A Laborious Memorial Day

Have you ever noticed how people often get Memorial Day (today) and Labor Day (in September) confused? They seem to think the two terms are interchangeable. Today, the distinction got all mixed up even for me.

From 7:00 to 10:30 this morning I hung around Hogan Park in Woods Cross helping the City Council and Youth City Council serve breakfast to 1,000 local residents. Mind you, it was pouring rain and very cold all morning long. I didn't mind the work so much but the weather was miserable.

By 11:00 a.m. I found myself at Daniel and Megan's apartment washing walls. They moved into their new house in Lehi on Saturday and today I was kindly volunteered to help clean their rental unit. We worked for 4-plus hours only stopping for a quick lunch. We washed walls, baseboards, blinds, light fixtures, the refrigerator, the oven, the bathroom, the kitchen, cabinets, cupboards, and more.

At 3:30 I finally got my shower for the day and soon Jennie and Nick and the kids showed up for dinner. As much as I love to cook, on a day like this it is work. And, of course the entire kitchen had to be cleaned once dinner was over.

Needless to say, I am exhausted for all the labor I performed this Memorial Day. Maybe I can trade it in on Labor Day and make that a quiet day of reflection and rememberance. One can only hope!

Los Buenos Padres Mios

There has unfortunately been some family controversy going on the last couple of days in our home. Without letting the ugly skeletons out of the closet let me just say that for a long time now (that is, since I outgrew my teenage years) I have known that my parents are two of the greatest parents in the world.

My dad is a pillar of the priesthood. He is kind and gentle and very close to the Spirit. He has always provided temporally and spiritually for our family despite his handicaps. I'm trying to find a husband just like him who will lead our family in love and righteousness. (Sadly, men like him are few and far between which is exactly why I'm still single.)

My mom is inarguably the most amazing woman around. She serves wherever she sees a need: in Church callings and assignments, in the youth city council and other civic programs, at the elementary and high schools; she keeps a watchful eye over her mother and tends her grandkids without any other compensation than a kiss and a hug from the little munchkins (yes, poor thing's stuck in the sandwich generation). I truly aspire to be her one day.

I am grateful for their example, for all they have taught me, for their unfailing love and encouragement. I'm grateful that Heavenly Father sent me to this family.

I LOVE YOU, MOM & DAD!

Memory Lane

Today was Grandpa Lambert's funeral. An unexpected guest arrived and stayed to speak: President Thomas S. Monson. He and Grandpa went to West High School together back in the day and he was their bishop when Grandpa and Grandma first began their family. It was a beautiful funeral. Thanks to all our family and friends who came to the viewing and funeral to show their love and sympathy for our family. We love and appreciate you.

I've been working on gathering pictures from relatives all week to put together a slide show of Grandpa's life. We played it at the viewing today and yesterday. Those are some wonderful memories. I hope you enjoy it too.

Grandpa

My grandfather, Fred Ivan Lambert, passed away this morning. He was 80 years old and lived a good life. He married his sweetheart, Kathryn Harmon, in the Salt Lake Temple in 1948 and together they had 8 children who in turn have given them 25 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. Thank you for the legacy you left for us. We will miss you.

My Morning

One of my ticket office missionaries has been telling me for a year or more about this 1969 song by Joni Mitchell, Chelsea Morning (performed on this site by Joni Mitchell, but also recorded by Judy Collins and Neil Diamond). I finally took a few minutes to look it up on the internet and I love it! So, now you'll have to suffer through my ego trip every time you log on to my blog until I get sick of it. The lyrics are posted below.

Woke up, it was a Chelsea morning, and the first thing that I heard
Was a song outside my window, and the traffic wrote the words
It came a-reeling up like Christmas bells, and rapping up like pipes and drums

Oh, won’t you stay
We'll put on the day
And we'll wear it till the night comes

Woke up, it was a Chelsea morning, and the first thing that I saw
Was the sun through yellow curtains, and a rainbow on the wall
Blue, red, green and gold to welcome you, crimson crystal beads to beckon

Oh, won’t you stay
We'll put on the day
There’s a sun show every second

Now the curtain opens on a portrait of today
And the streets are paved with passersby
And pigeons fly
And papers lie
Waiting to blow away

Woke up, it was a Chelsea morning, and the first thing that I knew
There was milk and toast and honey and a bowl of oranges, too
And the sun poured in like butterscotch and stuck to all my senses

Oh, won’t you stay
We'll put on the day
And we'll talk in present tenses

When the curtain closes and the rainbow runs away
I will bring you incense owls by night
By candlelight
By jewel-light
If only you will stay
Pretty baby, won’t you
Wake up, it’s a Chelsea morning

What will you do with your Stimulus Check?

"Congress and the White House [intend for] all patriotic Americans to promptly cash [the stimulus] checks and spend 'em, thus boosting aggregate demand in the economy, and warding off the oncoming recession.... [Yada, yada, yada. People are spending more than they have and maxing out their credit cards.] ...Living beyond our means is supposed to be a bad thing, but when times get really hard, we are supposed to open up our pocketbooks even more, instead of attempt to balance our personal budgets....

"I'm going to take my check and use it to pay off some of my credit card debt. Call me a traitor, but I'd rather have no finance fees than a new TV.

"What are you going to do with your check?"
(Excerpts taken from a post by Andrew Leonard, Feb 8, 2008.)

Then here's what some people had to say in response: "Dude, I'm getting a Mac" + + "Fix my fence" + + "I'll spend it, thanks" + + "Stimulate Barack Obama!" (this is a popular plan) + + "Just send out Amazon gift certificates" + + "Buy Food" + + "Taking a trip to Miami" + + "Plan a Wedding" + + "Buying 3 metric tons of locally-grown, organic rhubarb" + + "Get the toilet fixed" + + "The government just bought me Playstation 3"

Oh, just think of the endless possibilities. There are so many things you can do with $600. The mind reels and the imagination goes into overdrive planning and dreaming and scheming. A trip to New York, Chicago, Boston, Washington DC, or Hawaii; a shopping spree in the mall; days at the spa to relieve all the tension from work; new electronic toys and gadgets; treating all my family and friends to a night out at La Calle; or perhaps even a mail order husband. The list truly is infinite.

I stopped at the bank this afternoon and my balance was $600 greater than yesterday.

I got my stimulus check!

And, guess what I did with it? No, I didn't put it away for a trip or a shopping spree or the spa...I paid down my car loan. BORING!!! and as the author above mentions, traitorous. But, what's done is done.

What will you do with your Stimulus Check?