Monday Meme

I think this is my favorite part of the week.  I decided that I need to be flexible.  Some days I don't get to touch my computer, so I probably won't get to every part of my little schedule all the time, but I'll keep doing what I can. But this particular day I just really like doing. :) I think I'll just tell you a few childhood memories I've been thinking of.

1. At one point my siblings and I decided that calling each other mixes of animal names was super insulting.  I remember once that in a sassy voice I called Jennifer "Pig-giraffe!  Half giraffe, mostly pig!" And then I ran because I knew I had just earned myself a beating.
2. Once we were playing outside in the sprinkler and we decided we should make a swimming pool in the sandbox.  I know at least Jennifer and James were with me.  We turned on the hose and filled up the sandbox and had a great time.  I remember I could just barely float above the sand without touching it. I thought it was wonderful!  Mama didn't agree, though.  We were in trouble when she came out to check on us.
3. I used to like to play Cowboys and Indians or Cops and Robbers with James and his friends.  It was great fun.
4. We once had turkeys, and one of them was named Snood.  He was mean!  He would chase us like he wanted to bite us.  It was kind of creepy.
5. We also once had a dog named Rolly.  This was at the time I was just starting to remember things (I mean, like I was really little).  My parents took him to the pound, though.  He was a naughty doggy and liked to chase cars.  I don't remember him very well, though.
6. We had chickens for a long time.  They lived in a fenced part of the backyard and had a big coop.  It was at the back east corner of the yard by the wood pile.  My siblings and I liked to climb on top of the chicken coop.  It was great fun.  I can't remember if it was allowed or not, but we sure did climb up there a lot. If I remember right there was something like shingles up there, and I liked to feel the roughness of it under my shoes. When it was time to eat them we'd take them to the Chlarsons' house, and those boys would chop the chickens' heads off and then prepare them all just right, I believe.  I only went along once when the chickens were killed, and I don't remember it much.  I do remember it was in their backyard.  I was probably skipping around playing, too busy to watch much.
7. Robert had rabbits for a while at one point.  One of them was white with pink eyes.  One of them got out into the backyard one evening, and we all had a fun chase to get it back.
8. We had some finches at one point.  I believe we had two sets of them.  I loved them so much.  (Not enough to clean out the cage, mind you, but I did love to sit and watch them.) One of them we named bowd (bode?) because it was like how one of our younger siblings said bird.  I can't remember how the birds died.  Oh, wait.  I think they didn't get fed because somebody thought they had enough food when really it was seed shells that they left in their bowl.  Anyway, I remember we buried them over on the east side of the house.  I made little headstones out of sticks and wrote their names on them with crayon or something.
9. And speaking of pets, we had goldfish when I was little.  It seems like they were kept up on top of the kitchen cabinets because I remember climbing up there and crumbling crackers in there, trying to feed them.  I was pretty little.  Well, let the record show, crackers are not good snacks for fishies. 
10. Goodness!  I wonder why I'm talking about animals so much today!  Well, here's one that isn't about animals.  We used to go watch fireworks on the 4th of July at the football field at the high school.  They charged people by the carload to get in.  It was fun to sit there in the stands with half the town.  The fireworks were set off at the visitors' side.  We all sat there and said, "Oooh!  Aaah!" together.  I liked that.
11. One time Kimberly and I were sitting on top of the chicken coop talking, and she said something I knew we were not supposed to say.  I knew that she didn't know she shouldn't say that, but what I saw was an opportunity to get her in trouble.  So without missing a beat I went and told Mama.  Oh, that was so mean!  Poor Kimberly!  We often weren't very nice to her.  But we were jealous because it seemed like she always got the best toys for her birthday.  Ha, ha!
12. OK.  Last one.  When Lynnette was born we older siblings were sent to stay with the Wiltbanks.  We spent the night there and then went to school the next morning.  We were supposed to ride the bus back to the Wiltbanks' house after school, but that was a different bus than we usually rode.  I wanted to make sure it was the right one, so I asked my teacher.  She said, "No. You don't ride that bus.  You go to Sunset Acres." Then she went along the line of buses asking, "Do you go to Sunset Acres?"  She found my normal bus and put me on it.  I was scared all the way home.  I was sure nobody would be there.  Well, I got home, and the car was there.  I knocked on the door, and Daddy answered.  I asked if I could please come in.  He said no.  He was just teasing, but I was such a nervous wreck that I started bawling!  He let me in and assured me he was just teasing.  And I got to meet Lynnette before my other siblings. :)

Things to Be Happy about Today

Sooo... I was saying the other day that I needed to start being more thankful, especially while wading through crap like I have been. (In case you don't know me, crap is a bad word.  I don't use it unless I REALLY mean it.) And it's not like I don't feel thankful for the goodness in my life anyway or that I don't know there is A LOT of it.  I just thought I'd record some of it today.

1. Yesterday I made turkey bacon with whole-wheat (no white flour added) pancakes (with wheat ground in my new wheat grinder) for breakfast, and it was yummy!  I like to butter my pancakes and slather them in warm applesauce.  Yum!  And, yes, I do mean that the turkey bacon was good!  I think turkey bacon has come a long way since I tried it last.  I was surprised!  I know there are people who will never like turkey bacon.  That's ok.  I understand the appeal that all that grease has because then it's juicy and crunchy at the same time.  But this bacon was good!  We've decided we like the Jennie-O Turkey Bacon best, but Oscar Mayer was pretty good too. :) That's empowering!  I have been wanting to make some changes in our diet because greasy food gives me a tummy ache.  So knowing that I can still have bacon makes me really happy!  It makes me curious to see what else is yummy that I thought would be gross.
2. You see what I did?  I had you thinking I would be talking about today, and then I talked about yesterday.  I'm hilarious!
3. Speaking of my new wheat grinder, thank you to my parents for giving it to me!  It made the prettiest flour I have ever seen!  It was so fine and soft. It made me really happy. :) Plus, there isn't much that is more fun than dipping my hands in warm, freshly-ground flour.
4. My grape hyacinth flowers are starting to come up.  It will still be weeks or months before they bloom, but they're coming!
5. That means spring is coming!  I wish it didn't mean that Jeremy's wheezing and coughing and sneezing, and I also wish it didn't mean that I'm wheezing and coughing and sneezing.  But the weather is quite lovely and warm.  I love it.
6. Hyrum gets to be in the Gilbert Temple Celebration on March 1.  He will be singing and dancing with like 13,000 youth, and that is so exciting!  I love how excited he is about it too!  He is learning a square dance for it, and at last week's practice his partner was Corrinn VanBuskirk. *wink, wink* (Corrinn has been Hyrum's friend since they were like 5, and we like her a lot.  I think Hyrum likes her too. ;) But isn't this exciting?!  President Monson wants to speak with them all just before they start, too.  It will be an event Hyrum will surely never forget. :)
7. We have a new young family in our ward.  Hooray!  They are the Jarvis family, and they have 3 little kids.  And the wife is from Snowflake.  She says she's a transplant to Snowflake, but now all her siblings have married people from there, so she feels like she's kind of related to the whole town like everybody else in Snowflake. ;)
8. I'm wearing my boots today!  I've worn them a few times this winter.  It is so fun!  I feel like they look awesome, and I've noticed that when I feel like I look awesome people will tell me I look awesome.  That makes me happy. :)
9. This goes along with that last one, but hooray that I can wear my boots!  I've kind of yo-yoed back and forth with my weight, but somehow with Brom's pregnancy I came out skinnier, so my boots fit again.  I think it was because I didn't like eating during this last pregnancy.  (Don't worry.  I made myself eat for the sake of the little guy, and he turned out just fine.  In fact, he was more than fine!  He was quite large.)
10. I like that the four older boys got MP3 players for Christmas.  Sometimes it's kind of challenging to get their attention with all these earbuds, but I like having them listening to good music.  Music always made me happy.  I am really happy to share it.  Now I just need to get them to sing along on-key. Ha ha!
11. It's Sunday!

In hindsight, though

It kind of makes me laugh to think about "hit rock bottom and kept bouncing." The imagery is terrific.

Maybe I'll talk about it a little. Among other things, we are dealing with past stupidity from stupid people. It is lame, and there is nothing we can do to fix it. And we have been kind of short on money since Christmas. And Timmy has been so sick and now Brom is. That makes for a sad night. So there you go. That is our latest lameness. Now it is time to count my blessings.

Do you ever feel like you hit rock bottom and just keep on bouncing? That is how it has felt to me since, oh, May 2012 or so. I feel so petty thinking about it, too. We have definitely been blessed, even as we bounce, but it has been scary and frustrating. We need some miracles. I am sure praying, but I am also sure hurt and scared.

And, no, I don't want to talk about it more than I just did.

Tuesday Inspiration

Today I was thinking about the talk Carole M. Stevens gave at the General Relief Society Meeting in September.  (Here)  It was my favorite talk from that meeting. She talked about keeping the covenants we have made with God. I love it because she points out that we keep covenants by simply listening to th Spirit and doing what He prompts us to do. It isn't as hard as we sometimes thinks it might be. We just do what feels good and happy and closer to God. And it doesn't have to be something big. Sometimes it is just listening to someone or withholding judgement. I like that. :) Baby steps. Every day a little better.

I like the sister she talked about who said to people, "Don't be offended. That's ridiculous." Of course, she is right. We imperfect humans should stop feeling offended by other imperfect beings. But I am not sure I would be brave enough to say that for fear I would offend someone.  Ha ha! Well, it is something to think about and work on.

I am thankful for the covenants I have made. They help me live closer to God, and that is just what I need.

Meme Monday

Went to the dentist with Jill early yesterday morning. Took a nap. Went shopping. Had a cook with the other Burks. And then it was FHE and bedtime. Phew! There's my excuse, cuz I know you're asking.  ;)

I think I'll just make up my own meme today.

1. Name a few things on your bucket list.

Ahem. I would like to try hang gliding, and I would like to hike across the United States. But most importantly, I want to someday be in the Temple with Jeremy all of our children. And I want us to do an endowment session together. There is my ultimate goal for this life.

2. Tell us a memory from your childhood.

Once my siblings and I had a big box. We made it into a house. I wanted to make it amazing like the one in my beginning reader book at school. It didn't come out as great as I hoped, but it was still fun. We made some plastic wrap window panes. I wanted to make curtains, but I don't remember if we ever did. Anyway, I LOVED that house for the while that it lasted.

We had crop dusters that flew around the town to people's fires spraying pesticide. One morning I was playing outside, and a crop duster was out. I got scared that it would spray on me and I would die, so I went in our cardboard house and felt quite pleased with myself for having such a great place to hide.

Another time we were playing in the sprinkler outside with one of Jennifer's friends.  After we were done, Jennifer and her friend used the cardboard house to change out of their swimming suits. I was jealous. I wanted to change outside. At the time, I was convinced that is I stood right by the front of our car, which was parked right in front of our house, nobody could see me. So I took off my swimming suit, grabbed my clothes, and ran out the door, hoping Mama wouldn't notice, even though, I believe, she was right there in the living room. I had just gotten to the car when my plan was foiled. Mama took me inside and made me change in there. And they laughed me!

Well, there ya go. That meme is long enough for today. :)

Stuff

Well, I thought about writing yesterday, but I haven't thought of a good theme for Friday. And then we went up the mountain, and I forgot to think about it further. Oh, well.

Well, I did want to talk a bit more about that book I'm reading. (Man's Search for Meaning.) I am 90% done, and, boy, is the last half kind of dry! It has lovely quotable quotes, and it's all tied together nicely, but the tone of voice makes me think of Professor Binns from Harry Potter. He is an old ghost who teaches the History of Magic, and drones on and on. He taught until the day he died, and the next day he just got up as a ghost and continued teaching like nothing had happened.

That is not at all to say I haven't enjoyed the book. I am glad I'm finally reading it. And you can tell he is quite well-educated and has done a lot of studying. But maybe this book wasn't written for a curious but not-as-educated stay-at-home mommy of 7. Oh, well.

The latest point I have gotten from it is that life is like a movie. All the little pieces fit together and have meanings, but it isn't until the end of the movie that we see how all those little meanings are unified into THE meaning of our life. Our lives are like that because the meaning of our life is what we find in our day-to-day decisions. We find meaning as we decide what we are going to do and, thus, what we are. And not only that, but the meaning of life is different for each person. And the meaning changes from situation to situation. It is a personal thing to find meaning in our lives.

He also says that when people commit suicide it's not always because they've lost the meaning in their lives, but helping them find or remember the meaning helps them want to live.

Another thing he said that I liked is that old people are to be envied, if anything, rather than looked down on. He says they have their whole lives behind them with so many meaningful things that they have done tucked away into the past. Your past can't be taken from you, so you want to fill it with as much meaning as you can.

It is just such a neat book. What an amazing man. He pointed out that one reason why he survived the concentration camps was that he found meaning, a reason to live. When he was taken to Auschwitz he had to give up his life's work, the manuscript of his first book. But as he was so close to dying from Typhus he stole bits of paper and wrote out what he remembered of his book in short-hand. He knew he just had to get it done. That was his meaning at the moment. Pretty cool. It definitely makes me think of making things more meaningful in my own life.