A tribute to Linda

Yesterday, I attended the funeral service of our dear friend, Linda Deming. I rode up to Arvada, where Linda had resided with her family for many years before moving to Colorado Springs, with some other friends from our family home evening group. The service, which Linda had prepared herself, was lovely. The Colorado Mormon Chorale, of which Linda had been a member, performed two numbers, and several of her children spoke.

Linda and her husband Dave moved to Colorado Springs the week before Bruce and I did. We met the first Sunday we went to church and instantly became friends. Linda was a very kind and loving person, with a beautiful smile that was her trademark. She was a very vibrant and active woman until a little over a year ago when she was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease. She was given 2-5 years at that time. Linda and Dave sold their home here and moved to a townhome in Parker to be closer to their children. We visited when we could, and began to see her go downhill very quickly. Her body started to shut down piece by piece. At the end, she could only barely move her head when you asked her questions. But that beautiful smile was still there. Linda always had a positive attitude towards life and very seldom did I see her down about anything. She had a strong testimony and was excited about going home to be with our loving Heavenly Father. She was an example to us all. Thank you, Linda, for the memories of you that we will forever cherish, and we look forward to seeing you again.

Cooking is fun again!!

For Valentine's Day, I got the best gift ever...a new set of wonderful cookware from Costco. It is the heavy-duty Kirkland brand, and it is wonderful! We gathered up all of the old stuff (except for the one good pot that Paula had given me) and took it down to Goodwill, along with the old computer monitor that nobody seemed to want (surprise, surprise). Anyway, who knew cookware could make such a difference in the way your food tastes. Neither Bruce or I have ever lived in a home with decent cookware. Heaven knows our moms didn't care. So, we have been having fun cooking again...chicken and fish turn out moister and more tender. Rice and pasta do not boil over and make a mess. Pancakes and eggs do not burn. Even burgers turn out better! A little cooking spray and some olive oil and NO MORE STICKING! So much for that "non-stick" cookware, that after a few years can be called "stinkin' sticking" cookware. Wow, never again will I need any more cookware. I should be a sales person for this stuff, huh?

Valentine's Day, Chickens, and Cheesecakes...

Yesterday I was listening to Dr. Laura while I was working on a wedding cake, and she had her annual "mooshy gooshy" Valentine's Day program. This is when listeners can call in and share a story about a romantic Valentine's Day or other time that they shared with their spouse. At the end of each call, she would ask the guest what their pet names were for each other. Most of them were cute little names like "sugar bear" or "cutie pie" or even just plain "honey." Then I started thinking about Bruce's pet name for me. What is it, you might ask? "Chicken Lips." That's right--"Chicken Lips." Sometimes it gets shortened to just plain old "Chicken." So what kind of a pet name is that? I guess you would have to know and understand Bruce to appreciate that. Anyway, since he persists in calling me that (I actually find it kind of endearing now after all these years), one Valentine's Day I thought I would go one step further with the whole idea. I found this really pretty flowery heart-shaped box, and then I went shopping for a rubber chicken to put in it. Do you know how difficult it is to find a rubber chicken when you are actually looking for one? Anyway, I finally found this ugly rubber chicken at some joke gift store. It made this disgusting "rubber chicken sound" when you squeezed it, kinda like a chicken ready to die or something. I figured it would be perfect. When I went to pay for it, I explained to the checkout girl why I needed the chicken, and her comment was "this will come back to haunt you." Had I only known what she meant, I might have chosen a different route. So, I take the chicken home, wrap it up in pretty tissue paper, and stick it in the flowery heart box. When I gave it to Bruce, he loved it...and especially loved squeezing it to hear the sick chicken noise. He squeezed it, and squeezed it, and squeezed it! Now I knew what the checkout girl meant when she said this "would come back to haunt me." After many Valentine Days have now come and gone, and we can't remember most of the gifts (we're not usually big into Valentine gifts), the chicken still remains. Many of our things are still packed in boxes and stored in the crawlspace, but the chicken box is in plain sight in our closet. Bruce still gets out the chicken occasionally. However, the sick chicken sound is almost dead...thank goodness. Now, instead of chickens, I just continue to make him his favorite cherry cheesecake for Valentine's Day (also for birthday, anniversary, and every other holiday). Unlike the dead chicken sound, our love continues to grow, and I kind of look forward to "Chicken Lips." Happy Valentine's Day, Sweetie (my name for Bruce)!

Groundhog Day

Today is Groundhog Day. It is not really a holiday that most people celebrate, unless...you were raised in Snowflake. In Snowflake, each Groundhog Day was special because we had a big town breakfast. It was originally put on by the Flake family. The big pancake breakfast always included "ground hog" or sausage, of course. After awhile, I believe the town hall people took it over and I think it still exists today--at least I hope it does. Anyway, we have carried the tradition over into our family. So every Groundhog Day, we normally have a big breakfast, including sausage, and then, sometime that day, we watch the movie, Groundhog Day. It has been a fun tradition to keep. I'm not sure any of the children have continued it on except Paula. Because yesterday was Sunday and I forgot to buy sausage and Bruce had to leave for work early this morning, we will probably do our breakfast tomorrow, so we can still keep the tradition going. By the way, in Punksutawney, PA, I believe that Phil the Groundhog saw his shadow. I guess that means we will have 6 more weeks of winter. Supposedly, he has been right 100% of the time. What does that mean for Colorado? Heck, we could be having winter until the middle of June...who knows.

Sex Education at Best Buy

Tom found us a great deal on a new computer monitor from a guy that he works with who was upgrading his monitor to a larger one. He is an animator...what can you say. Anyway, this is a beautiful 21 inch flat screen...much better than our 5 yr old 15 inch or whatever big old thing. So, we anxiously awaited the arrival of the new monitor...kinda like waiting for a new baby to arrive. It took 2 weeks and it finally came. We were so excited, except that the cable that Tom sent with it had the wrong fittings. So, off we went to Best Buy to find a cable that would fit the new monitor. When we got to the computer cable section of the store, I had no idea we were in for such an education. First, we saw the male to male, or homosexual cable; then we found the the male to female cable, or heterosexual cable; and then the best one was yet to come...a gender changer adapter. Who would have guessed that we would have a sex education lesson right there in Best Buy. By this time, I was laughing almost hysterically, while Bruce was again, about to throw up his dinner. I will not go into any further details, but you can see for yourself by looking at the pictures...prongs vs. holes, etc. So, we finally get the "gay" cable and head home. On the way home, Bruce informs me that they do the same thing with plumbing parts. That did not help. Who came up with these names for inanimate objects, anyway?

Gay cable
Straight cable

Gender changer adapter