Another Trip Around the Sun

I'm asking myself the same question again: How can the year be over already? I always marvel that a trip around the sun has come to an end and another one will begin. It doesn't sneak up on me; it's simply a mark in time that seems to occur with increasing speed.

We are spending this new year's eve with good friends playing Scum; a card game that takes no brains or thinking which allows for a lot of great conversation. Last night I learned that Murray and I are a lot older than the rest of our scum group. I almost felt embarassed to say my age out loud. Then I asked myself why? I never feel that same hesitation to mention my age when I'm one of the younger chicas in the room. Oh well, we really love those young friends of ours.

Here's to a wonderful new year. May 2009 bring us good cheer, good health, and the joy that only the Savior can give and yes, another birthday.

Seems Like Just Yesterday

Twenty-six years ago I won the lottery and walked away with a heck of a guy who quickly took me to the temple to be married.

He claims he had to take me there quickly because his mother refused to feed him until he got married. I know better..... he just couldn't wait for me to become his darlin' wife with all the perks and benefits that come with that position.

In his rush to achieve marital bliss, he got faulty goods whose warranty expired a few years ago. My Dad shook his hand after the ceremony and told him "all sales are final, no exchanges or returns" with a big grin on his face.

The best part of it all, he's a happy customer because he knows he needs me as much as I need him. Let's keep it going forever honey. I love you.

New Couple in the Ward

Have you met the new couple in the ward, Johnny and Mahana?

Johnny Lingo was a shrewd Polynesian trader that went to the big island to bargain for a wife. Mahana, the young woman he desired, was considered by her neighbors and even her father to be of little value, sullen, ugly and undesirable. As the bargaining began, women of the island brag to each other of how many cows their husbands had given for each of them, and comment that Mahana's father will be lucky to see one cow as Lingo's offer. The counselor advises Mahana's father to ask for three cows so that finally, Mahana's father will at least get one cow.
The bargaining began and as the counselor suggested Mahana's father asked Johnny Lingo for three cows. Islanders laugh derisively, then wait for Lingo to make his counter-offer, certain that he will make a devastating bargain.
Johnny, considering, says that three cows are many . . ."But not enough for my Mahana!" He then offers the unheard-of price of eight cows for her hand in marriage. The next day, the villagers gathered at the house of Mahana's father to see the completion of the deal. Some of the islanders said that Lingo reconsidered his deal and would not show up. But Lingo brought the cows. He and Mahana then left the island on a trading trip.
When they came back, to the island's astonishment, Mahana is a beautiful, happy woman. Even Mahana's father began accusing Johnny Lingo of cheating him by giving only eight cows for a girl truly worth ten cows. Johnny, her proud husband, had proved to her that her true worth had nothing to do with what others saw, but only what she truly was.
He had made the best bargain of all -- a few cows for a life with the woman that he loved.

Don't believe me? Their car is in the ward parking lot right now.

Yes, they really are in my ward. The proof:

Deck the Halls

An anonymous person regularly decorates a tree on the main thoroughfare in my neighborhood every year the day after Thanksgiving.

I heard through the grapevine that whoever does this had to obtain a waiver from the Civil War Park authority to walk on this piece of terra firma and dress the tree as Rudolph. You see, he stands on hallowed ground. This strip of land lies between two lanes of opposing traffic and contains civil war Federal troop trenches and is protected.

I'm so glad that waiver was granted. Rudolph is a small piece of whimsy to greet me when I drive down the street to my house.

I know that in the coming days my neighbors will put up their Christmas lights and brightly colored decorations. I love this time of year for many reasons. When Rudloph shows up I know it's the beginning of a joyous season of celebration. We all celebrate in our own way, but it's a time of merrymaking that brings us all together.