Little Blue Plastic Pot

A totally unromantic post - I've been trying something new - a neti pot. The pictured pot is not blue plastic like my version but is pretty porcelin. Who knew there could be benefits of water up your nose. I've always hated that feeling but I seem willing to do this. It seems to help my constant allergic nasal drip. Basically I lean over a sink, pour lukewarm salted water in one nostril and it drips out the other nostril thereby washing the inside of my nose. You breathe through your mouth while doing this so the water up the nose feeling is not so pronounced as it was when you couldn't quite get the hang of swimming when you were a kid. So why would I write about this? I think it might improve my quality of life. That is worth writing about. Yes, I have tried some of those over the counter allergy medications. I always feel worse the day after I take one of them, though they are very effective at drying me up. This little pot and a bit of water may save a tree because I use far fewer tissues. OK the plastic pot cost some global warming but maybe the tree I save will offset that and I can be more comfortable as a side benefit. Oh, and one more thing - my hips look slimmer if my pockets aren't overflowing with used tissues ;)

Spit and Revelation

Last week in Relief Society we had the lesson that tells the story of the revelation we know as the Word of Wisdom. I spent a few minutes imagining possible conversations between Emma and Joseph on the topic of the tobacco spit on the floor.

Did Emma say, "I wish they wouldn't do that." Did she say, "Can you get them to stop spitting on the floor." Did she say, "Joseph this is gross" Did she fight back her gag reflex everytime she cleaned it up? How long did she do it before she complained? Did she ask meekly, forcefully? Did she draw "a line in the sand" and say, "This needs to stop or else...."

How did Joseph reply? Did he say, "You know it would be rude to ask them to stop." Did he say, "I'll help you clean it up." Did he say, "I don't know what you expect me to do about it." How long did it take before he thought of praying about it?

Do I take the my own complaints or the complaints of family members to the Lord promptly or do I mutter about or figure there is nothing I can do about this or that. Do I butt my head against the wall when I could have divine help? I feel that I am too often too slow to seek the Lord for help about things that seem pretty temporal. This seems like a little thing but the response of the Lord wasn't just a little thing. He found in the little problem of tobacco spit on the floor an opportunity to teach things that would more than clean up the floor. Following principles of the Word of Wisdom cleans our minds and bodies and prepares us to hear the voice of the Lord and to act with strength upon those promptings.

What opportunities for divine tuition do I miss by trying to do too much by myself?

It Snowed!

So I guess no one will be weeding! The rosemary is tough and will still be wonderful through the rest of the winter, though the parsley has meet a frozen demise.

Library Cats

Our local library has recently installed "Library Cats" - a few of the seven cats are pictured here. The cats can only be seen one at a time. As you go through the library you will find them in various areas of the library.

These cats were the culmination of a long process funded by a gift to the Library. The artists are Sarah Ohman-Ybarra Lopez and Mark Stevenson.


This playful cat is located appropriately in the teen area. Teens come to the library for fun as well as for books. This week there is a movie day and a game day. I don't think I would be much good at air guitar or DDR but it sounds like fun.

You can hear us clap....

.... for Sara Gazarek and the PLU jazz band at the KPLU jazz sampler. We heard it live yesterday. "Drummer Boy" should never be played any other way. You can hear the show on Christmas day via KPLU on the internet. Oh, and for you who are without radio jazz - the internet is a miracle - try jazz24.org

We had a fun day. We went to the show, shopped for a new coat for David and stopped at the Seattle outdoor sculpture park

This is not a sculpture - it is the reflection of the Olympics and the sunset on the sound on an aluminum sided cafe housed in the park.


Between the sculpture park and the art museum lies Pikes place market. It was wonderful to be there on a winter day - few people so we had time and space for taking pictures.







The donut stand with the Rube Goldberg style donut machine (far more entertaining than Krispy Kreme's) had this reminder of the holiday spirit.



















I've never seen carrots other than orange -






David was glad to escape the cubicle on a sunny winter day.







found my dream coffee table at the art museum - This table is a table with a built in tray for these blocks. That are each the same block but each side of the block has a different pattern.
Too much fun - A new design anytime you have time - or guests - to indulge in the creation.

Facespast

When missionaries had beards.....

I've started a second blog, facespast.blogspot.com I have a large collection of old family photos that I want to preserve in a variety of ways so that other descendants of these people can see and use them. I hope that descendants of these people might find this blog.

I have begun posting pictures and short identification information relative to the person portrayed. Each posting will feature only one individual. I am trying to post them in pairs however so that the posting featuring a spouse will be readily found by a casual browser of the blog.

I won't be posting the pictures of people yet living and will not be identifying relationships to living people.

This picture was one of the first posts - Missionaries did have beards - of course they also had teenage kids at home.... This is Ole Christian Larsen as a missionary in Denmark. He was then about the age I am now. The nose looks familiar when I look in the mirror - and alas there are hints of the hairline in my mirror as well.

Super Powers

A few years ago I was with one of my children and a friend when we saw a movie with a super hero. We were kind of casually chatting about what would be the best super power to have. All the movie super heroes have multiple powers it seems. What would it be like to have even one super power? What super power do I think is the best? At the time I remember thinking I wish I could look at people and that they would see kindness. Today I saw again the power of kindness.

David and I just attended a wedding of one of his co-workers at the Russian Orthodox Church in Seattle. At the reception several people stood and told stories about how the couple met (at a Boy Scout Meeting - he was the scout master) or had influenced their lives etc.... One woman stood and told her own story in heavily accented English. Patrick had befriended her when she was relatively new to this country. She was so homesick and wanted to go back to Russia. Patrick took her on trips to show her the scenery of the state and helped her do things that we take for granted - like opening a bank account. He was so kind, "the best of what America is" and now she loves this country as her home because of his kindness. I think kindness is a super power. I wonder where I can show a little more kindness?

What super power do you wish you had?

Tanning Lines

The blueberry bushes go tanning. The leaves that get the most sun turn red. The leaves on the interior of the plant that are mostly shaded are yellow. A few of them have tan lines where they got good sun on part of the leaf and part of the leaf was shaded by another leaf. This is as close as I get to tan lines. I just burn and peel. I love these evidences of sunlight as we enter the rainy, dark season of the year.

I'm Learning....

...how to add pictures. I think I have it figured out.
This picture of pleated veratrum leaves will be the test.
Yeah!!! I think I've got it!

Ballerina Fuschias

The magellan fuschias continue to dance in their red and purple skirts

colors

Just thinking about.....
How great it is to be able to see color. I was out in the fall garden, cleaning up some garden beds and looked around at the last remnants of a more colorful summer - fushia, blue, mauve, yellow-orange - being surrounded by the more mellow tones of fall golds and the soft brown of the soil.

I'm new to blogging - trying to learn - we'll see how it goes.