Our February 29th

Today was busy. I completed Helen’s blog, and sent out e-mails to people to let them know. It was amazing how long everything took, but I wanted to word things well. Then after I’d sent out the e-mails I realized I’d forgotten to include the blog address, so I had to send them out again. BUT it's DONE! I'm so glad. It has been a long time coming. It has been a very worthwhile project, and I've been grateful to be able to do it. There are actually two blogs for her--one regular, and another that contains the unabridged texts of all the talks that were given at her funeral. I put blog counters on each of her blogs. Only three people have left comments, but 55 people have looked at the main one since this morning. 15 have also looked at the talk blog. That's good to know.

Then to celebrate February 29 our family went to Outback Steakhouse. We also rented the movie Stardust. From the commercials I saw about Stardust, I really didn’t think I would like it, but I really did. It was not a movie for little kids, (Kirsten went to bed before it was over) but it was a fun flick that told a sweet story with a happy ending. Helena told me it was somewhat like The Princess Bride, and it really was, although it was very different. Anyway, I’d recommend it. Jim and Betsey really enjoyed it too.

Does Elizabeth Look Like Peter? (Her Daddy) What Do You Think?

The following picture was taken in September of 1977. Peter was 9 1/2 months old. Helena (on the left) was 6 1/2, and Kirsten was 8. Jim and Kathey were 35. I love those Polly Flinders dresses the girls are wearing. Some friends and I used to go to the Polly Flinders outlet in Cincinnati. They were seconds so we got those dresses for 3 or 4 dollars each.

In the next picture Peter is 5 months old.

Little Miss Valentine Elizabeth is 5 weeks old here

This is a nice one of her looking at the camera on blessing day.

It will be interesting to see how she looks when she is a little older. Who do you think she looks like?

What Will You Do To Celebrate February 29th?

Tomorrow is the 29th of February. We're being given an extra day this year that comes around only once every four years. Rather than just letting it pass as another day in a routine week, I decided that we should do something to celebrate it. I’d like to go to a restaurant we haven’t been to around here, and possibly rent a video. What video should we rent? Barbie and Kyle recently saw Enchanted at the dollar theater and loved it. They said we’d really enjoy it. I wonder if it's out on video yet?

Going to a restaurant and renting a video isn’t anything spectacular but it ought to be fun, and we don't do it very often. It’s the wrong time of the year to go to the zoo or something like that. Even though I would love to go bowling, I haven't done that in years, and I don't think I could stand the smoke that is usually associated with bowling alleys.

My mom and I used to watch bowling on TV and really enjoyed it. I remember that Don Carter was a favorite. Right now I don't remember any of the others. When I was in jr. high or high school, I was on a bowling team in a league for teenagers that met on Saturdays, and I loved it! (I know I have a picture of the team around here somewhere, but I haven’t found it yet. I do remember that my top score was 192. I don’t remember my average.) We called ourselves The Deadbeats. Yes, that's an odd name for a bowling team, but there was a reason for that.

There was a TV show that was very popular with teens back then. (My guess would be between 1957 and 1959) It was on fairly late at night, probably on a Friday or Saturday. I hope that the name of it and more details will come back to me but all I can remember right now is that it was spooky in a hokey sort of way, and we kids loved it. The host was a guy who dressed like a vampire, and every once in awhile there would be a flash of lightening on the screen. The lightning was very distinctive, and even today I’ve seen that same flash used quite often when such a thing is required on TV. Sometimes I’ve even said to myself “That’s the lightning from–––––––“ and I’ve said the name of the show, so I know it’s in my brain somewhere. (Help, does anyone know? I tried calling my brother to ask if he remembered, but he wasn’t home.)

Anyway, to make a short story long—on this TV show was a musical group that was funny. I remember that one time they sang “I Ain’t Got No Body” and appeared as a group of singing, heads that kind of bounced around as they sang. The name of the group was The Deadbeats. It was a fun group, so we decided to name our team after them. At the time I couldn’t imagine why the manager of the league thought that was a terrible label to put on our team. It wasn’t until later that I learned that a deadbeat was someone who didn’t pay his bills, but hey, for us it had a much different connotation.

Isn’t it interesting that we can start out writing about a subject and something will trigger memories that cause the subject to go in a completely different direction? I just decided to let it flow and see where it would take me. It’s been fun.

We're Back!

We had four days in the Los Angeles area last week. California--land of incredibly tall skinny palm trees; bird of paradise flowers, and wax begonias blooming in February; very neatly trimmed trees and hedges; and crazy freeways either zipping along at 80+ mph or stopped. Well, yes, I had been there before, but it had been a very long time. And distances. I had totally forgotten about that. It takes a long time to get somewhere, especially when there's so much traffic. I had no clue. Here at home we can drive for 5 or 10 minutes and be out in the country, and it takes only 15 minutes to get to the next town.

We had a couple of unusual things happen on the way out. Twice we had to wait about 20 minutes in the plane on the ground before disembarking because another plane was in our parking place. Then when we went to pick up our luggage at LAX one of our bags wasn't there. There was another one, a little smaller, that was the same flower-print green as mine, but it didn't belong to us. When he inspected the tag, Jim found a phone number belonging to someone named Katie. On the third try she answered the phone. When he told her that her bag was at the airport and we suspected that she had one of ours, Jim heard her say to someone in the car, "Dad we have to go back." She showed up 15 or 20 minutes later, and yes, she did have my suitcase. Wheeeeeew! When we gave her the other suitcase we also have her two pass-along cards, so it will be interesting to see if anything ever comes of that.

SO! Hopefully we have learned that when flying, always include a cell phone number on the luggage.

Being out there was sure nice. The temperature was usually somewhere in the 60's during the day. Being with family, however, was THE nicest part. We got to meet Elizabeth on Saturday, and she was blessed on Sunday. She's an incredibly good sleeper. Her mom and dad get around that by taking lots of pictures whether or not she's awake, so we did too.

We are so grateful to have been able to meet Elizabeth and be there for her blessing.

It's amazing how you can spend two hours holding a sweet baby on your lap and just stare at her while she sleeps. That's what Grandma did that first day. (awww)

All tired out from the big day. This is the dress that
Aunt Barbie made three years ago when cousin Kate
was blessed. Aunt Barbie also made this quilt
for Elizabeth.


Grandpa got to hold Elizabeth a lot too. We love this picture.

This is also a favorite.
Aunt Kirsten thought Elizabeth was pretty special.

Lovely Mama

Happy Papa

She looks so familiar to me. Betsey says that's because she
looks like Peter. I'm not really sure who she looks like
--all the kids I guess, and my brother.

Peter planted a few squeaky kisses on her head. It was very cute.

She really does have red hair!
Awake and Smiling

Coming back was a bit of a shock. The first leg of our trip home took us to Dallas. As we took off from Dallas the captain announced that the temperature here at home was 16 degrees. A little later he announced that it had gone down to 12 degrees. As we were landing he said it was then 9 degrees. We had copious amounts of snow and ice. Six inches had fallen that day and the previous night, and our car was coated with a pretty thick layer of ice. Jim had us wait in the airport while he went to the car and scraped ice for about a decade. Good move I think. By staying in I missed much of the lunar eclipse that was going on at the time, but we stayed warm.

Put Your Head Down and Slide

When we first moved here we had only one car. Jim was in the AFIT program so he was in school full time. We also had a handicapped daughter who was in an early intervention pre-school program and needed transportation so I really needed the car. Jim solved that problem by riding his bike to work/school. I wish I had a picture of the things he did to prepare his bike, and himself. He had a basket for carrying his books, etc., and he also put a slow-moving-vehicle sign on the back of his bike. You’ve seen them—the big red triangle on the back of tractors, etc. You could definitely see him coming—or going as the case may be.

This was in the days before bicycle helmets, so he wore a motorcycle helmet. (I’m glad he did, as you will see later.) The helmet was to protect his head in case of accidents, but it was also handy for keeping the rain out of his eyes, and sleet off his cheeks. Get the picture? He rode all during the year—in all kinds of weather. He dressed in layers, and showered when he got to work/school. One day when the weather was especially bad—it was snowing and sleeting at the same time I believe, a car passed him. As it was passing the guy cranked down his window and yelled “you’ve got to be crazy!” Jim chuckled as he was telling me the story, because he thought the guy was a little nutty for rolling down his window in that kind of weather.

Well one day when he came home Jim didn’t look so good. He was smiling, but the shoulder on his jacket was torn up and ragged, his sleeve was filthy, his pants on that side were scraped, and his helmet was scratched up. I couldn’t imagine what had happened.

At that time it was still cold outside, but most of the snow was gone and the streets were clear. He went around a corner (and I’ve seen him take those corners—he doesn’t mess around) and met with sudden disaster. At the intersection there was a slight dip all across the road where some water had accumulated and then frozen. He hit that frozen strip, the bike slipped to the side, and BAM down he went. The really embarrassing thing is that there was a school bus full of kids (probably every one of them an excellent bike rider) stopped at the corner. He thought “Oh no!” But there wasn’t anything he could do at that point, so he just leaned the side of his helmeted head down on the pavement and slid until he stopped. By putting his head down like that he took most of the pressure off his shoulder and arm. We retired what was left of the jacket at that point, but if I remember right, he didn’t have a scratch on him. His pride was hurt worse than anything else.

So sometimes those things happen—times where we have to put our pride aside, go with the flow and just do what needs to be done.

The first time I used a wheelchair was like that for me. We went to the Columbus Temple open house. I knew that walking the whole way would be hard enough that I probably wouldn’t enjoy it very much, so I elected to use a chair. Once I got in the chair it felt SO weird. I felt like everyone was staring at me and I wanted to sink into the nearest hole. However, outside of that I was able to go through the whole open house and enjoy myself and not be totally worn out.

How about you? Have you had any times when you just had to put your head down and slide? Any that you could care to share?

Has This Ever Happened to You?

Something weird just happened. I had just completed a blog entry and was tweaking it a little. When I pushed "View Blog" it had disappeared! Any ideas? I wonder if I need to compose in a word document first just for safe keeping? ????

And Let Your Soul Delight in Fatness

I have a friend who is going through a severe trial--again. She commented how helpful it is to have the support of other people, because she feels terribly alone in what she's going through. I've pondered her situation--and wept for her, and prayed for her--and I remembered something. Some years ago, during a Relief Society lesson, a sister told of a realization she had during a time when she and her husband were having severe trials with one of their daughters. What came to her is that even though we may be going through something with another person, we really each face our trials alone. Even though she and her husband supported each other, and she was extremely grateful for that, the only way she achieved real solace was through prayer--deep heart-felt, gut-wrenching, down-on-your-knees prayer.

Tremendous comfort can also be ours through the scriptures. I realized that some years ago, but I had to do it in my own way. I have a short attention span. (I also told my kids that I have been blessed with a short memory, so I tend to take good notes to compensate.) In 1995 I received what I know was a personal revelation. I was even told what store to go to! I knew there was something important for me at Office Max. I went down there with no clue as to what I was looking for, but I had a feeling that I would know when I found it.

I made my way slowly down the first aisle, looking to the right--and there it was. What practically jumped off the shelf at me was a Gold Fibre Designer Project Planner, 9 1/2 in. by 7 1/2 in. No. 20-817. Huh? And what am I to do with this?

I don't remember now if it came to me in the store what I was to do with it, or if I figured that out later, but I went home with my new-found treasure. Over the next few years three others came to join it.

This sample page is out of my scripture notebook #2. I chose this page because it not only contains scriptures, but it shows a few quotes as well. Over time I came to include both. These little books turned out to be ideal for me because:

• There is a place at the top center of the page to write the
  topic or topics.
  
• To the right is the page number, followed by
  
• The date that page was started
  
• To the left is a column where I can write comments.
  
• There is also lots of space in which to record scriptures
  and quotes.

If a topic has lots of entries, they are continued on the back. Sometimes there are so many that it's necessary to start a new page. When that happens I just start it on the next empty page, and put a "see also" not only on the new page, but also on the original one.

The topic of the page shown above is Forgiveness/Repentance. It is page 102 and was started 1 Jan 1996. It says:

1. Forgiveness! What a wonderful way to start a new year.

See "Unexpected visitation" in Topics--Forgiveness.

[Note: Not only do I have scripture notebooks, I also have

a whole section of topics on the computer that I add to

over time. I really enjoy synthesizing information.]

2. Matt 6:14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses,

your Heavenly Father will also forgive you.

3. Psalm 32:5 I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and

mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my

transgressions unto the Lord; and Thou forgavest the

iniquity of my sin.

4. Heard on the radio "Perhaps I can't forget, but I

can choose to not remember."

5. "Forgiveness means to write it off. Let it go. Tear up

the account. It is to render the account cancelled."

(Boundaries, by Cloud & Townsend)

6. 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just
to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all

unrighteousness.

7. Mosiah 26:30…As often as my people repent will I

forgive them their trespasses against me.

8. Moroni 6:8 …As oft as they repented and sought

forgiveness, with real intent, they were forgiven.

Please note: Originally I made colored index tabs and put them at the top of the pages. Over time I stopped using them in favor of a typed, cross-reference index which makes it a lot easier to find things. Also, I regret that I usually have not included dates on the individual entries.

I have found it to be great fun to read from the top down and see how well the entries fit together even though they are from different sources at different times.

I'd like to close with a few entries from page 134 the topic of which is Read the Scriptures:

For the Lord giveth wisdom: Out of His mouth cometh
knowledge and understanding. (Prov. 2:6)

…Hearken diligently unto me, and remember the
words which I have spoken; and come unto the Holy
One of Israel, and feast upon that which perisheth
not, neither can be corrupted, and let your soul
delight in fatness. (2 Nephi 9:51)

I love the metaphor of a fat soul. How comforting that sounds! (I know there are also several scriptures that refer to fat bones. Fat bones sounds to me like a possible remedy for osteoporosis!)

Jim commented that "You can never get too much of the word of God." He also said, "Getting fat on the word of God does not give you cholesterol problems!" (I like that!)

Dr. David Jeremiah once said "If we feast on food we lose our appetite after awhile, but if we feast on the word of God, we get hungrier for more." (Turning Point radio program.)

Everything's Just Ducky

These are from "Elizabeth, Week 3." Click HERE to see more.

Daddy/Daughter matching Shirts!

Elizabeth reminds me of someone in this picture. I think it's my brother. I'll have to check some old pictures. Wouldn't you like to be this peaceful?

I saw it! He caught a fish THIS big!

I'm Really Excited

We're going to go to California for Elizabeth's blessing! That means we're going to get to meet this little cutie and hold her and get acquainted.

We're going to take along the dress that Aunt Barbie made three years ago for Kate's blessing.
The dress was pretty big on Kate (pictured here) but it worked just fine. I'm sure it will be great for Elizabeth too.

Kirsten is excited about going along. Betsey, and our ferocious guard dog Angie, will be holding down the fort here at home.

President Hinckley Passed Away

Our beloved prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley passed away last night at the age of 97. He will be greatly missed, but at the same time I'm happy for him. He has been without sister Hinckley almost 4 years, and that is long enough. Apparently his work was finally completed and he got to go home. I can almost imagine that grand reunion last night!

Things will work out, if you keep trying and praying and working.
Things will work out.They always do.

For quite a few years we've had this picture of President Hinckley and quote from him on our refrigerator, surrounded by quotes from scriptures. It's been nice to come into the kitchen in the morning and "read" the refrigerator and be encouraged by President Hinckley. I have fond memories of him, his sincere dedication, his vibrant testimony and his endearing personality. He will be greatly missed, but I'm glad he is at long last with Sister Hinckley. Shortly before she passed away I remember him saying that her clock was winding down, and they couldn't find a way to wind it up again, so we knew it wouldn't be long for her. We wondered how much longer he would be with us. He has accomplished an amazing amount since then, and apparently his work here on the earth is at long last, finished.

Meridian Magazine had a nice article about President Hinckley's life. Go to http://www.ldsmag.com/churchupdate/080128presidenthinckleypassesaway.html

Rescuing a Badly Burned Pot

I cooked some carrots this morning and didn't pay enough attention to them until I became aware of an obnoxious smell wafting my way. (OK, I confess. I was too involved with the computer to notice before then.) As I dashed over to assess the damage, it became more and more obvious that those carrots had done more than just go dry. The burned smell got stronger and stronger the closer I got, especially when I took the lid off. Oh wow! The top part of the carrots were still orange, but the whole bottom of the pan had a thick, impenetrable-looking black, gunky coating.

Woe is me. That was my favorite pan! I use it almost every day. I wondered how long it would be before I could use it again, or if I ever would. Some time ago I learned that boiling water with cream of tartar in a burned pan would usually loosen the burned stuff. Alas I was out of cream of tartar. (Hadn't burned enough pans lately, I guess--or perhaps too many.) I asked myself what I might try instead. What came to me was BAKING SODA! I remember once seeing a whole book on the wonderful stuff that can be done with baking soda, do I decided to try it.

I poured some water in the pan, glopped in a generous amount of baking soda and brought it to a boil. After just 5 or 10 minutes I decided to scrape at it with a spoon to see if I could tell if anything was happening. Imagine my surprise when practically all the black stuff came off! Just like that! With the addition of a minimum of scouring with a scouring pad, the pan was as good as new. I was amazed. When I've used cream of tartar it always took me several sets of boiling and scraping, and adding new stuff before the pan came clean. Here it was clean and shiny in a matter of minutes. It was so easy. I was impressed. Yay for baking soda!--K

p.s. The burned carrot incident has taught me that the computer renders me brain dead to everything around me (just like Jim with the newspaper.) :-) Now that I'm more aware, I will pay more attention. I promise! :-) I hereby pledge that I will not allow the house to burn down around me while I am blogging…

Barbie sent me the following comment: "I set the timer when I'm doing laundry to remind myself to go change it. Maybe you should set the timer when you have something on the stove just so you don't forget!"

She thought it was "too funny," that I pledged to not let the house burn down around me while blogging. :-)

Helena's First Drawing of a Daddy, Plus Added Thoughts and a Photo

During a romp through an old scrapbook that I had forgotten even existed, I found this picture. When the kids were little I encouraged them to draw, and I made a habit of writing on the pictures what the kids said about them. This one was labeled "Helena's first drawing of a daddy," so I'm sure that's what she said about it. She did it all by herself. It shows a smiling face, and two arms and two legs, which is a typical style for a young child, but this is pretty remarkable for just barely two years of age. It's kinda cute.

It brings back memories of the spunky little two year old, with pony tails on top of her head, who was very excited about everything she did. She loved to tell me stories but couldn't stand still while she did it. She paced back and forth and jumped up and down while spinning tales about "Chickie," who was her favorite character from our big book by Richard Scarey. She really got into it, and her little pony tails jumped up and down as much as she did. It's an indelible memory etched upon my heart.

This picture was taken in November of 1973.
Helena was 2 years 9 months old,
Kirsten was 4 years 2 months. Jim and Kathey were both 31.

I also have a fond memory of a time when my parents came to visit. We went to Long John Silver's. (I don't think we've been there since). After we placed our order and sat down, Helena walked over to be sociable with the people at the next table. She took one look at their food and exclaimed "OH HOW WONDERFUL!" The ladies grinned at each other and said something like "Aren't you the precocious one!" When they asked her how old she was, she replied matter-of-factly "Two! I talk a lot!" as she bounced back to our table.

Wouldn't it be fun if just once in awhile our long-ago little tots could come back for a visit?--K

P.S. When I showed Helena's drawing to Betsey she said, "Are you sure you didn't help her? It looks just like daddy! (Gotta love it!)

Kathey and the Rabbit

I am very pleased about:

Finding this picture

Remembering how to scan it in

Remembering how to include it as an attachment (to send to Helena) and

Actually being able to make a list using html. (Thanks Karen!)

The picture above is old and very faded, so I'm hoping that Helena can adjust the color. I'll post it here anyway, even though it hasn't been adjusted yet. :-) It was taken during the summer of 1957 just after I graduated from 8th grade. I was 14 at the time.
Here is the picture after Helena worked on it. The contrast is better, but she doesn't know what to do about the color.
This is Laura Duffin Larsen's contribution. It's much closer to the real color. Thanks Laura!

The rabbit was probably one from a succession of litters of baby rabbits we had at our house. Over the years my grandfather literally ran across several litters while mowing his lawn. Not wanting them to get hurt, (not wanting to litter his lawn with their limbs) he gave them to us. My mother was very patient with me during these times, and let my friends and me take care of them until they were big enough to release into the wild. We bottle fed them for awhile, and then made grand excursions picking dandelion greens to feed them. I remember that it was great fun and quite an adventure.

Talk about my mother being patient--over the years we had a succession not only of rabbits, but snakes and one time a baby bat. The most memorable time occurred when a snake escaped in my bedroom. Well it was only a baby garter snake, so it wasn't too horrible. My grandfather, however, (bless his heart) felt it was his duty to tell me a story about some men who were out camping under the stars. Grandpa said one man slept with his mouth open and a snake crawled in and went down into his stomach. (gulp!) I think my mother could have shot him for telling me a thing like that. :-)

I was so scared that I had to sleep with my light on, for a whole week, until that scary serpent was found! My very brave, but no longer patient, mother went searching for it and found it coiled up in my closet. She wasn't about to pick it up, so she prodded it with a broom and got it to crawl into a jar. Thanks Mom!

Before and After

Karen wasn't very comfortable here.

This is SO much nicer!

For more pictures of Elizabeth, see below.

More Pictures of Elizabeth

Karen sent us an album of pictures of Elizabeth. Click here to see them.

An Insight From an Error in Perception

…Whoso would hearken unto the word of God; and would hold fast unto it, they would never perish; neither could the temptations and the firey darts of the adversary overpower them unto blindness, to lead them away to destruction. (1 Nephi 15:34)

When I first read that this morning I saw "firey doubts of the adversary…" and I thought "Wow! that sure is true." The doubts that come from the adversary are like fire and can pierce us to the very core just like darts. That's a good reason to stay close to the scriptures. It's so easy to be led astray by doubts, and so comforting to be led back by the word of God.

…They who have sought me early shall
find rest to their souls. (D&C 54:10)

If we can seek the Lord early in a problem then it's less likely to get the best of us. If we remember to seek him early in the morning, our day will always go better. If we can learn to seek him early, we will be guided by the spirit to avoid many of the firey darts and doubts and pitfalls that would normally come our way.--K

AND Here's Elizabeth!

Elizabeth Anne Ahlstrom made her appearance on January 14 at 12:47 California time. She weighed in at 8 pounds 10.4 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long. Her excited papa called to tell us the news when she was about 15 minutes old. When I asked how Karen was, her response was "Good, now." :-)

We're so glad Elizabeth is here and that everyone is well.

My blogging skills aren't very well developed yet. I've been trying to figure out how to post several pictures in the same post and add text. So far I haven't figured it out, so I decided just to post in pieces. It worked well enough, I think. See pictures below…

Elizabeth herself. Look at all that red hair!

Karen and Elizabeth Getting Acquainted

It's such a blessing to have her here--finally!

Excited Papa and New Little Daughter

Perplexing Printer Problem

When we bought our present computer several years ago it had a new-fangled printer with it that had bells & whistles that our old one didn't have--namely a copier and a scanner. My first reaction was that this was a bit over the top, but since then I've come to appreciate the convenience of having these things in my home. The new printer also introduced me to something else our old printer didn't have--permanent ink. We could accidentally set a printed page down in an escaped puddle and not have the ink suddenly expand into its own creative style of splooshes and splotches. I was in printer heaven.

Sigh. All that has changed--hopefully temporarily. Our beloved printer served us well, but several weeks ago the magenta ink became plugged. We cleaned and cleaned the printer heads. We shook the ink cartridge. We put in a NEW cartridge. I even tried EFT on it! No matter what we did, it refused to budge. The ink stayed happily snuggled in its own little cartridge and probably smirked at our efforts. Peter recommended that we call our family computer expert, Karen, who gently broke the news to us that we most likely needed a new printer. In reality, it would probably cost more to fix it than it would to buy a new one. Sadness! Grief! Misery! Woe! (That's got to be a quote from something because I've heard my kids say that more than once.)

My Dear Hubby, after much deliberation and comparison, came home with a new HP Photosmart C6280 All-in-One Printer•Scanner•Copier (The resemblance between it and a one-eyed, wide-mouth frog is quite amazing and actually rather startling, but perhaps that's only if you have an imagination for that sort of thing, and also enjoy the occasional run-on sentence, which I do.) This thing has so many bells & whistles that it even turns the paper over and prints on the other side if you ask it to. Ohmigosh! I told Jim that this thing is smarter than I am.

SO, last night I printed off an EFT article that I wanted to use and also add to my files. I set down my lovely, newly printed copy, and OH NO! Splooshes and Splotches! I didn't realize there were some random water spots lurking in that exact same spot on the table. Why would anyone invent a super-duper Photosmart C6280 All-in-One Printer•Scanner•Copier with water-soluble ink?

It makes no sense. Jim said that perhaps permanent ink clogs easier, but that's the only drawback I can see. We can make a good case for permanent ink. For instance we have a permanent shopping list on our computer. We have several copies on a clipboard hanging by the kitchen sink and from week to week we just check off those things we need to get and take the list along. Now with all the stores spraying their produce with gentle rain every few minutes, hands get wet when picking up produce. Wet hands on the printed page would yield ink on the hands as well as splooches and splotches on the paper. Yuck! Don’t like it. Don’t want it!

Jim said that none of the printers he looked at said anything about whether or not the ink was permanent. He’s going to do some investigating to see if there is permanent ink available for this printer, and if not he will see if Epson currently has a new one that does have permanent ink. Any suggestions?

Elizabeth Anne Has Arrived

Peter called to let me know that Elizabeth Anne arrived at 12:47 California time! She was 8 pounds 10.4 ounces, so it's no wonder that Karen was so uncomfortable! She was 19 1/2 inches long, and had an Apgar score of 9.9.

She not only has hair, but it's actually RED! Her eye lashes are extremely light. The nurses said that's a good indication that she will have red hair. We will post pictures when we get some.

Barbie pointed out that Peter and Karen are the only ones in our family who have birthdays on even-numbered days, and now Elizabeth has an even-numbered day also. How fun!

Actually my Mother not only had an even-numbered day, but it was also the 14th. She was born November 14, 1906.

No Baby Yet--A Child of God

It's 10:10 a.m. Ohio time and no baby news yet. I didn't really expect any yet but we're hopeful. Peter called last night and said that Karen was to be at the hospital at 8:00 p.m. (California time) for a procedure preliminary to starting pitocin this morning. In the meantime they had also worked the acupressure points some. I encouraged him to keep doing that.

Well Peter is excited to become a dad and hopes that he will be a good one. I told him it would come on him gradually. I also told him about the sweet bonding experience his dad had with him when he was probably less than an hour old. Back then they took babies away and cleaned them up and made sure the temperature was stabilized before anyone could hold them. We also didn't have rooming in, so the little ones were whisked away to the nursery. (I'm sure glad that has changed!)

As soon as he could, Jim went and got Peter, sat in a rocking chair with him, and sang "I am a child of God," all three verses. Then he went home and went to bed!

Inducing Labor

Karen's baby is being induced tonight. Baby Elizabeth is doing fine, she’s just having too good a time staying put, so the doctor says it’s time to kick her out.

Some time ago I sent Karen some diagrams from the book Woman Heal Thyself about inducing labor. We used these points on Helena three years ago. She also was overdue.

I don’t remember a lot of detail but it seems to me that we massaged Helena’s ankle and leg points off and on Sunday evening. We also used a small roller on the acupressure points on her lower back. (The little roller, called a rollo, was ordered from Mildred Carter who deals in all things reflexology.) Barb also remembered that Helena massaged the points in the web of the hands between the thumb and index finger quite a bit. I think the last time we did any of that was about 9 p.m. Helena said that the roller on her back felt especially good.

She went into labor around 3:30 a.m., and called us about 5:00 a.m.. When we all arrived at the hospital and Helena was checked for the first time about 8:00 a.m., she was already dilated 8 cm. Kate was born at about 10:57 Monday morning. Not bad for a first baby!

Labor slowed down some after she was in the birthing room, or Kate probably would have been born sooner. Recently I looked up some acupressure points about keeping labor going, and I also remembered about having mom lie on the left side to help speed things along. That was done with me once when my labor seemed to stop progressing. The nurse said it was her special technique.

These things really seem to work. Do you know of other things that also help with labor? Please let me know.

If anyone wants the diagrams, please e-mail me, or leave a comment here including your e-mail address and I will send the information to you. --K

Snoring

Snoring can be a very aggravating problem. It can be very hard on one's health and on a marriage. A young woman wrote in to Mamasource that she was having a really hard time with her husband's snoring. I wrote a response, because I know how very hard that situation can be. What I shared with her was similar to this:

Apparently different things work for different people.

1. Certain foods might aggravate snoring more. My husband snores more when he eats potatoes, or dairy products.

2. Lavender oil sprinkled on my husband's pillow sometimes helps quiet him down, but it's not a permanent thing.

3. What really seems to help him, however, is going through a "script" in the book Feelings Buried Alive Never Die, by Karol Truman. (About page 92) It's a script for clearing out things in general, but in the back of the book there is a list of common conditions or ailments that could be helped by plugging them into the script. I looked up snoring in the book and put in statements that seemed to be relevant for him. Now when he starts snoring again, he merely reads through the script once before going to bed. If he does that for a night or two, the snoring will stop. It's amazing how well it works. He used to wake me up several times a night, and it was awful. As I said, snoring can be very hard on a marriage.

4. AND here's a quote from the Essential Oils Desk Reference: "SNORING: Rub 4-6 drops thyme oil diluted 50-50 [with a vegetable oil] on the soles of both feet at bedtime." (The oils that we use are from Young Living Essential Oils. Others may work if they are very pure, therapeutic grade oils.)

5. Last but not least--people have had excellent results by using EFT (a quick, painless technique that involves tapping on a few acupressure points on the body). Sometimes those results have lasted for months or even years. I suggest going to www.emofree.com/ click here
Once at the emofree website do a search for snoring, and you will come up with several interesting articles.

Hopefully some of these things will help. It's no fun to live with a snorer.

The Littlest Sunbeam

Our granddaughter, Kate, started Sunbeams on Sunday. (How did she get to be three years old? We must have had a really long blink!)

Here is what Helena wrote about her: "Because of when Kate's birthday falls, she gets to go into Primary when she's just barely turned three. The way they do it at church is that kids are in the nursery from eighteen months to three years old, but they move up at the beginning of the new year. So if a child is born in January, they stay in nursery till they're almost four. We've been wondering how Kate would handle being in with the bigger kids.

"The 3-4 year old class in Primary is called Sunbeams (after the 'Jesus wants me for a sunbeam' song). Here's our little Sunbeam on her first day. I hear she had a good time. She likes singing, and stories, and she has some good teachers. (The 'staying in your seat' concept will take a bit longer, I think.) When I asked her later if she liked Primary, she said, 'Yes!'"

The Newest Family Member--Almost

Our daughter-in-law posted some new pictures today. Baby Elizabeth is due on the 10th. Here is a very pregnant Karen.

New Year's Happenings and Memories

OK, I admit that I’m rather slow, but I’d still like to write a little about New Year’s. I’ve enjoyed reading what others in my family have said about it, so I’ll take my turn too.

New Year’s Eve afternoon Jim went to the Korean store and bought some dduk (small wafer-like things made out of compressed rice flour. They look sort of like soft potato slices.) Betsey went to the video store and rented two movies. We saw Ratatouille while Kirsten was still awake. Kirsten turns into a pumpkin around 9:00, so after she went to bed we watched The Pursuit of Happyness. (Yes, “Happyness” is spelled correctly.) We liked both movies. They were very different, but worth watching.

For supper that night Betsey made Dduk Guk (which is a Korean dish traditional for new year’s) and made enough so we could have it the next day also. It’s a new tradition in our family to have Dduk Guk for New Year's. (Helena learned about it when she was in Korea on her mission. I don’t know if it’s spelled correctly or not. Helena…?) For munchies that night we had popcorn and sun chips.

We heard that this year was the 100th anniversary of the ball dropping in Times Square, so we definitely wanted to watch it. Actually it’s been a tradition of ours forever. Dick Clark looked pretty good this year. He seems to have recovered quite well from the stroke he had last year.

When Helena was 8 years old we lived at Edwards AFB California. At 9:00 California time it was 12:00 midnight in Times Square, so the kids got to watch the ball drop before they went to bed. We also had a great time banging pans and making lots of noise. That worked out well. Just to add atmosphere we set our clock to show midnight also. It was fun.

When I was growing up we had a few traditions for New Year’s. We always ate pickled herring with saltine crackers. (I'm sure that beat getting pickled in other ways.) My mom’s parents came from Sweden and my dad’s parents were from Norway and Denmark, so I figured that the pickled herring was something Scandinavian. Oh yeah, speaking of pickled, my dad also LOVED pickled pigs feet (blech!), but not necessarily for New Year’s Eve. And traditionally we always got out the New Year’s noise makers and party hats. In later years I embarrassed my kids by going out on the porch and banging pans to make noise. I restrained myself this year. Besides, Kirsten was asleep.

Kirsten really likes parades so on New Year’s Day we traditionally watch the Rose Parade. Jim also takes the Christmas tree down then. He has it down to a science and gets it all taken care of while the parade is running. The last few years we’ve made a point of watching the parade on the Home & Garden Channel so Paul James could tell us all about the various varieties of flowers. We like his commentary.

When we were in college at the University of Illinois, the U of I played in the Rose Bowl. A group from the school chartered a plane and Jim went with them. He stayed with his brother Fred and family while there. The game was played in January 1964. He doesn’t remember who they played or if they won, but he does remember that former President Dwight D. Eisenhower was the grand marshal, and was also at the game. This was before Jim and I met, but I thought it was a neat bit of New Year’s history. The U of I played in the Rose Bowl this year. They didn’t do so well, but those kids got to be in California for 5 days, so I suspect it was a fun experience for them.

Wishing you lots of good things in 2008.

Full House Lyrics

Perhaps most people are not even interested in this, but as Peter may remember, I've been "bugged" for years by not being able to understand the lyrics to the opening song on Full House. Since Kirsten watches it at every opportunity, I continued to be slightly annoyed by it. I suddenly realized I could google "Everywhere You Look" and see what came up, so I did. Lo and behold it was the first thing that came up. So if anyone else has been waiting with baited (Helena is that the right one?) breath--here it is!

Everywhere You Look
by Jesse Frederick - Full House Lyrics

What ever happened to predictability?
The milkman, the paperboy, evening TV.

Everywhere you look ,
Everywhere you go (there's a heart).
There's a heart
A hand to hold onto.

Everywhere you look ,
Everywhere you go.
There's a face
Of somebody who needs you.

Everywhere you look,
When you're lost out there and you're all alone,
A light is waiting to carry you home,
Everywhere you look.
Everywhere you look.

It was that "evening TV" that I never quite got when I would try to listen to it. I still don't--really. To me it still sounds like "Enan tea lee" which makes no sense. At least now I know what it's supposed to be. :-)

Actually it felt pretty good to clear up a long-standing thing like that, even if it is so minor. A rather nice way to start the new year I think. --K

What Does Fish Oil Have to do With Neck Pain, or Sarcoid, or even M.S.?

I’ve had a chronic illness, called Sarcoid (Sarcoidosis, or Beck’s Sarcoid), for many years. Mine manifests in the lungs, although sarcoid can affect people in different ways. For me it’s a real energy zapper, and it also greatly affects my breathing. (I'm on oxygen at night.) Since I’m rather partial to breathing, having sarcoid has sent me on a quest over paths that I normally would not have chosen to travel. In fact it has pretty much affected my whole adult life and that of my family. I must say that all those paths are not necessarily a bad thing, because all of us have learned much and experienced things that ordinarily would not have come our way. But, more about that at some future time.

New Adventures

Because of all the health challenges, I’ve chosen several new adventures lately. Several months ago I started going to Merek Ramirez D.O.M. at the Harmony Centre of Integrative Medicine, in Springfield, Ohio for acupuncture treatments, and Chinese herbs. I am VERY impressed with him and his treatments. (Jim has also started going to him for leg pain that has bothered him ever since he totaled a rented pick-up truck 6 years ago.)

My next adventure is that of seeing a Holistic Health Counselor, Robin Gentry McGee. I’ve known for a long time that my health, energy and breathing are greatly affected by what I eat, and even though I’ve used different diets and many supplements over the years, I could tell that I needed more help. Robin’s website Just Great Foods asks an interesting question: How alive are you willing to be? Well, I’m not only partial to breathing, I’m also very partial to living, and being and doing. OK, count me in.

Something that has really impressed me is how much what Robin shares with me matches what Merek says and vice-versa, even though they have never met. This helps me a great deal because the areas I’m treading in now I’ve not been to before.

Robin has had very extensive training. Recently, she shared some things about FISH OIL that she learned from Dr. Barry Sears who was one of her instructors from The Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York City. Fish oil is wonderful for inflammation and pain. Robin knows someone who had a chronic neck problem for years who has been helped dramatically by fish oil. Chronic illnesses, such as sarcoid may also be helped by using fish oil.

Dr. Barry Sears says that chronic diseases are caused by inflammation. He has had good results with using fish oil for inflammation. He says that fish oil even helps to regenerate the myelin sheath of M.S. patients. Here's a quote from his website:

There are two types of inflammation. The first is classic inflammation that is associated with pain, swelling, and redness. This can be characterized as screaming pain since it is very obvious and calls for immediate intervention. The other type of inflammation is silent inflammation or silent pain that is far more insidious. It doesn't generate the pain associated with classic inflammation and therefore goes untreated for years. We now know that this silent inflammation is the underlying cause of heart disease, cancer, and Alzheimer's disease. Virtually every type of chronic disease has a significant inflammatory component as its underlying cause. A primary focus of modern medical research remains the reduction of both classic and silent inflammation.

My stomach doesn’t seem to like taking a lot of pills, so I elected to use the Carlson brand of liquid, lemon-flavored fish oil. So far I’ve used the liquid fish oil on various vegetables, fish, baked potatoes, aduki beans and lentils. It has good lemon flavoring and actually tastes pretty good. I can see that it would be good on salads. I’ve not been using many salads lately because Merek told me that I should stay away from raw foods right now.

Raw Foods Aggravate the Spleen

I thought it was strange that Merek said to stay away from raw foods because so many people advocate raw foods as being totally good for you. Merek explained that according to Chinese Medicine, raw foods aggravate the spleen. An aggravated spleen then causes dampness in the lungs, which is very bad for me. I’d never heard of such a thing so I told Robin what he said, and she totally agreed with Merek. I found that fascinating! Merek also told me that there is new research coming out of China about sarcoid, which he will be investigating. I'm very interested to find out what he learns. It's great to have Merek and Robin in my corner.

So 2008 will be an adventurous year of cutting down on raw foods, and using fish oil and doing whatever else lies ahead…