is about a little over an hour beyond Las Vegas. There is a nice little hotel/casino we have stayed in before.  The rooms are clean and comfy, although not extravagant.  The cost is the best part though - less than $30 a night! There is also a great restaurant in the casino where we each got a huge breakfast of eggs, toast, hash browns and bacon for only $2.50 a piece! 

It was dreadfully hot the night we stopped in Mesquite - the daytime high had been 118!  The evening was hot and muggy.  The clouds in this shot did produce rain and thunderstorms during the night, but it didn't cool things off much.

About an hour north of Mesquite, in Southern Utah, is the lovely little pioneer town of St. George. We made a short stop there on the  second day of our trip. That the St. George Temple that Charly and I are standing in front of.

Here is a side view of this beautiful old temple, with the modern entrance.

You can see it from the I-15 as  you drive past St. George.  The white temple contrasts the surrounding red cliffs.  It's really quite an awesome sight.

It was such a lovely, peaceful place to stop and spend a few minutes to break up a long road trip.

 

The object of our journey was my daughter and son-in-law's home and time with them and their children.  I love being a grandma. 

 These girls love their grandpa and were happy to see him.

When grandpa goes to the grocery store, he always buys donuts.  Look at the size of that one that the boys got to share.

The kids loved the modeling foam and ice cream makers that grandma and grandpa brought.

 Playing the game "Tower of Bunnies" was a favorite activity.

My son-in-law is a computer engineer and my grandchildren are very computer savvy.  Here's the four-year-old with his dad's Ipad.

The nine-year-old was very anxious to download some new apps and try out my Kindle. He is saving up for his own tablet.

My daughter and her husband have strict limits about the amount of "screen time" the kids get.  I totally agree with her.   While children need to be tech savvy and computers can be a learning tool, children also need time away from TVs, computers and tablets, reading books, and playing outside and being kids. 

We also got to take the oldest three grands to meet Captain America and Miss Springville at the local library.

We watched the children and their mom do a fun science experiment. 

 We enjoyed a nice hike in a nearby canyon.

 It was a nice change from desert hiking we have been used to.

 There were kites to fly...

 ...and museums to enjoy.

The BYU campus, which is near my daughter's home,  is a place of learning for all ages and a fun place to spend an afternoon or two.  They have several great museums. These animals were at the Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum.

BYU also has an excellent art museum, which we enjoyed.  

We thought that posing near the love sculpture in the art museum was a great way to end an afternoon with some of the people we love most. 

It was a nice visit with our daughter and grand children, but this wasn't all.  I'll post some additional favorite vacation moments in a few days.