Happy Halloween!

My FHE #9 (sort of)

O Come Back All Ye Unfaithful…. J/K. Jewel, remember the rust specks in the tub! I figured it was from one of the more ancient pipes in this house, and woe-is-me! on what to do about that, but they’re gone now I have a new water heater, replacing a 15-year old, the only “essential equipment” in this house that survived the fire. Even having it on 120 the water is WAY hotter than it ever was before. I’m grateful I was more concerned about who to replace it than any other consideration because I found out that some units which happen to be better than what you find in big-box stores can only be purchased from a licensed contractor.

So that’s one of my thanksgivings today. It’s time to do some more because I have been rather ornery the last couple days and need to cross that fence and get to the greener side. I HATE to waste money and just recently I found out I’ve been doing that, thanks to someone else’s decision, which puts it on the top of that particular hate pile. Hence my orneriness.

I’m very grateful my washing machine died. Some things that “work” NEED to die because newer IS better. I’m grateful I browbeat the repair company for the old one sufficiently enough get a complete refund. Not that I expected or even asked for that, but I guess that was their response to me peppering the internet with my “reviews” of their (in)efficiency. (I still don’t recommend H&E [formerly Sears repair] to anyone so try not to have to pick them for any of your appliance warranties.)

I’m grateful for my last calling. It’s very challenging but worth the grief. I think I’ve just recently earned a tad of credibility by being questioningly obedient. Children, there’s a lesson here. ;^) The scrutiny has been so severe the organist didn't have enough time to practice their latest change, and was absent last Sunday. I got a phone call of veiled apology after that one.

I’m grateful I have considerably fewer leaves to rake up this fall. I'm grateful to still have raspberries! (I accidentally trimmed them the right way to get a longer picking season.)

I’m grateful I’ve had the best helper ever at work for this year’s school start-up flood. I nominated her for employee of the month and she gets a plaque and $100 at the next school board meeting. J I found out some interesting things about her when I compiled the write-up for the board. As happens with any rewardable person worth their salt, she hasn’t flaunted her achievements. She was the high school valedictorian. She has played cello in the BYU Philharmonic for four years. She currently plays in the Utah Valley Symphony. She used to listen to Phantom of the Opera daily when she was a kindergartener. She took French for four years in high school, with the plan she then achieved of doing a BYU study abroad program in Paris. All that, and she willingly does data entry for me ad nauseam. And there’s a lesson in that, as well. Dirty work is part and parcel with life’s accolades.

I’m grateful to have a copy of the birthday DVD Greg put together for Lois. And I’m grateful to get to watch it with everyone on Dave’s flat screen.

I’m grateful to have Janeil’s tender blog music to listen to whilst I repent.

And lastly, I have a postscript to my last Sunday FHE. We were talking at work about dolls and it reminded me that I left this out. So sorry, kids, you have to put up with one more story. When Jewel was almost 18 months, her dad brought home a doll for her for Christmas. I was not happy because I envisioned her first doll to be a baby doll, and this one wasn't. She loved it. She also loved the child-sized red rocking chair she got that year, which became the doll’s over-sized chair. She would literally throw it into the chair and say, “Be good baby.” And just in case you’re wondering, no one ever threw her into a chair, though I can’t say she, so to speak, never experienced any “force.” When Grant left on his mission and we were all at the MTC, Jewel was refusing to “connect” by any form of a goodbye. It was an act of self-preservation. She knew it was going to be the biggest loneliness challenge of her entire life and to pretend his leaving didn’t matter made it easier to bare. I was feeling badly for Grant about it, something for him to worry over when he needed to move on, but per usual he knew what to do. There was pressure to get us gone (missionaries had to file out one door, family out another). He finally pulled her into a hug and said something in her ear, and she dissolved into tears and a returned embrace. He whispered, “Be good baby.”

In looking for the above pictures, and remembering Grant pointing out where some would be I’d looked for before (by far, most are with their dad), which led to more ideas, I found these referred to in prior FHE’s:


Jewel’s Diorama - Senior Project


Grant’s Snow Bike - Senior Project


The Avalanche January 13, 1998












Looking forward to pictures of everyone’s Halloween!