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?

Why am I the Lucky One?

I'm trying to figure out why I am the only event coordinator (out of 15) who is asked to go above and beyond the call of duty at Temple Square Performances (TSP) Concerts. You'll remember that several weeks ago, at the very last minute, I became the page-turner for the pianist throughout the hour-long concert.

Tonight's event was the Utah Federation of Music Clubs Honor's Piano Recital with 17 talented teenagers from the Salt Lake area. At rehearsal this afternoon I noticed that the TSP Hosts, whose responsibility it is to take care of the performers, were conspicuously missing so I stuck around to answer questions, open doors, etc. Good thing I brought a book with me; it was an entertaining but long few hours sitting on the uncomfortable benches of the Assembly Hall. I reasoned that perhaps the TSP Hosts had other obligations during the day and therefore and understandably skipped rehearsal. However, when 6:30 rolled around I still hadn't heard from them. So, with no other choice I went into crisis mode and assumed all their duties in addition to my own. I continued to answer questions and open doors but then I also escorted performers to the dressing and warm-up rooms, made myself available to help the ladies in charge, moved chairs around backstage, instructed the ushers, flipped the preset light switches, tested the microphone, arranged for the opening prayer, welcomed the audience over the pulpit, introduced the performers, and kindly invited everyone to vacate the venue at the end of the night.

After 15 hours of work yesterday, 9 1/2 hours today, and pulling double duty at tonight's event I am completely exhausted and I really think I deserve a raise. Will you all kindly write my boss on my behalf to tell him what a dedicated employee he has working for him because I'm not sure he realizes it. Thank you!

80 Miles & 3 Kids

80 Miles: I took in my 2-year old car for it's annual safety and emissions inspection yesterday and when they finished my receipt had a big, fat REJECTED printed across the bottom. I tried not to take the glaring note personally. Apparently, my Malibu needed new tie rods (please don't ask me what that is because I have no idea) before it would pass the safety check. Luckily, I was still 80 miles away from the expiration of my warranty. So, back to the Chevrolet dealership (for the second time in a month) to have them fix the problem. Gratefully, they had the parts in stock and the time available to work on my car. So, three trips to the inspector, two trips to the dealership, a couple of hundred dollars later, and I am all registered for another year. I love having a car to get me where I need to go but I really hate everything else about them.

3 Kids: Jennie sent pictures from their latest photo shoot and since she doesn't have a blog to publish them I have taken upon me the responsibility to show the rest of the world my cute nieces and nephew.

Miss Colette

Master Jamison

Miss Vera Ellen

The Mabey Kids

Going Out With a Bang!

Our Bishopric truly has impeccable timing. On Sunday, I met with the 2nd counselor and he released me from my calling as the Activities Committee Co-Chair. Of course, as Murphy's Law demands, I had already planned a rather large and involved activity for the following day: an etiquette dinner. Do you know how hard it is to get motivated to pull off a good activity when you don't really carry the mantle of the calling any longer?

Lucky for the ward, I put my best foot forward and followed through with my commitments. I took the day off work, went grocery shopping as soon as Costco opened, spent hours in the kitchen cooking my version of chicken parmesan for the whole ward, and in the end threw a very successful Last Activity. I couldn't have asked for anything more at my final soiree.

A shout-out to all those who made the evening possible: Mom and Megan for being such willing and capable sous chefs, the four committee members who followed through with their assignments, Jesse and Micah for setting up all the tables and chairs, and to Stefanne for putting together instruction on etiquette with only a couple of days notice. Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!


So, I'm sure you are all wondering what my new calling is. Well, it is still unofficial but I have been asked to serve on the Temple Committee as the Endowment Specialist. I will receive the official release and sustaining in a few weeks, after stake conference and once they call someone to be the new co-chair.

If you haven't read my previous posts let me just say that being part of the Temple Committee is a perfect fit for me. Going to the temple is one of my favorite pastimes. [I'm probably revealing more than I should about my new calling, but...] I don't think the Bishopric has all the kinks worked out yet but they are attempting to organize temple work into five different sections. As head of one of those sections it will be my responsibility to encourage ward members to attend endowment sessions and organize opportunities for them to do so. I don't understand everything that the Bishop has in mind but once they get the other section leaders called we'll figure out our assignments.

I'm a bit sad to leave the realm of ward activities but I'm also excited for this new adventure on the Temple Committee. It's wonderful to think that my time commitment will be much reduced and I won't have to do much more than the weekly temple trip I already make. With work as crazy and busy as it has been and will be, especially this summer, I am grateful for a change at the ward. Can you hear my sigh of relief?

Surprise FedEx Delivery

I am writing to you all from my brand new computer! It unexpectedly arrived this morning via the neighborhood FedEx truck. Thank you, FedEx.

When I ordered it last week the confirmation email said it wouldn't ship until April 23rd. So, you can imagine my surprise when I heard of it's delivery . . . and only minutes after I paid my credit card bill. I must be living right.

But moving on...Did you know that the Church has offically declared blogs to be a form of personal scripture. You can read all about it in this month's Ensign. It's a great article. Be sure to read all the sidebars and inset text or you'll miss the Official Declaration.